I Am The Swarm

Although Elder El outwardly sneered at the Swarm’s formation, he secretly instructed his adjutant to closely monitor the surroundings. The Swarm weren’t fools. They couldn’t possibly be unaware that this was a losing battle, so there had to be some trick at play.

Considering the Swarm’s past achievements, the most likely scenario was that they were up to some sneaky tactic. After all, Elder El had long heard of the Swarm’s infamous stealth technology.

However, based on the information fed back by his own forces and several allies, everything around the fleet seemed normal. Gravitational radar readings were stable, and there was nothing hidden nearby—at least nothing large.

Still uneasy, Elder El contacted the rear command center, requesting intelligence support. The command center took his feedback seriously and immediately began reviewing and analyzing all surveillance data from ships and devices within one light-year of the fleet.

But according to the data they provided, there were no losses or malfunctions reported by the ships or devices. All the information appeared completely normal, with no signs of the Swarm hiding anything.

Yet, “completely normal” was itself highly suspicious. Limited by the available intelligence, the Confederation couldn’t figure out where the problem might lie.

However, even if they couldn’t figure it out, they couldn’t afford to hesitate. Whatever scheme the Swarm had, they would have to test it out in battle.

The task of engaging the Swarm fell to the Ketuo civilization, the most technologically advanced race in the current fleet. Their position was slightly forward, and their main cannons had a slightly longer range.

“Elder, we’re about to enter firing range.”

“Yes, sir!”

Based on the Swarm’s previous combat parameters, the Ketuo would fire their first salvo when 30% of their ships entered range, followed by a second salvo at 70%, and a third when the entire fleet was in range. Only then would they enter the Swarm’s main cannon range, and that was assuming the Swarm forces advanced simultaneously.

This was why Elder El had once believed that his forces alone could kite the Swarm to death—they had a clear advantage in range. If the Yuntu and the Sangqie hadn’t been encircled and lost their maneuvering space, they wouldn’t have suffered so badly.

The vanguard of the fleet was beginning to enter firing range, but the Swarm showed no signs of movement. If they didn’t advance, the Ketuo could fire at least two more salvos. If they were more aggressive, they could even bring their ships to an emergency stop and fire from just outside the Swarm’s range. However, restarting the engines would cause a delay, which could compromise mobility.

Was this the Swarm’s plan? To lure them into shutting down their engines to take advantage of the range? A fleet maintaining low-speed movement was easier to keep in formation than one transitioning from a standstill. In a battle of this scale, a disorganized formation could indeed lead to disaster. After some thought, Elder El decided against the tempting idea of free shots.

“20% of our warships have completed main cannon charging. Targets locked!” With the help of various instruments and supercomputers, millions of ships were quickly assigned their respective targets. Scientific distribution of firepower maximized the effectiveness of the salvo.

But just as the Ketuo were fantasizing about the Swarm being engulfed in their fire, a shrill alarm suddenly blared!

“Energy spike detected! Energy spike detected!”

“The enemy is firing!”

“Their range is insufficient. Are they shooting at mosquitoes?”

The alarm caused a momentary commotion, but it quickly subsided. Familiar with the Swarm’s combat unit parameters, the Ketuo assumed this was a warning shot.

But with a massive fleet of 700 million ships bearing down on them, did the Swarm really think a warning shot would force them to retreat? That seemed delusional.

However, just as some dismissed it, others scoffed, and a few even laughed, a crew member staring at his instruments suddenly widened his eyes in terror.

“Wait, the energy readings don’t match the previous parameters. This isn’t a regular energy cannon—it’s… it’s a dark energy projectile!”

“What? How is that possible?”

“Impossible!”

But before they could continue their disbelief, the dark energy projectiles had already traversed the vast void and struck the Ketuo fleet with pinpoint accuracy. Due to their earlier complacency, the Ketuo ships hadn’t taken evasive maneuvers, resulting in heavy losses from the Swarm’s salvo.

“Open fire!”

“Evasive maneuvers!” Elder El roared, his eyes wide with fury as he desperately issued orders to mitigate the damage. He couldn’t understand it. The data in their database, which included the Swarm’s latest parameters, was based on the battle five years ago.

The development of interstellar civilizations wasn’t like playing a game. Every breakthrough was the result of countless minds working over countless years. A qualitative leap like transitioning from controlled fusion to dark energy power sources would take an immeasurable amount of time. Add in the research and integration of related systems, and most civilizations might not achieve this in 100,000 years.

But the Swarm? If they hadn’t been hiding their capabilities before, they had accomplished all this in just five years. And judging by the number of combat units firing in that salvo, they had even completed a full-scale upgrade during that time…

How was that possible?

Elder El refused to believe it. The other mid-tier and outer-ring civilizations witnessing this, as well as the rear command center of the Confederation, all refused to believe it. This was absolutely impossible to achieve in such a short time. Even if the Swarm were a hundred times more bizarre, no race could believe this was possible.

If that wasn’t the case, then it meant the Swarm had been hiding their capabilities all along. But why would they do that? Using controlled fusion-based energy and weapons to fight the Yuntu and the Sangqie?

If they had already switched to dark energy-based systems, they could have easily annihilated the Yuntu and Sangqie forces and even taken advantage of the chaos in the warp lanes to achieve greater victories.

But they hadn’t done that. Were they just toying with them? Yet, the Swarm’s strength wasn’t enough to overwhelm the entire Interstellar Technological Confederation. What gave them the confidence to act this way?

Had the Swarm been feigning weakness all along?

But what was their purpose? If they had been hiding their dark energy technology to execute a grand plan—such as luring in more Confederation fleets because they weren’t satisfied with just the Yuntu and Sangqie’s mere billion-strong forces—then why had they so casually revealed their trump card now?

According to earlier reconnaissance, there were no ambushes around the allied fleet. And while the Ketuo had suffered heavy losses from the Swarm’s salvo, it only amounted to a few hundred thousand ships.

Had the Swarm gone through such an elaborate ruse, hiding their technological level and using outdated forces to fight a billion-strong fleet, just to destroy a few hundred thousand ships?

The Swarm’s baffling actions left the entire Interstellar Technological Confederation utterly confused.