Before we begin, I have something to say:
Can the people who put in reviews who claim to be professional artists just stop sending them? I don't wish to do anything with you because it's obviously a scam. If you would please stop sending me reviews like that, I would appreciate it.
On Drek's flagship, the Supreme Executive Chairman was humming to himself as he looked at the progress of his people's new home, feeling quite proud of how much it had come along.
Suddenly, he heard his door open and turned to see Qwark marching in, an upset look on his face.
"Drek! I want to talk to you." He said. "You tried to kill those kids! You said you'd leave them alone!"
"And I meant it at the time. I detest bloodshed as much as any Blarg, but sometimes sacrifices are necessary for the greater good." Drek replied. "Speaking of which, considering you care so much for them...you'll be the one to confront them when they arrive at the moon base."
Qwark winced. "Look, I did a lot of bad stuff for you in return for your endorsement, but-"
"Oh, I get it, you're just too washed up for ground combat." Drek said, brushing off Qwark's actual concerns. "That is why I will be loaning you my star fighter! You can still fly, can't you?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Perfect! Than it's settled!" Drek happily said as he pushed Qwark out the door. "You will acquire the star fighter once you get to the moon. Screw this up and the endorsement deal is off!"
Qwark said nothing. He didn't want to hurt the Mane 6 but knew that he had no other choice if he was ever to salvage his dying career...
"Jeez, this is cold!" Rainbow said, hugging herself as the group landed on Hoven.
"What do you expect, it's an ICE planet." Ben sarcastically quipped.
"Look!" Clank said, pointing. "That must be the ship that will transport the bomb."
"Then we'll just have to take it down before it launches," Ratchet explained.
"How? The RYNO's the only weapon we've got that could do enough damage, including my magic, and it doesn't have the range!" Twilight pointed out.
"We should ascend to the dock and attempt to prevent the launch," Clank suggested.
"Sounds like a plan!" Applejack said.
As they continued down the path, several small, yeti-like creatures leaped out of the snow to attack them, though they were dealt with easily. Clank, however, paused at each corpse that was slain with blunt force instead of weapons fire, stripping off the undamaged sections of thick fur and storing it in his chest compartment via miniaturization.
"What are you doing?" Ratchet asked.
"This fur appears to protect these creatures from the intense cold," Clank pointed out. "While you, Ben, and Hilda do not suffer from it, it was my thought to use this fur to make the children a thick coat to keep them warm."
"Oh, how kind of you." Rarity beamed. "I'm sure this will be great fashion!"
"I just wish we didn't commit such cruelty..." Fluttershy whimpered as Ratchet pet her on the head.
"Good thing I've got a lot of fat keeping me warm." Hilda chuckled, slapping her belly proudly.
Other than some Blarg armed with blasters that had been modified to have stronger shots in exchange for a slower firing rate and less ammo, the small yeti-like creatures were the only enemy obstacle the gang encountered for quite some time as they explored the planet, trying to reach where the bomb ship was docked.
The environmental hazards proved a bit more difficult. Super chilled rivers could freeze them at a single touch, as Rarity discovered when she threw a Blarg into it. Ice on the ground also proved problematic for the girls, as their hoof-like feet got no friction, sending her sliding around everywhere. The only one who enjoyed the situation was Pinkie, who giggled as she slipped and slid around.
"Yeah, I think we're just gonna ride on you guys..." Rainbow grumbled.
Most other obstacles, like wall jump segments, were dealt with in much the same way as they had been previously. The large propensity of Swingshot targets helped the girls maneuver, especially when Twilight realized she could curve her Swingshot mid-flight with her magic, and use it to rappel up walls once it latched onto a Swingshot target.
"Wish we could do that..." Applejack muttered.
Partway along the path, the group encountered a split in the path.
"I think we should go up the lift platform," Ratchet pointed out. "We need to get up to the dock, after all."
"This other pathway seems more heavily guarded, though," Ben pointed out.
"As we are on a time crunch, perhaps we should take both paths, each of us taking the path we think will lead to the goal." Clank offered.
"Sound idea. We'll take three of the girls for each side." Hilda said.
Ratchet and Clank went on the hoverlift with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack while Hilda and Ben went the other path with Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow.
