Haven city.
What a hell hole.
It's amazing how no matter what you do in this city, no matter how hard you work; it always manages to get worse. You'd think that now that the Baron is dead, the metal head king is dead, and the dark makers are dead, that things might finally get just a little bit better. Who else was there to kill?
Or rather, who else was there for Jak to kill?
But that would be too much to ask. Haven city is a hell hole after all.
The streets of Haven were just as sorry as usual. The citizens walked up and down the bro ken streets, some occasionally stopping to help out with the rubble that were laying around from recent attacks, others simply continuing on their way, completely used to the scene of a destroyed building or two. There were not as many zoomers in the streets as there used to be, only one or two on each street. This left plenty of room for Keira to make her way through the streets with little trouble.
She did her best to ignore the depressing scene of the hopeless citizens below her as she drove by. It always cut her deep to see them like this, knowing that there wasn't much they could do to help them. It was like those expressions of sorrow were burned into their skin; they never change.
Dawn was now lighting the streets, making it easier to maneuver the giant zoomer she was lugging around. Keira was not accustomed to driving zoomers this big, not that she drove very much to begin with. But this thing was huge! And it didn't help that she had to take it through the back way to get to headquarters. Stupid unnecessary precautions.
Torn was insistent that driving this thing through the main way was 'dangerous'. He didn't want to risk anything happening to his precious 'ammo'. Which was understandable, considering how bad they need it right now, and how if one member of the rebellion saw it and tried to attack them, it would be devastating to every living creature in that sector. But he could have been a little more concerned about the fact that Keira was risking her ass to get it.
She sighed. She can't afford to think like that anymore. What she does for the war effort is more important than what happens to her. The 'ammo' she was bringing back is more important than her life. Keira was just so accustomed to being the one looked out for. She was never the one out there risking her neck like this. Jak was always the one out there doing all the dangerous stuff; always out there fighting, killing, almost being killed… He, along with the other men in the war effort were always the ones out there dying so Keira and other citizens could be safe.
The thought made her sick. How selfish she had been! Always sitting back and letting them fight for her. And trying to justify herself by saying her inventions would 'help them out'. Pah! Her inventions were dated back 500 years. Whenever she made something new, she found it had already been made and replaced by something more advanced. Maybe if she had gone back in time when she had the chance, her inventions would have been useful to someone back then.
No, she had to help now. Not because she felt obligated, but because they really needed the help. More than half the guards the war effort had left to join the rebellion. They were so lacking in numbers they had to get everyone they could to fight. Including Keira.
But they needed more than that. They needed Jak.
She shook her head immediately. Can't afford to think like that anymore. He'll get back when he gets back. In the mean time we have to take care of ourselves.
She looked back behind her at the barrels of refined dark eco in the back of the over-sized zoomer, and then to the large zoomer following her carrying the same amount of barrels. Keira couldn't believe how much Dark eco Soarrin was able to get. There were literally hundreds of barrels of the stuff in her zoomer alone, and there were 4 identical zoomers following her. Where anyone gets this much dark eco was beyond her. And how on earth do you use Dark eco as ammo anyway? The only way she has ever heard of using the stuff as a weapon was in Jak's case. She shuddered.
But Torn is convinced that they have found a way to use it for a 'devastating' new weapon they are making. Ridiculous. Dark eco is not something you can just use like that. It is insanely dangerous to even be near the stuff, let alone cram it into a gun.
But Keira had to do her job and hope they are right about this. She just hoped she wouldn't have to use this 'new weapon' of theirs.
The barrels were strapped down tight, but that wasn't enough to comfort her. She was absolutely terrified that one of the barrels might fall out. Dark eco had always terrified her, and ever since she had heard about what happened to Jak, she downright hated the stuff. That damned eco took her old sweet, happy Jak away from her, and left an angry, sometimes scary Jak behind. Not only that, but it hurt him. It hurt him to a point that is unforgivable, and it's still hurting him now. She knew that even though those horrible experiments have stopped, and the light eco saved him from destroying himself, he is still in pain. Even though he tries to hide it, Keira could always see it inside of him. The anguish, the anger, the pain…..
