"No! Absolutely not! This has to be the dumbest idea you've ever had, and that's saying something!"

Ratchet winced as the scaled-down hologram of Talwyn Apogee shouted furiously at him from Aphelion's console.

"It's not that bad," he countered while trying to look assured, but he was given away by his bent and cowering ears. "The warden gave me the remote to Vendra's inhibitor collar. As long as she's wearing it I have absolute control of her powers. It even has a shock feature if she tries anything funny and a 'fail-safe' feature that, uhh… Anyway, the point is that she can't hurt me and she can't escape."

Ratchet's argument had merit, but that didn't seem to placate the angry Markazian, "She's a killer, Ratchet! She's a cold, merciless, space witch who nearly destroyed the galaxy! Maybe even the whole dimension! If you take your eyes off of her for a second... she 'will' kill you, too."

Vendra's expression remained impassive as she listened to the exchange from the passenger seat of Ratchet's starfighter. She had at first wondered if the loud woman was even aware that she was present, but the hate-filled glances that kept being shot her way had given the former villian her answer.

At last, Ratchet's ears stood back up and he took an actual firm stance, "Tal, I know you're concerned, but we really don't have another option. It's been a month and we've barely made any headway in tracking down Snarg. Vendra's ability is our best chance of finding the shard and you know it. The longer we wait, the more we risk another Helios Project."

Talwyn didn't look any less angry, but she didn't retort immediately either. Ratchet had noticed the slight flinch of her holographic features when he'd said the word 'Helios' and he knew that she was just as worried as he was about the danger.

She glared for a long moment, but finally let out a sigh, "How did you even get permission to release her?" she asked, changing the subject rather than admit that Ratchet had a point. "I thought all prisoner leave had to go through the captain of the Polaris Defense Force... i.e. 'me'?"

Ratchet's ears immediately went back down and he turned away in an attempt to hide the blatant look of guilt that crossed his face, "Well, uh… You see… The thing is... I knew you'd be angry about it, so I 'kind of' got your new probationary sub-secretary to slip the request in with some other paperwork."

Talwyn's eyes grew wide and her holographic gaze turned away from Ratchet, "Qwark!" she shouted into the distance.

Ratchet and Vendra heard a crash off-hologram and another male voice calling back that only Ratchet recognized, "Oh, uh... sorry Chief, but these coffees will get cold if I don't deliver them! Duty calls!"

Talwyn's rage-filled, holographic eyes slowly followed something unseen for a moment, then her features remained still for a long while.

By the time Talwyn turned back to Ratchet, however, her expression had deflated to one of defeat.

Guilt still filled Ratchet's features, "In my defense, I 'did' tell you not to hire him."

The holographic Markazian fixed Ratchet with a glare that threatened to reignite her anger, but instead she just sighed again, "What's done is done," she grumbled as she shook her head. "You seem pretty set on doing this and I know I can't stop you now... I just wish Clank was there with you. You're going to need eyes in the back of your head on this one."

Ratchet relaxed, looking visibly relieved, "You know he had to help with the Clock. The Zoni still don't seem to fully trust Sigmund as Time Keeper, but I'm sure the little guys can get it sorted out… Did the scouting team find anything in the Corvus Sector?" he added quickly. He was eager to change the subject and knew that Talwyn was someone who prefered getting down to business.

Talwyn shook her head, "Sorry, Ratchet. Initial scans turned up nothing, but it's a big sector. The team I sent will keep investigating for now, but with the lack of civilization in the area, clues will be hard to come by."

Ratcheted nodded, "Well, Neftin did say that we probably wouldn't find him there."

Talwyn's eyes turned to Vendra and narrowed coldly, "If Snarg is still in that sector, though, maybe your new shard detector could actually do something besides destroy innocent lives."

Vendra narrowed her eyes back at Talwyn, but didn't respond.

Ratchet laughed awkwardly, "Heh, yeah, maybe… but I think we'll follow up on Neftin's advice first. He knew Snarg the best, after all. If the Hollow turns out to be a bust, we'll head over to Corvus and restart the search there."

