(Materializes, a scowl visible underneath his cowl)

Hello to you all, I hope your having a good time, as this has been one of those weeks for me, with my exams starting this week and not ending until next, as I have had eight tests this week and I can expect another four in the coming one. However, enough about my griping.

For those of you who reviewed and left me a link to get back up to you, whether it was your account or an e-mail address, I hope that I succeeded in getting my messages out to all of you, as this is my first time using this new method of doing things. For those of you who didn't please do so in the future so I can answer your questions on a more personal level.

To answer some general questions, Keira's wings will stay the same as Jak's were in the third game, mostly because they will function as weapons on the battlefield, anyone whose seen the second Diablo game should know what I am talking about. Also, to everyone who did offer up ideas, I extend my humblest and sincerest thanks to you, as they really are a help.

To those who read but did not review, I thank you for the time you've taken out of your life to read this mediocre work, and I hope I haven't scarred anyone for life.

Lawyers: I no own, you no sue, got it?

That said, here is chapter ten, may the Veger bashing warm your hearts.

&

Comradery

Silent as the desert night in which he flew, Kage glided back towards the temple that they had departed from. He too was in awe of the equipment that had been given to him. The armor and jumpsuit had obviously changed when the transformation had come, much as Kitetsu had. Now it was even more jagged than it had once been, with the plate layers of the gauntlets and the greaves he wore now sticking out while the areas between them glowed purple. Also notable were the veins of energy that still pulsed across the chest region. There were also slits now to accommodate his wings and the four foot long tail growing from his back. Strangest of all though, was the helmet.

The forward part of the mask had disappeared, allowing for his slight muzzle to extend out. The visor was still present, but now it was clear, allowing for his crimson eyes to be seen even past the myriad of flashing symbols and various other HUD items. As for the rest of the helm, it had lengthened out slightly in the back, and a pair of ridges now extended up from the edges of the top, running along the outside of his horns, probably to provide protection for them, while Daxter had informed him of something that could only be described as a ridge of spins ran down the back of it.

All in all, if the oni hadn't been scary enough before, he would like be able to send fear into the heart of even the bravest soul to stand against him.

'Hey,' came the voice of his host from within his mind, 'the temple's getting close, better go in for a landing.'

'As you wish.' His guardian devil responded.

This landing occurred without incident, and Daxter quickly hopped down off of where he'd been holding on while Kage placed the gear they'd brought down, and the ottsel promptly proceeded to kiss the stone of the temple walls. However, he stopped when he noticed that Kage has stiffened, his feet digging into the rock that he was standing on. His taloned hand slipped down to where Kitetsu was kept, and he walked over to the edge, his hellfire eyes looking down into the ruin below. He was joined a moment later by Daxter, however, the ottsel couldn't see in the dark as well as the Dark Eco demon could, and so was clueless about what was going on. Nonetheless, experience had told him that when Kage got like that, it meant one of two things. First, that there was about to be some serious fighting going on, or secondly, that something was amiss.

"I don't believe it." the oni growled as he stared through a zoomed in visor.

Some three or four hundred feet below, Seem was standing in the dark. While one might have reasoned that she had come out here herself to see what had happened to her fellows, the presence of another elf next to her certainly ruled out that possibility.

It was Veger.

Kage's first thought was to jump off of the edge and soar down, screaming at the top of his lungs, giving the Count the true meaning of the word fear. However, Jak was quick to overrule that, as while his own hatred towards the council chairman might have been burning white hot within his soul, his curiosity got the better of him. A plan was hatched, and Kage quickly gave control back over to his host, who smiled wickedly behind the mask of his helmet.

"What's going on?" his diminutive companion suddenly whispered, knowing that keeping his voice down would probably be a good idea.

"Seem's down there, chatting with Veger…" Jak began.

That was as far as the dark elf got before his friend interrupted him.

"Veger?" the ottsel hissed, confusion and explosive anger present in his voice. "What's that prick doing out here?"

