It was a dreary day, with dark clouds overhead dumping acidic rain onto the streets of the city below. Normally a place of order, Garalory was a larger residential commercial mix located on the forest planet of Ynos. Lately though, the town had been struck by a series of crimes that were not particularly violent, yet terrifying in the precision and speed of which they were pulled off. The town’s populace was beginning to think their police force as useless in stopping the crimes, and they would soon become a town ruled by gangsters and criminals.

The lit end up of a cigarette could be seen, glowing in the darkness under the overhang of a small bank. A man with curly dark hair was peering down at a rain-soaked paper, reading the headlines about the latest crime committed and how the police were nowhere near figuring out the culprits. The rain had smeared most of the words, but the larger print was still visible. Crime Spree Continues As Local Bank Is Raided. The man chuckled to himself and flicked his cigarette onto the ground, a small hiss being brought forth when the lit end touched the wet pavement. He tossed the newspaper into a trashcan near the doors of the building and pulled his collar up around his neck.

Frank Statorri was an average height human, his curly black hair and clear complexion giving off the look of someone far more innocent then himself. A career criminal who had survived massive gang wars on various other planets and come out of them without scars, he was currently working with his partner, Jason Knightly. The two were responsible for the current crime wave sweeping through Garalory, as well as an untold amount of crimes on other planets throughout the system.

He walked along the street, slowing down as he reached a high-rise apartment building and turned to walk inside. He shook the rain out of his hair as he walked into the lobby and stopped a moment to grab the mail out of the mailbox assigned to his apartment. He checked the return addresses and found them to be nothing more then junk mail and the rent for the next month. He tucked them under his arm and bound up the stairs two at a time, drawing his key out of his pocket as he did so. Stopping at room ninety-seven, he slid the key into the lock and wiggled the doorknob until he heard the click of the lock.

A loud chirp greeted him as he stepped into the three-room apartment and tossed the mail down on the table, skewing a few pencils. Jason looked up from the couch and then turned his attention back to a news report on TV detailing descriptions of the people who had been committing the crimes in Garalory.

“Look at this, Frankie. They got you all wrong here. They say you’re short with cropped blonde hair and pretty solidly built, while I’m tall and have dark curly hair and am skinnier then hell. Does that sound anything like us?” His blonde comrade joked, flipping the TV off and taking the bird off the couch next to him to return it to its cage. It nibbled affectionately on his finger before ruffling its dark blue feathers as he crammed it back into the oversized cage that took up a fair share of one corner of the room.

“I don’t think so, but even if it did, we don’t have much to worry about. Half the population would match that description. Damn, it’s wet out. I did accomplish something while I was out though.” Frank said, tossing his wet jacket onto a coat hook and going to make himself up a cup of caf. “That bank we’re planning to hit closes at five, but one of the tellers stays behind to lock up until six. Past two nights it’s been this really cute blonde, you’d like her.” Frank joked, taking a sip of the warm drink and sitting down at the table, tossing the mail onto the counter.

“From what we’ve got figured, they have alarms here, and here, right?” Frank pointed at two spots on a set of blueprints that resembled the bank he had been standing outside of earlier that evening. Jason took a seat at the table and nodded, picking up a pencil and marking three x’s along the walls of the building.

“This is where I spotted the cameras when I was in there this morning. I figure that if we get in there and set up a pair of infra-red spotlights, we’ll be able to blind all three and have our way with the safe.” Jason grinned, always seeming to get excited at the thought of using some of his own, hand made equipment. He’d been waiting to use his infrared ‘camera blinders’, as he called them, since he had built them three weeks prior. Frank laughed and shook his head, but knew that Jason’s equipment would work for this.

“I think we should also use some of those sonic charges to get into the safe.” Jason continued, prodding the blueprints with his pencil. “I got a good look at the safe door when I was in there too, and it’s one thick mother.”

“Makes sense. This is the primary branch for this banking company, there’s bound to be far more then we could imagine in there in cash. The teller showed me inside the other day when I was inquiring about an account and how they store their cash funds, and a pretty conservative estimate puts the contents at maybe fifteen million cash, as well as the safety deposit boxes and whatnot. That’s seven point five each.” Frank smiled, taking a long sip from his drink and setting the now empty cup down on the table. “My vote is for tomorrow at 5:30. We can slip in with the spotlights blazing, then I’ll subdue the teller while you get our equipment set up.”

“You get to wrestle the cute blonde into a chair and tie her up, while I play around with this junk?” Jason groaned, faking sadness as he nodded at the pile of tools and other equipment that rested in the corner of their apartment. Frank nodded and shrugged, then stood up and put his coffee cup into the sink and sat back down at the table. He stared down at the blueprints and rubbed his eyes, trying to think over the situation more clearly.

“We open the doors and you set stuff up while I run and grab the teller and tie her to a chair. Then you’re going to disable the alarms with your handy-dandy screwdriver while I cash into the back and begin setting the sonic charges to the safe. Once I’ve got those set up, we pull the teller back to a safe spot and set off the charges. Now, assuming that doesn’t set off any alarms, we’ll be free to load the bags at our leisure, up until maybe 6:30 when the teller’s family or friends might start wondering where she is. Think we can be in and out with everything in an hour?” Frank explained and asked, pointing to various sections of the blueprint as he got to each part of the plan. Jason shrugged.

“We’ve done it before, haven’t we? What’ve you got to worry about?” Jason asked, twiddling his pencil between his fingers and glancing back at the bird in the corner that was creating quite a ruckus over being put back in its cage. Frank glanced down at the blueprints again and smiled.

“You’re right, we’ve got nothing to worry about this time. This plan is flawless, nothing can go wrong.” He said with a grin, slapping his partner’s shoulder and laughing. “I’m going to go to bed early though and get up early to do a thing or two before we pull this off. See you in the morning, Jason.” Frank continued, pushing his chair away from the table and walking off to his bedroom. Jason waved and called ‘goodnight’ after his friend, then turned to look at the bird in the cage.

“If you’re going to keep complaining like that, maybe I’ll just keep your treats and et them myself.” Jason said, walking towards the birdcage and grabbing a bag full of treats, pulling out three or four of them and showing them to the bird, which stopped jabbering for a minute before starting up even louder and seeming to be mad about having its treats threatened. Jason shrugged and popped one into his mouth and chewed for a second before spitting it out into his hand. He couldn’t help but gagging and tossed the treat into the garbage, then put the others back into the bag. “Don’t know how you can stand those at all, Bird. They taste awful.”

