Ooh man, it's been a while since you all heard from me, huh?
To be honest, it's been so long that I wonder if most of you are still here. I do hope so though. Anyhow, I have not stopped writing, and thus the two next chapters are ready to go. And let's also say that, soon enough, you will see some significant changes to the storyline.
Anyhow, reviews!
rst64tlc: "Azimuth!...wait no it can't be. even he doesn't have this kind of power...unless one of three things:
A.)this reboot ver. of him is that powerful because he has quantum powers.
B.)This is the same Azimuth from Crack in Time as when he 'died' his soul was sent to the rebooted ver. AU of R&C in the body of that universe's Azimuth but with leftover quantum powers from the cloak's near destruction and he's been using them to help that universe before the Re: R&C makes an appearance or do their role. (I maybe over-thinking this.)
C.) This is an OC character of your's or someone else's design.
Great chapter and Surpise me. with the story. Also did you watch the R&C movie? is coming out on the 20th."
I'd love to answer with A, B or C, but that'd spoil some stuff, wouldn't it? You'll find out all of the answers as the story progresses, trust me.
Also, of course I went to see the R&C movie! I watched and bought the movie, played the R&C game at least a dozen times on hard mode only, it still amazes me how much the R&C games have improved over the years. Anyhow, sorry for the long wait, I hope you're still here. If so, please enjoy this way overdue next chapter!
Max Chronicle: "KNEW IT!
Reconstructing quote time: "Ratchet... I am your godfather."
(Also to correct my last reconstructed quote which was done incorrectly. It should be read as: "Ratchet is friend. Not food.")
But woot to the heroes that saved the day at the Hall Of Heroes. IN YOUR FACE QWARK! (Fist bumps Hypernova)
Max out
P.S. It's not a matter whether or not the Inferno Crate makes Ratchet immune to the sharks... it's whether or not they make ME immune. And that would be a no. :(
But I did incinerate them from the inside... then proceeded to have reality smack me in the face, forcing me to recuperate at the nearest hospital, as I keep having fear attacks from walking on solid ground. Luckily they have holo-fi, so I can enjoy this chapter of True Heroes.
(Crickets)
Yeppers, I've got issues."
He didn't say that Ratchet was a friend of the Sandsharks, simply so that Ratchet could destroy them without regrets should he ever come across them again. It's true he isn't food though. *Glares daggers at Sharkagator*
P.S. Just you wait for the Pokitaru chapter. I wasn't happy to see that the invisible wall had been replaced with Sharks, it may be somewhat more realistic than good old invisible barriers, but at least barriers aren't ruining the limitless exploration that the original Pokitaru offered. And trust me, you'll see that unhappyness of mine about Sharks on Pokitaru appear in the storyline. Anyhow, sorry for the long wait, it's been a long time since I've uploaded anything, huh? If you're still here, then please forgive me for the wait, and I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter!
zero fullbuster: "love it
please write more.
wow."
Will do, thank you so much! And please enjoy!
Ratchet and Clank plummeted into the abyss with a loud scream, until a train suddenly shot past below them, They slammed into the vehicle, and were sent flying, ultimately slamming into a platform half a mile from the Hall of Heroes.
Clank shook his head and got up. He turned around, searching for Ratchet. He ultimately found the Lombax lying in the dirt nearby. A quick scan revealed that Clank himself had several broken servos, as well as a damaged processor and GPU, which was why he was feeling dizzy and had trouble focusing. Ratchet was in a worse condition however, having several broken bones as well as a shattered rib. He also had a frightening crack in his skull from the collision with the train.
Clank opened a compartment in his chest and took out a vial of Nanotech. He had taken an extra vial of Nanotech in case he'd get hurt somehow, but considering the circumstances, it was better to give it to Ratchet.
Clank opened the vial and poured the Nanotech over Ratchet's head.
Ratchet began to cough as he suddenly felt cold, with some sort of electrical surge running through his body. However, as the cold began to fade away, so did most of the pain.
Ratchet slowly got up. "Ratchet? How you are?" Clank stammered, having trouble formulating sentences correctly. Ratchet groaned. "My back hurts like hell and I still have a lot of cuts and bruises, but other than that I'm still breathing. Thanks for the Nanotech, pal. I don't know if I'd have made it otherwise. But how are you feeling?"
"Feeling not well am I." Clank said. "Damaged hardware various."
"Yeah, you've got a problem alright." Ratchet said. "Come on, maybe there's a mechanic around here somewhere.
Ratchet helped Clank attach himself to the Lombax' back, and Ratchet walked through a short tunnel, then turned right. Suddenly, Clank spoke up with Brax' voice. "Hey, Ratchet, where'd you go? We're supposed to start your training in a few minutes!"
