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Chapter Two
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Waterworks of the Tobruk Crater, Planet Novalis
Although Alister initially hoped to drop off Ratchet and Clank on Novalis's surface to see what they could do while he would dogfight his way past the Blargian fleet until he destroyed the Harvester, the heavy interest the Blarg had shown in his fighter indicated that they recognized Alister's reputation as much as his involvement, forcing Alister to land at a secluded location near the Tobruk Crater settlement and once armored up, fought the Blargian robots alongside Ratchet with his old service OmniWrench staff while Clank settled himself on Ratchet's back.
Working together, the three were able to secure Novalis's planetary chairman, Agnogg Buckwash, from Drek's forces, who in gratitude for the rescue and believing that the "Praetor's involvement" would at least spare many other planets the same fate as his homeworld, gave the two Lombaxes and robot an infobot that directed them to the urban planet of Kerwan where Captain Qwark was said to be at. Inspired by the information, Alister allowed Ratchet and Clank to look for more survivors while he made a call to an old friend of his in Kerwan's capital city of Metropolis, which brought the duo to the settlement's waterworks area.
As the two explored further in the sewers, Clank decided to make conversation with Ratchet. "Say, Ratchet, I have been wondering, where did Alister's callsign come from?"
"The Praetor thing? Well, he used to be a high-ranking leader of the Lombax Praetorian Guard, so I guess the guys who manage Annihilation Nation wanted to pick something for him that was easy to come up with and remember. And to answer your next question, pal, we aren't really native to this galaxy, so don't expect any other Lombaxes to come out and help."
"Oh." Clank muttered upon hearing how uncomfortable Ratchet's voice sounded at that last sentence, but could not help himself from saying. "Can I ask what happened?"
Exhaling as he stopped for a bit, Ratchet explained. "Alister doesn't like to talk about it much, but when I was barely a year old, a new dictator rose up in the Polaris Galaxy with a death grudge towards all Lombaxes. I won't bore you with the why and how, but some stuff happened, and not only did I lost my parents, but by far, Alister and I are the only Lombaxes around anywhere in this universe."
Clank's eyes widened in horror as he replied. "You mean the other Lombaxes were-?"
"They weren't wiped out, Clank, at least not all of them. They're just not in this dimension right now."
"Your people had a method for interdimensional travel?" Clank asked in wonder which prompted Ratchet to laugh knowingly.
"It's kind of a secret, though, Clank, so please keep it to yourself for now."
"I promise not to tell a soul."
The two then continued on their way until they came across a Rilgarian Plumber, who had an infobot to sell.
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Solarship Radical's Crash Site,Outpost X11, Planet Aridia
Upon meeting up with Alister and Buckwash again, Ratchet, Clank, and the older Lombax were almost immediately tasked by Buckwash when he learned that the Plumber's infobot contained a distress call from the Novalian Mayor's nephew, the pro hoverboarder, Skidd McMarx, who had crashed with his agent on Aridia. Deciding that a detour to the desert planet would not hurt, especially since Alister's friend, Helga von Streissenburgen, assured him that she would keep Qwark on Kerwan until they arrived to meet him, the trio agreed to Buckwash's request to find Skidd and make sure he was okay.
Splitting up once more to cover ground, Ratchet and Clank went into the local outpost under construction by hostile robots while Alister had to deal with Sandsharks to find Skidd.
Thankfully, with Alister's soldierly experience, he was able to find Skidd and bring him back to his crashed ship with Ratchet and Clank arriving shortly after with the hoverboarder's agent, Don Wonderstar, in tow.
"Glad to see you're in one piece, my main man Don." Skidd said to his agent in good greeting.
A bit disgruntled from the recent experiences, Don replied. "Let's just head straight to Blackwater City, kid. I've had my fill with this planet to last two lifetimes."
"All in good time, dude. First thing's first, I think our rescue buddies deserve some rewards." Hopping into the Radical, Skidd took out a hoverboard and turned to Ratchet. "Catch, little dude."
Grabbing hold of the hoverboard when Skidd threw it at him, Ratchet was astounded to see what kind of hoverboard it was. "A Z-3000! These things are so good they're not even on the market anymore!"
"Believe me, I looked." Alister commented with a small smile at Skidd's gesture of goodwill.
"You do not mind Ratchet having this, Mister McMarx?" Clank asked for confirmation.
Skidd shook his head saying. "It's fine, robo-dude. There's always room for one more racer." Turning to Don, he then added. "And I'll be sure to pay for a new Sonic Summoner just for you, Don."
Don looked curious at Skidd's words before he then realized what his client meant by that. "What?! Skidd, you can't just do that kind of thing without my explicit say so!" Exhaling in defeat, he then said. "Oh, never mind." He then took out his gadget before giving it to Alister. "Here."
