//------------------------------//
// Spargus: Invading Enemy Territory 
// Story: Jak and Daxter: Heirs of Mar 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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With Tess no longer needing to worry about Daxter being safe, thanks to the skills the siblings displayed in the course she had designed for them, Jak, Twilight, Starlight, and Cozy headed outside and found that Torn wanted to speak with them, meaning he must have figured out what their next target was so they could push forward and get deeper inside the area that the KG Robots were holding, hence why they headed back over to the Naughty Ottsel without wasting a moment, as they were curious as to what he had discovered.

"Thanks to Keira's efforts, we've figured out what the next set of KG defenses that need to be eliminated are." Torn said, to which the hologram above the table shifted for a moment and revealed what appeared to be a security camera that had a gun of some kind attached to it, something that caused the siblings to stare at it for a few seconds, as each of them were curious as to what Keira and the others had discovered, before the barrier had been set up, "Back before that barrier had been set up we found super-range sniper cannons scattered around part of the Industrial Section, weapons that stopped us from moving deeper into their domain, and now that the barrier is down Keira's figured out that those cannons are still online, which we have confirmed thanks to some of our men testing the area out... though so far we haven't lost anyone to them. Jak, girls, I need the four of you to head into the newly opened section of the city, find those hidden cannons, and take them all out... though we're positive that they'll launch a counterattack, once they figure out what you guys are up to, so keep an eye on your enemies while you're out there."

Jak nodded as he and his sisters departed from the Naughty Ottsel and headed for the passage that lead to the section of the city that they needed to push through, finding that a number of smaller robots were trying to gain ground by pushing out all of the Freedom League fighters that were guarding the area, something that lead to the siblings blasting their way through each and every small enemy before heading into enemy territory, as it was time for Errol to see that they weren't to be underestimated. Of course Jak was a little surprised by how Daxter was acting these days, usually he'd complain that Torn was stealing all the credit or something, since he was the one that usually cared about that sort of thing, though now he was focused on whatever missions they were being given and they were thankful for it, since it showed them that he had matured while they were saving Haven not that long ago, before he let out a light chuckle as they smashed through a small robotic patrol that crossed paths with them. With that done the first thing they did was head up the nearby ramp, as in the one in front of them, and discovered that the sniper cannons were basically security camera that had been placed on top of a powerful gun that could extend quite a bit, thanks to the neck section it was attached to, along with finding two red metallic buttons resting on the platform and a circular device that looked like the power source for the cannon, but it was easy for them to figure out what they needed to do. All the siblings had to do was bash the metallic buttons into the ground and then, once all of them were stuck in that position, someone would have to lash out and smash the cannon's core, the circular device that rested nearby, so since the first one only had two buttons it was incredibly easy for the four of them to bring down cannon and caused it to blow up once the core was destroyed, but none of them stopped as they headed even deeper into the Industrial Section.

Sure enough the KG Robots started to converge on the area that they were standing in once they realized what they were trying to do, Something that caused Cozy to rush forward and smash up the robots that were coming towards them, as it allowed Jak and the others to safely move to where the next sniper cannon rested, where they quickly discovered that the second one was further along the path they were following at the moment. As such Jak and Starlight focused on pressing all of the buttons as Twilight stood still, using her magic to make sure the sniper cannon didn't hurt her siblings or target her at all, showing their foe that magic was far stronger than metal was, and it wasn't long before the three buttons had been activated and Starlight smashed the core to pieces, eliminating another target in the process. Once that was done all of them headed over to the sniper cannon that was resting just outside the Power Station, which was locked up right now and it made all of them wonder if Vin was okay, since no one had said anything about him since their return, meaning they would have to force their way inside at one point and see what might have happened to their friend, but that was when Jak and his sisters focused on their targets as they focused on pressing the three buttons that were scattered around this particular sniper cannon. Not a few moments later Cozy swung her fist and smashed the core to pieces, eliminating yet another target so the Freedom League didn't have to worry about them in the future, before Alvin and his brothers, who had decided to take to the skies using their hybrid forms, returned and informed the siblings that the last two targets were close by, as they just had to head along the path that rested near the Power Station and they would be there in no time, to which the four of them started moving without delay.