Talwyn turned back to Ratchet and nodded, then her expression softened, "Are 'you' going to be alright?" she asked with a concerned look and a completely different tone that caught Vendra off guard. "Going back to Torren IV is one thing, but Monolith Fields?"

Ratchet smiled back at Talwyn, but Vendra noted that it was a sad smile, "It's fine Tal… 'I'm' fine."

Talwyn studied Ratchet for a moment, but didn't press the issue. The Markazian then took one last cold glance at Vendra, "Make sure you keep it that way, alright furball?"

Ratchet smiled, a happy one this time, "Don't I always?"

Talwyn rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help a smile of her own, "Let me know if you find anything and 'especially' let me know if you need any help. I love you, Ratchet."

"I love you too, Tal," the grinning Lombax replied before blowing her a kiss and cutting the communication.

The Holographic Talwyn disappeared.

"Ugggghhhhhhh!" Vendra gagged. "If I knew this stupid mission was going to be like this, I'd have stayed locked in my prison cell!"

The former villain thought she knew torture, but having a front-row seat to the heroe's mushy romance was definitely among the worst.

Ratchet gave Vendra a sideways glance and studied her a moment before turning his attention back to Aphelion's controls, "Talwyn has her reasons for what she said," he explained in a somewhat apologetic voice.

Ratchet's tone caught Vendra by surprise.

She was confused at first, until she realized that he must have thought her reaction was about what the Markazian had said to 'her'.

"She lost someone," Ratchet continued with a solemn tone that carried just a hint of anger. "Two someone's, actually… We both did."

An awkward silence followed and the former villain wasn't sure how to feel. She had suspected it, but now she knew that she'd killed at least two people that were important to Ratchet.

She couldn't remember the faces of the people she'd hurt, she hadn't cared enough back then, but that reality only made it worse.

Vendra doubted giving an apology would help. She doubted he'd believe her if she did. Heck, she doubted that she'd believe herself if she did. Instead, she simply kept her eyes turned out to space and didn't say a word.

Ratchet soon found himself wishing he hadn't said anything. He could already feel the tension his words had caused and, like it or not, the two of them would be working together until they either caught Snarg or found the shard.

This was not a good start.

Clearing his throat, the Lombax hero tried to sound a bit more cheerful as he spoke again, "Ehem, anyway… We're headed to Torren IV... as I'm sure you just heard. Neftin said you guys did a lot of business there, so you must be familiar with it, right?"

Vendra considered her response for a moment, mostly 'if' she should even respond at all, but eventually she just shook her head, "I don't know anything about the place," she grumbled. "Neftin always handled that kind of stuff. I only ever focused on our experiments."

"Oh... I see," Ratchet said, clearly disappointed, but trying to keep it out of his voice. "Well, I'm a little familiar with the place, so that's fine."

"I heard that too," Vendra noted, remembering the concerned mention in his conversation with Talwyn. "So what's so special about this place? Is it dangerous?"

Ratchet thought for a moment before answering, "It's not… particularly dangerous," he said with a shrug. "I don't expect to do much fighting there at least."

Unable to help her curiosity, Vendra pushed further, "Then why was your little girlfriend so worried? You have a bad history with the place or something?"

Ratchet's grip visibly stiffened on the controls and Vendra instantly got the feeling she'd said something wrong.

The Lombax's lips were tight as he stared off into space,"I'd… really rather not talk about it."

Once again the small ship's interior was awash in awkward silence. This time Ratchet didn't try to break it and neither did Vendra and the two of them decided to remain like that for the rest of the trip.


Billowing clouds of dust and debris flew in all directions as Aphelion touched down over a large disk of scrap metal that was big enough to function as a landing pad.

As the whine of her thrusters died, Aphelion's cockpit lifted and Ratchet jumped out with reflexive ease.

Vendra, instead, took a moment to study her new surroundings. And she immediately hated them.

