"I think Jak's been captured."
Even thought Kaida had, for the most part, figured this, it still hit her hard. To have it said to her face, to have it assured as an actuality was almost too much. This, she knew, was not part of the game. They were beyond the game now. What else could happen?
"What do you know about it?" She feigned calm and looked at Torn levelly. Torn met her gaze and stared her down for a moment. He wasn't buying this. He knew she was frantic by how much she covered it up. But this wasn't the time to be playing games with the girl so he told her.
"There is a jam on his communicator, and there were several witness's that may have seen his capture so we can only assume the exact circumstances. But..." Torn's face turned sour. "We have overheard a warrant for Jak's arrest. I don't know what the hell he has gone and done but whatever it was, he has made a nice mess for himself. At this point I don't think those who captured him know exactly who they have, since there hasn't been any overly happy Baron activity." Kaida held her breath. "If this is the case, then, we may have some chance to rescue his goddamned ass."
"Do you know where he is?" Kaida asked, still keeping level. Torn shook his head and she felt her heart sink just a little in her chest.
"At this point, we cant be sure. Its been a while so I would say that he isn't on the street any more. If I had to guess I would say that he is in a temporary holding jail, waiting for the Baron to show up and tell them what to do."
"They wouldn't take him to the prison?" she asked, surprised.
"No, not right away. Only the most important prisoners get a direct ride to prison. And sometimes, the minor holding prisons can be worse than that one." Torn looked down at a map on the desk.
'Trust me, it'd have to be pretty bad to be worse than that place...' Kaida thought to herself.
"Off hand, guessing, I would have to say that he would be here." Torn pointed at a building marked on a map. Kaida glanced at the map, taking notice of the streets and whatever else she could make out. Her eyes flew over all the details and her mind mapped out the best route she could think up.
"Anything else?" Kaida asked after a moment. Torn shook his head and continued to look grumpy and unmoved. Kaida gave a last nod was about to leave, when she heard Torn again.
"Oh wait a minute, I almost forgot." though he didn't seem at all sorry about almost forgetting something. He reached to the behind his desk and tossed the silver/grey form of a mid-size gun. "I figured you might need a new one, after seeing that piece of trash you ruined." Torn smirked again, and Kaida felt the wave of indignity flow over her. She took the weapon in one smooth move and turned and left the hideout.
She took off out of the alleyway, pushing down the feeling of irritation and slight embarrassment, and pulling up the memories of her map. The new gun tapped heavily against her leg as she ran through the streets, along with Jak's gun in her pack, she wanted to take a zoomer, to shorten her time but she didn't know the streets well enough. If she went the wrong way she would lose time, and even though this wasn't part of this game, every game she knew of, time was always important. She ran into the industrial sector of the city, and stopped at a corner in an attempt to catch her breath
She arrived at a large dark grey heavy duty door, unique as ever. As she was about to step forward her communicator spoke up out of her bag. It was Torn. "Hey, I have some important info, there is still a warrant going around for a man matching Jak's description, so it doesn't sound like they have any idea that they caught him."
"Thanks." Kaida replied. So didnt know who they had. That was good news. She pulled the new gun from her side and opened the door. The gun was larger than her last one, and had a design more like a shot gun from what she could tell, so she prepared for a kick. The hallway was empty, and she made her way with ease until she found a control room. There was no one around but she looked at the monitors and could see others were in the building. She looked from monitor to monitor searching for where they temporarily stored the prisoners. She looked over the displays and saw a map of the interior of the building for power use. She found the area simply labeled 'temporary holding cells'.
Her finger traced along the simple map, showing that there was indeed power being used in the temporary cells, meaning that there were prisoners here. As if they couldn't make it any easier, there were very few twists and turns in her path so far as she could tell. Kaida could hear the voices coming from just down the hall and around the corner from where she was currently standing.
From what she could remember from the map, this was just a hallway that had only small rooms, that had been empty from what she could tell, and most likely she would not turn that corner, gun blazing, to find the KG en masse. She cocked her gun and began her stealthy trip down the hall.
She leaned slowly around the corner, in an attempt to see exactly what she was up against. The KG liked to travel in pairs, it seemed. There was one pair casually talking and walking aimlessly up and down about 100ft's worth of the hallway. Farther down the hall she could see another pair, though they seemed to be guarding the joint where the other stretch of hall met this one. That meant that she would have at least four guards on her once she made her presence known. On top of that, if she predicted this correctly, there was another pair of guards down the hall that she could not see, though it would take them a moment to make it down the hall if they were spaced out like these were. And who knew exactly how many others might come out of the small rooms that were on this hallway.
