Author's note:

So I might have gotten a little bit carried away again with this chapter, and as oft seems to be the case these days, ended up writing way more than anticipated and with not enough time to properly wrap things up. Which, I'm afraid, means another split chapter this week, with the next definitely marking the end of Act two, one way or the other. Hope this tides you over until 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.

- 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 40:

Size Matters

Thugs-4-Less Headquarters, Snivelak

Bogon Galaxy

G2.17.085 Galactic calendar

6:49pm local time

"Get down!"

Throwing herself to the ground, Ellen could feel the pressure wave from yet another explosive barrage wash over her prone form as various sized debris rained down from the buildings all around them. Logan and his lieutenants not seeming to care in the least as to how much of their own fortress was being razed in the process, just so long as the commando team they were ruthlessly hunting down were completely eliminated. Something which was rapidly becoming an inevitable certainty if they couldn't find a way to strike back soon, or at least lose their pursuers long enough to figure out a solution.

Hurriedly scrambling to her feet once more, Ellen felt a gloved hand yank her up the rest of the way and was already stumbling into a run after her lombax partner as something crashed down heavily on the street behind them. A brief glimpse revealing it to be Buddy Boom's personal mech rising from a crouch and moving to aim its shoulder cannons directly at them, before dashing down a narrow alleyway off to one side while trying to stick close to Ratchet's tail.

"You do have a plan here, right? We can't just keep running forever!"

"I'm working on it!" Ratchet yelled back, only to pause as a thunderous detonation tore through the air and a good chunk of the buildings lining either side of their narrow bolthole. Reducing their front facades to so much rubble and inadvertently blocking off Boom's line of sight. "I just... need a little more time."

But what can we do? There's just too many of them!_ Samus fearfully asked. Optics wide and constantly searching for danger, while otherwise not daring to stray more than a few feet away from Ellen's side.

"Might I suggest starting with the Titan-class battle mechs we were previously engaged with?" Clank reasoned as they blew out of alley's opposite end and back on to yet another nigh identical looking street. One that already bore the scars of their previous running battle against the Buddy brothers if the sheer amount of craters and strewn rubble were anything to go by. "Your previous strategy appeared to working rather well, and if one or more can be disabled-"

"Then we can concentrate on finding a way to take out the big one without getting shot in the back," Ratchet interrupted while zigzagging between what few clear spots there were on the torn up road. Ellen managing to keep up behind him, but evidently starting to tire from constantly running for their lives. "Now all we gotta do is get one on its own and-"

"There you are!" Bling crowed from his rooftop position just off to their left; an ominous static charge building along the length of his railgun as it swung up towards them with deadly intent.

Of course neither commando had any intention of being anywhere near the potential blast radius when it finally discharged, but having the Titan engaging them in such a way was actually a golden opportunity that they simply couldn't afford to waste in this kind of relentless battle. Bling being unable to shield himself during the several long seconds it took for the railgun to reach peak recharge capacity, and without either Boom or Logan in the immediate area to cover him, entirely vulnerable to an explosive barrage of rockets that slammed directly into his already cracked cockpit canopy. Splintering it further still and forcing the merc to take an involuntary step back as he cancelled the attack in favour of defensively throwing up an arm.

"Gah! I can't see!"

Still pressing the advantage, Ellen made good use of her Grapple Gun to reach Bling's rooftop vantage point and quickly reeled herself in, while Ratchet found himself a more interesting method to follow suit. For in the shadow of another alley near the target building's corner was a vaguely triangular and faintly glowing green jump pad set into the ground where a fire escape should have been. One similar to a device both commandos had previously encountered before and identical in function; effortlessly propelling the lombax high into the air with a whoop of joy and an arcing descent that saw him dropping him right on top of the machine's unoccupied arm. Right before attempting to melt through the remaining canopy with his meteor gun while clinging on for dear life.

Which actually seemed to be working to a degree, or at least starting to warp it anyhow from what little Ellen could see. Having hauled herself up on to the roof with a grunt of effort and drawn her carbine, before adding a series of drawn out, extended bursts to their collective weight of fire. The not insignificant amount of waste heat generated shunted into the integrated underslung launcher and producing a single charge of unstable plasma which she wasted no time in aiming towards the still flailing machine's cockpit.

"Ratchet! Move!"

With a brief glance in her direction and realisation of her intent, the lombax quickly complied with a backwards somersault off of his temporary perch and one last parting gift of flaming rocks to go with his shouted reply. "Shoot!"

A single digit thumbed the little yellow button three parts along her carbine's secondary barrel and a burning ball of plasma soon arced across the greatly diminished space between them. Ratchet getting a good view of it impacting just below the Titan's front cockpit and sticking to the surface as he fell away, before the brilliantly purple and white globule of energy went critical in a spectacular fashion. Boiling away layers of super dense alloy plating from the machine's torso in a small radius, and perhaps most importantly, reducing much of the front most facing canopy to so much superheated molten slag.