The fourth sniper cannon happened to have three buttons and was not even a minute away from where they found the third weapon, to which the siblings repeated the process they had used so far and smashed the newest weapon apart as soon as the core was revealed, while the fifth and final one had four buttons for them to worry about, so while Cozy tore all incoming robots apart Jak and Starlight focused on activating the devices so Twilight could eliminate the core, which did put a smile on their faces since this mission was over. With that done Jak and his sisters retraced their steps and headed back to the Port, blasting, smashing, and slashing their way through the robots that happened to be standing in their way, as they had a feeling that Torn had something else for all of them to do while the Freedom League made sure that none of their enemies pushed into the Port, hence why they were heading for the Naughty Ottsel again, though nothing stopped Jak and his sisters from reaching their destination and walking inside.

"Jak, I need you and your sisters to go into the Sewers and make your way over to the section of the city that the Tainted are currently in control of." Torn spoke up, not that the siblings were surprised by what he was saying, since it did look like both the KG Robots and the Tainted had claimed sections of Haven City, so they could launch their own assaults on those who stood in their way, which was the Freedom League right now, "We need to attack their hive from below, where they'll least expect it, and right now the Sewers are the only way in for us to enter that part of the city... to be honest, we haven't been in those old passageways since the war broke out, but none of our scouts have reported movement down there. And before any of you ask, since I know its coming, I mean they haven't come back to tell us what's going on down there, so I have to assume that something dangerous is lurking down in the Sewers."

"Which is why you're sending us to clear it out." Cozy remarked, to which she pounded her fists together, showing that she was excited about this turn of events, because if there was some sort of dangerous monster or something lurking inside the Sewers she and her siblings could take care of whatever it was in no time, though that wasn't counting dealing damage to everything that the Tainted had built in their section of the city, which appeared to be the main mission right now, one that would bring relief to the Freedom League.

As Torn nodded his head, to show them that they had understood what he meant, Jak waited for a few seconds as he took a moment to pull out a map and revealed where one of the openings into the Sewers might be located, which Twilight and Starlight memorized as he showed them this information, though once that was done the four of them headed outside and started to retrace their steps once more, heading right back into the Industrial Section. It didn't take Jak and his sisters all that long to return to where the sniper cannons had been resting, where Twilight noted another barrier that seemed to be blocking the way forward, meaning the KG Robots must have set up multiple barriers for the Freedom League to deal with, before even being allowed to get anywhere near their reinforcements, though while she could break the barrier with her magic she decided to save it for later, to see what Torn's plans were. Not a few seconds later Jak located a Door Lock and opened it, to which the four of them stepped onto the platform and allowed it to take them down to their destination, where they found themselves in a large circular chamber that didn't look like the Sewers they were used to, meaning that there was another section that they hadn't been in and it made them wonder what sort of dangers might be waiting for all of them. The first thing they found was that there were two paths, where the one on their left seemed to be locked, due to the fact that Cozy standing in front of it did nothing, hence why the siblings headed to the right of the opening they walked through after the platform came to a stop, finding a couple of pipes that were spewing small bursts of toxic gas into the air above them, even though Starlight weaved her magic into circular platforms for Jak to use, all while she and her sisters just flew over to the end of the path in question, eventually coming to another Door Lock, one that opened for them.

What interested the siblings was that on the other side of the door they found a couple of robotic Grunts that seemed to be patrolling this area, ones Cozy tore apart with her brute force, before she and her siblings rounded a corner and found a few more of them that seemed to be patrolling the next part of the Sewers they were walking through, which interested them to some degree.

