Derek grumbled to himself as he made his way back to his room on the New Deplanetizer, brown eyes showing nothing but annoyance that the Blarg moved to the sides to avoid his wrath. Derek wasn't generally a testy Leopardis/Blarg mix...but after Drek's announcement that Derek was to handle the investigation against the Rebels...well...it pissed the ten year old off. He had other things to take care of, more important things than leading an investigation with incompetent Blarg.
"They're too hopped up on drugs to be useful." He muttered to himself. He stopped at the doors outside his room and glared at the Blarg around. "I want to be alone so if any of you know what's good for you, you'll vacate the floor immediately." He hissed at them all, brown eyes dark with the promise of murder. The Blarg immediately dispersed at his threat, knowing full well the son of Drek would follow through. Once they were gone, Derek sighed and walked into his room and closed the door, locking it. He wanted to relax before he was sent to Nebula G34, where he would oversee some new weapons being made for his investigation. However he couldn't relax, he slid down the door, laying his head between his knees as he took a deep breath, trying to stay calm as his mind ran through a thousand different scenarios.
None of them ended well.
If he led the investigation against the Rebels, it's very likely that he would find his mother...and the Blarg would capture her. He had to delay the investigation as long as he could, he HAD to! He wasn't going to let his mother get captured again...Zoni only knows what Drek would do to her. He took another deep breath to calm himself, before standing up and heading to his desk, opening a journal that was written in code and humming, thinking a few things through.
He had a com-glove that he took off a dead Rebel; he had tried to save the poor man...but he was dying. There had been no hope and the Blarg would've killed him anyway. The Rebel had even begged to be put out of his misery, so Derek had given the Rebel what he wanted...then took the com-glove. He always wondered if he could use it to contact his mother. He picked it up and looked it over before he looked at his holo-tablet and smirked.
He had an idea.
**(Veldin, Rebel Base; September 18th, Tuesday Afternoon)**
Rilena was in the Command Center, reviewing more of the notes she had decoded. Like she thought it was all about Drek's next target's...at least until Drek made that announcement but everything else still seemed the same. Rilena pressed the button on the side of the armrest, allowing the robotic-like hand to bring her holo-tablet forward, allowing her to review some things that needed taking care of around the base when Conner spoke. "Commander, we have a message from an unknown sender." He said with surprise, making Rilena look up in surprise as well. Ratchet Junior, Ragar, Riley, Ratchet and Clank were in the Command Center as well with Leon and Takeria.
"Unknown sender?" Rilena mumbled, brow raised in suspicion. "Seems to be from pretty far away judging by signal strength. Should I display the message?" Conner asked and Rilena sighed, thinking a bit as she rubbed her chin. Unknown sender...it could be anything but she hoped it wasn't a trap. "Display." She said as she leaned forward, Ratchet came to stand at her side as Takeria and Leon had the kids pay attention. Conner typed a few codes that allowed the message to be displayed. Once he had the correct codes in, he accepted the message before putting the block up once more.
"4 9455 7768328 843 732357 & 78255 27 5664 27 76774253. 23 2273385!"
Everyone was confused just seeing a bunch of numbers but as the message got longer, they noticed symbols were soon mixed in and Conner sighed. "Rilena, this is your coding." Conner muttered and Rilena frowned. It was the same coding as the messages she decoded...so...maybe. She brought her holo-tablet up and connected it to the main screen and began matching the numbers to letters that she knew by heart. As she did, the numbers began to change from letters to a sentence everyone could read.
"I will protect the rebels and stall as long as possible. Be careful!"
She decoded more.
"Drek's next stop is planet Ardora, he plans to search there for any clues on the Rebels leader and question the citizen's. They will be stopped there for one week.
After that, it will be planet Barora, planet Oltanis and planet Kalwan III. He plans to go to each planet for information and resources. He will be taking the resources back to Nebula G34 as he has rebuilt the station.
You may find some of the answers you need there."
