Whoo, I'm back! I don't have plenty of time right now, and since I don't have anything to say that means that I'll get to the reviews right away.
bajy: "Was not expecting this
this chapter was great!
ratchet and Angela getting to know each other
the training: it was sweet!
And I knew H.N. was a lombax under that armor!
How will our lombax friends handle facing hypernova in combat? We'll just have to wait and see
thing's are getting more and more exciting by the chapter
Looking forward to reading more soon!"
Thank you! And you'll be surprised by the story for sure! Here's hoping you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.
Max Chronicle: "Congrats on the birthday bro! I hope you have a great one!
Now, because of some really cool developments, ahem *Hypernova spar* ahem, I'm going to have find something to do while I wait for the next chapter.
(Reads Pre-Story Author Notes) That'll do...
I LOVE it when we get to learn something about something, whether it's a character's backstory or a the in-depth descriptions of power and capabilities, each of these things is amazing and a real (dare I say it) blessing when an author explains something. It's cool.
(And I hope that whoever typed those reviews sees this: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH HAVING A POWERFUL CHARACTER.)
I mean, go look at Nathaniel. From what I've seen of this archive there are only two characters who have the capability to defeat him should he go over to the dark side. And one of them is a character you flat out flamed. Although I don't think about the "balancing acts" that make Hypernova an actual character, it shows that the immortal hero has depth, making the Epilogue series and True Heroes very enjoyable reads.
Plus, HE"S IMMORTAL, using that time to develop plans and back-ups for when things go wrong. It makes perfect sense. He's not "magically having answers to everything", he's thought answers to everything. Then he utilizes them for the sake of epic, SPIZ level buttwhooping. Utterly awesome.
Max out.
P.S. Seriously, if you ever get around to making that game, let me know. I'd love to play it."
Thanks! And I had a really great day, so mission succeeded!
And thank you for the support. I actually wonder what would happen, Simon Vs. Nathaniel...
P.S. I'm a C# scrub so don't expect that to happen anytime soon, but... least I can do is dream, eh? No worries, should it ever see the light of day I'll let you know for sure!
Hypernova allowed his opponents no breathing room as he charged at Ratchet. Angela tried to stop him but he quickly rolled under her attack before knocking Ratchet over.
He followed up by trying to pin Ratchet to the ground, but the Lombax quickly rolled out of the way and defensively pointed one of the wrench's heads at Hypernova.
Said hero moved his right hand to the back of his wrench, letting it rest on the head before suddenly shooting it forward, the heads of the two wrenches locking onto each other. Ratchet ended up getting pinned to the wall by his own wrench.
Angela quickly charged at the two locked wrenches. She rolled under them before suddenly going for a drop kick, throwing her full weight against the two wrenches.
The momentary lack of balance allowed Ratchet to regain control, breaking himself free and going back onto the offense.
Angela slammed one head of her wrench into the ground and launched herself at Hypernova. He quickly held his wrench vertically to tank the impact before countering with a sweep that sent her flying across the room. Ratchet was quick to catch her, thankfully.
They were slowly forced more and more on the defense, until both jumped to the same conclusion.
This situation required teamwork.
Switching from defense of offense all of a sudden would be a terrible idea if not executed properly, but thankfully Lombaxes were anything if not inventive.
And soon, both had a plan. Angela tightly grabbed one of the heads of Ratchet's wrench and he threw her over Hypernova. She landed behind him and switched to the offense immediately.
Hypernova dropped down to his hands immediately while using his legs to throw a powerful kick in her direction, which she countered by dropping on top of him.
Hypernova rolled away in time before attempting to pin her to the ground, only to almost have his weapon knocked out of his hands by Ratchet.
Hypernova smiled, they were doing exceptionally well. He swung at Ratchet to force him to back off before trying to pin down Angela again, only to realize that she had used the moment to get up and attack from behind.
She threw her wrench against his neck at full force, knocking him over and pinning him against the ground.
