World Tree MUSH

    A number of AI-crewed automated ships, all belonging to a single megacorp, have all gone missing over the last couple of weeks. One had turned back up four days later than it was supposed to, minus a lot of cargo and security droids and plus a hull breech and a half-braindead AI.
    Tracking Adrienne down for those inclined to look into the 'piracy' is maybe easier than it should be. A digital trail exists back to her requests, and those more willing or able to investigate can relatively easily find out that she's been running a large tab at a bar on one of Saturn's other moons, Mimas.
    At the moment, that bar is not terribly crowded aside from the woman of interest herself and the employees, 'Adrienne' resting her head on the table, one of her pig-shaped earrings clinking against the edge. She's been a generous enough tipper that the staff are putting up with it. For now.
    She'll perk up when her next drink arrives, holding it between her hands and watching the news on one of the projectors above the bar, alone and able to be approached.

 
 Although Muradin had been traveling through the vines quite a lot lately, he was still from a generally magic operated world where technology was only just developing. Fortunately, realizing that his lack of understanding put him at a disadvantage, the Mountain King had gotten a Shinki to aid him in these kind of situations. 
 
 "Stolen AI-Ships? Wot!? Honey, yer gonna hafta explain this one to me." Said the dwarf to his Waffebunny who then went to explain as best she could the intricacies of AI and how they could run a ship. 
 
 "Magical pseudo living ships. Got it! LET'S GO!" 
 
 Bar hopping was something the dwarf understood FAR better though, and Muradin kicked the door open to the bar and immediately paid for everyone's drink. "NEXT ROUND ON ME! HAHA!!" Hopefully this mission won't call for too much subterfuge because that was unlikely to happen with the boisterous Ironforge Thane around. Although that can be useful in certain circumstances as the dwarf walks further into the bar looking to see if there are targets of interests, with everyone now having a drink in their hand they should be perking up and showing their faces. 

Holly's from a world where such technology is common and she doesn't really understand herself, "I think someone took control of the ships or something like that." She pieces it together the best that she can. Her ghostly partners aren't too helpful in explaining what's going on. "Hi Talia and Muradin!" The witch smiles and waves to the pair. "Could I get a strawbery soda please?" Letting the mage with unstable magic drink generally wasn't the best idea.

 Servis is more helpful when it comes upon noticing the projector and then the woman sitting at the bar though, "She looks awfully similar don't you think?"

 Holly looks up at the projector herself and then the woman, "Maybe a little, but the universe is pretty huge!"

    "Ale." Talia's voice intones softly to the bartender, sliding some credits over. She's unsure if the barkeep will take these, but there ought to be some kind of currency exchange right?" Her not-too-helpful order is rewarded with a drink the barkeep thinks the green lady will find satisfactory.

    Seems the boisterous dwarf has payments covered and then some, as Muradin announces himself and promptly joins the topic before Talia can even speak. Holly at least gets a nod, so does the dwarf. "Hello."

    "We need to talk. I'm not as stupid as you might think I am." She says firmly at Adrienne, noting her pig earring. "Oink, oink. Several ships have gone out of contact since our job together. And now there's reports of piracy regarding it." Her brow narrows. "You lied to us. You made us party to piracy."

    Her stoic tone is an ice cold contrast to Muradin's boisterous attitude, and Talia shoots the dwarf a glare that says 'Be quiet. This isn't a bar crawl.'

    The green woman breathes in softly before she fixes her gaze toward Adrienne. "I want to know why before I begin to turn you in."

  With an invoice tracing all the way back to the bar on Mimas, it isn't hard to pick up the pieces and put them together. Trivial, almost, for someone with enough experience in forcing access to computer systems. By the time General Juno Eclipse has a concrete trail to follow, she already has the Rogue Shadow headed for that self-same sector.

  In person, Juno Eclipse is... maybe a little less than the impression she gives. The woman more or less permanently looks tired in more ways than one. There's a light in those shadowed blue eyes, though. She came here for answers.

  NEXT ROUND ON ME! HAHA!!

