Tim had had to beg, plead, use sweet reason and threaten to fly off on his own before his mother agreed to let him lead this strike force. Not that he would have actually done that if Regina had ordered him not to, but it showed his commitment. With several of her children once again taken captive by their enemies and two of her students in danger, she was reluctant to risk any of the people she was close to, he supposed.

They really had bad luck regarding envoys to countries that should not have been hostile.

Regardless, like Jem and Ace, Tim had valuable skills for this situation. It probably helped that most of their sapient drones had now been recalled by Regina's Queen's Summons Ability, leaving only Zoe and Jay, who had come to lead her Star Guard escort. They'd only started these rescues once it became clear the group really were prisoners, to not inflame the situation, previously — and since Regina hadn't used the Ability much, the cooldown hadn't improved that much from the original one-day limit, but it was something.

Tim had been watching through the psychic link, as closely as he could without distracting anyone else, and had driven his group of flying and mounted fighters relentlessly. Once the fighting had started in earnest and Madris and Galatea along with that new psychic showed up, he'd even used his Skill to boost their stats, giving his troops a short pre-battle speech to psych them up.

Now he held on tightly as they descended toward the castle. He closed his eyes against the wind and focused on his sense of the drones with him, directing them to various positions. The wings of their formation swept out, covering the castle and its surroundings. A few mages and Shooters, Fliers with ranged weapons, and other drones with the capability opened fire on the soldiers. Other drones dropped their payloads. Because of the need for speed, they didn't carry any big and heavy bombs, but what they did have was more than enough to collapse a few of the less sturdy buildings too close to the inner walls and to shake the ground. The gate was targeted by a few of his subordinates and almost completely destroyed.

Now it didn't matter that their enemies had managed to keep a few men on the walls, the Hive had the advantage of a higher position.

Personally, Tim had hoped he'd get to drop a copy of the declaration of war on the king's head. Unfortunately, the man was already holed up deeper inside the central castle building. Oh well.

It's good to see you, Jem greeted him as Tim's mount descended.

Tim smiled. Instead of pulling into a dive to the ground right away, he urged the Swarm Drone into a tight circle around the inner castle. Thor had volunteered to come, as had every other sapient flying drone mount, but Regina had decided to limit the number of sapient drones involved, so they were all riding Swarm Drones instead.

Looks like you had it under control, Tim replied. How is everyone? The wounded?

Hopefully, they'll all make it, Jem said. It's a good thing you brought Tor, though; we can use a real healer. I think Edmund might be worst off — they've been trying to stabilize him.

It looked like Tor had already set down and dismounted and was now checking on Edmund. Tim was relieved that it didn't look like they'd suffered high casualties. He checked in on the others, quickly taking stock. Quite a few wounded that would have to be seen to. It was clear that Zephyr and others had prioritized defense, and prioritized saving people's lives instead of avoiding all injuries.

It did seem that two of the servants had died, though. June would be upset. Judging by their positions and the weapons clutched in their hands, they'd tried to fight but lacked the training or Classes to go toe to toe with the Prekan men-at-arms.

The situation was under control now, though, so Tim turned his focus on the enemy. His charges should be safe for now, but they couldn't rule out an attempt to counterattack, and they still needed to smoke out and take care of the remaining soldiers.

Completely taking control of the city would have to wait. His was only the first wave of reinforcements. There were more flying drones coming, and, of course, the ground troops. They could secure the city and the other towns in this kingdom. The plan called for fast strikes to overwhelm the defenders and deny them any time to dig in and build up their defenses. With an eye to securing the territory against a potential similar attack from Esemen, of course.

Tim didn't think the Esemen had the capability to do something like that, or to beat them there, at least not without letting the Empire secure the area for a few days first. If they even decided to fight this out at all. But he was not planning to underestimate their enemies, either.

They'd already slid into this little war with relatively minimal planning, considering how quickly events had overtaken their previous plans.

Several of his soldiers had dismounted and joined the group on the ground or fanned out a little to act as perimeter guards, while others prepared to take the rest of the castle. They weren't as many drones as still remained in the air, since the main part of their forces were flying drones, or otherwise more capable in the air. Tim joined those on the ground and strode forward. He wanted to talk with June in more depth, but that could come later. Zoe joined him, and he bumped her shoulder with his, briefly intertwining his blade-arm with hers.

