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Beacon and enemy ships unexpectedly collide at the darkness rim, creating confusion. Contemplation orders Beaconites to gather east into the darkness. Amid scattered boarding actions, an enemy vessel tows the Beaconite command ship away from safety.

Nomad spots the captured command ship and directs Rebeke toward it. Using a risky leap across passing decks, Nomad reaches the target but is pinned by rifle fire and his Torment’s freezes. He pries off the cockpit’s blast shield, smashes through the window, and confronts two Charred assaulting the Greater Good inside.

Forced into a defensive struggle, Nomad absorbs punishing baton blows while avoiding lethal counters that would trigger his Torment. An enemy pilot joins with a rifle, escalating the threat. Nomad disrupts her, drawing the Charred fully onto him to open an opportunity for the leaders.

Contemplation seizes the dropped rifle and shoots one Charred in the head, then the other in the chest until both fall. With the pilot disarmed and the tow reversed, the command ship turns back toward the darkness. Nomad collapses to recover as Auxiliary warns his Skip capacity has fallen below nine percent.

Rebeke rejoins them as Confidence coordinates the retreat over radio. Though many Beaconites escape and the Beacon guides them, sustained enemy pressure forces the fleet south into a different corridor—dangerous latitudes they hadn’t planned to enter—leaving them alive but vulnerable and off-course.