Alister Azimuth watched as several ships soared above him, it had been eight long years since the "Tachyon Incident." With no surprise invasion from the Cragmite traitor and his robot pirate army equipped with lombax devised weaponry, Fastoon's population continued expand and advance. The tall antenna ears carefully spreading across the surface.
However the rest of the Polaris Galaxy was still crippled from the actions of the Cragmite Empire even after all these years. Still there was hope, Alister thought as his people led the reconstruction efforts and slow but surely the living standards of Polaris grew by leaps and bounds as the sign of the stylized wrench and bolt became revered by the citizens of the galaxy. Alister himself had come back from several raids harrying pirate outlaws. However the people of Fastoon had learned from the near misses of the actions of Percival Tachyon and that gathering of a space pirate army.
The Lombax Defense Ministry, which was the wing in charge of the military and law enforcement had added some new security measures to be enacted in regards to their technology and members of authority. Several of these measures had grated on Alister's nerves. The ones in particular that referenced those in the Lombax Central Council were the reason why he made sure to fill his schedule with missions away from Fastoon.
This was because to the LDM was took the security of their government, specifically the members of the Lombax Central Council very seriously. Now at first glance this would have been a prudent course of action. However most other species would be struck dumb at the revelation that the measures taken were to make sure that the Central Council members wouldn't escape from their duty.
The reason behind this required an explanation of lombax nature and behavior. As the late cragmite Percival Tachyon would had said, the typical lombax would be "noble" and "courageous" but they were also adventurous, terrifyingly curious, fiercely individualistic and chaotic to the point of insanity. As a result government in the lombax community wasn't the gigantic structure to maintain order other planets or species had. The most guidance that the lombaxes needed was someone to deal with general affairs, lead the lombaxes against any large crisis and most importantly make sure that their race doesn't blow themselves up.
This duty was fulfilled mostly by the aforementioned Lombax Central Council and in addition the Prime Minister. The foremost adventurers, generals, scientists, and administrators were chosen or more to the point recruited for the positions. Those picked however rarely went willingly since the job was rightly considered quite dull to a race nearly full of adrenaline junkies. Not to mention that focus of the meetings those days was mainly moved to dull administrative duties on reconstruction, budgets, and policy.
Sadly the tedious business of administration drove the members of the council and the prime minster to attempt to run off much to the amusement of the inhabitants of Fastoon. Of course this all tied into the unspoken task of the Council and the Prime Minister which was to make sure things were never dull around the planet as lombaxes abhorred boredom. To keep their government and entertainment in their place, the Lombax Defense Ministry had to step up efforts to keep their officials to their post. Particularly after the much talked about escape of Prime Minister Charles Neutrino, a riveting adventure that spanned eight months and involved numerous high speed chases, duels upon narrow walkways, and the required humorous incident involving a banana.
There was a much more interesting fact in Alister's estimation however . A certain Ratchet Nova, son of his best friend Kaden Nova had be turning eight today. The Nova family had been on Fastoon in the Central region to celebrate at their rarely stayed at home. Likewise the general would not miss one of his godson's birthdays. Alister sighed as he made his way down the boulevards of the Central Region. Kaden who was the closest thing like a brother to him was the keeper of the weapon and tool known as the Dimensionator. It was the ace in the hole that won the Great War in the lombaxes' favor.
However keeping the Dimensionator secret and safe while investigating alternative peaceful uses of the device had Kaden constantly on the move. The importance of this duty however left him with a difficult choice, moving his family wherever he needed to be or see his mate and son only erratically. In the end Kaden decided keeping the family together was the better choice.
Kaden's mate Cara wasn't exactly happy about the situation as well. However the lombax female often wearing a sensible dress and packing a plasma shotgun didn't protest too much for her mate's sake. This was because Kaden was not only a genius scientist and inventor but an excellent adventurer and warrior as well that normally would be snapped up for the council as soon as possible.
His role as Keeper of the Dimensionator had the perk of excluding him from conscription to that unhappy fate. Cara understood this and given between the choice of having her mate happy on while they were on the move or depressed after hours of forsaken politics she would choose the former. Alister grinned at the memory of Kaden once telling him that Cara took her own payment for the situation nearly every night.
However the constant moves did take their toll and the price to be paid fell on Ratchet. The general looked at the small wrapped present, just a little starship construction kit. Alister had been told that Ratchet had a hard time making friends that he could truly connect to. Then again after several occurrences of meeting and getting to know someone else but suddenly have to go away with little to no likelihood of seeing each other again, even the most cheerful child would give up trying. Though Alister flushed as he had noticed Ratchet had been picking up some of the personality of him and those ratchet called uncles.
