Hello everyone, glad to still be here after all that's happened this week with Katrina and whatnot, and relief at still being alive managed to get me to update a little faster than normal.
My particular region of the Florida Panhandle escaped relatively unscathed from the hurricane's wrath, though as you have doubtless seen, New Orleans, Biloxi, Gulfport, and countless other areas have been all but wiped off the map. To anyone who had friends or family in that region, I hope that they are all right, and to everyone else, I humbly ask that you keep them in your prayers and try to help out in any way that you can.
To those of you who were so very kind and review the last chapter:
Xeno-Freak- Glad that you got my e-mail, and yeah, Star Craft was a major influence as far as names were concerned (I couldn't really think of any on my own that would do the Precursors justice) and power levels. Let's face it, if the Protoss and the Terrans were to square off for real, that wouldn't be much of a contest. There will also be some influence from Armored Core (with two kinds of 'human sized' A.C.s appeared amongst the death bot ranks, sorta acting like mobile command and control units, not to mention the absolutely devastating firepower they tend to pack). As far as the sequel goes, I had a bit of inspiration over the past week, and I'm thinking about giving Daxter a chance to have a 'Knight in Shinning Armor Moment' between him and Tess, seeing as how much arse his kind can kick. (I'm thinking he'll look good in blue, if you know what I mean). What do you think? Oh yeah, hope to see your story posted soon, I can't wait to start reading it!
MariaShadow- Glad you liked the angels I'm taking with the story, and expect to see what becomes of Vin in this chapter, and know that he shall have a major hand in things to come. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do yet as far as Brutter and the Croca Dog are concerned, though, any ideas?
Philoworm- Muchas gracias for the power, and after reviewing the votes, I've decided to go with the naginata, so it will be used. And don't worry about the updates, they'll be about a week apart, school permitting. What has me worried is the sequel, as I really don't know where to go in some areas. Its strange really, I've got about the last third (the heavily AU part) ironed out and I know what's going to go down, but it's the beginning that going to give me trouble, particularly with a few regions. So, if you have any more ideas, particularly about missions, let me know, okay? Thanks.
MewmiC- You flatter me, cause there are some people out here who can write a whole lot better than I can, Cyrex or Lizzy-Rebel being good examples, so check them out if you get a chance. Thank you for the vote of confidence, however, as they are what help me to overcome massive amounts of self doubt and post these things.
animedragongirl- As far as you killing me is concerned, I ask that you please do not, I my body (the one that is being flash cloned for me at the moment) has severe allergic reactions to pain and suffering. Got your vote for the weapons, and I've made up my mind now, so thank you. And thank you once again for taking so much time out of your busy life to proof read my error riddled work, and for helping me with the ending to this chapter. (bows)
Lunatic Pandora1- I stand corrected on the mini-gun/vulcan issue, thank you for informing m of my error (bows). And yep, Jak and Praxis will be working together for a little while, before Jak leaves for his inevitable climatic battle with Kor, which will be very much different than it was in the game. Hope you like the chapter, and thanks again for everything.
DarkStarPhoenix- To answer your teleportation questions, yes Jak can teleport with others, and as long as he can picture it in his mind (and the target destination is within fifty or so feet) he can move there. However, don't expect to see him make to much use of it, as it is a very draining power. About the glaive, animedragongirl has informed me that they are indeed one in the same, just that a glaive is the western name for it, while a naginata is the eastern one. Hope you like this chapter and please let me know what you think of it.
Farr2rich- I am touched that someone such as yourself takes the time to review my amateur work, and I noticed that animedragongirl has taken an interest in your tale as well. Trust me on this one, listen to anything she tells you, she knows what she's talking about. (aside from the errors in your grammar and sentence structures, she thinks your doing well, especially for a first timer) As far as Kor is concerned, no, Jak was not the one to give him those scars (hint, look in the Mar's Tomb Chapter, and you should be able to figure it out) On another note, what did you think about my idea for Daxter in the sequel? Oh yeah, and don't forget to update your own story soon, I want to see what happens next.
Exardas- Glad you liked the chapter, and I hope that you enjoyed wherever it was that you were heading. Don't forget to get sleep though, as it is good for your immune system. Expect to see more Praxius Nobelius in this chapter and whatnot, and I do hope that you find it to your liking. (bows)
Chaoskirina- Behold, the power of cheese! (sorry, I just had to say that. ;) Thank you so much for the positive input, and though the pole wound up being in favor of the naginata (three to two) I assure you, there will be use of a longsword type weapon among multiple characters, some good, some bad. As far as Light Jak is concerned, well, stick around and you will probably be very surprised when that part is revealed. Thank you once again (bows in humility)
Light-Eco-Sage- Sorry to hear about your internet woes once again, do you happen to have some sort of alternate e-mail address that I could reach you at, as there are a few things I'd like to send you to ask your opinion upon. As far as the JxK relationship is concerned, well, let us just say they will be very much closer by the start of the sequel (as in, both parties will be wearing a certain something upon certain fingers) and do not give up hope for N.D. yet, Keira is supposed to be back in Jak X, a playable character no less, so perhaps they will fix things up, as I understand that they got many a flame mail for the ending of the third game.
To the person who e-mailed me directly- (didn't want to put your name up, as I know that some people are sensitive about such things) Thank you for your input, and your criticism. My beta reader and I have both checked over this chapter a few times, but if you see anything that we missed, please don't hesitate to point it out so I will know better in the future. Thank you very much for your time. (bows)
To those who read, but did not review, I hope that you have enjoyed this story thus far, and that you continue to read it till the end comes at chapter thirty four.
