Chapter XII: Wasteland Metal-Heads


Jak casually walked into the Garage. It had been a while since had had gotten something to do.

Kleiver was there and he looked up at the duo as they entered. "Oh, it's you two." He said. Jak didn't reply. "You two looking for a bit of action?"

"That's why I'm here." Jak said.

"Fine. The radar shows a group of four Metal-Heads moving through the desert not too far from here." He moved over to a vehicle that was slightly larger than the Tough Puppy, plus it had weapons and armor. "Take the Sand Shark here, chase them down, and fill those bad boys full 'o lead."

"Why does it sound like you're leaving out the dangerous parts?" Daxter asked. He looked at Jak. "Jaaaak, I'm getting some nasty juju-vibes here! I don't have these whiskers for nothing, you know!"

Jak rolled his eyes. "Relax, will you, I think I can handle four Metal-Heads."

Kleiver grinned evilly. "Have you ever seen a Wasteland Metal-Head before?"

"Are they any different from the ones by Haven or the ones at the Metal-Head nest?" Jak asked.

Kleiver laughed. "Too right, mate."

"Then, no, we haven't seen a Wasteland Metal-Head." Jak said.

"Why?" Daxter asked suspeciously.

"Nothing. Just asking." Kleiver said, than he added sarcastically. "Go get 'em, heroes."

Jak paused mid-step on his way to the Sand Shark. Daxter saw the look on Jak's face, the look that he was fighting with all his might not to explode at Kleiver. Daxter knew what he was thinking. He was wondering why Seem and Kleiver used the word 'hero' so sarcastically. But he was only partially right.

Jak was also pissed at the fact that they were calling him a hero in the first place. As far as he was concerned, his days as a hero were over, and his days as a warrior were beginning.

"You better watch your back, Kleiver." Jak hissed through gritted teeth. "You may have heard about the things I could do. Well, you don't know the half of it. My enemies are dead… every single one of them."

"I guess you must be a better than average fighter to have tangoed with the Metal-Head Leader and survived." Kleiver admitted. "Better warriors than yourself have faced him, coming out gravely injured, or worse, dead."

Jak thought of his unknown sire again. "How many men have faced the Metal-Head Leader?" He asked as casually as he could.

"Geez… more than can be counted in one lifetime." Kleiver said. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing." Jak said, his heart sinking. If only a few people had faced the Metal-Head Leader, than that would considerably narrow down the list of possible fathers, and at least he'd have names. But if there was more than could be counted, it wouldn't help much at all. He thought angrily on the single clue that he had.

Jak pushed that thought to the back of his mind. There was no point in stewing over it. He couldn't remember a thing about his parents; he couldn't even say how he felt about them.

Jak jumped into the seat of the Sand Shark, Daxter sat on the seat next to him, and they took off into the Wasteland desert without a second thought on his parental problems.


The radar showed that these four Metal-Heads were tramping around the desert only a short distance from Spargus. "Four Metal-Heads?" Jak demanded. "Kleiver sent us out here to kill four Metal-Heads?"

"Don't get cocky!" Daxter pleaded. "These things could be Metal-Heads from hell! Or maybe they have death-ray eyes!"

"Death-ray eyes?"

"Death-ray eyes!"

"Dax, you've been my friend for years, as long as I can remember, and I've heard a lot of bullshit come out of your mouth. But that is by far the stupidest thing you're ever said."

"Oh come on! You don't mean that!" Daxter said. "I'm frankly insulted! I've said much stupider things than that!"

"Yeah, right." Jak said. He looked ahead and his eyes widened. "Holy shit!"

"What? What?" Daxter asked, looking where Jak was looking. "Holy shit!" He copied.

A huge Metal-Head topped the closest hill, and when I say huge, I mean 'enormous.' These monsters stood thirty feet tall and were fifty feet long. It's long tail swept to the side and hit one of the few trees that managed to survive in the Wasteland and knocked it clean over. It opened its huge mouth, revealing foot-long jagged teeth, and it let loose a roar. The sound hit Jak's ears and he winched painfully.

"Shit!" He repeated. "That's a Wasteland Metal-Head?"