Ratchet quickly took Hypernova's weapon and used it along with his own wrench to pin his hands against the ground.
"Well done!" Hypernova complimented before getting up all of a sudden, shaking off the weight of the two Lombaxes as if it was nothing.
"Who are you?" Ratchet asked as Hypernova transformed back into his armored form.
"That's a worry for later. It's getting late now, so we're going to call it a day. Qwark had a presentation for us to attend to however, regarding returning the favor and investigating Drek Industries. It's due to start in fifteen minutes in the meeting room on the third floor. See you all there."
And with that, he left. Their wrenches of energy vanished as Hypernova walked out the door, and the training room took on it's normal blueprint-style overlay again.
The two tired Lombaxes walked out the door, then out of the Hall of Heroes altogether. They sat down on the staircase outside the massive building.
The sun was dropping behind the horizon, the light filtering through the urban maze casting golden glows on the buildings. Both felt a cool breeze play with their fur. Normally they would have shivered, but right now it was a welcome gift considering the amount of effort they had put into their training.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Angela suddenly spoke up.
"Hm? Yeah, it is." Ratchet responded, staring at the seemingly endless streams of traffic navigating their way through the city in surprisingly well coordinated lanes of traffic.
"It's my favorite part of the day." she said.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"It's because of the transformation. Not just the whole planet seems to undergo a transformation, but everyone on it does as well. During the day you're all busy and active, but then the sun begins to set. Sunset marks the time during the day when everyone begins to settle down and spend time for each other. It's a time of friendliness and peace, and add to that the wonderful colors that the atmosphere takes on the closer the sun gets to the horizon... I just can't help but fall in love with it every day again."
"If you put it like that... it's kinda poethic."
"Funny how you call it that." she said with a laugh. "I think about it the same way. A day is nothing more than a few lines of the poem of nature."
Ratchet nodded, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go find that meeting room."
They got up and walked back into the Hall of Heroes. Taking the elevators to the third floor, they began their wander through the maze of hallways.
After a few minutes they ran into Elaris and Clank, the former carrying a cardboard box.
"Hey, are you two lost?" Elaris said.
"Yeah, kinda." Ratchet said.
Elaris chuckled. "Happens to the best of us. Whoever designed this crazy place certainly was a fan of hallways. Come on, follow me."
Soon enough they walked into the meeting room. "Whoa, whoa, hold on there." Qwark said, noticing Angela. "Only Rangers." he said, pushing her back out the door.
"And that counts for you, too!" Qwark yelled at Hypernova over his shoulder. "Get out of here!"
Hypernova chuckled. "Go ahead and make me, Qwark."
Qwark rolled his eyes before slamming the door shut in Angela's face. She shrugged and sat down beside the door, waiting for the presentation to finish.
Meanwhile Ratchet, Brax, Cora, Elaris, Clank and Hypernova had all taken a seat around the horseshoe-shaped table.
"Alright, Rangers, our plan of attack is simple." Qwark said as a projector flashed to life behind him and began to show a presentation... made with crayons?
"HALO-drop into Skorg city, fire a whole mess of bullets, and take Drek into custody so we can be home in time for waffles."
"Wait, that's our plan?" Elaris asked.
"Yes it is." Qwark said, proudly staring at his work.
"Pardon me, Captain, but Chairman Drek is cunning. He will be prepared for our assault." Clank remaked.
"Look, I think it is beyond adorable that you decided to do all this homework, but big heroes do big things. Each second we waste talking is a second Drek could use to destroy another planet."
"But wouldn't it be worth taking five minutes to review our plan? We have holo-schematics, and-"
"Does anyone else feel like we should've shot something by now? Because it really feels like we should have shot something by now." Brax tiredly said.
"Thank you." Cora added.
"Let's take votes. All those in favor of kicking in Drek's front door with a massive arsenal and restoring peace to a galaxy in turmoil, say aye!" Qwark said.
Brax, Cora and Ratchet immediately said "Aye!"
