Her Majesty's Swarm

Meatballs

While I oversaw the conquest of Leen, my Ripper Swarms rushed the northern and southern regions of the Kingdom. The formula for each assault was the same: the Digger Swarms would destroy the gates, leaving the militia incapable of handling the Ripper Swarms flooding into the city.
The Swarm had hoisted their banner of bloodshed, made clear their mantra of massacre, and swiftly set about their slaughter.
Veni, vidi, vici.
The Ripper Swarms had torn through soldiers and townsfolk alike without a hint of mercy, and the Worker Swarms had gathered all the corpses in one place. Now there was only one thing left to do.
“All right. Time to make some meatballs,” I told the Worker Swarms.
“Meatballs, Your Majesty?” replied one of them.
“Yep. You did that in the game, right? You turned the enemy troops and worker units into meatballs. It’s easier to carry them to the Fertilization Furnace that way, and they take up less storage space.” “You desire for us to make prey orbs? Understood. We will begin shortly.” “Thanks!” Evidently, the Worker Swarms understood my request. They attended to the bodies, turning them into mincemeat with their claws and scythes. The victims’ clothes and armor clung to the final product due to the Worker Swarms’ adhesive saliva.
Among the corpses were the tailor and the butchers I frequented. I felt nothing in particular toward their deaths, however. This was war, and it was only natural for the other side to have casualties.
Was this a Swarm-like line of thought? Was my consciousness now completely controlled by the collective? Had I been dominated by the will of a savage species that saw all others as prey to be devoured?
No. Not at all. The tailor and butchers had made the decision to demonize the elves, calling them barbarians... and far worse. It was because of their unreasonable hatred and preposterous gossip that the Kingdom of Maluk had gathered an army to slaughter the elves in the first place.
They had started this war. I merely met their hostility in kind.
I was certain that had I left the soldiers and innocents alone and allowed them to live in peace, it would not have been long before they would attack the elves again—or perhaps even us.
While I was lost in thought, the Worker Swarms continued making mincemeat. Once they were finished, they divided it up and wrapped it up into neat, round meatballs. The Worker Swarms had called them prey orbs, so that was probably the more correct term to use. It didn’t really matter though,
did it?
“What would you have us do next, Your Majesty?” “Put two-thirds of them into the new Fertilization Furnaces. You finished building them, right?” “Yes, construction is complete.” The Kingdom of Maluk was annoyingly large, and going back to our base in the tunnels every time would take far too long. Speed was paramount for rushes.
In this regard, the Arachnea was the ideal faction for this sort of strategy.
Ripper Swarm production was cheap and fast, which meant it was possible to amass a large army early in the game. That said, the early game was the only time the Ripper Swarms were viable. They were short-lived units that could easily be defeated by upgraded units in the late game.
The Kingdom of Maluk was large, and our current number of Swarms wasn’t enough to cover it all. I intended to destroy everything down to the smallest village, which would require far more significant numbers. To that end, I decided to set up forward operating bases that would function as headquarters on the field.
These were small support structures that functioned as miniature bases, or hives of a sort. They were built around the Fertilization Furnaces, which produced the Swarms, and were also equipped with flesh depositories for storing resources.
We set up one such FOB with the bare minimum of what we’d need right in Leen’s central square. We would use this place to produce more Swarms to send out on the front lines.
I wouldn’t normally have gone to this much trouble for an ordinary Ripper Swarm rush. Those required you to gamble everything on speed, in a manner of speaking. But the enemy had the potential to withstand the rush this time, so I had to be extra cautious. The enemy had walls, for example,
and they could summon powerful beings like that angel.
Speaking of which, I swear I know that that angel from somewhere. I definitely remember killing an angel like that at some point... Oh well.
Whether the enemy came out to greet us or we marched upon them, we just needed to stomp them out. The Ripper Swarms would reduce everything to mincemeat and transform the ground they walked on into a hellish sea of blood.
“All Fertilization Furnaces, produce Ripper Swarms.” I’d considered producing some mid-tier units instead, but decided to focus on Ripper Swarms for now. They were the fastest-moving units I had, with the Digger Swarms being the second. Mixing in slower units now would just drag everyone else down, and we already weren’t going as fast as we should have.
As I mentioned, speed was imperative for rushes. I had to swiftly snuff out the enemy before they had time to deal with us.
“The bases to the north and south are completed, and they’re currently mass-producing Ripper Swarms. Soon there will be a hundred thousand of them... If I were playing this on my PC, it’d probably overheat and shut down.” The Ripper Swarms had also defeated the northern and southern armies,
devouring their inhabitants to further bolster their forces. My consciousness was now linked with over 100,000 individual Swarms, and I could feel their blips in the collective consciousness crawling all over my brain.
“The Ripper Swarms are to set off in groups of fifty as soon as they’re completed. Attack them in waves. We’re going to teach them how frightening a Ripper Swarm rush can be. Show them how you devour everything in your path and topple even so-called impregnable fortresses.” The collective consciousness sure is convenient. I didn’t have to lift a finger; my orders were instantaneous, just like they were when I played the game. It allowed me to observe everything as if from above, which helped me come up with the best possible strategies.
“Sérignan, come with me to the front lines. I’m going to need you to grind some levels.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. But wouldn’t it be better if you stayed behind, where it’s safe?” Hmm. She had a point. I wasn’t much use on the front lines of battle. If anything, I would probably get in the way. The Arachnea’s units were the brawn while the queen was the brains.
“Still, I’ll go. I want to see what I’ve done with my own two eyes.” I decided to go after all. I had to bear witness to what I had wrought.
Seeing things through the collective consciousness wouldn’t be enough.
“If that is your will, I will guard you with my life.” “I’m counting on that.” The front lines would likely be littered with corpses. Those would then be carried off to a forward operating base, where they would be made into meatballs that would give birth to more Ripper Swarms.
What would I think when I saw that? Would I regret my actions? Would I pity them? Would the responsibility of it all weigh deeply upon my conscience?
Impossible. Somehow, I knew none of that would happen.
“Let us go, then, Your Majesty.” I walked on alongside my grotesque, adorable insects. I had promised them I would guide them to victory. Regret, mercy, and moral responsibility had no place in my heart. If anything weighed on me, it was the fear that I might not be able to guide them properly.
Will the Arachnea be able to win under my leadership?
No, there’s no sense in asking; I’ll prove I can do it. If anyone can, it’s me, so I’ll pull it off. No matter how much blood I’ll need to spill. My losing would mean the annihilation of these little ones that adore me so much, after all.
“Sérignan, I’m not going to lose. I’ll prove that I can win this, no matter what or who I’m up against.” “Yes, Your Majesty. And we will follow you wherever you go.” And so we left for the front lines, our hearts swelling with resolution.