Greetings to you, one and all. Its that time of the week again, and here's your update, delivered as promised. Not a whole lot going on down here that I can think of, aside from the fact that I am now really enjoying Battle Front II. Call me insane or whatever, but I find few things more enjoyable than engaging in "Imperial Diplomacy" on Naboo as a Dark Trooper (a cybernetically enhanced clone of Jango Fett), coming down out of a jetpack jump, and unleashing and Arc Caster shot on about a dozen soldiers, right before capping a Jedi in the head and leaving the good Queen a present in the form of a thermal detonator…
But, my bloodlust for Star Wars aside, to those of you who reviewed.
MariaShadow- Hehe, glad you liked the Daxter angst. As for Seem, let's say her bigotry will eventually get her very close to our little honor bound demon, shall we? I am also happy that you enjoyed the melding of normal tech, as the vehicles did seem to use bullets, rather than energy bursts.
Exardas- There will be a few solo missions, but most of them will have other Wastelanders running around, and those first few missions were a tad stupid, and its been done death in RPGs…Hope to see more of your stories soon, and I hope you like the chapter.
Philoworm- Pleased to hear that you enjoyed it, though it will be a few chapters before we see Keira get her powers, and I'm still trying to figure out how to give her her own Precursor weapon/armor as far as timeline in the story. Hope you like this one, and please let me know of any ideas you may have.
Saiorse- Thanks for the vote of confidence, and I am happy to hear that you liked my blending of modern tech with the futuristic stuff. Will try to keep the work as good as I possibly can, and let me know if I start to slip.
Wizard Surreal- Yeah, that about summed up the scene that I saw (smile). Yeah, the others were a bit surprised to see what it was they saw. As for the Light Powers, Jak will not be receiving any, that honor will instead go to Keira, who will joining Jak and Daxter out in the Wasteland after she gets them, as things will be going straight to Hell in a hand basket back in haven.
Lunatic Pandora1- Yeah, it was a sight, and there likely will be some rumors/tales circulating now, events such as that tend to do those sort of things. Hope you like the chapter.
Evil Manic- Glad to know that I didn't bore you with the history lesson, as the next chapter is going to have about five pages worth of that sort of thing… Not sure about the tank idea, though it would seem logical for the Marauders to have a type of turret style defense similar to that huge cannon Kleiver's always using…
GoodMourningBeautiful2005- Glad that you liked the chapter, and I hope that this one pleases you as well, as a trip to the gates of hell is in store for our heroes…
Light-Eco-Sage- Glad that the picture made you all warm and fuzzy, and I am so happy that N.D. got their act together. As for Kage, expect to see more of him from now on, as the Wasteland will not soon forget the presence of the Dark Eco Demon. (insert insane cackling) And Keira will join him out there in a few chapters, shortly after she starts to get her abilities.
jaklover123- Well, if it's any comfort to you, I am 5' 11. This effectively makes me the shortest male member of my family on both sides (got a cousin on each side that's 6' 6). Glad you liked Kage's reappearance, and I hope that I continue to please.
Meowen- Glad that you liked the chapter, and I hope that this one pleases you just as much, even if there isn't much action in it.
Air of Mystery- Sorry about that, but the only thing Kleiver will possess of Krew is the glare. Don't worry though, he will not be the reincarnation of that blob, and will have (I hope) a depth to him in this story that hasn't been shown before. Not sure what you meant about the P.S., but if it's anything to do with the destruction of the MS blight, let me know, as Kage is eager to take them out, and I haven't been able to work my evocation magic for a while, so I'm dying to fireball something…
Aerofae- Glad that you liked the fight scene, and expect to see many more coming in the future chapters.
The White Dwarf- Glad you liked the depth that has gone into Dax and the rest of the story, but sadly, I do not think I will be bringing it into Jak-X, as I cannot write racing scenes very well, though I am trying to think up some sort of AU medieval type story.
