Author's note:

1200 views? 1200 views?! I can't believe it, and yet here we are. Once again I'm updating earlier than expected, despite each chapter seeming to be bigger than the last. Funny how that works out.

I'd like to thank AustinGamer117 for his help on this chapter and dispelling my writers block. I had originally intended for a certain portion of the chapter (you'll know when you get there) to consist of a discussion between Clank and Ellen on humanity in depth, but ended up cutting and rewriting it for two reasons.

First, it severely affected pacing. Second, it was stale and boring as hell. Instead, I dramatically shortened it in order to pace better and the conversation to flow more naturally rather than sound like it came straight out of a textbook. Overall, I think this slimmer version works better, and allows the opportunity for Clank to ask more questions on humanity later on rather than just having a massive info dump.

If anyone's interested in making a cover for this story, the offer's still open. Just PM me and let me know. Thank you.

Review replies:

Pokecats649 - Thanks again. Little by little, they will get closer. Unless something happens of course…

AustinGamer117 - (Tips hat) Thank you very much. Chapter 5 is actually the first of several interludes designed to build Ratchet and Ellen's relationship. As for Clank and Ellen, that's in this chapter, thanks once again to your assistance.

destiny - Glad you liked it. Hopefully this chapter will be to your liking as well.

anonymous - Heh. That was actually unintentional, as is this early release. Hope you enjoy it still.

Blair93 - And a hello to you too. I can't honestly answer your first question without giving a good chunk of plot away, but there will definitely be a sequel.

ReginaDC21 - Couldn't stop laughing at the mental image, truly priceless. Considering what's happening in this chapter, Ellen might get a trial by fire quicker than she expected, especially since things are going to go south very soon.

I actually reread Chapter 5 with the song in question playing in the background, and I couldn't help but realise several eerily close parallels between Ratchet and Ellen's little bout in the park and scenes from the Lion King. I swear Disney, I'm not plagiarising you! Sorry you had a crappy day, major launches must be a grind. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it a little.

Hello and thank you to drmonicblood and Amberdiamondswords for adding this story to your favourites list along with RavenShichiyou who is also following.

I think you know the drill by now. I'm always trying to improve as a writer, so please read and review. Constructive criticism is welcome, flamers are not.

If you enjoy this story, please feel free to check out the other stories on my account.

If you came for the explosions, you might feel a little disappointed since this chapter can get a little wordy. Otherwise, here's chapter 7.

- RevenantReaper337

Disclaimer:

Ratchet & Clank, associated characters, organisations, and intellectual properties belong to Insomniac Games. All other real world organisations and products belong to their respective governments, companies, etc. Original characters, creatures, weapons, etc. belong to me. Cover art belongs to Nekolover3 and is used with her kind permission.

'Thoughts'

Flashbacks and inflections on words

"Speech"

Chapter 7:

Trees & Troubles

Logging Site, Eudora

Solana Galaxy

G2.16.740 Galactic calendar

11:23am local time

According to Ellen's Holo-net searches, Eudora was supposed to be a nature reserve; home to dozens of rare and endangered species, along with a minute population of indigenous tribes. Gazing down on the planet spanning forest as they came in to land, she was beginning to see why. A vibrant canopy of greens and golden reds almost blocked out the ground far below, sheer cliffs of chalk and limestone decorated with moss jutting up in places to break up the monotony. Ellen almost wondered with idle amusement whether she might glimpse Ewoks swinging through the trees as well when the courier ship's sudden deceleration bought her back to reality.

Their chosen landing zone was near to a series of prefabricated, bronzed-yellow structures that had probably been assembled after being dropped from orbit, and overlooked a massive sawmill-come-factory at the summit of a distant peak. Dividing the two areas in half was a wide and steep gorge with a river meandering through it hundreds of feet below, while a maelstrom of giant butterflies, prop-driven drones, and cargo haulers criss-crossed the skies above the massive logging operation in progress. All in all, it was a Greenpeace activists worst nightmare come true. Drawing her attention back down to earth, Ellen reacted to the sound of metal on metal by drawing her Blaster and taking on a defensive stance; an action proven unnecessary since it was only Ratchet smashing his wrench into a now down and twitching blue-painted robot clutching a large axe.

