Everyone followed Sasha's orders without question. After a period of watching Clank and Al typing away at computer terminals, Sasha stepped up behind Clank to check on his progress.
"I have located blueprints for Dr. Nefarious's base on planet Zanifar. Based on its level of energy use, I believe he is currently residing there," reported Clank.
"Good work, Clank. What do you recommend as a point of entry?"
"This section of the base suffered structural damage in the past. It is unlikely that Dr. Nefarious would have been able to rebuild it to its original strength," Clank indicated an area near a large window.
"How was it damaged?" asked Sasha. Clank's shoulders drooped dramatically with a whir as he gave her a disapproving look. "Right. Silly question. How would we use this previous damage to our advantage?"
"One well-placed explosion should be able to reopen the wall," he answered. Talwyn smiled.
"Looks like that's up to me." Talwyn adjusted her weight to shift Ratchet's Nitro Launcher back and forth across her back. Sasha wasn't nearly as pleased.
"What about security? Won't something like blowing up a wall alert the entire compound?"
"There is no indication that Nefarious keeps anything of value in that section of the base, so the security detail should be much lighter there. If you move quickly, you should be able to use the explosion as a distraction while you find the crystal." Sasha still looked unsure. "I know it is not an ideal situation, but all obvious entries of the base will be heavily guarded. We simply do not have the personnel or arsenal available to take on all of Nefarious's troops at once. This is our best option," offered Clank.
Sasha sighed. "Can you pinpoint the room where Nefarious would keep a crystal?"
"I cannot. If I had to make a guess, he might keep a crystal here, in a laboratory for active study," Clank pointed to a spot at the edge of Nefarious's base, "or here, in what I believe is some kind of trophy room." Clank moved his hand to indicate an oval-shaped room on the other side of the blueprints.
"We'll only have one shot at this, so we have to split up once we gain access the building. Will you be able to handle searching the lab on your own?" Sasha asked Talwyn. She gave a single nod in response. Sasha turned her attention towards Al.
"What do you have for us on those guards, Al?"
"Well, I have good news and bad news," he began. "The bad news is, there seem to be approximately 1,750 of them guarding the base. Also, they appear to be much stronger than most of the robotic tyrhannoids we encountered in the Solana Galaxy." Al looked inappropriately pleased with himself.
"Waiting for the good news, Al."
"Around 75% of his current personnel are robots called 'cyclobombers,'" Al displayed a photo of a bizarrely shaped robot. It had a huge elliptical head, though its single eye seemed to be in the center of its body. Long arms with cannons at the end protruded from the robot's small frame. This disaster in proportions finally ended in a single, small wheel at the ground. "They use gyroscopic sensors and built in accelerometers in order to maintain maneuverability."
"Okay…?" prompted Sasha.
"They also receive their orders from Nefarious through a closed circuit wireless connection. I've been able to piggyback my own gyroscopic reprogramming executable into the security information feed!" Al stopped proudly, clearly expecting congratulations.
"That's…great, Al." Sasha said. She and Talwyn smiled uncertainly and then both turned to Clank.
"Al wrote a virus that, when activated, will cause most of Dr. Nefarious's guards to lose their balance and fall over," Clank translated.
"Oh! Wow, Al, that's really great! Excellent work!" Sasha exclaimed. She was starting to see glimmers of hope for this suicide mission.
"Unfortunately, it will only last until Nefarious notices the issue and reboots the system. I'm estimating that will take somewhere between 5 and 7 minutes." Al handed a small remote with a single red button to Talwyn. "So don't use it until you absolutely have to." Talwyn stared appraisingly at the remote.
"Well, at least it's something. You guys can meet us on Fastoon with the dimensionator once we've got the crystal. You're not opening a portal to Cragmites in my home again, and Fastoon is remote enough that we should be able to contain an invasion in case something goes wrong. Sasha, my ship is fueled up and ready to go. Come on!" Talwyn flew immediately towards the docking bay. Everyone else followed closely behind.
"Sasha?" Clank asked tentatively. Clank calling Sasha by her given name jolted her into stopping. "I do appreciate that you came all this way to assist in Ratchet's return, but if we cannot retrieve this crystal, we will find another way. Please do not allow personal feelings for an old-" she raised an eyebrow at him, "acquaintance prevent you from making logical decisions in the field."
Not you, too, Clank. "That's not the point, Clank. Besides, we are getting this crystal, no matter what." Sasha climbed into the ship beside Talwyn, who was programming coordinates into the navigation system. She nodded to the guys as the ship warmed up and taxied out of the docking bay.
