Another chapter… let's roll!

Chapter 3: Taking Action

Ratchet was still out cold. Angela watched as three men looked over his body. Max walked up behind her.

"He'll be fine." He said.

Angela shook her head, "He shouldn't have come. I didn't intend for the signal to reach him."

Max put his hand on her shoulder, "You did put the Lombax universal signature in the signal."

Angela nodded, "It could have attracted the authorities." She shook her head again, "I'm just glad he came when he did."

Max chuckled, "He has quite the arsenal at his side."

Angela chuckled back, "I guess the companies let him keep the guns."

Max chuckled and walked away.

Talwyn and Clank sat in the main room. Max walked in and greeted the two.

"Hello darling" Max said.

Talwyn jumped to her feet and embraced her father in a hug. She hadn't seen him ever since he left her with Cronk and Zephyr when she was a child.

"I thought you were dead" she said as tears fell down her face.

Max embraced the hug, "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you I was okay."

Clank got up from the couch, "Incredible"

Talwyn released her father and sniffled, "Oh Clank, this is my dad, Max Apogee."

Clank nodded, "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

As they were talking, Angela continued to watch over her friend as the three 'doctors' continued checking the body. After a minute of nothing, one of them walked over to her.

"How is he?" She asked.

The doctor nodded, "That blast of dark energy was a risky move." He cleared his throat, "He's lucky he was wearing the Hyperflux. If he had been wearing anything less advanced, he'd be dead."

Angela was relieved, "So he's alive?"

The doctor nodded, "He's well and completely unaffected by the energy. We're trying to get him awake now."

She felt a tear roll down her eye and wiped it away.

The doctor chuckled, "Don't be so hard on yourself. You spent years with Max looking for us before the Paletans did. That shows how much work you've done to save our race."

The doctor then removed his medical attire. He had glasses, a face mask, and helmet to protect him. The doctor was a white and silver Lombax. He had white fur with silver stripes.

"Thank you, Neal." Angela said.

Suddenly one of the other doctors called out, "We have movement."

Neal then rushed back and helped the other two. Ratchet was now moving slightly and moaning.

"Ratchet" Neal said, "Can you hear me?"

Ratchet slowly opened his eyes and coughed. His vision was blurry. All he saw was a bright light and three blurred figures in his sight.

"Where… am I?" He asked.

Neal smiled under his mask, "You're with your kind."

Ratchet shook his head and regained his vision. He saw the three doctors and was a bit startled.

"Who are you people?" He said softly.

The three doctors then removed their masks and helmets, revealing their identity.

Ratchet was stunned, "What?" he said under his breath.

Neal walked up, "Welcome back, Ratchet."

Ratchet was still stunned to see three Lombax's standing in front of him; a white and grey Lombax, a brown and tan Lombax, and a yellow and brown Lombax. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Angela walked in and embraced Ratchet in a hug, "I'm so glad you're fine."

Ratchet embraced the hug, "I wasn't going to let my friend die."

Angela released Ratchet and wiped the tear from her face, "Not only me, you saved Max and the others."

Ratchet was a bit puzzled, "Others?"

Angela nodded, "They're in the basement hiding. I think you should see who's down there."

Ratchet then slowly got up and pressed a button on his chest. The Hyperflux armor teleported off of him and was replaced with his default Holoflux Armor. Angela led him into the main room, where the three doctors, Talwyn, Clank, and Max were sitting.

Talwyn shot up and hugged Ratchet, as well as placing a kiss on his lips.

"Don't do anything like that again." She said softly.

Ratchet embraced her as well.

"Neal" Angela said, "Open up the cover."

Neal nodded and walked over to the shelter door that was on the floor. He turned the handle and slowly lifted the door open. As soon as it was open, a dark grey Lombax popped his head out.

"Is it safe?" He asked.

Ratchet walked up, "It is"

The grey Lombax then went back down, "It's okay. The Paletans left." He then climbed out of the shelter and stood up.

Ratchet was stunned, "I can't believe it."

The grey Lombax looked at Ratchet, "You must be Ratchet." He spoke with a serious tone, "It is a pleasure to meet the savior of many galaxies."

Ratchet and the Lombax then shook hands.

"The name's Dante. I'm senior officer for the FLA." Dante told Ratchet.

Ratchet was confused, "FLA? What's that?"

Angela then signaled for Ratchet to take a seat.

Ratchet did so and watched as Dante sat as well.

"So what's this FLA thing?" Ratchet asked.

