They’ve landed near to the source of the broadcast message. The landscape surrounding them is vast; there are no signs of mankind here. The desert environment feels strangely mystical; dozens of huge rock columns – all unusual shapes and sizes – tower over them. They have an almost supernatural veneer to them; their once jagged and chaotic faces now worn down and celestially sculpted by the winds of time.

Jak and Ryker step out of the ship, noticing the gravity of the new planet. The sun is low on the horizon but still shines fiercely, casting long shadows on the grainy rock beneath them. Ahead they see a grand entrance, naturally carved into the side of a towering cliff. Ryker reaches for his handheld interface to check the coordinates of the broadcast again: the source of the message is coming from within the cliff. He signals towards the opening, and the two men walk towards it.

As their eyes adjust to the dimmed light inside, they can begin to make out monumental caverns surrounding them in all directions. Smooth rock formations emerge from the ground and grow up as high as the roof, each with a meticulous design that appears too exact to be entirely natural. Jak can feel something here that he can’t grasp. 

They continue to walk deeper into the caverns. As the natural light from the entrance gradually fades away, it is replaced by a narrow beam of sunlight pouring in from a large hole in the cavern’s ceiling. Towards the center of the cave is a rocky altar, brightly shrouded by the piercing beam of light. Jak and Ryker slowly approach the altar. It feels sacred here; there is a purity to this place that resembles a temple.

Without notice, something happens that neither man can explain. As they reach the altar, some sort of being formed of heat and light suddenly appears out of nothing. A flame-like figure erupts above the altar, the shape towering over them in a spiral, its form morphing constantly like a mirage dancing in the sky. Subtle electric blue tones underpin its incandescent extremities. As it moves it leaves a trail of ephemeral particles that refract its own effusive light. An immense heat is emitted that holds them in a fervorous embrace. The feeling is instinctive and unbelievably powerful – it is enthralling.

This thing is not like anything either man has seen before. It shimmers in a way that is entrancing; absorbing and reflecting light in exquisite cascading patterns. Jak becomes immediately hypnotized by the way it shapeshifts and glistens. He knows at once what this thing is.

“It’s one of them… the Ardor…” Jak murmurs, transfixed by the being.

There is an ecstatic and primordial warmth radiating from the flame-like entity; the fluctuations in heat are so precise that they conjure inconceivably striking thoughts and emotion. The being is speaking to him and somehow he understands.

"My daughter… is she here?" 

Before he finishes his question, Jak feels an intense rush of pressure and heat throughout his entire body, sending him into a deep dream-like state. It dawns on Jak: these beings communicate through heat. The profound connection with their sun goes beyond merely the physical.

He sees a flash of what looks like a congregation of the Ardor and humans. The being is showing him his daughter at a site nearby.

“She’s close…” He can sense everything that the entity is communicating with him. “What… what is this place?” 

Ryker looks on, bewildered. His suit can detect the fluctuations in temperature but he can’t understand what Jak is experiencing. Streams of data analyzing the shape and heat signature of the flame are generated, his bodysuit attempting to interpret and decipher the strange form. It’s useless here. He has never seen anything like this.

The being emits another lustrous glimmer, captivating Jak entirely. It tells Jak that the gathering of Ardor and humans is a ceremonial site, and that they are there to prepare for the end of their species. Taith is there willingly, and there is still time to see her.

With a final gleaming flicker, the being slowly begins to disintegrate. The intense heat fluctuations cease and Jak is returned to his body. 

Jak understands the truth now. Why Taith is here. Everything. The end is imminent.