When Sam and the Vanguard landed in 3021, bedlam broke loose around them. Battlecruisers loomed over them like giant spiders, clean lines slicing the emptiness as blasts of energy illuminated the dark expanse. What had once been a symbol of exploration and progress stood before Sam as an abandoned battlefield on the surface of the Moon. Craters and debris littered the landscape, but hanging in the distance was the distant glow of Earth, like a haunting reminder of what was at stake.
"Welcome to the future," Lyra muttered grimly as they both ducked behind a jagged rock formation. The sounds of far-off explosions echoed around them, causing the ground beneath their feet to shake with that violence.
Finn was already sweeping with his hand, his handheld device whirring with data. "The anomaly is near. I'm reading a huge spike in temporal energy about three clicks east."
Glimmering through the smoke and dust of battle, her eyes squinted: Sam should be able to see it now-from a distance, she could make out a towering structure-an ancient, crumbling lunar base, now fortified by war machines and soldiers. There, she realized, was where the Ancient One was making his move.
"We're entering, " said Lyra, her voice firm and in arguing terms.
Vanguard charged through the battlefield of wreckage while fighting war all around them. The weight on their shoulders weighed heavily, she felt the beat of her heart within her chest; for it's more than the battle for the future- it was a battle for the timeline itself.
As they drew near the base, Sam's stabilizer started to throb with energy, the readings off the charts. This rift was bigger, much more unstable than anything they had ever seen before. And at its heart, surrounded by swirling temporal energy, stood the Ancient One.
He was overpowering: more himself than not, sometimes appearing in a flicker between two realities, like he existed in multiple timelines at once. His eyes, dark and piercing, centered on Sam and the Vanguard as they approached.
"You've come a long way," the Ancient One said, his voice ringing in the air. "But it's too late. The timeline is already mine."
Lyra drew her sword, her eyes aglow with a fierce determination. "Not if we have anything to say about it,"
The Ancient One laughed, low, threatening. "You still don't get it. This is not a war you can win. Time itself bends to my will."
And Sam came forward with stabilizer in hand. "We'll see about that."
Called forth by renewed resolve, Sam flipped the switch, the charge searing through the rift. The ground quivered and the air was strained and half-torn as stabilizer clashed with the Ancient One's mastery of time.
But the Ancient was prepared. With a raised hand, he dispersed the energy within the stabilizer to an inside-torching vortex within the rift. "You're too late," the Ancient One declared, his eyes gleaming with triumph. "This is the end of the timeline."
For a moment she thought everything was lost, but Sam's heart sank. And then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Finn working furiously with his device.
"Sam!" he shouted over the scream of the rift. "There is still a way! We have to invert the temporal polarity of the stabilizer-drive overload into the rift itself!"
Sam nodded and hastened to Finn's side as they worked together to reconfigure the stabilizer. The Ancient One watched them, his face impassive.
"You cannot stop me," he breathed softly. "Time always finds a way."
But Sam wasn't listening. Throwing in one final dial, she and Finn reset the stabilizer once again, pushing a surge of power toward the rift. The earth sagged under them and the air was filled with a deafening roar as the rift seemed to be collapsing in on itself.
The Ancient One's form began to flicker as his control over it slipped. The timeline began to fight back against him. "No!" the Ancient One shouted, enraged. "Not like this!" But it was too late. The rift collapsed, pulling down the Ancient One with it. Time itself seemed to shudder, and then immediately in an instant went silent. The war, the chaos, the rift-all of it was gone. Sam fell to her knees, pouting for air as the weight of their triumph washed over her. The timeline was saved. So far.