Felix spent that afternoon in a heated debate over the radio with Major Lucero. Felix knew what the outcome would be if the UAV's opened fire on Lloyd but then again the Major had no idea what the Gaia-born cyborg was capable of.

Despite his frustrations Major Lucero still had concerns for the safety of the refugees and was only annoyed that he would now have to explain how he had lost two UAV's to his superiors. Felix reported Lloyd's findings to the Major and they were all baffled and unsettled by the outcome. Major Lucero was adamant that he and his forces were not involved, "I assure you, I gave no such orders."

"And you're certain that nothing, left the grave, of its own accord?" Eva questioned then nodded to Felix she had finished speaking. Felix released the PTT button.

"Yes, most definitely," the Major replied. "If the dead were climbing out of that hole the UAV's would've taken notice.

They ceased communications with the Major and were still left without answers. Just as Felix went to go contact Joseph, Gaia spoke up.

"We may not be in the clear after all, the Scourge may still be here."

"I don't see how," argued Felix turning back, "the Major had it under observation this whole time. Nothing came out of that hole."

It was at that exact moment that Felix, Lloyd, Gaia and Eva each came to the same conclusion. Just as Felix was about to share his thinking their discussion was cut short by a blood-curdling scream from outside. Still on edge from earlier, all four on Lloyd's weapons activated as he jumped to his feet. They ran outside to hear more screams coming from multiple directions. Emelia activated her weapons and along with Lloyd stood forward waiting for an adversary to cut down. A group of people came running from between two of the dwellings and giving chase was a winged creature easily the size of three people. It's two pairs of wings buzzed quickly keeping it aloft, making it sound like a swarm of bees. It dived clutching the closest of the stragglers in it's talons and Lloyd opened fire clipping it's wings instantly dropping it to the ground. The victim was already dead and lay in a pool of her blood as Lloyd and Emelia ran over to finish the creature off. The creature was dispatched quickly and they continued to fire without pause for a few moments until all pieces were completely eliminated.

"Gaia!" Felix yelled. Gaia knew exactly what was expected of her and she patched into the PA system without hesitation.

"Alert! Alert! This is not a drill, evacuate to safe zone!" Her voice echoed throughout the settlement drowned out only by the continuing screams of her dying children. "I'll get Maddison!" Gaia called as she ran back inside. Felix called to Major Lucero for immediate assistance.

As panic stricken refugees came flooding through the camp they were called over and stood with Felix and Eva behind Lloyd and Emelia who fired constantly at the flying Scourge that gave chase.

"Help is on its way," confirmed Felix clipping the radio back on his belt.

"Good, they can get eaten while we escape," interjected Eva as her eyes darted back and forth watching the winged creatures be cut down by Lloyd and Emelia as quickly as they appeared.

"Time to go!" declared Gaia stepping from their dwelling with Maddison in tow. They fled the settlement heading in the direction of the military outpost with Emelia at the rear.

As per their evacuation plan, Lloyd pushed further into the settlement to find as many survivors as possible and cover their retreat. One of the Scourge units swooped down knocking Lloyd off his feet, Felix broke formation running back to his aid.

"Get back! I've got this!" barked Lloyd as he righted himself instantly and shot down the Scourge that pushed its luck. Ignoring him Felix blindly charged into the settlement.

The others continued to flee for their lives as Felix disappeared back into the chaos. Emelia went to chase after him but Gaia grabbed her arm and reminded her to follow the plan they all agreed to. If any of the Scourge headed for them she was all that stood in their way. Six UAV's arrived on the scene and started to fire on the Scourge forces. In reaction to the new threat dozens of the Scourge units climbed higher in the air and engaged the UAV's. Though the Scourge were slower in the air, the plasma rounds from the UAV guns did little damage and the Scourge fired back with barbs plucking two UAV's from the air with little effort.

Lloyd continued to charge through the settlement firing constantly while screaming a ferocious war-cry. Dozens of people poured out from between the buildings terrified, screaming and ran to catch up with the others. A few Scourge gave chase but were promptly shot down by Emelia as they kept moving to the assembly point.