Lawyers: ye gods, I am getting tired of having to post this, I don't own a darn thing, or else the game would have turned out like this, though sales would have probably been abysmal.
That said, please sit back and enjoy this chapter.
&
City under Siege, Part II
The dark elf suddenly realized that everyone was looking to him, even Praxis. They were waiting for him to give the command, to lead them to victory or to their deaths.
"Keir," he asked the mechanic, "you said that your father and the Shadow were standing guard over the rift machine, right?"
"Yeah." She said, double checking her morph gun.
"Then that's our first stop." the Ascended Channeler said, before turning and dashing back the way that they came.
Vin gently placed the final cyber link against his temple, before hastily entering the commands on his primary computer screen. He paused for a second, shaking his head and composing himself as he struggled to fight back his fear. He would not cower, not this time, there were too many people depending upon him. The sacrifice that he was about to make would ensure the survival of this city, provided that he was successful.
What he was about to do was risky to the point of being insane, as there was no guarantee that this was even going to work.
For the past several years, the elves had been conducting experiments in an attempt to create the first known A.I.C.s, or artificial intelligence constructs. They had met with only limited success, however. They had managed to successfully create a medium for the construct to reside within, as sort of a 'home base', in the form of a highly sophisticated crystalloid memory index, what they lacked was the capacity to get the thing going in the first place. There was a method, but it required the literal downloading of information from a person's brain. This would, at least in theory, result in the artificial intelligence having a similar appearance, knowledge, and personality to its 'creator.' However, numerous tests with kangarats revealed a small problem, the downloading caused massive amounts of neural disruption, which effectively killed the creator. Thus, the project had stalled.
Now, though, with nothing left to lose, and knowing that he himself was not nearly fast enough, and rather vulnerable out here, the best thing to do seemed to be to go ahead. Fortunately, he had managed to locate one of the memory crystals needed for the transfer, and he praised whoever might have been listening that the experiments had been carried out in this very plant.
He ran through the start up programs, and began an interface. He then braced himself for what he knew was coming, and for a brief instant, he wondered if dying like this would hurt very much.
Then it came, a surge of electrical activity as his mind was effectively opened up and picked apart by the interface. He grit his teeth, but could not stop a gasp from escaping from his throat. He felt no pain, just a strange pulsing sensation that seemed to last an eternity.
After about two minutes, it was over, and Vin, his brain ravaged beyond repair, passed from one world and into the next, slumping to the ground as a final breath escaped his lungs.
The blue crystal flashed white for a moment, and then sank down into the console.
Three seconds passed while an entire sixty-year life was sorted and categorized. Then, for the first time in recorded elven history, a self-aware computer came to life.
The construct sorted through 'its' memories for a nanosecond, attempting to discern exactly what it was supposed to do. That accomplished, it sent its consciousness out of the index crystal, zooming through the various circuits and power grids in an attempt to get the automated defenses up and running.
His morph gun set to shredder mode once again, Torn fired into the midst of a group of Metal Heads. The red beam blew a grunt onto its back, where it twitched out its life, and the resulting spread pattern ripped its companions apart. One Centurion did manage to survive, bringing its energy shield up in time to deflect the beams, but in doing so, it exposed part of its side. Jynx, seeing the opportunity, trained both of his submachine guns upon the creature's exposed side, and promptly opened fire. It gave a surprised screech, and attempted to get its shield around, before the Eco bolts cut it down
They'd been fighting their way towards the Residential Sectors for approximately half an hour, and they were making steady, if stressful progress. They'd suffered causalities, as about seven members of the original thirty that made up the group were now officially deceased. With no time to bury or mourn for their comrades, the Underground soldiers had simply taken their gear and pressed on.
One thing that Torn was grateful for, though, was the Ex-Os. The two Krimzon Guards piloting them had proven to be an invaluable asset. A good example being Benton, who was right now using his termite's jet boosters to charge at a Crab Head. The Metal Head commander growled and leveled its twin blasters, throwing down a hail of fire at the incoming exo-skeleton. However, the three-inch armor plating took the shots and the K.G. corporal leveled his plasma torch as he closed the distance, its end sparking blue-white as it heated up. Too late, the Crab Head realized the danger it was in, as the blazing weapon punched into its chest, melting its armor and burning through its hide like they were nothing, and actually punching out through its back before Benton could stop his forward momentum.
Another Metal Head, a Grunt, attempted to jump up on him, only to meet with the turbo saw on the other arm of the termite. There was a wet tearing sound, and a spattering of dark blood as it was ripped in half by the piece of machinery.
Benton's squad mate was hard at work as well, and many an invading monster met a painful end as it found itself crushed in the titan's merciless grip, or sent sailing through the air, its body broken as the result of a well placed punch.
The backbone of this particular group destroyed, Torn ordered a charge, and the rest were swiftly dealt with. They were getting close to where Ashelin and her own soldiers were, he could feel it, and he only prayed that he got there in time to back them up.
The construct zoomed around through the ancient and utterly arcane circuitry that made up the components around the shield wall generators. It initiated an interface with the few circuits that were left to connect it to the main grid, and found, much to its relief, that the Metal Heads hadn't destroyed the generators themselves, but rather, the power couplings that connected them with the rest of the energy grid.
Still, that didn't make things any simpler. It still had to figure out how in the name of the Ancients it was going to redirect the power flow through the remaining conduits, as they were not exactly designed with such things in mind.
Still, it had a better chance here than its maker had, as it possessed all of Vin's knowledge, but could move literally millions of times faster than any elf ever could.
