Kate landed on her feet by Apelion and examined herself. "It worked… Thanks Clank." She whispered to herself then looked around, frowning when she didn't see her fuzzy green-eyed friend around, though, she did see a Vullard. "E-excuse me my good sir, have you seen a young Lombax pass through here?" The Vullard looked at her and took a moment to think. "Ah, yes. He and an elder are helping us get rid of these Agorion raiders to get inside the temple around the corner." He answered and pointed in the direction of the battle field.
"Thanks." Kate said simply before heading in the direction of the battle field, knowing exactly how big of risk she was taking by running head first into the belly of the beast, or even returning to Ratchet when he had the thought that she was dead. Kate snaked around the Agorians silently and unnoticeable along with having no idea where she was going. She heard Alister's voice and looked in the direction it was coming from. He and Ratchet were backing each other up like in Axiom City and frowned. As glad as she was to see her friend in one piece, General Azimuth Alister made her sick.
As she watched from afar, she thought about just going to some other world, Ratchet seemed to doing just fine without her hanging around. She had no idea how much he was hurting inside. Just as the last of the Agorians in the area were dead and Kate was turning her back to the boys, Ratchet turned to face Alister with very deadly green eyes boiling with conflicting emotions, anger being one of the most noticeable. "Why didn't you save her? You would've had to time to pick her up!" She heard him practically yell.
"My priority is keeping you safe." Alister responded. Kate turned back around watch the boys go at it. Ratchet tightly gripped the handle of his wrench. "She was my friend, I made a promise that you wouldn't understand! Why do you think I kept her by my side after you tried to send her away?" "I wouldn't understand?" Alister asked with an arched eyebrow as he stepped closer to him. "I wanted her go home so she wouldn't get you killed. With the knowledge she has that girl would cause you more trouble." He explained.
Kate blinked, and in that moment she understood that he really was just protecting his friend's son, even if he was trying to use the clock for himself. He meant well. Something inside her began to boil; she was stuck in between admiring and hating his guts. She shakes her head. He was going to end up getting her friend killed, she could feel it. Ratchet shakes his head and narrows his green eyes. "Shouldn't that be my choice? I made that promise and had every intention of keeping it." He growled. "It'd be better if she would've gone home like I told her to." Alister said.
"She didn't have a home to go back to!" Ratchet snapped. Alister stepped back with a look of disbelief. "What?" The young Lombax quickly covered his mouth with both of his hands. "Nefarious destroyed my home… I'm the only one who made it off alive. I was teleported to planet Quantos before I was blown to bits… Just like with Axiom City." Kate said quietly as she came out of hiding. There wasn't a single scratch on her. Ratchet's ears perked and he looked in the direction of her voice. "Kate, you're okay!" He couldn't help but laugh out of relief then go up and hug her, no, embrace her.
Kate closed her eyes, taking in his warmth and almost completely forgot her message from Clank. Holding her for a moment longer before letting go and when he did, he looked at her. "This isn't some messed up joke is it? You're actually here, right?" Kate slowly opened her eyes pale brown eyes and nodded. Alister still couldn't believe what his ears heard come out of her mouth. He cautiously walked towards her and Ratchet stood his ground in between them. "So Nefarious was serious when he thought he wiped out the Lekti race…"
Kate nodded and looked at him. "That's right. I couldn't tell you why because I don't fully understand it." "This isn't the place. Let's get rid of these Agorian raiders so we can get to the Obsidian Eye." Alister said before turning and starting to walk away. Ratchet was going to follow him but Kate gently grabbed his arm. "Hold on… I need to talk to you…" She said softly, resting her forehead against his back. "Where did you go?" He asked curiously. "The Great Clock- I saw Clank, he misses you so much. He helped me get here- back to you." She said in the same soft voice. His ears drooped a little.
"As long as he's alright, that's enough for me." Ratchet said in a hushed voice. He slipped from Kate's grip and gently took her hand into his own before beginning to walk. Kate followed behind him without argue. It took longer than wanting it to, but eventually they eliminated the raiders by hand and turret. Kate did her usual hiding unless one of them came directly towards her, then she just slowed down the time frame, leaving the main fighting to Ratchet and Alister. Then it was off to the cave like the Vullard had promised.