THEMAKEROFLIGHT: hello there one and all, hope you enjoyed last chapter even if it was a bit short. In this one you find out what all the fuss over Keira not fighting was, and its not what you think.

CHAPTER TWELVE: THE ECO WAR

It was just three days after their marriage and already they were behaving like a long married couple, Jak and Keira were now two of the most important people in most of the world, a king without a wife or heir isn't worth much after all.

Torn had drawn out a very specific battle plan, the section that Haven was going to take out consisted of about thirty islands, including the one where the base was found, they would spread from the relatively small islands on the outside and then expand into the middle where the landmass was more dense, and where they would find the more massive creatures, unfortunately what with all the lost information the armies of Haven had never figured out that the closer you get to water the bigger they get, so starting on the outside was not a good idea, even so, it was all they had.

Keira was becoming more and more concerned with Karena, ever since the wedding she had been so cold, like her emotions had just drained away. Nothing could seem to bring her out of her sulk, and even Daxter's annoying voice couldn't prompt her to swing a sword, and many of the crew doubted her ability to fight in the upcoming battle, even though she got up and started practising whenever Jak mentioned the prospect of killing eco creatures.

They had been out of Calsa port in Damas for a day and were nearing the choke point, this was where many ships had gone done gurgling from heavy storms, but it was the only way around the massive reef blocking way to the islands by sea. Jak had gathered all the members of the light troopers and devised a plan, each one would spread out over the entire fleet and cast one big eco sheild over the ships, which was no mean feat considering that the whole lot was over 300 ships, but Jak was sure they could do it.

In marital bliss was the way no one would describe the two newlyweds, they had had almost no time to themselves between sorting out matters of state and being congratulated by everyone on the ship, and all the others for that matter, Sig was particularly annoyed that he hadn't been invited, having known Keira well from her days of working in the Hip Hog. Rayn had raised a few eyebrows by squealing over the comm link at the sight of the massive rock that Jak had given Keira, which funnily enough was part of the big one Gordy and Willard had dug out of that cave in the volcanic crater.

Eiun,the newly appointed leader of the light troopers, was scuttling around looking for Jak, obviously in a state of panic, he found him holding a sleeping Keira, there had been a lot of victims of eco storms in Calsa, and she had used all her energy healing them. Jak didn't look happy to see him, knowing that he would only be in that sort of way if there was a serious problem.

"My lord Jak, I have urgent news, I have just managed to squeeze some information out of the other troopers, and it appears...well..."

"Would you spit it out so I can sort it out as quick as possible." Said the clearly annoyed king.

"Well, it has just come to my attention that, well, most of the troopers can't even fly, and the ones that can won't be able to in a storm."

Jak was pretty much ready toeat the man standing before him, not because of the news, but because there was an answer onboard the ship, he hadn't needed to come and disturb what little time he had to himself.

"Well its pretty obvious what to do, we just use the lurker balloons to transport the troopers, you should have thought of that, if those damn medals on your chest are anything to go by."

"Yess sir, I thought of that, but we need you to ask the ammbassodor personally, none of us dare to, he is a lurker after all."

Jak hated that the old predudices were still around, but grudgingly agreed to help, he laid out Keira's head on the sofa in his quarters, and made his way to the emmbassy.

Jak reached there with much cheering and clapping from all the lurker soldiers, they held him as their King also for his services to them during the long dark years of slavery in Haven. Brutter saw him and practically jumped on him.

"Jak friend, it good to see you, what bring you to lurker house, may my brothers and I do anything for you?"

"Actally Brutter I came to ask a favour, it turns out that only a few troopers can fly competently, leaving our plan to get through the storms scuppered. Unless we can use your balloons to transport them above the fleet, with your permission of course.:

"We would be happy to help old friend, you are honorary member of lurker tribe, and a lurker never forgets."

"Great, that's what I thought you'd say, now I can get back to some peace." He was about to leave, but a heavily wounded lurker burst through the door, roaring in it's own language, Brutter became agitated as the lurker continued.

