Author's note:
Bit of a close call this week; my nigh decade old laptop has started to play up on me and froze while I was in the middle of typing up this chapter. To make matters worse, upon crashing and rebooting it I discovered that the document in question appeared to be corrupted and unable to open. Normally I'd just chalk it up to a loss and move on, but that particular document had every single draft for both Time Heals All and Whole Again plus my story notes and reference material dating back over the last year and a half. Unsurprisingly I was a bit upset about that; cue two days of cursing up a storm and trying to figure out how I was going to recover all this from memory.
Thankfully I soon discovered that it was actually the JavaScript front loader for the program I use (Novel Writer Standard 2004) that had gone wrong; the nigh 350,000 words of content saved separately as .bak files which could still be accessed by following the file path on my C drive and opening them with the right program. Needless to say I'll be investing in a new laptop shortly and gradually transferring the content across to something more stable like MS Word or the like over the coming weeks, making backups just in case this happens again.
I guess the moral of the story is that although machines are useful they are ultimately as fallible as we are, especially when Murphy is involved. Never trust the entirety of your work to a single document and save often; making sure you keep multiple back up copies just in case on a separate medium such as a USB stick or even good old fashioned paper and ink. Trust me, if the worst comes to pass you'll be thankful you did.
On a brighter note, this story has just surpassed the 100 review mark! Thank you one and all for your continued support and suggestions, along with the masses of favourites and follows thus far. I knew people were looking forward to this story when I first started posting a few months back, but I honestly hadn't expected it to get so much interest in such a short period of time.
I also ended up writing way more than I had originally anticipated for this chapter in my pursuit of dramatising what is normally a bit of a lacklustre level plot wise. Hopefully I'll be able to reign it in from here on, limiting myself to no more than around 10,000 around words per chapter minus the usual notes and review replies. Of course nothing's ever that neat or easy, but at least it gives me a goal and will hopefully allow me to churn out content faster while avoiding the potential loss of stupidly long chapters in the foreseeable future.
Review replies:
GoldenLombaxGirl - Nope, not in the slightest. Then again, I'm pretty sure that aside from Logan the average thug's IQ is less than the number of fingers on their hands… and they've only got six of those if you include thumbs…
Destiny - Hope you like this one too. Enjoy!
Firestar5277 - Thanks! I've only really started experimenting with slotting OCs into the main plot, but going by the feedback thus far I seem to be on the right track at least. That's a very good point you brought up as well with regards to the female infobot; it's never really explained in canon where she goes or how she gets there.
In the case of this story however, she was left behind by the thief and later recovered before Ratchet and Ellen showed up; in all likelihood trying to track down Clank by herself. In fact, she may make a short appearance in the next chapter if things go the way I intend them to, not 100% certain yet. Hope that helps!
Vengarl22 - Glad you approve. It took me a bit of chewing it over to get the health system right considering how it had to gel with the general tech and feel of the R&C universe, but I think I got there in the end. Same with the mini boss really, only I'm still not entirely sure whether I should have introduced Crispin in the middle of the main boss battle against Logan… Still, as long people enjoyed it that's the main thing. Take care.
The White Guardian - HOO! Sorry, couldn't resist… All jokes aside though it's good to hear from you again, and that despite setbacks the rescue mission for your stranded astronauts in KSP is underway. Glad to hear they've got plenty to keep them occupied, because I get the feeling they're going to be stuck there for a while until your plan bears fruit. From how you describe the game, I may well have to give it a try myself one day. Though that would probably have to wait until I've finished this story and have more time first.
I understand where you're coming from with Angela, and you make a good, well thought out argument for Ratchet's canonical behaviour at this point in the story. I actually agree with you for the most part, especially the comparisons with what happened on Umbris during the first game and the subsequent fallout. That being said, I still firmly believe that in spite of the revelation of the thief's true identity and species, Ratchet was far too quick to trust someone who had been actively trying to kill him for the entire first act of the game. If nothing else, their alliance should have been uneasy until the revelation on Dobbo where by their relationship and level of trust would steadily grow.
I'm glad you like my interpretation of the boss battle with Logan, and I agree that the whole popping up and not attacking thing in the game made no sense at all. It would be understandable if he at least tried to strafe Ratchet each time, but to just fly off? Compared to the average thug, he's a genius and should have easily been able to pull off a coordinated ambush like I depicted in the last chapter. When it comes to the calculation he makes with regards to the number of stored protopets though, I'm pretty sure he's pulling the figures out of his ass.
I don't play TF2 myself, but I am very familiar with both the games and the character classes via the 'meet the team' videos and numerous SFM and G-mod skits on Youtube. Crispin, as you've surmised, is largely based on Pyro in terms of both physical stature and mental traits, but I was also going for a bit of a Borderlands feel as well with regards to his behaviour and manner of dress. Put it all together and you've got a recipe for crazy that no one in their right mind would want to get anywhere near.
I like your mini boss idea for a tank-like thug and I've already got a slot lined for him in around 3-4 chapters time depending on how long they are. I'll be starting up a reference profile for him shortly to flesh him out and get all the details ready for his debut, but I was wondering if you'd be willing to let me have a little artistic creativity with his physical appearance since he's your character? All credit for Tank, as I'm tentatively calling him, belongs to you of course and I don't want to take liberties without your go ahead.
Well I guess that's it for now, so until next time take care and hope you like the new chapter.
zenith88 - Hey again, and thank you. Having a fortnight to come up with a new chapter rather than just a single week like I was making do with before does allow me to the time I need to make each one a decent length and flesh out the background details. I hate having to wait for my favourite stories to update at the best of times, so the least I can do is to make sure that those two weeks are spent making a decent read that, as you said, isn't over in five minutes.
StaticBomb93 - Ah, cliff-hangers; the boon of many a story and general annoyance… and yet I use them anyway! Also, you may be pleased to know there will be some ratchet and Ellen inspired fluffiness sooner than not, especially in the upcoming interlude chapter I've got planned. Thanks again.
kboyer36 - I always did find the boss battle on Megapolis to be a bit dull and way too easy; it never made any sense to me in canon as to why Logan would try to take out Ratchet on his own with a crappy helicopter that has an exposed cockpit and no back up whatsoever. I simply applied a dose of reality, cranked it up a few notches, and let my inner Bruckheimer run riot in order to turn the thug's leader into what I considered to be a real threat. Might have gone a bit overboard though.
Glad you like the idea of an interlude as well; Ratchet and Ellen could do with a break, and she's got a year's worth of catching up to do with Clank as well. Take care, and hope you like the new chapter.
ReginaDC21 - Hey there, and, uh, hope you've got plenty of ice since it sounds like you two are definitely going to need it until your AC has been fixed. I'm glad you like the way the chapter's gone, and the direction I've taken for this level's canon events along with the few OCs I've added into the mix. It's always a difficult balance between being descriptive enough and just plain boring the reader.
Aside from the surprise at seeing another lombax for the first time, I honestly don't know why Ratchet didn't give Angela a piece of his mind when she is finally unmasked in canon. I know I certainly would have in his position, and my interpretation of those events will make things pan out in a much more interesting manner once we get to that point in the story. Thanks again, hope to hear from you soon.
BulletWitch1985 - hello once again, and my sympathies for your AC breaking down at perhaps the worst possible time of year. Good to hear you two intend to sign up to this site, and that you've both got your first stories lined up as well. Interesting choice there with Jersey Devil, can't say I've seen any stories in that category yet let alone crossovers.
