No Job Too Small

[Dasquian Belargic]

Early evening was settling in on Coruscant. At the foot of the steps into the Jedi Order, Jedi Knight Dasquian Belargic stood, presumably waiting for someone. With a bundle of data pads under his arm, he glanced repeatedly at his chrono. His port of call this evening would only be officially open until 7pm, and so it was imperative that he and his partner for the evening moved quickly. She was due here very soon, and so he kept his eyes on the doors into the Temple, watching for any sign.

OOC: Watch the first few posts to get a gist of what the thread is about, and contact me if you are interested in being involved.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria comes skipping down the step of the GJO Sliding down the railing for about half the distance of the steps. She was dressed in her normal tight Blue outfit, but since it was a slightly chilly evening she also had a on a bluish-white Jedi Style Robe over her normal outfit. At her waist she had her Lightsaber, and Dagger. She approches her Master....

"So are you going to tell me what we are going to be doing? Or are you just wanting to keep me in the dark?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"I have a mission for you to undertake," he explained.

"Do you have the next few days, perhaps the whole week, free?"

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria nods...

"Yup! Aside from a bit of praticing with the force, I really have nothing that I'm doing.... So what kind of Mission is this?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian motioned for Shanaria to follow him, and the two made there way to one of the benches outside of the temple. Sitting down, he began to explain: "A publishing company has reported a mission person. Coruscant City Watch is buried under a mountain of cases, so much so that this incident has almost slipped totally out of their minds. You are to visit the company's office in the Column Commons district, to speak with the branch head of Veritas Press, to gather information so that you may be able to try and find this missing courier."

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria nods...

"It sound like a rather cut and dry mission. I'm also guessing that after I talk to them, you want me to locate and return the courier. Am I correct in making that assumption?"

Shanaria pauses for a moment thinking...

"Also, Will I be doing this alone or with help?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"Your assumption is correct, Shanaria. It will be your job to uncover the courier and the reasons for his disappearance – alone. I have a datapad here for you, with a map and some basic information on the company and the area in which it is located. Other than that, you will have to rely on your own investigative prowess."

Dasquian handed over the pad. It detailed a short background of Veritas Press and their rather unsuccessful existence. They were a small business, but being as such tended to be used by rather unscrupulous characters.

"Good luck."

[Shanaria Fabool]

"Very well Master. I will get on to this right away."

Shanaria takes the datapad bows to her master, then walks off to get transportation to the company. She catches a transport that takes her 2 blocks away from Veritas Press's Office building. On the way there Shanaria is studying the datapad that was given to her.

After getting out of the transport, Shanaria thanks the driver, and walks the two remaining blocks in order to get to Veritas Press.

When she reaches the office she walks up to a person behind the front desk, pulling her bluish-white Jedi robes around her body,so at to hide her shapely form. She also corrects her posture so that as she walks it almost looks as if she was hovering, that is if a person didn't looks down at her feet...

"Excuse me... I am Shanaria Fabool of the Greater Jedi Order. I am here to speek with somebody regarding the missing courier that you reported."

[Dasquian Belargic]

The man behind the desk wrings his hands, once, twice, looking up nervously at the woman in front of him. He isn't fond of offworlders in the least, being a born and bread Coruscanti. Shifting and rubbing fingers through lank dark hair, he clears his throat and utters a croaky: "Yes. Good. I'm, eh... the assistant manager."

He was wearing a little badge that read 'P Spokes' on his flannel shirt. Shifting back in his squeaky chair, he folded his arms over his chest and eyed Shanaria up.

"So. What are you going to do about finding my man then? The Watch wouldn't do a blooming thing. I told, Mark, I told him - those lay-abouts won't help, and the Jedi, they'd sooner run a mile. Going to proove me wrong, are you?" he snorted.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria smiles and looks the man over, noticeing the name tag...

"I will do what ever I can to find the missing courier, and return him here safely. So, Mr Spokes, would you be able to give me any details on this case, Or will I have to speek to your manager?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"The manager has asked me to deal with your questions,"

He replied, with slight indignance, that hinted he wasn't so happy about this.

"The boss sent Elbee out on a routine delivery. He was taking a load of unfinished scrips down into the sublevels. He had to pick up a batch of water-resistant ink, then drop the lot off at the printing depot."

He all of his calmly, before taking on a somewhat less pleasant expression and continuing, "You know, Bribb didn't seem like he was looking forward to the drop off. It was a simple everyday thing for him, but then I can't blame him... the lower city levels are rancid. God knows how people can live down there."

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria reaches into her cloke and pulls out a datapad and starts making some notes on what Mr Spokes was saying..

"So...is it normal for this company to send deliveries to the lower levels? And can you tell me if he ever made it to the drop off point?"

