This chapter was a little rushed so I apologise for any mistakes ^^'
Chapter 9: Welcome Party
It took approximately two hours to get to Fastoon, since the ship's engine had been unintentionally hit by the barrage of attacks. Ratchet and Clank were both excited and nervous of seeing the planet full of lombaxes, rather than ruins. As the ship landed in a more rural area of the planet, Ratchet began pacing back and forth in anticipation. The constant motion made Clank feel dizzy again.
"Ratchet, you know the planet's not going anywhere," the silver lombax tried getting his friend to stop moving. Ratchet grunted in response. He just really wanted to see his home.
When the ramp lowered, Ratchet bolted off the spacecraft in a flash. Never in his life had he been so happy to be on his birth planet. The environment was so different compared to the desert ruins and now he could see the buildings for what they originally were. Clank was also rather impressed. It was around 6:30 PM when they arrived.
Although the planet was still partially desert, there were quite a few areas of trees and bushland that of which were probably all burned down during the battle in his reality. It was a shame, considering they made nice contrast with the dry dirt. The buildings were varied in size, however further away they were unbelievably tall, so Ratchet guessed they were on the outskirts of the city.
Many civilians had gathered around the enemy ship, looks of curiosity and worry on their faces. They must have been waiting for the report on the situation.
Clank ran down the ramp and stood beside Ratchet, "This is certainly not what I expected…" he said. Ratchet nodded in agreement.
"Alright, listen up everyone!" One of the armoured lombaxes yelled over the loud whispering, "The mission was a success! We have now obtained an enemy ship and will be proceeding to study it tomorrow after the meeting. Our patrol has also returned with news that no threat has been found within a large radius around our planet." Sounds of 'whew' and 'thank God' erupted from the crowd. Clank believed that this was a rare occurrence, which mean they were attacked quite often.
Kaden walked over to the two, "It seems as though the enemy has been silent for a while, so they must be preparing something big. I have to organise the meeting for tomorrow, so you can find an apartment in the meantime," he said handing over some sort of business card. It had his name and occupation as well as his signature.
"I have written on the back that I have given you permission to stay in an apartment for free, since you have no bolts at this current time. Give this to a receptionist and they will understand."
Kaden turned to leave as Ratchet pocketed the card, but before he could get very far, the gold lombax called out to him, "Wait! I need to talk to you about… stuff…!"
He questioningly raised an eyebrow, "Ok, but make it quick."
"Can we talk in the ship? It's kind of a private thing…"
Kaden nodded and lead Ratchet into the spacecraft's ship port. He then crossed his arms and awaited the younger's explanation.
"Alright… so, I've thought about it and I've decided to tell you who I really am. Now, it might come as a shock to you, but I assure you that I am telling you the truth," Ratchet saw the suspicion in the elder's eyes as he continued, "Clank and I… we're from some sort of alternate reality. We flew Aphelion into a dimensional breach by accident, and it took us here."
"A natural dimensional breach? That seems pretty farfetched, Ratchet. The only way a portal will open is when someone commands it, the Dimensionator proving that. Dimensions stay away from each other for a reason, otherwise whole universes will collapse."
Out of the blue, Clank ran into the ship and hid in a cupboard, "Don't mind me, I'm just going to hide in here…"
Ratchet rolled his eyes and continued the conversation, "So… that portal was put there? But by who?"
"The only one I can think of, is the enemy's leader. He stole the holo-plans for the Dimensionator a few weeks ago."
Ratchet thought hard about what Kaden said, "It must have been a trap, or maybe an accident? Why would the leader need a Dimensionator though?"
"There are a number of reasons why, but I just don't know which one," the lombax heard someone call his name, "I have to go set up the meeting now, but we can talk more about this later."
"Wait! One last thing," Ratchet took a deep breath, "I'm your alternate son."
Kaden stared dumbly at the younger lombax. When he regained himself, he shook his head in disbelief.
