I Woke Up Early The Day That I Died

     Greymoran felt that the day would be different. He got out of the cot he had been sleeping on in the poorly lit Inn he and his party had stayed in. He saw daylight beginning to come through the wooden walls. He walked over to wake up his twin brother Radagast. "Come brother. The light of dawn. It is time for us to begin our long walk to Myth Dranor." 
     "No walk. More sleep," Radagast grumbled. Greymoran chuckled. Their dwarven companion, Korag Fireshield grunted at the exchange. 
     "Oh shut your mouth Radagast. Your brother is clearly your superior for he knows what must be done and accepts it. Why can't you do the same?" Radgast threw his pillow at the Dwarf. 
     "Go to Hell." The Half-Elf Beiror rubbed his eyes when the light hit them. He awoke to the all too familiar sound of Greymoran and his brother arguing. 
     "I grow weary of your petty arguments wizards." Beiror put on his clothes, the black full top and bottom, the silver sash, the black glove, then the silver glove. Then he grabbed his trusty war hammer, and slung it over his shoulder with one arm while the other dug in the private chest provided by the Inn's owner for his dagger. He found instead Greymoran's mace. "What the- Greymoran! I'd told you to get your own chest!" Greymoran rolled his eyes. Radagast and Fireshield chuckled. Greymoran walked over and snatched his mace away from Beiror.
     "The Innkeeper was out of them. My robe is in there as well if you wouldn't mind handing it to me." Beiror glares at Greymoran. 
     "I think it's time you were reminded of your place. You agreed to follow ME on MY mission to discover what is behind the murder of Druids in Shadowdale." Greymoran sighed.
     "Yes, you are right of course. It's just that my brother and I are used to being leaders. We always led the expeditions the Crimson Wizards sent us on." 
     "Did you ever see battle on those expeditions?" Greymoran lowered his head. Evidence of the beard that just can't wait to grow was visible in the light.
     Greymoran lowered his head. "Not often," he admitted reluctantly. "Occasionally a wild animal would catch us by surprise, and once we were ambushed by bandits." Fireshield walked up behind Greymoran. 
     "There is no point in belittling the man Beiror. He is merely 23 years old. Young even by human standards."
     Radgast slipped on his black robes, and adjusted his sword shaped medallion. "Your dwarf friend is quite correct. Should we not return to our goal?" Beiror handed Gryemoran his robe. 
     "Very well. Korag, do you have your axe ready?" 
     "When don't I?" the dwarf said with a false tone of indignation. He smiled at his old companion. Beiror shook his head. 
     "I'll never understand dwarf humor. I truly never will."

     As night fell, the four companions set down their weapons. Radgast unhooked his scroll case from his belt, then sat down on a large rock. Greymoran stood looking off into the distance. "That damned fungus. Thanks to it we are delayed by at least a day!"
     Beiror rubbed drops of the healing potion he carried in his canteen into the slash on his right arm, wincing in pain. "True, but at least now we know what it is we are up against. This fungus is clearly similar to those destroying the trees of the Druid Grove in Shadowdale. And we also know that whomever is behind this is also aware of our mission." 
     Greymoran frowned and shook his head. "You say that as though it were a good thing Beiror. The person or persons behind this will clearly go to great lengths to keep us from reaching Myth Dranor." Beiror nodded in agreement.
     "Correct young wizard. And by so easily defeating their fungus, they will get scared, and make a mistake." Greymoran spun around to look at Beiror. 
     "Are you mad? Easily defeated? That fungus nearly took your arm off, and broke my brother's spear! And Korag! It will be days before he is fit for battle again!" A load groan distracted the two. Korag, laying in a soft patch of grass, his hand broken, and a large gash running down the length of his left leg looked at them. 
     "Stop it, the both of ye'!" He yelled as a parent would yell at feuding siblings. "I grow weary of yer petty bickerin' A few potions an I'll be fine and dandy. Now get some sleep. It'll be night soon."
     Greymoran opened his eyes to find himself in a strange place. His brother was standing next to him on one side. On the other, a man, human, with gray streaks in his black hair, a wide grin across his face, and a strange looking weapon in his hand. The weapon slightly resembled a crossbow, but is too narrow, with a strange glow at the end of it. 
     "You ready wizards? Today is your first mission as official agents of the XDCA." The man pointed the weapon at an open field. Littered throughout the field are the bodies of tall lanky green creatures with almond shaped eyes, black as night. Greymoran felt ill at the sight of the carnage. The other man sighed.      "Look guys. There's nothing we can do for these people. The best we can do is go out to that bunker, and find clues as to who's responsible." Radagast coughed lightly.
     "Mr. Grey, I'm still not sure what we're supposed to do. It seems like only yesterday we were on our own world when Greymoran wake up!"

