Empire of Mars by Stephen Darnell

Author:Stephen Darnell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2022-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The Antis

The insectoid Antis were an ancient race on the planet Mars. Some would say they were the original intelligent species, predating the humanoid Martians by many thousands of years. The two races developed separately, and for aeons there was very little contact of any sort between them. The Martians evolved to become predominantly urban creatures, gathering initially in small villages which later grew to become towns, and eventually into cities.

The Antis had always been nomadic, living in small colonies, with each colony or hive being ruled over by a queen. With an entire planet at their disposal, there was rarely any conflict between the two races in the past. The Martians kept to their urban centres, and the Antis roamed the countryside, which was designated by them into tribal areas. Rarely staying in one location for long, the Antis would move from one home to another, once the order had been received from the queen. Scouts would be sent out to locate a new base, sending pheromone messages to the rest of the colony once a suitable location had been discovered.

The Antis were large creatures, standing over seven feet tall, and were generally of a grey-green colour, although the exact hue varied somewhat depending on the particular role the creatures were born to fulfil in the hive. They had two large compound eyes made up of thousands of tiny lenses, which were excellent at detecting even the smallest movement. They also had three further eyes located on the top of their heads, called ocelli. The middle one of these simple eyes was in fact a deadly weapon, capable of emitting a piercing microwave field, which fried the internal organs of any unfortunate adversary.

The Antis were also telepathic, and communicated with each other through their antennae, which vibrated in the air as thought messages were transferred over large distances. At the heart of the communication hub of the colony was the queen. She could send messages to all the other Antis under her control, and could block any signals sent between other members of the hive if she so wished. The queen never left the colony. She remained hidden in a secure location and was protected by fierce soldiers who had the ability to bite and sting, injecting a toxic venom into any would-be assailant.

Apart from controlling the rest of her colony, the queen’s sole role was to produce eggs in order to expand the population of the hive. In particular, she would produce a royal egg of a brilliant green colour, late in her life cycle. Once the royal egg was laid, it was time for the colony to move to a new home. The entire population would move en masse to a location selected by the scouts, with the precious cargo of the royal egg given absolute priority. The egg would be carried by a dark grey royal servant, with soldiers providing the escort guard. Winged versions of the soldiers would provide aerial support, and the whole colony would march in procession to their new home.

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