Farr2rich- Glad you enjoyed the fight scene, and that wasn't as perverted as Daxter's been in the past. Don't know the lines from the ending, as some pictures is all that I've seen, but you will like it, trust me. Hope to see your own story updated soon, and best of luck to you. (for the record, the story is not crap, its waaaayyyyyy better than my first attempts were, trust me on that)
SRHumphrey727- Had a rather stressful week actually, got teacher's examing me like the world's coming to an end --; Ahhh well, life goes on. Hope you like the chapter, and let me know what you think if you do, or what could be improved if you don't.
exodus12188- Truth be told, I never really used any vehicles other than the ones that I was given, so I don't know what there is to upgrade. As for the howitzers, I don't think so, as the elves would have a time hauling em back to Haven, and they really don't even know how they're fired in the first place. As for you other question, yeah, there will be more than one of the Juggernaughts participating in the final showdown, as well as the grand total of about 12000 odd Precursors and God only knows how many elves scraping it out with each other…
Crazed Demon- Glad that you liked the last chapter, and I hope that I continue to please. (bows)
YamiTenshi14- Thank you for the vote of confidence, and I shall try to take that information to heart. As for the story, I hope that I continue to improve on it, but I am always afraid of becoming overconfident, if you know what I mean…Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, and if you have any ideas, please let me know, thanks. (bows)
animedragongirl- Thanks for putting up with all the errors in the chapter, and I really enjoyed the Halloween special, and thanks for letting Errol have it, heheehe. Should have the next one to you soon, and its really long, so I hope you have stocked up on red ink.
Ali O- Glad you liked Keira ripping Veger apart, and expect it to happen at least once more. I'll try to stop apologizing for the quality of the story, and thank you for having faith in my abilities. That said, I hope you like this chapter.
Beloved Rose- Thanks for the advice on Tarath, I tried a bit of it in this chapter, could you let me know how I did? As for Veger Bashing, I think that Jak will be the next one to do it (right after he has his little meeting with Seem, and I think I know just what to do to the good count (insert insane cackling)) Thanks for the vote of confidence to, and I'll try to take it to heart.
gamehead64- No, don't think Damas saw that coming, and I haven't decided what will come of it, aside from Jak receiving much more respect as a result. (looks up at space, sees construction, and hurriedly dials up the rebels on his phone)
Moon-Angel-Eyes- Glad you like what I did to Damas, and I hope that I continue to please. As for Veger, he will probably survive, though rest assured that may not be a blessing, considering what I am gong to have in store for him. Hope you like this one too, and let me know if there's anything you'd like to see happen.
To those of you who read but did not review, I hope that you have found this story to your liking thus far, and please don't hesitate to throw your two cents in if you see something that could be improved.
Lawyers: I no own, so leave me be!
On another note, this is the chapter where Jak changes his hair, and the style was one created by Wennichelle, an artist from DA, who has graciously given me permission to use it, for which I am quite grateful. If you want to check the style out, head hear to see it http/ www. deviantart. Com /view/ 22553474/
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Darkness Guides Us
His wings spread wide to catch the thermal currents drifting up from the desert some four thousand feet below, Kage glided towards their destination: a large volcano that dominated the center of the Wasteland. Daxter was clutching his shoulder, the ottsel's face buried into the oni's skin, as he held on for dear life.
About two and a half weeks had passed since their arrival at Spargus, and for the most part they had been accepted, especially after tales of what his host had done had begun to circulate amongst the Spargian populace. As for his host, well, Jak was slowly becoming more at ease out in this place. The dark elf really wasn't certain why, but he thought that somehow, in a distant way, the Wastelanders reminded him a lot of where he had grown up. Sure, the environments were about as close to polar opposites as one could get, and the rough talking residents of the place weren't exactly the villagers that he'd known as a child. But nonetheless, the way in which they worked together to get their jobs done, they way that they were able to make do and be content with what little they could scrap out of this gods forsaken desert had made his host slightly nostalgic.
Granted, he hadn't initially been too thrilled about the whole Marauder enslavement deal, but after Valthos had showed him what was left of a few Wastelanders that they had captured, tortured to death, and then left out in the desert to rot, he'd quickly lost any sympathy he might have had for them.
