Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart,
Dimensional Warriors.
Chapter 8.
Outer Space, June, 22th, 2021.
2:53 P.M.
Ratchet and Clank came out of hyper space just in time to catch a message from Dr. Nefarious.
"Helloooooooo dimension!" Dr. Nefarious shouted from the rooftop of his tower balcony. His camera followed his every move as he held out a hand.
"I know I've been away for a… you know how long." He waved his lackeys concerns off.
"So I thought we could catch up." He panned a hand over to a wall of monitor's.
"What have I been up to?" He laughed as the live feed suddenly cut to the screens themselves.
"I'm glad you asked." his voice came out of the speakers. The monitor's showed off a rather cartoonish scene of Dr. Nefarious using one of his subjects as a step stool.
"Oh just speaking to "my" adoring fans.." The scene then switched to another cartoon of Dr. Nefarious admiring a statue of the Emperor.
"Enjoying "my" lovely scenery..." The scene shifted back to a live feed showing the Dr sitting at "his" desk, hands clasped together.
"But do you know what erks me the most?" He snared as he metal features contorted into a cruel smile. He suddenly smashed a fist down on "his" table.
"The fact that four member's of the resistance have been running amuck across the universe!" The live feed suddenly cut to pictures of the four of them, all at the bar. Ratchet growled as Clank gave a sigh. The Dr continued his address.
"So I'm offering a bounty of three squillion Nefarious freedom coupons to anyone who can bring me these four miscreants, dead or alive." He smiled wickedly however as the feed cut back to him.
"But preferably alive so I can have some fun with them first." The Dr. glanced down for second as he appeared to be conflicted for a split second. Suddenly realizing he was live he cleared his throat and continued.
"My elaborate spy network indicates that these fugitives will be heading for Blizar and Savali very soon." The feed zoomed in on his face.
"So you better get to it." Dr. Nefarious gave a small smile as he made his intentions clear.
"And my dear Ratchet and Clank if your listening do please hurry up and build that dimensionater." Ratchet got a good look at the Dr's face and blinked as he thought he saw some fear in them. He recoiled from the ships holo-monitor.
"Somethings wrong." He said causing Clank to give him a curious glance. The live feed suddenly cut out, Leaving all four of the hero's feeling conflicted and confused.
"Ratchet, Clank, did you guys get that?" Rivets voice came over Clanks com link.
"Yeah, something's not right with Nefarious." He grabbed his wallet and pulled out a picture of him, Quark, Clank and Nefarious. They had all gotten pulled into a sick game and had to work together to get out alive. Nefarious wasn't the best ally to have at the time but he was still willing to be helpful. The lombax and robot saw a side of him that was fleeting, but still a drastic departure from his usual harebrained evil schemes.
"We have to find all of the components for the dimensionator and fast."
"We just reached the outer section of Blizar space." Ratchet gave them a nod.
"Good we'll get back to you when we have the blueprints." Ratchet closed the com link and looked out towards Savali. Back with Rivet and Alex the two were mulling over what they just witnessed.
"Great now I'm on two Nefarious's hit lists." Alex was understandably concerned.
"Well, I can only hope that Bill is doing good." He said as his face went a little pale.
Sargasso.
3:00 P.M.
Bill watched Dr. Nefarious's address along with the Morts, and he felt conflict erupt in his heart. On the one hand he owed Alex his life and on the other, the Dr.s deal was tempting, very tempting. He gathered his few belongings and made his way to the Morts air pad. They had retrieved the ship that Rivet stole and fixed it up. Thankfully they had no need for it. As he put his few possessions into the small craft he thought some more about the chance to live a comfortable life. A few Morts were at the platform and gave him waves as he lifted off. He sent a few waves their way as well before he was at a safe enough distance to punch the engines. He had a lot to think about as he made his way to Savali.
3:09 P.M.
Bill's jump to Savali was made all the easier thanks to the Emperors impressive hardware. This ship was built for getting from point A to point B with ease, speed, and style. As he neared the planet he scanned around for any kind of signal. His mini map pulled up and he saw what must have been Ratchet and Clank on the move. Setting a course he let the ship do the work and soon he was in atmosphere and heading towards a rather elegant looking building. He set the ship down just outside of a small village that Ratchet had just cleared by the looks of things.
As Bill scanned his surroundings he was greatly surprised to run into another reptilian. this one however was obviously not a goon. As soon as he turned around he let out a cheer.
"Ah Bill! Good to see you, and not a moment to soon." Bill however was confused.
"Um do I know you?" He asked as he studied the stranger up close.
"Oh where are my manners, my name is Gary." He held out a hand as Bill looked at him, curiosity etched on his face. Bill gave his hand a shake and Gary let out a chuckle.
"Well it was good meeting you, but unfortunately I need to go help my friends with a little-" A loud boom echoed in the distance causing Bill to gaze out and see a small plume of smoke rise above the plateau. Bill shook his head.
"Listen I hate to cut this short but I need to find my friend." He gazed back at Gary.
"You wouldn't happen to have seen-
"Ratchet? Yes! He was here not to long ago." Bill nodded.
"Yeah, he may be in a little bit of trouble." Gary just smiled.
"In that case just follow the road up ahead to the archives and ask my apprentice for help, she'll be able to guide you to the right path." Bill gave a nod and decided to take his leave. Turning around he was greeted with a clear view of the lombax's handy work.
"Alright gotta find Ratchet before the other goons do." He pulled out his shotgun and racked the slide. As he swept through the village however he saw that it was deserted and the aftermath of a gun fight littered the derelict town. He grimaced and side stepped a pile of fish guts as shattered bit's of metal, blood and glass littered the area.
