RinoZ
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Chapter 1369 - Are They Really?
🕑 Added 2024-05-20 01:41:02 +0000 UTCBACK!
The break was really nice, thanks to everyone for your patience and understanding. The family is (mostly) well. Some things just seem to want to linger forever, but on the whole, much better off over here! Thanks for all the kind words and wishes. What a lovely group of people you all are! :D
Morrelia was very grateful not to be on a boat any longer. She would serve no matter where the Legion chose to send her, but she much preferred to have her feet on dry land. However, she didn’t necessarily think her current position was any safer.
“Relax, tribune,” Chyron chuckled. “Unless these monsters are a lot more bloodthirsty than you’ve said they are, we are not under threat.”
The younger woman restrained her glare, as this was her commander.
“I still believe we should exercise caution. We did directly attack their leader in plain view. They could easily use that as an excuse to eliminate our entire Legion.”
She tried not to make her words sound too clipped, but she failed miserably, causing the veteran commander to bark out a short laugh.
“If they kill us, they’ll destroy the reputation they’ve laboured so hard to build. You can’t be an enlightened, peaceful species of monsters and murder entire legions at the same time.”
“With respect, commander, if we were to die here, would anyone know? We are directly beneath the Colony.”
It had been a difficult march, plunging this deep into the tunnels beneath the ant mountain, but commander Chyron had proved her strength and that of her legion. The soldiers under Morrelia’s command had performed admirably, even better than she had expected, and the force had scythed its way through the monsters.
The difference between this and the Liria Legion under commander Titus was stark. It wasn’t that her father was a poor leader, far from it, but that the gap in experience between the rank and file was that wide.
So now they were here, deep within territory newly claimed by the Colony, close to the entrance to the fifth stratum.
“We would get word out, I can assure you of that,” Chyron stated with absolute confidence. “You’re being too much of a worrywort, tribune. We are here to complete a mission. Focus on your duty, not these extraneous concerns.”
Morrelia swallowed her anger. It wasn’t her place to bicker with the commander, even if she did feel the woman was being somewhat cavalier with the lives of her soldiers.
“How are we supposed to complete our mission here, commander?” she asked tightly. “The target is in the fifth stratum, while we are here in the fourth.”
“They’ll be back up soon enough. No one can stay down there for long.”
Morrelia herself had stayed down there for a period of months, but Chyron could occasionally fall guilty to the same pro-Legion bias that some of the higher ups were prone to fall into. It was something the Legion actively guarded against, underestimating their foes was something they hated, yet even so, it crept up occasionally.
“The Colony has proven themselves to be remarkably adaptable. I remind you, commander, the stated intention of the Colony is to cleanse the fifth stratum. I have little doubt they are attempting to do so as we speak.”
“I quite agree with you,” the commander nodded, “and we are here to confirm whether or not the target has survived the attempt. As unfortunate as it may be, we are in a poor position to complete our objective. It is far more likely the fifth will do our work than our legion is to succeed, unless the situation changes.”
It was unlikely the Legion would attempt to engage Anthony within the fifth itself. Despite the presence of Legion facilities within that stratum, it wasn’t as if they campaigned there. The fifth was simply… too inhospitable.
At that moment, a scout approached the command area, breathless after a hard run.
“Reporting, commander!”
“Speak.”
“We’ve confirmed the ants have withdrawn from the fifth. They don’t appear to have suffered casualties.”
Chyron nodded as if that was what she’d been expecting all along.
“Do we have any idea how successful they were down there?” Morrelia asked the scout.
“Successful?” the scout looked at her as if she were talking complete gibberish. “What do you mean?”
“Were they able to make any progress in cleansing the fifth?”
“We… uh… we have no way to tell, tribune,” the scout reported.
It was clear that nobody expected the Colony to get anywhere in this endeavour, and to be honest, that was the sensible position to take. Yet Morrelia knew better than most just what the Colony was capable of.
If there were any group to pull off something as insane as this, it would be them. Commander Chyron turned to her with a raised brow.
“You think it would be worth investigating to see what progress they have made in the fifth, tribune?”
Morrelia hesitated for a moment before she then nodded.
“I do,” she affirmed. “The cleansing of the fifth has been a dream for all of Pangera for thousands of years. Any attempt should be studied in the hopes that we get closer to succeeding.”
Chyron pursed her lips as she considered the matter.
“In theory, how would you seek to obtain this information? We can’t go into the fifth and follow them, not with our current equipment.”
Morrelia pointed in the direction of the ant forward base.
“I would go and ask them.”
The scout and Chyron both responded with blank expressions, as if their minds had not prepared them for such an approach. Morrelia shrugged.
