Chapter 21
A Desperate Plea
Ratchet took his time to slowly sit up in the bed he had been confined to for five or more hours. Recalling the words of Aurora that he was free to wander wherever, long as he didn't try anything to escape or break her stuff. He winced while applying a firm grip to his chest. The typical burning sensation was unusually light, not like the normal hot lava intensity it sizzled his inners with. The stitch line right beneath his fingers was thinner than normal, not as red or agitated. Worry or relieved, the hero was not sure which one was the correct emotion for this situation. But whatever it was, he was just thankful his new heart was seeming to be settled in his chest.
It almost felt it nothing was off. Ratchet quickly stopped that thought, was he nuts? Of course, this was not normal. None of this was! Slowly, he willed himself off the bed onto his feet. Frost shot its fingers through his nerves the second his bare feet touched the frigid cold floor. Huffing in a deep breath, he put his hand on the wall and made his way into the hallway. One step at a time, he paced himself, as not to hurt his healing mark. Whatever that 'Aurora' person did, it felt so much better.
As Ratchet walked a bit further, he suddenly stopped and ran his gaze up the walls. How long was he going to have to be here? He then shut his eyes, recalling the words his warden explained to him the previous days. About Alister, his species, what they've done, and Rivet's connection to the General. Ratchet smashed his eyes shut in shear stress, hand gripping his rattled forehead. How could he have not known Alister was Rivet's old man? True they didn't look too much alike, but why hadn't the thought crossed him? He smashed his fist into the wall, the empty corridors echoing the sound till falling into deathly silence. This whole place felt like a metal graveyard.
The longer Ratchet walked, the more his mind veiled his train of thought. Without proper concentration, he stumbled his way past a few doors and into one open room. He peeked around the corner, hoping his warden or Dr. Nefarious was not present. It was a massive empty room as miserably looking as the rest of the place, just dark metal walls with a few buggy neon lights struggling to stay alight. Ratchet bravely poked a toe in, then the rest of his body followed. Only a few discarded machinery parts littered the floors. Obviously, his kidnapper/savior didn't believe in the concept of spring cleaning.
Till something quickly caught Ratchet's eye. There several feet away, buried beneath some rusted pipes, was a section of his helmet's earpiece. He rushed to it and dusted it off, eyeing the cracks decorating its entire frame. A little red light beeped as if it was asking for Ratchet to press it. Cautiously, his finger pressed the button, and static met his hearing. It took a second of adjusting the gear till the signal finally came in as clear as it could.
"R—ratch-!" Came Clank's voice, filled with obvious panic. "P—please he—lp, arrested…. *BZZT* W—where a-re y—ou? *BZZT* Ne-ed hel—p… please! *BZZT*" Static ended the rest of the transmission.
The male lombax couldn't believe his ears, arrested? Panicked, he did a power walk out of the room and down the hallway. His legs still felt very weak with energy just as low. But fear was a decent fuel as he managed to quickly get into the main control room. Dr. Nefarious was still in his same spot behind the glass door, tinkering with the big machines that spewed radiation levels out the wazoo. Pierre was in the corner trying to keep the kid quiet. Then Aurora was furthest from them, her gold eyes reading a book written in a language he could not understand.
"Aurora!" Ratchet called as he rushed over to her. His panicked voice alerting the massive creature as she raised her head to give him her entire attention. "I just got a call from Clank, they're in trouble!"
Aurora closed the book and adjusted her spot to a more alert position. Her one good ear raised in attention.
"Trouble…?" she titled her head.
"Yes, on my !" Ratchet handed the device to his warden. "It was fuzzy, but I managed to hear. H—he said they've been arrested!" He quickly started to pace, hands pawing at his face in total worry. "This must've been from me attacking those people when trying to find you! W—why else would the police get them? Oh, this is not good!" His gaze quickly shot to Aurora. "Did you cause this?"
"Of course not," she slowly leaned against the wall. "I have made no contact with any guard force. When discovered Bridger's body, decided I had to find you. When I was preparing to go to Sargasso, had intercepted an S.O.S from VIP's radiofrequency. I was not able to decode the message, but it contained your coordinates. Knew it was not safe, so came for you."
Ratchet froze, memory recalling the sight of VIP practically left mauled in his restraints. "T—that's why you showed up and killed him?"
"I knew not who he signaled. Believed I had destroyed his systems in time to prevent the message from reaching its destination." Aurora sighed as she turned away from Ratchet and went to a table that housed all sorts of beakers filled with odd liquids. She began to mix them together while glancing down at her notes. "An unfortunate mistake, apologize for not correcting it sooner."
