"This is different," Rokiki craned his head up to view the top of the Data Repository. "It's not built like the other crap. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it." he scratched his cheek on a particularly itchy spot just inside his helmet.

       Morda touched a pillar with an armored glove. "Hardened star core," he grunted. "From another Universe. The core radiates and coats the barriers around these systems from the inside and keeps them intact. The structures draw energy from storms generated by the conflict between this space and ours. It's an eternal loop that keeps this place sealed until the Universe Shifts. Amok didn't build this. No Kurnan built this." he shook his head and backed away.

       "Perhaps not," Nahl said dourly, pointing to a mark burned on the floor. "But he definitely did that. That's Amok's sigil. The rest looks like Djinn. What does it say?"

       "Welcome to your death," Morda frowned darkly and spat. "The Djinn view death as an event to be celebrated; the end of one long, arduous journey, and the beginning of the next. They are all too happy to send you on your way." he laughed. "You need only ask."

       "Yeah, right," Rokiki rolled his eyes and turned to the others. "For months now, we been hearing about what you were going to do to Amok if you ever got your hands on him." he pointed at the blackness beyond the door and smiled evilly. "Here's your chance. Who wants to go first?"

       "No one is going first," Mordas eyes were like a viper. "We go in teams of three. If you see him, don't attack until backup arrives. If he gets away, or Enderheim shows up in Amok's ship, we need to leave the area immediately."

        "What are you going on about?" Rokiki scowled. "There's 60 of us and one of him. We got this. Amok is going down."

       "This is not one of us we are goin' after," Morda turned to Rokiki. "Nor is this another one of Enderheim's games. Amok is the Sister's of Fate's Champion. An Agent of Death and Djinn Master; no," he shook his head to correct himself. "Djinn Shadowmaster. "We'll need everything we have to take him down. We must proceed with great caution. There are no Healers here, and I don't think Amok is in a mood to be merciful. He doesn't like to be embarrassed."

       "Neither do I," Rokiki said tightly. "We'll all be redeemed when the Crystal Universe is open. We'll become like the Guardian," he held up a clenched fist for the others to see, "shaping whole Universes to our will with a single thought."

       "That's only if our campaign succeeds," Morda's eyes were flat. "We must bring the Guardian to Krage in the Demon Universe. We can bind the Guardian to the Demon Temple's Gate and force it to open the way to a reality where we can survive as the Guardians do.

       "We can become creators of whole Universes!" Rokiki's voice rose to a shout. "No longer will we plod along, bringing one world into being at a time. No, we will create Life with a sweep of our hand, as easily as thinking about it."

       "Unlimited power in unlimited supply, my friends," Mordas voice practically dripped with avarice. "That's what awaits us. All you have to do is go in there and take it."

       "You heard him!" Rokiki hollered. "Let's get him!"

       A few ragged cheers joined Rokiki's shout, and, as one, they all surged forward. Instant alliances formed as they stepped through, banding together in groups of three and easing through the gloom, weapons drawn.

       A hand grabbed Rokiki's elbow and jerked him back. He turned to find Morda staring him full in the face. "Let them go first." Mordas low growl for Rokiki's ears only. "If Amok kills a few of them, we are still okay, but if he gets you or me, we fail. We need to go back to Wolf Zero and take it out of here."

       Rokiki stopped, his eyes angry. "I'm not going anywhere until I'm standing in Amok's blood, understand? If you're afraid, then go," he pointed back.

       "I'm not afraid," Morda's harsh whisper was fierce, "But neither am I a fool." he gripped Rokiki's arm tighter. "These tight places," he rapped his knuckles against the column, "are his favorite. The core material is too tough to blast through. He can see in the dark, and he uses Shadow spells to walk through walls. Let them wear him down if they can. If it goes badly, we can get out of here."

       They stared at each other for a tense moment, and then Rokiki relaxed. "Okay," he sounded subdued. "We'll hang back and see how it goes."

                                                                                .......................................................................

       Eighteen Overlords lay struggling on a dirty, blood splashed floor in steel nets infused with Nalamite. Surrounding them were the eight members of the Hundred Sister Guard.

       "Well, this was fun," Amok remarked as if commenting on the weather. He took a sip from a tiny bottle of orange Goo. "it's been almost a month since I've had a good workout. Now that we're all properly introduced, perhaps we can do this again sometime."

       Several of the fallen struggled harder, grunting against the gags in their mouths. The Hundred snickered nastily through their long sharp teeth.

       "Your leaders deserted you," Amok chewed the inside of his mouth worriedly for a moment. "They threw you to us so they could get away," he shook his head and clucked with his tongue. "About as loyal as dogs in heat."

       Amok replaced the bottle of Goo into a pocket of his singed, burnt robe. He fumbled around for a second and took out a piece of root. He popped it in his mouth and sat down on a machine that did something he'd never figured out. "This puts me, gentlemen, in somewhat of a quandary of conscience." he chewed with a thoughtful expression.

       "I've listened to the Sister's natter on about all the truly innovative things they plan to do to you," he looked down, his face grim. "Having some experience with that, I will tell you that I wouldn't wish that on anyone. On the other hand, the High Ones will put you to stirring Oooze or working the mines till you get lost in the Crystal Universe."

       "Personally, I think this whole thing is a waste," Amok stated with a note of finality. He rose from his seat and paced slowly back and forth. "Ending the existence of immortals..." his voice trailed off for a moment. He stopped and dropped his head for a second.

       "Some of you got away," he said quietly, rubbing his chin. "No one except us knows that's happened... Yet." he paused to let the threat draw itself out.

