As one ant falls to the ground, Guardian grabs hold of the other telekinetically and slams it against the wall to knock it unconscious.
Will Save:
The creature is both slammed against the wall for 7 HP and paralyzed in time for now.
How would you like to proceed?
"Apologies. Now...once more."
Atticus once again reaches out to ensnare the ants mind.
Atticus now has control of the second ant.
The ant that can not move, Axel will try to make sure it can not see or hear them, using his dazzling powers to make the room appear empty and no sound
Atticus attempts to probe the Ant for information. As long as its under mind control, if he can speak then Atticus can interrogate it willingly.
As the others deal with the ant Rift moves forward to keep a lookout for any others.
Jester's confident that he has suppressed the ant's senses sufficiently with his illusions that it will not perceive them.
Atticus is free to ask any specifics he wishes. The ant seems fully compliant.
Rift counts at least two dozen ants throughout the cavern. None of the others seem to have noticed you so far.
Guardian sneaks up next to Rift to take a look. "Too many of them, it would be bad if things get hostile. Can you see the one that spoke, the leader?" he whispers quietly while scanning the cavern.
You're not sure if it's a leader, but there's a larger ant that seems to be functioning as a sort of foreman, directing the rest of the ants in their efforts.
The cavern itself is about the size of a small parking garage with all the floors removed, say 50' high by a 50 yards square, very roughly. It appears as though they're pulling more rocks from the ceiling, which would bring the cavern ceiling closer to the surface. Probably not a good thing considering you're not far below the sub-basements and underground trains of the downtown area.
You're not sure about the number of weapons, but you'd guess they have access to one laser per ant, though only about 6 of them seem to be currently carrying them.
Atticus has his controlled minion approach them in a non threatening manner.
"If any of you have questions, might as well ask now."
He then goes on to interrogate the creature on his own.
"Are there any patrols and when is the next one due if so?
Do you have any weaknesses that are shared by your kind?
What is your primary goal in attacking the surface, and why is that so?
How far up do you go on the chain of command?
How are the kids?"
Atticus seems hopeful that then Ant will be able to communicate.
"Oh, I have one! where did you people get those nifty laser guns, and how do they work?"
Guardian sneaks up next to Rift to take a look. "Too many of them, it would be bad if things get hostile. Can you see the one that spoke, the leader?" he whispers quietly while scanning the cavern.
There's a big one over there." Rift replies, nodding in the direction of the larger figure. "But I don't think it'd be the leader. Don't ants have, like, queens? I know that some have different castes - maybe that one's a soldier and the others are workers? I can only see about six that have those weapons. If we do this right we might be able to sort them out before the others can respond? If we can figure out where the weapons are kept we might be able to stop them getting there to arm themselves."
The tunnels are difficult to see in such a uniformly dark area of similar temperature; it's possible Guardian could not them with his special type of vision, but it's likely that a physical search will be necessary in order to be sure you've found them all.
[b]"Are there any patrols and when is the next one due if so?
"None come by this tunnel. We two are considered enough to guard it."
Do you have any weaknesses that are shared by your kind?
"I do not understand your question. We are as you see us." He seems to indicate that they do not have any special vulnerabilities, at least not that they themselves are aware of.
What is your primary goal in attacking the surface, and why is that so?
"We conquer, digest, and grow. It is the reason for life."
How far up do you go on the chain of command?
"I am a warrior. We are trained in the use of the stingers," he gestures at the laser, "and are responsible for conquering and capturing slaves."
"How are the kids?"
"I am uncertain of your question. Do you refer to the unhatched?"
"Oh, I have one! where did you people get those nifty laser guns, and how do they work?"
"The scientists build them; they alone understand their function."
Moving back to where the others are interrogating the ant, Guardian asks "How many of you are there and how long have you been here?"
"How many of you are there and how long have you been here?"
"We are as the sands of the desert. But we are new to here. We come from below, and have not come to your surface for a thousand years, not so near the homes of your people, anyway."
"Where are the scientists that make the weapons? Could you take us to them?"
"I am afraid you would not be welcome there, nor would you likely survive the journey. Your kind seems frail to us."
"So what's the plan? As long as I have a hold of his mind he won't remember a thing when my control fades. If conquest is involved, I doubt diplomacy is an option."
"Unless someone could convince them that there are many more people with powers like us in the city, and that they would be better off staying down below..." Guardian suggests.
"Well, it's certainly possible. I personally, would rather a minimum of bloodshed, especially since these people are fellow inhabitants of this Earth. Perhaps we could obtain peace with them like with the Atlanteans! Hmm.. Tell me! Is this... your entire army, or simply a division you've sent out to probe our defenses?"
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"I'm not big on questions or any of that, I'll keep a lookout for things!"
"No, this is but a small force; we are seeming slaves to help increase the tunnel size so that our forces may advance in number."
"I'd like to keep a semblance of deniability, so I'll defer to you all in our course of action."
Atticus was just along for the ride now. A peek in one these creatures heads was just bonus.
He turns to the Ant soldier once more.
"What's the easiest way to tell who has the most authority in a group. I'm speaking specifically of physical traits."
"Is there anything we can do that will deter you from attacking the surface? Would you be willing to trade for anything and live peacefully with our kind?" Guardian asks, turning a large rock into a 10-pound sugar cube as an offering.
