Author's note:
It was a bit of a squeeze and I had to break my 10K word limit, but I've managed to get Siberius down to a single chapter rather than keep splitting things up as has been the case for the last several updates. Speaking of which, as I mentioned a few chapters ago, I'm afraid to say that this will be the final update for this year. With Christmas work commitments, time off with family, and everything in-between, I honestly won't be able to dedicate enough time to this story until new year at the earliest.
If everything works out then I'll be able to start writing again in January and posting by February, giving me a chance to catch up and get back on schedule. In the meantime however, I'm going to try and start going back over Time Heals All, fixing and reformatting everything to make it easier to read before re-uploading. Thank you one and all for all your favourites, follows, and Reviews thus far; and a very merry Christmas to you all. Take care, and hope to see you all again next year.
Review replies:
DarkEnigma95 - Glad the chapter managed to live up to you expectations, and I appreciate the sentiment; I just don't like to boast. Your memory serves you right; this is indeed where the V2 MSRs showed up in-game, with the flamethrower model now able to shoot damn fireballs just because. Not to spoil things too much, but they won't be getting Ellen's ship back just yet or for a little while due to reasons that I'm sure you can guess. Thanks again, and hope you enjoy the new chapter.
starrat - Thank you, here's hoping you like this one too.
Plazmatik - Well you might have just missed out on the chapter before last, but hey; double review! I have to admit that Notak did feel like a bit of a filler level to me with not much interesting going on; which made writing for it a bit of a challenge. The modded Hologuise will be popping up again later on in the story and will come in especially handy in the second act with what's coming up; just as soon as Ellen can 'borrow' one that is. I'd have to agree that Siberius was a lot more fun to play, partly down to being faster paced and of course the whole rolling convoy section. Not sure about the turret thing though, maybe you're thinking of a different level?
Lightsaviour2759 - You're welcome; I'm always happy to have other people's input, especially since it often ends up helping to take the story in an entirely new direction. And oh yes, things are definitely going to heat up once Ellen meets Angela face to face. Glad you like my interpretation of the Notak level and my inclusion of long ranged enemies to test our heroes resolve. Rest assured there will be fluff a lot sooner than not; that is once this chapter is over and- well, I'm pretty sure you know what's coming next. But if not, I don't want to spoil anything. Hope you enjoy the new chapter.
Firestar5277 - Hey again, and yeah, Clank must feel just a tinsy bit awkward and perhaps a little amused at Ratchet and Ellen's constant flirting in front of him. Certainly been there myself as well. I also miss the cackling little kamikazes, or the 'doom squad' as I've dubbed them. Perhaps we'll see them in the sequel, or before that if I decide to create an omake collection for this series…
It's never really explained in canon what the 'robot humour' actually was, though going by the cut scene I'm betting it was something to do with questioning Ratchet's intelligence or otherwise making fun of him. Black Friday didn't seem to be that big a deal over here either compared to last year; certainly made my working day easier. Maybe most people were shopping online instead? A Jak and Daxter cameo, hm? Can't say I'm as familiar with their universe as I am with R&C or Sly Cooper, but I might be able to come up with something for a later chapter. Take care.
Guest - Here's hoping you'll like this one too, thanks for reviewing.
Razor of DOOM - Yup, you got me. Seemed like the most believable way really and sets things up for an interlude/fluff chapter as well.
BulletWitch1985 - Indeed they are; it's just a matter of time until the inevitable confrontation. Glad to hear you're looking forward to the rest of this series, and Nefarious in particular who'll be fun to write. I'll make sure not to disappoint. I'm more than happy to help a fellow budding author any way I can, even if all I can offer is words. After all, life is too short to let your world revolve around other people's short-sighted opinions; never let them stand in the way of doing what you enjoy. Since I'm unlikely to hear from either of you for a little while, a very merry Christmas to you both, and hope you two enjoy your time away with your family over the holidays. Take care.
Sonachugirl - Yeah… Ratchet tends to forget where or who he's with sometimes when he opens his mouth. And doesn't know when to stop. Glad you liked the chapter overall, and the introduction of the Thugs-4-Less Sniper. I always thought there should have been longer-ranged enemies in the games. Also, Megabucks is now a thing; right up there with Megaburger and Megaveg (for the vegan on the go!) Expect to see them, well, pretty much everywhere in the Bogon galaxy soon.
ReginaDC21 - Aw thanks, I truly appreciate it! It's always the little details that make a fictional world come to life and truly sell the story, I just try to give enough to allow the reader to better imagine the scene and draw their own conclusions. I also can't wait to get to the end of this story, if only because it brings me one step closer to starting on Up Your Arsenal. Don't worry about not reviewing earlier; I'm sure both you and your sister have both been preoccupied with getting ready for your upcoming visit, and, well, family comes first.
Here's hoping the R&C movie doesn't get pushed back any further, and that the new game lives up to expectations; I'm looking forward to both myself (isn't everyone?) The Jak collection, huh? I never really got into the Jak and Daxter series for some reason, not sure why. I brought the second one on a whim way back but never actually finished it, so I'm pretty sure you'd do a lot better than me; but good luck anyway. Might have to track down a copy of the HD collection myself and catch up; who knows, maybe I'll like it better this time around. Take care, the both of you, and hope you enjoy you have a wonderful Christmas with your family.
The White Guardian - Cutting it very close, but you were quite literally just in time to review before I prepared to upload for today. (Groans) Okay, I admit I had that one coming, but butting in? Really? Still, glad you liked that little byplay. Having massive tanks full of just water in the chemical plant never really made sense to me in the game. Considering how dangerous the environments are in the Ratchet and Clank universe, I thought replacing them with a more toxic and deadly compound would work better and provide a greater challenge for our heroes. Merry Christmas to you as well my friend, and a happy new year. See you then.
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.
It's a race against time as Ratchet, Ellen, and Clank finally face off against the thief in a desperate attempt to thwart his plan. But is everything as it seems or will there be some unpleasant surprises in store for our heroes? Here's Chapter 17.
- 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 17:
Countdown
Abandoned Research Facility, Siberius
Bogon Galaxy
G2.17.082 Galactic calendar
5:24pm local time
With such a thinly veiled name, it was entirely unsurprising that Siberius was a frozen world almost perpetually blanketed by year round winter snow. What was surprising however was the distinct lack of a welcoming committee lying in wait for the solitary red Star Explorer as it made orbit, and if there were any kind of surface based defences on the distinctly blue-tinted planet then they were staying exceptionally quiet. Suspicious but set to the task before them, Ratchet pushed his ship deep into the atmosphere and through the driving, snow-laden winds prevalent at high altitude as he set course for the only identifiable cluster of artificial structures on the entire planet.
With Clank monitoring the ship's sensor suite for any launch signatures or anti-aircraft emplacements trying to acquire them, and Ellen doing the same visually, there were several long minutes of silence between the three; broken only by the turbulent winds buffeting the ship until they managed to drop down into an ice covered canyon a few miles short of their intended objective. Twisting and turning like an agitated snake, the already narrow gorge could barely accommodate the speeding vessel as it tilted its wings skywards in order to squeeze past a rock fall and out into a wide, open valley.
A sprawling base nestled mid-way up the ridgeline of a high mountain range that bordered on one side of the bowl like area before them; narrow peaks clawing their way up through low cloud cover to the heavens above, while a large dam on the far left of the facility kept the valley from being flooded with sub-zero tidal wave of nigh frozen water. This had to be the former Megacorp research centre that Clank had previously mentioned; though considering that automated cargo lifters were ferrying materials back and forth from the brightly lit, snow covered buildings, it was pretty obvious that the facility was far from abandoned.
