Tachyon's Imperial Starcruiser races through space.
IMPERIAL STARCRUISER: Autopilot Engaged.
Ratchet and Clank are sat in the front seats. Ratchet is very excited.
RATCHET: Woah! Hang on Clank.
"You act like you've never been in a spaceship before." Talwyn chuckled. Ratchet smiled sheepishly.
"Well of course I have, many times, but I guess I still find it more exciting than most people."
"Why's that now rookie?" Zepher asked.
"Well, most people get to travel between galaxies their whole lives for a bunch of different reasons." Ratchet explained, "like work or vacations. The orphanage I grew up in didn't have the money to take us to any other planets though." Ratchet looked ahead wistfully as he thought about the past. "Sometimes I felt jealous of the other kids at school that would talk about the amazing planets they got to visit each summer while I was just stuck in the same desert I'd always lived in…" Ratchet caught himself in his negativity and smiled, "but that doesn't matter anymore, I built myself a ship and got to see a bunch of cool places, even saved some of them." He laughed.
Talwyn smiled in understanding. She could sort of understand how he felt. Since her father's disappearance, she barely ever left her space station so she'd pretty much been stuck in the same place for many years too.
Clank just stared at his best friend. He and Ratchet didn't talk about the time before they met very often. Clank wouldn't really have anything to say, he met Ratchet pretty much straight after he was born and Ratchet already knew what had happened up to that point thanks to their adventure stopping Chairman Drek. Ratchet wasn't really the sentimental type so he just didn't talk about his childhood and Clank hadn't really thought to ask. This whole experience was starting to make him think there was still a lot he didn't know about his best friend.
Alister's ears lowered as he felt the familiar pang of guilt in his chest. He should have been there for Ratchet. The poor boy had to grow up without a real family, without another lombax to guide him and teach him all about their kind. Logically, he knew there was no way he could have known Ratchet was still alive but he also knew that it was his fault the young lombax was an orphan in the first place.
IMPERIAL STARCRUISER: Hyperspace boosters online. Engaging Cryosleep.
On the screen at the front of the ship is Tachyon's imperial symbol. Below that is a vent that begins to pump gas into the cockpit.
RATCHET: Cyrosleep? Nah, nah, nah, there's no way I'm gonna—
Ratchet immediately falls asleep and begins snoring.
Ratchet's ears glow pink from mild embarrassment as he watches his future self's antics but he still laughs good-naturedly with everyone else.
Clank turns away from Ratchet.
CLANK: It is fortunate Cyrosleep does not work on robots.
Clank chuckles. A hatch opens in front of Clank and fires a red punching glove that smashes his head into the back of the chair. Clank collapses unconscious.
The laughter only increases.
"Guess that ship was prepared for a robot to be sat in the cockpit." Ratchet said. "What are the odds?"
"Precisely 600,983 to 1." Clank calculated.
"Guess you got pretty unlucky then pal." Said Ratchet.
From the sky, covered in clouds, is Stratus City. Clank flys down from the sky and into the city. A Zoni appears next to him. As they fly past the hall of knowledge the Zoni gestures to it.
ZONI: His past is inside.
The Zoni flies into the hall of knowledge and Clank follows. The hall glows until it is just a bright white light.
Everyone stared the scene in bewilderment, not at all sure what to make of that. Except, of course, for Sigmund. The Zoni had recently decided that after two years they could not continue to simply wait around for Orvus to return, it was time to locate XJ-0461 and train him to become senior caretaker. Sigmund lowered his head sadly, Ovrus had been originally planning to teach XJ-0461 himself, but he always said he needed to wait until the right time. He was always so excited when talking about his son and so looking forward to meeting him.
A blue cloudy sky with many trees overhanging. Ratchet appears yelling worriedly.
RATCHET: Clank! Clank! Are you okay?
Clank smiled, happy that his best friend was worried about him.
Ratchet takes Clank's hand and helps him sit up.
RATCHET: You got knocked out there for a minute.
Ratchet adjusts Clank's antenna.
CLANK: I am… Fine… Where are we?
Clank stands up. Ratchet shrugs.
RATCHET: Beats me.
Ratchet walks off.
RATCHET: Ship must have run out of fuel while on autopilot.
Clank looks up and sees the ship crashed into the side of a rock face.
"How'd you survive that?" Talwyn asked, perplexed.
"That's what I'd like to know." Nefarious grumbled, clearly upset his enemies hadn't died.
"Must have been my quick thinking and skill." Ratchet said, smiling smugly causing most of the others to roll their eyes. Alister smiled fondly.
Meanwhile, Sigmund got the feeling their survival was due to the interference of the Zoni. How else could they have been able to project into XJ-0461's mind? Yes, he decided, the Zoni were almost certainly preparing to bring him to the clock to begin his training.
RATCHET: Come on (He waves his hand in a 'follow me' gesture as he walks), we need to find another ship and get back to Kerwan.
Ratchet walks across the rocks. To his right is a steaming lake with rock towers sprouting out of it and shooting steam into the air. Giant rock platforms sprout from the ground and hover over the lake with exotic plants growing over the sides.
"Cobalia." All the Polaris natives said at the same time.
"Guessing that's the name of this planet?" Said Ratchet. They nodded.
"It's the gel capital of the Polaris galaxy." Alister said. "Mostly covered by swamps but there are several gelatonium plants there. Cobalia has the richest gelatonium reserves of any planet in Polaris."
"Just what is this gelatonium stuff?" Asked Qwark.
"It's probably the most common fuel source in the galaxy." Said Talwyn. "Almost everyone in Polaris depends on it, fortunately it's pretty readily available."