As Ben and Hilda's group first started leaping over platforms, the first new enemy obstacle they encountered was smaller, faster versions of the spiked, explosive mines from Planet Umbris. These proved even easier for Twilight to grab in her magic, and she soon had a full swarm spinning in a protective sphere around her as she progressed.
"Hey, Twilight! Can you load 'em in here?" Pinkie asked as she pulled out her Party Cannon.
The alicorn girl nodded and loaded the mines into her sister's cannon, which proved quite smart as a few launched at high speeds proved especially effective against attack copters and other enemies that attempted to hinder the group's progress.
After getting past a jump slot, the group arrived at where the ship was getting ready for takeoff. Unfortunately, by the time she got to the ship, it had already initiated takeoff procedure and was out of her range to board.
"Dammit!" Hilda cursed before spotting an old defense turret and smirking. "Girls...get ready for some fireworks!"
"Oh yeah!" Rainbow grinned.
Hopping on, Hilda began shooting at the ship's vulnerable points, seeking to make it either crash or drop the bomb before it was armed. Attack copters attempted to stop her from reaching it and from shooting the ship down, but she set her RYNO to auto-target them while she focused on the main ship. Before long, the ship was down, crashing into the icy waters below.
"Nice shooting, babe!" Ben cheered.
"Mommy is super awesome!" Pinkie said.
At that point, an Infobot stepped out of hiding from behind the turret, playing its message.
"Men, you are about to embark on a very dangerous mission. We will be launching a heavily armed surprise attack from our new moon base against a completely unarmed planet. Actually, that doesn't sound too dangerous..." Drek said. "Nevertheless, your orders are simple; destroy anything that moves, and steal the power generators from Gorda City! Then have whatever fun you want there!"
"Let's hope Rarity worked on that coat with Clank. I think we're gonna be pretty chilly up in space." Rainbow noted.
"Actually, I think I have an idea..." Twilight said, rubbing her chin as she inspected the turret.
Channeling her magic through her Pilot's Helmet, tearing the turret apart. Before long, a dark purple suit and shoes adorned her form.
"There! These generate an energy field between them and my Pilot's Helmet when the O2 Mask is active. It will protect me completely from environmental effects!"
"Not bad, Twi!" Ben praised. "Wonder if I can get me some badass armor too."
The two groups reunited with Clank having gotten a new Hydro Pack from Al and Bob's sister, Ed. Twilight also managed to copy her new armor to provide adequate equipment for the rest of her sisters on their trip to the Gemlik Moonbase.
"I do not see Drek's ship," Clank mused as the group arrived. "We must have missed him."
"If he was ever here," Ben commented.
"Papa Ben is right, he was ordering his troops here. There's no guarantee he actually was here and he doesn't strike me as the type to dirty his own hands." Twilight noted.
"That doesn't do us any good when it comes to catching up with him," Ratchet growled. "We need a faster ship."
"Perhaps this space station will supply the ship we'll need," Clank offered.
"We're going to pay for it, right?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
"Oh take it out of Gadgetron's tab. I'm good for them just as much as Twilight is." Rarity said.
"If not, we can leave an IOU, just like the one I left Grandpa Grim when I borrowed the ship without asking!" Pinkie added.
"That was YOU?!" Ratchet snapped.
"Oops..."
Heading into the base, it quickly became clear that some areas of the base were sealed off by force fields. However, the new Devastator and Visibomb Guns the Gadgetron Vendor provided them proved most effective at taking down targets at such great range, and they were more than able to take out the force field generating towers as they went.
Other than that, the enemies and obstacles they encountered proved to be no trouble for the group. The robotic ducks were easily dispatched with melee strikes from Ratchet, Ben, and Hilda's signature weapons. The Blargian troops were just as easily dealt with, and Twilight and Rarity were able to telekinetically manipulate the turrets the other troops attempted to control. While they weren't able to turn the turrets enough to take out the ones controlling the other turrets, they were able to lock them at angles that allowed everyone to pass safely and take them out from behind.
The only other real hostility the gang encountered was the occasional jet fighter. However, Rainbow was able to spot them before entering their assault range, and a well-steered Visibomb took them down without any danger to the traveling family of heroes.
