Greetings, to you all, and I hope this somewhat speedier update makes up for the massive delay with the last chapter.

Not much going on right now, just a lot of writing, which is a nice break for a change… though yesterday was a little hectic. Somehow, during the middle of the night, an oak snake managed to slither up the side of our house, get into the attic via a vent, and then come down the interior DSL cable into the living room, where it promptly took up residence in our bookcase/video library. Naturally, neither my mother nor my little brother were thrilled about this, and an attempt to capture the serpent was made.

However, our own best laid plans went awry. Our plan called for me to pin the snake's head with a stick, and then grab just behind the head and the tail to keep it from thrashing about and hurting itself. In the event of the snake bolting out of the cubby it was in, little brother was supposed to have a pillow case handy to catch it in, as they don't really mind being put inside those. However, when it did shoot out of its hiding place, my brother promptly screamed like a little girl (no offense meant to the female population reading this) threw the pillow case at it, and bolted, slamming the door behind him.

Now, while oak snakes are not really aggressive and are about as dangerous as your average honey bee, it did not take kindly to having something thrown at it… fortunately, the fact that I was three times as tall as it was long seemed to deter it from trying to bite me. Unfortunately, it bolted back into a little gap between the two bookcases and the wall, which gives it a space about as wide as a shoe box to hide out in, as the entrance is not wide enough to permit entrance to something much larger than a half inch wide.

Complicating matters is that while I was away at work, someone left a door open, meaning that while unmonitored, senior scaly probably took the opportunity to move to a less attention drawing location, and could now literally be anywhere.

Also, I managed to get my new story up, if anyone wants to check it out (new to writing for that genre so any advice is more than welcome for it)

But enough of my problems.

Many thanks to all of those who reviewed, and to those of you who did read but not review, I hope you found this story to be worth your time and effort.

Lawyers: ya know the drill, dagnabbit! I don't own nothing, so get outta here!

That said, here's the chapter.

&

The Best Laid Plans…

Jinx muttered a quiet oath under his breath as he stared around at the Harbor, his mind mulling over all that had befallen them in the week or so that it had been since they had sent Keira off in hopes that she might return with her husband in tow and that they might all get out of this mess before anyone else got sent home in a body bag. So far, everything had been holding, though the gods be damned clankers never stopped taking potshots at the Lockdown barriers, and the men and women who were on guard duty merely had to contend themselves to sitting back and letting the machines have their way, as they couldn't exactly reach the enemy, either.

In some ways, the Revenant felt that such a situation was even worse than being up to his chestplate in the blasted machines. At least then he would be able to do something, rather than sitting around just waiting for their supplies to run out, which was about to become a distinct possibility. As it was, rationing had to be put into effect about three days ago, and everyone was feeling the pinch.

In short, things were grim, the soldiers were all miserable, and everyone was basically vowing that if they managed to get out of this alive, that the certain chairman who was involved in getting them into this mess was certainly going to be sorry. As a matter of fact, since things were relatively quiet, most of the soldiers had been taking a poll on what exactly they were going to do to Veger. Jinx couldn't help but smile at the thought, as the tally currently placed the end decision as a close race between leaving him dangling over a pit of hungry Metal Heads by his ankles, tying him to the bumper of a zoomer and dragging him all over town, or the ever traditional just throw him into a crowd of disgruntled soldiers and let their collective imagination take care of the rest of it.

He certainly knew what he wanted to do to the guy, a neat little trick that he'd learned from Torn just the other day, though the pyromaniac was quite certain that it was not something that his squad leader had intended to be taken as a lesson, and he would likely run a risk of personal injury should he ever let it know how he had learned it.

An abrupt whirring and clanking noise snapped him back to attention, and he and all the rest of the men at the barricade that he was at instantly went alert, kneeling down behind cover and training their many weapons upon the door of the service elevator that they had been guarding. Torn had thought it strange that the Death Bots or the Hora-quan had not yet attempted to gain entrance to their area via the underground areas, and he'd always been suspicious as to whether the machines had been trying to lure them into a false sense of security.

It appeared as though that might have indeed been the case, and Jinx made certain that both of his weapons were switched to full automatic. After all, in such a narrow, confined space as that, the droids would have little to no room to dodge, and it was imperative that they not be allowed to gain a foothold into the sector.

Thus, imagine the surprise of him and the rest of the small garrison when the doors opened to reveal nothing other than some fellow blue armored soldiers. For a moment, the Revenant wondered if this wasn't some clever ploy. But then, as he stared out a group, a very sobering message made its way through his brain, and he knew in that instant, that it was no deception.

After all, battle droids didn't bleed.

The soldiers were a mess. There were almost none in the group were weren't wounded, and none of their armor was the same pristine royal blue that it had been when they had entered into the disastrous assault upon the Industrial Sector (as that was where he was assuming they had attacked, given the direction in which they were coming from).

