The Drusai carried their injured following the Behemoth at a crawl. After three hours the Hyperion and its tattered compound were still just in view when the sky lit up. The convoy stopped to witness a Titan as it entered the atmosphere, it was the Theia descending far earlier than expected.

"Shit!" claimed Niezen looking up.

"So much for our head start," sighed Felix pointing out the obvious.

"It doesn't matter," claimed Croxen. Felix and Niezen looked at her puzzled. "If my plan fails, it doesn't matter how far we got. They'll find us anyway."

"I suppose that's right, although not at all comforting," added Niezen cynically.

Felix walked over to see how Argai was doing, "looks like this could be the end. But it's going to be quite the show." A bandaged Argai smiled in reply. "Thank you, for everything," smiled Felix. Argai placed his hand on Felix's shoulder so they could be of one mind, one last time. After their moment, Felix rejoined Niezen and Croxen. They were pointing to the Theia and Felix realised the Crius had just then come into view as well.

"Well Croxen, now we just wait and see I guess," stated Niezen.

Croxen seemed agitated, "I'm so over the military," she sighed, shaking her head in disgust, "I'd rather be working the gardens. If we ever get back to Gaia I'm throwing out my commission. So don't call me by my surname anymore, Eva will do just fine," she announced.

Felix and Niezen both smiled, happy to see a softer side to the killing machine present in their midst. Niezen then had his own epiphany, "you know what guys? Fuck it, I'm done too. Just call me Lloyd from now on." The three laughed like old friends as they sat with helmets on and waited for the show to begin.

The Titans continued to descend bearing down on the Hyperion's position and as they closed in, the Crius began to slow falling back partially from the Theia. Finally close enough, the Hyperion's targeting computer was triggered and the trap sprung. The Hyperion's back changed completely as point defence cannons and rail cannons appeared and silos opened.

Well aware of the situation the Theia attempted to take evasive action but without success. Half a dozen missiles directly impacted the Theia causing heaving damage as the Hyperion's rail cannons fired in rapid succession finishing off the Titan without mercy. Explosions erupted all over the Theia as it lost power and started to fall from the sky. Within seconds the main reactor breached and the entire ship was annihilated by the blast, not a single escape pod was seen. A blinding light filled the sky and the ground trembled as the air pulsed from the tremendous explosion. The Crius was riddled with debris and was pushed back by the shock-wave but the damage was superficial. The Hyperion's system then targeted the Crius with its second salvo, but as the missiles took flight they were detonated mid-air by the rail cannons and PDC's of the Crius. Before the Hyperion could reload its silos the Crius launched four of its own missiles from its belly silos. The Hyperion automatically targeted the incoming projectiles with its own defences destroying two. The pair that made contact did significant damage to the Hyperion, disabling all but one silo. The Hyperion's remaining silo fired, Felix, Lloyd and Eva watched on steadfast, their last hope taking flight with the last warhead.

"This is it! Come on, come on," cheered Lloyd. Eva reached out to take his hand and he looked at her to shoot a quick wink before returning his attention to the battling Titans.

The Hyperion's final missile closed in on the Crius, four hundred meters, three hundred, two hundred. An explosion rocked the Crius as if it were a ship caught in rough seas. The missile was detonated almost fifty meters away by rail cannons causing only light damage to the hull. As the smoke cleared four more missiles screamed towards the Hyperion. The Hyperion's reactor was breached by the second impact and detonated. In an instant their hopes and chances of survival had been obliterated. The tremors transferred much more effectively from the destruction of a grounded target. Many of the survivors watching on fell to their knees, some from the shock-wave and others from the daunting reality that they were all about to die.

Deflated, Eva's face turned red as she began to cry, "I-I failed."

Lloyd put his arm around her, "don't worry, it was a long shot anyway. And still, that was pretty amazing," he admitted.

"Hell yeah!" agreed Felix, "I wonder what happens now, probably just going to wipe us out with a single missile I bet." The trio turned cynical as they began to construct elaborate scenarios and wager how their demise would come to fruition.

"No no. I'm betting they are so furious that they will want to line us up for a firing squad," stated Lloyd.

