A NEW BEGINNING
Chapter Seven
"The Myrmidon"
00:45 - Quantum Red Starport, Red Star Nebula, Outskirts of Solana Galaxy
Ratchet awoke to the faint sounds of heavy footholds gathering behind his head and the chill of the air welcoming his bare body, a swift breeze which disheveled the tufts of his lombax fur to his greatest disliking. As he returned slowly to consciousness, the sudden motion of his ankles, bound by something cold and metallic, told him that he had been fettered in place. His wrists, too, were held by similar objects above his head; his body, stretched out crosswise in a way that felt awkward and too revealing. The muscles of his entire body ached the more he made himself move, in attempt to get free, reminding him little by little with each pang of what led to his capture.
All of a sudden, a pair of gloved fingers touched against his eyelid and forced it open, followed by an orb of light blinding him temporarily. He breathed heavily, trying to force his eye shut, but his examiner kept his eye open to inspect it further. Beyond the circular light that took up much of his view, he could make out a few spectators that moved and voices that matched blurry silhouettes of what appeared to be doctors. A familiar sound, of mechanized origin, made him more wary, and then he knew just what made its way to his left side.
"Subject A is conscious at last. Begin your report, Dr. Nable," said a mysterious voice; it lacked emotion.
"Beginning examination and recording..." said the doctor whom Ratchet believed to be his examiner.
The doctor, otherwise known as Dr. Nable, released the lombax's eyelid, started a tape recorder in his lab coat, and then began to part fur in random areas of the subject's body. "Fur is in good condition despite previous electrocution." The gloved hands continued to explore other regions.
"Hey, hey! Watch it, buddy," growled Ratchet, knowing where the hands were heading.
A few chuckles came from the group ahead, but nothing more than moving shadows behind a large, rectangular window.
The lombax had already developed a sense for when Dr. Nable was about to speak again, for the doctor would moisten his lips or expel a small part of his breath. "Everything else seems to be intact. Moving on to medical..."
Ratchet's vision returned to him at last. He quickly checked the room he was being held in, noticing a window was all that separated him from his viewers, and, in his reflection on the glass, he realized he wore nothing. Because of this he groaned and tried to at least cover himself with something. His tail came to mind, but it too had been restrained by a lock between his legs.
"All right, what kind of peep show you got going here, doc? Just so that you know, as soon as I get free, you'll be the first to hear the crackling sound of your skull when my wrench comes down on your head."
"That's what you think, lombax. We're going to make you into a myrmidon. After that, I don't think you'll be banging any one or thing upside the head anymore,"said Dr. Nable, flicking his patient's nose rather hard.
Ratchet flinched. "A my-ma what?"
Dr. Nable answered, "Myrmidon, you striped rat. You'll do everything you're told without question."
"Is that so?"--the lombax laughed uneasily--"In that case, my first order should be to jam my wrench up your a--" a robotic hand muzzled the lombax, suppressing words and his air.
The hand remained there for more than a minute, squeezing harder and harder. It certainly seemed it enjoyed what it was doing. The hand's owner, after watching the lombax flounder a bit, released him, and watched in wonder as the lombax inhaled deeply.
"Grr! Who is that behind me? Show yourself!" Ratchet spat out in indignation, ignoring the syringe that made its way to his chest.
The anonymous thing walked mechanically to the front of the lombax, showing itself at last. The hand belonged to none other than Infernox, the machine he had battled on Kerwan. Rage boiled over the Veldian's face.
He growled the name of his impersonator. "Infernox. I should've known. Who made you? I've got something to settle with him, too."
"I can answer that," said a strange voice from outside the examination room. It was neither Solonian nor Bogonian. "I am Doctor Bane."
Ratchet searched for the voice. "And where am I?" he said, using his claws to scratch along his wrist restraints.
Dr. Bane said, "You, my lombax subject, are nowhere. Nowhere to be charted on a map, anyhow. Between the outskirt of Solana and the beginning of Bogon. You see, I am a relative of Dr. Nefarious--the person, not the robot."
"With a name like that, who couldn't help but guess?" came Ratchet's last minute remark.
"I will let you say what you want, because in a few minutes you will be nothing more than a puppet--my puppet. You see, my cousin's idea of the Biobliterator was something short of brilliant. He had the right idea, but the wrong motive. My idea, however, is a bit easier and far less expensive to do, and it does not require anyone turning into metal."
"So what's your brilliant idea, genius? And, oh, by the way...be sure to mention how, in any way, a lombax like me can screw up this plan. I'd appreciate that too."
The voice of Dr. Bane laughed, muffled behind the window. "Very comical, lombax. Here's how I propose to control both Solana and Bogon..."
Ratchet's ears perked up in alarm. "Bogon? What's that galaxy have anything to do with this?"
"Is it not obvious, lombax? Dr. Nefarious used advanced robotic nano technology to transform organisms, or 'fleshy' things, into machines with the use of a devastating weapon. The Biobliterator. It is not a technology that originated in this galaxy, as you call it, Solana. I aim to do something on a greater scale involving only this..." a gloved finger from behind the window pressed a small, circular chip device the size of a miniature bolt to the glass.
"Ooo! You plan on scaring people with a shirt button? Impressive! No, really. I am impressed, but though a little disappointed with the originality of this plan," said Ratchet, laughing after.
The scientist's voice grew impatient. There was a deep, long hiss. "No, no! You idiotic lombax. It is a microchip, the greatest chip ever to be conceived. It is capable of leveling an entire civilization! Think of it as mind control."
"Is that what you're going to use on me? That button?"
"Microchip, you cantankerous creature."
"Whatever."
The finger disappeared behind the glass, along with the microchip. "Why, of course. You'll be the first to test it out."
