Everyone in the crew was still deeply asleep.

Ratchet and Rivet lay snuggled up together in their big bed, dreaming. By now the ship had been underway for a day, and the waiting time was getting on the nerves of every soldier here. However, like a blessing from heaven, the alarm began to sound, waking the two lovers immediately. "Oh... five more minutes," Ratchet said plaintively to himself as he stood up and then pulled his girlfriend's tail softly, "Get up, sunshine. We're being called."

"Pull my tail again and you'll be in for a surprise," Rivet said as she also stood up and hugged the lombax from behind.

Both had to grin as they finally decided to get dressed and follow the signal. Next to her quarters, the Special Forces colonel was also waking up his crew, "What's wrong? Do you want to have breakfast in bed? On your feet, sleepyheads!"

"Breakfast in bed would be really great, sir," Tusk joked to himself before daring to get up. Everyone on the crew knew better than to provoke the gray old man, so all the soldiers gathered in the main hangar, where Qwark was already waiting for the troops. "Good that everyone is awake! I have great news: We're reaching our destination," and indeed the green hero with the huge chin was right. The planet was getting closer and closer. The lombaxes and all the members of the team raised their eyes in excitement before joy could suddenly be heard in the room, "HAHA, finally! Time for some action!"

Then everything passed quickly.

Qwark decided to stay on board with Elaris, Skidd, Helga and the Colonel, while Tusk would lead the unit. At this decision, however, the lombax approached his great friend and the Colonel, "With all due respect, Colonel... Qwark. Perhaps I should lead the team."

"Young lombax," the old man put his hand on the orange shoulder, "My boys are known for fending off such plagues. Believe me...he'll be fine." "But..." Ratchet didn't get any further, because Clank was already calling him to the smaller ship that would transport the squad. Without saying another word, the hero approached his friends. In addition to some soldiers and the Special Force, Brax and Cora were also there, already excitedly reloading their blasters. The two lombaxes picked up their robot friends and attached them to the familiar backpack position.

"This is going to be fun," Brax said before the small ship took off.

While the squad was still on its way to orbit, three strange capsules landed hard on the ground far away from the lab. The hatches opened immediately and scaly hands reached out. The young hunters arrived and took in the warmth of the planet. Warm and muggy, just as it should be. The Yautja immediately checked his system on his left bracer, which activated a red holo-map. It showed nearby activity of the creatures that would be hunting them. However, one of his fellow warriors growled as he recognized something in the planet's sky.

An alien ship was about to land.

Now it was also recognizable on the son's map, and these were other aliens who were heavily armed. This was no problem for the three young hunters, as it only meant more game to hunt and trophies to prove themselves. A final weapons check followed from the Yautja before a loud roar from the three was the starting signal.

They ran off at full speed, becoming invisible thanks to their technology.

Tusk's unit stormed out, "Okay, all safe! Go, go!" The armed soldiers and rangers strode out of the small ship, where the lombaxes were the last to escape. "Oh jeez... it's pretty hot here," the rebel suddenly said, taking off her helmet. Small drops of sweat were already forming on her forehead, which she wiped away with her prosthesis, "When you come from a snow planet, it's like a slap in the face."

"Yeah... luckily I'm from a desert planet," laughed Ratchet, to which Rivet only gave him a light tap on the shoulder, "Show-off! Come on, hotshot, otherwise we'll lose our troop!"

The lovers ran ahead while Clank and Kit scanned the area. The two robots wanted to make sure they weren't being followed, but their scanners weren't able to locate anything, "Ratchet, I didn't find anything."

"Then we should be even more careful," back with the squad they pulled out their heavy blasters and searched the forest first. The Special Force had a tracking device to find the traders' ship and the pink alien led the way, "Over there! It's just ahead!" The unit followed Tusk before they could already see the large ship behind the bushes. The hatch was open and to their shock there was a trail of blood running through the floor. Upon entering the vessel, they found the woman who had given the distress signal.

Or what was left of her.

"She was torn to pieces. Everyone was unarmed, they didn't stand a chance," Rivet took a closer look at the corpse. There were scratches and bite marks everywhere, and the woman had a large hole in the middle of her head: "No trace of firearms. So these things are like animals."

