Chapter 9: Coruscant
Deep in hyperspace on board of the Renegade, Jak, Keira, Daxter, and Tess were sound asleep in the seats behind the cockpit. Jak was moving around uncomfortably, as usual, while Keira was doing the same. They both were having nightmares. They both suddenly woke up from them, and then turned to each other.
"The nightmares are bothering you again aren't they?" Keira asked her husband.
"Yeah," Jak replied, "But…this one's different. This one was unlike any of the other ones I had."
"What did you see?" Keira wondered. Since she had nightmares too, she was even more curious to see if Jak saw the same thing.
Jak began his thorough description; "I saw my father, he was holding me when I was a baby. He was arguing with this woman who held another baby. I think Damas tried to get rid of her and the other child because he said it was 'good for the city,' or something like that. Anyway, the woman broke down crying, and she ran off with the other baby, leaving Damas and I alone in the palace. Funny," Jak began to drift off and ponder, "Once I figured out who my real father was, I always wondered who and where my real mother would be."
"Strange…"Keira began to ponder too, "I was having the same thing almost! I saw a woman who looked just like me, screaming and crying of agonizing pain. Then, I saw my father stand in front of some court. Some old guy was being the judge, and he charged him with breaking the Jedi Code twice! Anyway, the woman gave birth to a child, and then she died shortly thereafter. It was quite terrifying to say the least."
"This is nuts," Jak became uneasy. But the more he thought about it, the more he was starting to put things together. "Maybe," Jak began whimsically, "our mothers are the people we need to talk to when we meditate!"
"Yeah!" Keira exclaimed in agreement, "Maybe they hold the key to our destiny!"
"Your guess is as good as mine, honey." Jak concurred. Suddenly, Ratchet turned around in his seat and looked at the exhausted travellers slumping in their seats. That woke Tess up in a hurry as she jumped and squealed out of surprise. Keira was able to calm her down, while Jak was trying to nudge Daxter in the seat on his right to wake him up.
"Good morning passengers!" Ratchet announced with bravado. "Time to wake up! We're closing in on Coruscant fast, so drink your coffee and spice yourselves up, because the adventure is about to begin!"
Ratchet took the Renegade out of light speed, and in front of them was this dark planet with red and orange patterns on it. There was a little white crescent showing on the far side of the planet, and that was the area where Ratchet took the ship. The whole planet was surrounded by and Imperial blockade riddled with small Star Destroyers and TIE fighters.
"Coruscant," Clank began to formally introduce the planet to everyone, "capitol of our galaxy, Home of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order, before both were sacked by the uprisings of the Empire. It's safe to say that this planet has definitely had its better days before." As the Renegade drew closer and closer into the planet's orbit, Daxter slowly woke up. It was evident to everyone else on the ship that he was in a groggy, crabby mood.
Daxter began to whine, "Ugh! Why did I agree to go on this CRAZY ADVENTURE with you guys!? 'Use the Force, fling a wimp stick around, stop the Empire, save the universe!' I WANNA GO HOME!"
"Daxter!" Keira harshly barked at the ottsel, "In case you haven't noticed, we don't have a home anymore!"
"Believe me Dax," Jak chimed in speaking in a calmer tone, "None of us here like this situation any better than you do, but we might as well make the best of it. Besides, who else would be better to put the Empire in their place than us?"
"That's the spirit!" Ratchet yelped in encouragement.
"But I still don't get it!" Daxter continued, "Why does old green stuff have you go through all of this voodoo crap, when we can just take the Empire head-on just like we did with everyone else!"
"Because that's not the way this plan works." Jak answered. "This Empire is full of darkness, Dax. We'll need all the source of power we can get, you know that!"
"Sheesh, Jak," Daxter complained even more, "You've always had a way with words, especially when it comes to not giving me the complete answers to all the questions I ask! Why is that?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Jak asked him sternly. Daxter slumped in his seat with his arms folded and a pouty expression drawn on his face. Tess scurried over to the cockpit, and tapped Ratchet on the shoulder.
"Uh…Ratchet," Tess began to ask, "I couldn't help but notice the Imperial blockade orbiting the planet, and you bypassed them without asking us for landing permission, or them shooting us down. Why is that?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Ratchet started to answer the female ottsel, "I installed a cloaking device on both ships before we left. It makes this old girl invisible every time we come into orbit with a planet." He then finished mischievously "No one will ever know…"
"Wow!" Tess yelped in wonder, "Ingenious!"
"Indeed." Clank added in agreement. As the Renegade hit the atmosphere of Coruscant, Keira looked to the side, and her eyes beamed with wonder and her jaw dropped in amazement. She gasped as she looked down on the high concentration of population and diversity on the streets. She was mesmerized.
