Rivet slammed her forehead into the flight wheel in front of her.
Then did it again.
And again.
"What is WRONG with me!?" She yelled to herself.
"Running medical scan on pilot." A faint blue light filled the cabin as Periapsis did just that.
"What? No, I meant-"
"Have you been experiencing any of the following symptoms? Rash, partial or complete paralysis, diarrhea explosive or otherwise, temporary or permanent blindness and/or deafness, frequent urination, or uncontrollable shaking?"
"...No?"
"Scan complete. No external injuries detected. Temperature and heart rate are slightly elevated, as is pheromone output. Running system scan for diagnosis and treatment."
"I… have pheromones?" Rivet looked down at her own body in wonder before giving herself a quick sniff. While she admitted she could certainly use a shower, the singed fur and dried blood was really all she could smell right now.
"Preliminary diagnosis complete. It is the theory of this system that you are experiencing early romantic infatuation to lombax designation 'Ratchet.'"
"I-uhhh… I what?" Her voice squeaked.
"Given all observed symptoms, that is the conclusion this system has reached."
"HOW IS THAT EVEN AN AVAILABLE DIAGNOSIS!?"
"It is not included in my base programming, but rather from experience derived as a result of my time with my previous pilot, Pilot Second Class Lenius Corvix."
Her eyebrows raised as she heard that. She hadn't even thought to ask Periapsis about its previous owner. "What do you mean?"
"I was present on the occasion on which he met his would-be husband as they were both pilots in the Protectorate navy. I would also be there to witness many of the common milestones in their relationship, including their impromptu wedding during a dogfight with drophyd forces over the Court of Azimuth."
"Was that when you were shot down? Did they get out safely?"
"Yes and yes. Before total shutdown, I registered them fleeing through the evacuation portal together."
"And… you really watched them fall in love?" She asked hesitantly.
"Correct. And I have reached the conclusion of your romantic interest through observed similarities of their early relationship."
"I...you…" She sputtered while her eyes searched for answers on Periapsis's console that she knew she wouldn't find. So instead she turned her eyes to the wheel in front of her as her mental attention turned inward. She wasn't one for deep thinking like this, in fact she avoided it more often than not, but right now she had to make a decision. Confront this feeling she was having and probably change how she acted around Ratchet forever, or stuff it down.
And she knew which one she had to do.
"Periapsis, delete all records of the scan you just ran and don't bring up the topic again." She told it, deliberately ignoring the sharp feeling in her gut as she spoke.
"Acknowledged."
If I mess up something like that or if I make a wrong move, it could put everything and everyone at risk. I can't do that, no matter what. She thought to herself as took all of that emotion, all those feelings twisting and turning in her gut and packed them in tight. I'll push it all down so I can push forward. And maybe one day, I'll let them back out.
An image of Ratchet as she had last seen him on Fastoon passed through her mind. His fur was rough and matted in places with fresh oil, grease and soot stains all over. He was tired, but the fire in his eyes burned so bright and so warm that she hadn't wanted to look away. She remembered having to bite back the words 'Let's go together.'
Someday…
"We are arriving at Kortog." Periapsis informed her.
"Good. I need to let off some steam."
Her ship left jump and she could immediately see Kortog right in front of her. There were a handful of smaller cragmite ships scattered around the planet's atmosphere, making it easy to pick out the much larger and far wider profile of Vorselon's.
"Scanning for Lombax artifacts." Periapsis told her. "Several artifacts are located on the planet's surface."
"Is there one on the ship?"
"Negative. There is a collection of artifacts just underneath it in the largest city on the planet. When cross referenced with pre-existing maps, they are likely collected in the Hall of Knowledge in Stratus City for study."
"Alright, then that's where we're going."
"My programming requires me to inform you that the Hall of Knowledge is not open to the public. I will also inform you that the north wing is currently under reconstruction and should provide an easy means of ingress."
"Noted, but I'm in much more of a 'make my own door' mood." She told him.
"Then it may be wise to restock on munitions. I detected a cache during my scan not far from the Hall of Knowledge."
"Then that's our first stop. I picked up plenty of bolts on the station that are burning a whole in my pocket anyway."
"It is highlighted on the map."
The small screen in the center showed a map of the planet with a glowing dot. She grinned to herself as she grabbed the controls once more. "Then let's get started."
