Crushing Day

If there was one thing Veldin had going for it, Ratchet thought, it was the sky views from the roof of his small garage. None of the large cliffs that surrounded Kyzil Plateau obscured the view, instead giving way to a clear view of the multicolored twilit sky. Still, gazing up at the open air only made him long to escape this dustbowl of a planet even more.

That dream was seeming more impossible by the day.

No, there's no way he would let himself be stuck here forever.

Just as the first star twinkled into being, Ratchet sighed heavily. Wishing on stars wasn't really something he ever thought he'd resort to.

'Please,' his mind was fighting with him on how childish and stupid this was. 'I'll take any chance ya give me.'

As if in response, the star flickered, then brightened as it approached. A meteor? No, meteors didn't have wings, or blinking lights.

The flaming spaceship hurtled overhead with a thunderous roar and a heavy trail of smoke. It disappeared behind the cliffside and crashed to the plateau below with a sound that made Ratchet flinch.

It wasn't too uncommon to see a crash on Veldin. Ratchet was used to improperly maintained ships that overheated in the desert sun. Spaceships plummeting from the stratosphere were rarer but not unheard of. What got his attention was the fact that no one else seemed to have noticed. There was no crowd rushing over to see the wreckage or even a galactic cruiser speeding to the rescue.

So what gives?

Ratchet grabbed the omniwrench from his back, slid down the rounded incline of the roof to the ground and took off towards the site of the crash. His boots pounded against the dusty ground in a mad dash.

If no one else was coming to help then he was this poor sap's only hope.

If anything there would be more scrap to collect. And hey, maybe if he saved whoever is still in that fireball he might earn a few bolts to put towards a proper ship ignition system.

When he peeked his head over the crater wall he could see smoke billowing from the flaming wreckage, debris littered the crater around the ship. The left wing had been completely blown off the ship and the gaping hole it left spat sparks into air. The smashed windshield showed only an empty cockpit with no sign of any pilot nearby.

Ratchet slid down the crater toward the wreck, or he would have had his balance not been toppled by something jammed in the dirt. The lombax rolled the rest of the way down with a hoarse yell.

*CLANK*

There went his wrench–no wait, lunchbox? The metallic boxy shape he reached for had skinny legs, arms, and a large head with a tiny red antenna.

He pulled himself up to find a bot much smaller than him and light enough to be lifted with one hand.

It must've been the pilot's helper bot, he figured. So where was the pilot?

"UNAUTHORIZED PLANET DETECTED. TEN SECONDS UNTIL SELF DESTRUCT." piped a monotonous voice. A high pitched sound emanated from the ship's engine. "9… 8… 7…"

"Oh no."

Ratchet scrambled to his feet as he raced to climb back up the crater. One hand held the omniwrench and in the other he cradled the tiny bot.

"3… 2… 1…"

The explosion rattled his senses, nearly throwing him halfway across the plateau after it knocked him off his feet. There wouldn't be a bit of scrap left to collect after that. Still, he hadn't walked away empty handed exactly. Not questioning it any further, he went to work looking over the bot.

Vector shell undamaged.

Sisterboard intact.

By all accounts this little guy was perfectly functional and that was all the good news he needed. He could take it back to the garage, pull the programming for the robotic ignition system, sell the rest to whatever chump pays the most and bam! Smiling to himself and with more pep than he was willing to show in front of anyone, Ratchet strolled across the dusty ground back home.

...

The sun had already begun to peak over the horizon as Ratchet continued to make the final adjustments. Today he'd finally be free and that was more than he would have ever dared to hope for.

In his fervent rush he barely registered anything happening around him. Already he could imagine the feeling of zooming off into open space, nothing but the cosmos and his ship to accompany him. Oh… Right…

From here on out he'd be even more alone than he already was…

"Interesting."

Ratchet jumped, flinging his wrench and crumpling to the ground. He frantically searched the workshop floor to find the source of the sudden and deep voice, but wasn't expecting it to be a two foot tall robot.

"My apologies, sir. Are you alright?"

All he could do was stare back, slack-jawed and wondering how long his company had been awake.

"If I may, you are quite handy with your wrench." The bot spoke again, admiring the omniwrench that now lay across the workshop.

Finally Ratchet found his voice, "Y-You bet." Oh great, that stutter must've sounded very intimidating.

"I mean, I built my ship with it after all," he tried again. Now that he stood up and looked down at the bot, he felt even stupider to have been spooked by him.

