I Am The Swarm

The Riken fighter craft were equipped with two to four energy weapons and carried four space torpedoes. Due to their size, these energy weapons had smaller calibers, requiring concentrated fire to pose a threat to the space octopuses. Nonetheless, their sheer numbers made their long-range firepower formidable.

But the Rikens made a critical mistake: their fighters charged directly toward the Swarm’s space octopuses.

Had they maintained distance, using long-range firepower to steadily wear down the space octopuses and disrupt their evasive maneuvers, while coordinating with the main and secondary turrets of their warships, the octopuses would have struggled to prevail.

Instead, their decision to close the distance played right into the Swarm’s hands.

Although the mechanical fighters were highly maneuverable, with thrusters at their tails and undersides for propulsion and directional changes, they were no match for the octopuses in terms of agility. In the void of space, the octopuses moved like sea creatures gliding through water, their countless tentacles acting as thrust mechanisms to shift directions or halt abruptly at will.

While the Riken fighters managed to shoot down a few octopuses during their charge, the moment the two forces clashed, the battle shifted dramatically.

The space octopuses weaved effortlessly through the Riken fighter formations. Their tentacles latched onto nearby craft, gripping them tightly and tearing them apart.

The Riken drones, mass-produced and lightly armored, could withstand the octopuses’ initial tugs. But with a deliberate sacrifice of one or two tentacles, an octopus could pierce their engines, turning the drones into floating space debris.

This strategy, however, was not without cost, and the knights piloting the octopuses quickly devised a more refined method of attack.