Like I said in my reply to Regina, Ratchet's lack of what I'd call an appropriate reaction to Angela in the game is a bit of a mystery; and one I intend to resolve once I get to that point in this story. I'm happy to hear you like my expanded version of the Megapolis arc as well, along with the only two proper OCs I've put in so far. Hopefully any future characters will be received just as warmly. Well, maybe not the villains, but you get the picture. Until next, take care.
Sonachugirl - Glad I could bring back the memories, and that you liked my interpretation of how I believe the Megapolis level should have gone. I started out by just wanting to expand on the city environment versus canon; to flesh it out and give the backdrop to the chapter a sense of scale. As is often the case though, I got a bit carried away and the chapter size has swelled to afar larger than I had originally anticipated. Still, at least having splitting the chapter up into two parts like I've been doing the last few updates does mean being able to pace the story better, So I guess it kind of worked out better in the end. In any case, thanks again for reviewing and hope you enjoy the new chapter.
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.
The clock is ticking, and Clank's life is at stake. Will our intrepid duo be able to find him in time? Here's Chapter 9.
- 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.
'Thoughts'
Flashbacks
"Speech"
Chapter 9:
Lost And Found
Megapolis, Endako
Bogon Galaxy
G2.17.081 Galactic calendar
12:49pm local time
Heavy automatic cannon rounds tore through the air as the Thugs-4-Less gunship reoriented, walking the line of fire across the polished metallic surface of the landing pad and tearing up football-sized chunks as its targets scrambled for cover behind the decorative blocks lining the perimeter. Ratchet let off a Gravity Bomb in the crimson-painted war machine's direction only for it to veer off to one side, the brief opening giving both him and his human partner a chance to get some free hits in with their own assault weapons before being forced to duck back down to avoid the renewed barrage being sent their way.
Pinned down and highly vulnerable, there was little either could do to break out of this situation. What little cover they had wouldn't stand for long considering how it was rapidly disintegrating under the gunship's withering hail of fire, and fighting in the open was practically suicidal considering Logan could just as easily blanket the platform with the multitude of rockets he still had at his disposal. Why he hadn't already the lombax didn't know, but right now he was more concerned with getting both Ellen and himself out of this messed up situation in one piece.
"Peek-a-boo! I see you!"
Ratchet's sensitive hearing picked up the distinctive screech of an incoming rocket and barely managed to vacate the impact zone before his cover was turned to rubble; leaving him to zig-zag across the cratered platform with sporadic cannon fire at his heals. A pair of thunderclaps from his partner's hand cannon echoed through the open skies, Logan cursing up a storm as his gunship lurched violently to one side with smoke beginning to trail from one of the sparking thrust vectoring nozzles underneath.
"Sonnova-! You'll pay for that!"
Checking that Ellen was okay in the brief lull they had until the next inevitable strike, the golden furred commando noted the tense expression etched upon her face as she frantically reloaded her Leviathan while keeping an eye on the sky. "I'm running out of ammo, and I doubt you're any better off. How're we supposed to stop this thing before he flattens the building and takes us with it?"
Ratchet shook his head even as he re-equipped his grenade launcher, emerald eyes darting all over in an attempt to find anything that could get them out of this situation. "What about our ships? Can't you bring one over remotely?"
"You think I haven't tried?" The human growled in frustration, smacking her Wrist Com with her off hand as she scowled at the display. "Something's blocking all outgoing signals in the area, and I'd put good money on flyboy up there being the source."
The lombax grimaced at having the easy option taken away from them, but paused upon spying a possible albeit insane, alternative method. "Hey babe, you still got that Grapple Gun on you?"
After a brief skim through her Quick Select, Ellen soon held up the item in question in her off hand. "Yeah, why?"
Before he could answer, the crimson-painted attack bird rose back up from below the platform; temporarily blotting out the sun and casting its shadow over the exposed commandos like a spectre of death. With characteristic impulsiveness, Ratchet lobbed a Gravity Bomb directly at the machine's armoured cockpit in a heartbeat; the impact temporarily knocking it off balance and more importantly giving him the time to grab a stunned Ellen by the waist and throw them off the edge of the platform.
Their combined cries were whipped away by the shear wind resistance as they plummeted towards the street below, the red-headed human seizing up with fear at her second freefall experience of the day. Fortunately Ratchet had no such qualms; and upon grasping the Grapple Gun still held with a vice grip in his partner's hand, he aimed it as best he could in the buffeting currents and squeezed the trigger. The hook exploded forth from the business end of the device with a high tensity cable trailing in its wake; crossing the gulf between buildings within seconds and bouncing off of several choice latch points for long heart stopping seconds, until finally snagging on a radio mast of some sort that had a flat top with large antennae sticking out at numerous points.
The line went taut, and the world rapidly shifted from vertical to horizontal as the pair clung to one another while swinging like a particularly violent pendulum towards their intended destination; yelling their lungs out all the while. They hit the tower hard, the Grapple Gun's cable automatically reeling in as they tumbled across the flat surface to land in an undignified heap just short of the far edge.
"Ellen, you okay?"
Letting him pull her to her feet with her heart still hammering a mile a minute, Ellen shot the lombax an incredulous glare. "Okay? We just jumped off the top of a 26 storey building without so much as a parachute and you're asking me if I'm okay?!"
"Uh... sorry?" he replied sheepishly, free hand rubbing the back of his neck.
The red-headed commando audibly sighed. As much as she wanted to further chew him out with some very choice words regarding why suicidal jumps off of incredibly high objects was a bad idea, she knew that deep down that his heart was in the right place regardless of how reckless he could be. They would definitely be having words later on though once this situation had blown over. Any further conversation was stunted by the timely arrival of Logan's gunship, ventral cannon already spinning up as he drew a bead on the two commandos once more.
"Go! Now!"
The pair race towards the other side of the small platform; the airborne spectre buzzsawing a line of hot lead across the upper surface of the tower and shattering the delicate antennae array adorning the surface. Luckily there was a Versa-Target on the next mast over, one of a chain that interspersed with raised monorail lines that led deeper into the city, and neither human or lombax wasted anytime in latching on with their respective gadgets before reeling themselves in. The way forwards to the tower just beyond was blocked off by a raised drawbridge-like emergency access point, though With both Swingshot and Grapple Gun working in tandem the structure was soon yanked down into position and the commandos were halfway across before their previous position disintegrated under a punishing salvo of rockets.
"End of the line morons, youse got nowhere else to run!"
Unfortunately Logan appeared to be right; the broken tower they now stood on was the last in the current sequence, with the nearest building easily over half a block away and their path of retreat cut off with destruction of the prior arrays behind them. There was in fact, Ellen realised as her gaze settled upon a nearby monorail, only one option left now; Ratchet having already equipped his Grind Boots apparently thinking along the same lines as he took her hand.
"You ready, babe?"
At her nod, they both took off running for the edge of the platform; the Thugs-4-Less leader's trigger finger twitching in response and unleashing a hail of rockets that demolished the top half of the tower just as the pair jumped clear. The lombax and human fell towards the unoccupied girder-like construct several feet ahead and below; Ratchet orienting himself to land feet first with his legs braced for the sudden impact while Ellen grabbed hold of his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist.
They hit the cheerfully red-painted rail hard with bone juddering force, Ratchet almost overbalancing thanks to having to compensate for the extra weight provided by his human passenger who was still clinging on tightly. Their speed rapidly picked up as the route took them back through the quarantined zone, a hard right followed by another weaving through the concrete jungle of skyscrapers far above the streets below with the gunship still in hot pursuit. Thankfully the enclosed nature of the urban environment made it harder for Logan to get a bead on the two commandos; panes of glass windows shattering in their wake as bursts of cannon fire stitched a line across nearby buildings in an attempt to gun them down while trying to avoid a mid-air collision.
