Alliances fell apart in those months. Countries turned on one another. Though an imposing, stoic presence hovered in the skies, men fought with each other. The people divided into factions, those who thought the visitors were there for peace, those who thought they came for resources, those who thought they came for shelter, and those who had more sinister motives in mind.

The masses called them Doomsdayers. They stood upon their proverbial soapboxes preaching the end, preaching repentance, preaching that the people must prepare to fight the enemy in the sky. Whole countries shunned the fanatics though deep in their hearts they secretly agreed with them. Chaos tore apart the streets and police were forced to focus their attention on looters, protesters, and violent rallies. Mass suicides soon followed. The death and the anarchy tore down the spirit of the few and the brave before they ever raised their hand to defend the defenseless.

Then, just as silently as They had come, They left. One morning the sun shone its brightest upon the world for the skies had cleared. They were gone. Left to themselves, mankind would never have realized They left something behind. Yet, mankind had not been left to themselves. Others had watched. Others had waited in the shadows until They departed.

Harbingers. They asked the people to call them Harbingers. In simple transmissions, they translated doom for all to hear and see. Message after message they sent over simple radio waves, bouncing signals off satellites to reach the entirety of the world.   

With the Harbingers came the calm. With communication at last, with answers at last, the people stopped their bickering just long enough. All but the most devoted of the Doomsdayers put down their weapons and thought for the first time about the future. The Harbingers showed what the future of Earth offered. The Harbingers offered a different future.

They who had come and gone with silence, known now as Mongerers, left in their wake the destruction of the planet. Time ticked slowly away before the world would erupt into fire and brimstone. The Harbingers, though they could not save the planet, could save the essence of what Earth was. They offered the Arks, massive ships prepared specially for humans and the creatures of Earth. They offered a new world, already being made ready for its future inhabitants.  

For once, nearly all of man united. They organized. Smaller ships came to the surface and evacuations began. But some still resisted the aid of the Harbingers. They had not yet had their final say.