In an instant, it put its skills to work, attempting to do a hundred different things at once, from accessing technical data on the previous readouts, to creating, running, and analyzing stress testing simulation programs to see theoretically just how much abuse these remaining conduits could put up with. Then there was also the matter of analyzing the conduits themselves in an attempt to figure out the best way to jury rig them to transfer power like that in the first place.
All of this happened in the space of about ten seconds, a series of tasks that would have taken an organic life form days to accomplish.
Unfortunately, it still had about eleven more to go just to get the shield wall back up and running, and then there was still the matter of the auto defense turrets, and come to think of it, putting a lockdown into effect to try and bottle up their ground based forces didn't sound like such a bad idea, either.
She leaped into the air as a Crab Head's blasters reduced her cover to glowing shards of metal, her twin pistols flashing as she gunned down Drone, before adjusting her aim in mid jump to target an airborne Wasp that had attached itself to the side of a building. A flurry of Eco bolts came from her handguns, and the winged Metal Head screeched in surprise as the rounds tore through its chitinous armor and send it to Death's domain.
She hit the ground shoulder first, and suddenly felt as if a Wastelander had punched her in the chest. She was quick to realize why: a Centurion had taken notice of her and was attempting to dispose of her, no doubt having realized that she was in charge of this beleaguered group of defenders. Fortunately, the ballistics armor that she was wearing, a gift from Keira, absorbed the bolt, even though the area around where the blast had hit was blackened and slightly cracked.
Realizing that dying would not help those under her command in the slightest, and knowing how well a Centurion's energy shield defended it against blasters, the daughter of Praxis chose to employ a different tactic. She holstered her right pistol, and reached into her belt, yanking a plasmite grenade free. She armed it, and it burst into argent blue flames. Ashelin took careful aim, knowing that the thing was already sighting her up for a second shot, and lobbed the explosive at her assailant.
What happened next was rather funny, as the grenade bounced once, before hitting, and adhering to, the Metal Head's foot. The beast's avian eyes widened in surprise, and it let out a terrified squawk, before the grenade detonated, taking out the Centurion, and one of its fellows that happened to be standing too close to it at the time.
That threat taken care of, she redirected her attention back to the Crab Head, just in time to watch it blow away the cover of three elves. The soldiers joined their protection a few moments later as the twin rapid-fire blasters cut them down without mercy.
"Somebody take that thing out!" she screamed into a mike that was attached to her helmet.
An Underground soldier, a grenade launcher slung underneath his rifle, made a move to comply, before the Metal Head commander fired two bursts at him. However, rather than being slain by the Eco bolts that came forth, the elf, much to his surprise, found himself grabbed by a set of yellow armored arms, and twisted around as a K.G. elite took the shots meant for him. The final round hit upon the commando's back, and the trooper spun back around, and the startled Crab Head got a grenade round right between its eyes. Its headless corpse collapsed to the ground a moment later, shuddering for a moment before going still.
Such moves repeated themselves all over Haven city in this desperate hour, as Underground soldiers, armed civilians, and Krimzon Guard members put aside their own animosities to deal with this common foe. Guards would knock resistance soldiers out of the way of harmful fire, letting their better armor take the brunt of the attacks, and here a rebel officer would unleash the fury of a morph gun RPG launcher to save a group of the red armored guardsmen pinned down by enemy fire.
But to anyone even remotely familiar with Metal Head tactics, these would have been mere stalling measures. The creatures almost always attacked in waves, burying their foes under the sheer numbers they had at their disposal. What Haven's valiant defenders were struggling against was little more than round one.
And Ashelin knew it.
Still, she supposed they would cross that bridge when they came to it. Right now, they had to worry about securing this district. Thankfully, most of the civilians who hadn't grabbed a gun and joined in the defense had been evacuated already, but they still had to drive these guys back before they could do anything else.
And thus, she quickly refocused her attention upon the Hora-quan that were continuing in their attack.
However, even as she brought her twin handguns to bear upon a Grunt, there was a crackling noise that filled her mike, and she caught a faint burst of orders. This was followed by a rhythmic stamping sound. Thus, imagine her surprise when two construction suits came around from the far corner and bulldozed straight into the rear formations of the attackers. Grunts and Drones were crushed underfoot, burned and sliced, or in some cases, reduces to mere smears upon the pavement. Centurions raised their energy shields in vain, as Benton used his Ex-O's turbo saw to devastating effect, while making a mental note to see if there was a way to canonize the person responsible for designing these things.
Torn, Jynx, and the others came in right behind them, their guns ablaze as they performed a flawless hammer and anvil tactic, trapping their foes, who went down quickly under their combined fury.
The battle over for the moment, Torn walked over to where Ashelin was, while Jynx paused to slip his gauntlet vibro blade into a few Metal Heads that he thought he saw twitch.
"Are you okay?" the Revenant asked her as he drew close.
"I'm fine." She said, looking at the large amounts of black carbon scoring upon Torn's gunmetal grey armor. "Are you alright?"
His response was to clap her into a hug that was somewhat awkward, considering the gear he was wearing, but nonetheless managed to answer her question.
"I hate to interrupt this tender moment," came Jynx's cheerful, if slightly tinny voice, courtesy of his speakers, "but there is still a war raging on around us."
The two parted, Ashelin's cheeks having a faint red hue to them, while Torn's was considerably more so, which made him all the more grateful for his helmet. Had it not been there, he was certain that his reputation would have been forever ruined.
"So what now?" the red haired lieutenant asked the two gray armored soldiers, who exchanged glances at each other in turn.
Before they could say anything though, Torn's helmet comm. crackled, and the unmistakable voice of the Shadow came over it, a tone of hastiness to his voice that indicated he was trying to say what he needed and get back to what he was doing.