With the enclosed conditions working in their favour and the pressure temporarily lifted, Ellen loosened her grip slightly and used the momentum from a particularly long bend between skyscrapers to swing around Ratchet so that she was clinging firmly to his front instead. "Don't get any ideas fuzz ball, I'm still mad at you."
Her answer was a knowing smirk, emerald eyes glinting in mischief as their bodies pressed tightly together. "I'd say I wouldn't dream of it… but you know I'd be lying, babe."
The human couldn't help a half amused, half exasperated snort as she equipped her Hellfire and braced it on his shoulder; her free hand draped around his neck and supporting the weapon while she tried to ignore the predictable innuendo about big guns and how she should borrow his 'because it's bigger'.
The rail briefly terminated at a large ring-shaped construct sporting power transformers of some kind before continuing through the other side; probably a support strut of sorts in a similar vein to those the pair had previously seen during their brief foray into the ruins of Gorda City back on Oltanis during their first adventure. In any case, it wasn't much of a hassle for the lombax to hop over the temporary barrier and continue into an ascending left U-turn; bringing them back on to a straight section in a much more open area that the Thugs-4-Less leader wasted no time in capitalising on immediately.
"There you are!"
The crimson-painted attack bird banked around a particularly tall tower, its cannon roaring into life and spitting a torrent of fire their way once more. Fragments of glass rained down from the nearby buildings with each near miss and Ellen's rotary rifle replied in kind, several incendiary rounds scarring the flying machine's armoured body along with the already damaged starboard engine which continued to belch clouds of oily smoke as it lurched to the right. A pair of the ring-topped support struts offered a brief reprieve as Ratchet hopped through them, the track briefly plummeting before evening out as it rose and hooked into a sharp right U-bend before running parallel with another rail.
Flipping over onto the new line, the duo soon found themselves reversing course once again and back into a spacious area bordered by towering gray apartment blocks where the gunship was waiting for the once more. A pair of rockets demolished the track several yards in front of them, the bent and twisted remains snapping off and soon dropping from sight. Keeping a firm hold on a flushing Ellen's posterior with his free hand, Ratchet hunched down on the approach before using a twisted section as an impromptu ramp to sail across the void; his Swingshot latching on to a conveniently placed Versa-Target that reeled them in and left them precariously unbalanced upon landing.
The rail banked up and around to the left once more; cutting through a narrow gap between two office buildings that Logan couldn't follow through thanks to the ring-topped support struts blocking the way, before ascending into a right turn that brought them back into the open once again. The gunship unleashed the last of its rockets in an attempt to disrupt the monorail line once again, multiple detonations blossoming upon a good twenty foot span and shredding it to the point that it collapsed under its own weight.
There was no way in hell Ratchet could jump that gap on his own, let alone with a passenger as well; and judging by the vicious grin plastered on his face, Logan knew that particular fact all too well. With the track running out and precious little time to spare, the lombax spied a Versa-Target hanging from an office building to his right and, with Ellen's assistance, opted to take yet another in a long line of impulsive decisions. With his Swingshot tethering to the anchor point and the human similarly finding her own on the skyscraper opposite, the two commandos accelerated as they reeled themselves in simultaneously; their respective gadgets combining to form a slingshot that catapulted them across the expanse to barely touch the rail on the far side.
"Would you just die already?! This ammo's expensive!"
Skimming around a sharp right hand corner, both human and lombax found themselves passing through an open air monorail station with three separate lines leading to different parts of the city; and more importantly a possible way to end this relentless chase. The station itself had several low arches running the length of the platform along with multiple hovering advertising boards plugging Galactic Gladiators, forcing Logan to weave amongst them as he tried to get a bead on the duo.
Drawing her hand cannon, Ellen ignored the twitching of Ratchet's ears from the loud report as she fired over his shoulder; targeting the gravity defying hoardings closest to the gunship and sending them crashing towards its armoured frame. The Thugs-4-Less leader jinked desperately between the impromptu projectiles but clearly couldn't dodge them all; one shattering against the cockpit and obscuring his vision while another shunted the battered war machine into an upcoming archway that sheared off the starboard wing. Completely destabilised, the gunship was sent sprawling in a cloud of thick black smoke; corkscrewing out of control to the streets below while its raging pilot called for back up.
Making sure their pursuer wasn't going to make another comeback any time soon, Ellen clung on tightly as Ratchet flipped over the rails so that he was on the right most lane. The pair rode the track as it arced off back into the quarantine zone before terminating in a siding; the human breathing a sigh of relief once they were back on solid ground once more.
"You think we got him?"
The red-headed commando snorted depreciatively at the question. "With the way our luck holds, I seriously doubt it."
Ratchet couldn't help but chuckle in return. "True, but you know..." A gloved hand lazily traced a path down the small of her back before squeezing the human's toned rear, eliciting a stuttering intake of breath and causing an interesting pink hue to decorate her cheeks as he huskily murmured into her ear. "You can get down now, unless you wanna... go for another ride."
Ellen's face flushed further still at the insinuation, especially since she still had her legs wrapped around his waist with her bosom pressed against his chest in a rather suggestive manner. But instead of letting the golden furred feline get to her, she opted to turn the situation around with a coy smile of her own. "And what if I do, fuzz ball?" She absently stroked his cheek with gloved fingers while delighting in his surprised reaction. "Just so long as I get to be... on top, of course."
It took a few seconds for Ratchet to regain his senses, shaking his head with a chuckle as he gently set the human down on the railed walkway they had landed on. "Much as I'd love to babe, we've still gotta find Clank; and any clues we might've found just got blown sky high."
She sighed, playful mood dissipating at the reminder. "Yeah... you're right." Ellen rested her head against the lombax's for a brief moment, taking comfort in his in his familiar presence before deigning to speak once more. "Come on, lets get going before the thugs try to spring anymore surprises."
Climbing a small flight of stairs at the end of the walkway, the two soon found themselves on a circular observation deck with a commanding view of this section of the city; a curious red button set inside a triangular casing standing on a raised plinth on the far side. Since the short range link for their ships was still being jammed somehow, Ratchet jabbed the button in hopes of summoning an air cab that could take them back to the landing zone. Instead of a taxi however, the sounds of powerful jet turbines overhead announced the arrival of a flying vehicle that looked like a cross between the front half of an Earth-bound armoured truck and a blarg dropship considering the angular construction.
The rugged looking van was primarily silver with burnished orange highlights and blacked out windows, a pair of large, no doubt heavily modified ion engines slung low against the rear of the fuselage. But it was the back of the vehicle where the two commandos were focused as they rounded it with caution; a large portion near the bottom of the reinforced rear doors sliding open along with a slit near the top, where a beady and very shifty looking pair of eyes gave the area a once over before settling on the duo.
"Put it in the slot."
The voice was slippery, oily for want of a better term; the kind one would associate with crooked enterprises and dealings of ill repute. It certainly put Ellen on edge, her hand absently twitching towards the Quick Select on her belt as she stared the speaker down. "What are you talking about?"
Ratchet on the other hand grinned appreciatively; unable to resist the obvious innuendo in spite of her cautious stance. "That's what she said!"
The vehicle's occupant rolled his eyes in annoyance, unknowingly mirroring Ellen's own exasperated face as he reiterated his statement. "The weapon you want modified. Put it in the slot."
Eyes lighting up with understanding, the two commandos stepped forward almost in union with rising Interest. "Oh, I get it; you make weapon modifications."
