Jack West Jr

Template:Infobox CharacterJonathan 'Jack' James West Jr, also known as Huntsman, is a former Australian SAS soldier with a knack for solving ancient puzzles and traps. Jack is also the leader of the Coalition of Minnows team.

He is the main protagonist of the Huntsman series.

History

Early History

Jack was born to an American father, Jonathon "Wolf" West Sr, and an Australian mother, Mabel West, in 1969. He had an older sister named Lauren, who eventually married Jack's friend, JJ Wickham.

Despite wanting to study at University, he followed his father's desire for him to join the military, but to spite him joined the Australian Army. During his time in the SAS Regiment, Jack set a new record on a desert survival course, lasting 44 days. Soon Jack was given the call-sign Huntsman.

Eventually, Jack expressed his dislike of being turned into a killing machine, so in 1989, his superiors decided to satisfy his desire to learn by sending him to study archaeology and history under Max Epper at Trinity College in Dublin. During his time there, he met Zoe Kissane, with whom he formed a close friendship.

Soon after returning to the Army, Jack was sent to participate in the 1990 Coronado special forces exercises, being tutored by Colonel Marshall Judah. During the time he spent there, Jack was injured in a helicopter accident, and was left unconscious for four days, during which Judah secretly had a tracking chip surgically implanted in his head. Judah's brutish treatment of a falcon named Horus displeased Jack, so when he left Coronado, he stole her away, and Horus became loyal to Jack for his kindness and loving treatment.

In 1991, Jack was one of the first soldiers on the ground during Desert Storm, and soon came under Judah's command. During this period, he worked alongside Delta operative Cal Kallis (whom Jack would write a report on citing his psychotic behaviour), the U.S. Marine Gena "Mother" Newman, and also met the Israeli soldier Ben Cohen. He also likely met U.S. Navy Captain JJ Wickham during this period, who quickly became Jack's best friend and married his sister.

Jack was left for dead by Judah's forces at Basra, but managed to escape in one of Saddam Hussein's 747 planes, named the Halicarnassus, and kept it for himself.

Following his return home, Jack decided he was going to quit the Army, however Lieutenant General Peter Cosgrove decided to assign him to Epper's Capstone quest, in order to keep him around for a while longer.  

Jack West Jr and the Hero's Helmet

On Christmas Eve, 1994, Jack and Epper followed up on Jack's own theory regarding the Temple of Dendur. He and Epper received permission from New York's Metropolitan Museum to examine the Temple, so that Jack might confirm that within one of the bricks of the Temple was the Knife of Osiris. Even as they confirmed its presence with a Ground Penetrating Radar, a fire alarm went off, forcing Jack and Epper to evacuate as a squad of firemen entered the museum.

Hearing a nearby boy noted that though their firetruck was not the real number 17 firetruck, Jack became suspicious, and so sent Epper back inside the museum. Epper then called Jack to confirm the worst; the brick containing the Knife of Osiris had been taken. Jack immediately jumped onto the firetruck of the false firemen as they sped away from the museum, and began fighting with one of the impostors. During the fight, Jack noticed that the man had a tattoo on his wrist identifying him as a member of Opus Dei, and while confused by their interest in the Knife, Jack was forced to throw the man off the firetruck, inadvertently keeping a hold of his helmet.

With the rest of the impostor firemen unaware of his presence, Jack was brough to the St. Patrick's Cathedral, and began following the men to an adjoining alley. However, a man in a trench coat whom Jack had seen watching them at the museum earlier killed the false firemen, telling their leader that the Knife belonged to his master and that it was not yet time to use the keyblade. Jack recognised that this mysterious man was an assassin, but without any weapons, knew he could not take on this man, and so reluctantly watched as the Trench Coat Man departed with the Knife.

Following this, Jack decided to keep the fireman's helmet for himself, to use as a constant reminder that not everyone is who they appear to be.

Before Seven Ancient Wonders

Jack and Epper located several hidden scrolls that were saved from the Alexandria Library fire, and discovered, among other things, the Callimachus text, which would lead them to the locations of the Ancient Wonders and the Capstone Pieces with them.

Seeking to locate the latest of the Oracles of Siwa to translate the Word of Thoth to help in their quest, the pair instead found the deceased Oracle's pregnant wife Malena, and Jack promised to keep her safe. However, the next day, a European force led by Francisco del Piero, kidnapped Malena and took her to a volcano in Uganda.

He and Epper tracked them down, but arrived too late to stop del Piero from taking Malena's child. Even as lava began pouring in, Jack insisted on taking Malena's now-dead body, and discovered that a second child was still inside. He and Epper retrieved the infant, a girl, and attempted to escape, only to be blocked by the lava. Seeing no other way to escape, Jack plunged his left arm into a waterfall of lava to pull a release lever, and Epper promised to build him a prosthetic one better than his old arm.

At a meeting of nations to discuss challenging the European coalition and American team to recovering the Capstone and averting the danger caused by the Tartarus sunspot, Jack stood alone as the representative of Australia, having already gotten his nation's approval. Once a representative was chosen from each country to join their team, Jack told Sheik Abbas that he had named the girl Lily, and led the team to the farm in Kenya.

Roughly a year after the mission began, Lauren was killed in an airliner crash, and soon afterwards Wickham became a fugitive from the U.S. for disobeying an order and stealing a submarine intended for destabilising missions in Africa. Jack and the team provided Wickham, going by the nickname Sea Ranger, with a place to stay for a while. 

In 2000, Epper fulfilled his promise to build Jack a new arm, and integrated a mechanical prosthetic onto his elbow.

As the team all became closer, Jack suggested that everybody write a letter or email to be read by him should something happen and they die, which they all agreed to do, coming to call them Messages from the Other Side.

During 2003, when Ben Cohen arrived unexpectedly to request to join their team or risk the Mossad exposing them, Jack's prior experience with the Israeli was the only thing that made him agree, on the condition that Cohen not maintain any contact with his superiors. 

As they raised Lily, Jack seemed to have no interest in her, but in fact he truly cared for her, but was busy continuing to research and practise beating ancient traps with Horus. On one occasion, after comparing Lily's progress with other members of the team, Jack took Lily to Cape Town to watch a ballet show, though he kept his eye on her for most of the show.

Soon, he told Lily that once the mission was over, he would likely have to go into hiding, but offered her a riddle that would lead her to him. Eventually, like the other members of the team, Lily gave Jack a new nickname, Woodsman, although the team continued to refer to him mostly as Huntsman or Jack.

When Lily turned ten, she managed to decipher the first part of the Callimachus text, and Jack led the team to the Sudan.

Seven Ancient Wonders

With the Europeans already present at the ancient mine, Jack led his team through the second entrance, hurriedly beating the traps in order to try and get in and out before Judah's CIEF forces arrived. After arriving at the Grand Cavern, Jack led Lily up to the Innermost Cave while the rest of the team held off the Europeans, and allowed himself to get stuck in the oil trap while Lily picked out the right pendant as the Capstone piece from the Colossus of Rhodes' head. After she did so, Jack and the team fled back the way they came, however after reaching the entrance, the waiting Noddy was killed by Kallis's men. After Jack's attempt to reason with Kallis failed, they were forced to hand over the Piece, and when he announced the team's execution, save for Jack since Judah wanted to speak with him, Jack and his team managed to flee their captors and escape on the Halicarnassus.