The planet they'd landed on was dry and hot and filled with mud-caked junk as far as the eye could see. Old metal and machine parts formed the very ground itself, which was layered in an uneven series of plateaus that rose and fell with seemingly no rhyme or reason. The air reeked of toxic chemicals sitting out in the sun for years, while the hint of pure sulfur wafted on the wind like a putrid cherry on top.

Vendra knew that either there was an active volcano nearby, or she'd literally been brought to the ass end of the galaxy.

She was sure it was the latter.

With a deep sigh that tasted like battery acid, the irritated Nether turned to disembark, only to find Ratchet standing there with his arm outstretched toward her.

He didn't say a word to her, instead he waited patiently for her to take his hand so he could help her down.

However, Vendra only stared at him in confusion, unsure of what he was trying to do. The very concept of being offered a helpful gesture simply did not register with her.

When she finally understood his intention, she scowled in disgust and swatted his hand away, "I don't need your help," she growled as if she'd just been insulted. "I'm not some weak damsel for you to work your 'hero' complex on."

Ratchet raised an eyebrow at her, but just shrugged and respected her wishes by walking away.

Vendra eyed him scornfully as he went, watching him until he'd made it all the way to the edge of the nearest ridge, where he went to get a good look at their surroundings.

Still fuming at the Lombax's audacity, Vendra at last angrily attempted to depart from the starship. Ratchet had made the leap out of the ship appear so easy. However, the former space witch was used to a life of simply levitating over obstacles. Even during her months in prison, she had not yet gotten used to the idea of gravity as a constant. Because of this, she underestimated the distance to the ground and when she jumped from the ship, her thin legs buckled under her weight and she crashed into the dirt with a thud.

Ratchet's ears twitched when he heard the sound and he turned to see what had caused it, but by the time he'd looked back around, Vendra had righted herself and was acting as if nothing had happened.

The suspicious Lombax eyed her curiously for a moment.

"Well? What are we waiting for?" she demanded, carefully hiding the giant dirt spot on her rear. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can be rid of your company! So, what's the plan?"

Ratchet continued to study her for a few more seconds and then began walking back to the ship with the holo-map he'd activated still in his hand.

He showed her the image of projected light, which formed an aerial view of their current location and pointed to one spot in particular that had a red icon on it, "This is where we are," he explained.

Vendra cautiously stepped toward him to get a better look, subtly wiping dust from her clothes as she did.

Ratchet then pointed to what looked like a mountain on the map, "This Volcano here is called the 'Hollow'. It's a semi-secret base of operations for the Vullards here on Torren IV."

Vendra groaned, "Ugh, Vullards? Those junk-obsessed hunchbacks?"

Ratchet nodded, "Your brother thinks that Snarg might have been here recently. The Vullards are notoriously reclusive and they consider anyone not part of their cabals as 'outsiders'. They aren't very advanced technologically, but they can still usually cobble together whatever they, or someone with bolts, needs with just the junk they salvage. You could say they're a 'scrappy' bunch."

Ratchet grinned at his pun and looked up at Vendra for a reaction. However, the look of utter disgust and disappointment on her face erased his smile and he quickly turned back to the holo-projector, before clearing his throat, "Ehem, yes, well that makes the Vullards perfect for black market shoppers. Neftin thinks that if Snarg was after parts for whatever he plans on using the shard for, then he'd probably look for them here."

Vendra scoffed at this, "It took Zogg years and billions of bolts in state-of-the-art tech to harness the power of the shard. Snarg is a fool to think he can recreate that. At best he'll get himself sucked into a black hole."

Ratchet shook his head, "I'd like to prevent either of those outcomes. How close do you need to be to sense a Shard?"

Vendra gave the Lombax a sideways glance, before turning away and looking out into the horizon, "It depends on how recently the shard's been used," she began. "I don't know what my brother's told you, but I don't actually sense the shard 'itself' so much as I sense the space-time ripples it creates. I felt a big one when Tachyon used the Dimensionator, but I didn't realize what it was at the time. Then Zogg started rearranging two galaxies like children's toys for months. I was able to get a feel for the sensation after that."

