The more Regina trained her psychic abilities, the more surprised she was at how easy using them actually felt.

Intellectually, she knew it wasn’t actually that easy or she wouldn’t have struggled - wouldn’t still be struggling - so much with it. But when she actually did something with them, it just felt natural. It was instinctive in a way even using magic wasn’t, not quite. Although it was different from the instincts she felt regarding her hive, like those to do with eggs or Swarm Drones, or things like her territoriality.

She’d almost gotten used to sensing people around her and their emotional states. At this point, she thought she had enough control over it, and she was no longer shutting it out or shutting her power down, but instead did the equivalent of leaving running on low power. It had taken her a few hours to get used to it, but in time, the increased awareness of these other minds faded into the background, like it had before. Now she was mostly practicing focusing on specific points, getting more information from specific places or specific minds. It was something she could do more freely than actively trying to change anything, although she’d keep up practice with that, too. Getting volunteers to train on would be a bit of a problem, but Regina was determined to do it.

Actually being here in Nerlia helped a lot. Regina felt less stifled than she’d recently been in her hive. It was ironic, since she also felt safe in her main base in a way she didn’t really feel anywhere else, but she supposed the human part of her mind still needed more than sitting indoors surrounded by her drones for days at a time. Either way, having foreign minds around definitely helped her develop her skills. It also gave her an impression of the state of the place that she literally couldn’t have gotten otherwise, which was a good bonus.

She was fairly sure she’d never been in a war zone before the end of the world, and she struggled to relate to normal people of today at the best of times. Regina still felt like she understood what they felt. The mix of anxiety, the uncertainty dogging them, the hope things would turn out alright; it was pretty familiar, really. There was a lot of anger, as well, but even that, she could understand. It was actually a bit disquieting, like she’d switched places.

Maybe that was why she’d been relatively gentle and understanding with Green. The merchant was obviously a collaborator of the old school. She had the impression he did hold some loyalty to his people, although it was more focused on his local area and its people than his country as a whole, but he was mostly motivated by trying to do as well for himself as he could. As long as he didn’t cross any lines, Regina figured that was fine. She wasn’t going to tell people how they could think, or that they shouldn’t be working for her, obviously.

Anyway, with his loyalty and motives more or less assured, Regina saw no harm in letting him go with a bit of a wider portfolio. With his help, the hive would also be recruiting other people, and she’d be checking them when she had the time. She also intended to continue with a policy of recruiting women, too, and letting them have positions of authority; hopefully, that would help assure their loyalty in addition to widening the pool of talent she could recruit. The uncomfortable truth was that they might truly be less competent on average, owing to the social structure and the way education was often reserved for the males, but women were still expected to oversee the household and they’d develop skills of their own.

It was all very preliminary, mostly just ideas she was kicking around, but Regina was starting to see a plan take shape. They’d have to play a lot of things by ear and this area was really something of an experiment, but if they got things working well here, they could apply what they learned elsewhere.

For now, however, she wrapped things up here and put a pin in her plans while she focused on what mattered today: the war. The hive’s next move, which Ben had ironically named Operation Molehill, was about to start. She retreated to the most fortified place in the village, a house built with thick stone walls, and settled into an armchair her drones had dragged in from somewhere. Max claimed a spot opposite her, while Ira finished talking with a few younger drones before she joined them as well. None of her senior officers, except for Max, were actually here, since she was still some distance from the front line and Ben had set up a small command post further north.

“Nervous?” Max asked.

“Why are you asking me that?” she countered. “Shouldn’t you Warriors be the ones getting jitters?” She shrugged. “This is just one more operation.”

Max gave her a small smile. “I think Ben is a little nervous,” he said. “But he does get like that before important battles. I’m confident it’s going to go well, anyway.”

Regina nodded. She could sense that. She started to close her eyes and delve deeper into the psychic link, connecting more tightly to Ben. Is everything ready?

Yes, my Queen. We’ll be ready to lift off soon.

Regina sent a wordless acknowledgment and settled in to wait while she quickly combed through the minds of various Swarm Drones, checking on the new formation Ben had prepared. Tentatively named the Assault Flight Corps, a nickname that had stuck around, it wasn’t really one unit, at least not a conventional one. Most of the commanders involved were set up in various wings and detachments. For this one, the hive used mostly Evolved, sapient Winged Drones, along with some Warriors, Scouts or Shooters riding on Winged Drones, although a lot of Attendants and Witches were accompanying them as well.

