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Chapter 1199 - War and Peace pt 5
🕑 Added 2023-07-19 09:01:09 +0000 UTCSolant knew, of course she knew, how could she not? But the task before her didn’t change, no matter what was going on behind her back.
“Focus your fire forwards! Don’t pay any attention to what’s going on behind! Hold the line!”
The fighting was still intense, though it had slackened thankfully.
“Are you sure, general? Things are… rather dire back there.”
“Leonidant, I don’t care if the fortress collapses behind us, we will achieve victory here, in this tunnel, at this chokepoint!”
“But the fortress may well have fallen behind us, Solant! We don’t know what’s going on back there!”
For over an hour, reports had flooded to those fighting on the front that any and all communication with the central planning chamber had been lost. The fighters here in the tunnel had been cut off from central command completely.
That didn’t bother Solant so much, she had a job to do, as did every other ant here, and if there was a problem in the nest, that was for others to deal with. The Eldest was back there, for the Queen’s sake! If the Eldest couldn’t deal with it, she assuredly couldn’t.
And so, the fight had gone one.
Then the reports had changed. Not only was the central command chamber enshrouded in darkness, but the shadows were advancing down the tunnels.
Solant had glared at the scout and told her to get back to fighting.
“Rotate!” she demanded, and then twitched when she realised that the next line of soldiers was gone. There was no one to rotate forward.
Instead, all that lay behind her was a black wall of shifting shadows.
“Well… that’s not ideal,” she muttered.
“Yeah, don’t stress about it,” came a familiar scent, followed by the giant head of the Eldest. “You did a good job holding the line. Well, done.”
She was pleased for the compliment, but felt it wasn’t deserved.
“We only held because the number of monsters encroaching on our position diminished significantly. If it weren’t for that, we would have… lost.”
The Eldest tapped her on the head with an antenna.
“Oi. Don’t go getting into your head or anything. I’m the one who arranged that,” the Eldest pointed a leg at the darkness behind them, “and I’m also the one who arranged that,” next they pointed a leg forward into the tunnel.
“I’m… not sure what you mean.”
“Give it a second, they’ll be here in a minute.”
The two waited, the Eldest swatting the occasional monster that came down the tunnel as the remaining troops, those not swallowed by the void, rested and healed themselves.
Soon enough, they saw a different type of movement down the tunnel, as a mix of large and small tree-people came into sight. The Bruan’chii?
“I called in a favour from that stupid tree to cover the nest for us while everyone catches up on their sleep,” the Eldest said, waving at the newcomers.
A large specimen of a tree waved back before they turned and settled in to defend the tunnel.
“Really nice to have a group like them on our side, even if their mother is a bit of a jerk. Alright, they’ll take things from here, you lot can come with me.”
“What? Where are we going, Eldest?” Leonidant asked, a little worried.
“What do you mean? Straight into this infinite void of darkness and shadow, of course!”
“What?!”
“Relax already. You guys have been diligent in making sure you hit your rest periods on time, right?”
“Of course,” Solant replied, serious. “We were taught to always get proper rest in the Antcademy.”
“And it’s a good idea,” the Eldest approved, “if you don’t get enough rest, if you don’t take proper care of yourself, then your work gets sloppy and all the ants around have to pick up the slack. Extra work for everyone. When too many ants are working exhausted, the mistakes snowball and we end up right in the… plops, I suppose.”
In short order, the giant ant had rounded everyone up and cheerfully led them into the gently shifting void.
“Now, unlike you well behaved members of the Colony, there are those who routinely push the limits, who skip a torpor period here and there, or go for multiple days without resting. When that happens, someone needs to make them see the error of their ways and ensure they get a good night's sleep.”
“Is that what’s happening here?” Solant asked shrewdly.
The Eldest laughed.
“Yes indeed. The entire fortress is getting put into torpor. Way too many ants not doing the right thing. The whole place could have collapsed around us.”
They continued to travel through the darkness, huddled together around the hulking form of the Eldest in their midst. Then, suddenly, shockingly, they were through it, emerging out the other side into the central planning chamber, freed from the shadows.
Though not entirely, tendrils of the dark mist still curled and drifted through the air, smothering the light and deepening the shade. Inside, Solant saw something unbelievable taking place. Ants were everywhere, crawling over every surface, on the room, on the walls, but even more than those ants who were moving, were those who were not.
Row, upon row, upon row of neat beds formed of shaped stone filled the space, each occupied by a member of the Colony, adrift in torpor. Thousands upon thousands of them. As they drew closer, Solant could see that each was tucked in with a thick layer of cloth, a small… toy or doll tucked in under one of their legs.
Throughout the rows, teams of ants moved industriously, carrying containers in their mandibles. When they reached a new bed, they would carefully uncover the ant within and apply the contents of their containers to special cloths that they then rubbed over the slumbering ant’s carapace, leaving it gleaming. Then another ant, a carver, would go over the cleaned area with another specialised material, running it back and forth with their front two legs, until the carapace practically shone.
