Chapter 1~The meeting
Torn waited patiently for Jak to finally come through those doors. This was stupid, he thought, I asked him to come ASAP, that he needed him to come talk to him first before going anywhere else. He needed to meet someone. She could help Jak in his attempts to kill Baron Praxis. She was in the Krimson Guard, but she was on his side, going against the Baron by telling Torn every order he gave her. Riley was a good solider. She followed orders to the t and never disobeyed, until now. Every order is of top priority in the Guard and is not to be shared, but Torn and Riley have been 'friends' ever since he started in the guard and got out. He's asked her so many times to get out, for her safety, but she's refused. "You just haven't gotten it have you, Torn." he remembers from the last time he asked her to quit. "I'm only staying to protect the city. Praxis is an idiot, I know, but if he's going to bribe the metal heads with eco to attack the city, then I have to help protect it. It won't hold out for much longer. As you know, the Baron is running cold on eco and, I can say from experience that the metal heads have no patients whatsoever. Trust me when I say that, no matter how much you hate the guard, for right now, we have most of his problems under control. And most of all, I'm keeping you and the Underground out of trouble, and that's pretty much wearing my trust with the Baron thin, seen as I'm one of his best commanders next to Erol." "That's good, but you don't have to risk your trust with him for me. I can stay out of trouble and so can my men. But still, you can loose your life just to play Praxis' stupid war game, and I don't like that! You're one of my best people and I can't loose you to his stupid war, I hate it!" Torn felt like he had an obligation to protect her. Ever since he met her he felt that way, and sometimes that feeling was misinterpreted in the wrong moments. Feelings can get in the way and that's why he usually pushes them out of his mind and personality. But if if something happened to someone close to him, his feelings steps back in and that happens a lot. And that feeling is very annoying nowadays. It keeps on hitting him in the head each time he sees her and it was getting on his nerves.
Jak finally walked through the doors, of course with the rat, Daxter on his shoulder. "Where the hell have you two been? I told you to come immediately half an hour ago." said Torn, angrily. "We had an errand to run for Krew and he's very, oh, picky, you could say, on time. Why were you in a rush to get us here anyway?" "I've got someone else for you to meet and they can't specifically meet in public. They're one of my best informants and they'd like to get acquainted with you, to know who's new in the movement. They're very active in the movement and need no publicity, so DON'T screw this up. " What's their name and where are we meeting them?" "Riley. At the pumping station. She'll be there." Jak gave Torn one of those "What?" looks, but Torn just said, "Just go, asshole." Torn rolled his eyes as they walked out the door.
Jak got to the pumping station and looked around. Almost always there were metal heads walking around, but today, there weren't, but there was a woman there; medium height, small build, dirty blonde hair, blue eyes. It looked like she was wearing a Krimson Guard uniform close to what Erol wore. Jak pulled out his gun. She looked up when she heard him pull it out. "Hey, hey there I'm not here to ambush you. Why don't you put the gun down and we'll talk?" he put his weapon away. "You Jak?" "Yeah. You Riley?" she nodded. "Hey baby. You know, I love a woman in uniform! Wanna bark me some orders? Woof Woof!. I'm your solider on the front lines of looooove!" said an orange ottsel. "Aw, how sweet I've got a short rat who has a crush on me. Isn't that sweet?" she looked at Jak and bent down, fast, right up to Daxter's face, scaring him off his feet. "Rule number 1: I don't date or even like rats. So back off." She stood up and looked at Jak and smirked. "Look, sorry I asked Torn to have you guys meet me here." she turned and started walking back to the wall she was leaning on before they got there. "As you can probably tell, I'm in the Guard, one of the highest commanders next to Erol actually, and I'm not on the Baron's side." "Then why are you still in the Guard?" said the rat. "Well, I met Torn in the guard, we joined at the same time, and he hated it with a fiery passion. Once he figured out what he was going to go when he quit, which was soon, he told me and I promised him I'd help him in any way I could, and when I heard of the Underground, I just knew it was him behind it. I secretly contacted him, subsequently, and ever since then, I've been telling him just about everything that is told to me in the Guard. Every order, every move, every new gun issued, I tell him, all of it. I stay because it's helping him in his fight against the Baron and it helps. And most of all, I've been keeping the Underground out of any trouble I can. And I can tell that my trust with Baron Praxis is being worn thin if you ask me." she finally concluded. "Why did you want to meet us and here of all places?" Jak asked. "I wanted to meet Torn's new muscle, see what you guys were like. As you've probably heard, I'm quite, hmm, how should I put it? I'm,uh, active, you could say, in the Underground, but not known, and I'd like to keep it that way. Like I said before I'm one of the highest ranked commanders in the Guard next to Erol, and I'm widely known, too. You guys are associated with the underground. If anyone saw me meeting with you guys, I'd be arrested for treason and acting against the Baron, and I wouldn't want that to happen." "Right. Well, nice meeting you, but we have things to do, places to blow up, people to kill. I guess we'll see you around then." he turned and started walking away.
