Hey all, apologies for the delay. Only four more weeks of university left before I can devote a lot more time to writing. It's rather late as I'm writing this so please forgive me for keeping my notes sparse this time. It's a lengthy chapter in any case.
Talwyn turned to Simon as the grenade detonated with spectacle, sending mud flying. "That's your cue, let's go."
"Contact!" the pirate captain could be heard barking in the distance, along with some panicked scuttling from the pirates. "Get our prize aboard and raise the sails!" the captain ordered.
Simon scrambled away and tried to engage the prototype invisibility cloak, and after flickering in and out of view a few times, he finally disappeared from sight properly.
Talwyn, meanwhile, got up and started taking potshots at the ship with her sidearm. "Polaris Defense Force; you are under arrest for the crimes of piracy and murder. Surrender now or be prepared to face harsher justice; everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law!"
Naturally a single pistol didn't do much against an armored pirate ship, but then she was trying to keep the attention on herself, and she had to take cover behind a nearby rocky outcrop as the pirates started firing back at her.
Meanwhile Simon snuck toward the boarding ramp, measuring every step as he crossed the muddy swamp ground. He was invisible, but his footsteps were not, and the mud on his shoes wasn't, either.
With the pirates busy with securing their hostage and keeping an eye on Talwyn and whatever possible backup she might have, Simon managed to sneak up on the boarding ramp, though he almost lost his footing as it started retracting rapidly. Luckily the mud clinging to the end of the ramp masked his dirty footprints as he hurried aboard, and slowly moved his way to the storage compartments in the ship's underbelly, almost colliding with pirates several times as the ship haphazardly jerked back and forth.
He followed the pirates that were dragging along the hostage Lombax. She was struggling in the tank, and the jerky motion of the ship often made water wash through the narrow strip of air that she had at her disposal. He felt so sorry for her, watching her fight for survival, but Talwyn was right: he had to bide his time and wait for the right moment.
The pirates ended up securing the tank in the cargo hold, and Simon managed to climb up on a secured stack of crates nearby. He carefully crawled over to the edge, and kept a close eye on the Lombax. She was struggling but she didn't seem to be in immediate danger.
He couldn't tell where they were; the ship's cargo hold was devoid of any windows, likely because it was armored, so he just kept his attention on the hostage.
As minutes turned into hours, he was getting increasingly uncomfortable, and the hostage was clearly getting fatigued from having to stand with her nose up all the time. There was an expression of anguish and fear on her face, and Simon felt a strong pang of sympathy in his heart. 'Surely there must be something I can do?' he asked himself.
As he lay there, trying to devise a plan, the ship made a few harsh turns, and it began to shudder a bit. Atmospheric re-entry, Simon guessed as he held on tight to the crate he was hiding on.
It was then that he realized something: the Lombax was staring right at him. He glanced over at his hand and, to his shock and frustration, noticed that it was visible. His cloak had given up.
He looked around. There were some pirates in sight, but none of them were paying attention. He carefully curled up atop the crate to keep his arms and legs clear of the edges, before he carefully and silently took off the glass visor of his armor. He made eye contact with the Lombax, trying his best to reassure her with gestures alone. He didn't know if she got the message, as she just kept staring at him.
"Alright, ye landlubbers. Our little run-in with the Defense Force slowed us down a bit so we're running late for the auction. Get our prize ready for presentation, pronto," the voice of the ship's captain echoed through the cargo hold. Simon quickly put his visor back on and waited, hoping he wouldn't get spotted before he could locate the other hostages meant to be sold at the auction.
'Please be ready, Talwyn, this is going to be a bumpy save,' he thought to himself as he watched four pirates unlock the glass tank from the floor and rolling it away. "Artin?" he whispered as soon as they were out of earshot.
"Yes, sir?" the AI replied through an earpiece.
"How much juice do I have left in this thing?"
"About twelve percent. This is going to be tight," Artin replied. Simon cursed under his breath. "Well, we'll see where we end up. You know that prototype I've been working on?"
"The Orion project?"
"Yes. Keep it ready."
"But every test we've run so far ended with-"
"I don't want to hear it. I might need it to save lives. Keep it ready."
Artin was quiet for a short while. "Yes, sir," the AI ultimately mumbled, defeated.
"Good. Now where in the world is Talwyn?"
