3211/Nemesis: Sub-Terra - Finale

Nemesis: Sub-Terra - Finale
Date of Scene:	15 October 2015
Location:	Lighter Forests
Synopsis:	As the Phalanx and the Cult of Nemesite converge on Alton Towers, the Union and Syndicate must do their best to prevent disaster.
Cast of Characters:	Maya, Staren, 165, 236, Theo Morrison, 411, 847

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Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
     https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.9870631,-1.8835393,3a,75y,80.85h,78.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWtVwOQ84egzmhMj3xqkVog!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Welcome to Alton Towers! Unlike many days before it, today the park has been closed for what the public has been told is 'emergency maintainance'- but these supposedly unforseen circumstances are a smokescreen. What is actually happening ... is the reason for the armed paramilitary soldiers who are all over the park.

    Phalanx troops are just itching for the chance to engage what may be supernaturally dangerous members of the Cult of Nemesite, but apparently expecting them to show up in broad daylight.

    The reason for all of this may be clear in Forbidden Valley...

    

    This previously-classified area is supposedly the newest addition to the on-site museum meant to explain to interested members of the public the history of the giant alien locked in place for twenty years, or more specifically to allow them to examine the egg which Phalanx decided to isolate and display having recently discovered it.

    Ren Tanaka is leading the group of Unionites and others as they make their way down main street and through the pirate attractions. Phalanx assumes they're there to help them crush the Cult, but...

    "WHY would they put an EGG on display?" Ren shouts to the others, running through the empty park. "These people are crazy!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren... hopes this can somehow be solved without /too/ much violence, but he's wearing his armor, just in case. "Ssshhhh!" Staren shushes Ren. "Don't let them hear you say that!"

    More quietly, he asks, "Do you think there's any way to find out what Nemesis really wants?"

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Not a Unionite, just someone who caught wind on the Syndicate Network and decided to come by, Konoe is here following along. Dressed in her typical Miko garb, she curiously looked about as they made their way through the street.

     "......"

     She still only had a vague understanding of what was going on here, but...well. She'd just stay quiet and let the others in the know decide what they were doing. As long as it didn't offend her ideals, she'd manage.

Auron (236) has posed:
    Auron had been monitoring reports about this place. Now that the conflict seemed about to come to a head, it seems like a good time to come in and try to do damage control. He followed along with Ren and the others towards their destination.

    ...An egg? On public display? Yeah, that's not good. Good thing it's closed. For now, anyway. hopefully it'll stay closed after this, but who knows? He gives an affirmative grunt to Ren's startled observation that they'd put in on display. But aside from that, he stays quiet. He'll air his objections in time.

Maya has posed:
Maya has come to help as best she can but Maya's feeling very uneasy about this certain parts of her mind are very not happy with things here. She looks to STaren for a moment debating it and wonders about this thing.

"I may be able to but it won't be plesent at best I suspect but I'm not sure how to directly contact this thing...."

She is expecting she may need a trip to a shrink after this but the carnage they could stop? Well maya does tend to put others above her own wellbeing.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle is running alongside Staren and Ren. "Displaying an egg within reach of the public does seem a bit foolish. They could damage it, or it could hatch and cause a panic!" she says. The pony agrees, but apparently doesn't think that a hatchling, even of a Nemesis, would be anything more than cute and harmless. She hasn't seen Aliens.

     As for Staren's question, "The best way would be to talk to Nemesis again." she says softly as her hooves clop on the pavement. "We might even be able to calm it down. And possibly even befriend it." Twilight sighs. "I should have asked Fluttershy to come. She is much better with creatures like this than I am." Then she blinks. "Well...in Equestria. I suppose I cannot make the same assumption here."

     Upon hearing Maya, Twilight looks over at her. "Nemesis can create a telepathic link to those around it. We probably won't be able to contact it except through speech, but it can easily contact us."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Ren shrugs, although he's half-running as he does so, so it looks really funny. "Look at it this way: when the day's over any done with, these people won't be running a high school festival. I could care less about what they hear about how I feel!"

    "Talking to this giant space fellow's apparently never been done in thousands of years? So, for us, easy peasy."

He gives a thumbsup to Konoe, and then to Auron, so yeah, both hands. He doesn't recognize them but he knows that being inclusive in these sort of things is important, and they're kind of quiet.

Isn't it always kind of strange going through an amusement park, incidentally, when there's no one else around? Everything seems so much more empty when a place typically full of people has no one around. No one queueing for DUEL: The Haunted House Strikes Back, no one waiting for overpriced food at Nemes-eats...

    In fact, if this place is supposed to be under attack by a cult where /is/ the cult?

    True enough, there's no sign of them even when the group makes their way to Forbidden Valley and stand in front of Nemesis itself.

    This colossal living being remains where it always has, held in place by the complex metal restraints which are itself part of the rollercoaster surrounding it. As the colorful group approaches, its huge green eyes clearly turn to regard them.... everything else is eerily silent.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     "....?"

     Ren's thumbs up is met is a curious, and ignorant stare. ...Was that another one of those human gestures? She'd ask about it, but it didn't seem like it was the right time to do so. Instead, Konoe just nodded mildly in acknowledgement before moving along. Auron's presence is met with a small smile.

     "Hello Auron-san. I haven't seen you since...that incident in the cavern." That was forever ago.