Seeing the immediate area clear, she jogged up to the lombax just as he hopped down the embankment to the level below; again choosing to run straight at one of the metal lumberjacks and engage up close. This time the machine was ready, for what good it did; Ratchet easily jumping over the clumsy swipe and bringing his own weapon down in a vertical strike that slammed the robot back into the tree it had been attempting to cut down next to a open drawbridge. In the meantime, Ellen had been using her elevated perch to take pot shots with her Blaster at a cluster of hovering robots with circular-saws for arms congregating on a worn path to her direct right and slightly below; easily picking them off before they could even get close. With the immediate threat gone, Ratchet rejoined her as they trekked behind their ship in an attempt to find access to the largest prefab building; logic suggesting that it would be the best place to find the robot lieutenant.

The three companions soon found an obvious entrance atop a small incline bordered by a sheer drop into the gorge on their right. But as they approached, the trio soon realised it might be a more difficult task to open than they imagined; Ellen perhaps summing it up best. "Well, we're not getting through that anytime soon."

The shutter protecting the doorway was so thick that it looked like it could stop a volley from a battleship, which ruled out blowing it up, and then there was the security interface. The circular panel on the right side of the frame looked like it needed a key that was part torque wrench in order to open if the concentric inset grooves were anything to go by. According to the Gadgetron Helpdesk app on their Wrist Coms, this was one of the company's Invinco-Lock security doors, and needed a device called a Trespasser in order to gain access.

"Somehow, I don't think we're gonna find one lying around here," Ratchet commented offhandedly while taking in the abundance of nature and distinct lack of civilisation nearby.

Ellen meanwhile was thoughtfully examining the device, trying to fathom alternatives when something caught her eye. Using her knife to jimmy off an access panel, she stared in surprise at what sat among the myriad of wires and circuit boards. 'Is that... a USB port?'

Nestled in-between a cluster of cables sat an innocuous looking little port that looked like it could take a USB cable. How or why it was here, she honestly didn't know; but the human intended to take full advantage of it as ideas began to churn in her mind. "Clank, can I have my satchel back please? I think I might know a way to bypass this door." Reaching into his storage compartment, Clank came up with the requested item before holding it out to her. Upon opening the flap, Ellen began to rummage through her satchel, discarding several items before coming up with an old netbook and a USB transfer cable. "Knew this was in here somewhere."

"Ellen, what is that device?" the little robot queried with a curious tilt of his helm.

She grinned as the micro laptop powered on and started going through the boot up sequence. "It's something from my world; my old netbook, a portable computer. If I can get into the source code, I should be able to override the lock's programming with this."

Ratchet looked a little unconvinced. "Are you sure? That thing looks a little..."

"Primitive?" Clank offered.

"Well, yeah. I mean, considering the tech gap, your 'netbook' couldn't possibly-"

"I'm in."

To both the lombax and robot's surprise, Ellen's outdated device was plugged into the security panel and a series of windows streaming binary code appeared on screen along with one displaying command prompts. "No firewalls, no additional security measures... It's almost like they never expected someone to hack the damn thing." At the sudden silence, she turned to face her companions, a chuckle escaping her lips at their expressions. "What?"

"Fascinating..."

Clank tottered closer to observe the data streams on the small LCD screen while Ratchet spluttered at the improbability. "But you've never even seen one of these locks before, how could you even know how to hack one?"

Ellen couldn't help but laugh at finally getting one up on the lombax before finally deigning to reply. "You're not the only one with skills, fuzz ball." Her face fell a little as she turned her attention back to the screen. "It might take a little while though. Right now I've got a looping programme attempting to brute force the lock, but it's only coming up with a few hits. Probably going to have to do this the old fashioned way..." The redhead let out a breath before pushing a few idle strands of hair out of her eyes. "I'm going to have to stay to monitor the feed. You should probably get started on looking for alternate locations for our lieutenant."

"I will also stay," Clank added from his position in front of the keyboard. "I believe I will be of most use here."

"Are you... sure you guys will be okay on your own?" Ratchet asked hesitantly. He knew Ellen was capable of holding her own, but the idea of being separated and unable to come to her aid in time gnawed at him. Still, she was an independent kind of girl; trying to nanny her would push her further away, and at least Clank could keep her company and maybe warn her of any incoming threats.