She brought the ship in low and fast, opting to keep from starting a fight in the air until she had the artifact in hand, and landed on a platform near the edge of the city suspended in the air. She gazed down into the churning mass of red gas that obscured the planet below while her ship swung around. It roiled like a gathering storm and she even spotted some streaks of lightning as they cut through the clouds from the friction in the air.
She then looked over the city itself. The base of the city was a set of platforms mounted on top of massive gravity engines that kept them aloft. The buildings on top of them were gleaming towers topped with gold and connected with small bridges in between them. She spied a large building separate from the rest in the distance. It was clearly built in the same style as all the rest, but was a dome rather than a tower. She guessed that it was probably the Hall of Knowledge.
Periapsis settled down on the platform and Rivet wasted no time jumping out. She double checked her map and started making her way towards the munitions stockpile that Periapsis had highlighted for her. She didn't see any natives along the way, most all of them probably staying indoors until the fleet moved on. What she did see though was the occasional patrol of cragmites interspersed with old Nefarious robots. Probably part of a force that Vorselon brought with him when he was hired.
Didn't really matter to her either way really, since they all explode the same. And she made sure to test that on every last patrol she could find.
After many destroyed patrols and more than a few city wide alarms she finally managed to stumble onto the stockpile she was looking for. And it just so happened to actually be a store being run by a friendly face.
"Ms. Zurkon!" She cried out before excitedly running over to the bot.
Ms. Zurkon's whole body whirled around in response to the call out. "Oh, well howdy darlin. I shoulda known it was one'a you two makin all that ruckus."
Rivet smiled. "You calling us lombaxes trouble makers?"
"I call 'em like I sees em honey. Now what can I get for ya? Your other half mentioned you'd be needin to rearm yourself."
Rivet shook her head in confusion as she heard that. "My what?" She asked flatly.
"That sweetheart of your's, Ratchet! I ran into him over on Quantos and he helped me get off the planet by dealing with a pesky cragmite ship."
"Right, I know who you're talking about. But what do you mean 'sweetheart?'"
"Well, ain't you two seeing each other? I'll admit I don't know how you kids do things these days, what with hookups and whatnot, but since he didn't say anything about that couples discount I threw your way I figured that was how things were goin."
Did he really pretend we're in a relationship just for a DISCOUNT!? When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna- gonna… do what exactly? Be mad at the idea of being in a relationship with him? Cause I'm no- WAIT! She suddenly started pounding her head with her open palms, the poor robot looking on in confusion.
Back in the box you! No more of that! Just take the discount and move on! It's easier than arguing! She screamed in her mind as she took those thoughts she had just been having and buried them deep enough that they might never surface again. She looked at the shocked robot she had been talking to and gave her a nervous smile. "Right… sorry. We were uhhh… keeping it between us for now, so we'd appreciate it if you didn't spread the word quite yet."
"Oh, sure! I don't know why you two would wanna keep it a secret, but you kids these days do all kinds of things I don't understand. Now what'll ya take today?"
Doing her best to shake off the topic, Rivet turned and perused the full board of available weapons. Picking out the ones to give her the biggest boom of all, she paid for some extra ammo as well and set off on her way, eager to get moving for more than one reason.
She left Ms. Zurkon behind and continued her crusade against the random patrols she would come across on her way to the Hall of Knowledge, taking out her ever mounting frustration on them time and time again. After enough of this they actually stopped responding to the alarms brought up by her contiguous assault and she spotted more than a few try to run when they saw her. To no avail of course since she always ran them down, but they gave it a shot none-the-less.
Soon (or not soon enough if you asked her) she found herself outside the front doors to the Hall of Knowledge, now surrounded by the smouldering remains of what had been minutes prior a defense post manned by more than a few robots and cragmites. And with a missile right to the center, the doors looked much the same.
Not even waiting for the ash and dust to settle she ran straight inside. There wasn't much resistance once she passed through the doors. What automated defenses the Hall did have were probably destroyed when Vorselon had invaded the planet and the forces he had left to guard this place were either already destroyed or avoiding a confrontation with a very angry and very well armed lombax.
As a result she had practical free reign over the entirety of the Hall. That didn't mean she knew where she was going though.
