Title: "Revelations"
Author: Lt. JG Jenara Shylo Tomme
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

Jenara fought off the Horde coming at her as if she knew she was protected. Each swipe of her idej brought another adversary down. In a way, she was protected. She could feel Tiadara giving her direction as to where to strike next. She turned to face one attacker, stabbing him forcefully in the chest. Then, without even looking, she turn around to violently hit and stab another Horde attacker, bringing him down to cover the ground with blood.

Suddenly, she was rushed by two Horde warriors. They brought their swords down in unison upon her idej, the force breaking the weapon in two! Swiftly, she rolled to the ground, discarding the broken idej and scrambling to several fallen Horde, grabbing their short swords.

"You've made a big mistake!" she cried, and began her attack.

As she fought them, she managed to gain her place back in the triangle formation she had between herself, Johnny and Barek. She could feel Tiadara almost guiding her hands and she easily struck down one attacker by slashing his gut open and the other by jabbing one of her acquired swords into his chest.  Suddenly, three more charged her! It was as if her movements had been chosen by a professional warrior! Deftly, she used the two swords to kill. Two swords were far more efficient than one, IF you knew what you were doing!

Then, just as she cut her last attacker down, she heard Tiadara's warning too late about another Horde approaching in her blind spot. Just as she began to turn, she saw the Horde raise his weapon, to strike her down, when suddenly, a look of surprise entered his alien eyes. In moments, he fell down dead, Johnny Chee standing behind him with a bloody bat'leth in his hands.

"You looked in need of help," he said.

Impulsively, she went to him and kissed him. Barek looked at the two, completely stunned. But no more Horde were coming to attack... Not yet. As Jenara finally pulled away, she smiled softly as a pink tint colored her cheeks.

"Thank you," she replied, slightly embarrassed by her impulsive response. "You just saved my life and the life of my child."
 

Title: "Using One's Head"
Author: First Lieutenant Johnny Chee
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

"*What?* If I had known, I would have insisted you stay back at Noran!!!" Johnny exclaimed. Starfleet policy, as well as his own sensibilities, dictated that personnel who were pregnant should not go into combat. But then again, Starfleet policy dictated that they had no business destroying a medieval stronghold on a backwater planet like Xenon III...

"Listen, I wouldn't be any safer there than here!!! Given a choice between a sword in the gut or typhoid from the Borial water supply, I know which one's more pleasant! Now, let's get moving!!!" Jenara replied.

*Can't argue with that!* Johnny thought to himself. "Barek, how does our column look?"

"Fifty-four dead, another forty wounded," Sergeant Barek reported. Johnny's army was reconstituting itself after gaining the city gates.

"Lieutenant Benton's got a covert operations team around here somewhere, most likely in the vicinity of the city dungeon where we think the Captain and Dweezle are being held. Dispatch First and Second Companies to the dungeon; he'll need support. Barek, take Third Company and move on the forge. We'll take Fourth Company and attempt to gain control of the powder works," Johnny ordered.

An Aody carrying a rather wicked-looking agricultural implement was led by two Borials to Barek. The four men conferred, then Barek spoke up.

"Sir, if I may, we've just been informed that the Aody are taking our invasion as an opportunity to rise up against their masters. We have learned through them that the forge and the powder works are powered by a large water wheel at the north end of the city. If the water wheel is destroyed, then dismantling the rest of the Horde's heavy industry will be much simpler."

"Does this water wheel power anything the Horde might actually need?" Johnny asked. *Like a sewer system,* he thought to himself, remembering the smell of the river. Industrial pollutants weren't the only things fouling the river, and the plague which inevitably followed warfare at this level of technology was not something Johnny
wanted to confront even on an intellectual basis!

Barek turned to the Borials and asked them. They, in turn, asked the Aody. "No, sir. It would appear that the Horde is only using the water wheel to power their industrial pursuits."

"Fine. Who's in charge of Fourth Company?"

"Nkrumah still has Fourth Company. All of our people made it through this one," Barek replied.

