Regina felt a tension in the air, pressing down on them. She knew it was an illusion and that the tension was actually just in the psychic link, but that didn’t make it better. Knowing that her drones were nervous only made her feel worse. It didn’t help that she was still pretty close to a larger gathering of human prisoners of war, just a few hundred meters away, and their minds were near enough she felt she could reach out to them easily. For obvious reasons, the Nerlians weren’t feeling any better than the hive.

And things were going so well, too, Regina thought with a mental sigh. They’d started out well and appeared to be going decently. At first.

The hive had committed to a general offensive push. In a way, they’d been doing that for a while now. They were already deep into Nerlia, which meant stretching their supply lines. While Hivekind might not be as reliant on these as other people, that didn’t mean they could completely ignore logistics, either. They weren’t in danger of starving or anything, but the new industry the hive was building, which was just barely starting to exist, was still fragile and not up to large demands, even as it played an increasingly bigger role in supporting their armies. And it was concentrated in a single location, too, in the hive’s core territory back in former northeastern Cernlia, especially around Forest’s Haunt.

That by itself wouldn’t have meant much. Sure, the hive’s forces were getting bigger and they had more complex logistic challenges, so what? They were still a Hivekind hive, and it wasn’t like Regina wanted to wage a war of domination on everyone around them.

Unfortunately, it slowed them down just enough to be noticeable and affect their plans. The hive’s forces were supposed to march on the main Nerlian army in a fast attack. While they could still do it, Ben emphasized the need for caution, and that meant they couldn’t leave their back unguarded, or charge in unprepared. It was becoming clear to Regina that her commanders had made a mistake, or at least miscalculated a little. That shouldn’t be a surprise, she admitted. They’re good, but they are still inexperienced, especially with operations at this scale. They’re bound to get a few things wrong or just make less-than-optimal decisions sometimes.

It also made it harder to deal with the monsters.

Apparently, smaller waves of monsters, not at the same scale but a bit like a precursor to the hordes that emerged every five years, weren’t an uncommon phenomenon. They didn’t occur often and were usually pretty manageable. When the country wasn’t busy fighting a civil war, she supposed. Regina couldn’t help but feel suspicious about the timing, if someone might have helped this along, but she had to acknowledge it could just be bad luck.

As she focused on the last group to meet an attack, she suppressed another sigh. Even calling this a wave was a bit of a misnomer. It was more like scattered packs of beasts and various monsters with an increased presence in the border territories, roaming and being a general danger to everyone they caught alone. It spread along most of this side of the forest’s border, she was pretty sure. Her own hive barely even had to muster any effort to deal with the monsters making their way into her territory. Actually, the drones stationed there were happy about it, considering the additional opportunities for training and leveling up for the hive’s drones.

The situation was different here in Nerlia, though. Among the hive, even Workers had some ability to protect themselves, a shell, and were usually accompanied by War Drones as guards outside the hive’s outposts. And Swarm Drones traveled in groups, but even if one died, it was a shame but not a tragedy. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for the humans living in these territories. Every single one of them who got killed by a monster was a sapient person dying, one under Regina’s protection.

Naturally, she wanted to make sure that no one did.

Nerlians had dealt with the occasional monster threat just fine on their own for ages, so it wasn’t that hard. People would have to stay in their settlements and guards were increased. But she didn’t like the idea of large gatherings of Nerlians with weapons in areas she controlled, so they’d need more drones from the hive, which was a problem. And it disrupted the hive’s logistics efforts.

The group of monsters Regina was currently watching was an eclectic one. A Lionit variant of some kind, some flying snake with wings, a big colibri-like bird, and others she found hard to describe. They’d somehow managed to sneak past most of the hive’s guard forces, so she was only sending a patrol to them now. The half a dozen monsters were enough that they needed more than just a few Winged Drones to deal with, too. But they had a few almost Evolved ones who were only waiting for a push to reach the third Tier and sapience, and this seemed like a good opportunity for it.

Regina watched the fight, trying to push aside the worry and just enjoy it for a moment for what it was. This might be the strangest aerial dogfight she’d ever seen, owing to the diverse nature of the combatants. Although her own drones were doing pretty well. They ganged up on each of their opponents, as usual, and one of the candidates tried a risky but pretty inspired maneuver that brought it right on top of the flying dog monster, clinging to its back. That was going to be a nice combat type, she was sure.

