The potential threat of cultivators spurred the swarm into action, defensive structures were grown over hives, new drones developed, and resources allocated to defense. Current research on cultivators had reached a standstill, with the only current cultivator under the swarms influence on an espionage mission the swarm had to wait.
Future expansion was delayed until espionage teams could get a good range of cultivator threats in the kingdom. From the information gathered from the infected cultivator he was a lone cultivator who was hired by the local lord as a mercenary, so he had no information on kingdom cultivator forces. He was hired as the local lord had expected heavy resistance from the town, and the lord wanted to send a message.
After returning to the kingdom the cultivator, along with the rest of the caravan, gathered information directly from the lord's castle. The cultivator would be pulled back once his employment had expired for use in experimentation.
Once the forces in the lord's city were properly scouted the swarm planned on invading and neutralizing any cultivators, turning them and the city officials into infected slaves. As for neutralizing these cultivators the swarm started developing a new drone type.
This new drone would be the best combat drone the swarm would have in its arsenal. This drone would look similar to the spine shooter except for the enlarged barrel and different anatomy. Instead of firing projectile spines through just chemical means this new drone would use electromagnetic and chemical propulsion. The projectile from this drone would reach speeds of nearly mach 7, and can travel around 200km. The projectile would be encased in a steel shell containing a bio-armor projectile, around 2 meters in length. Electrical energy would be produced through generation structures and stored in mobile networks.
Each drone would carry enough projectiles and energy for 4 consecutive shots before requiring restocking. After every shot bio material is consumed to repair any damage caused by the massive recoil. Due to the large amount of power and range of these drones they can be used for direct impacts against cultivator targets or for use as artillery.
In case this new drone couldn't provide the firepower to neutralize a cultivator target new defense structures were being grown over hives. These structures would 60 meters tall, containing several stationary weapon systems and a large electromagnetic weapon at the bottom. These super weapons would be 100 meters in length, able to turn around and fire at any target. These weapons are a vastly scaled up version of the new drone type, firing a projectile 12 meters in length at speeds upwards of mach 8. The recoil would destroy the internals of the gun every time it would fire, requiring repair for every shot. The gun would be situated at the bottom as to handle recoil and prevent collapse of the defense structure.
These new weapons were only barely being developed, as new electrical infrastructure and bio material was required. To feed the growing hive new structures were grown to quickly gather resources from the nearby forests. Pipe-like transport structures were grown between hives and sources of bio-material, and new hives were grown to help resupply and grow gatherers.
To help gather resources new drones were developed. There would be a transport drone similar to a mobile network but gathered instead of supplied. Accompanying these transport drones would be specialized gatherers, dozens of meters in length that harvested different resources. These new drones gathered from a variety of sources, such as rivers, underground mines, trees, and more.
An estimate of 2 months was given for the new defensive structures and drones. During this time new information was arriving from the infected humans. These humans had discovered that 3 old cultivators resided in the city, from what the infected cultivator could tell they were 2 stages above him in the 9th layer of Qi condensation.
The swarm planned on preparing a trap for the cultivators, the artillery drones could thoroughly destroy the cultivators bodies if they catch them unprepared, but the swarm planned on infecting them and using them for study. For this purpose the swarm planned on using a large group of modified spine shooters with small electromagnetic capabilities. These spine shooters would be no where near as effective as an artillery drone, only using small 30cm spines at mach 2 instead of the original mach 1.2.
The swarm planned the attack once adequate defenses were prepared incase the cultivators couldn't be taken down with the modified spine shooters and continued into swarm territory. Once the attack was successful the swarm planned on occupying the city, infecting the population and testing their aptitude before disposing of them if deemed useless.
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Two Months Later
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The swarm finalized the defensive structures and new drones. Once the super weapons were completed the swarm moved through a tunnel system built prior. After traveling for 21 km the attack force arrived at the city. From what scout drones had counted there was a population of 700,000 with a city guard around 12,000. To deal with the guards artillery drones fired upon the wall and guard houses. In an instant explosions rang out around the city. 20 of these drones were stationed at the hives, as their large strike range made it redundant to travel with the strike force.
The explosions spread throughout the city, causing immense panic and confusion among the population. These blasts destroyed the city's walls and immediately killed several thousand guards and citizens. The cultivators immediately sprung to action, noticing the drones in the task force. The cultivators quickly sprinted towards the drones. While the cultivators sprinted towards the drones an artillery blast exploded in front of their path, causing them to momentarily stop. At this moment 120 spine shooters attacked, sending hundreds of spines at the cultivators within an instant.