“Sucker.” The bird wheezed, turning its head sideways until it was at a ninety-degree angle to what it was before and peering up at its owner.

“Smart ass. Never should have taught you to talk.” Jason said to the bird, shaking his head to himself and flopping back down on the couch. He turned on the TV and found a comedy holo playing, but fell asleep before the first few jokes had even been said.

*** 2 ***

Frank spit the toothpaste into the sink and rinsed his mouth out with water. Taking the towel from around his neck and running it through his hair once more, he hung it up on the back of the bathroom door and pulled a black turtleneck on. The rain from the night before had cooled the air in the city and most people were bundled up with light jackets and sweatshirts. Frank shook his head at Jason, who was still sleeping on the couch with the TV on, and remembered to feed the bird on his way out the door. Bird chirped his thanks as Frank unlocked the door and stepped outside into the hallway.

Ugh. That’s not a wonderful colour you want to wake up to. They couldn’t have painted the hallways any brighter with this sickening shade of yellow, could they? He thought to himself as he glared at the horrible yellow wallpaper that adorned the halls. Every morning he stepped out the door and slammed his eyes shut as if someone threw sand at his face. Why not something nice, like a light blue or maybe a soft red. Something people don’t want to gouge their eyes out when they see. He thought to himself as he bypassed the lift doors and jogged down the stairs.

He reached the bottom floor and turned to the mailboxes, sticking their mail key into the one labeled ‘97’ and twisting the lock. He pulled the mail out and began his normal routine of glancing at the return address of each letter. None of them stuck out at him until he reached one in the middle of the stack and stopped in mid-step, causing a grumpy neighbor to bump into him and grumble a few swears at him.

Frank didn’t even give a witty response like he normally would, but instead just remained silent and turned around, dashing back up the stairs. When he reached his apartment he threw the door open, but it bounced back at him as it hit something a lot sooner then it normally would have.

“Ow! What the hell?!” Jason said, rubbing his hip where the doorknob hit him as he swung the door open with his other hand. Frank didn’t reply, just pushed past him and tossed the rest of the mail onto the floor except for the envelope he held in his hand. He grabbed a knife off of the counter and wiped the nerf butter on it onto a dishtowel before using it to slice the top of the envelope open and read the contents.

Dear Frank,

It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen you, but as you can tell by the presence of this letter I’ve managed to track you down. It’s been a long few years Frankie, a long few years without the five million credits you stole from me before you fled like a dirty coward. Well, I have some pleasant news for you. I’m going to be arriving at Garalory tomorrow, and I won’t be alone. My friends and I will be expecting you to have my money, ready to be paid in full.

I hate to come calling at a time that’s inconvenient for you, but sadly, I need the money to cover a new deal I’m making in a mid-rim world. You’ve been in the business for a while, I’m sure you know how you can let a thief go for a while but always end up having to come back to him at some point. You, Frankie, are that thief. I expect my money, or I’ll do worse then kill you. I know of a few people who’d be willing to pay me that amount plus a little extra for you, alive and well.

See you tomorrow, Frankie.

The letter ended without any salutation, but at the bottom of the page were a few drops of wax, stamped into them an emblem that had smeared slightly but Frank obviously recognized.

Frank re-read the letter a few times with his mouth open, but set it down on the table and laid his head down on his folded arms. He shook it a few times, trying to clear the cobwebs and allow himself to consider the situation clearly.

“It can’t be, Jason. We came here because I figured he’d never track us to this place. Maybe we attracted too much attention to ourselves, I don’t know. All I know is that he’s found me and he’s coming here tomorrow!” Frank said; his voice growing from a whisper to near yelling by the time he finished his statement.

“Who?” Jason asked, grabbing at the letter but being unsuccessful as Frank pulled it out of his reach before he could read any of it. Jason again demanded ‘who’, but Frank was too upset to answer the question.

“Who do you think? He’s coming after me now, man, and I don’t have any way to stop him or pay him back. He’s going to turn me in to bounty hunters or something, and I don’t even want to think of what some of those guys want to do to me.” Frank continued, now yelling but sounding absolutely distressed. Jason grabbed at the letter again, this time with success. He pulled it from Frank’s hand and scanned the letter, but only realized the same thing as Frank when he noted the emblem at the bottom of the letter.

“This is Prince Xerom’s ring emblem. That filthy rat is coming after you, here?” Jason asked, reading the letter through thoroughly and noting that it was the Prince’s personal handwriting, not that of an assistant or a computer. The letter obviously bothered Jason far less then it bothered his partner, and he was thinking a lot faster and more clearly. “Calm down, Frankie. We’re hitting this bank tonight, right? If we each get seven and a half mill, that’ll be more then enough to pay back Xerom without having to worry about him handing you over to a bounty hunter.” Jason reminded him, putting both hands on his friend’s shoulders and giving him a light shake.

“Yeah..Yeah, that’ll work.” Frank said, starting to calm down. He ran his hands through his hair and turned around, facing the wall away from Jason. His breathing had begun to slow down and his heartbeat returned to normal. When he finally had regained his composure he turned back to face Jason. “Thanks, buddy. Lets get everything ready for that. We’ll get all the final details set, and then we’ll head for lunch. After that we can come back here and run through the plan again and prepare ourselves for anything that might go wrong.”

**

A short alien put away a pair of electro binoculars and picked up a video data pad. He pressed a few buttons on the screen with a long blue finger, and almost jumped when the face of a man in his mid thirties appeared on the screen. In a slightly buzzy voice, the alien explained his findings.

“They found the letter, your highness. One of the two had a bit of a nervous breakdown, but he seems to have calmed down by now. It’s my theory that they don’t have your money, sir.” The alien said, his mouth moving in a far different manner then one would think it would to pronounce the words he was saying. The face that was sitting on the screen looked emotionless for a moment before a slender hand reached up and rubbed the chin.

“It doesn’t matter to me, I’ll end up with my money whether he has it or not. Despite that he’s a thief, I do respect him in a somewhat grudging way. Make sure they don’t leave the city, keep on them like mad. If I find out that you let them escape, your head will find a spot on my wall.” Prince Xerom growled, his voice deep and full of seriousness. The alien swallowed hard and nodded before Xerom cut the feed and the data pad left him with a ‘communication ended’ screen. The alien threw the data pad across the room and picked his binocs up again.

