Tim occasionally felt like the hive had passed him by.

He knew it was irrational. Sure, he’d been stuck in the south guarding a bunch of mountains and watching out for the gnomes, while his front steadily declined from the focus of the hive’s attention into practical irrelevancy. But it wasn’t like he’d really been isolated; he’d had the psychic link, and he’d talked to people and watched what was going on with the rest of them through it.

Still, there was something different about experiencing it in person, being able to interact with what was going on in other locations. And Tim hadn’t been able to see or keep up with everything, there was simply too much happening and he’d had to focus on his own duties with his command, too. It wasn’t like there’d been no challenges — wrangling the elementals was always nerve-wracking, even if they’d decided to wander off back into their mountains, and the gnomes hadn’t been completely quiet. They still sent scouts and even an occasional probing attack where they could. In effect, they’d been barricaded, but you couldn’t really enclose a country the size of the Gnomish Confederation of the East without letting anything through. They were still free to move between various parts of their country, including through tunnels the hive wouldn’t know existed, and to the south or even the east. Or deeper into the mountains in the southwest, perhaps.

It was kind of a shame they were blocking the way into Italy. He knew Regina wanted to know what was going on in other parts of Europe, and Tim was curious, too. But perhaps it was best that they were out of reach for now, in both directions. There were already too many cooks in this particular kitchen. The Cernlians were fighting a civil war, the Nerlians had joined in enthusiastically, the elves were happy to watch them kill each other but might still decide to step in at some point, the hive was still at war with the gnomes, of course, and the Esemen were clearly up to something, even if no one was sure of their exact plans. Taking advantage of the war to send their own soldiers in and carve off some juicy bits of land seemed like a safe bet, though.

The hive had grown a lot in the last few months, however, which gave him confidence they could handle whatever would come at them. Privately, he’d even say that Regina had come into her own a bit, too. It made him happy to see. She herself still seemed conflicted, but there was also a sense of purpose to her that he hadn’t really seen in a while. Perhaps in those first days after hatching, when she’d tried to ensure all of their survival - but that had been different - or underground, with Galatea.

Most of the hive’s drones now wouldn’t have even been alive for that. They seemed young to him, which Tim knew was ridiculous, since he was barely more than a year old, himself. These younger drones always treated him with respect, but it wasn’t really personal; while he might be their big brother and they respected him, they didn’t know him. Except for those who had been south with him, of course, and those working as Ben’s officers, since they’d coordinated with each other a lot.

“Tim?” one of those young Warriors asked him now.

Tim blinked and pulled himself out of his thoughts, turning to the two drones who’d walked to up join him. “Yes?” he replied.

“We’re finished with your orders here,” Liu reported. “As long as those humans behave, we should have no difficulties.” He smiled. “If they don’t, I’m sure we can find ways to motivate them …”

Tim frowned and glanced at the small group of human officers standing close enough to listen in, who, understandably, didn’t seem happy to hear that. He was pretty sure they were why Liu had spoken aloud rather than using the psychic link.

“I see,” he said mildly. “Good. Get them moving, please. With no undue altercations or damage,” he added. He was pretty sure Liu liked playing the unrestrained and slightly bloodthirsty warrior more than he actually was, but it didn’t hurt to be clear.

The other drones nodded and turned away, while he focused on the psychic link to check on those who hadn’t been in hearing range. At least there was still no fuss or ceremony in the Hive, and he was hopeful there wouldn’t be even if it grew a lot more.

He didn’t need Regina’s psychic power to tell that the humans were despondent. They’d not only just lost, they’d been crushed in a brutally quick strike. It had resulted in less casualties than might be expected for that, because the Hive had been out to take prisoners instead of massacre them, but it couldn’t exactly be good for their morale. Tim sighed softly. It would be up to them now to turn it around into something more conducive to Regina’s purposes. After all, taking out these fighters hadn’t been the only goal.

Tim checked in with the other teams as well. They were pretty much in the same situation. Their backup had arrived or was arriving already. Ben had only picked War Drones with at least decent physical stats, so none that were too low-level, and sent them on what human soldiers would have called a forced march. War Drones could be quite quick when they wanted to, given their capability of walking on four legs. They’d also moved cross-country without relying on roads, or having to take any detours.

The rest of the Hive’s ‘army’, much reduced with those detachments gone, had advanced as well and was currently preparing to camp in a forward position they’d chosen earlier. It would put them closer to the army the Nerlians were gathering, but since they’d just taken out their flanking element, that wasn’t as much of a risk as it might seem. And Tim didn’t think they would attack. The Nerlians had been so decisively beaten by the hive recently that they had to be cautious, and they probably wanted the questionable safety of walls and defensive positions for any decisive battle. They wouldn’t be able to move on the Hive before their forces reunited, anyway.

The way back was a lot slower than their strike, of course. It would have been even without them, but the human prisoners slowed them down considerably. At least they were cooperative. The Hive had assembled a few makeshift wagons for their wounded, those who needed more than a quick visit from a healer before they could march. Even putting their strongest War Drones to work pulling those didn’t give them a very fast pace. That left Tim time to think and browse the psychic link.

They were one of the last detachments to return and by the time they arrived, most of the others already had. It was probably inevitable, considering his unit was also the largest the Hive had sent, so much so that calling it a unit felt like an understatement. At least they still had a good location, the others had left some space in the interior ring of the camp. Tim got his War Drones settled, which mostly meant assigning them to their part of the meadow and ordering them to stay put, coordinating with the other officers around. Some of the support-focused drones would make sure the Swarm Drones were fed and cared for, and he was happy to leave that in their hands, although he would check in on them. Tim suspected he wouldn’t retain command over this detachment. Ben and Regina probably had other plans for him.