"Rangers incoming Galactic message the from." Clank stammered afterwards.
"Sorry, Brax!" Ratchet yelled, hoping Brax could hear him. "We ran into a bit of, uh... 'ship trouble'. Looks like there's still a few Blarg in the city."
"We must've missed them during our sweep of the perimeter! Brax, you better check the Hall of Heroes to see if they didn't make it inside!" Cora replied through Clank.
"Copy that!" Ratchet could hear Brax say in the background, indicating that he was already running.
"In the meantime," Cora continued, "There's a friend not far from your position who can help you out. His name's Al. I was gonna wait until after training to introduce you to him, but now's a good a time as any. Go to his workshop downtown and ask him to upgrade Clank. If he knows it's for the Rangers, he should do it for free."
"Alri-wait, so now you do know where I am?" Ratchet asked.
"Elaris was able to track down the signal of that robot friend of yours, we figured you'd be with him." Cora replied.
"Huh. Well, I'll head over to Al's. Thanks!" Ratchet replied. Cora didn't respond.
"Convenient how!" Clank said.
"You know, it's beginning to scare me." Ratchet said. As he walked on however, a pack of robotic dogs suddenly stormed out of the shadows. Ratchet was able to take down two of them with his wrench, but the third one got lucky, chomping down hard on Ratchet's arm and pulling out a decent amount of fur when Ratchet managed to shake it off. Still having the fur in it's maw, the robot shook it's head wildly, tearing it apart, then growled menacingly.
It was then that a beam of cyan light came crashing down from above, obliterating the creature. Hypernova came flying down. "Oh, thank Orvus you're still in one piece! Are any of you hurt?"
Ratchet only had to raise his arm. Hypernova raised his hand and a cyan-colored mist came shooting out of his hand. The second it touched Ratchet's skin, the Lombax felt better than ever. When he checked a second later, all of his injuries were gone.
"Ratchet, who did this to you?!"
"I don't know, this pack of robotic dogs just came charging out of nowhere!"
"Then how do you explain a bomb underneath your ship?"
"There are still a few Blarg in the city, but I can't say if the two cases are connected."
Hypernova walked over to one of the beaten-up robotic dogs and took a good look at him. "Yep, Drek Industries." Hypernova said with disgust. He turned to Ratchet. "I heard what Cora said. I'll protect you until we reach Al's, after that, you're on your own. I've got to clear the rest of the Blarg in the city. When you're at Al's, exit through the back door. You should be able to reach the Grav-Train station from there. There is a Grav-Train heading to the Hall of Heroes that departs in roughly an hour, so you have plenty of time. Can you take out any Blargs you may encounter while I sweep the rest of the city?"
"No problem." Ratchet replied. "I've got very little ammo though."
Hypernova nodded. "That reminds me, I've got something for you."
He pulled out a long, bulky-looking two-handed weapon. "This is the Bouncer. This thing fires huge packs of grenades that detonate into smaller clusters, then seek out opponents. This thing can wreck tanks but it's ammo is limited, so use it wisely."
"Got it." Ratchet replied as he took the weapon.
They walked on. After making a turn left however, a group of Blarg came out of hiding, with two Blargian assault helicopters moving into position as well. "We're gonna send you to Lombax Heaven!" one of the Blarg pilots yelled. "Really? We might as well do him a favor and send him to some other hell, Lombax heaven is already overcrowded!" A bulky Blargian foot soldier joked.
"Overcrowded? What do they mean?" Ratchet asked Hypernova. The hero in white did not respond, however. He just stood there. Suddenly he shot forward at an incredible speed and tore the helicopters apart with his bare hands, then threw them, along with their pilots and the rest of the Blarg, off the walkway and down into the abyss. "And tell your buddies that the next one to make a joke like that will be turned inside out by yours truly!" he yelled after them with enough venom to kill a civilization.
"Why are you suddenly so violent?" Ratchet asked.
Hypernova took a deep breath. "I don't want to talk about it. It doesn't only hurt, but it's for your own good as well. Now please, drop the subject."
"Okay, okay." Ratchet said. "It's just... you seem to know everything, about my family, about the Lombaxes, everything I always wanted to know. And now the answers are so close, yet they're kept just out of reach. That stinks, you know."
"Trust me, no, I swear on my very soul that if it wouldn't put you in immense danger I would tell you everything you'd ever want to know. But please, accept the fact that I cannot, it'll only make this easier for the both of us." Hypernova replied as they walked on.
When they reached Al's, they saw something odd. Al's workshop was closed, and a squad of Blargian mercenaries was trying to break it open.
