|HQ|
"No, we passed a bunch of really lovely trees. Who did you guys get to decorate while I was gone?" Valentine talked to Torn over the communicator as they rode the elevator up, every once in a while making a face at Daxter who reciprocated readily. They collectively cringed when Torn told her to shove those trees somewhere really inappropriate. With the current outlook Valentine decided to stash any other witty comments on a shelf until Torn could smile again. Granted that a war was serious business but he had everyone wishing for a new Metal attack.
When the doors opened they were welcomed by a bunch of greetings and a really old-looking Samos who told them they could have been quicker about the entire thing. Valentine eyed him over before she saw Daxter shrugging at her. Damn that time-travel, things were getting more and more confusing as time passed.
"Well, we only had a war in the way." Jak commented, looking very uncomfortable with so many of his friends all saying hello at the same time.
"Pecker?" Valentine asked, seeing the hybrid in the HQ while he was supposed to be back in Spargus. "What in the world are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be playing advisor?"
"Playing?! I never play advisor, I am an advisor!"
"Valentine, that better be the HQ I'm hearing over here!"
She quickly handed Ashelin the communicator, figuring if there was one person around who would be able to defuse Torn it would be her. Then she turned back to the brightly colored monkey. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't an advisor be with the person he's supposed to be advising?"
Pecker let out a squawk at that. "And shouldn't the King's adopted daughter – and general of the city – be at the side of said person? You are in big trouble missy, you and Jak and that nasty rodent."
"Hey!" Daxter yelled loudly from the other side of the table.
"Well, it's not like we ended up here on purpose." Valentine retorted, crossing her arms. "As I recall things, this all started out like a date. Now we're in the middle of a war."
"That's another thing Damos would like to have a word with you about, once you get back safely to Spargus." Pecker told her, flying safely out of reach. "And he would like you back in one piece as well."
"Maybe after we're through stuffing you in a pillow." Daxter made clear, making his way closer to his self-elected enemy.
Ashelin scraped her throat, successfully getting the attention of everyone in the room. "How about we only start killing our allies after we kill our enemies?" she suggested with a thin smile as she tossed Valentine's communicator across the room. As everyone looked on she marched over in front of Jak, formally saluting him.
"As the Governor of the city, let me be the first to officially apologize for everything." This single line was enough to make Jak freeze into place, as that was the last he had had in his mind when he walked into the building. He held out his hands in front of him as if he wanted to physically ward off the formal situation.
Valentine shook Ashelin's hand when the woman turned to her, partly as defense against any formal apologies and partly because that was just what the woman deserved. "This is the first time I can say thank you, isn't it? Thank you, Ashelin Praxis. You saved my life back then."
Ashelin made an attempt to wave the thanks away, which wasn't so easy while seeming a tad bashful all of a sudden. "I'm not the only one who helped you then. Jared was there as well, so be sure to give him a thanks when you see him."
"Speaking of Jared, where is he?" Valentine wondered out loud, looking around. The lanky programmer did deserve some thanks, especially after the fright she and Jak had put him through all those years ago.
"Well…" Keira started, startling Valentine by appearing next to her. "We've been working together recently. He's the one that designed the new city look, and we made a good start before the war flared up so heavily. I'm in charge of the traffic grids." The woman admitted, her eyes tracing up to Valentine's cheeks, never quite reaching higher.
"Ah…" Valentine started, her heart jumping in her chest when she realized Keira of all people was talking to her. She shot a quick look at Jak, who proved to be of great help as he shrugged and went to talk with Samos. So much for getting help from that corner.
"It's nice to hear that you found something you can help with?" Damn it, that wasn't supposed to be a question, nor had she wanted it to sound like some kind of criticism. "I mean, I heard you're really good with cars." Okay, that was better. Not conversational genius great, but at least not sounding like an unsure condescending idiot. Were there any manuals for this sort of thing?
Keira nodded, neither of the women looking each other in the eye. Eventually she surprised Valentine by thrusting out her hand, looking at the table as she spoke. "Look, I still don't really like you. I don't think I ever will. But I do know I've been rather unfair when it came to you, and I said some things that were awful. I'm not asking to be friends. But I just wanted to say…"
Valentine grabbed the hand of her former rival, the knot in her stomach temporarily intensifying. "Don't say sorry." Keira looked up with big eyes, her mouth forming a small 'o'. Valentine continued to talk, not wanting to mess up now. "I mean, I wasn't exactly miss sunshine around you either. We both made mistakes. So yeah… I understand. I feel the same way."
The knot in her stomach untangled as they shook hands, looking each other in the eye for a brief moment. She felt shaky, as if she had just gotten away from a Metal King. The way Keira looked at her suggested the other woman might be feeling the same thing.
They would probably never be best friends. And that was okay, because it was silly to force things that could never be. But now this was resolved, Valentine realized how much it had been eating away at her from the inside. She took a deep breath, feeling lighter somehow.
As she turned around she saw Jak studying the both of them, together with Samos. When she and Keira both asked 'What?' the hero turned around in a hurry, clearly not intending on interfering with anything his ex and his current girlfriend were up to. Valentine chuckled, hearing a soft giggle from Keira. Well, perhaps they could be something more than acquaintances. Possibly.
