As Jak and the others were about to head out to see what they could do in Haven, they got a call from Sig informing them of a new Eco Crystal he'd located in the Metalhead nest out in the desert. Given that Errol had been trying to collect Eco Crystals, the trio decided it would be a good idea to grab it before he could. Since everything seemed under control in Haven for the moment, they caught a transport out to the desert and a buggy to the cave.
As they arrived, Sig glanced down at them from his vehicle. "There you are. I was beginning to think you chickened out."
"We only just got the message," Shining complained.
"Sent it hours ago," Sig countered.
"Must have been a backlog," Jak allowed. "So what's the news?"
"I spotted an Eco Crystal in this place," Sig explained, pointing into the cavern. "Unfortunately, it's swarming with Metalheads." He smirked confidently. "But we wouldn't want those nasty boys to just move back in here without a welcoming party, right?"
Jak smirked widely, bracing his Morph Gun as he cycled it through the various modes he'd unlocked. "Let's show these creeps how to really jam!" he joked as the three of them hopped into Sig's vehicle.
Daxter took the wheel, while Sig took the primary gun, Jak and Shining leaning out the sides with their guns for added fire. The drive into the nest proved uneventful, until they saw the giant half-centipede, half-sandworm Metalheads that had moved into the nest bursting out of the ground to attack. Despite the size of the target, the concentrated firepower they were unleashing took each one out relatively fast, and the Metalheads were too unwieldy to target the fast moving vehicle, resulting in quick clean take downs.
When the last one went down, a Light Eco Crystal fell out of its collapsing body. Jak grabbed it as they made their way out of the Nest. "Yeah, baby!" Sig cheered as they left. "I love the smell of burnt Metalhead!" He turned to Jak. "This is good practice for when spit hits the fan, and believe me, it's coming."
"Oh, we know," Jak confirmed. "And we're going to be ready for it."
When they returned to Spargus, Jak approached Kleiver. "I need to find some very special Precursor Artifacts," he stated bluntly as he approached. "But I'm running out of time."
Kleiver smirked wickedly, stroking his chin. "Wait a tic...I just traded a very rare artifact indeed, to a nice band of Metalheads-"
Kleiver's smug rant was interrupted as Jak slammed him against the wall. "All the money in the world isn't going to do you any good if the Metalheads get what they want," he snarled out. "If you aren't on the side of humanity surviving this, then as far as I'm concerned, you're already dead and looking for it to happen sooner. If I learn you traded anything to the Metalheads again, I'll see to that personally." With that said, he tossed Kleiver aside. "Come on, Sig! With how smug he was, they can't be far!"
"I'll drive!" Sig confirmed, hopping back into his vehicle. "You shoot!"
The Metalheads proved to be the giant desert versions Jak and the others had first gone after for a Dark Eco Crystal. The auto-cannon on Sig's vehicle proved far more effective at dealing with them then the Sand Shark's guns had been, and each one went down quickly, especially with Shining and Daxter taking potshots at the Dark Eco mortars they launched. To balance that, however, there were a great many more of them to take down.
With the last one down, the Precursor Artifact was left behind. When Jak grabbed it, he received a message from Haven, confirming it was indeed one of the five they needed, a 'Quantum Reflector'...whatever that meant. With it in tow, the group returned to Spargus.
Once in town, Jak, Shining, and Daxter were summoned to speak with Damas. Looking forward to spending time with their father again, Jak and Shining raced for the tower, Daxter racing close behind them to not be left behind.
Once in the tower oasis, Damas looked up at the trio with a grim smile. "Keeping people alive out here, keeping them full of hope...it can be daunting."
Jak took a seat beside his father, staring into the water. "I'd say you've made a good life here," he offered.
Shining nodded agreement as he curled up nearby. "I'd say you've succeeded at keeping everyone alive and hopeful."
Damas stared into the water. "The monks say the world is ending soon," he spoke calmly. "For the longest time, my goal was to see to it that I and my people survived even after the world ended. But you...your goal is to save the world. I had shrugged such ideas off long ago as idealistic nonsense...but seeing how you have conquered everything thrown your way, things that would crush lesser warriors...I find I can believe again. And that, my sons, is why I can't lose you again." Reaching out, he pulled them both into a tight hug. "I am the King of this world's past...but you two are its future! I know that you both will find the hope this world needs, somehow."
"And here I thought we were the world's past!" Daxter joked. "I mean, Sandover's like, hundreds, thousands of years ago...wow, and now I just depressed myself..."
Damas chuckled softly. "That's the wrong way of looking at it, Daxter," he chided. "You remember Sandover fondly, because it meant so much to you. Rather than see this world as what Sandover became when it was lost...see it as what can be forged into the New Sandover, once it is saved!"
Daxter sat up from his place in the water, staring out over Spargus. "...yeah...yeah, I can see it. Once the Metalheads aren't an issue, we could dig a few channels through the desert, divert the rivers to flow through town to the sea...build a few waterwheels to generate Blue Eco to make things run and cool the houses...clean up the water a bit for swimming, build a few boats..." He continued to mumble to himself as he visualized rebuilding what had been lost, no longer bemoaning its absence.
Damas blinked in surprise. "I'm better at that than I thought," he mused, smirking down at his sons. "But it's not just the Metalheads that cause problems. Marauders, those who have defied my rule of the desert and prey on others for their own pleasures and survival, are a constant threat to all we've built here..."
Smiling, Jak got to his feet. "What do you say we do something to thin their numbers?" he offered, grinning ear to ear.
As the trio left, Damas returned to his throne, a wide smile on his face. The foreboding feelings had faded, his fears laid to rest. For the first time in a long time, he had hope for the future.