"Who wants to say that the KG Robots and the Tainted are in league with each other?" Jak inquired, though he made sure to fire a few blasts of his Reflector and watched as his attacks shattered the couple of Robo-Grunts that were patrolling the Sewers right now, including breaking a wind device that would likely prevent someone from moving forward, which let him and his sisters jump up some pipes and reach a dual stream of water.

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised, given what we've learned so far," Starlight replied, referring to the fact that something seemed to be stopping Alvin and his brothers from freeing the remaining Metal Heads from Kor's connection, creating the Tainted that everyone was dealing with right now, and right now she was of the opinion that Errol might be behind what was happening to the other Metal Heads, meaning they could be facing a pincer attack of some kind, KG Robots from one side and the Tainted from another, before she considered something interesting, "hey, did you think that Errol might be working with the beings aboard the Day Star?"

"Would give us another reason to kill him." Twilight stated, where she entered a new tunnel and followed it down to what appeared to be a moving platform, even though a single wave of her Blaster shots tore through the Robo-Grunts that were in her way, allowing them to reach the square shaped platform and see where it took them, even though it looked like it might head deeper into this part of the Sewers, before she grinned as a number of flying robots appeared in front of them as she raised her hand, "Guess its time to try the Gyro Burster."

What happened next was that her Yellow Eco gathered and she loosed a circular device up into the air as their foes came at the platform, which started to move once everyone was on it, though that was when a number of beams burst out of it and struck everything that happened to be around the device, where Starlight used a barrier to make sure none of them were harmed by the attack and reflected them even deeper into the Sewers, taking down all sorts of robots in the process, and once the deed was done the object disappeared, allowing them to reach their destination in no time. That brought the siblings to an area that seemed to have a number of electric fences set up, defenses to slow down whoever came through this part of the Sewers, though instead of wasting too much time on them Starlight used her magic and crushed the poles that created the fences in the first place, while Cozy flew over the nearby gap and disappeared as she smashed all sorts of robots into some walls and parts of the ground, wiping out enemies before they headed for an exit. With that done they found another moving square platform and stepped onto it, where they jumped over a small beam of energy while finding a machine gun off in the distance, something that caused Starlight to weave a barrier in front of them and stopped all of the bullets from harming any of them, allowing them to reach a path that lead into another new section, an area that had a good number of metallic walls blocking the way and buttons for them to use. Of course there was some water nearby, just like almost all of the other areas they had headed through so far, though that was when Twilight noticed some brand new critters lucking just below the surface, a fish-like Metal Head that had four webbed feet and a tail that helped them move around in the water, though they had sharpened noses that looked a lot like spears, where Theodore revealed that their father had called them Saw Fish and Twilight felt that 'Spear Fish' might be more accurate.

Instead of worrying about any of the buttons that were in their way, like they would normally would do in this situation, as they would activate the gates further down this path, Starlight waved her hand and knocked the Spear Fish into the space above the surface, allowing Jak and Cozy to blast them like all of the enemies they had encountered so far, while Twilight summoned her power for a moment and dismantled the metallic barriers that were in their way, allowing her to store all of it inside Midnight's storage area, who would be happy with all of this. Such a thing allowed them to easily reach an area that had a couple of see through metallic walls, forming a cube for some reason that also had a few doors inside it, with a couple of moving platforms outside and around it while finding a pair of moving devices that seemed to have blades right on the bottom of them, like cleaners or something, though Jak said nothing as Midnight appeared and started to tear the area apart with her incredible magic, confirming his earlier thoughts on the matter. Thanks to them doing that they were able to find a button that opened a door up on the left side of the chamber that the cube had been resting in, to which Jak and his sisters headed over there and found a passage that lead to another Door Lock, though on the other side rested a large circular chamber that had a few flying robots flying around the open space, patrolling around while keeping an eye out for enemies, only for Cozy to spread her wings before flying out and smashing her targets to pieces. That allowed the siblings to walk along the path that was in front of them, seeing that they had found an area that seemed to have a pit of sorts that looked like it went on forever, or at least for a while, before discovering another Door Lock that had a platform on the other side, one that the siblings stood on and let it move towards the surface, as it was time for them to see what the Tainted had done to another part of Haven City, especially since Twilight and Midnight would likely find a way to break all of it and reverse the effects in the near future.

