Chrysalis

When the gates finally fell, they fell with a resounding 'boom' that echoed from the walls of the tunnel. Might seem a little excessive to knock the damn things off their hinges, but that's what the Legionaries decided to do anyway. Perhaps they felt the width of the nest entrance was a reasonable width for them to engage in and I have to agree. The tunnel approach to the nest narrows as it approaches the gate, stays the same for a short distance before it opens out into the chamber beyond. To be honest, they're probably just happy not to see yet another gate waiting for them in the distance.

Once the gates are down, it takes the Legion a few minutes to reorganise their formation before they once again begin their approach.

Boom!

What the heck was that?! The vibrations of a colossal impact roll through the rock beneath my legs and my antennae waggle through the air in confusion as I try to pick up the source. It didn't happen within the nest, that's for sure, whatever it was that caused that, it surely originated outside the gates.

"Eldest! Can you sense what that was?" Burke rushes up to me.

"I'm trying to work it out," I reply distractedly as I focus on watching the approaching soldiers whilst reaching out with my mind.

The distance is too far for me to reach, even with my relatively high Skills, but there are definitely fluctuations in the mana further down the tunnel, behind the approaching force.

"I can't be sure," I respond tersely as I set my mandibles, "but it seems like something is happening at the rear of the Legion forces."

what?!" Burke is

know, Burke?

army between us and that

"I noticed!"

sides have already begun to accelerate towards each other and I join my brethren, using all three pairs of legs to synchronise three separate dashes to achieve maximum

*CRUNCH*

each other as both sides activate their Skills, spells and everything else they have at their disposal. Armour and carapace are dented, cracked and splintered as neither side holds back any of their strength, the Legion on the precipice of victory, the Colony on the edge of annihilation. My carapace absorbs numerous blows in the first few seconds as weapon light blooms all around me. Only my future sight and heightened reflexes keep my antennae attached to my head as my body makes the minute adjustments necessary to absorb all the strikes

my sub-brains are fairly cooked and I've released the omni-elemental construct, opting instead to deploy a simple gravity domain over as wide an area as I can, hoping the already tired Legionaries will suffer under the added weight of their armour. It's hard to tell what sort of effect it's having, but then again, it's hard to get a good visual of the battlefield when I'm doing the dirty work here in the front line. Shields and

my mandibles begin to crack and splinter.

cry rises from somewhere behind

crashes through the battlefield, stunning my antennae

time. Unwilling to put up any real resistance to their mother's advance, the soldiers and generals gave ground the moment they felt her push against them. If she wanted to go to the front, none were prepared to go all out to stop her. What were they supposed to do? Fight their mother

if she felt none of it, a seemingly never ending roar bellowing from her maw. The giant ant reared back, her antennae bursting into light so bright it chased away the shadows in the chamber before she unleashed a

this monstrous entity, only for it now to get a sudden boost of health. Despair gripped their lines which was only made worse when the Queen activated her war form. Drawing energy from every ant in the room, she grew in size until she loomed over the enemy who shrank back from

in that fight, she had taken steps to ensure she would not be found lacking in strength. Her daily hunts had helped to level her combat Skills, the extra Biomass she had taken in was spent to improve her body for fighting. Never again would she allow the enemy to bully her