Clank: Batalia

Some Time Earlier

Summer sat in her ship, looking over the horizon, with the now gone sun making the land dark. The sounds of battle had died off some time ago.

"Oh no," Yang muttered, "Summer has no idea…which means Qwark's going to ambush her!"

'Looks like Ratchet cleared the course. He'll be trained by Qwark…and won't need me to protect him anymore.'

Not that he needed it to begin with.

The taunter never said that, but she could hear Raven's voice behind that thought.

"Maybe…" She mumbled to herself, "Maybe I should just head back to Veldin. Ratchet and Qwark can handle this. They don't need…someone like me. Too homesick to even-"

Her GadgetScroll began buzzing, with an unknown number. Normally she'd have declined it, never trusting calls with UNKNOWN in it. However, she felt too depressed to even bother.

"Hello."

"Hey, Summer! It's me, Al."

"Al? How'd you get this number?"

"The same way I learned what I had to tell you. I contacted my friends back in Gadgetron. They keep an ID of every person who bought a product."

'Well, certainly invasive.' "I'll have to look into that."

Al chuckled, "No need. I figured you were the type to prefer her privacy, so I scrubbed it. Still took me some time. No idea why you're on Umbris of all places. There's no recorded cities on the planet."

"Thanks, but why are you calling me?"

"OH, right! Well, you were asking me what happened to the Galactic Ranger program?"

"Yes…"

"Well, it turns out, before the project could get off the ground, several economically entitled individuals gathered to incite a reprisal, ensuring the indefinite hiatus of the program."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Al sighed, "Okay, in simple terms, a group of rich people came together and shut it down."

"Thank you. And that tracks."

"Yeah, you'll be thanking me more. See, turns out, the one thing that they all had in common: they all owed money to Chairman Drek. And, conveniently, after the deal was done, they all miraculously had their depts gone."

Summer's drowsiness was gone, as she raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, are you suggesting that Drek orchestrated the Ranger's shutting down."

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Clever," Oobleck adjusted his glasses, "He planned his invasions long in advance. By shutting down the Galactic Rangers, the main force that could stop him wouldn't even be formed to begin with."

"Man, it would've been great if they had some actual backup." Weiss added.

"But, it get's worse."

"How could it get worse?"

"See, on their own, the businessmen wouldn't have been able to push Gadgetron to such a degree. Sure, they value money, but they think long term. If a few rich people stop buying, it's a blow, but something they could recover from. However, someone sponsored their decision, and THAT was the breaking point."

"In what way?"

"Well, if a prolific celebrity were to sponsor the decision, imagine how many people would back out of Gadgetron. After all, the gossip circles almost have as much power as political circles."

Weiss groaned, "Tell me about it. My father has used the same strategy to bury rising competitors."

Blake didn't want to say it (with Oobleck nearby), but something similar happened with the White Fang. Sienna's growing radical movements, just by its mere presence, made people question her father's leadership.

"But, worse of all is the sponsor. Here!"

Summer's Scroll got an image, and she looked at it. In it, she saw several business men, formallizing the deal to shut down the Ranger program with Gadgetron. And, sitting behind the opponents, was-

"Qwark?!"

"Yes! Which, if my previous hypothesis is correct, would mean-"

"Qwark's working with Chairman Drek!?"

"Exactly, but why would-"

Summer saw a large ship, leaving the base. One of Blargian design.

"Al, I have to go, sorry!"

"Wai-" Summer cut him off, and began to work on the ship. She couldn't start it with the RIS, but, for all she knew, her son could be on that ship, held prisoner.

"You-Fuckin-Just-WORK!" At her final yell, she smashed Sundered Rose's blade into the hardware, and the ship came to life.

"Well," she muttered, "Probably just wrecked it, but I don't care!"

The ship took off, chasing after Qwark. A pair of guns opened up at the front of the ship, and Summer opened fire.

"Whoa! What's hitting me?!" Qwark exclaimed over an open comm.

"Qwark!"

"Oh, it's you again."

"Where's my son!?"

"Well, if my calculations are correct, being dealt with inside a Blargian Snagglebeast's gullet."

Summer could only see red, as she opened fire at the warship, doing minimal damage. Qwark even laughed.

"I'm sorry, deal girl, but a civilian ship isn't equipped to handle this much raw power."

"Shut up and fight, already!"

"If you insist."

