Author's note: This is samanan7 from Deviantart! This account is being used to upload my second great war story with the chapter updates that are being applied! This marks my return to the site from my old account with the original version of the story! I'd like to thank TheWhiteGuardian and TheLilyOfTheValley for their work on our project! The story up to chapter twenty can be viewed on DA, but here I'm only uploading the chapters that are edited and refined! Also, we have a discord for the story, PM me if you want the link! As always, comments are appreciated!
"Any idea as to why exactly Tal wants us to go check this one out?" Ratchet asked Clank as they stepped out of the large elevator. "Last time I checked there were thousands of skilled soldiers at her disposal."
"That is correct. I can only assume there is something special about this particular errand that Ms. Apogee requires our expertise. That, or perhaps she does not trust anyone but us with this information."
"Well, it better be special, I skipped breakfast for this," Ratchet said as his stomach gave an agreeing growl. "We better go and grab a bite to eat first before we go on whatever mission Talwyn has for us."
Clank glared at his friend as they walked through the long hallway. "I assume you will not stop putting the wellbeing of the galaxy behind your own hunger for food anytime soon?"
"Hey, a Lombax's gotta eat, pal. You of all people should know that."
At that moment they arrived at the office of the captain of the Polaris Defense Force. The two bulky robot soldiers in front of the door raised their weapons slightly, eyeing the two as they approached.
"Ratchet and Clank," Clank stated as he gestured his arms toward Ratchet and himself. "We have an appointment with Ms. Apogee."
One of the soldiers pressed a button on the speaker next to him. "Captain Apogee? Ratchet and Clank are here to see you."
"Yes, please, send them in," Talwyn replied, her firm voice crackling out of the speaker.
The two soldiers gave the Lombax and the little robot a polite nod before stepping aside and letting the duo pass.
The reinforced steel door slid open, and the two stepped inside the large office of the PDF's captain. At the other end of the room, Talwyn sat behind a beautifully carved desk, the tall windows behind her bathing her in Igliak's afternoon light. A stoic look adorned her face, and the Markazian watched as the duo made their way over to her desk.
"What's with all the guns?" Ratchet asked after the door closed behind them.
"Standard security protocol," Talwyn said stiffly before softening her expression. "But it doesn't matter. Have a seat, guys. What you're about to see here is gonna be quite interesting.
The two heroes plopped down in the plush blue chairs facing the desk, and leaned in as they waited for Talwyn to begin.
She pressed a button on her desk and the windows' transparency decreased, darkening the room. A projector then turned on, displaying whatever it had to show on the window behind Talwyn. A sandy brown planet with deep, visible canyons strewn across its surface, almost like rough scars, popped up onto the screen. Ratchet and Clank had first seen it just a few years earlier, although it hadn't made a good first impression.
"What the… Where is everybody?"
"I tried to tell you Ratchet. The database said this planet was deserted ages ago…"
Fastoon…
"First off, I assume you two recognize this planet?"
"Fastoon, of course, how could we forget?" Ratchet murmured, his memories of the desert planet flooding his mind.
Talwyn nodded. "Just making sure." A small, sad smile appeared on her face. "It's certainly been a long while since we were on Fastoon…"
As her smile turned into frown, she stood up and cleared her throat. "Alright, I'll cut to the chase. A couple of days ago, we received various witness reports describing strange phenomena on the planet's surface, something like odd, bright flashes. The witnesses described it happening around here," Talwyn explained, pointing at a location in the planet's upper hemisphere.
"In response to these claims, I ordered the lab guys to move the Fastoon defense satellite orbit over it. Yesterday I received the results." She walked back to her computer and typed in what she needed. "Check it out, and tell me what you think."
The projector then cut to a video that was clearly taken from an orbiting spacecraft. It showed the ruined capital city of Fastoon, and slowly an old square of some kind slid into view.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and Ratchet blinked rapidly to adjust his eyes. When the light faded, they could see a group of figures run out and into the city, disappearing in the ruins.
"I asked the tech guys to clean up the footage a little, to see if they can give us a clearer indication of what happened. They managed to pull up several other kinds of data recorded by the satellite, as well as lowering the brightness and speed so we can see what happened there," Talwyn said. The video replayed, but this time several other values were shown in multiple graphs and lists on the right side of the screen.
Then the video got to the point where the flash occurred. Ratchet gasped and Clank's jaw dropped as they saw what was behind the bright light.
A wormhole seemed to open, some kind of portal, and they could see the figures come out. They were still too small from up in space to properly identify them, but there were beings there.
"What really bothers me is... well... look at the data on the right," Talwyn said.
"There seems to have been a spike in the levels of various kinds of radiation, as well as a brief increase in gravity!" Clank exclaimed, his optics wide with surprise.
"Exactly. It actually nearly pulled the satellite out of orbit," Talwyn said, biting her lip in worry.
"Those things we saw... whatever this is... it honestly scares me a bit."
"Aaaaand that's why you want us to check it out," Ratchet said.
"Exactly. That, and, well-" her eyes locked onto Ratchet's, and the Lombax could see the worry in her eyes "-this mission really hits home for you quite literally, huh?"
Ratchet nodded, flashing Talwyn a comforting smile. "You got it Tal. Clank and I can check it out and be back with answers in no time. It's no problem."
Talwyn looked at them with concern, but shook her head and sighed. "I know you two can probably handle this, but just... be careful, okay?"
Clank stood up on his chair and looked to Talwyn. "Do not worry Ms. Apogee, we shall be fine while investigating planet Fastoon. With my sensors and Ratchet's combat skills, we should be able to handle anything that comes our way."
