Hiya once again everyone, and I hope you are doing well today. Don't have much time, so I will make this fast.

I want to once again thank everyone who took the time to review, and that everyone else who read but did not review found the tale to their liking. As for this chapter, you can probably guess what's going to happen based on the title, and I hope you enjoy it.

Lawyers; you know the drill, I don't own a thing here except what I've thought up myself.

That said, here is chapter twenty five.

&

Meeting an old Friend

The Roller bot glanced about, its sensors scanning the region in which it was stationed, just like its seven fellows were. Of late, the guerilla activity that had plagued them since they had repulsed the elven attack on the Industrial District had died down. However, orders that had come directly from Grendel himself had doubled the guards that were present around key defensive structures. The Fallen Precursor AI had run through hundreds of scenarios, and genuinely believed that the brief pause meant that the rebels of both sides were gathering their strength for a major offensive, perhaps even working together.

The machine abruptly twisted, pointing its dual blasters towards an alleyway entrance off to its left, where it had thought that it had seen movement of some sort. Cautiously, relaying a signal to its comrades that it believed it had enemy contact, it stepped forward.

The poor machine never had a chance.

As the droid took its forth step in the direction of the possible disturbance, its motion sensors detected something behind it, and it abruptly spun about. What it saw, in the milliseconds that made of the remainder of its existence, was a strange blur. The next thing that it heard was the shrieking sound of metal and the strange, almost pain like sensation as it realized that it was being sliced in half by a blade.

As the first Roller was falling apart, its fellows were turning in the direction of the disturbance. The blur abruptly jumped up, and the next thing the machines knew, blaster fire was coming from behind them as their first target arced upwards and towards them. They shifted about, half of them turning to engage the unseen foe that was behind them while the other half engaged the one that was airborne.

Suddenly, from a third alley, directly across from them, came a hail of Blue Eco bolts. Two Rollers were caught in the initial burst, and subsequently fell over, their chasses smoldering from the sheer amount of firepower that had overcome them. A three shot burst of Yellow Eco came from the shadows a moment later, followed swiftly by a second. Just as many rollers fell, leaving a mere three left from the initial eight.

Less than a second had passed since the initial hard contact with their invisible enemies, and the machines knew then that they were outmatched. Once again though, they were devoid of any thoughts of self preservation, and where any normal foe would have likely fallen to their knees and begged for mercy, these ones stubbornly continued to try and fight, despite the fact that they had yet to discern even where their targets truly were.

A moment later, the one that was in the air landed. One of the Death Bots turned to try and face it, but even as it had begun its turn, a hissing noise split their air, followed by a clang as the mysterious wraith sliced its dual blasters off. Now having nothing with which to fight, the battle droid could only watch helplessly while this unusual and cunning opponent cut it in half, before charging forward to deal with its companions.

They were soon nothing more than smoking husks as well.

The whole assault had taken less than three seconds to execute, the result of several minutes worth of expert planning at the hands of the ruthless soldiers who were down deep in enemy territory.

His visor set to its heat mode, Jak smirked as he admired Kitetsu, always amazed by the sheer lethalness that the Vibrium blade possessed, the ease in which it split the Titanium-A armor of the Death Bots.

However, he quickly yanked himself back to reality, and looked up to find Torn and Tess emerging from the alleyway opposite of the one that he had leapt out of. They were all in their active camouflage (hence why he was using his heat vision), and communicating with the silent hand signals they'd been taught. The hardened commander raised his hand and wiggled his wrist around in a couple of complete circles, the signal for the group to close it up.

Jinx came out of the alleyway directly in front of the warehouse that they were attempting to infiltrate, his two submachine guns drawn, and a cocky smile that everyone knew was upon his face, even though it was hidden by his helmet. Shortly thereafter, Keira and Cody came out from behind him. Jak soul mate had to be doubly careful, as she lacked the ability to cloak herself, which, much to the girl's dismay, had regulated her to a rear guard action, making certain that nothing got the jump on them. However, she was not alone in that duty.

Daxter was upon her shoulder, his eyes constantly gazing about.