"Torn, Jynx!" the Underground leader said. "This dried up bag of swamp moss next to me is saying that you guys need to plug this invasion up at its source." There was a grunt, swiftly followed by a pulsing sound and an explosion. "He's saying that they're coming in from the Underport, and he's uploading a map that should take you right to where they're getting in!"
The comm. went silent for a few moments, before a small, three dimensional map appeared in the upper corner of Torn's H.U.D., constantly moving about as it showed the path that they needed to take. Once that happened, the line went dead, and Torn looked over to his brother in arms, who had heard everything.
"Well, leader man," the other Revenant said, "I vote that we do it, and I'm not just saying that 'cause I like to blow things up."
"There wouldn't happen to be an armory station around here, somewhere would there?" Torn asked, looking at Ashelin.
"About half a mile from here," the daughter of Praxis replied with a nod, "there's a security command center that might have what we need."
"Then let's get moving." Jynx said, a bit of excitement in his voice despite the gravity of the situation.
Another one charged at him, and Samos let out a war cry, before bringing his staff down on top of the thing with a deceptive amount of strength. There was a crack, and the Drone fell to the ground, its skull bashed virtually beyond recognition.
Yet the endless tide of darkness continued to come, spilling into the stadium grounds like hell spawned demons. A token few resistance soldiers who had been on patrol in this sector still stood with them, though gashes and open holes in their makeshift armor and clothing showed where they had been wounded by their foes, but since healed by the two Sages that were at work.
"We can't hold up like this much longer," his younger self said, while hastily erecting a shield around several of their companions, "we need to fall back to a more defensible position!"
"We hold here or all is lost!" Samos shouted back, charging up an energy ball, one of his few offensive skills, and hurling it at a cluster of Grunts that were heading his way.
"What's so important about this thing?" his younger self growled, his voice barely audible above the screams of the Hora-quan and the retaliatory gunfire of the elven forces.
"It's the key to everything." the older Green Eco Sage replied with a grim smile, surprisingly calm all of a sudden. "And don't worry, we'll be getting reinforcements soon enough."
"Reinforcements?" the Shadow said, his voice incredulous as he bashed in the head of another enemy. "Who, from where, and when?"
"You'd never believe me if I told you," Samos grunted as he blocked the strike of an overly zealous Drone with his staff, "and they'll be coming from the south western entrance." he continued, as he spun to the side with agility one would not expect, given his age, and cracked his staff over the metal Head's spine, shattering it. "As far as time is concerned, they'll be arriving," he paused for a moment, and made a motion as if he were looking at a watch, "oh, I'd say right about…"
A quartet of Dark Eco orb suddenly smashed into the enemy ranks, sowing terror and confusion in their wake.
"…now." the old elf said with a smirk.
For a moment, the fighting stopped, and all looked to the direction from which the attack had come. There, his bat-like wings keeping him aloft, was Kage, a transformed Kitetsu hovering at his side. The Dark Eco demon abruptly opened his fanged jaws, and let out a feral scream that caused the lesser Hora-quan to retreat back a few steps, and huddle close to each other, fear as no other overcoming them as the realized that the Angel of Death had officially arrived.
In the blink of an eye, the oni had grabbed the dark katana, created a phantom twin of it, and dove down at the enemy ranks. Those fated to be the first to die by his hand knew only a second's fear, followed by flashes of pain, and then darkness.
And he was not alone, either.
A hail of gunfire erupted from the same place that Kage had made his entrance, and a group of about thirty elves, some more having been picked up along the way, charged in, General Praxis at the head of the formation, his assault rifle blazing. Next to him were Keira, Tess with Daxter upon her shoulder, and Sig who was carefully aiming his vulcan cannon away from where a certain honor bound demon was currently carving up the opposition, and making good use of his tail as well.
Kage brought both of his blades down from above, cutting down a Grunt and a Drone, before whipping the two weapons around to where they were held dagger fighting style. He then thrust both swords into the ground with a roar, and unleashed one of the weapon's abilities. Two trails of Dark Eco slithered across the ground, heading for a pair of Crab Heads, who knew not what to make of this strange phenomenon. At least, the knew not what to think until the two trails reached them and promptly exploded, and even then, they were both dead before they had time to process a last thought.
He then drew them out of the ground, and threw them, smiling grimly as many of the Hora-quan found themselves unable to duck in time, and thus were deprived of a rather essential body part. Not hesitating for a second, the oni then went into a back flip, his triple jointed legs reaching out and grabbing a pair of Centurions that had been paralyzed by fear. It threw them backwards, where they landed in a broken heap, a trampling of about six elves over their bodies ensuring that they were no longer upon this particular coil.
Still in the middle of his acrobatic maneuver, Kage abruptly spun out of the flip, and gave a single, mighty pump of his wings, which propelled him forward. He then angled himself downward, landing and then going down to a kneeling position to absorb the impact of him hitting the ground at such speed. Again, the Dark Eco demon didn't miss a beat, and showed off one of his own innate abilities to clear out the Metal Head surrounding him. He balled his left hand up into a fist, and brought it slamming down onto the pavement. This resulted in a massive semi sphere of Dark Eco enveloping the around himself, which took out a good dozen of the fiends. The oni extended his right hand as well, and a spearhead shaped bolt of dark energy went flying, tearing through no less than eight before it finally dissipated. He then reached up, grabbed both blades, and went back to work, steadily pushing the attackers back towards the northern entrance.
Praxis was also busy, using his powered armor's strength and speed enhancements to charge into the fray. The scarred elf then pulled a leaf from Jak's book, so to speak, tossing his assault rifle and catching it with a single hand, while drawing his large blade, using the artificial strength at his disposal to hold them both with a single hand.