It was then however, that two things drew his attention away from the regular rank and file troopers. The first was the color of an armor suit that more closely resembled his own, and despite the charred and blackened regions of the Katarn Mark II, he was still able to make out a few of the dark, jungle green marks that Cody Balic had placed upon his gear.

The second thing, two things actually, were of a pair of elves who walked off of the elevator a moment after it had opened with their weapons drawn and ready.

Now Jinx was well versed in the history of his home city, and he instantly recognized the battle armor that Mar had worn, and when he saw the katana that was held within the hand of the elf, he swiftly did the math. This was followed by what was now a standard reaction for a first time viewing of the vaunted battle armor, especially now that it was worn by the dark elf that had saved the whole city those months ago.

As for the other elf, judging by the proximity that it had to Jak, and the striking similarities between their equipment, he made a highly educated guess that Keira had pulled off what they'd all been hoping for.

Smiling, and resisting the urge to leap into the air and let out a cheer that would probably have been heard by Ashelin and the others back in the command offices, the gray armored warrior stood up from behind the barricade, holstering his weapons and walking forward.

"Welcome back, Sir," he said as he got close to Jak, and snapped into a salute, whether serious or semi mocking, the Ascended Channeler couldn't tell, as it was always difficult for one to tell when the explosives expert was joking around.

"Good to be back, Jinx," Jak said, extending his hand and grasping the demolition expert's own in a good shake.

"Nice to see that your wife managed to get through to you, we've really needed you back here," Revenant Sixty Seven said, turning and giving the girl a salute, and then turning his attention to where Cody was. "Good to see you're still kicking, bro," he said, his voice slightly choked.

Cody said nothing in return but threw himself around his fellow Revenant, a loud clacking noise filling the arm as Jinx returned the embrace.

"There are more of us down in the sewers below," the heavy weapons expert said after a moment or two, "some of them are pretty messed up, is there an aid station around here?"

"Yeah, we got one set up by the HQ," Jinx said, nodding his head vigorously, elated that there were more survivors than he had thought, as the few communications that they'd had with Ashelin had panted a very bleak picture for the troopers that General Toshiro had led into the Industrial Sector.

He'd have to get the names of these soldiers once they were all here, and then relay that information back to the GHQ in the Residential Sector. There were some families who were about to receive some very, very good news.

The group had stood around and waited for the rest of the soldiers to emerge from the depths of the sewers, and Jinx had begun to have second thoughts about how good the evening was turning out. Many of the men and women who had come up were upon their last legs, their minds and bodies pushed to the breaking point and beyond by all that had happened to them.

He had seen one trooper who had to be carried by his fellows, his legs taken off at the shins by a plasmite grenade. There was another whose arm had been scorched off by a Firestorm's flamethrower. Others were missing fingers, parts of their ears, or were covered in burns and scars that they would carry with them for the rest of their lives. This was to say nothing of their mental conditions, which were nearly in shambles in a lot of cases. He could scarcely blame them, and he wondered how they had been able to hold themselves together.

True to his word, he had gathered them all, and then led them to the medical station that had been set up just outside of the Naughty Ottsel. After that, he had taken Jak, Keira, Daxter, Pecker, and Cody to the commander center itself, and they stood outside of it right now.

"Nice to know that the battle at least spared my joint," Daxter muttered, rubbing his chin and starring dreamily up at the larger than life figure of himself. However, the smile became a frown as he suddenly noticed several darker areas around the facial regions of the statue.

"Hey, Jinx," he barked, grabbing the spec ops soldier's attention, "what are those spots on my face?"

"Well," the pyromaniac responded, rubbing the back of his head in a somewhat sheepish manner, "we had to calibrate the sights on our guns somehow."

"What!" the ottsel screamed, jumping off of Jak's shoulder and grabbing a hold of the ammo bandolier that went around Jinx's chest, clawing himself up to where he was glaring right into the Revenant's T shaped visor. "Are you telling me that you used my statue, one of the hard earned fruits of my labors, as a fierfeking target?"

"Hey, it was Torn's idea!" Jinx said in a defensive tone, waving his arms in spite of the fact that the furry creature couldn't see them, as his eyes were now plastered upon his helmet, his breath causing a region of the visor to fog up.

"I'm going to murder him!" the ottsel roared, and for once, his well used vocal cords actually made him sound threatening, and Jak, looking over to his soul mate, felt a genuine swell of pity for the hardened commander.

Daxter abruptly let go of Revenant Sixty Seven, hitting the ground running and dashing into his bar.

"So, who are we placing our bets upon?" Jinx muttered sardonically, looking over to the rest of the crew.

"Daxter," Jak and Keira responded simultaneously, knowing that while the little furball might now have been able to do much physical harm to Torn, that he would not forget this any time soon.

"My money says that if we all live through this, that Torn is going to find himself waking up with pink hair or something like that," Keira murmured, before following the ottsel into his business.

