Lloyd marched down the corridor heading towards Felix's quarters on a mission of great importance. Ruby Torres had attempted contact several times and Lloyd using his candour decided to explain what had happened to justify Felix's absence, but it had gone on long enough. After a week of isolation Felix was seen moving around the ship trying to speak with others and busy himself as though nothing had happened. Discovering Felix wasn't in, Lloyd headed back to the bridge only to bump into Felix at the following junction.

"There you are!" declared Lloyd as if he hadn't seen Felix in months.

"Hey buddy, what's up?" replied Felix with a goofy smile catching Lloyd off guard.

"Oh, uh, yeah, you're needed on the bridge," Lloyd reached out to prompt Felix to return with him. They started walking. "You seem in good spirits, I have to admit you had me worried there."

Felix dropped his upbeat facade immediately, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine," he snarled.

"Okay okay geez, I'll leave it. I do have some interesting news though."

"Yeah, what's that?"Felix enquired with slight scepticism.

"Turns out they didn't use nukes, well not in the conventional sense," explained Lloyd, Felix seemed rather confused. "They were Enhanced Radiation Weapons, specifically neutron bombs."

Felix scowled, "Lloyd, I have no idea what the hell that means."

"Oh right, sorry, well basically they produce less blast damage but send out way more radiation over a far greater area. They said the neutron radiation burst should penetrate deep underground and here's the kicker, it decays rapidly."

Felix raised a curious eyebrow, "How rapidly?" he asked now showing genuine interest.

"Within 2 weeks it will be completely back to safe levels," answered Lloyd.

"Hmmm," Felix grunted, "the perfect weapon for the Scourge. Let's just hope it hadn't already spread."

"Doesn't even matter, they kicked us out remember? We aren't welcome here," Lloyd said bluntly.

"I take it that's what you need me for?" presumed Felix without even prying into Lloyd's mind.

"Yup, you're our leader as far as they are concerned. Not that I don't support you of course," he laughed. They entered the bridge to find Gaia, Eva and Erranos waiting for them. Gaia walked straight over going in for a hug.

"Hello dear, how are you holding up?" she asked pressing the side of her face against Felix's chest before noticing Lloyd shoot daggers her way.

Felix simply smiled, "I'm fine Gaia, thank you." Getting the hint she let go, smiled back and dropped the subject. "So what am I doing?" Felix asked of the room.

"Ruby Torres wishes to speak with you," answered Eva promptly.

"Very well then," Felix announced without vigour.

Erranos hailed the surface and Ruby was patched in. She and Felix exchanged shallow pleasantries in regards to Maddison and Joseph which Felix found increasingly tedious by the second. Finally it was down to business and Ruby conveyed the message from her superiors. Once the neutron radiation had subsided and there were no Scourge to be found, the Tarraxen ships were to leave Earth's orbit immediately and permanently.

Felix scoffed. "So much confidence. And hypothetically, when the Scourge rears its ugly head again, what then hmm?"

"Based on what information I am privy to, if it becomes apparent that a foothold is confirmed. Then we will consider an evacuation," replied Ruby. Felix was unsettled by her reply. His temper simmered until finally he snapped.

"You know what? Fuck it. We're leaving in 1 week. I'll ask you one last time before we go and that's it!" Felix cut the transmission and went to storm out of the bridge. They were all in shock after what Felix said but it was Erranos that sprang into action. He darted in front of Felix, the fastest any of them had ever seen him move and held his arms out as a barrier.

"I wish to speak with you before you go," he declared.

Felix took a deep breath reminding himself who it was that stood before him and all that had been done for them. "Yes, of course," Felix sat down and Erranos relaxed his guard.

"In this particular scenario I will not leave this system at your request. If the Scourge is present, I cannot leave until it is dealt with," explained Erranos. Felix sat massaging his forehead then squinting as he rubbed his eyes.

"I had a feeling you might say that. How far from the planet can you scan for the Scourge?" Felix asked whilst blinking quickly as his eyes focused.

"This is the maximum distance," replied Erranos.

"Dammit, I should have seen that coming," Felix admitted standing back up. "Hail Ruby again, please." Erranos nodded and gave a nod once the connection was established. Felix apologised for snapping at her, Ruby was patient and forgiving, far more than Felix felt he deserved. The details were discussed and Ruby agreed to let Erranos launch unarmed probes into the atmosphere to scan for the Scourge while they waited for the radiation levels to subside. As they left the bridge Eva approached Felix, she punched his left arm hard enough to cause him to jump back, rubbing his sore.

"Ow! What the hell woman?" he blurted out with betrayal in his eyes.

Eva lent in slowly, making the hairs on his neck flare. "Just seeing if you can still feel things," she whispered in his ear before kissing his cheek and strolling off. Felix remained silent, still rubbing his arm trying to make sense of that lunatic.

Within five days three of the requested Lotars arrived and remained in orbit waiting for further orders. Erranos eluded to Felix that Baroodas and Sarrats were also inbound but that they would remain outside of the system to avoid detection. They were certain the the Earth Government would fear an attack if ships other than transport classes arrived en mass. On the final day of their wait there were now five Lotars orbiting Earth and a small fleet amassing beyond Pluto.