"They're going after Big Al?" Hypernova wondered out loud as he swatted the Blarg aside with a giant fist made of cyan-colored energy. "Why, I wonder."
He grabbed the collar of one of the Blarg soldiers. "Speak, soldier! What is your mission?!"
The Blarg noticed Ratchet. "Wait, didn't I blow you up?!"
Hypernova's attitude suddenly changed. His left hand suddenly transformed into a minigun and he pointed it at the Blarg's face. "Listen. Very. Closely. If you don't want me to pump so much lead into that mug of yours that they're gonna think you're a Sharkagator, then you answer every single one of my questions!"
"N-nope!"
"Who gave the order? I'm gonna give you ten seconds."
"I won't say!"
"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! POW!"
The Blarg nearly jumped out of his skin.
"WHO GAVE THE ORDER?!"
"Chairman Alonzo Drek!" The Blarg yelled back. Hypernova slammed the Blarg into the ground. Suddenly, cyan handcuffs appeared around the hands of the mercenaries. "You're all under arrest for possession of stolen property, vandalism, attempted break-in and attempted murder. Everything you say can and will be used against you."
Meanwhile Ratchet was watching, thinking. The group earlier, that had made jokes about dead Lombaxes, Hypenova had thrown them off a building, but this group was placed under arrest? Clearly dead Lombaxes were a punch in the gut to Hypernova, and Ratchet wondered why. It actually unsettled him, what did it mean? And why would Lombax heaven be overcrowded? Was his race-
"Ratchet?"
Ratchet shook his head. "Yeah?"
Hypernova was waiting for him next to the door of Al's workshop. "You coming?"
"Oh. Yes, I'm coming."
Hypernova managed to pry open a control panel next to the door and managed to hack the system, making the door open. As they walked in, Ratchet noticed the posters hanging on the wall. "Whooooaaa! I've died and gone to nerd heaven!"
Although Ratchet couldn't see it, Hypernova frowned.
"Just look at this!" Ratchet said, pointing at the posters. "They have 'My Blaster Runs Hot', 'Fongoid With a stick', 'Speero the Space Moose', they even have the mega-limited ultra edition of Intransigence: Fall of Blarg!"
"That's very interesting and all, but I wonder where Al is." Hypernova said, making a bio-scan. The bio-scan revealed a biosignature hiding inside a cardboard box in the back of the shop. Hypernova jumped over the counter and pulled the box off Al. "Gotcha, Snake."
"Who are you?! And who the heck is Snake? Don't make me call the authorities!"
"Relax, Al. I'm Hypernova and this is Ratchet. Ratchet is a Galactic Ranger, I'm not with the Rangers but I'm one of the good guys. We've got a robot ally that we would like you to have a look at."
Al had the nickname 'Big Al' for a reason, he was a huge man, both vertically and horizontally speaking. Al was covered in orange-yellow fur, although the fur on the lower half of his face was slightly darker.
Al had three fingers and was wearing black jeans and white coat over a green vest. The green vest had a red circle on it with a malfunctioning robot on it, and Al had various gadgets stored in the pockets of his coat, from screwdrivers to a tesla-laser. He also had a green stickpin with Qwark's emblem on it on his coat, as well as a smaller stickpin that was blue in color and had a bolt on it.
Al had short, spiky hair that was a bit more reddish in color, and it was held up by a black headband with some sort of apparatus attached to it that could best be described as a minor telescope. A pair of round glasses rested on a reddish nose, while the glasses were further held in place by a pair of narrow metal bars linking it to the back of Al's headband, ensuring that it wouldn't fall off while he was at work.
Al had helped Clank sit down on his workbench before carefully making Clank shut down. Clank retracted his limbs until he had a backpack-like shape, the same form he took on when on Ratchet's back. Al carefully opened up a panel in the back of Clank's head and got to work.
Meanwhile Ratchet was staring in awe at all of the advanced robotic equipment scattered about. "That's a Dragonmark-7 processor! You can't even buy these!" he said with excitement, pointing at a small chip.
"Interesting." Hypernova said. "Can you tell me more about it?"
"Octa-core processor, 8.72 gigahertz?"
Hypernova chuckled. "That's but a toy, Ratchet. At least, compared to the processor I've built into this suit."
"Oh?"
"78315 GHz."
"What?! How?!"
"Well, if I can make this suit, why wouldn't I be able to make such a processor?"
"What do you even use that for?"
"With this processor I can log everything I see and calculate things faster than it'd take a soundwave to travel two picocubits."
"Name an example."
"Okay." Hypernova said. He suddenly pointed up. "That is the exact position of my home planet in two million years, calculated precisely using maths and physics in the span of a millisecond. See how much of a tactical advantage this gives me?"
