Author's note:

Back once again with a new chapter, and you'll probably notice that the formatting this time around is a bit different compared to previous chapters. This is primarily due to feedback from Flowerstar, and my own realisation that viewing the chapter on phones or tablets, rather than on a computer as it was originally tailored for, results in walls of text that make picking out dialogue difficult. As a result, I've spaced out any spoken dialogue and cut paragraphs down in such a way that it should hopefully make things a lot easier to read, along with the prior chapters once I get around to re-editing and reposting.

Incidentally, Flowerstar has asked to be my beta for this story to which I have agreed, starting from this chapter on for as long as she is able. Hopefully this will result in a lot less spelling mistakes and grammatical errors from here out, along with me having to keep going back over my work to fix stuff with any luck.

Once again I have new fan art, thanks to Nekolover3; who has drawn a piece to go with a certain scene from chapter 15 of Time Heals All. Check out her Deviant Art account and look for (/art/Whoa-Time-Heals-All-540294179), along with the rest of her gallery. If there is any more out there that you may know of, please provide a link so I can add it to the next chapter. Thank you all, and hope you enjoy this instalment.

Review replies:

Destiny - Thank you, I hope this one lives up to your expectations as well.

The White Guardian - Aw, thanks. I honestly just wanted to get that bit out of the way considering how frustrating it was becoming to write, but I'm glad to hear my very abridged version went over well with you. I have to agree with you, the swamp monster should have gotten more screen time the first time round for a proper boss battle rather than being just being hidden away as a secret for the second round; hence why I decided to crank things up a notch for ratchet and Ellen's encounter with the beast.

My thoughts exactly; as entertaining as it is to play, the idea of gladiatorial combat being socially acceptable in such an advanced society as the R&C universe would be more than a little disturbing if it were reality. Those stats though… I just…wow. I never really realised just how much attention this story has been getting. Guess I'll have to make sure I keep putting out the best chapter I can with each update if I want to live up to people's expectations. No pressure. Hope you like the new chapter, and thanks again!

Kairi671 - Glad you like it, hopefully this chapter will be up to par as well.

GoldenLombaxGirl - I honestly don't know yet, I kind of want to see the movie first since that's what the game will be based upon from what I understand, and then go from there. If it's different or interesting enough from the original game then I might consider it in the future once this series is done; but if it's just re-treading old ground then I'd give it a miss since I would just be rehashing what I've already done.

Flowerstar - Hello again, and don't worry about not reviewing the previous chapter; university should always take top priority, and I'm glad to hear your work load has simmered down for a little while. Thank you for becoming my beta reader and getting back to me so swiftly with this chapter, I didn't even realise just how many niggling little punctuation errors I'd made, let alone some stupidly obvious mistakes.

On that note however, can you please highlight any changes you've made on any future beta read chapters before you send them back? DocX format documents apparently can't be used as a story chapter; meaning that I had to go through your revised version with a fine toothcomb in order to correct the mistakes on the original document before uploading. As you can imagine, this is a painstaking process that eats up what little time I have for writing per evening, and with some of the chapters I have drafted approaching 10,000 words in places, I'll end up spending more time replicating your corrections than getting on with the next chapter in sequence. Whatever you could do in regard to this would be greatly appreciated.

As you know from beat reading it, I've taken your advice to heart and reformatted this chapter from what it originally was, spacing out the dialogue and making it easier to read in general. Curiously enough, none of the novels I've been skimming through recently for reference as to formatting this story use spacing whatsoever; preferring to use indentation instead, and in one example no quotation marks for speech at all. Publisher's choice, I guess.

I did see that Kickstarter is still accepting for Yooka-Laylee, though it almost seems redundant now Playtonic have reached their target of two million pounds. Still, great to see they've got the necessary funding to finally make this game happen; and to get your name on the credits of such a production must be an exciting prospect as well.

Tips on how to start a story or chapter, hmm? I think it depends in part upon what kind of story it is and the kind of emotions you wish to invoke. A classic technique is to start the first chapter with events in motion and the main character already embroiled in whatever's going on. For example:

She was running.

Short breaths came out unnaturally loud in the dank alleyway, heart leaping into her throat as she skimmed past the brickwork and around another corner with her pursuer close behind. Lisa could taste the creature's stench with each ragged breath, feel the hair pricking on the back of her neck induced by its gravel-laced snarls. Her legs burned with exhaustion, yet still she pushed on; ducking past a wheelie bin and hearing the beast smash it aside a scant heartbeat later as it closed the gap once again. There was no time for reasoning or coherent thought, nothing but pure survival. Because the beast was coming, and it would not rest until taken its prey.

A little dark I admit for a quick passage off the top of my head, but it serves its purpose. The key here is the first three word sentence; simple, but effective in conveying the urgency of the situation and grabbing the reader's attention. From there on, the rest of passage builds upon this premise by using rapid fire sentences that keep up the notion of being chased, while slipping in snippets of descriptions that allow the reader to try and piece things together as they come along and draw their own conclusions.

The same set up can be used for multiple situations, and I find it a useful device to let stories grow from a single plot thread or sentence. Another way is the archetypal 'setting the scene'; quite literally describing an environment or setting, but in a flowing manner that builds up a mental picture of the setting before moving on to focus on a character or event. I know it's not a massive amount, but hopefully this'll give you some ideas on how to kick off a story and banish writer's block.