"And I'll have the pancakes, please," Ratchet said to the Rilgarian waitress. He and Clank had landed on Kortog, as it was the nearest known civilized planet, and were now having lunch at the closest restaurant they could find. "Honestly, I've got a bad feeling," Ratchet mumbled as the duo waited for their food to arrive. "I mean, why didn't Talwyn say anything?"
"Perhaps it is an honest mistake, and we will get contacted by them soon," Clank replied. He was feeling anxious himself as well, but he decided to try and keep calm for the time being. After all, there was also no indication that Talwyn and Simon had gotten tangled up in something dangerous.
As if on cue, Ratchet's communicator beeped. He frowned and glanced over at Clank. "Well, I'll be damned," he said as he answered the call. "Tal, where the hell are you two?"
At first he only heard gunshots from the other end. "Tal?!" he barked, instantly put on edge.
"Sorry, can't talk, must fly. I've sent my coordinates to Aphelion, group up post-haste," Talwyn replied before she suddenly yelled an expletive. "Too close," she grumbled afterwards. "Anyhow, long story short, Simon and I uncovered a pirate-powered slave trade operation. Get here immediately, things are about to get messy. Talwyn out."
"Wait!" Ratchet called out but it was too late, the signal was gone. He got up. "Come on, we gotta hurry."
"But we haven't paid for our drinks!" Clank quickly protested as he hopped onto Ratchet's back. Ratchet quickly dumped a fistful of bolts onto his table before booking it for the door. He rushed past the confused looking Rilgarian on the way out. "Sorry, emergency! Left money on the table!" he yelled over his shoulder in passing. He rushed through the streets, as fast toward Aphelion as he could manage. "Out of the way, out of the way, move!" he yelled at any pedestrian that dared tread close to his path. Upon reaching the Lombax ship, she hardly had time to open the cockpit window before he jumped in, tossing Clank into the passenger seat and taking off immediately before the window was properly closed and before he had fastened his safety harness.
"Whoa, whoa, what's gotten into you?" Aphelion asked with concern. She had never see him fly this reckless. Clank quickly reached over to secure his friend's harness. "It has come to our attention that our friends have gotten into quite the predicament," Clank attempted to explain.
"Aphelion, you know that experimental weapons pack I installed a few months back?" Ratchet growled as he forced the ship into a warp.
"Positive. Should I ready it?"
"Gladly. I'm expecting quite a bit of resistance, and I don't intend to leave more than scraps."
It wasn't long before Aphelion shot out of the wormhole, nose-first into an active warzone. Several pirate frigates were homing in on and attempting to take down a single ship. Talwyn's.
Ratchet's gaze hardened and he tightened his grip on the steer. "Ratchet, what is it that you intend to do?" Clank asked cautiously.
"Simple," Ratchet replied as he made a beeline for the flank of the nearest ship. "Through and through."
He opened fire on the ship, the Zoni-augmented weapons effortlessly chewing through the hull. Ratchet punched a large enough hole in the ship to fly right through with a bit of precise steering, the ship erupting into flames behind him.
Ratchet floored the gas and made a harsh turn for another nearby ship and repeat the maneuver. By this point, more backup had arrived on the part of the pirates.
"Incoming call from miss Apogee," Aphelion said. She didn't wait for Ratchet's response to accept.
"Glad to see you boys are here. Bring out the big guns because they intend to do the same," Talwyn said as she used the fact that her ship was more nimble than its competitors to avoid direct attacks. She flew her ship narrowly along the hull of a frigate, narrowly avoiding the exposed cannons. The heat-seeking missiles tracing her however weren't capable of such tight arches, and the cannons exploded behind her.
"Clank, can you man the topside cannon?" Ratchet asked. "I need someone to cover my rear."
"You do know that we're surrounded?" Clank asked as he climbed toward the retracted turret.
"Yeah, that's why we need to shoot in all directions," Ratchet replied. Clank sighed at the absurdity of their predicament as he strapped himself in tight and took control of the turret. He quickly started mentally tracing the paths of some smaller ships that were on their tail and, factoring in the speed of his cannon rounds, managed to score quite a bit of direct hits. Meanwhile Ratchet took the fight to the engines of the frigates, unleashing hell on the exposed thrusters.
Talwyn flew past, using a volley of missiles to destroy if not deter the spacecrafts tailing Aphelion, and got some bogeys of her own as well, which Clank quickly destroyed.