The radiation levels had now dropped low enough to be deemed safe for limited human exposure. For four more days the Tarraxen probes scanned the desolate continent finding nothing. Hastily the Earth Government ruled that they had successfully eliminated the Scourge and subsequently praised themselves heavily for it. The Tarraxen ships were reminded by an Officer on board a Defence Platform Satellite that they no longer had a purpose there and were asked politely to vacate.

Erranos was most impressed by the destructive force of the Enhanced Radiation Weapons used to combat the Scourge and at the possibilities of future application through Tarraxen alterations. Gaia in all her wisdom had complete knowledge from human history and was able to share with Erranos the initial concept that was now centuries old. Part of Erranos remained sceptical, he could not refute the data from his own probes but the circumstances were unprecedented. Never before had the Scourge been eliminated after touching down on a world. Hundreds of worlds had met their demise at the hands of the Tarrax in their quest to rid the galaxy of the Scourge. Perhaps in finding this new ally, the hopes of the Tarrax would finally be realised. Without delay Erranos made the request of Gaia and with the data compressed he sent a transmission to the Tarraxen High Command, the largest of the roaming fleets.

Felix spoke with Ruby a final time, despite the outcome he did not wish to leave on such poor terms. After all, they were again without a home and forced to live under the protection and generosity of Erranos. Perhaps there was a chance that their descendants may wish to try their luck with asylum in the distant future. Felix made one last simple request of the Earth Government. "Well Ruby, I guess this is good bye," Felix started, "I'm truly sorry that this was the outcome but we do not wish to cause any further misfortune so, we shall leave."

"I understand, and for what it's worth I wish you could have stayed but ultimately it was never my decision," she said ever playing the middleman.

"Yes of course. Oh, one last thing, if you don't mind. We wish to leave a satellite here in case the Scourge ever arrive here in force," Felix pleaded, hoping they would understand that the small numbers they dealt with were nothing compared to an entire pod. There was hesitation on Ruby's end. "It will be unarmed of course, just a means to contact us if need be."

"Or to spy on us!" Ruby retorted bluntly, "the Earth Government does not give consent for anything Tarraxen to be left in our space," declared Ruby with hostility.

Felix chuckled obnoxiously to himself, "is that right?" he taunted, Felix waved at Erranos to mute the transmission. "Erranos can you call forward the other ships please?" With a nod Erranos complied. Three seconds later a small fleet folded space and appeared just beyond the Earth's moon. There were 5 Baroodas and 22 Sarrats closing in on their position in a tight formation. Felix looked at Erranos and the transmission audio was switched back on. "Ruby I want to be very clear on something," Felix boasted enjoying his bluff as 29 Tarraxen warships in addition to the Lotars now loomed over Earth.

"I'm listening," replied Ruby calmly, clearly having been advised about the new ships.

"This my dear is only a small fleet. In short, these are all that would be required to destroy Earth five times over. Now don't get me wrong, that's not what's going to happen here. These were called in for the scenario where the Scourge took over, so Earth of course will not be destroyed. Just to clarify though, the entire Tarraxen Armada consists of hundreds of thousands of ships," elaborated Felix with a sinister grin.

"You've made your point," Ruby admitted hesitantly, "I will consult my superiors and call you back shortly."

"Okie dokie," replied Felix to mock the Government further.

When the transmission ended, Felix and Lloyd burst into laughter. Gaia and Eva were less impressed though for varied reasons. Eva still wasn't convinced that they were safe from thermonuclear weapons and didn't see the need to antagonise the Earth Government further. Though Gaia shared Eva's concern, she was also burdened heavily by all that had happened since her station was first struck by the Scourge. As far as she was concerned her children deserved a permanent home, which should have been Earth. Gaia was convinced that one day she would accompany her future children on a journey to once again rejoin their brothers and sisters of Earth, however distant that future may be.

Fifteen minutes passed before they were hailed again. Ruby advised that the Earth Government had given it's consent for Erranos to leave a satellite behind, though they were unimpressed about being intimidated into it.

"A wise decision," Felix pointed out, "we are transmitting the coding to activate it."

"Received," responded Ruby. "Farewell, children of Gaia."

"Au revoir," uttered Felix as he gave the sign to Erranos to sever the call. Felix stood and stretched as he did so. He turned to face what remained of his gang, "so. Where to next?"

Gaia took to her feet drawing their attention, "I suggest we head back to the relay station and hopefully find those astray Titans." The group concurred and were ready to set out on the next leg of their journey.

"Looks like we will have to borrow this ship longer than expected," surmised Lloyd addressing Erranos.

"That is fine. We have ample resources to build more," reassured Erranos. "But now I must depart."

The bridge lighting altered and loud warning tone began to plague their ears. Erranos snapped into action as if they were under attack.

"What is it?" Felix called out over the noise.

"Scourge!" yelled Erranos as he leapt to the command chair. The warning was deactivated and varying images of Earth were displayed on the screens of the bridge.