As for the E3 coverage, Fallout 4 all the way. I've been looking forward to a proper sequel for a long time, and New Vegas really doesn't count in my book. I can still remember first stepping foot outside of Vault 101 in Fallout 3 after a few hours spent in confined corridors, only to emerge into a broken yet hauntingly beautiful open landscape that stretched over the horizon and realise that yes, I actually could explore all that. Having what looks to be a gripping storyline in the making, a player character who can actually talk now, and the ability to build a settlement in game makes this my most anticipated game of the year so far.

Oh, and yes, my update is still every second Sunday for the foreseeable future unless anything untoward crops up in the meantime. Until then, take care and hope you like the new chapter.

vengarl22 - Why thank you, I'm glad you approve of how the story is going so far and thank you for the timely reminder about the weapon upgrades. I almost forgot all about them, but at least now I can go back over my drafts of the next few chapters to make sure I don't miss anything out. Seriously, thanks.

Guest - I can't really see them settling down for a long time yet, let alone considering children considering their insanely dangerous line of work. Heck, I'm not sure they'd even be able to with their differing biology, though I suppose the advanced science of the R&C universe could probably solve that given enough time. It would be a nice scene to see them happily married with kids, but don't think that'll be until a lot later down the line if at all I'm afraid. Sorry to disappoint you.

nekolover3 - Hey yourself! I think that'll be the only common ground those two will have to be honest, what with Nefarious' whole 'eliminate all organic life' spiel he has going on in Up Your Arsenal. That said, their mutual loathing of Qwark would definitely lead to some…interesting conversations, especially during the events of All 4 One should I decide to carry on this series into the Future saga.

Guest (2) - That's a very good question. According to my original planning notes, Ellen was born on April 7th 1995; making her 17 years old during the events of Time Heals All and subsequently 18 years old in Whole Again, which is based a year later. I estimate Ratchet to be a similar age to her for the sake of this story, based primarily upon his 'growing up' from the first game to Going Commando, and the release timeline for each game which spans over a decade. With this reasoning, by the time the events of Beyond the Nexus comes around, they'll both be around 26-27 years old. Hope that helps.

Sonachugirl - Ah don't worry, you're not that late. Besides, I appreciate any and all reviews regardless of when their received. I'm happy you like the way the chapter turned out, and the swamp monster battle in particular. I'd like to think they took the sensible option when faced with a giant, angry, green tentacle thing while underpowered and just plain got the hell out of there rather than try to face it down. Hope you like the new chapter.

BulletWitch1985 - Sounds like your neighbour is just asking for trouble in the same vein as poking a crocodile with a finger; something I had the misfortune to witness once by someone who thought one in an open top enclosure was a fake. It bloody well wasn't, and almost resulted in severed digits only by sheer dumb luck on said person's part. Kind of funny looking back on it, but it scared the living crap out of me at the time.

You know, if you asked nicely I'm sure Regina would let you have access to her anime/manga room, or at least borrow some stuff for a while. But in case that doesn't work, try going on ; they have a ridiculously huge library of both dubbed and subbed anime, including Cowboy Bebop, along more westernised cartoons and animated movies.

I've got something special in store for when Ratchet and Ellen reach Maktar resort, and with the way I'm writing the arena battle and Chain-Blade, I hope you won't be disappointed. I have to admit, the Oozla swamp made me a bit twitchy the first time around myself; what with mutant wildlife literally jumping out at you from everywhere and the mysteriously disappearing Megacorp workers. Definitely felt a lot worse to write than to play though. In any case, great to hear from you again and hope you enjoy the new chapter. Take care.

Zenith88 - Hi again, and thank you. Hope you like this chapter as well.

ShaneKor - Funny you should say that, I've had a few issues with alerts not working before myself. In any case, I'm glad you liked the chapter and with any luck this one will live up to your expectations too.

I'm always trying to improve as a writer, so please read and review. Constructive criticism is welcome, flamers are not.

If you enjoy this story, please feel free to check out the other stories on my account should you wish.

With out further ado, let's get on with Chapter 5.

- RevenantReaper337

Disclaimer:

Ratchet & Clank, associated characters, organisations, and intellectual properties belong to Insomniac Games. All other real world organisations and products belong to their respective governments, companies, etc. Original characters, creatures, weapons, etc. belong to me. Cover art belongs to Nekolover3 and is used with her kind permission. Beta read by Flowerstar.

'Thoughts'

Flashbacks

"Speech"

Chapter 5:

Three to Tango

Asteroid Belt GX-2339A, Wupash Nebula

Bogon Galaxy

G2.17.081 Galactic calendar

11:41pm GST

Occupying the shortest route between Oozla and Megacorp's new combined deep space casino and resort was a cluster of loosely-orbiting satellite debris held in the gravitational pull of a fiery-orange gas giant; the so called Wupash Nebula. Asteroids varying from car-sized boulders to slabs that could dwarf a passenger liner vied for position with chunks of condensed ice; all of which more often than not collided with each other and spawned more finer debris as a result, thus making navigation that more difficult. Thankfully, the Star Explorer series of combat vessels had an intricate network of sensors integrated into the hull for just such an occasion; meaning that the ship's computers were more than capable of making the minute course corrections necessary to avoid even the smallest space rock capable of causing damage.