Jack was concerned about the Americans' presence since they didn't have a copy of the Callimachus text or a translator, but comforted Lily as she cried over Noddy's death. When Lily translated the second part of the text, Jack and Wizard excitedly realised that they actually had a chance since the text itself didn't reveal the Piece's location, but rather one of the scrolls they had obtained years earlier. After locating Hamilcar's Refuge on the Tunisia coast, the team was alerted to the arrival of an American team, which astounded Jack since they had no way of locating the Refuge.

After racing Kallis and Judah's teams through the trap systems to the Refuge, Jack, Zoe and Lily alone made it to the Piece, where they found the Mausoleum's Pillar Piece with the Lighthouse of Alexandria Piece, however Judah's team was right behind them so they were forced to leave them behind. Rather than leave empty-handed, Jack took a notebook from a long-dead Nazi archaelogist, and pursued Judah's drilling vehicle carrying the heavy Capstone Pieces, photographing the inscriptions for Lily to translate later. While the rest of the team escaped together, Jack was forced to commandeer an old U-Boat and pilot it to an island resort in the Mediterranean where the team collected him.

Jack then shared his suspicion with Wizard that someone on their team was letting the Americans' know of their progress, but neither could determine who the mole might be. Adding to their problems, the entries of the next two Pieces offered no clues to their locations, so Jack reluctantly suggested to his team that they bring in an expert on the Capstone, Mustapha Zaeed, to help. Infiltrating Guantanamo Bay with his Gull Wings while the others made a diversion, Jack retrieved the terrorist and helped him escape back to the Halicarnassus. Fortunately, with Zaeed's assistance, the team were able to determine the locations of the next two Pieces.

While Epper led Zoe and Fuzzy to Rome, Jack led the remainder of the team as they broke into the Louvre and stole the Zeus Peice, before Jack scaled the Paris-located obelisk so that they could note its secret compartments to help them locate Alexander the Great's Tomb later. After escaping from the French authorities, Jack's team returned to Victoria Station, pleased they they had finally obtained a Piece of the Capstone. However, as they began disembarking the Halicarnassus, Doris gave Lily a cryptic warning about Judah and his men being present, and after Big Ears sacrificed himself to get Lily back on the plane, the team managed to escape.

Adding to their troubles, Judah contacted them to gloat about retrieving the Zeus Piece from Big Ears' body, Doris' death, and revealed that Wizard's team had been captured by the Europeans. Rather than give up, Jack decided that they had to locate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and retrieve it's Piece. While they managed to locate it, they were once again pursued by Judah's arriving forces, and adding to their troubles was the arrival of Stretch's superior Avenger, revealing that Stretch had (unknowingly) given their location away, and were planning to use the Piece to bargain with the Americans.

While being forced to escort the Israeli's through the Garden's traps, Jack almost gave up in the Well of the Winged Lion trap, until he heard Lily call him "Daddy", giving him the focus he needed to escape the trap. After retrieving the Piece for Avenger, he and Pooh Bear were left hanging from the ceiling. They only managed to escape when Jack swung them onto the giant stalactite using an American chopper, but were too late to intercept Avenger's team as they escaped. Before he fled, Zaeed taunted Jack with the fact that Epper had neglected to tell him that to ensure the ceremony that weakened the Tartarus sunspot worked, Lily's life would need to be sacrificed.

Barely escaping the Gardens as the Americans destroyed them, Jack and Pooh Bear returned to the Halicarnassus, where Jack realised the truth about the mole in their team; finding the tracking implant in his skull, which ever since his accident training with the CIEF had been supplying them with his location. After disabling it, Jack, Pooh Bear and Sky Monster began preparing to attack the Americans as they performed the ceremony on top of the Great Pyramid in Giza.

As Pooh Bear and Sky Monster attacked the Americans in the Halicarnassus, Jack used his Gullwings to land on the Pyramid's platform, and was quickly able to take out many CIEF operatives before resorting to hand-to-hand combat with Kallis. Judah's completion of the ceremony failed due to Alexander escaping the Capstone, while Jack finally managed to finish Kallis off. As Judah held him at gunpoint, mocking Jack for never having a chance, Jack called for Horus, who gouged out her old master's eye. However, as this was happening, Zaeed used Lily to perform the ceremony, apparently giving 1000 years of power to Saudi Arabia.

Fortunately, Jack revealed that he had swapped Zaeed's sand with his own homeland's, giving the power to Australia, and proceeded to kill Zaeed. Confronting Judah, Jack noted that he could forgive his former commander for all the wrongs done to him, but because of his execution of Doris, he threw Judah's safety line into the nearby engine of the Halicarnassus. Jack then went to the Capstone and cried over Lily's apparent death during the ceremony, only for her to awaken, revealing that her willingness to be used had allowed her to live.

In the aftermath, Jack and his reunited team left, with Jack assuring Wizard that Australia wouldn't misuse their power. Jack soon went out on his own, taking the Capstone with him, and officially retired from the Australian SAS, settling down on a farm in the Great-Sandy Desert which his superiors had given him for the mission's success. Lily was soon able to solve the riddle Jack had given her, and he reunited with the team on the farm, revealing his hiding place for the Capstone in an old nickel mine, and giving Zoe a White Desert Rose he had taken from the Hanging Gardens.

Between Seven Ancient Wonders and The Six Sacred Stones

Over the next few months, while the rest of his team returned to their normal duties, Jack officially adopted Lily as his own daughter, sending her to a boarding school in Perth for the school-year to help her acclimate to a normal life. However, whenever he traveled to collect her, he always used different routes to prevent anyone from trying to follow him back to the farm. During the first parent-teacher interviews, Jack met Lily's best friend Alby Calvin and his mother, Lois. Jack was pleased that Lily was doing well, but was displeased with the sports-master Todd Naismith's low opinion of her and Alby, showing off his surprising strength (from his artificial arm) to surprise Naismith and warned him not to be too hard on the kids.

During this time of peace, Jack would help Wizard with research, though he was not told what his mentor was working on, and occasionally accompanied Lily to visit the members of the team in their respective homelands. At one point, Lily asked Jack about his family, to which he answered some of her questions regarding his father and sister, and soon took her to meet his mother. Whenever Zoe came to visit the farm (as the other team members did occasionally), Lily noticed the budding romance between her and Jack. While nothing is implied to have occurred between them during this period, Jack shared with Wizard his plan to propose to Zoe, but he lost his nerve when she had to return to Ireland at the time he was going to propose.

Sometimes Jack would need to check in with his former superiors, being given intelligence briefings regarding potential threats to Australia. On one occasion, a general visited Jack at his farm to ask questions regarding Sea Ranger, though Jack claimed to have not seen him since before he went rogue. Another time, Jack went to the Pine Gap facility with Lily, and was debriefed regarding the potential threats of the Vatican Cardinal Ricardo Mendoza and a mysterious Russian General known as Carnivore.

