Hello again, lovely reader. I hope this finds you well. My apologies for the extended absence; school has been keeping me remarkably busy as of late. But with that said, the end of the year is but one-and-a-half months away, and with it comes a long-anticipated, new Ratchet & Clank game. I hope you're all as excited as I am, though I'm sad to say that PS5's have been remarkably scarce in my neck of the woods. Since November there's only been a single drop, and it's been but a couple of hundred units, whereas there are over 300,000 people who are interested. So yeah, I've pretty much lost hope on getting to experience this game until we're well into 2022. It's heartbreaking, but it's the way it is. And after all, if the only harm I get from this blasted virus is having to wait another year for a game, then I can hardly complain, I suppose.

But, the rambling of a Dutch fool aside, I've kept you all waiting for long enough. Please enjoy this new chapter, I put some special care into it.

"You all set, pal?" Ratchet asked as he and Clank walked through the hangar, over to Aphelion. The little robot nodded. "Certainly," Clank replied. "I have recalibrated my sensors and defragmented my databases. My systems are operating at maximal efficiency."

Ratchet chuckled. "Not exactly what I meant, but I'll take it."

During the night, Aphelion had flown over and parked herself beside Talwyn's ship. She seemed to be in a good mood as the duo approached, greeting them cheerfully and opening the cockpit window for them as they came near.

"Morning, Aphie," Ratchet greeted her as he threw his bag into the back before climbing into the pilot seat. "I see you've had a good night," he added as he started going through the pre-flight checks.

"Oh, certainly," she replied as she started pre-heating the engines. "It is always a pleasure to speak with a fellow Lombax AI, it has been far too long. Speaking of which, I hope we will be back soon."

Ratchet laughed at that. "You've made a new friend, I hear?"

"One of us has to," was Aphelion's snarky response, causing Clank to let out a chuckle. "Touché," the little robot added as he leaned back in his seat.

"Hush, you," Ratchet replied, trying to sound hurt, though he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling into a grin.

As Ratchet strapped himself in, he locked eyes with Talwyn, who had come to see them out. He gave her a small wave. She smiled and returned the gesture. Ratchet took a deep breath and took hold of the steering handles, causing Aphelion to close the cockpit window and fly out of the hangar with peerless grace.

"Still got the coordinates, pal?" Ratchet asked. Clank nodded. "I do, though the Clock does drift about slightly so I may be off by a few units. Nonetheless it should bring us close enough to see the Clock clearly."

"That's more than good enough," Ratchet remarked as Clank entered the coordinates and engaged the warp drive. Aphelion hummed and shuddered with increasing volume as the warp drive started charging, preparing to violate the laws of physics and travel at speeds far greater than that of light.

Shortly after, Aphelion effortlessly launched itself into a wormhole, replacing the view of the stars with that of a glowing, blue tunnel. Ratchet yawned and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. "Man, what a mess we just stumbled into, huh?"

"Quite so. I do hope we can solve it," Clank replied. "The apparent involvement of the Zoni does trouble me, I have seen no mention of this at the Great Clock."

"We'll figure it out, pal. Just like we always do," Ratchet replied. He was quiet for a short while. "Not even in your memorybanks?" he suddenly asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, you told me that there were these machines at the Clock that allowed you to consciously explore your subconscious or some stuff like that, and that there was a program there resembling your father that you didn't know existed. Wasn't there a clue there, either, do you recall?"

"Not that I remember, though you do make me wonder what else my father may have hid in my databanks," Clank replied, rubbing his chin in thought.

Shortly thereafter the warp was complete, demonstrating the benefits of a Zoni-augmented warp drive, and indeed, before the small Lombax ship hovered the massive Zoni nexus, the Great Clock.

Ratchet took over manual control and steered the ship toward the landing pad near the Orvus chamber, while Clank contacted an old friend.

"Sir, long time no see!" Sigmund happily exclaimed upon appearing on the ship's built-in console.

Clank smiled back at him. "Greetings, Sigmund, it has been far too long indeed. I hope you have been well."