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt by a loud explosion. She couldn't see the explosion, but she could hear it come from the direction in front of her. It was close, probably just around the corner. The buildings around her shuddered, sprinkli ng dust on the people near them. She stopped as fast as her huge zoomer would allow and stared in front of her. The few citizens that were on the street were frozen as well. They all stared in the direction of the blast. Waiting.
Another blast. The building directly in front of them burst into a huge cloud of smoke and rubble flying outward. The sound shook the zoomers, the barrels rattling behind them. Keira would have looked back to make sure one hadn't fallen out, but she couldn't take her eyes off of the image in front of her. She knew this meant only one thing.
"THE REBELLION!" One of the citizens screamed. It was followed by many screams and panicked voices as they all ran the opposite way.
"Shit shit shit!" she squeaked as she fumbled for her communicator strapped to her belt. Her hands were shaking viciously, making it difficult. She ripped her eyes off the destroyed building in front of her long enough to un-strap the communicator off of her belt. When she got a hold of it she barked into it, "The rebellion found us! Everyone fall back! I repeat. Fall ba-" She was cut off by another exploding building, this time one that was almost directly on her right. The sound violently shuddered the vehicles even more viciously than the last time, the barrels of dark eco clattering together loudly. She tried to look back to see if they were still all there when a wave of dust and debris completely covered them, impairing eyesight almost completely. Bits of the building rained down on them, burning their skin. They needed to get out of there now.
The communicator fell to the floor of the zoomer as she grabbed the wheel and cranked it to the left as hard as she could, slamming on the gas. The other zoomers did the same, making them now in front of her.
"Go go!" she yelled. The zoomers, being such a large size, slowly started creeping forward.
"Damn it!" It was only a matter of time before an explosion hit them. Bigger pieces of the building were now hitting them, causing dents in the vehicles and in the barrels. She was sure they would lose some of the eco now, but there was nothing she could do now. They had to get out of there.
She could hear new voices behind her now. Not screams of terror, but the roar of soldiers yelling to attack. A few months ago that sound would have been comforting to her, but now those soldiers were no longer fighting for them, they were against them.
The rebellion.
--
It was almost noon when Jak reached the gates of Haven city. It had taken him much longer than it should have, but he had to take it slow. His stupid zoomer was running on its last reserves of gas. He just hoped it would last him long enough to get back to head quarters. He supposed he could get a ride, if worst came to worst, but he would rather not have to do that if he didn't have to. Resorting to hijacking zoomers was one thing he didn't want to do anymore. The citizens hated him enough already without the grudge of stolen zoomers added on to it. But walking all the way there? Come on.
He rummaged through his bag to find his security pass. Hopefully it would still work. It has been a while, and Torn loves to 'update' anything and everything that was originally the Baron's design. He is so convinced that he can fix everything, even the things that don't necessarily need to be fixed.
When he found it, he held it up to the scanner and thankfully heard the typical welcoming robotic voice greet him.
"It's good to see you still alive." It said pleasantly as the large metal doors loudly clanged open. He never understood why they installed a welcoming system into these things. He walked through the doors, pulling his outdated zoomer with him. When he was through, the large doors slammed shut behind him loudly, almost too loudly to sound intentional.
He found himself in the slums of the city. All around him were broken down houses and crumbling streets. The few gloomy faces that walked this part of the city were just downright pathetic to look at. If it was possible, the city looked even worse than he remembered. He must have made his way through one of the old exits the KG used to use. Many of these old exits have been abandoned and forgotten due to the fact that hardly anyone leaves the city.
He hoped this was the only part of the city like this. When he left, it seemed as though Torn and Ashlin were actually making improvements on the city. Some were a little…unnecessary, but for the most part they seemed to be doing the city some good. Could they have just forgotten about this part of the city?
Well, he guessed he would find out sooner or later. He always did.
He hopped on his zoomer and changed hover zones. It barely made it up there, but when it did, he headed for headquarters.