Jack and Lily spent Christmas of 2006 in Dubai with Pooh Bear and the other team members at the Burj al Arab tower, and stayed for the New Year's party. During the party, Jack caught up with Solomon Kol, who had taken to looking after Victoria Station since the mission's completion, and briefly chatted with Sea Ranger before he had to move on. 

In August 2007, Jack became concerned when he read an article about an Australian soldier recently dying; since no Australian soldier had died since the Tartarus ceremony, it meant that someone had somehow nullified the 1000 years of power granted to Australia.

Sometime before the summer holidays of 2007 began, Jack agreed to allow Alby to stay with him and Lily at the farm while his parents went on a holiday.

The Six Sacred Stones

Early on the first of December, Jack received an encrypted message from Wizard, warning him that enemies were coming for him, and that there was a new, more dangerous threat on the horizon. Noticing that a Chinese parachute regiment that was a part of a nearby war-games preparing to land on his farm, Jack warned Lily, Alby, Zoe and Sky Monster that they had to leave. After retrieving the upper-most part of the Capstone, the Firestone, per Wizard's request, Jack fled with the others to the Halicarnassus. Following a chase across the farm, during which Jack set off traps against their pursuers, they eventually escaped and began making their way to the Burj al Arab, where Wizard had also requested that the team rendezvous.

Along the way, Jack read Wizard's sent notes, learning that a zero-point energy field out in space, a polar opposite to the sun, was set to soon wipe out all life on Earth and that the only was to stop it was to rebuild an ancient machine that would counteract it. Soon after arriving at the Burj, Sheik Abbas informed Jack that Wizard and Tank had been captured by the Chinese. Once the team had gathered, as well as being joined by some unexpected additions - Pooh Bear's older brother Scimitar, Vulture from Saudi Arabia and Paul Robertson and Astro from America - Jack explained what he had learned from Wizard's notes. To rebuild the machine, they needed to find and cleanse six oblong diamonds called Pillars, which contained special rewards, and set them in place at different vertices around the world at specific times. To this end, the use of the six sacred stones in conjunction with the Firestone would help them learn all they needed along the way.

Needing Wizard's expertise, Jack proposed rescuing him from the high security Xintan Prison, however before they could depart, Jack was delivered Fuzzy's severed head, and a plane was set to crash into the tower, forcing Jack, Stretch and Astro to parachute to safety once they secured Wizard's notes. When Alby revealed he knew some details of some of Wizard's notes, Jack sent him with Zoe and Lily to meet with the twins Julius and Lachlan to work on the Altar Stone of Stonehenge, while the rest of the team went to Xintan.

Hijacking the prison's transfer train, Jack and Stretch retrieved Wizard and Tank before crashing the train and escaping. Jack's team then ventured to Witch Mountain to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone from Laozi's trap system, and they quickly caught up with Mao Gongli and his men, who had been having difficulty with the traps. After disabling them (with Jack pistol-whipping Mao on the nose for his treatment of Wizard), they encountered the final trap guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Jack then raced against the speed-trap to retrieve the sacred stone, and successfully brought it back before he could fall into the mercury lake.

Reuniting with the others at Mortimer Island, Jack met Iolanthe Compton-Jones of the House of Windsor, who had the Fourth Pillar to go with Vulture's First Pillar. After they had identified the location of the First Vertex at Abu Simbel thanks to the Stonehenge data, used the American-possessed Killing Stone of the Maya to confirm the Pillar-laying dates, and the Philospher's Stone to cleanse the two Pillars they had, Jack led his team, accompanied by Iolanthe, to Abu Simbel to lay the Pillar.

Along the way, Jack's team entered a debate regarding the Royal European Houses, which Iolanthe took no obvious offence to. Later, Iolanthe spoke privately with Jack, considering his team's loyalty, and revealed that the Second Pillar was with the elusive cannibalistic Neetha tribe. Upon reaching Abu Simbel, Jack and the team managed to locate the Vertex's entrance beneath the lake, allowing Jack, Wizard and Zoe to enter. Once they located the upside-pyramid in which the Pillar had to be laid, and overhearing Wizard explain his theory as to how the Machine had been built by a race of Super-Ancient Beings, Jack placed the Pillar, and noted that for once things had gone well for them.

Ironically, it was at that moment that Iolanthe's team of Royal Marines jammed their communications and took the team members on the surface hostage. Their commander, Colin Ashmont, threatened to kill Alby when Jack initially refused to hand over the Pillar, and so Jack reluctantly sent out Wizard with the Pillar. Jack expressed his disappointment in Iolanthe's betrayal, right before the Vertex entrance was closed on him and Zoe. Luckily, the crocodiles in the entryway meant there was another way out, and Jack and Zoe escaped in time to save the rest of the team, who were sinking into the crocodile-filled lake.

Wizard then radioed to report that Iolanthe's group had been blindsided by suicide bombers, and was now fleeing with Lily and the Pillar. However, Sky Monster then reported that a convoy of enemy vehicles were approaching, and so Jack and the team rushed to catch up with Epper. As they did so, one of the Halicarnassus engines was hit, resulting in the plane being surrounded by enemy troops. Jack used Astro's maghook to reach the plane, and Sky Monster informed him that they only had a short time to get everyone on board. At the end of the chase, only Zoe and Alby were able to join Wizard and Lily on the Halicarnassus, and Jack implored them to find the Neetha and place the second Pillar. As they reluctantly took off, Jack, Stretch and Astro were surrounded by the enemy, and Jack was knocked unconscious.

When he woke up, Jack was horrified to see that he was been crucified onto a stone slab, but was unsurprised to see his father was in charge. Once Wolf explained many things, such as the Japanese Blood Brotherhood being responsible for many attempts to keep them all from completing their mission, his alliance with Mao, and his apparent insertion of Astro into his team, he then introduced Jack's half brother, Grant "Rapier" West. Wolf noted he was somewhat sorry that they couldn't have been on the same side in their mission, before allowing the Christian Ethiopian guards of the mine to slide another slab on top of Jack.

Though Wolf believed his son to be dead and would boast of it to Wizard's group in their confrontation, Jack actually managed to pull his artificial arm free at the last moment, using it to brace against the incoming slab. Over several hours, Jack slowly and painfully pulled his other arm free, and used some C4 hidden in his artificial arm to break the slab apart, just as the guards were about to sacrifice Pooh Bear. Releasing the Jewish slave miners, Jack led a swift rebellion against the guards, and freed Pooh Bear before finally blacking out.

Reawakening to discover their location, Pooh Bear informed Jack about Wolf handing Stretch over to the Mossad, Scimitar's betrayal, and suggested that Astro may not have been a plant as Wolf suggested. The leader of the Jewish Ethiopians then gave Jack the Stones Wolf had them digging for, the Twin Tablets of Thuthmosis, as thanks for freeing them. After returning to their old base in Kenya, Jack and Pooh Bear were surprised to find Julius and Lachlan there. The twins explained how Tank had betrayed them for the Blood Brotherhood, and that another of their agents, Switchblade, had infiltrated Wolf's team. Knowing that Switchblade would do everything he could to keep Wolf from laying the Second Pillar, Jack decided that regardless of whether Wizard or Wolf ended up with the Pillar, they needed to be there to help if necessary.

