Chaos consumed Black Pagoda. Stations scrambled to hide. Tomb-01 fired again. L5 vanished.
Handler shoved Lin Mo toward an escape pod. "The Omega signature is a beacon! Go! Take your sister! We'll scatter!"
"Where?" Lin Mo demanded, Yu clutched in his morphed Omega arms.
"Earth is lost! Head for the Belt! Look for Keeper outposts! They oppose the Tombs!" Coordinates flashed in his visor.
The pod launched. Lin Mo watched through the viewport as Tomb-01's beam sliced toward Station L7.
Handler stood calmly in the control room. As the beam hit, their mask cracked, revealing a glimpse of scarred, resigned flesh. Then static.
[BLACK PAGODA STATION L7: DESTROYED]
Guilt warred with survival. He set course for the asteroid belt.
Yu stirred. "Ge? Where…?"
"Somewhere safe," Lin Mo lied, the Omega form receding, leaving him exhausted. [ENERGY: 5 UNITS]
The pod shuddered. [GRAVITY ANOMALY DETECTED]
Not a Tomb. A ship. Sleek, silver, shaped like a dagger. It clamped onto the pod with magnetic grapples.
[DESIGNATION: KEEPER PATROL VESSEL 'DAWN'S EDGE']
A comms channel crackled open. A familiar, grating voice:
"Took your time, thief."
Wu Gen's face filled the screen, scowling. Behind him, the bridge hummed with quiet efficiency. "Bringing alien nightmares to my doorstep? Rude. Dock. Now. And explain why I shouldn't space you."