Chapter 28: The Enemy Comes

Date: April 19, 3658

Location: Spargus City

Jak and Annalina were both in the garage in Spargus City when Daxter and Sig arrived. "Yo, Sig," Jak waved at the older wastelander. "Ever heard of the brink?" she asked as she watched Seth, one of Kleiver's men that worked in the garage area. The one eyed man was loading up on of the Precursorean flying machines, an aeroplane from what Annalina had called it. The plane ran on a fusion reactor that was created from three ultra power cells that were the equivalent of a hundred of the smaller ones each. It kind of made Jak wish they'd had these power cells when they had been going after the Akron siblings.

The dark skinned male raised his organic eyebrow upwards in surprise as he jumped from his vehicle. "Now that's a place you don't want to tangle with," he told his young friend. "Pirates aren't the only things you'd have to worry about out there." he told her, recalling that Krew had made some bad enemies out that way. "Whatever you do, don't mention you once worked for Krew out there. He's made bad enemies, including some high and mighty Duke."

Daxter yawned as he looked at the bright red and gold plane that Jak was loading with supplies. "So babe, why you taking about the brink?" he inquired as he watched Jak walk over to him, her hips swaying back and forth. 'I've been in this dessert too long,' he thought as he licked his dry lips, at the same time he averted his eyes from her.

"You and I are heading out that way to talk to somebody named Barter and see about gaining help from him and his pirate friends," she told him. "He also wants our help in return." She looked at Sig. "Can you help Haven while I'm gone?" she asked him gaining an eye roll from the older man. "I haven't heard from Tess or Keira for awhile and I'm starting to get worried." She then handed him a very large gun. "It's the Precursorean version of the peacemaker, only it has three variations of it. The first is the peacemaker mod. The third is a super nova bomb."

Sig took the heavier staff weapon. Looking it over, he saw that the second mod was empty. "Where is the mod for the second?" he inquired causing Jak to shrug.

"It's how I found it," she explained. "Give it to Keira, I think she said she was working on a new mod for the peacemaker," she told him as Daxter picked up another staff weapon.

"What's this one do?" he asked causing Jak to shrug once again.

"It's a prototype," she told him as she picked up a black version of the same weapon. "So is this one. I'm keeping it." She pointed at the one in Daxter's hands. "You can have that one." She then pulled the leather strap of her head and shoulder before she went over to the plane. "You coming?" she asked him as she turned to leave.

Daxter walked towards the plane. "Hate 'ta leave ya Sig," he told the big guy. "But the lady needs me!" He ran after Jak to keep watch over her.

Annalina watched as the two young elves flew off into the distance before turning her attention back towards the dark skinned wastelander she spoke to him nicely. "Are there any channelers in this city?" she inquired having sensed a great well of eco under the city.

The older man looked at the seemingly young woman. Her body giving off a light glow to it with glowing blue ruins on her arms, legs and neck. "Only one," he told her honestly, not sure why he had even told her.

The precursor looked at him deeply in thought, her blue lips turning upwards into a smile. "Good. I will need to speak with him," she told the elf.

Sig frowned at her tone. "And who are you to ask that?" he asked her, wanting to know exactly who those two kids had left behind in his city.

"I am Commander Annalina of the Precursor Special Forces unit," she told him. "I am one of a few Precursors who is still alive and have been waiting for Errol to return in order to kill him off once and for all." she slowly blinked at him. "Can you take me to this person now?"

Sig stared in surprise at what she had just told him. 'Only those two could find one of them still alive,' he thought as he began to walk over to the airlock to the city. "Follow me," he told her.

As the two vanished into the city, Seth was left behind to continue to tinker with the dessert vehicles. 'Things around here are getting weird,' he thought as he pulled out his comm. unit and opening up a channel. "Lady Seem, there's something going on in the city that I think you should be made aware of," he told the person on the other end.

A young feminine voice answered him in a scratchy tone. "My people and I are already heading into the city," she told him. "I have been given a vision and I wish to confirm it."

"I shall be waiting your arrival," he said as he cut the line off and returned to tuning the vehicles and wondered when Kleiver would return from his supposed lunch.

Location: Unknown

Daxter sat in the gun turret seat looking out into the clouded beyond. "How far away is Far Drop any way?" he asked Jak, who shrugged as she followed the GPS coordinates.

"According to Annalina the satellites that her people put up in space thousands of years ago are still operational and this screen with the red light is showing up to our destination," she told him pointing to the computer. "She says this down here tells our longitude and stuff." Pointing to another screen she pointed to the numbers on it. "This screen tells us how long before we arrive." She looked at the numbers. "So in six hours we will arrive at Far Drop."

Daxter groaned. "Six hours!" he complained. "Its like having to listen to ole greenie and his lectures when we were kids! Only worse because I can't fake sleeping."

