After taking the buggy out for a spin, the trio pulled back through the gates of Spargus to find Damas waiting for them. "I see the vehicle skills you spoke of were no empty boast," he proclaimed with a wide grin.
"Nothing we spoke of was empty boast," Jak stated quickly as he hopped out of the buggy.
"Including your control of the Dark Eco inside you," Damas chided. "Kleiver tells me you assaulted him completely unprovoked and stole a buggy."
"Now that's a down and dirty lie!" Daxter snapped. "Geez, it's like dealing with Krew all over again!"
"I know it's a lie," Damas interrupted. "I have trusted eyes everywhere. I reminded Kleiver that life gambling is outlawed in Spargus, and that as all three of you are under a bond of life-debt until you have proven yourselves full fledged citizens of Spargus, those rules apply to all three of you." Damas grinned widely. "I felt that also served as the reminder that there is nothing that happens in my city to which I am blind."
Shining chuckled as he imagined Kleiver's face when that happened. "Nice!"
"I do need him to keep the city running smoothly, however," Damas quickly interjected. "So don't go out of your way to pick fights with him."
"Will do," Jak agreed readily.
"To the matter at hand," Damas continued. "There are a number of artifacts to be found in the Wasteland, relics of a bygone age. Fresh storms churn the sands and reveal these relics. As a storm has just passed, I need you to head out into the desert and find as many artifacts as you can before the next storm arrives."
"Understood!" Shining confirmed as the trio leapt back into the vehicle and gunned the engine, preparing to shoot back out through the gate.
"One more thing!" Damas called, a hint of worry slipping into his voice. "If you are caught out in the storms, they will tear the flesh from your very bones."
"Oh, great," Daxter groaned. "Thanks for the pep talk."
"It's alright, Daxter," Jak replied easily. "We just won't get caught."
Damas couldn't help but chuckle as the trio shot out the gate. "...he's mine, alright," he murmured, his voice barely loud enough to reach his own ears, let alone anyone else's.
Jak threw caution to the winds as he drove as fast as the buggy could go, following his radar to collect the artifacts that showed up on his map, refusing to waste a moment. Several other buggies were out, more well armed and equipped than Jak's own, actively hunting him down...but despite their better equipment, Jak was a far better driver, able to almost literally drive circles around them. Between that, Shining's spot shields, and Daxter finding a way to brace himself so he could blast away with his Light Eco, the other drivers proved little to no challenge for the trio working together.
With their combined efforts, the trio were able to retrieve all 12 artifacts exposed and return to the city's gates in just under four minutes, just ahead of the storm.
Damas let out a quiet sigh of relief as the trio leapt out the front of their buggy as they parked. "Good work. That was...close."
"Put these to good use," Jak replied, handing over the artifacts they'd collected.
"I can put these two to use immediately," Damas mentioned, unlocking two of the artifact capsules. "This armor is very rare indeed," he indicated, holding up two wrist bracers. "According to Pecker's information, they're part of the very set Mar himself wore in his battles for this planet, long ago. I think it only appropriate you wear it now, Jak."
Nodding, Jak affixed the bracers to his arms. "They feel like they were made for me."
"Depending on which Mar Pecker's talking about, they might well have been," Shining teased.
"And I think these may well have been made for you, Shining Armor," Damas continued, pulling out four greave-like bracers. "Precursor alloy, reshaped by Dark Eco and cleansed in Red, Blue, and Yellow Eco...shaped to your limbs. No one else will be able to use them, so you'd best put them to good use."
Shining stared in awe as he affixed the interlocking brown plates of metal to his limbs, marveling as they bent with his movements, like a second skin. "...Gol and Maia?" Shining suggested, stunned. "And the other sages? Left behind for me?"
"Can't think of any other explanation," Daxter agreed. "Guess they wanted you to be well equipped when this time came up."
Shining smiled, wiping away a tear as he braced himself for whatever would come.
"By the way, Seem wants to talk to you," Damas explained.
"Who?" Jak asked, confused.
"The leader of the Secret Keepers," Damas continued. "Monks, dedicated to protecting the world from the more dangerous Precursor Relics, especially those crafted by Dark Eco."
"Oh, her!" Daxter proclaimed happily. "...or is it him? It's kind of hard to tell."
"Seem won't care what pronoun you use," Damas explained. "The leader of the Secret Keepers discards all personal identifiers when they achieve the rank. Age, gender, even name. 'Seem' is more a title. It's symbolic of the dedication to the world above the self." He shivered. "Gives me the willies, personally."
"You and me both," Daxter agreed.
"...huh," Shining replied. "That's...different."
"I won't hold it against them," Jak offered, shrugging his shoulders. "I can respect dedication."
"Them?" Damas asked, confused.
"If that much is discarded to become 'Seem', then Seem is supposed to represent every leader of the order, past and future," Jak pointed out. "At least, that's how I interpret it."
"Huh," Damas murmured as the trio made their way into the city to look for Seem. "...not a bad way to think about it."
Wow, I've got to play through this game again.
Huh, this is a first for me. I've never a caught a new chapter right as it came out.
Any who, it's a fairly short chapter, but it gives a good chunk of info on their allies. I'm looking forward to the next chapters.
7052625 same....
only problem is that i don't have the console to play it since i only have for ps3... which got its power unit fried a few months ago because of lightning overloading the power lines and therefore, the console so many game savefiles and progress lost....