"I'm going to find out." The Ascended Channeler growled, before focusing his powers.

A second later, his furry friend watched as Jak, armor and all, faded into a slight blur, and began to make his way down a stone ramp towards the ground. He was as quiet as the beating of an owl's wing, a shadow amongst the darkness as he rapidly made his way down, before he moved behind and leaned against a column. Completely oblivious to this, the other two elves carried on their conversation. Unfortunately, the dark elf caught only the tail end of the conversation.

"I want no more excuses," Veger growled, arrogance dripping from every syllable that he spoke, "you told me this could be done, now make it so!"

"But we have so little time, many of my fellows have vanished," Seem said, shaking her head in apology. "And the Day Star approaches, I have told you what it brings!"

"All the more reason for us to pick up the time table." Veger returned coolly. "I'll keep Ashelin and the rest of those idiots busy in Haven. Just get me and my men access to those catacombs and I can guarantee that you will meet those whom you seek."

"I shall do my best." the monk said.

There was a sudden flash of yellow on his motion sensor, and he realized that Seem was walking off. He watched the sensor for a few moments, until she was out of range, and then he leaned forward slightly, watching what was happening out of the right side viewing screen of his helmet.

The monk clambered up into a small, four wheeled buggy, and took off into the night.

Once she was gone, Veger simply shook his head and muttered something under his breath, before heading out as well, and now that he looked, Jak could see a Freedom Guard transport craft that was apparently empty. He couldn't head back to Haven, as more infighting was the last thing that they needed, but that didn't stop him from making his presence known. Besides, knowledge was the deadliest weapon that a warrior could wield…

'Oh, this is going to be fun.' Kage remarked, rubbing his hands together gleefully as he realized what his host was up to.

Looking down, he saw a rock that was near his feet. Thinking quickly, he scooped it up, and let it fly. It easily flew through the air until it smacked against another column with a loud cracking noise. The instant he did so, he darted out from behind the column he was hiding behind, noticing on the sensor screen to his right that Veger instantly spun about and drew a pistol that he had hidden upon himself.

"Who's there!" he shouted, a snarl in his tone.

He turned one more, exactly as the dark elf had predicted, his eyes peering about, trying futilely to pierce the shadows of the night. It was in times such as this that a man's mind could start to play tricks upon him, that he could perceives ghosts and wraiths that lurked in the dark corners of his mind. Most unfortunately for Veger, one such night terror was about to make itself manifest.

Like an expertly trained assassin, Jak snuck up behind his target, practically invisible to the untrained eye. Step for step, he followed the Count as he cautiously looked around, realizing that he was not alone out here. The council chairman quietly cursed his decision to come alone. He had a few body guards under his employ, after all, men loyal to him and him alone.

His train of thought was suddenly derailed by the sound of scuffling feet behind him. An oath upon his lips, the elf spun about, his blaster leveled and ready to fire. However, the only thing he saw as he did so, were the darkened walls of the temple, which seemed to whistle eerily as a desert wind blew against them. He licked his lips in an attempt to moisten them, and tried to fight back the fear that was growing within him.

And he failed utterly as the air in front of him suddenly moved, a hissing sound emanating from it. There was a slight shrieking noise as his blaster suddenly became two different pieces, the whole part of it in front of the trigger guard suddenly falling towards the ground. Scarcely had his mind been able to register that, than the breath in his lungs was suddenly removed as what felt like a sledgehammer struck him in the gut. As he hunched forward, he felt a similar sensation from the side of his face, and he was suddenly aware of the fact that he was face first down in the dirt. What he couldn't see was the boot print shaped mark on the side of his visage that was going to develop into a nasty bruise.

Quickly as he could, he got over on his back and looked up. Horror and dread filled his soul as he saw the air begin to shimmer and distort before him. Slowly, out of thin air, a suit of armor materialized, with a blade pointed right at the arrogant noble's face. Veger took one look at the sight in front of him, before he began whimpering and frantically scrambling backwards on his hands, trying to put distance between himself and his mysterious attacker.