"Go on you, we'll be fine," Ellen shooed him away. "Besides, all of Drek's goons will be far too busy dealing with all the explosions that seem to follow you around to notice us. That, and I've always got Clank to protect me."

She smiled mischievously down at the sentient machine, whose eyes lit up with apprehension. "I am... unsure of your logic, but I will endeavour to do my best."

The human rubbed his metal dome affectionately. "That's the spirit!" Turning her eyes towards the lombax once more, she reached down towards her Quick Select. "Here, take this. Just in case." He took the proffered Grapple Gun hesitantly before holstering it. "you'd better get going. Just... try not to blow everything up, okay?"

Ratchet grinned while shouldering his wrench. "No promises, it's kinda my thing. You just stay safe. I'll be back soon."

Taking off down the embankment once again, Ratchet used his wrench to turn the bolt crank that raised the drawbridge before crossing it into the forest on the other side of the gorge. It didn't take long for the dull crump of explosions and metallic cries to fade away into the background noise of droning engines and distant birdsong, leaving the human and robot in relative peace. "Alright," Ellen cracked her knuckles before rolling her shoulders. "Lets get to it."

Though he found the technology to be somewhat backwards and quaint, Clank quickly became acquainted with Ellen's netbook. Between the two, they managed to refine Ellen's rudimentary programme in to something tailored for this type of lock; speeding up the override process by half as much again. "And...done!" With a stab of the return key on the redhead's part, their newly rewritten source code began to self execute and compile the data necessary to crack the lock... eventually. Even sped up, it would take almost half an hour with this beta code to get conclusive results; meaning they would have to keep themselves occupied for a little while longer.

With a grunting sigh, Ellen sat down with her back against the pre-fabricated structure, her eyes taking in the still wondrous surroundings in spite of the logging operation in progress. "Are you alright, Ellen?"

She turned her head slightly to see her tiny metal companion tottering up to her. Even sat down, he barely came up to her chest. "I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind, what with the whole 'galaxy in danger' and everything."

Clank parked himself next to her in the shade before turning his wide green optics to face her. "I understand that talking about an issue is the first step towards resolving it. Would you mind sharing what bothers you so?"

Ellen briefly considered flat out refusing, but realised she might need an outlet for all her pent up tension. She liked Ratchet a lot, but he didn't seem like the type to deal with anything 'mushy'. Clank on the other hand was cordial, polite and insofar as she had seen, a good listener. Perhaps he might be able to give an impartial take upon what was gnawing at her. "Until a few days ago I'd never touched a gun before, let alone tried to take another's life. Ever since I met you guys it's been one never ending battle after another, and quite frankly it's starting to worry me."

Clank looked up at her with sympathy. "You have only done what you had to do. Were it any other circumstances, would you have acted in the same way?"

She shook her head. "It's not that. It's just... I've been killing robots and animals for the past day or so and felt no regret. But when I looked into that blarg's eyes on Metropolis after I shot him point blank..." The human turned her now glistening blue eyes down to her lap. "I felt guilty. I know he was trying to kill me, but in those last few moments I didn't see a 'bad guy'. I saw a living being like you or me, with thoughts and feelings that I cruelly snuffed out. Did he have a dream for the future? A family to mourn him?"

"Ellen..."

"The worst thing though, was that it took that one moment to make me realise what I was becoming. I felt nothing. Every time I killed, it became a little easier."

Clank hesitantly looked her in the eye. "Was it... because they were not human? Would you have been more hesitant had they more closely resembled your species?"

Ellen sighed heavily. "Honestly? Yeah, I think so. It's just... easier to distance myself; to just see a bunch of alien monsters or soulless machines, even if I should know better. I mean, look at you." She turned to face the robot with the disappointed look on his face. "You're smart, have a strong sense of morality, and couldn't be more alive if you tried." The redhead rubbed her tearing eyes with the heels of her palms. "I've sown more death and destruction in the last 24 hours than most people on my home world have witnessed in their entire lives. I just... I don't want to become a monster."

'I wonder how my brother managed to cope on the battlefield...'

A pair of cool metallic hands pried the fingers from her eyes, her blurry vision filled with the gentle glow of wide green optics. "Do not cry Ellen. You are not a monster. Though I am... somewhat offended that you might think of my kind in such a way, I understand your reasons why."

"Clank..."

