Drax Ordo scrambles through the office of Mandalore in St. Louis Business District. He reaches Mandalore's desk and finds a keypad attached to it. Push a button on his arm band the combination to the lock comes up. Opening it he finds all of Mandalore's journals. The cover says in the Mandalorian language "If you understand this turn to page six". Drax grinned as he set the journal down and placed his helmet next to it on the desk. As he read page six it told him to contact a human named Melien Malroar he knows a lot about the Mandalorians being on this planet. There where instructions on how to use the phone system here. Drax heard a crack and pulled his blaster. Looking towards the door he didn't see anything. He made his way back outside to take a look. All he saw was what was left of a great city that had fallen to war. Drax wore strange looking armor that covered he from the neck down in metal. It was a black metallic color. Drax spun his gun around his finger and slide it back into its holster. He then went back in and grabbed the journals and looked for the phone that Mandalores journal had mentioned. Finding it he picked it up and put it on the desk. Confused he picked up the end and shouted:

"Connect me" there was no response but a beeping noise.

He pressed the zero button and a women came on the line. "This is your operator how may I help you?"

Drax confused even more he said, "Connect me to a Melien Malroar."

The woman had an uppity voice, "Okay one moment while I connect you to our New York line."

Then a ring came from the phone and Drax moved it from his ear. Looking at while it rang waiting for the other line to pick up....

...the phone rang, jerking melien from a nap. he stumbes upright and picks it up.

"yes. who is it it?"

the voice on the line spreaks and meliens face creases.

"alright, i'm on my way, give me four hours."

melien leaves, locks up, and heads to the airport. catching a plane to las vegas, he reflected on what he'd been told.

"strange things are afoot. but i guess its worth a try."

Several hours later.......

Drax was sitting in the airport constantly looking around for this human Melien. Wearing his helmet so that Melien would know who and what he was he waited patently. Lots of people where staring at him funny thinking he was apart of some entertainment or something. A little boy walked to Drax and said:

"What are you supposed to be Mister?"

Drax just looked down at him and tapped his blaster showing the boy that he was a threat and not someone to talk too. Just when the boy ran back to his mom crying over the speakers came:

"Flight 114 from New York has just arrived in Gate 5."

Drax moved quickly to Gate 5 and waited for Melien just outside of it.

12 HOURS EARLIER

EvilClown was sitting as ever sipping his espresso in Marv’s diner downtown Chicago.  The mood was sedate and relaxed, Clown was happy.  Nothing had come up on the radar of late and the money was rolling in.  Everything was good.

The phone rang in the booth behind him, once, twice then stopped.  Clown slowly put down his cup and folded his newspaper.

“Yes that’s about right” he muttered under his breath as he slowly stood and walked toward the phone.  Sure enough, just as his hand tuched the receiver it rang again.  The familiar voice on the other end began to speak.

“We got issues in the St. Louis office.  Someone just got in there, bypassed our security and got out without leaving a trace.  You’ll head over there now and see what the fuck is going on.  I suspect that double crossing punk Mandalore has something to do with it, yes I know he sleeps with the fishes but his fingers were in some real strange pies.”  The phone clicked off before EC had time to respond.  Sighing he grabbed his jacket on the back of the chair and left without a second glance at the newspaper lying open the front page headline shouting:

STRANGE LIGHTS SEEN OVER ST. LOUIS LAST NIGHT GOVERNMENT SOURCES SAY A WEATHER BALLOON  WAS THOUGHT TO BE IN THE AREA.

His next stop was Chicago airport, at least he had some first class treatment to look forward to in flight, before he landed in what he knew was going to be a shit storm at St. Louis.

walkininto the airport from the plane, melien is tense. something doesn't feel right, and he doesn't know what. scanning faces as he goes in, he see's a man in the same helmet that his old friend mandalore used to wear.

"hmmm, you don't exactly look like mando, but your obviously from the same place. so you must be the one i was contacted by. you know whats going on and i don't, so lets get out of the open and you can tell me. come on, i think some is going..."

a bullet flies from the side, barely missing melien as he dives to the ground.

