The certified custody finding expands across the orbital platform’s hearing chamber. Federation oversight nodes open a formal accountability docket, linking the concealed excavation records to corporate command structures.
remote federation reviewers
The evidence is verified. We are opening investigations into the contractors, the excavation authority, and every official who suppressed the first-awakening sequence.
Anna remains beside the chronology display, while Winona stands beneath the casualty records. Kaelo maintains live control of the sealed archive. Rent is still behind on Necropolis.
Anna
Then the survivors need protection, not merely a public statement. The people left on Necropolis may be witnesses, targets, or both.
remote federation reviewers
A recovery mandate is being drafted. The orbital platform will coordinate evacuation, medical support, and witness security under federation authority.
Vivienne
And the corporations will respond. Freeze my contractors if you must, but do not pretend accountability ends with a hearing seal.
A second docket appears, naming survivor custody, Max’s monitored interface, Kaelo’s authorization, and the unresolved security situation on Necropolis. The chamber waits for Max’s position.
“Is Rent still alive at the launch infrastructure?”
YES, BUT (Even, rolled 46)
The recovery mandate’s first encrypted packet arrives from Necropolis. A launch-infrastructure beacon confirms Rent is alive, but its signal is weak and intermittent.
remote federation reviewers
The beacon identifies Rent’s suit transponder. He survived the launch-site collapse, though his communications array is damaged and his position remains hazardous.
Anna
Then he held the line long enough for us to escape. The recovery team must reach him before the Dirge find that beacon.
A rescue corridor opens on the platform displays, routing medical craft and security escorts toward the distant launch pad. The operation consumes the platform’s last reserve shuttle.
Vivienne
That is a costly deployment, but it is justified. Rent is a witness, and he deserves extraction before anyone decides his survival is inconvenient.
Kaelo
The archive remains sealed, the evidence remains certified, and now the survivor list has one more living name.
The accountability docket locks into federation custody. Beyond the viewport, Necropolis turns beneath them while the rescue signal holds, thin but unmistakably alive.
“Monitor Rent’s beacon and guide the rescue craft”
SUCCESS (Good Command, rolled -1)
Max locks his cybernetic interface onto Rent’s intermittent transponder and filters the beacon through the platform’s rescue lattice. The signal resolves into a navigable corridor across Necropolis.
Max
The beacon is moving east of the launch pad, beneath the broken escarpment.
He feeds corrected coordinates to the rescue craft, adjusting for dust interference and unstable terrain. The craft banks toward Rent’s shelter as Max maintains the guidance link.
remote federation reviewers
Rescue craft has the corridor. Rent’s transponder is locked, and the medical team confirms visual contact.
The guidance succeeds, but the sustained interface draw burns out one of Max’s auxiliary neural relays. His monitored access drops to passive status while the craft lands safely.
Anna
They have him. The recovery team is extracting Rent now, and the beacon will no longer expose his position.
Below the viewport, the rescue craft lifts from Necropolis with Rent aboard. The accountability docket remains certified, the archive remains sealed, and every surviving witness is accounted for.
The rescue craft cleared the dust front with Rent secured inside. Across the platform, the last reserve lights dimmed into a steady, watchful glow.
Anna
Rent is alive. The survivors are protected. That is enough for this hour.
Vivienne
And the docket is in Federation custody. The corporations can resist the truth, but they cannot bury it again.
Kaelo
The archive remains sealed. Max’s interface is passive, but stable.
Max
Passive is still here. Everyone made it out. For now, that is victory.
The Federation’s investigations began under the weight of evidence that could no longer be suppressed, while recovery mandates carried Necropolis’s survivors toward safety and care. Rent lived, the archive endured, and Max’s burned-out relay left a permanent cost written into the rescue. With Kaelo, Anna, and Vivienne beside the consequences, the chapter closed on accountability secured, survivors protected, and a hard-won silence after the alarms.