Inside, to their immense surprise, they found Torn, looking rather confused. As for Daxter, well, he had been slightly distracted from his 'revenge of the ottsel' styled mentality by a certain blond haired elf. Currently, he was cradled in Tess' arms, muttering sweet little phrases to her while she rocked him back and forth, rubbing behind his ears.

Torn attention shifted from the strange duo at the booths to those who were just walking in. He paused for a moment, then did a double take as his mind caught up with what his eyes were seeing. He had expected Keira to return with her husband, but he had not exactly expected either of them to show up in the gear that they were carrying. As such, for one of the few times in his life, the elite commander was rendered speechless, so much so that he actually forgot about Jak's new rank, and failed to salute him.

Fortunately for him, both of the Ascended Channelers were currently absorbed wondering what in the world the Revenant had done to his face. His skin was a pale as ever, but to Keira's surprise, his beard was gone, and in its place were several scabs and cuts, which judging by the relatively intact condition of his helmet, which was set on the holo table, were not the result of shrapnel wounds.

"Torn, what did you do to yourself?" the tech head asked, a look of shock upon her face that was hidden by her helmet.

The soldier in front of her remained silent to her question, a frown on his face and a hard glare coming into his eyes. However, the question of how he had scratched up his visage would be answered, as Jinx, who had popped his own helmet off, decided that the humor of the situation would be well worth any demerits his brother in arms might give him.

"He had a bit of a shaving accident," the pyromaniac responded, a grin upon his face and a chuckle in his tone, oblivious to the snarling glare that his squad leader shot him a moment later, which might have even made Kor cower before it, were he still alive.

"But how?" Keira asked, instinctively looking over to Tess, who had taken an interest in the conversation all off a sudden, if the mischievous sparkle in her eyes were any indication. "We don't exactly have any razors around… here…"

The reason that she trailed off was because of the 'shich-shing' sound that filled the air a moment later, and she looked back over to Jinx, who was staring intently down at the vibro blade that was mounted upon his left wrist, curling and uncurling his fist, causing the crystalloid weapon to extend and retract in rapid succession, scarcely giving the sound blade time enough to activate.

All of a sudden, it clicked, and both Jak and Keira looked over to each other, and then back to the silent commander, who still looked as if he had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.

"Wait a minute, Torn," the aqua haired elf began, an immense tone of disbelief in her voice, "you mean to tell me that you tried to shave with your vibro blade!"

"Yep," Tess said with a vigorous nod of her head, "and believe me, Keira, you never heard such swearing before."

'Just when you think you've seen it all…' Kage remarked, shaking his head inside of Jak's mind, the fangs on one side of his mouth visible as he gave a crooked grin.

"I'd like to see you try it and get off mark free!" Torn roared, practically foaming at the mouth, this reaction mostly being due to the gut clenching hysterics that Daxter had suddenly broken into, and that Jak and his wife were also trying not to dissolve into.

"Why do you think I kept mine on, Leader Man?" Jinx asked, tracing and armored finger along the inch long blond growth that was all over his jaw line. "Better this than that hack job you managed to pull off."

"You just wait until we get out of this, pyro," the commander growled, walking over and thumping his index finger against Revenant Sixty Seven's chestplate. "Because when we do, I'm going to bust you down to a private."

"Yes, Sir," Jinx replied, his comical still in full control as he gave Torn a salute.

"If you guys are done discussing the fine art of facial hygiene," Cody said, a note of impatience in his tone, "I've got a report to make."

For the first time, Torn seemed to notice that there was another Revenant standing behind Jak and Keira. A look of astonishment came over him, and he quickly rushed over to give the armored soldier a hug.

"Welcome back, brother," he said, a faint tear in his eye, all of his anger over his wounded pride forgotten.

Nobody was really surprised at the reaction that came from him. After all, both he and Jinx had been the last of the originals, and had watched as most of the soldiers that hey had come to call family had been killed before their very eyes. Though they had hid it quite well, they had been worried that history might have repeated itself. The few communications that they'd had with Ashelin had let them know that Liz, Zack, and Richard, the squad that Cody had been leading, were all back safe within the Residential Sectors (along with the forth squad), but that he squad leader himself was MIA. Thus, to find out that they had all made it through in one piece was a great relief, and while the group in the West Side was still unaccounted for, at least the majority of their family was still breathing.

This was turning out better than he had dared to hope.

The two Revenants broke away from each other a moment later, and Torn finally seemed to remember that Jak now outranked him, and hastily gave a salute.

"Glad to have you back, Sir," he said, and Jak could have sworn that there was a slightly friendly tone to his normally iron hard voice.

"It feels good to be home, Torn," the dark elf responded as he popped the seal to his helmet and took it off. "But we need to hold off on the champagne and caviar for the moment, there's more to this assault than we originally thought."

