I Am The Swarm

Whether out of concern for his own safety or other reasons, Viller couldn’t possibly conceal this intelligence. So, when he sensed something was amiss, he sent the information back and issued a warning.

However, due to his previous words and actions, Viller had already been labeled as part of the Anti-war faction. His intelligence, which seemed to hinder the war effort, was likely to be watered down and receive little attention.

But Viller was now on the front lines of the battlefield. To minimize the chances of being detected by the Swarm, the coalition fleet was in a state of silence, reducing all unnecessary communications.

Even if he wanted to stir up trouble, it would be difficult. And if he went too far, he might be targeted by the military police. If he lost his position, his life would be even harder to protect.

However, those who had climbed to high positions in the coalition were not without merit. Before Viller reported his findings, some of them had already sensed something was wrong. Unfortunately, the arrow was already on the bowstring, and they had no choice but to shoot.

Changing the military operation at this point would only damage the already low morale of the coalition. It was better to take a gamble. Moreover, they currently held the advantage in distance, allowing them to assemble their forces faster. If it came to a fight, the outcome was still uncertain.@@novelbin@@

As the days passed, Viller looked at the coalition fleet that now filled the surrounding star systems and sighed. It seemed his intelligence had been ignored. From now on, he could only rely on himself.

The day of action finally arrived. A Troi warship took the lead, breaking out of the range of the interference devices, followed closely by a dense fleet of ships.

“What a spectacular sight!” Viller stood on the bridge of his flagship, looking at the scene outside. His disc-shaped flagship was positioned in the middle of the fleet, with tens of millions of warships spread out ahead.

——

“Your Majesty, they’re here.”

“Good. All legions, prepare to engage the enemy according to the plan!”

——

“How is the Swarm responding?”

“The Swarm has slightly adjusted their formation to face our fleet. Other than that, they’ve taken no other action.”

“Do they not intend to send troops to attack or harass us?”

“Based on the current intelligence, the Swarm has not engaged in such behavior.”

“Could it be that our reconnaissance is inadequate? I’ve heard the Swarm’s stealth technology is very advanced.”

“Impossible, sir. We’ve deployed various monitoring devices around the Swarm’s positions. They couldn’t possibly evade all types of detection.”

The commander pondered for a moment, agreeing with this assessment. If nothing else, the gravitational wave radar alone, in the emptiness of space, was something he had never heard of being completely shielded against. ŔÁɴȫ𝖇ЕꞨ

However, the Swarm’s approach was not good news for him. Ideally, the Swarm would also take the initiative to intercept the coalition, resulting in a head-on battle where neither side had the advantage of terrain.

But now, it seemed this was wishful thinking.

“Do we know how many Swarm forces there are?”

“They’ve jammed our signals, and our reconnaissance ships dare not get too close, so…”

“Useless!”

“However, based on the area and density of their clusters, we estimate that the Swarm has between 30 to 40 million octopus-like creatures over 500 meters in size.”

“…”

The Swarm’s combat forces were roughly equal in number to the coalition, if not slightly more. This wasn’t surprising, as the Swarm had gathered here first.

But in terms of quality, most of the Swarm’s combat units were between 500 to 600 meters in size, while the coalition’s smallest combat vessels were over a kilometer long. Therefore, the coalition was confident they could defeat the Swarm, even with similar numbers.

The distance of 0.2 light-years would take months to traverse at sub-light speeds, and the coalition had to maintain their formation, slowing them down even further. As a result, it took nearly half a year for the coalition to reach their designated position, during which time both sides received some reinforcements. The Swarm’s forces grew to nearly 50 million, while the coalition, due to a lack of momentum, only added a little over five million.

The commanders’ faces were grim. The widening gap in numbers slightly reduced the simulated victory rate and increased the size of the Anti-war faction, affecting morale.

But since they hadn’t turned back half a year ago, it was even more impossible to do so now. No matter what, this battle had to be fought!

“According to the plan, the vanguard will charge, the flanks will follow, and the rear will stand by, ready to reinforce at any moment!” Since the battlefield was the vast emptiness of space with no cover, there was little room for tactics. Both sides would clash head-on.

Of course, as the defenders, the Swarm could set up their formation and wait, while the coalition had to charge forward, risking their formation being disrupted in the process. This was the only real difference.

The vanguard of the coalition was composed of the strongest warships from the most powerful members. They were larger, had thicker armor, more powerful weapons, and longer range.

——

As the coalition commander had envisioned, the vanguard was the elite of the coalition. They were to act like a sharp blade, piercing into the Swarm’s formation, breaking it up, disrupting it, and dividing it. Then, the flanking forces would follow, encircling and cutting the battlefield into smaller segments.

This scenario was exactly what the coalition, with its superior individual combat capabilities, wanted to see.

Unfortunately, due to the time lost during the march, the Swarm’s numbers had grown to over 10 million more than the coalition’s, making encirclement difficult. It would be hard to prevent the Swarm from escaping.

However, if the plan proceeded as intended, it would still deal a heavy blow to the Swarm forces. As long as this force was scattered, the coalition could use their numerical advantage to sweep through and achieve their strategic goals.

——

The Swarm was not surprised by the coalition’s immediate charge upon entering the battlefield. The coalition couldn’t afford to waste time. Their reinforcements had dried up, while the Swarm’s forces continued to grow.

Every moment of delay meant the Swarm’s numbers increased slightly. So, if the coalition wanted to fight, they had to act quickly.

“Fire two rounds of electromagnetic cannons at them!” Facing the coalition’s charge, Sarah Kerrigan issued her orders.

Tens of millions of Primordial-class Swarm units had long been in combat mode, their bodies faintly glowing with blue arcs of energy. Upon receiving the command, the arcs flared up, and thousands of cannons fired simultaneously.

The battle line stretched nearly 10 million kilometers, equivalent to over 30 times the distance from Earth to the Moon.

Along this line, the blue energy arcs from the Primordial-class units seemed to connect, illuminating the entire void in a spectacular display.

Although the electromagnetic projectiles flew silently, without any visual effects, the dazzling blue arcs in the sky and the frantic alarms from the radar systems served as a stark reminder to the coalition.

The Swarm had opened fire!