Felix quickly found himself alone running from house to house calling out for survivors, after entering half a dozen dwellings he had found no one. He stepped back outside from an empty house to find half a mans torso cradling a small child to what remained of his chest in a pile of blood. Felix rolled them over gently to find the child was little Cassie, she had been disembowelled by a single slash. Felix lost all reason, his mind went blank as his rage climaxed. He screamed as loudly as his lungs would allow as the colour of his face reddened to match his emotional eruption. A Scourge unit was on the roof above him and hearing Felix scream it appeared in front of him. Felix levitated off the ground and as the creature sped toward him it suddenly stopped, frozen in place. It's vile form bloated and bulged in sections before it ruptured, exploding into a cloud of brown mist. Felix floated away slowly and as more Scourge closed in to attack him they were destroyed as well. Three more Scourge units appeared and fired barbs toward Felix only to be stopped mid-air before him then they were hurled back at their owners. As the barbs stuck into the Scourge they were crippled and fell to the ground, only to rupture and explode simultaneously. Felix regained his senses and fell from the air dropping to a knee, he had a slight recollection of what he had just done but was now unable to continue. His body and mind drained to the point of severe exhaustion, his vision began to blur just as a Scourge unit crawled over the building in front of him. Felix then collapsed unconscious.

The creature was fired upon just before it reached Felix and Lloyd appeared in a flash scooping him up and ran to clear the settlement. Thousands of refugees had managed to escape during the attack and had gathered together out in the open. As Lloyd ran toward them gunships flew overhead firing missiles at the settlement. Lloyd rejoined with Gaia and the others, he handed over Felix before joining Emelia back on the fringe. Transports landed between them and the settlement and soldiers poured out. All the UAV's had been destroyed and the Scourge were now engaged with the gunships. Within minutes most of the gunships were down and the soldiers were being slaughtered, their plasma rifles did little damage and the Scourge continued to advance unhindered. Major Lucero stepped off a transport and ran over followed by a pair of soldiers to find Felix on the ground being held by Maddison.

"Is, is he?" the Major barely managed to mumble staring at Felix. Maddison ignored him still caressing Felix's hair.

"He's alive, just unconscious," snapped Eva. "I hope you have reinforcements, those ones you already dropped are being wiped out." Major Lucero turned in horror back to the scene unfolding behind him. All of his gunships were now gone and his forces were being cut to ribbons. He trembled as he watched on speechless.

The ground began to rumble, many lost their footing from the mighty tremors as roughly 600m meters away the earth gave way and crumbled inward. Ground-type Scourge units poured out by the thousands like enraged ants from a disturbed mound. Major Lucero dropped to his knees, he was by no means a coward but nothing Felix had shown him that day could compare to the horrors that he then bore witness to with his own eyes.

"Looks like it really is the end this time," stated Gaia in a very cold voice.

"I think you might be right," agreed Eva sounding almost happy that the nightmare was finally drawing to a conclusion.

Maddison remained on the ground clutching Felix tightly while she continued to whisper in his ear, "you have to wake up, you have to save us."

With the last of the Earth soldiers ripped apart and being devoured, the dozen remaining flying-type Scourge headed for the survivors. Lloyd and Emelia fired mercilessly keeping them at bay. Once the flyers had stopped advancing Lloyd and Emelia turned their attention to the horde that continued to spew forth from the ground.

Emelia looked at Lloyd with fierce determination, "I know what must be done," she insisted. Lloyd knew exactly what she meant and gave a solemn nod.

"Reckon you can take them all with you?" he chuckled staring down the horde.

"Maybe half, if we're lucky. I want you to throw me as close as you can."

"Understood, it was an honour," he declared extending his hand to hers.

