It took Ratchet and Clank several days to reach Novalis. When they got there, the beautiful city of Lux appeared before their eyes. Even in the airspace, it was possible to see that technological development is at a high level here. Clean, nice buildings and streets, security everywhere, including the automated one, and airspeeders flying in the sky.
After landing in port, our dear Lombax and his mechanical companion left their ship and headed for the checkpoint, which the eighteen-year-old quickly remembered was going to be a problem.
"Shit," Ratchet whispered.
"What is it?" asked Clank, who was currently attached to his organic companion's back with a magnet.
"I forgot that they check the arrivals through their blood samples, and knowing that my last visit here ended…not so nice, we can assume that I am sort of wanted here."
This of course intrigued the robot and he even wanted to ask for details, but decided it was not the right time. They both have to come up with something to get past the controls. After briefly evaluating their options, they both found a way out of the situation. Ratchet went to the restroom, then let Clank into the ventilation shaft before returning to the line for inspection. It took the green-eyed robot a few minutes, but he managed to find the fuse box. He opened it and turned everything off. This created a bit of chaos, which Lombax took advantage of by turning invisible and sneaking past the guards and energy sensors.
Once Ratchet was on the other side, Clank joined him after a while.
"Good job, "Agent." – complimented Lombax.
The robot laughed slightly, then jumped back onto its companion's back.
For the next hour, the two headed for the Vanguard Tower, the Guardian's HQ. It was there that Ratchet figured he would find information about the Scorn Barons, and Clank would give his information about Drek. But when they reached the foot of the Tower, they encountered a new, or in Lombax's case, an old problem.
"I don't fucking believe it..." commented the eighteen-year-old.
In front of the entrance to the building were an awakened man, a brown-furred Cazar woman and an Exo, namely Zavala, Ikora Rey, and Cayde-6, Leaders of the Vanguard and Guardians. Beside them stood Aunor, along with two other members of her Order.
Seeing that they hadn't noticed him yet, Ratchet hid in a nearby alley and use an outfit changing device. Now, instead of a dirty, damaged poncho, he now wears a black leather hooded jacket, black cargo pants and combat boots, a red faceless mask, and black Iron Lord bracers and pauldrons, the only piece of his old armor he managed to salvage from Eramis Stronghold.
Once he changed his appearance, the boy and his companion decided to blend in with the crowd of other Guardians and try to get inside the Tower. He was almost there when he suddenly felt someone touch his shoulder. He turned to see an angry Cayde.
"From where. You have. Those bracers?" Exo asked menacingly.
Ratchet decided to play the fool and directed his gaze to the said piece of clothing, then to the Exo, after which he simply, by using sign language, replied that he just found them.
Fortunately, this information apparently calmed and saden Cayde, who apologized for his behavior and returned to his companions, having previously wished a nice day at work. Seeing he had an opportunity, Ratchet quickly began to run towards the building but he was stopped again, this time by Aunore.
"Wait a minute, Guardian. Let me just check something, okay?" she said. Disguised Lombax, of course, was shaking his head and pointing at the Towers, signaling that he was in a hurry. The woman, however, did nothing about it and pulled out a crystal ball from her bag. This one, after touching Ratchet's chest, start vibrating and then began to fly around, hitting several Guardians before exploding in white, chaotic fire. When the order member saw this, she summoned her fiery sword and aimed it at Lombax. "You have returned, Demon of Darkness."
Seeing that his identity had been discovered, Ratchet quickly headbutted the woman and then ran to the Tower, beginning a pursuit.
After entering the building, our heroes began to head to the command room, where information about Scorn should be located. Instead of using the elevator, Ratchet decided to use the stairwell and use teleportation to speed up. Considering he can only do short teleports, it took him a few minutes. However, when he reached the appropriate floor, he came across representatives of the Praxic order waiting for him.
"I don't have time for you, morons."
The boy drew his dark revolver. Once known as Rose, it has now become her dark version, The Thorn. A thickened barrel, dark, greenish smoke coming out of the hole meant that this weapon was no longer an ordinary weapon, but one of the Weapon of Sorrow.
Lombax aimed Thorn at the members and hit each of them with bullets. The Lightbearers felt their Light being burned out and destroyed, as well as their bodies, which soon caught up in green flame and killed them. Their screams didn't phase the eighteen-year-old.
After a short moment, Ratchet and Clank reached the room. The boy fired a couple of bullets at the ceiling, causing the workers to run out in fear, leaving Lombax and the robot alone.
"Go check what the Vanguard has on the Scorn. I'll secure the perimeter." - ordered the boy.
"Was it all necessary, Ratchet? After all, they are good people," said the bot.
However, Clank did not receive a reply from his companion, so he began to search for information. During this time, Ratchet set up a small defensive post at the entrance.