Shanaria ignores the comment about people living in the lower levels, since in her spare time she has been trying to adapt a plant from her homeworld to live and grow in that dark hole of pain and sorrow. She also has made friends with a number of Jedi that use to live down there, and knows how troubled their lives where then.

[Dasquian Belargic]

"Yeah, we use the same company down there regularly. Like I said, it was routine. Elbee did this run at least twice a month, if not more," Spokes replied, shrugging.

"From what I heard, he picked up the ink, but never made it to the depot. They're only a block away from one another, I've heard. I've never been there myself... like I said, I don't like to venture down there. We leave that sort of thing to the lower level employees," he added, with a hint of arrogance.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria nods thoughtfuly ignoring the tone of arrogance...

"Can you think of any reason why Elbee would not complete a run, or Can you think of anybody that way want to stop him from completing his job?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"I didn't know Elbee. To me, he was just another courier. I don't know if people had grudges against him, but then again in this city, you're bound to pick up a few enemies along the way without even knowing it, eh?" he laughed hard, then began to cough, as though twenty years of smoking had just caught up with him. After the fit had subsided, he added, "He was a good courier though... never once missed a deadline on a delivery."

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria nods Shanaria nods thoughtfuly continuing to write notes.

"Would you be able to give me the name and addresses of all the locations on Elbee's last delivery? and if at all possable names of people at each spot that would likely have been his contacts?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"Ehm," the man picks up a datapad from his desk and begans tapping impatiently at the screen, after a while he looks up and says, "Alright, here you go... the guys who run the ink shop are two Rodians named Ardo and Breedo... this is where they're pitched..."

He turned around the pad, and pointed at a small glowing map on the screen. Once Shanaria seemed to have noted it down, he tapped a few more buttons and continued, "And the depot is run by Karlo Brask, a Coruscanti. I don't know any of the staff at either places. Only the couriers would know anyone beyond the managers."

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria finishes taking her notes, bows slightly to Spokes..

"Thank you for your help. I will return when I have more information on Elbee."

Shanaria the turns and gracefuly walks from the room and makes her way to a turbo lift that will take her to the approprate floor, and walks to the ink shop. She walks gracefuly over to the nearest person and says.

"I am wondering if there is anybody I may speek to regarding a man named Elbee?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

The lower levels were not pleasant. This shop was no exception. The counter was scruffy and the room reeked of some kind of tobacco. Behind the counter, two Rodians were talking in their native tongue. When Shanaria spoke, they fell silent. One muttered something to the other, and waved them back towards the door behind the counter. The green-skinned being made a vague smile and began to speak in accented basic - clearly not very well versed in the language.

"Ah, good greetings to you," he says, looking her up and down.

"You are being the Jedi, eh... yes, they are telling me that you are coming to speak with us. Elbee, you say. Yes, Veritas company, yes? Humanoid!" he exclaimed, seeming quite proud of his deduction, "What are you seeking to hear?"

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria walks over towards the counter, pulling out her data pad as she speaks...

"Greetings to you as well, Sir. From my understanding Elbee is a courier that works with your company on a regular bases. Is this correct?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"Yes, this is being true. Elbee is being one of our most frequent customers. Veritas company has worked with us long time," the Rodian tried to explain, idly shuffling things about on the counter in front of him, "He was even to be coming to our staff meetings as the local bar."

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria nods..

"Are you aware of the fact that he has gone missing"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"Missing, eh," the rodian laughed slightly, quickly lifting his hand to make it appear as though he was coughing, "We were knowing that it would be coming to this. It is difficult for us to be walking around in these dangerous times without our being stepping on the toes of others."

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria archs an eyebrow as she glances up from her pad, looking at the rodian.

"I'm sorry, but I'm familar with the underworld news. Would you be so kind as to explain what dangerous times you are refering to?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"Eh heh... all times are being dangerous. Not being like your peaceful upper city, this place. No Jedi being here to keep the peace," he said, with no malice or bitterness in his voice, "It is being the way of our world."

[Shanaria Fabool]

"I am aware that it is always dangerous down here. I just thought it odd that one of the lower level locals would refer to every day life as a dangerous time. Is there anything going on that would make this point in time more dangerous than normal every day life down here?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

The Rodian took a short time to reply. He busied his hands moving a few things about on the counter top, trying to avoid eye-contact with the Jedi. Finally, he looked back up, gloss-black eyes unblinking, a vague smirk on his green lips.

"You could be saying that. There is being unrest in the lower city... a gang war, you could be saying. One gang has fallen and the other is tyrannizing their opponents former territory."

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria nods slightly, forcing her self to keep a calm outward apperance, when she really was thinking....great! It had to be a gang war!...

