After taking the buggy out for a spin, the group pulled back through the gates of Spargus to find Damas waiting for them.
"I see the vehicle skills you spoke of were no empty boast."
"There's nothing empty about what we do! We're awesome!" Rainbow smiled proudly.
"Including your control of the Dark Eco inside both of you," Damas chided, his gaze on Jak and Ben. "Kleiver was complaining about being threatened by one of you but Yori, I'm sure you've met her, debunked his words."
"Well, that's what he gets for being dishonest, I'll say," Applejack said firmly.
"I do need him to keep the city running smoothly, however," Damas quickly interjected. "So don't go out of your way to pick fights with him."
"Ah, he ain't worth my time." Ben shrugged. "So long as he keeps his mitts off my fam."
"To the matter at hand," Damas continued. "There are a number of artifacts to be found in the Wasteland, relics of a bygone age. Fresh storms churn the sands and reveal these relics. As a storm has just passed, I need you to head out into the desert and find as many artifacts as you can before the next storm arrives."
"Understood!" Twilight nodded. "Come on, everyone!"
"One more thing!" Damas called, a hint of worry slipping into his voice. "If you are caught out in the storms, they will tear the flesh from your very bones."
"Oh, great. Thanks for the pep talk." Daxter groaned.
"Well, let's just not get caught. Simple, right?" Ben pointed out.
"Easy for you to say!" Rarity huffed.
Jak threw caution to the winds as he drove as fast as the buggy could go, following his radar to collect the artifacts that showed up on his map, refusing to waste a moment.
Several other buggies were out, better armed and equipped than Jak's own, actively hunting him down...but despite their better equipment, Jak was a far better driver, able to almost literally drive circles around them. Between that, Twilight and Rarity's spot shields, Pinkie's Eco Party Cannon, Ben doing close-range attacks, and Daxter finding a way to brace himself so he could blast away with his Light Eco, the other drivers proved little to no challenge for the gang working together.
With their combined efforts, the siblings were able to retrieve all twelve artifacts exposed and return to the city's gates in just under four minutes, just ahead of the storm.
Damas let out a quiet sigh of relief as his son and his companion leapt out the front of their buggy as they parked.
"Good work. That was...close."
"Put these to good use," Jak replied, handing over the artifacts they'd collected.
"I can put these two to use immediately," Damas mentioned, unlocking two of the artifact capsules. "This armor is very rare indeed. According to Pecker's information, they're part of the very set Mar himself wore in his battles for this planet, long ago. I think it only appropriate you wear it now, Jak."
Nodding, Jak affixed the bracers that came from the capsules to his arms.
"They feel like they were made for me."
"Depending on which Mar Pecker's talking about, they might well have been," Ben teased.
"Awww, when can WE get cool armor?" Pinkie whined.
"I think you girls might be in luck." Damas continued, pulling out six pairs of greave-like bracers for their legs. "Precursor alloy, reshaped by Dark Eco and cleansed in Red, Blue, and Yellow Eco...shaped to your...unique leg structures. No one else will be able to use them, so you'd best put them to good use."
"AWESOME!" Rainbow cheered as she quickly affixed hers on.
"Oh my! Functional AND fashionable!" Rarity cooed as she admired her new wear.
"Wait...does this mean Gol, Mai, and the other Sages left this behind for us in the past to find here?" Fluttershy asked.
"Can't think of any other explanation," Daxter agreed. "Guess they wanted you to be well equipped when this time came up."
Shining smiled, wiping away a tear as he braced himself for whatever would come.
"By the way, Seem wants to talk to you," Damas explained.
"Who?" Jak asked, confused.
"The leader of the Secret Keepers. Monks, dedicated to protecting the world from the more dangerous Precursor Relics, especially those crafted by Dark Eco."
"Oh, her!" Daxter proclaimed happily. "...or is it him? It's kind of hard to tell."
"Seem won't care what pronoun you use," Damas explained. "The leader of the Secret Keepers discards all personal identifiers when they achieve the rank. Age, gender, even name. 'Seem' is more a title. It's symbolic of the dedication to the world above the self."
"I can respect that." Ben shrugged.
Jak nodded. "Me too. I won't hold it against them."
"Them?" Damas asked, confused.
"If that much is discarded to become 'Seem', then Seem is supposed to represent every leader of the order, past and future," Jak pointed out. "At least, that's how I interpret it."
"Huh," Damas murmured as the trio made their way into the city to look for Seem. "...not a bad way to think about it."
As the siblings entered the city, they found Seem waiting for them alongside a Leaper Lizard.
"Damas delivered my message?"
Jak nodded. "Yeah, he told us about you, and what your order does."
"Good. That Dark Eco Crystal in your possession is dangerous. I would prefer that it not fall into the wrong hands."
"Pretty sure it's safe with us," Daxter pointed out, rubbing his bracers, only to accidentally release another burst of Light Eco. "Why do these things keep going off when I don't want them to?"
"I understand that's a problem with many young males," Seem chided. "I personally think it's a lack of discipline."
"Hey!" Daxter snapped back angrily.
Twilight giggled. "You know, they have a point."
"Perhaps the crystal is safe in your hands," Seem allowed. "But are you safe with it in your hands? With the darkness inside you, the crystal may make your other form harder to control."