     "Wake up wizard!" Beiror shouted in a panic. Greymoran opened his eyes, images from his dream still lingering in his vision. He looked around to find his brother standing up, holding a knife in his hand, standing over the body of a orc. Beiror had his war hammer, covered in blood, in his hand. Greymoran saw two more orcs, both dead, lying on the ground. Then with a gasp of horror, he realized their dwarven companion Korag, was missing.
     "Wh-what happened?" Greymoran said grasping for his mace.
     "While you were taking your nap," Beiror shouted angrily, "those orcs ambushed us and took Korag. We caught up with their rear guard and dropped them." He waved to the bodies on the ground. Radagast was glaring at Greymoran.
     "We have to find him!" Radagast yelled, obviously worried. Beiror raised his hand to try and calm him down. Greymoran rubs his eyes. How could he have slept through this? The dream couldn't have lasted that long could it?

     Korag struggled weakly as the two orcs holding his arms carried him towards the fire pit. Obviously they intended to cook and eat him. With a quick glance he saw one orc, bigger than the others, walking ahead of the ones carrying him. He noticed earlier that the three that were following went missing over an hour ago. At the camp he saw a half down more orcs, gathered around the fire. He took all this in, including where they were standing and the position they were standing in. Hoping the orcs didn't notice he quickly looked to his belt. 
     His battle ax was gone, but the throwing axe he kept in his boot was still there. He felt one of the carrying orcs stop. He closed his eyes again. The orc looked at him for a moment, then with the aid of the other threw him to the ground hard. Korag barely choked back the urge to scream. He'd landed right where his bleeding leg wound was. He opened his eyes briefly. None of the orcs in the camp was looking at him. Stupid creatures, he thought to himself. He quickly pulled out the throwing axe and hurled it into the forehead of the largest orc he could see, the one that had been in the front of the party that had raided the camp. All the other orcs turned to face him, as he struggled to stand up. He picked up a large branch and began swinging it like a club with his good hand.
     "C'mon ye bastards!"

     Greymoran cast Wizard Eye, a spell he had at first resisted, calling it useless. Now of course he was glad he'd memorized it.. The floating green glowing eyeball appeared a few feet ahead of the three men. He whispered a few words and the eye flew off in the direction the orcs took off. Greymoran closed his eyes, and saw what the eye saw as it followed the tracks of the ones that took their companion. Greymoran, eyes still closed, followed in the Eye's path.
     Beiror and Radagast followed him, Radagast searching his scroll case for the Cloudkill spell. He pulled it out and smiled triumphantly. Beiror snatched it from his hand.
     "Forget it. We don't want to kill Korag as well." Greymoran raised his hand to bring the party to a halt. He opened his eyes.
     "I've found the camp. Korag is being carried in by three orcs. He's out cold. We have to hurry." Greymoran began running towards the camp holding his mace tight in his hand, ready to fight. Beiror and Radagast followed closely, also tensing for battle.

     Korag smiled at the sound of the skull of the orc who rushed him cracking. The other orcs stopped, shocked, briefly.
     "C'mon!" Korag screamed, his favorite battle cry. All of them rushed him at once. Korag swung hard, knocking one of them to the ground, before getting knocked down himself by another orc. Soon the whole of the camp was on top of him pounding with their fists. Korag blacked out from the pain.
     The largest orc punched Korag so hard his entire face collapsed under the force. With blood dripping from his hand, he stood up, cheering triumphantly, only to have his chest pierced by an acid arrow. The other orcs stopped pounding on Korag's carcass and turned to see three men, one obviously an elf, or perhaps even half-elf, and two humans. One of the humans, a man in a orange robe, said a small chant and extended his hands. One of them dropped to the ground, smoke coming from his chest. A flame arrow. The other orcs looked at each other for a few moments, then ran away.
     Beiror walked over to his friends body. He began to sob. They had known each other for well over a decade. Greymoran walked over, and gagged at the bloody site. Radagast hung back, hesitating to get too close to the gruesome scene. Beiror stood up, eyes closed.
     "We will give him a proper burial. A warrior's funeral. Then we shall continue on to Myth Dranor." He sheathed his Warhammer, than walked over to a nearby orc tent, and grabbed a shovel, tears streaming down his cheek.

     Staring at the mound of dirt marking Korag's burial place, the realization of what had transpired hit Greymoran with full force. He collapsed to his knees in tears. He hadn't known the dwarf for that long, but he had begun to admire the man. He'd go so far as to say he genuinely liked him. Radagast laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. 
     "Come brother. We must travel as far as possible before sundown, lest we fall victim to the orcs if they decide to return." He began to walk to the edge of the clearing, Beiror close behind. Greymoran looked at the sky. He had a bad feeling about the days ahead, but he stood up anyway, and began to follow his companions.

