Path of the Hive Queen

Chapter 442: Pressure and Principles

Regina was on edge the entire time she waited for updates from the south. She’d almost forgotten about this base, or at least put it out of her mind. It hadn’t exactly been very strategically relevant. But, of course, that was wrong — She’d tacitly promised Leian she’d guard it, and she didn’t exactly want that material to fall into the hands of anyone else, either.It was a vulnerability Regina had to protect. One she’d hoped to keep out of sight of her enemies. Clearly, that had failed.

Even if the northern allies — the Western Confederation and the Esemen — hadn’t known about it before, they would eventually learn about this battle and thus about the base. It wasn’t the kind of thing that would stay secret for long. The sheer distance and the difficulty of crossing the mountains, not to mention the fact that her allies were mostly between Italy and them, would hopefully stave it off for a while, but probably not forever. And that was assuming the southern nations hadn’t already contacted them and provided the information. And, of course, the gods would definitely know about it now if they hadn’t before.

At least Berren showing up to defend the location proved that Leian really was serious about protecting this secret of her own dead people’s. And Berren, too, hopefully; Regina still wasn’t sure how much autonomy to act he possessed in practice, but he clearly had his own thoughts and opinions.

It was probably hypocritical of her, since Regina wasn’t exactly in a place to judge anyone else for unequal mental connections to someone else (and it did sound like Berren had had it coming), but what she knew of that relationship didn’t really sit well with her. What she knew wasn’t very much, though, and there was always something more important to talk to Leian about when she had the chance. Neither Iseis nor Galatea had brought it up to her, and they probably would if they felt like there was something they should do.

Which just left her shaking her head at the reports that Berren had raised zombies to fight their enemies. Fortunately, just their enemies.

On second thought, maybe it was that which had spooked their local attackers enough to call off any further fighting, along with Max’s presence?

Regina still wasn’t sure what was behind this, even if their agents were working on gathering answers for her now. It had only been a few hours since that parlay, and so far, the southlanders had done as promised, withdrawn their little army and settled down.

In hindsight, it wasn’t surprising there would be some hard feelings on Iliucin and Iliyan’s part after what had happened before. Iliucin, especially. Iliyan had technically been their ally, of sorts, although it had been more like the Empire tossed it some money to go fight their rivals and leave them alone. While sitting on a hidden historical site that was evidently much more important than anyone had realized.

Max had already assembled a team that would head to Veragles even before he got Regina’s go-ahead passed on through messengers, so they’d just have to see what the most prominent city-state had to say. Maybe this time, they were actually uninvolved in what was happening.

That still left Regina to try and figure out which track to take here, and what instructions to give the Imperial diplomats. They couldn’t exactly let an attack on Imperial personnel go completely unanswered, after all, even if she really didn’t want to be dragged into more conflict.

Still, unless their enemies had another whole army hidden somewhere close by — which would only be possible with the direction intervention of the gods; and it would have to be a big army — she wasn’t worried about the military situation. This was now a political problem.

Not that the Empire could really afford to keep lots of elite soldiers stationed in the south indefinitely.

The south wasn’t the only place from which they got regular messages through a portal. There was also the northern front. Iseis’ portal still held, and it was a real lifesaver. Without it, they probably would have lost control of that region already. Ada’s latest reports had been concerning, same as the analyses from Ben and the others. The Western Confederation was increasing the pressure on the Army of the Elbe.

This took several forms. Instead of a single large army, they’d mostly dispersed their troops into smaller formations, and were raiding the countryside and attacking any Imperial posts where they saw a vulnerability. They tried to cut off Imperial logistics, and sent infiltrators with bombs to strike vulnerable locations or local command centers. They had already pushed the Empire back from territory it had managed to advance in, mostly by calculated pressure on specific targets and making it gradually unsustainable to keep these locations defended.

