It's over.
Goddamnit, I'm so relieved.
Getting digested by a titanic worm wasn't high on my list regarding ways to go.
Yet it seemed terrifying likely for a while.
Now worm debris lies scattered everywhere.
The explosion ripped straight through its body and scattered massive amounts of flesh, viscera, and body fluids of this gigantic thing across the cave.
The rest forms a corpse so big that I don't even want to imagine the stench when it eventually starts to rot.
Yet, a more immediate issue arises.
An extraordinarily loud sizzling sound echoes through the cavern, followed by cries of pain, human and Formicea alike.
Gratefully, most of the worm’s fragments scattered into the depths of this cave, causing the ground there to appear to be boiling, but even a small portion of that monstrosity’s blood seems to be dangerous.
And while, in the affected places, the armored guardians attempted to protect the other drones, and any human with a shield put it to use, many still appear to be affected by the spray.
While I hover safely near the cave ceiling, at a loss as to how I could possibly help, Liseti issues new orders.
(L)
The drones that still block the tunnel’s passageway move aside, and the army’s supporting nurses stream through the gap.
All the ones that survived, at least.
Swiftly, they rush to the injured drones and proceed to douse the acid with their produced liquid.
So that stuff even neutralizes acid?
That's quite handy.
Nonetheless, a large number of drones still succumbs, a majority of which were the protective guardians, but the lightly coated ones are no longer in danger.
As for the remaining humans, it would seem they were only lightly affected by the acid.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they had taken cover behind the drones where they were able.
A short time later, the acid quiets, and we glide down to rejoin the army.
Once we landed on the ground of the cave again, it doesn't take long till an impromptu conclave of the present princesses begins, with me, Liseti, and Chera.
(L)
Wow, did it just get cold in here or is that just Liseti's icy pheromones?
(C)
This princess doesn't waste any time taking advantage of the situation.
I don't really know about the properties of the worm flesh.
It is most definitely acidic, the way I saw some hunters melt who dug inside, but maybe it could be harvested in some way.
As for the rest of the… urgh, corpses, I would rather not know what she is going to do with them.
Yet I suspect that she has, at least temporarily, found a solution to the food situation of her hive.
Nobody can hold it against us if we simply clear the battlefield of the dead, right?
After all, they were the ones who attacked us.
(L)
I should say something as well.
(E)
(L)
Yeah, that's Liseti.
(E)
(L)
Does she intend to execute him right on the spot?
Well, I don't like him.
Personally, I wouldn’t care if he died already.
He’s responsible for far too many deaths.
Yet, I’m not going to let his actions or my personal feelings make everything that I’ve tried to do be for naught.
I refuse to let the lives sacrificed be in vain, at least not if there is still a chance for peace.
He should be made to stand trial.
(C)
She wants to eat the living people!?!
After they surrendered!?
I can't let that happen!
(E)
(E)
(E)
I try not to be too obvious about what I mean, so Liseti won't catch wind of Chera's predicament.
But we are talking here about soldiers.
Which is exactly what Chera lacks.
If they could take down some of those crabs for her, this might gain Chera much more in comparison to her alternative, and prove to her the usefulness of humans.
Beyond provisions that is.
(C)
(E)
(C)
Wow, for someone who doesn't want to take any help, she's quite quick at requisitioning the assets of others.
This way she gets a full fresh lot of soldiers to press her agenda further.
(L)
(E)
I was sure she would drag me straight back.
(C)
If I didn't know better, I'd say Liseti "snarls" at this with her pheromones.
(L)
(C)
(E)
It's over.
Goddamnit, I'm so relieved.
Getting digested by a titanic worm wasn't high on my list regarding ways to go.
Yet it seemed terrifying likely for a while.
Now worm debris lies scattered everywhere.
The explosion ripped straight through its body and scattered massive amounts of flesh, viscera, and body fluids of this gigantic thing across the cave.
The rest forms a corpse so big that I don't even want to imagine the stench when it eventually starts to rot.
Yet, a more immediate issue arises.
An extraordinarily loud sizzling sound echoes through the cavern, followed by cries of pain, human and Formicea alike.
Gratefully, most of the worm’s fragments scattered into the depths of this cave, causing the ground there to appear to be boiling, but even a small portion of that monstrosity’s blood seems to be dangerous.
And while, in the affected places, the armored guardians attempted to protect the other drones, and any human with a shield put it to use, many still appear to be affected by the spray.
While I hover safely near the cave ceiling, at a loss as to how I could possibly help, Liseti issues new orders.
(L)
The drones that still block the tunnel’s passageway move aside, and the army’s supporting nurses stream through the gap.
All the ones that survived, at least.
Swiftly, they rush to the injured drones and proceed to douse the acid with their produced liquid.
So that stuff even neutralizes acid?
That's quite handy.
Nonetheless, a large number of drones still succumbs, a majority of which were the protective guardians, but the lightly coated ones are no longer in danger.
As for the remaining humans, it would seem they were only lightly affected by the acid.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they had taken cover behind the drones where they were able.
A short time later, the acid quiets, and we glide down to rejoin the army.
Once we landed on the ground of the cave again, it doesn't take long till an impromptu conclave of the present princesses begins, with me, Liseti, and Chera.
(L)
Wow, did it just get cold in here or is that just Liseti's icy pheromones?
(C)
This princess doesn't waste any time taking advantage of the situation.
I don't really know about the properties of the worm flesh.
It is most definitely acidic, the way I saw some hunters melt who dug inside, but maybe it could be harvested in some way.
As for the rest of the… urgh, corpses, I would rather not know what she is going to do with them.
Yet I suspect that she has, at least temporarily, found a solution to the food situation of her hive.
Nobody can hold it against us if we simply clear the battlefield of the dead, right?
After all, they were the ones who attacked us.
(L)
I should say something as well.
(E)
(L)
Yeah, that's Liseti.
(E)
(L)
Does she intend to execute him right on the spot?
Well, I don't like him.
Personally, I wouldn’t care if he died already.
He’s responsible for far too many deaths.
Yet, I’m not going to let his actions or my personal feelings make everything that I’ve tried to do be for naught.
I refuse to let the lives sacrificed be in vain, at least not if there is still a chance for peace.
He should be made to stand trial.
(C)
She wants to eat the living people!?!
After they surrendered!?
I can't let that happen!
(E)
(E)
(E)
I try not to be too obvious about what I mean, so Liseti won't catch wind of Chera's predicament.
But we are talking here about soldiers.
Which is exactly what Chera lacks.
If they could take down some of those crabs for her, this might gain Chera much more in comparison to her alternative, and prove to her the usefulness of humans.
Beyond provisions that is.
(C)
(E)
(C)
Wow, for someone who doesn't want to take any help, she's quite quick at requisitioning the assets of others.
This way she gets a full fresh lot of soldiers to press her agenda further.
(L)
(E)
I was sure she would drag me straight back.
(C)
If I didn't know better, I'd say Liseti "snarls" at this with her pheromones.
(L)
(C)
(E)