“Fail and die, do good and be less likely to die. Never should have worked for this guy.” The alien continued as he watched the apartment window across the street from the building he was in, cursing at Xerom in his native tongue.

**

A few hours later, Frank and Jason had all their gear loaded into three duffle bags, and another bag filled with more duffle bags that would be used to carry the money out in. Frank was loading them into a speeder that they owned, while Jason was upstairs checking their security scanner for any word of a police or security team that would be in the vicinity of the bank during their planned heist time. Satisfied that they would encounter no one, Jason shut down the scanner, tossed the bird a few treats and locked the door behind him on his way out.

Frank was already waiting in the speeder with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, the smoke curling up around the roof of the speeder. Jason threw open the passenger door, a blast of cool, muggy air following him into the speeder’s cabin. Frank didn’t even flinch; he just shifted his smoke away from the open door to prevent it from blowing out.

“Why do you smoke those things anyways? They’re going to kill you.” Jason said, grabbing the cigarette from Frank’s mouth and using the tip to light one of his own, before flicking Frank’s out of his open door. Frank retaliated by flicking Jason’s right out of his mouth and onto the wet ground next to the speeder.

“Same reason you do. They calm me down before I do something crazy and stupid.” Frank replied, pointing at Jason’s door. Jason got the message and slammed it shut. Frank powered up the speeder and pushed the throttle half way to the floor, slowly moving them away from the building and out onto the street. Frank killed the cockpit lights and drifted them through the back alleys, trying to keep from being noticed too much.

“You know, I’ve never seen how you can be so calm during stuff like this. I mean, yeah, you’ve been doing it for a long time. But so have I and I still get all jittery. My hands are shaking and we’re not at the bank yet. I just don’t understand how you do it.” Jason said, leaning his seat back and staring at the dark roof. Frank thought the statement over for a few minutes before he replied.

“It’s not really that I don’t get nervous. It’s just that I don’t show it. I know that every time I do one of these things I could end up getting arrested, or worse, shot and killed. I think the thought of success drives me harder then the feelings of nervousness can stop me.” Frank explained, weaving them past a dumpster that had been carelessly set down by the garbage removal. Jason just nodded, still looking at the ceiling.

The speeder slowed and pulled out of an alley across from the bank. The lights were still on inside and Frank spotted the silhouette of someone moving around inside. He grinned as he cut the power to the speeder’s engine and let it drift to a stop in front of the bank. He prodded Jason in the side, who jumped a little bit but was ready for action. Frank raised his hand with three fingers held up, and then lowered one and then the other. When he dropped the final finger, both men swung their speeder doors open. Frank popped the trunk in one smooth motion and Jason was there, grabbing the duffle bags and opening one of them to pull out an infrared spotlight.

He flicked it on gave Frank a nod, letting him know that he was ready for the crime they were about to commit. Frank dashed up the bank stairs and signaled for Jason to move up and stand next to one of the solid double doors. A quick peek through the window revealed nothing to Frank, and he assumed that the teller had disappeared into the back area. Maybe we can catch them before they lock the safe up and save ourselves some time and noise. He thought to himself as he signaled to Jason that he was about to kick the door in. Here we go!

*** 3 ***

The wood of the doorframe made a snapping sound as the deadbolt was pushed through it and the door swung wildly on its hinges. Jason dashed in through the open door and blasted the cameras with his spotlight. He began single-handedly setting up the floodlights while Frank jumped the teller’s counter and ran around into the back of the bank. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the safe door was still open, and he sprinted towards it, hoping to catch the blonde teller unaware and easily subdue her and get her out of the way. He had only taken a few steps when he felt as if a boulder had slammed into his chest and he was knocked off his feet, landing hard on the duracrete floor of the building.

His vision blurred as he looked around, trying to find the source of the attack. He spotted a huge man dashing towards the safe door and slamming it closed, hitting all the different electronic locks and then turning to face Frank again. The man was a giant, with thick, bushy white hair and arms that could easily bend an E-11 blaster into a knot. Frank gulped and scrambled to his feet, only to be met again by a body part of the giant, this time a boot the size of a garbage can lid smashed into his chest, cracking a few ribs.

“What, the hell, do you think you’re doing!” The giant roared, apparently unaware that Frank was not alone in the building. Frank shrugged, hoping to possibly escape this with a bluff that he had entered the building looking for someone to help him out. The giant wouldn’t give him a chance to speak though, and hoisted Frank onto his feet only to wind up to knock him to the floor again. Frank dropped to his knees prematurely and swung his arm upwards into the giant’s groin, thanking the Force when he heard the giant grunt and stagger sideways. Going on the offensive, Frank leapt onto the giant’s back and rammed his thumbs into the eyes of the man.

Howling in pain, the giant reached up with his gigantic hands and began to pry Frank’s fists away from his eyes. Frank kept the pressure on as long as he could, managing at one point to slip his wrist out of the giant’s grasp and ram an index finger back into the eye. He brought both hands back around towards him when the giant let go of his other arm, and wrapped one hand in the thick hair while he pounded relentlessly on the back of the huge man’s head with the other. A quick glance at his fingers allowed him to realize how much damage he had done to the sight of the giant man, his fingers wear soaked in blood and another liquidy substance that Frank didn’t want to try and figure out at the moment.

The giant reached around and slammed Frank’s head into the back of his own, and Frank felt the familiar feeling of his nose breaking. When he didn’t stop his onslaught to the back of the man’s head, he found himself heading incredibly fast for one of the brick walls of the bank. A second later he had the wind knocked out of him as he was pinned between the wall and the gigantic man he was fighting with. If only I could reach my vibroblade. Frank thought to himself hopefully, stopping his attack and reaching towards his back pocket, hoping to find the short vibroblade he kept there.

He was swung wildly as the man spun around in an attempt to throw Frank off his back, but it didn’t work quiet as well as planned. The giant swung himself off balance and staggered backwards, attempting to regain it. Frank had by now reached the Vibroblade and was trying to open up the jack knife mechanism, a difficult feat with only one free hand. The giant teetered backwards and mistakenly shifted all his weight forwards, over compensating and collapsing forward onto the floor below. By now, Jason had heard the commotion going on and appeared around the corner to catch the end of the fight.

