Ants…
Why did it have to be ants?!
Ants were one of the most prolific forms of life in the galaxy. The insects originated on Earth, but human’s explosive growth and spread across the Milky Way had brought various native earth life with them, ants included. Adaptable, persistent, and capable of rapidly growing in number, ants were by far one of the most successful forms of life ever to travel the stars.
By the time the remnants of the Second Federation reconnected and began spreading across the galaxy once more, some form of ant could be found on tens of thousands of planets. Some had changed little from their ancient ancestors on Earth. Others had adapted to their new homes in strange and fantastical ways.
Some of the more interesting examples were a species of blueberry-sized Cheliomyrmex crystallo. Their carapace had developed to reflect and bend light, making them appear as if they were made of glass or crystal. This adaptation allowed them to explore the surface of their planet at times of the day when other lifeforms were driven underground by the harsh sunlight. The sight of carpets of Cheliomyrmex crystallo marching across the surface, glistening in the light, made the planet a popular tourist destination.
Others, such as the rat-sized Lasius tītānus, were found on several worlds with thicker atmospheres. They were considered highly invasive and could ruin entire ecosystems if left unchecked. Despite the Federation’s attempts to control them, the pests continued to pop up occasionally, thanks to their ability to dig deep and remain undetected.
Alpha wasn’t surprised to see ants in this world. Given humans were already present, it was pretty much a given. It was just one more piece of evidence that this place had some connection with the old Federation. No, what surprised him was the sheer size of these creatures.
Ants were adaptable and could grow to great size if given the right conditions and enough time to evolve. But these creatures… they were something else. The ant that carried him was massive, at a little over four meters long and one meter tall. And with that increased size came astounding strength.
Alpha’s core was primarily composed of a Tungsten alloy shell and a “super metal” only recently discovered. This osmium alloy was one of the Third Federation’s most closely guarded secrets. Extremely light, flexible, and able to retain “memory” of its shape, even to the point it could “repair” itself. This led to it being nicknamed ‘mithril’, for its resemblances to the mythical metal.
Even so, Alpha’s core weighed nearly 150 standard tons. Yet the ant could carry the 1.5-meter diameter sphere with seeming little effort.
It wasn’t the smallest ant. The ants in the tunnels seemed to vary greatly, but neither was it the largest. From ants the size of small dogs to towering monstrosities of spikes and mandibles almost as big as the TAWP, the tunnel was filled with hundreds of individuals of all sizes. Alpha wondered how an ecosystem could even support something like this, assuming what he saw was only a small part of the entire colony.
The tunnel Alpha was being carried through was as wide as a subway tunnel and filled on all sides by ants coming and going. It was lit by a dim glowing moss that peeked out periodically between the swarming ants. Those ants headed deeper (presumably) into the nest, all carrying various items. Most of it appeared to be vegetation of some kind, from giant fruits and glowing leaves to entire tree trunks. Alpha doubted that meant these ants were entirely vegan, however, as more still carried the bodies of various unidentifiable creatures with them. A group of ants even worked together to haul a massive corpse the size of one of the largest ants.
Stranger still were the ants that carried inorganic material. Alpha had already marked several large chunks of ore he’d love to get his hands on, as well as large pieces of crystal and even what looked like rusted pieces of armor or metal.
He would have assumed they were cleaning the nest of unusable debris if it wasn’t for these ants heading in the same direction as he was. Alpha wasn’t sure what use ants could have for ores or refined metals, but it would explain why he had been picked up during his… nap instead of simply passing by.
Slowly, the tunnel became more packed as more side tunnels converged into their own, and soon, much of their forward movement had stopped in the ant equivalent of a traffic jam. Alpha had even witnessed one of the large, towering ants break up a fight between smaller ants, tired of being shoved from behind.
Progress was slow, but the tunnel eventually opened into a massive cavern. Alpha marveled at the sight; all the data he had said such a large hollow space, easily a kilometer at its widest, shouldn’t have been possible without supports. Inside the cavern was what Alpha could only describe as a ‘mushroom forest.’ Hundreds of tree-sized blue, green, and purple mushrooms dotted the cavern floor.
The ants weaved through the forest in all directions. Those carrying animal bodies and even some plant materials headed toward large piles in the distance. As they passed, Alpha observed other, smaller ants taking clumps of rotting organic matter and spreading it around the base of the mushroom trees. Others he saw working to cut up fallen mushrooms into smaller pieces.
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Other plants were placed at different locations in the cavern or even along the walls and ceiling of the cavern, where various plants and the same luminous moss from the tunnels grew in thick carpets. Did the plants help stabilize the cavern?
Were the ants… farming? Such a thing wasn’t unheard of, but something on this kind of scale was enough for Alpha to ramp up the ant’s threat level by another degree. This kind of organization and coordination often suggested higher levels of thought and reasoning. Not always, but it was a general rule of thumb when encountering new life forms. That said, no insect or insect-adjacent lifeform had ever been recorded as sapient. At least not publicly.