She shook her head. If she couldn't help Jak out of this, then she was doomed anyway. Besides, she reasoned with herself, she owed Jak for helping her out when she had gotten captured. She watched the guards and when they both turned their heads and looked away from where she was crouching, she silently stood and walked up behind them, the closer she could get the better.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, I haven't had a real meal in this place since..." she could pick up on their conversation. They really seemed bored.
"You would think that they would at least keep-" That was it, she was about 10 ft from the guards and one had begun shifting his weight and turning in her direction. She fired and he was blown backwards from the force of the blast.
"What?!" the other guard screamed in surprise, but he only had a moment to take in what had happened as Kaida primed her gun again and took aim at him. The two guards from the end of the hallway came running towards her, their guns firing, though they didn't seem to have very good aim. The aim of said guards might have been off, but the fact that they could shoot her at this distance was not a good thing. Her weapon might have been powerful, but it was basically a scatter-gun and thus, its range was minimal.
She moved sideways with her back against the wall to present as small of a target as possible. She ducked and ran straight down the hall as fast as she could, directly for the two guards. In their surprise at her sudden rush their rain of gunfire paused. Taking this chance she fired, this time, not at either guard, but directly between them. The force of the shot knocked both of them to the ground but did not put either of them out. It took another shot to do that job.
She turned the corner and came face to face with another pair of guards, that she had anticipated to be there. Unfortunately it seemed like there were pairs littered all down these halls. And now that her cover had been blown, every time she would take down the next set of guards, more would hear her from down the hall and come running. There wasn't an overwhelming flood of them, but there was a steady flow. It was just bad enough that she barely had time to reload her weapon.
'This would be one of those few times when you might be helpful!' she said loudly in her mind. She frowned when there was no response, yet again. Her darkness might have taken to ignoring her, but when her life was in danger, usually was enough cue for the darkness to demand to take over.
'But not this time, apparently.'she muttered in her mind. Oddly enough she felt her anger starting to well up at the thought of her darker half ignoring her. And every moment that she was under the pressure of the advancing guard, she felt her anger growing. She had never felt her emotions rocket like this. She was normally very level headed. Even with the dark eco, she had only become angry then the darkness would force control away.
She felt the hot sting as one guard managed to graze her previously wounded leg. Without waiting to get closer as she ran, she fired her gun. The blast merely unsettled the two guards but it was enough to stop their gunfire. She swung her gun seconds later, as she reached them, slamming the heavy piece of metal into the helmet of one unlucky guard, and she swung her fist into the other guard's stomach. Her gun followed through, with a blow to the back of the head. Ignoring the pain in the fist that had punched into the guards armor she turned to face the next set of guards coming up the hall.
She felt all of her angry emotion rise and finally there was a familiar sensation of energy racing up her veins. She didn't care, she was just furious at nothing in particular. Her gun found its way back to her side, but Kaida wouldn't need it. She was faster now, and the tore down the hallway, not even bothering to notice as the guards began to fire at the fearsome creature she had become.
Her claws tore into the two guards without even a care. As they fell to the ground any and all dark eco that might have been stuck to their suits for whatever reason was absorbed into her body. She continued to run, the dark energy arching around her. The next set of guards had barely started down the hallway as she charged down it at them. She felt a smile split her face and she dragged her bloody claws along the wall. Sure it was a little dramatic, but hey, frightened prey was the best kind.
She was met with a sudden surprise as a second pair of guards joined the first, who may very well have wet themselves.
"Halt!" They screamed at her. This was the line she had been waiting for. They always yelled it as if anyone every listened. She jumped and put one fist into the other hand, leaned back and slammed her fists into the ground as she landed.
There was a massive shockwave and explosion of dark energy and the guards all dropped to the ground. As she rounded the final corner, she found that she had inadvertently taken out a couple more guards who had been in the larger room that she was now standing in. There was a massive, what looked like a boiler, in the center of the room. About 20 cell doors lined the room, each with a mechanized door lock. This was no where near as bad of a lock-down place as the prison in the palace.
Kaida strode arrogantly along the cells, looking in the doors to find the one that she was searching for. Suddenly she stopped and smashed the lock, with what she knew was the last bit of her darkened strength. Kaida yanked the smashed door open as a wave of dizziness over took her. She wobbled and sank to her knees. She felt her claws shrink away, and watched the hair in front of her face turn from silver to black and gold. A shiver ran through her body as a wave of coldness swept her.
Daxter had been looking through the bars of this damned cell since he had heard that first gunshot ring. Who ever the hell was daring to shoot inside this Krimson Guard place couldn't be all bad, and maybe he could beg them into letting him out. Jak would have stood and stared with him but he was opting to stay off his leg until it was necessary.