Summer saw several missiles circle from the front of the ship towards her, forcing her to dodge. She could barely get a shot at Qwark due to this, though. As she dodged a second wave of missiles, the ship turned upward.

"What are-?!"

"So, this has been fun, but I have a meeting to attend to. Good-"

"UPDATE," Summer could hear an automated voice on Qwark's side of the comms, "SNAGGLEBEAST NO LONGER IN CONTAINMENT."

"What?! How did they-? Even if they did, how did they do it so fast?!"

The shock in Qwark's voice made her smile, as she fired a shot at the cockpit, cracking it slightly.

"That's what you get for underestimating my-!"

The ship turned towards her, and Summer's controls locked up.

"What?!" Summer saw that she was being dragged towards the ship.

"He may have survived, but I doubt he'll do anything if you are in danger."

Summer's eyes widened. A hostage situation.

Her face turned into a snarl. "I don't think so!"

With all her might, she diverted nearly all power to the engines, then turned as hard as she could. At the same time, she broke the button controlling the guns, making them constantly fire.

"Oof! Don't make this hard!"

The ship turned, slower and slower, but remained in place. She could hear multiple warnings as the engines started falling apart. However, if the commotion on Qwark's end was any indication, he was trying just as hard to keep the ship in the tractor beam.

"That's it!"

Qwark began locking missiles onto her, but the strain was too much. One of the engines exploded, resulting in the final push to break out of the tractor beam. However, the result sent her spiraling down to the base.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Summer screamed, as the ground got closer and closer.

Then, all she saw was darkness.

Ratchet got up from the shockwave, seeing his ship…and his mother's arm sticking out of the now broken cockpit window.

"MOM!" He screamed, sprinting towards the crash.

"Mrs. Rose!" Clank cried out, following behind. Ratchet reached the ship, finding Summer, unconscious, and bleeding from her head. He began to swing-

"Wait! Shattering the glass may not be wise."

"Clank!"

"I'm on it."

Clank crawled into the cockpit, and the two gently lowered Summer's arm out of the hole. He then went to try opening the cockpit. With an agonizing crawl, it opened a couple feet. With the opening, the two dragged Summer out of the cockpit, and several feet away from the crash.

"Mom? Mom!"

"Ratchet, my scanners show that she's alive, somehow. Her nanotech was completely destroyed, she-this is her Aura, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but you have it backwards. Her Aura took the brunt of the impact, with her nanotech taking the rest. Though, it still wasn't enough."

The faint sound of an engine roaring could be heard, as Ratchet turned his head to see a Blargian warship leaving the planet. Ratchet's face contorted into pure rage.

"QWARK!" He ran to the hanger door, Requipping his Blaster, and unloading every last bullet at the fleeing ship, as useless as it was.

"Ratchet!"

"That does it, Clank! I'm going after him!"

"But, what about Batalia?"

"Forget it!" Ratchet turned around, heading to the red ship, "Qwark needs to pay."

"Ratchet, Summer is in no condition to fight right now."

"Then we head to Veldin, drop her off with Nana."

"By then, he could be anywhere."

"It doesn't matter. He's going down."

"Ratchet, this isn't you."

"You don't know me! You don't know what it's like to have the person who's taken care of you suffer because of your actions. You were made in a factory. Never had a mother, or father, so you could NEVER know!"

Clank flinched at the insult.

RWBY were in shock, while Oobleck merely looked both disappointed and not surprised.

"Whoooa." Yang numbly said.

"That was…uncalled for," Weiss states, "But I can understand his fury. He didn't need to take it out on you, though."

"In truth, what I said wasn't the right thing to say in the moment, either."

Ruby, however, sympathized with Clank. Hell, because of Penny, she knew that Ratchet was wrong. But it didn't take the sting away.

For a moment, the two stood there. Ratchet knew what he said hurt Clank, but he was too prideful to admit defeat.

"Ratchet," Clank began, "We don't know where Qwark will go. However, if we continue to damage Drek's forces, eventually Qwark will be forced to fight us again. And, it'll give Summer time to heal."

Ratchet clenched his hands in fury, but relented. "Fine. Besides, without you, I can't start the ship. Just help me get her in."

As they entered, Ratchet punched in the coordinates to Batalia. Seeing the flight path, he made a slight adjustment.

"Not that it'll matter, but we might as well get that Sonic Summoner from Skidd's agent. We'll have to take the long way around, and Aridia's on that path."