"This is amazing!" Keira shouted. "There's so much to do and so much to see here! This place looks a lot better than home on it's best day! Who wouldn't want to live here?"
"Don't be fooled, Keira," Clank interjected with caution, "The people of Coruscant were happy to live here once before, but not now unfortunately. Since the Republic was reorganized into the Galactic Empire here, this place has been plagued by nothing but totalitarianism and oppression from Imperial forces. It's that way for other planets across the galaxy, but since that this is the galaxy's capitol, the oppression is most abundant here."
Keira grew suspicious of Clank's knowledge of this planet. She said to the robot, "You seem to know a lot about this planet. Have you been here before?"
"What? No!" Clank exclaimed nervously, "I've conducted some extensive research on this planet right when we departed from Raxus Prime. It was quite tedious looking at the statistics, the footage, the demographics-"
"He knows all before anyone else does Keira," Ratchet interjected, "trust me."
"Yeah, I'll trust you boys to it then." Keira scoffed at them.
Tess suddenly spoke to everyone, "Is that the Jedi Temple?" This prompted Jak to pull out a drawing of the Temple that Samos gave him before they departed from Raxus prime. He walked up to the cockpit, and matched the picture with the obscure structure.
"I'm afraid it is," Jak coldly answered. He was right. The great Jedi Temple that they were searching for was right in front of them, and it appeared to be nearly destroyed. There were holes on the rooftops and fire was burning out of each hole. Four towers fell out of their place but only one remained standing; the great tower that stood at the center of the Jedi Temple. They noticed that there were tens and thousands of Imperial Storm Troopers marching around the perimeter of the temple, and the front door was sealed off by the one of the towers that fell.
"We're gonna have to land far away from here so that we don't get stormed immediately," Ratchet figured, "we'll have to make a quiet approach to sneak through the alleys, and then make the best attack we can. There are thousands of them, but we have no other choice."
"Let's storm in there and go like hell." Jak declared with confidence, "We can take it to 'em! We've done it before!"
They landed the renegade in a dark alley far from the Temple, and all exited quietly. Jak and Daxter were the last to depart from the ship.
"Dax, wait a moment," he spoke to the ottsel. He continued with his words of encouragement; "Look, I know this isn't the way we would normally do things but it's the only way we have to do it. This Empire is unlike anything that we've ever dealt with before. They're darker, more dangerous, and they're relentless. We need the Force on our side for this. If we keep doing the same thing all the time, we'll end up dead and the whole galaxy will end up lost, so we got to switch things up a bit. The enemies we face may change, but one thing will always remain the same; we'll always be kicking ass together. What do you say pal? Demolition Duo?"
Daxter thought for a few moments, and then came to reasoning. He turned to his best friend and told him, "Demolition Duo forever, pal!"
"All right!" Jak cheered as Daxter perched on top of Jak's left shoulder as usual. "Let's go kick some Imperial ass!" The three pairs of hero-sidekicks then marched to the Jedi Temple. They looked at the massive Imperial forces patrolling on the steps, and then they all looked up at the Temple in awe.
"It looks even bigger when you're on the ground!" Keira exclaimed.
"You there!" A storm trooper called out to them. "This is a restricted area. You must leave or face penalties for trespassing."
"I believe I'll take my chances," Jak sneered at him. He took his light saber and drew it through the storm trooper's chest. Keira drew her weapon and Ratchet took out his ion cannon. Jak turned to Daxter and asked him, "Now, are you ready to make some noise, Dax?"
"OH YEAH!" Daxter called out, "Lets beat some Imperial hiney!"
The six heroes charged at the Imperial army. Sheets of blasts and explosions from the storm troopers attempted to bombard them, but they were not fazed by any of the opposing attacks. Relentlessly, they pushed on. Ratchet led the charge by shooting down as many storm troopers as he could with his ion cannon, while Jak and Keira wielded their light sabers to block shots from heavy Imperial artillery, and they sliced, diced, and stabbed thousands of troopers. The battle was a long struggle that lasted for hours, but in the end, the six heroes made it to the top of the steps alive. One problem: the fallen tower was still blocking the entrance to the Temple.
"Oh great!" Ratchet exaggerated with agitation, "how are we gonna move this thing?"
"Ahem," Jak stepped up and cleared his throat, "Allow US to move it out of the way." He then turned to his wife and called to her, "Keira. Help me move this giant hunk of stone."
"Certainly, big guy!" Keira followed. She and Jak withdrew their weapons for the moment and closed their eyes and concentrated on the fallen apparatus. They put their hands out in front of them, trying to move the fallen tower out of the way. Moments later, it budged, and then it levitated off the ground. Daxter, Tess, Ratchet, and Clank gazed in amazement, watching in total disbelief that Jak and Keira could levitate the fallen structure off the ground by themselves.
