Good day to you all, and its great to see you again, nightmare tests and site crashes aside…
Still playing good ole Battlefront II, and I have discovered the embarrassment of having my comrades have their butts handed to them by a bunch of walking teddy bears, and the joys of simultaneously cutting down Luke Skywalker and Yoda as Darth Maul and watching Mace Windu block a bunch of shots from Jango as Boba sneaks up from behind with a flamethrower…(insert insane giggling).
Once again, my bloodlust aside, to those of you who reviewed:
Farr2rich- Thanks again for the powers, and for everything else you've offered. Really liked the last chapter of your own story, and I hope you update it soon, I wanna see what happens next!
PhiloWorm- Thanks for the ideas, my friend, I think They'll come in quite handy. As for the Light Ascended form, it will indeed have wings just like Tyreal, just as L.J's were in the third game. However, unlike in the game, Keira's wings will double as whip like weapons, and she will use them…a lot. Thanks again, and I hope you like the history lesson here.
Crazed Demon- Tarath will do his share of the fighting, rest assured, though most of it will be through flashbacks that will deal with everything from the Precursor Civil War to his defeat at Kor's hands. However, he'll really get in on the action once the Fallen make their official return. Plus, once the finale comes around, there will likely be an entire chapter dedicated to his battle. Hope this pleases you, and let me know if there's anything you'd like to see happen.
Ali O- Yeah, Jak and Kage are both a little pissed, but this is where Tarath explains most of the story, and before the end of the entire WOTA story, Jak and the others will come to understand why they did what they did. That said, I hope you like this chapter, and that it is not as bad as I think it is.
Air of Mystery- Never actually read that book, truth be told. As for the influences, the Precursors do have the robe deal going while not in combat form. Their battle forms are actually based upon the Protoss of Star Craft, which have triple jointed legs, freaky psychokinetic powers, and a thing for long dreadlocked hair. However, rest assured that Mar's Armor has its roots in Alien vs. Predator…with a few modifications. This is my first real AU jump ever, and I hope that I don't botch it. (crosses fingers) Let me know if I screw up, and if so, how I may correct it.
GoodMorningBeautiful2005- Keira and the others will actually make their reappearance in the next chapter, and will also take center stage in the chapter after that, before the action revolves back to Jak and company, which is where Veger will get his next thrashing. That said, hope you like this chapter, as Tarath continues his explanation.
YamiTenshi14- Actually, Tarath wasn't who I was referring too about the scythe. His warp blade does resemble a scythe, but the villain who will be using that weapon will actually have a scythe, staff and all, and probably with something extra nasty tacked on as well. Hope I did a good job on this chapter, so let me know if you can, and how I can correct any screw ups that might be in it.
Exardas- Glad you liked it, as for equipment…well…you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? Hope you like the chapter, with its mix of history, technical crap, and a fight scene. Aside from that, best of luck to you in your own writings.
animedragongirl- I cannot thank you enough for all the help that you are, and I am glad that I was able to help out with your prank war story, as I really enjoy reading it, and I can't help but wonder what's going to be coming up next. Will try to have the next chapter to you ASAP, and thanks again.
Lunatic Pandora1- Don't worry, Mar's Armor will do far more here than it did in the game…truly I fear I may have overpowered it a bit…(frown)…also as far as the Dark Invisibility is concerned, Jak already knows all of his abilities, and he actually used this one in the twenty fifth chapter of Risen Demon. Also, he'll use it again in after the action reverts back to him, in a manner that will literally cause a certain arrogant count to lose control of bodily functions.
Evil Manic- Don't worry, Jak already can use the invisibility deal, (read chapter 25 of Risen Demon, he uses it on Keira there) and he will use it again once he sees Veger meeting with Seem, and with increasing frequency as the tale goes on. Never notices that about the Dark Strike, and I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the tip off, and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.
Yuuzora- Sorry to hear that you got grounded, and I hope that this chapter has been worth the wait. Yeah, I've been giving Kage some time, in the spotlight, and I hope to give him much more in the future. As for Seem, she will continue to antagonize Jak and Kage for a while, but I will try to explain her side of the story, and hopefully do a good job showing why she dislikes darkness so much. Pleas let me know what you think of this chapter, and if you have any ideas as well.
Amathist Fwirrel- Yeah, I always preferred his hair long as well, not sure why really, but it might be whole elf deal. (shrugs) As for writing this well, I wasn't always this good…matter of fact, my first three stories are buried somewhere on my hardrive, and there they shall stay until the end of the world, as they are so bad that I shall not disgrace this site with their presence. If you want to get better, I would recommend getting your hands on some books written by the Masters, like R.A. Salvatore or Eric Nylund, and watch how they do it. That said, good luck in your own writings, and I hope you find this chapter to you likening.
SRHumprhey727- Ahh, the ever dreaded research paper, I know how you feel. Still, we always have the vacations to look forward to. Hope you find this chapter worth the week long wait, and best of luck to you in school.
MariaShadow- Yeah, I wondered why they didn't just drop dead of heat stroke or something…them again, Jak seems to be able to miraculously recover after falling into bottomless pits, so meh, I guess that's the way the world works. As far as the Necessary Evil is concerned, I hope that I explain it in enough detail…
mixerup- Thank you for the vote of confidence, and I hope that I live up to your expectations, and that you enjoy this chapter, as I am really nervous about it.
