All throughout the large, gray corridors, only one sound persistently echoed. Clank. Clank Clank. A sharp sound created when a metal object hits another metal object. In this particular case, it was the sound of metal feet hitting a metal floor as they were forced forward. The clanks occurred at regular intervals, interrupted only when the metal feet stumbled. The metal feet stumbled only when their owner was set off balance by one of the guards surrounding him. This was often, as the so-called escort consisted of a lot of pushing and shoving, courtesy of the five Blargians required to escort the large robot.
The walk from his cell to their destination was not a particularly long one, but it most certainly felt like it to the 'bot. He trudged along as slowly as he could; hence why his Blargian escorts felt the need to prod him along violently. When they finally, finally came to the large set of doors at the end of the hall, he shut his optics tight, knowing that when it did open, every eye would be on him. The last thing he wanted was to see that. He kept his eyes closed as he was forcibly marched through the chamber, missing the harsh, critical glares of his peers and the surprisingly calm stare of the judge. He missed the specially large chair sitting on the defense's side and the cameras situated in the back of the chamber, transmitting to every Blargian holovision set via channel 492.
The judge looked on with only minor disapproval as he vocalized, "Lieutenant, you are charged with the desertion of your post and your men, allowing Blargian military technology to fall into the hands of the enemy and failing in your duty to the Blargian militia. How do you plead?"
The Lieutenant finally dared to open his eyes, risking a peek at the judge. With a voice that was only somewhat meek, he said aloud, "Not guilty, sir."
Federal Head of the Judiciary and Supreme Executive Chairman Drek matched his nervous eyes with ones full of sadistic delight, "Well, then. This will be fun. Let the trial begin!" And with that, the gavel was brought down heavily on the wooden stand he was sitting upon.
"Alert: Your ship's registry does not have the required security clearance for landing. Please submit the security code in the next sixty seconds or your vehicle will be vaporized."
"Well," Clank blinked, "This is unexpected."
Judging from the dry look Ratchet sent his way, Clank was pretty sure he had just stated this obvious. But really, what else could he have said? Turning back was not an option when they had no other ideas. And, really, Ratchet had been right about this station. Just looking at it roused within him intelligence, quite like when he had informed Ratchet of the technique known as kick jumping. The Blargian Tactical Station was where most, if not all, major scientific developments for the Blargians were made. This was where the supercomputer who manufactured security droids for the Blargians was born. The station was composed of four major wings: biology, computer and AI development, weapon development and engineering. Each wing a board six head scientist, with an entire hierarchy of lesser scientists to command.
More importantly, the information included an invention design he was required to obtain, called a hydrodisplacer, and a forty-nine digit security code to disable the defenses.
"Clank?" Ratchet raised a brow as the robot began typing away at the dashboard furiously. They didn't have much time to figure this out or get away. Did Clank think he could hack the system or something? But he wasn't using the Trespasser. No, instead his fingers were flying haphazardly across the keyboard, each stroke causing his movements to go that much faster. It was impressive, especially considering how slow he was on his feet. All the while he was watching this, though, the countdown of seconds was still on his mind. They were down to twenty-two, and it was continuing to trickle down at a continuous rate. Twenty-one, twenty...
"Done," Clank stated, finger tapping the send button once. A second later, their ship's comm unit beeped, warning of an incoming message.
"Security code accepted. Have a pleasant day."
The robot grinned for a fraction of a second – or maybe it was a trick of the light – before turning to Ratchet with a neutral expression, "We have clearance to land in the central loading bay. Please enter dock one, open there," Clank took a moment to point out the open hanger. Ratchet gave a short nod and pulled in slowly, double-checking to make sure he'd reached a suitable landing speed before deactivating the controls. X Axis. Z Axis. Land carefully. Then Y Axis. Heh, this flying stuff turned out to be pretty easy once Ratchet had gotten the hang of it.
The landing bay thoroughly impressed Ratchet. Or at least, impressed him enough to raise an eyebrow. It was small, just barely big enough for the ship to maneuver around in. They were surrounded by computing devices and some other machinery that Ratchet couldn't see the purpose for. Clank was less impressed, having already had an idea of what the hanger would look like going into it. He did, however, take note of the security precautions inside and outside of the facility. He was lucky to have remembered what the security code was when he had.
According to his internal schematics, the device he was to locate had been stored to the left of where they had landed. Just as Clank went to walk that way, however, Ratchet began moving in the opposite direction. Ratchet realized Clank wasn't following him around the same time and looked back towards the robot.
