//------------------------------//
// Time: Clock, Lumos 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Sigmund, as Clank and Starswirl quickly learned, was an easy robot to entertain, because as they walked to the next part of the Great Clock he went on and on about the battle with the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler, even repeating Clank's line a few times, showing them that he was a fan of his work.

"Now that the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler is dealt with, we can continue to the Orientation Room." Sigmund said, as he likely had a list of things that needed to be done and getting them to the room in question was one of the top ones based on what Clank could tell, or getting him to it since Starswirl didn't use the stations like he did.

All he could do was nod his head as he used his scepter to mend the Great Clock's wounds, though at the same time both he and Sigmund watched as Starswirl weaved parts of his magic around the components that were further away from them, time reversing to repair the damage. Clank marveled at Starswirl's control over his magic, far more than what he had seen in the past, and his power over time itself showed him that Ratchet's brother was definitely a quick learner, to the point where he had a feeling that they would be able to finish this in due time. Of course Sigmund talked about one of the lessons that Orvus had taught him in the past, even though he couldn't remember the exact statement in question, allowing the pair to get to a doorway that brought them to yet another time puzzle. Clank also found out why he wasn't affected by altered time, it was due to the quantum actuator that had been installed in his systems when the Zoni brought him to the station, while at the same time finding that Starswirl, even without such a thing, moved with ease as well.

All Sigmund could say was that it was 'Starswirl being Starswirl', as even when he and Orvus watched over them they had a hard time wrapping their heads around some of the weird things he had done with his magic, even though it seemed like he was only scratching the surface of his power.

"Out of curiosity, why were you watching us?" Starswirl asked, allowing Clank to work on the puzzle that was in front of him while he sated his own curiosity on the matter, where he could see that his friend was more than capable of clearing the obstacles that had been installed at some point in time.

"Before you and Autumn arrived, time was easy to know and plan for, but after you showed up it became more unknown and harder to plan for." Sigmund replied, showing them that there was a reason for him and his boss observing the family for a long time, even though Starswirl knew it had something to do with Clank, before he considered something as Clank finished the puzzle and made way for the magic user to try his hand at it, "We were watching over all of you, until recently... we've been experiencing some difficulties lately, both with temporal anomalies and runaway dimensional energy, and I'm almost convinced there's another Dimensionator out there."

"That is highly unlikely. The Lombaxes would not make more of the device, especially with the dangers they were facing at the time." Clank stated, as while he understood that the blueprints to make the powerful device might be out there, just in case the Lombaxes needed to fix or repair the Dimensionator and needed a point of reference, he refused to believe that there were more of the device out there.

Sigmund said nothing to that, as he found himself agreeing with Clank, and once Starswirl cleared the puzzle they moved on once more, allowing them to reach a massive chamber that was the Orientation Room he needed to bring Clank to, where a mnemonic station was resting nearby. Clank and Starswirl sat on a red couch, which Orvus likely sat while watching over all of them, before Sigmund played the video, which turned out to be Orvus welcoming newcomers to the Great Clock and that he was happy to have them on the team. Orvus went into the purpose of the Great Clock after that, revealing that the Zoni had given the Fongoids the gift of time travel, but, after three thousand years, they had strained the space-time continuum thin, instead of enriching their lives, eventually resulting in a tear that destroyed eighty-three celestial entities. They quickly learned that the Great Clock's purpose was to contain the temporal rift and restore temporal normality to the universe, and, under no circumstances, was the station to be used as a time machine, as it was meant to keep time and not alter it, which meant if someone touched those controls it would be bad.

Once the video was done Clank hopped into the mnemonic station and tapped into the lessons that Orvus installed in him, preparing for the day that he was returned to his father's greatest creation, where Starswirl silently wondered where Orvus had gone, as he figured that the Zoni's leader would have come to Clank at some point, but decided not to question it for the time being.

The moment Clank was done they existed through another door and headed to a platform that was connected to one of the many planets that still existed in the universe, where he connected his scepter to a device and dealt with the vast number of temporal anomalies that were threatening the planet, Quantos to be exact. Starswirl also asked about the 'Chamber', which was the Orvus Chamber, the main control hub for the entire station, but Sigmund informed them that he had never been inside it, not once during his time here, which he was sure was going to change given the path they were charting. After that they found their way to another puzzle and the pair tackled it, Starswirl focused on repairing the other components of the station with his magic so he didn't see the solution, though it wasn't long before both of them had cleared the puzzle and continued deeper into the Great Clock. Other than the puzzles, and cleaning up the pests with Starswirl's brief bursts of magic, Clank was able to do his duty as the Caretaker of the Great Clock, repairing some damage that had been done to Torren IV and Terachnos, during which Sigmund left for a time, which interested Starswirl since the robot was supposed to be making sure Clank understood his new role.