Touching down on the southern most tip of the vaguely crescent-shaped ridge, the three companions had an unrivalled view of both the base itself as they dismounted, along with the rundown bunker complex sat in the middle of the iced over lake below. Standing out the most however was what at first glance appeared to be a large convoy of building-sized, olive drab, eight wheel drive trucks just beyond the frozen body of water; parked nose to tail on a treacherous road that ran parallel with a chain of radar arrays on the snowline above and led off into the hills away from the base. This, according to Clank, was in fact a land train of sorts for transporting heavy goods across rough terrain; the vehicles all linked together like traditional carriages and steered remotely from the front most truck that acted as the 'locomotive'.
The land train was likely to have originally been used to ferry completed rockets and components from the research base to the nearby testing site, and judging by the lack of built up snow on the monstrous machines it was extremely likely that the thief had been making good use of the massive convoy very recently for his own purposes; if not for some time considering the amount of volatile chemicals he had been shipping in. Just what was he hoping to achieve here anyway, and how did the Protopet fit into the equation? one thing was for certain; the answers undoubtedly lay at the old missile silo, and the land train was the key to finding its hidden location.
Ellen couldn't help but shiver involuntarily in spite of the temperature regulating ability of her commando suit as a sharp blast of arctic wind blew flurries of snow past her face, and not just because of the weather. This whole scenario reminded the redhead all too well of another frozen world back during their first adventure together, and the desperate struggle to prevent a mad man from getting a weapon of mass destruction off planet. Judging by the slightly distant expression on Ratchet's face, his thoughts likely mirrored her own as he placed a comforting gloved hand on her bicep.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That this feels like Hoven all over again?" she replied, continuing at his nod. "Yeah, I do; and I don't like it one bit."
"Do not worry Ellen." Peeking over the lombax's shoulder, Clank's brilliant green optics were soft as he gave the human a reassuring look. "Both Ratchet and yourself were able to prevent Chairman Drek from launching the Planet Buster Maximus a year ago in spite of the odds. Should the thief attempt to enact a similar scenario, I am confident that your significant improvement in equipment and training will be more than sufficient to ensure he does not succeed in his scheme."
Ratchet gave a feline smirk as he glanced back at his little metal friend before turning his attention back towards his partner. "He's right, y'know. We did it once and we can do it again; so whadaya say we go rain on this guy's parade?"
With no time to lose, Ratchet and Ellen quickly topped up their ammo reserves at a half-buried Megacorp vendor close to their landing site before taking off on the narrow cliff edge path towards the frozen research centre; carefully edging past a crumbling section with their backs to the bare rock wall before striding forth into a wider section beyond with snow crunching noisily underfoot. it wasn't long until the pair reached a short, open bridge spanning from the winterised plateau on which they stood and the base beyond, along with the first signs of opposition in the form of two circular portals hidden amongst harsh scrub on either side of their path.
In spite of the different aesthetics, the embedded dispensers disgorged a steady stream of homing mines with bulbous orange contact points much like the blargian version they had previously encountered a year ago, and thus was dealt with just as swiftly. One of Ellen's Miniturrets swung methodically back and forth between targets with short bursts of fire that detonated a majority of the floating bombs before they could move more than a few yards, while Ratchet flung his wrench on a flat arc to trigger any stragglers before catching it one smooth motion. Pushing forward towards the base entrance once more, the two commandos were halted again as the rolling door on a large storage shed adjacent to the bridgehead exploded outwards as they got close along with a mixed wave of spider-like, flame spewing and chainsaw wielding robots that were as familiar as they were not.
The quad-legged frames with humanoid torsos marked the machines as one of the MSR series of security robots, but unlike the originals these seemed to have a much thicker armoured carapace and far more potent weaponry. The combat analysis programme built into the human and lombax's helmets designated them as the MSR I v2.0 and MSR II v2.0 respectively; the former sporting a cyan-green paint scheme and a much more powerful chainsaw arm, while the latter now had a burnished orange finish and replaced the flamethrower with a fireball slinging flare gun. it was a pair of the second variety that led the initial charge with both their weapons discharging in sync, forcing the Megacorp team leap aside as the burning balls of gas melted the snow where they had been stood and allowing the much quicker moving melee fighters behind them to close in for the kill. Or so they thought.
Having long since gotten used to things blowing up in their face and trying to kill them in increasingly interesting ways, the two commandos leapt back to gain some much needed breathing space and opened up with their instrument of choice. Ratchet immediately fell back on his favourite crowd control weapon and dropped a Mini Nuke in the chainsaw wielding machines path; almost incinerating one outright, but only managing to heavily damage another thanks to its upgraded armour. Ellen on the other hand broke out her shotgun and unloaded buckshot into the closest attacker's chassis, racking the pump again as the MSR staggered backwards from the sudden impact and blasting it again at nigh point blank range before ducking to avoid another fireball sailing over her head.
The flame spewing robots were getting more accurate with each volley as they scuttled forth, and with considering there was relatively little room to manoeuvre on the cliff top Ratchet intended to end this situation swiftly. To this end he used the sole remaining up-armoured MSR I as a shield from yet another ball of burning gas as he dashed forward with his wrench in hand; narrowly avoiding a haircut via chainsaw as he hooked one of the slender limbs in passing while sliding between its legs and sending it crashing face first into the snow. Springing back up, the lombax quickly caved in the back of its exposed helm before it could stagger back upright before flipping away from an all too close fireball and switching over to his Seeker Gun in time to see Ellen hammering one of the improved mark twos with her Reaver on full auto; the cold weather passively negating her weapon's normal heat build up.
Thicker armour or not, the burnished orange machines could only take so much punishment, so it was little surprise that the human's constant stream of fire finally chewed through her opponent's chassis and caused its generator to detonate; her partner blowing up the other in short order with his missile launcher and leaving them standing alone in the driving snow once more. The momentary distraction had cost them more time than either could afford, meaning they were going to have to throw caution to the wind and blitz through the base if they wanted any chance of catching up to the thief before it was too late.
Just as they were about to attempt crossing the bridge again, a half-dozen of the close combat configured MSRs descended from an open hanger embedded high up in the rock face on the far side via high tensile cables; the lombax charging across to hold their attention while Ellen expended one of her dwindling supply of TV guided missiles from her Visibomb gun. Ratchet didn't even flinch as the tank-killing payload detonated amongst the densely packed robots before him; charging through the resulting explosion and rain of metal parts finishing off the only straggler only to be forced on the defensive again as a quartet of mark twos jumped down practically on top of him from the same hanger as the last group.
Not willing to risk hitting her furry partner in the resulting melee, Ellen swapped over to her Pulse Rifle and dropped down to one knee; steadying her breathing as she centred the scope on the first enemy to enter her crosshairs and squeezed the trigger. One of the pyromaniacal machine's head exploded just before it could get a bead on the lombax, body twitching and neck sparking as it collapsed to the floor. Quickly acquiring a second target, the human had to roll to one side as another MSR arced a fireball her way; Ratchet leaping from onto the shooter from the robot he had just trashed and jamming his Tesla Claw into the wildly flailing machine's neck cables before overloading it with a ridiculous amount of voltage that left it spasming uncontrollably.
The momentarily distraction was all the red-headed human needed to bring her sniper rifle up to bear once more and punch through the last burnished orange robot's centre mass as it attempted to blindside her partner, pushing herself upright and trading the scoped weapon for her comparatively lighter hand cannon as she raced across the bridge to rejoin him on the other side. A short jump across a collapsed section of the narrow catwalk winding around the outer section of what seemed to be a fairly small research base found the pair face to face with more modified close combat MSRs and no room to manoeuvre; Ellen clearing the way with her shotgun's heavy buckshot while her partner kept an eye on their rear for anymore potential ambushers.