Whoever sent this message obviously cared about them and Rilena had a feeling it was from the same person who had been leaving the coded messages to help them defeat Drek. "Whoever this is knows us...and has been leaving us notes on how to defeat Drek." She had, looking at the notes she had decoded once more. "Mom?" RJ began softly, making her look at her son. "Yes, Junior?" She asked him, wondering why he seemed hesitant. "Could...could it be...Derek?" He asked as he tilted his head.
Rilena was about to say 'no'...when she froze, thinking back to when she was with Derek from that year after having him. She knew he was smarter than most kids his age. She had been forced to watch Drek experiment on Derek to make him incredibly smart, and it hurt her heart to see Derek screaming in pain as Drek tortured the boy through the experiments. After all those experiments, she had taught Derek about how to keep things private by showing him how to write his thoughts and feelings in code so only he knew what they meant.
It worked wonders with making Drek frustrated when he couldn't crack a code.
"Actually RJ...you might be onto something." Rilena said with wide eyes, before looking at the screen. "Conner, trace the signal!" She ordered and he jumped, beginning to type quickly to try and trace the signal. "We need signal boosters!" He called over to the left side of the Command Center. A few Fenrik's there pressed some buttons and they heard a beep in the room, signaling the signal boosters on the surface had activated. "Signal locked. Beginning trace." Conner said as Leon walked over to the panel Conner was at, watching the trace go through. After a while, a ding sounded and the main screen flickered to show…
"The Deplanetizer." Rilena muttered, frowning a little bit. "It has to be Derek." Riley said softly, staring at the screen as she hugged Clink closer to her. "Riley sweetie?" Rilena asked her daughter, confused at the wise tone that came out of her daughter. "Remember when we found one of our Rebel convoy's at planet Rilgar?" She asked, all of them unaware Clink's eyes were glowing blue softly. "Yeah, we found the entire convoy, all fifteen Rebel's murdered. One of them was missing their com-glove, the leader of the convoy, hence they never reported in." Ratchet Junior said as he crossed his arms. "It's why we went looking for them." Ragar remembered as he looked at the main screen.
"Could it be possible Derek took the glove with the intent to help us?" Ratchet asked Rilena, who frowned a little, thinking. She had always wondered about the possibility of it being Derek sending the notes; the coding was the same she used to keep things confidential. "Maybe, we still don't have enough information if it really IS Derek but it is a high possibility that it is him." Rilena said before she got up and stretched. "In the meantime, it appears Drek has rebuilt his station at Nebula G34 and we're going there to grab his resources...and do a little sabotage of our own." Rilena said with a smirk to everyone. "Who wants to cause some mayhem?" She asked with a tilt of her head, making everyone nod with a cheer...unaware someone at the door to the Command Center smirked and walked off.
**(Nebula G34, September 22nd, Saturday)**
Ratchet growled as he hid behind a metal box, avoiding the Blarg patrolling the station. The station was MUCH bigger than he remembered...but he guessed with all the resources Drek was getting, of course he'd make it bigger. After seeing how much bigger it was, Ratchet stated only one of them should enter the facility and he volunteered himself and Clank. Rilena and the others on The Phoenix objected but Leon said it was the most logical choice since Ratchet had been there previously and might be able to find passages that they would overlook.
Currently, The Phoenix was camouflaged outside Nebula G34, outside the range of the sensors so Ratchet could explore without worry of his wife, kids and their friends getting caught. "Clank, did you download the schematics?" Ratchet whispered to him, looking over the metal box, only to duck back down to avoid being spotted. "I did but...uh...they are very confusing. It seems nothing is like before." Clank whispered and Ratchet wanted to let loose a string of curses that would surely have Rilena slapping him.
Seeing the Blarg had passed, Ratchet came out of his small hiding place and began to walk along the corridors, being careful to stay silent. As he stopped at a corner, he was about to rush down the hallway to enter a storage room...when a hand shot out, covered his mouth and yanked him into a dark corner. He struggled as he felt the stranger stay behind him when… "Stop struggling Ratchet, I'm not going to hurt you." A young voice demanded and Ratchet froze, eyes going wide.