"Smart animals, if you ask me. It knew she wanted to call for help," Ratchet grabbed at the console where the huge drop of drool hit, "We should keep going, there's nothing left here..."

"Ratchet, there's a large facility nearby," came from the silver robot on his back, which the unit heard immediately, "Thanks buddy, then..." "Okay, follow me to the lab! We'll look for the culprits there," Tusk had already taken his word for it, and the soldiers followed the pink alien. The lombax, however, found this rude and pushed past the others before Rivet could stop him. "Hey, you," came from Ratchet to the taller one, who paid no attention to the orange one, "If we have to be under your leadership, then we should treat each other like partners too!"

"Please don't tell me how to do my job, furball," it was as if Ratchet was talking to a wall. Annoyed, he went back to his rebel and continued to follow Clank's trail until the troop had finally found the base.

And another torn merchant lay before them.

"That was a Fongoid...stay alert," Cora and Adrian led the way, followed by the soldiers. The lombaxes were the last to get in and immediately pulled out their blasters. This place gave them goosebumps under their fur because it seemed so empty, followed by the corpses in the rooms, "It's like a horror movie..." "Don't worry, Kit. I'm here," Rivet said to her best friend as they entered the lower level.

The stench was already in their noses. The fabric on the wall had already been noticed by the unit, where the twins were beginning to retch, "Urgh, what's that?"

"Clank, do you want a sample," the lombax asked his friend, who nodded in agreement. Using the omniwrench he pulled out a piece of the substance and handed it to the silver robot, who took a closer look, "Hm...no race I know of produces something like this...I don't understand it. I usually have information about many races in my database, but this is a real mystery."

"Stay together," the pink leader ordered, but then they heard something, " There's something coming!" The unit readied itself for a coming attack. They were in the middle of the underground base, which was completely empty. Only the fabric and some open, strange eggs nearby. The alien was getting closer and closer to the lombaxes, who were already ready to fire when...

"THANK THE GODS! I'm saved!"

It was not an enemy. One of the members of the trading ship approached the soldiers. He was only wearing an undershirt, and the man was sweating profusely. "Sir, take it easy," Ratchet approached him and tried to calm the man down, "What happened here?" "We...got a distress signal...then...I got jumped by something. When I woke up, my crew was dead and I..."

Suddenly the trader jerked up.

"I...Is everything alright," as the lombax tried to calm him down again, the alien jerked completely out of control. He suddenly cried out painfully, which put the rest of the group on alert, "What's wrong, Lombax!"

"NO IDEA," Ratchet yelled back, until suddenly the survivor's chest clenched open. A load of blood stuck against the orange one's face as the chest then opened completely and a screeching creature came out. It was like a snake without arms or legs and already had sharp teeth. The soldiers screamed in shock as the dead merchant gave birth to a monster and Ratchet wiped the blood from his face in disgust.

Before one of the soldiers suddenly got attacked.

"THAT'S A TRAP," several monsters in the area already screamed out, stretching from the holes. They were the same parasites that Qwark had shown and they were in massive numbers. Fire was already opening, where the lombaxes took cover and so did the soldiers. Screaming, one soldier after another was snatched up by the aliens, who immediately tore them to pieces or kidnapped them. Brax and Cora shot around with Adrian, hitting their enemies in the process. The creatures screamed as they fell to the ground and their blood shot out of them, just missing the male lombax.

He noticed how it etched away the ground.

"...Acid for blood..." Ratchet whispered, before screaming, "LOOK OUT! THEY HAVE ACID FOR BLOOD!" But his scream was overheard by the blaster fire before some of the soldiers found out for themselves. One by one, they were hit by the acid, burning their faces and slowly panicking the rest of the team. "TUSK, WHAT DO WE DO NOW," Kenny strode over to the pink one, who was still shooting around. Not even he had a clue how they could win now, but his eyes met the small, newborn creature, "Grab the little one! We need to investigate!" And said was done. A soldier grabbed the wriggly baby, and locked it in a glass box.