Though unfortunately not the pilot along with it considering the way Bling immediately jumped away with boosters flaring, even if the thermal bloom given off would probably be enough to peel the scales from his hide had it not been mostly expended before hand. The melted mess of formerly hardened and impact resistant canopy glass flipping end over end as it was blown free with emergency explosive bolts, while Bling made his opinion on the matter very clear to all involved.

"Hot! Hot! Way too damn hot! I'm gonna need back up, bro!"

"Don't bother, I've already got them in my sights," Logan growled out over his loudspeaker with an undertone of menace. The skyscraper sized mass of machinery under his control soon changing course and stomping towards the commando team's suddenly very precarious position with wide, deliberate strides. "Just keep 'em from running off 'til I get there. It's about time I got to see what this thing can really do."

"...and that's our cue to run," Ratchet dryly remarked before promptly taking off across the rooftops at a flat sprint. Ellen gasping for breath by now and feeling her legs burn with every step, but nevertheless doing her best to keep pace given what the alternative would be.

A flying leap with Heli and Jump Pack assistance saw them both across a fairly wide gap between their current rooftop and the next, with the redhead turning her awkward landing into a tumbling roll upon impact, before springing back up and pushing herself harder still. The building behind them losing its top few floors to an explosive barrage from Buddy Boom's shoulder cannons, shortly before his mech jumped overhead and slammed down a few rooftops ahead of their position. Ellen only managing to get off a quick burst of fire that went well wide of the mark before the team was forced to veer off in another direction, lest they be drowned under a deluge of grenades from his only remaining arm mounted launcher.

With no other buildings within jumping distance and Logan liable to be on top of them any moment now however, the only real direction they could go was back down to street level. The two commandos using their respective backpack gadgetry to help slow their descent at the last moment and hoping that the previous damage inflicted on Boom's cockpit canopy would help mask them from view. Both quickly crossing the street at an oblique angle and into a position where they could outflank the camo-painted Titan, only to be sent tumbling from the force of impact as an absolutely massive metal foot pulverised the road not twenty feet to their rear.

"Surprise!" Logan gloated with a vicious undertone of glee as watched them stagger back to their feet in a panicked state. Drawing back the equally gigantic fist on his battle mech's right arm with slow deliberation so as to better anticipate their fear, and preparing to bring it down in an earth shattering blow. "And so long, morons!"

Or at least that was the idea, until Cash Harding came along to ruin his 'fun'. The Aussie-accented merc's ship looking like it had seen far better days as it skimmed low over the rooftops and under Boom's reach, before pulling up at the last second and strafing the Behemoth's head with everything he had left. Logan instinctively flinching back as a hail of laser fire temporarily blinded his main camera and accidentally jerking the controls to one side; his redirected finishing blow instead demolishing a good chunk of the adjacent building and ending with the offending arm temporarily trapped up to the elbow under several tons of debris. Leaving Cash free to rolled over his intended target in a loose corkscrew, and away from the Buddy brothers' attempts to blow him out of the sky.

If nothing else, the distraction certainly served its purpose in enabling the commandos to just barely slip through the closing ring of steel; diving down a side street with a blanket of Boom's gauntlet launched grenades exploding in their wake and using another jump pad to reach rooftop level once again. Although judging by his muffled curses over the radio, Cash hadn't been quite so lucky in getting away. "Bugger! Hydraulic line's startin' to come loose again. Sorry mates, but I dunno if I can afford another pass like that without stopping to make a better patch job. But I can still spot from above and help you get the drop on those mechs."

"Thanks, Cash, I'll take any advantage we can get right now," Ellen supplied as she dropped to one knee and brought her sniper rifle to bear on Boom's already pockmarked cockpit canopy while Ratchet continued to close in at blinding speed. Squeezing off a pair of shots in rapid succession that splintered it further still, and ensuring that he wouldn't catch wind of Ratchet rapidly closing the gap between them until it was far too late. "Just don't take any unnecessary risks, and watch yourself up there. There's bound to be more of those attack ships floating around somewhere."

"Will do," the cazar chuckled, only to suddenly draw a sharp intake of breath as another metallic mass dropped down on the rooftop just in front of the one Ratchet was presently occupying. An overlapping shield screen snapping into existence as Buddy Bling locked his gauntlet based emitters together and weathered any further attacks meant for his brother. "Watch out! The other one's gonna try and flank ya from the side."

Sure enough, Buddy Boom soon fired his jump jets and circled around the still active shield to Ratchet's immediate right. Both shoulder cannons firing while still in midair and just barely missing his rooftop position by a matter of feet before attempting to spam grenades once again. But to make matters worse, Logan had wrenched his trapped limb free with an explosion of debris showering in all directions and didn't seem best pleased if his PA system enhanced, growling undertone was anything to go by. Ellen suddenly finding herself gripped with icy terror as the Behemoth's warship grade laser cannon swung towards her suddenly very exposed position while an ominous hum of building power filled the air.

