Jak fought the on coming unconscious but he felt himself slipping away. His mind whirled in confusion as he saw the beast that attacked him covered in light blue electricity and fall to the ground.

His vision blurred as he saw a blob looking like Sig coming over to him. He heard his voice but it made no sense. His tiredness swept over him and unconsciousness took him. His eyes shut from the world.

The light is getting dim, my time will come…

***

Sig saw Jak go down after the large bat attacked him. Sig's instincts kicked in and shot the offending creature with his Peace Maker. Sig ran over to Jak and saw him out cold. Sig picked the skinnier man up and took him over to a small secluded bush and quietly promised he'll be back.

Sig ran off to his tent and picked up Jak's gun and headed into the fight scene.

Large carnivorous bats swirled around in their flock attacking anything living and shooting. Sig shot his way through the maze of the long toothed bats and finally reached Daxter. Daxter was hiding behind a large create shaking and yelling every time the vile creatures flew over him.

Daxter was relieved to see Sig coming up next to him.

"Sig!" Daxter cried in relief

Sig thrusted Jak's gun towards him. Daxter looked at Sig puzzled.

"That's Jak's gun" Daxter stated

"I know that cherry" Sig growled, "Take it"

"What do ya mean? What happened to Jak?" Daxter cried his eyes were wide with fear

"He's out cold doughboy. We need extra firepower against these wind whistling creatures, so you need to take them out" Sig told him

"What? I can't use this!" Daxter cried pulling away from the weapon, "I don't know how! Jak never let me use it. Only when we're chasing some vehicles and we needed to shoot them down"

Sig just shoved the gun into Daxter's little paws, "Just take it cherry! We don't have time for this! Just shoot all the black flying creatures!"

Before Daxter could protest Sig hopped up and ran off, shooting on the way. Daxter breathed in deeply as he finally got his paws on Jak's morph gun. That means he gets to use his Peace Maker…

A large smile crept across Daxter's face has the more radical and dangerous side of Daxter made its mark on his features.

"Time to show what these bats were up against" Daxter gave a smile and switched the gun to Peace Maker mode

He pulled and held the trigger and the light blue electricity hummed at the tip, gathering energy. Daxter wobbled as the Peace Maker vibrated

"Whoa, thiiisss puuupppy haaaasss mooorrre viiibbratioon thaan that bluuuee crryysstal aat Haavven foorreesst" he commented

He tried to focus on a flying creature that flew above him. He used the red beam to aim then he released the trigger. The blue ball whizzed off only to splatter onto its target and another nearby. Both creatures screamed and fell to the ground and moved no more. Daxter saw this and jumped with joy.

"YEEESSS!" Daxter cried, "Whoo-hoo!" A black mass swooped for him but it was behind him. Daxter was too busy celebrating to notice, "Come on you flying lizards! I can zap ya all do-"

A large wing knocked Daxter hard to the ground. Daxter quickly looked up to see who it was and saw another flying creature flapping higher then turning and finally coming for him again. Daxter knew the Peace Maker would take long to charge up so he switch the gun into Valcan Fury mode.

"Alright…peace of cake" Daxter murmured as he seen Jak use the machine gun many times before

As the beast approached Daxter aimed his gun at it and pulled the trigger. The gun spat out blue bullets and became faster as long as Daxter held the trigger. The carnivorous beast shrieked in pain as bullets embedded themselves into its thin leathery skin. Daxter stumbled back and jumped along with the gun, as its power was too much for the little Ottsel.

The overgrown bat glided down sharply and skidded onto the ground. At the speed it was going it looked like it never was going to stop. Daxter stopped shooting and saw the thing skid towards him. He screwed his eyes shut and cringed and waited for the thing to skid right into him and bowl him over but nothing came. He opened one eye then the other as he realised fiction as stopped the bat by centimetres from him.

