With Errol run out of the Tainted's section of Haven City, and likely retreating to the Dark Maker ship, Jak and his sisters found that all of Haven, both residents and returning Wastelanders, were preparing for war and were working together as everyone worked on vehicles and weapons, meaning that soon they would unleash their might on the remaining enemies that were between them and their final destination, the end of the vast Catacombs and the area that the Planetary Defense System rested in. While the siblings traveled around the Port, as Torn wanted to get an idea of how prepared they were for their final assault on Errol's forces, their Communicator came out and Pecker informed them that Onin had something to share with them, not to mention the fact that they would be waiting outside the Fortress, as they had moved her hut into the Slums before Veger toppled the Palace, meaning it was possible she had seen something else and wanted them to be aware of it, especially since they were getting ready for the final attack. As such Jak and his sisters bid Torn and the others farewell, allowing them to head back to whatever Praxis and Ashelin wanted them to do next, not to mention Damas for that matter, though once that was done they claimed some of the nearby zoomers and headed for the area that Pecker had stated, as talking to Onin would allow them to know more about the situation before they launched an assault on the ruined area that was above the Catacombs. Thanks to the elimination of most of Haven's enemies it took them no time to reach the section of the city that Onin had moved her hut to, where they landed nearby and found that both Praxis and Damas were standing there, with Samos standing near Onin and Pecker, meaning whatever the old seer had seen must be important, otherwise she wouldn't have had her companion call of of them to her hut.
"Jak, girls, it seems that we might have some serious problems on our hands," Samos stated, something that told Jak and his sisters that Onin must have seen something important, otherwise she wouldn't have called for all of them to come here in the first place, causing them to stand there and wonder what in the world she might have seen, even though that was when Samos turned towards Pecker and nodded his head.
"Onin says that there are strange forces at work." Pecker translated, as the moment Samos turned towards him and Onin, while at the same time the old seer started moving her hands and weaving her Eco powers as she witnessed whatever it was that had caused her to call for them, to which he glanced around the hut and determined what he needed to say to the siblings, before moving his feathers once more, "Fate has been twisted by something more powerful than anything she has ever seen in her many years; something now awakes, deep in the catacombs."
"I'm willing to bet the Precursors set up some sort of Guardian to make sure the Planetary Defense System is guarded, so it can't be misused or damaged," Daxter stated, as he had been spending far too much time with Jak and his sisters lately, due to the fact that he gained a warrior's desire for battle from Jak and Cozy while becoming more mature from Twilight and Starlight, the latter also granting him a bit of intelligence along the way, "either that, or maybe they left behind one of their artifacts so someone can follow after them... or receive instructions on how to use our planet's final weapon, which seems the most likely option, in my opinion."
"Still, to get to the Catacombs we'll need to fight our way through the ruined section of Haven City, as in the area that the Stadium used to rest in," Samos commented, though he found that he couldn't bring himself to disagree with Daxter, a first in his mind since he was used to disagreeing with the Ottsel, meaning that him hanging with the siblings had been a good thing for him and actually made him curious as to what might happen in the future, before he glanced over to both Baron Praxis and King Damas, who were considering things right now, "I believe it is time that we launch our final assault on Errol's forces, those that remain inside the ruined section of Haven City, so we can take down that Dark Maker ship and save our world from the terrible fate that is coming our way."
"Agreed, and the Council has authorized me, as my last act before we officially hand things over to our true rulers, to use all of our forces to secure the city," Baron Praxis said, where he and the others turned towards Jak and his sisters for a few seconds, who understood what was going on, that as soon as this battle was over, and their planet was safe from the vast power of the Dark Makers, Haven City would be theirs to rule over, with him and the Council aiding them, before he took a moment to bow his head a little, which the others did as well, "Jak, the time has come for you and your sisters to take your rightful place at the front of our army, as the full might of the Freedom League and the Neo Metal Heads are ready to take down Errol's forces."
"And you have the full support of Spargus, as in the Wastelanders, our Dark Sages, and myself, as well," Damas added, as he knew that this had to be the final battle for their world, the one that he had been preparing for since the day he and all of his fellow banished encountered Seem, which was also when he learned about the events that Seem knew about, but as of right now he knew that waiting in the Wasteland, and not helping, was a mistake and he was eager to follow his children into battle, especially after everything he had seen so far.
