It was early morning by the time that the Phantom Blade reached the area that Far Drop was located in, where Jak and his sisters found that it was build into a rather large cavern that had been called Pirate's Cove at one point in time, at least that was what Phoenix told them, and that these days it was ruled over by a rather interesting Lurker called Barter, which reminded the siblings of Brutter, the Lurker they had assisted back in Haven and who aided them in getting the Rift Rider to where Kor had been keeping the Rift Gate. One thing they could see, even from a distance, was that the entirety of Far Drop was made out of wood, metallic scaffolding, and contained a number of wooden structures all over it, forming a small settlement that seemed to be a safe haven for smugglers and pirates, other crews in addition to Phoenix's own, so it was bound to be full of troublemakers and it might mean they would have to fight some people while they were visiting this area. Phoenix asked Jak and his sisters to head down and retrieve the supplies they needed for their journey, mostly since he was still fixing the rest of the damage that had been done to his ship, though Jak suspected that there might be some people in Far Drop that would take one look at Phoenix and get into a fight with him, but he agreed in no time, as it would give them some time to explore before returning with the supplies. After that Keira mentioned that she found another weapon mod for him to take, one that some of the pirates were okay were handing over since they didn't want Jak or his sisters coming after them, which happened to be a Vulcan mod, causing him to smile as he attached it to the top of his gunstaff, though he made sure to thank her for finding it and the person who held it previously, causing her to smile as well as she returned to her studies.
As they walked down to where their Hellcat rested, however, Jak noticed that Twilight had lost another inch or two during her rest, something she had either noticed and didn't care about or she hadn't noticed it at all, or maybe she was trying not to worry about her changes, since they were unstoppable at this point, and was focusing on their quest, to which they departed from the Phantom Blade and flew out into Far Drop, quickly finding a landing pad that wasn't being used, one Jak landed on without delay.
"So this is Far Drop... interesting." Twilight remarked, taking in the city that was around them as they left the area that Jak had landed in, as it was a somewhat fascinating place and knew that if they had the time she would have stayed for some time to study it before leaving for their quest, so maybe they would come back and give her a chance to study it before all of them headed back to Haven.
It was in that moment that they were approached by a light blue furred Lurker, who seemed to be somewhat shorter than most of his kind, the ones Jak and his sisters were used to dealing with, and seemed sort of stout, while having a pair of spurs on either side of his mouth and he a had dark blue beard, a color that was mimicked on the fur on his arms, but he was wearing a blue and yellow striped shirt, green pants, and a belt to keep everything together.
"Me Barter!" the Lurker stated, confirming that they had found the person that Phoenix had asked them to talk with, for all of the supplies he needed for the ship and their journey, though based on his words it seemed like he might be unable to speak like Brutter could, meaning he might be far less sophisticated, even if he seemed happy about his statement as he focused on them, "Big time smuggler. Me a top dog in Far Drop."
"Tough town." Jak commented, as it was unlike what they were used to, even if he and his sisters were used to dealing with all sorts of dangers and saving the day, before he noticed some odd white skinned creatures, with dark patterns and some green crystals that seemed to be growing out of their bodies, something that immediately caused him to turn back to the Lurker for a few moments, "What are those creatures?"
"Dark Eco Mutants." Barter replied, his tone revealing that he wasn't too happy about the creatures, meaning they might be disrupting whatever peace this place happened to have, though Jak and his sisters didn't need to be told much to figure out what was going to happen next, especially given everything that happened to them over the years, "They show up few months ago. Been fighting 'em big time ever since. I need strong fists to protect me goods! I pay you well."
"We only need supplies." Starlight said, where she gestured with her head to the Phantom Blade, which was still hanging near Far Drop as Phoenix and the others did their repairs, along with whatever else they might do while they waited for her and her siblings to track down Barter and get the supplies they needed for their journey, something that caused the Lurker to glance at the ship as he understood what he was being told.
"Hm, Barter has deal." Barter stated, where he gestured to the Dark Mutants for a moment as he focused on them, even if they had a good idea of what he would be asking for before he even said it, though they remained silent so they could hear whatever deal he wanted to make with them, one that might grant them the supplies they needed and allow them to move on with their quest, "You keep mutants from breaking Barter shop, Barter give you supplies!"