The cultivators immediately responded by bringing up their Qi shields, surviving the first onslaught of spines. The cultivators cautiously spread out and maneuvered through the rubble slowly approaching the spine shooters. The cultivators were able to get through the rubble and ran towards the drones, ignoring the spines bouncing off their shields. All 3 pulled out their swords and engaged the spine shooters, cutting down several dozen in a second.
The remaining spine shooters ran back while melee drones engaged the cultivators and infestors spread a gas to temporarily blind the cultivators. Unfortunately these cultivators ignored the gas and continued forward, killing the exposed infestors and melee drones. Artillery shells exploded in front of the cultivators while spine shooters attempted to break their shields. Large cracks started to form on the cultivators shields, threatening to shatter at a moments notice. After realizing they couldn't sustain their shields anymore they pulled back into the city, returning to the palace.
While retreating their shields were broken by spine shooters, but they made it to cover before they could be taken down. After returning to the palace a scout noticed them enter a strange room, where a man in a meditative trance resided. At that moment his eyes opened and the scout was vaporized by an unknown energy attack.
A loud shout came from the palace, spreading throughout the city,
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"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮!"
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The drones outside the city were attacked with the energy attack that destroyed the scout, destroying the majority of swarm forces. Realizing that the cultivators couldn't be captured alive, the swarm powered up its super weapons and artillery drones.
The initial volley had been repelled by a large Qi formation in the palace, causing small cracks to appear before rapidly disappearing. A second later two large shells struck the palace, shattering the formation and leaving the palace in rubble. After surveying the damage scout drones noticed the cultivators still alive under the city lord's Qi shield.
Artillery drones fired upon their position while the super weapons were quickly reloaded and repaired. Round after round from artillery drones struck the Qi shield while the super weapons were repaired, and 30 seconds later they were ready. The Qi formation had held back the initial destructive blast of the super weapons, but now the formation was gone the palace was vaporized, along with a large chunk of the city's center. The cultivators resided in the center of the explosion, who were immediately vaporized along with the surrounding area.
Once the cultivator threat was gone the drones swarmed into the city, killing anyone who dared fight back and infecting anyone in their path. The majority of the population resided in the city's center, and due to the artillery blasts nearly a quarter of the city's population was killed.
The infected cultivator had been ordered back a day before the attack, and according to him he couldn't sense any energy from the city lord. From what he knew only foundation establishment experts and up could hide their cultivation from someone in Qi condensation. The cultivator was ordered back after the city was conquered, where he would test the aptitudes of the now infected citizens. Mobile networks were shipped in and started establishing the foundation for a third major hive.
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One Month Later
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The third hive was established and a third super weapon was grown. Scouts teams had already discovered any escaping citizens and brought them back to the city. The infected cultivator had gone through the city's population, discovering 112 people with Qi condensation talent and 4 with Foundation Establishment talent. The rest of the citizens were consumed to feed the new hive. Those with talent cultivated over the site of the 4 cultivators death, as environmental Qi was far denser than the surrounding area.
Once the cultivator had finished scanning the citizens aptitude he was carefully dissected alive. An organ was discovered next to the heart, appeared to house and gather Qi. It was connected to the cardiovascular system, where Qi could be spread throughout the body. A cluster of nerves were connecting to the organ, evidently this was how the cultivator controlled the Qi. The gaseous Qi inside the organ had no match with any known elements, the atomic makeup of the material perplexed the swarm, it shouldn't exist. The molecules were unique, in strange structures that seemed to disregard the laws of physics.
The cultivator gathered Qi from breathing, as the air sacs of the lungs were lined with a Qi material, the Qi is then sent to the central organ where it is refined. Once the Qi is refined the organ can modify the Qi when directed by the brain. According to the cultivator the organ is called a dantian, and every human is born with some type of dantian. The vast majority of these dantians can't function well or at all for gathering Qi, these individuals are considered to have little to no aptitude.
Before the 1st stage of Qi condensation the dantian can naturally absorb Qi, but at a far lower rate then the Qi material lining the lungs of a 7th stage Qi condensation cultivator. The cultivator was stitched up and resuscitated after enough information had been gathered.
With the new research into Qi, the swarm got one step closer to releasing its creator.