They soon emerged out into a moderately wider L-shaped section filled with various half-empty crates piled up in one corner, Ratchet quickly demolishing the pair of MSR IIs waiting for them with a Seeker Gun missile each and leading them towards a fair sized enclosed cargo elevator on the far side. Riding the surprisingly fast lift down to the lowest level soon found the pair on the outskirts of the base looking out over the frozen lake and iced over bunker complex they could see from their landing zone, along with another pair of flame spewing robots waiting to greet them. A hail of sustained automatic fire from both Heavy Lancer and Reaver Carbine swiftly chewed the machines to pieces before they could even muster a response, allowing the lombax and human to step over the riddled, still smoking bodies and to the edge of the platform where they could plan their next move.
Upon closer inspection the lake wasn't actually frozen over, but rather littered with several large icy islets permanently anchored in place on the sub-zero body of water; with tall snow-laden firs and hardy scrub subsisting on what little nutrients there were. Far beyond that behind a chain link fence lay the rear most 'carriage' of the land train, its imposing size much more obvious now they were closer to reaching it, and between them lay a good half dozen chainsaw wielding security robots scuttling back and forth in search of any intruders entering their domain. To even the odds before they got up close Ratchet fired off a half-dozen rounds from his Seeker Gun in a rough arc, letting the homing missiles track their own targets as he took the first leap onto the nearest islet with Ellen close behind.
No sooner had they stepped foot on the glorified lump of ice when a pair of circular portals on opposite ends of the islet pushed through a thick layer of snow just like the mine dispensers from earlier; only these churned out a steady stream of blade balls instead of contact sensitive explosives. Pushing themselves back to back in such tight quarters, Ellen used sporadic bursts from her bullpup carbine to keep the whirling maelstrom of blades at bay while Ratchet followed suit on his side with his Heavy Lancer; only just managing to keep the disposable drones at arms length through sheer weight of fire. By the time the last drone exploded into fragments the two commandos were already mobile once more; hopping across each of the drifting islets in turn with thankfully no more unpleasant surprises showing up before using their Jump Pack and Heli-Pack respectively to boost across the wide, final gap separating them from the far shore.
Upon landing amongst a cluster of hardy firs and strewn crates, it quickly became clear that Ratchet's earlier pre-emptive strike was actually a lot more effective than any of the three companions had originally anticipated. Four of the patrolling MSR Is were little more than spare parts quickly becoming covered in fresh snowfall; the other two missing a pair of legs and both arms respectively as they attempted to still follow their base programming and attack the intruders encroaching on their assigned patrol zone. The human and lombax barely gave them a glance as they hurried past however in their rush to reach the land train and the test site beyond; the former blasting the crawling robot with her shotgun as she passed by, while the latter took off the helm of the only machine still standing via his flung wrench before catching it again mid stride.
Continuing to follow the shoreline where there was the least amount of native vegetation impeding their progress, the three companions were almost at the land train when what looked like a much heavier armoured version of the standard Thugs-4-Less 'flying toaster' type dropship came swooping down on roaring engines to settle over a clearing just ahead. Instead of a contingent of mercenaries teleporting in however, a series of tube-like pods bolted to its exterior quickly disgorged a quartet of burnished orange security robots that hit the ground shooting; the initial salvo of fireballs forcing the two commandos to seek cover while a oval-shaped, twin-barrelled turret popped out of the flying transport's belly and reoriented towards the ground bound organics before opening up.
Heavy auto-cannon fire turned the tree line into splinters with the remainder quickly being set on fire via balls of burning gas as Ratchet and Ellen sprinted through the chaos and away from the clearing, desperately trying to find somewhere they could make a stand. With the dropship doing some extreme landscaping in its attempt to mow them down, their first target was fairly obvious as they broke out their respective missile launchers; pointing the barrels skywards through a gap in what few trees remained and firing simultaneously. Though the human was limited to manually guiding one admittedly powerful rocket propelled projectile at a time, her golden furred counterpart had no such worries; the rapid fire capabilities of the Seeker Gun coming into play once again as he spammed most of his remaining missiles one after the other and hoped they would track the biggest target first.
The lumbering dropship certainly proved to be a lot more resilient than anticipated considering the sheer number of hits it tanked; the lombax's lighter missile barrage tearing chunks out of its side armour but failing to cause any real lasting damage, while his red-headed partner's much more powerful warhead only succeeded in crippling an engine and knocking the hovering machine off balance. Deciding to capitalise on what small advantage they had wrought while there was still time, Ratchet ignored Ellen's startled shout and sprinted back through what was left of the now burning tree line while bringing his grenade launcher up to bear; diving into a roll to avoid a torrent of fireballs converging on his position as he reached the clearing once more and sent a Mini Nuke up into the dropship's exposed belly.
The effect on the enlarged transport was devastatingly obvious to anyone in the immediate vicinity, its remaining engine rupturing under the scaled down nuclear blast and sending the entire unpowered hulk crashing down on top of the security robots deployed below it before detonating spectacularly. Spitting out a mouthful of snow while staggering upright from where he had been bowled over, Ratchet couldn't help but grin at the sight as leaned his weapon back across his shoulder and took in his handiwork with an appreciative eye. "And that is how it is done, ladies and gentlemen!"
Before Clank could rebuke his long time friend's recklessness however, a thoroughly not amused Ellen had caught up to him through the now slushy snow with a scowl on her face. "What the hell was that? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
The golden furred commando held his free hand up placatingly. "Hey, it worked, didn't it? Besides, If I hadn't then we'd probably look like them right now."
The human grimaced distastefully at the few visible pieces of mangled robot parts visible amongst the burning wreckage he was gesturing to before sighing in grudging acceptance. "I... Yeah, you're right. Just... be more careful next time, please; and don't take anymore stupidly unnecessary risks. If I were to lose you..."
Ratchet's growing smirk faltered as he sensed the direction her thoughts were going in, holstering his weapon before pulling his girl into a comforting hug. "Hey now, no need to be like that. It'll take a lot than a couple of explosions to take me out." Pulling back so he could look her in the eyes, he gave the redhead he had grown to love so much one of his trademark feline grins. "Besides, I plan on sticking around for a long time yet. After all, someone's gotta keep you outta trouble."
Ellen couldn't help but snort out a laugh at the insinuation; giving him a one armed hug in return and feeling in much higher spirits as she stepped back to regard him with a smile. "More like the other way round fuzz ball. Now," the redhead racked her recently re-equipped scatter gun for emphasis as she echoed his earlier words. "Let's go rain on this guy's parade."
Thankfully the constant snowfall and arctic conditions had rapidly quenched the worst of the fire, leaving only smouldering embers as the two commandos threaded their way through the downed transport's remains. Just as Ratchet was helping to boost Ellen over a particularly dense piece of fuselage however, they paused as a chorus of engines turning over filled the air; followed by a throaty and reverberating rumble that shook the very ground beneath their feet. Eyes widening in realisation, the pair frantically scrambled over the obstacle and dropped down into the slushy snow on the other side in time to see the last vehicle of the monstrously large land train was no longer stationary; the lowered rear ramp slowly beginning to retract as it slowly trundled forth on oversized tyres.
"Go! Go!"
Though she didn't need to be told twice, the lombax's words spurned Ellen into pushing herself harder as they both stumble-ran through the thick blanket of snow separating them from the gradually accelerating land train that even now was beginning to pull away. Being a lot more agile and possessing stamina in spades, Ratchet quickly caught up to the rumbling carriage and leapt forward to grab the closing ramp before hauling himself up and stretching out an arm to grab her. The red-headed human had no such natural advantage however, and left lagging behind as her lungs burned for air and the thick blanket of snow dragged at her boots; slowing her pace by the second.
