Welcome back everyone!

Lombax Support Group

"You're staring"

"Sorry" Ratchet looked away as he followed Michael down several corridors that changed from light blue walls to a deeper purple. The number of windows lessened the further they went, making Ratchet feel uneasy. "I'm just still in shock I guess"

"Don't worry about it, I get it." Michael handed him the file that he had been hiding under his black bomber jacket, "This might help put you at ease though. It's the file on the team. Names, jobs within the team and so forth."

Ratchet flipped open the folder to find individual photos of five other Lombaxes and someone else not Lombax. The first one is the file was Michael's twin sister Annie. She looked sort of like him but with long hair that curled around her face and rested on her shoulders. She was smiling wide in her picture and something about it gave off a sense of warmth and comfort. Underneath her name was written 'Andromeda "Annie" Green. Technology and science specialist. Team Echo.'

"So your sister makes all the tech?"

"All our weapons, suits and other tech comes from her. The only thing she could never crack was mechanics" Michael smirked, "Guess it's a good job you're here. She'll pick your brain on it"

Ratchet smiled and nodded before flipping to the next page. Another female Lombax was staring back, this time smirking at the camera instead. "That's very Katheryn," Michael said, glancing over Ratchet's shoulder at the file page, "the girl is never not smirking about something"

"Katheryn Leroux-Zolomon" Ratchet read out loud,

"First tip: if you don't want Katheryn to fry your ass you never mention the Zolomon part of her name" Michael pushed the button on the elevator that they had now reached at the end of the corridor, "She would actually fry your tail off. She once burnt the furball at the end of mine off without hesitation because I ate the last brownie. Walked around smelling like burning hair for weeks"

"I already like her"

Michael shrugged, "She is a pretty cool person. Pretty badass powers too" The bell for the elevator rang before opening up. The pair stepped in before Michael pressed the button with 'Echo' scratched on it, "That was her actually"

As the elevator lurched down Ratchet repeated, "powers?" he frowned, "How does a Lombax have powers?"

"Because she's only half a Lombax. She looks like one but she's got powers and slightly different anatomy."

"I'm basically a much cooler version of a Lombax" A voice yelled through the doors. The pair watched the doors open to reveal the same smirking woman from the photo on the other side.

Katheryn stood with her hands buried into the pockets of a dark red leather jacket and an eyebrow raised. She looked Ratchet up and down with an expression that Ratchet couldn't understand before she said, "So you're our new Lombax? I'm Katheryn Leroux though you've probably already worked that out" she uncrossed her arms, smiled, and extended her hand,

"I'm Ratchet," Ratchet replied, taking her hand. He couldn't help but already like her.

"So I've heard. Follow me and I'll show you the central base and the one woman nerd squad" Katheryn let go of his hand and spun on her black boots before taking off down this new lighter corridor. Ratchet looked over to Michael who shrugged, silently saying 'yeah, she's always like that'.

The duo took off after her as she pointed at random doors. All the doors looked the same as before, with plates reading what each room is. Katheryn pointed them out one by one, not stopping to show the inside of each room, "Training area. Got a punchin' bag and mat for sparring. Few weights too. Oh! The break room. Decent coffee. Michael keeps ignoring my requests for a chef"

"There's a vending machine, Kath"

"Not the same! I want cake, not freakin' granola bars!"

"I'll bring it up with the Board"

"Thanks dear" Katheryn smiled over her shoulder before continuing her tour, "Shootin' range! You got still and movin' targets! Loads of Annie's weird ass inventions that are fun to use when you're super stressed"

"Says the girl who can shoot energy from her hands", Michael muttered.

"I'm sorry, what?" Ratchet stopped, "that's your power?"

Katheryn didn't even stop as she threw her hands into the air to show them. Ratchet watched as they slowly became covered in what looked like light blue lightning. The same exact color as her eyes. The energy jumped between her fingers and stretched across her palms as she turned her hands to show. It was like there was a lightning storm within her veins. Battling under the skin and trying to break free.

"I could fire them but I feel like maintenance would kill me if I burnt the ceiling…again"

Ratchet couldn't help but like her even more, "What else can you do?"

She turned and smirked, "All will be revealed soon" she continued to stride down the corridor with Ratchet and Michael following behind, "All you need to know for now is that I'm someone you want on your side, Ratchet"

Ratchet frowned. That sounded pretty ominous to him. The tiny part of uneasiness he still felt nagged at him, telling he was starting to trust them too soon. He watched her in curiosity as she ran a hand through her sandy colored long hair. The same hand that had just been lit up like it was on fire. She was powerful. That he could easily see. So if she was someone who wanted to take him in or fight him, she would have already done so.

