The battle was a bit of a disaster.

Maybe that was because the battle hadn’t really started. At least, it wasn’t like the other times the hive had fought like this. Not that assaulting a fixed position was their specialty, but Regina still felt a difference. She wanted to cringe just watching it.

Units of drones were milling about in confusion, edging out of position, when they were supposed to turn their general approach to the Nerlians’ positions into an actual battle. Their commanders were confused, talking back and forth and contributing to the general disorder in the psychic link. This time, Regina realized with a sinking feeling, the usual strength of the hive was turned against it, the downside of their coordination showing.

She was having a hard time just figuring out what was going on, but things were clearly heading towards a disaster, that much Regina could see easily. She hesitated and touched the minds of her commanders, watching Ben and Tim’s barely suppressed panic and anxious attempts to restore order.

Then she made a decision. Regina reached through the psychic link, throwing the strength of her mind at her army and wrestling with the confusion and scattered focus of her drones. Pull back, she ordered them.

They complied. Regina had come on stronger than she’d really intended, if she’d paused to think about it, maybe more forceful than she would have thought she could. But at their Hive Queen’s order, the drones reacted. They paused, allowing for their officers to quickly restore a semblance of order, and retreated. Arrows and heavier projectiles rained down on them, but they didn’t do much damage given the distance and general distribution of forces.

Regina exhaled heavily. She opened her eyes for a moment, tugging on a mandible and leaning her head back against the headrest of her chair. “Well, that was a thing,” she muttered.

Max didn’t say anything this time. Regina glanced at him, noting his distraction and obvious focus on the psychic link, before she concentrated on it again as well.

She wasn’t a general, but she knew enough to be aware that retreating like this would be a bad thing. Defenders might be emboldened by seemingly chasing off their attackers, and with minimal losses, at that. She didn’t really worry about her drones’ reaction, though. Regina figured they were pretty much immune to getting demoralized. Or close enough, anyway. The Swarm Drones would attack when and who she told them to, even if it was against overwhelming odds through a minefield into artillery fire.

Besides, they’d never planned on immediately doing an all-out assault. Hopefully, it was fine.

Regina focused on Ben, waiting a moment for a gap in his conversation with Ada and the other commanders. What happened? she asked him.

I’m trying to figure that out, my Queen, he replied, the tension he was feeling evident. Things are a bit of a mess right now.

Regina withdrew her mind so he could get on it, and instead tried to get a general feel of the army. She sighed. Concerned questions were coming in from other parts of the hive, sensing that something was wrong. She quickly reassured Mia, Via and the others that everything was under control. Then she chanced a look through some Winged Drones.

Regina watched activity across their fortified lines, taking in the arrangement of the enemy and the hive’s forces. She realized that she’d probably made a mistake. She could have just told everyone to charge, and pull back in good order after an attack, inflicting a bit of damage and hopefully getting a better idea of the Nerlians’ disposition. That should have left a different impression. An ‘overabundance of caution’ might have actually led her to a worse outcome this time.

Shaking her head, she concentrated on her people in the area and dove deeper, connecting to several of them, assessing their status and starting to talk to some of the drones who weren’t fully occupied with other efforts. It took a bit of time until she managed to get some sense out of it, but after a little while, she felt like she was starting to get the picture of what happened. It didn’t help her relax, unfortunately.

My Queen, Ben called her again a short time later.

Regina disengaged from her current conversation and instead focused on him, noting that Tim was there, too. She connected to both of their minds so they’d all be able to talk, leaving it open for other drones to join, as well.

I think we figured out what they used, Ben told her. It was …

Ritual magic, Regina completed. She let them sense an echo of the annoyance she was feeling. I talked to some of the Witches who’re close enough, and they all agree. She sighed. We knew the Nerlians used rituals. We weren’t sufficiently prepared.

Ben grimaced. I’m sorry, my Queen. This is my responsibility.

No, Regina responded. It’s not. I’m not saying you aren’t to blame at all, you probably do share a bit of the fault here, but so do most of us. I should have realized this and made preparations.

We’ve still been underestimating them, haven’t we? Tim said.