"Er," With a tilt of his head, Ratchet pointed behind him, "I thought we were going this way..."
"According to the station's schematics, we should go in this direction."
There were SO many questions prompted by that statement. Why were they going that way? Where and when did he get schematics to this place? If he knew the station's schematics, then what laid in the path ahead of them? But Ratchet was still Ratchet, no matter how curious he was, so he pushed his inquisition to the back of his mind and followed Clank, stopping short of the door.
"Clank, we can't go that way," Ratchet made his voice loud, so the robot was sure to hear him. Somewhat confused, Clank stopped mere millicubits away from the door to stare back at the Lombax. Ratchet, in return, pointed to the neat lettering above the door, "That's an airlock. I know you're a robot and everything, so this doesn't really apply to you, but I can't breathe in space!"
Breathe? Oh, right, that thing that organics had to do to keep themselves oxygenated. In truth, Clank had known that this had been an airlock, but failed to recall the fact that Ratchet required a healthy breath full of O2 every few seconds in order to function properly. How that had slipped his mind was beyond him.
His disappointed was not lost on Ratchet. After having built up the robot on Eudora, he felt inclined to keep his self-esteem high, if just for the moment, "Hey, maybe there's another route or something-"
"Negative," The robot reported in a dispassionate tone, "the area that I want to get to can only be accessed through here. Actually, I believe that area also lacks oxygen. However..." Clank hesitated; his idea would solve their current dilemma, but it was not something they'd tried before. However, it would increase their efficiency. The pros outweighed the cons, so Clank announced, "I believe that we should disjoin our orthodox method of travel for a small period of time in order to further explore the vessel and collect evidence to determine our next objective."
It took Ratchet a moment to process those words, "You mean you want to split up?"
"That is what I just stated," Clank returned with a shrug. He seemed slightly annoyed, but only slightly. Barely noteworthy.
Splitting up meant that they'd be traveling on their own separate terms. On one hand, how far could Clank get on his own? He wasn't fast or strong. If he had to fight his way through some sort of security measure, they probably wouldn't see each other again. On the other hand... no one around to tell him what to do. He could take whatever he wanted and fight however he pleased, and there would be no robot on his back to worry about too. Each side was considered before eventually Ratchet relented, "Alright. You go outside and explore. I'll head that way, into the bio wing, and see if I can find any of the scientists that work here."
"Be cautious," Clank warned one last time as he made his way to the door, "The creatures in the biology labs are experimental crossbreeds between naturally aggressive predators. It would serve you well to try and bypass them altogether."
Amazing. They weren't even going in the same direction and Clank was giving him orders. Smiling politely, Ratchet took a brief moment to tell Clank, "I'll be careful. Besides, they'll all be in cages, right? What's the worst that could happen?"
A lot of things. But Clank decided to spare Ratchet the long list and simply went on his way. On the other side of the hanger, Ratchet smashed his way through a security gate and did the same.
Ratchet discovered just how wrong things could go on his own, as he fought his way passed what appeared to be mutated red-eyed amphibians – honestly, he was too concerned about smacking them away from his flesh to do any classification – and Blargians wearing bright yellow hazmat suits who were 'decontaminating' the area. With plasma rifles. Ratchet hadn't known much about Blargians before this whole adventure, but decided that they just hated everything. If it was useful, use it, but anything that got in their way was vaporized or obliterated. It was just as simple as that.
As it turns out, though, protection from hazardous materials doesn't necessarily translate into protection from power-sliding Lombaxes. They toppled over like dominoes, long enough for Ratchet to pull off their masks and knock them out with a swift blow to the head. Afterwords, he locked them in a maintenance closet. You know, to protect them from the vicious carnivorous abominations roaming around. The fact that it would probably be hilarious when they awoke in no way affected his decision.
When Ratchet came to the next room, he paused, taking in the sight with his ears folding back instinctively. Insane was really the only way to describe it. It must have been some sort of massive habitat for the creatures, but it appeared to be massively broken. There were shards of broken glass on the floor – both the landing Ratchet was standing on and the one at the bottom of the room, just below the broken habitat. One fall and it was all over. With a deep breath, Ratchet leapt forward and put his feline instincts to use.
In addition to the treacherous broken state of the habitat, a noxious-looking green gas was being dispersed; it was probably meant to purge whatever experiments had been in here. Taking a deep breath, Ratchet ran forth and grasped at the edge of a set of platforms probably meant for the experiment. It was a synch for someone who had spent their whole lives climbing through rocky terrain. But experience also made Ratchet cocky; all it takes is one slip up and...
"ARG!"