"What are you talking about?" the commander asked, wondering how things could be any worse than they were already, as Jak had a knack for being the bearer of bad news.

"Did you ever get that splicing job working with Ashelin and the others?" Keira abruptly asked, as she too removed her helmet.

"Yeah, we did," Torn informed her, nodding his head.

"Good, because the Governess needs to hear this as well."

It had taken a few minutes to get a hold of Ashelin and the others, during which time the returning members were brought up to speed on the tactical situation as a whole. They were shocked, overall, to find out just how bad the causalities had been. More than one hundred thousand elves had met the Grim Reaper during the assault, and tens of thousands more had been wounded, many critically. Among them were countless numbers of officers and commanders, which had decapitated a good portion of Haven's military, and the loss of General Ryan Toshiro had hit them especially hard.

They had never forgotten that he had helped to save Daxter's life those months ago when Errol had held him hostage.

In light of his death, Ashelin had apparently assumed direct control of the Freedom League soldiers, a move that made Veger and his cronies more than a little uneasy. However, as Torn and the others had been delighted to hear that the people of Haven, upon finding out that the count and the Grand Council had been responsible for the disastrous assault that had cost the lives of so many were less than enthusiastic about their continued rule. As a result Count Veger was having to tread carefully. Personally, Jak, Daxter, Keira, and Pecker were all looking forward to meeting with him again. It promised to be a most amusing time.

However, first they had to figure out a way in which to get out of the Harbor in one piece, or better yet, figure out how to drive the enemy away from the city.

Jak and Keira were in the process of explaining the details of exactly what the big picture was when it had happened. The transmission and the accompanying hologram had started to become garbled and distorted, and they could all hear Ashelin shouting in the background at a tech, trying to figure out what was going on.

The reaction inside of the Naughty Ottsel was quick and decisive. Naturally, they assumed the problem was on their end, and they believed it to be the precursor to an attempt to break in to the Harbor Sector and wipe them all out. Thus, weapons were quickly drawn and armed.

One could imagine their surprise then, when rather than the sound of massive explosions and the like, they merely received a large burst of white noise before the hologram shifted entirely, the Governess disappearing entirely, to be replaced by the form of what was none other than a floating Precursor, its arms crossed over its chest and its head cocked to one side.

"Tarath?" Jak blurted, before mentally slapping himself.

While the bluish white color of the hologram made it impossible to distinguish the shade of the Ancient's armor, and it did indeed possess the protrusions from the helmet that were consistent with indicating Praetor rank, the dark elf knew after about half a second that this could not be the Reaver. For one thing, the being's armor was far more ornate than his ancestor's was, and that was most certainly not a warp blade attached to the right wrist of the warrior. Also, the armor's shape was wrong, being smooth rather than jagged.

'No, it couldn't be…' Kage murmured, his voice full of disbelief.

The figure turned to where it was facing Jak, and then paused once again.

"Jak Mar, I presume?" he inquired, his voice youthful, but with an edge to it that reminded the dark elf of Torn.

"Yes," the Ascended Channeler replied, rather suspicious of the Precursor.

"Hmm, you're taller than Kor made you out to be," the Ancient mused, cocking his head from side to side a few times.

"Just who the hell are you?" Torn growled as his warrior instincts kicked in and told him that all was not well with this situation.

"Where are my manners?" the Precursor inquired, slapping himself and shaking his head, "My parents would be ashamed of me. Forgive me, elf, but I am Kerrog Losstarr."

There was no dramatic flourish or fiendish cackling that came after the Fallen leader introduced himself, but none was needed. Jak, Daxter, and Keira did double takes, and Kage cursed within the dark elf's mind, all their eyes widening as they realized they were staring at the warrior who was about to bring seven thousand Ancients down on their heads. Torn and the others though, merely looked confused, as they hadn't heard this part of the story yet.

"So you're the big bad Archon trying to come back and take over the world?" Daxter asked, hopping from Tess' arms onto the table, standing up on the tips of his toes to where he was nearly eye to eye with Kerrog's holographic image. "Tarath told us all about you and your friends!"

The strangest thing happened next. It was the Fallen Precursor's turn to make a double take, and he actually took a step backwards away from the ottsel, his body language translating into something along the lines of profound shock.

"Who are you?" the Ancient asked after a moment, genuine curiosity in his voice.

"Name's Daxter, oh dreadlocked one," the furry rodent replied with a mocking bow and excessive sarcasm, "and if you make one comment about my height, I swear I'll strangle you through this holo table!"

Far from being intimidated, Kerrog merely burst into laughter. However, Daxter was given the distinct feeling that it was not his threat, empty as it might have been, that was causing the hysterics from the Archon, but something else.

"You don't know what you are, do you?" The Fallen Precursor asked, mirth still evident in his voice. Upon seeing Daxter's blank look, he snorted once again. "Your ignorance amuses me, but my business is with the Hora-quan's Bane and the devil that he carries inside of himself."

