Chapter 21: Discovery

Date: April 15, 3658

Location: The Edge of the Wasteland

Captain Phoenix stepped carefully through the old ruins, the map in his hand and blinking device keeping him on the correct path. He had found these during their last raid on the Aeropan Baracks and now he was going to see what it lead to. He already knew there were power cells and other devices in the ruins that could be used. He had a feeling that there were ancient weapons down here that could be used against his enemies. He knew Duke Skyheed was killing their people back in Aeropa and he needed a weapon to counteract what he was doing. The dark warrior program was nothing more than a slow way of killing their kind. 'And he shared this information with Haven City,' he thought as he moved under a fallen beam. He frowned as he came to a large cavern with a deep ravine. On the side was a symbol for a certain type of eco. Looking closer he saw a handprint on it. 'A channeler?' he questioned. 'Those people are rare.' He then turned around and looked for a mechanism of something that could get him across but found nothing. His eyes returning towards the handprint pad. 'Those people are even rarer because of what Skyheed is doing and what Praxis did. Where can I find one that would help me to get across this gorge?' He suddenly paused as he recalled a news link he had read while in Krass City about the Mar linage being found and that a young woman was the only surviving link to the ancient royal family line. He smiled. "I'll need her help. Surely with Mar's bloodline she'll be able to assist me on this."

Jak suddenly sneezed and looked around herself as if seeing if somebody was talking about her but found herself alone in the throne room in Spargus City. After returning from the Precursorean Floating City, she and Daxter had decided to stay in the city at their place that her father had given them after they'd received the citizenship, however, Damas wishes to speak to her privately. Sitting at the base of the throne, Jak looked over the armor upgrade she'd been given by the AI Ze-dura. Squeezing her hand a long blade pulsed out made of plasma, releasing her grip the blade vanished. It was a unique upgrade but it left for very little error when it came to a one on one fight. Hopefully she wouldn't have to use the newly added blades. Now the plasma grenades, those she was sending Haven for Keira to analyze. These were made of a far superior grade of plasma and she hoped it would be helpful to her friends.

Turning her head she watched the elevator rise and saw the familiar figure of her father. Taking a deep breath, she readied herself for the talk they were about to have. 'I'm sure he's curious on how I went from a boy to a girl.' he thought ruefully.

Damas approached her and decided to sit on the steps next to Jak. "I am glad you came," he said, Jak looked at him from her peripheral vision. "I don't know what to say to you. In my mind you are still a little boy, but obviously something Praxis did changed that."

"The dark warrior program," Jak supplied. "It was an experimental program where Channelers were herded together, injected with dark eco, and then pitted against each other in horrifying fights that turned them into monsters." She paused in her explanation. "I was part of the one percent that changed genders after the first injection." She didn't look at him as she spoke. "The Precursor in Mar's tomb said there was no way to reverse this. Mar himself says he can make Adriana vanish into the background by giving me more control over the dark eco that flows through my veins. She says the only way to do that is to silence her with the opposite type of eco: light eco."

"Is dark eco the only type you can channel?" Damas inquired as he recalled that he use to run around the palace like lightning when he'd gotten into a stash of blue eco once or twice.

"Yeah." Jak rubbed her chin. "Though Adriana believes that if I take Mar's offer, that I could channel all eco, including dark and light." She looked at her father. "Do you think we'll be able to take out those dark Precursors that Ze-dura spoke about?" she asked changing the subject.

Damas gave a nod. "One thing I've learn as ruler of this dessert kingdom is that Wastelanders are survivors, and if these monster come here, they'll regret it." He then saw worry in her eyes. "Haven City survived the metal heads, they'll survive these monsters as well. Like Spargus and its citizens, Haven is durable and now that we have amiable relations going between our people, I believe we will survive this...invasion." He grabbed up some sand in his hand and let it run through his fingers. "Our people will come out of this stronger than ever."

Jak nodded. "Good, cause I'd hate this to be a waste of time."

"So," Damas touched his chin. "You and that boy. Should I be worried?"

