Trans-Oceanic Shipping And Receiving roars with cranes, alarms, and harbor wind as Gremlin arrives beside Alexei and her officers, preserved evidence packets secured against his gear.
The tracking display marks the rendezvous between stacked cargo containers. Then the damaged military submersible surfaces beside the piers, trailing smoke and seawater beneath Captain Banebeard’s flag.
Captain Banebeard
There you are, lawmen! Hand over my authorization records, or I’ll turn every manifest into harbor confetti!
Captain Banebeard, an elderly muscular man with ruddy weathered skin and a massive white beard, climbs onto the deck with sword and laser pistol drawn.
His armed crew spills onto the cargo piers. Breaching charges clamp onto evidence containers while suppressive fire drives officers behind forklifts and reinforced loading barriers.
Alexei
Protect the packets and civilian routes! Nobody fires toward the submersible unless they have a clean line. Their target is the evidence.
A charge begins blinking beside the convoy’s sealed cases. Banebeard points toward Gremlin’s preserved records as his crew advances, leaving the next move open.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the verified evidence recoverable
✓ Quest Accepted
Capture Captain Banebeard
“I distract Banebeard with a challenge to duel while Alexei and her forces deal with the crew”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Gremlin
Banebeard, leave the evidence and face me. Duel me here, while your crew proves whether it can survive without hiding behind you.
The challenge cuts through alarms and harbor wind. Captain Banebeard’s laser pistol lowers a fraction as his beard bristles, his attention locking onto Gremlin instead of the evidence cases.
Captain Banebeard
A duel, is it? At last, you offer something worthy of my personal attention. Crew, hold the line. This one is mine!
Captain Banebeard strides away from the blinking charge, sword sweeping toward an open stretch of pier. His crew follows his order, breaking formation around the containers.
Alexei seizes the opening. Officers surge from behind the forklifts, disarming the nearest pirates and cutting the breaching charges away from the sealed evidence packets.
Alexei
That worked. Secure the crew, preserve the charges, and keep the civilians clear. Gremlin, keep him occupied.
Captain Captain Banebeard plants his boots on the wet pier, sword raised and laser pistol ready. Behind him, Alexei’s forces contain the crew while the evidence remains protected.
“I prep my gauntlet's flail with a flourish while secretly scanning Banebeard's gear”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -2)
“I prep my gauntlet's flail with a flourish while secretly scanning Banebeard's gear”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -1)
Gremlin’s cybernetic arm snaps through a theatrical flourish. The gauntlet unfolds its cable launcher and flail, links locking with a bright metallic report above the wet pier.
Hidden scanners sweep Captain Banebeard’s sword, laser pistol, belt, boots, and coat while the display disguises its readings as routine targeting calibration.
Gremlin
His laser pistol is overcharged, and the sword’s grip carries a concealed shock circuit.
Captain Banebeard
Flashy tricks! I know that gauntlet, Gremlin. I also know exactly how much punishment my armor can take.
The scan resolves more cleanly: Captain Banebeard’s coat contains a compact signal jammer, his belt carries two magnetic clamps, and his pistol’s heat sink is already stressed from the harbor assault.
Captain Banebeard
Come on, then! Let the pirate who owns this harbor teach Mosaic’s favorite scavenger what a real duel looks like!
Behind him, officers secure another pirate, a young adult human man in a dark, salt-stained vest and red sash and drag the preserved charges beyond the evidence cases. Captain Banebeard advances, sword high, laser pistol tracking Gremlin’s centerline.
Quest Complete
Keep the verified evidence recoverable
New Gift: Continuous Evidence Validation
“I distract Banebeard with a feint before disarming him”
SUCCESS (Great Brawling, rolled +0)
Gremlin snaps the flail low across the pier, making its chain clatter toward Banebeard’s boots while his cloaked cable launcher angles for the pirate’s sword arm.
Banebeard’s attention follows the feint. He fires at the swinging links, scorching the pier, and commits his sword to a heavy downward cut.
Gremlin pivots inside the cut, catches the sword wrist with his cybernetic arm, and whips the cable around the laser pistol’s grip. The gauntlet locks tight.
