//------------------------------//
// Renegade: Assaulting the Nest 
// Story: Jak and Daxter: Children of Eco 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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When Jak and Pinkamena walked out of the Construction Site, with the Precursor Stone safely tucked away in the pack that Jak was wearing, their communicator flew out from where it was hiding and expanded into it's full form. This meant that someone wanted to talk with them, which made sense considering that they were in the middle of a war, but they were both interested in what they were about to be told.

"I think now is the time to act." the communicator said, though the voice indicated that Ashelin was talking to them, while at the same time they heard the sounds of fighting in the background, "The Metal Heads are so focused on attacking the city, they may have left their Nest vulnerable."

"Jak, Pinkamena, you've gotta get out to the wasteland and breach the nest barrier any way you can." came the voice of Torn, meaning that they were either fighting together or he had connected to them at the same time, but at the same time the group was glad to hear his voice as well, "Maybe if you can get inside and take out the Metal Head Leader, the army might collapse. It's a long shot, but it might be our only chance."

"Right." Jak said, though he wasn't sure that he and Pinkamena would be the ones fighting the Metal Head Leader, as Raven had just declared that he was going to be the one to kill his own father, "We'll contact you once we're close to the Metal Head Nest."

A few seconds later the communication cut out, indicating that Ashelin and Torn were under attack, to which Jak and Pinkamena raced to where they had left their zoomers and got underway, heading right back towards the port. Once more they were thankful for the war going on, as they were sure that the Krimzon Guards would have stopped them at some point in time. They were able to make their way to the port and park near the train without too much difficulty, though they had a hard time convincing the driver of the train to take them to the Metal Head Nest... until Pinkamena materialized her scythe and pointed the tip at the man, who buckled under the threat and beckoned for them to get in.

Once that was done Jak and Pinkamena climbed into the train and let it take off, to which they braced themselves for what they were about to do, as they were both sure that there would be some amount of enemies waiting for them when they reached their destination. Oddly enough it didn't take them too long to reach the wasteland area that surrounded the Metal Head Nest, which meant that they must have built their home within at least ten to thirty minutes of Haven City's location... proving that they had been after the Precursor Stone for a really long time. As the train landed on the beach, however, both Jak and Pinkamena noted that the place reminded them of Misty Island, which wasn't a stretch of their imagination considering that Samos's old hut was close by.

The moment the train had stopped moving, and the door had opened, both Jak and Pinkamena walked down the ramp with their guns drawn, as they wanted to be prepared for what was ahead of them... and Raven, having regained his memories, was eager to show them the way to Mar's large gun.

As they walked forward they noticed two things; one was that there was a large number of broken tanks and other military vehicles, revealing how many attempts the Baron had made before ultimately giving up on directly attacking the Nest. The second thing was that there was a large number of leaper type Metal Heads in front of them, which proved to be excellent target practice as Jak and Pinkamena opened fire on them. That was before they noticed several arachnid enemies trying to out maneuver them, though while their enemies tried that Pinkamena had fun shooting them out of the air... allowing either her or Jak to deal with them.

Once they took out all of the enemies that were standing guard they noticed a rotating wheel that, when turned, moved a platform into place behind them, allowing them to progress further along the path that Raven wanted them to take on their quest to reach Mar's gun. The moment they reached the area that they had unlocked they were assaulted by more leapers, which were proving to be rather easy for the two siblings to take out, as well as several more arachnids, which neither one of them were too worried with. They then followed the stone stairs that were in front of them and headed up to the next part of the path they were taking, where they fired at some more leaper enemies before turning to the left and headed into a larger area that was sure to have a lot more enemies waiting for them.

That was before they turned to the right for a moment and noticed the large machine that had been built really close to the Metal Head Nest, a machine that almost looked like it had the shape of a gun... which meant that this had to be the gun Mar had built so long ago.

"Even with the Neo Metal Heads helping us, there isn't much hope for us now." Ashelin told them, apparently finding a safe spot where she could use her communicator, though at the same time Jak and Pinkamena rode the lift up to the main part of the large gun, "With the Shield Wall destroyed, it's just a matter of time before the Metal Heads overwhelm all of us. You should just go through the rift back to your own time line and get away from this  horrible place."