Actually, I’m not so sure, Ben said, surprising her. They don’t somehow have better tech or higher levels. The basic strategic situation hasn’t changed. This is just one trick, one card they’ve played now.

True, Regina conceded. And we did learn that rituals are supposed to be expensive.

Then let’s hope they don’t have many more of those in the tank, Tim said. But what exactly did they do? What was the effect?

Disrupting our psychic link, if I had to guess, Regina answered. I’m not sure exactly how, but it might have been a general anti-psychic effect of some kind. Clearly not actual suppression, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Probably more on the order of adding noise, like putting up buzzers to make it harder for people to hold a conversation. There might also have been something else.

They took that in silently for a moment, before Ben asked, And how long is it going to last?

I’m not sure, but it’s clearly not just a one-and-done thing. The other ritual for increasing their speed lasted for days. We should assume a similar timeframe, at least.

That means if we tried to push into their fortifications now, they’d be effectively weakening our link and our cohesion, Tim concluded with a frown.

Regina drummed her fingers on her leg restlessly. How big of a danger would that be, now that we know about it?

There was a quick mental exchange between Ben and Tim, and she didn’t catch all of it.

It’s not prohibitive, Ben said. We can just make sure to assign more sapient drones and drill battle plans into their heads beforehand. It would be annoying, but I don’t see it really stopping us from successfully taking the Nerlians’ lines, if we wanted to.

Good. Still, we probably shouldn’t just bull our way through any obstacles without bothering to reconsider our plans. Take a bit of time and confer with the others. See if we might need to change something, or find a way to take advantage of what we’ve learned. Also, make sure to increase our scouts. We’re still not quite sure about that Esemen army in the east, right?

Ben grimaced. True. Their advance elements have been pretty good at hiding from or shooting down our Winged Drones, but the main problem is we just don’t really know what they’re after. I’ll get on it, my Queen.

Regina stood up and started pacing across the room. She was tempted to just call the other drones nearby and prepare to set out for the army herself. She could even argue that she’d be safer there, surrounded by so many drones. Of course, the small town she was currently staying at was deep in the middle of territory the hive currently controlled, and Max and his cadre of bodyguards remained with her as protection. She had the feeling Ben and Tim wouldn’t be very happy with it. On the other hand, it would also shift the limits of her psychic range, so she’d need to consider this carefully. For now, she contented herself with just moving a bit while she thought about the situation.

We should find out more about that ritual, Ira said, joining the conversation. My Queen, would Galatea know more about it?

Probably, Regina answered, frowning thoughtfully. She had to admit she’d been reluctant to ask Galatea for advice. Partly that was because she felt a bit guilty and didn’t want to get in the habit of relying on her, or taking her help for granted. And also just that she wanted to show she could do things herself and didn’t need Galatea’s help. But when it came to the welfare of her hive, her pride had no place in her decisions.

Regina exhaled heavily and reached out through the psychic link again. Galatea had been drifting through the hive’s territory over the last few days, mostly seeing what they were building and learning about their efforts at what one might generously call building up a tech base. She’d talked to Mia and others involved with it quite a bit, although Regina had only vaguely noticed that.

Now she contacted Mia, checking in with her briefly. She was currently pacing in her workshop, thinking about the design specs of her newest brainchild, a modified turbine they might be able to eventually use to generate power from waterwheels, and getting frustrated at her lack of progress. Mia almost felt relieved at Regina’s touch, and immediately agreed to go look for Galatea for her.

It didn’t take them long to find the mana-form AI. Galatea was in a nearby workshop, puttering about with Conjured magnets, wire and tools she had enchanted herself. It was a bit odd seeing them all floating through the air, moved by telekinesis.

“Mia! Nice to see you.” Galatea turned to her immediately and coked her head after a moment. “Is something up?”

“It’s Regina, she wanted to ask a few questions,” Mia explained as she stepped closer, glancing around curiously.

“Of course. Not to dismiss your own contributions, but maybe it would be better if I talked directly to her? It might go smoother without ‘translation’, so to say.”

Regina hesitated. She understood what Galatea meant, but she hadn’t directly taken control of a drone in a while. She sensed Mia’s immediate agreement, though, and decided to just go for it. So she took a mental step closer, settling more firmly behind Mia’s eyes and reaching for not just her senses, but motor control as well.