"Then let us declare war on what is left of Errol's forces," Jak stated, as while he knew that he and his sisters could take out all of their enemies in no time, and without threatening everyone else in the process, he also knew that this would allow all four of them to conserve a good portion of their energy for when they faced Errol and brought his plans to an end, as that was the endgame of this war, not to mention breaking the Dark Maker ship before it reached the planet, which seemed to be a good distance away since they had moved through their missions so quickly.
Praxis and Damas nodded as they departed from the hut and headed for the areas of the city that their forces were in, all while Jak, Twilight, Starlight, and Cozy headed over to the first area of Haven that they had appeared in after Veger tried to banish them earlier, as Jak was sure that was where they would find the way into the ruined section of the city, or one such entrance since there had to be multiple for the Tainted, and he had a feeling that he knew what would happen once they reached their destination. Sure enough they found Torn, Ashelin, and a force of soldiers, both Freedom League and those of the Neo Metal Heads, gathering outside where the HQ rested, as in behind the barrier between sections, though upon their arrival Jak and his sisters parked their zoomers and made their way up to where their friends were standing, though it was in that moment they discovered something interesting, Keira, Vin, and Tess were present as well. Of course they all knew that Tess could hold her own, given that she made weapons and had been Torn's right hand during their time in the Underground, at least before the four of them came around, though neither Keira or Vin were cut out for combat, which seemed to be why they had created what appeared to be a battle mech of some kind, sort of like what the Baron used to use against them, only these flying ones were likely stronger and sturdier than the others the siblings had torn apart in the past, meaning none of them had to worry about the pair. Once everyone was ready to go, and Jak was sure that some of the Council were present as well, showing that even they were willing to fight for their city and the fate of their world, Jak stepped forward and the barrier collapsed, and when his sisters moved the rest of this portion of their army followed not a few steps behind them, where they entered the ruined section of the city, though interestingly enough none of the Tainted showed up to battle all of the invaders.
Thanks to that Jak and his sisters were able to reach the part of this section that lead to where the Stadium rested and Jak stepped forward as Twilight let her magic wash over every fallen bit of material, where their forces watched as she made all of it lift up and start to reassemble into an open walkway that lead right into the former stadium, though since this was the first time that many of them had witnessed her power, up close and personal, all of their forces now understood how she had smashed the Factory and took it out of the sky.
Sure enough they found a whole army of Tainted on the other side of the new opening, who were surprised by what had just happened to their protection, though Jak wasted no time in charging forward as he swung his blade and cleaved one of their foes in half, something that was followed by Torn and the others rushing forward, where some of their soldiers joined him while others stood back and opened fire on their enemies, leaving Twilight to float through the air as she used her magic to fix the area into a flat walkway for them to use. Cozy, on the other hand, smiled as she rushed into some of the Tainted and cleaved them apart with her strength, reminding their allies that she was a berserker and that, in terms of power, not even the strongest of the Tainted could take her down, rather the only ones that could best her were Jak and their sisters, possibly even the Precursors if some still existed since their Eco powers would be far above hers, but for the time being she slashed and blasted her foes down as she followed Jak. Starlight followed their brother as well as she used her gun, the orbs that followed her, and the staff against her enemies, knocking the Tainted to the ground in heaps while Jak remained ahead of everyone in their army, where he and Daxter cut and blasted their foes while moving deeper into the ruined section of Haven. While they did that Torn, Tess, Ashelin, and the rest of this portion of their army blasted the enemies that were all around the area, making sure to eliminate anyone who dared to get in the way while Jak, his sisters, and their Ottsels tore through everything that was in front of them, showing the forces of Haven just how strong they had gotten since Veger tried to banish them and, more importantly, that they were fortunate to have them on their side, as a good number were sure that without the siblings they would have been unable to reach this point.
While they did that Twilight remained at the head of the army and weaved her magic all over the place, forming walkways for Jak, her sisters, and their army to use so they could progress deeper into the former Stadium, though at the same time she was also moving fragments of both the fallen structure and the fallen pillars of the Palace, where she considered what could be made in this area, as she was thinking about the future, once this war was over, though those plans would have to wait for a time as she raised a hand and crushed a flying enemy with her magic.
