Cale Tucker

Cale Tucker is one of the main protagonists of Titan AE. His character was voiced by Matt Damon as an adult, and by Alex D. Linz as a child. He is one of the many surviving humans left after the destruction of Earth, and along with Akima Kunimoto, the creators of the New Earth.

Early Life
Cale Tucker was born on planet Earth in 3023 AD, to the scientist Sam Tucker and an unknown mother. Little is known about Cale's life on Earth except for the fact he developed a genius-level skill for electronics and mechanics at an early age, often building gadgets and toys with his father.

In 3028, Cale was living with his father in Pierce, Colorado. One morning he was playing with one of his creations in a stream in the woods. Unbeknownst to Cale, this day was to become the last day of Earth. The first signs that told Cale something was up was when a muffled boom shook the woods (a possible hint that the Drej Mothership appeared out of hyper outer space and latched itself into Earth's orbit), causing a squirrel (watching Cale test his invention) to suddenly flee into the nearby bushes, it got so windy, and flocks of birds up in the trees to fly away panic stricken. Strong winds blew. The stream then turned violent and started to take Cale's invention downstream, making it break its bottom on two rocks. As Cale chased after his invention, he tripped over a rock and saw Sam above him. Sam had recovered Cale's invention and Cale told him that it was broken. Sam promises him that they will fix it together, but that now wasn't the appropriate time as they had to go.

As Cale and Sam made their way to the top of a hill, a squadron of V/STOL aircraft flew over them and headed towards the Pierce Spaceport, where the entire population of Pierce was boarding the space liners, now being used as evacuation ships, and taking off for places unknown. Puzzled as to why there weren't any space liners coming in, Cale asked Sam where everybody was going. Everybody had to leave Earth, much to Cale's disability to understand as to where everybody was going. All Sam would tell Cale was that just like everybody else, they were all going to have to go somewhere that would hopefully be safe from the Drej. At that moment, Vusstran scientist Tek and Captain Joseph Korso, appeared in a hover jeep, where Tek delivered the bad news that the Drej had managed to penetrate all defense perimeters round the planet. With no time to lose, Cale and Sam hopped aboard the hover jeep. Cale asked Korso if he could drive, but after Korso told him not until he was older, Cale pointed out he was older than four years old, which made Tek laugh.

The jeep then hurried to the spaceport, where on the way Cale saw a squadron of Earth space fighters taking off from the nearby Space Force base to intercept the Drej and overhears Sam, Tek, and Korso talking about preparing the Titan for launch and Intelligence's latest reports on the situation at hand. The jeep then pulled up next to the Guardian, one of the space liners (now an evacuation ship). Cale asks Sam if that's the ship they're going on as he's excited by its appearance. Sam, in a brief moment of seriousness, announces to Cale that he has to leave in a different ship and that where he's going to go isn't safe. Despite Sam's assurance that Tek will look after him, Cale insists on going with Sam. Knowing that the Drej could fire their energy weapon on Earth at any minute, Sam gives Cale a gold ring, assuring him that there will always be hope as long as it's in Cale's possession and a promise their separation be temporary. In fact, this would be the very last time Cale would see his father. After reluctantly agreeing to the promise, Cale is handed to Tek and they both board the Guardian, but not before a teary eyed Cale cries out that the separation isn't all right. Cale then watches horror stricken as Korso takes Sam away from the spaceport to the secret launchpad of the Titan.

Once on board the Guardian, Tek puts Cale in a seat and Cale watches as two guards (that escorted them aboard) take their seats and two soldiers put their duffel bags into the overhead luggage compartments. After that, the Guardian takes off horizontally (unlike the other evacuation ships which take off vertically). As it gains altitude, Tek motions for everybody to look to the starboard side. Along with the others, Cale watches as down below, near a barn, the large fields open up, revealing a hexagon shaped hole and the Titan's launchpad. Along with Tek, Cale begs Sam to hurry up with getting the Titan launched, otherwise humanity's only hope of finding a new home would be lost forever.