She smiled as she said, "Well I see that Torn and others have your hands tied, but, sorry to say I have to tie them tighter." he stopped walking and turned to look at me. I was still smiling. "There's another shipment, small as it is, of eco coming into the city, through the bazaar. It's for the metal heads. If it comes in, and the baron gets to it in time to get it to them, it could just cost us our lives. The leader told the Baron that if another shipment of eco comes to him with only a small amount of what he'd asked for in the first place, he'd attack earlier than the Baron wanted. Find it before it gets to the city and take it out. It should be coming from somewhere in the strip mine." She took out a city pass. "Take this. It's a pass to that part of the Bazaar if you need it." and threw it to him. "Thanks for the offer, but Ashline already gave us a Bazaar pass. But we'll do it." he said, threw the pass back and started walking away, leaving the pumping station.
Chapter 2~Surprise!
On her off time, Riley either went home, and slept, or went to the hideout to talk with Torn. But today, she decided to go back to the barracks, where her regiment is most likely getting ready for their time off. They'd been patrolling since 3 A.M. this morning and most of her men were exhausted. When she got there, and finally got to her regiment, they were all standing up straight, hands at their sides. "At ease boys." she said coolly. "We're off duty. No need to be uptight." They all relaxed and went back to whatever they were doing. "See ya, commander!" said one. "Yeah see you later!" said another, leaving. She sat down, put her feet up and addressed the rest of her regiment. "So, boys, whats the new news?" "None really, commander. Erol says he's close to getting the Baron to let him and his men to attack the nest." "The nest?" Riley said, cutting him off, "The nest? WHY? Everyone knows that's a suicide mission! Why is he pushing so hard? If he pushes the Baron to saying yes, then the Baron will give it to either him or us and you guys all know we don't want that." Everyone was listening now and murmured their "yea"'s and "mhmm"'s. "I'll talk to Erol. Maybe I can talk him out of pushing so hard and we won't all end up dying. If he's so gun-ho about it I might not be able to." Damn she thought, Erol might not budge and if he doesn't he'll be sent on a suicide mission and as much as I hate him, a good commander would die. I can't let that happen to him or his men. And if the Baron gives it to us, we'll all die. And we don't wanna die.
Riley left the locker room in search of Erol in hope that she'd catch him after a briefing on some raid hinted by yet another faulty source, again. She'd been on two of those this week and there were more and more as the days went by. Luckily, she did find him coming out of the briefing room. "Erol!" she semi-shouted down the hall and picked up the pace. She could tell that his patients were running out like always, because he had his arm folded across his chest tapping one of his feet. "Yes? What do you want?" he asked once she got to him. "Well, someone's impatient today." "Well I haven't got all day." he said. "OK, I wanted to talk to you about something." she said. "Oh? What is it?" "Why are you pushing Praxis so hard to attack the nest? Are you crazy? Everyone who's anyone in the KG knows that a frontal assault on the Metal Head nest is suicide! Who are you thinking of? The City, the Baron, or yourself and your men? They have families too you know! Going into that nest will kill you all! Why, Erol? Why?" she asked. "Because, it will end this war once and for all. If we attack now, there will be no one to give our eco to and then we'll be able to live happy lives again." he wasn't understanding what Riley was trying to say. "You just don't get it do you? Erol, it's not just kill the farmer and the Yakcows disperse. No, it's kill the Farmer and the Yakcows turn on you. You and I both know that the shields won't hold out forever and when they fall the metal heads will attack out of anger over the attempted death of their leader and kill everyone in sight. Erol, just seriously reconsider pushing Praxis. You know how this will end if you don't." "Fine." he said after a few moments of silence. "I will reconsider. But don't expect me to say yes and stop pushing." he said and walked away without another word.