However the general heard that Ratchet still had ways to keep himself entertained. For one, while all lombaxes had a talent for tinkering and mechanics, Ratchet skill was quite surprising. Alister smiled at the memory when Kaden told him one day that he and Cara once came back to a nearly dismantled living room when they had left their kit alone for only a few seconds.
In any case Ratchet had even started building his own machines such as his own radio, and watched halo-net films. While the kit said he still wanted friends to connect to, he admitted that he had other things to fall back on. Eventually Alister reached the small house within one of Fastoon's numerous cliffs and rang the doorbell. He heard a young call that one was getting the door "Alister you made it!" The general watched as in the doorway was revealed a small lombax kit with shining bright green eyes.
It was moments like this that Alister was thankful that he'd never given Tachyon what he needed. As he walked in guided by Ratchet past walls showing no wear or tear they eventually made it into a small dining room. It was there that Alister was reminded that while Ratchet was lonely, he wasn't alone and it showed in the guest list of Ratchet's birthday party. Along with the heir of the Azimuth family at Ratchet's birthday was Petrov Neutrino, Reginald Solstice and Dr. Tesseract also known to Ratchet as Uncles Petrov, Reg and Sherman respectively.
The three other lombaxes were sitting down around a table with Kaden while platters of finger foods were available. From the sounds of clanking, stirring, and chatting in the kitchen it seemed that Petrov's wife Cynthia had come over as well. Cara's cooking was hit and miss, when she followed the recipe it tasted fine but when she tried to experiment. Things such as the seafood stew that send him into three days in the hospital occurred
Alister grimaced as he saw Petrov Neutrino while giving greetings to the men sitting with a hefty smack on the shoulder for Kaden. The general knew Petrov through their respective circles in the Lombax Defense Ministry. The Neutrino family was well known among the lombax community given their bravery during the conflict between the lombaxes and the cragmites. And where Petrov was, Reginald Solstice also the current Prime Minister wasn't far behind since both the Neutrino and Solstice families were extremely close ever since the Great War. Kaden's other job besides researcher and inventor had him interacting with the Prime Minister more often than most other lombaxes. Reginald was sitting there and smiling devilishly at the sight of the general coming in.
In any case Alister's reaction was because of two reasons, one was that Petrov might be here to officially snag him for the Central Council. Ever since the now Five-Bolt General had executed Percival Tachyon the adopted Cragmite traitor, he was a shoe-in to the next vacancy. For the time being he had dodged the duty by making sure that he was off planet and way too entrenched into a security conflict to be dragged into a seat. But it was only a matter of time before somebody, likely from the Lombax Defense Ministry got in a lucky ambush to bring him in. But trying to do so while it was Ratchet's birthday would be too low a blow.
The other reason may have been, if Alister admitted it, envy. Petrov had gotten quite a few distinctions serving in the Robot Space Pirate War. That would have brought him within line to be drafted to the Central Council as he rose in the ranks. However he suddenly retired and chose to take a posting out as Regional Minister for Region Nine. That however dropped him out of running for being drafted to the council. It worked for Petrov very well as he had been free from any council nominations for several months.
Dr. Tesseract on the other hand while he knew Reg and Petrov due to tutoring them once before, that was not why he was here at Ratchet's birthday party. The doctor was a family friend of the Novas through the scientific connections of Kaden. In any case that was everybody here that Alister could see and Kaden clapped "Well now let's get this party started shall we?"
Alister sat down to join everybody as Cara and Cynthia brought out the cake. After the customary embarrassing birthday song and well wishes four men went about regaling the young lombax with stories about their own adventures. Then again Dr. Tesseract, Cara and Cynthia made sure that some egos were popped when they got too big.
Yet Ratchet listened to their stories and exploits with wide eyes and ears back. Tales about enemies blasted apart, landscapes spreading below them, gadgets and devices built, weapons tested, daring plans cobbled together with nothing but a bit of magnetic tape and hope and adventures lived. Ratchet hung onto every word and asked questions of his own. The men there answered every one piling on detail after detail sprinkled with a few inside jokes. Though the older lombaxes were a little concerned about how well Ratchet understood some of the hazards of being adventurous. Asking about the best ways to conserve nano-tech, how not to get ambushed, what to do against overwhelming forces and what sort of weapons were cool and should be bought. Sometimes the kit would Hours past by like this until it was time for most of the guests to leave.