Ratchet tried to ignore the feeling as he followed behind Katheryn silently as she babbled on about the other rooms, but he was no longer listening. Not that it mattered anyway, they all had their names written on them. He tried to feel confident about the situation but after seeing Katheryn's powers he didn't know if he would make it out if a fight broke out. He could probably take down Michael, but Katheryn was something he had never seen before.

"Ratchet?" he jumped when he realized there was someone clicking their fingers inches from his face, "You disappeared for a sec"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about all this. It's kinda crazy. Bit of a jump from what I'm used to"

Michael smiled, "Don't worry, you'll adjust. Part of the job is to help people find their way back. You're not the only one who has ended up here by accident. You quickly learn to just take it in your stride. Just look at us"

Katheryn had another expression on her face that confused Ratchet. This girl needed to work on her poker face. She looked like she was hiding something, something she didn't want to tell them. He couldn't help but be a little suspicious of her. She had acted a little odd since he had appeared. Though it seemed Michael hadn't picked up on it so maybe this just was how she was? If it was then Ratchet wasn't sure what to think of her anymore.

"so all the Lombaxes work here?" Ratchet asked instead,

Michael sighed, "Well, usually there's us two, Annie and our friend Erik but that's turned… complicated"

"How?"

"We'll explain in a minute once you meet this ball of sunshine," Katheryn said as they walked through an arch in the wall that led to a much bigger room, a room unlike any of the other's Ratchet had been in today.

The wall turned from the deep purple of the corridor to grey stone which was covered in various screens that showed different satellite feeds and various types of readings. One TV had a news channel with a robot currently talking through the weather though the screen was on mute.

In the middle of the room was a massive curved desk facing two smaller desks. It didn't take a genius to work out that it was their mission control. Two large computer screens leaned against the rail outlining the desk. Both were currently showing the name 'A.T.P.O' in large letters against a deep blue wallpaper screen.

There were various papers lying around the desks with names like 'Sam' and the 'The Lost Hero' written across them in large red letters. Folders were also laying everywhere from what Ratchet could guess were previous missions. The mess was oddly comforting. The place kind of reminded Ratchet of his workshop back on Kerwan. The one Clank had quickly given up cleaning and ended up just adding to the mess with various science equations and sudoku puzzles.

"Hello!" A voice called out from a door to the left of the trio. Annie was stood grinning from ear to ear, making her nose scrunch up and her science googles sit weird on her face. "I'm Annie! Well, my name is actually Andromeda, but everyone shortens it to Annie. I prefer it"

"Annie, what did I say about science unsupervised? Not until you can be trusted again!" Michael scolded,

"It was one tiny explosion! I have been extra careful since!" Everyone jumped when they heard a large 'pop' sound from the room behind Annie. Her grin turned sheepish, "science?"

"Hi" Ratchet waved as Michael walked off to assess whatever damage Annie had caused. Katheryn was simply stood trying not to laugh at the twins. Ratchet guessed that this was normal for them. Michael had called Annie the brains after all.

"It's so nice to meet you! And welcome to Terra!" Annie took the goggles off her face and tucked them into the pocket of her grey lab coat before taking it off and draping it over one of the purple swivel chairs that were tucked around the room. "Truth be told I didn't know there was another Lombax! This is so exciting. You must have so many questions!"

"Well, yeah"

"I'll answer them! But first, you'll be pleased to hear I have your combustor in my lab!"

"You do?"

Annie nodded enthusiastically, "They gave it to me after they took it off you when they bought you in. I heard you were super out of it, are you okay now?"

All Ratchet could remember from the crash was the bright light, all of Aphelion's alarms wailing and then darkness. He couldn't even remember the landing. The next thing he remembered was waking up here. There was a dull ache in his head that grew stronger whenever he tried to remember more. Did he manage to send a distress signal? Did Aphelion tell him what the light was?

"Hell of a lot better than my ship, that's for sure" Ratchet answered, the image of Aphelion on his mind. What could cause that sort of damage? It's not like it's the first time he's crash-landed in her. Maybe Annie would know?

"Yeah, I saw the damage. It was terrible. But hey, they told me you're a mechanic! If you need any tech whipped up to help you fix her, let me know!"

Ratchet smiled, "I'll have to take you up on that"

Michael re-emerged from the door Annie had come from with a fire extinguisher in his hand. He tossed it in her direction with a huff before saying, "Okay, now we're all buddies can we tell Ratchet the missions we've got going on? Catch him up to speed?"