It was for this very reason that, having previously set course for the eponymous Maktar Resort, Ellen had been content to let the autopilot maintain her ship's position on Ratchet's wing while she did a little Holonet research into their potential soon-to-be foes. According to what she could dig up, Thugs-4-Less was a legitimate private military contractor founded in G2.05.187 by a disgruntled street-thug-turned-mercenary known only as Logan; steadily growing over the following decade into a lucrative operation employing thousands of disenchanted lowlifes, sociopaths, and blacklisted mercs. Renowned the galaxy over for their unscrupulous morals and surprisingly keen business sense, considering the low average IQ of its members, the organisation specialised in low budget operations that undercut the competition through a combination of brute force and low cunning that were used to lethal effect.

Sifting through the available data gave the human pause as she bought up the PMC's expenditure reports for the last financial quarter; something she could only gain access to by abusing her Megacorp commando status to obtain, since the company liked to keep records on potential rivals and investment opportunities in case they required... leverage. Thugs-4-Less had apparently experienced a profitable year so far; so much so that they had seen fit to buy up weapons, vehicles, and equipment in the kind of quantities that could easily surpass a third world army. Hell, with access to tanks, heavy weapons, dropships, and even spaceborne fighter craft, the thugs qualified as a veritable army for hire in terms of the amount of firepower they could potentially bring to bear.

But where was all the money coming from? Even taking into account the less than legal activities attributed to Thugs-4-Less, there was no way in hell they could have pooled those kind of resources in such a short period of time. Before she could muse any further however, the human was shaken from her thoughts by Ratchet's unusually tense words coming over the open channel they kept between their ships.

"Babe... we've got trouble."

Focusing her attention on the outside world, the reply died on Ellen's lips as she took in the mass of contrails left by dozens of ion engines swarming from hidden positions in the asteroid belt to converge on their position. "How many?"

Practiced hands disengaged the auto pilot and spooled up the Star Explorer's weapon systems before gripping the control column firmly, even as the lombax's voice continued to filter through her helmet. "Gotta be at least a dozen, maybe more. Radar can't pick 'em out with all this debris floating around."

It was a textbook ambush executed with overwhelming force, the field of floating space rocks allowing the incoming craft to stay hidden from even their military grade sensors until the last possible second. Ratchet followed through with his own preparations, putting a little distance between their fighters as the mass of ships got closer by the second. The only people who would attempt such a predetermined attack on two relative unknowns in this galaxy were either opportunistic pirates looking for a quick payoff, or the very mercs the escaping thief had hired; lying in wait to strike down their employer's pursuers. Either way, things were about to get messy.

"Break now!"

The two Star Explorers split left and right respectively as a storm of silvery metal and green fire erupted through the space they had previously been occupying at high velocity; using the surrounding space debris as cover and forcing the massed squadron of attacking starfighters to spread out in order to better hunt their prey. Ellen bled off excess speed as she hooked around a particularly large asteroid, stabbing the trigger impulsively when a slight, green-hued, predatory vessel with a stubby fuselage and curving, sickle-like wing pods blew past her fighter's nose and into her gunsights. Several crimson bolts of energy struck the merc ship near the engine, tearing off the fragile-looking starboard wing shortly before the power core ruptured explosively; forcing the human to wrench into a hard right turn as her shields flickered under the assault of two more fighters that had latched on to her tail.

Ratchet meanwhile was involved in a snarling dogfight of his own; jockeying for position with a metallic silver-painted ship that had a squat, armoured cockpit, wide reverse-swept wings, and annoyingly a pair of rear-facing guns on the wing tips in addition to the linked heavy cannons mounted on the nose. Of course the stray laser bolts blowing past his canopy courtesy of the two still behind him didn't help in the slightest, leaving him to frantically twist and barrel roll in order to throw off the mercs' aim while keeping his own target in sight.

A split second decision saw the lombax slam on the brakes while raising his fighter's nose; his pursuers getting some free hits on his shield but otherwise going too fast to avoid overshooting and falling prey to his own cannon fire. Green bolts of energy dropped his shield strength again for the few seconds it took to roll left under the attacker's field of fire; the silver elite fighter coming out of a shallow dive to bring its rear guns to bear even as Ratchet brought the Star Explorer around to engage once again.

With a steady negative tone indicating a solid lock buzzing in her ears, Ellen blew apart the fighter she was chasing with a missile before diving into another field of debris to avoid his wingman's wrath; a barrage of laser fire constantly nipping at her heels. Twisting and turning though the moving maze of rock and ice, the many hours she had spent in the simulator looked like they were paying off as two more merc ships joined the one on her tail; managing to stay one step ahead of the pack while trying to find a way to even the odds.

The human got her break shortly after darting between a pair of asteroids on the verge of collision; dumb firing a missile to strike a particularly large chunk of ice that subsequently shattered into deadly shards. Though the impromptu projectiles drained half of her remaining shield strength, the pursuing fighters were not so lucky; spears of condensed water skewering the lightly-armoured vessels seconds after they tried to follow through the same gap and leaving Ellen free to return to the fray.

