Chapter four: Missions
(Phoenix)
The door to Ratchet's room opened, allowing the lombax to go in. Ratchet had spent a good while trying to comfort Sasha, and once he had felt like she had calmed down enough, he had come back to his room to sit down.
The first thing Ratchet noticed was that his new protopet laying on the bed, asleep. However, once Ratchet entered the room, the adorable ball of fuzz woke up. Once he saw Ratchet, the protopet perked up and jumped to his feet and excitedly jumped on the bed.
Ratchet chuckled and sat down on the bed. "I have to admit. When you're not a homicidal maniac, you're pretty cute." He rubbed the protopet on the head. "Well, if you're gonna be my pet, you'll need a name." It didn't take too long for him to come up with one. "How about 'Skidder'? Is that okay, little guy?"
The protopet, now called 'Skidder', in memory of Skidd, cooed in agreement as he nuzzled against Ratchet's hand.
"Then it's settled." Ratchet said. "I hope you enjoy your stay, Skidder. But if Al can figure out what I want to know, I'll be gone for a while. I may have to have Clank look after you."
Skidder looked at Ratchet with a confused expression.
Ratchet sighed. "It's too complicated to say, Skidder. You probably wouldn't understand it, anyway. The only thing is that-"
"Ratchet! This is Al! I think I've found out who's behind this! Come to the bridge, quick!" A voice shouted through the speakers, interrupting Ratchet's talk.
Hearing the announcement, Ratchet's eyes sprang open. He leapt off the bed and raced out the door, but not before he allowed Skidder to climb onto his shoulder. The lombax quickly raced into the main hallway of the Phoenix and ran towards the platform tunnel leading to the bridge.
(Grelbin)
The tall, red-eyed figure trudged through the snow, his large weapon in his right hand. His target: Angela's house, where two unknowing new friends sat.
Suddenly, a wild snow monster lunged in from the side, preparing to attack. The figure quickly aimed his Plasma Cannon at the monster and pulled the trigger, killing it instantly. The snow monster collapsed to the ground and the figure continued on towards Angela's house.
"She has no idea.' The figure thought"
(Phoenix)
Ratchet ran onto the bridge and quickly spotted Al on the lower level. The lombax, forgetting that Skidder was perched on his shoulder, leapt over the railing overlooking the rest of the bridge. Skidder flew off Ratchet's shoulder, did about three spins in the air and fell straight into Ratchet's hands when the lombax landed on the floor.
"Whoops! Sorry, Skidder." Ratchet apologized as he placed the blue protopet back on his shoulder and ran over to Al. "What's up, Al?"
"I'm getting close to cleaning up this picture of the leader's ship after the space battle, Ratchet." Al explained. "I figured you'd want to be the first to find out."
Ratchet nodded. "I appreciate it, Al." He couldn't see the picture Al was working on, as the screen was just big enough for only Al, whom was sitting right in front of it, to see. "So can you see who that ship belongs to, yet?"
"Just a sec, Ratchet." Al said, focusing on the screen. "It's coming in…"
(Grelbin)
"I have a guest room just through that door over there, Skidd." Angela pointed to a door on the right wall. "I hope the bed in there is okay for you."
Skidd smiled. "Hey. Anything works for me, Angela." He stood up. "Like, thanks again for everything you've done."
"Hey. I'm always glad to help, Skidd." Angela insisted. "Good night."
"G'night."
With that, Skidd walked into the guest room and shut the door behind him. Angela smiled as she stood up and walked over to the door leading to her room.
However, before she got very far, there was a knock at the door. Angela turned to the door with a raised eyebrow, walked over and curiously opened it. However, once she saw whom was at the door, she jumped back in horror.
"Heya, toots. Remember me?"
"It's YOU!" Angela shrieked.
(Phoenix)
"It's a Thugs-4-Less ship, Ratchet!"
"WHAT!"
(Grelbin)
Angela stepped back in shock as the Thugs-4-Less leader walked into the house. If there was one person that hated Ratchet more than anyone else in the galaxy, it was this guy. Ratchet had humiliated him several times during the protopet adventure, but none of them were worse than their final encounter. The Thug leader had gotten into a huge robot and tried to crush Ratchet, but the lombax had still gotten the better of him with only a few gun turrets.
Ever since then, the Thug leader had always held a grudge against the lombax, but couldn't manage to find him. That is, until the dogfight he and his men had against Ratchet and Skidd.
Meanwhile, Skidd was still in the guest room. He had heard Angela's outcry and quickly looked through a crack in the door to see what was going on. His eyes widened when he saw the Thug leader standing at the doorstep.
"That explains why those ships were after that cargo ship." Skidd thought, not wanting to let the Thug leader know about his presence. "They were paid to attack!"
"What are you doing here, buster!" Angela said angrily, regaining her composure. "How did you find me!"
"We've known that youse been hiding here, toots. We just didn't do anything about it cause you weren't a threat." The Thug leader replied, earning a dirty look from Angela.
"You didn't answer my first question. What are you doing here?"
The Thug leader smirked. "Ya see, yer friend Ratchet took out my men a while ago and ruined a perfectly good contract with our client. He was willing to pay us big bolts if we took out a cargo ship. That furry freak showed up and defeated us all." Angela raised an eyebrow as the Thug continued. "Now, my men and I wanna get back at that moron, but we dunno where he's hidin right now."
"Then what are you doing here?" Angela asked, feeling a little uneasy.
The Thug looked down at her and smirked evilly. "That's where YOUSE come in, toots."
