Rather than immediately attempt to take out the last vestiges of the Void Scrying Sect’s power, efforts were instead focused on securing their position throughout the wider area. That included perimeter bases under their control.

As for planets, that was a matter of much contention. It was already difficult to keep a handle on Egnos and Andrade alone, stretching their forces thinner was a troublesome prospect. Even if many of the people of Egnos understood their abandonment, that didn’t suddenly negate their distaste for foreign forces coming in and taking over. Nor did their relative lack of participation negate the bitterness the Shining Cooperative and Lower Realms Alliance felt towards anyone who had been under the banner of the Trigold Cluster.

Progress was slow in the whole region, and it was hoped that the other side of the civil war would finish them off. Contact and negotiations with the Fearsome Menagerie and their allies were inconsistent at best, even as they now shared borders.

The one avenue where there was significant progress happening was with regards to the third faction, those from smaller groups disillusioned by the actions of the Trigold Cluster. Tor, the Shimmering Spears, and others who had also been concerned about the devastation in Zunrose. They managed to take control of multiple planets simply because the forces of the larger factions had consolidated in the core worlds- and because they had more than a few groups on board. Yet so far, their controlled worlds represented only a tiny fraction of the overall population. The movement hadn’t yet shown itself to be a threat to either of the larger factions, especially not compared to the two high stakes wars happening.

-----

It was strange, to suddenly be in charge of other void ants. The Son of the Queen didn’t feel he had done much to deserve his new status… but he also couldn’t deny that he’d been somewhat effective in his previous mission. Surviving might not have been merely through his own determination but factors beyond his control… but he was given a position regardless. And that meant upholding the duties assigned to him, just as he had always wanted.

He had thought that those assigned to his command might resent him for taking a position meant for one of them, for being a male that should not have lived. But they were under orders of the Great Queen, so how could they not perform their best for him? Except he knew that void ants weren’t just rigid structure. Indeed, many of those assigned to him were more unusual sorts who had trouble within the normal hierarchy. They seemed to appreciate him more for his uniqueness.

The Son knew he wasn’t going to accomplish missions no other void ant could manage. But he would do his best. This mission had involved familiarizing himself with enemy communications devices meant for humans to employ. That was only a small part of it, but he’d studied diligently.

His final verdict was that humans were too big. But at least if a few hundred void ants joined together, they could press buttons and flip switches. Their purpose was to do so, to arrive at a certain planet and then send a message.

The planet in question was Rotaire, the last of the core worlds occupied by the worst of their current foes. There had previously been eight such worlds, until Zunrose was destroyed. Along with Egnos, Xeotov, and Anrade, it had made up the four that wound up under the control of the Void Scrying Sect’s faction. Now it was the last of them, with two taken by the lower realms natives and one by their former allies- ones who clearly did not appreciate being left out of the loop and losing all of their disciples and investments on Zunrose.

The Son of the Queen didn’t have much hope for common empathy among Trigold Cluster cultivators, so perhaps they might not have cared if they had been given the opportunity to be part of the plans. Plans to get their hands on a worldheart, and perhaps a starheart. But one group grew too greedy… and had underestimated his people.

Specifically his human people. They hadn’t really known about the void ants, which was too bad for them, because now they couldn’t be rid of them. Speaking of which, their transport capsule was almost to Rotaire.

Sending a ship so close was risky, and they didn’t have many other spies approaching the planet. So they would parachute through the atmosphere, the capsule that carried them slowing as much as possible before ejecting them and letting them manage the rest of the way.

It would have been nice to sneak onto an enemy ship and land that way, but this operation needed them to land in a particular place. Void ants simply took too long to travel around a planet otherwise, and each ship they boarded hoping to draw nearer to their destination was another chance they would be spotted.

To cultivators, they were nearly invisible. But nearly invisible was still somewhat visible, and just as cultivators were vulnerable to them, void ants were vulnerable to humans. Simple poisons or a natural fire could kill them, if they were expected. It was only where natural energy existed as a catalyst that void ants were practically immune. Though even that was not completely true, for their weaker members.

The capsule struck the planet’s barrier. Another potential point of failure- if they had not been going quickly enough, they would not make it through. But too much energy, and they would be easily noticed. There was some significant chance that they would never make it to the ground, even now. But as the capsule rotated and began to slow itself, pressing the void ants against its insides, there didn’t seem to be any incoming concentrations of natural energy.

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Even normal attacks could be a danger if they turned the capsule to slag, potentially crushing and burning the void ants. But it had very little energy of its own, made of technology meant to break down in the atmosphere and leave no traces.