*There's a change!* Johnny thought. "Tell Nkrumah he is to take Fourth Company and gain control of the powder mill. He is to take particular care around their pressing operation, as that is the most dangerous part of the process they're likely to have perfected. If he can secure the magazine and the corning operation intact," Johnny continued, referring to the stage where the powder was filtered into uniform grain sizes prior to pressing, "that will help out the rest of this assault to no end!"

"And you, sir?" Barek asked.

"Jenara and I are going to destroy that water wheel!"
__________________________________________

The second sun was just passing the zenith, ten degrees behind the first, brighter sun. The heat of the day had passed, and the fighting was starting to intensify again. The rebelling Aody slaves had gained control of half the city at any given time, though the field continued to shift as the day lengthened. Johnny and Jenara encountered very light (fewer than twenty) Horde resistance as they moved toward the heart of their industrial operation.

"So, how long have you known?" Johnny asked.

"It's only been a few weeks, but I'm certain," Jenara responded. "It happened just before you joined the crew. Benton and Lataro and I were abducted by a race of unknown aliens. They experimented on us."

Johnny reached out and touched her lightly on the arm. "It's okay, you don't need to go any further," he said. As part of his history studies at the Academy (and as part of a rather bizarre hobby he'd pursued in his teens), Johnny had read about the various "abductions" alleged to have taken place on Earth during the 20th and 21st centuries. Oddly enough, the "abductions" stopped just after Zefram Cochrane perfected the warp drive, but many of them did reportedly include sexual experimentation.

"Thank you," Jenara said. *At least he hasn't asked who the father is!* she thought.

Johnny held up his arm and motioned for Jenara to find cover. They'd reached the water wheel.

Johnny scanned the area briefly. The Horde had intensified its guard around this critical area: no fewer than twenty-five Horde were in and around the control room. Another four surrounded the gear room, adjacent to the water wheel but hidden from sight of the other guards by the enormous, five-meter wheel. *This is not going to be pleasant! Hero Twins, where are you when we need you?*

"Okay, it's now or never!" Johnny told Jenara. A frontal assault with 12-to-1 odds would be nothing less than suicidal. Subtlety was called for.

Dodging from building to building, Johnny and Jenara moved in on the nearest of the Horde guards, getting within two meters of the guard without being noticed. Just as the guard turned his back, Johnny reached out and broke the Horde's neck. Jenara moved on to the next guard, taking advantage of the harsh afternoon shadows generated by two suns. Moments later, Johnny heard the strangled cry of another guard as the Horde collapsed, blood spurting from his neck.

*Two down, twenty-three to go,* Johnny thought. But the objective was not to kill the guards. The objective was to destroy the water wheel!

Moving from shadow to shadow, and killing two more guards from within said shadows, Johnny and Jenara approached the gear room of the water wheel. This room acted much like the transmission of an ancient
automobile, transferring the wheel's power to the places where it was needed. The system was driven by cams and belts rather than by gears. *Too bad,* Johnny thought. *If their machine technology was just a little more advanced, we could have *really* wrecked this place!!!*

Thick, tough belts of cured glap'ta sinew ran between cams nearly a meter across and the main hub of the water wheel, which was almost three meters across. A false move and either Johnny or Jenara could easily lose an arm, a leg, or more...cutting the belts was out of the question. The tension on the belts was such that a loose end could easily decapitate anyone nearby.

*Of course, that could work to our advantage,* Johnny thought as he eyed a large bucket with a brush by the door. "Jenara, could you see what's in that bucket?"

Jenara went to the bucket and picked up the brush, smelling it. "This stuff smells disgusting!  It seems oily..."

"Perfect! Bring it over here!" Jenara brought the bucket to Johnny.

Jenara caught on immediately to what Johnny had planned, and started coating the cams and the belts with the lubricant, which was originally meant for the shafts in the system. But unlike the shafts, the belts were the one place in the system where friction was definitely *not* needed!

The plan began working within moments. The belts lost traction on the cams, which began to rotate faster. This generated heat, which caused the lubricant to smoke and the belts to squeal. This drew the remaining guards, who had been so preoccupied guarding the waterwheel and the control room that they had neglected the gear room almost completely!