Ratchet scratched his chin as he considered this, "So you'll only be able to detect the shard if Snarg is trying to use it?"

Vendra shrugged, "Not exactly. After we started casing the museum to steal the Dimensionator, I noticed that the shard in its core was constantly giving off a faint, ambient resonance. Not enough to tear a hole in space-time, but enough to let me know it was there. It was like hearing a whisper in the wind. It was terribly faint, but once you know what you're listening for you can pick it out."

"I got ya," Ratchet said, though he wasn't sure he did. "So how accurately can you trace a resonance's source?"

Vendra thought for a moment, "It's hard to say. Think of space-time like a pool of water. Whenever something messes with it, like a shard being used, it causes ripples to cascade out. The further away I am from something, or the more time has passed, the weaker the ripples are and the harder they are to trace. Sometimes, though, the ripples can be distorted and even bounced off of things like gravity wells from planets and stars. It makes pinpointing a direction to follow nearly impossible from any real distance. That's how I could tell there was once a shard in the Corvus Sector. That whole sector was filled with ripples, like a shard had been going active intermittently for decades, but there was nothing I could follow."

Ratchet nodded, "And can you feel anything now?"

Vendra spun sharply and gave the question a condescending look, "Of course not!" she spat indignantly. "Not with this 'thing' restricting my powers!"

Vendra then jabbed a finger at the metal band wrapped tightly around her neck.

Ratchet considered the device.

He'd already figured that the collar inhibiting Vendra's powers would also interfere with her ability to sense the shard and that he'd probably have to release it, but he'd still hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Hesitantly he pulled out the remote to Vendra's inhibitor.

Vendra raised an eyebrow as the device came into view. She was surprised that the Lombax would even consider releasing her powers and slight sense of excitement rushed through her.

The device around her neck not only inhibited her psychic channeling, but also put her mind in a permanent state of mild disorientation. It was a constant source of discomfort for her.

'No,' she thought to herself. 'He'd be a fool to unlock my collar.' But a part of her couldn't help but feel hopeful.

Still holding the remote, Ratchet gave Vendra a serious look, "I want you to promise me that you won't try to escape," he told her.

Vendra stared back at him in disbelief, blinked a few times, then shook her head and let out a laugh, "Ha, you're an even bigger fool than I thought!" she mocked as she turned her nose up at him. "You'd be an idiot to trust my word and you'd be an even bigger idiot to think you could stop me once I had my powers back."

Even as the words left Vendra's mouth, a part of her wondered what in the galaxy she was doing. She knew she should have simply lied through her teeth and promised whatever the dumb Lombax wanted to hear until her collar came off, but she found herself speaking her mind without hesitation.

She had been taken aback by Ratchet's words. It infuriated her that, after everything that had happened, this moron was asking her to 'promise' she'll be good, as if the word of a criminal meant 'anything'.

But Ratchet just shook his head, "I'm serious, Vendra. The collar lets me adjust its repression ratio. I can give you back a piece of your power, but if you try anything funny… the collar has 'safety' features," he explained, holding up the cylindrical remote for emphasis.

Vendra scoffed, "What? You mean how you can detonate my collar and pop my head from my shoulders like a grape with the push of a button? 'Safety features', seriously?" The angry Nether took an aggressive step towards Ratchet and pointed at the collar, "As if I don't know what this thing is meant to do to me if I 'misbehave'."

Ratchet took a step back, reflexively pulling the remote away from her.

Vendra smirked at his timidness, even in a situation where he had all the power, "Aww, does the idea of having your finger on somebody's kill switch make you a little uneasy, 'Hero'?"

But Ratchet simply took a breath, set his jaw, and straightened his back before looking hard into Vendra's gaze, "Promise me," he ordered again.

Vendra let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, "Whatever… 'I promise I won't try to kill you or run away'. Feel better now?"

"Not really," Ratchet admitted, before taking a few more steps back and turning to his side.

Taking care not to let Vendra see how he operated the remote, he activated the release sequence and turned the settings down by the lowest increment he could.

