Insects and humans had different ways of mapping star sectors. The Kamran Star Sector was situated very close to the Third Quadrant, where the war of expulsion had once erupted; their asteroid belts bordered and pressed against one another. Conversely, crossing the entirety of Kamran led to the nearest human-habitable zone, the Little Rose System.
This desolate, ghostly realm acted as a buffer zone between humans and the Swarm.
The Gray-wing tribe remained tight-lipped about this place. During the war for sector partition, their members had been driven away by the Hard-wing insects, scattering in flight. Many males and larvae with weaker constitutions had perished as a result. However, the high-level Core Species, led by Clark, had subsequently launched a collective counter-offensive, hunting the enemy all the way to the fringe planetary belts bordering Kamran.
After spending some time together, Sakti had discovered that Kleiman was very obedient to the silver-gray female. He had once asked the tail-swinger why, only to receive the answer: "Clark is powerful."
It was no wonder the current Sub-King of the Gray-wings had little support. He had led his tribe into a crushing defeat and fled everywhere, eventually forced to call his brother back to clean up the mess. When the brother, having traveled thousands of miles to strike back, returned home only to find his mate and children gone, it was obvious neither side would look upon the other with any kindness.
Yet, even now, Sakti found it difficult to associate Clark with the title "Butcher of the Northern Battlefield."
The silver-gray insect was far more composed than the single-minded Kleiman, possessing both a human-like subtle shrewdness and the cold reserve of a high-level species. Overall, he had never lost his composure.
Walking from the resting nest to the bridge, Sakti reviewed the known information about Kamran in his mind while speculating on the nature of the intercepted communication. Although Kleiman wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he understood priorities; any news that prompted him to contact Sakti urgently had to be problematic.
Upon arrival, he saw a circle of Gray-wings huddled around the bridge consoles, whispering.
The Core Species strode forward and slapped the tail-swinger’s shoulder. The impact made Kleiman’s tail reflexively whip into a stiff, upright arc. He turned his expressionless face to glare at Sakti.
"What are we looking at? Count me in."
The mischievous Core Species sat down with a grin, forcing the surrounding Gray-wings to shift aside. Now, whenever the Armed Species looked at the fellow before them, a surge of extremely complex emotions would rise within them.
He was truly strong and seemed to be a trustworthy companion, but sometimes he was also a real menace. During training matches, his tactics grew underhanded by the day. Unlike the frontal assault style of the Armed Squad berserkers, he specialized in "backdoor" maneuvers, making them wary the moment they saw him.
"In fact, we just received two distress signals, not one."
The tail-swinger had already entered work mode. "The content is basically the same, but one was sent directly to our internal channel, while the other was intercepted."
The deep-gray Armed Species tapped the console before him. "I think you’d better listen to both. Clark said you can understand the Human Common Tongue."
A light screen hovered semi-transparently above their heads and began to play.
"VX197... coordinates Fourth Quadrant ***... requesting assistance... Xenomorphs..." The fluent Insect Common Tongue sounded perfectly normal.
However, a second later, Kleiman played the second recording.
"VX197, coordinates (37.179, 21.54, 76.312)... Please... assistance... Xenomorph Tide..."
The speaker sounded like the same person, but the language had switched to standard, clear Human Common Tongue.
Sakti raised an eyebrow. He slowly sat upright and gestured for Kleiman to play the messages again.
"You said one of them was sent directly to an internal channel?"
Someone was seeking help from both the Swarm and humans simultaneously—a rare sight indeed. He understood why the Armed Species had summoned him. "Is it the 'internal' I'm thinking of?"
"To be precise, the first one was sent to a small-scale private line of the Gray-wing tribe. The intended recipient was this ship..." The tail-swinger pursed his lips, looking like a grim, closed clam. "Or Clark himself."
"This ship's communication code was just updated before departure according to Clark's orders. I don't know how the other party obtained the frequency."
Things were getting messy. Sakti made a "pause" gesture. "Let me clarify first. Clark ordered you to stand by on the outskirts of Kamran, right?"
The Gray-wings nodded, bewildered.
He sighed. "But at the same time, your other mission is to escort the goods to their destination safely."
Another round of nodding.
"But now it seems I have to take you all with me." Sakti pondered for a moment, cutting off Kleiman before he could object. "You heard it. A Xenomorph Tide might have broken out in Kamran. Do you think it's appropriate for me to deliver the goods alone in a small shuttle?"
It was indeed inappropriate. But the Armed Species were stubborn and still showed hesitation.
"I'll ask Clark." As he spoke, Sakti dialed his boss. The Swarm's Great Information Nest and the Human Galactic Inner Ring Network were of high quality, ensuring one wouldn't lose contact even while drifting in deep space. Even though Gela was on a closed planet like Ja, the Armed Species at the satellite base had granted Sakti one-way communication authority, allowing him to find the male insect across vast distances at any time.
The result: Clark ignored him completely.
At the critical moment, the boss was gone, leaving him, the on-site commander, in full charge.
Xenomorphs were unlike the Swarm; once a contamination infection took hold, it was incredibly difficult to eradicate. He had seen enough records of hundreds of miners going down a shaft in the morning and hundreds of pollutants crawling out in the evening.
"You're coming with me."
After a moment of silence, the Core Species made a direct decision. "Head straight for the distress coordinates."
His golden-brown eyes no longer held a tone of negotiation. He filtered all the information in his mind. During their previous meeting, the silver-gray female had mentioned several hidden clues—
*"In fact, even today, small remnants of Xenomorph Tides still surge out from the collapsed Akashic Rifts."*
*"I want you to personally escort this batch of Star Core energy to the humans."*
*"Deliver it to a human named Arthur Simmons."*
And now, the Armed Species had intercepted two distress signals—one in fluent Insect Common Tongue and one in Human Common Tongue—coming from a remnant of irregular human garrison in Kamran, using a Gray-wing internal channel that connected directly to Clark's code... All of this made his intuition ring with alarm bells.
