While the lombaxes finished their meal, Eric had retreated behind the trees. The man then pulled out his communicator, hoping to contact his boss, who had to be rescued.

"Please pick up," the human pressed the button and there was only a slight hiss when someone could be heard on the other line, "Eric? Is that you?"

"Yes, Mr. Iron! I'm on my way to help you," the dark-skinned man grinned slightly at the sound of the older person who was his superior. "Eric...I'm so glad you're okay," Mr. Iron finally continued, "But what are you doing so reckless? They still won't let me out, and you can't do it alone!"

"I'm not alone. I've found help," Eric hoped to reassure his superior, who was quite surprised, "Help? Colonial Marines or... oh no! They know I'm on the phone with you! LET ME GO!"

"It's for your own safety!"

Another voice could be heard, sounding deeper and more mechanical. Before Mr. Iron could say a last word to the communicator, it was destroyed and Eric heard the static again. The younger man knew that the androids would not voluntarily hand over their superiors, so it was high time to take action. The human strode through the bushes again before arriving back at the Lombaxe, who set the rat's bones aside.

"Was quite nice..." Ratchet tried to say politely before the man picked up his pistol again, "We don't have much time! I've been in contact with Mr. Iron, and the androids are still holding him. We have to move on!"

"What? Well, better start moving, guys," Rivet picked up the new firearm again and strapped it around his back, together with Kit. The orange hero was also ready again, and so the four of them continued to follow the human through the planet's forests. "What can we prepare for, Eric," came from Clank, who could still be heard on his best friend's back. "The androids have been specially developed for combat," Eric answered calmly, "They didn't even bother to make them look like humans. Just put some armor on them and they were ready. They're robust too." The companions continued to walk through the forest, getting closer and closer to their destination.

Only they were being watched again.

The thermal image of his mask showed the two lombaxes and the other creature that was guiding them. The Predator was perched on a large tree and followed their steps closely. He was a little faster than its companion, which had given him time to find the furry fighters. They did not yet notice his presence, which was thanks to his camouflage mechanism. Still invisible, the young hunter climbed from tree to tree without attracting much attention.

But when he grabbed hold of the next tree, the orange one turned around. Thanks to his big ears, Ratchet had heard something that was on their trail. Had the lombax imagined it, or was he being watched? The Predator also stared at the lombax, but remained silent. The hero blinked a few times, but in the end found nothing in front of him. "Ratchet," Clank and Rivet had noticed the lombax his silence, "Come on now. Don't be a lame speetle. We have to keep going!"

"...Yeah, it was just my imagination," the lombax turned back to his girlfriend, leaving the invisible Predator behind, which the hero couldn't see. The hunter went through the sentence again in his helmet. He could pick up phrases and voices and use them for lure calls or similar, so he continued to follow them inconspicuously.

"Don't... be... a lame speetle," the Predator replayed the sentence in its original voice before speeding up.

After an hour, Eric finally stopped and took cover behind a tree trunk lying on the ground, "Watch out! We're here!" The heroes also took cover. Just a few meters away, a small building stood before them, guarded by a dozen armored men. "Are those the androids," whispered Ratchet to Eric, who nodded in agreement, "They're holding Mr. Iron captive in the building. I estimate there are about fifteen of them."

"Clank, Kit. Do you think you could scan the area?" Rivet asked quietly as the two bots got to work. In fact, it worked, because the little ones had an overview of the surroundings: "Two are guarding a large door. The rest are spread out in the field below, as you can probably see."

"Then I have an idea," the orange lombax set his best friend down, "You sneak around the outside of the building while we distract them."

"I'll distract them," Eric stood up slightly, and before any of the heroes could object, the human ran off, "Come back!"

"It's no use. Come on, Bolts and Kit," Rivet set the yellow one down and the little robots strode ahead. The lombaxes, on the other hand, checked their weapons one last time and then came a little closer. They at least wanted to back up the humans in case things escalated and both watched as Eric was intercepted by the first one.

"You have no authority to enter here!"