You know your explanation for seems gender feels like what naughty dog was going for in the game.
So, Seem is like the Avatar? First thing that came to mind. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
7052649
Save files may be lost; however, if you get another ps3, you can re-download the game to that system. I know this because the version you speak of is the DLC version, the same one I have.
For future reference, if you have the $18 U.S. for a three-month PSN account, you're allowed so many gigs to back up your save files. I think you can use USB flash drives too, but I'm not sure.
In any case, I feel your pain; the Jak games are among my favorites. Naughty Dog did a real good job on those for the most part.
7052649 I had the same thing happen to my ps2 about 7 years ago. luckily back then all the saves were on memory cards
7052751 DLC version? wha.... i don't understand what you mean by that....
i have the jak & daxter trilogy disc. so i got jak 1, 2 and 3.
but i really don't know what you mean with "DLC version".....
I can just see him with a secret set of tunnels running through the city so he can appear out of nowhere to save the day when things go bad. I can also see him scaring some kids who wanted some alone time by popping up and telling them to go home before he tells their parents.
that would be Wear and Greave-like
7052851 Side effects also include acting as the Tooth Fairy, Monster Under the Kid's Bed, and Santa Claus.
7052996
You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
King Damas is watching, and the weak are fed to the Desert's Teeth. Merry Ice Night.
7052757
My PS2 still runs, but it won't read disks any more. Having trouble hunting down a replacement. Thankfully, PS2 emulation has come a long way, so I can at least play some of my games while I hunt down replacement hardware...
...oh, and now my PS3 is having trouble ejecting disks. I have to lift the entire console so it ejects strait down in order for it to work. *Sigh* maybe it's time I "Upgrade" (more like downgrade, if you ask me) to one of the Slim models. At least those can be ejected manually if need be...
7053033
All the artifacts showed up as identical pyramid shaped items that you drove over to collect them. Since that is never addressed or explained in game - and you never collected anything resembling the armor - I'm assuming they're protective capsules.
7052790
Sorry, I forgot that there was a disc version released for the ps3.
DLC is a loose term that refers to downloaded content. See, I got my version for the ps3 by using my Playstation Network account to buy a digital copy of the HD release. It has all three of the original games.
Granted, DLC is used mostly for post-release content; you know, extra maps and things for Call of Duty and such.
By the way, what I said about a PSN account is true; you can use it to back up save files. In addition, you can do the same with an external memory stick or other storage media. The best option for the second one is to use the back up utility.
Sorry for the mix-up; I really need to pay better attention to what ps2 games were re-released for the ps3.
7053016
Hmm, that shouldn't be happening. Mine is the standard version that has an eject button in front of the disc slot.
As for the ps2 is concerned, have you tried cleaning the eye? Especially in the slim version, you can take a soft Q-tip or toilet tissue and carefully clean the eye off. Alternatively, the reader itself might have misaligned on the track; simply moving it sometimes re-centers it.
7053176 yeah, mistakes happen to us all... just yesterday me and my friends were talking about Fallout 4 and suddenly one of them starts saying something about Half-Life 3(that seems to never come...) while still meaning Fallout 4. his brain to mouth filter malfuctioned and names got mixed up at least we got some pretty good laughs from it
Considering how even Naughty Dog members all addressed Seem as a he or a she in the commentary, this is the one of best way to explain Seem's gender identity.
Hang gliding mission coming up!~
I wonder how they're going to get Shining on that dinky thing... maybe he has to stay behind? Bummer...
Also... am I the only one that found it weird that even though Damas is Jaks father, he somehow has some weird genetic condition that has crystal horns growing out of his scalp? Kinda expected Daxter to comment on that...
7053229
I just watched video of the mission. Every item picked up by the buggy was pyramid shaped. Neither the bracers nor any 'power cell' shaped artifacts appeared.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good chapter.
7052996 as well as the Eater Bunny, Great Pumpkin, and Batman.
Edit: I meant Easter, but for this word Eater probably works. Better hope Light Eco plus grenade = Holy Hand Grenade.
7054608 Haha! 'Eater Bunny'. Which just might be exactly what it's called in this city.
Refugee from a Monty Python film.
7054047
I'm afraid I have to say the same thing of this story that I said on your other story. I can't possibly do the waiting game like I did this time for your stories. They're just too damned good.
Should I re-read this story first, or the R&C one?
7055996
Up to you.
This one's presently shorter.
7056042
Currently, but yes. I guess I'll read this one first!~
Want a comment every chapter for this story too?~
7056070
Yes please!
7058716
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsZ3mtg2oj4
Shining is VERY small then, and shouldn't be able to carry Jak around.
7058755
He doesn't carry Jak around. I never said he did.
He carries Daxter around sometimes, though.
7058794
Yeah, in game logic, once you collect and use a widget it disappears and you need to go get another one before you can do anything. But disregarding game logic, the power cells are basically mechanical parts. She should be able to go back and salvage the parts like any other physical object.
EDIT:
I just realized what you were trying to get across. Total count. Adding to the whole, instead of having to start from scratch. Please excuse my lack of intelligence, it's late and me brin no werk gud wen tiiiiiiired.
Seem is a monk Avatar. Crud that's neat.
Ah, okay.
Neat armor. It's nice to think that the downtime crew was still working to help the boys out even past their disappearance.
7484299
do you think he's a master of four eco.