Frank had flipped the blade of the vibroblade out and could hear the hum of the blade as it vibrated with lightning quick pulsations. He released his grip on the giant’s hair and swung his arm underneath the giant’s neck, dragging the blade along his throat as he brought it back in a swift and sickening sounding motion. The giant rolled over and finally succeeded in throwing Frank off his back. He reached up with one hand and clutched at his throat, but to no avail. The blood was pouring out and all the giant could do was sit and make gurgling noises as his life drained from between his fingers. He stared in Frank’s direction with sightless eyes, before he collapsed backwards into a pool of his own blood.

Jason stared from the giant to Frank and back again before opening his mouth. “He doesn’t look like much of a cute blonde to me. I mean, I know you never promised me female, but I’d need to be really, really drunk to attempt hitting on something like that.” Jason laughed, nodding at the shaggy batch of hair. “I’m betting he’s a cross between some abnormally large human species, and an albino Wookie.”

**

Frank and Jason dragged the limp body of the shaggy giant into an office and shut the door behind them, then grabbed their equipment bags from the main lobby. With the vault having been locked they would still need to blow it open, and Jason grabbed one of the sonic charges and secured it to the vault door.

“This is a G55 charge, one commonly used by the Empire during its prime. The storm troopers were particular fans of the bomb, because it had devastating results while being whisper quiet, in the case of a bomb, making it good for stealth missions.” Jason said as he hooked a few wires up to the charge and began placing another on one of the exterior hinges of the door, followed by a third on the other hinge. “You see, it directs quite a bit of it’s force out the backside of the bomb, allowing one to cause severe structural damage to a building, or in our case a vault, or by mounting it upside down they could kill the occupants of a room with a worthy bang.”

“Fascinating. I’ve only heard that story what, five times now?” Frank said sarcastically, grinning as Jason made a rude hand gesture and picked up his bag of supplies. They trooped back to the lobby and sat down behind the teller counter to shield them from any debris that could go flying. Frank nodded to Jason who pressed a button on the detonator he had and Frank jammed his eyes shut. A muffled boom could be heard behind them, followed by a louder clang as the safe door fell outwards and landed heavily on the floor.

“Looks like she worked!” Jason said happily as he stood up and jumped over the teller counter. Frank smiled and walked around, picking up the duffle bags as he went and following Jason down the hallway. Jason knelt down and was examining the door’s hinges while Frank stepped over the door of the vault and looked inside. Sure enough, there were stacks of hard currency across the floor and safety deposit boxes on each wall. Frank opened the duffle bag and whipped out another stack of them, all bound tightly together to reduce their size as much as possible. Undoing the bindings, he counted over 30 bags in total, more then enough to hold all the cash and still fit in the back of their speeder.

“Quit looking at how those things went and help me load this stuff up. We’ve got another half hour or so by my watch, so I want to get all the hard cash loaded. We can worry about the safety deposit boxes if we have time.” Frank ordered, and Jason hopped to his feet and grabbed a duffle bag. He began shoving stacks of credits into the bag and zipped it up once he could fit absolutely nothing more inside of it. He carried it out of the vault and set it on their side of the teller counter, ready to be ran out to the speeder once everything was loaded.

Frank had taken a moment to examine some of the safety deposit boxes. They were all digitally locked and the combination mechanism was too long for his decoder to crack. He shrugged and looked around the room once more. There was more money in here then he had seen the days before, and assumed that they were preparing to have it all moved in an armored speeder sometime soon. Too bad for them there won’t be anything left when they come to get it. He thought to himself as he filled two duffle bags and carried them out to where Jason was standing.

“Tell me if you see anything weird here.” Jason said, pointing out the main window. Frank looked and couldn’t see anything, shrugging.

“I got nothing, Jason buddy. Did you see something?” He asked, still peering out the window. Jason shrugged, and then returned to the vault to continue loading duffle bags. Frank looked back at Jason and sighed, following him into the vault. His partner had a thing for getting Frank worked up over nothing, and he did a good job of it too.

**

Jason hadn’t been seeing things though. Another spy for Prince Xerom had been watching them from across the street. This time it was a tall human, shaved bald and sporting a spider tattoo on his pate. His leather jacket was what had made him stick out to Jason though, being white rather then a black or other dark colour that would have helped him blend into the sparse sidewalk traffic. No one seemed to deem anything to be going wrong in the bank anyways, as none of the alarms had gone off and from what they could see there was no sign of a struggle.

The man in the white jacket had caught the entire struggle from the bushes outside the bank, looking in through an office window. He had watched the taller man wrestle with the giant, finally subduing him and blasting the door off the vault. He had to admire their teamwork though, and their quick work. It was no wonder they hadn’t been caught yet; they left no clues as to who they were aside from various facial imprints on the security footage. Even then, they seemed to fit in remarkably well in Garalory, and no one had seemed to be able to pick them out of the crowds.

If only things were that easy for me, whenever I’m around. The spider man thought to himself as he stepped out of the bushes when the coast was clear and strode across the street to the opposing sidewalk. It took him only a moment to find a vantage point where he could still see into the bank and be able to look as if he was just someone standing outside enjoying a smoke. He brought a hand rolled cigar from Ytrap to his lips and lit the end, breathing the smoke out heavily after savoring its rich flavor.

He almost didn’t see it, but one of the two robbers spotted him as he brought a full bag around to the front side of the bank. The two locked eyes for a moment before the spider man flicked his cigar out of nervousness and stepped into the back alley, walking away without looking behind him. He hoped that he didn’t look too suspicious, but when he thought of his behavior he felt he would have been nothing but. Damn it! I know that Xerom won’t stand for this. If they get away because of my failure, I’ll be as good as dead. He thought to himself, reminding himself of what Xerom’s crime syndicate, The Fallen, was capable of under his orders.

**

Frank and Jason had finally loaded the last of the credits into the duffle bags and had them all hauled around to the front of the bank. Jason had dashed outside and opened the rear of the speeder, clearing a few things out of the way so all the duffle bags would fit. He gave Frank a nod and then walked back inside while Frank picked up two bags and began his trek outside. Tossing them carelessly into the back of the speeder and arranging them as they had previously planned so that all the bags would fit, he turned and started back inside as Jason came back out. It was good luck for them that the streets were deserted, as it would certainly arise some suspiciousness from passers by when two men began carrying a total of thirty-three duffle bags out of a bank. It didn’t take them very long to fill the speeder with the money, and when they were finished Frank closed the back of the speeder and walked back inside to give Jason a hand with the spotlights.

They quickly assembled one and got it into the equipment bag, then removed the other from its tri-pod and left the same way they entered, with Jason shining the spotlight at the cameras until he closed the door behind him on his way out. He powered down the spotlight and sighed, wiping the sweat away from his brow with his free arm.

