IMPERIUM INSECTUM

I am not enjoying this... at all. I watched as a warrior swiftly killed a juvenile spider. I'll hand it to them; attacking on multiple fronts was a good idea. It forces me to be in 2 places at once. Right now, they are doing 2 attacks, one above-ground attack aiming for our main entrance. The other is in our main arterial tunnel, which they somehowbreached. How they fucking found me and how they broke into the arterial tunnel unnoticed is beyond me. But that is something we will tackle when we get there. Right now, we have 2 jesters to kill. The 8 warriors split up and charged the 2 jesters. A tendril shot towards one of the warriors, who sidestepped and caught it with their hand. Instantly using its bladed arm, it sliced the tendril. A loud, shrill squeal came from the spider as it recoiled from the attack.

The warriors seized the opportunity and pounced. One of them attacked its head, blinding it in the process, whilst 2 others attacked the abdomen, slicing it open and ripping out the vital organ. Credit where credit is due, Penn has made dealing with these a lot easier. I lost 50 combat units and a warrior trying to remove one of these earlier.

Suddenly, a loud screech came from the bush line as several spiders came from the forest

<just what I need more fucking spiders....>

I diverted a large swarm of royal flies to join the fight. I. I swear, when I find the person responsible. There will be nobody in this damn world who will fix what I do to them.

I retreated the 8 warriors back to join the main defensive force. My current force sits at 16 warriors, 20 spitters, 50 basic combat units and around 200. I additionally have some workers working on something currently for me.

The warriors hissed at the spiders as they approached. I counted 30 juveniles accompanied by 4 Jesters. I don’t like this. However, I do have an ace up my sleeve. My mind connected with one of the workers whom I had drafted in.

<How far?>

< Not far, Mother, we need a few more minutes...>

Dammit, my mind snapped away from the worker. I needed that project done 5 minutes ago. If that is the case, I will have to call in some help. Dammit, I didn't want it to come to this.

I extended out the weave far and as wide as I could, casting a large net. I was looking for several royal flies who had left on a mission for me,

<Come on, where are they? Where are- Aha. Found you.>

My mind connected to one of them.

<Mother. Is it time>

<Yes, give them the order…>

I relayed the order to the other children and soon snapped my mind back to the fight. The spiders had encroached more and more into the clearing. I could feel my children getting angry at the sight. I understand your anger. This… violation won't go unpunished. However, we will take it on the chin for now.

The spiders got arrogant, and more and more of them joined the force, moving closer and closer to the Hive entrance. My heart raced with anxiety. They should be here by now. Just how slow can they be!

Suddenly, a loud buzzing hit my ears. Finally, before the spiders could react, a torrent of insects swarmed past them. The spiders let out a hiss. A hiss that was muffled by the sheer number of tiny buzzing flapping wings.

The flies circled around the hive, forming a moving 8ft moving wall of their bodies. The spiders tried to push against the swarm. In response, they were stung multiple times in their faces, causing them to instantly back away. Hahaha, hopefully, that should buy time. Enough for the workers to finish the underground project. Speaking of the workers

<How are we going?>

< Preparations complete, mother>

<Good, get a safe distance and stand by.> My mind pulled away as it joined one of the warriors on the main battlefield.

All this mind-hopping is starting to get tedious. It is so clunky and awkward due to the fact I can only be connected to one mind at a time. Sure, I can give general orders to all my children, but if I want to see or communicate to one of them specifically, I can't. I need to be in their mind. If they want to speak to me, the best they can do is tug on the weave to get my attention. This limitation is really affecting my ability to coordinate the battle. Right now, I'm curious about what's happening on Sally's front, but I can only be in one mind at a time. I just have to trust that-

<Mother>

My mind snapped back to the fight. The wall of flies and insects still swarmed around the hive; however, now the spiders were starting to get brave. They pushed through the swarm one by one, taking hundreds of tiny bites in the process. Annoyingly, they caught on to the fact that it couldn’t seriously harm them.

<Mother…>

<Hold….>

They got closer and closer. Come on, just a few more steps. Don’t be shy now. I watched as they advanced on my territory, getting closer and closer until finally. They crossed the line!

<Now!> The order shocked through the weave of my nearby children and, most importantly, into the nature workers hidden just a few feet under the ground.

