Chapter XVII: Rescue Operation

Muse: LES is a lazy, obsessive-compulsive writer. And she's short… really short. Shorter even than Jak!

LES: (singing horribly off tune in the background) "And I could fly higher than an eagle; if you are the wind beneath my wings!"

Muse: And she's a terrible singer.

Everyone: (laughs)


"Jak?" Daxter walked through the small flat, looking for his friend, who could be really quiet when he wanted to. "Jakkie-Boy?" Finally, he found Jak sitting at a window, looking out across the vast desert, into the distance, in his own little world. "Yo! Earth to Jak!"

Jak looked away from the window in surprise. "Oh, Dax… I… I didn't hear you."

"Very unusual for a person who is known for hearing voices and stuff." Daxter said.

"You know what I mean." Jak said, then he looked back out the window. "I'm thinking…"

"About the upcoming challenge?" Daxter asked.

"Surprisingly… no." Jak said, still looking into the distance, as if he were a hundred miles away.

Daxter noted the direction that Jak was looking again. Daxter smiled. "Perhaps the silent hero is thinking of a certain green-haired, green eyed mechanic?"

"What makes you think that?" Jak asked a little too quickly.

"Well, number one, we haven't seen her in months. Number two, you still seem to love her. Number three, your face always goes all blank when you think of her. And, last but not least, you are staring in the direction of Haven City." Daxter said. "Don't make me give more reasons, cause I've got more."

Jak sighed. "Whenever it gets quiet, my mind wanders back to her. I miss her, Dax."

"Hey, so do I… though not in the way you do… I guess." Daxter said. Jak glared at his furry little friend. "Hey! I know she's your girl! I may be good with the ladies, but I know who's off-limits! You know that Keira and I are only friends!"

"It's been so long since I last saw her." Jak said. "And I'm not even sure if she thinks that I'm innocent or not. Did you… did you see the way she looked at me?"

"I sure did." Daxter said. "But, so what, I've seen how she usually looks at you. And I tell you what, it defiantly isn't an evil look." Daxter paused. "She loves you, everyone who knows you two know it, and you love her just as obviously. I think it's going to take more than a few trumped-up charges to make Keira loose her faith in you. Hell, she stood by your side when you got Eco Poisoning! She trusts you enough to allow Dark Jak to carry her safely across Dark Eco. She loves you!" Jak didn't say anything. "So, are you in the same position as before the capture?"

"What?" Jak asked.

"Do you still lust for her?" Daxter asked. Jak remained silent. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. Maybe Keira's one girl who's all 'I want to wait for marriage'."

"You're point?"

"Maybe you should, you know, marry her." Daxter said.

"What?" Jak asked, looking up.

"You heard me, marry her." Daxter repeated.

"I… I…" Jak stuttered. "I can't marry her! We're too young!"

"Au contraire!" Daxter said. "You only need to be eighteen to get married, and even before then, you can get married with a guardian's permission. You are twenty, and she is nineteen. You are both old enough!"

"I'm not talking about legally." Jak said. "Since when have I cared about what's legal or not? I'm talking about emotionally."

"You are the most mature twenty-year old I know." Daxter said. "A side effect of prison, I guess."

"Okay, let's just say for the sake of argument that I want to marry Keira. Where would we live? Her whole life is in Haven, the one place on the planet that is closed to me."

"That is a pickle." Daxter mused. "But love is notorious for conquering even the greatest obstacles."

Jak stared out the window again. "Everything was fine when we were just dating, but me… becoming her husband? That would make me fully responsible for her well-being. I… I have nothing to offer her as a husband."

"You have your love." Daxter pointed out.

"You need more than love."

"All you need is love."

"You need money too. Love doesn't put food on the table."

"You could just claim your title."

"What title?"

"Prince of Haven City! That outta give you some money… a helluva lot of it." Daxter said.

"Prince is just one step away from King." Jak said. "I don't want that, and I don't need that. Haven would never except it anyway, I'm a murderer, remember?" Jak paused, and then stared at Daxter. "Since when were you so keen on Keira and I getting married? I thought you disapproved of our relationship?"

