I Am The Swarm-Chapter 701: Resupply

Although the Eagle Eye reconnaissance drones were destroyed, they managed to transmit their final data before being obliterated. A few seconds later, several beams of intense light descended from the sky, blasting a massive crater into what had appeared to be empty ground.

“Did we miss?”

“Send the Eagle Eye drones to investigate!”

“But the ground is covered with the Swarm’s anti-air systems. We’ve already lost many drones. Losing more will affect our ability to control the battlefield.”

“Resupply the Eagle Eye team! Get the spare units to them!”

“Understood.”

Although the Confederation had been permitted to station a fleet of fifty million ships in this star system, most were far from the planet where the signing ceremony was taking place. Only two fleets, totaling two hundred ships, were allowed to remain in orbit around the planet.

When the Confederation fired the first shot on the surface, the battle in near-planetary orbit also erupted. Over five thousand of the Swarm’s primary space combat units—the Primordial bodies—surrounded the two Confederation fleets.

While the performance of the Ji race’s warships far surpassed any opponent the Swarm had previously encountered, and in an open-space engagement, these two fleets could potentially achieve a 1:25 kill ratio, the close proximity in near-planetary orbit and the fleets’ dual responsibilities of evacuating Ji elders and foreign dignitaries while providing orbital fire support left them in a precarious position. Despite their superior capabilities, they were now on the defensive.

“Commander, headquarters has ordered us to resupply the Eagle Eye team with spare components!” Normally, the Eagle Eye team would carry at least two large units on missions. However, for this operation, to maintain stealth, they had only brought one large unit.

While they had some small and even micro units that could be used in a pinch, the battlefield’s chaotic energy fields and interference made these smaller units less effective. Their video and audio transmission quality was poor, and their limited size meant they carried fewer components, reducing their ability to provide meaningful support. Thus, the Eagle Eye team still relied on their large units to maintain control.

“Mark the coordinates and clear a path to deliver the supplies!”

“Yes, Commander!”

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At this moment, the Ji warships were surrounded by swarms of Space Octopuses. While their powerful defenses allowed them to hold out for now, the resupply pods were far less protected. To ensure the supplies reached the surface without being intercepted by the Space Octopuses, a clear path had to be opened.

Over a dozen warships, under the cover of others, adjusted their secondary cannons and locked onto the coordinates. Intense energy surged forth—a concentrated anti-matter cannon far more powerful than the standard versions used by mid-ring civilizations. Even the secondary cannons were capable of destroying a Primordial body in a single shot.

Two volleys from the secondary cannons cleared a circular gap a kilometer in diameter in the Swarm’s encirclement. Several supply pods were ejected, rapidly passing through the gap and hurtling toward the surface. Almost immediately, the gap was filled again by the dense horde of Space Octopuses.

Although the Swarm had initially deployed only five thousand Primordial bodies in near-planetary orbit, this was their territory, and reinforcements arrived swiftly.

The Confederation had also dispatched a fleet for emergency support, but the distance was vast, and the Swarm’s units blocked the path, slowing their progress. It would take at least twenty minutes for them to reach the battlefield.

Moreover, the Confederation had to consider many factors. They needed to retain enough ships to break through the Swarm’s encirclement and escape the star system. As a result, the number of ships sent to support the near-planetary orbit was limited to twenty thousand—far fewer than the Swarm’s reinforcements.

However, twenty thousand ships were over a hundred times the number currently in orbit. Once they arrived, they would undoubtedly turn the tide.

The supply pods descended rapidly, their friction with the planet’s atmosphere generating intense heat and light, turning them into massive fireballs streaking toward the ground! Within seconds, the pods successfully breached the atmosphere. The next phase of the program activated, and the pods disintegrated, splitting into hundreds of smaller drop pods.

The drop pods’ thrusters ignited, and their systems linked with the Eagle Eye teams on the ground. After verifying the coordinates, the pods scattered like a burst of fireworks, each racing toward its target.

But the air twisted, and massive Vulturehawks seemed to materialize from nowhere, their talons clamping down on the drop pods. The tough synthetic metal began to deform under the immense force. No matter how advanced the technology, destruction was always a possibility.

As the metal warped inward, delicate circuits and components were damaged. The thrusters sputtered and died, leaving one Eagle Eye team without resupply.

However, the drop pods were incredibly fast and executed complex maneuvers the moment they were attacked. Over sixty percent of the pods broke through the Vulturehawks’ blockade and continued their descent.

Though they escaped, they didn’t do so unscathed. Their trajectories revealed the locations of the Eagle Eye teams on the ground, exposing them to attacks from both the Vulturehawks and the Swarm’s ground forces.

Rewinding a few minutes, as the Eagle Eye team requested resupply, several reconnaissance drones descended to investigate the area struck by the orbital bombardment.

“Swarm unit debris detected!”

“It’s a Swarm field generator!”

“The attack did hit, but there’s more than one of these things. Spread out the drones and find the others! Our allies inside need intel support!”

“The interference is too strong. The drones have to fly lower!”

“Then lower the altitude. The resupply request has been approved. Our spare units will be here soon.”

“That solves the problem.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than two drones flying at lower altitude to inspect the crater were shot down by black beams. This time, however, the Eagle Eye team was prepared. Over five drones focused on the direction of the attack, successfully capturing images of the assailant.

It was a creature shaped like a sharp triangle, its streamlined body smooth and gleaming with a metallic sheen, exuding a futuristic aesthetic. This was an evolved version of an ancient biological homing missile, now upgraded and given a sleek new name—Blade Swallow.

Modern Blade Swallows were faster and more lethal, but they retained their original weakness: limited independent flight capability, relying on other units for deployment.

Long before the signing ceremony, the first wave of Blade Swallows had been deployed by Vulturehawks. Using their unique structure, they glided stealthily through the sky, their presence nearly undetectable.

However, as time passed, their gliding altitude had decreased significantly. This created the illusion at the start of the battle that the attacks were coming from the ground, leading the Ji to believe that gaining altitude would keep them safe.