Trials and Abrogations

Chapter 1: Afterwards

"Come on," I tell Clank as I stand up, "we don't wanna keep her waiting."

Conflicting feelings run through my gut as I move to exit the museum. I feel Talwyn's eyes on me and an aura that is a little less depressed but no less sad, and after admitting I'd stay here, half-directly at her, my judgment's no better. I move my feet tentatively, but I refuse to stop them.

In short, all the choices I've made today have been impulsively quick and questionable.

On the Nebulox, I chose to worry about the Progs instead of thinking about Cronk and Zephyr primarily. I was hasty to go after the twins instead of retreating to Igliak. Risking to trust Neftin's word instead of going at it on my own paid off, but now I'm trussed into the most unnerving situation resulted from this impulse: the swift decision that we should go to where the Progs turned themselves in and demand answers for their crimes.

I'm not knocking the idea, just going over in my head about the speed I'm taking things. I mean, just a few hours ago, I was shooting Nether Blades and strafing back and forth along crumbling chunks of platform waiting for the big bad 'Mr. Eye' to faint. I thought about waiting a day or two to see if Vendra and Neftin would be sealed in a jailhouse and be what I guess you could call 'settled in' before we visited, but I was anxious.

More than that, I knew that we needed answers. I owe that much, and undoubtedly more, to Tal.

I hardly say anything to her as she walks by my side departing the vast gallery - until I begin to wonder what's taking Clank so long.

"What am I going to do with him?" I chuckle in Talwyn's direction. "Such a slowpoke."

I expect a witty response more on the lines of 'Must get it from you,' but I get instead a weak, "Yeah."

"Hey, Clank?" I wait for him to turn around to continue. "You comin' or what?"

"Yes, I am!" Clank turns with a whir and runs toward Talwyn and me.

When he halts by my feet, I casually grin at him, then Talwyn, but she's late to return it. I clear my throat, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. "Alright." I set Clank to my back and lead out.

"You seem anxious, Miss Apogee," Clank condones quietly as we are set aglow by the early evening sun.

My eyes that were following Clank's voice glance down to the concrete leading to the glass skywalk where I parked Aphelion. I stop, mainly so I don't walk away rudely as Clank's trying to talk.

"I honestly don't know what to feel right now." Talwyn sighs. "The fact that we're going while the events are still fresh is good, yet heart-wrenching at the same time. I just still need to get my bearings, that's all."

Her voice has grown faint, and I turn to see her looking off in the middle distance, hands holding her elbows and wind fluffing her hair.

"We don't have to do this so soon, Tal," I try to reassure her, get her to come back down to Igliak from her skyward mind. "We can wait a day or two, wait for a call, or something-"

"No." Determination's striking her face, her eyebrows knit and fists tight at her sides. "You guys said they have those answers, so I'm getting them as soon as I can. I don't wanna wait for the media to start storming the place for interviews or autographed mugshots. We need dibs." That last part was meant to be lighthearted, but it didn't seem to show in her eyes as convincing as it did in her tiny smile.

I nod and walk on, but she's not following. "My ship's this way, y'know."

She grins coyly. "Sorry, Zephyr just spent sixty bolts filling up mine. I'll honor him a little by showing my appreciation."

She re-enters the museum, and my gaze follows her until she disappears.

I want out of this area now; this museum is starting to feel like not only an awkward place but a spooky one. Upon crossing the threshold, I could've sworn I heard ghosts but...

Nah. It's just been a long day.

One of the few jailhouses on Igliak is the Meridian City Penitentiary along the city's outskirts; the next nearest one I know is the Decagon in the crime-riddled Stardust City, south of Luminopolis. From what I hear from locals, Meridian City Penitentiary, or the Pent, holds so many floors that it took almost five years to drill enough space to landscape it. Another rumor I hear is that the space used for it once held a raritanium mine, dug up by the landscapers and used to fund the place.

Though I personally never want to experience being jailed a third time in my life, I'm curious to see how this Penitentiary matches up to both Vartax and Zordoom.