They shook hands then Emelia crouched down, she raised her knees to her chest securing them with her arms. Curled into a ball Emelia gave the nod and Lloyd picked her up. "Tell everyone I said good bye and tell Maddie, I'm sorry." With that Lloyd spun around and hurled Emelia through the air will all his synthetic might, she covered at least 300m before touching down, she rolled for a few seconds then took to her feet springing open then charging toward the approaching swarm. She screamed as she fired at them, then deviated her course and ran to the side luring them away from the survivors. The horde took the bait and they started to flow towards Emelia, she was much faster but she slowed and shot to tease them further. Hundreds of barbs were fired toward her in constant volleys, she was hit in her right shoulder and both her right side weapons failed. She continued to shoot with the left pair as she ran backwards. She had finally lured the horde 2km away before being hit in her left leg and collapsing. She pulled herself back up and hobbled along still shooting. The horde was closing in and their accuracy increasing. Emelia laid down to minimise their target, her chest plating began to open and a bright light beamed out in all directions. As the horde was finally upon her Emelia detonated her power core and a bright light filled the sky. The explosion wiped out over two thirds of the horde, the rest was sent flying. As the smoke cleared and the dust settled, the remainder of the swarm started to get back up. They turned their attention back to the survivors and headed back towards them.

The horde was closing in now only 1km away, all the survivors had accepted their fate and collapsed, sitting down awaiting the end. Gaia sat with a group of her children all holding hands in a circle to accompany each other to the afterlife. The only pair that remained standing were Lloyd and Eva side by side. Eva had a plasma rifle in her hands that she had persuaded one of the Major's personal guards to part with, and she stood ready to fight until her heart stopped and she no longer drew breath.

The horde pressed on gaining more ground, all of the surviving refugees had finally given up, their cries ceasing as they sat quietly waiting to meet their demise.

Gaia lifted her head and smiled, confusing those that sat around her. In a loud voice she announced to all those within her extended earshot, "the cavalry has arrived!" A surreal noise filled the air as a wave of small aircraft descended from the heavens, breaching the clouds as they fired into the horde with energy weapons in a dazzling display. There were hundreds of them, small, roughly 2m wide and highly agile easily changing course in an instant. The wave came down as one while it opened fire into the horde then separated into groups of 3 to pick off individual targets.

Lloyd hearing Gaia called out as he ran over to her, "are those Tarraxen?" he asked with excitement in his voice.

Gaia smiled, "indeed they are Lloyd. According to my Tarraxen database they are Ket-Kets and judging by how many there are I'd say a Barooda class is in orbit," explained Gaia rising to her feet, her spirits lifted, along with those of her children around her.

As Gaia had finished speaking a ship came into view, a Sarrat class was entering the atmosphere above their position. As the Ket-Kets continued to harass the horde, the Sarrat descended and hovered to 10m off the ground just a stones throw from the refugees. The people rejoiced at the sight of the familiar ship having already lost all faith in the capabilities of the Earth's military instantly. The sides of the Sarrat opened extending out racks of drones that activated in rows dropping to the ground and bolting over at full speed. The Scourge horde was being cut down by the aerial assault but there were far too many and they continued to push on towards the refugees. The drones on the ground ran toward their objective, forming a wall of 60 units they stood between the refugees and the encroaching Scourge with their weapons at the ready. What remained of the Scourge continued to advance now only 50m away and the drones opened fire. The Scourge were cut down without mercy, not a single unit came within 30m of the forward line. Once all the Scourge units had been dealt with and their remains fully destroyed the Ket-Kets left, ascending upward to dock back with the Barooda in orbit. With the drones still on the ground the Sarrat lifted off, moving away it climbed higher until it was at an elevation of a few kilometres, puzzling those watching on.

Felix regained consciousness, opening his eyes to find himself with his head in Maddison's lap. She smiled at him with tears running down her face and bent down to kiss him. Felix turned his head to see the drones standing in formation and knew what it meant.

"Where's Erranos?" he asked Maddison clearing his throat.

"We don't know yet, that ship dropped off the drones and there were little flying ones that came down from space too but they just left," she explained pointing to the Sarrat high off in the distance.

Felix sat up and stared toward the ship with sheer admiration for he knew it meant Erranos had come. The next second it was struck by a missile and the shock-wave rippled across the ground. The refugees were in horror, as the smoke cleared the ship was intact with no signs of damage. A faint purple coloured shell flickered around the ship then disappeared.

