Regina had been nervous about the plan since Janis first sent it with flying drones across the invisible border demarcating the effect of the ritual.

The basic idea of it was very simple. They would attempt to pierce through the ritual effect from several spots to increase the chance of success. Galatea and Madris had assured her it should work. Or so Janis said, anyway, Regina wasn’t going to waste time double-checking it with everything that was going on. It wasn’t quite a targeted purification of the disruption field, but it should do the trick, since suppressing psychic power was what it was all about.

Now, she stumbled away from the direction of the armies, almost falling on her ass, trying to think past the blinding headache that was slowly subsiding. It seemed it had indeed worked … although the price might be high.

The headache was one thing, but reaching out through her psychic link was almost harder to handle. The area that had previously been cut off was now open to her senses again. More or less, at least. She could contact the drones inside again, and having their minds in the psychic link was a great relief, if a bit disruptive. Something she’d have to adjust to, but she would, and quickly.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have much time to orient herself, since they were currently in the middle of a battle. That had been expected, of course. If nothing else, the Nerlians should have a much harder time and be less inclined to look for mages trying to break their little suppression ritual field while there was a battle with the hive raging.

She would still like to actually win the battle, though.

It was clearly proceeding according to plan, as Janis had directed. Although Janis herself was not there to guide it.

Regina tentatively reached out and winced right away. Janis was in a lot of pain, and even with the psychic link, Regina wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. Galatea or Madris might know what’s going on, she considered.

The battle was proceeding without pause. There had been brief confusion on the hive’s side, and they’d faltered and been pushed back. Their left flank was almost collapsed. But Ben had quickly taken command and organized the sapient drones. Others outside had been standing by and were now helping as well. It was a good thing he’d known this would - hopefully - happen. Already, she could sense the increase in the tempo of the fight as the flying drones sent down hails of rocks and the occasional explosive, dancing through the air and switching out units as they formed temporary flocks above the battlefield.

Regina was currently more concerned with Janis, though. The part-elemental mage was lying where she’d attempted her ritual, with Dan standing guard above her with growing concern. She’d been relatively close to the edge of the effect, where the battle was fought, but still well within it. Regina quickly reached out to check on the others. Madris would be even deeper within the field, since she’d been sent in the other direction, across the enemy army. Galatea was at an almost straight angle from them, just outside the area of effect proper - both as an anchor point and as a precaution for her own ‘twisted’ mana. Regina herself was still close to where the disruption field had been, just outside it by what probably wasn’t more than a few meters, where the hive had been gathering reinforcements. She couldn’t have risked coming closer and being cut off from her entire hive.

Regina hissed and held her head as the headache flared up again, feeling like someone was hammering hot nails into her skull. She blinked and her vision swam for a moment with colors blurring together.

“Here, my Queen, drink this.” Via gently propped her up and handed her a cup with steam wafting from it.

Regina looked down at the cup, roughly carved from wood, and tentatively took a sip. The hot tea tasted bitter, but it was nice. “Thank you,” she muttered. She didn’t have the energy or focus to spare to wonder how Ira had managed this.

“Of course. Is Janis alright?” she asked, sounding concerned.

Regina sighed and straightened up, then took another careful sip of the tea. “She’s alive,” she said, because she couldn’t truthfully say anything more. “I’d go to her, but —“

“Please don’t, my Queen,” Max cut in.

She glanced at him and quirked an eyebrow, then turned back to Ira. A few other drones were standing around as well, and she could feel the shifting concern and relief from them. “Dan and the others will protect her,” she told her. “If there is any lingering damage, I can heal it later. She doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger. And I’m sure Galatea can tell us more about this.”

Regina mentally reached out to search for her friend. Galatea wasn’t part of the hive, of course, but she was reasonably familiar with her mind. It helped that it wasn’t like anything else she’d encountered. At the moment, the AI was still kilometers away from both her and the site of the battle and Janis, but after a bit of looking, Regina found her and realized she was traveling back inside what had been the area of effect of the Nerlians’ ritual. She wasn’t moving quite as quickly as she could, evidently being careful, but she’d be there in due time. Perhaps not in time for the battle to be decided, though.

Just now, Ben was notifying her through the psychic link that he wouldn’t be able to monitor the battle as closely. They’d decided to take advantage of the chaos here to push elsewhere, deeper in Nerlia, and his attention was needed to make sure their plans there went off successfully. Regina sent back a short acknowledgment and focused on the battle in Cernlia. It was a bit of bad luck that Janis also wasn’t there to direct the hive’s forces, or rather, wasn’t in any shape to do it. But Dan was familiar with all of her ideas and was stepping up to make sure it remained under control, along with other sapient drone commanders there like Zac and Alf.

For everything that had changed, not much had really happened, and the battle was still raging not very differently from how it had before their effort, on the surface. Battles like this didn’t move that quickly. There were still several ranks of troops pushing against each other in a mass melee. Neither side used large shields commonly, so there wasn’t really a shield wall to speak of, but they were still more sophisticated than everyone just hacking at each other randomly.

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As she watched, the Nerlians on the left flank performed a kind of rotation, melee fighters in front stepping back under cover of ranged combatants and a few mages, who intensified their rains of projectiles and magical attacks. Instead of simply switching out with a second line, though, the ranged barrage continued and the front-line soldiers drew together to protect the ranged ones. It also helped them defend against the flying drones, she realized after a moment. There were scattered flashes and sounds as some soldiers activated Skills to protect their part of the army from explosives and other things the Winged Drones dropped. A few even managed to redirect the attacks and struck down a few Winged Drones.