Light-Eco-Sage- Glad that you liked the style, I'm just glad that I was allowed to make use of it. As for length, yeah, this is going to be a big one. I hope to make it even longer than Risen Demon, and so far, that's what it's starting to look like. Wish me luck, and please update your own stories soon, I beg of you! (falls to knees, hands clenched above head)
Every Heart Bleeds- Glad to know that I am still performing well, though I fear to slip up at any moment. Sorry about the errors, and animedragongirl has been busy, but she catches most of the goof ups that turn these chapters into train wrecks as far as mechanics are concerned. That said, I hope that you find the epilogue of Risen Demon to your liking.
Beloved Rose- Thanks for letting me know how I'm doing with Tarath, and I hope that you find his tale to be one worth the hearing, and that I haven't really gone to mar in the alterations to Mar's Armor that I've taken the liberty of doing. (crosses fingers and prays fervently) Thanks again for the advice, and I hope that I continue to please.
To those of you who read, but did not review, I hope that you have found this worth your time, and that I have not scarred or disillusioned you towards Fanfiction in general.
To the Lawyers: I hereby swear upon my immortal soul that I own only those characters who have merged from the woodworks of my crazy little mind.
Word of warning to everyone, this is where the AU stuff really starts to kick in, just so you know.
&
History Lessons and a Gift.
"The first thing that you should know about us," Tarath began, staring off into space as he recalled the history of his people, "is that we were not always the technology driven beings that we were at the height of our civilization. Once, we were very much like you elves were at the beginning of your own history."
"Meaning what, precisely?" Daxter inquired, cocking an eyebrow.
"That we were a nomadic people in the beginning," the Reaver explained, "scrounging about, living off the land for the most part, very much in tune with the planet." He then paused, as if searching for the right words to say. "As time progressed, we began to advance ourselves, and learn new ways of providing what was needed. But, throughout all of that time, our people turned to our champions in times of need."
"And who were they?" Jak asked, small amounts of anger still present in his voice over hearing the awful truth of his people's nature confirmed.
"Our own Channelers, those among us born with that mysterious gift from Gaia." the Precursor said. "It was they who watched over the tribes of our people, they who defended them from the many dangerous creatures that roamed the world at that time." He paused once again, crossing his arms and sighing. "As the centuries passed and we began to advance into what you might call a 'technological revolution,' one thing remained true throughout the times: we Precursors had trouble getting along with one another, and wars were frequent and bloody. But, even when we were at the level of advancement that most of your kind is now, no weapon we crafted, no technology we gave birth to, was ever deadlier than the innate abilities of our Channelers."
"Okay, so you guys liked blowing each other up, how does this get us to where we are now?" Daxter snapped, his patience wearing thin.
"I'm getting to that." Tarath said calmly, holding out his hand and requesting that he be allowed to finish. "Then, one faction developed something that would change the course of our history forever: they succeeded in creating artificial intelligence computers."
"A.I.s?" Jak said, raising an eyebrow.
"Precisely." the Reaver confirmed. "With them in place, they were quick to begin mapping our genetic code, as it had long been theorized that there was some mutation present within Channelers that enabled them to harness Eco and use it with such power. It took them a while, but they did manage to isolate one area of a genome that resulted in causing the gift." He then stared at the dark elf and the Ottsel, letting his gaze travel between them. "Care to guess what happened next?"
"Gene therapy?" Daxter ventured.
"Mmmhmm." Tarath said. "Imagine it, if you will, the power they commanded after that. You've seen it yourself, Jak, how far beyond your fellow elves you are. Imagine an army of Channelers against foes armed with conventional weapons."
'That brings back memories.' Kage muttered sardonically.
'No kidding.' Jak replied, nodding his head in acknowledgement to the Precursor at the same time.
"Needless to say," the Praetor continued, "they achieved a swift victory over the other factions. However, rather than destroying them, they assimilated the other groups into a massive tribe, the goal of which being to share their newfound knowledge and use everyone's combined intellect to propel our civilization forward."
"Did it work?" the dark elf inquired, curiosity replacing anger.
"It was a golden age." the Reaver answered, a note of longing present in his voice, "United together, rather than trying to tear each other apart, my ancestors catapulted us forward into a whole new realm of possibilities. Within fifty years of the end of the wars, we were building ships and making rudimentary voyages into space, and from there studying the properties of this solar system and beyond." Tarath paused for a moment, before spreading his arms wide. "Within a century and a half, we had perfected the art of intraplanetary teleportation and were beginning to send probes into slip space, testing to see if it was possible for us to survive faster than light travel. By the gods, there were even plans to begin sending out forces of our people to attempt colonization of other worlds."
"And just how long did your little utopia last?" Daxter inquired, crossing his arms and giving the Precursor his famous look. "Cause it sure looks like things went wrong somewhere along the line."
"They did." Tarath responded bitterly. "And the irony of the situation was so thick I could have cut it with my warp blade." He then flicked his wrist, and with a mechanical locking sound, the scythe like weapon attached to his right arm flipped forward and twisted about, coming into an attack position.
