Chapter 264: Chapter 244: The Battle of Cera

Attacking a fortified city was different from what the Hive had done before. It was not something particularly suited to their talents and skills, in actuality. Especially with Regina’s orders to keep civilian casualties as low as possible.

It meant they couldn’t just blow up whatever was in their way. Flying drones would still be useful, but they couldn’t be deployed as they would in an open field battle. And when they got past the walls, street fighting would happen in cramped quarters, where the drones couldn’t bring their superior numbers to bear and rely on their usual swarm tactics as easily, and the defenders would know the lay of the land much better.

So, obviously, they cheated.

They had been digging tunnels since before Kiara’s army was even fully entrenched. A larger force of Hive drones couldn’t be hidden as easily, but they could fly a few drones over and have them be sheltered by Kiara’s soldiers, to escape Lyns’ scouts. The Hive had thus gathered some of their best tunnelers, even withdrawing some from the gnomish war front, and started trying to mine the walls. It was quickly decided that trying to get them to collapse would carry too high a risk of unpleasant consequences, but digging tunnels under the wall was still possible. It was well-built and it meant they would have to go through hard bedrock, but the Hive had experts and Skills, like the Workers’ basic Ground Excavation, to help.

Of course, they couldn’t just march an army through the tunnels, so they had created another plan. Their best infiltrators, including some of the Cernlian soldiers who came from the city, were sent in through the tunnels. They waited until they could be fairly sure that Lyns’ generals would be distracted and not anticipating an attack right away, and then started to cause chaos.

The city’s defenders reacted quickly, to give credit where it was due. Following the plan, Kiara waited until they were alerted and calling the men to arms before she did the same. It wouldn’t have been wise to alert Lyns that something was going on by readying her forces where he could see or hear. Unfortunately, that meant it would take a little while before they could fully enter combat. And the army Regina was bringing was still not in a position to attack right away.

Of course, that was why they had sent a vanguard ahead. The battle would not be over in ten minutes, and the Hive’s forces would be ready to join in soon. All of the Delvers who had come with the army were at high levels and could cross the distance quickly.

Several of their elites started an assault on the walls, hoping to draw more of Lyns’ troops out. A wall wasn’t much of an obstacle to fighters of their caliber, and they scaled it quickly. Regina watched as they fought, going through the common soldiers fighting for Lyns easily. They cleared a section and established a beachhead, far enough from the tunnels to not be obvious but close enough that they could support each other. It was still risky, but the Delvers had been insistent on contributing, and probably showing off their strength.

Janis paced up and down inside the human army camp, while Kiara stood still as a statue, gazing with narrowed eyes at the city. Janis had asked to stay with Kiara during the battle, as a liaison to the hive as well as one of the commanders of the combined forces, and Regina had agreed. They needed to coordinate closely and she trusted Janis to handle whatever came up. She was, after all, one of her best commanders in addition to all the other hats she had worn. Regina kept a mental eye on her now, to make sure she didn’t miss anything to do with their allied forces.

Most of the time, though, Regina flipped through several drones, taking closer looks at certain parts of the battle as well as getting a general overview through the psychic link. The flying drones circling over the city gave her a good vantage point to see its general shape, but it lacked in detail in some parts.

Well, she’d just have to trust the Delvers to handle their part. The tunnels they’d dug into the city, through which soldiers were now starting to flow, presented another collection of blind spots. But Kiara’s troops were used to fighting like this and had their own ways of coordinating and passing commands, even without a psychic connection.

Regina watched them, focusing on a group that was currently entering the city. They were wearing dark clothes and had wrapped their weapons to reduce the noise they made. But they barely made it out of the tunnel before enemy soldiers were on them, and the call of a horn called further defenders.

Kiara’s soldiers didn’t panic, but instead fought to open the way for their comrades. They clashed in front of the wall, and the signal of a war drum in the camp sent more soldiers hurrying through the tunnel. Regina watched as they fought, until a few Delvers from a nearby beachhead arrived to even the odds. It was brutal and bloody, but the allied soldiers made it to the nearby gatehouse, and managed to open the gates before enemy reinforcements arrived.

Regina took a mental step back and assessed the progress the hive and their allies made in the battle. Gradually, they started taking sections of the walls and moving deeper into the city. As soon as the hive’s allies held a sizeable part of the walls, having established a beachhead, they could channel more soldiers into the city.