Clank could tell from the tone in his voice that Ratchet was in no mood to argue.

Meanwhile

"Back so soon?" Chairman Drek commented as Qwark entered the room. After a second, Qwark realized that-

"Oh, you're talking to me."

"Oh dear," Weiss commented, "I've heard this a few times from my father. Qwark is in trouble."

"Good," Yang commented, her eyes still red, "Hope he get's shot out of an airlock."

"I'm noticing a pattern with your father, Miss Schnee," Clank replied, "It seems like I will not enjoy being in the company of your father. Forgive me if I have offended you."

"No, no, you're absolutely right."

"Wait," Blake interrupted, "Clank…how did you know about this conversation?"

Clank froze for a second. "Well…"

"Perhaps," Oobleck exclaimed, "They were on Drek's ship at one point, and simply took the video files from their records."

'Yeah,' Clank thought, 'Let's go with that.'

Despite not having an iris, Drek rolled his eyes as he turned around, "I'm not in the habit of talking to myself, you buffon. Did you get rid of them?"

"Yes!..." Qwark proudly declared, then deflated, "No," he grunted, "Well, I had to plan, and I thought-"

"You thought? You thought! I do the thinking around here, you slug brained idiot. I simply needed you to eliminate those three nuicances before they could cause any more trouble. I've already lost my second in command because of them!"

"But I wanted to-"

But Drek wouldn't let him. "Do you still want to be the highly paid spokesman for my planet?"

Qwark, hands behind his back, simply said, "Yeah."

"Then the next time I send you to do a job, I want RESULTS! Now get out of my sight!"

The flight to Aridia was as cold as the space around them. They applied more nanotech, closing the wound on Summer's head, but she didn't wake up. Ratchet's grip didn't loosen until they landed on the planet.

"Clank," Ratchet coldly declared, "Stay here. Keep an eye on my mom."

"Of course."

Ratchet exited, and headed for the tunneling machine, heading for Skidd's agent. When he arrived, he saw another ship, making its way towards the planet.

"AH, finally!" Skidd's Agent exclaimed in both joy and annoyance.

"Seems your ride is here."

"Yes. Took them some time, but they made it. Dependable as always, family."

"Wait, family?"

"Yeah, a brother. Now, it's been a few days, but I'm guessing that you've got something for me."

Ratchet showed the trophy from winning the Blackwater tournament. The agent smiled, pulling out a helmet.

"A deal's a deal. Say, would you be interes-"

"No."

"Eh, had to try…Say, where's that little robot friend of yours?"

"He's on the ship, looking after my mom."

"A mother?! Well, aren't you a bold one. They're a double edged sword. They are a constant danger, making you look over your shoulder, and unable to focus on the task at hand."

Ratchet began to clench his hands, but the agent didn't notice.

"But, they are also one of the biggest joys in our lives (at least the good ones)." He mutters the last part. Ratchet's eyes widened, not expecting someone…of the agent's nature to say something.

"Yeah, I remember when my mamma would cook up a Tyrulean meat pie. MPHA! No one did it like her. Sure, I worry about her, and maybe she doesn't like the profession I've chosen, SORRY, MOM, but not all of us have the vocal cords to be singers!"

"Ummm…"

"Sorry about that. The thing is, even if my mamma doesn't like my profession, I know that she still loves me, but she'd want me to do what I think is right by me. Because, if you aren't true to yourself, then you'll lie for anything."

Ratchet turned to the side. He remembered the small moments of Summer raising him over the years. RIght up until they found Clank.

As a mother, I have to forbid you from going on a dangerous journey like this. Summer smiled. However, as your mother, I know it'd be pointless.

He wanted to make Qwark pay…but he also knew that Summer would want to help Batalia. She raised him that way. Otherwise, she would have tried to stop him. And Clank was right. If they do enough damage to the Blarg, they'd either find Qwark on their own, or Drek would send him after them.

With that, Ratchet returned to his ship, but paused at the controls.

"Ratchet?"

"...Come on, Clank. We have a planet to save."

"It's always a hard decision," Oobleck commented, "Especially if you have to make it the first time. Revenge or duty. Even more so when both help your cause."

As they entered Batalia's atmosphere, they weaved through the Blarg fleets, but none pursued them.

"Strange…"

"Ratchet, perhaps, as we are in Qwark's ship, the Blarg think we are Qwark."

"Maybe, but, keep an eye on our radar. I'm taking us in."