     That aside, it was strangely quiet...which for her, was on top of te already strange surroundings. She'd never seen an amusement park before. But all of these metal contraptions looked like they could only be noisy. Inwardly the miko sighed in relief. She still wasn't used to the hustle and bustle of civilized, urban establishments.

     Eventually, they arrived at their destination. "......" So this was Nemesis? It...it looked like a monstrosity. Instinctively, Konoe felt the need to pull out several ofuda, just in case. But she didn't do anything untoward otherwise. Staring at it's big, green eyes, she silently stood by, waiting for the more knowledgeable of the group to start speaking.

Staren has posed:
'They let us /in/ because they think we're taking their /side/!' Staren hisses to Ren. Then nods to Twilight. "Perhaps communication itself isn't much of an issue, but we need to discern whether it's telling the truth. If it really does just want to leave, fine. But that doesn't explain why people were hurt at the dig site, or why the original cult didn't already send it home. If it plans to hurt more people... Plus, the Phalanx aren't honest with us either -- we still don't know how /anyone/ thought putting it in an amusement park was a good idea. Unless using giant monsters as part of tourist attractions is just a thing on this world..."

Auron (236) has posed:
    Auron nods to Ren's thumbs-up, a half-smile pulling at one corner of his mouth. He recognizes the attempt to be inclusive. And he also offers to Ren, "Auron." There's a name at least! That's always a big step in breaking the ice, having something to call someone besides 'hey you'. Konoe's speaking of his name gts his attention. Ah, that's right. He does remember her though. The undead and the zombie dragon that controlled them. Yes, he remembers. He nods in Konoe's direction. "Good to see you again," he offers pleasantly. See? He can totally small talk!

    He approaches the collossal being with the rest, pausing as he notes the eyes turning to look at them. It makes his steps falter, but he does continue on after that hesitation. He must look an interesting sight for the creature, depending on what kind of sight it has. Particularly considering the biggest scars on him were made by magic.

Maya has posed:
Maya nods about talking to this thing she knows it may be the best way ti figure out what was gong on but there could be a sign of an attack? She looks at the huget hing looking at the thing for a moment it makes her twitch a bit just visually and she does not like how quiet it is here. There is no one here that worries Maya a lot as but more join the party.

"Agreed but still we might get more information form it that might help us discern abotu what's going on id you think I'm going to trust such a thing blindly you don't know me well enough also Hello Auron and Miss Kanno."

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Y'know, that's really kinda creepy," Theo remarks of the bound being from the back of the group. (Wizards stand in back, you see.)

Staren asked him along. Even if he isn't actually a Union Elite, he's an employee of Heaven Or Hell and has on more than one occasion had the back of Team Hero in a bad situation. He's dressed casually, and that alone probably makes him stand out most in this sort of situation. Then again, there's a pony over there...

Kickotron, the trusty stoic sidekick of his, is walking along ahead of him. The myr is staring at the creature openly. It's hard for him to do anything but stare, of course, so maybe it's more accurate to say he's just kind of watching it.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle giggles a bit at Ren's words. She looks around as they continue on. Where -is- the cult? Perhaps they are waiting somewhere? Regardless, when they reach Nemesis, Twilight comes to a stop. That eye turns to them and she stares at it, a bit unnerved simply by the size of the eye. She looks around at the others, offering a reassuring if slightly nervous smile. "If any of you have a silencing barrier, it may be wise to use it. If either faction hears us talking with Nemesis, it could cause trouble." Then, she clears her throat and steps forward.

     Twilight continues forward, not wanting to have to shout at the creature. She approaches with a smile and talks respectfully. "Excuse me, Mr. or Ms. Nemesis. I am Twilight Sparkle, and these are friends of mine. We have learned of your predicament and wish to hear your side of the story. We wish to avoid any conflict today, but we cannot do that without knowing your intent for this world. Please, share with us what happened when you first arrived on this world, and why you were imprisoned. We may be able to save you and your followers without harm."

Staren has posed:
    When Twilight asks if anyone present has a silencing barrier, Staren's first reaction is a surprised, "You /don't/?"

    "...I mean, um... well... I guess even you can't have a spell for /everything/." He turns to address Nemesis. "I don't like things in my head. But I'd like to resolve this peacefully. Try any funny business, though, and... well, you can see in my head what happens to monsters that insist on hurting people." He focuses on the thought of Kalameet killing Nathan's phantom, and then of blowing Kalameet's wing off with a giant beam cannon.

    He has no idea if Nemesis can /actually/ read his mind, though.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Many different people from many different worlds and walks of life stand in front of Nemesis, which for many years has only had such an enormous millieu of painfully similar, boring humans passing over and under it. It rumbles; it can feel the unease in the air. Nemesis has been used to fear: fear has been all around it for a very long time, but so rarely does it feel this kind:

    The anticipation of conflict.

    "You brought friends," says one of the Phalanx soldiers. He's more decorated than most, and has just one vertical strip of black hair along his entire head. Staren and Twilight may recognize him as Lt. Emil. "Here to help us deal with the cult? Well, you'll be disappointed. Looks like they're too scared to-"

    "Shhhhhhh," Ren insists, finger in his face. "Emil, why don't you come with me for a minute, we saw some things on the way in I'd like to talk to you about, don't really want to worry the others..."

It seems as if Nemesis wants to... do something, say something. For such a colossal-seeming creature, with its bone-white exoskeleton and blood-red joints, it does seem kind of pitiful.

