Battle Begins (1006)

Rassan'tep watched with cold, reptilian amusement as the armoured shock troops of the Colony dove forward, seemingly at random. He had hoped the stand off between the two sides would last longer so he might further study the ants and the disposition of their forces. Knowing what he did now about them, it was far easier to recognise the amount of thought and effort they put into all they did, and the selflessness with which they acted.

Even at rest, the column had been busily working. Vast flows of mana were constantly being channelled, energy sucked in to replenish the stores of mages who never ceased to manipulate the earth and stone around them.

Wary of ambush, they firmed the ground in stages as they had marched, the front ranks performing the initial hardening, the second condensing that, the third starting a new layer, and so on down the line. By the time the final ant had crossed a patch of ground, ten metres of compressed stone were left beneath them.

When they had stopped, face to face with the termite forces, the practice had only intensified; even now that the two sides were starting to converge, thousands of ants continued to work on the rock beneath them.

Despite the somewhat surprising initial charge, the rest of the ant column moved with incredible coordination and efficiency. All along the formation, large groups of ants broke off and advanced to a new position. The giant ka'armodo was fascinated to see some groups simply flow through each other and it took him a moment to realise the ants had simply climbed over each other without breaking stride, something his people would certainly struggle to do.

In fact, having even a single ka'armodo step on another would be such a breach of protocol the entire concept was almost entirely alien to them.

Before the armour-clad heavy ants had reached their target, a massive volley of acid and magic was on its way. The termites seethed with blind rage under the direction of Rassan'tep's people. He knew they wanted to attack, to boil out of the nest and destroy the insect army that had appeared before them, but he also knew they would be prevented from doing so.

Which of course meant that the rain of acid fell upon the packed ranks of termites, burning their carapace and causing them to twitch and clack their mandibles with intense anger.

The current breed had been protected against acid damage, but not completely, the Colony would still exact their toll.

And the firing was so disciplined!

Thousands upon thousands of ants in neat ranks, taking turns to fire. First the ants in front, followed by those behind, all the way back through dozens of ranks, separate volleys of acid rising high into the air and arcing down to fall amongst the termites.

The spray of loose droplets in the air painted an almost artistic picture, the sheer volume almost enough to summon a rainbow on its own.

From high in the mountain, Rassan'tep was able to magically extend his view across the entire field of battle. A top down perspective that gave him an enviable seat for the upcoming spectacle. Of course his role was to provide intelligence to his people in order to aid their efforts in directing the battle, but he largely left that to the set'sulah.

Unlike those who he reluctantly called his allies in this conflict, he was convinced the fight was lost. Indeed, his main priority in the battle was to witness a potential Ancient on the rise.

He leaned forward eagerly and turned his mind's eye to the collision off the two sides.

Despite their overwhelming numbers advantage and tightly packed ranks, the termites were not equipped to receive a charge as devastating as this. When the lead armoured ant rammed into the first termite, the latter was sent flying, soon joined in the air by the next in line. Chunks of chitin exploded into the air as carapaces were simply shattered under the force of the impact. It was thunderous, and it didn't stop there. Though impossible to consider, the steel ants almost accelerated as they threw themselves deeper into the enemy army. Despite the ferocity of their assault, they were still a narrow front, a blade that had stabbed deep into the body of the termite army.

Now the Colony's own acid barrage fell on them, so deep had they gone.

Rassan'tep was confused. Were they ever going to stop?

The answer, apparently, was no. Further on they charged until finally they ground to a halt, their momentum exhausted. Surrounded on all sides by enemies, there were now tens of thousands of termites between the armoured ants and their allies.

An interesting decision, and not one he could make much sense of. The ants must surely have a plan, all of their actions were so deliberate, yet what it was he could not fathom. Despite being so young, there were aspects to the Colony that the old one just couldn't understand. The strange, ornate thing the amoured ones carried with them into the heart of the termite army was another such thing.

But where was Anthony?

Along with his pets, he had not joined the headlong charge into the mouth of the nest, but had instead employed a more measured approach. Alongside a vast frontline of powerful soldier ants and sapient allies on foot, the massive, diamond covered ant strode forward without fear to engage the scattered termites left in the wake of that impressive charge.

When the two sides met, Rassan'tep had a good idea how it would go, and he felt as if his people weren't going to like it.