"Jak, people are coming with guns, they shoot lurker brothers up, they coming for me they say."

Jak was getting death stares from all the lurkers in the room, they thought that he had sent them, who could blame them, the men were wearing Jak's seal. He yanked the gun off his back and charged through the door, closely followed by Brutter who had grabbed a massive blaster from a gun rack and was strapping on armour as he walked.

There were sounds of guns being fired through the walls, the lurker embassy ship was already overrun, screams and roars echoed through the halls, lurker ears recognised each bestial roar as a death cry.

Jak opened fire on the guards without hesitation, whether they were traitors or just predudiced against lurkers he didn't care, Brutter and three other giant beasts leaped into a hoard of at least ten guards and dispatched them all in under a minute. Jak threw himself into the fray, becoming half human half demon, causing utter chaos wherever he was, one particularly stupid soldier with the chevrons of leadership on his shoulder decided to shoot Jak in the back, it didn't do much. Jak was on hi before the captain saw him move, the dark elf throwing him over his shoulder with no effort at all, the man hit the wall and didn't get back up.

Jak whipped out a long nosed barrel and snapped on a huge bulking attachment that blossomed out into an oval shape, he wanted to end the battle with as little casualties as possible, jumping and ducking into the centre of the room he radioed through to Torn to keep his men away fro the embassy. Reaching the centre and pointing the gun at the ground he looked around, letting all the lurkers and men come cloesr to him, then he fired.

Lines of green spread out from the point of origin like ripples i water, everything it touched was lifted off the ground and dangled in the air, unable to move, Jak walked around the room and surveyed the damage, many bodies in the air wouldn't have moved if they could, many dead in not much time. He called to Torn who had reached the ther side of the door to come through. The true FL grabbed the intruders and bound them, making sure there was no escape, then set about chatching the lurkers as they fell.

Jak, now returning to his usual form, strode up to the now awakening captain he had knocked out earlier, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck with one hand and lifting him up against the wall.

"Why are you attacking me and Haven's allies?" He growled, both casual and menacing. "You never stood a chance, it was barely a training session." He winced as he suddenly found spittle in his eye.

Torn took this as the last straw, jamming the butt of his rifle into the captain's head. "If I was you, I'd be begging for my life by now, not asking to be killed."

"It won't make a difference if I beg or not," Said the apparently suicidal traitor. "You think I didn't know I was going to die when I took this job, I've done what I came here to do."

"You've done nothing, all the lurkers that died here today can be saved by Keira."

"Look around you, we came dressed as guards for a reason, now the lurkers think you tried to kill them, they'll never agree to your plan. And when you get back, our masters will be free to kill you at their leisure."

"That where you wrong stupid man, we lurkers trust friend Jak and fight for him, you do nothing here today." Said a nearby lurker and raised his fistto the air, letting loose a ferocious roar.

Jak had heard enough, he pulled out a customised red pistol and blew the traitor's head off.

While Brutter stayed to tell the lurkers the full story, Jak went over to where Keira was tending to the wounded.

"Hey, how's this guy doin'." He asked her.

"He's gonna be fine, but there's a lot of lurkers here who could have done without the pain, I can't heal the wounds fully, many will never fight again." How are you though, I hear you got a bit angry?"

"I'm fine, I don't need anything." Snapped Jak, suddenly very protective.

Keira got suspicious. "Jak, you have been venting regularly havn't you?"

"Yes, every week, like Shorine said."

"JAK! You can't sneak a lie past your wife, I told you, Shorine told you, Daddy told you, and Damas would tell you as well if he were here." Jak winced at the sound of his dead father's name. "If you don't vent then it'll be like back in the prison, when you could barely stop yourself from killing one of your best friends. What if you just snap sometime and kill someone, like me, you don't want that do you?"

Jak didn't answer, but Keira got the gist. Torn called over to Jak, very confused.

