Swarming Sovereignty
Chapter 175: Preparing a Surrender

When Septima awoke, she felt…omnipotent. She wasn’t omnipotent, of course, but she felt a sort of power within her that she could have never imagined before. Was this what Amelia and Rose felt like on a daily basis? Their bound states had to be no weaker than Septima was now, and likely were a little stronger, and if this is how they felt while bound…

The raw power aside, she could feel the presence of the ship part of herself. With a little focus, she could even gain sight and sound on different parts of the interior, or turn off her awareness of it altogether. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before, but it was already starting to feel familiar, no doubt due to the memories of the Scourge of the Skies that were already integrating into her mind.

And she could feel its effects on her and her personality. She had been expecting this, however; the Scourge of the Skies was among the most powerful things in the swarm, it would be stranger if it didn’t affect her personality. By and large, it mostly seemed to be…confidence, bordering on arrogance. But, even so, she was more than capable of keeping the arrogance at bay.

She was strong, an object of fear and envy for many. But strong as she was, there were many in the swarm capable of handling her. The Queen could undoubtedly defeat her, Amelia and Rose would utterly annihilate her, and Izumi and many of the formerly max level people that were part of the swarm could give her a good challenge. She just had to remember that there was always a bigger fish, and she had gained this strength solely because of the Queen’s generosity.

Septima stood, taking a moment to look around. She was in a large field, which made sense; the Scourge of the Skies was big, and there was no way her cocoon would have fit in a building. Off in the distance she could make out the form of a fort, one that had to be miles away. Despite the distance, Septima’s vision was crisp and clear, and she estimated that she was able to see three or even four times farther than she used to, and with little to no loss in detail over the distance to boot. She could clearly make out people on the walls of the fort, and she was even able to recognize a few of them, something she would have considered impossible before.

And, there, by her feet, was a small note. She picked it up, taking a moment to read it before tucking it into her pocket. It was from the Queen, stating that she would be in the nearby fort, waiting for Septima. Septima briefly wondered how they had known where to place the note, seeing as how her cocoon must have been enormous and she was now person-sized, but she quickly realized that Amelia had been with them, and if anyone would know, it was her.

She took off into the air, a simple flap of her wings all that was needed to send her hurtling upwards at an incredible speed. She hadn’t appreciated how fast the Scourge of the Skies was until she crossed the miles between her and the fort in what must have been under thirty seconds, and that was with her needing to accelerate and decelerate.

She touched down on the wall next to one of her old subordinates, Tacita. “Tacita, do you know where the Queen is?”

Tacita jumped, putting a hand over her heart. “Captain Septima, you scared the daylights out of me!” She said. “But, may I say, you look good like this. And, uh, yes, the Queen is in the mess hall, I believe.”

“Thank you!” Septima said. “Though I admit I haven’t really looked myself over, I’ve been waiting to find a mirror first.”

“Well, I think it looks fantastic.” Tacita said, blushing slightly. “How does it feel?”

“It feels amazing.” Septima replied. “It’s a little odd, I can sense the ship inside of me, and if I focus, I can even see into it and hear what’s going on inside, but it’s also…detached? I can just…stop sensing it. It’s strange, but pretty cool.”

“Huh. I’ve taken too much of your time, though; you should go meet with the Queen now.”

“Will do. I’ll catch up with you again when I have a moment, Tacita!” Septima replied cheerfully, jump off the wall and down into the castle’s courtyard. She stopped a passing soldier to get directions, then hurried towards the mess hall.

She was able to pretty easily locate the Queen once inside, eating next to Rose and Amelia. “My Queen, I have to thank you again for allowing me this honor.” She said, falling to one knee as she reached them.

“Well, it needed to be someone, and you’re a pretty good pick as far as I’m concerned.” The Queen said. “You look great, by the way.”

“Thank you, my Queen.” Septima replied. “I’ll admit I’ve yet to properly see myself, I haven’t had a mirror handy.”

“Oh, I can fix that!” The Queen said brightly, a full-length mirror appearing in front of her. “And I keep telling you, none of this ‘my Queen’ business, that’s far too distant for someone who’s fought with me for so long. Just call me Lia.”

“It was only a month, but you have a point.” Septima replied. “Would you mind if I took a bit to look myself over? I’m dying of curiosity at this point.”

“Go ahead!” Lia said. “We’re not in a rush.”