"Oh shit! Scatter!"

Heeding her own advice, Ellen vaulted over the rooftop's edge with heart lodged firmly in mouth and an equally panicked Samus not a second behind. The redhead's long seated fear of heights swiftly ignored in favour of surviving the next few minutes as she punched her Grapple Gun towards a somewhat taller structure a few buildings down that seemed to stick out. Not even waiting for the hook to properly bite into the stonework facade before quickly reeling herself with enough force to almost pull her arm out of joint, and apparently just in the nick of time too. Leaving the two girls to dangle from a high tensity cable several floors up with matching expressions of horror as the rooftop upon which they had been standing and the floor below it simply ceased to be.

"Christ... another few seconds and..."

Still shivering badly at just how close they had come to being vaporised, Samus nodded timidly before something clicked and suddenly widened optics snapped towards the human's. Oh no! The others!_

With breath hitched and eyes roving behind her helmet's visor, Ellen's gaze strained to pick out any signs of life through the choking cloud of debris kicked up by Logan's ridiculously powered attack. A sigh of relief escaping her lips several heart-pounding seconds later as a glimpse of movement off to her right resolved itself into Ratchet sprinting across a distant rooftop, although that was somewhat tempered by the fact he was trying to take on both of the Buddy brothers' Titan-class mechs at once.

"Hey, quit hiding and come out where I can see ya, girly! This baby isn't gonna test itself y'know."

...and then there was the fact that Logan was now personally gunning for her, even if he had temporarily lost sight of her during the ensuing chaos. Behemoth apparently not possessing much in the way of non visual detection equipment given that it was now actively stomping past their very exposed position while the head camera panned back and forth in an active search pattern. Ellen releasing a breath she didn't even realise she had been holding as the massive mech ploughed through an adjacent building like it was made of cardboard and passed by almost close enough to touch. Leaving her to climb the last few feet of rugged stonework and steel by hand, before finally collapsing on the rooftop with a shuddering sigh of relief while Samus looked on with obvious worry.

It was surely just a matter of time before Logan reacquired them somehow, even if he had to tear down the entire fortress in order to root out every last hiding spot. But for now at least, the temporary reprieve meant that she could hopefully help even the odds for Ratchet while the towering mass of metal looked elsewhere. Ellen bringing the Vaporizer's scope up to her eye and grimacing at the sight of him desperately trying to stay one step ahead of Buddy Boom's constant barrage of cannon fire while Bling tried to box the lombax in and bring his railgun to bear. Ratchet not slowing down in the least and seeming to concentrate most of his efforts on hitting the slighter brother in his now open air cockpit.

Time was of the essence here, and with no way to properly coordinate in the precious few seconds before Ratchet got within striking distance, Ellen had little choice but to improvise if she wanted to help him break the stalemate. Tempting though it was, trying to snipe the pilot directly was a no go thanks to the Titan's folded wing panels blocking most of her view, and Ellen wasn't about to waste her what likely to be her only shot. The bulbous orange cores protruding from its wrists on the other hand were another story; Bling having locked them together in order to project a larger, overlapping shield and holding them steady enough to make for a much better target.

The distance involved was probably far greater than any she had ever previously tried to take a shot from, and difficult enough even without having to worry about accounting for ballistic trajectories as she otherwise would for a rifle firing solid ammunition. But as her breath evened out and focus sharpened to the point that time almost seemed to slow down to a crawl, such concern no longer really mattered. Watching through the zoomed in scope as Ratchet sprinted to within ten yards or so and bunched his legs in preparation to jump before tightening her finger on the trigger with one final, even exhale.

A single beam of luminous green energy stabbed down through the darkened evening sky at a sloping trajectory, briefly illuminating its surroundings and clipping the very edge of Bling's raised right arm shield emitter, much to his yelped surprise. The glancing blow apparently enough to cause its hard light projection to splutter out of existence with a burning crackle of electricity, and allow Ratchet an uninterrupted view of Bling's shocked expression before bursting forth with a renewed sense of speed. A grin firmly etched upon the lombax's face upon realising what his partner had done and taking full advantage of the opening she had created before either brother could think to stop him otherwise.

Leaping nigh vertically and hooked on to the mech's still outstretched limb with his wrench, Ratchet used the momentum from Bling's attempt to shake him off in order to swing around its clawed hand and launch himself skywards. Landing upon a flat panel of the arm itself with typically feline grace and kicking off of its sparking, broken generator, right before the other arm's still active hard light shield swiped across it at chest height in an attempt to bisect him. A forward somersault safely carrying the lombax over its monomolecular edge, albeit not without losing some hair from his tail pommel in the process, and using the machine's upper arm assembly as a springboard to reach its shoulder plating.

Right where Buddy Bling was already waiting to greet him with a gold plated, gaudily decorated hand cannon pointed at his face and a mouthful of shark-like teeth bared into a snarl. "Get off my ride, fur bag! Ain't nobody gonna mess with the Bling!"

