Regina had the feeling Tia wasn’t exactly happy about her dumping a new task on her without warning, but she didn’t complain, just got to work. Tia being Tia, after a few hours she had forgotten any resentment and was excitedly sharing plans for their new prison cave.

Zephyr was already being transported there, and Regina guided a few drones through it to make sure everything was being built up to specs. It was vaguely reminiscent of a traditional maximum security jail, but rather smaller — they didn’t anticipate ever having more than a few prisoners at this level — and entirely underground. The air vents were designed carefully and could be collapsed, as well as concentrate gas in the actual rooms if they pumped it in. The meters of rock all around it would hopefully help as well. Beyond that, they were starting to experiment with enchanting the metal that would form the actual cell.

Regina left that to Tia and the others, only making sure that Zephyr wouldn’t wake up or suffer any medical emergencies. Then she turned her attention to the Esemen, and the building fight.

It hadn’t been long since she’d started to get distracted by the interrogation and fight with the human archmage, but Janis had already reorganized her troops and concentrated some of them into divisions she was sending into the contested territory. It would be a multi-pronged attack, the drones advancing slowly and carefully with a heavy screen of scouts and fliers. If the Esemen had the information about the ritual the Nerlians used and tried to cast it, they’d be prepared. None of the hive’s troops would be too far from reinforcements, and there were enough sapient fliers and mages to establish lines of communication even if the psychic link was disrupted.

Regina didn’t really think it would happen, though. They knew about it now, and besides, she didn’t get the feeling the Esemen would know the ritual. The Nerlians certainly wouldn’t have told them, and if someone else had, they’d timed it pretty badly. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. So, she only encouraged Janis to implement measures, and listened in as she consulted with Ben.

The Esemen were reacting to their advance. Looking from above, through the eyes of several drones, Regina could watch their reaction ripple outward. It was pretty clear they didn’t have the instant communication the hive did. That didn’t mean they were slow, of course. She was pretty sure they were using some kind of magic, if nothing else. It wasn’t always easy to see when word reached a particular place, since they’d been preparing beforehand, but she still tried to get a map of their response, as accurately as possible.

Marianne was still farther away. Regina didn’t mind that, it would be good to get her out of the line of fire. She tried to scan the rest of the minds there, but this far away, there wasn’t much she could pick up. Nothing really stood out to her, anyway.

At least it would free her to not have to worry about Marianne. Regina still felt a bit bad about sending the old woman out and putting her in danger like that. In retrospect, she’d probably been a little too sure about those assurances of human nations respecting diplomatic immunity and protections. The gnomes should have been the outlier. And, well, I suppose she wasn’t part of my hive. I shouldn’t have risked one of my sapient drones, either.

Ria’s fate was still something that stuck in her mind like an itch she couldn’t scratch. She’d tried to recall her, but without anything to target, Queen’s Summons was still just as useless as anything else. That was a bit of a painful lesson on the limitations of the Abilities the System had granted her. If she’d still been able to feel her mind or at least knew her location, it would probably have been easy, but apparently, the psychic link was involved in making it work. Or it might just be Ria was out of her range, she supposed.

For now, Regina tried to push thoughts of her unfortunate diplomats aside and focus on the immediate situation. The hive’s drones were coming closer to Esemen forces, at least from what she could see. There might have been some invisible or otherwise stealthed soldiers closer by, watching the drones or even preparing to fight. She’d probably have to be there in person to check and be sure. Regina followed along with Janis’ mind, though, watching as they checked and collated reports from the scouts. There were a few Keepers with the army, to help organize the psychic link and shore up their communication.

Nothing happened, though, and Regina tried not to let nerves get to her. Maybe she was being a bit too jumpy after the thing with the allied human army. She still watched rather than trying to distract herself with something else, though.

