Nightfall had befallen Redcliffe. And that meant one thing. The Zombies were coming from Redcliffe Castle. And in a fog of all things. Jak, Daxx, Sig, had their weapons ready to go. "So much for sneak attacks." Jak commented. Talia, Alistair, Morrigan, and Sten would also be providing support. Leliana, and Cooper were staying by the village with Ratchet, Qwark, and Skrunch. 

Talia drew out her sword. "No, but it is still intimidating." She replied. 

Alistair also drew his sword. "Still might be less ugly then a Darkspawn. Or those Metal Heads. But I guess we'll see." 

"You ever fought a Zombie before?" Talia asked.

"Nope." Alistair answered. 

"And says this despite the fact that he has the brain of one." Morrigan commented. 

"Will you-" Before Alistair could continue. They heard the screams of Villagers from below.

"They're coming!" Some of the Villagers screamed out. 

"Never fear! The Trouble twins are here!" Daxx declared. That was when the movement of Zombies came thundering out over the hill. "Okay. So we got a little fear. But Jak is here." He admitted. 

"Let's do it, Jak." Sig nodded to Jak as he readied his Peace Maker. 

The Zombies all charged forward. Sig fired the first shot shooting the Peace Maker and knocking down a row of Zombies. But more charged forward. Jak readied his Vulcan Fury. "Let's see how they like this." He fired a shot.

"That's all that did?" Alistair asked.

"Wait for it to charge up." Jak assured. He then got it firing and mowing down the Zombies as they past. But they continued to charge forward. They were starting to get close into Melee combat. The knights proceeded to engage the zombies at sword rank. This was going to get greasy, no doubt about that. 

Talia could also see one of the Zombies coming towards her. She was ready though. She struck the Zombie down and seeing how ugly it was. But not as ugly as the Darkspawn though. 

Jak stopped using his Vulcan Fury and switched to the Mass Inverter. It had all the Zombies float up in the air. "Too easy." He commented.

"Just be glad they don't have guns." Sig replied. 

It was perfect for Morrigan for target practice. She used a Lightning Spell that destroyed the Zombies dead before they touched the ground. 

Sig shot another Peace Maker round at a Zombie electrocuting it along with 3 others next to it.  

Sten was looking at the way Jak and Sig were fighting with their guns. As well as having to resort to Melee combat if the Zombies ever got too close to them. "Not too shabby of a fight from you." He said to Jak. 

"Fight now. Talk later." Jak replied.

"Good call." Sten agreed with him as he sliced a Zombie in half. 

That was when another row of Zombies arrived.

"You got any more tricks up your sleeve?" Talia asked before she killed another Zombie bashing its head with her shield.

"Yeah. This." Jak equipped his Plasmarite RPG firing grenades that exploded on impact on the Zombies.

"Wish we had you the first few fights." Ser Perth said to Jak. 

That was when Jak heard something on his communicator. "Jak. Hope you're holding the line good." He heard the voice of Ratchet say. 

"We're all good here, Ratchet. What about you?" Jak asked. 

"A second wave of Zombies is moving on the village from the lake." Ratchet answered. "We'll handle them." 

As Ratchet looked at the Zombies approaching the village square, he readied his arsenal of weapons. "Ready to go Commando, Qwark?" Ratchet asked.

"I was born ready." Qwark answered taking out his blaster. 

"Like a Blargian Snagglebeast to Mutant Swamp flies. Here they come." Ratchet said. 

"Blargian Snagglebeast?" Leliana asked.

"You don't have those?" Ratchet asked. 

Leliana shook her head. 

"You know. I once had a pet Snagglebeast." Qwark interrupted. "I called him Snappy." 

"Of course he did." Ratchet thought. He took out his Tempest Shooting down a pack of Zombies. "Give me a hand?" He asked the other archers.

The Archers all fired their arrows at the Zombies. 

"Feel the wrath of my blaster!" Qwark yelled shooting down the Zombies. 

Ratchet took out his Quantum Whip. "Thing about Zombies. They hate Fire." He threw the whip at the Zombies. They all burned at the touch. "That worked better then I thought." He threw the Whip at more of the Zombies. 

"How did you know that Zombies didn't like Fire?" Leliana asked as she fired another shot at the Zombies. 

"You don't have Holo Films do you?" Ratchet asked.

"A what?" Leliana asked. 

"Guess that answers that question." Ratchet thought. He then took out his RYNO 2 Which just devastated the rest of the Zombies. 

