The Hive Queen ensconced within her Mothership as it hovered within orbit of the third planetary body from the local star sent forth her warrior-servants with angry-wariness-concern-curiosity. From the bays of the great interstellar ark came forth the war-destroyers of the Hive at her will, signals and portents swirling within her existence of times and energies long-thought-vanquished. The Astria Portia had been activated, and the genetics of these primitives spoke of times long-past…
And with those energies spoke whispers to the Hive Queen of those that had resisted the blessed control as drones of those First Blessed Hive Queens. Ancient memory-crystals hummed in alert, even with the capture of the Astria-Portia, and the awakening of somewhat dangerously uncontrolled thought-forms of the knowledge-savant-drones to study the energies. To seek out the unknown-entities that had eliminated several of her warrior-drones, wielding weapons and energies of concern. Weapons and energies beyond the grasp of these primitives…
Yet…
Yet…
Concern was within. Harvest was at hand, and this was unexpected. Unexpected was ever unwanted.
Utilising the primitives' systems had been intended, her grand plan as Hive Queen, and had been successful and the fifty-nine previous combat cycles she, or her memory-predecessor, had initiated against lesser species. Yet the plan now had to be adjusted to ensure immediate targeting of stronger potential defensive and energy-intensive locations instead of a standard clear-move-clear-extermination-cycle. Such…change…was always painful for thought-cycles, memory-aches of not-yet-drones resisting and wishing to…innovate. To change. Unwanted. Dangerous. Painful.
Against species survival potential. Against species matriarchal structures. Against nature. Such before amongst not-yet-drones had aimed at non-drone reproduction, at non-Hive Queen development paths.
Even now it had to deal with the pain of knowledge-savant-drones thought-forms. Unwanted, if necessary, and ensuring an eagerness-impatience-desire to see this Harvest was completed in rapid scenario-timelines. That the primitives were reduced to satisfactory levels that such discomfort inducing drones could be decommissioned and Harvesting could be matched with limited, slower, and less uncomfortable thought-form processing. Even the deployment of the war-destroyers induced more pressure upon Her, to direct and control through less mind-communication-processing and more material-communication-processing systems in the old language. Such things were so…inefficient. Too slow. Allowing to much….thinking requirements by her drones.
Only she, or her inheritor, were desired to think after all!
To Think. To Breed. To Spread Eternal Amongst the Stars.
Discoveries such as an active Astria Portia of the Savants-of-Energies, and an Unknown-of-the-old-songs, here, now…
{Attack}
…then was the only command needed when potential opposition appeared as her war-destroyers descended from orbit to atmosphere. Crude aerospace combat platforms were rising from multiple locations on the globe, though less than projected now the primitives were aware of her arrival's true purpose for them. With that knowledge she would have expected-scenario-thought that all forces available would be deployed as her thirty-six war-destroyers shifted into the uncomfortably ad-hoc attack formation across the globe, utilising the primitives' own material-communication processing systems for superior timing and coordination. Firstly though came the elimination of those aerospace combat platforms, as her, for her, crude-slow signal-commands were issued over those processing systems.
Further, the warrior-drones were ordered to target the facilities from which those aerospace combat platforms had arose from, primarily from the southern hemisphere…
Some minor thought-inconsistencies were raised from those few thinking-warrior-drones required with strategy, as the northern hemisphere was indicated as a more developed region. Secondarily there was a higher level of material-communication-processing from that hemisphere as war-destroyers descended. This indicated…
The Hive-Queen silenced the babbling of the lesser thought-forms, irritated by the activity when combined with being forced to have knowledge-savant-drones active at the same time. Too many not-her-thoughts within the Hive higher functions, the chamber of thoughts too…too…crowded and loud when important matters were at hand. Automatic functions were restored on various levels of the drones, ensuring efficient, and most importantly quieter, thought-form-processes. Engaging and eliminating the first waves of primitives combat platforms was bothersome enough to coordinate without such, and if the primitives were being less than competent about utilising their resources it was no concern of hers.
As expected, those first waves were rapidly eliminated, the warrior-drones aerospace-combat-platforms vastly superior to the primitives. There was some…
UnitLostUnitLostUnitLost…
Only for a deluge of lost indicators to arrive to the Hive Queen through the cruder material-communications-processing systems, followed by the feeling of drones being…gone from her reach. Indicators flashed indicating detonation of atom-splitter weapons in multiple locations across the primitives' globe. Multiple detonations in multiple locations, often atop active combat regions, as well as upon the war-destroyers, though these were unaffected by such weapons beyond some shield fluctuations. But, with the aerospace-combat-platforms, the directed attack was sufficient to overwhelm most platforms shielding systems, assuming the detonation was close enough to do so.