...you get sprayed in the face. Something Ratchet learned too late, as he doubled over and coughed violently. Damn it, what was with him and poisonous gases? Ratchet blinked as his vision clouded and began panicking, if only internally. This stuff was made lethal. But there had to be a 'just in case' fix-it around here somewhere. An antidote or first aid kit or-
Nanotech. Though his head was beginning to fog, Ratchet's mind went back to Novalis; the glass wounds on his hands and feet brought back the soothing, tickling sensation from the doomed world. One hand blindly groped around Ratchet's left pocket, increasing in speed as a headache hit. There wasn't much time... the left pocket was empty. Desperately, Ratchet moved on to the right pocket. Success! The miniature blue robots swarmed through his gloves into his skin, burrowing into his bloodstream. From there, it was as if the poison had never hit. Ratchet sat back and enjoyed the sensation for but a moment. It was still pretty unreal, the numb feeling of the healing process going by at insane speeds, but he needed to keep moving. His eyes ran across the room, stopping at a telecommunication orb. Somebody must have used it to send a message out after the escape. Or maybe before, didn't really matter. Ratchet aimed carefully before firing the device and swinging across the gap.
Maybe someone in the next few rooms could tell him what happened here.
According to his schematics, the outside of the Blargian Tactical Station was used for storage.
The insides of the station were too unreliable; anybody with a key card could access almost anywhere within the station. Too risky. But outside there were more obstacles to overcome. You would have to lift whatever you were planning to take and carry it out – and zero gravity would not help you here, thanks to artificial gravity generators (called AGGs by some) in place around the outside of the facility. Lack of air was only a sort of nuisance to most, thanks to O2 masks, but there were security precautions in place just in case anyone ever tried to steal from the BTS.
Of course, most people were not robots with the emergency security shut-off code, like Clank.
With a short grin that lasted a little longer than it should have, Clank stepped off the elevator, walking casually past the disabled defenses. It was at times like this where he felt... good. Like he could take on anything Drek threw at him. Of course he knew that was not true and would not dare to act on it or taunt Drek in any form but still, it felt unreal. They had made a lot of progress the last few days, him and Ratchet, and it was finally starting to show. They were ready to go after something big.
But what? Clank pondered as he carefully balanced across the platforms. Already they had fought one of Drek's top lieutenants – and sent him running, thank you – and stopped an invasion force. If anything, Eudora was now better off than it ever was. What else was there to tackle?
Entering the observation area, Clank took a casual glance out the window as he walked past, then froze. Was that...? walking back for a better look, Clank found his answer in the form of a ship from Drek's armada. His eyes widened at the sight of it, then scanned over it. A small hull breech, most likely caused by an asteroid, was being repaired. Slowly, the look on Clank's face changed from one of moderate surprise to a knowing one.
Looks like they had found their next target.
The room Ratchet entered next appeared to be some sort of containment area. With a curious glance, Ratchet approached one of the cages, entrapping some sort of lizard, which blinked to life at Ratchet's slow approach. It tilted its head to the side inquisitively. Maybe these things weren't so bad-
SNAP! SNAP!
Yes, they were that bad, Ratchet concluded, ducking away from the thing as it tried to bite at him through the container. It felt somewhat silly, being afraid of something that couldn't possibly get to you, but Ratchet was going to play this one on the safe side of cautious, thank you. With them out of the way, Ratchet turned to the door. It wasn't so much a door as it was some sort of force field, created by a constant stream of negatively charged particles. Touching that thing would produce... 'shocking' results. But if he could disable the power source, there was no problem. And the power source...
...was connected to the containment fields of the creature's cage. Of course. He could just go back, but then his thoughts turned to Clank. The little robot probably had something in mind when he chose that direction, which meant he was trying to find something in specific. If Ratchet didn't match his find at the least, then his entire venture here would be pointless. So, with a glare, he sent his wrench careening towards the power source, going through the electron-generating device and smashing it. The force field went down. So did the containment field.
As expected, the lizard crashed through the glass cage and plopped onto the ground, screeching at Ratchet; a loud, high-pitched sound that caused him to wince instinctively. It then charged towards the stunned Lombax, who barely managed to dodge it. Wrench gripped tightly, Ratchet hopped onto its back, holding on tightly to its neck as it tried to buck him off. Adrenaline flowed through the Lombax; this was something he'd never quite experienced before, and despite his initial misgivings, it was kind of fun. But, he reminded himself, this thing would eat him if it did manage to get him off, so he gave the creature's skull a singular but powerful blow to the back of the skull, sending it into the land of Nod. It was almost too much; Ratchet leaned against a nearby wall and laughed until all the adrenaline was out of his system.