"If that's the case, they're blaming Rivet for my actions! They're gonna take her to prison, with Clank and Kit!" Ratchet held his chest, wincing in pain from the freshly stitched wound protesting his fast movements. "I need to do something!"
Aurora still didn't even face him, posture and voice remaining in a casual neutral position. "You will be freed shortly... after this is done. Plus, you're in no condition to go anywhere. Need time to heal."
Ratchet shot her a frantic look. "But we have to save them, who knows what they'll do to them!" He rammed his fist into the wall, a tear threatening to fall. "This is all my fault, I shouldn't have let this go as far as it did…" tightening his fist, he shot a harsh look at Aurora's back. "We need to do something!"
"Possibilities… none." She muttered while mixing two red-filled beakers into a large one, the liquids turning white. "Cannot do any to which you asked."
"What do you mean? Part of this is your fault!" Ratchet rammed his fist against the wall. "You fixed the wound you caused, but now what about my friends? That is also something you caused by leading me on this stupid goose chase to begin with!"
"It was not part of the goal." Aurora casually explained while keeping her eyes on the work before her. "Needed you alive, had no intention of others being hurt. Didn't think you'd go this route to find me. An unfortunate mistake that will be corrected. After this job is done."
"But we don't have that kind of time, we need to do something! They could be killed!" Ratchet argued with the purest form of desperation. It killed him to sound so weak, but at this point, his anger was finished, with no fire left. All these events have finally left him feeling dead inside. Surrendered, all he could muster up now was desperation.
"What you are requesting… is simply not possible. I am a Geneticists, not an engineer." Aurora refused to look at him, her head held low as she struggled to keep a neutral tone. "Only have a basic understanding of machinery. That prison is far too advanced. Why do you think I'm forcing the… 'good' doctor to aid me in this process?"
"You're not going to do anything?" Ratchet whispered, ears slowly falling against his neck. "You mean… my friends are just… nothing to you?"
The massive beast lombax said nothing, her eyes straining to keep focused on her work. Ratchet slowly looked to the side, and then back at her.
"Please," he whispered, alerting her with the sudden desperation in his voice. "This whole event has left me feeling a way I never wanted to feel. I can't… live without them." Slowly sliding to his knees, he raised his eyes to show his glassy green eyes. As if his whole soul had been completely shattered.
"I messed up royally, for handling this situation the way that I did. But please, don't let them pay the price for something they didn't do." Lowering his head, he struggled to breathe out another breath. "They're my best friends… and Rivet… I… love her."
Halting her work, Aurora sluggishly moved her massive head to gaze upon the male lombax she had broken. Her dark paws ran together as she stared at Ratchet for several seconds. Silence raged on between.
She gently closed her book.
~Hidden Satellite Prison~
In the deepest reaches of space, Rivet and her robot friends were led out of the ship and onto a metal platform. The place was massive, with all sorts of glass towers armed with deadly gun turrets. Different prisoners could be seen being escorted by massively armed guards to a variety of cells from inside. Rivet gave a small swallow as one guard quickly detached her metal arm.
"Hey! Give that back," she hissed when her only good arm was handcuffed to some chains that connected her feet together. The guard shook his head and put the arm away in a locked container hooked to his stomach.
"We can't afford any mishaps," he pointed two fingers to Kit and Clank, who remained trapped in their cages. A couple of guards followed the captain's command as they approached the mini-bots and slapped two matching black shock collars on them. "These neck grippers will prevent your robotic pets from morphing into their larger forms. Even a small attempt will shock them so harshly their systems will be forced offline until someone on the outside reboots them. Which can only be done when the collars go off." One guard locked both collars into place and tossed the captain a key, which he caught and jingled in front of Rivet before locking it away with her robotic arm.
"Now that everyone here is un-armed, time to store you three away until we figure out what's going on." The goliath-sized silver bot waved his wrist gun, gesturing all three guards to take the trio in separate directions. "Keep them all apart till interrogations are ready."
Once all three friends were taken into different corridors, the captain gruffly sighed. With both arms crossed, he turned around and began walking towards the control room located right in the center of the facility. Once he was within reaching distance of the door, a loud thump caught his attention. The noise was weak but loud enough for his ears to catch. He turned away from the door and followed the sound to a more secluded place between two lonely towers. Very few guards were at his disposal as he cautiously investigated the alley.
"Whose there?" He cocked his gun and aimed a tracker laser into the darkness. "Whoever it is, this better not be a joke. Come out with hands up, or I'll shoot. You have four seconds!"
"One…" he started, taking a step away from his hiding place. "Two…" gun raised, its ammunition glowing brightly within the confines of the barrel. "Three….!" His thick finger wedged itself against the trigger, preparing to pull.