Jak chuckled. "Remember that time when we were kids and we found those glowing yellow shells?" she asked him with a chuckle.

"We thought they were made out of gold!" he laughed. "Turned out they were pure yellow eco ore and you turned all yellow and destroyed those monoliths by accident." He smiled broadly.

"Yeah, and the whole village came running when they heard the explosion," Jak told him recalling how embarrassing that was and how afraid she had been at the time. "I was twelve. How was I suppose to know I was a Channeler? Samos never told me about that until I was fourteen and he began to train me."

"Train you?" Daxter asked. "More like making you run around like a chicken who lost it's head." Daxter howled with laughter at the memory. "We had more training during our adventure to Gol and Maia's place than you ever did in his training exercises on Geyser Rock."

Jak smiled. "True," she admitted. "Take a nap Dax, I'll wake you up if we get into trouble or arrive there."

"Sure thing babe," he told her, totally agreeing with the whole nap thing. He didn't understand why guys complained about having girlfriends. Jak was the best girlfriend ever. She did most of the work, but let him tag along; even though he was sometimes useless. 'Jak is the greatest. I don't know what I'd do without my buddy,' he thought before being dragged off into a dreamless state.

Location: Space, near the Moon Bases Alpha and Omega

On board the Daystar the dark ones had begun to come out of cryo sleep. Their leader, Errol, was looking over the logistics data from the system scan. The planets that had been terraformed over a thousand years ago were now swirling masses of gas planets. The terrforming had failed on these planets. The only world with life was the green and blue planet with two moons circulating around it. The world where he had fought Mar and his descendants for years. He knew this world was fertile and he knew the precursors had abandoned it to its fate. However, the now active moon bases told him that at least one or two of the precursors had survived their last invasion and now were beginning to activate the bases orbital defense platforms. He also could see that several of the old satellites that his enemies used were now in operation once again.

Turning towards the screams he snarled as he yelled through the intercom. "Commander, how long until all of the pods are awakened?" he asked.

"Foot soldiers will be awake by the end of the day," a black mechanical face stated as it looked at the screen. "We can begin teleporting soldiers on ground by tomorrow evening's rotation."

"That's what I like hearing," he told his commander as he shut off the screen allowing his partially organic face to reflect off of the blacked screen. Turning his head, it was revealed that one half of his face looked elf, while the other half was mechanical with gears turns on the side of his head. One mechanical red eye looked around as an organic arm lifted up and began typing on the holographic screen. A red hologram appeared of a red haired ottsel creature. The creature looked up at him. "Has it been confirmed that Mar's cryo orb has been opened?" he asked the creature.

The AI looked up at its master. "Yes," he said. "Before Kor's death was confirmed it was found that Mar's tomb held one cryo orb which held a single occupant. The young Prince is still in his child form, therefore cannot communicate with the elves just yet."

"Where is he?" he asked, his fist tightening. "Once we kill the heir Prince, Mar and his men will have no choice but to surrender. Without that boy they have no way to get back into contact with their brother. They look too elfish."

"It is still unknown where the kit is," the AI said nervously. "I'm still going through the primitive systems. I have been getting resistance from the computer systems in Haven City."

"Another AI?" Errol inquired with surprise. "I'm surprised it hasn't enter rampancy."

"It's not Precursor made," the AI told him. "That much I can tell."

"The primitives have that technology now?" Errol inquired as he looked away to think about his options before looking back. "Stay away from that unknown AI until we know a bit more about it. Shadow it, but don't approach."

"Yes sir," the creature told his master. Unknown to either, their conversation had been overheard by another spy AI that had entered the computer systems of the Daystar the moment it had begun its approach of the inhabited planet. Quickly exiting the computers it sent itself back to the moon base computers where it began to download the information into the main computer where a red/orange haired Precursor warrior was reading the history of the inhabitants below.

Major Eagan finished the long history lesson when he saw a message blinking on the screen of the main computer. Opening the holo video, he watched and listened to what the spy V-AI had picked up. V-AI's or virtual artificial intelligence weren't actual AI's; they were like a virus that could enter systems that weren't controlled by AI's and spy on occupants in a room without being detected like actual AI's could be. Unless you were looking for them, you'd never find a V-AI in any system.

Running his hands across the holo keyboard he began to write up a report and sent it to the planet below to the facility where his commander was. A second later he received another message. "Continue to observe," was all that was written. Scratching his day old red beard, the old Precursor sighed as he stood up from the screen and walked away to check on the other two who were in the base with him as Kella sent another V-AI to the Daystar's computer systems. He truly hoped that Mar knew what he was doing by trusting in the elf inhabitants that now lived on the world below.

M-Angel: Yay, I finally got my December update out. I do hope everybody is enjoying my story. ^_^

xoxoangii: Yay! Happy New Year everyone!