At once five guards charged through the door. Johnny and Jenara set into them at once, their backs to the machinery which was quite literally spinning its wheels in utter futility. Jenara grabbed one of the Horde by the arm and threw him into the main linkage. His ear flaps got caught in the central hub. The Horde's screams were cut short by his head being crushed in the cam. In the effort to crush the doomed Horde guard's head, the torque load on the camshaft increased dramatically and the shaft snapped! Belts and cams flew everywhere
throughout the room as Johnny and Jenara ducked. The remaining Horde, not being nearly as mechanically adept as their opponents, were decapitated by the high-speed belts flying across the room.

Suddenly a horn sounded. The Horde guards were calling for reinforcements.

"What do we do now?" Jenara asked.

"Run like hell!" Johnny shouted as he ran for the door.
 

Title: "Into the Dungeons"
Author: Lieutenant Benton
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

It was only a short while after the main tower and wall had fallen. Benton's small force was still secreted inside the Aody tunnel. Their losses from the battle had been light, only two dead: Ensign Maleck and the giant Borial Thudd. Sitto was outside somewhere reconnoitering, Francesca had recovered from the shock of seeing Thudd
blown to bits, and Benton was seeing to the rearmament of his troops for their next assault. They would try to penetrate the city proper and locate their missing Virgo crewmates. But their numbers were few and the city was big and the Horde were still numerous.

Suddenly, from deeper *inside* the tunnel, Benton heard a loud commotion coming closer. It was the sound of many running feet and angry voices and clashing metal. The Security details sprang to their feet and readied their crossbows.

>From out of the darkness of the tunnel emerged the source of the racket: an angry mob of Aody! When Benton saw them he shouted, "Hold your fire!" The security men relaxed. The Aody at the head of the improvised Aody army was Gori. Benton recognized him immediately and greeted him courteously, "Hello Gori. I see you brought your friends. Where are we going in such a hurry?"

The Aody came to a halt. Gori addressed Benton, "To fight we are going. Defeat the Horde we must or never again free will we be." He shook his homemade weapon for emphasis.

Suddenly a thought entered Benton's mind. On their own, neither his force nor the Aody militia stood much of a chance of surviving an assault on Stonefist, but together they just might succeed. "Gori," began Benton, drawing Gori aside from the rest of the Aody. "I have a plan...."
_____________________________________________

Fifteen minutes later, the combined force of Benton's stealth team and the rag-tag Aody uprisers was making its way towards the crumbled walls of Stonefist city. Benton's men were to the left and right of the Aody column, armed with their crossbows and concealed from sight by their camouflage armor. The diminutive but determined Aody came up behind, ready to kill any of their long-time oppressors that were unlucky enough to come within reach of their weapons.

Surprisingly, there was no resistance, the area around the destroyed tower and wall seemed deserted. Benton and his snipers penetrated deeper into the city, heading in the general direction of the Inner Keep. Logically, any prisoners would be kept there. The Aody were spreading out a little too much for Benton's preference, but there wasn't anything he could really do about it. He trusted that their own instincts would see them through this situation.

Benton ducked from building to building. It looked like a residential district, and all the houses looked deserted. Apparently, the Horde had all been called away to the battle on one of the other fronts. He could see the other members of his team dodging between buildings, in and out of doorways, using any cover they could. Still there was no resistance from the Horde. Benton was beginning to get a little nervous. This was too easy. He glanced back at Sitto, and saw the same feeling in Sitto's face.

The security force was almost at the Keep, and the Aody were nowhere to be seen. *Where were they?!? This was not in the plan!* From far off in the distance, in the direction the Aody had gone, he could hear explosions. *What was going on?* No matter. He kept his attention on what he was doing. He picked up a clod of dirt and licked it. There was no trace of "Horde" in it. He dropped it back to the ground.

