Chapter 25: War Games
Date: April 18, 3658
Location: Freedom HQ - Armory
Keira had done a lot in her short lifetime. She'd survived several wild lurker invasions in Sandover as a child. She'd helped Jak and Daxter get to Gol and Maia Akron's citadel and had assisted in stopping them from destroying the dark eco silos and which would have obliterated life from their world. She had survived Haven City, stopped an invasion of metal heads, and restored the power grid with the help of man technicians. Now she was about to apart of a ground invasion to stop the metal heads from doing whatever it was they were doing in Haven Forest. So as she tightened the armor on her arms and legs, she found her hands shaking slightly in the gauntlets. 'It's going to be okay,' she thought with a nod. She felt a hand land on her shoulder and saw one of the Special Forces soldiers next to her.
"You ain't gonna go spewin' on us, now are ya?" the soldier asked before pushing the visor up on the helmet revealing a young woman with bright green eyes. "Name's Quinn."
"Keira," she said, offering her hand, which the other took and shook. "And no, I won't. It's not my first firefight," she replied as she reached for her new gun mods.
The woman leaned forward when she saw Keira's blaster change into a sniper rifle. "Nice." She whistled. "I'm a sniper myself, but that'a scope looks a heck'a better than mine." She eyed it before looking at the girl. "What's its range?"
"Almost four hundred meters," she replied. "It's my best rifle." She saw the woman practically salivating at the gun. "I mostly build weapons and rest them. I rarely go out in the field." She handed her gun to Quinn. "You can use it if you want. Tell me what you think of it and what needs to be fixed. I also have my peacemaker, scatter gun and vulcan mods I can use."
"Yer serious?" she questioned Keira, who nodded. "Yes!" She whooped with joy before taking the gun and checking the scope setting and the weight, ensuring that it had enough yellow ammo units for it, but decided to grab a few more and placed them in her pack on her hip.
Keira chuckled and smiled at the joy the soldier was showing in gaining a new weapon. 'Jak acts that way too when she gets something new.' She placed a pistol on her hip before grabbing the ammo for her three other mods, then took another gun and switched it over to the scatter gun mod. She smiled when she looked at the number on the mod. There were three mod versions of the scatter gun and she'd only just finished the third version yesterday morning. Nothing like the present to test things out.
"Oi, kid," Quinn called out towards Keira. "What's this switch here?" She pointed to the switch that would change the sniper blaster into something else.
"It changes the velocity of the bullet from a normal sniper bullet to a ricochet type." She explained. "It'll allow one bullet to kill multiple targets."
"Sweet eco!" Quinn explained as she grabbed Keira's helmet from off of the top of the locker before handing it to her. "You got any other goodies you can throw my way?" She inquired with a wiggle of her eyebrows which caused Keira to laugh.
"Sorry, I gave my explosive ones to Jinx and his team." She could've laughed at the pout. "But I'm working on a new grenade. However, I'm still in the test phase of that. I also am working on a vibrating sword that works off of eco crystals, but I'm still having power outlet issues with it. Otherwise, not really. Sorry." She apologized with a shrug.
"Heh, s'okay," Quinn stated as the two began walking down the halls towards the Commander's rendezvous point at the city airlock that led into the sewers where the rest of their team was waiting.
Location: Haven Forest - Southern Gate
Lieutenant Major Davis Dickens held onto the automatic turret that was in the transport vehicle as Tess drove the vehicle over the tops of the trees. The six others that sat in the transport felt their stomachs flip-flop every time she made a dip or swerved through the tree-line. It made Dickens thankful to have made it a habit of never eating before a mission, but even so, he was feeling a bit sick to his stomach. Finally they landed in a flat line area and as the door to the back of the transport opened, everyone gave a sigh of relief.
Tess hefted her vulcan fury over her shoulder and grabbed the backpack filled with the ammo for the weapon and it's second mod form. The folirs was like a mini-railgun while the second was her invention and could kill several dozen metal heads with its electrical current. She was kind of giddy at being able to test her baby out. She could see the queasiness in some of the men's eyes due to her driving skills. She could still remember Jak's reactions when she'd driven with her and giggled inwardly at the joy on the other woman's face while poor Daxie had been left muttering something about knowing another crazy female driver.