As they advanced through the ruined Stadium, however, Jak found a few walls that needed to be knocked down and stood back as either Cozy smashed her way through them or Twilight dismantled them with her magic, as both could open the way for them, though his focus was on blasting and slashing his foes as he followed the path that Twilight had created for their army to use during their assault, despite the fact that he could see where a few Eco Vents rested, mostly Dark and Light Eco. Eventually the path brought them to where one of the wings of the Stadium rested, one that reminded them of Keira's workshop and what had been around it, though sure enough Cozy smashed through another wall while Jak blasted some of the enemies that were in front of them and Daxter slashed at some of their foes before returning to his friend's side for whatever came at them next. As Jak reached an area that had some unsafe looking platforms Twilight waved one of her hands and the area shifted once more, forming a safer path as she studied the twisting path that the Tainted had carved out at some point in the past, though at the same time she waved her other hand and pieces of rubble lifted into the air, where she moved them over to an area that Jak wouldn't be passing by and set them down so she could continue moving things out of the way. Another thing the siblings noticed was that there happened to be areas that looked like one would need a JET-Board to cross over to another part of the area, though Twilight, once again, waved her hand and took care of that by creating a flat walkway for their forces to use, especially since Torn and the others didn't have a JET-Board and wouldn't have been able to follow Jak, Starlight, or Cozy into the rest of this area, but this allowed their forces to blast their way through the enemies that were in front of them and continue following after their true leaders.
Of course Torn and the others were surprised by the devastation that had happened to this part of the city, even if they had seen parts of it from above, but that just fueled their desire to take down Errol's forces, who should have had a slight advantage since the Tainted were supposed to be good against armies, but Jak and his sisters countered that fact and that allowed their forces to overcome everything that was in front of and around them, though it did look like the KG Robots had been fully taken out, as none of them showed up to aid the Tainted.
Thanks to their efforts Jak, his sisters, and their forces were able to reach what appeared to be a transition from a smaller area and transformed into a larger area that looked like someone might use the Wastelander vehicles to move forward, and as they entered it a number of Dark Satellites moved down into the area and seemed to focus on them, surprising the forces of Haven since this was the first time many of them had seen these things in action, though Twilight used her magic to shatter some of them. The remainder of the Dark Satellites suffered a different end as one of the walls to their left just shattered as Damas drove his large vehicle through it, smashing into one of their enemies while more sections of the wall collapsed not a few seconds later and the Wastelanders crushed the Dark Satellites with their vehicles, something that put a smile on the faces of Jak, Twilight, Starlight, Cozy, and their army. With that done Damas beckoned for them to join them and Jak climbed into their father's vehicle, taking control of both the large vehicle and their entire army as Torn and a fair number of Haven's forces joined up with those from Spargus, though while there weren't enough ground vehicles for all of them Keira had a surprise waiting, she had prepared a number of cruisers and they were ready for use, basically allowing the rest of their ground forces to take to the skies not a few moments later. In that moment Twilight summoned her magic and created what appeared to be a curved horn of some kind, one that she raised to her lips and blew out what Jak could only describe as a declaration of war, one that empowered their forces and gave them home while letting their enemies know that their doom was approaching, just in case Errol happened to be down here, before she nodded her head and it lead to Jak driving forward as everyone else followed him.
Once more Twilight moved ahead of their united army and reformed the ground to be smoother than what had been let behind after the Stadium had been destroyed and the Palace had collapsed, allowing Jak, Starlight, Cozy, and the others to focus on blasting the Dark Army that started to warp down into the area that happened to be in front of them, which did mean that they had to be close to locating the entrance to the Catacombs, something that pleased the siblings since it told them they were close to finishing this war. One thing Twilight discovered was that someone was trying to fire missiles at all of their forces, where she waved her other hand at the sky and exploded the incoming attacks before they could hit the ground, allowing Jak and their forces to smash and blast their way through every Dark Trooper and member of the Dark Army that happened to be blocking the way forward, where she had to wonder if Errol even realized that his forces were being slaughtered by those they were trying to take down. Jak also discovered that his father's vehicle was more than able to smash through tough walls with ease, as he did so and watched as Twilight grabbed onto the fragments with her magic so they didn't fall on their forces, though she also made sure to crush and dismantle any Dark Satellites that were in the area, leaving the skies clear so everyone in the cruisers could open fire on their enemies without having to worry about anyone attacking them in return. The interesting part was that there were a few earthy sections in the area that the Dark Army happened to be guarding, like they had smashed through the main wall of Haven and had formed a path outside the city, but such a thing didn't matter to most of them as Twilight and Gaia weaved their powers together and formed a more flat path for them to take, allowing them to focus on smashing their enemies and figuring out where the entrance to the Catacombs rested, since it had to be out here somewhere.
