Chapter XL: Damas' Secret

LES: If you will forgive me, but this is the only part that really made me almost cry in the game. And I'm going to solve, once and for all what Jak's true name is... at least in my view and in my own universe...


The huge vehicle, which is called the Slam Dozer, handled like a lead balloon and didn't go very fast, but it was great for smashing through walls and the remains of buildings, as Damas had shown.

The area around the Palace was infested with Dark Makers, but any Dark Precursors that Jak didn't run over was gunned down by Damas with the vehicle's powerful weapons.

However, the biggest problem came from the short-range missiles that the Dark Makers sent their way. If you stayed in one spot for too long, the missiles would get a bead on you. However, as long as the vehicle remained in motion, there was little to worry about.

Finally, they reached the large hole that used to be under the Palace, the one that lead down into the Catacombs. Jak stopped the vehicle. Damas smiled at Jak approvingly. "Wow! We're actually alive!" Daxter celebrated... much too soon.

Jak heard a strange noise, along with with Damas, and they both gasped, turning around. A large missile was heading their way. There was no way they could move the vehicle in time. Jak might have been able to get himself out in time, but he couldn't leave Damas!

So Jak was still in the vehicle when the missile hit, flipping the vehicle over in a blaze of fire. Something hit Jak's head and he knew no more.


Jak woke up a short time later with a moan of pain. He was badly hurt, he could feel it. He opened his eyes and sat up painfully to see the full extent of the damage. He was burned terribly and his leg, and at least three or four ribs were broken.

Jak shut his eyes tightly against the pain that threatened to bring tears to his eyes and concentrated on healing. The burns faded away and that was followed by several nasty snapping sounds as bones fell back into place.

Finally, when everything seemed to be in order, he sat up straighter, for his head still hurt. The wreckage of the Slam Dozer sat several feet away and Jak realized he must've been thrown from the vehicle when it had overturned.

Daxter sat several feet away with only minor wounds and no burns, which suggested that he had gotten out of the vehicle on time. Jak would've been angry with him, but Daxter didn't have healing powers and would have likely died in the explosion.

Wait... suddenly Jak remembered there had been another passenger besides Daxter. "Damas!" Jak got up slowly and began to limp (his leg still hurt) around the Dozer.

He found Damas on the other side of the Dozer. He was not badly burned, at least not so badly that it was mortal. But that wasn't what Jak saw. Damas' legs were crushed under the vehicle's roll cage. There was a lot of blood staining the ground, and Damas was pale with blood loss.

"Damas!" Jak hurried over to his King's side.

"Not... bad driving, kid." Damas said weakly while Jak knelled down next to him and supported the injured Warrior-King's head. Daxter came around, but kept his distance from his best friend and his sworn lord. "It was a good fight..." Damas coughed. "And a good day to die. I'm... very proud to have been by your side... in the end." Jak shook his head in denial. "Don't fear... this world is not yet out of heroes..."

"We did well together." Jak said. "Don't move!" Jak reached for the holographic emitter that he carried. "I'll call for help..."

Damas stopped Jak's hand. "There's no time. Just... just promise me one thing... so I can die in peace."

"I'll do anything within my power." Jak said. "I am yours to command."

"Good." Damas coughed again. His time was running out, and he knew it. "Promise me that you'll find my son. And, when you do, you'll give him his name..."

"His name?" Jak asked.

"Yes. I've thought long and hard on it. It would be an honor for my son... to carry... your name." Damas said. Jak blinked in surprise. "Jak... a good name, a name carried by great heroes and great legends..."

Jak was left speechless for a few seconds. "I... I would be honored that your son is named after me." Jak whispered. "But... how will I know him when I see him?"

Damas reached up to his throat and pulled something from around his neck, something that was concealed by his clothes. "You'll know him when you see this." He put the object in Jak's hands. It was the Seal of Mar. Jak blinked and couldn't stop staring at the small, familiar medallion in his hand. "He's... wearing an amulet just like it... a symbol of our lineage with the Great... House of Mar..." The Seal was exactly the same as the one Jak carried, the one worn by his younger self. But, before Jak could fully piece this information together, Damas coughed, and began to speak his final words. "Save the people, Jak... they need you..."

