And so, after ages of incredibly slow progress, I have produced chapter 17 of this incredibly mediocre fanfic
I wish I could say that the next chapter will come sooner than this one, but we can only hope
Enjoy
(Oh and Ratchet and Clank belong to SONY, it feels like I should be stating that more often)
High above the capital city of Solon on the planet Marcadia, In one of the government skyscrapers, the high command was having another secret meeting.
They were just about to start, the only one who was not yet there was the chief spy, she was at another meeting of her department, addressing the loss of one of their most skilled infiltration specialists, who presumably perished during a dangerous mission deep inside enemy territory.
Such casualties were about to become everyday reality during the incoming war with polaris, still a loss of such skilled veteran was something that needed to be addressed.
An older gentleman was standing in front of the window, looking at the rows of citizens passing in the streets below, rushing to or from work, grabbing something to bite on their way since they didn't have time to cook a meal at home, every one of them blissfully unaware of vicious schemes and plans being plotted just over their heads.
''Just look at them all! So ignorant of everything outside their little lives, they didn't even notice us fixing the elections! I was almost frustrated with how easy it was! We could never pull something like that off back on earth.
In his voice there was a nute of scorn and disappointment, he really expected more resistance and distrust among the peoples of this galactics, and when taking over proved much easier than he anticipated, to the point that they didn't even need to cheat as much, his opinion of them hit the rock bottom.
Similar opinions and attitudes started developing among the lower officers as well, the incompetence, cowardice and even sheer stupidity of their alien counterparts made them wish they didn't volunteer for that mission to another galaxy all those years ago.
In humans opinion, such state of things was to be blamed on the so-called "Heroes", armed individuals with more luck and firepower than brain cells, who traveled the galaxy looking for a fight, always taking out any threat by simply steamrolling through waves of minions with guns bigger than their own bodies.
Years of this practice made authorities spend less and less on military matters, like modernization and training. Because why put effort into army when some random people will do the same thing for free ?
This was the reason why the previous government was so uneffective, and why it was so easy to replace it, Meanwhile their last member finally arrived and the high command meeting could finally start.
The main scientist, intelligence chief, Police force commander, fleet admiral, Information control minister and the high commander himself all sat down and started discussing the latest developments in their grand plan.
And there were some serious developments indeed!
First, they were almost ready to begin the next phase of their take over, war. It would bring all three galaxies into their sphere of influence and ensure their economies would be set on war at 100% efficiency, just in time for their return to the milky way.
Everything was in place, fleets were at their positions, infantry and tank divisions were put on high alert (for training purposes, of course) ready to board transport ships and landing crafts at any moment.
Truly, all was missing was a little ''accident'' that would justify ''forceful pacification'' of ''rogue PDF divisions'' and necessary occupation of ''certain regions of Polaris galaxy''
The high command had a few ideas of what the said incident could be… but in the end settled on a classical ''Hire a some goons, dress them up as enemy soldiers, tell them to attack a few of our planets'' plan.
Originally they wanted to send some more spies to Polaris, to spread misinformation and sabotage military infrastructure, softening their opponent before the war, but since their spy was apparently discovered and caught by the enemy , the possibility of Lombax interference has grown significantly, thus forcing the high command to speed things up a bit
Meanwhile their scientists and engineers were working around the clock to decipher and utilize all the data found inside the briefcase they found attached to their inter-dimensional hook.
It was all written in that weird Lombax alphabet of course, so the progress was very slow. But once it was all deciphered, the knowledge contained within will surely give their forces upper hand in many battles.
when the meeting ended and all members of the high command left to do their jobs, none of them had any doubts that Polaris was as good as conquered.
Jerry groaned softly, as the world around him was slowly becoming less and less blurry, when he finally was able to see his surroundings clearly, a irritated grunt escaped his mouth.
By the looks of the room he was currently in, it was clear he had been taken prisoner. Jerry laid back down and hid his face in hands, this was just great, his record of 14 and a half year without getting caught was just reseted back to zero.
Still, he was alive, and that was both good and bad news.
Good for obvious reasons, and bad because his captors will most likely try go for interrogation, and that, depending on their preferred method of interrogation, could really suck for him.
His body still ached from the electric shock that lombax brute treated him with, Jerry wasn't sure if the Lombaxes even bothered to check on his medical condition, and wondered how much longer he will have to wait before someone comes to take him away for whatever torture they prepared for him, honesty the service here was terrible!
It didn't look like there would be anyone coming soon, so in the meantime Jerry decided it would be a good idea to investigate his surrounding
His cell was rather comfortable, for a cell that is. He had a little table with a chair in the corner, his bunk bed with a pillow, mattress and even a little blanket, and of course there was a toilet in case he would get desperate enough.
All thing considered it wasn't a bad place to be held in, Jerry could certainly remember sleeping in much, MUCH worse places than this.
Finally he noticed they also took his clothes and all his cool spy equipment with them, he was currently wearing what must have been the latest fashion among the Lombax prisoners right now, a simple jumpsuit, with no pockets and in bright, yellowish colors, a real eyesore, he'd stand out in the crowd like a sore thumb!
The spy was sure there were hidden cameras and microphones hidden all over the room, and that his captors were closely monitoring him, so there was no way they wouldn't have noticed he had awoken, but still, no one came for him.
This gave Jerry a while to consider his next steps, the Lombaxes will want answers out of him for sure, but unless they had some way to rip them out of his brain by force, he sure as hell won't answer them willingly. He didn't spent the last few years chasing that Lombax hero around the galaxy and even followed him into another dimension to just undo all his hard work like that.