Later on, after crossing over a ventilation duct over rising and lowering hazardous liquids, the group came across three turret guards protected by the building they were in and completely covering the path the trio had to go through.
"Great, now what?" Ben wondered. "I know Rainbow is fast enough to bypass those guns, but that'll leave the rest of us."
Twilight paused, glancing around for an advantage. Spying a nearby glass lamp, she broke it, levitated the shards, and then sent them through the slits in the turret shields the guns shot through to take down the Blarg guards.
"Exquisite thinking, my dear Twilight." Rarity praised.
As the group rode the next elevator, it flipped over halfway down, forcing Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy to grab onto Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack to keep them from falling while Ratchet, Ben, and Hilda stayed attached to the platform with the Magneboots.
"At some point, I want to take a look at those Magneboots," Twilight commented. "They have got to be easier than this, especially if I can convert them to hoof boots for me and the girls."
"When we finish dealing with Drek and get back to Veldin to rest, they're all yours!" Ratchet promised.
It was a relief for everyone when they were able to jump down from the ceiling to the floor shortly after stepping out of the elevator. It also allowed them to unleash some stress on the incoming enemies as well.
Taking the next elevator out, they spotted Captain Qwark. Ratchet growled angrily as he pounced but the captain ducked down with a floating platform before rising back up.
"Greetings, cadets!"
"Qwark! Stop this right now!" Twilight demanded.
Qwark had a brief sad expression on his face but he quickly masked it with indifference as he got into a large starfighter and blasted off.
"We have to go after him," Ratchet growled.
"There appears to be ships available in there," Clank stated, pointing into a nearby hanger.
Ratchet claimed one ship with Clank while Twilight claimed the other with Ben as the others stayed behind and watched the battle.
As the four pursued Qwark, the Captain attempted to communicate with them over an open comms.
"You know, I'm doing this for your own good!"
"If you really meant that, you'd help us stop Drek!" Twilight replied.
Ratchet swooped in and took out the first engine of the craft.
"You don't have what it takes to stop Drek! He'll eat you both alive!" Qwark snapped.
"I don't know, I think we're doing pretty well so far." Ben taunted.
Twilight and Ben took out the second and third engines, forcing Qwark to call for backup, which was swiftly taken out. The ship was on its last legs and Qwark knew he couldn't talk his way out of this so he just sat down.
"Twilight...I'm sorry." He said in the sincerest way possible. "I...I never meant to hurt you."
"I believe you," Twilight replied over the comms. "But that's why what you did hurt so much."
With that, Qwark's ship was shot out of the sky and began careening to the planet below as Ratchet, Clank, Twilight, and Ben landed back at the base.
"I like to think that maybe he was a good man at one point." Applejack sadly noted.
"Indeed...but you know how fame can change people for the worse more often than not..." Rarity added.
Fluttershy saw the saddened look on Twilight's face and moved to hug her, Pinkie joining in followed by the rest of the girls.
"On the plus side, I believe we have found our new ship." Clank said as he gestured to a much more advanced model ship than what they'd been using, much more streamlined with a more powerful engine.
"Ooooh!" Hilda cooed. "Slick!"
An Infobot came out of the ship, sharing with them the situation on the Planet Oltanis below.
"This is Darla Gratch reporting live from Gorda City. This once peaceful planet is being torn apart today in an unprovoked attack. It now seems certain that Supreme Executive Chairman Drek will not be dissuaded in his efforts to destroy the galaxy for his own selfish needs. All hope certainly seems lost. Darla Gratch, Channel 2 News."
"We don't have any more time to waste." Twilight said. "We gotta head down there right away."
"It seems a little too dangerous though." Hilda worriedly said. "You girls should stay on the ship, okay? Do it for Mommy?"
"Yes, Mama." The Mane 6 all said.
"Yeah, with how things are going down there, it'll be safer if the three of us and Clank do the Blarg repelling," Ben said.
Don't worry, if any of you Ratchet & Clank fans are reading this, you'll know this isn't the last we see of Qwark.
And I cannot stress this enough; can the scambots stop spamming reviews? It's annoying!