"Dang."
Ratchet sat down. "You know... can you tell me more about them? The Lombaxes?"
"I can tell you some things, but not here and not now. I can sense Al's nearly finished, and we still have a few Blargs to get rid of."
"You're correct." Al said as he restarted Clank. "I must admit, your timing with that sentence scares me. How did you know?"
"I pay close attention, you know. It's a useful survival skill to be alert to everything."
"Hmm. Well, your robot friend should wake up any second now."
Al was correct, Clank's eyes opened a few moments later. "Is there something I have missed in my absence?" he asked as he got up.
"Nope, you're up to speed. Good to have you back, pal."
Clank chuckled. "It certainly is a relief to be able to formulate sentences correctly again."
Ratchet turned to Al. "How much to I owe you?"
Al smiled. "Anything to help the Rangers. I assumed you two were the ones Cora called me about, the ones in need of a Heli-Pack upgrade, so I installed that right away. You know, she and I kind of have a will-we, won't-we romance in progress."
"Uh-huh." Ratchet said with a raised eyebrow.
After Clank had hopped onto Ratchet's back, Hypernova cleared his throat. "I said I'd protect you until we'd get to Al's, I'll go sweep the rest of the city. I've seen you fight, I'm sure you can take care of any Blarg that cross your path."
Ratchet nodded. "We're on it. Good luck out there."
"Same to you." Hypernova said before running out of Al's workshop and flying up into the sky. "I don't think I'll ever fully get used to that guy." Ratchet said.
"I can see why." Clank responded as they walked out of Al's workshop. Ratchet noticed that they had to climb to the roof of a building, and that the only way up was a stack of huge crates, too large for him to climb. Thankfully, Clank's new Heli-Pack upgrade was able to boost Ratchet up into the sky high enough for the Lombax to grab the edge of one of the crates and pull himself up.
After reaching the roof, they took an elevator to a higher roof, only to find themselves at a dead end.
The only way ahead was by jumping a huge distance to the next building. However, Clank managed to save the day again. Although he wasn't strong enough to keep the Lombax airborne forever, he could drastically slow Ratchet's fall. Ratchet took a deep breath, then ran forward as fast as he could.
The moment he jumped off the building Clank activated the Heli-Pack, and they crossed the gap with ease.
Landing on a small garden on a rooftop, the duo walked on, only to quickly take cover behind a large boulder as a squad of Blarg came down to their level by using an elevator up ahead.
The Blargs sent a squad of robotic dogs to force the duo out and into the open, but Ratchet was prepared, giving the electronic canine creatures a smack with his wrench. The four Blargian mercenaries were quickly taken care of as well, five fusion grenade getting rid of two while leaving the two others injured.
Some fast action with the Combustor finished them off, and the duo took the elevator up to a higher rooftop garden. They could see the station up ahead, but the bridge leading to it was infested with Blarg.
And they were all gunning for Ratchet and Clank.
Rolling out of the way and behind a pillar, Ratchet reloaded his Combustor before tossing a few grenades around his cover to at least force the enemy to retreat.
Using the distraction to his advantage, Ratchet jumped out of cover and fired his Combustor like nobody's business, firing plasma bullets as fast as the anti-overheating system would allow.
That was a big mistake, Ratchet had heavily underestimated the amount of Blarg on the bridge. Forty-seven blasters were all aimed at one target, and they pulled the trigger at the same time.
However, Hypernova jumped in front of Ratchet at the very last second.
In less than a second, the hero in white had snatched Ratchet's wrench and held it in front of him. He began to spin the wrench around at such an incredible speed that all of the incoming projectiles were either blasted aside or sent right back the way they came.
"How do you do that?!" Ratchet asked in awe.
Hypernova smiled underneath his helmet. "It's an old trick I learned from the Lombax Praetorian Guard."
"Can you teach me more?"
"Certainly." Hypernova said as he formed a cyan barrier in front of them. Giving the wrench back to Ratchet, Hypernova opened his hand. A long, double-ended wrench formed in his hands. He held it behind him in his right hand as the barrier vanished, one head of the wrench resting on the ground while the other end was just behind Hypernova's shoulder. "This, Ratchet, is the 'Guard Stance'. It doesn't only look dangerous, but Praetorian Guards can easily combo and defend out of this stance, and very fast too. For example..."
Hypernova spun the double-ended wrench made of cyan energy in front of him in order to reflect the gunfire. As the enemies' blasters ran out of ammo, Hypernova made his move, charging into the fray while readying the wrench for an overhead strike.
