There was no way to stop the gods from watching me. Any of them.
If they somehow coordinated attacks of their insects on my Empire and daughters, then they would see my every action and react accordingly.
Fighting against an enemy like that felt hopeless. The enemies of the Bee Empire must’ve felt the same when they fought against us and our spies and prediction powers.
Now the roles have reversed...
"Father?" Undecided asked me with concern. "I should probably call someone to calm you down. I, uh, those dreams—they were too much, right?"
Her words made me perk up.
This was not the time to give in to despair!
My daughters depended on me. Undecided felt like I was everybody’s only hope, which meant that I had no right to accept defeat!
"No, no. It’s alright, Undecided. I’m just thinking..." I turned to the map with Undecided’s marks and stared down at it.
Gods were limited in their actions, too. Even if they could make their insects adapt their tactics to my actions, the evolution of said insects still won’t happen in a single week.
From Undecided’s story and the marks on the map, I built in my head a rough idea of what the gods were planning and what their insects were doing right now.
The metal-eater larvae were already burrowers. As beetles, they could travel large distances to lay eggs and release more metal-eaters.
Hornets normally weren’t burrowers, but some wasps dug burrows for their nests. It wouldn’t be impossible for hornets to do the same. Especially since I had no idea what genetic upgrades they had.
The Goddess of Hornets could’ve learned a long time ago that I planned to start my crusade on the hornets with the cleansing of the Hatha territories.
She had time to evolve and place her forces, just like the god of the metal-eating beetles.
The logic suggested that those hornets and metal-eaters were lying in wait right now, or approaching their positions. Traveling underground took a lot of time, after all. To get anywhere on time, they had to have started moving a long while ago.
"Perhaps if Malevolence and her humans just start digging in the locations where there were most attacks..." I muttered. "But what if that provokes an early attack? Or if they just don’t dig out anything?"
If I were an all-knowing goddess with a bone to pick with some Bee Emperor who employed Oracles which could see a week into the future, I’d make sure that whatever my plans were, they couldn’t be interrupted in a single week.
"Then again, maybe I’m focusing on the wrong thing. Maybe I should wonder about the best ways for my Beemarines to kill the hornets..."
Under Undecided’s still puzzled gaze, I shook my head.
"Enough of this! This isn’t something that I can deal with on my own. I need advice."
My next message was targeted and telepathic.
’Helping-Hands dear, send out the news—I need the Empire Council gathered. This is the highest-priority order!’
My Advisers listened to the information brought by Undecided and to my own conclusions about it with a mix of anxiety and grim determination. Like me, they were ready to fight to the last.
"And so I feel like I’m in a decision trap," I explained. "There are some things that could be done to prepare against this attack or even counter it, but wouldn’t the gods have counters to *our* counters?"
The Council Chamber went silent for a while.
"From what you said, Nectus, whatever we do—we better do it as quickly as possible so that the enemies have less time to react. And I believe that any action will be better than inaction. Undecided has already explained what its consequences will be. I don’t wish it on our daughters..."
"Yeah. Absolutely. On all counts. So let’s see what we can do at all, and then do *something*!"
After an atypically brief discussion—nobody wanted to argue about trivialities when so many lives were at stake—we’ve reached several plans that Malevolence and her army could follow to prevent being crushed in next week’s attack.
First, the most aggressive strategy—a counterattack! Humans and Beemarines could work together and dig through the earth in search of the hornets and metal-eaters. This was the strategy most supported by Bloodhero.
Second, we could go in the opposite direction (figuratively *and* literally) and retreat from Hatha entirely. However, not all our forces will be able to retreat in time. Worse, this wouldn’t actually deal with our enemies and would still leave us open for the gods’ future schemes.
This idea was proposed by Worriesgone, but she swiftly took it back. Afterward, the idea was supported by Whisper and Researchina.
The hornets will still be out there somewhere, ready to strike.
Finally, there was a middle-ground option. Malevolence and her army could move to positions that are easier to defend and prepare for the enemy attack there. This was an option that was moderately disliked by everybody.
It felt too much like inaction for my and Bloodhero’s taste, while too much like recklessness for Researchina and Amby.
By this evening, the decision had been made despite people’s doubts.
We were going to counterattack!
"Beehounds with the limit break in telepathy will travel over the Hatha territories and search for the thoughts of hornets and metal-eaters. I don’t know about these murder hornets, but the metal eaters should be easy to spot. In the meantime, the Beemarines and Blood Brothers can prepare weapons to fight with these hornets. There are still places in the Hatha territory where they can find oil and gunpowder. Perhaps they will need to take them from local bandits, but it should be easy."
My Advisers listened intently to my orders. Bloodhero was making notes on a scroll, while Things-Things nodded to herself, then exchanged glances with Tabletina.
"Father, you said that the evolved hornets are immune to venom. But what about smoke?"