"Jak, we got a problem, the lurkers want to get revenge on the ones who killed their brothers, but we can't just let them kill all these men, what are we gonna do with them?"

Jak thought for a minute, then got a brinwave.

"Say Torn," he said in a stage whisper, "Didn't we pass some rock just a little way back, a mile within the storm probability range, why don't we go back there and drop off some unwanted waste?"

Shivers ran through the crowd. "Unless of course some people would rather spend their time in a nice' safe prison cell." Vigorous nods. "Good, I'll radio for a transport, I hear they have lovely padded cells for those who misbehave, and if that doesn't work, we can send the perpetrators to Kras jail."

That did it, no one wanted to go to Kras jail, there were stories of people being eaten in there. With that sorted out Jak went to take care of business, they were nearing the storm.

Jak had spent hours organising all the exact positoins of each and every one of the troopers, he and Eiun were the only fliers capable of flight in harsh conditions, so all the rest had to use lurker balloons. The storm they were nearing was one of the largest on record, yellow eco from Dei Dailan Ok Eco had been mixed in with the dark, making a sheer barrier of dark flame that they would have to pass through. Jak had gone over the plan a hundred times with Eiun but he still explained it to the inexperienced captain, leaving no room for mistakes, Keira was on hold in case anyone faltered. The entire group of sages had put all their power into creating a magnifier for her power, making her able to heal wounds from miles away. Shorine had taken up a position at the top of the network of balloons, Eiun had taken his place at the back, and Jak was set up at the front.

Jak flew up to the front to get a good look at the storm, it was less than a kilometer away, he started off the network by sending a string of pure light eco to the nearest trooper, then he sent it to another, and eventually there was a web of light projected over the fleet, then for maximum protection the lines grew thicker, sheets of shining blue spreading out from the sides, forming a mushroom over the ships, protection everywhere, except the front, where Jak was.

It was four hours into the journey, Jak's plan was holding, and only one trooper had had to be healed so far, they had rested for a while in the eye, but it didn't last long, they were soon back into the fray, they had encountered some things that Jak recognised as vulture creatures from the old records, thankfully they were blind from flying all their life in an eco storm. Jak had reverted to Dark long ago, and was now being held up by most of the other troopers with their levitation powers, Keira watched anxiously from below, he hadn't had this much eco put in him since the Baron's time, he could crack at any minute.

There was a concentration point coming up, this was where an experimental ship that claimed to be able to withstand the storm went down, it was a swirling vortex of eco created when over landmass, this one was reported to have been swirling for over fifty years, it was going to be the hardest part.

Jak could see it most clearly, but his primitive dark eco clouded mind didn't realise what it was, and was therefore unable to make the necessary preperations, and when it hit, he couldn't do anything about it.

The eco ripped through his body, tearing at his flesh, scorching it, lightning playng over is limbs, Keira screamed and ran to the end of the ship nearest to him, if he fell not only would the net fail, but the eco in the water would kill him instantly. She didn't even know what she was doing, she just stood back from the railing, took a run at it, and jumped.

For the onlookers that day it would have seemed like an angel appeared, wings sprouted from her back and her body lit up in blue-white brilliance, eyes turning pure white. She didn't even acknowledge that anything had happened, her only thought was to get to Jak, his body was slipping, the troopers couldn't hold his body as the storm commanded that it be taken, their concentration slipped for a second, and his body fell, right into Keira's arms. Her light form brought him back to normal, he could now realise what was happening, but even his incredible mind couldn't fathom the beautiful creature holding him, he just knew it was Keira deep in his mind, but he just didn't know he knew.

The eco in his own body reared up again, his form returning to light, flying up to the helm with Keira at his side, he held the storm back, the net had flickered for a second while he was gone, but only for a second, now the troopers had seized control again, it was only a few minutes until they were clear of the clouds, but it would be the point when they died if they didn't get their at together, Jak and Keira stood at the front, hand in hand, and pushed, their power seeming to force the fleet to go faster, they were almost through, the eco outside the sheild couldn't even come within a dozen metres, Jak looked up just as they broke through, and saw the green sun.