After he was done getting everything sorted, which seemed to take exponentially longer than it had for small parties, he headed into the center of their camp. To have easy access to water, the Hive had set it up by a small river, more of a brook, and they hadn’t seen a reason to stay away from it, so the brook ran right through their camp. It wasn’t like drones cared about getting a little wet if they needed to cross it quickly. As a bonus, it provided a good space for the Aquatic Drones, of which there were actually a few present right now. Tim wasn’t sure what good they would be, but he supposed having them around couldn’t hurt.

They had also put up a simple shelter using Conjured plastic sheets and lightweight metal rods in the middle of the camp, which he knew from experience would be a lot sturdier than it looked. The large ‘windows’ made it easy to see what was going on around this command center.

“Hey, Tim,” Ben greeted him cheerfully as he entered, slinging an arm around his shoulder briefly for a half-hug.

“Ben, good to see you again,” Tim responded with a smile, sliding his sword-arm against Ben’s for a second in greeting while they were still touching. It might look dangerous to an outsider, but Hive drones could probably coordinate that motion in their sleep.

“How are things going?” he asked after a moment, turning to greet the other drones present. Except for Ada, he didn’t know them very well, but he’d met most of them in person before.

“As expected,” Ada replied. Her gaze was distant as she looked at something through the psychic link, before focusing on him. “The Attendants and our human recruits are having a hell of a time dealing with all the new prisoners, but I don’t think any of them are going to escape.”

“Do you think they are going to try?”

She shrugged dismissively. “Maybe a few. It might even be a good opportunity to show restraint in the face of it. You know, not punishing anyone else for escape attempts. Or even the humans in question. The more we can make it clear we aren’t monsters, the better.”

“I’d ask Regina just how lenient we should be,” Tim suggested. He checked briefly in the psychic link, keeping it light so as not to disturb her, but found that Regina was still in the middle of a training session with Max. The people closest to her had come to a quiet agreement not to disturb her on these occasions, so he’d contact her later.

Everyone else nodded, accepting his suggestion. Tim glanced briefly at Ben. While Tim was senior in the Hive - and he was probably closer to Regina and had more of her trust - Ben was the overall commander of their military. He knew some drones said that kind of interpersonal conflict or struggle didn’t exist in the Hive, which, in his opinion, was patently false. It did exist, it just worked differently than with humans. They were not going to come to blows, but that didn’t mean there would never be a question of who was in charge.

Ben met Tim’s gaze and gave him a slight smile and nod, which Tim returned. They came to an unspoken understanding, which a quick exchange through the psychic link confirmed.

“It might be a good opportunity to start working on them now, just as or directly after they arrive,” Ada suggested.

Tim exchanged another glance with Ben and then looked around the room to gauge everyone’s reactions. “Fair enough,” he said, hiding the reluctance he felt. “You’re not wrong.”

“It doesn’t need to be you speaking to them if you don’t want to,” Ben said.

Tim shook his head. “No, it should be me. They seem to recognize my Class.”

“He’s right,” Ada said. “The humans seem pretty impressed by it. It might be best to make this more of a gathering and an address, actually. If you’re all up for it?”

They quickly agreed, and some of the others left to make it happen. Tim checked in briefly using the psychic link, and took the opportunity to get something to drink. He then spent a few minutes chatting with Tia over the psychic link. While they weren’t talking about anything in particular, he picked up that she seemed pretty happy with her latest job, finding more ways for the Hive to automate the production of their signature explosives. A lot of it still depended on Conjuration, by and large, but since they were beginning to get the very basics of a chemical industry set up, it was getting better. At least it seemed like the Hive’s stocks weren’t in danger of being completely empty. He was honestly more interested in knowing she was doing well, though. He hadn’t seen Tia in too long, either.

Then Tim had to stop distracting himself and get to work. The drones had called a pretty big number of human prisoners together in the quickly cleared empty space around the camp, boxed in on two sides by tents and huts and surrounded by some War Drones. Tim examined them for a moment, but they all kind of blended together to him, and the other groups didn’t seem different from those he’d escorted here. Just humans, by and large tired and tense looking, in clothing that could use a bit of maintenance, carrying no weapons, and staring at the drones and him in particular.

“Greetings,” he spoke up, pitching his voice to carry and smiling a bit. “My name is Tim, as you can see, and I am our Hive and Hive Queen’s Royal Champion. You all now find yourselves prisoners of the Starlit Hive.”

He paused, letting his gaze sweep across them. There was some muttering, but no disturbances. Good.

“We will take good care of you,” he continued. “I mean that sincerely. Your needs will be seen to and you will not be unnecessarily hurt or harassed. I give you my word on that. Furthermore, if all goes well, you will be able to go home soon.”

That garnered some interest, he could tell. The noise level fell off a bit as they seemed to focus on what he was saying, waiting for his next words.

“As soon as this conflict is over, or perhaps even before, when we are satisfied that you will be no threat to the Hive or each other, we will let you go. You will be free to go back to your homes and fields, and will be able to keep all of your possessions. There will be no talk of reparations — at least not from common soldiers. We will treat you as we will treat all civilians who have found themselves under our care or authority: with respect.”

Tim stopped talking and looked at them, but they didn’t give him much. He’d half-expected shouted questions and interruptions, but there were none. Maybe the Nerlians were too beaten-down and intimidated by the Hive. They talked to each other in low tones, and from what he could pick up, there were a range of opinions and reactions.

We’ll just have to see, Ben said. This could have gone worse.

Tim nodded and took a step back as Ben stepped up, starting to talk about expectations for the prisoners and practical details. It was mostly simple rules, like no breaking curfew, no fighting, not being allowed near weapons, and the like.

Hopefully, it would be enough to make this work.