The rising sun illuminated a panorama of gnomish soldiers heading out of the mountains to war, and Tikimaken wondered where things had gone wrong.

He was relatively sure that things had indeed gone wrong, although in fairness, only time would tell if his misgivings were right. And he had to admit, if only privately, that he had hardly protested very strongly against recent changes, either, because they had been to his faction’s benefit.

Granted, the Historicals had been moving towards a more ‘extremist’ stance for a while now. A few years ago, he was quite sure the leadership of the faction would have acted differently. But that was neither here nor there. At present, they also had the support of several of the smaller factions. Combined with their executive majority on the executive council, that gave them free rein to do whatever they needed to. As long as the faction remained generally united, at least, but Tikimaken was not worried about that. And the other factions were hardly in a position to contest their primacy, and growing even less so as the Historicals consolidated their power.

Tikimaken sighed and rolled his shoulders, trying to redistribute the weight of the heavy military pack resting on them, before he started walking. He was not keen on this venture, but as a man with a level in the third Tier, and a Class that was suited to combat — which his certainly was, since the Unbroken Rock wasn’t called a ‘building stone’ of their armed forces for nothing — he had to do his part. At least he was afforded quite a few privileges compared to some common, first-Tier recruit. And his connections meant even his so-called commanding officer would be careful about pushing him around.

“Off into war we go,” his neighbor muttered. Tikimaken didn’t even spare him a glance. He didn’t particularly like the lazy idiot.

Instead, he sped up until he was abreast with one of his friends, Perikeman. The other merchant (in normal times, at least) glanced back at him and gave him a nod. “Let’s hope this works as well as the sword-wavers think it will,” he commented quietly.

Tikimaken nodded. “Yeah, let’s hope so.”

They walked in silence for a bit, before Peri spoke up again. “Your contacts say anything about this?”

“Nothing beyond the usual.”

His friend frowned. “You’re not in trouble, are you, Tiki?”

He scoffed and shook his head. “No, don’t be stupid. The faction is united as always, Peri. They’re not going to ice me out for voicing a few cautioning notes. Nukes, the biggest disagreements we’ve seen was about stupid stuff like that spiel with the Envoy’s death and the elves.”

“You mean telling them she existed?” Peri raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “Could’ve been handled better, I guess.”

Tikimaken shrugged. “Maybe not that much. You never know, they could have had some way of proving she died here.” He nodded at one of the moving tents behind them.

His friend followed his gaze and nodded. He didn’t give much outward sign of it, but he knew Peri enough to tell he was suppressing a subtle grimace. Both of them had given their signature to the Tracking Stone, once they’d entered the third Tier. Having people know they were alive wasn’t a bad thing, of course, but he knew they were both a little uneasy with it, especially since there were persistent rumors that the stone could be used to track people’s current location, as well. Hardly a bad thing for men marching out to war, he had to admit, but still.

A few in their faction had argued convincingly that they had no idea what kind of capabilities the Hivekind might have, but something similar was hardly out of the question, and Tikimaken tended to agree, personally. Because of that, they had argued for being audacious rather than risk getting caught in a lie about a diplomat getting killed. Of course, it involved lying to the elves and whoever else the council was sending messages to, but it was only one more lie, really. After all, it would have been impolitic to admit that the gnomes really had struck first without outward provocation, Hivekind or no Hivekind. Some people seemingly didn’t want to admit that, even among themselves, but Tikimaken didn’t think trying to hide from the truth like that was wise.

He supposed it didn’t matter much, in the great scheme of things. And anyway, the course was charted and the route set, they could hardly turn around now.

"You’re not concerned about those losses we took in that raid, Mene’s brilliant brainchild?” Peri asked after a while.

Tikimaken glanced at him again and caught his friend watching the moving army with a concerned look. The division was well underway now, picking its way down the mountain on two parallel roads. Or maybe calling them one road split into two to swerve around some obstacles would have been more appropriate. Supply wagons rumbled at the back, and a handful of cavalry screened them and the army’s sides, using their mounts’ better ability to move in the mountains to watch the marching soldiers making up its bulk. Tikimaken knew each of the monsters bearing those riders were worth as much as a normal platoon’s wages and equipment. They also had some more traditional cavalry on horses, but those were even further behind and would be useless unless and until the army moved into open terrain.

“Not too much,” he finally replied, mostly honestly, and gave Peri a reassuring smile.

“We lost over half of them, and they were all elites,” Peri pointed out. “And how many Hivekind did they kill? Any at all?”

Tikimaken sighed and moved closer, lowering his voice. “Don’t spread this around, but I’m not so sure the operation would be considered such a failure, for those who conceived it.”

Peri gave him a sharp look, which quickly morphed into one of understanding. “You mean …?”

Tikimaken nodded softly. “You must have noticed that, for some reason, most of those sent out were from other factions? Somehow, most of our elites were away or occupied with urgent and critical work. And now that many didn’t come home from that mission, our rivals are weakened.”

Peri swore softly, but he seemed almost impressed.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they would have been happy if they’d managed to kill the Hive Queen,” he said. He thought so, anyway.

His friend nodded, and they kept walking in silence for a while, before he asked softly, ”It doesn’t bother you?”

Tikimaken sighed. It was obvious to him Peri asked because it bothered him a little.

“A bit, maybe,” he admitted. “But what can you do?” He shook his head. “I never would’ve gone there in the first place if I knew they were Hivekind.”

Granted, he’d come to suspect the identity of the new ‘demihumans’ some time before that fact became clear, but he told himself there was a big difference between suspicion and actual knowledge. They hadn’t acted much like he’d have expected the old monsters to, either. But the records also say that the monsters can be treacherous and cunning, he reminded himself.

