Fractured Belief. A Fractured Goodbye.

The sun rose on a new day, and as it did, the bridge crew, Madam Cecilia, Camden, and Levo were all gathered at the machine. This must have been the most people this room had housed in quite a while. The mood was somewhat awkward. After all, they’d lost. The Iron Hand still remained at large, even after this long, eventful journey. But the Madam held up her end of the bargain, and it was finally time to send him back. The air still remained a dry cool, causing goosebumps to form on Camden's arms and along the back of his neck. Then again, that could have also been from the anticipation of a return. His hand tightened around the hilted remnant of the blade, a souvenir from his journey that he’d been permitted to take back home.

As someone from the repair division carefully slotted in the core, and screwed it into place. The machine activated briefly, jostling gently before settling down once more. It appeared to have calibrated itself to the core that it now possessed.

The Captain walked up to Camden, a slight smile on his face.

“Thank you for your help,” he said, his rough voice professional and calm. “We may not have won today, but perhaps we will win tomorrow.”

Camden stood, hands behind his back, and nodded.“I can only hope so. Thank you, Captain.”

He then turned to face the Madam, who looked disappointed to be seeing him go.

“I will pull the lever, and then the machine will activate,” she said. “Once that occurs, you must speak your desire to the machine. You must state where you wish to go. Understood?”

“Understood,” Camden confirmed. “Thank you Madam. Thank you for everything.”

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Valaraki.”

Camden glanced at Levo, the two of them sharing a final nod before his departure. The Madam made her way to the control panel located at the side of the room. She reached out, and pulled the heavy lever, as it clanked into place.

It was finally time to leave. Camden took a deep breath in, and uttered the words that he wished to have uttered this entire time. “Send me home.”

Immediately, the machine came to life, a faint pink glow enveloping the main sphere. It slowly but surely increased in brightness, powering up to finally bring Camden back to his reality. But more importantly, to reunite with Maya. Hopefully she’d still be willing to talk to him after his mysterious disappearance. He hadn’t meant to leave, but there wasn’t any way that she could have known that.

This was the moment. What he’d waited so long for. He was so close now…

…

The room shook violently for a short burst, knocking Camden and everyone else to the floor. And then it shook again. And again.

“Substantial damage, all sides! All crew, attend to your--” the speaker sparked, cutting out. Whoever was on the other end had sounded more frantic than it had previously. The lights flickered intensely, before shutting off completely instead of the usual dimming that would occur during an attack.

“No…”

Not now.

Not when he was so close to reuniting with his friend.

The machine, however, continued to operate, its intense pink light now the only thing illuminating the room. Chaos ensued, as the bridge crew scrambled out of the room to head to their stations. Or at least, they tried. As soon as they entered the hallway, a firefight broke out. Laser blasts and punches and bodies falling to the ground. Camden couldn’t see what was happening from where he stood, but it definitely didn’t sound good.

Levo shook his head, broken out of his trance. He drew his blaster, holding it at the ready as he too, rushed out into the hall, fueled by adrenaline. It was chaos.

The Madam turned back to look at Camden, an intense expression on her face.

“Stay here!” she commanded. Though unlike last time, this was for his own wellbeing. She ran out into the hall to go help, leaving Camden alone in the room with the machine.

The pink light grew even stronger, a nearly blinding brightness emitting from it. Camden was certain that if he turned around, he’d probably get permanent eye damage, so he stayed facing the doorway, inching closer to get a better grasp on what was happening. And that’s when he saw it. Everything happened in slow motion.

The assailant had made his way closer to the door, the bridge crew having been powerless to stop him.

Levo running at full speed towards him, then being shot in the shoulder, sent flying back down the hall and to the ground.

Madam Cecilia attempting to knock the assailant off balance, being slammed against the thick metal wall instead. Her body slumping to the floor, unconscious.

The assailant turning to look Camden dead in the eyes as he made his way towards the machine. A face that made Camden’s blood run cold. Lozanthos Stone himself.

But then the light enveloped Camden’s body, and the world vanished before his eyes.