A deafening gunshot rang out and Ratchet instantly ducked, feeling the heavy calibre slug part his head fur in passing before brandishing his wrench and springing into action. Bouncing off the mech's nearest wing panel as another pair of rounds pinged off its surface mere inches away and flipping overhead with a downwards strike in passing that had Bling instinctively ducking away. Although it didn't stop him from trying to empty his remaining magazine into the lombax, or continuing to pilot with one hand in an effort to throw him off. The Titan's movements becoming increasingly erratic as they fought, and even more so once Ratchet had swatted his sidearm away with a wild swing.

It left Boom with little more to do but watch for fear of accidentally hitting his brother with friendly fire, although that didn't stop him from seeking other targets to vent his growing frustration upon. A second flash of green light slamming into one of the few unmarked sections on his heavily scarred cockpit canopy drawing his ire, and tracing the fading vapour trail back to a raised building the next street over. His mech's shoulder cannons thundering their reply and forcing the duo perched upon its rooftop to rapidly relocate as he relayed their position to Logan, before continuing to provide fire support while keeping an eye on the frantic melee now taking place over the other Titan's frame.

Ratchet meanwhile was far too busy trading blows while trying to remain balanced upon an increasingly unstable platform in order to pay attention to what was happening elsewhere. Bling's increasingly violent attempts to shake him off starting to take its toll and getting to the point where even his inherent lombax reflexes were struggling to keep pace, even without the thug lieutenant having drawn a backup pistol and merrily blazing away. "Hold still, damn it!"

"You first!" Ratchet countered before lunging forth once again.

A pained hiss escaped through gritted teeth as a pair of bullets clipped his thigh, but otherwise didn't deter him in the least as he brought his wrench down in a wide, sweeping arc. Bling instinctively jinking away from the telegraphed blow while trying to get a better bead on the lombax, only to howl out in searing agony as its blunt head smashed into his other hand with bone crushing force. The very same hand he had been using to steer the mech in fact, flattening it against the control panel with a sickening crunch and causing the machine to suddenly lurch into a violent counter-clockwise spin.

"Oh crap!"

With only a tenuous foot hold at best, it was perhaps little surprise that Ratchet swiftly lost his grip and was thrown clear at high speed. Tumbling through the air and hitting a nearby rooftop at a flat trajectory that saw him rolling end over end across its surface, before finally coming to a halt on the opposite edge in a groaning heap. Clank's concern evident as he sat up from where he become detached upon impact and tottered over towards the lombax on unsteady legs before attempting to rouse him. "Ratchet, are you alright?"

"Ugh... Remind me not to do that again..." Ratchet complained as the Nanotech in his bloodstream kicked in, rapidly reducing any injuries sustained to little more than a dull throbbing pain that soon faded in turn. "Hey, what happened to the other guy?"

"Whooooaaaaaaa! Help me, bro! Make it stop!"

As if in answer, Buddy Bling's alarmed cry for help immediately drew both of their attention to his now completely out of control mech as it span around in circles. Rapidly gaining momentum with each successive rotation and causing it to unbalance further still as it teetered from one leg to another, while the jump jets flared seemingly at random intervals and only served to make things worse. Had that last wrench strike hit something truly vital on the instrument panel, perhaps even locking the steering controls in place? Or was there something else at play here?

"Hold on, Bling! I'm coming!"

Either way, it didn't really matter given the results, and Ratchet was already moving with Clank safely nestled upon his back once more even before Boom was halfway towards his brother's flailing machine. Not wanting to be caught out in the open when the siblings came gunning for him once more, and thus only caught the inevitable end as physics finally took its course on the severely unbalanced mech. Bling crying out in surprise and perhaps a little fear that was abruptly cut off as it keeled over much like a felled tree, slamming head first into the front facade of a nearby building and crushing the exposed cockpit against it with a screech of metal on stone.

"No! No! No! Speak to me, Bling! Let me know you're okay!"

Crossing the remaining distance in a headlong panic and his jump jets flaring all the while, Boom landed heavily next to the downed mech before carefully turning it over with clawed servos, only to freeze at the sight of a silent, bloody mess still strapped into the pilot's seat. Ratchet wincing in sympathy for but a moment before dropping back down to street level and out of sight, just as an anguished howl reverberated across the surrounding area. Loud enough to rattle the windows on buildings within a two block radius, even without being amplified via the mech's external speakers, and making the lombax's ears flatten against his helmet in an effort to dampen the effects.

"BROTHERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

"I believe it would be best we evacuate the immediate area," Clank suggested as an enraged roar filled the air behind them, accompanied by the sounds of cannon fire and stonework being torn apart. "There is no telling quite how badly the further loss of a close family member will affect him, or indeed his mental state."

