Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its characters. Rivet Appreciation Week 2021 prompt list by weeksofrac of Twitter.
Since Insomniac didn't want to expand on the Resistance in the alternate dimension, I will. Time for Lady Sasha, Ali, Phantom, and "The Raritanium Beast". In this universe, said "Raritanium Beast" uses they/them pronouns.
Standing in the Eye of the Hurricane
Day 3: Resistance Fighter
Chapter Summary: Day 3 – Resistance Fighter. They were a ragtag group of freedom fighters… with a little more emphasis on ragtag.
"Phantom, if you screw this up, I swear to every god in existence that I will light your tail on fire."
"Pfft, calm down, little spitfire." Phantom's voice crackled over Rivet's com link, barely audible over the winter wind. "I won't screw this up. You just keep your goggles from diggin' too deep into the rational thinking part of your brain."
Freezing cold air seeped through Rivet's clothes. The blizzard gave her more cover from enemy sight, but there was only so much fur and a thin layer of armor could do for her. Even though the planet was the coldest planet in the galaxy, there was little the resistance could give her to ease the icy chill.
"Alright, you two. Enough with the bickering. Focus on getting this mission done."
The Lombax rolled her eyes, lifting from her crouch and peering out over a large pile of brown crates. Her sight focused on the supply ship docked at the planet's port. "Yeah, yeah, Sash, I know what to do. Just wanna make sure 'Shadow Dude' doesn't screw up the mission and give away my position before things get going."
"Told ya before, dudette, I won't screw it up. My Hacker will get you into the ship, unless you feel like messing up like you did back on Mercadia-"
Suppressed anger painted every word Sasha said. "Rebels, I will not repeat myself for a third time. Silence the fighting unless you want me to call in other agents. There are more than a few that would be eager to take your places."
Other sounds echoed over the com link. "Hey, Lady Sasha, you think I could take Rivet's place? I got a ton of toys to play with and I've been achin' to test 'em out!"
"No, Ali." Sasha's voice stayed firm. "But if she continues to quibble with Phantom like a child, then I may reconsider the inquiry."
Rivet sighed, shoulders sinking at the tone of their leader's voice. "Sorry, Sash."
"Yeah, sorry dude."
"It's fine," Sasha said, a small huff in her voice. Rivet couldn't guess how tired the resistance leader was with managing both the entire infrastructure of the entire empire and the resistance on top of it. "Just focus on the mission. Phantom, are you almost done with shutting down the supply ship's defenses?"
Phantom's voice mixed with the sound of keyboard typing and beeping noises from the Hacker. "Yeah. Last patrol cycle is just about done, and in three minutes, the shift change will take place right on schedule. Glitch is workin' on this security control panel to keep me from getting' noticed by the big guys, and I'll get everything ready for the jump."
"Rivet, if you're in position, now's the time to make your way to the jump point."
Rivet tapped on the com at her ear, muting the sound from her end. "On it, Sash. Radio silence for better focus."
With a quick glance over the crates, the Lombax survived the area just beyond the pile of boxes. A few Nefarious troopers were milling around the tiny plateau, getting ready for the shift change. Exhaustion weaved into their body language—drooping weapon-arms, inattentive optics, and slower movements.
It was the perfect opportunity she needed.
Her Plasma Striker, something Ali had thrown together since the failed mission on planet Blitzron, flashed into her robotic hand. With great care, Rivet peered through the sniper rifle's scope. As close as she was, not running out full speed and making tremendous noise would aid in her stealth.
The rifle picked out the troopers from the blizzardy weather, outlining the enemies in bright red.
One side of Rivet's mouth lifted higher than the other. "Showtime…"
Two shots took out the first trooper, and one shot hit another trooper before the remaining three robots could comprehend what was going on. Rivet rolled away from the crates, ducking behind a stalagmite spire just up and to the left of the crates.
Her range expanded. Another few shots took down two more troopers.
The last soldier jumped with fright, shooting out a barrage of bullets wildly in a vain attempt to hit the mysterious assailant. Their optics whipped around, their spidery legs clicking against the snowy ground, every part of their body humming with power and alarm.