"Thanks, you guys!" Ratchet said as the two Rilgarians boarded their ship with he, Clank, and Alister waving goodbye.
"Nice meeting you in the flesh, Praetor Azimuth!" Skidd proclaimed with a wide grin at the older Lombax and then added. "I'll be seeing you all on my home planet!"
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Big Al's Roboshack, Metropolis, Planet Kerwan
Upon parting ways with Skidd and then arriving on Kerwan, the two Lombaxes and robot then split up to investigate Metropolis when they noticed that the Blarg were on their trail. With a combination of their Hover Boots and Swingshots, Ratchet and Clank opted to head to the Roboshack that Qwark advertised for recently while Alister dealt with the Blarg until he recovered an infobot that he was compelled to share with the others instantly.
Making it to the Roboshack, Alister was pleased to see Helga came through on her promise to arrange a meeting with Qwark as the man in green was right there seemingly contemplating what Ratchet was telling him while Clank was with the robotics expert, Big Al, examining a new Heli-Pack upgrade of his own, which left Alister to be caught in a bear hug by an enthusiastic Helga.
"It's good to see you, mein friend!" She told an overwhelmed Alister. "I had my doubts that the little ones were sent by you, yet here you are!"
"Good to see you, too, Helga." Alister replied in a physically strained kind of way until Helga let go of him, which was when he showed her a more genuine smile.
Having visited Kerwan several years prior, Alister had undertaken the obstacle course Helga managed for Qwark out of curiosity and completed it in even less time than the Captain's usual record, earning a Swingshot for both himself and Ratchet as well as Helga's respect.
"Honestly, General, from the way Helga here was talking about you, I was under the impression she wanted to date you." Ratchet joked which prompted a laugh from Clank.
Alister looked embarrassed at Ratchet's joke as he replied. "Don't be silly, boy. I'm too old for that."
"We just bonded over having ties to the Polaris Galaxy and being tough." Helga added dismissively. "Not much to it, ja."
"Oh, thank heavens." Al commented to himself in relief before frantically saying when he had everyone's attention. "I mean, I'm glad you're here, Mr. Azimuth. I'm a big fan of your work and would like your autograph, if you have the time."
"I'll remember to do that before we go, Al." Alister replied uncertainly of what he was saying originally before he then turned to Qwark. "Anyway, Captain Qwark, sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances, but I hope the boys brought you up to speed on the situation."
Pulled from his internal musings, Qwark replied to Alister a bit distracted-like. "Oh, yes, Mr. Azimuth! Ratchet and Clank just informed me of what happened to Novalis. It's a good thing that many of the inhabitants evacuated, but this attack was something I don't think any of us expected."
Alister nodded his head in agreement. "Most definitely not. Someone needs to stop the Blarg for good, so while Ratchet, Clank, and I go to Eudora, we'd like for you to get in touch with the Galactic Rangers to pull coordinated countermeasures against Drek's operations."
"Why Eudora?" Clank asked curiously.
"An infobot I took from the Blarg in this city picked up a transmission between Drek and a lieutenant of his heading a mass deforestation outfit on that planet."
"Yeesh, that guy just doesn't stop sinking lower and lower, huh?" Al commented at the news, prompting a laugh from Ratchet incidentally.
Being the center of attention right there, Ratchet quickly stopped laughing to answer everyone's questioning gazes. "Sorry, I know Drek's obviously a bad guy, but from the way Al was talking about him, it almost sounded like a joke."
Thinking Ratchet's words over, Clank then responded. "Ah, I see. Drek is smaller than the average Blarg, after all."
After an awkward silence, Qwark then straightened his throat and turned to Alister saying. "Okay, so while I tell President Phyronix what's up, the three of you will stop the deforestation and interrogate Drek's Lieutenant?"
"That's the idea." Alister confirmed with a nod. "I suppose you're welcome to join us, but our ship isn't exactly big enough to have you in it."
Turning to Helga and Al in thought, Qwark then shook his head with a smile towards Alister, saying. "I'll take my own means of transportation to join you later. For now, though, I must warn the President." With an uncertain look away, he then added. "I dare say we'll have much to consider moving forward."
Although the way Qwark said his words had Alister wondering what he exactly meant, the older Lombax discarded such thoughts for the moment in favor of their task. Eudora needed saving, after all.
[GC]
Before, I let the Aridia and Kerwan sections comprise the third chapter of my short stories recapping the very first Ratchet & Clank game with differences here and there, but for the sake of argument, I decided to input them in the same chapter as Novalis since I figured that this would be a bit short, even if it is across just three different planets.