This part of the game I enjoyed almost as much as the War Factory level and the H-Cat Metalhead nest level, so even though this chapter was short, I kept the quality I wanted with it, with my own twist on providing some added aerial allies! As a side note, the title of this chapter is the same name as the Jak3 mission it illustrates, mainly because I couldn't come up with any better title, but hey, if it fits it fits!
Ch39: Breaking through the Ruins
On the other side, the hero party were greeted by the parrot-monkey Packer who was waiting for them impatiently.
"Where have you been? I've molted three times already just waiting for you!" They said nothing as they approached him as he was perched on a ruined flight of stairs which led to a crumbling gatelock.
Packer continued, "Onin says we must get through the palace ruins, but I think...uh oh." He paused before the 3 Dark Satellites he noticed approached the hero party surrounding them. Seeing that the situation had now gotten sticky, Packer flew away with no one noticing.
"More Dark Maker machines?" Cynder asked.
"Pretty much," Jak clarified.
"Think we can take them?" asked Calidan. Response came not from Jak, but the satellites as they opened compartments on their sides revealing four more appendages each armed with a laser and barbed covering. All aimed at them.
"I'm thinking no," Spyro grimaced, his optimism fading for once.
"If this is it, then I just have to tell everyone," Daxter began, "meeting all of you has been one of the most dangerous, and yet amazing experiences of my life."
The dragons and Calidan gave a subtle nod of appreciation with a hint of exhaustion, before Daxter addressed his best friend, "and Jak I just have to tell you, riding on your shoulder, even though it is kind of bony and uncomfortable, well...you've been a good pal."
"You too Dax, these adventures, they've been great," Jak said while bracing himself for perhaps the last time. Calidan did the same, while Spyro, Cynder and Sparx held themselves together as the satellites lunged for them.
BOOOMMM!
Instead, something crashed through the gate behind them crushing the satellites! It came in for a landing right in front of them, causing them to lift their heads in surprise. It was a joyous one, arriving just in time driving the Slam Dozer from Spargus, was none other than King Damas himself!
"Someone call for an army?" he asked the hero party. They all walked up to the vehicle to address him.
"Well you're a long way from the desert, not that we're complaining," said Jak.
"Guess the signal got through after all!" said Calidan.
"They always do newcomer," Damas replied. Calidan just gave an appreciated nod, before Spyro spoke…
"How did you get here? Much less with that?!" he gestured his head to the vehicle.
"I called your Governor for a small favor," he answered, noticing out of the corner of his eye the tanker ship that had vacated the catacombs space after literally dropping Damas and the Dozer off.
"You've set a great example not just for Spargus, but for everyone your highness, rising above your own personal grudge," Cynder replied with high praise.
"What can I say? Your guardian mentor is quite persuasive," Damas informed Cynder. The dragons gave each other a smirk, as did the humans.
"If only Ignitus were still here in the flesh, believe me your highness you'd get along with him as much as you do with Terrador," said Spyro as he and Cynder flew up to land behind the Dozer seats.
"I wouldn't doubt," the king replied.
"Though I'm surprised you came in full barred like that," Jak cut in as he climbed into the driver's seat, "I thought you said a smart warrior never takes his opponent head on?"
"That depends on how hard your skull is," Damas said gesturing to his temple, "I'd say you and I are both rather headstrong, you and your friends."
Spyro commented for all of them, "thanks, I think."
"Though if I'm being honest, the Lady Cynder seems to be the only one with a level head," said Damas as Cynder sat behind him blushing from the compliment.
"Yeah, well someone has to keep these numbskulls in line, for their sake and ours," Cynder responded cheekily.
"Hardy har har," replied Jak, Spyro, Daxter and Sparx.
"Yeah, that's hilarious," Calidan replied from the ground getting their attention. He pressed his power button to activate his wing-pack. Eagle ascended to the sky right next to them before asking, "though can we save the snappy comments for after we save the world?"
Jak nodded his way before restarting the engines and looking at the beaten road ahead, "Let's finish this."