Say what you will about demonic images painted onto a war helmet, or skulls carved into and embossed upon armor, any true warrior will tell you that there are few things in life more intimidating than an emotionless mask staring down at you. Cold, unfeeling, uncaring, which when combined with the right amount of theatrics and display of force, could make even the bravest quiver in fear.

However, Veger was not to be numbered among the bravest, and Jak stopped short for a moment, as he noticed a conspicuous stain forming on the councilman's trousers, growing larger by the second. It was all he could do not to break out into laughter.

The Count was hardly aware of his loss of bodily functions, as absurd thoughts made their way through his head. He knew what that armor was in front of him, knew who it belonged to, and feared in some corner of his mind that Mar had returned to haunt him for some reason. His mouth opened and shut several times in rapid succession, and sounds normally associated with a child who had not learned how to speak yet came from him.

Unfortunately, the moment was broken a second later when Daxter, who had finally made his way down form the upper levels, entered the scene.

"Hey, Jak," he cried out, "what's going…on?" He paused and looked about at the scene before him, before trying, and failing, to hold back laughter.

"You!" Veger hissed, indignation present in his eyes.

He made a move to get up, but a slight jab forward literally placed Kitetsu against the tip of his oversized nose, and he quickly reached the decision that attempting to move would not be the wisest of ideas.

"You should have realized that I'm a hell of a lot stronger than this place, Veger." Jak snarled softly, his voice full of venom. "Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you. After all, we're alone out here; no one will ever be the wiser."

A gulp left Veger's throat, and fear clenched even tighter around his heart.

"But," the dark elf continued, "then…I'm not a murderer."

The Count went to breathe a sigh of relief, when Jak reached down and ripped him off of the ground, his vampiric strength allowing for him to easily hold the councilman off the ground with one hand, while the other place Kitetsu against his neck. The glowing purple runes cast an eerie light, and Veger could see his own terrified face staring back at him from the visor.

"Although," Jak said, letting the Blade of Mar drift downward, "death isn't the only way this could turn out." He then lifted Veger a little higher, and shook him slightly. "What were you doing out here meeting with Seem?"

"The monk?" Veger stammered, squirming in the unbreakable grip that the Ascended Channeler held him in. "She's promised to grant us access to some catacombs out here in the Wasteland." He paused, fear overwhelming him as he stared down into the dark, mirrored visor once again. "Supposedly, it holds a wealth of information on the Precursors, information that could be used to stop the coming apocalypse."

"So, you know about the Fallen Ones?" Jak growled, narrowing his slitted eyes. "How? And when the hell were you planning on telling the rest of us?"

"I found out about them from her, and what difference would it have made, freak?" he shot back, his tone more than a little self righteous. "Do you think that if the citizens of Haven knew the Fallen Ones were returning, that the people would have clamored for you to stay? That they would have begged on their knees for an unnatural freak such as yourself to save them?"

Veger's little taunting rant was quickly cut short, as he suddenly found himself airborne. There was a loud crack a moment later, as he hit a stone column and fell to the ground. He cried out in pain and clutched at his back, where he felt as if he had hurt something pretty badly. Glaring, he looked back up at the dark elf, and Jak returned the favor tenfold.

"Alive or not," the Count hissed, pain slightly distorting his voice. "I suggest that you get used to the sand that's around here. After all, if you attempt to return to Haven, I assure you that some of your friends might meet with some rather unfortunate accidents."

The words had barely left the mouth of the arrogant noble when another crack split the air, and Veger had a split second to wonder what was going on as he saw Dark Eco vapors suddenly envelope the dark elf. A moment later, a similar eruption happened in front of him, and from the mist came an armor plated boot, which crashed into his gut and sent him tumbling back out towards the entrance of the temple.

"Even threaten to do that again, Veger," Jak hissed, as he walked back over to him, leaning down in his face as he struggled to hold in enough air to keep his lungs full, "and I promise you, the hells themselves will tremble when they see what I do to you."

