World Tree MUSH

    The call goes out from Aquila. La Volpe has a lead, a captured Templar being kept in a Thieves Guild safehouse. Directions are given to a small villa outside of Florence, where several shifty looking people in drab colours and generally identity concealing clothing. One man, in rather embelished attire, with a hood up, stands alongside the Assassin, Piera. La Volpe is a middle-aged man with creases on his forehead and rather piercing and intelligent eyes. "Welcome, friends, we managed to catch a snake sniffing around the hen house, so to speak." The man's voice is silky, and he gestures to the door, which opens when a pair of the Thieves move to push it open. "Please, come in, My home, is yours." he adds, leading the group inside, to a room deep inside the building, where a man's voice can be heard behind a thick wooden door. "Our snake is a rather loud one, I am afraid, but I had my men leave him be, so you could have the first 'swing' so to speak."

    He knocks on the door, which opens and the screaming suddenly stops, and a young looking man in ragged clothes looks like a deer in headlights at the group now shadowing the doorframe.

    "A snake, huh." The Mandalorian muses as the door opens. Though he felt a little wary about walking into a safehouse owned by a faction that was, as of yet, unknown to him, at least no one had tried taking his weapons, and that was a plus.
    It never hurts to be a little paranoid and a lot prepared.
    Or was it a little prepared and a lot paranoid?
    Regardless of how the saying goes, Mando eyes the shifty looking thieves on his way in, beskar helmet hiding exactly where he's looking at any given time.
    "Tell that droid of yours to keep the engines hot. Just in case." He mutters under his breath into the comm in his helmet.
    To his credit, his armored bulk and faceless helmet makes for an intimidating backlit silhouette as the door opens.
    

  There's a woman tagging along in the shadow of The Mandalorian. She's older, probably in her mid to late fifties, with pale blonde hair frosted by silver. Her eyes are blue and her mien is grim. With loose clothing appropriate to a smuggler -- cargo pants and belt, sleeveless top and hair gathered up in a severe twist that keeps it all contained. At each hip is a holstered blaster.

  She sticks to The Mandalorian's shadow, mostly, because the Mediterranean climate is uncomfortably warm and he's big enough to provide shade.

  General Juno Eclipse is nothing if not practical.

  At Mando's request, she reaches up to touch her slim headset. "PROXY. Keep the Rogue Shadow's engines warm, will you?"

  <<Certainly, Captain Eclipse.>> His voice is tinny over the comms. <<Signal once you're ready for extraction.>>

  "Thanks, PROXY."

  She's silent, otherwise, content to skulk about The Mandalorian's shadow. La Volpe earns a long glance, and their captive earns an even longer one. She says nothing. Maybe that's enough to make the man nervous -- this probably looks like a hard woman, with an emptiness in her shadowed eyes.

    Emily arrives in the form of a woman in a dark gray trench coat and a matching wide-brimmed hat which casts her face in unnatural shadow, with gray hair only a shade lighter than her clothing. Her whole attitude is uncharacteristically ... subdued. Pensive, perhaps. She's 

    (Something kind of jarring must have happened.)

    She manages to recover some of her composure once introductions are made. "So, an actual real-life thieves' guild on Earth, huh?" she says, putting on her trademark amused and faintly smug smile. "I thought they were only stories. Nice to make your acquaintance, Signor Volpe. Does everyone off-the-cuff in this world wear hoods, or are you just imitating the Brotherhood?"

    She hmms at the transmission from the Mandalorian, and Juno's response. "Releasing Capacitor Seal 3," she says. She's surrounded by three distinct auras, one one silver, one gold, and one pearlescent; the first one shatters, and the other two fade, and a falchion sword appears on her back in a swirl of what appears to be silvery glitter.

    She nods in greeting to the so-called snake. "So, heya," she says, a slight edge to her voice. "How're you doin'? Killed any innocents lately?"

    ... Glowing white moonflower petals briefly flutter around her. Just to make it clear who she is.

    One of the offworlders is an absolutely HUGE (by human standards) human male that looks like he's of Eastern origin. He has purple hair pulled into a low ponytail, golden eyes, and is dressed in archaic (by modern standards) clothing. The hint of a tattoo on his chest can be seen.

    He's not alone either -- a small red fox with what looks like a white painted mask on its face and a bell collar around its neck sits upon his shoulder. The creature doesn't seem to breathe or blink, and sits upon his shoulder as still as a statue.

    As he enters the building when bidden he offers a respectful Japanese bow. "Thank you for inviting us into your home," he offers at the same time. The fox on his shoulder doesn't move, even when he bows.

    And yeah, at his height and build, he's definitely going to be casting that doorframe in shadow. Though he regards the formerly screaming young man with an impassive, assessing expression. The fox's expression is impossible to discern.

    Though then the fox SPEAKS, and when it does, the mouth of the 'mask' moves and it blinks. "Hopefully we're not expected to torture him. Aruji wouldn't be pleased about that," it states in a squeaky voice.