Whacking one Blarg on the head with enough force to send him off to dreamland immediately, Hypernova allowed his opponents no breathing room as the wrench slashed across the ground, making all of the Blarg it hit fall over. Hypernova then shot forward, taking down all of the Blarg, one by one in one big combo. As the last Blarg fell, the wrench disappeared. "I'll teach you some of the Praetorian Guard's fighting techniques later. I saw a Blargian squad heading to a densely-populated district when I had to save you again though, so I have no time to waste."
Ratchet nodded. "Understood, thanks for the help."
Hypernova flew away, heading to a large skyscraper in the distance. Meanwhile Ratchet walked to the train station. From a small square in front of the station, Ratchet walked up a staircase into the station itself. Crates were stacked everywhere, the path to his right was blocked by them and only half of the path to his left was still open.
Ratchet noticed three Blarg talking to each other, and decided to use the element of surprise. He threw a Fusion Grenade at the bulkiest Blarg, catching the other two in the blast radius as well, although two more grenades were necessary to finish them off.
"Attention! Grav-Train A is about to depart. Next stop: the Hall of Heroes. Please stand clear." a robotic, female voice spoke through various speakers embedded in the walls of the station. "Snap, we better get going." Ratchet said. The train on their side of the station showed no signs of life, but the train behind it, on the other hand, was making louder and louder noises as it got ready to leave.
Ratchet quickly climbed onto the train that wasn't leaving before jumping to the departing train just in time to grab the edge of the final cart. Pulling himself up, Ratchet had just enough time to look behind him at the station before the train flew out into the city, guided by a holographical rail.
Ratchet saw that the train he was on was a cargo train, and he could hear voices coming from the next cart. "Alright, team! Chairman Drek wants this payload delivered to the Hall of Heroes, pronto!"
"Come on, Clank. Let's make sure that doesn't happen." Ratchet whispered whist grabbing his Combustor. As Clank gave him a boost, Ratchet opened fire, landing on top of a stack of crates and quickly taking out the Blarg soldier up ahead. Ratchet jumped to the next cart, which had a silver statue of Captain Qwark on it. A Blarg came running from behind the statue, and saw Ratchet. "What is that, a squirrel?"
Ratchet quickly opened fire and was able to take down his opponent in a matter of seconds. Moving on, Ratchet saw that the next cart had two spaceships on it, and the only way around it was by breaking the grav-wrapper that kept the ships in place.
The moment the orange shield around the two ships disappeared, the two ships fell of the train and exploded. "Heh... I hope that didn't cost too much." Ratchet said.
The next cart were two glass tanks filled with water, with the first one containing a Sharkagator and the other containing a few orange pufferfish-like creatures.
"I'm sure there's a very good reason for transporting killer fish." Ratchet said as he climbed around the tanks, ending up on top of them. He jumped onto the next cart, and immediately two green tentacles shot out of the darkness, through two openings in the roof. "Whoa, live animals on-board!" Ratchet said as he fired a combustor round at both of the tentacles, forcing the predators to retreat. When Ratchet dropped down to the next cart, a Blargian helicopter came flying at him, but a few Fusion Grenades took care of that problem, breaking the tail rotor and sending the helicopter crashing into the cart up ahead.
The cart had been covered in rows upon rows of crates, but most of the crates were blown off the train when the helicopter slammed into them, allowing Ratchet to pass.
The next cart, however, drew their attention. Attached to the cart by several five-inch thick screws was a huge orb. Orange plasma was shooting back and forth within. "That bomb has a five kiloton payload!" Clank said. "It is also proximity-triggered, and will detonate upon arrival at the Hall of Heroes."
"I see, then it's time for an early drop-off." Ratchet said.
Easier said, than done. Four Blarg were waiting for them, and two Blarg assault helicopters provided aerial support.
Ratchet quickly dove behind one of the crates. "Clank, any ideas? I'm not sure if using bombs is a good idea with that bomb around."
"True, I would not risk using explosives. I think, however, that the aircrafts are a much greater threat."
Ratchet nodded as he grabbed his Combustor. Peeking around cover, he was able to get rid of one of the pilots with a lucky shot in the face. This shot would not go unnoticed however, and Ratchet quickly got back into cover.
"Clank, I don't think I can pull off another one of those lucky shots." Ratchet said.
"I have a plan." Clank quickly said. The small robot hopped off Ratchet's back, and dove off the train. "Clank!" Ratchet yelled, but it was too late.
Ratchet took a deep breath. Those Blarg were going to pay. When he quickly peeked around cover, however, he saw Clank coming up behind the remaining helicopter, having used his heli-pack to fly under the train. Due to the noise of the helicopter, the pilot had no idea of the robot landing in the cockpit, right behind him, and when he felt a metal hand hitting the back of his head, it was too late.