She wondered for a moment between adding Keira to the list of things she would have to get sorted out eventually or ignore it for however long. Her moment of thinking was interrupted by Samos who took a seat next to the main control panel, patting the seat next to him. She sat down, a moment of silence between them.
"You look different from the last time I saw you." she finally offered, guessing that perhaps he had been the one to go with little Mar to the past.
Samos smiled, looking up at the woman he had not seen for so long. "Well, it's been almost two decades since we last met from where I'm sitting."
She let out a deep sigh, pulling up her leg to rest her head on the knee. On the other side of the room fur and feathers were flying about as Daxter and Pecker once again got better reacquainted. "So, you did go with Mar to the past then?"
"I did." He looked at Keira for a moment with a soft expression on his face as his daughter attempted to get the two fighting animals away from each other. "I can't say I ever regretted the decision. I knew you'd be worried though. But I also knew that you would find him, eventually. The whole deal tends to leave you very secure about some events."
Valentine hummed, not sure what else there was to say. Samos spared her the trouble. "You've done good while you were away, girl. I've heard everything about what you were up to while we haven't seen you. I'm proud of you."
"Don't be like that, sir." She mumbled, scratching the back of her head. "I never would have turned out like this if it hadn't been for you. You're the one that snapped me out of it, weren't you?"
"If all problems could be solved with a few knocks on the head and some kind words, Daxter wouldn't be in his current state. Still, it warms my heart to know that you still remember I was the one who knocked some sense into you. Verbally at least. I remember Torn being the one who tried to physically teach you manners."
Valentine threw her head in her neck as she laughed. Most of the times she had been the one who'd be thrown on the floor when Torn decided she had gone too far, like a pup taught manners by a wolf. He'd always been careful when she was on the point of transforming however. "I was so much trouble. Torn would constantly complain about the costs of feeding me. That's why I got that job as a singer in the first place, remember?"
Samos shook his head, pointing at the display. "Right now singing isn't going to do us any good. We know there's a huge dark planet builder heading towards the planet. We're going to need some real heroes to defend us once more."
"Now THAT sounds like you could use some muscle from yours truly." Daxter replied, flexing his arms as he dangled upside down in Keira's grip.
Samos ignored the comment. "We have no idea how long it will be until it's in range to execute whatever it has planned. If it is rogue Precursor technology the only way to get rid of it is by using more Precursor technology, which could be found at the bottom of the catacombs."
Valentine stood up to have a better look at the display. "Could this be that Day Star the monks were talking about?" she asked the people in the room.
"Could be." Keira answered, toggling up some new screens with statistics. "Someone is moving around Eco Crystals in such vast amounts, we're practically sure they're trying to get down in the catacombs."
"Well, I think Veger is behind it. Or Erol." Jak started, scratching his cheek. "We saw Erol back with Torn when he jammed your signal, and Veger tried to ambush us on the way here."
"Whoever is behind it, we can't let them get their hands on what's in the catacombs. The last thing we need is someone with bad intentions getting their hands on volatile equipment." Ashelin announced, glaring around the room to see if anyone wanted to argue with that.
"So what, we march into the catacombs ourselves?" Valentine asked, looking around the room as well.
"Excellent point." Samos interjected. "We were hoping that Jak would be willing to lead an expedition there. If there is one person who has experience with this kind of research it would be him."
Jak raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, sure, I'll go check it out. But I don't want to drag an entire group of people with me. It could be dangerous."
Valentine nodded rather furiously when she heard that. The escapade with the 'cars' down in the catacombs hadn't slipped her mind just yet. The discussion was halted when the double doors leading inside the command center opened.
Veger strutted inside, one hand stuffed in his pocket while he held his staff in the other. The man looked around the room haughtily, scanning each occupant as his gaze finally lingered on Jak. "I can see the freak show has returned to town. Why is this abomination in here?"
"Hey, it's Vulgar again! No, wait, was it Victor? Ulcer? Vulture?" Daxter started, dangling from Keira's grip as he spoke.
"Veger, you little rodent, it's Veger!" The tall man snapped, before he regained his cool. "Are you all sure you want a mutation to lead an expedition into the catacombs? If there is one person who can be trusted with a task of such reverent proportions it would be myself."
"Ooooh, so that's why you tried to kill us a while back." Daxter interrupted, not looking very convinced. "He sent this huge robot thing after us, after he gave a huge speech about the dangers of sunlight."
Valentine tried her best not to facepalm. "Daxter is right, he did try to kill us. And seeing as how that directly endangered the life of the heir to the Spargan throne, that could be viewed as a reason to consider him a dangerous person who should be incarcerated." Veger had in fact endangered Jak's life, though everyone assumed she was talking about herself when she mentioned that. "What I'm saying is, lock him up."
"We're tired of your schemes, Veger." Ashelin said, shaking her head at the new information.
Veger seemed to be unaware things were going awry for him. "I have the answer we have all been looking for. My Precursor Monks have given me everything I need to know to turn on the planetary defense grid. All you need to do is follow me…"
Valentine shot over the table, grabbing Veger by his red tie before he could blink. "Where is Seem? What have you done to her?"
