Chapter One: Separated
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Jak folded his arms and leaned against a wall in the Industrial Sector of Haven City, impatiently waiting for someone to show up.
"What's keeping him?" Jak muttered to himself. "Everyone in Haven knows that it's not a good idea to keep me waiting."
Suddenly hearing footsteps, Jak turned his head to watch as a businessman with dark hair walked into view.
"Are you Jak?" The man asked.
"Yeah." Jak nodded. "You're late."
"I apologize, but I'm already on a tight schedule." The businessman replied. "Let's get straight to the point."
"I would appreciate that, Mr…"
"Call me 'Kaye'." The man replied with a smirk.
"Okay. So what's this mission you've been wanting my team and I to do, Kaye?"
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Torn walked down the street of the port in Haven City, heading towards the Naughty Ottsel to meet up with everyone else. Jak had gone to meet with someone about a new mission and said that he would meet the others at the Naughty Ottsel afterwards.
Walking towards Daxter's bar, Torn pushed open the front door and walked inside. After getting inside, the redhead young man looked around and saw that most of the team was already there. Daxter and Tess were standing on the bar, serving Sig and Jinx some drinks, while Ashelin and Keira were sitting at one of the booths, having a conversation.
"Jak not here yet?" Torn asked as he walked over to the booth Ashelin and Keira were at.
"Not yet." Keira shook her head. "He's still at that meeting with this new client about the mission."
"I wonder why this guy didn't want to meet us at HQ…" Ashelin pondered.
"From what I was told, we were to come here because we would need to set out by ship and we'll be close to the take-off point." Torn replied.
"You think Samos and Onin will be alright looking after HQ?" Keira asked. "I feel bad about leaving them there."
"They'll be fine." Torn assured. "They've looked after HQ before."
"But why am I here in the first place?" The green-haired girl asked. "I'm not a fighting member of the team!"
"Someone needed to come here to look after the Naughty Ottsel." Ashelin said. "This DOES double as our second HQ."
"What's taking Jak so long, guys?" Daxter called out from the bar. "We must've been waiting for him for an hour!"
"Yeah. It can't take anyone this long just to get a mission from someone." Sig added.
"Just give him some time, boys." Tess said. "I'm sure there's a good reason Jak is taking so long."
Suddenly, as if on cue, Jak entered the Naughty Ottsel and stepped inside.
"Sorry I'm late, guys." Jak replied. "This guy took forever to show up."
"So what did he say?" Sig asked as he left the bar and walked over.
"This guy says that some of his employees saw a swarm of Metal Heads entering a cave in the Wastelands while they were visiting some clients in Spargus." Jak replied. "He wants us to go take them out before they can reproduce and start invading again."
"A swarm of Metal Heads?" Daxter asked. "What's so hard about that?"
"This 'swarm' consists of five-hundred Metal Heads, Dax." Jak replied. "This is why we all need to get out there and kill them."
"Five hundred?" Keira asked, clearly surprised. "If those things reproduce and come to Haven City…"
"Then the entire war will start over." Torn nodded. "Okay. Taking these Metal Heads out is the number-one priority."
"Kaye supplied me with an electronic map that his employees managed to get." Jak explained as he pulled out a device and inserted it into the holomap in the center of the room.
"Who's Kaye?" Ashelin asked.
"The businessman that gave us the mission." Jak replied.
Jinx raised an eyebrow as he stopped his smoking for a few seconds. Daxter and Tess noticed this.
"You okay, Jinx?" Daxter asked.
"It's just that…That name sounds familiar…" Jinx replied. "I just can't place it…"
In the meantime, Jak had brought up the holographic map of the area the Metal Heads were said to be. "This is the cave Kaye said the Metal Heads went into." Jak explained.
"So we just need to storm the cave and take out all of the Metal Heads inside?" Sig laughed. "I'm liking the sound of this."
"It's not that easy." Jak shook his head. "One of the larger Metal Heads moved a huge boulder to block the entryway to the cave. Until we get rid of that boulder, no one's getting in."
Jinx smirked. "I take it that's where I come in?" The blonde man asked.
"You'd be right, Jinx." Jak nodded. "We need you to plant those explosives of yours around the boulder while the rest of us cover your back."
