The First Precursor
a Jak and Daxter Fan Fiction
The Prologue
“...”
“Hello, Jak.”
The last thing Jak remembered, he was stepping into the Precursor Ship. He had said goodbye to Daxter and everyone else he loved. He’d followed the three little ottsels (or Precursors as they claimed to be) through a blinding light, to the welcoming call of unknown voices.
When the light faded, he found himself in the middle of a meadow. Above his head, a blue sky with cotton clouds and a shining sun smiled down on him. In every direction he saw green rolling hills, framed by bubbling brooks and covered in flowers of every color. At the top of each hill, one lush tree stood like a crown. Everywhere he looked, ottsels were at play: bounding through the meadows, backstroking through the streams, and jumping out of trees
But no hill was more imposing than the one he stood upon, and no tree was larger than the one he stood under. In front of him, a white robed ottsel with a long grey beard and a simple wooden cane looked up at him.
“Um, hi. Who are you? What is this place?”
“I am the Eldest Precursor, and this is our ship, the last one we have, at least at the moment.”
“But, it’s so big, and...”
“Say no more. I understand.” The old ottsel turned and gazed into the distance. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but-”
“I know. You meant, ‘How is this possible?’ How can all this, fit inside the ship you entered?”
Jak nodded and waited for him to finish. He waited till the silence became too much to handle, “Well?”
“Oh, sorry!” The ottsel laughed as he turned to Jak. “Sometimes I say things in my head instead of saying them out loud. Silly me.”
Another silence began, this one made even more awkward by the random staring contest between the two. Again, Jak spoke first, “So? How is this possible?”
Raising his free hand, the elder pointed to the sky. “Rule number one Jak, I don’t repeat myself.” With that proclamation, the elder turned, finger slowly falling to his side. With the help of his cane, he hobbled toward the trunk of the tree they stood under.
Jak stared, dumbfounded. He couldn’t help questioning the elder’s sanity, but he knew he shouldn’t, not directly at least. Still, his question was unanswered. So he took a deep breath, but before he could say a word, something poked him hard in the back.
Turning around, confused, he followed the top of a staff down to its wielder. Feverishly, all three ottsels he had followed into the ship shook their heads. The chunky one with the staff seemed most frantic, eyes wide and warning. Jak took the hint with a heavy sigh.
He then turned back toward the tree, toward the elder ottsel that was just then turning around, putting his back to the bark. It didn’t take Jak more than six quick steps to close the gap between them.
“Please, sit down Jak. I would like to tell you a story.”
It only took a second to realize that the elder’s request was serious. After looking left and right, Jak did the only reasonable thing; he sat, legs crossed, like a child ready for story time. Fortunately, the hill they were on was flat at the top, and the grass was soft.
Two of the three ottsels that came with Jak sat to either side of him. The chunky “leader” sat much like Jak, legs crossed. The “surfer” sat with legs stretched in front and hands on the ground behind his back. And the one Jak considered “least intelligent” dove face first onto the grass in front of him. Legs swinging and hands to his chin, the lanky ottsel laid on his stomach.
As soon as everyone was settled, the elder began. “The story that I’m about to tell you is very important, Jak. I know I may seem like a senile old coot at times, but I’m not telling you this to entertain myself. Do you understand?”
Not entirely sure what he was agreeing to, Jak gave one silent nod.
“Good.” The elder smiled. With his left hand still firmly on top of his cane, he lifted both legs off the ground. Like one of the street performers in Haven City’s bazaar, he appeared to float in mid air. Only, this was no trick, because he then lifted the cane and set it in his lap.
The Prologue (continued)
ELDER: “You’ve heard of the The Metal Head War, correct?”
JAK: “Yes.”
ELDER: “What if I told you that The Metal Head War was, and still is, but a battle in a much larger the war, The Precursor War?”
JAK: “You mean, the Dark Makers?”
ELDER: “Yes, the Dark Makers, Precursors that were corrupted by dark eco. Our struggle with them, that is the Precursor War, a war waged across all of time and space. They seek to spread the darkness, while we protect the light. They control the end of time. We control the beginning.”
JAK: “The beginning…?”