"Whoever it is, it sounds like they are doing a real number on those guards." The small orange rodent said over his shoulder. A sudden and deep explosion only confirmed his thoughts. Daxter craned his head and pushed his face against the bars as hard as he could in an attempt to get a good look at what was going on. A pained grunt from Jak brought Daxter's attention back to him.
"Jak, you ok?" Daxter had a worried look on his furry face, and Jak looked up.
"Yeah, I'm peachy." suddenly he sat stock still. He felt something, something familiar. The dark eco was resonating with something. The smallest twinge of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.
"Dax, you might want to get away from those bars." Daxter looked from his friend to the door and back. He hopped off the door and headed slowly for his friend on the floor.
"Jak you sure you're..." he was cut off by a wondrous smashing sound and the door dented inwards slightly. Daxter's hair stood on end as he ran up Jak's arm in fright. Jak glared, hoping against hope that whoever or whatever had smashed that door wasn't going for him next. He had no gun, his leg was killing him, and for precursor's sake this was just not his day. The door swung inwards slightly, and there was an almost silence.
Everything had suddenly gone calm. He slowly got to his feet as best as he could and made his way carefully to the door. Jak paused for only a moment, and hearing nothing, he pushed the door open enough to look out into the room. A moments hesitation, then he shoved the door the rest of the way open. Kaida put a hand to her temple as she waited to the wooziness to clear. Looking up from her position on her knees she saw Jak looking at her with mild surprise and worry. She flashed an over emphasized grin up at him and moved herself to her feet. Jak was filled with surprise and thankfulness, but he let only a little show on his face and smirked lightly as he limped up to her.
"So it was you making all of that ruckus? I should have figured." Jak said as Kaida got to her feet. " you have no finesse." Kaida merely shrugged as she looked at them and shook her head. She looked over at Jak's leg and became a little worried. She knew he was really fine, and it wasn't a wound that would cause any real lasting problems, but she couldn't help it.
"We need to find something for your leg, buddy." Daxter voiced for her. Jak wanted nothing more to say that it was fine and hobble out of here without a second thought because his ego was demanding that he do just that but, even he knew that this injury was part of what got him in here in the first place. Kaida nodded and the trio headed out of the door Kaida had come in. She attempted to pull up the computer map in her head as best as she could but she could not remember anything that might have been a first aid center in this building. She opted for checking the rooms that she figured had the highest likelihood of containing one of the KG boxes.
At this point, if anyone else were going to come for her from inside the building they would have already been here by now, and so it wouldn't hurt. As Kaida was about to throw open the first door she suddenly stopped and turned to Jak. She pulled his gun from her pack and handed it to him.
After checking room after room as they headed down the hallway, they at last came to a room stocked with several KG boxes. Kaida expertly cracked a few of them open to find plenty of ammo and a few good packs of green eco. She brought the packs to Jak and he chose to sit on the ground to administer the eco to himself. As Kaida stocked her gun and filled her pack with ammo, Jak used the health kits to fix his wounds. With his leg as good as new, Jak was eager to stroll out of this damned place.
"Oh yes, Jak, you are lucky." Kaida said over her shoulder as the made their way quickly towards the exit.
"Is that right? This isn't exactly what I call luck." Jak replied with a sourness to his last few words.
"Yes, the KG, they didn't know what they had." she responded with no worry to his sourness.
"What do you mean?" he was a little confused.
"You've done something. Big. And they want you captured even more badly now. But, while you were caught, your warrant was still being announced."
"Then the Baron isn't going to be happy with these soldiers when he finds out about this." Jak smirked and looked around at the mess Kaida had made of the place. He really didn't care what the Baron did, but he knew that this would really get under his skin, especially after just recently having his ass handed to him. Kaida observed the smirk on his face. It told her he had been up to something. She already knew that he had to have done something wonderfully reckless in order to have been injured and captured like he had. Kaida had been far more concerned with Jak being captured and how to get him out, rather than thinking of exactly how he had been captured. She had a few ideas, but whatever would happen next would tell her which idea was right.
They escaped the building with no problems and grabbed a couple of zoomers. They arrived at the hideout in little time and made their way back down into the safe, hidden rooms. They only had a moment to breathe in the peace of the underground before Torn began grilling Jak.
"The city is on high alert! What the HELL did you two do?!" Torn demanded slamming his fist on his desk.
"Us?" Daxter quickly responded, innocently. "Nothing. We been... ah, sightseeing. Right Jak?"
