My Children Swarm the Cosmos – Chapter 133

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑𝟑: 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 (4)

Ludwig synthesized the fragmented news flowing into the wave network.

“The mothership over 3,000 km wide that had appeared in the Crolr’s territory has not yet been sighted. . .”

“Are the fleets currently battling in the Large Magellanic Cloud and Triangulum galaxy all fleets of the Lomro-or home fleet of the Federation?”

“They seem to be fleets of other species affiliated with the Le-orantarum Federation. . . They are all equipped with shield technology but there are no fleets implementing topological assault techniques. . . Besides, the internal crew members are not of the Lomro-or species either. . .”

“Send Nazar and Phlegeth to the Solar System.”

Kreion came to a conclusion much faster than before.

“Yes, I will do so. . . What is the mission for the two leaders once there in the Solar System, the hub of dimensional passageways. . .?”

“To stand by in the Solar System, which is the hub of dimensional passageways, and defend the human domain when the Lomro-or’s main fleet comes looking.”

Kreion was almost certain that the Lomro-or’s main fleet would attack the Milky Way.

Ludwig wondered how he could be so sure of that. Just as he was about to ask, Kreion opened his mouth first.

“The entity creating the atmosphere of terror has changed to the Le-orantarum Federation. This shift would have confused many species at this time.”

“But. . . How can you say that the Le-orantarum Federation, which has lived rationally up till now, has all of a sudden become the entity creating the atmosphere of terror with this one incident. . .? Wasn’t that the dark image that the Hive Alliance bore. . .?”

“There’s a saying that if you’ve lived well all this while and then do one bad thing, perceptions change.”

“. . .?”

“As you say, the Federation has shown a rational image pursuing peace and harmony. However, this time the Federation improperly intervened with force in the Large Magellanic Cloud and then attempted an invasion using the Parahtoria as a pretext.”

After that, as Kreion had warned them, the Hive Alliance declared war on the Federation, and the Federation returned fire by declaring war on the Hive Alliance as well.

“Their rationale is not flimsy at all. They will claim that they only wanted to help the Crolr, friends they once took in, when the Crolr were attacked by the Parahtoria, and that clash was unavoidable with the Hive Alliance.”

And the Le-orantarum Federation emphasized the universal threat of the Hive Alliance, arguing that their war was justified.

“Until now, whatever the issue was, they have always tried to resolve it peacefully through dialog. But this time, they have taken the complete opposite stance. . . Saying the Federation is hostile to our Alliance amounts to declaring total war, and a total war where countless races would suffer should definitely be avoided if at all possible.”  

Indeed, how many races in this Galactic Federation actually want total war?

“But the Federation did not avoid it. . . On the contrary, they have reacted aggressively, further escalating towards war. . .”  

“Without leaving room for negotiation, without a shred of hesitation, they declared such a total war so readily. As a result, the source of spreading fear has shifted to become the Federation.”

“. . .Does this following declaration of hostility towards humanity negate the Federation as it has existed up to now. . .?”

“That’s right. From the standpoint of various races, they now have no choice but to doubt the image the Federation has shown thus far. They have plenty of reason to suspect they have been hiding their true colors like the Crolr and the like.”

As Ludwig listened to Kreion’s opinion, he suddenly recalled the original reason why Kreion was explaining all this in the first place.  

“I see. . . But is that sufficient grounds to conclude there will be a Federation invasion of the Solar System. . .?”

“The point is that humanity has negated the Federation. That has exacerbated the divisions. The Federation’s power is likely more dispersed now than usual due to humanity.” 

“I see. . .”

“Looking at it from the Federation’s perspective, it would be a sensible strategy to first destroy the humans who have made the greatest contribution to this divided landscape.”  

Once humanity collapses, the dispersed powers could reunite around the Federation again, along with those powers who harbored doubts about the Federation.  

By coming together like that, the Federation would then be able to reliably deal with the Hive Alliance as well.

“In other words, if those guys have any brains at all, they will target humanity first and foremost. So that’s why the order was given to send Nazar and Phlegeth to the Solar System.”

There were such complex and profound reasons behind the earlier order. Kreion took all those kinds of things into consideration before reaching his conclusion and issuing that order.  

And so Ludwig could not help but admire Kreion’s penetrating insight.  

When he issues an order, there are always sufficient reasons for doing so.

“Humanity must not suffer too great a loss.” 

“I’m afraid that will be rather difficult now. . .”

“Set aside negative feelings. Above all, humanity must remain intact for the races that have sided with them to continue standing with us. Do you understand my meaning?”