Alister felt quite warm as Ratchet expressed that it was the best birthday that he ever had. The general shook his head in amusement as he turned to leave guided by Ratchet and Kaden. However he overheard for the young Lombax the best gift that was yet to come. Kaden had taken the kit aside whispered that when they could get a chance, he'll finally give Ratchet his very own pair of hoverboots. Just before Alister went out of the door he said. "Don't forget to break a leg kid, your father does it often enough." The groan and look on Kaden's face would be something to treasure the next long boring pirate stakeout Alister had to do.
Ratchet woke up and the early morning sunlight just felt brighter as he knew it was going to be a good day. What Alister or anybody else didn't know was what Ratchet had to fall back on. It was also the reason for why he had an unusual insight. Ever since he could remember Ratchet had the most intense dreams like a halo-vid serial. They came randomly during the night but more often when he was feeling down.
Ratchet liked having those dreams and they generally followed either one of two themes. There were the exciting ones where Ratchet found himself running through desert sands, lush foliage, rocky cliffs, dealing with the oppression of being underwater, and fighting off hordes of bad guys with weapons of all sorts causing the most cool explosions ever. The feel of the heated gusts blowing his fur, the bright reds and yellows of the flames warming his skin, crackling sounds of energy that made his fur stand up and resounding booms that made his eardrums dance.
Those dreams and the feelings they had when he could remember them were quite intense and scary at times but the way that they made his heart race and his face flush more than made up for the pain that he encountered. Yes there were times in those dreams when he was hit by blaster fire, got caught near a bomb, shocked and burned and multitude of other injuries that registered enough to send him waking up with a bit of sweat in the middle of the night.
But if that was the price of the excitement he felt in every nightly adventure, he felt it was worth it. Besides the pain that he encountered in those dreams were only phantoms that left as soon as he woke up. The worse pain came from the other sort of dreams that he had, and they didn't hurt at least not physically. In those dreams there were times when he was running with a comfortable and reassuring weight on his back. Trusting in a presence that he couldn't see to keep him from falling.
Sometimes hours of vid gaming titles he'd never heard of or seen before flashed in front of Ratchet's eyes as his hands danced over his controller. While this was happening there was the weight of something on both sides to him and the movement of multiple characters on the screen instead of his. He dreamt of bright days where the sun refracted from the panes of towering crystal under a bright blue sky. Before him were two bowls of a icy treat, one directly in front of him and another further away. He enjoyed the phantom taste when he took a spoonful into his own mouth in his dream.
A cheerful voice thanking him for the ice cream as he dug in. The light taste of sugar and vanilla and chocolate warmed in his mouth refreshed him whenever he had to deal with the heat of where he was. During days of great stress Rachet dreamed being regarded by a brilliant yet cool even pair of green lights that brought a sense of comfort to the young lombax. Stilling whatever hurt that Ratchet had.
Having his hand tugged, or was it him tugging by something soft yet firmly grasping, feeling the gentle breeze past by his fur . There were scenes of half blurred faces along with him enjoying fast blurring yet peaceful days while they had them. And sometimes hearing the faint buzz of electricity and light breathing. While these dreams brought comfort of their own, they still were painful in a different way for while the feelings of companionship Ratchet wanted were real they still only came in dreams. The lombax shook his head and remembered the other reason why he felt today was going to be good.
Ratchet's ears quivered as today was the day that his father promised to give him his own pair of hoverboots. It had taken a while to find an excuse that his dad could use to give his son his gift as Cara disapproved of those things. As much as she loved Kaden. She had seen her mate nearly always come back in bruises and scratches and wouldn't have her son undergo that.
So Kaden was going to disguise the trip as part of Ratchet's homework assignment. Ratchet had to collect some biological samples of the local flora. To further mask their real intentions, Dr Tesseract would be invited along. It would also give Kaden and Dr Tesseract the chance to further discuss some revolutionary ideas to advance science in the lombax community. In any case Cara relented in allowing the men out to give Ratchet help on his homework though it was with a half smile on her face.