Inwardly, the ottsel smiled, despite the fact that he could feel fear gnawing at his entrails. He had actually volunteered to be brought along this time. Torn had initially snubbed the idea, thinking that Daxter would just be a weak link that needed to be protected, a snag in this already rather dicey mission they were trying to pull off. However, Jak had come to the rescue, pointing out the tactical advantage that the small rodent might offer.

After all, one never knew when there might be a ventilation duct they needed to get through that was too small for them, but jus the right size for someone who was a little less than a foot and a half tall. Thus, the Revenant had reluctantly allowed for the little guy to come along.

It was now time for Daxter to come through.

The door to this facility, in which an antiaircraft battery was concealed beneath the roof, was locked down, and while they could've blasted through it, they had all agreed that revealing themselves this early in the game was not the wisest of ideas. They were about three quarters of the way done with their little demolitions job, but that would be the easy part. All of the demo packs, which had been rigged up by Jinx in a back room of the Naughty Ottsel, were set to blow on a remote timer that the pyromaniac was carrying with them. The trick would be getting them all to go boom, thereby opening up a region that drop ships could them get through to land some much needed supplies and reinforcements, to say nothing of having to worry about brining the whole Death Bot army down upon their heads.

On the brighter side of things, there was even the hope that if they succeeded that the gap might be wide enough to slip a Halcyon transport craft through, which could possibly give them as many as twenty Scorpion M-808's to work with. None of them were sure exactly how effective the behemoth war machines would be against something like the Viper droids, judging by the speed at which the Hunter Killers were capable of moving. However, they were pretty certain the assault tanks would be able to effectively obliterate any Firestorms they should happen across.

Jinx reached into a supply pouch on his back, and withdrew a home made det pack, before handing it to Daxter. The ottsel looked kind of comical as he put the strap around his shoulder, as the demo charge was nearly as big as he was. Jak then reached down, and picked his friend up, while Torn removed the cover to the air vent. The dark elf then placed his friend inside and silently wished him the best of luck.

Daxter paused just long enough to make certain that the custom headset that Keira had made for him was secured, and then mustering up all the courage he could find, the ottsel climbed inside of the ventilation shaft. Jak watched his friend until he was no longer in sight, and then he turned around, gazing about and being ever alert for an enemy patrol.

Grunting and heaving, the furry rodent made his way up the shaft. This was the twelfth time that he had done this in the past couple of hours, and he was almost completely exhausted. Still, he thought to himself as he leaned against the metal wall, pausing for a moment to catch his breath, it was worth it. Finally, at long last, he had a chance to prove himself to the others. For once in his life since he had become an ottsel, he was proving to be an asset, rather than a liability.

His fur might have been matted with sweat from carrying the det pack, and his muscles might have been promising that they were going to make his life hell come tomorrow, but at that moment, Daxter couldn't have cared less.

Narrowing his eyes and grimacing, he once again began the trek to the top of the building.

Oh, if only the others could see him now, if only they could watch as the 'useless little side kick' proved to all the world what he was capable of doing. Unfortunately, they were all dead for the most part, either at the hands of the rampaging Hora-quan, or due to the ravages of time.

Nonetheless, as he reached the top, and shuffled over to the grate to the room with the anti aircraft battery in it, a smile was upon his furry visage.

However, his newfound courage was not a reckless one, and he checked around, looking from his hiding place and making certain there weren't any battle droids about. Then he checked again, and then a third time, until he was absolutely sure that he wasn't about to walk right out into a Death Bot. Only then did he slip one of his slender arms through the vent grating and begin to unscrew it.

Once he had succeeded in that endeavor, he made certain that he had a firm grip upon the grating, as he didn't want to drop it and make a gods awful racket, and carefully lowered it to the floor. He then dashed out, moving as quickly as he could towards the gun battery.

It took him five seconds to go the distance, and once he'd reached it, he didn't slow down for even a moment, quickly taking the det pack out of its covering and slapping it against the base of the gun. From there, it was a simple matter to flip the activation switch and arm the charge. Once the red light went on, indicating that the transmission receiver was active and awaiting its signal, the ottsel turned right around and all but flew back towards the vent.

His reaction was only natural, given that he had just armed an explosive with enough power behind it to turn his bar into a smoldering wreck.