"Come out!" they shouted. "By order of the great Emperor Nefarious, it is illegal to-"
A mallet slammed into the robot trooper's cockpit before they could finish their dictation.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Rivet huffed as she twirled her wrench in her hand, double-checking that the trooper was down for the count. "'It's illegal to assault a soldier of the empire.' Yeesh, you guys really gotta start switching it up if I remember exactly what you say."
The trooper's body crumbled and burst, a few stray bolts sinking into the disturbed snow.
"Alright, that's my cue."
At the edge of the plateau, a grind rail snaked through a massive chasm, disappearing into a curtain of falling snow. With a hop, skip, and a jump, Rivet landed square onto the grind rail. Sparks lit up under her feet as she rode the rail down into the depths beneath the supply ship.
The winter stole away all of Rivet's warmth. Her lungs constricted tight in her chest as she narrowed her eyes, focusing on breathing and the rail in front of her. Any hearing she had was consumed by the roar of the blizzard's wind.
Fangs sank into her bottom lip, and her teeth ground together as she prayed for a short rail ride.
The snow parted, and above her, the bottom of the supply ship appeared clear in view. The triple-reinforced titanium groaned from the weight of the snowstorm, creaking in tandem with the shriek of the grind rail. She was at the bow of the ship, and even though she couldn't see the bow through the white storm, she knew she had an extra minute before she got off the grind rail.
Rivet whipped around the zigzagged rail, eyes narrowing into a squint. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and just as her hope nearly gave out, the rail began to curl back up to the main part of the planet's port.
Just as she cleared the ship's underside and started to come up from in-between the bow and the edge of the spaceport, stalagmites from the curved mountainside's ceiling plummeted to the grind rail.
"Oh sh-"
Rivet's mallet twirled above her head in a poor attempt to block the falling ice shards. Several of them were knocked aside, but one managed to hit Rivet's shoulder and another dinged loudly against her robotic arm.
The moment she landed at the edge of the port, regular boots hitting the creature-made mountainous ledge, Rivet forced her mouth to stay shut. Pain thrummed in her organic shoulder, and as she gently clapped her hand to the spot, her terrified eyes peered towards the main part of the port.
There were crowds of troopers around the port's main entrance into the mountain hideout. Most of them were diving into the packed hanger of the station, cheering and celebrating on their break. The troopers at the entrance to the supply ship looked on with longing optics, oblivious to the world around them and focused solely on what was in front of them.
Rivet let her breath blow through her lips, sighing with relief. As much as the pain sucked, it would have been far more painful had her cover been blown.
She tapped her ear, tip-toeing to the long stretch of supply crates that had yet to be loaded into the starship. "Phantom, I'm back online and nearing the jump point. How much longer until the shift change?"
"Just another minute, little spitfire. I got new guards coming up from the inside of the ship to relieve the old guards, and if you get moving now, you'll make it just at the shift change." He paused. "Oh hey, I think I can see you on the cameras, dude. Man, you're really bad at this stealth thing…"
She had no idea where the camera was, so she just flipped up her middle finger on her robotic hand and made a half-circle motion around her right side.
A snort echoed through her coms. "You can't see me, but I'm making the same gesture back, Hoverboard Flub."
Sasha's mimicked throat clearing echoed loudly over the com link.
Both Phantom and Rivet fell quiet.
Rivet made her way to the entrance of the supply ship, ducking around piles of crates and barrels full of what smelled like gunpowder. She crawled on all fours in some places, doing what she could to keep silent. With every scuff, slip, and click she made, a pained expression scrunched up her face. Her tongue ran over her chapped lips, and her breath caught in her throat.
Phantom was right. She was really bad at this stealth stuff.
It took another minute for her to reach the entrance to the ship. Her ears twitched, and the troopers' conversation filled her hearing.
"Ugh, come on…" one of them complained. They dipped down, making an impatient pose. "Hux and Ink are supposed to be here by now!"
"Nah, they're right on time." The other trooper kept their optics centered squarely on the inside party in front of them. "They got like fifteen seconds 'til their shift change, but I've never had fifteen seconds stretch on this LONG."
