Chapter 9: Call to Adventure

Planet Auznath

The trio touched down outside a formidable factory nestled on a plateau. According to the records that Clank had downloaded, there were only three mapped facilities on the planet; the Magmus-Trillilan Maximum Security Prison, a fuel refinery, and lastly, Nebula-Star's factory and warehouse. There were an estimated additional ten thousand commercial and private facilities scattered on the surface and underground. Each one supposedly holding some sort of treasure that the natural hostile fauna of the planet unknowingly protected.

They readied themselves with a few weapons being that for once, they were able to land within walking distance of their intended destination. Talwyn plowed ahead as if she had gone into overdrive to reach the main office. Ratchet still wasn't even sure that the power generators produced here would mesh with whatever Erus had been working on, and the fear of what Talwyn would do if they didn't hung heavy on him. He jogged to catch up to her, racking his brain for something to say.

"Hurry up you two," she said in a friendly, yet slightly annoyed voice.

"Take a breather, Tal, the factory isn't going anywhere," Ratchet said in between huffs. Though he meant to lighten the mood, he only received a glare from his friend.

"This isn't a joke Ratchet." Talwyn snapped at him, though she immediately softened and added. "I just want to get this done ASAP, okay?" she said with a pleading face. Ratchet didn't know what to say to that so he just nodded 'yes' and continued to follow the markazian to the visitor's lobby of the factory.

It was a bit of a museum with all manner of historical and educational tidbits on display; how long the factory had been there, the history of Nebula-Star, and interesting facts about Auznath. The trio walked up to a reception desk where a robot was lounging lazily in his chair; hardly anyone came here. Talwyn had to clear her throat several times before he realized that they were standing there.

"Hello, and welcome to one of Nebula-Star's glorious facilities." he drawled without even looking up. "My name is GX77821, or Xavier, how may I help you today?" the robot finished, hoping that the lot would just go away so that he could get back to his recharging.

"Yes, we heard of a new product that you just started mass-producing, we'd like four of them please," Talwyn said, forgoing the stupid get-up that they had used at Neutron Power Inc.

The robot answered in a dismissive voice. "Though Nebula-Star encourages our guests to buy their products, we are not currently completing any direct sales from the warehouse. If you'd like, you may fill out an order form and someone will contact you within four months."

"Please, Xavier, we've come a very long way. We'll even pay double! But we need these generators today." Talwyn said, hoping that the robot would have a stroke of empathy.

"I am sorry," he replied in a tone that led to believe he wasn't sorry at all. "But we are not currently completing any direct sales from the warehouse. If you'd like, you may fill out an order form and someone will contact you within four months," he repeated. Talwyn stormed off in a huff, her face visibly hurt. Ratchet furrowed his brows, angry that they had come so close, twice now, and they hit the same stupid wall. He gripped the desk and leaned over so that his face was just inches from the apathetic robot's.

"Look here you tin-can. We did not come all the way here to be told that we have to wait four months just for someone to call us. Now you either sell us those generators or your next job will be a toaster." Ratchet said threateningly. The robot seemed all of a sudden to care now that his life was on the line.

"Look you, it's not just us. Absolutely no companies are letting any of their inventory go. They have it all under lock and key after what happened two days ago." he said, his metal teeth chattering.

"Excuse me sir," Clank piped up as he jumped onto the desk. "But could you explain to us exactly what happened that has brought about this change in policy?" he said in his typical polite manner.

"Oh, so I guess your manners never transferred over to him huh?" Xavier replied pointing a thumb towards Ratchet. "Neutron Power Inc. has a research facility on this planet. Several of them in fact. One had a break-in. The thief took some artifact that the scientists had been researching. Rumor has it that it's cursed. Some old legend or something. Plenty of people go looking for treasure in abandoned facilities around here, but never before had there been an actual burglary. It has gotten all of the company leaders upset and now they're trying to increase security of their inventory before opening it to the public again." he cowered beneath his desk, avoiding the lombax's glare. "Please, that's all I know, I swear!" Ratchet still looked at the bot with contempt, his temper getting the better of him. "Look, look! If you can go out to one of our facilities and do a check on the security there, I might just be able to put your order through today. Okay?" he said, hoping that the rest of his life wouldn't be spent as a kitchen appliance.

Ratchet straightened and took a breath. "Okay, deal, so where is this facility?" he asked.

Just a few hours later, Ratchet was able to land Talwyn's ship in a clearing barely large enough for it. He looked to his two friends. Clank was perusing the information he had downloaded from the holo-net. Talwyn was equipping extra clips for her weapons onto her belt.

"So, you sure you want to do this Tal?" he asked her, looking out towards the mess of foliage that was the jungle of Auznath. "I mean, we can always try the Neutron Inc. place again."

