It took a moment or two for the platform to come to a stop behind one of the Door Locks that had been scattered around Haven City, making the siblings wonder where in the city they would be coming out, given the fact that there had been a few doors they hadn't used in the past, though once it stopped they waited for the door to open and stepped outside as soon as the way was open, revealing a ruined version of the section of Haven that lead to where the Stadium rested, with pieces of one of the Palace's support pillars resting nearby.
"By the Precursors... Haven City looks far worse than what Ashelin and Sig told us," Cozy commented, where she could see that all of the buildings that were in this part of the city were either still on fire, which was both impressive and worrying at the same time, walls had fallen and collapsed thanks to one or more of the support pillars falling on the city, and parts of the metallic floor were busted apart, broken by the war and likely the Tainted bursting into the city.
"They knew that if we figured out how bad the situation was, we would have come running and just ignored whatever sort of consequences our actions would have caused," Jak remarked, though he was taken aback by just how ruined the city was at the moment, because if the Palace had been toppled, and they could confirm it with their own eyes even though he and his sisters knew that Ashelin, Keira, and Sig wouldn't lie to them, at least a third of the city, maybe even more, had to be gone, to which he shifted his head for a moment as he heard something move, "though it looks like the Tainted have claimed this part of the city, even though they haven't messed with it yet... we'll have to figure out what's causing them to act like they're still under Kor's control, once we've figured out what's going on inside Haven."
Twilight and Starlight nodded as they moved into the air and fired some Wave Concussor blasts down on the Stingers that were in this part of the city, due to the fact that it looked like they were the only Metal Heads messing with this area, while at the same time Jak and Cozy forced their way through everything that was in front of them, even though Daxter jumped down onto some of the Stingers and stabbed them with his Eco forged blades, though since they headed to the left of the Door Lock they were able to find a shield wall to keep the rest of Haven safe.
"Jak, girls, over here!" a voice said, where they found Samos and Keira standing behind the force field, as Twilight was able to confirm that it was actually a force field and not a shield wall, though she made sure Jak and their sisters were near the force field before setting up her own barrier to cover the direction they had come from, something that caused many of the Stingers to pause as they considered what in the world had happened, allowing the siblings to focus on the pair that was on the other side of the non magical barrier, "I sensed your energies earlier, especially the incredibly powerful magic that you three seem to be using now, and we came out to greet you and inform you of what's happened since Ashelin and Keira came back from the Wasteland... as you can see, Veger has claimed some control over the Council and has forced us into the newly renovated Water Slums, which we have to rename soon, and he's empowered all of the force fields to make sure we cannot leave. As far as we know the catacombs below the city are terribly important, as we're interested in them, the KG Robots are invested in trying to reach where they're located, and all of the corrupted Metal Heads are trying to dig to them, even though that's failing since they have a hard time damaging Precursor metal... to be honest, we need the four of you to join the fight, otherwise we might not be able to hold out for too long."
"Oh, don't worry about that, as we have a few tricks up our sleeves," Twilight replied, where she waved a hand as she used a bit of her power on the force field in front of them, where a circle appeared in front of her and her siblings as an opening formed, allowing them to move through it before she closed it and lowered her barrier, causing the Stingers to rush over to the barrier and just come to a stop when they realized that they couldn't get into their section of the city, before she grinned for a moment, "also, we have some information on Veger that might shock you. Keira, I'm going to hand over the Communicator that contains what we learned, though don't play it until I say so... Midnight and I have a plan to screw over Veger and we don't want to tip our hand early."
"Okay, and I'll switch it out for one of the other ones I made for you guys," Keira stated, where she carefully grabbed the device that Twilight was giving her and wondered what sort of information was stored inside it, information that could do considerable harm to Veger and his hold over Haven City, before making sure to have another one replace the one that she was being given, just in case they found more information that might be useful, before she considered something the siblings needed to know, "Listen, you guys need to make your way over to the Port and assist our allies there, as Veger had ordered Torn, Tess, and a number of our forces to head out there and now they're trapped in that section of the city, cut off from everyone that might be able to aid them."
"Then we'll fly over there and take care of business," Starlight said, where she beckoned for Jak to join her as Cozy spread her wings, surprising Samos in the process, since this was his first time seeing them, before Twilight did the same, which came as a shock since she only had wings when Midnight was in control, though once that was done she and Jak floated into the air and headed for the Port as Twilight and Cozy followed after them.