"Ratchet, stop struggling." Clank said softly and Ratchet nodded. The stranger let go and stepped to the side, allowing Ratchet to get a look at who it was and his eyes went wide once more. "...Derek, right?" Ratchet asked the boy before him, who nodded. Derek looked exactly as he did on the info-bot message he saw. Fur that was a reddish-purple color due to the red from Blarg and the blue from Rilena, brown eyes and black hair pulled into a low ponytail. He was wearing a smart looking outfit that had the Drek Industries insignia on the chest.
"Yes, that's me." Derek moved to the opening and looked left, then right before looking at Ratchet. "Follow me, I'll take you to the control room." He hurried down the hall and Ratchet frowned a bit, yet followed. He had no other options and he wanted to know if the boy was trustworthy. They neared the control room and Derek stopped Ratchet before looking at a pile of boxes. "Hide behind those boxes as I get the Blarg to leave the control room so you can enter without being spotted." He said and Ratchet did as asked, even as Derek walked calmly toward the doors that lead to the control room.
"Ratchet," Clank jumped off his back, looking cautious, "are you sure we can trust him?" Clank whispered as they heard Derek start talking to the Blarg. "We don't have a choice, Clank." Ratchet said, leaning down to be better hidden. "To get into the control room, we would end up alerting every Blarg on the station that someone infiltrated the station and we can't afford to get caught." He explained and Clank frowned...before they heard Derek shouting. "Are you really going to disobey my orders?!" He shouted and they peeked around the corner of the boxes a little.
The Blarg he was speaking to was now stuttering...before Derek's hand shot forward and he gripped the throat of the Blarg in a threatening manner. He may only be ten years old...but he acted so much older. "Don't make me repeat myself you drug-addled, mind melted, lower than scum cretin…" He hissed, making the Blarg pale and Ratchet's and Clank's jaws drop. "I am the boss while I'm here, unless that man I'm forced to call father is here, understand?" He questioned as he tilted his head innocently, voice unnaturally calm.
He tightened his hand just the slightest, making the Blarg choke a bit, before Derek loosened his hold just a bit so the Blarg could breathe. "Now, if I ask you to vacate the floor because I want to inspect the floor, then you will do as I say. Do I make myself clear?" He questioned once more, getting closer to the Blarg's face, mouth pulled in a snarl. The Blarg nodded, obviously afraid for its life and Derek let the Blarg's throat go, giving a scoff. "Now get out of my sight!" Derek snapped and the Blarg ran off.
Derek waited a few seconds and then an announcement rang to keep the floor the control room was on vacant, as Derek was inspecting it. When that happened, Derek smirked and waited until the Blarg returned, letting him know the floor was now empty so he could inspect as he wished and Derek nodded. "Good, for once you've been useful. Now leave." He hissed and the Blarg gave a shaky nod, rushing off and leaving the floor as well.
Once Derek was sure the Blarg had left the floor, he motioned for Ratchet to come over and Ratchet did with Clank, once more, on his back. Derek entered with Ratchet and Clank, before turning the computers on and allowing Ratchet and Clank to download what they needed. "Derek, do you know where the resources Drek is gathering are at?" Ratchet asked the boy, who hummed, thinking. "Most likely down in cargo bay, down on the bottom floor." Derek explained, rubbing his chin, an action Ratchet soon mimicked as he hummed.
"Getting the cargo bay, after having the control room floor cleared would be suspicious." Clank explained, making Derek nod. "Agreed. I have some control over the Blarg...but they still listen to Drek more than me." Derek commented with disgust, shaking his head. "All because they believe that, by listening to him, they'll get more of whatever drug it is they've been using." Derek's tone indicated that he despised how everything was.
