Chapter 2: (Back on the Precursor Ship, Under the Tree)
There is an awkward silence as we see Jak and the three Ottsels/precursors from the planetary defense system staring at the Elder Precursor. Drool falls off the open hanging mouth of the "Dummy Ottsel". We then focus on the Elder Precursor who stares back at them without saying a word, making the silence that much more awkward. He still floats in the air with his legs crossed. When he finally speaks, it's very abrupt and anti climatic.
ELDER: Who's thirsty?
No answer. Everyone just looks at each other confused.
ELDER: Well I'm thirsty. (He uncrosses his legs so that they can touch the ground.) I'll be right back.
And so, the Elder Precursor slowly hobbles down the hill, toward a stream of water at the bottom. Jak looks at the Leader Ottsel who just shrugs. Jak, who is still sitting cross legged, then takes a deep breath, leans back on his hands, and looks up to the blue sky with perfect white clouds. All we see for a few seconds are the clouds moving across the sky. The Elder's voice breaks the silence. He is back where he started. He speaks as he lifts his legs to his floating cross legged position. It is obvious some time has passed, because the "Dummy Ottsel" has fallen asleep.
ELDER: Now, where was I? (He honestly looks to have forgotten as he rubs his beard and concentrates to remember.)
JAK: (Leans forward, back to his original position) The leader of the bandits knocked you out.
As Jak says this, the Leader Ottsel reaches out his staff over the head of the sleeping Dummy Ottsel. When Jak finishes his sentence, he quickly bobs the Dummy Ottsel on the head.
Dummy: Who!? What!? (He rubs his head and looks around for what hit him. The Leader Ottsel has already pulled his staff back and is looking innocent.)
ELDER: Ah, yes. Mar, what a mean man he was...
JAK: Mar? But I thought-?
ELDER: That you were Mar? Well yes, you are, but you're not the first, not even close...
Some sort of hazy fade away effect happens here, which brings us back to seeing things from the past.
When I came to, I was alone inside a small jail cell. The bars and doors were metal but the wooden bed and the green blankets let me know that I was still in the Green Eco City. A dull pressure on the side of my face told me that I probably had a mark from being hit so hard.
I had to do something. I was worried for the people of this city, and I still hadn't found my parent's necklace. So I went to the jail cell bars to find someone to speak with. "Anyone out there?"
From the cell opposite of me, I saw a man stir and sit up in his bed. It was Ramo, in his human form. "Oh... hey there outsider." The look on his face no longer screamed defiance, but regret. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this mess. How are you feeling?"
"Not too bad." I answered with a shrug. "So what do you think they're going to do with us?"
Ramo pulled himself to sit at the edge of his bed, hunched over his knees. "I don't know, but at least no one got hurt." He muttered. He looked up quickly after saying this. "Besides you I mean. Again, sorry."
"It's alright. It's not your fault." I sighed. Then his words sunk in with me. "Wait, so nobody else got hurt? After all their guys we knocked out, they didn't hurt anyone?"
"No." Ramo said, sounding just as confused as I was. "I could tell some of them wanted to, but their leader ordered them not to shoot or strike anyone unless we resisted. So I ordered my men to surrender peacefully, and they kept their word. For now, at least."
Then, from somewhere just out of sight, a metal door opened and shut. I could hear three sets of foot steps against the hardwood floors. Ramo heard them as well, but didn't stand from his bed; he did stiffen up his back though to show more confidence.
When the three figures came into view, I wasn't surprised. It was the leader of the bandits, accompanied by two of his bulkier men. "Good, you're finally awake." He said to me, only half glancing over at Ramo. "I want to speak with you."
Suddenly Ramo stood from his bed. "I was behind the rebellion. This man was just helping. Take me instead."
The leader didn't seem impressed by Ramo's plea, amused maybe, but not impressed. "Fine, you can come too."
And so, each of the large men stepped to our cells. As they unlocked them, their leader reminded us not to try anything daring. The lives of everyone in the city relied on our cooperation. We didn't need reminding, plus, without Red Eco, we wouldn't stand a chance in a fight anyways. Even with Red Eco, this leader had already proved he was too powerful, despite his average build.
We walked in silence through the half wooden, half steel prison, until we reached a cafeteria. The room was full of bandits, laughing and carrying on without a worry in the world. That was, until they saw us. Then everything went silent. I recognized some of the faces immediately, men and tough looking women who I knocked out during our attempt to reclaim the city.
"Don't mind them." The bandit leader told us, as he led the way to the short line for food. "You're hungry, yes?" The way he asked his question, it was obvious he wasn't looking for an answer. The truth was yes, for both Ramo and myself, but we remained reserved out of principle.
As we worked our way through the line and held out our trays for scoops of food, the bandit leader introduced himself. "My name is Malik, but my men call me Mar." As he spoke, he made no attempt to make eye contact with either of us. He was focused on his food, just as much as we were on our own. "You may think we're bandits or thugs, but we're not. We're warriors. We don't wish to harm the innocent."