"Got rid of the ones on my tail. Ratchet, where are you?"

A pair of heat-seekers gutted another two fighters amidships, Ratchet barrel rolling through the middle of the explosions and inverting into a dive towards the asteroid belt with more angry mercs close behind. "Little busy right now!"

A blaring alarm in the cockpit warned the lombax that he had been locked on to, shortly followed by an explosion rocking the ship and the remaining shield strength dropping to just over six percent. "Damn it, shields are nearly gone! We're gonna have to tag team these guys."

More detonations rocked the debris field as the red Star Explorer raced through at breakneck speeds, the pursuing Thugs-4-Less fighters deciding to bracket the area with missiles in an effort to smoke the lombax out rather than risk following inside the labyrinth of moving rock and ice. A barrage of laser fire followed by a hastily launched missile put paid to that idea as Ellen came up behind them guns blazing, perforating one ship and narrowly missing another before the remaining two ships could break off their assault.

"You're all clear fuzz ball. Think you could watch my back a sec?"

The lombax promptly pulled the control column back into a vertical climb, terminating in a half loop outside the remains of the asteroid belt followed by inverting and pitching his fighter into a hard left turn towards where his wingman was embroiled in yet another rolling dogfight. "Can do, babe. Get ready to break right on my go."

As soon as the targeting reticule blinked red to indicate a positive lock, Ratchet let loose one of the few missiles he had left in reserve at an elite fighter glommed on to Ellen's rear; taking brief satisfaction in seeing it explode into silvery fragments before moving on to the next ship to get in range.

"Now!"

Ellen wrenched her Star Explorer into a quasi-inverted hard right turn, the green-tinged merc ship still doggedly latched on to her tail firing sporadically as he tried to match her manoeuvre, only to run right into the lombax's gunsights and promptly disintegrate under sustained laser fire. "Thanks fuzz ball, that was a close one."

The human quickly righted her craft and drew up in a slightly staggered formation on Ratchet's wing. "Call us even; you did save my hide back there. Y'know, you're pretty good considering this is only your second time."

Ellen exhaled deeply as the adrenaline from the fight thus far began to slowly bleed off, thinking back to the only other time she had piloted a starfighter during their raid on Drek's fleet above Veldin. "Yeah, and it's scaring the hell out of me just as much as it did back then. Let's just finish this and get out of here."

The three remaining fighters of the ambushing mercenary squadron were all of the metallic-silver elite variety, and judging by their loosely staggered formation they intended to make sure that at least one of them would be free to engage without . Any other thoughts went out the window as all five ships exchanged missiles; the deadly projecinterferencetiles streaking through the expanse of space while the launching vessels scattered to avoid meeting the same fate as their potential targets. Amazingly, none of the missiles actually found their mark; all five exploding harmlessly on impact with the various orbiting debris and twisted wreckage crossing the contested nebula, while the Megacorp and mercenary fighters reoriented to engage each other up close in what promised to be the final stage of this battle.

Green splashes of energy chipped at Ellen's shields, resulting in her barrel rolling into a corkscrew in an effort to throw off her pursuer's aim and hopefully force him to overshoot. The merc pilot however was wise to such a tactic and deliberately slowed down; catching the human's starboard wing and setting off an alarm in the Bogon blue starfighter as the barrier strength dropped to practically nothing. Thankfully a torrent of cannon fire from her lombax wingman shook the trailing ship's aim in a snap strafing run, even as the other two silver-painted spacecraft continued to dog him with a constant barrage of missiles and laser fire; giving Ellen the few precious seconds she needed to break away and light up one of his attackers with a missile shot before hooking around to turn the tables on her own tail.

The two commandos continued the hit-and-run tactics with wide sweeping turns at perpendicular angles to each other while maintaining full throttle, keeping the last two fighters from being able to draw a bead as they completed the manoeuvre to face each other head on. Still jinking to avoid the occasional stray bolt of green energy sent their way, the lombax and human waited until the last possible moment before slamming on the anchors; Ratchet inverting and going low while Ellen raised her craft to pass overhead with barely two feet between their hulls before the pair held down the trigger to their nose mounted cannons and ventilated each other's pursuer.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ellen bought her Star Explorer back around to sit on its red-painted counterpart's wing once again; a laugh born of disbelief escaping her lips. "Holy crap, I can't believe that worked..."

Ratchet merely chuckled. "Me neither. But hey, it's not the craziest thing we've ever done."

Taking a last look at their surroundings, he was about to suggest that they got out of there while the going was still good, when the sudden swarm of blips on his radar combined with the glint of metal from multiple fast moving objects coming from further out in the asteroid belt stilled his words. "Babe... I don't think we're outta the woods just yet..."

The human jerked her head around when she got the same warning on her own scope, eyes widening at the sight of the approaching metallic horde. "You have got to be shitting me! How many of these guys did they send after us?!"

Ratchet grimaced as he realised the mercs' game; wear them down with the ambush and finish them off with numbers once their ships were already vulnerable and low on ordinance. "Normally I'd be flattered that they think we're worth this much firepower, but right now we need to get out of here before-"

A quartet of missiles streaking over their canopies cut off the lombax's words, promptly followed by four of the second wave of fighters blossoming into fireballs. Whipping their heads upwards, the two pilots caught the tail end of a heavily modified starfighter with predatory lines, a triangular cluster of engines running at full thrust, and sporting a golden-yellow paint scheme barrel rolling over the top of them.