Passing through the slums was just as it had always been; long, tedious, and depressing. There were only a few people out on the streets, and those that were looked as though they didn't want to be. When Jak drove by the sound of the zoomer almost seemed to startle them. Gawd.
When he was reaching the end of the slums, he noticed something different. The streets were completely bare of people, and what seemed to be rubble cluttered the streets. All the gloomy faces he saw on the streets before were gone. Many of the buildings around him were either partially or completely broken down. He could see a slight hint of smoke in the sky in front of him. Without thinking he directed himself toward the direction of the smoke. His zoomer wheezed.
"C'mon don't die on me yet!" Jak yelled. Damn, even if he did want to hijack a zoomer he couldn't now. There were no zoomers on the street! He lowered hover zones in hopes it would help keep it alive.
Though it protested, the zoomer trudged on, wheezing and puffing along the way. He would have to get there soon or it would be a long walk back to headquarters. He sighed.
It was slightly difficult to maneuver around the rubble on the streets. Several times he had to get off his zoomer and move debris just so he could get by. The further along he went, the worse the streets looked. It kind of looked as though some of the buildings were blown up. While he drove, he couldn't think of a reason for all of this. What the hell happened around here? It just can't be possible that Haven has gotten worse. It just can't be. Had something else decided to attack the city? Was the city just falling apart? They wouldn't demolish this part of the city would they? Would Torn go so far as to completely start over in building this part of the city?
A horrible sensation in his foot tore him away from his thoughts. The feeling was slight, but then it quickly turned harsh and almost painful. When he looked down, he saw a dark purplish liquid splotch on his foot that had streams of purple electricity emitting from it. Jak immediately slammed on the breaks, causing the zoomer to jolt and spin on to its side, throwing him off onto his back into a small pile of rubble.
Jak, slightly disoriented from the fall, sat up and quickly reached for his foot where he saw the dark eco. His foot was now almost completely numb and shaking, the eco's electrical discharge increasing. Frantically, but careful not to touch the eco with his hands, he unstrapped his boot and ripped it off. He threw it away from him, and quickly grabbed his numb leg out of reflex. It was still shaking, but the feeling was slowly returning to it.
He realized then that he was panting heavily, having been panicked, and his heart was racing. He tried to calm himself, concentrating on his breathing, on the fact that it was just dark eco. Just dark eco. He absorbs it all the time…..
When he managed to calm himself, he was able to feel several stinging pains on his back. The pile of rubble he fell in was quite jagged, several of the edges having jabbed him in the back when he fell. Carefully, he lifted himself up, scratching up his palms slightly in the process. Across from him was his zoomer, now crashed into the wall. Great.
What the hell was that? He thought, looking back at his boot lying a few feet away from him. His leg had full feeling in it now, but he could feel the dark eco that he had absorbed in it, the energy making its way up through his leg and into his body. He had to absorbed quite a bit for him to be able to be affected this much. Usually he can't really feel it so much when he absorbs small amounts. But that feeling was horrible.
Where did that dark eco come from? And how did it get on my foot? He thought. He walked over to his shoe to examine it. The eco on it had dissipated slightly, causing its purple glow to be duller than usual. But this eco was different than what he usually sees. The dark eco was in a liquid form, not in the electrical form he is accustomed to… Liquid dark eco? Jak has seen it like this several times in a liquid form, it was the same dark eco form that turned Daxter into an ottsle. But this eco was different; when dark eco is in a liquid form, it looks blackish, and is usually deadly, even to Jak. But this eco was purplish color, and it didn't hurt Jak like it should have. Instead of burning him, he was absorbing it.
He had heard of a method of taking liquid Dark eco and tampering with it to make a refined version of it. 'Purifying' it, as some people have called it. Many people said the old baron had made purified dark eco in order to create the absorbable eco he used in his experiments. But this type of eco supposedly is not only near impossible to make, but it is even more dangerous than typical dark eco, because it doesn't have the imperfections and other elements in it. Eventually, the baron had to discontinue his research on the liquid dark eco form and used only the electrical form for his experiments. He cringed at the thought.
Well, whatever the type was, it is dark eco, and dark eco should not be in Haven city. Not anymore.