With that, the dark elf motioned for Daxter to come along, and the two of them left the Count to hobble back to his transport, and doubtless with a very interesting story to tell to his colleagues back home.

"Oh gods, did you see the look on his face when you were threatening him?" Daxter said as he hung on, laughing at the top of his lungs. "Oh man, that was priceless, I wish that I had had a camera!"

"Me too," Jak replied with a warm, if unseen, smile. "I guess we'll just have to settle for never allowing ourselves to forget it."

The two of them were traveling at top speed across the Wasteland, Daxter sitting on the front of the Sidewinder scouting bike, right between the handlebars, while Jak himself made a beeline for the city of Spargus. They had stopped just once, and that was for Jak to get ready for a bit of a prank that he planned to play upon the Wastelanders. As of right now, one would have had a hard time telling that he was wearing the Armor of Mar, as it was covered by his old electro-mesh robe, the only clue being the gauntlets and the very tip ends of the boots, which would be hard enough to distinguish in the early morning light. Both he and Daxter had discussed what they were to do, and both could hardly wait to see the reaction of the native populace to the dark elf now.

A trail of dust kicking up behind them, the two shot towards the main gate of Spargus, which was even now starting to come into view.

It took approximately two minutes for them to reach the gates, which opened as they approached.

However, what puzzled the dark elf and the ottsel most of all was the enormous bustle of activity that was raging on in the sand filled courtyard area. Wastelanders ran about loading up supplies onto one of the large transport vehicles that they had, while several others were wheeling out of the covered garage in the light dune buggies.

"Did we miss something?" Daxter inquired, his large eyes opening as wide as was possible as they searched about, wondering what was going on.

"Looks like it." his companion remarked.

Abruptly, Valthos and Kleiver came out, the former on a scouting bike, the latter in that medium sized green vehicle that Jak had seen him drive a few times before.

"There you are!" the Sand King remarked, a bit of relief carefully hidden in his voice.

"What's going on?" Jak remarked staring about, all thoughts of his and Daxter's little joke tossed aside for the moment.

"Our remote sensors are picking up a massive sandstorm heading this way." Kleiver stated, a note of desperation in his tone. "We're gearing up to head out, cause there are still a few of our mates that haven't reported back yet, and we ain't about to leave em out there to die!"

"So turn your bike around and head out with the rest of us." Valthos ordered, priming his own throttle before shooting out of the massive metal gates, his men close behind him.

The dark elf paused just long enough to head into the garage and set aside the bag full of repair components that Tarath had given to him, before turning back out heading off towards the rest of the pack at full speed.

He'd broken off from the main group about ten minutes ago, as they'd scattered after the various different signals coming from the beacons that the desert dwelling elves always carried with them.

The plan was simple: locate their comrades, salvage their vehicles and equipment if possible, and then get their rear ends back to the safety of the transport craft, as its heavily reinforced metal hull was strong enough to withstand the winds of the Wasteland, which would turn the grains of sand into knives that could easily flay skin and flesh from bones.

While in formation with the rest of the rescue team, Jak had used the time to program his helmet to recognize the Wastelander signals as friendlies, and had then patched himself through to Valthos, inquiring what the rest of the Wastelanders were doing out here in the first place. The rule of Spargus, so caught up in his desperation to save his men and women, did not think to wonder how the Ascended Channeler was talking to him, as he hadn't been issued a boom mike in the short time that he'd been living amongst them, had simply replied that they'd been sent out to hunt for artifacts, especially those that might be of Precursor origins.

Remembering what Tarath had said of the great battle that had occurred here some five thousand years ago, the dark elf wasn't surprised to find out that once buried beneath the shifting sands of the desert, the equipment that the Ancients used apparently lasted a very long time.

Still, he quickly yanked his mind back to his mission as he drew ever closer to the source of the signal. Daxter simply held on for dear life as the Sidewinder shot over the dunes at extremely high speeds, longing for the smooth travel of a hover bike again, as the ground based travel they were using now was a little bumpy, to say the least.