Benton crouched in the doorway of what looked like a blacksmith shop. Directly in front of him, across the wide barren 'killing zone', was the Inner Keep of Stonefist. It was constructed entirely of some sort of black, smooth, glassy stone. It's walls towered above this level of the surrounding city by hundreds of feet, and its turrets and spires were tipped with barbed iron spikes. As Benton's gaze was drawn upwards by the sweep of the Keep's architecture to the barbarous rooftop spikes, the roiling clouds overhead discharged lethal bolts of electricity which danced and arced from the sky to the spikes, and between the spikes themselves until finally being drawn to the ground around the sides of the Keep. A deafening "boom" instantly accompanied each blinding neon-blue blast.

Benton couldn't see any lights inside the Keep itself, all the windows and arrows slits were dark. And there was a column of smoke coming from the roof of the central Keep. *Something's happened inside,* he decided. He waved Sitto forward.

Sitto skidded to a stop in the shadow of the doorway beside Benton and said, "What's up?"

"It looks like the Keep's abandoned. We're going to storm the gate and look for the entrance to the dungeon," said Benton.

"I sure hope you're right about the 'abandoned' part!" said Sitto with a worried look at the still-menacing walls looming above them and the wide killing zone they'd have to run across before they got to the gate.

Benton saw the look and agreed with Sitto's sentiments. "You wait here. Cover me. When I signal, lead the rest of the men toward my position."

Sitto just said, "Good luck, Chief."

Benton acknowledged the admonition with a nod and moved off. Sitto took his place and aimed his crossbows at random windows in the Keep's stony facade just in case.

At first, Benton moved cautiously out from his shadowy hiding place. He was tense as a spring, ready to jump at the first sign of enemy attack. But no attack came. He moved farther toward the Keep's gate: still no attack. By now he was right in the middle of the killing zone, halfway between the town and the Keep, and feeling more exposed than he had ever felt before. He looked back at Sitto and the rest of his men. They were all jittery. He hand-signaled for two men to join him. Perhaps if the Horde archers above had more targets to shoot, they would attack. He saw Sitto and Kelowitz leave their protective positions and cautiously jog toward him. Still no attack. Benton decided to run the rest of the way to the Keep's gate. Once under the protection of its overhanging ceiling, he relaxed. Sitto and Kelowitz, taking their cues from Benton, also ran the rest of the way. They arrived safely, without any attack from above.

Panting, Sitto said, "Looks like you were right. Nobody's home."

Benton nodded in agreement. He signaled for the rest of his team to follow. He saw them emerge from every shadow there was among the huts and sheds at the edge of the village and start running towards the gate. All made it. Francesca arrived and parked herself at his side.

Benton said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Men! We're here to rescue the Captain. No matter how many of us fall, some of us have to reach the dungeons to free him!"

Benton's challenge was answered by a roaring cry from the rest of his men. They held their weapons high as they bellowed their approval, apparently the Borials were rubbing off on them.

With that roar behind him, Benton shoved open the front door of the Inner Keep of Stonefist and stepped inside. It was dark. A few Virgos came forward and lit torches, they were prepared for anything. After progressing about 60 feet around several twists and turns, Benton decided that their crossbows would be all but useless. He gave the signal to be passed back down the line that everyone should switch to swords.

As they worked their way down the stone hallways, they passed a few doors along the way. These were always checked for occupants, but always came up empty. The keep indeed seemed to be completely deserted. Benton wondered at this.

At long last, he came across stairs that lead down. He tried to pear into the blackness below, but all was dark. *This is it,* he thought. Sword held rigidly before him, he began the decent, his security men close behind. Sitto was at his left with sword drawn, while Kelowitz was at his right. Francesca was behind, still armed with her two
wrist-crossbows.

The stairs went down and down, and then went down some more. Then they turned a corner and spiraled down about ten times as far down as they had gone so far. The hall straightened, went down, turned a corner,
went down, turned, went down, and finally bottomed out in a thirty-foot-square room. Benton guessed they must be at least 200 feet below ground. The torch-bearers spread out to fully illuminate the place. It was grim.

Barred doors around the periphery of this room suggested it was the central locus of the Keep's dungeon system. Most of the doors were open, and there were Horde corpses lying all over the place. A battle had taken place here recently; for some reason, there were bloody farm tools lying around. Another set of stairs along the opposite wall led back upward.

