Legal disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its subsidiaries. This story is non profit, (of course) and is simply for entertainment purposes only.
Hi! This is my first story! I know it will need work, so if you have advice for me, spill it! Now, if you haven't noticed, this is the prologue. The first chapter will be out within a few weeks.
I feel that a lot could have happened with Ratchet and Sasha if none of the other games after Up Your Arsenal came out.
So, we're going to go back in time to the very end of UYA. Before Nefarious came back, before the search for the Lombax Secret, and before the Dreadzone. We go back to right after the premier of the first Secret Agent Clank movie! (Note: I am perfectly aware that UYA came out well over six years ago! So if your going to flame me, and please don't, don't flame me about that!) Our story begins with Ratchet and Sasha still sitting in their seats, watching the credits roll, but not really watching…
It was getting late, everyone had already dispersed out of the now empty theater, except for two. Ratchet and Sasha were still there, holding hands and finishing off a soda and some popcorn. The only reason the Galactic President wasn't there was because of the fact that he had received an urgent call from the Presidential Compound on Marcadia, something about a blown induction coil whose repair needed to be supervised.
Ratchet finished the soda with a loud slurp, then sighed. Sasha giggled and playfully batted him over the ears. "What?" Ratchet asked innocently. "Just you!" Sasha said. "Learn some manners!" Ratchet pretended to look sullen but he knew she was only joking.
The credits finished rolling and they sat there for a few minutes, making small talk. "You know, even though Dr. Nefarious is gone, there are still a bunch of robotic Tyhrranoids out there, running amok! We need someone to do something about them." Ratchet began to get where this was going. "So," he said "You want me to go out and hunt down the rest of these Tyhrranoids…" Sasha looked at him and smiled. "Oh, would you? Thank you so much!" "Whoa whoa whoa, I didn't say I would do it!" Sasha sighed. "Fine! I'll do it! But only for you!" Ratchet said, smiling. "I knew you would!" Sasha said. She had been acting like that all day and now Ratchet knew why. Sasha leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, now back to her normal self.
"So, the movie was pretty good huh?" Ratchet said nonchalantly. "Yeah! Clank really has a career in this stuff doesn't he?" Sasha laughed. "Yeah… Ah well, its pretty late and I should probably be heading home…" Ratchet trailed off. He was anxious. He was going to ask Sasha out. 'Sure, they had gone to the movie together but everyone was there! Did that really count? What if she says no? Would she say yes? Where would we go if she did? What would we do?' All these thoughts ran through his head. Then he thought to himself, 'What the hell!' and then said, "Uh, Sasha, do you want to, ya know, go somewhere sometime?" Sasha's heart leapt, she had been waiting for him to ask that ever since he had saved her ship from certain disaster. "Yes Ratchet, I'd love to!" She said, almost softly. Ratchet beamed and leaned over to kiss her on the mouth. When they broke apart they sat staring into each other's eyes.
Then Sasha's phone rang, breaking the moment. It was her father, of course! He wanted her to come back to the Presidential Compound immediately. She sighed and turned to Ratchet. "My dad needs me to come home right away, sorry…" Ratchet shook his head. "Its totally ok! I know how your dad can be!" Sasha laughed then said, "Aww, I just remembered, my dad brought me here, and he took the ship back to Marcadia!" Ratchet smiled, "It's fine, I can take you back!" Then Sasha shook her head. "No," She said. "I really don't think my father would approve of you driving me home, you know he doesn't really like you." Ratchet nodded, understanding. "I guess I'll just call The Supernova Taxi. Just as long as that sleezeball doesn't answer the phone." Ratchet looked confused when she finished. Then she sighed and said, "You know, that one that picked up Quark when he crash landed after blowing up the Leviathan." "Oh!" Ratchet said, suddenly understanding, "Well if that guy starts talkin' to you like he did to quark, when he comes to pick you up he's gonna have real trouble on his hands!" Ratchet said, then Sasha shoved him in the shoulder. "It'll be fine! Remember, I'm the presidents daughter, I can have him jailed for life if I want!"