Angela spoke, "After you left Bogon, I wanted to start searching for the Lombax's. I started by looking for the Iris Supercomputer, but when I arrived there it was trashed."

Ratchet then scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah… that could have been me. I tried using it for the same purpose, but it ran out of its remaining power before I got an answer."

Angela gave him a stern look, "Anyway, when I arrived, I found Max overlooking the computer. I told him about my plan and he agreed to help me. We used Lombax books and old writing to determine hideout areas for Lombax's who moved on from Fastoon. Thankfully, Max had plenty of this and we quickly found three remaining Lombax's. From them, we obtained more writing that pointed to new planets. Eventually, we found more Lombax's left behind. They were spread everywhere in galaxies I had never heard of."

Ratchet shook his head, "Why didn't anyone come out and re assemble the race?"

Angela shrugged, "Ratchet, they were in galaxies so far apart. I was the only Lombax in Bogon and Azimuth was the only one in Polaris. These three galaxies just so happen to be close."

Ratchet nodded understandably, "So what's your plan?"

Angela stood up, "Well, we are currently being hunted by an alien race called the Paletans. Apparently they were hired by Tachyon to assist in the killing of the remaining Lombax's." She looked over to Max.

Max cleared his throat, "According to ancient text" Max said, "The Paletans had a great rivalry with the Lombax's. They didn't approve of their ways and therefore led an attack on them many, many years ago. The Lombaxs and Paletans both lived on Fastoon during this era. After a great war, the Lombaxs achieved victory and pushed the now reduced race back to their land. Years later, when planetary travel was becoming available, they had another fight. The Lombax's still achieved victory, but this time drove the Paletans off of Fastoon." He cleared his throat once more, "After that, the Paletans decided to leave the Lombaxs be. However, years afterwards, Tachyon went to them for assistance. He told them about the Cragmite obliteration by the Lombaxs. He offered them full use of the technology he was to obtain from the Lombaxs. Like any vengeful species, they took the offer and waited for Tachyon to return. Once he did, he informed them of the destruction of Fastoon and changed the deal. He then offered them a job of hunting down the remaining Lombax's. Tachyon, however, would focus on Polaris."

Ratchet cut in, "That's how he found me."

Max nodded, "You were a bump in the road. Tachyon did not intend to find you in Polaris. In fact, he didn't intend to find the son of Kaden at all. But when he found out of your existence, he made it priority to find you. Anyway, after Tachyon was killed, the Paletans quickly received word and spread the search to Polaris, Solana, and Bogon, determined to continue Tachyons work."

Ratchet chuckled, "You're plan has a little kink. You have the Lombax's all in one spot. This makes it easier for the Paletans."

Angela nodded and sighed, "Yeah that we knew about. I brought them here because we would be safe. But they found us and destroyed our only transport."

Ratchet walked over to the open shelter and looked inside, he found many Lombax's sitting and talking to each other.

"How many have you saved?" he asked.

Angela shrugged, "About two hundred. The shelter is divided into three sub level floors."

He nodded, "So you're trying to eliminate these Paletans?"

Angela nodded, "Yeah, but we don't have the firepower or the numbers."

Ratchet looked over to her, "Do you know who you're talking to?"

Angela smiled, "I do"

Ratchet then extended his hand; a handle teleported on it. He grasped it and it morphed into the Gadgetron Devastator. He grabbed the secondary handle when it appeared.

"I have an arsenal with me from three weapon manufactures. Each one has granted me use of their top secret Omega Weapons." Ratchet said, "If there's one thing in know about Lombaxs, it's their love of inventing weapons and gadgets. If my knowledge serves me right, almost all Lombaxs knew how to operate weaponry."

Max nodded, "We have a small arsenal consisting of low tech Megacorp weapons. We were lucky to even obtain these fossils."

Ratchet smiled, "With me, I can get us ships, I can get us weapons, and I can even get us armor."

Tal stood up, "Ratchet, are you saying you want to go after these things?"

He looked at her, "That's right. The Paletans aren't going to give up. They'll just keep coming until we're gone."

Clank cut in, "I believe Sasha can assist us. She can lend us some Galactic Rangers and the Phoenix."

Ratchet nodded, "See, we already have a strong force to back us up."

Ratchet then contacted Sasha.

"This is President Sasha" She quickly answered.

Ratchet spoke loudly, "Hey Sasha, its Ratchet."

She sounded surprised, "Ratchet! How have you been?"

He chuckled, "An emotional roller coaster."

Sasha now sounded worried, "Why's that?"