"Oh, we've been doing just fine over here! The Orvus computer and I still butt heads regularly but the mere fact that there is still such a thing as the past means that we're doing at least 'okay'," Sigmund joked. "I somehow doubt though that you and your friend came over out of sentimentality. Is something wrong?"

Clank nodded. "Yes, very much so, and it concerns the Zoni. We request access to the databases of the Great Clock, such that we can learn more about our problem."

Sigmund frowned. "Is it that serious? Well, as a fellow Zoni you are automatically granted clearance to the databases, and your status as Orvus' son elevates that clearance to unrestricted. However, that doesn't apply to your friend. No offense."

"None taken" Ratchet replied with a slight smile. "It's a birthright thing, huh?"

"Partly, it's mostly a security issue. We can't go around showing highly sensitive documents to anyone who doesn't have the appropriate clearance, even if they are accompanying someone who does. Every person is a risk. You're happy to wait though, I have some old cartoons lying around that I could put on for you as a way to pass the time."

Ratchet laughed. "Nah, I think I'll manage. Knowing Clank, it won't take that long anyway, I don't think. We're landing outside of the Orvus chamber, feel free to meet up with Clank there, I'll stay in the ship."

"O-oh, then I gotta hurry. See you in a bit!" Sigmund replied before killing the connection. Ratchet steered Aphelion to a halt above the landing pad and set her down on it before opening the cockpit. "Alright, pal, I'll see you in a few," he said to Clank as the small robot climbed out of the ship. "See you soon, Ratchet. I aim to make your wait as brief as possible."

"It's fine, it's fine, go catch up with your old friends," Ratchet said with a smile before entering the command to close the cockpit. He gave Clank a final wave before leaning back in his seat. "So, Aphie, now that we've got some time to kill, would you like to help me with learning Lombax again?"

"Certainly," the ship happily replied. "Let's practice some more common sentences."

Meanwhile Clank crossed the short bridge connecting the landing platform to the Orvus chamber entrance, where he waited a few minutes until he noticed Sigmund hastily rushing over from a neighboring sector. Clank started running his way to greet him. "Huff… huff… hoooh-boy, my systems were not ready for that kind of sprint!" Sigmund lamented when he finally reached the small robot. "Should we halt here briefly for your systems to recover?" Clank asked. "No, no, I'll manage," Sigmund replied as he waved his hand dismissively. "Come on, I'll get you to the databases, and you can tell me what's going on in the meantime."

Simon sat in silence in the small garden, staring at a board of chess. His eyes slowly roamed the board, contemplating each possible move and trying to think ahead as much as possible. "I suppose the optimal move involves the horse," he mumbled.

"Almost, I estimate the probability of victory to be about 17% higher if you move a tower instead," Artin replied.

"Huh, I should sharpen up then," Simon replied as he started focusing on his two towers. Meanwhile Talwyn sat at another table, reading in silence through a book. She wasn't in the best of moods, she still held Simon in contempt after what he'd done, and she missed having Ratchet and Clank around to talk to in that moment. So in lieu of her best friends being there to keep her company, she just tried her best to ignore the only person around.

"Alright, I think I know what to do," Simon said as he moved his left tower five steps to the right, eliminating a pawn. "Check."

He then waited for Artin to respond with his move, but after seven minutes, Artin still had said nothing. "Artin, are you okay?"

"Apologies, but I am busy running emergency diagnostics on the shard detection prototype. I am picking up signals from Cobalia, but they fluctuate oddly. There are sudden bursts of signals, and then silence. Either the device is malfunctioning or something is seriously wrong there."

Talwyn looked up from her book. She had heard Artin's remark. She sighed, stood up and came walking over. "You think there's trouble on Cobalia?" she asked.

"Possibly. I am running diagnostics on the scanner to rule out a false positive," Artin replied. Talwyn smiled. "Well, there's another way to do that. From which coordinates does the signal appear to originate? I can use the Defense Force satellite network to find out what's going on."

Simon also stood up. "I think I can help there. If you connect your device to the central computer, Artin can set up a device interface and run the programs on the central computer in a sandboxed environment."

"You've lost me," Talwyn replied, looking both annoyed and confused.