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, LOMBAX! YOU HEAR ME?! I'M GONNA HUNT YOU DOWN, RIP YOUR SPINE OUT AND MAKE YOU CHOKE ON IT!"

"I'm gonna go with 'plenty pissed'," Ratchet shot back with a wince at the sheer volume of the threat, if not its content. Waiting until he had rounded another corner and put at least another block between them, before keying his helmet's radio mike on. "Hey babe, you copy? We just took out one of the smaller mechs and the pilot with it. Where are you at?"

"Kind of busy right now, fuzz ball!" came the terse reply between short, hurried breaths. Her words almost drowned out by a massive explosion being a fairly good indicator as to why, and fairly close at that judging by the dust clouds he could see rising from a few blocks away. "Logan's right on our tail and trying to find us by demolishing everything in sight. Cash, is there anywhere we can lose him?"

"Take the next left, there should be an alleyway at the end that'll take you back to the main avenue. Plenty of boltholes to choose from there." the cazar merc suggested as his badly damaged ship continued to orbit the ongoing battle. "Reckon you ought to join her too, mate. That other bloke doesn't look too pleased with you, and he isn't far behind."

"Thanks for the heads up. Keep us posted in case they try anything else," Ratchet acknowledged with a grateful tone before switching his attention back to the other half of their team. "Ellen, I'll be on you any minute now. Just hold out a little longer, okay?"

"I'll try, but- Hey... He's backing off?"

Sure enough, upon clearing the built up, war torn street he was currently pounding along and the surrounding buildings which blocked his view, Ratchet could clearly see the top half of Logan's massive monstrosity of a mech as it loomed over not so distant rooftops. The Behemoth occupying a good portion of the inner fortress' main avenue and seeming to be in the process of slowly turning around on the spot, before striding back along the trail of destruction which marked its passing. But why? And how come the vengeful Buddy Boom wasn't actively pursuing him either, if Cash's puzzled commentary was anything to go.

Only one possible answer sprung to mind, and Ratchet didn't like it one bit. The by now familiar sound of not so distant thunder rumbling overhead as he made a mad dash across the wide stretch of road, followed by a whistling pitch which rapidly increased in volume. One that inspired a soaring sense of dread and had him shouting into his helmet's mike while diving into an alleyway on the far side.

"Artillery! Take cover!"

Anything else he might have said was quickly drowned out by a deafening roar of explosions that blanketed the surrounding area. A seemingly never-ending barrage concentrated entirely upon a two block radius; reducing any buildings still left standing to little more than rubble and ensuring that there was nowhere left for the commando team to run or hide. Leaving them no choice but to hunker down wherever they were and pray that they could weather out the ensuing storm. Ratchet finding himself pressed up against the closest alleyway wall with Clank by his side and a lethal hail of debris both raining down and flying all around them at high velocity. His stomach knotted with worrying about whether Ellen managed to make it to safety, or even heard his warning in time.

After what seemed like an eternity however, the bombardment finally ceased and Ratchet was finally able to regain his bearings once more in spite of slightly shaky legs and a constant ringing in his ears. Clank faring much better thanks to his mechanical nature negating any lasting effects and helping to guide the lombax towards the Alley's opposite side, or rather what was left. The crumbling walls miraculously still standing somehow, and soon giving way to a mass of craters surrounded by collapsed buildings on either side. The little robot's optics shuttering once before lighting up in relief at the two figures trudging their way through the rubble of what used to be a street, gently nudging a still slightly dazed Ratchet in order to gain his attention.

"Look, there they are. Safe and sound."

"Ellen! Samus! Hey, over here!"

It certainly seemed to perk the lombax up if nothing else, and he was soon dashing forth to greet them with one arms constantly waving overhead. Leaving a slightly irritated Clank behind and briefly shaking his helm, before jogging forth to catch up at a much slower pace. One that saw him negotiate a series of particularly deep craters with precise jumps from his Heli-Pack function, and reaching the others just in time to see Ratchet enthusiastically embracing a dirtied but otherwise uninjured Ellen, who responded in kind. The pair seemingly ignorant of everything else as they fussed over one another, while Samus simply looked on at their display with a wistful, faraway expression in spite of how close she physically was.

In fact, it wasn't until Clank had made his presence known with an audible clearance of his vocaliser after several long seconds that he finally caught their attention. His organic companions looking a little sheepish at his expectant look while Samus seemed to snap out of her daydreaming with a startled squeak and sudden flush of heat, given that her cooling fans kicked in to overdrive. "Now that I have your full attention and there is no immediate threat to our survival, perhaps we can better strategise as to defeating the Behemoth or at least disabling it. Preferably without further endangering Doctor Cross."

Taking a step away from the lombax she had been clinging on to, Ellen couldn't help but sigh as she ran a gloved hand down a face smeared with fine dust. "Realistically speaking, I'm not sure if we actually can. I mean, we've both hit it with everything we've got and still can't so much as scratch the paint on that damn thing, let alone slow it down."