Benton ran for the new set of stairs. "Follow me!" he yelled. He and the rest of the Virgos charged up into the unknown. This set of stairs was not as dark as the first, apparently it was more often used. They finally burst out into a huge room. There were pillars all down the middle, and arched windows high up below the ceiling. Tapestries hung on the walls, and there was a massive stone throne atop a raised dais at one end of the room. A huge, golden figure was battling countless Horde near the throne.

Benton's men didn't need any orders. They ran screaming toward the Horde, swords flailing. The Horde were taken by surprise by this new attack from an unexpected quarter and were quickly cut down. Finally, only the golden giant remained. Benton made his way toward him. If anyone knew what was going on here, he did. Francesca was right behind him.

As Benton grew closer, he thought he recognized the giant. He was about to venture a guess, when his train of thought was interrupted by Francesca. Apparently she had recognized him too.

"But...but...but...but...you're...you're dea...dea...dead...," stammered Francesca. Her eyes rolled up, then snapped shut as she fainted dead away. Stiff as a board, she started tilting backward and toppled to the ground like a chopped tree.
_____________________________________________

Francesca was led to another room to recover. Meanwhile, the still-alive demi-god Thuddius explained to Benton that Stephen was no longer here, that he had been taken by the evil gods to the Dark Mountain.

"That settles it," said Benton. "I knew we would have to assault that hideous peak before we were done, and this clinches it. The battle here is nearly done. We need to regroup all our forces and march toward Dark Mountain."
 

Title: "Another Point Of View"
Author: First Lt. Johnny Chee
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

Johnny and Jenara fled the gear room but were stopped short by five Horde archers covering the door.

"Well, looks like *we're* screwed!" Johnny exclaimed. Just then the Horde archers' attention was drawn by shouting and noises of war: the Aody riots had reached the industrial sector!

Johnny and Jenara took advantage of the distraction and cut down two of the Horde before the others took notice. By this point, however, the Aody had closed the distance between them and none-too-gently compelled their surrender. Leading the Aody was Lieutenant Benton and his Security forces.

"We're going to have to move, Johnny," Benton told him. "The Captain's up on the mountain!"

"Where are the other columns?"

"Lataro and Wallace destroyed the rear towers of the city; the various Borial commands have pretty much overrun the city. The main keep is destroyed and the dungeon empty, and it looks like you've taken care of their manufacturing efforts. The Horde'll be at least a generation rebuilding, and I doubt the Aody will give them any help this time!" Benton replied. With that, the Aody in the crowd sent up a rousing cheer!

Just then two Horde showed up. The one on the left was none other than the loveable Dweezle. The one on the right was unarmed and very nervous. He wore a tattered, dirty smock embroidered with nine very complicated-looking characters surrounding a wheel with nine spokes. Four Aody armed with captured idejs held them at bay.

Dweezle yelled, "Whoa! I come in peace, little guys!"

The other yelled, "Listen to me! I need to speak with your commanders!"

"And you are?" Benton asked.

"I am the High Mage Glybothar, Keeper of the Nine Sacred Glyphs. I wish to offer the surrender of Stonefist, and an explanation."

Johnny, Jenara, Benton, and the other senior officers in the grouping heard Glybothar out in the control room of the now-defunct water wheel system.

By his telling, the Horde had originally been a a group of missionaries sent from their home world, long since lost to memory, to spread the Message of the Nine Sacred Glyphs: nine ideograms of the Horde language which, when combined in their 362,880 possible permutations, spelled out the whole of Horde morality and ethics in rules nine characters long. The Keeper of the Glyphs was the one charged with exploring these permutations and interpreting them; in other words, a high priest.

The original destination of the missionaries was also lost to memory; most of the teachers and acolytes aboard the vessel which crashed on Xenon III ten thousand years earlier were killed in the crash. No rescue mission could or would be dispatched; the voyage had been planned as one-way. The remaining crew tried as hard as they could to preserve the teachings of the Glyphs, even working with the Aody at first as a substitute for the original mission. But the technicians, ship's crew, and acolytes among the survivors of the crash just didn't have the knowledge or the devotion to continue the mission more than a few generations. The Visitors and the Aody then began to go their separate ways.