As the siblings flew down towards the Port, however, they were able to see all of the destruction that had been caused by Veger's attack on the Palace, as both sides of the Bazaar had been crushed, half of the Industrial Section was buried under all sorts of rubble, most of the Stadium had been smashed up by something falling on it, likely a support pillar, though all of them turned their attention to something else as they landed outside the Naughty Ottsel and headed inside Daxter's popular bar, finding Torn standing over a communication table.
"Jak, girls, boy am I glad to see the four of you," Torn said, as he noticed them as soon as they walked inside the Naughty Ottsel, given that he had cleared out most of the area and set up the table in the middle of Daxter's place, though as he turned towards them he caught a glimpse of some feathered limbs that disappeared as the siblings entered the bar, to which he figured that they had done something and would tell him about it in due time, "I'm sorry we couldn't send out another transport to retrieve you guys, but Veger..."
"Hates us, we know. Besides, it was worth it in the end," Jak replied, showing Torn that they were sort of fine with Veger's foul play during their expedition to the Wasteland, as it gave them the time they needed to find their father and gain the powers that they were now wielding, while at the same time revealing that none of them were pleased with what he had done to Haven City during their absence, causing him to grin for a moment, "we managed to find our father and learn a couple of things while we were out in the Wasteland."
"King Damas... he's alive?!" Torn asked, though his tone revealed that he was caught off guard by that information, since nearly all of Haven City assumed that the previous ruler of the city must have died in the Wasteland, along with those who had remained loyal to him and had been banished with him, due to Baron Praxis' coup while he was under the control of Kor, where this information meant that everyone who had been cast out of the city had to still be alive.
"Yep, and we've learned of a threat to our world while we were in Spargus: the Day Star," Twilight stated, informing Torn that Jak's statement was correct, they had found their father and learned something important while they were hanging out in the Wasteland, though she paused for a moment as she considered what they had learned so far and everything that she and Midnight were still learning inside the research portion of the storage realm her other side had set up after she first awakening, "basically, the literal end of our world is approaching and we need to get into the Catacombs before Veger can, since he's likely to do something stupid and dangerous if he gets there first... once we've saved the world we can focus on rebuilding Haven and uniting the two cities into a single force."
"Given your power, that's entirely possible," Torn commented, as he knew that Twilight was powerful, even more so now since all four of the siblings seemed far stronger than when he last saw them, and some of the Council members were a little terrified of Midnight, so he was sure that if the siblings pushed for uniting Haven and Spargus in some manner the Council would agree to it without delay, as to remain on their good side, though that was when the table beeped and all of them found a hologram of a Blast Bot appear above the table, "Great, more Blast Bots incoming... are you guys ready to take down some enemies?"
"Who do you think your talking to?" Cozy asked, where she pounded a fist into her other hand, showing Torn that she was more than ready for another fight to save Haven City from its enemies, before heading outside so she could spread her wings once more and track down the incoming forces that were coming from the KG section of the city, or at least what remained of the Industrial Section, causing Torn to sigh as Jak, Twilight, and Starlight headed outside as well, though they knew he was definitely glad to have them back.
As it turned out there were a number of Blast Bots marching out of the Industrial Section and were invading the Port, even if Twilight had spotted a barrier between the two locations and knew that it was to prevent Humans from entering the part of the city that the KG Robots had taken control of, though a pair happened to be walking on the bridge and two more just so happened to be walking along the path that the Gun Course rested on, though they were joined by all sorts of smaller robots, like the Grunts and Stinger replicas. Starlight and Jak headed over to the bridge, where they found Baron Praxis, in a modified Titan suit that seemed twice as large and happened to have twice as much armor as the original suits, meaning Keira had to be involved in creating it, leading a group of Freedom League fighters into battle while he hacked a Blast Bot to pieces, meaning the four Torn had noticed had to be reinforcements. As Jak landed both he and Praxis nodded to each other, the latter showing that he was pleased to have the heirs to the throne back in the city, before Jak pulled out his own blade and consumed a bit of the Eco that was in his Morph Gun, empowering his body as he rushed forward and focused on cutting down the next Blast Bot, all while Starlight loosed small lances of Dark Eco that pierced her target's form not a few seconds later and blew it apart. While they did that, and Praxis' forces joined them in facing their enemies, the other two Blast Bots found Twilight and Cozy standing in their way, where Cozy landed on top of her foe and punched it so hard that she crushed it into the ground below her, breaking its legs and body in the process as she used the Light Shield for a second to ensure she took no damage, though Twilight just snapped her fingers as her energy swarmed her target, where she safely dismantled the robot and carefully stored the pieces inside Midnight's area.
