I Am The Swarm

Hatches on the spaceship’s hull opened, and several members of the escort team emerged in bulky space suits, armed with personal weapons aimed at the swarm of juvenile bio-ships.

However, these space suits, far heavier than the ones used within planetary environments, severely hampered their mobility. In zero gravity, their movements were even clumsier.

Even as elite soldiers, they were no match for the agile juveniles under such conditions.

The escort members had barely fired a few shots when writhing tentacles snaked out of nowhere, disarming them and shoving them into the bodies of certain juveniles.

Some of these juveniles were modeled after transport ships, with their internal chambers temporarily modified into holding cells—perfect for imprisoning captives.

The juveniles couldn’t do much to the heavily armored ship’s exterior, but the open hatches the escort team had used provided a perfect entry point.

A flood of juveniles surged through the openings, dragging out the remaining escort members before advancing deeper into the ship along its corridors.

“Celia, seal all compartment doors immediately!” Reggie shouted after seeing the situation unfold on the monitors. He hadn’t expected things to escalate so quickly.

Minutes ago, they had been discussing the possibility of spacefaring creatures in the area. Now, the ship’s defenses had been breached, and the enemy was inside.

Thick, specially designed compartment doors began to shut throughout the ship. These doors, spaced every ten meters, were originally meant to isolate damaged areas in case of hull breaches. However, they now served as effective barriers against the intruders.

The juveniles were stopped by the sealed doors. Despite the blue arcs of electricity crackling along their tentacles as they pounded against the barriers, they made little progress.

Seeing the creatures stymied, Reggie exhaled in relief.

He turned to Dr. Lute, whose expression was grim. “Lute, don’t worry. They can’t break through the doors. Maybe they’ll leave soon.”

Lute shook his head, his face dark. “Reggie, it’s not that simple. These aren’t mindless beasts.”

“What do you mean?” Reggie asked, his demeanor turning serious.

“Look at the internal surveillance footage,” Lute said. “Since they entered, they’ve only targeted the doors blocking their way. They’ve completely ignored the walls on either side. That’s not something wild animals would do.”

“You’re saying they’re being controlled?” Reggie asked, his unease growing. The compartment doors were seamlessly integrated into the ship’s design, making them hard to distinguish from the walls. Even Riken personnel might struggle to identify them without prior knowledge. Wild creatures would have no concept of such features.

“Perhaps there truly is an intelligent civilization hidden in the T85 star system,” Lute speculated. “This might be a trap.”

His suspicion deepened as he reviewed earlier footage. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

“If they are intelligent, their actions must have purpose. Look here—since the attack began, they’ve avoided causing random damage to the ship. Instead, they focused on destroying the gun turrets and the Solar Sail. Doesn’t this further suggest intelligence?”

Reggie nodded grimly, piecing together the evidence. “If they have a purpose, dismantling the gun turrets makes sense. But why target the Solar Sail?”

The two fell into a heavy silence before realization struck them simultaneously.

“They’re cutting off our contact with the homeworld!” they shouted in unison.

“This is a trap! We can’t let them succeed!” Reggie roared.

“We must transmit this information back to the homeworld immediately. If our people arrive unprepared, they’ll suffer greatly!” Lute added urgently.

“Celia! Transmit my conversation with Dr. Lute to the homeworld now!” Reggie commanded.

“Acknowledged, Captain. Preparing to transmit. External signal amplifiers are damaged; additional energy authorization required,” Celia’s mechanical voice responded.

“Do it! Use all available energy if necessary!” Reggie ordered.

“Authorization confirmed. Transmission commencing.”

“Overlord, we’ve detected a massive energy surge from the alien spaceship!”

“What are they doing? Preparing to self-destruct?”

“Their radio transmitter has been activated. They’re trying to send a message back to their homeworld!”

The Swarm’s intelligent entities had previously calculated that without the Solar Sail’s amplification, the ship would need to exhaust nearly all its energy to transmit even a fraction of information.

A ship drained of energy would be a sitting duck, its life support systems failing due to the power shortage.

Luo Wen was impressed by the alien captain’s decisiveness. From the moment the attack began, mere minutes had passed before this drastic order was given.

“No intelligent species should ever be underestimated,” Luo Wen mused.

Despite his respect, he couldn’t allow the message to be transmitted.

While only a fraction of the juveniles had infiltrated the ship, the vast majority remained outside. These external units abruptly ceased their aimless movements. Blue electric arcs flashed across their bodies, forming a massive interference field.

This was the same field that had disrupted the escort team’s communications in the underground cave, forcing them to rely on lip-reading.

Although hastily deployed, the interference field was partially effective.

“Captain, unknown magnetic interference detected. 69.3% of the message failed to transmit,” Celia reported flatly.

“Ship energy reserves critically low. Beginning shutdown of recreational areas. Shutting down gym facilities. Shutting down…”

Reggie slumped into his captain’s chair, barely registering the AI’s announcements. “So, it really is a trap. They were prepared all along. Lute, you were right—there’s an intelligent species here. A civilization.”

Lute’s face twisted with frustration. “If only we’d realized a few minutes earlier. What difference would it make now? We’ve been outplayed!”

“Do you think the fragments of data we managed to transmit will be enough for the homeworld to understand the danger?” Reggie asked.

“Don’t worry,” Lute replied bitterly. “Out of billions, there will be some bright enough to figure it out.”

“Yes… even if they don’t, there’s nothing more we can do. We’ve done our best.” Reggie’s voice grew heavy. “Do you think we’ll end up like Hasmu’s squad?”

Lute fell silent, lost in thought. As the seconds ticked by, his expression contorted, revealing the fierce inner turmoil of his mind.

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