“That was pretty crazy, if you ask me. Lets get this stuff home and get to work on planning what we’re going to do when the Prince shows up tomorrow.” He said, nodding at the car. Frank got in and started the engine before realizing what Jason had said.

“What do you mean, plan for what we’re going to do when he shows up tomorrow?” He said with shock, not wanting to believe what Jason had subtly suggested. Jason shrugged and tossed their equipment bags into the back seat.

“You heard me. We can’t let him get away with stalking you like that. We’ve got to turn this around on him somehow. How does he plan for you to pay him back?” Jason asked, reclining his seat and closing his eyes, deep in thought.

“Well, I don’t know. He’d probably take cash but I bet he’d want some sort of electronic payment, why? We can’t rip him off either way.” Frank started, but cut Jason’s next words off. “Unless, of course, we reverse the transfer and send my own account five million from his. But how would we go about doing that? I mean, we’d have to get the money into a bank account within the next day, and have someone who knows how to do something like that handy.”

“Do you know anyone who could do that?”

“Well, I know a guy who used to do a fair bit of computer related crime, and I remember that at one point he helped me rip off a bank in Nar Shaddaa using computers. I bet you he could give us a hand.” Frank said, thinking back to a friend he had met a while ago, a good, long while ago.

“Could he get here on time though?” Jason asked, as Frank turned hard left, bringing them into the underground parking garage of their apartment building. Frank shrugged as he backed into a stall near the elevator and unlocked the trunk.

“Maybe, it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Frank said, checking his chrono. It wasn’t even six thirty yet, meaning he still had plenty of time to get everything planned out. Jason un-reclined his seat and opened the door, Frank following his example.

“You bet it is. I’ll get everything unloaded and put it on the elevator, you head upstairs now and give this friend of yours a call. Maybe he can help us out.” Jason suggested and Frank nodded, dashing away from the speeder and up the stairs, leaving Jason to handle the bags himself. Frank cleared the steps three at a time and almost slipped as his shoes met the tiles of the lobby. He laughed for a second with a neighbor who was in the lobby at the time and continued up the stairs at a marginally quick pace. He reached his door and unlocked it with a click, wiggling the doorknob until the lock came loose and allowed him entry.

A minute long search found him his data pad and the bag of treat to feed Bird, who was chirping madly at him from the second the key as inserted into the lock. He sat down in a chair at the table and turned the data pad on. He scrolled through his list of contacts and various other information until he found the name he was looking for. He hesitated for a moment, considering his actions.

He was about to call a favor from an old friend whom he hadn’t seen in over five years. How could he even be sure that this man would help him out? The odds seemed against him, but considering that most things lately had seemed to be going against him, he took a chance. He tapped the send button on the screen and waited as the data pad told him it was searching for the other users device. A few long seconds later, a face appeared on the screen. One that Frank recognized from years ago, although it had aged slightly and looked more dignified then it had a while ago.

“Hello?”

“Hey, my friend. I know it’s been a long time, but I need to call in a favor.” Frank said, crossing his fingers out of the way of the view screen.

“Frankie? Is that you?” The man on the other side of the screen replied, a look of shock and surprise crossing his face.

“Yeah, Trev. You bet it’s me.”

*** 4 ***

First Lieutenant Trevor Evenson was relaxing on the balcony of a small cottage he had rented in the hills of a small village in the middle of the forests of Ynos. His girlfriend, Tokijin, was leaning against him, almost asleep. Despite the fact that it was only 8:30 in the evening where he was on the planet, Tokijin had almost fallen asleep as the warm rays of the sunset cast their pink-orange glow across the couple. Trevor had his arm wrapped around her and was close to falling asleep himself, kept awake only by the twittering of birds in the treetops nearby.

He was considering how he could move without waking Tokijin up so he could go get himself a drink when his data pad beeping nearby interrupted his planning. Tokijin shifted her head and looked up at him, almost as if she didn’t want him to answer the call and would have preferred just to relax. He smiled and picked up the data pad anyway, looking down at her.

“It could be Shazam or something, I can’t ignore it. I’ll make it quick though, don’t worry.” He said and she nodded but stuck her bottom lip out and pouted nonetheless. He laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek as he stood up from the comfortable outdoor bench and walked into the cabin. Tokijin relaxed against the bench and listened through the open door to some of what Trevor was saying.

“Hello?” He asked, looking down at a face that seemed vaguely familiar but he wasn’t quite able to place. He racked his memory for who it was, but the answer came as soon as he heard the voice.

“Hey, my friend. I know it’s been a long time, but I need to call in a favor.” The man said, and Trevor instantly recognized whom it was he was talking to.

“Frankie? Is that you?” Trevor asked, receiving a nod from Frank.

“Yeah, Trev. You bet it’s me.” Frank answered, a smile spreading across his face. Trevor sat down in a chair and shook his head, then stared back at the screen on the data pad.

“I haven’t heard from you in forever, and you come to me for a favor out of no where? What’s the deal, buddy?” Trevor asked, his temper rising slightly. Tokijin was leaning a little closer to the door to hear better, but Trevor didn’t notice. He was paying too much attention to what Frank had to tell him.

“I wouldn’t have went looking for you if it wasn’t important. I’ve got some trouble, see.. With Xerom. He wants the five million I stole from him years ago, and you’re the only person I know who can help me out.” Frank said, and Trevor recognized the sincerity in his voice.

“I can’t help you Frank. I can’t pull five million credits out of nowhere and just hand them over to you to pay back some crime boss. You know that!” Trevor exclaimed, waving his free arm in the air and letting his frustration show on his face.

“No, no, no. That’s not what I need from you. I’ve got the five million.”

“Then what do you need me to do?” Trevor asked, his frustration turning to confusion.

“I need your computer skill. I remember how we robbed that bank a few years ago. I need you to help me do that, in a different way. I want to be able to transfer five million from Xerom’s account to my own. You just have to show up, do your thing on the computer, and you can leave. I’ll handle everything else.” Frank explained, and Trevor actually stopped for a moment to consider the offer. He knew perfectly well that Xerom was one of the most powerful criminal lords in the surrounding systems, but knew at the same time that he did owe Frank a favor. Frank had saved his life on Nar Shaddaa during a gang war that Trevor hadn’t even been involved in and Trevor hadn’t paid him back yet.