"The only exception I can think of are the Vullards." Alister cut in. Vullards worked more commonly in the outer sectors of Polaris where he lived. The planet he currently lived on in exile was a Vullard planet. "They rely on battery bots for power which aren't as reliable, they frequently try to rebel."
Clank races to catch up with Ratchet and hops on his back. Ratchet heads towards some steps in the rocks where some Cerullean swarmers are milling about the area.
"Ah, swarmers." Talwyn observed. "Not really a threat but they can be quite annoying… Maybe dangerous in big numbers."
"Darn critters. I remember once, a whole hoard of 'em invaded a starship I was working on." Zepher said.
"Well, I once shot over a thousand of them at the Agorian Battleplex. Was made an honorary warrior." Kronk bragged.
"Oh no you weren't you senile old coot." Zepher objected.
As soon as they notice Ratchet and Clank they growl aggressively and run over flashing their sharp teeth. Ratchet simply swipes them out of the way with his omniwrench and bounds up the steps. At the top are not only more Cerullean swarmers but a Cerullean centipede. Ratchet bats away the swarms but his wrench just bounces off the thick skin of the centipede. It hisses and rises up on its tail. It hocks back and spits green corrosive acid at Ratchet. He leaps to the side to avoid being hit and pulls out his combuster. Several quick shots eventually kills it.
"Centipedes are a bit more of a problem." Talwyn said.
"Trust me, we've been up against far worse." Ratchet said. He was trying to be reassuring but then noticed Alister looking at him in worry. He still wasn't sure how he should behave towards this other lombax that was apparently friends with his father. It was really quite overwhelming. The fact that the older lombax seemed to be concerned about him made him feel even more on edge. He wasn't sure how to feel. He didn't know Alister at all but being the son of his friend, Ratchet was obviously someone important to him.
Another one emerges from a gap in the rocks and Ratchet makes sure to keep moving to avoid being hit by its acid. As he runs he makes sure to keep his gun trained on the centipede and fires rapidly at it. It is soon dead too.
"Excellent shooting." Alister praised. "Your father would have been proud."
Ratchet smiled sheepishly. Praise from the older lombax always gave him this warm feeling even though he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the fatherly aura Alister seemed to have.
"Although it concerns me that you seem to have so much experience." Alister added, worriedly.
"Ah, it's nothing." Ratchet said, waving his had dismissively. "Sure the first time was an accident but I'm happy to work for the planetary defence now."
Alister knows many lombaxes served as soldiers, he himself was part of the praetorian guard. Kaden was a bit of a thrill-seeker, and he would always fight for justice. But he had settled down when he had his family. He wanted a peaceful life for them. But it seemed the universe had other ideas.
The universe has such a cruel sense of humour. He thought bitterly.
Another one tries to come through the gap but Ratchet won't waste any time and throws a fusion grenade at it. It explodes and the centipede hisses in pain but still lives, much to Ratchet's shock. He freezes and ends up paying the price for that. A shot of acid hits his leg, burning it. Ratchet falls to his knees for a moment, clutching his leg in pain until the nanotech heals him.
"Where would we be without nanotech?" Zepher said.
"Ain't that the truth." Said Kronk, agreeing for once.
Once healed he equips his omniwrench. The centipede is almost on top of him, he quickly jumps into the air and brings the omniwrench down on the centipede's back ripping it apart. Ratchet takes some deep breaths and runs through the gap in the wall. On the other side there are a few Cerullean swarmers. Ratchet strikes at them with his wrench, killing them. Ratchet notices some crates off to the left and is about to run over to them but stops just shy of a crack in the ground as hot steam blows up from it.
"Steam's quite a problem on Cobalia." Talwyn said. "The ground there is often unstable. Most people don't stray far from the spaceport."
"Well, do most people steal a whiny emperor's spaceship and crash it on Cobalia?" Ratchet joked. Talwyn laughed and shook her head.
He breathes a sigh of relief and jumps over the steam to get the crates. Ratchet runs over to where he sees a clearly man made platform. A hoard of swarmers and two centipedes block his path. He chucks two fusion grenades, killing all the swarmers and injuring the centipedes. He finishes them with his combuster. Ratchet jumps but the gap is too wide for him to make it on his own, fortunately Clank's thrusters get them to the other side.
"You have a thrusterpack as well as a helipack? Impressive." Talwyn praised.
"That was just amazing sir!" Sigmund said, shaking about in excitement.
"Well thank you." Clank replied, smiling at Sigmund. Nefarious rolled his eyes at the display. Of course that dumb squishy Ratchet would be useless without a robot like Clank. As soon as he thought that an idea began to form in his head. Separate Ratchet and Clank… He knew he needed Clank as part of his plan to get control of the Great Clock. Ratchet would surely come after him but without Clank that dumb lombax wouldn't stand a chance.
.
Where more swarmers and centipede's are waiting. Seeing he only has three grenades left, Ratchet doesn't want to waste them so he takes out the swarmers with his wrench. Unfortunately, he's so focused on them he doesn't see one of the centipede's acid shots coming until it's too late. He's hit in the chest. He cries out in pain clutching his chest as the acid burns through his shirt to his skin.
Everyone sucked in a panicked breath. The acid wouldn't be fatal with the nanotech to heal Ratchet but it would have hurt. Ratchet winced from phantom pain. Pain he'd yet to feel.
The centipedes advance and Ratchet raises a shaky hand to aim his combuster at them. He fires a few shots causing them to explode. He groans and checks his nanotech gauge. He is dismayed to see he only has two left.
The group grew nervous. Except Nefarious of course, he grinned with glee.
He shuffles forward, clearly in pain. From his back, Clank looks worried. Ratchet jumps up a few ledges and finds himself in front of a narrow path with boiling water either side. As he begins to limp across a giant blue monster rises from the water's depths.
