I Am The Swarm

Though the Burrowing Worm’s primary role was to dig tunnels for Swarm forces, its combat capabilities were formidable. With its massive size, even a casual swipe was beyond what most beings could endure.

The trapped Daqi quickly realized this, albeit too late. While the worm had cleared the tunnel briefly, it now appeared even more menacing, ready to obliterate anything that dared to cross its path.

Time dragged on, and from the distance came the sound of sharp scraping against metal walls. The Daqi knew this could only mean one thing. Raiders were moving along the tunnel walls, their sharp appendages scraping against the metal as they closed in.

The oppressive silence of the Swarm’s approach was suddenly broken by sharp, shrill screeches, signaling the moment they had caught the scent of prey. The piercing cries reverberated through the tunnel, assaulting the Daqi’s eardrums and amplifying their terror.

Panic overtook the trapped Daqi. Their vehicles carried minimal weaponry, and none among them were trained combat personnel. With the Burrowing Worm blocking their escape ahead and the Swarm closing in from behind, it felt as though their annihilation was only a matter of time.

Desperation spurred a few Daqi to action. Suppressing their fear, they decided to risk everything. They had noticed earlier that the Burrowing Worm’s attacks involved a significant delay after each strike. Perhaps, if timed perfectly, they could exploit this gap to make a break for it.

Engines roared to life as a war vehicle sped forward, heading straight for the tunnel ahead. Thirty meters behind, another vehicle followed, maintaining a short but steady distance.

As expected, the motion caught the worm’s attention. Like a coiled spring, its massive body shot forward, smashing the first vehicle into debris. It then began retracting its body, seemingly resetting for another strike.

“Now! While it’s retracting, we’ll rush through!” The first vehicle had been an empty decoy, set to automatic drive. The second vehicle, however, carried five or six Daqi, all shouting and urging the driver to accelerate.

As the vehicle reached the Burrowing Worm, its body was still halfway through its retraction. According to their calculations, the worm wouldn’t be able to launch another attack before they passed.

“Woohoo!” One Daqi screamed with excitement, elated by the prospect of survival. Unable to contain his glee, he leaned out the window and made a universal obscene gesture toward the worm.

As the saying goes, don’t tempt fate.

Mid-retraction, the Burrowing Worm abruptly surged forward, its attack delay nothing but a ruse. It wasn’t some programmed machine bound by rigid protocols—it had full control over its body and could act as it pleased.

The elation on the Daqi’s faces froze in an instant as the worm’s massive body blocked their path. Although its speed was slightly reduced due to the incomplete retraction, it was still fast enough to intercept the war vehicle.

The vehicle slammed into the Burrowing Worm with a deafening crash, halting abruptly. Metal crumpled and twisted as the massive creature’s body crushed it completely. The Daqi’s desperate gamble ended in utter failure.

“Boom!” Flames erupted as the war vehicle that collided with the Burrowing Worm exploded on impact. Fortunately, the acceleration distance had been short, sparing its passengers from instant death. Perhaps some could still be saved—if only for a moment.

But before that hope could materialize, the Burrowing Worm swung its massive head with a sudden motion. Its enormous maw opened wide, revealing three layers of razor-sharp, spiraling teeth that gleamed ominously under the tunnel’s faint lights.

The brutality of the scene was too much to bear. Nearby Daqi instinctively staggered back in fear. Yet their psychological torment wouldn’t last long, as the shrill screeches of the Raiders echoed from the far end of the tunnel. The Swarm was here.

“They’re done for!”

Moments earlier, the five escaping war vehicles had reached the far end of the tunnel. Watching as the Burrowing Worm re-established its blockade, a squad leader made the grim call. ℞â₦ổ𝔟ƐＳ

“What do we do now?”

“Head for the exit. We need to regroup with the main force!”

“Keep an eye on both sides. I don’t trust that there’s only one of those big things lurking around.”

Whether through sheer luck or an unseen force testing the Swarm’s diversity of units, the five vehicles traveled the remainder of the tunnel without further incident. They emerged into the open air, successfully reaching the exit.

“Send the signal. Let the commander know we made it. Proceed to the designated coordinates!” The squad leader ordered.

Though communications were still jammed, the Daqi had planned for such contingencies. Primitive tools often bypassed advanced countermeasures—such as the signal flare that shot into the sky, trailing a red smoke plume as it climbed.

The signal provided a brief moment of relief for the Daqi. In the confined tunnels, the war vehicles’ performance had been severely limited. Now, with the open ground at their disposal, they believed their survival odds had significantly improved.

But their optimism was short-lived.

“Squad leader! Something’s coming up behind us!” shouted a soldier stationed on the roof of one of the war vehicles. Positioned in an open-air “gunner seat,” he had the best view of their surroundings and was the first to spot the anomaly.

Several Squad leaders poked their heads out of windows or climbed to the roof, pulling down their helmet-mounted binoculars. What they saw sent chills down their spines: a rolling cloud of dust, trailing behind a pack of ferocious beasts charging toward them.

The creatures were grotesque, with terrifying jaws that hinted at immense biting power. Standing about 1.8 meters tall at the shoulder, their sleek, muscular bodies measured nearly four meters in length, excluding their tails. Despite their heavy, half-ton frames, their long, powerful limbs allowed them to move with shocking speed and grace.

These creatures were unlike anything native to the Daqi planet. The Daqi Squad leaders immediately realized that these beasts were not on their side.@@novelbin@@

“Speed up! Drop all the landmines on the war vehicles—blow those bastards to hell!” a Squad leader bellowed, his frustration boiling over. Being chased relentlessly had stripped away any semblance of calm.

“Try to contact the boss! We need air support!” another Squad leader shouted.

“No good, sir. Still no signal!”

“Accelerate! Keep trying to make contact. I don’t believe the Swarm can jam communications across the entire area!”

“Understood!”

The beasts continued their relentless pursuit, their monstrous jaws snapping with predatory hunger as they closed the distance. Despite the Daqi war vehicles reaching speeds of nearly 500 kilometers per hour, they could not shake the creatures.

“Faster!” one of the Squad leaders yelled, panic creeping into his voice. “What the hell are these things made of? How can they run this fast on flesh and blood alone?”

Though the two sides had yet to clash directly, the beasts’ sheer speed and appearance left no room for doubt—they were not foes to be taken lightly.

“Squad leader, we can’t go any faster! The terrain won’t allow it. These aren’t aircraft!” the driver of one vehicle snapped back, his voice strained with tension.

The hasty evacuation of the Daqi civilization had left their once-thriving planet in a state of decay. Without maintenance crews, infrastructure like roads and buildings had fallen into disrepair.

The terrain was littered with debris and obstructions. While the war vehicles’ superior engineering helped mitigate these challenges, they couldn’t eliminate them entirely. At such breakneck speeds, a collision with even a minor obstacle would result in catastrophic destruction.

The vehicles continued to push their limits, engines roaring, but the beasts were relentless. Worse, the distance between predator and prey was steadily shrinking.