You're doing okay? he asked her.

As well as I can. I've had enough of stuff like this, Tim. At least this time we don't have to actually escape but can take the fight to them right here.

He didn't point out that she had actually been captured this time. Some people had the worst luck, he supposed. At least Zoe wasn't injured.

Once they got to it, the fall of the castle was almost anticlimactic.

The Imperial forces advanced, Swarm Drones taking point to provide a screen, the rest of the soldiers and sapient drones remaining behind them. Madris stayed with June and Edmund, but Iseis and Zephyr joined them, and they used their magic to good effect. Not that they encountered much of a challenge.

Tim focused on one of his early and more powerful abilities, Queen's Charge. He didn't know if being a royal kind of Champion had any connection at all to being a god's Champion, but it couldn't hurt. If they encountered the king, he would do his best. Until then, he relied on his sword and blade-arms against the soldiers he encountered. Many of them were clearly shaken, whether by the bombardment or the Empire's sudden attack as a whole, he didn't know. Wonder if they expected their god to protect them from it, he thought a bit spitefully.

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He fought his way forward, leading his soldiers and occasionally trying to catch up with the higher-level individuals pressing ahead, until they reached the central part of the keep. It had clearly been expanded into a vaster palace, but there were still remnants of the old keep, and the narrower corridors and small doors made good chokepoints for the defenders to use. It would have been easier if there had been more of those, though, even if they weren't up against a few pissed-off high-level fighters along with Tim's group. Zoe at least clearly took the opportunity to work out some anger.

Eventually, they met in a larger hall that seemed rather disused now, although it might have had a different purpose once. Tim looked around. They had taken a few captives and killed even more enemy soldiers, but the numbers could have been higher. And that was all; they'd found nothing else.

"Looks like they bailed," Zoe said.

Tim nodded, focusing on the psychic link to coordinate with the flying drones and those he'd left outside.

"There have been a few Order fighters here, but I imagine most of them are trying to flee with the king," Zephyr added. "Is it possible there's an escape tunnel or something of the sort?"

Tim paused. He'd confirmed that no one had seen the king or the bulk of the Order men exiting the building, so he'd first assumed they were holed up somewhere. But that was certainly possible.

Tentatively, he reached out to those left in the courtyard for now, and after checking on them, called June. Hey, how are things here?

Fine. They've stabilized Edmund. What's happening?

He shared an impression of the situation and relayed Zephyr's theory. Can you check if their minds are moving? And ask Madris?

Give me a moment.

He waited while June did her thing. She'd seemed exhausted, unsurprisingly, so he didn't have high hopes of her detecting whatever was happening, but hopefully Madris had a little more energy left.

The dark elf contacted him directly. They must be hiding themselves somehow, it's hard to get a direct bearing or even confirm the number of minds in their group. Maybe they met up with Helen and woke her up, or one of the Sun Temple has a useful Skill. But they have definitely moved. I assume they're using underground tunnels. Try to find one, would you?

We will, but they will be long gone.

I know, but seeing a tunnel entrance might still give us some hints. For instance, seeing whether their tunnels are connected to the dark elves' network. I doubt it, but maybe they have breached it and are using these tunnels now.

Tim frowned. That would be, well, complicated. I'll look, can you talk to the dark elves?

I was going to, yes. They have not sent many men to our aid, given the situation, but they'll be very interested to know if the tunnels are compromised, if nothing else.

She withdrew, clearly going to talk to other people, and Tim turned to those with him. He caught them up quickly on the situation and then led the search for the hidden escape their enemies must have used.

Fortunately, a few of them had Skills that helped in searching for hidden spaces, so it didn't take too long to find what they were looking for. He had to admit they'd hidden it cleverly; there was a false back in a supply closet in a small storage room in the back of the keep, on ground level, and opening it led to a small hidden vault that held a few scattered coins, but was mostly empty. You had to realize there was another space below it, or rather a small shaft though which someone could jump down. If the wooden paneling hadn't been slightly scratched, they might have taken longer to notice. It still took a bit of searching to find the hidden switch in the other room. Quite clever, honestly.

