Interstellar Age

Chapter 58 An Unexpected Level Of Resistance

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Above a ruined world lie the Naraku Hive Fleet Terminus, by now this alien species of insectoids had successfully invaded and devoured half of the Germanic Star Empire. Yet, things were not going as planned for bugs. In fact, on board the Naraku Kingship, the Hive Queen sat in her royal chamber with a look of utter disbelief on her face.

Despite being an insectoid, the Hive Queen appeared almost human in many ways. For example, she was bipedal and only had two arms. Her figure was similar to that of a human woman, but clad entirely in chitin, and her face was far less grotesque than your common bug. And in the eyes of some humanoid species might even be considered beautiful in appearance.

As a Hive Queen of the Naraku species, her duty was to lead her people in search of new lifeforms to devour and to breed the next generation. However, at this very moment, there was one problem with her primary duty. She could not pop out enough eggs fast enough to replace the losses her people were suffering in the war they were currently fighting with the Germanic Star-Empire.

Because of this, she had gathered her generals together in her Royal Chamber, seeking an answer for why her hive had suffered so many casualties against what appeared to be a Tier I Regional Power.

"Answer me this, how is such a small regional power capable of causing so much destruction to our Hive? We have lost over half of our Fleet! and nearly three quarters of our swarm! I don't know if you are aware of this, but I am simply incapable of producing enough eggs to replace the amount of soldiers which we have lost so far. And new Hive ships? It will take me decades to replace the ones which have been destroyed!

Normally I would expect such losses if we were fighting against those damned pointy eared humanoids. But from a regional power in the middle of bumblefuck, nowhere? No, something is not right here!"

The Generals were much like their queen and appeared almost humanoid in appearance. Because of this, they were capable of making normal facial expressions, and thus there was a look of worry in their eyes, as if they were debating whether or not to inform their queen about the difficulties they were having in their conquests.

Naturally they could not hide their thoughts from the Queen who controlled the hive mind, and she was quick to shriek in horror as she vented her rage on the nearest General by striking him across the face with her chitin clad fist.

"What do you mean, that our swarm has been repelled? That is not possible! It would take the combined might of the Alheim Dominion's entire Navy, and their planetary defenses to do such a thing. But a simple regional power? I would sooner believe that we have accidentally invaded an Alheim world! How? How is this happening?"

Knowing that his mind has been intruded upon, the General in question quickly bowed before his queen and make excuses for his failures.

"My queen! There is something strange about these humanoids. They are resisting to the last man, woman, and child! This is abnormal behavior. Normally when we invade a world, the first instinct of the natives it to flee. But these beings, they would rather kill as many of the members of our swarm as possible, and die in the process, then retreat a single step!

And these worlds, I think it is fair to classify each and every one of them as a fortress world! Normally, a regional power would have five of such planets at a maximum. But so far, out of the fifty worlds we have devoured, every single one of them has been a fortress world! Even though their fleet keeps retreating in every engagement, the planetary defenses themselves are more than capable of damaging our Hive Ships while they are in orbit. I mean, just look at this!"

After saying this, the General sent a memory from a soldier bug who had died in the battle on the planet of Suebi, which was the world that had succeeded in repelling the Hive Fleet's invasion.

The city was in ruins, but still the fighting endured. At every street corner, the soldier bugs had to deal with automated plasma turrets which would open fire on them, in combination with the local natives who were armed with plasma rifles, plasma cannons, antimatter missile launchers, automatic antimatter grenade launchers and any number of powerful weapons which were more than capable of killing even the most robust soldier bug.

Meanwhile, the streets were littered with tanks, armored fighting vehicles, self propelled artillery and other weapons of war which were deployed specifically to deal with the Swarm Tyrants, who were in many ways the field officers in the Naraku swarm. They were large and hideous bugs that were capable of taking out most structures with their massive spiked tails and mammoth pincers.

However, these Swarm Tyrants had utterly failed to damage the majority of the Germanic infrastructure with their first attempts. And it was not just the Swarm Tyrants that had a hard time dismantling the reinforced structures of the Germanic worlds. But even the scavenging bugs who came in after the fighting was over, to devour and recycle the world's resources, had a difficult time doing their jobs.