Not giving his enemies a chance to understand what he was about to pull off, the elven general spun around, his blade catching a Grunt in the neck, its sharpened edge biting into it and relieving it of its head. As he finished, he brought up his gun, and fired a six shot burst at a drone that was attempting to flee. He then threw the rifle into the air once more, catching it by the M-404 attachment, cocking the grenade launcher and then releasing his grip upon it, quickly moving his hand back down to the trigger. Angling the weapon carefully, he fired, and sent the plasmite grenade right into another group that was approaching
Keira wasn't far behind, and quickly used her morph gun's sniper rifle to tear the head off of a Crab Head, throwing the group under its command into further chaos, as with all the damage that Kage was unleashing upon them, a strong leadership presence was all that was holding them together. Confused and panicky as they were, they presented easy targets for Sig to rip apart with his vulcan.
The rest of the beleaguered defenders, too tired to really care who it was that was saving their butts, let out a cheer and their own blasters soon joined the fray. Finally, all were dead, and nothing remained except for lots and lots of Metal Head bodies, most of them in small pieces.
Kage was panting, and his wound healing more slowly than they normally did. It was becoming clear to everyone that he was reaching his limits, as was his host.
Fortunately, Samos thought to himself as the creature reverted back to Jak, there would be time for him to rest up and let his body produce more Dark Eco before he had his final confrontation.
A deafening snarl of frustration reached the ears of the old Sage, and he and everyone else looked up to see Kor, some distance off, flying away, having apparently decided to leave the destruction of Haven City to his children, who were doing a fair enough job of it. He scanned the night sky a little bit more, spotting one other thing that stood out, a large balloon like object. It came closer, and a relieved smile made its way to his aging face.
"Right on time." he muttered to where only he could hear.
The strange airship, which turned out to be a Lurker Balloon being piloted by Brutter and a few of his fellows, soon settled down. Before anyone could wonder what in Gaia's name was going on, Samos walked forward.
"Thank you for coming, Brutter." the old elf said with a bow.
"Tis no trouble, Underground gave us much help, we are happy to return the favor." the Lurker said, a toothy grin upon his face. "Where is Precursor artifact you need moved?"
"Right over there." Samos replied with a gesture, pointing to the Rift Rider, where Keira was busy placing the Heart of Mar into place.
A frown came over Brutter's visage, as the Lurker tried to figure out how he and his comrades were going to move the massive device. However, while he was scratching his head, the two Green Eco Sages walked over to the machine, where the elder one paused just long enough to hand something to Jak, and then focused their own energies on it, lifting it about ten feet into the air. Then, walking along side it while everyone else stared open mouthed at the feat, they moved it over to the waiting balloon, and dropped it onboard. Both of them then mounted up, and Samos motioned for his adoptive daughter to join them. With a look at Jak, she reluctantly did so, handing the dark elf her backpack.
"Where are they heading?" Sig asked the dark elf, a look of confusion upon his face.
"Everything depends on them getting that thing to the Metal Head Nest." the Ascended Channeler told the Wastelander, before turning to face him. "That's why you're going with them."
"What?" the armored elf replied in disbelief and horror, looking at Jak as if he'd suddenly gone mad. "You're asking me to run from a perfectly good fight?"
"I'm asking you to watch over them, Sig." Jak replied, his slitted eyes pleading with the Wastelander. "They're all I've got left, please."
"And what about you?" Sig replied, turning his cybernetic red eye upon the dark elf.
"Where I'm going, there's only one gun that can help me," he replied, holding up the sheet of paper that Samos had given him, and he let a half smile come over his face, "and even you can't carry it."
The burly enforcer tried to find a means by which to formulate a reason for him not to go, but found himself unable to. He sighed, and moved over to the others, where he shed the vulcan to let someone else make use of the devastating weapon. He then walked over, and hopped up on the balloon.
Samos, meanwhile, was being his old mysterious self, informing Praxis of where Torn and the others were, and dropping the suggestion that they might be in need of backup. The general, realizing that this would be there one chance to stop the invasion at its source, quickly radioed in for a drop ship to come pick them up. The elder Green Eco Sage then signaled for Brutter and his buddies to get the balloon ship into the air. They were quick to do so, realizing that they were easy targets upon the ground.
As they lifted off, Keira eyes caught his once again, and the dark elf crossed his arms across his chest, letting his fingers rest on the tops of his shoulders. It was a gesture that she returned. It was an age old symbol between the two of them, and promise from him to her that he would come back alive.
"Must be nice floating away while we die down here!" Daxter remarked sourly, yanking him out of his thoughts.
"Sorry, Dax," Jak told his little friend, "but I'm going to need you."
He then shouldered up Keira's backpack, and walked over to Praxis, once more watching the scarred elf to see what to make of him.
He didn't have long though, as the drop ship that Praxis had put in a call for arrived rather quickly. In less than thirty seconds, everyone was loaded up and ready to go. Praxis told the pilot where to head to, and they were off.
It had gotten six generators back up and running thus far, but time was running out, and it knew it. Pausing for a single cycle, the construct created a subroutine that took in the current known number of military forces, K.G. Underground, and a few extra just in case, and measured them up against the estimated number of the enemy. It wasn't good, but the A.I. still calculated that the defenders of Haven City would hold out against the current number of enemy ground forces, and could even take on the aerial ones that were currently buzzing about. However, should another wave come through that tunnel, or if it failed to get the Shield Wall back up in time, all would be lost.
Even at the current rate, the construct figured casualty counts were going to be up near the scores of thousands, going perhaps as high as sixty percent of the known combat forces not living through the battle.
