Turning Their Own Tactics Against Them
Wars between civilizations are also a process of mutual learning, where each civilization learns from the other's strengths and makes up for its weaknesses.
Just as the Swarm learn from the Riken Race's propulsion system, observation system, and computer hardware and software system, the Riken Race also learn from the Swarm.
On this day, the Riken Race's Electromagnetic Cannon fired at the alien forces for the first time, a moment that will be recorded in history and mark a new chapter in the turning point of the war.
"Fire!" As the commander of the first legion of the space fleet and one of the most powerful figures in the Riken Race, Hamis was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to issue the firing order.
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"Is this Overlord meant by 'learning from the barbarians' strengths to subdue them'?" Sarah showed no tension as she watched the cannons roaring from the Riken Race's side; instead, she chuckled.
Morgan frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, that's the idea, but if Riken's perspective, we seem to be in a rather unfavorable position."
"Heh, they'll soon find out we can do that too."
The Electromagnetic Projectile only produced a small electric spark upon leaving the barrel; their subsequent flight was completely silent. More than two thousand projectiles traversed the vast expanse of space, heading towards the Chuyun Planet -14 satellite.
Although the Ancient Class in Chuyun Planet's orbit are lying motionless, the principle is the same as with warships: projectiles have too long a flight time, and they can easily dodge the shelling with just a slight movement. Targeting them would be counterproductive.
Chuyun Planet many satellites, and the best shooting view and angle at present is the Swarm creations on satellite 14.
The two sides were hundreds of millions of kilometers apart. If the projectiles deviated by one millimeter when they left the barrel, they would be off course by who knows where after flying past that distance. Satellite 14 was not large, with a diameter of only a little over a thousand kilometers. Half of the first round of projectiles from the Riken Race even flew past the satellite.
The Swarm ignored this intrusive attack, and the Riken Race paid it no heed, as it was intended for location tracking.
After receiving the feedback, the second round of shelling was launched quickly.
This round of shelling was much more accurate and naturally more threatening, but the Swarm was well-prepared.
Some new combat units took off and hovered at an altitude of thousands of kilometers. Their bodies were round and resembled the shape of an eyeball, hence they were named Laser Overseer.
As the Electromagnetic Projectile approached, they quickly adjusted their angles, and a beam of red laser light shot out from the holes in their bodies, melting the projectiles.
For the current Swarm, based on relevant laser generation theories, it is not difficult to evolve it into a physical form. However, due to the limitations of biological materials, the Swarm version of the laser defense weapon has a much shorter effective strike range than the Riken Race version, only fifty kilometers.
Fortunately, the Swarm version is more agile. Unlike the immobile behemoth of the Riken Race version, the Swarm version is much smaller. When they are first born, they are just box-shaped objects about ten centimeters in diameter. They grow like fruits on a special Creep, absorbing nutrients to grow.
When they grow to 10 meters in size, they reach maturity and have an effective range of 50 kilometers. Although they can continue to grow, they consume too many resources and their performance does not improve much, making them too low in cost-effectiveness.
These boxes can exist independently, and after being integrated with the engine components, they can move freely. Therefore, they can arrive in advance to wait based on the calculated trajectory and strike when the projectile enters the effective range.
Meanwhile, they can also be integrated into the Space Octopus, but due to its size and energy consumption limitations, it can currently only be integrated into the Ancient Class. The shipborne Laser Defense Array that the Riken Race had been longing for was completed first by the Swarm.
However, besides its short range, it also suffers from a common drawback of laser weapons: excessive energy consumption. Each independently existing Laser Overseer, once fully charged, only has the power for three shots. In other words, it can shoot down a maximum of three Electromagnetic Projectile before needing to recharge.
The energy can be replenished by lying down, but this is a slow process, taking several days to fully recharge. For faster replenishment, it can only be done by connecting to the Creep.
This is also why they can only be integrated into the Ancient Class at present. The Ancient Class has its own Atomic Furnace, which can quickly recharge it and barely maintain its energy consumption.
The Swarm's tactic of using their own people against them, turning the tables on them, left the high-ranking officers of the Riken Race dumbfounded.
"They must have analyzed our Laser Defense Array on Laze Planet and used that information to create fakes."
"Now we can be 100% certain that the other party is not a native race at all."
"I've said it before, that's pure nonsense!"
"Hmph, their defensive array is much smaller than ours. Maybe they've had it for a long time, but just haven't used it."
"That makes sense. Our energy beam weapons couldn't intercept it before, and even if the enemy had such weapons, they couldn't display them."
"Alright, this isn't some advanced technology. It's perfectly normal for them to possess it. Don't overthink it."
Should the attack continue?
"Of course, they won't let us be idle, and we can't let them be idle either."
And so began the daily routine of attack and interception between the Swarm and the Riken Race.
However, although on the surface it seems like the two sides are evenly matched, the actual level of wear and tear is incomparable. Take the wear and tear on key parts, for example: the Riken Race can only replace the components, while the Swarm units can simply metabolize them. In the long run, the Riken Race will definitely be worn down.
Although the Riken Race language doesn't have a specific phrase like "boiling a frog in lukewarm water," the underlying principle is clear. The Ricken people are deeply worried, but they don't have a good solution.
Their warships are mass-produced; advanced automation makes production simple and efficient. Various modules are cast and molded, then assembled in a space factory, and finally added to the combat fleet. The whole process is very efficient.
In contrast, the Swarm's production of Space Octopus is somewhat simple and crude. A single adult Insect Empress can produce several half-meter-tall Space Octopus every day.
After a period of gestation, these eggs will hatch into Larval Form that are half a meter long. Next to the Spawning Chamber is the Brood Nest, which is built with radioactive metal. It is a key protected unit, just like the egg chamber, and is usually located thousands of meters underground with heavy defenses.
In this safe environment, the Larval Form grow to two meters in length by absorbing radiation, and then be driven out of the Brood Nest to the planet's surface to continue growing by absorbing space radiation.
Once they grow to five meters tall, they become glorious Larval Form cannon fodder, thus gaining the qualification to continue developing in a close orbit to a gas giant.
Here, they will continue to develop, and if there is no war or death in battle, they can grow into an Ancient Class being over time.
Therefore, if the Riken Race and the Swarm develop at the same time, the Riken Race the early stages. However, once a certain point in time has passed, the Swarm will demonstrate something that will shock everyone.
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