The ceiling shuddered, clouding the normally pristine air in the Temporal Vault with dust. The layers of the reinforced impervium walls were starting to degrade and despite the best efforts of the Observer system there were only minutes before the dimensional collapse would breach the final defences.

Zero and the remaining Strykers had spend years making sure that, had anything followed them back from the Shard, that reinforced doors and defence cannons would make quick work of them. Now these defences were quickly disabled and the power diverted to temporal observation for as long as possible, every second that the dimension could be sustained was vital. It had been no small effort establishing a portal to evacuate as many as possible to an independent dimension that resembled our own.

As the last of the evacuees stepped into the portal, the Strykers themselves began to evacuate, taking one last glance at their base of operations and remembering all the missions and events that this great fortress had been the epicentre of.

As the portal began to flicker and lose cohesion Zero, still at the Observer console had one last way of keeping the portal open long enough for the Strykers, and himself to safely leave. Twisting the hilt of his energy sword, the Zero Saber - it's dimensional storage console slid into view. Entering the new settings the energy blade was quickly extinguished and connected to the Observer.

The Saber, renowned for Zero's abilities wielding it flickered out of view for the last time as Zero dove through the portal, looking back he saw the image fade as the collapse consumed the last remnants of the dimension. Feeling a sense of loss at both his home and a weapon that was as much a part of him as his own hands, he was quickly fulfilled again seeing the faces of those that had escaped. The important question now, was where or more importantly when were they all?