I Am The Swarm

The Swarm creatures in the pit, shielded by the bodies of their comrades, pressed forward relentlessly under heavy fire, inching closer to the pit’s edge.

“Deploy heavy firepower support! Deploy the flamethrowers!” ordered the field commander, calm despite the situation.

The gunboats, already primed, unleashed thicker, more intense red energy beams, bombarding the Swarm below. Along the pit’s edge, heavily armored flamethrower troops advanced, directing streams of fuel downward. With the help of accelerants, roaring flames erupted, incinerating the leading Swarm creatures. Some fell off the walls, while others burned as they clung to the dirt.

Combined with the aerial bombardment, the assault was repelled, driving the Swarm back into their tunnels.

The day passed in cycles of attack and defense. Though the Swarm launched several charges, they achieved no significant breakthroughs. In the end, they retreated to their burrows, signaling the battle’s conclusion.

This skirmish dealt a heavy blow to the Swarm, leaving tens of thousands of carcasses behind. Conversely, the Rikens suffered no fatalities, with only minor injuries, most caused by friendly fire. This victory marked an overwhelming success.

To celebrate, the Rikens held a small feast. Special forces hunted over a hundred Bull Demons, which were prepared for the event. Every participant in the construction and combat efforts had their fill—a rare treat of natural meat that many Rikens had never tasted in their lifetimes.

Time flew, and by the third night, the pit had deepened to 70 meters and expanded to nearly a square kilometer in area. That evening, the Swarm launched another suicidal charge. However, the seasoned and well-prepared Riken troops easily repelled the attack, incinerating and obliterating countless Swarm creatures. This time, there was no panic among the ranks, nor even accidental injuries.

“They seem to have exhausted their tactics,” a captain commented during a discussion, watching a live video feed.

“True, we overestimated them at first.”

“Still, their numbers are surprising,” a strategist noted. “Despite two days of heavy losses, their forces don’t appear to have dwindled.”

“That’s indeed a concern. But as long as we proceed cautiously, we’ll eventually dig our way to their main nest. Then, let’s see where they can hide.”

“Exactly.”

One week later, the pit was 300 meters deep and spanned three square kilometers. The Rikens unearthed and destroyed a vast network of Swarm tunnels during this time.

Attempts to explore the tunnels with ground teams were largely unsuccessful. In the confined, dark spaces, the elite soldiers were no match for the swift and deadly Raiders. Despite this, nightly battles in the pit resulted in the deaths of at least 100,000 Swarm creatures. Yet their numbers seemed endless.

These nightly skirmishes became routine, an unspoken ritual of attack and defense.

“Their intelligence must be incredibly low. After all this time, they still don’t realize this path is blocked,” remarked a strategist during a meeting. РάNΟ𐌱ĚṠ

“Do they think they can exhaust our ammunition supply?” someone joked.

“Perhaps,” another chimed in. “Dr. Balt did say their brain capacity is extremely small.”

“Still, it feels off.”

“Yes, how can they sustain such massive numbers? How large is their underground nest? What are they eating to maintain such a vast population?”

“Maybe they farm their own food,” someone laughed. “I once read about insects on our home planet that cultivated crops.”

“Or they could have additional tunnel exits. Their territory might be far larger than we imagine.”

But events often change without warning.

That day, as the construction crews continued excavation, a sudden attack broke out. The Swarm surged from the tunnels in a frenzy. Although the instruments provided an early warning, the creatures moved too quickly. The Rikens, lulled into complacency by the previous days’ “routine,” had left their daytime defenses lax.

The Swarm broke into the worksite, slaughtering numerous Rikens before the defenders could react. By the time the soldiers were ready to open fire, the Swarm had mingled with the workers. Firing would likely result in massive friendly fire casualties—an unacceptable risk.

The soldiers had no choice but to engage in close combat, some even resorting to melee weapons.

Perhaps emboldened by recent victories, the Rikens underestimated the Raiders’ lethality, daring to face them up close. They were quickly reminded of the terror of the Raiders’ rapid maneuvers and blade-like forelimbs. The battlefield turned into a one-sided massacre, with the Rikens now the victims.

In the end, the chaos was quelled—not because the Rikens repelled the Swarm, but because nearly every soldier and worker on-site had been killed. The Swarm’s relentless onslaught left the pit strewn with Riken corpses.

The Swarm then surged upward, charging toward the rim of the pit.

Seeing the disaster unfold, the commanding officer ordered an all-out assault, disregarding the few remaining survivors and machinery. Energy beams rained down, and dozens of incendiary bombs followed, setting the entire pit ablaze. In minutes, the Swarm was reduced to ash. Yet the creatures showed no fear, and as the flames subsided, they surged forward once more.

“Have they gone mad?” The captains and strategists convened for an emergency video meeting to watch the unfolding battle.

“They’ve changed their behavior patterns,” one noted grimly.

“Could they have been feigning their routine to lull us into complacency for this counterattack?”

“Unlikely,” Dr. Balt interjected. “Their brain capacity doesn’t support such complex planning.”

“Then what’s causing this? Judging from the footage, our losses this time are catastrophic.”

Indeed, complacency had cost the Rikens dearly. The construction team and the close-combat security forces were wiped out, and much of their machinery was destroyed in the ensuing bombardment and fires. The casualty count was expected to exceed ten thousand—the worst losses they had ever suffered.

“Perhaps we’ve finally reached their core,” Dr. Balt speculated.

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