"Yeah, of course," Annie answered, her face turning serious. She turned to Ratchet, "Do you have experience?"

"…you could say that"

"Okay, so we currently have two priority missions and then we pick some up as we go along. Usually little things like a rogue alien or a Terra being exposed to alien tech. Our main missions are a missing person and A.T.P.O's current favorite, The Lost Hero" Annie explained.

"The what now?"

"The Lost Hero" Michael repeated, "He's a big deal and the higher-ups here think he could be the biggest threat to the planet as we know it. All we know is that he is a he and is currently on Terra. Not sure how long but the higher-ups are itching to bring him in"

"So why call him a hero if he's such a threat?"

"His reputation" Annie answered, "used to be some kind of big shot hero before going rogue. We've heard the stories and that's why we think he would be such a threat"

"The stories? What are they?"

"So apparently he and this robot Cla-"

"Why don't I tell Ratchet about it whilst showing him a view of the city? So he can get an idea with what area we're dealing with?" Katheryn interrupted.

The other Lombaxes frowned but Michael went, "Sure if you want"

Katheryn nodded before steering Ratchet out the room. He waved to the two staring before following Katheryn towards the other end of the corridor that he was yet to walk down. Katheryn remained silent as they walked, just occasionally glancing over her shoulder to check Ratchet was still following.

What Ratchet wasn't prepared for was to be suddenly grabbed by his shoulders and shoved through a door that clearly had the word 'toilet' written on it in giant white letters.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed as Katheryn locked the door behind them. He was about to ask more questions when she spun around and her hand to his mouth to stop him from speaking.

"It's the only place without any cameras, okay? And I need you to listen to me very carefully. There is something I have to tell you but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, okay? Don't even mention to anyone that we had this conversation, clear?" Katheryn said.

Ratchet nodded. Katheryn dropped her hand from his mouth, "What is this about?" Ratchet tried again, keeping his voice down.

"The Lost Hero mission. We weren't making any progress. Not until you dropped out of the sky, anyway"

"Me?" Ratchet frowned, "Why do I have a bad feeling about this"

"The Lost Hero is also known as the hero of Solana, the one who defeated Tachyon, the savior of time itself and the entire universe. Sound familiar?"

Katheryn raised her eyebrow and Ratchet sighed, "Told you I had a bad feeling. What's the story? Why do you know it's me?"

Katheryn sat on the toilet lid with a sigh as Ratchet leaned against the sink watching her as she began to explain, "We used to get all the news here. Solana, Polaris, you name it. We saw all about you and Clank all over the news. You were kinda the buzz around here until last month"

"What happened?"

"Everyone just suddenly stopped talking about you. I couldn't get onto the channels anymore and suddenly we were all talking about the Lost Hero. I didn't say anything to anyone about it but I did a little digging and suddenly there were files on the Lost Hero dating back to at least two years ago. This sudden tale of a good man gone bad grew. I didn't wanna question it until I knew more and then you showed up today"

"So why do you remember? How do you know who I am already?"

"It's not important-"

Ratchet scoffed, "Yes it is! You're telling me this and expecting me to just trust you? After knowing you for what… 5 minutes?"

"Because I've been watching you since you started! I know who you are, Ratchet. I know you're not what the Lost Hero is being made out to be. I want to help you survive here. You're clearly not here by accident"

Ratchet hesitated. She did have a point. If she hadn't said anything he would have slipped up and told the others something and then what? They would know the Lost Hero was him and who knows what their plan is for him. Judging by the way they were talking though it probably wasn't good. He didn't know the others enough to trust they wouldn't do something despite him being another Lombax.

Maybe he would have to trust Katheryn. What other choices did he have?

"Okay fine, I trust you. I won't say anything but you have to help me find a way to get home. Deal?"

Katheryn stood up and nodded, "Deal"

"And can we agree that we don't keep discussing this in the bathroom? People are gonna get suspicious if we keep randomly going in here"

Katheryn looked thoughtful for a moment before snapping her fingers, "The roof! There's a blind spot on the roof! I'll show you later on. If we stay here any longer Michael is gonna come looking for us"

"Lead the way" Ratchet answered, stepping out of the way of the door. Katheryn walked over to it and had her hand on the lock when she paused,

"My apartment"

"Excuse me?"

Katheryn spun around to face Ratchet who was frowning at her, "My apartment! You need somewhere to stay whilst here, we need somewhere to talk and investigate privately and I have a spare room and am in need of a roommate! It's perfect!"