Knowing she wasn't going to make it at this rate, Ellen pulled out her Grapple Gun and tried to steady it with both hands as she aimed at the rapidly closing gap between ramp and carriage interior before squeezing the trigger. Feeling the line go taut as it embedded in the vehicle's ceiling, the human almost felt like her arm had been pulled out of its socket as she reeled herself in; the sudden burst of acceleration giving a brief sense of weightlessness up to the point she skimmed over the nigh closed ramp and tumbled across the unforgiving floor to land in a groaning heap. Feeling a pair of gloved hands pulling her up into a sitting position, she absently rubbed her helmet clad head as she looked up into Ratchet's concerned emerald eyes.
"Hey, you okay? that was a heck of fall there."
Nodding in the affirmative, Ellen took the lombax's offered hand and used it to pull herself upright in the constantly rocking and swaying carriage before steadying herself on the wall and offering him a tired grin. "No worse than normal, fuzz ball. Just a few new bruises to add to the collection."
Do you require any Nanotech?" Clank enquired politely. "I believe I may still have a few phials remaining in my storage cavity."
The human merely shook her head with a bemused chuckle towards the diminutive robot. "Thanks Clank, but I'm more winded than anything else. Just... give me a few seconds to catch my breath."
Once she had sufficiently recovered, Clank remotely connected to the land train's internal security system and opened the shutter door blocking their way into the forward portion of the carriage; his organic companions instantly going for their respective weapons as a squad of MSR I v2.0s powered up and marched through the opening to greet them. Given the enclosed environment, Ratchet opted to save for his better weapons and let loose with his Multi-Star; the whirling maelstrom of blades ricocheting off of every surface and taking two of the machines out of commission while damaging the rest. Ellen on the other hand had automatically gone for her boom stick and emptied the last few rounds into the clustered horde as fast as she could rack the pump; leaping back as the gun cycled empty to avoid being decapitated and parrying a follow up strike with her Versa Blade.
Fortunately there were only two of the spider-limbed robots left still standing in the confines of the carriage, meaning the two commandos could focus on taking down their respective opponents without having to worry about watching their backs. Ratchet spun around a downward slash of revolving blades before using the momentum to slam his wrench into one of the rear knee joints of the robot trying to skewer him; making it stagger just long enough for the lombax to leap astride the flailing machine and cave in its helm. Letting the sparks fly off her weapon as she deflected yet another follow up attack, Ellen feinted to one side and let the MSR over reach before stepping inside its guard and jamming the heated edge of her Versa Blade into its torso; the modified security robot twitching in place for a few long seconds as she tore her knife free before finally going limp and collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.
Once the area was clear, the human and lombax checked the forward compartment for anymore stragglers amongst the various crates while Clank got the carriage's front loading ramp open; a blast of icy cold wind and fresh snow sweeping through the opening as they got their first glimpse of where they were travelling. The land train appeared to be booking it through a narrow canyon bordered by sheer rock walls, heavy snow drifts, and the occasional clump of hardy trees that all blurred by at a ridiculously fast clip for such large vehicles; the uneven terrain and generally perilous conditions making the land train waver all over the place in spite of its industrial grade suspension cushioning the ride. Which didn't make the two commandos next step any easier, considering the rear ramp of the carriage in front was locked down and couldn't be hacked into for some reason.
Thankfully there was a Versa-Target attached to the top of the vehicle's roof, and although the red-headed human had more than a few misgivings there really was no other way to reach the front of the train short of jumping. Taking careful aim in spite of the constantly bouncing and rolling environment, Ratchet and Ellen managed to latch on to the anchoring point on their second attempt and rapidly reeled themselves in; landing unsteadily on the riveted metal deck and barely managing to stay upright in the vicious crosswinds as more blade balls came out to play from hidden dispensers. The melee combat drones themselves had no such issues thanks to their internal gyroscopes keeping them stable, though the rough ride did result in a number being smashed against the roof or otherwise thrown off of the land train before they could even get close enough to engage the duo.
Ellen wished not for the first time that their commando suits came standard with magnetic boots as she clung on to a ventilation unit with one hand while tossing out Miniturrets with the other; a few going wide of the mark and over the side, though the two that attached themselves to the carriage's roof made a world of difference in keeping the blade balls at bay. Hunkered down against the sweeping winds alongside her, Ratchet had a similar line of thought as he tried to pick off any stragglers with his soon to be depleted Tesla Claw; carefully watching the ammo counter and timing his shots to catch as many of the spherical machines with the chain lightning effect as possible. As the terrain levelled out their job got that bit easier; the lombax and human able to wipe out the remaining blade balls wholesale with more conventional means before using their Bomb Gloves to permanently put the drone dispensers out of commission.
It was at that moment that a familiar rumbling of engines filled the air and reverberated through the canyon as the land train continued around a long and sweeping right hand incline; another heavily armoured dropship like the one Ratchet had shot down earlier coming in from around the bend ahead at low altitude. The two commandos scattered apart even before the unwieldy transport's nose cannon began to rake across the top of the convoy, throwing themselves flat and using what few protrusions there were on the vehicle's roof for cover. Neither were in a position to notice the trio of cyan-green chainsaw wielding robots dropping onto their carriage as the dropship streaked overhead at high speed however, leaving them surprised and dangerously close to the machines as they scuttled forth in a loose echelon formation with their weapons revving up in anticipation.
The turrets Ellen had previously deployed served as a brief distraction in chipping at the security robot's armour until they were inevitably overwhelmed, giving Ratchet and herself precious seconds to muster a response. With so little time to react and virtually no room to evade, the lombax and human opted for sheer firepower over finesse; both switching over to their respective automatic weapons and blazing away in concert at the closest threat until it fell before switching to the next. Advanced armour or not, there was only so much firepower the machines could take until they succumbed to sheer weight of fire, and it wasn't long until the last one fell quite literally at Ratchet's feet with enough metaphorical lead pumped into its Swiss-cheesed chassis to start a pencil factory.
Stepping over the mangled mechanical corpses, the lombax and his human partner were just about to find a way to jump to the next vehicle along in the mass convoy when blaster fire stitched a line across the deck in front of them. A very familiar masked figure with a flowing red hooded cloak swooped down on a jet propelled glider device that looked like a crimson-painted rip off of the Green Goblin's signature ride, almost taking the commandos heads off had they not ducked in time and circling around in a tight turn to hover before them while keeping pace with the land train.
Pushing themselves to their feet, Ratchet and Ellen could only glare back with gritted teeth at their ever elusive foe spun around to face them; drawing his bulky looking pistol in one smooth motion and levelling it at the pair as they returned the gesture in kind.
"End of the line, Megacorp lackeys," the thief's digitally disguised voice intoned darkly. "This is as far as you go."
No further pre-battle banter or insults were exchanged, and they certainly weren't needed considering the sheer amount of animosity between both sides. It wasn't clear who fired first, but the results just as chaotic either way; Ratchet's Heavy Lancer spitting rounds with impunity while Ellen took advantage of the cold weather's effect on her carbine to hammer the thief with a constant stream of incendiary fire. A spherical translucent barrier protected the masked villain from the worst as he vectored to one side, flaring with successive hits as he fired his heavy pistol one handed and sent scorching laser beams at the pair while attempting to flank them.
Though the two commandos had relatively little room to manoeuvre on top of the still shaking and juddering land train, the same applied to their airborne adversary considering how narrow the ravine they were riding through had become; forcing him to stay low and within range of their weapons. Perhaps realising just how vulnerable he was should his shield fail, the thief tapped a button on his gauntlet mounted Wrist Com with his free hand and continued to bob and weave while taking pot-shots; the heavily armoured transport from earlier coming back around for another pass in answer to his summons and depositing a pair of flame spewing MSRs on the deck before speeding off again.
