Chapter Summaries

The Yuntu Clan fought to contain the Swarm after the enemy breached its lines, suffering heavy losses while destroying the Ancient Class units inside its fleet. After five months of relentless combat, the Unmanned Fighter blockade had nearly collapsed and the Yuntu Clan was running low on replacement parts.

• The Yuntu Fleet repelled the Swarm’s advance but struggled to eliminate more than twenty thousand Ancient Class units already among its warships.
• The Yuntu commander ordered indiscriminate fire across a vast area, destroying the Ancient Class units at the cost of even greater damage to friendly warships.
• Over three months, Yuntu forces escaping the northwest encirclement harassed the Swarm, while the Swarm repeatedly breached the fleet and attacked the Unmanned Fighter blockade.
• The Swarm concentrated its forces against the Unmanned Fighters, reducing their numbers from over ten billion to fewer than one billion in two months.
• After five months of continuous warfare, the Yuntu Clan had used more than half its replacement parts and faced the prospect of its weapons failing if the fighting continued.

After seven months of war, the battered Yuntu Clan resorted to desperate tactics as the Swarm adjusted its attacks and continued to reinforce its forces. The Yuntu fleet inside the encirclement was steadily weakened, with reinforcements still less than a month away.

• The Swarm replenished its forces while the Yuntu Clan struggled with depleted supplies, and the fighting continued for two more months as the Swarm repeatedly breached the fleet's lines.
• A Yuntu captain ordered his crew to fire on an Ancient Class unit attacking YT10440, knowingly destroying the allied ship along with the enemy.
• The unauthorized attack reached the command center, and the Swarm changed tactics, sending its Ancient Class units darting through the fleet rather than remaining exposed to one-for-one exchanges.
• After seven months, the encircled Yuntu forces had lost more than twenty million warships, while the Swarm's battlefield forces had grown to 320 million units at least five hundred meters long.

The Yuntu Clan commander-in-chief struggled to balance saving trapped forces against keeping A Force from being encircled again. A Force abandoned Lieutenant General Salio’s attempted breakout, while nearly eight million warships under Lieutenant General Jiate remained trapped with no clear way out.

• The Zerg split B Force into B1 and B2, trapped B2 inside the encirclement, and scattered most of B1 as A Force escaped with fifteen million warships.
• The commander-in-chief learned that Lieutenant General Jiate could not break out and that Lieutenant General Salio had gathered over a million warships and requested help.
• The commander-in-chief ordered A Force to attack near Salio’s position after an hour, giving Salio one chance to break through.
• A Force attacked with three million troops, then retreated thirty minutes later before Zerg reinforcements arrived.
• Salio’s forces lost their chance to escape as the Zerg reinforced their lines, while the commander-in-chief kept A Force at a distance to avoid being trapped again.

The Yuntu Fleet kept retreating while B2 Force was surrounded and depleted, waiting for Ketu reinforcements to arrive. After the fleets rendezvoused, Elder Aier refused General Mide’s request to rescue B2 Force, leaving its fate uncertain.

• Salio lost contact on the third day after sending the commander-in-chief a final message insulting him and his relatives.
• The Yuntu main force withdrew as B2 Force sent distress calls, and B2 Force lost nearly three million ships while its supplies and combat strength dwindled.
• The Ketu Clan arrived with sixty million undamaged warships, though the Zerg had at least three hundred million troops.
• General Mide greeted Elder Aier and asked for help rescuing B2 Force.
• Elder Aier declined, saying the Ketu Clan’s orders only required it to rendezvous with the Yuntu forces and that rescuing B2 Force was outside its mission.

General Mide secured Ketu Clan reinforcements through pressure on the Star Sea Alliance, and the Ketu fleet joined the remnants of the Yuntu Clan to fight the Zerg. The Zerg fled at first contact, freeing the trapped Yuntu troops, but both clans hesitated to pursue because the retreat seemed suspicious.

• The Yuntu Clan appealed to the Star Sea Alliance, which prompted the Ketu civilization to order Elder Aier to offer help to General Mide.
• Elder Aier promised Ketu support in exchange for the Yuntu Clan remembering the favor, and General Mide agreed.
• Two days later, sixty million Ketu warships joined the Yuntu remnants and opened fire on the pursuing Swarm forces.
• The Zerg fled immediately, leaving more than two million trapped Yuntu troops alive.
• The Yuntu and Ketu forces were baffled by the sudden retreat, and the Ketu Clan refused to pursue until it understood what was happening.