The Guardian makes it into space and out of Earth orbit just as the Drej Mothership pinpoints itself over the North Pole of the Earth and fires its energy weapon at the Earth, sending energy waves down to the South Pole, but the Titan successfully leaves its launchpad and makes it into space before the first energy wave reaches Pierce. Only Cale watches the Titan as it passes by the Guardian and then activates its hyperdrive, disappearing into the depths of space in the blink of an eye. Cale then turns back to Earth as the Drej Mothership stops firing its energy weapon and disappears into space as well. Along with the occupants of the Guardian, plus those on other evacuation ships that are managing to leave at the last minute, Cale watches in horror as, under the Drej energy, the Earth speeds up its rotation (making the oceans turn blood red), turn black and, at first, fling a few bits of debris into space. At the next second, the Earth explodes into billions of asteroids, which shoot off in all directions, some taking out some of the evacuation ships that managed to leave Earth at the last second. The Guardian skillfully escapes getting hit by the debris and Cale also bears witness as the larger asteroids hit the Moon and blow it up into billions of asteroids as well. After that, the Guardian leaves the Solar System, where humanity is now homeless and the remains of the Earth and Moon start to settle into a new asteroid belt.

After Earth - Growing up with Tek
(Most of this continuity is derived from the Titan AE prequel books)

Cale spent much of his youth living in the care of Tek and his family on the planet Vusstra. He lived on the planet for ten years, developing an affinity with the Vusstrans and rarely encountering any Earth humans and enjoying a brother-sisterly relationship with Tek's pod-daugther Iji. Cale also learnt from Tek about the importance of solidarity - the value of banding together with other Humans in order to survive in the universe.

Despite keeping a positive and confident attitude after the destruction of Earth, Cale still longed for the return of his father ten years after their separation. In a fit of angst toward his father not fulfilling his promise of returning, Cale threw Sam's golden ring into a mud pit on Vusstra, only to realise he'd lost his only connection to his father and quickly dove in to retrieve it, but not before a native packrodent took the ring for its nest hoard.

In 3038 (10 AE), after spotting a Drej scout ship through Tek's telescope, Cale begins to question his safety on Vusstra. Some time later, Cale goes along with Tek on a reconnaisance mission to the Qu'ut system, to learn more about the Spiral Arm's common enemy, and to collect information to further Tek's restoration program for Vusstra. The trio made a stopover at the salvage station Tau-14 in order to trade Tek's rustic Ale Keg transport for a more worthy spacecraft capable of long-distance travel.

While Cale explored the enormous salvage station, he encountered a group of thuggish humans (the first group of humans Cale had seen in a long time), who arrogantly taunted Cale for his appearance and demeanor. Through the intervention of Iji, the group of thugs recognised Cale as the son of Sam Tucker, and then proceeded to violently beat Cale for being the son of someone who (apparently) made a false promise of hope for the human race. The leader of the bullies, Klegg, then threw Iji into an emergency airlock, threatening to jettison her into space. Out of desperation, Cale bartered Sam's ring for Iji's life.

"Victory Through Perseverance"
A bloodied and battered Cale travelled with Tek and Iji to the Qu'ut system, landing on the star system's only remaining planet, Qu'ut Minor. Upon landing, the trio were surrounded by the remaining factions of the diminished Qu'utian civilisation. Thinking quickly, Cale introduced himself as a Human, and told the Qu'utians about the recent, similar fate of Earth. Recognising the commonality between their respective races, the Qu'utians took the trio into an underground metropolis. Guided through the city by the Qu'utian shaman Nikla, Cale learns that the Qu'utians have hidden their metropolis in order to create a facade of defeat and broken spirit to the Drej, so that they wouldn't be attacked again. Cale marvelled at the Qu'utians sense of selflessness and perseverance after their encounter with the Drej, a stark contrast to humankind's response to their attack. The following day, Cale met with the Qu'utian leader Rontlyn. Finding him to be a kindred spirit to the Qu'utian race, Rontlyn offered Cale to be branded with the mark of Qu'ut - a sword surrounded by a circle of wire. This mark was known as the Qu'utchaa, and symbolised the Qu'utian's motto, "Victory Through Persistance". Cale accepted Rontlyn's offer on the condition he use it as a reminder never to lose his Human spirit in the wake of the Drej, and took the tattoo on his right shoulder. This observation of the Qu'utian's determination and the establishment of trust from the Qu'utians would also have a lasting effect on Cale's perspective of humanity.