This struck a cord with Ramo. "Then why invade our city the way you did? We are a peaceful community before you got here." Ramo was no longer paying attention to his plate, which was almost full anyways.
Mar, or Malik as I called him at the time, was unfazed by Ramo's small outburst. "Because we needed this city's resources to fight the oncoming war, and we don't have time to convince your leaders to cooperate peacefully. Our enemies could be here any day now, and we need to be prepared."
Finally through the line, Malik led us to a table in the middle of the room. Some people around us continued to look at us with contempt, but most had returned to their conversations.
"So who are you at war with?" I asked as I began to eat.
"The Dark Ones. They are people from our homeland that have been corrupted by a new kind of Eco, Dark Eco. They are ruthless killers who want nothing more than to spread their insane teachings."
(This next part would be done through a flashback of hand drawn, still images, and a voice over.)
Malik came from a far away land, across a vast ocean. As was the case everywhere else in the world, the people of his land mined for Colored Eco. Their cites grew enormous and their demand for Eco continued to grow. What they found out however, was that if you draw on the power of colored Eco too much, it will change.
Like Light Eco that becomes unstable and turns into one of the four Colored Eco. Colored Eco can further fade into Dark Eco. If the essence of Light Eco is to give off energy, the essence of Dark Eco is to steal energy. If Dark Eco comes into contact with Colored Eco, that Eco will be corrupted and rapidly transformed into Dark Eco. But it is Dark Eco's relationship with living creatures that Malik was most afraid of.
Dark Eco was first discovered/created in a power plant in Malik's home city, a Blue Eco city. Like power plants all across the world, the Eco here was extracted from a crystal and recycled in its liquid state to draw out its power. Then without warning, all the Eco in one of the machines went Dark, practically over night. Scientists were half right in assuming this was caused by the Blue Eco running out of energy, but what they didn't understand at the time was exactly how dangerous this new Eco was.
They ordered to the Dark Eco to be extracted and disposed of, so that they could refill the machine with new Blue Eco. Only, they didn't manage to get every drop out of it. When they added new Blue Eco, it turned Dark right in front of their eyes. After two more failed attempts they decided to scrap the whole machine alone with all the Dark Eco it had produced.
Unbeknownst to anyone else, the men and women tasked with disposing of the new substance had come in contact with it during shipping, not enough to kill them, but enough to poison them, to poison their minds. The signs were subtle at first, so no one noticed. And so, when the power plant asked them to dispose of the corrupted machine along with the last batch of Dark Eco, no one expected they would take the machine and leave the city all together. These men and women were the beginning of what would later become the first Dark Army.
Darkness On the Horizon: Back in the cafeteria, you (the main character), Malik, and Ramo sit at the same table. Either the main character or Ramo asks why they should believe Malik's story. This could just be an excuse to take over land. Malik/Mar understands their skepticism and restates this for why they take over cities so abruptly. Until you see the Dark Army for yourself, it is hard to believe. They are then interrupted by one of Malik's warriors (no longer referred to as bandits) running up to their table. The Dark Army has been spotted about three days away from here and headed this way. Malik is angrily slams his fist into the table, admitting that he hoped they had more time. The messenger leaves, and then Malik turns to you and Ramo. He wants you to fight in his army, to help defend this city and others like it. You and Ramo are both stunned by this offer, but you speak first. If you can have your necklace back, you'll think about it, you say. Malik immediately produces the necklace and sets it in front of you on the table, saying that isn't a problem, you can have it back. Ramo remains quiet and broody. Malik waves his hands and calls over one of his men, a woman actually; something in her eyes say she shouldn't be messed with. Malik wants you to go with her to train, saying that you have great potential. As for Ramo, Malik and he need to continue their conversation till they can somewhat trust each other, and Ramo can help Malik gather more fighters for their cause. And so, you follow this woman out of the cafeteria. We cut to an area outside, where the woman introduces herself as Karina, Malik's wife. She asks you to keep the necklace in your pocket while you train. Without much else being said, she charges at you, and the cut-scene ends. You're now in live game play. She speaks as you fight and gives you tips. Then she knocks you on your ass with a strong punch (the same kind Malik knocked you out with, and the same kind Jak uses in all the games). From here, we enter a tutorial where you must hold L1 when you punch to do the strong punch. The rest of the tutorial goes forward in the same vain.
Side Note: Basically, holding down the L1 button is the key to doing all the old moves. As for rolling, that is done by double tapping L1 while moving, and crouching was already covered in the sneaking around missions and is done with R3 (like most shooters). Looking at the controls for Jak 3, we move the first person POV to L3 and have the HUD screen accessible by pressing the touch pad.
Okay, I'm done with chapter two, the long cut-scene part at least. Next I'll be adding hiders with short cut-scene and mission descriptions. What do you think so far?
Okay, I've got the first mission done. It covers some logistics, without explaining why things are the way they are quite yet. That will be done in the next hider.
