Pov Mazari (Insect Empress):

"Ma'am, I don't think this plan is suitable for our swarm."

"You don't have what it takes, this is the course of action the Imperial Council has decided on." (I)

"We move as one, we exist as one!" (I)

"Excuse my disrespect ma'am... argh!"

I use my claws to crush this servant's head, then place my hand in Starhaven's core.

"(This is already the fifth servant you've killed, there are still 2 to go, are you sure she wants to continue?)"

"(Yes, unfortunately, I need a proper excuse to destroy these abominations.)" (I)

"(My body is already at the limit of supporting your modifications, I don't know how much longer I can keep pretending.)"

"(You must bear it, we can't go on as we are going, the swarm's unity is getting lost and corrupted because of them.)" (I)

"(You will be exposed sooner or later, give up this plan, I can still destroy those corrupted inside me, you can build your Hive somewhere else.)"

"(Alone we are weak, there is little I can do and I can't choose when to spawn an Imperial Offspring, we need more to keep the balance.)" (I)

"(I'm watched over by these freaks, but you still do your part well, we have to wait for the moment of attack and move as one, that's why I made those who think like me be brought in, even those who were trapped by them.) " (I)

"(That one, don't be careful...)"

"(Share with me...)" (I)

I close my eyes to share my Familiar's senses, I too had felt an absurd burst of energy, so I had to check what was going on.

When I closed my eyes sharing my Familiar's senses I saw two powerful attacks heading towards our bait, attacks multiple times stronger than we were expecting, the illusion was supposed to last longer thanks to the barrier around it while the crystal was absorbing the power behind the attacks, but the power of this attack was so devastating that it instantly destroyed the barrier and dispersed the illusion revealing the crystal.

"It can't stay like this, I need to move first." (I)

I use my Aura at full power forcing my Aura to carry my will into the Swarm's mindstream.

"(The enemies know about the plan, I'm ordering the start of the attack now!!!)" (I)

"(By the Swarm!!!)" (I)

"(FOR THE SWARM!!!)" (Swarm)

I keep most of my Aura connected with the Swarm's mindstream while part of the Aura still remains within me to protect my mind.

Soon I shared the senses again while controlling part of the Swarm during the battle.

From the beginning I was surprised when we revealed ourselves, I expected many scenarios, this includes the use of Territories by enemies, but with the power of the Swarm we would be able to crush their Territory while putting ours in place, I planned to use this moment to hide my actions since my Authority is still above others.

"What's wrong with this damn place!" (I)

No matter how hard I try, my Territory is active, even though my Authority's power is being heavily restricted, I also hear the same complaints from others, but it seems that in their case it was even worse with their Authority not being able to let even the body.

"This feels like our Swarm Realm, multiple presences connecting to each other as they build together a single Realm." (I)

"I've never heard others talk about something like this, even in the Swarm's memory there is no such history... how did they do it!!!" (I)

"Ma'am, sorry to interrupt..."

Before she finished speaking her Skull gained a new hole when my finger crossed her forehead, so her body falls over the previous servant, with that only one more left that soon appeared.

"..."

"I allow you to speak." (I)

"Empress, our troops follow the attack as ordered, I am willing to contribute as I see fit whether that be by being your spokesperson, giving advice if you wish, or..."

"I don't need anything, there is no plan or strategy that could be better than mine, I don't need a mouthpiece either, as the Insect Empress my voice must be heard and obeyed!" (I)

"Now gather those you call researchers in places where they didn't cause problems for the mobilization of troops, also stop their experiments during the attack." (I)

"As the lady commands."

After the Mutant Bee Queen leaves I went back to see what the enemies were doing, I'm sure everyone else's focus is on the battle, I'll have to hurry, I just hope they understood my orders through the code we agreed on, no we will have other opportunities.

As soon as the battle got out of hand, it seems that there were more Dragons among the enemies than I thought possible, even 2 Elder Dragons that the Swarm still remembers in memory.

There are also several strange creatures fighting our troops, each one more bizarre than the next, their Auras also bearing similarities to someone among them, I remember him reporting those aberrations.

"(I order...)" (I)

I start passing orders to implement attacks against the enemy leader, this one was responsible for the Territory, I can feel his presence resonate with the environment as one, so I know it's him.

I use one of the others plans, they really demean themselves to use our people as sacrifices like that, their deaths in battle can't be avoided, but not tools, they live, fight and die for the Swarm, warp their purposes and desecrate their bodies that way form is disgusting.

"Wait, what is this..." (I)

For a second I felt something enter my Familiar's body, it was very weak to the point that my Familiar didn't pay attention, but I'm always attentive since the aberrations arrived, so I always keep my focus on the details. "(Keep that weak presence under surveillance.)" (I)

"(I almost didn't notice him, should I destroy?)"

"(Must not be one of the freaks, your presence seems to resemble others out there.)" (I)

"(Must it be a Familiar or Summon take care of it and find out where it walks in your body as well as where it's going.)" (I)

As time went by I saw what I assumed was the enemy leader fighting, his power is superb and his stamina a major nuisance, I can't find anything that makes any sense to use as him, so I made the troops compensate for the lack of power with attacks coordinated to reach the same place.

As the fight continued I saw another Empress focus her attention on him, I also saw other Starhavens fall by the wayside, some opponents are just too strong.

"(Looks like he's getting close to his prisoner?)"

"(The intruder? How did he get to her?)" (I)

"(He seems to be following a path that leads directly to her, he often took the wrong path as if he knew the direction and didn't know the way to get there.)"

"(I can't go, send my true Servant there, it seems I can't wait any longer to act.)" (I)

"(As you wish, she was hidden where you instructed, she is not far from the containment area.)"

"(Do this and try to contact this intruder, I need answers on how he knows where to go.)" (I)

"(Get everyone to start acting, we don't have any more time, we can't let our allies start dying along with the other Starhavens.)" (I)

"(I will now.)"

Specifying what my Familiar should do, I returned to my task of continuing to command the troops.

That's when I saw one of the Dragons attacking the other, then the space opened up revealing an attack against the Dragon that was attacked by its companion.

---------------

Pov Zenos:

The fighting kept getting more and more intense, I was physically healed but had lost a lot of energy, and blood from everywhere was being used by the Territory to create more of our army.

The Dragons I've summoned and the Vampires created by the Territory have made a big difference, but it seems that this is far from over when one of the large creatures begins to change shape as if it were some kind of beast.

Several heads grow from the front like some kind of Hydra, the arms that started out skinny became thick and full of muscle, its hands were actually sickle-shaped, and thousands of thin tentacles grew from the back with eyes at the ends.

This thing was grotesque in many ways, but it wasn't my job to fight it, I focused on the insect soldiers, strangely some seemed to change their shapes mid-attack to catch me off guard in a sneak attack.

Of course, that kind of thing didn't work for me, but it still made it difficult to deal with so many enemies.

"Why is this thing coming towards me?" (I)

While I was fighting I noticed a presence focusing on me and when I looked I saw that the large creature from before it transformed was coming towards me even though it was receiving attacks from Zadiris, several tree branches still stuck in its body leaving large wounds in the colossal body of the creature.

"< Black Mist >" (I)

I didn't know why it was coming towards me and I didn't want to find out, thinking about it I created a black cloud at the same time as distorting the space, this would hide my body and confuse the enemy with some luck.