Well enough, for a first fight.

Every second those two adventurer’s spent invading my dungeon was like a dagger to my brain, an alarm that screamed at me that I was being invaded. I needed it to stop, if I wanted to focus long enough to actually fight the intruders. As soon as I thought that, the pain blessedly stopped, though I was still acutely aware of the invader’s presence.

Immediately, they both tensed up and began to move more carefully, as though they were aware of my focus.

But I was already directing my 15 or so attack drones to the ambush point. They moved fast and silently towards their destination, and the two adventurers did the same.

Then something went off script.

My combat drones must have been louder than I thought, or maybe I was just tuning out their footprints, because the adventurers, already on edge after feeling something or other, tensed further before stopping in some kind of combat positions.

A whole room too early. Shit.

Oh well, no sense in crying over slight miss-timings. Better to attack now before they lose their nerve and retreat.

I split the group of drones in three, 5 each, and had them split up to hopefully surround the adventurers from three sides in the room they decided to hunker in.

As the group split into thirds, I attacked with the first group, having the lead drone cut through the thin metal door separating the two groups in order to get a good, intimidating start. It seemed to work, as the adventurers flinched back at the sight of my combat drones. Obviously, however, it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped.

“Looks like you were right about this place, Rachel, these guys definitely don’t look like your average forest denizen.” The caster, Sam, said, eyeing the drones warily. Rachel, on the other hand, didn’t say anything, instead she launched herself forward, obviously hoping to remove one or more of the drones before they got their bearings.

Unfortunately for me, it seemed that my combat drones were a lot simpler then I gave them credit for. By the time they reacted to Rachel’s movements and moved back one of them had lost three of its’ limbs and was left a wreck on the ground.

The other four drones spread out at my mental command, to ensure that Sam wouldn’t be able to wipe them all out in one shot without risking her teammate. Rachel watched them move, studying them carefully. I had one probe her defenses, thrusting one of it’s blades forward in a surprisingly clumsy strike that was easily parried by it’s opponent. She took the easy opening with a vengeance, and cut down the drone with a single stroke.

For a brief moment I panicked. This woman had managed to destroy two of my combat drones, alone and unsupported. I had no idea what Sam would be able to manage, but I had to assume she was at least as competent as Rachel was. Meaning it was very possible I would lose my very first combat encounter.

Unacceptable.

If I couldn’t kill them with what I had, I’d need to capture them. And for that, I needed them in the room with the capture drones.

With a thought I activated my ability, Prime Directive, and felt my emotions dim, and my focus sharpen. I could see the path to victory.

The first thing I did was split my focus in along my two minds, which was harder to do than it seemed, considering I used to only have one stream of consciousnesses before, and now I have two. Then with one mind, I canceled the original orders for the other ten drones, pulling them back together. With the other, I had the three that were attacking retreat to the earlier room, as if panicking at the loss of their fellows.

I checked the time, and realized that only ten seconds had passed.

Oh.

I mentally shook my head, and tugged harder on Prime Directive to shield me from these distractions, and focused on the upcoming fight.

My need to win, to triumph over my foes, went undimmed by Prime Directive. I had 13 drones to beat them with, all I needed to do was commit them.

Rachel was, unsurprisingly, the first through the door, rushing in in a way very much unlike most Ranger’s I’d seen in media, with Sam coming in behind much more cautiously.

Immediately, I rushed them both, my attack drones practically throwing themselves at both Rachel and Sam, with two being more finely directed by my will.

“Shit, they were waiting for us!” Rachel yelled as she parried the first attack that reached her blades.

Sam didn’t say anything in response, save for beginning some kind of chant. Waves of power and light began to illuminate the area around her, and the two drones that were about to attack her were thrown backwards with enough **** to damage the walls. The drones were, unsurprisingly, a loss.

Instead of being discouraged by this, I instead sent another four drones towards Sam, hoping to reach her before she could recast that spell. Meanwhile, I had a whole 6 drones attacking Rachel, lunging in pairs under my direct will to prevent her from simply killing them one at a time.

And in the confusion of the stalemate, the capture drones slithered through the shadows, waiting for my command to strike.

Then, an opening. One of the drones attacking Sam got too close for comfort, and she began to back up, a panicked shout leaving echoing off the walls when another leapt at her from afar. Rachel turned at the shout, leaving her ****, and I managed to knock away her sword and **** her away from it. Within seconds, Sam was almost pinned against a corner, and Rachel was **** to spend all her attention on avoiding the attacks from my drones.

And that’s when I knew I had them, and sent the capture drones.

They struck like snakes, whipping forward with a speed that was almost unbelievable and practically bowling over both heroines. Within seconds, the invading heroines had their arms and legs held in a vice grip, with Sam’s mouth also covered in case she needed to speak to cast spells.

They struggled, of course, thrashing around like fish on the line, but the great strength of the drones prevented them from doing any more than waste their energy. After a few seconds, during which I learned that these capture drones can’t move while holding a struggling victim (something to keep in mind for the future) they both slowed, then finally stopped their struggles.

When they did, I noticed that the adventurers stopped being flagged as “enemies” and were now flagged as “captives”. I guess it’s time to find out what those sybians are for.

It didn’t take long for the drones to carry them over, during which I started making more drones, first enough combat drones to more than double their numbers (bringing them up to twenty), then I went back and made more mining drones to collect materials.

After a moment, I also had one of the constructors take Rachel’s sword to the recycler, just to see what happened.

And with that, my first battle was over.