The hydrodisplacer, according to Clank's calculations, was not far. In fact, it was within this very maintenance structure. The room looked almost ship-like in design. Clank could conjure the image of determined engineers working hard on this project only to have it scoffed by the likes of Drek and tossed casually into storage. But all the better for him. All he needed now was a maintenance 'bot, and he was all set.
Maintenance 'bots were not very hard to find. They were kept in glass containers, so that they could break out easily should the need for that arise. They did not need to now, but the glass containment units made it easy for Clank to break out the smaller robots himself. One punch had the 'bot free and, as programmed, it activated but with no directive. Puzzled at this intrusion, it looked around, halting its visual inspection upon Clank.
Transmitting in binary, Clank sent it a simple signal. Hello.
Hello. The maintenance 'bot blinked. Can you tell me why I have awoken from my slumber?
I need your help to gain access into the interior of a room coming up ahead. Would you care to unlock it for me?
The maintenance 'bot took a moment to calculate its answer. A short scan – not nearly as thorough as Clank's own scanners could provide – passed throughout his body. A quick security check. Then the little 'bot nodded. Yes, sir.
He walked away from the maintenance 'bot dispenser, not even bothering to look as another maintenance 'bot slotted into place. He knew the drill. One 'bot leaves, repairs the damage, and another one fills its place. Should the first one die, another one is ordered. And so the process goes again and again and again. It was kind of numbing, really, how wasteful the Blargians were with these semi-intelligent 'bots. Well, more help for him.
It followed closely behind, not once questioning Clank. After all, Clank was, in all technicality, a superior officer. It had to obey him without question. So when a mysterious lizard monster dropped from the ceiling and almost crushed the taller 'bot, it felt inclined to help him. After all, that is what subordinates do. There was no response from it when Clank thanked it. It was just doing its job. Actually, it should be thanking Clank for allowing it the opportunity to do its job.
Clank was slightly baffled by its bizarrely unresponsive behavior. Did he come off like that to others? He certainly hoped not.
Upon reaching the chamber, Clank commanded the maintenance 'bot to open it with a single binary message. It responded physically, doing the task without sound or question. Clank surprised himself by being slightly disappointed when it went inside the structure. He knew he would never see it again. But, on the plus side, the hydrodisplacer was right there. All he had to do was walk forward and pick it up. Success!
The device compressed easily enough, and fit snugly inside his storage compartment. Even though it was a bit of a tight fit, he grinned. The first objective that his creator left for him – beyond stopping Drek, that is – and he accomplished it. Moreover, he accomplished it with very little help. And the help he did get was acquired through deceit. While irrational, it caused a bubble of mirth inside of him.
There was this feeling inside of his chest; this odd compelling sensation. It took root, spreading uncontrollably throughout his little metal body. He grinned and, without warning or consent, broke into a short fit of laughter.
Almost immediately afterwords he wondered what came over him. Laughing as Ratchet had felt good, bizarrely good, and it boggled him to no end. After a moment of ponder, Clank noticed the bridge that had formed to his left. The maintenance 'bot must have opened it for him. How nice of it. Still pondering his own outburst, Clank began the trek back to Ratchet. He would at least have the comfort of knowing that the hydrodisplacer would certainly be put to good use on their quest.
Yet another failed containment room. Ratchet was beginning to wonder if these things had been let out on purpose.
There was also a disturbing lack of exterminators beyond the initial containment room. Were those the only people the so-called 'Supreme' Executive Chairman put on duty? Or had the others been... eaten? In the next room, Ratchet almost expected to find another room full of cages. Instead, what he found disturbed him even more. This chamber was built to support four large containment fields; each contained creature was separated by a series of artificial electric fences. But all but two of the fences were down and there were no signs of any of the creatures. This was bad. This was very, very bad.
And what a surprise, more lizards. Ratchet had long since grown tired of fighting these things. Just one solid blow to the back of the head and they were out. Whoever bred these creatures wasn't very good at their job, lucky for Ratchet. He bounced passed those things into the next room. What he met in there...
Well, he'd already seen its pen, so he hadn't really been surprised by the size of the monster. He was surprised, however, at how similar it looked to the lizard creatures he'd been fighting throughout the area. It had a fancy looking crown, and its skin seemed a bit tougher, but really, it was the same thing. Perhaps a different species of the same creature?