A sudden shift, and the Son of the Queen checked their attachment to the formation they were standing in. Each ant was hooked onto several others, with no flaws he could spy. The air was filled with tension, nervous scents and tiny trembles in ant bodies.

Void ants that felt fear might seem worse than others, but these ladies had proven they could push past fear. And fear was useful for determining actual dangers that might otherwise be overlooked.

The capsule broke apart, sending them into the clouds as a web that was still hurtling towards the ground. The heat surrounding it was suddenly apparent, and the ablative shielding wouldn’t have been a protection for much longer.

Several ants were nearly torn away from their net, but those on the outside who were pulled away from their brethren found that they had less drag on their own, and could climb back onto their allies. In the middle, each was connected to the most others and all managed to hold strong. Soon enough, they were falling at the terminal velocity of largeish ants, which was not terribly high.

If they were meant to split up, that was when they would do so. But their target was one of the last bastions of the Twin Soul Sect, hoping to find their deepest secrets. They would need to work together to move efficiently. The risk of being spotted in greater numbers had been accounted for, and they had just the right amount.

The Son leaned slightly to the side, flapping his partially regrown wings to help adjust their movement more. While they should survive a crash into solid stone at such a speed, it would be better if they landed in dirt. And said dirt was better cover.

They landed in a field, and to their great fortune they immediately stumbled upon some familiar scents. Those of other, lesser ants. Their pheromones were less complex to go with their brains, but that also meant they were more exploitable. The Son of the Queen had a plan already churning.

“We’re going to gather food as part of our search,” he instructed his squadron. While the local black ants would certainly have searched for food, they were simple individuals. They were unable to recognize larger structures or make educated choices about where they would likely find food.

Rather than attempting a swift infiltration, he had a longer term plan. He could already make out likely areas for the sects to have warehouses that stored food. He scouted out the area with his squadron, finding what they sought in the third building. Then there were only slight issues with formations meant to keep out insects. Obviously void ants didn’t have trouble with them, easily pushing through the weak barriers. But they needed their foolish cousins to help them test the local human populace.

“The food is not for us to eat. Not yet,” the Son declared. “Instead, we shall create a trail for the local ants. We will then observe the response of the humans. If they react as if these ants are void ants, we may see their countermeasures. And if they recognize them as simple ants, they may grow complacent should we be revealed, once exposed to enough infiltration of these ants.”

Nibbling formations was going to take a great bit of their time in the near future. Making it look like natural decay was important. They would also create routes around formations for the standard ants to follow, and they would do so given a proper application of pheromones. It was easy enough to fake something to the tolerances of the unintelligent.

-----

It took longer for the Son of the Queen to provoke a response than he had thought. It was days before anyone noticed a trail of ants in the back of the warehouse, even though cooks and apprentices seemed to draw from its stores daily. Simply a travesty. Perhaps they should have ignored complexity and simply gone for what they desired.

Except food stores were a relatively insecure location. That was foolish, of course, as they could have easily been poisoned by infiltrators. But that was a tactic that would speak of intelligence. Instead, the ants were simply acting as they would naturally, with a bit of a nudge.

The humans responded appropriately by leaving poisoned bait. A diabolical tactic that was easily recognized by those of any thought. Humans never poisoned their own food stores, after all. They simply made the poison more convenient.

They were a bit too eager with their efforts, however. A powerful poison meant that those workers collecting the food died before reaching the nest. Even unintelligent ants would tend to recognize the dangers. Dead ants near food meant bad food. They removed both from their path, and the humans were able to see the success of their plans. Hundreds or thousands dead.

Which was literally nothing. Without the death of the queen, and with the injection of a significant amount of food before the poisoned morsels, the growth of the colony would continue. That meant they could continue to be used to evaluate the responses of the local humans even further.

Ants were poisoned, swept away, and crushed. The latter was most terrifying to the void ants, as that was the most likely method to actually kill them. They might react better than normal ants, avoiding a thumb, but then they would be revealed. Fortunately, most cultivators could not be bothered with squishing individual ants.

The colony was directed to various different parts of the sect grounds, really just all of the nearest buildings. Soon the humans would be used to their presence. Would they react more strongly with the continued presence, or just give up and ignore the insects? That was but one of many tests taking place over the next week. Meanwhile, the void ants moved carefully and swiftly, going nowhere humans would look. Nor where they would pay much attention to their energy senses, as the slight nothingness of void ants could tip them off.

The infiltration had just begun. Hopefully, these methods produced the results they needed to reach important information and retrieve it.