The Ascended Channeler had even gone so far as to style his hair after them to a degree. He hadn't gotten it cut since he'd busted out of prison more than a year ago, and it had been starting to bug him. So, about three days ago, he'd finally gone and done something about it. Now, rather than being the wild, unkempt manner that it had been before, he'd gotten it styled to where it was in dreadlocks similar to how Torn would have worn his, except for the small bands of leaper lizard hide that held it together, and the fact that they all came together in a tethered up pony tail that was just past his shoulders, not counting the foremost two of them, which hung down either side of his face, along with a few strands that manage to escape confinement.
Still, however semi-comfortable his host might have been while he was in Spargus, that didn't change the fact that Haven was still in the throes of war, and his people were shedding their blood every day while he was out here. However, he was exiled on pain of death, and he had little doubt that if he tried to return, further infighting would erupt, and that wouldn't solve anything.
Both of them only prayed that the Freedom Guard was able to make it without them for the time being, and that Keira and the rest remained safe, despite everything.
That was another thing that was constantly eating at Jak, and Kage knew it, no matter how well the dark elf tried to hide it. The Dark Eco demon could relate somewhat to the longing that his host felt for his soul mate, as he cared for her as well. However, the oni's love for the beautiful elf was less along the lines of a soul mate or lover, and more closely related to the feelings one would associate with that of a guardian or an elder brother.
However, in circumstances such as this, he still felt the pain sharply, and had silently vowed that come hell or high-water, he would see his host and Keira back together, and the Heavens have mercy upon the unfortunate soul stupid enough to try to bring a premature end to their reunion.
He also couldn't help but feel a little guilty over the fact that it was, despite Jak's many assurances that it was not, his fault that they were out here.
And even in this place, there were those who distrusted him because of a genetic quirk that his host had not asked to be born with. Most notable among those was Seem, the strange elf that had watched their performance in the arena. As luck would have it, she was head of a branch of monks that had dedicated themselves to finding out the mysteries of the Precursors and the artifacts that they had left behind. However, while she had conveyed that she and her order knew much about the supposedly long gone Ancients, she was not about to divulge that to them, and a frown made its way over his face as he thought back to the meeting that he had been a silent witness to.
His hood up to shield his face from the burning sun, the dark elf walked through the desert city, Daxter at his heels, as he had found out the hard way that ferrosteel, unlike electro-mesh, does indeed become hot after extended exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Jak had been sparring against himself in the then deserted battle arena, when something had come streaking down from the sky like a blazing meteorite, and had impacted a second later with enough force to rattle the entire city.
He'd approached the area some time later, knowing that the Wastelanders would mob the area initially, thus making observation of any kind difficult at best.
Now though, a few hours later, the area that the thing had come down in was deserted except for the occasional odd onlooker, and some elves that Jak could not recall having seen before. He might have overlooked them, but he felt certain that he would have remembered clothing as odd as the kind that they were dressed in.
"Whoa," Daxter remarked, pointing them out, as if they weren't obvious enough. "Check out these funny dudes." The ottsel then broke into a fit of laughter, barely managing to get his next verbal jab at them out. "Nice threads, guys, I didn't know that rubber was back in."
'He has a bit of a point,' Kage conceded, a look of bafflement upon his face, 'those cannot possibly be comfortable in this environment.'
'Must be part of their code or something.' Jak responded with a mental shrug, as the leader turned around.
It was the same elf that had seen them in the arena, and she glared down at the furry
rodent with a clear amount of irritation in her crimson eyes.
"So what's all the excitement about?" the Ottsel inquired, raising an eyebrow, apparently oblivious to her annoyance, or perhaps merely choosing to ignore it.
"It is none of your concern, animal." she snapped in a raspy voice that sounded as if she could have used a long draught of water.
"Look, coloring book," Daxter shot back, "we've had a rough past few days, so don't push it."
The girl ignored him, though, and opted to focus her attention upon the dark elf standing in front of her instead. Her eyes narrowed again, this time literally blazing with hostility.
"The arena shows all, exile." she spat. "Darkness consumes your eyes."
