Very sorry! I took so long for getting this chapter up! I had a writer's block, plus I have no Internet (anymore) on my computer, PLUS I had assignments and homework to do!

Ok, enough of my excuses… this is a short chapter but part nine is coming shortly. I promise!

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Hope dawned as the rising sun leaped out of the water once more. The calm ocean lapped the ship's edge as it floated, suspended in the shallows. Sea air greeted the up and early crew. It was incredibly calm, as if no battle happened the night before.

Red dots appeared over the horizon. At first the crew didn't take notice but as they became bigger and bigger they realised that it was no mere illusion of the sun.

A crowd gathered on the deck pointing and whispering, their hopes rose, as the dots became recognisable air ships. They were painted red ships or as other people would have known them as Krimosn Guard air ships.

Soon everyone was awoken as a great stir of excitement rose. The Captain appeared on deck as the air ships approached the ship and hovered overhead. Crew ran around preparing for the three air ships to land. Loud noise filled the air as the air ships came closer to the metallic deck. With skill and experience from the driver the air ship landed safely and securely on the makeshift-landing pad.

The engines quiet down as the back doors swung open. The Captain greeted the personnel inside.

A whole squadron of Krimson Guard left the air ships and were followed by three recognisable characters. The Captain saluted the first one as he left the ship.

"Commander Torn" He announced, "I didn't expect to see you here"

"We've brought the supplies you asked for and the back up you needed" Torn replied instead

Sig approached the scene as Daxter stood on his shoulder. Daxter groaned when he saw Torn.

"Ohhh, great! Out of all the assholes they had to drag out of the military you had to come along" Daxter complained

Torn approached the orange fuzz and pulled out his small curved dagger. He shoved it near his throat,

"Becareful what you say talking rat!" he growled, "Because I'm in no mood to put up with your stupid, annoying pathetic hide"

Daxter gulped and nodded. He got the message. Torn pulled away and realized that Daxter was on Sig's shoulder instead of Jak. He turned to Captain Kranzar, "Where's Jak?"

"He's gone" Sig replied making Torn jerk his head towards him, "He left yesterday"

"Why the hell did he leave?" Torn growled

"He was acting irrationally. We didn't have the chance to apprehend the problem" Kranzar cut in, "From what I was told it seems he was having some sort of problem for a while. He got attacked by one of the Bats from the land. We suspect that something must of happened during the attack that changed his behaviour"

Torn kept a hard face and sighed. Even if he didn't like Jak at the start, he had the underground up and going. He contributed in many ways which led to the down fall of the Baron and the defeat of the Metal Head leader Kor. Torn considered him a valued player in the scheme of things and even if Torn never showed it he was glad the Jak was apart of the team. But Daxter… that was a different story…

"You know where he went?" Torn asked

"We don't know" Kranzar admitted, "He may have hideout on the land"

Torn nodded, "Well we brought medical and food supplies and extra guards. The retrieval team is coming in a few days to pick up on more Eco. The Shield Wall is critically low again. Ashelin, is taking care of matters while I'm here"

Kranzar nodded. Daxter sighed, "Why couldn't Ashelin come instead of you?"

"Because I'm handling this situation" Torn growled at Daxter

Out of the airship suddenly came two other characters that were a bit of a surprise. One was a tall frail woman who was blind and a familiar crossbred animal.

"Onin? Peaker?" Daxter exclaimed, "Well this party just deflated!"

"Oi, watch your mouth, rat boy!" Pecker growled

"Look who's clucking bird brain!" Daxter insulted

"Why you…" Pecker started

"Will you two cherries cut it out! It's worse than a petting zoo!" Sig growled

"Thank you" Torn sighed as he was going to yell at the two animals just the same, "Onin insisted on coming"

"Joy" Daxter mutter under his breath

"Sir" an old looking mechanic approached the Captain

"Ah, Tollanar. The man I wanted to see" the Captain nodded, "I want you and Jolva to get the engines fixed and the power back online"

"But, I don't have the necessary parts to repair the engine sir" Tollanar protested

"It's been brought in with the supplies needed" Kranzar explained, "Go and repair the ship"

Tollanar nodded and jogged off. Kranzar turned to Torn.