Once out of the city, you can easily take in the expansive heights of each building from afar. The Penitentiary exists in its own little - er, colossal - bubble, bordered with the city off to one side and fields of grass not bothered by innovation on the other. The building is a tall rising dome that sits on top of a hill, which I assume is the drop leading to unseen, underground jail cells. A corn maze of gates and fences also catches my attention from the air. They weave through the perimeter in a large box, most likely starting from one side and ending at the base of the hill to the building. Now that I look at it, it's more like a labyrinth. I wonder how the Progs got in without Neftin pounding down the gates or Vendra lifting them away.

I find signs directing to a docking bay at the building's north side, but it looks completely reserved for the staff. I try to fly atop to the building so I can see more, but the closer I get to it, the stronger I feel a nostalgic force pulling me back. I stop mid-air and see satellite-like barriers revolving around the Penitentiary that create a forcefield over the entire landscape.

The central controls beep as Aphelion's voice chimes sadly, "I am sorry, Ratchet. My Xulian overthrusters are unable to penetrate the penitentiary barriers."

"It's alright, Aphelion. I'll see if I can touch down elsewhere," I say, making a 90 degree turn and continually scanning out the cockpit below.

"I do not believe they are apt to having visitors," Clank says next to me.

"If not, looks like they're gonna have to start a new tradition."

After circling the streets for another five minutes, I finally find a spot that won't get me fined two blocks off. I hook Clank to my back and walk down the practically soundproof streets. It kind of feels refreshing to get out of the city bustle.

"Well, here are the gates," I announce when approached. "Now, how to get inside...?"

"Freeze!"

I turn left to where the voice sounds, and a guard in a light blue uniform marches armed and angry.

"I've waited six months for this..." he muses, stopping in front of me and clicking his gun back. "I didn't quit my job at Galaxy Burger not to get paid to shoot one day..."

Hands half-raised, I stammer, "H-hey, I'm not looking for any trouble-"

"Who are you?"

My head tilts perplexedly at this, though it's kind of relieving to know that some people aren't familiar with me. I'm plenty used to guns in my face, but I'm unnerved by the way he comes closer to me, backing me into the hexagonal chain link fence. Well, Clank's face, for the most part.

"I'm Ratchet..." I say and swallow. "This is the real me, no hologuise or anything...You can even pull my tail to know it's me, though I wouldn't recommend that..."

I feel my elbow being jabbed and hear a balked version of my name behind me.

"Oh." I turn three-quarters around, probably convincing the guy that I carry a death-bot as a backpack by the way Clank's most likely glaring at him. "Mind letting me move up? My pal Clank's getting a little squished..."

He does step back but refuses to lower his weapon. I feel a tug at my back as Clank detaches himself, approaching the guard with a calm and reassuring face.

"Sir, we are active members of the Polaris Defense Force," Clank explains, easily reaching in his chest compartment and showing his PD badge with matching photo.

Why do I hesitate to show mine? Let's just say when receiving identification badges someonethought his foundation was going to melt if he had to sit any longer under the beaming hot spotlights, ruining not only his dashing good looks but making the makeup label look bad; thus, while disobeying the logical and simpler order of tallest in the back, decided to make himself next in line after me, tripped over some taped-down cords, and viola. Snapshot of my mushed face and my left eye poked by his large finger. He then had the nerve to go up to the holoscreen displaying it and comment to himself, I even fall like a superhero!

Time was money and each member had only one shot. I have yet to get mine retaken.

I nod and display my badge, my fingers over the picture.

"As such, we are allowed access to buildings that need our reconnaissance." Clank steps closer, and the guard points his pistol at my pal's little head. I'm by his side with a small glower set to my face. "We are here to acquire the containment status of Vendra and Neftin Prog."

"We have a rule here..." the guard glances away for a second, "Uh, 97-A: 'No outside parties permitted for visitations until we contain, decontaminate, and detain prisoners for at least 24 hours.'"

"If possible, could a supervisor verify our profession and honor our request despite that rule?" Clank asks.

