Chapter 30: Battle in the Sky

Location: Aeropa

Daxter couldn't believe it. His best bud, his girlfriend, had been kidnapped. "Jak!" he cried out, mostly in surprise before turning tail and rushing towards the airlock. 'Don't worry buddy, I'm coming fer ya!' he thought grimly. 'And it won't take me two fucking years to find ya this time.' He growled as the decontamination cycle to the airlock seemed to take forever. Running over to their ship, he placed his hand on the holographic hand pad. The scanner scanned his hand and a prick to his finger told him that he'd been hit by a needle. Looking down at the pad he saw his image appear on it before the doors opened. Quickly rushing to the cockpit, Daxter got into the pilot seat without thinking. Instantly the board lit up with a holographic display. Grasping the joystick after starting ignition, he pulled it backwards, only to shoot out of the hanger backwards.

"Ah!" he screamed as his ship came close to hitting the one with Jak stuck in it. "Fuck!" he yelled as he quickly pushed the joystick forward. With his other hand free, he began to look around the holographic board and saw a button that said invasion. Quirking a brow he pressed it.

"Virtual Intelligence hacking invasion commenced," an automated voice spoke.

'Oh boy,' he thought, thinking it was a bad thing. A target appeared on the screen showing a hook that shot out of the front of the ship. A red line shot from his ship to the other in a blink of an eye.

Suddenly, the comms crackled before voices began filtering through the ship. "What the hell was that?!" the pirate yelled as a sparking sound was heard.

"Give me that!" Jak yelled as an oof sound was heard before the ship's wings began to light up with sparks of fire.

An explosion occurred. "Shit!" the pirate cursed before a sound of a fist hitting something was heard. "You're almost not worth the trouble," the pirate said.

"I've dealt with worse than you in Haven," Jak told the man.

Suddenly, the ship spun in a corkscrew formation going upwards, cutting the hacking cord. "Damn it," Daxter muttered as he flew his ship upwards after them. Pressing the button once he had them in his sights, Daxter saw the line hit the other wing before the red light shot off towards it. The second engine exploded as they exited a tunnel. The plane went flying downward.

"Get off me you bitch," the pirate yelled, another oof sound went through the comms just as the computer system upon the plane began to spark as if on fire.

Daxter cursed as the small plane shot towards a huge ship with a pirates flag flying upon it. As the small plane shot towards the hanger, Daxter saw a dozen smaller planes come out to take him out. 'Come and get me you rats,' he thought as a snarl loosed from his lips. Pressing a button that said missiles, he began locking onto the planes. Pressing the button again, he watched the plane explode.

Smiling, he turned his plane towards the ship and pressed a button that looked like a ball of energy with lightning shooting through it. A ball of dark eco energy shot out of a canon that was upon the room of the plane. It disrupted the shield that was protecting the pirate ship. Pressing the missile button, Daxter took out the turrets around the ship. Flying the plane around the ship, Daxter spotted the engines and shot another blast of dark eco energy at the skip. One of the dozen engines suddenly exploded.

"My, my, aren't you a persistent little bug," the pirate's voice echoed through the cockpit.

Daxter pressed a button upon the holographic display that let him speak. "Yeah, well you messed with the wrong people you bastard," he growled as he saw one of the pirate planes get too close. Pressing the automatic turret button, he watched on the display as the plane went down, followed by two more.

"You're starting to annoy me," the man said.

"Give Jak back then!" Daxter yelled, his anger only going higher as another plane shot at him. Getting no answer, Daxter lined up another shot, this time with the laser button activated. "You've got one chance. Give me Jak or your ship will be down another engine," he threatened. "Three, two, on-" he was about to press the button when the pirate replied.

"Stop!" the voice cried out. "Alright, you win. Daxter."

'Huh?' Daxter questioned. 'When did I tell him my name?'

"Surprised?" the man inquired. "I've heard of Jak and her sidekick slash boyfriend, Daxter," he told the red head. "Come inside. Let's...chat."