When the door opened, however, the siblings paused as they stared out at the Tainted's section of Haven City, which had a number of twisted plants around them, new pillars that rested in what appeared to be a river of acid, or energy that was designed to corrupt everything it happened to touch, tendrils that looked like they were digging into everything, and there happened to be a haze in the air, with a hint of Dark Eco that made them pause for a few seconds, as this was beyond what they were expecting to find in this area.

Guys, this is Ashelin. Let me say that it is good to have you back in the city. a voice said, which they knew came from their Communicator since it had come out and floated around them, though it was good to know that Ashelin was talking and it made them wonder what sort of information she had to share with them, even though they were more interested in the corrupted area that was around them, Now, you guys behind enemy lines, but I don't need to tell you guys to watch yourselves, given your powers and skills, but I do need you to take out a cache of Dark Eco near the South Port border. We have been receiving reports that the Tainted are using it to create terrible Dark Eco weapons and infect the parts of the city that they're currently living in... we've got to stop that from happening at all costs, before all of Haven is consumed by our enemies.

"So, they're terraforming the city to suit their needs, or maybe their dark desires," Twilight commented, as Ashelin's brief statement told her everything she needed to know about the situation, someone was using Dark Eco to twist and corrupt the landscape that they were seeing, though right now she would point the finger at Errol and label him as the one that was behind this happening, because if he was controlling both the KG Robots and the Tainted, like they assumed, then it made some sense for him to do this, especially if he was in league with those aboard the Day Star, meaning he could be getting a head start on the reforming of their planet.

Of course the extent of the dark terraforming informed the siblings that Errol must have waited for them to be stranded in the Wasteland, that way his plan could move without being slowed down by any interlopers, though instead of wasting a lot of time on thinking about that Jak started to navigate his way towards the Dark Eco crystal that was near them, which seemed to be drawing in power and converting it into twisted energy that would be used to corrupt everything else that was inside the city and the surrounding area. While he did that Twilight and her sisters did the reasonable thing as each of them noticed another detail, there were a lot of Tainted Metal Heads rushing towards their location, and they confirmed that Alvin and his brothers were unable to free them from Errol's dark control, which lead to Cozy channeling her power as she rushed out and smashed her targets into both the ground and the walls around them, just like she did during their previous brief battles. Starlight, on the other hand, used both her staff and her gun to deal with her enemies, showing the Tainted that none of them could reach her and that they would suffer defeat if they came at her, while Twilight sighed as her alternate selves emerged from where they had been resting, resulting in most of them rushing out and smashing into their enemies while Midnight floated above where they were fighting and studied the terraformed section of Haven City, something they were fine with since she had a greater chance of reversing this, especially since she and the other versions of Twilight would speak about it in due time. Jak found that it was incredibly easy for him to smash his way through the Dark Crystal that seemed to be messing with the city's energy, though as one fell he suspected that there were a few more targets for them to take down and he followed what seemed to be the path forward, a number of vines that seemed to be made out of nerves or something, something that required the use of his JET-Board and some pressure vents while his sisters followed the edges of the path and continued their fights, tearing down their enemies so he could focus on simply breaking the targets Ashelin wanted them to break.

While they moved through the Tainted's section of Haven City, however, Midnight made a note of the massive tendrils that were growing out of the ground, especially one that seemed to be the heart of the corruption, that being a tower that was nearly the size of the now fallen Palace, though such a thing didn't stop Jak from smashing the next couple of crystals to pieces before they eventually reached one that rested in front of a cracked wall, something that lead to the dark energy rushing into their bodies and allowed Jak to release a burst of dark energy that tore the wall apart.