Everyone from Polaris knew what this was. A leviathan, a Basilisk Leviathan. And everyone, bar Nefarious and Lawrence grew incredibly worried. Ratchet was clearly in no state to fight. Even Ratchet, as he looked at the creature staring down his screen self, who was clearly injured and running low on nanotech, felt fear in the pit of his stomach. He tried to ignore it, thinking of all the far more treacherous situations he'd been in.
It's serpent like and has brown scales dotted across its body, some jutting out from its back. It roars at Ratchet, blowing his fur back. He readies his weapon nervously, not sure if he'll be able to beat such a monster while he had already been injured. Thankfully the creature decides to swim away through the air.
Everyone who had been worried breathed a sigh of relief.
Ratchet continues across the path where he sees a tunnel to some kind of building. A hoard of centipedes are blocking his path though.
"Oh boy." Ratchet sighs, trying to cover his nerves with annoyance. These creatures were actually pretty tough and he screen self didn't look ready for a big fight.
He leaps and rolls to avoid multiple shots of acid. He switches the strafing on on his combuster so he can run and aim at the centipedes at the same time. Suddenly, he fires a shot that kills one of them and his nanotech gauge flares, sending out a blast that destroys the rest of the centipedes. Ratchet feels rejuvenated all of a sudden and looks down to see his nanotech has been replenished and upgraded having absorbed enough energy from the creatures Ratchet had been destroying. He now had fifteen nanotech robots.
"Alright!" Ratchet cries, pumping his fist in the air. "Couldn't have happened at a better time."
"Indeed." Clank smiled, relieved they were no longer in immediate danger. Nanotech gauges always upgrade themselves by absorbing energy from weapons. Hopefully if they were going to have to fight this emperor Tachyon they'd upgrade their nanotech more first. Of course that meant more fighting but people were clearly suffering. It was not in the nature of Ratchet or Clank to ignore those in need.
Ratchet runs into the building and finds it full of crates. He smashes all of them and takes all the bolts.
"Oh man when we get back home we are so gonna be able to afford that new game system." Ratchet said, grinning gleefully.
"Don't you think those bolts would be better spent on weapons to defend ourselves against our new enemy. I can only hope that's what your future self is thinking." Clank argued. He made out like he was annoyed but deep down he was worried about Ratchet. He hoped he'd make sure not to go into this new fight of theirs unprepared, their new enemy was obviously someone to be feared judging from the other people in the room.
Aside from the door he came through there is only one other door. Ratchet runs out and sees another similar building across from him but there's a centipede in his path. It spits acid at him but he rolls out of the way and chucks a fusion grenade at it. It howls in pain and has no time to recover as it's finished with a few rounds from Ratchet's combuster. Two more centipedes venture out from the nearby rocks but Ratchet wastes no time is shooting them dead too. He runs inside the building and finds a narrow shaft. He sees light at the top and realises he has to go up. He jumps against the wall to the left of him and up to the wall on the right, he then quickly jumps back and forth pushing himself higher and higher until he reaches the top of the shaft and leaps onto the upper platform.
"Woah…" Talwyn gasped.
"Those are some sweet movies rookie." Zepher complimented.
"You know how to wall jump." Alister observed with a proud smile. "Very few species in the universe can, we lombaxes have the necessary bone structure in our legs to grip the wall with our feet and push with enough momentum. Normally young lombaxes learn how to do this in school… I'm impressed you were able to learn without instruction."
"Thanks." Ratchet grinned, basking in the praise. "Guess I've just got all that natural lombax strength and skill in me."
Clank rolled his eyes but also felt happy his friend was connecting more with the other lombax and even feeling closer to his own race.
"How did you learn if I may ask?" Alister questioned.
"Oh…" Ratcheted rubbed the back of his head sheepishly then covered with an easy smile. "I was just, running from these hired thugs on a mission once and had to think on my feet you know?"
"As I recall you already knew how to wall jump when we met." Clank decided to say. "You didn't even stop to think when you jumped against those key pads and up the wall to the door when we were on planet Hoven during our battle against chairman Drek."
"Oh I get it, this is another story you're embarrassed to tell, like the gymnastics thing." Talwyn suggested teasingly. Ratchet blushed in frustrated embarrassment.
"Fine." He grumbled. He took a deep breath, not enjoying revealing some of the moments in his young life when he felt more vulnerable. "Once, when I was younger, I was running away from these bullies at the orphanage and they chased me into a water pumping station… I looked around for somewhere to hide and noticed these crates on this platform above me but the elevator that went up to the platform was broken. I could hear them getting closer so I just sort of panicked and tried to climb the wall. I think it was like instinct or something but I kind of just felt like I'd be able to jump against the wall and have enough strength to propel myself up. So I did. When I got to the top I hid behind the crates. The bullies came in a moment later and looked around for a while but of course they couldn't find me so they gave up and left. I don't think they were that bothered by it. They knew I'd have to come back some time. But from then on I had a great new skill for escaping danger and sneaking into high places." Ratchet chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. Clank just looked at his friend sympathetically. He'd never thought about it before but it made sense that Ratchet would have been bullied growing up. He must have stuck out like a sore thumb, being the only Lombax on Veldin, heck, in the whole Solana Galaxy.
"Ah you seem like a tough guy; I bet you could take em'." Kronk said confidently.
"Sure, now…" Ratchet sighed, looking oddly crestfallen. "I could hardly afford fancy weapons back then. All I had was my omniwrench but for a kid it was a lot bigger and heavier than it is now and I still had a few years of training yet before I could be considered strong and agile. Doesn't help when the others gang up on you either."