About three minutes passed, and finally, they crested the dune that led to where the signal was coming from.

What was in front of him was a mess.

A trashed dune buggy still smoldered off to one side, miscellaneous odds and ends of it scattered about in a fashion that indicated it had probably been nailed by a very potent weapon of some kind. The sand was also scorched and several areas had a shiny, reflective sheen to them, indicating that they'd been hit by something with enough energy to turn the particles into glass.

Lying in the center of the destruction, was a prone form.

Gunning the throttle of his scouting bike, Jak shot towards the downed Wastelander. Not even waiting for his bike to come to a full stop once he began to decelerate, he leapt off of the thing while he and Daxter rushed over towards the desert warrior. As he drew closer, the dark elf felt his eyes widen in shock as he saw who it was.

It was Seth, lying unmoving upon the sand.

The Ascended Channeler dropping to one knee as he reached the lanky Wastelander's side, and quickly placed his index and middle fingers against the side of the dark skinned elf's throat. For a second, he felt nothing, and then, much to his relief, a faint tremble from within.

"He's alive…barely." He muttered, relief swamping his voice.

'But if we don't get him stabilized soon, he won't be for much longer.' Kage, ever the pragmatic one, remarked inside of his mind, a frown upon his fanged visage.

'You're right about that.' Jak remarked, before looking over the Wastelander's body to try and assess the extent of his injuries.

Seth was a mess to say the least, his skin cracked and burnt, while several slashing wounds, that looked almost as if they had been done by a hook like mechanism, covered his torso. Off to one side, his sniper rifle lay, cut cleanly in half by whatever had done this to him.

It was then that something else caught his eye. He looked down, and saw that the elf's right fist was clenched around something. Reaching down, he gently and carefully pried the object out of the Wastelander's grasp, and felt his breath leave his lungs as he did so.

It was an Eco Crystal, shinning white against the dark armor that covered his hand.

Seth had found something very rare and very powerful out here, but it looked as if it had just about cost him his life to obtain it.

Which led back to the train of thought, as to what in the name of the Ancients had done this to Seth?

Unfortunately for both him and Daxter, they were about to find out.

'What the?' Kage exclaimed, and then Jak realized what it was his inner demon was sensing.

There was a faint rumbling that he felt through the Vibrium boots of his armor, and suddenly, the sand in front of them erupted upward, shooting into the air as the dark elf instinctively leapt away from whatever had caused it.

It was a good thing that he had done that, as his motion detector flashed, two streaks turning from green to yellow as a pair of dark colored cables, each with a claw like ending to them, came shooting out at him, snapping and trying to grab him. He twisted to the side to avoid them, drawing his blade and lashing out at them with the dark katana as they passed.

Kitetsu sheared through both of the offending appendages with little difficulty, and Jak landed flawlessly as the column of whirling sand finally dissipated, revealing a Fallen Precursor scouting probe. It withdrew the two limbs that had been damaged, their ends sparking and sputtering, before a pair of nasty looking blaster type weapons opened up from two compartments along the sides of the saucer shaped probe. Almost before he could begin to react, the thing fired at him, black and purple bolts of energy lacing out towards him.

As a reflex, the dark elf summoned a shadow blade from his weapon, and began whirling the two katanas in tandem with each other, deflecting the Dark Eco bolts away from himself, forgetting for the moment that such weaponry could not harm one such as he. At once, he realized what had fried Seth to the point at which he was, and he realized just how lucky the Wastelander was to have survived this long.

That also reminded him of just how quickly he needed to dispatch this thing and get the desert elf out of here. Not to mention there was that accursed sandstorm, which Jak could actually start to see forming at the very edge of the horizon.