She said it would be fine, and it was, when she called all the cab drivers were out so an automated driver answered. She gave the address, and the AI hung up. In unison, they got up and, holding hands again, they walked out the theater doors. The taxi was already there. "Uh," Ratchet started. "So, I'll call you soon so we can arrange something…" "Of course Ratchet!" She said back. Then they shared a goodbye kiss, and Sasha got into the taxi. Ratchet could see her waving out the back window as the taxi sped away.
He walked back to his ship, lighthearted.
Meanwhile inside deep space Ranger production outpost 66:
A figure, obviously male, wearing a black cloak, was sprinting down the dark halls of the outpost. He was small and lithe, perfectly suited for his mission. He was also Dr. Nefarious's last servant, besides Lawrence of course.
The mission was supposed to be simple, get in, do the job, and get out. Unfortunately the get in part had gone awry. Now he knew he was not getting out. It had been a stupid mistake, he forgot to disable one of the lasers that had been guarding the back entrance, And tripped the alarm. Not a blaring alarm, but one that alerted the facilitie's AI.
It stalked him for a while, with thermal cameras, waiting to see where he was going. When it figured him out, only minutes ago, it had realized that he was headed for the main control room. What it didn't realize was that it may be the end of him, but it had not acted soon enough. He would have time to complete his mission. As he always did. He never failed the doctor, and most certainly would not now, in his last moments.
The AI had dispatched ten of the security rangers, classifying the intrusion as an alpha priority. They would catch up to him in minutes, but again, not soon enough.
He stopped in the middle of a corridor, and consulted the map in his head. He had been studying the facility for the past six months. He could walk around the outpost, inside and out, blindfolded and not bump into anything. He could do the same inside the ventilation ducts. Remembering the map now, he found where he was at. And that was right where he needed to be.
Third door on the left, hallway 492A, right there. He walked over to it, there was an activation port beside it. This port also supported the Hacker device hardware. He was very skilled with the Hacker and when he inserted the three prongs into their corresponding holes, he knew that this was the most complex hacker code he had seen in his life. Fitting, he thought, that his most challenging hacker code would be his last. He smiled grimly, and worked the controls. He had the lock open in thirty seconds flat.
Then he opened the door. He stepped inside, re-closing the door behind him. There were three monitors. He powered up two and positioned himself in front of the center one. It prompted him for a username and password. He entered the username and once again consulted his memory for the password.
It was the other thing he had been memorizing for the past six months. Twenty digits long. He had memorized ever number. He could recite it backwards. And forwards of course.
He entered it in, and there was a ping, and the monitor switched to the home screen. Or not so much a home screen, but more of a blank page with a cursor at the top, waiting for him to input commands.
First he opened up the file named 'Logic and Programming' Then found the file labeled with the next day's date. He opened it. It contained the lines of code he would be replacing in the next few minutes.
From his pocket, he drew a data disk. Which he inserted into the second monitor he had powered up, this one already at the command screen, since he had logged in on the primary one. As soon as the disk was inserted, lines of code popped up on the screen. Similar to the ones displayed on the central monitor, but with minor, yet major, changes.
He would have to input them manually, because the mainframe had an automated program that would stop him from uploading it directly. He could have disabled it but he didn't have the time, so he deleted the lines of code on the central monitor and began to key in the lines contained in the data disk.
He had to hand it to the doctor, the code was completely and totally brilliant. There were some lines of it that he didn't even comprehend. The mission had been Nefarious's last assignment for him, and it was not official until after he had been defeated. It was a back up plan. The doctor didn't believe he could fail but thought better of his overconfidence and created the code on the disk.
He entered the last line of code and saved the changes. Then he went to the activity log and deleted all logs of his entry and the changes he had made. He removed the data disk, then threw it in the incineration trash can next to the monitor. It was destroyed instantly.
He quickly logged off of the server and shut down both screens. And none to soon, the group of Rangers had caught up to him. They burst into the door, their guns leveled at him. He whipped around and, seeing them, yelled a battle cry and charged. There was a flash of light, then everything went black.
The last thought that ran through his mind was that he had not failed.
So, what did you think? What can I improve upon? Comments people! =) In my opinion the prologue was a little dark towards the end. I don't really know. The first chapter will have quite a bit of action in it, and hopefully it will be released in a week or two! (Naturally, it will be more about Ratchet and Sasha, sort of unlike this one, which was made mostly to set up the plot.) I hope you like it and thanks for reading!
