The army had been renamed the First Eastern Army.

The name had obviously been chosen by Ben, as evidenced by its serious, no-nonsense nature. It deliberately didn't continue the naming convention started by the Empress with the Army of the Elbe. It was also possibly a bit of a dig at Tim, since his army should probably have been called the 'first', but now this one was.

Regardless of these considerations, the soldiers of the new army had taken heart from the name and already started to identify with it. Now that at least most of the sapient troops were in one place and prepared to start doing things instead of waiting, it added to the anticipation everyone felt.

June could sense that anticipation around her. She was glad to know that their recent loss at Prekan hadn't hurt people's spirits too badly, but she was also a bit unsure of the optimism that seemed to pervade this army. She was pretty confident that their campaign would be hard and bloody. They all were. It was probably a reminder that many of these soldiers actually hadn't seen war before.

Still, it could certainly be a lot worse. The soldiers were professional, and there were quite a few Hive drones around to command the large swarms of War Drones and Winged Drones that would make up the bulk of their forces.

Regardless, the First Eastern Army was ready and Owin had already given them their marching orders.

"How are you coping so far, Princess?"

"I'm fine, General." She smiled at him. "We haven't even started, isn't it a bit early to be asking me a question like that?"

He laughed, shaking his head ruefully. "Alright. Of course. I didn't intend to patronize you. But this is your first time on campaign, as far as I know, and it can be an adjustment."

"It's not really the first time, and I have larger concerns than my sleeping quarters. Speaking of the campaign, what are your thoughts on our readiness? I was just considering it."

"Our men are ready," he said with conviction. She'd found it a bit odd to adjust to the idea of Sir Owin as a general commanding an army at first, but he did pull it off. "We have made plans and prepared. There is nothing left but to do it now."

June nodded. "I did think that your wargame was interesting, and our officers' performance was satisfying."

While the army was gathered and reorganizing, there had been several wargames. Owin's latest one was especially tricky; a complicated maneuver including simulated information on terrain, enemy disposition and defenses in several layers, with 'noise', and several possibly conflicting objectives. June suspected he'd found some inspiration in old strategy games. But it had been fun to watch; she'd tried her hands at it a little even if she hadn't officially participated, and while it had been entirely played with pen and paper (including maps, messages and so on), at least it'd shown her what his officers could do. And they hadn't disappointed. June had felt out the edges of their minds during the wargame and taken note of a few promising young commanders. Not that she felt qualified to judge them, but she could at least pass on her impressions.

"I admit, my primary goal was to get them used to each other and to working together," Owin admitted. "But it was a good idea to use it as part of preparations, as well. Not that I am very confident we managed to simulate our opponents' forces and options accurately."

"As long as everyone keeps that in mind, it should be fine," June shrugged. She looked around, where officers and soldiers were busy at work, moving out. She and Owin were standing on the balcony of the walled mansion that had served as their headquarters until today. Staying out of the way and watching the preparations. They were well coordinated, she could feel the activity in the psychic link. And the War Drones didn't need much preparation to up and march, or the Winged Drones to fly. Quite a few humans were also mounted and flying, of course. They already had an advance force in the air which the ground troops would struggle to catch up with.

June would have preferred to join them, but she couldn't do that. She understood the sense in keeping a psychic with the command staff, at least, even if one with the vanguard would probably be even more useful. Luckily, there were a few of Regina's other students present, though she wouldn't send any of them to the actual frontline or furthest 'tip of the spear'. The army had an extensive scouting screen, of course.

June closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the minds around her. One of her tasks was keeping an eye out for any spies or possible agents subverted by enemy psychics, and regular checks were part of it. The chaos of the army moving out might provide cover for some shenanigans, otherwise.

Fortunately, June still didn't find anything. She did her due diligence of checking carefully, even if she didn't really expect to find anything. But Sazatore and the other enemy psychics were now aware Madris had been in Esemen and they had a free hand to act right now. It was better to be careful. That was what Madris had said, at least, the last time they spoke. Psychically, since Madris had still been in Cera. She was traveling east now, but they probably wouldn't meet.