    "You can do whatever is necessary. Noone can hear him here." La Volpe says, glancing at Emily with a mysterious smile and no voiced answer. He leaves, the thieves leave and the door closes, leaving the room lit by candle light from various places around the room. There are no windows here and the Templar is looking like he's about to vomit, passout and explode all at once.

    The moonflower petals only add to this and the formerly screaming man is rendered rather mute.

    Piera remains with the group, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. "Remember, amichi(friends), we need him to tell us where our friend is, and preferably how many friends he has around here." she says, letting the others do what they have to do.

    Mando steps into the room, heavy bootfalls punctuated by the clink of beskar as he looms over the Templar.
    Silent for a long moment he stares down at the man through that impassive T-visor.
    Before he hoists the man up with one hand.
    "We can do this the easy way. Or the hard way." He says, voice low and smooth.
    "I'm going to give you the option now: the easy way is simple. You tell us what we want to know. We walk back out that door. And you never see us again."
    A pause.
    "The hard way. Well. I'm sure we could figure out a few ways to get the answers we want."

  Folding her arms, Juno glances over to La Volpe and Piera, considering for a moment. Her gaze slides back over to the captive Templar, regarding the man in opaque silence. She follows smoothly behind the big man in beskar armour, regarding the captive with a tilt of her head.

  Those aren't the eyes of a woman whose sympathies can be played. Juno smoothly pulls a blaster from one of her holsters, inspecting it nonchalantly.

  "You're probably going to enjoy the easy way a lot more," she comments, almost off-handedly. Is she actually going to shoot the unarmed man? Really, Eclipse? "You won't much like the hard way."

    Emily sighs theatrically at Mando and Juno's suggestions. "Am I the most 'good guy' person here?" she says. "Wait, no, Konnosuke and Tonbokiri have me beat." From nowhere, Psycho Killer by Talking Heads begins playing.

    She glances at the prisoner. "Everyone has a breaking point," she says. "This is discovered in the twentieth century by people who are worse than either you or the Assassins. And then you'll tell us whatever you think we want to hear, regardless of its truthfulness." Beat. "That came out wrong."

    She raises the brim of her hat, revealing glowing purple eyes. "Okay, but seriously," she says. "Let's just do things the easy way, all right? Just start talking, and I won't be forced to, uh ... do something ... really stupid." For a brief instant, her eyes flicker red, and a cylindrical holographic banner with the text 'DANGER - GLITCH' appears above her head for a second. "I just want to save a life, from, uh, your order, and then get the hell out of this goddamn world. So tell us where Amalia Giacomo is, and ..." She grimaces. "... it'll make our job a lot easier."

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> ... Good Interrogator.

    Tonbokiri doesn't much like 'the hard way' that the Mandalorian and Juno are talking about. But he also doesn't feel like the man is in immediate danger of death. YET. Though Emily's words get a smirk. "Hardly. I am merely a weapon. My master would be displeased."

    But here he looks at the man they're interrogating, with a serious expression. "But my master would be displeased if I were to participate. Nothing was said of not intervening. Particularly when such information would save other lives. Aruji understands that one life may need to be sacrificed to save many."

    He nods. "So if you do not answer the questions, I will be forced to let them use... stronger methods of persuasion. I would suggest that you answer the questions."

    The Templar is lifted. He's a very small and light fellow and he whimpers as he's brought up to stare into that impassive, inscrutable visor. "I-I..."

    Juno's addition makes him squeak more.

    And then Emily pipes up. The poor guy holds up both hands, then slowly reaches into his jacket, pulling out an envelope and letting it drop to the floor so it's obvious he's not pulling a weapon. "In there. Orders..."

    Piera nods a little. "We appreciate your cooperation." The Templar breaks down crying. "I... I just wanted to make a difference... they never told me this might happen."

    That visor stares, silent and implacable at the man as The Mandalorian awaits an answer. It is as he awaits the man's choice that Mando weighs his own options on how to tip the scales of the situation in the group's favor...

                Go easy on him __     _______    ____ Think About The Younglings
                                 \   /       \  / 
                                  \ /         \/ 
                                   |           |----- Complain about Droids
                                  / \         /\
       Hold Him Out The Window __/   \_______/  \_____ Brood

    But the man relents easily enough, providing everyone with the orders he had been provided.
    The Mandalorian dips his helmet in the faintest of appreciative nods.
    "You joined the wrong people if you wanted to make a difference. The Templars aren't what you think." Is all he says, lightly patting the man on the shoulder and letting someone else grab the letter.

    At Tonbokiri's rejoinder. Emily throws her hands up in the air. "Well, great," she says. "I repeat, why am I the most heroic person here!?"

    And then ... they have the info. "Okay, whew," she says, theatrically running a hand across her brow as if wiping away nonexistent sweat. "Yeah, what Mando said. You, uh ... do not wanna play on the Templar Side, I strongly recommend desertion."