"Do you beleave that this gang would be the most likely reason for Elbee to have gone missing?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

The Rodian gave a shrug, laughing to himself, "How should I be knowing? The depot is being in the loosing gangs territory though. Maybe Elbee was being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

[Shanaria Fabool]

"Very well. What sort of personality would you say that Elbee has. And can you describe the way he was acting the last time you saw him?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"He is always being a quiet man. Comes in, leaves. Doing his job. I would say he is being like any other man I see every day. Nothing special," the rodian replied with a shrug.

"I am being sorry I cannot be helping you any more, Master Jedi, but this much is being all that I know."

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria Smiles as she looks up for a moment at the rodian...

"You have no need to be sorry kind sir, and to tell the truth, you are being more of a help than what I was expecting when I walked through the door."

Shanaria looks back down at her pad...

"So... From my understanding the depot that Elbee would have been going to after here is only a block away. He made it here but not there. On the day that you last saw him did you hear or see anything out of the ordanary, or that may have been him being captured?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

"I know nothing about that," the Rodian replied, as he sifted through a number of data disks until finding one and searching through it, presumably just doing some work as he spoke.

"I do not leave this shop much... I am being confined to it all day. You would being having more luck with people on the street."

[Shanaria Fabool]

The way he answered her last question set something off in her mind.

This man knows more then what he is telling... she thinks to herself

She looks up from her pad with a questioning look on her face and a tone of disbeliving in her voice.

"I would think that with all the broken windows, and cracks in the walls of you shop you could have at least heard something. Expecaly since I happen to know that Rodian's have better hearing then most."

[Dasquian Belargic]

The creature narrowed his eyes.

"You is being mistaken, Master Jedi. What I have said is what I am knowing. I can be offering no more than this. Now, unless you are being wanting to buy ink, please excuse me. I have work to do."

With that said, the Rodian turned and made to leave into the backroom.

[Shanaria Fabool]

As the rodian leaves, Shanaria calls after him..

"Thank you for your time! I'll return if I find any more questions!"

Shanaria then goes to walk out the door, and towards the Depot a block away, searching the ground for anything that may help her with her search.

[Dasquian Belargic]

The street is dingy and dark. Despite the fact that it's daytime, the smog and rooftops above keep the area engulfed in perpetual shadow. From the sides of the street, grubby faces watch as Shanaria goes by. Debris and rubbish litter the ground. There are many shops, but most seem to be closed. Bars cover the windows, even though in some cases there is no glass in the panes. It is clear that this area of the city has long been abandoned by most people. Ahead, there is a small group of youths huddled around one of the closed shops, and looking down at something. One looks up and see’s Shanaria, before giving his peers a nudge. They all look at her, sneering and shaking their heads before pacing away into one of the alleys that branches away from the street.

In the distance, the Depot can be seen, a shimmer of hope amongst the rough. It has a large wooden sign which reads ‘DEPOT’ above it, making it fairly hard to miss. A speeder sits outside, rather expensive looking for this area. From within, the sounds of a heated debate can be heard.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria walks through the street, smiling at all the people that she sees. As she approces the Depot, she looks over the speeder, slipping a small tracking device on it's underside, as she walks into the Depot.

She watches the people in the Depot for a few moments, hoping to over hear something important.

[Dasquian Belargic]

From within, voices can be heard...

"Rico isn't happy."

"Well that's tough dren," a second voice groaned, in pain.

"Tough dren for you, Keso. You and your droogs have mooched off Rico far too long, you hear? So Rico sent us here to teach you a lesson. I hope you've learned it."

Inside, there were a group of men stood over another man, who it was obvious they had just beaten up. He lay battered and bruised, bleeding and unable to move, yet still scowling defiantly up at his attackers. His name was Keso, and he worked for the gang that was winning the war. The others worked for Rico, the gang leader of the loosing side.

"Frell you," Keso spat at Chen, the ringleader, who kicked him in the teeth for his kind gesture. Now spitting blood, Keso seemed to have learned from his second mistake now to bite back once again.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria pulls her cloke Around her, hiding the lightsaber from view. Though one of her hands is under the cloke ready to grab it. She walks completely into view of the men and says in a soft voice....

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know Keso had company! Is there any way I can help him? I wouldn't want him to get hurt any more than he already is."

Shanaria has taken on the role of the inocennt young lady, hoping that they would not expect her to be a threat.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“You can help by getting the frell out of here,” one of the thugs said, jabbing a pudgy finger at Shanaria. Chen shook his head down at Keso. “Calling in a broad to help you, Keso. That’s just low.”

THWAK- his boot hit Keso once again.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria winces as she sees and hears the kick on Keso.

"I subjest that you do not do that Again."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Chen fixes an arrogant smirk on Shanaria.