"Look alive Jak!" said Damas from the passenger seat as Jak drove ahead, the Slam Dozer just fitting through the busted roads of Main Town. Its gigantic tires allowed it to trek through the ruins without getting stuck. Spyro, Sparx and Cynder each clung to the back of the Dozer behind them, while Eagle flew behind as an aerial escort. Jak drove down a steep decline toward a crevice seeped in rain runoff, it was here they encountered the first wave of invaders.
"Dark precursors," Damas growled, seeing the Dark Maker troopers appear out of their signature purple flashes all over the ruins. In addition, hornets appeared from over the ruined walls to attack from the sky.
"We'll take care of the ones in the air," stated Spyro, sharing a determined look with Cynder as Jak nodded to them. The dragons took off from the Dozer into the air, with Eagle flying right behind them. Jak looked ahead to see the troopers appearing out of thin air in the crevice in front of them.
"Run em down!" Daxter shouted. Jak obliged all too willingly, driving under a ruined bridge, he pushed the pedal to the floor reaching top non-turbo speed at the Dark Makers. The heavy weight and force of the Dozer crushed every trooper in his way. The troopers along the wall fired their own bombs at the vehicle, fortunately some missed and the others that made impact hardly dented the superior armor of the Slam Dozer.
"Open fire at them!" yelled Damas. Jak looked to the steering wheel seeing the trigger positioned on its right side. He pressed down, and saw the front mounted cannon come to life and automatically target the troopers on the wall. Though it didn't kill them, it did damage them, enough for Jak to make his way up the next incline and further into the ruins.
Up in the sky, the aerial dogfight between invaders and heroes was underway. Spyro and Cynder destroyed one hornet each with an electric stream or sonic scream. Eagle was being pursued by two other hornets after shooting one down. He flew ahead of the others, coming over an area of the ruined Farm section, which was adjacent to the Main Town section. He performed an aerial loop that allowed him to get behind the hornets and reached his wing out to fire his blaster. One was shot down while the other turned around to re-engage. It didn't get the chance as it was snatched up by Spyro before performing an spinning cutter, and throwing it to the ground.
Suddenly, the sky lit up with a blazing inferno over a Main Town wall, and they all saw with horror a missile arcing itself and heading straight for the Dozer! Jak had just driven his way into the Farm area below them as the missile approached to impact. He turned right and just avoided it by a few yards, its impact sent red hot cinders, no pun intended, flying.
"Eagle, tell the others to watch yourselves up there! Those are the same missiles that collapsed the palace, nothing you have will stop them!" Jak relayed to Eagle through his comm.
"No kidding!" he said, causing the dragons to look at him.
"What was that?" Spyro asked out loud.
"A missile from the same batch that caused all of this," Eagle said gesturing to the ruins below. Cynder was seething, no doubt Errol had stolen a batch of the same missiles Veger had used, and given them to his new Dark Maker 'friends'. Somewhat giving in to her old temperament, she was looking to enjoy tearing that mechanical menace apart when they met again.
Jak drove the Slam Dozer through the next opening, advancing further into the ruined Farm area, causing the aerial heroes to follow by sky. More troopers kept appearing out of nowhere, only to be squashed by the Dozer or knocked away by its cannon. There was a busted structure up ahead that was positioned just over a ravine, with enough force, it could fall and serve as a bridge. Jak did just that and hit it with the Dozer's horn battering ram. It fell and made solid contact, allowing him to drive over to the other side, crushing any more troopers in his way. His winged friends followed in the sky, while blowing three more hornets out of their way. Jak drove along a beaten path where another structure was protruding, and hit it just the same, connecting with the other side that led back into Main Town.
"Look out Jak!" cried Damas pointing up at another incoming missile. Jak did a hard right, or as much as he could with this tank and pulled out of the way. The missile forced the aerial heroes to halt in the air as it made impact. Once the blast settled, they flew ahead to catch up to the Dozer. Jak had driven down another decline that led to what was once the Main Town canal, now littered with rubble and dirty water run-off. The Dozer's tires and off-road drive still allowed it to move through at a good pace, and it was fortunate it was, as more troopers kept appearing out of nowhere both in the canal and the ruined bridges above them. He just kept running the troopers down as he steered through the snake-like canal, and his winged friends above took care of the troopers on the bridges with aerial headbutts and drop-kicks.
