[ok here it is. I would've had it sooner, but I've been in a coma 
for the last 6 months. comments/suggestions welcomed]
 
Operation: Marraketh
 (insert witty name here)
	The diner was quiet, which didn't surprise the waitress. 
It was usually quiet around this time of day. The lunch crowd had 
just left and the diner was virtually empty. It was located in a 
town barely large enough to support it. The owners had tried to 
sell repeatedly, but no one seemed interested in buying. So the 
diner remained, and everything seemed frozen in place as the 
owners began their slow descent into bankruptcy. The waitress 
sighed. At least she'd have her job for awhile longer.
	In another corner of the room, Theseus, a member of the 
Jihad's newest organization, the Verthandic Rangers, turned from 
the window and looked around the room. The diner was a quiet 
establishment, not quite run down enough to be called shabby, but 
working at it. It looked as though the owners hadn't given it 
proper attention for a long while. Theseus's reverie was broken 
as the waitress came over and asked if he wanted more coffee. She 
was making a real effort to look as if she had much more 
important things to do than give him coffee, so rather than 
disappoint her, he smiled and politely declined. As she walked 
away, his cell phone rang.
	Normally, Theseus would have been using his Linker, but 
he'd lost it somewhere. He had asked comms for a replacement, and 
they'd given him a cell phone. Not one to complain, he'd accepted 
it and went on to more important things. He let his phone ring 
for a moment until he started getting irate looks from some of 
the patrons. He was amused at how easily their ire was raised by 
the simplest things. He pressed the call button on his phone and 
nearly dropped it as the voice on the other end shouted just loud 
enough for everyone in the diner to hear.
	"Thes! It's Nexxus! Kats has been kidnaped! We're putting 
a rescue team together and you're on it! We need you here at 
base, NOW!"
	His ears rang and he wondered if he'd heard correctly.
	"Wait. Could you repeat that?" he said.
	"Look Thes, I don't have time to explain. Just get to 
base. You'll be briefed when you get here," she replied
	The phone *clicked* as Nexxus hung up, and again Theseus 
wondered if he heard Nexxus correctly. He decided it didn't 
really matter as he'd find out when he got to base. Theseus 
called to the waitress and told her to cancel his order. He 
picked up his coat and looked around the room one last time. 
Maybe, sometime in future, if they ever finally got rid of that 
great purple bastard, he'd come back and buy this place. He made 
a mental note to check someday to see if whoever owned the diner 
was interested in selling. The waitress watched him as he walked 
out the door and wondered just who the strange man with his quiet 
smile was, and who his loud caller had been....  In the end she 
merely sighed and went to see if anyone needed more coffee.
_______________________________________________________________

	Theseus looked around his quarters and decided that at 
some future date he should really do some cleaning. His stuff was 
scattered all around the room. When he'd moved in he hadn't 
really bothered putting anything away. He'd just dropped his 
cases in any available place and left them there. After that he'd 
been busy taking care of other things and hadn't really had the 
chance.
	He stepped around the debris that covered the floor and 
moved to the closet at the back of the room. He opened up the 
closet and took out the only thing he'd bothered to put in it, 
his uniform. As Theseus changed he couldn't help but wonder if 
he'd be much help. He'd belonged to a very powerful order called 
the Guardians, but because of the slightly tainted transportation 
spell he'd used to leave, large portions of his memory had been 
erased.
     Several people Theseus had known had bragged that they'd 
forgotten more about magic than anyone else knew. Theseus smiled. 
In his case it was probably true. 
_______________________________________________________________


	Theseus walked into the briefing room and sat down. He was 
one of the first people there, so he had a few moments to wait. 
He hadn't had much sleep the previous night so he leaned back in 
his chair and tried to rest his eyes for a moment. He was just 
drifting off to sleep when a loud *WHAM* nearly made him fall out 
of his chair. Looking up, he saw Mal the Seeker standing over the 
now slightly cracked podium holding a sledge hammer.
	"Right. Now that I have your *attention*, we can begin 
the briefing," Mal said.
	Theseus was held in rapt attention as Mal spoke about the 
nation of Marraketh.
	"Hmm. A nation of magic users. How intriguing," he 
thought to himself.
	The briefing lasted about five minutes. When it was over, 
the people selected for the mission filed out to get their 
belongings. As Theseus walked to the elevator he couldn't help 
but wonder if they could pull it off. Going into the middle of a 
hostile nation in another dimension, getting past an army of 
magic users, rescuing Kats, and making it back out alive. It 
seemed impossible. 
	As the elevator took Theseus up to his quarters he 
decided it didn't really matter, as long as he did what he was 
paid for. He just hoped it was enough.
_______________________________________________________________

	As Theseus walked through the arches that led into the 
Dimensional Research Center, he was assaulted by a myriad of 
senses. The smell of oil, the hum of machinery, the sheer size 
and planned chaos of the massive room were a total delight to 
him. He grinned and walked toward the large platform in the 
middle of the room. Theseus stood transfixed by the strange 
geometric forms suspended over what could only be the gateway.
	He'd been standing there for a few moments when the ever-
present hum violently increased in volume. He didn't know what 
this meant, but whatever it was it would be interesting. 
Suddenly the lights went out and a multi-colored glow was cast 
about the room. The hum turned into a screech and then subsided. 
As the spectral lights continued unabated, Theseus looked into 
the glowing void and his grin got even larger. From the back of 
the room the Mal, whom he recognized from the briefing, told them 
to move. He crossed the room and slipped into the quickly forming 
line. He turned for a moment to cast one last look around the
room.
	"What are you so happy about?" a female voice asked.
	It was the young woman in line directly behind him. His 
grin had subsided into a half-smile by now. He looked at her for 
a moment and turned around.
	"Aw, nothing. It's just that I've seen a lot of things, 
but I have never seen this," he said just loudly enough for her 
to hear.
	Theseus didn't wait for her reaction. It was his turn 
now. He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and stepped into the 
abyss.