  Oh, how kind. She'd better not snub such a generous offer. The woman raises two fingers to the nearest waitstaff, pulling out a chair from the table right next to 'Adrienne,' spinning it around backwards, and plunking down on it to fold her arms over the back and stare at the young woman with the piggy earrings.

  She doesn't say anything, for now.

  She just stares at Adrienne. Besides, everyone else is going to do their own talking. No need to contribute another chef to that kitchen. No; Juno Eclipse is very patient. So she just waits, for now, like a spider content and comfortable on its web. Neither does she say a word. As of yet, it doesn't seem she feels the need to. Maybe she's waiting to hear what 'Adrienne' says.

    The place is hopping all of a sudden, and it'll get the black-haired woman to smile, particularly as the strange dwarf orders a round for those there. Since that includes her.. "Make mine the house special!" She'll call out. "Theirs too, they don't really know the menu yet!"

    The smile sticks to her face as she gets surrounded by angry and suspicious looking sorts, leaning back in her chair, taking a heavy drink from the cup she'd already had when Muradin and the others entered. The news feed doesn't actually have an accurate image of her, and at the moment is discussing more general financial news. It is a very dull program. Given that the others two fresh arrivals, the ones she didn't recently trick into piracy, are not exactly clearly fitting in, she'll wave her hands over to her table at Holly and Muradin as well. "Guess you should all have a seat, since you seem to know one another, yeah? Easier that I tell a story once instead of having to meander and repeat myself."

    She rubs at one wrist, one which was very distinctly missing a snake bracelet Talia at least would have seen her wearing before - Juno may not have, since she'd had a spacesuit on by then. "I mean, really. I'm not sure how much time you've spent in these parts, but I wasn't trying to trick anyone. Just plausible deniability for you all, in case the megacorp came knocking at your door instead of mine. Or are you here on behalf of those curs of Olympus? You shouldn't trust them, either. They make claims about the old days, but they were just as bad as that company once, and will be again." Circe may be making assumptions about how much her guests care or know about local affairs! Either way, in spite of the hostile reception she might be getting, she's drinking deeply again, just in time for her house special to arrive.

    In spite of Adrienne's request, Holly's order will indeed come back a soda. The bartender doesn't give alcohol to those who look like minors unless they ask really nicely and specifically for it.

 
 "Oh hey! Ello!" Waved over to Holly whom he actually recognized. In his many adventures through the Tree, Muradin had seen Holly Winn show up on the sidelines in some of the brawls he'd been in, but the dwarf was always too preoccupied to properly introduce himself. Similarly, he had seen Talia before in some space ship, though not in a capacity that he'd say they were well acquainted. 
 
 Not that truly mattered to the overly boisterous dwarf. In fact, as Talia glared at him to be quiet, Muradin countered with a grin that clearly said 'That's where yer wrong, kid. It's always a pubcrawl when I'm around.' Yeah.. Muradin could totally convey that with just a smile. 
 
 One thing was right though, Muradin didn't have all the details of what was going on here- he had been late to the party, but judging by Talia's reaction to this Adrienne woman she didn't seem entirely trustworthy- and really, Muradin would neve trust someone with earrings like those. Let's just be real, folks. All he could do for now was have a seat with the others and drink up! Which dwarves were well suited for. 
 
 "Aye mate, gimme the special!" Said Muradin in agreement with Adrienne as he went to sit down and join the table. "Alright lass, ye wanna tell stories? Go ahead, I'm listening." Adrienne might find rare form in Muradin who was an entirely unaffiliated party, not knowing about any Megacorps or so called Olympus curs yet. 

Holly doesn't argue with the bartender, she asked for a soda after all. The witch joins Circe at the table, with the ghostly pair floating next to her. "Olympus? Like Mount Olympus?" That's only the Olympus she's familar with. "What's that have to do with stolen spacecraft?" Holly's trying to put two and two together.

 "Maybe she's from Space Greece or something?" Lavaux suggests to her.

 "Or maybe the company she stole them is named Olympus? It would fit given the name of several astrological bodies come from Greek origin."

 Servis figures that's what is more likely.

 "That doesn't explain why she stole them though? But maybe she has a good reason for it?" The woman seems friendly enough to Holly.

