As Jak and the others made their way out of the Temple, they received a desperate communication from Damas. "Jak, we need you back at Spargus city! The scope's picking up something over the water, and it's not a storm! I think it has something to do with the dark satellites we've been seeing. You're our best gunner, so get back here now!"
"We'll be right there, Dad!" Jak promised as he leapt into the Dune Hopper, Daxter and Shining leaping in after him. After hanging up the communicator, however, he didn't activate the buggy right away. Instead, he gripped the sides, focusing his mind inward.
"Jak?" Daxter asked worriedly. "What are you doing?"
"Something crazy or stupid," Jak replied as he shifted to Light form. "Possibly both."
Grinning widely, Shining put his horn to Jak's side, adding his magical energy. "Let's see what you've got."
Turning on the Dune Hopper, Jak activated a turbo boost, shooting the buggy down the hill until it hit a slight bump just before a break in the path. Just as the buggy hit the bump, he triggered the buggy's jump...and spread his Light Eco Wings. With Shining's magic boosting it, the wings spread wide enough to hold the buggy aloft, gliding with the speed boost across the entire desert at high speed.
"I think it's both!" Daxter screamed out as the buggy slowly lost altitude without losing momentum, crashing front first into the sand floor of the buggy garage at the edge of Spargus, just inside the outer wall and nearly landing on Kleiver.
Hauling himself out of the buggy, Jak glanced over at just how close he came to crushing Kleiver. "So close!" he joked, pulling Shining and Daxter after him into the city.
As the trio entered the city, they found it under attack by the same Dark Eco Troopers that had been attacking the Monk's Temple. "Get to the gun!" Shining shouted out as he and Daxter raced to assist the citizens who were fighting back, each of them armed and ready to fight. "We'll help hold the ground!"
"On it!" Jak called back as he leapt on his Jetboard to get to the gun turret as fast as possible.
"You sure he can handle the gun without us?" Daxter asked worriedly.
"More sure than I am the citizens can handle the Troopers without us," Shining replied, racing into battle with Morph Gun and Eco Blade floating in his aura.
"Valid point," Daxter replied, extending a Light Eco Blade from one paw.
"Only one paw?" Shining asked curiously.
"My Eco abilities seem to come out as I need them," Daxter replied. "And Since Jak can heal himself with Light Eco, I figure maybe I can heal others? Wanna keep a paw available if that's the case."
"Not a bad idea," Shining called back as he took advantage of a Trooper's focus on a warrior of Spargus to split it down the middle from behind. "Let's go!"
Jak reached the turret without problems, racing up the ladder to mount the gun as capsules fell into the water before him. The same capsules then came rising back up out of the water, as heads of massive creatures seemingly made of tendrils of Dark Eco, launching explosive spheres towards the city. Jak kept his attention on the spheres, taking them out first while he watched to see how to take out the assault beasts. A sweeping strafe revealed to him that the 'capsule' heads took no damage from the turret's fire, and close observation showed that the tendrils that supported the creatures' weight were thicker and more substantive than the others. Taking a gamble, he targeted the 'leg' tendrils with the turret. Enough damage caused those tendrils to dissolve, and when all did the capsule creatures would explode.
"Well, now that I know how to destroy these things..." he muttered with a wide grin.
Shining and Daxter raced back and forth through the desert city, finding any locals pinned down by the Troopers and lending aid, keeping casualties down. Daxter's hopeful prediction about his abilities proved accurate, as he found he could indeed heal wounds with his Light Eco, though doing so drastically drained his reserves, leading him to the conclusion that - short of emergencies - it would be better to let nature and medicine do its job. "How do you think Jak's doing?" he called out to Shining.
"I'm hearing plenty of explosions and very few human screams from the direction of the harbor," Shining called back, "so I'm guessing he's doing fine!"
"Here's hoping!" Daxter called back, only to freeze. Something was off. Glancing up, he saw a capsule falling towards Shining. "Watch out!" he yelled out, trying to tackle Shining out of the way, only to barely shift him. "Curse my tiny body-"
In a flash of light, Shining teleported them both out of the way before the capsule crushed them.
"...forgot you could do that," Daxter murmured lamely.
Shining stared up as the creature from inside the capsule rose, towering over the buildings. "So...this is what Jak's dealing with from the turret?" he asked weakly.
At that moment, a barrage of turret fire slammed into the creature's legs, making it explode. "Looks like he's doing quite well after all," Daxter gasped out.
"You get 'em bro!" Shining called out, racing back into the fray.
Jak, Shining, and Daxter all came to floating in the oasis at the top of Damas' tower. "Seems you pushed yourselves a little hard...again," Damas told them teasingly, fierce pride audible in his voice.
"How long were we out?" Jak asked worriedly, sitting up in the water.
"Only an hour," Damas told him. "Not nearly long enough in my opinion, if you three are pushing yourselves hard enough that you collapsed when the battle was over. Sig had to carry you down from the turret, Jak."
"We have to push," Shining replied as he got to his hooves. "If we go fast enough, we can use the planetary defense system to destroy the Dark Maker's ship before it reaches the planet."
"Eh?" Damas asked, not quite following.
"Turns out 'blowing up the Day Star' was the right call after all," Daxter explained as he clambered out of the water, shaking himself off. "No matter how irritated Seem was at the suggestion."
Damas couldn't help but chuckle. "You three have more than proven yourselves in service of Spargus. You have earned this." Holding out his hand, he gave Jak the third and final Battle Amulet. "The three pieces together form a beacon. If you ever need the help of our city, use it to call us, and we will be there."
Smiling, Jak put the three pieces together, hanging the completed Battle Amulet around his neck alongside his Mar Sigil. "I'll remember," he said calmly.
"And to ensure you don't get yourself killed being as reckless as you are..." Damas continued with an impish grin. As Jak rolled his eyes and Shining and Daxter chuckled, Damas handed over a torso armor piece made of Precursor Alloy, matching the bracers and greaves Jak had found. "This is part of the armor our ancestor, Mar, once wore into battle. I feel it only appropriate that you wear his armor into battle, even as you bear his name." He smiled as Jak pulled it on. "I'd been saving it as a gift for you for when you came of age...only for it to happen when I wasn't looking."
Jak smiled warmly. "Thanks Dad."
"Just make sure you and Keira settle down in this time," Damas continued teasingly. "I missed seeing my sons grow up, so you owe me several grandkids to spoil!"
"Dad!" Jak groaned out plaintively as Shining and Daxter burst into laughter.