Never ever talk, never ever smile
Knowing that my life won't be the same
Never ever touch, never ever feel
I will never hear you call my name . . . again . . .

- "Never, Ever" by HammerFall

Chapter 8
Tell No Tales


A dropship descended from the safety of the Gangrel and floated its way down to the cliffs of Quartu. The main hatch broke its airlock seal with a beep and the sound of pistons firing to gently open the doors in the most decidedly mechanical tone possible.

Ratchet decided to take the opportunity as the doors were opening to start talking. "So, the key to making a covert mission like this work is absolute silence. No noise whatsoever. You never know what'll set the natives off, so the best way to make sure they don't bother you is not to attract their attention in the first place."

Ironically, as the door opened just enough to allow for escape, Adari'a leapt out of the hatch, and landed on the sands first. The rays from the rising Quartun sun shone against her golden armor, complete with its leather straps and stylized gauntlets, and she looked out to the sunrise before letting out a primal roar.

Ratchet glared at the centaur as the door lowered the rest of the way down, but she just smirked. "Your logic is nice, Ratchet, but I think making sure that only animal control would want to come near this spot works a little better."

Ratchet just turned his head to Jigsaw. "I thought you wanted me to lead this search party?"

"Now who said anything about you leading? I just wanted you along." Jigsaw strolled down the rampway to the surface, walking towards Adari'a.

Ratchet just groaned, pulled Clank onto his back, and glanced to Big Al. "Why do I get the feeling I'm making a big mistake here?"

"Relax, Ratchet, this isn't any worse than the other missions I've seen you on." Al responded, scratching his neck. "And you've certainly been put up against worse missions than finding some lab tech."

"I don't know . . . something about Jigsaw still bothers me."

Al shrugged. "Well, Adari'a seems to like you — even if Jigsaw does try something, I'm sure her friend will keep the peace."

"That or keep the pieces." Ratchet mumbled to himself, before waving goodbye to Al and hopping onto the surface. Jigsaw blinked, then glanced at Ratchet, nonplussed.

Adari'a looked down at her two mission partners. "So . . . is there any chance we can get started with our searching, or am I babysitting you two on this one?"

"We'll get started." Jigsaw replied, pulling out a small holographic map and a pair of translucent glasses. "We're already close to the site of the CosmoGear research center — fairly easy to spot as it's the only one on the planet — along with a small village that seems to be tied to the research station, but also happens to make a fair bit of its own revenue offering several tourist packs involving whatever combination of boats and wind you can come up with. We should check both of them, but if Dimitri's still on the planet, odds are good he'll be in this village."

"So I'm guessing that if he's not, we storm the research center." Ratchet responded. "And what are the glasses for? A new weapon?"

"No, they're for me." Jigsaw replied, clipping the blue molded visor to her circlet. "Just a pair of polarized, light-sensitive lenses. Beats having the sun in your eyes."

Ratchet rolled his eyes, before taking hold of the map and beginning to walk towards the village. Jigsaw and Adari'a shared a look before following after him.

The 'village' looked less like the stereotypical hamlet Ratchet was expecting, and more like a series of huts along a path towards a harbor. All things considered, a quick brute-force search along the path should turn up Dimitri, if indeed he was anywhere to be found, but there was no need to disrupt more people than necessary (especially if these were peaceful village folk).

A lanky creature with tufts of fur along his head and extremities stood near one of the huts, adjusting a rooftop. He was the first to spot the motley crew, and leapt down in front of the lot. "My, my, not often we get a strange crew like yourselves around here. You look lost."

"We're looking for a friend of ours. About so high, same species, white coat . . ." Ratchet started, trying to describe Dimitri as best he could.

"Ah, but which one? That could be either of the twins you're speaking of." The creature responded, adjusting its coveralls.

Jigsaw raised an eyebrow. "The one that's not dead."

The expression on the creature's face changed. ". . . I thought that hadn't gotten outside of the local news yet . . . no matter, I'm pretty sure whoever you guys are, Dimitri won't want to talk to you."

"So you know where he is?" The look on the female Lombax's face lit up.

"No, but I still know he won't want to talk to you." With this, the blue-furred creature remarked, and went back to his roofing work. Jigsaw shrugged, then walked towards Adari'a, climbing onto her back.

Ratchet blinked, then started walking towards Adari'a as well, hopping onto her back without any assistance, although he did manage to make the lion wince. "So what now? The overgrown protopet didn't sound very helpful."

Adari'a glanced to Ratchet. "One, the Anyr don't take kindly to being teased about looking 'overgrown' in any sense; two, it didn't matter what the guy actually said to us; and three, warn me next time before you try to bust my spine out of alignment, would you?"

