Forces gathered for the final face-off at Earth. Though stripped of most of his fleet by the Soldier compy uprising, General Lanyan prepared the remaining EDF forces for a last stand. Adar Zan'nh of the Ildiran Solar Navy sent hundreds of warliners to assist the Hansa, but he had secret orders (dictated by the hydrogues) to turn against the humans at a critical moment. When the astonishing fleet of enemy warglobes poured into Earth's solar system, Sirix and his treacherous black robots also joined the fight, turning the EDF's own ships against humanity. Roamers arrived in the free-for-all, dispatching ingenious new weapons against the enemy warglobes, then a group of deadly verdani treeships arrived, including the one captained by Beneto. At the last moment, Adar Zan'nh turned his Ildiran ships against the hydrogues, as well, and the tremendous battle became a rout. The hydrogues were resoundingly defeated.

King Peter and Queen Estarra used the chaos of the battle to escape from Chairman Wenceslas, and they flew away from Earth in a restored hydrogue derelict. Their loyal Teacher compy OX piloted the vessel, but in order to do so he was forced to purge most of the precious memories and historical files he had so painstakingly gathered over his existence. They had no choice, however, afterward, though he was perfectly functional, most of OX's personality was gone.

As soon as the Solar Navy turned against the hydrogues at Earth, the sentinel warglobes on Ildira followed through on their threat and began to attack the Mage-Imperator's palace. The girl Osira'h, though, who had already formed a bridge with the hydrogues, now directed that channel against them. Linked with her mother Nira, Osira'h allowed all the power of the worldforest to flood into the hydrogues, destroying them from within…

With the hydrogues finally defeated, Chairman Wenceslas felt that he could restore his iron grip and make the Hansa strong again. He was astonished to learn that the King and Queen had escaped to Theroc, where they announced the formation of a new government. All of the orphaned Hansa colonies, Roamer clans, and Theroc had joined them. Basil was livid but unable to send a message, because all green priests had cut Earth off from outside communication.

The capricious faeros, having done their part to conquer the hydrogues, continued to range from world to world. They were now unified by a new leader, the remnants of the former Hyrillka Designate Rusa'h, who had gone mad and launched an abortive civil war. Rather than let himself be captured by Jora'h, he had flown his ship into a sun - where the faeros had bonded with him. Rusa'h blamed Dobro Designate Udru'h for his failure, and now returned to Dobro where Udru'h was being held prisoner after the human revolt. Fireballs filled the sky, and a flaming avatar of Rusa'h emerged, confronted Udru'h, and incinerated him. It was only the first step, though, because now the faeros declared war on the Ildiran Empire.