Nonetheless, it was better to be cautious. Alpha recorded everything for later analysis and even released one of his few [Wasps] into the area. Resources would be limited until he could plant one of his nest seeds, but as long as one of the larger ants didn’t swallow the drone, it should be able to keep out of trouble.
The ant carrying Alpha, whom he had named Jerry, passed through the garden cavern without stopping before entering another tunnel on the other side. It seemed their destination was deeper in the colony.
Jerry continued on, the swarm around them thinning as ants split away, carrying their various charges down side-tunnels to what Alpha assumed were more farms or possibly storage areas. He’d had to map everything, eventually. Assuming the ants didn’t turn out capable of eating metals as well.
So where are they taking me? And why? Alpha questioned.
The chamber Jerry entered Alpha pegged as a nursery. It was barely a quarter of the size of the farm, but every square inch of the cavern was honeycombed with… well, honeycombs. Or rather, thousands of hexagonal chambers appeared carved into the very rock, then covered in a thick, waxy, silk-like substance. Inside each hex, a 1/2 meter-long grub wiggled. Mature ants moved back and forth along the walls, stuffing chunks of mushroom or meat into the hexes, while others were already sealed shut by a layer of silk. More ants broke off from their march to add mushroom chunks to the food pile in the middle of the chamber while the others continued deeper.
The next chamber, surprisingly close to the last, was another kind of farm. This chamber was wider than the nursery but not quite as big as the mushroom farm, and instead of stone, it appeared to be made of… wood? No, that wasn’t quite right. From what Alpha could see, the ants had burrowed into and through the root of some massive plant. Or maybe a root bundle? It was hard to tell from just visual observations. The walls were covered in what, at first glance, appeared to be scales, but as the caretaker ants tapped on one of the ‘scales’ with its antenna, it rose to reveal it was some sort of insect.
The flat, scale-like insect raised its rear end into the air and extruded a thick, golden liquid that the ant collected before moving on. Several of the attending ant’s abdomens were already swollen with the golden liquid, making them appear similar to honeypot ants. Interesting.
But soon, they passed through this chamber as well. As they moved deeper into the maze of tunnels and chambers, Alpha would periodically release a [Wasp] into the area, both to stay in contact with drones behind him and to collect data.
After nearly two hours of travel and dozens of chambers, Jerry carried Alpha into one last chamber. This chamber wasn’t the biggest they’d passed through, but it was definitely one of the most busy. Ants of all shapes moved back and forth through the chamber. The focus of this room was obviously the five massive ants spread around the room. Their heads and thorax were relatively normal, by the standards of the colony at least, and each was a size larger than what Alpha assumed were the ‘soldiers’, making the roughly TAWP size.
Their abdomens, however, were swollen and elongated, making them appear closer to termite queens than the ant queens Alpha assumed these were, though a deep red color. They could still move around independently, but it was slow and did more to reposition themselves in a more comfortable spot than any genuine need. All of their needs were taken care of by the dozens of ants that attended them. Some brought large chunks of mushroom or meat, while the “honeypot” ants would appear periodically and regurgitate the golden liquid for the queens.
Even more ants crawled over their large abdomens, either wiping off dirt and debris or collecting the eggs that would sometimes be laid. Like a well-oiled machine, the nest seemed built around providing for these queens. Which, if they were anything like normal ants, it was.
They moved through the chamber with purpose, and it was now that Alpha could see that the entire chamber was studded with gems and ores. Even rusting armor and what appeared to be primitive weapons were stuck in the walls, along with hundreds of glowing crystals of various sizes.
Strange.
Why would ants care about such things? Was it an attempt to reinforce their most important chamber? Or was there more going on here? Was there more he wasn’t seeing? Large piles of ore sat around, with ants adding to or removing pieces seemingly at random. Sometimes, a piece of gem would be plucked out of the wall, only to be replaced by another from one of the nearby piles.
Jerry ignored these piles before breaking off from the march of ants and approaching the wall closest to the smallest queen. The ant scurried up the wall and stopped at a small section that appeared to have collapsed recently. Jerry unceremoniously shoved Alpha into the hole. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but Jerry soon hurried off to one of the nearby piles and returned with a few pieces of ore.
They packed this ore into the gaps, going back and forth several times until finally the wall was “repaired.” Jerry finished the job by sealing any small cracks with a waxy secretion, then climbed back down the wall and disappeared into the crowd of ants.
Alpha observed the entire process passively.
At least I’m not going to be eaten… Now what? Alpha thought.
Alpha considered what his next step should be.
It’s simple enough to dig through the wall and escape, but who knows how deep I am? And without a map of the tunnels, I could end up busting into another tunnel. Besides…
Alpha focused on the various ores, and other resources gathered in the chamber, mentally drooling.
…It would be a shame to let all this go to waste.
Alpha activated his last [Wasp] and had it carry a Nest Seed toward one of the largest piles of ore in the room.
Hehehehehhehe… Yes… yes, this could work.
As the Seed booted up, Alpha made plans and schemed schemes.