Sig made his way through the city, happy to be back in such a fine city, despite the news he was bringing to Ashelin. He stopped to watch the crowd mill around him. He wondered if they really ever knew how close they were to dying.
"That was a close one indeed," he muttered to himself.
Sig began to walk again when he thought he saw a familiar face out of the corner of his eye. He turned enough to see that it wasn't who he thought it was.
"I'm glad it wasn't him. I would have been very angry. Probably would've punched him in the face despite the fact he helped save the city," Sig quietly said.
He began to head towards the Freedom Headquarters again until he reached the doors. Sig slowly made his way inside and found Ashelin in the control room. She glanced to see who it was and smiled.
"Sig, it's good to see you again. What brings you to Haven City?" she wondered.
Sig sighed as he stepped closer to her. The smile on her face soon faded once she saw how serious he appeared to be.
"What's wrong?" she demanded.
"Ever since the incident with the Precursers, the people from Spargus had been keeping an eye on Kleiver and Veger in case they get into any trouble. We still have Kleiver in our sights but somehow, Veger has escaped his grasp," Sig told her.
Ashelin inwardly grimaced at the news. Veger was cunning bastard in her mind, no matter what his form was. She began to think of all the places she could have gone when Sig's voice broke her out of her reverie.
"We have no idea where he's gone or how. As far as we know, he doesn't have any contacts anywhere," Sig mentioned.
"We could say the same thing about Razer. He's in the city and we don't know why," Ashelin mused.
She placed a hand on her chin, barely noticing the slightly surprised look on the Wastelander's face. The curiousity began to build in his mind as well when a noise came from the door. The two looked to see Jak and Daxter step into the room.
"Sig, it's so good to see you again with such riff raff showing up in town," Daxter said.
"Ashelin just told me that Razer was in town so no surprise there," Sig told them.
"It's not just Razer. It's Veger as well. We just saw him and someone named Cargo helped him before they disappeared," Jak wondered.
Sig and Ashelin stared at each other in disbelief at the news.
"It can't be a coincidence that both of them are here in town!" Ashelin cried.
00000
The figure silently sitting above them paled at the mention of Veger. He knew he had to get out of there and get some planning into place. He slowly hung down by his legs before starting his way down the sheer wall, slowly moving along the wall.
He jumped onto the floor, the small group nearby not even noticing him. He headed towards the door when Jak noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head enough to see the extra body in the room.
"Ashelin, Sig, there's someone in the building!" he cried.
He pointed in the direction of the figure, who immediately panicked and began to flee from the room. Jak quickly followed him while Ashelin reached for a communicator.
"Attention all Guards, we have an intruder in the building! I repeat we have an intruder in the building!" Ashelin said.
Once she turned her attention back to Sig, she noticed that he had already left the room. She figured that he had gone after whoever was in the room.
00000
Cargo stepped into the building, the anger still simmering underneath the surface. Veger didn't want to say anything in order not to upset his friend any further. Cargo sat down to the table, not even glancing at the others. He crossed his arms as Rand walked up to him.
"It was for the best Cargo. We have to get prepared for the upcoming battle," Rand told him.
Cargo smirked once he heard that before glancing over at the others.
"So what are the plans?" wondered Veger.
Rand turned to the others as Razer stood up. Rand motioned for Razer to explain what was to happen.
"We're going to bring the dear Ashelin here and we are going to take over the city with her help. We have many ideas dealing with the young lady," Razer explained.
The group glanced at each other, grinning before turning back to Rand.
"The first problem will be getting her here. Every one of you knows she won't come willingly, even if we tell her the truth about her father. She'll hate us and him even more than what she does now," Rand told them.
"Then we do it the old way Rand. The way we used to do it back before Allana and Tharan were killed. Kidnap the person, leave a note behind and then bargain with the ones left behind. Only this time, it will take a lot more to get their friend back," Jinx piped up.
Moten began to nod his head, an indication that even he approved. Jinx was inwardly happy for Moten was not an easy elf to please, even at the last time he knew the elf.
"I never thought of that. You haven't forgotten the old days after all. We shall do that if everyone agrees," Rand said. "Anyone object to Jinx's plan?"
He glanced around at the table, getting nods from everyone. When he stare came to Cargo, the elf had a hand up to his chin, pondering the situation. The other six waited several long moments before Cargo finally nodded his head.
"Let's go ahead with the plan. If the two brothers are still alive after your last excursion, they might come out of hiding when they hear of either our return or her capture," Cargo said.
Rand gave a smile and a nod of the head. He reached for a piece of paper and something to write with before beginning to speak again.
"The sooner we start with how to get inside, the sooner things get underway," Rand said.
00000
Jak ran after the figure, keeping whoever it was in his sights despite all the moving around. At one point, the figure began to climb up the sheer wall. Jak's jaw began to drop in disbelief.
'Whoever it is, is a monkey,' Jak thought to himself.
He followed the figure outside as the Guards began to gather around the building and fire upon the running elf. Jak continued to run after him, despite all the bullets that were being fired.
"Get out of the way or else you're going to get shot!" one of the Guards yelled.
"I'll get him!" Jak yelled back.
Jak followed the figure down the alleyway, pulling out his blaster along the way. In the back of his mind, the elf's movements seemed familiar. Jak soon pushed away that feeling in order to bring the intruder down. Jak looked further down the alley and saw that it was a dead end.
'I've got him now!' Jak thought to himself.
But when the figure kept going, climbing up the wall instead of stopping, Jak was amazed. He aimed his gun and fired at the wall just above the figure. The elf was surprised and fell to the ground. He turned around to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
"You'd better have a good reason for being in the Freedom HQ or else I'm going to shoot and ask questions later," Jak told him.
"It's not me you have to worry about Jak," came a strangely familiar voice.
Jak's eyes widened and the gun was lowered slightly. Jak found he was able to see underneath the hood to have his suspicions confirmed.
"Torn," he barely said.
"I was there because I heard a rumour about Razer being in town. I wanted to see how much you knew. With Veger being back in town as well, they're going to be the bigger threat than what you will ever realize," Torn told him.
Jak dropped the gun entirely and began to step back, in total disbelief at the fact that Torn was still alive and indeed standing before him.
"Listen Jak, find Keira. She needs your help right now. Plus warn Ashelin about Razer and Veger! I have a feeling they're going to come after her," Torn explained.
Jak watched as Torn turned around and began to climb up the wall and disappeared once he reached the top. It took several long moments before everything Torn said sunk in and he began to run out of the alley in the search for Keira.
TBC…