PART 3: THE RETURN

The Palace Guard find a vast cavern with thousands of Automatons, an entire army, waiting motionless in the dark.

Shahadara knows her force cannot fight an army of this size. It is time to retreat and urgently deliver a warning to Queen Nubia in Medha!

Initially the pace of the caravan is relentless. All those that have seen and fought the Automatons, are desperate to get as far away from the Dead City as possible.

Soon enough though, exhaustion forces the caravan to slow down to walking pace.

Every hour their number dwindles as exhaustion claims more and more victims from the expeditionary force, but they cannot stop -  they must deliver their warning to the Queen!

The once mighty caravan becomes smaller and smaller.

After days of a gruelling forced march, Medha at last comes into view.

With safety in their sight, Shaharada orders a brief rest.

The survivors are overcome with joy - against all the odds, they will see their home and their loved ones again.

But their joy is short-lived. Several armoured super-soldiers, undying relics from the wars of the Great Collapse, suddenly rise out of the sand...

The exhausted expeditionary force faces one final fight for survival...

The 3-metre tall behemoths rise and bring a lethal array of weapons to bear.

The remnants of the expeditionary force are cut down in a hail of gunfire.

Commander Shaharad leads her few remaining Palace Guard to fight back against the mutant super-soldiers.

The commander lands the final killing blow herself...

...and the super-soldiers are defeated.

Realising she is the only survivor, Commander Shaharad sets off to finally report back to her Queen.

As Shaharad walks towards the Queen's palace alone, the people of Medha realise that none of their sisters and loved ones will return. A heavy, mournful silence hangs over the city.

Queen Nubia welcomes back her hero and hears her report - it confirms her worst fears. She congratulates Shaharad for a successful mission. She especially commends her for the foresight to lead her force past a known sighting of mutant super-soldiers, thus ensuring there would be no witnesses left to speak of what they have found...

Meanwhile, in the depths of the Dead City, decades old circuits come back to life...