"You think?" asked Felix.

Lloyd looked up thinking as he scratched his chin, "well probably. What do you think Eva?" Lloyd turned to find her with a hand under her chin deep in thought causing him to burst out laughing, he didn't care if she was mocking him or not.

"I'd say," Eva paused for dramatic effect as the boys both waited anxiously on her to continue, "I'd say, we will be captured, interrogated and tortured. Most likely for years. We will be gruesomely disfigured over and over again and as our bodies begin to fail new parts will be grown and grafted to extend our suffering, as they keep us on the verge of deaths door constantly until they finally grow tired of our seemingly endless nightmare and dispose of us."

After a good fifteen seconds of utter silence Felix was first to respond, "what the fuck? Where did that come from?"

Eva looked Felix straight in the eye with a sinister smirk, "that's what I would do."

"Dark lady, very dark," Lloyd sighed, "but you're probably on the money."

Argai came to sit by them, "we lose?" he asked with a robotic indifference.

"Yup," answered Felix, "now we're just waiting to see how it all ends."

"Ok," Argai replied as he sat staring at the new threat descending from the heavens.

The Crius came about and continued to drop to an elevation of about fifty meters before adjusting to a heading straight for the survivors. Felix had won their sadistic bet, stopping two kilometres away the Crius prepared to fire a single missile targeting the survivors and their lone Behemoth.

The four stood up to accept their fate with their heads held high. The missile took flight and in the instant it took to reach the half way point there was a small flash of light and the missile detonated mid-air.

"Uh, what the hell just happened?" bleated Felix, the others shrugged just a dumbfounded as he.

Clearly Colonel Orazi was just as puzzled by the missiles unexpected failure. Two more missiles were ordered to launch and shortly after they left their silos they too detonated prematurely, rocking the Crius vigorously.

Lloyd was first to speak back on the ground, "well looks like Felix is out of the pot, but the firing squad and torture are still on the table," he laughed. But the others remained silent, their confusion growing.

Before the Crius could take further action an intense light filled the sky. The air itself felt heavy as though it had begun to ripple like water, Felix noticed as hairs on Argai's body began to stand on end as he felt his own skin start to tingle. As the light dissipated, there floating at its epicentre was a luminous metallic sphere roughly five meters in diameter. Hovering still, just off the ground the sphere did nothing at first.

Interpreting the sphere as a threat and assuming it to be the reason for the missile failures the Crius launched six more missiles this time targeting the new unidentified craft. The Sphere pulsed and flashed as six bolts of energy left its surface and destroyed each of the missiles in the blink of an eye. Before the Crius could prepare its next salvo, the sphere pulsed again this time discharging a small ball of blue and violet light. The energy ball careened toward the Crius striking the hull under the bow. Arcs of intense blue light flared in all directions from the impact site as the energy seemed to be absorbed by the hull. Overloaded, all the Titans systems then malfunctioned or simply shut down.

To the astonishment of the survivors the Crius was unable to maintain altitude and began to plummet. As the Crius made its impact a dust cloud was sent out in all directions, slowly it cleared showing the extent of the damage. The hull was severely buckled and had dozens of major tears, small fires had erupted all over the Titan. Without major repairs, it could not leave the atmosphere again. Ignoring the plight of the Crius momentarily the survivors then turned their attention back to the mysterious Sphere that had saved them.

The Sphere hovered towards them slowly, they all gasped as it moved into position in front of them and touched down softly. For the first time, since any of them had met her, Eva looked petrified. Her demanding life of brutally intense training had seemingly failed to prepare her for such an outlandish scenario. On the other hand, both Felix and Lloyd had already lived through one experience of first contact, and their collective excitement and curiosity was peaking.

The outline of an oval shaped door appeared on the side facing them and the door opened upwards with plumes of vapour.

Lloyd placed his hand on Felix's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "mind if I take this one?" he asked with assertive confidence.

"Why, be my guest good Sir," Felix jested with a bowing gesture much to the confusion of Eva who was already reaching down for her knife. At last, Felix could finally sense her mind and could feel her growing uneasy. "It's alright, we're pretty much experts at this now, just relax," Felix chuckled. Trembling and with no other course she nodded, as Argai moved over next to her. He was also well aware of her growing anxiety and placed his hand on her shoulder hoping to calm her.