"Sorry I'm late, bad traffic."

The newcomer executed a short loop before settling down between the two Star Explorers, letting the human and lombax get an eyeful of the ridiculous number of weapons bolted on to the airframe. From the semi-recessed missile launchers and underslung rocket pods, to the twin wing-mounted heavy cannons that stretched almost to the craft's nose; it was blatantly obvious this was a ship meant solely for combat.

"Who the heck are you, and why are you helping us?"

The distinctly male-looking pilot turned his helmet-encased head towards Ratchet with a dry chuckle reverberating over the open radio channel. "Name's Ace Bunyon, kid; Megacorp commando and the best damn space racer in the whole galaxy!"

Ellen raised a brow in suspicion as she eyed what little she could see of the man in his tinted-glass cockpit. "So what're you doing all the way out here?"

Ace turned back to face her with an appreciative noise escaping his mouth. "A lady, huh? I just so happened to be in the neighbourhood on my own business and figured I'd drop by to help you cherries out. Course if I'd known a woman was involved, I'd have been out here a whole lot quicker!"

Ratchet spluttered in protest and Ellen was trying her best not to do anything worse than grind her teeth at the man's arrogance. But before either could deem a more coherent response, Bunyon spoke up once again. "Look; I can see you folks aren't so trusting, so I'll tell ya what. Once we take out the trash here, I'll play twenty questions with ya for as long as you like. Deal?"

Realising that time was short with the Thugs-4-Less starfighters rapidly closing in, Ratchet reluctantly agreed. "Alright, fine. But you better be straight with us!"

Ace however simply chuckled as he throttled up and raced ahead to engage. "Sure thing. Just... try to keep up."

The mercenary ships ripple-fired missiles at the three Megacorp vessels, filling the void of space with a torrent of explosive-tipped death that would be impossible to avoid short of an FTL jump using a gravimetric warp drive... which none of the three possessed; meaning that more desperate measures would be needed. Bunyon's golden-yellow painted starfighter inverted and dove briefly before reversing direction and coming up behind a cluster of significantly large asteroids; rocket pods flaring briefly under his wings as dozens of dumb-fired projectiles detonated and tore the floating rocks apart, leaving a wide field of debris in their wake. With so many new obstacles, it was little surprise that a majority of the contact sensitive warheads on the incoming missiles detonated prematurely against the scattered fragments; the few that got through evaded through some creative manoeuvring that left the two sides right on top of each other.

The following furball (no pun intended) was a chaotic melee of glinting metal, flashing laser fire, and muted explosions against the cold backdrop of space. To Ratchet, it was also a source of frustration seeing their new 'friend' carve through the opposition with a seemingly effortless ease that left nary a mark upon his heavily modified starfighter's hull; executing a perfect barrel roll while lazily disgorging another four missiles that quickly obliterated their respective targets before latching on to another enemy fighter and pounding away with his cannons. "Damn this guy's good..."

Every time a merc vessel filled Ellen's gunsights, it was promptly blown away a heartbeat later by the appropriately named Ace. "You're gonna have to be faster'n that sweetheart, that's three in a row!"

The human scowled at his chiding tone while rolling into get on yet another mercenary's tail, keeping a wary eye out still for any that might try to return the favour. Just because he was some shit-hot fighter jock, didn't mean he had to rub it in their faces. She and Ratchet were doing just fine on their own long before he decided to show up, and though she appreciated the help, she could have done without the belittling comments. For now though, all she wanted to do was survive this encounter and get the hell out of here with their hides intact. Maybe then she and Ratchet could finally get some damn answers from the arrogant son of a-

An explosion off her port wing snapped Ellen out of her musing and back to the present; forcing aside her concerns and unnecessary brooding in favour of ventilating one more enemy craft slipping past her nose cannons. The next few minutes became one gigantic blur of twists and turns interspersed with knee-jerk reactions and deft stabbing of triggers, the Thug-4-Less back up squadron quickly being whittled down by their combined efforts until only a few determined survivors remained. Whether through callousness for the losses they had incurred or simply misguided loyalty to a job that was rapidly crumbling around them, the last of the mercenaries continued to press their attack rather than retreat back into the asteroid belt; an admirable gesture, but ultimately futile in the face of such overwhelming firepower.

Ratchet loosed off the last of his missiles with Ellen's close behind; taking out one fighter and damaging another before evading the heat-seekers being sent their way and closing into gun range. It was Ace Bunyon however who delivered the coup de grace; unleashing a salvo of rockets to harry the remaining three merc vessels into position so that he could pick them off with a trio of well-aimed shots from his cannons that gutted them entirely. With the last of the fighters little more than scrap metal and their radar scans clean of any more hostiles, the lombax and human formed up on either side of Ace and together the three made their way out of the debris field left behind by their desperate space battle; pushing through the Wupash Nebula and beyond to where they could talk in relative safety. It was definitely more than time for the two recently minted commandos to finally get some answers.