They kept up the momentum as Jak drove to the end of the canal, where another busted gate was present at the top of an incline. As he neared it, Damas shouted, "hit the turbo!"
Jak acknowledged pressing the button on the left side of the wheel, activating the short term boost and breaking the gate down. On the other side, they noticed they were back on one of Main Town's ruined streets that led off to the right. As the Dozer drove along the beaten path, more troopers and hornets appeared and the carnage continued. Jak continued driving over them as Spyro and Cynder fired their elemental breaths at clusters of hornets eliminating them, and Eagle blasted as many as he could out of the sky, while staying as vigil as possible as his movement was limited due to the rubble surrounding them. Jak continued advancing further into the ruins with his friends following and Damas as the passenger.
"On your left!" he yelled, motioning another incoming missile from over a ruined wall. He just kept driving away from it and wasn't affected the slightest from its impact due to the distance. He then noticed a water pit ahead at the base of the shield wall, which led to an opening on the left side. There was also a battered path wide enough for the Dozer to take it around like a track turn, and Jak did just that as more troopers kept appearing forcing him to squash or blast them. As the Dozer made the turn and exited through the opening, the aerial heroes behind him saw another missile breaking through the sky toward them!
"Incoming!" Eagle yelled to Jak as he and the dragons halted in the air. Jak just kept turning left as the missile made impact, again no one was hurt, and they only hoped it would stay that way. Eagle, Spyro, Cynder and Sparx flew to catch up with the Dozer as it entered another section of ruined path. This one snaked around the confines of the Main Town alleys before it emerged into what was once the former Main Town plaza, now nothing but a series of protruding earth mounds surrounded by runoff canals. The Dark Maker opposition was worse even here due to the open space, troopers kept appearing ahead of them as even more hornets approached from the sky.
"On your right!" Damas pointed in that direction as more troopers approached from there. Jak turned in said way and drove over them, and noticed that the only way to advance was to go into the canal. He drove the Dozer down into it and started trekking through the muck.
Above, his winged friends met the aerial opposition head on. Spyro and Cynder combined their energies once more and with their patented ice twister attack, sucked up at least six hornets before sending them off immobile in all directions. Eagle fired at one, shattering it before dodging the blasts from another one, and they engaged in a dogfight. He flew all around the perimeter with the hornet on his tail, weaving and dodging as much as he could before performing another aerial loop to shoot the abomination from behind. Eagle gave a breath of satisfaction before looking to see their objective.
Up ahead he saw the entrance into the catacomb hole that had been revealed when the palace first collapsed. Orange columns were seen protruding out of the pit fitted with blue lights. Of course the sight of the catacombs didn't solve the issue of how the Dozer was to get there, being cut off from all the surrounding monoliths. Fortunately, it looked like there were enough ruined structures positioned around that if knocked over would allow Jak to cross.
Jak noticed it as well having driven out of the crevice and up onto the bank opposite from where he entered. Dark Makers continued to appear as soon as they were flattened, but the eco-human paid them no mind as he drove toward the first structure closest to him collapsing it. It fell on the monolith just outside the catacomb entrance, where one last structure lay that if collapsed, would allow him over. He drove across to it not too close to the ends of his makeshift bridge while his winged friends in the sky kept fending off anymore hornets. As he turned to hit the final structure over, Daxter cried out…"Heads up!"
Another incoming missile was approaching them from behind! Damas yelled instantly, "Floor it!"
The structure collapsed to the other side as soon as Jak hit the gas. He had made his way onto the makeshift bridge just as the missile impacted a few yards behind him.
KABOOMM!
The shrapnel from the blast forced them to keep their heads down, but other than the back of the Slam Dozer getting peppered, they were unscathed. Jak drove up the entrance ramp and brought the Dozer to a halt just outside the catacomb pit. Damas gave an acknowledging nod of respect at a mission accomplished. Jak smiled back, before the sound of a missile broke through the air. They turned around in horror to see one last missile approaching them fast!
"GET OUT OF THERE!" Spyro yelled from the air as he, Cynder and Eagle propelled themselves toward the Dozer as fast as they could from the complex. But it was too late…
KABOOOMMM!
This concludes Part 1 of my final uploads, Part 2 will come soon to conclude the story.