"I did, but I've been thinking." Daxter said. "Well, I've sort of known for years, ever since we were teenagers growing up in Sandover together, that you two would have one of those story-book romances. But… I didn't think it was a good idea because you two were practically brother and sister. I didn't think it would be wise to complicate such a beautiful relationship. But… during the six months or so when you were dating, I couldn't help but think… that you two are meant for each other, like the old Precursor lovers!"

Jak didn't say anything for several minutes while he was deep in thought. Could I marry Keira? Should I marry Keira? What if I broke back into Haven, killed any guards in my way, found Keira, and proposed to her? What if she said no? What if she said yes? Our lives would be so different from that moment onwards. Oh God… what if she wants children? Jak shook his head to get rid of the nagging thoughts, but one remained lodged in his head. What would Samos think? Jak knew that Samos thought of him as the son he never had, and Samos had been the replacement of a father to Jak. How would he feel if his sort-of son became his son-in-law? Would he approve? He never said whether he approved of them going out, how would he react to marriage? He probably wouldn't be ready to give away his 'little girl'. "Just one thing at a time." Jak said to himself.

"That's right!" Daxter said. "Step one: Storm Haven City in a heroic fashion! Step two: Find Keira! Step three: Propose to the girl!"

"Not that!" Jak hissed. "If and when I do ask her to marry me, it will be when we are both ready."

"Girl trouble, eh?" A horribly familiar voice said and the door. Jak looked up in horror and saw Kleiver standing in the doorway.

Jak felt his face redden. To hide his embarrassment, he stood up angrily, trying to pass off the redness as rage. "This is a private conversation, Kleiver!" Jak hissed in his most dangerous voice.

"Ah, like I care about your problems." Kleiver said. "We've got big trouble. Can you put your womanly issues aside until afterwards?"

"Just tell me what I need to do?" Jak asked, all business.

"Fine, the scopes have shown a large Sandstorm is headed our way. And this one isn't one of those 'move a little sand around' sandstorms. This one's a big whooper. Damas wants you to drive out into the Wasteland…"

"In a sandstorm? That's suicide!" Jak said.

"Maybe, but your life is not as important as the four Wastelanders that are lost in the Wasteland." Kleiver said. "You are to drive out into the Wasteland, find the stranded Wastelanders, and do whatever it takes to bring them back alive. And, if you should find one dead, bring back the body so we can give the warrior a proper funeral. And Damas also says that failure is not an option."

"What about the storm?" Jak asked.

"What about it?" Kleiver asked. "Once our Wastelanders are safe, then you have permission to worry about your own safety."

"Great, so I'm basically worthless." Jak hissed.

"Pretty much… until you get your final War Amulet." A pause. "What are you waiting for? You only have the better part of a half-an-hour before the storm hits."

"Dax!" Jak hissed. The Ottsel jumped onto Jak's shoulder. And then, without another word, Jak rushed out the door.


A few minutes later and Jak drove full speed out of Spargus. A large and heavily armored transport lumbered slowly behind. The elf left the transport far behind, which was part of the plan. The transport, the only vehicle Spargus had that could withstand the sands of a sandstorm, would never be able to reach the Wastelanders in time. It was Jak's job to drive ahead in the faster Sand Shark to pick up the Wastelanders and rush them back to the transport.

Jak glanced down at the radar, there were four signals flashing of the screen and Jak moved for the closest one, about a mile away from his current position.

The Wastelander came into view, but he was not alone, he was being attacked by about a dozen or more Marauders. The Wastelander was no rookie when it came to fighting, but he was being surrounded and slowly over-powered by the armored nomads.

"Help me!" He called when he saw the Sand Shark.

Jak jumped out of the vehicle, materialized a long sword, and rushed into the fray, swinging the weapon with enough power to slice through the toughest Metal-Head armor. The Marauder armor didn't stand a chance. It was over within seconds and the desert sand was heavily stained with Marauder blood. The few that had survived Jak's onslaught were running for the hills. Jak let them go, he didn't have time to go hunting Marauders across the desert.

