Chương 239: Chapter 470: The Best of Times

The Collective felt the small rumble in the ground, noting that a rockslide or cave-in had occurred in a certain direction, and went back to playing checkers with each other. As the game had become more popular with the smaller myconians, their new love of games had infected the gigantic rulers of the colony, and it had only been a matter of time before they began playing. Each chose a Voice to act for them and direct the pieces.

Plans for a large chessboard an acre in size with special Warforms was discussed, but in the end they did like all the smaller myconians did, and their Voices played in a mulch cafe, their roots in soft, beer-scented mulch, moving the pieces slowly across the board as they learned the strategy of the game. Grothmar greatly enjoyed his checker time. It had started as a pleasant time, enjoying mulch and making the moves a great one directed him to make. But slowly, he began to see his own moves, and made suggestions.

These were rebuffed, at first, and he didn't push suggestions again that game. And, it did give him a good view of what happened when what he thought was a poor move was made, often with a significant loss in pieces or territorial advantages. The Collective had been quick to see that taking an opponents piece was desirable, but they were less understanding that controlling the board was the key to victory. It made them susceptible to lures and sacrifices.

To understand and serve the Collective better, he spent many enjoyable hours in the mulch cafes, playing games with anyone who cared to sit down and enjoy some time with him. His love of mulch with rotted-vegetable matter was noticed, and slowly caught on. Every cafe now stocked a dozen varieties of dwarven rot-water.

Over the next week, his thoughts about strategy became clearer and more forceful as he played, and one day, when a great one made an obviously bad move that would end in a triple jump, he refused to make the move. (He noted later that imbibing a half-dozen rotted water made him more stubborn.) The great one, at first astounded by his refusal, pulled the thoughts from his head and was silent for some time. Then asked for a counter strategy.

They went on to win the game easily, and the great one retired from his mind in a good mood, and complimented him on his learning of the new game. He found himself in great demand after that, working together with different great ones. He and whichever great one he spoke for began communicating strategies and trying to outwit the other team. The advantages of two minds observing the board were acknowledged, and all of the Collective began to work with their voices as teams.

Today, as the rumbling continued and from the same direction, it became apparent that something was happening, and the sounds and rumbles were compared to the memories of the battle with the snails. The words 'bear' and 'cannon' were discussed, as was the memory of a long line of 'bears' marching through their cavern on the way to a peaceful mapping expedition led by the Wandering Sage. It didn't take long for several startling thoughts to appear, especially when Milo was added to the equation.

Grothmar and his opponent rose and shook hands, calling it a draw, and he hurried out of the city to where a cadre of forty Warforms were waiting for him. He and his escort hurried to the lower caverns to follow the route of the expedition and ascertain what was happening. He was happy to see two dwarves on what they called 'Ammo Bears' walking quickly toward him. He noted that they were not packing the large amount of supplies that they had on the prior day.

"Greetings, friend dwarf. I regret that I do not have time to 'knock back a few', but greet you with happiness. To enquire as to the rumblings in the far caverns, if you have knowledge?"

"Greetings to you friend, I also regret not having time knock back a few cold ones. As to the rumblings, we have a snail problem. Hundreds of the buggers are on their way to fight from someplace. We're having a grand old time testing out the new weapons, but are running low on beer, ammunition, and beer. I'm off to fix that problem." As the words 'hundreds of snails' was communicated to the Collective, mild panic reverberated down the link, with questions.

"To enquire further, the size and type of the large heard of snailish invaders? They are smaller than the last invasion. Said with great hope."

"Well, wasn't here for that, but Brother Milo said these look a bit bigger and the types are more mixed. Nothing like that monster, Gargantua, but there are a lot of snails slowly coming to fight. It's going to be a big brawl, that's for sure, and we're off to get supplies so we can keep fighting." Thoughts went back and forth between the collective. Some were greatly worried about the snails, others worried that the dwarves could so easily dispatch the invasion.

Others were worried if the invasion grew too much for their new allies to handle. Decisions were made." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"The Great Ones of the Collective ask that I join this expedition to observe."