As Niezen approached the doorway cautiously, a figure manifested. Out from the darkness stepped Maddison wearing a rather peculiar looking white robe.

"Maddie!" beamed Felix forgetting his agreement to let Lloyd make first contact this time, Felix sprinted over and leapt to greet Maddison. He wrapped his arms around and held her for a very short moment then jumped back in line with Lloyd, with his guard up.

"What's wrong buddy?" asked Lloyd.

"That's not Maddison!" shrieked Felix pointing at the stranger with hostility. As soon as he finished his sentence the others drew their weapons ready for combat.

The woman calmly held up her hands smiling, "please remain calm, you are correct Dr Felix Carlisle. I am not Dr Maddison Tascott," she advised in a much softer version of Maddison's voice.

"She sure sounds like Maddison, and she knows your name," pointed out Lloyd, "how do you know it's not her?"

"She has no thoughts, her mind is empty," claimed Felix.

"Empty? What are you on about?" Lloyd was shocked and more than confused, as in all the turmoil Felix had neglected to mention that he had somehow gained powers akin to the Drusai.

"So who are you then? Why do you look like her? And how do you know us?" Felix demanded of the Stranger ignoring Lloyd's question.

The Stranger opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sound of gunfire drawing closer, the rounds began to hit closer. Three Behemoths had exited the wreckage of the Crius and were bearing down on their position. "Quite persistent, aren't they?" smiled the Stranger, "excuse me a moment," she requested as she stepped back inside the Sphere. Felix and the others began to panic as a grenade detonated only forty meters short of them.

Lloyd called out to the Stranger inside the Sphere, "whatever you're going to do, do it now! We're almost in range."

Without answering him the Stranger activated the Sphere's defences. Just as before blue energy orbs were fired, one for each of the incoming Behemoths. The vehicles lost power instantly and began to slow, rolling another fifty or so meters before coming to a full stop. The occupants piled out, rifles in hand and proceed to charge. There were dozens of armed Troopers, they held their fire as they closed in, now only four hundred meters away.

"They're still coming!" yelled Felix as he raised his sidearm, Lloyd followed suit with his rifle. As the Troopers got closer, it became apparent that many of them were injured from the crash.

The Sphere's entrance closed, its surface pulsated and a high pitch whirring grew in frequency. After a few seconds, the weapon was charged and it fired in rapid succession. A volley of five shots left the side of the Sphere in blaze of red light. The energy projectiles landed in between the charging Troopers and then expanded in a flash illuminating and engulfing their targets. Those lucky to be close enough were annihilated instantly, others were maimed and sent flying. Only one remained on his feet following the devastating attack. Lloyd zoomed in with his helmet to find it was Colonel Orazi. He was bleeding from every orifice of his face and was holding pressure to a large wound on his side. His other hand was still clinging desperately to his sidearm. In complete shock he stood there quivering, unable to move, finally his legs gave out and he dropped to his knees.

Eva inhaled sharply, she squinted as if her eyes had began to burn. Felix could sense that she hadn't allowed herself to blink from the moment the Sphere first appeared. She cringed as her eyes closed painfully the first few times.

Lloyd, fixated on the Colonel, laid down and adjusted the scope on his rifle, "better than he deserves," he sighed as he slowly squeezed the trigger and a single case-less projectile found the Colonel's forehead, exiting the back with half of his head in tow, dropping him instantly. Lloyd jumped back up in time to watch the door of the Sphere reopen and the Maddison doppelganger stepped back outside. "Well thanks for saving us. But you still have a lot to explain," pointed out Lloyd swinging his rifle around his back.

"Of course, please be patient and I will answer all your questions," the Stranger reassured them.

"Okay, so if you're not Maddison then who are you, and why do you look exactly like her?" Felix asked politely as he had somewhat regained his composure.