The decadence… the luxury of it all. How terrible. She shuddered.
The Eldest, of course, noticed her reaction.
“That’s right,” the giant ant observed gleefully, “if you don’t take your rest on time then you get the full treatment. So much time and effort spent rejuvenating you. How incredibly selfish!”
The ants continued to work without making a sound or a scent, collecting slumbering members of the Colony, tucking them into beds, cleaning them, grooming them.
“Is this happening all over the fortress?” Solant asked, shocked.
“Of course. Everyone is getting the treatment.”
“What about them?” Solant wondered, indicating those who were working.
“They never miss a rest shift. Not even once.”
That was… interesting.
“But who are they?” she wondered.
“Oh, them? Could be anyone, any member of the Colony can be one of them. One of your broodmates is probably one of them, working in the shadows when they aren’t by your side.”
“That’s not possible,” Solant insisted, “we would not hide something like this from each other.”
The Eldest clacked their mandibles together and laughed.
“Oh, is that right? You hear that Leonidant?”
The scout shifted uncomfortably.
“Anyone can be one of them,” the Eldest went on, not letting Solant question her sister. “Anyone at all. Now, I think we’ve arrived.”
“Arrived where?” Solant asked, but when she looked around, she saw what they meant.
A long row of beds. Empty beds.
“You can hop in yourselves, or, if you prefer, you can enjoy the full experience.”
“Wait. We haven’t missed any torpor,” Solant pointed out, “why do we need to rest?”
“The whole fortress is getting a snooze,” the Eldest insisted, “you are most certainly no exception. You’ve been given special treatment just by seeing all of this,” the big ant waved their antennae around, “most people don’t get a glimpse.”
“And what do you mean by the full experience?”
“Well, if you’re asking about it, you may as well experience it. I’ll even spice it up for you. Get ‘em, Crinis.”
The world was suddenly nothing but darkness, madness and mouths.
Then. Sleep.
Comments
bbk
I just really wish we saw the demon boy and bear girl also get it. I'm also just imagining the day were the Legion and the colony will have to fight side by side and then the Legion getting taken by the nameless . Ah the laughs I will have!
guvvuf
I hope Solant develops ties with the Torpor police.
Runaway_Cactuar
Vi: "HEYFAM!" sees nest under torpor police lockdown** Vi: "SORRYWRONGNEST.BYEEEEE~"
JollyRodger
I wonder if the speed demon ant army beat a hasty retreat before getting caught by the torpor police?
Celeria Rosencroix
Wait, on the random: is the description of the mineral trees and wildlife of the 7th a reference to the Epic of Gilgamesh?
RinoZ
Good question! Resets become available for all monsters after +25
Nanashi
YOU .. you'r one of THEM! muffle mumble.... zzzz
TheRaptorOfHermes
god i love the torpor chapters
Tunabreath
Was one chap where anthony asked about dark+mind+curse but havent seen anything since then
BallsDeep69
I wonder if crinis has picked up (dark + mind =) nightmare magic yet
Jackson crockett
Awesome chapter I love the torpor police lol but quick edit however you wrote "And so, the fight had gone one" when I think you ment "And so, the fight had gone on"
alt31415
Poor eyeball's been stuck at Tier 6 forEVER
Rahsheem Reid
Hopefully we get too see some new evolutions from the trio after the wave. I would love too see what invida turns into next all of them really.
Rahsheem Reid
That’s so darn interesting. Thank you for the chapter
Nathan Quitugua
Hahaha...Conspirant...take my like
Khalil Redd- Gomez
This was simply amazing!!!!
alt31415
Lmao. Nice to see the Braunchii again! A quick question tho Mr. Rino, if you don't mind. It was stated monsters get to reset body parts after +25. Since demons all reach sapience at Tier 6, would this mean any sufficiently mutated 'sapient demon' has access to resets? Or does them being 3rd Strata as opposed to Anthony's 1st Strata make them need higher requirements?
Victor Hertz
Now all we need is Conspirant, to rave about how just about anyone could be nameless and perhaps even some of the Queens just to be branded as fully mad yet on a special watchlist
Anthony Romanov
That what the scariest about them! They are just concerned members of the Colony that care that their sister takes better care of herself!
Anthony Romanov
Leonidant just follows Anthony's teachings to the letter.
RinoZ
Double chaps tomorrow
CentaureHeart
I love how ruthless the Nameless are but once everyone's asleep they are just the biggest mother hens. It's like a reverse boogeyman
Brandon14754
I mean it's important she learn about them considering she didn't even seem to know the torpor police existed
Joshua Morris
Lol I love how Leonidant is one of the nameless
BelligerentGnu
The branchii! Of course, sense is made! Little unfair to Solant and crew, but eh, Anthony is occasionally a dick.
Ether's Blessed One
The nameless are coming after you......
Koala Man
And never again did ants forget how important it is to get the right amount of torpor ,, or else
Thunderhoof
Colony's weakness= Spa
Greyg
Ok now a full week of BOD
KRY
Sleep is for the WEAK