ELDER: “Yes Jak, the beginning, the earliest point in time which we can reach. It is a beautiful moment in which the entire universe is filled with an explosion of light… the explosion that created everything you know.”
JAK: “...”
ELDER: “And the end of time? Well, the end of time is not so easily defined. You see, we do not truly know where the end lies. As we see it, it is the point where darkness, decay, and destruction reign supreme. It is where the Dark Makers live. But it grows. It grows larger every second of every day, and if we don’t stop it, it will consume us all.”
JAK: “How do we stop it?”
ELDER: “That is the question isn’t it? Unfortunately… it's one I cannot answer. But you Jak, you may just be the key.”
JAK: “Because… because I’m Mar.”
ELDER: “No Jak, because you’re you.”
JAK: “...”
ELDER: “I know. I’m sorry fate has placed this burden on your back. But perhaps, if you know more, if you listen to my tale, you will understand.”
DUMMY: “Listen to… our tails?”
LEADER: “Shut up!”
DUMMY: “Ouch!”
ELDER: “...”
JAK: “...”
DUMMY: *rubs head*
LEADER: *smiles nervously*
ELDER: “This is the story of The First Precursor.”
Chapter 1: The Early Days
Everything is born from Light Eco. We know this now, but that was not always the case. You see, this story begins long after Light Eco had all but disappeared, when all that was left were the four types of colored Eco: Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green.
And Dark Eco? Dark Eco had not yet been discovered.
Before I continue, I should be clear. When I say ‘the world’, I do mean this one, the one where you grew up. This is where it all started. This is where the Precursors were born, but perhaps ‘born’ isn’t the right word...
Ah well, we’ll get to that. Anyways, where was I? Ah yes, Eco...
The world was once powered exclusively by the four Colored Eco. They were found across the planet, underground, in the form of crystals, but they weren't spread evenly. Different types of Eco were more heavily concentrated in some places than others. These were called Eco Reserves. The larger the Eco Reserve, the larger the city.
This did result in some cities being more powerful and influential than others, but surprising as it may seem, it wasn’t a problem. It made sense. Whether you lived in a small village or a large city, as long as your Eco Reserve could supply everyone in your community, you were happy.
I remember being a little boy, in a small Red Eco village. Life was so simple back then. Like in most other villages fueled by Red Eco, the children of our village loved wrestling and challenging each other in tests of strength. Ah, those were the days.
My parents worked at the local energy plant, like most of the adults in my village. And I remember, two or three times a year, they would take me to one of the nearby cities. You see, our village rested in between three larger cities. One ran on Red Eco, the other Blue, and the other Yellow. By the time I was a teenager, my greatest dream was to travel to a Green Eco city. I heard they were beautiful, filled with flowers, trees, and all kinds of wildlife.
Alas, I would never get to see one of these cities, not in the way I hoped.
When I became an adult and decided to leave home, I set my sights for the nearest Green Eco city, like I had always told my parents I would. They wished me well and gave me a small bag of money and a necklace with a Red Eco crystal. Coming from a poor family, this was all they could afford, but it would be enough. The necklace would provide me with the strength I needed to make the journey, and I could buy food and shelter for a little while; though, I would have to find a way to make money on my own at some point. And so, I said my thanks and was on my way.
It was a dream come true. I walked through wide open fields, over steep mountains, across wide rivers, and through towns of every color Eco; every color but green that is. To make money, whenever I would be in a Blue or Yellow Eco based town, I would find work at shipyards and warehouses. Red Eco users like myself did this often I soon discovered.
Many moons had passed by the time I neared a Green Eco city. It was said to be one of the smaller ones, but I did not mind. It would be the first one I'd seen in my entire life. I was so excited.
I was walking through a forest so thick; the sunlight could barely even reach the ground. It was amazing. I was seeing more animals here than I had seen in my entire life. That was when a group of men stopped me. They didn't look as strong as I was, but they held guns I had never seen before, weapons more advanced than anything I'd heard of for hunting animals. They weren't interested in talking. I was powerless to stop them as they robbed me of everything I had, including my Red Eco necklace. Luckily, they left me with my life.