Septima stood and walked over to the front of the mirror. Her changes were minor, but noticeable; her hair had become that beautiful range of colors that represented the sky at sunset, and her eyes had become a midnight blue and had gained vertical slits like that of a dragon. Her wings had changed from eagle wings to powerful-looking draconic ones the same color as her hair, and a matching tail had grown from her back. The nails on her fingers had sharpened into long, nasty-looking claws, and her gear had all but vanished, leaving her in highly stylized casual clothes that evoked the idea of scales hiding behind clouds. After a moment she gave an experimental flex and her claws retracted

“I like this.” Septima said appreciatively, then turned to face Lia. “I’ve seen enough for now. What are your orders?”

“We were just talking about those, actually.” Lia said, nodding at Rose and Amelia. “We’re going to give you and your crew two or three days to practice together, to get them used to new capabilities you might have and make sure everything is running smoothly, then we’re going to take you to the eastern front. The people over there have basically surrendered, so we’re going to start taking as much territory as we can before the Sapphire Empire realizes something is up.”

Septima nodded. “Sensible.” She said. “While in combat, would you prefer I remain in this form or my other?”

“Depends on the situation.” Rose said. “While you’re arguably more effective in your humanoid form due to being a far smaller target, it also isn’t nearly as intimidating. For the most part, I think if we’re trying to make a big show of things you should be in your ship form, and if combat is actually getting tough or it’s not a huge battle, then humanoid form should get the job done fine.”

“You should probably use ship form if we’re deploying flying monsters from you, too.” Amelia added. “It’s a lot easier for them to get back on board while you’re in ship form because they won’t need to find you and then chase you down. Plus, you have that whole gravity field thing in ship form and I’m pretty sure that doesn’t apply in humanoid form? Since you’re not keeping people from falling off or anything.”

Septima nodded. “I’ll go gather the crew, then.” She said. “Where can I find them?”

“The captains are at that table over there.” Lia said, pointing to the side. “We figured most of the night would be spent moving their stuff back into their rooms on board you, so everyone is just killing time until you’re ready. Head on over to them when we’re done here and you can discuss the logistics of it all. And, uh, I guess that’s it for now. Anything else you need from us before we head back home for the night?”

“No, my– Lia.” Septima replied. “I’ll be on my way.”

Lia gave her a smile. “We’ll be back in three days, or if something unexpected happens and we need your help.” She said. “Have fun!”

Septima smiled broadly in return. “I will, don’t you worry.”

Lia looked across the table at the five rulers that had surrendered. “So, I wanted to touch base with you regarding the surrender.” She said. “We’re going to start pushing in on the eastern front in a couple of days, and I wanted to plan our ‘battles’. I don’t know the state of your courts as well as you do, and I understand you all are worried about unscrupulous nobles rebelling, so I wanted to see what you think would be an optimal way to do this is.”

“Of course, my Queen.” Zara, Queen of Ilex, said. She and Alice, the two female rulers left in the alliance, had undergone conversion after their surrender, and had already begun to spread the swarm in their lands, much like Alisha, Emily, and Astrea had done before them. Similarly, the other rulers had high-ranking women undergo conversion and begin the process there, as well. “I’m pleased to say that efforts in Zara are proceeding smoothly. By the time your army gets to us, we should be able to easily dispatch subversive elements and issue a proper surrender.”

“We haven’t been quite as successful.” Cedric, King of Larios, said regretfully. “Everyone is on high alert due to the swarm’s proximity to us, and we haven’t been able to get a foothold in any of the unsavory noble houses.”

“That’s perfectly fine.” Lia said reassuringly. “If you could point their holdings out to me, I can be sure to direct my armies to them first.”

“I’ll do that. And I’ll try to arrange for my army to meet you halfway. Most high-ranking officers know about the surrender and are on board with it, and I imagine the troops will easily cave if you make a sufficient show of force with the Scourge of the Skies. Their morale is already low, and a lot of them barely want to fight as is.”

Lia nodded, pulling out a map of the area and laying it out on the table. “This is a rough map we’ve made for the meeting.” She explained. “It’s not perfectly accurate, just something to use for our reference here, so you’ll have to forgive any inaccuracies. Now, would you mind pointing out the rough locations of the most problematic nobles?”

“Here and here.” Cedric said, pointing to spots in the southeast and northwest. “Unfortunately, it’s the ones in the northwest that are the ones that are more likely to stir up trouble if we surrender. They’ve always been pretty testy due to their relative proximity to the Sapphire Empire, and like to think themselves more independent than most due to the high number of soldiers they employ.”

“Why not stage them claiming independence?” Alice, Queen of Mountainhome, asked, leaning back in her chair. “If we have Lady Amelia teleport in with an elite team and put up a communication-jamming barrier, we could take control of them and make a mock rebellion. Then you can pretend that you’re too busy to worry about them, and can neatly ignore the area while we convert it.”