Damas' eyes closed and his head fell limply onto Jak's lap. He was dead.

Daxter watched this scene unfold with his mouth covered in horror. "My God..." He whispered, but said no more. For the first time in his life, he was speechless.

Jak merely stared at Damas' dead body for several seconds. Tears began to well up in his eyes as the truth dawned upon him. He kept the word inside for several more seconds until he couldn't hold it in any longer. Then he spoke, one, single, emotion-filled word.

"Father..."

The old walls broke down. Jak had hardly let himself give such a display of vulnerability as crying in the last three years. To cry was to show weakness in Jak's mind. But during the times of extreme emotional upheaval, he had to let loose. His emotions were everywhere at once, and nowhere at all. So, he could only weep for his loss. The loss of a King, the loss of a friend, the loss of a fellow Warrior, and the loss of his biological father, whom he had searched for his entire life.

Daxter slowly approached the weeping elf and laid a comforting paw on his arm. Jak didn't even notice him.

Suddenly, a highly unwelcome voice disturbed Jak's misery. "So... you've finally figured it out, have you?" Jak glared in the direction of the voice. It was Vegar, the very last person he wanted to see now, not when he was at his lowest. "Took you long enough. I certainly thought it was obvious, even before I found out about your time-traveling. The great 'Jak' of the legends is you, isn't it?"

"Go away." Jak hissed, a mixture of anger and sorrow in his voice.

Vegar ignored Jak. "Yes, you were that child; Prince Mar, heir to the Thrones of, not only Haven City, but Spargus as well. Even as a child, you had the signs that pointed you out as the greatest Channeler since the Great Mar himself." Vegar spat on the ground. "Channelers! Channelers always got the glory and the honor, and leaving none of... normal people."

"You're not a Channeler?" Daxter asked.

"What does it matter? You were a Channeler, so after Damas disappeared to the Metal-Head Nest and Praxis took over the throne, I kidnapped you from your mother to discover the true missing link between Channelers and normal people." Jak began to growl dangerously. Any sane man would be running for the hills, but Vegar was having too much fun taunting Jak to run. "All I learned before I lost you to the Underground was that Channeling abilities are the result of a genetic mutation that is passed on through hereditary means." Vegar paused at the look on Jak's face, a look of sorrow slowly being replaced by a look of endless rage. "Oh, did I tell you too late? You were the son of the great Warrior-King, Damas. Oh, and he never knew! How delightful!"

Vegar had crossed the holy line. Jak stood up in a flash, the very definition of boundless rage on his face. "AUGH! VEGAR, YOU BASTARD!" Jak roared, his pure rage being on his Dark transformation, but only for a second. But even Vegar took a step back from the black-eyed, clawed demon with pure rage and vengeance in its eyes. Vegar's back was against the Precursor vehicles made to travel in the Catacombs.

"Thank you for opening the door to the Precursors." Vegar gestured towards the hole. "Don't worry, I'll be back to put you out of your misery." Vegar jumped into the first vehicle and took off down into the Catacombs.

"VEGAR!" Jak roared again.

Suddenly, Daxter jumped onto Jak's shoulder, jarring him out of his rage. "After him, Jak!"

Jak stared at his friend. "You're willing to go down there? Without a fuss this time?"

"Yeah, well, don't get used to it." Daxter said. "It's just that nobody, and I repeat, nobody hurts my best friend and lives to brag about it! I hereby declare war on Vegar!"

"Yes... I'll kill him for what he's done to me..." Jak began to take off after him when he stopped. He turned around towards the body of his father. It didn't feel right to just leave his body in the Haven ruins to rot, nor did he have the time to take his body back to Spargus. Finally, he got out his War beacon, activated it again, and set it next to his father's body. "Somebody from Spargus will come." Jak said. "Now, I have to go and avenge everything that's ever been done to me!"

