In case any of you are wondering how to pronounce Soara's name, it is so-are-ah, because a lot of people call her Soar-ah, and that drives me nuts! Well, enough said. let's begin the story.
Chapter I:
Planet Kerwan, the bustling city of Metropolis makes Manhattan New York look like Centennial Wyoming. The usual abundance of hover cars and space ships filled the skies high and low. At the bottom of this vast city were two of the Solana Galaxy's greatest heroes, Ratchet the Lombax, and his robot sidekick, and best friend, Clank. The two friends were busily making repairs on their space-fighter, the Starship Aphelion, which had recently been damaged in battle.
"Almost done there." Ratchet was saying, as he tinkered around under Aphelion's hood. There was a small trail of smoke issuing from the engine. "Just need to adjust the- there!" Ratchet's head emerged from under the hood and he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Now that's out of the way, what else is on the list, pal?" Clank checked his electronic check-list, and marked off "Weld shut crack in engine" with his finger. Then read aloud for Ratchet to hear "Change out the oil. Then refuel gas tank"
"Alrighty then." Said Ratchet, using his stool to step down from Aphelion. He then grabbed a jack, cranked it underneath Aphelion, then slid under it himself.
On top of a roof, not far from Ratchet and Clank, a young girl was in a crouched position. She was staring through a pair of binoculars at the the two, a sinister smile on her pale face. She lowered the binoculars to reveal bright violet eyes with cat-slit pupils. "Finally." She said to no one in particular. "The Galaxy's last remaining Lombax. I have found him at last. And soon there will be none.
"The navigational unite is destroyed too, Ratchet." Said Clank, looking down at his pad. "I believe it will need to be replaced."
"How about giving me some good news, for once?" Said Ratchet in an aggravated voice, still underneath Aphelion.
"Well, um." Said Clank. "The windshield wipers appear to still be functional."
"Great." Ratchet mumbled sarcastically. "Hand me my wrench, will ya?" Clank obliged, handing Ratchet his omniwrench 8000. "Thanks, pal." Said Ratchet, taking the wrench, and disappearing under the ship again. "So, if anyone chucks slime balls at us, we'll be prepared." Ratchet was grunting under the ship as he attempted to loosen a bolt. "Well, um. Yes." Clank agreed. "I believe so."
"Great." Ratchet repeated. "So next time-" There was a loud bang, and a dark cloud of smoke issued from under Aphelion. Ratchet emerged coughing and sputtering, waving his hand in front of his face in an attempt to fan away the smoke. "Well that's just great!" said Ratchet angrily, throwing his wrench in Clank's direction, who ducked just in time. "That's just more work for us now!"
When Ratchet came up from under the ship, the teenage girl crouching on the roof set her binoculars down, quickly tied her dark blood-red hair in a tail behind her head, and then reached for a sniper rifle laying next to her. "It's about time." she said, still speaking to herself. She aimed the rifle, looking through her scope, she aimed the laser pointer directly at Ratchet's head. "You're mine now!" She said, preparing to squeeze the trigger.
Ratchet dusted himself off, he was now in an irritable mood. "Clank, make a note." He said. "Never use
an omniwrench to remove a bolt smaller than ten centimeters." As Clank made to enter this into his pad, Ratchet noticed a small red dot on his shoulder. As it moved up towards his head, he noticed the girl on top of the rooftop, her rifle pointing in his direction. Then it dawned on him what was about to happen. "GET DOWN!" He shouted, diving at Clank, knocking him down just in time. With a loud bang, a shot fired from the rifle, hitting right where Ratchet was standing, who was now using himself as a shield for Clank. As the girl aimed again, Ratchet grabbed Clank, and ran behind Aphelion.
Throwing her rifle aside, the girl dove head-first off of the building, flipped herself around so she was now upright, then rammed her elbow into the gravity pack strapped to her back to activate it. She then floated gracefully towards Ratchet, then when she was only a few feet away, rammed her elbow into her pack again to deactivate it, and landed gently on her feet. "Come on out, Lombax!" She shouted. "Face your death with dignity!" Ratchet reached over and grabbed his omniwrench, which laid abandoned a few feet from where he and Clank were crouching, and clutched it tight, prepared to bash anyone who would dare appear from the other side of the ship. "Come on, Lombax!" The girl shouted. "What would the other Lombaxes think if they saw you cowering like this?! Pathetic!" Ratchet was hit by a wave of rage. She was right. He WAS shaming the Lombaxes for hiding behind a busted old ship like a coward. He got to his feet. "Ratchet!" Clank whispered. "What are you doing?!"
