This turns into a series, listed here. This part stands alone in my opinion, but your mileage may vary.

And and and and and and and and and and

The shields they built helps answer your first question, I think. The swarm had to coalesce and get whittled down to a point where a supernova only had finish off the remains. It also sounds like the swarm are little smarter than moths flying to fire.

Overall I agree, and while I'm not the author, I appreciate the criticism. It's one of my favorites saved from /r/HFY

I only found out about Leacock when looking for stories to post here. There's been My Financial Career and Borrowing a Match. The mundane absurdity of them was hilarious.

I'd be happy to see anything else you've liked by him.