When battle was finally joined, it felt almost anticlimactic. There was a large hive patrol supported a little further back by another company, with a few sapient Warriors. They had just crossed a small stream when arrows started spouting from a few of the Swarm Drones. One of the Winged Drones ahead dove and, looking through its eyes, Regina saw the unit of human soldiers setting the ambush. There were only about two dozen of them, crouched behind sparse tree cover. Now several were raising crossbows and what might have been primitive muskets, targeting the drones.

Janis reacted before Regina even had the chance to issue any orders. She sent a few Swarm Drones forward to tank the attacks, while the sapient drones fell back and guided some of the others to move to the sides and flank the Esemen fighters. At the same time, Winged Drones picked up rocks, if they weren’t carrying anything already, or dropped their payloads above the soldiers.

The Esemen clearly realized they would be flushed out sooner or later and instead started to charge the drones, their melee fighters closing the distance rapidly. Before they could arrive, though, the drones to the sides charged them instead, supported by fire from the back line. A brief but furious melee erupted, supported by a few Spells and Class Skills at range. The hive ganged up on enemy soldiers, with the drones jumping them from the back where they could.

Regina threaded her fingers together and watched silently, trying not to give in to the tension she was feeling. She lost a few Swarm Drones, but the enemy never even got close to the sapient drones. About half of the soldiers managed to retreat, while the rest were left dead or injured. The drones on the ground quickly directed the Swarm Drones to secure them, while an Attendant came forward to heal the worst injuries, closely guarded by the rest of the team. At this point, even an outside observer would have been able to tell that they had some experience in this. Quickly, the prisoners were secured and on their way to the hive’s current base, while the unit carefully moved on to keep scouting, wary of any further ambushes.

How are you feeling about this? Regina asked Janis, after making sure she wasn’t currently focused on something else.

Janis gave a mental shrug. It’s going about as I thought, she said. We’re unlikely to be lucky enough for them to just stand around waiting for a field battle, and honestly, if they were, I would be concerned about some sinister trap.

You’ve been talking to Earl Whitor? Regina asked.

Well, I’ve been communicating with him, using the psychic link with drones talking to him. Honestly, he’s been pretty quiet the last few days. Maybe he’s concerned with what happened with the Cernlian king and Lyns’ ascension. They’ve definitely been exchanging a few letters already.

Regina nodded. That was something she’d been told as well, but the piece of information had kind of been lost in the flood of other news. Since the hive had started building up something like a real intelligence apparatus, there had been a lot of information and potentially significant intel coming in. Drone Keepers were mostly handling it for her, for now.

I think Ben might have the bigger challenge right now, actually, Janis continued.

Regina frowned, but let her attention drift to his mind. Well, thanks for the update, Janis. Keep up the good work.

Ben was currently a lot farther away than Janis, deep into Nerlia. Still, her range had expanded enough in recent months that it wasn’t even close to the limit, and she had no trouble sensing him and the others with him, as well as some other minds in the general area.

Ben had a sizeable army with him, the one from the previous battle strengthened with some reinforcements. It was heavier on ground troops than Janis’, partly reflecting their new tactics. The idea of shooting guns from up high was nice in theory, but it would play hell with their accuracy, and Swarm Drones weren’t the best at shooting anyway. Regina didn’t think they really needed it, since the Nerlians had also lost most of their fliers, and wouldn’t be able to contest their aerial superiority. Finding any enemy soldiers who’d gone to ground would be much more important and difficult, so their flying drones focused on scouting rather than dropping bombs on shield walls. Like Janis, Ben had also split the army into several interlinked units that could move independently.

Hey, Ben, she reached out to him. How’s it going?

She sensed brief surprise by him, before he greeted her warmly. Pretty well, my Queen, he answered. At least, I think so. Weren’t you going to focus on Janis’ side of the war, though?

Well, that doesn’t mean I can’t check in on you, Regina replied, unsure how to feel. Was she so distant and uninvolved that he felt she neglected him? Or was he afraid she was checking on him because didn’t trust him to handle it?

