To the surprise of the Rikens, the Swarm forces completely ignored Cloud Return, flying brazenly past its outer limits and staying beyond the Rikens’ firing range.
The Rikens stationed on Planet Cloud Return felt their hearts leap to their throats. The transport ships at the local colony had just departed, and reinforcents from the howorld were still en route. If the Swarm had chosen to attack, there wouldn’t have been a second or third evacuation wave.
Now that the Swarm had bypassed them, the Rikens breathed a collective sigh of relief but were left puzzled.
“Where are they going?”
Minutes later, the sa question echoed among commanders of the Howorld Defense Zone. A few more minutes passed before the ssage reached the Twin Star Defensive Zone.
The officers stationed at the Twin Stars, many of whom had faced the Swarm in previous battles—whether during the defense of Planet Raze or the ongoing war at Planet Izumo—were among the Rikens’ most experienced in dealing with the Swarm.
“They’re opening a sub-hive!” declared a female Riken general decisively, her tone tinged with an ironic sneer.
“I agree. We should’ve seen this coming. Since they can directly absorb radiation energy from gas giants, the radiation from a star would be even more attractive,” another general chid in.
“Indeed. The annual brightness reductions of the stars in the T81 and T85 systems—fractions of a percent—are caused by their structures partially blocking stellar radiation.”
“As I recall, even our howorld’s orbital gastructures can only reduce our star’s brightness by a re 0.1 percent.”
“That’s because our howorld is too far from its star. They definitely wouldn’t establish their sub-hive at such a distance.”
“Even so, the ability to significantly dim a star’s brightness is terrifying. By this analysis, the Swarm’s forces far exceed our estimations. The troops currently cornering us may not even represent the tip of the iceberg.”
“Why are we cursed with such a formidable neighbor?”
“How are we supposed to win this war? If they dispatch more troops, we won’t stand a chance.”
“Stop fretting. Their current deploynt in our ho system already surpasses what we can handle. Look at us now—despite knowing their plans, we’re powerless to intervene. Once they secure their position near the star, we’ll be surrounded. At that point, reinforcents from other Swarm-occupied systems won’t even be necessary.”
“…”
“Enough!” Admiral Heaton, one of the highest-ranking officers, silenced the room. “After multiple rounds of referendum, the council has broadly decided to surrender. However, we must wait for the Swarm to approach us first. This gives us leverage to negotiate terms that secure our people’s interests. But to earn their respect, we need to strike back hard. Strength commands respect.”
Though Admiral Heaton’s words were resolute, his age was beginning to show despite the effects of longevity serums. Flattered by his subordinates in recent years, he had grown sowhat detached from reality. Nevertheless, the revelation of the council’s decision to surrender brought a subtle sense of relief to nearly every officer in the room, their minds turning over personal and strategic considerations.
Staying alive was, after all, better than the alternative.
“What’s our next move?” The room’s tense atmosphere eased slightly as a Riken officer broke the silence, raising an urgent practical question.
“We can’t stop them. For now, our priority must be preserving as much of our forces as possible. I recomnd evacuating most personnel from Planet Cloud Return. We no longer have the resources to fortify its defenses to the level of the Twin Stars or the howorld,” another officer suggested, his pragmatic tone reflecting the harsh reality of their situation.
“Indeed, we cannot afford to construct three separate defense systems simultaneously. Doing so would stretch our resources thin and overextend our battlefront. Since our strategic objectives have shifted, concentrating our resources is the logical course of action.”
“Agreed!”
The strategies for war or peace differ entirely. If the goal were an all-out war, the Rikens would mobilize every resource at their disposal, with no distinction between young and old, n and won—all would be conscripted. They would even consider building a fleet for potential escape, ensuring the survival of their species.
But now, with peace as the priority, the focus had shifted from a desperate last stand to a calculated display of strength and competence—a well-fought defensive and offensive campaign to earn the Swarm’s respect and achieve an honorable surrender. With this in mind, concentrating forces, pooling resources, and creating local advantages in strength and firepower beca imperative.
The defensive system on Planet Cloud Return wasn’t exactly poor—only slightly weaker than the defenses on Planet Raze during its final battle. However, it was still insufficient to withstand the Swarm’s overwhelming assault. Thus, abandoning it and redirecting its resources to the Twin Star Defensive Zone and the Howorld Defense Line was deed more practical.
This approach not only shortened the defensive line but also concentrated forces, streamlining transportation, supply chains, and resource allocation.
After deliberation, the generals relayed their decision to President Antonio. Though Antonio wielded supre authority, he had always believed in delegating specialized tasks to experts. Since this recomndation ca from a group of generals with extensive experience fighting the Swarm—and it aligned with the advice of his think tank—he saw no need to second-guess it. The evacuation of Planet Cloud Return was promptly initiated.
A massive fleet of transport ships was dispatched from the Twin Star Defensive Zone and the Howorld’s Defensive Line to Planet Cloud Return.
Relocating an entire colony was no small feat. Evacuating the population was only the first step. Once the majority of the Riken citizens had been relocated, the process of dismantling fixed installations began.
Building a colony on a planet without an atmosphere is a monuntal challenge, not to ntion the vast amount of precious materials it requires.
Currently, the Rikens had four major colonies. The first and second were located on the two moons of their howorld. The ancient starship, codenad “Treasure,” had been unearthed during the construction of the second colony.
The third colony was on Planet Cloud Return. This was a long-established colony, whose foundations were laid over a century ago during the missions of the “Cat’s Ear Spaceship.” Over ti, it had grown into a sprawling gastructure, covering more than one million square kiloters. Before the evacuation, it had been the largest Riken colony, ho to over 200 million Rikens.
Even after the evacuation, the colony retained imnse value. Its power systems, air circulation systems, gravity systems, and ecological systems represented a treasure trove of technology and resources, accumulated through enormous ti and investnt.
Since the colony was being abandoned, the Rikens planned to dismantle and salvage as much as possible before the Swarm attacked. If these systems could be safely relocated, they could potentially recreate the colony elsewhere.
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