Ratchet nodded, before he frowned a bit, rubbing his wrist. "Derek...I have to ask. Why are you helping us?" He said with cautious eyes, which didn't surprise Derek. Derek sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I...I don't have any love for Drek." He stated, before sitting down in one of the chairs there, even as Ratchet leaned against the computer console. "I've been trying to stop Drek ever since I was little, ever since Drek started pushing responsibilities on me to help him with galactic domination." Derek commented, shrugging.
"As a result," He continued, eyes dark in anger, "because of everything he did to mom and all the experiments on me," Ratchet's eyes went wide...Drek experimented on his own son? He guessed the man wasn't really parent material as it was. "I have no love for the man who I'm forced to call father." He rolled his eyes. "I thought you'd be mad at Rilena for not being able to save you when the Rebels came to save her." Ratchet commented, yet Derek shook his head.
"No, I stayed behind willingly. Mom probably thinks dad hid me before they came...but I hid myself. I wanted to help take Drek down from the inside. Even at the young age of only a year old, I was already smarter than most teenagers." Derek explained and Ratchet felt his heart break at how much Derek has endured. "It hasn't been hard to get information, when the Blarg are so hopped up on drugs they'll say anything...but that doesn't mean it's been easy either." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I love mom, she was an actual parent to me and actually cared for me...even when Drek tried to separate us, mom fought him off." Derek's eyes showed nostalgia. Ratchet nodded, he knew Rilena would never let someone separate her from her child and she loved her children. She'd fight anyone who tried to keep her away from them. "So, you're helping us because you have no love for Drek and you're wanting revenge for Rilena?" He asked and Derek nodded.
"No one deserves what mom went through and if I can get revenge for what happened to me and mom, then all the better." He gave Ratchet a smile. "Mom told me all about my siblings and you, said she believed you were still out there somewhere and she knew you'd come back." He chuckled. "To be truthful, I always wanted you to be my dad. I don't care for Drek and I don't love him." Derek explained, shaking his head, he could care less about what happens to Drek.
Ratchet smiled and looked at Clank who was beside him now and Clank nodded, he trusted Derek now as well. "So, we're here to do some sabotage and grab some of Drek's resources. Wanna help?" Ratchet asked Derek with a smirk, who gave a smirk in return. "I've always wanted to get rid of Nebula G34, I find this place useless. What do you got?" Derek asked and Ratchet nodded to Clank, who took a bag out and opened it, revealing several explosive charges inside.
"After we grab some supplies and sabotage some ships, we plan to set these around the area and detonate them." Ratchet said and Derek hummed, looking them over before nodding to himself. "I can set these up quickly and set them off when I leave later. I'm only here to 'oversee' the construction of some new weapons." Derek said as he stood up, before going to the computer console. Clank moved out of the way so Derek could have access to the console.
"We can sabotage the ships from this computer, since most of them are AI driven since the Blarg have become too hyped up to be useful in driving ships." The boy explained, typing a few codes in to give him access to the ship database. "Makes things easier for us." Ratchet said as he stood by Derek, watching as Derek overwrote the defensive firewall in the ship database, before rewriting the coding of the ships. "This will cause an error with the start-up of the ships, causing them to explode." He pressed the 'enter' key, before stepping back.
"Once one explodes, the others will follow suit since they are all kept together in the same wing." The Leopardis/Blarg hybrid explained, before looking at the bag. "Mind if I take these?" He asked Clank and Ratchet, looking at the charges again. "I can hide these in some small places the Blarg won't investigate and then I can detonate them when I leave." He stood up and looked at the ceiling. "In the meantime, the vents lead to all points on the ship. You can reach the cargo bay through the vents." Derek explained, making Ratchet and Clank nod.
"Got it, thanks Derek." Ratchet laid a hand on Derek's shoulder. "You're a good kid, Rilena will be proud. I just know it." Derek gave a bashful smile at that, glad to know his mother would appreciate his efforts. "Why not come with us?" Clank asked, making Derek jerk back in surprise and Ratchet look at him confused. "Yeah, why not come back with us?" Ratchet also questioned Derek, who sighed as he shook his head. "I would like to...but...I still have work to do." He said with determined eyes.