When the pair returned to the Orientation Room they found Sigmund starting up a personal message from Orvus, that he would be traveling to the Tombli Outpost on Zanifar, though given the fact that Orvus was missing they knew that he had either been captured or went missing there, and Starswirl had a plan to help Clank out, they just had to wait a bit before putting his plan into motion.





As the Helios arrived at their destination Ratchet, Autumn, and Angela found that hostile ships were approaching, which told them that someone knew they had been planning on coming here at some point, before discovering the winged ships of the Valkyries, female robots who lost their home in a supernova, according to the stories. The family said nothing while the three robots talked to each other, about how Ratchet and Angela were 'lost', that they should help them find their way to a new destination, and, more importantly, that they would bring them before Nefarious, likely for a bounty that had just been placed on their heads. It was perfectly clear that these Valkyries were here to either kill them or capture them, but it was a terrible idea since the starship had been outfitted with weapons that Aphelion could operate so Ratchet and the rest of his family could rest before reaching the planet they were interested in. In addition to that they were able to scramble the scanners on the ships that were in front of them, preventing them from realizing that Alister had entered the system as well, allowing him to head to Lumos while two ships backed off immediately, the third retreating after Aphelion blasted both of her wings and partly stranded her.

With the Valkyries taken care of, and the coast was clear of enemies, they docked the starship near the planet in question and took Aphelion down to Lumos' surface, targeting the canyon that was connected to the coordinates that Jarvis handed over earlier, and it wasn't long before Alister landed in the same cave they picked out.

"I don't know what you did, but it worked like a charm." Alister said, speaking as they climbed out of their ships, though at the same time he double checked something before catching up with them, at what appeared to be an entrance for some sort of mine, Raritanium most likely, "I was able to triangulate the Obsidian Eye's position to somewhere in these caves, and we happened to pick the perfect point to enter through... finding it, however, is the hard part."

"Then we had best get started." Ratchet remarked, though at the same time Autumn found a new weapon to outfit them with, the Plasma Striker, a new rifle weapon his sister had designed during their time trying to find the clue that brought them to this part of Polaris, and it wasn't long before they had a new weapon to try out.

As they explored the cave Alister confirmed that it had been a Raritanium mine at one point in time, in fact he and Kaden came here a long time ago, when they were younger, and just hoverboot around the area, he even remembered a place where Kaden nearly broke his right arm. There was a lowered bridge that caused Ratchet to jump and glide down into the abyss, which Autumn lit up using some magical lights so he could see the Boltcrank that reconnected the bridge, even if he had to climb up some pipes to get back up to where the others were standing. After doing that they encountered a brand new obstacle, Tetramites, little vicious eaters that could digest practically anything in existence, though Alister told them that the termite critters hated water, which caused Ratchet to nod to Autumn. In the following moment she used some of her magic to manipulate the small pools of water and made walls surrounding the nest that the Tetramites came from, a fact that allowed them to safely move through the cave, leaving Alister to point out each and every nest so she could make new barricades to aid the group in their quest.

When they reached a ledge, however, the group wasted no time in using it and glided down into a dark area, which wasn't too far down from where the end of their path had been located, so in terms of where their ships were resting they were a bit further down, but Ratchet stopped Alister as Autumn lit up their area for a time.

"Alister, I can see that you're hurting. Tell us what happened." Ratchet said, as he recognized the look in Alister's eyes, in fact he was sure it was how he looked after losing every opportunity to save Rivet from whatever was happening to her in her dimension, and since nothing was happening above ground he was sure they had time to spare.

Alister sighed as he revealed that, with the Cragmites gone, he knew the universe would be a dangerous place and that a number of steps needed to be made to ensure the safety of the other planets, even if it meant working with an inventor that wasn't a Lombax. They figured out that it was Tachyon, even he admitted that he tricked the Lombaxes into giving all sorts of access to him so he could build his army, where Ratchet pieced together what was going on, Alister allowed their own enemy to obtain the weapons he used to bring down the Lombaxes. It was clear that he felt that it was his fault for the deaths of so many, Ratchet's parents most of all, and, as punishment for his crimes, Alister forced himself into exile as the portals to the other dimensions closed, which he claimed he deserved for his actions. He then moved onto why he was so interested in the Great Clock, assuming they had seen the writing on the walls of his residence, because he thought he might have a chance to rewrite history if he used the device, even if Autumn and Angela were unconvinced.

Ratchet, however, let out a sigh as he contacted Aphelion and had her transfer a file over to him, where he opened up his tablet, opened the file, and handed it over to Alister, who set his weapon to the side as he took the tablet, with the others interested in what they were doing right now.

"That's a list of everyone who survived the attack on Fastoon. Alister, no one died... even my parents, who Tachyon even claimed to have killed, are on it." Ratchet stated, though Autumn and Angela could see that there was a hollow smile on his face, as while everyone was alive and fine, at least during the time of the assault on Fastoon, he had no way of knowing who was truly alive, and if his parents were alive, like Aphelion claimed, he wondered why were they staying away from him, after all this time.

