It was already personal. Now it's… more personal. When the armoured death machines had started to advance, the scouts had alerted me and I'd gathered the troops and headed to the first defensive position. The carvers had been working overtime, throwing up walls, forts and all sorts of little traps throughout the entirety of the Colony's territory.

When the killers arrived, they'd cut through our defensive line with ease. Hundreds of them had advanced against our position, weapons aglow with deadly light and armour pulsing with mana. They had been visible, even through the thick darkness of the second strata. Magic hadn't affected them much, acid hadn't slowed them down, they just kept coming.

When the leader drew close enough, they'd drawn back with a massive axe and unleashed something I'd never seen before. It wasn't a slash, or an arc of blade light. It was more like a freakin' WALL. When it closed in on me, it was like the entire world went white. I'd tried to protect my siblings by leaping in front of those near me and the resulting wounds had put me out of the fight. Without Invidia shielding and healing me, I might not have made it out at all.

Those damn metal bucket murderers! Hundreds of my siblings died in the chaos after that! They charged and cut through the lines. Protectant and her group appeared and dragged me out, right when I was getting my guts back insi --- I mean warmed up!

Geh.

It was a defeat. A total defeat. The rest of the Colony fell back to the next defensive position, ready to try again, undeterred by the deaths. Not me though. I have too much rage! WAY too much rage!

"I don't think this is wise, Eldest…"

I won't be satisfied until I inflict damage on the enemy. My mandibles must rend. REND I SAY.

"Eldest…"

I can't take on hundreds of them at once… no. That would be suicide, even for me. What I CAN do is ambush one of their patrols. With my pets and Protectant's crew, we should be able to overpower and finish them off before reinforcements can come.

"I don't think the Council would approve…"

Who cares if these stupid tin cans get angry? They're already here killing us! Time to return the treatment back to them, with extreme vengeance. A second of my baby-sitters materialises out of nowhere.

"I agree with Protectant. This isn't a good idea."

I've been ignoring Protectant, as is my policy when she offers advice, but who the heck is this?

"I've never seen you before. Why are you popping out now?"

The ant shifts uncomfortably, unhappy to be out of the shadows.

"It didn't seem like you were listening and I felt our point of view needed to be emphasised."

"What's your name?"

"Defendant."

Seriously?!

"Look. Our Colony members have been killed and I am determined to seek righteous vengeance! Justice! What can you possibly have against that?!"

"You would be better served to join with the rest of the Colony and assist in the defence. Your capacity to punish the enemy will surely be higher there, not to mention your own safety…"

"Safety be damned! This is about attack! Aggressive moves to let them know that they can't kill us with impunity!"

Protectant and Defendant share a nervous twitch and I can tell they are watching each other carefully. I cut them off before they can start to organise against me.

"Let's discuss this rationally," I begin, "I want to establish a few things first, though."

The two ants nod.

"Alright. I'm not sure exactly what the council has ordered you to do, so let me ask this: Do you have to follow me wherever I go?"

"Yes," the two answer immediately.

"Okay. Thanks. Secondly…"

DASH!

I'm off!

[Let's go Tiny! Invidia! It's time to strike a blow against the tin cans!]

Full of a desire to inflict pain on the invaders, I rush down the tunnel at top speed, my pets hot on my heels. I don't even need to turn my head to see the two baby-sitters freeze in shock before chasing after me in a panic. Gweheheh. No matter what, you'll get dragged into my schemes! You think the council will be able to prevent me from quenching the fires of rage that burn inside my heart?!

The sight of my family members broken and dying on the ground around me refuses to leave my mind. I refuse to not strike back!

I have to be careful about it, I understand that much. If I get caught by a large number of those armoured soldiers then I'm going to get myself killed, which isn't going to help the Colony at all. The tiny voices that trickle through my Vestibule demand that I fight though, and I'm fully inclined to listen to them. We make a wide loop around, trying to avoid the front and circle into position between the fort where we last fought and the camp occupied by the enemy.

I've spent hours running through all of this area and adding it to my Tunnel Map whilst they built their stupid camp, I have it well mapped out. Only a small portion of this remains dark to me, mostly around that weird root that I found. I'm still interested in investigating that a bit further, but first I must attend to my business.

Once we come close enough, I engage full stealth mode, creeping as much as possible from cover to cover and sending Crinis ahead to scout, hiding in the shadows. The soldiers frequently sent scouts out into this area, usually in teams of five. By myself, I wouldn't be able to take them on, but with my full crew, I have confidence. As long as some unholy demon like that axe wielding freak doesn't come, we'll be able to win.

It's not a fair fight after all, it's an ambush!

Dishonourable? Who cares about dishonourable?! My dead family members don't care! When we come to a likely location, I carefully begin to dig a hidey hole for us whilst employing my new Skill. That's right! The technology of the ant is always evolving! I think this Skill became unlocked when I ranked up external mana manipulation last but I didn't notice until recently.

The Skill? Mana Masking! This Skill grants knowledge of how to conceal mana signatures of monsters and other sources from detection. Although it's only rank one since I just bought it, this is going to come in handy. I have to dedicate a sub-brain to managing the load, but it'll be worth it. Perhaps if the Skill was high enough, I'd be able to hide a Gravity Bomb from detection, but there's no way it can do that now. I only hope it'll fool the soldiers long enough for them to come close.

With our hiding place dug and my brains busily constructing a false mana impression around us, we settle in and wait. Crinis extends tentacles into the shadows, using her advanced senses to keep watch whilst we wait.

Fortunately, we only have to wait an hour before Crinis passes word.

[Master, five are coming.]