The Swarm withdrew to avoid further losses and buy time, while the Yuntu and Ketu forces suspected a trap and delayed their advance. During the pause, the Swarm used captured Yuntu technology to complete its Dark Energy research and began upgrading its forces.

• The Yuntu and Ketu Clans declined to pursue the Swarm and subjected rescued Yuntu crews and recovered warships to isolation and intensive inspections.
• Three months later, the Yuntu remnants withdrew after the Tiya civilization arrived, while the Ketu and Tiya forces waited for more allied troops.
• The Swarm used captured Yuntu warships and years of research to complete a theoretical framework for Dark Energy technology.
• Rowan adapted the mechanical advances into biological designs, enabling the Swarm to produce new Dark Energy Furnaces and Cannons.
• Rowan authorized genetic updates across the Swarm, and the old-generation Ancient Class units began upgrading their Atomic Furnaces into Dark Energy Furnaces.

The Swarm devastated the Sangqie Clan before retreating, leaving the remnants under Alliance surveillance as its Ancient Class ships returned to recover energy and evolve. The Star Sea Alliance then ordered seven Mid-Ring Civilizations to advance into Swarm territory, and they chose a cautious sub-light journey that would take more than four years.

• The Sangqie Clan’s indecisive commander let the Swarm tighten its encirclement, and the fleet fell from sixty million warships to just over five million before the Swarm retreated.
• The Star Sea Alliance placed the Sangqie remnants under house arrest and surveillance, then sent them away for inspection.
• The Swarm recalled around eight hundred million Ancient Class ships, while its Dark Energy Furnaces remained unusable during their development.
• The Star Sea Alliance gathered the forces of seven Mid-Ring Civilizations, nearly four hundred million warships, at two assembly points and ordered them to advance in separate groups.
• The seven civilizations rejected the Alliance’s assurances and chose to use Sub-light Engines to enter Swarm territory, extending the journey to more than four years.

The Ketu civilization’s enlarged fleet joined other Alliance forces near Zerg Star System No. 1, where Elder Aier organized a head-on assault despite the Zerg’s growing strength. As the battle began, the Zerg prepared a mysterious scheme, and Aier watched for a trap.

• The Ketu force grew to nearly 700 million warships as seven Mid-Ring and six Outer-Ring Civilizations gathered for the mission.
• Elder Aier won approval for a plan to crush the roughly 1.5 billion Zerg troops with a direct assault, placing the Ketu fleet at the formation’s center.
• The Alliance fleet advanced toward Zerg Star System No. 1 while the Zerg formed up outside the system and refused communication.
• Aier’s fleet slowed near the main guns’ range and began charging its weapons as Aier ordered his Adjutant to watch for a Zerg trick.
• A Zerg commander ordered a mysterious scheme activated, saying the enemy force was not yet large enough and that they should first give it a scare.

The Ketu Clan opened fire on the Zerg fleet, but the Zerg struck first with previously unknown Dark Energy Shells and inflicted heavy losses. The Star Sea Alliance was left baffled by the Zerg’s advanced weapons and unclear motives.

• Aier ordered his Adjutant and the command center to search for signs of a Zerg ambush, but all scans appeared normal.
• The Ketu Clan moved into firing range and prepared its first volley while Aier rejected the idea of stopping to fire from a distance.
• A Zerg energy reaction alarm sounded, and the Ketu Clan initially mistook the incoming attack for an ordinary warning shot.
• A crew member identified the Zerg’s weapons as Dark Energy Shells just before they struck the unprepared Ketu fleet.
• Aier ordered the Alliance ships to fire and evade as the Zerg volley destroyed several hundred thousand Ketu battleships.
• The Alliance struggled to explain why the Zerg had revealed their advanced technology for such a limited strike.

Representatives at the rear command center debated the Zerg’s Dark Energy Cannons and clashed over how to respond as the Ketu suffered heavy losses. Mowei laid out two possible strategies for the Ketu, beginning with an all-out attack, but had not yet explained the cautious option.

• Representatives debated whether the Zerg had inherited advanced technology or refitted the forces they had recalled five years earlier.
• Mide and Mowei traded insults until the Ketu representative urged them to focus on the fighting, where the Zerg’s volleys were inflicting heavy losses.
• Mowei showed off his rare Zerg Biological Armor, provoking Mide, who restrained himself and turned his attention back to the war.
• Mowei told the Ketu representative that the aggressive strategy was to attack with everything they had, arguing that the Zerg had little room to exploit their range advantage because their home system lay behind them.

