On the main battlefield, the situation had become extremely unfavorable for the coalition forces. They were already at a numerical disadvantage and were forced into a defensive position with little room to maneuver.


    To make matters worse, the Moto had withdrawn some of their ships and fighters. While these units had limited impact on the main battlefield, their absence hastened the coalition’s collapse.


    “Sir, we can’t hold out much longer!” a foreign commander reported. Sear?h the N??eFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After nearly a month of intense fighting, the coalition’s defensive facilities had been over 95% destroyed. Of the more than twenty million ships they had started with, over half had been lost. On the Swarm side, conservative estimates suggested they still had at least thirty million Primordial-class units.


    The numerical gap between the two sides had widened from nearly two-to-one to almost three-to-one. If this continued, the disparity would only grow.


    The coalition commander for this battlefield was General Yalito, a member of the Troi race. He was well aware of the disparity and understood what his subordinates were implying. He had repeatedly requested permission to withdraw from his superiors, but no approval had been granted. Left with no choice, he could only continue to hold the line.


    “Sir, when will our reinforcements arrive?” another foreign commander asked.


    General Yalito’s expression turned bitter. He, too, wanted to know about the reinforcements. Every time he inquired, the responses were vague and noncommittal.


    However, his sharp mind deduced that reinforcements were unlikely to come. On the front lines, his colleague Difeck was in an even worse situation.


    Initially, Yalito had hoped that Difeck’s fleet would push back the Swarm. After all, Difeck had taken all the high-end ships, making his fleet significantly more powerful.


    The plan was for Difeck to turn around and flank the Swarm, trapping and annihilating their forces.


    But to everyone’s shock, what was supposed to be a swift and decisive ambush on the Swarm’s gathering point had turned into a grueling war of attrition. As time passed, endless waves of Swarm reinforcements joined the battle. Difeck’s retreat path had been cut off by the Swarm, and instead of flanking the enemy, he was now struggling to avoid being encircled himself.


    As the balance of power shifted, the central forces that the Swarm had desperately held back were eventually surrounded and annihilated by the Swarm’s reinforcements.


    Without the support of the advanced fleets, the motley coalition forces from various races were no match for the Swarm. A single charge from the Swarm scattered them, and now they were being hunted down.


    Despite this dire situation, no reinforcements had arrived from the coalition. If Difeck’s forces weren’t receiving support, Yalito knew his own forces wouldn’t either.


    “Sir, we have a quantum communication message from headquarters,” a communications officer reported.


    Yalito, who had been pondering the situation, felt a mix of shock and hope. Could this be news of reinforcements? The battle had been so frustrating that he desperately needed high-end fleets to turn the tide.


    Ten minutes later, Yalito’s face darkened.


    The message, while from headquarters, wasn’t an official communication. Instead, it was a private message from a friend who had used official channels to relay some information.


    The content of the message was startling. First, Difeck’s forces had been scattered. Difeck had gathered some remnants of his fleet and bypassed the LKDW262 battlefield, retreating in another direction.


    Therefore, Yalito shouldn’t expect any help from Difeck. Moreover, the Locke Mutual Aid Society had moved the coalition’s rallying point from LKDW262 to LKDW257.


    LKDW257 was a star system deeper within the coalition’s territory and the home system of the Moto civilization, their place of origin. LKDW257 was approximately five light-years from LKDW262.


    Moving the rallying point there sent a clear message: Yalito’s forces had been abandoned by both the Locke Mutual Aid Society and the coalition. As a battlefield commander with significant influence, the Troi wouldn’t easily give up on him. ?????Ν??????S?


    However, given the large number of members in the Mutual Aid Society, they couldn’t openly relay this information or issue direct orders to Yalito. Instead, they used his friend to inform him, leaving the decision in his hands.


    In truth, Yalito didn’t have much to deliberate. The situation was simple: follow his colleague’s example and find a way to escape before the situation completely collapsed.


    Most of his own race’s fleet had already been deployed to the front lines. Aside from a small escort fleet of about a hundred ships, the rest of his forces were composed of foreign units.


    Therefore, abandoning them would weigh little on his conscience.


    But he still needed to maintain appearances.


    With this in mind, Yalito’s tension eased, and his expression softened. His adjutant and the soldiers around him, skilled at reading their commander’s mood, began to speculate about the contents of the message.


    Now that he had a plan, Yalito’s new strategy quickly manifested in the coalition’s deployment. Compared to their previous conservative stance, they now fought with a sense of desperation, as if they had nothing to lose.


    The Swarm quickly noticed the change in the coalition’s tactics. The coalition was actively seeking a decisive battle, and the Swarm was more than happy to oblige.


    Thus, mechanical parts mixed with unknown organic matter floated through space. Countless energy beams crisscrossed through the debris. The center of the battlefield resembled a grinding machine, pulverizing the forces of both sides.


    For seven days and nights, the two sides clashed without retreating. But while the Swarm could sustain such losses, the coalition could not.


    Rumors began to spread among the coalition soldiers, though no one knew their origin. The whispers claimed that the commander, with no reinforcements in sight, was determined to fight to the last man.


    Having experienced the shift in the commander’s strategy firsthand, most soldiers believed the rumors. However, in this multi-civilizational coalition, only the Moto were willing to die for their homeland. The other races valued their lives and saw no reason to sacrifice themselves for others.


    Panic set in, and eventually, one foreign civilization, unable to bear the losses, demanded that Yalito order a retreat. Once one civilization took the lead, others quickly followed.


    They united and pressured Yalito to act.


    Yalito put on a show of reprimanding them but ultimately “reluctantly” acquiesced to their demands and issued the order to retreat.


    The foreign civilizations cheered as if they had won a great victory. But almost immediately, their newfound unity dissolved, and they began sabotaging each other.


    This was inevitable. With their fleets entangled with the Swarm, retreating required someone to stay behind as a rearguard. None of them wanted to be the ones left behind.


    Amidst their infighting, no one noticed that Yalito’s flagship and escort fleet had already slipped away without a trace.