Talwyn placed a hand on his shoulder. She wished she could say she understood but she couldn't. She'd never been bullied in all her life. That would require interacting with other children. She'd been raised on the Apogee Space Station by her father since before she could remember and they barely ever had any visitors, certainly not ones her own age. After her father disappeared she continued to live her life of solitude at her father's base, teaching and training herself; with the help of Kronk and Zepher. She loved the two warbots, they were her family and had been with her as she struggled after her father's disappearance but she couldn't deny her feelings of loneliness growing up. Nowadays she ventured to Meridian city to assist with the resistance in the fight against Tachyon but not too often. Tachyon sometimes sent troops to her father's base, not to mention the space pirates who were always looking for an ancient artefact they could steal. She had to keep the base defended as much as she could.
The only person who could actually relate to Ratchet was Nefarious, having been bullied by Qwark and other meatheads like him throughout his youth. He refused to let himself empathise in any way with his enemy though. But he didn't make any harsh or scathing comments either, just continued to watch the screen silently.
Ratchet finds some crates containing bolts and ammo for his combuster. He grabs it then makes his way over to the edge of the platform. Below he can see several little land islands in the boiling water and not too far away another building. Ratchet jumps from the ledge and Clank quickly retracts his arms and extends his helipack from them and the top of his head. The two glide down onto one of the small islands.
Ratchet and Clank fist-bump, both pleased to see another example of their brilliant teamwork.
Ratchet finds some more crates and smashes them. One has some combuster ammo in it which Ratchet makes quick use of to take out the centipede and swarmers on the other islands. He hops from island to island until he reaches the one with the building. He is immediately confronted by a whole hoard of swarmers and centipedes. Ratchet looks a bit nervous at first but quickly composes himself and smiles confidently. He pulls out his omniwrench and proceeds to jump, flip and roll around the area with practiced agility as he smashes each of the creatures. He even tosses his omniwrench back and forth like a boomerang a few times. Eventually all the creatures are destroyed.
"Amazing." Said Alister, many of the others nodding.
"Of course, I taught him everything he knows." Qwark bragged. He felt a bit desperate to garner some attention for himself, frustrated Ratchet and Clank seemed to be getting all the good attention. Ratchet and Clank just rolled their eyes, too used to Qwark and his arrogance to be bothered by it at this point.
"The omniwrench is traditional weapon of our race, used by our people for centuries." Said Alister. "You should feel proud to be able to wield it with such skill."
"Wow…" Ratchet whispered. "I had no idea. I mean… The omniwrench has been with me as far back as I can remember. My caretakers said it was in the small spaceship with me when I crash-landed on Veldin as a baby."
I see… Alister thought, so Kaden left it with him… and just like that he was lost in memories of the past again.
Ratchet grins, pleased with himself and runs into the building. Inside is another shaft that Ratchet proceeds to jump from wall to wall to get to the top. Once there, he notices a plethora of crates that he smashes, collecting a lot of bolts. There's a neatly cut hole in the wall as though it were destroyed with a laser. Ratchet jumps down into the clearing outside and encounters more swarmers and centipedes. He shoots the swarmers with his combuster but is hit a few times with the centipedes' acid causing his nanotech to drop. He chucks a grenade at them which kills one and wounds the other. He finishes it off with a slam from his omniwrench. He scales the side of the cliff and sees a large flat island in the water below. Ratchet jumps and Clank uses his helipack to glide them down. Once they land, the large blue creature from before rises out of the water and roars blowing the fur on Ratchet's face.
"Uh oh." Ratchet sighed, deadpanned. Nearly everyone was sure Ratchet had the combat skills to best the leviathan in battle but they still couldn't help but feel nervous.
He looks up at it with both fear and determination. The creature begins to circle, eyeing its prey. Ratchet takes this opportunity to begin firing on it with his combuster. The shots hurt the creature, it hisses and the area of skin the bullets hit glow a painful red. The creature roars, clearly agitated, and puffs its belly. Ratchet realises its about to strike. It shrieks and sucks in its gut as dozens of quick white fireballs shoot out of its mouth towards Ratchet. Ratchet's eyes follow each of the fireballs as he runs to the left, successfully dodging.
"Phew," Ratchet sighs in relief, "that was close." He nudges Clank in amusement.
"This isn't the time to be so relaxed."
"Well, to be fair it's not me me that's in danger right now it's future me and it looks like he has it handled." Ratchet defended.
He continues to fire with his gun and then switches to his fusion grenade launcher. He tosses one directly at the creatures face making it recoil and roar in pain. It charges straight for Ratchet and attempts to bite him but Ratchet jumps out of the way at the last second. Unfortunately he is too close to the edge and ends up slipping a little, sending his left foot into the boiling water. He cries in pain as his foot burns and he loses more nanotech.
Ratchet winces.
Ratchet looks up to see balls of energy being expelled from the creature's body and bouncing around the platform. He decides it's best to get away from this situation and makes a break for the opening in the cliff up ahead. He jumps over to the platform as the creature goes in for another bite attempt and throws yet another grenade. This one also hits the creature but the effect is different this time. It seems this was the last straw and the creatures begins to writhe around before finally exploding.
"Woo!" Ratchet cries pumping his fist in the air. The others smile fondly at his enthusiasm. Killing a leviathan wasn't unusual or difficult where they were from but to someone outside of Polaris that must be different.
In its place is a glowing ball of energy that Ratchet's electronic storage device quickly sucks in. He also notices the creature seemed to expel raritanium when it blew up, one of the rarest and most valuable materials in the universe.
"Some raritanium will certainly come in handy." Clank observed. They could use it to upgrade their weapons. Then perhaps they will stand a better chance against Tachyon and his troops.