It had taken some restraint not to rush back to Cera to see Madris once June had learned of her injuries. At least she was able to speak to others psychically, even if the distance didn't make it easy. But her master had finally trusted her with a role in the war, June wasn't going to screw that up.

"It's time for us to go," Owin said. "Unless you found anything concerning?"

"No, nothing like that. Let's go."

The remains of the camp where the army had stayed were quickly disassembled. It had been built outside the gates of a minor city, with a few permanent structures and large tents for the drones, which had now been packed up and were transported on the wagons. June followed Owin down into the courtyard, where they climbed into another wagon. It made it easier to plan and see to his correspondence, he'd said, and she didn't disagree. There were two other officers present. It was the biggest wagon, with a modern suspension system and enchantments on the wheels, but the ride was still a bit bumpy. She preferred to reach out into the psychic link again as they set off.

June checked in with the other psychics first. With Madris leaving and Regina still busy with the Empire and the war, she felt like it was her responsibility to pick up a bit of the slack. Fortunately, their abilities allowed them to stay in contact. Edmund was also doing his best, she noted.

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He and a few others were with the northern army now. The psychic link was clearly thin on the ground, and given the distance, it was hard to actually talk to them, and draining. She got most of her information by speaking to others in New Anberg or Cera who'd heard from them. But it seemed like they were still doing fine, at least.

June gave the younger psychics a bit of advice and helped them practice their abilities with a companion further away. It whiled away the time while the wagon she sat in moved down the road.

She still noticed when they passed the border. It would have been hard not to notice the subtle shift in the minds of the people around her, even if they hadn't stopped briefly and the road changed. They passed through the Imperial defense post in a slow rumble, soldiers around them. June poked her head out the window to watch.

This could have been troublesome if a significant portion of the army hadn't cleared the way ahead. As it was, they'd chosen a region that was sparely populated, with no major town or city close by. That would change quickly, of course.

It was a little different than riding out with an army would have been. Their forces were much more dispersed than a single large army, although the soldiers moved in well-coordinated leaps, to secure the terrain around them. The quality of the roads would be the main limiting factor on their speed, June knew, but they had also been assigned enough Winged Drones that it really didn't stop their progress. From the window of a vehicle on the road, it didn't seem like much was happening, but she knew that was an illusion.

June looked up long enough to take note of what Owin and the other officers were discussing. In her opinion, something she wouldn't say out loud, he was a bit limited by not being connected to the psychic link and so having to rely on others to effectively interpret. That was more than made up for by his other skills, of course. She was well aware they couldn't only rely on Hive drone generals, and June wouldn't want to even if they could. That would rather push the Empire in a direction she wasn't comfortable with.

But Owin did a good job, and as she listened to him discussing troops movements, grid coordinates and unit strengths, she was honestly getting a little lost. June focused on the psychic link to get an overall impression of their army's advance instead, and to check on the morale of the troops.

Well, most of them were Swarm Drones who were, she could tell, just happy to be doing as the Hive wanted them to do. She dimly recalled that at first, once she'd realized it, she'd found it a bit creepy how the Swarm Drones — and she still wasn't entirely convinced this didn't go for the sapient drones, too, just very deeply hidden and ameliorated by their ability to make their own, conscious decisions — seemed to have an instinctual need to do their duty to the Hive on par with the need for food or shelter. Arguably worse, since she suspected that if Regina ordered them to, they'd starve right in front of a feast. But she'd gotten used to it, and this drive was certainly useful. Right now, it seemed like the War Drones were dimly aware of what they were doing, a general sense of going out to expand the Hive's power and conquer its enemies was probably dripping through the psychic link, of which she caught an echo. If so, they certainly didn't have an issue with it, assuming they could — but while they might not protest, the War Drones also didn't feel any discomfort; just, if anything, excitement.