"You appear to be a nice, well adjusted young woman forced in to a situation beyond her control. It is unsurprising that you would suffer mental turmoil, considering the vast differences between your native culture and that of Solana."

"But..."

"Were you the monster that you so claim, you would not feel guilt over your actions; no matter how unavoidable they might be. Your concern for being desensitised to violence is understandable, however I fear that it might lead to your undoing."

"Wh-what are saying?"

"Forgive me for saying so, but as an organic, you are inherently flawed. Your emotions rule your actions, leading to illogical, sometimes dangerous decisions concerning yourself and others. The only way to negate such effects would be to suppress or temporarily ignore them in such a manner as you have already done. By acting in such a way, you avoid acuminating unnecessary emotional stress that could otherwise affect your ability to function efficiently."

"That's... a little cold"

"Perhaps so, but a necessity if you are to continue surviving. You may have extinguished life, but it was only in the defence of yourself and others. As long as you remember that distinction, I am confident your ideals will not wander astray. You can be assured that Drek's army will hold no such compunctions for ourselves or anyone else who stands in their way."

Ellen smiled down at her small companion. "Didn't take you for a philosopher."

Clank merely offered a slight shrug in return. "As you said to Ratchet, you are not the only one with skills; even if I rarely get chance to exercise them."

She leaned down to envelope him in a hug, a gesture reciprocated in kind. "Thanks for being there for me, even if I'm moping about things I can't change."

"You are welcome, Ellen."

Just then, a chime from the netbook bought their attention back to the task at hand. Disengaging from their little therapy session, Clank wandered over to inspect the hacking programmes progress while Ellen leaned over his shoulder on all fours. "It would appear that the data stream has been a partial success. I will begin re-encoding the necessary sequence to successfully hack the security door." So saying, the little silver robot set to work at a rapid pace; streams of ones and zeroes condensing in to a form that would eventually become an executable programme. As he worked, Clank only dedicated a small portion of his considerable processor to the mundane task, with the rest considering his still emotionally strained friend. Concluding that a subject change was in order, the diminutive machine attempted to strike up conversation once more.

"Ellen, would you be willing to share more information about your home? I found our conversation at the restaurant to be quite fascinating."

She shrugged. "Sure. What did you want to know?"

"You said that your planet Earth has only one sentient species, yet you are all disunited?"

Ellen sat back on her knees while her brow furrowed in thought. "Not exactly. I mean, we have organisations like the United nations, which is made up of several countries working together, but usually each nation stands on it's own. In my case, Scotland, along with England, Wales, and technically parts of Northern Ireland, are all part of the United Kingdom. Though we have differing cultures, and languages in some cases, we are all technically one people."

"What of the rest of your planet?"

"Well, like I said, Most countries kind of do their own thing; each unique in their own way. Language, culture, government, religion; I don't think you'd find any two countries on Earth that are remotely the same."

"It certainly sounds like your planet has a great amount of diversity, but would the lack of common ground not lead to conflict?"

"More often than not, yeah. People have been using race, religion, and resources to justify wars for years, and sometimes people discriminate against others for the pettiest of reasons. But it's those differences that make my species what it is. Why would we want to all be the same? Though we all evolved from the same common ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago, we couldn't be more varied if we tried; and I don't just mean in terms of aesthetics like hair and skin colour."

"You are referring to the cultural aspects?" Clank questioned.

Ellen nodded. "That, and languages too. There are literally hundreds of unique spoken and written languages on Earth, not even counting variants and regional dialects. The UK alone has nearly fifty different variations on English, not including the extinct variants, and that's just one small nation compared to the rest of the world."

"Would the sheer number of languages not stunt relations, and in turn cause more division?"

"You could argue that, but there are more ways to communicate than verbally. Through mediums like art, literature, music, and more modern forms of media such as movies, we can express ourselves and our ideas in ways that transcend the language barrier. Over thousands of years, humanity has come from cave dwelling primitives drawing on rock with fats and dyes, to an exploding technologically advanced society with the world as our canvas. We've clawed our way to the top of the food chain, surviving everything life can throw at us. Ferocious wildlife, extreme weather patterns, inhospitable terrain; we've either tamed it or found ways to circumvent it.