"How much more of them are there?" Ratchet asked.
"Doesn't matter. What matters is we keep 'em busy," Talwyn replied. "We'll leave it to Simon to deal with the stragglers down there."
Simon carefully tailed the pirates dragging the Lombax' containment cell. He managed to make it out of the ship without getting seen and tried hiding behind a stack of crates to get his bearings, keeping a sharp eye on the Lombax, who seemed to be looking around frantically. He felt sorry for her.
Dark clouds circled overhead in Ardolis' typically turbulent and rainy atmosphere, and the pirate town was cloaked in a light drizzle, though a single look at the grim and gray clouds would convince anyone that a more serious rainstorm was forming, and Simon could swear he saw a few small flashes of lightning dash across the bleak backdrop.
Meanwhile the wind was picking up, dancing irregularly between a soft breeze and strong gusts. The signs outside of shops and the tarp covered scaffolding here and there - built to provide temporary shelter from the relentless downpour – was shuddering in the wind, while the ocean, whipped up into a frenzy by the wind's powerful shoves, battered against the wooden support pylons of the pier and crashed with spectacular ferocity into the rocky cliffs surrounding the small town. On occasion the ocean gained enough strength to lash out and wash over the pier slightly, and so it was little wonder that most life seemed to be drawn to the town's center rather than its outskirts.
"Oi!"
Simon froze, instantly snapped out of his train of thought. He had been spotted. He looked to the source of the voice, and saw a group of three pirates staring at him. "You fancy buying that lady, mate?" one of the pirates asked. "You're here for the auction, yeah?"
Simon quickly improvised, getting up and straightening his back to look confident. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Is there any way I could get a gander at the merchandise before it goes on sale? I'd like to know what to bid for."
One of the pirates shook his head. "Nah. Protocols, you know. Nobody gets to see the merch beforehand. But you'll have a free gander at it all, we show all merch before the auction starts."
"How many are on offer?" Simon asked.
"Twelve," another pirate replied. "One Cazar man and two Markazian men, they make for good laborers. Nice and strong. Then there's three Markazian women and five Cazar women, they make for good company if you know what I mean. But the star of the auction is a Lombax woman. Word is she has some kind of oddity, too. Collector's stuff mostly, but if ye want to brag, then that's the one ye wanna go for."
"I see. And where would I go for the auction? I'm new to these waters, you see," Simon replied.
"Aye, that'd be over yonder. There's a stage built for it, can't miss it. The auction starts in ten minutes, so ye better hurry."
"That's good to know. Much obliged," he said before turning and walking off in the direction of where he assumed the auction would be. Luckily he blended right in, everyone in the crowd was either a pirate or masked, save for a small collection of outliers who were all heavily adorned in jewelry and gold, indicating their powerful status. Simon felt sick to be among such people as he hurried to the stage, and started scouting around a bit.
The stage was moderate in size, with a curtain in the back providing entry onto the stage itself. A holographical barrier separated the stage itself from the crowd. The building it was attached to seemed like a repurposed bar, and Simon couldn't see any entrances, at least not any that weren't heavily guarded. He found a secluded area off to the side and contacted Talwyn.
"Talwyn, I'm here," he said, choosing his words carefully in case he might be overheard. "Are you good to go?"
"We're having trouble here," she replied as she narrowly steered her ship along the underbelly of a Pirate battleship, the volley of missiles sent after her overshooting and colliding with the pirate vessel instead. "You think you can look after yourself down there?"
Simon sighed. "Perhaps, but get here as soon as you can."
He fought the urge to sigh as he pondered on a plan of attack. "Five minutes!" a pirate yelled in the distance over the cheering of a crowd. Deciding that he'd have to start fighting any moment anyway, he chose to get risky.
"Artin, charge Orion and send it."
"I don't like this, but I will do that, sir. It's been charged to capacity already, ETA six minutes," the AI replied.
"Great. Any strategies, too?"
"Not great ones. If anything I would suggest doing this fast and furious. Secure the hostages as quickly as possible and set up a defensive perimeter until reinforcements arrive."
"Gotcha. Here goes nothing," Simon said before he started walking toward the pirates standing guard in front of the nearest entrance.
"Oi! Restricted access, lad!" one of the pirates bellowed at him.
