Path of the Hive Queen

Chapter 441: Forces

Regina was currently cursing the fact that the psychic link didn’t extend far enough south to include the old Hivekind base and it was thus completely beyond their reach — not for the first time, as Max knew. Uncertainty truly was so much worse than even having issues you could face. It would have been better to have bad news than not to know what was going on, in his opinion.Not that they were completely in the dark, of course. Enough people transferred between the locations to give them at least semi-regular updates. Most notably, when the large group of reinforcements finally transited; in groups since there were too many of them. They sent single people back occasionally to update everyone on what was going on, or to make requests.

It was only the second messenger who revealed that they had an unexpected guest at the base. The first was a human soldier, wounded in the fight, who relayed a message to a drone stationed at the temple. The second was a drone himself, and he conveyed the information carefully — Iseis had asked them to keep it secret, and Dan had agreed, so he didn’t even put the knowledge out there in the psychic link for everyone to see, just asked to pass it to Regina and her senior drones privately.

Regina said once the young drone’s mind had withdrawn from their current mental conference.

Janis commented.

Max admitted, trying to go through the information they had on it even while they were talking.

Going by what the messengers had conveyed, the base itself was pretty secure right now, and the infiltrators were dealt with. But there were still enemy forces in the tunnels nearby, and while they had only caught hints of them, these enemies could have much higher numbers. There were also probably enemy fighters still outside, just withdrawn from the base’s entrance for now. Whoever had arranged this had clearly prepared for resistance, or was at least willing to divert more forces than what they’d expect to need in the first place.

Ben said.

Janis mused.

Ben replied.

Regina admitted.

Max suggested.

Ben suggested.

Max was pretty sure his brother mostly said that because it would assuage Regina’s worries. He wasn’t really needed in the base, even if he wouldn’t mind checking on the situation and making a plan for how to deal with it going forward.

Ben said, amusement in his mental voice. He was quiet, though; it was a private exchange disconnected from the other conversation, something only Regina would be able to hear, if she cared to pay attention.

Max replied, to the group.

Regina acquiesced, but he could tell she was amused, too. Maybe she had noticed Ben’s comment.

Janis said.

She was probably a bit upset that she couldn’t come along, Max assumed. He gave her a playful mental poke, then withdrew his attention from the psychic link and turned it to his surroundings, grabbing some papers and a pen. Then he focused on the psychic link again to coordinate with the others.

It didn’t take too long to prepare. The Star Guard was supposed to be ready to act in emergencies, and the attack on the base had already put them on alert. He arranged things with his subordinates over the psychic link, to be faster, shifting duty rosters and units around. Ben had already thoughtfully arranged for transport to the temple so they could be teleported south.

They weren’t the only Imperial soldiers at the small island that housed the temple. Due to the fighting in the south, the place had been reinforced, too. The larger group of reinforcements from nearby garrisons had already arrived, so they were mostly the lower-leveled fighters or those with Classes or Skills that weren’t as suited to fighting underground. Except for two high-level mages who were there to operate the teleportation, at least. This place was also light on artillery and heavier ordinance, unfortunately. That would take more time to be moved, if it was. Max briefly wondered how Iseis felt about having her holy site taken over by soldiers like this. They definitely disturbed the natural tranquility. Or Leian, if she had some kind of connection to this place?

Then he focused on more immediately relevant matters as he spoke to the officers of the new, temporary garrison. They were all a little star-struck, and a few of them looked a bit too young or inexperienced for their ranks, but he knew how much the Empire wanted for good officers. And most of them were at the front, not in the interior. Still, at least they were competent enough that there weren’t any major problems. Not that Max would be staying long enough to see more than the surface; he was planning on moving on through immediately, this was just to cover their bases.

“Will you be needing to requisition further troops from local bases, my Prince?” one of them asked nervously.

Max tried not to look disappointed. “No,” he replied. “There is not much space underground; quality of troops will be more important than getting a few extra companies. Besides, leaving our defenses at home undermanned would be a mistake. The soldiers we have will be plenty.”

“There is a diplomatic party coming from the capital, right?” another man asked. “Should we send them through after you?”

“Yes, obviously,” Max replied.