"You know. These guys were a lot easier to beat then I thought." Murdock commented while he and his men continued to shoot arrow after arrow of more Zombies. 

"I'm going to look past the homes by the docks for any stragglers." Ratchet informed as he zoomed using his Charge Boots over by the docks. Nothing in sight to say the very least. Except for one of the Zombies that had managed to stay out of sight until Ratchet used his N90 Hurricane on the Zombie. "That's all of them." He then turned on his communicator. "Okay. We win." 

"Hey Ratchet..." Qwark was winking at him. 

Ratchet looked at his Groovitron. "Oh, what the heck?" He asked himself using his Groovitron and playing a song on it. 

Author's Note: Pretty sure you know which song Ratchet was playing, don't you?

The rest of the night was very uneventful. It seemed after the initial assaults, the Zombies all retreated back into the Castle. Morning had finally come at last. 

"Dawn arrives, and we survived the night. We are victorious!" Teagan had happily announced to the villagers who had survived by staying in the Chantry. "And though this victory came at great cost, we must remember that none of us would be here were it not for the heroism of these good folk beside me." He turned his attention to the heroes. 

"It was a group effort." Ratchet admitted. 

"I thank you, Lady Cousland." Teagan thanked Talia. "Truly, the maker smiled on us when he sent you here in our darkest hour." 

The Head Official of the Chantry, the Revered Mother then made her announcement. "Let us bow our heads, and give honor to those who gave their lives in defense of Redcliffe. Those who have perished here walk with He who is your Maker. Long may you know the peace of his love." She prayed. 

"So let it be." The Crowd repeated all at once.

Jak and Daxter looked awkwardly at the scene not sure what to do. They didn't worship the Maker. They had the Precursors. "Piece of cake, baby!" Daxx yelled after everyone had a moment of silence.

"With the Maker's favor, the blow we delivered today is enough for me to enter the Castle and seek out your Arl. Be wary, and watch for signs of a renewed attack. Or any attacks from this Dr. Nefarious or the Metal Heads. We shall return with news as soon as we are able." Teagan continued. 

After that, everyone went back home. "Now we just better hope that the village doesn't hate us after we saved them." Jak commented. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Talia asked confused.

Jak looked down. "It doesn't matter now." He said. 

That was when Teagan walked up to Talia and Alistair. "We've no time to waste. Meet me at the mill. I have a plan to enter the castle." He informed them.

"Is this going to be a plan drawn out by crayon?" Alistair asked. 

"No." Teagan answered while looking at Qwark. 

Qwark was looking at the village. "Well, team. I believe congratulations are in order." He announced to everyone. "To myself. For coming up with a scheme so grand and magnanimous to save this village."  

"...Yes. We all owe our thanks to you, Qwark." Alistair sarcastically remarked.

"Don't mention it. I'm just doing my job." Qwark replied. 

Ratchet just looked grumpy. 

"Can I strike him down with magic?" Morrigan whispered to Ratchet.

"No." Ratchet answered.

"I can make it look like an accident?" Morrigan offered.

"Really? How?" Ratchet was now intrigued. 

"Ratchet." Talia scolded like an annoyed person trying to keep the peace and not make things worse.

"Okay, fine." Ratchet complained.

"Teagan's moving up the hill. We should join him." Sig suggested. 

"Then let's get a move on." Alistair agreed.

The group had moved up the hill... again.

On their way though, Morrigan had once again walked up to Alistair. "I wonder, Alistair, if you will indulge me." 

"Do I have a choice?" Alistair asked. 

"Of the two of you that remain, are you not the senior Grey Warden here? I find it curious that you allow another to lead, while you follow." Morrigan pointed to Talia. 

"You find that curious, do you?" Alistair asked. 

"Only to say that you deferred to a new recruit. Along with a Lombax and whatever species Jak is." Morrigan insisted with a pretty gigantic smugness. 

"What do you want to hear? That I prefer to follow? I do." Alistair sighed getting all defensive.

"Well, someone is so defensive." Morrigan commented.

Alistair shook his head. "One of these days. I'm going to get you, you know." He swore.

"And I will be so looking forward to it." Morrigan laughed off.

"And now I know how Ratchet feels." Alistair grumbled. 

Talia smirked a little. Alistair and Morrigan had such a "I hate you, but I'll help you relationship." It was never going away anytime soon.

Ratchet was just happy that Alistair could relate to him.

As everyone arrived at the windmill, Teagan gazed at the big castle in the distance. "Odd how quiet the castle looks from here. You would think there was nobody inside at all." He said. 