Jak and Keira were recovering from their ordeal, after the storm had passed Shorine took a look at Keira, and revealed that being around Jak a lot had unintentionally transferred some of his powers into her body, making her capable of all the things he was. Daxter raised the question that if Keira had them then he might as well, he then grew small white angel feathers from his back that were barely able of making him hover three inches off the ground, much to everyone's amusement.

Sightings from several fly-overs in ragles reported that there was more activity around the northern half of the archipelago, meaning that Haven had to contend with the main force. Daxter, who had sat in the shadows finally decided to enter the battle, nominating himself to be part of Jak's personal guard, this guard consisted of Daxter, Jasen, Keira, and seven other big army names.

Jak had thought out his plan, Haven would first send in hellcats, blasting all vulture creatures to peices, then the bomb-bots would enter, blowing apart the big creatures, then tanks would quickly follow, and finally an unstoppable wave of troopers would set up camps at the many old Mamoron bases, gaining a foothold to lead a crusade to liberate the rest.

Jak stood at the front of the flagship, watching the island grow closer and closer, Seem came up behind him, he had been silent for a long time.

"What troubles you hero?"

"I can't help feeling that there's something else to this, something familiar."

"Maybe it is because you fought these monsters before, when you defeated Gol and Maia, the old records say that such beings came out of the silos at the final battle."

"No, it's more than that, it's elusive, and malicious, these things have no minds, they're driven only by their lust for eco, something else is controlling their movements, it's no coincidence that the largest concentration of them is where we, their biggest threat, plan to attack."

"Maybe, but it is sure to be nothing of a threat to you, you have faced the glory of the lurker armys, you held back the Barons forces in Haven with one hand, and annialated the metal-heads with the other, you were sent into the wasteland for treason, yet you still managed to save the world with minimum loss of life, you even took on the streets of Kras city single handedly, whatever your feeling is, you can handle it." Reassured the monk.

"Hey Jak, what's up." Said Daxter, bounding up onto Jak's shoulder guard. "Hey Seem, how ya doin' still look and sound like a complete weirdo eh?" Jak rolled his eyes then laughed as Daxter jerked off his shoulder as the ship ran aground, many hundreds of hellcats flew from platforms all over the fleet, bomb-bots were readied for battle, and all the regiments cocked their guns, making an noise that all the creatures in a ten mile radius would hear, Jak's guard gathered behind him, Keira put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on Jak, this is it." And the entire army moved out.

Jak and Keira burst through the foliage, swiftly followed by Daxter and Jasen, the rest of his guard had either become seperated or torn apart, they had run into several mage creatures, which were the eco creature's version of sages, and one of them was too strong, so they had to retreat, with the mage following. It jumped through the leaves after them, raising its hands to build up an eco blast, Jak took out the Sword of Freedom and slammed it into the monster's leg, cutting it clean off, the thing just laughed, and pointed to its severed leg as the flesh replaced itself, growing an entirely new leg in less the ten seconds.

It took out its own jagged blade and slashed at Keira, who only just ducked in time, Jasen leapt onto the mage's back and attempted to jab it into the creature's head, but heavy armour stopped it dead, but the distraction of a ninty kilo man on its back stopped the mage in it's tracks, giving Jak time to take out his light eco hgun, which had been a gift from the precursors when he went into their ship, and blasted the thing in the stomach, it seemed to explode in front of his, diluted dark eco spattering Jasen and Keira, thankfully they both had substantial protection. Jak put his ear to the ground and listened, Torn had radioed that no one had seen the demon creature yet, but it was sighted by the fly-overs before the battle, and Jak certainly didn't want to be caught off guard, nothing but the light patter of troops.