     The days that followed were mostly uneventful. The occasional encounter with wild animals aside, there was no combat, or major battles to distract them. Within four days they reached their destination, the ruins of Myth Dranor. It was covered in the same fungus that threatened the trees of the Shadowdale druid grove. The three walk about for awhile, until Greymoran notices something out the corner of his eye. He noticed that a cave nearby has no fungus lining it's opening, like many of the chasms near by. He tapped Beiror on the shoulder then pointed.
     "Our answers are in there. Of that I am certain," he says. He walked towards the cave. Greymoran turned to his brother. Radagast was nervous, he could tell. But regardless he followed Beiror. Greymoran took up the rear, trying to keep aware of his surroundings, not wanting to deal with another ambush like the one that had claimed the life of their dwarven friend just days before.
     "This cave scares me no end," Radagast mumbled, his voice echoing off the walls as Beiror lit his torch. The three walked through the opening single file. The cave was surpringly bright, the glimmer of daylight coming though the mouth reflecting off the crystals and diamonds in the walls.
     "Why has this place not been mined like every such place around it?" Beiror asked, even though he knew that neither Greymoran nor Radagast would have an answer available to them. He scanned the area with his ability to see even in minimal light such as this. He saw nothing ahead for a large distance ahead, except a large hole in the ground that they would have to take careful steps to get around when they reached it.
     "My, that is a big hole," Greymoran exclaimed sarcastically. Actually, the hole was rather large, but not so big as to be impassable. Radagast laughed nervously at that statement.
     "Big indeed brother. Big indeed."

     As time passed, the wizards grew weary. Beiror was feeling a little sleepy himself so he decided it would be okay to set up camp here. So far they had been lucky. Only the hole had been any kind of obstacle. Only the occasional rock that one of them would trip over had slowed them down any. Beiror looked back towards the direction they had come from. Nothing. Not even the light of the reflecting crystals. The torch provided the only light they had. Beiror set about building a fire with some spare kindling he'd carried in his pack. There was only enough for this one fire. If they did not find something soon, they would have to turn back.
     Greymoran was asleep before his head hit the makeshift pillow. Radagast stayed awake for a time, having decided to take first watch. When Beiror awoke, he would get some sleep of his own. Fact was he wasn't as tired as his brother.
     But he was tired nonetheless. His eyes felt like 200 pounds of illithium ore. He closed his eyes and rubbed them, trying to stay awake. When he opened them, he was surrounded by a wasteland. Fires burned all around. The smell of bruning flesh floated into his nose, making him vomit. He looked around. Not a sign of life as far as he could see. Hoping against hope he shouted, "Hello!" but got no reply. He walked about the desolation for what felt like an eternity.
     A noise from behind distracted him. Suddenly he saw himself, standing there, an evil smile on his face. He walked towards a bed that wasn't there before. Radagast gulped. He was certain that that bed hadn't been there before. A woman was in the bed. She stirred at the sound of the other Radgast's feet hitting hard wood. Radagast frowned. He looked at the ground and saw only dirt. He looked back up. The woman in the bed sat up, smiling.
     "Joespeh honey, is that you?" The man who looked just like him smiled again, and Radagast shivered. That smile was pure evil. 
     "Of course it is I Marie. I haven't seen my brother since he got that bonk on the head, remember?" Radgast searched his memory. In their lives neither he nor his twin had met a woman named Marie, nor had one of them gone by the name Joeseph. And neither of them had received a 'bonk' on the head, whatever that meant.
     "I feel faint Joe." The woman gently rubbed her forehead. The man who looked like him then looked right into Radagast's eyes. "See what you will become." He then proceeded to force himself on the woman. Radgast launched forward to grab the man by his collar, and fell flat onto the ground, back in the cave. He bolted up, and looked around. His heavy breathing awakened Beiror.
     "What is wrong?" He began looking around himself, hand planted firmly on the grip of his warhammer. Radagast closed his eyes reluctantly, and saw nothing. He took a deep breath.
     "Nothing. My mind playing tricks on me. Perhaps I should get some rest."

     After Beiror's watch was completed, the three men stood up, and prepared their gear. Beiror lit another torch. The three continued their trek forward into the bowels of the cave. Without warning the ground gave way and they all fell into a chasm. The three hit the ground hard, Beiror knocked unconscious by the impact. Radagast tried to stand up and screamed. His leg was clearly broken. Greymoran checked his own body and found merely bruises and sore muscles. He got lucky. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness. He went to pick up Beiror's torch but saw that it was broken, the light extinguished.
     "Bloody hell!" He cursed under his breath. Suddenly a blunt object swung out the darkness and hit Greymoran in the back of the neck. Everything went black.

     "I can't believe you idiots!" the man exclaimed to his men. They were holding strange looking objects, smooth looking clubs, that appeared to be made of metal. Radagast peaked through the hole in the door of the cell he'd been thrown into. The man who had spoken wore strange clothing, his chest covered with a piece of cloth with the words "Same Shit, Different Day" written on it in human language. He waved about an object that looked like a crossbow with the bow part removed around. His subordinates seemed scared of that object despite it's apparent lack of use as a weapon.
     "They stumbled into the dark room Boss. Lucky they didn't land on any of the guns." One of the scared men explained. Another scared man nodded.
     "Yeah boss. What were we supposed to do? You never told us what we should do if natives of this universe came across our operation." He flinched back as the man called Boss pointed his broken crossbow at him.
     A loud noise that resembled an explosion echoed throughout the cavern. Radagast covered his ears. Never in his life had he heard such a loud noise before. The man who had spoken up was lying on the ground, dead. The broken crossbow had smoke coming out the end of it. Must be a magical weapon, Radagast thought to himself.

