I Am The Swarm

Though more than a decade had passed since the last Battle for Planet Raze, the Rikens had obtained numerous experimental samples of Swarm combat units during that war.

Yet, to this day, they had failed to unlock the secrets behind those samples.

This left them with few effective means of combating the ever-expanding purple-gray fungal carpets.

“Deploy the Radiance of the Rikens!” The fleet commander and his strategists held an emergency discussion, but ultimately, they had no choice but to resort to their old method.

The Radiance of the Rikens referred to a modified nuclear warhead, symbolically named for its ability to “shine” and protect the Riken people.

These weapons represented the most powerful armaments in the Rikens’ arsenal—and the most hazardous.

“Ah, it’s a poison pill, but at least it solves the immediate crisis.”

Each detonation of the Radiance of the Rikens was akin to broadcasting the planet’s coordinates to the surrounding star systems.

Such frequent use risked drawing the attention of any sufficiently advanced civilizations nearby. These civilizations would not only be able to discern that a war was occurring but also make educated guesses about the technological levels of both warring factions. A confident opportunist might decide to intervene.

In interstellar warfare, when the technological gap between civilizations was not significant, the aggressor often faced a disadvantage.

For example, in the current battle, the Rikens, defending their territory, held the upper hand. They had the advantage of pre-built defensive structures and could use Planet Raze as a shield, making attacks, retreats, and rotations highly flexible.

Moreover, they had the logistical support of their entire star system. Supplies flowed in steadily from within the system to sustain their efforts.

In contrast, the Swarm, as the attackers, lacked the advantages of terrain and faced significant logistical challenges. If not for their unique biological nature, the cost of transporting forces from outside the system to Planet Raze alone might have exhausted the entire Swarm army.

The Rikens originally assumed that the Neighboring Star System was home to a weaker civilization and launched a colonial expedition with 315 warships and 164 transport vessels.

Had they anticipated a tougher conflict, the number of transport ships might have been several times that of the warships.

This reflected the standard configuration of a proper interstellar campaign.

The Swarm, while equipped with transport units, seemed to lack dedicated resupply units. This peculiarity had puzzled the Rikens for years. Without understanding the Swarm’s methods of sustaining themselves, the Rikens couldn’t formulate effective attritional strategies.

Returning to the present, if the Swarm were to seize control of Planet Raze, the roles in this siege would immediately reverse.

The Swarm would become the defenders, and the Rikens would take on the role of aggressors.

While the Swarm’s logistics remained an enigma, analyzing the electromagnetic railgun firing patterns suggested they did, in fact, require resupply.

The Rikens knew that if they allowed the Swarm to entrench themselves further, they would lose their home-field advantage. Their only option was to unleash the Radiance of the Rikens and hope it would be enough to burn away the Swarm’s creeping threat.

If the Swarm forces on Planet Raze could establish a foothold, their logistical capabilities would improve, and their tactics would shift accordingly.

Although the Rikens still knew little about the Swarm, they could foresee one immediate consequence, with a logistical base, the Swarm would likely fire their electromagnetic railguns far more liberally.

Currently, the Swarm forces, operating without visible logistical support, maintained a ferocious rate of fire. But in a few hours, they might no longer be able to sustain such high-intensity bombardments.

At that point, the Swarm might be forced to retreat to the asteroid belt at the edge of the star system to resupply. However, if their main fleet withdrew, the Swarm would suffer immense losses.

Their Primordial bodies, which had served as living shields, would have been sacrificed in vain; tens of thousands of larval bodies trapped by the metallic fiber nets would be annihilated; and even the mature bodies and larval units at the forefront of the battle would be abandoned.

Such significant losses would require the Swarm to spend years, possibly decades, reorganizing for another war. This delay would give the Rikens much-needed time to recover. They could refine and deploy more advanced anti-Swarm weaponry, making a counterattack on the Swarm’s home territory no longer just a dream.

But all of this hinged on Planet Raze not falling into Swarm hands.

Thus, the Riken leadership was prepared to destroy Planet Raze entirely if necessary, rather than allowing the Swarm to claim it.

However, the Rikens lacked the means to obliterate an entire planet. Their best option was to cleanse the Swarm from Planet Raze, even if it meant destroying all their own bases and turning the planet into a neutral zone.

The Radiance of the Rikens, a 35-meter-long, 8-meter-diameter colossus, was deployed once more. Waves of purple-gray fungal carpets were incinerated, transformed into seas of blinding light. The violent energy flows from the explosions created massive EMP fields, which disabled numerous inadequately shielded Riken facilities. Even some functional spacecraft in planetary orbit were partially affected.

Fortunately, the warships were specially shielded and remained operational.

The familiar sight returned: purple-gray carpets were wiped away, leaving behind high-temperature, smooth, semi-circular craters.

But to the Rikens’ dismay, the Swarm’s deployment on Planet Raze exceeded all expectations. Unlike before, the fungal carpets didn’t stop spreading after being bombarded.

For every crater formed by the explosions, more purple-gray patches emerged elsewhere.

As a strategic deterrent, the Radiance of the Rikens was expensive to manufacture, maintain, and store, and its stockpile was limited. During the last battle on Planet Raze, hundreds of these weapons had been expended, depleting previous reserves.

Although production had continued over the past decade, only about 2,000 were available. Many of these were reserved for the Twin Star Defensive Zone and the homeworld’s defensive perimeter, leaving just over 1,200 for the Planet Raze defensive network.

If the current trend continued, the Rikens would exhaust their stockpile of these weapons first.

Moreover, as more “mini-suns” lit up the planet, the environment on Planet Raze deteriorated. Even cannon emplacements untouched by direct attacks were rendered inoperable due to the powerful EMP fields.

The situation was grim.

“Let’s start evacuating our personnel from Planet Raze,” Hamis sighed.

The relentless EMP pulses had severely disrupted the operations of Riken bases on the planet. Although the bases were shielded to maintain life-support systems, continued bombardment risked catastrophic failures.

Additionally, the Swarm’s assault showed no signs of slowing. It was only a matter of time before they breached the bases entirely. With the planet’s defensive systems largely crippled, there was no reason to continue holding their positions.

“It’s too late. Our smaller transport craft can’t withstand the EMP fields, and the larger transports can’t approach the planet’s surface. Those Rikens will have to fend for themselves.”

“Then at least send a message, telling them to save themselves if they can. If we hold out for another half-day, perhaps the enemy will finally collapse,” Hamis said, though even he felt uncertain about the hope in his words.

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