Digital Nexus Book 2: CPU in Lombax Space

by joeyblast

Fresh from their adventure in Gamindustri, Xoruxshy and her new Sister IF travel to the time-space rip created by Neptune. Upon getting there, however, they are sucked through and are promptly shot down by one of Drek's henchmen Gummi Ship Heartless. Xoruxshy is forced to regenerate, and more shit will happen, as is the case with the CPU of Mobius.

10. Chapter 9

Chapter 10: Gaspar

Upon landing on the planet Gaspar on the ship docking platform, Ratchet restocked his ammo supply. Xoruxshy, Ratchet and IF then decided to take the obvious path forward, taking the elevator down to the main path. This is where they find the Chompers, robotic Heartless that are aptly named for their method of attacking by chomping at their opponent's, followed by the return of the Blarg Paratroopers. The Chompers kept spawning from a Robot Nest, so while Ratchet and IF took the Chompers it produced head-on with their melee weapons, Xoruxshy destroyed the Nest in one shot with her Blastoise Blaster, then turned her attention to the Blarg Paratrooper, before shooting it, knocking it into the nearby lava. Taking this Heartless out allows Ratchet access to the nearby turret, which he uses to open the nearby gate and take out nearby enemies. Continuing on the left path, they find there is nowhere to go, so they return to the opened gate and continue on. Right past the door however is a Seeker, a Heartless similar to the floating mines on Umbris, with the ability to turn into a heat-seeking bomb when close enough to the enemy. When not in its bomb form, it takes on an appearance similar to that of the Minute Bomb.

Destroying it and its fellow Seekers with their melee weapons, the trio plus Clank continue onwards, before seeing more Blarg Paratroopers. IF charges forward this time, using her agility and reflexes to dodge all the bullets from their guns, taking them out with ease. Before continuing onward, they pause to watch as repeatedly, Chompers would run at them, before falling into the lava. Laughing at these Heartless's stupidity for a good minute, Xoruxshy decides to end their misery by destroying their spawner. Jumping over, they take on more Seekers, Ratchet this time taking care of them with his Bomb Glove due to their heavy armor. This allows them to reach another sealed blast gate, and nearby, another turret. Xoruxshy blasts the nearby Seekers with her Blaster, causing them to turn into water, before evaporating due to the intense heat of the lava. Crossing over to the turret, Ratchet blows open the blast door before the group returns and enters inside, getting on the elevator to the next area, where they are immediately attacked by Chompers before the group whacks them aside. Beyond them is a room filled with equipment in storage, and Seekers ready to blow them up at a moment's notice. IF dispatches each one quickly before they have a chance to turn into bomb form. Continuing onwards into the facility, they stop, dead still, upon seeing a bunch of Cannonball Tanks and Blarg Paratroopers. Ratchet quickly pulls out the RYNO and fires off enough salvos to take them all out. Continuing through to the next area, they find more Blarg Paratroopers. Ratchet uses the RYNO again to dispatch all of them, before using the nearby turret to break through the next blast door. Xoruxshy takes out the Blarg Paratroopers beyond, and the group finds not one, but three Pilot's Helmets.

Ratchet: Now THIS is cool! And look, there's one for each of us!

Xoruxshy: Nice.

IF: We could probably integrate this into the TARDIS's controls.

Seeing an open hole in the ground nearby, Xoruxshy goes to check it out.

Ratchet: (over comms) So, Xoruxshy, what'd you find?

Xoruxshy: A Gold Bolt at the end of a really long gauntlet. I'll start making my way back.

Ratchet: Don't bother, we're already waiting for you by the ship. We're going to check out the secondary path.

Upon returning to the group, Xoruxshy, along with Ratchet and IF take the secondary path, using their Swingshots to reach the main section. Here they find more Chompers. IF dispatches them easily with her fully upgraded Water Qatars. Here they find some warships refueling and blow them to bits via a backfiring effect caused by destroying the fuel pump. Swinging over to the next platform, Ratchet takes out the nearby Chompers, allowing them to move on. On the next platform connected to a rock outcropping, Xoruxshy defeats the next set of Chompers, before destroying the next set of ships and pumps. This allows them to continue even further. This time IF destroys the Chompers before saying, "This seems kind of repetitive. I mean, platform, Chompers, Swingshot, repeat. It's like the scientists ran out of ideas." Thankfully this is where the repetitiveness stopped. Ratchet, Clank and the two girls used the nearby elevator to reach a lower platform with another pump. Destroying this pump and the coinciding ship revealed another set of Varia-Targets. Upon reaching this platform and destroying the rest of the ships and pumps, they find another Gold Bolt across the lava created by leftover floating debris.

Returning to their ships, a shift in the environment caught their attention. The relentless meteor bombardment, a constant reminder of Gaspar's devastation, seemed to falter. The fiery projectiles, defying gravity, plummeted downwards in an unnatural arc, converging on a central point near the lava flow.

As they watched, a sense of foreboding filled the air. The meteors, once instruments of destruction, now became molten building blocks. They crashed into the lava, filling the space where debris and molten rock had previously created a makeshift platform. The searing heat fused them together, revealing a horrifying truth: a keyhole shape, glowing with an ominous black light, pulsed at the heart of the lava flow.

Without hesitation, Xoruxshy stepped forward. The weight of her responsibility as a Keyblade wielder settled upon her shoulders. With a determined glint in her eyes, she raised the Gaspar Mirage, its newly acquired radiance a stark contrast to the encroaching darkness.

"For light!" she cried, a fierce battle cry echoing across the desolate landscape.

With a swift motion, the Keyblade plunged into the Keyhole. A satisfying "click" resonated through the air as a wave of blinding light erupted from the point of contact. The black void shuddered, its tendrils of darkness recoiling before being extinguished entirely.

The molten rock, now purified of its malevolent influence, flowed freely into the newly formed gap, solidifying into a seamless surface. No trace remained of the Keyhole, only a faint scar on the landscape as a grim reminder of the battle fought and won.

Xoruxshy: Great… Orxon, here we come.

Quest Complete! Find the Pilot's Helmet! Reward: Nidoran (male) DNA Scan

Area Complete! Reward: Gaspar Mirage (Keyblade)