Meanwhile, Rivet was also shooting at approaching aliens, who were immediately shot down by the rebel. "There are too many of them! We have to get out of here," and that's when the white lombax took the first step and ran towards some soldiers lying on the ground. "RIVET WAIT", Ratchet's scream was no longer heard as the monsters had circled her and the unit. "Clank, get ready," the hero raised his blaster and fired, running. The aliens' attention was immediately focused on the lombax before they made the acquaintance of the blaster. Ratchet skillfully shot his way through, dodged the acid and almost reached his girlfriend. Rivet already had her boyfriend in her sights, but then one of the parasites jumped at her, the claw pinning her to the ground, which Rivet punched. The alien, however, did not flinch when it made eye contact with the rebel.

And that caused Rivet to panic.

Despite the lack of eyes, the rebel had the feeling that this monster was staring straight into her soul as its sharp teeth and drool approached her chin. The alien opened its mouth wide and a second, small mouth was visible, aimed directly between the white one's eyes. Before the monster could get in a final blow, it was rammed from the side. Ratchet had reached Rivet after all, and as the creature wriggled on the ground, hissing, the rebel immediately took the chance to put an end to its misery. The blaster shot followed and the alien was dead. "Thank you," she said as her lover helped her up and then turned around: "We have to get out of here quickly!"

"RETREAT!"

At last, the men who were left ran off. Jean and Ducky were right at the back and did everything they could to avoid being caught. But unfortunately the aliens were faster. The woman was pierced by the tail, causing the twin to cry out, "DUCKY, NO!" Before he knew it, he was surrounded. His brother, however, noticed immediately and tried to come to his aid, but the door was about to close. "BROTHER," Billie was too late. The door closed and only the agonized screams of his comrades could be heard. The red one broke down and let the tears flow freely. Ratchet and Rivet were the only ones to turn around for the first twin and helped him again, "Billie...we have to go!"

"M...My brother," he announced, but the rebel pulled him along, "Quick!" Back outside, the lombaxes ran towards the small ship, but were shocked to find it infested with some of the monsters.

"WAIT FOR US," Adrian yelled after the ship, where only a few soldiers and the two galactic rangers had gone and the soldier with the small alien in the box. Cora and Brax tried to stop the pilot from flying off, but a surprise attack by an alien clawing at the door interrupted the attempt. The large one shot the parasite down, but the acid shot out, hitting the man in half his face and part of his arm. "BRAX," the hatch closed and screaming, the man went down. The small ship then flew off, and only the lombaxes and a few of the Special Force were left on the planet: "COME BACK!" Tusk dropped to his knees and pounded the ground. Adrian, Kenny and Billie were the only ones of the main force besides him, plus a few soldiers behind them and the interdimensional heroes. "...Ratchet, we're stranded here," Rivet admitted as she looked up into the sky.

The squad was on their own.

Away from the lab, a soldier had wandered off the battlefield. He was running through the bushes in a panic as something big was chasing him. One of the aliens had found him and was not going to let him escape. Eventually he found himself in a dead end, as there was a large slope in front of him. The parasite came snarling towards him, and the soldier began to wave his empty blaster, almost crying, "S...STAY AWAY FROM ME!" The alien came closer and closer to the other alien, whose blaster was snatched from his hand. Snarling, the monster opened its drooling mouth and was ready to strike down its victim.

But when he saw three red dots on the black creature.

A blue plasma shot followed and hit the monster completely on its lower body. The spraying acid then hit the soldier, who was immediately cauterized and died. The parasite, on the other hand, screamed in pain as half its body was blown away and loud footsteps came towards it. Something invisible made itself visible, and one of the three young Yautja stood in front of the alien with his arm blade drawn. Only at the sight of the masked alien did the beast shriek louder, as if it were pouring all its hatred into it. The hunter did not let the creature scream any longer and cut off its head with the blade. Now the young Yautja picked up the alien's skull and shouted triumphantly into the sky. He was the first to win a trophy, even before the son of the eldest. But now he had to meet up with his two companions again, as his colleague had found something interesting.

A furry, worthy opponent who had proven himself.