Orange Lightnin

[Jak Mar]

After days toying with his fingers inside the Horseman HQ and dragging himself off the bed, and listening to Torn's rants about he should get off his lazy ass and find Jak, he finally decided to do something about it.

He needed to find a job, something to keep busy. He needed to depend on Jak less and get his ass in gear. Now was the time, so at least he could make some extra pocket cash from a prime or something.

Daxter found himself taking a lovely walk through Tangled Green's forest and used his sharp claws to push himself up a tree. As he forced himself up the tree, he groaned and frowned "Now I'm takin' lessons from a cat... Oh, how i miss Tess, and ah Jak, even...underwear would do me good... I love me so pants.

Orange' Lightnin took it upon himself to train his ottsel self to jump and swing like Jak would do on trees. True, he wasn't human but he could still do ottsel things. Heck he even took the shape of the precursors.

In his eyes, Jak's next death hurt him more. He needed to protect Jak seemingly and make himself not such a weakness. Daxter growled and took a tree branch and broke the branches off, he'd at least make himself a weapon for now.

He moved the branch against the tree trunk and made a scraping sound

"Jak, this is for you buddy.. I'll find Vic and new babylon and I'll get them back even if it KILLS ME!"

Daxter's eyes were filled with sorrow and carried the now sharp spearlike branch, carved.

The trip would take a long time via foot, for once.

[Demetri Malius]

Demetri observes his surroundings, it was just as he believed it would be. Everything was overgrown and flourishing with plants, small rays of sunlight barely squeezing through the overhanging canopy and touching the forest floor. He followed what he believed to be a path, judging from the small amounts of trampled plants and spots of empty dirt, hoping to reach his destination in as little time as possible.

Demetri reached out with his senses, as he wasn't too sure of the exact vicinity of his employer, and was cautious to any traps. There were rumors and small bits of evidence of a ninja village somewhere in the deep greens, and Demetri didn't want to mess with them, nor anyone else as of the moment.

The clicking of gears and hiss of steam are audible in the distance, as Demetri makes his way through the cluttered forest of the Green. Soon enough, Demetri detects someone in the distance, and skids to a halt. He then maneuvers around the fallen logs and brush using his bikes wings to quickly float over a few obstacles until he finally reached his destination. What he saw before him was some kind of mammal. It resembled a mongoose and stood on his hind legs, and obviously held intelligence.

"Are you the one who requested information and assistance?" Demetri spoke aloud as the creature spotted him, hoping he wasn't just talking to a random animal.

[Jak Mar]

The orange ottsel nodded and crossed his arms. He hated being small of all times, as the man who appeared looked over him.

"I'm Daxter, and yes I am the one who requested information and assistance."

The ottsel struggled to get himself just a bit higher than the man he hired and crawled himself up a tree to at least be able to see.

Once he did just that, Daxter decided to get down to business "Here's my problem, pal...

"I'd like to find a guy named Victor Wolfe. All i know right now is he's from the group New Babylon... "

Anyways, I'd like a little revenge on the man for threatenin' me and my buddy. Me and Jak visited a little place called Nippur and this is where they are located. I know what i learned from the "mission".

"Can you help me?"

[Demetri Malius]

Demetri listened to the weird looking Daxter, before thinking about his next move. This was really starting to sound like a suicide mission, something Demetri wasn't too fond of. However, Demetri also wasn't one to abandon his mission, at the very least he could get the little guy there, even though it would just be hastening his fate. The informant gave a low, unaudible sigh, before he motioned for Daxter to climb on board. The area that used to be a holder for IRIS began to shift and turn as the gears rotated the metal and morphed into a small seat, complete with a buckle and cup-holder.

"I'll transport you to your objective, but allow to to voice that I will not be embarking on any sort of suicide mission to take out an entire faction, understand?" Demetri spoke sternly. He only knew a few bits and pieces of what IRIS had told him about the current factions, but he knew enough to not go against one. Once the small mammal strapped himself in, Demetri announced another note. "Moreover, I need to acquire something nearby in the area, we will be going on a detour there first, if you don't mind." While Demetri listened for an answer, he began to hit the steam and started out towards his destination. He did not know what lie ahead of him, but he was prepared for anything.

[Jak Mar]

Daxter quietly groaned and sighed holding in his breath. What if this was all a bad mistake and he would have to live on with being useless while Jak did all the work? Nobody threatened Jak except himself and he was serious about that. Daxter held back a few audible sobs and wiped his bitter tears off his eyes. Somehow he felt this would be all in vain. Jak wouldn't forgive him.

Daxter gritted his teeth and his anger grew "I'm not taking on new babylon, I just want the asshole who decided we weren't' good enough for them."