So she was left to wander the halls, looking for any sign of her objective but finding nothing. Searching down every hall and through every door, she was about to open another when she heard voices come from the other side. Given how deep and distorted they were, she knew they would be cragmites before she even opened it. Having her blaster at the ready, she hit the button to open it and rushed in.
The room on the other side looked like some kind of breakroom, with a small kitchen and a few tables. Gathered around one were three cragmites all hunched over. One started to say something about rolling dice before she fired three times, quick and clean. All three bodies dropped with heavy thuds onto the table and floor, accompanied by a high pitched squeal that likely didn't come from a robot and most definitely didn't come from a cragmite. Keeping her weapon up she called out in the room. "Who's there?"
Another squeak and a pink, bulbous head peaked up from behind the table and glanced in her direction. A Terachnoid. She lowered her weapon.
"I'm not here to hurt you." She said and walked further in.
"Could've fooled me." The Terachnoid said as they stood up from where they had been hiding. She was about to question them further when they glanced at the table they had been sitting at with the cragmites. "OH, YOU MAY AS WELL KILL ME TOO!" They cried in anguish.
She recoiled at the reaction, not expecting the outburst. "What?"
They swung their arm over the table. "THREE. HOURS. THREE HOURS GONE JUST LIKE THAT!"
She looked down at the table and saw what looked like a game board composed of hexagons, complete with markers placed on them, dice and cards.
"Um… Sorry?"
"Sorry doesn't fix that I was totally owning these chumps. Ugh."
"I'm looking for a lombax artifact."
"And why should I help you? Here you are barging into a secure home of knowledge and research, AND abruptly ending my game."
"Well, what can I do to convince you then? I really need your help." She confessed. It would take her far too long to search the whole building all by herself.
"To be honest, I don't know if- Wait. That voice."
OH! She thought. He might recognize me from t.v.! Maybe using that I can convince him to help me!
"Are you… A GIRL!?"
What? She thought. He looked at her, waiting for an answer.
"Um. Yes?"
"Oh-well I-um… Hi." He responded, now far more nervous.
"Uhhh… Right. Hi. Can you help me?"
"I'DLOVETO." He responded very quickly, making her jump back. He quickly recomposed himself. "What was it you needed help finding again?"
"A lombax artifact. I don't know what it looks like."
"Well you're still going to have to be a bit more specific than that. Rather than study it himself, Nefarious just dumped most of the lombax stuff he found here and hoped we'd figure it out."
"Vorselon would have brought it in not too long ago."
"Oh! The data projecting polyhedron! Last I heard it was being kept in the central archives. I would take you there, but I have a deadly allergy to bullets and explosions so instead I'll just give you my access codes." He reached into a pocket and produced a small chip which she took.
"Thanks uh… What's your name?"
"Egsden." He responded. "And you're welcome. You can get to the central archives by taking a left out that door, then a right, a left, take the elevator, go straight, right, right again, left and then another elevator."
She did her best to remember the directions before nodding and hoping that they stuck. "Right. Sorry about your game by the way. Maybe when I save the universe me and my friend can make it up to you by playing with you!" She called to him as she ran towards the door and turned left. The door slid shut behind her before she could see his reaction, but based on how he had acted earlier it was probably joyous. Had he just never met a girl before? Whatever.
She ran through the halls with renewed vigour now, following Egsden's directions and showing defenders no mercy as she went. As she rode the second elevator, the thought occurred to her that the path of destruction she had left in her wake was likely something she would have to apologize for when everything was said and done, but for right now it would just have to be a necessary evil.
The elevator deposited her at the beginning of a hallway that led to a larger chamber. Stepping out into it, she marveled at her surroundings.
The central archives were massive. A huge domed room with multiple floors spanning what must be thousands of cubic meters. And everywhere she looked she saw walls covered in books and terminals as well as artifacts and treasures from every corner of the galaxy. The amount and value of knowledge that surrounded her right then was awe inspiring. She wondered what she could learn if she stayed and read. She could learn more about what happened to the lombaxes in this dimension, or their history with the cragmites.
Then it dawned on her that they also might have recorded census data here. If she searched hard enough she might even be able to find out about her family! The prospect made shirking the idea to run straight for the data banks all around all the more difficult. Instead she redirected her attention to the center of the room where an elevated platform behind an energy shield rested. And sitting right on top, suspended in mid air, was a distinctly lombax looking pyramid banded in the same shining silver as the lorb back in the ship.