Apparently realizing that its current tactic was not working on bringing down its foe, the probe ceased firing, and the blaster folded back into their holding compartments. The Ascended Channeler took this opportunity to hurl his phantom blade, and unleash a torrent of Dark Eco lightning at the probe. The shadowy twin to Kitetsu arced along the hull of the probe, scoring a deep gouge that severed circuits and power conduits, causing an electronic wail to come from the machine, amplified by the power overload it received when the purple lightning impacted upon it moments later. Catching the shadow blade as it arced back towards him a moment later; the dark elf smirked, feeling confident that he would emerge from this battle victorious.

However, the probe was far from finished, as Jak discovered the hard way a moment or two later, when another pair of tentacle like appendages came flying at him. He ducked underneath them as they went flying over head. This evasive maneuver had the added effect of causing his hood to fall back, which allowed for the sensors inside of his helmet to finally be able to get a good look at what was going on around him.

It was indeed fortunate that such a thing happened, as the lower screen on his HUD revealed that the robotic limbs were heading back towards him, their claw like ends gleaming in the sunlight. The dark elf tried to spin out of the way again, but this time he miscalculated the speed at which the things were moving. He heard a tearing sound, followed by a slight scraping, and knew that a hit had been scored. Fortunately for him, the Precursor forged armor that he'd been given held up.

Unfortunately for both parties involved in this fight, the same could not be said for the electro-mesh robe that Keira had made for him, and Jak watched as about half of the back portion of it dangled towards the ground, a large gash separating it from the upper portion of the suit.

"Uh-Oh." Daxter muttered, grimacing as Jak realized what the thing had done to the armor his wife had made for him.

It was a very apt statement for what was about to occur, as Jak, his reptilian eyes narrowed behind the visor, shrugged the ruined coat off, letting it fall to the sand as the machine brought its appendages back in for another attack. With a battle cry, he lunged forward to meet the strikes, and his own blades proved to be stronger than those of the machine's, as Dark Eco and Vibrium tore through the Metatron and alien circuitry that powered the appendages.

Not ceasing his assault, the Ascended Channeler dashed towards the probe, throwing his blades and then vaulting up into the air. The two katanas struck home as his aim proved true, cutting off the antennas that protruded from the top of the reconnaissance device, effectively cutting it off from the mother ship that it had come from. At the same time, the dark elf drew his in, crossing them over his chest and focusing his powers. Dark energy began to crackle along their length, and with a scream that was more akin to a roar of a predatory beast closing in for the kill, he unleashed a pair of dark bomb attacks and streaked towards the machine.

They hit home a moment later, filling the air with an explosion so great as to drown out all other sounds, and his visor and HUD screens suddenly became darker, shielding his eyes from the light of the blast. There was an electronic death wail from the machine, and the dark elf knew that he had been triumphant in this fight.

He hit the ground with his legs spread, and ducked down as far as he could as shrapnel went flying everywhere, some of it actually pinging off of the armor. Thankfully, though, those pieces were small enough that any damage done was superficial, and no warning lights or alarms came on inside of the helmet. He stood up as he surveyed the damage he had caused, sticking his hand out and catching Kitetsu almost as an afterthought.

He sheathed the blade quickly, and then turned his attention back to the downed Wastelander, who was, much to Jak's relief, still alive.

But that still left him with one problem: how he was going to get Seth out of here, as the Wastelander was in pretty bad shape, and the Ascended Channeler, while now medical expert, was pretty certain that laying him across the handlebars of his Sidewinder and trying to make his way back to the transport like that would not be a good thing to do.

Plus, time was not on their side, as both he and Daxter could see the storm billowing over the horizon towards him.

However, it appeared as though Lady Luck was finally going to give the two a break, as he heard a garbled radio transmission over the internal speakers of his helmet a moment later, and dashing over to his bike, noticed that someone else was closing in fast.

Not twenty seconds later, Kleiver shot over a sand dune and came barreling down towards them.

"What the bloody hell happened here?" the stocky elf shouted, looking out over the destruction, before noticing Seth's prone form. "Fierfek!" he exclaimed, jumping out of the driver's seat and rushing over to the other elf.