One of the reasons for him to be there, he knew, was in case anything came up that needed an official Imperial response rapidly. It probably wasn’t likely, but it was possible the states involved in the attack would try to parley with them as soon as they lost this fight.

“Sir, we’re ready to transit,” Jay told him, speaking a bit more formally considering their audience.

Max nodded, looking around quickly. His Star Guard soldiers had lined up, and there was a space for him and Jay open.

“Secure the area and make sure to keep our lines of communication open,” he ordered the local officers. “We will be sending messengers. The drones stationed here can relay messages to the capital. Don’t disturb the temple unless you must, and if Iseis comes here again, give her whatever aid she wants, within reason. Don’t go rushing in. Clear?”

“Yes, my Prince,” they chorused.

“For the Empire!” a young drone added, grinning slightly.

“Indeed,” Max muttered. He returned their salutes, then turned to go and let himself be teleported south.

He hadn’t looked forward to this part. Being cut off from the psychic link sucked.

Two soldiers were on guard when he and his group teleported south, and they quickly directed them to Dan and the local commanders. Max glanced around the base as he went. He’d seen it before, but it wasn’t quite the same. It was also disorienting not being able to directly sense the other drones here, although he felt Daniel contacting him only a few meters in.

Max asked, following his unspoken guidance through the base and setting a faster pace while forcing his soldiers to keep up.

the young psychic replied.

Max nodded. He did feel a bit disappointed to have missed the action, he realized. But at least this was good news.

It didn’t take him long to reach Dan, who was currently in the entrance cave conferring with other officers. Notably, Iseis was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Berren, though he had expected that. There were also several other figures standing around, along with drones and other Imperial soldiers, although the soldiers gave them a noticeable berth.

“Max!” Dan greeted him as soon as he arrived, smiling. “Good to see you, although I didn’t expect that.”

“Thanks, Dan. You seem to have done well.”

“Oh, are you wondering about those?” Dan asked, clearly following Max’s gaze. “They’re harmless. Well, to us, anyway. I’m not sure how long they’ll keep being around, either.”

With that encouragement, Max stepped a little closer to the nearest cluster of … well, zombies. It was obvious what they were. Most of them clearly showed the wounds that had killed them, although they didn’t bleed any longer. One lacked part of its head, and one’s chest was so shattered Max had to wonder how it was still capable of proper movement. Also, they stank of death.

“What do they look like to magical senses?” he asked, curious.

“Like corpses, mostly,” Ferden answered. The mage was visibly wounded, although he must have received some healing already; he was still standing stiffly and favoring his left side. “There is a little more mana in them than is normal for non-living material, though. They’re probably still easy to overlook if you’re not looking for them, I’d wager.”

“Not that they’re very stealthy,” Dan muttered. “The ones here seem to be there to guard the entrance to the rest of the base, but most of the others are farther out, by the actual entrance or outside. They didn’t react when I tried talking to them.”

Max nodded, then turned back to Dan and the others. The zombies were interesting, and probably helpful, but they could hardly rely on them.

“Since the last time we sent word, the forces outside have come closer, giving up on their secrecy more and more,” Daniel reported. “They’re also more numerous than just the men we managed to chase from here, so they’ve clearly been reinforced. They’re advancing cautiously right now, but not making much effort to hide their presence. I assume they’ll reach the entrance soon.”

Max considered that for a moment. It wasn’t too surprising, but he was wondering where all of those soldiers came from. They’d clearly been better prepared than he’d have first thought. And it didn’t leave the Imperials much time to reinforce their defenses, but with his Star Guard forces, he wasn’t worried about the coming fight.

Still, he got all of the details from Daniel and the officers and then discussed their plans and the distribution of their forces, preparing for the fight ahead. Considering they had two entrances to defend, it was mostly a matter of distributing their troops effectively and ensuring they had stable lines of communication, with backups. They should have enough time to react if the enemy tried to forcibly create another entry point. Out of what was hopefully just paranoia, he also distributed some soldiers throughout the base as sentinels, or tripwires for any enemy infiltrators who managed to get past with weird powers. And he set up several fallback positions, having the soldiers erect and reinforce barricades. They had the defensive advantage and Max intended to use it.