"Maybe. But I wouldn't feel right about letting it out of my sight, either." Jak replied.
"I believe I have a solution," Seem offered. "Race my monks on Leaper Lizards. I will wager a Light Eco Crystal against your Dark one. If you win, the Light Crystal in your possession will balance the influence of the Dark. If you lose, I will have both under control. Either way, the problem is solved, and skill determines the outcome."
Rainbow smirked widely. "Get ready to lose that Crystal, Seem. No one beats Jak in a race!"
"We shall see."
The race course proved to be running from ring of light to ring of light throughout Spargus, a style of racing Jak was quite familiar with. Given the practice he'd had earlier in controlling a Leaper Lizard, he had no problems in easily keeping up with the three racing monks at first, and then pulling ahead of them towards the end of the race.
"Not bad, hero. The crystal is yours." Seem said, moderately impressed as they handed over a Light Eco crystal, pulsing with its energies. "The two types combine to form great energies."
"So put them together if we want to blow something up," Pinkie noted, getting a giggle from Daxter.
"This is no game!" Seem snapped angrily.
"Sorry!" Pinkie smiled apologetically.
"Be careful with those crystals," Seem chided. "And when you die, see to it they come back to us."
"Who said anything about us dying?" Ben smirked.
"Why such a grim outlook, anyway?" Daxter demanded.
"Because of that!" Seem proclaimed, pointing into the sky where a bright pink star could be seen, nearly as large as the sun from their perspective. "The Day Star approaches, and every day it grows brighter! This planet's final trial is coming."
Twilight nodded. "So we should-"
"If you say 'blow up the Day Star', you will regret it," Seem snapped.
"They know us too well!" Daxter whispered conspiratorially to Twilight.
"What's wrong with blowing stuff up if it works?" Rainbow pointed out.
After resting for a time, the group wandered around Spargus until eventually finding their way back to the buggies. Kleiver and Yori were waiting for them there.
"You guys looking for a bit of action?" Kleiver asked, somewhat cordially.
"What makes you say that?" Jak asked curiously.
"Word on the street is you lot like blowing things up," Kleiver replied.
"Can't deny that," Ben confirmed.
"The scope shows a group of Metal Heads moving through the desert not too far from here," Yori explained. "Figured that'd be right up your alley."
"Give us a buggy with guns, and we'll bring you their heads!" Daxter replied readily.
"Nah, no value in their heads," Kleiver countered. "Just their skull gems, but you can keep those. Say...you three ever seen a Wasteland Metal Head?"
Jak scratched his chin. "Can't say we have."
"Why?" Daxter demanded intensely.
"Oh, no reason," Kleiver replied, amusement dripping in his voice. "Go get 'em heroes."
"I have a feeling you're setting us up for something that'll put us in danger." Twilight theorized. "But I'm sure we can manage it."
Yori laughed. "These kids are smart. I like that."
The buggy Kleiver provided was lower to the ground than the previous one, with two machine guns mounted on the front. Following the scope, the siblings were able to track down the Metal Head group in question...and quickly saw the source of Kleiver's amusement.
"That thing's HUGE!" Daxter gasped out as the Metal Head came into sight, looking like a giant two-legged turtle with a huge cannon on its back, shooting at them with Dark Eco even as they swerved into sight and raced quickly across the desert sands.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Jak growled. "AJ, you've got the guns. Daxter, back it up with your Light Eco. I'll drive!"
"What about the rest of us?!" Rarity gawked.
"IMPROVISE!"
The battle with just the first of the four Metal Heads on the scope proved nearly too much for the siblings. Despite their best efforts, the beast could take loads of damage, and quite a few times a blast would land near or the Metal Head would ram into the buggy, sending it flying.
Thankfully, the buggy had excellent suspension and could take a lot of damage, so these few impacts were more frustrating than frightening. Daxter's Light Eco blasts proved more useful at shooting the Metal Head's own shots out of the air, especially when multiple targets converged on them unexpectedly.
After a great deal of effort, the first Metal Head finally went down for the count.
"One down..." Jak muttered, relieved.
"Three more raring to go," Applejack replied, indicating the scope.
Daxter groaned, putting his face in his hands. "We better get something worth it for all this..."
When the last Metal Head eventually went down, a Dark Eco Crystal and a strange device the siblings didn't recognize fell from its back. Jak retrieved the crystal before moving to examine the device. Before any of them could approach, the device shifted, projecting a holographic silhouette of a face that was somewhat familiar, and a voice that was as well, though they couldn't identify it.
"Metal Head Commander, report! What's happening? If you lost that cargo and are still alive, I'll kill you myself! I want every Dark Eco Crystal you can find! Time is short! Did you hear me?"
"Wait, is that...?" Fluttershy whispered worriedly.
Jak slowly approached the device, and the face turned towards him.
"Wait! Not you!"
Jak quickly brought his foot down on the device to make it stop working, before picking it up and stowing it in his bag.
"We need to find some way of getting this to Keira."
"Maybe Mr. Damas can get Sig to deliver it?" Pinkie offered.
"We can always ask," Daxter agreed as the group hopped back into the buggy, heading for Spargus.
It seems a familiar foe has made himself known...