Ratchet nodded solemnly in agreement. "She's right, it's way too armoured to penetrate with regular weapons, and Cash's ship barely made a dent at all. We'd need something way bigger to stand a chance, and even then we'd have to be careful not to somehow trigger its reactor into blowing all of us sky high."

But what about Miss Angela?_ Samus insisted worriedly. Wouldn't anything big enough to damage Behemoth hurt her too?_

"Not unless we were to were to directly attack the core where she is currently being held," Clank reassured her. "which is likely the most heavily armoured element on the entire frame and would require considerable effort in order to successfully breach. Instead, I would recommend concentrating upon the legs in order to hinder mobility, along with any sensory apparatus and weapon systems which could pose a more immediate threat."

Ratchet shrugged. "Well that sounds great and all, but where are we going to find the kind of firepower needed take down something that big?"

"Reckon I can help you out there, mate," Cash interrupted over their still open radio link. "'Cos I got meself an idea that might just work..."

{()}

Once the dust had finally settled and their artillery support ceased fire in order to reload, Logan released the smaller mech he had been holding back with the Behemoth's singular hand and Watched it briefly stumble forth before racing ahead with jump jets flaring. The sudden loss of his brother having turned Buddy Boom into a frothing mass of grief and burning rage, which took what little patience Logan had left to keep him from piloting the Titan-class battle mech straight into the ongoing bombardment in an effort to slaughter those who had wronged him. An attitude that was likely to get himself killed in short order and deprive Thugs-4-Less of one of their most reliable officers at the best of times, let alone during a crisis such as this.

"Alright, now you can go get 'em. Just don't do anything else stupid that'll get you killed."

Silence was his not unexpected answer, yet it still made Logan shake his head in disbelief as he continued to follow at a much more sedate pace. Now was not time for losing their heads, not when their opponents had demonstrated an almost supernatural ability to beats the increasingly stacked odds laid against them time and time again. Easily besting his men with each encounter despite often being outnumbered at least ten to one, and costing the company countless millions in lost revenue, equipment, and reputation.

All the more reason to play things smart now that the enemy was literally on his doorstep; assuming that the rogue commando team had somehow survived being shelled yet again and were now lying in wait for him to make a move. Logan electing to direct his lieutenant's blind anger towards the ruins left behind in order to aggressively scout it out, while he came to a halt around two blocks away and prepared the Behemoth's shoulder-mounted mortar launchers to fire at the slightest sign of anything which Boom might flush out. Including the heavily scarred and blocky looking ship which had just lifted off from behind some destroyed buildings off to his left; the same one in fact that had been constantly buzzing him like some kind of giant bug ever since their battle had started.

Unfortunately the launchers weren't quite up to tracking airborne targets, and his first semi-homing support pod was nowhere near the comparatively tiny craft before the pilot punched the throttle and left them all behind. Even with Boom adding his own weight of fire and bracketing it with hastily loaded flak shells, they still couldn't hit the damn thing before it got out of effective range. Although on the plus side, their failed attempts still bore fruit in the form of a salvo of rockets slamming into his lieutenant's mech from behind; exposing the commandos that had been hiding amongst some collapsed ruins just behind him in a misguided attempt to support their comrade's escape.

"There you are..." Logan grinned within the confines of his cockpit while casually directing a second pod to join the first. Both platforms reorienting in midair and harrying the fleeing pair with constant plasma fire from their built in weapons, while Boom took off in pursuit with a bloodthirsty roar. "Come out and play!"

Another half dozen pods soon joined those already airborne before Logan switched tactics and began to move forth once again on an intercept course. Charging his tri-barrelled laser cannon arm and not caring in the least when one was shot down with a cluster of homing missiles as he closed in for the kill. Not even when his foes managed to reach one of the surprisingly intact defence towers scattered around the inner fortress and began to swat down the rest with its solitary surface to orbit flak cannon. In fact, so focused was he upon the task at hand that it would take quite some time for Logan to realise that the intruders were, in fact, presently two members short. Of course by then, it would already be far too late...

{()}

"Bloody 'ell, that was a close one," Cash muttered to himself before chancing a look over his shoulder. "Everyone alright back there?"

"Given the circumstances, I believe so," Clank replied with a nod. One which Samus echoed timidly from their shared seat in the rear cockpit while ensuring that her frame was pressed up against his own, for practical reasons of course. "Although I am still unsure as to the validity of your plan, or indeed our chances of successfully executing it."

Cash simply gave him a wide, almost manic grin. "No worries mate, this'll be easy compared to takin' on those big bastards. Just stick with me and don't piss about once we're down there. Won't be long 'til they're on us like a pack of starving grulches."

The ship lurched suddenly as he brought it into a sharp right turn, leaning back at an angle and bleeding off speed until they were hovering in place, before slowly descending to the ground below. Clank catching a glimpse of their questionably sane pilot checking his break action shotgun was fully loaded, while an increasing number of stray rounds continued to ping off their cockpit canopy all the while. "Right... here we go. Get ready!"

