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Chapter 944 - Hold the line
🕑 Added 2022-02-27 08:16:49 +0000 UTCDamn termites. What the hell are those kaarmodo doing over there? They seem to pop out reinforcements just as fast as we kill them. I refuse to believe they can spit out tier four and five monsters so quickly without incurring some kind of cost. After all, the Colony has been doing this for months and have honed the process to be as efficient as possible. We have an entire caste of dedicated teachers, an academy with a constantly adjusted curriculum and Queen's with the most beneficial mutations for mass producing the highest quality individuals.
It's just not possible that they are better at it that we are!
And in truth, they aren't. Our enemies may be a higher tier than would normally be expected from their numbers, but their cores remain weak. The question is how the lizards managed to maintain the quality of their insect troops, or in fact raise it, whilst creating increasing production to such a ludicrous degree. If they'd been able to produce these sorts of numbers from the beginning, I don't think the Mother Tree would have been able to hold out as long as she did, not while withholding the bruan'chii from assisting her.
"Eldest, welcome back."
"Good to see you, Eldest!"
"Work hard!"
"I will. Make sure you take an appropriate break though!"
The ants who called out to me so cheerfully a moment ago hesitate in their stride at my mention of taking a break before they continue on their way. The fear of the torpor enforcers continues to apply even here during this desperate, ongoing battle. Tired soldiers are sloppy soldiers and sloppy soldiers get their own allies killed. Personally I'm thankful that they've continued to maintain a strict standard of rest amongst my siblings, even in these circumstances.
But I'll be the first to admit that those standards have slipped from the traditional eight. It's a war after all.
"Eldest! The meeting is in here!" I see Advant calling me over with a wave of her antennae and follow her into the prepared chamber in the Colony's main staging ground. Inside I find the usual carved table, I really have to find out who makes these damn things, they are spectacular, along with each member of the council who has joined me on this venture.
Vibrant, Advant, Bella, Burke and Wills, Victor, Leeroy, Mendant, Cobalt, Propellant and Coolant are all in attendance. Only the Queens and tenders are not represented. For obvious reasons they have not been brought down to the fourth.
Although, when it comes time to establish our own mountain nest in this stratum, I can't wait to see the mighty Queen's and powerful brood that we create. Perhaps we should even create a central academy here? No, it's far too early to be thinking about that stuff, don't get carried away.
As I take my 'seat' at the table I glance at the others and I'm not surprised to see them looking fatigued. It's been two weeks since my rescue of Vibrant from the kaarmodo trap, and there has been near constant fighting since then. Whatever the big lizards are doing back at that mountain, they've been moving quickly, ramping up the production of their proxy soldiers and making modifications to the templates within the queens to better arm the termites against us, their new foe.
In return the Colony has send three waves of reinforcements, bringing our total number of deployed Colony members to forty thousand. This is far more than I wanted to commit to defending the Mother Tree, but any less and we run the risk of getting overrun. Fighting for the sake of someone not in the Colony is one thing, having thousands of my siblings wiped out would be complete unacceptable.
"From the reports I have, the lines appear to be holding well, despite some back and forth movement on both sides," Victor leads the conversation as the resident general. "Our biggest issue has been adjusting our defensive strategy to meet with the new reality of the foe. With the Ka'armodo involved, the termites move completely differently to how they did before. Our plan to hole up in fortresses and let the enemy dash themselves against the walls no longer can be considered. Retreating like that will just give our now smarter opponent the time and space to manoeuvre around us. Thus we have engaged in a defence in depth strategy that involves hit and run tactics. How has it fared in the field, Vibrant?"
"Reallywellactuallythehitnandrunissofun-funandwelovemovingreallyfastsowhenthetermitescomewechompthemandrunawaybeforeweruninandchompthemagainitsfunnyactuallybecausetheycan'tmovefastenoughtokeepupsotheyjustlooksosillydon'tyouthink?!"
"And what do you have to say, Advant?"
"We are exposing ourselves more than we would like, but by choosing the ground we engage on and moving fast we've been able to damage the enemy and then pull back with minimal losses. So far there haven't been any incursions make it past the third defensive line."
"The strategy seems to be succeeding then. What are your thoughts, Eldest?"
Each of the council members turns toward me and I feel the familiar pressure in these moments. It's only made worse because I can feel their attention and high expectations through the Vestibule. Don't turn those shining eyes filled with respect toward me! I made you smart for the express purpose of doing all the thinking so I didn't have to, dammit!
"I'm worried," I just come out and say it.
"Why?" Victor asks, her scent attentive.
I scratch my head with an antenna.
"I'm worried that the lizards are just pinning us down and keeping us occupied while they build up an even larger force. I'm sure you've noticed that no matter how many we seem to kill, the raids continue apace. The termites are doing a better job of preserving their numbers through every engagement and are just probing our defences. I believe a surge will come, and possibly soon. I think they've increased egg production by far more than we've realised and when the new generations are ready they will throw everything at us, not in a massive wave, but in an organised advance that will engage us on as many fronts as possible."
I pause for a moment.
"Which I think will also include the third stratum. There won't be termites, but I think the kaarmodo will engage with allied demons and their own numbers to spread us even more thinly. If we don't have the capacity, the antpower, to cover all of these fronts, we could be in serious trouble."
Comments
jonathan Wieringa
But the Queen is an experience piñata for Anthony
jonathan Wieringa
I'd call it survival training with free buffet
Nathan Quitugua
Well, swap positions then Anthony, get the mother tree to send her bruaanchii to the 3rd stratum to reinforce the ants up top and shift more antpower down to the 4th to handle the termites. Maybe go for a guillotine manuever and send some nameless ones to infiltrate thier nest and take out the lynch pin, namely the queen.
Tyrunex
Yes and no. His personality is still the same but he gets a lot of knowledge and influence through the vestibule which lets him seem more grown up
Andrick
I like that we can see character growth in Anthony. He’s been upgrading his brain and despite his personality, it really shows. I’m starting to wonder if evolving has the same effect as growing older. If so, Anthony’s equivalent age would be older than he was on earth, right? So, he would also be wiser with that bigger brain.
M Afxarr
Surprisingly, I find it easier to read vibrant’s crazy speech if I read super fast by moving my gaze to the right. It only gets hard to read if I slow down and try to concentrate, but becomes a lot easier by moving the eyeballs super fast just like a vibrant 😂 I think the brain takes a pic and helps process the sentences
Tetrisman87
Tftc!
Tom
Can you put a - between each word so that there are some gaps between words for vibrant because it hurts to read and ruins the flow of the story when I have to figure out what is being said and all I think is I want to skip this whole paragraph
Rahsheem Reid
You know ever since Anthony was captured and started getting tutored by the cult he has made conscious decisions a lot more.
Rahsheem Reid
Big brain Anthony.
due
I think his intelligence points are finally showing 😂
Runaway_Cactuar
Well, time to see if the Mother Tree can make a cameo to the 3rd. After all, demons aren't termites.
Anthony Romanov
Happy Birthday Here some tea 🍵 and biomass 🍕 for you
Anthony Romanov
Despite Anthony being reluctant to think of strategies. He sure can come up with good ones. Council still doesn't view wars on all levels but what's here and now infront of them
Sean Hibbitt
Great chapter to start my birthday :D thank you!
Storm
Wow didn’t expect that analysis from anthony lol
Grendelkun
Yay I like this chapter