Besides, what kind of a mercenary would he be if he just betrayed his employer like that?
No, he received a fat paycheck once a month, and that obligated him to protect his bosses interests, if he'd switch sides just because it suits him right now, he would become untrustworthy, and no-one would hire an unloyal spy, that and also as long as he was in possession of his employers secrets they had a good reason to try and rescue him.
Of course it wouldn't be easy for them, but Jerry swore to himself he would resist his interrogators and wait for the cavalry to arrive.
In the meantime, a distraction would be a welcome thing, were they going to keep him in this room forever?
Finally he heard the electric lock in the doors opening, the heavy piece of reinforced steel slided aside smoothly and through walked a Lombax guard, clad in armor and wielding one of those wrench-staffs that was higher than he was, Jerry had no idea how anyone could keep is balance while using those things.
,,Get up, outsider, your interrogator awaits''
,,Wow, did you even bother to check me for Injuries or something ?''
,,You aren't bleeding, are you ?'' - and with that the Lombax Turned around and exited the room, Jerry considered resisting for a moment but decided against it, he stood up and slowly followed the guard outside
For the next five minutes Jerry was being through the maze of corridors with heavy metal doors, and no windows. Finally they stopped in front of yet another door, the guard opened them and shoved Jerry inside with such force that he tripped and fell down.
The Lombax, completely unfazed by this, closed the doors behind him.
A snicker could be heard from across the room, Jerry jerked his head in its direction and saw yet another Lombax sitting behind a techy looking table, he had one of those smirks saying 'suck it up, princess, you're on our mercy now.
,, Nice to see you are finally here, although I can not say it's a pleasure meeting you, mister…?"
,, My name is of little relevancy" - the human stood up and dusted off, trying to regain his dignity -,, And I must say the feeling is mutual, your people are apparently not as civilized as other races of Polaris like to think of you."
The Lombax just smiled politely at that remark
,,You'll have to excuse him for being so rough, he's just upset that an outsider managed to break into, what should have been the most protected place in this dimension, with such ease. I suspect you hurt his pride a little there.
But I don't feel that way! Your stunt showed us how neglectful and careless we really became, thanks to you our authorities will have to start paying more attention to security matters again. And to be honest you didn't steal anything too important anyway… but enough of this chitchat! We have more important things to do. '' -The Lombax motioned for Jerry to sit down on the opposite end of the table, when he did, it's surface lit up like a tablet screen- ,, As you might have already guessed, this is an Interrogation, I will ask you some questions and you will answer them. If you lie to me, I will know''
,,And how, If I may ask''
The Lombax flashed him a grin - ,,you'll see soon enough, now it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you are a human spy, sent here to steal pieces of our technology and relay them to your superiors. However I still need a verbal confirmation from you because bureaucracy.''
,,...''
,,So are you a human spy sent here to steal pieces of our technology and relay them to your superiors ?''
,,...Yes…''
,,Wow, so easy? I was sure you'll be much more reluctant to admit this... ''
,,Well, like you said it doesn't take genius to figure it out, so there's no point in hiding it either''
,,Well, I suppose that's true, now for the next question! Who are your superiors exactly ? You know the names, the jobs, addresses, such things... ''
Jerry clenched his mouth shut, he sure as hell wasn't gonna answer this one
,,Not telling ? Alright then, but I should warn you, that we can only play here for a two days most, and if you don't spill the beans by then… Well, let's just say that there are other ways of getting the information out of your brain, ratchet efficient ones'' - The Lombax gave him apologetic smile - ,,We wouldn't use those methods under normal circumstances, but these can be hardly named so. ''
So that's how they were gonna play, well Jerry had been tortured before, he knew how to resist pain, he was no snitch!
But he sure was thankful for the time he had left before it started
Ratchet was pacing nervously around his room
Yesterday's chase after the human spy left him on edge, and that, combined with the fact that the referendum results were about to arrive at any moment, made relaxing almost impossible.
Before yesterday, it seemed certain that the citizens would decide that the Lombax race should keep out of the incoming conflict, and leave Polaris behind forever.
But after yesterday, it seemed more and more likely that some people might change their minds.
Authorities tried to keep those events from the public, but state secret-related news always spread fast in Lombax society.
An attempt to steal their technology, a successful attempt on top of that, it made Lombaxes realize a few things.
One: They were not as untouchable in their new home as they believed to be
Two: They no longer had the monopoly on interdimensional travel, and it's other users weren't exactly friendly.
Three: If they were to do nothing about this, pretend that it didn't happen, then whoever sent this one spy would send more in the future, not only spies, but maybe soldiers? Armies? Entire armadas?
At any rate, remaining neutral was not an option anymore.
So when the results finally came in, it wasn't a big surprise that they were in favor of an intervention.
So, after a brief celebration on his part, Ratchet, his family and friends got together to agree on a plan.
The council needed time to organise a larger task force, but Ratchet didn't want to wait that long, so he decided to go ahead and cross the portal to Polaris immediately, Alister suggested that he should accompanied by a few other lombaxes who would scout out the situation on the other side and report back to the council.
So, after everything was decided and agreed upon, Ratchet and Clank boarded Aphelion, and all three of them (yet again) crossed the portal to the other dimension, in great moods despite the threat looming on the other side.
Indeed, those humans were certainly mysterious as well as dangerous, but the Lombaxes had faced greater threats in the past, the great war with cragmites and emperor Tachyon to name a few, and yet they came out victorious (even if after almost going extinct) an the end.
Surely this conflict couldn't get much worse than that
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Right ?
And so another chapter ends, I hope you enjoyed it
Constructive criticism is very much appreciated and see you guys next time!