"A new power... Dark Blast, if my observations are correct," Midnight commented, though while she said that she and the rest of the Twilights regrouped with the main body and disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, though this event actually opened the way for them to head back into the Port, where they found the Neo Metal Heads had been guarding the area to make sure the Tainted didn't invade the area that Torn and the others were resting in.

"Yeah, though I have the feeling that we didn't do much to slow the spread of the Tainted's corruption," Jak said, as right now it sure looked like Errol's allies might have all sorts of toys that would allow them to terraform the area around them, especially since they had no idea what was inside the tendrils Midnight had been staring at, or the tower for that matter, so there was a chance that each of them might house more objects like what he had smashed and it was possible for their enemies to use them to infect the rest of the city.

Jak, girls, Samos here. a voice said, where their Communicator came out while they were talking and revealed that Samos had something he wanted to share with the four of them, making them wonder if he was going to say something about the forest that they had helped him gain his powers in not that long ago, or at least his younger self that had been sent into the past with their younger selves, While you're near the entrance to South Haven Forest, could you please go check out reports of a Dark Eco infestation there, as Keira and I are convinced that such a thing is happening and both of us are unable to do anything about it. It seems someone is still experimenting with Dark Eco, despite what you four have done in the past, but remember, if you find infected plants, you must destroy them before they spread and consume the rest of Haven Forest, especially since Keira has discovered that there might be some ancient Precursor pillars somewhere in there, which might be linked to the catacombs... but if the Tainted have their way, and overrun the place with their dark terraforming ways, we'll never know for sure.

"We'll take care of it, then figure out what needs to be done next for the war effort," Cozy replied, though she had a feeling that she, Jak, and Starlight wouldn't be doing much once they reached where Samos wanted them to check out, given that one of the Twilights happened to be the manifestation of Green Eco, so there was a chance that she would undo whatever Keira and Samos had found previously, while they were stuck in the Wasteland, and the others nodded their heads for a few seconds before they started moving.

Sure enough the siblings headed for the area in question, which was behind them and to their left, where they found that part of the ramp that lead up to the Door Lock was half covered by the corrupted ground, once more making them take a moment and wonder how the Tainted could have done such a thing in such a short period of time, despite the fact that all of their enemies had been preparing and struck once the four of them were stranded in the vast Wasteland, but right now they focused on Samos' task. Once the door was open Jak and his sisters found that they were brought to a new section of Haven Forest, meaning someone must have used a lot of Eco power to shift what all four of them were used to seeing, as none of the rocks and trees were similar to what they had seen in the past, though as they stepped out into the open the siblings found that there were no Precursor items in the surrounding area. Of course Jak spotted a number of dark plants that were growing out of the ground, scattered all over everything that they could see right now, though right now most of them seemed to be in what he would assume were the early stages of growth, as they were small bulbs that were growing out of the ground, spreading dark tendrils into the ground so they could force more darkness into the earth and corrupt more of the massive force. Not a few seconds later Twilight came to a stop as both Midnight and Green stepped out, even though she knew that they needed to find a better name for the other four Twilights and not just call them by the color all of them represented, to which the pair weaved their powers into every inch of the forest while Jak, Starlight, and Cozy just stood there, watching what was going on right now, where Midnight withdrew all of the Dark Eco and created spheres out of what had been pumped into the area while Green used her power to heal the forest, though while this happened they found five circular platforms appear in the nearby lake and that there was a larger one in the middle of them.

As the pair finished dealing with the darkness that had been trying to claim Haven Forest, and Samos informed them that he was pleased with their efforts to make sure the Dark Eco didn't terraform anything more than what they had seen since entering the Tainted's side of the city, Jak walked over to the central platform, jumping over to do such a thing, and found a piece of Precursor armor that matched Mar's set, a shoulder piece that went with what Daxter was standing on right now, so he had a complete set of shoulder pads, though with that done they paused for a time to make sure the forest was safe, before worrying about what the future held for them.