“Oh really?”

THWAK.

“And what…”

THWAK

“If I do?”

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria Winces again at the other kicks, but gets her composure again, and calms herself letting the force flow through her.

"This!"

Shanaria casts out her hand that is not in her cloke force throwing the man over the counter towards the wall. She places herself in front of the Exit and draws her lightsaber, activating it.

As her Blue Blade springs from her hand she says.

"Stay where you are! You are all under arrest by Order of the GJO!"

[Dasquian Belargic]

The thugs eyed widen. Instantly, everyone begins to run. At least, everyone but Chen. They bolt out of the room, as Keso laughs at the irony of the situation. "Jedi?" Chen sneers. "You can't arrest me. You don't know dren about how this place works. Your voodoo has no sway down here. Now get out before Rico's boys get back here with more than just a glowing stick to sort you out." Still chuckling, Keso coughed, "You better get out, Chen... Jedi are quicky to fight. This one looks feisty... she'll have you on the floor in no time."

[Shanaria Fabool]

Just as the first thug is reaching the door, Shanaria uses the force to slam the door in his face. She then uses a Jedi mind trick on Chen saying

"You want your men to stand down and step away from the door."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“I want my men to step away from the door,” Chen blinked, looking at the gang members, “Quit fooling around,” he said, in a hollow tone. “Could use a little medical attention down here?” choked Keso, frowning.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria quickly approches the Thugs, throwing them all to the wall, face first. She then put away her lightsaber, and quickly ties all the thug's and Chen's hands together, behind their backs so that all of them are tied back to back, with some rope lying in the corner of the room. She then takes a med kit out from under her cloke and quickly patches up Keso so that he will live.

She stands and looks at all the men...

"So would one of you men please tell me what was going on here?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

A couple of the men were knocked unconscious from hitting the wall. The others simply refused to co-operate, grumbling about ‘heavy-handed Jedi scum’. Keso, on the other hand, was willing to talk.

“They’re Rico’s boys… Rico is in charge of the gang that has hold of this sector.”

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria takes out her note pad, and starts to write stuff down.

"Okay... So why were these gentlmen expressing their aggresion towards you Keso?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Cos I won’t lick their boots like every other dren in this sector. They think that since they’re in charge they can just make us do what they want, but I’m not standing for it,” he said, indignant, “They won’t last long.”

[Shanaria Fabool]

"Your right. It will not last for long."

Shanaria clears her voice, and helps Keso up on to a chair.

"Now I would like to ask you what you know about Elbee's disapearance, since that is the real reason why I was comming to see you."

She looks at the tied up thugs...

"Also if any of you could tell me what you know about it, that would also be nice."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Elbee?” Keso wore a blank expression, but one of the thugs looked as though they were remembering something. It was time for him to snitch. “The delivery guy? Rico thought he was running spice… locked him up.”

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria says giving the people's minds a nudge towards compliance with the force..

"Would any of you be so kind as to direct me ot Rico, so I may talk to him about Elbee's release."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Now Keso pipes up, “You can’t miss their base. It’s the old Tasty Meat warehouse, two blocks south.”

[Shanaria Fabool]

"Thank you very much."

Shanaria bows, and looks around the room.

"Do you have a hoverlift I could borrow? I would like to deliver these men to the athorities."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Keso frowned and shook his head, feeling a mixture of thanks and anger all in one. Surely she wasn’t going to just leave him here with them? The thugs and Chen, on the other hand, didn’t make a sound. They had already said enough and knew they were in trouble.

[Shanaria Fabool]

"Thank you anyways, I'll find something I can use and I'll be right back."

Shanaria looks outside the building and finds a loose door She pickes it up and takes it into the building, she slides it under the tied up thugs and Chen with the assitance of the force lifting people as neaded and ties the rope to the door now under them. She then uses the force to lift the door and dragg it out of the building and up towards the upper levels. She pulls out her comm link and calls her Master.

"Master. This is Shanaria fabool. I have a number of thugs in my custudy, and have found out what has happend to Elbee, the deliver boy. And Would like instruction of How I should procede from here."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“I’ll inform the Watch and have them send some officers down to meet you, to take the men to the Watch yard. Once they’re there, you should procede with your investigation until you have successfully recovered Elbee from wherever he may be.”

The communication link shut off. Within fifteen minutes a Watch speeder had pulled up at the scene, and Shanaria was thanked for apprehending wanted men. Keso was taken also, for questioning purposes. The Watch officers pulled away, banking upwards towards the city proper, leaving once again alone. The street was quiet now. All that was left now was for the Jedi Padawan to locate the headquarters of Rico. No doubt the gang members therein wouldn’t be too pleased with what Shanaria had done.