"It looks that way at first. But that's what it always looks like. You want the real story. You gotta go inside and get to the bottom of things." Jak replied. 

"True enough." Teagan admitted. "But I shouldn't delay things further. I had a plan to enter the castle after the village was secure." 

"How so? A secret passage through the Windmill that'll just take us through to the Castle completely undetected?" Daxx asked. 

Teagan looked flustered. "Um... yes." He admitted. "But how did you-?"

"Because there's always a secret passage within castle walls in case of emergencies. Everyone knows that." Daxx answered.

"He's not wrong." Talia commented to the others. 

"I would've gone through it. But I couldn't abandon the villagers." Teagan explained why he didn't go in in the first place. 

"So, we go through the passage and then what? Fight our way to the Arl and past any remaining Zombies?" Jak asked.

"That's the plan." Teagan answered. 

"I like it." Jak declared. 

"If that is our plan then-?" Sten had started to say. But his words were interrupted by fast steps over another hill as a Highborn Lady in a fancy dress and a guard were running towards the group. 

"Who's the Lady?" Ratchet asked.

"And why is she running in a dress?" Daxx asked. 

"We just fought an army of Zombies, and that is what bugs you?" Talia asked Daxx. Though she did know that it was very difficult to run in a dress. As she learned from her years of experience of running in a dress while trying to use a sword and go out fighting dummies in the courtyard. That's actually the reason why her parents insisted that she wear slacks. So her dress wouldn't get torn. 

"Teagan! Thank the Maker you yet live!" The Woman greeted in relief as she ran past the group and up to Teagan. 

Talia knew exactly who that woman was. Lady Isolde herself. "Isolde! You're alive! How did you? What has happened?" Teagan asked in confusion but relief. 

"Is that-?" Ratchet started to ask Alistair to which Alistair nodded. 

"I don't have much time to explain. I slipped away from the castle as soon as I saw the battle was over, and I must return quickly." Isolde started. But then she sighed as if she was about to say something that she was going to regret later on in life. "And I... need you to return with me, Teagan. Alone." 

Talia raised an eyebrow. It sounded very sus to her. "You want to be any more specific with that?" She asked. 

Isolde looked at Talia. "What? I? Hold on a second... don't I know you from somewhere?" She asked. 

"My name is Talia Cousland." Talia answered. 

Isolde huffed. "Ah yes. You're Bryce and Elanor's daughter. The last time we met, you spilled ink all over my dress." She remembered.

"I was 10." Talia pointed out. "How was I to know with ink..." 

Alistair decided to step in before it got complicated. "You remember me, Lady Isolde, don't you?" 

Isolde scoffed. "Alistair? Of all the... why are you here?" She asked increasing even more tension. 

"Look, Mrs. High and Mighty! We had a rough night! Don't push it!" Daxx accused. 

Isolde looked confused at the sight of Daxter. "It talks?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's getting it to shut up that's the trick." Jak answered. 

"They are Grey Wardens, Isolde. I owe them my life." Teagan stepped in. 

Isolde felt guilty almost instantly. Eamon always told her how it was important to respect the Grey Wardens. Especially in Dark Times. "Pardon me. I would exchange pleasantries, but... considering the circumstances..." 

"Please, Lady Isolde we had no idea anyone was even alive within the castle. We must have some answers." Alistair insisted. 

Isolde then turned to Teagan. "I know you need more of an explanation, but I... don't know what is safe to tell." 

"Then just give us what we need to know." Ratchet suggested. 

Isolde looked at Ratchet. "What are you?" She asked.

"I'm Ratchet. I'm a Lombax." Ratchet answered. 

Isolde did not know what that was. But she turned again to Teagan. "Teagan, there is a terrible evil within the castle. The dead waken and hunt the living. The mage responsible was caught, but it still continues." She explained. "And... I think Connor is going mad. We have survived but he won't flee the castle. He has seen so much death!" She started to weep. 

"Who's Connor?" Qwark asked. 

"Her son." Talia answered. 

"Oh." Everyone realized. 

"You must help him, Teagan. You are his uncle. You could reason with him. I do not know what else to do!" Isolde begged. 

"You said a Mage before. And saying he was caught. What do you mean by that?" Sig noted. 

"The Mage." Isolde found her composure again. "He is an... infiltrator. I think, one of the Castle staff. We discovered that he was poisoning my husband. That is why Eamon fell ill." She answered.