Once Pooh Bear left to go and find Stretch, and knowing that they could not get to Table Mountain by air, Jack and the twins headed to Zanzibar to seek Sea Ranger's help. Jack's brother-in-law was all too happy to help once he learned Wolf was involved, and took them onboard the Indian Raider and managed to get into the sea surrounding Cape Town before the sea lanes were all closed off. Along the way, Jack checked the team's secret message board to discover that Wolf had obtained the Second Pillar, and had captured Alby.

Entering the Vertex from it's second entrance, Jack, Sea Ranger and the twins found themselves behind Wolf's team. Needing help to figure out the correct way through, Jack contacted Wizard's group, and with Wizard's help began solving the riddles of the traps. However, Switchblade and Broadsword soon reached the inverted pyramid's peak, and Switchblade killed his partner and was prepared to drop the Pillar into the chasm below. Reacting fast, Jack used Astro's maghook to swing out towards the suicidal fanatic, grabbing and placing the Pillar just in time.

Switchblade was furious at being foiled, and proceeded to release his own safety harness, which Jack had gotten tangled in, dropping the pair of them into the chasm, leaving everyone to assume that they had both perished.

The Five Greatest Warriors

As they fell, Switchblade gloated that despite his failure they would die together, however Jack wasn't finished, and he then took Switchblade's maghook and fired it into the abyss wall, stopping his fall. Rejoined by Horus, Jack then used the maghook to scale his way back up the chasm, and upon reaching the top found that everyone had already left. Fortunately, he was able to spot Alby still in the city, and reunited with him before heading back to the second entrance. After using his helmet to tap out an SOS for the Indian Raider to pick up on sonar, the pair were quickly brought aboard. Jack then informed Sea Ranger to tell Wizard's group to rendezvous with them at World's End.

After a tearful reunion with the team, with Zoe even sobbing in his arms, Jack then told them about Pooh Bear's mission to save Stretch, but his reluctance to help immediately disappointed Lily. However, Jack eventually changed his mind, and he and Zoe infiltrated a uranium shipment to the Dimona Nuclear Centre where Mordechai Muniz had Stretch. Setting off a small explosion as a distraction, Jack led the group in an ambulance to an old salt mine where they were surrounded by Muniz's forces. However, Jack tricked the Old Master, as he took off in another plane like the Halicarnassus to distract the Israeli's while Zoe led Pooh Bear and Stretch to safety, and allowed the plane to be destroyed once he bailed out so that Muniz would think them dead.

Once the whole team was reunited at Sea Ranger's base in Zanzibar, Jack and Wizard explained their trouble in locating any of the remaining Vertices and Pillars. At this point, the anthropologist Diane Cassidy, whom Wizard's group had rescued from the Neetha, stepped in, and revealed a prophecy in which five figures throughout history known as the Five Greatest Warriors would affect the Machine, the Pillars and the Vertices. As Cassidy explained, Moses, Jesus Christ, Genghis Khan and Napoléon Bonaparte all fit the descriptions in the prophecy, though the Fifth Warrior was unknown; Lachlan suggested it was Jack because of the description, but Jack rebuffed the idea.

In any case, Cassidy's suggestion turned out to be quite fruitful, and the team spent the next two months undergoing research to confirm the Five Warriors' connections to the Machine. When the twins discovered that Genghis once possessed a Fabergé Egg with images of the entrances to the Vertices, kept in his long lost Arsenal, Jack led some of the team to Mongolia to locate it. However, when they arrived, some of Wolf's men had already entered the Arsenal, as had Tank and the Blood Brotherhood. When Jack and Wizard discovered that Tank had already destroyed the Egg, Jack suggested they leave, right before Tank's grenade went off.

As they attempted to leave, Wolf intercepted them. Noting his son's resilience, Wolf told Jack that he would instead break his spirit, and shot Wizard with his crossbow. As he lay dying, Wizard pleaded for Jack to finish rebuilding the Machine and not to let his death break him. As Lily and Zoe arrived, Wizard said his goodbyes to them too, and let slip that Jack had once planned on proposing to Zoe. As Wizard finally succumbed to his wound, Jack was distraught, and only Sky Monster reporting that Mao was about to invade the Arsenal brought him back to attention.

Though wanting to take Wizard's body with them, Zoe pointed out they couldn't and thought that being buried in the same tomb as Genghis Khan would have pleased Wizard. Seeing the sarcophagus, and on it a shield with the Egg's images, Jack realised what his mentor had being trying to tell him moments before. Using the Arsenal's various trebuchets, Jack was able to hold off Mao's forces long enough for the others to dig out an old escape tunnel beneath the sarcophagus. Before he followed the others, Jack took the shield, and decided to take the injured Tank along since his knowledge might prove useful.

After they had laid low for a week, Jack questioned Tank, who refused to cooperate and revealed that the Blood Brotherhood was supported by the Japanese government, and had blockaded the Third Vertex thanks to the Imperial Navy. Pooh Bear's team then contacted them, having recovered the final Sacred Stone, and Jack informed them of their developments. Their conference call was briefly interrupted by Vulture and Scimitar, who had taken Alby and Lois hostage simply to get Jack's attention.

Knowing that Wolf would encounter difficulty entering the Vertex, Jack decided to watch and wait to see how his infiltration into the Vertex went. As it happened, Wolf and the CIEF did struggle to enter the Vertex, so Jack, Zoe and Lily used the Black Bee and Warblers to land on the exposed beach and help the Philosopher's Stone-carrying Rapier into the Vertex before a tsunami struck. When they survived an attack from inside the Vertex from the Japanese, and with Lily revealing she knew the answer to the Vertex's maze, Jack and Wolf agreed to an alliance to make sure that the Pillar was laid.

During the course of the journey through the fire maze, Jack was threatened by Rapier that he would kill him for their father's respect. When he confronted Astro, Jack realised that Pooh Bear had been right about him being used by Wolf, and Astro revealed that he and everyone else had orders to kill him once the Pillar was laid. Once Jack retrieved the Third Pillar from a trap, he and Wolf ventured out to the inverted pyramid's peak, and as his father laid the Pillar, Jack kept a hold of him while they were under fire. When they both touched the blood-covered Pillar, both Jack Wests received a vision of someone falling down a Vertex chasm.

Since Jack had saved him from falling, and believing that Jack was the one their shared vision had shown dying, Wolf decided to spare Jack and the others, though Rapier allowed a grenade to strand them within the Vertex for a time. As he tended to the abandoned Astro's wounds, Lily criticized Jack for saving his father's life even though he killed Epper, and Jack told her that killing was no easy feat. Once they emerged from the Vertex, Jack and the others were surprised to find Russian forces harrying the Japanese fleet. Once they were brought aboard a Russian chopper, one of the soldiers knocked him out cold.

