Changes

The Swarm's engine system does seem somewhat outdated by today's standards.

Although it exceeds the escape velocity of Proxima Star System, it only reaches 50 km/s.

But this speed is actually sufficient for close-range space combat; don't forget that this is the speed Space Octopus can accelerate to in a short time.

Despite the fact that the Riken Race fleet can fly at about one-fifth the speed of light, this actually requires a long period of acceleration and the activation of special engines.

Although this time is much shorter than their previous Light Sail acceleration, it's impossible to have that much time for space contact warfare.

Moreover, it's impossible to reach such high speeds within a star system because the environment is complex, there are too many obstacles, and if the ship's speed is too high, it will easily be destroyed.

Therefore, in short-distance maneuvering, the Riken Race warships might not be as agile as the Space Octopus.

However, a distance of 600 million kilometers is still a distance that is difficult to cross in a short period of time. At this distance, it is difficult to find any means of attack that can effectively threaten the other side.

War will only break out when the two sides get close enough.

At this point, if one side can deceive the other's detection system and lay in ambush in advance, it will gain a huge advantage.

But now the enemy has given up their advantage and exposed themselves. Even if they wanted to attack them, it would take hundreds of days of long-distance march. During this time, they could calmly set up their defenses and deploy their forces.

If the enemy does not have a significantly larger force, this method of warfare is tantamount to suicide.

This is precisely what puzzled the Riken Race.

Are they really that confident?

Indeed, the Swarm was extremely confident, with the Riken Race's deployments being continuously transmitted back to the Swarm via Chloe. Never before had they known their enemy so well.

The Swarm certainly wouldn't launch an attack with just 50 km/s speed. The giant electromagnetic catapult could accelerate the Ancient Class Space Octopus to 5000 km/s, theoretically taking only a little over a day to reach the Riken Race fleet from Big Bear Star.

This is after taking into account the corresponding deceleration; otherwise, it could be even faster.

In reality, it would take the Swarm nearly three days to reach the location of the Riken Race fleet, because they would need to continuously slow down when they were halfway across the distance.

But this was already a speed far beyond what the Riken Race had imagined.

"Captain, T855 has detected a dense energy burst, extremely high intensity!" the observer reported in alarm. The instruments, which had been perfectly calm just moments before, were now beating alarms like madmen, with large and small red dots densely covering the display screen.

"What's going on!" Captain Masai asked, while simultaneously ordering the AI to notify all captains to immediately connect to the conference room.

"They've launched an attack on us. Based on our previous analysis, it's Electromagnetic Cannon. The T855 and its satellites are full of their Electromagnetic Cannon!" the observer replied, his voice trembling slightly.

"Damn it, what happened to the previous reconnaissance? Why didn't we find anything? Malachi? Where did Malachi go? Make him give me a report right now, or I'll kill him before the war even starts!" Captain Masai roared.

Malachi was an officer in charge of reconnaissance, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel, the same rank as many ship captains, and wielded considerable power. However, given this blunder, without explanation, even if General Masai didn't execute him, he would likely face a court-martial after the war.

The Riken Race is very efficient. Because they had raised the alert level beforehand, General Masai had only been yelling for two minutes when everyone in the online meeting room was already present.

"General, what's the situation? I heard the enemy is coming soon. Didn't we say we had at least a hundred days to prepare?" A captain questioned General Masai as soon as he logged in. This was the leader of a major power, whose status was equivalent to that of Major General Porter. They usually gave each other face, but now that they were in a state of war, there was no need for such formalities.

Not to mention that Malachi was General Masai's man, and they were even said to be related. With such a large discrepancy in the intelligence, everyone might suffer losses, so his attitude naturally turned sour.

General Masai knew he was in the wrong, but he ignored the captain and continued, "I've already sent you the general situation. The enemy has somehow managed to obscure our reconnaissance. But now is not the time to dwell on that. The enemy attack will be here soon. Please feel free to offer any suggestions you may have."

"General, we know nothing right now, and the previous intelligence is probably not reliable. We need new, accurate information to make an analysis," a captain said.

Masai pretended not to hear the captain's veiled accusation and was about to say something when suddenly his Adjutant stepped forward and whispered a few words in his ear.

After listening to the conversation, he nodded and said to the screen, "Then let's have Colonel Malachi connect. As the officer in charge of reconnaissance, I believe he will have some firsthand information."

A new video frame appeared on the screen, revealing the figure of a middle-aged Riken Race. His eyes were somewhat sinister, and he looked extremely unhappy, as if he had suffered an undeserved misfortune.

After straightening his clothes, he said, "Gentlemen, the intelligence department did indeed make some mistakes this time, but it cannot be entirely blamed on us."

Colonel Malachi immediately admitted his mistake, but then revealed that there was more to the story.

"Then please explain it to us," said the captain who had first questioned General Masai. Although he used polite language, his tone was slightly sarcastic. He meant, "Let's see what you can come up with."

Malachi nodded, understanding the implication but unable to refute it; his gaze, however, grew even more sinister. "Gentlemen, please look at these two pictures."

Two images appeared on the screen for comparison; judging from their appearance, they should be remote observation images of a planetary system.

The image on the left is relatively normal, while the image on the right shows numerous purplish-gray patches on what were originally normal planets and moons. Two of the smaller moons have even turned entirely purplish-gray.

The commanders present, despite their high positions and authority, had all done their homework. If they only had the image on the right, they might have hesitated, but the image on the left was very easy to identify—it showed planet T855 and its moons.

A solemn expression appeared on everyone's face.

"What's going on?" a captain asked.

"The image on the left shows the T855 planetary system 10 hours ago, and the image on the right shows what it looks like now," Malachi explained.

"Is this real? Why did they turn out like this? Are there any close-up pictures?"