Their ship landed on the outskirts of the military base, where the Batalian Commando was waiting.

"Ratchet, though I am loath to admit it, this time, I'll have to come with you. Aridia was different because we were only picking up an item. However-"

"This is a battlefield," Ratchet sighed, "I'm locking down the ship. Hopefully this landing pad is safe."

The two exited, and-

"AT ATTENTION you deserting maggots!"

The two practically saluted at the sudden outburst from the Commando.

"The next time you soldiers try to go AWOL, I'll shoot you myself!"

"Whoa, wait a minu-" Ratchet tried to explain, but the Commando let nothing in.

"Zip it, worm!" He points to the Blarg warships, "You see those bombers? If you don't get to the turrets and knock those ships outta the sky, this whole planet's gonna be rubble! Meet me at the city entrance."

With that, the Commando pulled out a rifle, and charged into the city, leaving a dumbfounded son and robot.

"Ratchet, I do believe the Commando might be suffering a form of head injury."

"Yeah, you got that right."

"Also, while it's faint, I'm detecting an SOS beacon to the south-west."

"You mean, in the middle of the still underconstruction rail network?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Let's go find it."

After making a quick purchase of the new Devestator rocket launcher-

"Ruby," Yang smirked, "Our brother's becoming a walking armoury. Don't think I don't see you bouncing."

"So. Many. Weapons. Oooooo, I wonder if he'll let me modify them?"

Clank once again reiterated the thought that he might be bringing the apocalypse if those two meet.

-The two went along the grindrails, jumping from rail to rail as they attempted to reach the SOS. Upon arriving, they found a young Batalian, clearly too young to be a proper soldier.

'Then again, what does that make me?' Ratchet berratted himself. Clank detached from Ratchet, but the recruit raised his weapon at them.

"Halt," the recruit exclaimed nervously, "Who are you? What're you doing?"

Clank, with his hands in the air, responded. "We're on a mission to save the galaxy."

Ratchet rolled his eyes. "Clank, put your hands down, you look ridiculous."

"Actually, I don't care who you are. I've gotta get the heck outta here."

"Why not use the teleporter?"

"That just takes me right back to the battlefield, something I want nothin' to do. I joined the army to get money to go to college. I never knew I'd end up in a war. Go figure."

Blake, Weiss and Yang glanced at each other.

"Ah, yes," Oobleck commented, "It should be a lesson all youngsters should acknowledge: You choose this job, and whatever your altruistic reasons are, you have a job to do."

The gaze he gave to the three, unnoticed by Ruby, made the three think: Did he hear them talking before the crash landing?

"This is a noble cause, sir."

The recruit scoffed at Clank's argument. "Noble my hiney. I just want to get home to my family. Here…" he pulled out an Info-bot, "I pulled this off a busted robot. Gimme some bolts for bus fare and it's yours."

Ratchet narrowed his eyes. Slowly, he spoke as he approached the recruit. "Do you realize what's happening? Chairman Drek, leader of the Blargs, is systematically annihilating worlds, all so that he could build a new one for his people. Do you understand what that means?"

"Um…"

"It means that, if Drek isn't stopped here, your world will be blown to bits! Everyone you've ever known will be gone. Sure, you might get lucky and get a shuttle off the planet before that happens. But think of all your friends, all of their families. Will they be alright? So, take these bolts. But know that, if we don't stop him, you'll be seeing your family for what might possibly be the last time."

After transferring the bolts, the recruit simply dropped the Info-bot, his arms seemingly becoming heavy. Without another word, he jumped over the side. Activating its content, the Info-bot revealed the location of planet Gaspar, where Drek is testing dozens, if not hundreds, of new weaponry. Amongst them being the APH, a device that allows their ship to be controlled via thoughts. Unfortunately (Ratchet grimaces when the ship instantly goes left, crashing into the ground and killing the pilot) it seems they need to work out the kinks.

"Whoa," Ratchet declared, "If they ever get the kinks worked out of that thing, I have got to get me one."

"If they are working for Chairman Drek, they may know where he is."

"Clank, you've got to learn not to tunnel vision."

"Tunnel vision?"

"Yeah, you're so focused on Drek, thinking he's the answer to this whole situation, much like you did with Qwark. Did you forget that he has an entire army?"

"Yes, but-"

"One that might not stop just because we beat him?"

"But-" Clank stopped himself, looking discouraged.

