"I still think we should have just done the same. If they can send people to assassinate some of our people, why can't we send some of ours to assassinate their leaders?"

"Take a page out of their book and do unto them as they would do unto us, you mean?" Mia hummed, absently tossing a wooden stick she'd been examining back on the ground.

"Exactly." Dan gestured with a sweeping motion. "Look at all that nice, free airspace. It's not like we can't get flying drones to the Western Confederation. From there, how hard can it really be to cause some damage?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression they were usually shot down once they crossed the border," Mia said drily.

"Well, not always," Dan pouted. "They don't have that many flying monsters of their own, or ranged fighters watching the skies. Just some."

Mia sighed, clapping her hands to rid them of sawdust. She usually liked woodworking, and it wasn't like she'd done much of it just now, just a few finishing touches, but it was different than sitting behind a desk. "Even if it was that easy, and I'm not saying it is, I think you're missing the point. We're not retaliating like this because political assassination is, you know, a bad thing. We don't want to encourage that behavior. And we don't want to be the aggressors anyway. At least in people's minds."

"No war was ever won by staying entirely on the defensive," Dan muttered.

"I'm not sure that's true, but regardless, that's why you and the others have all these new weapons, isn't it? I've seen some of Ben's plans, too, most of them include striking quickly and taking territory. But it doesn't matter. Mother has decided we're not doing it, so we're not, or do you want to argue with her?"

"Of course not." Dan kicked his feet. "It is funny you're — what is that, anyway — whittling? Something right out here in the open. By an actual shitty palisade."

"It's not that shitty," Mia said. "And it's not my work, I would've done better. I think they repurposed some fencing around fields. Besides, our enemies are going to entirely underestimate something like this, don't you think?"

It was a slightly unconventional palisade, given the netting of branches and bits of extra wood propping it up, but the basic shape of a tight fence of sticks on top of a mound of earth taken from a ditch was the same as usual. Mia was pretty sure there were more of these fences around, even if this area, the border zone of Nerlia and Cernlia to the north and stretching out to either side, hadn't usually seen that many monsters.

"Admit it, you only came out here to get away from cities, or your factories where everyone wants your attention," Dan said. He paused for a moment. "And to see me, of course. That's the most important reason."

"Sure," Mia agreed easily, "that it was."

Dan blinked, then smiled at her. She dipped a bit deeper into the psychic link, and they exchanged a closer brush, sensing and sharing each other's affection. It was basically like a mental hug. And Mia wasn't even lying, she hadn't seen her little brother in a while and had missed him. Other benefits to coming here were naturally secondary.

Dan was rarely in the capital these days, but she knew he preferred it that way. And since they had started the planned maneuvers in the northern parts of the Empire, he was mostly there to oversee them. She knew soldiers complained about doing these exercises in the winter, but he didn't seem to mind.

Conversely, a lot of Mia's work up here was focused on disaster-proofing their industrial and infrastructure projects and making sure there were enough redundancies. Though this general area was decently populated and there was potential for trade and industry, they did have quite a few facilities, compared with, say, southwestern Cernlia.

At least it had given her the opportunity to meet some of the others she hadn't seen in a while. Besides Dan, Ada, Ace, Ivy, Len, Lea and Ken were also in the area and she enjoyed the chance to catch up with them. Most of them were senior officers with their own commands and responsibilities, or important in the overall coordination and administration of the Hive but usually not working in the same place as her. Well, Ada was a general and should be filling a more administrative role, but she still liked to be hands-on on occasion.

"I think we're finished here," she said. "Let's go?"

They had some flying drones waiting nearby, although they weren't going far enough to really need to fly. Considering the recent tensions and how close they were to the border, Dan had also made sure they had a military escort, who'd been giving them a bit of space but now climbed on other flying drones alongside them. Mia urged her mount to fly a bit higher and turn in a spiral, looking out at the countryside below her.

