A Discovery Most Peculiar

Summary: Torn, Commander of the Freedom League Guard, gets reports of Hora-Quan movement at the Pumping Station. He sends Jak to investigate, and Jak finds something most interesting... and nerve-wracking.

By: Darath

Torn sighed as he stared at the reports that littered his desk. He'd been told by his Second Lieutenant that he had some to look through, but hadn't expected so many... He rubbed a hand wearily over his face, slowly walked on inside the office and sat down heavily in his chair.

His eyes focused on the first report in the stack, skimming over it quickly in search of anything strange. Nothing... fine... he set it aside and began reading the second one. Time seemed to creep by as he went through the reports, setting them all aside, until finally he was on the last one. Torn glanced at the clock... he stared at it, not wanting to believe that he'd been sitting there, reading dull reports, for the past two hours.

"This one looks interesting..." He murmured, settling his eyes back on the thin, off-white paper and taking in the multiple smudge marks and messy writing. "Written by a Private, no doubt..." He began to read through it. Halfway through, his brows furrowed and he leaned closer to the paper. "What's this?" He breathed, slowing down and rereading the paper. "But there hasn't been Metal Head movement in ages..." He finished the rest of the report quickly and sat there, deep in thought, for a few minutes. At long last, Torn set the report down and reached for his communicator. Almost without thinking about it, he dialed his second-in-commands number. It was picked up on the second ring.

"Jak here."

Torn frowned at the report one last time. "Jak," he said, "There's been reports of Metal Head movement at the Pumping Station. Can you go check it out?"

"Metal Head Movement?" On his side, Jak turned away from the hustle and buzz of the Naughty Ottsel. "But the Metal Heads have left us well enough alone since Kor died... why are they moving now?"

"If I knew that I wouldn't be asking you to check it out."

Jak nodded, standing up and waving a 'goodbye' to Daxter and Tess. "I'm on it." He said as he jumped aboard his zoomer and started it up. "Talk to you later."

Torn sat back in his office, feeling a little relieved that Jak was on the 'case'. He liked Jak, they were pretty good friends, though the 'kid' had a bit of an attitude problem at times... He was a good warrior, a true fighter. It was a little unnerving to know that Jak, the sometimes short tempered Dark Eco Warrior, was really Prince Mar, but the kid was a pretty good leader... Torn grinned. Yeah, he was right to send Jak on this 'mission'. If anything, he'd kill the Metal Heads.

The Commander jumped slightly when his communicator rang shrilly, cutting through the silence that had settled. He picked it up and glanced at the number before answering. "Yeah, Jinx?"

Torn could hear the smirk in his best friends voice as the explosives expert greeted him. "Torni-oh! What's up wi' ya? Ya was 'sposed ta meet me at the 'Zaar an hour ago."

With a roll of his eyes, Torn muttered, "Don't call me that, Jinx... And sorry, I had some reports to read and lost track of time. Got a funny one, too... sent Jak to check it out. Metal Heads seem to be on the move again at the Pumping Station."

"Metal Heads? Torn, are ya sure? They 'ain't done much since Jak killed Kor, though! I mean, yeah, sometimes ya guys come 'cross a small group or two that ya hafta kill... but... but they ain't grouped back t'gether under a new leader, 'ave they?"

Torn sighed. "I don't know, Jinx... I don't know. If they have, then it's vital we find out before they get together and plan a strike to our forces. If we can hit them first, then we may have a chance to destroy them before they destroy us." He paused for a second, and then added, "Look, I've sent Jak out to check it out. Do you want to come by and wait for his results with me? I've got a lot of reports to still go through."

"Is that an und'handed way ta get me ta help ya read 'ports?" Jinx laughed on his end of the communicator. "I'll be there inna few... I'm jus' a few blocks 'way. See ya inna bit, hotshot."

Torn closed his communicator after Jinx hung up and leaned back in his chair. He picked up another handful of reports and began flipping through them, one eye staring at the office door as he waited for his best friend.

Jak stopped off by his apartment to grab his morph gun before heading down to the Pumping Station. He hopped off his FLG issued zoomer just in front of the entrance to the Station and fiddled with the still unfamiliar weight of his FLG issued dual pistols. Torn had insisted on him carrying the pistols once he'd joined the Guard, though he still wasn't sure just why... he was perfectly happy and fine with his morph gun and dark and light eco powers.