Captain Banebeard
What trickery is this? Release my weapons, you gutter-born menace!
A sharp pull strips the laser pistol free, then a twist breaks the shock circuit’s alignment. Gremlin’s flail hooks the sword guard and tears both weapons onto the wet pier.
Banebeard’s empty hands rise as Alexei’s officers secure the disarmed weapons behind a reinforced barrier. The pirate’s jammer continues pulsing from his coat.
Alexei
Weapons secured. Gremlin, keep him talking while I isolate that jammer and finish the crew’s arrest.
“Ask Banebeard why he was working with Lady Orda”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Gremlin
Why were you working with Lady Orda? What did she promise you, and what did she expect you to seize for her?
Banebeard’s empty hands remain raised as the jammer pulses beneath his coat. Around him, officers tighten restraints on the captured crew while Alexei isolates the device.
Captain Banebeard
Orda promised harbor access, political cover, and first claim on whatever cargo her polished tyrants confiscated. In return, I brought the submersible and made her enemies fear the sea.
Captain Banebeard
She wanted Bulwark’s custody route broken and its records buried. I wanted the manifests, the weapons, and a foothold in Mosaic’s shipping lanes. A profitable alliance, nothing more.
Alexei’s console captures the admission beside the preserved command traffic. Her taser stays trained on Banebeard while a technician, a young adult woman with a slim build, dark skin, and short black hair in a slate work uniform seals the jammer in an evidence pouch.
Captain Banebeard
Do not mistake cooperation for loyalty, Gremlin. Orda planned to discard me once the harbor answered to her. I simply intended to collect my payment first.
“I ask Banebeard if he has any more info on Lady Orda”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +3)
Gremlin
Then give me everything else you know about Lady Orda. Her allies, her habits, her next move, and what she keeps hidden.
Captain Banebeard studies Gremlin through the harbor rain, then glances toward Alexei’s evidence pouch. His bluster settles into calculating cooperation as officers keep his crew secured.
Captain Banebeard
Orda’s airship uses a private maintenance berth beneath the old customs exchange. Her bodyguards rotate through there, and her chief aide carries the access authority.
Captain Banebeard
She keeps political debts in a black ledger, not her network. Names, favors, quiet removals, every promise made to officials who think they own her gratitude.
Alexei’s technician pauses over the sealed jammer as the admission enters the case record. Alexei marks the customs exchange and requests a lawful warrant for the maintenance berth.
Captain Banebeard
The extra truth is this: Orda planned to move that ledger tonight, aboard a courier launch registered to a charitable foundation. I can identify its dock signal and crew.
Alexei’s console immediately flags a matching launch reservation. Captain Banebeard’s information gives Mosaic a traceable route to Orda’s hidden ledger before it can disappear.
“I keep Banebeard talking until officers finish restraining him”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
Gremlin keeps Captain Banebeard focused on Orda’s arrangements, circling Captain Banebeard’s claims with precise questions while Alexei’s officers secure each wrist, ankle, and restraint point.
Captain Banebeard
Her aide is named Vell. Tall, silver-haired, always carrying a lacquered tablet. Vell authorizes the berth, the launch, and every bodyguard rotation.
Captain Banebeard’s answers continue without pause. Two officers check his coat and belt, remove the remaining magnetic clamps, and lock them into a separate evidence case.
Captain Banebeard
The courier launch signals twice before docking, then once after the ledger is aboard. Orda trusts patterns more than people, which is why her guards never improvise.
Alexei’s team fastens the final restraint and confirms Captain Banebeard’s weapons, jammer, and crew are secured. Captain Banebeard remains upright, contained, and visibly aware that cooperation has bought him attention.
Alexei
Restraints are complete. His statements, the dock signal, and the maintenance berth are preserved under custody. We can move him and pursue the launch.
Captain Banebeard gives Gremlin one last measuring look as officers take control of his escort. Behind them, Alexei’s console converts the new details into warrant-ready leads.
Recover Orda’s black ledger
Quest Complete
Capture Captain Banebeard
Skill Upgrade: Brawling Great→Superb