Mowei urged the Ketu and other front-line civilizations to retreat rather than risk a costly battle against the Zerg. He argued that their allies would soon bring overwhelming reinforcements, including the Lashudia Clan’s fleet, and left the delegates considering his proposal.

• The Ketu representative asked Mowei to explain his safer alternative, and Mowei proposed withdrawing from the battlefield temporarily.
• General Mide criticized retreating, but Mowei rebuked him for speaking after the Yuntu Clan had withdrawn from the war.
• Mowei revealed Epoch Clan intelligence showing that the Zerg occupied more than 262 star systems, with 182 sending troops.
• Mowei estimated that only forces from a little over twenty star systems would reach the front within ten years, while allied reinforcements would greatly outnumber the Zerg’s expected gains.
• Mowei announced that the Lashudia Clan’s expeditionary fleet of one hundred million warships would arrive in seven years and urged the delegates to wait for reinforcements before attacking.

Mowei urged the alien representatives to delay their next attack on the Zerg until they gathered more allies and intelligence, while Mide questioned his motives. Mowei revealed that the Lashudia Clan sought the glory of winning the first major victory against the Zerg, leaving Mide conflicted about the clan’s commitment.

• Mowei argued that the Coalition Army should wait for more allies and investigate the Zerg before attacking again, and several representatives supported caution.
• Mide asked Mowei why he was so eager to involve himself in a war that did not directly concern his race.
• Mowei teased Mide about his daughter, then explained that the Lashudia Clan regarded the Zerg war as a chance to earn unparalleled glory.
• Mowei declared that the Lashudia Clan would claim the first victory if the other civilizations hesitated.
• Mide’s anger faded as he considered the Lashudia Clan’s enormous fleet and its desire for honor.

The Coalition Army began retreating after the Epoch Clan postponed its attack, but the Ketu Clan was left exposed after its allies fled the Zerg. Facing overwhelming odds, the Ketu Clan commander ordered a desperate dispersed retreat, leaving the fleet’s survival uncertain.

• The Coalition Army halted its advance and began withdrawing after learning the Epoch Clan had postponed its attack.
• After three days of fighting, the Ketu Clan and several Mid-Ring Civilizations received orders to retreat from the Zerg.
• The six Mid-Ring Civilizations fled first, while the Zerg pursued the remaining fleets and let them escape after they paid heavy losses.
• The Ketu Clan was left alone with fifty-six million warships facing 1.5 billion Zerg.
• The Ketu Clan commander ordered all drones and tactical bombs deployed and directed the squadrons to retreat along separate routes toward rally point 19-20-51-215.

The Ketu Clan used a massive barrage of Dark Energy bombs to disrupt the Swarm’s pursuit, but the resulting energy tides also trapped the retreating fleet and prevented warp travel. As squadrons scattered and waited for safe conditions, some ships were destroyed by forcing a jump, while others eventually escaped as the interference faded; the Swarm only then began its pursuit.

• The Ketu Clan sent more than 200 million unmanned fighters carrying Dark Energy bombs toward the Zerg, halting the Swarm and destabilizing space across the battlefield.
• The Ketu Clan commander ordered the fleet to scatter into squadrons so that smaller groups could enter warp separately and escape.
• Several Ketu squadrons found that their instruments still ruled out warp travel, and communication failures prevented them from getting instructions from the main fleet.
• Some Ketu warships forced themselves into warp and were torn apart, while most squadrons chose to keep fleeing with conventional propulsion.
• After hours of waiting, the first Ketu squadron safely entered warp, and more squadrons followed as the interference weakened.
• The Swarm began pursuing the Ketu Clan only after many of its squadrons had escaped the affected region.

After the Ketu Clan escaped, the Swarm returned to its star system and held position while the Coalition Army gathered nearby. At two separate meetings, observers debated the Zerg’s apparent restraint, and a secret group agreed to prioritize its plan and keep the Epoch Clan from obtaining what the Zerg were hiding.

• The Swarm sent Space Squid after the retreating Ketu Clan, but the pursuers failed to catch them before they warped away.
• The Coalition Army gathered 1.5 light-years outside the Swarm’s system as the Swarm remained mostly quiet.
• Mowei argued that the Zerg’s halted advance showed they lacked confidence in winning, then left without explaining their behavior.
• At a secret meeting, the participants discussed the Zerg’s concealed strength and agreed to put their original plan first.
• The secret group agreed to prevent the Epoch Clan from obtaining what the Zerg were hiding, and to address that prize after achieving their goal.