Vendra feigned disinterest in what he was doing, not wanting to show any sign that she cared about getting her powers back in the slightest.

However, an instant later she was hit by a feeling of intense relief that swept through her entire body. It was a relief from pain she'd become so accustomed to that it had felt like a part of her existence.

The sensation was so powerful and so deep that the startled Nether almost fell to her knees. She had grown so used to the inhibitor's painful restriction on her psyche that she'd forgotten what it felt like to perceive with more than her five senses. It was as if she were suddenly able to feel again after months of being numb.

When the initial sensory rush had passed, Vendra blinked and fought to control her breathing. Slowly she reached out her hand and focused her powers into her palm.

Her hand glowed as the energy coalesced into and she willed her power out and onto a nearby piece of scrap. The fist-sized chunk of metal began to glow with purple light before slowly levitating into the air.

Vendra let out a breath of excitement that was on the verge of laughter as she watched the object rise to her command. It felt like she was reliving a distant dream.

"Hey," Ratchet called out, reminding the elated space witch that he was even there.

Vendra looked up to see the cautious Lombax standing defensively with the controller in one hand and a blaster in the other.

"Can you sense the shard?" he pressed.

Finally remembering that she wasn't actually free at all, Vendra's expression darkened and she turned away from Ratchet once more.

The former villain took a last look at her floating rock before releasing it from her psychic grasp with a sigh.

It hit the ground with a clunk.

She then turned to look out onto the horizon, studying it's dimly orange glow for a moment before spreading her arms to her sides and closing her eyes.

Inhaling deeply, Vendra ignored the putrid scent of the planet and simply felt its energy flowing into her. Once she was attuned to it, she then traced that energy, following it with her mind as it wormed its way back out of her body and up into the planet's atmosphere.

Time quickly lost its meaning as she searched for any trace of dimensional or spatial disturbances. There were some. Likely residual damage from the Great Clock incident, but nothing that felt like it could be caused by a shard of the Surionox Comet.

"Anything?" she heard Ratchet's voice ask.

Irritation showed on her face as she cursed his impatience, not knowing that over ten minutes had already passed since she'd started.

"No," Vendra answered, her annoyance evident in her voice, "I can't sense anything. Then again… I am a little 'limited' at the moment. It's possible the shard is here, but just beyond my 'current' abilities."

Vendra was so sensitive to the energy around her that she could feel Ratchet shaking his head behind her, "Sorry. I'm not ready to take that risk just yet."

The young Nether grumbled her disappointment as she slowly pulled her consciousness back out of the ether, but savoured the precious sense of limitless freedom for as long as she dared.

Now that her usefulness was gone, she knew she'd have to go back to being mentally choked by the cursed metal ring around her neck, but she supposed that she should be grateful that she at least got to feel what it was like to be outside of a cage again, if only for a moment. After all, once this mission was over, she'd probably never feel it again.

"Hey Vendra," Ratchet shouted loudly.

Still not fully in her own body, Vendra was surprised by sound and quickly turned to see what was happening, only to find a small rock flying towards her.

Her eyes widened and she reflexively threw up her hands to stop it. A purple wall of energy filled the space between her and the stone, but she couldn't make the field strong enough in time. All she managed to do was divert the rock's course away from her chest... and up into her face.

"Gah!" she cried out as the hard object struck her.

Ratchet winced as he watched Vendra fall to her knees, clutching her face in pain.

Taking a few hesitant steps forward, he holstered his blaster and pocketed the controller, "W-well, that level of power should be safe enough," he said, trying to hide the guilt in his voice. "If you can't even stop a rock, I mean. J-just let me know if you sense anything in the Hollow, OK?"

Vendra got back to her feet, glaring daggers at her attacker from the one eye that her hand wasn't covering.

Ratchet avoided making eye contact as he turned to the horizon, "So… we, uh... should probably get going. We'll question the Vullards and see if any of them have done business with Snarg recently."

Vendra didn't say anything, she just kept pointing a rage-filled eye at the back of his head.

Ratchet wasn't sure if it was her power doing it, but he swore he could 'feel' her gaze on him and it made his neck fur stand on end.