We are a contradictory species. On one hand, we are capable of great evil and destruction; polluting our environment, mass genocides from countless wars, the stockpiling of nuclear weapons that could extinguish all life several times over. On the other hand though, we can create and nurture; saving several species from extinction, creating life in the most barren of environments, bringing aid to those affected by ecological disaster and the less fortunate. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, for all our flaws, we as a species are proud and noble when we are needed most, and remain dedicated to constantly improving ourselves and our environment for the future of our planet and our people."

Clank filed the information away with increasing interest before replying. "That is... most profound. You have certainly given me much to contemplate." He cocked his head to one side in brief thought before speaking again. "Hmm... From what you have told me thus far, it would appear that your planet's geopolitical situation is almost a microcosm of the Solana galaxy in terms of structure; with the planets representing individual nations and the galactic president acting as the 'uniting' political influence for the collective worlds."

"Hang on, galactic president?"

Clank nodded absently. "Indeed. The galactic president is elected to represent the Solana galaxy for a two year term before standing once more for re-election. His, or indeed her decisions influence every world in the galactic community via the locally elected representatives. You mentioned each nation on Earth has it's own form of government? How does that work?"

Ellen chuckled. "Barely, if you consider most are squabbling like school kids half the time, but it still works out in the end. Generally speaking, each government follows one of the major doctrines such as democracy, socialism, or monarchies - though most of those are in decline. Then you have despotism and dictatorships, which are kind of self explanatory, and looked down upon by most of the western world."

"Western world?"

"Oh, right. Well, a good chunk of the richest nations live in the western hemisphere, and are almost universally representative democracies, along with several others dotted around the globe. Representative Democracy is-"

"A form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally through elected representatives in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. Representatives are elected by the public, who in turn hold the power to select other representatives, such as the president. It is the officially recognised form of government in the Solana galaxy"

"Oh. Okay then. Guess I don't need to explain that one."

"I am familiar with most of the other forms of political models, but what is this 'socialism'?"

"Well, on paper, it's supposed to be an economic and social system to-"

"Oh my!"

Ellen's head snapped up. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Something has infiltrated the system; the programme code is being deleted and an alert has been issued to all nearby units."

'Shit! A Trojan horse? Knew the security system was too easy to get in to.'

She cursed herself robustly while drawing her Blaster and checking it was still loaded and functional. "How long do we have?"

Clank didn't even look up as his fingers danced across the keyboard. "They are already here. I require more time to stabilise the source code and repair the damage."

Whipping round Ellen levelled her machine pistol only to discover that a cluster of the off-yellow circular-saw robots were hovering up the embankment towards them; followed by a trio of their bipedal blue-painted, axe-wielding counterparts. "Do what you can for the door, I'll keep them busy."

"Understood. Please, stay safe Ellen."

As she squeezed off a burst at the nearest machine, Ellen absently wondered how Ratchet was faring. 'Probably having an easier time than me.'

{()}

'I bet Ellen's having an easier time than me. Probably bored out of her skull.'

Ratchet continued to wreck havoc as he ran through Eudora's dense forest. Reaching the top of a shallow incline on a beaten pathway through the undergrowth, the lombax threw a bomb at a group consisting of a lumberjack bot and a pair of blarg troopers before quickly switching back to his wrench without breaking stride. He had been initially surprised at the presence of blarg soldiers in what was supposedly an all robot logging operation, but assumed they had to be extra security put in place after his and Ellen's previous attacks on Drek's assets.

Though he could move faster without having to constantly watch her, Ratchet missed having Ellen fighting by his side; their constant banter and the knowledge that she had his back as much as he had hers was something that he began to take for granted in the short partnership they'd forged so far. He didn't realise how much he'd miss her until after they were separated, making him wonder how he would cope if or when they managed to find a way to get her home. Still, it wasn't like she was going anywhere without him for the time being, and it gave the lombax more motivation to finish what he was doing and get back to her quicker.

The lombax's bomb caught two of the group in the explosion, but a surviving blarg trooper managed to dive out of the blast radius. Rising to his feet, the alien soldier put down rapid fire with his rifle as fast as he could pull the trigger; but none even made it remotely close to the subsonic furry missile that was Ratchet before he introduced an Omni-Wrench to the blarg's face. With the immediate area clear, Ratchet activated a bolt crank that seemed to control a hydraulic platform on the ridge above him before making use of Ellen's Grapple Gun to pull himself up to the same level. Climbing atop the platform, the lombax began to wish that he had Clank with him as he wondered how he was going to cross the chasm that separated him from the platform on the other side of the gorge; the path beyond leading to a storage warehouse of some kind.

