Tim shivered and pulled his poncho tighter around himself. Hivekind were resistant to the cold, but they were quite high up.

“You okay there, Tim?” Gale asked.

“Fine!” he called back.

Thor dipped slightly below him, and Tim tucked in his head against a gust of wind. He still let go with one hand to pat the other drone reassuringly on the shoulder. There was no need to worry about him.

They were moving faster than he ever had before, he was pretty sure, although it wasn’t his first time on a flying drone. The ride wasn’t going to take long, but that was kind of the point.

He closed his eyes for a moment and searched for the consciousnesses of other drones in the area. There were a few, but he sensed one concentration, especially, further up ahead.

“I think this is as far as I go,” Gale spoke up again after a while, his voice cutting through the sound of the wind. “You’ll be okay with that, right?”

“Of course,” he repeated, then made a shooing motion. “Go on, we’ve all got things to do.”

“Good luck, Gale,” Thor added. “I’ve got him.”

Gale maneuvered around so Tim could see his grin and gave a small wave, then turned and winged away. Tim just shook his head. They’d flown together this far because it only made sense, but Gale had a different job than him in the end. It did mean they really were almost at their goal, though.

Tim opened his mind again and took a mental look around. The Hive was keeping a close eye on the gnomes, and they were assembling and moving forces in the territory around them, which made for quite a few drones in the general area. Still more spread out than they would have been at the main base back home, though.

Winged Drones didn’t quite have the ability to grow in strength based on their numbers the way War Drones did, based on their Skills. But Gale, and other sapient Winged Drones like him, would change that equation. He did have a Skill that would make any flock he led stronger, faster, tougher, and probably also smarter or more competent than normal. Obviously, that made it too valuable to waste on some random scouting trip or probing attack, but it was a good ace up Regina’s sleeve for some missions. It would also be a waste to always keep it in reserve and have him stay back at the base without ever using that edge in combat. Tim had been one of the warriors who planned this particular suite of attacks, and he was confident they were using their strength well.

Of course, this was just part of the larger phase of the war happening right now, and one of its main purposes was to support the more defensive action the Hive had to fight right now.

They hadn’t built their fortress just to abandon it at the first sight of a gnomish army without resistance.

Thor broke through a low-hanging cloud and spun into a dive, which quickly brought them down toward it. Tim squinted against the rushing wind, ignoring the assault on his ears and the cold leeching against his face, and tried to take a good look at the situation.

The fortress was built out of a mix of the rock of the surrounding mountains, bricks, details and more intricate parts from the Production Drones’ substances, and earthen walls. Those mostly acted to thicken its walls and provide depth and cover against explosive attacks. There was also more exotic armor placed at a few key strategic points, though Conjuring it was too resource-intensive (since it cost a lot of mana) to use those materials on a large scale. Altogether, it looked unlike any other castle he’d seen, but Tim still felt proud of the Hive’s work. He hoped it would be intimidating to their enemies. He knew a few of the younger drones wanted to place a few spikes and embellishments on it, a suggestion Neralt flatly vetoed, but in his opinion, it was pretty good already.

And speaking of, Neralt was waiting for him when Thor set down in the main courtyard of the fortress. It wasn’t very big, since this was just a defensive emplacement and not intended for anything else, and the shape of the valley limited it, anyway. In fact, the fortress was placed on something of a hump in the valley between mountain peaks, so attackers would have to move uphill from both directions. And the mountainsides on either end of it were almost sheer, the mountaintops themselves looming over him like tall giants. It wouldn’t be easy even for the hive to move troops onto those, and he didn’t think it would be a very feasible route for the gnomes to attack the fortress. Not that they were counting on that.

“Tim, it’s good to see you again!” Neralt smiled and took a step closer. He hesitated and then inclined his head at Thor, as well. “And you must be Thor. Pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise, Baron Neralt,” Thor replied, shaking himself and rising from a crouch after Tim jumped down from him.

Tim nodded. “What’s the situation?”

The human grimaced slightly. “The gnomes are still approaching, and they’ve managed to spread into a wider column, with bigger frontage, than I’d hoped. There are also a few of them on the cliffs and high points. Probably their elites.”