"He's in a meeting now. Be ready to sit out here for a while. If I take it through him, he'll let you in. If those badges aren't something printed freely off the Holonet or something."

"We can assure you they're the real deal," I say, pocketing my badge. "There's someone else we're adding to our party: her name is Talwyn Apogee. Can you remember that?"

The man answers by slowly placing his weapon in its holster, pacing around, and muttering commands through his comm-unit. He gives a few stiff nods and more mumbling before turning back to Clank and me.

"Alright, Fuzzball, here's the deal..."

I listen while trying not to laugh at how watery that name-call is.

"There're little crimes riddled all over Meridian City. My boss says Polaris Defense dispatches squads for these, and he wants to see you in action. Either he needs to see you on the news tonight wrangling a Blargian Snagglebeast, or you two bring any criminal here. That's how you'll prove your status."

"You're kidding," I deadpan.

He shrugs. "Hey, this Pent is in the city's name but that doesn't mean any of its employees live here. Not all of us know you as the Famous Ratchet or whatever your title is. People like me, we're from the densely populated towns on Igliak, y'know?"

I go to give a smug reply but my nav-unit flashes on my chest. I patch the holographic transmission through.

"Ratchet, come in. Looks like we got a bit of a problem." It's Tal, and her face looks pretty grave.

"A bit I could deal with now," I reply.

She shakes her head at me. "Well, here it is. My nav-unit is picking up a league of Thugs infiltrating the Meridian City Bank!"

"Looks like their boss didn't pay them like he promised," I say, thinking of all the gripes Neftin barked at the mercenaries hired to kill me. "Trace the Thugs' location to my nav-unit. I'll see you there." She nods.

"Assuming Miss Apogee is part of the operation?" Clank asks.

I quickly end the transmission if she hears that. "What, you don't want her to be?"

"This is Thugs-for-Less. A mercenary group hired for killing," Clank seems to remind me. "It does not seem reasonable to put her life in danger."

"Clank, she carries an Alpha Disruptor."

He gives me an unconvinced, half-lidded look.

"Just sayin'. She's a pretty good shot."

We hurry back to my ship; I have Aphelion come closer to us as soon as we're out of the forcefield limits. I start up her thrusters. "Well, Aphelion, looks like we found ourselves some live bait."

The sky is a dusky yellow and blue, dark enough for breaking and entering. I pull the steering wheel back toward my chest, taking us up almost ninety degrees into the clouds.

"I'm 275 cubits above the bank now, Tal," I communicate through radio with her on-screen. "Three Thug dropships are sitting out front and...yep, one's illegally parked in handicap."

"One more was flying a little too close to me before you got here, but I was riding his blind spot. I think it might still be lurking through the air. It's already crashed itself into seven other ships that got in its way, trying to keep them away from here," Talwyn says. I see her ship fly in behind mine.

"It sounds like the ship that tried to ram us, Ratchet," Clank says worriedly.

I nod. "If so, we'll have to think of another way in."

Talwyn glances below. "By the looks of things, none of the ships unloaded."

"Must be waiting for an initiation."

"Do you suggest we land in front of them and engage?" Clank asks.

"Not really," I answer him. "They'll ambush us before we can even open our cockpits."

Talwyn is making a quick command for backup, and during this, Clank mutters to me:

"Then, the best way in..."

"Is up," I finish. I speak up now that she's done. "You may think I'm crazy, Tal, but we've gotta do a HALO jump to the rooftop."

To this, she looks at me, then Clank, then raises an eyebrow at me.

"That is not happening," she says sternly.

"Aw, come on!" I crack a smile, trying not to laugh at her. "It's exhilarating! Helps clear your head!"

"It is also a Top Twenty for bucket lists," Clank adds with a giggle.

Talwyn ends her transmission on-screen and switches over to my nav-unit, her holographic face lining up with mine.

"I trust you, Ratchet...Since I do, you're sure this is 'exhilarating'?" She's shaky, but her voice is also softer.

