Chapter 20: Politics Amongst Pirates

Jak put his face into his hands; he, Daxter and Phoenix were sitting at a long table in the bar with several other captions including the woman Jak had fought. They were all yelling at each other, each trying make their own voice heard over the others. This meeting had seemed like a good idea when Jak had thought of it two days ago, but now… He had wanted to talk to as many captions as he could in order to see if he had their support and to start coming up with a real plan. So, he had Phoenix round up as many as he could. At first it had been going well, they wanted to help, for the most part; they also wanted to loot and burn the city to ground as repayment for what had been done to Far Drop. Jak wasn't for this but knew that it was going to happen anyways, so he didn't argue. No, the reason they were all yelling was because one of them had asked which ship would be leading the charge? Phoenix had answered that his ship would and that had in the resulted all the captions yelling at each other.

"I have been dealing with Skyheed for most of my life, it only stands to reason that the Phantom Blade should lead the charge!" Phoenix yelled, slamming his fist on the table.

"Ha!" laughed the woman, "Your dinkey little tug-bout is not what I'd call threating, no it should the Wind Scar that leads the charged, if the rest of you blokes can keep up that is." She stated leaning her seat back and crossing her arms. This was Chell.

"Oh yes," stated a captain that had a long tangled black beard, greasy hair and yellowing/missing teeth, this caption was named August. "That toothpick you call a ship would sent them a great messes as it was torn to shreds by the first round of fire. The Ghost of the Abise has more than earned her right to lead the charge. She has live through more battle and weathered more storms then-"

"And it shows." Chimed in a man who was a full foot and a half shorter then Jak. The short man was standing on his chare and Jak wasn't sure if he was trying to make himself look as tall as the others or if he was trying tower over them. His long auburn colored hair was breaded and was about as long as the man was tall, this was Manny. "Your ship is so battered that I'm amazed it can still fly. It would probably last as long as the Wind Scar at the front. Now, my ship, Andre, is the most fitting to lead. I built it from the ground up and it a tank, it can take whatever the Aeropans though at it and give it back tenfold!"

"I don't want to be lead into battle by a ship that's clearly compensating for something!" Yelled a much older man with a short gray beard and a tangled mess of gray hair, "Age before beauty lads, the Hurricane shall lead." He stated as if that was the end of it.

"Not on your life old man!" yelled the youngest caption at the table, he couldn't have been more then seventeen. "If we let you lead, we'll never get there, the Night Furey is what should lead us.

"Be quiet boy and run back to your mommy." Stated a men with a crooked jaw and a nose that looked as if it had been broken at least twice. "The Horntail, that's what will make the right impression.

"The Horntail?!" exclaimed a man who towered over all of them, "That to flashy, their think we're a rock concert, no the ship you want to lead is mine, the Juel of the Sea"

"Enough!" Jak yelled, finally being fed up with this. The pirates silent themselves, "The Phantom Blade will lead. Now can we get back to discussing matter that are actually important to this battle?"

Jak waited, when none of the pirates said anything, he sighed and turned to Phoenix who nodded. "It's not really going to matter who leads the charges if we can't even get past the border of the city."

Daxter tilted his head in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"There's an energy shield that surrounds the city, it shuts down all weapons. I know that Skyheed would have activate it by now." He looked at Jak, "Your powers would still more than likely work, but without our weapons will be useless. Unless we can get the shealed down, we'll be flying right into a slaughter."

"So then what do you suggest we do?" Jak asked.

"Well, I told Castaway about it and luckily he remembers building them."

"Them?" the youngest captain asked.

Phoenix turned to him, "There are five generators scattered threw out the city that power the shield."

"Where are these generators placed? And how do we take them out?" Jak asked. Phoenix pulled out a folded, worn-out paper. He unfolded it and laid it on the table. It was a map of Aeropa. Phoenix had circled five arias in red, there were four evenly spread out in the city and one in the center. Phoenix explain that their best time to attack would be right at sunset, Skyheed had a strict curfew over his city and by that point the only people who would be out would be a few guards.

"How do you know all this?" the teenage captain asked, the attention quickly turned to him.