Exposed as they were, Ratchet and Ellen fell back upon the run and gun principles that saw them through their first adventure together. The former leapt over an arcing fireball and smashed the advancing spider-like machines with repeated missile hits from his Seeker Gun, blowing them into mangled chunks that were soon lost to the surging winds blowing past the fast moving carriages. The latter on the other hand dropped a few of her dwindling supply of Miniturrets to keep the masked flier busy before putting her Blitz Gun's scatter effect to good use, filling the air with broad cones of buckshot that further drained his shield and kept him off her partner's back while he protected hers. Penetrating the caped villain's defences proved to be a task in itself however; the protective sphere flickering orange but otherwise showing no signs of collapsing anytime soon. His jet glider thing on the other hand...
The thief barely managed to stay on his ride as it suddenly jolted to the left, black smoke billowing from the ruined starboard engine as the flying wing drunkenly weaved through the air. Dropping his gun in favour of clinging on with both hands, the masked man just about managed to even out his unstable flight path before gaining altitude again; cursing profoundly as a hail of fire from both commandos trailed in his wake. Retreating to a safer distance further back down the train, the caped villain sharply pulled up over the canyon's edge and out of their weapons effective range; though not without leaving a parting gift in his wake. Concealed launchers mounted on his glider's wingtips flared briefly, preceding a pair of high yield micro missiles streaking back down towards the land train and more specifically the same carriage where the Megacorp team were still stood.
Unsurprisingly, Ratchet and Ellen had no intention of being on the receiving end and promptly took off into a sprint towards the front of the convoy: Clank barely managing to remotely access and lower the rear ramp for the next carriage along in time as the resulting twin explosions propelled them all over the edge. Landing in an undignified heap atop a tarpaulin covered stack of crates taking up the vehicle's interior, the two bruised and groaning, but otherwise alive organics disentangled themselves from their awkward landing positions before chancing a look back the way the came. Whatever was in those rockets had practically gutted half of the imposing vehicle they had previously been occupying; the roof completely gone or otherwise caved in, while the rest looked like it was about to tear itself apart through sheer vibrations of the road alone.
There wasn't any time to dwell on their latest death defying escape now though, not when they were so close to reaching their current goal. Shimmying between the tightly packed cargo and miscellaneous rocket components that had been strapped down securely inside the carriage, it was almost inevitable when yet another pair of ports concealed in the interior walls revealed themselves and allowed a contingent of floating mines to flood the area. As was the far shutter door opening to reveal a quartet of burnished orange robots that promptly lit up the cargo bay with exploding balls of gas; the machines barely squeezing through the doorway two at a time with a squad of chainsaw MSRs trailing in their wake.
Dropping a Mini Nuke to detonate some of the mines and clear some space, Ratchet promptly switched over to his Seeker Gun and emptied the entire remaining clip into the encroaching horde; managing to take out a pair of the advancing security robots and multiple drones while giving Ellen enough time to set up the last of her Miniturrets. The automated sentry guns more than proved their worth once again; creating an interlocking field of fire that prematurely detonated floating mines and blade balls alike before either could get close. More importantly though, it allowed the human to focus her efforts on helping Ratchet stem the tide of killing machines trying to swarm them; putting her Bomb Glove to good effect at the doorway choke point and blowing the legs off a chainsaw model while reducing one of its flame spewing cousins to scrap metal.
Between their combined efforts and a liberal use of high explosives, the human and lombax had soon turned the ambush around and gone on the offensive; decimating what few mechanised forces remained in the aft cargo bay before sweeping through the front half for any stragglers. Aside from various stages of rockets clamped securely in place against one wall and crates full of random electronics there was little else to see; Clank taking care of the controls for the forward ramp and giving the three companions a good look at the next carriage along in the convoy as icy winds whipped past them once again.
The vehicle in question appeared to be used primarily for transporting fuel judging by the large storage tanks on the back and lack of loading ramp leading to an interior, with a precariously thin walkway extending around either side that gradually sloped up towards the front in order to allow roof access. Upon snagging a conveniently placed Versa-Target and rapidly reeling themselves in however, it soon became apparent just how dicey their next move was going to be; pressing their backs up against the massive storage tanks occupying a majority of the vehicle and shuffling sideways along the walkway with trees blowing by in the narrow canyon mere feet away. It almost made Ellen wish for another nice, cosy interior packed with murderous machines trying to gut them instead; at least they'd be able to stay warm that way.
Howling winds continued to assail the two commandos during their ascent, threatening to pull them off of the heavy duty vehicle and under its mammoth tyres, and didn't let up much once they did finally reach the relative safety of the roof. On the plus side though, it did look like they had almost reached the front of the land train since there was only one more carriage between them and the 'locomotive' or leading control vehicle. The sound of leisurely footsteps on the metal decking behind them announced the down side however; the lombax and human slowly turning around as a stereotypically Australian-accented voice called out to them.
"Sorry mates, can't let you and or the missus go any further."
Strolling casually towards them with his hands in the pockets of his scuffed and worn blue jeans was a smiling cazar with dishevelled brown fur that had long been bleached by a harsh sun. His whole attire seemed grossly inappropriate for the arctic conditions; tan leather boots pacing one lazy step in front of the other while idle snowflakes accumulated on the pouch-lined faded green vest he wore over a short-sleeved red tee. There was some kind of intricate design on his oval-shaped bronzed belt buckle, although a majority of Ellen's attention was drawn to his face in search of any tells she could exploit; a tanned slouch hat decorated with a belt of sharp teeth from predatory animals covering his brow, while a pair of tinted sunglasses obscured his eyes.
Ratchet on the other hand was more concerned with the stranger's visible choice of armament; the leather-wrapped handle of a large bladed weapon protruding from over one shoulder and what looked like an old school sawn-off shotgun with quad barrels arranged in a square that looked like they spat fist-sized slugs in a thigh holster opposite his Quick Select. Narrowing his eyes warily and adopting a cautious stance, the lombax kept his hand within reach of his own Quick Select as he called out. "Who the heck are you?"
"Cash Harding, at your service," the cazar casually tipped his hat with one hand as a toothy grin lit up his face. "Or at least I would be if it weren't me job to make sure you're good and stonkered. Don't s'pose you'd be willing to just give up and save me the ammo? Bit too cold around here to fight for me liking."
"Not on your life," Ellen retorted with a scowl; not fooled by the man's easy going manner one bit. "Besides, there's three of us and only one of you."
Cash merely shrugged, not intimidated in the least. "Fair enough, but don't mean I'm gonna go easy on ya... Or that I'm alone."
It was only deeply ingrained instincts from so many previous battles combined with a dose of paranoia that allowed the two commandos to escape the blast radius as an arced thermal grenade dropped from the air to land between them; Ratchet backflipping away and Ellen simply leaping over the resulting fiery shockwave while drawing their respective weapons. The returned thief skimmed low across the deck while reloading his grenade launcher; circling around to hover over the cazar merc's shoulder with his jet glider's built in missile pods readying themselves to fire once again.
"I'm not paying you to talk them to death, Harding. Now get rid of them!"
The cazar merc looked up at his employer with a lazy smile as he casually sidestepped a thrown Omni-Wrench. "Fair dinkum, but technically speakin'-" he tilted his head to one side to avoid a second attempt that almost brushed his hat before continuing. "-the terms of me contract were to, and I quote, 'keep 'em busy until I can finish my work'."
His temporary employer didn't have a chance to voice his no doubt frustrated reply seeing as he was far too busy jinking away from a burst of fire from Ellen's carbine; leaving the furry quasi-Aussie free to charge towards the persistent lombax closing into melee range while reaching over his shoulder and grasping the handle of his own weapon. Sparks flew as he swung downwards with what could only be described as a bastardised, nigh two-foot long machete with a bulbous business end honed to a fine edge; the Bushwhacker. Striking Ratchet's rising wrench strike and taking a fine layer off metal while briefly staggering the younger male, the veteran merc quickly reversed direction with a following horizontal slash; forcing the lombax to go on the defensive as he reeled back while parrying blow after blow.