"Ah, forget it. Right now we have a planet to save."

Taking the teleporter, the two returned to near their landing pad. This time, they headed into the city. This time, it wasn't just grunt troopers, but actually Blargian assault droids, who'd leap and bound once they finished their attacks. Nothing a good rocket to the face couldn't fix. Now they'd-

"Ratchet."

"What?"

"Behind you."

Given Clank's tone, it wasn't dangerous, so he casually turned around. Approaching him was a small creature on a hoverpad.

"What is it?"

"It is a sand mouse."

"But…the helmet's in Requip."

"Perhaps the signal can reach from inside your realm, as it's more attached to your body, rather than an alternate dimension?"

"Well, either way, having a little buddy like him will make things easier."

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be that simple.

"Alright, just cross this bridge, and-"

"Incoming, down!"

Ratchet hit the deck as a missile blew up the platform on the opposite side of the bridge.

"Holy moely. Guess I can't blame the other kid too much if this is what we're dealing with right out the gate. Clank, give me a boost."

With a running jump, and using Clank's Heli-pack, the duo leaped over the gap, entering the forests. They'd have to cross a chasm, but the bridge was deactivated.

"Ratchet, if we activate the bolt crank at the bottom, we could reextend the bridge."

"Got it."

Descending, they encountered more Blarg forces, dispatching them with relative ease. As Ratchet turned the crank, he could see the bridge forming above them. Once it was locked in place, he began to climb up, and cross the-

"Holy-?!" Ratchet cried out as a tank began to cross the bridge, opening fire on him and blasting him back. His Aura, damaged, gave a flicker as he Requipped the Devestator.

"Okay, that was annoying."

Ratchet bobbed and weaved as he dueled the tank, right up to the point that the top of the tank exploded.

Ratchet laughed as he began crossing the bridge, "Haha! That's what I'm talking-"

"Behind!"

"Wha-Oh, you've got to be kidding me?"

Turns out, despite losing its only weapon, the tank wasn't giving up, and was chasing them. Nothing a good few bombs and blaster shots couldn't deal with.

"Man, they're tenacious."

"Is it in fear or loyalty of Drek?"

"Probably desperation. Keep in mind, their plan is to build a new homeworld because their old one is dead. Last stands draw out a different kind of crazy in people."

Crossing the bridge, Ratchet slid down a short river, and into another area, where a second tank was patrolling two crank bolts. Sending a swarm of mini-bots quickly dispatched the tank, allowing him to activate the bolts, extending a much longer bridge. As he climbed up to cross it, he could see the Commando waiting at the end, with a large gap between him and the base.

"'Bout time you two got here," he pointed to a crank bolt on the opposite side of the chasm, "Blasted thing won't budge. I've tried everything I know of short of nuclear weaponry…hmmm…"

"Please don't."

"Ehhh, I wasn't going to."

"But you were thinking about it. So, any ideas?"

"I'll think of one, even if I have to throw you!" The Commando turned to the nearby magnetic walkway, "Aha! That ventilation shaft leads to the turret platform. Soldier, find a way to use that shaft to enter the base undetected!"

"Ratchet, we currently have no gear which would allow us to safely cross the ventilation shaft."

"Which means we'll have to find it off world. But that'll take too long."

"Soldiers, I'll hold the line for as long as I-" he looked past the two, "PRIVATE MCTARLNAL, where have you been!?"

Ratchet turned, and saw the cowardly private from earlier, running across the bridge, out of breath.

"Sorry, Sir. Just-"

"Zip it! We'll discuss this later. I don't suppose you have a way to help cross this chasm or the ventilation shaft?"

"No, Sir!"

"Blast it. Well, then, Private Mctarlnal, we'll be holding this position while our reinforcements retrieve vital gear needed to accomplish-"

"Uh, permission to speak, Sir?"

The Commando narrowed his eyes, "Granted."

"With the two of us, couldn't we just throw our new recruit across the chasm."

"No, not possible. Even with both of us, unless you suddenly became Batalia's best thrower, you would only barely make it far enough to smash against the side of the building."

"Well," Ratchet commented, "What about if they had a Heli-pack?"

"Uh…Ratchet?" Clank worriedly questioned.

"I'm going to like this, aren't I?"

Clank's shoulders slumped, "I'd imagine you will, Miss Xiao Long."

Ratchet stood at the base of the bridge, in a sprint position, while the Commando and Mctarlnal stood next to each other, ready to throw him across the gap.