Ratchet gathers it all up. He then takes a few deep breaths and leans against the rock face, happy the danger has past. He looks up and almost cries with relief at what he sees on the other side of the cliff opening: a space port.
"Cobalia Space Port…" Said Talwyn, it's been a while.
"Yeah, that darn cragimite took over the darn place and now nobody else can get their gel." Zepher complained.
"Seems this Tachyon needs to be taught a lesson." Ratchet said excitedly.
"Right ya are." Kronk said, Zepher and Talwyn nodded. Alister felt it needed more than that. He hoped Tachyon would suffer dearly and then die a horrible death for what he did. Nefarious didn't care either way. With his plan to take control of the Great Clock under way it didn't matter what Tachyon did or whether Ratchet defeated him or not. He'd only just learned from Orvus that Clank was the key to the Orvus chamber. All he had to do was capture Clank and everything would fall into place. Tachyon had never been a factor in his plans, after all, if the cragmite did get in his way he could rectify anything with the power of time travel in his hands.
The entire thing is a large complex in front of the towering building of the gel plant. Spaceships are wizzing around through the sky and various pumping towers sprout up from the ground. Ratchet dashes down the ramp to the first platform and looks around for anyone who might be able to offer them a ride. He wanders around for a while but most of the people he comes across are robots deep in their own conversation or in such a hurry they just rush straight by him. As he's walking and looking around in awe he almost bumps into a weapons vendor. He stumbles back as the screen pops up and reads it. Along the bottom are the options AMMO, UPGRADE and WEAPONS. Ratchet clinks on the option for weapons to see what is available. This vendor has two weapons in stock, the tornado launcher and the plasma beasts. He checks his electronic storage unit and finds he doesn't have enough bolts for the tornado launcher but he can afford the plasma beasts so he decides to purchase them. The bolts transfer to the vendor and from its base a hatch opens with the weapon inside. Ratchet grabs it and looks it over approvingly before storing it with the rest of his weapons. He continues to look for some help but the robots all seem busy.
"So this planet's mostly inhabited by robots then?" Ratchet asks.
"It's not a pleasant place for organic people live." Talwyn explains. "It's incredibly hot and humid, not to mention how dangerous the swamps can be. Organics usually just stop at the port occasionally. It is mostly robots that live and work there full time."
Eventually he notices a blue man sporting a wide brimmed hat and holding a strand of wheat in his mouth stood in front of the gel plant. He decides to approach this man about helping them, smashing a few bolt crates on the way. As he gets closer he can see the man is arguing with a small red parrot. Ratchet and Clank approach the two and Clank hops down from Ratchet's back. As they get closer they can hear the conversation they're having.
SMUGGLER: Don't you lay this on me you worthless sack of Kerchu sweat! You were supposed to watch the gel gauge!
The Smuggler thrusts his knife at the parrot for emphasis.
PARROT: AWK! Blame the parrot, always blame the parrot.
CLANK: Is everything alright sir?
PARROT: AWK! Imperial spies (he points at Ratchet and Clank)! hide their bodies! AWK!
"Imperial spies?" Ratchet cried, incredulously. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been instantly mistaken for an enemy but still. Alister actually growled at the screen.
"Only a complete idiot would suspect a lombax of working for Tachyon."
"Even if a lombax wanted to work for Tachyon he would never allow that. Nothing will stop him from seeing them all dead." Said Talwyn.
Ratchet and Clank look at the parrot like he's insane.
SMUGGLER: Oh! (Turns to face Ratchet and Clank) Well excuse my friend. (The parrot sits on his shoulder) We're just a couple o' humble smugglers, unfairly hunted and persecuted wherever we go. (He twirls and sheathes his knife)
"Well smuggling is illegal so I don't know if he could really call it unfair persecution." Talwyn deadpanned.
"Still, if he's an enemy of Tachyon's maybe he'll be willing to help us out." Ratchet said hopefully. Not that he expected it to be that easy though; in his experience, nothing in the universe came free. Not that he minded doing people favours now and then.
SMUGGLER (CONT'D): Yep, seems the imperials have shut down the planet's gelatonium plant (gestures to the plant behind him). They must be ah… (takes off his eyepatch for emphasis) looking for someone…
"I wonder who." Nefarious said sarcastically.
"Guess we gotta get out of there before Tachyon finds us." Said Ratchet.
Clank looked at Ratchet in surprise. "I thought you'd want to fight him head on."
"I don't have nearly enough nanotech and only three weapons, none of them very strong at the moment. It wouldn't be smart to fight someone like him right now hey?"
Clank smiled proudly. The Ratchet from when they'd only just met would have charged right in, damn the consequences, but it seemed he'd mellowed out a lot and gained a lot more common sense over the years.
RATCHET: Well we're kinda stranded ourselves. Our ship crashed back there and—
PARROT: AWK! Kill 'em now, sell their kidneys.
Ratchet glares at the parrot.
"Be careful sir!" Sigmund cried, gripping Clank's shoulders. "Parrots are some of the most dangerous creatures in the universe… Uh, so I've heard."
"Well this one sure wants us dead." Said Ratchet.
SMUGGLER: Stranded hmm? Well I'll tell you what pal we're gonna make you a deal. (Points at Ratchet) You get the gel pumps workin' and we'll uh… procure a vessel for ya.
"By procure he probably means steal." Sighed Talwyn. Ratchet rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
The Smuggler takes the large green device off his back.
SMUGGLER: Here, you'll need this gelanator.