    "Fine." Talia sighs. By the Force, this man is like five Mandalorians in a shrunken suit together in terms of how seriously he takes his drinking. She grabs a seat with Adrienne, and she regards Adrienne with suspicion. Her eyes examine the spacer, unsure. "I don't know what this Olympus is you're talking about." She answers bluntly. "So, no. I'm not here on their behalf.

    Holly's response does draw a curious look from the Jedi. It must be some kind of mythology thing.

  The general stays right where she is, perched on her backwards chair with arms folded over its back, staring 'Adrienne' down. Aside from the occasional shift of weight here or there to relieve the complaints of age and neglect she remains still. Her posture may be relaxed, but her eyes are sharp, fixed on 'Adrienne.'

  Juno blinks, somewhat owlishly, at the sudden conversational reversal into Olympian matters. Apparently those details are a new development. There's no recognition in the blonde pilot's eyes, and she frowns, subtly and very slowly.

  Eventually she blows out a sigh and rubs a hand over her face.

  "I'm getting too bloody old for this crap." The words are muttered under her breath. As her hand drops, she raises her voice into more conversational tones. "You took liberties with our reputations. I can't speak for anyone else in this room, but I certainly can't afford to have mine dragged through the mud. My reputation is my livelihood." Juno steeples her fingers, leaning forward incrementally. She doesn't prompt the young woman to talk. Why? Well, frankly, everyone else is doing a pretty good job of it.

  So she closes her mouth, rests her chin on an arm, head tilted at a slight angle, and she waits patiently to listen. Those glittering blue eyes are alert, though. She's coiled and ready to move at an instant's notice.

    Drinks will arrive for Muradin, Juno, and Talia. The house special brew, as requested. The red-eyed woman they're confronting will sigh and gesture at them. "Drink, already. We hardly want to make a scene. Three of us are wanted pirates, after all!"

    Probably a poor joke to make at the moment, but she's not very good at not making enemies, really.

    "I didn't actually expect that you won't know even that much, though. Are you truly that much of tourists? Not that I have a problem with it; I'm happy to be the one to make your introduction, if you'd like. And I have stolen no ships. I have no ships in my possession. I simply helped steal some cargo from one ship, and got a number of other ships lost while I figured out my anti-navigation program. I suspect most of them are either heading out of the solar system to no particular destination, though one or two might have gotten caught in the gravity well and pulled into the sun. Hope dear old dad chokes on 'em."

    She'll sigh at that, shutting her eyes for a moment, before opening them back up, piggy earrings dangling down. "The gods of old Olympus were a bunch of petty, backstabbing assholes back in the day. I should know; I'm related to them." She'll stand up, cup in hand, and make a little waving motion with her hand, before bowing down. A little bit of a tremble in her hands; she's a few drinks in already, after all. "I am Circe, a name that will have some meaning if you care to look into it. And I plan to stick it to all of them. The giant companies, trampling over every honest man, woman, and child in this world. The old gods, who would do the same if they had half a chance. All of 'em. Not kill, of course, but.. everything they hold dear should crumble into ash." She's.. rambling a little bit, here.

 
 Well, this certainly wasn't good. Muradin wasn't liking what he was hearing, not one bit. Sometimes it helped being fashionably late because if what Juno was saying he'd be labelled as a criminal right now and that would be pretty awkward for Ironforge royalty. At least he was glad that his earlier assessment was true, this woman wasn't trustworthy at all, not one bit. It didn't help that she reminded her of someone, though Muradin couldn't quite put his finger on who. 
 
 In fact, he was now not too certain he should accept the drink, but hey, he'd have to renounce his dwarven card if he refused a drink so.. bottoms up! "Oh boy." The dwarf gave a sigh as he finished gulping his drink and rubbed his temples. This was a lot more complicated than he imagined, he thought he was signing up for a simple rescue mission and now he was stuck trying to defuse something much larger that involved a few of.. well, acquaintances at least. 
 