Ratchet paused, "Do you think you can do me a huge favor? When I say huge, I mean HUGE."

Sasha didn't sound pleased, "Depends"

He chuckled, "I need to borrow the Starship Phoenix for a command center for the FLA. I also need a large amount of Galactic Rangers."

Sasha was appalled, "What?"

He tried reasoning, "Listen Sasha, I just found one of the only other Lombax's in the universe. It turns out that she, my friend whom I thought was dead, had been traveling the universe and saving Lombaxs from Tachyon. There were numerous left after the ones on Fastoon escaped. I need the Phoenix to house our current numbers, which are about two hundred, and the Galactic Rangers to assist our fighting force against our predators."

Sasha seemed interested, "Predators?"

"Yes, Tachyon hired an ancient rival of the Lombax's to hunt down those that didn't escape. Angela, the friend I found, has rescued two hundred Lombax's." Ratchet explained.

Sasha was quiet for a moment and spoke again, "Fine, the Phoenix is under your control. I'll also assign Battalion 124 to 156 to assist in this. I can't have the authorities do anything since this is something the rangers can only do."

Ratchet smiled, "Great, I've had some great battles with these guys."

Sasha chuckled, "You and those troops were the main reason we won against Nefarious."

Ratchet chuckled back, "Thanks Sasha. Send the Phoenix to these coordinates I'm sending you."

After Ratchet sent the coordinates, Sasha gave a slight gasp and chuckled, "The Phoenix should arrive tomorrow. The Rangers need to load up and prep."

Ratchet smiled, "Thanks Sasha" he then walked back inside, "Looks like we've got an army to help us out."

He walked over to the open shelter, "I need everyone who is skilled with heavy and medium weaponry. Spread this to the lower levels."

Ratchet then walked back outside. He stopped and contacted the Gadgetron Help Desk.

"Greetings client 91802, how may I be of service?" The female voice asked.

Ratchet cracked his neck, "I need to have my complete arsenal teleported to my location. This includes previous generation weapons and recent ones."

The female voice replied, "Right away, the weapons will arrive via weapon crates. A total of 49 weapons are being teleported. Thank you for using the Gadgetron Delivery Service where our motto is 'need a gun? Let's have some fun!"

Ratchet chuckled at the last words and awaited the delivery crates. Suddenly, a blue light emitted from above. Five crates dropped and landed in front of Ratchet. The crates scanned him and opened up, revealing Ratchet's hefty Gadgetron arsenal. His Gold Guns and his Ultra Guns were present. Along with the Gadgetron weapons, he also had the Vox Weapons. Gadgetron offered to store the illegal guns for Ratchet. After the crates opened, he turned around and saw the Lombax's watching.

Ratchet spread his arms, "Our arsenal" He said, "Hold on…" he said, "…how many of you are there?"

Angela came out of the group, "124, I think."

Ratchet slowly nodded, "One second"

He then contacted Mr. Fizzwidget.

"Yellow" The Megacorp boss answered.

"Mr. Fizzwidget!" Ratchet said.

The man was surprised, "Ratchet, how've ya been ma' boy?"

Ratchet chuckled. He enjoyed the man's attitude towards life; he was always jolly and nice to his customers.

"I've been doing great, sir. Listen, I need you to do me a favor." Ratchet said.

Fizzwidget sounded pleased, "Of course son, what do ya need?"

"I need you to send me my entire arsenal." Ratchet said.

Fizzwidget still sounded pleased, "Absolutely, I'll have them beamed to your location in not time."

"Thanks, sir." Ratchet said as he ended the comm line. He then turned around, "More guns!"

The Lombaxs all chuckled.

Suddenly, another blue light appeared. Four crates dropped and landed beside the Gadgetron crates. The Megacorp crates opened and revealed Ratchet's 35 Ultra Weapon arsenal.

He then contacted GrummelNet.

"How ya doin chief?" The vendor quickly replied.

"Hey, I need my arsenal beamed to me pronto." Ratchet said.

The vendor chuckled, "Sounds like someone's about to have a bad day. Do you want the Omega Class?"

Ratchet nodded, "That's right, I've got a huge problem on my hands, and I need to suit up my friends."

The vendor laughed, "Oh boy, I can only imagine the face on the guys you're about to mess with." He paused, "There you go chief; the weapons should be there shortly."

A blue light emitted from above and dropped four crates. They opened and revealed the GrummelNet arsenal, consisting of 40 Ultra Weapons.