"I can boost your device," Artin explained. "Finally, something comprehensible! Thank you," Talwyn said. "So where would I do that?"

"Oh, uh, just follow me, please," Simon replied before leading Talwyn to the laboratory. He guided her to a large computer monitor built into the wall. Beneath it stood a worn desk with a mouse and keyboard resting on it. The keyboard had several wires attached to it leading to extension pads scattered across the desk, each featuring its own ensemble of buttons with undecipherable symbols. The desk itself meanwhile was an incomprehensible mess of post-its and notes.

"Just hold your device near the screen, Artin will pick it up from there," Simon said as he stepped aside. Talwyn scoffed at the sight of the desk. "Man, this place is as messy as your plans," she scolded as she held her communicator beside the screen. Simon didn't respond.

The screen came alive, showing what the communicator would normally show on its screen. "What exactly would you like me to do?" Artin asked.

"That device has access to some satellites near Cobalia. You may take control of them to survey the area that you think has some kind of trouble going on. It should show us what is happening down there," Talwyn explained.

"I see, this will only take a moment. Satellite link established, and we are in luck. One satellite is directly approaching the area," Artin replied. The view on the screen changed to one of a jungle scrolling by. "I shall reorient the satellite to track the source of the signal," Artin added as the view rotated and fixated on a point near the horizon that gradually came into view.

"Strange, it's just forests," Talwyn remarked.

"Then it's probably a false alarm," Simon said dismissively.

"Not so fast," Talwyn replied. "I mean, what are the odds for a 'false alarm' to originate from the surface of a planet?"

"Well, in this case it would be a three-dimensional, continuous random vector, so any position is infinitely improbable."

"Well, maybe, but I'm not talking about any specific position. If we were to pick any point, then what are the odds of it ending up on the surface of a planet?"

Simon opened his mouth and then closed it again.

"Exactly. Plus, I've got a bad feeling about this. Let's check it out."

"Should we call Ratchet?" Simon asked. Talwyn shook her head. "You got that suit of yours and I got my gun. If you can take on a team of elite soldiers on your own, then I think we'll be fine. Artin, please get us to Cobalia post-haste."

"With pleasure," Artin replied. "ETA is one hour and seventeen minutes."

"That's a bit too slow given how important those artifacts are," Talwyn said before turning to Simon. "You. Get your stuff and get your ass to the hangar. We're taking my ship. Artin, we'll meet you in orbit afterward."

"Affirmative," Artin replied. "I shall continue to monitor the situation and relay any important information directly to your ship. I will have to ask that you leave your device here though, otherwise I cannot monitor the area."

"That's fine, you I trust," Talwyn replied, glaring at Simon out of the corner of her eye as he scrambled to grab that peculiar white suit of his. "I'll meet you at the hangar in a few," he yelled over his shoulder as he took off.

"You get ten minutes," Talwyn fired back with a frown before shaking her head with a sigh and heading down to her ship.

She soon arrived and started going through the pre-flight checks, just about finishing the final few tests when Simon came running into the hangar, now wearing the odd set of armor. He had kept the visor off this time, carrying it under his arm as he rushed to the ship. He climbed into the passenger seat, panting. "How long was that?" he asked.

"Seven," Talwyn replied as she started the ship. It soon blasted out of the hangar and almost instantly engaged the warp drive.

"You better not double-cross me down there," Talwyn remarked.

"Will you cut that out?" Simon snapped. "I'm trying my best, okay!"

"Kidnapping is 'your best'?"

"I already said sorry!"

"But that doesn't entitle you to my forgiveness," Talwyn fired back. "Thanks to you, I spent several hours thinking that literally the only people I have left to care for were dead. Do you have any idea what that is like?"

Simon looked at her. "To be horribly alone? Yeah, I… I do."

Talwyn was quiet for a few moments, an astonished expression on her face. Then she frowned again. "Well, that means that you're an even bigger piece of crap than I thought."

"I didn't know he was seeing someone," Simon admitted. "I didn't mean to cause you harm, and I'm sorry for your loss."

