Stellaris | United Earth Alliance | Episode 037 | Ashes of the Swarm (🇵🇭 #phvtubers 🇵🇭 )

(SUMMARY NARRATIVE BASED ON ROLEPLAY PLAYTHROUGH SESSION IN STELLARIS)

EPISODE 37 – "Ashes of the Swarm"

The year is 2541.

While the Galactic South burns under the mechanical onslaught of the rogue AI known as The Contingency, the United Earth Alliance watches from afar—calculating, waiting, maneuvering.

In the war rooms beneath Luna Command and aboard the orbiting bastion Horizon’s Wrath, a controversial but unanimous decision is made. The UEA will not intervene against the remaining three Contingency Machine Worlds in the south and southeast.

Not yet.

Instead, the UEA turns its focus to a grudge that has festered for centuries—the Korinth Swarm.

This was not an act of cowardice. It was cold, tactical brilliance.

Let the Contingency bleed the galaxy. Let it ravage the Brenan Foundation, the UEA's ideological nemesis, and shatter its allied stellar nations. Let the war machines grind down the balance of power, so that when the dust settles, the UEA alone would stand tall.

"Sometimes the path to peace is lit by the fire of other wars."
– General Caiden Voss, UEA Supreme Military Strategist

April 28, 2541 – The Vanguard’s Tragedy

With the south ablaze, the UEA unleashes a focused campaign to annihilate the Korinth Swarm once and for all. Three Vanguard Fleets, bolstered by the enigmatic Pilgrims Fleet of the Rotnak Watchers, initiate a precision jump-drive assault into the uncharted heart of the Korinth domain—a star system so alien and unwelcoming it bore no name.

The UEA simply designated it: Korinth Star System.

But fate played a cruel trick.

Upon arrival, the vanguard forces find themselves not alone—but directly in the path of a Contingency battle group already engaging Korinth defenses. The timing couldn’t have been worse. What was meant to be a decapitating strike turned into a slaughter.

“No strategy. No formation. Just survival.”
– Admiral Talia Mendez, final transmission before emergency jump

Outgunned and overwhelmed, the vanguard fleets suffer catastrophic losses. The survivors execute a desperate emergency jump to safer coordinates, leaving behind burning wrecks and shattered allies.

Tactical Patience, Ruthless Resolve

The UEA Main Battle Fleet, warned in time, redirects its jump path to a neighboring system far from the Contingency presence. Commanders choose caution. The final blow to the Korinth will have to wait.

Instead, the UEA begins a campaign of containment and siege, positioning its fleets around the perimeter of Korinth space, systematically isolating the hive world and wearing down its outer defenses.

June 11, 2542 – The Second Wave Strikes

The stars align.

A second, larger wave of UEA forces enters the Korinth Star System, this time avoiding Contingency contact. No enemy fleet in sight. No defense strong enough to repel them.

The objective is clear: Korinth Prime, the grotesque, pulsating hive-world that spawned billions of ravenous swarm drones.

The bombardment begins. And it does not stop.

UEA capital ships rain kinetic fire, thermobaric warheads, and quantum destabilizers upon the surface. No negotiation. No quarter. The hive must burn.

June 02, 2546 – The Death of Korinth Prime

For four relentless years, the orbital siege of Korinth Prime continues. Every hive spire, every neuro-cortex chamber, every birthing pool is reduced to ash and irradiated rubble.

At last, the final strike—a kinetic orbital lance—pierces the planet’s crust, igniting a chain reaction of subterranean collapse and viral antimatter ignition.

Korinth Prime becomes a tomb world, scorched and dead.

“No more whispers in the dark. No more swarm in the stars. The Korinth are no more.”
– Transmission from Captain Elias Renn, UEA 12th Orbital Division

Whispers in the Fire

But victory brings no peace.

Across the galaxy, Contingency fleets continue to burn through civilizations. The UEA’s delay in confronting the remaining Machine Worlds has bought time, yes—but also blood. The Brenan Foundation’s homeworlds are under siege. The galactic south is in ruins. Billions perish.

The UEA leadership remains unmoved. Calculated. Focused.

They will strike the Machine Worlds—on their terms, and only when the moment is perfect.

“We do not run into the fire blindly. We make the fire burn our enemies first.”
– UEA Chancellor Prasad, 2546