I Am The Swarm

When the Swarm ceased firing after realizing their attacks were ineffective, Diallo interpreted this as their surrender. Confident in his invincibility, he immediately ordered the fleet to maintain formation and advance at full speed.

“Your Highness, I still believe we should proceed with caution,” Aslit advised.

“Relax, Aslit. According to the intel, electromagnetic railguns are the Swarm’s only long-range weapon. Oh, I almost forgot—they also have that primitive launching contraption, right? Hahaha! Forgive me, I genuinely thought such devices only existed in ancient history. I can’t fathom how a spacefaring civilization like the Swarm would still use something so outdated.” Diallo laughed heartily. “And I hear its accuracy is abysmal.”

Privately, Aslit was also puzzled. The supposed “catapult-like” weapon mentioned in the reports seemed implausibly archaic, especially for a civilization deemed significant by the suzerain. Her instincts told her that something was amiss. She shared her concerns with Diallo.

After a moment of consideration, Diallo reassured her, saying, “Don’t worry. Even if that thing somehow has perfect accuracy, it’s still a physical projectile. Against our repulsion fields, it’s utterly useless. Besides, such a device would be impossible to conceal. Looking at the Swarm’s current deployment, there’s no way they could hide something like that at this range.”

“But what if they have other weapons? For instance, creatures capable of firing lasers,” Aslit pressed.

“Aslit,” Diallo said sternly, “as a proud member of the great Daqi, you shouldn’t be asking such questions! Even we haven’t solved the problem of long-range energy weapon power supply. Do you honestly believe the Swarm has? I’ll concede they have some unique innovations and potential for the future, but for now, in the face of my fleet, they must bow!” He dismissed her concerns with an air of finality, turning his attention back to the rapidly approaching Planet Izumo.

The Daqi fleet maintained their incredible speed, undeterred by the Swarm’s actions. Under Diallo’s command, they closed the distance to 500,000 kilometers from Planet Izumo—a perilously close range in space combat.

At such a distance, calling it “point-blank range” might be an exaggeration, but given the technological level of the combatants, it was undeniably dangerous. Energy weapons could traverse this distance in mere seconds, ensuring any battle fought here would be brutal and decisive. For the slower side, retreat would scarcely be an option.

Noticing Aslit’s hesitation, her lips moving as if to speak but holding back, Diallo smirked. “Aslit, you want to say something, don’t you?”

“Your Highness, isn’t this range too close? Our repulsion fields only cover a small section at the bow. If the Swarm realizes this and strikes from the sides, even our defenses may struggle against large-caliber electromagnetic railguns.”

Her concern was valid. The Daqi repulsion fields had significant limitations. The generator’s inability to be miniaturized meant it could only cover 30% of a warship’s surface area, even if the entire interior were dedicated to housing it. Ultimately, it was an auxiliary system—just one that happened to counter the Swarm effectively.

“Of course, I know that. But the Swarm doesn’t,” Diallo said confidently, gesturing toward two screens. “Look, their bases on Planet Raze and the inner stellar orbit are already dispatching reinforcements.”

The screens zoomed in to display massive structures located near the star.

The Swarm’s largest electromagnetic megastructure in the Riken system was stationed at Planet Izumo. Having been there for an extended period, it had grown significantly. However, during the earlier missile bombardment, it had been specifically targeted.

Despite sustaining severe damage and being riddled with holes, the over-200-kilometer structure was far from destroyed. Its core remained intact, with the surviving fungal carpets working tirelessly to repair it.

The image Diallo displayed depicted the Swarm’s megastructures in the stellar near-orbit. Though these structures benefited from the abundant energy near the star and grew faster, their development was limited by the short time since the base’s establishment. C

urrently, these megastructures were only tens of kilometers in size. However, compared to the Daqi warships, which measured around two kilometers, they were still colossal.

“The Swarm’s near-orbit bases are using these massive electromagnetic launchers to continuously send combat units toward this battlefield. These units will arrive faster than those relying on their own propulsion systems. While the limited number of launchers prevents these forces from forming a critical mass, once they arrive, we’ll face multi-directional combat. In such a scenario, the limitations of our repulsion fields will quickly become apparent,” Diallo explained.

“You mean?” Aslit asked, starting to grasp his plan.

Diallo nodded and continued, “Exactly. While we are close to the Swarm forces, this range significantly reduces the travel time of energy beams—barely ten seconds, which is too short for the Swarm to effectively evade. And with our repulsion fields, as long as we maintain our angles, we are practically invincible.”

“In this situation, we only need to fire at full force. There’s a good chance we can quickly annihilate the Swarm forces ahead of us. After that, we turn to intercept the Swarm units launched from the near-orbit base. Using our speed advantage, we push straight to their near-orbit base. That base is newly built, with limited forces stationed there. If we eliminate it quickly, we can turn back and face the reinforcements from Planet Raze. Clearing out the Swarm in the Riken system will only be a matter of time.”

“Then, we’ll take care of the Rikens along the way and march straight to M580!” Diallo exclaimed, referring to the neighboring star system as designated by the Daqi Empire.

Spreading his arms wide, he envisioned the glory of his victory. “By then, the Swarm will recognize my greatness, and I’ll secure even more authority!”

While Diallo’s plan sounded convincing, Aslit couldn’t shake a nagging doubt. After some thought, she hesitantly pointed out, “Repulsion fields consume a large amount of energy to deflect physical impacts. If we use them to block the Swarm’s railguns, we won’t be able to fire at full capacity.”

“That’s exactly where the advantage of information asymmetry lies. Haven’t you noticed the Swarm stopped firing? It’s precisely because of this that I’ve chosen such an aggressive tactic. The longer we keep the repulsion field’s weaknesses hidden, the greater our advantage,” Diallo said confidently.

“But, Your Highness, I still feel something is off,” Aslit replied, her unease persisting.

“Enough, Aslit. Even though we could slowly wear the Swarm down with our technological advantage, it’s far less impactful than completely wiping them out in one decisive blow. To achieve more, we must dominate them,” Diallo stated firmly.

Reluctantly, Aslit closed her mouth, opting to stay silent despite her lingering concerns.

Seeing Aslit subdued, Diallo grinned smugly. “Fire!”

Not far from the Daqi-Swarm battlefield, the Riken commanders stationed along the Twin Star Defensive Zone observed everything with keen interest.

The Daqi’s remarkable repulsion fields had effectively neutralized the Swarm’s primary long-range weapons, leading some Rikens to doubt the Swarm’s capabilities. At the same time, they marveled at the technological power of the newly arrived third party.

However, what happened next left the Rikens utterly stunned.

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