"After nearly sixteen generations of peace, things came crashing down around our ears." the black armored Ancient lamented. "We had sent out probes to the various corners of the galaxy, and most had returned. While they had been successful in gathering data from the planets that they encountered, there was a slight problem." he sighed, then, or at least made the motion of sighing, as he could no longer breathe. "The vast majority of the planets were completely uninhabitable by our kind. However, our scientists were not to be deterred, and they began experimenting with different means of altering a planet's atmosphere and landscape."
"Terraforming?" Jak said in disbelief, having heard Samos muse on the topic a few times.
"Yes." Tarath told him, nodding slightly as he did so. "And within a decade, they had come up with a means of doing so that involved altering the Eco flowing through the land. I was born during this time, and I was just coming of age when they attempted it for the first time on a large scale." He paused, and chuckled bitterly. "Care to take a guess as to where we tried it out?"
The duo exchanged glances with each other, before they shrugged, causing a grim smile to form on the scarred visage hidden behind the Reaver's dark helmet.
"We're standing right in the middle of it." the Ancient said after a few moments.
"Wha?" Daxter screeched, his eyes bugging outward.
"Huh?" Jak muttered.
'What?' Kage distorted voice rumbled from within the dark elf's mind.
"Hard to believe isn't it," Tarath continued, laughing another bitter laugh, "that this Wasteland was once the most paradisiacal and fertile place on the face of Gaia."
"What happened?" Daxter asked in a tone of disbelief. "Did someone use the wrong Miracle Grow?"
"We succeeded in creating a Garden of Eden," the Praetor went on, ignoring the Ottsel's interruption, "but the terraforming was…unnatural, and it disrupted the delicate balance that the planet had. After about eleven years, the environment began to break down as it literally ran out of Eco to keep itself going…and you could hear the planet scream in agony."
He was met with confused stares, and mentally slapped himself, realizing that they didn't know everything that he did.
"Believe it or not, you two, Gaia is alive." he said as he crossed his arms. "The planet is a living, sentient organism, with a soul and a life force of its own. Eco is her lifeblood, and by tampering with it on such a scale, we hurt her almost to the point of destroying her." He suddenly clenched a fist in anger, while looking towards the ceiling of the chamber. "We, in our arrogance, nearly destroyed the being that the gods crafted for us to live upon in the first place. Even now, after all of this time, Gaia has still yet to recover from the blow that we dealt her, even with all of her attention focused here, trying to heal herself.
"In fact," the Precursor continued, "so great is her focus upon healing this shattered land and attempting to restore herself that she has had to give the job of overseeing her balance to other individuals."
"The Sages?" both dark elf and Ottsel asked, astounded looks upon their faces.
"Yes," Tarath answered, before turning around and walking away, "they are called by the planet to watch over the delicate balance of the rest of the world while she attempts to patch herself up. But, back to us."
"The results of the terraforming caused a split between us, with one faction flat out refusing to allow a second attempt, while another believed that through these failures, we could learn how to get it right."
"And you guys went to war over this?" Daxter muttered.
"I can see precious fewer things more appropriate to fight over than the fate of your entire home world." The Precursor shot back, before sighing bitterly once again. "The civil war was brutal, and it decimated us. Families and friends turned upon each other. Brother slew sister with malice in his heart, and children killed their parents, and parents their children…gods above, it was an awful time, ending only in a climatic battle here, upon this desolate waste, where we finally forced the Fallen Ones, as we called them, to surrender."
"What happened after that?" Jak asked.
"We banished them from this world, and loaded them up on a transport ship, the Day Star, we called it." the dark Ancient answered. "And we thought that was the end of things, hoping that we could return to what we were doing before, and trying to rebuild our nearly shattered civilization."
"Then the Metal Heads showed up, right?" Daxter guessed.
"Correct." Tarath answered. "The Fallen Ones had been working on a biological weapon to turn the tide of the war in their favor, and the abominations you call the Metal Heads were the result. They caught us off guard, and their victories were swift and vicious as they overwhelmed us, our warriors sometimes being outnumbered as many as a hundred and fifty to one."
"Ehhhhh." the orange furred rodent remarked, scratching the back of his head and chuckling nervously.
"Indeed." the Reaver muttered in a dark tone. "I'll spare you the details, but suffice to say that we fought them for years, until we realized we didn't have a chance in hell of winning."
"So you turned to us." Jak said, anger seeping back into his voice.
"You must understand our position, Jak," the Precursor explained, "we battled them until we were spent, even now, we have virtually nothing left, those of us who survived were hidden away until the right time, and have only now been brought out of stasis."
"And where are they now?" the dark elf asked.
"The seventeen hundred odd warriors that we have left in our ranks are currently brushing up on their skills." He began before Jak interrupted him.
"There are only seventeen hundred of you left?" he exclaimed, his eyes widening.
"Actually," the Reaver said with a shrug of his shoulders, "the number is closer to ten thousand, but they are children for the most part, many of which have yet to see their twelfth planetary revolution."
That bit of info hit Jak, Daxter, and Kage like a ton of bricks, and they at last began to understand why the Precursors might have been so desperate. Briefly, they wondered if the Ancients would ever be able to recover from the blow the Hora-quan had dealt them, as numbers like that did not exactly indicate a secure future. Almost as if he were able to read their minds, Tarath spoke again.
"I doubt we will survive the coming conflict." He muttered quietly.
"Coming conflict?" Jak inquired, not fully understanding.