Chapter 3~Pretending
After her conversation with Erol, Riley went straight to the hideout to tell Torn. He just HAD to hear this. As she was walking in, Jak was just walking out. Daxter waved to her and blew her a kiss. She scowled back at him and went down the stairs and through the doors. "You have got to hear this one." she said as she walked in. Torn looked up. "Remember how Jak told you about the Baron talking to the metal head leader on a communicator?" "Yeah, what about it?" asked Torn. "Okay, well I don't know if he told you this, but after that conversation, Erol said to the Baron to let him and his men attack the nest and the Baron said no, I was there, too and well, I wasn't paying any attention then, but Erol keeps on pushing to get the Baron to let him attack and he's getting closer according to what my men have been hearing and seen. You and I both know that a trip into the nest is a suicide mission. I talked to Erol about it today, to get him to stop pushing for it, because we all know that if the Baron says yes, he could either give it to Erol on the spot or decide to give it to me and we both don't want that." He gave me a confused look. "But why did I just HAVE to hear that?" he said. "Because this could mean war. But when I say war I mean walls falling, the security shield failing, full hand on metal head hand, I guess you could say, on combat. Attacking the nest is just an invite for the metal heads to bash in our shield and attack innocent lives. You need to know this because.....you...just...do! Something more to tell the Shadow in your fight against the Baron." He was smirking at this point. "What?" she said, smiling too. "Why are you smirking?" he started to laugh quietly. "Nothin'. You're just...funny. That's all." he said. "I'm funny?" "Yeah, you are. Just the way you talk." she looked at him anticipating that he had more to say. But he didn't say anything. "OK?" she said, looking down.
All of a sudden, Riley's emergency beeper went off. "Ugh, what now?" she looked at it. "Oh, no, no no no no." she sighed. "What? What is it?" said Torn. She started walking out, quickly. "Its Jak. He set off an alarm. I-I gotta go." she said and left. She raced towards the Bazaar in hope that she'd find him before they did. Fortunately, she did. She switched hover zones and sped right up to him. "Get on." she said, angrily. They sped off, without any encounters from and KG's so, just to be sure she threw them off track reporting to have seen them over by the Hip-Hog Heaven Saloon in sector 3. She sped towards the slums, and stopped in the dead-end ally that led to the hideout. "What the hell did you two do?" she asked once both of them were off her zoomer. "Nothing! We just destroyed the eco before it got to the bazaar. Lucky for us there were guards waiting at the city entrance and saw us destroy it. So they set off the alarm and raced after us. No big deal." he said like he just stepped on a bug. "No big deal? No big...its a fricken big deal! I had to go over there and save your butts. You're lucky I didn't just report that I had you in my custody and was taking you in handcuffs. You're also lucky that I threw them off track saying you were going to Krew. That IS a big deal."she said. "If you haven't noticed this is my off time and they apparently needed all hands on deck to capture a fugitive armed with 'devastating dark eco powers' and can take out 15 men in one blow. And you say its not a big deal. Have you heard those cyber-announcements the baron gives? He says you're a monster walking around in the form of a man. Okay? Remember fugitive? You're the one who escaped from the Baron's clutches when he was pumping you with dark eco. You're armed and dangerous according to our "glorious" Baron Praxis. When you set off an alarm, it's a mad mad rush to see who will arrest the dangerous 'eco freak' and have him brought to the baron for execution. You two are lucky you have me." she finally finished. "OK. Are you done now?" he asked, exasperated. "Yes," she sighed, "I am."
Chapter 4~Phascination Stage
The two of them walked down the stairs with, Daxter in tow, where Jak got yet another lecture from Torn, saying he can't loose his best man. Riley tried to stop him at every breath he took, but it was no use. He, too, had to get his anger out of his system. Jak rolled his eyes when Torn was done speaking. Keira came on Jak's communicator and told him that the second class races were starting soon and that he needed to be at the stadium right away so he left to go race. Riley stayed. Torn, in Riley's mind, graciously, let her sleep on one of his bunks, knowing he might need her for something, while he looked at maps and other things for his next mission for Jak. While she slept, Torn occasionally looked at her. This is when his feelings kicked in. As he looked at her he just smiled, thinking, For once, she actually looks peaceful, I mean not stressed and not paranoid like always. It makes her look, sorta beautiful. Ugh. I can't. I wouldn't. I really should ignore the fact that I'm falling in love with her. It would all turn out the wrong way.
