Antelligent Design

92. The Third Ambush, Part 5

We continue to kite the monsters for five minutes, pulling them farther and farther away from the main body of the enemy. Our plan depends on a few things: that Garralosh and the Wizard Lizard won’t bother to chase us, the former due to a need to conserve Mana in her core and the latter because the Ka’armodo seem reluctant to leave its captive croca momma alone.

The second thing we want to determine, and rely upon, is that whatever control the two leaders have over the horde of weaker monsters, there has to be a limit. At some point, the monsters must begin to regain their savage nature and break free. Maybe they would turn and retreat back toward the main body of the horde.

We need to understand this behaviour, and one of the objectives of this ambush is to determine it.

“Have we seen any sign that the mage slaves have followed us?” I call to Vibrant.

“Nope!” she replies in a thoroughly positive manner.

Gah. I hope Wills is on it.

We continue to run with monsters snapping at our heels, and eventually I begin to detect heat signatures in the trees. We made it to the ambush point! Now to see what the monsters decide to do.

With a burst of acceleration, I rush to catch up with the scouts ahead of us. In the middle of the pack, I find Wills and a small burst of relief fills me. I didn’t want to lose any members of the twenty in such a stupid, small way. The colony has invested in them to the maximum extent possible, and they should continue to repay that for the next hundred years at least!

“Wills! Do we have any idea what the state of the horde behind us is?” I shout.

“No, eldest. We’ll just have to trust that the others have the situation in claw.”

Hope, eh? Fair enough. Things have gone to the dogs already. I’m not about to risk making it worse doing something crazy without information. We run for another three minutes before the monsters begin to slow down. We fire acid, let them get as close as we can without touching us, until we’re practically waggling our commercial zones in their faces. Eventually we come to a point where the monsters stop chasing us, turn and begin to make their way back to the horde.

Holy smokes!

“We’ve hit the edge of the control range! They’re heading back!” I shout.

“We don’t know that for sure,” Wills warns, coming to a stop next to me. “It’s possible they’ve been ordered to return, and the range is much farther than this. We haven’t seen any sign of the monsters attacking each other, they still appear to be firmly in control.”

Dang, good points.

“You’re talking a lot of sense, Wills. I knew raising you lot was a good idea.”

If anything, the compliment put the scout leader off-kilter, causing her to go silent and still. Curious, I turn to inspect her more closely. Is this another Crinis situation? Is Wills weak to praise? I poke her with an antenna.

“Hello in there?” I call.

The scout shakes herself alert.

“I-I’m not used to you giving positive feedback, eldest.”

What? I give compliments out all the time. Is she talking about the training I gave? Now I’m worried all of the twenty are dealing with some kind of PTSD due to my diligent instruction after they were born.

I turn back to the retreating monsters, moving at what humans would consider a slow jog. They must be tuckered out after all of the running.

“So, we follow along as per the plan?” I ask.

Wills nods.

“We’ve no information that would call for us to change our actions,” she confirms.

Vibrant, her squad, Wills, the remaining scouts and I group up and begin to trail behind the departing beasts. I can sense heat signatures in the trees climbing down and falling in behind us or moving toward the flanks.

In order to avoid becoming predictable, the soldiers had been concealed in the foliage and branches of the trees overhead, rather than in tunnels. The dark colours that make up our carapace means there is little chance they would be seen in the dark, and the meticulous cleanliness of the ants means there is very little odour, so long as they control their pheromone glands.

After another minute, there are hundreds of soldiers positioned in a wide arc behind us, with healers and a few mages mixed in. Victor appears out of the gloom to my right, making me jump a little.

“Dammit, Victor! Why even sneak up on me?”

“I’m trying to remain quiet.”

“There are literally hundreds of us walking here, what is the point of sneaking?”

“You can never be too careful.”

I’d roll my eyes if I physically could.

“Is it time to attack yet?” I demand.

“It’s time,” she confirms.

Finally!

The order is spread wide and it doesn’t take long for the eager ants to position themselves for the first strike. The monsters are only twenty metres away, and despite the trees blocking line of sight, they can still be spotted everywhere you look.

Then:

POW! POW! POW! POW!

Another acid barrage! This time from the hundreds of soldiers who patiently waited as their scout brethren risked themselves to pull these monsters this far from the main horde. Their sisters had died to give them this opportunity and they aren’t going to waste it!

The acid streaks through the air and strikes against the retreating monsters, sizzling into their flesh the moment it lands. With a roar, the monsters charge toward the vicious ants who dare to strike them.

The ants… retreat.

Gwehehehe.

We fall back as a unit, maintaining our arc formation with a precision that only insects can muster, firing acid all of the way to further enrage the monsters. When we reach the point where the monsters turned last time, they once again stop and begin to retreat.

Excellent.

“This would appear to confirm it,” Victor says, sounding pleased. “Full engage!”

“FOR THE COLONY!”

From the pheromone glands of hundreds of angry ants, the shout went up and we rush in to carve up the enemy with our face-hands and bathe ourselves in their ichor!

My mandibles work like pistons, slicing and dicing, working to train my Bite Skills to the fourth rank and inflict mandible justice upon the hated foe. Centipedes, hounds, rabbits, lizards, the odd spider, none can withstand our wrath. Several times, I see the larger monsters, the bears, the lion ogres, brought down by dozens of ants blasting them with acid, pulling at their legs and scissoring off their limbs.

Then came the call.

“Retreat!” an ant bellows and the order is rapidly passed down the line. In perfect synch, the soldiers step back and run from the suddenly bewildered monsters left in their wake.

The surprise only lasts for a moment, as the raging beasts roar with fury! Only to slow and stop, turn, and begin to walk away.

If I were capable of it, I would be grinning a wide grin right now.

We can kite and engage these monsters forever at this point! Whatever control over these monsters is being exercised, it clearly has severe limitations, and we’re going to abuse the heck out of that fact.

Call me John Deere because I am about to get my farm on!

[Tiny, Crinis, you can come out now.]

I’d kept my two pets out of the firing line up to this point. They’re positioned with the ambush troops in the woods, hidden from sight and held in reserve.

[Thank you, Master.]

[HRAAAAAAAAA!]

I wince as Tiny hurtles past me to throw himself onto the monsters, viciously pounding them into paste with his fists. The rest of the soldiers are inspired by the sight and charge in again, tearing into the enemy with renewed vigour. Several wounded are being tended by the healers who utilise their Healing Magic Glands to restore the soldiers to fighting condition. Once healed up, the soldiers jump to their feet and charge back into the fight, eager to continue inflicting damage.

Suppose I’d better get back in there!