"Depart immediately."
Issuing the order in a tone that brooked no argument, the Core Species stood up. "Check all weapons and small craft. Prepare for combat."
Kleiman wanted to say more, but Sakti made a "stop" gesture. "Your boss's client might be about to kick the bucket."
"One more word and I'll start hitting people," he warned. "Clark isn't here, so I take full responsibility. If he wants to settle scores later, I'll explain it myself. Now shut your mouths and keep up. Don't dawdle."
The Core Species' aggressive pheromones flooded the bridge. The situation was the complete reverse of when he had first boarded the ship. Sakti's threat of "hitting" wasn't just talk; this past cycle of interaction had made all the insects realize that he was a man of his word.
The deep-gray Armed leader stared at him for a moment before finally taking a step back in concession.
"Understood," Kleiman said, issuing orders to the rest of the tribe. "Do as Sak says."
*I should have pried Clark's mouth open instead of letting him play the riddle-master and leaving me here to guess the clues.*
After resetting the battleship's course, Sakti headed straight for the small craft hangar. Regardless of the seeker's identity—even if they were an irregular private garrison, even if they were doing business with the Swarm—one shouldn't leave a human-identifying distress caller to rot in a Xenomorph Tide before clarifying the situation.
Since the era of the White Emperor, Akashic Rifts had been accompanied by Xenomorph contamination. At its worst, it had nearly swallowed half of the habitable star sectors, with Kamran being a prime example. Even after a hundred years, the soaked soil was no longer fit for human habitation.
Xenomorph contamination and Star Core contamination shared the same source; when combined, they created an exponential debuff. Neither the Swarm nor humans were willing to give up Star Core energy, but every unit of resource extracted came with a price.
Facing a disaster-level threat that had nearly wiped out humanity before the Swarm appeared, Sakti could not relax in the slightest. If it hadn't been for the "system bug" known as the White Emperor—who happened to possess a shred of lingering morality—it was hard to say if everyone would have survived long enough for the insects to show up for a "wild snack."
The proof was that even the Swarm chose to bypass the Kamran Star Sector and would not stay for long. Having high resistance to contamination didn't mean they enjoyed soaking in a giant pool of it all day. Contaminated Xenomorphs weren't like humans; they weren't rational, communicative opponents who could reluctantly shake hands after a ceasefire.
He truly couldn't understand why an irregular private garrison would linger in such a place. Judging by Clark's familiarity, the two sides had clearly collaborated more than once. Previously, his boss had even risked being caught by the tribe to deliver goods personally.
Collapsed Akashic Rifts were troublesome. The contamination sources diffusing from them didn't appear at fixed points but popped up randomly within a range, rapidly infecting every life form they encountered—plants, animals, anything was fair game. They were even less picky than the insects.
It wasn't until the Eye of Akasha was sealed that large-scale Xenomorph Tides stopped appearing in human sectors. As long as the remaining small rifts weren't excavated to the point of explosion, the problems were manageable. By the time the Swarm arrived at their doorstep, human mecha research had already shifted from isolating pollutants to enhancing mobility. After all, the Swarm didn't infect; they just fought.
"I'd better get overtime pay for this," he sighed while donning his exoskeleton armor. Logically, a female insect had high resistance buffs, but instinct still made him recoil at the thought of that sticky black sludge. Just thinking about touching it made him feel like his hands would be ruined.
"We have entered the Kamran Star Sector and are about to arrive above the designated target."
Kleiman's voice was as cold as ever, buzzing in Sakti's comms. "I will leave two guards behind, then lead the others to the hangar to meet you."
This was the plan they had just discussed: before clarifying the situation, the ship would remain at a certain altitude on standby, and they would only take small craft down to investigate.
"Can you see the status of the target location?"
Sakti was crouching, pulling more small Devourer Bombs from a crate. These things were very effective against diffused contamination.
"It's not very clear... wait, I see it now."
This Alpha-class battleship utilized the highest grade of power source; its speed when pushed to the limit was quite absurd. "See for yourself."
With that brief sentence, the other party synchronized the visual feed.
The distress location was situated on a fringe planetary belt of Kamran, bordering the Swarm's territory. The ship could cross the border with just a slight movement. However, after the initial war of expulsion and the subsequent counter-slaughter, few insects ever set foot here. The Hard-wing tribe had been wiped out, and the Gray-wing tribe regarded this as a place they didn't want to mention.
What appeared on the screen was a massive, artificially modified planet. In the short span of their conversation, they were already directly above it, slowly descending.
Kleiman continued his real-time updates. The planet's surface was becoming faintly discernible as the battleship hovered at synchronous orbit altitude. It had to be said that the Armed Species were good at finding positions and capturing key details, knowing exactly when to zoom in.
When Sakti saw the latest synchronized image of the mission site, he fell silent.
The century-old architectural ruins and broad grounds appeared chaotic, but they actually extended along certain lines. When viewed from a high altitude, the building complex formed a shape familiar to humans.
He recognized that symbol. Most people recognized that symbol.
It was a massive pattern of a three-legged Golden Crow.
When the Star-Devouring weapons had shattered the Akashic Rift, the stationary border defense line had been completely torn apart. The entire Fifth Army, which had once intercepted the Xenomorph Tides outside the habitable sectors, had perished here, save for the Fleet Commander.
Kamran—a graveyard of stars, and the tomb of the Golden Crow Fleet from three hundred years ago.
***
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Sacre-D: Reborn as the Swarm's Apex | Chapter 48 | The Golden Crow's Graveyard | Novela.app | Novela.app