The examiner pressed a long needle against the lombax's chest. "Ready for injection, Dr. Bane. Commencing..."
Ratchet's eyes doubled in size at the length of the needle pressed on him. "Whoa, whoa! Hey! What's this? It looks like it'll hurt."
Suddenly, the window from which Dr. Bane and his colleagues were supposedly standing behind and observing the testing area, slid upward like blinds, revealing who they really were.
When the Veldian got a first glimpse of Dr. Bane, he couldn't think of the right words to describe the creature in front of him. Bane wore a druid robe with a velvet, flowing cloak; a hood, and long, cryptic sleeves. His body was completely obscured from sight by his bizarre apparel; but only a pair of the reddest eyes the lombax had ever seen. With the rest of the doctor's masculine stature hidden behind his gown, the lombax could nevertheless see that the doctor appeared tall. More immediate was the way he spoke. The cabalistic nature of the doctor was something he needed to figure out.
"Inject this rodent. Then prep him for his trip. Bogon misses him," said Dr. Bane, leaving the back room with haste. The window that slid open began to close again. The shadows of Dr. Bane's colleagues, however, remained where they were.
Ratchet yelped as the tip of the needle broke his pelt and a terrible pain pulsed across his upper body. He could feel the contents of the syringe being injected into him, spreading around and causing more soreness. As he closed his eyes and gnashed, his body beginning to struggle again, Infernox reached out and held him down with a cold hand. The machine was more powerful than the lombax had come to expect, because nearly all of his movements were brought to an end in an instant.
"Argg!" he cried, feeling pitiful and weak.
Dr. Nable removed the needle. Infernox gradually let up on the lombax's chest, watching how the furry becoming calm after a few moments.
Ratchet felt heavier; he felt queasy and hot. For a moment, he swore he could hear his heart beating rapidly, and the sounds of the fluid being pushed through his veins, coursing through like vemon, burning him from the inside. Then a small surgical drill scared him as it slowly and carefully made its way toward his left side.
"Now be absolutely still, lombax, unless you want to become a vegetable for the rest of your life. You'll feel a moment of discomfort, but then nothing else," Nable said, motioning the drill closer. "Infernox, steady the lombax's head."
The machine walked to the back of the lombax, reached out, and cupped his head on both sides, keeping his head centered. The drill edged closer to the left temple. Once the tip of the drill touched the surface of the lombax's head, he tightened his eyes and gave a weak growl. Tiny bits of bone chipped from the hole being made.
The surgical procedure ended quickly and safely with the microchip embedded into the skull of the lombax, near the brain, and after a few minutes the doctor began patching up the side of the subject's head. Testing to see if the device worked, Nable went over to a computer terminal and entered some commands that sent direct microwave pulses to the chip, which activated the chip and stimulated a specific, neurological part of the lombax's brain. Things seemed to be in order when the subject responded physically.
All of Ratchet's previous displeasure left him. He lost awareness of his surroundings, the people around him, and among other things his emotions. His face became completely emotionless. Infernox released him, coming around to the front of the hero and tilting its head. The machine's learning processor couldn't make much out of the new lombax. He was unable to read the lombax's body language.
"Good, good! The chip is working and there's no damage to the Veldin's brain. Now we can reap all of his years of combat experience and mold him into the perfect soldier. Let's prep him with prime directives."
"Dr. Nable. What...are...my...prime...directives?"
"Infernox, you've already finished yours. To make yourself useful, I'll tell you what you must do next. Go activate Infernox (v.2). Bring him to me and I'll do the rest."
The machine did as he was told, turned around, and walked out of the operating room. Nable typed busily at a computer, entering in the last commands for Ratchet's chip and ordering him to repeat what was typed into the terminal. He then released the lombax from his trammels, helped him into a stance, and then pulled a lab coat over him.
"Ratchet, what is your mission?" he asked the lombax.
Ratchet reopened his eyes and stared straight ahead. His ears were perked with the tips bent slightly forward; his tail remained curled in one direction and never swayed. He stood stern like a soldier, breathing very light.
In a voice, low and devoid of emotion, "To cause war," he answered.
Dr. Bane breathed out. "Whose war?"
"Solana and Bogon's," came another answer.
"Ratchet, how will you achieve your objectives?"
The lombax continued to look straight without blinking, almost catatonic. "By terminating whatever that gets in my way."
Dr. Bane began smiling, "List your objectives, beginning with Bogon, and then Solana."
"Bogon: Thugs-4-Less; The Manhunters; Abercrombie Fizzwidget. Solana: Galactic Rangers; the Q-Force; Secret Agent Clank; Galactic President," Ratchet said as a tear slid slowly down his right eye. In the mind of the lombax, somewhere, he was still there, fighting back. Dr. Bane saw the tear and wiped it away with his thumb.
"Very good. Now let's get you geared up," said Dr. Nable, showing his newest experiment to the door. "Finally, a successful, superable soldier. Taking over galaxies will be too easy."
A new kind of lombax stood sullen and still in the hangar of an unknown starport located in the Red Star Nebula. Masked, staring off into the red nebula was a warrior dressed from head to toe in an Infernox commando suit similar to Inferno's. His abductor's had paid meticulous attention to his commando armor, having added a built-in thruster-pak; including modified armor, a version more resilient, and beyond its time in the Solana galaxy, not only covered the lombax's body fully but his ears and tail with protective plates. His armor was especially designed with versatility in mind. They had also taken the liberty of equipping their myrmidon with the latest weapons and gadgets, items borrowed from Solana and Bogon with some some extra features. The scientists took every precaution to prepare their expendable fighter for war; and now was the time to unleash him onto their enemies.