“Yes. . . I will accurately convey master’s intention to Nazar and Phlegeth. . .”

🔷🔷🔷

The Defaulstellay star nation has entered a state of war. Three Lomro-or motherships with a width of about 3370km have appeared. 

Each mothership could deploy a large fleet, and the gathered fleet was about 330 squadron-level ships.

The regular fleet of Defaulstellay facing them was about 250 squadrons. Thanks to all the countries participating in strengthening the military power of mankind, they had a fleet of this size.

When the naval battle began, Defaulstellay’s stellar president Sheamus Pollan received bad news.

“Your Excellency. It is said that the Lomro-or fleet has also appeared in other star systems of foreign countries.”

“Which star system are you talking about?”

“Solar system, Nemea, Drake, Radiake, Rubyco, Slav, etc. More than ten Lomro-or motherships are said to have appeared in the solar system.”

“The UNF and Phase Assault Troops will prioritize protecting the solar system. I see for now.”

Until the Lomro-or of the solar system is cleaned up and reinforcements arrive, they have to stop it with only the military power of this country.

But I don’t know how long it will take for the UNF and Phase Assault Troops to clear the Lomro-or.

‘Le-orantarum Federation with dozens of member species. . .’

Although they are said to be technologically inferior to humans, the scale of their power cannot be ignored.

Considering that they hold from the Triangulum Galaxy, which is very large in the Local Group, to the Andromeda Galaxy, it doesn’t feel real that an interstellar war is taking place in the Local Group now. In multiple galaxies, dozens of species are fighting at this very moment.

Soon, the regular fleet of Defaulstellay collided with the elite fleet of the Lomro-or in outer space.

The fleets of both sides have angular designs. They seem to be fighting similar to each other using similar naval guns and similar carrier-based tactics.

The regular fleet of Defaulstellay deployed high-output shields and poured out state-of-the-art plasma sniper naval guns and armor-piercing shells trapped in gravitational fields. In response, the elite fleet of the Lomro-or countered with shields, showing weapons that were relatively no different from those of humans.

Jijiing. . .!

The carrier-based aircraft at the forefront of the Defaulstellay regular fleet exploded in an instant. The Lomro-or had sent shells at close range with phase assault techniques with their carrier-based aircraft at the forefront.

The strands of energy that followed passed through the distorted gravitational field before the light, shaving the shields of the Defaulstellay fleet.

➖They are the main race of the Le-orantarum Federation!

This was what the abnormal range and the inescapable means of attack of the Lomro-or fleet were saying.

➖Deploy vector missiles!

Fortunately, the Defaulstellay fleet had prior information about their advanced weapons. Hundreds of vector missiles operated by the Drake star nation were simultaneously launched forward.

The Lomro-or fighters intercepted the vector missiles heading toward them before light could.

Jijijijik!!!

Then the vector missiles exploded, spewing plasma trails in their forward path. The Lomro-or fighters caught in the plasma trails suffered heavy damage due to electromagnetic malfunctions or internal fusion explosions of their air.

➖Aim for the mothership!

In addition, there was a Planet Weapon that had been recently constructed in the Defaulstellay Stellar Nation. It was an existing unmanned planet that had been remodeled into a Planet Weapon through the technical assistance of the Drake Stellar Nation.

Kwaaang!!!

A spiraling beam of light in cyan aimed for one of the Lomro-or motherships and rushed at the speed of light.

The Lomro-or mothership deployed a powerful shield in response, but it was a Planet Weapon that had been built with the purpose of destroying a planet in the first place. It was impossible for the Lomro-or mothership’s shield to block its power.

Peeeeng. . .!

One of the rearmost motherships, which boasted an enormous size, exploded easily.

At that moment, the Executive Officer of the Lomro-or must have been bewildered.

➖Didn’t they say that the humans only had one Planet Weapon?

➖Even a single nation’s fleet seems to be much more advanced than we knew!

➖Humanity as a whole has increased its military power. Humans, who used to keep each other’s military power in check until recently. . . . Is it because of the Chimeraz. . .?

➖Executor! The same missiles from earlier are approaching again!

The fleet that had been given the mission to invade the Human Galaxy was an elite fleet. However, they were preoccupied with just responding to the human fleet, which was much stronger than expected.

Although they had phase assault technology, it was difficult to break through the fleet battle, so they didn’t even attempt to descend to the planet. The Lomro-or’s phase assault technology had a deployment range limit.

➖At this rate, we’ll be defeated in space!

➖We have to break through the fleet battle somehow and inflict maximum damage on their civilization!

➖Activate the mothership’s main gun!