Hastily replacing the vent grate, Daxter began to make his way back to where his companions were.

All of the charges had been planted, and so far the Death Bots appeared to be none the wiser. However, all parties involved were currently on the razor's edge of alertness, as the battle droids had proven many times in the past to be incredibly crafty adversaries. There was also the small complication of the fact that Errol had apparently spilled all of their military tactics to the enemy, so there was a good possibility that the machines might know what they were up to.

They could only hope that the gods were with them today and that their enemies had indeed remained oblivious to their actions.

"Okay, Jinx," Jak growled over a private comm. channel. "The show's all yours."

"Time to make things a little hot under the collar for these tin heads," Revenant Sixty Seven remarked, a rather jovial tone to his voice, despite the gravity of the situation.

With that, the demolitions expert with drew the detonator, and promptly activated it.

About a tenth of a second later, a loud roar shook the air as sixteen anti aircraft batteries were reduced to something that wasn't worth its wait in scrap metal. In fact, so great were the explosions that the resulting fireball blew out the hatches that the guns were hidden beneath, resulting in a manmade phenomenon that resembled a multitude of small volcanoes shooting up into the air.

"Whoa, talk about P for plenty!" Cody exclaimed, the disbelief evident in his voice. "Jinx, are you sure you made those yourself?"

"Yeah," the pyromaniac responded, no small amount of pride in his voice as he watched his toys in action.

"What the bloody hell did you put in those things?" the other soldier asked, clearly in awe of what the improvised explosive devices had just done.

"Miscellaneous explosive components, some old detonator caps I had on me, a few grenades, and some of that purple booze from Daxter's place," Jinx responded, and everyone knew he was smirking.

"You mean the 'Havenite Cyclone' brew?" the ottsel inquired from the shadows. "I wondered where all of that stuff went!"

"It's wonderful stuff, fur ball, I've got to get the recipe from you when this is all over with," the gray armored warrior responded. "It's a miracle, as not only will it render you pleasantly comatose when ingested, it conveniently blows up your enemies as well."

"Dare I even ask how you figured that out?" the ottsel inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

"That's another story for another day," Jinx responded enigmatically.

"It's a sad day when Haven's Special Forces have to resort to using alcohol as a weapon," Torn muttered in a manner that made it hard to tell if his was being serious or using dry wit.

"Can we focus on getting out of here, people?" Jak growled, all too aware of just how badly they could be outnumbered. "We need to let Ashelin know that we've managed to pull this job off."

Even as the words left his mouth though, a noise reached his sensitive ears. It was a high pitched whine, and he cocked his head to one side, curious to try and figure out what might have been causing the racket. Keira heard it too, and she knew it to be a sound she was much more familiar with than she would have otherwise chosen.

"Vipers!" she shouted over the comm. system.

Instantly, she and Daxter dove back into the shadows, trying to get out of sight, while the rest of the group stayed stock still, hoping that their active camouflage would keep them concealed from the enemy battle droids.

They wouldn't have to wait very long to find out, as less than ten seconds after they had initially heard the noise, the first of the Hunter Killer droids began to arrive. There were two of them, and they landed with a loud crunch, before instantly moving into action. They moved about, checking around the facility, searching for any signs of the enemy that had done this.

Jak and the others scarcely dared to breath, fearful that any movement might give away their positions. Luckily, the sealed environment provided by his armor and the extreme discipline that the Revenants conducted themselves went preventing anything disastrous like a sneeze from revealing themselves to the enemy.

Most unluckily though, no such movement was needed.

Jak saw one of the Vipers look over in their direction, its glowing photoceptors narrowing as it appeared to zoom in. It stared at where they were for just a second, and then he saw the submachine gun start to come up. He needed no heads up other than that, and he all but flew out of the alleyway, his cloaking field fading as he called upon his powers for a different means.

Even before he was out upon the main street, he'd extended his hand, and a dark bomb went flying from his outstretched palm. The Viper that was closer, the one that had initially noticed them, was able to leap backwards out of the way, but the attack smashed right into its partner. Unlike an organic creature, no screams came from within the obsidian orb that had suddenly appeared in the street. But when it cleared, what was left of the seven foot tall killing machine could have been swept up into a dustpan.

