A Hive Hovers Overhead

Vesper chose that moment to pipe up. "So can I get a vote in this?"

"Yeah, sure," said Tally. "You probably know this area better than I do anyway."

"There's a couple hundred Bee-Girls back at my old Hive," Vesper gestured vaguely in a southeast-ish direction. "Not too far from here. There's a ton of space, good fortifications...she'd make a great base for us! We fly in," she started shadowboxing, "wreck some faces, you do the hand thing a few times, and BOOM!" She mimed an explosion for emphasis. "We free a whole bunch of girls, get an army real quick, and everyone knows that Tally and Vesper can take some names!"

Tally did the math in her head real quick and hated everything she was hearing. "I appreciate the enthusiasm," she said in that diplomatic way that only good Mistresses could. "But we're not cut out for a siege. There's just two of us not counting Brim and I'm a lot better at sneaking around, anyway."

"No, she's got a good plan. She's just missing some steps." Brim, as per usual, suddenly shifted into Tally's line of sight. "All the Bee-Girls share a hive mind - there's just one brain doing all the thinking for them. All we gotta do is sneak in, get to the center of the Hive, mind whammy the boss and BOOM!" She mimed her own explosion in tribute to Vesper. "Bad guys become good guys and you can get covered in bees!" She realized what she'd just said. "But, y'know, in a good way!"

"Is Brim saying something?" Vesper had noticed her Mistress looking off in the distance.

"...she says its a good plan and you're very smart."

"Aww! Thanks, Brim!"

Tally re-did the math, and changed her mind. "OK. I'm convinced. Let's get going." She put her list away and started her trek, only to get cut off by her eager Bee-Girl.

"Oh, you don't want to walk there. There's a huge canyon on the way to the Hive. Basically impassable. You'd never make it across," Vesper said a bit too cheerfully.

"So!" The Bee-Girl quickly knelt before her Mistress, her insect wings slowly buzzing in excitement. "My lady," said Vesper, somehow both sarcastically and not at the same time. "Let your humble servant fly you to your destination."

Tally blushed.

And that was all she did.

"...Dude, go for it," whispered Brim, hitting Tally in the side with an intangible elbow like a good wingman.

"...what? Oh! Sure! Yeah, if that's faster - aah!"

Tally let out a little yelp as Vesper's muscular arms scooped her up bridal-style. With a laugh, she took them into the sky. Tally saw the ground get further and further away, until it barely seemed to matter at all.

She watched the world stretch out in front of her, clinging tightly to Vesper all the while. "So Vesper," said Tally, trying to focus on the task in front of her. "When we get to the Hive, what'll be the quickest way to the Queen?"

"Oh, we don't have a Queen," said Vesper. "We just have a Hive."

"...what?"

In all her glory, the Hive hovered high overhead.

She had a surreal sort of elegance to her. She floated in the air like a buoy on a lake, with no wings to hold her aloft. And she was huge, at least fifty feet tall, so whatever was keeping up there clearly did not care about things like physics. Her paradoxically slender body was covered in tree bark, and that in itself was almost completely covered by a massive ballgown made of golden honeycombs. Her face was obscured by a house-sized paper fan, and only her impassive, sparkling yellow eyes poked out.

You see, the Bee-Girls didn't need a Queen. For the Hive itself was a monster girl. And she was Queen and Shelter all in one.

Hundreds of Bee-Girls flew in and out of her, either scouting the area or returning with needed supplies. Soldiers with stingers at the ready flew around her on a constant patrol. In her dress and inside her own body, along gnarled, sticky corridors, workers toiled to make nectar into wax and honey. Deep within the confines of her most intimate areas, breeders took part in a passionless orgy to keep the Hive populated. And deeper still, nurses cared for the injured drones and any unhatched eggs, who would one day hear her song.

For they all heard her song. One way or another, they all heard it. With every action and every breath, the Bee-Girls felt the Hive's constant drone. A psychic message, a never-ending buzzing that gave them the only thought they would ever need:

All Hail The Hive.

Several yards away, Tally, Brim and Vesper watched all of this from a ditch. Brim spoke first. "...OK, I'm willing to admit I might have oversold you on how easy this would be."