"Ratchet, it says here an estimated twenty thousand adventurers, treasure-hunters, and thieves have died while exploring this planet," Clank said with a hint of worry.

Ratchet looked towards his long-time friend who was almost always right in these situations. He then turned his head to Talwyn, who was waiting for them to get ready.

"No, Ratchet. We've come all this way, and I'm going," she said, waiting patiently for the other two. When both the lombax and the robot realized that it was futile to convince her otherwise, they themselves headed over towards the loading door and slid it open. A rush of warm, humid air affronted them along with a menagerie of sounds. "Come on," Tal said, jumping down from the ship. "According to my nav-unit, the coordinates that the bot gave us are this way," she said as she plowed through the jungle. Ratchet gave a sigh as he followed after her.

Despite being that most of the creatures that they encountered wanted to kill them, Ratchet had to admit that the planet held quite an impressive variation of lifeforms...If only they'd stop trying to tear his head off. Some sported more natural-tone colors to camouflage into the surroundings. Others were vibrantly colored to match their ferocity. Ratchet watched as Talwyn jumped and swerved while her plasma blasts found their marks in the creatures' heads. He thought himself to be pretty nimble, but she was bending and flipping in ways he never thought possible. Ratchet followed close behind her, finishing off any of the stragglers that were hiding in the bushes.

However, with each kill Talwyn put on more and more speed. Each step was just one step closer to keeping her father's work alive. She had gone on autopilot and soon Ratchet and Clank were left behind, having only the trail of carnage to follow. Clank didn't like this, he was worried that much like Ratchet sometimes, Talwyn was taking on more than she can handle.

"Ratchet, do you still have visual contact with Miss Apogee?" he asked from behind his friend.

"I don't, Clank," he replied back simply. Ratchet was busy trying to catch up with his friend, but the dense jungle and numerous murderous insects made it hard to do. However, he seemed to gain a lot of speed when he heard a cry from somewhere ahead of him. "Talwyn!" he shouted, hoping to hear an answer. However, he and Clank only heard more cries and yells. Ratchet took out his Negotiator and used the large, powerful missiles to blow a clear path through the jungle. He clicked his hoverboots on and shot off in the direction of the screams. He kept calling for Talwyn, but it wasn't until he arrived at a small clearing that he got any answer.

She was cornered by a nest of some nasty little insects and it seemed that she was trying to fight them off by brandishing a large branch. They had six legs, five eyes, and some very dangerous looking mandibles. There were about seven of them closing in on her, it was then that she saw Ratchet. "Ratchet!" she cried out. "They ate my pistols! I have no firepower!" she explained. However, Ratchet had already destroyed the nest from which the nasty little things had been coming from and then quickly dispatched the ones around Talwyn.

"Are you all right Tal?" he asked once he finished them off. "You're not hurt, are you?" he added as his eyes quickly scanned her body for any injuries. Seeing none, he let out a relieving sigh. "Try and stick together okay Tal? I know, I know." he quickly added before she could interject, "Not a single pirate or villain would want to be on the receiving end of your pistol. But even then, strength comes in numbers."

Talwyn sighed, not wanting to admit that he was right. "Oh, alright, I guess. But really, you shouldn't worry about me so much," she said as Ratchet handed her his Nitro Bombs. "But it's nice to know that your friends are looking out for you," she added as she slipped the glove onto her hand and nodded at it appreciatively. "Come on, the facility shouldn't be much farther ahead." Talwyn once again started to take out the murderous fauna while she headed down the path she created.

Ratchet followed a new path of carnage, this time trying to keep up with its creator. However, Talwyn's blind determination had a familiar feeling about it, and his mind drifted to a time several years ago when he had found Alister on Torren IV. Alister had good intentions as well, Ratchet would always respect that, but all the loyalty that Alister had was lost on his lack of reasoning. It was this heroic flaw that drove him to a state of insane determination. All of his values and inhibitions were thrown to the side in order to achieve his goal. He had wholly embraced a path in which the end justified the means. And he had paid the ultimate price.

Ratchet had always kept his opinions on the likelihood of Talwyn's father still being alive to himself, out of respect for Talywn, of course. But it seemed that as the years went on, it was becoming harder and harder for her to continue believing it as well. Perhaps the loss of Cronk and Zephyr made Max's mortality seem more real. Ratchet was afraid that her almost unhealthy focus on her father would lead her down a similar path.

"Come on you two! What's the big hold up?" she said impatiently. Ratchet, broken away from his thoughts, hurried on, not wanting Talwyn to run off on her own again. He made his way through the leafy foliage and caught up once more to his friend. She had stopped shortly before a clearing and motioned for Ratchet to hide with her behind a jutting rock. She pointed towards the clearing where there were three more of the insect nests...along with a nasty beast of an insect hovering over them.