Jak hardly had time to relish in the destruction of the Death Bot, though, as he was already tangled up with the other one. He drew Kitetsu in a single motion, and summoned a phantom blade at the same time. In the next instant, he was fighting the second Viper.

He wouldn't be alone either, as the rest of the group, realizing that their cover had been blown, came charging out to assist. Keira was at the forefront of their rallying dash, leaping out of the alleyway with Masamune cocked back. Her jump went right over both of the combatants, and she twirled about in mid leap as she did so. The Viper fell back a second later, cleanly decapitated.

'And whoever said teamwork wasn't worth the time?' Kage inquired sardonically, a smirk upon his visage.

'Someone who never had to tangle with Death Bots, I'd imagine,' his host responded back in a similar manner.

"Alright, who moved?" Torn snarled, looking around at the squad, who remained cloaked just in case anything else was about.

"I don't think any of us did, leader-man," Jinx grumbled. "The blasted bucket heads must have seen us on infrared or something.

"Since when can these things see heat?" Cody inquired, remembering the Firestorm that he'd bested by using his active camouflage.

"Whoever's in charge of them must be giving them upgrades," Keira grumbled. "But that's not important right now. Let's just get out of here before more of them come."

"Ummm… too late," Daxter said, pointing from between Jak's legs at a distant intersection, where a small army of bots was currently dashing for them.

"I believe this calls for a tactical flanking maneuver," Jak muttered. "Time to run!"

Even as he gave the order, though, more whines came, and he could see no less than six Vipers dashing towards them with their overcharge boosters. The dark elf knew then and there that they would never have enough time to get out of the way, so he readied himself, preparing for the onslaught, ready to call upon Kage if need be.

Fortunately, such action would not be necessary on the part of the elves.

Both of the Ascended Channelers saw it in the rear view of their HUD screens, another Hunter Killer climbing up on top of a building behind them. However, one thing made them pause for a millisecond, and wonder what in the world was going on. This Viper was not the blood red of its fellows, but instead bore a color scheme that was the same royal blue of the Freedom League soldiers.

A moment later, it opened fire, the missile launchers set into its shoulders firing off four shots. The rockets streaked towards the incoming bots, exploding in front of them and showering the whole street with a hailstorm of debris.

The Hunter Killers leading the assault were not deterred in the least, but the lesser bots which were bringing up the rear behind them did not fair so well, many of them being destroyed by the shrapnel that came from the attack, or the ensuing fireball. However, there were still half a dozen Vipers, as well as squads of Rollers, Hawks, and three Firestorms that were bringing up the rear heading straight for them. Nonetheless, the message that the maverick Hunter Killer had sent was a most welcome one indeed.

The cavalry had arrived.

Around the corner behind them came a force of more Death Bots, these ones bearing the same regal blue coloring as the one on the rooftop. This unit was not nearly as large as the enemy one, but Jak felt relief as he stared at them. With these additional numbers, he knew they could deal with their opponents.

"Take cover, but hold your positions!" he shouted to the Revenants and to Daxter, who made haste to comply with their orders.

He and Keira stood their ground in the middle of the street, ready and waiting for the enemy to come to them. The Vipers were upon them seconds later, and the battle was on.

Keira opened up with something new. So far, she had been hesitant to use her weapon's own innate abilities, not knowing when she would get another chance to stock it up on Light Eco, but now that that was no longer a problem, she decided that it was time to let her mechanized opponents see what she could really do.

Grabbing Masamune around the middle, she began to whirl the naginata around with both of her hands. As the weapon became little more than a spinning blur, she leveled it at the nearest viper. At the same time, she focused inward, calling upon her own powers, preparing a deadly combo for the machine that was lunging at her. In the next instant, she began to glow, and shortly thereafter, a light filled the air that would have made even the highest quality flash grenade green with envy. The blast was relatively short ranged, but every bot within about forty feet of her found itself deprived of its ability to see. Now blinded, they would have no warning of what was coming their way, no chance to dodge the attack.