  "An excellent decision, for your sake." Juno holsters her blaster with a flourish. Ultimately, she doesn't seem to care that much about the man's fate. Her eyes flick over to the envelope on the floor, stooping to retrieve it, along with a grunt of either effort or pain.

  Opening the envelope, she retrieves the letter, opening it slowly and scanning over it with narrowed eyes. Fifty-fifty whether she's got the knowledge to read it; at least, she's going to assume it's probably not written in Galactic Basic.

  She'll attempt to do so for a few seconds. "That was... much easier than I expected it to be," she comments, off-handedly.

    Tonbokiri smiles as the young fellow seems to decide he's going to help. "You wanted to make a difference, you say? Then you have, by helping us here." He bows slightly, though doesn't take his eyes off the guy just yet -- he still doesn't trust him. "Thank you."

    Meanwhile, since Juno's picked up the letter, Konnosuke moves to hop from Tonbokiri's shoulder onto Juno's. The tiny fox is abnormally light, and should hardly disturb Juno's posture. "You don't mind if I get a little footage, do you?" the fox inquires. "Just to make sure we can look at it later?"

    Piera reaches to take the letter off Juno, once she's had a moment or two to try reading it. She does let Konnosuke take a picture of the document. it's a simple letter, written in flowing itallian, which the Assassin proceeds to read, translating it. "We have detained the thief, your mission is now to search for her stashed items and retrieve the Serpent Spear, we have provided a list of locations included in this communique." a shift of the papers, reveals said list, some have already been 'crossed off'. "When you have completed your list, or discovered the Spear, return to our safehouse at Il Basilica de Santa Maria Novella. The password for entry is May the Father of Understanding Guide Us. Your initiation will be complete once you return."

    Piera looks at the others. "We have our target. I shall confer with Il Maestrae and contact you again once we have a plan of attack... we may need to enlist the aid of Signore d'Alviano's mercenarios."

    "Translation stored," Konnosuke chirps, the fox's voice sounding abnormally mechanical for a moment. Then, back to normal tone, he asks, "...Isn't that their creed anyway? Isn't that like passwording a chemical formula with 'Chemical Formula'?"

    Tonbokiri pipes up, "Such it is with those single-minded in their pursuit of a goal. Everything relates to that goal, no matter what." Looking to Piera, "We must also take care. This young man..." He pauses, to look to the fellow, and offers, "My apologies for this."

    Looking back to Piera he notes, "This young man was not the fierce defender of Templar ideals that they must have wished. We must be aware that this may have been their intention for this to happen, for this missive to reach us. It may be a trap."

    Emily extends her neck to peer over Piera's shoulder. "Nice," she says. "Nice for things to go smoothly for once!"

    ... And then she pauses at Tonbokiri's comment. "I take it back," she says. "This time, things are gonna go awesomely."

  After a second or two more of squinting, Juno realises it doesn't help much when the thing isn't written in Galactic Basic. She does hold it up so Konnusuke can get a better look at it, although she eyes the creature sidelong. The line of her shoulders is tense and still, as though letting the creature have a better perch. She even stretches the page out so Konnosuke can get a nice clear scan.

  Must not hug. Must not hug...

  As soon as Konnosuke's done scanning, Juno relaxes a little. Her arms fold as she tilts her head, slightly, at Piera's look. Her shoulder twitches, almost a shrug. "Excellent. Well, when you find out more, you know how to find myself or the Mandalorian. If you'll excuse us."

  With that, if the others have no further use for her, Juno reaches up to thumb the activation switch on her comm headset. "PROXY, we're ready for extraction. Bring the Rogue Shadow around and I'll take us out of here." She glances back to the Mandalorian, beckoning with a gesture. C'mon, big guy, time to go. "Come on, Mando. I'll take you to the Razor Crest."

    "Il Mentore had a saying. If you know it's a trap, then you can spring it in your advantage." replies Piera to Tonbokiri. "Your concern is noted however and I will bring it up with Il Maestrae."

    "As for our friend... if you wish to make a difference, I suggest you find another profession... the Templar Order are not long for this world, their ilk will be cut out by the blades of the Assassins." She looks him in the eye. "Find someone to help. Even if in a small way. Every act of kindness performed in selfless fashion, makes the world a better place."

    She straightens, looks at the assembled, then heads over to the door, knocking on it with a specific rhythm and pattern; this causes the door to open and La Volpe to push the doors open. "Feel free to stay a while if you need to... we shall ensure our little snake is taken well care of." he pauses a moment. "I mean that in the best way possible. I do understand the reputation of the Brotherhood and its allies."

    Emily nods to Piera. "Exactly!" she says cheerfully.

    She nods along with La Volpe's promise, and smirks faintly when he gets to the part of the Brotherhood's reputation. "If that's where your standards lie," she says, that edge back in her voice, "then I'm not an ally of the Assassins." She adjusts her hat, impossibly hiding her face in shadow once again, and turns to leave. "So long, 'amicidi'." (A portmanteau of 'amici'/'friends' and 'omicidi'/'murderers'.) "I'll see you around for the rescue mission, I guess ..."