"I knew Kleiver was leaving out the dangerous stuff!" Daxter complained.

"I sure hope this vehicle has a good weapon on it." Jak said.

"You got that right." Daxter said, watching the Metal-Head sniff the air. "Hey, Jak?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"What if you are the Metal-Head Leader?" Daxter asked.

Jak blinked. "I take back what I said earlier. That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say. Don't start that again! I'm not the Metal-Head Leader!"

"Just do something… Give it an order!"

"What? Now I know you're crazy."

"Just try it!" Daxter said.

Jak shook his head sadly. "I can't believe I'm doing this." He said. He stood up in the Sand Shark. "Hey, you, Metal-Head!" He yelled. The monster didn't react. "See?" Jak asked. "It doesn't even pay attention to me."

"Try the Ancient Language." Daxter suggested.

Jak rolled his eyes again. "Hora-Quan!" He yelled the Precursorian name for the Metal-Heads. The Metal-Head looked around. "S luwau flk ql bsrr flkuiarm! I order you to kill yourself!"

"Good one." Daxter commented.

The Metal-Head blinked its large eyes, waiting.


Thousands of miles away, the Dark Monsters were debating. "Should we make the Metal-Head carry out the order?"

"It would be a bonus for it to believe it really is the Metal-Head Leader." Another said. He made a direct mind-link with the Metal-Head. "Do it." He ordered.


Back in the desert, the Metal-Head lifted a claw…

"Oh my God!" Jak gasped.

And with a quick slash, it drew its claw across its neck. Green blood painted the sands and the monster fell to the ground a few seconds later… dead.

Jak stared. He could believe what he had just seen. "He… he followed your order!" Daxter gasped. "That must mean you are the Metal-Head Leader!"

Jak rounded on Daxter. "Not a word of this ever gets out to anyone!"

"But, think, you could end the war just by ordering the Metal-Heads to kill themselves!"

"It will definitely help with any 'kill the Metal-Head' missions." Jak said. "And it will help on this mission too." With that, Jak drove off to find the other beasts.


Let's just say that the hardest thing about the mission was Daxter telling Jak to make the Metal-Heads do all sorts of bizarre things. The least of which was getting the last two Metal-Heads to fight each other. So that was the one thing that Jak did let happen.

It was a short fight as one seemed far stronger than the other. However, the loser managed to rip the victor's throat out before it died, so both lost the fight and the winner fell to the ground with a roar. Jak drove up, got out and walked up to the beast, which was still alive, only just.

Jak conjured the longest weapon he had in his possession, a spear, and shoved it through the bio-metallic armor that covered the space between its eyes. The spear pierced the living brain and killed the monster almost instantly.

"Hey, Jak, look!" Daxter pointed at the ground. Jak walked over, a Dark Eco Crystal lay on the ground. He picked it up, studying it.

Suddenly, there was a sound behind him and Jak looked around. A small holographic communicator had activated. The person was male, but the hologram wasn't perfect and the signal was distorted, so Jak couldn't make out who it was. "Metal-Head Commander, report! What's happening? If you lost that cargo and you're still alive… I'll kill you myself! I need every Dark Eco Crystal you can find! Time is sort! Do you hear me?"

Jak walked over to the hologram. "I'm sorry, but you're delivery boy had to be put down."

"Wait! Not you!" The hologram said. Jak stomped on it, effectively destroying it.

"I don't like the sound of your voice." Jak said to the broken hologram emitter.

"Oh yeah, you sure kicked sand in his face! Oh yeah… that was good." Daxter said.

At the mention of 'face' Jak thought back on the hologram. Even though it was in bad condition, he could see the shadow of the man's face, and the face, and the voice, gave Jak a feeling of dejavu. "That face looked familiar."

"Well, that's just you being paranoid, buddy-boy." Daxter said. "Now let's get back to Spargus… this desert gives me the creeps!"

With one last look at the broken emitter, Jak pocketed the Dark Eco crystal and walked back to the Sand Shark.


LES: There was a slight change to the plot in this chapter and I hope I haven't written myself into a corner. What with Jak thinking he's the Metal-Head Leader and all.