Daxter let out a sigh of relief and boasted, "Alright. In your face you over grown, large tooth, black…"

Daxter never finished because the creature raised its head and let out a dying shriek. Daxter jumped and screamed and ran off to hide. The creature as soon as it let out its last cry its head dropped to the hard ground and released its last breath.

***

Keira Jolva and Tollanar fled from the large tent to the ship. Bats overhead threatened to attack. They headed towards the ship. As they were running Keira noticed Jak lying pretty well hidden in the some bushes. Fearing for the worst she broke from the group and sprinted to the motionless man.

She practically flung herself on top of him and quickly felt for his pulse. There was one there. She saw dried blood on his forehead. She turned to see the two other mechanics running towards her. She turned to them.

"Help me get Jak to the ship. He's unconscious" Keira commanded more that she requested

Without questioning her they obediently helped her lift Jak and carry him to the ship.

Sig was going back for Jak but he saw he was in good hands so he turned and headed into battle again.

***

Red Krimson Guard bullets ripped through the night sky trying to hit the almost invisible creatures that attacked and circled above. Captain Cranzar was barking orders and got his men to take cover behind large creates that were left out onto the beach. The Guards took their aim and fired from their positions. Some bats attacked them but solders' cover made it hard for them to attack and they ended up dead.

The remaining bats flew overhead then in one swift move they came from behind the Guards and attacked them. The Guards had no chance as the sudden attack hit them. Kranzar was knocked over in the attack. The creature leaped on him and hissed. It showed it's massive sabre teeth before going for the kill. Kranzar was pinned under the creature and his gun rested just out of reach. He lost it when the creature knocked him down.

The creature seemed to smile and opened its jaw to engulf its prey. The captain had determination written all over his face and his free hand slipped into his waist and pulled a smaller gun from its holster. Before the creature had the time to react the military man fired the gun. Its bullets landed at the back of the creature's mouth. It screamed in pain. Kranzar kept shooting at it. The creature backed away from its would-be meal. Kranzar stopped and quickly leaped for his larger gun. He quickly pointed it towards the creature and fired until the creature laid dead in the dark sand.

"Retreat!" Kranzar shouted to his remaining men, "Retreat!"

The Guard and Crew heard him and they ran and boarded their ship. How much Kranzar hated to run away from the vile creatures he knew the bats were too much of for his men. The element of surprise was with the bats. Kranzar tried to rise to his feet but he found his leg was injured.

He struggled but it was no use getting up. One airborne creature saw the Captain's weakness and immediately swooped down to take advantage of the situation. Kranzar saw the black mass heading towards him. He gritted his teeth and pointed his gun at it. He fired the Krimson Guard rifle at it as fast as he could. The creature swooped to miss most of the piercing attacks.

Kranzar's eyes filled with fear, as the creature wasn't slowing down. His body tensed for what ever was going to happen. Then quite suddenly blue electricity splattered out of nowhere and onto the creature. The creature hissed and collapsed. It skidded away from Kranzar and stopped after the course sand slowed it.

Kranzar saw who was the one who saved him and he couldn't believe his eyes. He saw Jak's gun raised just a few feet off the ground and what held it made him smile. Daxter stood there with a large 'cool' grin on his face. The look on Kranzar's face was priceless.

Daxter had just saved his life.

Sig turned up at Kranzar's side and helped the Captain to his feet. Daxter hopped on Sig shoulder and they boarded the ship.

"Wait until Jak hears about this!" Sig heard Daxter exclaim

***

The bats saw them retreat and hissed. They flapped about and decided to go after them. They swooped towards the ship. As soon as Kranzar was on board he was barking orders for the large cannons to be fired. The crew ran around powering up the ship's weapons and aiming them to the flying monsters.

"Fire at will!" Kranzar ordered

The cannons released great amount of Red Eco. The bats shrieked as the force stuck them. They scattered about as more were released into the air. One by one the leather creatures fell from the sky and landed either on the ship or the surrounding water.

The remaining bats came together into a formation and swooped towards the ship. The cannons swerved to shoot the creatures but they dodged them. Soon they came low to the deck attacking the personnel on board.