Jak ran up to the Wastelander. "Are you all right?" He asked quickly.

"One of the damn bastards got me good." The Wastelander now sported a deep gash in his arm. It looked nasty, but with medical attention, Jak thought it should heal fine. "But it could've been worse if you hadn't shown up."

"You can thank me later." Jak said. "You need to have that looked at, and the sooner we get out of here, the better." The Wastelander nodded in agreement. The elf jumped into the Sand Shark and the Wastelander hopped into the passenger seat, wrapping some stray bit of cloth around his wound. And then Jak tore off towards the transport.

Once they found the transport, the back door opened. The Wastelander jumped out. "I owe you one." He said before he went into the safety of the transport.

Jak then drove back into the desert for the next closest Wastelander.


Jak dropped off the third Wastelander off at the transport. "Thanks, man, I'll put in a good word with Damas." He jumped into the back of the transport.

The elf quickly jumped the vehicle around and drove off into the desert, trying to ignore the distant sandstorm that he could now see forming on the distant horizon.

After several minutes, Jak came up to where the last beacon was. He got out and looked around the area. Then he saw it, a prone form lying in the sand. Jak walked over and looked down. It was the final Wastelander. He lay still on the desert sand, his staring eyes pointed at the sky. But they were cloudy and saw nothing.

Jak kneeled down and felt for the man's pulse. After a few seconds of not feeling anything, he withdrew his hand, shaking his head. "He's dead." He said simply.

"What killed him?" Daxter asked.

"Whatever's in his hands." Jak looked down at the dead Wastelander's fist, which was tightly closed around something. He began to pry the man's fist open, which, even in death, had a death grip on the whatever it was. Finally, Jak managed to extract it. "No wonder." Jak was holding a Dark Eco Crystal that he had removed from the man. "The poor bastard probably never knew what hit him." He quickly pocketed the crystal.

"Well, Damas ordered us to bring the bodies back to Spargus." Daxter pointed out.

Without another word, and using his superhuman strength, Jak picked up the Wastelander and began to move him towards the Sand Shark. He put him in as reverently as he could. "Well, let's get out of here." He said, looking off in the distance. The monster sandstorm was only ten minutes away, by the look of it.

Suddenly, all of his danger alarms went off. He spun around and gasped. He recognized what it was instantly, a Dark Satellite. It rose out of the sand, and seemed to glare menacingly even though it had no eyes that Jak could see.

The satellite hovered in the air and a long tentacle extended from the body. With a speed that seemed impossible, the tentacle shot out and wrapped itself tightly around Jak's body. Before he couldn't even think of reacting, he was bound tightly. The Satellite began to pump Dark Eco straight into Jak's body via the tentacle. At first, Jak was confused. Then he realized that the Satellite didn't know that he was immune to Dark Eco.

The machine seemed to realize that the Dark Eco was having no effect on its prey. So it went straight for the more direct attack of hurling Jak straight into the nearest rock. He hit the rock, hard, and fell to the ground with a small growl. There was a rattling sound and a large weapon was exposed from the thing's body. Jak barely had time to get out of the way before a hail of bullets hit the ground that he occupied seconds before.

Jak concentrated on a broadsword and the weapon instantly materialized in his fist. He leapt at the Satellite, landed on the top and stabbed it. And, even though it was a machine, it screamed in pain, a loud screeching noise, like a giant piece of chalk being scrapped across a giant chalkboard. Jak stabbed at it again. Suddenly, there was a flash of purple light and the Satellite disappeared from underneath him.

Now, with nothing to stand on, Jak fell back to the ground. Thankfully, it wasn't a far fall and Jak landed safely. "It teleported!" He hissed. "It know I had him and it ran away!"

"Uh… Jak?" Daxter said uncertainly.

"What?"

"Uh… maybe we should be running away too."

