Location: Underworld 66 Club<br/>Tagging: Vialiah, Col. Husk, Sasha, Darion, [Kimera]<br/><hr/><br/>Finally, its 0200, showtime for everybody.  The guard at the back entrance lets you in with barely a murmur, clearly expecting all of you.  You re-enter the Underworld right near the VIP area, adjacent to the mosh pit.  The crowd is once again going manic, a heaving beast emitting a whistling, screaming cacophony, underwritten by a thunderous, yet discordant applause.  Maria is doing yet another encore, giving away more of herself to the crowd that keeps demanding more.  You are able to slip through the fringes of the crowd unobserved, heading towards the stage door.<br/><br/>A burly Klantooian is seated at a small table beside the stage door.  It has a big sign in glowing red letters that almost shouts:<br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Authorised Personnel Only.  And That Means YOU!</span></div><br/>The Klantooian doorman wears a royal blue, satin-textured jacket, padded at the shoulders, covered with holoprint Kryat dragons that chase each other around the fabric.  The design is almost gaudy enough to hide the bulge under his left arm.  he glances at you over his mirrored, triangluar shades.  "You must be the guys to see Xam.  Dressing Room #1, left and down to the end of the hall.  Last door on the right"  He waves you through the door.<br/><br/>Backstage, the music still reverberates loudly.  You can see a couple of stagehands stitting around, waiting for the set to end so they can break down the equipment for the night.  Most of the other folks, band members, roadies, and such, are out front, digging Maria's music and dancing.<br/><br/>Left and down the hall, you pass half-a-dozen numbered doorways before you come to Number One.  Following your knock, a male voice yells,"Its open".  Pushing the door open, you find yourself in a dressing room.<br/><br/>Seated in a chair in the corner is a short, tubby male Zabrak, definately passed his middle years, wearing clothes designed for someone at least 30 years younger.  He's got rings on most of his fingers and is wearing a mass of gold jewelry that looks like it might be real.  He is smoking a fat, greenish cigar.<br/><br/>"C'mon in," he says. "Gladdameetcha, I'm Lofey Xam.  You're on time.  Good.  That's the mark of pros.  I mean, punctuality, am I right?  Hey, can I get you guys anything?"<br/><br/>After giving out drinks, Corellian wheezers, Toydarian splits, Iridonian smoggers, and other such homely entertainmetns, Xam tells his story.  "Now listen up, Maria may look tough, but take it from me, inside that metal skin is one vulnerable little girl.  She just don't know how business is done sometimes.  We're all sophisticated people here, am I right? Well, to slot this and run it, Maria used to be represented by Odnamra Zenden.  Zenden and me, well, we both go back a long way in this biz, and I gotta tell ya, we don't usually see eye to eye.  You know how that is.  Some folks, they can see business is business, others gotta make everything personal, am I right?  I dunno why that is.  Zenden came here from Antar, and Antarians, they got this macho thing, am I right?  They just can't let nobody win over them.  Even though Zenden is a Tyria cit now, he still carries this Antarian macho thing around.<br/><br/>"Last month, Maria she comes to me and tells me she's had it with this Zenden guy, O.K? She found he was in pretty tight with the Black Sun, and some pretty dirty biz at that.  Dreamchips, you know? BTLs the kids call them - "Better Than Life".  That's what those poor drekheads think.  That stuff burns your brain to Gel-slurp, am I right?  So she wants to dump Zenden as her manager.  Who wouldn't?  She knows I'm the only other agent with the connections to give a talent like her the right exposure.<br/><br/>"So that's wiz.  I ain't gonna kick if some galactic nova-star wants to come work for me.  We sign the contracts, she gives Zenden a statutory 30 days notice of her intent, and that oughtta be all there is to it.<br/><br/>"But that Zenden, he's gotta make it personal.  He sends round a punker to give Maria a message...no, not a message, a fucking ultimatum.  She works for him, he says, or she don't work at all, she never works again, the creep says!  Maria busts the punker up real bad, putting a world of hurt on 'im, but we're both worried.  Zenden made it pretty clear he wasn't talking just lawsuits here.  Shit, he ain't got a leg to stand on legally, but he's connected, am I right?  I mean, the guy's talking muscle.<br/><br/>"Now legally, Maria still works under Zenden's agency for five more days.  For those five days, I can't really bring any leverage to bear on Zenden to back off.  After that, the Empire sanctioned Guild comes in on my side, and Zenden so much as looks crosseyed at me or Maria and he's history in this business.  But we need protection for those five days.  That's why I wanted to talk to you guys.  This is what you do, am I right?  My contact tells me you've agreed to the 10 grand contract, with half up front...not bad money for five days work, am I right?"