Chapter 6: The Precursor Basin
Jak and Daxter entered the outer part of the Precursor Basin. Then, Jak got on the zoomer that was parked on a pad, where he then drove up and into the Precursor Basin itself. Right away, Jak encountered a couple of the lightning moles that the geologist mentioned. He then smashed into three crates containing Precursor orbs and turned around to go up a grassy ramp. This ramp held another crate that contained some orbs. Then, at a higher section, Jak freed the first scout fly of the area.
From there, he maneuvered the zoomer in such a way that allowed him to get to the other part of this higher section. Along the way, he grabbed several orbs before coming back down to the lowest point of the Precursor Basin. Jake turned right and smashed into a couple more crates containing Precursor orbs. Then, he came up to two lightning moles and led them to their hole. After that was done, a flying lurker suddenly appeared.
Daxter: "Jak, there's one of the lurkers; smack into it!"
As Daxter said that, Jak began to chase the lurker around. As he was doing this: He grabbed several Precursor orbs, smacked into a crate that contained even more orbs, and also freed the second scout fly. Eventually, Jak was able to take the lurker down and he went back to herd one of the lightning moles into that hole. While he was doing that, he ran into another lightning mole. So, he took them both the hole and they went in it.
Daxter: "Hmm… That seems to be all of the lightning moles. Let's go get our power cell from the geologist once we're done with everything else here."
And speaking of everything else… Jak saw another flying lurker come by and he immediately chased it down. He had to go back to the higher section, then return to the bottom twice over before he finally smacked into it. Once that was done, Jak smacked into two more crates containing Precursor orbs and went high up in the air. He landed in what looked like the infected plants that Samos mentioned. Daxter noticed this, and…
Daxter: "Those must be the infested plants old log noggin was talking about. Let's cure 'em!"
So, with that: Jak rode through a green eco vent that was conveniently close to the plants and went in to cure them. It actually took him a few trips back to the green eco vent just to cure all of the plants. Once that was done, a new plant emerged from the ground… and it spat out a power cell. Jak went up to the power cell and grabbed it with his free hand. As he was doing that, Daxter did the robot. And then, Jak pocketed the power cell. *power cell no. 55* After that, the communicator appeared to Jak, and Samos' voice came from it.
Samos: "Well, I suppose you can say that I'm impressed… but maybe it's just because I have low expectations for you two. Okay! Your moment of gloating is over. Get on with it!"
The communicator went away, and Jak continued to work on his remaining objectives. He started this by freeing the third scout fly and chasing down another flying lurker. As Jak chased it down, he smashed into another crate that contained Precursor orbs. Jak eventually took down the lurker and started to collect any loose orbs that he missed thus far. Once that was done, he got up to another high part of the Precursor Basin and freed the fourth scout fly.
From there, he went along the rest of that area and grabbed more orbs. Jak then made a leap with the zoomer to a third high part of the basin to collect even more orbs, and free the fifth scout fly. After that, he continued to ascend in the part of the area he was in and collected several more Precursor orbs. He also smashed into another crate that contained orbs. Then, Jak came to a series of structures that each had a crate of orbs to smash open. He leapt from the highest point of the whole basin and landed on each of them to smash through the crates.
After performing that feat, Jak went back down and encountered another flying lurker. He started to chase it down, and it was ANNOYING. The lurker always made crazy hairpin turns that the zoomer just couldn't replicate. Nevertheless, Jak somehow managed to get the lurker in a short amount of time. And as he did, a power cell shot forward from where the lurker was. It landed on the ground, which Jak then grabbed it and pocketed it. *power cell no. 56* After he did so, the communicator appeared before him… and Keira's voice came from it.
Keira: "Good flying! Those lurkers were no match for your zoomer! That's one more power cell for the collection."
The communicator went away as Jak continued to work on completing the remaining objectives. Just before that, though… he went back to the highest point of the whole basin and leapt from it again to free the sixth scout fly. From there, he made a quick turn to the left, collected loose Precursor orbs that were along a straight path, and flew off a grassy ramp to grab a lone power cell. After Jak landed around some water, he pocketed the power cell for safekeeping. *power cell no. 57* And then, Jak went over to a couple more Precursor orb crates to break them.
Following that, he moved through a short tunnel and grabbed some loose orbs that were in it. He came out the other side of it and saw a purple circle of sorts above him. Jak made his way up to it and came across the seventh and last scout fly. He stopped to free it and a power cell appeared in his free hand, which he used to stash it away. *power cell no. 58* Then, he passed through the purple circle… and another one appeared in front of the short tunnel.
Daxter: "Quick! You gotta fly through each ring before they turn off!"
Realizing this, Jak began to go through a long series of purple rings. This lasted until he got to the last one, which was up in the air by one of the higher sections of the basin. When Jak passed through this final ring, a power cell appeared and he grabbed it. And then, he pocketed it so that he could take care of the remaining objectives. *power cell no. 59* Jak soon came across a start line of sorts and passed through it. This caused a ticking sound to come in and the duo knew what this meant.