"No. Despite how we were both treated, by the Baron anyway, this place is worth fighting for!" Pinkamena growled, mainly because she and Jak already knew that they wouldn't be using the Rift Ring this time around, though at the same time Jak was loading the Precursor Stone into a slot in the machine.

"We'll hold out as long as we can." Ashelin replied, though her tone told them that she had suspected that they would have said something like that, "Jak, Pinkamena... in case things go badly for Haven City, I just want to say farewell."

"You won't have to fight for much longer," Jak commented, though he opened his mouth to say more, but the communicator powered down and returned to where it was being held, to which he turned back to what he had been doing, "Precursor Stone. Gun. Nest!"

"Light her up, padre!" Daxter declared, to which he ran up to Jak's shoulder and looked at the Nest, as he wanted to see what exactly happened with his own eyes.

"Eat this!" Jak and Pinkamena said, to which parts of the gun opened up as they channeled the vast Eco energies of the Precursor Stone, though a few seconds later the gun loosed a blast that tore a hole in the side of the Nest, giving them their way into the lair of Metal Kor.

"That ought to wake 'em up!" Raven said, though he was sounding pleased, as if he had been expecting Mar's gun to do something of this scale, but at the same time he and Pinkamena grinned to themselves.

"Let's go take care of business!" Jak stated, though at the same time he gently removed the Precursor Stone from the machine, knowing that he and Pinkamena would likely have another use for it once they found Metal Kor.

"Right!" Daxter, Raven, and Pinkamena said, though if any of them were shocked by the fact that all three of them had replied at the same time, with the same word no less, none of them were showing Jak any shock.

Once they had blown open a hole in the Metal Head Nest, and no doubt alerted Metal Kor to the fact that they had arrived, Jak and Pinkamena resumed the march through the open area that they hadn't been through, where they fired at more of the leapers and the arachnids that wanted a piece of them. While they fought their enemies they both noticed a rather large Metal Head, one that rivaled Raven's true form in terms of size, though the dark ottsel told them not to bother with the creature, as it was merely a walker type and didn't fight. Of course the Metal Head had lightning that struck the ground every now and then, but Jak and Pinkamena were able to devise a pattern to the creature's movements and slipped by it without having to fight it at all.

They followed the path that was in front of them, pausing to shoot all of the leapers and arachnids that wanted a piece of them, though as they ascended they noticed that the number of enemies in the area seemed to steadily increase, which meant that more must have be leaving the Nest to actually fight them. When they reached the highest point of that area, which wasn't Mar's gun, they found another one of the larger Metal Heads walking around, though they ignored it and walked around it, just like they did with the last one. They then found a circular area, which looked like an old tube that had been broken apart due to age, that would bring them closer to the entrance they had created... though they would have to shoot all of their enemies, avoid the larger Metal Head, and avoid the Dark Eco pools around them.

Even with the obstacles Jak and Pinkamena were able to cross the walkway in no time and were on their way up the path to the left, where they continued to fight their way forward until they reached the opening that had been created by Mar's gun... to which they walked into the lair of their enemy. Considering how many enemies they had fought on the outside they guessed that the majority of Metal Kor's forces had been sent to Haven City, which meant that they had a clear shot at their target. The inside of the Nest was quiet, too much for Jak and Pinkamena's liking, but they pressed onward as they searched for their target... where they found him resting in midair, apparently hanging by some webs or something as he waited for them to approach him.

As they walked into the chamber that Metal Kor was in they found a purple colored ball swirling around the younger versions of themselves... and that the Rift Ring was floating on the wall to their left.

"Finally, you've decided to join us." Metal Kor said, looking up at his guests for a moment, while at the same time retracting his tail, which had been wrapped around the purple ball, before he grinned, "And you brought the Precursor Stone. Good. The boy will now play his final part!"

"Hey! What about the girl?" Pinkamena shouted, as she was upset that Metal Kor would speak about the younger version of Jak and not her.

"The girl doesn't matter." Metal Kor snapped, to which he turned his full attention to Jak, who he sensed was carrying the Precursor Stone on him, somewhere, "Oh, but this child is such a part of this, such a part of you; don't you recognize him? The boy is you, Jak! And this place, this is where you began... in the future!"

