The sun was high in the sky on the planet Veldin. However, there weren't that many people on the planet to enjoy the great day. That was because a galactic war had started, and men across the Solona Galaxy had been drafted to help win it.
Among those drafted was the famous galactic hero, Ratchet the lombax. The short, furry hero had to leave his wife and daughter on Veldin to fight in the war, and the main thing that convinced him to go in the first place was that if he helped win the war, he could save countless lives, including those of his family.
Ratchet lived in a small house with his wife, Sasha. After marrying, the two moved back to Veldin to start their lives together. Three years later, they became the proud parents to a healthy girl. Their daughter, now two years old, was showing an amazing interest in mechanics, much like her father.
Even though Ratchet was an incredibly skilled warrior, Sasha was still fearing for his safety and remained worried that he wouldn't be coming back. However, Sasha wasn't one to give up hope and remained hopeful that Ratchet would return.
Sasha was in the process of feeding her daughter when she heard a knock at the front door.
Seeing as how she had her hands full, Sasha simply looked at the door. "It's open!" She called out.
The front door opened and in walked a female lombax with a ponytail. She was taller than Sasha, but the two looked around the same age. She wrung her hands nervously.
Sasha quickly recognized the newcomer and stood up, almost unknowingly taking the spoon she was feeding her daughter with at the same time. "Angela? What brings you here? You live on Rilgar."
Angela sighed. "It's just…I'm worried about Skidd…I just…needed someone to talk to…"
Sasha looked at her friend in sympathy and lifted her daughter from her chair. After setting her daughter on the floor (and not noticing her daughter run into the next room), Sasha walked over to Angela.
"Here. Sit down." Sasha offered.
Angela nodded and sat down on the couch. Sasha sat down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Angela, our husbands have been at the war for a week now. The only thing we can do is hope that they're alright."
Again, Angela nodded. "I know, but that doesn't stop we from worrying about him. What if they get killed out there! Or-"
"Angela, don't talk like that!" Sasha said, gripping both of Angela's shoulders. "Just say to yourself: 'They're alright'. 'They're alright'."
"They're alright. They're alright." Angela repeated, tears starting to run down her face.
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On a drop-ship flying high above the surface of Koros, several soldiers of different species stood in a line, awaiting orders from their commanding officer. Among those in the line, standing side by side, were a lombax and a Rilgarian.
Even though they were completely different, these two were the best of friends. The lombax looked up at the Rilgarian. "You scared, Skidd?"
Skidd looked down at Ratchet and shook his head. "No way, dude."
"No?" Ratchet asked, sounding a little surprised.
"No. I'm totally terrified, bro."
Ratchet gave a light chuckle. "Why's that?"
"Dude! Hello! This mission has, like, been said to be the one that could totally end the war and stuff!" Skidd replied. "What if we, like, screw up?"
"Skidd, we won't." Ratchet said. "We just have to remain focused on what we're fighting for."
Skidd took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. I'm, like, totally thinking of Angela back home and how we have to win this war to protect her and stuff, man."
Ratchet smiled. "That's the spirit."
Suddenly, the commanding officer spoke up. "Listen up, soldiers!" The commando (the same one from the first game) said. "These enemies we're up against are unlike anything any of us have ever seen. Now, I can't say that it ain't uneasy for some of us to be working together, considering some species haven't been the best of friends."
A Blargian nodded. "Yeah, but from what I understand, sir, this is a lot bigger than us."
"You're got that right, soldier." The commando said proudly. "These freaks have come from a completely different galaxy, and we don't know anything about them. They pack enough firepower to wipe out everyone in the Solona Galaxy and posses weapons none of us have ever seen before."
"Uh…Sir?" A robotic ranger piped up. "Would you consider this a suicide mission?"
"No, I wouldn't." The commando said simply.
"But…The way these things sound," Skidd added. "It's, like, impossible to kill them and stuff."
"I didn't say that, soldier." The commando said. "They DO have a weakness, and our radars have found it." He pulled some blueprints from behind his back and unrolled them. "Deep within this building here lies a power generator. These freaks can't breathe our air, so they rely on this to give them a boost. Someone with mechanic skills has to rewire the circuitry on this thing to shut it down. Without this generator, the invading forces won't be able to survive, allowing us to win this war."
