The engine detonation wasn't fire. It was implosion. The ship shuddered violently, hurling bodies. Lights died. Artificial gravity failed.
[MAIN POWER OFFLINE]
[LIFE SUPPORT: 12 MINUTES]
Momentum carried the crippled Dawn's Edge inexorably into Tomb-01's gaping maw. Darkness swallowed them.
Lin Mo found Yu in the gloom, secured her to a structural beam with webbing. Wu Gen grappled with Silas in zero-G, a brutal ballet of fists and metal. Baylor was unconscious at his station, Li Na desperately trying reroute emergency power.
The ship scraped against unseen surfaces, shrieking. Then, relative stillness. Tomb-01's interior was vast, dark, and alive with low, resonant hums. Gravity returned – weak, uneven.
[ENVIRONMENT: UNKNOWN ATMOSPHERE (BREATHABLE? UNKNOWN) | GRAVITY: 0.3G]
[VOID SEED RESONANCE: EXTREME - SOURCE DEEP WITHIN]
Silas broke free, kicking towards an emergency hatch. "The Core is near! Handler needs the Seed!"
Wu Gen moved to intercept. Lin Mo stopped him. "Let him go."
"What?!"
"He's a beacon," Lin Mo said, eyes cold. "Let Tomb-01 focus on the thief. We find another way."
He placed his hand on the buckled hull. The Void Seed flared.
[OMEGA GHOST: FULL EMULATION - DURATION: 3 MINUTES]
Chitinous plates covered him. He ripped through the hull like paper, creating a jagged exit. Beyond lay a landscape of obsidian spires and humming conduits. The air tasted of ozone and something ancient.
"Stay with Yu," Lin Mo ordered Wu Gen. "I'll find the Core. And end this."
He leaped into the alien darkness.