An uneventful flight from Chicago to St. Louis had given EvilClown time to go through his papers. 

The more he read various captains noted on this Mandalore character the more he got confused. All was known was that he was very VERY secretive and had big interests in the scrap metal rackets. That large an interest 100's of Tonnes of the stuff was disappearing over the border into Mexico on a weekly basis. No one ever found out where it was going or what it was being used for but that amount of scrap indicating big dollars. Soon as you get big dollars involved there are some big fingers. 

Looking through various photos of known associates of Mandalore, what clown soon determined was that if he were to find out what was going on last night that so concerned the big man, he would probably have to take a trip to New York some punk captain over there went by the name of malroar may be convinced in a special way to answer a few questions. 

The plane landed and as per usual Clown waited for every one to leave, got the wink from the pilot and followed him out of the staff gates. Security wasn't an issue here their palms had been greased with so many green backs they didn't even flinch as Clown strolled through to the arrival lounge. 

“Well fuck me!” Clown spots that malroar chump speaking to a big unit dressed in what appears to be fancy police riot gear... “Well isn't that the coincidence....” He mumbles to himself and takes a position behind a pillar so as not to be easily seen. 

Thinking about his next move he hears a CRACK! CRACK! Of pistol fire, someone is taking pot shots at the two guys he is watching. 

“Well one thing is certain..”Again muttering to himself “The shit storm I promised myself didn't take long to arrive.”

Drax realizes that a bullet wipes past them. Grabbing Melien and dragging him to the back to a stair well. Melien and him bolt down the stairs as quickly as possible. Drax's begins to chuckle:

"I haven't been here this long yet and already the fun is beginning. Move your ass Melien I have a car waiting for us out side the fire exit here." Drax shouts to Melien.

As they make it to the bottom Drax kicks open the fire exit and car is just waiting for them.

jumping into the car melien reaches into the glove box and pulls out a pistol with a very unusual design. strating to roll down the window, he see's two men coming out of the door behind them. he fires to shots and yells at drax.

"GO! damnit, i can hold them down but won't do us any damn good if we ain't moving."

covering the retreat, melien see's a man in a clown mask walk up behind the two goons just before they go out of sight.

"well, that's interesting. you know anyone who wears a clown mask?"

Drax punchs the gas harder. He points to the glove box for Melien to open. He looks down at his arm and press a button and a beeping noise begins. Drax looks over at Melien.

"In there is a map. I found it in Mandalore's office I don't know what it means maybe you do. I think its a map of Las Vegas."

Continuing to drive leaving the airport..

Melien opens the glove box again and pulls out the map. looking at it he looks at drax quizzicaly.

"what the hell is this? its not even in fucking english."

continues to pour over the map, then looks up.

"oh, head out of vegas, going south on route 12. i know the area on here even if i can't read it."

Drax chuckles as he continues to drive down route 12 looking out past he notices all the desert around them getting the feeling it is close by.

"Its Mandalorian my peoples language. We understand your language but its harder then Mandalorian to understand."

He looks at the map and notices that there is a big circle. His gut instinct felt that they where close to what he was looking for.

"Its been years since another Mandalorian found it. Hopefully Mandalore did."

"i hope your right, i think i know where this is, lets get there, here's how to get there..."

TWO HOURS LATER

"see, this is where the map leads. but what is out here? its the middle of the goddamned dessert. i hope you know what your doing."

As Drax steps out of the car he looks around at nothing but sand and mountains. Puzzled at there being nothing around them his heart sank into his stomach. He snatches the map from Melien. Looking down at it and back up again. He pushes buttons on his wrist guard and nothing happens. He looks toward Melien.

"It is supposed to a sh........" Drax was interrupted by the ground beginning to shake.

Drax quickly unhooks the blaster from his leg holster and draws it as fast as he could. The ground still shaking He shouts to Mel.

"Get back to the car and grab that blaster now!"

A rusted blue object appears from the ground and looks like it continues into the ground. A door opens and Drax approaches it cautiously.