Up until now, Ratchet had generally had an advantage against his adversaries in close combat even when outnumbered; relying on his inherent speed, aggression, and agility to get inside his opponents guard before taking them down with deadly precision. But this guy was giving him more than a run for his money, and the golden furred commando had a fleeting thought as he flipped over a low sweep only to see his own attack countered that he had perhaps bitten off more than he could chew. Cash was relentless and untiring in his assault, clearly enjoying their duel if the permanent grin etched on his face was anything to go by; their clash of blade and wrench taking them to the edge of the speeding carriage they were fighting on and leaving Ratchet teetering on the brink of being lost to the howling wind and snow.
Thankfully the eager mercenary overextended his last thrust intended to topple or skewer him, and the lombax took full advantage of his feline reflexes to grab the offending arm before giving Cash a short-ranged headbutt; seizing the opportunity offered by the cazar's temporary disorientation to go on the offensive. Though his sunglasses were askew and blood ran freely down his nose from where Ratchet's helmet had impacted, Cash recovered rapidly enough to draw his heavily customised shotgun - the Road Warrior - and fire it one handed; the heavy slug barely skimming Ratchet's upgraded commando suit as he rolled under the line of fire and came up swinging with a rising uppercut. The elder male however grinned almost ferally in spite of his facial injury; Nanotech in his bloodstream working overtime to repair the damage as he raised his machete to block the younger's flurry of wrench strikes
While the lombax and cazar continued to clash on their side of the carriage however, Ellen was still trying to keep her airborne opponent at bay while avoiding a barrage of explosives raining down on her. Leaping away from yet another thermal bomb spreading its incendiary payload across the deck, the human sprayed the last of her clip at the thief as he circled around before ejecting the spent magazine and slamming another one home; wishing not for the first time that the cold weather didn't nullify her carbine's ability to generate fresh plasma grenades. Certainly she could have done with the extra explosive kick right about now, especially since her Miniturrets were exhausted and the Visibomb Gun was nigh useless in such close quarters. In fact, with the thief now much more wary about losing his shield or getting his jet glider shot out from underneath him, he was being much more cautious about staying out of range and plugging away from a distance.
'What I wouldn't give for Ratchet's Seeker Gun right about now, that or a couple more Miniturrets.'
Filling the air with buckshot as the thief passed overhead on another bombing run, the red-headed commando's focus was drawn to the increasingly narrow canyon and the overhanging rock faces on either side as they blew past at speed; the trapping of a borderline crazy idea beginning to form in her mind as she switched over to her Bomb Glove. The masked villain was caught by surprise as his foe began to toss explosive orbs over his head; the resulting detonations bringing shelves of rock crashing down on the trailing cars of the land train and forcing the airborne thief to dive for the deck in order to avoid being crushed. This also brought him back into convenient shotgun range, with both the caped man's shields and glider taking a pounding as he skimmed over Ellen's head; the human dropping on her back to avoid being hit and peppering the underside of his ride with buckshot.
The thief's glider was trailing black smoke once again by the time he managed to bank around once more, barely staying stable as one engine flamed out while leaving the other to idle on half power. Up until now the masked man had been wary about using his more powerful wingtip mounted weapons for the same reason the Megacorp commandos were refraining from breaking out the heavy artillery; namely the fact they were all fighting over the surface of what was essentially a giant hydrogen fuel tank on wheels. But with time running out and the land train rapidly approaching the retrofitted missile launch site where his plan would finally come to fruition, desperate times call for desperate measures. The only warning the three still stood upon the carriage got was a subtle shift in the thief's stance as he vectored to one side and gained some altitude before loosing a pair of missiles, striking just above the heavy vehicle's front left tyre.
And then everything went to shit.
The high-powered warheads tore the front axle apart on impact, blowing the wheel off entirely and leaving the carriage tilting dangerously as it ground against the unforgiving terrain with a squeal of twisted metal. Ratchet and Cash had long since broken apart from their duel and were having on for dear life along with Ellen in her elevated position, the veteran merc cursing up a storm as the land train dragged their damaged and extremely volatile carriage at a fast clip for a good fifty yards before jacknifing and sending the occupants flying through the air. It was just as well really since the following vehicles in the convoy slammed into the inverted fuel car at high speed; detonating the hydrogen fuel mix stored within and causing the surrounding canyon walls to collapse on the resulting inferno.
None of this mattered to Ratchet however as he woke with a groan to an aching body, blearily clawing his way out of the thick snow drift he had miraculously landed in while trying to reclaim the air driven from his lungs. Holding a gloved hand to his helmet while he woozily staggered upright, the lombax blinked the spots from his eyes as he stared out at what was left of the land train they had been riding on before realising he was missing a familiar weight from his back, along with his partner. "Clank? Ellen? Where are you? C'mon guys, let me know you're still breathing."
"I am fine, Ratchet," came a muffled reply from his right where Clank was currently buried up to his optics in snow. "Although I appear to be a somewhat stuck."
"Don't worry pal, I gotcha." The lombax immediately set about excavating his little metal friend before lifting him up and placing him back on more solid ground, emerald eyes already darting around for his red-headed counterpart's location. "Any idea where Ellen landed?"
"I'm right here," the human coughed out from a Ellen-shaped hole in a snow bank a dozen yards behind them next to a still flaming tyre; a grasping gloved hand wavering unsteadily in the air until Ratchet grabbed hold and used it to pull her out.
The furry feline rubbed her shoulder gently as she spat out a handful of snow that had been lodged in her throat, eyes filled with concern. "You okay, babe? That was one heck of a boom back there."
Ellen couldn't help but grimace as she tested her limbs, wincing at the stab of pain from where she'd landed heavily on her left arm. "I've had worse, and nothing's broken at least. Feel a lot better once the Nanotech kicks in though. Any idea how far we're off from the test site?"
"I believe we are almost there," Clank interjected while pointing past the pair with a single metal digit towards a partly collapsed chain link fence on the edge of a vista just behind them. Beyond which was a large and circular launch pad elevated above a frozen lake; arrayed around a looming gantry supporting what had to be one of the old interplanetary ballistic missiles stored there. "Time is of the essence if we are to prevent the thief from enacting his plan, we must hurry."
Considering they could already see the fuel lines beginning to retract from the monolithic missile as it was moved into launch position in spite of the distance, Ratchet and Ellen couldn't help but agree. With Clank taking up his regular position once more on the lombax's back, the pair cut through a gap in the fence and slid down the embankment on the other side; stumbling onto a wide metal byway with a pair of rails running through the middle. No doubt it they were intended to transport completed rockets to the actual launch site itself; although considering the entire pad was currently raised up on industrial grade hydraulics above the lakebed, the direct route was most certainly off the cards.
Thankfully there was an access ladder off to one side that allowed the two commandos to reach a raised walkway surrounding the site; Ratchet's Mini-nuke launcher clearing a path through the numerous hostile robots and blade balls blocking their path while Ellen picked off the survivors with her shotgun. All too soon they had reached the same level as the launch pad itself; the masked criminal they had been chasing down these past few days clearly visible on the far side with his back turned and typing furiously on a control panel at the base of the IPBM. Though Ellen could have easily sniped him from where she stood, the redhead stayed her hand and instead followed Ratchet as he stalked forward with his wrench held in a vice-like grip; the lombax's built up fury clearly visible on his face as she paced alongside him with her hand cannon held at the ready.