"You bet." My smile turns warm, and so do other parts of me for a sec, then I shake it off with an exhale, leaning back in my seat. "You ready for this?"

She fully cuts me off now. From close behind, I hear a loud scream, and it takes me a second to realize Talwyn did it. Then she's back on-screen only to say, as if complying originally, "Ready."

Our ships are on autopilot. The cockpits open, wind flapping my eyelids and gums. I wish I could turn around and see Talwyn's likely big-eyed expression, but the ejector seats deploy. I latch Clank to my back as the descent begins.

I finish my descent quietly activating Clank's heli-pack; Talwyn fires up her jet-pack, smoothing down her hair with one hand and taking out her blaster with the other. I want to ask how the ride was but, again, she's taking out her blaster.

While the rooftop is pitch-black, I don't risk activating my Clank light, even atop an eight-story corporate bank. The roof is a large concrete square with various cast-iron pipes, water tanks, and a fire escape that resembles a trap-door. I crouch near the northwest corner just far enough to look down unseen despite the darkness.

When I look over, I see one Thug with a helmet approaching the entrance, tossing in his hands what looks from here like a large rock.

"What do you see?" Talwyn's silhouette whispers.

"I was expecting droves, but there's only one Thug," I reply, turning my head a little. "He might be using the old-school rock-in-the-window break-in."

Clank moves a little along my back, and asks, "Could you move aside for a moment, Miss Talwyn?"

She does, whirling around and propping up her blaster. "What, did you see someone?"

"I do not know..." Clank answers dismissively.

"I think we should watch each other's backs, Ratchet," Talwyn suggests firmly. "We don't know where the Thugs will be popping up."

"Yeah..." I hop to my feet, grabbing my wrench. "Alright. We'll take the fire escape down to the-"

A resounding explosion cuts me off. I crawl over the edge again, seeing if the explosion will send the building crumbling over itself, but it is less destructive, shattering only the glass, which I see spraying out with light and smoke. I should've known it was one of those firecracker Thugs. As the smoke clears, the dropships empty, scores of Thugs cackling as they march inside heavily armed.

"Let's go!" I call, and Talwyn and I run toward the fire escape.

I activate my Clank light, crouching down to the ground door. Just as I'm about to open the hatch, the door flings back, clanging like a dropped gong. My large ears ring profusely, and the sound of Thugs jumping out with battle cries registers like I'm underwater. I bite back a swear and leap back, my grip tight on my wrench.

Three Thugs flank Talwyn and me in a semicircle, the ones in front of each of us raising their spiked clubs intimidatingly around their tongues. The one in the middle sizes us up, his hands behind his back, where I'm sure he's hiding an equally deadly weapon.

"Looks like it's a pretty fair match," I joke. "Three against three..."

I hear Clank's head snap back to look at me, then he sighs and shakes it.

"Look, Boris, he's like a big fluffy teddy-cat!" He pats the softer end of his club against his hand.

"No, lookie here, Gleb! I ain't never seen so many curves beneath a body suit!" This one looks close to drooling.

His comment earns a growl from Talwyn and a blaster shot to the face. The Thug bends back in a fashion I've only seen in holofilms, then springs back dumbfounded.

"This broad's got skill!" Boris comments, and Gleb laughs.

The one in the middle snaps his fingers on both hands, which orders the two to freeze and stare at us.

"You got a name, too?" I ask the middle one foolishly.

The leader tosses his head as a nod, using one hand to pull down some of the belts on his armor and letting us see the tattoo on his chest: VLAD.

"Huh." Then I duck with a swing to the groin at Gleb, the Thug front of me. He doubles over, whining about the "immense level of pain."

Boris comes toward me, bothered that I hurt his friend. I flap my hand, inviting him, slapping the head of my wrench into my palm. Then, a whistle cuts through the clear air. Talwyn is levitating high with her jet-pack, twirling her blaster. "You're mine, Boris."

I smirk her way with an affirmative nod. Gleb looks finished nursing his crotch, now seething mad. His long jaw slacks, his tongue slithers out, stilled by licking the spiky points again.

