The two sides stare each other down, the tension thick in the air. Outside of myself and the elder Ka'armodo, along with his attendants, nobody is listening in on our conversation, but apparently the body language is enough to put everyone on edge. In front of me stand a hundred giant lizards and five times that many Setsulah. If that was all, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, but I know for a fact that twice that number are lurking in the area, laying low, ready to jump in case things go south.
Behind me stands an army of ten thousand ants, lined up in neat ranks, prepared to attack at a moment's notice. I don't doubt that more are mobilising in the area around us, but the Colony is spread across the stratum at the moment, making it difficult to pull massive numbers together. Given a few more hours, I'm sure we could pull ten times this number together, but we don't have the luxury.
You'd think our odds would be good with these sorts of numbers, but in all honesty, the balance of power is even. The only thing that tilts it in our favour is the presence of myself and the squad. With four powerful, tier six monsters hanging about, we have the advantage, and I think they know it. With the ant army backing us up, they don't have the ability to quickly annihilate us, the amount of shields that will appear the moment they get aggressive is absurd, so when the fight drags out we'll explode into their ranks.
So what we have here is a good ol' Mexican standoff.
The only thing I'm not sure of is whether the lizards want to rumble or not. The Colony doesn't, for the most part, but the lizards? Nobody's sure.
[Are you sure you haven't heard of the termites? Mr Ka'armodo? Causing all sorts of havoc down in the fourth stratum. Thousands of them, hundreds of thousands, hell maybe even millions. They've been attacking the Mother Tree, pushing her to the brink. She might be forced to call on her allies, maybe bring the Folk in. If that happens… who knows what'll go down.]
The giant lizard sets his jaw as he folds his arms across his chest.
They look weird, these older Ka'armodo. Their bodies are slightly elongated, the front raised up to something approximating a human chest with two arms. The rest of them is still the same, an elongated body, possibly eight metres from tip to tail, supported on four thick, sturdy legs tipped with barbed claws.
Each one of these guys is basically a monster in terms of their physical attributes. Combined with their powerful minds, it makes a hell of a combination.
[I have already told you, we don't know anything about these termites of which you speak. The Mother Tree is no friend of ours and her suffering brings me joy. She is nothing but a monster, and monsters should be destroyed, for the safety of all.]
That's a little direct. I'm fairly sure that when he was talking about monsters, he wasn't just referring to the tree.
[That's an interesting world view. I'm sure the Legion would be delighted to help you out. Why don't you call them out? Get them down here so we can all tango together.]
A long, slightly awkward silence drags out.
[You can't call them? That's weird, this is exactly their sort of thing. They'd love to be a part of some monster culling like this. Get their hands on the Mother Tree? They'd love it. Or perhaps, they don't have your back anymore, on account of some… shall we say 'toe over the line' activity. The tree hears things, you know? She's got her vines creeping all over the place.]
The Ka'armodo looks decidedly unimpressed.
[You think we need the help of the Legion to crush you? You overestimate yourself profoundly.]
[Is that so? Then why don't you step up and swing?]
A pause. Two armies, poised on a hair trigger, watch the two us. The lizard hesitates.
[… swing what? My tail?]
[No, I mean… like… throw your hands.]
[… how do I throw them? By the sands, speak some sense you absurd insect!]
[Dammit! I mean, attack! Make the first move! If you think you outmatch us so heavily, then attack us and see what happens. That's what I mean.]
[Ah. I see your meaning. These idioms do not hold any meaning for us. I am surprised that they do for you. You don't have hands.]
[That's fair. I should stop using them.]
[Indeed. This causes confusion.]
[Right… so… you want to fight?]
[Oh, no. We will return. For now.]
Before my disbelieving, and frankly, disappointed eyes, the Ka'armodo force, which had been posing so aggressively just moments before, turn tail and begin to retreat. I'm so shocked by the turn of events that I reach out to my opponent almost without thinking.
[Wait! You're just going to leave? Why the heck did you come out here in the first place?]
What's the point of mobilising all of these forces just to pose and drag us out of our nests? Isn't that a colossal waste of time?! Damn Lizards!
[Hopefully I will not see you again, insect,] he replies as he walks away, carelessly exposing his back to us, supreme in his confidence we won't launch the first strike.
The ant army behind me watches in silence as our opponents retreat, our scouts no doubt tailing them from the shadows to make sure they return to where they came from. As I watch them leave, the general who I spoke to before we left approaches from behind and I turn to her, exasperated.
"What the heck was that all about? Are they just trying to waste our time?"
The general doesn't seem nearly as irritated as I am, viewing the slowly emptying plains with calm eyes.
"This has convinced me that they are intending to invade us," she replies. "I will need to report this immediately to the council."
"Hang on, what?! They didn't even want to fight…"
"They are probing us. Measuring our reactions, holding themselves back and testing how much they can push. Eventually they will reach a point where they believe they know what we are capable of. At that time, they are likely to attack. We will need to be ready."
"Oh, we'll be ready," I huff.
But I'm nervous. If the lizards are actively looking for a war, that's another fight we have to deal with. There are tier eight demons going nuts just beneath us! How are we supposed to fight so many opponents at once?
"I don't have long left up here," I grumble to the general. "Let me know what you need done and I'll get to it."
Too many things are piling up, I think it's high time I took care of business. When I get back down below, I'm going to mutate, upgrade my skills and then tear into some termites. If I can wipe them out and get myself to level one hundred and sixty at the same time then I'll be in a prime position to take care of business.
Don't mess with the Colony!