Of course, their enemies weren’t idle, either. Despite the surprise of the attack’s timing, they’d clearly made plans and they didn’t panic or give up. Lyns’ soldiers fought hard to defend the walls. When it became clear that they couldn’t hold out against the Delvers’ attack, they fell back in good order and either took positions on rooftops in the city or gathered at the inner wall. It used to be the city wall before the city had grown out of its bounds, and despite being smaller than the newer wall and in some disrepair, it still presented a tough obstacle.

It helped that the flying drones could do some targeted attack runs. They didn’t use high-yield explosives since Regina didn’t want to risk those in a populated city, but it was more than enough to harass the enemy soldiers and disrupt their defense. They’d also managed to destroy some of their barracks and towers leading up to the walls, which contributed as well.

Regina watched as the soldiers and hive drones clashed, with the flying drones supporting the ground troops. They systematically started clearing the rooftops of enemy archers before the soldiers advanced, taking the city bit by bit. Large sections of the walls fell to them and the open gates allowed more soldiers into the city, to advance further.

The battle seemed to drag on for far longer than it should, but Regina knew it was just the stretched perception of time in combat. The hive’s army approached quickly and was ready to join the battle right away, since they didn’t need to establish a camp or take a long time getting into formation. The Delvers had mostly taken the vanguard and were doing quite well. While they weren’t used to fighting in a proper army, their parties had a lot of experience with small-unit tactics, and that was more useful in a battle like this, anyway, especially once they pressed further into the city.

Regina hesitated for a moment, before she focused on her commanders, trying to catch them at a time when they weren’t too distracted and would be able to talk without putting their units at risk. Does anyone see the Marquis? she asked.

We haven’t seen him recently, Tim answered promptly. He was overseeing the battle inside the city instead of participating directly, still waiting on a flying drone high above the fighting, instead of leading any troops. Last we had eyes on him, he was going from the barracks to the palace, though. I would guess he’s still there, with at least some of his commanders.

He’s never been the type to lead from the front, Janis put in. Unlike some Cernlians, who would have said the words with scorn, her tone was neutral. Despite Janis herself being the type to lead from the front when she could, she knew the realities of trying to command men from within a battle. Regina could also tell she was a bit frustrated at simply waiting instead of participating herself, at the moment.

Well, keep an eye out for him, if you can without being too distracted from the battle, Regina told them. If we manage to capture him, we can bring this battle to a conclusion sooner.

The others all sent feelings of acknowledgment, and Regina left them to their work. She hesitated a bit, opening her eyes and glancing around. Along with Max and his bodyguard unit, which he’d bolstered for this trip, she was still some distance away from the city, in the middle of the troops they’d marked as a reserve. Regina had insisted on being close to the action, more for what would happen afterward than the battle itself, but she didn’t want to put herself at risk, either. The drones around her, along with some Delvers, all seemed calm, although she could sense the tension they felt, too. She wasn’t the only one anxious while watching the fight without participating.

For now, she rolled her shoulders and then closed her eyes again, focusing on her psychic senses, letting them bounce off her psychic link as she’d learned to do, and looked for another mind. It was easy to find, even among the chaos of the people in the city and the battle waged around them. Madris was too distinct, and since she’d started teaching Regina, it was even easier to identify her mind among many others.

Madris, she greeted her. Are you doing okay?

Of course, the dark elf answered with some amusement leaking into the words, which Regina was pretty sure she was deliberately projecting. What is it, my Queen? Another mission like the last one?

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Regina winced slightly. No. I just wanted to ask you something simpler. Do you know where Marquis Lyns is?

Madris was quiet for a while, and Regina suspected she was searching for Lyns as well. After a minute, she answered, her tone neutral again. He’s with several of his commanders. One of the knights is gathering soldiers, probably to protect him. They’re moving from the war room in the palace in the direction of the barracks.

Thank you, that’s good to know. And now that Madris had given her that much to go on, Regina found it easier to find them herself.