When Jack awoke, he found himself confronted by Carnivore, whom he had been briefed on months earlier, who revealed he had kidnapped several of Jack's allies and enemies in involved in the Machine mission. Once communications were established with Iolanthe, who had Pooh Bear's team in England, it was revealed that Cassidy was Carnivore's agent, and that Carnivore himself was a Russian royal, and thus had the Fifth Pillar. Carnivore revealed his intention to take the Pillars and their rewards, and to manipulate everyone else into completing the Machine's restoration for him. With Alby and Lois contained in formaldehyde tanks, Jack was forced to comply with Carnivore's demands.

However, rather than risk having both Jack and his father actively working for him, Carnivore decided to pit Rapier against Jack in a battle to the death, with the winner being allowed to have the chance to save their friend. The reluctant Jack faced off against his more willing half-brother within Carnivore's dam, and was largely kept on the back foot in the harsh arena. Fortunately Jack prevailed, sending Rapier to get chewed up by the turbines. As Zoe and Astro were imprisoned in Carnivore's tanks, Jack pledged to Zoe that he would return for her. At this, Carnivore revealed that in spite of his love for her, she had apparently betrayed him by sleeping with someone else. Taking Zoe's bowed head as confirmation, the disheartened Jack promised Carnivore that once he had completed his tasks he would rip out the Russian's heart, to Carnivore's amusement.

As he, Lily and Sky Monster prepared to depart for the Fifth Vertex at Diego Garcia, Jack questioned why Carnivore was risking Lily since he needed someone to translate the Twin Tablets at the final Vertex, to which Carnivore revealed his men had taken Alexander from Ireland several months earlier. Upon arriving at Garcia, Jack was met by Iolanthe, who teasingly remarked Jack's single status, as well as the base commander General Dyer and Felix Bonaventura. The two Americans - though furious at allowing Jack and Iolanthe access to the Vertex, but ordered by the reluctant Wolf back at Carnivore's lair - led them to the atoll's Vertex, where Jack was quickly able to surmise the workings of the trap system, and set about making his way through with Lily.

Just as they were about to clear the final trap, Bonaventura foolishly used a crane to set himself and the others ahead of Jack and Lily, setting of the master trap. As both Bonaventura and Dyer were swept away into the chasm, Jack, Lily and Iolanthe were able to wait near a hidden exit as Julius and Lachlan approached their own Vertex peak at the Fourth Vertex. With no other options, Jack trusted Iolanthe to hold on to him as he placed the Pillar simultaneously with the twins, and the British royal surprised him by keeping him from being swept into the chasm below. The trio were forced to flee as the American forces turned on them, and Jack was able to eject them from a crashed F-15 so that Sky Monster could snag their parachute.

Needing to get the final Pillar from the Tomb of Jesus Christ before Scimitar, Vulture and Mao, Jack collaborated with the rest of his team in England, now joined by their Irish liaison Cieran Kincaid. Thanks to their research on the Five Warriors, Jack believed he could locate the tomb. Iolanthe noted that she would have to report this to Carnivore, and Jack suggested she didn't have to, admitting his surprise at her saving him. Iolanthe admitted she was unsure of whether her loyalty to her family was worthwhile, though Jack had certainly gained hers, and offered to let him join her in bed. Jack decided not to take her up on her offer, and instead worked through the night to discover the tomb's likely location within an ancient salt mine in the Dead Sea.

Jack, Iolanthe and Lily ventured into the salt mine, and waited for Vulture's group to leave with a false Pillar before approaching the tomb's entrance. Upon entering the sealed tomb, Jack elected not to look upon Jesus's perfectly preserved face, and instead took the final Pillar and resealed the tomb. Unfortunately, Vulture and Scimitar had tricked Mao into leaving with the false Pillar, and held Jack and the others at crossbow-point while demanding the Pillar. Luckily Pooh Bear and Stretch arrived and engaged their enemies, and following the bloodiest knife fight Jack had ever witnessed, Pooh Bear managed to defeat the pair.

Once they eventually emerged, Jack was disheartened to find Carnivore and his forces waiting for them, and took the Pillar and Lily. Confused as to how easily the others members of his team were brought down, Cieran revealed himself as Carnivore's agent, and the one whom Zoe had slept with, though he had drugged her to do so. While Iolanthe suggested that they let Jack live, Carnivore decided it was too risky, and ordered Cieran to execute Jack and his team. Luckily Jack used a Warbler to disperse Cieran's gunfire, and killed the religious zealot, though Carnivore managed to escape and damage the Harlicarnassus forward landing gear.

Even as he patched up his badly injured team, Jack decided he had to go after Carnivore, and revealed to the more lucid twins that he knew the final Vertex's location on Easter Island. With their help, Jack was able use a jeep to send the Halicarnassus on its final takeoff. As he approached the island, Jack used a sandbag dummy in a pair of Gullwings to distract the Chinese fleet around the island, while he crashed the Halicarnassus directly into the Vertex's entrance.

Forcing the Halicarnassus further towards the inverted pyramid in order to overtake Wolf and Mao, Jack used his plane's turret to take down Carnivore and his soldiers. Warning Iolanthe, Cassidy and Alexander not to try anything, Jack then encouraged Lily to join him in setting the final Pillar, and together the pair completed the Machine's restoration, just as the Dark Sun entered the edge of the solar system. However, Jack realised he had made a mistake in allowing Lily to place the Pillar; overwhelmed by the Pillar's power rewards, she effortlessly killed Mao and his men, and Cassidy with mere thoughts. Jack managed to snap her out of it before she could turn on Iolanthe and Alexander, and as she passed out, Jack was confronted by his final enemy; his father.

Wolf encouraged Jack to consider using the Pillar's power for himself, but despite the temptation, Jack elected not to do so. His father then made a grab for the Pillar, and knowing that no one should have the power offered by the Pillar, knocked it into the chasm. At that moment, the weakened battlement collapsed, and Jack managed to get him and Lily to safety as Wolf fell into the chasm with the Halicarnassus, their earlier shared vision was of Wolf's death, not Jack's. After retrieving Carnivore's collection of Pillars and Sacred Stones, Jack, Lily, Iolanthe and Alexander were picked up by Sea Ranger and the Indian Raider.

After leaving Iolanthe and Alexander in New Zealand, Jack and Lily reunited with the rest of their team at Carnivore's lair, where the dead Russian's captives were being freed thanks to his teammates. Upon confronting Zoe, Jack assured her that he had forgiven her, pledging that Zoe always had his loyalty, and they kissed.

Within the next few weeks, Jack and Sky Monster returned to Easter Island to commandeer Carnivore's abandoned plane, and brought it to Jack's new farm in the Simpson Desert, rechristening the plane the Sky Warrior for their own use. Though Jack reported to his superiors that all of the Pillars and Sacred Stones had fallen into the final Vertex, he decided that no one should have their rewards, regardless of their potential, and sealed them and the Sacred Stones within a salt mine on his farm.

Five weeks after the repelling of the Dark Star, Jack and Zoe got married in a civil ceremony attended by their friends. A week later, as they watched Lily and Alby playing wile Sky Monster worked on the Sky Warrior, Zoe noted that they had never uncovered the identity of the Fifth Greatest Warrior, and suggested that it was in fact Jack. Jack in turn revealed that he had figured out it was him; having realised at the last Vertex that the Rhymes of the Warriors describing the Fifth Warrior did in fact match him. The amused Zoe noted that they'd likely never hear the end of that fact.