A new anger overtook Daxter and sighed. No longer would fear hold the ottsel back.

[Tearen Wover]

Klee and Shen buzzed low over the endless arboreal sea that was the Tangled Green, homing in on the beacon that denoted the location of Demetri Malius' dataverse device. Compared to trying to track down the wayward Cat, the two Aspects were enjoying the straight forward mission. Frankly, being able to get this crossed off of their list so that they could move on to even more tasks was a thrilling emotion indeed. Yes, the Aspects were aware that they had essentially been mentally programed to derive pleasure from completing assigned tasks, but they did not necessarily hold this against The Master. All living beings have some sort of mental imperative that they strive to fulfill. For most biologicals, that imperative was reproduction. The differences between that sort of instinctual drive and subconscious compulsion that drove the Aspects was a matter of pure semantics.

Still, the pair would not let themselves indulge in the luxury of such philosophical pondering just yet. Their target was directly below, and they needed to drop off this hard drive. Klee and Shen plummeted down through the canopy of the dense forest below, directly into the clearing in which Demetri and Daxter stood. The two other denizens immediately went on the defensive as these enigmatic polygons literally dropped out of the sky, but as they spoke in their resonant voices, Demetri immediately relaxed. Daxter, however, was less quick to drop his guard.

"Hello Demetri Malius and Friend. We come from Nealaphh with IRIS in tow."
"Hey man, we got your robot girl here."

Daxter looked to Demetri with a wide eyed stare, his fists still held up in a manner reminiscent of that of a boxer. Demetri held out a downturned hand and approached the hovering crystalline constructs.

"Yes, thank you. Nealaphh told me you might be visiting." Demetri said in his eternally calm voice. The red and blue hues of the Aspects pulsed in self-appointed pride. The informant came to a halt just in front of the pair, not entirely sure how to proceed. In that instant, there came a strange stretching, brittle sound as Shen's body seemed to crack apart in the middle. The top half of his geometric form separated from the lower, revealing the small piece of gleaming hardware nestled snugly inside the strange glass substance that comprised his alien form. Demetri gingerly reached out and plucked the hard drive from the crystalline mass, which summarily snapped shut with what Demetri could have sworn was a satisfied click.

"Alright then." Demetri murmured, gently tucking the piece of technology into one of his endless pouches. By the time he looked back, Klee and Shen were already gone. The only thing that indicated their hasty departure were a few damp leaves flitting down from the dense canopy above. A moment passed before the spy turned back to his new orange friend. Daxter was just staring at the spy with a flummoxed expression, to say the least.

"What...was...that?" he asked, throwing his arms out in exasperation.

[Demetri Malius]

Strange. Within a few seconds the two small mechanical devices were already out of his sensory range. Perhaps they could suppressed their movement like he could? He couldn't remember if he was able to sense them in the first place or not.

"What...was...that?" Daxter questioned, a look of surprise and confusion on his face. Demetri had almost forgotten that the small mammal was there.

"Nothing to be concerned with, just a bit of a favor I needed." Demetri knew it wasn't much to hide, but he would rather keep his mysteriousness, helps with the public image. "Now that that objective has been accomplished, let's head to New Babylon."

Daxter narrowed his eyes a bit in suspicion but soon sat down and nodded his head. Demetri could see the determination in his eyes as he started up the vehicles engine once more, the humming blaring out into the forest as they began on their way again. Demetri decided to continue the conversation of the reasoning behind this mammal's mission. "What exactly did Victor Wolfe do in order to gain your wrath? I don't me to pry but you have that look in your eyes. Takes a lot to get that out of someone."

While the informant waited for an answer, he continued to weave between the trees, his mind wandering to the hard drive in his pocket. Soon, after he was done with his current objectives, he would find the time to bring her back, as it would take all of his focus to create such a complex machine again. He wondered what stories she would be able to tell that she didn't mention in he updates, and what lie beyond in the lost forests of the Tangled Green. Perhaps one day he might even meet the allies she mentioned...

[Jak Mar]

Daxter's eyes burned with determination "I maybe stupid sometimes , but nobody makes a fool out of Jak and I. He squeezed his fists and growled. The hurt blared in his eyes "Normally .. I would sit here and take this from someone but Jak doesn't deserve this shit..."

"Yes I said it.." The ottsel wasn't kidding.

... Jak, I'm sorry..."

The ottsel squeezed his fists until they got red.

[Jak Mar]

The ottsel turned his head and nodded, starting to direct Demetri from the Tangled greens, moving his finger toward the exit of the greens, and then once they reached the dunes, Daxter could lead them toward Nippur, New Babylon's capital.