1: 3! What is happening?
3: I don't know! It's madness! The humans are fighting each other, but now with weapons of exponentially greater power. Fusion bombs capable of damaging their very own planet!
1: And they use this on their homeworld? I wouldn't believe it if the readings of energy spikes weren't reflecting what you say.
Suddenly, an alarm went off.
2: We're under attack!
1: What!?!
2: A new ship sir. We're trying to transmit a peace message- they've breached the storage sector.
1: It's too late! Keep the ceasefire transmission going, but engage powered defenses. Charge the weaponry!
2: Affirmative.
3: But what of the Humans?
1: Clearly, something terrible is happening.
3: Yes, but what should we do?
1: Withdraw all of our forces from the planet immediately.
3: But 1!
1: Bring our forces to bear against the advancing fleet!
3: But 1, I refer to our responsibility! We brought war to this species with our simple arrival. I've studied these beings for years, and still I don't comprehend their motives. However, as long as it is a chance that we are responsible for this, we are bound to defend this species.
1: They are attacking themselves.
3: Not all of them. Let me send a transmission down to our bases. We can take a few, perhaps, and repopulate. The human species is violent, but some of them have a powerful intelligence, one I would... venture to say approaches our own.
1: Very well, I will spare you two shuttles.
2: Weapon systems online!
In two bases, one in a secret American government facility in Nevada, another in central Turkey, a transmission arrived.
Greetings humans. I am 3, of the Ta. I have spent time on this world with your people. I have been impressed by many of you. However, I see that you have, in a sudden turn of events, brought your world to the edge of destruction, and are attempting to push it over that metaphorical precipice. It is my responsibility to ensure the survival of your species. Regrettably, the survival of your planet has been severely jeopardized, beyond the Ta's capabilities to help. Thus, we ask that you gather populations here, in 1 hour's time, so that we may transport them off of your planet to safety.
The transmission ended. Two radio operators stared glassily at their monitors, the words echoing through their heads.
*****
In high Earth orbit, the Blitz Xac vessel was beginning to disintegrate under withering fire from the Ta mothership, and its swarm of smaller craft. The Blitz Xac, for their part, were firing ineffectively at the storage section of the Ta's ship, presumably assuming the area to be the control nexus.
However, huge amounts of debris were spilling out from both colossal creations, and raining down onto planet Earth, hundreds of kilometers below.
*****
An hour after the message had been received, a group of Americans stood in a bunker, beneath a Nevadan facility. Many of these people had lived underground for years, intended to repopulate the earth should all aboveground civilization be destroyed. At one point just a paranoid idea spawned from the cold war over a century earlier, this group would now possibly be humanity's salvation- it's last seed.
On the video monitors, the group watched a oddly-shaped, but still sleek craft land on the desert above. A human voice radioed through the facility.
"The shuttle is here. Everyone up."
Soon back on ground, the survivors entered an obvious opening in the side of the shuttle, with some trepidation. Some carried 'arks', or boxes containing gametes from countless different species. Others, carrying nothing, picked up a handful of earth, to carry with them.
Panic began to rise as it became clear that not all would fit in. However, before things could become chaotic, the door snapped shut. Several panicked people still outside screamed as the shuttle took off. One man held onto the side, only falling off as the robotic Ta vessel accelerated away. The humans left behind fell down, sobbing, stunned, or in prayer.
*****
1: Situation?
2: The attackers are eliminated.
1:Good. Wait. Is that another alarm?
2: [Untranslateable]!!! Yes! We're being attacked from the surface! They're using their fusion explosives against us!
1: [Untranslateable]!!! Are our shuttles safe?
2: They're on return courses.
1: Annihilate the planet.
2: Commencing bombardment...
OOC: I'll give time for each nation to make a finishing story before the earth's biomass gets turned into a fine whitish dust. It's been a fun run everyone.
If Carmen wants to do more updates, it can be assumed that this story is at the very end.
