Hold the Line

A month later, the browbeaten populace moved steadily about their day with eyes cast down to the ground. The day was gloomy and rain poured around them.

In the center of the city, just north of the palace, under a large shelter, several shadows moved quickly.

"Okay guys, we're almost ready…" Jak whispered.

Torn sighed and rolled his eyes. "I just wish I knew what your big plan is. Do you really think a party is what we need right now?"

"Yes!" Jak all but shouted. "These people need a party. They need to let loose and have fun. Just trust me. Ashelin, you ready?" He shouldered Blue Lightning and plucked a few chords.

Ashelin nodded while double-checking the microphone. "Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do," she sang in preparation. She trilled her tongue times before going "Ma! Ma!" She took a deep breath. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Get in position everyone."

Torn went to a small set of timbales while Daxter sat at a xylophone sized just for him. It was show time. Jak strummed his guitar while the rest of the players took their own spots.

The people meandering about could only come to stop when the sound of the guitar carried out of the amphitheater, joined by the combined sounds of tinny drums, booming drums, and the tinkling xylophone. The lights came on, illuminating the band onstage. Tess and another blond each played a pair of trumpets.

Ashelin waited a few bars before singing. "Come on, shake your body, baby, do the conga. I know you can't control yourself any longer! Come on, shake your body, baby, do the conga. I know you can't control yourself any longer!"

The people slowly stopped and turned to watch the Baron's daughter singing and dancing on the makeshift. "Everybody gather around now…" They crowded around the stage in awe. "Let your body feel the heat. Don't you worry if you can't dance, let the music move your feet."

————

In the palace, Baron Praxis stomped about, unaware of what was happening below. "Errol! Where is my daughter? It's been a month!"

The commanding officer shook his head. "Sire, since she joined the Underground, we have not been able to locate her. And the last known location has turned up no clues. They're completely gone from that area of the city."

"If you weren't so focused on that new girlfriend of yours, that mechanic, she'd be home by now!" Praxis shouted. He looked up as he heard the threads of music emanating from the ground below. "What is that cacophonous caterwauling?"

He and Errol went to the window. Errol's eyebrow crooked. "Looks like a mass of people are gathered for something. Would you like me to investigate further?"

Praxis rolled his good eye. "Of course I do! And find my daughter while you're at it!"

Errol nodded and left. He had been shocked when Ashelin didn't return home after her trip beyond the walls. He'd heard of the incident with the Eco Freak and the old man who called himself his father but he didn't understand why she would abandon her own father like this.

—————

Jak played his guitar, transitioning them from song to song in their practiced set. He saw the people slowly opening up and starting to dance. For the first time since literally dropping out of the sky two years ago, he saw them trying to smile and have fun. He was right, they needed this.

Ashelin spun and danced, the smile on her face reaching all the way to her eyes, making them shine. She was having so much fun. The last time he'd seen such fire was when Keira was building her zoomer. For the first time in two years, he felt that strange sensation in his chest. He didn't think he'd ever feel that way for anyone else but Ashelin shattered his expectations.

He frowned when he saw the Krimzon Guards approaching with Errol at the front. The yellow-armored commander raised his gun and fired into the air, bringing the concert to a halt.

"Is there a problem?" Ashelin asked her former comrade.

The flaming orange-haired man glowered. "Ashelin, your father has been looking all over the city for you. What are you doing here? With known members of the rebellion against his Lordship?"

She shrugged. "We are entertaining the citizens of our beloved city. With the blessing of the council and funding from Jak's father." She indicated the old man standing in the shadows, his staff glowing. "So are you all going to join the party or what?" She asked before grabbing the microphone.

Errol sputtered with shock at being ignored. He was tempted to take action until Jak made eye contact, idly strumming his guitar.

"Hey, I think the Baron's protégé wants in. What do you all think? Should he get up here and give us a tune?" He asked. The crowd cheered raucously and he gestured.

The flame-haired man shook his head, realizing their intentions. "Oh no. No, no, no. I don't sing." He protested.

"Because you're chicken?" Jak taunted with a chuckle.

Torn laughed and added into his microphone. "Bawk, bawk-bawk-bawk."

Errol flushed with irritation and stomped onto the stage. "I'll show you chicken. Give me that." He grabbed the mic. "F flat minor." Tess began playing her keyboard. "It's not in the way that you hold me. It's not in the way you say you care…"

—————

From the side, Kor watched the band play with their new guest player. He held Kaj in his arms while the boy clapped with glee. They were just barely aware of the cameras filming the festivities.

—————

In the Hip Hog Saloon, the television broadcast the impromptu concert. The obese crime lord watched with amusement. "Well, so our new employee fancies himself a musician. Do you see this, Sig?"

Clad in his wastelander armor, the dark-skinned man watched. But his expression was not one of barely restrained laughter like Krew. "Yes sir… yes… I see…" He focused on the old man just barely in frame with the little boy. "I do see…" He smiled. "Indeed I see." He stood up. "I have something I must do."

—————

Baron Praxis found himself watching his own television with a fierce glare. That eco freak had turned his own daughter against him. Now his commander and his soldiers were even joining in the frivolity. The people were eating out of his grubby little hands. "Just wait, all of you. Once I find Mar's Tomb…"

"Once you find Mar's Tomb what?" A voice made him jump and he realized he'd been talking aloud. In the entranceway, Count Veger stood. "What has you so out of sorts, Baron? Surely you don't object to your people having a little fun."

Praxis forced himself to shake his head. "Of course not. I simply am angry that my daughter has thrown in her lot with those who have declared themselves my enemies." He sat on his throne.

"Yet… she looks happier than she has in a long time," Veger pointed out. "I'd be proud if she were my daughter."

Praxis looked at his daughter, singing and dancing. "She looks just like her mother…" He whispered, unaware of the other man leaving.

AN: Sorry this took so long, I was having difficulty choosing the songs to reference. We have Conga by Gloria Estefan and Hold the Line by Toto.