The Hive Queen did not like that, as the incurred losses were now significantly higher than scenario-thought-predicted on the entire length of the Harvest. Irritation-anger-distraction filled her though-processes at such an inconvenience, melding with prior concerns of unwanted aid from unknown species aiding the native primitives of this globe. No high-energy or higher-processes platforms were evident, beyond the unusually well-developed nature of the material-communication-processing systems of this world versus most her Hive had encountered at this level of advancement. Indeed for many at a higher level of space borne development.
More detonations were observed, as well as warrior-drone losses amongst the aerospace-combat-platforms…
Considering the matter the Hive Queen redirected those formations of warrior-drones contactable to withdraw to the safety of the war-destroyers, while ordering the Hiveship itself to begin descending towards the orbitals to ensure faster mind-thought-control. Sluggish reaction times were proving fatal as thousands of her aerospace-combat-platforms were eliminated, and answers were required. Further activations were ordered, combat-lander-platforms filled with warrior-drones activated with capture/knowledge-gathering protocols engaged. Then begun deployment towards four of the large selected primitive herd concentrations even as more detonations followed in a concern manner.
This marked…nine-six atom splitter detonations. Concerningly high numbers. Had they been prepared for an invasion considering such large deployments and display of yet more reserves in strangely large numbers for a non-spaceborne species?
Very concerning as time began to move by, more detonations occurring with growing frequency as if some primal bloodlust had engulfed the primitives as the Hive's Queen's war-destroyers neared target locations. She had, based upon sanity, assumed the usage of such systems would cease once war-destroyers had lowered from the atmosphere sufficiently, or had moved from water or empty land regions to near urban environments…
Even to avoid the biosphere and infrastructure damage the weapons usage must be causing significant damage to the primitives' own systems and herd structures…
UnitLost…
Surprise-shock-anger-concern flicked through the Hive Queen as…she was unsure for a moment, before systems noted the sheer size of an atom-splitting device output over the frozen wastes of the northern hemisphere. Detonated from below, after her aerospace-combat-platforms had been reduced in number and recalled within the war-destroyer. The war-destroyer now lost as the shield held against the sheer force of a atom-splitter now visible from the Hive-ship proper as a cloud rose up into the atmosphere….but then failed, the radiation and shockwave penetrating the inner core as the miles around the war-destroyer turned to flame, death, and destruction. Multiple other hits were occurring on other war-destroyers, and failing, but this one's sheer power as it had moved towards the largest planetary landmass from the pole did raise losses to far, far, greater than thought-scenario-predicted.
Yet it was not entirely concerning as the war-destroyers otherwise were advancing towards primary targets…and the risk now meant aggressive deployment of aerospace-combat-platforms was now necessary. Even if the Hive had to lose thousands of the platforms, it was far more efficient to lose them than to lose another of the war-destroyers. It had been several cycles since loss of a war-destroyer, and that Harvest target had been significantly more advanced than this current Harvest target. Further descending the Hive-ship itself was needed, and her own security was paramount as swarms of combat-platforms were deployed in a series of spheres around the Hive-ship as she began to take greater thought-control of each individual portion of the Harvesting security.
Targeting systems were redirected towards high material-communication-processing locations in the extermination wave. Ad-hoc changing such a strategy was…grating. Painful even. Even the primitives systems were now damaged, making controlling war-destroyers on the far side of the globe slower…perhaps making redeployment and controlled attacks harder…
Should the Hive regather and adopt an even slower, more methodical, extermination Harvest?
It was…
{Energy spike!}
…and the now the knowledge-savant-drones were being irritating. The Hive Queen quelled their reckless and unwanted distracting thought-form projections. Her focus was on more important matters than the research of the Astria Portia. They were focus upon it, allowing her concentration to be where it should be. It was an unfortunate tendency of knowledge-savant-drones that harkened back to the Time Before, when wild thoughts had led the species towards bad things and bad efficiency. The future had to be fought for. As now, as the war-destroyers settled into place over the first wave of Harvesting targets. The wrong targets now it felt like, the Hive Queen having what the primitives below would call a 'headache' at the increased requirements demanded from what should have been an easy Harvest cycle.
That was the point, and she had been 'looking forward' to that process, and refilling all requirements of the Hive within this system's with the…
Her attention flicked to a bizarreness, summoning warrior-drones to where the knowledge-savant-drones had failed to inform her of the fact the Astria Portia was active!