Jigsaw turned her head a little to whisper to Ratchet. "Since this town already seems to know about Dimitri, all we have to do is scan through the town enough until we either find someone who seems to know more about what's going on here, or we find our fellow hiding among them. A quick ride along the cliffs should do the trick."

"And what do you expect me to do?" Ratchet blinked.

"Hang on tight!" With that, Adaria burst into full bolt, galloping along the rocky cliff path, as Jigsaw closed her eyes and tried to focus on the mental blurs. Scanning an entire populace meant only picking up a glancing reading from each inhabitant in each house, and it was easy to miss if she didn't focus hard enough.

Tech . . . tech . . . school . . . bolts . . . sails . . . playbot magazine . . . aha!

"WHOA!" Jigsaw jerked back up, and Adari'a stopped dead in her tracks. The resulting intertia caused Ratchet to bonk his head into Jigsaw's, though, causing the girl to groan. "Ow . . . that house. There."

Jigsaw dismounted, trying desperately to shake off the temporary dizziness from hitting Ratchet's helmet. Ratchet leapt off and headed for the house in question, knocking on the door. After a few moments, an older-looking Anyr came to answer the door, glaring through his spectacles. "What you want, boy?"

"Hi, look, I'm here for Dimitri, and I thought you might have a clue about-?"

"You work for Cosmo?" The Anyr glared.

Ratchet shook his head. "No, we heard about the incident, and we wanted to see Dimitri, you know . . . for support?"

"Well, he ain't here, I can tell you that right now." The old man went to close the door, but Ratchet stuck a foot in.

"What can you tell us, then?"

The Anyr grumbled a bit, then whipped the door open. "Look, CosmoGear already had their black-coat squad out here lookin' for that boy and for the other half of their little prototype-device, and I damn well didn't tell them nothing worth saying!"

Ratchet blinked. "What sort of device?"

"Some sort of glove-skullcap combo thingy. Apparently Newton was wearing his half of it when they found him squashed to death, and they think Dimitri has the other half. 'Course, the entire town decided to follow Dimitri's example and not say a word. CosmoGear didn't like it, but what were they about to do? Now if you'll excuse me . . . my mush is getting cold."

With that, the Anyr slammed the door shut, and Ratchet shook his head. Jigsaw walked over to him, now apparently walking straight. "Not much info?"

"Well, it's something, at least . . . wait a minute . . ." Ratchet blinked, and then pulled out a pulse rifle, aiming it towards the sea.

"Hey, hey! You can't just whip that out here!" Jigsaw put her arms out, while Adari'a went to Ratchet's other side for cover. "You want to set the natives off?"

"I'm not firing it." Ratchet spoke as he used the Rifle's sight to scan the shoreline's ships, hopping his sight from ship, to ship, to paraglider, to sailboat. "There." With that, Ratchet sheathed his weapon, and Jigsaw relaxed a little.

Jigsaw blinked. "What? You just spotted him?"

"Well, it certainly looks like a Lombax from this distance . . . I say it's one of our more promising leads so far." Ratchet responded. "Ship's name is 'Black Banshee' if that helps any."

"It might." Jigsaw responded, then tapped one ear. "Cypress? You getting any of this?"

"Yeah, but it's not like I can spot the ship for you without going suborbital . . ." Cypress responded, coming over the two-way with a slight crackle. "I'm not a fan of setting off more alarms as is. Speaking of which, you REALLY shouldn't have brought Addy with you . . ."

Jigsaw shook her head, despite knowing that wouldn't transmit. "Actually, I was hoping I could get a confirmation on the registration records for 'Black Banshee'."

"One moment . . . cool name for a dinghy, but the boat's a rental property. You'd have to go out to the boat yourself if you want confirmation."

"Understood. Jigsaw out." She sighed. "Come on, we need to get down to the harbor. At least one of us needs to get down there and go out to that boat to see who it is."

"Miss Forte, if I may offer a suggestion?" Ratchet blinked as Clank spoke up, hopping off of Ratchet's back.

Jigsaw raised an eyebrow. "Go on . . ."

"We seem to be much closer to that parasailing station than to the harbor." Clank pointed to the nearby retail establishment at the nearest hairpin turn on the path. "Since I happen to be the lightest of the group, I would like to volunteer to use it in order to reach the boat faster."

"That could work." Ratchet added on.

"Hmm . . . all right. Just don't fall in the sea and rust or anything." Jigsaw shrugged, before walking over to the parasailing station. A minimal payment of bolts later, and Clank found himself harnessed up to what looked to be an enormous kite.

The Anyr working at the station started handing out spools. "Since you all aren't taking out a boat, you'll need to hold onto these in order to keep your friend from flying off-course and crashing into the cliff walls. Now, how long y'all planning to use the kite for?"