He Almost facepalmed when he realised that the answer was quite literally in his hands.

Aiming at a radio tower attached to the cliff face on the opposite side, Ratchet pulled the trigger on the Grapple gun once again; the tensile cable trailing behind the launched hook and wrapping itself around the tall mast. An experimental tug and a flying leap later saw the lombax swinging Tarzan style across the gap with a yell of excitement; heading straight towards a large red-painted robot wielding a massive hammer-axe combo weapon in one hand that awaited his arrival on the other side that was nearly as tall again as one of the blarg heavies they'd encountered in Metropolis. Without pause, the swinging golden-furred feline retracted the Grapple Gun's cable at the apex of his swing; the momentum carrying him upwards in an arc that ended up with him landing on top of the mechanical lumberjack's head.

"Sup?"

The robot responded with bringing the hammer edge of it's weapon up in an attempt to flatten the lombax; probably not the best move in hindsight. Ratchet backflipped off of the machine's shoulders before the weapon could come anywhere near him; landing in time to see the lumberjack bot cave in it's own head. The robot stood motionless for a few seconds with stray sparks erupting from what was left of it's neck before collapsing like a puppet with it's strings cut; absently twitching all the while. With a snort of laughter, Ratchet turned away and continued to press on towards the warehouse while wondering yet again how Ellen was getting along without him.

{()}

'This is so not my day.'

Ellen continued to fire short bursts with her Blaster from behind a pair of robot corpses she had piled up as sandbags while ducking to avoid incoming fire. Things had initially gone well for the defending human, since her opponents had been only equipped with melee weapons, and she managed to pick them off before they could get close. Then the blarg had shown up, and suddenly she found herself caught for a loop; pinned down as she was midway up the slope to the door while they rained down suppressive fire and tried to advance on her position.

The squad of alien soldiers were slimmer versions of the ones she'd previously encountered in Metropolis, with the same reddish-purple skin and a similar height and build to the average human. They wore the same silver and black trim combat suit, black fingerless gloves, and high-tech backpack with protruding antennae as their bigger cousins, but wielded conventional rifles rather than the freaking huge rocket launchers she had been dreading. Not that it made things any easier..

"Clank! How's that door?!"

The diminutive machine continued to type on the keyboard, ignoring a stray round that ricocheted inches from his head. "Almost there Ellen. Please remain patient a few more minutes"

"We'll be dead in a few minutes!"

She flinched instinctively as a grenade sailed over her cover and landed by her arm; grabbing the explosive orb and slinging it back while internally thanking God that it didn't explode on contact like her Bomb Glove munitions did. That had been another more recent tactic they had been trying, and it was only a matter of time until they decided to spam her with grenades. Deciding to widen the distance, Ellen began tossing bombs randomly down range to cover her retreat before sprinting back up the hill to where the courier ship was parked. Gunfire chewed at her heels as she slid in to the relative safety of her new cover, Ellen's eyes observing the look of concentration on Clank's face as he continued to battle the security system.

"I have disabled three gates, there are two remaining."

"Fantastic, keep going!"

Dropping to one knee, Ellen span around her cover with her Blaster raised and firing. The blarg troopers had reached her barricade, and two had already vaulted it; both falling to her weapon even as more went to ground to avoid being hit. Both sides continued to exchange fire; the blarg taking two more casualties while she received several cuts and bruises from near misses and slamming herself back against the ship to avoid being hit. Suddenly, Ellen's Blaster clicked empty; only the adrenaline in her bloodstream allowing her to react in time to the sudden assault upon her position. Diving to avoid a potentially fatal shot, the redhead tucked into a roll while re-equipping her Bomb Glove; sending an explosive surprise at the pockmarked robot body barricade.

The mechanical corpses detonated with a shower of lethal shrapnel, catching most of the remaining blarg in the blast radius with some unintentionally spearing the redhead's left leg. Clutching her thigh, Ellen grimaced as she struggled to pull out the metal fragments that impaled her; tears brimming with each agonising centimetre wrenched from her bleeding limb. After what felt like an age, she finally pulled out the last shard with a cry before collapsing on her knees with shock and fatigue. When she could finally breath regularly again, Ellen turned her attention back to her now numb leg wound only to gasp in surprise at what she saw; blood clotting and flesh knitting itself back together before her very eyes at a ridiculous rate until there was nothing but a small blemish where a stab wound ought to be.