It roared, loudly, and this one caused Ratchet's ears to pound. Damn it, he should really be used to loud noises by this point, but they still caught him off guard. He'd have to do something about that at some point. But for now, he focused all his attention and energy on the creature in front of him. It scuttled forward on spidery legs, creating bizarre tapping noises whenever one of its six legs hit the ground. The movements were almost graceful, but Ratchet didn't dwell on this as he dove away from the creature when it snapped at him with the intent to bite his head off. Upon missing, it screeched in frustration and ran back towards him. Another dodge, and this time Ratchet thought to toss his wrench at the creature. It hit the crown of its head, bounced off the leathery material and landed on the ground near his feet. That attack hadn't done much damage, but it had succeeded in getting the large lizard even madder, somehow.
With another loud screech, the amphibian things came leaping at him from the ceiling. This, the Lombax hadn't anticipated. He found himself swatting at the sky, the ground and, on occasion, his own limbs in a desperate struggle to get these things off of him. There apparently had been one of the smaller lizards in the room; it had successfully gone around Ratchet and he wouldn't have noticed it were it not for one of the amphibian things hitting it with a loud smack. Luckily the situation was easily resolved with Ratchet's wrench.
What was up with these things, though? It was almost like this giant was their leader... weird.
But if it was, it would confirm Ratchet's theory that it was one of those lizards. And that meant the back of its head was vulnerable. With a loud cry of his own, Ratchet ran up to the thing, power-sliding underneath it and performing a sudden turn mid-slide. From there he jumped swiftly on its back and delivered a blow as powerful as he could manage to the back of its skull. It did the trick, just as Ratchet knew it would. The lizard slumped to the ground, limply, and Ratchet slid off its back. It wasn't quite out yet, though, and Ratchet got one last look at its softly glowing yellow eyes before it went to sleep. It almost looked sad...
Wasting no more time on this thought, Ratchet quickly moved to grab some rope from the observation area. He wrapped one end tightly around the monster's throat and the other around the most sturdy structure he could find. Somebody else would come and deal with this thing later... or not. He didn't really care anymore. Ratchet took one more moment to double-check his knots, then walked into the next room.
"Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was a goner this time!"
The unexpected voice caused Ratchet to jump.
"Did I startle you? Sorry," From his right, Ratchet could see a Solanian standing on a stool. He was short in height, in hair, in every meaning of the word. From the looks of it, the guy was a scientist here... was he the same one from the commercial? Ratchet doubted that, "Some nano-wit from the genetics division must have left the cages open again. The last time it happened, though, we didn't have those large... lizard things... running around."
Ratchet leaned against a wall, tired, "Yeah, well, I fixed it," He took a pause in his panting to give the scientist a critical eye. Why was he still cowering on top of a chair? He looked like an idiot, "You can come down now."
Ignoring the Lombax, as most people tend to do, the scientist went on rambling, "I swear, this is no way for a gadget engineer to be treated. I deserve better than this, dammit!" He stomped his foot on the chair, "The next chance I get, I'm retiring. Bye-bye, BTS, I'm gonna go work at Gadgetron or Big Al's Robo Shack or, well, ANYWHERE BUT HERE!" He followed up that proclamation with a few insane sounding chuckles.
"Ah..." Ratchet frowned, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh, yes, you," The Gadget Engineer examined him him curiously, "Well, you did save my life, so I suppose I owe you... ah!" He grinned, "How about I give you some of my old stuff? I'm sure I have something in my workshop I don't need anymore. C'mon!" He sounded almost giddy as he raced into an office, "You can help me pack up my desk!"
Geez, Ratchet thought with a roll of his eyes, this guy crossed the boundaries between frightened victim and annoying. Had he been that desperate sounding when he'd expressed to people how much he wanted off of Veldin? In actuality, though, he followed the guy without complaint, watching him tear apart the tiny desk space and back it all into a suitcase. Some things were thrown on the desk; things Ratchet was allowed to take, he supposed. Amongst them were assorted hard candies, the odd bolt or twenty, some old invention designs and, most importantly, a new pair of grindboots. The sight of them had Ratchet grinning excitedly. He reached over the desk to take them... and paused.
One of the blueprints haphazardly thrown onto the desk was of a robot. According to the scale it was tall, maybe twice Ratchet's size, but that wasn't what caught his attention. There was something familiar about it, something that made Ratchet stare. It wasn't that he'd seen this particular robot before, but something about the layout of its part, of the outward design... his mind burned as it struggled to recall where, exactly, this design had appeared before in his life. Before he could change his mind, he grasped the blueprints and stuffed them in his pocket before grabbing the grindboots. Finally, the scientist gave him a grin, "Well, I'm off. Thanks again for your help, stranger. I hope I never see you again."