"Impressive, then perhaps you would be able to escort me to the galactic authorities? I have information regarding a matter of utmost importance." The little bot announced in a completely matter-of-fact tone.

"Wait wait wait, you have business with the Galactic Rangers?"

"Yes," the bot confirmed. "I am afraid it is an urgent matter and we must move quickly."

Ratchet couldn't help but shoot the robot a beaming grin, until reality hit him. Twice.

No robotic ignition system, no working ship. Even if he could get the bot to take him off planet, what were the odds the little guy would take him for a galaxy-wide joyride? And his reputation with the rangers wasn't exactly spotless if a lifetime ban from any and all ranger outposts was a reputation worth mentioning.

Then, an idea hit him.

"Well you're in luck, pal. I'm a—friend! Of the rangers."

That didn't come out quite how he meant it to and judging by the look the robot was giving him it was a pretty obvious lie.

"A friend of the galactic rangers?"

Crap, crap! He had to cover this up pretty fast! "Uh yeah, I help fix their ships and stuff."

The bot gave him nothing more than what he could only assume was his own imitation of a raised eyebrow. "A mechanic that is missing the robotic ignition system from his own ship?"

"How did you know that?"

"I, sir, happen to be equipped with the latest in robotic ignition systems. My programming allows me to start any ship I choose." The little guy replied with a hint of pride before, "even your homemade ship is not beyond my capabilities."

Ratchet eyed him suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean? You know, never mind. Look if I agree to take you to the galactic rangers, you'll help me get my ship started, right?"

The bot nodded. "Of course. I would like to assist the rangers however possible. I am sure, as their friend, you feel the same."

"Riiiiight. Deal."

"Thank you, sir."

"By the way, you can stop calling me 'sir', the name's Ratchet."

"Oh, pleased to make your acquaintance, sir."

Did he just…? Whatever. "You got a name?" Ratchet held out a hand to help the bot into the ship, the little guy barely came up to his hips. It was almost adorable if he wasn't so stuffy.

The bot accepted his help, replying with, "I suppose my proper designation would be warbot defect B5429-"

*CLANK*

One swift toss from Ratchet sent him flying face first into the ship's cockpit, the sharp metallic noise echoed through the garage.

"Sorry, uh, should've warned you," Ratchet half apologized, half laughed. "But how about I just call you, 'Clank', for short?"

...

The spaceship zoomed out of Veldin's orbit with all the grace of a drunken turkey. Drek would have been impressed that the hunk of junk held together at all, never mind actually flew, if one of the passengers on board that ship wasn't the only one standing in the way of his plan.

And now it had an ally.

"This could be a problem..." He mused to himself. The blarg leader made his way over to the control panel of the cruiser and hit the communications key. His tone was remarkably calm despite his clenched fist paling at his side. "Oh, Victor, we found your little defect."

...

The endless cosmos before him, the rush of g-forces pushing him back into his seat, it took all he had not to start hollering triumphantly... Well actually all it took was the gentle nudging of the robot in his passenger seat.

"Whoa! So that's what Veldin looks like from space?"

"Please return your attention to our course, sir."

Ratchet side-eyed Clank while grabbing back onto the steering wheel. "Sorry. And I already told you, my name is Ratchet. You don't have to keep calling me 'sir'."

At that, Clank "hum"d to himself and nodded. "Very well, Ratchet."

Satisfied, Ratchet continued to admire the view in front of him. Only Clank seemed more interested in boring a hole through his skull with an intense green-eyed stare. It was only mildly creepy at first but became downright unsettling after the first five minutes. Maybe the little guy just didn't get out much?

"How strange," Clank mused. "Ratchet, may I ask you a question?"

At least that was an improvement over the awkward staring. "Yeah shoot."

"What is your species designation?"

The blunt question made sense of the staring but Ratchet still nearly spiraled out of control. Clank, meanwhile, had to grab onto the dashboard for dear life.

"Ratchet!"

"Sorry! Sorry! I got it!"

He carefully focused back on their course. Now the only stare he earned was a harsh glare. To which he shrugged, "I uhh, a lombax. I'm a lombax."

The answer was just as blunt as the question. Clank, however, tilted his head. His bright green eyes flickered. "I do not have any information on a 'lombax' species in my databanks."

"Oh well I figured as much. There's, uh, not a lot of us left." Ratchet sighed quietly. His large ears drooped only slightly but enough for even Clank to read the room.