The Novas and Dr. Tesseract went quite a distance from the Central Region of Fastoon, the better to not run into Cara for whatever strange coincidence that could happen. Ratchet bouncing all the way there was given several pointers and hints on how to use hoverboots. It was only then that the young lombax was given the footwear and under close supervision, allowed to try them out first. When Ratchet had the basic skills down adequately enough, Kaden allowed his son time alone to explore, and to get that homework assignment done. That time was surprisingly long as Ratchet picked up on the basics extremely quickly managing to leap between walls on his first try. Dr. Tesseract actually had a small grin as he elbowed Kaden in the side at the sight while Kaden flushed.
The surrounding area was quite safe and cleared regularly of any hazards. In any case, if Ratchet was in trouble the boy could call his father on the comm-link. Ratchet, freed to explore raced to and fro, enjoying the wind caressing his facial fur, whipping his ears around and his tail dangling behind him. The rush of the stone formations being a blur as he sped past them. He went around picking small samples of plants for his homework and storing them, testing out the new transdimensional storage units that Fastoon were experimenting with.
He was finishing up collecting the last of the samples when the hairs on the back on his head prickled. Ratchet turned around quickly ready to jet himself out of there if there was trouble. He then flushed under his fur at the sight of what startled him.
It was some little guy sitting there looking off into the distance, wearing what seemed to be a cloak that covered his face. "Hey there, what's ya doing?" Ratchet said. The young lombax's voice startled the person turning away from a view of Central Region, the sun now casting long shadows across the cliffs and rocks that now had the color of flames. It looked at him with a tilted head at first.
"Oh, just looking down at the city. It's much nicer like this don't you think?" The person, just a little bit shorter than Ratchet's said, just whispering his last thought. This stranger didn't seem to be really paying attention looking down on the ground. "Sorry, I bothered you" The stranger that was cloaked said and turned his face up.
He, Ratchet guessed from the stranger's voice seemed to trail off in saying sorry. Probably because he didn't know who he was saying sorry to. So the lombax told him his name. "Name's Ratchet, Ratchet Nova" the lombax boy said holding his fist up and grinning.
But once he said this the cloaked guy choked ,coughing into his arm. Ratchet asked what was wrong and the stranger shook his head and spoke again though to Ratchet's ears it seemed the stranger's tone got tighter. The breath taken short and harsh "No-th-hing It's just nice."
Ratchet cut in asking just what was nice with all the innocence of youth? It was strange enough for a person to say that after coughing fiercely and that voice, while the lombax was sure he'd never heard it before was hauntingly familiar and he just had the passing thought to pat the guy on the head for whatever strange reason. "Oh, ah your shoes, they're nice, ah hoverboots right?"
The lombax beamed, digging one heel out in front of him and shaking it into the dirt. "Yeah, you got that right, dad made them for me since I just turned eight." Ratchet bumped a fist into his chest. "Dad said he's never seen somebody as get good as me so fast" The top stranger's hood moved forward angling towards him. "Hey whattaya doing 'ere anyway?" The lombax kit said.
The cloaked guy tucked his head down then back up. "I... dropped something, over there," pointing over to a plateau choked by some weeds and the occasional pile of metallic refuse. Quite a challenge to get over if one didn't have the ability to glide. The stranger scratched at his hood and his words wavered more "and I don't want to leave it there..."
Ratchet smirked "Hey, leave it to me" he said. Spotting a ledge above him, with a lot of jutting hand and foot holds underneath he started to climb. Straining over cliff edges and digging his soles into some gaps in the wall. Reaching the top, Ratchet jumped off and glided with his hoverboots. Nothing but a light woosh through his fur as the other side of the gap slowly approached his feet.
There wasn't much except piles of rock, some shrubbery, bolts that one way or another made their way here. "Did you really drop something here?" Ratchet shouted back over the gap. The answer was a faint affrimative. The lombax looked closer, digging behind some scorched ship side plates, around some mechanisms gleaming in the early evening light, rustling around the leafless bushes, when he carefully searched under the single thorntree in the area, he found possibly the only thing of interest. Ratchet's ears perked at the sight of it, then quickly attached the thing to a belt on the pilot pants he was wearing. The gap was still the same size but across was a sizable ledge below. Making his way from the edge, then a running leap had Ratchet back in front of the stranger.
He then took out a large wrench and waved it. "This what you dropped?" Ratchet asked weighting the heft of the thing that fitted snugly within his grip. "What're ya doing with a wrench anyway? Seems pretty good make also" The lombax glanced further at it and saw the Gadgetron icon and the number 8000 printed along the handle
The stranger clasped his hands behind his back, his whole body swaying sending ripples through what he wore.. "Yeah it is, someone gave to me because at the time I needed it. You have one?" Ratchet had to shake his head at that. He wanted a wrench so much but Kaden or more to the point Cara didn't want to come back home to see everything in their house completely dismantled ever since that little incident with the living room.
