Hello again! It's just me with yet another chapter. We are now officially 1/5th of the way through this story! Excited anyone? This is where the plot starts, coincidentally. Well sorta. It's fairly interesting to say the least.

So get reading! And a review wouldn't hurt :3

But for now, enjoy :3

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Talwyn asked me as the space vessel came in our view. We had been traveling for 10 minutes to get here, passing a few asteroids here and there but overall it was a quiet trip. Quiet on the inside too. Talwyn had said nothing since we started the ship up and Clank was busy scanning through his files, checking over everything. So I had been left alone in my thoughts, mainly thinking about what I could do to make Talwyn happy, our kiss, and home. Although I'm never sure where that is… They say home is where the heart is, right? My hearts with Talwyn so I guess home would be the Apogee Space Station. I even started think of Cronk and Zephyr. I wonder how they are...

"Yeah, I'm sure. It'll be fine. Just wait until you see my new R.Y.N.O!"

"You got another one. How many have you got now? Four?"

"Five. It's the 5th Gen and I haven't missed any of them."

"Whatever, lets just get this over and done with" She muttered as she rolled her eyes and I once again returned to the thought of being home. I wonder if much has changed in Solana… Did I leave my apartment unlocked that day Tachyon attacked? I bloody well hope not.

"Wow, what's that? Talwyn flung her finger at the far end of the Vessel, which was more like a small space station. It had been torn apart, like another massive ship had come over and rammed it by accident… Or on purpose. Whatever it is, it can not be good.

"Do you think someone has sorted this out before us?" Talwyn asked

"Maybe so, But I still think we should take a look, just incase. And besides, if it has already been destroyed, it just makes our job easier."

"Yeah, I guess…"

As we pulled up beside the gaping hole, we put our O2 masks on before opening the glass hatch of Talwyns ship. Once in space, we stepped inside the station and an uneasy feeling overcame me. The place felt haunted, embrittled with ghosts in a restless, eternal death. I almost jumped when Talwyn slipped her hand into mine but in a sense holding her hand shook off my fears. Even more so when she gave it a little squeeze.

The first room that we were in seemed normal, not including the missing side. There was a messy desk amidst the other tidy ones. Like someone was thrown onto it. A struggle maybe? Or was that Cragmite just a messy worker. Were we even dealing with Cragmites? Was there something worse out there?

I shoved the thought to the back of my head. This was no time for conspiracy theories.

We cut through the desks to the doorway, which was left unhinged, revealing a dark hallway. I took out my wrench and held it ready, but nothing ever came.

As we walked down the hallway, signs of struggle became more prominent. Bullet holes splattered across the walls. Blood smeared across the bullet holes. Odd bolt from was I would guess would be deceased robots. There was definitely some sort of struggle.

"My bio scan reveals that we are the only life forms inside this vessel. And there are no robot power signatures either. We are all alone."

"We'll split up then. Clank, you and Tal will go through all the rooms on the left. I'll go to all the ones on the right."

"Are you sure we should split up, Ratchet?"
"Tal. Stop worrying. It'll be fine. It's not a labyrinth, its a hallway. We'll be as close as three peas in a… Space vessel"

"Alright. Just don't do anything stupid."
"When have I ever done anything that could be classified as stupid?" I tried not to laugh. She did that same and squeezed my hand one last time before we parted. Then we were in separate rooms.

My first room was empty. Nothing at all in it. Only a giant window, and the door I came through. I made my way to the next room. This one was an office. There were bookshelves, a door that lead to a bathroom, and a desk in the middle with a lamp that was still switched on… I edged closer.

There were sheets of paper sprawled out across the desk, each filled with maths, or science equations. I never fully understood either of those subjects, but one thing was clear. At the bottom of each paper, it had the word 'home', and on every other sheet of paper, a red X marked the word, except the top one, which had a dozen or so ticks and a big green circle around the final equation. I took it, as well as a couple of the older ones. Maybe Clank could make some sense of it?

I quickly checked the small door on the back which lead to a broom closet stacked with nothing else but cleaning supplies, and the I made my way back to the hallway.

The other two were still in the room opposite me as I closed the office door and made my way to the 3rd room, skipping the bathroom as I could smell the urine stench without even opening the door, but before I opened the door to the next room, I head a small beeping sound come from the room at the end of the hall. The front deck. I cautiously walked towards it.

"Uhh, Clank! Talwyn! You might want to check this out…" I said as I pushed the door open. Massive puddles of blood lay in 4 different areas in the room. They had a crusty ring around them, but the crimson puddles were still liquid in the middle…. This must've been recent...

"What've you found…" She drifted off as she saw the blood and none of us spoke until Clank made his way to the computer.

"Do you think you can find anything, Pal?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"This computer is unlike any I have ever seen. It's uniquely encrypted too. I am sorry, Ratchet."

"Don't worry about it. We'll leave it up to the galactic authorities. We've done our part. Oh, but before we go, could you have a look this. I found it on a desk that still had a working lamp." I handed him the papers.

His eyes scanned through the three sheets of paper quickly, probably creating a digital copy.

"They appear to be equations for a… Wormhole dev-" A loud beeping noise cut him off and the cragmite computer screen flashed a bright blue colour.

"What's that beeping noise?" Tals worried voice shouted over the alarm as Clank and I neared the computer.

"It appears to be in Lombax." Clank said as I propped him up onto the computer chair again. I had been practising my Lombax reading and decided to have a go at decrypting it

"Worm… Hole… De… Vice… Read… Ey…"

"What!? I told you we should've just left it, Ratchet. Now look at what's happening!"

"We don't actually know what's happening Tal. We're guessing."

"From these sheets of paper. It appears this machine warps you to the place you-"

He was cut off again as the beeping turned into a screeching sound. The lights in the room suddenly turned on. I grabbed Clank, rushed over to Talwyn and grabbed her hand before the room turned back. We fell through the floor and I felt a deja vu moment as I succumbed to unconsciousness.

Well, where do you think they'll end up, eh?

I hope it was up to standard :3