In response to her remark, the Ascended Channeler threw his hood back, making his glowing, reptilian orbs visible to everyone present.
"Really?" he said in an overly sarcastic tone of voice. "What was your first clue?"
"It will consume you, and lead to your destruction," she then gestured to the strange object behind her, "just as the Precursors destroyed themselves!"
"That doesn't look like any Precursor crap we've ever seen before." Daxter remarked, crossing his arms and giving the monk a strange look.
"These artifacts are abominations," the girl remarked as she turned around, "and another one fell near the great volcano. A party of my monks was sent out to investigate, but neither they nor their escort returned." She shook her head abruptly. "Ill tidings sing on the wind, and I fear that the end of this world as we know it is at hand."
"I think you might have been out in the blazing sun just a little too long." Daxter muttered while shaking his head.
'I think he is premature in his assumption, there is something about all of this that doesn't seem right.' Kage rumbled inside of Jak's head, stroking his chin and flapping his wings slightly.
'I hear you.' The dark elf responded. 'My sixth sense is practically screaming right now.'
'Heh,' the oni snorted, 'I know, it's just about making me deaf.'
'Was that supposed to be a joke?' Jak inquired.
'More or less.' The Dark Eco demon replied with a shrug.
'Treading new ground every day, huh?' the Ascended Channeler mentally remarked, shaking his head in amazement as another one of the strange monks headed over, bowing before the leader.
"Lady Seem," the other monk said with a bow, "we believe that we have discovered something."
"Show me." Seem commanded, and her fellow made haste to comply.
His curiosity getting the better of him, Jak followed them, as did Daxter. What they saw was strange to say the least. Seem's comrades looked to have discovered what almost appeared to be a computer display screen, complete with flashing runes that were somewhat different from the Precursian script that he was thus far familiar with.
"Interesting." He muttered, scratching his chin as he peered over Seem's shoulder.
"You should leave this place, Dark One!" she snarled. "I will not stand for you skulking about in the shadows, corrupting all you come into contact with, so be gone, spawn of the hells!"
'Why that presumptuous little…' Kage snarled, baring his fangs and clenching his fists in anger. 'She knows nothing of our plight, and yet she dares to condemn us based upon the nature of something we had no control over?'
"What is it with you people and assuming that darkness and evil are one in the same?" Jak responded coolly, raising an eyebrow, before motioning for her to stand back and touching various points on the command screen.
While they might not have been exactly like the runes that he was familiar with, there were many similarities, and he might just be able to figure out what was going on here.
It took him a few minutes, but he managed to crack it, and when he did, he got the surprise of his life. There was a high pitched warbling that came from the machine, and the screen started flashing.
"Hmmm," he muttered peering harder at the symbols blazing across the screen, "looks like it's communicating with something…a…Day Star?"
"Something tells me we ain't going to like what that thing's yapping with!" Daxter exclaimed, and Jak silently agreed with him.
Before any of them could make a reply however, a port opened next to the console screen, and to the surprise of everyone, spat out a Dark Eco Crystal. Seem shouted for her monks to scatter, as coming into contact with such a thing was hardly a wise move. However, heedless of her warning, Jak bent down, and snatched the Crystal, before pocketing it, smirking slightly as he did so.
The monk merely glared at him yet again, narrowing her burgundy eyes to the point where they seemed to catch fire. However, before words could be exchanged, another high pitched warbling sound emanated from behind them, and they turned just in time to watch the strange device shoot into the air, where it hovered for about two or so seconds before blowing up, lighting up the evening sky and showering the area with shrapnel.
"Must have had some sort of self destruct mechanism." The dark elf mused aloud as he crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against the upper regions of them.
"The Fallen Ones return is nigh…" Seem muttered to herself, shaking her head, causing Jak to look at her.
"You and your friends happen to know something that we don't?" he asked in an accusing tone, somewhat unnerved by the comment that she had made.
"Yeah, spill the beans!" Daxter commanded in the firmest voice that he could muster, while he leaned forward and shook his fist at the tattooed monk.