Same here, Ratchet thought bitterly as he watched the man walk away. Well, whatever. Time to show Clank his cool new grindboots.
To Clank's moderate surprise, Ratchet was waiting for him when he returned. He was leaning against the wall parallel to the airlock, arms crossed and eyes neutral. He did not seem to be aware of Clank's reentry, so the robot announced himself with a simple, "I am back."
"So you are," Ratchet responded without even opening his eyes. His slumped form gave an almost tired vibe. But, looking at it more closely, Clank figured he was merely leaning without effort. There was too much tension in his body for him to be truly exhausted.
Not bothering to ponder this for much longer, Clank retrieved the hydrodisplacer from his storage compartment, saying aloud, "And I found... this," As he enlarged it to its normal size and tossed it to Ratchet. The odd thing was, even though it was much too large for Clank, it was somehow even more ill-fitting for Ratchet to hold. Perhaps it was because of the awkward way he had caught it, or maybe it was because of the uncharacteristically sheepish look on his face. He gave Clank an awkward, almost forced, grin.
"Well this is... something," Ratchet's lopsided grin told just as much as his voice did. Although quite skilled with engineering, he did not seem to be aware of what the device was. Quickly, this was confirmed, "Something... that's... what is this thing?"
"It is a hydrodisplacer," Clank stated simply.
Ratchet's ears bent backwards. The robot was not sure whether or not Ratchet knew what it was or what it did. He began reorienting it so that it was positioned right, looking somewhat awkward on Ratchet's small shoulders, "Well, thanks. I always wanted one of these things... I guess," The object was tossed back to Clank, who minimized it and placed it back in his compartment. It fit more comfortably this time, now that Clank knew how big it was in relation to his internal size. In front of him, Ratchet lifted his feet, showing off a pair of fresh new grindboots, "I'd give you these," He said, throwing a bit of a smile Clank's way. It was somewhat crooked, "but I don't think they'd fit your stubby little feet."
"True," Clank agreed quickly, inspecting them with a critical eye, "They barely even fit your feet," That sensation bubbled within him again and before Clank knew it, he was giggling. Not out of control, just a short little chuckle, but it still captured Ratchet's bewildered attention.
"Whoa," His eyes were wide and clear as crystal, "Did- did you just laugh?"
Almost immediately, Clank responded to the positive, following with a quick inquiry, "Why? Did I do it wrong?" Logically, he knew that every laugh was different, but the thought of doing it wrong after just figuring it out sobered him quite efficiently.
Ratchet shook his head to signify the negative, "Nah, it's just weird, is all. Never heard a laugh like that. Or, you know, from you. No offense, man, but you're kinda..." The sentence trailed off, before Ratchet just gave him a dismissing gesture, "Never mind. Anyways, what's next?"
"That," Clank answered indirectly, choosing to point to the damaged war ship outside, "That ship is one of the Blargian Private Armada. It is capable of laying siege for hours on end before requiring more ammunition. To take it out would increase our chances of success. Over there," Clank's schematics kicked in once again, reminding him of the ship used for easy passage between ships that needed maintenance and the Blargian Tactical Station, "we can use that to sneak aboard without being fired upon."
"Sounds cool," Ratchet pushed himself off the wall, walking towards Clank with a hand outstretched, "Let's take this sucker down!" They reconnected, bolt locks clicking together at the fastest time yet. It took almost no time at all for the duo of to reach the small pod, placed off to the side so employees would not accidentally fling themselves into space. The thought was caused that feeling again, but just enough to only make him want to chuckle, as opposed to laughing with abandon. Good. He could control this, to some degree. The alternative would have been disastrous.
The trip between the BTS and the warship was a quick one. Ratchet drove with the mildly logical excuse that he required more practice driving – something that, while absurd, was not argued. He supposed it was because Ratchet, for all of his carefree attitude, took great care while working with ships. There seemed to be a connection here, something held right in front of his eyes. He was just having trouble seeing its roots. Were odd things like this part of being organic? Or was it exclusive to Ratchet? It took more work than it should have to get himself back on task as they finally boarded the war ship.
Blargian ships were, for the most part, designed similarly. They consisted of a series of elaborate connecting doorways; this was done so as to direct the troops more efficiently. They were forced to take the route you told them to, and should they not... insubordination. It was nothing more than a practice in obeying orders. Today, the right side of the ship was open, and Ratchet bolted through rather quickly, using his Omniwrench to swiftly knock out unsuspecting guards. Really, they were only poorly trained engineers, so it was not surprising that they went down easy.