Neither robot got a chance to respond either way, seeing as Cash had already hit the manual canopy release and was already vaulting over the side while the ship was still several feet from touching the ground. Relying upon the autopilot to do its thing and safely land, while he got stuck into the squad of thugs surrounding their temporary landing zone with machete and shotgun both if the distinct booming noise and pained cries were anything to go by. Which left the remaining occupants to find their own way out of the cockpit, with Samus using her thrusters to clear the edge and help haul Clank up before gliding down to the concrete below together. Making sure that they stayed close to the ship and out of sight until Cash could secure a safe passage to their objective.

For the small clearing where they had landed stood amidst the fortress' solitary firebase; source of the artillery which had already shelled them twice now and still smouldering in places from Cash's earlier bombing run. A place that was crawling with scattered groups of thugs and apparently still operational, despite the sheer amount of damage he had already caused once the ammo bunkers went up and resulting widespread fires that so many were desperately trying to contain.

Which in turn would hopefully help mask their presence and prevent any kind of organised resistance from stopping the three from carrying out Cash's questionably sane plan until it was far too late. One that called upon them to locate, capture, and make use of what surviving gun batteries there were to target Logan's gigantic mech; hopefully disabling or at least damaging it enough to give Ratchet and Ellen a fighting chance at taking it down for good. Assuming it was powerful enough to punch through the Behemoth's undoubtedly thick armour in the first place that is, and even then there was the question of actually hitting the damn thing with any degree of accuracy, or at least not setting off the reactor and accidentally killing Angela in the process.

Of course they actually had to get there first, and once Cash had sent the last merc flying into a wall with a point blank blast of buckshot, he quickly waved the hiding pair forward. Taking the opportunity to reload his Road Warrior during the lull and keeping an eye on their surroundings all the while. "Right... I think we're clear for now. Let's get moving while the going's good."

Clank briefly bobbed his helm in acknowledgement. "Agreed. While they are currently otherwise occupied, there is no telling when Thugs-4-Less will notice our presence, and I doubt we would survive long should they call in additional reinforcements to prevent us from gaining control of their remaining artillery."

I don't like this_ Samus stated nervously from where she was floating alongside Clank, close enough for their frames to touch. Her optics constantly darting towards the shadows and fully expecting something to jump out at them any second. Um, how f-far is it from here?_

"Best I could tell from the air, the gun batteries should be just past these storage sheds on our right," Cash murmured in reply. His voice low and shotgun pointed fully ahead as he cautiously led them through a myriad of haphazardly stacked crates between two such buildings. "Might have to divert though if there's too many patrols around there."

The three quickly fell silent as they reached the far side, where the sounds of shouting and pounding boots had gradually grown into a crescendo that almost drowned out the still raging fires all around. Cash crouching down behind a wooden crate just before an open strip of road between the rows of storage sheds and observing the area beyond, while Samus peeked around the side and over Clank's head. The view not encouraging in the least, given just how many clusters of thugs were between them and the clearly visible gun batteries a few hundred yards away. Many of whom were preoccupied with keeping the flames away from volatile ammunition stockpiles while others busied themselves with reloading the massive artillery pieces for the next salvo.

It would only take one to spot them however, and with a distinct lack of cover to hide their approach, the chances of actually reaching the guns in one piece was pretty damn slim. Cash grimacing in annoyance before turning his attention to the adjacent storage sheds off to their immediate left. "Looks like we're gonna have to go around... Just keep quiet, stay low, and do exactly what I tell you. Everyone ready?"

Both little robots nodded in unison, and before they knew it he was dashing across the road and slipping into the shadows on the far side. Clank and Samus catching up a moment later and following close behind as he gestured them forward once more into a maze of closely packed buildings that thankfully seemed to be free of any curious Thugs-4-Less personnel. The going was achingly slow however, and it wasn't long until the guns thundered their deafening chorus once again. Cash trying to speed up the pace without giving themselves away while the other two fretted over their organic companions, praying that the outgoing salvo would land far short of its intended targets, along with the commandos continued survival.

'Ratchet, Ellen... Please, just hold out a little longer.'

And so the final climatic battle against Thugs-4-less begins in earnest, with things only getting more intense from here. See you next time for the explosive conclusion to Act two, and Snivelak itself at long, long last.

Review replies:

bajy - To be fair, doesn't know the meaning of 'fair play' under the best of circumstances, let alone when defending his home turf, so it's no surprise he's going all out to stop our heroes. He's still one of my favourite villains right next to Nefarious himself, not least because of all the unintentional humour he brings to the game, and it'll be a shame to see him finally go. Hope you enjoyed the latest instalment!

GoldenLombaxGirl - thanks! Thought it was kind of appropriate really.

GamerHeart - For a given degree of 'good' maybe, although I can't see him willingly working with the heroes again unless there's something in it for him.

starrat - Thanks again!