"Ratchet, are you sure about this?" Clank nervously asked.

"Nnnnope." Ratchet smirked, then sprinted. As he reached the two soldiers, he took a running jump off their hands, an leaped over the chasm, using Clank's Heli-pack accelerate himself.

"AAAAAAAAA!" He screams, flying across the gap, towards the bolt.

And proceeding to slam his lower half into it with the force of a truck.

"Gah!" Ruby and Yang exclaimed, flinching, Weiss was shocked, Blake turned away, and Oobleck merely tightened his mouth.

"I fealt that." Yang groaned.

As did the Batalians, as the Commando turned his head, not wishing to see it, while the Private dropped his gun on reflex. The sand mouse hid inside his hovercraft out of mutual pain. Ratchet fell to the side, off the bolt, and laid on the ground.

"Soldier," the Commando exclaimed, not turning around, "Good job. Now-"

"IN A MINUTE!"

"-Take a breather. When you have the location secured, activate that bolt crank."

"Ratchet-" Clank mumbled, but the growl dictated that Ratchet didn't want to talk. After a couple minutes, he got up, and turned the crank. With the bridge extended, the two Batalians crossed.

"Well done, soldier. Now, take a breaK. Me and Private Mctarlnal will assault the enemy positions."

"We will?"

The Commando gave the Private a death glare as Ratchet got back up.

"No, I'm good."

"Soldier, you are anything but good."

Ratchet then Requipped the RYNO.

"I'm good."

The Commando's eyes widened as he continued. "Very well. We shall launch a full frontal attault. Soldier, use your heavy ordance to clear the center, while we watch your flanks!"

Ratchet nodded, dropping down into the base, and unleashing a wave of rockets. With the Batalians clearing the sides, they quickly made their way to the center of the base…Where the walls exploded, as three tanks bursted out from the middle.

"Okay, HOW did they get them in there?!"

"NO time, Private, take cover!"

The Batalians retreated, providing covering fire as Ratchet used the RYNO to obliterate the first tank. However, the other two were flanking him. Worse, he was out of RYNO ammo.

"Crap."

"Fall back, soldier!"

"No, focus on the left tank, I'll take down the right side."

"Understood!"

Ratchet, with the sand mouse and his bomb glove, blew the top of the second tank off, then immediately turned to engage the third tank. With all four of them, it was destroyed quickly.

"Finish off that last tank, I'm going for the bolt."

"You heard him, Private, COVER FIRE!"

As Ratchet turned the bolt crank, opening the door, the Commando and Private put the last tank out of its misery. However, small claw bots began to swarm them.

"Door's open, let's go!"

"Negative. Someone needs to hold here and cover you! Use that turret, and blast those things out of the sky!"

Ratchet nodded and ran across the bridge, leading to a small island where the turret was located, as well as-

"Hey hey," the Plumber exclaimed, "I know you two."

"Well, what do you know," Ratchet smirked, "What are you doing here?"

The Plumber sighed as he muttered, "And, like that, a callback joke was missed. Not that it matters since he went off script," turning his attention back to the two, he declared, "Maintenance, of course. After Novalis, I came to work on this planet, fixing this planet's useless air defences."

"A very good objective, sir." Clank replied, "Though, given the situation, I'd suggest expediting your efforts."

"The turret's fine, ya little yahoo. It's the locals. They don't have the skilled manpower to use the newest model."

"I'm a pretty good shot." Ratchet offered.

"You? Nooo…I could lose my job."

"Seriously? Considering I've been taking orders from the Batalian military ever since I arrived, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't care if I used it. Besides, the Blarg chased you off the last planet. Why don't we pay them back, with interest?"

"Welllll, alright, go on if you want. Just don't break anything."

Ratchet nodded, then climbed up the turret, entering it while Clank hopped off, as there wouldn't be a need for him inside.

"Alright, looks like a Zuchetan Mark 3, but the rotary and firepower are way overtuned."

"Yeah, that's the Zuchetan Mark 4," the Plumber called out, "Newest on the market."

"Which means the Blarg don't know its firepower."

To which Ratchet demonstrated by firing a barrage along the side of one of the bombers, quickly destroying it. In response, several bombers fired missiles, but the targeting systems allowed Ratchet to see where the missiles were flying, and shoot them out of the sky. Initially skeptical at how one turret could turn the tide, a few minutes of bombarding the bombers quickly changed his opinion, as the skies were now clear of all Blarg warships.