     The loud noise jarred Greymoran from his sleep. He didn't dream during this sleep, but when he awoke his neck hurt. He rubbed it gently. Then he remembered everything. The cave, the fall, the hit on the neck. He noticed he was in a cell, alone. Just a small bed, the frame made of metal, and something that he didn't quite recognize. A quick smell of it revealed it to be the place where he was supposed to relive himself. He waved the stench away, then walked to the door, and looked out the small hole in the dorr. He saw a man lying dead on the ground, a man he did not know. The man standing over the body stpeed back and waved to several young men standing nervously near-by. 
     "Get this pigfucker out of my sight," he demanded. Greymoran frowned. He had certainly never heard a man reffered to as a lover of pigs before. The mental image he developed of such an action made him gag.

     Beiror watched attentively. His eyes moved back and forth with the movement of the man called 'Boss'. He watched as the man opened a crate and pulled a strange looking weapon, like a longer more slender version of the weapon he had used to kill the man he called Pigfucker. Boss handed it to one of his subordiantes. 
     "Take this up to the surface, and check and make those three don't have any back up outside. This fungus is distracting enough, eating all our supplies." The man nodded as he took the weapon. 
     "Boss, what if these guys were here about the fungus? Or worse, what if they're behind it? I'd hate to piss off someone who can make somethin' like that." The Boss rolled his eyes impatiently. 
     "Allright. Jones, go with 'im. Grab one of the LAWs. In case they have a whole army outside." The man he called Jones nodded enthusiasticlaly, then grabbed what looked a brown tube. He motioned for the man with the long slender weapon to follow him. Boss clapped his hands together and rubbed them, smiling. He walked towards one of the other cells.

     Radagast pulled back, and tried to pretend he was asleep in his bed when he realized that Boss was coming for his cell. The door clanked open. Boss stepped in and punched Radagast in the stomach. He rolled off the bed coughing. Boss grabbed the hood of his robe and pulled him up and pushed him against a wall, pinning his left arm to the wall with his right hand. 
     "Allright wizard boy. You're going to tell me why you came in this cave, why you're in this place, and what you have to do with this fungus!" It was not a request. Radagast finsihed coughing. He glowered at Boss. 
     "I and my companions are here to investigate the fungus, which is killing the trees in surrounded countries. Judging from what I overheard, you don't know too much about this fungus either." Boss smiled, then with his free hand slapped Radagast across the face. 
     "OK boy. I believe you. Now tell me why you came into this cave." Radgast spit out a tooth that had come loose when Boss slapped him. The welt on the side of his face was throbbing. 
     "The mouth of the cave was the only thing in the area that wasn't covered!" Boss cocked his head to one side. 
     "Really? When me and the boys got here there wasn't fungus on any of the caves. It only covered a few old pillars." He still was smiling. Radagast was beginning to hate that smile. "You know what? I still believe you wizard boy." Boss let Radagast fall to the floor. "I'm going to talk to your twin in the next room. You better be a good boy while I'm gone."

     Beiror paced back and forth in his cell. He was anxious to learn what had happened to his companions. He had gathered that they were in neighboring cells, because the man called Boss had gone to those cells first. He was in the second cell now. He hoped that the wizards were all right. The door to his cell flew open and the bulky man called Boss barreled in like thunder, slamming Beiror into the wall.
     "Well, elf boy, I think I got everything I need from your wizard buddies. Unless of course they're lying to me. So I'm going to ask you the same questions. What are you people doing here?"
     "Investiagating the fungus tha-" Boss backhanded Beiror. 
     "OK, same answer as your friends. The fall through our little trap didn't give you any time to prepare, so I'll assume you're not lying then." Boss picked Beiror up off the floor, then threw him down on his cot. "But if I'm proven wrong about you, I'll have to kill you in the worst way I can think, because I don't like being lied to." He slammed the cell door shut behind him.

     Greymoran was still sore. The man had pounded on his legs with those massive fists for what seemed like hours before he moved on to Beiror's cell. He was certain Beiror was in the cell to his left. While Boss was punching him, he was talking about his twin, who he said he'd already beaten senseless. His first thought was to respond with a jab at his brother, which just wouldn't have been right or funny under the circumstances. He hoped Radagast was okay. He placed one arm on the floor and the other on the bed, and tried to stand. He found it difficult. He considered casting a healing spell on his legs, but the man called Boss had known he was a wizard and had likely taken steps to prevent him and his brother from being able to use their magics. He reached to fiddle with his amulet, as he always did when he was nervous, but found it gone. He sighed, then thought of something else. He pulled at his belt. It was still there. Including the metal pegs that held it in place. Each one big enough to act as a lock pick.