What was perhaps the most shocking of all was the sight of what was clearly a Germanic child firing a shoulder fired, fire and forget, antimatter rocket launcher, which had managed to utterly vaporize one of the Hive Queen's mighty Swarm Tyrants after firing three rockets with a single pull of the trigger. It was not until the General spoke once more that the Hive Queen recovered her sense of reality.

"Your majesty, we were not expecting this level of resistance when we invaded this sector of space. This is something that not even the Rylonians managed to achieve. As of this moment, the world that we have now identified as "Suebi" is reinforcing their current position and preparing for another attack.

If we were to launch a second wave, our casualties would increase. And to make matters worse, it is entirely possible that this civilization now sees this battle as a symbol to rally behind, and will be deploying the rest of their Navy to aid in the world's defense.

To put it simply, unless you can produce more eggs, then I am afraid this conquest will be nothing more than a pyrrhic victory. The resources of these worlds will not be enough to recuperate our losses, and the entire Hive Fleet may be destroyed as a result. Especially if the Alfheim Dominion were to attack us immediately after we have emerged victorious against this civilization...."

This information served to do nothing but outrage the prideful queen of the Naraku. Their entire existence was to destroy, devour, and expand. To think that a regional power of all things would be able to deal such long-term damage to their Hive Fleet it was simply unthinkable.

Yet, despite this reality, there was no turning back. Not for the Naraku. They would either devour the Germanic Star-Empire and use all of its resources to enhance their evolution, or they would be exterminated. And because of this, the Naraku Hive Queen gave an order that any other race would deem suicidal.

"None of this matters. This civilization must pay for how many of my children they have murdered, and thus, we will continue our assault on the world of Suebi until it and all life upon it has been devoured by our swarm!"

---

In another part of the Galaxy, Empress Lunaria Asterion sat on her throne, with her young daughter Celestia by her side. Like most of the Galaxy, they had been glued to their screens since the Germanic Star-Empire's heroic last stand had begun. At first, it appeared that the Germans would share the same fate as most others who had ever been unfortunate to cross paths with Naraku.

But world after world, the Germanic race displayed a level of fierce resistance and defiance in the face of death that few species could ever imagine. With each world that Terminus invaded, they sustained heavy losses, and though the Naraku were a species, that was known across the galaxy to be able to near instantly replace its casualties, something appeared very wrong when the World of Suebi had come under attack.

The Naraku Swarm had done everything in their power to break the Germanic defenses, as they had done time and again, but this time, their reinforcements were not limitless, and by the end of the battle, the bugs had been either squashed or had fled back into space, where their Hiveships continued to endure the relentless pounding of the fortress world's many planetary defenses.

Celestia watched the gore and bloodshed unfold until finally the infamous flag of the Black sun flew proudly over the world's ruins. Though tattered as it may be, the red banner waved defiantly among the ashes. Something which caused the young Elven woman to clap her hands while smiling in excitement.

It was at this moment, that Celestia finally understood her mother's obsession with the Germanic race. Though their casualties were innumerable, they had done something that few civilizations in Galactic History had ever accomplished. They had repelled a Naraku Hive Fleet, and its attempt to devour their world.

The young Elven beauty looked towards her mother, who had a lustful expression on her face, before asking if what she had just witnessed was reality.

"Mother.... Did they really do it? Did they stop the Naraku?"

Despite the excitement in Lunaria's golden eyes, she shook her head and sighed before informing her youngest daughter about the grim reality which her favorite war hounds currently faced.

"No.... At least not yet... But they have done something remarkable. They have killed so many of the fucking bugs that their queen simply can't replace their losses. Remarkable... A simple regional power has done what the mighty Rylonian Imperium could not.

Though they have bought themselves some time, it is unlikely that they will emerge victorious in this war, unless they kill the Queen. Because the devouring swarm will continue their assault until either they are all exterminated, or the Germans are."

For perhaps the first time in her life, Celestia had spoken words that sounded as if they would have come from her mother.

"I hope they survive! It would truly be a pity if such a marvelous race forever disappeared from this galaxy..."

Lunaria smiled, perhaps more so than she had ever done in her life. Clearly, she was excited that her daughter had finally begun to understand her obsession. She then nodded her head and voiced her agreement with Celestia's words.

"I could not agree more...."