"And if I told you, would it make any difference?" she shot back. "We are not so desperate as to turn to darkness to save ourselves! So stay out of our business, as you and your masquerading friend and far from welcome here!"
The dark elf had merely glared at her, before throwing up his hood and walking away to his quarters, where both he and Daxter hoped for a good night's rest.
They had slept soundly, until Valthos had awakened them before the crack of dawn to send them out on a search and possibly rescue mission. The Sand King hadn't heard from the monks that Seem had sent to the volcano in almost three days, and it was getting to the point where he knew that something had gone wrong.
The head of the monks had initially been opposed to the idea of 'that hellspawn' being sent out to retrieve her comrades, but after a little 'convincing' on the part of the Sand King, she had coughed up the location of the area that they were heading for. Apparently, the plan had called for them to make us of an old temple, built by some long forgotten elven empire, and then glide via the thermal currents from there to the volcano about fifteen miles away, as its slopes were too steep to get up without specialized mechanical equipment that they were, to say the least, lacking.
What had puzzled Jak was that the gliders were still there, an indication that whatever had happened to the monks and their guards had occurred there in the temple, and that they had not crashed in route to their destination, or perished in the volcano. But, aside from that, they could detect nothing that might give a clue as to what fate had befallen Seem's comrades. It had then been decided that they might as well check out the crashed object, and see if they could determine anything about it, that way there might not have to head back completely empty handed.
They were nearly there, and the oni growled for Daxter to brace himself, as he had no idea how rough the landing was going to be.
He gently banked around the jagged volcanic rock that jutted out from the side, looking for a side tunnel or something that he might be able to make use of, as the oni had little desire to see if he could put up with the heat that was belched out of the fiery cone of the mountain, so say nothing of the fact that there was the possibility of Daxter being lit up like a match.
It was a few minutes later when he finally to locate a promising route, a small side channel that lave had punched through the side of the mountain but was now hollow. Reminding the rodent upon his shoulder to hold on tight, the Dark Eco demon dived down towards the channel, folding his wings in and letting his momentum carry them through into the shadows and flame of their destination, as the tunnel was not wide enough to accommodate Kage's sixteen foot wingspan.
Thankfully, the lava channel arced downward at enough of an angle that allowed them to keep moving under his speed alone, nor did it suddenly close up on them, though there were a few unnervingly tight squeezes at several points.
The closest call, though, came when the channel suddenly came to an end, opening up into a small chamber. Reacting with speed that only he could manage, Kage opened his wings and furiously back flapped, trying to slow himself down. He did manage to stop a good deal of his forward momentum, but he still realized that he was going to have a date with the rock wall at the other end. Extending his triple jointed legs, the oni braced himself for an inevitable, bone jarring impact. It happened a second later, and Daxter barely managed to hang on to the Dark Eco demon.
Nonetheless, the duo was not reduced to a smear upon the walls, and Kage was able to get them both down to the ground safely, even if the furry rodent on his shoulder had a bad case of frazzled nerves.
"That could have gone better." the oni groaned aloud, twisting his head and cracking his neck.
"Were you out for coffee or something when they were discussing landings in flight school?" Daxter snapped, his fur sticking up on end and his pupils slightly dilated.
'Let's just figure out what in the world is so important about this thing that it merits sending an entire expedition to the gates of hell.' Jak muttered from inside his own mind.
'Do you wish for me to release my hold or would you prefer that I remain manifested?' Kage inquired to his alter ego.
'Best stay as you are right now,' Jak told his inner demon, 'if something goes wrong, we're going to need to be able to get out of here in a hurry.'
'As you wish.' The creature replied in a respectful tone.
Kage then looked about, and noticed several other tunnels branching off in various directions. Choosing one at random, he began to make his way down it, every sense alert at watchful for the slightest indication that something was amiss here.
Neither Jak, Kage, nor Daxter could recall later how much time they had spent down there, but they did not enjoy it to say the least. The air was superheated, so much so that it almost scorched their lungs to breathe it, which was to say nothing of the sulfurous fumes that further polluted the already nigh un-breathable atmosphere.