"Kor somehow managed to remain in contact with the Fallen Ones, and I think his death has forced their hand, and now they are coming to finish what was started." He then turned around to face the duo again. "Have you never wondered how the Metal Heads were managing to hold themselves together even after Kor's destruction? It is because their true masters still live, and those things that have been dropping down all over the place are scouting probes, here for the purpose of reconnaissance so that the Fallen Ones will be fully prepared once they arrive."
"So you mean that we've got some bad guy Precursors coming here to stomp us into the dirt?" Daxter muttered, a slight tic appearing at the edge of his right eye. "We're doomed!"
"How many of them are there?" the Ascended Channeler asked, a rare note of despair appearing in his voice.
"About seven thousand of them." Tarath answered. "I do not think that their numbers have changed much since their original exile."
"What makes you so sure of that?" Daxter wailed.
"Because, in hopes that they could change, they were provided with stasis chrysalises to use while they searched for a new world for one thing," the dark armored Ancient explained, "and because if their numbers had grown, I don't think they would have waited five millennia to come back and attempt another campaign."
'Something still doesn't make sense though.' Kage remarked, shaking his head.
"Then why are they using Metal Heads and these droids to attack Haven City?" the dark elf asked Tarath, reaching the same conclusion as his alter ego.
"The Fallen Ones are led by a warrior named Kerrog Lostarr, an Archon of no small talent." the Reaver said, before he was interrupted by a certain furry rodent once more.
"An Archon?" he asked, not fully understanding.
"A warrior aligned with the Light element of Eco." Tarath explained, before answering another question before it could be asked. "Yes, yes I know, it's rather ironic. At any rate, he and his fellows have not forgotten how bitter their defeat was last time, and they are not about to overestimate their potential. They are not taking any chances this time, and he is using the Hora-quan and the mechanical soldiers to weaken what he sees as the greatest threat that can be brought to bear against him and his fellows."
"Great…" Jak muttered, massaging his temples as he tried to digest this new information.
"If you're done with the history lesson, Praetor Tarath," came another voice that both the Ascended Channeler and the Ottsel recognized after a second, "I'm finished with the checks, and all we need is to insert the power sources."
Both of them looked up and saw Gol Akaron, or at least, what looked like him, floating above them. In reality, both knew it to be a holographic project of Sentinel, the Precursian A.I. that had been responsible for guarding Mar's Tomb, and who had had a very large hand in ripping Jak off of his self destructive path.
"Ain't you supposed to be watching over old King Cole?" Daxter asked, crossing his arms and looking up at the hologram. "And do you have to keep appearing like that, it's really freaky seeing that nutcase like he's back from the dead."
"My creators felt I would be of better use to them working out of here for the moment, and if you would prefer a different look, I can change my appearance." it replied with a shrug, before a flash enveloped it, and a hovering Precursor, clad in white armor, appeared in its place. "Better?"
"Much so." the former elf remarked.
"If you are finished, mutant," Tarath said, a minor note of impatience in his voice, "I have something to give to your companion."
"And what would that be?" the dark elf inquired.
"Follow me and I will show you." the Reaver said, beckoning to them once again.
They did so, and the next few minutes went by in silence as they passed chamber after chamber, full to the brim with the silver armor suits, giving Jak not only a good idea of just how large this facility was, but of just how many Channelers the Precursors had intended to have bred up for this army.
And this was just one facility, there might have even been more, for all he knew.
Finally, they reached another door, and after passing through a few more security protocols, though not nearly as many as had barred the first door, they entered yet another darkened chamber. When this one lit up, Jak was unable to keep his breath in his lungs.
Supported by a mannequin, about twenty paces from where he stood, was another suit of armor…but this was one he was very familiar with.
The legendary armor that Mar, first king of Haven City had worn into battle lay in front of them, as magnificent as the day in which it was first made.
The armor was exactly as the two of them remembered it from the various murals they had seen of Mar wearing it. It was black for the most part, with the occasional purple highlight upon certain areas, and made of some unknown material. As far as materials were concerned, it was composed of metallic 'strips' that were linked together to form plates and a sort of jumpsuit type underweave, the former of which covered the upper chest and a small three or four inch wide strip that went down front and back to the waist, leaving the sides exposed, sacrificing protection for the sake of flexibility. The outside parts of the shoulders, the hands and forearms, as well as the upper and lower legs, and of course, the feet were also covered by it. As was in the case of the torso gear, certain parts were left unarmored so as not to impede the movement of the wearer.
Then there was the intimidating helmet, with its sharp angles, eerie visor, and dark coloring, which made it almost look like an elven version of the headgear that Tarath wore. However, rather than the upward curving horns upon the sides of the Precursor's helmet, the helm of the long dead king had a bunch of war braids hanging off of the back, which varied in length from about one foot at the edges to almost two at the center, and were also made from some alien material.
"How did you get this?" Jak asked, not daring to believe what he was seeing in front of him.
"It was scattered all over the Wasteland." Tarath said, sudden memories of Mar flashing before him, as he recalled all the times that he had spent with his descendent and his friend. "It was quite a task to find it all, but once I did, Sentinel was able to make the necessary repairs."
"How could it have gotten to the Wasteland," Jak muttered in a quiet voice suddenly choking with emotion, "if my father died covering the retreat at the Metal Head Nest…"
"I do not know." The Reaver standing next to him said, empathizing with his loss. "But the armor is yours by right now, and with our Fallen Brethren returning to start another war, I would think it wise for you to become accustomed to its use."