Then Iseis, who’d finally come up to this level too, informed him that a small number of the advancing enemies had split from the main group and were approaching the base in the open. It was clearly a diplomatic party or something like that. Given that, Max decided to go with the others to see them.

“Only four people are coming closer, though they’re still in range of their own forces,” Dan noted.

Max nodded and looked around, judging distances and cover. “I will step out to talk to them by the entrance. Cover me. I’ll take two Guard soldiers, and Daniel, you can relay our conversation. Iseis, can you be prepared to portal us out if this turns into a fight?”

“Of course,” she nodded.

Dan didn’t ask if he was sure, although he didn’t seem happy. Max activated all of his Abilities that would be useful for passive defense. He was high enough Level and with a Class focused on defense that he was confident he’d be able to withstand anything short of the gods helping an ambush directly long enough to get away. His two chosen guards, who were the strongest Star Guard with appropriate abilities present, did the same. He also made sure the psychic was covered.

He paused, glancing at Iseis again. “Are any of them Champions?” he asked.

She frowned, looking into the distance and clearly through them. “I don’t believe so, but I can’t say for certain.”

Max nodded and stepped out into sunlight with his companions.

Their arrival caused a bit of a stir with the approaching humans. They were all men, their Levels in the thirties and forties, and they probably weren’t chosen for their combat potential, considering that they didn’t wear heavy armor and their Classes — while two were clearly mages — didn’t really scream ‘elite fighters’. The probable leader was a Magistrate by Class, though he supposed that could mean various things.

Tenmo Malioni — Level 47 Magistrate

“That’s — Prince Max of the Starlit Hive?” the man voiced, just barely not shouting. He stared for a moment, then shook his head. “Apologies. I would not have expected you to be here.”

“Evidently,” Max said drily. He took a step closer, making sure to project confidence and ease. “You have attacked citizens and soldiers of the Central European Empire, not to mention my brothers and sisters of the Hive. Did you think there wouldn’t be a response?”

The man visibly hesitated slightly, his eyes darting to his companions. “Well, we are on territory that has been disputed for a long time, and very far from the Empire’s borders.”

“Really? Is that the excuse you are going with?” Daniel sniffed, but shut up after a look from Max.

“We thought we were clearing squatters, nothing more,” one of the other men piped up.

Max let the silence stretch for a moment, to really let them feel just how pathetic that sounded. It was obvious to everyone they actually think that.

“I find that hard to believe,” he finally said mildly. “Are you speaking for your government, by the way? Which would be which city?”

The man stiffened slightly, but gave a hesitant nod. “Indeed. I am from Iliyan, and some of my companions here are from Iliucin.”

Max considered.

“And is it the intention of these cities to commit acts of war against the Empire?” he asked.

“This was nothing more than an unfortunate misunderstanding!” Malioni said. “I assure you, I am sure we will be recalled and censured for what happened. My regrets on your losses. Although it should be noted they were likely lower than our own. If anything, it is our states who will suffer for this.”

“I don’t think that’s sufficient.”

“Well, unfortunately I am not empowered to negotiate with the Central European Empire on behalf of my city-state, let alone Iliucin,” he said quickly. “I am terribly sorry. We will withdraw, and I’m certain the next people to approach you will be diplomats! You could also send your own envoys. Then we may discuss this regrettable incident and what led to it.”

Max stared at him, but to his credit, the man didn’t back down, even if he was clearly sweating uncomfortably.

Max looked at the forces arrayed behind him. They would obviously attack immediately if he attacked their leaders, or if this talk went south.

he mused.

It was still really risky of them, but … Fighting them now would also be a risk. His side would probably win, but it wasn’t a guarantee. And the Empire could really do without front of their war to fight on.

“I would like your forces to withdraw,” he finally said. “At least far enough to keep, let’s say, ten leagues clear around the base. Then we’ll see.”

The magistrate considered it for a moment and nodded. “That’s reasonable, Your Highness. We can do that. And I’m sure we can settle things in the meantime …”

Max suppressed a sigh and prepared to be talked at. Hopefully, he could at least get a few hints regarding how they’d set this up; the gods must have been involved, but the question was what levers they’d pulled. And then he had to think of how the Empire should react to this attack.