Ratchet then contacted GrummelNet once more, "What's the matter chief? Did the weapons get through?"

Ratchet nodded, "No they did. I just need a new favor."

The vendor nodded, "What do ya need?"

"How many Hyperflux Armor suits are available?" He asked.

The vendor paused, "We have 75 in stock."

Ratchet nodded, "I'll take them all."

The vendor sounded shocked, "Really?"

Ratchet chuckled, "And I need to know how many Thermaflux suits are available as well."

The vendor paused again, "430"

Ratchet nodded, "I need 49 of them."

The vendor nodded back, "Alright chief, let me just calculate the total…"

Ratchet nodded.

"Ah" the vendor said, "your total is 21,200,000 bolts."

Ratchet nodded, "Send em to my location."

Suddenly, three more crates teleported in front of Ratchet.

He turned around, "I need those who have Heavy Weapon skills."

Sixty Lombaxs stepped forward.

"Line up" Ratchet said, "Time to get your armor."

The Lombax's did so and lined up. Ratchet gave each one a small device. The device attached to their chests. When pressed, it would scan their bodies and activated the Hyperflux armor. When Ratchet gave the final Hyperflux, he handed the remaining Lombax's the Thermaflux Armor device.

"Scan your bodies and activate your suits. They go on your chest, whenever you need it just hit the button and the suit will beam on. The scanner will fit the armor to you and also give you the guy or girl version depending on if you're, well, a guy or girl. Once you do it, come up to me and I'll hand you a weapon." Ratchet said loudly.

The Lombax's did so. Angela walked up to him, "So you think we can stop these guys?

Ratchet smiled and laughed, "We have Ultra and Gold Weapons at our side. On top of that, we have the Rangers. I'm sure we can easily stop the Paletans."

A few Lombax's then came forward wearing the Hyperflux armor.

Ratchet nodded, "Great! Now let's get you guys some guns."

He walked over to the Gadgetron crate. Handles with labels above them indicated the weapon. He grabbed the Annihilator handle and handed to a Lombax.

"Just press the button on the handle and it will morph into the weapon." He explained.

The Lombax did so and activated the large rocket launcher, "Hell yeah" he said.

Ratchet then continued handing off heavy weapons to the Hyperflux wearers. Once the Thermaflux wearers came up, he handed them the medium and light weapons. After he handed the Lombaxs their guns, he spoke up.

"Alright! Now that we all have our armor and guns, we need to wait for the Phoenix. If the Paletans decide to send some troops, so be it. The armor is capable of deflecting damage and also injects Nanotech into you. With this, you can survive a lot of hits from weapons and still carry on as if nothing happened." Ratchet explained, "The guns you are all holding are the best the companies have to offer. They have been Ultra, Omega, and Gold upgraded by me. Our attacks should play out simple. The ones with Hyperflux will be front lines; they have the biggest weapons and the best armor. The medium and Thermaflux will be secondary, the Thermaflux and light guns will be back. Sorry for the smaller guns, it's all that was available."

Ratchet then turned back and pressed a button on all the crates. The remaining weapons then teleported into Ratchet's armor data. He could access them via the data to physical port.

"The guns should beam into your armor as data. Whenever you need it, the handle will beam into your hand and morph into the weapon." He paused, "Any questions?"

A single Lombax raised her hand, "Do we know where the Paletans are?"

Ratchet shook his head, "When we get into the Phoenix, we'll start planning out our attacks in detail. But for now, we are armored and ready in case they come back." He paused, "Put away the guns and head back inside."

The Lombaxs then put the guns away into the armor data and headed back inside and in the shelter. Ratchet followed afterwards and met with Talwyn. She was wearing the Female Thermaflux armor.

"This is a pretty sweet piece." She said.

Ratchet chuckled as the two walked back inside.

Angela walked up, "So when is the Phoenix arriving?"

"It should be here tomorrow." Ratchet replied.

He then plopped down on the couch and sighed, "I hope these guys can pull through."

To be Continued

That was a pretty good chapter. I am having a great time thinking this through, in fact I have a pretty good plot made for this now, however the unknown cancellation is still pending. If school gets out of hand then I will have no choice but to end this book for good. But I don't see that happening for some time.

Leave a review and tell me what you thought. Be sure to follow the book if you like it and follow me if you like my work.

To my returning readers with no Ratchet and Clank knowledge; if you can't imagine the weapons, look them up. Most are bizarre looking and others are huge. I won't use detail on most of the weapons, only a few would be mentioned.

Until next time…