"So you know that me and Kage who took care of your little bioweapon?" the dark elf inquired, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, though both he and his guardian demon were rather surprised that he knew of the latter's existence.

"Yes, and I feel I must congratulate both of you on slaying Kor," Kerrog said, placing a fist into his palm and bowing before the Ascended Channeler, which resulted in some very surprised reactions throughout the bar.

"You're congratulating him for destroying your greatest weapon?" Keira replied incredulously, her alien eyes bulging slightly.

"A wise leader acknowledges the skill of his enemy," the Archon responded, raising an index finger to accentuate his point. "You managed to do something not even the greatest of Precursian warriors could accomplish. In the end, it would seem as though my brother's descendant proved to be the more powerful of the two weapons."

"I'm getting really fierfeking tired of being referred to as a weapon," the dark elf abruptly snarled, a fire leaping into his slitted eyes.

"My apologies, Jak," Kerrog replied with another bow, "it was not my intention to insult you…"

That was as far as he got before Keira interrupted him.

"Wait a minute, did you say 'my brother's descendant'?" she asked, staring at him intently, as if that by doing so she might pierce through the black visor covering Kerrog's face.

"Ahhh, I wondered if you would catch that," the Fallen Archon said in a quiet voice, almost as if he was talking to himself. "Yes, Tarath a sibling of mine, though it was through adoption rather than by blood. I'm not surprised he hasn't mentioned me as such. After all, as far as Executor Xadec Thas and the other Precursors are concerned, neither myself nor my fellows even exist. We figured it was time to give them a reality check."

The news hit the whole group like a grenade, so visible was their shock. Jak and Keira couldn't help but wonder why Tarath had kept such a secret from them. Keira was bothered by this more than her husband, possibly because the white armored Ancient that was standing in front of her was actually distant kin. She'd entertained the notion that there might have been some relation between the enigmatic leader of the Fallen Precursors and her ancestor, given that they had the same last name, but the analytical part of her mind had eventually dismissed the notion. After all, many elves had the same last name, but that did not necessarily make them related.

"Personally," Daxter remarked in his usual cheeky tone, "if you were related to me, I wouldn't want anyone to know you were my brother either. I wouldn't much like being related to a butcher like yourself!"

"One society's butcher is another's savior, Daxter," Kerrog shot back, "how do you think the Hora-quan regard your companion, the one who has killed them by the hundreds, if not thousands."

For once, Daxter found that he had no reply.

"All family quarreling aside," the Archon continued, "I have come with a warning for you, Jak Mar. Make no mistake, my comrades and I are returning to this world, and we intend to claim the glorious future that is befitting of our race. We are not Hora-quan, and we are not like the battle droids that you seem to have trouble fighting as it is. While I have no doubt that you elves would do everything in your power to defend your homeland and try to make us pay for every inch of tarmac we took from you, I, like my brothers, am not a big fan of wanton slaughter." He paused for a moment, his visored gaze boring into the dark elf. "I offer you and your people a chance to surrender."

"Fat chance!" Daxter shouted, hopping up and down. "We don't make deals with megalomaniacs!"

"Before you respond, think about my proposal," Kerrog replied, sticking out a palm in a gesture for the ottsel to calm his antics, "and know that you are not the only side with Ascended Channelers in your ranks."

"What?" Jak replied, rather surprised about this.

"He's been dying to talk with you ever since I began speaking," the Fallen leader said, before fading away, to be replaced by another figure.

The person was clad in armor that was similar to the armor that had been reserved for the 'normal channelers', though it was black in color as opposed to gray, and had what looked to be a nasty looking longsword type weapon attached to his left hip, while a helmet hid his face. After a moment, the figure stared right at the dark elf, before gazing over to Keira. Instantly, the angelic Channeler bristled, feeling something she only describe as a really bad vibe coming from this person, whoever he was. After a moment, though, his identity was revealed.

"Hello, Jak," came the voice, quiet and sinister, "it's so good to see you again."

'No… fierfeking… way!' Kage exclaimed, his fanged jaws all but unhinging from each other. 'We killed him!'

'Apparently we didn't kill him enough,' Jak responded mentally, a scowl upon his face.

"Errol," he spat out loud, trying as hard as he could to mask his surprise, "so we're on a first name basis now are we, I thought I was just the 'Eco Freak.'"

"Ahhh, Jak, I'm sorry that I ever called you that," the former commander said while he removed his helmet, allowing everyone to see his eyes, which now bore reptilian slits similar to the dark elf's. "I had no idea what you truly were, what we truly were. Had I but known that, I would have never used such a derogatory term for our kind."

"And just what are we?" Keira snarled, images of the trip through Mar's Tomb, of watching the sadistic sociopath torture her soul mate playing through her head.