Much to there surprise, there had been some life down here in the form of a few tuffs of some exotic plant and a variety of strange lizard like creatures. However, while the fiends had bared their teeth and snarled at the oni's presence, they did not attempt to attack him, and having once been driven by such carnal instincts, Kage knew why as well.
They recognized a superior predator when they saw one.
Still, the trip was no cakewalk, as several ledges gave way beneath the Dark Eco demon, forcing him to take to the air, which was another exercise in pushing his limits, as flying over four thousand degree in-temperature lava was not exactly healthy for his wings.
Thus, it was with great relief when he and Daxter finally caught sight of the crashed object. It was similar to the one before, being a purple color, and vaguely resembling a flying saucer.
"What could these things be," he rumbled as he cocked his head and rubbed his chin, "that Seem would send an expedition down here to this death trap to investigate it?"
"I just want to know why in the world we seem to keep running into all of this Precursor crap." Daxter moaned, fanning himself in a futile attempt to cool off. "I mean, between that robot that Gol and Maia commandeered, the Rift Rider, and everything else in between, I've noticed that trouble follows these things like stink follows Kleiver!" he exclaimed as he clenched his fists in a dramatic way before looking to the heavens. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the Ancients had it in for us!"
"Though misfortune seems to follow you, I assure you it is merely coincidence." Came a new voice, and both the Dark Eco demon and the Ottsel whirled about to face the source of it, who revealed himself a moment later.
Out of the shadows created by the strange device stepped an armored figure, black from his visored helmet to his two toed boots. On his right arm was a double serrated scythe blade, and his long dreadlocked hair fluttered slightly behind him in the thermal drafts.
"Tarath?" the oni exclaimed, surprised to see the Precursor in a volcanic crater of all places.
The Reaver nodded and floated up into the air, before jetting over to where he hovered some ten feet in front of the duo, who stared back at him, with Daxter being somewhat anxious as to what the Ancient might have wanted, while Kage was, as he host had done when they'd last met, trying to pierce through that visor and see the face one the other side of it.
'What's he doing here?' Jak mused inside of his mind, more than a little confused about this turn of events.
'I do not know,' Kage conceded with a shrug, 'with luck, perhaps he will tell us.'
Praetor Tarath Shien was a mystery, and enigma that neither he nor his host had never truly been able to figure out. Though, it wasn't as if they'd had a whole lot of time to question the Precursor in the first place, as he'd been brief in his words, congratulating them, wishing Jak and Keira well, and leaving the rest with a cryptic warning about the war between Haven City and the Metal Heads being just the beginning of a larger conflict.
In short, considering that he'd admitted to being the Precursian ancestor in Jak's family tree, it had been one very bizarre little family reunion.
"I know you have questions about everything," the Reaver stated, his deep and calm voice emanating from whatever unknown visage was on the other side of that helmet, "but this is hardly the place for such a conversation." He then gestured down to the crashed object. "Let me deal with this and I will show you to a place where we can talk."
Kage nodded silently, while the black armored Ancient turned around to face the mysterious artifact. He then compacted himself, doing what looked almost like a mid air squat, and Dark Eco began to crackle over his armor. Unseen to the duo standing behind him, his eyes flashed a bright, blood crimson color behind the mirrored visor of his helmet, and he suddenly focused his power into his palms, forming a large sphere of dark energy. With a feral yell, he cocked his left arm back, before slamming his fist into the energy ball.
The sphere sailed towards its target, impacting upon it and exploding in a dazzling combination of red, orange, black and purple, and sending bits and pieces of the object raining down into the magma below.
That deed accomplished, the Reaver motioned for them to follow him, before jetting out, heading for the far side of the volcano's crater.
Kage looked down at Daxter, who groaned and covered his eyes, muttering a multitude of prayers as the oni picked him up and spread his wings, before following the Praetor.
The trip across took about five minutes, and the tailing party were both sweating rivers by the time they were finally standing upon a ledge on the far side. Tarath had obviously already landed, was apparently fiddling with something. Rearing up slightly to where he could see over the Dark Precursor's shoulder, Kage saw it to be some sort of control panel.
