Chrysalis

Damn termites. What the hell are those ka'armodo 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 Queens with the most beneficial mutations for mass producing the highest quality individuals.

It's just not possible that they are better at it than 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 increased 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 fear of the torpor enforcers continues to apply even here during this

those standards have slipped from the traditional eight. It's

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

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

brood that we create. Perhaps we should even create

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 ka'armodo trap, and there has been near constant fighting since then. Whatever the big lizards are doing back at that mountain, they've been

sent 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

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

"Reallywellactuallythehitnandrunissofun-funandwelovemovingreallyfastsowhenthetermitescomewechompthemandrunawaybeforeweruninandchompthemagainit'sfunnyactuallybecausetheycan'tmovefastenoughtokeepupsotheyjustlooksosillydon'tyouthink?!"

do you have to say,

engage on and moving fast we've been able to damage the enemy

to be succeeding then.

feel their attention and high expectations through the Vestibule. Don't turn those shining eyes filled with respect toward me! I