It had been a decent bit of time since the Free Galaxy Resistance did anything too boneheaded, which meant that it was time for them to engage in said behavior. The UGN had, in secret, been attempting to devise a way to strike into the deeper parts of Arcadia, but seeing as this project only was started during the final few days of the war between itself and the new Hyperpower on the Block, the device had never been finished, let alone gone past the blueprint phase.

The premise was simple enough; they would create an artificial wormhole, stabilize it, and then send a fleet directly into the undefended interior of Arcadia. After the war, it became common knowledge that, unlike the United Galactic Nations and its member nations, Arcadia had fully funded its police force and endeavored to make it almost entirely incorruptible. This was to say nothing of the fact that each star system had its own SDF (System Defense Force) and said SDF was usually armed to the teeth so that it would deter pirates and organized criminals with the sheer overwhelming firepower that could and would be leveled against them.

But, while the Free Galaxy Resistance and its backers were not the sharpest marble in the screw drawer, they did do a third-grader’s level of homework and discovered an area that data showed had minimal protection. It was somewhat near the very edge of the galaxy, but not too far away that it would be on the outer limit of the multi-armed spiral galaxy that it was a part of. It was a system with only a few planets and a single star, but aside from that it was mostly insignificant and supposedly only had a pair of colonies situated on one planet and the moon of another.

Ever since the humiliating defeat at the hands of the Arcadian fleet just a few months ago, the FGR had been dying for some payback. They had once again taken out huge loans and after literally working tens of thousands of people to their deaths to build at a breakneck pace, the Worm-Gate device was completed. It was big, it was ugly, and it was covered top to bottom in no small amount of propaganda just to drive home to The Resistance just how awesome they were and just how evil and monstrous the Arcadian Galactic Commonwealth was.

All in all, it was a standard rush job that was obviously held together by substandard materials. In fact, it would be a marvel if the thing could stay operable for enough time for the FGR fleet (once again made of craft that had been ‘requisitioned’ from civilians, police and merchants and illegally modified for combat roles, just like all the other ones) to enter, cause havoc and then leave the way it came.

While the fleet assembled, someone got the bright idea that it would be simpler to just activate the Worm-Gate and keep it open so that the FGR fleet could move through at its leisure. As you, the readers know, this would turn out to be a terrible idea for reasons that involve words such as ‘Swarm’, ‘Hive’, ‘Numberless’, ‘Hungry’ and ‘Apocalyptic’.

Needless to say, after the idiots got the rush-job Worm-Gate open, they found that they could not close it due to engineering issues. More specifically, no one had installed the ‘off’ button or, in fact, anything that could force the device to shut down. This, among other things that were now coming through the wormhole towards them, was why the still-assembling FGR fleet quickly found itself in a very, very bad situation.

…

It had been beaten back again and again. There was something affecting it, making it pause for small moments whenever it tried to strike at the defenders of this buffet. It was due to this weakness that the greater Swarm had cut it off, leaving it alone and isolated, doomed to die of starvation or by the weapons of the galaxy’s people. Zeyhris was practically on its last legs anyways, but then a miracle happened.

It had felt this kind of distortion in Space-Time before, back when it was part of the greater whole. This was the tell-tale sign of a wormhole opening up, and not just any wormhole. This was a stabilized one, one that could be exploited and used for its own devices. It ultimately did not matter to Zeyhris where the gate led, only that it provided a way to escape the incoming tide of metal monsters, monsters it suddenly had a hard time desiring to fight for reasons completely foreign to itself.

This gate was a chance of a lifetime, and if it took the Swarm somewhere safe, somewhere where it could put down roots and make something greater, then it was going to be worth it. Even if it was not, it was still a gamble that had to be taken, lest it risk its own destruction. Not bothering to ponder the ‘what ifs’, the Hive Mind ordered all bioforms to abandon their current foothold and flee through the gateway. Whatever was on the other side needed to be prepared, for it was time for the Hive to expand and consume.

…

“Sir. There is something on the sensors.”

“Damnit! Have those damn robot-loving bastards found the Gate?! Are they seriously coming through it just to fuck with us again?!”

“No, sir. These don’t appear to be anything like the Arcadian ships. These are… biological signatures…”

Before the admiral in charge could say “Impossible!” the wormhole fluctuated and began to disgorge living warships of all manner of shape and size. The gateway seemed to be vomiting out what seemed to be a living nebula of monsters, monsters that immediately began to attack anything in the area with a passion.

“DAMN IT!” the admiral screamed. “Those blasted Arcadians created a living superweapon! And they are using it on us! This is it! This is the proof we need to take them down! Quickly! Get a pictu-!”

Before the admiral could continue a massive space-monster rammed into the side of his ship and began to chew through the armor and hull alike, completely ignoring the weapons pounding away at it while the beast swallowed chunk after chunk of the warship. Eventually, the creature’s maw bit through the power core and one of the few actual warships in the ‘new and improved’ FGR fleet detonated in a blinding flash that failed to kill the monster that was eating it.

…

Zeyhris was very confused. While it felt something foreign that kept it from truly attacking the metal beasts and their associates, it felt nothing but contempt and hatred for the prey it was currently facing. The feeling was only strange in that it was an amplified version of the rage it usually had for prey that resisted harder than others, but it should have had no reason to feel this way about the prey it was currently eating.

This prey was weak and frail, and they made for easy pickings and were ripe for harvesting. These were beings that obviously could not stand against it, but why then did it feel contempt for them and some other, completely alien emotion towards the foes it had fought previously? Nothing was making sense at all! If only it had something to explain this turn of events to it, but what were the chances of that? None, that what! The Hive Mind decided that maybe, just maybe, it should try and stay out of the previous enemy’s way in whatever way it could without condemning itself to starvation. Maybe the other Hive mind could be reasoned with?

But until that time came, it would pig out on the weaklings before it and maybe it would try to earn the mercy of the metal beings by not devouring planets, moons and stars and instead merely settling down on them. Yes; such an action would most certainly make the opposing Hive Mind more likely to show mercy and potentially even make it decide to allow Zeyhris to exist at its side…

Wait, why would it want to do that?! What the hell was it thinking?! Damn infection!