Sig charged his Peace Maker and fired at the bats as they swooped passed. Caught by surprise they fell to the mercy of the blue electricity that sparked all over them. Soon the cannons were able to get a lock on them and shot the remaining bats. Soon as the last creature fell all the cannons stopped.

The night air grew silent for a few seconds then the crew ran about and Kranzar was back shouting orders to get paramedics up on deck and to clean up the deck. Daxter was on Sig's shoulder. Sig walked over to one of the sprawled creatures and nudged it with his gun.

"I wonder where these bad boys came from," Sig murmured

"I don't know but I sure kicked their butt!" Daxter smiled

"Just because you just killed four Goldenboy that doesn't make you the King" Sig told him

"You didn't have to pop my balloon you know" Daxter whined

"Still you did save the Captain's life" Sig pointed out

"Yeah I did, didn't I?" Daxter smiled to himself

"Lets go and see your friend, goldenboy" Sig said and walked off in the direction of the ship's infirmary.

They went below deck and entered the small infirmary. Many Krimson Guards were in there, nurses tending to their injuries. It was strange to see them amour-less, to see their brown, green and blue eyes, the mass of multicoloured hair and their intricately patterned tattooed faces.

Finally they reached a corner of the hospital where Keira sat all alone with her hand linked with Jak's while Jak's immobile body laid on the white bed.

Keira looked up at the guys, her eyes were red from crying. She smiled at them but it quickly faded.

"Is, uh, everything ok?" Daxter asked concerned

"Yes…I guess," she murmured

"What's wrong cherry?" Sig asked

"Just worried, that's all" she replied as if it was usual

Sig raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Daxter hopped down from Sig and looked at his resting friend. He noticed that Jak's face seemed to be moulded into some kind of unrest. As if he wasn't at peace in his sleep.

Kranzar entered the infirmary with one crewmember helping him to move about. The nurses ushered him to the empty bed next to Jak's. After Kranzar was seated Kranzar ordered the crewman to finish up on deck and to tell the other men to get some rest. The Crewman nodded to his CO and headed out.

A nurse came to look at the deep gush in his leg. Kranzar noticed his audience and gave a small smile. Then his brown eyes fell onto Daxter.

"Well there you are Daxter" he addressed, "I was meaning to thank you for saving my life"

"Don't mention it" Daxter said cooly, "I do this stuff all the time"

"I guess you proved my first assumptions about you were wrong" Kranzar continued, "But don't expect a feast in your honour. We're at a large set back and food is running scarce. I'll have to ask for back up. We cannot deal with these creatures. They are likely to return with larger numbers. I think they are the reason that there are no other wildlife here"

"So were stranded here?" Sig asked

"Yes until we can get some back up supplies and men, we're stranded here" Kranzar sighed not wanting to admit defeat.

"Great, it can't get any worse than this" Daxter quipped

Suddenly the lights flickered and they went out. Daxter sighed his features were in irony.

"Sorry, my bad. I guess I was wrong"

After some complaints and nurses stumbling through the dark. Candles were lit to ward off the darkness.

"Well there goes our Eco supply" Kranzar sighed.

"Where is our back up supplies?" Sig asked wanting to ask before

"Gone" Kranzar simply replied, "We now depend on Commander Torn to send in supplies. I'll send a message tonight"

"So we're gonna die?" Daxter exclaimed

"No" Kranzar, "Though tonight has got me thinking"

"About what?" Sig asked

"The Hora-quan attack" Kranzar told him, "As if they set out to wound us by destroying one of our Engines and taking our back up supplies. So we will be stranded to face the horrors that reside here"

"And not to mention getting the Eco in time to power the city's Shield Walls" Keira voice murmured from behind Daxter, catching on to Kranzar's suspicions

"Exactly. Since we're greatly delayed we can't get the Eco to the city in time to power the Shield Walls and so they'll eventually fail and the Hora-quan would be able to take the city for their own" Kranzar explained

"So this is all that ugly Second in command Metal head's doing?" Daxter growled, "Spa, Spur, Spurt…I can't remember his name. This is just great, just great! Nothing can possibly get any-"

"Don't say it cherry" Sig warned. Daxter shut his mouth.

