AuthorsNote: Well, here we are again, Another Day, Another Chapter. Hopefully I won't throw too many people with this one ha ha.
-Starship Phoenix- -Bridge-
The Rangers on the bridge jumped to attention as Sasha and Ratchets voices snapped out over the bridge.
"Prep the Engines for warm up."
"Begin Shield system charging"
"Drop Blast doors in Engines room A-E"
As the Rangers started imputing commands and flipping switches their voices started ringing back.
"Engines Warm up started, Turbines running at 20%"
"Shields at 45%"
Blast Doors Sealed in between engine rooms, emergency crew is on standby"
Sky and Stella sat at the back of the bridge, buckled into emergency seats watching their parents bring the Phoenix online.
"Activate Engine Sub System and Secondary Cooling systems"
"Begin Plasma cannon charging."
"Set Warp coordinates for Shadow Sector 3-1-8-5-6"
The twins heads snapped back and forth following the voices.
"Turbines at 65%, Sub System 1-4 are now activate power fluctuations normal, Cooling rods are lowered and engine temp is dropping rapidly"
"Plasma cannons are at 85%"
"imputing coordinates for Warp system"
"Turbines at 100% Holding Steady."
"Shields 100% Holding Steady"
"Plasma Cannons 100% Holding Steady"
"Engine temperature is 450 C, Holding Steady"
A Ranger turned around and saluted "All Systems are set 100% and Holding Steady, proceeded with Warp?"
Ratchet and Sasha grabbed each others hand "Proceed" they said at the same time, their voices being the authorizing required for the system to be released from Steady.
With a flash that lit Veldin from the other side of the world, The Phoenix went from a dead stop to an accelerated speed into a warp gate that flashed open for less then two seconds. People who happened to be looking up at the sky would be blinded for near on a minute.
The Twins gritted their teeth as they felt the Phoenix jump forward before their bodies felt like they were being shaken apart form the inside out, the feeling lasted for almost a minute before it dropped out and the Twins breathed a side of relief, only to jump when their parents started barking orders again. The area they had jumped into was currently under attack from the fire lords. The Phoenix was going to be really put through its tests it seemed.
"ENEMY SHIPS INBOUND DROP SUB ROUTINE INTO BATTLE MODE!"
"ACTIVATE ALL PLASMA CONVERTERS AND DEVOTE FULL POWER TO SHIELD SYSTEMS!"
"DON'T LET THOSE SHIPS GET CLOSE, ALL WEAPONS FIRE, TURRENT OPERATORS HAVE FREE REIGN"
"OPEN FIRE"
"OPEN FIRE"
The Lights in the Phoenix dimmed for three seconds while power was re converted and they again with another great flash as the 200 plus plasma cannons all choose their targets and unleashed streams of hell towards the enemy currently harassing civilian frigates. There were only 150 ships on scanners, about 75 were caught by surprise and destroyed in the first volley of cannon fire, another 50 by the plasma turrets. Of the 25 left remaining as they decided to try which target to attack were taken out by the civilian frigates and ships. It was over once the Phoenix showed up, apparently the lords of fire as they were didn't expect the sudden fire power of the battle cruiser. A quick end to a fight that Ratchet and Sasha had feared would be long and grueling.
Ratchet and Sasha let out a gentle breath and were about to order a steady hold when the civilian frigate broadcast to them on the emergency frequency.
"PHOENIX BEHIND YOU, WE'VE LOST ONE OF OUR SHIPS TO THE ATTACKERS, THEY ARE A NEW BATTLE GROUP BEHIND YOU"
Suddenly everybody standing on the bridge was flung to the ground as a frigate blasted them with a plasma cannon.
"Get that ship on screen" Sasha called as she pulled her self up on the railing and glanced back at her kids. The Twins gave her a thumbs up and she nodded as she turned back to the view screen. The ship in screen had only one cannon and was clearly suffering from a reactor breach as the entire ship seemed to be on fire.
"Disable that cannon" Ratchet ordered, his order was obeyed by two rangers who directed the bridge cannon around and melted the plasma cannon in its housing. It also happened to be at the exact moment the cannon had tried to fire, the resulting explosion tore the smaller ship in half and shook the Phoenix again. The Camera zoomed in on the wreckage and everybody realized that what they had first though as fire on the ship was really masses of the fire lords holding onto the outside. When the ship was blown in half they let go and began to jet towards the Phoenix.
"Target those fire lords" Ratchet called out as Sasha turned towards the twins.
"Ratchet no time, they will breach at this range." She called over her shoulder as she knelt down in front of the twins. "I want you two to stay here, and keep close to CR3" The twins nodded rapidly at their commands and scooted closer together on the seat.
Ratchet put a hand on Sky's shoulder "Watch over you're sister." he said quietly. "The same with you Stella"
He turned to face Sasha as she drew her electron staff. He shook his head at her "No way, too close and not enough damage for my comfort." He pressed a few buttons on his watch before tossing a gleaming sword at her "Use this, I haven't seen a metal yet that thing won't cut through." With that he took off for the hallway that ran below the gondola. Sasha kissed both of her kids on the forehead then with a whispered goodbye and love you she took off after Ratchet. She caught up to him halfway through the hall and held up the sword as she evened her pace to his.