The Smuggler throws the gun into Ratchet's arms. Ratchet shrugs and decides it's his best option. He heads up to the door into the gelatonium plant and the automatic doors open to let him past. He walks in and grabs Clank's hand and tosses him onto his back. The entrance room of the gelatonium plant is dark, dimly lit by the glow from the gel pump in the room and the lights on the door.
COMPUTER: Attention citizen, this plant has been shut down on the order's of Emperor Tachyon, you are trespassing on imperial property.
Ratchet ignores the automated warning and heads over to the gel pump and notices the opening on the front matches the nozzle of the gelanator. He plugs it in and sucks gel into the gelanator. Once the tank is completely drained the lock panel slides away on the door and it opens allowing Ratchet to run into the next room. Inside is a waterfall of gelatonium in which several massive pipes are inserted and pumping gel up through the ceiling.
"Wow…" The present Ratchet whispered. He'd never seen gel plant before.
On Ratchet's right is a platform with green arrows pointing up the wall to it. He assumes it's the correct way to go and heads over. There's nowhere nearby for him to wall jump, much to his dismay leaving him unsure of how to get up. He stares at the green arrows for a while and from the corner of his eye he can see they are the same colour as the green gel river. He wonders if this means something and suddenly it hits him. He steps back and aims at the ground with the gelanator. He pulls the triggers and a huge blob of gel fires from it. The gel forms a large cube on the ground. Ratchet pokes it gently, making it wobble. He looks up to the platform and grins. He moves back a bit and takes a running leap onto the gel cube. He lands on it and with his catlike grace has no problem staying on despite it jiggling around. He kneels, pressing his weight down into the gel and jumps into their air letting the bounce of the gel propel him upwards. He soars through the air and easily onto the platform.
"Oh! Sick, that's gonna be so fun." Ratchet said, smiling his wide excited smile.
He smiles, elated. He sees another platform above him with green arrows pointing up. Once again he uses the gelanator to make a block of gel and springs off it. However, this time the platform is too high and he can't grasp it. He falls back down onto the block of gel, which thankfully leaves him unharmed.
Ratchet breathed a small sigh of relief after seeing himself land safely. "That was close." He muttered.
Ratchet slides off the block of gel and stares at it thoughtfully. Eventually his face lights up with an idea and he takes aim at his block of gel with the gelanator. He fires at the gel block and it becomes pumped up with the extra gel, making it slightly bigger than it was before. Ratchet jumps and flips himself up to land in a crouch on the gel block. Ratchet jumps and this time the momentum from the gel has increased enough to get him over the edge of the ledge and onto the upper platform.
"You're pretty good at thinking on your feet huh?" Said Zepher, looking impressed.
Ratchet smiled smugly. "Yeah, this Tachyon doesn't stand a chance."
"Indeed." Clank agreed, actually surprising Ratchet, he was use to his best friend kindly reprimanding him when he got too full of himself. "We will stop him… And you are very smart." Clank knew his friend, he knew that some of what had happened so far had brought up some of Ratchet's buried insecurities and he sensed it was only going to get harder. Right now seemed like the right time to offer his friend support. Ratchet's confident smirk softened into a more genuine smile, feeling happy about being given praise from his best friend.
At the top are a few crates and a pool of gel. Ratchet smashes the crates and looks over at the platform across from the gel. He looks down at the gel, knowing he can't swim through it, it's far too thick and flowing too quickly. Clanks thruster boost wouldn't take them far enough either. Suddenly his face lights up with an idea. He blasts the gel cannon, making a block in the centre of the gel pool. He jumps onto the gel block quickly before it goes over the waterfall.
"Wah!" Qwark cries is shock. "Are you crazy?"
"I prefer the term heroic." Ratchet said, causing Clank to roll his eyes.
"A bumbling coward like you would never have the guts to try that." Nefarious snarked. "I can't believe I was ever defeated by you."
Qwark glared angrily at Nefarious. Inside he felt a little pit of shame though, knowing he was probably right. There was a time he felt like there was nothing in the universe he couldn't do, when he'd really defeated great villains and saved the Solana galaxy. However, it seems there was a point he became so insecure to lose all the fame and fortune he'd earned that he became afraid to try heroic feats at the risk he should fail. But sadly, he wasn't quite ready to admit this to himself. Instead he shook off the shame he was feeling and continued to watch the screen.
He uses the gel to spring himself over to the platform. Once there, he smashes some more crates and looks around to see small robots resembling giant ants milling about, tumfoids.
"Ah, tumfoids." Talwyn sighs.
"What?" Asks Ratchet.
"Gel plants use them to prevent people jumping on gel cubes, as you've been doing." Alister said, teasing a little at the end.
"Well, nothing I'm sure I can't hand." Ratchet decided.
Ratchet watches them curiously for a second before shaking it off and looking at the two ledges he could potentially investigate. He suspects the one in front of him leads to the next part of the complex so tries to go that way but the second he shoots a block of gel the tumfoids twitch in excitement and bolt towards the gel. They whir mechanically, excitedly as they begin to devour the gel. Eventually the block breaks down. Ratchet looks on in amazement.
"You were saying?" Nefarious teases. Ratchet glares at him angrily, the tips of his ears turning a little red.
He realises he'll have to distract them to get anywhere. Doesn't take long for him to figure out how. He shoots a gel block away from the ledge, effectively distracting the robots. He then shoots another block and jumps on it up to the next room.
Ratchet sends Nefarious a very smug and triumphant look, but to his chagrin.
At the top are a group of Cerullean swarmers. They all viciously charge at Ratchet. He swats a few away with the Omniwrench then chucks a couple of his grenades, killing them. He smashes the crates in the room then notices a gravramp up a gel pump. He walks up and finds a bolt crank at the top. He attaches his Omniwrench and twists it around making the pipe spin.
"It's like those things were made for me." Ratchet smirks.