Over time, based on historical fact turned legend, the Visitors began to rebuild their lost civilization. First agriculture and fishing, then cities, then competing nation-states which eventually unified under a single leader. But as their civilization regrew, their need (and, indeed, their respect) for their ancient rites, the only true remnant
of their previous civilization, fell by the wayside. The Keepers of those times were ridiculed, exiled, even executed for their teachings. It was at this point that the Visitors became the Horde, raiding and exploiting
their onetime hosts and their allies, the Borials.

But the old teachings, despite persecution, never died: occasionally one Horde leader or another would trot them out for propaganda value, a sort of Horde version of the "white man's burden" which had been so infamous on Earth. Many disreputable Keepers came into power, using the Glyphs in ways they were never intended to be used: as oracles, words of power, and other abuses intended to keep the masses under control.

Glybothar had become Keeper forty years earlier, around the time the "furrow-headed strangers" had been compelled to come to Xenon III by the Borial god Kalmar. There had only been five or six of them, and they had been most uncooperative with either side in the conflict. What became of them, nobody was ever quite sure. But since that day Kalmar had brought in other strangers, though none as powerful or in such numbers as the Virgos. The introduction of outsiders into the ancient conflict, as well as the destruction wrought on the once-beautiful forests and streams of Xenon III, convinced Glybothar that there had to be a better way. He researched the ancient texts and found that the Glyphs were never meant for political power, but rather for spiritual fulfillment.

For his teachings, and for  his opposition to the wars, Glybothar had been imprisoned in the Horde's dungeons until Thudd's fateful attack set off a chain of events which led to the Keeper's freedom and reunion with his followers.

"I must admit, you Virgos are awesome warriors! How one can combine your virtue with your killing prowess is astounding!" Glybothar exclaimed.

"This wasn't our fight," Johnny replied. "It never was: we just want to get back to our ship and go about our business. Among us Virgos I don't think there's one of us who wishes to see your people, or your civilization, destroyed completely." The others nodded in agreement.

"Do you have the allegiance of the remaining Horde in the city?" Jenara asked. The last thing the Virgos needed was a rear action while storming the Dark Mountain!

Glybothar nodded. "Our government was nothing less than a dictatorship: a reign of terror with just enough freedom to let my people know that they were oppressed. Many looked upon the Borials and the Aody with jealousy as much as hatred.  But if we work together, then maybe we can all end up on the same level."

"Allow me to put you in contact with Gori, one of the leaders of the Aody," Benton replied. Perhaps between the two of you some sort of reapproachment may be reached.

The Keeper laughed. "Oh, I am well-acquainted with that worthy! For many years, I was one of his contacts!!!"

"Under these circumstances, only our acting leader, Commander Lataro, can accept your surrender. If you approach him under flag of truce, I am sure he will be more than willing to negotiate terms," Johnny replied.

"Oh, I'm more than willing to accede to any terms you wish to name for the surrender of the city," Glybothar answered. "The mountain, however, is another issue entirely. That's where the Horde leaders have fled!"
 

Title: "March to Dark Mountain"
Author: Lieutenant Benton
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

Yesterday, the Virgos had accepted the surrender of the remaining Horde led by Glybothar, but there was no time to rest: the surviving Horde leaders had fled to Dark Mountain, and the Virgos' captain was, by all reports, held prisoner somewhere deep in its bowels. The Borials and the Aody stayed to secure the city while the Virgos prepared to set out as soon as they were ready.

If they had known what they were in for, they might have taken a little longer to rest and recuperate. The march from Stonefist to Dark Mountain was not a terribly long one, but it certainly seemed that way to the war-weary men and women of the Virgo.

The Virgos marched in sections, the different departments led by the department heads. Jonathan Lataro and K'Lara headed the entire force. One-eyed Garek's engineers were behind them. Benton's security was to the left, and Johnny's Marines were to the right. The rest of the departments marched behind the engineers.