 "Listen lady." Started the dwarf. "Nobody here cares one bit 'bout yer family affairs." If Muradin was understanding right, this Circe was part of some kind of God Pantheon and deities always had the tendency of being asses to each other. "Ye wanna give pay back to yer folks.. or these giant companies yer talking about. All the power to ya, I know a thing or two about settling grudges. But me mates here donna deserve getting wrapped up on yer vengeance, aye?" He drank a bit more of his drink. "So either tell us wot's yer plan and how that involves us, or return the things ye stole." Muradin didn't think it would be that simple but hey, had to give it a shot. Also she was obviously hella drunk, maybe he could do a bit of old fashioned tavern diplomacy. 

    Normally Talia couldn't care less about being labled a criminal. She's already a terrorist on Balmorra, she's used to being a wanted woman. Still, a Jedi can't be seen on the news helping piracy, plausible deniability or not. She folds her arms. "I'm sure you have your reasons for this, but lying to people helping you doesn't make you look good in the slightest." She says coldly. "If you have something in mind, you need to put us in the know if you want our hep. Trust goes both ways, Circe."

"Circe, the sorceress who turns people into animals? Wow! You would get along great with my roommate!" Holly believes every word she says and sounds quite impressed, she doesn't exactly have any reason to doubt her. "I'm not so great at magic myself, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong." She can't help but to admit. "So the companies were using the spaceships to oppress people? Why didn't you just tell them that to begin with?" She can't help but to be a bit confused about this.

  Without even looking, Juno reaches up and takes her drink, setting it down on the table beside her. She never looks away. It may not be hostility that she's radiating, but she's definitely alert, and intensely focused on 'Adrienne.'

  She lets Circe continue uninterrupted throughout the tirade. At the end of it, she finally blinks, somewhat owlishly. It seems she's content to observe a little more, though. Juno apparently wants more information before she passes any judgement one way or the other.

    Circe will look flatly at the dwarf, sighing and reaching a finger in to stir at her drink as he speaks up, not replying right away. Though she will brighten up a little bit at Holly, offering over a much more sincere looking smile at that recognition. "I mean, that's hardly the only thing I ever did, but it does a girl good to be recognized, you know?" She'll tip back the drink again, finishing it off and glancing at Talia and Juno, and their thus-far untouched cups. "Not fans of the drinks here? They'll be disappointed."

    "As for your accusations, I don't have any of the merchandise left. I needed what I took to conduct some small repairs on implants of my own that were malfunctioning or aging. The lion's share of the valuables were taken by... Well, by your friends. And they were valuables, more than enough to compensate for the effort and whatever reputation damage may have occured. Honestly, I didn't think anyone wouldn't see through the ruse. Those ships were carrying supplies primarily intended to make more and more clones under the company's banner, and the last thing the galaxy needs is more people being manufactured just for suffering and labor. What I've taken away is hardly a drop in the ocean of even just United Process Corporation, let alone the others. But if you want, you two can take it back to them. See if they thank you with anything other than a bullet on a shareholder report and maybe if you're unlucky another one in your cortical stack. Or your brain, if you don't have a stack."

 
 Muradin returned the flat look back at Circe, meaning what he said even if it wasn't what she wanted to hear. Though he also would turn to look at Holly as it appeared that she was the only one that knew of Circe's alleged reputation. "Turning people into animals? Really? Hardly the thing to be proud about." Muradin scoffed, and though he didn't know if this Circe had done so to people that deserved it, considering what he had seen thus far he hardly doubted it. 
 
 Muradin finished his drink and listened to Circe's spill about essentially not being able to do anything to make reparations and he sighed. "Bloody bother.." He shook his head and rubbed his beard. 
 
 "Look Circe, I could go an give ye a sermon of wot yer doing ain't helping anybody, but really Talia already said the key part 'ere. All this lying and the betrayals yer doing...." 
 
 Muradin gulped suddenly and his eyes went wide as he flashbacked. 
 
 'Ye lied to yer men and betrayed the mercenaries that fought for ye! Wot's happening to ye Arthas? Is vengeance all that matter to ye now?' 
 
 That was a trip. Muradin heard his own words in the back of his mind and he clenched his teeth looking up to Crice. 
 
 "It's gonna come back to ye, mate. All of it." Said Muradin. "Shake it off whilst ye still can, lady. Come clean now before it's too late." 