"Let's see how you like nails up your crotch, Lombax..."

My smirk widens. "I'm sure it isn't worse than the embarrassing itch I got from Qwark's Personal Hygienator."

"We'll see!"

Gleb throws his club back underhand, ready for a low but devastating swing. I expect it and back-flip out of its way. He charges forward and strikes his club against my wrench, throwing his weight over me. I drop to one knee, a few spikes coming dangerously close to my eyes.

"Clank," I grunt, "my belt...Quantum...Repulsor!"

My knee's about to give out. I feel Clank's extended arm scramble through my belt until it grabs my Quantum Repulsor. I take it in my left hand, fumbling for the trigger.

A bright flash of shockwaves reverberates through my hand and into the air, sending Gleb high across the roof before he tumbles backwards. Once his head slams against the water tank, he's out.

I scan the skies until I find Talwyn, who's trying to take down Boris midair. She looks fine, so I focus on the eerily quiet Vlad. What kind of weapon is he hiding? He continues to stand in a nonchalant pose, his eyes towards me.

"Alright, Vlad, show me what you've got."

I can tell this Thug doesn't say much, so I'm sort of making a guess at when he'll attack, and with what. He mutely reveals what was behind his back: small, triangular throwing knives wedged between each knuckle. He chucks one at me, and it nearly grazes the tip of my ear; I pull them back protectively against my head. I think about using my Winterizer to transform the knives into Christmas tree cookies, but my hesitation allows Vlad to make another move; he jumps atop a pipe structure, his weight teetering it a bit. He gains leverage, fist raised to aim at me. I prepare for it, but I don't prepare for him to aim his other hand, whilst his eyes still on me, aiming somewhere off my light source. I see glimpses of shiny sharpness shoot down somewhere on the tiled concrete, while others take aim at my face. I strafe and use Clank's heli-pack to scale a water tank, becoming level with the Thug. There are overlapping pipes that act as a momentary fort as I plank flatly, ears to tail, to load my Plasma Slayer.

"What is he doing with those knives? He seems to throw them aimlessly," Clank ponders to me.

"Unless you count me as aimless," I joke, tilting my gun so the ammo rolls into the barrel.

"He may have an ulterior motive, Ratchet. Be careful."

I use the modified night-vision scope to follow another awkwardly thrown knife. Some flag seems to hang off the handles as if pointing off landmarks. I zoom in to level 3 and see it's aimed for one of the water tanks, but I can't make out the addition.

"Well, if he was aiming for Tal, he was way off," I comment, noting that the tank is just below where she's still flying and shooting.

I hear a sharp, metal-on-metal stab that startles me, and it doesn't take me long to realize Vlad aimed for the water tank I'm crouching on. I squeeze my face into the space below the pipes to look down, letting my Clank light decipher the object's strange attachment: a mini pyrocidic blaster mine.

The second I'm about to scramble up and leap for my life, Vlad presses a button that detonates the water tanks. The explosion doesn't drain the water from the point that he inserted the blade but shoots out with plenty of force to the top. I guess they acted as a sort of syringe for the bomb. I'm blasted high - any higher and I'd touch a star cluster - and I wonder how Clank is taking it as we're both engulfed by water. It's enough to distract and disallow him to break my fall, and I slam hard on my back on the jagged hole in the top of the tank. The sharp, jutted edges dig into the back of my neck and the small of my back. I feel blood there and bruising throughout my back, but it's nothing a little nanotech won't fix.

I shiver in the night air, my pressurized Nebulox suit not apt for swimming conditions, sopping wet against my fur. I groan and sit up on the intact edge, shaking water out of my right ear.

"You alright, Clank?" I cough and snort water out of my nose.

"I am feeling a bit under the weather," Clank grumbles shaking water out of his chest compartment. Guess his mouth was open.

Ignoring how messy we both feel, Clank helps me descend the tank, and I run toward the other one. It suffered the same fate, its water completely wasted and pooling on the rooftop. I don't see Talwyn, and I glance around and call her name.

"Right here," she says, sounding both embarrassed and angry.

