The Preparations had been made. All the ships were built and ready, and the star had long been collapsed. It was the first thing that they did. It would leave a darkness that would kill whatever was left on the soon to be savaged planets. This star system had been easy to overpower and mine out. Without the star, the defense grid that the planets relied upon were useless. The battle was over before it even begun. The population was easy to enslave or destroy. This world only took a few years to strip clean, The resources used to repair and build additional ships. The planets were not even recognizable now as planets, as they now resembled dead, pitted rocks, devoid of life or materials. All this in a mere decade, the overmind thought. The next system was 100 light- years away. Regardless of the systems they had already devoured, they had not found a way around the light speed barrier. This did not trouble the Overmind, as the size of the fleet was enough to destroy any resistance. It ordered the fleet to head toward the next system, and out of this desolated quadrant of space. As it left, the Overmind felt a small tickle somewhere. It had felt it once, in a race that had nearly destroyed them. It took note of this, and planned. It would be ready for this threat when it arrived.

I bolted upright, wide awake from this nightmare. It was a vast sea of ships that was moving in this direction. Control was via collective of minds, acting as one. My mind had briefly touched it, and the touch was enough to bolt me awake in terror in the middle of the night. The thought that had been blasted into my mind terrified me. The thought was almost singular, and terrifying: CONSUME. I got out of bed, and made for the control room. James and Bear were already there, pulling up a map in the display tank. "Did you feel it too?" I asked. Bear shuddered and in a small voice he replied. "Yes. They are coming for us. We won't be able to stand up to them." James added, "Neither will the Tigereans. They will be consumed as well. I don't even know if both races would stand up to that onslaught, especially if they kill all three stars." The Tigereans and Earth had colonized a third system jointly, but the second War had thrown that system into dispute. It was a no-mans land now, and it would be the first target of the invaders. The 5 planets in that system had ample resources to build a fleet ten times what was coming at us. If we fell, The galaxy would never see the light again. It had to end here.

The probe I had felt with the Overmind terrified me, but I also saw it's limitation, and how it operated. The Humans had a weapon that would defeat them, and the Tigereans had the tactical skills to use it. Unfortunately, the two races had been at uneasy terms since the last Tigerean war. I now knew my purpose, the sole reason that James, myself, and Bear were still alive after all these years. We had to unite the two races in order to fight this enemy. We still had 100 years with which to unite the two races, and prepare our part of space. We just hoped that we could pull it off. But the Humans would need additional help, from the population of were creatures. In addition, there would need to be One to lead them. We were too old for this, despite our appearance.