Rivet didn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at their words. It would have been more of an effort to keep them still.
Finally, the supply ship's door whooshed open.
"Crimony! It's cold out here!"
"Yeah, that's what we've been feeling for six hours now!"
The two troopers turned toward the two coming off the ship, and Rivet kept her guard ready.
"What in our great emperor's name took you all so long?"
"Whatddya mean?! We're right on time!"
"Well- Well-"
"Yeah, we wanted to drag out our last bit of free time as long as we could. Figured you guys could withstand the chill for just a little bit longer, hahaha!"
"WHY I OUGHTA-"
Rivet rolled her eyes again. "Guess I know how Sash feels now…" she whispered under the hiss of the wind.
Sasha piped up, whispering through the com link. "Yes, it is that bad…"
It took the guards another few seconds to switch places with the old guards, taking up positions at the edges of the extended ramp leading into the ship. The new guards straightened their bodies and looked out toward the rest of the spaceport, studying their surroundings. The tired guards slumped over, clambering up the ship's ramp.
"We're gunna hit the barracks before we get to the party."
"Ay, tell Pen I think he should take the bet Yuna's got goin' on."
Phantom's voice dipped into her hearing, thankfully cutting out the worthless chatter the guards were spouting to each other. "Alright, spitfire, that's your cue. The second they turn around and have their backs facing each other-"
The moment came—all four robots with their backs to each other—and Rivet threw herself from out behind stacked crates and onto the ramp leading off from the ship.
"I gotta pull the ramp back in now, but that extra second shouldn't cause suspicion. Ramp extraction… now."
The ramp drew back slowly.
Rivet clambered up the ramp, focused on the tired guards in front of her. She matched the beat of their footsteps with her own, careful not to put too much weight into her step.
"Good… Good… the guards behind you are still distracted…"
The old guards ducked into the ship and turned left, chattering away, and the ship's main entrance began to close.
"Now!"
With a burst of speed, Rivet bolted forward and threw herself into the supply ship just as the ramp and door finished shutting behind her.
Everything paused.
"You're good, spitfire. Tail the guards until you get to the main hold of the ship. It's close to the barracks, so you'll get some good time for stealth, but after that, you're gunna need to get cover."
"On it," Rivet confirmed, rematching her footsteps to the pace of the tired guards. More of their nonsensical conversation filled the empty ship hallway while she walked, and it took every fiber of her being not to yell at the dolts in front of her.
At least it was warmer in the ship than it was outside.
For a good couple of minutes, Rivet followed behind the troopers. She poured every ounce of concentration she had into not arousing suspicion. Her boots touched against the floor with a dancer's grace, toeing the titanium flooring.
Around them, the ship hummed as another strong gust of wind howled and beat against the metal.
"Yeesh, how'd we survive that without all our servos freezing up?"
"I'm tellin' ya, I don't have a clue."
Scattered crates, most likely abandoned and not arranged in the supply hold of the ship because of the party, littered the red-and-black colored hallway. It was terrible for the troopers if their superiors caught the disorganized mess, but it was a blessing for the Lombax rebel slipping through the ship.
Time dragged on as the two troopers and Lombax made their way deeper into the ship. Rivet passed so many similar-looking corners that her sense of direction switched off. A part of her was grateful that Phantom was the guy guiding her to the engine room.
"All I wanna do is get ready and then find a nice glass of premium oil at the bar…"
Phantom's voice piped up again. "They're gunna turn to the right next. Follow them on that turn, make sure the area's secure, then head in the opposite direction when they make a second right. You'll start heading for the engine room."
Rivet kept quiet, but she flicked up her middle finger towards where she guessed a security camera could be. A teasing grin pulled at the corners of her mouth.
"Aw… glad it's affectionate this time…"
More crates, stacked up and in jagged piles, crowded the hallway. Complaints from the guards echoed in the circular hallway, making every word louder than it needed to be. Rivet followed their right turn, then took Phantom's instructions. Once she ducked behind a shoddy stack of crates, letting the guards walk on to the barracks, she peeked over the top of the crates and studied the surrounding area.
