I Am The Swarm

These Daqi soldiers, after all, had undergone specialized training. Even the recruits, having experienced the earlier round of escape, had grown to some extent. After the initial terror passed, they quickly reacted by opening fire.

Although the angles were awkward, the massive beast diving toward them—named the Vulturehawk—was so enormous that as long as they aimed in the right direction, there was no need for precise targeting to hit it.

Unfortunately, this Vulturehawk was no ordinary creature. It was an expensive, elite unit among the Swarm, boasting a complex native genetic combination due to its high cost.

Its beautiful feathers shimmered with a metallic luster. Small-caliber energy beams shattered or deflected harmlessly off its feathers, failing to cause any damage.

The Vulturehawk’s diving speed was astonishing. Before the Daqi soldiers could fire more than two rounds, the Vulturehawk was already upon them.

The Daqi soldiers faced a dilemma. With the vehicle speeding so quickly, jumping off was impossible—they would be reduced to a broken mess. But staying inside didn’t seem much safer either.

They didn’t have time to hesitate. In just an instant, the Vulturehawk’s massive, razor-sharp talons seized the vehicle. Though the vehicle was large on its own, in comparison to the Vulturehawk, it now seemed as fragile and helpless as a chick.

With the Vulturehawk’s altitude lowering, its talons provided clearer shooting angles. The vehicle’s roof-mounted heavy machine gun opened fire, spraying energy beams. However, even the heavy machine gun was powerless to break through the Vulturehawk’s defenses.

Having secured its prey, the Vulturehawk let out a triumphant screech, flapping its wings sharply. A whirlwind erupted as it carried the vehicle into the air.

The soldiers on the receiving vehicle realized the Vulturehawk’s intentions as it dove toward them. At that moment, they no longer cared how many pieces they would shatter into if they jumped.

Because if they didn’t jump, they were guaranteed to be turned into pulp.

“Boom!” A deafening crash erupted as two vehicles collided. At such high speeds, even vehicles built to interstellar standards disintegrated on impact.@@novelbin@@

Fragments of debris scattered everywhere, mixed with the bodies of those who hadn’t managed to jump in time. By now, though, they likely no longer cared—because their souls had departed the moment of impact, leaving only their shattered bodies to soar freely through the air.

The victorious Vulturehawk let out a gleeful screech, then turned its form to target the next vehicle.

A few minutes later, the leader of Squad Three lay sprawled in the grass, staring at the distant Vulturehawk, now reduced to a black dot as it retreated into the sky. Its devilish screeches still seemed to echo in his ears.

The vehicles must have all been destroyed; otherwise, that monster wouldn’t have left. But that was no longer his concern. Just moments ago, he had thrown himself from a vehicle moving at nearly 500 miles per hour.

He had rolled over countless times before finally coming to a stop. Though he had miraculously survived, he was now completely immobilized.

With his limited medical knowledge, he understood that he was beyond saving. His bones were shattered, yet he felt no pain. His consciousness, too, was beginning to blur.

At that moment, a sudden realization dawned on him: the Swarm truly was using them for experiments, throwing different units at them one after another. Given this, the officers who had escaped the base ahead of them were likely doomed as well.

As his vision darkened, the squad leader let out a faint sigh.

“Ha, this damned world… this cursed Swarm!”

His eyes gradually lost their light. He had done everything he could.

Just as this unnamed Daqi squad leader had guessed, the commander who had left the base earlier aboard the gunship had already completed his part of the experiment.

At that time, their two gunships and five transport ships had flown out first. Shortly after, the two gunships that had been covering the escape of the ground vehicles in the hangar also pulled out. Ṝ𝓪Νօ₿Ěș

However, not long after they regrouped, the radar systems aboard their ships began blaring alarms frantically. The threat was coming from the skies!

This time, it wasn’t the Vulturehawk. Though the Vulturehawk was covered in tough feathers and possessed considerable mass, its speed—while impressive against ground targets—was still lacking compared to aerial units like the gunships.

The Vulturehawk’s role was that of an aerial heavy-armored unit, responsible for breaking through defenses, drawing fire, and supporting ground incursions.

For airborne combat, the Swarm had other solutions. Now appearing on the scene was the Storm God, a former flying swarm unit. Although it had been phased out in the past, after multiple rounds of genetic optimization, the Storm God had once again taken to the skies.

The newly enhanced Storm God had grown even larger, with a wingspan exceeding fifty meters. It had been augmented with aerogel components, which made its body lighter and more agile.

Additionally, it had been equipped with a new energy absorption system, allowing it to harness the frictional electricity generated as it passed through cloud layers to replenish its power. This gave it incredible endurance, enabling it to remain airborne for nearly ten continuous days.

The new Storm God was also equipped with optical cloaking and electromagnetic wave refraction systems, allowing it to evade most radar scans. Its newly added field protection system negated the compressive forces of air resistance, enabling it to fly at even greater speeds.

The strategic role of the Storm God was to establish aerial platforms in the stratosphere, providing air support to ground forces. It lacked significant offensive capabilities itself, but its expansive back could carry other units to assist in combat.

These new functionalities made the Storm God expensive to produce, solidifying its place as an elite unit. While it still had some flaws, the Swarm needed such a combat unit to fill the operational gap between the ground and altitudes of ten thousand meters.

During the Swarm’s attack on the Daqi underground base, two Storm Gods had already been circling above. When the Daqi ships emerged, the Sky Strikers they carried immediately locked onto their respective targets.

The Sky Strikers were an upgraded version of the self-aiming, direction-variable jet impact bugs, also known as the Flying Kamikaze Bug. In the past, they had been deployed from the Storm God platforms to massacre the wild pterosaurs on Genesis Planet.

In principle, the Sky Strikers and Storm Gods were longtime partners.

The older version of the Flying Kamikaze Bug had relied on soundwave-based targeting, which had been highly effective against slow-flying wild pterosaurs. However, in the face of high-end interstellar mechanical constructs capable of supersonic speeds, soundwave targeting was no longer sufficient.

As a result, the Sky Strikers’ targeting system had been upgraded to an advanced radar scanning system. While not the most cutting-edge technology, it was more than enough to ensure that no aircraft could escape.

Furthermore, the outdated segmented acceleration system of the older Flying Kamikaze Bugs, which used air cannons, could no longer meet modern demands. To solve this, Luo Wen had outfitted the Sky Strikers with custom-designed plasma propulsion modules.

These propulsion modules were heavily modified, capable of instantaneously draining all the Sky Striker’s energy to propel it to terrifying speeds.

This design prioritized explosive speed above all else, with no consideration given to any residual effects.