In response Simon lunged at him, his suit augmenting his strength as he punched the pirate straight through the door. The other tried to restrain him by grabbing Simon's wrists, to which he reacted by jerking his hands up with enough force to send the pirate flying.
"No cle'er moves, landlubber!" he heard from inside, and he turned to see a group of pirates glaring back at him, having their guns drawn and pointed at the hostages. In the back, he spotted the Lombax. Though fearful she almost seemed relieved. Four pirates had her surrounded, their guns pointed at the glass.
"Charge?" he asked Artin.
"Six percent," the AI replied.
'Perfect. Just enough for one last trick,' Simon thought. Spending every last bit of energy he brought time down to a grind. He only had eight seconds for this. He rushed forward and grabbed the guns out of the pirates' hands, pointing them at their faces instead and pulling the triggers. He freed the Markazians and the Cazars first, but as he was about to get to the Lombax…
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"No!" he called out as he watched, as if in slow-motion, as four bullets punched through the glass. The water slowed them down quite a bit, but that didn't stop them from digging into the Lombax's neck. She let out a pained gurgle and went limp in the water, which was now starting to turn red.
"You'll pay for this!" he yelled at the pirates as they pointed their guns at him. "You first!" one of them yelled back.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pirates collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Simon glanced over his shoulder to see that some of the freed hostages had scrambled to grab a weapon and had rushed to his aid. "Thanks," Simon said, a little overwhelmed. One of the Cazar men nodded. "So now what?" he asked Simon.
"Well, they're going to come down on us any moment. Make a barricade out of whatever you can find and watch the doors. We'll fight our way out," he replied as he started climbing out of his suit.
"Why are you taking that off?" one of the Markazians asked.
"It's out of power," he replied. "So now it only slows me down. The fabric isn't really thick; the shields are meant to stop bullets, not the suit itself. But I've got help coming in."
"The army?" one of the Cazars asked. As if on cue, a small metal capsule came crashing through the roof. There was a brief bit of panic before everyone realized that it wasn't in fact a bomb.
"No, this," Simon said as he opened it up and retrieved an item from it.
It was a simple scimitar-like weapon, with a thick, rapier-stile handguard made of a white metal, and just above the grip was a circular power core with a hole at its center. Simon reached into the suit's chest piece and removed its spherical core before inserting it into the blade's socket, and it sprung to life with a soft hum.
"A… sword?" one of the Markazians asked in confusion.
"Yep, but it's the only one I need," Simon managed to reply before the other three doors were suddenly blasted down. Simon cast one glance at the Lombax, drifting motionlessly in the tank as water spouted from the bullet holes in the glass. He'd failed her. He turned to the pirates rushing in, and he experienced an emotion he hadn't felt in a while. It was burning yet invigorating.
"Artin?" he mumbled through his earpiece. "Protokolo Keres. Min afisis kanenan apo autous zwntanous." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he prepared himself.
"Understood," the AI replied, and the sword began to hum louder as Artin reluctantly removed the safety limiters. Meanwhile the pirates flooded into the room, blasters humming as they got ready to fire. The hostages huddled together in panic as a barrage of plasma descended on them.
However, as the bullets came closer, they seemed to slow down until they all stopped, like raindrops frozen in time. "Thank you, come again," he said as the plasma began to reverse, shredding the pirates. Simon turned to the hostages. "Find a ship and get out of here. I'll hold them off. Don't look back."
He didn't wait for an answer as he rushed outside. "Well, let's see what this shard can truly do," he mumbled to himself as he cleaved through the few plasma rounds sent his way. A small army of pirates was waiting for him, including some larger ones with a cannon for an arm.
Simon readied his weapon. "Which one of you scumbags would like to be first?!" he yelled at them as thunder rumbled overhead and the gentle downpour slowly turned into a true storm.
"Hard left!" Ratchet yelled as he forced Aphelion into a sharp bank, Talwyn flying right past as a volley of missiles zipped past them. "How many ships do these guys have?"
"I don't know, and we need to get down there. How about we run for it?" Talwyn wondered out loud.
"Nah, those missiles will shred us if we… wait a minute…" Ratchet mumbled as a lightbulb turned on in his head. "Tal, do you trust me?"
"I presume you're about to do something stupid?" She replied, a bit on edge.
"Very stupid but it just might work," he replied.
Talwyn sighed. "If we die, I'll kill you."
