I'm rewriting the first few chapters because they kinda sucked, I guess. Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. No flames, please. On a side note, while Ratchet has his physical design from the PS4 game, he actually wears his outfit from the original Ratchet and Clank game in this story. Until he gets the Protosuit. The beginning part of the Veldin level is also similar to the original game.

. . .

"I am very disappointed in you, XJ-0461. You... you have done the gravest deed that anyone in this universe has ever done. And now… you must be punished, my son. I am sorry I have to do this to you. But it is for the good of the Clock. For the good of the universe. You are hereby banished from this day forth from the Clock until you can find some way to redeem yourself. I can only hope you can..."

Many centuries later…

XJ-0461 opened his robotic eyes, scanning the area. Beside him was a large robotic arm holding a Combuster. "State your prime ob…" The tiny robot stared up at the arm in puzzlement.

As if it could anticipate XJ-0461's confusion, the mechanical arm suddenly emitted a bright, red cone of light, before slowly scanning the little robot. He was quite impressed by the show of light. But sadly the luminous display was for a nefarious purpose (pun fully intended), and the poor robot nearly jumped as the facility's alarms suddenly went off.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the arm specified what exactly had happened. "Defect detected!" it blared seemingly as loudly as possible. "Preparing for immediate destruction, in three... two..."

XJ-0461, in a sheer panic, threw himself off the conveyor belt. Which, on second thought, may not have been the best solution, given that he hadn't bothered to check if there was anything for him to land on. He was lucky to land on a platform safely, however, and without checking his speed, he sprinted for escape.

"Oh, a defect," a voice said, echoing throughout the room. "Go play, Victor."

The echo of thundering footsteps chasing XJ-0461 announced the presence of a colossal machine. It had to be Victor.

"I'll get you, defect!" Victor called. "You can run, but you can't hide!"

XJ-0461 reached an air vent, which was luckily big enough for him. He had little time before Victor caught up. He pulled the panel off the vent and jumped inside, sliding down the tiny tunnel.

"If you think you're safe, defect, think again!" Victor shouted.

XJ-0461 reached the bottom, bumping the vent panel in the process. He kicked it off the vent and jumped out. He was in the hangar. "A ship. I need a ship." The little robot made his way to the nearest ship that was open. Inside sat a Blarg, who was busy texting when he should have been on patrol.

The Blarg saw XJ-0461 and screamed. "Ack! Robot!" The Blarg fell backwards out of the ship in a feeble attempt to escape.

XJ-0461 shrugged and pressed the button for the ship's ignition. The ship started up smoothly and the robot started piloting it away from the factory. XJ-0461 started to relax. He was going to make it, he was going to make it... suddenly a blast hit the ship from behind! XJ-0461 panicked. Was he going to crash? The engines sputtered a bit, but the ship continued flying.

"Computer, set coordinates for the Galactic Ranger home base," XJ-0461 ordered.

"Destination set," the computer stated. "We will never make it, but hey, what are you gonna do?"

"Oh dear…"

That wasn't good in the slightest.

. . .

Veldin…

The red, hot sun beat down on the desert planet. Anyone without air conditioning would be sweating more than a polar bear in Arizona at the moment. Except for the Horny Toads, who positively loved the heat. Of course, it was this particular day that Mr. Micron's ship battery decided to break down.

Ratchet adjusted a few wires in Mr. Micron's ship's hood, then closed it up. He turned to his client, the elderly Mr. Micron. Who was just in time, as always. "There ya go. Your battery is fixed. And I added a few modifications…"

"Oh no," the Tharpod said.

"It's nothing like that magnet thingamajig I hooked up to your ship last week, okay buddy?" Ratchet patted the ship. "I just modified the engines a bit for more mobility, more speed, more groove!"

"I don't think- ack!"

Ratchet shoved Mr. Micron into the ship's driver seat. Then he hopped into the passenger side. "C'mon, take her for a spin." Suddenly Ratchet spotted something in the sky at that moment. A ball of flames crashed violently some ways away from the garage. Tremors from the crash shook the garage. The Lombax frowned. "On second thought, I'll be right back."

Before the Tharpod could object, Ratchet jumped out of the ship and started running for the crash site, the claws of his furry feet digging into the sand. The Lombax ran down a bridge to the other side, where he bashed a few Horny Toads with his Omniwrench. The Toads were knocked out upon impact. Then Ratchet leapt to a ledge, and climbed up over it.

The Lombax leapt forward towards another ledge and clambered over with a little difficulty, but not too much. The next ledge was more difficult, as Ratchet would have to jump towards the rock wall and climb up to the top. He crouched down, and then delivered all his strength to his legs as he catapulted to the wall. The Lombax latched onto the rocky surface with his hands and feet and started climbing.

One, two… one, two…

He almost slipped a few times, but managed to reach the top. "Finally!" Ratchet declared as he hauled himself up over the edge and plopped safely on the ground, resting for a moment before resuming his trek. As he ran along the sandy path, he spotted another pair of Horny Toads, who were not happy to see him in the slightest.

Ratchet bashed one up close and personal, then, taking a moment to aim, he threw his wrench at the other. The Horny Toad was hit immediately, and it ran off wailing in fear, leaving behind its unconscious companion. Ratchet, after retrieving his wrench, looked at the path ahead. And then he saw. A Blarg soldier stood a ways down the path, with his back to Ratchet, looking around.

Ratchet scrambled behind a rock, feeling a panic rise. If the Blarg were here… then that meant only one thing. His father tracked him down. Ratchet shook his head. At all costs, he couldn't let them find him.

Ratchet tiptoed up to the Blarg, who still had his back turned. He was talking to someone over the comm. "... no, I'm not there yet, Toby. Look, I don't know. Drek wants to make sure the defect won't escape-"

Ratchet smacked the Blarg in the back of the head. He then swiped and holstered the blaster that the soldier had with him, in case he needed it.

Maybe the Blarg weren't here for him. But if that was the case, then what were they here for?

Ratchet decided the answer lay in whatever crashed here. The Lombax bashed some more Blarg soldiers and Horny Toads before finally coming upon the crashed ship. Ratchet ran up to the ship and smashed the cockpit window with his Omniwrench.

"Five… four…" Ratchet spotted a tiny robot sitting in the pilot seat, deactivated. He quickly grabbed him and started running away from the ship just as it exploded. While the ship burned in a blaze of flames, Ratchet set the robot down and examined it closely.

"Hm… no vector shell damage," Ratchet observed. "Sisterboard appears to be intact."

The robot suddenly jerked awake, and sat up. "I must get to Aleero City! They are in danger!"

Ratchet frowned at him. "What? Who are you?"

The robot locked eyes with Ratchet, suddenly realising where he was. "Oh. Hello. My… erm, designation is XJ-0461."

"Um, right." Ratchet continued to frown. "How 'bout a nickname?"

"Perhaps we can worry about that later," XJ-0461 replied. "Right now there is a much more pressing matter."

"What do you mean?" Ratchet asked.

"The Blarg are going to destroy the Galactic Rangers!" XJ-0461 told him. "I must warn them."

"Huh… well, I think I can help you there," Ratchet pulled XJ-4061 to his feet. "C'mon, let's get you back to my garage. I'll get my ship and we can fly to Aleero City."

XJ-0461 nodded. Ratchet turned around and pointed to the golden metal pad on the back of his harness. "You probably won't be able to keep up with me by running, so you might as well take a ride on my back."

After a moment, XJ-0461 was settled on Ratchet's back.

"Here we go," Ratchet murmured.

Little did he know of the trials that would await them in the near future.