"Look. There is nothing we can do until Torn comes with some back up. Until then I suggest you rest. We all had a hard and terrible night" Kranzar sighed tiredly as the nurse came back with a candle and started to bandage his leg up

Sig nodded. Daxter hopped onto Sig's shoulder. Sig turned to Keira.

"Are you coming cherry?" he asked

She gave a tired smile and looked at Jak sleeping form for the last time, "Yes I'm coming. How much I would like to be here with him I know he wont be up for hours and I'm extremely tired. They don't have extra beds and…"

"Whoa there Chilli Pepper" Sig held up his hand, "I asked a question not an explanation"

She went slightly pink with embarrassment, "Sorry"

Sig chuckled, "That's fine. We're all worried about him. He's a tough kid and he'll pull through fine"

Keira smiled again. Sig turned back around and headed out. Keira followed close behind.

***

Morning greeted the cooled air. The orange disc rose out of the water shining it's first light out and onto the water. Some Crew were up and around early but many personnel were sleeping. Lack of sleep and the attack from last night was enough to knock out people for ten hours.

Many guards were wounded from the attack. Some Crewmembers were involved in the fight and got their injuries also. But the saddest thing was that many men gave their lives that night. They died fighting an unknown but monstrous creatures.

So that's why, at midday, Captain Kranzar, a naval officer and a retired Krimson Guard himself gave a memorial service to those who gave their lives that night. Many guards during the service were greatly saddened. Many did not shed their tears at that particular moment for their friends and partners but they may shed them when they are by themselves.

Silence was ghostly as Kranzar finished his speech. The ocean seemed to cease it's never ending rhythm of water lapping for that minute. Sadness hung in the air as many hearts grieved alike. Even Daxter gave into the atmosphere and gave his respects, even if he never gave his respect to anything in his life.

Soon the service was over and they were left to split up and chatter amongst themselves. Keira headed towards the infirmary to check up on Jak. She had been worried about him. She didn't eat breakfast (even if the food wasn't worth the looking at) and had been by his side as much as she could. Sig decided to clean his gun and Daxter went to see Jak as well. There was nothing else to do until back up arrives.

Daxter approached the little corner of the infirmary that seemed to be empty. Many people still had their suspicions and fears of Jak. Especially when he beat Erol at the races and defeated the Metal Head leader Kor.

Keira was his only company, though he was never awake to appreciate it. Daxter came closer but stopped and hid when he heard Keira talking. He heard sobbing and sniffing. That indicated she was crying.

"Please wake up soon Jak" she whispered, "I'm here for you. I love you"

Daxter sighed. He felt something was lost in him. He loved Keira before Jak ever did. Daxter did everything for her and tried to impress her in his own witty way but she always had eyes for his friend. Daxter tried to hide it, bury it deep but it still hurt. The night they first kiss was like a stake through the heart.

Daxter never wanted to admit it he was jealous. Jealous that his friend had the only girl he loved. Jealous that everyone was normal and he was stuck in his orange fluffy body. He knew he was one of a kind. There was no other 'animal' like him. Though on the outside it seems he's enjoying himself on the inside he was hurting.

No wonder he was addicted to partying. It was his way of getting away from his inside hurt.

Daxter sighed and walked from his hiding place towards the door. Keira saw him.

"Daxter" she cried, "Wait where you going?"

Daxter half turned, "To get something to eat that won't try to eat me"

He ment that as a joke from the breakfast he had earlier but his voice was flat and toneless. He continued his way out leaving Keira wondering. She turned to Jak who still lay on his bed sleeping.

"I wonder what's eating him," she murmured to herself

TBC…