I Am The Swarm

With the loss of their defensive advantage, close-range combat now required meticulous energy allocation.

“All units, engines online! Maintain formation and adjust heading 50 degrees to port! Inform all ships to prioritize energy supply to the main cannons. Secondary priority to the engine systems, and channel any remaining energy into the auxiliary weapons—fire everything!” Diallo commanded with authority.

The Swarm’s energy beams had not been particularly effective against the Daqi warships, likely due to their initial strikes targeting the ships’ bows. These sections, in addition to housing the repulsion fields, were fortified with layers of high-resistance reactive armor designed to endure energy-based attacks.

Among the civilizations the Daqi had encountered, energy cannons were the predominant weapon of choice. Electromagnetic railguns, while occasionally used in planetary defense systems, were rarely mounted on warships due to the logistical challenges they posed. For long-range fleets, hauling the ammunition required for such weapons was a significant burden.

For instance, a single salvo from the Swarm’s thousands of Primordial-class units could launch tens of thousands of projectiles, with several salvos depleting the resources equivalent to a warship.

Beyond the cost of the munitions themselves, replenishing such a massive supply was a logistical nightmare. Only a civilization like the Swarm, with their fungal carpet replenishment systems, could sustain this scale of consumption.

Consequently, Daqi warships were designed primarily to counter energy-based attacks, with reactive armor tailored for this purpose.

“Your Highness, the flagship has sustained 11% damage. The bow’s reactive armor is heavily compromised; sections three and five have been breached. Multiple compartments behind the damaged areas are exposed, and 31 crew members have been ejected into space. Emergency sealing procedures have been completed, and the ship’s structural integrity remains intact,” Aslit reported calmly, collating the data received from damage control teams.

“Have the Chisaya cover the flagship’s damaged sections! Those crew members without suits are likely lost; dispatch a few drones to confirm, but don’t let it interfere with fleet operations,” Diallo ordered.

“How many ships did we lose in that exchange? And how many can’t keep up with fleet maneuvers?” Diallo rubbed his temple. The proximity of the engagement and the full-power energy weapons had inflicted maximum damage. He anticipated significant losses.

“Your Highness, the tally is in. We lost a total of 34 warships in the last attack, and 13 others are heavily damaged and incapable of further action,” Aslit responded.

The losses were far lower than Diallo had expected. Reflecting on it, he quickly deduced part of the reason.

The fleet had been angled bow-first toward the source of the Swarm’s attack, with engines concentrated at the aft. Energy beams that struck the engines essentially pierced the entire length of the ship, leading to catastrophic destruction. This explained why more ships had been destroyed outright compared to those that were merely incapacitated.

As for the immobile ships, they were likely on the verge of catastrophic failure. Diallo concluded that they weren’t worth rescuing.

Despite this, Diallo had estimated over 100 ships would be lost under such concentrated firepower. The actual losses were less than half of his projection, suggesting the Swarm’s energy weapons were not as powerful as he had feared.

This was good news.

“Your Highness, the main cannons are fully charged!” Aslit announced abruptly.

“Fire!” Diallo commanded without hesitation.

The thunder of Daqi warship cannons resounded as their second volley streaked toward the Swarm. Meanwhile, the Swarm appeared unusually quiet, with no immediate counterfire.

“It seems the Swarm’s weapon recharging efficiency is far inferior to ours. Another piece of good news,” Diallo thought as he quickly recalculated his strategy.

“Aslit, have the damaged warships rotate their bow armor to face the incoming Swarm attack. Give the stranded personnel on those ships five minutes to evacuate. If they don’t make it, they’re on their own!”

“Understood, Your Highness,” Aslit replied crisply.

On the Swarm’s Side. After sustaining the second wave of attacks, Sarah Kerrigan maintained her icy composure.

“How much longer until our weapons are recharged?” she asked in an unflinching tone.

“Your Majesty, the fastest units need at least one more minute,” a Blade reported.

Sarah nodded. “Log all data from our energy weapons. The research department will need this information.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

It was the first combat deployment of the Swarm’s energy weapons. Until now, these weapons had been kept in deep secrecy, undergoing only limited underground testing. The controlled test ranges, while valuable, lacked the unpredictability of live combat scenarios. Firing at targets tens of thousands of kilometers away was an untested challenge.

The energy weapons also faced integration issues. The targeting and fire control systems previously optimized for electromagnetic cannons struggled with calibration, introducing slight targeting discrepancies. The data from this battle would be instrumental in refining the weapons’ capabilities.

This mismatch partially explained why the Daqi fleet, despite taking a full salvo of energy weapons, suffered damage far below expected levels.

Now that the Swarm’s new weapons were unveiled, each use would generate a wealth of data for analysis. Given the Swarm’s immense research capacity, Sarah anticipated significant advancements in the energy weapon systems before their next deployment.

“Your Majesty, some of the enemy ships have sustained critical damage. Their crew members were ejected into space, unable to evacuate in time. Here are some captured videos and images,” another Blade reported.

Sarah glanced at the visuals. Her typically serious expression flickered as her lips twitched slightly.

“What is that? How can they be so… ugly?” she muttered under her breath.

Sarah, subjected to years of Luo Wen’s eccentric aesthetic preferences, had grown accustomed to admiring external armor plating and long-legged forms. The grotesque appearance of the Daqi—a fusion of cracked red skin and unsettling, aligned triple eyes—momentarily disrupted her focus.

Shaking off her discomfort, Sarah swiftly forwarded the images to Luo Wen, ensuring he could share in her aesthetic critique. She then refocused on the battlefield, regaining her composure.

Had the Daqi—especially Diallo and Aslit, who prided themselves on their supposed beauty—overheard Sarah’s disdain, it might have provoked a misstep born of wounded pride.

Meanwhile, there was another party who was staring at each other.

From the sidelines, the Rikens watched in stunned silence, snacks and drinks momentarily forgotten. They had initially written off the Swarm after seeing their electromagnetic cannons rendered ineffective. But the sudden appearance of energy weapons had left them reeling.

The sheer power of the energy beams and their range, far exceeding anything the Rikens possessed, shattered their confidence.

“If the Swarm had revealed these weapons earlier, we wouldn’t have lasted this long,” one officer muttered bitterly.

The Rikens realized the Swarm had been holding back, treating the conflict as little more than a game. From the outset, the two sides had not been operating on the same level. The Rikens now felt an unsettling mix of inferiority and despair, knowing they had never truly pushed the Swarm to exert themselves fully.

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