After their encounter in the depths of the icy planetoid, Leela and Tycho had headed straight for Earth as fast as their jumpship could take them, hailing the City and the Vanguard all the while. At first they had just received static and gibberish in response, as though through great interference. Then, around the time Earth and the Moon became visible to the naked eye, even the static cut out. There was radio silence in Sol, and it worried Leela greatly. She thought of the vision, or hallucination, she had seen in the depths of the planetoid; the creature from the planetoid hungering for the Light.
They continued hailing space control as they approached Earth but were met with only silence. Tycho noted that the warsats above the Last City were missing, and then they both saw it. The white clouds had been replaced with smoke, and only the Traveller rose above it, the enigmatic machine’s marble-like skin broken in great cracks and rends. An amorphous mass rose through the smoke and passed over the Traveller, leaving further devastation in its wake. A blast of light erupted from the Traveller, but it seemed only to embolden the attacker further.
Leela took the jumpship through the smoke-cover as swiftly as she dared, and what she saw beneath took her breath away. The Last City was burning. Plumes of fire and smoke could be seen throughout the city, from residential areas and parks and high-rises. The Tower had collapsed into the city to crush houses and workshops below. A single airship was still aloft, but even as the pair watched, it crashed into the streets below with a plume of fire and dust. They found an intact landing pad and touched down, Leela leaping from the cockpit before the engine had even spun off. No landing crew came out to greet them and no one called out at their arrival. Leela ran through the floors of the high-rise, calling out names, calling out for anyone, only to emerge onto the rubble-strewn streets alone.
“Where is everyone?” Leela whispered teary-eyed as Tycho hovered to her side, his gaze fixated on the ailing Traveller.
“I’m not picking up anything,” replied Tycho, “Not even static. I think the City’s lost all power.”
“The bomb shelters.” Leela said and stood up. She felt disoriented and short of breath, all her thoughts tumbling around like someone had shaken their box without a care. Tycho followed silently as she hurried along the streets to the nearest shelter, but there was no one there. The door stood closed but was not locked, and when Leela shouted inside, she only heard her own echo. With rising panic Leela ran about the streets crying for help, for anyone, but there was no reply. The only sounds in the city were distant explosions, alarms and the crackle of fires. She fell to her knees and closed her eyes, struck with despair, when she heard a sound. A skidding rock. She was back on her feet running in the blink of an eye. In an alley, hidden partially by the shadow of arches, was a shape watching her. Leela called out but the figure turned and headed into the alley. Ignoring the shouts from Tycho, Leela hurried after them and found herself close to another shelter.
In the road, just outside the concrete entranceway to the shelter, stood a man looking into the sky. She was about to run to him, but then she stopped herself. All the instincts she had gained from her years of exploring shouted at her to keep away from the man. She stopped a few metres from him, breathing ragged from running but her mind focused on the sight before her. He was of medium height and dressed like someone from one of the pre-Collapse armies she had seen photos of. She saw no weapons, but Leela felt sure of her sense of danger. Even as the thought ran through her mind, the man turned around. His face was hard and his eyes spoke of bitter and brutal experiences. He reminded her of a Guardian for a moment, but she saw no Ghost.
Without a word, the man stormed up to her and grasped her by the shoulders. It was so sudden that Leela did nothing to stop him or move from his grasp.
“Do you know what that is?” His voice was rough and loud, like he was unused to speaking. When Leela did not respond, he pointed into the sky at the mass attacking the Traveller.
“It’s called a W’rkcacnter, we believe,” Tycho said, “and I’m afraid we–”
“We freed it,” Leela continued with tears streaming down her face, “It’s here because of us.”
The man made to speak, but a noise far above halted him. Looking up, they saw that the cover of black smoke had been blown away from the Traveller, but the great sphere was descending. Even from this distance, it was clear that it had gone quiet; whatever the creature from the planetoid had done, the Traveller’s Light was gone, and it was falling towards the City that had been built in its shadow. The creature still swirled in the sky, and though it had no face or head, Leela had the distinct impression that it was looking at them. The mass spun and roiled as it dived down towards the City and its prey. The man grunted and looked back at Leela. For a moment she looked him straight in the eye and she had a profound sensation of agelessness, before the world spun around her.
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