Tim nodded again. He could have gotten all of that information from the other drones, but it was worthwhile to get the Cernlian’s assessment. “Let’s move to the tower and discuss,” he suggested.

“Of course.” Neralt fell into step with him as Tim walked to the stairs, but spoke up again after a few seconds. “If I may ask, who else did your Hive Queen send with you?”

Tim gave him a sideways glance. “There are more Winged Drones coming, mostly those gathering in the area. Regina is hesitant to send more War Drones, since there’s always the risk of them getting picked off by the gnomes, and we can’t risk exposing our bases that are closest to here, anyway. Any drones from further away will take a while.”

Neralt sighed slightly. “I see. And sapient drones?”

Tim shook his head. “Who’s already here is who we’ve got, in addition to me and Thor.”

What he didn’t say was that Regina didn’t want to expose them to too much danger. They already had extraction plans for every sapient drone (or person, counting Neralt) in the area. Having more of them here would make it harder, even if that would offer them more combat power. Regina — and, more to the point, Ben — weren’t too confident that the fortress could hold out against a determined assault by enough gnomish soldiers.

They met with the others on a small, covered walkway and lookout position on one of the fortress’s towers. Thor kept in the air, with some of the Winged Drones present, but joined them telepathically. Tim would translate anything he needed to to Neralt, not that he expected that to come up, since Thor was usually pretty taciturn.

“They have been coming steadily closer,” the baron pointed out, gesturing at the gnomish army trying to surround them. It was obviously preparing a siege, or something similar. They had even put up what Tim assumed to be siege engines, though he didn’t recognize them. They looked like some mad engineer had tried to combine cannon and catapult and the result decided to look like a ballista.

“I suppose we’ll see how well our walls stand up to them,” Zoe said, following Tim’s gaze. “I assume those will throw rocks, or cannonballs. Maybe explosive charges if the gnomes are good.”

He nodded. “How strong could you make the walls, Lord Elric?”

Neralt looked thoughtful. “They’re a little stronger and hardier than they would otherwise be, but only slightly. I can’t do much more than that, especially with such a short timescale. We do have a few options for strengthening them temporarily, but I’m uncertain how effective that will be. I also do not know how many fliers the gnomes will be able to field.”

“Well, we appreciate that you chose to stay and fight at our side, Baron.” Tim smiled at him. “We’ll make sure to honor your efforts and use them well.”

In fact, Neralt wouldn’t be fighting much, at least if things went as intended. He was staying back and hopefully bolstering their defense. That was enough, though. Tim considered it a good sign that the baron hadn’t tried to run back to his village.

“It looks like the attack is starting,” Tia interrupted.

Tim glanced at her, and tried not to let his worry show. He liked all of his sisters and brothers, of course, but he couldn’t deny that he felt especially protective of Tia. Having her here, at the site of a major battle, wasn’t what he would have chosen. But he couldn’t keep her from it, and Tia was determined to do her part. Considering that she was one of the masterminds of their entire defensive plan and especially these fortifications, her presence did make sense. At least he knew Regina was determined not to let any more of her sapient drones die if she could avoid it.

A low thunder started up from the direction of the gnomish fighters, and it took Tim a moment to realize they were beating war drums. Probably signaling the attack. The soldiers added to the sound with shouts and howling, which was probably meant to be intimidating and bolster their own confidence. Over this distance, though, it sounded a bit pathetic.

“Hey, looks like we’re starting the concert,” Tia commented. Then she grinned.

Tim felt her reach out through the psychic link and tensed up slightly, but when he realized what she was doing, he only rolled his eyes and didn’t interrupt her. A second later, all of the Swarm Drones stationed at the fortress — at least all of those not hiding — and even some of the sapient drones started hissing.

Neralt actually flinched and took a step back. Tim smiled slightly. He supposed that it did sound pretty chilling, although, to him, the sound had a different effect. He clenched and unclenched his fingers, suddenly itching to grab a weapon and descend on his Hive’s enemies among the swarm of its drones and teach them the meaning of fear.

The hissing decreased in volume, but continued, with some chittering thrown in and the occasional cry and roar punctuating it. He had to give Tia points for effect, if nothing else.

“They’re starting the attack,” Neralt noted quietly. He’d regained his composure quickly.

Tim nodded. He listened as a faint whistling sound started up, which quickly ended with a crash.