Snow Wolf Alpha - Nuclear perhaps, or at least Clank believes so if Logan followed the original blueprints. But that just means they have to get creative in finding a way to take it down.

The fixation with Ellen is due to the fact that humans pretty much look like markazians but don't have the associated pointed ears and tail, which makes her stand out. In which case I guess the Vulcan analogy kind of works here due to how similar she is in passing but different upon closer inspection. A HV interview would likely help clear that up though, even if it does accidentally spark some crackpot online conspiracies in the process.

Nefarious probably wouldn't care to be honest, organics being all the same in his eyes, but I can definitely see him stirring up a lot of crap over her role in Secret Agent Clank. More specifically due to her character being considered an equal to Clank as opposed to a lowly underling like Ratchet as 'Jeeves'. I could almost use that as the basis of an omake, now that I think about it…

Firestar5277 - Thanks! It was honestly a struggle to both get things rolling and find a way for the heroes to actually fight such powerful mechs on foot without considerably nerfing them. But I'm fairly happy with the result, and while I've never actually watched Attack on Titan myself (not my thing either), it did serve as an inspiration for combating the mechs and a blatant reference of a title.

Logan's pretty much banking on mutually assured destruction and the heroes' unwillingness to risk hurting Angela. Preventing them from causing any major damage for fear of wiping themselves out in the process should the reactor be breached, while being free to bombard them in turn with impunity. Not that Ratchet and co won't find another way to bring him down of course. Still no idea what the deal is with the crotch lights though…

I do intend to take a break shortly, and hopefully get back into a position whereby I've got a comfortable buffer between chapters for quality control and such. But not until this story arc is complete since I'd hate to leave it half finished or let my readership down. Who knows? Maybe I'll finally get a chance to actually draft one of the dozens of omake ideas I seem to have floating around before resuming the story again.

I love the Marshmallow Gun and Opera Singer ideas too, though might I suggest 'Bad Carmen' as an alternate and terribly punny name. I'm going to have to start making a list at this rate, and come up with an idea on how to make use of them. Perhaps an omake in which Ratchet and Ellen are invited to test new novelty weapons for Megacorp or Gadgetron? Speaking of puns, that was brilliantly awful, so here's one of my own. Hope you enjoy!

Two men are standing at a bus stop, one a six foot plus beanpole while the other is a dwarf. Just as the bus arrives however, beanpole realises he's forgotten his wallet and so asks his fellow commuter if he can spare enough change for the fare. To which the Dwarf replies with a smirk, "Sorry, but I'm a bit short."

Bookwriter94 - I just didn't want to lose my momentum really, or leave people hanging for extended periods of time until the next chapter was released. However, I'm definitely going to take a breather once this arc is finally concluded

It's going to take everything Ratchet and Ellen have to get through this one alive, and probably more given Thugs-4-less are bringing out the big guns. But that just means they'll have fight smart and find something even bigger to hit them with…

Light Seeker 001 - Pretty much, yeah. And Thugs-4-Less are going to need to learn how to spell 'bankruptcy' very, very soon.

Lucas FTW - I'll take that as a 'yes' then.

Razor of DOOM - whoops. Well it's the thought that counts, and it could technically be early for next year. Either way, hope you enjoyed it.

DarkEnigma95 - They're definitely pulling out all the stops, that's for sure. I might have upscaled it a bit, but Behemoth is still pretty damn huge in canon and probably one of the single toughest boss fights from any of the games. Unless you managed to grind for the RYNO II beforehand that is.

I had a quick look at your story too and I have to say that it's an interesting start, if a little too fast paced for my preferences. I'd love to see where you intend to take things from here, and to find out just how exactly your OC managed to end up where he is right now. Just make sure not to fall into Gary Stu territory and keep it up!

Sonachugirl - To say they're in it deep would be an understatement. Hell, I know I wouldn't want something like that looming over me, or to be anywhere near it. Glad you liked the chapter overall, and thanks for understanding. Trying to keep this story updated on time can be daunting at the best of times, and I could really use a breather once this arc is completed at long last.

Also, with regards to context and Resi… My mind is now painting a picture which is morbidly amusing in a disturbing kind of way, so thanks for that. That and for highlighting Wesker's 'issues' with Chris in Resi 5, which in turn has spawned multiple fan fics of usually dubious quality or the years and some rather questionable relations between the pair for which I shall require brain bleach by the truckload.

Resi 7 though looks like it's already scary enough without the VR, let alone with it, so I don't blame you in the least. Can't say Resi 6 really affected me that much, but then again I never actually got around to finishing it. I have played a bit of Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood however, and the jump scares quickly go from tame to genuinely frightening within a few levels. Bad enough to make me nearly fall off my damn chair, and especially those that ratchet up the tension beforehand in anticipation, such as the part with living mannequins which only move when you're not looking *shudders*.

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

Thanks for reading

- RevenantReaper337