"What the hell?! How could..."

Clank had made his way over when he heard the scream of pain. Inspecting the wound, he nodded in satisfaction to himself before addressing his human companion. "It would appear that the Nanotech in your bloodstream is functioning properly. There is no permanent damage to your leg aside from some small scarring, and that too will heal with time."

"Nanotech? You mean... I have nanites swimming in my blood stream?! How could I-"

"I found you in the impact crater, bought you back here and treated your wounds."

"Ratchet..." the human murmured. "He must have used some of that Nanotech stuff on me while I was knocked out on Veldin."

Clank nodded in agreement. "I can only assume so, since the technology isn't prevalent on your planet."

Ellen let out a breath he didn't even realise she was holding. "Well, at least I'm not dead from an allergic reaction or something. Bloody fuzz ball should have asked me before injecting me with stuff that's never been tested on humans before."

Before Clank could retort, a series of reverberating thuds drew their attention to the drawbridge below, and the big red lumberjack robot crossing with it's weapon in tow. Suddenly, one of the circular-saw armed robots came flying out of nowhere and slammed into the machine's torso; the explosion causing it to stagger and take a step back. A barrage of similar robo-projectiles rapidly followed suit; sailing through the air at high velocity and pounding the hulking lumberjack into scrap metal. From Ellen and Clank's immediate right came the reason for the somewhat bizarre rescue; Ratchet, of course, wielding a large, tubular, silver cannon decorated with black and yellow hazard stripes.

"Hey guys, guess what I found?" Bounding up to them, the lombax took in their deadpan expressions, as well as the surrounding bodies and burnt grass along the slope. "What'd I miss?"

{()}

After a brief recount by both parties, Ellen learned that Ratchet had found no sign of the robot lieutenant and that his new toy was called a Suck Cannon; a weapon designed to hoover up objects or enemies of a certain mass and expel them at subsonic speeds as exploding projectiles. Ellen managed to resist making a crude joke involving sucking and blowing, no matter how tempting it was; mainly due to Clank's presence and the fact that he had finally managed to disable the damn security shutter. With the thick door descending into the floor and Ellen's gear safely back inside Clank's storage space, the group walked through what looked like a loading bay before finding themselves back outside and staring over a dead drop to the bottom of the gorge below.

"Seriously? After all that it turned out to be a bloody dead end?!"

Ratchet meanwhile was observing the random hodgepodge of ridges and ledges doting the ravine as it gently curved back on itself in an anticlockwise direction before turning to look back at a now distinctly wary Ellen. "Oh no, I know that look. Whatever you're planning, it better not involve jumping off stupidly high cliffs with bottomless pits below."

It might have taken both Ratchet and Clank a little more than they anticipated to convince her otherwise, but ultimately their human companion found herself being carried like a sack of potatoes across the gap to a small ledge a dozen feet below via Heli-Pack while internally cursing up a storm. After leaping across the next, thankfully smaller gap, they came across a bolt crank which they both turned in unison; giving Ellen a chance to try out her Versa Blade's magnetic feature and revealing a series of Versa-Targets. Swinging between them with her Grapple Gun made Ellen feel a little nauseous; especially when she had to let go mid-swing in order to latch on to the second set of Versa-Targets.

Landing on the far edge with Ratchet, another bolt crank lowered a series of bobbing platforms hovering with the aid of a trio of prop turbines; requiring a series of heart stopping running jumps and careful timing in order to land on each one. Finally reaching solid ground again with the aid of Heli-Pack and Grapple Gun respectively, a final bolt crank revealed another set of Versa-Targets, and more importantly the back entrance of the large pre-fabricated structure where they suspected their target to reside. Quickly hauling themselves up, Ellen groaned with frustration at the sight of another Security door; but to the relief of all present, Clank had learned from prior experience and had the door disabled within five minutes of setting up.