A burst of Light Eco shot out of the Masamune, spinning around in a whirlwind type manner and streaking straight towards the Hunter Killers. The first one was hit dead on, and immediately, its armor began to flake off, its internal circuitry becoming exposed as the power of the attack slammed into it. The machine stood its ground though, and was even able to calculate the relative position of its adversary based on the direction from which the strange ability was originating from.

Keira, however, had anticipated the machine's counterattack, and simply ducked down underneath the bolts. While this evasive maneuver did require for her to stop her attack, she quickly followed through with a second one. Deftly spinning her weapon, she brought it down, letting the blade scrape along the tarmac. Masamune flashed again, and a fiery wave of Light Eco streaked towards the Hunter Killer. The machine, still somewhat blinded, never had a chance, and the wave caught it right in its middle, cleaving it in half. The two parts of the bisected machine fell to the ground, sparking.

Jak was also tapping into his weapons abilities as a pair of Vipers closed in on him. Both Kitetsu and its phantom twin glowed as he began to weave the blades back and forth. Waves of Dark Eco flew from the katanas, speeding towards the two Death Bots. The second one having more room to dodge, was able to evade the attacks, but its closer companion was not so fortunate, and one of the waves struck it along the arm, cracking its armor plating and exposing the servos beneath it.

After that, they were upon him, and the dark elf found himself having to whip his twin swords back and forth in order to keep the plasma claws from tearing into him. However, he was now more experienced in dealing with these mechanized monstrosities, and while he was on the defensive, he was busy looking for holes in their defenses that he could exploit. His opportunity would come soon enough.

They were at forty five degree angles from him, and as he again blocked their strikes, he saw his chance. Taking advantage of his superhuman strength and reflexes, the Ascended Channeler leapt off of the ground, and angled himself to where he slipped between the two battle droids. They twisted about, lightning quick in an attempt to get him back in their viewing fields, but by that time, he had already struck. The shadow blade came down, striking the damaged Viper along its right arm. There was a shriek if metal being sliced, and the arm fell to the ground, the hand twitching and firing off a few rounds from its submachine gun as it did so.

He followed this through with another weapon technique. As he had in his battle with Errol, those many months ago, he pointed both of the weapons towards the ground, the hilts being about even with his waist, and then he ripped them upward in a violent motioned that seemed to cut the air itself. An X shaped blast of Dark Eco came off of the weapons. They stopped after going about five feet, but the damage they did to the wounded Hunter Killer was evident.

As the burst smashed into its chest, Jak could see the chassis crack and melt under its fury, and he lunged forward as the Death Bot reeled backwards, bringing Kitetsu and its shadowy copy up and cocking them back for a powerful strike. He brought them forward, crossing them over each other and slicing into its neck. The bot stood still for a moment, and then slumped to the ground, cleanly decapitated. Smirking behind his helmet, he turned to face the other battle droid, whirling his swords about, daring it to come and meet him.

And he was not the only one who was busy either.

Torn leaned out from behind the cover of a building, sighting up a Roller and firing off a burst as it began to uncurl. It retaliated by unleashing its twin hand blasters upon him. However, the Eco bolts buried themselves into the far side of a building, as he was already well out of the way. He ducked down, squatting to his knees before poking around the corner again. This time, his shots hit the droid squarely on its hip joint, and he was forced to hold back a chuckle as the burst blew it off, leaving the droid to hop around on one legs as best it could… which wasn't very well at all.

A loud whoosing sound filled the air as the bot fell to the ground, and the grizzled Revenant saw what looked like a grenade streak into the largest concentration of Death Bots. A fireball appeared a moment later, flowing outwards with such force that even at this distance, he could feel the heat from it.

As the fireball became a small mushroom cloud, another shot came in, this one a large burst of energy. It collided with the survivors of the first attack, and the resulting detonation was even larger than the first. So large, in fact, that Torn looked back to see what had caused it, and found a maverick Firestorm getting to its feet, the large, cannon type weapon on its back folding up and back over its shoulder. It was all he could do not the gawk at the sight, and thank the merciful deities that neither he nor his men had ever been on the business end of one of those weapons.

By that time, the rest of the friendly droids were rolling into position, and beginning to attack the Death Bots. Their coordination was unbelievable, something that Torn found himself in awe of. Here a pair of Vipers dashed ahead, before circling a Firestorm and quickly cutting it down, afterwards turning their weapons upon the lesser battle droids. There a squadron of Hawks came in from above and behind, attacking the enemy units from the rear.