Some of them were already engaging the enemy. It was not a bloody and vicious battle, it was a series of bloody and vicious battles, most of them small-scale engagements, spreading out and intensifying as they went. The Esemen had enough soldiers stationed here to guard their border, but most of them were not gathered in a big field army.

Their fortifications didn't stand up too well against Imperial artillery. Even if they had cannon of their own, which made things more difficult.

"Princess June?" someone asked.

She opened her eyes to look at one of the officers who'd joined them in the wagon. They were pressed tightly together now, but Owin and two others were still talking over a map. Or had been until now.

"Yes?" she replied, letting her focus settle on her surroundings instead of far-away minds. It was getting exhausting.

"Have you sensed any enemy Champions?" he asked. "We have had trouble nailing down their positions."

June shook her head. "Unfortunately not. You would be better served asking the drones," she admitted. "Their psychic link covers a lot more ground. I am more limited."

Of course, the drones also weren't really psychic themselves, so they couldn't pass on one of them sensing another mind. Only Regina, and, she supposed, Edmund, could do that. There was no connected psychic with this army now, though. Which she suspected Regina would remedy by introducing more of her students to the Hive soon.

June kept listening to the conversation, but felt her mind drift off as they went on. Her focus was drained and it felt hard to concentrate, but at the same time, she couldn't stop herself from reaching out again.

The Esemen's positions were … interesting. She wasn't a very powerful psychic, certainly not compared to Regina or Madris, but with a large collection of minds, it was much easier to sense them. That gave her an approximate idea of where their armies were gathered, although it tended to blend into the background of towns and cities. Those were also important, of course. Soldiers also felt a bit different — more homogeneous in a way, usually with more latent aggression and violence, but the relative absence of children was especially noticeable. The Esemen still had a large number of camp followers relative to the Empire, which had effectively banned the practice. Their reliance on Swarm Drones made things different, anyway, and normal, human soldiers were expected to pitch their own tents or cook their own food if necessary.

And, of course, they were provisioned by the army, and the Empire not only frowned on, but forbade soldiers doing their own 'foraging'. Plus, there were factors like the food they got from Production Drones needing much less preparation, which also cut down on the need for firewood for cooking, and so on.

Being a princess, June didn't get to forgo servants entirely. In addition to the Star Guard soldiers assigned to her defense, she had some attendants, who were traveling in another wagon for now. Mostly not the kind of noble handmaidens she honestly should have had — which she wouldn't have taken to war anyway — but just experienced servants who would help keep her wardrobe in order, so she was ready if she needed it for official business, or sort out her accommodations.

The Esemen, though — it only took a cursory glance to realize that the economy of the border regions was basically reshaped to support the troops they had sent here. And there were too many civilians with their army.

June leaned back, glanced around and frowned in thought. The fact Tim and the senior Hive officers didn't have that sort of personal attendants was probably notable to their enemy. It meant their best bet at smuggling a spy close to Imperial leadership was probably her own attendants — a thought she mentally marked to follow up on later. It would take guts to try this right under a psychic's nose. But in reverse, there were a lot more potential openings.

June smiled slightly, reaching out to the minds near her and trying to get a feel for potential candidates. She'd try to pick out whoever Daine might have positioned here first, and consider what she might want to say in a letter to him. She probably wasn't the first to think about this, but she was here and in a position to act.

She was one of the Empire's psychics, and they had psychics too, in addition to other spies, intelligence agents or whatever you wanted to call them. This could very well devolve into a kind of psychic chess game. That actually sounded kind of fun, in a terrifying way, if she was honest. And it would probably happen anyway, so she might as well start on the offensive.

And maybe we can see if the Champions had divine protection outside the battlefield? June hesitated a bit at the thought of arranging assassinations, but they were military targets … and if they were this much of a threat on the battlefield, surely it was only good sense to try and go around that problem?

She'd bring it up to Daine and a few of the drones later and see if they had thoughts on the matter.

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