    But it is listening.

    There are more people here... perhaps enough, perhaps enough receptive minds to explain things. It tries...

Auron sees a ping-pong ball rolling across a black curtain, and Nemesis staggering around in a forest.
Maya sees a bored-looking Nemesis, which is surrounded by partygoing cheering and surrounding it.
Twilight sees Nemesis flying into Earth's atmosphere, ice melting away from it as it nestles in a molten crevasse.
Theo sees two planes crashing into one another mid-air, which wavers and becomes an image of a bird, then a rock hitting a toy kite and knocking it out of the air.
Konoe sees Nemesis on a trampoline, getting closer with every bounce to a bunch of children which seem to just be floating in the air.
And Staren sees the ground rising up above Nemesis, pushing it into a tree. It doesn't like it!

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle winces as that image is forced into her mind. She blinks a few times, then looks around at the others. "Did you guys see that? I saw Nemesis landing on this planet and...well, it seemed like it was just trying to get warm after being in space a long time. It crawled into a molten crevasse to defrost itself."

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks. "What?" He tilts his head to the side. "What does that even mean?" Then he looks to Twilight. "Wait, you saw... huh, I saw something different." He flips open a panel on his armor's left forearm. A little hologram is displayed, several inches tall. Nemesis, next to a tree, on a grass-textured plane. The plane deforms, a hump rising under Nemesis -- no inverse kinetics here, holo-nemesis is stiff as a board -- until it overlaps with the branches of the tree. Then the ends of holo-Nemesis's mouth deform downward. :( "I mean... it didn't exactly look like that, but it was definately, um... the ground rising under Nemesis until it was in a tree and I got a sense it didn't like it." Staren looks at Twilight. "So... it came from space and wanted to get warm?" Staren looks to the others. "What did you guys see? .../did/ you guys see anything?"

Maya has posed:
Maya is listening for the moment she eyes everyone here there's a wide number of people but she does look at the thing she does not have hate in her heart but she's wary. After all this thing is so alien even if it is not malcious it could still be a dangerous she then sees something she takes a step back.

"bordome, being watched by others partying...."

Maya shakes her head snapping out of the trance.

"I saw something else I saw it bored and people parying around it...."

Auron (236) has posed:
    It's difficult to 'dumb down' a great old one's thoughts for the human mind to perceive and understand. Nonetheless, Auron does get a very odd, if very distinct image. Twilight tells about what she saw. And then Staren, and then Maya. That is not what Auron saw. "...A table tennis ball. On a black cloth. And Nemesis, moving around in the forest as if it were injured."

Staren has posed:
    Staren starts reconstructing Twilight's vision, with similar visuals. He nods to Maya, then looks at Auron. "Um... was the cloth like stretched out flat except for deforming around the ball? It might be a visual used to indicate gravity."

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Konoe blinked, and then tilted her head upon seeing the vision. Looks like it didn't talk directly? Maybe it did. She had no idea. As the others speak of what they saw, she realized it didn't line up with what she just saw.

     "Strange...I saw Nemesis bouncing on a ....thing. It looked like a children's toy. And there were children floating in the sky above. It seemed to be trying to reach them with each jump..."

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo doesn't immediately freak out, but he does look really confused for a minute. Then, understanding: it doesn't actually speak a language, so it can't communicate like that. Or, maybe it just can't use words like they know them telepathically.

He still feels a little skeeved by it. Can't really blame him.

"Two planes crashing in mid-air into one another, which... turns into a bird, then... a rock, hitting a kite and knocking it out of the air." He scratches his head. "I think maybe we're out of order."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
Communicating is hard for Nemesis. Whereas before it tried to deliver visions of broad swathes, this is an attempt to be more specific... it's ... learning, in a manner of speaking. Learning fast, too! It tries again a couple more times, delivering images to everyone scattershot until it can communicate a linear series to each of them- first, of it flying through the cold of space, trying to find a warm planet to rest on, only to be hurt on approach. The strange chatter of peoples' minds epochs later begins to stir it to the surface, spurred by tectonic shifts. The humans seem to have a lot more fun revelling around it than it does. But something makes it react badly when it does finally get to the surface... and chaos ensues.

    It is trying to communicate the process of it being trapped here, communicating in images of cement shoes and squabbling groups of red and blue people, when something shakes the communicating group out of it.

    Literally, in fact. A shake from underground.

That's when Ren runs up, worryingly devoid of Emil- and for that matter, there are no other soldiers either.

    "Couldn't keep them," he says to everyone apologetically. "Nemesite cult, doing something underground. Attack from below. Sorry, was getting... feedback of some kind, couldn't contribute."

    He points over to the Sub-Terra museum building. "There's a lift there- fighting going on below ground. You all willing to go down there? Sort this out?"

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Scratching his head, he adds, "And is anyone willing to weigh in on what they think is really going on here, as well?"

Staren has posed:
    Fast-forwarding over some puzzle solving, some scenes get put in order. Staren summarizes, "So... it came to Earth, crawled underground for warmth, came up to see what people were doing, and then... was unhappy, for some reason, even though people made a big deal about it /before/ trapping it in a roller coaster." Staren looks at Nemesis's eye. "Okay, that sort of explains how you got here, but what now? What do you /want/?" Staren shakes hands in front of him, palms up. "And why do people react to you like this? Hurry, it sounds like there isn't much time!"