It was a good arrangement and the siblings agreed to help him out, causing the pair of Dark Mutants to depart before any of them could do anything to them, before Barter headed over to where his store was located, giving them some time to glance around the rest of Far Drop as they moved forward, even discovering that there happened to be a gold or bronze statue of a man none of them recognized. In that moment one of the Dark Mutants rushed by and headed over to another part of the city, meaning Jak and his sisters were going to have to hunt them down before taking them out, while they also discovered another foe that would need to be taken out, mutant silver colored fish, which looked like eels to be honest as Jak stared at them, causing them to sigh for a moment before lashing out at the Voltaic Eels, as Twilight felt that they were more electric looking in her eyes. This time around she stuck to using her weapons, as she picked them out for a reason, as she joined her siblings in attacking the Voltaic Eels that were currently in front of them, though it didn't take them that long to take them out and Twilight found some lingering tracks that belonged to the Dark Mutant they had seen, even if it was something that the others had to strain their eyes to see, making her wonder if her awakening nature was allowing her to do far more than what she used to do. From there they followed the path she found the tracks going down, where they headed across some wooden bridges and tracked down another group of Voltaic Eels that were smashed in seconds, though it was in that moment that they found a pair of Dark Mutants surging towards what appeared to be a bar, one that Starlight defended with a barrier spell, while allowing them to lash out at the pair of enemies that turned and rushed over to where they were standing.
What they discovered was that the Dark Mutants were far more durable than most enemies they had encountered, as it took between five to ten hits to take both of them down, making Jak wonder if these had been modeled in the image of Kor and the Tainted, since some Metal Heads were incredibly durable, but that didn't stop the siblings from taking down the pair of enemies and made sure that the bar was secure, before discovering two more Dark Mutants were marching on where they were standing, causing them to get ready for another bout.
"Hurry! Mutants attacking generator! Use Aeropult!" Barter said, speaking through their Communicator, which made them wonder how people kept figuring out their signature without them giving that information out, as soon as the last Dark Mutant had been taken care of, though it drew their attention to what appeared to be a metallic device that could pass as a catapult that ran on pistons and steam.
As Starlight pulled down the barrier around the bar, which was pristine, Jak spun a wheel and moved the piston that was the main part of the Aeropult into position, only to find that Twilight surrounded them in a barrier so all of them could be launched through the air and land on the ground safely, though once that happened she dismissed the spell, knowing that keeping it up for too long would drain her energy and speed up her transformation, the latter she was trying to avoid at all costs so they could focus on their mission. After landing on the metallic path that would bring them to the generator they found a few more patches of crystal, which were growing in an odd place when they considered everything about Far Drop and how it seemed to be constructed in the first place, Twilight formed the crystalline constructs so they could move even deeper into the area, allowing Cozy to reach a pair of Dark Mutants and lashed out at them instantly, stopping them from damaging Far Drop's generator as her siblings caught up with her. Sure enough she found that their earlier thoughts about the Dark Mutants were correct, these foes were tougher than anything they had faced before this point in time and even if it was four on two they still had to be careful when dealing with their enemies, though they were able to take out the pair of enemies and save Barter's generator from being destroyed, something the Lurker was definitely grateful for. With that done they determined that the only way forward was for one of them to turn a nearby wheel, one that powered down the electrical barrier that happened to be blocking the way forward, though on the other side of where it had been resting Jak and his sisters found a Precursor Totem waiting for them, which granted all four of them a new Blue Eco power, before the group focused on the fast moving machine that was blocking the way forward.
This power happened to work a lot like the Time Freeze power they had gained back in Seem's Temple, so they settled on calling it Eco Reflexes, just to go with Twilight's naming theme, even if it didn't seem impressive since her mind was on her own problems, before they slowed things down and moved across the area in front of them, before discovering an area to use the Eco Rocket Jump in, all so they could move throughout whatever was left of Far Drop.
"You know, I wish I was a Prism Sage, then I could help you guys out." Daxter commented, as during their first adventure he had sat on Jak's shoulder and did next to nothing to assist his friends in their mission to save the world, and thanks to both Twilight and Midnight helping him he had unlocked his own Eco powers, using them to good effect during their last three adventures, even if he didn't do much during the KGC, but his problem was that he was a Light Sage, so all he could do was sit and watch since his powers would only case him pain, same with Tess.
"Daxter, you and Tess are doing important work, keeping an eye on enemies while being our gunners," Starlight said, as it was easy for them to see that the two Ottsels were frustrated by their lack of ability to help fight their enemies, especially since the Light Eco would do wonders to these Dark Mutants, but with how unstable Light and Dark Eco was in the Brink, given what happened to them whenever they tried to use one of them, it was impossible for them to use either one right now, not without causing intense harm to their bodies, something both seemed to understand.