“If I do this for you, we’re even. No more calling in favors from time to time. We’re clean and that’s the end of it, right?” Trevor asked, glaring down at the screen. Frank swallowed hard and nodded, a smile crossing his face.

“You’ll have paid me back for that time I saved your ass. It’s all good. The only problem is that you need to be here tomorrow morning so we can get everything set up. Can you do that?” Frank asked, looking hopeful.

“Where are you anyways?” Trevor replied, realizing that if he was supposed to be there tomorrow and was too far away, odds are he wouldn’t make it.

“I’m in Garalory on the planet Y-“ He started, but Trevor cut him off.

“Ynos. I know it. I’m there now. Couple hours out of Garalory, but I could be there by morning if I got in the speeder right away and headed out. You’re one lucky bastard, Frank. I’ll bring some banker clothes with me and see you for breakfast tomorrow morning. I want you to know though, if this screws up, I’ll kill you myself before Xerom has me killed.” Trevor joked. He knew that Frank knew he was serious and joking at the same time, and knew that there was a chance he’d get caught up in this. His plan was to do what Frank wanted him to do and get out.

“Thanks man, I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late, your breakfast will be cold.” Frank said with a grin and ended the transmission. Trevor sighed and tossed the data pad onto the table, resting his head on his hand. Tokijin stood up from the bench and walked over to him, pulling a chair up beside him and looking at his eyes. He didn’t look into hers for a moment or two, but when he did she smiled and he couldn’t resist the chain reaction.

“What do you want?” He asked jokingly, and she prodded his arm a few times before answering.

“Who was that? The conversation didn’t seem to go very well.” She replied, picking up the hand that his head wasn’t being rested on and beginning to play with his fingers, opening and closing them with her own hands. He thought about his answer and for a moment he considered telling a lie to keep her worries down, but figured she’d be better off to know the truth. That and he hated to lie to her.

“It was an old friend, Frank Statorri. He’s a career criminal, and someone I used to work with before I straightened out. He wants me to help him pull off a five million credit scam, and I can’t say no since I owe him my life.” He explained and watched Tokijin’s expression for any signs of anger. For a moment he thought he caught one, but it quickly turned to some sort of adventurous amusement.

“Really? Can I come along?” She asked, holding his hand tightly in her own and giving him a look that he knew he’d have trouble telling her no. He shook his head and looked back up at her.

“I think it’d be best if you stayed behind, but if you really want to come, I won’t stop you. I’m going to warn you now though, he’s stealing this money from a criminal boss who’s one of the worst in this system and the few surrounding ones. He runs a gang known as The Fallen and he’s not the type you mess around with. Frankie said we could be in and out before any trouble started, but to be honest I’m not sure if that’s totally true. Are you sure it’s something you want to do?”

“Are you kidding? I’m a Nazgul pilot. I laugh in the face of danger. Well, I snicker quietly when Danger’s back is turned, anyways. I’d like to laugh in its face though.” She joked, and Trevor knew he wouldn’t be able to convince her not to go. He smiled inwardly and sat up straight to give her a kiss.

“We’ll need to pack then. I’d suggest something that’ll make you look like a banker’s assistant. A long skirt and a semi-fancy top, and you’ll have to make your hair look all business-y.” Trevor said, pointing at her hair, which was currently let down and all out of place. He felt she looked good no matter how she wore it, but knew that if Xerom showed up while they were there, they were going to have to look legit. “And for me, I’ll need a pair of nice dress pants as well as a dress jacket and a fancy shirt. Oh, and we leave tonight.” Trevor grinned, standing up with Toks. She nodded and turned towards the bedroom to go begin packing the clothes for both of them that Trevor mentioned, while he sat back down at the table and ran his hands through his hair, preparing for the fiasco ahead.

The couple climbed into the speeder Trevor had rented a little while later, tossing their bags into the trunk. It was a sporty model, one that Trevor had longed to drive ever since the model was introduced. Fast, incredible handling and a very comfortable interior suited to two, Trevor thought it’d be just the thing to rent when they landed. He hit the ignition switches and powered up the fancy little craft, allowing himself to sink into some fancy, exotically covered seat made of some material he didn’t recognize.

“Where are we going, anyways?” Tokijin asked as she buckled herself in and Trevor lifted off, gliding over the treetops as fast as he could push the speeder. He swerved to avoid a large tree that had grown taller then the rest that he hadn’t been able to see until it got into range of the headlights before he answered.

“Garalory. It’s one of the cities here, probably one of the most crime-free ones. Until Frankie showed up.” Trevor explained, allowing his thought’s to continue out loud. Toki looked at him a little bit confused and he decided he might as well fill her in all the way. “See, Frank never went for the small stuff. Hitting a corner store and hiding for a month wasn’t his style. He’d always go big; armored vans, banks, casinos, if it brought in big money he’d be working on a plan to rob it. The scary part was he was incredibly good at it. I can’t remember a time when his planning was the reason for something going wrong, it was always the stuff that was so tiny, so absolutely minor that he overlooked. He never checked to make sure that someone’s shift at a casino might change, or a part of his team would fall through and mess up for him.”

“I guess he didn’t get away with too much, hey?” Tokijin asked, peeking out her window at the trees below. Trevor shrugged and adjusted their course

“You’d be surprised. The last time I heard from him he had just pulled off a twenty five million credit job.” Trevor paused for a moment to laugh at the look of shock on Toki’s face. “You’d be even more surprised to find out that he only considered that to be an average job. He used to deal in stuff where he’d end up with a hundred million credits by the end of a job. The guy had everything figured out; he really knew what he was doing when it came to stealing from people. He’d take the money and run, then disperse it into a bunch of different bank accounts under different names and Ids, then let it sit where no one could find it.” Trevor continued.

“Well, why isn’t he living the big life then? If he’s got all that money, you don’t think he’d be worrying about a five million credit debt to some gangster.” Toki said, picking up Trevor’s data pad as it beeped.

“That’d be him, sending me the address of his apartment. We’ll need that once we get to the city. Anyways, he lost the majority of it to bad investments. You know, gambling, the spice trade, crooked deals with the various security agencies that were after him. He’d paid off more then one bounty hunter for double or triple the price on his head. A lot of bad luck, really. Not only that, he’d made enemies when he was doing his work.” Trevor stopped to take a breath and took a sip from a water bottle Toki had set in one of the cup holders for him. “He got robbed a few times himself, and right now he’s staying in a dingy apartment with his partner in crime and stealing to get by. He told me he had the five million to pay this guy back though.”

