I Am The Swarm

The coalition’s rear forces now saw the incoming fire from their allies on the other side. Their morale, which had been flagging under the Swarm’s pincer attack, lifted slightly.

“They’ve broken through!”

“Push harder! If we can pull them out, we can retreat!”

“Full attack!”

“…”

The civilizations that made up the rear forces had no connection to those in the front forces, aside from being members of the Locke Mutual Aid Society. There were no comrades from the rear forces in the front forces, not even members of the same race. If it weren’t for orders from their own races, they would never have held out this long.

Even as they held their ground, they didn’t care much about whether they could rescue the front forces. They only intended to stay until the front forces were completely annihilated, at which point they could retreat without further obligation.

But they hadn’t expected the front forces to break through the Swarm’s encirclement on their own. This gave the rear forces hope of an early “end to their shift,” and their morale and energy immediately improved.

The rear forces’ firepower suddenly intensified. Under the combined assault from both sides, the Swarm forces visibly dwindled.

However, the front forces’ ships were already battered, and their energy output had reached its limit. They couldn’t increase their firepower any further.

Fortunately, the rear forces’ firepower was strong enough to finally create a gap in the Swarm’s lines.

“Charge through!”

The allied forces on the other side had already cleared a path. Victory was within sight.

—

General Viller’s disc-shaped flagship was currently contributing firepower from within the rear forces. As a high-ranking officer of the Troi race, his original position should have been leading the charge with the front forces.

Unfortunately, the new overall commander, who was from a different faction, had reassigned Viller’s forces and appointed a new commander, effectively sidelining Viller to the rear forces. The original intention was to isolate his influence, as his forces had served under him for many years, and there was a risk of power struggles if he remained with the front forces.

Ironically, this move had inadvertently saved Viller’s life. His large, round flagship would have attracted a lot of attention, and if he had followed the charge, it would have been difficult for him to return.

Thus, Viller was genuinely grateful to the coalition commander’s ancestors for this twist of fate.

However, many of his former subordinates were still in the front forces, and seeing their casualty rates rise continuously weighed heavily on Viller’s heart.

Therefore, he was very active in the rear forces’ efforts to rescue the front forces. Unfortunately, his command now consisted of only a dozen or so escort ships.

With fewer than twenty ships, their style was completely out of place among the surrounding allies. Their impact in a battle involving millions, even tens of millions, of ships was negligible.

Fortunately, it seemed the front forces were about to break through successfully. However, amidst his relief, Viller felt a hint of unease.

Although the Swarm’s firepower was fierce, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the Swarm wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about intercepting the front forces or preventing the two forces from reuniting.

Frowning, Viller pulled up the real-time data and logs automatically recorded by the ship’s AI and carefully reviewed them. Finally, he looked up in shock. His instincts were correct—the Swarm was indeed up to something. They hadn’t reinforced their inserted forces for a long time.

This could only mean one thing: the Swarm was deliberately letting them go.

Was the Swarm really that kind-hearted?

Viller scoffed. Even someone with their head stuck in a door wouldn’t be that naive.

Was it possible that the Swarm had grown complacent or was running low on troops? Viller, being in the thick of the battle, had limited information and didn’t know how many Swarm forces remained. But based on previous data, the Swarm couldn’t possibly be so short on troops that they couldn’t reinforce their inserted forces.

If the Swarm were truly that weak, the orders he was receiving wouldn’t be to rescue the front forces but to reverse the encirclement and trap the Swarm instead.

So, what was the reason?

Since taking on the task of inviting the Swarm to join the Interstellar Technological Confederation, Viller had been studying the Swarm. He had gone over the limited data countless times.

He could be considered one of the most knowledgeable outsiders about the Swarm.

He had discovered that the Swarm always planned before acting. In every recorded battle, no matter how brainless, irrational, or illogical the Swarm’s early actions seemed, the final outcome always favored the Swarm.

Therefore, even though he hadn’t seen it himself, he was convinced that the Swarm must have an extremely large and intelligent think tank to strategize every move.

Just like when the coalition forces were assembling earlier, although there was still no evidence that the Swarm had detected them in advance, Viller had a strong feeling that the Swarm had indeed noticed them but allowed them to gather their forces to lure them into a trap.

Subsequent developments seemed to confirm this view. The coalition’s every move, the front forces’ seemingly unstoppable breakthrough, the flanks being sniped and suppressed, and then the Swarm cutting off the connection between the front and rear forces—it all felt like the coalition was being played like a fiddle.

Therefore, the Swarm’s current apparent complacency could only mean one thing: this was a trap, and the Swarm had set a new one.

But what exactly this trap entailed, Viller had no idea.

From the current situation, the coalition’s front and rear forces were about to reunite. Although the rear forces were under attack from three sides, their retreat route was secure. Once they linked up with the front forces, their combined firepower would increase significantly, and if they chose to retreat, the Swarm wouldn’t be able to stop them.

Now that both sides had played all their cards, if the Swarm wanted to set a trap, they would need some hidden trump card or a large number of ambush troops.

But in this stretch of void, there was no cover within light-years. The battlefield’s periphery was filled with various allied reconnaissance ships and instruments. Hiding a few thousand troops might be possible, but hiding enough to ambush tens of millions of coalition ships? That was pure fantasy.

Unless… the ambush was elsewhere.

Viller’s eyes darted around as a vague idea began to form.

“No!” Viller’s eyes widened. “Get me in touch with the coalition commander!”

“Sir, during wartime, we can’t bypass the chain of command.”

“Damn it!” Viller was frustrated. His theory needed data to support it, and he had to obtain relevant data to make a judgment. His current superior was from another race, and if he reported through the proper channels, the information would inevitably leak.

If he was right, it could cause panic in the ranks. If he was wrong, the consequences would be even worse.

But now, with communications restricted, he couldn’t bypass the chain of command privately.

Viller paced back and forth in agitation before suddenly issuing an order: “Turn the ship around. We’re heading to coalition headquarters!”

“Sir, what if the other races ask? We’ll need a reason.”

“Tell them the ship’s malfunctioning, the electronic systems are locked up, and we need to temporarily withdraw from combat to get authorization from the commander to unlock it.”

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!