Express Train

"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.

"Emilia, glad you caught up!" she laughed. "Have a look up there, it's a little different, isn't it?"

Obedient to the whims of her leader, the general leaned back and looked up at the demon city of Orpule far above. Just like Roklu, it was situated on a disc of stone that extended out from the pillar that supported the roof of the stratum so far above, but it was immediately clear what Vibrant was referring to.

"It's much larger, isn't it…" she observed.

Not only was the plate on which the city was situated larger than 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 to form recently. Which raised the question, how did a demon city expand? Or was this a sign of a more powerful and ambitious leader driving her population to greater heights and expanding the influence of her city?

"Remember, we need to be careful," Emilia made sure to remind her glorious leader. "There are tier sevens here that we cannot fight."

"I 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 nuisance of ourselves in the meantime! Which means we get to run! Lots! This is going to be a fantastic mission!"

Seeing her so happy, the hundreds of ants who made up her followers were emboldened. When Vibrant was happy, things were generally going well. They might be hectic, or even dangerous, but usually manageable. When she was serious, that was when they knew things were going to be bad.

"OOOOOOKAAY!" Vibrant yelled 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 also make sure that we go super-fast! Do your best to keep up with me everyone, I don't want anyone falling behind! We can regroup here after we get a couple of laps in, make sure you scan the area carefully! Let's go!"

Although she spoke at her usual breakneck pace, a combination of similar mutations among 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 to be seen, that was the point.

When they came 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 they would be deprived of all resources.

After a few hours it was clear that those watching from above realised what was happening and a sortie was sent forth, powerful demons that included a tier seven foe in their midst.

"Leader!" a mage called, racing toward the front of the pack. "I sense a powerful foe approaching!"

"Veer off!" Vibrant laughed as she turned and sped away, leading her group to flee from the city.

Unable to catch up, the demons pursued hopelessly for a time before they gave up and returned to the city. The ants turned around the same moment the demons did. To the enemy, the message was clear, if you go back, so do we. Chase us forever, or not at all!

Unwilling to commit to trying to catch these damned elusive insects the demons opted to return to the city and so Vibrant and her troops returned to running laps. They kept a watchful eye on the city at all times, looking for any who sought to come or go and continued to deny any demons the chance to rise to tier six around the city.

Once again, the demons sallied forth and once more Vibrant laughed at them as she raced away.

"Slow-Slow!" she taunted with glee as the demons flew along in their wake.