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle thinks about all of those things and the clarifications that Nemesis tries to make. Despite the creature's appearance, she just...doesn't get the feeling that it is willfully dangerous. It might be accidentally dangerous, but it doesn't seem to want to hurt anyone. In fact, it seems to her just as Maya suggested. But, one image sticks in her mind. It seems to be irrelevant to the story, but the planes crashing and merging into a bird? That is strange.

     Then, the ground shakes. Twilight stumbles a moment before steadying herself. "From underground?" She shakes her head. "You guys go and join the battle! We have to determine Nemesis's intentions. If it is gentle, we can free it and solve everyone's problems!" She then looks over at Staren when he asks his question before she nods to Nemesis. "You don't seem to particularly like these people, but you don't seem to want to hurt them either. Is that true?"

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     "....."

     Well, they got this far without having to hurt it. Konoe would put aside her apprehension and leave it in the hands of those who wanted to keep talking. "I...will go and see what's happening underground. I'm not good at this sort of thing." She turned to Ren at that point and nodded. Then she ran off towards the Sub-Terra building, intending to go and see what going on down below.

Auron (236) has posed:
    "Hard to tell," Auron replies to Staren's question. "But it's possible. That part of it seems symbolic of something, at least." Of exactly what, he's not sure. Hearing the images, Auron starts try to arrange them mentally. "Some of these seem symbolic. Maybe it's what our minds are substituting for what it's trying to say."

    He's staying receptive for anything further Nemesis might have to say. Even non-psychics can do that, with willpower. And he keeps the confused thoughts at the fore of his mind. Explaining as best as he knows how -- and mentally, since the being seems able to contact that way; true, he doesn't know if that communication is a two-way street or not -- that he's still confused.

    The following images are a little easier. But then some form of shaking interrupts it. But he thinks they got the gist before that. It does take him a minute to shake his thoughts back in order, but he can catch Ren's words.

    Auron looks to the group at large. Twilight at least, possibly Staren as well, seem to want to stay here and determine Nemesis's intentions. Auron's purpose here is battle, and it's why he came, in case a battle should break out. So he nods to Twilight's words. Then he looks to Ren. "Where?" He's going to be heading down below as well. though not without a glance towards Nemesis that might just be a sympathetic one.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo frowns. As far as he can tell, this 'Nemesis' is a victim of circumstance, but he doesn't have any context as to what it'll do if it gets to go free. Not 'released into the custody of cultists' free, but 'actually able to do its own thing however it wants to' free. Theo can get behind that, assuming its own thing isn't burning planets or anything.

"I'll stay up here. I'm gonna see if I can figure out... something." He waves a little at Kickotron, who wanders back over with his oversized (read: human-scale for something half one's size) backpack. Theo opens it up, fishes out hard plastic boxes, and starts flipping through cards for a solution.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
"Whoever's coming, follow me to the lifts," Ren says.

    
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7LqExwP8pc

    Below the park, having taken the elevator shaft down, there is far more than should be normal for an amusement park as far as 'below-ground-level infrastructure' goes. Also, there's no way that it should look this complicated- amidst the tunnels and military paraphenelia there are more than one of these strange machines. Being close to them feels funny.

    It might be hard to notice, though, because there's also a fair amount of ... well, mayhem.

    See, Nemesis was never able to communicate properly with 'normal' people. People with inspired, sometimes abnormal minds were able to understand it better, but to really withstand it sensibly you needed to be something special. You needed an expanded awareness, a supernatural knack... and when it couldn't find people like this, Nemesis tried to create them.

However, as you'll see as one red-and-white wearing man in bone-like armor plates throws a purple ball of energy at a Phalanx soldier, supernatural knacks go hand in hand with supernatural power. The Nemesites are fighting the Phalanx, military guns warring against people with supernatural energy-slinging powers- thunder and lightning, light and fire.

    All through the cave network underneath Forbidden Valley, fighting is taking place, as chaotic and dangerous as Emil feared.

    "I'll keep the lifts safe," Ren says. "You people handle the fighting. Try to... not kill anyone, alright?"

And moving in the shadows, there are things inhuman... fleeting glimpses of things with more than two legs...


    Above ground, Nemesis remains quiescent. Rather than being unwilling to give an answer this time, it seems as if it does not have one to give. If it can express it with just its eyes, it almost seems apologetic. It tries to transmit images of success, people being stung by wasps, wealth, even people winning prizes at the nearby skee-ball games. But is it just saying 'you're correct', or saying something about the people?

Staren has posed:
    Staren rubs his head, or the side of his helmet anyway. "Rrrgh... I don't understand what you're trying to say. I hope you're not trying to bribe us with bee stings and fortune." Staren begins to pace back and forth in front of the creature. "Okay, so, one thing I notice about all these images? You don't seem very mobile. And getting you back into space... Well, it's not impossible, but it's beyond the resources we have at the moment. If we free you, how do we get you /out/ of here?"

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     "Good luck, all of you!" Twilight Sparkle says as the others leave for the lift. Then, more images. These are perhaps even less helpful than the last set. It seems to think they are on the right track, but...wasps stinging people is not a good thing. Unless this creature likes wasps or stings. Still, even if it shows intent, wasps are hardly dangerous for the most part. Just painful and annoying.

