I Am The Swarm

In the Troi, General Viller held a significant position of power. However, the current battle against the Swarm was led by an alliance of nearly 20 civilizations. His rank was insufficient to qualify him for the position of commander-in-chief of the allied forces.

Still, the commander-in-chief also hailed from the Troi, albeit from a different camp than Viller. This rival faction harbored animosity toward him. When Viller was awakened for this mission, he had a bad feeling, which was soon confirmed when he was sent directly to the front lines.

Regarding the battle against the Swarm, Viller didn’t believe the Swarm would ultimately prevail. After all, compared to the forces in the Outer-ring, the civilizations closer to the core regions had longer histories of development and higher levels of technology. If these core powers were to fully engage, the Swarm would stand no chance.

However, at this stage, Viller did not have high hopes for the Locke Mutual Aid Alliance. He had once come into close contact with the Swarm. They were an enigmatic species, full of mysteries. Many of their behaviors seemed logical on the surface but exuded an unsettling peculiarity upon closer examination. Those who hadn’t encountered them firsthand could never truly understand that feeling.

The Swarm undoubtedly harbored many secrets.

From the current situation, it appeared that the Swarm’s secrets had been exposed. Although Viller didn’t know the specifics, the fact that so many civilizations—even the New Ji race—were covertly making moves suggested there was an extraordinary reward at stake.

Perhaps his faction knew something, but Viller, having just been awakened, remained uninformed. Nor did he want to know. Rewards of this magnitude were beyond his reach, and even the Troi could only dream of grasping them.

Viller couldn’t fathom why those self-proclaimed elite strategists had decided to engage the Swarm head-on. He was a staunch member of the Anti-war faction. Right now, he had no interest in earning military merits or glory; he only wanted to survive.

This wasn’t to say Viller was a coward. He had ambition and was willing to fight for it—otherwise, he wouldn’t have climbed to his current rank. However, he understood the present circumstances. Dying here would be a waste, with no corresponding rewards or honor to justify the sacrifice.

Considering the Swarm’s secrets, what kind of reward could attract even the New Ji race? And correspondingly, how great would the danger be?

Viller didn’t believe this situation would be a rare exception to the rule. If there were no danger involved, the Swarm would have been quietly eliminated long ago, their secrets seized without the need for the Troi or others to intervene.

Half a month passed. During this time, Viller had accumulated less than 40 hours of sleep in total. Perhaps due to his long period of cryogenic sleep, he managed to endure and even felt relatively fine mentally.

But this was merely an illusion. He had reached his limit. The constant sense of unease over the past few days had caused an excessive secretion of adrenaline, which had severely drained his stamina. Now, he desperately needed rest.

Fortunately, nothing unusual had happened during this time. Viller kept a constant watch on the Swarm’s movements, ready to order a retreat at the slightest sign of trouble. He didn’t care if it meant facing a court-martial later.

When he finally got some sleep, Viller slept for over 20 hours. Upon waking, he felt disoriented, taking a long moment before his memory returned.

By now, nearly ten million warships from various species had gathered in this region. The vast fleet stretched endlessly across the void. Viller had never seen such a massive assembly of warships in his lifetime. The sight gave him a small sense of security.

And this was not the entirety of their forces. Reinforcements would continue arriving over the next month, bringing the total to around 30 million ships. While this seemed like a considerable number, it was less than half of the original plan.

The shortfall was due to a lack of warp-capable ships. Even within the Troi, the prevalence of warp drive-equipped warships had been low. It was even worse for less advanced civilizations, some of which had no warp technology at all.

Although at the beginning of the war, in order to enhance the combat capability of the Outer-ring civilizations, the Ji race had advanced a portion of the promised rewards, granting all the civilizations access to warp drive technology. Those who already possessed it were able to upgrade their systems.

However, technology is one thing, and physical implementation is another. Transforming technical knowledge into tangible warships required time. Even in a state of total war, where all newly produced warships were equipped with warp drives, the existing fleets still faced the challenge of retrofitting.

Thirty years was simply too short. A significant number of warships were still only capable of sub-light travel.

In this fast-paced blitzkrieg scenario, sub-light warships, no matter how powerful their weaponry, could not participate effectively in missions.

The actual number of deployed warships was less than half the original plan, nearly jeopardizing the operation. However, the Pro-war faction firmly pushed forward, ensuring the plan went into action. řἁɴòꞖЁ𝐒

—

“Your Majesty, we have pinpointed the Allied Fleet’s assembly point. Shall we strike now while they are still vulnerable and eliminate them?”

Although the Locke Mutual Aid Society’s coalition forces had employed interference and concealment measures to deceive the Swarm’s reconnaissance systems, the Swarm’s infiltration capabilities were extraordinary. Any plan discussed by the coalition was swiftly exposed to the Swarm.

Thus, while the coalition’s efforts were commendable, they proved ineffective.

Sarah considered the situation and made her decision. “Forget it. They’ll come to attack us sooner or later. Let them have their moment of joy for now.”

“As you command, Your Majesty!”

From Sarah’s perspective, launching an offensive at this time—being the attacking party in a blitzkrieg—would undoubtedly result in a disorganized formation. It would be difficult to encircle the coalition forces at their assembly point.

If the coalition chose to focus solely on retreating, the Swarm might not be able to inflict significant losses on their effective combat forces. Moreover, capturing the assembly point might scatter the coalition’s subsequent reinforcements, making their future movements unpredictable.

Since that was the case, it was better to feign ignorance. Once the coalition completed their assembly, they would inevitably launch their attack. By then, the Swarm could assume a defensive position, taking advantage of their terrain to deal the coalition a devastating blow. Wouldn’t that be more satisfying?

—

And so, the coalition, believing they had performed well, managed to complete their military assembly under the Swarm’s very nose, feeling quite smug about their success.

However, Viller thought otherwise. No one had a definitive understanding of the Swarm’s technological capabilities. Over this period, he had revisited every incident and battle involving the Swarm. His conclusion was clear: although the Swarm often presented themselves as mindless beasts, they had never truly suffered a defeat.

The Swarm was far from incompetent. The idea that they could overlook enemy forces gathering right in front of them was absurd.@@novelbin@@

If the Swarm had indeed discovered their assembly, why would they pretend not to know?

Furthermore, this was not the only battlefield. In the nearby LKDW263 sector, a nearly identical scenario was unfolding.

For both battlefields to go unnoticed by the Swarm was highly improbable.

Viller detected the scent of conspiracy.