A Thyrranoid started making odd gurgles and noises at the commando. The commando, unable to understand what was being said, scratched his head. "What was that, soldier?"
"He's wondering how this is going to work, sir." Ratchet explained, putting his knowledge of the Thyrranoid language to good use.
"Oh. Well, I was just about to tell you. The A Squad will stall for time outside of the building while the B Squad will go inside and shut down the generator. B Squad will need backup here, because as soon as the generator will get under attack, the freaks will know." The commando explained. "A Squad needs to provide as much cover as possible, but if the job gets done, it'll be all over."
Soon, the drop-ship arrived at the destination as each of the soldiers prepared to leap out of the ship and onto the ground.
"Get ready, soldiers!" The commando shouted. "This is it!"
Ratchet and Skidd looked at each other and each took one last deep breath. They tapped fists.
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"Would you like some tea, Angela?" Sasha asked as she walked into the kitchen.
"Please." Angela nodded. "Anything that will calm my nerves."
Sasha nodded and filled a kettle with water. Setting it on the stove, Sasha returned to the living quarters and sat down with Angela again.
It was then that Sasha noticed the haunted look in Angela's eyes. The look that meant that she was horrified.
"Angela, what's wrong?" Sasha asked kindly. "You look like someone's just threatened you with a R.Y.N.O."
"I-It's nothing." The tall lombax looked away.
"Angela, don't lie." Sasha said. "The look in your eyes gives it away. You're afraid of something, aren't you?"
Angela was silent for a few seconds before she broke down crying, burying her face in her hands. This action took Sasha completely off guard. "A-Angela?"
"I c-can't take it anymore!" Angela cried. "I can't k-keep it in any longer!"
"W-What? What is it?" Sasha asked, placing her hands comfortably on Angela's shoulders.
Angela sniffed, calming herself down long enough to explain. "The d-day before Skidd was drafted, I s-started to feel a little uneasy. I w-wasn't sure what the problem was, so I w-went to the doctor."
"And?"
Angela didn't reply. She simply looked at her friend and placed a hand gently on her own stomach.
Sasha's eyes sprang open.
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A Thyrranoid soldier screamed in pain and a blaster bolt clipped his arm. The one-eyed creature collapsed to the ground, gripping his arm.
Ratchet saw this and rushed over to the fallen soldier's side. "Dorf! You okay?"
The lombax looked away from Dorf and saw the one that had fired the shot. It was one of the more-powerful freaks. The generic look of the creatures was that they were black, bat-like and had solid yellow eyes, with no pupil visible. This one was a little more bulked up than the majority of the others, Ratchet noticed.
The creature pulled one hand back and Ratchet's eyes widened when he saw strange, purple electricity engulfing it. Thinking quickly, Ratchet grabbed Dorf, threw the Thyrranoid onto his shoulder and scrambled off.
As soon as Ratchet was out of harm's way, a beam of purple energy slammed into the ground where he had previously been standing. Most of the soldiers saw that it had come from the creature's hand.
Ratchet reached the medic and set Dorf on the ground. "We've got wounded!" Ratchet said. "Get to work!"
"Yes, sir!" The medic replied as he grabbed a roll of bandages.
Knowing that Dorf would be alright, Ratchet ran back into battle, where he saw Skidd and a Blargian shooting at some more of the creatures.
"Dude! What ARE these things!" Skidd asked as he frantically shot one of the creatures in the head, quickly killing it.
"I dunno Skidd, but that's not going to stop us from completing our mission!" Ratchet replied.
"Good to see that you've got your head on straight, solider!" The commando said as he blasted another creature. "Okay! This is our chance coming, everyone! B Squad, start moving towards the building! A Squad, take out the rest of those things by the door so we can get in safely!"
As the B Squad, which consisted of Ratchet, Skidd, the commando, a Blargian, a robotic ranger and a Novalian, leapt from hiding and started running towards the building, a few members of the A Squad shot at the creatures by the doorway to the base.
The creatures didn't expect this coming and were easy prey for the rain of gunfire that shot at them. The B Squad ran past the dead bodies and charged into the building with hopes of taking out the generator.
