Your hand slams against the emergency pod release before you can second-guess the decision. The panel hisses open, revealing a cramped spherical chamber with four acceleration seats. The ensign doesn't hesitate - she shoves you inside and follows, her curls bouncing as she tumbles into the adjacent seat. 'Strap in!' she shouts over the blaring alarms.

The pod doors seal with a pressurized whoosh, cutting off the corridor's chaos. Through the small circular viewport, you see crew members still scrambling as the ship's artificial gravity flickers - bodies float momentarily before crashing back down. A violent shudder rocks the pod as the magnetic launch sequence initiates. Your stomach lurches as you're thrown backward into the seat padding.

Outside, the obsidian structure's crimson veins pulse brighter, casting the entire Astral Dawn in blood-red light. Just before launch, you catch sight of Captain Veyra at the far end of the corridor, her silver hair glowing like molten metal as she braces against a console, shouting orders you can no longer hear.

The pod jerks free with a deafening metallic screech. For three terrifying seconds, you're pressed deep into the seat by crushing g-forces as the escape pod rockets away. Then - sudden weightlessness. The ensign's panicked breathing fills the small space as the pod tumbles through hyperspace's swirling currents, the Dawn shrinking rapidly behind you.

A proximity alert beeps frantically. Through the viewport, you see the obsidian monolith's energy tendrils lashing toward the Astral Dawn like predatory vines. Then everything vanishes in a flash of blinding white as the pod's emergency hyperdrive engages, yanking you into the chaotic stream between realities.