Eventually they reached an area that had a metallic tower that seemed to be powering an electrical fence nearby, a barrier to stop people from advancing deeper into the area, which told Jak that they had to be heading in the right direction as he smashed his vehicle into the structure, doing no damage to his father's vehicle as the tower collapsed and the barrier fell apart, opening the way for him, his sisters, and their army to advance even deeper into the Dark Army's section of the city, who had to be worried about their chances at this point. Based on the next couple of metallic towers and stone doors the siblings knew that Errol must have known where the Catacombs rested and, while everyone was distracted by the war for Haven, built some defenses to hide this area from those who opposed him and his allies, though as they noticed that they also learned something interesting, instead of giving them the information needed Seem had come with their forces and was working to make sure everything was ready for when they reached the Catacombs. Not a few moments later Jak and his sisters found more barriers that had more than one tower attached to them, meaning that Errol had expected to be discovered at some point and had readied his defenses accordingly, but what he wasn't expecting was for the full force of Haven and Spargus to be brought to bare against his army, especially as the Wastelanders drove over the Dark Troopers and used the guns to blast the flying enemies out of the air that was around them, meaning Jak and his sisters could rest and conserve their strength for the final battle. As Jak reached what appeared to be the end of the path, Twilight found the device that had been loosing missiles and crushed it with her magic, though it was in that moment that they found the one thing, in this entire area, that they had been looking for, the entrance to the Catacombs, which reminded Jak, his sisters, and their Ottsels of the Precursor Subrail that had lead them to the Eco Mine, and it just so happened to have a vehicle in front of it, likely dispensed for them to use.
"Looks like this is as far as we go." Damas commented, as he noticed what his children were staring at and realized what it was without having to be told anything, because this meant they were one step closer to saving their world, to which Jak climbed out of the vehicle and approached the Precursor one, with his sisters floating in the air around him as they simply waited for him to get moving, before he considered something for a second, "Jak, girls, I am proud of you. We will stay up here and secure the area, while you head down into the Catacombs and put an end to the Dark Maker ship... there will be time for celebrating later."
Jak nodded as he climbed into the vehicle and headed down the passage, with Twilight, Starlight, and Cozy following after him, though what they discovered was that the defenses, as in all of the orbs and lasers they had to avoid after they found the first subrails, were deactivated, no doubt Seem had a hand in doing that, something that allowed them to reach a large underground chamber that was a decent depth below Haven City, even though Twilight was sure that they were actually near the core and had passed through a Warp Gate of some kind without knowing. That was followed by them finding the device they were looking for, a massive Precursor structure that seemed to be built in or above the very core of their fair world, where the area in question seemed to be made out of a vast array of Precursor objects, spheres, rings, and all sorts of panels that lined the chamber, before they focused on the machine in front of them, as it was also interesting and was what they were looking for. The Planetary Defense System was a massive device that had three main components, which were two massive guns, on on their right and one on their left, a large Oracle that seemed to have been created in a more passive expression, unlike what they had seen so far, and a platform that connected all three of those objects together, a straight walkway that happened to have a device in the middle of it, one Jak assumed to be the power station for the main weapon, especially since Twilight produced the Light and Dark Eco Crystals and they were enveloped in a sphere of metal, Precursor metal to be exact. While that happened Twilight noticed something else, there happened to be a floating object below the entirety of the Planetary Defense System, one that looked like a constellation that was glowing, almost pulsing with energy, which almost seemed like a mix of Eco and Magic, though her attention was pulled back to the Oracle as they approached the edge of the platform, where Jak pulled up beside the platform and climbed out, allowing his sisters to land to his sides as each of them stared at the massive device.