"I have no name as such, but you may address me as the Emissary. I look like your Maddison as it was she whom activated the distress beacon, thus commissioning my construction and summoning me here," the Emissary said in a poised manner, her answer leaving the trio in awe and only raising yet further questions.

"Is-is Maddie alive?" murmured Felix.

"That I can not answer Felix. Maddison was alive to have summoned me but after that point is unknown," explained the Emissary.

"Yes she's fine," chimed in Lloyd having snapped out of his trance, "I already told you, I left her in the Southern tribe with Argus."

"Oh yes right," answered Felix as he recalled and his mood improved.

Eva cleared her throat and stepped forward, "you're an android then, so who created you? Where are you from?"

The Emissary smiled, "I was waiting for that question. I am an Emissary of the Tarrax. And yes by definition I am an android, both my body and intelligence are artificial."

"And where are you from?" repeated Eva.

The Emissary turned to touch the Sphere, "here, I was constructed in here."

"Wait wait, hold on," interjected Lloyd, "this is only getting more confusing. Tell us about the Tarrax, was it? What does it or they have to do with this world? Is this reconnaissance for an invasion force?" Lloyd demanded becoming agitated.

"Not at all. The Tarrax once visited this world over six hundred years ago," replied the Emissary.

"And they left a beacon for when the Drusai wanted to trade or be gifted with technology?" asked Lloyd starting to think he had grasped the situation.

"No," huffed the Emissary bluntly but with indifference, "if you will hold your questions, I will start at the beginning. Is that acceptable?" The group nodded and sat down to listen. Argai very unsure about what was going on, decided to go back and check on his people. "The Tarrax have been at war for thousands of years. When the Tarrax encounter other races, they offer to evacuate them as they can not guarantee safety on a planet. Some have refused to leave and the beacons are left as a means to call for assistance. When activated, a beacon will send a sample of genetic coding and brainwave patterns for the construction of an Emissary: The most logical way to communicate across a language barrier and to limit panic utilising a familiar face."

As the Emissary paused, Felix lifted his hand. The Emissary nodded accepting his question, "who is the other race the Tarrax are at war with?"

"Arntarra kor Teshkar," she answered coldly. Arntarra was the first Tarraxen home world. A direct translation would be close to the Scourge of Arntarra. Which was eventually shortened to just the Scourge. The Scourge is not a race, it is a purely biological entity with a collective intelligence. Does that answer everything?"

"You'll have to be patient with us, this is a lot to take in," admitted Felix, "not to mention we were just in a battle."

"That Scourge must be quite formidable if your level of technology can't stop it," presumed Lloyd. "So what would of happened if it was the Scourge here attacking the Drusai?"

"Then I would contact the closest Tarraxen ships to eradicate it by planetary destruction whilst attempting to extract the Drusai," replied the Emissary bluntly. The trio was shocked, displaying varying degrees of horror on their faces.

"What? Why? I thought you were fighting them or it or whatever. Why does the whole world have to be destroyed?" demanded Felix.

"When a Scourge pod arrives it buds becoming millions, sometimes billions of individual units, the minions spread out devouring all organic matter to be absorbed. When a planet no longer has resources the Scourge forces assimilate, becoming more pods often thousands depending on the amount of organic matter obtained. The pods then depart in multiple directions, leaving behind a barren wasteland devoid of life. Once the Scourge sets down, the world must be destroyed. And to clarify, I am only Tarraxen by construct. My role is only that of an Emissary."

"So what happens now?" enquired Eva, "we are trapped on this world and we don't belong here."

"I'm sure the Drusai wouldn't mind us staying," added Felix cheerfully.

"That's not the point!" snarled Eva, "what of the Mandates? We have so much to report back with. Remember three Titans were lost today!"

"She's right buddy, we still have a job to do," sighed Lloyd.

"Easier said than done," snapped Felix, "no wait, Emissary can you send a message back to Gaia for us?"

"Would that be to send a Titan to retrieve you?" asked the Emissary.

"Yes of course," Answered Felix cheerfully, hoping the Emissary was considering helping them further.

"Would you not prefer to utilise a Tarraxen ship? Based on Maddison's memories your Shroud Travel is quite slow by comparison," advised the Emissary almost smugly.