I Am The Swarm

Because the Swarm’s ground combat experiments on the Daqi Planet had been conducted under the heavy cover and concealment of their space forces, the Interstellar Technological Confederation had been unable to uncover what had happened.

Despite their repeated attempts, they were always blocked. To this day, the details of those events remain unknown to the Confederation. Thus, the scene unfolding on the life planet of LKDW262 marked the first time the Swarm’s ground forces had been revealed to the world.

Night had fallen, and in response to the Swarm’s airdrops, the cities on the Moto life planet had heightened their defenses. Curfews were imposed, and the number and frequency of patrols were increased.

However, after several rounds of sweeps that eliminated many of the Swarm’s airdropped units, combined with over ten days of relative safety, the tension among the patrol personnel had begun to ease slightly.

The Moto were a race that valued environmental protection, and the night sky remained clear, cloudless, and offered excellent visibility. In the distant starscape, occasional bursts of light flared up—explosions from the coalition’s warship reactors. Through an ordinary telescope, one could even see dense red threads dancing across the stars.

The Moto on the surface understood that the battle in the distance was a matter of life and death for them. As a result, many had quickly adapted their habits, becoming nocturnal to take advantage of the better viewing conditions at night. Though they could do little to help, they hoped to send their blessings to the distant fleet.

The patrol personnel were no exception. They frequently looked up at the distant sky, silently praying for their comrades.

Suddenly, a shadow flickered at the corner of a patrolman’s eye. As he focused on it, a sharp pain pierced his left cheek, as if something had pricked him. He raised his hand to touch the spot, but before he could even complete the motion, his body uncontrollably tilted to one side.

The sound of his fall was startlingly clear in the quiet night. His eyes, now unable to move, could only hope that his sudden collapse would alert his comrades.

In his final moments, he still couldn’t identify what had attacked them…

The perpetrators were genetically enhanced flying insects, originally part of the reconnaissance units. Their primary role was to provide route guidance, detect enemy presence, mark targets, and offer early warnings for other Swarm units.

However, they also possessed a degree of offensive capability. Each flying insect had a stinger coated with neurotoxin at the end of its tail. These stingers could be silently launched with pinpoint accuracy, hitting targets within fifty meters.

Equipped with optical camouflage and silent flight modes, they could easily approach unsuspecting enemies and strike at the opportune moment.

Comfortable in their familiar environment and lacking experience in combating Swarm ground units, many of the patrol soldiers had not worn fully enclosed combat suits. They became the first victims of the flying insect units.@@novelbin@@

Of course, not all Moto soldiers were so careless. Many wore full-body protective gear, and some elite units even had basic exoskeletons.

These were not opponents the flying insects could handle alone. This was where the ambushers came in. Though the ambushers shared the same basic template as the raiders—derived from the original Spider Combat Bug—they were a far cry from the stripped-down, expendable versions. The ambushers were the high-end, fully equipped, luxury custom models.

Optical camouflage, venomous stingers, silk-spinning capabilities, and wing membranes for gliding were all standard features. Their main bodies were encased in chitinous armor, while their limbs were reinforced with exoskeletal plating. This meant they underwent over ten molting cycles from larva to maturity.

Such a laborious growth process resulted in formidable combat capabilities. Beyond their auxiliary functions, the chitinous armor provided enhanced protection while adding significant weight. With a body diameter of nearly half a meter, each ambusher weighed over thirty kilograms.

Their exoskeleton-covered limbs were not only incredibly strong but also razor-sharp. Though called ambushers, their frontal assault capabilities were exceptional. A single ambusher could easily take on ten raiders without breaking a sweat.

Several sentries stationed on a rooftop were unaware of the optically camouflaged flying insects circling above them. On the building’s walls, several heavily armored insectoids, also cloaked in optical camouflage, used the hooks on their limbs to scale the structure silently, guided by the flying insects.

The sentries, though fully clad in protective gear, were oblivious to the danger. They chatted through their communicators, exchanging non-combat-related thoughts and experiences.

Suddenly, one of the sentries was slammed to the ground. His decent physical condition was of no use as he struggled helplessly against the force pinning him down.

Terrified, he tried to shout a warning to his comrades, but as soon as he opened his mouth, something invisible shot into it. Blood seemed to hang in mid-air, faintly outlining the shape of an unseen object.

The transparent object slowly retracted, then withdrew from the back of his neck. With the obstruction gone, blood gushed forth. The Moto soldier, eyes wide with fear, gradually went silent as his life ebbed away.

Simultaneously, similar scenes of slaughter befell his companions, spreading across the city and throughout the planet.

Finally, whether due to the sentries’ prolonged silence or the discovery of their bodies, alarms blared across the city, quickly spreading and awakening all the Moto on the planet. Rᴀ₦ОΒЕʂ

As dawn broke, sunlight bathed the land. The Moto, having spent a sleepless night, cautiously opened their doors and stepped outside, as if greeting a new life.

The previous night had been one of terror. The Moto leadership, having noticed the anomalies, quickly mobilized additional personnel to investigate.

However, as they moved, more and more individuals went missing. At the scene of each incident, aside from the victims, there were no traces of the attackers. Panic began to spread. The unseen enemy brought to mind terrifying legends.

But many Moto realized that this was the Swarm, returning to strike again. The night environment was highly unfavorable for them. Only after firing numerous flares into the sky did the killings begin to subside.

Yet in the shadows, the ambushes continued. Patrols were halted, and people were urgently gathered together. No one dared to rest, and they finally made it through to dawn.

In the light of day, it seemed as though nothing had happened the previous night. But the bodies discovered everywhere served as grim reminders of the previous night’s horrors. Finally, most of the victims’ remains were collected, awaiting examination by specialists.