"Everything?"

"Don't you realize that if Vegar had left well enough alone, none of this would have happened to me!" Jak growled.

"You met me... you met Samos... you met Keira..."

But Jak wasn't in the mood to think positive now. "Enough of that! Let's go!" The angry elf leapt into the second Precursor vehicle and took off after Vegar at the insane speeds of the Catacombs.

It was clear to Jak instantly that Vegar wasn't used to handling things that went above the speed of sound. Most of the obstacles had been cleared, so Jak had a pretty straight-forward path, straight down, deeper and deeper, heading for the very core of the planet.

Finally, they came into a huge chamber. It was so huge, you could fit the entire City of Haven in it. In the middle was a huge platform that had a rift ring on it, except the rift ring was bigger than any Jak had seen before. It was easily large enough to fly a ship through. It was guarded by two Precursor Robots, mostly standing still, but occasionally moving to show they were, in fact, working.

Jak landed the ship quite a ways from them, seeing as all his experiences with Precursor Robots had been bad ones.

"Do not fear us." The Robots said in union. "We would not harm our own Champion. Those Robots that you fought were twisted by others, and have no reflection upon the rest of us. We have been waiting for you a long time... Prince Jak Mar." They paused. Jak let the title slide with them, because he still didn't fully trust them. "We are the Twin Guardians of the Grand Warp Gate and you have the power to activate it and save your world, along with many others."

"What will happen when I activate it?" Jak asked.

"You will receive the full might and aid of the Precursor army, and army ready to help you." The twin Robots said. "Without shields, the Veelen is vulnerable to our weapons. If we attack them swiftly, the Dark Maker Leaders need not ever know that we broke our own rules. For, sometimes, the rules must be broken for the greater good."

"What if there's a repeat of the Aeon tragedy?" Jak asked.

"Aeon?" Daxter asked, but everyone ignored him.

"There will not. We do not need to set our weapons at full power to destroy a shield-less ship." The twin Robots said. "Do you have a Dark Eco Crystal, and a Light Eco Crystal?" Jak pulled out one of each and the Robots nodded. "It is enough. Place them in the slots."

"Okay..." Jak said, walking over to slots and placing each crystal into its respective slot.

"The rest of the Crystals are for your own use... no doubt you'll need them."

Suddenly, the Rift Ring activated and the air in the room became so thick that it was almost suffocatingly thick. A single Precursor walked through the ring... a Precursor of such enormous power that it's aura alone caused the thickening of the air. "Greetings, Chosen One." The Precursor said with a slow, regal voice that suggested that it was eons old. "My name is Icarath. I am one of the Precursor Elders."

"Icarath... it is an honor to finally meet one of the Precursor Elders." Jak bowed politely.

"And it is an honor to see what you have become." Icarath paused. "You have the look of your ancestor, Mar... but you have your mother's eyes." Jak opened his mouth to ask, but Icarath held up a hand. "Young Tiatin has been working with you, has he not?" Jak nodded. "He has done well with you... for being as young as he is. Youth, however, is not always a good thing. Youth tends to make many mistakes that age knows how to avoid. Even now... his inexperience has caused him to make a dreadful mistake on his part, not on yours."

Jak wasn't sure how much more bad news he could take. "What mistake?"

"The Dark Maker Champion, mortally wounded, would have been dead as of now. This would have been a victory for the Precursor Brotherhood since the ailment that destroyed him was caused at your hand. But Tiatin found his way onto the Dark Ship and has healed Erol of his Light Eco Poisoning."

"Tiatin did what?" Jak demanded. "Is that why he's called 'Dark Fate'?"

"It is... regrettable, but Tiatin does not know any better." Icarath said. "He does not possess the wisdom of an Elder, nor has he been in contact with one. Do not judge him too harshly, Balanced One. However, even as I speak here with you, the Dark Makers are surely reconditioning your enemy, making him stronger, and more powerful. And, I have come to understand that he his now in control of a large portion of the Dark Maker army... an army more terribly than anything in the whole universe." Icarath paused. "Now he is more Dark Maker than Elvin."

