Haven: With Purpose
Half an hour later, Jak stepped out of the garage happily. "So Krew wanted us for something?" he asked with a grin.
"That's it?" Shining asked, surprised. "We've got another half hour."
"Then Krew will be pleasantly surprised we're early," Jak countered. "...besides, if I'd stayed much longer, we'd have done something neither Keira nor I are ready for...not with the Dark Eco running rampant inside me, or this war going on." He then smirked playfully. "And it would have taken a lot longer than another half hour."
"Ooooh!" Daxter gasped out. "Now I get it!"
Shining and Jak burst into laughter as they made their way back to the bar.
As the trio arrived at the bar, they noticed someone new behind the counter. Daxter, being Daxter, decided to try and flirt with the new blond. "Hey sugarplum!" he greeted happily. "You new here? What've ya got that's hot and..." He blinked. "Wait, I've seen you before. You're with the Underground, ri-"
The blond - who they'd last seen when they first met Torn - quickly shushed him by pressing two fingers to his lips. "Shh!" she whispered insistently. "I'm Tess." She smiled winsomely at Daxter, either not noticing or not caring that his eyes were most definitely not on her face. "Torn sent me to spy on Krew. Play along, and I may be able to get my hands on a few of Krew's secrets."
"Ooh!" Daxter replied eagerly, not noticing Shining's eye roll. "I love undercover work, baby! But...two can work better than one."
Shining decided to ignore Daxter's antics for a time, heading over to get the assignment from Krew, which involved making collections around town as fast as possible...and getting a drunk Daxter out of the bar before he made any more of an ass of himself.
By the time they'd finished grabbing all the money and bringing it back to Krew, Daxter had sobered up, and they were able to collect their reward without trouble, an upgrade for their Scatter Guns that increased the rate of fire. Since Krew had nothing else for them to do at the moment, they decided to go through with the first stage of Keira's plan. Towards that end, they swung by the Power Station.
"Vin, buddy," Jak began. "We need a favor."
"I can't help you with your Eco bill," Vin replied quickly.
"This is bigger than that," Shining countered.
"Sides, we've got that well in hand," Daxter added.
"Oh," Vin replied. "W...what do you need?"
"We need you to switch on the access elevator in one of the palace's support towers," Jak explained.
"Sheesh!" Vin gasped out. "That's part of the old B-zone power grid!"
"Which we'd need to reactivate before you could control it?" Shining inferred.
"If you pull it off, sure thing," Vin allowed, turning back to his console. "But it hasn't worked for years."
"Will you even be able to handle it?" Shining asked worriedly. "I mean, if it's that old..."
"Oh no, it's nothing like that!" Vin said quickly. "Mar designed this city very carefully. Once the grid's back on, I can-" At that point, Vin broke into a string of technical jargon about the power grid and electronic systems that went so far above the trio's heads they felt they were underground. "All you need to do," Vin concluded, "is find and turn on all the B-Zone power boxes located in the city. There are five of them...guarded by motion sensing turbo cannons!"
"...why?" Shining asked, confused.
"Likely to prevent exactly what we're attempting," Jak suggested, turning to seek out the power boxes.
The cannons proved to be much less difficult than advertised, as one shot from close range with the Scatter Gun took them out, and they couldn't aim up. It was an easy task to move in via overpass or Zoomer, take out the cannons, and then activate the power switches they were built on. The guards backing up the turrets also weren't very challenging, since Jak, Shining, and Daxter all moved too fast for them to get clear shots.
With the fifth switch activated, Vin informed them that the path into the palace Jak had requested was open, and the trio made their way there.
The elevator took them up to the top of the support tower, leaving a direct but dangerous path to the palace. The walkway along the power lines was narrow, and interspersed by rotating fan blades charged with electrical Blue Eco. Another section was completely coated in Red Eco, forcing them to detour along swing poles with Shining teleporting to Jak when he was across. Then Shining had to deal with a defense turret, using his Blaster to snipe it down.
Beyond that, several rotating portions of the path alternated between safe, flat platforms and deadly spiked ones, with another turret on the other side. The next section involved another detour below the normal path past more rotating fans across platforms that broke away shortly after they were stepped on, before using swing poles to get back up.
"Are we...there yet?" Shining asked desperately.
"...no," Jak replied, staring forward. "We're...only about halfway there." Seeing how exhausted Shining looked, Jak knelt down. "How about you stay here, and teleport to me once I get the rest of the way across?"
"...sounds like a plan," Shining admitted, slumping down to regain his strength.
"I'll wave when I'm safely across," Jak promised before continuing on.
The rest of the path was more of the same obstacles, save for a pair of turrets that rotated around the path, firing constantly once Jak was in range. Once off the mid-air path, he waved to Shining, letting him teleport to his side.
Once on the roof of the palace, the trio made their way to a skylight, where they could see Praxus and Erol speaking to an illusion of...someone. Unfortunately, they weren't in range to hear what was said. Leaning in close, they could only just barely make out the conversation after the image faded.
"He's toying with us!" Erol snapped. "Let me lead an assault on the Nest! I can take him!"