Jak nodded silently, before removing the electro-mesh robe that Keira had made for him, carefully folding it and placing it upon the ground, before stripping off the rest of his gear, and preparing himself mentally for what was about to happen.
"How do I look?" he asked, turning to face Daxter.
"Like the cover-boy of 'monthly warlord fashions.'" the ottsel responded in a cheeky tone of voice.
Suiting up had taken a few minutes, mostly due to the fact that the dark elf had never before been encased as he was now, which had led to a few awkward moments as Tarath had had to explain how to properly don the equipment.
The underweave had come first, obviously, and after that the chestplate and the greaves, followed by the armor protecting his extremities. What truly surprised Jak was just how easy it was to move in this gear, and not only because the joints were unarmored. Strangely enough, even the material that made up the plates was flexible to a degree. It was also incredibly light in weight, and the Ascended Channeler doubted that the whole armor suit weighed more than twenty pounds.
Now, all that was left for him to do was to put the helmet on, but as he went to do so, Tarath extended his hand, and motioned for him to wait a minute.
"Before you finish," he said, "you should know that this armor does more than simply protect your body from harm, though it will do that rather well."
"What kind of metal is this anyway?" Jak inquired, holding up a hand and examining the gauntlet on it.
"It is not a metal at all." the Reaver said, folding his arms across his chest. "It is an organic crystalloid substance we call 'Vibrium.'"
"Organic?" Jak repeated, staring at the equipment even harder now. "You mean this stuff is alive?"
"In the same sense that Kitetsu is, for they are made of the same material." Sentinel stated, showing interest in the conversation for the first time. "Vibrium is truly an amazing thing to study. It reacts to and focuses Eco of all the different elements; when harvested and crafted into a blade, its edge can be honed and shaped by power currents and Eco infusions to where it can cut practically to the molecular level." the hologram explained, excitement filling its voice. "On the other hand, if you craft it into a piece of armor, and it takes a hit, be it from physical contact or an Eco based attack, the atoms within it 'sense' the attack, and bunch up around that area, making it far more difficult to penetrate than would otherwise be possible."
"The underweave is also very sturdy in its own right," Tarath told them, "it is constructed from a material known as Ryth'ar and it is highly resistant to blaster fire and other Eco based attacks, though Metal Heads have proven that they can tear through it with little difficulty, so be careful."
"This the same stuff that you use in your gear?" Jak inquired, looking up at the Reaver.
"No, my armor and weapon is made of Metatron, as are the 'normal' suits of armor that you saw earlier." he replied with a shake of his head. "It is a laboratory created version of the naturally occurring variety of Vibrium. It's not as good as the original, mind you, but it is easier to make, as it took about two months just to 'grow' the material necessary to make Kitetsu."
"Nice to know you were at least planning on equipping us for the job." The dark elf remarked sardonically, causing the black armored Ancient to once again hang his head. "But tell me this: why is this suit different?"
"Because," Sentinel stated, "we had run calculations on the outcome of the Channeler project, and while it showed that most would be capable of using all types of Eco with equal proficiency, that there was a chance for a few mutants that were polarized to an even greater degree than the Precursors were." The hologram paused for a moment, weaving its hands around and bringing up a display of both Mar's Armor and a normal suit. "The standard issue equipment was to be issued to the rank and file Channelers, while it was decided that the Ascended ones, as you elves term them, would serve as either field commanders or special operations agents, depending upon what powers they emerged with. As such, the armor that you now wear would be required to be of a higher quality. The appearance was also altered so that in the event of the Channeler being in charge of a unit, his or her subordinates would be able to identify their commander more easily."
"I see…" Jak muttered, not quite sure what to make of this.
Tarath, his head still facing the ground, reached into a bit of webbing that he had on his waist and pull out a glowing Dark Eco Crystal, no doubt taken from the crashed observation probe. He then placed it into the recession in the helmet, where it flashed for a brief moment, before a pair of coverings came in from the side and sealed it off.
"The armor requires two to be at its full potential." the Reaver stated, before turning to face Daxter. "Would you be so kind as to bring me the one in your companion's coat?"
"No way, Darth Vader." the ottsel replied shaking his hands and his head in a fierce 'not going to happen' type gesture. "I ain't touching nothing having anything to do with Dark Eco, there's no telling what more of that stuff might do to me!"
Tarath groaned, before walking over and carefully extracting the Crystal from the pocket it had been in. He then walked over to Jak, and placed his hand against the center of the chestplate, causing another recess to appear. The Reaver placed the Dark Eco Crystal inside of it, and let it seal itself back up, before motioning to the Ascended Channeler that it was time to put on the last piece of the equipment.
Jak did as he was instructed, and slowly, with a reverence he felt was deserving of the armor, slipped the helmet over his head. There was a slight hissing noise, and on some instinctive level, the dark elf realized that the armor had just sealed itself, and listening closely, thought he could hear what sounded like micro-scrubbers filtering the air that he was breathing, a definite advantage in the event that someone used an airborne toxin or something of that nature.
"So what else is this thing supposed to do besides protect me?" he inquired of Tarath.
"Do you see that blinking red light in the upper left corner of the helmet?" the Reaver asked, continuing when Jak nodded 'yes.' "Look directly at it, and blink three times, quickly."