    Talia sighs, before she begins to chug her ale on the spot. It'd be a waste of good booze, at least. "Companies tend to be rather willing to shortcut the red tape if they can get away with it." She scoffs, thinking of the bloody Neimoidians. Those snakes always managed to be where the proof didn't lead. They had a habit of making evidence disappear when it benefitted them. "Fine, you've convinced me. For now. Just know you're going down a slippery road."

"I guess some details got lost along the way! You'll have to tell me the rest sometime. Implants? I thought your abilities were all magical?" Holly sounds confused.

 "It sounds like you've made some powerful enemies." Servis finally speaks up again, "Don't let her drag you too deep in her mess, Holly. The last thing you need is more on your plate."

    Circe looks rather surprised as both Talia and Muradin seem willing to at the least not force the issue of turning her in or anything of the sort. "Oh, they don't really know I'm their enemy, yet. That company doesn't even know my name, and I don't know if the family knows how much I know about the old days. Or how angry I still am, or maybe ever was. And I can't really turn people into animals anymore exactly, don't worry. We came back a little different than how we were before. But animals have always been far better company, anyways."

    She'll shift a glance over to Talia's cup, and then to Muradin's, standing once more and stretching out. "But I'd be happy to talk to you at more length about it, sometime. There's still divinity in what we do, it's just... complicated. Hard to keep all the bits in mind, sometimes." She sounds almost wistful at that, adding "You can reach out to me anytime through the communications networks here, either under Adrienne Salvador or Circe" as one last remark to Holly before glancing down.

    That may draw the eyes to where a golden snake is crawling up Circe's pants leg, and out onto her wrist. "Ah. Scylla, is it that time already..?" She'll ask, as it coils around, then solidifies in place into her bracelet once more. She'll bring that hand up to her lips, kissing the little snake drone on the head, before. "I'm afraid I must be going, but they have my payments on file here, don't worry. Drink as much of the house special as you want; I promise, there's no long term ill effects, and the security forces en route are after me, not any of you." "At that, those who have drank the alcohol may, if they are not resistent, realize that there's quite the pleasant sense of euphoria coming in the consumption of it. Far, far more than is typical for alcohol.

    Circe probably wouldn't have done that if she'd realized they might have sympathy for her, but even a friendly poisoning like this is the sort of thing people might hold against a woman later. A little bit of a uniquely socially awkward situation, realizing you've tried to poison someone in order to make an escape unnecessarily.

    "It was lovely to meet you." She'll add, towards Holly, seeming to have an affinity for a young magic user. Or maybe she's just angry about Muradin lecturing her.

    Regardless, she will attempt to make her way out of the bar with quick strides just short of running, should noone try to physically stop her.

"It was nice meeting you too!" It seems like Holly lucked out by ordering the soda, but she wouldn't have chased after Circe anyway. Of course it might take a bit for her to get mail to the sorcress. Pandemonium was only turn of the 20th century in terms of technology after all.

 
 Sure, tackling Circe, cuffing her and turning her to the authorities remained an option, but Muradin figure that fighting a veritable Goddess in a bar would leave more than a few innocent people dead, and he also wasn't sure if all of them combined could even take Circe on- he didn't know that much about her after all. 
 
 Also, oddly, that flashback with Arthas had sucked all the fight out of him. He felt angry, but also impotent, as if reminded of his failures. He couldn't help Arthas back then, and he won't be able to help Circe. Oh and his mug was empty now. All around a bad night. 
 
 Wait, was his drink poisoned? Frankly, as a dwarf it would take a -lot- more of that ale to get him to feel any kind of euphoria. 
 
 "Meh.." If anything, Muradin looked kind of depressed and made no attempt to chase after Circe as she hurriedly ran away. In fact.. he just went an ordered another drink. 
 
 "Bartender!! Get me another!!" The dwarf gave a grunt and rubbed at his beard again. Man.. he was really looking forward to an old fashioned fight, not meeting someone that reminded him of Arthas and getting his PTSD triggered. 
 
 "Gonna have to fight that woman down the road." He said to his companions pretty much certain that a confrontation in the future was inevitable. Also, where was his drink!?