Chapter 41
Upon entering the temple, we were immediately attacked by very odd-looking monsters that were filled with Dark Eco. And their shapes were the stuff of nightmares, looking more like failed lab experiments than they did as infantry!
"What the hell are these things?!" Errol asked in shock after we dispatched of roughly 10 of them, Kiki making sure to use her heat sensors because of them being able to turn invisible.
"I think these may be Dark Makers. That means that Maia's figured out how to wake up some of the creatures on it," Kiki said, me growling at that as we then pushed further into the temple, seeing some more Dark Makers as Kiki used her bombs to blow holes in fragile-looking walls towards the left of the rooms with the invisibility totems. And after making it through a room filled with Dark Makers, we finally arrived at a place of solace. The Precursor statue.
"Once again you stand before me, great heroes. And once again, your heroism shall be rewarded," the Precursor said as I saw the light appear already and Errol and I looked into it and felt... empowered. Like we could do anything and that the skies were the limit! "We grant you a new Light Power. One that can help you go places. Places even in your dreams..."
And when I looked behind Errol's back and then to mine, I saw what the Precursor meant. We'd just gotten wings on our backs! WINGS!
"Whoa! You have wings like I do!" Kiki smiled as she let hers out and we then went over to the east and proceeded to fly our way over a bunch of different places with our wings outstretched and flapping them on occasion. And then, right by a teleporter, we saw that we were a bit too late. Seem was lying on the ground and she had blood on her side.
"Seem!" I exclaimed as I rushed to her and tried to use a green eco pack on her... but it didn't do anything at all. She tilted her head towards me and smiled at me.
"L-Light... Eco..." she said with an exhausted sigh, me then getting what she meant. I then touched her wound and used Light Regeneration, the result being the wound healing up in a snap and Seem then breathed in and out slowly. "T-Thank you..." she said as she then tried to get up, but she was a bit weary from the blood loss. "Maia has figured out how to communicate with the Dark Maker ship... if she can awaken its terrible cargo, the end of the world is sure to follow... but not all is lost," Seem said as she gave me something that I didn't expect her to have. "Take this... the most integral part of the Astro Viewer... and make sure to combine the 8 eco crystals you have... it will power the Planetary Defense grid..." Seem said before she then closed her eyes and went unconscious, Kiki and Errol looking scared, but Daxter held his face to her head and felt her breathing.
"She's still alive, just very drained. We need to get her back to Spargus to heal up," Daxter said as I then got a call from Jak.
"Hey, Sasha?! Where the hell are you? I suddenly woke up and saw I had wings on my back and that you're nowhere to be found!" Jak exclaimed.
"Sorry, Jak, but I had to do a little rescue mission to save Seem. Where are you at right now?" I asked him.
"I'm on my way to Spargus in the Air Train. And where are you at?" Jak asked.
"Errol, Dax, Kiki and I are at the Monk Temple. We're going to fly our way back, since we have an injured Seem that needs some rest and we need to get her back home," I said as we then used the warp gate to return to the start of the temple. And from there, we got a good take-off point from the top of a boulder and we proceeded to fly off into the distance with Daxter holding onto my head and neck while Kiki and Errol flew along while holding onto Seem. And then I got a sudden call from Damas, who got on the line with Jak and the rest of us.
"Guys! We need you back here at Spargus! We're detecting major movement on the sonar. It's not a storm... it's... something else! My guess is that it's linked to those strange satellites we've been seeing. Come back and defend our city with whatever you got! Jak will get on the turret gun. This is the chance for you all to repay your life debts!" Damas exclaimed, me nodding at that and seeing the Air Train arrive from behind us just as we touched down in the garage of Spargus.
"I'll go get Seem to the Battle Arena for safety. You guys go and save the town, got it?!" Errol exclaimed, me nodding at that.
"Right! Time to show these guys how heroic we Haven City dwellers can really be!" I exclaimed as we then rushed into the city and proceeded to attack the different Dark Makers while Jak went to the southwest and got on the gun. And the moment he got on the gun, something bad happened. Giant walker mechs started to fall out of the sky like meteors and proceed to send tons of bombs towards us while also trying to use their tendrils to snag the Spargus denizens!
"Oh no they do not!" I exclaimed angrily as I flew into the air and unleashed a Gyro Burster package on one of these mechs that was trying to snag people up! And when it released on its face, it got damaged so badly that it fell to the ground and exploded! I proceeded to use all the gun types that I had available on me and saw the Plasmite RPG was the most effective, as it blew the creatures' heads up the most effective. And once the dust cleared, we saw that there were virtually no lives lost and that there were only minor injuries. Damas, Marigold, Kliever, and Sig then approached us at the turret gun with smiles on their faces.
"Today was a great battle! Great work everyone! The times we are in right now are grim, but when I was the leader of Haven City, times seemed grim then as well. Take heed, for even the smallest flower finds shelter between the rocks," Damas said with a smile and I couldn't help but notice that he looked at Jak with some kind of twinkle in his eye.
"Thanks, Lord Damas," Jak smiled politely.
"Of course... Mar," Damas said, that actually shocking me, Jak, Kliever, and Sig all at the same time!
"W-Wait, wait, hold up, boss! Did you just call him Mar? As in, the name of the original ruler? Or the name of your son?" Sig asked in confusion.
"The name of our son. Believe me, I was surprised when I learned of it as well. But after looking deeper and talking to some of Sasha's clients in private, both Damas and I both believed every word of it," Marigold said, me smirking at that.