"WHAT!" Angela jumped back. "Why do you need ME to get to Ratchet! We haven't even SEEN each other since the protopet incident!"
"Well, if that furry moron found out we were holdin one of his friends at our new HQ, he'd come out of hidin and rush to your rescue." The Thug replied.
"Wait, your NEW Headquarters?" Angela asked, hoping that Skidd was listening in on the conversation. "What happened to the old one?"
(Phoenix)
"Apparently, after you trounced everyone at the old HQ on Snivelak, they had to relocate." Al explained.
"That's understandable." Ratchet nodded. "Once an outsider found out where they were, they figured they weren't safe there."
"Exactly."
"So where's the new HQ?"
(Grelbin)
"I figure I can tell youse since I'm takin ya there anyway." The Thug leader, totally unaware of Skidd's presence, continued. "Our new base is on the planet Damosel."
(Phoenix)
"DAMOSEL!" Ratchet asked. "That's one of the highest-populated planets is that galaxy! What are those morons THINKING!"
(Grelbin)
"I was hoping you'd ask that, toots." The Thug leader smirked. "Ya see, our HQ is disguised as a normal business, dressed up like all the other big buildings on the planet. No one suspects a thing!"
"Well, forget it!" Angela snapped. "I refuse to be used as bait!"
"I'm afraid youse got no say in the matter." The Thug leader narrowed his eyes and reached out.
Angela realized all too late that she had been backed into a corner. The Thug picked her up by the shirt she was wearing and held her out of striking range.
"Now, if youse don't mind, youse gonna be hitchin' a ride in my ship now." The Thug leader continued. "Let's go. I'm double-parked."
With Angela struggling to break free of his grip, the Thug leader turned around and left the house, shutting the door behind him.
As soon as the door was shut, the door to the guest room opened and Skidd sprang out. He looked around for a few seconds.
"I need to save Angela, man!" He said. He paused for a few seconds. "I'm like, gonna need some weapons, though."
Skidd looked around Angela's house and eventually found a cache of firearms hidden in a trunk. Skidd eventually chose a Heavy Bouncer, a Megarocket Cannon and a Heavy Lancer.
The Rilgar native gulped. He was actually going to willingly charge headfirst into battle without knowing the power of the opposition. If the stakes were any lower, he probably would have backed down, but the stakes were high to him. Very high. Angela was counting on him, and Skidd didn't want to let her down.
(Phoenix)
Ratchet grabbed his Mini-Nuke and Bomb Glove with a determined look on his face. Now that he knew whom was behind Skidd's death, as well as where they were hiding out, Ratchet made his decision almost instantly. He would go to Damosel, find the HQ, utterly destroy it and avenge Skidd.
And, not wanting to risk the lives of anyone else, he would do it alone.
Clank, seeing the look on his friend's face, walked over. "Ratchet, are you sure you do not want me to go with you?"
"I appreciate the offer, Clank, but no." Ratchet said. "I've already lost Skidd to these guys. I don't want to lose anyone else the same way."
"Your concern is touching, Ratchet." Clank said. "However, this is the Thugs-4-Less headquarters you are about to storm. Going in alone would be complete suicide."
"That's a chance I'm willing to take, Clank." Ratchet replied, turning to his metallic friend. "Look, take care of Skidder while I'm gone, okay?"
Clank sighed. "Okay. Have it your way. If you are this set on doing it alone, I will not stop you."
Ratchet nodded. "Thanks, pal. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get on my ship."
(Grelbin)
Skidd dared to poke his head out of the door to Angela's house. He looked into the sky and saw the Thug leader take off in his ship. Now that he knew it was safe to come out, Skidd left the house.
"Angela said her ship was around here somewhere, man." Skidd said to himself. "If I can find it, I can go after the Thugs-4-Less."
Luckily, it didn't take Skidd to find what he was looking for. Around the main entrance to the abandoned power plant was a ship, ready for take off. Skidd, knowing that it was Angela's, rushed at it.
(Phoenix)
Ratchet jumped into the cockpit of his jet fighter and pressed a few buttons, closing the hatch. Looking out at the rest of the docking bay, he saw the rest of the crew seeing him off. Clank, Al, Helga, Skrunch, Skidder and the robotic rangers were all present at seeing Ratchet take off. The lombax's eyebrow raised when he saw that Sasha was conspicuously absent from the group.
Deciding to ignore that fact, Ratchet lifted his jet off the ground and turned it in place so it was facing the vacuum of space.
"This one's for you, Skidd." Ratchet thought as he fired up the engines.
(Space)
As the Thugs-4-Less leader flew his ship through space, Angela sat in the backseat. She would have jumped at the leader and taken control of his ship had her arms not been tied to her sides. Now the only thing Angela could do was hope Skidd heard her conversation as was now chasing after her.
Angela sighed as she pressed her head against the window of the ship. 'Skidd, please hurry.' She thought.
Angela's ship, with Skidd at the controls, zoomed out of Grelbin's orbit. The Rilgarian set the galaxy map to point at his destination: The planet Damosel. Skidd flew in the direction of the populated planet, the only thing on his mind being the one he was after.
"Hold on, Angela. I'm coming." Skidd thought.
Unknown to either of them, both Ratchet and Skidd departed their locations at the exact same time. Because Ratchet was located in a different galaxy, he would surely arrive at Damosel a good bit after Skidd.
However, even though neither of the separated friends knew it, Ratchet and Skidd said the following words, coincidentally at the exact same time.
"Thugs-4-Less is going to pay!"