     Maya stays with them, and Twilight offers a friendly smile to her before looking back at Nemesis. "It might be more mobile if it wasn't pinned down." Twilight suggests, then starts thinking at Nemesis as best she can. She thinks of things like first meeting someone, then that someone becoming a friend, then her and Nemesis as friends. She's trying to ask it if it would be interested in friendship. And, just in case that doesn't work, Twilight says aloud, "Do you want friends? Are you lonely? Or do you just want to get out of here and back into space? It seemed like you had friends there but couldn't get back."

Auron (236) has posed:
    Auron raises the brow of his remaining eye at Ren when the request to not kill anyone is made. "No promises," he replies. "Only that I'll try." But he does intend to do that, at least -- try to keep the casualties down to a minimum. To note, he does NOT like those machines, and makes an effort to stay away from them.

    Once he's below-ground and near where the fighting occurs, he gets an idea. He can probably keep casualties to a minimum on his end immobilizing the fighters on both sides. His chi flows to his throat chakra, empowering his voice to act similarly to the subsonic component of a tiger's roar as he speaks strongly to the nearest group of fighters.

    "Do not move!"

    A tiger's roar can immobilize prey -- and even experienced handlers -- with subsonic vibrations acting in odd ways on the nervous system. Will it work here? Who knows? Under normal circumstances it has a chance of working on anything that can hear and understand his voice. With all this mayhem, though, he won't be able to enact an area-wide effect, but he can immobilize small groups for others to disarms and restrain.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Taking the lift down, it wasn't hard to pick up the sounds of fighting long before she heard it. "....." Silence was Konoe's default response. People never did cease fighting, no matter the world or era, huh? Once they were down and able to see it all, she just blinked as she took in the situation. ...It was noisy.

     Don't kill anyone, Ren says. Well, she wasn't typically in the business of killing people to start with, but how to approach this situation? ...Hmn. It seemed like Auron had an idea, so rather than take any action, she merely covered her own ears, in anticipation of noise.

     She'd wait to see the results before she did anything herself. She was patient.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
Bribery? What is bribery? Is it something you eat? In any case, you probably don't have to worry about that. Nemesis continues to speak to Staren and Twilight above ground, this time going with more of the insect pictures- although now it's mixing in pictures of ladybugs. Ladybugs taking flight, eating aphids, laying eggs, flying around flowers... is it making sense?

    Ren would be impressed at Auron's capability to 'talk people down', as it were- and despite the general effect of being in an underground cave network surrounded by strange machinery, what he does- and says- to what were previously intimidating cultists making quite showy lightning effects- have immediate effect, causing them- and, weirdly enough, the Phalanx soldiers fighting them- to freeze up on hearing him.

    And Konoe may notice one of those strange machines nearby flickering in time with his voice, as well...

    "Oi!"

    Or perhaps not, as Emil shouts in her ear. "Don't just stand around! Do something! In case you haven't noticed we've got a whole lot of problems, and there's no time for lollygagging around and-"

And thankfully, something shuts him up. Perhaps LESS thankfully, that something is-

    Maybe not as cute as some of us were hoping. Wet, hairy, with spindly legs and looking like a cross between a skull and a stick insect, with a needle-like tail, those things are definitely- by the same red and white coloration, visible even in the low light- something that definitely looks like they could hatch from a Nemesis egg.

    "The brethren walk among us!" shouts one of the cultists. "Walk with them to destroy the machines that shackle NEMESIS!"

    He's so enthusiastic about it he doesn't seem to notice these creatures are pretty much ignoring /anyone/ as they make their way deeper into the tunnels.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Konoe saw something flicker in the corner of her eye and was halfway to turning to look when-

     There went shouting in her ear.

     Ugh.

     Do not kill humans, do not eat humans, do not hurt humans. Was the mental mantra she inwardly muttered to herself as she stepped forward at Auron's side, giving a nearby machine one last suspicious glance.

     Oh well.

     The newborn...Nemeses? Nemesis? Whatever it's called. It gets pretty much everyone's attention. Konoe noticed however that... "...It's not bothering with anyone. It's just going on ahead." She frowned at that. "I'm going to follow it." With that said, Konoe's body rose into the air without any assistance, and she began to fly forward, after the creature from above.

Auron (236) has posed:
    Stopping both sides had been the aim of Auron's use of chi versus them. So when they freeze, he nods. And then suddenly... baby Nemeses? That's probably not good, those little creatures hatching and walking off. Auron nods to Konoe's words, and follows them as well. He may need to apply Threaten to some of the cultists and/or Phalanx as follows the small creatures as well.

Maya has posed:
Maya thinks for a moment as she looks at her companions nad thins about the story.

"I'll stay top side and see what I can do here."

She is still more on edge trusting the others to keep an eye on things here. she smiles back a bit to Twilight but rightfully so Maya's on edge.

"Yes do you wish to return home? Are you seeking another enviorment to live there's several other far warmer planets I can think of."

She's lost in though those who want to chain it? Those who wnat to free it and those more worried about those caught in the middle. She's bene caught in the middle before.

"Look I'll leave you all to it up here and head down to see what's going on down there then."

Maya's going to see what the Jinac is going on down there. SO down she goes b ut she's lagging a heck of a lot behind hte others.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle blinks in confusion at the images. If the lady bugs are Nemesis...did she lay a bunch of eggs? (Twilight is going with she if it lays eggs)

     Maya heads down, leaving Twilight, Staren, and Theo with Nemesis. And Nemesis...Twilight is unsure if it is capable of complex thought. It seems more like a child to her. It understands them, it is smart, but its motivations are simple and somewhat instinctive with little to no actual ill-will.