“I know it sounds ridiculous, but the Colony is attempting to open lines of dialogue with everyone they can. There’s no reason for them to keep their progress a secret.”
“We are their enemies, are we not?” Chyron responded dryly. “Typically, one doesn’t share information with their enemies.”
“If they are in any way successful in their assault on the fifth, then the Colony is likely to want to share that with us to try and reduce our hostility towards them. In the unlikely event they succeeded in their mission, then they would win the approbation of the entire planet.”
The commander considered this with narrowed eyes.
“What’s stopping them from just lying to us?” she asked.
Under normal circumstances, not an unreasonable question. For here and now? There was a clear response.
“Because the Colony doesn’t lie,” Morrelia responded firmly.
Certainly, they never had that she was aware of.
Chyron considered her with a thoughtful gaze.
“Very well,” she determined. “You, tribune, will be our liaison in this matter, if they are willing to accept you. Go, with a minimal guard, and see if the monsters are feeling talkative.”
Comments
Josh Turple
1370
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
Elmithian
I don't think she can convince them they are good. But to tolerate them as neutral? Possibly.
dummy testhh
I really want LEGION to get shit on by colony , Legion is very biased
alt31415
They can't. Remember, the Legion thinks the Ancients are gonna take control of the Colony.
Rahsheem Reid
I can see this going a few different ways. The colony is going to impress the legion. How it goes after that will be interesting to say the least. Will they be called heretics and banished? Or will they just turn a blind eye like they do with the Sofos? Interesting turn of events.
Roombot
Oooooh I’m hyped for this. Anthony is gonna have to keep Isaac on a short leash 🤣
Vibious
Welcome back Rinoz Thanks for the chapter
patrick n thomas
What do you expect when you dealing with professional monster killers that have doing this for a thousand years to protect the surface and see nothing but crazed monster
Cheshirerogue
Moriella finally gets permission for a play date with Anthony
Colin C
Isaac will be quite happy about that. (Morrelia may be not so much.)
Wolve
As she said: the colony is adaptable... even when it comes to the truth.
The Retryer of Worlds
The Legion participated in the operation of extermination the Colony that killed innocent grubs and tried to assassinate Anthony recently when he was trying to protect his fellows from a falling mountain. Not to mention their multiple genocides like with the pet rearing race. The Legion deserves destruction.
Grey Knight Lord
I knew Morelia was the best. While she can’t directly go against her orders she still wants to save The Legion and the Colony. Their is no point to fight each other, only losses will come as a result
patrick n thomas
Either they do it or they don’t
patrick n thomas
There is no half measure when it involves the conlony
Khalil Redd- Gomez
Also happy your all feeling better!! I hope everyone gets to 100% soon 🙏
Khalil Redd- Gomez
FINALLY!!!!! 🤣🤣🤩🤩
Kiongku
Welcome back Rinoz! As for the Colony doesn't lie... *Looks at Solant*... Mostly?
Gonvas
Once they know the Colony depends on pets, securing their cores becomes another objective in the extermination of the Colony
JulesBeHere
I don't think that would be very effective. The wuffers seem to be costly to make and currently in the process of being operated upon. You'd need high tier wuffers, a lot of wuffers, of both to effectively cleanse the fifth. Then you'd need a solid force to defend against the monsters going bananas trying to eliminate you. But it might work once they figure out the best wuffer paths and start making even more of them. At the very least, selling a few spare wuffers could serve as a proof of concept.
Bethany Bluebird
God I was so excited when I saw this update!! PRAISE THE GREAT ONE!!
JulesBeHere
Morrelias a genius! This certainly won't end hostilities between the ants and legion, but this'll help open up a dialogue. Her unique perspective is really beneficial.
Anthony Romanov
So good that RinoZ is better now and Colony is back on track! 😊
Quinton Thornes
I did think that the Colony should try and sell their custom Wuffers to the other civilized races to expedite the cleansing process as well as decentralize the effort so the 5th strata's forces can't just target the colony to stop it.
Koala Man
Yay :) welcome back . I’m really glad you’ve been taking care of yourself because the longer your happy and healthy the more we get to read :) thx
Ian Jones
If Morelia is able to convince the Legion that the Colony is good and here to stay, maybe the Colony can help the Legion repair their Praetorian armor to help reclaim and defend other parts of the dungeon.
KooZnack
Great chapter! Welcome back and glad to hear everyone is feeling mostly better!
strainge guy1
The chapter number is wrong btw
strainge guy1
That's a creative name
strainge guy1
Welcome back! I'm pleased to hear everyone on your side is doing ok :)
No_Creative_Name
Welcome back! Glad to hear you’re doing well! Also, love morellia chapters.