"And yet you did cause me harm, and I owe you no forgiveness for it."

"No, but at the very least you could stop chewing me out over it every two minutes or so."

Talwyn scoffed. "It's just… it's really, really personal. It's a scare that I'm going to be re-living in nightmares for weeks, so yeah, I'm going to be pissed at you for quite a while. Now zip it and get your weapons ready, we're here."

And indeed, the ship came blasting out of the warp, instantly nose-diving into the atmosphere of Cobalia. With some effort, Talwyn managed to find a small clearing to land the ship in, and she and Simon got out, the latter securing his visor in place. "Artin, energy conservation please," Simon said as he looked around. "I don't see anything here, you?"

"Nope, so let's start sweeping," Talwyn replied as she unholstered her plasma pistol. "You north, I take south?"

"Sounds good," Simon replied before taking off, starting on his sweep of the area south of their landing site. "Artin, any signals?"

"Negative," the AI replied. "Whatever signal I picked up seems to have vanished."

"How is that possible? Did you update your training models?"

"No."

Simon frowned. "Talwyn?" he asked over a secure radio channel. "Yeah?" she replied. He could hear a slimy 'splash' sound followed by some cursing. "I hate swampland," Talwyn mumbled, followed by another slimy noise. "Yeah, I'm gonna need new boots after this. So what did you want?"

"The signal is gone."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Well, if this were a fluke, I wouldn't expect it to vanish without a trace. Something happened here. Anything on your end so far?"

"Negati-oh, shit."

"What?" Simon asked, but for a while, all he heard was rustling. He quickly turned around and took off to where he had last seen Talwyn. "Answer me, what is going on?"

"Shut the hell up, dammit," Talwyn said back in a hushed tone of voice. It wasn't long until Simon noticed her. She was crouched down behind a few bushes, keeping her eyes on a clearing up ahead. Simon quickly duck down as well and snuck over to her. He froze when he realized what they had stumbled upon.

"Unbelievable," he whispered. "Now what are we gonna do about this?"

"Strange," Sigmund muttered as Clank finished his recollection of recent events. "I'm not aware of any such device. Are you sure your information is accurate?"

"Not wholly, for that I wished to access the Orvus computer's databanks," Clank replied as they entered the central computer chamber.

"Well, you can use this computer console here for that," Sigmund said, guiding the small robot to a large monitor with an attached keyboard. Sigmund hovered over to it. "So, what'cha looking for exactly?"

"Let us begin by searching through a full list of Zoni experiments that are currently dismantled," Clank replied.

"Okidoke," Sigmund said as he typed in the command. A list of reports appeared on the screen, and Clank browsed through them. "No, this is not what I am looking for."

"Then it probably doesn't exist," Sigmund replied. Clank shook his head. "No, it means that the situation is even more serious than I thought. Would you mind searching for 'project firefly'?"

"What's that?" Sigmund asked as he entered the command.

"The fragment that we secured from the Obsidian Eye on Lumos featured that text engraved on it in Zoni script," Clank explained. "Ah. So why didn't we try that first?" Sigmund asked as he pressed 'enter'.

"Access denied," the Orvus computer instantly replied.

"That is why," Clank replied. "I wanted to investigate the clearance of this data."

"What the heck?!" Sigmund exclaimed. "I'm the senior caretaker, why do I lack clearance?"

"This file is restricted and may only be accessed by Orvus himself," the Orvus computer replied.

"As his next of kin, I challenge that clearance," Clank said. The Orvus computer was silent for a few seconds. "Clash resolved. XJ0461 has a clause granting clearance to all files. This file should therefore also be cleared. However, Orvus installed a security clearance on this file classifying it as a personal document, which is exempt from status clearances. Access denied."

"I request elaboration," Clank calmly stated.

"Request denied," the Orvus computer replied. "By technicality I am not even allowed to share with you the existence of this document. I shall provide no further information on the subject."

"Orvus computer," Clank began, "with all due respect: Orvus is gone. As such I contend that the file, under current parameters, has entered a deadlock. The only person to undo the seal is incapable of doing so. As his next of kin, I again challenge the clearance."