However, this moment of captivation would be abruptly interrupted as a group of Drej Stingers are detected by the Qu'utian radars. Although the Drej make a quick attack on the ruins of several cities above ground, the secret of the subterranean metropolis is not discovered. While Tek makes a plan to leave Qu'ut, Iji accidentally lets slip of Cale's encounter with the bullies on Tau-14, and the loss of Sam's ring to Klegg. A shocked Tek informs Cale of the ring's importance to the fate of humanity, and upon hearing this, Rontlyn implores that Cale must go and retrieve it.

New Marrakech
Cale recalls that Klegg was bound for the drifter colony New Marrakech, orbiting the Solbrecht star system. After Tek's Epsilon Z craft is badly damaged in an encounter with a Drej scout ship, the trio land on the drifter colony. Cale finds Klegg and is taken away to his home base by his gang. With newfound courage after the Qu'ut encounter, Cale manages to convince Klegg into a one-on-one challenge, which leads to a zero-gravity fight between the two. After Klegg arrogantly exclaims his lack of regard for rules in a fair fight, Cale throws some hot pepper powder in Klegg's face, leading to his defeat. It is at this point when one of Klegg's cohorts announces the Drej have begun a full-scale attack on New Marrakech. In the confusion that ensues, Klegg tries to escape from Cale with the ring despite having lost the fight, but Cale manages to chase him into the colony's mosque. With the help of Iji, Cale manages to overpower Klegg and retrieve Sam's ring.

While Cale and Iji run back to Tek's craft, Cale encounters an old man watching the Drej attack from the deck. The man tells Cale that all hope for humanity is lost, and shows his contentment to watch the Drej finish the last remains of humanity off. This, coupled with the neglect and disrepair of the colony's facilities, as well as the encounters with Klegg, had a profound effect on Cale's perception of humanity. From here on out, Cale began to see humans as hopeless, defeatist creatures in comparison to the strong and dedicated attitudes of the Qu'utians after their encounter with the Drej. Cale began to develop a somewhat misanthropic attitude towards other human beings.

Life on Tau-14
After the success of Tek's planetary rejuvenation project on Vusstra, Cale and Tek packed up once more and flew back to Tau-14. Despite Cale's protests, Tek believed Cale needed more interaction with his own species. Cale lived on the salvage station with Tek for five years, working as a scrap collector. This did nothing to counteract Cale's attitude, however. Over time, Cale grew bored of living with other humans on Tau-14, often pushing past his human co-workers in queues to the ship's airlocks, or openly mocking them in general. He also has to act as a guide for Tek, as Ted becomes blind by this time.

(Prequel continuity ends here)

Two life changing encounters
In 3043 (15 AE), nineteen-year-old Cale is at work, using his lasersaw to cut up old spaceships into pieces and then pushing them outwards so that other workers could then take the pieces over to Tau-14 to be broken up into smaller pieces. Just after Cale cuts off a piece of one ship, Firrikash comes along on his space speeder to take the piece to Tau-14 and deliberately uses the piece to knock Cale down just as he is starting to cut off another piece. Cale retaliates by firing a shot from his lasersaw that, while missing Firrikash by a fraction of an inch, surprises Firrikash by striking the piece. Straight after, Cale hears Chowquin calling out to all employees that it was their hour long lunch break and hops aboard his speeder. Upon arriving back at the station, Cale grunts off having to wait with the humans and cuts into the alien employees line between Firrikash and Po. Chowquin merely tells Cale to wait, but even when Cale tries to vouch that he's not a loser like the other humans, Chowquin again tells Cale to wait (displaying the segregation methods alien races have been using against humans living amongst them as second class citizens by this time, out of fear being the Drej's next targets) and pushes him into the human line, not only generating laughter from Firrikash and Po and the other aliens, but from the other humans as well, one of whom chides Cale for being back with the "losers".

Still not wanting to wait with his own kind while the other aliens get to go in ahead of them, Cale decides to take a shortcut inside by taking his speeder up to the spaceship docks. One of the humans tries to stop him by warning Cale he could get killed, but Cale brushes it off by calling the human a coward and brags about the very slim odds of a ship docking during lunch break. Cale, however, finds himself eating his own words when a large ship suddenly appears and docks at the station. Then he crashes his speeder into it and bounces over to the viewing window of the bridge. Here he awkwardly meets Akima Kunimoto for the first time. The moment Cale becomes attracted to Akima, he bumps his helmet against the window, making Akima take notice. Cale then immediately tires hiding his feelings for her by pretending to wash the window and whistling an old Earth tune, to which Akima shuts the window's blast shields.