Few minutes later, the door to the room burst open and several Guardians entered. Without thinking, Lombax began to fight them hand-to-hand. After defeating each of them, Zavala, Ikora, Cayde, and Aunora came inside. The latter, without any tactics, rushed at the young adult with a fiery sword in her hands. This proved to be more damaging to her, as Ratchet managed to disarm the woman , previously dodging a few attacks then use her weapon against her by swinging her sword like a baseball bat, resulting in her scream of pain and landing on the floor.
Before Lombax could react, he felt something hard hit his chest. It turned out that Zavala charged using his shoulder as a battering ram. Awoken managed to pin his opponent to the desk.
"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" he shouted.
Ratchet did not answer these questions and merely teleported away from the man and then fired a few bullets. However, the leader of Vanguard managed to use his metal shoulder pad as a shield and protect himself.
Before Lombax could figure out what to do next, he felt an electric smell start to float in the air. So he looked back and saw Cayde and Ikora using their Arc Light.
"Okay, buddy. Give us a reason not to kill you on the spot." - said the Exo.
Ratchet quickly realized that he was in quite a predicament. On the one hand, he has the right tools to save himself, but on the other hand, it could kill his uncle and rest. And he didn't want to it.
Fortunately, he didn't have to stay here long.
"Ratchet! I have the data!" shouted Clank.
Lombax quickly teleported to his companion, then ran towards the large window and jumped through it, destroying it in the process and leaving shocked Vanguard leaders behind.
Falling down, Ratchet managed to intercept the airspeeder, which was being controlled by a robot. Lombax grabbed the driver then threw him away, allowing the eighteen-year-old to take the controls of a vehicle. He was about to head for the port when he saw a few Praxic members chasing him. Clank also noticed this and informed his companion that there was a hydro station outside the city where they could hide.
It took them a few minutes, but they arrived safely at their destination, if we can consider "safe" as a jumping out of the speeding vehicle and smashing it against the rocks. When the boys managed to land safely on the ground, they quickly found out that they were surrounded by their pursuers.
"Surrender, demon! You have no chance with us or with our Light!" shouted the captain. Then he and his colleagues rushed at Lombax simultaneously.
Ratchet, however, had no intention of dying here, so he decided to quickly deal with the opponents. So he teleported himself up, leaving a mine on the ground. This one exploded as soon as the first Praxic member approached and knocked down and stunned everyone. Lombax then landed smoothly, then took out Thorn and started packing bullets into their foreheads.
After defeating this group, Lombax and his mechanical companion entered the hydro station where they were going to hide. It took them a few minutes, but they managed to find a good hideout, which was ... a small cleaner's room.
"Who uses this place? Halfling?" Ratchet commented on his current hideout, where he had already spent a good hour. It was cramped, uncomfortable, and smelled of rotten underwear. "And that stench, bleh!"
"Hehehe. Good thing most robots don't have a sense of smell," Clank said.
Few seconds later, the door to the room opened, which caused the guys to fall out with the rest of the things.
"What is the name of my grandmother's pants?!"
Both escapees looked at the person who had spoken. He is an old male Novalizian, a race of bipedal humanoids with gray skin and small spikes on their heads instead of hair. This man is wearing a yellow plumber's uniform.
Seeing that someone had found them, Ratchet and Clank quickly got to their feet, and then Lombax aimed Thorn at the man, to which he did not react at all.
"Seriously? Do you know how many times this has happened to me in my life? Be a good boy and go fuck yourself," said the plumber.
This attitude surprised the young adult. Usually, most people hide at the sight of a gun pointed at them. Seeing that it was different here, the boy put Thorn back in its holster.
"Sorry, sir. I just didn't know if you were a friend or an enemy," Ratchet explained.
The man waved his hand at this, then took the toolbox and then went on his way. With nothing better to do, Lombax and his bot followed him. After a while they found themselves at one of the pumps, which clearly needed repairs. The plumber set up his equipment and began to repair the machine, cursing occasionally under his breath. Seeing this, Ratchet decided to help.
"You need help? I know my ways around mechanics and electricity."
Novalizian agreed to the offer of help and told the boy what had to be done. Thirty minutes later, the pump started working again.
"Thanks for the help. It probably would have taken me longer. You seem to know your job. Don't you want to be a plumber?" said the older man.
"No, thank you. I doubt I'll be able to stare at a plumber's crack for the rest of my life," Ratchet replied.
The man laughed at what the eighteen-year-old had said and thanked him again. As a reward for their help, he told the guys that there is a Tobruk town not far from here, where they can find shelter or a ship to get off the planet. Lombax and his companion thanked for this information and went there. They managed to actually find a ship to go to another planet (they actually stole that vehicle). Once they had left the atmosphere of Novalis, Clank informed his companion of what he had learned about the Barons. According to this information, there is one Guardian on Kerwan, Captain Qwark, who supposedly works with Drek from time to time. With this knowledge, Ratchet set a course for their next destination.