Jak looked up and gasped. The sandstorm was still heading right at him, and it looked larger than ever… closer then ever. "Shit!" He swore. He had forgotten about the sandstorm! He had wasted a lot of time trying to kill the Satellite and now his life was in danger again.

He ran for the Sand Shark and jumped into the driver's seat. He floored the accelerator and speed off towards Spargus, praying to any Gods who were listening that he made it to Spargus on time.


Thankfully, Jak discovered that the larger the storm, the slower it moved. He made it into the Spargain gate with a few minutes to spare.

Kleiver walked up, staring at the dead passenger. "Cid!" He obviously knew the man. "What happened to him?"

"I found him dead." Jak said, pulling out the Dark Eco Crystal and showed it to Kleiver. "I found this with him."

Kleiver stared at it, as if trying to detect a fake. Finally, he sighed. "Cause of death, Dark Eco overdose. We'd better get him in. Damas has commanded that everyone receives a proper Precursor burial."

Jak moved to get the body out of the Sand Shark, but Kleiver got there first. "Tell you what, you go to the control room. Tell them to get a hold of Seem. She has a funeral to perform."

Jak nodded and walked off to carry out his orders. As much as he hated it, Kleiver did rank higher than him and he also happened to be one of Damas' councilors. So, in a way, Kleiver was his boss, as Torn and Krew had been his bosses. But, just because he did what they told him to do, they never had Jak's true loyalties. Since prison, Jak's true loyalties had always been for Number One and anyone he might personally care for, people he would protect with his life… like Keira, Daxter, and Samos.

It is interesting to note that if Jak had a weakness, it would probably be the face that he cared, really cared, for his friends more than anything in the world. But, if someone ever exploited that… well… that's another story all together.


That night, Jak sat on the roof of the flat, listening to the haunting Song of the Dying as it echoed through the City.

His mind drifted back… back to his two dreadful years that he had spent in that hellhole they called a prison. He could bet that no one sung the Song of the Dying for the poor souls who had died in there. Out of thousands who were tested for Eco Powers, and out of the fifteen that were put into the Dark Warrior Program, only Jak had survived.

Jak didn't think it was fair sometimes. He had been the youngest of the group, and several of the guards had labeled him 'Most Likely To Die'. Why had he been allowed to live when so many others had died? Fourteen Channelers in all met their deaths in those walls, a huge dent in the ranks of Channelers since there are only about a hundred or so Channelers in Haven City, the loss of even a few is devastating.

Jak remembered Sorus especially. The one person who had protected him all throughout his time in prison, the one who made it seem like everything was going to be all right. Jak had killed him with his bare hands, ripping out his insides until there was no chance of survival. He could still see the scene… all the blood… in his mind. Guilt flooded him.

What he did to Sorus was wrong, and he knew it. But Jak could not help but wonder… what if Sorus had survived too? What if instead of one Dark Eco Freak, there were two? Well, for one, Vegar probably would've been scared to death of their power, and never would have banished them. On the other hand, their Dark Side's dominance instincts would have probably set them on a warpath eventually. One or the other would end up destroying the other.

Jak honestly did not know how that fight would turn out if they matched up again. The Dark Eco in his blood gave him a huge advantage over other elves, but Sorus was an Eco Freak too, and he was an assassin, a death-dealer far more experienced in killing people than Jak. The elf knew it was simple dumb luck that allowed him to take down Sorus in prison.

The song ended with a few eerie notes:

"Svql qoa Naiq…"


LES: Okay, here's a few quotes from one of my classes! These are so hilarious.

"Eww! Mr. _'s mouse is sticky… and the internet's on!"

"I was hungry… I wanted meat… There was no meat… I saw the cat…"

"I'm not prejudice against anyone but midgets and cross-eyed people."

"This was a really bitchin' year! You bitched us well!" (To the teacher)

"I would SO win Best Butt!" "No, you have a more Canadian butt, we need something more American."

"Hey Mr. _, Tell _ to drop it like it's hot!" "Drop what?"