I didn’t mean it like that, he quickly assured her. I’m always happy to talk to you, Regina. I just thought something might be up.

Not really, she admitted. Janis mentioned you might have more problems than she, but I think that’s just the general situation. It’s going to be a challenge just to find the Nerlian fighters, right?

Pretty much. We’re trying to prevent them from going to ground in the first place, but I’m not sure how successful that’s going to be. I also don’t want to drag out the war, I understand why you want us to finish it quickly.

Do we need more mobility? she asked, frowning. If we can catch them quickly, especially before their units can start to disperse?

It wouldn’t hurt, he said, but I’m not sure how much we can do.

Regina sighed a little. I’ll prioritize Winged Drones, she said. Maybe we should send more sapient drones your way, as well, especially the flying ones.

That’ll help, he acknowledged. Then Ben hesitated for a moment. It would also be really good to find them and maybe monitor them with psychic scanning. Do you think you can do something like that?

Regina tugged on her mandible, shaking her head. I could do a reasonable job at that if I was closer, I think, she said hesitantly. But I’m sure you don’t want me to join you in person, and honestly, I don’t really want to go too far from the rest of the troublespots down here. I’ll still do what I can, and maybe move north a bit to get closer to both of you. Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen so far it doesn’t really seem possible to give one of my drones psychic abilities. Maybe it’s all bound up in the psychic link? I mean, the Keepers have their own, of course, but they’re focused on the maintenance and usage of the psychic link, not reaching outwards.

That kind of sucks, he said contemplatively, but it’s not surprising, and it fits what they said when I asked. We’ll just have to make do, then.

We will, Regina agreed.

And speaking of ways we can deal with the Nerlians … Ben hesitated again. My Queen, what’s your stance on getting Nerlia dealt with through other means, not just military force, I mean?

Depends on the situation and the details. What do you mean? Talking to the Nerlian king and getting him to surrender to us?

Something like that. Ben shrugged. I’ve been thinking a bit about what you said about our goals, and how to achieve a real victory. We don’t really need to beat them down completely. I’m sure the king would prefer to surrender and hand over power to you rather than be destroyed completely if he still gets to retain something.

It’s definitely worth considering, Regina said. We’d need to set up diplomatic channels, and honestly, after Esemen, I’m not too keen on sending diplomats to the enemy stronghold again. But it wouldn’t be hard to figure something out.

Well, one of the reasons I was bringing it up now is because of this, Ben smiled. I think you might already have an overture from the Nerlians.

Regina followed the focus of his attention, which he was sharpening on a specific point. Ben was always good at picking up new tricks with the psychic link. It didn’t take her long to choose the right drones in the link and look through their eyes to see what he was focused on.

It did look like a diplomatic envoy, she had to admit. No one was waving a white flag, exactly, but there was a large banner on a pole showing the Nerlian royal coat of arms. That was probably about the equivalent in this time and place. The man in the center looked like a courtier, although he wore a sword and also looked like he knew how to use it. He was flanked by several knights, judging by their armor. They rode horses she could tell had been well taken care of. They must have only just set out, if she was reading things right, and were still a fair distance away from Ben and his army. Still, they were heading roughly in the right direction.

Well, Regina decided, I guess I’ll take this as an opportunity.

Are you going to agree to whatever deal the king wants to make? Ben asked.

She shrugged again. That depends on what he’s willing to give. Regina smiled a little. And it certainly wouldn’t hurt if we were in an even more superior bargaining position, such as if you continue to successfully root out and defeat their forces in the field.

I’ll do my best, my Queen, Ben said drily.

Do so, Regina commanded. When you encounter these people, don’t harm them and escort them to a secure location. I won’t be meeting them personally, but we’ll send a senior drone as envoy. Make sure they don’t get too good a glimpse of our forces in the process.

As you will, my Queen, Ben answered seriously. I’ll take care of it.