Afterwards, Cale goes inside to join Tek in the mess hall, where he manages to get two lunches (where one of the food dishes consists of food that hasn't been killed), but when he requests ketchup, he only gets told off by the Cook, who then insults Cale for being a human. He then joins Ten at a table and expresses his opinions about how boring life on Tau-14 is for him and how he would like to leave. Ted tries to reason with Cale that he should remember from his studies on human history that he's not alone and should be prepared for the future, but Cale brushes it off by claiming that the "future" Tea speaks of is nonexistent. His views on the situation are further justified when the station's old gravity drive suddenly breaks down and renders everything aboard weightless, only for the Cook to remedy the situation by simply whacking the gravity drive with his ladle. Claiming to be full, despite not having eaten anything, Cale leaves for the dormitory while Tek helps himself to the spilt lunches.

Cale's antics weren't also a nuisance to the Human workers of the salvage station, however. After avoiding two ratlike creatures, Cale gets cornered in the station's dormitory level by Firrikash and Po, two burly aliens who had clashed with Cale previously and are getting fed up with his attitude (along with the stunts he'd pulled). The aliens begin to beat up Cale, but are interrupted by the intervention of Joseph Korso, who has entered Tau-14 with Akima. Korso ties up Firrikash and Po, but Cale scoffs back at Korso's assistance. Cale's first impression of Korso is another "loser" Human and even when Korso explains how recent Drej attacks on drifter colonies are pushing humans closer to the brink of extinction (with the only future for them being museum exhibits), Cale just simply replies that getting their home planet blown up can have that kind of effect on a species and tells him off for "helping" him around morons like Firrikash and Po (while hitting them in the process). Korso pretends to see Cale's point, but playfully lets the two aliens loose and sends them after Cale (with the encouragement of payback for Cale's earlier insult for them).

Cale manages to lose Firrikash and Po and makes his way back to the mess hall, asking Ten to hide him until the coast is clear. Korso then reappears, pointing out that he needs a place to hide too (having received word from Akima that the Drej have followed them to Tau-14). Cale tries ordering Korso to go away, but the moment Korso and Tek interact with each other, learns through Tek that he was a dear friend of Sam. When Cale brushes off the thought of having a father, Korso also shows Cale the significance of Sam's golden ring by taking the ring (which makes Cale think he wants to steal it like Klegg did) and activating the genetically-encoded star map. Once Korso explains everything about the ring, Cale feels like he's not the so called right human for such a quest, but Tek encourages him to stop running from the past and to finally embrace the future.

Escape from Tau-14
At that moment, three Drej drones enter the mess hall. Cale is not surprised that the Drej are there, but Korso explains that the Drej are after Cale for the same reason he's been looking for him, but only to kill him. Upon sighting Cale, the drones open fire, forcing Cale, Korso, Tek, and the other aliens to duck down. Korso manages to protect Cale by blasting off the arm of one drone and using the table as protection. The moment Korso tells Cale they'll have to escape through the kitchen, Cale spies the gravity drive and tells Korso to shoot it. Taking Cale's advice to heart, when the Drej shoot again, Korso fires a shot at the gravity drive, destroying it and rendering everything to a state of weightlessness, which confuses the drones. Cale tries to convince Tek to escape Tau-14 with him and Korso, but Tek sees it more beneficial if Cale goes without him. Cale and Tek exchange a quick goodbye, before he and Korso narrowly escape the mess hall, with Korso using his gun to propel him backwards, while Cale ends up taking advantage of a Drej shot at the table, which he's still clinging on to, to send him in the direction of the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Cale tells off the Cook for having no baking and he and Korso ignore the Cook's accusations for being the cause of the sudden weightlessness and threats of having them sent to jail. Just as the drones begin trying to blast one door and cut through another door, the Cook panics upon recognizing the laser blasts and flees into a nearby vent. Korso immediately points this out to Cale, thinking the Cook had the right idea, but even though Cale scoffs at it at first, he ends up making his way into the vent just before the drones succeed in blasting their way into the kitchen. Just as a backup gravity drive kicks in, the drones follow the humans into the vent and fire at them, blowing the Cook's cover and sending him running. Cale and Korso then make their way through another vent, leaving the cowardly Cook to try to save his own life by ratting out to the Drej where the humans went, only for the Drej to kill the Cook by shooting him.