"They were." Said Alister. "In a sense. Bolt cranks were invented by our kind and then used throughout the galaxy." Ratchet looked on in wonder. He was finally learning more about his species, something that had been a mystery to him for years.
Once the pipe reaches another pipe on the other side of the pump the two click together and the gel begins to flow. Ratchet hears a sliding noise and looks down to see a door on the left side of the room opening. He takes the gravramp back down and runs through the door to find more gel pools and falls. He smashes some more crates and runs over to a find several platforms leading up to the next section, all unfortunately blocked by rivers of gel.
"Hmm…" Clank hums. "There certainly are a lot of crates in this gelatonium plant."
"Indeed, Tachyon must be using it to store extra bolts," Talwyn mused.
Ratchet felt a lot better about taking those bolts after hearing he was probably taking them from a cruel maniac like tachyon.
Ratchet gets up the first one easily with a block of gel in the river but the second one doesn't propel him high enough and he finds himself fall back into the block of gel now quickly approaching the edge of the fall. Ratchet's face flashes with fear for a brief second before he regains his composure and leaps back to the first platform.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Bar the obvious.
"You need to be more careful." Sigmund admonished. "If not, XJ-0461 might get hurt."
"I know." Ratchet said, actually sounding serious. "I won't let my best pal get hurt. Count on it."
"You should worry about yourself as well." Clank insisted.
"Right pal." Ratchet said but Clank was worried he didn't really mean it. Even though Ratchet acted selfish sometimes, (though he wasn't nearly as bad is this regard as he had been when he was younger) at his core he was quite selfless. But it was a fine line between being selfless and self-sacrificing.
He sighs in relief. He shoots a block into the river again and this time shoots it a second time to pump it with more gel. The spring sends him much higher this time and he's able to grab the edge of the ledge and haul himself up. At the top is a third, much longer river of gel on the other side of which is another room. Ratchet shoots some gel into the river and hops onto it. He then shoots another block of gel and hops onto that before jumping over to the other side. He runs into the room to find more toxic swarmers. He tries to fire another grenade but nothing happens. Ratchet checks his ammo gauge and finds he's out. Suddenly, one of the swarmers bites him in the leg. He hisses in pain and is suddenly set upon by a group of them.
"Like I said before, annoying in large numbers." Said Talwyn. She wasn't too worried, from what she'd seen so far Ratchet could handle a few Cerullean swarmers.
He swats them away with his Omniwrench before deciding it might be a good time to try his new weapon. He equips the plasma beasts and fires a couple of them onto the ground. They appear first as little pointy green stumps. Without warning green monsters spring up and strike at the swarmers killing a few of them with one strike. Ratchet then finishes off the rest of them with his Omniwrench.
"Wow…" Ratchet whispered. impressed. "You guys have some pretty sweet weapons in the Polaris Galaxy." He now felt even more excited about going there.
Kronk and Zepher immediately dissolved into an argument over which weapons were the best.
Alister thought of the weapons sold by Grummelnet and how a number of them had been developed by the lombaxes. If he remembered correctly they still sold the cryomine glove developed by his best friend. His heart ached with guilt and loneliness and grief. Truthfully, he hadn't used any weapon aside from his praetorian Omniwrench since he'd been exiled. He hadn't the heart.
He notices there's quite a few crates around the room containing bolts and nanotech which he quickly smashes. He then sees a gravramp leading up the side of a gel pump but it only goes halfway. He notices a bolt crank on the floor and hooks his Omniwrench up to it. The crank hoists the other end of the gravramp around making it possible for Ratchet to scale the gel pump. At the top he finds another bolt crank and again hooks his Omniwrench to it. Just like the last time, the crank moves a pipe around a gel pump to connect it and get the gel flowing as well as opening a door.
"For someone who hates lombaxes, this Tachyon sure likes using our inventions." Ratchet remarked. Alister flinched so hard everyone couldn't help but notice. His fists clenched so hard it was surprising his nails didn't break skin and his ears were twitching around erratically.
"It's all my fault." He muttered, voice steeped in anger.
"What?" Ratchet asked. Alister looked at his face, so full of youth and innocence. Well, innocent compared to himself. He couldn't tell him.
"It's nothing." He said, with a tone that clearly indicated the conversation was over.
This door, however, is at the top of a ledge. With the swarmers gone Ratchet notices the room also has more of the tumfoids.
Meanwhile, outside, the gel pumps have all been reconnected and the plant begins functioning again.
COMPUTER: Gelatonium plant restored to 100% efficiency. Emperor Tachyon will be most displeased.
That was a sentiment almost all of them could get behind. Kronk and Zepher even cheered, making the others laugh.
Back inside, Ratchet jumps down and heads towards the exit door.
CLANK: Ratchet, we should see that smuggler about the ride he promised.
He fires a gel cube away from the ledge to distract the tumfoids then uses another gel cube to propel himself up. In the next room Ratchet finds a pump connected to the door just like when he entered the plant, except this one is empty. He plugs the gelanator into it and drains the gel which opens the door. Behind this door is a giant glass elevator. Ratchet walks in and the elevator automatically takes him down to the spaceport. Through the window, Ratchet can see the gel pumps rotating. Once the elevator reaches the bottom he walks out and sees the smuggler waiting for him at the top of ramp. He rushes up there to greet him. On the way he is stopped by a grummelnet vendor.
DEVICE GRUMMEL: Whaddaya do? Whaddaya say? What's the haps there Slick? Devices are special combat items, very handy in a pinch. C'mon, step into our office and take a look see!
"Device's? Are those somehow different than weapons?" Ratchet asked, confused. It certainly wasn't something Gadgetron supplied.
