Chrysalis

Chapter 509 Blissful danger

"LEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOY!"

What a day! WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY! The Immortals unleashed their war cry, the name of their great leader, as they charged toward what would surely be their useful deaths! The golgari formed a fortress before them, their combined shields creating a wall of golden light that the ants just couldn't wait to run into.

"No!" roared Leeroy as she battered aside one of her subordinates with a vicious shoulder check. "I will be the one to die!"

The soldier watched the powerful arc of sword light descend on her as if it moved in slow motion. Perhaps this would be her chance, maybe this was her moment! The armour was an extension of her own body. She felt it, as the beam of condensed energy crunched into the steel, cutting deep rents in the folded metal and sending shockwaves of pressure through her carapace. There was pain, she was scarred, but she did not find oblivion. A dissapointment.

"THE SEARCH GOES ON, SISTERS!"

"WE SEEK!"

The Immortals charged with renewed vigour, the mighty enemy arrayed before them igniting a flame in their hearts and cores that burned like a sun.

"You lot are weird," muttered a small voice.

Clung underneath Leeroy, her claws dug into special grooves cut for purpose and her head protected behind a curve of folded steel, the healer had to wonder who had thought it was a good idea to send these crazed siblings into battle.

Leeroy cared nothing for the opinion of others. She cared only for this moment, this charge and this enemy. The wall loomed before them, the golgari stood firm against their massed charge, confident in the strength of their defence. She hoped they were right.

Closer. Closer! CLOSER!

Tons of metal encased ant continued to endure the blows that rained down on them as they closed with the enemy, the rest of the Colony's attack force following close behind. At the last possible moment, Leeroy synched her three pairs of legs, ready to unleash the new technique she had discovered.

DASH! DASH! DASH!

Firing each pair of legs just off time with each other, the Immortals push their thin ant legs to the breaking point, three separate dashes executed almost at once. The sheer force almost shattered their joints but pushed the armoured titans to the peak of their speed. The heavily armoured insects time their charge perfectly, crashing home into the golden shield line like a wave of steel.

Please! Leeroy hoped.

Nope! The medic declared, releasing her grip and dropping to the ground along with her sisters who appeared from under the other armoured figures. Once on the ground they turned their mandibles to the dirt, burrowing down as the rest of the attack wave flowed over their backs.

Leeroy turned her body and felt her carapace crunch into the golgari defence. A test of the hardest the Colony could produce and the shield wall of the golgari. Despite her pounding heart and screaming soul, it was the shield that broke first, the enormous shield of energy cracked, then shattered under the combined weight of the Immortals.

Carried forward by her momentum, Leeroy smashed into the golgari themselves, splintering shields and stumbling to the ground, her legs giving way beneath her. The Colony swarmed forward over her back as the soldier took a moment to check her body and collect her thoughts.

She was injured. The impact against the shield had crumpled her armour and a web of stress fractures had appeared on her carapace. Yet, she lived. Still, she lived. Her body protested as she forced her legs to the ground and pushed herself up, regenerative fluid already sloshing through her body. The pain was intense, but she ignored it, hope igniting within her once more. The battle still continued, after all.

"THE SEARCH GOES ON, SISTERS!"

The battered Immortals responded in chorus.

"WE SEEK!"

Advant, directing the fight from close to the front could only twitch her antennae, a mix of irritation and bemusement rising inside her. At first it seemed like a good idea to take those soldiers who, like Leeroy, struggled with the concept of valuing their own lives and put them together with Leeroy in the Immortals. Armoured to the utmost limit of the Colony's skills, they were the hardest to kill of any soldier after all. Instead, Leeroy had turned their lack of care into a fanatical desire for a glorious death.

When the Eldest got back, they weren't going to be pleased.

She shook off the stray thoughts. The battle raged around her and she had a job to do. The golgari were surrounded on three sides, the Colony closing into melee on every front. It had been a deliberate decision not to surround them completely, they still weren't sure of the fighting strength the golgari possessed and it had been deemed wise not to find out when they were given no escape.

Advant climbed a nearby rock to better see the conflict. The ants pressed hard, the barrage of acid and magic never ending. Though their front shield was destroyed, there must be mages maintaining the barriers on the flanks, since the acid barrage isn't getting through. The ants are though. From her elevated position, she could see soldiers pressing forward and engaging the enemy with their mandibles.

Details were hard to make out, smoke and steam had begun to fill the tunnel, but the fighting must have been fierce. She could see healers working hard, dragging injured ants out of the conflict, risking their lives to fetch their wounded siblings back to the pits they'd prepared. With that tiny bit of cover, they set about administering what treatment they could. From behind, Advant could see reinforcements still pouring from the fort behind her, the ants crawling over each other and every surface of the tunnel in order to close with their opponents.

The Colony had committed five thousand ants to this battle, the first real test against the golgari. Not a number that could contend with the full force brought against them, but enough to take a fight if it presented itself. When the enemy had dared to advance with only a small portion of their numbers against them, Advant and her siblings had decided they had no choice but to commit.

The main battle ground was a heaving mess in her eyes, the small details of the conflict were completely lost in the crush. But that wasn't what she was looking for. All of her senses strained to their utmost as she focused, trying to see the overall picture of the battlefield. The golgari were shocked by the charge of the Immortals, but they were holding their formation. The ants increased the pressure, gripping their enemy in the mandibles formed by their three pronged assault, and slowly the golgari began to pull back. A fighting retreat.

Advant watched, tense as a bowstring, for thirty minutes as the fighting raged until finally there was a response from the golgari camp. Massed ranks began to appear, led by figures in gleaming armour in the distance. It was time to sound the retreat.

"PULL BACK!" She roared, her pheromones flooding the area around her.

In moments her message had been relayed, blowing away the other scents in the tunnel as every ant passed it on. In an instant, the seething mass of insects that had pressed the golgari from multiple sides broke away and ran, carrying their wounded with them as they went. The acid and magic barrage continued as the soldiers retreated, until that too was over and the ants vanished into their hidden tunnels.

In ten seconds, what had moments ago been a raging battle was eerily silent. Advant watched their enemy closely. The golgari appeared confused, several wanting to press forward to take advantage of the open field, others pulling back and yet more milling about in confusion. After observing for a few long moments, she too made her withdrawal, the first major battle of the conflict complete. There would be much to discuss and analyse, no doubt the generals would have much to say. For the moment, the enemy advance had been halted.

A victory for the Colony.