Chrysalis

"Haul your abdomen, Sloan!" Victor yelled at her slower contemporary.

"I’m coming!" Sloan grumbled back.

The two generals were exhausted. They hadn’t fought on the front line during the course of the battle but they’d been debating, planning and coordinating the efforts of the colony without pause for over a day without rest.

"Finally getting to the good part and you want to miss out?" Victor joked.

"I’ll push you into the mouth of a Garralosh spawn," Sloan promised, "watch yourself up there."

"I’m not worried, Leeroy will probably already be in there and can push me out."

At the mention of the more... enthusiastic of their soldier siblings, an irritated twitch flicked through Sloan’s antennae. Now that they’d come to this point, nothing could be held back any longer. Which meant that Leeroy, and the soldiers who’d kept her pinned down in the nest, had been sent back to the wall.

The two generals rushed out of the dark nest and into the bright light of the surface. Victor shielded her eyes with her antennae as best she could as she stared at the carnage taking place beyond the walls. From this high up, she could see the children of Garralosh approach, flames trickling out from between their teeth.

"About time you slackers made it up here," Burke observed from nearby.

"We haven’t been slacking!" Sloan ground out.

"I know that, obviously." Burke turned to Victor. "Why is she so tense?"

"Not much torpor."

"Ah."

The three of them continued to observe the battle. Things were heating up now, and not just because of the flame spewing crocodile monsters. The Queen had re-joined the front line and the ants there had quickly reached a boiling peak of rage and fury.

"We need to get down there," Sloan gasped urgently.

know," Victor replied,

really think you can stop her?" Burke asked the two

chance," Victor

once. Why not once more?" Sloan protested, desperation crept into

her antennae toward the battle that

reason she retreated last time was because she would have caused more deaths than she saved. There is nowhere else to retreat to now, if the colony puts itself between her and danger again, she’ll just push us to one

have to help her!" Sloan

course we

"Let’s go!"

nothing left to do now but fight. The closer they came the more their senses were overwhelmed by the din of battle. The roar of the monsters, the clash of claws, mandibles and carapace, the stink of Biomass mixed with a thousand messages pouring out of the ants

heat that built within the closer they came to the Queen. Before they could reach the edge of the wall, the Queen and the ferocious worker and artisan caste ants that had followed her crashed against the enemy like a tidal

every monster that made it to the top of the wall, four or five ants

of them and the unfortunate

Garralosh reached the wall. Flames roared into the sky and hundreds of ants fell back from the edge, lest the inferno claim them. The

take

flames licked against her carapace but she didn’t appear to care, her attention was seized by the face of her enemy, after all this time, at last they would

within her range, the Queen reared back and raised her head before she lunged forward and unleashed a torrent of acid from her

The Queen did not relent and continued to pour out her acid, the powerful stream rained down on monsters up to thirty metres away. When acid and flame met, the stream exploded into boiling hot clouds

the Queen relented in her opening salvo and

Sloan sputtered, exhausted from

go back. Not this time. I’m needed here," the Queen spoke sharply, unwilling to

try not to die!" the general

Queen could respond, another

up, Sloan! Let’s do this!" Leeroy shouted as she barrelled forward, excitement and rage evident in

rush forward. The enthusiastic approach she didn’t mind, it was the complete lack

to call,

anticipated her siblings would attempt to cut her off and moved to render their

I will