[Shanaria Fabool]

After the thugs are taken from her, Shanaria starts to walk back down to the depot, and then two blocks south of there. It didn't take her long to find the old Tasty Meat warehouse. Shanaria desides to survey the out side of the building before going any further.

[Dasquian Belargic]

The building is three floors high. The windowpanes are caked in dust, and boarded from the inside. The old sign with the Tasty Meat company logo on it has been defaced with graffiti and symbols of unknown meaning. There appears to be only one entrance to the building – a large pair of durasteel doors. There is no handle, but instead an inter-com unit, with a button that presumably patches through to an employee on the inside. There is a large dumpster in front of the building and a window not too far above it – it is the only window not covered somehow, and beyond it, lights and a spinning fan can be seen.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria approches the dumpster, she acts as if she is interested in what is in the dumpster, climbing over, around and in the dumpster as if she was looking for something, but really she is trying to get a look in the window.

[Dasquian Belargic]

When Shanaria strains enough, she is able to see just over the edge of the window. Inside, the building is open plan. The roof of the first floor has been partially broken, allowing partial sight into the second floor. Some of the crates of the original owners of the warehouse still seem to be strewn about on the floor. The room isn’t very well lit, though a small party of men can be seen playing cards around a glow lamp, which illuminates a small patch of the room. The clear outline of weapons can be seen on the table which they are all sitting around.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria looks around to see if there is any way she could get on to the roof of the building...

[Dasquian Belargic]

Three floors is far too high to climb, that much is sure. There is a ladder strapped to the wall not far from the dumpster, but it does not look particularly stable, and only goes half way up the way – presumably to a safety exit or something of that manner. It seems like whoever is in charge of the building has gone to great lengths to ensure that there is only one method of getting in and out. That is, unless you are willing to take a few risks…

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria looks around the building a bit more, then desides to try and take the ladder up hopeing that she can at least make it to a second floor window with the ladder.

[Dasquian Belargic]

It seems the Force is with the Padawan. When Shanaria reaches the top, she is able to pull herself onto a platform. It doesn’t feel at all stable, but at least she’s gotten up to where the escape exit is. It’s right in front of her now, just waiting to be opened. From the looks of things, the lock mechanism has long since worn out – fortunate for the Jedi, it would seem. Then again, perhaps there are more security measures beyond the door.

As the door swings open in a light breeze, the sound of discussion can be heard. Ahea is a dark walk way, illuminated only partially by the central light in the second floor. At the opposite end of the room there is a set of stairs, and ahead on her left is the hole that looks down into the first floor.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria slips into the building, and quietly walks over to the hole in the floor, keeping herself to the shadows of the dark walkway. She looks down the hole to see what she can. And uses the force to enhance her hearing to se what parts of the conversation she can hear.

[Dasquian Belargic]

From her vantage point, Shanaria can see a fair bit. The men playing cards are more clearly visible now. There are six of them at the table. Other men, who could not be seen from outside, are doing something – exactly what, is not clear – in a more shadowy area of the room. The weapons array is not quite as large as it appeared from outside. A rodian mills about the table, straightening out the rifles, refilling their energy caches as he goes. As the men play cards, they talk in hushed voices.

“I’m out,” one humanoid says.

“Already? You frelnik,” another laughs, shaking his head as he takes a swig of something.

A rodian sat at the table shifts eagerly, “Come on, deal already.”

Reaching out into the middle of the table, a bulky oaf of a figure plucks something fleshy off a plate, “Ne ompee doe gaga punta?” it snorts, as it lifts the thing to its snout-like nose, sniffing the morsel.

“Yeah, it’s fresh. Eat up fatty,” a pale-looking humanoid sniggered.

The chunky creature, possibly an Ugnaught, rises up to its feet and the whole table seems to become instantly nervous. They look up at it, as it glares down at them, slurring something in Huttese at them before socking the twitchy rodian in the face with a tight-fisted punch.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria uses the force to find out how many peopel are down on the next floor, and looks around to see if there is anything down there that shows any sign that Elbee was here.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Through the use of the Force, Shanaria can not only feel the six men at the table, there are another six milling about. The presences of some are fainter than others – perhaps they are sleeping. There is no sign of Elbee down below, nor any sign of a recent struggle. One of the presences within the Force begins to move, entering the light down below for a moment – it is a man, armed with a sidearm pistol. He heads out of Shanaria’s view, and she begins to sense him somehow rising upwards…

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria mutters a few rude comments to herself expresing her frustration. Shanaria looks outside the way she came and sees a pile of scrap. She picks up a peice of the scrap and uses the force to fling it at the outside of one of the lower windows, hoping to distract the guards and get them to go outside and see whats going on outside.

