At Veylin's command, the underground base's enormous war machine sprang into motion.
No alarm sounded, but the atmosphere suddenly grew tense.
Hundreds of enormous Worker Mantises left their posts and converged into a black torrent of iron, surging toward Sector 17 under Sarah's mental coordination.
Their scythe-shaped forelimbs scraped across the ground in a dense chorus of grinding sounds.
Tristan stood on an elevated observation walkway, watching the scene with his throat a little dry.
It was his first glimpse of the swarm's true efficiency.
There were no orders, no shouts, only an absolutely unified will.
At a single command, hundreds of monsters began working in perfect unison.
They secreted a corrosive mucus from their mouthparts to soften the rock, then efficiently cut and hauled it away with their forelimbs. A brand-new tunnel extended deeper underground at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He dared not imagine what would happen if these "miners" turned their attention to the battlefield.
And all of it rested entirely in Veylin's hands.
Meanwhile, Ola and Barrett had returned to the surface and begun their own preparations.
Ola's selection method was straightforward.
In the center of the Training Ground at the knights' barracks, he set down a heavy shield made from gray marsh crocodile hide and refined steel.
"Anyone who can withstand three charges at my full strength and stay standing comes with me!"
He stripped off his shirt, revealing the solid blocks of muscle characteristic of dwarves.
With a furious roar, he shouldered his battleaxe and charged into the heavy shield three times in succession.
Each impact produced a deep, thunderous boom.
After the third charge, the shield guard he had selected was pale and trembling in both legs, but remained firmly rooted to the spot.
"Good! You're in!" Ola laughed and patted