The Assault

If the Swarm has a logistics base in the Riken Star System, then the Barbarians can slowly wear them down from outside the range of the Riken Race's main cannons.

The two sides could even remain locked in a stalemate for years or even decades, until the resources within the galaxy are exhausted.

But there are no "what ifs" now; the Swarm must conquer Laze Planet before the Ancient Class beings run out of metallic elements.

After launching more than twenty rounds of attacks, the Ancient Class cluster finally entered the main gun range of the Riken Race. The Riken Race had been under attack for half a day, had been looking forward to this moment and immediately issued the order to counterattack.

The Ground-Based Artillery on Laze Planet were the first to fire, but because the energy system needed to prioritize supplying energy to the Laser Defense Array, only 80% of the cannons were firing.

Even if it's only 80%, there are still tens of thousands of them, and because of their high rate of fire, the red light fills the sky, making them far more impressive than Electromagnetic Cannon, which are several times more silent.

Faced with the incoming red light, the Ancient Class Group deployed its formation, reduced the energy supply to the Electromagnetic Cannon, lowered their firing rate, and prioritized the supply of most of the energy to the engine organs.

With its engine running at full power, the Ancient Class aircraft was crackling with blue Electric Arc, its sound and light effects were immediately enhanced, and its speed increased dramatically.

Because of the sudden acceleration of the Ancient Class energy beam, the previous round of energy beams failed to make any progress and completely missed.

"Stop them!" Hamis roared.

The fleet and space Orbital Cannon that had previously been hiding behind Laze Planet now emerged, their main gun mounts rotating and adjusting their angles before firing.

The number of Energy Main Cannon, which had been at a disadvantage just moments before, suddenly multiplied several times over, and the sheer number of red beams seemed poised to dye the dark starry sky red.

On the other side, the Ancient Class, its entire body enveloped in blue electric light, charged forward without hesitation despite facing even stronger resistance.

The red and blue light rapidly approached and collided, creating an exceptionally beautiful and spectacular scene against the dark background dotted with Starlight.

But this beauty was accompanied by the passing of life.

This attack was so intense that more than twenty Ancient Class lost their mobility. They themselves were fine, but they would recover after lying in space for a while.

However, the Mature Form and Larval Form they carried were affected. The Mature Form were larger and had more Strain in their bodies, so they were only injured. But more than ten Larval Form, which were 20 to 30 meters long, died.

For a swarm of tens of thousands, this loss is negligible, so the blue lightning bolt continued forward.

By the time of the third salvo, the Riken Race supercomputer had already corrected the relevant parameters, and with the distance being closer, the burst energy beams arrived even faster.

About 20% of the Ancient Class' controllable dodge positions were almost completely covered. Left with no other option, these Ancient Class could only tough it out and continue charging forward.

In this clash between red and blue, a total of more than 300 Ancient Class creatures were killed, and thousands of Mature Form and Larval Form were destroyed.

The Energy Cannon fired at a rapid rate, and a moment later, the fourth round of attacks followed. As the distance closed again, nearly 500 Ancient Class creatures were killed, and more than 2,000 Mature Form and Larval Form were lost in battle.

During the four waves of attacks from the Riken Race, the Ancient Class also managed to launch a counterattack, firing tens of thousands of Electromagnetic Projectile. Apart from causing some Riken Race warships to dodge, disrupting their firing rhythm, and destroying a few cumbersome railguns, it did nothing else.

The fifth round of shelling from the Riken Race arrived, and the red and blue forces clashed once again. The blue forces left behind nearly 800 Ancient Class corpses and lost more than 3,000 Mature Form and Larval Form creatures.

However, before the sixth round of bombardment from the Riken Race arrived, the Ancient Class beings had already reached the combat radius of the Mature Form. The sides of the Space Octopus split open, and Mature Form emerged one after another, ranging from twenty meters to one hundred meters in Mature Form, instantly expanding the size of the Swarm army several times over.

With its burden reduced, the Ancient Class accelerated again, rushing past the range of the sixth round of artillery fire from the Riken Race. The red and blue lights staggered, and this bombardment, apart from destroying a few hundred Mature Form running at the back, yielded very little.

The seventh round of bombardment, which followed parameter adjustments, was successful once again. The red and blue lights collided violently once more, leaving nearly a thousand Ancient Class behind, hundreds of Mature Form destroyed, and countless Larval Form lost.

However, before the eighth round of shelling arrived, the Ancient Class swarm entered the combat radius of the Larval Form. If the deployment of the Mature Form earlier was like a python emerging from its hole, then this was like a swarm of bees leaving its hive.

A massive, dark mass of Larval Form surged out of the Ancient Class's body. Even with some losses earlier, the number of Larval Form still exceeded one million.

After several rounds of bombardment, more than 8,000 of the Ancient Class were still able to operate normally. Of these, 5,000 stopped advancing and instead re-deployed their Electromagnetic Cannon, firing projectiles amidst flashes of Electric Arc.

Unlike the previous round, which was a hasty firing under high-speed movement, this time the accuracy of the stable firing was greatly improved, and a large number of shells flew towards the space Orbital Cannon.

These things have considerable firepower, but they are bulky, slow-moving, and lack Laser Defense Array, making them prime targets for attack.

At the same time, the remaining three thousand-plus Ancient Class beings gathered together, with each hundred of them forming a layer of physical defense, creating a total of more than thirty layers of defense at the forefront.

The Mature Form and Larval Form gathered behind them, and given the current firing angle of the Riken Race, it was virtually impossible to harm Larval Form without completely penetrating these Mature Form -plus layers of defense.

Completely free of internal burdens, the Ancient Class, amidst flashes of blue Electric Arc, increased their speed once more, providing cover for the small and medium-sized combat units behind them as they charged forward.

"Stop them!"

The parameters were readjusted, the main gun rotated, and the angle was adjusted. In a very short time, the Riken Race's defense system, with the cooperation of supercomputing and artificial intelligence, accomplished all of this.

But by then the Electromagnetic Cannon had arrived, and as expected, thousands of the almost unprotected railguns were blown up.

As the two sides gradually approached each other, the speed advantage of the energy beam was gradually diminished. At greater distances, the difference in projectile speed between nearly half an hour and several minutes was significant.

But when the distance is close, the difference between three minutes and tens of seconds isn't that significant.

As the second round of long-range support projectiles from the Swarm Ancient Class were fired, the energy beams of the Riken Race's counterattack also reached the forefront of the Swarm forces.

If the red and blue light we saw earlier were scattered light, then now they are like javelins colliding, condensed into a beam.

Two of the Swarm's thirty-plus layers of defense were destroyed, and dozens of Ancient Class were reduced to dust, becoming the first Ancient Class to fall in this war.

The remaining hundred or so Ancient Class were also severely damaged.

This time, however, they didn't have the chance to lie dormant in space; instead, they were propelled forward by the defensive layer behind them.

They will serve as the first layer of protection in the next round of red light impact, demonstrating their final value.