Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
There once was an industrious and very prosperous ant colony in a nice valley that was home to a vast array of other creatures. Normally, the ants were generally only bothered by some birds, who ate them for food, but aside from that, they were generally left alone.
Year after year, the colony grew and it's prosperity began to attract the attention of the spiders, the grasshoppers, and even some of the flying insect life, as well. For years, the ant colony had realized that it needed more food than it could find, so it began an ambitious project. Laboriously, the ant colony planted seeds from trees and even the seeds from the plants of nearby farms. They worked out an extensive system of watering and harvesting, and soon the colony was surrounded by vibrant, growing life.
Eventually, the decision was made that the colony needed to branch out, establish satellite colonies and restart the processes there, as well. Connected by common tunnels, and a communication system beyond anything ever created by ants before, they simultaneously sprouted 8 new ant hills, each at a comfortable distance from others, and each became a central point for more agricultural ventures. Many generations came and went and the population grew to the limits of the newly expanded anthill system.
Consultations with the historical records showed how the original colony expanded, and after much discussion, it was determined that expansion again, would probably be necessary to contain all the new ants. However, it had been many, many generations since the last expansion, and nobody around remembered or knew anyone who remembered what it was like or how it was done. Some of the brightest and most educated of the anthill were sent off on a mission to scout the territory and determine the best course of action.
The group set off out beyond the borders of thier colony's holdings and discovered the world outside was harsh. Although food and space were rationed inside the system, life was easy, for the most part, and little change ever occurred. In fact, none of them had ever seen the world that wasn't inside the borders of the colony. The first thing they did was meet the grasshoppers. "Now what are you doing?" The grasshoppers demanded to know. "We're out scouting for the location of our newest colony" was the answer. Well, that was the last straw. The grasshoppers grew furious... "How dare you invade our world! You move in, you make big anthills to protect yourself, and you live SO EASY!!!" Of course, the scouting party thought this was rather strange, but continued thier exploration quest.
The grasshoppers, on the other hand,withdrew for a consultation. After a little finger pointing and some shouting it was agreed that the ants were the ones to blame for the food shortage ravaging the land. So they went out and met with the crickets, the flies, the mosquitos and even some crude communication with the birds and bees, they reached an agreement: The ants had gotten too big. So, they set out upon a quest to find the ants and settle this.
Well, the ants had already find the new location, and there was work already in progress. Of course, none of them knew how to live in an uncultivated world and they were having to struggle along quite painfully. In fact, a lot of them were dying. As the grasshoppers had known, there was a food shortage outside in the world. Messengers were dispatched to the old colony and soon an army of reinforcements and a supply line took shape, and soon, a new colony had begun to thrive. Trees were planted, a water system put in place, and soon, the ants again had space underground and crops in abundance. 64 new anthills were started, each with even larger areas of planted crops from teh seeds of the original. Within just a few generations, the ants had the capacity to grow ten times the food they needed, and with all the new interconnected underground space, all the space they needed for what seemed like millenia. Besides, the ant scientists had finally found a formula which caused the ant population to remain relatively steady now, and so the ants again had become wealthy beyond all ant-dreams.
The ants were not particularly selfish with thier crops, always leaving the farther out fields to be harvested only if needed, and since they never were, the grasshoppers became quite fond of the easy pickings. In fact, the grasshoppers began to just live on the edge of the colonies. Other creatures did too. Birds took up residence in the trees, small rodents enjoyed the harvested fields, and soon the ants were no longer vastly outpopulating the intruders. Of course, they felt no danger, since there was food for all.
But one year, the rains never fell. It was cold all spring, and the wheat didn't sprout until late, and then died in the drought. The ants had huge storehouses of food, for this had happened before and put out the word that next year, they would try again, but this year was a total loss. This was NOT, however, acceptable to grasshoppers, who were not doing well. Vast numbers of grasshoppers had starved to death, as well as countless others who had become accustomed to feeding off the ant's fields.
The grasshoppers had begun travelling in groups, and one of them had become very vocal... They had always hated the ants for having it all and they had nothing, but with thier bellies full, it had always been a pastime, just a topic to blow off steam about over beer and pretzels. "The ants did this... They destroyed the land!" screamed the group, now referring to themselves as "true green". They prided themselves on staying the color of grass, even though they hadn't seen any in eons. In fact, there was a rumor that no grass existed because the grasshoppers had eaten it all, but that was just rumor. Everyone knew the ants were to blame.
With all the hostilities, the ants retreated back to thier colonies and plugged off the entrances, preferring to get on with the business of planning the next big venture. In their tunnelling, they had discovered an underground spring. Since it required relatively few to grow the crops and maintain the food, most of the ants had little to do, so they decided they'd all get together and bring this spring up to the surface. With a few million ants working together, it would take only a few days, actually, to accomplish this feat. Surveys indicated that they could tunnel the spring to the surface uphill from the entire colony and with a little surface work, they could irrigate the entire cropland. It was kind of late for this year, but if they worked fast, they could raise some of the faster crops before winter set in.
