With the Mane 6 acting as their girls in the chair from the safety of Yeedil, the trio of Ratchet, Ben, and Hilda flew to Aranos where the thief was hiding out on a starship.
"Ratchet reporting. Me, Ben, and Hilda are on final approach to coordinates three-seven-alpha." Ratchet contacted Fizzwidget.
"Good luck, I'm counting on you."
"Affirmative, beginning radio silence."
Ratchet was able to direct them to what had to be an opening in the bottom, maybe a trash chute or something that was never used, before he activated the autopilot as he and his siblings entered the ship, reading out their weapons, even if they did find a platform that allowed them to head deeper into the Thief's domain.
Ratchet, Ben, and Hilda made short work of the enemy robots in their way with their melee weapons as well as the Megacorp-provided weapons Lancer and Gravity Bomb. One thing Twilight noted while watching her parents work was the fact that the weapons in Bogon gained nanomites, which existed in every creature and meant that Megacorp had found a way to utilize that function to evolve their weapons after using them in battle for some time, but it also gave her a way to figure out the system and incorporate it into her other weapon designs, to make even stronger weapons for Gadgetron.
"This is some great data!" Twilight contacted. "Keep doing what you're doing with those weapons Fizzwidget gave you!"
"Hehe, I'm lovin' 'em already!" Ben grinned as he kissed his Lancer while Hilda admired her Gravity Bomb.
After that, they passed through a short passage that did look like it might be in the mechanical section of the ship and they opened fire on the robot guards that dropped onto the walkway to stop them before finding a room with some glass windows behind some bots, to which they cleared out the room and made their way outside for a few seconds. That brought them to an area that had a Chainsaw Bot that had several spheres near it, which looked like they would split open and extend blades as they spun at their target, to which Hilda used the Gravity Bomb to blast through, allowing her, her boyfriend, and brother to reenter the ship and used an elevator to reach an upper level, giving Ratchet a moment to fire a bomb at a group of robots and let it open the way by wiping out the enemies that were in their way.
Following that the trio found a door that lead to a chamber that just so happened to have the Experiment resting in a cage, which was on top of a pedestal.
"Well, that was easy!" Ben said as he moved to pick up the Experiment.
However, the wall behind them suddenly opened. Turning around, they found the Thief, who wore a red chest piece, blue pants, a red cap, and a dark blue mask, on the other side of the wall with two robot guards.
"I see it's time to update my security forces." the Thief remarked as she walked forward and claimed the cage that the Experiment was in.
"Woah, no, hey, no, no, look, I just here to fix the... transfluxor coil," Ratchet said lamely.
"Nice try." The Thief remarked. "Give my regards to Megacorp."
The Thief prepared to escape through a chute, only to bump her head against the open lid, making the Experiment and even her robot guards giggle at her, much to her annoyance as she glared at the bots, who quickly turned their attention back to the trio.
"Finish them."
The other door opened and revealed more bots for them to face as the Thief made her escape. As such, the trio opened fire on the robots that were in front of them, as while the new enemies they were fighting were tougher than those in the Solana Galaxy, as it took a few hits to take the bots out, none of them lasted against three opponents tearing into them, and once the chamber was cleared out they found a hatch that lead to part of the ship's exterior.
"Alright, let's get after her!" Hilda said as she jumped in...only to get stuck. "Oh, come on..."
"The one time being fat works against you." Ratchet snarked as he and Ben pushed Hilda's big butt.
"Try sucking in your gut!"
"I am!"
"Try sucking in your butt AND your gut!"
Eventually, they managed to push Hilda through the chute, falling in with her and sliding into a wing-like structure with robots patrolling, which Ben took out with some well-aimed Lancer shots, allowing them to walk over to another opening and climbed back into the ship, only to blast apart some more robots that decided to get in their way, allowing them to use a lift to reach a passage that had to lead towards an exit point, or so they hoped.
Sure enough, they had to blast their way through a swarm of robots that happened to be along the path in question, not that the trio expected to get out of there easily, since the Thief wanted to gain as much time as she could so they wouldn't catch up with her, at least for a time, hence why they focused on tearing their way through the enemies in front of them.
They tore through one last chamber, which had two doors that were blasted down by a large number of enemy bots who immediately advanced on the area they were standing in, though it wasn't long before the trio tore the robots apart and headed for an opening that seemed to be yet another dead end, like the Thief had designed part of this ship to mess with intruders, before finding two more bots trying to approach them from behind.
"Time to hit that old silk!" Ben said as the trio jumped over the edge. "GERANIMO!"