That was not acceptable. It had to work faster.
Willing its programs and subroutines to increase in speed, it sped towards generator number seven.
The transport craft came in low and fast, practically skimming the bloodied streets of Haven City. Jak sat in the co-pilot seat, Daxter crouched upon his shoulder. The eyes of the former were closed, and his breathing was deep and even, as the dark elf attempted to regain as much of his powers as he could, knowing that yet another baptism by fire was soon to await him. Daxter, however, stared around, his mouth agape at the destruction that had befallen the Harbor.
Praxis, leaning in-between the two pilot seats of the transport, felt a combination of despair and rage grip him as he gazed out through the canopy window. Slowly, he clenched his right hand into a fist, vowing that this act of aggression would not go unpunished.
He suddenly noticed something, a pair of construct exo-skeletons, the same ones that he had encountered before in the slums, that were standing guard by an old maintenance elevator. The elven general pointed it out to the pilot, who nodded and flew over to the place. With expert skill, the Krimzon Guard killed the forward thrust and kicked the repulsor lifts into hover mode, and then opened the rear hatch. The troops spilled out, and Praxis looked over to Jak.
"Pilot," he said, "come with us."
"Sir?" the man inquired, somewhat confused.
"Head on out with the others, this ship is in his hands now." Praxis said, with a nod to the dark elf.
The man did as he was told, and as Jak plopped himself over into the piloting seat, the scarred elf went to leave. However, when he was about halfway to the back of the ship, he suddenly paused, and turned around to face the renegade…for what he knew, deep down, would be the final time.
"Al…Jak," he said, pausing until the Ascended Channeler had turned around to face him, "for the Precursor's sake, boy…come back alive. And also, wherever they are, they're both proud of you."
The dark elf remained silent for a few seconds, while Daxter simply seemed confused, and Praxis turned back around, before Jak calling his name caused him to pause once again.
"Good luck," the Ascended Channeler said, "you're going to need it."
Praxis simply nodded, a small smile upon his face. He then pivoted about, and walked to the rear hatch of the drop ship, before leaping down to join his men.
Almost as soon as he did, the hatch closed, and the transport craft's engines whined as Jak punched the accelerator, shooting off into the night sky
"Where's he going?" Toshiro inquired, staring at the retreating drop ship.
"He's got a date with destiny." Praxis said, looking around to his troops. "And so do we. Move out!"
The group was on the elevator shaft in no time flat, descending into the bowels of the city, where Haven's fate would be decided.
A Grunt leapt at him from the side, thinking to catch the Revenant off guard. However, it hadn't realized that the helmet that Torn was wearing came equipped with motion sensors, and rather than the helpless back of an elf, what it got was a vibro-blade to the throat. With a snarl, the gray armored soldier twisted the gauntlet-mounted device, and the sound blade ripped a gapping hole in the Metal Head's neck. The creature fell back to the ground, its head nearly severed from the rest of its body.
The soldier peered about, manually switching his visor over to night vision in an attempt to see if there were any more of the fiends hiding in the shadows of the Underport.
He couldn't find anything, but that did not reassure him in any way. They were approaching the enemy's foothold, their proverbial 'beach head.' This meant that they were likely to encounter even heavier resistance as they pushed deeper and deeper into these catacombs.
And Heaven help them if the Hora-quan decided that it was time to send wave number two through that tunnel.
For a brief instant, Torn let his gaze wander over to Ashelin, who was a few steps to his left. Her jaw was set, her eyes burning with determination, and her stride even and calm. In short, she looked every bit the commander she was born to be. A smile came over his face as he thought of what she meant to him. She was everything to him, he'd already proven that, and he swore that he'd never let himself forget that.
Still, he entertained no delusions, and he knew they were marching straight into the jaws of Death. But, if they went down, if things went awry, he vowed that he would make certain that she was the one to make it back topside.
The same applied to Jynx. His sole remaining comrade from the early days, back before the coup, a man that he'd thought for three long years was dead. Now, as if by a miracle, the brothers were reunited and charging back into battle again. And despite everything that had happened, the pyromaniac still had his old sense of humor about him, even if it could at times be a little morbid.
His brother and love by his side, Torn led them on, as they drew ever closer to the tunnel.
Their boots thumping as they double-timed it through the twisting passages of this ancient place, Praxis, Tess, and the other K.G. and resistance soldiers raced in a bid against time to catch up with the others. As it was when he had been tailing Jak, the elven general found it rather easy to keep on the right trail, despite the labyrinth around them, one needed only to follow the bodies. Unfortunately, the Metal Heads were not the only ones to litter the corridors. Elves too, lay where they fell, their bodies ripped and torn by claws or slain by blaster fire.
Praxis was unable to stop himself from thinking about who these people might be. There a young man lay, his guts spilling out of his body. Who had this young boy, taken by Death long before he should have been, been in life? Did he have a family? Was there, somewhere out there, a mother or father, with other siblings perhaps, that would pray silently for the safe return of their son or sibling, only to find that their pleas to the heavens had been in vain?
Or perhaps, had his family been one of those that he himself had ordered silenced for their views? Was that what drove him to throw his lot in with the rebels? Was he at long last reunited with them in some paradisiacal after life?
Another Underground soldier, this one a female, lay up ahead, her eyes glassy and lifeless as they stared, unblinking, into the abyss. Questions raced through his mind once again. What drove this girl to fight and lay down her life, was it the love of freedom? Vengeance? What?
Heavens above, how many people like this had he condemned? How many fates had he sealed in his narrow minded belief that he had known what was best for the city?
With a quiet growl, he shook his head. Such musing would not help now, one could not change the past after all. However, he could still change the future.