Because Clank's hands were metallic, the punch was strong enough to make the pilot lose consciousness. Clank jumped out of the helicopter and managed to land back on the train. Ratchet quickly got out of cover and opened fire on the Blarg to cover Clank so the robot could get away.
But Clank had a different plan. Using the chaos, Clank hid behind the bomb, only to come out of hiding a few seconds later, and with style! Clank had climbed on top of the bomb and suddenly dropped down on the bulkiest Blarg, kicking the enemy in the face hard enough to break their nose. Using the moment, Ratchet was able to take out the three other Blarg. Grabbing his OmniWrench, Ratchet made a low sweep at the Blarg's legs, making the Blarg fall over. Meanwhile, Clank jumped, and landed on the back of the Blarg's head, knocking him out.
"Attention passengers! The A-train will arrive at the Hall of Heroes in a few seconds. Please stand clear.
Ratchet jumped to the locomotive immediately and began to turn the bolt crank with his OmniWrench. Clank followed him and helped him push.
"Arriving in five..."
"Come on..."
"Four..."
"Three..."
"Two..."
Suddenly, the cart with the bomb on it shot loose and stopped pretty quickly, and just in time too. Ratchet let out a sigh of relief. "That was close."
"Agreed. The Blarg must be stopped."
"Indeed, pal."
"Now arriving at: The Hall of Heroes." the speakers built into the train informed, and sure enough the train came to a stop just outside the Hall of Heroes.
The duo got off the train, passed through the gates and walked to the Hall of Heroes. Brax was waiting for them outside. "There you are, rookie."
"Brax, we've just prevented the Blarg from bombing the Hall of Heroes with a five-kiloton bomb. It's still on the train tracks somewhere over there. Don't worry, it's proximity-triggered, but someone needs to disarm it and get it out of there."
Brax' eyes widened. "A bomb?! Whoa, we owe you one, rookie. I'll send a team to go pick it up. Before I do that though, follow me for a moment." Brax said as he walked into the Hall of Heroes, Ratchet and Clank following him.
"We've received clearance to attack Drek Industries in three days." Brax said. "That means, you'll be getting the accelerated course."
They passed by an open door. Ratchet and Clank paused to look what was inside.
It was a small room, and a woman was standing in front of a huge monitor, holding a controller. "That's right, lives-at-home472!" she yelled as she was playing an online game. "What's the matter, don't like getting your butt kicked? Oh, what are you gonna do now, cry to your mommy?"
"Wait... are you really crying?" the woman said as she heard crying through the voice-chat.
"Hey Elaris?" Brax asked. The woman jumped a little. She turned off her game and put down her controller immediately. "Hey, Brax!" she said as she turned around. "Is that my new assistant?" she asked, nodding in Clank's direction.
"Greetings!" Clank said. "Your office is most, uh... impressive." he said as he looked around the room. It almost looked like a broom closet with a few monitors shoved in.
Elaris chuckled. "Elaris here is in charge of developing our gear, and provide tactical support." Brax explained to Ratchet.
"Usually it's the former." Elaris said. "The Rangers are the shoot-first-think-later type."
She chuckled, before realizing something. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like that." she said to Brax, who was spinning his Combustor around absentmindedly. "Like what now?" he asked when he realized that he was being spoken to.
Elaris knelt down, bringing herself to Clank's eye level. "Come on, I'll show you around."
Meanwhile Brax tapped his Combustor against Ratchet's chest. "Let's go Cadet. Time to make you a Ranger."
Clank turned around and watched as Ratchet left the room, following Brax. "I'll see you in a bit!" Ratchet said to Clank before leaving. Clank barely had time to wave goodbye before the door closed. "We're gonna have so much fun!" Elaris said excitedly.
Meanwhile Ratchet followed Brax through the hallways before they reached a large steel door. It slid open in front of them. Brax didn't move. "Well, good luck." he said before he gave Ratchet a push forward. The door closed behind him immediately.
The room was a bit dark, and Ratchet decided to have a look around. He slowly walked forward, scanning the area for potential foes in case this was a training session.
Suddenly, he heard Qwark's voice. "Welcome, Cadet!"
The floor below Ratchet lit up, and before he had time to react a circular panel that he had been standing on flew up and into the air.
Ratchet turned around as the lights went on, and he could see Cora, Qwark, Brax and Hypernova watching him from an observation area. "Let's get you into your new Protosuit." Qwark said as he pressed a button. Ratchet shivered as he felt something crawl up his back. When he looked to his hands though, he saw that they had begun to glow, and a few moments later the glow faded.