"Look out!" Tess suddenly yelled. She was the first to see a bounty hunter with jetpack shoes flying towards them. Ratchet aimed his cannon at him, but missed, and hit the tower instead. The levitating tower exploded into shards of stone, and everyone ducked to dodge the debris. When they rose, they saw the bounty hunter stand in the doorway. He had blue skin, red eyes, and was dressed in a cowboy outfit, wearing a brown overcoat and a large hat. He had a breathing device surround his cheeks. He grinned at Jak and Keira.
"Well, well, well," the bounty hunter started in his distorted voice, "look what we have here, two Jedi for my taking."
"Now just who the heck are you?" Daxter cried in outburst.
"Don't you two dumb Jedi know who I am?" The bounty hunter asked. All six of them stood perplexed looking at each other. They obviously have never seen him before. Regardless, the bounty hunter introduced himself anyway, "I am Cad Bane, the most notorious Jedi bounty hunter in the galaxy! I knew someday that a few hopeless Jedi would be dumb enough to go back here and save their precious Jedi Temple. Both of your heads will be worth a lot of credits so…I'll be taking you both back to Jabba now."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Ratchet boisterously barged through and immediately opened fire at the bounty hunter. Cad Bane was able to dodge all of Ratchet's shots and bought himself enough time to draw his pistols. He shot at Jak and Keira repeatedly, but they drew their light sabers just in time for them to block his shots. Jak charged at him and swung towards his head, but missed. That allowed Bane to elbow him in the back of the neck, knocking him down temporarily. Keira tried to attack but was halted when Bane shot his flamethrower towards her. Jak saw this, and kicked Cad Bane in the back of the knee, knocking him down. Jak stood up, drawing his light saber towards his head, and ready to strike him down. But Bane grabbed his arm and delivered an electrical shock through his body, neutralizing him. Bane threw him to the ground, and proceeded to shoot at Keira and Ratchet.
Keira protected the lombax by blocking all of Cad Bane's shots. She blocked all except for one that grazed her shoulder, causing her to fall down. Ratchet took over and took a semi-automatic blaster. Shooting at the bounty hunter. He had minimal success. Jak all of the sudden saw his wife laid on the ground writhing in pain. He immediately rushed to her. Daxter followed.
"Are you all right?" Jak asked her, picking her up on her own feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Keira replied to him as she healed herself with green eco. She continued to him, "That bounty hunter is no joke."
"I'll show him 'no joke!'" Jak cried with anger. He suddenly transformed into a different figure. Everything from head to toe (including his clothes) had turned into a bright shade of blue, his eyes turned white, and he grew eight wings on his back. Jak transformed into his light eco form, and stared Cad Bane down. His enemy turned away from Ratchet, and faced Jak.
"There's the hero I married!" Keira shrieked in excitement.
"My oh my," Cad Bane gazed in wonder, "You are a truly interesting specimen of Jedi. That just makes your head worth that much more! No I'll REALLY get paid!" Bane shot his pistols at Jak, but his shots were deflected off of Jak's right palm. Jak then levitated the bounty hunter, and created a ball of light eco with his hands. He threw the ball at Cad Bane, tossing him against the arch of the doorway. He plummeted back down to the ground with a hard impact. As he struggled to get up and grab his hat, he snarled, "See if you can catch me you freak!" He turned on his Jetpack shoes, and flew upwards towards the sky.
"I'll go deal with our sharp shooting friend from the sky," Jak said to his wife and comrades as he drew his light saber, "While the rest of you go into the Temple and shoot down more Imperials."
"Right! On it!" Keira affirmed as she watched her husband flap his wings and flew off into the air with Daxter grabbing his shoulder.
"Well what are you waiting for!?" Ratchet yelled at Keira, Tess, and Clank, commanding them to storm the temple, "Let's take this temple!" Ratchet then screamed as he ran off into the temple firing his gun.
"Ratchet! Wait up!" Keira yelled back. Before she could chase him down, she saw Ratchet fly through the air right in front of her. He was screaming in agonizing pain as he was covered in violent shots of force lightning. Keira, Clank, and Tess ducked to avoid him, as Ratchet was sent bouncing and tumbling down the steps of the Jedi Temple. Keira stood up and looked forward, while Tess ran up and perched on her shoulder. The next thing they saw was a black-cloaked figure drawing two red light sabers. Tess and Clank gulped, while Keira looked at the figure with defiance, and walked towards it with her light saber drawn and in hand.