     Boss was smoking a cigar at his makeshift desk. Few pirate lords actually had desks. Most preferred thrones, but Boss thought the desk made him look smarter. And besides, most thrones weren't made out of leather with the ability to recline.
     "So, Jansen, give me the word on the Space Marshalls. Are they as big a threat to our cartel as the XDCA?"  A young man was seated in a small hard plastic chair in front of Boss's desk, nervous.
     "Yes, sir. Possibly even bigger. They have this thing called Directive Omega which allows them to destroy whole races if the Council allows them. If they ever turned that kind of attention to one of the Cartels-"
     Boss sat up quickly, a smile on his face. Jenkins stopped talking. "Well, Jenkins my boy, you've given me an idea. Who're the best hackers we got?" Jenkins looked confused.
     "Uh, sir? Well, there's Kim'e sir. And Mericus. They're pretty damn good sir." Boss nodded. He took a puff of his cigar.
     "Jenkins, get them in here post haste. I want them to infiltrate the Space Marshalls, and initiate a Directive Omega on one of our rivals." Jenkins nodded then got up to leave. "Wait, wait. First, we should get ready to leave. If someone comes lookin' for those wizards and priest-boy with the hammer, it could tip off the XDCA. And we don't want that to happen again." He tossed the cigar into the wastebasket next to his desk.

     Greymoran tossed the bent belt clip aside. He only had one left, and he wasn't sure what to do with it. What few lockpicking tricks he knew involved the use of two long thin metal objects. With only one usable now, he had no idea how to pick the lock on his cell door. He leaned against the wall and tried to think. He then heard the sound of footsteps approaching the cells. He heard the door to his right open, his brother's. He stood up and walked to the door and listened intently.
     "OK wizard, you're coming with us. I might need hostages." He heard the sound of shuffling feet. Radagast was struggling. Suddenly a loud clang caused Greymoran to jump. The metal door to Beiror's cell fell to the floor. A glowing green hammer eminated from Beiror's hand. The Spiritual Hammer, a spell of the priests. 
     "We shall be going now, Boss." he declared in a booming voice. Boss smiled and laughed, and snapped his fingers. Beiror charged at him but a long thin beam of fire came out of the shadows and struck Beiror in the chest knocking him to the gorund. Greymoran saw smoke coming from where the helf-elf had stood but could see nothing else. Suddenly he heard a barely audible 'swish' and then the unmistakable sound of a man groaning in pain. The loud thump that followed made Gryemoran smile. Only someone as fat and tall as The Boss  could've made that loud a noise. A slight click, and Greymoran's cell door swung open. Gryemoran saw a small flash from behind his twin, and he pulled Radagast aside. A line of flame like that that had hit Beiror flew over thier heads, and nearly melted the segment of wall that was behind Gryemoran. He shouted an incantation and a chromatic reflective ball slammed into the metallic looking creature that exited the shadows. It defiantely was not natural, that Gryemoran could tell right away. For although the ball hit the monster square in what Greymoran was sure was it's chest, it merely tipped over and made a loud metallic clang as it hit. It made whirring noise then another beam of fire lanced outward, bouncing off a wall and signing Radgast's robe. He shouted in panic and tore the robe off. Gryemoran chanted yet again and an arrow made of acid appeared out of thin air and pieced the clear dome shape at the top of the monster's body. A pink, human looking brain was inside that dome, Greymoran noticed for the first time, but it melted away when the acid touched it. The lights that came from the monster's body dimmed, and it stopped firing.
     "Where the hell are we?" Radagast shouted at no one in particular. Greymoran didn't even try to answer. He knew as little as his brother did. He turned to where Beiror had fallen. Very little remained of their friend. The smell of burnt flesh finally reached the twin wizards and made both of them gag. Without warning, Boss suddenly stood up and brought his large fist down on the back of Greymoran's neck.
     "That'll teach you to kick me in the nuts!" He grabbed a cup off a nearby table and hurled it at Radagast. But the usually impulsive wizard calmly moved himself out of the path of the cup and cast the only spell that hadn't left him in the tension of the moment. A glowing circle appeared beneath Boss's feat. Boss's eyes fluttered, then closed. He feel forward, landing on top of Greymoran. The Sleep spell had worked. For Radagast this was the first time this had happened. Other attempts to use that powerful spell had resulted in numerous minor injuries for himself and his brother. He laughed for several minutes, forgetting his brother was passed out under the fat villain's body. Gryemoran graoning brought radagast back to reality. He rolled the big man's body off of his brother. The wind knocked out of him, Greymoran didn't say a word. He simply coughed and took deep breaths. The two, arm in arm, walked towards what looked like the door Boss had come in. Gryemoran suddenly regained his composure and slapped Radagast on the back of his head.
     "Hey!" Radagast protested.
     "Laughing while I was suffocating under that murderer? You deserve worse!" He freed himself from Radagast's arm and walked on his own towards the door. He pulled it open and gasped at what he saw. In front of him were stpes embedded in the rock, and beyond that a massive area, filled with large boxes and strange looking vehicles. Or at least Gryemoran thought they were vehicles as most of them had wheels sticking out the botoms. Others seemed to float in midair. He stood there motionless and silent. Radagast stepped past him on the small platform and soon looked exactly the same. The two stood for what seemed like an eternity. Greymoran stepped back, somewhat frightened by what he saw, and tripped over the remians of the monster he and his brother killed. Radagast stayed where he was though, and began to chant under his breath. He couldn't understand what he was seeing, but instinctively he knew it was evil, and that he had to do something to stop it. A standard fireball left Radagast's hands and impacted on the side of one of the vehicles, and did absolutely nothing. Radagast was amazed. "It must have metla protection. Greymoran finally found the ability to speak. 
     "I doubt it. These aren't the kinds of people who use magic, good or bad. I think it must have somethiong to do with all these strange devices." The two were distubred by shouting noises. Boss's companions had spotted them. They rasied their weapons, and the wizards ducked back intot he room there were in slamming the door shut. The two ducked as beams of ornage fire lanced through the door with incredible ease. Greymoran and Radagast stayed low, hoping not to get hit and wind up like Beiror. 