Of course such a thing didn't stop the remaining robots from running away, in fact they were programed to fight to their fullest and die for the cause, though Jak and his sisters were fine with that as each of them smashed, blasted, and fought their way through all of the enemies that were attacking the Port, and when an opened presented itself Twilight made sure all of the civilians were on the Port side of the passage that connected it to the Industrial Section before using some of her magic to seal the passage, allowing them to return to the Naughty Ottsel.
"Your Highness, it is an honor to fight beside you and your sisters," Praxis said, speaking once he climbed out of his mech and walked beside the group, while making sure the rest of his forces remained outside to make sure the situation stayed quite for a time, meaning they must have been fighting for some time and the siblings had likely arrived during a pause in the waves that the KG Robots were sending at the Port, though he smiled as he glanced at all of them, "and it seems like your ruined expedition, and unsuspected stay in the Wasteland, has done nothing to weaken you... rather, you seem far stronger than you were before you left the city."
"Ashelin, this is Torn. Jak and his sisters are back in the city." Torn stated, where it was clear that they must have walked in on a communication between the Naughty Ottsel and Freedom HQ, the area that Ashelin and everyone else were in, which caused the group to remain silent for a time, even though Jak had a few things to say to the Baron's statement, as he and the others needed to know the situation they were in, but for now it was time to say nothing as they listened to what might be said over the next couple of minutes.
Jak? Girls? I knew it wouldn't take you long to return to Haven City, Ashelin replied, something that was followed by a large hologram of her head appearing above the table, something that they were used to seeing in Haven City, though her tone told them that she was definitely happy to see them again, even if she was stuck up north and they were down south, with the rest of their allies, and it seems that your making big splashes by just arriving.
"That new KG leader is probably pissing in his..." Torn stated to say, referring to the fact that whoever was in control of the robots had been waiting until the siblings were stranded in the Wasteland before attacking the city, which told Jak and his sisters that Veger was either controlling the robots or he was aiding whoever happened to be in charge of the robots, only for him to pause when the icon in front of them shuddered for a moment, like someone was hacking into their link with the others, "Wait, someone's jamming the signal. I think..."
In that moment Jak, his sisters, their Ottsels, and those who were standing around them watched as Ashelin's head was replaced by the one they had seen in the Wasteland, when they intercepted the Metal Beast convoy and found the small Communicator that had likely been delivered to Keira at some point, meaning Errol had come to gloat or demand that all of them surrender to his authority, especially since his head looked mostly robotic and meant he was either the one who lead the KG Robots as their commander or he was their leader.
I live! Errol stated, where he laughed as he said that, as if revealing himself to them in this manner was worthy of some laughter, not that Jak or his sisters were impressed by what they were seeing right now, as they had seen far more impressive things during their adventures, before he stopped laughing and took note of who was around him, focusing on the siblings after a few seconds, Still fighting for the weak link, eh old friends? Well, I've had a few enhancements since we last met, as you can see, ones that have removed all of my weaknesses... even the Metal Heads, despite all their power, were riddled with biological weaknesses. But me, I'm pure metal, and I have no such weaknesses... I cannot wait to take all of you down and convert Keira into my...
Torn, who had been silently listening to the madness that Errol was spewing, pulled back as Midnight appeared and raised a hand to trap Errol where he was standing, allowing Twilight and Starlight to punch him right in the face, where it looked like their fists actually made contact with his actual face, before Cozy kicked him in the side of the head and the link Errol had set up was severed as quickly as it had been forged by their enemy, even though he was sure that Errol had started to complain about the 'unfairness' of this situation, but at least this told him that the siblings weren't about to let Errol have his way.
We must unite our forces or we're though! You have to reach us as soon as possible. Samos stated, though this time around none of them were about to question what the siblings were capable of doing with their various powers, as he had stopped questioning what they could do a long time ago and their latest additions only proved that he would go mad if he tried to understand everything that they were capable of, especially after everything they discovered in the Wasteland and in whatever area that brought them back to the city.