Inside past yet more soon to be pilfered shipping crates, they could spot their current object of interest working at a computer console nearby. With Clank leading the team into the room, the robot lieutenant suddenly whirled round at the sound of tiny metal footsteps with a snarl on his face; the much smaller robot quickly attempting some martial arts poses in order to intimidate the much larger machine. To his surprise it seemed to work as the lieutenant froze briefly before running off out of the now unlocked front entrance, though not before leaving an infobot in his wake; this miraculous turn of events most definitely having nothing to do with the pair of heavily armed organics stood aggressively behind him, who were now trying to hide said weapons with innocent smiles.

"You sure showed him," Ratchet quipped while gesturing towards the departed robot.

"I suppose I did," Clank acknowledged with a swipe of his fist.

Ellen had to fight to keep from awwing out loud at the tiny robot's display; it was like watching a puppy trying to take on a mountain lion and coming out on top. She soon schooled her features however as the discarded infobot drifted back up off the ground from where it had fallen and expanded it's head screen to show what looked like a commercial. It started off with a small, beady eyed, almost cat-like alien using an oversized spanner to tighten a nut on a pipe in a dank metallic corridor before something suddenly snapped and noxious black fumes sprayed at his face.

"Is your current occupation leaving a rotten taste in your mouth?" asked an increasingly familiar voice, and not in a good way. The scene switched to an expansive platform on a space station with an unrivalled view of the stars and an asteroid belt in the background; the unmistakable figure of Drek strolling up to the camera before continuing. "Then you need to know about BTS; Blarg Tactical Research Station. Hi, I'm Supreme Executive Chairman Drek, and we here at BTS are seeking motivated individuals to fill positions in these exciting careers." Drek continued to narrate over a series of video clips depicting... dubious job vacancies.

"Grind Boot tester, warhead assembly technician..." A bespectacled, lab coat wearing, little cat-like alien slid down a rail while wearing a pair or red high-tech boots, only to flip head over heels and land painfully on his groin before falling off. "...mutant animal husbandry, robot repairman..." Another cat scientist dangled a chicken in front of a grotesque creature that looked like a cockroach crossed with a snake, only for said creature to swallow the alien and leave the chicken whole. "...Suck Cannon test dummy, and administrative assistant." A pair of the lab coat wearing quasi-felines were stood on a small platform; the one armed with a Suck Cannon hoovering up his companion before toppling backwards from the sudden increase in weight to the depths below. The camera switched back to a close up of Drek back on the observation platform as he completed his sales pitch. "So call BTS! Build our weapons, while you build your future!"

The final shot showed the same cat like alien from the start of the advert as he made a phone gesture with one hand while he spoke in a high pitched tone. "I'm calling BTS today!"

With the video ended, Clank stored the infobot while Ratchet's eyes lit up with excitement. "Now we're talkin'! Did you see all the cool gadgets they were making? Let's go get some!"

"No, we must continue our search for Captain Qwark," Clank responded stolidly.

The lombax sighed in frustration before a small smile found it's way on to his lips. "you know what? You're absolutely right."

His little mechanical companion cocked his head in curiosity "I am?"

"Sure! We need to find Qwark. Although when we find him, wouldn't it be nice to tell him where Drek is?"

The somewhat naive sentient machine rubbed his chin as he considered the lombax's transparent coercion. "I... suppose."

"Well, we go to the space station and talk to the scientists," Ratchet continued. "They work for Drek, so they're bound to know where he is."

Ellen settled her weight on one leg as she crossed her arms, eyes narrowing at the furry feline. "Yes, because your intentions are strictly honourable, and have absolutely nothing to do with stealing anything that isn't nailed down."

Clank seemed to agree. "I am unsure about your logic."

Ratchet simply waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, you guys think too much! Come on, let's go!"

After liberating the stacked crates of any valuables, the trio soon made their way back to their ship. With Ratchet punching in the coordinates to their next destination, Ellen took a last look out at the marred beauty of Eudora before they set off; drinking in the view and fervently wishing she had a camera. With the location of this research station they were one step closer to stopping Drek; all they had to do now was pick up any clues at this BTRS as to the blarg leader's whereabouts and then find Qwark.

'Somehow, I don't think it's going to be that easy...'

Well, that was a little different. It felt kind of odd to write something a little more intellectual in places after several rapidly paced chapters, but I think it made a nice change.

Until next time, please review and check out my other stories once they're posted and/or updated.

Thanks for reading

- RevenantReaper337