Ratchet gasped when he saw that his Protosuit had been teleported onto him. "Your Protosuit is the most advanced combat armor on the market. And it comes in all the latest fall colors!" Qwark said. Hypernova stepped forward. "I altered the design for you. The Ranger Protosuit is made of Titanium and Platinum plating with an inner layer of Sargassian Troglosaur skin. Altogether they should reduce damage taken by 76%. Your Protosuit also provides life support, meaning that you can explore more hostile environments."
The Protosuit was deep blue and orange in color, with extra plating for Ratchet's large ears and tail. The helmet closed automatically, deploying an orange-tinted visor in front of Ratchet's face.
"Sweet!" Ratchet said excitedly.
"The neurosensor in your helmet reads your thoughts and tele-quips the desired weapon into your hand." Qwark said. Meanwhile, the heads-up display in Ratchet's helmet activated, showing detailed info on the armor's condition, the life support systems, weapon ammunition and, of course, the available weaponry.
"Try equipping a Combustor." Qwark said as a weapon rack moved into the room, out of Ratchet's reach. Ratchet opened his hand and focused on the Combustor. Nothing happened. He focused on it even more, gritting his teeth in annoyance. Suddenly, the weapon disappeared, appearing in Ratchet's hand a second later. "There you go." Qwark said.
"Combustor equipped." A robotic voice spoke inside Ratchet's helmet. "Wicked!" Ratchet said, inspecting the weapon.
"The Combustor is the backbone of a Ranger's arsenal, allowing you to his targets on a short to medium range." Qwark explained.
"What the Combustor may lack in stopping power, it makes up for with it's decent fire rate and ammo capacity." Hypernova added. "In situations where you need a fast damage output, the Combustor wouldn't be the best choice, but in most other situations it's a fast and reliable way to deal some damage."
Hypernova realized something. "Oh, and one more thing-"
Ratchet had already pulled the trigger. Not expecting the recoil, he spun around and fell over. "This is embarrassing." Cora groaned.
"Give him a break, I forgot to explain that the Ranger Combustor has more recoil, but deals a bit more damage. He's used to a lightweight Combustor, high speed, low damage and recoil." Hypernova said. "Besides, don't tell me y'all got the hang of your weapons immediately. Anyhow, next weapon. Allow me to give you one of my personal favorites, Ratchet."
The Combustor disappeared, and was replaced with a green, bulky weapon. Ratchet let the back of the weapon rest on his shoulder and turned it on. "The Alpha Disruptor is, in fact, a Lombax weapon, so I suppose you'll feel right at home here. This weapon launches blasts of plasma allowing you to hit multiple targets at once. Let it charge up for more damage. It has a high damage output, but lacks in fire speed and ammunition, you only got a few shots with this thing, so make 'em count."
But again, the recoil took Ratchet by surprise, sending him flying in the opposite direction, and he ended up bouncing through the room, desperately trying to launch himself back to the platform.
"See? He's got it." Brax said. The ammo ran out though, and Ratchet fell to the ground with a loud "Whoa!"
"Sort of." Brax added.
"Hmm... maybe the Negotiator?" Cora suggested.
The Alpha Disruptor was replaced by a bulky orange rocket launcher. "This little baby is the Negotiator." Qwark explained. "Fires multiple long range high-impact rockets. Great versus heavy armor!"
The outcome was Ratchet bouncing through the room again. "Erm... you can use the explosion to launch yourself... if you don't mind losing your legs." Brax said.
"Buzz Blades?" Qwark asked.
The outcome of that was even more destructive, with Ratchet running for his life while multiple miniature circle-saw like projectiles chased him through the room.
"The Warmonger?"
The Warmonger was a massive rocket launcher, having four rockets ready to fire at once. Ratchet ended up getting chased by his own missiles and was barely able to jump out of the way.
"I dunno... Spiral of Death?"
The Spiral of Death had a blue circle-saw made of energy that, when fired, drilled it's way through an opponent before making it's way back to the weapon. Ratchet fired it once, and caught the blade again. He fired it a second time, but he was barely able to jump out of the way before he'd lose his feet. He let out a sigh of relief before realizing that the floating platform that he had been standing on had been cut in half. It fell apart a second later.
"Fusion Grenade?"
"Ooh, I know this one!" Ratchet said as he threw a bomb. "Wait! Don't throw it indoors!" Hypernova yelled, but it was too late. The bomb bounced back into Ratchet's face. The Rangers turned away, covering their eyes. When they turned back to the window...
"Wow." Qwark said.
"Dude." Brax added. Ratchet had been slammed against the window. "How am I doing?" he asked before he slid off the window and fell to the ground.
