I Am The Swarm

After a brief vote, the term for the unknown subterranean species was decided: Insectoid Swarm.

The discussion continued.

The biologist explained further, “We now know the Swarm has at least two forms. One is about 30 centimeters long, specialized for offense, and exists in large numbers. Let’s tentatively call them Raiders. The other specializes in digging, which we’ll call Burrowers.”

“There’s very little information on the Burrowers, other than their ability to dig quickly. As for the Raiders, take a look here.” He pointed to several images of Riken victims being attacked. “Notice the webbing on their limbs—it indicates they’re adept at ambushing prey from above. Our soldiers need to be cautious about what’s overhead.”

After some thought, he continued, “Additionally, observe these images here, here, and here.” He highlighted several scenes of Riken casualties. “From these freshly transmitted visuals, it’s clear that the Raiders are proficient at using their blade-like forelimbs to impale their prey! While this attack method is powerful and can easily penetrate our combat suits, there’s one thing to note.”

The biologist scanned the room, looking at the military officials watching the video. After a brief pause, he revealed, “Listen to the screams of our people. Notice anything?”

Seeing the thoughtful expressions, he stopped withholding: “Their attacks are anything but silent. This contradicts the earlier mission reports.”

The room was filled with a dawning realization. Indeed, the earlier reports described the attacks as silent. If it hadn’t been for a patrol squad inexplicably triggering an alert, the ambush wouldn’t have been discovered until the routine check-in revealed their absence.

“So, I speculate there’s a third form within the Swarm,” the biologist proposed. “This form functions like an assassin, capable of silently eliminating targets. I suspect they achieve this through some kind of potent venom.”

In wars between civilizations, there’s rarely room for secrecy. Unless you keep your cards hidden, every move will be scrutinized and analyzed until fully understood. Victory often goes to the side with more hidden cards or the ability to keep their best plays concealed until the last moment.

For Luo Wen, uncovering the secret behind the Rikens’ recent technological breakthroughs required him to keep probing. He had to force them to reveal more cards while concealing his own strength.

If he played his cards right, even if the Rikens were backed by an advanced civilization, he could still retreat at any time. But if no one was supporting the Rikens? Then the “surprise” waiting for them would be massive—beyond anything they could endure.

The battlefield remained engulfed in chaos. Thanks to prior contingency plans, transport ships had been standing by, and an early warning allowed most Riken engineers to retreat to the ships, though a few unlucky ones perished early on.

Under the cover of soldier firepower, over twenty fully loaded transport ships began to take off.

“Hurry up!” A Riken sprinted onto the final ship, shouting at the cockpit.

But before he could finish, blood sprayed across his visor as a blade-like forelimb pierced through his combat suit. His face obscured, he collapsed as seven or eight Raiders leaped aboard, lunging at the other Rikens.

“Ahhh!” Screams echoed through the cabin, but as more Raiders flooded in, the cries faded into silence.

Fortunately, the cockpit and cabin were separated by a sturdy partition, which the Raiders couldn’t breach immediately. The panicked pilot instinctively pulled the transport higher.

But as the ship rose to the same altitude as the others, Raiders emerged from the cabin roof, leaping onto other transport ships. Spreading their webbed limbs, they glided like drones toward the remaining vessels.

“Damn it! This idiot is going to get us all killed! Transports, scatter!” shouted Winter from the gunship’s hatch, firing down at the scene. He urgently relayed the warning over the comms.

The transport ships quickly attempted to disperse, but the suddenness of the situation caused a lack of coordination, leading to collisions. Three transports, trailing black smoke, plummeted to the ground, while several others sustained varying degrees of damage. Still, they managed to stay airborne.

During the chaos, the Raiders used the transports as springboards, successfully boarding seven ships in total.

The distribution of Raiders was uneven—some ships had as few as two, while others faced six. But the engineers aboard, with only minimal military training and small personal weapons, struggled against the agile Raiders.

The confined spaces of the transports further worked to the Raiders’ advantage. Their small size and nimbleness allowed them to dodge red energy beams with ease. While two transports managed to eliminate their Raiders, they suffered heavy casualties—most of which were caused by friendly fire.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the battle raged on.

The Raiders were small and not particularly grotesque in appearance. Their individual strength was inferior to that of a Riken soldier, making them a relatively low-level threat.

After the initial chaos, most soldiers calmed down and fired with greater accuracy. Though many were fresh recruits, they were still more capable than the engineers.

This relative stability, however, only lasted while the Raiders were at a distance. Once the Raiders closed in, their agility caused panic.

The Raiders’ size and speed made them hard targets in close quarters, and their clever use of Riken soldiers as shields further complicated matters.

Some soldiers managed to grab and kill the Raiders using melee weapons. The Raiders’ strength lay in their burst speed and flexibility. Once these advantages were negated, their lack of brute strength and poor defense made them easy to kill.

Fortunately, Raiders were just a disposable species—cannon fodder, locally adapted for the Swarm’s purposes. Years of research had enabled the Swarm to simulate an artificial womb environment using Fungal Carpets, drastically accelerating their development. This reduced the Raiders’ production time significantly.

Additionally, the cost of producing these fodder units was extremely low. Thanks to the Swarm’s multi-embryo technology, a single egg could yield two to three fully developed Raiders.

With such low costs, even if the Swarm suffered a 100-to-1 casualty ratio, it could easily endure.

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