"And all those in favor of nerding it up here with some charts, say nay!"
Elaris, Clank and Hypernova immediately said "Nay!"
"Motion passes, we attack Drek Industries tonight!" Qwark said.
"But there were an equal amount of votes for both options." Hypernova said.
"I vote aye as well."
Hypernova shook his head. "Oh, Captain."
"What now?"
"Overconfidence, is a flimsy shield. Think of that." Hypernova said before leaving the room.
"So? What's the plan?" Angela said, getting up as soon as the door opened.
"Doesn't matter, you're not going planetside." he said. "You know how to keep yourself safe, but this mission will be far more dangerous than Batalia."
"But I want to help! I can't just let you people go down there-"
"Yes, you can and you will." Hypernova cut her off. "You're heavily underestimating what will be facing you down there. We're heading into the heart of the Warbot factory. To all Rangers, even Ratchet, firing a Combustor has become second nature and they can do so with barely having to aim at all. For you this is not the case, thus please, stay on the Phoenix Mothership and practice your aim. I don't want to sound harsh but I don't want to see you get killed. Just... please sit this one out. And I'm sure Elaris could use your help."
She sighed, letting her back rest against the wall whilst staring at her feet. "Fine." she eventually said.
A few minutes later the rest of the Rangers left the meeting room after a discussion regarding the weaponry they would be taking with them, and in Qwark's case, how they should be posing in the images for the covers of the newspapers.
While Brax, Qwark and Cora disappeared into the hallways, heading to their quarters, Ratchet grouped up with Angela and Hypernova, who were waiting for him. He turned to Clank when said warbot left the room. "Hey Clank, you coming?"
Clank shook his head. "I am afraid I cannot. I promised to assist Elaris with some work she has yet to finish. I will spend the night here if you do not mind."
"No, that's okay if that's what you want. In that case I'll see you tomorrow, pal." Ratchet said. He waved at Clank as said warbot glanced over his shoulder one last time before disappearing around the corner.
"Well," Hypernova said, "I talked to Elaris about the Rangers all having sleeping quarters here, and unfortunately there's no room right now for either of you to stay here for the night. I'll be spending the night elsewhere myself as well. If I weren't almost broke I'd give you both some bolts to get a hotel room with, but it seems you two are on your own. I'm sorry."
"That's okay. Thanks anyway." Ratchet said.
Hypernova nodded. "Alright then. Remember be here tomorrow at nine o'clock."
"We got it." Ratchet said. "Have a goo night."
"Same to you, amigos. See you tomorrow." Hypernova said before walking off.
"Well, shall we?" Ratchet asked. Angela nodded. "Let's go."
They walked through the maze of hallways for a few minutes before finally coming across an elevator and finding a way out.
After walking down the long bridge to the Hall of Heroes they used an air taxi to get to a more populated area of the city a few blocks from the Hall of Heroes.
Night had fallen by now, and Aleero City was beautifully lit by lights embedded in th ground and walls.
They tiredly stepped into the lobby of a hotel. Angela sat down while Ratchet got them a room.
When he returned, she got up, and together they dragged themselves up the stairs to their hotel room on the third floor. "There's one thing." Ratchet said, turning a bit red. "This was the last room for two persons that they had available."
"Meaning...?"
"The beds aren't separate." Ratchet replied, using the card he had been given to open the door.
"This is probably gonna be awkward." Angela said as they stepped into their hotel room.
"Not if we don't make it awkward." Ratchet said. "Let's just not think about it too much."
She nodded. With neither of them having any sleepwear, they brushed their teeth with the toothbrushes provided by the hotel before stepping into bed in their normal clothing, though they took off their shoes.
"Well, goodnight." Ratchet said before he killed the lights, shrouding the room in darkness.
It stayed silent for a few minutes.
"Ratchet?"
"Yeah?"
"Doesn't it hurt you, that Hypernova has the answers you seek but won't give them?"