Between The Five Greatest Warriors and The Four Legendary Kingdoms

In the months after the Dark Sun's return, Jack read Wizard's Message from the Other Side letter, in which Jack's mentor noted that their friendship had helped Wizard through the grief of Doris's death.

Still wanting Lily to have some semblance of a normal life, Jack and Zoe arranged a trip to an Adelaide dog shelter to find her a pet, and while Lily was immediately taken with a Labrador named Ash, Jack was surprised by a poodle named Roxy, and after hearing the little dog's story from the shelter keeper he decided that they should adopt her too. Roxy proved to be a very loyal animal to Jack, even though it annoyed Horus.

During the course of the next eight years, Jack continued largely as they had before, returning to their home nation while making the odd visit to one another. However, even as Jack and Zoe enjoyed living a normal life, Zoe found herself more restless and in want for more adventures than her husband, taking to visiting their friends more often.

After Lily left to attend Stanford, she kept in touch with Jack and Zoe by chatting with them via FaceTime between their visits, during one such chat she told them about the young man she had been on a few dates with, Dion DeSaxe, and Jack was frightened by Lily's noting that Dion was good boyfriend material.

When Jack went to visit her at Stanford in mid-2016, Lily introduced him to Dion, and the Australian was surprised and off-put by the familiarity Dion used during the meeting. Soon afterwards, however, Lily asked Jack as to his opinion as to what he though about Alby possibly being more than a friend. Jack approved of the idea, but suggested that the choice of who she dated was hers alone. A few days later, Alby asked why Jack does the things that make him a hero, and before he answered, Jack decided that Alby and Lily are old enough to write their own Messages from the Other Side, showing them Wizard's own email. Later still, Alby asked Jack if he thought Lily would go out with him if he asked; though he knew the answer given Lily's recent question, Jack suggested Alby ask her himself. Before returning home, Jack visited his oceanographer friend David "Nobody" Black at his lab

A couple of months later, while Sky Monster, Lily and Alby were visiting Jack and Zoe at the farm, Lachlan and Julius informed Jack of their and Nobody's discovery of an archway in the Mariana Trench, covered in Thoth symbols. Jack declined their offer to go and see for himself, but suggested to his more restless wife that she go along.

Two days after Zoe departed, Jack received a call from General Eric Abrahamson, requesting his presence at Pine Gap for his expertise in relation to something they had discovered through the Square Kilometer Array. Accompanied by Sky Monster, Lily, Alby and the dogs, Jack's group made their way to the facility on the Sky Warrior, intending for Pooh Bear and Stretch to meet them there.

Upon arrival, Jack was brought in by Abrahamson and Redbeard and briefed on what the SKA had detected; a gigantic galaxy in the shape of a Tetra-Gammadion set to destroy Earth in its wake. Abrahamson hoped that Jack might have seen something in his adventures that could help avert the disaster, and while Jack could only assert a few details such as the galaxy's shape appearing in some ancient circles, he agreed to look into it. However, Jack noticed a gas being leaked into the control room, and before he or Abrahamson could react, Redbeard took his pistol and killed Abrahamson. Confused and groggy, Jack tried to escape but realised that he wouldn't make it, and so instead left a message for his friends to find of the galaxy's shape and his mother's initials. Before Jack finally passed out, Redbeard told him that he had been picked for a great honour and might indeed have the chance to stop the galaxy.

While they were still unconscious, Jack, Lily, Alby, Sky Monster and the dogs were taken by Redbeard and Iolanthe onboard the Sky Warrior to an unknown location, and upon arrival to their destination, Jack's captors had his hair shaved short and implanted a strange gemstone in the back of his neck, before leaving him in a cell.

The Four Legendary Kingdoms

When Jack eventually awoke to find himself in a strange cell, he was confronted by a strange man in a bull-shaped helmet. After killing his opponent, Jack took the strange man's boots and ventured out of the cell to find himself among thirteen others who had succeeded against their enemies. They were then all confronted by the man calling himself Hades, who explained that they were all participants in the Great Games of the Hydra. Jack watched as another man interrupted Hades's speech, claiming that he was here against his will and had no desire to participate, at which point Hades' games master, Vacheron, detonated an explosive in his neck. As Chen's hostages were executed, Jack spotted his similarly-captured friends and realised that he had no choice but to participate or else he and the hostages would be executed too.

Upon being thrust into the Second Challenge, Jack was forced to make his way through a pit filling with water, all while contending against one of the golden "minotaurs", giant catfish, and the black lion-helmeted Chaos. Though he had been completed unprepared, Jack managed to complete the Challenge, then watched in shock as the winner who had retrieved the Golden Sphere, Gregory Brigham, used his reward to have another Champion executed on the spot.

Reunited with his friends in the interim before the next Challenge, Jack and the others were met by Iolanthe, who after learning that Jack had never heard of the Great Games during his adventures offered to explain. The Royal informed Jack about the Four Legendary Kingdoms of Land, Sky, Sea and Underworld which secretly ruled the world from the shadows. Iolanthe also explained that the Games were a ritual to prevent the Hydra Galaxy from destroying the Earth, in a trial set by the Super-Ancient Beings just like the Taratarus sunspot and Dark Star. Jack was chosen as the Kingdom of Land's last-moment replacement as one of their Champions, but Iolanthe refused to divulge the exact location of the Underworld other than they were in India.

When Hades came to their cell, Jack accused the King of Underworld of taking sadistic pleasure in watching people fight to the death, though Hades claimed that this was not the case and that he was only doing what his duty required. Jack initially refused to let Hades take Lily away, but upon hearing that because it was she was the Oracle of Siwa he relented, knowing that it would keep her safe if he failed and got himself and his hostages executed, and give Lily the chance to gather information. As Hades and Lily departed, Vacheron ordered Jack to select one of his hostages to be handcuffed to for the next Challenge.

Along with Sky Monster, Jack was brought to the starting point for the Third Challenge, where they struggled through the army of minotaurs and armoured elephants due to Sky Monster's lack of fitness. Their lagging behind as Brigham claimed the Sphere forced them to begin heading to the coward's exit to ensure their survival, though Sky Monster broke his hand and their cuffs to ensure Jack had a shot at surviving. Racing to the exit, Jack battled the Gorkha to the death, and once his opponent was dead, securing his survival, Jack went back to retrieve Sky Monster. As he did, he noticed a Minotaur pinned beneath a boulder, and, seeing the look of fear it expressed in the face of death, Jack decided to rescue it too, and together the three exited the arena.

As Jack and his friends, as well as the minotaur, E-147, were eating, Jack asked the Neanderthal about his people before they were interrupted by Astro in a nearby cell. Learning that his old ally and Mother were hostages for another Champion Jack had made note of earlier, Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield. After learning that Scarecrow was also a reluctant participant in the Games, Jack was asked by the Marine if he had any idea about what else might be in store for them, which Jack couldn't answer.