She started pacing up and down a bit, glaring at the city in the distance. She didn’t have much space to move, since Max and the others were being extra protective. Although Regina did appreciate it. She was looking forward to actually entering the city, though. She probably wouldn’t be able to go further east without completely screwing things up for the front against the gnomes, given her psychic link’s range, but she was getting tired of this. It almost made her want to run a gamble and end this battle sooner, to make sure they won. But she didn’t want to risk any of her people’s lives on an ill-advised strike at the Marquis, either …

The decision was taken out of her hands by a small swarm of Winged Drones on a bombing run. It wasn’t on her orders. Although with something this complex, with this many moving parts, she just didn’t have complete control, or at least complete knowledge, of everything that happened. One of her commanders had seen the opening and decided to use the unit harassing the palace, judging that the risk of losing them was worth the potential benefit.

They met more opposition than expected, since Lyns, some of his senior commanders and bodyguards were here, all of them pretty high level. They’d just moved out of the palace proper into a side courtyard, and were caught at the edge of the radius of the bomb one of the drones dropped. As Regina focused on it, she could sense Tim take charge and divert several of them to focus on the men, running with the opportunity.

The drones died quickly. None of them were sapient, and they weren’t strong enough to stand up to the enemy. Lyns had a mage that must have been pretty high-level with him, and several knights started throwing javelins and shooting arrows without hesitation.

But their sacrifice wasn’t for nothing. Lyns and his companions were slowed down, unable to meet up with the small gathering of soldiers a few hundred meters across from them.

And then the Delvers arrived. Sir Egon, of all people, led a small squad of Delver elites deeper into the city, and he’d clearly seen the attack and decided to charge in as well. Regina saw him coming through one of the flying drones that had barely survived and immediately called in more troops.

The Winged Drones were gathering in the sky, streaming towards the palace, when the Delvers clashed with Lyns’ guards. Regina winced slightly as a blinding flash took away her ability to see what was happening for a moment, the drone’s sight still blurry and spotty afterward. She switched through several more, trying to get the best vantage point, and focusing on her psychic senses.

Trito’s blade was lit up with some kind of white fire at the moment, and he clashed with who she recognized as one of Lyns’ senior knights. The rest of his party was taking on the others, slightly outnumbered but clearly more than confident. Tim, Ada and a few other drones were taking direct command over the flying drones in the vicinity, and she sensed Tim activating his Class Skill, Rally, to increase their abilities.

The fight was furious, but short. She still had trouble seeing everything that happened, but it barely took a few seconds for almost half of Lyns’ men to lie bleeding on the ground. A few of the Delvers, as well.

Then, whoever must have created the first flash set it off again, even worse this time. The ground rumbled and shook and several of her flying drones tumbled in the air, almost dropping to the ground.

Regina frantically searched through the minds of nearby drones, trying to regain a picture of the situation.

“Where is he?” she snarled, flexing her fingers and drawing her claws against the backs of her hands. She didn’t send the question via the psychic link, not wanting to distract them, but she couldn’t contain the words.

Lyns was nowhere in sight. Most of his men were there, still dead, wounded or in the process of becoming the former or latter, but he and a few others weren’t visible.

“We’ll find him,” Max said calmly, not needing to ask who she meant. “He can’t go far.”

Regina exhaled and nodded. She knew that if Lyns had a way to escape by teleporting or similar, he would have already used it. Something like that, especially without a personal Skill, probably needed an anchor, and he wouldn’t have had the chance to set one up in another city. It was more likely someone had turned him invisible to sneak away.

Maybe seeing him run down and watching my people chase him will be more fun, anyway.

She took a step back, cracked her neck and then dove back into the psychic link. The battle was still in progress, but it was obvious they had the upper hand. Without Lyns or most of the central leadership of the Cernlian loyalist faction, they were doomed, it was only a question of how long until the last soldier surrendered. The fighting at the palace was wrapping up, already, with the surviving commanders and elites from Lyns’ side being taken into custody.

Regina let the psychic link fade into the background of her awareness and instead focused on her psychic senses irrespective of it, tracing the life in the surrounding area. It took a few seemingly endless minutes of scourging the city and trying not to get distracted by the battle raging around it.

There, she announced triumphantly to Max and Tim, then got the attention of several other people.

We’ve got him, Janis said, anticipation in her mental voice.

Regina smiled slightly. She really was looking forward to the end of this.

For now, she did need to focus on the battle, though. Any of her children whose death she might be able to prevent took priority.

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