Phoenix shook his head, "I know all this because I've been dealing with Skyheed and the Aeropans probably longer than you've been alive boy. So shut your mouth and listen or get out." The teen gave an annoyed sigh, rolling his eyes.

"So," Daxter started, looking back at the map, "Jak and I need to go in and blowup the generators. Then what?"

Phoenix sighed, "It's not that simple, you can't just blow them up. That would draw to much attention. They need to be disabled and…" he looked at Jak with an apologetic look.

"What?" Jak asked.

Phoenix inhaled throw his nose, "You have to take Keira with you."

"NO!" It was now Jak's turn to yell. He stood up his chair falling over behind him, "What are you thinking?! She can barely stand; I'm not taking her into a war zone!"

Phoenix gave an annoyed sigh, "She the only one who will be able to disable them."

"What about Castaway?" Jak sharply asked, "Why can't he do it?"

"He's to recognizable. Keira is an unknow to the people, you'll be less noticeable with her."

Daxter half-heartedly raised his hand, "Ah… Skyheed knows who we are and we're not exactly on any guest list at the moment. I think there's about the same amount of danger here." Jak nodded at his friend, grateful for his input.

"The people don't know you; that's why Castaway can't go, there's more of a chase that someone will recognize him. And that has the risk of drawing unwanted attention to you."

Jak hung his head and let out an annoyed sigh, "I'll talk to her, but if she doesn't want to, I am not going force her." Phoenix sat in his chare knowing the matter was close. Jak picked up his chare and sat back down.

"So… Daxter started, "after all the generates are down, then what?"

"That obvious, isn't it?" stated the teenager, "After you take out the generators then the rest of us come in and the real fun starts."

Chell and Manny both smirked in agreement, the older captains grimaced, the one with a broken nose shook his head, "If you're not going to take this seriously boy then maybe you should leave, this isn't a game. We can't just go in without a real plan, and in my own opinion there are a few details that need to be sorted out before anything else.

"Like what?" Chell who was now once again leaning her chare back asked, "all I'm interested in getting in and taking as much as I can." She stared pulling out her sowed.

"We're not going after gold." Yelled Manny.

"Didn't say I was taking gold." She said running her thumb over the blade."

"Can we focus." Jak asked. He turned to the man with the broken nose, "What were you trying to get to?"

"Well, I was saying that there are a few things that I feel need to be prioritize."

Phoenix nodded, "He's right, and one of those things needs to be saving the slaves."

The man nodded, "That's exactly what I was talking about. I think free them and getting them to safety should be a priority."

Jak nodded, "I agree, and I would like to get them out as quick as we can."

The teen shook his head, "I thought we were pirates, why worry about slaves?" he asked.

Phoenix glared at him, "It doesn't matter why, the fact is we are, and you will do your told or you will leave."

"Maybe I should, it's clear no one wants me here."

Jak shrugged, "Go then, no one's stopping you." Everyone looked at the boy waiting to see what he would do after a long moment Jak turned to Manny, "You said you built your ship yourself?"

"Yes, that right." He answered.

"And you said it was like a tank."

"Yes."

"How many people can you get in your ship?"

The short man thought for a moment, "Well it's a fairly big ship, if they don't mind being a little cramped below deck, I'd say about little more then a hundred. Why?"

"Because you're the one who's going be getting the slave to safety."

The old man nodded, "I see your logic."

Manny glared at him, "Then explain it to me because I don't." he said angrily.

"They're not going to be too happy when they realize we're stilling their salves. The one doing it is going to have a huge target panted on them the second they realize what's going on. and by that point the rest of us are going to be just as preoccupied with our own battle to go and help. If, for example, The Wind Scar was the one saving the slave it wouldn't get very far wayed down with all those people would it? Making it an easy target for the Aropin's cannons. It would be turned to splinters, now your ship as you said, can take a hit and keep going. It's the only chose that makes sense." The old man looked back at Jak, "All that being said, if I might make a suggestion don't send all the slaves away."

"Why not?" Daxter asked, "If you think they work as hostages, Jak and I don't work that way."