He gulped as the silence stretched on, "I…" he began timidly, debating on whether he should apologize like he wanted to or to set a firm example that he was in charge. "I wasn't aiming for your face."

The moment the words left his mouth, a small pebble on a nearby scrap pile flashed with purple light and darted through the air before striking him in the head.

"Gah!"


Ratchet checked his map. They were about half-way to The Hollow now, but Vendra hadn't spoken a word to him since they'd left the ship.

It wasn't that he had expected friendly smalltalk or anything, but for her to just trudge along beside him without a word, not even asking for more details about where they were going or what the plan was once they got there, was a little disconcerting.

He felt guilty about what happened with his little 'test' of her abilities. He knew she had the right to be angry, but the experienced adventurer in him also knew that if they were to work together, they'd have to be on better terms than this. He'd allowed the awkwardness to persist while they were in the ship, but there was no telling what awaited them in the Hollow. Something needed to be done 'now'.

"The Hollow is a massive, hidden salvage operation that the Vullards run," Ratchet began aloud, suddenly breaking the long silence without warning. "This whole area used to be a Fongoid city, if you can believe it. After they abandoned their tech, the Vullards were quick to move in. Vullards like to keep things hidden from outside eyes as much as possible, so their main facility is located in the 'hollow' of an active volcano. That's where they get the name from. The thermal energy it provides also helps them with breaking down the salvage they find."

As Ratchet spoke, he tried to gauge Vendra's reaction from his peripheral vision and, as he feared, could see that she wasn't responding at all to anything he was saying. She wasn't even glancing his way and her whole body seemed tense, like she was still fuming mad at him.

He'd hoped focusing on the mission might make it easier to finish the tension, but clearly Vendra was in no mood to do so. Still, he had to try something.

"The, uh… the Vullards might not be open to talking about their clients," he tried to continue, "but if Snarg has been shopping here, we need to know about it. I've been here before and I even helped them out a bit, so they might not be as suspicious of me. I'll try and question a few vendors. Just let me know if you sense anything in the Bazaar, OK?"

Again there was no response from Vendra.

Ratchet cautioned a glance at his Nether companion and could tell immediately how angry she looked. Vendra held her arms to her sides with her hands balled into fists and she kept her eyes cemented straight ahead. He could even see bulging veins outlined against her purple skin.

It was obvious that trying to talk to her was only making her mood worse.

Ratchet's ears began to droop as he desperately racked his mind for the right thing to say or do.


Vendra could barely hear a word of what Ratchet was saying over her own exasperation. Every step she took only made the displeasure she felt even worse and she had to fight to keep her composure as her mind filled with burning frustration.

The young tormented Nether had never known such anguish could exist… in her legs!

Both her and Ratchet had only been walking for a short while. If she squinted she could still see his starship in the distance, but that short time over broken and rocky terrain, the constant climbing up to one plateau before jumping down to another, had pushed the tiny Nether to her very limit!

Ever since Vendra's young adulthood, when her powers had developed to the point where she could levitate her body, she'd nearly given up on walking in general.

After she'd been captured by Ratchet at Pollyx Industries, she'd been interrogated and then locked in a stasis cell. In Vartax, she was rarely allowed to leave her cell and never bothered to participate in recreational activities when she was.

Now, her legs were paying the price for those years of disuse.

Every muscle fiber below her waist screamed in agony and every new step she took sent shooting pain through her whole body.

She knew she wasn't going to last much longer. Vendra could feel her atrophied muscles preparing to seize at any moment, but she refused to show any of this weakness to Ratchet. The do-gooder Lombax was clearly unfazed by the rough-grounded trek. There wasn't even a hint of effort in his voice as he rambled on.

She would rather die than let him look at her with pity in his eyes!


Gulping nervously, Ratchet decided to make one last, desperate attempt to reach out to Vendra.

Without warning, he stopped walking and turned to face his counterpart, "Look, Vendra," he began, his tone was soft and placating, but his expression was serious. "I'm really sorry for throwing the rock at you. It was a spur of the moment thing and I didn't know how else to gauge your threat level."