"Really?! Then why are the Krimson Guard looking for..." Torn consulted a small piece of paper. "A dangerous young man with light hair, blue tunic, and a rabid orange RAT on his shoulder?" Torn prompted dangerously.
"Ahh, could be anyone. Orange is the new black this season." Daxter covered badly.
"Look, we climbed up to the Baron's palace and we... tripped a few alarms." Jak confessed, but with no hint of worry, remorse, or apology. Kaida silently observed the spectacle from a safe distance. Once the conversation had begun she had placed exactly what had gone on before Jak's capture.
"Oh right... that too." Daxter muttered and shrunk a little.
"What? I didn't authorize a strike on the..." Torn protested, angry that they had acted without permission.
"Hey, we kicked the Baron's ASS. Unfortunately he escaped." Jak stated against Torn's anger.
"And," Daxter added, "we overheard a secret meeting with the leader of the metal heads."
"You saw the metal head leader?" asked a soft voice from the side of the room It was Kor, whom Kaida and Jak had both failed to notice when they had entered.
"No, he was on some communicator, but we heard him talking with Baron Praxis." replied Jak, not worried at the sudden interest of Kor.
"The Baron is bribing the metal heads with eco!" Daxter added.
"Hmph. It will never be enough." responded Kor with disdain.
"But the Baron's gonna double cross them!"
"Well, our good Baron's 'charm' must have angered someone, because there is word from the wasteland that the metal head armies are on the move again!"
"Why didn't you tell me that Ashelin is Praxis' daughter?! What is your connection to her?" Jak demanded, ignoring both Kor and Dax.
"That is none of your business!" Torn yelled, ready to stare Jak down. "Since you've stirred up the wumbees nest, you and whiskers here get to move four of our people to new safe houses. Shuttle each agent to a location they specify. Move them without ANY casualties. Don't screw this up Jak!" Torn, always ready to launch right into the next mission. Quickly gave them their first location and sat down in a huff, obviously demanding that they vacate ASAP. Jak was more than willing to comply if meant he could avoid the brunt of Torn's anger, and if it could get him closer to what he wanted. It didn't take long for Jak and Daxter to be out of the hideout. Jak stalked to the flier that was parked in the alleyway.
"What a real load. Why the hell do we get stuck doing this errand boy shit?" Daxter complained from his perch. Jak shrugged.
"Well we did raise the alarms, so it is kind of our fault." Jak reasoned. Daxter, however, continued to grumble, though he knew it was the truth. Kaida had remained behind, when a glance form Torn while he was chewing out Jak and Daxter had told her to stay. She remained where she had stood and waited for Torn's acknowledgment. Finally Torn sighed exasperatedly and sank into his chair. He casually shuffled some papers around on his desk. Kaida shifted her weight from side to side and waited.
"So," Torn spoke without looking up and caused Kaida to start at the initial sound. "How were you involved in this ridiculous mess?"
"I wasn't." Kaida said once she recovered herself.
"Is that so. Where were you then?" Torn didn't sound like he didn't believe her, but he asked the question anyway.
"Sightseeing." she replied shortly. Torn looked up at her, and amused look on his face at her particular response. But he got the point, and gave another heavy sigh.
"Right. So, since you've spent your morning off gallivanting on your own little escapades, its now time to do some work." he looked up at her. "There have been some issues in the past in Dead Town. I want you to go and scout out the area." Kaida paused for a moment thinking it over.
"Is there something you aren't telling me?" she asked, just to make sure she had the whole story.
"There's metal heads." Torn responded with a touch of sarcasm. He went back to looking at his papers, as a sign that he had nothing else to tell her and she had better get his ass going.
"Of course." Kaida responded and left the hideout. Her mind was still abuzz with questions about the silence in her mind. If there were anything in her thoughts that might have lead her to believe that perhaps she was cured, the fact that she had transformed in that KG stronghold shot a million holes in that hope.
But she still had to wonder what had happened. Even while the anger had flooded her system, she hadn't heard her darkness, not once. After she had put her gun away and opted for hand to hand, armed with claws, she had heard no response from her darkness. Nothing had called even so much as a whisper. Was that wretched voice truly gone? Kaida couldn't dare hope. Or, if that was true, it could mean worse things. If the second voice was gone from her mind, it could mean that this dark eco was permanent. Going home... the thoughts ?
wove through her mind. If she could not remove the eco, what would happen when she went home?
Oh man, sorry that took so long and i am sorry that this chapter is complete crap. school has been a real handful and i have been busy with other things too. This is basicaly a filler chapter. I promise i will get to the damn point soon enough and i swear it will be good. thanks too all of you who still read this story!