"No, that's not what I meant. The slaves more than likely know the city better than anyone. They're the ones that built it after all. We keep them around, find a way to get them proper weapons and we might have a whole another army to strike back. I say we let those that are willing and able to stay and fight.

Jak nodded, "But where are we going to get the weapons?"

"We could raid Aeropan base and steal some." The teen said, "I'd volunteer my crew to do that and I'm sure I could get some friends to join me."

Chell nodded at him, "That is the smarted thing you've said sense you walked in."

Jak smiled, "Aright, how long are you going to need?"

"Give me three days and I'll have enough Aeropan weapons for two army."

"Just don't screw it up." Phoenix stated. The boy got up and left without another word.

The pirate with greasy hair looked at Jak, "So tell me, how are you going to get into Aropa without the dawning attention to yourself?"

Jak looked at Phoenix, who nodded, "Castaway and I have been talking about that and we've decided that the best was to go about it would be to use the barracks warp-gate.

The old man consisted this idea, "An interesting idea, but something like that is going to need to be a stealth mission. If word reaches Skyheed before the generators are down it could ruin everything."

They all went quiet, after their last infiltration Skyheed would have bumped up security, it wouldn't be so easy to get in undetected this time. The greasy pirate smirked at Jak. Daxter looked up at him as he started to laugh, "What?" he asked.

"Well, we have a fare bit of Aeropan armer don't we and my cure captured one of their ships."

"Oh, just say what you mean August." Chell snapped.

He looked back at Jak, "We could disguise him to look like an Arpon soldier. I'm sure we could find some armer that would fit him.

"And what about Keira?" Jak asked.

"Yeah," Daxter piped up, "I don't think any armer you have is going to fit her, she's tiny."

Jak looked at him, "She can't walk." Daxter shrugged as if this detail was less important then the point he had made.

"Just to be clear," piped up Manny, "this girl, who is she? Is there any way she could be viable to the Aeropans?"

"She's a sage." Daxter said automatically.

Jak sighed in annoyance, "Why?"

Manny smiled, "Well, if you can get the Aeropan to believe you are one of them then you can act like you took her prisoner. And if she can't walk then that will just make her look even more helpless." He mumbled more to himself.

"That might work. What do you think?" Phoenix asked looking at Jak.

Jak was quiet a moment, thinking it over, "You're sure that there's no other way, Keira has to come with me into the city?"

"If there was another way I would tell you. But she's the best chase we got to do this quietly."

"Alright." Jak said, "If she agrees then so be it."

Phoenix nodded, "There is however just one more problem and unfortunately it's a big one."

"What is it?" Daxter asked.

"Castaway said that the warp-gate is locked down if we can't get the activation code then we have no way in."

"Oh brilliant." Chell said, "You don't think that's something you should have been mentioned before now?"

Phoenix continued to talk directly to Jak, "At the moment, Castaway is trying to get contact with whoever sent us the warring about the attack."

The other pirates looked shocked by this news, "Is that really wise?" asked the old man, "what if whoever it is tells Skyheed about the attack?"

Jak looked at him, "He warned us about Skyheed's attack, it's the best chase we have."

"This whole thing is looking more and more like suicide to me." August stated.

Chell shrugged, "If you want to back out then fine, that's more fun for the rest of us."

He glared at her, "I just see a lot places where this plan can go wrong, and that's before any of us get into Aropa."

"Have you ever had a plan were there not a chase of something going wrong?" Manny asked, now twirling his long hair in his finger.

August glared back, "All I'm saying is with my planes I count on people I know." He looked at Jak, "A lot's resting on you not screwing up boy, I hope you realize that."

Jak smirked, "We can handle it."

"You don't look much older than that other boy that was in here. This is probably the most important thing you'll ever do, don't screw it up." Jak closed his eyes and shook his head, still smirking, Daxter started chucking. August was not happy, he slammed his fist on the table, "This isn't a joke boy, it's not a game." Jak looked at him, "We are talking about war here, what will either way most likely be the last battel of it."

"Trust me, we're not strangers to war." Daxter stated.