The start of the ‘operation’ went off without a hitch, at least. Ben sent the mental command and the prepared drones lifted off, starting their flight towards the Nerlian positions they had picked ahead of time.

Ten thousand flying drones. It was the largest gathering of them Regina had sent into battle yet, especially operating alone as they were, instead of accompanying a ground-based attack as they had usually done. The hive was also sending ground-based drones, which were moving out right now as well, but those were meant as reinforcements, not to carry the real fights. They’d arrive later.

Regina focused on one of the central sections and mentally paged through the drones present before she settled on a specific one. Despite herself, she felt a small smile spreading on her face. Tim had been happy to finally leave the mountains, and she could sense his anticipation for this new fight. He’d clearly been getting bored just keeping the gnomes penned up.

Feeling up for this? Regina asked, putting a bit of teasing into her tone.

Am I ever, my Queen, he replied with a mental smile, then got serious. Do you think it’s time to use my Skill?

Wait a bit longer, I’d say, Regina responded. It might make more sense not to try and spread it over all of these drones.

He nodded, shifting his seat on the Winged Drone Mount carrying him. Regina left him to it and instead focused on the Winged Drones at the front, where Ben had placed some solitary scouts.

The hive was counting on speed and surprise, so they weren’t scouting their targets extensively, or at least not for long. They’d already gathered the information they needed. Trying to get fancy with diversions would just slow them down now, so the drones headed directly for their targets at a fast pace.

The Nerlians had built up some defenses, although they also relied on the natural terrain of their land. The country was partly mountainous, and they’d taken advantage of that for building their defensive line. The mountains might have once been the Ore Mountains, but Regina couldn’t be sure. The aftermath of the Cataclysm had reshaped the geography too much to be confident about those things, plus she didn’t really have good maps and still wasn’t sure about distances. It was frustrating, but she pushed that feeling to the side. At least they’d pushed pretty far into Nerlia, that was what mattered.

While the terrain ostensibly gave the defenders some advantages, it actually also pushed them to concentrate in some locations and wouldn’t help them against the hive’s strengths, especially flying drones. Regina smiled to herself as she watched those winged drones start their operation. She dropped in briefly on Tim to hear him give a short speech to the drones with him to trigger his Rally Class Skill. “… and will accomplish our goals. Remember, taking prisoners is our secondary objective! For the Hive. For our past, present and future!”

For the Hive! They responded over the psychic link, even those who hadn’t been close enough to listen to him physically.

The drones didn’t attack in unison, but it was close enough. They targeted carefully selected outposts and enemy detachments that would minimize the chances of pulling in the main Nerlian army into a real battle while still taking out their targets. In the span of two minutes, before any warning could be sent or do any good, drones dove from the sky across a front dozens of kilometers long.

Regina chose one at random and watched as the group of Winged Drones with a few sapient drones in command dive-bombed a small Nerlian outpost, explosives impacting the ground and kicking up a curtain of dust and dirt on its sides to box them in. While the structure was small, barely more than a wooden tower, it had clearly been filled over capacity with soldiers camping in tents outside. They didn’t even manage to form up properly before half of them were lying on the ground.

The quick strike with Winged Drones meant they had limited options for actually dealing with the soldiers. The hive was experimenting with different attempts at ‘knockout gas’, but Regina knew they couldn’t count on it. Flocks of Winged Drones also descended, piling on soldiers and bearing them to the ground. The Warriors had trained them in nonlethal takedowns and to take their enemies’ weapons away, but it was far from perfect and she could see some humans still died.

“Surrender!” the unit’s commander, a young Drone Witch, bellowed, using a bit of air magic to increase the effect. “We have you dead to rights. There is nothing you can do. Lay down your weapons and we will show mercy, you will be treated well and cared for. Resist and you will only seek death.”

She had to repeat the order before most of the Nerlians surrendered, but once some of them started throwing down their weapons and kneeling on the ground — of those who were still standing and had weapons, anyway — it was like a wave swept through them. Regina knew it wouldn’t have been that easy otherwise, but the Nerlians were shaken by the shock and total surprise of the attack, the force of the explosions, the overwhelming power of the hive taking out so many within seconds.