We need you to break through the KG's defenses and link up with us before it's too late. Ashelin added, as while she understood that having Jak and his sisters back on their side, a boon for the Freedom League if ever there was one, part of her also knew she and the others didn't have a whole lot of time left before whoever lead the robots managed to break all of their defenses and bring down their section of the city, Based on what Keira has found out, and what we've seen since the war broke out, the KG Robots are growing stronger with each passing day, and that floating war factory is spitting out more robots every day.
"Don't worry about us. With our heroes back in town, we'll meet up with you in no time," Torn said, speaking to Ashelin for a moment, telling her that they would likely be reuniting with the northern group at some point in the near future, which was only possible thanks to the arrival of Jak and his sisters, to which Ashelin nodded and the communication broke up a few seconds later, to which he turned towards the others, "The first thing we need to do is break through the barrier that's between us and the Industrial Section, and to do that we've been preparing an Eco missile to blow it to pieces... but, thanks to Veger giving us next to no time to prepare for our assault, we don't have enough power to actually get the job done, not unless we find a way to get some extra Eco."
"Well, you've got four Eco Sages standing nearby, all with unique powers, so that problem is solved, though I can ensure the missile reaches its destination," Daxter stated, because up until this point he had been doing almost nothing, save for an occasional fight with some of the enemies that Jak and his sisters went up against, and with his own Eco powers he had a feeling that he could empower Torn's missile and deliver a payload that would rip the barrier to shreds and open up the way for someone to take the fight to the KG Robots.
Torn had nothing to say to that as Daxter, the least likely of the entire group, and that was saying something considering he walked with heroes and disguised dragons all the time, walked outside not a few seconds later and found out where he had set up the missile in question, just in front of where the Naughty Ottsel rested, to which Daxter hopped onto the back of the missile and pressed something before he surged forward. Upon seeing Daxter and the missile fly off Praxis took a moment to make sure the civilians and guards remained safe, as in not on the streets or bridges as the Ottsel flew around the Port, using his own Eco powers to empower the device while also tracking down a stream of Eco that seemed to lead him all over this part of the city, meaning it was a good thing the Baron had made sure everyone remained indoors while he did this, otherwise he was sure that he would have bumped into someone. Of course Daxter found that he had a few close calls as he glided over the water, raced across the metallic flooring of the Port, and avoided anything and everything that might cause the missile to blow up before he reached his destination, especially since he had to force the missile to jump between locations a few times, though it wasn't long before he found that his trail was heading right towards the area that Twilight's barrier was in. As such Twilight, who was watching Daxter with the rest of her siblings, waved a hand a few seconds later and the magic collapsed, allowing him to grin as he flew the missile right into the passage that the KG Robots had set up their force field in not that long ago, though he ensured that his weapon was angled right at his target, and made sure to double check his work, before he leapt off the missile and landed on the ground a few seconds later, to which he watched as the payload struck the central post that powered the force field and obliterated the obstacle within a matter of seconds, meaning his mission was a success.
"Nice going Daxter, you did great taking down that force field," Jax said, as he and his sisters had remained in one spot as their friend flew around the Port, though once he headed for the passage leading to the Industrial Section they moved in so no harm would come to Daxter once the payload had been delivered, finding that he was unharmed and that he had done what Torn had asked, as in tearing down what he and his sisters suspected was the first of many obstacles that were standing between them and Freedom HQ.
"Thanks, though you guys are rubbing off on me," Daxter replied, due to the fact that he wasn't one who usually went out and fought their enemies, or did something foolish like jumping onto a missile and used it to blow something up, but he had to admit that there was a certain rush and excitement to what he had done, meaning the siblings had rubbed off on him at some point in time, before he considered something for a few seconds, "I know three of you don't use that many bullets these days, thanks to your power boosts, but we might want to check in with the Gun Course and see if they have any additional ammunition for Jak, since I'm sure Torn will be sending us into the heart of the Industrial Section to tackle a number of missions to improve our chances of victory."
Jak agreed with the idea, as he had been hoping that there might be a new weapon mod they could add to their growing list of weapons, to which he and his sisters turned around as Daxter returned to his usual perch, allowing him some time to rest as they headed over to the Gun Course, though what surprised them was that they found Tess standing near the door on their left, or her right, and it appeared that she might be working on something, though he paused as she heard the sound of the main door opening.