'Don't ask'

"Oh, um, how fascinating." The silence returned with a vengeance. Clank may not have been 'alive' for more than a day or two but a nagging bit of his warbot programming was already pestering him, the need to understand his target physically and mentally. He couldn't help it, it kept pinging him with errors and unknowns. No, no, he had to remind himself that Ratchet was not a target and he was not a true warbot. He was different. He was-

"Sooo... Uh... Is it my turn to ask a really awkward question now?"

The way Ratchet sat hunched over the steering wheel, looking straight ahead as he had asked the question, it was slightly comical. Clank couldn't help the quiet giggle that escaped him. "If you would like to, then yes."

The lombax glanced over at him, a curious glint in his eyes. "What's so urgent that you need the galactic rangers help?"

"I am afraid that it is a matter I should keep confidential. If this information were to leak to the public it could cause a panic."

"Aw come on, Clank, I won't tell anyone! Besides, I'm in with the rangers, remember?"

Deapite himself, Ratchet's confident smile put Clank at ease. Given how stressful the first day of his life had been, it was actually refreshing to be in the company of someone who wasn't trying to kill him… purposely.

"Very well, there is a plot to destroy-"

*POW*

Alarms blared in the cockpit, the ship lurched forward as a plasma blast caught the rear. Ratchet clenched the controls with a white-knuckle grip. "We're under attack?!" The young lombax scanned the space around them, catching sight of a fighter ship zooming past at a ridiculous speed. Clank's gawked as it circled back around to rain more plasma blasts on their ship.

"Watch out!"

"I see it! Hang on!" He swerved right, missing most of the shots but losing control of the ship again. The momentum sent Clank tumbling about in the cockpit.

Their pursuer struck them from behind once again with Ratchet still struggling to regain control. "We're sitting ducks out here in the open!"

"There is an inhabited planet nearby, but-"

"Got it! But we gotta lose this guy first!"

"Ratchet, I must warn you that this planet is currently under siege by the blarg. That ship is one of their star fighters. If we land there we may run into trouble getting off planet again." Clank tried to explain but the chaos of the moment was taking all of Ratchet's attention.

"Hold that thought, I got an idea." A smirk, the first of many as Clank would learn, spread across Ratchet's face. There was no time to ask what his idea was as Clank was slammed to the side. They swerved left, then down, narrowly avoiding colliding with the enemy ship. He put them in a loop soon after, trying his best to be as hard to lock on to as he could. Internally, Ratchet chastised himself for not installing the only other component more important than an ignition system, weapons. No firepower in the middle of space with a lunatic fighter on his tail was not how he thought he would be spending the day.

He caught sight of the planet, still far ahead. "There!" He floored it forward.

Another direct hit sent them barreling forward in a complete spiral. The good news, that last push had gotten them into the planet's gravitational pull! The bad news, they would be crash landing with all the ship's controls being dead. And while Ratchet screamed the whole way down, all Clank could think was how ironic it was to have survived one crash only to die in another not even a day later.

...

The world around Clank was dark but far from quiet. He could hear... Something zooming about. There was distant screaming and sirens echoing through the air. Only a second later he realized his optics were closed but the sight that greeted him when he opened them was not welcome.

The ship, or what was left of it had rolled over and ejected him through the windshield onto the ground under it. Ratchet dangled from his chair above him, thankfully only unconscious at the moment. Clank used the moment and tried to take stock of his surroundings.

They had crash landed not far from the largest city on planet Novalis. One that was being swarmed by blargian war ships and fighter jets. He was too late, Drek had moved forward with his plans.

He heard a click above him before the full weight of a young lombax crashed down on his frame.

Well, reception for the first chapter was way better than I could have hoped! Glad y'all are on board for the adventure!

Now that that's out of the way, you can kinda see where I had to take some liberties with the story. I loved the idea of Ratchet being kind of a fanboy of the Galactic Rangers in the movie but I also missed his harsh, immature personality from the first game. It made his development later on so much more satisfying. I'm trying to strike a balance between the two so let's see how that goes moving forward.

As for Clank, am I the only one who finds it weird to hear him screaming so much in all the Rift Apart promo material? Like it's a welcome change to have him sound more emotive now but it's... gonna take some getting used to. Which is why I tried to stick as close to his more reserved but awkward and naïve personality from the first game, while still having a bit of wit to him. I hope that came through alright.

Now I can't promise the next chapter for a bit but I have a question for y'all in the meantime, who do you think Rivet really is? Is she an alternate universe Ratchet? Related to Alister Azimuth at all? Something else entirely?

Song for this chapter is Crushing Day - Joe Satriani

Thanks for reading! Peace y'all.