"Of course! Surely you can see- ah, even if you're being mind controlled, that is -That this dosn't need to end in bloodshed?"
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Tesla keeps silent. He was never very good at speaking, and felt that any voice he might add would just somehow screw up the diplomatic efforts going on.
He approaches Rift and mutters, "Might you be able to quickly return to the surface and give them what news we have? Even if we all horribly die in the next second, those on the surface should know that they are perilously close to...peril!"
Rift nods "OK. You'll keep a look out whilst i'm gone? I'd hate to come back to find you all taken as slaves. It'd be a real pain to have to rescue you all by myself!"
With that she turns back into the tunnel and heads back to the plaza, waiting till she's out of sight of the ants before using portals to speed her way. From the bottom of the hole she opens a portal to the rim and approaches a policeman nervously. "There's a lot more of the ant-thingies down there. It might be a good idea to get some soldiers or something here, just in case we can't deal with them. Anyway, can't hang around too long. The others'll be missing me!"
She turns and jumps from the rim of the crater, opening a portal just below herself and landing lightly at the bottom. She returns to join the others as quickly as possible.
"Is there anything we can do that will deter you from attacking the surface? Would you be willing to trade for anything and live peacefully with our kind?" Guardian asks, turning a large rock into a 10-pound sugar cube as an offering.
The ant seems intrigued by the sugar, but answers "I do not think the tides can easily be turned aside. The political mechanations of my people are slow, and there are none here with authority to treat with you."
"They'd likely have a queen or something, if analogous to the species of ant we're all familiar with."
"Yes yes, highly probable... Sir! Ah, wait, what's your name by the way? Oh, and I want to know, is there some... law or something we can do to garner an audience with your people of power, in hopes of negotiating a treaty?"
"We only treat with our own kind. Your species is a chaotic infestation to be used and then destroyed."
"There's a lot more of the ant-thingies down there. It might be a good idea to get some soldiers or something here, just in case we can't deal with them. Anyway, can't hang around too long. The others'll be missing me!"
"Uh, okay, sure." Then, to a nearby officer, "Hey, get me the governor's office! we need to talk National Guard."
"Now that's just not true. If you say that about us, then the same could have just been said about you. But genocide is not an answer! Mutual cooperation is where our future should lie. Surely you can see that?"
It seems unconvinced. You get the feeling from your probing that they don't really have much of an individual mind or capacity for change. It's POSSIBLE the higher ups can change their minds (he's indicated they do have some sort of political system), but it may well be physically impossible for this one and his ilk to make autonomous judgments of a moral sort.
With a slight grin, Guardian tells the ant "I hate to fall back on cliches, but...
Take us to your leader!"
"From what I can tell we have a few options here. Some that come to mind are to plead our case directly to the leader and establish peace, or perhaps we can sow some war down here. If what the ant says is true, then there are multiple colonies, not necessarily United. It would be difficult to invade the surface if rival colonies are nipping at your heels."
Atticus adresses the ant again.
"So are there other colonies? Some other threat than the surface,"
"Hmm... I wonder..." He taps the bottom of his mask for several moments, before glancing down to Atticus. "You influenced his mind, yes? Is there a way to... permanently change something? This individual doesn't exactly seem like an individual... but what if we were to change that? Othwerwise- yes, I think we should try to speak with their leaders. As well! If we have to continue forward with combat, can everyone please try to employ nonfatal takedowns if at all possible?"
"Its probably safe to say that it would be best to speak with leadership directly, but it would also open us up to attacks."
He turns to Rift.
"Think you can get us out of here if things go sour?"
"Yes, I favor trying to speak with the Leader of the colony as well. I don't think having a war right beneath the city would be much better than the present situation." Guardian states before walking back to the entrance to the chamber and scanning the area again for any sign they have been discovered.
He nods, "Yes, we must speak with the heart of this operation."
"Think you can get us out of here if things go sour?"
"I can only open a portal to somewhere I can see, so down here its not going to be all that helpful as a quick escape strategy. I think its a good idea to try to speak to the leaders directly but,... At the moment we've got the element of surprise on our side. We give that up if we just try to walk past. Do you really think the others won't just attack us? We should probably at least try to resolve this peacefully though."
"Alright, carelessly forward to diplomacy then. Ant, can you guide us to the main leaders of your species?"
"I can take you to the leader of the hive, yes. It will take some time, and it is dark and might prove difficult for your kind to traverse; we have no care for the direction we take in our tunnels, but I've noticed your kind always walks..like so..." the ant makes a horizontal motion.
"We will be fine." Guardian touches a section of the wall and rearranges its structure to make it phosphorescent. "Can we get there without having to go through your hive-mates?" he asks, indicating the chamber full of ants.
"Yes yes... Oj, Axel, maybe you can perform illusions to mask our presence?" He glances over to the location he last saw the jester, hoping to not see a blinking outline of empty space.
The heroes manage to escape the immediate area, and travel down the ant version of route 66 to a major location. Despite a bunch of weird looks, Antioch's aunt-slave takes you to the 'senate'. This whole process takes a couple days.
In the end, you end up before a committee to speak against the hostilities of ant-kind against humankind.