The Orvus computer was silent for a short while, before responding in a calm, but hushed tone. "XJ-0461, I am truly sorry, but I cannot grant you access. Orvus added a specific clause to the document that it is to be never unsealed without his permission… not even for you. I should not even share this information with you. I hope the senior caretaker can forgive me."

"U-Uh, y-yeah, I guess," Sigmund stammered. He had never encountered anything like this, and the cogs in his head were working overtime trying to make sense of it.

Clank shook his head with a patient smile. "I see. Can I ask one more question?"

"Certainly, XJ-0461."

"What are the precise locations of every known Obsidian Eye?"

Clank took his seat beside his friend again as he waved goodbye to Sigmund, who gave the duo a happy wave in response. "So, what did you learn, pal?" Ratchet asked as he steered Aphelion away from the Clock and engaged the warp drive, setting the destination to the coordinates that they had come from.

"I shall explain once we arrive, I feel disinclined to explain twice. It is quite the story," Clank replied. Soon enough, Aphelion came blasting out of the warp drive, only to find Simon's ship missing.

"What the hell?" Ratchet exclaimed as he looked around. "Where'd they go?"

"I do not know, I am attempting to contact Artin now," Aphelion replied. All was silent for a few minutes, and it wasn't long before Ratchet was nervously drumming on Aphelion's steer. "Come on, why is this taking so long?" he asked, frustrated.

"I am unable to contact them, they must be warping," Aphelion said. "I suggest that we remain patient."

"Man, this guy really has a habit of quietly running off with people, huh?" Ratchet mumbled before letting out a sigh and leaned back in his seat. "I'm so done. Let's just fly to the nearest civilized planet and grab a bite to eat while we wait. They'll pop up. I mean, just how big a mess could they have gotten tangled up in in those two hours?"

Simon and Talwyn watched in silence from the bushes, feeling more and more angry by the minute. "Come on, we have to do something." Simon whispered.

They watched as a group of space pirates were struggling to restrain a woman. Simon couldn't believe what he was seeing at first, but her ears were a dead giveaway. She was a Lombax with fur as white as snow, and messy, shoulder-length golden hair. Blue stripes adorned her fur, and she was clad in a ragged, damaged ceremonial dress of sorts.

They couldn't make out what was being said, but she was struggling to break free from the three pirates that were restraining her and guiding her to a waiting pirate ship.

A larger pirate came out, dressed in clothing that was adorned with gold. He had a peg leg and one of his eyes was busted beyond repair, with clear damage around the eyesocket. His clothing also seemed to have fire damage, with several holes in it featuring burn marks around the edges, and the metal around his damaged eye also seemed blackened as if exposed to a woodfire.

The Lombax was doing little more than shouting in protest, and they couldn't make out any distinct words.

The taller pirate, presumably the ship's captain, came walking down the ramp, his cloak getting caught in the wind and revealing the gilded staff he was using as a cane. He walked right up to her, a maniacal smirk on his face weathered, metal features. "Now, now, kitten, that's no way to treat your masters," he said, barely loud enough for the duo to hear.

The Lombax snarled and spat at him. The pirate's smirk widened, and he lifted his staff and forcefully poked her in the ribs with the end of it.

The woman twitched as if electrified, and when he pulled back the staff, she lurched forward like a puppet with its strings snapped. The captain took a step forward and grabbed her hair, forcing her head up so he could look her in the eyes. "Now you listen to me, you little freak," he spat in a much harsher tone of voice. "I got some really good biddings on you, but at this point I'm willing to take the loss and sell you with a few fingers missing. Cappishe?!"

The Lombax spat in his face, and in response he slapped her across the face before harshly throwing her to the ground, where she landed in the mud with a loud splat. She glared up at him, her fur and clothes now covered with mud. The captain then looked over his shoulder. "Lads, bring out the cat's toy. I'm sure she'll love what we've built for people like her."

A faint 'arr!' came from within the ship, and Simon and Talwyn watched in horror as four pirates came down the ramp with a large, glass water tank.