"Deal," Ratchet replied. He forced Aphelion into another sharp turn, flying away from the battlefield tangential to the planet's surface. The large pirate warships turned to pursue, and another volley of missiles was sent after him, most of which Clank and Talwyn shot out of the sky. The few remaining projectiles were effortlessly dodged by Aphelion, who shredded them with cannon fire once they passed her by. Ratchet suddenly turned away from the planet, into a long, shallow turn, until he was flying right at the ships. He had put them between himself and the planet, length-wise.
"Tal, follow right after. Clank, get back in," he commanded as he opened fire on the ship's hull.
"Ratchet, bogeys," Talwyn warned as another cluster of missiles homed in from behind. Ratchet grinned. "Perfect. Aphie?"
"I was wondering when you'd ask," Aphelion replied, performing an aileron roll and dodging the missiles sent her way, which flew past and struck the larger ship's hull. Ratchet quickly followed up with as much cannon fire as he could manage. Aphelion's lasers cut through the weakened hull like a hot knife through butter, and Ratchet flew right through the hole, into the ship. "Shields!" he yelled just in time, and Aphelion generated a defensive barrier before they smashed right through the other side of the ship. Talwyn flew through right after, barely managing to avoid colliding with the steel hull of the pirate ship.
"Ratchet, that's genius!" she said upon realizing what he had done. He had placed a now defunct pirate warship in-between themselves and their pursuers, and so the pirates would have to travel around if they wanted to give chase. The two nimble starfighters would be long out of range by then, shielded from missile fire by Ardolis' turbulent atmosphere. Meanwhile Ratchet was grinning like a loon at Talwyn's compliment. "Ah, you know me," he bashfully replied.
Clank grinned. "Stunderwear," the bot mumbled, and Talwyn burst out laughing. "Well, yeah, that's a thing. I revise my previous comment, you're a temporary genius."
"Har har," Ratchet dryly remarked. "How about you give us a heading?"
"Sure thing, I got Simon's coordinates, follow me," Talwyn replied as she flew ahead, Aphelion locking on to her and automatically giving chase.
It wasn't long until they caught sight of the small pirate town, and Ratchet's mouth fell open. "Holy shit," was all he could stammer at the sight before them.
"Aye, I'll test ye mettle," a voice in the back said. A large pirate came scuttling forth, his right arm a massive cannon. He was grinning, not expecting much of the measly human with a sword. Simon's lips curled into a sly grin. Perfect.
The large pirate fired a large, explosive cannonball from his right arm, one that soared right at Simon. It crashed into the wooden deck where the human stood, and with a loud crash, sank right through. There was no trace left of Simon.
For a few seconds the pirates stared in disbelief, and then they started laughing. "So he was an idiot after all," the large pirate guffawed before he suddenly froze, feeling a sudden weight on his shoulder. He hardly had time to look over before, with a single flash of steel, his robotic head was severed clean from the rest of his massive form, which collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. "So, now that you've all had your last laugh, who is next in line?" Simon asked as he stepped down from the pirate's remains, dismissively tossing the head aside.
Some pirates shouted expressions of disbelief, to which Simon raised an eyebrow. Others, who weren't as easily taken aback, quickly reached for their pistols and opened fire.
Simon didn't even move as pristine copies of his blade suddenly popped in and out of existence around him, one to block each bullet. Meanwhile the sword in his hand vanished. "The universe becomes a lot… simpler, if you can borrow something from the future," Simon mumbled as he began to walk. He still wasn't sure how he was going to do this. Then, he felt that strange emotion again. He turned around and glanced at the Lombax, drifting lifelessly in the water, and he felt the emotion intensify. He closed his eyes, his hands curling into fists, and an angry growl escaped his throat. Suddenly, his posture changed, and when he re-opened his eyes, they were white and glowing. Sparks of raw energy danced across the sclera as his weapon re-emerged in his hands.
"You all sail the seas of this planet, and yet you don't know them well. Allow me to acquaint you," he mumbled as he began to spin his blade overhead. The water around the island began to move, slowly spinning faster and faster as if following the movement of the blade, and soon it rose up.
A loud rumble echoed through the sky as the clouds began to twist and turn as well, faster and faster, and bolts of lightning surged through, lighting up the gloomy atmosphere with bright flashes.