"Well, well, well," the Plumber smugly declared as Ratchet climbed out of the turret, "Looks like he's good for something after all."

He pulled out a metal detector, tossing it to Ratchet.

"Here, take this."

"What is it?"

"It detects underground bolts. My grandfather designed it to suck up loose change on any planet in the galaxy. What a cheap old man he was…Well, see ya around sometime. Oh, and, don't worry about your mother too much. She's too stubborn to die from a crash, what with having two girls waiting for her and all."

Ratchet smiled as the Plumber walked away, down the ramp. Coming up the ramp were the two Batalians.

"Soldier," the Commando exclaimed, "Well done! With the Blarg ships destroyed, we've got a fighting chance."

"We've only saved one city, though?"

"True, but it'll allow us to fix our communications array, thus coordinating a retaliation."

"Sir!" the Private exclaimed, "Permission to begin repairs on the array, sir!"

"You're only saying that because it's farthest from the fighting, but granted!"

"Well," Ratchet interjected, "It was nice helping you, but we need to get going."

"Hold on! You have shown bravery for helping us liberate this base, and, for that, I reward you," he pulled out an Info-bot, "I intercepted this communique that you might find useful. Take it. I'm off to find the rest of my battalion. Good luck."

The two Batalian returned to the base, leaving Ratchet and Clank to watch the video. It detailed Drek announcing to his people that their homeworld was being abandoned, and that their new world was nearing completion. All they'd need to do was the finishing touches, as well as finding a spot for their new home. Though, if the guards threatening the Blarg scientist wasn't a clue that they might not like this, he didn't know what would be.

"Great!" Ratchet exclaimed, "We have coordinates for Orxon. We can take the fight to Drek's homeworld."

"Given the current situation, it is unlikely that he'll be on the planet. He seems more interested in his campaign of destruction."

"Well, yeah, but…Gah! You make a good point."

"However, we could discover some useful intel. Such as the location of Drek…or perhaps Qwark."

Ratchet smirked, turning to him, "Well, we are learning from each other, aren't we."

Ratchet took a speeder back to their ship, and opened the cockpit. Entering, he punched in the coordinates for Gaspar, when he felt a shift in the room…and a groan.

"Ugh," Summer groaned, her eyes fluttering, "Did anyone get the number of that Goliath?"

"Mom?"

"Yes, Ratchet?"

Clank immediately got in the back, not wanting to get in between.

"Are you alright?"

"Besides this headache. What happe-" Summer, having clenched her head, felt the bandages, "Why is-" Her eyes widened as she whipped her head to her son, and got him into a death hug, "Ratchet!"

"Doouf!" He complained through his mother's cries.

"I thought I was going to lose you. We never should've come here, I should've kept you home, I should-"

Ratchet chuckled, "Mom…Mom?...Mom!"

Summer stopped.

"It's because of your training that I survived."

Summer was shaking, the adrenaline from her fight just a day ago clearly gone, and the reality sinking in.

"Sure, we may not have been prepared for something like Qwark's betrayal, but you taught me what it meant to be a fighter. Without that…well, I doubt we could've gotten far enough to be betrayed."

Summer turned to the side, her shoulders slumped.

"Besides," Clank declared, "Moments ago, Ratchet just helped save this entire city."

That piqued Summer's interest. "What?"

"Yes. Ratchet defeated the Blarg fleet assaulting this city, and we got the coordinates to Drek's homeworld."

Summer turned to her son in disbelief, but he simply gave a happy smile. In return, a sad smile started to form on herself.

"When did I allow you to grow up so fast?"

"Heh, I've always been a trouble maker, mom. Now, before we hit Drek's homeworld, there's something we should grab on one of their research bases."

Summer nodded. It would allow her time to figure out what has happened since she was unconscious. Almost like a good omen, the skies began to clear, and the ship flew above into the bright night sky. However, when they mentioned the Plumber, something bothered her.

"Wait...how did he know I was injured? OR that I had two daughters."

Ratchet's eyes widened. Just who...or what, is that Plumber.

Author's Notes: So yeah, Ratchet is a little more justified in his anger. In canon, he was just after petty revenge. Here, it's justifiable revenge. However, he's also a little more level headed, knowing that causing enough damage will bring Qwark to him.

As always, leave a review, fav/follow, and I'll see you all next time.