Your heart pounds as you dive back into the wrecked time machine, fingers flying across the cracked control panel. Sparks erupt from damaged circuits as you override the safety protocols. The smell of burning insulation fills the cramped cockpit as you reroute power from non-essential systems. The holographic display flickers dangerously, showing the temporal capacitors at only 17% charge - barely enough for a short jump.

The armored figures are advancing now, their strange weapons humming to life. One raises their arm and a searing blue beam slices through the air, vaporizing part of the machine's exterior plating. You duck as molten metal droplets rain down around you. With a final desperate command, you initiate the emergency jump sequence.

The machine shudders violently, its damaged frame protesting. Warning lights flash crimson as the temporal drive struggles to activate. Outside, the lead figure suddenly lunges forward, their armored hand reaching for you through the broken dome. At the last possible second, the familiar blue glow of the time vortex engulfs the cockpit.

Reality twists sickeningly around you as the machine lurches through time once more. The last thing you see before the vortex claims you is the armored figure's outstretched hand disintegrating into temporal particles. Then everything goes black.

You wake to the sound of birdsong and the smell of fresh earth. The time machine lies half-buried in rich black soil, steam rising from its overheated systems. Towering ancient trees surround you, their massive trunks wider than houses. Sunlight filters through the dense canopy far above, dappling the forest floor in golden light. Somewhere in the distance, an unearthly roar echoes through the primordial wilderness.