He did as he was instructed, and then next moment, found himself grouping about for something to lean against as he unleashed chaos inside of the helmet and had what felt like thousands of needles suddenly jamming into his scalp.
What he hadn't been aware of was what had happened on the outside.
Daxter had leapt back as two flashes, one from the helmet and another from the chestplate, had shone through the Vibrium, and sent purple, vein-like spikes of energy flowing throughout the armor, which still happened every few seconds, as the armor kept a constant 'eye' on its own systems.
From Jak's perspective, he was nearly sent reeling from the explosion of icons, displays, and H.U.D. items that flashed in front of his face.
'Look at all the pretty lights.' Kage muttered in a dazed tone of voice, swaying back and forth while his eyes rolled around as if he was suffering from some sort of seizure.
"I forgot to warn you how disorienting it could be, but you will get used to it." the Praetor said in a neutral voice. "Now, though, I believe an explanation is in order. First, do you see the barred line at the top of your visor?"
"Yes."
"That is a self orienting compass." Tarath informed him. "You can use it to reference your current heading at any time. Next, look at the circle in the lower left hand corner."
"Alright." Jak said as he did what he was instructed to do.
"That is a motion sensing device. If anything within fifteen meters of you so much as twitches, that will pick it up." he explained, and suddenly leaped up into the air, causing a green blur to appear on the sensor. "Green means that the target is above you, while red means it is below you. A yellow blur indicates that the movement is on level with your current position, at least in the event of the movement being from a hostile or other type of unidentified source."
"It can tell friend from foe?" Jak replied incredulously.
"If you program it to." Tarath said. "The helmet is capable of sending out tight beam communications and receiving similar signals. It can also trace the signals back to their sources. If you know what communications frequencies that your allies are using, you can program the sensor to recognize them as 'friendlies.' If movement comes from such an identified source, they will appear as white, blue, or black, depending upon their altitude in relation to yours."
"And how do I program this thing?" the dark elf inquired.
"By thinking about it." the black armored Ancient explained, tapping his finger against his head. "The sensations that you felt when you activated the armor's systems were neural lace probes that can interpret brain signals and translate them into actions that it can carry out. That is also how you can change the vision mode that you have at the moment."
"The helmet has vision modes?" Jak remarked, staring at his ancestor with wide eyes.
"Three besides your normal vision." the Precursor acknowledged. "A light amplification mode, a thermal vision, and an electromagnetic one for sensing hidden electronic devices, you can cycle through them now, if you'd like, though I wouldn't recommend using the enhanced light mode with the room being as brightly lit as it is at the moment."
The dark elf nodded, before switching to the heat mode. What he saw through that was surprising, as it was not at all what he'd expected. The thermal visors that he had used before had been of elven design, and had shown various temperature 'blobs' where a target was. This was something else all together, something vastly more sensitive than anything he'd ever seen before, apparently able to tell heat differences of up to a tenth of a degree, if the small scale was telling him correctly. Also, nothing was lost when it came to the 'resolution' of observed objects, and staring around, he found himself still able to make out Daxter's fur, and actually see the direction in which the ottsel's pupils were looking.
'That should make it a little more difficult for any Cloakers to get the drop on us.' Kage remarked, a foul undertone to his voice as he and Jak both recalled that particular memory.
The dark elf mentally concurred with his alter ego, before switching over to the electromagnetic mode of vision…and being virtually blinded by the glowing whiteness that suddenly filled the room.
"I think Tarath also forgot to warn you that we have quite a bit of electric equipment within our walls." Sentinel remarked, chuckling slightly at the Ascended Channeler's discomfort.
Switching back to normal vision, Jak sent him a glare that was unseen behind the emotionless visor of his helmet.
"Back to the lesson at hand." Tarath said, rolling his right eye. "You can also call up the armor's status via your thoughts." and he paused for a moment to let Jak do so.
A small sub-screen appeared in the lower right hand corner of his field of vision, showing the systems and the armor plating itself as green.
"A malfunctioning system will be shown as red, as will a severely damaged part of the armor." the Precursor continued. "A partially damaged armor plate will appear as yellow."
"Great." Jak remarked. "Now, what are these other screens just outside of the main visor?"
"The result of one of the most ingenious ideas ever to grace the minds of our scientists." Tarath said. "The helmet is capable of a full three hundred and sixty degree optical sensing, to allow you to keep visual track of everything going on around you. You can also zoom any of the screens in, again by thinking about it, to a maximum magnification of about thirty times."
"So I've got five pairs of binoculars built in," the dark elf muttered, "nice. Anything else I should know?"
"As you've no doubt realized," Sentinel remarked, and all parties looked up at it, "the armor is now sealed except for the micro filters, forming a clean, hazard free environment inside. What you should know is that in the event of an emergency, you can shut them down and close them, as the suit can recycle its own air supply for up to two hours."
'We'll have to bear that in mind should we ever decide to take a spacewalk.' Kage muttered, snorting as he did so.
"It also partially masks your thermal signature." the computer continued, unaware of the oni's remark.
"This is going to take some getting used to." Jak muttered, staring around at everything going on the inside of the visor.
"Well, you'll need to be used to doing it soon," Tarath said beginning to turn away, "and I know of one way to speed the process up." He then paused, and looked back at Jak, his visor meeting the Channeler's "And once again, I cannot stress enough that even this armor merely levels the playing field…you are tough, not invincible."