While she might not have been totally successful in cheering up both Daxter and Tess, she was able to make a smile grace their faces as she and her siblings used the Eco Rocket Jump to reach the next part of Far Drop, where they found that it brought them back to where the statue rested and they discovered a Dark Mutant that was heading for the cabbages, as they knew that thanks to Barter informing them from their Communicator. What they discovered next was that the Dark Mutant actually didn't stop at the cabbages, rather it continued onward and the siblings stopped to deal with a number of Voltaic Eels that were trying to devour one of the food stock that kept Far Drop running, or at least it sure seemed like that based on how their client acted when he informed them about the ongoing assault. The twelve Voltaic Eels were easy for them to deal with, as all the siblings had to do was follow the curved path and dealt with all of them with their weapons, as conserving ammunition and energy for the Dark Mutants seemed to be the right course of action, given how strong those enemies were and the fact that they could take a lot of damage before falling, even though they discovered that trying to conserve energy was hard since Jak and his sisters encountered some areas to use their Eco Reflexes in. At the top of the area that the cabbages were being grown in they found another Aeropult, to which Twilight surrounded them with a new barrier after Jak spun the wheel, allowing them to be thrown through the air for a time before they landed in the area that the Dark Mutant was in, back at the start to be exact, before it headed down another path and forced the siblings to follow it, finding another area to use their Eco Reflexes in.
The path in question required them to use the new ability several more times, causing Twilight to huff since this was more of a strain on her weakened power reserves, before they found five Dark Mutants and a few Voltaic Eels attacking a new building, an orphanage according to what Barter told them, to which they rushed forward and attacked their enemies as they pulled them away from the structure in question, and it took them some time to bring them all down, causing Jak and his sisters to rest for a bit before moving again. After a moment or two of resting, since they had no way of knowing if that was the last set of enemies or not, the siblings found their way to yet another Aeropult that rested nearby, where Twilight sighed as she called her power up and formed a barrier around them when Jak was done moving the launch pad into the position that would send them back into the heart of the city. When everyone landed Twilight faltered for a moment, as all of this was definitely putting a strain on her energy reserves, but she followed after Jak and her sisters as they followed the Dark Mutant towards what appeared to be a crane, which was located by where they landed the Hellcat earlier, and simply opened fire on their enemies, pulling the six targets away from the spinning machine and lashing out at them like they had done with the other groups of enemies they had faced in this area. Of course some of them were actually on the crane and had to be pulled off, though Twilight, despite her weakening nature, which had to be due to the changes her body was now going through, used her magic and yanked them off the machine so her siblings could fight all of their foes, with her doing the same to one of them, even if she had to be more careful than Jak, Starlight, and Cozy while they faced their opponents and cleared out this area of Far Drop.
Of course the main Dark Mutant that they were following, who seemed to be leading them to each group of enemies that happened to be in this city, leapt down and retreated into the city once more, causing Jak and his sisters to follow after it once more, where they found that it remained near the statue and crushed it in a bear hug when they approached it, but that was the least of their concerns as they opened fire on their target, where they found that it didn't have many skills to use against them, save for sending barrels at them and easily avoidable attacks, so in the end they brought it down like all of the other Dark Mutants they had faced so far.
"Now that we've taken care of the Dark Mutants, we should head to the Tavern... Barter should be happy to see us," Tess said, even though Jak and his sisters were taking a moment to rest since that had been a good amount of fighting and they were somewhat drained from having to deal with all of the potent Dark Mutants, even though Twilight seemed to be even worse than before, no doubt due to using her power that much, and it made her wonder if more changes had struck her while they were saving Far Drop.
Jak nodded as they got up from where they were resting and headed over to where the Tavern rested, where they found a fair number of people inside the large building, which was protected by a pair of security doors, and the siblings were able to confirm that a fair number of those that were here were pirates and smugglers, though they saw a sign that indicated no weapons were allowed and put them away, allowing them to walk over to the circular bar and found Barter waiting for them to approach him.
"You best protection money can buy." Barter said, where he chuckled for a moment as he said that, since he knew that he hadn't paid them in the same manner that someone else would have asked for, allowing him to save money while giving all of them the supplies Phantom had sent them to collect, before he focused on why they had come to his tavern, since they weren't here to spend money on drinks or whatever entertainment Far Drop had, "Supplies are already on ship... just... Barter need one more thing."
"Any change it's a bar brawl?" Cozy asked, as while they had gone through enough fighting already, and would be fighting again when they reached whatever destination was tied to the Eco Seeker's coordinates, she had a feeling that Barter was asking such a thing from them, or at least she hoped it was so they could have a bit more fun before returning to the main reason they were here.
Barter simply chuckled as he readied himself, allowing Cozy and Jak to pick up their chairs before hurling them in what had to be random directions, causing the patrons to realize that a bar brawl was happening and lashed out at those who were around them, though in the end it changed nothing as Starlight joined them in fighting and Twilight only did so when some enemies came at her... but by the time things were done the siblings were victorious, Barter had a scrap payment added to their supplies, and he promised to have these set up for whenever they came back, to which the siblings left the Tavern and headed back to the Hellcat so they could return to Keira and figure out what their next step might be.