He’d decided there was no point risking his position just to voice some discontent. It wouldn’t likely have changed anything, either.

That new Drone Envoy Bea (he still wasn’t sure if she’d really Evolved her Class during her visit or not) had seemed like a nice enough girl, and so had her companions. But they’d still been Hivekind and been stupid enough to waltz into a gnomish city. So, really, they wouldn’t have had a chance, anyway. And he might not have warned them, but he hadn’t been involved in what happened to them, either.

“I almost wish Eli was here,” he finally admitted, sighing softly.

Peri laughed. “I bet. And knowing the woman, she probably wants to be here, too!”

Tikimaken shot his friend a sour look, then his lips twitched and he had to chuckle, as well. “You’re not wrong about that. I had to remind her twice that we don’t let women get killed in war.”

“And Tikelikel just accepted that?” Peri raised an eyebrow.

Tikimaken shook his head. “She argued that this wasn’t like the First War and we’re hardly risking our race’s future. I had to point out that what matters is how people look at things, and that her Class isn’t exactly suited to combat.”

Peri grinned again, and Tikimaken shrugged. He was firmly of the opinion that Eli was the perfect female partner; she had a real head for numbers, and she gave good advice and let him do his job without trying to do it for him. She’d even helped him forge a few good contacts, but still left what some people called ‘networking’ in his hands. The subtler parts of doing business were a man’s job, and she was fine with that. And when they traveled in more dangerous territory, it was his combat-capable Class that kept them safe, just as she kept the money for their ventures available by carefully managing their investments.

“She tried to get into the Quartermasters’, but they didn’t accept her,” he admitted with a small grimace. “Probably had a lot of women volunteering.” After all, handling the army’s logistics was a very important job, and not one anyone wanted to leave to someone unqualified. Even if the women stayed behind after they set everything up, they’d just manage things from the army’s bases instead of the battlefield, which was probably better, anyway.

Privately, Tikimaken was just as happy Eli would stay behind. Gnomish women didn’t fight because, unlike men, women weren’t expendable to a population, at least when survival was on the line. The First War taught them that, when the Hivekind decimated his people. If fewer women had survived, the continuation of their race itself might have been threatened. And now that they were heading off to war, even if he intellectually knew that the situation wasn’t comparable, that didn’t mean he didn’t agree emotionally. He knew they weren’t going to lose anywhere near that many people, but still, he didn’t want his partner anywhere near the enemy.

“You know, I’m actually almost glad we are leaving now,” he admitted. “I mean —“

He was cut off by a shout rising from the soldiers around them. Tikimaken paused and looked around with more alarm than he’d have liked. He and the others in his group were walking along a ridge a little to the side and above the main army, picking their way over rougher ground with the help of their high stats and strength. That gave him a good vantage point to see the small commotion in the ranks of the marching soldiers.

“In the sky,” Peri pointed out quietly, sounding tense. “It sounds like the Hivekind aren’t very surprised by us marching here, or at least, they’re quick on the ball.”

Tikimaken swallowed a curse as he saw the swarm of small, dark shapes quickly approaching them from the north. He knew about the enemy fortress built into a mountain base not too far from here, but the direction suggested they didn’t come directly from there. He tried to count the approaching drones, but quickly gave up. More than a hundred, but probably less than a thousand. He frowned. They can’t hope to defeat us with just that.

The shouts from below had changed. Instead of raising the alarm, officers and squad leaders were now rallying the soldiers, directing them to ready themselves for a fight, and to watch the sides. He saw a few scouts rushing past, presumably to double-check that the Hivekind weren’t bringing an army through the mountains to pincer them.

Quicker than he’d have thought possible, the flying drones caught up to the gnomish soldiers and passed above them. He tensed, but they didn’t seem to be slowing down; they were just flying to cross their positions, above the strung-out columns. And they were dropping things they carried, he realized an instant later.

Tikimaken had never fought a Hive drone before, but he had heard a few stories and a lot of speculation. He raised his shield in preparation, but still watched as the bombs dropped.

Most of them were caught by shimmering magic shields, or even a few barriers produced by some Skill or another. They exploded harmlessly in the air, sending thunder and waves of noise through the mountain valley. But even against the glare of the explosions, he saw a few that struck their targets, exploding among the army. They churned up the ground, killed soldiers, flung them around like broken dolls, and sent up sprays of dirt and splinters.

“Stand to!” Someone barked, and it took him a moment to recognize the voice of his commander. “Defenders, move into position to shield the column! Strikers, attack those damn fliers, will you!”

Taking a deep breath, Tikimaken slung his shield and leaped down, making his way into the column whose march had been stalled by the attack. The jump would have killed or at least broken the legs of someone without his stats, but he only staggered and quickly got into position, raising his shield again. He probably wouldn’t be able to catch any of these explosives on it, but he could still extend the protection to the soldiers around him using his Class Skill.

Looking up, he saw the drones retreating. Quite a few of them had been brought down by the soldiers, and several were falling even as he watched. Peri sent a glowing javelin up that ripped right through the wings of one of the larger drones. But then they had swerved away and they were leaving.

He drew a deep breath and considered lowering his shield. But far too quickly, just as he was about to turn to the soldiers around him and try to get them organized, another shout rose and he looked up again. Drones were coming in again for another pass.

Tikimaken cursed softly. Now he knew they weren’t really here to attack. They were just going to do far too much damage and slow this part of the army down. And maybe prepare for whatever the Hive Queen had in mind as her next move. Looks like them hunkering down in their villages hasn’t lasted long. He grimaced. He hoped the other divisions hadn’t encountered something like this, but somehow, he doubted it.

This was going to be quite annoying.