     Twilight smiles to Nemesis, then steps forward to pat...some part of it that seems to be the side of its head. "Alright Nemesis. I think we can let you free. But, you have to promise to be good, okay?" She smiles warmly, then turns to Staren. "We should head down as well. I don't think we are going to get anything clearer from Nemesis. It seems driven by simplistic motivations. I think it will either leave or try to find a safe place to hide if we let it go."

     With that said, Twilight makes her way to the lift at a brisk trot. "I hope it isn't too bad down there!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods. "You're saying you can fly? I guess we'll see, but no funny business!" He manifests his wings, and is about to take off when Twilight speaks to him. "Umm... I think, if we're going to cut him free, we should do it while Phalanx /and/ the cult are busy fighting eachother. Otherwise, we may well find ourselves fighting Phalanx after we stop the cult." He begins flying around Nemesis's body and drawing a plasma sword to cut through the metal holding him. it. Her?. If it's just steel it should cut like butter. If it's some kind of special alien-restraining alloy, he might need more time. "Twilight, do you have any cutting spells? Theo, could you summon anything big and strong that would help here?"

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo looks at Staren and Twilight like they've lost their minds. "Are you serious? You 'think'? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm down for the rights of all sentient beings and all, but we can't even --"

He stops, looks down, and then looks up again, this time thoughtful. "Huh."

Kickotron pulls out the wooden tray and holds it over his head. Theo shuffles up, deals himself a hand, frowns at it, and shuffles again. He draws a new hand of one fewer card and nods. "Perfect. Okay. Plains," a land goes down, gets tapped immediately, and is followed by, "Sol Ring." An artifact card touches the table, old and brown-bordered. The moment it does, a band of blazing sunlight appears on a finger on Theo's left hand. It's hard to tell which one, given how bright it is when you look right at it.

Staren does some cutting. Theo waits a moment, watching Nemesis for any movements, and when nothing seems to happen, untaps his land and draws a card. He puts another Plains card down without thinking. "Tap a Plains and the Sol Ring, and..." A creature goes down in an odd position, a little offset towards the edge of the 'table.' "...Bestow a Nyxborn Shieldmate on, um, Nemesis."

A two-dimensional painting of what looks an awful lot like a Greek hoplite appears on the ground in front of Nemesis, laid out like a shadow. There's a distinct aura around where it touches him (it?), a border like a starry sky. The picture moves, flipping around to extend to a nearby wall, watching warily.

"Well... try talking through him," Theo suggests. "I mean, if it's attached, communicating more clearly should be easier, right?" It's hard to tell who he's trying to convince.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    So, now you're beginning to realize that there may be really a lot more going on beneath the surface- pun not intended- than expected.

    Auron and Konoe follow the baby Nemeses, who- to the surprise and perhaps dismay of the cultists- are definitely NOT joining them in the fight against the Phalanx. Likewise the Phalanx soldiers seem to be disappointed that the heroes are not joining them in their fight against the cult. Needless to say, perhaps, that both sides are attempting to get in their way.

    Depending on how they handle this, the two of them may find themselves near a different sort of machine- one that seems to be something like a giant combination code padlock, as weird as that may seem, locking down part of the structure restraining Nemesis.

    Up top, Nemesis is trying something different. It's stringing words together with slow, deliberate care, unsure how to properly do the 'communicate with people' thing properly... which seems strange, considering that Staren and Twilight were able to pick up something pretty easily from it a few weeks ago. Words like tired, bored, freedom...

    And then, it all gets a lot easier. "...just really want to get up and lea- oh! Goodness, thank the stars, this is much easier! I can understand things better! Look, I'll- I just want to get out of here, alright? I don't know what all of this fracas is about. My children have been trying to get me out, can you help me? Yes, that's good!"

     Maya, it seems, may be coming in at just the right time. As she takes the lift down, the first thing she'll see is Ren and Emil wrestling with one another on the floor.

    "Can't let you do this, Emil, sorry!"
    "Compromised! You're all compromised!"
    "And I'm getting the feeling you're not really on the right side anyway!"
    "Control?! Can anyone hear me? The situation is out of hand! We've been betrayed!"
    "I don't recall mentioning we were on your side..."

Someone radios in his ear- one of the above-ground spotters, mentioning Staren moving to try working on Nemesis' bindings. Galvanised, Emil KNEES Ren in a rather below the belt area, and goes scrambling for a nearby control.

    "No time to waste! I have to activate the underground self-destructs!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Theo, but does stop trying to cut the metal holding Nemesis down. "It's a giant monster. If it turns on us, we say 'curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!' and ...kill it. You and I have fought Leviathan, and Twilight's one of the most powerful mages of her world."

    But Theo's doing something, and... "Will that work?"

    "Holy cow, it /does/! Yeah, okay." He resumes cutting Nemesis free.

Staren has posed:
    Something Nemesis said doesn't quite make it to the forefront of Staren's thoughts. "...Wait, what children?" He adds after a moment.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle blinks in complete surprise when Nemesis starts talking. She turns around quickly and heads back toward Nemesis. "How...?" She looks at Theo, then at Nemesis, then at Staren, then at Nemesis. Staren is cutting, so it must have been something Theo did. She smiles to the deckmaster, then hmms. "Cutting something is fairly simple, but they are using Nemesis as a power source. Just cutting her loose could be dangerous both to her and to us. We should try to deactivate the energy gathering devices first." she says.

