Master Of None

"Ranged attacks from the distance to clear the area around the ravine. Then we put the steel ropes in place for the golems to descend. By then there will be an attack response from the bugs." The king of the surface was very familiar with breaking in to the depths of a giant earth ant colony. He held the record for most successful invasions to remove them near the dwarven mines. It was easy to find the route to the surface so that the attack can be done from multiple angles.

"That leaves the unique golems to clear the path. They were made to flow through the tunnels with odd shapes. But I want to make sure we do not collapse the tunnels made by the bugs. They are fragile when first explored. Have the main golems enter as usual with their quick supports." The crumbling tunnels would be the worst concern. It was not common for the ants to make their tunnels so that just any being could enter them. As soon as the weight and rumbling exceeded what an ant could do then they had a very high chance of collapsing.

"From there we have the sweepers. We want them to clear the soldier ants, nurturing ants, and general workers. That should lead us to the queen's chamber where she lays eggs. That will be the last stop where forces come together to deal with the elite ant guardians and the queen. The queen has little battle capacity but boasts many buffs to the guardians she raised for herself. Just the frontline of the details." The king of the deep caves had seen a queen before and known that it was weaker when it came to defenses. However, that did not mean that it was weak, it was just weak in comparison to the specialized guardian ants.

The party was patiently listening along with a few other adventures that had come along. What surprised them was the fact that there were some city guards listening and learning about the battle tactics used. This may be a war against the giant earth ants, but many tactics could be used against other swarm type monsters. The experience would be very valuable for the city of Genesis in the coming years as they expanded and faced other unique problems like this.

"We will attack in half an hour. Return to your designated armies and be ready." The king of the deep caves was remaining there to deal with the ravine that the [party had explored. The other two kings split off with their commanders heading toward the stationed armies further away. They would sweep through the colonies within the night if possible.

"I expect this to take a day at most. The clean up should last a week. Once the queen is gone the bugs become aggressive until they die naturally. It's a side effect of this whole process but we need to get rid of them and any eggs with the potential to become queens. If a nurturer escapes with an egg that can become a queen ant then we will have a whole other colony in the next few years. It's happened before." The king of the deep caves shared this with the party. He trusted that they would use this information to keep a better eye. He also knew that they had unique luck that could show them the danger before anyone else noticed it.

"Just a quick question, how did you analyze the terrain and change what golems to bring based on it?" Rmeey was curious. She had seen the unique golems brought and liked that they resembled monsters she was familiar with. However, she had been wondering why there were not more forms than she had seen in the dwarven city when they visited.

"For this battle? Size. The tunnels will vary in size based on what type of ant made them and what the tunnels are used for. Those wolf golems will be able to hunt through small openings and clear out small chambers. The serpent golem will clear out larger curving tunnels. The bears are for pure defense against the soldier and once we get to the queen chambers."

"So you had the prior knowledge of what kinds of tunnels the giant earth ants make and you based your golem army build on that. I see." Gil was glad to hear this as well as the guards that stayed with them. They had wanted to learn more by asking the very same question. Therefore, the fact that Remey and Gil were asking about this was very useful for them.

"That doesn't mean we cover everything. That's why we have soldiers not controlling golems, additional forces from the demi-human army with earth related skills, and you." The king of the deep caves pointed at the party and guards. "You will fill in the odds and ends we missed. Normally we would have to just hope we covered them or create a secondary sweeping group after the first clean up group. Now it's not necessary."

"I see, that means that we should be able to split up with our own groups and head inside to help where we are needed. Alice can assist on the surface where her light elemental skills will work the best, same with Gil and his arrows. Then Su and Remey can partner in the chambers while Midnight and I head in to deal with other things next to you."

"And now you are seeing the divisions we had in mind. Supplement and make what we are doing more efficient." The king of the deep caves was glad to see that some people were thinking critically in these situations. This was run of the mill for the dwarves but new to many of those who came to learn. The lessons would stick and be passed down for generations.

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