The ship settles into a low, steady hum. On the bridge, the console runs its own quiet routines, the fresh packet scar still glowing across the buffer like a healed burn.
Mara Vey stands in the living quarters doorway, no armor now, only the plain clothes Shifter gave her. She leans there instead of stepping in, giving him room.
Mara Vey
You spent years in the Empire. Inquisitor, then rebel. How do you live with both?
The question lands cleanly, without accusation, just curiosity sharpened by everything they have survived.
Mara Vey
I am trying to understand the shape of you, before I decide what kind of partner I am being.
Outside, the void stays empty. Inside, there is only the warm light, the quiet engines, and Mara waiting to hear his answer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Answer Mara Vey’s question honestly
✓ Quest Accepted
Decide what kind of partner Mara Vey is being
“"you can seal yourself when it's small, termination of a trader to the empire, but when it goes from a single person, entire star systems you begin to ask yourself why, how much of your soul are you willing to trade." I pause " you have been there. Haven't you?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled -3)
Shifter lets the words land in the small space between them. The bridge stays still, but the console scar pulses once, a thin red reminder under his hand.
Shifter
You can keep a betrayal small, one trader handed to the Empire. But when it swallows whole star systems, you start asking why. How much of your soul are you willing to trade?
He pauses, then turns the question back toward her, not pressing, just placing it down.
Shifter
You have been there, haven’t you?
Mara Vey
Yes. More than once.
Mara Vey
Her gaze drops to the scar on the console, then returns to him. For a moment, her jaw tightens like she is measuring the cost of every old order she ever followed.
Mara Vey
I was good at telling myself the system was the point. That story dies faster than the people it burns.
Mara eases a step closer, still in the doorway, but no longer holding back. The quiet between them turns from guarded to shared.
Mara Vey
As for me, I am here. I am listening. That has to count for something, right?
“"indeed" I stop and look across the terminal, and look up to her. " As you where betrayed today, I was betrayed on praxus. Only I was left for dead, enslaved and crawled out years later." I tell her”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled +1)
Shifter lets the console light sit between them, then looks up at Mara instead of the scar. The bridge stays quiet, all muted panels and held breath.
Shifter
As you were betrayed today, I was betrayed on Praxus. I was left for dead, enslaved, and I crawled out years later.
The words hang there clean and plain, with no softness to hide them. Mara’s posture changes at once, her shoulders going still as if she feels the weight of the sentence.
Mara Vey
Enslaved... and you still came back.
Mara Vey
She looks down, then back at him, the question she has been avoiding pressing hard behind her eyes.
She takes a slow breath and does not retreat. The console scar pulses red once, reflecting in the doorway frame.
Mara Vey
Then we know something about each other now. Not just what the Empire did, but what it took to survive it.
Mara holds his gaze, open now, waiting for what he makes of that shared wound.
Quest Complete
Answer Mara Vey’s question honestly
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Superb→Legendary