Jak ended the transmission and looked to his fellow warriors. Daxter was sitting near Caden, jumping around and playing small tricks on the young girl. Jak's gaze went to Damas, who was smiling as he watched the pair.
"What is it about her that makes one care?" The leader caught Jak off guard, "Why care for her well-being?"
Jak thought for a moment, "Because she can fight back. She is able to do things alone, but will fight as a team."
"And yet she is here, with us."
"Caden has never faced what she is now and we need help. She might have found a way to end Kix's little sick games." Jak concluded, "Torn needs us back in Haven City. I will take the box to Samos while we're there."
"Alright, Caden can stay here where Spargus will protect her." Damas said.
"Like a daughter?" Jak countered, "Make sure don't make the mistake… She will not replace your lost son. Don't pity her like a daughter, make her into a warrior." Jak warned and left. Walking over to get Daxter, they said their good-byes and the two were gone.
Caden watched as they took the glass box and left. Damas' hand fell upon her shoulder and Caden looked up at him. Damas was lost in his thoughts with Jak. It was obvious Jak thought of the same thing. Were they really trying to protect her out of pity or were they using her for what she didn't know?
"What is it?" She asked, jolting Damas from his thoughts.
"Caden? Do you think that w might be pitying you?" Damas asked. Caden looked down and thought for a moment.
"No. If you did, you would be acting different, more like a father rather than a leader looking out for your city and your citizens." Caden said, catching Damas off guard, "I heard what you and Jak were taking about. No one has ever acting like a parent to me, not even the 'Tribe' did. You are treating me no different than Jak or Sig, just a little more concerned about what is going on. I think everyone wants me to be like Jak. I can' use the eco like me can, I can't control it. I know what I do when I turn, for it isn't the first time."
"Maybe we can help? Kinda like we are now. Just more on your attributes that you could gain with being unstable." Damas tried to comfort her, "Come, your wrist might be broken, but we can spar again."
"To tell you the truth, I really don't know who I am. Besides my name, I am a used up tool of the Baron."
Damas was shocked at the news, "Don't live in the past. You will gain a new identity."
"True, yet there could be answers. Like about Kix and his plots." Caden rationalized, "I just wish I knew about the 'dead ones'. Something has to give."
"Besides your bones?" Damas joked, "There are a lot more things going on that no one is sure of. All we can do is prepare." Damas said. Caden nodded and followed him to the center of the room.
Jak sat on the transport, bound to Haven City. He and Daxter enjoyed the view from what little windows there were. The glass box with the silvery jewelry sat on his lap. Jak's mind was wondering on everything that was going on. What were Kix and Errol doing? How did the jewelry work to stop them and how could Caden help?
Torn had explained the situation of Kix showing up with the 'Tribe', as they were now called. Citizens were disappearing only to reappear as one of the 'Tribe', robotic and bent on capturing more. Torn needed Jak's help to defend parts of the city against the next wave. The people of Haven City were encouraged to hide until something could be done. Through Jak's thoughts, he was eerily quiet and this was bothering Daxter.
"Perk up, Jak. We'll stop 'em. All of them, even the Dark Precursors." Daxter said. Jak nodded, he had forgotten about what Seem and Samos said after they found that weird telescope. Errol was trying to bring their power to the world for his own sick and twisted plots.
"First thing, we need to get this to Samos. Torn also said that they might know where Kix is operating from." Jak told Daxter. Daxter smiled and hopped onto Jak's shoulder as the transport stopped.
"Let's get to Torn first. If he knows, once we get this thing decoded, we can go and use it." Daxter said. Jak agreed and grabbed a zoomer. He flew across the bay to the Naughty Ottsel. Torn looked up as the two entered and his gaze went to the box.
"What the hell is that?" The ex-KG guard asked.
"Caden found this in the Temple. This is what Kix was really after." Jak answered, "I need to get it to Samos."
"We heard that you might know of Kix's whereabouts?" Daxter added, in his cocky way. Torn just nodded and looked away.
"They're operating around Mar's Tomb. Blasted a new hole into the side of it from the Metal Head sector. There is something there and out in the Wastelands as well."