"Keira, don't you understand?" Errol replied with a crooked smile. "We represent the absolute pinnacle of billions of years worth of evolution on this planet. You, myself, Jak, we are gods among mortals, life forms of near ultimate power!" he exclaimed, closing his left fist and letting Dark Eco lightning course over it, after which he calmed down for moment. "It's a terrible shame that we're on the opposite sides of this little chess game, and that I'm going to have to kill you. Well, actually, I'm rather looking forward to another shot at you, Jak, but as for you, Keira…"

"Normally," the tech head began, her voice deathly calm, but with a tangible edge to it, "this would be the part in which I tell you to go to hell, Errol, but seeing as how I'm pretty certain that you're heading there anyway, I'll settle for this."

And she promptly stuck her middle finger out at him. This had the result of causing every male present (Jak and Errol included) to stare at her with a look of the utmost astonishment.

"I see…" Errol remarked after a moment, before giving her a glare that would have caused most to quake in their boots. "So be it then."

With that he faded, and Kerrog once more appeared.

"Remember my proposal, Jak Mar," the Fallen Precursor said, his voice calm and cool. "I will give you one week to consider this and then I will contact you again."

After he finished, the Fallen Archon bowed once again, and with another burst of static and white noise, disappeared from the holotable.

"What the hell was that?" came Ashelin's voice, as she reappeared a few moments later.

Jak, Keira and Daxter merely looked at each other, despair welling up inside of them.

Why did it seem like bad things always happened right when things were starting to look up?

"Well," Jinx muttered in his usual sardonic voice, "for a guy whose trying to wipe us out, you have to admit, this Kerrog fellow was awfully polite."

The dark elf sat in one of the booths, lost within his own mind, oblivious to the world around him. Kage was much the same, nestled within Jak's head, meditating in an attempt to calm himself. The Dark Eco demon had always been extremely protective of his host and those his host cared about, and Errol's reappearance had sparked off some rather bad memories. Once the shock had worn off that Errol was apparently the enemy that Tarath had mentioned that he had sensed when they'd first met him back in the nest, Kage had become so enraged by the memories of Jak being tortured (which were much clearer for him than they were for Keira or Daxter, as he had actually been there) he had snapped.

Fortunately, while Kage had manifested himself, the anger had found a rather swift outlet, and a booth near the rear of the Naughty Ottsel was now little more than a smoldering pile of charred boards and ash.

After that, the oni seemed to realize what he was doing and quickly got a grip, feeling immensely ashamed at what he had just done. Daxter, however, wasn't at all upset, as he was enraged to a similar degree. In fact, he even offered to see if he could scrounge something else up that would have a far more dramatic effect when it was hit with a Dark Eco attack.

Kage had declined, and Jak had been swift to regain control. However, he could scarcely blame his alter ego for what he had done. However, they had more important things to worry about right now, such as trying to take the city back. None of them had the slightest intention of surrendering to Kerrog, particularly now that they knew that Errol was on his side.

That bit of thought made Jak wonder if the Archon had really known what he was getting himself into when he had taken Errol in or whatever exactly he had done to get the Ascended Channeler on the side of the Fallen Precursors. After all, the former K.G. commander had always been a little… unstable, and Jak was certain that a fall into a canyon full of Dark Eco in combination with the awakening of his powers could not have helped in the department of Errol's mental health.

He looked back up abruptly, his gaze focusing on Torn and Jinx, both of whom were busy chatting with Ashelin, still trying to see if they could figure out a way to get out of this mess they were in. They were all talking in low tones, their faces the very images of concentration. They knew that they were walking the edge of a knife here, even with his return. One misstep and all would be ruined.

Finally, after a seeming eternity, Ashelin bid farewell, and her image faded from the holo table. Sighing, Torn called for everyone's attention.

"Okay, everyone," he said, his usual growl coming into his voice once again as he called up a diagram of the whole city, "we've just been talking with Ashelin for a while, and we think we might have a way of trying to get out stinking hides out of this mess once and for all."

"Do tell, oh hackjobing one," Daxter responded, a glare in his eyes telling all present that he had not forgotten what Torn had done to his sign.

If the insult bothered the Revenant commander in the slightest, he did not let it show.

"Our supplies are starting to run out, and I think that our mechanized pals and the Metal Heads both know it," he said in a calm, matter of fact tone. "We've got to either get reinforcements or try to abandon the Harbor Sector to the enemy. Now, Ashelin would much rather that we manage to pull off the first one, as after all that's happened, she'd rather us not have to pull back and revert to square one on this deal." He paused for a moment, making the holo table focus on the Industrial district.