Ratchet, knowing that they would be leaving in due time, had called their ship back to them and they settled inside each of their seats before the hatch closed.
"So much for this being easy..." Hilda sighed.
Meanwhile, as the Thief was making her escape, she got into contact with an organization that provided henchmen to whoever was willing to pay enough bolts; Thugs-4-Less.
"Thugs-4-less, if it ain't broke, we'll break it."
"Right. I'm in the market for some security."
"You bring the cash, we'll bring the thrash."
"Good. I need your best men to meet me at these coordinates!"
"Ratchet checking in, sir."
"Incredulous. I didn't expect to hear from you again... uh, so soon."
Ben and Hilda both arched their eyebrows curiously at that tone Fizzwidget used. Was he not expecting them to succeed?
"There was a slight problem, the Thief escaped with the experiment and we have no idea where he was headed."
"Not to worry, I just received an emission which may illubricate the matter."
Fizzwidget then revealed a camera recording from Planet Oozla's Megacorp store, where the Thief was shaking down the store clerk for maps of the galactic quadrant.
"We're on our way!" Ben said.
It was fortunate for the trio that Oozla was close to Aranos, or at least it sure felt that way since the ship Mr. Fizzwidget had given them was one of the faster ones, discovering that it was a swamp planet, which seemed to be overrun with all sorts of weeds and other growth, where the massive outlet building rested off in the distance.
"I doubt the Thief stuck around," Hilda noted. "Might as well see if we can find anything useful here."
"So, facility first or wilderness first?" Ratchet asked, suggesting which path to take first.
"Personally, I say you all should check out the wilderness path first, in case you need the item it gives you in the facility," Twilight suggested on the private comm link.
"Good thinking, sweetie." Hilda smiled. "I promise we'll find you some stray Megacorp gadgets to pick apart."
The trio first approached the nearby Megacorp Vendor, finding two new weapons for sale. The first was the Chopper, which rested on the back of one's wrist and allowed the user to throw metallic discs at whoever their target was, while the other was the Blitz Gun, which fired with the spread of a shotgun.
"Good thing Mr. Fizzwidget opened the channels for us to use our Bolts from Solana to purchase things here in Bogon," Ben commented as the trio purchased one of each new weapon.
Going down the wilderness path, the trio put their new weapons to work against the hostile alien lifeforms that inhabited the planet. Ratchet in particular discovered that the Chopper made quick work of the smaller enemies.
After that, they discovered a few swamp creatures that looked like they could be used to travel over the swamp, some munching on whatever foliage was growing out of the water, though jumping onto their backs allowed the trio to cross over to the other side and continue exploring the rest of the wilderness part of the planet, which revealed a passage for them to head through.
After some precarious platforming and riding on more of the swamp creatures, they reached a pipe that brought them down into an area that seemed like a testing area of sorts, complete with a Megacorp employee standing near where Ratchet landed, even though Ben and Hilda landed near him while Ratchet ended up on a platform with a new marking on it.
"Welcome, welcome! If everyone could take their seats we can proceed with today's demonstration. First I'll need a volunteer. Anyone?" He then pointed at Ratchet. "Excellent. Your name, sir?"
"Ratchet."
The employee then aimed a weird box-shaped device of sorts to move the platform the Lombax was on, causing him to lose his balance and fall on his butt.
"And there you have it, the Megacorp Tractor Beam gameplay. Let's give it up for our volunteer." The employee said as Ratchet got up. "Sir, how about taking advantage of our show special?"
Ratchet, despite being a little annoyed with the employee, simply purchased the item as Twilight got a good look at it from the private comm link.
"Ooooh! I can't wait to pick it apart! Maybe I can make it so that you, Papa Ben, and Mama Hilda can simulate the magic telekinesis of me and Rarity!"
"Sounds like a plan, Twi." Ben smiled.
Using his new Tractor Beam, Ratchet moved some nearby platforms it could interact with so that he, Ben, and Hilda could climb up to an area above their ship, allowing him to activate a button and open the way for them to jump down. With that done they walked over to where they had found the Vendor.
"Alright, now it's time to check out the building."
Making their way down the other path, the trio took care of any enemies in the way. Along the path, they spotted an employee off in the swamp being dragged into the water, too fast for anyone to do anything about it.
Crossing the various platforms and taking out more enemies, the trio found something interesting; a platform that had two large tendril appendages, not to mention a single eye that popped out of the water a few seconds later, no doubt reacting to the sound of them walking on the rocky platform in front of it, before it started to swing both of its tendrils at them.
"Oooh looks like this big boy wants a fight!" Hilda smirked as she readied her Gravity Bomb.