Between the two groups, the enemy was swiftly dealt with and the situation brought under control.

After that, though, there was an uneasy silence that fell upon the blasted and ruined streets, as elf looked upon droid, the former not exactly certain what the latter was about to do.

However, much to the relief of all, the maverick units lowered their weapons, and began to withdraw from the area, doubtlessly wishing to get lost before more Death Bots could arrive. One of the Vipers paused long enough to turn towards Jak, and give a 'follow me' motion with its left hand. The dark elf nodded, and motioned for the rest of the group to fall in behind him. They then began to follow their strange allies, wondering where this would take them.

Much to their surprise, their journey led them to the old power plant. The elves stared around, wide eyed and a little nervous about all the battle droids that were to be found here. Hunter Killers, Rollers, and even a few Spiders were to be found roaming around inside the compound, and all of them were surprised to find out just how large this rogue force was.

They were led inside by the silent machines, and Jak couldn't help but be taken back by the memories that he had of this place. It was here that he'd been sent out to the strip mining operation, where he'd first met Vin. The eccentric engineer had died months ago when Kor had assaulted their city, but the dark elf, and everyone else had known, deep down, that he'd been the one who'd somehow managed to get the defensive Shield Wall back online, which had saved all of their tails.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts. They had another war on their hands now, and it would need all of his concentration and effort to see this one through to its end.

After many minutes, their 'escort' brought them to what appeared to be some sort of command room. Instinctively, they looked about, wondering where the person or thing in charge was.

"Is this the part where we are supposed to say 'take us to your leader?'" Daxter inquired, from his place upon Jak's shoulder.

"I see that you've still got the rodent with you," a disembodied voice grumbled, causing everyone to look about, seeking its source.

All of them, except for Jak. The Ascended Channeler cocked his head in surprise, while his inner demon was once more slack jawed. It seemed fate was to be forever throwing at them people who they thought were dead, but weren't.

"Vin?" he exclaimed, unable to believe that the old elf was still alive.

"In a… manner of speaking," the voice replied in a somewhat amused tone.

The screen in the center of the room came to life then, revealing a brightly glowing figure that did indeed appear to be the half crazed, high strung tech head that they all knew, complete with the bizarre goggles that he'd always had on.

"What the?" Jinx exclaimed, not at all prepared for this.

"I knew it!" Keira shouted, pumping her fist into the air, before becoming more subdued. "Vin… how did you… you know…"

"It's a long story," the image on the screen replied.

"Does it look like we're going anywhere?" Jak inquired, smiling behind his helmet.

"So you're not really Vin," Daxter muttered after the A.I. had finished his tale.

"Yes, and at the same time, no," the construct replied with a shrug. "I have all of the memories, personality, and what not from my creator, but I am not in fact him. Still, for the sake of not further confusing everyone, just call me by that name, if it's okay?"

"This just keeps getting weirder by the second," Torn muttered, leaning back against a wall and staring down at his morph-gun. "Still, I guess we've got a lot to thank you for."

"Just doing my job," Vin replied, smiling down at them. "But we're nowhere near through yet. Even if you take back the Industrial District, you've still got to take out the factory where these Death Bots are being constructed."

"Where's that?" Jak asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I've managed to find its location," the A.I. said, before fading away and letting an image of the facility pop up on the screen. "It's about a hundred or so miles north of here, but assaulting it will be tricky."

"Why?" Torn asked, rather eager to pay back the machines that had turned his home into rubble.

"Because the facility's airborne," Vin replied.

"Say that again?" Daxter exclaimed in disbelief. "How do you keep a factory large enough to turn out an army up in the air?"

"With enough Eco to keep this city powered for a couple of months," was Vin's sardonic reply. "And to make matter's worse, it's got a guardian of its own."

"What kind of 'guardian' are we talking about here?" Tess inquired, worried about the construct's apparent uneasiness.

"I'm not certain, but I think it's a Fallen Precursor A.I." he responded, reappearing on the screen. "There's no way you'd be able to take that factory down unless you removed him from the equation first, and that's something I'd have to do."