[Dasquian Belargic]

The guard rising upward suddenly pauses, then begins to move downwards once more. He can be seen ambling back through the light, as another man gets up and follows him. The group at the table have broke out into a full blown argument, with two men trying to hold the Ugnaught back from delivering anymore blows to the already swollen Rodian.

“Do cha bree do nah!” the brute barked, breaking free of the men holding him – knocking one out in the process – as he went for the Rodian again.

The two guards who had gone t investigate what was going on outside seemed to have disappeared, while another two got up to come and try and intervene in the fight, or at least watch it.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria smiles as she looks at the two that were comming to watch the fight. She notices that on of them is slightly behind the one of the people trying to stop the fight. So she uses the force to punch the one that the other was behind in the back of the head, and then send a quick mind trick to the one that was hit making him think that the newly arriving guard hit him.

She was hoping to start an all out brawl between the men on the lower floor, just so that it will make her life easer to apprehend them if they were already beaten up.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Just as the Jedi Padawan hopes, the intoxicated and easily angered guards soon are throwing hits left right and center. One is floored by a single hit from the fist of the Ugnaught. Another fights back, moving quickly, landing hits of his own. Within no time, there are only a handful of the guards still standing – some are unconscious, others are pretending to be. Then, out of nowhere, the sound of blaster fire breaks in the tumult. All became silent, and the sound of metal against metal was heard, footfalls crossing the room. Out of the darkness, and into Shanaria’s line of sight, there came a tall, slim figure, dressed all in some kind of battle armor. He held a pair of pistols, and wore a visor of some kind.

“What are you doing?” he asked in a calm voice.

There was no reply. He took a step forward.

“I asked…”

His hand shot out, grabbing one of the lanky guards by the throat, pulling him in and jamming the nose of one blaster into his ribs.

“What the hezmana are you frelniks doing?!”

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria keeps herself quiet and continues to watch and listen to the man with the battle armor. She suspects that he is the leader, and would likely know where Elbee is, but for the moment she just sit's tight and hopes she will hear someting that will be helpful to her assginment.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Sorry, Rico.”

The group, collectively, hung their heads. Even the Ugnaught slurred an apology.

“You’re damn right you’re sorry. Who do you think you are? I pay you good money to watch over my place, and what do you do? You throw my generosity back in my face.”

The man, now identified as Rico the leader of the gang that was in control of this sub sector, shook his head in disgust. He motioned his blaster around the area, “You’re going to clean this all up, then you’re going to get off your lazy good for nothing rears and get patrolling.”

The men nodded slightly.

“I didn’t hear you,” Rico snapped.

“Yes, sir!”

And with that, the men began to pace away, as Rico himself sat down at the now empty card table, inspecting the bottle of cheap whiskey that one of the players had left behind.

[Shanaria Fabool]

After the men have left to do their patrols, Shanaria goes to find a way down to the first floor. She heads over to the spot there she was sencing the guard comming up to the second floor, she finds a set of stairs there and makes her way down, making sure that her cloke is tightly around her and her hood is up, saying...

"Hello Rico... I beleave you and I need to have a bit of a talk."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Without even looking to see where the voice was coming from, Rico held one blaster out towards her. With a squeeze of the trigger, a bolt shot from the gun and buried into the ground in front of Shanaria’s feet. He smirked, looking down at the bottle in his hands still. The miss was unintentional, just a warning shot, to show who was in control. “Oh really? What could I possibly want to talk about with a frelnik such as yourself, who spends their time creeping about in warehouses?”

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria stops as the blaster bolt hits the floor ah her feet. She says to him.

"I assure you, if you value your life, you do not want to fire that blaster at me again..."

She then goes to approch a little more.

"Why would my boss wish to work with a man that can't even stop a frelnik like myself from just walking into you base like it was a public art studio?"

She stops at the bottom of the stairs.

"The Boss sent me to speek to you about a deal that could make you very rich."

Shanaria didn't know who The Boss was but She had heard a number of Thugs in the lower levels refer to him as symply 'The Boss', and she had also learned that he was leading a very large crime sinidacte in the Deeper parts of the lower levels. She was hoping that this man would have heard of 'The Boss' and would allow her to continue her bluff.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“The Boss should know that I’m already very rich,” Rico sneered, lifting the whiskey bottle.

“You know why I didn’t stop you coming in here?” he asked, looking up at Shanaria, pressing the whiskey to his lips for a sip.

“Because I wanted to give that pretty blue face of yours a closer look.”

For a moment, he looked serious, before he burst out laughing.

“Get the frell out of here.”

[Shanaria Fabool]

"Alright since your not interested..."

Shanaria Use the force to yank the Blaster out of Rico with a sharp powerful pull, unless Rico is a force user himself, there is not much hope of him keeping his grip.