It looked picturesque, but even from here, there were signs of potential trouble. The palisade and other fortifications. The empty space that marked the border. The forest to the southwest was visibly getting cut back, and she made a mental note to bring it up with the local authorities; they couldn't afford to have the country be too deforested even if they needed a lot of wood or charcoal.

She frowned, squinting a bit as she looked closer to the horizon. They were pretty far up right now; it was getting cold, and she could feel Dan's mounting impatience as she focused on it. Hey, she nudged him. Aren't those a few too many dots in the sky over there?

What? She could sense his exasperation as he turned, then he grew more serious. Probably just birds, he said after a few moments. But we can send a few drones closer to take a look.

Do that, it won't hurt, she agreed.

She noticed him turn and open communications with a few of their escorts and soldiers farther away, while Mia focused on the area around them again, taking the chance to solidify her mental map of the region. She also drew on the equivalent already stored in the psychic link, making something like annotations. It was always nice to have resources like that, but different people tended to focus on different things when it came to the details.

The landscape had noticeably changed over the last few years, she noted. Not to a very large extent, but it was still remarkable. Despite the rising tension at the border, settlements had actually increased — existing ones were larger and there even seemed to be a few newly founded ones, though those were still few and far between. Overall she wasn't very surprised; while demographic changes would probably take a few more years to really be visible, a push to urbanization absolutely should already be. But, looking further and getting the info from a few drones who had flown closer to the border, it was clear that the Empire wasn't the only country in which something was happening — there were also changes across the border, although it was probably more in line with military buildup.

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Ada is going to meet us at the next base, Dan told her, interrupting her analysis.

Mia urged her mount to move closer to his and nodded. Lead the way.

It only took a few minutes before they set down in the yard of the base. It was clearly newly built and not very fortified, since the prevailing opinion was that palisades or stone walls would hardly do much to help against a serious attack. Instead, this was mostly a place for barracks, logistical support and a training ground. As they arrived, Mia saw a lot of soldiers moving around, accompanied by some swarms of War Drones. Most of the soldiers were human, but there were some drones and a few gnomes. If she recalled correctly, they had recently moved out and come back from an exercise, so the activity made sense. There was a cavalry force based here, larger than most, and the stables to the sides of the main building were bustling with activity as horses were brushed down and stabled. There were also Swarm Drones meant as mounts, of course, but they had their own stable and didn't require as much care.

Both sorts of 'cavalry' were probably mostly experimental and she was pretty sure Ben and the others weren't quite sure how they would actually measure up. In the meantime, they presented a mobile force that could move quickly without actually flying and being visible in the air.

"Most of them will be useful as scouts," Ada said as she reached her, clearly noticing her look.

Mia turned to smile at her and shrugged. "I was considering whether the expense was worth it. Horses eat a lot of hay and grain."

"We're not that strapped for food, and I think we can manage the logistical burden," Ada replied. "You should know, right? The railways will help, even if they don't reach up here yet."

Mia nodded. The railways were still a headache. For obvious reasons, a proper route to the north of the Empire was currently given preference in their planning, and they had finished at least one major section. It wasn't in regular operation, but she supposed that in a pinch, it could probably be used. There were basically two lower sections, coming from two 'base camps' close to Cera and Forest's Haunt, with another branch close to Nerlia-city and the Nerlian center. They connected to a single major throughline, but would hopefully also be useful in connecting those cities in the future, at least before she could build a better and more direct connection — though at that point, they would probably focus on the new capital.

If all else failed, they could always use or modify regular wagons for using the rails and have them pulled by draft animals or Swarm Drones, which would still be an improvement in their capacity for bulk transport over roads, though obviously proper locomotives would be much better.

And there were also a few rivers they could use. Unfortunately not best positioned to reach this area, but there were still population centers on rivers that went in this direction, so they could at least use them for parts of their required logistics networks. Shipping material was much easier than sending it by road, even with the Empire's new roads. All of this made her wonder how the Western Confederation handled things, but they probably relied primarily on river transport, or sea transport for some of their northern regions.