     A loud swishing noise came from behind the door, and some of the weapon's fire stopped. Suddenly it seemed to double to Gryemoran and Radagats. The two wizards risked standing up, and through the badly damaged door they could see what was happening. A battle. Out of now where ana rmy of men in black uniform had started shooting at Boss's men. One of them, the only ont wearing a helmet, saw the wizards and pointed his wepaon at them. They stepped back. The man lowere dhis weapon, spoke something to the man next to him and started forward, ducking and dodging the wepaons fire that came from other end of the massive room. He climbed up the stairs, staying low and shotoing behind him. He finally reached the wizards who hand't moved, and the three went into the relative safety of the room. The dark haired man smiled as he saw Boss unconscious on the ground. 
     "So, Boss, all that time evading us and suddenly you get knocked by a couple of guys in robes." He placed small chains on Boss's wrists and lifts the large man to his feet with surprisingly little effort. He slapped Boss until he woke up. "Wakey wakey Boss man." he laughed.
     "You!" He tried to kick the younger man but the man deftly put his leg between Boss's legs and with a quick move sent Boss tumbling backwards on the floor.
     "Oh c'mon Boss, I thought you'd be happy to see your favorite target. You've tried to kill me, what four times?" He turned to the wizards, then looked back at Boss. "They look pretty young. It must be embarassing to haev your ass handed to you by a couple of teenagers."
     "We're in our 20s!" Radagast muttered loudly. The man didn't hear him He kept teasing and mocking Boss for a few minutes before pulling a small black stick out of his belt. He tapped the top of it then spoke into it. 
     "This is Grey, I've got the Boss under arrest." 
     Only now Greymoran noticed that the fight outside this room ahd died down. He turned to look out, and saw the few Boss followers that remained alive had thier hands behind their heads and at least two men in black per man behind them with weapons raised. One of them, so far away Gryemoran almost didn't notice him, was spekaing into his hand, probably into a stick just like the man named Grey had.
     "Yeah, I've got two civilians here too. I think Boss may have them prisoner. We also have a body up here, looks like an Elf, bruned pretty bad. Probably a Napam Flamethrower." An inaudible voice replied. Gryemoran and Radagast couldn't make out what it said. Grey nodded, then tapped the stick again, then put it away. He turns to look at the wizards, and gives a half-smile. "So, boys, mind explaining exactly what you're doing here?"

     Radagast and Greymoran sipped tea in the back compartment of a massive vehicle that Grey had called a 'paddywagon.' In a similar vehicle next to this one, Boss and his survivng henchman had been loaded, and the door closed. The door to this one was open. Grey came up to the open door and stepped inside.
     "Sorry about the interuption back there. The Admiral needed a progress report. So, Radagast was it? What exactly did Boss tell you? Anything about where his bigger ships were?"
     Radagast swallowed hard. He'd thought the vehciles Boss had in that battle area were the largest vehicles he'd ever seen. The prospect of there being ones larger scared him. "Uh, no Agent Grey. He mostly beat me and threatened my brother's life."
     "Call me Jake." Grey says, smiling. He turns to Greymoran. "And you, uh, Gryemoran. I assume he did the same thing?" Greymoran nodded and took another sip of tea.
     "Mostly. He also used a few words I didn't quite understand, as well as combinations of words I've never even imagined." Grey laughed at this.
     "Yeah, that guy is quite the foul mouth. Anyway, the Doc says you're clear. It's pretty much up to you where you go now. Not much chance of you forgetting everything you've seen here, but if you could pretend, that would be good for everyone. Or, you could come with us. It's not unprecedented after all. It's how I got into the XDCA in the first place."
     "XDCA?" Radagast asked, a look of confusion on his face.
     "The Extra-Dimensional Control agency. We basically travel the Multiverse busting assholes like Boss and his Blue Fugates."
     Now Gryemoran looked confused. "Blue Fugates?"
     "Yeah. Boss's Pirate Cartel. Probably the most dangerous of the bunch. That's why we were lucky to find them. A hole opened up in the rock they used to sheild them and we detected the weapon cache."
     Most likely the hole in the ground that swallowed us up, Greymoran thought. He took another sip of tea. "This is all quite strange, but it has been a strange day. So, did these Blue Fugate Pirates have anything to do with the Fungus?"
     "Oh, that purple shit that was killing all the plants? No, but we managed to shut down the source while we were here. Serendipity."
     Radagast slugged down the last of his tea, which had gone cold while he was holding it. "Serendiptiy?"
     Grey chuckled. "A fortunate accident. It's a long story. I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say without it we would've found you sooner. Maybe saved your friend." Greymoran and Radagast sighed and lowered their heads in unison. Greymoran was the first one to look up after the awkward silence had gone on for several minutes. 
    "What exactly does one need to do in order to join the XDCA?"