While both had already been committed to the mission before, the thief deciding to Kidnap Clank had made things very personal for both of them. Add to that all the non-stop mercenary ambushes and crap they had been through in-between and it was small wonder they wanted to see this thing through up close and in person. As they approached it became blatantly obvious just how big the IPBM actually was; the sleek and primarily silver missile standing a good forty feet tall even without the four additional booster stage rockets clustered around the primary engine. Hell, the ridiculously large warhead alone took up almost half the length; although why exactly the Protopet was tightly bound to the exterior with actual rope like some cliché Saturday morning cartoon was a mystery. Surely there were far easier and cheaper ways for the thief to get rid of the blue fluff ball that were less... overkill?
Well whatever the case, it all ended here. The hooded cape wearing villain had already played his cards and lost; he just hadn't realised it yet. No more tricks, no more two-bit mercs or machines to hide behind, and certainly nowhere left to run now he'd boxed himself into a corner. Despite that however, the thief still looked far too confident as he smoothly turned around without concern at their approach; his synthesised voice gloating and triumphant as he jabbed his extended pointer finger at the two fully armed commandos.
"Ha! You've lost Megacorp! Take your imperialistic eco-fascism to another dimension!"
"Know what I think?" Ellen questioned rhetorically as she pointed her Leviathan at the masked man's chest with her finger tightening on the trigger. "I think you're outnumbered, outgunned, and shit out of luck. You can either give up now or go home in a body bag, your choice."
"Is that so?" the thief in an all too nonchalant tone that instantly had the two commandos on edge. Their caution was justified when he raised his right hand to reveal a remote trigger clenched tightly in his grasp; thumb poised just over the ominous green button. "You seem to be forgetting who exactly who holds all the cards here. Now. Back. Off."
Ellen froze. If this guy was serious and that switch was linked to the warhead of the big ass missile right next door to them, then they could all be dead before anyone so much as blinked. The thief didn't strike her as suicidal though, so he had to have some kind of exit strategy already in place. Before the human's trail of thought could go any further however, Ratchet pre-empted any semblance of a plan by launching himself towards the masked man with an angered yell and bared teeth; his wrench making a noticeable indentation on the metal-plated launch pad as the thief leapt backwards several feet into the air with surprising dexterity to land on his already waiting jet glider.
"Too slow, corporate lackey!" the caped criminal taunted with a sneer at the lombax as he stabbed the button on his remote with slow deliberation. "Say goodbye to your abominable pest."
A reverberating klaxon began to sound throughout the area; the gantry supporting the massive missile pulling back as its engines prepared to ignite, while an automated announcement played through the speakers attached to a nearby tower. "Warning! Missile launch sequence will engage in... T-minus, two minutes. All personnel are to evacuate the immediate area and retreat to the nearest launch bunker."
The thief rapidly jinked away from the pair of hand cannon rounds sent his way; Ratchet grabbing Clank from where he stood and diving aside as one of the flying wing's high yield missiles screamed straight over Ellen's head and blew apart the control console near to where he had been stood. The very same console the masked felon had been using to program the IPBM, and likely their main shot at stopping the launch altogether. There was no time to dwell on the fact however since the thief had activated several previously hidden Gatling turrets circling the launch site which promptly began to hose the area with fire; the lombax reflexively flipping sideways through the air before dropping a Mini Nuke on top of the nearest gun. Busy as he was dodging and weaving through the rain of bullets alongside his partner as they systematically demolished the static defences, neither noticed Clank's absence until his voice filtered through their helmet's speakers.
"Ratchet, Ellen, continue to keep the thief busy. I shall attempt to manually override the launch sequence."
A split-second glimpse showed that the diminutive silver robot had used the chaos to slip away and reach the base of the missile platform, clambering up the surrounding gantry as best he could towards the warhead at the top. Ellen's hand cannon thundered twice in succession as she took out another Gatling gun, having to yell over the deafening cacophony of automatic fire as she sheltered behind the smoking shell while ploughing more armour piercing rounds into the next turret along. "Do you even know how? That thing looks pretty complicated."
"I am not entirely certain," Clank admitted as he used his Heli-Pack function to glide across to the missile assembly itself; grasping hold of several rungs embedded into the body and slowly making his way to the top. "However, by directly interfacing with the emergency access panel, I should be able to disable the primary ignition stage and prevent the warhead from triggering."
Ratchet nodded unconsciously as he finished off blowing the last of the turrets into smithereens, ducking into a roll to avoid the orbiting caped villain's renewed laser pistol fire before switching over to his Heavy Lancer and squeezing off an extended burst. "Do what you gotta do, pal. We'll keep this guy off your back."
Having finally reached the panel, Clank quickly set about removing the screws for the outer housing and immediately set to work with a frown of concentration. "Thank you. I will do what I can."
"Launch in... T-minus, one minute..."
Even with billowing black smoke pouring from its previously damaged engines, the thief's jet glider still continued to make strafing runs against the two commandos as he dropped several silver orbs in their midst before swooping around to gun them down. The 'grenades' turned out to be some kind of portable homing mine that rapidly expanded in size before seeking out any target in their path, and detonated spectacularly when shot. The distraction proved enough to keep the lombax and human from hammering at the masked rider's shields long enough for him to switch back to the grenade launcher he had previously exhibited over the land train; raining thermal bombs down onto the launch pad and spreading fiery shockwaves across the deck.
By now however this kind of thing was old hat to Ratchet and Ellen from who knows how many previous battles, and with deftly timed jumps plus a withering hail of automatic gunfire, the caped criminal's shields were soon flickering orange as they neared breaking point. In desperation the thief called in a pair of his heavy dropships to drop off a fresh contingent of MSRs, only to see the first wave nigh incinerated in a wall of miniaturised nuclear fire and the second laid into before they even had a chance to landed. The red-headed human's shotgun boomed repeatedly as she covered her partner's flank, blasting any survivors closing in apart with a torrent of buckshot while her partner weaved between them cut loose with his Multi-Star.
By some fluke or perhaps good fortune on the commandos part, one of the whirling bladed projectiles sliced straight through the wing of the thief's jet glider; sending him crashing on to the deck below with a surprised cry as it span out of control and subsequently blew up. Silence reigned save for the light snowfall rapidly beginning to cover the area and their own ragged breathing as Ratchet and Ellen looked on; both training their weapons on the masked man's still form but otherwise not moving as they exchanged glances.
"You think he's dead?"
"I dunno," the lombax answered warily. "That was a pretty bad fall, but..."
"Launch in... T-minus, fifteen seconds..."
Both commandos whipped their heads around in alarm as the IPBM's primary engine flared into life; secondary booster stages adding their own weight to the combined thrust and slowly lifting the entire construct off the ground. The sheer force and accompanying heat wave forced the pair back with the temperature management suite in their suits taxed to breaking point as it battled to keep them from being burned alive; Ratchet desperately trying to shield Ellen as he yelled into his helmet's built in microphone. "Clank, you copy?! Whatever you're gonna do, do it now! That thing's talking off!"
"I almost have it," came the silver robot's reply; muffled as it was by the growing crescendo of noise. "Just one more wire to go, and..."
"Four..."
Neither commando noticed as the thief groggily staggered to his feet while clutching his ribs; shooting a glare towards his oblivious foes before rapidly typing on his Wrist Com.
"Three..."
Clank finished cutting through the designated wire and spliced it into the main circuit, hoping that his calculations were correct and that the feedback loop would short circuit the primary ignition circuits as originally hypothesised as he flipped the relevant switch.
"Two..."
One of the heavily armoured dropships from earlier soon swung by and halted level with the rapidly shaking platform, allowing the limping criminal to board via a side ramp.
"One..."