She ran over to it, accepting that there would be time enough to come back here when the current crisis was dealt with. The console controlling the field was right next to it and after she had inserted the chip with Egsden's credentials it chimed to let her know she had full access. She was a heartbeat away from finishing the keystroke to lower the shield when she heard the tell tale sound of a weapon charging from nearby. Her fur stood on end all down her body and a shiver ran down her spine before she launched herself away from the console.
Just after her feet leave the ground a charged beam impacts right where she had been standing. The blast propelled her farther backward, so she twisted midair til her hands hit the ground so she could push herself off once more, landing now with her hammer and blaster ready to face whoever had fired the shot. And it didn't take long for her to find out who.
"Vorselon." She growled as she glared up at the cyborg on the floor above.
"Your reflexes are as sharp as ever, you little rat, but they won't save you forever!" His cold robotic eye flared with hatred before he jumped down. The chrome plating of his head matched the power armor that covered his still organic body and shone from the reflected screens that surrounded them. He raised both his fists in her direction as they sprouted a pair of wrist mounted lasers.
She leapt into action before they even started spinning up, dashing forward to close the distance while she fired a few burst shots in his direction. None of them were really meant to hit, only distract which they did a great job at. When the lasers did fire they were wildly inaccurate and easily dodged, letting her get within meters of the cyborg.
She leapt in the air with her hammer reeled back, ready to strike. But right as she swung down she saw his armor shimmer before he started to vanish while he dodged. Her hammer glided down through the empty air before crashing into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete. Ripping it free, she twirled on the spot as she looked all around for any sign of where the Terraklon might be.
Her only hint was a click from behind her again, giving her just enough time to spin and see the shoulder mounted rocket launcher fire. The missile impacted on the ground right next to her, the shrapnel and blastwave blocked by the shield of her repulser. Twirling out of the smoke on the balls of her feet, she quick swapped her weapon to an enforcer and unloaded both rounds into him at point blank.
The first shattered the energy shield his armor projected while the second impacted him directly, lifting him off his tentacles and launching him skidding across the floor away from her.
"Your tricks can't save you from me anymore!" She shouted at him while she pulled out her hammer.
"You only think that because you haven't seen them all." Jets fired from underneath him to lift him off the ground and onto his tentacles. She charged at him one more time, and when she was a ways away this time his armor shimmered again. But this time rather than disappearing like before, his form split into several more. She stopped dead in her tracks before she charged into the unknown, waiting to see what would happen as the doppelgangers circled around her. There were nearly two dozen of them and she swung around wildly trying to find the real one but to no avail.
So rather than try and pick out one in particular, she resolved to just shoot at all of them. Pulling out the blackhole storm and spinning on her heels, she shot in a spiral outwards. The miniaturized singularities ripped through the holograms all around her before they faded, revealing none of them to have been the real one. She dismissed the large weapon in favor of her hammer one more time, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of him.
Her every nerve felt like it was on edge, and so when her instincts told her to jump she listened. She went straight up into the air, twisting her body around as she flipped back; she saw Vorselon mid attack with a blade he had produced right where she had just been. She twisted more, putting all the muscle she could into hitting him with the hammer as she went. She connected with the side of his head and chest, cracking the armor on both.
He was thrown back from the force, clattering to the floor while she twisted more to land on three points so she could launch forward once again. Vorselon propped himself up before raising his fist to fire his laser. His eye bored into her before he suddenly redirected his attention to the side along with his laser. Slowing and following his gaze, she realized he was lining up the artifact in the center of the room, the shield having been deactivated by the first attack.
"NO!" She shouted as she redirected her dash as the beam charged and fired. She dove through the air, making it just in time to swing her hammer down and deflect the shot.
Unfortunately she deflected it straight down, meaning it exploded at her feet. The blast threw her back and right into the console that was presently a charred husk, the back of her head leaving a dent in the metal and the metal maybe leaving a dent in her head. She barely registered her hammer that she had dropped through the haze that was her consciousness but struggled to reach for it nonetheless.