On patrol the next day, for some weird reason, all Riley could think about was the way Torn looked at her when she woke up yesterday. It was like he was...admiring her or something like that. She didn't think he realized how he was looking at her until she gave him a look and he looked away. She started to blush and said she had to go and left. Now, he's all she can think about and it's starting to get on her nerves. She felt like she was falling in love. I've known him for years, she thought, but wouldn't it be awkward? It might not turn out so great. I don't know. I think I should wait and see if he gives me any clues as to what he's thinking. That might help. She concluded. "You OK Commander?" asked one of her men in the regiment. "What? Me? Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" she said, smiling. "Oh. Nothing you looked spaced out, that's all." he said. "Oh. OK well I'm fine really. We should get back to our patrol, though." she answered. And they commenced their patrolling. By the time they were done, despite her best efforts, she still couldn't get his face out of her head. And he's asked her to come today, because he needed her to I.D. something for him. She already had knots in her stomach.
Chapter 5~Feelings Intensify
When she got to the hideout, Torn was already looking at maps and blueprints. He looked up and said, "Good you're here. I need you to" "I.D. something for you." she cut him off. "Yeah I know." She went up to the table and stood next to him looking at the map. He pointed to the fortress. "What's there?" she looked at him. "Um, the fortress. The same fortress you sent Jak to torch." he looked back at her. "I know that." he said annoyed. "But what else is in there?" "Nothin'. Nothin' but switches and stored eco to be sent to the metal heads and some parts for the new hellcats. That's all. Why?" "That eco could be use wisely and not be wasted to the metal heads. And those parts...if they're stolen they could be used to our advantage. Those hellcats have taken out five of my men in just this week alone." he said, looking devious. Riley laughed. "Look, Torn, the hellcats have already been made. Those are just extras just in case something goes wrong with the existing ones. You're hilarious, looking devious like a child planning to steal a man's chair right out from under him." she laughed again. "Well it's another mission for Jak." he said. "What, torch that ammo too? Torn, you can't be serious another ammo torch? What is this kid doing this for? Cause' you and I both know that you don't pay your men." she asked. "He's doing it to meet the Shadow. He wants information out of him and he'll get it when he's impressed with Jak, and he's gettin' pretty high up there on the Shadow's impressed with list. He wants to meet Jak, soon, but there's one more thing he needs him to do and that's takeout some metal heads in dead town. Not a big deal for Jak." They both looked back at the map. Riley put her hand on the table. Torn, not realizing she put hers on the table, put his hands on the table and his left hand on Riley's. They both looked down. "Oh." said Torn, "Sorry." He took his hand off. "That's OK." said Riley, smiling and blushing, looking down. "I should go." said Riley quickly. She rushed out before Torn could stop her.
Days passed fairly quickly to Riley, with nothing but patrolling for hours day after day. And the guard were bewildered as to how Jak could set off the alarm and get away with it. He and the rest of us found out that the Shadow, somehow, had an older twin, creepy as it is, and a daughter, too. They were also closer and closer to finding the location of the hideout. And one more thing to keep them awake at night was that the baron has hold of the legendary 'Precursor Stone'. Bad. Now that Jak had definitely impressed the shadow, he was there a lot. And to make it worse, the guard was programming the location of the hideout into blast-bots. Very bad. She had to tell Torn, but she wouldn't have time. She was just ending patrol when they set the Blast-bots loose. She jumped onto a KG zoomer and raced towards the hideout to warn Torn. She got there and ran down the stairs. But when she got there, the two shadow's and Jak were already talking about it. They had just finished the conversation when they all realized Riley was there. "How-how did you guys know?" "About the blast-bots? Scanners." said Torn. Riley jumped when she heard his voice. She hadn't seen him when she rushed down the stairs. "And Jak's taking care of it?" she asked them. "Yeah." answered Torn. "That's why you're here, right?" he said, smiling. "Yeah. That's it." "Well, we pretty much got it handled." said the younger shadow. "Oh. Okay. Well then. I guess I'll just go then." she went back up the stairs. Torn followed. "Wait up." he said and she stopped and turned around. "Yeah? What's up?" "Look, I wanted to tell you something. I, uh," but before he could finish, Riley's communicator started to go off, and then a man's voice said, "Commander, we've got a problem. The fugitive and his rat have destroyed one of the blast-bots. We need you to help us escort the other two, Baron's orders. Sorry to rip you off your down time." and then nothing. "Sorry, I gotta go." She went to turn, but Torn stopped her. "Wait." he took a deep breath. "Look be careful, okay?" "Yeah, of course. Why...wouldn't I be?" "Nothin' it's just, I feel like I have to protect you sometimes you know? And its not just at crazy moments its all the time and-" Riley put her finger on his lips. "I know. You don't have to tell me. I can tell, just by the way you act around me, and you know what? It's fine." she took her fingers off his lips and kissed him. There was a moment that lasted a lifetime to Riley. Then she got on her zoomer and smiled at Torn before speeding away.