"Get this madwoman off of me!" Veger commanded, struggling to break loose from her grip. He coughed a few times when Ashelin and Jak pried her loose, though neither of them seemed quite enthusiastic about the job. "It is none of your concern where Seem is."
"She's my friend, so of course it's my concern, you hoity-toity piece of gilded dandy!" Valentine shouted, the only thing keeping her from sucker punching the Count the two people who were restraining her.
"We trust Jak." Keira said in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "He's always gotten us through things. I'm sure he'll do it again."
This was followed by a chorus of agreement. Ashelin let go of Valentine's wrist, stepping up in front of Veger. Hands placed on her hips she glowered at the man who had permitted himself such freedoms. "As the governor of Haven City, I hereby dissolve the City Council and strip you of your titles, privileges and command."
"How dare you?" Veger demanded, raising himself up to his full length. "I offer you mercy, I offer you my enlightened guidance and you turn me down to wallow in a cesspool of corruption? The lot of you are fools who don't deserve to be saved."
"Let me punch him once, please?" Valentine pleaded with Jak who seemed sorely tempted to act just like her. The both of them were stopped by Samos' stern looks.
"You will all burn in the fires that will render this planet to its supreme and wonderful form! I swear it." Veger ended his threat, looking every person present in the room dead in the eye. Jak tightened his grip on Valentine's arm, fighting the urge to just knock the man out and be done with it.
When he had left the room, everybody shook their heads. "We all do realize him not having his official title is not going to stop him from acting like a religious nutcase?" Valentine asked, scrunching her nose. She would have given her computer privileges of a month to know where the monks were. Or what Veger was planning. There was no way Seem would have given him anything if she had known Veger was insane.
"I can't afford to arrest him without tangible proof he's out of control." Ashelin said, wiping her red dreadlocks back. "The city is in a bad enough shape as it is, we can't afford people rallying together because they think Veger is somehow innocent."
"Pfeh…" Valentine uttered when Jak released her. "What can we do then, before we go back to Spargus?"
Keira pulled up a new screen, this one showing pictures of the floating factory that was rather hard to miss no matter where you were in the city. "This floating war factory has been spewing out Death Bots and other nasty things every single day. No matter how many robots we kill, they're always replaced within hours. If you really are interested in helping, it would mean a great deal if you could sabotage the factory."
"So, we fly up there, make it go boom and we're back out?" Daxter asked, not seeming too impressed.
"That would be the idea." Keira agreed. "But the factory is shielded and requires access codes at every point. We're sure they're using an old Krimzon Guard cipher, but we haven't had much luck finding out which one. It seems like Vin was the person who designed most of these, so first we need someone to go check out his old Power Room."
"Makes sense. Uncle Vin was the best when it came to security." Valentine agreed. She supposed being paranoid provided an extra incentive to be creative when it came to protecting yourself.
Jak nodded, rolling his shoulders. "At least we got a good night's sleep, since this sounds like it's going to be another busy day for us. Dax, Val, you two up for this?"
Daxter at once climbed back to his usual spot, Valentine walking over next to Jak. It would be good to visit Uncle Vin's station. She would have a chance to say some sort of goodbye to the man who had raised her as best as he could.
"Leave it to the three of us. We'll have this city saved in no time!" Daxter promised, giving everyone a thumbs-up.
Am I the only one who really wanted someone in that room to punch Veger while they were in that scene? Because knocking him out would have saved a lot of people a lot of trouble. Now I had to let him walk because he's still important in the story (goes to sulk in a corner)
Anyway, thanks to the small troll infestation I had up until now, I'd like to say a few words to my dear readers. Yes, you. Straighten up, slouching is bad for you. Have you had enough to drink today? Remember to keep warm, since the weather is turning colder. I'm very happy you're reading this story right now. I don't care if you comment frequently, just the once or even never, I'm still happy you can read these words. I hope you'll have a very nice day.
Also, a very happy Halloween to everyone.
Oblique Strategies : Ah, I operated on the principle that Daxter seems like a clown who's still struggling with his own insecurities. And well, Jak is his best friend, so he will want to keep looking out for his buddy. Also thanks for the support, though I can honestly say my stories are like an ice cube compared to the berg that sank the Titanic when you look at some of the stories around here. Yikes.
M-Angel 05 : Yeah, I'm transferring my stories over there just in case. Though I'm fairly sure that whoever is in charge will be so kind as to actually warn me if I am in violation. I'd be surprised, but I still consider authorities a higher source of info over anons.
Dear Guest : Chin up, friend. Love isn't all that bad. I've been told it can be fuzzy feelings and stuff like that. Here's me sending some positive energy your way ;)
ayylmao : Thanks mate, I appreciate the sentiment.
Actic Wolf105 : Don't worry too much dear. With the way things are going it will be summer before they even get to investigating the entire case. (I picked some things up during my search through the forums, hehheh) But how cool that you're writing a story as well! If you do get around to publishing it, be sure to let me know. And have a lovely day!