"It does." Ratchet truthfully replied. "I honestly can't stand it. Like, the answers I always wanted are right in front of me, but I just can't reach them. That stings."
"What do you think of him?"
"I dunno." Ratchet said, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. "He seems to be my only true relative left, but... no name, no face, it's hard to keep in mind that it's a person when you got no name or face to tie the personality to."
"So I'm not the only one feeling that way."
Ratchet nodded.
"I'm sorry." she eventually said. "I wish you would remember your parents, or at least got to meet them. Having no memory of your past is... hard. Feels like a piece of your soul is missing."
"Yeah. How do you cope with that?"
"...I don't. It constantly hurts me that I have nothing to live for. I don't even know who I am!"
"I'm sorry for you."
"Thanks. Having a friend helps."
Ratchet chuckled. "That so many things can happen in the span of just one day."
"It's strange. I've only known you for hours, but I feel like I've known you for months."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Depends, but I'm thankful for it. Thank you for being a friend."
Ratchet nodded. "Well, we'll see what happens tomorrow, eh?"
Angela didn't respond, likely she was already falling asleep. He shrugged with a smile and rolled onto his side before he slowly fell asleep as well.
The next morning Angela woke up to find herself wrapped in Ratchet's arms. She quickly got up, blushing. Ratchet woke up several minutes later, only to see Angela already put her shoes back on.
"Morning." he said with a yawn before getting out of bed himself. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him. Her hair was a mess, she soon realized, so she quickly got to fixing that. Silently, Ratchet didn't mind, it looked cute on her.
Once they were both ready to go, they went downstairs and checked out before heading to the Hall of Heroes. Upon arrival they noticed the large vessel hovering in front of the building. Brax was standing outside, waving at them. "Great to see you, Rookie! And, uh... who's this by the way?" he asked.
"I'm Angela, pleased to meet you." she said.
Brax frowned. "Do you know how to handle yourself in a fight when you don't have backup?"
"I don't want to find out just yet."
"You're not going planetside, hm? Well, that's okay. Nothing we can't handle, eh Rookie?"
Ratchet smiled and nodded. They boarded the large vessel. "This thing never ceases to amaze me." Ratchet said.
"Heh, I can relate to that." Brax said.
They set sail for Quartu a few minutes later. Brax went to his quarters on the lower deck to get his gear ready, Qwark was nowhere to be found and thus downstairs as well, Ratchet assumed, and Cora was doing a check-up on the Ranger Star Jumpers.
Ratchet quickly got to helping her, being a mechanic, while Angela met up with Elaris and Clank at the bridge. "Hey." she said.
"Hiya! Ready to get going?" Elaris excitedly asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Angela said as they left the cerulean atmosphere of Kerwan behind and engaged the jump drive. They would arrive at Quartu in half an hour. Grouping up with Clank, Angela walked to the hangar bay where Ratchet and Cora had just finished their check-up, concluding that all ships were in mint condition. After grouping up with Ratchet they began to explore the large ship.
Upon reaching the mess hall, they found Qwark and Brax sitting at a table, discussing some parts of the attack plan over a bowl of soup. They sat down next to them, Brax saluting them while Qwark didn't seem that happy, truthfully.
"Hey, where did you guys get soup?" Ratchet asked. Brax pointed at a device in the corner. "There's a tank in the floor here with that stuff. It's no award winning stuff, but for travel supplies it sure as heck isn't that bad."
Brax informed them that they would split up upon landing, he and Qwark would flank the east and Ratchet and Cora would take the western side of the production facility.
Soon enough the moment came for them to disembark the Ranger vessel and head into the unknown.
"Be safe down there, will you?" Angela asked as Ratchet was about to head to the airlock. "Don't worry, I'm not dying today." Ratchet said before he walked off with Clank and disappeared around the corner.
Upon reaching the airlocks, Elaris came walking up to Clank. "Alright, you remember how to activate the jetpack?"
"I do."
"Great. Remember, it's powered by Ratchet's Proto-suit. Don't try any solo flights."