“That risks alerting Marcus, though.” Zara argued. “He may be an idiot, but he does keep a close watch on what’s going on near his borders, and he’d probably try and bully them into joining his empire.”

“They’re still separated by a small strip of my land, remember?” Isaac, King of Misthaven, reminded them. “And he’s likely to write them off as a lost cause and focus on protecting his core lands.”

“I’m not exactly opposed to the plan, but what’s the payoff?” Lia asked. “It seems unnecessarily convoluted for something that’ll not change the course of things too much. That is, unless I’m underestimating how annoying these people are; is there a chance they’ll try to declare independence regardless of how convinced they are that the armies truly are trying their best?”

“The issue with them is mostly the possibility for them to recall their troops in an attempt to set up a separate army, and if their troops hear of a bid for independence, then they’ll head on back on their own.” Cedric replied. “So, if we do it after the army is defeated and the southeasternmost nobles are dealt with…we could probably manage to declare full surrender and none of the other nobles would complain much so long as I inform them that they can keep a semblance of their status if they play their cards right and listen to what you say. That’s the payoff, and, as for the chances of them declaring independence unprovoked…I’d say it’s fifty fifty.”

“We’ll go with that, then.” Lia confirmed. “The rest of you, how are your armies? How many of them are aware of the surrender, and how many of them are in Larios at the moment?”

“My generals are all aware and on board with the situation, my Queen.” Zara replied. “All women aware of the surrender have likewise been converted, and we’ve been hard at work sowing the seeds of a completely peaceful surrender. Most of the army has been changed into a defense force of sorts; they didn’t have the will to fight in a foreign country, so only those with the highest morale were sent to Larios. We can have those people join up with Cedric’s army for this ‘last stand’, and their will would probably be broken by a sufficient show of force and the command to surrender.”

“I am in a similar position.” Alice added.

“I think we all are.” Amos, King of Illia, said wryly. “Except for, perhaps, Isaac.”

“No, Misthaven is in the same state.” Isaac said.

“That works nicely, then.” Lia replied. “Cedric, would the seat of power for the nobles in the southeast happen to be a port city?”

“It is, why?” Cedric asked.

Lia flashed him a grin. “Well, we’ve been working on our navy, and I believe we can use it to amp up the intimidation factor considerably. Would two weeks be enough time to get your armies there?”

“Should be.” Cedric replied. “It’ll be tight, though.”

“Perfect.” Lia said. “If we intercept the groups coming from the northern…let’s say quarter of the border, would that help?”

“That should greatly reduce the time pressure.” Cedric said. “That won’t mess any of your timing up, would it?”

“The Scourge of the Skies can travel the length of your border in no time.” Lia replied. “We could be there or anywhere else in your country tomorrow if we wanted. So…no, we’ll be perfectly fine on time.”

“Oh.” Cedric replied in a small voice.

“Anyone have anything else to add, or shall we get to work?” Lia asked.

None of the rulers did, so they all went their separate ways. Shortly after they began to disperse, Lia was teleported back into her home, where Amelia and Rose were waiting. “How’d I do?” Lia asked.

“Pretty well.” Rose replied. “I have a couple of notes, but they’re all minor, we can go over them later.”

“Yup.” Amelia added. “Good job!”

“Thanks.” Lia replied, giving them a relieved smile. “So, anything else on the agenda for today?”

“No, we’re still letting Septima and her crew acclimatize.” Rose said.

“Well…in that case, would you mind sparring with me?” Lia asked. “Or, maybe we could go out and hunt some monsters in the Spine? I’m pretty low on Blood Money since we’re trying to convert things instead of killing them, and I’d like to get a reserve built up again.”

“I can go exterminate some monsters while you two spar.” Amelia volunteered.

“Let’s do that, then.” Rose said. “I’ve been considering designing a floor specifically for training and other military use, we can test some of my prototypes while we’re at it.”

“Sounds good. I’m planning to come back here in about three hours, I want to make dinner for Connie since she’s been so busy lately.” Lia replied. “You can come help if you’d like, but I’m aiming for dinner about an hour after then, so just make sure to be back in time.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Amelia said, giving Lia and Rose quick kisses. “I love you two!”

She teleported away, prompting Rose to lock arms with Lia. “I’m carving out a small space for us to use as our testing grounds.” She said. “I’ll take us there as soon as I’m done.”

“Okay.” Lia said, snuggling up close to Rose. “It’s good to be back with you guys again.”

“And we’re glad to have you back.” Rose replied, giving Lia a quick kiss on the forehead.

Lia smiled happily. She had been worried for a bit about the Lord of Monsters, but now that it was over, those worries seemed so distant, and the time with her lovers felt all the sweeter. Life was good.