I Am The Swarm

Over the years, the Riken have dedicated considerable effort to countering the Swarm’s electromagnetic railguns.

They had acquired an advanced starship from an unknown civilization and reverse-engineered many of its technologies. This high vantage point allowed them to refine several foundational theories.

Since the expeditionary fleet’s defeat, the Riken spent decades developing countermeasures. However, most of these were experimental prototypes and hadn’t yet reached the stage of equipping their regular forces.

During the reconstruction of Planet Raze, however, the Riken introduced a new type of defensive installation.

Surrounding the ground-based cannons were structures that rivaled them in size. These buildings were semi-spherical, resembling inverted bowls embedded into the ground.

At the top of the semi-spheres lay peculiar structures composed of special metals and transparent crystalline materials. These buildings lacked any familiar cannon barrels, leaving their purpose a mystery.

As the Swarm’s dense barrage of electromagnetic projectiles approached, they seemed unstoppable, cutting through everything like an invincible sword. The Riken warships scrambled to evade, unwilling to stand in their path.

However, when the projectiles crossed Planet Raze’s near-orbit, closing to within just over a thousand kilometers of their ground targets, something unexpected happened.

From the tops of the semi-spherical buildings, fine red beams of light suddenly shot out of the crystalline structures.

At a distance of just over a thousand kilometers, the electromagnetic projectiles, traveling at incredible speeds, would reach their targets almost instantly. Yet, these red beams moved even faster.

At first glance, they resembled significantly thinner plasma beams, but in principle and effect—aside from the color—they were entirely different.

Plasma beams are compressed energy aggregates, whose stability can be manipulated to achieve two modes: a stable penetrative type or an unstable explosive type. Regardless of the mode, they manifest externally as energy beams ranging from tens of centimeters to several meters in length.

In contrast, these thin beams—or more aptly, rays—were fundamentally different. They truly were thin lines of light, stretching for thousands of kilometers when fired.

To maintain their destructive power, the thin lines required continuous energy supply. Despite their slender appearance, their energy consumption per unit of time was astronomical.

Each of these semi-spherical installations consumed as much energy as ten ground-based cannons when operational.

Buried 100 meters below these installations were dedicated nuclear power plants to provide the energy they required.

Even with such immense power supply, the effective attack range of these installations was less than 2,000 kilometers.

High energy consumption and limited range—on the surface, these weapons seemed to have significant drawbacks. The Riken wouldn’t deploy such flawed weapons unless they offered clear advantages.

And their advantage was that they were genuine ray weapons. Their attack speed was effectively equal to the speed of light. Within their effective kill radius, their strikes were essentially instantaneous, leaving virtually no room for evasion.

The Swarm’s long-range electromagnetic railguns, with projectiles taking over half an hour to reach their targets, had their trajectories precisely calculated long before arrival.

When the projectiles entered the laser defense array’s attack range, aided by large-scale supercomputers, the red beams of light instantly “illuminated” their targets.

Electromagnetic projectiles were simply aggregates of metallic elements, not composed of advanced materials. Under the immense energy output of the red beams, they were heated to their boiling point in less than a second. ℞άƝỗ฿Еȿ

The portion of the projectile exposed to the beam emitted a golden glow before liquefying and splattering in flight. As more of the projectile melted, its high-speed trajectory destabilized, and its structural integrity was lost.

Once the beam burned through the projectile, it fragmented into several pieces and decelerated significantly. While the remaining fragments could still deal some damage, they were unlikely to penetrate the outer defenses of steel constructs.

A few minutes later, the interception report was compiled. In the first wave of tens of thousands of electromagnetic projectiles, the laser defense array achieved a success rate of over 70%. The remaining 30% failure was attributed to the insufficient number of laser installations. If there had been enough, it’s likely no projectile could have breached this layer of defense.

“The results are good. If I’d known, we should’ve built more of these things,” commented Alcer, the Third Fleet’s commander, with a hint of regret.

“They’re still experimental prototypes,” Novaul replied with some regret of his own. “They haven’t undergone combat testing, and construction is challenging with extremely complex material requirements. Reaching the current scale already took considerable effort.”

“It’s unfortunate that these things consume so much energy and space. For now, they can only be used as ground-based defenses. If we could mount them on warships, we’d have a decisive advantage in battles,” observed Hamis, looking further into the future.

“Indeed. We need to push the Academy to prioritize upgrading these laser defense arrays. With their cooperation and close-in defense cannons, we might even be able to retake the T85 Star System,” Novaul added.

Currently, in their war with the Swarm, the Riken occupied only one position of advantage across three engagement ranges.

Long-range: The Swarm’s railguns outranged the Riken’s main cannons, forcing the Riken to endure relentless bombardment without retaliation.

Mid-range: Once within range of the Riken’s main cannons, the fleets engaged in mutual bombardment. Here, the Riken’s faster firing rates and projectile speeds gave them a clear edge when fleet numbers were roughly equal.

Close-range: The Swarm’s Mature bodies and Larval bodies posed a severe threat, charging fearlessly. If these units breached a warship’s hull, survival was virtually impossible.

If the laser defense arrays could be mounted on warships, the Riken could neutralize long-range electromagnetic railgun strikes and bolster close-range defenses. Combined with laser arrays, close-in defense cannons, and fighter squadrons, the Swarm’s Mature and Larval bodies could be effectively repelled.

By preventing the Swarm from closing in, the warships’ secondary cannons could unleash their firepower, which remained highly lethal against small and medium combat units.

With these changes, the Riken could potentially establish dominance at all three engagement ranges. Under this scenario, a counteroffensive to retake the T85 Star System seemed plausible.

However, war was a battle of resources and logistics. The Swarm wouldn’t abandon their attacks merely because their projectiles were intercepted. Furthermore, the immense energy consumption of the laser defense arrays was a critical limitation.

Moreover, the Swarm had already deduced the limitations of the arrays through normal means: insufficient numbers and incomplete interception coverage.

The relentless barrage of electromagnetic railguns continued with a second and third wave. For the resource-rich Riken, who drew from an entire star system, such attritional exchanges were welcomed.

Despite their success, the 30% of projectiles that evaded interception still inflicted significant damage on the defensive installations of Planet Raze.

While the laser defense arrays prioritized protecting themselves and remained at full operational strength, the destruction of other ground-based cannons left the Riken feeling frustrated.

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