No one was there. It was almost as if everyone had abandoned the ship for the party.
Dang, it had been a while since she had been to one of Mort's parties…
She shook her head, knocking the intrusive thought from her head. That was for another time.
With the area secure, she darted out from behind the crates and headed in the opposite direction from the old guards.
"Awesome work, lil dude. Keep on the path for now. It's leading toward the engine room, and I'll map out the rest of the way while me and Glitch give distractions to any other troopers coming your way."
"Roger," Rivet hummed, her eyes wide and alert.
Silence settled over the area. The Lombax rebel snaked through the halls, ears flicking to pick up any strange sounds and feet tapping quietly against the metal floor.
It was a few minutes after when Sasha's voice drifted through the coms. "Son of a- I can't stay. Emperor Nefarious has requested an audience with me in his office, and I have to leave to keep my cover. Ali, I know you're in the Q-Force Resistance Headquarters, but I need you to lead in my absence."
Rivet scrunched up her face. "You're really gunna let the cartoon-obsessed lab gremlin lead us through a sabotage mission?"
"Actually, Rivet, it's anime. Not that an uncultured rat like you would know that."
"Hush, Ali," Sasha sighed. "It's either him or Snail, Rivet, and I highly doubt you want Quantum's dolphin friend to guide you on this mission."
An eyebrow lifted on the Lombax's face as she tip-toed through another hallway. "What about… Yeah, never mind. Where are they anyway? Ain't they with you, Ali?"
"Nooope! They ran off, saying something about obliterating their enemies and smashing in you and Phantom's skulls when they finally get to you."
Rivet lowered her voice, but let a bit of anger into her words. "I hate that you sound so gleeful about that, you basement-dwelling mouth-breather."
Sasha's voice cut everything off before fighting could start. "I need to go. Now," she stressed, several sounds echoing over the com link from her side. "Good luck to you all, and let the light inside us stay strong."
At the ending oath of the resistance, Sasha clicked out.
"Oh goodie, I'm in charge! Alright, you cretins, let's get to playing around. Rivet, I know that Plasma Striker's come in handy, but I need you to whip out that Spiral of Death and see what that baby can do-"
Rivet rolled her eyes, pausing in her walk. "Hey Phantom, can you mute him?"
"Already on it."
"HEY! WAIT A MIN-"
Ali's voice cut out, and the largest sigh of relief Rivet had ever breathed in her life left her chest.
"Yeah, I think we got this covered, spitfire. Keep on the path, then take a right when you can. It'll lead you straight down into the engine room at the bottom of the ship."
"Roger that," Rivet said, picking up the pace of her walk. It took several minutes, but the Lombax slipped into the right hallway and padded down the declining ramp to the engine room.
A dull roar and churning sounds grew in volume, and as Rivet snuck into the large room, two massive engines hummed with life. They stalled, focusing on heating up the ship and keeping the cargo secure. Thick pipes ran out from every inch of the engine tops, branching out and tangling up near the room's ceiling.
Rivet steeled her nerves, then pushed forward.
Another set of guards briefly appeared in front of her.
She threw herself behind a control panel to one of the engines, just barely missing their peripheral vision. The sound of her heartbeat thudded in her ears.
The guards passed with only the tiniest mention of a strange sound that was too meaningless to check out.
Once they were gone, the Lombax tore out from behind the control panel and headed straight for the farthest engine from the entrance she had come through.
"Ey, spitfire? I'm seeing something big on the cams. It looks like something's busting in through the top of the ship, but the snowfall's too cloudy for me to tell who it is."
The megaton bomb Ali had given her before the mission phased into Rivet's hands. "Keep your eye on 'em. They might be friendly, and-"
Just as Rivet stepped close to the first engine, the entire room bloomed in neon red.
Alarms screeched out and tore into the Lombax's sensitive hearing. Bright light flashed in a seizure-inducing fashion, sending a searing headache through her mind. Rivet nearly dropped the bomb to the floor, but fought to keep going to the objective.