"So, just to be clear, you're asking me to what move in with you? After meeting today for the first time?"

"Yeah, isn't it obvious?"

Ratchet shrugged, "Why the hell not, it's not like today's been crazy enough as it is"

Katheryn smirked and threw open the door, "Knew you were a smart guy. Come on, Michael is gonna wanna debrief you on our missing person case"

The pair walked in silence back down the corridor to the large room where Michael and Annie were sat at the large desk in mid-conversation. They stopped and turned their chairs towards the pair as they walked in, Annie beaming at the pair as Michael clapped his hands together, "Right, I assume Katheryn has caught you up to speed on the Lost Hero?"

"Yep, sounds interesting. If I'm gonna be stuck here I might as well help where I can" Ratchet leaned against the archway, "Anything else I'm gonna wanna know?"

He could see the Lombaxes shooting each other looks. It looked like they were silently fighting over who was going to speak next. All of them challenging another to do it. Ratchet rubbed the back of his neck as the feeling of uneasiness returned. Whatever it was they wanted to say he could tell it wasn't going to be something good.

"Katheryn mentioned a missing person case?" Ratchet prompted them, hoping to end the competition between them.

"Yeah, it's to do with DESTROY" Annie finally ended the silence.

"Michael mentioned them earlier to me"

"Yeah well they're led by this guy" Michael spun around and pressed on the touchscreen before a picture of a man came up, "Sam Ceres"

Ratchet frowned, "He doesn't look all that tough"

And he was right. He looked young, around the same age as Ratchet, but he was pretty lanky. He had a thin face that made his cheekbones stand out and his eyes looked hollow with dark circles underneath them standing out against his pale skin.

"Looks can be deceiving. Trust me when I say Sam isn't the kind of guy who you can just walk up to with a tool and whack him once to stop him. He is powerful. He has influence. He's dangerous."

"And I am assuming you've met him before?"

Katheryn sighed and nodded before lifting the hem of her shirt to show a scar running across her stomach towards her heart, "Three years ago Sam captured me and experimented on me. He wanted to create a soldier of his own with powers like mine. He was creating some sort of device that could give someone that power"

"Did he?"

"Yeah, and it came at a cost to us all" Michael answered quietly.

"We were the team assigned to the case. A.T.P.O wanted us to bring him up as he began climbing the ranks at DESTROY. They were worried he could become too dangerous. When he took Katheryn he sent us a clue where she was and Eve was the one to crack it" Annie continued.

"Who's Eve?"

"My sister. When A.T.P.O stormed the place I was a captured she found me and Sam offered her a deal. A trade-off. He would let me go if she agreed to stay with him and have the device installed to serve him" Katheryn looked away. She could still remember his voice as he asked Eve, the confidence he had. He knew he had them cornered.

She could remember Eve's face when she said goodbye. She could hear her voice telling her not to blame herself. To make sure she kept the world safe from DESTROY without her because she knew they would soon be keeping it safe from her. She could still feel where she had kissed her forehead goodbye. Making her swear to not come back for her.

Unfortunately for Katheryn by looking away from Ratchet her eyes immediately fell to Michael and she was taken back again. The moment they had to tell him that his wife wasn't coming home. He never even got to say goodbye to the Eve he knew. She could remember the tears in his eyes as tried so hard not to cry until Annie hugged him. That's when he broke.

Katheryn didn't even want to think about the moment she had to tell Erik. That was one memory she hoped to never have to go through again.

"I'm sorry" Ratchet's voice broke her out of her trance, "I am generally really sorry. That must've been horrible"

"Not as horrible as the fact she's now got her own brother kidnapped" Annie revealed, "that's currently our main mission. Find Erik Leroux and bring him home"

"Think you can help?" Michael asked.

Ratchet looked around at the Lombaxes staring at him. They looked so… tired. Like this was a fight that was beginning to get to them. He knew he could help. He would be a fresh pair of eyes on the mission after all. But then he could already risk exposing himself as their other priority mission.

He couldn't let that stop him. Ratchet knew he would never be able to just sit by knowing there were those he could help. Call him a cliché, but he really did like doing the right thing. Being a hero. And he wasn't even in it for the glory (though it was nice). He just generally wanted to help.

So with that in mind, he answered, "I can help you. I'm in."

It's been interesting being back and rewriting old characters again. I have to thank all those who left their love for the previous chapter and the story so far!

NEXT CHAPTER: Look to the West