Location: Inside the pirate ship

Jak narrowed her eyes as the brute behind her tightened his grip on her arms. "Klouse, be gentle. She is our guest," the sarcastic pirate walked around like some thug, but his accent made him sound like some aristocrat. The ship shook suddenly as an attack came. Klaxons began to sound. The pirate leader who had introduced himself as Captain Phoenix rushed over to the control panel where he had a huge ship wheel. "That idiot took out the shielding generators with that attack." He scratched his chin. "Just what type of plane is that thing?" he asked before looking at Jak who just smirked.

"The kind that kills things," she stated simply, she could hear Adriana laughing in her mind. The eco creature was enjoying herself entirely too much. Though she did still want to kill the black haired, clean cut pirate. He was just annoying.

Dread filled the man's stomach as he began to activate the defensive turrets that cover the ship's deck and underside. He smiled, thinking those would deter the man from attacking. He watched on the display as the large plane spun, dodged and flew around the turrets as it they weren't even there. His eyes widening as each one exploded from some sort of electrical overload attack.

Another klaxon began to sound as one of the engines exploded. "Captain!" a yell came from the engine room. "The engines are being overloaded! That last attack had dark eco lacing it!"

"What!?" he asked sounding shocked. 'A missile?' he wondered, as that was all he could think of. The ship shuttered. Opening a comm link he spoke. "My, my, aren't you a persistent little bug."

"Yeah, well you messed with the wrong people you bastard," he heard the youth growl before he heard his men in the planes yelling about a turret shooting at them.

"You're starting to annoy me," Phoenix said with annoyance lacing his voice.

"Give Jak back then!" he heard the young man yell.

'Jak?' he wondered before looking at the young woman behind him. "Jak Mar, daughter of the famed and deceased King Damas of Haven City." His eye gleamed at this new information. "This means that rat out there is Daxter."

"You've got one chance. Give me Jak or your ship will be down another engine," he heard Daxter threaten.

"He wouldn't," Phoenix voiced his inner thought.

Jak chuckled. "He would," she declared and he believed her.

"Three, two, on-" he heard Daxter countdown.

"Stop!" he yelled, calling the bluff. "Alright, you win. Daxter." He was met with silence. "Surprised?" he inquired. "I've heard of Jak and her sidekick slash boyfriend, Daxter," he told them both. "Come inside. Let's...chat," he said with annoyance lacing his voice once again. Disconnecting the comms, he activated the shipwide comm. "We're about to have a visitor. No shooting him." He then looked at Jak. "Now," he handed her the eco seeker. "Make that work."

"Can't," she told him in all honesty. "Like we told the duke, it drains me too much. Meaning that it won't let me activate it."

"Where's Jak?" the two heard Daxter's voice ring out.

"She's being entertained by the captain, if you know what I mean," the man named Klouse said.

A fist hitting skin was heard before Daxter's gasp as he was punched in the stomach. "Daxter!" Jak yelled with concern.

"Jak! Are you okay?" he asked as he turned towards her voice.

The captain began to approach Daxter. "Phoenix, don't," she warned him.

"Phoenix!" Daxter yelled. "What yer now on first names basis?"

"And so if we are?" Phoenix teased him.

Daxter had enough. He'd been bullied, stomped on, punched, turned into an ottsel and back again, only to be tossed around and forced to fight in wars that weren't his to fight. This guy finally pushed a button he ought not to have. Daxter punched the snooty tooty pirate in the face, which caused Phoenix to punch him, which in turn caused Daxter to kick him in the gut. That action caused Phoenix to drop the eco seeker, which went flying out of a window on the deck of the ship and land somewhere on an island below them.

"We need to get that back," Jak mumbled before looking back at the two. "You two stop fighting or I'll give you both something that'll hurt worse than a few punches."

"What, we're working with them now?" Daxter asked incredulously.

"I have a feeling they know a guy named Bruter or place called Far Drop," Jak said as she watched the pirate leader's reaction.

"Far drop?" Phoenix asked sounding intrigued. "Let's find the seeker, then we will talk about this," he said as he walked out of the room. Jak rolled her eyes as she and Daxter followed.

M-Angel: Yes! I'm on a roll now! Is this the third update this month? I think it is! *grins*
xoxoangii: Woohoo!
M-Angel: *dances a happy dance*
xoxoangii: Maybe we will get another one?! Here's hoping!