Marjorie's Kitchen Service Station, Wupash Nebula

Bogon Galaxy

G2.17.081 Galactic calendar

12:03pm GST

It was a little off the beaten track so to speak; but considering it was probably the only rest stop within half a light-year before they hit Maktar Resort, it would have to do. Marjorie's Kitchen was, in fact, a converted commercial space station that had been mothballed by Megacorp a decade earlier, and subsequently snapped up at a bargain price by an enterprising vullard conglomerate before being converted into a deep space equivalent of an oversized motorway services.

With a kilometre wide circumference and boasting six floors, the vaguely doughnut-shaped station was essentially a deep space shopping mall complex in addition to being a convenient fuel stop; albeit with Megacorp's distinctive influence visible in a majority of the retailers and their wares considering the overwhelming presence of the corporation's logo plastered literally everywhere. After having parked their ships in the station's lower docking bay, Ratchet and Ellen got their first look at the pilot who had, admittedly, helped them out of their jam as he vaulted over the side of his cockpit and landed in a slight crouch on the lacquered grey deck just below.

Standing around six feet tall once he had risen back up to his full height, they were surprised to note that in spite of the burnished-orange commando jumpsuit with a Megacorp emblem emblazoned on the shoulders, and charcoal-grey, full-faceplate helmet, Ace Bunyon looked remarkably human. Unlike Captain Qwark's disproportionately top-heavy body structure, Ace had defined musculature and a decidedly athletic physique, but surprisingly enough had five digits on each hand.

Ellen only knew of three sentient pentadactyl species in the universe, including lombaxes and humans, so she was far from shocked once he had removed his helmet to reveal the face of a markazian in his early thirties; his slightly purple-tinted pale skin, long, pointed ears, shoulder length black hair, and almost luminescent amber eyes adding to the elven aesthetic his species was known for. With his good looks and roguish grin semi-permanently plastered on to his face, he was practically a poster boy for Megacorp's commando division.

Ratchet hated him already.

Taking in the mismatched and somewhat annoyed looking pair in front of him, Ace quickly glossed over the shorter lombax in favour of eyeing up the shapely form of his decidedly female partner. "Well, hello there missy! Might I say you look just as wonderful in the flesh as you do in the cockpit."

A loud clearing of Ratchet's throat drew the markazian's attention back to the other male coldly glaring at him with his arms folded across his chest. "That's my girl you happen to be talkin' about."

Ace's face blanked for a moment, all jovialness fading as he looked briefly from one to another. "So, you two are a thing?"

Getting a pair of reluctant nods, he continued on with a sense of finality in every syllable "You do realise what the regs have to say about commandos having relationships with their colleagues, right?"

Exchanging a wary glance, the human and lombax slowly shook their heads; a tense silence settling over the group as the tension rose with each achingly long second that ticked away, until Ace leaned forward with a shit-eating grin slowly spreading across his face. "Not a damn thing! This ain't the army, son!"

His booming laughter echoed around the bay, drawing several strange looks from the people walking past as he clamped a hand each of the bewildered youngster's shoulders while steering them towards the bank of elevators which made up the far wall of the hanger. "Well I don't know about you two, but there's nothing like taking out a few dozen merc fighters before lunch to really work up my appetite. What say we go grab something to eat, then we can have ourselves a little talk?"

They didn't exactly have much choice given the way he was manhandling them, and so it was that they found themselves ten minutes and three floors later sitting in a quiet corner booth of a Mega Burger outlet with a decidedly unhealthily looking spread of fast food that was soon devoured by the three. A curious and still wary lombax and human sat on one side while the laid back and lounging markazian sat on the other.

Despite their initial suspicions, Ace really was a Megacorp commando and had the credentials to match as well as the ear of Mr Fizzwidget himself. He'd been recruited over a decade earlier from a private security firm that had gone bankrupt, and much like themselves, sent out on a solo mission to retrieve company property from those that had stolen it. Albeit in the younger Bunyon's case, said mission involved liberating a deep space Raritanium drilling rig from an armed extremist group who had taken hostages and were hoping to use the mined resources to finance their activities.

The markazian commando had stormed the facility using a combination of stealth and brute force to wipe out the terrorists and rescue the workers trapped aboard without a single Megacorp casualty. This feat of arms had impressed Mr Fizzwidget so much that he became the company CEO's personal go-to-man and wet worker for more sensitive operations through out the galaxy; spending the next decade or so flitting from one gruelling mission to the next.

As it turned out, Ace was actually investigating the same case as they were; finding the Protopet and stopping the thief before he could sell the creature on or worse. Ellen raised a brow at that explanation, absently running a hand through her slightly bedraggled hair while her helmet sat on the polished metal table. "What could be worse than that? If any company tried to pirate the thing, I'm pretty sure Megacorp could sue their asses into the ground."

The markazian commando leaned forward on his elbows, all humour gone from his face as he looked both human and lombax in the eye before replying. "It could be destroyed." A sigh escaped his lips as he rubbed weary looking eyes. "I don't know all the technical details, but the company invested a lot of time, money, and resources into the project, and the Protopet is already predicted to be the number one Christmas gift this year when it's due to be officially released."

Ellen's eyes widened in realisation. "So if people knew it was lost..."