The van-bound vendor gave the impression of nodding towards the lombax in spite of not being able to see his head. "Yup. I can take your puny little weapon and with a few, uh, tweaks, I can turn it into a powerful piece of equipment." There was a pregnant pause during which the redhead and her shorter feline counterpart seemed to be having second thoughts, the salesman's eyes flicking back and forth between the environment and his potential customers with increasing irritation. "Look, you want me to hook you up or what? I can't hang around here all day."
Ellen shrugged. "Can't see any harm in taking a look. Alright, let's see what you've got."
Quite a lot as it turned out.
Upon enquiring as to the exact nature of his services, the merchant produced a holographic interface catalogue much like those used by Gadgetron and Megacorp vendors; albeit crammed full of weapon upgrades and modifications of increasingly dubious legality. Some were more mundane such as after market targeting software and extended ammo capacity, but most seemed to be designed to make already deadly weapons downright lethal. A mod for the Gravity Bomb that imbued each grenade with an acidic compound that spread upon detonation, another for the Heavy Lancer that caused the bullets to discharge an electric shock on impact that could strike nearby targets, and not forgetting of course the add on for the Leviathan that tipped each round with a high explosive gel that could be detonated via an installed button on the hand cannon's grip.
Ratchet was beside himself with glee at the sheer amount of awesomeness available, although his mood soured somewhat once his partner pointed out that the shifty looking trader didn't accept bolts going by the prices listed; exchanging only platinum bolts and Raritanium for his services instead. Neither of the two had either of the highly valuable commodities to hand, and other than paying an extortionate fee for some on the rare metals market there was no way they could immediately obtain any.
Sighing with resignation as she prepared to close up the catalogue, Ellen paused upon glimpsing a small tab labelled 'Rejects/Clearance'. Clicking on the link, she found a half-dozen Frankenstein weapons that looked more as if they were more likely to maim the operator than the intended target; a flame spewing shotgun with lethal overheating issues, the sniper-umbrella hybrid that didn't actually work when wet, and a rocket launcher designed to fire backwards around corners being among the most eye catching examples.
At the bottom of the list however was something much more practical looking; a robust, blocky looking assault rifle with a series of vents running up the sides and a thicker secondary barrel mounted just below the first. It looked oddly similar to the pulse rifles used by the Colonial Marines in the Alien franchise in shape if not design, though a lot longer, bulkier, and minus the trademark digital ammo counter. "What can you tell me about this one?"
The anonymous vendor looked away briefly, probably to check what she was pointing out his own screen before turning back to the human with a thoughtful look. "That there is an experimental model weapon from Pox Industries I acquired for a... discerning client who reneged on the deal. It's supposed to collect waste heat when fired and convert it into useable plasma charges for the integrated grenade launcher."
"So what's wrong with it?" Ratchet asked with a raised brow, noting with suspicion the comparatively cheap price of 30,000 bolts rather than the more expensive materials the man preferred to deal in. "I mean, it sounds pretty sweet, so how come I've never seen one of these for sale?"
"That's because it suffers from..." the mystery merchant looked away briefly in contemplation. "Overheating issues. The rest of the test batch exploded thanks to the heat sinks not being up to par, so this is the only one left in the known galaxy. Not a lot of good for anything other than display purposes only."
Oh. Well, yeah, that would probably be a good reason.
Still, Ellen couldn't help but wonder as she skimmed through the limited information available on the weapon. Aside from the cooling problem, the pulse rifle analogue would have been the ideal replacement were it not for the gun's questionable reliability, and the fact she had already spent out on her Hellfire. But what if the best qualities of the two were combined? The reliability of her bullpup carbine and the secondary fire capability of the otherwise expensive dust magnet. Shifty as he may be, the man in the van did say he made weapon modifications, so surely it wouldn't be much of a stretch for him to solve the issue.
"Do you think it would be possible to mount the same kind of system on another weapon?" she asked while presenting her Hellfire for him to see. "Without it blowing my face off when it gets too hot that is."
"A Hellfire, huh? Haven't seen one of those for a while." The vendor paused in thought, giving both the human and her proffered carbine a calculating look before continuing with a noncommittal hum. "Maybe, just maybe, but not with what I've got here. Give me a few hours and I'll see what I can do, just make sure you're ready to pay up when I'm done."
Though she was reluctant to part with her go-to weapon Ellen handed over her Hellfire and covered the costs for stripping down the dodgy assault rifle for parts; making a mental note to check out the online rare metals market later on to see if there was a way to get hold of enough platinum bolts to pay for the end product once it was finished. With the exchange complete and the weapons dealer taking off for parts unknown, the two commandos found themselves back to square one; stuck in the middle of the quarantine zone with their only potential lead gone up in smoke.
The only good news was that the jamming signal that had been interfering with their Wrist Coms had disappeared around the same time Logan's gunship went down, meaning that Ellen could finally establish a link with her ship and remotely pilot it to their location. Hopping in once the Bogon blue Star Explorer had set down with its canopy open, the human flipped over to manual control while Ratchet made himself comfortable in the passenger seat; the pair soon ascending above the surrounding buildings and cruising across the city's skyline.
"So... what now? How're we supposed to find Clank in all this?" Ellen gestured outside at the steel and glass urban jungle as it skimmed by underneath, gently banking the ship so that it circled the downtown area.
Her lombax partner didn't respond at first, eyes distantly gazing at the passing streets below as his mind churned in thought. Logan had wiped out any potential evidence with his attack on Clank's penthouse suite, but surely there had to be some way to track down his best friend? If only the little robot had some kind of distress beacon they could home in on, at least then they would be able to- Ratchet bolted upright. "That's it!"
Ellen started in surprise at the golden furred feline's exclamation, chancing a glance away from their current flight path to see him fiddling with the communications suite on the ships central console at a feverish pace while his eyes flitted back and forth to his Wrist Com. "What's it? What're you doing?"
Ratchet smirked as he finished typing in the last string of numbers and pushed the call button, settling back into his seat as he gave the red-headed girl his full attention. "Calling the expert; someone who knows more about Clank than we do. If he can't help us find the little guy, no one can."
it took several seconds for the call to connect, the long distance nature of the transmission causing more than a little lag. But when it did, the central screen on the ship's console crackled into life with the image of a very familiar portly, butter yellow alien with a ginger tuft of hair atop his head. "Al's Roboshack, what can I-" His eyes widened behind his thick framed glasses, the attached eye magnifier moved aside as he gaped at the camera. "Ratchet! And... is that... Ellen?"
There was an audible gasp off screen soon followed by hurried footsteps and a distinctly accented voice. "WHERE?!"
The live image jolted and Al yelped in surprise as a dirty blonde streaked blur crashed into him, the screen soon replace by a far too close up visage of excitable green eyes over a wide almost maniacal grin. "ELLIE! IS THAT YOU?!"
Ellen winced at the sheer volume coming through the ship's speakers, the lombax beside her being far worse off if his folded back ears were anything to go by. Still, at least she wasn't being hug tackled by the over exuberant woman. "Uh... Hi, Ed. Long time no see?"
"Oh mah goodness, it is you! Where'n the heck have y'all been?!"
Edwina looked like she was about to burst with joy if what little of her practically bouncing form was anything to go by, her face pulling back from the camera to reveal a somewhat dazed Al resetting his skewed glasses as he staggered back into view. "Ed, please be more careful. You could have broken something!"
"Aw, sorry Al," she replied while sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. "Ah just got a lil' excited. Here, lemme help you with that."
