Tressa kicks the maintenance spine open and the corridor buckles under her emerald wildfire glare. Steam hisses from cracked pipes. Morrow Nine jerks away from the terminal, data-pad still in hand, no clean exit left.
Pirate Lord 12 holds at the far end, hand hovering over his sidearm, not firing. His angle covers the corridor, but his eyes keep cutting to the Lord’s open channel on the wall display.
Morrow Nine
Wait. Wait, I can fix this. I can hand over the whole trace, the names, all of it.
The data-pad flashes as Morrow Nine tries to purge it, but Tressa’s entry blows the steam aside and exposes the screen. The live signal trace links straight back into her fleet’s hidden routes.
The Lord
Leave him breathing, Tressa. I only need what he copied. Take the pad, and I’ll tell you who else is selling your sky.
Tressa
...
Morrow Nine freezes between Tressa and the Lord’s offer, trapped by both. One more move, and the traitor’s data, and maybe the Lord’s leash, come clear at once.
✓ Quest Accepted
Retrieve the data and eliminate Morrow Nine
“*we see some more Victorian Lord forces that point weapons at us that the Morrow Nine snuck into the secret meeting point I pull out my gun*”
SUCCESS (Good Firearms, rolled -1)
Tressa snaps her rail shotgun free in one smooth pull, the heavy barrel clearing her coat as she squares to the corridor mouth.
Beyond Morrow Nine, two more Victorian Lord guns step out of the steam, weapons already leveled. Their armor catches the emergency red, and the corridor suddenly feels much smaller.
Morrow Nine
No, no, they were not supposed to be here... Tressa, I did not call them!
The Lord
He did not have to. The leak was always bigger than him.
Pirate Lord 12 shifts his aim to the newcomers, jaw tight, while the Dockmaster’s live route data flickers on the wall display behind the Lord’s calm face.
Tressa
The back route is compromised.
Morrow Nine blurts a ragged breath and lifts the data-pad higher, caught between Tressa’s gun and the Lord’s men, as the steam thickens around the terminal.
“*I pull out my gun and I last the Lord's forces before grabbing him by the neck* "I just need your data traitor"”
SUCCESS (Good Firearms, rolled +0)
Tressa fires first. The rail shotgun thunders through steam, and one Victorian Lord gunner jerks backward, armor bursting sparks as the corridor fills with white recoil smoke.
The second gunner tries to swing his aim up, but Tressa is already moving. Her left hand clamps Morrow Nine by the throat and yanks him clean off the terminal.
Morrow Nine
Wait, wait, I have it, I have the data, just do not let him take me!
The Lord
Careful. He dies, and the rest of his secrets vanish with him.
Pirate Lord 12 keeps the corridor covered, weapon steady, while the wall display behind The Lord glitches with route lines and flickering access tags.
Tressa
I just need your data traitor.
Morrow Nine spasms against Tressa’s grip and shoves the data-pad forward with trembling fingers, his purge window collapsing as the steam tears across the floor.
✓ Quest Accepted
Force Morrow Nine to reveal the deeper betrayal
− Scene Quest Removed
Retrieve the data and eliminate Morrow Nine
“Speak quickly before I cook you alive”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Tressa
Speak fast, traitor, before I cook you alive.
Morrow Nine goes rigid in Tressa’s grip, then his eyes flick to the pad. He drags one thumb across the failing purge menu, and a hidden archive splits open on the display.
Morrow Nine
Fine. Fine. The handle was only a relay. The council tag came through a deeper channel, and it was signed from inside your own command web.
Pirate Lord 12
Inside the council?
The Lord does not answer at once. His hologram steadies over the flicker, gaze fixed on the names spilling from the pad, predatory interest sharpening into something almost pleased.
Morrow Nine
I did not have the whole chain. I only fed it what I was told. Two more on the board, maybe three, and one of them uses a lord’s clearance.
The archive finishes decrypting. A route map blooms with nested access flags, showing Morrow Nine’s leak was wrapped by a second signature, then a third. The betrayal reaches beyond him, into the council’s own trust layer.
Quest Complete
Force Morrow Nine to reveal the deeper betrayal