"However long it takes for us to land our friend on that boat." Jigsaw pointed out to the harbor, and the attendant nodded. Once all the spools had been handed out, Clank started walking along a small rail, holding the majority of the kite, opening it a little at a time until it started to catch wind. Suddenly, it unfurled with a PWOOF as a big gust took it, and Clank with it.

Ratchet blinked, then dug his heels into the gravel. "Hold on tight!"

It took a few moments for the wind to stabilize, as well as for everyone to get into position enough to be able to tug on their respective parts of the kite. After some time spent letting out the kite far enough, Clank had to watch carefully to see when he'd be close enough to the boat that he could just descend down to it. Suddenly, Clank freed himself from the kite, and opened up his helicopter attatchments to gently lower himself down. The kite, however, gained a large amount of momentum from losing Clank, and soon Adari'a found herself the only one still standing with her spool — the attendant had dropped his to avoid falling off the cliff, while Ratchet and Jigsaw both hit the dirt from holding onto theirs.

"If you people lose my damn kite, you aren't getting your security deposit back!" The attendant hissed, as Adari'a hung on to the kite tightly, reeling it in slowly, and giving Ratchet and Jigsaw a chance to regain their bearings and help her. Clank, meanwhile, kept on floating down to the Black Banshee, landing at the stern of the boat.

"Clank? You okay there, buddy?" Ratchet radioed to the little robot, now climbing off the ship's walls.

Clank adjusted his arm slightly. "I am fine, Ratchet. It appears that whoever is driving this boat didn't hear me land on it."

"Good, good. Can you tell who the driver is?" Ratchet responded, despite still struggling with the kite's spool in one hand.

"Give me a moment." Clank walked around the cabin of the sailboat, catching sight of a ruddy Lombax adjusting the sails. He seemed wholly focused on this, not even noticing Clank walking up behind him. "It would appear that Dimitri himself is piloting the boat."

"Great! Get him to come back to harbor, and then we can-zzt!-!" Ratchet started to speak, but soon found himself disconnected. "Damn radio must've shorted out!"

Clank had other issues, as the shock of the static discharge hit the Lombax on the sailboat, causing him to turn around and spot Clank. The creature looked utterly shocked, unable to speak, causing Clank to back up a few steps. The Lombax tightened up his ties on the sails, before going after Clank, who started to run on the ship.

Adari'a helped pull in the last of the kite's sails as Ratchet pulled out his rifle again, checking the sight. Jigsaw walked over to him. "What's going on?"

"Apparently our pal just spotted Clank."

Clank ran to the back of the boat, finding himself cornered by the ruddy Lombax. Clank held out a hand. "Stop. I'm not here to hurt you."

Clank then blinked, as the Lombax started waving his hands over his head, glaring down at the little robot. Clank just stared up at the gestures, before the Lombax gave up and sighed, sitting on the deck.

Clank walked closer to Dimitri, placing an arm on his shoulder. "I am here to help you. Please, direct the boat to shore so we can continue this conversation with Ratchet and the others."

Dimitri stared at Clank, confused. He did stand up, however, walking back to the mast of the boat, almost ignoring Clank.

Clank tried again, tugging on the Lombax's jacket. "Please. We need to return to the docks. My friends are waiting on us."

Dimitri stared at Clank again, a forlorn look on his face. He did, however, notice Clank's shorted radio, picking it up and making the adjustments to fix the fried wire, before returning it to Clank.

"-zzt!- Clank? Clank! What's going on over there? Why isn't he returning to shore?" Ratchet screamed down the radio, much to Clank's distaste.

Clank shook his head. "Dimitri seems to be ignoring me. He's looking at me, but he refuses to say anything back to me or act on my requests."

"What's Dimitri doing then?" Ratchet radioed back, and the attendant's ears perked up.

The Anyr pulled out a telescope, focusing on the boat, and standing next to Jigsaw. "What's your little robot friend trying to do over there, anyway?"

"Well, we were hoping he could talk Dimitri into-." She spoke, then glared at the Anyr as he gave out a hoarse laugh. "What's so funny about . . .? Oh, for the love of Veldin . . . Ratchet! Does Clank know how to do his own captioning?"

Ratchet stood up, putting his rifle away, before turning to Jigsaw. "I've never seen him do it . . . why?"

"We apparently missed out on a little detail before we came out here." Jigsaw responded. "Dimitri's deaf."

"No, Dimitri's alive. Newton's the dead one." Ratchet contested, before the Anyr finished with his laughing fit.

The attendant quickly regained his composure. "She said 'deaf', boy, not 'death'. You know, 'deaf' as in "he can't hear a damn word your robot's saying" kind of deaf."

Ratchet blinked. "That's even possible?"

"'Course it's possible, boy; both him and his twin brother, born that way from birth." The attendant offered, then shook his head. "Poor kid . . . got no one left on the planet to talk to now . . . well, as far as the deaf can talk, anyway. Bet your robot friend doesn't know how to sign either."