Daxter: "Jak, hurry! You gotta beat that guy's time!"
Jak wasted no time going through what he believed to be the race course. He picked up clusters of blue eco along the course, and ran over a few lurkers. Then, he reached the finish line and the ticking automatically stopped.
Daxter: "Wooh, we beat the record time! Let's get that power cell from barrel-boy when we're done here."
Jak then explored the basin some more, and came across a blue ring. He and Daxter immediately knew what this was about and they passed through it. From there, they were going through a long series of those blue rings until the final one appeared somewhere near the highest point of the basin. Jak jumped off it, passed through the last ring and another power cell ended up in his free hand. After landing, he pocketed the power cell. *power cell no. 60*
And then, Jak collected the last few Precursor orbs in the basin… which caused yet another power cell to appear in his free hand. He pocketed it and decided that it was time to head back to the zoomer pad. *power cell no. 61* Once Jak got to the pad, he parked the zoomer and got out of it to return to Rock Village. From there, he went to the middle of the village to see the gambler.
Gambler: "Oh, great moves kid! I knew that time record would fall! Now here's your power cell, and I can go collect my big payoff! Oh, and if you want to be the absolute best... then you should beat your best time twice over. If you do that, you'll automatically get a power cell for each time you uh, beat your best time."
Jak grabbed the power from the gambler and pocketed it. *power cell no. 62* After doing that, he and Daxter went back into the Precursor Basin with the zoomer to beat their best time twice over. He got to the race course and traversed it as fast as he could. He passed through the finish line and a power cell appeared in his free hand. Jak and Daxter each made a cool pose before the latter pocketed the power cell *power cell no. 63*
Then, Jak returned to the start line and raced through the course again. He was taking optimal shortcuts this time around and that allowed him to get an even better time, which was what he and Daxter wanted. After passing through the finish line once more, another power cell ended up in Jak's hand. Soon enough, he pocketed it and left the Precursor Basin again. He returned to the village and came up to the geologist.
Geologist: "Thank you for saving those moles, that's awfully good of you! Here's a power cell to help you out. Now I can get back to my research."
Jak took the power cell from the geologist and pocketed it. *power cell no. 64* After doing that, he and Daxter entered the blue sage's lab. Amitie was the first to notice them coming in, and greeted them.
Amitie: "Oh-! You're back, guys!"
Daxter: "Why of course! Though, I must admit… it took us a good while to do everything in the Precursor Basin."
As Daxter said that, his body slumped from reminding himself of how tedious the objectives in the Precursor Basin were.
Samos: "Anyway, I hope you all have something to eat, 'cause we're just getting started! According to the Blue Sage's notes, lurkers have infested the swamp across the bay. Apparently, they're planning to use a dirigible to lift an important Precursor artifact from the muck. You all are going to have to get over there, and dislodge their tethers. Who knows what they might want with the artifact. But like orange stuff here's breath, it just can't be good!"
Raffina: "Out in a swamp? Yeeeah, no. I'm not going there; I have clothes to keep clean here. Besides, I can imagine that the swampy marsh will ruin my lovely pink curls."
Lidelle: "I-I need more time to relax before I can back out…"
Daxter: "I don't want to become chow for whatever's there!"
Amitie: "Ooh, ooh! Let me go there! Going to a swamp sounds fun to me!"
Samos: "Well, at least someone here has enough enthusiasm to want to go there… Very well, Amitie. Get over to the swamp and dislodge those tethers!"
Amitie: "Yes, sir!"
Keira: "Oh, and guess what, Amitie? With permission from our village's birdwatcher, I've outfitted the baby flut flut with a riding saddle! It appears there's a trans-pad in Boggy Swamp. If you can find it, I'll send you the flut flut in full riding regalia. His long jump might come in handy when you're crossing the swamp."
Amitie: "Really?! That would be great! Thanks, Keira! Well, see you later, guys!"
Amitie ran off for Boggy Swamp, loving the sense of adventure that she was about to get. She eventually found the entrance to that swamp and she went in…
Author's Notes: Yeah, I know that this was a pretty short and vanilla chapter for this crossover story's standards… but don't worry: The next couple of chapters will make up for that. And maybe, just maybe… we'll get some more progress going for the overall story. In any case, Amitie is FINALLY getting some much needed time to shine as she's about to explore Boggy Swamp. I'm sure a lot of you were waiting in sheer anticipation for her to get an area all to herself.
And trust me when I say this: You guys waiting for this was well-worth it. Anyway… Our heroes have so far collected a total of 64 power cells, 63 scout flies, and 1300 Precursor orbs. With that in mind... What will happen while Amitie is in Boggy Swamp? Will she be able to dislodge those tethers? Next chapter, Chapter 7: Boggy Swamp.