The quartermaster gave his comrade a quick one's over, before quickly and gently reaching down and picking him up, carrying him back over to the green vehicle that he'd been riding in, and placing him in the passenger seat.

Jak meanwhile, had taken the opportunity to retrieve the Light Eco Crystal that Seth had nearly died for, and at the same time, retrieved the remnants of his old armor. Without a moment to spare, he grabbed Daxter, and then he and Kleiver were shooting over the dunes in a frantic attempt to outrun the wrath of the desert, which by the looks of things, couldn't have been more than a half mile behind them, kicking up sand and dust as far as they could see.

It was dark inside the transport, and for the sake of not stumbling about, Jak had changed his helmet visor to its low light mode, bathing the world in a strange green glow.

The large vehicle was currently heading back to Spargus at full speed. By some miracle or another, the other Wastelanders had been retrieved without incident, having suffered from various forms of engine trouble or other such things. As for Seth, well, it looked as if the lanky Wastelander was going to survive, as they'd managed to get him stabilized for the moment. However, he would need the attention of Seem and the rest of her monks in order to recover fully.

They were almost back now, and the dark elf couldn't wait to get off of this moving crate.

Daxter had remained unusually quiet, and for some reason that was bothering the dark elf. He had asked his furry little friend about it, but Daxter had simply put on a smile and told him that he shouldn't worry about it, that he was just thinking about some things back home.

It had been so strange to hear him refer to Haven as his home, but the Ascended Channeler knew that a certain blond haired elf had gone a long way in making his ottsel companion feel that way.

What he didn't know was that while Daxter's thoughts had lingered upon Tess for some time, he was also mentally beating himself up for not being able to help out in the fight that they had just had.

It was all that Daxter could do not to let out a bitter sigh, as he remembered all the times that Jak had gone out of his way to save him, to protect him, and to watch over him like an older brother. The ottsel didn't hold it against his companion, but rather, he held it against himself, for continuing to be a liability.

Just for once, Daxter wished that he could have carried his own weight in a fight.

After all, Jak had his powers, Keira had a mind that she'd used to create a veritable armory of weapons that had saved them all at one time or another, Torn and Jinx had their Special Forces training, and even old Grandpa Green could hurl an energy bolt or two. So what did that leave him with? Nothing.

A loud rumbling and clanking noise yanked him out of his private thoughts, and he realized that they were back in the city at last. He heard Jak moving about in the dark, gathering up his equipment, and a couple of minutes later, light began to seep in as they entered the garage area of the city.

Seth was rushed out first, as Valthos and Kleiver hurried to get him to the area that the monk's occupied, making use of some underground tunnels that had been created to connect major areas of the desert city in the event of one of these storms.

After that, he had to help unload the vehicles from the transport craft, receiving more than a few awed stares as now that the frantic rush to save their comrades was over people finally seem to realize that the Ascended Channeler was clad in the armor of a living legend. The work took much longer than it should have because of this, the desert dwelling elves simply would not stop staring at Jak.

It was to be expected, as most of them had only glimpsed this armor once before, and even then it had only been partially complete; also it had most certainly not had purple veins of energy pulsing over its surface during that time period.

However, no smile of triumph or mirth made its way over the dark elf's hidden visage as they gawked at him. He was simply tired right now, as he'd been running around for the better part of thirty six hours, and he needed some rest.

Unfortunately, that was not to be the case, as a runner came along after about half an hour, right as they were through offloading the vehicles, saying that Valthos wanted to see both him and Daxter immediately.

Grumbling, the duo began to trek out, heading for the makeshift hospital that Seem and her fellows operated in their Monastery.

Okay, there is a good stopping place. In the next chapter, you can expect to see some Seem bashing, and Jak once again pounding Marauders into a pulp in the arena, after that, it is back over to Keira so she can get her powers and start kicking even more butt than she is now.

If you so choose, please let me know what you thought of this chapter, be it from constructive criticisms, to weapon ideas, to even outright flames, I welcome them all.

Thanks, and have a great week.