Teagan's eyes opened wide now. "Eamon was poisoned?!" He asked in disbelief.

"He claims an agent of Teryn Loghain hired him. He may be lying, however, I cannot say." Isolde added. 

"Loghain." Alistair grit his teeth. "Of course it was." 

"Doesn't shock me." Jak admitted. "Leave it to slimeballs to poison people." 

"You mean like Krew?" Daxx asked.

"Krew?" Teagan asked confused. "Who's that?"

"He ran one of the most notorious crime rings in Haven City." Jak answered. 

"And our old boss." Sig added.

"He poisoned Daxx, and our friends, Ashelin, Torn, and Keira so we would win him a Racing Competition." Jak explained. "Long story short. We won and got the antidotes." 

"So if there's a terrible evil inside of the castle, how come you and the Arl are alive?" Ratchet asked Isolde now. "Doesn't the evil usually just destroy everything or something?"

"I don't know why it allows Eamon, Connor, and myself to live. But it killed so many, and turned the other bodies into walking nightmares." Isolde admitted. "It allowed me to come for you because I begged!"

Morrigan raised an eye brow not trusting the Lady. 

"The King is dead, and we need my brother now more than ever. I will return to the Castle with you, Isolde." Teagan decided. 

"Oh, thank the Maker! Bless you, Teagan! Bless you!" Isolde held her hands in gratitude. 

But Teagan wasn't going to just go in without a plan of his own. He looked at Talia. "Isolde, can you excuse us for a moment? We must confer in private before I return to the Castle with you." He requested. 

"Please, do not take too long! I will be by the bridge." Isolde gave one final glare at Alistair specifically before she put some distance between herself and the team followed by the guard.

"Sheesh. She needs some manners." Daxx commented. 

Talia couldn't agree more. She was just glad her parents weren't anything like Isolde. That mentality of that was, treat people with respect and how you want to be treated and they'll do the same.

"Here's what I propose: I go with Isolde and you enter the castle using the secret passage. My signet ring unlocks the door." Teagan planted his ring in Talia's hand. "Perhaps I will distract whatever evil is inside and increase your chances of getting in unnoticed. What do you say?" 

Talia didn't see another option, so she caved in. "Alright." She looked at her companions. Despite the odds being against them. Talia was more than confident in their abilities. 

"Ser Perth and his men can watch for danger at the Castle entrance. If you can open the gates from the inside, they can move in and help you." Teagan added. 

"Infiltrate and open the gates. I like it." Qwark interrupted. 

"Now remember. Eamon is the priority here. If you have to, get him out of there. The rest of us are expendable." Teagan explained. 

But Talia didn't just want to save one. She was going to save everyone. "Everyone is getting out alive." She assured. 

"You're a good woman. Your Father would be so proud of you. The Maker smiled on Redcliffe indeed when you arrived." Teagan said. And then he left to go join Isolde. 

"Alright. We've got a castle to storm." Ratchet declared going in one direction. 

"Let's talk to Ser Perth first." Talia suggested. As Ratchet began going in the other direction.

"Right after we talk to Ser Perth first." Ratchet declared 

After speaking with Ser Perth about the plan to enter the castle, The Heroes entered the Windmill. 

Meanwhile. 

Dr. Nefarious had been typing on his computer. "...All Hail Dr. Nefarious! Ruler of the Galaxy of Robots!" Nefarious had stood atop a giant mountain as all Robot citizens had bowed down to him. It was the happiest moments of all of his life. His crusade against the Squishes was finally complete- 

"Excuse me, sir." Lawrence interrupted.

"LAWRENCE!" Nefarious yelled. "Can't you see I'm busy writing my Victory Speech I titled: Dr. Nefarious finally takes over the Universe?!" 

"Of course sir." Lawrence replied. "But you may want to know that the Kingdom of Ferelden denied our request of us moving in." 

Nefarious slumped. "Well, of course they did. Trying to explain something to squishes is like trying to teach Captain Qwark. Next to not going to happen." 

"That is very clear sir. And what are we to do about those Darkspawn Creatures that the Metal Heads have encountered at Ostagar?" Lawrence asked. 

Nefarious had heard the reports of the Metal Heads encountering another army that sought to conquer the realm of Thedas as well. "Well... we'll just have to pay these Darkspawn a visit then. Find out where they live." He ordered. 

"Right away, sir. Right after you figure out your grammar structure for writing." Lawrence replied as he walked away. 

"I'm an evil scientist. Not a Linguist." Nefarious pointed out.