With my head hung in defeat, I continued walking until I arrived in the Green Eco city. It was everything I dreamed it would be... almost at least. Birds and other animals were jumping merrily between the trees that lined the streets. Glowing green vines connected the buildings like the power lines of Blue Eco cities. And there were flowers of every color everywhere that I looked. But one thing was off. There were no people.
As I walked the street, I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of human life, but... nothing. I was confused. Then suddenly, I began to feel weak. The world started spinning. I fell to my knees and then to my stomach. And the world went dark.
I woke, alone, in a wooden bed, and covered by a mossy blanket. The afternoon sun peered through a small leafy window curtain near the ceiling. As I sat up, I began to feel dizzy again, like I did before I passed out. And the room felt small. I had never felt claustrophobic before, but that was indeed the only way to describe the building panic in my chest.
"Easy there, young traveler." Came a man's voice, but I could not see where it came from. "Over here." I followed the sound of the voice to a stump in the corner of the room that had been carved into something of a chair. On top of the stump, stood a creature I had seen many times before, but that I did not know could speak. It was an ottsel, with a ring wrapped around his arm, a Green Eco crystal in the middle of that ring. And no, he wasn't a precursor, but we'll get to that.
As you could imagine, I was shocked. When the words finally came, I had many questions. I barely stopped to breath. "What's going on? What happened to me? Who are you? Who were those people that attacked me? Where am I?"
He gave his answer calmly. "I am a healer. My name is Ollo, and this is my home. Please keep your voice down. The people that robbed you are bandits from a distant land. You're lucky they didn't kill you."
"They took something from me, a necklace that my parents gave me." Just talking about it made my face burn with anger.
"Yes, that's what bandits do I'm afraid." Ollo said, before jumping to foot of the bed. He then stared into my eyes, then began to cast his gaze over the rest of my body. Before I could ask him what he was doing, he spoke. "Your necklace wasn't any necklace was it? It had an Eco crystal inside it, didn't it? Red? Maybe yellow?"
"Red, how do you know that?"
"You're going through Eco withdrawal. Good news is you've slept through the worst of it. You'll be fine in a day or two. Of course, you won't be as strong as you're accustomed, but you'll get used to it."
I wasn't ready to give up that easily. "I need to get it back."
Ollo's shook his head slowly in protest. "They will kill you first. It's not worth it."
I should have listened to him, but I was young and naive. "Just tell me how to find them."
It took him a minute to think over his answer. It was with a heavy sigh that he conceded. "You aren't going to listen to reason are you?" With a shake of my head, he gave me the information I needed.
The bandits had taken over their town a month ago. There were around sixty of them, he explained, all armed with deadly weapons called guns. Life here was peaceful before they arrived, so no one was prepared to defend themselves. Instead, they used the only survival mechanism they'd ever known, hiding. Being Green Eco users, they had the ability to shape shift into other animals, so long as they had enough training and a Green Eco crystal. The ottsel was the preferred choice, as they are small, agile, and possess a number of other skills perfect for fleeing. This is one reason we precursors take this form as well.
Unfortunately, the inexperienced and those caught without a crystal when the bandits arrived were taken hostage. They split their forces between the city's power plant, communication's center, and town hall. Hostages in each building, no one had dared to try anything.
"Not yet at least." Ollo finished with a frown.
"Not yet?" What did he mean? I wondered.
"My son and a number of other foolish men and women from around the village are planning to strike back. They've been planning ever since the bandits arrived, and they're almost ready I believe." Ollo's voice shook more with frustration as he spoke. "I keep telling them we should wait. We managed to get a distress signal out before they took over the Communication's Center. Forces form neighboring cities could be here any day."
"But they took over your communication's center. They could have sent another signal out saying it was a false alarm."
"They would have to know codes used by the center's engineers. They would never give those codes up. They would die first." I could tell, Ollo had had this conversation before. Something in his eyes told me, he knew what I was going to say next.
"But they have hostages. What if they have someone that one of the engineers care about? Would they be willing to let their loved ones die?"
After a moment of silence, Ollo cracked a small smile and dropped his head in defeat. "You sound just like my son."
My mind was made up. "Where is your son? I want to help."
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