I shine my Clank light to where her voice directs, and I find her sitting on the wet floor, some of her hair matting wetly to her face. I gape at her, but I don't realize I'm shining directly into her face as if she's a caught crook. She shields her eyes and glares in my direction; because there's only one setting to my light, I aim it off at her feet so she can adjust. Once she does, her eyes are big and her frown is deep. "Went for a swim too, huh?"

I chuckle. "Caught me by surprise."

"Me, too. Damn water extinguished my jet-pack."

"Explains why you look so chill now."

My chortle dies out as Tal halfheartedly lifts her gun at me.

"It seems the Thugs ran away," Clank notes, bringing us back to the serious matter.

"Probably down through the fire escape," says Talwyn, standing up and rubbing her bum. "Let's stop fooling with these Thugs and stop the ones that are stealing the city's bolts, huh?"

We slide down the long golden rod to a catwalk, descend the stairs, and reach the highest floor. Red carpet interior leads to an elevator, and a steel door opens to a stairwell.

"Stairs," Talwyn commands. "Elevator's an unwise gamble."

I glance down at long, steep stairs circling down into a hidden abyss of more stairs. There's a magnetic strip that goes down the walls, and where it ends in stairs, it makes up for another descent on the other side. I leap toward it and hope I'm not falling as my heart jumps to my throat, but I feel it knock against my pulse as I'm magnetically pulled to the side wall. I turn my head to the right at Talwyn, wondering how she'll get down.

"I'm pretty light on my feet," she says, reading my mind again. "Race ya down!"

With a giddy grin, I begin my descent that appears sideways from her standpoint. By the time I gravitate toward the second strip, Talwyn's descended five flights of stairs. She's still a way's above me and the time I clear twenty, she's out of sight.

I hear Clank call my name occasionally, but I'm so far in the lead, I ignore him.

Once I'm at the bottom of the lobby floor, it's clear I'm victorious. I wait by the elevator where I catch my breath for practically no reason.

"I almost want to start whopping Thugs without her," I exhale to Clank.

"I wonder why Miss Talwyn wanted to make a game out of a mission..."

"Lightens the mood when you're about to risk your life, pal. Organic protocol." I fan myself.

He seemed to ponder the correlation between life expectancy and risk-taking until he and I hear the stairway exit door open.

I straighten, hold up my wrench, and expect a Thug, but it's Talwyn, and she holds out her arms.

"'Bout time you showed up!"

There's not a drop of sweat on her! "What- How-"

"I tried to tell you, Ratchet," Clank says with a shrug.

"The elevator was a gamble, and I took it." She grins devilishly and turns so I won't see it. "You'll have plenty of time to see me beat you in a race later, come on!"

Despite our fun, we get back to business immediately. Tal's warning was right; Thugs have begun rioting. The expansive lobby is a drunken party of papers flying through the air, Thugs shouting and knocking into each other to grab money bags, and shattered glass from teller booths, countertops, and two chandilers littering the red carpet floor.

Most importantly, I hear screams echoing around the room as civilians and workers scramble out of random blast ranges and into doors or corners of walls.

"Tal, get any and every citizen inside evacuated to safety!"

This way, if things go wrong, the innocent don't have to go...

As she moves, I shake my head and focus myself. I dig through my belt and summon a Zurkon family to stop Thugs from coming in or out. They make noisy comments about earning kills in exchange for bolts as I run back toward the vault.

About three scores of Thugs are helping themselves to bags of bolts as big as my whole body. Some pass them along like hot potatoes while others try to carry armfuls. I whistle and shout to get their attention. About half of them stop and look my direction. I see Gleb and Boris again, and they converse.

"Aw, he's even shorter and furrier in the light!" says Gleb.

"Hey, isn't Boss still offering that 10,000-bolt bonus for his head?" Boris suddenly asks.

"His butt's in jail! Ain't that why we're robbing banks, ya fool?"

Boris gets a slap to the back of the head. "Hey, you wanna go?"