"The biggest problem that we've got is how to get guys in here," he continued. "Now, the tech heads have been hard at work for a while, now, and they think they might have a way for us to bring down the Lockdown. However, even if that happens, the flyboys aren't going to be able to get a single drop ship in over here due to a massive amount of antiaircraft batteries that the Death Bots have set up in the Industrial District. We thought about trying to go over the West side, but Ashelin figures, and I agree, that it'll probably be easier for us to knock out the anti air guns than deal with swarms of Metal Heads," He said as he looked over to Jak. "The Governess wants you and Keira to lead a Revenant squad into the area via the sewers, and then we're going to try and rig up some of Jinx's homemade goodies to the guns. Once we've taken this section," he highlighted the region of the Industrial District that was closest to the path that ran between the Harbor and the Residential Sectors, "our pilots should be able to get us enough supplies and troopers to hold off any enemy advancements for a while."

"But that's still just delaying the inevitable, isn't it?" the dark elf asked, a frown upon his face.

"Ashelin didn't come to this decision lightly," the haggard commander said after a moment's pause, "but she's decided to implement a bombing strike against the Industrial district. Most of the stuff in there is pretty torn up anyway, so we figured it wasn't much of a loss."

"What about the friendlies?" came Keira's voice, as she looked up from the Hunter Killer head that she'd brought back from Phoenix's tomb, which she was still working on.

"You mean the robots that appear to be on our side?" Cody asked, guessing at what she meant.

"Yeah," the tech head responded with a nod.

"We're not really sure what to do about them, why do you ask?" Torn inquired, cocking his head towards her in a quizzical manner.

"Because I've been going through these circuit boards again," she said, brandishing the Viper head for all to see, "and I think I've reached a conclusion about what in the world it is that's causing these things to start turning on their buddies."

"Just make sure you explain it in English so those of us who are not techno whizzes can understand ya," Daxter remarked from were he was still reclining in Tess' arms.

"The changes have been made to the core motherboards," she explained, pausing for a moment to make certain that a certain fuzzy animal was still with them, "and they really aren't that complicated. Mostly, our hacker friend has caused a simple binary change in their primary logic processors which results in these rogue droids have different targeting alignments than the rest of the Death Bots."

"You mean the guy just switched what was in the foe column over to the friend one and vice versa?" Jinx asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Pretty much," the aqua haired elf replied with a nod, "but that's not the tricky part. What's complicated is actually getting to where you can access that stuff. You've got to get past more computerized security panels in these things than I've ever seen before, to say nothing of the fact that you'd actually have to sneak in and reprogram them in the factory, so you'd have the local electronic defense networks to worry about."

"How many defense networks are we talking about, here?" Jak asked his wife, curious as to where she was going with this.

"Somewhere in the neighborhood of three or so hundred, and it took me about twenty seconds to crack each one, mostly because I can only move these fingers of mine," she waggled the mentioned appendages to emphasize her point, "so fast."

"So were looking at about an hour and a half to hack one of these suckers?" Jinx responded, not understanding it. "It doesn't seem like our pal here could move fast enough then."

"No elf could," Keira replied with a shake of her head, "which is why I don't think we're dealing with an elf, or any other form of biological life for that matter."

"So then what the heck are we dealing with here?" Cody asked, his accented voice laced with confusion.

"I think our mysterious ally is an A.I.C." she said, nodding her head slightly as if to reassure herself.

"A what?" Torn inquired with a raised eyebrow, looking at her as if she had just spoken in a foreign tongue.

"An Artificial Intelligence Construct," the tech head explained. "It's the only thing that seems to make any sense to me. This thing is moving way to fast for it to be someone hacking with a keyboard, only a computer could achieve the speed necessary to bypass those protocols and fend off any security that it might encounter before the whole factory knew that someone was snooping around." She paused for a moment, taking the time to look around at the others. "However, the key point here is that its movements and accomplishments are too great for it to be a simple program, this had to have been done by something that was self aware and capable of thinking for itself. That makes the only logical possibility an AI."

Jak thought it over in his head, and after a few minutes, he realized that his wife might have been on to something. True, there were no official records of any self aware computers ever having been created in Haven, but that didn't mean that there couldn't be any. After all, Sentinel had kept a silent vigil over Mar's final resting place for hundreds of years without anyone being any the wiser, even though he was literally right underneath them.

'Maybe we can let them know. We're heading over there to the Industrial District, so why not try and find them?' Kage mused, scratching his chin, and Jak nodded, having reached a similar conclusion a moment earlier.

After all, it wouldn't exactly be very difficult to find them. Cody stated that they were in a state of open rebellion against the greater portion of the Death Bots forces. Therefore, it would seem logical that they would simply have to listen for the sound of battle. Maybe if they were lucky, the little ruckus that they were hoping to stir up would bring the mavericks running to them.

After all, it was about time something went their way and stayed going their way.

He quickly voiced his opinion to the others and they began hatching the first step in a long series in which they would take back their home.

"Do you really think they'll surrender?" Nira asked, the Zealot looking over at her superior as he ended the broadcast.