They were fully engaged with the enemy now, and the firestorm that was taking place was truly unbelievable, considering the small number of soldiers that were present.
"Okay," Jynx muttered in a morbid tone as he rigged up a Havoc, one of six that he'd scored when they'd raided that armory, "we're underground, up to our armpits in Metal Heads, and I've got another damn tunnel to blow up. This bringing back memories for anyone else?"
"Less talking, more priming!" Ashelin yelled back at him as she gunned down a Grunt that was charging at her.
Off to her side, Torn activated a plasmite grenade before hurling it into the ranks of the enemy. His aim was good as always, and he managed to stick it right onto a Crab Head. The beast gave a single startled cry, before the explosive detonated, ripping it apart. Torn wasted no time using the shredder mode of his morph gun to take advantage of the temporary confusion that followed the Hora-quan commander's death.
Still, they were not all doing as hot as he was. This tunnel that they were in afford them little, as in virtually nothing, to make use of as cover. As a result, they were just like practice targets to the Metal Heads that happened to be armed with ranged weapons. Already, nearly a dozen lay in pools of their own blood, and the number was growing fast. And Jynx figured it would take him at least three more minutes to get the rest of the Havocs up and ready to blow.
Torn suddenly realized that they weren't going to make it, they were losing too many, too fast.
It was then that a miracle occurred.
The construct was on its way to generator number nine when it suddenly became aware of something else within the vicinity of its presence. Pausing for a split second, it searched around the unfamiliar circuits until it at last spotted what it had gotten its attention. It was an odd looking device, but it appeared to be a security camera of some sorts.
Had it possessed eyes at that particular moment, they would have bulged outward in disbelief at what it observed.
A group of elven forces, resistance members and a few K.G. elites by the look of them, were trying to bring down a tunnel, and on the other side of it were legions upon legions of Metal Heads. Instantly, the A.I. realized that the means that the Hora-quan had used to get into the city was right in front of it. It also calculated that the elves trying to stop them were all going to be blasted into next world approximately twenty five and a half seconds prior to the completion of their job.
Frantically, it looked about, trying to find some means to even things up. What it did find surprised it. It felt something, and 'peering about' realized that it was receiving handshake signals from some strange power units. Upon further investigation, it realized what they were: security guns.
In that single moment of time, the A.I. dedicated every last bit of its processing capabilities towards getting those auto guns online. Billions of functions a second were carried out as it attempted to connect and interface with the foreign circuitry. It took it fifteen seconds, a proverbial lifetime for something that was capable of moving as fast as it was, but it got them working.
There was a strange whirring and clicking noise that seemed to emanate from all around, loud enough to be heard over the din of the fighting. Then, the elves watched as parts of the wall slipped away, and out popped some rather strange looking blaster turrets. Immediately, they sighted up the Hora-quan that were closest to their sensors, and opened up.
Multi colored bolts of Eco suddenly filled the small tunnel. And Torn, as observant as ever, noticed something odd about these weapons. The bolts seemed to do far less damage on the whole as compared to what he and his fellows had at their disposal, for which the guns attempted to compensate for by having an extremely high rate of fire. However, what they might have lacked in stopping power, they more than made up for in their penetration capabilities.
He watched, awestruck, as two of the auto guns focused upon the same Crab Head, and their rounds shredded its armor, and were soon tearing through flesh.
Then, even more reinforcements arrived.
A sniper bolt zipped its way past his helmet, dropping a Grunt that had been leaping towards Ashelin. The creature fell, its face twisted into a mask of surprise, a hole now neatly burned into the center of its forehead.
It was soon to be followed by a plasmite grenade and a high pitched noise that Torn had come to associate with the vulcan that Keira had created. The Revenant took a risk, and stared over his shoulder to watch Praxis and some of his elites, with a few K.G. regulars and Underground mixed in among them, coming down the passage with guns blazing.
Not pausing to wonder at the irony of the given situation, Torn returned his attention to gunning down his adversaries until, a hectic two minutes later, Jynx reported that he was all done and that they needed to pull back.
Their guns still laying down fire, they did so, retreating back into the labyrinth as the pyromaniac got out the detonator and pressed the two thumb buttons, before pulling the trigger, all the while silently praying he didn't cause some sort of cataclysmic city wide collapse.
The bombs detonated, and the tunnel collapsed, effectively sealing Haven city off to the rest of the Metal Heads. The aerial ones could still get through, but for now, everyone was certain that they would at least be able to hold out against the threat.
Unknown to them, the construct had just gotten another generator up and running, and was on its way to the next.
It was almost half an hour later when they managed to get back up to the main Harbor area. Once there, they were swift to plot out their next move.
"So where to we head from here?" Ashelin inquired, looking over to her father, who seemed more at peace now than she'd seen him since before the disastrous attack on the nest those years ago.
"We're getting calls for air and armor support from all over the city." The black armored general replied, looking around, his gaze settling upon the two revenants, both of whom were looking at him with suspicion, and he honestly couldn't blame them. "And I think I know how we might be able to help them out." He said, before motioning for Commander Toshiro to come over next to him.
The yellow armored officer did so, and with drew his comm. unit at the same time, bringing up a holographic map of Haven City, complete with a flashing red arrow that was pointing at the Harbor and had the ever famous 'you are here' text written above it.
"Not long ago," Praxis began, "our engineers finally finished some prototype Hellcats. They've got a newer type of repulsor lift allowing for better maneuvering, something we decided we needed after loosing so many to your raids." He said, giving a grim smile in Torn's direction. "We've got a little more than a dozen of them sitting in a hanger here." the general said, pointing to a large building in the northern area of the Industrial Sector. "But the piloting teams that we dispatched never made it."
