//------------------------------//
// Exile: The Eco Mine 
// Story: Jak and Daxter: Children of Eco 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Once Jak and Pinkie had a chance to test out their new Light Eco Shield ability, and had a brief look around the area that they were in, Pecker insisted that they continue forward and lead them right to an elevator that took them up another tunnel. They waited for a few seconds, watching the opening above them get closer and closer before they came to a stop and were allowed to see what the area around them was like, where they found two more Precursor stone statues staring down at them. They then followed the path that was in front of them, rounding the corner and discovering a Light Eco Vent, before the two of them climbed up some stone steps and found themselves in what appeared to be a massive mine... one that Pinkie remembered from what Ashelin had told her about when she first started living in the Haven Palace.

"It looks like some kind of old Eco mine." Jak commented, looking around them for a moment, noticing a large door to their far right that appeared to be the way forward, which meant that they would have to destroy it with something, "When Mar built Haven City, he must have carved out these old caves to get at the Eco power."

"You know, I'm getting the feeling that Mar didn't sleep much," Daxter said, also taking a moment to look around the area, where he spotted several new enemies waiting for them on the path they needed to take, "especially if he made something like this... in addition to the entirety of Haven City."

"I'm going ahead to tell Onin we're back." Pecker stated, flying ahead and departing from the group, as he didn't want to be in this area anymore than what was necessary, "Watch your tail feathers, Jak, Pinkie! This is a spooky place."

As Pecker departed from the area, however, Jak and Pinkie took a moment to gather some of the ammunition from the nearby crates, before Daxter pointed at the raised bridge that was in front of them. Jak, deciding to see if Daxter was right, raised his gun and blasted the bridge, to which the metallic bridge actually lowered into place and allowed them to move onto the next area. Jak quickly praised Daxter's quick thinking, to which his friend smiled for a moment, before he and Pinkie crossed over the bridge and started firing at the flying type of Metal Heads that were in front of them, finding that their new enemies needed a few shots before they fell.

Pinkie also fired at the enemies that were on the walls above them, causing them to fall to the ground and allowing her and her brother to take them out in the process. Jak once again thought about how nice it was to have someone watching his back, because if he missed something Pinkie would likely find whatever that something was and put it down, or Daxter and Raven would do the same thing. As they walked forward they lowered the two bridges that were in front of them, and took out the flying enemies that were guarding them, before they stopped in front of the large metal door that was blocking their path forward.

The interesting thing was that there was a set of rails that went off into the distance, leading Jak and Pinkie to wonder if there were any explosives leftover from when the mine was in operation, which they could use to blow the door wide open and get them into the city.

"Hey Pinkie," Daxter said, causing Pinkie to look at him for a moment, to which he beckoned to the door that was in front of them for a moment, "Do you think that your Dark Eco abilities might be able to cut through the door?"

"Its possible, but I think we should search the area," Pinkie replied, knowing that they shouldn't rely on her strange Dark Eco abilities, especially since they clearly had a way to take the door out, before she pointed at a path behind them, "I'm sure that we can find something helpful down this path... and a way to open the door at the same time."

They followed the path that Pinkie had spotted and climbed down until they were on an old elevator, which was smaller than the ones they had ridden on in the Precursor tunnel, before it lowered them to an area that required them to lower another bridge. From that point they opened fire on the Metal Heads that were in front of them, the ones that walked on four legs, the flying ones they had just encountered, and the ones that walked on the walls, as they followed the path in front of them. The siblings rounded another corner and came to an area where three more beast Metal Heads guarding a bridge they needed to lower, to which they dealt with their enemies and shot the bridge into place... where they took another elevator up to another pathway.

From that point they continued along the path they had been following, taking out a trio of enemies as they passed by two electric poles that clearly formed an electric barrier, indicating that it was either for defense or for something else, but they paid it no mind as they moved onward. They continued their assault on the enemies that were in front of them, while at the same time jumping over some platforms and crossing a slightly open area, before they passed by another set of electric poles and descended once more. The two of them took out another trio of enemies, rode an elevator downwards for a few seconds, and then lowered a bridge into place so they could continue forward. When they reached the lower area they found another group of enemies standing in front of an elevator that would no doubt take them even deeper into the area they were in... to which they eliminated their enemies and rode the elevator to their next destination.

The area they came to was a lift that would take them a short distance ahead of where they were standing and a Light Eco Vent, which they didn't need to use at the moment, to which Jak and Pinkie simply climbed onto the small lift and rode it over to the area in front of them.

When the lift arrived in the area they were heading towards Jak and Pinkie used the Scatter Mod of their weapons and took out the dog like enemies that were waiting for them, which were easy to take out with a single shot, before they spotted a red rat like creature that stared at them for a few seconds. Daxter and Raven seized the opportunity that presented itself and jumped down to where the creature was standing, where they guided it into a metallic wheel that was nearby. When the creature started running, as if it knew that they wanted it to do, the lights in front of them turned on as a walkway, made up of three platforms, moved out from its holding area and connected them to the next area they had to walk through.

The two of them the opened fire on the aggressive group of dog creatures that were in front of them, allowing them to clear the way towards another metallic wheel and another rat creature, which also powered up another set of platforms for them to use. They followed the ramps that were in front of them and made sure to eliminate all of the enemies, be they the flying enemies or the dog creatures, before they came to yet another area that had a metallic wheel. Once again the pipe that the rat creatures came out of was located across from the wheel, to which they simply picked up the rat creature and placed him inside the wheel, bringing power to the entire area... where they discovered that the next platforms they had to cross over happened to be on top of moving drills.