Vendra could barely hear Ratchet's words over the throbbing boom of her own heartbeat in her ears, but she was grateful that he'd stopped moving. Her legs almost locked up completely as she came to a halt. Still, she refused to look him in the eye for fear that he'd notice the exhaustion in her expression.

"But," Ratchet continued, "I realize that it's also my own fault for being paranoid. You might still technically be a prisoner, but for the rest of this mission we're going to be partners. It'd be better for both of us if we could work together. What do you say?"

Ratchet extended a hand towards Vendra to shake.

Vendra fought the sudden urge to gasp for breath and she felt faint as her lungs tightened painfully in her chest. Despite this, she forced her breathing to remain even and controlled as she glanced down at the offered appendage. It took a moment for her blurring vision to come into focus before she realized what it was.

Vaguely, the exhausted space witch was aware that her handler was trying to offer an olive branch and that this pathetic, bleeding-heart hero was probably riddled with guilt over throwing a tiny pebble at a multi-life sentenced intergalactic criminal who had unleashed destruction and death upon the galaxy.

In any other circumstance, Vendra would have swatted away the hand and mocked him for his naive buffoonery, but in this moment, she realized her chance to take advantage of the situation.

Instead of acknowledging the offered hand in any way, Vendra simply turned toward a nearby aircraft wing protruding up from the ground. It leaned in such a way that it cast a wide shadow over a small area of junk.

It took every ounce of will power she had left to force her legs up, but through sheer determination she managed to walk dismissively away from her Lombax overseer without stumbling.

Several agonizing steps later, she reached the wing and took a seat under it's cooling shade. She then folded her arms and tried to look as incredulous as possible while her dizziness slowly subsided.

As she'd walked away, Ratchet had pulled his extended hand back and rubbed the back of his head with it awkwardly. He stood there in the sun, looking down in defeat. It was clear that his last ditch attempt had failed.

However, the young Lombax tightened his jaw and soon found his resolve again. He then marched over to take a seat in the shade near Vendra.

The two sat there in silence for a few minutes. Ratchet was working up what he wanted to say, while Vendra was working on keeping down her breakfast.

At last, Ratchet spoke, "You know... I met another Lombax here on Torren IV," he began.

Vendra had managed to recover enough to hear what Ratchet said this time and, despite herself, couldn't help but glance over at him as he mentioned this. His words had struck a chord with her. After all, meeting someone else of her race had been her and her brother's dream.

"His name was Alister Azimuth. He was actually the second Lombax I had ever met," Ratchet continued in an even tone, "but he was different. Unlike Angela, the first Lombax I met, he not only knew about what happened to our people, but he was apparently my father's best friend. What a coincidence, right? Some of the first words he ever said to me was that I 'looked just like my father'. For the first time... it felt like I truly had a connection to my past."

Again, Vendra couldn't help but pay vivid attention to what Ratchet was saying. His mention of his father struck a chord with her as someone who also grew up without parents. She'd never confess to anything as sappy as empathy, but she could admit to being curious.

"Unfortunately," Ratchet pressed, his tone getting more solemn now, "he was also partially responsible for the downfall of the Lombaxes. Alister blamed himself for their fall and he became obsessed with making things right. In the end, he was willing to sacrifice anything for his goal… even me."

Vendra scowled, "Huh, well I know a thing or two about being betrayed by someone you thought you could trust," she spat venomously.

The young Nether had spoken the words before realizing she was going to say them and immediately regretted it. Her tone had been outwardly bitter, but there was a hint of understanding in it.

As she feared, this made Ratchet smile slightly.

"We're alike in a lot of ways," the sad-smiling Lombax said. "At least, that's what your brother thought. And I have to admit: orphaned, no home, no race, trapped in a dimension away from the life you should have had… in some ways, I agree with him."

Vendra considered his words. It hadn't just been Neftin. She too had noticed the similarities when learning about the 'great heroes' Ratchet and Clank, but it churned something in her to hear the Lombax himself saying it as well.