"Don't worry," the dark elf responded, his voice deadly serious, "I've had enough close calls to where I don't rely on armor to save my hide."
"See that you keep that philosophy." The Reaver told him. "A warrior who entrusts his life to his weapons and armor is a warrior with one foot already in the grave."
"Yo, Vader, you gonna speed up his learning process or not?" Daxter inquired, leaning against the wall.
In response, Sentinel placed its right hand against its forehead, and yet another door opened, this one off to the right side of the room. They followed the hologram and the black armored Precursor as they went inside, staring around at a large, semispherical room.
"What's this place supposed to be?" Jak inquired, somewhat confused.
Tarath remained silent, opting instead to simply flick his right wrist in a certain manner, causing his scythe-like warp blade to flip about and lock itself in position, before turning around and facing the dark elf.
"I see." He remarked, drawing Kitetsu and summoning a phantom blade at the same time, before assuming the Juyo fighting stance.
"A moment before you begin, Dark One." the hologram floating above them stated, and from a pair of ceiling hatches a trio of strange looking machines flew in, the smaller one in the center sending a strange looking energy beam at Kitetsu, which hit it before the elf holding it could do anything. "That was to rearrange the molecules within the blade, effectively dulling it and turning it into a training weapon," the computer said, as the hovering drone did the same thing to Tarath's warp blade, "and your Dark Eco copies of the katana won't hurt Tarath that much." It paused, and with a motion, sent the smaller one back up the hatch it had come out of.
"The other two are simple training drones, and they will fire upon you as you spar with Tarath to teach you to pay attention to your secondary viewing screens." It continued after a couple of seconds, before looking right at him. "Are you ready to begin?"
"You bet." Jak replied.
'This ought to be intriguing.' His inner demon mused, undeniable eagerness present in his voice.
"Begin!" the hologram shouted.
Both warriors shot towards each other at breakneck speeds, crossing the distance between them in less than a second. For once, Jak decided to play defense in an attempt to see just what this legendary Precursian soldier was capable of dishing out.
Which would turn out to be quite a bit, as the Reaver brought his warp blade down from above with incredible power, and blunted our not, Jak had little doubt that an impact would do serious harm to his personage. Fortunately, though he could feel the almost unnatural strength behind the strike, he was able to deflect harmlessly away, and lashed out with the shadow katana in his left hand, thrusting it forward.
Tarath was as good on the defensive as he was on the offensive, though, and easily twisted about, letting the blade fly by him. He took that opportunity to attack, back flipping and extending his right arm, causing the serrated blade to come blasting up at Jak, who had to leap back to avoid an attack that would have no doubt bisected him in real battle had it hit.
The black armored Ancient remained airborne, uncurling and charging up his powers. Both the dark elf and Kage knew what would happen if a Channeled Dark Eco attack were to hit them, but realizing what the point of the exercise was, found themselves dodging to the sides of the arena as the hovering Precursor unleashed a flurry of dark bolt attacks similar in nature to the ones that Jak had used from time to time. He continued this manner of fighting for about thirty seconds, before he unleashed a lightning storm upon them that forced Jak to take extreme evasive action.
He focused on an area on the far side of the room, and will himself to move. There was a crack, and a small flash of darkness, and he teleported across the distance, reappearing an instant later at the spot he'd pictured in his mind. However, while useful for getting out of a tight spot, the teleportation ability was extremely draining, and as he discovered the hard way, very disorienting when one has optical views of everything around you.
Temporarily stunned, he almost lost the training round to Tarath, as the Reaver jetted back at him, his warp blade cocked back and ready to strike the very instant that he was in range. Fortunately, a blaring shout from Kage managed to get him refocused in time to deflect the incoming attack with his phantom blade, while he reversed his grip upon Kitetsu and swung it upwards in retaliation, a blow that Tarath just managed to dodge.
With a growl, Jak lunged forward, stealing back the offensive and lashing out, weaving the Blade of Mar and its copy in a deadly, macabre dance of slashes, chops and thrusts as the Praetor on the business end of the strikes frantically moved about to deflect and parry them. However, just as the dark elf was getting a good head of steam up, there was a flash on the lower screen of his H.U.D., and as his peripheral vision detected it, he realized what was happening: one of the drones had gotten behind him and was about to fire.
He threw himself to the side as it did so, and a yellow beam of energy hissed and crackled through the area he had been in a moment later, forcing Tarath up into the air to avoid being struck as well.
'Watch out for the other one!' Kage shouted in warning.
Sure enough, in the next second, he saw the glow on the left sub-screen as the other drone opened fire upon him, and he leapt up to avoid being hit. Growling, the Ascended Channeler decided to present them with a moving target, and once again threw himself at his adversary, unleashing the full power of the Juyo fighting style upon his mock adversary.
Tarath was mentally scolding himself as he barely managed to duck underneath a thrust and was then forced to perform a back-spring/handstand to avoid a swipe at his legs. Six hundred years in a stasis chrysalis was making him sloppy, apparently, and he had underestimated Jak's creativity. For while some of the moves that the dark elf used upon him were near carbon copies of what Mar had used when he'd first been developing the techniques, using him as the guinea pig, there were others being thrown at him that were completely new, and he supposed Jak must have thought those up himself.