By now, outside the hive had become pandemonium. All the species were locked in a life and death struggle to survive the catastrophe of the drought. Except the True Greens, that is. They were marching around from encampment to encampment, killing off the weak and feeding off what little the others had in reserve. Their rallying cry "The ants did it" had become so magnetic the little gang had now become a horde. They had practiced and studied the art of taking out all opposition, by using whatever they had at their disposal. Managing to attract some of the more brilliant minds left, they now had strong organization and discipline. Whereever they went, recruitment was strong... "Join us, to save yourself and your children from the ants" was a pretty good message, really. Well, at least it recruited well.
The ants had finished the underground tunnel to the surface, sealed off the walls, and were just forcing the water to the surface, when the True Greens came upon the scene. Stunned at seeing the massive horde of ants, the hole, and the water running out of the ground, they stood speechless for just a moment. The ants were building canals that distributed the water all across the growing complex, and starting to plant the fastest growing crops.
"Look what they've done!!" screamed the leader. "They took all our water, and hid it underground!!! They dried up the fields to kill everyone, and now when they thought we were all dead, the're letting it back out! And even now all they are doing is watering thier own fields again!!! They are taking it all for themselves again, for thier own fields... That's OUR WATER!!!" was the screaming cry. Rousing the angry horde into a screaming mob, they set about thier practiced moves. In short order, they had decimated the ant task force. Arriving at the fields, they slaughtered the field-tenders and took the seed to eat.
Not content, they raced into the ant city. For a time, the ants put up a struggle, but it was evident that a life of peace had ill prepared them for the assault. Slowly, the True Greens systematically wiped them all out and took all the food stores left. Engaging the rats to transport it all outside, the True Greens broke up into little bands and began searching the entire complex. Upon finding some doors marked "Do not open", they began battering them down...
The ants had done magnificent engineering work at building this fortress, but that was NOT going to stop the True Greens from breaking it down. After all, if this was off limits to the ants, THIS is where the really good stuff was going to be!
So they summoned help from the other species. While each marveled at the work the ants done, each did his best to break down the ant's fortress. Finally, the last party took a mole down the tunnells and told him to dig around the gates. The mole soon dug around the gates and broke through the woodwork on the far side. There was a shout down the tunnel back to the little group of True Greens that sounded faintly like "You damn fools" but it was instantly drowned in a blast of water from the tunnel the mole had dug.
Year after year, the colony grew and it's prosperity began to attract the attention of the spiders, the grasshoppers, and even some of the flying insect life, as well. For years, the ant colony had realized that it needed more food than it could find, so it began an ambitious project. Laboriously, the ant colony planted seeds from trees and even the seeds from the plants of nearby farms. They worked out an extensive system of watering and harvesting, and soon the colony was surrounded by vibrant, growing life.
Eventually, the decision was made that the colony needed to branch out, establish satellite colonies and restart the processes there, as well. Connected by common tunnels, and a communication system beyond anything ever created by ants before, they simultaneously sprouted 8 new ant hills, each at a comfortable distance from others, and each became a central point for more agricultural ventures. Many generations came and went and the population grew to the limits of the newly expanded anthill system.
Consultations with the historical records showed how the original colony expanded, and after much discussion, it was determined that expansion again, would probably be necessary to contain all the new ants. However, it had been many, many generations since the last expansion, and nobody around remembered or knew anyone who remembered what it was like or how it was done. Some of the brightest and most educated of the anthill were sent off on a mission to scout the territory and determine the best course of action.
The group set off out beyond the borders of thier colony's holdings and discovered the world outside was harsh. Although food and space were rationed inside the system, life was easy, for the most part, and little change ever occurred. In fact, none of them had ever seen the world that wasn't inside the borders of the colony. The first thing they did was meet the grasshoppers. "Now what are you doing?" The grasshoppers demanded to know. "We're out scouting for the location of our newest colony" was the answer. Well, that was the last straw. The grasshoppers grew furious... "How dare you invade our world! You move in, you make big anthills to protect yourself, and you live SO EASY!!!" Of course, the scouting party thought this was rather strange, but continued thier exploration quest.
The grasshoppers, on the other hand,withdrew for a consultation. After a little finger pointing and some shouting it was agreed that the ants were the ones to blame for the food shortage ravaging the land. So they went out and met with the crickets, the flies, the mosquitos and even some crude communication with the birds and bees, they reached an agreement: The ants had gotten too big. So, they set out upon a quest to find the ants and settle this.