His vision turned red from a reported malfunction, gun clattering to the ground as a hand stabbed its way through his chest. The captain started to tremor in horror as the intrusive limb had five huge metal claws around his dislodged CPU (heart). It beeped loudly from the sudden loss of power until the hand squeezed the metal, crumbling it like warm butter until the pressure caused it burst into a small cloud of flames. With the loss of his primary capacitor, his hulking body slammed into the ground. Sparking with his inner fluids staining him and the ground like a messed-up sprinkler. A shadow with gold eyes glaring down at his metal shell stood over him.
Aurora cringed at the fumes flooding her nostrils. She coughed and tried to wave away the smoke while using her other paw to tap the side of her visor.
"Captain #UU5896 destroyed," she reported while bending down and ripping his stomach compartment open. The gears bent and broke from her merciless strength as she tossed the broken torso door away and retrieved Rivet's arm and the keys.
"Geez, you didn't have to rip his chest open." Came Ratchet's voice over the intercom.
"Forget him, have located the needed necessities to aid your comrades." Aurora turned her eye to gaze at the door Rivet was taken through. Her right robotic eye zoomed-in, scanning the structure's width, height, and defenses, as well as the four-armed guards blocking the entrance off. "Could get in by force but wish not to risk their lives."
Dr. Nefarious hid behind Aurora, shaking nervously at the sight of the giant guards. "Why in the galaxy did I have to come along?" he complained loudly.
"Because your experience is needed," she answered while stepping into the alley to hide from a group of guards marching in their direction.
Nefarious gasped as the sight as he looked in all different directions, unsure of where to go. Aurora's hand grabbed his collar and yanked him into the darkness. Then getting the leg of their dead victim, she dragged him into the shadows next. With all hidden well, she watched as the unit of guards marched by like well-disciplined soldiers. Once the last one passed by, the beast lombax sighed and cut Nefarious a sharp look until Ratchet's voice redirected her.
"Okay, using this satellite tracker, I can see a blueprint of this base." Ratchet explained as the sounds of his fingers pecking a keyboard echoed out. "This place isn't very big, so it must be where only the worst of the worst are kept."
"Which is good, means we can save that fuzzy pain much easier than a larger prison." Nefarious summarized while rubbing his claws mischievously together. "Then we can plant a bomb and blow this place to oblivion!" He yelled loud till Aurora smacked his head so hard it spun on his shoulder.
"Silence your howling metal hole, Doctor. Or alert the whole facility we are here." Aurora hissed and looked back to the door. "Also, no, smaller base means more heavily guarded. Will not be so easy to get them out…" she pressed her again to radio Ratchet back in. "All three of your comrades were taken in separate directions…" Her visor snapped a photo of all the entrances and sent them to Ratchet.
After a few seconds, Ratchet finally answered back. "Good news, Rivet is the closest to the entrance. All you must do is enter through one of the roof's ventilation vents. It'll lead you to the control room, where you can power down the lights and free Rivet first. Then you can save Kit and Clank, as they're being housed in neighboring cells. Bad news, their location is further in the back."
Nefarious gawked and grabbed Aurora's helmet to have a turn to comment.
"Crawl THROUGH a vent? Are you serious? This hulking blob of black matted fur?" He bravely commented on Aurora's bear-like build before laughing his plates off. "You've got to be kidding, she couldn't even get that big blocky head through a window. We'd be shot on sight." His laughter died down a bit while dusting his hands off. "Oh well, was worth a try, best go back— OUCH!"
Aurora grabbed him and shoved his whole head into the ground to shut him up. "Who says I will be the one to crawl through?" she snorted steam on the doctor's smushed face. "Our systems are interconnected, meaning you are bound to me until I manually discard the sync. I can track your every movement and control your online/offline status remotely. So, don't even think sabotage."
Nefarious gulped, "I—I thought you said you were stupid with mechanics?"
Aurora twitched her ear at the name-calling. "Said I have a basic understanding, enough to properly mess with ones like you." She got Nefarious by his collar and hoisted him up as she began to climb up the side of the wall.
Once both were on the roof, she dropped Nefarious on his skid plates. Her robotic eye scanned the roof, glossing over all sorts of smokestacks fuming white smoke. Then, right on the furthest corner, one the vent Ratchet had directed them to. With the purple doctor back in her grip, she marched up and tore the bars guarding the vent's mouth. A big black tunnel was exposed beneath. Aurora clicked her tongue to think, not sure how far down it went. Then getting Nefarious up, she held him over the opening.
"Power down all security systems." She muttered while he clung to her wrist, in fear of her dropping him.