Chapter 6~Being Careful
Unfortunate for Riley, by the time she got to the last known place of the last blast-bot it was already blown up and pieces were all over the place. Jak had came and went like a hurricane and left the destruction to prove it. She switched hover zones to see if everyone was OK. There were a few people with minor burns, but that was all. Nothing serious. One of the guards from another regiment came up to Riley. "Sorry to waste your time, Commander. We thought by escorting the bots we could protect them, but it was no use. The fugitive got through and destroyed the remaining two. Sorry to let you down ma'am." he said. "No, no. it's fine. There was nothing you can do. He's a dark eco animal. And it isn't safe for him to be on the streets around innocent people. We must get him off the streets. Search for him. If and when you find him, make sure I'm the first to know,got it, lieutenant?" "Yes ma'am!" he said and walked away. She knew Jak wouldn't be found. It was just a gimme. They knew it too. I just hope he isn't careless this one time and get's caught. She thought, that would be bad, because, somehow I would have to get him out and that wouldn't be a great situation to be in.
Lucky for her, Jak wasn't careless and got back to the hideout alright. Riley, totally exhausted, went home to sleep. She definitely needed it, for one thing. The baron has been putting her and her regiment on the graveyard shift of patrolling for a few days now and it was really tiring. She never realized how much her mental clock could get messed up by doing this. Most of the time, after patrolling, she'd go to the hideout and just talk to Torn who never sleeps. Days go by like minutes in Riley's mind and her and Torn have spent more time than ever together, and ever since she kissed him, it was becoming more and more apparent that their emotional relationship was getting stronger, not that either of them minded. Torn really liked Riley, but didn't know how to tell her, but it was so easy to just be himself around her and vice versa, that he just knew she had to know. She'd kissed him twice already and he was starting to really fall in love with her and she with him. It was like a match made in heaven for Riley. But, Jak and the others just couldn't know. Riley knew that if her and Torn went public to the others, somehow it'd slip out somehow and the whole guard would know that she was dating the second commander-in-chief of the underground and that wouldn't be good for her reputation. But there was one more thing about not telling someone; her cousin, Ashlin, the Baron's daughter, who met Torn the same way, in the guard. The only reason Riley joined the guard was because of her crazy uncle. She knew Ashlin had feelings for Torn and it would be awkward telling her cousin who had a major crush on Riley's boyfriend. Boyfriend, thought Riley, huh. Sounds odd to say it because I'd been saying 'close friend' for a few years. Although, Ashlin could be a real player. She'd been like that since her first boyfriend. Riley could tell that she not only had feelings for Torn, but for Jak, too. Crazy as it is, at the present time, she only shows affection towards Jak, but soon, her feelings for Torn could come out. Riley had to be careful...she laughed at that.
Chapter 7~The Worst Day Ever
After patrol a few days later, Riley went to the barracks to talk to her men. Her regiment was like family to her. She'd been with the same men since she became a commander and they all seemed to like her. She always loved talking about to them. There were 10 men in her regiment and only about three of them were bachelors. One of them just had the cutest baby girl ever. Anyway. They're all super hilarious around Riley and know how much they can push her buttons. "So, boys, whats the new news around here? I never hear anything anymore." "You're never around anymore. That's why you never hear anything, commander." she laughed. "True. I guess that's reason. But what's been going on?" "Well, today's my birthday." said Vinny. "Well, happy birthday Vinny." she answered. "What else?" "Well, Erol got the baron to say yes to attacking the nest. But, since the championship races are in two days, everyone's wondering who the baron's goin' to give the job to. Its pretty nerve-wracking. Everyone knows its a suicide mission. So no one wants to go, but they can't disobey orders." Riley stared in disbelief. Erol finally got what he wanted. He push hard enough. She had the strange feeling that her regiment would get it. "Well I definitely didn't expect him to say yes. This is stupid. I have to talk to Erol. I'll see you guys later." she said, and left.