"Yes!" cheered Felix confusing Maddison. He took to his feet still weak and a tad shaky. "The shields held!" Lloyd and Eva noticed Felix was up and ran over, stopping short from the sound of a second and third missile impacts on the Sarrat. Again the shields held and the ship was unscathed. Lloyd ran over to Major Lucero grabbing him by his shirt.

"Why are they firing on that ship?" he demanded.

"I, I, I'm not sure," the Major stuttered. One of his guards ran over handing the Major a small device. Placing it over his right ear, the Major was then engaged in a conversation. He walked off from the others as he spoke, during that time nothing else was fired at the Sarrat.

A few minutes later Major Lucero removed the communicator from his ear and walked back over to Felix and Lloyd whom were waiting for him. "That was HQ, as I'm sure you've already guessed."

"What the hell is going on? Why are they attacking the Tarraxen ship?" Felix burst out cutting off the Major.

"I have been advised that they have ceased fire and that those were a warning." Major Lucero informed them patting down his uniform to remove dust as if he hadn't just been laying face down in the dirt minutes earlier.

"A warning?" Lloyd barked angrily. He was growing more annoyed and prepared to chastise the Major but noticed that the Sarrat was now heading towards them. "This should be interesting." Lloyd chuckled thinking about the Major's reaction to the ship landing before him. Gaia had overhead the conversation between Lloyd and the Major and relayed the information.

The Sarrat touched down and a moment later Erranos stepped out to join them. The Major was mesmerised, he stood in silence as Erranos walked right up to them.

"Nice timing. So you did receive our transmission?" asked Lloyd.

"I did. I then attempted to send a reply but the signal was jammed. Where is Emelia?" asked Erranos.

"Yeah where is Emmy?" added Maddison as she scanned the faces around her.

"She's gone, she gave her life to save us from the Scourge," Lloyd answered sullenly, Maddison began to cry burying her face into Felix's chest. "We'd all be dead if you hadn't arrived in time," Lloyd said looking at Erranos

"I see," replied Erranos. Gaia came over to join in the reunion.

"So why did they fire on you?" asked Felix.

"Presumably in retaliation for firing EMP bursts at their Defence station," Erranos answered.

"Unprovoked I might add," chimed in Major Lucero. Lloyd and Felix stared down the Major and he lowered his hand closing his mouth.

"When I arrived, I stated that I was responding to a distress beacon. I was advised that you were in no danger and that I did not have permission to land. I did so anyway," explained Erranos.

Felix, Lloyd and Eva laughed, much to the aggravation of Major Lucero. He quickly regained his courage and spoke up, "what you did could be considered as an act of war!"

Erranos turned to face the Major causing him to nervously take a step back, "the bursts only rendered the station temporarily incapacitated. There was no damage," argued Erranos is his usual low tone.

"Besides," started Felix, "clearly their shield technology is far beyond anything you can throw at them."

"Those weren't nuclear warheads mind you," added Major Lucero in spite.

"Is that a threat!?" accused Lloyd stepping forward in anger.

The Major's demeanour shifted quickly back to submission, "no no of course not, just an observation," he corrected with his hands up passively. "My superiors have advised that more forces are en route. Felix what are your intentions?"

Felix was puzzled, "uh my intentions?" he looked at Lloyd, who was just as confused. Maddison and Eva were also clueless but Gaia had inside information she had received from Erranos after he arrived.

Gaia stepped forward, "we intend to leave, if you're smart you will too," she said bluntly.

Felix looked at Gaia awaiting an explanation but it was Erranos that elaborated. "The Scourge has not been eliminated. The units destroyed here were approximately 30% of the mass I detected from orbit."

"What!?" yelled Lloyd in utter disbelief, "well where's the rest of it?"

"It is travelling North East in a subterranean body of water. However it appears as though small pockets have been separating at random intervals," Erranos explained.

They were mortified, it was too late and the Scourge would now spread unchallenged across the entire Earth.

Major Lucero cleared his throat and spoke, addressing Erranos. "Well I do thank you for inadvertently saving my life. But tell me, how do you know these things?"

"Because I am Tarraxen," answered Erranos causing Felix and Lloyd to snort. "You may wish to advise your superiors that I will be landing another ship. I will also call on others to evacuate those who wish to leave, what is your approximate population?"