The two commandos watched with growing degrees of amusement as the proprietor of Roboshack's Hoven branch fussed over her larger brother while he tried to fend her off with growing irritation. "Stop that! I'm fine!" Taking a cleansing breath, Al kept Edwina at arms length as he refocused on the camera. "All things aside Ratchet, where have you been? No one's heard from you since you disappeared weeks ago, and now you're calling from..." he blinked at something off screen, probably some sort of signal tracing device judging by his wide eyed reaction. "The Bogon galaxy, with the same girl we've all been helping you search for this last year. Just what the heck is going on?"
Ratchet grimaced. "It's... kind of a long story. But right now we really need your help."
As her partner gave a very abridged account of the events leading up to Clank's disappearance, Ellen noted the changing expressions on the two sibling's faces go through the motions of shock, disbelief, and in Ed's case barely constrained rage once Ratchet got to the thief's 'warning' transmission. "That good for nothin' low life hurt the poor lil' fella?! Just wait till ah get mah hands on him," her fist balled into fists and her lips curled into snarl as she continued. "See how he likes it when mah blowtorch's shoved up his-"
"I... think we get the picture," Ellen quickly interrupted, feeling their chances of recovering their mutual friend ebbing away and trying to steer the conversation back on track. "Ratchet said you might be able to help us track Clank down. Any ideas where to start?"
Al paused in thought, one hand cupping his chin as he hummed with concentration. "There... is a possibility... I did give the little guy his bi-annual check up a few months back, let me see if I can find his file..." He trailed off both in voice and presence, disappearing from sight along with Ed although the sounds of various items being thrown aside could clearly be heard. With a triumphant 'aha', the owner of Roboshack's Metropolis branch came back into view while skimming through a datapad held inches from his face. "Here we are! Since Clank runs on standard XP-18 sister boards, I took the liberty of updating his firmware to version 8.1 while checking over his actuators. The latest patch adds an advanced GPS uplink capability for terrain mapping that, in theory at least, should be reverse traceable to pinpoint his exact location." He faltered. "That is, assuming it hasn't been tampered with."
"Well that's great and all," Ratchet replied with a frown. "But there's gotta be hundreds of robots in the city running the same update. How are we supposed to work out which one's Clank?"
"Well actually, the XP-18 is originally a Gadgetron series, and from what I understand isn't all that popular in the Bogon galaxy since everyone buys Megacorp there."
Ellen nodded at the ginger haired technical savant's explanation. "Should definitely narrow down the list. Alright, what do we do?"
Working under Al's guidance with Edwina giving her own input, Ratchet managed to tweak the Star Explorer's GPS transmitter so that it could receive signals rather than just transmit; using the system and a string of reworked coding to send out intermittent pulses that, in theory, should ping any robots in the area running the same sister boards as Clank. There were at least twenty or so matches within the first half minute; a number decreased further by refined sweeps as Ellen looped around the city in a loose circuit that eliminated potential targets by dismissing those that had the wrong frame type or function, such as construction robots.
In the end the search was narrowed down to three possible matches for Clank; one of which was located near the top floor of legal firm's offices in the financial district, while another resided inside the police precinct bordering downtown and the tenement blocks just beyond. The third option however was what caught the two commandos attention the most, a faint signal emanating from deep within the space port's loading docks that weren't far removed from where they had initially landed. Once Ellen had touched down next to Ratchet's Star Explorer, they soon discovered that there was in fact a service entrance to the freight processing sector only a few hundred yards away from the vendor they had visited previously visited; thankfully in the opposite of where Officer Barnaby still stood beside his police cruiser, now staring out at the thick plumes of smoke coming from the distant yet clearly visible top floors of Megacorp Towers with a look of disbelief.
Neither human nor lombax particularly wanted to explain the sheer amount of property damage they had been accessories to across the quarantine zone, and so discretely made their way to the vendor to resupply before resuming their search for Clank. The range had actually reset since their first visit and had two additional weapons in stock which sparked Ellen's interest; the Pulse Rifle and Miniturret Glove.
The former was a relatively compact direct energy sniper rifle boasting a variable zoom scope and a collapsible stock in addition to the horizontally installed foregrip; a necessity seeing as the weapon used linear compensating technology, meaning that the entire barrel assembly physically moved backwards with each shot to dissipate recoil and maintain accuracy. The latter on the other hand was pretty self explanatory given the name, the predominantly orange gauntlet worked in a similar vein to the human's old Glove of Doom; tossing out silver metallic orbs that spawned automatic gun turrets programmed to attack anything remotely hostile towards the user, but ignoring any allies or non-combatants. The only problem Ellen had was a lack of funds; her bank balance worrying light after having to splash out on replacing her expended ordinance with Ratchet not much better off.
"Damn it, they're way too expensive..."
"Um, Ellen?" Al's voice emanated from Ratchet's Wrist Com along with a small holographic display of his upper body, the lombax having transferred the call to the smaller device upon landing. "I think I might be able to help with that."
The human's own Wrist Com chimed a few seconds later with an incoming message, her eyes widening fractionally upon opening the attached credit chit and viewing the contents. "That's... a lot of money." She sighed. "Al, I can't accept this."
"Why the heck not?" Ed chimed in, her image butting in on the projection next to her brother. "It's yours anyway."
"It's your 10% commission we agreed on from licensing the Grapple Gun idea you came up with back when we first met. The lawsuit with Gadgetron may have eaten most of the profits, but I managed to keep your share safe until I could pass it on."
"Oh."
She'd clean forgotten to be honest, that particular deal only meant to tide her over financially in the event that she was stuck in the Solana galaxy for an extended period once Drek had been stopped. Of course that never came to pass, what with her inadvertently jumping across galaxies back home in much the same way she had originally arrived; meaning that her nest egg had remained in an untouched bank account with accrued interest before being transferred. It would definitely come in handy now though, seeing as it was easily enough for Ellen to buy both weapons outright twice over and still have change; although Ratchet declined her offer of buying one or both for him as well on the grounds that they 'weren't his thing' and he'd get something more explosive oriented next time.
Once everything was paid for and the call to the Roboshack siblings ended with the promise that they'd call back as soon as they found Clank, both human and lombax made their way along the boulevard towards the spaceport's loading docks and the side entrance that would hopefully bring them one step closer to their missing friend. The rolling shutter door began to rise of its own accord once they got within a dozen or so feet, a single laser bot barely avoiding pitching over as it trundling forth down the short flight of stairs to greet them. A pair of hand cannon rounds was more than enough to put it down for good, the two commandos barely even breaking stride as they stepped past the twitching remains and through the doorway beyond.
Unfortunately there was a second, heavier graded shutter just inside, and the adjacent terminal for opening it looked like it had been sabotaged judging by the fritzed screen and sparking port sockets underneath. Thankfully Ratchet's Electrolyzer was up to the job, and in less than a minute the worst of the damage had been patched up enough for the barrier to open with a groan of protest amidst the grinding of hidden mechanisms.
Ellen stood ready with her shotgun as Ratchet re-equipped his Chopper, the pair waiting until the shutter had risen enough to get a good look inside before they pushed through. The room beyond was a lot more utilitarian than the rest of the city's decor; dull grey walls, mesh grilled flooring, and exposed piping all illuminated by dim overhead lighting being entirely unsurprising for an industrial area normally off limits to the public. The sweeper bots moving to attack were nothing new either; the lombax's laser sharp throwing stars pinging off of the enclosed walls and making short work of the machines before his partner could get more than a single shot off.