"Where did you get this?"
"DreadZone, You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I got there." He raised his wrist to his mouth "CR3, do we know where the fire lord have breached yet?"
"Deck E-16 Sarge, looks like they might go for engine room."
"Alright, make sure the blast doors are sealed, we're in route to help the Rangers down there right now."
"Roger that Sir"
It took them a long five minutes but Ratchet and Sasha finally bust through a service hatch in the ceiling and landed in the middle of a one sided battle as the fire lords swept over the Rangers, destroying them as if they were nothing.
Ratchet shouted out to his Rangers to gather arms and switch to Ice weapons while he pulled out his Nitrogen gun and began spraying the freezing liquid over the fire lords. Sasha drew the sword and with considerable skill and completely silent snarls darted through the mass fighting and began helping who ever she could. Stabbing a fire lord here and sweeping the blade across another over there. Ratchet and the Ranger force engaged the bulk of the crowd and she handled on clearing the strays and helping where she could. She reached one Ranger right as a Fire lord buried its arm it is chest and took a bite out of its face plate. It noticed Sasha and snarled, metal dripping out of the side of its mouth.
Sasha glanced around to see Ratchet finishing off the last of the fire lords on the other side of the room so this one was left for her. She swung the sword around in a flashy loop before setting the blade gently in the metal of the floor. "Charming, do you want to die with a messy mouth?" she asked trying to calm her heart rate, which jumped when the creature snarled and talked back to her.
"Fool" it hissed out "Our coming has been a long time in arrival, and now that we are here, nothing will stops us. The destruction of all has been set down by our gods and we shall purge the disgusting slime from this galaxy with out holy might and fire."
Sasha nodded "All very well and good, But" She grabbed the sword and hauled it out of the metal swiping it across the floor and raising a trail of sparks "Not going to happen."
The fire lord snarled and whipped one of its burning arms her way, the limb lengthening as it went to try and wrap around her. Sasha ducked under the arm and swept the sword up faster then the eye could follow. The fire lord let out a wail as half its arm dropped to the ground and it backed up several spaces. Its arm slowly lengthened again as Sasha watched and she raised an eye arch at the fire lord.
"Bet that's helpful" she said as the creature studied her. It reached behind its back and pulled out a small pistol taking two quick shots at Sasha, who dodged them with a side flip that ended with her driving her sword into the belly of the fire lord. She pulled the blade out and swept it through where its skull was sending the top half flying as its fire died. The body crumpled backwards its skin darkening to a sickly gray color as the fire faded. When it hit the ground the body crumbled into ash leaving a lumpy looking black body suit. Sasha looked back at where the shots hit and noticed the bubbling metal that now made up the floor. She glanced down at the sword and realized that the blood from the creature had heated the blade so it glowed an orange that lit the area around her. As she watched it faded and she sheathed it across her back before running over to Ratchet as he smashed the last frozen fire lord with a solid hit from his wrench.
"Well, that was interesting" He commented as she approached then he wrapped her in a hug, she returned the gesture and then stepped back as Ratchet raised his wrist to his mouth "CR3, Hows it look out there"
"Not a fire lord in sight in space or on this ship and Sky and Stella are perfectly fine."
"Good we'll be up in a moment." Ratchet ended the call and the world dissolved around him. He opened his eyes and landed lightly on his feet as the Holosphere around him vanished. He stepped out of the trainer and looked over at Sasha who was leaning against the console with a smirk after getting out of her own bubble.
Ratchet grabbed a towel and started rubbing his sweating body down. "I'll give you some credit for throwing in the civilian frigate being captured, but I still don't think that it could have been that easy to repel those things."
Sasha rolled her head "Whatever hotshot"
The Phoenix had been in transit for the past three weeks towards the retreat line, their orders were to help escaping frigates and engage the enemy whenever they deemed fit. Since then they had been taking turns coming up with various scenarios to be used in the Holosphere. Ratchet held out his hand to her and she tucked her arm around his as they walked towards the elevator that would take them to the living area to collect their children from their Holosphere's for dinner.
When the elevator doors closed on them Sasha hit the stop button and turned to face Ratchet who was watching her with a amused look.
"Not that, Two Questions"
Ratchets face went from amused to relaxed and he leaned against the wall "Okay, Shoot."
"One, that sword you tossed me in the simulation, is that a real sword?"
Ratchet shrugged his shoulders "Sure, I had to program it in somehow right? Now time for my Question: Why?"
Sasha just grinned at him, "Because if you programmed it into that simulation correctly, I want to use it for real. It was a light as my electron staffs but did so much more damage."
Ratchet chuckled "Sure, I'll give it to you after dinner. So, Second Question?"
Sasha hesitated for a moment and Ratchet knew this was the real reason why she stopped the elevator.
"Sasha?"
"I think...That, well, we need to start training the kids in combat. So that in case we do ever get boarded by something, whether its the Lords-Of-Fire or not. I just want to know that they could hold out long enough for us to get there."