Tim descended after Mars, looking around. The tunnel was short and cramped, clearly different from the dark elves' work or the others he'd seen. It led straight to the closest wall of the castle and beyond. As they explored the tunnel, it sloped downward, clearly going under the wall, and then curved a little.

Then they had to wait for a bit for others to catch up. Madris contacted him again and informed him she was taking another group around on the surface. Luckily, they'd started the process of getting control of the city — easier now that the castle had definitely fallen — so they shouldn't have any problems there. Tim knew he should oversee that effort, but Madris agreed that at the moment, this was more important.

The others are almost here, he informed her as well. Owin can take over in the city, then. I think he might do better at it than the other officers, anyway.

I've sensed them, she agreed. There's no major resistance in the city, yet. Most likely, any capable soldiers or Order members who were there have also tried to flee. I'll help your people hunt them down later. For now, onwards?

Of course, he agreed.

Following the tunnel, it quickly became clear that it did intersect with the dark elves' network, something he'd suspected. For one thing, it was leading east-north-east. And the tunnel dropped suddenly and intersected a different one. And it was evident that it was built differently. It looked like they'd deliberately breached one of the dark elves' tunnels. And judging by the scratch mark and a quick analysis from Jem, it was probably recently; the king's men might have even dug the tunnel up to this point and only connected it to the network later.

They continued for a while, leaving the city behind. Tim glanced back at the others. Those who had fought heavily were clearly starting to flag a little. It might not be physical tiredness, but having used up most of their mana would also take a toll.

You're going to encounter other people soon, Madris warned him. Dark elves, that is, unfortunately not our quarry. It seems they've come out in a bit of force. Perhaps they'll help you track them down.

She didn't say it, but he got the impression it might already be a bit late for that.

No sign of our enemy having reached the surface?

I'm quite sure this tunnel continues until almost the border to Esemen, if not further, she said. So perhaps, but it's not guaranteed that they will. We can't use flying drones underground.

If it came to a fight, it would also be tricky.

Tim slowed down and squinted into the darkness. As promised, it didn't take long. Their current tunnel curved and opened into a slightly wider lane. It allowed him to get a good look at the incoming group of dark elves, clearly soldiers, marching several abreast. Since most of his people were still in the castle and city, that meant there were more of them present.

"Halt!" one of the dark elves called. "Identify yourselves."

Tim suppressed a sigh and stepped forward. "Prince Tim of House Woltan," he said crisply. "My associate, Madris Ulaven, talked with your superiors. You should know why we're here in Prekan. We're currently chasing our enemies, who dug their own tunnels and breached yours."

There was some whispering, then the leader stepped forward and bowed. "Your Highness. Mistress Ulaven is not with you?"

"She's not far," he said. "Her group is tracking them aboveground. I'm sure she's listening in on this conversation."

He nodded a bit jerkily. "I see. I do not believe it is clear she actually has the legal authority to allow others to use our passages, however."

Tim frowned. "We're allies, even if temporarily. Surely you won't get lost in details like that? I doubt every allied soldier of the Eternal Dark has to specifically request permission for setting foot in your tunnels, do they?"

The man was silent for a moment, his eyes flicking to his men. "I am sure. Well, we won't stop you. Good luck in your hunt."

"You're not going to help?"

The dark elf hesitated for a moment. "We have gathered information as well, Prince Tim. This petty king is aided by the Order of the Sun Temple. Which is a powerful force from Esemen and the Western Confederation. If we fight them, it could potentially be taken as an act of war. Even if the nations would not, starting hostilities with an order like this without the approval or knowledge of my government is not a decision I can make. I apologize, but it's not a risk we can take."

Tim almost sighed again. Great. He could tell it would be a waste of time trying to change his mind. Not that he couldn't understand his position, to a point. And any time he spent trying to change it would be time lost if they wanted to catch Stephen and his men.

We'll switch, I'll talk to these men and you can keep pursuing them, Madris offered.

That's still lost time. Until you get here — even if they agree, by that point it might not matter.

We'll send some flying drones north, June chimed in. She must have been quietly watching. Until then, we'll have to be content with having won the city.

There was that, he supposed.

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