Thus, he and his host were able to quickly put two and two together when a rumbling shook the area, though Daxter gulped and looked upward, as if expecting large boulders to suddenly come tumbling down on his head. Much to his relief, all that happened was for part of the rocky walls to suddenly split apart, revealing a long tunnel that trailed off into darkness for so long that not even Kage's enhanced vision could see the end of it.
"This way." Tarath said, walking into the artificial cavern.
The two of them followed him as he had instructed, though the Dark Eco demon, in a silent conference with his host, decided that now was a good time for him to return control to Jak, and there was a slight groan that echoed through the chamber as he did so, which could be heard above the doors closing behind them.
Tarath halted for a brief moment, remembering Mar talking about how uncomfortable the transitions between forms was, and his own knowledge, though it was dulled by time, of when he would transform.
Thankfully hidden behind his battle gear, the Precursor warrior's face became a mask of sorrow, as he was forced to yet again be reminded of the mere shell that he was now, unable to feel, to breathe, to do anything that most normal beings could. He silently chuckled in a bitter manner, never thinking that pain would be something that he would long for one day, if for no other purpose than to simply be able to feel something, anything, again.
Oh sure, the cybernetic components that made up approximately eighty five percent of his body registered damage, and sent signals to his partially reconstructed brain, which he was able to understand. But, that was simply the knowledge that he was being hurt by something, he didn't actually feel the sensation.
He shook his head abruptly, and realized that his descendent behind him, and the anomaly both lacked the ability to see as he did for the moment, and he was quick to rectify that problem.
"Lights." He said, his tone neutral.
Immediately, the corridor became illuminated banishing the shadows and making everything visible to the two behind him. What truly astounded them, though, was not merely the voice activated visual aids, but rather, that they could not be seen, so to speak. There were no incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs that could be seen, it was almost as if the hallway itself had suddenly started to glow. However, as Jak was quick to remind himself, that considering who they were dealing with here, that was a very good possibility.
After all, the early elves had not worshiped the Ancients as if they were gods for no particular reason.
They continued on in silence for a few minutes, until they reached what appeared to be some sort of lift. At least, that's what the duo assumed that it was. However, while the vertical tunnel it might have had, that was the only thing it possessed that made it similar to the ones that he'd used, as rather than a metal platform, the whole thing seemed to be made of some sort of fluctuating 'light disc.'
Nevertheless, Tarath walked out upon it, revealing that it was as sturdy as anything made of a more traditional material. The black armored Precursor turned around to face the two of them, and Jak stepped up on the lift. However, while the dark elf might have done so readily enough, Daxter was a tad more hesitant, and carefully placed his foot upon the elevator, as if expecting himself to suddenly plunge through the moment he put his weight upon it. However, after testing it a few times, the Ottsel was finally content that he would be safe enough upon the bizarre elevator, and stepped on.
Tarath punched a few holographic buttons on a control panel, and they suddenly began to shoot down into the depths of the facility. About fifteen seconds later, the ride came to an abrupt halt, and before them was yet another darkened chamber. However, another verbal command from the Praetor next to them, and it became as bright as day.
'Wow…' Kage trailed off, in awe over what he was seeing.
Jak was at a loss for words, and could merely nod in a dumb fashion as he stared out over the room. Even Daxter could not hold back an impressed whistle at what his large eyes were seeing.
Everywhere, there was alien technology.
From otherworldly computer consoles, to what appeared to be lab stations with strange looking devices standing upon them, there was evidence to the Precursors and the technological mastery they had achieved before they had vanished so suddenly.
"What is this place?" Jak inquired, his slitted eyes peering about, trying to memorize every detail that he could.
"A research facility built within the volcano." Tarath answered, before stepping off of the lift and motioning for the Ascended Channeler and the ottsel to follow him past the myriad of lab stations.
"Isn't this sorta poor real estate for a place like this?" Daxter asked, an incredulous look upon his face as he stared around.