"No problem." Jinx chuckled. "Just make sure you guys don't get me killed. I sorta had my heart set on actually seeing tomorrow."
Jak smirked. "Plant those explosives quickly and we'll all get out of there alive."
"So when do we head out?" Torn asked.
"As soon as possible." Jak replied. "I've already sent for the cargo ship that'll take us to the desert. It should be waiting for us at the docks by now."
"Be careful, you guys." Keira said. "There's something about this that doesn't seem right."
"You say that all the time, Keira." Daxter laughed. "We'll be fine."
Daxter suddenly noticed that Tess, whom had left for a few seconds, was walking back into the room with a gun in her small arms. "Uh…What're you doing, Tess?" He asked.
"What's it look like?" Tess asked. "I'm coming with you."
"Oh, no you're not!" Daxter replied. "It's way too dangerous!"
"Dax, I've tackled the gun course in this form before." Tess replied. "I'm a much better shot than you are, anyway."
"HEY!"
"We'd best head out now." Jak said. "We need to do this quickly if we want to get rid of all of those Metal Heads."
With that, Jak, Daxter, Torn, Ashelin, Tess, Sig and Jinx left the Naughty Ottsel, leaving Keira alone, worrying for their safe return.
"I know something's going to happen." Keira said to herself. "I just KNOW it."
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The blue carrier ship landed in the Wastelands, a good twenty yards away from the entrance to the cave Jak and his friends were supposed to storm.
Sig looked up at the huge boulder blocking the way into the cave and whistled. "Now that's one big rock." He said. "I don't even think Peace Maker can break through that."
"That's where I come in." Jinx replied as he fished through a large, wheeled cart of explosives and equipment. "Just give me a second to find the right explosives."
"You'd better hurry, Jinx." Jak replied. "I can hear engines coming. That can only mean that Marauders are coming."
"Then get ready for a fight, everyone." Torn ordered. However, he suddenly felt a small weight on his shoulder. Turning his head, Torn saw Tess standing on his shoulder, a gun in her hand. "Uh…Tess, what're you doing on my shoulder?"
"Hope you don't mind, Torn. I need a little extra height to shoot further." Tess replied. "That and I've always wanted to see if riding around on someone's shoulder is as fun as Daxter says it is."
As the team got ready to fight the oncoming vehicles of barbarians, Jinx flew past the group, explosives in hand. Rushing over to the side of the boulder, Jinx got down on his knees and started planting explosives.
"Here they come!" Ashelin shouted.
"This should hold them back for a bit!" Sig laughed as he fired a shot from Peace Maker, wiping out one of the oncoming vehicles in one shot.
Unfortunately, this just made the Marauders even madder. The hulking monstrosities leapt out of their cars and charged headfirst towards the group, baring weapons sharp enough to cut down a tree in one swipe.
"Start shooting!" Jak ordered as everyone opened fire on the oncoming enemies. "Protect Jinx long enough to set the explosives!"
"Time to see what you're capable of in this form, Tess!" Torn shouted as he shot a Marauder.
"I thought you'd never ask, Torn." Tess replied with a smirk as she opened fire and easily mowed down a line of Marauders before they even got close.
Daxter's mouth fell open. "Oh, baby!" He said. "That's what I call a woman!"
"Dax, look alive!" Jak barked.
Daxter snapped to attention to watch two Marauders charge past him and run at Jinx. However, before the two enemies could get too close, Ashelin stepped in and swung her gun like a weapon, striking one of the Marauders down. Thinking quickly, Ashelin shot the remaining barbarian at close range, dispatching him instantly.
"Sig, why are these creeps always attacking everyone that sets foot in the desert, anyway?!" Ashelin shouted.
"These Marauders always consider the Wastelands their property!" Sig replied. "Anyone they don't recognize, they consider as trespassers!"
"But why can't they deal with their problems in more humane ways instead of shooting at anything that moves?!" Ashelin asked as she kicked an enemy in the head.
"Trying to get through to a Marauder?" Sig asked. "You'll have better luck teaching a Lurker to tap-dance!"
"How're the explosives going, Jinx?!" Torn asked as he and Tess continued to shoot down Marauders. "We're all running out of ammo!"