"I'm Eric. I want to go to Mr. Iron and quarter him somewhere else," the human tried to reason with the synthetic figure, who still held his rifle in both hands, "Mr. Iron is authorized to stay here! Leave the area now and never come back!" The monotonous, mechanical voice rang out from behind the helmet the androids were wearing and the specimen stuck out its right hand, "Leave or we'll use force!" Ratchet and Rivet got a bad feeling about this. The machine wasn't willing to cooperate, but Eric, on the other hand, didn't back down. In fact, he remained calm the whole time, "I'll get Mr. Iron out of here, otherwise I'll report your behaviour to..."

"He's armed," a second android suddenly shouted as he scanned the small pistol. Without warning, the first one knocked Eric to his knees with the gun. Groaning, the human held the bump on his head, but then pointed the gun at him, "You have no authority!" Ratchet and Rivet, on the other hand, had opened their eyes in shock. These things don't even stop at their superiors, and were even prepared to kill employees. The android pulled the trigger and was ready to kill the human.

"HEY, TIN CAN!"

Distracted by the scream, the android turned towards the bush, but a bullet was lodged between his visor. The synthetic man fell over, wriggling, and his white body fluid came out. But the others had now noticed the lombaxes too, "Intruders! Extraneous life forms detected!" And the shooting began. Ratchet and Rivet ran towards the human and took cover behind a new tree trunk, " Seriously, you're crazy too, Eric!"

"Well I didn't start a gunfight," came the reply as the bullets flew past them. Ratchet loaded up the new gun he had and was ready to fight, "You stay here! Rivet and I will handle this!"

"Wanna bet that I destroy more then you," came back the white female lombax's teasing but laughing reply, to which her boyfriend just laughed, "You wish!" And so the lombaxes ran off.

The androids continued to aim and fire, but the two fur balls were too fast. The heroes took cover behind the countless ammunition boxes and trees and fired back. Some were hit and fell to the ground, but some were still standing, even after being shot through a tree. The lombaxes were impressed. Unlike the other robots they usually shot down, they were still standing after the heaviest shots. "Okay, they're in," came from Ratchet, who managed to get a shot in the sights and bring one down, "Aim for their faces!" Nodding, Rivet now also shot at the androids' face heights, which did more good. One of them, however, managed to dodge the lombaxes and then stood in front of the orange lombax.

"You have no authorization," the android grabbed the lombax by the collar and lifted him up. Ratchet almost ran out of breath. The synthetic man gripped him hard, and not even the blows did any good. Only when he jerked the omniwrench and rammed it against his skull did the machine jerk open. Wobbling, he staggered backwards, where his white fluid shot out. "Yuck, what's that," the hero spat on the ground, but immediately took cover as another shot at him. Rivet, on the other hand, continued to shoot at the androids' weak spots and then came at the one with the hammer, shooting at Ratchet's cover. Both lovers were behind a weapons crate, exhaling heavily. "They're...good," the rebel gasped briefly, and her lover had to gasp as well. "We have to find something that will take them down all at once." Only now did Ratchet realize that the crate could be opened and a look inside brought a grin to his face.

"Rivet, you'd better cover your ears," and the male lombax pulled out a grenade.

While the lombaxes were still fighting, Clank and Kit snuck up to the small building holding the second human. "Hehe... I feel like I'm in an Agent Clank movie," the yellow one suddenly giggled as her counterpart laughed slightly, "Yes, indeed. That's a sneak mi..." And before he could finish his word, a loud explosion was heard, which also led the two guards onto the battlefield, and Clank half closed his eyelids, "I know someone who can't sneak, though."

"Oh dear," Kit also immediately knew who could have caused the explosion. But they pushed that aside and walked quickly to the door. Luckily for them, it was open and slid aside for the little robots, where they encountered the next problem.

Another android was guarding the human.

"We have to be quiet," Clank said to her, slowly creeping towards the shelves in the room. It seemed to have been a surveillance station, because apart from the shelves there was a desk full of switches. Mr. Iron was sitting on the floor, unable to escape, "Let me go already, you stupid android!"

"It's for your own safety," was all that came back from the synthetic, but his hearing picked up something. Unfortunately, Kit bumped against the cabinet, causing a slight knock. "No authorization," came the mechanical voice from behind the helmet, and the android strode to the source of the noise. The little bots crept quietly around, past his feet and left the opponent staring into space. A plan was needed, and fast.