Upon entering a large hanger, Cale and Korso make their way to a small fighter craft, just as the two drones catch up. Korso manages to destroy the drones by tricking them into stopping a runaway fuel drum so that a shot from his gun blows up the drum, thereby disintegrating the drones and allowing him and Cale enough time to enter the fighter. When Cale sits in the pilot's seat, Korso orders him to change seats, despite Cale's protests that he's now old enough to fly the fighter. Korso then tries to start up the fighter, but it's engines won't start. Luckily, because of his expertise in technology, Cale manages to fix up the engines so that they do start second time round. However, more Drej drones infiltrate the station and Korso makes the fighter take off before Cale can get back aboard. One drone fires a shot that, while missing Cale too much to be fatal, burns his left arm and makes him left go of the fighter just as it gets airborne. Cale then runs as fast as he can to a point where Korso can pick him up if he jumps, but when Cale does jump, another drone fires a shot that only burns his right leg, just as Cale lands back in the fighter.

Cale then suddenly points out to Korso that the Drej are starting to lock down the hanger, but Korso (while closing the fighter's canopy) manages to steer the fighter up through a large shaft (while Cale bandages his wounds) sending it crashing through a glass roof and to be fired at by more drones on the level they've come out at. Korso then pilots the fighter to the spaceship docks, beheading one drone in the process, but makes the fighter break off its engines while passing through some airlock doors that were just closing up. With no engines, but going too fast, the fighters bounces along the length of the dock, with Koroso questioning Cale on whether the fighter has an ejector seats function. The short argument is quickly forgotten as the fighter crashes into the end of the dock, making it blow up and getting itself sucked out into space.

Just as Korso brags to Cale about how worried he was that they weren't going to make it, the relief ends up being short lived when Cale suddenly sees that the canopy's glass is beginning to crack and chastises Korso for trying to call for help when they both see the cracks beginning to spread. Just as Cale points out that Akima might not make it to them in time before the whole canopy breaks and they perish in the vacuum of space (as they're not wearing spacesuits), Korso takes up the fighter's fire extinguisher and orders Cale to exhale. Despite Cale's protests, Korso kicks out the still breaking glass, thus allowing him and Cale to get sucked out into space, but luckily for them, by this time, the Valkyrie is directly over them and Korso uses the fire extinguishers as a makeshift rocket, which propels them into the ship's cargo hold in the shortest amount of time. As soon as the two make it to the safety of the Valkyrie, Cale passes out and is sent to the medical bay.

Aboard the Valkyrie and Drej Abduction
Several hours later, Cale woke up in the Valkyrie 's medical bay, his wounds being tended to by Akima and Preed. Cale later got to meet the rest of the ship's crew, fixing Gune's holographic star map and (in a deleted scene), Korso's "green drink" dispenser. Cale learned that the star map generated by Sam Tucker's ring would lead the Valkyrie crew to the Titan, his father's project that he had managed to hide from the Drej after the destruction of Earth. Still wary of his fellow Human crewmates, Cale reluctantly agreed to help Korso and the crew find the Titan, but claimed he would abandon Korso's mission should things go awry. Cale's first meeting with Akima was not exactly friendly, with Akima initially writing him off due to his disliking of "drifter colony bums".

Cale, with the Valkyrie crew, fly to the swampy world of Sesharrim, a checkpoint in Sam's ring map. Here Cale meets the leader of the Gaoul, the bat-like race that dwell on the planet. Cale learns from the Gaoul leader to point his hand up toward the Sesharrim moon, which makes the map's compass needle point toward the Andali Nebula.