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"You're PREGNANT!" Sasha asked.
"YES!" Angela wailed, breaking down again. "I didn't have time to tell Skidd, either! Now he's out there, fighting this stupid war and he's completely unaware that he's going to be a father!"
The female lombax looked at her friend. "Sasha, you have no idea how much it hurts. I could have made time to tell Skidd, but he was drafted before I could do anything. And now, if he dies out there, I'll be left with the feeling of guilt that I didn't tell him when I should have."
"Angela, you shouldn't feel so upset." Sasha said. "Think about it. You're pregnant. You're going to be a mother. You should be overjoyed. You can tell Skidd when he comes back."
"But what if he DOESN'T come back!" Angela cried.
"Angela, stop thinking negatively and start thinking positively." Sasha said as her daughter approached, carrying a ball in her hand. Sasha lifted her onto her knee. "Skidd's a great fighter and he's got Ratchet with him. If anything happens to either one, we can rest easy knowing that the other will do everything in his power to save him."
Although Sasha was unsure if she could rely on her own word saying that Ratchet and Skidd would survive, but the last thing she wanted to do was make Angela more upset.
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"This way, soldiers!" The commando said as the B Squad turned a corner and continued running down the long, wide hallways of the base.
"How do you know where we're going, sir?" The Novalian soldier asked.
"Sources of power are always located in the middle of the base, soldier!" The commando replied as he led the team. "If we keep going towards the middle, we'll find it!"
Ratchet was close to the commando and was unsure if this would work out. While he ran, Ratchet opened his mouth to make a reply to the superior officer.
BLAM!
The lombax's eyes snapped open as a searing pain tore through his back. Ratchet few forward a few feet before landing face-first onto the ground, where he lay unmoving.
"RATCHET!" Skidd cried as he rushed over to his friend's side. "Dude! What happened? Are you okay, man!"
"Gaaaaahhh!" Ratchet cried as tears of pain came to his eyes. "I've…I've just been shot…"
The team stopped running and looked down the hallway, where they saw several of the creatures running at them. "A Squad let a few slip by!" The commando said.
"What do we do, sir!" The robot asked.
"We hold them off, that's what!" The commando then looked at Skidd. "McMarxx! Get Ratchet to the generator! We'll hold these freaks off for you!"
"W-What!" Skidd asked. "B-But sir! He, like, totally needs medical attention and stuff!"
"Soldier, Ratchet is the only one with enough mechanical expertise to rewire the generator!" The commando shouted. "This is an order! Get him there!"
Although he figured he would really hate himself for doing this, Skidd nodded and picked up Ratchet. He then continued down the hallway, carrying his bleeding friend, while the commando and the rest of the squad fought with the creatures.
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Angela finished her tea and looked at Sasha. "Thank you so much for talking to me, Sasha. You're a real great friend."
"Hey, you'd have done the same for me, so don't worry about it." Sasha replied.
"Well, I suppose I'd better be getting back to Rilgar." Angela said as she stood up. "I think I wasted enough of your time already."
"Angela don't think that." Sasha said as she stood up with her. "You know that you and Skidd are welcome here anytime you want."
Angela smiled. "Thanks again, Sasha. I think I'm feeling a little better now."
After bidding Sasha and her daughter farewell, Angela left the small house and started walking towards her ship, which was parked nearby. The female lombax jumped into the ship, started the engine and quickly took off, flying out of orbit in about three seconds.
During the ride back to Rilgar, Angela exhaled deeply and silently hoped that Skidd and Ratchet would make it out of this war alive. Not just for her and Sasha, but for their kids as well, although Skidd was unaware of the child Angela was currently carrying.
"Please make it back, Skidd." Angela whispered.
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"Dude! I think this is it!"
Ratchet was struggling to stay awake, but he was able to get a good look at the large machine in the huge, open room Skidd had just carried him into. "That l-looks like what we were t-told to look for, alright."
"Man, Ratchet! I just totally realized something!" Skidd said, his eyes wide. "You, like, can't rewire the generator like this!"
"I know, S-Skidd." Ratchet said weakly. "T-That's why y-you're gonna do it."