"I'm almost got it, Torn! Keep yer shirt on!" Jinx replied.
The blonde man had managed to place most of his explosives and get them hooked up to his remote detonator. However, he still had three more explosives to plant to get a boulder as big as the one he was at to blow up.
Sweat started rolling down Jinx's face, starting to second-guess at what he was doing. He quickly double-checked the explosives he had already set and let out an exhale of relief when he found that everything was set up properly. Wiping his brow, Jinx placed his other hand onto the boulder to steady himself.
However, his eyes widened when he felt a vibration coming from the boulder once a second. Pulling his hand away, Jinx saw that there was now a handprint on the boulder. The true colour of the huge boulder was black, and Jinx's hand was now coated with sand, which was what had been covering the boulder in the first place.
Gears started turning in Jinx's head for a few seconds before thinking of something. Something he didn't like the sound of. "Impossible." He said as he reached up and wiped off a small part of the boulder.
The cigar fell out of Jinx's mouth as the explosives expert stared in shock. The area he had just uncovered was a timer ticking down to zero.
And the timer was at forty-five seconds.
His eyes springing open in horror, Jinx turned. "GET BACK IN THE SHIP!!!" He shrieked as he ran towards the others. "GET BACK IN THE SHIP!!!"
"What?" Jak asked as Jinx started to make everyone run towards the ship, although in confusion. "What's wrong, Jinx?"
"We've been set up!!" Jinx practically screamed. "A powerful explosive was already set!"
"That boulder already had something planted on it?!" Sig asked.
"That boulder IS the explosive!!" Jinx shouted back.
"WHAT?!" Everyone else shouted as they all picked up the pace and ran back towards the ship.
"A bomb that big has a one-hundred-yard blast radius and it's only got thirty seconds left before it blows!" Jinx said. "We need to get as far away from here as possible!!"
Everyone jumped aboard the ship, which started taking off the instant everyone was in it. The back door closed as the ship flew off, the driver hoping to get out of range before the bomb exploded. The ship flew higher and higher in an attempt to get away from the impending explosion.
The timer on the bomb hit zero, resulting in a huge explosion. The ball of fire was sent shooting high into the air, straight towards the escaping ship.
Thankfully, the ship was out of the explosion range, but the force from the explosion made the entire ship rock back and forth for a second. The people in the team sitting down easily got themselves balanced again.
However, the force from the rocking sent Jinx's cart of explosives rolling forward, straight towards the back of the ship.
Jinx was standing directly in the path of the explosive cart, steadying himself after the force from the explosion hit the ship. Jinx turned, but couldn't do anything as his own supplies barreled into him with full force, forcing open the hatch at the back of the ship and pushing the demolitionist out of the ship. Jinx, the cart and all of the explosives were sent on a free-fall towards the sand below.
"JINX!!!" Everyone screamed in horror as the ship continued flying away, considering the pilot didn't know what was happening.
Jinx miraculously hit a sandy hill and rolled down to the bottom. The force from the fall sent a severe wave of pain through his body, but Jinx was still alive. The blonde man looked up, only to find that his own bombs had surrounded him and were about to go off. Jinx laid flat on the ground and covered his head, waiting for the end.
The explosives supply cart suddenly landed top-down over Jinx, covering him completely. Three seconds later and the bombs went off, blowing the explosive cart off of Jinx.
The explosions finally died off and Jinx was left alive. Jinx weakly looked up and back and forth for a few seconds before passing out in shock.
A shadow fell over the unconscious man. A small group of people approached Jinx as the lead one knelt down beside him.
"Is he dead?" One of the others asked.
The lead figure shook his or her head. "No. He is still alive."
"What shall we do, then?"
The lead figure stood up and turned, revealing a young woman with a white face and monk's clothing. "We shall take him back to the temple to get rested up." She replied.
"But Seem…"
"Spargus is too far away." The lead monk shook her head. "We must shelter him long enough to get him back on his feet."
"Very well. We shall get him loaded onto our vehicle…"
The lead monk nodded as she helped a few of the other monks load the unconscious Jinx into a nearby vehicle. Once everyone was in the vehicle, it sped off, carrying all of the passengers, including the unwilling one they had just picked up, back to the monk's temple.
To be continued…