However, this encounter is cut short by yet another Drej encounter. While trying to return to the Valkyrie with Korso and Stith, Cale and Akima are both abducted by one of the Drej Stinger ships. When Cale and Akima are both taken to the Drej mothership, Cale is put into a forcefield where the Drej project a copy of Sam's ring map. Akima is jettisoned into space via a capsule, while Cale is sent into the Drej's detention facility. Using Cale's knowledge of electronics, Cale manages to short-circuit the holographic forcefield of the detention cell, allowing him to escape. Cale then commandeers one of the Drej Stingers, and leaves the mothership disguised as one of the scout group headed for the Andali Nebula. Cale signals to the crew of the Valkyrie by hacking into their navigation system. Upon entering the ship, he is warmly greeted by a rescued Akima. Although happy to be alive after his narrow escape, Cale is upset that the Drej have copied the ring map and may get to the Titan first. It's also around this time when Cale begins to develop more of a kinship around his fellow Humans.

New Bangkok
After settling back in on the Valkyrie, Korso lets Cale take the ship on a joyride through a nebula cloud after encountering a flock of Wake Angels. Cale thanks Korso for coming to find him, and expresses that despite all of his angst, he still misses his father. That evening, Cale has a nightmare about being exterminated by the Drej. He wakes up to find the ship has docked with the drifter colony ''New Bangkok. ''He then proceeds to Akima's cabin and almost catches her naked as she's about to enter the shower. While Akima showers and gets dressed, Cale looks at Akima's collection of Earth artifacts (so far, consisting of several books, a globe of the Earth before it was destroyed, a guitar, a Japanese art canvas, a Nautilus shell, a telegraph key, an early 20th Century camera, a sailing ship in a block of ice, an old fashioned calculator, a 19th Century doll, and a baseball), to which he questions her about the stuff that he calls "junk". Akima then explains to Cale that the stuff she has isn't junk, but memories of Earth where humanity was born before losing it to the destructive power of the Drej. She then goes on to explain that while they're at New Bangkok, they'll trade some food and supplies with the drifters for more Earth artifacts. Remembering her comment about frozen burritos, Cale begins to admit that's one thing he misses about Earth besides his dad and makes light humor of comparing the burritos to the horrible food he was forced to eat back at Tau-14.

While gathering some materials with Akima to trade on the New Bangkok, he and Akima overhear Korso's conversation with the Drej Queen of his intentions to betray the Titan to the Drej along with Preed. Straight after Preed catches them in the act and exposes them, Korso tells Cale that his dad hide his ship and then, while en route to Vusstra, the Drej intercepted Sam, toutrued and killed him for not telling where the ship is all because his couldn't face the truth about humanity's inevitable end. Cale tries to fight Korso, but is overpowered. Shortly after Akima bites Preed, Cale stalls Korso by smashing a bottle of water into his face. He and Akima escape the Valkyrie and board the New Bangkok, but not before Akima gets shot in the shoulder by Preed's gun. Cale helps Akima get medical attention with the help of the locals.

While Akima is being tended to, Cale encounters a group of young boys playing soccer on the surface of New Bangkok. The eldest boy tells Cale that his younger brother learnt how to play soccer from his dad, who lived on Earth. A treasured photo of their father playing soccer in an Earth field encourages the boys to imagine the Earth landscape while playing. Cale notices a greater sense of determination and enthusiasm in this younger crowd on New Bangkok, and begins to understand that maybe Humans do deserve a second chance after all.

After Akima recovers from her ordeal, Cale tells her of his plan to get to the Titan before Korso or the Drej and assures her that even though their enemies know the Titan is in the Ice Rings of Tigrin, they still won't be able to find it as they still need Cale's genetically encoded map to find the Titan's true location in the Ice Rings. Akima expresses her doubts about it as they're stranded on New Bangkok and they don't have a ship to catch up to the Valkyrie with, but Cale picks out a discarded spacecraft''. ''They meet up with an elderly man, who happens to live in the old spacecraft and after they explain their plight and how they're humanity's last hope of finding a new home planet, the elderly man is more than happy to help them, but states that he has doubts that the spacecraft will fly after being derelict for fifteen years. Cale finds that the spacecraft's ionic vacuum drive is still operable and promises Akima that with his knowledge of machines and spacecraft, he can fix the ship, which in turn makes Akima promise that she can fly the ship. With the help of the colony's inhabitants, Cale and Akima spend the next day rebuilding the ship, rechristen it as the Phoenix and fly from New Bangkok (after an almost false liftoff), bound for the Andali Nebula.