She threw the bomb onto the engine, barely hearing the click of the modules attaching to the engine's sides. "Phantom?!" she hollered over the noise of the alarms. "What happened?!"
"Come on, Glitch, come 'ere… I don't know!" Phantom's voice had a touch of fear to it. "I think that person set off the alarms in their hurry to get in here!"
Rivet growled through her groan, shaking her head and holding her free hands up to her ears. "Can't you turn off the alarms?!"
"Not right now, spitfire! With this amount of noise and lights, we'll have the whole spaceport on us in a matter of seconds!" Noise came from his end, and the sound of a door sliding open eeked through the com link. "Throw that second bomb on the engine and I'll set the charges remotely while we're running. Remember! Top of the ship for our getaway ride!"
"Got it! On my way!"
Rivet sprinted for the other engine like a wildebeest, hurling the second bomb onto the engine as her feet pounded against the floor. The moment the explosive touched the side, it lit up, its center countdown clock just setting up.
"Bombs are in place!" the Lombax yelled. "Set the charges and we're through!"
"On it!"
The com link cut out, and Rivet cleared her mind and focused solely on getting out of the ship alive. She lowered her upper body and shot through the hallway she had come through, pulling to mind the little amount of direction she remembered from Phantom's instructions. Every corner kept her hackles raised and the hair on her body standing. There would be no indication of any enemies unless she ran straight into them.
Adrenaline flooded her body. Her breaths grew ragged and raspy as her desperation grew. The volume of the alarms grew louder and louder, slicing into her consciousness-
"HEY!"
Rivet popped open her squeezed shut eyes and skidded to a halt that stopped her from crashing straight into a couple of guards.
The two guards she had seen from earlier leered over her, guns beeping to life. One of the guards raised up their gun-arm in a motion to swing, and the other jabbed the laser gun close to Rivet's face.
Her mind was wiped. Every harsh shriek of the alarm cut through her focus and made the aching headache worse. It felt as though her entire brain was throbbing in her head, incapacitating her from making a move.
It was over.
That was, until the alarms suddenly cut off and an utterly, terrifying, bloodcurdling scream of horror echoed throughout the halls.
All three of them froze, looking back to where the sound had come from.
Shadows crawled along the walls, forming a massive shape that instantly sent a jolt of terror through Rivet's heart. More screams and metal-shattering crashes boomed through the suddenly silent halls. Thumps, footsteps no doubt, thudded firmly through the ship's hallway.
"IT'S THE RARITANIUM BEAST! RUN! RUN!"
The Nefarious troopers that had nearly had Rivet were gone in an instant. It was almost as if they had blinked out of existence with how fast they had taken off.
The Lombax gulped, terror freezing her in place and causing her long ears to droop.
And just when she was debating on running, said Beast turned the corner.
A body that was nearly two feet taller than Quantum's strode into Rivet's vision with a stray trooper's body dangling from enormous hands. Metal muscles curved around large hips and tree-trunk-sized arms, so much so that Rivet's head was barely half the size of one bicep or thigh. A drooping belly, one that looked like it had been gained from an overindulgence of leisure, pressed against the trooper's cockpit. A mix of masculine and feminine features decorated a thick face framed by two, small pigtails.
The kicker though, was the enraged frown and narrowed yellow optics of the aggressive robot's face.
Rivet suddenly wished she had been shot by the guards.
They stopped in front of Rivet, leaning over as the guard struggled in their hands. "So… vhy didn't you all tell me about zhe mission, hm?"
Sweat coated Rivet's forehead in an instant. "Eheheh…" She forced a smile, shrugging her shoulders and dipping down. "Sorry, Helga… Sasha's the one who makes the mission assignments, not me, so you should probably-"
Helga's hand squeezed so hard that the trooper's cockpit and passenger shattered.
Rivet just paused and flicked her eyes back up to the tank of a robot.
"HA!" they boomed, waving their free hand. "Zit iz always the same. 'You cannot go on missionz becauze you are too aggrezzive.' Or, 'Helga, you cannot take on the entire emperor'z army by yourzelf…'"
Rivet swallowed so heavily she felt the lump stretch her throat.
