You continue to work on the rocket - computer systems, this time. There's honestly not much of a point making more steel when a few days of mining will leave plenty to extract and enough to build the parts We need. In the meantime, however, you have the Tech Drone make a few Human-Sized AEPS while a token force of Soldiers and many Drones load into the APC's. A few are completed in time for three Humans to ride along, so You borrow a Human Soldier and two Human Drones from Stampy's hive and send them along, as well as ordering Mechanical Light Scouts to fly ahead and survey.
You instruct the Tech Drone to oversee production of suits for the Humans while playing war games. Stampy takes control of the Human side, and the two begin to play. The Nurse begins to limit the oxygen supply to the larvae and changes the elemental balance of the various substances and fluids it releases to be more Nurse-like. You sense the larvae are in some discomfort, but signs are very positive towards their survival. You highly doubt the changes will be very effective, but if a Soldier can survive off less food and die a little more slowly, it is an improvement.
You check in on the game after some time, and notice that the Humans make use of a surprisingly large amount of Commanders and Improved Soldiers to direct the Soldiers around. You also sense that while they are independent, they co-ordinate very well. Their behavior approaches the point of resembling what We could decipher of human Soldier doctrine. Also, Humans seem to make a virtue of cowardice - individual soldiers are incredibly fond of using every last inch of cover they possibly can. Despite this, there are more than a few Humans who deliberately sacrifice themselves in order to provide a temporary advantage to their sub-Hive. Lastly, they seem to have a considerable amount of affection towards their wounded. Given that Humans appear to have many nerves for the specific purpose of detecting injuries and causing chemical releases, this does not surprise You. Simple co-operative behavior.
It would appear that Humans lack a coherent Hivemind. It is more of a surprise that they work as well together as they do. You briefly consider the process of converting Humans into Kai, and come up with a very rough outline as to how it could be possible. After all, if the eventual creation of specialized immobile drones of Us for computer interface and tiny mind-control is plausible in a large handful of generations with luck and/or a Body Queen, something might be possible with judicious use of Royal Jelly and specialized drones...
You push the thought aside for now, and resume construction of computer parts while You check in on the Digging Drone. With the assistance of the Humans to locate the Niobium, extraction is proceeding well, and should reach maximum storage capacity for the APC's in a single day.
It is a little past midnight.