"No, stupid! We're supposed to be killing the Lombax! You want free money and a bonus, yeah?!"

"Oh, yeah! He owes me for the crotch swing and the bump on my head!"

About forty other swords and clubs raise in one fluid motion.

"What were you thinking, Ratchet?" Clank mutters.

"Don't ask."

A pile of K.O.'d Thugs and empty artillery clips later, my heart's struggling to keep up with the constant dodging, lunging, and strafe-flipping. My Zurkon Family reloads are running on empty, and I won't be able to barricade the Thugs for much longer without backup. I haven't left the vault area, but I'm relieved there's no more screaming.

"How's the evac going, Tal?"

A sword slash distorts her face for a second, and so does the fact that the attack's proximity sends my heart into overdrive. "Surprisingly well. I downloaded a floor plan from the computer and ran a bioscan to make sure no one was left behind. I've got everyone out by the fountain a few hundred cubits outside the back emergency exit."

"Nice work." My smile couldn't be more grateful.

She smiles back. "Looks like you're having a ball in there. Backup should be here by now!"

"Eh, no need. Think I've got the weapon that'll finish the job. Something that'll scream stop robbing our bank, y'know?" The thought just came to mind.

"I hope it is not extremely destructive," Clank groans. He knows me too well.

I smirk. "Time to raise hell."

I use this next move to justify the evac. There's a strange, sudden silence broken by shudders and gulps as I pull back the safety on my R.Y.N.O Extreme.

When I say I raised hell, let's say it involved countless surrendered money bags, tons of tripping, a few cries for mommy, and just a wee bit more structural damage.

I find myself laughing at this circus performance while I listen to the doom music installed in the gun. Laughing feels pretty damn good.

It turns out that the backup Talwyn called for was working to take out the ramming dropship. Although they didn't follow her order, she was grateful for that. Galactic Rangers throw Thugs into transport vessels.

The other dropships were tipped and bound by Mag-Nets, courtesy of Polaris Defense. It eased us having to chase Thugs if they escaped. Meridian City police have also managed to come now that the threat to the sky's defeated, and they've placed a hefty parking ticket on the dropship in handicap.

Clank, Talwyn, and I sit on the wings of our ships while the work switches over.

"Does this mean we could see the Progs now, Ratchet?" Clank asks.

"I think so. The Thugs are headed to the Meridian City Penitentiary for questioning. I hear the police will give us the credit."

"We can finally get those answers." My tiny pal sounds both serious and relieved.

I notice he said we; Clank and I are also moments away from hearing the horrible truth. I lean my throbbing head on the cool exterior of my ship. My eyes drift to the sky, the glow of Clank's eyes in my peripheral. He's observing me, and I'm tempted to turn away because I know what he'll ask next.

"Are you alright, Ratchet?"

I turn on my side and don't answer him immediately. Talwyn looks at me, too, now that I'm facing her, and I feel stuck in the middle. She's going to be asking the questions while Clank and I listen; at least, that's the plan. I imagine how hard that would be for her if I wasn't here. Death persuaded me to run from this galaxy once, but I wouldn't dare do it now with this interrogation coming. My words back at the museum come to mind again. I couldn't read her mind then, and I couldn't now. For causing this mess, I want to fix it. I turn back where I was and sigh. "Not really."

A police officer approaches the three of us with a small notepad and flashlight. "Could we ask one of you some questions?"

"I'll go," Talwyn volunteers, passing Clank and me with a grin.

We return it, and once she's out of the parking lot, I lean back on my elbows. Soon, I think, she'll be asking her own questions.

"She was smiling."

"What?" My thoughts break as I turn to Clank.

"When Miss Apogee executed her HALO jump, her eyes were closed, and she was smiling." Clank playfully nudged my elbow. "You looked like you wanted to know."

This is why I love this guy. Clank sees sky when we jump as well as in every situation with his enlivening words. Talwyn probably thought of Cronk and Zephyr and the battles they related each jump to. My eyes close, and I see my fur billowing in a fall, two old warbots hooting beside me.

"Glad to hear."