➖That’s a means to invade a planet. . .

➖Activate it! That’s an order!

Chuchuchuk! Chuchuchuchuchuk!

Two motherships boasting tremendous firepower gathered intense energy inside. The unstable light was flowing out onto the outer deck of the mothership.

The saucer-shaped mothership tilted its hull so that the direction with the apex pointed toward where the enemies were.

Jjeok, jjeok. . .!

And the metallic armor covering the mothership opened up like a sunflower to reveal its true form inside.

➖Captain. The enemy mothership. . .

➖What is that. . .?

Under the metallic armor of the mothership was something like the skin of a living creature.

The skin split and spread open like the gills of a fish, and numerous tentacles stretched out into space, piercing the wreckage of the mothership that had exploded nearby.

If it were a machine, energy would be dispersed as the reactor or engine exploded, but a living creature could use even a dead body as an energy source.

The two Lomro-or motherships stabbed the wreckage of a dead mothership with their tentacles and absorbed the enormous energy source needed to operate the main gun.

Finally, the two motherships activated the main gun.

Kwaaang!!!

Pupupupupupung!

They fired a purple beam like the Chimeraz’s Organic Accelerator Cannon.

➖37 fleets have been annihilated. . .!

🔷🔷🔷

The head of the Darwin Foundation, Francis Darwin, hurriedly ascended the stairs.

“Chief! It’s dangerous outside!”

“Administrator. It is safer to monitor from inside the building. It’s dangerous outside.”

Behind Darwin, a small humanoid and soldiers were following and trying to dissuade him.

However, Darwin was oblivious to their voices as he continued to climb the stairs.

“Huff. . .! Huff. . .!”

He arrived at the top of the stairs, breathing heavily. He grabbed the handle of the iron door before him.

“They could descend at any moment! Please, chief!”

Clank!

He opened the iron door violently as if he were possessed by something.

He came out onto the rooftop of a tall building.

“Why are you doing this?! Please say something! It means the enemies are activating their main guns and are about to begin a full-scale invasion!”

“Car, dimensional passageway! Now! I felt it! I felt it!”

“What?!”

Darwin, who had finally climbed up to the rooftop, looked up at the sky.

Beyond the clouds was the vaguely visible, enormous ring-shaped structure, the dimensional passageway of the Defaulstellay Stellar Nation.

“Ah, haha. . .! As expected. . .! As expected, as expected, as expected!”

He burst into laughter like a madman.

“Uhahahaha!”

His trembling finger was pointing to the dimensional passageway in the sky. So the soldiers followed his finger and looked up at the sky.

They couldn’t close their mouths.

“That’s it! Now our Foundation will be reevaluated! Uhahahaha!”

It was faintly visible for a moment.

It was the sight of enormous living creatures with tentacles hanging from the dimensional passageway, pouring out in numbers that were truly impossible to count.

“Our intentions! Functionality! All of it is finally coming to fruition!”

Darwin was now laughing with both arms spread wide like someone who had won the lottery.

“Hahahaha! Uhahahaha!”

Soon after, the shadow of the bio-planet fell over the entire city, and humanity all over the world must have witnessed the same thing that Darwin was seeing in their own skies.

“This is it! This is it! You all know what I’m trying to say, right?!”

“Chief. . . .”

“Haha! Damn, now everyone will understand me!”

The Chimeraz had reappeared in human territory today. This time, surprisingly, the living creatures were giving humans hope, not fear.

Politicians heaved a sigh of relief.

Civilians prayed for hope.

The soldiers’ hearts pounded with excitement, and their morale was boosted.

➖Your Excellency! The Chimeraz are aiding the allied fleet!

➖The Chimeraz ships are aiming for the enemy motherships! Support their shields so that their ships can approach the motherships!

➖Those are Shockphonia! If even one of them succeeds in approaching, it will be the end of those motherships!

➖One of the enemy motherships is suddenly attacking its own allies! It seems to have been infected by the Shockphonia!

Could there be a race so trustworthy when they are allies?

➖Executor! The Chimeraz have appeared in all areas of humanity!

➖Like Gorgo’s Star. . . . There were more. . .?

➖Even phase assault shells don’t work!

➖What are you talking about! It’s the latest weapon that works against humans! Why doesn’t it work against Chimeraz ships? Shoot it! They’re taking over our living motherships!

➖But the shells aren’t being transferred into the Chimeraz ships! It’s being blocked by something. . .!

➖Executor! All of the living celestial bodies were colonies and Planet Weapons!

➖Those, those monster bastards. . .! Is that even possible?!

Could there be a race so terrifying when they are enemies?