But as she was walking out of the barracks, a guard stopped her. "The Baron wishes to see you immediately." he said, and walked away. "OK. Thank you for telling me that." she said after him. She walked to where the Baron always has his meetings with us. Before she went through the two huge red doors she took a deep breath she hoped that he was going to tell her that he had decided not have her and her regiment attack the metal head nest, but she had her feelings against that too. "Commander," said he Baron, facing the window, as Riley walked in. "as you know, the Championship races are in two days time." he turned to face her. "As you also know, Erol will be racing in that race. And he. Will. Win. So, as you probably know, he has been giving me the up-sides of attacking the metal head nest." Oh no. she thought. Here it comes. "On the day of the races, you and your regiment will attack it. Frontal assault." she interrupted him, "With all do respect Baron, I must protest! Sending us in will be a death sentence! Don't you care about what happens to me and my me-" he cut her off. "I am fully aware of the downsides!" he yelled. "If you die, it will be a honorable death for your Haven City. End of discussion! You will attack the metal head nest the day after tomorrow! Dismissed!" he yelled and walked away. Riley stood at attention for what seemed like ages. She felt like she was going to cry and probably looked like it too. She hoped all her men were still at their lockers. She left the room with, what she thought was, a disappointed face on. Once she got to the locker room door, she took a deep breath and walked in. For once, everyone was still there. When she got to them, they all seemed to be in a good mood, but once they saw her face, they all stopped laughing at the joke that was probably made by Vin, the 'team clown' they called him. He, of everyone, was still smiling, "Hey commander, why the long face? It's my birthday remember? We're all going out for drinks, and you definitely can't go out with a face like that." he said and laughed, but no one else laughed for once. "Vin, I almost forgot to tell you happy birthday, but my present to all of you is bad news. We got the job of attacking the nest, and not Erol, since he is racing in the championship race the day after tomorrow, he can't go on the mission. And there's nothing I can do to change it." she swallowed. "We attack the day after tomorrow. We all know this is a suicide mission. I'm very unhappy to say that you should all spend as much time with your families today and tomorrow. And when they ask the question, will you die, say yes. We will die as heroes. For our city. For the hope that the future for our children will be bright and metal head free." she concluded. Everyone's head hung low after that. Today was the worst day ever.
Chapter 8~Saying 'Goodbye'
Riley slowly made her way back to the hideout to tell the others the bad news. On one side she was really upset that she was the one to be given this mission on the other side she was angry. Angry at her crazy uncle and angry at Erol for bringing up the subject. She got to the hideout and slowly made her way down the stairs. Only Torn was down there when she got there. He looked up when the doors opened. When he saw her face he looked worried and said, "Riley? What's wrong? Are you OK?" she looked at him. "I'm fine, but I won't be in a few days. The Baron..." she sighed, "the baron is sending me and my regiment into the nest the day after tomorrow. Frontal assault. No way to change his mind. It's already made up, by Erol." She let the tears she had been holding back the whole time roll down her face. She leaned onto Torn's shoulder and he put his arms around her. He kissed her head. "I can't believe the Baron is sending you in there. I know he's stupid, but not this stupid. He knows you're all gonna die. Why send you in anyway?" Riley couldn't answer. If she opened her mouth, she knew she'd go into hysterics and she didn't want that to happen. They stood like that for what seemed like an eternity before she pulled herself off his shoulder and stood up straight. She wiped the tears off her face and sniffed. She looked him in the eyes and said, "I love you, I just hope you know that." and she kissed him full on the lips. When they broke away, he said, "Yeah I know that. And I've known that. And I want you to know I love you, too, but I'm not going to say goodbye just yet. I'm not ready to." "Neither am I." she answered and kissed him again.