The hive reacted at once, and with a smoothness that wouldn’t have been possible without the coordination of the psychic link. The Winged Drones ascended higher and another flock that had previously kept back came forward, while on the ground, the horde of War Drones stepped back and more powerful fighters moved to the front. Regina watched as they let loose targeted attacks at the Nerlian defenses, breaking through in a few places and killing higher-level soldiers.

Dan’s mind sought hers, and Regina connected to him. My Queen, he greeted her.

Dan, you’re doing well, she responded. How’s Janis?

In his mind, she felt some brief amusement that her immediate concern was for her rather than the state of the battle. It covered some nervous tension deeper in. I’m not sure, but she seems to be stable and still herself, he responded. I can’t do much for her right now, except make sure the battle doesn’t turn on us so the enemy doesn’t get her.

Alright, she agreed. You do that. And speaking of the battle …

I’m trying my best to do what Janis would have, he responded, and she could sense the suppressed frustration in his voice. Dan didn’t believe he was a good commander, never had. In her opinion, he was selling himself short.

And you might just be underestimating Janis, my Queen, he told her seriously. He’d clearly caught at least an echo of her last thought. She’s new to this — actually not newer than most of the others, just for her people — but she’s clearly got good instincts and she knows what she’s doing. I don’t think I would have managed to trap the Nerlians this effectively. Even if it is a simple trap, sure, that doesn’t take away from it.

Regina frowned, but sent him a short acknowledgment to concede the point, as she turned her attention back to the battle.

Their immediate response to the left flank’s change in tactics wasn’t everything, although it took Regina a moment to realize what was happening even with the psychic link to use. The hive’s forces were still pulling apart a little bit, following the plan she’d gotten mostly just an outline of from the flying drone Janis had sent — widening the gaps between units a hair and thinning the ranks in the flanks a little. It invited the enemy to try to break through, but they weren’t really in a position for that right now and the hive would punish any attempt.

Although it did serve as an incentive, she realized. The left Nerlian flank that had been stuttering was now pulling together a little more and seemed to try to get on more offensive footing again. In response, the hive appeared to increase its attacks by higher-level drones, attempting to stifle them. The Swarm Drones in the higher levels who weren’t quite sapient edged forward, while at the same time the rhythm of the flying drones’ runs actually tapered off.

The Cernlian and Nerlian forces took the bait that had been offered. They couldn’t stay on the defensive and let their soldiers get picked off, and by switching to the offense, they could punish the hive for overextending. The left flank moved forward, also staying abreast with the right and the center, which had been advancing slowly but steadily. It should be stabilizing the Nerlians’ lines on the whole.

Regina smiled as she watched the last part of the plan click into place. The hive’s forces appeared to yield to the renewed pressure, wavering just a bit and yielding to the allied push. They gave ground, losing the advantage of the elevated position they’d had at the start. A few enterprising sapient drones even had their units retreat completely, in a picture of barely controlled withdrawal, just a push away from running, from a rout.

The human commanders responded. They’d come here, used their mages and probably spent most of their magic on a risky initiative to destabilize the hive’s coordination, prepared to corner and crush them before the situation turned further against them. If they let the hive go now, allowed an orderly retreat that would take them out of the former disruption field and to a hive outpost and reinforcements, they risked them coming back much better prepared for the next time.

So, the human army pressed forward. The hive kept giving ground, but human commanders on the ground might not see very well that it wasn’t uniformly. The center retreated more quickly than the sides. Regina watched, tugging on her mandible.

And then, the sides of the lines the hive had extended started to curl around the edges of the allied formation.

Regina smiled as she watched. The battle wasn’t finished, far from it, but it might as well be now. The flying drones were already adjusting their tactics, bombarding the human soldiers with the last of their stored explosives to prevent them from getting out of the beginning encirclement. Even if a mage or high-level fighter managed to put up a barrier to protect the soldiers around them from the bombs, they’d still be anchored in place by it. It might not even be necessary to get any fancier here, the humans still hadn’t seemed to realize what was happening. Or maybe their leaders have, but they can’t control their army as easily.

The hive’s psychic link meant she could technically take command of any or all units that were fighting and give them new orders or adjust their course. Even without that, hive armies didn’t have to worry about morale. They could pretend to retreat all day long without ever being in danger of actually routing, something human armies definitely couldn’t, even with the System. Janis had clearly realized the implications for more than guerrilla-style fighting.

She’d also prepared a few more elaborate contingencies, but Regina was rather glad those didn’t seem to be needed. The present plan might have worked even without having the psychic link, at least in principle, but she wasn’t sure how well that would have turned out. Right now, she watched Dan guide a Drone Charger with Janis on its back away from the battle and let the noise of it fade from the focus of her awareness. Her commanders had it well in hand, and they did have other concerns.

Like what the hell Madris was doing. Or how this would impact the war with the Esemen still advancing through northern Cernlia. For now, Regina checked on Galatea, noting that she was nearing the site of the battle, although she was also changing her course to avoid charging straight at it. She’d mentioned she’d rather keep her presence low-key, so Regina wasn’t surprised she wouldn’t fight in the battle. She wasn’t upset with that, either.

They still hadn’t found out who had given the Nerlians the knowledge of this ritual — since she doubted they’d just happened to chance on it themselves — and until she got more information, she’d rather be cautious about anything to do with the past, the gods, or anything beyond the surface of the war happening in this region.