"Daxter! You're back!" Tess happily said, where Daxter hopped down onto the floor for a moment and rushed over to the area that Tess was standing in, who caught him with a smile on her face when he jumped up to hug her, even though that ended with him being cradled like he was a baby or something, not that Tess cared about that since she was madly in love with Daxter, meaning she must have been worried when she heard about their transport blowing up and Keira must have eased her worries after both she and Ashelin returned to the city, before she transitioned into hugging him a little, which was interesting to see, "Oh, did that mean old desert burn your itty-bitty paws?"
"Hey, Tess baby. Don't crush-a the merchandise." Daxter replied, though the siblings found that he was happy to see that the love of his life, as in someone who actually loved him and didn't run off after getting used to his antics, was overjoyed to have him back in Haven City, even if there was no telling how long they would be here since the siblings would have to head back to Spargus at some point, before he pried himself free and landed on the ground, "How's biz?"
"I'm designing new guns to help out the war effort." Tess eagerly replied, where she beckoned to the weapon that was on the bench to her right, allowing Jak and his sisters to see that it was definitely a Yellow Eco modification and told them that a new weapon might be added to their arsenal, even though Twilight knew that there was no reason to collect more mods at this point, with the power they possessed, but figured that it never hurt to have an alternative in case they found some sort of foe that resisted magic.
"You make guns now?" Cozy inquired, as this was news to them, because while they had learned nothing about Tess while they were dealing with Krew and his madness, since she had worked for him as a bartender while aiding the Underground in gathering information about all of the enemies the city faced, she had started to open up once they celebrated Kor's downfall, though it was clear that she hadn't told them everything and made them wonder what other secrets she might be hiding from her friends.
"Yeah. I just finished this new gun modification." Tess stated, where she turned for a moment and picked the weapon up, something that gave them a chance to see that the new modification was a circular disc around the head of the gun and it had three prongs that seemed to form a triangle formation around the new addition, pointed away from whoever might be wielding the weapon in question, "It sports a multi-port, large-bore, gyro-burst launcher with blowback breech assist, using full-jacket, Eco-depleted, armor-piercing slugs, and a continuous kill zone scanner for tight groupings at a high-cycle rate of fire... it's a hobby."
"And let me guess, you won't let us take one unless we prove ourselves?" Twilight asked, as while she suspected that part of Tess' sudden change was due to the fact that she spent a good deal of time with Keira and likely talked about all sorts of things, something she would have to look into once they had a chance to relax and not worry about enemies trying to tear down the rest of Haven City, something that caused Tess to nod her head and confirm that such a thing was the case, all while she was sure it was more to make sure they could protect Daxter from whatever dangers they might face in the very near future.
Once that was done Jak and his sisters took turns heading through the obstacle course that Tess had designed to test all of them, to prepare them for what the future held for both them and all of their allies, where they found that it was designed for whoever tackled it to use Yellow Eco bullets and faced down whatever Tess had set up, which happened to be firing at all of the KG Robots and avoiding the civilians that were in the area, the cutouts of them anyway, and when they emerged Jak, Starlight, and Cozy earned silver rankings, while Twilight, against all odds, earned gold, putting a smile on Tess's face as she looked over their scores.
"Not bad shooting Jak... for a guy." Tess commented, showing the siblings that Tess likely believed that she could do much better with a gun than any of them could, though to be fair she had more experience with them, even though the four of them had quickly adapted to wielding guns and other weapons when they started fighting the Krimzon Guard, but, despite that fact, she held out a hand and handed over the Gyro Burster, which was what she called her mod, "Now, I want you to protect my little baby with this, or else I'll hunt you down and hurt you real bad. Okay?"
"If it weren't for the fact that I've seen what Midnight can do when she's angry, I might have been worried about such a comment, but I'll keep it in mind." Jak replied, as he wasn't intimidated by what Tess said, even though she clearly meant it and would likely find some way to get at him and his sisters if something happened to Daxter while they tackled the rest of Haven's enemies, though his statement did tell her that he'd be thinking about her threat for some time, something that put a smile on her face as she went back to her work, allow while Daxter had an excited look on his face as well, meaning he enjoyed seeing this new side of Tess.
Tess said nothing to that as she made sure the sisters had their own version of the mod, with Twilight gaining the third of her yellow gems, of which it seemed like her bracelet was only supposed to have three for the main four types of Eco that went into the Morph Guns, though she was sure that there were some light and dark gems as well, how many she couldn't tell for sure and felt that it either reflected the powers they had found, or something else they might have discovered, but she returned to her work as the siblings headed out to see what else Torn had in store for them.