The woman started struggling again, and the captain again forced his staff into her stomach, causing her to cry out in pain. "Men, you know what to do," he said as he let go of her. Four pirates simultaneously took hold of her, each grabbing one of her limbs. Despite her loud screams of protests they lifted her right off the ground and threw her into the tank. One of the remaining three pirates quickly sealed the lid.

The Lombax immediately pressed her nose against the lid, gasping for air in the narrow strip of oxygen at the top.

The captain almost pressed his face against the glass. "The holes in the top plus that bit of air should keep you alive, but don't tempt my men to throw in another gallon. Plus, for what you've done with me eye, I'll make this a bumpy ride to Ardolis. And I'm going to enjoy watching you struggle for air, it'll serve you right with what you've done to me and me crew. And don't you dare scoff at me again, it's already an act of mercy that there isn't a sharkagator in there chewing on your bones." With that, he spun on his heels, his long jacket swooshing behind him as he started walking up the boarding ramp; the other pirates following him, bringing their captor along.

"Talwyn, we have to do something," Simon repeated, feeling angrier by the minute. Talwyn nodded. "Yes, and I have a plan: wait."

"But they have a hostage."

"Yes, but did you hear what that big one said? He was talking about selling her," Talwyn replied with a look of pure disgust on her face. "They're bringing her to a slave auction, apparently on Ardolis. She's one of many."

"Then why don't we do something?"

"We will," Talwyn replied with a murderous grin on her face. "Can you sneak aboard that ship?"

Simon was silent for a few seconds. "I might. With a bit of effort, I can make myself invisible for a short while. The energy drain is absurd though, and the system is but a prototype, so I'll need a distraction."

"Perfect. You sneak aboard that ship, and I'll distract. Once you land on Ardolis, tell me, and I'll come in to help."

Simon nodded. "Okay then. Get Ratchet and Clank involved though. We'll need backup," he whispered as he kept his eyes locked on the cruel scene in front of them.

"Will do. Now, ready?" Talwyn whispered back. Simon nodded. In response Talwyn grabbed a grenade from her utility belt and threw it into the bushes nearby, where it sank into the swamp with a wet 'splat'. The captain instantly halted. "What was that?" the captain barked, and the pirates behind him drew their pistols just in case. The captain turned to them. "No, move the captive, ye bilge-sucking landlubbers. We've got a tight schedule. But keep an eye out, savvy?"

Talwyn turned to Simon as the grenade detonated with spectacle, sending mud flying. "That's your cue, let's go."

As you can read from the ending, we're gearing up for some action here, and I've been dying to write some fight scenes again, so hang tight for the next chapter, I don't expect it to take long.

That said, there's been one lovely review to the previous chapter in the time since it was uploaded, and as usual I'll take a moment to respond. This otherwise marks the end of the author's notes though, I've decided to change things up a bit and leave the reviews for last as to minimize scrolling for people. With that said, take care, everyone, and hang tight. Crazy as the world may be right now, at the end of the day, we're all tough as nails, and we'll make it through. Just take care and stay safe, and hopefully we'll be out of the woods soon.

BUT GODMODDED TERRITORY THAT HE WAS PREVIOUSLY AND BLATANTLY WALLOWING IN IS AWESOME!

*clears throat* At least for me anyway. I guess I'm just easy to please, especially if you know what buttons to press. I digress. Yes, you supplied something of an answer to my armor/Simon question and we'll see that in action in the future.

So you say that a villain of truly unique and earth-shattering proportions is on the way. A villain which the archives have yet to see... color me intrigued. And horrify me if you can.

Good luck Guardian,
Max out.

Awesome, perhaps, but I did realize afterwards that it left an imbalance in the spotlight. What's the point of having such a character when his strength puts him so far over the rest of the cast as to essentially render them obsolete? That's no fun. Nonetheless I think I've ironed things out quite a bit, such that there will be plenty of taking names, but with the whole cast participating, and each with their own strengths and weaknesses. That's been my philosophy going into this rewrite anyway. Here's hoping I manage to pull it off as cleanly as I aim to.

Anyhow, thanks a ton for your review; here's hoping you enjoyed this chapter just as much, and take care.