The war with the aggressive civilization in the Large Magellanic Cloud has been over for four years and the Milky Way has been at peace. However, there is great concern at the highest levels of the Union that there may be aggressive civilizations in the closest large galaxy to the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy. The fear of another powerful civilization attacking the Union must be investigated. Alex and Jingle Berringer have retired from the military but they are called upon by the Prime Minister to undertake a secret mission out to Andromeda to determine if there are any dangers to the Union lurking there. The mission seems simple enough; go in, look around, and come back. However, what they find in Andromeda is mind boggling; the entire galaxy is preparing for war against an enemy older than humanity that eradicated all intelligent life in the Milky Way hundreds of thousands of years in the past. To make matters worse, that enemy is returning to the Milky Way after it finishes with Andromeda. The Union must decide what to do about the threat; should they just stay hidden and wait for the war in Andromeda to end or cross the line and take immediate action. Either way, there will be no going back; this ancient enemy has never been defeated.