     Twilight smiles to Nemesis. "Don't worry. We'll get you out of here." She then proceeds toward the lift. "If it isn't dangerous to cut those things, then you'll be able to handle it." she adds, smiling to Staren.

Auron (236) has posed:
    Auron is following the Nemesis children, and sor tof playing bodyguard to them. Though because he did promise Ren, rather than actually attack anyone, he's using his ability to Threaten the people that stand against them into stillness. He's not able to deal with Emil at the moment. But he looks at the Nemesis children. "Whatever you're doing, hurry. Someone's about to do something very drastic." He doesn't expect them to understand him, but the sentiment is expressed anyway.

Maya has posed:
Maya comes down as she sees the battle she's going to have to trust the people top side as she sees Emil moving to make his act this is going to end in a lot of blood, if Emil has his way they may need to blow it but that's the final option at this point. She sprinta after Emil running at her top speed as she moves to try and go flying into him. She's going to attempt to tackle and pin him to the ground.

"That's enough do you have any idea about how many other people might get caught in this blast?!"

Maya's yes attempting to use non lethal force or at least less She's also a bit stronger than she looks too when it comes to getting up close.

Theo Morrison has posed:
"/Damn/ I'm good," Theo mutters quietly and with astounding modesty.

"Yeah, okay, um -- so that's going to be a temporary fix, but Staren here is gonna get you out, and then... I really hope you can get out of here on your own," he says. Theo looks between Twilight and Staren. "I think this means we need to get going before the guys with the assault weapons come back up here and get really pissed at us. So, uh... cut faster?" he suggests, the opposite of idly.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     "...I'm not seeing a problem here." Konoe mumbled, looking down over the proceedings. Any that would try to stop her, she merely weaved through the air, evading any attempts to make contact with her. Once they got to the strange machine, things seemed to go south. "....?" She glanced back, having heard a struggle coming from Ren's general direction.

     Oh great. Konoe wasn't very educated, but she knew what self destruct meant. "....." Not going to let that happen. Konoe produced a handful of ofuda and threw them out towards Emil. "Duplex Barrier!" They immediately proceeded to box around him, and Maya after her tackling attempt, forming a barrier that would attempt to keep him from doing anything stupid or getting out, while also preventing anything from getting in.

     She couldn't hurt or kill people, nor desired to at this moment. This was the best she could do without inflicting harm.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
"Please don't kill me... I just want to go. I haven't hurt anyone." Nemesis really does seem rather sad and tired now it has a voice you can understand.

     "Did the things I tried to show you not make enough sense?" it asks Twilight. "Thank you for your patience, though, even so- it- it's so hard to understand how to communicate with small people, everyone's just so drab and unsparkling... I mean, I tried to give some people it, so that I could just get them to let me out, but it didn't work out, but I think I have the hang of it now..."

    
    "I had to have some children to try and get to the machines. They should be able to do something, but I don't want to fly away without them..." Nemesis tells Theo.

    And in truth, that's exactly what is happening . Although the baby Nemeses can't exactly understand Auron, they do- perhaps thank to the fact that they're sort of getting used to the subsonics in his voice, and the lack thereof- understand his intent. Auron will find himself in what may perhaps be the rather unique position for her of defending the monsters against the people, as they work the various mechanisms of the underground locks.

    Although really, can you define 'monster' and 'person' so simply? Perhaps not, as Maya is finding out. She has to chase down the overzealous soldier, and true enough it's going to take a fair amount of physical strength to actually stop the wriggling, probably somewhat crazed jarhead from trying to blow this whole park to kingdom come.

Konoe runs defence, putting a shield up between Maya and any Phalanx soldiers that try to get close.

    "...he hit me below the belt," Ren remarks quite plaintively, trying to get himself up- and grimacing even more, as he sees that the Nemesite cultists have taken this whole business as a sign that they're 'winning' and to lay into the Phalanx even more.

    "Alright, no, that's it, that's more than enough! You all stop that right now! This is not your day to win, that's not what you should be getting out of this at all!" Ren complains. Looks at Konoe. "Can you not stick some of those ofuda on them and shut them down a bit, please?"


    Providing that everything can be cleared up, once the fighting is quelled by whatever means, it becomes an academic process to unbolt, cut and generally get Nemesis, which is kind of a big ladybug if you squint, free. Everyone'll be free to make their way back above ground.

    "I am going to leave," Nemesis says.

    "You're welcome to," says Mr. Olwen, who has come out to join everyone now he's not at risk of being shot. "I've shut down those machines underground. They've been fiddling around with peoples' emotions for years now, piggybacking off of your power."
    "How did you do that?" Ren asks.
    "I'm the manager of the museum," he replies. "I have all the keys."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE
    Aided in the release of a titanic eldritch entity from beyond the stars and felt pretty good about it too. No matter what they look like, a lot of people are the same deep down.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight helps out with disabling the machinery and restraints, then returns to the surface before Nemesis leaves. She raises a forehoof to wave to Nemesis. "If you ever feel like it, you can visit me in Equestria. I know Queen Luna was pretty lonely when she was imprisoned for a long time. Just...let us know before you visit." she says.

