“No, we don’t have any closer images. All observation devices on that side were destroyed. These were taken using the large shipborne telescope on the Cilla’s Goddess,” Malachi replied, shaking his head.
The Cilla’s Goddess was a specialized utility ship equipped with a variety of large observational instrunts.
“As for why they’ve changed so drastically, it’s undoubtedly the work of that hidden civilization. While we don’t know their exact intentions, it must be related to the energy reactions we’ve observed. Furthermore, their ability to alter the environnts of planets and moons on such a large scale in such a short ti is sothing even we Rikens cannot achieve. This isn’t a failure of our intelligence departnt—it’s that their capabilities are beyond our understanding. They’re likely far more troubleso than we initially imagined.”
Though Malachi tried to shift bla, his inherent arrogance still surfaced; he regarded the situation as rely a minor issue evolving into a major one.
“We indeed lack the ans to replicate such feats. Perhaps these abilities are unique to biological civilizations. But what about their electromagnetic railguns?” one advisor questioned.
“What’s so strange about that? They have creatures that can spit nuclear bombs—why wouldn’t they be able to fire railgun shots? The atomic organs inside those beasts are far more advanced than railguns. Maybe those creatures are just experintal products of their civilization,” another captain quipped.
“That’s plausible. Dr. Balt, what’s your opinion?”
“The internal structures of those creatures are beyond my expertise. I can’t determine whether they’re natural or artificial creations.” Dr. Balt, lost in thought, hadn’t expected the discussion to pivot to him. After a brief consideration, he gave an honest response.
“I don’t think this is the right ti to debate that. Ever since the activity on T855, the energy fluctuations haven’t stopped. Shouldn’t we focus on that instead?” one captain interjected, attempting to redirect the conversation.
“Agreed,” another captain chid in.
“We don’t know the power of their railguns, nor can we estimate the projectile speed, but I suggest the fleet take evasive maneuvers.”
“The fleet will deploy all probes and shift 3,000 kiloters toward coordinate 31.67,” General Masai decided, finding the proposal reasonable.
After months of idling, the Riken fleet reignited their engines, slowly moving aside. Since railgun projectiles couldn’t alter their course mid-flight, leaving their current position should theoretically evade enemy fire.
A day later, in the communication room:
“The enemy’s railguns haven’t stopped. Their attack is ongoing.”
“We’ve changed positions three tis now, and we still can’t determine their target.”
“Have the probes detected anything?”
“Not yet.”
Suddenly, Malachi joined the eting with new information.
“Ladies and gentlen, this is the latest data from our probes,” Malachi announced, uploading a series of images and videos to the eting’s main screen.
The footage showed deep space, with occasional flashes of blue arcs.
“What is this?” one captain asked, perplexed.
“It’s what the enemy fired at us!” Malachi replied. “Our probes spotted them. This footage has been slowed down by a factor of 5,000. Based on their trajectory, they’ll pass 2,000 kiloters away from the fleet.”
“Those don’t look like projectiles.”
“Maybe their projectiles look like this.”
“I’m only seeing so blue arcs.”
“Their stealth technology is extrely advanced. Without those arcs, our probes wouldn’t have detected them at all.”
“Are you saying they’ve added stealth devices to their projectiles? That’s quite innovative.”
“Perhaps they should consider masking their railgun energy emissions—it might be even more effective,” soone joked.
Realizing the projectiles posed no imdiate threat, the Riken commanders relaxed, their earlier tension replaced with levity.
In reality, the Swarm’s optical cloaking and electromagnetic signal suppression systems were exceptionally advanced.
If it weren’t for the plasma engines used for deceleration, which emitted detectable energy signals, the Rikens wouldn’t have noticed the space octopuses until they were right on top of them.
“I have bad news,” Malachi interjected. “These might not be projectiles. Based on data from the probes, these objects are decelerating. And calculations of their outlines during arc flashes show that each is over 500 ters in size.”
“Unbelievable. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think they launched the teor that destroyed the Trinbrian District,” a captain muttered.
“Could this be a conspiracy by the military?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s impossible.”
“How long until they’re in range?” General Masai asked.
“They’re decelerating continuously, but even so, they’ll reach 300,000 kiloters from us in about 30 hours—within effective range,” Malachi replied, glancing at his terminal for the data.
“No matter what they are, we must destroy them before they get any closer,” General Masai declared, glancing at the other captains, who nodded in agreent. He continued, “Malachi, your intelligence team has a crucial task ahead. Lock onto all stealth objects and map their trajectories. I’ll have the AI assign attack zones based on your data.”
“Understood!”
The Riken fleet entered intense battle preparations. Their ships bristled with turrets, which now had their purpose. With AI assistance, the stealth objects were targeted one by one, ready to be engaged once within range.
“So many?” The initial scans locked onto over 500 unknown objects in just the first wave. Subsequent waves were estimated to contain another three to four hundred each, bringing the total to over 2,000.
“What are these things?”
“I don’t like the idea of them being alive.”
“Neither do I.”
As the ti for contact approached, the tension among the Rikens rose. No matter how confident they were, this was their first encounter with an alien civilization. They were making history—and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“Careful! Evade imdiately!” Malachi’s shout rang out suddenly.
The enemy, cunning as ever, had launched a barrage of solid projectiles behind the arc-emitting objects. These projectiles, requiring no deceleration, had overtaken the first wave and reached the front.
This precision was the result of ticulous calculations. Between bursts of reinforcents, the Swarm had launched two waves of solid ammunition to provide initial long-range support.
Because these smaller projectiles were harder to detect, the Rikens only spotted them when they were nearly upon them.
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