"On the contrary," the Reaver replied, "the volcano here provides a natural energy source via geothermal heating." he then looked back over his shoulder at the furry rodent, a hidden smile upon his face. "And I can assure you that we are well protected by the outer walls of this facility. During the millennia since its construction, it has survived more than a dozen eruptions."
Upon hearing this, Daxter relaxed visibly, letting out a silent sight of relief.
They once again fell into silence for a time, the two compatriots staring about in an awed hush as they passed through the facility. After about ten minutes, though, they reached a set of doors that looked rather heavily reinforced to say the least, as there were bars of some strange sort of metallic substance crisscrossing over it from every conceivable angle, and it was covered by some sort of glowing energy shield.
Tarath walked up to the door, before placing his right hand into a slot next to the main control panel for the door, which was currently covered. His mind registered what would have normally been a rather uncomfortable scanning procedure as the high tech machinery picked apart and analyzed the genetic code from his sole remaining limb and ran it through its databanks. Then, a hidden control panel opened, and Jak and Daxter watched as the Precursor entered what appeared to be about a twenty digit alphanumeric access code. There was a signal of acknowledgement once again, and this time, what looked like a microphone appeared out of the wall.
"Tarath Shien, Reaver, Praetor, alpha omega sigma." the black armored Ancient said into it.
Still not done, the security measures then went on to scan the retina of his right eye. All the while, the dark elf and the Ottsel behind him were open mouthed at the level of security present here.
'Whatever is behind that door is either powerful, or dangerous.' Kage remarked, shaking his head in disbelief.
'Knowing how these guys were, it's probably both.' Jak replied with a slight chuckle, getting him a nod from the oni.
Finally, the shield dropped, and what turned out to be a pair of blast doors opened to allow for them to enter. Motioning for the others to follow him, he stepped inside, and once again lit up the room with a single word.
Once more, elf, ottsel, and oni were robbed of their breath as they saw what lay inside.
This looked almost like some sort of bizarre equipment room, and row after row of silver armor and various blade type weapons, some familiar, others utterly foreign in appearance, filled the chamber up. Most surprising of all, though, was the fact that the armor was not made for a Precursor. In fact, based upon the humanoid appearance of it, Jak was certain that it looked like equipment meant for…
"So…" he began, giving the Reaver in front of him a scathing look, "its true then." He shook his head. "The Channelers were to be nothing more than cannon fodder for your war with the Metal Heads."
Tarath remained silent, his back to the Ascended Channeler, the only acknowledgement that he had even heard the dark elf being a slight droop in his head. Finally, after many moments, he spoke.
"Kor's assessment of what your roles were was a grim one." The Precursor muttered, a tone of sadness in his voice. "Grim…but accurate."
"So, because you had to survive at any cost, you went and dragged us into a war we had no way in hell of winning?" Jak shouted, clenching his fist his fists, his strange eyes blazing in rage. "How many of us died because of what you did? How many elven parents screamed for mercy while the Hora-quan slaughtered their children, children cursed with your 'gift' to them?"
"Even we Precursors are not without our sins, and I will not deny that our actions were wrong." Tarath said in a soft voice, slowly turning around to face the Ascended Channeler. "But it was a necessary evil."
"A necessary evil?" Jak echoed, enough venom in his voice to make Daxter recoil, as the ottsel realized that his friend was about to enter 'kill mode.'
"There was more than our civilization at stake." The Reaver said quietly, his head facing the ground. "Gaia's very life was on the line!"
"What?" the dark elf asked, his tone incredulous.
"All I ask is that you listen to the full story," the black armored Ancient said, extending his hand slightly. "You deserve the truth, at the very least."
"I'm listening." Jak growled.
&
Okay, there's a good stopping point. After this, comes the reader's digest version of the Precursor history, and Jak will finally get Mar's Armor. Then, the action will switch back to Keira and co for a little while.
If you see anything that could be improved in this fight, or have any ideas, constructive criticisms, flames, or things of that nature, let me know.
Special thanks again to Wennichelle for letting me use her artistic idea, and to animedragongirl for beta reading this.That said, will see you next week, and have a great one.