In the first hour of the battle Haven's forces had managed to seize control of six old Mamoron bases, finding many weapons and equipment inside, but the discovery of a new kind of creature set them back slightly. It was dubbed a tortured creature because it reminded witnesses of Jak when he was in dark mode, and had obviously been injected slowly with dark eco, making them stronger and faster, thankfully they were far less experienced with their powers and were easily brought down by Jak's own. Keira had got what she wanted and managed to get some fighting to herself, even though it was only with a tiger creature.

"Come on, we need to get moving." Said Jak, who unlike the rest, wasn't even breathing hard.

"Just one little rest, can't do much harm, I think I'll just lie down here and rest." Croaked Daxter.

"Yeah, just lie down and let that thing come and step on you." Said Keira. "If I see it I'll give it directions to you."

"We need to go now, those tortured creatures are causing havoc among the trops, and only me, you, and Eiun can take them out, not everyone hass eco powers you know."

"Sir, we can't go on, I've been in Chairen for three years, I'm pretty out of shape." Muttered Jasen. "and besides, those things havn't been spotted much, it takes a long time to pump enough eco into them to make them like that, so there's not too many."

"Well Keira, you coming, this is what it's like on a battlefield, if you think you can't handle it then just say and I'll call for someone to pick you up." Smirked the tall hero, who got a look from Keira that equalled Razer's death stare.

"If I couldn't handle it then I wouldn't be here, Daxter get your lazy ass off the ground and get moving, Jasen you do the same, and since I'm now officially higher than you, that's an order."

She was just about to go through the bushes when there was a rustling, all guns pointed to the sound, it was coming closer, something was coming towards them, they could now see an outline, it was parting the branches, comig out.

And there stood Samos, looking confused and dazed, Keira was overwhelmed with joy, throwing down her gun she grabbed her father in a bear hug, holding him so tightlyy she nearly blocked his air-pipe, letting go as she heard him begin to choke.

"Daddy where have you been, I was worried to death?"

"I don't remember, I only recall being dropped off from some precursor robot, someone held me prisoner, and I remember seeing a citadel, not unlike Gol and Maia's, nothing more than that."

Keira didn't care, she had her father back, that was all that mattered.

Karena staggered into a clearing, she could hear the sounds of battle all around her, her arm was bleeding haevily, and she had lost her gun a long way back. She now had no protection but her sword, which was as good as nothing, she almost had no will to live anyway, evr since Maealan's death she hadn't wanted to go on anymore, not only did she like him, but it was, in her mind, her fault he was dead.

A sound from behind her made her twist around to see a tiger creature staring back at her, then another appeared at it's side, then another behind her again, more kept coming all around her until she was surrounded. Nothing could stop this many, she closed her eyes, and accepted the inevitable.

And she heard a shot, and a thump as something hit the ground, then another, and another, ahe opened her eyes gingerly, and saw the bodies of the creatures already dissolving form touching light eco, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked over her shoulder.

It was Maealan, alive and well and wearing the robes of a white monk, without thinking she spun around and pressed her face to his, even he wasn't surprised by the kiss.

She broke it to say. "I thought you were dead, how did you survive the fll, and keep away fro the monsters?"

"Well I've fallen off my ragle often enough to be able to withstand a puny fall like that, and as for the monsters, well...putit this way, if there are dark eco creatures, then it stands to reason that there would be light eco ceatures too, they found me and kept me safe, they've been fighting over control of the islands for as long as even they can remember, now that your army is here, they've managed to turn the tide, they already destroyed to demon and most of the high ranking mages, your side has won the battle for them."

"Well tell them we're glad to help." She giggled, before kissing him again. The comm. unit on her belt bagan to buzz and Torn's voice appeared.

"Calling all units, we have been sucessful in liberating the islands, and there appear to be other creatures on the islands, creatures of light, all enemy forces have been routed, good job people.

THEMAKEROFLIGHT: well that's my longest chapter yet, hope you liked it, it took me a long time to write, now that we have Maealan back that pretty much sets the scene for chapter fourteen, which is going to be my last, seeya in thirteen guys.