The council Mourns the loss of their comrades, and more fish are made. Three transport fish shall be constructed one after the other, each carrying 12 Caerri (10 Workers, 2 guards) tools, food, and belly full of the small cleaning fish. Each shall go to establish a new colony, one to the north, one to the west, and one to the south.
Once they land the fish shall be turned into primary housing and defense for the colony until feeders can be constructed, lines back to the main colony will be made as soon as is feasible.
(The transport fishes are like the battle fish's first design.)
To the north, the fish stops on the Western edge of the Whale Sands, next to a hunk of coral.
The Westward fish stops on the west edge of the bones.
The South fish finds a large rock in the sand that would provide decent defense, but its rather desolate outside it (sand, shells, and more sand, with some wildlife nomming all the kelp before it can get off the ground) and doesn't seem like it would fit more than 50 Caerri. Stop there?
And thus the Kriblits keep digging. Only taking a small time out to make sure that the tunnel is still sound after a minor earthquake.
The tunnel is unaffected, except for the unreinforced sections that were due to be demolished and moved down anyway. A gas bubble is heard nearby below the tunnel, perhaps it could be used as a outpost or rest stop of somekind if the surrounding sand can be kept up. (and if the miners stay far enough away to not get splattered into the walls by the exploding bubble)
A minor thud is heard near the surface, near the center west edge of the Whale Sand. scouts quickly emerge from Second Lair and spot a small fish far off quickly reforming into a large-ish building with defensive tentacles. 12 same-size-as-you creatures emerge from it along with some much smaller fish, wriggling tools, and food. Two of them are tentacled like the building and seem much more hostile than the rest. They don't seem to be interested in digging down into the sands though, they just keep creating more organic matter in specific formations as they get themselves slowly setup. DIPLOMACY OR ATTACK?
A platoon of Triath, armed with makeshift Ore weaponry and coral armour, is sent to aid the Caerri, while research on Ore tools is accelerated. The colony of Ygethar is also built up and fortified further, and preparations for the settlement of a new colony begin as exploration teams are sent to find a suitable location.
The Peretic guards still upset and rash over the catastrophe take the floatune into custody to be interrogated by the overseer
After tying the Floatune down to make sure nothing will happen, he speaks.
"Speak, you who come to us, the ones who have just suffered a horrid tragedy! What the kelp to you want?!"
"I am the an ambassador of the Floatune, who live on The Great Tree south of here. We search for new homes now, our numbers growing. We mean no hostility, but there shall be blood if harm comes to us."