     Jansen, Kim'e, and Merigus had been lucky enough to escape. With a cargo box full of small poisoned swords they managed to sneak out of the caves just as the XDCA burst in and the fire fight began, the two had beamed aboard a small ship in orbit over the planet. It was a small ship called a Runabout, a ship that Boss and Jansen had personally stolen over a year ago. Jansen took the pilot's console. "OK you two, Boss may be in XDCA hands but we aren't. We still have a mission to acomplish." He smiled and looked at the device in his hand. A device with the markings of the Space Marshalls.

     Greymoran and Radagast stared in amazement out the viewport of the ship as it went into warp. The streaking stars, the sheer speed being acheived by this vessel, was astounding to them. Even more astounding was that they couldn't even feel it. Greymoran asked about this, and Grey smiled. 
     "Inertial dampers. Don't worry guys. Once I get you into the Academy, and I will I promise, you'll know this stuff as well as you know your spells." He turned to his helmsman. "Mr. Alley, take us to Avalon. We'll drop these two off at New Eton, and we can be on our way. We've still got that meeting in SWU7 remember?" Greymoran and Radagast simultaneously considered asking exactly what that meant, but thought better of it. They merely stood there, watching the streaking stars, then leaping backwards when the saw the massive purple swirl that suddenly opened up in front of them. Before Greymoran could shout out a warning, the ship passed harmlessly through, and suddenly, in the distance was the distinct shape of a planet. Grey turned to the disoriented wizards. "First time is always a little rough. Welcome to the Avalon system. That planet over there is Avalon 4, the homebase of the XDCA. In a few moments you'll see a massive structure in orbit of the planet. That's X-SS-36, base of operations for our space bound ventures. Assuming either of you joins the Space Corp, you'll be spending a lot of time there. You might even make new friends with the new A.I. installed there, name of Carrie. Though I hear she can be a bit of a wise-ass." He chuckled when he saw the confused looks passing over the wizard's faces. "A.I. stands for artificial intelligence. Think of it as a super-smart and independent golem with no body. Well, you'll understand later I suppose."

     Three years after their first meeting, the two wizards met Jake Grey again, this time in command of a new ship. He smiled when he saw his two new officers.
      "Greymoran! Radagast! It's great to see you again! Welcome aboard the X.S.S. Gemini, a Lyran Catamaran Cruiser, but you already knew that I assume." The wizards nodded. 
     "From SFBU1," Radagast added enthusiastically. Greymoran was still holding Grey's hand after shaking it. Grey coughed, and the wizard sheepishly let it go. 
     "You don't look a day older then three years ago sir," he said, honestly. Grey laughed. 
     "Prolonged exposure to dimensional energies can sometimes multiply an organic lifeform's lifespan by 6 or 7 times. I'll probably live to be a solid 700 years. I'm only 40 now though, so it's best not to think about such things, you know?" The two wizards nodded. Coming from a world with long living races such as Elves and Dwarves this concept was not so alien to them. "Well, it's a pleasure to have you guys aboard. We'll be heading out shortly. Our first mission is basically to investigate a dimensional anomoly in SCU6. Kind of boring, but most of my crew are fresh out of the Academy like you two. Report to the bridge. I'll meet you there in a few minutes. I just have to check o our security chief. He's only recently recovered from a nervous breakdown." Not surprisngly, the two wizards weren't terribly pleased with this piece of information.

     Alan Quincy Ranger was one of the few members of the Space Marhsall service who still remembered the near disaster that had occured when the XDCA had first come to this universe, which they rather dully reffered to as the SMU. He walked around his empty house. The youngest of his two children had gone off to the Marshall training camps. Soon, like all other little boys in the 27th century, he'd become a protector of the peace. Despite all the new recruits the organization would get this year as in all years, in recent decades the rate of overturn had kept the number of full agents fairly constant, rarely fluctuating except during elections and galactically recognized anniversaries, such as the tri-centenial of the forming of TerrSec. His wife was out at a mutual friend's wedding party, to which Alan had originally been unable to attend. The meeting of the Galactic Council, which at this time in history was about as much use as a condom machine in the Vatican, had been cancelled, so now Alan, not wanting to show up at a party so embarassingly late, was alone. He didn't enjoy that thought at all. Suddenly, a light lit up. It came from his Space Marshall insignia patch on his uniform shirt. He sighed. The speically designed piece of cloth with nano-stitching only lit up when something really bad was happening. It hadn't lit up in a dozen years. He then noticed that it had lit up orange. This was really bad. He hadn't even been alive when it had last gone orange. His father hadn't even been alive then. In fact, the Ranger family hadn't yet established itself in the order yet back then, when his grandfather was merely a cadet, much to his own father's dismay. He grabbed the shirt off the back of the chair, left a note for his wife, and bolted to the nearrest spaceport, which only a few hundred meters away in the only major metropolitan city on Pluto.