       "We have questions," Amok stood before them as still as a statue. "Since someone has gone to great pains to make you all safe from the Healer's mind spells and compulsions, you will have to answer them directly. Those of you who cooperate might be listed amongst those who escaped. However," Amok held up a finger. "If you refuse to answer, I will turn you over to the High Ones. If you lie to me, I will give you to the Sister's of Fate for discipline.

       The Overlords stopped their struggling and lay quiet. Amok watched them for a timeless instant and gestured for the Hundred to remove their gags.

       "The nets stay," Amok answered their unspoken question, "Otherwise, some of you might get a notion to try and fight your way out. I'm sure you understand." He raised an eyebrow and pointed to a small pile of items on the floor. "First things first," he scratched idly at his ear.         "Where did you get this stuff? Who made them, and who gave them to you?"

       "Morda Kaid," a dark-haired Overlord name Zevalla replied in a dull voice. "We sent a runner to his Area to retrieve them. They keep the Sister's from finding us."

       Amok spoke in the harsh guttural tongue of the Hundred for a moment, and one of them vanished.

       "Okay," Amok nodded sagely. "Next question: How did Leeki come to be here, and where is he now? He didn't show up here, but I saw him on Wolf Zero."

       "You mean that skinny weird guy with the greasy hair?" another Overlord name Davnoos squinted puzzledly. "Rokiki found him floating in space near dead." he shook his head. "He had a bag of Power Crystals, the size none of us have ever seen. Morda Kaid was quite pleased. He said the crystals would ensure our success."

       "That tells me almost nothing," Amok said dryly. "Where is Leeki now? He didn't come here with you."

       "He was fixing the Spymasters ship when we left." another Overlord, Hurln, replied dully. "He and Rokiki were arguing over some woman named Sally."

       Amok's look of smug satisfaction gave way to a new 'what the Hell' expression. "Sally?" he echoed. "You mean Sally from the bar Sally?"

       "I have no idea," Hurln said flatly, "While we were gearing up, he took two crystals and went below to the machine shops. He said he would meet up with us on Kurna."

       Amok did not push the issue further. Leeki's current situation smelled of Enderheim, and trying to figure out what motivated Enderheim was the stuff of madness.

       "Alright," Amok nodded again. "So where's Greadle? Did he stay behind to help Leeki? That's Greadle's ship."

       "As soon as the teleporter barriers went down," another Overlord, Jurlank spoke in a thin tenor, "Greadle teleported to the nearest Snath and escaped. Some of us wanted to go after him, but Rokiki said Greadle is a master Snath handler, and we couldn't catch him before he made it to the High Ones."

       Amok went back and reseated himself on the machine. He rubbed his jaw, looking down, shaking his head slowly. "And I saw Morda and Rokiki slip away as soon as you guys entered." he glanced up, his eyes suddenly hard. He jerked a thumb towards the pile of severed heads to the side. "We got thirty of you outright." his brow furrowed. "We managed to capture 18 of you. That leaves six unaccounted for, including Nahl. " he lifted his hand and gestured idly, "Anybody?" he gazed across them with a serene expression.

       A silver-haired Overlord, Aresh, piped up, "He found a verticle shaft going all the way to the bottom. He took his team and another and said they would attack from the rear or bottom or whatever. That was the last anyone saw of them, I think." he frowned. "Did anyone else see Nahl and the others?"

       "They'll turn up," Amok smiled knowingly. "Eventually. After all, they have nowhere to go. They can hide for a day or a month or a century, but they'll have to show up somewhere."

       "They will transcend," another Overlord, Frigale, said with a trace of smugness. "They will bring us back, and all of this will be as if it never happened. Enjoy your victory while you can."

       Amok spoke three quick syllables in the language of the Hundred, and he pointed angrily at Frigale. The nearest Hundred's black sword flashed, and Frigale's head fell to the floor, followed by a fountain of blood. The remaining Overlords tried to wiggle away from the blood for a moment but soon quieted.

       "I've heard of this mad scheme of yours," Amok spoke as if nothing had happened. "Who told you that the Guardian's mate is inside the Demon's Temple?"

       "Krage is one of the Overlords from the Demon Temple's Gate." Aresh eyes gleamed madly. "He's seen it. He knows how to bind the Guardians to the Gate and open the way."

       Amok listened to Aresh with a slightly amused expression. He spoke to the Hundred for a moment, and they all suddenly started laughing.

       "So Krage claims to be one of the Overlords from the Demon Temple's Gate, does he?" Amok wiped at his eyes. "I'm afraid you've been deceived, gentlemen. The only creatures besides the leader of the demons to ever see the inside of the Temple are standing in this room." he smiled evilly as he gazed down. "And I don't recall seeing Krage there."

       "But he showed us," Jurlank cried. "He showed us in a dream."

"He showed you the remnants of the same spell I used on him at his request," Amok cocked his head. "It's Djinn. Once cast, you see what they have seen as if it were you." he shook his head once and stood up.

       "You know? This whole mess was salvageable until Galleyandra," Amok spoke sadly. "What Krage did to the humans wouldn't have been important enough to the Sisters or the High Ones for them to do much about it. They would have relocated Krage. But the Sister's of Fate are homeless now and 4 of the Hundred are dead. I swore a solemn oath to the Hundred to avenge our brothers' deaths. And so I shall."

       "You said you would let us go if we answered your questions," Jurlanks eyes were wide with terror as one of the Hundred stalked towards him, sword raised.

       "Yeah, well, I sort of, well..." he hesitated, "lied about that. I will inform the Sister's and they can punish me for it. " he shrugged dramatically, using his hands. "Fair enough?"

                                                                          ............................................................