The other monsters were tougher customers. A group of four flying drones latched onto the flying snake, but barely managed to pierce through its scales. Until one of them, the highest-leveled drone, unleashed a Skill that sent its claws piercing through its skull, getting a big gash in its side in return. Other packs swarmed the other monsters, savaging them from all directions. The monsters couldn’t attack all of them at once, and they paid for it one by one, until half the swarm sent the giant colibri tumbling to the ground.

The fight was over almost too quickly, and Regina exhaled. A corner of her mind tallied up the losses. Too many. Almost a dozen Winged Drones had died here, in a skirmish against fewer, but comparatively high-leveled, monsters.

Even now, she could still feel every single one of them, could sense every death. It was weirdly comforting, in a way. Probably not a very healthy way. She had so many drones in her hive, and even if her ability to sense single Swarm Drones with clarity said good things about her capability, precision, skill, or focus, she knew she should not let herself get too affected. She remembered the last time a lot of her drones had died almost at once. It would probably be repeated with larger numbers, it was only a matter of time.

For now, Regina shelved those thoughts and instead turned her attention to the frontline. She needed to pay attention if she didn’t want that day to come any sooner than it had to.

The Nerlian army had gathered in and around a town with a pretty big castle, flanked on two sides by low mountains that would be hard to get across, and even a pain for War Drones. They’d gotten more time than Regina and Ben had originally hoped to give them, and used it well. Regina had to admit that much. The original plan of the hive’s commanders had been to pin them against another, relatively nearby city, and siege them there. Now, they’d have to do it differently. The Nerlians had a good defensive position, but it actually wasn’t as closed in as she’d have hoped.

There was a small river flowing by the Nerlians’ current base, although it was probably navigable. Regina also couldn’t rule out there would be hidden paths through the mountains. Perhaps more importantly, though, the Nerlians had erected pretty extensive fieldworks instead of relying on a city walls’ defense, arranged in several layers. It meant they had a larger area to defend, at least at the outer rings, but also meant they wouldn’t have a civilian population to worry about. That should be a good thing for Regina, although it made the original idea of starving them out harder.

Most importantly of all, the Nerlians had also burned the surrounding countryside. They’d been thorough — it would be harder even for hive drones to find food in those areas. It meant Nerlian refugees were pouring into surrounding regions, probably including those under the hive’s control as a prime destination, too.

Regina had watched them through flying drones’ eyes, examining the burnt fields and often burned and looted houses. The harvest would be rotting on the field even in some places that escaped the fires, with no one here to bring it in. Most of it would just be turned to ash.

Compared with the monsters currently roaming around freely, or at least more freely than usual, Regina found it hard to consider offering mercy to the Nerlian commanders. Although she would if she had to. There’s nothing saying they can’t have unfortunate accidents later, worst case, she thought grimly. For now, though, that wasn’t helping.

She’d bitten the metaphorical bullet — at least the Nerlians didn’t have those — and stripped off detachments from her own forces to handle that situation. It was a shitshow, and Regina was almost glad she wasn’t there in person and could leave it to experienced sapient drones on the ground. They wouldn’t be able to defend all refugees, of course, even if they tried, but they culled the monster population enough that it should protect them. Ben had decided to take this as a silver lining, as well, and sent drones he wanted to level up or get to Evolve on those missions.

If nothing else, at least this should further alienate the common folk of Nerlia from their rulers. Especially with the hive not using such tactics.

“Are you beating yourself up again?” Max asked quietly.

Regina started and turned towards him. “No,” she said, a bit annoyed. “I was considering the strategic situation. And believe me, if I’m annoyed it’s not at myself.”

Max looked at her silently for a moment, before he nodded and glanced away. “It’s frustrating to just sit around,” he said.

Regina frowned, then sat closer to him. They were currently alone in the room, although she could sense Ira and a few others outside, in the house they’d commandeered as her current headquarters. “You would be a valuable asset on the battlefield,” she said.