It had never exactly been a clean war, but this was ugly, and it was draining their resources and morale. Regina had already rotated sapient drones from the front lines to give them at least a few days of ‘home leave’ to relax — and most importantly, to rejoin the psychic link — but recently, she had decided to expand that. The drones needed more time at home, or rather within the Empire itself, within her range. They’d also tried to adjust plans to give them different postings, to keep anyone from being stuck too long and instead rotate them through positions within and without the psychic link’s range. So far, it had managed to prevent any mental breakdowns or anything like that. She supposed they’d have to include the southern base more strongly in those plans now.

Ada herself had, unsurprisingly, been resistant to any suggestions that she ought to take advantage of the option and come home for a while. Finally, Regina had had to call her back by saying that she wanted to personally discuss the situation with her. Ada probably understood why, since she’d left with minimal protest. It was even true, somewhat; Regina had decided not to make any long-term decisions regarding deployments in the south until she’d discussed the situation on their most critical front (though Tim or June might resent that description).

Regardless, it was nice to see Ada again. She let other drones greet her first, before they retreated to one of the private gardens in this palace.

“It is good to be back, Mother,” Ada said once they sat down. She sighed as Regina sent more of her own feelings over the psychic link and wrapped her in a psychic embrace. “But I keep thinking about the army and what I should be doing. I’m not sure I’ll be able to enjoy my time here fully.”

“You should,” Regina replied. “We’ll help you relax if need be. Besides, there are other reasons for calling you back to the capital, you know that. We already have quite a few strategy sessions planned, where you’ll also get to talk to our human strategists who wouldn’t be able to reach you over the psychic link as easily.”

Ada nodded and sat up a bit straighter.

“We’ve had final confirmation now,” she reported. “The new army from the north has fully decamped and is moving in our direction. We’ve seen them preparing, of course, and their vanguard was already on the move, but now there can be no doubt about their intentions.”

Regina hummed in acknowledgment. “It still took a little time for them to move from where they debarked from their ships,” she noted. “I imagine issues like supply constraints were pressing them to move. Still, in the time before that …”

“We did get some information, observing as closely as we could,” Ada said. “In my opinion, they needed the time to integrate their forces. That process is probably not finished yet, either. But they’re also not as badly off as I’d hoped, to be honest. Clearly, these troops are mostly professional soldiers or mercenaries, or maybe they were trained before shipping out. They’re absolutely going to have issues with coordination, but the army isn’t going to fall apart before battle.”

Regina nodded. That matched her own impressions, too. “They’re probably drawing heavily on religious sentiment, to bolster their morale and harden them against us as much as to forge esprit de corps,” she commented.

Ada looked unhappy. Regina could tell she was thinking about what sort of propaganda they’d use and what other measures their enemies might be taking. “We haven’t made much progress in placing agents or subverting contacts there, but we also haven’t had much time to try,” she said. “Still, we probably won’t get very far with it in the foreseeable future unless we use psychics more heavily and more offensively.”

Regina almost snorted and said something about double-entendres. They would be using psychics ‘offensively’ in more ways than one if they sent them to control and subvert enemy targets directly.

Ada grinned back for a moment, clearly following her thoughts. “Hey, maybe some of them could seduce enemy commanders and get information that way. You’d have to ask June, I guess.”

“Probably. I’m not sure I really want to know about any such plans in detail,” Regina grimaced playfully.

The brief moment of levity managed to ease the tension, so the situation looked less daunting now. And it did get her to consider this from a new angle.

Regina was conflicted about the idea of using mind control abilities. Still, she supposed it wasn’t exactly unconscionable since they were at war — And she had also received some reports regarding plans certain parts of the enemy leadership pushed for … But she wouldn’t think about that now. The ease and humor had already drained away.

“I don’t think I’m the best person to talk about that with,” Ada said quietly. “But it is kind of an important moral question, what we can get away with when our enemies are planning genocide, isn’t it?”

Regina nodded, then consciously relaxed her body and focused her thoughts on something more immediately relevant instead of dwelling on it. “Regardless of other considerations, we have to assume they have psychics too, and other defenses against them, so just trying to send infiltrators and steal control of their army out from under them isn’t going to work. It’s a good avenue to consider, though. For now, what we can control is our own troops. I don’t assume the pressure is going to ease off in that theater any time soon?”