Meanwhile the two ships came flying in, and Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn watched in amazement as nature herself started running amok. Meanwhile Simon tightened his grip on his sword and started going at it, slashing through foe after foe like a man possessed.
His movements were rapid yet gracious, moving in fast, wide arcs as he cleaved his way through the crowd of gunmen.
He heard a shot, and the crowd watched in shock has he turned around faster than sound and slashed the bullet clean in half.
"Well, let's not linger. Aphelion, we'll provide air support. You two get down there, okay?" Talwyn suggested.
"Sounds good," Ratchet replied. "But stay close by, that brawl seems pretty volatile."
"Perhaps I may offer another idea?" Artin suddenly said through the comms.
"O-Oh, sure?" Ratchet replied, a little taken aback.
"Master Simon requested a prototype weapon to aid in combat. I could not resist adding one for you as well. I have sent the coordinates of the drop pod to Aphelion, she can drop you off right above it. It should be a right-handed glove."
Clank's eyes lit up. "Is it stable?"
"Perhaps, but even then, it isn't dangerous. It will work, or it won't," Artin replied. "Now go, master Simon can't keep this up for long."
"Then we better hurry. Ready, Aphelion?"
"As I will ever be. I will support you from above. Stay safe," Aphelion replied before turning and diving straight into the fray. She passed right over the auction house when she activated the ejector seats. Ratchet grabbed Clank and secured him to his back, and the duo safely descended through the hole in the roof. "Alright, so what are we looking f-" Ratchet started as he landed and looked around, only to notice the Lombax floating lifelessly in the tank. His jaw dropped. "Oh…" was all he could produce. Clank jumped down from his friend's back and ran to the crashed drop pod, retrieving a metallic glove. It was covered in plating of a galvanized cobalt alloy with an inner layering of trillium, giving it a faded blue color. The cyan green core of the Fulcrum Star laid secured in a reactor mounted to the back of the hand. Clank picked it up and tapped his friend's leg. "Ratchet, we must keep moving," the small robot said, disheartened. He knew what his friend was going through, but there were bigger issues.
Ratchet absentmindedly took the glove from his friend before walking up to the glass. He stared at the woman floating in the tank before he closed his eyes. Tears streamed down his face as he let his forehead rest against the glass, the water spouting from the bullet hole washing over him. He sobbed silently. He had come so close to meeting another Lombax, and yet, so far. His loneliness as the only known Lombax was crushing him in that moment.
Clank walked up to his friend and laid a hand on Ratchet's leg. "We will avenge her," she small robot said adamantly.
"You're right," Ratchet growled as he looked down at his friend. He finally put on the glove, and it came alive with a soft hum. "Well, that seems alright. Now what?" he replied bitterly. His shock and grief was making way for rage.
"Just grab a weapon and it should be augmented automatically," Clank replied as he hopped onto his friend's back again. "As for how it will be augmented, I do not know."
"Well, let's see what this thing's got," Ratchet grumbled as he walked outside. He went through his quick-select, and ultimately settled on the Warmonger. The familiar large, green rocket launcher formed in his hands, and instantly it changed. The green coating was replaced with marine blue, and the rockets grew more sleek, with glowing tips. Ratchet grinned from ear to ear before firing a missile into the crowd. None of the pirates had noticed him, all of their attention drawn to the turbulent ocean or to the human dashing effortlessly through their offensive.
The missile arched upwards initially before nose-diving into the crowd and detonating with a spectacular blast of plasma. "Wicked," Ratchet remarked. He swapped out the Warmonger for a Pyroblaster, secretly feeling giddy like a kid at Christmas. The Pryoblaster instantly gained a different color palette as well, with the flames now burning bright blue and orders of magnitude hotter than before. By this point he had been spotted and a volley of bullets would soon descend upon him. Ratchet squeezed the trigger and unleashed a gout of fire of such extreme heat that the bullets evaporated mid-flight.
Ratchet swapped out the Pyroblaster for a Mr. Zurkon, which instantly grew larger and more heavily plated, and gained two gatling turrets for arms. Instantly the drone flew off and opened fire, mowing down pirates left and right with terrifying ease.
Meanwhile Simon was making the water around the rocky island spin faster and faster, the water beating mercilessly into the support pylons. The harbor began to creak and shudder, and soon it broke apart entirely in the violent torrent.
