The Sovereign Swarm had been busy trying to figure out how to deal with their Unit deficiency issue when they suddenly sensed a shock as the Fungal-Floral network was attacked. Over the course of the many days that the Sovereign Swarm had operated in the forest, it had spread through the Mycorrhizal network without any real obstacles. Plant and Fungi alike were converted too and added to the growing organism as it worked to supplant the natural network connecting the entire forest. All the nutrients and communication passed through the trees would become theirs, it would lead to total dominion over the forest as every inch of it would be part of the Swarm.

So, when the attack came the Swarm was not actually prepared for it. Or rather when the attacks came they were not prepared for it. On almost two entirely opposite sides of the network in fact. To the north, a colony of termites began digging into the network after it had reached up into their burrow, and on the south side of it, an army of ants descended on it after it breached one of their tunnels.

This time, this time the Swarm would not fail to protect itself from attackers. First, it unleashed Toxic clouds into the confined spaces of the invaders. Secondly, they decided to recall all of the insect and small animal zombies to the two battlefields. Thirdly, they put the non-damaged parts of the Network to work on clearing away the earth go create tunnels down to the conflict areas. It used the flexible and thick roots at its disposal along with the many flagella sticking of them to dig out crude tunnels.

It took hours to get everything ready but in the meantime, the network had not been overly damaged as it tried to feebly strike at invading hives. Fungal Zombies came to fight and were directed down into the newly dug tunnels to fight the invaders. Lizards, insects, arachnids, and even small mammals were sent down into the dark to do battle.

The insects were not slow to respond as what had been a feeding frenzy quickly escalated into a skirmish and then a full-blown battle. Despite being so far removed the battlefronts were remarkably similar in how the initial fighting played out. In the confined tunnels the size of the larger mammals became a liability as they were a hindrance to their insectile allies, as well as a large target for the swarm of defenders. Hundreds of ants would take down a single snake or forest rat and inadvertently have them serve as cover while the rest of the Swarm had to work around their fallen brethren.

"It doesn't matter, soon we will have turned part sof the enemy into our own forces. We will subvert them from within"

Hours flew by as the remarkably silent but chaotic battles raged on as all sides sent reinforcements to aid their troops. And yet as time passed the Swarm noticed that they were given no tidal waves of memory of being an ant or a termite. Other infected kept providing their memories as they joined the Swarm, but no ant or termite memory flashed through them. Only the horrific dirge of dying fragments came from the battle.

"Why? We should have had some by now."

The Collective focused all of their attention on the ant battlefield while allowing the fragments to watch over the termites for now. Ferocity and chaos would be the best words to describe the underground conflict. Thousands of combatants were engaged in a brutal war where they fought over every inch. Soldier ants would grab insects by the neck and wait for their colleagues to tear them apart. The larger Fungal Zombies would practically ball their way through scores of enemies until their forms were too damaged to continue. And the various insects would grapple with the ants without any sign of fear.

It took time for the Swarm to discover it, but when they saw it the reason for their lack of infected became obvious.

"They purge them! The ants have a way of detecting when their colleagues have been infected and then killing them before anything can come of it. Or the infected ants rush into where the fighting is thickest and die in the process...These foes, they fight like we."

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For once in the Sovereign Swarms short existence, it knew what it was like being outnumbered by a foe. Both enemies had significantly larger armies than what the Swarm could bring to bear on the situation, their weakness was that neither army had any exceptional individuals or exceptions period. The diversity of the Swarm forces were the only thing that kept their positions from being overrun by their opponents.

While the battle raged on the Swarm gathered the fragments not responsible for handling the conflict to try and collectively find the best path to victory. The Bee-Collective, Fungal-Floral Collective, and the tiny collective of larger animals were the ones in the conference. The Bees spoke up first as usual.

"We could call in our larger Units and try to hunt down the nest of the enemy. Destroying the enemy should be possible that way."

"No we must subvert this foe, we will face future threats of this nature, and having thousands of ants and termites as guardians would be ideal."

The Fungal-Floral Collective dismissed that and did the mental equivalent of a sweeping gesture.

"We must think ahead sisters, the battles to come are more important than a simple victory today."

"Can Bees go fightingz down ground?"

The Large-Animals collective were so few that their ability to add to the discussion was severely limited, but the Swarm thought it was important that all relevant parties should contribute to the conversation.

While the collectives and the Sovereign Swarm as a whole considered tactics and strategy, the two General-Collectives struggled against the superior numbers of their foes. The termite front was the least dire conflict as they seemed to be less warlike than the ants and were also less diverse. It was the ants who were the true threat in this as they were more numerous, more ferocious, and more diverse.

The Termite-General felt something akin to a sigh from their colleague as an image of the newest reinforcements from the Ant hive passed through their communication. The two collectives had been linked up to communicate since their foes were so similar, and new insights could aid the other immensely. Out of the tunnels came ants that dwarfed the regular soldiers and workers. Compared to the relative titans that the Swarm had in the battle they were not particularly large, but the sheer amount of them would make the battle against the ants even more hard-fought.

"Consider reinforcing lizards and send them against them?"

Termite-General suggested as they collectively analyzed the image before returning their attention to their own battle. Thankfully, the termites had only regular soldiers and workers to send against their units. If only they could be infected then they would at least have some clarity.

"Reinforced lizards are withstanding the mandibles of the Major Soldiers, but are being smothered by the collective weight of the ants and the lack of oxygen in the tunnel hampers their combat potential."

Ant-General on their end was struggling as their adversary began pushing their forces back as more and more ants poured out of the tunnel after having been provided an opening by their Majors. Out of the mammals that they had fielded only the Squirrel was left in the battle. The Ant-General had wasted several Reinforce Unit on it on the order of the larger collective, which they thought would have been better spent on other units. But the collective could not deny the will of the majority. As they began to seriously consider advising the rest of the Swarm to withdraw from the battle, they felt the rush of memories accompanying more fragments joining the collective.

New Fungal Zombies from the stream had just joined in the battle and a quick examination revealed something interesting about the hunting habits of these amphibians. The Ant-General "smiled" as it requested another energy allocation to use Reinforce Unit.

"Esteemed colleagues, I think I have a way for us to finally gather intelligence."

The Termite-General turned their attention to the Ant-Generals broadcasted perspective as the first Fungal Zombie Frogs joined in the battle and sent their tongues flying into the fray.