Ace took a sip of his nano-cola before continuing. "Then the company's reputation would be ruined. After nearly four years and millions of bolts spent on creating the perfect marketable pet, the investors and shareholders want to see some results; which is why the boss is playing this one close to his chest. If the suits on the board knew what was really going on, they'd withdraw their support and more than likely push for a hostile takeover while the old man was still vulnerable."

Ears perking up in interest, Ratchet regarded the markazian with a thoughtful expression. "If that's the case, then why aren't you tracking down the Protopet instead of us? Heck, why does he even need us at all if he's got you?"

Ace polished off the rest of his drink before a chime from his Wrist Com had him checking the received message with a hint of tension in his eyes. "Two reasons. First, Fizzwidget knows talent when he sees it, and trusts you to get the job done. And second..." the older commando dismissed the holographic interface on his Wrist Com in favour of looking at his younger counterparts with an intensity they hadn't seen from him before. "...I've got my own mission to complete. When the Protopet was stolen about a month ago, all the research data was wiped out when the thief blew the lab to pieces and we lost three of the top scientists working on the project. Of those, Professor Pilgrim and Doctor Carter were confirmed dead in the blast; but the project lead, Doctor Cross, couldn't be accounted for after the attack."

The gears began to turn in Ellen's mind as she thoughtfully rubbed her chin. "You think the thief grabbed them as well?"

Ace nodded slowly. "Almost definitely. With all the data gone, Doctor Cross is the only one left in the galaxy capable of keeping the project going even if the Protopet was destroyed completely. Assuming she's still alive, keeping her as insurance and selling her knowledge to the highest bidder once he'd... 'extracted' it would be more than profitable."

The human and lombax grimaced at the thought of what the missing scientist had to be going through right now, especially since the thief seemed to have few compunctions with regards to getting rid of any obstacle in his path. With a grunt of content, Ace rose from his seat and stretched before shimmying out of the corner booth to stand beside them.

"Unfortunately, this is where we part ways. I just got a tip off from one of my contacts about a possible sighting of the good Doctor and I'm sure you've got your own leads to be chasing up." Ratchet and Ellen's Wrist Coms chimed briefly and a quick inspection showed that they had received a data packet with Ace's contact details. "If you find anything or need any help, call me and I'll do what I can."

The two commandos passed their own contact details to their older counterpart shortly before he grasped the lombax's hand in a firm handshake. "Until then, guess I'll be seeing you around kid." He repeated the gesture with Ellen, only to bring up her arm and gently kiss her hand while observing the reaction in her surprised ice blue eyes. "You too, sweetheart."

With that Ace flashed her a devilish grin, and before either she or Ratchet could react, he had already sauntered out of the restaurant with a spring in his step and was soon lost to the teeming crowds outside.

After both had finished their meal, a stewing Ratchet and an exasperated Ellen made their own way out of the Mega Burger outlet and beyond the food court section of the station towards the shops specialising in ship repairs and resupply two floors below. The lombax, unsurprisingly, was less than amused about the idea of someone putting the moves on his girl so brazenly; especially when he was sat right freaking there, and had a scowl etched on to his face for the entirety of the elevator ride much to his human partner's equal parts annoyance and bemusement.

"Ratchet, you know he was just doing that to rile you up." When the only response she got was a faint growl and bristling golden fur, Ellen rolled her eyes in exasperation at his lingering jealousy and reached out a hand to grasp his own.

The growling hitched and cut out abruptly as the lombax seemed to come out of whatever brooding pit his mind had been in, soft emerald eyes turning to her own as a warm smile began to creep on to his face and he unconsciously closed the gap between them. "Sorry babe, it's just... I only just got you back, and the thought of losing you..."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, nuzzling into his cheek and having to stifle a fit of giggles when he began to faintly purr like his less advanced terrestrial counterparts. "Hey, I'm here now. And believe me; it's going to take a lot more than an exploding orbital death ray to keep me from your side."

Ratchet simply squeezed her hand in response, Ellen's eyes closing and enjoying the comforting feline thrum vibrating from the lombax she loved as the two stood contently with their bodies pressed together in companionable silence. The elevator dinged a few minutes later, and once the doors had rolled open the couple stepped out still hand in hand; idly strolling through the throngs of shoppers eyeing up the latest ships and upgrades on sale. Soon, they would have to return to the mission once their own fighters were rearmed and fuelled to go once again. But for now, the only thing that mattered was each other; and making up for the lost time they had spent apart.

Megapolis, Endako

Bogon Galaxy

G2.17.081 Galactic calendar

8:35am local time

Worried cyan optics stared at the door of the 26th floor penthouse suite just as they had for the past half hour before the modified infobot began to pace fretfully back and forth once again with her processor churning a mile a minute. This was just so nerve wracking! Except robots didn't have nerves like organics and- Ugh! Now she was going off on a tangent again. If only she could just pluck up the courage to knock, then she'd know for sure whether the object of her affections felt the same way about her as she did for him; even if it was from afar, and neither of them had technically ever met before. Actually, it was doubtful he even knew she existed at all...

Perhaps a little explanation is in order, for the infobot currently dithering in front of the apartment co-owned by two of the Solana galaxy's greatest heroes was far removed from those they had encountered repeatedly almost a year ago. Originally infobots were designed as non-sentient drones, built for the sole purpose of conveying video messages and recording holovision shows for their owner's later perusal.