The Earth began to shake as a monstrous occurrence unfolded. Rising from the depths of the Pacific Ocean was a mass hundreds of kilometres in diameter. Erranos sent orders to the Baroodas and Sarrats which entered a low orbit preparing to fire on the Scourge. In that moment hundreds of other masses appeared from the sea along the coast lines of South-East Asia and the Americas. As they made land the Scourge masses each budded becoming billions of Scourge units that descended onto the ground like a tsunami of putrid flesh. The first mass from the centre of the pacific budded into larger flying units almost 15m tall that took flight heading for the Tarraxen fleet. The Baroodas launched all their Ket-Kets immediately and like a swarm they bared down on the Scourge units rising from the sea. The entire planet was in a state of utter chaos. The Earth's entire cache of silos activated and thousands of warheads took flight simultaneously with a clear disregard to targeting populated areas under siege. The Sarrats entered the atmosphere, heading down to engage the Scourge forces spreading over the land. The Baroodas remained higher up, concentrating fire continued to rain down on the heaviest concentrated Scourge signals. As the minutes passed missiles with both thermonuclear and standard warheads began to plummet back to the Earth striking the overrun coastal regions. Two of the Sarrats were caught within nuclear blasts, their shields did not hold and they were destroyed instantly. Before long the Scourge were spreading further inland on all fronts, the flyers were kept busy by the Ket-Kets and their numbers were steadily dropping but not fast enough. The Scourge ground forces were running rampant with no signs of slowing. The five Lotars entered the atmosphere on bearings toward the most populated of inland capitals. As they landed they opened their bellies to any and all who would fit. Before long over a million people were safely boarding Lotars far from the horrors of the front lines under the direction of their own Government.

Felix and the others left the bridge and ran outside to coax all they could until their Lotar was far beyond capacity, all spaces were filled as terrified people lined the corridors. Once very much full it lifted off and headed back into space far out of reach from the Scourge. Thousands were dying, they were being slaughtered instantly by the Scourge that now infested the Earth spreading unchallenged over the land. As the inevitable continued to progress, the Earth Government began to fill all their space-worthy craft. Military shuttles, commercial leisure craft, personal shuttles and even mining ships were all filled to the brim with desperate and terrified people fleeing their homes and workplaces. The hundreds of smaller Earth ships left the atmosphere and rendezvoused with the Lotars all now full waiting beyond the moon. The rescued onboard the Lotars waited terrified on their alien rescue ships until a voice called out to them.

"Hello all, my name is Gaia. Firstly I cannot stress enough that you lucky few, are safe now. Sadly I must report that the Earth is now overrun and will soon be destroyed." There was disbelief among many of the rescued amidst the wails of terror as it sunk in just how many were separated from loved ones and their fate remained unknown. Gaia could hear their conversations and chose to broadcast what she could to them in their new quarters. Gaia programmed a message to play before the broadcast advising to keep young eyes away as the images were utterly horrific. The rescued sat glued to the glowing screens before them as their homes were being ravaged. The flying Scourge were all finally exterminated with only a few hundred Ket-Kets lost as payment. With the other Lotars inbound for Earth too far away, Erranos made the call and the Baroodas and Sarrats pulled out heading for the Lotars sitting safely in orbit. The Earth ships were hailed and Eva advised them that a more long-term solution would be available to them when more Lotars arrived.

It was no longer an outlandish claim to the remainder of the Government that the Scourge could not be underestimated. Within hours, what seemed like certain victory had descended into utter chaos and ultimately the loss of an entire world. Felix asked Gaia to ensure that all the rescued had the option to watch what would very soon take place.

The Defence satellites broke orbit with their limited thrust abilities and were helped along by Sarrats to a safe distance.

The Baroodas broke formation, moving off to take up firing positions and all other ships moved further away. The time had come to destroy the Earth, there was much protest among those rescued as there were still so many unable to flee. Although many refused to accept it, the fact was that anyone left on Earth was about to die whether mercifully at the hands of Erranos or slowly and gruesomely at the talons and tendrils of the Scourge.

Almost six hours had passed since the Scourge attack began and the Earth was in inevitable peril. The death count was now in the millions and the Scourge continued to expand absorbing the dead and budding exponentially. Finally the primary weapons of the Baroodas activated, The main forward cannons appeared and they initiated their charging cycle.

"Erranos wait!" Felix called out across the bridge. Erranos looked to him awaiting additional information. "It can't be you, Earth can't be destroyed by you. Please allow me to push the button."

"There is no button Felix. I am patched into the other ships remotely," corrected Erranos.

"Yes I know, but could you transfer the command to one of the buttons here in this bridge?" requested Felix in desperation.

"Yes, that can be done," answered Erranos to Felix's relief. "That red one over there," he said pointing to the left.

Felix walked over, the button sat directly in front of him, he turned his head, "Gaia please broadcast a ten second countdown starting on my mark."

"Ready," she replied a few seconds later.

"Mark!" Felix called out in a commanding tone sending shudders down Eva's spine, the only other predominantly unaltered human present on the bridge.