"Heh well he certainly knows how to make an entrance." He knelt down and got a better look at the fresh gore. He scanned the area again and then cupped his hand to his mouth.
"Ratchet!?" Not getting a response he holstered his gun and continued his trek across the village. As he searched among the ruins of the tiny town he failed to notice a pair of eyes watching his every step. As he walked along Bill noticed a small bridge leading to the temple. As he walked up to it however he felt the ground shake.
"Interdimensional anomaly detected." The ground began to quake as the temple just got up and moved. Bill was to stunned to speak but his eye's were drawn to a voice as someone cried out. Looking up he was greeted with the sight of a small robot falling from the temple balcony. On instinct he opened his arms.
"Hang on there I got ya!" He held out his hands and was able to catch the small yellow bot. She sighed as she looked at her now mobile home moving away with each earth shaking step. She reached out for it feebly and then let out a breath of defeat. Feeling her center of gravity shift she remembered that someone was there break her fall. Looking back she was surprised to see a reptilian like her master but this one was more rugged, grizzly and defiantly not someone to be trifled with. The smile on his face however clashed with his appearance.
"Hey, you ok there?" He asked catching KT-7461 off guard. She looked back to her archives but nodded.
"I will be once I get back to my archives." She looked back at the Reptilian and then back down to the ground.
"Names Bill." He gave the robot a soft squeeze as she thought about her obtains.
"Thank you Bill, for catching me but I need to get back-" She was cut off as distress signal rang throughout her head.
"Sister, we need help!" KT-7461 was horrified to hear her brother's, from the fear in there voice and the screams in the background they were in pain. She looked from the archives and back up to Bill.
"Can you help me free my brother's from the Emperor?" Bill grabbed his shotgun and smirked.
"I will gladly help." KT was, glad, she had found this strange reptilian. As she looked over to the canyon beyond she remembered something important.
"Here these boots will help you get across the mesa quickly." Bill took the hover boot upgrade and looked around. Spotting a long stretch of road behind him he attached the robot to his back and ran all the way back down the empty street.
"Hang on-" He stopped and then grinned sheepishly, "Hey uh you got a name?" The robot looked up and her face fell.
"It's, it's uh KT-7461." Bill thought about it and smiled.
"Mind if I just called KaTe?" He asked as the robot thought about it. She had never had a nickname before. A small smile made itself at home on her metal features.
"S-sure." She, grinned as Bill nodded.
"Ok KaTe, hold on because this may get bumpy." KaTe did as she was told and looped her hands through his back straps. Bill took a deep breath and focused on his target across the canyon.
"Here we go!" He took off down the dirt road, throwing up dust, dirt, and rocks as he pealed off towards the speed ramp in front of him.
3:23 P.M.
Ratchet and Clank had followed Gary's advice, taking the long way around the canyon was a pain but it proved to be useful, as Ratchet had found several Lorbs along the path. As Clank decrypted them he could feel that curiosity swell up in the pit of his stomach, and he hated it. Shaking his head he looked around to see that they were finally on the other side of the huge canyon.
"So Gary said to meet his assistant at the Primeval Forest Temple." Looking at his map of the planet he saw that they were only a mile away at this point. He and Clank continued in silence, as soon as Clank was finished however he let out a sigh. Ratchet heard his old friend and smirked.
"So whats the good news?" Clank shook his head.
"Ratchet you need to hear these." Now the lombax was really worried.
"Yeah, sure." He took a deep breath and tapped his comm link, however he was distracted as the sound of gunshots rang out. He let out a soft sigh as he gave Clank a grin.
"Looks like i'll need a rain check on those logs." Clank nodded, feeling a little cold inside as he filed the audio away for later. Ratchet meanwhile took a breath and regained his focus. Pulling out his Blaster Pistol he ran off towards the commotion. Looking at his H.U.D. he noted that direction they were heading it.
"What could possibly be at this temple that's so valuable?" Ratchet started to run as he heard someone growling.
Cresting a hill he looked into a courtyard that obviously belonged to the temple. Over looking the temples doorstep he was greatly surprised to see Bill of all people here. Seeing the Merc sent his hair on end, and seeing the carnage he was reaching upon the Emperor's forces put him on edge. He readied his gun and hopped down the embankment, making his way to the temple proper. As he got closer Ratchet saw that Bill was now out of ammo, and using his claws to shred any of Emperor Nefarious's goons that got close.
"Bill?" The Merc didn't hear Ratchet as he grabbed a Nefarious Trooper and smashed them to pieces splattering their guts across the sacred temples front lawn. As the last trooper fell Bill looked around for any more threats, once his eyes settled on Ratchet he took a deep breath and got his composure back, the feral look in his eyes slowly fading away. The lombax's hackles flattened out as Bill slowly came back to his senses.
"Uh hey there Ratchet." Ratchet dropped the barrel of his gun but he didn't stow his weapon.
"Hay there Bill." He looked around at the dead goons.
"Everything ok?" He asked as Bill just looked around and huffed. Looking back he saw that KaTe was still working on getting the monks free.
"Yeah, I was looking for you actually." This got Ratchets attention. His ears perked up as he heard portals opening up behind him. Glancing back he heard some Goons 4 Hire making their way up to him, hearing a gun coking however he looked forward and saw that Bill had his shotgun raised and pointed directly at him.
"You know that bounty on your head is to good to pass up." He raised his voice just enough to get the attention of the nearby goons. Ratchet heard the goons as they began to surround him. Bill smirked as he took aim with his shot gun and fired.