The following morning, Jack, the other Champions and hostages were brought on the hostage train to the wall maze comprising the Fourth Challenge, and Jack opted to choose Alby for his brains and Roxy for her small and easy-to-carry size as his companions to try and obtain either one of the two Golden Spheres, or the "Golden Stag", the jester Mephisto. Also being pursued by the Hydra, Jack, Alby and Roxy made their way through the maze until they came across the body of the Indian MARCOS commando. As he examined the body and claimed the commando's ARDE-7 grappling gun, Jack was alerted to danger thanks to Lily smashing a champagne glass, and found himself caught off-guard against Mephisto, and only Alby's intervention saved him.

Once the two Spheres had been claimed, Jack, Alby and Roxy rushed to get to the exit, but Jack's last-second rescue of DeShawn "the Finisher" Monroe in the hopes of having the Navy SEAL help him fight off the Hydra instead got them trapped in the maze. Hunted by Chaos, Fear and the Hydra, Jack realised that grabbing Mephisto was their only chance. As he confronted Mephisto, Jack caught the malicious-looking jester by surprise by throwing them both off the ledge towards the sulfurous lake before using the ARDE-7 to swing them back up, knocking Mephisto out and securing his, Alby and Roxy's escape from the maze.

As the progression prepared to move on to the Fifth Challenge, Jack was informed that, prior to a lunch hosted by Hades, he had been invited to meet the minotaur King Minotus. As he, E-147 and Alby were being brought along, Jack and Alby tried to figure out how to deal with the explosive in his neck. Upon meeting with Minotus, the minotaur King questioned why Jack had saved E-147, and Jack explained his reasons. Satisfied, Minotus thanked Jack for his kindness, apologised for the actions of his minotaurs in the upcoming Challenge and wished him luck.

Brought to the lunch, Jack was reunited with Lily, who pointed out Dion to him and revealed he was Hades's son. Initially wary that Zaitan DeSaxe or Victor Vargas would use their rewards to have him executed, Jack became curious as to what the Fifth Challenge comprised that they wanted to avoid. Upon meeting his sponsoring King, Orlando Compton-Jones, Jack intentionally behaved rudely to show his dissatisfaction at his coerced participation in the Games, and also met Cardinal Mendoza. Taking the opportunity to question Mendoza, the Cardinal explained to Jack how the trials of the Super-Ancients were all a prelude to learn how to survive the Omega Event, the end of the universe.

After tricking the drunken Orlando into revealing some details about the Underworld's exits, Jack overheard Dion and George Khalil discussing how all of the Champions' hostages would be executed after the Fifth Challenge. After being accosted by Brigham, who had realised that Jack was becoming a threat to him and revealed he'd use his next reward to have Jack executed, Jack told Lily about the hostages and asked her to ensure Vacheron couldn't set off the explosive in his neck while he tried to rescue their friends.

Once Jack, Sky Monster and E-147 entered a Light Strike Vehicle they were to use in a Circus Maximus-style race, a part of Hades's speech caused Jack to realise that, in some form or other, all of the Challenges thus far had referenced the Twelve Labours of Hercules. After the race began, Jack managed to get onboard Fear's Spartan APC and drove it into a pit of water, where he took advantage of the lion-helmeted warrior's intentional weakness to kill Fear. Taking his armour and weapons, Jack resurfaced and called out to Hades, revealing his realisation about the Labours, impressing Hades with his display of courage. After being picked up by his team, Jack raced to catch up to the rest of the Champions, clearing out some of the minotaurs opposing them before using a sniper rifle to bring down the Sphere-carrying Brigham's LSV before taking the Sphere off the British soldier.

Knowing of the exit from the Underworld in just off the roadway through the Minotaur city, Jack took the opportunity to give Scarecrow the Golden Sphere, telling him about the impending execution of the hostages and offering to get the Marine's people out along with his own. Guarding Scarecrow to the finish line, Jack fired an RPG at the base of the hostage train's tracks, sending it crashing down onto the stairway. Grabbing Alby, the dogs and Tomahawk, Jack drove the hostages out through the Minotaur city and out of the Underworld. With their enemies still after them, and knowing at some point the explosive in his neck would be detonated, Jack sent his allies on without him, imploring Alby to find help for Lily, and proceeded to distract his enemies until he was recaptured.

Brought back before Hades the Royals, Vacheron prepared to detonate Jack's explosive, only for Scarecrow to call out, requesting to use his reward for winning the Fifth Challenge to have Hades spare Jack's life. Hades agreed, and so Jack was brought along with the rest of the procession to the Summit Temple to watch as the first five Golden Spheres were set into place within the mountains's obelisk. As they descended down for the final Challenges, Brigham and Zaitan both expressed their desire to be the one to kill Jack, if for nothing else than to have the glory of taking the Fifth Warrior's life.

In the Sixth Challenge, Jack faced off against Vargas, and despite being ganged up upon by the Brazilian and Chaos, Jack managed to emerge victorious. When it came to the Seventh Challenge, Jack was disheartened to see that he was to fight Scarecrow in the next fight to the death. The heavily-injured Marine told Jack to kill him since he stood a better chance of saving the world, before discreetly showing him a hyper-oxygenated blood additive he had taken. Realising Scarecrow's intentions, Jack proceeded to suffocate the Marine, despite interference from Chaos and Mephisto, but killing Scarecrow despite his plan still tortured Jack.

Facing off against Zaitan, Chaos and the Hydra in the Eighth Challenge, Jack was taunted by Zaitan with what he and Dion would do with Lily once Jack was dead. Despite the odds, Jack was able to throw spatters of his blood onto Chaos's helmet, blinding the black-lion warrior as Jack took his sword and used it to decapitate the Hydra, before taking the Hydra's whip and lodging its spikes into the stunned Zaitan's arm and then sending both Chaos and Zaitan falling into the pit together. Despite the victory, Jack was quickly confronted by Hades's final warrior, the dog-helmeted Cerberus. Battered and tired, Jack recalled how Cerberus was defeated in the myths and so called for Hades's permission to bring his warrior to him. Hades and the other Royals were all impressed with Jack's knowledge and humility, and thus was given permission, allowing Jack to win the Great Games.

As they returned to the summit temples, Dion whispered a threat to Jack to have him killed for ruining his plans to usurp his father and killing his brother. As Iolanthe explained to Jack that the 'Antenna' mountain would send out a signal to divert the Hydra galaxy while also allowing whoever stood in the obelisk's recess to receive the Mysteries, vital knowledge regarding the final two trials. Discerning from her that the trials would only be more difficult in no one was in the recess, Jack took advantage of the distraction the minotaurs and his returned friends (including Pooh Bear, Stretch and his mother) and prevented Orlando from entering the recess, believing that the world would be better off dead than living under his rule.

As the members of the Four Kingdoms began fleeing, Jack confronted the stunned Hades, asking for his help in completing the remaining trials, having seen that he was the only King during the Games who was not acting selfishly and was only doing his duty. Inspired by Jack's declaration that they save the world the right way, Hades agreed, and joined him, Lily and Iolanthe as they went back to the combat platforms and revived Scarecrow. Confronted by the furious Dion on the way out, Alby saved Jack and the others at the last second before Hades secured them a chopper from his former minions, allowing everyone to escape the Underworld.