"We cannot locate anymore Eco due to these creatures. Every night they attack us and they already destroyed most of our equipment. It's pointless to sacrifice more lives" Kranzar replied

Torn nodded, "I know but we need this Eco, we depend on these shipments and the Metal Heads are advancing. We don't have time to look for more Eco pools or anything!"

Behind them Onin made some hand signs followed by blue light. Pecker, who was perched on top of her head, interpreted the signals.

"Onin says that the Bats you speak of are part of an ancient spell that was place there thousands of years ago. Since then many who stepped foot on the land barely escaped"

Torn turned. Kranzar stepped forward in curiosity. Onin made more hand signs and Pecker continued.

"The spell must be broken if you want to access the Eco freely"

"How did this 'spell' come about?" Krazar asked

Pecker waited until Onin started to make her sign language. Blue dust spread around her fingers and followed her actions.

"Some typical wants-to-take-over-the-world wizard tried to use his magic for evil, blah, blah, blah, the spell backfired on him and he remains trapped on the island with the Bats as his minions"

"Great" Torn said flatly

"So can this 'spell' be broken?" Kranzar asked

Onin replied in her hand signals.

"Onin says: It can be broken but you'll have to go into the heart of the land to face him" Pecker translated

"Face who?" Daxter asked

"The wizard, stupid" Pecker scolded

"So your telling me that a ancient wizard is making some bats attack us and the only way to brake the 'spell' is to kill him?" Torn almost snorted the words out

"Isn't that what I just said?" Pecker asked in sarcasm

"And how do we kill him?" Kranzar inquired further

Onin made more signs with her delicate bony fingers, her hands talking a language that they never understood, with the exception of Pecker (of course).

"Because the magic is old, it has to be countered with an ancient spell as well" Pecker continued, "Onin says she can counter the spell but will need special ingredients"

"Oh, I love cooking!" Daxter rubbed his hands together

Everyone seemed to ignore his comment.

"Well what do you need?" Kranzar asked

"Wait, hold on a second" Torn cut in before Onin could reply, "Don't tell me Captain that your going for all this Hokus Pokus?"

Kranzar turned to Torn, "With all due respect Commander, I had travelled the world and I have seen more weirdest and 'magical' things that anyone has seen in two lifetimes, I've experience first hand with the supernatural, I had a brush of death with the paranormal and faced more Hora-quan than one Nest can produce. Now if I am willing to go for this 'Hokus Pokus', it's not because I'm gullible, it's because I know it maybe the only way to save my men from dying out there and giving us free access to the Eco that is here"

Torn looked long and hard into Kranzar's brown eyes then turned away.

"Fine. I trust that you know what your doing" Torn murmured and moved away from the group

Kranzar turned to the strange pair, "Sorry, you may go on"

"What's his problem?" Pecker grunted

"Nothing. He doesn't believe in all this magic and the supernatural" Kranzar replied

Onin started her hand signs, Pecker translated.

"Onin needs a few things. A Treskin Flower, Kurb seeds, Araga Root, a few hurbs and spices, Fallie leaves and a rubber ducky"

"A rubber ducky?" Daxter exclaimed, "What on earth is that for?"

"You don't wanna know" Pecker shook his head

Kranzar nodded, "I'll get these for you but in the meantime I'll arrange your quarters"

Kranzar directed the old woman and the bird-monkey below deck. Daxter hopped off Sig's shoulder and travelled somewhere else. Sig went off to get some breakfast.

***

"Now lets see if it will work," Tollanar said hopefully as he finished screwing in the last bolt.

"Alright" Jolva replied as she approached the control panel.

Tollanar jogged away and headed over to her daughter. Jolva pressed a series of buttons and the loud low hum was heard. Then the turbines in the engine started up as the vibration in the floor got more intense.  Finally Blue Eco was pumped in and the engine made a high pitch sound. The whole place rattled as the huge engines were gathering energy.

"Ha Ha! We did it Jolva! We did it!" Tollanar cried in joy and gave his daughter a victorious hug

"Lets report to the Captain" Jolva mirroring the smile that her father had.

She pressed more buttons on the panel and the engines stopped running and the humming died. Things stopped working, signalling the end of the test.

TBC…