"How did you find this out?" Jak asked, concerned.
"One of my men decided to get captured. He radioed in as much as he could." Torn answered, but didn't turn, "How's the kid?"
"She's alright. Just got a broken wrist now." Daxter answered, which did make Torn face them.
"The eco changed Caden and she had remembered this from Kix's map and punched through its concrete shell."
"Eco turned her?" Torn asked and Jak nodded. Torn watched as Daxter slightly shivered at the memory, "Is she okay now?"
"Yeah, Damas is making sure she doesn't leave." Jak answered, "At least not on her own."
"Alright. The entrance to Kix's place is near the first bend in the Metal Head section. We know he goes into Mar's tomb, but we don't know any more. Like what is going on inside that base or the Wasteland base." Torn explained.
"That's fine. We'll head to Samos and the others to find out what this thing really is and then we'll head in. Daxter and I will keep you all posted on what is going on in there." Jak promised and left.
Caden was trying her best to spar with Damas. Her eyes still partly blind and only having one arm to use was making this task difficult. Damas did go easy on her, knowing the last thing she needed was to turn again. Damas had used a split to hold Caden's wrist in place and hopefully ease was pain there could have been.
After a few hours, they stopped for a break and went to walk around Spargus. Caden's walked slowly next to Damas as they entered the beach area. Creatures and Leapers swarmed away as they past.
"What do we do now?" Caden asked as they sat on the beach.
"We wait. Jak will find someone to interpret what is on those artifacts and then go from there." Damas answered, "We must stop Kix at all costs. What he is doing is unnatural and…"
"Disgusting." Sig finished from behind them, "Sorry to interrupt, but got a message from Jak saying that Kix might have a base out here. Kleiver is back in the garage."
"Thank you. A base… out here? Then we must prepare ourselves in case Kix attacks us next." Damas realized. He got up and helped Caden to a standing position and looked around, "We need to get out citizens either prepared or they need to hide." The leader told Sig, who nodded and left. Damas walked off, followed closely by Caden.
"Why not stop him before he gets here or does anymore damage?" Caden asked as they walked back to Damas' thrown room.
"We could, but we don't know where the base it at. Jak will tell us as soon as he finds out." Damas said.
"You won't tell me. You want me to stay here…" Caden felt a little mistreated.
"Yes, until your body and mainly, your wrist, heals. If you are well enough, then you can go, but not before…" Damas warned. Caden nodded to Damas. She like that answer, it gave her a chance to fight.
The two walked in silence. Caden knew Damas was worried about everyone… Spargus and the people here. Caden's mind was on Kix. She knew what he was doing, the experiments and so forth.
"What do we do until we know?" Caden finally asked.
"We must prepare…" Damas said, as they entered the lift.
Elsewhere, Errol was watching as Kix gathered troops. Steeling the worthless people from the cities was easy. All they needed were a few here and there to turn. Now his army was closing to a hundred. Errol's thoughts were that of expendability. He cared nothing for these people. Soon, they would be the distraction while he was able to summon the Dark Makers.
Kix sat at the controls of his converting machine. Screams and blood filled the tanks as they moved each person, making them obey him. An evil smiled played across his lips. He would attack Haven City, while Errol sat on his ass. Like Kix cared, for he would be the one running the show.
Jak raced to the main HQ where Samos and the others were hiding out. Dodging the growing number of KG robots, Metal Heads, and now Tribes… he was relieved to see the main doors in head of him.
Rushing in, he nearly threw the box at Samos, "Can you understand this?" Jak asked, out of breath.
"The girl we told you about, found these and said we might be able to use them against Dark Eco." Daxter added.
Samos looked around the box and saw all the symbols, "Good news and bad news. Good: I know what part of it says… if you touch the box first, it's powers are yours. Bad: No of us can open it."
"Caden touched it first, maybe she can open this thing up and then we can get an edge of this war." Ashlein announced, "Find Caden and get this open. The sooner we can, the sooner this war is over."
Jak nodded and set out to find Kix's main base. Jak grabbed a zoomer and was off to the Metal Heads sector…