The first thing Rivet felt when she woke up was a huge pain all over her body. Everything felt heavy, making her unable to move. After a short while, she realized that she was in a hospital room. The air smelled of drugs, and the walls were white as snow with pictures of Lombax's anatomy and x-rays. This worried the girl, because she concluded that she must have been hit hard.
However, this was not the end of surprises.
"Lord Wrath, with all due respect, there are no visiting hours at the moment. The girl still needs rest."
"I know that, Dr. Nefarious, but I just want to make sure she's okay."
A conversation could be heard through the door to the room. After a while, two people entered the room. The first was a robot, with a purple colored body, large green egg-shaped glass on its head, and a white lab coat. The second person was a man wearing a jumpsuit and metal gloves, shoulder pads and leggings. He has two hilts and a pistol on his belt. His head is covered by a helmet with a T-shaped visor. The whole outfit is in dark gray with red trim colors.
Both men were unaware that the person they mentioned was looking at them. After a while, however, they looked at her and were surprised to see her awake.
"Welcome to the world of the living, kiddo. It's good to see you alive." The man said.
"I agree with Lord Wrath. Your injuries were extremely serious. So much so that we had to make some… changes," said the robot.
Rivet was confused about what the robot said, then looked down at her body and started screaming. Her arms, legs, and even some parts of her body were now mechanical. Seeing this, young Lombax began to hyperventilate, which did not go unnoticed by the men. Wrath ran to the girl and tried to calm her down, but it was no use and only resulted in him being punched and thrown towards the wall. Panicked by all this, Rivet jumped out of bed and ran out of the room. During her escape, the girl noticed that many people in the building were Lombax, but she was too scared to care right now. After a while she managed to reach the door leading outside and ran through it.
Once outside, Rivet ran to the nearby balcony and saw the city inside a huge crater above. There were Speeders, civilians, and the entire civilization. And the best part is that many of the people here are Lombax.
After a while, white-furred Lombax heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around and saw the robot she had met earlier, a man, and a couple of bodyguards. As soon as they saw that the girl was looking at them, they stopped.
"Relax, young one. You are in no danger. On my word of honor," said Wrath.
Seeing so many people, Rivet took a step back and leaned against the railing. Unfortunately, the railing loosened and caused the girl to fall. Deciding that this was her end, Rivet closed her eyes, expecting to hit the ground. But nothing happened. So she opened her eyes and saw that she was levitating. This surprised her a lot, because she didn't think she could do it. Suddenly she began to rise up. She then looked up and saw that Wrath had his hands outstretched towards her, which he then raised. After a few minutes, Rivet found herself on the balcony again, where medical workers then placed her on a hospital stretcher and drove her to the building.
It's been a few hours since the incident. From the moment Rivet was back in her hospital room, she hadn't moved. All she did was stare at her new arms and legs, still unable to believe that something like this had happened.
"I understand that this is a terrible experience for you, but believe me when I tell you that our doctors tried everything to save you in one piece." said Wrath. The man did not leave the girl alone from the moment she was back in her room. He just sat next to her and watched her.
Neither of them spoke for the next few minutes, which was then interrupted by Rivet.
"W-what happened? What about my companions? Phantom and Quantum?"
"They're fine. Both of them are currently in the barracks, where they are probably sipping Old Fashioned with ice. As for what happened, a month ago, you and these two were captured by Senator Nefarious' security and then transported here to Odessen. My organization and the senator are on friendly terms, and that's why we've taken care of you. We questioned your companions, who then told us that the rest of your team left you for dead. Additionally, they've informed us that the three of you have had doubts about the Militia for some time. So I offered them to join the Alliance, and they accepted the offer. I'm not offering it to you because you're underage and I hate the concept of child soldiers," Wrath explained.
Hearing all this, the girl did not hide her surprise. A whole month? She and the others had been abandoned by their comrades? This made her very sad and angry, but not surprised. As the guys said, she also had some doubts about her organization and made no secret of the fact that she wanted to leave its ranks. Apparently, fate helped her in some way.
But she had a few questions.
"I see. Why did you give me these prosthetics? What have you even done to me?"
"For that second question, you'll have to ask Doctor Nefarious, the Senator's brother. He was the one who performed the surgery on you. As for the first question, if we let you die, your mother would murder me."
"Wait, mother?"
At that moment, a woman entered Rivet's room. She is wearing dark blue armor, which evidently not only protected, but also gave a lot of freedom of movement. Her face was very much like Rivet's, only older. She even had the same fur color, gray with blue stripes.
"Rayla…you're alive," the woman said with tears in her eyes.
Seems this day is full of surprises for a young Lombax.