Her hand shook as she stretched it out, trying in vain to grasp at her weapon when a metallic claw closed around her wrist before hefting her up into the air. Before she could react her other arm was similarly restrained. Just after she recognized it as an old Nefarious robot that was holding her, Vorselon solidified in her vision right in front of her.
"My tricks work as good as ever it seems."
She couldn't form words at the moment, so she did pretty much the only thing she could and spit on his face plate. His eye narrowed at her before he raised the sword on his wrist once more, leveling it on her throat. She tried to struggle, to wriggle free of her captor's metal grip but there was nothing she could do. It was like her organic limbs were made of lead while her robotic one refused to move at all.
There was just… nothing she could do.
She couldn't help but think that if her head was a bit healthier, she might have some last thoughts, or maybe even words of consequence to have. Instead she could only think that she would have really liked to talk to those lombaxes on the other side of the portal, if even just for a moment.
Ratchet too… I should have said more. Oh well.
She braced for the killing blow.
But it never came.
Instead, Vorselon's head cocked to the side, as though someone was talking to him that she couldn't hear. After a few moments the cyborg mumbled a curse and lowered his sword. "You've lucked out, you little space rat. The Empress wants you alive. For now."
He looked up at the robots holding her aloft. "Take her and the artifact back to the ship. Make sure she's completely restrained and treat that concussion."
"Aye Sir!" They both responded.
"And let the crew know I want this place atomized once we leave. I want no trace that that other one can use to follow us!"
"No…" She wanted to shout, to kick and scream. Instead she could simply groan in protest as she struggled to remain awake. Powerless to stop them from taking her.
The area around her was a blur of action as she was whisked away from the Hall. At some point heavy metal cuffs were put not just around her wrists but up her arms, ending just above the elbow.
The blending sights and sounds of her surroundings meant that she only really registered where she was once a medical robot injected her in the neck with some kind of serum. A few minutes later her mind finally cleared and she could take stock of her surroundings.
She was on the floor of a containment cell in a large domed room. Beneath the glass floor she could see whirling machines and sparking circuits. Pushing herself off the ground with just a bit of difficulty as she shook the last of the dizziness from her head, she tested her restraints. The metal groaned as she tried to pull her arms apart but did not budge.
Looking next to the barrier that surrounded her, she went over and placed a hand on it. It was cold glass, probably about seven centimeters thick. If she wasn't restrained she could have probably broken through it using her prosthetic, but with her movement restricted there was no way she would be able to muster enough force to even crack it.
That wasn't about to stop her from trying though. She reeled back her bound arms and swung them at the wall, making the whole chamber resound like a bell. Again and again she swung, pounding on the walls that confined her. And just when she was starting to fool herself into thinking she was making progress she was interrupted.
"I was wondering what all that racket was. It seems our esteemed guest has finally come to." Vorselon called over as he entered the room.
"Let me out of here so I can finish cracking open your headcase!" She screamed and beat the wall again.
"I think you're fine right where you are actually. Right where the empress wants you and right where you can watch me give the order to vaporize Stratus city! Computer! Start the firing sequence!" His voice called out into the open air and the ship's AI responded with a confirmation.
"Main weapon charging sequence initiated."
"NO!" She threw her whole body at the wall but to no avail.
Vorselon laughed with all the menace he had. "Feel free to try and stop me! You'll accomplish nothing other than broken limbs as you break upon your walls! There's nothing you can do to stop the firing sequence!"
"Firing sequence stopped."
"What!? This is why I hate voice commands. Restart the sequence."
"Are you sure?" The voice asked back.
"Wha- of course I'm sure!"
"Acknowledged. Disabling safety override. Disregarding coolant tank disconnection and targeting computer destruction."
"Wait, when did all that happen!?"
Rivet looked up questioningly.
"Would you like to turn on safety notifications to be alerted when ship malfunctions occur?" The ship asked the cyborg.
"YES!"
"Acknowledged."
…
…
…
"Main gun coolant tanks one through four have been disconnected, the Targeting computer has been destroyed, an intruder has been detected on decks four, six, seven and nine, and the espresso machine has been broken for five months."
"WHAT!?"
"Well, since the cat's out of the bag." A voice called down from above. A moment later a headhunter shot rang out, punching right through Vorselon's shield and into his chest, throwing him back. Rivet looked at where the shot had come from and saw an orange colored blur drop down from a duct in the ceiling.
"Ratchet!"