Several hidden civilizations discussed keeping the Zerg’s inheritance from the Epoch Clan and debated whether the Zerg could use it to escape or rapidly acquire advanced technology. They ended wary of one another and questioning what had destroyed the civilization behind the legacy.

• The hidden attendees agreed to prevent the Epoch Clan from obtaining the Zerg’s inheritance and considered staging a conflict using the Ketu Clan as a model.
• One attendee warned that the Zerg might be overwhelmed by the Lashudia Clan and other civilizations, but the others believed the Zerg had hidden capabilities.
• A mysterious attendee suggested that the Zerg might escape the star region using a biological Star Gate, prompting debate about the enormous objects in Zerg systems.
• The attendees traced the Zerg’s technological advances to the civilizations they had fought and considered whether victories unlocked matching technologies from the legacy.
• The group grew alarmed at how quickly the Zerg had adopted Dark Energy technology, while some attendees became more eager to seize the inheritance and free themselves from the Epoch Clan.
• The attendees wondered what had caused the powerful civilization behind the inheritance to disappear.

Several civilizations debated the Zerg inheritance and planned to use the Rat-folk to infiltrate Zerg territory and locate their forces. Nearly eight years after the Ketu Clan withdrew, the Lashudia Clan fleet arrived at the crowded front lines with the Coalition Army’s help.

• The gathered leaders considered whether the Zerg inheritance came from a civilization that had destroyed itself or ascended, then agreed they needed to stop the Star Gate from being built.
• The leaders proposed seeking the Epoch Clan’s help and sending reconnaissance ships to find the Zerg’s true location.
• The leaders speculated that the Zerg were descended from Rat-folk and planned to infiltrate the Rat-folk civilization, with the Epoch Clan leading the effort.
• Nearly eight years passed as fleets from many races gathered at the front, where more than three billion warships were stationed near the Zerg systems.
• A 4,500-meter Lashudia Clan warship emerged from hyperspace after the Coalition Army cleared a safe arrival area for its fleet of more than two hundred million warships.

The Lashudia Clan’s fleet arrived in the Coalition Army’s staging area near Zerg territory, where it gradually took over defensive duties. The Zerg remained inactive despite the assembling forces, leaving the allied commanders uncertain about what they planned.

• The Coalition Army’s crimson warships confirmed the area was safe as the Lashudia Clan’s ships emerged and cautiously scanned the region.
• The Lashudia Clan used communication-equipped ships as its vanguard and began assembling a fleet of over two hundred million vessels under Coalition Army protection.
• The Lashudia Clan’s forces took over the area’s defenses after arriving, but the Zerg still made no move.
• Allied commanders debated the Zerg’s inactivity, compared the gathered forces’ strength, and argued over who would receive credit for the coming war.

As the Coalition Army debated whether the Zerg could destroy the star in No. 1 Star System, the Lashudia Clan issued an almost unchanged plan to advance directly toward the Zerg. The other civilizations protested, but the Lashudia Clan threatened to execute anyone who disobeyed its orders.

• The outsiders speculated that the Zerg's quiet buildup meant they planned to destroy the star in No. 1 Star System and wipe out the Coalition Army.
• The outsiders concluded that the Zerg expected the Coalition Army to approach the star and became eager to see how the Lashudia Clan would respond.
• The Lashudia Clan issued a battle plan to form up and advance head-on, with almost no changes to the previous plan.
• The other civilizations protested that the plan would leave the Coalition Army vulnerable to a stellar explosion.
• The Lashudia Clan ignored the protests and threatened to execute anyone who disobeyed its orders.

The Lashudia Clan suppressed the foreign races’ protests and prepared the Coalition Army for a focused assault on Zerg Star System No. 1. At the end of the seventy-ninth year of the New Era, 3.5 billion ships set out under Lashudia command, with the clan’s forces positioned to lead the attack and enforce obedience.

• The foreign races’ complaints about the Lashudia Clan’s authority were silenced, while hidden alliances formed among those seeking to avoid the battle.
• The Coalition Army completed its preparations, and the Lashudia Clan chose to attack Zerg Star System No. 1 without a simultaneous assault on Star System No. 9.
• The Lashudia Clan placed one hundred million of its warships at the front and assigned its remaining forces to monitor the other fleets and punish disobedience.
• The Coalition Army’s 3.5 billion ships departed for Zerg Star System No. 1 under the Lashudia Clan’s command.