The next day, Riley stayed in the hideout basically the whole day. Jak, the two shadows and Kor came and went. Riley told them all what was going to happen. They were all pretty surprised and upset that the baron would be so stupid as to do that. She and Torn spent the whole day talking, just about things in life they never talked about. Like their childhoods and fond memories when both of them were in the guard. At last, the time came for Riley to go. Even though the whole regiment knew what to do, they were being briefed anyway on their mission. And since tomorrow was the mission, they were to stay there the whole night, just so no one got cold feet and fled. Torn walked Riley up the stairs. They got to the top step and walked towards her zoomer. Torn stopped a few feet away from it. He turn towards her and locked eyes with her. She took both his hands and intertwined fingers with his. She kissed him, hard. When they broke away she wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder. "I don't want to say goodbye. I don't wanna. I hate that I was picked for this mission. I don't get why Erol had to have the Baron say yes." she sighed. "I love you so much." she took her head off his shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. "Never forget me. Never forget us." she put her hand on his cheek. He put his hand over hers and closed his eyes. He opened them and said, "I don't wanna say goodbye either. This really does suck, but I promise, I will never forget you, us." He kissed her back. This time lasting for a long time. When the broke away he said, "I love you, too." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an amulet. "Here. Take this necklace. Its an old precursor amulet that belonged to my father. It's shaped like the amulet that kid wears all the time. Only this one protects life." she took it and put it around her neck. She gave him a huge hug and then one last kiss. They broke away and she started to walk away. Torn let her hands slide out of his. As she got onto her zoomer, he said to her, "Be safe." She gave him one last longing, hard look then sped off to her doom.
Chapter 9~Surprise Visit
A month later...
Everyone was at the Naughty Ottsel, formerly the Hip-Hog Heaven Saloon. Jak, Daxter, Keira, the older Samos, Tess, Torn with Ashlin, even Onin and pecker were there, and a surprise visit from Sig, whom they all thought were dead. "Welcome to the Naught Ottsel! Where there's more women, more drinking more everything then the formerly known Hip-Hog heaven Saloon! I think everyone's here now. A toast! To Jak for saving our asses." said Daxter. Everyone drank. "I think you're missing someone." said a voice from the door. Everyone looked at the door. It was Riley. Although she definitely looked different. She had burns on half of her face. Torn and Ashlin both gasped at the same time. "Riley?" said Keira. "Riley!" said Torn. "Riley? We thought you were dead!" said Jak. "I know. I told the guards who found me not to tell anyone I was the only one alive." "What?" said just about everyone. "But why?" said Samos. "Well its a really long story." she said. "We're all good listeners you know." said Daxter. "Fine." she sighed with a straight face. She went and sat down on the bar. "Well, we were briefed and then the next day we were dropped off at the entrance to the outskirts of the nest. Strangely, as we made our way into the nest, we encountered no metal heads at all. But, we kept going, though I knew that was a bad sign. We got to the center of the nest, expecting a huge ambush was what I thought would've happened, but there was nothing. Nothing but the few barrels of eco we could give them stashed in a corner." she gulped. "And when we turned to leave, that's when the ambush started, and the leader was right there along side of his minions." she laughed at that, and the was very solemn. "There were just too many of them for us to fight off. My men" her breathing was unsteady now. "My men were unable to fend them off. There were just too many of them. We were pushed into the corner where the eco was. And somehow, one of them were shot, I think, and once one goes off, so do the others. The whole wall erupted into flames. I wasn't as close to the barrels as they were, but I got a lot of the burns." She started to cry. "If not all, most died instantly, but the few who didn't..." she stopped to breath. "The few who didn't were screaming in agony. It was so painful to hear. It still rings in my ears to this day, and.....it never stops. I just hope I never have to hear that again. And then like that, the metal heads....they just disappeared. It was so strange. I don't remember it, but I got out, onto the streets where two guards found me. That I remember, I remember telling them not to tell anyone I was still alive. I remember thinking that I didn't want any publicity at all. No questions, none of that. Three broken ribs, a fractured arm, stab and bite wounds everywhere, not to mention the burns covering 60% of my body, including half of my face. I just got out of the hospital today." she was shaking with fear still. Visions of that day raced through her mind, making her cry even more. She got up. Everyone staring at her like she was the most amazing thing in the world was not helping. She felt like she couldn't breath. "This isn't helping. I should go. I need air any way." and left before anyone could stop her.