Almost immediately, the ground shook, and before the spiders could react, a wall of wax spikes shot out of the ground. Impaling several juvenile spiders through the abdomen. At that same moment, the wall of insects dispersed, and my spitters flew in. The stone spikes were staggered and offset slightly, making retreat difficult as their bodies could manoeuvre, making them Easy pickings for the children.

<Don’t go easy on them> I said as they charged forward

The combat units and spitters charged forward as the warriors held the lines. Hopefully, this small victory will be enough to turn the tide. I wonder how Penn and Sally are doing.

….

Pov Penn….

*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!* “Uaaaaghaa!!” I let out a pained whimper.

“We should stop Penn”

I shook my head. “No. I need to be at the front!”

“Penn…”

“Don’t look at me like that! If my memory serves me correctly. We can end this whole thing with one decisive blow.

“We can?”

I nodded. “The silkwrith are similar to the alvearix in that they, too, have a queen; however, her control is a lot more limited, and the range is a lot shorter. To compensate for this, they have these sorts of battlefield commanders. They receive the queen's will, and they enact it here. If we take out that commander.”

“The attack stops.”

“Even better, the spiders panic and lose all coordination, making them very easy pickings,” I replied.

“That’s all good and well, but how will we find the commander?” My head snapped to the right just in time to see a fly land next to me.

“Mother?”

“Diva? How are you-“

“Yes, it's me.” The fly said in her voice. “Let's stay on topic, though. Are you 100% sure about this?”

“Positive. We find the commander, and we win this.”

“Well, that’s a plan. But where is the commander?”

“Judging by the amount of fighting going on down here. My bet its down here, But keep an eye out up there, Diva.”

“For what? “

“Trust me, you can't miss it.

We continued moving down the arterial tunnel. The bodies of the alvearix littered the entire nest, torn abdomens. Gored faces and arms and pools of green blood collected in the cracks and crevices of the tunnel. However, among the many dead of the alvearix, there was an equal number of spiders. We weren’t losing, but we weren’t winning either. I looked at the fly diva was possessing. It had a solemn look, if that was possible, on its face.

“Their deaths will be numerous and agonising. That I promise all of you,” Diva said bitterly.

“That you will, but let's focus on the now.”

Suddenly, the ground shook, and a loud boom echoed down the tunnel.

“We should be close.”

We kept pushing forward until we reached the main defensive line. Spiders and insects clashed in blobs of chitin. They tore each other to pieces without restraint. Fighting until there was nothing left of themselves, my gaze moved to the rear, where a rough tunnel had been garishly cut into the arterial tunnel's walls. From that tunnel, a stream of spiders swarmed into the nest, into the jaws of countless angry insects.

Green and purple blood mixed and pooled on the ground. Fascinating. The way these species fight is unlike anything else. They fight without any sort of self-.

“PENN! Snap out of it!” The fly yelled.

My head snapped back to reality. “Ah, sorry, diva.”

“It's fine. Are there any signs of this… Commander. You speak off.”

I scoured the battlefield. There was nothing but spiders and combat units, with the occasional warrior to break up the monotony. Come on, I know you're hiding. Your biology dictates you can't be too far-

Suddenly, my eyes landed on an unsettling presence at the back. There was a group of spiders huddled away at the back, not fighting or interacting with anything in front of them. This isn't typical behaviour. Suddenly, one of them turned around and locked eyes with me, and so did the other and another and another.

“You're hiding it, aren't you”

“Where?” Diva asked, flying up to my level. I pointed toward the group of spiders.

Penn, do you think you can hit one of those spiders with a spear?

Penn gave a look at the fly before giving me a nod. Blood flowed out of her body and into the shape of a spear. She aimed briefly before sending it flying. In an instant, the spear crossed the battlefield and nailed the spider right in the head.

The spiders surrounding him let out a deathly screech, which was joined by the surrounding spiders.

“Gah, my ears. What are they doing?”

“Just watch...” Suddenly, the screeching stopped, and the spiders fell back. Diva ordered her children to do the same. As we regrouped, a loud, resonating screech, no roar would be more accurate, came from the largest invasion tunnel as, without warning, the commander burst out of the tunnel.

“Told you you couldn't miss him.”

In front was a large, double-headed, almost 18-foot spider. Its legs, body and abdomen were adorned with spikes. And fleshy tendrils that were similar to what the jesters had. My eyes moved towards its head, a mass of gnarled teeth and eyes connected to a long, thin neck adorned with spiky chitin.

The spider roared into the air. The other spiders did the same. And before we knew it we were swarmed with chitin.