Antvance into the Unknown

1. The Breaking Wave

Tungstant’s brain spun with a heady combination of exhaustion, exhilaration, grief, relief, and worry. There was so much work for the carver caste to do and so little time in which to accomplish it, she honestly didn’t believe there was much chance to complete it in time. What she needed to know yesterday, was exactly how much they could get done, and exactly what state the nest’s defences would be in by the time the wave hit for real.

“How long until the gate is ready to go?” she asked with as much patience as she could muster.

The team in front of her launched into a long and detailed explanation of the structural integrity of the gate, the need to forge new brackets and anchor them to the wall, the reshaping and compacting that needed to be done to the rock, until Tungstant cracked.

“Just estimate a time!” she barked. “I know there are challenges, I know it’s complicated, and I know you’re working as hard as possible, just give me your best guess. Please.”

The lead carver on the job sized up the Council member, her antennae scratching the top of her head.

“It would take days to get the gates refitted in any proper way,” the ant said. “There’s just too much damage to the brackets, and getting new ones fitted can’t be rushed.”

That was far too long. Monsters would be storming up the tunnel in less than an hour! The carver clacked her mandibles to settle the uneasy team around her.

“Instead, we go fast and nasty. Stand up what’s left of the old gates, patch them up as best we can, and mould the rock around them to hold them in place. It’s bad work, but we can get it done in a few hours. Worry about the rest when we get a chance.”

Tungstant and the other carvers bristled at the suggestion, and even the one suggesting it looked somewhat disgusted. If there was one thing the entire caste hated, it was sloppy craftsmanship, and that extended to all circumstances and projects, even emergencies. In this situation, though…

“Get it done as fast as you can,” Tungstant told the team. “If you need help from the Mage caste, make sure you put in a request quickly, they’ve been cooking up something big over there and you’ll need to get in early if you want the extra help.”

One of the carvers flicked an antenna dismissively. “They can’t handle Earth Magic as well as we can. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Fast work, not good work,” Tungstant grimaced—which for an ant, involved flexing the mandibles and tilting the antennae at an unsightly angle. “If the extra mage support will get the job done faster, that’s what we care about right now. We can do emergency patch work after the fact if necessary.”

They all grumbled but acceded to the wisdom of the decision in the end. A renewed frenzy took over the worksite as the new direction was adopted and the carvers got to work establishing the leverage they needed to get the gates standing again. With that relatively minor fire put out, Tungstant was able to rush back into the nest, already considering the next emergency to handle.

Right! The Council meeting!

Suddenly remembering that she had that chore to deal with, she sharply changed direction, making her way to the designated Council chamber as fast as she could. A part of her was irritated at the idea that important work was being delayed for a meeting of all things, but she understood the necessity. Without proper coordination, the complex machinery of the Colony couldn’t function properly, especially in a crisis like this. Most of the time, the Colony ran itself just fine. Her siblings were perfectly capable of making decisions regarding what needed doing and how. But sometimes, the overall macro plan needed to be considered, and the Council suited that function.

She raced in to find most of the members already gathered. Even the Eldest was there, although they were still somewhat lacking in the leg department. She rushed to her seat, and no sooner had she plopped herself down, her thorax resting comfortably in the carved grooves, than Cobalt flicked a quick query her way.

“How’s things looking with the gate?” she scented quietly.

“Not great,” she replied, just as softly. “I think we’ll be able to hack together a rough solution in a few hours that should hold for now.”

The other carver pulled a face, and Tungstant had to stifle a laugh. Some things were consistent for all of them.

“I know we’re all very busy,” called Coolant from her end of the table, “so let’s try and get through this as fast as we can. Before we start, is there anything you would like to say to the group, Eldest?”

All twenty members turned their eyes to the Eldest, who fidgeted on their chair from the sudden attention.

“Ah, me? Say something? Anything? Like what?”

“Whatever you want,” Coolant replied, a little exasperated.

“I suppose I can,” the Eldest said and then paused, clearly gathering their thoughts. “First thing I want to say is that I’m proud of all of you. Yeah. You’ve done a great job, and as a family, we’ve come so far since the time you were born. I know I could never do the things that all of you do every day, and I guess… I just wanted to say how proud I am. Every member of the Colony is incredible, and so are you. Don’t forget it.”

The last sentence was a little firmer than the others, and each member felt an implicit threat, as if they would suffer dire consequences should they dare forget how much the Eldest was pleased with them.

“Second thing is… the upcoming wave is going to be a challenge, obviously. There’s going to be a huge number of monsters banging on the gates and flooding our territory. It’s going to be hard and exhausting. And so soon after we just overcame the greatest threat we’ve ever faced. The creatures we’ll see, probably from the third stratum, are going to be stronger than anything we’ve encountered before. But I want us to look at this wave in a different way. For all the challenges we’ll face, this wave could be an opportunity.

“More monsters, means more experience, more Biomass. The last wave forced us to escape to the surface because we weren’t strong enough to hold our ground, and even then, we were able to farm and benefit a great deal. This time, we have nests, we’re deep, we have tens of thousands of members. We can do so much more than we did before. We’re not going to retreat. We’re going to step forward. This wave is going to give us cover from the Legion and the golgari, and we need to use the time to get so strong they won’t even bother trying to mess with us. That’s all I wanted to say.”

There was silence around the table as the Eldest settled back into their seat. The Eldest had gotten steadier the more they spoke, and in the end, had quite clearly detailed the direction they envisaged the Colony should go in. Tungstant found the message inspiring. Instead of a threat, this was a chance. To become so strong that even the Legion would be too hesitant to attack… If that happened, they would get even more space, and then use that space to grow even more powerful.

The glorious future of the Colony was shining brightly in her mind, and in the minds of all the others who sat around that table. Except the Eldest, who was waggling the stump of a leg back and forth.