     In the interim three years since the incident at the cave, Jansen had taken complete control of the Blue Fugates. This was a tedious task, since most people had assumed the organization ahd been completley wiped out by the XDCA, and that Jansen was nothing more than an upstart, a poser, trying to milk off the previous successed of a now dead cartel. Kim'e and Merigus were his right hand men, and were in no small part responsible Jansen becoming the new Boss as things came together. They'd even managed to bust out the old Boss, only to have him killed when he tried to organize an assassination of Jansen.
     "YES!" a very old and tired looking Merigus shouted. "It took me three flippin' years but I did it! I found the code to activate a Directive Omega!"
     Jansen smiled then looked to Kim'e. The alien had fallen asleep at his console. The two men had worked almost non-stop on cracking all of the codes belonging to the Space Marshalls, an organization that was almost always at odds with the XDCA, except when it came to pirates. Space Marshalls were even more merciless, and many cartel leaders dreamed of striking back at them. After all, unlike the XDCA, they were contained to one universe. Hurting them would be so much easier, and in their minds, far more fulfilling emotinally. Kim'e stirred slightly, but was simply too stressed out, too tired to process what his subsconscious mind had heard.
     "Good word old friend. Now all we have to do is find the perfect planet. One completley incapable of defneidng itself. One that hasn't developed inter-planertary travel yet. Prefferably a pre-industrial empire." Merigus yawned, muttered something about having the perfect place already picked out, then fell asleep on the floor. Jansen found a series of handwritten notes. He couldn't quite make out his friend's handwriting, but he thought he saw the name of a developing planet somewhere in the jumbled mess. XJ-41-Z. Once he had awakened Merigus and Kim'e with buckets of ice water, he was able to confimr the location of this planet and using the codes, he activated a Directive Omega. A few minutes later Alan Quincy Ranger's patch had lit up orange.

     Almost the entire fleet of Space Marshall ships was just outisde the solar system XJ-41. Planet Z, a Z-class, a.k.a. Paradise class for it's impossibly perfect ecosystem (until the 23rd century thought to be impossible by most respectable scientists), loomed ahead of them, unaware of the doom that was about to befall it. Alan Ranger had been given the dubious honor of carrying out the Directive Omega. The Galactic Council of the Space Marshalls had been as surprised as everyone else when the unexpected call for total annihilation of the indiginous people of XJ-41-Z came down, but the authorization codes were good according to the organization's charter. So every ship belonging to the Space Marshalls, even the very lightly armed transport ships and freighters, were there. There were a few ships that had to be pulle dout of mothballs for the mission, and sadly some of them had fallen into disrepair. Ranger looked at his tactical display. Over three hudnred ships, many of them containing retired Marhsalls who'd been called back into service. Directive Omega declarations were one of only two reasons to force former members back into duty. He looked again at the recon data on the planet. It just didn't seem right to him. The planet's indigenous peoples hadn't even acheived nuclear power yet according to the preliminary scans. He wnated to wait for more detailed information. Something that could explain why this race had been declared a threat to galatic peace and stability. What possible unspeakable act could they have committed to justify the kind of genocide that Omega called for? But he wasn't going to get what he wanted. The order came dwon from the Council. The organization had received a second call for Omega on planet XJ-41-Z. Obviously the Marhsall who had called for the directive, even though no one seemed to know exactly who, had seen something dire. Despite the fact that doubt was eating away at the lining of his stomach, Alan Quincy Ranger gave an order that he would regret for the rest of his life.

     300 years later, Quincy Ranger aboard the L.I.C.C. ship Spidership III  and Greymoran of the XDCA ship Archangel finsihed recounting what they knew about the tragedy of XJ-41-Z to their respective crews. Ranger and the command staff of the Spidership were particulary unnerved by the events they had heard from Ranger, and from the old recoridng by Radagast, Greymoran's brother who had since gone mad after a terrible blow to the head. Aboard the Archangel at roughly the same time, Rita fought back tears, while Keith nervously bit his nails trying not to imagine what the people of the innocent planet destroyed as a result of Jansen, Kim'e, and Merigus's actions went through in thoise final seconds.
     "So now you see," said Greymoran to his small crew, "why we have taken such drastic meausres against the Blue Fugates." He looked at the Vulcan engineer Sorik as he said this. The Vulcan still failed to understand the logic of the directive to essentially murder any Blue Fugate they came across without trial, and the story of Xj-41-Z had only reinforced his feelings. He formulated an argument agains tthe action Greymoran sought to take against them, but Ahz's voice prevented him from doing so.
     "Sir, Ryo-O and I have found the station to which the Blue Fugates have taken Carrie and the Archangel's computer core. Ryo-O is already under way."

     The new Boss of the Blue Fugates toyed with the purple bag he'd found. The SMU (renamed LICCU some eyars after the XJ-41 incident) had been the origin point. He wondered why the man his spies indentified as Jason Kiehart had tossed this away. It was obviosuly magical from the stitched runes on it, and the feel of thrumming energy of the strings. He decided he would open it later. He had an XDCA A.I. to deal with, and Carrie was a stubborn one.
     Inside the bag, the villian Taconator awaited the chance he knew would come to escape.

The End...