The older pirate now glared at them, "Oh really, how many have you fought?"

Daxter put his finger to his chin and looked up at the ceiling, pretending to think "umm… it's three now isn't it?" he asked looking at Jak, "Or do you count the racing circuit?" Jak just looked at him from the corner of his eye, still smirking, "Yeah your right, gang wars don't count." Daxter looked back at the pirate, "So yeah, this our third war."

"…Your bluffing." Manny stated, "There's no way that's true."

"It is." Daxter stated, "And Jak and I don't really fight wars, we finest 'em."

Jak looked directly at August, "Your right about one thing, this will more than likely be the last battel."

Phoenix cleared his throat, "It won't be if we don't figure out a plan." Jak nodded.

It was another two hours before they had a plane figured out. It was the best they could come up with and Jak was hoping that Keira would tell him that she hated the idea of turning a whole city into a battle field or at the very least think it was too dangerous and refuse to be part of it. Maybe if he told her the plan and play up how dangerous it was, she wouldn't want to be a part of it.

Keira was on the Phantom Blade. Phoenix had 'found' her a dark purple skirt that was much easer to deal with then pants were with her broken leg. She had also dug out of her bag her old top not feeling comfortable with only her bandages to cover her chest. She had also instead on Jak getting some new clothes to wear while she found a way to clean his old ones. So for the time being he just had a simple tee-shirt and blue pants. Keira happened to be under the Hellcat, working on it and so had no clue he was there. "She's an easy target." Daxter whispered in Jak's ear. He considered it, but didn't.

Instead walked over and called out to her. She slid out and pushed herself up, rubbing her ribs. Jak reached out a hand to help her up. But she just looked up at him as if she was waiting for him to say something. He pulled back his hand and sat on the floor with her, Daxter jumping off his shoulder. Jak could read her. "How do you know?" he asked.

"Phoenix."

"What exactly did he tell you?"

"That we're going to get into Aropa by using the warp-gate in the barracks. That once we're in the city I have to shut down the generators that keep the weapon shield up. And that you said that if I don't agree to go along with it then we're all as good as dead."

Daxter looked from Keira to Jak and then at nowhere particular, "Yep that just about sums it up."

Jak didn't say a word, he looked at the floor. But then looked back at her when she put her hand on top of his, "Jak, I want to do this."

Jak pulled his hand out from under her's and went back to looking at the wall, "Keira, do you realize what you're putting yourself in."

"Yes."

"Then why are you-"

"The same reason you always throw yourself into dangerous situations. I don't really have a chose."

Jak looked at Keira, his mouth hanging open, "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, "You don't have to do this. You can say no."

Keira glared at the wall, "No I can't. Phoenix told me that it has to be me. I don't have a chose, if I don't-"

"Well find another way." Jak cut in, "One that doesn't put you in danger."

"I'M GOING TO BE IN DANGER REGARLESS!" Keira yelled, glaring at him. "Where do you think I'm going to be if I'm not with you?" she paws waiting for him to answer, "I'm going to be on this ship, which is going to be flowing target."

"You're not going to be here." Jak stated, "You're going to stay in Far Drop, far away from the battle."

"That's stupid." Keira snapped. "How are you going to shut down the generators without me?"

"Castaway." Jak immediately said.

"Oh yeah," Keira responded sarcastically, "he won't draw attention at all."

"Keira you-"

"STOP!" Daxter yelled. Both of them looked at him, they had forgotten he was there, "You two have been having the same fight for weeks now and Jak, Keira's right. We need her to come with us this time."

"Thank you, Daxter." Keira said smiling at him. She looked back to Jak, "You're the only one who thinks I shouldn't go. I know the danger; I know the risk. I'm going." Jak didn't say anything, he just stared at her for a long moment and then he got up and walked away.

He went up to the deck, the cool dusk air blow gently on his face. It didn't matter what he said to her, he knew that. She had made up her mind the moment Phoenix told her the plan. On the one hand it wasn't a bad plan and he knew that he could protect her but the idea of her being so close to the battel… it frightened him; did she really know what she was getting into?