Such were the 'advantages' of having a computer for about half of your central nervous system, he remembered just about everything that he saw and heard.
Still, he would put his lamentations aside until a better time, and instead focused upon the combat in front of him, one of the few things left in this world that could still make him feel like he was alive and whole, rather than a mechanical slave to the tyranny of physical reality.
Such was his thinking as he hurled himself away from the dark elf, taking to the air and unleashing more Channeled attacks, forcing the Ascended Channeler into evasive action as the drones joined him, firing beams of Yellow Eco at Jak as he ducked and dodged around the arena.
Abruptly, the dark elf leaped at him, twisting about in mid air to avoid some blasts from the two drones, and then lashed out with both of his weapons, an aggressive maneuver that Tarath hadn't anticipated. However, he hadn't been known as the greatest warrior among the Precursor armed forces for nothing, and he was able to swat both katanas away with lightning fast sweeps of his warp blade, following it through with a wicked slash at a downward left angle. Jak, entering free fall, was forced to divide his attention between keeping the Reaver's weapon from scoring a hit on him, and trying to remain upright in preparation for his inevitable meeting with the floor.
The dark elf hit the ground about a second later, spreading his feet out to absorb the impact, and being pretty much driven to his knees by the next blow from Tarath's warp blade. However, he received an unexpected windfall a moment later, when he saw the flashing of the two drones' weapons as his H.U.D. screens as they charged up and prepared to fire at him. He suddenly fell flat on his back, and let the beams fly over him, forcing his opponent to make himself scarce to avoid being hit as well.
Jak was quick to get back up, rolling backwards and then throwing himself forwards, leaping up as he did so and coming down on his feet, before blasting at his opponent, who was still in the process of recovering from his own landing. However, Tarath went and proved that the Ascended Channeler was not the only one who had mastered the art of leaping about on the battlefield, and he leaped into the air as well, balling up as he sailed over the dark elf.
Jak had been caught off guard by the sudden acrobatic maneuver, and could do nothing but complete his swings and watch as the black armored Ancient appeared first on his upper sub-screen as he arced over him, and then on the lower one as he landed. The dark elf had no time to turn around as the Reaver's warp blade came sailing in, and so he simply spun Kitetsu and thrust the dark katana behind his back, where the sword intercepted the scythe blade moments before it would have connected. Not to be deterred, Tarath tried again, only to find the phantom copy of the blade come in and swat his weapon aside, again with the Ascended Channeler not bothering to turn around.
A grim smile formed upon the Precursor's scarred visage. His descendent was learning how to make use of the armor quickly, something that apparently ran in the family. He actually felt an almost parental type pride growing within himself over what was happening, how this distant kin was proving himself to be the better fighter. But, that also brought back bitter memories of its own, and he wondered, if when his greatest test had come before him, if he had been as powerful, if things would have gone differently.
After all, his failure had resulted in the deaths of untold numbers of people, both Precursor and elf alike.
However, he did not allow himself to become so caught up in his own deep thoughts that he forgot what was going on around him, and skillfully parried two angled slashes that came at him as Jak spun around to face him once again.
The next instant saw the dark elf once more moving out of the way as the two drones under Sentinel's control fired at him, once more coming within a hairsbreadth of nailing him.
However, as Tarath turned to face his elven adversary, something unexpected was thrown his way, literally. Jak tossed both of his weapons at the Reaver, and made the finishing move as the black armored Ancient deflected them, leaping up into the air in a spinning roundhouse, catching him upside the head and knocking him to the ground. Tarath hit the ground with a grunt, and Jak quickly called his weapons back to him to end the fight, landing just behind the Ancient.
Though one blade was blunted and the other made out of an element that Tarath wielded with incredible skill, the Ascended Channeler nonetheless placed them against the neck of his downed adversary.
"I yield." the Praetor muttered, before chuckling slightly.
'Did we just do what I think we did?' Kage muttered, somewhat surprised that they had come out on top.
'Well, we are supposed to be superior to them,' Jak said in response, 'and we're mutants on top of that.'
'Forgot about that.' the oni growled, a frown upon his face as he mulled over the 'necessary evil' that the Precursors had done.
"Well done, Jak." Tarath said as he got back to his feet. "Round one goes to you."
"That was just round one?" Daxter replied, finding his voice again as he stood on the sidelines.
"Yes." the Reaver said with a nod, before looking up to a certain floating hologram. "Sentinel, kill the lights."
The room was plunged into darkness, and Jak instantly knew what was coming. He switched his vision over to thermal just as Tarath came blasting back in at him.
As they began once again, the dark elf found himself becoming increasingly comfortable with this suit of armor, and wondered just how much more deadly he would be once he'd fully gotten the hang of it.
&
Okay, there's a good place to stop.
As stated before, Really uneasy about this chapter, as there is a bunch of unusual stuff going on, and I hope I haven't made Mar's Armor too powerful, as that would make the story boring, if you can think of a way in which I might improve it, please let me know.
Oh yeah, on thing that I forgot to mention in the last chapter was about the feet of a Precursian combat form, which looks a lot like Raziel's from Legacy of Kain.
That said, I hope you all have a great week, and please let me know of any ideas, comments, or constructive criticisms that you might have regarding this particular chapter.
Thanks, and I'll see you next time, when we head back over to Haven for a little while.