The fight ended quickly from there, the Revenant went down quickly to Carrie, Eriks, and one of his other squadmates, it was the last of the Scourge to die.

After the Scourge were all dead, I took Carrie and sent Eriks' two squad members to scout the rest of the basement. Carrie and I didn't find anything but a mess. Books, DVDs, and magazines were scattered across the floor and any tables and shelves were toppled or broken; the Scourge had really done a number on the place. Eriks' squad member had worse luck than we did. They found the eggs.

Carrie and I made our way towards them while Eriks continued to look after Smith, he was starting to blink apparently and that was good. When we saw the sight of the eggs, I nearly threw up in my helmet. Nearly.

The fleshy sacs that protected the embryoes hung from the ceiling and gaped open, some of them with fluid inside, all of them empty of the embryoes.

"Shit," Carrie swore quietly. "This isn't good, is it, Commander?"

"No," I answered. "This means that the last Queen's eggs have hatched and soon enough there's going to be more Scourge than we wanted in places like this."

"Oh Jesus," I heard one of Eriks' squad say. "Does that mean that we're screwed?"

"No," I reassured him. "It just means that we've got a bit more of a fight on our hands."

"What are the chances that the Scourge from these eggs are the ones we just fought?" the other member asked.

"Almost none," I told her frankly. "That sac there is big enough for a Kong and I'm seeing more than a few like that."

"I've got bad news sir," Eriks said as he came up behind us with Smith leaning heavily against him.

"Best spit it out then," I told him.

"Several squads in other ruined cities have sent word about places like this. All of them fresh," he said. "All of them empty."

"Did anyone find a sign of the Queen?" I demanded. If that was still in the city then we'd find it and end it soon. I'd rather deal with a larger than expected horde that wouldn't get any replenishment, than a horde that would constantly get new blood.

"I saw a hole back near where the Scourge were gathered," Smith slurred. Guess he didn't have the venom out of his system yet. "It wasn't very big, but if the new Queen wasn't any bigger than a Kamaitachi then it could have fit through it."

"I have a drone I can send down there," Eriks' female Knight said. "Want me to do that sir?"

"You don't need to wait on my orders," I told her, waving her and the other guy away. "Just let me know what you find."

"I'll go with them," Carrie said moving to follow after them.

"Smith, recover," I ordered. "I mean that. I'll try to get you sent up for a new armor set."

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"Sir," he slurred before Eriks turned him away and began to look for a place to sit him down.

"Rickshaw," Cai said. "Word has been sent from Kiv-mel and Wings Parham and Roberts that they have secured the crash site of the Ythnw starship. They have not entered due to troubling signals they have received from their equipment."

"What kind of signals?" I asked. Just what I wanted more bad news.

"They have signs that indicate the presence of two Queens and several second tier Scourge. Why they are still on the ship, they do not know given that all signs point to them having total control of the vessel."

Shit.

"You're sending us over to the starship to help coordinate the take-over right?" Carrie asked as I looked out the library's windows waiting for word from Yamato and Armstrong about how their searches had gone.

"Yeah. You and I will go there and take command. Well you will. I'm going hunting," I told her.

"So I have to wait outside and send people to search for Scourge while you go inside and kill them?" Carrie demanded.

"Yep," I said.

"Why?" she asked.

"If the second tier Scourge are as dangerous as the Wardens made them out to be, then I want a first-hand account of how much worse they are," I told her.

"At least we can get some sleep before that," she muttered, unhappy with my decision. I understood why she was upset. It was the same reason that I was leaving her in charge outside and going in myself; if the second tier Scourge were really as bad as the Wardens said, then I'd rather I be the one to face them first instead of Nephilim that might not have the experience needed to take them out. This would also let me evaluate how dangerous each of them was and how many squads I would send after each second tier and higher.

"You'd better not leave me to take care of all this on my own," Carrie muttered so quietly, I wasn't sure she wanted me to hear her.

I didn't answer her, I knew she was upset and worried. I was too.

"Commander, some guy named Eric has contacted me and wants to talk about getting a ride for about three hundred people," Armstong said over the line he'd opened to me. "I told him that you'd have shuttles sent soon enough, but he doesn't want my guarentees. Keeps asking for you. Can you come over and talk to him?"

"I'm on the way Paladin," I assured him before standing up and looking toward where Carrie was chewing on a calorie bar she'd brought with her. "Care to take a trip to talk with that Eric guy again?"

"Sure I'm game," she said popping the last bite in her mouth and grabbing her helmet. "Are we taking Eriks' and company?"

"It might be best since there's no more Scourge signs in the area and the Queen's not here," I said. "Cai send a message to Eriks and his squad to meet us on the ground."

"I'm looking forward to a bath when we get back to the Phoenix," Carrie groaned as she stretched. "This has been a crappy day and I just want to relax in some hot water, you know."

"Uh-huh," I sighed as I made my way toward the stairs and started down. "I might take the chance to make proper contact with some of the goverments instead."

"That's why I don't want to be the Commander," Carrie said. "You have to be all work and serious all the time with no chance for playtime or just to relax."

"I do relax," I said defensively.

"You drink whiskey and read boring books," she said flatly. "Seriously, who reads Napoleon's journal or whatever it is?"

"I read those sorts of books to have a better idea of how to command the Nephilim Army," I said. "Besides, Napoleon didn't keep a journal; it's a historical account of his actions and how he worked to build his empire."

"Because that sounds so much better," Carrie said.

"You're forgetting that I also spend time throwing hatchets and blowing things up," I pointed out.

"At the same time. As a test for Kiv-mel and his team," she argued. "It's not relaxing if you have to fill out a report on issues with how it's put together."

"I'm with Applewood, Commander," Eriks said as he joined us in front of the door. "Most people don't study in their free time unless they're passionate about something. And only hobby scientists fill out reports on their downtime and it's always from their latest experiment they did."

"So everyone's out to get me," I muttered as I led the way out of the library and toward Armstrong's location.

"More like we just want you to do actual relaxing things instead of more work stuff and calling it relaxing," Carrie said.

"Like I said, you're all out to get me."