It took Jak and Pinkie a few minutes to cross over the obstacle that was in front of them, as they had to time their jumps in order to prevent themselves from falling into the darkness below them, but they were able to cross over without anything happening to them. Once they finished crossing the gap they used their Scatter Mods once more and eliminated the dog creatures that were waiting for them, allowing them to simply pick up the rat creature and drop him into the wheel that was in the area. The power up turned on a spinning wheel, which had two platforms, though Jak and Pinkie took turns riding the contraption so they could reach the next part of the area they were in, while at the same time blasting their enemies before they had a chance to fight back.

They then rode a second spinning contraption to another part of the area that had a pair of ramps, to which they simply repeated the process of eliminating all of the enemies that were around them, including around the metallic wheel, before they started searching for the rat creature. This time, however, the rat creatures exited a pipe that was at the bottom of the ramps, to which Pinkie simply walked down there, picked one up, carried it back to the wheel, and set it down in the area that it was supposed to be in, allowing it to start running and bring power to the area. The two of them then jumped over the platforms that would take them to the next part of the area they were in, where on their right they spotted what appeared to be the end of the rails they had seen earlier... though in front of them rested another piece of Mar's armor, the leg pieces to be exact.

Once Jak had equipped the armor, and Pinkie mentally pouted over how she had nothing that resembled armor, the siblings ventured into the modern area and started looking for anything that they could use to blow the large door open... until Pinkie flipped a switch, which grabbed onto a cart that was full of explosives and brought it over to a platform that eventually raised itself back to the main track. From that point on Jak and Pinkie had to retrace their steps, following the cart and shooting at the lowered sections of the rail in order to realign them, though after some time the siblings managed to get ahead of the cart. Jak and Pinkie were able to get to the last target, which was in front of the large door they had seen earlier, long before the cart even arrived, to which they watched as the cart collided with the door and blew it open... allowing them to access another platform which would take them into the city, at some point anyway.

They rode down the short tunnel that the elevator was supposed to go down and passed through a more modern door, where they walked out into what appeared to be an arena of sorts... though as their bridge collapsed behind them they spotted Count Veger standing by the other entrance.

"The monks told me you were coming through the Precursor subrails." Veger commented, staring at Jak and Pinkie with a look of hatred in his eyes, though at the same time they had to wonder if that was because of the Dark Eco inside them or the fact that Seem favored them more than him, "Interesting aren't they? The Precursors used them to build the world countless eons ago. The rail system leads deep into the planet where it's said the ancient ones wait to bestow unimaginable powers upon the worthy. I will save the world with that power, just as Mar did!"

"You mean like my sister and I have been doing since we started our adventures?" Jak asked, though at the same time he pulled out his Morph Gun and made sure that it was on the Blaster setting, as the moment Veger's guard was lowered he intended to kill the man before he escaped.

"You may have 'saved' the day, but you couldn't be more mistaken, dear boy." Veger replied, indicating that he truly believed that Jak and Pinkie had made up the story about defeating the Metal Head Leader, "We're on a time clock, Jak! That light in the sky, do you know what it is?"

"Ooh, is it an interplanetary vehicle of some sort?" Pinkie inquired, once again using her ability to say random things, some of which actually making sense when people stopped to consider what she had said, to stop Veger for a moment, "One that's likely carrying the enemies of the Precursors, who are coming back here so they can transform the planet in their own image? I mean, I'm assuming that is what the Precursors have been warning us about... and they aren't going to be giving you any powers, Veger, because they've been giving them to us."

"And what a poor choice they made, considering that you're full of Dark Eco!" Veger snapped, causing Jak and Pinkie to raise their eyebrows for a moment, because this was the first time, besides Daxter's annoyance with the ancient beings, had outright said that the Precursors made a bad choice, "The two of you, and both of your rats, are an abomination! But I will rid the planet of this scourge soon enough... especially since I went through the effort to attack the palace myself and gain quick access to the catacombs."

"Uh, excuse me Count Vulgar..." Daxter started to say, while at the same time purposely saying the wrong name just to piss their opponent off, as he knew that they could get a good shot if he stood in the same spot for a few more seconds.

"It's Veger!" Veger snapped, indicating that he was annoyed with Daxter, but at the same time he made no moves to walk over to where the group was standing and do anything to them.

"Yeah, whatever." Daxter commented, proving that he really didn't care for the man, which Jak and Pinkie were feeling thanks to the news, before he stared at their target, "What's to stop us from preventing your departure? Because we have two Eco Warriors ready to kick your tail and send you screaming into the abyss."

"This will stop you in your tracks." Veger shouted, to which he held his cane up and the gem at the top started glowing, to which the Precursor robot that was above him awoke from its slumber and floated to the area in front of the group, "Behold! I now command the very power of the ancient ones! And this time, the Precursors will not have mercy on you."

Pinkie grinned as she noticed the large shadow that the Precursor robot was creating on the ground in front of her and Jak, to which she summoned her scythe and started hacking at the shadow, to which gashes started forming in the robot's body and caused Veger to stall for a moment. Pinkie had, in the time before she and Jak were banished from Haven, created a few abilities that utilized Dark Eco, though this one only worked if the opponent was larger than she was and produced a large shadow. The Precursor robot, fulfilling both of those conditions, made the perfect target for her Shadow Play ability, as every cut she made to the shadow appeared on the robot... before she drove the head of her weapon into the heart and forced the robot to explode, causing Veger to flee with his tail between his legs.

The only thing left of the robot were two equally sized pieces that were actually upgrades for the Vulcan section of the Morph Gun, for a modification called the Arc Wielder, though Pinkie happily created a new blue bead on her bracelet as Jak upgraded his weapon... before they passed through the door that Veger had fled through and wondered what havoc they could cause now that they were pretty much back in Haven City.