"Not well. You need more training, rookie." Brax said.
"I have no time to train him!" Qwark said.
"Me neither, I have a bomb to get rid of."
"A WHAT?!"
"Long story."
They turned to Cora. Cora rolled her eyes. "Heck no."
"I'll do it." Hypernova said.
"You?" Qwark asked in disbelief.
"Me. I've probably got the most experience here, so I'd say it wouldn't be more than fitting that I train him."
"You? The most combat experience?" Qwark said before laughing out loud.
"I can defeat an entire army with my bare hands in under a minute. Your turn." Hypernova calmly replied.
Qwark rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
But then he realized something. He shook his head. "Wait, Ratchet has to finish the physical condition test first."
"The what?"
"He has to complete an obstacle course." Brax explained. "I'll walk him through that, but then I'm out to lunch."
"So, what's next? HALO-dive into enemy territory? Sub-orbital combat training?" Ratchet asked as he and Brax walked to the training course right next to the Hall of Heroes.
"In time, rookie." Brax replied with a chuckle. This Lombax sure was eager to get going. Ratchet turned around when he heard metal footsteps behind him, and saw Clank running up to him. Once Clank had attached himself to Ratchet's back, the Lombax took a deep breath and made a run for it. He immediately jumped from platform to platform, before jumping from wall to wall to reach the top of the first tower. Jumping off the tower, Ratchet fired the Swingshot embedded in his left glove to swing to the base of the next tower. Jumping from platform to platform, Ratchet found out that some platforms slid out of the wall, before sliding back in a second later.
They still were no challenge for Ratchet as he kept running and jumping, before finally reaching the top. He jumped off the tower, and Clank activated his Heli-Pack, allowing Ratchet to glide down to the finish line. Brax was waiting for him, an airtaxi had brought him there. "Six minutes. Not bad, rookie."
Brax pointed at the airtaxi. "Take that taxi back to the Hall of Heroes, Captain Qwark has something for you. He's waiting outside the Hall of Heroes."
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine." Brax said with a laugh. "My own taxi should be here any second now."
Ratchet shrugged and climbed into the yellow automated vehicle. It brought Ratchet back to the start of the obstacle course, and he could see Qwark waiting in the distance, standing on the landing pad outside the Hall of Heroes.
Ratchet walked closer. "Since you're now... 'one of us'." Qwark said with a sigh before stepping aside. "I thought it was time to get you a new ride."
"Whoa! A class-g Star Jumper... is this for me?" Ratchet asked.
"Technically it's Galactic Ranger property, but if you survive – erm, complete this super-secret-yet-completely-on-the-level-mission, she'll be yours to use however you like."
"What is this 'secret mission'?" Clank asked.
"I call it: 'Operation: Falling Star.'" Qwark said as he pulled out an infobot.
Firstly, the Ranger symbol was shown on the infobot's screen, in front of a starry background. "Congratulations, cadet! You've been selected for Operation: Falling Star." Qwark spoke.
The video then showed a few blurry image of a space station built inside an asteroid field. "Galactic Ranger intel tells us Chairman Drek has built a state-of-the-art weapons lab in Nebula G34. Your mission is to destroy his top-secret project without - and this is important - telling anyone. Ever. Seriously, this is our little secret."
"Sure, but I don't see why-" Ratchet said, only to get cut off by Qwark. "Please save your questions until the end of the presentation."
The video then showed an animation of Ratchet shooting down some Blarg, it seemed to have been made with a cheap image-editing program rather than animating software. "You'll need to access Drek's laboratory using a Trespasser, your wits, and the kind of fortitude normally found in more seasoned Rangers. Get in, destroy whatever he's working on, and get out. I'll monitor your position from here. Good luck!"
Qwark walked back to the Hall of Heroes. Ratchet shrugged. "Well, the sooner we bring down whatever Drek's been working on, the better, let's not give him the chance to complete whatever it is."
"Agreed." Clank said as he climbed into the ship. Ratchet got in as well, and flew off to Nebula G34.
Meanwhile Hypernova was walking through the hallways of the Hall of Heroes, looking for Ratchet. He ran into Qwark instead. "Qwark, have you seen Ratchet? I was going to teach him some combat tricks."
"Uuh... nope!" Qwark said before he walked on.
Hypernova watched him go, raising an eyebrow. Something was off.
And he was going to find out what.
Alright, let's end this chapter on a note: I'll be updating stories much more frequently from now on. In fact I have two more chapters nearly ready to go, although I'll leave a week in between each chapter to give you all some time to read (and possibly review) so you all don't get flooded all of a sudden.
But yeah, I'm not dead, people! And I'm ready to get this story back on the road!