"I will endeavor to-" Clank began before he was cut off by Ratchet. "He's in good hands, Elaris."
Qwark came walking up to them, eyeing Clank. "You sure you want to take the, uh... 'extra baggage'? No offense, but we're dropping straight into a cauldron, and you know what's inside that cauldron?"
"Is it danger?" Brax asked as he walked past.
"It's... yes, it's danger."
"Let's roll!" Brax yelled. All of the Rangers save for Elaris took position on the vertical airlock, each of them having deployed their helmets.
"Alright, team. Let's bring it in. Remember our target is Chairman Drek. Ready, Rangers? On the count of three!"
They were suddenly shot out of the Phoenix. "Three!" Qwark yelled, laughing, before blasting off with Brax and Cora following him. "Keep up, rookie!" Cora yelled over her shoulder.
"Alright, pal, are you ready?" Ratchet yelled over his shoulder.
"Well, I, uh-"
"Ratchet activated Clank's jetpack through his suit, and off they went. "Wo-hoo!" Ratchet yelled as he passed Brax, who gave him a thumbs up. Ratchet then rolled past Cora before overtaking even Qwark.
As they passed trough the dense, polluted and cloudy atmosphere, the surface slowly came into view. Ratchet couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the planet. Buildings spewing out dark smoke arose from a foggy and dark abyss, Ratchet could vaguely make out some elevated plateaus, and the dying plantlife inhabiting them. It was terrible, the sickly dull green atmosphere only adding to the depressing scene.
Ratchet landed on a walkway outside the production facility. "Ratchet to Rangers, I've landed in Quartu, but I've run out of jetpack fuel." he radioed as he saw Brax and Qwark head to the eastern side of the facility. That's when Ratchet noticed something. "Hey, where'd Hypernova go?"
"Up here." Hypernova radioed. "I've decided to stay aboard the Phoenix and help Angela with training."
"Oh. Well, wish her good luck." Ratchet replied. "Elaris, any status on defensive mechanisms?"
"Negative, scans show no outer defensive mechanisms. That does not mean that they may not be anticipating some kind of attack."
"The bridge is out, follow me." Cora said as she and Ratchet walked up to a gap in the road leading to the western landing platforms. "I'll hit the switch, wait here." Cora said before using her own dwindling jetpack reserves to cross the gap and activate the bridge. Immediately a few hatches embedded in the walkway opened up, and thousands of drones began to flood the area. "Retract it, retract it!" Ratchet yelled.
"You sure?"
"I'll make it!" Ratchet said, swinging his Omni-Wrench to keep the enemies at bay. Cora forced the bridge to begin retracting and Ratchet quickly boosted himself across with Clank's Heli-Pack.
"Good work, Rookie." Cora said. To their surprise, the landing platforms were deserted save for the empty shuttles. One shuttle was missing, their design identifying it as the spacecraft that Clank had escaped in. To their surprise, the door was wide open. They cautiously made their way inside.
"I'm in." Qwark radioed. "Any sign of Drek?"
"Negative." Brax responded. "The place looks deserted."
"My internal coordinate system indicates a right turn up ahead." Clank remarked.
"Eh, my guts say this way, Clank." Ratchet replied.
"Glad you're getting in touch with your feelings, newbie." Cora said. "But we're turning right."
"Because?"
"Because I'm your senior Ranger and I say so, that's why."
"Okay, okay. Geesh, freaky." Ratchet muttered.
"What's that?"
"Huh? Oh, erm, I said, thank-y, for those words of wisdom!"
"Good save." Clank remarked. "This feels too easy. Why was there no alarm?"
"It is strange, everyone, stay sharp."
Suddenly, they all heard movement in the distance. Brax quickly turned around, but saw nothing. "Anyone heard that?" Qwark radioed.
"Engaging motion scan." Cora said. "I'm getting something."
"Yeah, me too." Brax said.