If everything goes well, then Shanaria will be holding the blaster pointing it at Rico.

"... We will have to talk this way."

[Dasquian Belargic]

She may have taken one blaster, but he still had another. Then again, he wasn’t interested in a gun fight. Whoever this upstart was, she’d be dead in a matter of minutes when the guards returned. Until then…

“So talk,” Rico sneered. “I’m listening.”

[Shanaria Fabool]

"It has come to me and my bosses attention that you are holding a man by the name of Elbee. What can you tell me of his location."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Rico looked at the woman with genuine indifference.

“Elbee? I know one thing – he isn’t here,” he said. Shanaria would be able to sense that he was speaking sincerely.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria Narrows her gaze at Rico...

"Then ether you should get some body to bring him here, or tell me where he is, before I have to make things get messy in here."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Nonchalant, Rico shrugs.

“You can threaten me all you want, but it won’t do any good. I don’t know where he is. Frell, I don’t know who he is.”

[Shanaria Fabool]

"He is a courier that works for Veritas Press. He was taking a load of unfinished scrips down into the sublevels. He had to pick up a batch of water-resistant ink, then drop the lot off at the printing depot. He never made it to the depot. I went and checked at the Depot and met up with one of your men. He told me, after a bit of convincing, that you had him locked up because you thought he was running spice."

Shanaria pulls out her lightsaber and activates it. still keeping the blaster in her other hand pointed at Rico.

"So now do you remember him, or do I need to start cutting this place to pecies?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

Rico eyes the lightsaber warily, glancing from the tip of the blade into the face of the woman wielding it. He knew now, with certainty, that she was a Jedi. “So it comes to this- Jedi roughhousing people for information, and I thought you kids were better than that,” he said, clucking his tongue in distaste. “Alright, so I remember Elbee. We had him in a holding cell for a while, but he’s long gone. Two of the boys took him and sent him on his way home. Once he’s out of this place, he’s out of my jurisdiction, so to speak, and I’ve got no reason to keep watch on him. Alright?”

[Shanaria Fabool]

Since it is clear that he knows she is a Jedi she just drops the act.

"Alright. but ether way you are still under arrest, for Kidnapping and Extortio. I'm sure We will find more on you, but thats the stuff I have proof on right now. *starts using a mind trick* So press your face to the wall and put your hands behind your back."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Rico complied. He did not know why, but he felt like he should. He got to his feet and kept his hands behind his back. “What the frell…” he tried to move to get away, but found he didn’t want to, oddly.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria is grateful that Rico is not one of those force using crime bosses. It would make it alot more difficult if he could resist her mind tricks. She uses the force to call some rope to her hands, and uses this rope to tie up Rico's arms. She takes his weapons then uses another mind trick as she says...

"Tell me exactly what you had your men do with Elbee."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“First they put him in a cell,” he begins to explain, frowning that his lips are moving when he doesn’t want them to, “and then when they took him out they watched him to the edge of our turf and then left him to go.”

[Shanaria Fabool]

Continuing with her mind trick she asks...

"Give me the precise location of where your men last saw him, And what direction was he walking in."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Rico grunted and groaned in annoyance, “I don’t know. Once they’re off our land, I couldn’t give a dren. I don’t monitor where every idiot courier boy who ends up in my cells wanders off to!”

[Shanaria Fabool]

"Alright..."

Shanaria pulls out her communicator, and calls up Dasquian.

"Master. I have apprehended the leader of the gang that captured Elbee. He is suseptable to my mind tricks, and I have questioned him about Elbee's location. They apparently let him go. And I have no futher leads on where to look for him. I am requesting direction on where I should go from here."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Canvassing the public for information might be helpful. See if any of the locals have seen Elbee. Records show there is a morgue within the vicinity. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but perhaps speaking with the proprietor would be a good idea.”

[Shanaria Fabool]

"Alright Master. Though if you could send some more people down to take the leader of this gang, and a few of his men off my hands?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

“There is a City Watch patrol headed down there now. They should be there momentarily.” Sure enough, within a few minutes some officers from the metropolises law enforcement team had arrived to take care of Rico and his gang.

[Shanaria Fabool]

After the gang is taken off of Shanaria's hands, she makes her way to the near by morgue that Dasquian mentioned over the comm. It only takes a few moments for her to arrive there. She walks in through the main doors and starts to look around the main entrance hall.

[Dasquian Belargic]

A small man in half-moon spectacles approaches Shanaria, smiling emotionlessly at her. “Can I help you with something?” he asks, looking over the top of a clipboard.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria turns and faces the man.