“But he wants you to help him turn that around and steal another five million from this Prince Xerox guy, right?” Tokijin asked, and Trevor dismissed the thought of correcting her on his name. He could tell she looked skeptical, even under the low light conditions of the speeder cockpit.

“Yeah. Not the smartest thing ever, but if I know Frank, he’s got it all planned out, damn near perfectly.”

**

“Shit! How are we going to pull this off, Jason? Trevor’s on his way, but we’ve still got to work out how he can transfer the money to our accounts rather then to Xerom’s.” Frank stressed, standing with his head against the wall and one of his hands tugging at his hair thoughtfully. He was nervous and it showed, cigarette butts littered the floor and table, a few having been tossed into Bird’s food dish by accident. The bird hard shown a little interest in them at first until it had attempted to eat one, which caused the bird to start choking. Frank hadn’t even seemed to notice, and Jason had to rush over to the cage and fish the butt out of the bird’s mouth.

“Don’t worry about the electronic part, okay? Trevor will know how to do that part. We just need to bring him a laptop that he can get into the bank’s system with. Do that and he’ll handle the rest.” Jason said, stroking Bird’s head and admiring the shine of his feathers.

“Yeah, but I mean, what am I thinking? He’ll help but is it really the best thing for me to get him involved in this? Odds are he’s going to get shot at in the end, I mean, Xerom will go after him first, not me.” Frank explained, tapping his head against the wall and taking a long drag from his smoke. He flicked the ashes to the floor and slowly let the breath out, wishing the chemicals would let their calming effect take place.

He scrunched his eyes up and nodded, stepping away from the wall and walking back over to the table where Jason was seated. He looked down at the mess of blueprints, cigarette butts, plates of food and other little odds and ends. Has my life really come this far? Living in a piece of shit apartment that probably stinks of smoke and hardly fits the two of us? I could be living in a freaking mansion in the upper level of a core world, but no, I’m out here in the middle of nowhere trying to just get by. I admit it’s not the most honest plan to get by.. But it’s all I know. He thought to himself, putting ideas out there as to when it went wrong. Most likely the spice smuggling misadventures. Those probably were the downfall. He concluded, getting shaken out of his thoughts by Jason’s voice.

“Bud, I know this might not seem like the most normal realization right now, but I think you should get some shut eye. Everything’s going to be all right, okay? I’ll stay up and wait for Trevor to show up, you go take a nap. I’ll get you when he gets here.” Jason said, setting Bird down on the table and putting his hand on Frank’s should. Frank sighed and nodded, smothering his smoke in an ashtray and heading towards his bedroom. He heard Jason sit down and start whispering to the bird. Probably teaching him new swear words..

**

“This is the one?” Tokijin asked, looking up at a very dingy apartment building in the slums of Garalory. At first Trevor had thought they would be at least in a moderately safe neighborhood, but when they had started getting closer to Frank’s street Trevor found himself locking the doors of the speeder and hoping that the apartment building had an underground garage.

“Yeah, I think so. The address is right. Here, we’ll part on the street for now and make sure this is the right building. Then I’ll take you up there and come back out to move the speeder.” Trevor explained as he pulled alongside the curb and shut the speeder down, making sure the security systems would all be enabled once he got out. Toki smiled and stepped out of the car at the same time Trevor did so, and then waited for him to walk with her to the door. They stepped inside and were met by a panel covered with buttons, each with a number above it. Trevor ran his finger above each button until he found the one for apartment ninety-seven. Upon finding it he pressed it down and released it when he heard a buzz.

“Trevor, is that you?” A voice came from a small speaker box mounted above all the buttons, behind a thick steal cage. Trevor almost laughed at the security for a small wall-mounted speaker, but at the same time recognized that the voice wasn’t that of Frank.

“Depends who’s asking, I suppose. Is Frankie around?” Trevor asked, trying to figure out if he could place the voice or not. Tokijin wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation; she was keeping one eye on the car and was glaring at a few prostitutes who were walking on the opposing sidewalk.

“He’s sleeping right now, I told him to take a nap to calm the hell down. It’s Jason by the way; we’ve met a few times. I was there when you helped us out with the digital bank robbery a few years back.” Jason explained through the voice box, and Trevor’s mind finally clicked the voice to a face he recognized in his mind’s eye. A shorter man with blonde hair and gray eyes, built like a wrestler and mechanically inclined to no end.

“Gotcha, Jason. Do you think it’d be a little bit mean to play a prank on old Frankie?” Trevor asked, fairly seriously. A pause was his answer, followed by ‘nope.’

“Come on up. I’ll tell him that he’s got an infamous visitor who demands to meet with him right away. I bet he’ll shit his pants.” Jason laughed, and Trevor heard a buzz that meant the second door leading into the building had unlocked. Trevor held it open for Tokijin and followed her in, and the two began climbing the stairs towards apartment ninety-seven.

**

Jason knocked loudly on Frank’s door, and heard a mumbled groan as the only reply. He knocked louder and called Frank’s name, finally getting a response. The door was thrown open and Frank stood there, curly hair pressed flat from sleeping on it, his clothes all out of place.

“Frank, uh.. There’s someone here to see you. It’s probably best if you wait out here for him, he demanded to see you right now.” Jason said, putting on his best impression of someone who was terribly nervous. Frank caught on immediately and began to look around the room frantically, hoping that Trevor was hidden somewhere inside already.

“Did Trevor show up yet?”

“Not a word out of him.” Jason replied, holding his act together perfectly. He started to feel bad when Frank almost collapsed onto the floor and staggered over to a chair. A second later the door buzzer went and Frank jumped to his feet, trying to straighten his clothes and hair. Jason sighed loudly and went to open the door, Frank searching his pockets for a smoke but not finding any. Jason looked back at him and he gulped and gave a nod, and the door was opened.

“You bastard!” Frank hollered, stepping forward and viciously punching Trevor across the jaw. Trevor staggered sideways from the unexpected blow and stopped himself with the doorframe, a hand reaching up and rubbing his jaw. Tokijin inhaled quickly and gave Trevor a concerned look, but he grinned through gritted teeth to let her know he was all right.

