Chrysalis

"Whooooooooo!" Vibrant cheered as she raced across the Plains of Leng, delighting in watching the larval demons leap from her path just in time to miss her flashing legs.

The air was boiling hot and seared against her carapace as it drove her antennae back. The smell of ash and molten rock smothered her senses as the terrain flashed by but Vibrant cared little for any of it. The rush of pure speed was what she craved and these wide open plains gave her an opportunity to run as she had never had a chance to before.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" she hollered, her legs flickering so quickly they couldn't be seen, her brain flashing just as quickly as she processed the barrage of visual information that flooded her eyes each second.

Far behind, though not as far as one might think, her followers were working hard to keep up as best they could. Their job was made far more difficult by the fact that they'd long since fallen out of range of the aura that boosted their own speed, since their leader had raced so far ahead. Still, they too yearned for speed, just as their leader did, and their hearts were thumping with joy as they raced across the plains as a unit, desperate to keep up.

When they eventually did so, they found Vibrant standing rock still, staring up the target of their current mission. Emilia the general was among the first to arrive and boldly approached their uncharacteristically still leader.

"Vibrant? Is everything alright?" she asked.

The large yet sleek soldier twitched her antennae as she recognised the scent.

she laughed. "Have a look up there, it’s a little different, isn't

leaned back and looked up at the demon city of Orpule far above. Just like Roklu, it was situated on a

isn't

that of the city that the Colony had conquered, there was more than one plate! The second, which hung beneath the first, in its shadow so to speak, was much smaller than that above it, as if it had only begun

sure to remind her glorious leader. "There are tier sevens here that we cannot

know that, Em-em!" Vibrant cheered. "We can have a look around, deprive the city of resources, keep an eye on things and make a general

going well. They might

suddenly, waving her two front legs about in the air for emphasis. "First thing we do is run around and see what we can see! Let's keep an eye on the city as we do and make sure we keep our distance! Let's

her followers and familiarity with this speed of communication meant that they perfectly understood what Vibrant had to say. As one mind, the group set off, speeding across the plains and running a broad circle around the demon city of Orpule. They were noticed, because of course they were. Nearly a thousand monstrous ants running rings around the city were bound

across any demon more evolved than tier three, the group set upon it, devouring their hapless victims in a matter of seconds, before setting off once again. The experience and biomass were welcome, of course, but more than that any evolved demon was a potential recruit for the enemy. If one of these were to reach tier six and gain their full awareness, then to Orpule they would go, recruited for the enemy. So long as they were at war with the Colony, then

what was happening and a sortie was sent forth, powerful demons that included a tier seven foe in their