Ada shook her head, looking disgruntled. Regina could sense the echo of frustration in her. “No. If anything, we need more reinforcements.”

That figured. It wasn’t like she’d have expected to hear anything different, really.

“One more question, Ada. I’d like your thoughts on something. Do you think the increased push at the northern borders is in any way related to the attack we suffered on the southern base? Could they be coordinated?”

Ada took a moment to consider the question. She wasn’t the only one Regina would ask, but she hoped that due to Ada’s distance from the capital, she’d have a bit more of an ‘outsider’s perspective’ on it.

“I can’t be sure, but I honestly don’t think so,” she finally said. “We haven’t found any indication of it. I mean, absence of proof is not proof of absence, but it’s still something. If they did plan coordinated attacks, I’d expect something more in the north … more , I guess? I wouldn’t be surprised if they did push harder because of it now, though. If they have agents here and these agents tell them we sent a lot of Star Guard away somewhere else, they’d still smell opportunity. Especially if they learn they were sent south of the mountains, I suppose.”

“That sounds about right,” Regina said. “Thanks, Ada.”

They would just have to keep their eyes peeled. When did they ever not?

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence for a bit. It was still good to see Ada again, and Regina had the impression that despite their separation, being the general of the army had been good for her.

It was a bit like being a mother to an adult daughter who had just come home for a visit. Which she supposed wasn’t far off.

“By the way, Mother,” Ada started, a bit hesitant. Regina could already tell where this was going, and nudged her wordlessly to get on with it. “I talked to Janis and a few others. I wasn’t going to say anything, but — we’re not the only ones who’ve noticed there’s a bit more tension between you two.”

“It’s not like we’re on the verge of no longer talking or anything,” Regina interjected.

“Of course not, that’s not what I mean. I’m just saying … You know I would always stand behind you, Regina. No matter what. But please keep in mind Janis means well. She just wants the best for the Empire and the people. She’s —“ Ada sighed slightly. “She’s idealistic in a way I’m not sure it’s possible for a drone like me to be. So I just want this to work out.”

“You can be idealistic.” Regina frowned, not quite sure what she meant, even with the psychic link’s connection. Ada’s emotional state was a bit complicated.

“Yes, of course, but do you think any of us would challenge you over a matter of principle? Over power? Over something that would reduce our own ability, even?”

“I guess you wouldn’t,” Regina said quietly. They hadn’t yet, at least.

“I don’t think that’s a shortcoming,” Ada said quickly. “It’s just not how we work. Drones don’t really make those decisions, it’s not how Hivekind are set up.”

“Because I’m the soul of the Hive?” This reminded her of a conversation with Max about morality.

“Well, yeah? But also —“ Ada frowned, clearly looking for the words to express her thought. “It’s how society works? We’re just not individualistic. But even most humans would just follow the norms of their social group. For all that talk about moral principles and virtue ethics or whatever, most people just do what they think is right within the framework of their society and its established ethical code, or honor system, or whatever. And as for Hivekind, we’re literally a hive mind, even if we still have free will. The psychic link binds us together. So what if we’re not a democracy? We’re able to express our opinions much more intimately anyway.”

“That’s an interesting way to look at it,” Regina admitted. “Thanks, Ada.” She smiled. “I didn’t know you were such a philosopher.”

“Well, we must get it from somewhere, Mother,” her drone teased back.

Regina smiled, but the expression faded as she thought about the situation and Janis. Ada was probably one of the drones closest to her, after they’d fought together for some time, so it didn’t Regina her that it was her who’d brought this up and kind of advocated for Janis. She supposed that was both a confirmation and a point against Ada’s theory, if you wanted to look at it that way.

“I’ll keep your words in mind,” she promised. “About both things.”

“Thanks, Regina. That’s all I wanted.”

Regina brushed a hand against Ada’s blade-limb. Then she reluctantly got up. She probably had put off properly talking to Janis for too long. But she still had a lot of work to do before she could get to that. For right now, they needed to decide on the details of their response to the men from the south.