Chrysalis

It took a good bit of travel before we were able to reach the first staging area on the path between the nest and the anticipated direction the horde would be travelling. A steady stream of workers ran back and forth in long lines, bringing information back to the nest or returning for designated rest periods.

I found it curious that even with their enhanced senses and intelligence, which removed the necessity for the ants to move directly on top of a trail like regular ants on Earth would, they still chose to do so. The result being that I was treated to the sight of hundreds of ants the size of large dogs hustling about in long trails, one after the other.

The main difference between this and looking at an ant trail back on Earth, other than the size of course, is that I could hear the chatter between the workers as they ran.

"Keep it up! Run hard!"

"We've got this! Push, push, push!"

"So much work to do, no time to slow down now!"

"Lift those claws! Don't forget you have six legs, not two like a human. That means three times the work!"

"Work hard for the colony!"

"FOR THE COLONY!"

Endlessly.

to talk I suppose, no matter how fast they run or how tired they are, they can talk continuously. It was interesting to hear them pump each other up and encourage one another as they ran, to the point I wasn't sure if I was listening to

workers onto glorious deeds and greater efforts. I'm looking forward to catching up with Vibrant when she makes her way to the front lines. From what I understand, she decided to remain behind with her dedicated followers in order to make a push toward meeting the colony's food requirements before she left the nest to join

it's going to get done at light speed, which can only be a good thing. The faster it's done, the sooner those soldiers can get to the front and help with our campaign here to chip away at the horde, and the more food will be built up by those remaining behind to hunt, adding to the stockpile that will have been amassed. If things go like I think they will, the production of eggs may not slow down much at all during this crisis, which will put us in a better spot if we

as more concrete plans are being drawn up, scouts are being sent out and preliminary ambush preparations are being made. It isn't much to look at though. When I arrived, I

the interest of concealing it as much possible, they'd done a good job of spreading the loose dirt around and carrying it away from the site itself. A large hole in the ground was the only sign of the nest, one meter across, too small for Tiny and a little squeezy for me

plunged vertically down into the tunnel. The relative calm of the surface gave to a flurry of activity beneath the ground as workers climbed all over each other as they rushed about their tasks, expanding the size of the nest, excavating

things like personal space, so having ant and dirt shoved in my face constantly made moving around a little

made it through I was quite rattled and extremely grateful to

you made it to the front

attention. "We're ready for an ambush already? Do we even

Victor shook her head.

expect them to make contact with the horde tomorrow and then make their way back. Of course, that is conditional on the horde travelling on the stone trail

It's

her antennae

workers to scout and prepare the ground ahead,

had been prepared, the surface of which had been carved into a semblance of terrain. I could see roads, surprisingly detailed little building to represent what I think are towns. Midum was there, as well as the human village and I believe a rounded hill to represent the main nest of the colony.