A second pair of boots clicked across the metal floor of the transport behind Tess. A purple haired woman with a double barrel pistol stood there looking over everything. Her eyes scanned the forest as she tightened the armor on her chest with a single hand. "See anything Taryn?" Tess asked as she watched the boy's place the last turret in place. This gave them twelve automatic turrets that would pop up from behind something. They had a sensor that could tell the difference between a metal head and an elf, which was a good thing.
Taryn looked down at the screen of her flying drone. It was built to look like one of the wasp-like metal heads so that it wouldn't gain any attention. It even could send out sounds like one of those creatures if it needed to. The camera onboard the drone gave a three hundred and sixty degree view. "Nothing in our vicinity at the moment." She replied. "I'll have to thank Keira for this bad boy when we get back." This statement caused Tess to smile. "The girl has talent."
"Don't I know it," Tess said as she helped the boys begin to troubleshoot the turret. Once they were done they moved back to the vehicle, only for Taryn to be in the pilot's seat.
"Why don't you let me drive this time love," the woman said as she waited for the boys to get into the cargo hold of the transporter.
"Was it my driving?" Tess asked as she got into the co-pilots seat.
"You kinda remind me of when I was trying to teach Zimon to drive." She looked at her friend. "You never want to drive with him in the driver's seat; just a warning."
Tess laughed as they rose up into the air and returned to their original position and rejoined their platoon of thirty-six men, all of which were former special ops that had defected and became a part of the underground before the newly formed Freedom League had been created. Tess knew most of these men. She had fought with them, slept in the same barracks and eaten with them. She'd willingly die for them and as their new CO, she thought this was going to be fun. She'd divided the thirty-six men into six men squads, two squads per section with two seconds per squad. That way the enemy didn't get the drop on them as they pushed their way through the forest. She just wondered how Jinx's group was coming.
Location: Haven Forest - Northern Gate
It wasn't even daylight when Jinx and his group of twenty men made their way through the silent tunnels under Haven City. They went through the northern gate, but under it, instead of above like most would've. They made their way west through the muck and dirt and Precursors knew what else; though by the smells Jinx could give an educated guess, he just didn't want to.
They then made their way out of the underground tunnels into a hidden cave where they began to assemble their bombs. He had several men stay on lookout as they assembled his babies, some of which were quite delicate. Afterwards they began to go through their game plan and looked at the maps that Torn had given them. They would move in five men groups, which meant four groups. Two people in each group would be heavily armed; one would be a sniper, the other heavy weapons with expertise in things like rocket launchers.
They then made their way into the nest, very quietly placing the bombs in and around the nest. A few well-placed incinerating bombs were placed at the center of the nest. As soon as the bombs and traps were in place inside and out of the nest, the men turned and ran like the devil himself was on their tail.
As dawn's first light began to filter into the forest, Torn's voice could be heard over the helmet comms. "Team bravo, has the package been delivered?"
Across the forest Tess and her men crouched low into the grass as they readied their turrets for the first metal heads to make an appearance as they listened for Jinx's reply. "All packages have been delivered and await to be opened Team Alpha," he replied.
"Team Omega, are you in position to take on any stragglers?" Torn asked across the comms.
"We are, Team Alpha," she responded as she put the second mod onto her vulcan fury. The arc wielder was waiting and ready to be used.
"Team Bravo, release the present's contents," Torn said as he and his men got into position about a mile outside the front of the nest.
As the sun rose higher above the horizon and the morning birds began their songs, a loud explosion was heard around the entire area of Haven Forest, followed by a blazing fire as the metal head's new nest went up in flames. As the surviving residents of the nest began to flee from their home, the sounds of gunfire could be heard.
Location: Ruins of Wasteland City - Underground Tunnels
Jak and Daxter came to another closed door. This one had a symbol on it that made Jak smirk. It was the mark for dark eco, and gathering an orb of darkness in her hand, Jak released it at the door until it opened by rolling away. Locks snapped open as rust on the door and its gears was forced away by the dark power. As the duo walked into this room, the door snapped shut as the gears moved back into place.
The floor lit up with blue eco enabled LED light on the floor and walls. Yellow eco lanterns lit the ceiling up, giving the room an eerie but soft look. "Jak?" Daxter questioned, causing the dark warrior to pull out her tachi sword from its sheath. The blade began to vibrate, almost like it was excited for a fight. A sudden click and the sound of gears moving caused the floor to raise a few meters before something from the center of the room lowered and then allowed the room to return to its normal level. At the same time, a frozen tank suddenly raised out of the hole and laid flat on the room's surface.