Jak couldn't believe his ears. Things had turned out of favor for him with a single mistake... a mistake that he had nothing to do with, if that wasn't bad enough! Within a few seconds, his chance of victory had dropped dramatically. "What do I do?" He asked. "I can hardly handle one Dark Maker, let alone a whole army!"

Icarath thought for a second. "There is one way to get you out of this war... or give you the power you need to destroy Erol... which ever you wish." Icarath said gravely.

"There's a way? How?" Jak asked.

"I once came to you in the void between physical worlds, a world that no mortal can enter until their death." Icarath said. "Or, at least, no regular mortal. There are two reasons why you were able to cross the threshold to the spiritual world without harming yourself. One reason was that you had been there before. And the second and most important reason is because you have the potential. You have the potential to become like us... a Precursor."

Both Jak and Daxter's jaws dropped. "Wait a second! Are you saying that Jak here can become a glow-boy Precursor?" Daxter asked. "How's that possible?"

"He has the qualities necessary." Icarath said. "First and foremost, you have already been deeply connected to my race." Without warning, Icarath touched Jak's skin, causing the elf to shiver involuntarily. "You remember my touch?" The Precursor Elder asked.

Jak couldn't quite explain it... but Icarath's touch did feel familiar, almost like from a forgotten dream.

"And the second quality necessary... the missing link between Precursors and Elves are Channelers. With the right application of Eco, a Channeler can become a Precursor. You are one of the best Channelers I have ever seen. This honor has been offered to only three other elves, and only one accepted it." Icarath paused. "I, Icarath, Precursor Elder, now offer you, Prince Jak Mar, the gift of Evolution... the honor of becoming one of us."

Jak mind was in turmoil. Not only could he stop thinking about the way he felt when the Precursor Elder touched him, but now he had this on his plate? He was being offered a rare and valuable gift. "If I agree... will there be no chance to reverse the change?"

"No. The transformation is permanent and irrevocable." Icarath said. "Consider carefully, for forever is a long time to regret a hasty decision."

Jak considered the gift that was laid before him. Icarath was right... forever was a long time to regret a hasty decision. The question was... did he really want to be a Precursor?

Suddenly, Icarath interrupted Jak's thoughts. "Look out!"

Jak heard a gun shot and spun around in a flash, whipping his hand through the air. Vegar held the smoking gun and was surprised to find that Jak was still alive, considering that he had been aiming at the Eco Freak's head.

Jak simply smiled and held up his hand. There was a small piece of metal between his fingers. It was the bullet that almost had his name on it. Jak had caught the bullet right out of the air! Needless to say, Vegar was shocked, and he stared. "Great reflexes, huh Vegar? Much faster than your reflexes are, I'm sure." Jak teased, tossing the bullet aside.

Vegar growled. "Step aside, Freak! I'm the one who should evolve into a Precursor! The right is mine!" Vegar pointed the gun at Jak again.

"But... you're not even a Channeler!" Jak said. "You said so yourself..."

"You high and mighty Channelers! All a Channeler is is a powerful mutant! You don't need a mastery of the Ecos to become a Precursor, only belief... which you... lack!" Vegar looked at Icarath. "So, change me into a Precursor!"

"No!" Jak yelled at Icarath. "He doesn't deserve to die of Eco Poisoning! That's too kind a fate for him! Don't do it, Icarath, you don't know what you are doing!"

"I do know what I am doing... Great One... even more than you do." Icarath said, then he faced Vegar. "Be careful what you wish for, Count, for you may get more than you bargained." Icarath pointed at Vegar and a mass of Eco shot straight into his body, lifting him off his feet with its sheer power.

"No!" Jak yelled, afraid that he had lost his chance to kill Vegar. Now Vegar would die of Eco Poisoning.

Finally, Vegar was set down, but he was not dead... nor was he a Precursor. In fact... he looked completely normal. Vegar felt his chest. "I'm not a Precursor? Why am I not a Precursor?"