"It would have been more dramatic if we hadn't figured that out some time ago," Jak commented, though at the same time he noticed that Metal Kor wasn't really paying attention to them, which meant that this fight was going to be a short one for all of them.

"You were hidden in the past on the hope that you would gain the skills to face me today, but Onin was wrong!" Metal Kor said, continuing the conversation as if Jak had asked what he had meant by him beginning in the future, to which Jak and Pinkamena waited for him to finish talking, "Now that  you've been altered with Dark Eco, the Stone will never open for you. Your younger self, however, still has the pure gift! He alone can awaken the Stone and the Precursor entity, which sleeps inside."

"Wait a minute." Daxter declared, to which he rushed down Jak's arm and opened the pack a tiny bit, mostly so he could look at the Stone that Jak was carrying, "You're telling us that this Stone is actually a Precursor?"

"The last Precursor Egg!" Metal Kor shouted, sounding extremely happy about something, though at the same time both Jak and Pinkamena prepared themselves for what was coming, "Mar was clever. He covered his tracks well through time, hiding his last egg from me, and building the shield and city to defend it! It has been a long siege, but today, I will finally feed on the last Precursor life force!"

"You're forgetting one little thing, father!" Raven shouted, causing Metal Kor to pause where he was floating and look down at them, as if he hadn't noticed Raven sitting on Pinkamena's shoulder the entire time they had been standing there, "We've got the Precursor Stone!"

"Ah, and so the Prince has come home," Metal Kor replied, though at the same time he sounded disgusted, indicating that he now believed that creating the Neo Metal Heads was actually a mistake, "I get to kill you and claim the Precursor Stone... today has just gotten a lot better."

Raven roared and leapt off of Pinkamena's shoulder, to which he rapidly expanded into his true form and crashed into his father, knocking him to the ground. Metal Kor growled as his skull gem started to glow, to which he blasted Raven off of him, but Raven had been expecting something like that and used his wings to stop himself before he went too far. Raven then landed near Metal Kor and gathered his own power, to which he breathed a torrent of flames on his father, igniting some of the eggs that were now strapped to Metal Kor's back. The two of them then landed on the ground and started hacked at each other with their front limbs, hands for Metal Kor and claws for Raven, while at the same time using their tails to deal whatever damage they could.

After a few moments Metal Kor called in some reinforcements, to which Jak and Pinkamena focused on taking out the enemies that he was summoning in and allowed Raven to focus all of his attention on his father.

While they fought Raven made sure to use his hybrid form to great effect, as when Metal Kor started to get the upper hand he would shift forms and fly around his father, before shifting back and continuing the fight from another direction. Sure, the constant changing was painful with some of the injuries that were all over his body, but Raven would not let his father win, because if he did than the Metal Head army would sweep across the entire planet and destroy it. Despite the fact that he hated some of the people that called this planet home, such as Krew, Raven knew that he would rather die than see his home be destroyed... to which he shifted into his hybrid form, flew around until he was above his father's back, and then shifted back and crushed his father with the weight of his body.

"Get off of me you insolent worm!" Metal Kor shouted, though at the same time he was now regretting even creating Raven, as it appeared that he may have made him too strong.

"No." Raven said, to which he clamped down hard on his father's neck and flapped his wings, though once he was a little bit in the air he swung his neck and tossed his father towards the Rift Ring.

The instant Metal Kor came into contact with the ancient Precursor artifact a surge of energy lashed out at him and coursed through his body, causing the majority of him to explode while his head hit the ground nearby. Of course the Rift Ring also suffered some damage, as there were several cracks that were now forming on the ancient artifact, indicating that it was getting ready to fall apart. As they stared at it young Jak, now free from the ball that he and young Pinkie had been trapped in, walked over to Jak, who pulled the Precursor Stone out... though when young Jak touched it a silhouette of a person appeared before them, but Jak knew that the white person in front of them had to be a Precursor.

"No way," Daxter commented, looking at the glowing figure that was floating before them, because he knew that both versions of Samos were going to be mad when they realized that they had missed seeing one of the beings that they had been searching for their entire lives, "a Precursor."

"It is finished." the Precursor said, it's voice sounding kind and powerful at the same time, which was what they expected from one of the most powerful beings in the universe, "Our ancient enemy is no more. Take hope, brave heroes. The terrible darkness inside you is now balanced by a glorious light!"