Praxus merely stared at Erol in silence. "I've seen what comes of such bravado." Reaching up, he brushed the metal covering half of his face. "It is foolishness. Penetrating the nest is impossible as things stand. The plan remains. The Metalheads are powerful, and they know it. That confidence is the key to their downfall. We must accede to their demands - seeming weak - until it turns to overconfidence. Then the final strike will work. And find that child!" This last was said fiercely, glaring at Erol with a steely glint in his human eye. "If you spent half the time you do trying to win Keira over doing your job, we'd have found him by now!"
"I don't see what's so important-"
"It's not your job to think!" Praxus growled. "It's your job to do as you are told! You're a soldier, remember?" When Erol remained silent, Praxus crossed his arms. "And a reminder...I want the child alive and unharmed! If he comes to harm, we're all doomed."
Seeing both men leave the chamber, Jak decided it was time to leave. As they were making their way off the roof, however, the Baron confronted them in a flying armor.
"Do you think I can't tell when I'm being spied on?" he barked out, his voice magnified by the armor like a megaphone. "And do you think you'll be leaving in one piece?"
Jak was silent for a time, his hands on his weapons. "Keira designed that for you, didn't she?" he asked finally.
Praxus watched him silently. Jak could see that he was trying to determine exactly how much he did and didn't know. "She knows you're here now," Praxus said finally. "She knows what the Dark Eco's done to you."
"Does she know you're the one who did it to me?" Jak demanded, Shining stepping up beside him, weapons primed.
"No more than you know why," Praxus replied. "You're worth more to me alive than dead, boy...but you still have value dead. It's your choice."
Jak stared Praxus down for a time, thinking things over. "...you want the Metalheads dead?" he asked finally.
"More than almost anything," Praxus replied. "The only greater goal is to keep humanity alive."
"...then let me ask you something," Jak asked slowly. "If the best way to ensure both goals was for you to step down from leadership-"
"In a heartbeat," Praxus interrupted. "But that's not the situation right now, is it?"
"No," Jak agreed. "But the answer is enough for now." He let go of his weapons. "I don't know enough about the situation to know if I'm on your side...but as long as the Metalheads are a major threat, I'm not your enemy. If you let us, we'll leave peacefully."
The Baron stared at him for a time...then grinned widely. "Gol and Maia's journals told me you would be coming, boy, and what they knew of your potential. I thought they had all the answers...but they only scratched the surface. How are you controlling your anger through the Dark Eco inside?"
"The Precursors are helping me," Jak replied.
Praxus fell dead silent for a time. "...your worth alive grows more and more, boy," he said finally. "...now get out before I change my mind!"
With that, Praxus withdrew, and the electrified barriers blocking the groups path disengaged.
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Nice.
Huh
I'm really not sure how I feel about this chapter.
I've always thought the Baron was far too ruthless to save; however, your take on this makes me realize that the true evils are Krew and Errol.
So looking back, it is a shame that the baron dies near the end.
Gods I always hated those last two turrets. Something about them always tripped me up. The boss fighter after was never that hard for me either, at least compared to what people kept talking about. Mind, the second mech fight I found harder, if only because it lasted a lot longer. Still, an interesting side to the Baron. Now I'm wondering how you'll hand Vegar.
Another enjoyable chater. Good job.
Just wait until Vegan- excuse me, Veger comes in.
6787503
Nothing of the sort there. He's not going to 'hand' anything over. But his primary goal, as stated, is survival.
6787522 Ah, good. A megalomaniacal overlord who actually remembers you need to be alive and to have people to rule over to actually be an overlord. I was almost worried.
6787561
Depends on how you interpret his actions. The "Mine!" bit could also be interpreted as a guilt complex. He betrayed his King and teacher for the sake of guaranteeing the city's survival, so now he has to be the one to save the city, or he can't live with himself.
Ooooh~! Game changer!
6787330 Fuck that guy
6787675 Too bad we couldn't fight him in-game. Then things would have been more satisfying.
Twilight would be so proud of her BBBFF. REady to fight but open to negotiations.
I'm hoping the Baron gets a chance since he seems decent, though I think he needs to explain his reasons for taking over in the first place.
whoa. that was a close one, right there!
6787802 Who says Tats won't give us a bit of that?
6787940 perhaps he saw what needed to be done and took over so that the actions would be his, not Mar and Ar-Mar's, kinda like being the villain to do what someone else couldn't or shouldn't.
It is so amazing that you can make such drastic changes to characters and events, and yet you still make them believable. I wonder if Gol and Maia's research played a major role in changing the Baron's personality.
6788506 It's my favorite part of the stories!
6788506 It is believable because one small change the past can have huge but subtle changes in the future. The change with Gol and Maia played into their cannon personalities and lead to a different outcome further down the line, one that left Praxis walking a different path.
Only thing:
You somewhat skipped the drunk Daxter scene.
That's one of my favorite. Wanted him to stick with the attempted kissing thing with Jak or Shining, and see how they react.
I absolutely love the idea of making Praxus more sympathetic, doing terrible things because he genuinely believes they're justified, yet honorable enough to relinquish personal power if it meant achieving his goals. After reading "The Sparkle in his Eye", I'm already predicting Praxus will either die heroically, or live on as an adviser.
8227907
This reminds me of Fable 3 where
the King of Albion is a tyrant because he is trying to gather enough gold to save the kingdom from an evil darkness. He is doing evil deeds for a greater good in the long-run. After you (protagonist) dethrone him and become new ruler in a revolution, he pledges to help you if you let him live.