"Oh, sure, I don't think anyone would mind you lending a hand. But I'd suggest bringing some wagons. Milo said you valued the snail meat and innards for mulch? There's a hundred tons of it and the piles are getting larger. I'm gong to bring back a couple of cargo haulers to deal with the carcasses and keep the firing lanes clear." The Collective had to double check the words 'hundred tons' to be sure of the amount that was being discussed. The affirmative rang loud in Grothmar's mind.

"To commend you on your excellent thinking. We will dispatch wagons and help you with keeping the lines of fire clear." The dwarves waved, "See you soon then. We'll knock back a few together and watch the carnage." Grothmar began marching his Warforms at double speed, wishing to arrive sooner. His thoughts were already anticipating enjoying some rotted vegetable water with his friends as the destroyed snails and provided years of supplies for the mulch beds. Truly, these were the best of times.

The Collective noted the vibrant thoughts coming from their Voice, and pondered how many casks of dwarven rot-water to acquire before the next mulching. That led to a discussion of the advantages that would come from a large supply of snail meat and tasty snail innards. Their new allies were supplying the items that their culture valued, and their understanding of the collective's needs was astonishing. Once again, they were dealing with a threat that the Collective was ill-equipped to deal with.

The forty Warforms accompanying Grothmar were all they had left after the last battle, and it would be some time before more emerged from the soil. The dwarves and their allies were moved up several notches on their chart from "Useful but we have concerns." to "Generous and unpredictable, valued highly." One of the Collective added, "Someone to Knock Back a few with.", and everyone agreed.

The rumbling in the far caverns continued, and the Collective relaxed, having a good understanding of the situation, and knowing that their allies would take care of it. They and the population of the city went back to playing tic-tac-to and checkers, trying to master the subtle strategies of these games. Grothmar and his body guard exited the tunnel and entered an alien world. The sound of heavy weapons echoed across the caves, accompanied by the angry screams of the large snails.

Smoke from the guns swirled about them, and everywhere dwarves were moving ammunition, loading guns and yelling at each other. And drinking. Grothmar observed that that copious amounts of rot water were being consumed. Following the paths of dwarves with empty tankards, he saw that they moved to a row of large barrels where they refilled their mugs. Observing a number of empty rot water carriers, he picked one up, filled it, and moved to the front lines, the better to observe the battle.

The Collective would be very curious. Standing next to a large gun, he observed the curious ritual of 'loading' and 'aiming'. A dwarf yelled at him "Cover your ears, Big Bertha has quite a bang." Grothmar quickly removed his acoustic canals and put down roots into the soft soil. He was glad that he had done both, as the gun fired and all the nearby dwarves put their hands over their own acoustic canals. The vibration hit him like nothing he experienced before and he almost tore free of his roots.

He watched, stunned, as the shell from the gun hit a blue and red battle snail that was charging quickly at them. The snail exploded into dozens of pieces, and splattered blood and snail guts over the dwarves, Big Bertha, and Grothmar. He slowly came to his senses and decided that perhaps the best place for him was near the rot water dispensers. The soil there was thick with snail blood and spilled rot water. He added the contents of his own mug and sank his roots deep.

After two more mugs of rot water he decided that it was a shame that collective was missing the sight of snails exploding and scattering mulch across the battlefield. One of the Collective was surprised when their Voice demanded to link with them. This was not the way things were done, but they were very curious, and Grothmar was the best checker partner in the city. They linked, and looked through Grothmar's eyes, entirely abandoning the game of checkers they'd been playing.

Another of the Collective joined the link, and after a moment, so did all of the rest. After only a few minutes time, a mutual decision was made, and most of the myconians in the city began marching toward the mechanical lift that moved people and cargo from above, ready to offer any help they could to move rotwater and explosives to the battle. The dwarves were once again upgraded in status, to 'Extremely Valuable and Dangerous Allies.'

Two voices were also sent on a special mission to trade a chest of shiny gems for a hundred casks of rot water. Experiencing the mulch enhancer through Grothmar's senses had given the Collective a large desire to 'Knock back a few."