Jak could immediately feel some sort of light inside him, not enough to drive away the Dark Eco, but enough to let him know that there was a way to balance the terrible darkness that he had been carrying the entire time. Pinkamena, on the other hand, shook for a few seconds before her hair suddenly poofed back into the fluffy shape it had been when Pinkie was herself. Jak, Daxter, and Raven watched as Pinkamena underwent a change in front of their eyes, to which all of the changes that had created her reversed themselves until Pinkie stood before them... though even she was confused as to what had happened.

"And you, son of our enemy, have proven that your Neo Metal Heads do not follow the same path as our ancient enemy," the Precursor said, lifting a hand towards Raven, to which a brief light surrounded him before fading away, "We will meet again... one day."

With that said the Precursor vanished into the Rift Ring, heading to whatever time period he had been destined to head towards, but at the same time Jak had the funny feeling that he would be passing by him and Pinkie, when they were first entering the rift from the past. He was sure that the Precursor had blown the Rift Rider to pieces, to prevent them from falling into Metal Kor's hands... but even if that was the case he wasn't mad, because they had managed to save the world in the end. A few seconds later they heard the sound of Brutter's balloon coming in, to which they watched as Keira, both Samos', and the Rift Rider were carried into the area and set down in front of them.

Once they landed, however, Keira took one look at the Rift Ring and knew that they were running out of time, to which she started getting everything ready for their departure.

"We haven't got much time left." Keira said, to which she double checked to be sure that everything was set in the right positions and that there was nothing wrong with the replica Rift Rider, "I've set the coordinates back to our village. Let's go home, everyone."

"Keira, we are home." Pinkie replied, though she knew that Keira wasn't up to date on the whole time travel business, which was something they should have explained to her when they had a moment to spare, but they were going to have to wing it at this point.

"Keira, I'm afraid your Rift Rider must be used to send young Jak and young Pinkie to a place where they can grow up safe from harm." Samos stated, waving a hand towards the two young children, who seemed excited to have people looking at them once more, "They must become old enough to complete the destiny they have help fulfill today."

"Wait a minute! It's you! I–I mean, it's me! I have to take him back and watch over him, don't I?" the Shadow asked, as he had finally determined why there were two of him at the same time, to which Samos nodded his head, "Ah, grub roots! Talk about being in the wrong time at the right place!"

"Hey kid, you take care." Jak said, helping the younger version of himself up to the Rift Rider, while Pinkie did the same thing with the younger version of herself, though as young Jak took his seat he took off the red seal he was wearing and handed it to Jak, "Oh, and trust me on this: stay away from any wumpbee nests on your ninth birthday, okay?"

"I sure hope I built this replica right." Keira commented, as she was having some last minutes concerns about the machine, "I don't know if it..."

"It's perfect, Keira." Samos said, waving a hand over the vehicle, knowing that this machine looked exactly like the one they had seen on top of the Precursor temple all those years ago, "This is the very machine we found, or will find later."

"What? I just built this!" Keira exclaimed, to which she stared at the machine and started comparing the two in her mind once more, "After seeing the first one, I mean. It's based on what I remember from be..."

"Honey, the more you think about it, the more it hurts the head!" Daxter said, because even though he and the others had come to understand what had happened they knew that this was something that they shouldn't think too hard on.

"I'll take good care of the children!" the Shadow told them, to which the group watched as the Rift Rider, with all three of its passengers, lifted into the air and headed towards the Rift Ring, "And don't worry, I'll be back in time for the celebration! Farewell!"

"Thanks, Samos." Pinkie said, to which she placed a hand on the Sage's shoulder, while at the same time the group watched as the Rift Rider disappeared into the Rift Ring, which broke apart a few seconds after the trio disappeared into the time stream, "Without you..."

"It's funny," Samos said, looking at the place where the ancient Precursor artifact had been resting, "neither of the children will remember any of this."

"No," Jak commented, to which he looked over at Pinkie, who nodded as Raven, in his ottsel form, returned to her shoulder, "we do remember the light."

Pinkie smiled as she, Jak, Daxter, and Raven looked at the former location of the Rift Ring, because now they could move on and see what the future held for them... and they could celebrate their victory over the evil Metal Kor, once they got back to Haven City anyway.