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Chapter 18-The Build Up

As the Overmind watched the Leker ship debris float through space, it knew that a turning point had been reached. It was far too late to change anything, for now war had been declared. Peace was not possible, not after what had happened. Conflict was the only choice remaining, against the Lekers and their allies. From now on no negations or peace would occur. With the single mindedness that had kept it alive, the Overmind reached its final decision. It would destroy its enemies completely, without mercy or quarter. Throughout the great consciousness, a new set of orders went out. A massive armada would be built, one that was unstoppable and of greater strength than the galaxy had ever seen.

Only a great industrial base could produce such a great number of ships, but this was something the Insectoids had in spaces. In the centuries before the bugs had discovered warp travel, they had colonized and populated dozens of planets and moons. All in all, they had settlements on nine planets and over sixty moons. But in a solar system with four suns, there was valuable real-estate everywhere. Given the Insectoids unique mentality, they could manage living in close proximity to one another in numbers that would appall other species. Without crime, love, or hate no Insectoid had reason to harm another.

On Limera Prime, the Insectoids homeworld, the population alone amounted to over sixty billion. The pure efficiency of the bugs was all that could keep such numbers alive, a task no other race could achieve. Their biology was unique in the galaxy, and perhaps even the universe. Instead of ingesting food or nutrients, the Insectoids used raw radiation for energy. They still consumed matter for their cells, but that was all. With a room always bathed in the cosmic energies, they never had to rest to even slow down. Their power source was eternal, as the Insectoids were. No arachnid ever died of old age, sickness, or injury. Of course accidents did occur that eventually destroyed them, but overall no Insectoid would ever wear out or grow old.

Without fear of radiation sickness, the Insectoids could work in an exposed reactor. In fact they enjoyed it; the same power that ran their ship also gave them strength. The bugs could harvest a nuclear reactor's full potential, without any prohibitive coolant systems or safety devices. Their vessels thus became even stronger with more enhanced shields and weapons than the Galactic Alliance ever had. Even their smallest vessel, a fighter, boasted as much power as a destroyer.

The relative simplicity of Insectoid ships, which were little more than an engine with weapons, allowed mass production. Coupled with the enormous Insectoid Infrastructure, the bugs began pumping out warships like hotcakes. The dozens of Insectoid colony ships created before the Leker encounter were tore apart and rebuilt. Their massive living quarters were stripped and replaced with hundreds of hangers. The bugs primitive weapons were replaced with backwards engineered Leker beam technology, which was recovered from the ship's remains.