"I have a better chance of stopping Drek from the inside. He doesn't suspect that I'm not loyal to him. He believes that, since mom couldn't save me, that I resent mom for 'abandoning me' as he put it." He shook his head. "As if I could hate mom. I love mom!" Derek stated firmly with a nod of his head. "Because he is my father, he believes he has my utmost loyalty. What he doesn't realize is that I'm smarter than him due to all the experiments he's done on me and that I've surpassed his expectations." Ratchet smiled at the boy.
"Alright...so you want to stay on the inside as a double agent?" Ratchet asked Derek, who nodded. "Yeah. I'll keep getting information and working towards sending it to you all to keep you updated." Clank handed the bag to Derek, who held it carefully, before the detonator was also handed to him. "Be careful Derek." Ratchet said, rubbing the boy's shoulder, in which Derek nodded. "I will dad." He said softly...before his eyes widened in horror as he realized what he said.
"Oh, uh, I mean I...Oh Zoni, I'm sorry!" He said as he bowed. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, it's okay Derek." Ratchet reassured, seeing how upset Derek was. Truthfully, Ratchet had been caught off guard but knowing Derek held no love for Drek and loved his mother...Ratchet guessed he shouldn't have been surprised Derek needed a different father figure. After all...Drek wasn't the best at being a parent. Derek did also say he always wished his father had been Ratchet, himself, so Ratchet wasn't too upset.
"If you want to call me dad...I don't mind." Ratchet assured Derek, who looked up after having looked to the floor in shame. "Are you...are you sure?" He asked Ratchet in uncertainty. He thought Ratchet would be angry at being referred to as a father from the son of an enemy. "I'm sure Derek. You're Rilena's son as well and you've been doing all you can to stop Drek. You're a good kid." He patted Derek's head; it always calmed his own kids, so maybe it'd do the same for Derek.
It did the trick as Derek relaxed and gave a small smile.
Seconds later, Ratchet was crawling through the vents with Clank to get to the cargo bay to steal some supplies and destroy the rest. Derek was planting the explosive charges over the ship in area's the Blarg wouldn't see them. He would meet up with Ratchet and Clank in the cargo bay when he was done and allow them access to the teleport pad in the cargo bay so Ratchet and Clank could leave. Once he was finished, he told the Blarg he was inspecting cargo bay and that it was to be left alone.
The Blarg, once more, listened without question.
Derek closed and locked the cargo bay doors, before walking toward the center and looked around. He lifted his left leg and tapped the metal toe of his shoe against the ground three times. After the third tap, Ratchet and Clank peeked out from behind a few shipping crates and jumped over, walking toward Derek. "You sure you really don't want to come with us?" Ratchet asked Derek, who shook his head. "I'm of better use here, getting information and sending it." He explained, making Ratchet sigh.
"Alright...well…" He handed a small piece of paper to Derek, who raised a brow as he looked it over. It looked like some kind of communication code. "That's the code to my com-glove." Derek looked at Ratchet in surprise. "If you ever need anything, even someone to talk to, contact me, okay?" Ratchet suggested with a soft smile to Derek, who gave a small smile in return. "I may not be your actual father, but I don't mind taking on that role for you. You're as important as anyone else and you're trying to help return peace to the galaxy." He hugged Derek, shocking the kid.
"Be careful, okay?" He stated and Derek nodded with a smirk. "Don't worry about me dad, I'll be okay." Ratchet nodded with a chuckle. "Atta boy." He patted Derek's shoulder and Derek pulled out his holo-tablet and typed a few codes in. In the left corner of the cargo bay, a teleport pad appeared. "That should get you back to mom and the others." He said and Ratchet smiled as he got Clank back on his back. "Understood. Remember, be careful Derek." Derek nodded at Ratchet's words and Ratchet walked toward the teleport pad.