"You failed to listen to Prince Jak Mar, for he spoke the truth." Vegar frowned even more at the mention of Jak's royal title. He couldn't stand that a Dark Eco Freak like that had the surest claim to the Throne of Haven City. "You are no Channeler, but you are not a non-Channeler either. You are something different... something in between. So, the Eco will not kill you. You are to experience a mutation of a different sort... a devolution."

"Something in between..." Jak mused. "One of your parents was a Channeler, am I right, Vegar?" Jak asked suddenly.

"Leave my mother out of this, you freak!" Vegar hissed.

"So... your mother was a Channeler... but your father was not..." Jak suddenly burst out laughing as he figured it out. He was a Half-Channeler... someone who had no Channeling abilities, but couldn't be hurt by Eco. It was the rarest type of Channeler. Most Channelers were born from unions where one parent was a Channeler, and the other was not. There were simply too few for Channelers to just marry other Channelers. One Channeler unions usually resulted in children with either full Channeling abilities, or no Channeling abilities. But, on rare occasions, Half-Channelers are born. And Jak knew only one other person who was considered 'Half-Channeler.' "Oh my God! This is great!"

"What's great?" Daxter asked.

"Half-Channelers experience a different sort of mutation when they come in contact with Eco." Jak said. "Vegar, let me put it this way... Daxter, here, was once an elf. His father was a Channeler, while his mother was not..." Daxter began to get what Jak was saying. "And Daxter became one of the few Half-Channelers... like I suspect you are. Then he came in contact with a large amount of Eco."

Daxter got what Jak was saying. "You don't mean...?"

"Yes." Jak said, smiling broadly. "Vegar, you are not going to become a Precursor... you are going to become an Ottsel."

"You're lying!" Vegar hissed.

"No, Prince Jak Mar is actually quite astute." Icarath spoke. "All our early tests resulted in this. People with no Channeling ability died from Eco Poisoning, Channelers became Precursors, and the extremely rare 'Half-Channelers' became creatures similar to the small, furry animals that you elves were when we first came to this planet thousands of eons ago."

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and everyone looked Vegar's way, only to find an ugly and twisted Ottsel in his place. Daxter laughed. "Hey, Vulgar, the rat look suits you!"

"Vegar..." Jak knelt down to Vegar's level, and the rodent cowered from the larger elf. Jak looked an awful lot bigger and more powerful when you were a rat. "I came down here intent on killing in the most horrible way that I could imagine. I thought that a horrible death would be the worst punishment possible. But, when I see you like this... a mangy rat... I know that there are some punishments that are so much worse than death... like living the rest of your life as a rat. No offense." Jak said, looking at Daxter.

"None taken." Daxter said automatically.

"So... you have finally learned that killing is not always the way." Icarath said. "Our gift still stands to you. Do you accept?"

Jak thought, but only for a second. "You're right... forever is a long time to regret a hasty decision. Besides, would I want to live forever while everyone around me dies? I think I'll pass on that gift and continue my life as an elf. Besides..." Jak grinned wickedly. "I've got a war to win."

Icarath nodded quietly. "If you are intent on winning, you will need our help. The war is dissolving... we can feel it. Old rules are breaking down and our fleet was attacked by a Dark Maker War ship on the way to your planet. If they break the rules, we should too... to win." Icarath paused. "Within a few minutes, the Precursor fleet will converge on the Veelen and destroy it. With their shields down, our weapons will tear through that ship. I will send you to the Dark Maker ship now. You will have to kill Erol or, failing that, lead him down to the planet's surface as alone as you can. It will then be your job and your job alone to defeat Erol and win the War."

"So... I have come to the end of all things..." Jak paused. "And I am afraid."

"Fear is a natural emotion that one should not be ashamed of." Icarath said. "Remember always, Jak Mar, that true courage is not the absence of fear, but facing the things you fear and overcoming them." With those final words of wisdom, Icarath waved his hand and teleported the elf and his Ottsel friend away to meet their destiny.


LES: Man... the Climax is coming up!