However, over time they began to develop personalities of their own; random fragments of code condensing into patterns that began to more closely resemble intelligent thought, until finally they achieved self-awareness. Of course this led to a major backlash throughout galactic society, with some groups advocating oppression and continued servitude of the newly awoken info bots, who they equated with being little more than a smart household appliance, while others called for their emancipation from what technically amounted to slavery of intelligent beings.

In the end, it was the lobby group 'New Robot Revolution' that had swung the public's opinion; their carefully managed campaign highlighting the infobot's plight and eventually forcing the Solana government to pass legislation that gave them the same rights as any other citizen. As a result, infobots gradually began to integrate themselves into society; taking on paying jobs and leaving their old functions to a new generation of portable, automated holovision units that were even cheaper to produce. To better express themselves, the new sentients took to modifying their previously identical frames into unique bodies that better reflected their own developing personalities and expressed gender, resulting in an astonishing variety that made no two robots look the same.

The infobot still wearing a metaphorical trench in the floor with her constant pacing bore resemblance to her original frame type in that it consisted of a humanoid body with an anti-gravity thruster unit instead of legs, but had a distinctly feminine appearance. Her light pink-coloured frame was slender and petite, a pair of lithe arms ending in tri-digited servos that clutched a bouquet of Siberius snow lilies protectively to her chest in worry. The oval-shaped head was largely featureless save for the aforementioned almond-shaped cyan optics, but interestingly also sported a black-painted section that seemed to represent hair in a quasi-bowl cut style, with a pair of antennae protruding from her helm acting as pigtails.

Right now she was still trying to pluck up the courage to knock on the door, knowing that the one who had been her long time crush was almost certainly on the opposite side. Ever since the downfall of Chairman Drek, she knew he was the one. The sophisticated charm and polite mannerisms in spite of the fact he was originally designed to be a war robot only served to raise her opinion of him in general, and inspired hope that one day she too could rise above her station as a lowly data clerk in spite of her heritage. She had originally planned to ask him out once he and his lombax friend had finished the HV interview at their Veldin home, but was thwarted upon their sudden disappearance; leading to two weeks of chasing across Solana only to find that they were now both in the Bogon galaxy. She had booked passage on the first pan-galactic flight she could afford on her meagre salary, and managed to use her data handling skills to track down their new residence.

And now it had all come down to this; so many light-years travelled and bolts spent to end up outside his door, only to freeze with indecision at the last second. Well, no more. She had come this far, and if he rejected her then she would have to learn to move on. But she would never know until she tried. Venting deeply, she drew upon the strength within her very core to knock upon the secure metal door before her; the sounds feeling unnaturally loud as she waited with baited breath... figuratively speaking. For a moment there was nothing, and she would have bitten her lip had she possessed any, but then there was a slightly muffled answer from the other side.

"Yes, may I help you?"

Cyan optics lit up at the cultured voice and her body quivered in anticipation. This was it; she'd finally get to meet him face to face! She only hoped she looked presentable, that wax buffing was supposed to make her frame- hang on, where'd that shadow come from?

So consumed was the smitten pink infobot with excitement that she didn't realise the stranger's presence behind her until it was too late; puzzled optics widening upon turning around to see the masked figure suddenly lash out, sending her small frame flying against the wall next to the apartment with enough force to knock her senseless. With her fading vision, she managed to see the cloaked organic crush the bouquet of lilies underfoot just as the apartment door slid open to reveal the robot of her dreams fresh from a shower, clad in a towel while another wrapped around his dome.

"I said..." Clank's words died on his lips as his widening green optics took in the other visitor's features, taking an involuntary step back at the sudden threat on his door step.

"You!"

She tried to reach out to him from her sprawled position so far away, but could only watch as the small silver robot was promptly grabbed and rendered unconscious by a stun gun before being bundled off; just as she finally lost the battle to stay online and slipped into stasis. It was all her fault. If only she had the courage to knock earlier, if only she wasn't so weak, then none of this would have happened. Instead she was forced to helplessly watch her beloved disappear once again before her very optics as the encroaching darkness claimed her; having no idea if either of them would survive the stranger's wrath, let alone have the chance to finally express her feelings. She could only pray for his safety, and that of her own.

Quite a bit going on this chapter, with Clank making a very brief appearance and the introduction of two pseudo-original characters as such. Ace Bunyon only appears in the checkpoint based racing mini games in the Star Explorer flying sections of Going Commando, but otherwise makes no real contribution to the game's narrative. Thanks to a PM from Nekolover3 a fair while back, I had the idea of fleshing out his character and making him a rival commando to Ratchet; both in terms of prowess and his…actions towards Ellen.

The second character is the female infobot who keeps popping up in cut scenes throughout the game and seems to have a crush upon Clank. I don't think she has an official name, though I already have one which will be revealed later down the line, and not much is known about her or how she gets around so many places. So I decided to fill in the details myself, and in the process came up with a reason as to her unique appearance and why infobots no longer appear in subsequent games after the first.

We'll be seeing a lot more from both of them later on in the story, and in Ace's case may change the plot slightly to some degree. You'll just have to read on to find out once we get there.

Until next time, please review and check out my other stories once they're posted and/or updated.

Thanks for reading

- RevenantReaper337