“What are they throwing?” he asked calmly. It wasn’t as important as it might have otherwise been, since the drones had the psychic link, but he still tried to project an aura of calmness and confidence visibly, as well. Not that he really knew how he’d found himself the ‘senior officer’ in command here.

“Looks like some kind of explosive projectile,” Ace answered.

Tim felt a mental nudge from the other drone and followed it, turning his attention to the Winged Drone spotters he had placed in key locations. He dove a bit deeper, seeing through the eyes of one of them.

Curiously, he watched one of the gnomes’ siege engines lurch back and up and throw what looked like a hollow metal shell, which arced into the air, accelerating towards the fortress until it impacted … and completely failed to get through the earth-and-stone embankment in front of the main castle.

Unfortunately, several others quickly followed. Tim watched the same catapult-cannon again, noting how long it took the gnomes to reload it. Far shorter than he’d have preferred.

“I wish we had siege engines of our own,” Neralt muttered quietly.

“We’ll be able to do quite well even without something like that, I believe,” Tim said mildly, smiling wryly at him.

Then he turned his attention back to the Swarm Drones, this time to flocks of Winged Drones gathered in prearranged units. He nudged them to make their way forward carefully, taking cover where they could, and taking to the air.

“I think we’ll try a single bombing run to start with,” he continued, still aloud for Neralt’s benefit.

The others nodded, and he caught a few smiles from them. While the drones gathered, Tim took a deep breath and turned to face his companions, sweeping his gaze across the other drones stationed around their fortifications and reaching through the psychic link. His Hive Queen, who’d been quietly watching so far, gave him a bit of help, capturing everyone’s attention and drawing them to him.

Tim had gained two Skills since his Evolution. They were both quite useful, even if they were a bit less than straightforward. Right now, he activated the first and simpler of them.

“Brothers and sisters,” he addressed them. “And one human, of course, can’t forget that,” he added with another quick grin, prompting a few chuckles.

“This war is not one our Hive sought, but it is one that has come to us anyway,” he continued with a raised voice, projecting his words through the psychic link at the same time. “I am determined, as I know all of you are, to bring it to the inevitable conclusion of our enemies lamenting the fact they ever even thought of bringing it to us. Our brothers and sisters died at the gnomes’ hands, and perhaps more of us will join them before this is over. I hope not, but I acknowledge that it might happen. And yet, I do not have a single doubt that the Starlit Hive will be triumphant.

“That is not just because I know that all of you would face death with a smile if it was needed for the good of the Hive, for the rest of our family. It is not even because I have confidence in our Mother and Hive Queen and the rest of our Hive’s leadership. It is not because I know our knowledge, understanding and skill are leagues ahead of theirs, along with our cool toys. Although that definitely helps.” He gave them another grin, timing the pause for the best effect before he continued. “It is because we are the Starlit Hive, because you are my brothers and sisters. What could these pitiful vermin possibly have to stand against that? How could they even begin to imagine what we know in our bones before we even speak our first words? We are Hivekind. We are united. We are ceaseless. We will be triumphant.

“And right now, today, we will hold this fortress as long as we want to and bleed the enemy for every step of the way they take towards it. We will turn their attention and their army towards us until they never even think of moving one step anywhere we don’t want them to. We’ll teach them to fear the skies and shun the ground. It begins today.”

His Skill, Rally, didn’t need him to make an inspiring speech, but he’d discovered with some experimentation that it worked better if he did. Luckily, it didn’t need to be a very long speech. Tim hoped they couldn’t see, or sense, how anxious he was about his words, which suddenly felt stilted and pretentious.

Another cry went up from the gathered drones, and he released a sigh of relief and relaxed his blade-arms as he tasted their reaction. His success depended on their engagement, how captivated they were. And judging by what he could see and sense, he’d managed to hit the right tone after all.

Tim raised his sword, watching the metal reflect the sunlight. Then he shouted. “For the Hive! For Queen Regina!”

Scattered voices roared the cry back at him, and the Swarm Drones hissed in agitation and with battle-lust. Their stats jumped and their speed increased as his Skill took hold, until every defender was boosted.

Then the Winged Drones overhead released the first wave of their payloads, gnomes rose into the air, and the battle began fully.