"No, but we have at least given them the opportunity to do so," Kerrog said with a sigh. "It's what Tarath would do, were he in this situation, and something he'll doubtlessly propose to us." The Fallen Archon said, lowering his head until he cradled his chin in his palm. "Either that, or he'll try to come up with a truce or something of that nature. Unfortunately, such a measure is doomed to failure, seeing as how our brothers won't give us the Terraforming files, and we're not about to leave without them."

"You're not looking forward to getting your vengeance upon them for what they did to you?" Errol responded, confused by the topic.

"Kor and his children already brought vengeance down upon them," the white armored warrior stated, closing his eyes as his thoughts drifted to his brothers. "Now, I would prefer a peaceful solution, but I doubt that such a solution could be reached. No, Errol, it will come down to a battle, so you needn't worry. You'll have a chance for your own revenge."

With that, Kerrog turned and left the bridge, heading for the nearest training arena.

He had not forgotten how Tarath had bested him in the last great battle of the Kinslayer War, and he knew that he still had to polish his skills if he hoped to come out on top.

&

So, Errol's back in the picture, and the good guys have more problems coming their way. Expect for them to meet their mysterious savior in the next chapter.

As usual, any advice, constructive criticism, ideas on weapons and Veger torture, etc, are welcomed with open arms.

And now, good readers, I believe I owe you some clichés and the like…

Cliché 44

Not Invented Here
Trade of technology will not exist. One place in the world will have all the techno-gadgets while all the others will be harvesting dirt.

Cliché 55

Houdini's Postulate
Anyone, whether they are in the player's party or not, who is placed in any kind of prison, fortress, cell, or detention block will escape immediately. Party members will be freed either by a small child they just happened to befriend earlier in the day or by an unexpected disaster that overcomes the enemy base, NPCs will be freed by the released party members, and villains will break out all by themselves because they're such badasses. Once a person has escaped from jail, no attempt will be made by the police to recapture them in the future.

Cliché 60

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Rule
a. Any male character who is ugly, malformed, or misshapen is either evil or so moral, spiritual, and/or wise that it's a wonder no one's proposed him for sainthood yet.
b. Any male character who has a physical disfiguration that doesn't seem to impede him (i.e. a prominent scar across the face or a bad eye) is evil, unless he is the male lead, since scars are cool and no other good guy can be as cool as the hero. An exception is made for characters who are clearly ancient, and therefore automatically not as cool as the young hero.
c. Any female character who is ugly, malformed, mishapen, or physically disfigured is evil, since all good female characters are there to be potentially seduced by the male lead -- see Know Your Audience.

Exceptions made for the hero's mentor, as he allowed to be nearly as cool.

Cliché 61

Henchman Quota (Nana, Saki, and Mio Rule)
One of your antagonists will have three lovably incompetent stooges whom you fight over and over again. Although they're trusted with their boss's most important plans and equipment, they will screw up repeatedly, argue incessantly among themselves, blab secret information, and generally only come out victorious when their job was to be a diversion or a delaying tactic. A high point of the game will come when the True Villain reveals himself and you're able to convince the stooges you're all on the same side. They won't help you out any more successfully than they helped the antagonist, but at least you won't have to fight them any more.

Clichés 86-91

Wait! That Was A Load-Bearing Boss!
Defeating a dungeon's boss creature will frequently cause the dungeon to collapse, which is nonsensical but does make for thrilling escape scenes.

Supply and Demand Axiom
Killing a powerful enemy will usually yield an item or weapon that would've been extremely useful if you had gotten it before killing that enemy.

Edison's Lament
No switch is ever in the right position.

Well, That About Wraps It Up For God
All major deities, assuming they actually exist and weren't just made up by the Church to delude its followers, are in reality malevolent and will have to be destroyed. The only exception to this rule is the four nature spirits who have preserved the land since time immemorial, but now due to the folly of mankind have lost virtually all of their power and need you to accomplish some ludicrous task to save them.

Guy in the Street Rule
No matter how fast you travel, rumors of world events always travel faster. When you get to anywhere, the people on the street are already talking about where you've been. The stories of your past experiences will spread even if no witnesses were around to see them.

Wherever You Go, There They Are
Wherever the characters go, the villains can always find them. Chances are they're asking the guy in the street (see above). But don't worry -- despite being able to find the characters with ease anytime they want to, the bad guys never get rid of them by simply blowing up the tent or hotel they're spending the night in. (Just think of it: the screen dims, the peaceful going-to-sleep-now music plays, then BOOM! Game Over!)

And the next set of Evil Overlord rules…(14-25)

14. The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.

15. I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

16. I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."

17. When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

18. I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

19. I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father.

20. Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

21. I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legions of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman footsoldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.

22. No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

23. (Palpatine's Lament) I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks.

24. I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous, or at the very least, inevitable.)

25. (Death Star/ Metal Gear Rule) No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible vulnerable spot.