He ran over to where she was being kept. "I planned on making a better entrance than that, but oh well."
"Who cares, I'm just happy to see you! Get me out of here!"
"Right." He took out his wrench and started wailing away on the wall. Within a few hits it started to crack and in a few more he broke right through. Once he cleared enough of the breach he helped her out.
"Thanks." She said with a sigh. She didn't like the idea of needing rescuing in the first place, but that was just how things had ended up. "Can you help me get these off too?" She asked and held up the contraption holding her arms.
"Let me see." He started to look over the cuffs. "Looks like it's locked by a computer. Do you still have Glitch?"
"She should be on my belt." She said and stuck out her hip. She tried not to think about where he was looking or where his hand was touching when he grabbed the chip. Pulling it free, he held it up and both watched the digital spider hop into the computer. Within moments there was a hiss and a click as she went back into the chip and the cuffs fell away.
Once her arms were free Rivet stretched and flexed them out before spinning in place and punching a hole through an untouched portion of her glass prison. She looked at her counterpart and smiled. "Much better. Thanks again."
"No problem. Now do you know where the artifact is?"
"No, but-"
"I DO!" A robotic voice shouted at them and both lombaxes turned to face Vorselon who had now picked himself off the ground.
"GAH!" Ratchet shouted in surprise and recoiled when he saw him. She looked at him questioningly. He noticed and grinned for a second. "Sorry, I hadn't really looked at him before and my Vorselon had an alive head and robot body. Caught me off guard for a second there."
"If you want this," He reached behind him and then produced the artifact in one of his claws. "Then come and get it."
"Gladly!"
"Gladly!"
Both lombaxes called in response before charging forward. As they ran forward a sideways glance and silent conversation were shared before Ratchet leapt into the air, curling up into a ball as he did. Rivet reached over mid run and grabbed him by his clothes before, in the next stride, she spun and threw him at Vorselon as hard as she could.
Ratchet was half sure he broke the sound barrier as he flew through the air, his reflexes barely acting in time for him to get his wrench ready to attack. Vorselon only had enough time to duck, meaning the only thing Ratchet could hit before he flew past was his head, spinning it like a top when he did.
When it finally stopped spinning he stumbled for a moment before Rivet got close enough to tackle him, throwing herself full force into him. Rolling over each other, they finally settled with Rivet on top of him before she reached down with her right arm and gripped his head then ripped it free of its socket.
"Well doesn't this feel familiar?" She said. She had done something similar during their last encounter a long time ago before the dimensions got crossed. The mission had still gone wrong when the emperor's fleet had shown up earlier than anticipated, but that had been a small victory she could claim. She turned his head around in her hand to look him in the eye. "Got a trick this time?" She derided him.
"As a matter of fact, I do." He responded.
The headless body beneath her suddenly moved, the jets on its back roaring to life. The body shot out from underneath her, sending tumbling up into the air and flinging the head free of her grip. She landed with a heavy thud on the ground while the body floated up and grabbed the head as it flew through the air and replaced it.
"Failed again you little-gah!" Ratchet suddenly jumped on him in midair from behind, being careful not to get in the way of the jets. His rough impact still damaged them though, sparks flying from one of the side panels before both started flying around the room like a balloon leaking air.
They flew around in erratic patterns, barely avoiding the walls and floor. Most of the time. Others they ran into them or ground their bodies along, Vorselon's power armour tearing up the walls. "RIVET OOPH" Ratchet grunted as he hit the wall. "HELP!"
"HOW!?"
"HOLD UP YOUR HAND!" He called. She complied without thinking and threw up her left hand. He flew past again and hit the wall.
"OW! THE OTHER ONE!"
"SORRY!" She swapped hands and this time when he flew past he swung his wrench at nothing and she didn't understand what he was trying to do. Then the head of his wrench flew off, connected by a beam of energy to the handle. She suddenly realized what he was trying and caught it, locking her grip closed around it and pulling it in as hard as she could. The sudden resistance pulled back on the flying pair, making them arc backwards in the air over her. Once they were directly overhead she pulled again and yanked Ratchet free from his death grip on the jetpack and straight down where she caught him in a bridal carry. He gave her a nervous smile.
"My hero. Thanks."
