The train lurches, then screams against the rails. Somewhere ahead, metal locks hard and the carriage shudders under the brake bite.
Sharp Archer catches the doorframe as frost spiders across the vestibule glass. Beyond it, armed silhouettes crowd the platform, closing in on the dossier before the train clears the station limits.
The Operative
They have found us. Archer, keep that packet out of their hands.
Agnes Bell
The timetable was right, then someone is already on the move. We are exposed.
Mallory
Brakes locked, men outside, splendid. I call that a bad moment.
The carriage jolts again. Through the frosted pane, one rifle lifts, then another, all of them trained toward the door and the papers inside.
Sharp Archer
They are not waiting for the station police. They want the dossier now.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the dossier out of their hands
“I tell Agness and Mallory to get the artifact and signal us when they've secured it and laid the demolition. The operative and I will hold the line”
SUCCESS (Great Tactics, rolled +0)
Sharp Archer
Agnes, Mallory, take the artifact and signal us when the charge is set. The Operative and I hold this door.
Agnes snaps the dossier page tight against her coat and moves low down the aisle. Mallory follows, one hand out for balance, eyes cutting toward the vestibule.
Agnes Bell
Understood. Keep them off us for a minute.
Mallory
A minute is generous. We will make do.
The Operative squares himself beside Sharp Archer, shoulder to shoulder at the doorframe, while the carriage shudders against the locked brakes.
The Operative
If they board, they come through us first.
Outside, a fist slams the vestibule glass. Frost rattles, and a clipped shout carries through the seal, demanding the papers.
Agnes and Mallory vanish toward the far end of the carriage, the dossier page with them, while the first latch at the vestibule gives a hard metallic knock from the other side.
Quest Complete
Keep the dossier out of their hands