"Well, do you want it?" The lombax took a step back, while the wrench was worn in places, it still was quite the nice tool. It didn't seem like the kind of thing that somebody would just give away and it showed with Ratchet's open mouth and wide eyes. "I kept it for the memories but the one who gave it to me would be happier if it was used like it should be " The stranger said as the dirt suddenly became extremely interesting and the stranger wasn't looking at the lombax in the face.
Ratchet looked back at the wrench then the stranger for several times. On the one hand it was a good wrench, on the other it wasn't as if the stranger was giving it to him. After all he found it and the person who owned it didn't want it back, so he could have it. It was basic childhood logic but it was good enough for Ratchet. He wanted a wrench of his own that badly.
"It's getting dark out here, I'd better go, shouldn't you too" The stranger said. Ratchet blinked as the rock cliffs, once full of warmth died down to deep purples. He took a step back heading towards where his father and Uncle Sherman was. Yet the weight of the wrench throwing off his stride suddenly reminded him of just what he was about to do.
The lombax's met the hood of the stranger who shrugged at the question that ratchet had. "If you don't want it then you can just leave it here." A moment or so Ratchet ran off, hoverboots blazing after giving a brief thanks, swinging the wrench again and again into rusted crates and rocks as he headed towards his father and uncle. Shouts pierced the air dying away with distance and drowning out a small whirr and a click. Soon all that was left was a impression of footprints upon the dusty ground.
Courage, compassion, dashing good looks Iron-hard abs! Buckets of charisma mixed with a brilliant tactical mind to boot and not to mention these massive guns. These were all the qualities of a hero and I, Copernicus Leslie Qwark had all these things in spades. But the hero business just had been slim pickings those days even with my winning million bolt smile. And I'll tell you just why it's so hard, those lombaxes!
Not that I Captain Qwark have anything to be jealous about. No sir, it just everywhere they go they have to be all noble foiling evil schemes. I know it's not their fault. The villains were all asking for it, those evil doers going about attacking those lombaxes, at least they got to find out that those little furballs were quite trigger happy. But still you'd think that those furry guys would stay in their own galaxy and leave something for us heroes to do. I mean how else would I be able to take the credit for any hero work when they always STEAL the show like that? Actually getting anybody to want me to endorse them seemed like a lost cause in those days. I've been seeing if several studios have been interested in those years of mine. So anyway week after week of failure in the hero biz and it seemed eventually I'd have to throw in the towel and either join up with Thugs-4-Less or even -Gasp- move back in with my monkey family. Mother would throw a -well you know-
There was somebody I'd have to thank for my current fame however, a certain person I'd like to call my Benefactor. I met him just when I was about to give up completely on the hero business. There I was, about to get on the cheap shuttle that would take me back to Florana when suddenly out of nowhere, my Benefactor pops up in his that funny cloak of his like one of those little old men mentors you see on those holo-films. I normally wouldn't tell you this but I'll always remember the first thing he said to me. He believed that even though I might go about it for the wrong reasons, and maybe make a ton of mistakes along the way, he knew I could be a true hero and perhaps a very good friend as well. He then went about getting me sponsored with my own radio show, cereal sales, action figures, even my own books! Though how he had an in with the newly taken over Vox Industries I'll never know.
I'll never forget his training either. After dealing with a certain nerd from my old high school and his attempt to take over the city, watch the nearest vid-comic dealer near you to experience how it is to be a true hero, my Benefactor came back up to me again to congratulate me... and maybe also noted that I make sure that I'll never commit the crime of denying the universe this handsome chin and these abs. Well what could I say to that? How would the galaxy go on without this handsome face and strong bod watching over it? He then asked me, what would I deny the universe my chin and abs for? Well, actually I didn't know what to tell him. But he said that he'll help me to not have to think too hard about that question. Little did I know just what he meant by that. After that, heh I'm proud to say he taught me several useful skills to make sure that that all evildoers will be brought to justice by me! Just wish that it didn't have to take so long dodging all those Tesla bolts and Devastator shots. Well anyway that was the last time I saw my mentor again, though he did tell me to be careful of endorsement deals. But hey, who am I to deny anybody the lovely sight of my face? Well that's all the time I have for you today. Catch you later citizen.