Talwyn visibly relaxed a bit, and the Markazian breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll send the coordinates of the event to Aphelion. And… I've got something for you guys to use while investigating. Head to the labs on floor six and ask for Project Synced Mind. It's an experimental headset that should allow me to see what you see. We've been itching to test it out in a long-distance setting and, well, this is a perfect opportunity."
Ratchet nodded and gave a mock salute. "Aye aye captain," he joked as he got up. Clank hopped onto his back. "I'll go get that new toy you want me to test out. Thanks for the early Christmas present Tal!" he teased as Talwyn rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Goodbye, Ms. Apogee. We shall contact you as soon as we reach the surface of the planet," Clank said, waving her goodbye as Ratchet walked them out the door.
Talwyn shook her head and chuckled as she sat back down at her desk. As she pulled up a bit of paperwork to do while she waited for Ratchet and Clank to get back to her, her eyes drifted to the few framed pictures on her desk. One held a picture of her, Cronk, and Zephyr of when she had been a child, and the other was a picture of her, Ratchet, and Clank on a day out. Each face held a lively grin, and Talwyn's mind replayed the happier memories. Her eyes lingered on the heroic duo she just sent away, and her earlier anxiety returned.
"Orvus…" she breathed, her fingers shaking slightly as she closed her eyes "…please keep them safe."
After picking up Project Synced Mind, Ratchet and Clank headed to Aphelion, where Ratchet had parked right outside the building on the VIP landing pad. They hopped in as the security around the Defense Force building cleared their exit.
Ignoring his stomach, much to Clank's relief, Ratchet instructed Aphelion to load the coordinates Talwyn provided and plot a course.
"Fastoon? It's been ages since we've been there," Aphelion said as Ratchet and Clank fastened their seatbelts. "Seeing the ruins always saddens me."
Ratchet nodded. "You're not the only one who feels that way, Aphelion," he murmured as he began to fly Aphelion out of Igliak's icy blue atmosphere.
About two hours later they entered Fastoon's dusty atmosphere, and everything seemed to have stayed the same way they had left it years before. The same dusty plains and deep canyons flew under them as they made their way to the planet's surface. After a few minutes of tracking down a good landing spot, they landed exactly where the anomaly had been, climbed out of Aphelion, and began their search.
After a few minutes of searching the dusty, desert landscape, Clank spoke up from Ratchet's back. "Perhaps you should put on the helmet we picked up from the lab."
Ratchet nodded as Clank handed him the helmet. The helmet was small and silver, something that wouldn't bother Ratchet as he wore it. A tiny lens was visible on the hood of the helmet, and Ratchet shrugged as he finished studying the device. "Alright, pal. Let's test this thing out."
Ratchet slowly put on Project Synced Mind and wrote, 'Tal, I hope you can read this' in the sand.
"This project has a built-in speech function, you know," Talwyn said through a speaker near Ratchet's ear, making the Lombax jump.
"Good to know," he grumbled as Talwyn and Clank chuckled.
Ratchet sprinted down the same path the figures took, using Clank's Thruster Pack to climb the large pieces of debris and scanning the open area from above. The dusty atmosphere made it hard to see, and Ratchet squinted out into the open area, trying to find any sign of the mysterious figures.
"You see anything, Tal? Clank?" Ratchet asked.
"Nope, nothing," Talwyn replied. "I don't see any footprints or hints of possible activity either."
Clank opened his mouth to speak before tensing. "I am detecting movement!" Clank suddenly exclaimed. "On your right, Ratchet!"
Ratchet turned in that direction, whipping into a defensive pose. "Clank… I don't see anything, only dust and ruins."
"Movement behind you!" Clank suddenly warned
Ratchet turned around, carefully scanning his environment for potential threats, Omniwrench Millennium 12 in hand and ready to strike.
"Movement directly ahead of you, and lots of it!"
"Where?!"
"Movement everywhere, we are surrounded!"
Ratchet felt paranoia rise in his chest as his eyes darted around the sandy environment around them. "What's going on Clank?! Are you playing games with me?!"
The little robot's mouth snapped shut. He waited a second before murmuring, "Ratchet, do not question me and listen closely. On three, you turn around and run. Ready? One… Two…"
The moment Clank said "Three," Ratchet bolted back the way they came. As the yellow Lombax shot forward, Clank scanned the area he could see in infrared and kept his motion detectors at the ready.
"Interesting."
Ratchet screeched to a halt and turned his head to Clank as he tried to catch his breath. "What?" he asked.
"I do see movement, but whatever we are dealing with does not seem to be radiating infrared light," Clank explained, continuing to run scans over the area.
Ratchet raised an eyebrow. "Which means…?"
Talwyn's voice snapped out over the com link. "It's likely cold-blooded or armored or something!" Tal yelled. "Ratchet, you guys could be in serious danger! Run! Get out of there!"
And Ratchet did run, until he reached another square surrounded by ruins. "Ratchet, stop!" Clank commanded, and Ratchet stopped dead in his tracks.
"I am detecting movement everywhere!"
"Yeah, but I still don't see any- wait, what was that?"
Ratchet swore that he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, inside a building. The Lombax turned to face the broken building and searched for whatever it was that he saw.
And then he saw it. Standing in the shadows was a figure, and Ratchet could faintly see a green glow. "What the he-"
He didn't finish his sentence.
"Ratchet, watch out!" Clank tried to warn him, but it was too late. Something slammed into them before they could identify what it was. Ratchet yelped and fell. The right side of his neck suddenly stung, and his hand slapped at the area. With a grimace, he pulled something out of his neck.
He stared at the dart in confusion as world began to spin, and after a moment, Ratchet lost consciousness.
A few seconds later, Project Synced Mind lost the connection to the Polaris Defense Force headquarters. Talwyn gasped in fear, her mind and heart praying that she hadn't just lost the only two creatures left in the galaxy that she considered her family.
"Ratchet?! Clank?! NO!"