Finding the Titan
Cale and Akima fly the Phoenix to the ice fields of Tigrin, located in the Andali Nebula. They are seen and followed by the Valkyrie, but manage to evade them by taking advantage of the reflective surfaces of the icy asteroids. They soon find the Titan, covered by a thick shield of ice. As Akima marvels at its majestic beauty, she asks Cale if he's seen anything like it, which makes Cale recall seeing it the day the Drej blew up the Earth. Straight after that, the Phoenix docks at one of the docking ports on side of the Titan.

Upon boarding the Titan, Akima questions Cale on what they're supposed to be looking for on the ship (something, she figures, would make treasure hunters as greedy as Korso and Preed to want to find it and betray it to the Drej), to which Cale doesn't have an answer either. As they come into the ship's massive interior, Cale finds that the walls are lined with test tubes of genetic coding from the animals of Earth: he reads out the label on one of them, displaying his knowledge of what the animals' Latin names mean. As Cale comes up to a control panel, he finds the gadget that he'd been playing with on Earth's last day and sees that Sam had kept his promise to fix it. Cale takes a brief moment to reminisce him and Sam putting the finishing touches on his creation on the eve before Earth's last day and understands that Sam left the gadget there for a reason. Cale puts down the invention and sees that it was left near a small pole.

After carefully reading the instructions nearby, Cale takes off his ring and puts it on the pole, which ends up activating the ship's systems for the first time in fifteen years. He is then greeted by a holographic message of his now-deceased father Sam, who apologises to Cale for not keeping his promise of coming back to see him. Cale also learns from the message of the Titan 's secret function, to build a new Earth. However, although Sam's ring activated the Titan 's systems, there wasn't enough energy in the ship's batteries to begin the terraforming process as they were drained during the Escape.

Cale, Stith and Akima are then ambushed by Korso and Preed, also having docked with the Titan. A fight ensues after Preed announces his betrayal to Korso. After Korso (taking the ring before hand) kills Preed by snapping his neck, another fight between Cale and Korso occurs (in which the ring almost gets lost), with Korso falling over the railings of the Titan 's control deck. Cale, in an act of good faith, tries to pull Korso back up to the deck, but Korso slips his grasp and falls. With the Drej mothership Alahenena approaching, Cale, remembering what Korso said about the Drej earlier, decides to take advantage of the Drej's energy to fuel the Titan. While rerouting the power feed, Cale discovers one of the circuit breakers to the energy relays appears to be malfunctioning, and goes out (while restoring the ring to his finger) to the Titan 's exterior to try and activate the conduit manually, while Akima and Stith use the ships anti-spacecraft guns to cover him.

Outside, Cale gets chased by a Drej Stinger, which gets gunned down by Gune in the Valkyrie. However, the fallen Drej Stinger ship pins Cale against the wall of the Titan 's exterior. Here, Cale sees Korso approach him with his gun, having survived the fall from the previous fight. With nowhere to run, Cale is ready to accept his fate when Korso reveals that he's not aiming at him when he fires his gun: the real target was the Drej Drone that was coming out of its crippled Stinger to finish off the job of killing Cale. With the Drone eliminated, Korso then fires a shot at the Stinger, dissolving it and freeing Cale in the process, and, with renewed hope that the Drej can be defeated once and for all, assists Cale in manually fixing the conduit.

With the conduit beyond repair, even with Cale's help, Korso tells Cale to leave him to fix it. Cale tries to protest, but is insisted by Korso to go and start the Titan's engines. While Alahenena prepares its major weapon to destroy the Titan, Cale races back into the control deck, almost getting shot down by a Stinger, and places Sam's ring into the computer systems just as the Drej fire their weapon. The Titan 's power intake saps all of the energy from the Drej's weapon fire, thus taking all of the mothership's energy and disintegrating it. Cale, Stith and Akima then watch as the Titan builds a new planet from the asteroids of Tigrin.

New Earth
In 16 AE, Cale and Akima left the Titan to land on the now-hospitable New Earth. Akima asks Cale if he's thought of a name for the new world, to which he jokingly answers "Bob". With their enemies now vanquished, Cale and Akima rejoice in their new home with a long kiss, and wave goodbye to Gune and Stith, flying off into the distance.

Cale and Akima began a relationship together, and also helped to rebuild society after the arrival of the Human population as they flew to the New Earth from their drifter colonies.