"Wait, how do I know you won't leave me when I do what you asked?" He spat loudly.
"Promise, won't let you be hurt." She released him as the Doctor screamed a high pitch squeal while tumbling down the tunnel and landing with a loud thump. Wincing, she peeked over the edge to make sure the guards didn't hear. Relieved when they were busy chatting with each other rather than focusing on their environment. Aurora turned and tapped the side of her helmet.
"Nefarious is inside, how long until he powers down the gates?"
"I uploaded the map to his mainframe, if he hurries, my guess is… about five minutes."
"Good," she turned and stood by the edge of the room. Looking across the whole area that housed them from falling into the darkest clutches of space. Solar winds blew through her mane, shimmering the aged white streaks marking the edges of her blackish-blue fur. Patiently waiting for the power surge that'd signal all security was offline and she could break in through the side door without alerting the guards.
"Aurora, um… how exactly did you get our enemy to… work with you?"
"Simply said please."
"Yea, I'm not buying that. Dr. Nefarious is far from charitable."
"Wouldn't say that, though he's quite burdensome. I admire his loyalty to his followers." She chuffed while scratching one of the scars marking up the side of her head. "Why not buy my polite demeanor?"
"You're far too monotone to pull off sarcasm, so let's be serious, please. How did you do it?"
She shrugged her shoulders and tapped her foot. "Kidnapped him, allowed him to witness his counterpart's dislodged head, and he cooperated from there. Simple bargaining of his life."
Ratchet did a spit take and quickly adjusted the mic to speak louder. "What? You showed him… emperor Nefarious'… head!? What? How! He was eaten by a Kraken the last time we stopped him!"
"Actually, he had the means to escape when I intercepted our phase routes. Needed his technology for this project. Once he caved and gave needed information, could not free him. Would've blundered this by killing you. Couldn't permit that. Plus, his views annoyed little patience had left. Tore his head off."
A long pause came between them as Ratchet nervously spoke into the speaker.
"O—okay… steering away from that for a moment, I still don't understand. You're trying to save the Lombaxes from extinction? But I thought we were just in hiding?"
"Yes… and no," Aurora muttered, her eyes beginning to go hollow at having to think about that past event. "If you're wondering WHY I am trying to help a race that refused me as one of them, despite being of the same genetics, it is not for reasons you think."
"What? Okay, whether you intended to hurt me or not, you still attacked me. Took Rivet's arm, everything! Who knows what other Lombaxes you have hurt! I demand you tell me right now what you hope to accomplish, and why the heck you saved me when I'm clearly wanting to stop you."
"Because I want no malice. The DNA required is of abundance, can't do this by just hair samples. Need larger sources. Actual parts of living Lombaxes, to have the genetic variation needed to create more of us. So, the pain suffered will not be repeated. Peace will be returned, and I can pass on in peace."
"You mentioned that, but what I don't understand is HOW. How do you think this will create peace? You clearly haven't thought this through!"
"I have, because the ones I make… will bear my genetic code, and I will no longer be the only one to suffer this. Will finally have what everyone wants, to be normal."
"What? You… no, I can't let you do this!"
"Right now, we're in the middle of a contract I have obliged to. Save your mate, in return, you cooperate. Make me think you'll proceed to mess this up, I will abort this mission." Aurora uncrossed her arms as she saw the lights beginning to flicker. "The healthy ones like you never gave ones inflicted with the genetic disease a life to live. Treated ones like me as an animal. Incapable of comprehending what it means to have peace."
Ratchet fell silent.
"I only wanted Azimuth. With that motive gone, I now think back to what the doctor I cared for stood by." She looked up to the stars, hearing the building's electric currents beginning to get louder. "See me a monster, that is fine. But just answer this…" she looked down when the lights began to slowly shut down. "If I was the inhumane one, then why did your race deprive genetically ill children of the means of help? Asking the one that gave it all to save ones like me, he would've said you were the monsters."
"But that—"
"I ONLY want retribution, it will be acquired… regardless of what you say." She snarled into the and quickly turned it off. "Be thankful I'm willing to save your mate, the daughter of the one that wronged me."
With the lights completely off, the guards below noticed the sudden black-out. When they all moved away to turn on their flashlights, Aurora grabbed the roof's lip and swung down to the side door. Getting both her massive paws against the door, she squeezed the handles. Veins creased up her arms as she bared her teeth, putting all her strength into the pressure. Till the metal handles finally snapped in half.
With both doors open, she cracked her neck and quickly ran inside. Closing the doors behind her and bending the inside handles until it was twisted into a knot. Preventing any from getting in or out.