Their footsteps echoed loudly on the metal grill flooring, a faint hiss of escaping gas emanating from the heavy duty tubing running underneath as the two commandos moved into the room with caution. Passing several haphazardly stacked crates they soon noticed a sudden increase in temperature as they rounded a left hand corner along with a low pitched whining noise; a series of glowing red heat sinks of some sort set into the floor of the sunken corridor beyond accounting for the former, presumably for some kind of heavy machinery further into the loading docks. The latter though was caused by a pair of laser bots milling around with crimson beams sweeping across every surface they touched, Ellen missing her Hellfire already as she closed in to blow one apart with her Blitz Gun while Ratchet fired a concentrated burst from his LMG at the other.
The shutter on the far side of the corridor began to open before they were even halfway across, a cluster of sweeper bots surging through in an attempt to swamp them both with their numbers. Had it been anyone else it might of worked; but Ratchet and Ellen were long since used to countering such tactics from far more formidable foes. The lombax smashed the first to reach him aside with his wrench, barely giving the crippled drone a chance to impact a nearby wall before he was rushing forward to leap over a second and shattering a third with an overhead strike. His human partner meanwhile had drawn her own melee weapon to save ammo and gotten stuck in herself; slicing through the thin armour of the sweeper bot Ratchet had bypassed before turning on her heel to drive her Versa Blade home through the body of another coming up behind her.
Within seconds the area was robot free and the duo soon exited the corridor through the open doorway beyond; finding themselves in a control room of sorts with a computerised control panel linked to overhanging monitors taking up most of one wall, along with a wide, tinted glass window looking down on a large cargo bay stacked with shipping containers and a half dozen sweeper bots patrolling in-between. Pressing her face up against the glass, the only way forward Ellen could see was an access way a good twenty feet or so above the bay's floor on the far right; far beyond their reach and with no obvious points for her Grapple Gun to latch on to.
"Hey babe, check this out. I'll bet this operates that crane up there."
The human looked back over her shoulder to see Ratchet gesturing towards the control panel she was leaning over in her attempt to peer through the glass; following his gaze between the joystick-like device situated next to one of the monitors and the imposing electro-magnet hanging from the ceiling of the cargo bay. "We could use that to stack those containers and make a stairway out of here," she mused. "Think you can get it working?"
Quite easily as it turned out. A quick repair job with the Electrolyzer on a nearby panel gave the furry commando full access to the crane's controls which, after a brief play around to familiarise himself, allowed him to reposition a single shipping container against the far right hand wall for them to climb up while clearing several others aside to open up a more direct route. Sliding down an access ladder into the cargo bay once the lombax had finished, the pair mostly ignored the random spread of sweeper bots homing in on them and ran straight for the pre-positioned container with Ellen dropping a few canisters from her new Miniturret Glove in their wake to keep the machines busy.
With the newly spawned sentry guns spewed forth efficient bursts of automatic fire into their pursuers, Ratchet easily clambered on top of the oversized crate and pulled his human partner up beside him before repeating the action once again and allowing them to reach the access way above. The short and claustrophobic glorified maintenance shaft soon opened out onto another blisteringly hot room, the glowing red heat sinks taking up the entire floor only able to be crossed at all thanks to a narrow mesh grille walkway running down the middle. The heat haze in such confined quarters was physically draining and made it hard to see clearly beyond a few feet; but that didn't stop Ellen blowing away a laser bot lurking on the far side with her Blitz Gun, nor Ratchet using his wrench to pound a second into scrap as it came through a shutter door that opened nearby.
Stepping through and out into the open again, both commandos took a breath of fresh air as their helmet's breathing masks disengaged before taking a look at the lay of the land before them. There was a cavernous gap between where the pair were standing and the what looked like the continuation of a street on the far side, a pair of hover barges floating between in lieu of a clearly unfinished bridge. In fact, there seemed to be a fair amount of abandoned construction materials lying around on both sides of the divide; the few personal effects scattered around along with hardhats and the like giving the impression that whoever was working here had left in a hurry.
Recalling their conversation with officer Barnaby and his mention of construction robots working outside of the quarantine zone going rogue, Ellen gestured for Ratchet to wait a moment and shouldered her newly acquired Pulse Rifle before peering down the scope; her suspicions confirmed by what she could see on the far side. Aside from the single wandering laser bot just on the edge of the opposite bridgehead, what caught her attention was a large, black-coloured spherical robot hovering behind a pile of burnished orange girders that partly obscured it from view. Zooming in, she could more clearly make out twin spindly, double-jointed arms wielding high-velocity rivet guns, attached to a bulbous torso kept aloft by an anti-gravity thruster unit at the base while its chunky, humanoid head scanned back and forth with a single, glowing orange optic.
Steadying her aim, the human drew in a breath before stroking the trigger as she exhaled; a luminous green vapour trail briefly flashing into existence as the sniper rifle's moving barrel smoothly absorbed the recoil and the rivet bot's head simply ceased to be. Ratchet was already moving before the hulking machine had even begun to keel over, hopping across the floating barges and slinging a throwing star from his Chopper at the solitary laser bot once he'd reached the apex of each jump. Once on the other side and having made sure the immediate area was clear, the lombax waved his partner over; waiting for her to catch up before they advanced cautiously together through the scattered construction equipment clogging the narrow passageway and out into the open once more.
The two commandos soon found themselves on gently curving boulevard similar to the one that ran by their landed ships, right down to the decorative railings running around the open side and the overt use of bronze adorning nigh every surface in some way. There wasn't much time to admire the scenery however due to a six-inch metal bolt impacting the wall close to where they were stood, closely followed by several more thanks to an advancing rivet bot blocking their way with its bulk.
Not wanting to mess around any further and conscious of Clank's increasingly dire situation, Ratchet drew his grenade launcher before darting around the corner both he and Ellen were sheltering behind and into the fray. The lombax front flipped over a torrent of riveted bolts; unleashing a Gravity Bomb at the apex of his jump and rolling upon landing so as to not lose any momentum, only to see that the explosive had fallen short with the resulting shockwave merely the hovering machine. A follow up round struck true though, and by the time his partner had reacted the rivet bot was little more than scrap metal once it had impacted the wall running along the inside of the boulevard.
Pushing forward, the duo were entirely unsurprised to see yet another energy barrier blocking the archway to their immediate left and a secured shutter embossed with the Megacorp logo set into the wall directly ahead; the latter of which rolled open at their approach and disgorged a dozen or so sweeper bots to swarm the area. Ellen reverted back to her shotgun only for another Gravity Bomb to land in the machine's midst; wiping out a vast majority of their number and leaving the few remaining vulnerable to deft strokes of the two commando's melee weapons that ended the confrontation in seconds.
Once the last of the cleaning drones had fallen, the translucent blue barrier winked out of existence and both companions cautiously made their way up the few steps to its base before stacking up on either side of the archway. Peering around their respective cover, Ratchet and Ellen noted the pair of laser bots scathing the open area before them with searing red beams as they seemingly moved aimlessly amongst more abandoned crates and building equipment; over which the top mounted air intakes of another rivet bot could just about be seen a fair way back just beside the cavernous entrance to the building beyond.
Since none of the machines had apparently noticed their presence yet there was time for a little ad hoc planning rather than charge straight in; Ratchet gesturing for Ellen to take out the much bigger robot at the rear while he dealt with the ones in front. The human soon had the scope of her Pulse Rifle trained on the mostly obscured machine and held her finger just above the trigger, giving her partner her partner the signal to move in as she waited for a clear shot.
The lombax promptly dashed forward with his wrench in hand, using the forward momentum to smash the closest laser bot against a large crate and rain blows on its domed head until it shattered and remained still. While he moved further into the haphazard mass of construction materials in search of the second such machine, his fellow commando steadied her breathing as her target slowly rotated in place and began to move towards the source of the commotion; waiting until it passed through a small gap between tarpaulin covered piles before emptying her lungs and pulling the trigger in tandem. The first shot passed straight through the centre mass with little effect, but the follow up apparently hit something vital considering the way the rogue construction bot exploded into fragments that pebble dashed the entire area.