As the dread mountain drew nearer, more details became visible. It was impossibly steep and slender for its imposing height. Some unknown geological forces must be at work holding it together, otherwise it would surely collapse under its own weight. It sides were cracked and furrowed by deep fissures, and the faint line of a path could be seen spiraling its way up to an opening halfway up the mountain face. At its peak, a cauldera that looked like an open wound spewed and belched forth noxious vapors and oily smoke that slithered partway down the mountain before being dispersed on the wind.

But it wasn't these gloomy physical aspects of the mountain that affected the Virgos as much as the  unbearable psychic beating they were receiving. Every step toward the evil mountain seemed to make it this feeling stronger. It was as if there was a presence in the mountain that was pure evil, and was exerting all its will against them to stop them. To oppose this evil mind force and walk toward the mountain was like trying to walk while hip-deep in thick mud.

Benton had no way of explaining this phenomenon, but as he looked at the haggard faces of his men he could tell some of them would not be able to make it all the way. He ran ahead and conferred with Lataro. After a minute, a halt was called, and most of the Virgos collapsed on the ground, grateful for a break from fighting the "mud".

The department heads were summoned, and after a short meeting, it was decided that each would take a small group of their strongest-willed people and continue on to try and rescue the captain, while the rest of the Virgos would remain here and guard their escape route. Garek and Johnny jogged off to collect their teams, and Benton did the same.

Benton would keep his group small. He waved Sitto over to join him. Then, from somewhere behind him, a deep voice resonated, "We would join thee, Benton."

Benton turned to see the golden giant Thuddius and Dweezle the Nirkno. He smiled and said, "Of course, Thudd. I'm glad to have you two along." But then Benton had a thought. *If Thudd is here, that means that...*

"I'm coming too!" interrupted a woman's voice. Francesca came running up and parked herself beside Thudd.

Benton sighed inwardly, but just smiled and said, "Of course, Francesca."

So, the five of them set off, Benton and Sitto in the lead, Thudd and Francesca following a few paces behind and Dweezle bringing cheerily up the rear. There was no road between here and the beginning of the path that spiraled up Dark Mountain, so they had to pick and clamber their way over the broken and shattered terrain. As they went, the way got steeper and steeper.

Sitto asked, "So, what's your plan, Benny?"

Benton thought a moment and said, "Simple, Sitto. We sneak into the mountain, defeat the guards, free the captain, and then make our escape."

Sitto was flabbergasted by Benton's 'plan'. Finally, he managed to reboot his brain and say, "Reports put about fifty guards in the mountain. That's ten to one odds!"

Benton nodded in agreement, but he'd misunderstood Sitto's meaning. He replied, "Yes, I agree. With ten to one odds we shouldn't have too much trouble. The Horde should have defended this position more heavily."

Sitto just shook his head, and followed Benton up the mountain side.

At this point, the ground was a little less rough, but was criss-crossed by deep chasms. Most were wide enough to jump across, but the going was still treacherous. As they climbed, Benton noticed that the fine powder that was covering the ground here was getting deeper and deeper. At one point, Francesca sank down up to her waist and had to be pulled out by Thudd.

Benton hunched down and scooped up a bit of the powder and tasted it. He tossed down the rest, stood up and said, "Just as I feared. Ash from recent volcanic action has covered this area. It appears that some of the chasms openings have been covered by the stuff, and if we're not careful, the surface ash could give way sending us plummeting to the bottom.

Benton started off again. He was still talking, "The slightest misstep could punch through the ash and drop us into a deep piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!!!" Benton plunged beneath the earth in mid-syllable.

The surrounding ground cracked and caved in, quickly enveloping Sitto too. He disappeared into the fissure with a desperate "I'll get you for this Bentooooooooooo...!!!"

Francesca yelped and jumped back out of range of the gaping pit just in the nick of time to avoid being sucked in herself. Dweezle did the same. Hopefully, the other Virgo teams were having better luck. As soon as the ground stopped shifting unpredictably, Thudd rushed over to the edge of the precipice and peered in. Francesca and Dweezle cautiously joined him.

But there was nothing to see. Below, all was dark.