With Hades affirming that they had a little time until the next trial began, and after learning that Orlando and Mendoza were still alive and planning to locate the three secret cities for the knowledge needed for the remaining trials, Jack and the others went their separate ways from Scarecrow and his people, with the Marine telling Jack he would aid him if Jack called upon him. As they found the Sky Warrior and began making their way back to the farm, Jack was confronted by the vengeful Mephisto in his office but managed to deal with the jester.

Upon arriving back at the farm, Zoe approached as they disembarked the Sky Warrior, but after seeing the state of Jack and the other and saying that Jack looked like he'd been through hell, Jack could only note his wife's choice of words before he began to explain what they'd been through.

The Three Secret Cities

Upon heading inside the farmhouse, Jack explained the events of the last few days regarding the Underworld, the Four Kingdoms and the remaining trials set by the Super-Ancients to Zoe before hearing a brief account of what she, the twins and Nobody had found in the Mariana Trench. After having his various wounds seen to, Jack took the chance to rest after the Great Games ordeal, spending the next few days recovering.

On the third day after returning home, Hades informed Jack that he was being forcibly abdicated from the Four Kingdoms. With the Trial of the Cities and the Trial of the Mountains approaching, they would need to collect the Helmet of Hades of the Three Immortal Weapons, items which needed to be empowered at the Three Secret Cities of Thule, Atlas and Ra before a ritual occurring on a certain celestial date for the former trial, from his New York penthouse. After Hades revealed a papyrus revealing some of the Mysteries which Zeus had made, Jack arranged for his team to hurry to retrieve Hades's artifacts before their adversaries.

Along the way, Jack, Zoe, Mae, Lily and Alby heard Hades receive a message from Minotus that a silver coffin had opened and unleashed a monstrous "bronze man" that was attacking the minotaurs, and learned that Hades's brother, Yago DeSaxe, the royal jailer, had been tasked to apprehend Jack and Hades for their actions at the Games. Before they landed in New York, Jack tasked Pooh Bear and Stretch with investigating the incident in the Underworld and had Zoe and Alby head out to prepare emergency escape plans before heading to Saxony Tower.

Personality

Jack was once ranked the 4th best soldier in the world, the only Australian on a list full of Americans. However he dislikes being a soldier, and would rather learn than kill, only doing so when he feels there are no other options. His intelligence and tenacity are his best qualities, to the the surprise of some, being able to think on his feet in unexpected and complicated situations.

Jack is more often than not a calm and mild-mannered man, but when he is pushed too far, he becomes a near-merciless killing machine, his efficiency in taking out his enemies quickly making him a source of fear from those who have wronged him.

Skills

• Expert Combatant: As a former SAS soldier in the Australian Army, Jack has been trained in several forms of hand-to-hand combat, and his combat skills led him to be ranked the 4th best soldier in the world during the 1990's.

• Expert Marksman: Being a trained soldier, Jack is an accurate marksman and capable of using a variety of different firearms.

• Expert Tactician: During his tenure as the leader of the Coalition of Minnows team, Jack has repeatedly proven his skills as a strategist, being able to adapt to unusual combat situations and come up with counter-strategies to ensure his team's survival.

• Trained Pilot: Though it is not stated that Jack was trained in aviation during his time in the SAS, Jack was able to utilise some skills to pilot the Halicarnassus out of Basra. During the ten years of guarding Lily, Jack was taught by Sky Monster further piloting skills, enough that he can pilot the Halicarnassus with ease. Later, Sky Monster apparently began teaching Jack how to fly choppers.

Equipment

Weapons

To Be Added...

Vehicles

• Halicarnassus: A specially modified Boeing 747 plane which was once owned by Saddam Huissein until Jack stole it in order to escape from Basra. Keeping the plane for himself, Jack allowed it to be used by the Coalition of Minnows team for their missions, primarily under the care of the NZ Air Force pilot Sky Monster. When the Hali's forward landing gear was damaged by Carnivore, Jack managed to take off for one last flight to the final Vertex on Easter Island. Knowing that there could be no safe landing for the Halicarnassus, Jack crashed it into the Vertex entrance, and at the end of the confrontation there the Hali fell into the abyss.
• Black Bee:
• Sky Warrior:
• Light Strike Vehicle:

Other Equipment

• Prosthetic Left Arm: A mechanical prosthesis made by Epper to replace Jack's severed arm. Made largely out of a metal alloy, the arm is extremely strong and sturdy, allowing Jack to perform some extraordinary feats such as crush a baseball with the hand and bear the weight of himself and another person while hanging from a ceiling with ease. It has a central processing unit that allows Jack to control the arm's mechanisms (such as rotating the hand and flexing the fingers) with his thoughts. There is also a hidden compartment in the arm, in which Jack stores small wads of C4 for emergency situations.
• Warblers:
• Gull Wings:
• Armalite MH-12A Maghook:
• ARDE-7:

Relationships

Zoe Kissane

Zoe and Jack met when they studied archaeology under Wizard before the events of Seven Ancient Wonders. The first sign of romance between them occurs at the end of Seven Ancient Wonders when Jack presents Zoe with a bouquet of roses from the Hanging Gardens. In Six Sacred Stones, Lily asks Zoe if she loves Jack, to which she replies "I've loved him since I first laid eyes on him, but... it's complicated". Her romantic involvement to Jack is further cemented when he "dies" at the end of Six Sacred Stones. In the Five Greatest Warriors, a dying Wizard reveals that Jack was going to ask Zoe to marry him, but she left for Ireland after the Capstone mission and Jack lost his nerve.

It is revealed during The Five Greatest Warriors that Zoe slept with another man (Cieran), around the time that he lost his nerve to propose. Though upset by the incident, he resolves to save her regardless, and upon learning that Cieran drugged her, realises it wasn't her fault and forgives her. She and Jack had married in a civil ceremony a couple of weeks prior to the last chapter of the book.

Iolanthe Compton-Jones

Jack meets Iolanthe in The Six Sacred Stones when the Old Europe kingdoms are revealed to be in possession of one of the Sacred Stones needed in order to save the world from a coming apocalypse. Jack and Iolanthe are never romantically involved beyond a brief kiss shared in Jack's cabin aboard the Halicarnassus. The kiss takes place after Jack finds out from Carnivore that Zoe had slept with another man during her time in Ireland after the Capstone mission. Iolanthe invites Jack to her cabin after the kiss, but he does not pursue her, and they do not again mention the kiss.

Trivia

• Jack's call-sign, Huntsman, comes from the spider species native to Australia.
• Jack was ranked as the fourth best soldier in the world prior to the series
• Like most of the other leading characters of Reilly's novels, Jack has a defining feature; in his case, the loss of his left arm and having it replaced by a mechanical one.
• In his fight scenes Jack shows techniques from various fighting styles, including: Boxing, Judo, Aikido, Wrestling and Krav Maga
• As of The Five Greatest Warriors, he is now also known as the Fifth Greatest Warrior.