Ratchet meanwhile had already taken down the second laser bot and accidentally stumbled across a third; briefly ducking behind a stack of small crates and glad for once that his short stature meant the destructive beam meant for him missed entirely and sliced through the cover above his head instead. A retaliatory spray of Heavy Lancer fire soon evened the playing field however, and as soon as Ellen caught up once more with her Leviathan in hand, the pair vaulted the narrow gap between the storage area and the adjacent platform before making their way up the short flight of stairs to the facility entrance above.
Ellen's shotgun boomed and the gaggle of cleaning drones meandering just inside the cramped room beyond promptly redecorated the walls as the duo rushed inside; finding themselves once again in another crane control room similar to the last, right down to the bank of computers, monitors, and tinted glass. The view through the window however was negligible and revealed little more than an atrium that was piled with assorted luggage from the spaceport itself ready for distribution, and a wide entry way beyond leading down a ramp.
The multitude of screens overhead indicated that this in fact led to an elongated cargo bay that was clearly out of action judging by the numerous rogue cleaning bots and uprooted floor panelling throughout, exposing the blazingly hot heat sinks that ran underneath. To make matters worse, the reinforced security door separating the control room from the atrium beyond was jammed shut and their weapons wouldn't be able to so much as put a dent in the damn thing.
Once Ratchet had fixed the a nearby junction box with his Electrolyzer and gotten the crane back up and running after a few abortive attempts, he settled into the operators seat and took control while Ellen leaned over his shoulder. The closest camera showed a lone laser bot just outside their door sweeping the atrium with its namesake beams of light, and upon discovering that it could easily be picked up by the electro-magnet the duo came up with an... interesting solution to the rogue robot infestation in the cargo bay beyond. Moving the crane through the compromised bay with their unwilling passenger attached, Ratchet swept their improvised death ray across the robots below while Ellen used the camera feed on the banks of monitors above their station to direct him onto new targets; clearing the area in less than a minute and passing through into cargo out processing.
With nothing left to hinder their progress, the captive laser bot was bodily slammed into the ground and the remains released before the crane was used to stack more containers and allow passage to the raised access way beyond. The only problem the two commandos had now was finding a way to breach the control room's reinforced door, but thanks to Ellen spotting a large red container marked with the words 'volatile' and 'explosive' the end result was never in doubt.
"Fire in the hole!" Ratchet yelled unnecessarily, diving beneath the control console and pulling Ellen down with him scant seconds after dropping the improvised bomb outside the sealed booth's exit.
The following explosion was almost deafening, and the resulting shrapnel almost certainly lethal had they not taken cover. Razor sharp fragments of the door embedded in the far wall along with the observation window's glass, which crunched underfoot as they staggered upright and brushed themselves off. "You okay?"
Ellen nodded, letting out a breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding as she idly brushed off some clinging debris. "Yeah... just peachy. I've had just about enough of almost getting blown up for one day though."
Ratchet snorted in amusement as they made their way through the now thoroughly ruined atrium, manually engaging their helmet's rebreathers before descending into the stiflingly hot cargo bay beyond. "I hear ya babe. Let's just find Clank and get out of here."
Once they had crossed the ruined cargo bay and climbed up the assembled containers in out processing, the pair almost immediately had to retreat due to a pair of rivet bots filling the short passage way above their position with high-velocity metal spikes. Ducking down below the lip of the corridor to avoid being turned into pin cushions, Ratchet sprayed rounds from his Heavy Lancer over the top to break the machine's aim while Ellen re-equipped her Miniturret Glove and sent a trio of silver orbs sailing down range that promptly hatched into an identical number of sentry guns.
While the automated turrets held the rogue construction robots attention, both lombax and human leapt up and surged toward their foes with LMG and shotgun respectively in hand. A cadre of sweeper bots poured out from beneath an opening shutter to their immediate left once the pair had entered the room beyond, Ellen turning to eviscerate them with point blank buckshot while Ratchet bypassed her position and drilled one of the still busy rivet bot's centre mass. The deployed sentries soon began to explode one after another as their ammunition stores ran out, leaving a single black-painted machine to face the advancing duo's now combined firepower that soon left it in a mangled heap on the floor even as more cleaning drones swept out from an opening storage closet just ahead.
Once the area was robot free and they were sure that there were no more surprises lying in wait for them, Ratchet spared a glance at his Wrist Com to check the signal trace being provided by the modified GPS transmitter in Ellen's Star Explorer before waving her over to a nondescript metal panel on the far right of the seemingly dead end room. "Hey babe, gimme a hand will ya? I think there's something behind here."
Sure enough there was. With Ellen punching a large enough gap in the plating with her Versa Blade for Ratchet's wrench to pry open, they found that the recently welded metal panel concealed the entrance to a small service lift. Riding it up a floor, both commandos cautiously stepped off once it had stopped and followed the dimly lit left curving corridor beyond with weapons raised; expecting another attack at any second.
"We're getting close," the lombax whispered aloud. "Keep your eyes open for any traps; the thief's gotta know we're coming by now."
His red-headed partner nodded sharply, nervously licking suddenly dry lips as her eyes strained against the gloom before them while her thoughts drifted to the eloquent silver robot they were here to rescue. Was he really here? Was he even alive after what the thief had put him through? She didn't know any better than Ratchet did, and could only pray that the worst wouldn't come to pass. But with the consuming darkness giving way to almost blinding light at the end of the corridor before their visors could properly polarise, the sight in the sunken room below soon provided the answer.
"CLANK!"
The scuffed and unmoving body of their diminutive friend still lay strapped to the same angled table they had seen in the thief's threatening video back at Maktar Resort, linked to the slab-like device that had been used to electrocute him. Though the rest of the room was fairly spacious, it was by and large empty of any equipment or personal effects; as if somebody had decided to clean the place out and get rid of anything incriminating. The thought worried Ellen, because if that was the case then the kidnapper almost certainly knew they were coming and had likely made arrangements to either escape or take out all three of them.
"Clank? Can you hear me buddy?" Ratchet was beside himself with worry and Ellen wasn't far behind him, both trying to search for a safe way down in the relatively smooth panelled room that offered few handholds to grasp onto. "Just stay right there, we're coming d-"
The lombax's words were cut off by a crimson blur shoving him over the ledge the two commandos were perched on, his partner whipping around while drawing her hand cannon only to catch a brief glimpse of a featureless mask as she suffered the same fate. Ellen's trigger finger squeezed instinctively as she fell, but the heavy calibre round did little more than embed itself in the ceiling; the human falling on top of an already groaning Ratchet and leaving the pair in an undignified heap.
"Ugh... Son of a Qwark..." The golden furred feline shook the mental cobwebs from his mind and blinked at the feminine form slumped on top of him before giving a teasing smirk. "Well, this is familiar."
"Oh button it, fuzz ball," the redhead retorted with an indignant huff as she managed to extricate herself from the jumble of limbs; helping him up and directing a scowl at the ledge where they had been pushed from. "Great, bastard sealed us in. Now what?"
Sure enough, there was a heavily reinforced door blocking any access to the ledge from which they had been pushed and the darkened corridor beyond. Without another improvised bomb to hand though they wouldn't be able to breach the thing let alone pursue the thief, even if they could climb back up there in the first place on such smooth and slippery walls.
"We'll figure something out," Ratchet replied wearily. "But right now we've got a friend who needs us."