But then she shook the unwelcomed thoughts from her head, uncaring of the dizziness that threatened her once more as she did so.

Her eyes narrowed on the crafty Lombax, "Oh no you don't!" she growled dangerously, making Ratchet sit up in confusion. "Don't even try to pull that 'we're not so different, you and I' cliche on me. We're nothing alike! We may have started out the same, but you chose to be a hero. You 'chose' to save entire galaxies. You even chose to give up your chance to be with your own kind for the sake of others!"

Vendra then turned away and looked at the ground as her tone became softer, "But 'I' chose to blindly follow a manipulative monster. 'I' chose to risk the lives of everyone in the galaxy to get what I wanted and 'I' chose to treat the only person who ever 'actually' cared about me like a tool. In retrospect... I suppose it's only fitting that I ended up being just someone else's tool as well."

Ratchet didn't respond right away. He wasn't sure how to. He still held a great deal of animosity towards Vendra, but he could hear the guilt in her voice over what she'd become… over what she'd done.

Or, at least he 'wanted' to believe he heard it. Only time would tell if it was sincere.

"Maybe we're not exactly the same, but we're similar," Ratchet pressed, before leaning back and looking out at the sky thoughtfully. "But I also see a bit of Alister in you as well."

This comment made Vendra turn to Ratchet with an eyebrow raised, "Oh?" she intoned, not sure if she was intrigued or insulted.

Ratchet lowered his gaze again and locked it with Vendra's, "Yep. Alister wanted to undo his mistake by using the Great Clock to turn back time. After years of shame and guilt, he'd convinced himself that everything he did would be worth it if he could just succeed in his goal. He became single-minded and didn't let anything stand in his way. But… when I told him that the clock couldn't be used to bring the Lombaxes back… 'I' became something in his way. According to Clank, he even managed to kill me in an alternate timeline."

Ratchet noticed Vendra looking dumbfounded by the ridiculousness of what he'd just said.

The tan-furred Lombax simply gave her a sad smile and a slight shrug before looking off into the sky again, "To Alister, his redemption became something he wanted so badly that everything else just… faded away."

The two of them sat in silence for a moment after that, both processing what had been said.

Even Ratchet was surprised by how much he'd said. He didn't like to talk about Alister, not even to Talwyn, and Vendra was amazed to hear this side of Ratchet even existed.

Despite the 'tragic backstory', she'd always assumed that the Lombax hero had it relatively easy taking down loudmouthed bad-guys and being beloved by the galaxy. She'd never have guessed that he had to deal with such things, even now.

Despite herself, she found herself wondering what other things had made Ratchet who he was.

"So," Vendra said, breaking the silence, "What happened to this 'Alister' guy?"

Ratchet didn't look at her, but Vendra saw him wear the saddest smile yet as he answered, "In the end, he realized that he'd made his second greatest mistake and sacrificed himself in order to save the galaxy."

Again the two sat in silence.

Then Ratchet suddenly stood up again, "Come on, we need to get moving. The sooner we get to the Hollow, the more likely we are to find info about Snarg before nightfall and I'd rather not stay in a Vullard hotel."

As the tan Lombax dusted off his clothes and turned to leave, Vendra stood up, "I'll bet you're glad to be rid of that nutcase, huh?" she asked, purposefully trying to be terse. For some reason she found herself very curious to hear what Ratchet thought of this Alister character 'now', after all that had happened between them.

Ratchet turned to Vendra, no smile this time, his face was unreadable, "I miss him all the time," he admitted, as much to himself as to Vendra. "Not a day goes by that I don't wonder if there wasn't some way I could have saved him."

Then he turned again and started walking off into the sun.

Vendra watched him go for a moment. She wasn't sure what answer she'd been expecting, but she also wasn't sure how she felt about the one she got.

Then she realized that there was more walking to do and a sudden wave of dread hit her. With a deeply repressed groan of anguish and an even deeper breath, she begrudgingly dashed off after the guy holding her minimum proximity-triggered kill switch.