The trio dodged the attack and opened fire on the swamp creature that wanted to smash them. With three targets to choose from it was hard for the creature to focus, which they were fine with since it allowed them to keep firing at it while dodging the attacks, something that eventually caused the creature to roar in pain before descending into the depths, allowing them to make their way across a few more platforms before coming to a stop in front of the building that was their destination.
"Man, wish you were here to tame this beast, Flutters," Ben noted.
"Sorry, Papa..."
"Don't be. It's good to know you and your sisters are safe and sound."
"So...how are we gonna get in?" Hilda noted, seeing as there was no easy way for them to get up the entrance.
"Huh, this looks useful," Ben noted as he walked over to a device with a pointer on it before aiming it at a spherical device and firing it, creating a green hardlight platform for the trio to ride on. "Oh, heck yeah!"
"Interesting. This is called the Dynamo, and it interacts with objects like that to form platforms and walkways for people to use or move things into position," Twilight said as she studied the device while reading from the Megacorp site on Yeedil.
"Think maybe you can put this and the Tractor Beam together to make some super gizmo?" Ben suggested.
"Already planning on it, Papa!"
The trio entered the outlet store, taking out some of the hostile alien lifeforms that had made their nests there while Ben used the Dynamo to help make paths forward.
"Man, this gadget is awesome!"
Sure enough, the outlet store had all sorts of every day displays, like clothing for example, though based on what the trio could see there weren't any employees anywhere, as all of them must have been dragged out into the swamp by a fair number of creatures that they had faced since arriving on this planet, especially after all of the employees they had seen during their time exploring this planet, before crossing over a gap so they could enter the backside of the building, away from where any customers shopped.
From there they made their way over a couple of platforms created by the Dynamo, allowing them to make their way over to what seemed to be the end of the building, one that had a metallic walkway that they ignored for the time being before finding a path leading into the heart of the structure and they used their newest gadget to activate it, even if it meant dodging crates to reach a chamber that had a holo display near one of the walls.
"Ratchet? Ben? Hilda? Come in. Are you there?"
Ratchet saluted. "Copy Mr. Fizzwidget."
"Listen, I have some new inflammation on our experiment's wherewithal. The thief was indemnified at Megacorp's Maktar Resort. Also, the Thugs have towed a moon-sized jamming array into Maktar Resort orbit."
"Should we take it out?" Hilda asked, readying her Titan Wrench to cause some damage.
"Affirmulous! It's disconfrabulating our annual Galactic Gladiators broadcast. See for yourself."
The holo-display then played a commercial for the Galactic Gladiator games in question, which the trio watched with rapt attention.
"Ask yourself, are you man enough, hero enough, INSANE enough to step into the ring with two of the fiercest warriors in the galaxy? If you answered yes YOU'RE A BIG FAT LIAR. But that's okay because Megacorp is bringing Galactic Gladiators into your home for a special Mega-View event. First, it's survival of the fittest in our bio-competition. Be there as Chainblade (Chainblade!) unleashes his fury on our gladiator guest contestants. Chainblade has gone undefeated in five hundred straight matches. But if the bio division doesn't do it for you, our robotics division will. Taste the adrenaline as contestants face off against our four-armed bandit, the B2 Brawler, (Brawler! Brawler!) No living creature is a match for this machine. Watch six tons of carbonox alloy hunt for its prey! There's no consolation prize cause this bad boy's programmed to show no mercy. So what are you waiting for? Call now to bring Chainblade and the B2 Brawler into your living room, but put away the fine china! The Galactic Gladiators, only on Mega-View. Call your provider now."
"Chainblade, huh?" Ratchet pondered with a smirk. "We've got the coordinates!"
Taking a nearby teleportation pad, the trio warped back to their ship and departed for the Maktar Resort.
"Awww man! I'm gonna switch to that channel now!" Rainbow said excitedly. "I wanna see Mom, Dad, and Pa kick some tail!"
"Settle down there, tiger." Ratchet chuckled.
"We'll be sure to put on a show for you, sweetie." Hilda giggled.
"This...is gonna be awesome!" Ben smirked.
*Meanwhile, in Megapolis...*
A female Infobot was knocking on the door to the penthouse suite that Clank and Ena were currently staying at with a bouquet of flowers for Clank. However, she then turned and her eyes widened as she flew away from an incoming danger, who knocked on the door.
"Yes? May I help you?"
Clank answered the door, wearing a bathrobe and towel before looking up in shock to see none other than the Thief in front of him, who snatched him up before he could even react.
"Clank?" Ena asked worriedly, only to find her son was not there. "Oh no..."
I hate cliffhangers too...