"What do we do now," Kit asked quietly when she saw the android turn around again. The silver one thought about what would be smart now and then stared at the weapon holster of the enemy machine. There was a small pistol inside, which gave the silver one an idea. So the little one ran off, despite Kit's warning shouts, and rammed into the android's kneecap with a karate kick. Immediately alert, the synthetic stared down and caught sight of the intruder: "You have no authority to be here!" The android bent down and tried to grab Clank, but a leap to the side from the robot and a blow to the holster sent the pistol rolling at Mr. Irons' feet. The human took the chance and raised the gun. A shot to the back of the android's head followed and the unit went down wriggling, the white substance oozing out.

"Don't mess with Agent Clank," came back the silver one with a laugh.

Kit came out, took her friend in her arms and then they could take a good look at the human. He was older than Eric, but he had red hair with many gray strands. He also had a moustache on his pale face and a company uniform on his body, but that didn't hide the puzzled look on his face: "W...What are you?"

"No time for that, we have to get out of here," the little ones ran ahead, which the old man didn't need to be told twice and so he followed his mysterious rescuers outside.

Where the shooting had stopped in the meantime.

Rivet stood panting in front of an android that she had hit at least fifteen times in the head with a hammer. The machine twitched again briefly, but that set strike number sixteen and then the enemy was motionless again. "So...now this thing must finally be finished," the two lombaxes stood back to back, before Ratchet laughed lightly again, "I...got more than you did!"

"No way jose," the two looked each other in the face again before a small kiss followed. Eric came out of his cover again, but then saw his superior coming down the stairs, "Mr. Iron!"

"Eric, you're all right," the older one came up to the younger one and gave him a relieved hug, "How did you..."

"I had help! Sir, this is Ratchet and Rivet. lombaxes, other aliens who want to help us," the dark-skinned man pointed to the two furry ones, who now had their eyes on the older one. Mr. Iron was briefly surprised by the sight of this species before he cleared his throat and bowed his head gratefully, "Thank you so much! They didn't let me go..."

But then a fist smashed against his bearded face.

The force caused him to land on his back, whereupon the omniwrench was pressed against his neck. Eric hadn't realized how fast it happened, but the two lombaxes looked pretty angry, which could be heard in Rivet's voice, "You have human lives on your hands!" Ratchet's look was also dark and angry, while Mr. Iron gasped and tried to reply, "Please...I didn't know...what they were doing behind my back either!"

"Wait! Mr. Iron doesn't know anything about this," the younger one tried to calm the situation, which made the heroes' ears prick up attentively.

"Yes...I was only in charge of the colony," the older one gave a short gasp until Ratchet really let go of him, "Thank you...I didn't know what Weyland was doing behind my back. I was responsible for a new home for us, but they bred the xenomorphs without my knowledge. You have to believe me!" The four of them stared at the old man's distraught face as he threw up his hands in surrender. Ratchet then approached him first, "Listen to me carefully! Now you take us to the control center, where I can contact my team, and then we'll destroy them all! And I'm warning you: no tricks!" The orange one now had his eye on the humans as well. Eric helped his superior up again, who looked at the heroes sorrowfully: "You have my word. It's not a trick."

And then three red dots appeared on their foreheads.

"LOOK OUT," the rebel shouted, pushing the man over and they managed to dodge the plasma. The Predator was standing on one of the trees and its visor lit up, revealing itself. The white rebel immediately grabbed her rifle and shot after the hunter, who disappeared into the nearest trees. In doing so, she actually brushed his leg, revealing some of the green blood that scattered against the branches. Screaming, the hunter disappeared into the jungle and was gone again. "It's all right," Ratchet walked up to Rivet, who lowered the rifle to the ground and nodded approvingly to her friend, "Yes...thank you."

"We're not safe here anymore! I'll lead the way to the central hall now," Eric helped Mr. Iron back up, and the four heroes joined in. They stared at the older man, who just quietly followed his coworkers. The journey to the main control center had begun, and with it was finally a chance to contact Qwark and escape from this planet.

But the dangers were still there.