Sasha watched as Ratchets face hardened slightly and he closed his eyes. She waited for a few minutes before she called his name softly.
"Ratchet?"
Ratchet nodded and step back up from the wall pulling her into a hug.
"I agree, its a wise move, and something I myself had done when I was younger. I was actually curious if you would ever float the idea past me, I didn't want to do anything with out you're approval, and I've been meaning to bring it up for since we started out"
Sasha returned his hug "Then what took you so long to answer?" she asked hitting the start button on the elevator and continuing their trip.
"I guess just saying it brings out that we eventually will be boarded at some point." Ratchet shrugged "Superstition mainly"
Sasha chuckled as the doors slid open and they were greeted with Sky and Stella standing waiting for them.
"Waiting on somebody?" Ratchet asked
Stella nodded "Yea, you two to finish smacking so we can go to dinner."
"Wha-" Ratchet began
"Come on dad" Sky said "We beat you here by a good six minutes, what else would you two have stopped that elevator for if not that?" He turned to Stella and they both made barfing motions. Sasha chuckled while Ratchet still tried to sound disapproving, he had after all wanted that to happen.
After the Twins quit miming being sick and Sasha stopped laughing they all got together in the elevator and headed down to the mess deck. It was after both the kids had began to dug into their desert that Ratchet and Sasha decided to ease it on them.
"Hey guys... We've got a...uh...surprise for you two tomorrow. Early."
The twins shot each other a look before turning back to their parents, Stella finished chewing first and spoke up "What kinda surprise?"
Sasha winked at her "The secret kind."
Sky shook his head "Any clues Dad?"
Ratchet copied the gesture "Nope."
"So, no hints then?"
Sasha was the one who shook her head this time, "Nope, if you guys want to know you'll just have to be in the training room at 0600."
Sky looked confused for a moment "6am?"
Stella chuckled and pulled him away from the table "Yes Sky, 6am"
Ratchet and Sasha stood up and followed their kids out of the mess hall, heading to their rooms. Their kids may have been excited for the surprise, but they weren't looking forward to it, not at all.
-Phoenix Training deck- -Next day 6am-
The doors to the training room slide open with a silent hiss to admit the Twins into the room. Sky and Stella looked around, they had never been into the training room before, their parents had said that it was for military training only. IT bode towards what was going to happen today, and Stella knew it.
Sky however, had discovered that the floor of the room looked to be made out of a large mattress and was just as bouncy too.
"Hey Stell" he called as he bounced laughing into the air "Its like jumping on the bed."
Stella watched as her brother bounced around for a few minutes before he bounced really high and did a front flip. It was while he was in the flip that Stella felt like she had dropped a few inches. She glanced down and realized the floor look like a floor now. She watched as Sky landed hard on the floor and rolled three feet, before coming to a stop on his back.
"Ouch" he said, chuckling He lifted himself up off the ground and turned to face Stella "What happened?" he asked as he walked over. Stella knelt down and rubbed a finger along the edge of one of the tiles, before pushing on it to see if there was any give.
"If I would hazard a guess, I would say that these tiles are controlled somehow, maybe with a remote, to inflate and mimic things, like a mattress."
"Correct" Stella spun around at the sound of her dads voice, He was standing in the door way next to Sasha and both were watching their children.
Sky walked over "Did you shut the pads off of me dad?" he asked, his voice sad.
Ratchet shook his head "Nope, Auto" he knelt down and ruffled his sons hair "Sorry about that, we got here just in time to watch the floor change on you. You're okay though right?"
Sky nodded and flexed "Yep, Tough like you."
Ratchet chuckled and stepped back, gesturing to Sasha, who Sky stepped over to.
"As you may have guessed" Sasha started as she hugged Sky to her leg. "We've decided to start training you two."
Sky and Stella shot each other a look before tuning back to the parents "Training?"
AuthorsNote: Hey Hey, another chapter done, plus the next one is half done already. So the next two chapters are going to be Stella and Sky's training respectively. Also free cookie to whoever can guess where this chapter title came from.
On to other things, first off that Poll thats been up on my page since, like forever. Is now closed down and done. The results.
"Should I remix the Ratchet and Clank Future Storyline with mine? Basically have it so that it has Sasha and Ratchet in the polarius galaxy together, same original story line, just a few tweaks from my own style?" Finished with 9 votes yes and 1 meh.
So, the answer, is yes, there will be another Ratchet and Clank story from me after Earth Bound. [imagines everybody who reads this cheering]
Also on the second thing I have set up a Facebook account where you can see what I'm up to, because sometimes I'll post little snibbits of story up there for feedback if I'm unsure of something. Or, If I just want to tease you guys, up to you. Link is on my profile page, go check it out, and if you have a Facebook, go ahead and friend me : P
Third and final thing, I have begun working on a small side project that I'm calling 'Restoration' and that I hope those who read and love my stories will like.
If you think you know what it is you can email me and I'll let ya know eh?
With that, I close this chapter official like with my usual,
Peace,
Emile