Finally, the bridge. It had been easier than Clank assumed... which left him more anxious than anything. But this was shoved to the back of his mind as he instead focused on something more important – namely, the left open infobot account on a nearby computer. It appeared to be a news stream... Clank disengaged himself from Ratchet's harness and took a moment to begin a download to one of the infobots within his storage chamber.
A loud alarm sprung up. The room began glowing with red warning lights and Ratchet was forced to cover his ears. Clank felt his insides curl. This was his doing and, despite it being accidental, he very much wished he could take it back. How stupid of him, not to check and see if the computer had been bugged!
The room suddenly began filling with Blargian soldiers, each one brandishing a weapon. There were too many for Clank to count; they were continuously entering from all directions and it was impossible to keep a steady count going. However, he was fairly certain that the number added up to four or five commando troops, which summed up to around forty or fifty soldiers, each dedicated to wiping the duo out.
Perhaps this had not been such a good idea...
Ratchet stood next to him and, although the circumstances were terrifying, he looked ready to fight, eyes narrowed and wrench gripped tightly. While admirable that he was willing to go down fighting, Clank could not find it in himself to let Ratchet go through with this. Frantically, he searched, scanning each individual piece of equipment for anything that might be useful. His scan paused on a dashboard not far from them.
A self-destruct button. Part of him could scarcely believe that the Blargian militia would include such a feature in their ships. The rest of him tried to see it from a logical angle; if anyone ever stole the ship, they could just blow it up along with the thieves. But it did not appear to have a remote activation. There was something horribly wrong with Blargian logic, Clank decided, but did not press the thought. Instead, he made a run for it.
Reaching the button was not a heart-stopping race to the finish. In fact, it was rather anticlimactic. The outcome of pressing it, however, was not. The moment it went down, three warning bleeps blared across the station. The army surrounding them scrambled away, desperately attempting to get to the escape pods. Ratchet did not look panicked, but he certainly looked more alarmed and suspicious than relieved.
"Ah, Clank, what just happened?"
Blinking up, Clank decided to convey what happened to Ratchet as he began to lead him away, "They are evacuating the ship because I just activated the ship's self-destruct."
"WHAT?" Ratchet, in a state of shock, ripped his hand away from Clank, "Why- how- never mind, hold on!" With that, the race began. Ratchet's speeds before now had been nothing quite like this. Not only did he beat his record for re-connecting Clank to his back, but he also jumped, dodged and sprinted like Clank had never seen before. The pounding on his back was even harder now. Ratchet was panting, just a little bit. His internal counter read twenty seconds to detonation when they finally got to the escape pod.
Behind them, the ship exploded. It could not be heard, however; the vacuum surrounding them muted the sound. But the red and yellow lights appeared sporadically all over the ship until, finally, it broke into two, each piece drifting away from the others. The sight was worthy of a smile. Victory.
"Whew," Ratchet breathed. His attention was not so much focused on the explosion as it was on the hand currently clutching at his chest. The location of that thumping... "That was... interesting," His words were constantly being interrupted by his own heavy breathing, "Warn me before you do something like that!"
Clank flinched back. Although his voice was made less threatening by his lack of breath, Ratchet seemed genuinely angry about this. Blinking, Clank responded in a manner that he hoped would decrease Ratchet's irritation, "My apologies. I will make sure to let you know the next time I plan to blow something up."
"Was that sarcasm?" Ratchet asked with a raised brow.
Clank could only tilt his head in confusion. He was aware of what sarcasm was, but it was not appropriate for the situation. Why use it? "Negative," Silence ensued, before Clank recalled the infobot stream, "Ratchet," The Lombax, having begun to walk back to their ship, paused to look back at Clank, "I uploaded an infobot stream while we were on the warship. Perhaps it would be a good idea to watch it."
The Lombax raised a brow, "Yeah? Well, okay, put it on."
DOWNLOADING STREAM... STREAM DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.
The scene opened up with Darla Gratch, a well known robotic reporter, in the foreground. Behind her, a valiant soldier was fending off what appeared to be a gargantuan germ. While he did so, Darla spoke:
"This is Darla Gratch reporting live from Blackwater City. We've just learned that Captain Qwark will be presenting the grand prize at the Intergalactic Hoverboard Championship, which will be held here over the next few days."
The germ-like creature behind her had successfully vanquished the soldier, grinning with sadistic glee as it consumed him. Gratch looked back only briefly, before her expression morphed as she remembered something. Quickly, she turned back to the camera.
