"I don't understand?"

"You never understand anything, Lucas. It's simple. We go in, steal the cash, grab a girl to use as cover, kill her, then dump her. How hard is that to understand?"

"Alright, alright. Stop hounding me just because you went to school and I didn't, Adam."

"Whatever, man. Just follow my lead."

Pulling the hood down over his face, he made sure the blaster was holding a full pack and then looked over at Lucas. With a nod, the two hopped out of the speeder and ran into the building blasters at the ready.

The site that greeted them was grisly beyond compare.

Bodies were strewn everywhere. Limbs lay severed from torso's, some bodies looked as if they had been skinned. Both Lucas and Adam removed their hoods and stared around the room. Lucas was quickly turned to vomitting while Adam placed a call to the local security forces.

"What the hell happened here, Adam?"

"I don't know, Lucas... I don't know."

-An Hour Later-

"A couple of locals called it in. They said they entered the building looking for a broker to help them get a deal on a few major items for purchase on the market. When they entered, they found everything like this."

Elian surveyed the scene without the least bit of queasiness. He'd seen it before and he was sure he would see it again. It was all the same; a shot to the head, dismemberment. Either way, the end result was always a dead body and always a new case.

"Do you believe their story?"

Turning his head away from the scene, Elian eyed the man standing next to him with a blank stare.

"Of course not. They were here to rob the place. Can't prove it, though, so there's no point in holding on to them."

"You can't just let them go.."

"Sure I can. They're of no more use to this investigation and like I said, we can't prove anything. Now, you go take care of that, while I take care of this mess."

"But..."

"Shoo. Run along now, officer. Leave this job to the big boys."

The officer glowered at him before turning and strutting off like he was someone important. Elian just smiled and turned back to the mass of carnage littering the room.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, who wants to tell me their story?"

"Oh.... shit."

Elian turned around from where he was bent over a body and looked at the man who had just walked into the building. Though the mans hand covered his face, it was almost impossible for Elian not to recognize him. Shaking his head, he motioned the newcomer over as he turned back to the body before him.

"You're late, Jack. It would be good to stop spending the night at the local club and sleep at your own house for once."

"I can't help it if I fall asleep at the bar."

"Sure you can, get someone to wake you up when you do."

Elian saw Jack roll his eyes out of the corner of his eye. Jack had a nasty habit of doing that. It didn't bother him any, it was just somewhat annoying on occassion.

"So what're we looking at?" Jack asked.

"What's it look like, Jack? A party?" Elian shook his head. "Don't ask pointless questions, Jack. Remember what they tell you at the academy: always ask soup questions."

"Well, fine. How did these people die?"

"Better," he said with a nod of his head. "As far as I can tell, this is the local brokerage firm. They broker deals with people on behalf of their clients. On occassion a deal will go sour, someone gets mad, and bad relations are formed with 'The Firm' and the offended party."

Standing, Elian led Jack over to a wall where a message was painted in blood.

"'Those that hinder progress will be taken care of.' What progress they are talking about is beyond me, but then again I'm not the one looking through the companies books to find out what deals went sour."

"Word on the street is that this new crime lord had a beef with 'The Firm.'"

"Well, why didn't you say that before? Gives us somewhere to start our investigation."

"Gutless Tommy?"

"Gutless Tommy."

Gutless Tommy was the biggest rat in the entire city. You prod him a little bit and he'll spill his guts like his life depended on it. Of course, there probably were times where his life depended on it. Figuring that in, the guy still managed to get in with the local mob bosses. Nobody quite knows how.

"Tommy! How are ya?"

Elian strolled up to the table the man was sitting at and took a seat across from him. Jack had opted to remain in the speeder.

"No... not you guys again. Last time I talked to you guys Gutless Tommy nearly became gutless."

The man stood from his seat and started to walk away but Elian reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. Pulling him back towards the table, Elian motioned for him to return to his seat.

"What's the rush, Tommy? I just wanted to ask you a few questions."

"Well... I'm not answering them."

Pulling his blaster from the holster on his thigh, Elian pointed it across the table directly at the mans chest.

"Ok... ok. I'll answer them. Just... just don't shoot me."

"Good boy, Tommy. Tell me, word on the street was that the new guy had a beef with 'The Firm.' That true?"

"Yeah.. apparently."

"So you think he was behind the incident that took place over there?"

"Look, I'm just an underling I don't know any...."

Elian fired a blast from his weapon into the mans shoulder, and Tommy howled in pain. The patrons at the small restaraunt appeared startled for a few moments before returning to their meals. This was almost an everyday occurence to them so it hardly phased them.

"Did he, or did he not do it, Tommy?"

"He didn't do it personally," the mans words were rushed like he was pleading for his life. "There was.. another guy. A Ferroan I think he was. Name was Tabias, yeah Tabias."

"Last name?"

"He didn't say one..."

Elian shifted his blaster to point directly at the mans head.

"But he works out of a small place on Third! A pawn shop I think!"

"Good job, Tommy. You live another day."

Standing from his seat, Elian tossed a few coins on tha table and walked away. Taking the passenger seat in the speeder, he looked over at Jack.

"Well, that was refreshing."

"He spill his guts?"

"Of course. Take us to the pawn shop on third. We have some business to take care of."

The speeder pulled up outside of the pawn shop and parked. Elian looked over at Jack as he pulled out his blaster and checked the powerpack.

"Lock and load, Jack. This is likely to get ugly."

"So I actually get to go in. Alright then."

The two climbed out of the speeder and Elian holstered his gun on his hip again before heading towards the door. Jack walked up behind him right as Elian pulled open the door. The three men seated on the other side of the counter looked up at them.

"Good day, gentlemen. I'm looking for someone named Tabias."

"What business have ye with him?"

"Oh, you know, some questions about the little incident at 'The Firm'," Elian said casually.

The bigger men jumped up, pulling blasters from out of nowhere and moving to level them at Elian. As Elian ducked undercover, he caught a glimpse of the third man bolting towards the back of the shop. As blaster bolts went flying, Elian pulled his blaster from its holster and blew out the window to his right that led into the nearby alley.

"Jack! Take care of them!" he yelled at the top of his lungs before jumping out the window. He was just in time, too.

"Hey! Stop, Tabias!"

The little man from inside of the pawn shop had just ran out of a door and after hearing Elian pointed his blaster behind him and fired off a few shots. Elian ducked behind a crate for a moment and then jumped back to the chase.

The little man was fast, bolting down the alleys like he knew them as if they were the lines on the back of his hand. Of course, Elian then remembered that this was a Ferroan and not a human he was after. They were particularly agile from what he remembered of their species.

Turning the corner that Tabias had just turned, he watched the man nimbly jump over a low wall like it wasn't even there. Elian wasn't out of shape and quickly jumped on top of a crate before leaping over the wall. He caught the slightest glimpse of the man turning the next corner and chased after him.

Turning the corner, he ran up the three meter long alley and found himself on the always busy Main Street. Stopping, he looked all around him, trying to catch a glimpse of the man. Seeing none, he slammed his fist and his blaster against the wall before running his right hand through his hair and looking around.

"Shit. This complicates things tremendously."

Just then, a speeder pulled up in front of him and Jack got out of it.

"I followed your locator. The guys back at the pawn shop won't be a problem anymore. I had them taken down to the station."

Elian walked over to the speeder and climbed in before looking over to jack as he climbed back in.

"To the station then. We need a lead on where Tabias will go. Let's just hope he doesn't get too smart."