As they did that, however, two ovals of dark energy, to their right and left, opened up and another surprise happened, as Gol and Maia stepped out with a light smile on their faces, though they said nothing as they turned and bowed their heads towards the Oracle, something that made them wonder just what both of the Dark Sages had been up to since they used the Rift Gate, as it seemed like they had learned some secrets and they were only now revealing what sort of secrets they had learned over the years.
Greetings, great warriors. the Oracle stated, where they found that this particular Oracle had red eyes, instead of the blue that they were used to and meant this had to be one of the first creations of the Precursors, though as they stood still Twilight watched as the device she had pulled out was encased in one more layer of metal, making it look like a Power Cell that was as big as someone;s head, You and your companions have done well to reach this point, as you have arrived with plenty of time left to save your world from the Dark Maker ship. Now, place the Eco Sphere in the receptacle, so it can begin its energy conversion and start charging this ancient weapon, which will take some time to accomplish, but, due to your actions, we have time to spare.
Jak said nothing as he took the Eco Sphere from Twilight and slipped it into the receptacle, where they watched as the two guns, which could be cannons he guessed as he looked at them, shifted and pointed at a circular device that was behind the large Oracle, likely a Warp Gate that would allow the attack to safely pass through the planet without damaging all the stuff that was between them and the Dark Maker ship, before discovering that the left was channeling Light Eco and the right was doing the same for Dark Eco, meaning it was going to combine the two and fire a beam of energy at their target once the charging was done.
"So, um, what's with the constellation soul?" Twilight asked, deciding that, since they apparently had time before having to deal with the Dark Maker ship, or at least that was what the Oracle had implied, she might as well try to ask the Oracle a few questions and get some more information on everything that was going on right now, even though the fact that Gol and Maia knew how to get down here meant they must have figured it out before and used this as a test or something, so that was something else she was going to have to ask about, even though she had no idea why she referred to the one item as a 'soul', "And that's not the only question, as I have many more that I want to ask..."
"There will be time for that later, Twilight," Gol said, where he walked up and came to a stop on the left side of the Oracle, at least from where the siblings were standing at the moment, while Maia did the same thing, only she stood on the right side, though that was when both of the Dark Sages were enveloped by a dark mist and disappeared for a few moments, only for the smoke on the left to clear first, revealing a dark gray furred Ottsel that was both dressed like Gol and looked like him, causing the group to pause for a moment.
"Once you've saved the world, anyway," Maia finished, to which Jak, his sisters, and their Ottsel companions watched as all the remaining mist cleared and another Ottsel, this one looking a lot like Maia did while having dark purple fur, appeared where Gol's sister had been standing, though interestingly enough both happened to be wearing the attire they had been wearing earlier, meaning it had shrunk with them during the transformation, though this did confirm something for them and that was the fact that Ottsels were similar to Humans, in the sense that female Ottsels had breasts, something that Twilight mentally added to her studies of the species.
In that moment a section of the Oracle's lower body, the stomach most likely, opened up like a door or gate was opening, something that was odd since this was the first time any of them had seen something like this, before they discovered that the inside of the Oracle was made up of a bunch of machinery and consoles, with three more Ottsels, these ones sharing Daxter's fur color, standing on floating platforms, one looking like a wise elder due to his robes and staff, the second one looked like he liked to surf and have fun, and the third might have been blinded in battle since he had a Precursor helm of some kind over his eyes.
We have much to explain. the elder Ottsel said, which came out as the Oracle's voice, where they discovered that he had a device in his right hand that he spoke into not a few seconds ago, meaning it distorted his voice into the voice all of them had heard from the Oracles in Seem's temple, before he lowered the device and offered them a smile, even though he knew that this had to be a lot to take in, especially since they were being told nothing right now, "And explain we will, once the Dark Maker ship and Errol have been taken care of... once that's done, we will answer your questions to the best of our ability."
While Jak and his sisters heard that, in a voice that was both old and gentle, reflecting the chubby Ottsel's position as the elder of the group, all of them sighed for a moment, as it seemed think things were getting crazy and that they had to take down Errol first, before being able to get any answers to their now growing questions, though Jak also felt sorry for Errol at this point, as with the promise of answers Twilight and Starlight would likely tear the ship apart to get at what the elder was offering them, though he knew the final battle was upon them and wondered what would happen once they clashed with Errol for the last time.