"You all are not utilizing your fighterz or rezources. I am more zan capable of grinding zhat vet noodle of an emperor'z face into paste!"
"Yeah-ha, no doubt about that," Rivet started. "But-"
"No butz!" Helga threw out their strong arms. It was like they almost doubled in size. "I am tired of zitting on ze benchez vhile you and every other Rezistance member take down zhat lowlife's empire. I vill help on zhis mission, and-"
"Helga," Rivet forced out, sweat soaking every part of her fur. "This was a stealth mission. Sasha didn't assign you because she didn't think you were good for a mission that required hiding and sneaking."
Helga's optics narrowed. "And zhat iz becauze…"
"Um… you're kinda loud when you come on a mission."
Just then, four guards turned the corner Helga had come from. Shock and terror bloomed on their faces, and they scrambled on all fours back in the direction they had come from to get away from the muscular robot in front of the Lombax.
Helga didn't move a limb, keeping their optics solely on Rivet.
The Lombax just sent a prayer to every deity in existence begging to live through the ordeal.
Tense silence filled the space between them.
After a moment, Helga straightened and rubbed at their optics. "Vine!" they shouted, waving a dismissive hand. "I vill accept zhat I am too loud when I vight, az I zhould be…"
The sigh of relief that came from Rivet rivaled anything she had ever breathed before. "Ohhhkay, if that's it then-"
Thick fingers, or at least, one big one, laid down over Rivet's shoulder. "However!" Helga continued, ignoring the plea in Rivet's eyes. "I vant to help finish up zhis mission. Even if the surprize iz gone, I vill protect you and Vantom until the getavay ship arrivez!"
Rivet's leg muscles just about melted. Her ears perked up, and relief swept through every fiber of her being. "Oh, that's totally fine." Her head bobbed back, and once the Lombax finally got her mind righted, she held up her left fist for a fist bump. "Um… glad to have you on this mission… even if it's almost over."
Helga scoffed, bumping their enormous fist to Rivet's in a way that only slightly cracked the Lombax's bones. "Yez, yez, I am honored." They straightened to full height, and an evil smile stretched across their face. "Now, zit is time for me to crush zhese trooperz zkullz and make zhem wizh they had never left zheir mommiez."
The Lombax shrugged her shoulders. "Well… If you know the way to the top of this dumb supply ship, then lead on. I'll keep our backs covered while you get us to the getaway ship."
With a joyous roar, Helga barreled forward, entire body in an offensive fighting position. Their footsteps shook and rattled the hallway, but as the scared screams of Nefarious troopers reached Rivet's ears, she was just glad that she wasn't on Emperor Nefarious' side.
With a sigh of relief, she dipped back into a fighting stance. Robotic fingers flicked out, and her mallet flashed into her hand.
The mission was almost over; the charges had been planted and they all had another five minutes to get out of there; and Helga was there to make the troopers regret ever being born.
Unsurprisingly, Rivet was happiest for the last one.
A smirk stretched across her face. They had this mission in the bag.
"Alright, Emps," Rivet murmured, taking off after Helga. "Lemme show you what you get for messing with the Q-Force Resistance!"
Song Inspo: This took me an entire day to write, so this took two full playlists, three hours of silence, and about a half hour of "Feel Invincible" by Skillet to finish this up.
Holy crap, I'm addicted to this alternate Q-Force… We have Ali, an alternate Big Al that's basically Junkrat from Overwatch if Junkrat was also a huge anime fan. We have Lady Sasha, a Biobliterated Sasha working from inside the emperor's personal advisory cabinet to lead the resistance and keep the entire galaxy from falling apart. Then, Helga, an absolute tank of a person that has a love for completing challenging fitness courses and watching cheesy romance movies. Phantom and Rivet being best friends in the time before Kit came along… Quantum having led the Q-Force until he decided to join with the pirates… Snail, Quantum's dolphin friend in the same way Scrunch is Qwark's friend…
I need to write more with these characters at some point, but for now, I'm gunna call it here and come back to this all another time. Thank you all so much for reading and supporting! :D