"No, I don't believe that! My son died seven years ago, there's no way…"
"Kaden… I'm from an alternate dimension, remember? Things are different over there then here. In my reality, Fastoon is a wasteland and I'm the last lombax in the universe."
Clank decided to poke his head out of the storage compartment to add to the conversation, "Seven years ago… isn't that when Drek tried to destroy Veld- oh…"
The elder lombax's ears lowered and he looked at the floor, "I thought it would be safer in Solana. I was wrong."
The silence in the room was deafening, until Ratchet spoke up, "I just wanted to let you know. Sorry if I brought back old memories…"
"No, it's not your fault. But, I just want to know, if you're the last lombax in your own dimension, how do you know I'm your father?"
Ratchet smiled, "Your buddy Alister Azimuth told me…" his expression turned solemn, "before he died to save the universe…"
Kaden looked surprised to say the least, "so, you're on your own? What about your grey friend?"
"Clank? Well, uhh… that's another story for another time."
Kaden glanced at the ground, "huh, so in both realities I failed as a father… I am sorry, Ratchet."
"Don't be. It wasn't your fault that Tachyon killed you."
"Tachyon? I find that hard to believe."
Ratchet wanted to ask more, but he knew Kaden would be feeling down at the moment. Actually, he didn't expect this talk to go as smoothly as it did.
"Well, I better be off now. I appreciate you telling me this, Ratchet," Kaden said as he approached the ramp.
"Let's just keep this between the three of us for now," Ratchet replied gesturing to the occupied cupboard, "it's for the best."
"Understood. You two should check in to an apartment and buy some casual clothes. You look as if you're going to war in those." And with that, Kaden left the heroic duo.
Ratchet grinned. Never in his life had he thought he would meet his father. He was beginning to think that maybe flying through that dimensional rift was more of a blessing than a disaster after all. Then, the lombax realised something.
He walked over to the cupboard and knocked on the door, "Clank? What are you doing in there?"
"Hiding," was the reply.
"From what?"
He stuck his hand out and pointed to the outside, "them…"
Ratchet walked towards the ramp and looked around the corner to see the group of lombax citizens staring at the entrance of the ship.
"They're after me Ratchet… I don't know why, but they're trying to get me!" Clank continued.
"I don't get it," the gold lombax stated, "what did they do?"
"They were staring at me! With weird looks too!"
"They're probably just curious is all," Ratchet concluded.
"Curious? They don't have to stare!"
Ratchet shrugged, "Come on fuzzbrain, you can't hide in cupboards forever."
Clank reluctantly left his hiding spot, "I still don't want to go out there."
"Just stay with me, and everything will be fine."
The silver lombax nervously fiddled with his tail as Ratchet led him to the door. They were completely surrounded by lombaxes trying to peek inside. Luckily there were guards preventing them from approaching the spacecraft. Once he made it to the ramp, his silver fur stood on end as they all once again stared at him. This caused Clank to flinch backwards.
"They want to take me prisoner!"
"No, they don't Clank."
"Then, why have they formed an army?" he was confused.
"Come on, I won't let them get you," Ratchet reassured his friend before leaving the ship. Clank did as he was told and stayed by his side.
As they walked past, all eyes were on Clank. The grey one hid behind his friend while Ratchet glared back.
"I don't understand what the big deal is," Ratchet muttered.
A nearby guard approached them and explained, "You're friend here has grey fur."
"Yeah, so what?"
"No lombax has grey fur. It's… unnatural."
Ratchet didn't notice until then that he was right. No lombax in the crowd was grey, in fact, the closest to the colour was white. Clank tried to hide his anger of being called 'unnatural'. Of course he wasn't normal! He used to be a robot for crying out loud! But, the others didn't know that, and he didn't think he wanted them to know either.
"Right, well, we should be going…" Ratchet replied as he took Clank's wrist and hurried through the crowd. He was furious now. He hated the stares they gave him for having different coloured fur. Sure, they don't see grey lombaxes, but that doesn't mean they have the right to stare!
Ratchet tried to calm himself as they went to find some casual clothes to wear.