Simon looked over his shoulder as he heard Ratchet's Warmonger-missile explode, and he saw some pirates attempt to flank him. He wordlessly pointed his blade at them, and a blast of water came rushing out of the ocean under such intense pressure that it drilled right through them.
Meanwhile Ratchet brought out the Alpha Cannon, which turned purple in his hands. He pulled the trigger, and the weapon groaned and shuddered as it rapidly charged itself with energy. He let go of the trigger, and a blast of raw power was unleashed from the weapon's barrel, crackling through the air as it vaporized everything in its path.
"We have company!" Talwyn warned over the comms as the nose of a pirate warship came descending through the clouds, followed by five more.
"Then let's have them fight Ardolis first," Simon replied to their surprise. His voice sounded a lot more coarse and strained.
Simon raised his blade and the water spouted upwards, forming a barrier around the small town, while the wind picked up drastically. Faster and faster the clouds spun, and suddenly, with a truly epic crash of thunder, a massive bolt of lightning descended from the sky, directly striking a pirate warship with enough energy to send it falling right out of the sky.
"What in the shit was that?" Ratchet cried out as he fought his way over to Simon. He shrieked when he saw the human.
Simon turned to him, his sword flying from his hands and engaging the fleeting pirate horde on its own. His face was covered in wrinkles and his hair, once a deep chestnut brown – almost black – was now bleakly grey and fading from his scalp. His chin, once cleanly shaven, now sported a long and messy beard. His eyes, once deep brown, were now fading to gray, and his skin was covered with liver spots.
"Can you feel it?" he called out to the Lombax as he came stumbling over. "The clouds, the water! Billions upon trillions of particles of water, all moving, and twisting; turning and churning as the forces of nature whip them into a frenzy, and from their frantic and erratic dance of the elements, a new kind of power is birthed."
Another massive bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking another pirate warship, this time hitting the ship's munitions vault and causing the ship to blast into pieces before it vanished beneath the raging waves.
"Ratchet, the weather has gone crazy here, we can't stay!" Talwyn yelled over the coms as she and Aphelion raced out of there. "You're on your own in there, please be careful!"
Meanwhile Clank had his emerald gaze fixated on the clouds above. "Curious… it is as if all particles of water in the area are being controlled by some external, centripetal force. What exactly, I cannot say."
Ratchet didn't have time to ponder on the meaning of those words as he kept gunning down pirate after pirate, trying his best to create some space. All of this was greatly overwhelming him and all he could do was pant and shoot.
"It's my desire, small bot," Simon mumbled as he reached out, his blade emerging from thin air in his hand. A column of water shot out of the giant twisting tidal wave that surrounded the town, sweeping Simon of the ground. He rode it like a surfer, dashing through the cloud, his blade a tidal wave of doom, while Ratchet pulled out gun after gun, blindly firing enhanced tools of destruction into the crowd of drunken, angry robot sailors.
"The water," Simon mumbled over the comms, as if in a trance. "Always twisting, always turning, always in motion, 'til the end of days."
"Pardon me but what the fuck?" Talwyn replied in utter confusion.
"Don't question it, Tal," Ratchet replied. "We're almost done here I think… I hope, because I'm running out of ammo."
"Gravity and momentum are weapons," Simon suddenly cut in. The wall of water around the town suddenly came undone, rushing downward and into the battlefield like a raging tsunami. Ratchet yelled and rushed back into the auction house, which was the building nearest to him. To his amazement the waves bent around the building. He stared in shock as a wall of water rushed past right outside, completely decimating everything outside. When the water finally passed, the town outside had been utterly ruined beyond recognition. The rain mercilessly beat down on what little remained, and Ratchet could hear the faint rumble of thunder.
In the distance, Ratchet could see Talwyn and Aphelion take on the last two pirate warships while a third was crashing into the ocean in the distance, but his main concern was Simon. The human came stumbling in through the door, looking even older than he'd done before. He was using his sword as a cane, unable to walk without support, and he stumbled to the ground a few feet in.
"R-Right then," Ratchet said as he rushed over to help the man to his feet. To his amazement Simon looked like a skeleton with skin. Most of his teeth had vanished, and he had the eyes of a blind man; milky and white and staring. His face was hardly more than a skull with a layer of weathered leather on top. By all accounts the man looked like he was well past the hundred and could qualify for the title of 'zombie'.