"I think it's some sort of Queen," Talwyn whispered to him. "What do you think?"

"I think that my RYNO VII will handle it easily," Ratchet whispered back with a smirk on his face.

Clank, who had been eerily silent spoke up. "Ratchet, does the 'Queen' look like she has any armor-like pieces on her exoskeleton?"

"Yeah, why?" Ratchet asked, checking the ammo clip of his RYNO VII.

"Similar-bodied species in the Solana galaxy are known to have exoskeletial armor that is almost as strong as a Class 12 constructing material. There's no way to know for sure without doing a cross-DNA examination, but this species could be very similar."

"Meaning?" Talwyn piped up, starting to get impatient again.

"Stealth, instead of force, may be our best option in this situation." Clank finished, waiting for this to sink into Ratchet's mind as he put away his RYNO.

"Great, the slow way," Ratchet replied, still siding on the side that it would have worked. Talwyn huffed next to him, frustrated about the setback yet at the same time knowing that Clank was right. The statistic that he had cited back at the ship crossed her mind. She too reluctantly put away her loaned weapon and followed the robot's calculated moves around the nest.

Clank's sensors were all working at their maximum to keep track of the numerous irritating insects, as well as their Queen, as his super computer mind came up with the route of least detection. Even so, he still calculated a 42% chance of failure, in which they would be discovered. He could sense the heightened heart rates of both his friends. Not only for the situation at hand, but also for this mission, and their larger goal. Clank could tell that the past months of uncertainty had taken its toll on Talwyn and Ratchet. They both seemed...edgier than normal; well, whatever would be considered 'normal' for intergalactic heroes who had to suspect trouble around every corner. He only hoped that the whole fiasco would be behind them soon enough and that they could get on with enjoying the peaceful lull that had graced the Polaris Galaxy. An internal beeping from one of his sensors made him speak up once more, though in an even lower voice.

"Stop," he said simply, the small party coming to a halt in a patch of large, leafy ferns. Clank waited until the insect that his proximity sensors warned him about passed by, unaware of the three hidden in the shadows. After checking once more, he nodded and the trio continued on their way. They expertly hedged their way around the nest, going from hiding spot to hiding spot, thanks to Clank's precision timing. It seemed they were nearing the edge of the insect's territory when a troop of some very loud, high-flying creatures crashed through the tree tops, swinging this way and that on the vines. The sudden noise and invasion of space riled the nest, and disturbed the roaming patterns that they had previously settled into. Amidst the chaos, Clank's sensors were useless, and so the trio did the only thing they could. Run.

At first it seemed that the insects were too confused to notice the small group making a mad run towards the safety of the dense jungle. Unfortunately, luck had not been on the trio's side for some time, and it was no different now. A scout spotted them, almost crashing into them as it was zipping erratically through the air. At the sound of its cry, the whole nest seemed to zero in on the three small figures who were so close, and yet still so far away from their goal.

"Uh, Ratchet? I do believe that we have been spotted." Clank said nervously from Ratchet's back. Meanwhile Talwyn blasted a few insects off-course out of their way. Ratchet at the same time knocked them back with his wrench, at the same time ducking and swerving from their attacks.

"Yeah, we've noticed." He replied. The other end of the clearing was only a hundred yards away. He saw an opening in the confusion, grabbed Talwyn around the waist, and then activated his hover-boots to boost him across the remaining stretch. The insects followed, closing in on the trio, their collective humming becoming deafening. But at the last second Ratchet dove through the small space in the bush that marked the end of their battle. The insects congregated near where the intruders had just disappeared. But in a change of fate for the trio, the dense brush offered no space for their bodies or wingspan. Content that the intruders were gone, the hostile bugs slowly made their way back to their nests, taking once again their casual patrols of their territory.

"Wow. That was close." Talwyn said, shaking her head. Though a muffled groan from beside her snapped her from her thoughts. She then realized that she had landed alongside Ratchet, whose arms were wrapped around her protectively. A warm blush found its way to her face as she realized how much she enjoyed the sensation.

"Hey I don't consider the day done until I've been through at least three near-death experiences." Ratchet joked as he came to. He heard a mumbled 'oh brother' behind him from Clank. It was then that he realized that he was still holding Talwyn and a light blush spread across his face. He quickly let her go before standing up and brushing himself off. Talwyn also picked herself up, eyeing her furry friend. However, there were more important matters at hand and so she shook the jumbling emotions from her mind and trudged on.

"Come on, it's this way." She said as she made a path through the brush.