"Mmm…" Alister nodded. "Device's don't do much damage, they're used to heal yourself or incapacitate an opponent."
"Yeah, something tells me you're gonna love the groovitron." Talwyn added. This made Ratchet even more intrigued. He was excited to try out these "devices".
Ratchet clicks the screen the Grummel gestures to and sees he has two devices in stock. The groovitron and the leech bomb. Both look like they could be useful so Ratchet buys three groovitrons and two leech bombs with the vast amount of bolts he collected in the plant. Once done, Ratchet hurries up to meet with the smuggler.
He decides this might be a good opportunity to get some information.
RATCHET: Hey, so where the heck are we anyway?
SMUGGLER: (Chuckles) Oh you gotta be kiddin' me.
"Why's he so shocked?" Ratchet asked, "surely, people come visit from other Galaxy's and don't really know there way around?"
"I doubt it was actually that common for people to visit Tachyon's empire." Alister said. His fists clenched sharply as his anger crashed inside him like waves, constantly rising and falling as he watched this.
Tachyon would not have had an empire if not for me.
SMUGGLER (CONT'D): Friend, you're on Cobalia. It's the gel capital of the Polaris Galaxy! Well, at least it was until emperor Tachyon shut down the plant.
RATCHET: Who is emperor Tachyon?
SMUGGLER: (Chuckles) The runt? Well he's something of a mystery. C'mere…
Ratchet leans in closer to hear the Smuggler as he lowers his voice.
SMUGGLER (CONT'D): I heard he was hatched from an egg frozen somewhere in the Verdigris Sector like a Cragmite-cicle, you know? You oughta be careful around him, he's got himself a sore spot for Lombaxes.
"Yes, that still hasn't be explained…" He mumbled, looking suggestively at the others. "Come on, I don't really like being kept in the dark. Why does this Tachyon hate Lombaxes so much?"
"He's a cragmite." Talwyn said. "The cragmites and the lombaxes fought against each other in the great war eons ago."
"We fought alongside the lombaxes and the rest of Polaris to bring down those tyrannical monsters." Zepher added.
"Yep those lombaxes sure knew how to beat up those no good varmints." Said Kronk. "Ended up vaporising the whole lot of them."
Ratchet stared at all of them in awe. This was the most he'd ever learned about his race.
"Wait… If they were all vaporised then what about Tachyon?" Said Ratchet.
"Who cares!" Nefarious suddenly yelled. Everyone was a bit startled. He'd been oddly quiet for a while at this point. "If I have to listen to one more story about you and your stupid squishy ancestors…"
Ratchet glared at him. He'd never had an opportunity to truly learn about himself and where he came from. He was definitely not going to let this opportunity pass by.
RATCHET: And these Leviathan souls (Ratchet gestures to the souls his electronic storage displays), what are those?
SMUGGLER: Bolts in the bank friend. Look here… There are creatures out there. Now, the ones of the larger variety carry in each of 'em a Leviathan soul. Now I kill 'em, I collect 'em and then sell 'em. And I'll tell you what… You find any souls, you be sure and bring 'em on back to me, ya hear? I'll give you a fair price for 'em.
RATCHET: Well you can have these ones, I sure don't need them.
SMUGGLER: Pleasure doin' business with ya…
Ratchet transfers the souls to the Smuggler who gives him 2000 bolts for each.
RATCHET: So, how about that ride?
SMUGGLER: Now, I can take ya'll as far as Stratus City, how'd that be?
"No! Bad idea… Stratus city is part of Tachyon's empire and he keeps very well defended because of the hall of knowledge." Alister said, worry very evident in his voice.
"The place is full of imperial troops." Talwyn added, equally concerned.
"What's the hall of knowledge?" Ratchet asked, not the least bit concerned. At this point in his life, he'd been up against so many dangerous villains and their armies the fought of fighting another one didn't seem to worry him too much.
"It contains the history of the lombaxes and the cragmites, particularly the great war." Talwyn explained. "Tachyon doesn't want anyone to find out how the lombaxes eventually defeated the cragmites so he keeps the place well guarded."
A grin spread across Ratchet's face when he heard this. If his future self breaks into the hall of knowledge he can find some valuable information on his new enemy. Clank of course noticed and recognised the look on Ratchet's face and felt the oh so familiar feeling of dread knowing his friend was about to do something reckless and dangerous again. Or, well, knew his future self was anyway.
RATCHET: Let's go.
With that, Ratchet and Clank hop in the back of the ship and make themselves comfortable among some grates while the Smuggler gets in the pilot seat and takes off.
As the scene faded, Clank looked over to Ratchet and was surprised to see the smirk had dropped off his face and he was now looking much more wistful.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"Huh?" Ratchet seemed to snap out of a daze. He turned to his best friend and gave him a somewhat forced smile. "It's nothing pal, I'm fine."
Clank fixed Ratchet with a deadpanned stare making the other laugh sheepishly.
"It's just…" He began, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "They said the hall of knowledge has information about the lombaxes and the cragmites… Which means I get the learn more about my past. I'm starting the get the feeling one of the reasons we were brought here is to learn this stuff… But from what I've heard so far… I think it might not be a happy story."
Ratchet tried to laugh it off like he was okay but of course Clank didn't buy it. He could tell it was really starting to hit his friend that he was finally going to learn his past and Ratchet was obviously starting to feel just a little scared about it.
Clank wondered if he himself would have to go through this too. After all, had not the strange red robot in the room claimed to know Clank's father. Clank wasn't even aware he had a father. He only assumed he had a mother, the machine that created him. Perhaps there was a part of him that was scared to learn the truth about his past as well. But for right now, he would do what he could to be there for his best friend.