"Hey," Dan said. "Earth to Mia? Where are you floating off to?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, I was just thinking. Logistics really are pretty complicated right now." She paused, looking at the horses again, before she shook herself and turned to leave with the others.

"How are things here?" Dan asked Ada as they started slowly walking away from the stables.

"As expected," she said with a little shrug. "I've been collating our intelligence reports. The Westerns seem to be moving more than I hoped."

"Is that what we're calling them now?" Mia interjected.

"Well, the gnomes are also a Confederation, so there's room for confusion with that term, and Mother doesn't like the term Westerners, so sometimes we just call them Westerns instead," Ada said, smirking slightly. "I think Galatea hates it. But I'm sure you've heard it before."

"You said they're moving?" Dan asked.

Ada nodded. "I think they've tried to obfuscate their movement patterns; there's a lot of general noise and I'm fairly sure they've sent the same men walking around a lot. Not in ways you'd normally deploy a unit. But, yes, I think they're gathering forces. Slowly."

Mia sighed. That was, of course, not a surprise. "And these religious orders?"

Dan pulled a face. "Still a problem."

"We should just forbid them in the Empire. Make it very clear they're not allowed to cross the border."

"Way ahead of you," Ada said with a smile. "The local authorities have some discretion. We may forbid entry to some people. Like those who are armed and seem to us to be belligerent."

Mia paused. "Wait, you're forbidding them from crossing the border already? Shouldn't that be the civilian authorities' decision — and what does Mother think about it? And since when?"

"A little while now," Dan said. He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "The local authorities cooperate closely with the military. Didn't you tell me how much easier it was to arrange supply depots here because of it? And Regina clearly knows about it, but hasn't forbidden it or anything."

Mia stopped walking, closing her eyes for a moment. "Well, then I think we have a problem, anyway. You know, earlier, I saw some shapes and thought we should check them out, so we sent drones?"

"That is where my flying scouts went, I was missing some earlier," Ada said, clicking her tongue.

Mia sent her a wordless apology and nudged Dan. "Well, take a look."

They all fell quiet as they focused on what they could make out from those flying drones. The dots in the sky she'd seen earlier turned out to be a few tamed flying beasts. They weren't moving very fast, but circling over a group traveling on the ground, mostly on horses or a few tamed monsters as well.

"Those people must be from their religious orders," Dan stated the obvious. "There's too many for a regular adventuring party, and we don't have many of those coming through anyway. They're pretty heavily armed."

Ada turned to look north, although they couldn't see anything from here. "Perhaps they want to force the issue regarding being granted visa status?"

The three of them exchanged a look. "There's just a small border checkpoint, they won't be able to cope with this kind of situation," Dan said. She could sense his concern. "But it's too late to increase our security protocols for it."

Mia clicked her tongue. "Well, it's not like there's anything you could do. If only you had a standing army, and soldiers close by, with very mobile units." She jerked her chin back in the direction of the stables. "Oh wait …"

Dan and Ada looked at her for a moment, then exchanged a quick psychic message she only caught the edges of.

"You're right. Looks like we have the first test for this outfit," Dan said. "Let's hope this can be solved without violence. Or not, I'm fine either way."

"Having a cavalry company with you generally makes people more inclined to listen to reason around here, from what I hear," Ada said. "I've let them know to be ready, we'll be off right away."

"We? You're a general, isn't this a bit below your pay grade?" Mia asked.

Ada shrugged. "I can always evaluate the officers we do have in command."

By now, there was more noise coming from behind them. Mia looked over to see people bringing horses around again, saddling them and generally getting ready. Swarm Drones were assembling in tight formation to not get in the way. Some flying drones also congregated on the roofs of the buildings, and she caught Ada sending some instructions.

"Well, I'll stay here and make sure the magistrate is informed," Mia shrugged. "Let me know how their equipment performs. And detailed data on the mounts' speed and endurance would be appreciated. Also theirs, take them alive or at least let them give you a good fight if you can."

"Noted," Dan said drily.

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