Jak whipped her head around towards him and was about to defend Daxter when she saw the teasing look in Damas' eyes. She shook her head, her dreads moving with the slight movement and laughed a bit. "Yeah, you should." Her laughter continued as she stood up to leave. "But you don't have to. Dax watches my back and I his. He's always been a constant in my life, even when I was mute; he never judged me, just accepted me and became my voice when I didn't have one and when he got into trouble a few years back, I was there for him. We beat a couple of insane sages, stopped a Precursor robot from destroying the dark silo's and had fun doing it." She laughed. "We do dangerous things and in the middle of it all we usually end up saving a bunch of lives." She looked at him and smiled. "Worrying will just make your hair get even whiter. Let's just leave the worrying to somebody else who likes that kind of stuff and have fun kicking ass."

"Did I hear somebody say kick ass?" came Daxter's voice as he and Sig entered the room, the burly wastelander looked like he'd just upgraded his armor, which now was shinny and black, though it still looked like it was made from metal head skin and bones. "Who's ass are we kicking and where are they?" Daxter asked as he fingered the new rifle in his hands.

"Where'd you get that?" Jak asked taking a liking to the sleek look to the weapon.

"Babe, I hate to say this; but I'm having an affair and this is the new lady in my life," he stated with a very straight and serious face. "This is the Barrett M one-o-seven with a point fifty caliber, shoulder fired, semi-automatic sniper rifle. It's a long range sniper rifle, and uses a Leupold 4.5×14 mark four scope." Daxter wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Sig introduced us."

The wastelander chuckled. "With the way you were drooling I thought it best Cherry."

Daxter's cheeks flushed. "Eh, guilty as changed." He shrugged. "You know who else would love this gun?"

"Tess." They both stated remembering in seeing her fighting with a similar rifle before when taking out KG sentries during an airtrain raid. "Taryn would too," Jak said as an afterthought.

Daxter nodded. "Yep." He suddenly froze for a moment, causing Jak to raise an eyebrow at him in a silent question of What? "I just realized that every woman I know in my life knows more about guns, explosives and how ta kill a guy in a hundred different ways than most guys would be cool with." He looked at her. "Makes me think if I'm a crazier than ole Vinny's was or if I just like crazy chicks."

Jak chuckled as she headed for the elevator with Daxter next to her, leaving Damas and Sig alone. "Does it matter?" She asked.

Daxter did quick thinking on that one. "Not really," he replied as the two gave each other a look that caused both to begin laughing as their ride began to descend into the shaft.

As the two left both Damas and Sig watched them leave, both having similar foreboding thoughts that they may be doomed if these two were to be their saviors. They didn't act like they had taken on a metal head King, dark sages or anything less than a lurker in their lives. They acted like kids, crazy kids. Damas looked at Sig. "Keep an eye on them. Make sure nothing kills them."

"Yeah," the wastelander said. "I was thinkin' about doin' just that." He picked up his staff weapon and began to walk towards the elevator shaft.

As Jak and Daxter drove their dune hopper back towards the wasteland temple, their scanners began to pick up something at the edge of the wasteland, a large ship-like structure. It took them an hour out of their way, but once they came to a stop they found themselves at a familiar archway structure.

"Jak," Daxter began, his eyes wide as he recalled this place. "It's Wasteland City. We've been here before when-"

"-when we passed through towards Gol and Maia's Citadel; it's just a day away from Volcanic Crater," Jak stated as she looked towards the giant volcano nearby. "Snowy Mountain use to be up there."

Daxter snorted, "Kinda drives it home as to how long it's been since we left Sandover."

"Samos said something about it being close to six hundred years." Her eyes looked across the ruins. Large tall buildings that once had shined in the sun with Precurorean metal now look rusted, had giant holes in them and scorch marks where fires had ragged and possibly killed hundreds of people. Jak squeezed her fist. "The metal heads did this," she said before suddenly hearing something.

'Seems not everything is dead here,' came Adriana's voice.

Jak looked at a large tunnel where a skyship was floating above. "Seems we have company Dax." She gave her friend a look that meant they were about to do something dangerous and possibly stupid.

M-Angel: Oh my gosh! It's been three months since I updated this story. I'm so sorry guys! I've seriously dropped the ball on this one. I hope everybody forgives me. Anywho, I hope to get another chapter out by either the end of the month or by the first week of March. I'm really into my Akatsuki no Yona story, but I do promise to finish this story! I swear it.

xoxoangii: Eeeee! Can't wait to see what happens next! See you guys in the reviews! :)