"yes, I think you may be able to help me. I'm looking for a man that may be dead. He would likely be dressed like a courier for The Veritas Press. His name is Elbee."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“May be dead? You mean you don’t know?” The man peered at Shanaria from behind his glasses, squinting as he scrutinized her with tiny, beetle black eyes. After a moment, he turned and began to walk very slowly away. The room was furnished predominantly in stainless durasteel that looked cold and harsh. On one of the many tables there was a small computer terminal, which the man operated with some difficult.

“Elbee… Elbee… well, we had an Edna Elbee in a few months back, but no recent arrivals.” The man wet his lips with his tongue, as he puzzled over his thoughts a while longer. “Veritas Press, was it? … You know, my nephew said something earlier about finding one of their swoops up-turned outside.”

He motioned that Shanaria should follow him as he waddled to the single solitary window the room possessed, and pointed down into the alley beside the morgue. There, looking more than a little worse for wear, was a swoop bike. It had the Veritas Press insignia emblazoned on its side. “Looks as though there was a scuffle…” he remarked, eyeing the assorted debris that surrounded the scene – scattered papers, that seemed to trail off into the shadows.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria smiles at the man.

"Thank you sir. I'll just go out there and take a look."

Shanaria walks out of the building and goes to take a look around the swoop, looking through the papers, looking under the Swoop, and even using the force to lift the swoop and the assorted debris that surrounded the scene a small chunk at a time.

[Dasquian Belargic]

On the closer inspection, it looks as though it was once attached to the back of the bikes seat, but has been torn free – leaving some material still attached, while the bag itself has disappeared without a trace. This has caused the shower of papers all around the area. As could be seen from the morgue room, the debris makes a trail into the shadows created by the overhang of the buildings around. At the edge of this murk, a tramp sits half-asleep, apparently blissfully unaware of the foul stench that Shanaria can smell.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria Goes to follow the trail of Dibris into the shadows, putting her hand down to her lightsaber as ventures forward slowly. Looking for any sign of Elbee.

[Dasquian Belargic]

It became clear quickly that the path Shanaria is walking is not one traveled by many people, and for good reason. Dark, dank and littered with all manners of nebulous forms, it cut a winding path downwards, an apparently endless slope. To both the left and right of the path there were structures, though they were indistinguishable due to a lack of light. Overheard, something blocked out the sun. Evidently, the Padawan was making her way into the lower cities.

It was difficult to say how much time had passed, but eventually a noise other than Shanaria’s own footsteps could be heard. Ahead, a soft, wet moan permeated the silence. The sounds of a beings last breaths, ragged and fearful. “Help…” was all the being could muster. A young woman lay barely alive against a wall. Her body had been removed from the hips down, and she was bleeding profusely, clearly on the brink of death.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria looks at the young lady, wondering how she could still be alive, but she didn't dwell on that thought for long. She rushes to that lady's side and goes to try and calm her, as she uses the force to try and slow the bleading, and bandage the girl.

"Everything will be alright, I'm a jedi. I'll make sure you are taken care of." Shanaria says in a calm tone hoping the woman will feal more at ease. "I'm going to put you in a trance in order to give you more time with the living."

Shanaria goes to put the woman into a stasis trance, but slowing down her brain activity, and telling her body to sleep. Once the lady is asleep. Shanaria pulls out her comm unit, calling her master again.

"Master, I've found a lady that has been cut in half. She is still alive. I've put her in a stasis trance , and I'm doing what I can to slow or stop the bleading, But I'm not a healer I can't save her on my own. I don't want to let her die."

[Dasquian Belargic]

The alarming message reached Dasquian immediately. Currently in the halls of the Temple, he turned from his original course and made a beeline towards the med-bays. “I’m on my way to the medical wing now. Someone will be there as soon as possible.” Yet, in spite of the assurance in his voice, guilt rose in his chest. Somehow, he knew already that the woman would not live. As if the Force had heard his thoughts, the dreamless sleep of the invalid ended. Another light in the world flickered out.

Shanaria had no less than a second to grieve for her, however, before a more immediate threat presented itself. A guttural snarl broke the silence and a creature that appeared half-man half-beast sprung out of the darkness. Two others followed it. Returning for their unfinished meal, they were evidently not pleased to see someone interfering with it. Without hesitation, they lunged with curled fists and scathing claws for the Jedi.

[Shanaria Fabool]

Shanaria looks up from the now dead woman saying into the Comm unit.

"Don't bother, She didn't make it. At least she died with some hope in her eyes, and pain free in her sleep."

At this point The creatures come out of the darkness. Shanaria drops her comlink, with her master still on the other side. It lands on the lady's body wit the microphone portion up. Shanaria quickly draws her lightsaber acctivating it, she steps back and swings her saber so that it will just skim the claws and fists comming at her.

She says to the creatures, with a slight hint of mind mind trick in her voice.

"I don't want to hurt the group of you. but if you attack me I will defend myself!"