"In related news, this planet has recently been suffering from an infestation of strange amoeboid creatures. The city's administration has assured this reporter that every step has been taken to eradicate these nuisances. Darla Gratch, Channel 2 news."
The robot woman smiled charismatically at the camera, unaware of the approaching amoeboid creature behind her. It raised itself up to above her height, closing in on her...
STREAM TERMINATED.
"Well, that was informative," Ratchet stated as the infobot retreated back into Clank's storage compartment. The little robot had decided to keep it, despite turning the others they had found loose. This one had a damaged memory bank, thanks to Ratchet, and would not be able to resell itself or find suitable work. Being Clank's personal infobot was probably the best job available for the poor thing.
"Do you think that woman is alright?" Clank asked, thinking back to Miss Gratch. She seemed to be unaware of the danger that befell her. Being eaten alive like that... robots are quite a bit more resilient than organics. She could be alive in there for quite some time.
Ratchet gave him what appeared to be a curious look, then waved away his concern for Miss Gratch, "You mean Darla? That woman's been eaten by a Blargian Snagglebeast. I'm pretty sure she can handle walking gelatin monsters. But didn't you hear? Captain Qwark's hosting the Hoverboard Tournament. If I could manage to win..."
Then another of Clank's objectives would be complete. This was what organics would call a very good day, "Then why are we still loafing around here? Let us get on with our mission!" The sensation that urged him to laugh came upon him again. It was ignored, but that did not stop him from cracking a large smile.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?"
A Blargian male, tall and stoic, stood at the edge of the wooden benches, hands gripping a small white card, "We have, your honor. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of all charges."
A sadistic grin formed in Judge Drek's eyes, "So he is. Thank you for your time and effort. Each of you will be escorted back to your homes by my own personal commandos. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions," His words were only acknowledged by some; the rest left in quite a hurry, "Now," He stated, once the jury and audience was gone. Only the defendant, judge and some officers were left, "As for your punishment..."
"Please, sir!" The Lieutenant begged, shaking subtly. His eyes were narrowed with fear, "L-let me have one more chance! I'll kill them both this time!"
"You already HAD that chance," The Supreme Chairman snarled, apathy crossing his appearance, "Now you can accept your punishment like a man or like a grovelling dog," He motioned for the guards to place the collar around his neck, sighing at the pathetic squealing and screaming that came from the ex-lieutenant, "It appears you are going to take this like a dog. Such a shame... I had such high hopes for you. Ah, well," Keeping his mouth thin and straight, he reached for the remote at the judge's stand, pointed it at the collar, and watched with slight disinterest as the Lieutenant howled in pain, electricity coursing through his circuits, overloading them as they passed through his conductible metal form.
With a sense of dismissal, Drek waved to the guards to carry the body away, leaving him alone in the judge's chambers. His attention fell to the plans on his desk. Things were going along exactly as scheduled and, despite a few setbacks, they were well on their way. But his thoughts then turned to the Lieutenant.
...he would need to be more careful about the people he hired. He couldn't afford any more distractions.
Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank do not belong to me.
Authoress' Notes: I'll bet you didn't know that Drek is a judge! He is also a certified paramedic, an amateur computer programmer, a lover of soylent greens and long walks on the beach and a fan boy of Captain Starshield. But if you tell anyone he'll have you put to death for dispensing classified information. I get off scott-free because Drek owes me money. And that is why I love making bets on minesweeper games!
But, the chapter itself. I think this is one of the best yet. At least, the beginning is. But as it goes on... after Ratchet and Clank finished their separate missions, I kinda got bored and just wanted it done. I think that's why that section is shorter and with less detail. Also, this is the point where, in my mind, Clank starts to become more... subconsciously aware. That is to say, he's becoming less of a mindless machine with a mission and more of a sentient person with morals. But yeah, Blackwater City is next. That's gonna be fun... except for the hoverboard race... I forgot about that. Damn it.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, I didn't put quotations around the speech with the infobot and Clank because, the way they're communicating... you can equate it to telepathy. They are speaking with their MINDS.
What did I do good on?: Ratchet's sections here are pretty in depth. Reading it again... I'm actually kinda surprised. It has something of an equal mix between angst and humor.
What did I fail on?: I could've gone a lot more in-depth with Clank, I think. I mean, since he's not really aware of himself yet either, I guess I shouldn't go TOO deep, but I could've explored what he was feeling. Not doing so because I'm lazy.
Random Question for Reviewers: Would you like to play minesweeper? (Smirk)