"W-WHAT!" Skidd asked as he jumped back. "N-No way! I'm no mechanic, man!"
"I'll t-tell you what to do." Ratchet explained. "N-Now let's get over there."
Skidd, a little afraid that he would mess this up, nodded and carried Ratchet over to the generator.
"Okay. S-Set me down and open the hatch." Ratchet said.
Skidd did as he was told and opened the hatch on the side of the generator, exposing what looked like hundreds of wires.
"Next. Take red deep red w-wire and switch it with t-the bright blue one."
The Rilgarian gulped as he quickly switched the red and blue wires around. "Okay, man. Now what?"
"Now it g-gets tricky." Ratchet explained, looking like he was clinging onto the last of his consciousness.
It took Skidd a little bit, but he followed each of Ratchet's orders precisely and carefully. He wanted to make sure he did this right, so Skidd pretended that if he did something wrong, the whole building would blow (although Skidd had a feeling that that was probably not that far from the truth). Eventually, Skidd was done. He switched the last wire around. "Okay, man! I'm done!"
"P-Press the big button on the control panel, S-Skidd. H-Hurry."
Skidd leapt to his feet and slammed his palm onto the biggest button he could find, hoping that it was the right one. After pressing it, Skidd waited for what seemed like an eternity until he heard an automated voice.
"404 ERROR." The monotone, computerized voice explained. "System shutting down."
As Skidd breathed a sigh of relief, Ratchet smiled. However, before he could tell Skidd how proud he was, unconsciousness took over, finally making the lombax black out.
Skidd turned around and prepared to pick Ratchet off the ground. Skidd knew that the war had been won, now. However, all that didn't matter. He needed to get Ratchet medical attention.
BLAM!
Skidd's eyes widened in shock and pain as he stiffened. Slowly, Skidd looked at the gunshot wound in his chest, blood seeping out and running down his thin stomach. Skidd looked ahead for a few seconds before collapsing to his side. His head hit the concrete ground with a dull thud, and after a few more seconds, Skidd ceased movement altogether.
The creature that had fired the shot stood at the doorway to the room, smoke rising from the gun in its hand. However, before the creature had time to move, another gunshot rang out, blasting the creature in the head, killing it on the spot.
As the now-dead creature fell to the ground, two figures ran into the room: The commando and the Blargian, the only survivors of the recent brawl in the hallway earlier.
Seeing Ratchet and Skidd on the ground, the commando picked up the pace. "Quick! We need to get these two brave soldiers medical attention!" Leaving the Blargian to tend to Ratchet, the commando continued on to Skidd.
The Blargian bent over Ratchet and felt for a pulse. He sighed and looked at the commando. "Sir, Ratchet's dead."
The commando was hesitant at first, but he felt Skidd for a pulse. He sighed and shook his head. "McMarxx is, too."
"Well…Look at it this way, sir." The Blargian said. "Thanks to them, the war is over."
The commando stood straight, removed his helmet and placed it against his chest. The Blargian did the same. After a moment, the commando replaced his helmet and picked Skidd's lifeless body off the floor. "We have to get them out of here, soldier. I refuse to leave my men, even when they're dead."
"Yes, sir." The Blargian nodded as he picked up Ratchet's body and followed the commando out of the room.
"It's a pity, really." The commando said. "I really hate to see people die so young."
"Yes, sir. It's so tragic that the ones to end the war don't end up surviving."
The commando sighed. "From what I heard about these two, they're both married. I guess it's up to me to inform their widows."
This was another thing the commando wasn't too fond of. He hated being the one to break the horrible news to the loved ones of fallen men, but it had to be done. He knew that neither Ratchet's nor Skidd's wife would take the news very well, but for once, the commando had good news to go along with the bad.
And that was that Ratchet and Skidd died saving the lives of billions of people around the galaxy.
END
Author's note: Now, this isn't a sequel to my previous fic. I've always wanted to do a fic like this and I just pictured doing it with RaC characters.
Don't worry. By the time I make my next fic here (which I'm still not sure when that will be), both Ratchet and Skidd will be alive.
I don't own anyone in this fic (except maybe for Dorf the Thyrranoid).