"Great . . . how are we supposed to have Clank get him back here now?" Ratchet asked the attendant, then blinked and checked his radio. "Hey, Clank, try writing down some instructions for the guy."

"Already working on it." Clank replied, scratching out a message on a nearby notepad, before handing it to Dimitri. Dimitri then grinned and nodded, adjusting the boat's sails. "We should be at the harbor momentarily, Ratchet."

"Great!" Ratchet smiled. "We better get down there. Once we pick up Dimitri, we should plan for a quick exit." Both Adari'a and Jigsaw nodded, before sprinting for the harbor.

After a small amount of difficulty piloting the boat back to shore, Clank hopped up onto the dock, as Dimitri tied his boat back up and paid the owner for the rental time. Ratchet quickly scooped up Clank, while Jigsaw made a beeline for Dimitri.

She smiled as she approached him, trying to come across as inoffensive as possible, even though she wasn't sure herself how well trying to speak with him telepathically would work. Hello, Dimitri. We are sorry for the interruption, but-

What you people think you are? Dimitri glared. Boarding my ship with some robot, not giving me lips to read, calling me back when I barely know you . . . wait minute, how you speaking to me?

I'll explain later. Jigsaw's expression changed, this time to one of concern. We came to help you out, and to ask you a few questions.

"Jigsaw? I think we better take Ratchet's advice . . ." Adaria pointed up, looking at a sizable fleet flying towards the village. "They look like they want to speak to Dimitri a lot more than we do!"

Follow me! Jigsaw took told of Dimitri by the arm, pulling him towards Adari'a and helping him mount her, before Ratchet and herself followed suit. "Cypress, is Al ready with the dropship?"

The two-way crackled for a moment. "Yeah, just make your way to him."

"Good, we'll NEED IT!" Jigsaw responded as Adari'a bolted, just as the first few lances of searing heat descended from the flyers. The centaur had to keep abreast of the advancing ships, as the village folk all dashed inside their houses, scattering in fear. The centaur had to watch her turns as the ships came bearing down on the lot of them, leaping across the few beams they were laying out ahead of her.

Jigsaw pulled out one of her Dual Vipers, firing ineffectually at the ships, but it was enough cue for Ratchet to pull out a sizable Silencer and turn a few of the ships into dust. The townsfolk just watched in awe, old man and attendant included, as the pack made their escape while shooting down as much of their attackers as possible.

Once Adari'a found herself at the top of the cliffs, she ran as fast as she could, going into full gallop while Jigsaw and Ratchet returned as much fire as they could. Big Al barely had enough time to open the dropship's door before Adaria leapt inside, and suddenly everyone now in the ship was greatful that the back wall had already been padded for such a situation. Ratchet fired off the last volley of rockets before the hatch closed, and the ship prepared for liftoff.

"My . . . ouf . . . gratitude for making sure we grabbed the right ship for this job." Adari'a grunted as she pushed her upper half up, apparently content to let the rest of herself lie on her side. "Is everyone else okay?"

"Nothing's broken here." Jigsaw responded, holding her head, before shaking Dimitri's shoulder. You okay?

Dimitri sat up, looking around the dropship. Where you taking me?

This dropship will be returning to my vessel, the Gangrel, where we can continue our conversation from earlier. Jigsaw glanced back at him, before looking over to Adari'a. "He's okay too."

"Glad to hear that." Ratchet smirked, cocking his head a little. "I'm guessing you can talk with him without too much trouble?"

"Sort of . . . His mind's still thinking in standard sign, instead of normal standard. It makes his grammar a little more difficult for me to follow." Jigsaw replied, before returning her gaze to Dimitri. He gave her a gesture with the gauntlet-covered hand, and Jigsaw frowned at him. "He's also annoyed at us for picking him up like this."

"Yeah? Well he can be thankful when he realizes that unlike CosmoGear, we're not about to hurt him."

Jigsaw shook his head. "I think he's already aware of that much . . . he's not upset, just aggravated."

Dimitri stood up, dusting off his lab coat, and adjusting something in his hair. The white lab coat stood out on most Lombaxes to begin with, but against Dimitri's extra-reddish fur, it stuck out even more. The darker brown hair certainly didn't help matters, although there appeared to be a glint of something silver in there with it. He walked towards Ratchet for a moment, apparently curious.

Ratchet didn't know what to say, but he waved to Dimitri, and held out a hand. Dimitri accepted it, but there seemed to be a strange look on his face of . . . confusion? concern? insolence?

Whatever it was, Dimitri couldn't find much in the way of words for Ratchet, walking off a few steps before signing some kind of gesture to him, then saying nothing else as the dropship continued its return trip.