Well, the ants had already find the new location, and there was work already in progress. Of course, none of them knew how to live in an uncultivated world and they were having to struggle along quite painfully. In fact, a lot of them were dying. As the grasshoppers had known, there was a food shortage outside in the world. Messengers were dispatched to the old colony and soon an army of reinforcements and a supply line took shape, and soon, a new colony had begun to thrive. Trees were planted, a water system put in place, and soon, the ants again had space underground and crops in abundance. 64 new anthills were started, each with even larger areas of planted crops from teh seeds of the original. Within just a few generations, the ants had the capacity to grow ten times the food they needed, and with all the new interconnected underground space, all the space they needed for what seemed like millenia. Besides, the ant scientists had finally found a formula which caused the ant population to remain relatively steady now, and so the ants again had become wealthy beyond all ant-dreams.
The ants were not particularly selfish with thier crops, always leaving the farther out fields to be harvested only if needed, and since they never were, the grasshoppers became quite fond of the easy pickings. In fact, the grasshoppers began to just live on the edge of the colonies. Other creatures did too. Birds took up residence in the trees, small rodents enjoyed the harvested fields, and soon the ants were no longer vastly outpopulating the intruders. Of course, they felt no danger, since there was food for all.
But one year, the rains never fell. It was cold all spring, and the wheat didn't sprout until late, and then died in the drought. The ants had huge storehouses of food, for this had happened before and put out the word that next year, they would try again, but this year was a total loss. This was NOT, however, acceptable to grasshoppers, who were not doing well. Vast numbers of grasshoppers had starved to death, as well as countless others who had become accustomed to feeding off the ant's fields.
The grasshoppers had begun travelling in groups, and one of them had become very vocal... They had always hated the ants for having it all and they had nothing, but with thier bellies full, it had always been a pastime, just a topic to blow off steam about over beer and pretzels. "The ants did this... They destroyed the land!" screamed the group, now referring to themselves as "true green". They prided themselves on staying the color of grass, even though they hadn't seen any in eons. In fact, there was a rumor that no grass existed because the grasshoppers had eaten it all, but that was just rumor. Everyone knew the ants were to blame.
With all the hostilities, the ants retreated back to thier colonies and plugged off the entrances, preferring to get on with the business of planning the next big venture. In their tunnelling, they had discovered an underground spring. Since it required relatively few to grow the crops and maintain the food, most of the ants had little to do, so they decided they'd all get together and bring this spring up to the surface. With a few million ants working together, it would take only a few days, actually, to accomplish this feat. Surveys indicated that they could tunnel the spring to the surface uphill from the entire colony and with a little surface work, they could irrigate the entire cropland. It was kind of late for this year, but if they worked fast, they could raise some of the faster crops before winter set in.
By now, outside the hive had become pandemonium. All the species were locked in a life and death struggle to survive the catastrophe of the drought. Except the True Greens, that is. They were marching around from encampment to encampment, killing off the weak and feeding off what little the others had in reserve. Their rallying cry "The ants did it" had become so magnetic the little gang had now become a horde. They had practiced and studied the art of taking out all opposition, by using whatever they had at their disposal. Managing to attract some of the more brilliant minds left, they now had strong organization and discipline. Whereever they went, recruitment was strong... "Join us, to save yourself and your children from the ants" was a pretty good message, really. Well, at least it recruited well.
The ants had finished the underground tunnel to the surface, sealed off the walls, and were just forcing the water to the surface, when the True Greens came upon the scene. Stunned at seeing the massive horde of ants, the hole, and the water running out of the ground, they stood speechless for just a moment. The ants were building canals that distributed the water all across the growing complex, and starting to plant the fastest growing crops.
"Look what they've done!!" screamed the leader. "They took all our water, and hid it underground!!! They dried up the fields to kill everyone, and now when they thought we were all dead, the're letting it back out! And even now all they are doing is watering thier own fields again!!! They are taking it all for themselves again, for thier own fields... That's OUR WATER!!!" was the screaming cry. Rousing the angry horde into a screaming mob, they set about thier practiced moves. In short order, they had decimated the ant task force. Arriving at the fields, they slaughtered the field-tenders and took the seed to eat.
Not content, they raced into the ant city. For a time, the ants put up a struggle, but it was evident that a life of peace had ill prepared them for the assault. Slowly, the True Greens systematically wiped them all out and took all the food stores left. Engaging the rats to transport it all outside, the True Greens broke up into little bands and began searching the entire complex. Upon finding some doors marked "Do not open", they began battering them down...
The ants had done magnificent engineering work at building this fortress, but that was NOT going to stop the True Greens from breaking it down. After all, if this was off limits to the ants, THIS is where the really good stuff was going to be!
So they summoned help from the other species. While each marveled at the work the ants done, each did his best to break down the ant's fortress. Finally, the last party took a mole down the tunnells and told him to dig around the gates. The mole soon dug around the gates and broke through the woodwork on the far side. There was a shout down the tunnel back to the little group of True Greens that sounded faintly like "You damn fools" but it was instantly drowned in a blast of water from the tunnel the mole had dug.