"You wait here!" Ratchet told Clank, as he walked to the other side of the ship. "She will kill you, Ratchet!" Clank whispered urgently. "Ratchet! Ratchet!"
But Ratchet ignored him. With his omniwrench in one hand he walked and faced the teenage girl, who grinned maliciously at him. "Now, that is more like it!" she jeered. Ratchet glared at her. "Just who do you think you are?!" He shouted at her. The girl's smile widened. "My name is Soara." She took a blaster pistol from a case strapped to her belt and pointed it at Ratchet. "But all will remember me as "The one who brought about the end of the Galaxy's last remaining Lombax." But then Clank, who, unknown by both Ratchet and Soara, had crept out from the opposite side of Aphelion, and lunged at Soara, shoving the hand with her pistol away from Ratchet. Soara fired her pistol, and the blaster fire shot into the air like a missile. "GET OFF OF ME, YOU LITTLE FREAK!" Soara screamed, struggling to get Clank off of her. As Clank continued to cling onto Soara, punching and kicking as hard as the small robot could, Soara lost grip of her blaster, which flew through the air. Ratchet ducked before the blaster could hit him, then continued his thunder-stricken gaze at the struggle. Soara was then successful at removing Clank from her. She had grabbed a hold of him and then, with a grunt, threw Clank, who landed with a loud crash a few feet away. Soara didn't have a chance to catch her breath, for at that moment, there was a roar of rage from Ratchet who ran at Soara, preparing to swing his omniwrench at her. Seeing Ratchet coming, Soara unsheathed the sword, strapped on the opposite of where her pistol was, and used it to block Ratchet's wrench. "No one does that to my pal, and gets away with it!" Ratchet shouted, preparing to strike again. "You hear me?! NO ONE!" He swung at Soara again, who smacked the wrench away, then flipped the switch on the hilt of her sword. Electrical blue currents started dancing around the blade of the sword, which was now giving a loud humming noise. She swung the electro-sword at Ratchet, who blocked it. When the sword and wrench collided, there was a flash of electricity that sparked around the two. Another clash. Another flash. The battle between Ratchet and Soara was a terrifying sight. Clank, who had been watching since Soara had thrown him, watched the two attempting to strike the other, both with extreme anger in their eyes. Ratchet struck first. His omniwrench collided with one of Soara's ribs, who shouted and stepped back, clutching her rib. Both she and Ratchet were breathing heavily, hands on thighs. "You- win- this time- Lombax." Said Soara, huffing and puffing. She stood up straight and reached inside her pocket. "But remember this; Soara will rid the Galaxy of the final Lombax." Pulling her hand out of her pocket, she threw a small ball onto the ground in front of her. It popped, creating a smoke cloud, which, when faded, revealed Soara had vanished.
Ratchet, dropping is Omniwrench, ran over to aid Clank. "Clank. Are you alright?! You don't look so good!" He knelt down next to Clank, who looked a mess. His right arm was broken at the joint, his antenna was bent, there was a small dent in his head, and his left eye was cracked. "I will live." said Clank, holding his arm. "But I will not be of much use in this condition." Ratchet pulled him to his feet with Clank's good arm. "We should get you fixed up before we do anything else. " He said. In unsent, the two looked at the spot where Soara vanished. "Who was that girl?" Asked Clank. "I'm not sure." Said Ratchet in an uneasy voice. "But she was a really good fighter. I don't exactly want to come across her again.
Soara jumped into the cockpit of her she ship that she had arrived on Kerwan in, about a mile away from where she had come across Ratchet and Clank. Before turning it on to take off, she turned on her communication beacon and said through her headset. "Soara to Home base. Come in, over." Not a minute had past when another voice answer through her headset. "Captain Telther here. Have you succeeded in eliminating the Lombax, Soara?"
"There were complications, Sir." Soara answered through the headset. "The Lombax still lives. But I will-"
"WHAT?!" Telther shouted so Soara cringed as the loud voice filled her pointy ear. "It still lives?! How could you let him elude you?!"
"It wasn't my fault!" Soara shouted angrily. "He is a really good fighter. Plus he has a CRAZY robot bodyguard."
"I don't want excuses!" Telther shouted. "I want that Lombax's head! We were promised a fortune by Tachyon supporters to eliminate him!"
"I don't need a reminder!" Said Soara. "I was there. I will get him. I just need more time."
"You had better, Soara." Said Telther. "Do not fail me again. Telther out." There was a clicking sound as Telther hung up. With a roar of rage, Soara pulled off her headset and threw it out of the ship where it landed a few feet away and shattered. Soara then covered her pale face in her hands, and was quiet.
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