“Nice to see you too, buddy.” Trevor replied, ushering Tokijin into the room and shutting the door behind himself. Frank had sat down at the table and was glaring back and forth between Jason and Trevor. Trevor was still holding his jaw and Jason was doing his best not to burst out laughing, knowing that if he did so he’d be nursing cracked teeth as well. Frank was seething at the table but slowly calming down, the white draining ever so slowly from his knuckles on the hand that he had clamped around the back of the chair. “I show up, come here to give you a hand with a favor, and you punch me in the face. Really smooth.” Trevor continued sarcastically, allowing Frank to make up his mind whether or not he was being serious.

“It was a cruel joke. I damn near had a heart attack. Either way, I’m glad that you’re here now. I can finally relax a little bit.” Frank said, shaking his head and standing up to shake Trevor’s hand. Trevor accepted the handshake and nodded curtly to Jason, then turned back to see Frank was looking curiously at Tokijin. “Who’s she? Why is there someone aside from yourself here?”

“It’s okay Frank, she’s with me. She’s my girlfriend actually, and insisted on coming along. Don’t worry though, she’s as helpful as she is good looking, she’ll do whatever we need her to do.” Trevor explained, smiling at Toki. “This is Tokijin. Toki, Frank’s the one with the curly hair, Jason is the shorter blonde guy. Both of them are some of the most decent criminals you’ll meet.”

Tokijin smiled politely and shook both men’s hands, then a flutter of wings on the table caught her eye. She smiled and walked over, taking a chair and looking eye to eye with Bird. She grinned and petted the bird’s head, but almost ended up poking it hard when it opened it’s beak and said ‘hello’ in a squawky voice.

“I see you’ve met Bird.” Jason smiled, grabbing a bag of treats from the birdcage and setting them down on the table. “He talks from time to time, and I’ve told him to be polite to women. Or people with longer hair. I’m not sure if he can actually tell genders. He’s kind of dumb.” Jason explained, and Frank rolled his eyes.

“He’s only dumb because you keep giving him that crap.” Frank countered, pointing at the bag of treats. “I swear I saw him fly into the bars of his cage earlier today. They’re probably making him blind.”

“But they taste good!” The bird chirped, and Tokijin laughed.

“He’s a cute bird, either way.” She smiled, continuing to pet the bird. Trevor walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, admiring the bird for a moment before turning back to Frank.

“I’m going to need a place to park my speeder where it won’t be on the street, and we’ll need a place to sleep. A couple of blankets on the floor will be fine, if it’s all the same to you.” Trevor said, glancing at the floor space separating two couches and a chair in the living area of the apartment. Jason answered the second request for Frank.

“You two can take my bed. It’s all right, its clean and made up. The sheets were washed just two nights ago and I haven’t slept in it since. I tend to fall asleep in front of the TV anyway. I’ll just grab a couch and stuff.” Jason offered, and Trevor shrugged, looking to Tokijin for guidance. She shrugged too and Trevor nodded.

“Sounds like a plan to me. How about a place to park the speeder, Frank?”

Frank shrugged and grabbed a small swipe card from the table. “Let’s go downstairs, I’ll use my card to let you into the tenant garage. It’ll keep out the majority of vandals and car thieves, but if someone is determined enough, they’ll be able to get into the garage.” Frank explained as he started towards the door, Trevor hot on his heels. The two slipped out the door and started off down the hallway, Trevor hitting the button for the lift as they approached it. “Nah, we’ll take the stairs, I need the exercise.” Frank said, grabbing Trevor’s jacket sleeve and pulling him away from the lift doors. They walked wordlessly down the stairs, Trevor finally breaking the silence.

“I think I’ve got this planned out buddy, but I’m going to need a laptop that I can use to connect to the bank’s system. If I can do that, you can make the transfer to Xerom’s account and I can double it back to you once it’s complete. It’s really pretty simple, and it will hopefully take him a while to notice, giving us time to get the hell away from here. This is a no risk operation for me and Toki, right?” Trevor asked, looking hard at Frank. Frank opened his mouth to answer but looked away, clamping his jaw shut and staring at the walls. “It’s risk free, right Frank? You didn’t let me drag her into something where we could die, right?” Still no response from Frank. “You’re a bastard, Frankie.”

“How could I know that you had a girl, let alone that you’d bring her with you!” Frank said, his voice rising as they reached the lobby and stepped outside into the cool night air. Trevor walked around to the other side of his speeder and wrenched the door open, hitting the lock mechanism and allowing Frank to open his door. “This was something that I only wanted you involve in. If I’d known you were going to bring her along, I’d have explained in better detail exactly how things are going to go down.”

“And how exactly are things going to go down, pal?” Trevor shot back at him, firing up the engine and performing a u-turn in the street, aiming the nose of the car down the ramp that led into the parking garage. Frank rolled his window down and swiped his card through the machine, allowing a thin metal door to open up and Trevor glided the car below the door before it got half way up.

“I’m going to go to the bank tomorrow morning and deposit the money into an account. You and her are going to be here, working at getting into the bank’s system and preparing to fire ten million back my way once the original transfer is made. I get back, Xerom shows up around lunchtime and we make the transfers. He leaves, you fire the transfer back at me, then you get out of here. The only problem is if he insists on killing us on the spot or something. I don’t think that will happen though, if it all goes smoothly.” Frank explained, and Trevor nodded. It didn’t seem so risky when it was worded that way, but Trevor had a feeling that the plan might work well in the books, but when it came time to put it to the test it would probably fail. Glad I remembered my blaster. Trevor thought to himself grimly as he parked his car near the back of the garage, perfectly visible to one of the security cameras hanging in the garage. The two exited the vehicle and headed back upstairs, where Tokijin had already gotten into bed and Jason was quietly watching the late night news reports.

“Anything about us?” Frank asked as they walked through the door, Jason turning his head to look back at them.

“Not yet, although something comes close. Just watch.” Jason said, pointing to the TV screen where a pretty Twi’lek news anchor was beginning on a new topic.

“And now for another story that’s been surfacing throughout the criminal community of Ynos. With recent criminal activity on the rise, it seems that our planet has attracted the attention of a few major criminals, although the actual reasons for their attention are completely unknown.” She paused, and a photo of a man dressed in a sharp looking business robe appeared. His hair was slicked back and his violet eyes were definitely the most striking things in the picture, contrasting deeply with his pale, almost translucent skin. “Most notably, Prince Xerom, the leader of the crime syndicate known as The Fallen, has been rumored to be showing up sometime within the next day or two.”

Jason flicked the TV off and Frank flopped down on the couch next to him.

“It’s official. We’re beyond the point of no return.”