Before she could reply, Vorselon completed his journey straight down into the ground, ending as a crumpled heap on the ground as the jetpack finally broke on impact. She put Ratchet down and both ran over. Rolling the terraklon over as he groaned, they searched him for the artifact, finding it in one of his pockets.
Or rather, they found its pieces.
The artifact had been shattered during the fight.
"OH COME ON!" Rivet shouted. "ALL THAT JUST FOR IT TO BREAK!?"
Before she could really get her angry rant at no one started, sirens and warnings started blaring all around. "Warning: Main gun temperature at critical levels. All safeties have been disengaged. Catastrophic failure imminent. Evacuate immediately."
Both lombaxes locked eyes. "We need to get to Aphelion! Grab the pieces!" She told him. They both grabbed all the pieces and stowed them away. Then, leaving Vorselon behind, they ran as fast as they could through the halls of the ship, Ratchet leading the way through the winding passages. Eventually they found their way to a maintenance hatch to the outer hull that he had used to get on board. At this point the failing gun was starting to have a chain reaction through the rest of the ship, blowing fuses and exploding heat pipes all over, not to mention that the temperature just kept rising. By the time they reached the hatch it felt like it was near boiling temperature.
Making sure both were equipped for the vacuum outside they opened the hatch and activated their magneboots as the area around them decompressed. They made their way outside then over to the starboard side wing where Aphelion was parked. Ratchet called ahead in his helmet for the ship to come to them now that they were outside and the ship did just that, taking off on its own. It intercepted them near the middle of the ship where they both hopped in and blasted away as fast as they could, barely getting to a safe distance in time for the ship to tear itself to pieces.
Both were gasping for air from the sprint they had just done, but now that they were both safe they managed to relax somewhat, letting out sighs of relief in tandem. "That was WAY to close." Ratchet pointed out.
"I know. If you hadn't shown up…" She trailed off. Both knew what would have happened if he hadn't come but chose not to dwell on it. "How did you know to come anyway? I thought you were looking for Alister."
"I was. And when I tried to call you and give an update, Periapsis told me you had been captured. Said that you had suffered a concussion and were being taken up to Vorselon's ship, so I came as fast as I could."
"How did it know? It wasn't there."
"Apparently after some medical scan it ran it synced to your personal life support systems. So when you got hurt it knew immediately. Why did you need a scan before though? Did you get hurt at the station?"
"No, it was-HMP" She clamped her big mouth shut before she took that too far. "I-it was uhh… lady problems! Yeah! Nothing you need to worry about!" She was far more forceful in her response than she really had to be. She could also tell by the questioning look in his eye that he most certainly didn't buy it.
"Ooooook. I'll leave that alone then. We should take a look at the artifact though."
"Right!" Rivet said excitedly, happy to move on from the subject. She pulled out the pieces she had grabbed and so did he and they piled them together between them. The burnished silver object seemed completely destroyed. They could see circuits broken clean in two, lenses cracked or shattered, and the casing that held it all together could only be described as sundered.
"Is there any way to fix something like this?" Rivet asked. "Some kind of special lombax forge or something?" Ratchet shook his head.
"If there is, I've never heard of it."
"Then how do we fix it?"
"I dunno. Maybe… Maybe Alister can tell us how?"
She looked up at him. "Is that the best we've got? A maybe?"
"Unless you can think of something else, yeah."
She huffed, but knew he was right. "Then I guess it'll have to do. Did you at least find a clue to where he was before you came?"
A spark lit in his eyes when she asked that and accompanied it with a grin that made her heart flutter just a little bit. "Oh you bet I did." He said and reached into the back.
Looking back at what he was doing she saw him reach into a box and produce a teardrop shaped object about the size of his fist. It was brown and looked like it was covered in sharp tree bark. "What is that?"
"The clue to where we can find Alister!" He said and thrust it out proudly. "This… Is a Toberlisk fruit!"
"Uhuh… What is that and how does that matter?"
"Well, it's a fruit and it matters because while he was evacuating some people he had to leave this box behind to make room on his ship. And since I know these were his, I know exactly where he got them from."
"How?"
"They only grow in one place in the universe outside of captivity. And since it isn't a popular export you can only get them in bulk where they grow."
She perked up immediately as he said that. "Where!?"
A prideful glare shone in his eyes. "My home planet… Veldin."