Max’s gaze jerked up to meet hers. “You’re not saying —“

“You’re the one who chooses to be my bodyguard, Max. I’m not forcing you to act in that role. If you don’t want to keep doing it or think you could be more useful elsewhere, I’m hardly going to stop you from leaving.”

Max looked almost pained, now. “That’s not what I mean at all, Regina.”

“I know,” Regina said. “But it’s still something to consider.”

There was a moment of silence. He shook his head. “Protecting you is the most important thing I could be doing for the hive.”

“Maybe,” Regina shrugged. “I don’t think I’m in much danger right now, but you’re not wrong that I might be a target and losing me would be catastrophic for the hive.”

They sat together in silence for a bit, while Regina listened to Ira getting a report from a few other drones outside the door.

“I am happy to have you with me, Max,” Regina finally said.

He gave her a weak smile. “I’m happy you haven’t tired of my presence yet, Regina.”

Regina snorted, but decided not to continue that conversation. Instead, she turned her focus back to the army, checking on the refugees she could see through her drones, stretching her psychic senses, and getting a feel for the disposition of her own and the enemy forces.

They were starting to encircle the Nerlians’ fortifications, finally. It wasn’t a whole circle, of course, although more of one than Regina would have preferred. The widespread frontline wasn’t much of a concern for the hive, with their ability to coordinate their drones, though. They still weren’t in range of enemy fire, or able to use their own effectively. Winged Drones were gathering in large flocks, but kept back for now. This wouldn’t be a single quick battle starting soon.

Ben was working hard to get everything in order and following the plan, at least as much as he could, but the more Regina saw, the more she considered they might have to throw it overboard and make a new one, at least in part. It felt like she was missing something. Maybe that was just nerves, since she was aware she was hardly a general. Still, something about the Nerlians’ movements … and she had the impression that Ben was thinking something like that, too.

Frowning and following her sense of unease, Regina instead focused her attention further out, spreading to the edge of her range. It had increased a lot in recent months, of course, but not as much as she’d hoped. It was still hard to get an accurate estimate of the limit, so the best she could say was that it covered several hundred kilometers. She was currently a little closer to the border with Esemen than she would be back at the main base, but not enough to look deeply into the country.

It was a shame, because she wished she could keep checking on Ria and Marianne. They’d gotten out of her range in practical terms shortly after crossing the border, although she might have been able to follow them for longer if she’d been able to focus on it. And she suspected having this many drones around her actually made this harder. Either way, she’d been too distracted by other needs to spend much effort on it, and with the distance this large, it was hard to find out more of what was going on with the Esemen, anyway —

Except that, as she looked right now, it was different. Regina sat up straighter and took in a sharp breath. Have I really been that distracted? She asked herself.

“Regina?” Max asked, standing up and stepping to her side.

“They must have been moving quickly,” Regina muttered.

She sensed his confusion, distantly, before it cleared. “The Esemen?” he asked, tone tense.

Regina nodded absently. “There’s a lot of minds there. Still far out, in terms of my range, but that’s definitely an army. At least one army,” she corrected herself, frowning. She hadn’t thought there’d be forces crossing the border that soon, and there were definitely more than she’d expected even with the warning from Ria and the drones with her.

Max’s concern was back. “Can you feel any of ours?” he asked.

Regina closed her eyes and focused exclusively on what her psychic senses were telling her, blocking out everything else. It took a moment to regain clarity. She inhaled deeply, then started going through the sensations, narrowing down everything that felt like it could be important, watching for familiar patterns.

After ten minutes that felt like much longer, Regina opened her eyes again and rested her head in her hand. She already had a headache, but that was a distant concern compared to what she’d found.

“I got Marianne Neralt,” she told Max. “From what I could tell, she wasn’t harmed. She didn’t seem to be in pain or anything, just anxious, anyway.” She paused. “Ria was not there. I couldn’t sense her.”

“Well, shit,” Max cursed. “They separated them?”

Regina nodded. “She must be deeper in Esemen, still. I’m confident I would have felt it if she’d died.”

He was still frowning, and Regina returned the sentiment. She couldn’t think of many good reasons why the Esemen would split them up. Especially considering the not-exactly-unexpected but still unwelcome invasion army. Because seriously, what else could it be?

It really was a shame that she didn’t have a psychic connection to Marianne and no way to learn what was going on from her.