“Hi, Galatea, and thank you,” she spoke through Mia. She also moved her body, adjusting her posture, to make the transition clearer. “The Nerlians have worked some magic again, and I’m pretty sure it’s a ritual. It seemed to have impacted our psychic link. Do you know anything about that?”

Galatea frowned and straightened, putting away the screwdriver she had just been handling. “We’ve talked about rituals before, if you’ll recall. I didn’t mention those with psychic effects since they’re rather rare, from everything I know. I suppose one like that would be a good countermeasure against your Hive, though.”

"How rare?” Regina asked. “Would they have had to get the knowledge from somewhere specific?”

Galatea shrugged. “I’m not an expert, Regina. I don’t know. Why, do you have a source in mind?”

Regina hesitated, then grimaced. Mia’s body mirrored the expression. “I was wondering if the Delvers might have helped them. They do have a pretty powerful psychic now, right?”

“Hm.” Galatea cocked her head. “Can you explain the effects in more detail?”

Regina did as she asked, trying to describe what she had sensed as closely as possible and sharing all of her speculation and guesstimates.

When she was done, Galatea nodded. “That is interesting. It does, to be honest, sound rather crude. Your link wasn’t completely disrupted for even a second, your drones could all talk to each other, there were no physical or even psychosomatic effects, and you were able to reach everyone and order them to disengage,” she ticked off on her fingers, then shook her head. “No, I don’t think you need to worry about that part, Regina. I would be very surprised if Madris was involved in that.”

“You think it would be worse if she had been?”

“Madris is a very powerful psychic, Regina. I have no doubt that if she was involved with a ritual — Which is possible, I suppose, the dark elves are not known for rituals, but that does not mean they might not use them —“ Galatea frowned thoughtfully. “Anyway, if someone of her caliber designed or conducted a ritual, I’d bet it would have more of an effect. Ritual casting still relies on the caster’s knowledge of the specific magic they want to invest, remember.”

“So she might be able to cast a ritual that would disrupt our psychic link much more strongly?” Regina asked worriedly.

Galatea shrugged again. “Maybe, maybe not. I expect the costs would be severe, in either case.”

That reassured her a little, although Regina still resolved to work out contingency plans for the hive’s link being disrupted or suppressed. “How long do you think the effect will last?” she asked, changing the topic slightly.

“A few days, most likely. Without more information, I can’t narrow it down more than that.”

Regina nodded. Well, that answered a few of her questions, at least. She supposed she should find Galatea’s obvious disregard for the ritual’s effects encouraging.

“Speaking of the Delvers, however,” Galatea continued, fixing her gaze on Regina’s, or rather Mia’s. She looked serious. “I have been loosely keeping tabs on them, considering your encounters with them.”

“You mean you’ve been scrying them?” Regina asked.

Galatea smiled slightly. “Mostly, yes. I’ve been cautious, though. Their security is pretty good. I still noticed an uptick in activity. They’re preparing for something, or already doing something. So, I just wanted to let you know the Delvers are on the move.”

Regina sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, this time not mirroring the gesture with Mia. “That’s just what we need, someone else stirring shit up,” she complained. “Do you have any idea on specifics?”

“Not really,” Galatea shook her head. “I don’t think they’re gearing up to fight a war, although I could be wrong. I wouldn’t even be sure what side they’d be on, though. They haven’t seemed very interested in either of the Cernlian leaders’ offers. I suppose the Esemen might have made them better ones, but that seems like a bit of a stretch.”

Regina frowned. “How much could they contribute to anyone? And how informed are they even on the state of the war?”

“Some fighters, obviously. Maybe more. And I’d expect they know what’s been going on. In fact, there’s a rumor that they have some kind of clairvoyant.” Galatea shrugged and waved her hand. “It’s always better to assume they know more than they should, when it comes to these Delvers.”

Regina shook her head. “Well, whatever. I guess we’ll have to see. Do me a favor, though? Keep an eye on the gnomes as well. It seems like everyone and their grandmother is coming to join this party, I’d rather not be blindsided.”

Galatea chuckled. “Will do, Regina.”