The two best friends looked at each other with raised eyebrows before approaching the frozen tank that was quickly thawing. Jak's hand touched the lid of the long tank that looked to be able to hold somebody in it. Inscribed onto the side was the word ANNALINA. "Graceful light," Jak said softly, "It's a Precursorean name, " she explained to Daxter. Pushing the lid off of the tank fully, the heat of the room made whatever was cold inside to fog up the room, the cool crystals making Jak shiver slightly. When she gave a sudden gasp, Daxter moved to look at what was inside, his eyes widening and jaw dropping instantly.
Eyes of pure white light opened to the world around them. Slowly, muscles began to move for the first time in a millennium. Eyes slowly focused on what was in front of them as the brain regulated the blood flow and heartbeat, which allowed for better intake of air. Long ears twitched at the sound of a gasp before the head turned towards the dark being next to it. "Mar?" The voice of the being was light and gentle. "Brother," the feminine voice continued. Trying to regain what she had forgotten, the pale young woman opened and closed her eyes a few more times and on instinct she felt her hand move forward to touch what she thought was her brother.
Instead a hand grabbed into hers. "No, I'm not Mar," a gentle but war hardened voice answered her. Slowly, the woman's eyes came into focus. First thing she saw was the messy green/blonde hair of a young Elf woman, and the second was the handsome face of a tri-colored young Elf man. "You're a Precursor?" the woman asked, her voice sounded as if she was accusing her of something.
'No sense in hiding it,' were her thoughts. "Yes, I was," she answered. "Like Mar, I too took it upon myself the look of an Elf in order to help them ward off the Hora Quan scourge and fight off Errol." She slowly sat up as her mind cleared more and more. "My brother placed me in this cryo pod in order to ensure that I would survive into the age that killed the metal head leader which is when Errol and his dark makers would return."
"We already know about the dark ones," Jak stated as she walked away from the cryo pod. "We found one of your floating fortresses that had an active AI onboard." She debated on telling her the name of the AI when Daxter spoke.
"Ever hear of Ze-dura?" he asked as he cocked his head at the woman as he noticed that she had glowing blue lines on her arms and neck. They were interesting tattoos, if that's what they were.
"Yes. I'm not surprised she survived," she stated as she got a good look at the two, along with their weapons. They were both dirty and looked as if they'd been crawling around in dirt filled pits. "She is one of the few true AI's that were created."
"True AI?" Jak inquired.
"It's a long winded explanation," she said. "Mar would know more about it." She looked around her. "Where is he?"
The two friends looked at each other before Jak held out her hand. "He's not here, but for now, we need to leave." The woman took her hand. "By the way, I'm Jak Mar, Mar's descendant." The woman's eyes widened at this revelation. "This is my boyfriend and best friend, Daxter."
"A.K.A. Orange Lightning," Daxter stated as he snapped his fingers at the two women which gained a laugh from Jak and a blank stare from the other woman.
"I'm Annalina. I'm the Precursor and Warrior of Light eco," She said softly.
"Huh," Daxter said rubbing his chin. "The white hair and white/blue eyes now make sense." The woman smiled at him. She was small in stature like Jak, wore Precursor made armor around her legs and torso, but left her arms bare. She had metal fingerless gloves and gadgets attached to her hip including what looked like a pistol.
Jak smiled at Daxter who rolled his eyes, Annalina looked nervous from the look Jak was giving. "Jak likes your armor," Daxter said with a roll of his eyes.
"What?" Jak asked trying sound innocent as Daxter headed towards the second door exit. "Can't a girl enjoy looking at stuff?" This led the two friends to bicker for a moment as the Precursor found herself, for a moment, lost in a memory of a fiery red head yelling teasingly at Mar while Mar yelled obscenities back in his much younger days. 'Could it be?' she wondered. 'Eagan, is this boy from your line?' She felt tears threatening to spill at the thought that her closest friend having had a child survive from his line as well. 'Perhaps there are others,' she thought with hope as she pushed back her tears and followed the duo through the dark tunnels. 'Perhaps there's still hope that this species will overcome Errol and his dark makers.' As she saw a light at the end of the tunnel she couldn't help but smile. 'I cannot wait to see what will come of these two. It shall be interesting.'
M-Angel: Yay! I got another chapter posted. I'm so happy. ^_^ The Battle is next. I know, I'm kinda prolonging this and I should've done it in this chapter, but...oh well.
xoxoangii: Suspense is always worth the wait. :D