It only took a few seconds for the Pumping Stations cement and titanium doors to automatically open and the automated voice greet him. Jak walked through, gripping his morph gun tightly as he shielded his eyes against the glare of the sun. He saw nothing.

Jak muttered a curse under his breath and jogged over to the moving platforms. In two leaps, he made it to the top platform and began walking, his eyes constantly in motion as he searched for any threats. Minutes trickled by and he slowly began wondering if Torn had sent him on a wild goose chase. The Dark Warrior cursed under his breath and made a split second decision to climb a little higher and look around before leaving. In a few jumps, he'd made it up another twenty feet. Now he could see about half of the Station.

The Dark Warrior glanced around, shielding his eyes. At first, he didn't see anything, and then he noticed them. Metal Heads... about fifty feet to the north of his position. Jak's eyes narrowed as he edged closer to the border of the platform he was on. He set his gun to Vulcan mode and cocked it, aiming carefully at one of the grunts.

Just as his finger tightened over the trigger, he felt it. Jak instantly froze and glanced around without moving his head. He was being watched... and closely! He knew without having to think about it that he was in danger... for the first time in years he felt a trickle of fear. He shook his head. "Fuckin' Metal Heads... animals." He muttered lowly, pushing the fear back and raising his gun again.

Before he could even begin to take aim, his shoulder was grabbed in a bruising grip and he was suddenly swung around. He didn't have time to fight back as the Morph Gun was ripped from his hands and tossed over the platform. Jak couldn't see an opponent, and blindly raised his arms to protect his face as he sensed a swing come his way. Seconds later, a sharp pain blossomed from just below his eye down past his jaw, and he felt warm blood begin to flow from the sudden wounds.

"The hell!" He exclaimed, backing away quickly and crouching down in his normal fighting position. He looked around wildly, unable to see anything, though he sensed that whatever had attacked him was still there, close-by.

Close-by indeed... Jak had barely a seconds notice before he was attacked again. His invisible attacker leapt upon his back and Jak's knees buckled as he tried to

pry the metal-head off him, gaining a few long gashes down his arms from the effort. Finally, he rolled forwards, jumping up as soon as he felt the weight on his back disappear. He stared around wildly, face pale from both fear and blood-loss. He didn't have enough eco in his body to go Dark or heal himself. Jak backed up a step, then took another, and another... until finally he was jogging backwards, still looking around wild-eyed. Upon hearing a soft-yet-dangerous sounding Metal Head warning cry just to the left of him, he whirled around and took off, nearly tripping over a small Metal Head Grunt. Jak barely noticed

that none of the Metal Heads even glanced his way as he bolted... he just ran, wanting only to get out alive. He didn't rest until he was standing back beside his zoomer. The Dark Eco Warrior ignored the blood that ran down his face, neck, and arms and grabbed for his communicator. He quickly dialed Torn's number and waited impatiently for his Commander to pick up.

Torn shot a warning look to Jinx as he reached for his communicator. "Don't speak..." He warned, "Technically, you're a civilian... you're not supposed to even be in here." He cut on the communicator. "What did you find out?"

Jak took a shaky breath and stuttered, "Torn, I... I dunno what it is... T-The Metal Heads, they're there all right... they... they ignored me... but... but there was... something. It just felt dangerous... I was attacked! I-I couldn't fight back! I don't know what it was, but it was... strong..."

Torn frowned and glanced at Jinx over his communicator. "Are you ok, Jak?" He questioned, concern in his voice.

"Y-Yeah... I've got a few cuts, but nothing too... nothing too serious. I... Torn, I couldn't fight back. I couldn't even see what was attacking me. It was cloaked too well." Jak paced back and forth in front of his zoomer.

"Alright Jak, thanks. Go home and get patched up. I've got to think on this." Torn cut the communicator off and set it on the desk.

Jinx stared at his friend, recognizing his 'thinking look'. He frowned and tapped the desk, gaining Torn's attention. "What's goin' on in 'at head, Torn?" He questioned curiously.

Torn glanced at Jinx. "I'm gonna head down to the Station... This is... most interesting. I'll talk to you later, Jinx."

~Owari