Torn followed her out to try to talk her into coming back inside, instead of leaving. He found her between two pillars a few feet away from the Naughty Ottsel door. "Hey, you alright?" he said to her. "Sure. I'm still shaking and I feel like it was my fault. Yeah, I'm fine." she said, annoyed. He went to put his arms around her, but she pushed him away. "What's wrong?" he said. "What's wrong? What's wrong? Don't you remember? 'Never forget me'? And you answered, 'I'll never forget you, I promise'? Don't you remember?" "Yeah of course I remember. Why wouldn't I remember?" she gave him one of those 'oh, common' looks. "Well, lets see. Um, oh yeah! I walk into the Naughty Ottsel and guess what I see? Torn and Ashlin: together! Apparently, when you got together with her, you conveniently forgot all about me! It's only been one month, Torn! One damn month! So what's your story? Huh? You think the only reason I said I wanted to leave was because I wanted air? No! I was upset that you broke your own promise! And I don't like it!" she started to cry. She looked away. She didn't want to talk to him anymore, but she knew he had something to say. "Hey, look at me, please?" he said putting his hand under her chin, pulling her head up. "Look, I didn't mean for this to happen. Everything was going at top speed and it was like I couldn't stop the car from crashing. Ashlin and I, it just happened. And that's not an excuse. I still love you so much, but I can't just leave Ashlin because you're not really not dead. I'm telling you the truth! I swear. And I know it looks bad, but it is." he put both his hands on her cheeks and kissed her. Still crying, she kissed him back. When they broke away, she put her head on his shoulder like she used to and he wrapped his arms around her, just like he used to. "I missed you so much, you don't even know. And Ashlin, I don't know how that happened. It just did, and I'm so sorry for that." He said. She picked her head up and looked at him. "I really do believe you. I was just mad at myself for not really thinking when those guards found me. But, I just wanted to be left alone and not asked questions about that day a million times. And I'm sorry I got mad at you." "It's really okay. Look, come back inside. The party only just started. Come on! Have some fun!" she laughed "Ha. I don't see you having fun." she said as they walked towards the door. They both laughed.
Chapter 10~I'm Really Saying 'Goodbye' This Time
Riley and Torn went back inside, with stares from Ashlin, of course. Riley resumed her spot on the bar, and said, "So, how many people have died in you sake, Jak? What, four right?" he looked at her. "I thought you just said you were treated secretly and got out today. How do you know all that?" She rolled her eyes, "Jak, if you haven't realized already, I live in Haven City, too. Although I was treated secretly, I did have visitors, the two guards who helped me. They gave me news everyday of our crumbling situation. They also told me Vin died. I'm sorry for that." Jak looked at her, "Yeah. Vin was a good guy." "But people like Vin sacrificed their lives for the sake of us, the underground." said Samos. "Well, although the battle has just begun, Haven's better off without people like Krew, the Baron and Erol. But that's why I'm leaving." "Leaving?" said Torn, "Why? Where else is there to go?" she smiled. "Oh, I don't know, Kras city, maybe. Haven brings back too many bad memories. Now that the shields are down, it's only a matter of time before the metal heads will attack again, and if I see another metal head, I might have a totally psychotic breakdown. Not good for my mental state at this moment." "Oh." said Daxter. "Well then I wouldn't think about looking up when you leave." She gave him a look. "And why is that, rat?" she looked above the door. Her eyes widened. She looked away quickly. She cleared her throat. "Oh. I, uh, didn't expect you'd keep a trophy. The head...very, uh, different choice for a trophy don't you think?" "It was all that was left." said Jak, smiling. "Well, I think I've had enough to drink. I think I'll go now." "Aw, Riley, don't be like that, baby." said Daxter in that 'in love' voice. "Stay a while there's more fun to come!" "No, I think I'll go. Really." she got up. "C'mon. At least stay for the fireworks. They should be starting just about now." said Ashlin with a smile. "Besides, I'm not ready to say goodbye to my cousin just yet." Riley put her head in her hand with her eyes closed. "No one...was really supposed to know that." "Wait-a-minute!" Daxter said all together in a high pitched voice. "You two, are cousins?!" Riley laughed. "Yeah. We are. My mom was the Baron's sister. She died having me, so I moved in with my only closest relatives; the Baron and his daughter Ashlin. That's really the reason I joined the guard." Daxter stared in disbelief. "Ashlin, baby, why didn't you tell me?!" She didn't answer. She only shook her head.
The firework show went on for about and hour. Once they were over, Riley got up to leave. She shook hands with everyone except Torn and Ashlin. She gave Ashlin a hug and said, "Keep in touch, 'kay, cuz?" Ashlin and Riley both smiled. "Alright." she answered. Then she went up to Torn. She gave him a hug too. "Seriously, don't forget me. I still love you so much, but I have to get out. I'm sorry this happened this way." she whispered to him. "Yeah. I'm sorry too." he answered. "And, I promise, I won't forget." he said as they broke away. They both smiled. As she walked away, she said, "Bye, everyone!" and walked away. They all watched her walk away until she rounded the corner.