Sure enough Alister needed some time to adjust to this information, especially the part where his best friend was alive, a person he assumed had been dead since the day the attack happened, not to mention Millie for that matter, which only made him that much more interested in what was going on. It did, however, give him the fuel he needed as he drove the head of his weapon into the rock wall, shattering it with a burst of energy so they could leave the caves at last, where he handed the tablet back to Ratchet as the group headed outside, finding that the Agorians were attacking. A Vullard quickly noticed him and the others and beckoned them over, asking for assistance in clearing out the raid and offering them any reward that they desired, causing Angela to ask if he could point them in the direction of the Obsidian Eye, which he knew about and confirmed that he could do so. The next step became clear as Ratchet, Autumn, and Angela crossed the bridge by launching themselves over it, as an Agorian ship blew part of it up, and Alister followed them, as while he wanted to focus on the mission he knew that aiding the Vullards was important as well.

There were five targets for them to take out, likely generals or lieutenants in a military sense, where Ratchet and Alister took two on by themselves, Angela tracked down two of the others, and Autumn took one, mostly because once the riders fell the Agorians dropped Hydra Tanks into the canyon. Hydra Tanks were three headed robotic war machines that were tough to take down, since each head could attack different foes or the same one and they had interesting powers, but the group found that there were only two of them to take out. In that moment Alister got a taste of just how powerful Autumn was with her magic, as she grabbed one of their targets and smashed it into the ground repeatedly, until it was broken to the point of being beyond repair, leaving Ratchet and Angela to deal with the other one with ease, reminding him of how skilled the family really was. He then understood that this wasn't their full power, as the fourth member was missing, the one called Starswirl, and supposedly his magic was far stronger than Autumn's current level, especially since they said he could tap into time magic, as strange as that sounded.

As the Hydra Tanks fell they found that the Agorians were sending their Talons, their fighter ships, to wipe out the rest of the canyon, where Ratchet left the fun to Aphelion this time around, who wiped out the Agorian attackers with ease, which allowed them to regroup with the Vullard at what appeared to be a temple entrance.

He opened the door for them and then handed over an Omnisoaker, which absorbed all sorts of liquids and fired them at whatever the user happened to be targeting, which Autumn would look at later on, but as soon as they were on the other side of the metallic door it slammed shut, even if they heard him talking about rust. From there it was a simple matter to make their way through the temple, someone using the new device to absorb liquid, either water to grow plants or some sweet Breegus Nectar that Tetramites couldn't resist, allowing them to navigate their way through the place. The temple was much like what they had seen in the past, like on Quantos, meaning it had housed some Zoni technology in the past and likely still did to this day, something that caused them to push forward while avoiding the Tetramites. In the end they found the large black gemstone that was the Obsidian Eye, along with a gleaming stone known as a Fulcrum Star, inside a single chamber, the main one to be exact, though upon seeing that the star was cracked Autumn used the Zoni to mend it so they would have a greater signal.

Alister tapped the controls without delay, where they paused for a moment as the Eye linked up with the Great Clock, to which they found an interesting sight, Clank and Starswirl standing in a large chamber, in an odd station, near a couch for some odd reason, and when the image appeared the pair paused as well.

"Clank! Starswirl! Boy am I glad you guys are alright." Ratchet said, because after everything that had happened with his failure to save Rivet he had been worried about the same thing repeating with his brother and his robotic friend, before he thought about something as he noticed the shocked looks on their faces, "Oh, don't be alarmed, but we found another Lombax: General Alister Azimuth."

"Fascinating. We suspected there might be another one, and now you guys have found him." Clank replied, as it was good for Ratchet to have another member of his race to converse with, someone other than Angela anyway, but he also knew he had a more pressing matter they had to deal with, "Listen, you need to help me find Orvus. Last I heard he went to the planet of Zanifar, to the Tombli Outpost."

"The Tombli Outpost? That's owned by Nefarious, but he hasn't been there for two years." Alister remarked, though he did know what Clank was talking about, the head Caretaker of the Great Clock was missing, hence why the Zoni must have come to take him, likely because he was a backup or something of that nature.

"Then that is where you must go." Starswirl stated, where he tapped his staff against the ground, a new one Ratchet and Autumn noted, though they also noted that he seemed far wiser than they recalled, likely due to learning more about the Great Clock, how it functioned, and time itself, "We will figure out how to get you to that point."

Ratchet had a feeling there was more to this, in fact Clank almost had pleading eyes, causing him to realize who Orvus was to him, and when he nodded his head they cut the connection, allowing them to return to their ships so they could leave as Alister departed as well, though he and the others knew things were going to get even more interesting when they reached Zanifar.