"So the plan's to fight our way to the hanger, get the new Hellcats in the air, and then deal with the enemy from there." Jynx inquired, his glowing blue visor facing Praxis.
"Pretty much." the scarred elf replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Then let's move out." His daughter said, her voice grim and determined.
Finally, this was the last power generator. Once this was done, it could hurry up and get a move on getting the automatic defense turrets up and a running.
With those thoughts running through it, it began the interfacing process.
Unfortunately, luck was not with everyone that night. As Torn, Ashelin, and the others fought their way to the hangar where the prototype gunships were stored away, the Grim Reaper came to collect someone.
Benton's termite was down on its back, the K.G. inside of it panting loudly. The exo-skeleton had been knocked down when a Guardian had landed in front of the group, and in the small street they were on, the use of its Dark Eco breath weapon would have been absolutely devastating. However, the corporal had jetted forward, slamming his mech's plasma torch into the things head, while simultaneously inserting the turbo saw on the other arm into its mouth. The end result hadn't been pretty, but it had been lethal.
The death throes of the thing had knocked the mech aside, and now the corporal was simply thanking the Ancients that he was still alive.
"Good work, son," Praxis said, coming up next to him, "if we live through this, you might get a medal for that."
"I'd settle for a new pair of pants, Sir." The K.G. soldier replied in a shaky voice.
Praxis chuckled, but then a chill came over him, that feeling that something wrong. He scanned about, and then he saw what had made him so uneasy, and felt horror clutch at his heart.
Ashelin was standing off to one side of the little group, leaning one hand against the side of a building as she tried to catch her breath. And behind her, were the strange liquid distortions that indicated an active camouflage generator was in use.
The elven general shouted a warning, and sprinted forward, willing himself to move faster. His daughter looked over her shoulder, and saw the Cloaker, and the distortions of its blade as it lunged at her.
Torn, hearing the commotion, turned, and gasped in fear.
There was the sound of sheering armor, followed by a groan of pain as the weapon sank into flesh.
Ashelin looked up from her prone position upon the street to find the blade sticking out of her father's gut. Praxis simply snarled, despite the obvious pain that he was in, and balled up a fist, before driving it into the Cloaker's face, smashing it in and effectively killing the Metal Head. He then collapsed to his knees, and slumped against the building. With a grunt, he ripped the weapon from his gut, the dark color of his armor hiding the blood that was seeping out of the gapping hole in his stomach.
Faintly, from somewhere in the background, the red haired lieutenant heard Torn shout a warning, and those who had infrared visors immediately pulled them down. Heat seeing as they were, it was only a few seconds before the Cloaker's two comrades were located and dispatched.
She paid them no mind, and simply scrambled over to where her old man lay. Forgotten was all that he had done, gone were the memories of all the crimes he had committed. She saw before her only her father, and the knowledge that he was dying screaming through her mind.
His breath came in deep gasps as he instinctively struggled to stay alive. His eye was closed, and it took her three tries to get him to open it. The eye darted about for a moment, before focusing on her. A faint smile made its way over his mangled visage, and he reached out, gently caressing her face.
"Ashelin…" he said, his voice weak, before a coughing fit overtook him. His daughter opened her mouth to tell him to not talk, but he cut her off.
He knew he was dying, and he would not allow her to disgrace that, however unintentionally, with meaningless lies about him going to be all right.
"I want you to know…" he said, drawing in a gasp, "that I'm proud of you…and I'm sorry, for not being the father that I should have been."
She threw herself around him, not caring a bit for the large amounts of blood that she was getting on herself. Torn came over, thinking to pull her away. However, he got a surprise when Praxis motioned for him to come a bit closer. His daughter sobbing into his chest, he had the gray armored soldier lean in close, and then whispered to where only he could hear him.
"I want you to make certain she doesn't get herself hurt, Torn." the dying elf gasped. "And I swear, on the graves of my forefathers, if you do anything to cause her grief, your ass is haunted! Do you understand me?"
The Revenant nodded somberly, and Praxis let a calm smile come to his face. He carefully stroked his daughter's hair, before the light in his eye went out, and his hands slumped to the ground.
Torn stood back up, and felt himself living up to his name in his regards for the dead elf. What should he feel? A part of him felt a tad bit triumphant over the death of the man who had destroyed his brothers and sisters, but at the same time, he felt an undeniable amount of sorrow, for the loss of the soldier who he had once fought alongside of, and whom he had grimly respected.
In the end, he simply did what came to mind first. He looked down at the body of General Geoffrey Praxis, and gave him a salute.
That done, he bent down to get Ashelin back up on her feet.
Reluctantly, she let go, still sobbing as Torn put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She forced herself to stop crying hysterically, and began to give orders, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, breath hitching every so often as the tears continued to fall.
&
And thus, Praxis meets his end, in a considerably better way than he did in the game.
I hope that everyone enjoyed the chapter, blood, gore, and everything else involved. That said, I am in need of ideas for missions in the sequel, so please let me know if you have any in regards to that. Also, ideas for weapons will also be appreciated, as there will be many in the next story as well.
So please, let me know what you think, be it critiscm, flame, idea, or anything else along that nature, as all authors like to know how their work is going over with the readers.
And, as I said before, please remember to help those in need and keep Katrina's victims in your prayers. Along those lines, if anyone is looking for a place to donate, www deviantart .com has set up some links to charities and funds that are going to be used to help those who have been hurt in the disaster, as well as lists of high priority items, so you can go there if you need some ideas of what is needed.
Thank you, and have a great day.