There was a moment in which time seemed to stand still; all involved holding their collective breath as the missile continued to crawl skywards inch by agonising inch, until the main engine suddenly seemed to splutter and die. The IPBM briefly hung in the air before slamming back down on its pad with a resounding boom of metal on metal, almost teetering over had it not been for the nearby gantry and finally coming to a rest.
"Safety override engaged. Launch sequence aborted."
Both human and lombax breathed a collective sigh of relief, Ellen leaning wearily on Ratchet's shoulder as they watched Clank used his Heli-Pack upgrade to descend from his perch with the Protopet latched onto one of his legs. "Thank God that's over. A second more and..."
Her golden-furred counterpart wrapped his free arm around his red-headed girl as she trailed off and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Yeah, I hear ya babe." Turning his attention towards his soon to be alighting best friend, Ratchet couldn't keep the amused grin off his face as the little silver robot hopped around on one leg while trailing the blue fluff ball clamped onto the other behind him. "Great job, pal. Cutting it a little close though, weren't ya?"
"I assure you," Clank began while trying to reclaim his limb from the thoroughly attached Protopet's jaws, "that was not my intention. With such a small margin of error, I needed to be certain my method would work first time."
Giggling at the sight, Ellen crouched down and did what she could to help extract the experimental creature. "Believe me, we're grateful. If it hadn't been for you then getting flash fried by that thing would be the least of our concerns right now."
It took a bit of effort, and tickling behind where she assumed the little guy's ears would be to encourage it to let go of Clank; though the oddly cute bundle of fluff seemed content being cradled against Ellen's chest while being cooed at. As she stood back up however, the roaring of engines overhead had the three companions snapping their heads towards one of the thief's armoured dropship's circling the launch site with their clearly recovered foe shooting them a death glare through an open hatchway before the heavy transport turned away and sped off over the mountains.
"Do you suppose we should stop him?" Clank queried to his organic friends with curious optics fixed upon the departing aircraft.
Ratchet merely shook his head before bringing up the relevant application on his Wrist Com to summon his ship to their location. "Nah, not worth it. Besides, we got what we came for. Lets just get this little guy back to Mr Fizzwidget."
{()}
Meanwhile, back near the now smouldering wreckage of the land train, a slightly charred slouch hat sat half buried in the snow. Other than a howling wind bring fresh snow flurries to cover that which was melted by the flames, there was no sound bar for that of a pair of boots crunching across the white blanket; a shadow falling across the tooth-laden head gear before the figure casting it stooped down and picked it up with a bleached brown-furred hand. Dusting off the accumulated snow and inspecting his hat for any further damage, Cash Harding placed it back on his head where it belonged; taking one good long last look at the burnt out crash sight and feeling the tight pull on his chest from a cracked rib the nanotech in his system was still trying to repair as he walked back the way he came.
The whine of turbines throttling up drew the battered merc's attention to the crimson-painted Star Explorer now racing across the skies above; a thoughtful hum escaping his lips as it disappeared from sight before he resumed his previous course. Those two commandos had certainly proven to be a handful; perhaps even a real challenge to his vast repertoire of skills should their paths cross once again as they most assuredly would. Considering he technically still had a contract to fulfil, even if his current employer was a little trigger happy and had almost blown both him and his targets sky high in the process, that was likely to be a lot sooner than not. All the cazar had to do now was catch up to both parties and finish where they'd left off; just as soon as he found a way off this damn stupidly cold planet that is.
"Pissin' weather. Now where the bloody hell did I leave me ship?"
{()}
Once the Star Explorer had arrived at their location and everyone had buckled in, Ratchet took off once again and headed for orbit away from the freezing landscape of Siberius before using the ship's central console to call their mutual employer. Clank had taken his usual seat in Ellen's lap, but was doing his utmost to keep away from the Protopet still held in the human's arms in case it tried to chomp on any other part of his anatomy. He needn't have worried however considering the cuddly ball of doom was currently snuggled into the red-head's bosom and fast asleep; a thin line of drool accompanying its chittering little snores.
Suddenly Fizzwidget's visage filled the central screen as he finally answered, looking a little surprised as he blinked at the trio. "Ratchet, Spank, Ellen, is that you?
"We've accomplished our mission sir," Ratchet responded with a brief salute. "The experiment is safe and in our possession."
The grandfatherly CEO gasped as he caught sight of the Protopet in Ellen's arms, his eyes sparkling and a wide grin lighting up his face at the sight of his company's pet project safe and sound. "Why that's stutaneous! Absolutely munificent! You three are a goluptious team."
"Unfortunately the thief got away," the human added. "Considering the lengths he's been willing to go in order to steal the Protopet though, it's almost certain he'll try again."
Fizzwidget nodded his head cordially. "Not to worry my dear, I'll have my best people track that dupliferous miscreant down. You just worry about keeping the experiment out of his hands."
"That we can do," Ratchet cut back into the conversation. "We just need the coordinates to our next rendezvous point."
Their elderly employer smiled in return, waving his hand in an easy going gesture. "Of course. I'm on my way to give a tour of Megacorp's historical mining site. Here's a little backtalk on the vergility."
Fizzwidget's image cut off to be replaced with a grainy black and white infomercial film reel; the company's logo juddering on screen as what sounded like a jovial1930s radio announcer's voice narrated over the top. "Megacorp manufacturing and mining; a tireless drum major leading the galaxy on its march of progress. Come tour our desert mining facility, and see why our most precious product is our history." The Megacorp logo was soon replaced with a cartoon drawing of a tracked mining vehicle with a massive drill on the front trundling through a desert mining camp; which in turn changed to a picture of a cheerful looking rabbit and floating butterfly in forest environment as the narrator continued.
"When we first arrived, we found a planet completely overrun by rainforest. To better accommodate the local wildlife, we transformed this impassable jungle-" The image faded into that of bleached skeletons lying amongst rolling sand dunes for as far as the eye could see. "-into an easily navigable desert." Moving in sync with the narrator's words, the next picture portrayed a pair of gun toting robots standing guard over a group of miners with pickaxes inside a dank cave. "Ever the technological pioneer, Megacorp invented the automated management team; thereby eliminating costly upward mobility, and all the while making your life... richer." The Megacorp logo took centre stage on screen once again as the film wrapped up, the narrator's voice ever upbeat as he extolled the company's value. "Megacorp manufacturing and mining; our march continues to the tune of progress and profitability. Call Investor relations today."
"Is that facility still-" Clank paused to wipe a layer of drool off his helm with a frown; flicking it away before continuing to address the returned image of Megacorp's CEO on screen. "-operational, sir?"
Mr Fizzwidget's shoulders briefly slumped with a sigh, though he soon brightened up. "Alas no. But its deep in hysterics. I've offloaded the condiments to your naval computer."
Ratchet nodded in return as the relevant data packet came through, inputting their new destination into the navigation computer and pointing the Star Explorer in the right direction before throttling up once more. "Copy that Mr Fizzwidget, we'll see you there."
At long last the end was finally in sight; all they had to do was drop off the Protopet and their obligation to Megacorp was fulfilled. Still, Ellen couldn't help the brief feeling that something was a bit off before ultimately dismissing it. After all, with the thief on the run and the experiment safely back in their hands, what could possibly go wrong now?
What indeed?
…
Yeah, we all know how this one's going to turn out, and if not then you might be in for a surprise. Trying to convey the sense of speed and motion during the land train sequence and running boss battle(s) was a bit of a challenge, but I'm fairly happy with how it turned out in the end. Cash is still alive and eager for his back pay, or should that be payback? Suffice to say we'll be hearing from him again sooner than not in the chapters to come.
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the end of the story's first act, and with luck I shall see you all again sometime in the new year once I start up again. Once again, take care, and wishing you all a very merry Christmas.
Until next time, please review and check out my other stories once they're posted and/or updated.
Thanks for reading
- RevenantReaper337