"So... you stole my communicator and took some of the phone numbers? When?" I asked.
"I took the numbers when we rescued you from being knocked out. We do it for all the survivors... but to be honest, I didn't really believe you at first when you said Jak was my son, Mar... so I decided to call a couple of your friends from the city, namely those named Torn, Ashelin, Keira, and Samos. And all of them told me the same story," Marigold said.
"Mar," Damas smiled as he held two things in hand for Jak. "Here is your third and final battle amulet. All of you are Wastelanders now. When fully formed, those amulets act as beacons. If ever you need help, use it to call and we'll be there. And this is for you," Damas said as he handed Jak some cool chest armor. "I was saving this for you when you came of age. But I guess that day is today," Damas smiled as Jak then put on the armor over his shirt and I smirked at him.
"Thanks, but I don't have anything to give you," Jak said.
"You give us all hope, son. That combined with us finally being together again is gift enough," Damas smiled as he then gave a man hug to him and I smiled.
"Happy reunion," I smiled at it as I then got contacted by Samos.
"Sasha, this is Samos. Something bad's happened. Maia has found a way to activate the forcefields on the Dark Maker Ship. Do you have a Time Map handy?" Samos asked.
"Why yes, we just got one," I smirked at him.
"Great! You're going to need to go to the Astro Viewer and hook it up there... though there's a problem. Dark Maker warriors have taken up residence in the forest. It'll be a challenge even to reach the Astro Viewer! Destroy every single Dark Maker in the place," Samos said, me nodding at that.
"Hey, Sig? How about we do things differently? Errol, you and Kiki will stay here and defend Spargus from anymore full-scale assaults. Jak, Daxter, and I will go back to Haven and finish business there, take down that Dark Maker ship's shields, and get going towards the Catacombs soon after. If we get into trouble, we'll call you on our beacons. And we expect you to rush over ASAP when that happens, okay?" I said, them all nodding at that.
"Indeed. Now comes time for the final fight! Good luck and welcome to the clan!" Damas smiled at us as I then proceeded out of town and to the Air Train without any haste. And once back in Haven City (after a 30 minute ride) we then hitched a Zoomer to the Metal Head Sector and directly into the forest to see that the entire place was overrun with Dark Makers! They has strange structures perched on the cliffs and rocks that produced more troops, they had aerial troops that flew and shot Dark Eco bullets, and they even had some turrets mounted that fired even more Dark Eco! I decided it'd be time to play dirty, so I turned on Light Freeze and proceeded to attack all of the strange nests first. Once they were all destroyed, time flowed regularly again and I then saw that Jak then got the same idea and he proceeded to get a turret and fire blasts at the Dark Makers that were left remaining from my onslaught until all of them were killed!
"Nice moves, padres! Time to get to the top of that thing and hook up the Time Map," Daxter smiled as we did just that using our wings. And the area to put the Time Map at was right on the left side of the Beam Reflector. And once Jak put it in and looked through the lens, he gasped and looked a bit agitated.
"AGH! Get out of my head!" Jak exclaimed, me and Daxter being worried immediately.
"Jak! What's going on, buddy?" Daxter asked in worry.
"It's... linking me... into the ship... they're taking me to them..." Jak said as I then saw that he was losing his consciousness, yet he still stood in place.
"Jak? Jak!" I exclaimed, wondering how I could see what he was. And when I put one finger on his forehead, I saw what he was doing. He'd been jacked into one of the Dark Maker machines and he was wrecking the ship from the inside-out! It was ingenious! And then, he found what he was looking for. A large power core that was powering the shields for the ship! He then proceeded to destroy it with balls of Dark Eco that were used like explosives. And when the explosions consumed him... he then saw something at the same time I did. A bunch of Ottsels were standing in our minds... all of them wearing white robes and pants.
"Our heroes!" they all said at once before we then saw the scenery change back to our immediate area, Daxter looking a bit confused.
"What the?... Daxter?" Jak asked.
"What'd you see? Come on, let me see! Come on! Elevator going up!" Daxter said, me thinking hard on what the hell just happened. From the Precursor's message to Kiki, the Dark Makers were originally Precursors... and after Jak demolished the shield systems, a bunch of Ottsels appeared soon after and called us heroes, like the Precursor voices were saying...
"Um... I do not know what to think of this... so I'm just going to say the first idea that popped in my head... Ottsels... are Precursors," I gawked, Jak looking at me with a smile and Daxter looking at me like I was crazy. "I'm serious! You saw it too, right Jak? A whole bunch of Ottsels calling us heroes? After you destroyed the shield systems for the ship?" I said, Jak smirking and nodding at that.
"I know. I'm just smiling at the fact that I thought the same thing," Jak admitted, me smirking at that.
"So... wait... if the Precursors are Ottsels... does that mean... I'm..." Daxter asked in shock.
"Technically, it would also include Tess," I said, Daxter then getting a big grin on his face.
"OOOH YEAH! I'm a Precursor!" Daxter exclaimed with glee as I then smirked at him.
"Yeah. But we should probably keep this a secret for right now. It'd really hurt Samos's pride if he found out that the Precursors were a bunch of fuzzballs and that Daxter is one of them," Jak smiled.
"Agreed... so what now?" I asked... but then I got a call from Samos.
"Guys, I need to speak with you about urgent matters. Meet me and Onin at her old tent outside of the old Fortress. You can use any mode of travel, because Ashelin took down the last forcefield by executive order," Samos said, me smirking at that.
"Let's see what they want to know," I smiled.