Once he was gone, Derek sighed and looked at his watch, before grabbing the detonator. "Guess I best get back to my ship." He turned around and left the cargo bay, telling the Blarg everything was good and that he was leaving since his inspection was done. The Blarg were confused but didn't question him for his sudden need to depart. Once Derek was in his ship, he closed the cockpit and shot off from the station, stopping a little ways away.
He looked around, seeing The Phoenix remove its camouflage and smiled, before looking to the station. As The Phoenix got out of the blast range, Derek lifted the detonator and clicked the button, watching as explosions wracked the station and he flew off a little bit more, watching as it completely exploded, leaving nothing but scraps and dust...he didn't care that Blarg lives were lost. In his opinion, the less Blarg, the better. They weren't of use anyways, even Drek was getting annoyed with them.
**(With Ratchet and Clank, The Phoenix)**
Ratchet and Clank were back on The Phoenix, shocking the others at his sudden return. "That was fast." Leon said as he greeted Ratchet, brushing some dust and dirt off the Lombax since some was sticking to his outfit. "Well, had a little inside help." Ratchet said with a smirk, allowing Clank to jump off his back. "Inside help?" Rilena asked as she left the driving to Elaris, walking over to her husband as Leon moved away, deciding to let the Leopardis fret over her husband.
Ratchet smirked at her as The Phoenix dropped its camouflage. "Let's just say I think we can safely assume Derek is on our side." Rilena's jaw dropped in shock as RJ gave a fist pump, Riley smiled and Ragar merely chuckled at his mother's shock. "What happened?" Qwark asked as he looked over from where he was checking the supplies Ratchet grabbed. Ratchet was about to say more when suddenly Nebula G34 exploded and Ratchet grinned, looking at everyone's shocked expressions.
"...Clank, did you press the detonator?" Ratchet Junior asked the defective warbot, who shook his head. "We don't have the detonator." He said and everyone froze, looking at Ratchet, who smirked. "Derek caught us while we were trying to get through the place since it's completely changed from back when me and Clank first went after Drek." Ratchet explained everything that happened, his conversation with Derek and everything Derek was trying to do. "So...that's what happened." Rilena said softly, rubbing her arms. It explained why they were getting so much help from an unknown source now. Well...not unknown anymore.
Rilena smiled soon after, looking happy to know that Derek was, in fact, on their side and tears formed in her eyes. "I…" She gave a choked laugh, making Ratchet Junior perk a bit in concern and get up, walking over to his mom. "Mom?" He questioned, laying a hand on her arm and she smiled at him. "I'm happy to...to know that Derek is...is on our side." She sniffled out, making Ratchet wrap his arms around Rilena in a hug, she hugged him in return. "He's helping us as much as he can without getting caught. He's a good kid." Ratchet said and Rilena nodded against his shoulder, happy to know her other son was helping them.
Ratchet Junior, Ragar, Riley, Clank, Leon and the Galactic Rangers smiled, before Ratchet's com-glove beeped and he pulled back, looking at his glove. A holographic message appeared and he chuckled, before showing Rilena what the message said: "Mission Accomplished. Be careful, might want to leave before Drek's forces show up, they will get an alert soon about what happened. Stay safe." Rilena smiled before Riley walked over and smiled at her parents, even as Ragar kept a hand on her shoulder. Unaware to all of them, Clink's eyes were glowing blue as the small robot looked at the message with only one thought running through the sentient robotic mind.
"Disaster is in the near future. Will they overcome it...or will the disaster overcome them?"
Okay, so this is chapter 7 and this is where we start seeing things are what they seem. Derek is a good guy, he is on the Rebel's side and uses different coding. Since Google Docs doesn't have the writing I need, I can't exactly do the words I want...so I only did a portion where it was numbers that match up to letters, old school texting. We also see there is something...different...about Clink. He's not all he appears to be. ;)
Well, I hope you all enjoy the story. We got a few more chapters to get through though everyone! ^^