"Clank, can you check on that Lombax?" he asked, nodding toward the woman who was laying motionlessly in the now empty tank. Clank got off his friend's back and somberly approached her still form. He knew why his friend had asked it but he also knew the answer already before his scanners confirmed it. "I am sorry, Ratchet. There are no signs of life. By all accounts… she has passed," the robot replied sympathetically.
Ratchet's ears lowered. "I knew it," he mumbled before shaking his head. "Aphelion, can you-"
"Collect yer skinned corpses? Aye," a voice suddenly said behind Ratchet, and he tensed up as he felt the cold steel of a gunbarrel being pressed against his skull. Beside him, Simon was forcefully kicked to the ground, and Ratchet could hear a sickening crunch come from the man's shoulder as he collided with the ground.
Clank turned around, and his optics widened. It was the captain that Talwyn and Simon had seen earlier, weathered and damaged but still alive. "You took me island, you took me men, you took me profit, you took me prize, you took me everythin'. I swear on the sea, I'll coat this island with the inside of yer heads and hang yer fur on me wall as a trophy. From this day forward my one and only purpose will be to exterminate Lombaxes, and whatever that shriveling mass of bones down there ought to be. I hope yer last thoughts were pleasant, Lombax," the pirate spat with genuine hatred in his voice. Ratchet closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry, Tal," he mumbled.
Bang!
Sadly I'll keep these notes brief as well due to time constraints. It's a little past midnight actually as of writing this, but since this only holds for my neck of the woods, I decided to soldier on regardless and push this chapter out now. Nonetheless I'll take some time to personally thank the people that decided to review my work since the last chapter was published, it is truly immensely appreciated.
Max Chronicle:
"You durn right I enjoyed this chapter - I'll enjoy the next chapter MORE because... you know... taking names and all that jazz. I'm glad you ironed out the kinks in the power balance between the characters and I look forward to how that'll play out with each new installment!
Now... ALCYONE IS HERE! *whips out rocket launchers for days and fires them* WOOOOOO!
But I like that Talwyn is thinking ahead of Simon and already sees how she and Simon are going to crash a party and capture several predator birds with one stone. Like I said above, I'm going to have fun with the next chapter *evil laughter*
I only hope you have fun writing the durn thing. Take it from me - writing can be a pain sometimes.
Good luck Guardian! Until next time,
Max out."
Well, there was that fight scene that I promised, I hope it was what you were hoping for. :) It's been a while since I've written some action and I hope I haven't gotten too rusty. But if you'll excuse me, I presume those rocket launchers will soon be aimed in my general direction for that twist in the chapter regarding Alcyone. Before I run, I should mention that I've indeed decided to balance out that part of the story as well. Simon is still a genius but only in his own areas of expertise. Leave it to a seasoned fighter like Talwyn to figure out a good strategy, and leave it to a trained academic like Simon to build the tools to make it happen. It was definitely fun to write though! Thanks again for reviewing, now let's see how fast I can run, shall we?
RivettheLombax:
"I'm a little late in leaving a review, so sorry for that in advance-
In any case, I'm loving this rewrite of your story so far! I did enjoy the original, from what little I can remember from when I had read it, but this version is much better imo. Both in terms of execution and writing style. And your characterization if the characters here is spot-on!
Consider me hooked! I'm very much looking forward to the next chapter.
Ciao ciao all!"
Don't worry about being 'late' with reviewing, after all, I'm... *checks notes* three years late with rewriting it, haha. I'm very glad to hear that you're enjoying the rewrite, and especially that you prefer it over the original, since that means that my time and effort is paying off. :)
Admittedly, in hindsight, I should've started working on this rewrite a lot sooner. That rush of seeing a new review pop up never gets old. I still remember when I first started writing. The sheer adrenaline rush from each review is something I look back on fondly, and to my pleasant surprise, it's a feeling that has aged like the finest wine. To say that reviews brighten my day would be an understatement, so I am immensely thankful that you took the time out of your day to write your support. I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much, and take care!
I hope to be able to start working on the next chapter soon, but there's first some way overdue beta reading work for me to tend to. Plus, the next four weeks are going to be busy at uni, with one last, major project to finish off the year. Nonetheless I hope I'll manage to publish the next chapter at some point within these next few weeks, but it shouldn't take much longer than that.
With that said: thank you so much for reading, and take care!