Beta Space Station clamps GPO Ship 115 into the intake dock with a low magnetic shudder. The seal cycles open, and chilled station air spills across the ramp.
Amelia Potter waits on the platform, one hand near her sidearm, the other presenting Nara Vell in cuffs and a transport cradle. Nara’s chassis crackles with residual static.
Sion steps in under the dock lights, badge bright against his dark blue uniform. Amelia shifts the cradle forward, ready to transfer custody.
Amelia Potter
I have Nara Vell secured. Her statements and the recovered logs are bundled for command review.
Nara Vell angles her cloud-like head toward Sion, rigid in the cuffs, her gaze sharp despite the restraint.
Nara Vell
If you take me to headquarters, take the evidence too. Marr did not vanish alone.
Sion
The chain of custody is intact.
Amelia taps the data case at her hip, then looks past Sion toward the station corridor, where the next transfer route waits. The prisoner handoff is one step from becoming the trip to GPO headquarters.
✓ Quest Accepted
Deliver the evidence to headquarters
“Sion: “Excellent. Well done, Amelia.” Sion stands behind the transport cradle and rolls it onto his ship.”
SUCCESS (Good Strength, rolled +1)
Sion takes the cradle’s weight and drives it forward. The transport frame hums over the dock plate, then thumps onto GPO Ship 115’s ramp with a solid, final rattle.
Amelia eases her grip away, letting custody pass cleanly into Sion’s hands. Nara stays fixed in the cradle, cuffs tight, shoulders rigid, eyes tracking the ship interior.
Amelia Potter
Good. Keep the chain unbroken all the way in.
The evidence case bumps once against Amelia’s hip as she falls in behind the transfer, her focus flicking from Nara to the open hatch.
Nara Vell
You have the prisoner. Now make sure command gets the logs.
The dock lights wash the cradle in sterile white, and the ship corridor swallows the front wheels as Sion rolls the load aboard. The handoff holds, but the station passage beyond them is still open and waiting.
Director's note
Remove Amelia from the scene.
“Amelia leaves. Sion steps out in front of Nara and asks, “Were you aware of Melissa Hartwell’s involvement?””
SUCCESS (Superb Intimidation, rolled +1)
Amelia is gone from the ramp, her footsteps already swallowed by the dock corridor. Sion steps in close to Nara’s cradle, blocking the open hatch with his uniformed frame.
Sion
Were you aware of Melissa Hartwell’s involvement?
The question lands hard. Nara’s jaw tightens, and her eyes flick once to the evidence case, then back to Sion.
Nara Vell
Yes. Not all of it, not at first, but enough to know Hartwell was above Marr in the chain.
Her shoulders sag against the cradle restraints, the admission forced out under Sion’s pressure. The dock light catches the edge of the transport frame, making the custody seals look sharper, colder.
Nara Vell
Marr thought he was dealing with a clean command buffer. Hartwell was the hand behind it.
For a beat, the only movement is the slow drift of the open hatch door beyond them. Nara watches Sion like she is deciding how much more truth he will pull out of her.
“Sion: “I don’t think you’re a bad person, Nara. If I can help you out with your charges… Would you testify against Melissa Hartwell?””
SUCCESS (Superb Intimidation, rolled +1)
Sion
I don’t think you are a bad person, Nara. If I can help with your charges, will you testify against Melissa Hartwell?
Nara Vell
You would cut a deal for me after all this?
Nara’s expression shifts, suspicion giving way to hard calculation. The cradle hum stays steady while the open hatch glows behind Sion like a thin blue line.
Nara Vell
Hartwell used people like tools. Marr did too, just better hidden. If I speak, I need the record to show I helped stop them.
Sion’s offer lands. Nara lifts her chin a fraction, no longer testing his resolve so much as measuring the shape of the bargain.
Nara Vell
I will testify. On the condition that you log this exchange, exactly as it happens.
“Sion: “Very well.” Sion secures her in the cockpit of his ship, with her hands handcuffed behind her back. He sits her down in a seat nearby as he pilots his ship away from Beta Space Station and toward Planet Earth.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)