Dealing with the new prisoners might just be the most challenging part, but Regina still turned her attention away from this group and to the other fights. Most of them were finishing up as she watched. They went more or less the same, although details varied wildly based on the local conditions. They’d given a lot of latitude to the commanders on the spot, since Ben and the other senior officers couldn’t focus on directing everyone at once and they needed to adapt quickly.

Tim had the largest detachment of drones and the hardest nut to crack with them. They’d debated including it at all, but the small fortress was located at a key strategic spot and controlled an approach by both a small river and a road to the Nerlian army. Taking it was vital to penning up that army, their overall strategic goal with this move. It wasn’t the only approach, of course, but it would make it easier to isolate that army and push it where they wanted it to be.

The other main option had been threatening the capital, but Regina and Ben had decided to hold off on that for now. Maybe if they hadn’t been worried about the Esemen coming in to screw things up … but she was going to play things relatively safe while still trying to hurry things up, for now.

Tim adjusted his strategy a little, sending in drones with explosives and flammable liquid to open a ring of fire around the Nerlian soldiers first. They were on a relatively flat meadow, with only a hastily raised palisade to hide behind. That one was quickly demolished.

Then he descended and spread out his forces, showing the weight of their numbers. Nerlians tried to shoot down drones, but their efforts barely made a dent in the flock of Winged Drones. They weren’t coming that close.

Regina tried to sense the Nerlians’ state of mind, to get any hint of what they felt and how easily they might break. She focused on it to the exclusion of almost everything else, until her pulse pounded in her ears like a drum and she felt it tighten around her head in the start of a vicious headache. She hissed in frustration. They were simply too far away, and even with having this many drones there, the connection was too weak. Maybe if her drones were standing directly by the humans, just not like this. But knowing about it only when they fought in melee wouldn’t help.

Tim didn’t wait for input from her. He ordered a second bombing run, then waited a few seconds before dropping with a cadre of strong fighters. Winged Drones were carrying sapient drones and even some War Drones, and those he now got to land at the edge of the field of battle. Attendants among the flock cast Magic Armor and other defensive Spells to protect them, and the Winged Drones came in for a quick, rough landing.

Some of them still died, but the humans were too disorganized to take advantage of the opportunity properly. Before they could really get to it, Tim moved the next wave of Winged Drones into the fight, dropping them onto the soldiers. They wouldn’t be able to win by themselves, but they gave the ground troops the breathing room to advance and really start the fight.

Tim himself landed in the thick of it, accompanied by a few high-level but not sapient drones. “Surrender!” he roared at the humans who stood staring at him with wide eyes, clutching their weapons tightly. “Surrender and the Hive will spare your lives, will send you back to your fields and your lives of peace!”

Regina took a deep breath and considered how the battle would go. Hopefully, that promise would be enough to at least get them to hesitate and accept giving up easier —

Then some of them surrendered.

Not that many, overall. Some of them even ran away toward the drones’ line, unintentionally blocking them. But they were enough to disrupt the Nerlians and get their already precarious formation to waver. Tim took full advantage of it, sending his drones pressing in from all sides, tightening their encirclement. Winged Drones joined them, swelling their numbers even if they weren’t that good in all-out combat.

Then Tim’s attention was captured by a human in polished plate armor, a full set with a coat of arms she didn’t recognize on it.

“Will you truly spare our lives if we capitulate?” he called.

“I swear it on my queen’s honor,” Tim called back. “You will be treated with respect and released as soon as we settle matters. There will be no plundering or burning of your lands, either.”

The man eyed him for a long moment, probably noting his Class. His own was simply Knight, level thirty-one, Regina noted. Then the Nerlian sighed and raised his sword for a moment before throwing it to the ground, the hilt pointing towards Tim.

The other Nerlian fighters followed suit, surrendering at his orders, and a few minutes later, this battle was won with only light casualties.

Regina smiled in satisfaction. Always nice to see planning paying off, she reflected. She wondered if there were greater cracks in the Nerlian military, such as it was and what there was of it, than she thought.

That might actually be worse than it seemed at first glance, she realized. Our expectations kind of rest on having a unified command structure to deal with. And more chaos in Nerlia would only be detrimental in the longer run.

And, of course, now they had to deal with newly taken prisoners, scattered across a long stretch of land, and then the rest of them. The real challenge still lay ahead.