     She listens to Mr. Olwen, then hmms. "So, it was not Nemesis at all. It was Phalanx's machines that were causing the mental problems in the workers." She frowns a bit. "Why would they want to cause such problems? I can't think of any constructive uses for causing mental problems..." She shakes her head, then checks on the others. "Is everyone alright?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren stops cutting again at Twilight's words. "I... shoot, we'd better make sure there isn't something plugged into you somewhere, I guess. Also, I just realized there could be an anti-tampering mechanism. What if this place is rigged to blow the moment your weight is gone or something?" He scans the restraints for electric fields, then realizes there could be a tension-based safety and investigates where they're connected to the ground... shaking his head, he looks towards the lift, "I'll be back, okay? We've got to make sure this is safe." And down he heads to join /that/ mess.

    Once he sees a baby Nemesis, after the initial WHAT IS THAT?! shock, he simply comments, 'Oh.' as he realizes what the key was a sculpture of.

    And then it's all over. "They actually let you have the keys to the secret military stuff? Wow, their opsec sucks. What if a cultist had gotten to you? I mean, um... good." Staren looks at Twilight. "They're military. Imagine the use of a weapon to mess with your enemy's head. You might never have to fight them..."

    Staren helps disconnect Nemesis's bonds. "So, um... good luck out there." He stops repeatedly adding the 'if you really are innocent' and such -- it can be assumed now, right? "There's something you should know, though. While you were here, this world became part of the Multiverse. There's nothing for you up there." Staren shakes his head while pointing up. "But, if you..." he gives directions to the warpgate and the void, "...you should find something more like you're used to." He looks back at the assembled group, then at Nemesis, trying to ignore the babies which are KIND OF CREEPING HIM OUT. "I can escort you to the gate if you wish. I imagine this world's residents will be a little... freaked out at your passage."

Auron (236) has posed:
    Thankfully Auron's subsonic trick only really happens when he channels chi to his throat and voice. So it shouldn't hurt the Nemesis children too much. At least he's apologetic about it; if he notes any tremors or shivers coming from the baby Nemeses, he'll offer gently, "I apologize." Tone of voice means a lot when dealing with something that can't really understand him.

    Eventually Nemesis will get freed, and Auron will head back up to the surface with the Nemesis children. He might have to guide them up above ground again, if they've never been up there before, but that's no problem. He maintains a quiet facade as the entity makes its intentions to leave known. "I hope your trip is more pleasant than your time in this place," he offers pleasantly.

    Twilight's question gets a nod. "I am," he confirms. Though as to what purpose the machines might have? He looks to Staren at his word. "That or... wasn't there mention of altering people? If someone could have the ability to alter people as they saw fit?"

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo nods, understanding. He wouldn't leave without 'em either. So, rather than charge off to see if they're doing their thing... he sits, and he waits.

By the time everything and everyone gets back up, Theo's expanded his playing field a little, apparently prepping for the seemingly-inevitable firefight. He doesn't have any more creatures out, but he's got some more mana available and is watching for trouble with a keen, unfortunately-practiced eye.

It doesn't really come. He exhales in quiet relief. "Okay. I guess that means it's all good and we're all set here. That went better than I expected."

Kickotron silently agrees. Probably.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Konoe sighed once it was all done and over with. Nodding at Ren, she deployed several ofuda to clamp around the mouths of dissenters. She wasn't particularlt looking to hear their complains anyhow.

     Once they were back up, Konoe watched as they prepared to head off and managed a small smile. "...Good luck." She offered, lowering her hands to her sides. Twilight got a look after hearing her inquiry posed to all. "...I'm okay. I just hung back and helped from afar. The others did the heavy lifting." So she says.

     She wasn't really in the business of questioning it's motives or existence. If it got what it wanted and no one...or relatively few people were harmed, then the job was done. Konoe nodded to herself, satisfied with the turnout.

Maya has posed:
Maya has known much about it was on the inside she was just wary of Nemesis given her nature but it seems her cuation and going looking for more information had paid off she keeps moving to restrain the commander.

"Easy this is going to be over and we won't have the body count but this park is shut down at all!"

Maya's seeming pretty serious about this she's just hoping things will be over and perehaps something won't hate humans and other life along that.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
A thorough check over of the place reveals that, evidently for all of their willingness to fill the place underground with explosives, the Phalanx hasn't put anything above ground. This is rather strange when you consider that, even though they may have been unwilling to blow up parkgoers, they have not really considered the possible dangers of half of the park falling into a sinkhole...

    But if you haven't guessed by now, the Phalanx are idiots.

    "Leave it to some military mind with more ambition than sense to think 'I know what I'll do with this giant building-sized alien, I'll figure out how to weaponize it. Probably the same bright spark that wanted to put them on display," Ren speculates.

    "I... we will explore, and find out what to do next. I have had a long and tiresome existence, but perhaps there is hope out there for better things. For my children, and perhaps for me as well," Nemesis says. Then, in concert with its smaller children, the huge white shell on its back splits open and raises to reveal a huge pair of shimmering wings- and each of them begin to float and raise into the air, flying away into the straosphere and the space of the multiverse beyond.

    "...now what are we going to put in the middle of the Forbidden Valley?" asks Emil.
    "I think that's somehow the least of your worries," Ren replies, "But have you considered a big fibreglass model?"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErnMC7xokQ8
    People are People - Depeche Mode
    Some Great Reward - 1984