Cora began to feel more and more nervous as her sensors picked up more and more movement, before Ratchet suddenly yelped and pulled on her arm, turning her around.
A swarm of airborne robots was ganging up on them, one of them yelling "Yo-hoo!"
"Zurkons!" Cora yelled.
"Mr. Zurkon is looking to kill you!"
Brax wasn't having an easier time either, flying up into the sky whilst dual wielding Combustors to engage the robots ganging up on him. "Boom, baby!" he yelled.
Brax quickly switched to a Pyrocitor and destroyed the robots flanking him before taking the Alpha Disruptor out for a spin.
Meanwhile Ratchet and Cora sprinted through the hallways, trying to avoid the torrent of plasma sent their way whilst firing a few shots over their shoulder. "Wait, I got a plan." Ratchet said, switching out his Combustor for his Omni-Wrench. "Are you insane? What do you plan on doing with that thing?"
Ratchet suddenly stopped and began to spin his wrench around. Having a single-ended wrench meant that he required a greater speed, but he was up to the challenge. Spinning his weapon around at a high speed, Ratchet used the storm of fire sent his way to his advantage, redirecting it to the synthenoids firing them and destroying the majority of them. Cora had taken cover in the meantime, taking down some Zurkons with her Combustor.
"Heads up!" Ratchet yelled, grabbing the Buzz Blades and aiming it at Cora.
"Whoa!" Cora yelled, getting out of the way just in time. Ratchet fired a blade, hitting a crucial door component and causing it to shut, blocking out the Zurkons. They could vaguely heard a robotic 'ow!' from the other side as the Zurkons slammed into the door.
"Nice shot." Cora said. "Do that again and I'll shoot you myself."
Cora walked into the room. "What is this place?"
"Huh." Ratchet said.
"If I may." Clank said, dropping down from Ratchet's back and walking to a data terminal in the center of the circular room before he began to type on the keyboard. "Hmm... fascinating."
"Is there any data you can pull?" Cora asked, keeping her weapon aimed at the door.
"Negative, the data drives seem to have been wiped."
That's when Clank suddenly had an idea. "Hold on. Perhaps..."
Clank opened up his chest compartment and took out the infobot that Ratchet had found on Batalia. It still had not woken up, Clank and Elaris had concluded that something was interrupting the startup sequence.
Wiring it up to the computer terminal, Clank suddenly found the problem. The poor infobot's data drive had been wiped of all artificial intelligence, turning it into a lifeless chunk of metal. It had never had any personality or mind, or at least, it had been deleted. Clank realized that the infobot must have been marked as 'lost' and remotely destroyed. He was able to recover a single line of code however, one that made him tilt his head in confusion. "How unusual."
"What did you find, pal?" Ratchet asked, who was keeping an eye on the only other entrance to the room.
"Nothing." Clank quickly said as he typed in the code he found on the keyboard. What he had found was invaluable, but he simply did not have the time to explain it.
As expected the code restored the data drives, or at least to some extent. Digging through the info however, Clank found nothing but facility logfiles from months ago, except one file that stood out. Clank opened it up. A holographical screen popped up above the keyboard, and various schematics were displayed. "These are plans for some kind of Blargian aircraft manufacturing plant." Clank remarked.
"A what and where?" Ratchet asked.
"The place where they build their ships, Rookie." Cora said.
"I am now cross-referencing the provided coordinates with a galactic map." Clank said. "Ah. The facility seems to be located in the rainforests of planet Arylis."
Suddenly, the door Ratchet had been covering was blown in, with an army of Zurkons approaching.
"Looks like it's time to get out." Cora said, trying to stay calm.
"You're not kidding." Ratchet replied.
Aaand I'm gonna leave you all with that there, they're stuck in a small room with an army of Zurkons swarming in! About the next chapter, as you can see I cut Ms. Zurkon and Clank's infiltration entirely but for a very good reason, which you'll see later down the line.
I hope to see you all in the next chapter. Until then, reviews are most welcome and appreciated, flamers are not.