"I take it you have a plan then?" Keira said, looking up at him.

"Yes, actually, I do," Vin replied. "My belief is that the Death Bots, are without a doubt, a greater threat than the Metal Heads, and they should be dealt with first." He told them, raising a finger as if to accentuate his point. "I believe that we need to drive them out of Haven first, and while their still reeling from that defeat, launch an assault upon the production facility. If you can get me into that place, I should be able to initiate contact with this enemy A.I., and attempt to delete him."

"That seems uncharacteristically brave for you," Torn remarked, cocking his head at the image.

"What can I say?" he responded with a shrug, "I think you guys are finally starting to rub off on me."

"What about the Metal Heads?" Daxter asked, not about to forget those little monstrosities.

"My suggestion would be for you to initiate a defensive guard against them for the time being, just until we can deal with the Death Bots," Vin responded, tapping his index finger against his chin. "Can you get a hold of Ashelin and find out what she thinks of this plan?"

"I think that can be arranged," Torn responded with a nod, "if you can get me a link through to her."

"You mean if I can bypass the Lockdown?" Vin responded, giving the group a look that said 'you're kidding me, right?' "Just a second and I'll have her on the line."

Jak just smiled and looked over to Keira. It appeared as though things were finally starting to go their way.

&

Sorry that Vin's role in things was a little short in this chapter, expect to see him involved in an all out brawl with Grendel in the coming future. Speaking of which, any ideas on that fight would be greatly appreciated, as it'll be my first time venturing into 'cyberspace' combat.

And as per usual, any advice, constructive criticism, ideas, flames are welcome at this story or at any of my others, so don't hesitate to let me know what you think.

Now, I believe I owe you some clichés and Overlord stuff…

Cliches 96-104

I'm the NRA (Billy Lee Black Rule)
Opposition to gun control is probably the only thing you could get all RPG characters to agree upon. Even deep religious faith and heartfelt pacifism can't compete with the allure of guns.

Three Females Rule
There will always be either one or three female characters in the hero's party, no matter how many male characters there are.

Experience Not Required
When the main character is forced to do some complex or dangerous task for the first time, even though he has never done it before he will still always be better than the oldest veteran.

Law of Reverse Evolution (Zeboim Principle)
Any ancient civilizations are inexplicably much more advanced than the current one.

Science-Magic Equivalence (Citan Rule)
Although mages' specialty is magic and scientists' specialty is technology, these skills are completely interchangeable.

Law of Productive Gullibility (Ruby Rule)
Whenever anybody comes up to you with a patently ludicrous claim (such as, "I'm not a cat, I'm really an ancient Red Dragon") there's an at least two-thirds chance they're telling the truth. Therefore, it pays to humor everyone you meet; odds are you'll be glad you did later on.

Perversity Principle
If you're unsure about what to do next, ask all the townspeople nearby. They will either all strongly urge you to do something, in which case you must immediately go out and do that thing, or else they will all strongly warn you against doing something, in which case you must immediately go out and do that thing.

Near-Death Epiphany (Fei Rule)
If the party is not dealing damage to a boss character, then there's a better-than-even chance that someone in the party will suddenly become enlightened and instantly acquire the offensive skill that can blow the creature away in a matter of seconds.

Wutai Rule
Most RPGs, no matter what their mythology, include a land based on ancient Japan. Full of pagodas, shrines, shoguns, kitsune, and sushi, this completely anachronistic place is the source of the entire world's supply of ninja and samurai characters.

And now Evil Overlord Rules 26-37

26 No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is probably someone just as attractive who is not desperate to kill me. Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my bedchamber.

27 I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times.

28 My pet monster will be kept in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which I could not accidentally stumble.

29 I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion.

30 All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.

31 All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.

32 I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.

33 I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions.

34 I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.

35 I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.

36 I will not imprison members of the same party in the same cell block, let alone the same cell. If they are important prisoners, I will keep the only key to the cell door on my person instead of handing out copies to every bottom-rung guard in the prison.

37 If my trusted lieutenant tells me my Legions of Terror are losing a battle, I will believe him. After all, he's my trusted lieutenant.