Upon reaching his side, Clank didn't look any better up close than from afar; his limp form sporting several dents and dings in addition to the obvious scrapes on his usually immaculate finish. Ellen always remembered his silver frame giving off a faint, comforting warmth whenever she had been close to him before that was now disturbingly absent; the minute silver robot completely cold to the touch and unresponsive to her attempts to rouse him. "He's so cold..."
"Looks like he's been out for a while," Ratchet grimaced, trying to focus on what he could do to help rather than the growing sense of anger and worry at what had happened to his best friend. "I'll try and get these restraints off, but you'd better call Al. We're gonna need his help."
While the lombax used his Electrolyzer to try and pry through the machinery holding Clank securely in place, Ellen quickly browsed through the contacts list on her Wrist Com and selected the most recent addition; silently thankful that her ship's computer had automatically downloaded the details during the their aerial sweep over the city. It didn't take long for the ginger-haired Roboshack proprietor to pick up, and the sense of worry she could see on his face through the video call closely mirrored her own.
"Ellen! Did you find him?! Is he okay?!"
The human bit her lip, angling the camera on her Wrist Com around so that he could see for himself. "We found him alright, but he's not moving. We don't even know if he's... still alive." That particular thought brought forth a well of emotions that she ruthlessly squashed down even as suppressed tears threatened to escape from her eyes. No, Clank was going to be fine. He had to be. She had already lost one brother, and would be damned if she'd lose the one person in the universe who was a close second in all but blood.
"It doesn't look like there's any major external damage and I know most of his primary systems are shielded against power surges like the one you said he's been exposed to," Al mused aloud, one hand cupping his chin as his eyes roved the diminutive robot's inactive form. "Of course we won't know until we've opened the little fella up and had a look. Is Ratchet there?"
There was a dull clunk as the restraints holding Clank down disengaged, Ratchet laying a steadying hand on his friend's limp frame to prevent him falling off the angled table. Ellen quickly grabbed a hold, and together they gently lowered him to the floor below. "Yeah, I'm here Al. You're gonna have to talk me through it though; not sure what Clank looks like on the inside, and I don't wanna snag the wrong wire."
With Al's guidance and Ellen holding her Wrist Com overhead for the engineer to see, Ratchet carefully set to work; gently removing the outer panelling on Clank's chest and exposing his inner workings to their eyes. At some point Edwina, who had apparently been preoccupied with a call to her elder brother Bob, returned to the conversation; adding some advice of her own but otherwise staying uncharacteristically quiet in no small part thanks to the severity of the situation.
As it turned out though, the damage wasn't all that bad aside from some burnt out wiring. The diminutive robot was actually none the worse for wear much to everyone's relief, his inner workings being surge protected against electrical overloads even on an industrial scale; Little surprise considering how he shook off that lightning strike back in Gorda City during their fight against Drek. In fact, the only reason Clank was offline in the first place was because his processor had shut down to prevent any damage to his cognitive functions; meaning they simply had to switch him back on again via a rather archaic looking breaker.
The four watched with baited breath for achingly long minutes; doubts lingering and each wondering if their combined efforts would truly be enough until finally, Clank began to move. It was subtle at first, mostly the twitch of a servo or his antennae pulsing rhythmically. But then his green optics slowly shuttered open, and as they began to brighten their tiny metal friend stirred into life; sitting up with a digit extended to the ceiling and a somewhat glazed expression adorning his face as he enunciated the first words Ellen had heard from him in almost a year.
"...Final digit of Pi is..."
Ratchet understandably was more than a little worried over his best friend's mental state, grasping his shoulders and giving them a thorough shake. "Clank? Clank, can you hear me?"
"Ratchet?" Green optics shuttered and refocused, a servo idly rubbing the small robot's helm as his features morphed into one of puzzlement. "Where... are we?"
"In the arse end of the spaceport's loading docks," came the reply from Clank's immediate left; the familiar voice causing his gaze to whip round with surprise at the human female standing there with a warm smile on adorning her face.
"Ellen! What are you-
Any response on his part was soon cut off by her sudden, desperate hug; his arms pressed against his sides while she held him affectionately against her chest before setting him down with a kiss atop his dome. "Sorry Clank," she apologised with a light flush of her cheeks at her forward behaviour. "It's just been so long, and we were really worried about you when we found out you'd been kidnapped."
"It is good to see you again as well Ellen," Clank acknowledged with a smile of his own. "But how did you get here, and what do you mean by 'kidnapped'?"
The human and lombax filled him in on what he had missed and tried to jog his memory, only to find that there were blank gaps between his abduction and the present. Al hypothesised that the thief may have deliberately erased the information to cover his tracks and prevent any knowledge of his activities following into the commando's hands; an idea that had Edwina scowling and proposing several very unpleasant things she wanted to do to the villain should they meet.
For now though the newly reunited trio needed to get out of the dead end room they were trapped in and resume their hunt for the protopet. To this end, Clank volunteered to navigate through an air duct mounted high on a nearby wall in order to try and find a means to unlock the secured door for his organic friends from the other side. Ellen boosted the little robot up to reach it, and upon warning him to stay safe, watched as he disappeared out of sight before taking a seat on the floor with Ratchet to wait it out. The Roboshack siblings soon signed off and ended their end of the video call, promising they'd come and visit as soon as they were able if they could get Bob to cover for them and leaving the lombax and human in companionable silence.
"Well, guess all we can do now is wait." Ratchet's stomach choose that particular moment to grumble. "...and maybe grab some lunch too, y'know, once we get out of here"
Ellen couldn't help but snicker in response, snuggling up beside him and enjoying the familiar warmth radiating from his covered fur brief while she could. "I'll hold you to that, fuzz ball. In fact, why don't we just stay here for the evening? We won't be able to follow up that lead from Mr Fizzwidget until tomorrow at the earliest anyway."
The golden furred feline wrapped an arm around his girl with an amused chuckle, pulling her onto his lap and idly running a free hand down her side in a sensuous, soothing motion. "Well I know you wanted us to get a room, but I was kinda hoping we'd at least have a bed."
Giving him a half hearted punch on the arm, Ellen gave him a faux scowl as she looked up into his mischievous eyes. "I meant the city, genius. It's been one hell of a long day, and I could do with a few hours of not getting shot at or blown up."
"Sounds like a plan," Ratchet replied with one of his trademark smirks, his expression softening as he cupped the human's chin and gazed into her icy blue eyes. "But in the mean time... I think we could do with getting reacquainted."
An agreeable hum escaped from her throat as she draped an arm around his neck, leaning into the embrace and brushing his lips with her own. "That we do, Fuzz ball. That we do."
It would probably be a while until Clank managed to find a way to get them out of the locked room. But until he returned the recently reunited couple intended to rekindle their relationship, and make use of the time to catch up with each other in a more... intimate fashion.
…and I think we'll leave them there for now. More level alteration here as you've probably guessed to make events flow a little smoother and a bit more dramatic flair all round compared to canon. It always seemed a bit too simple to find Clank in the game, so I tried to make tracking him down a tad more realistic along with the associated reactions on the character's part. That, and it also gave me an opportunity to reintroduce Al and Ed for a brief cameo appearance.
With Clank safe and the thief disappearing off elsewhere, I think it's high time our heroes took a little break before the plot begins to really pick up the pace. Next chapter will be an interlude of sorts; an excuse for much fluff and perhaps a little romance as the three get some downtime before heading off to Barlow. After that though it'll be business as usual, and our reunited team will be back to doing what they do best.
Until next time, please review and check out my other stories once they're posted and/or updated.
Thanks for reading
- RevenantReaper337