As the group made their way out of the waterways, they continued to make their way around the looping path, doing their best to avoid conflict or to take down any armed resistance silently and without allowing any communication to reach Thugs or Vendra. The new Plasma Strikers proved exceptionally useful in that regard, letting them take Thugs out from range and from behind, especially with upgraded zoom.
When lost communications from the Thugs they took out silently drew undue attention, the Thugs sent a gunship to investigate. Zephyr took action quickly, first taking out the gunship's communications array and then the engines, each with a single strike. This allowed the group to continue more or less unmolested and in silence.
Before long, they were in sight of the Relay Station. A quick shot from two Plasma Strikers cleared the Thugs guarding it, allowing them to approach without problems. "Mom and I will hack the station," Twilight stated quickly. "Between the two of us, we should have Vendra and Neftin's location in no time. In the meantime, Dad, you and Zephyr need to watch our backs. I would be genuinely surprised if the station weren't booby trapped such that anyone not a Thug even touching the keys sends an alert to Vendra to send in everything she's got to take us out."
"That would be clever," Vendra's voice spoke up from the Relay Station as waves of Thug troops and a few Nethers swarmed in. "But you know what's cleverer still? Tracking where we've lost communications with the Thugs to determine what your objective was, and setting a trap for you."
"I'll take the ground troops!" Ratchet told Zephyr quickly. "You guard the sky. Focus on those Nethers!"
"On it!" Zephyr confirmed, shooting into the air.
"So what do you think is going to happen if you do find me?" Vendra asked as Twilight and Clank continued their hack while the troops moved in. "Do you really think you can stop me?"
"No way of telling," Twilight replied readily as Ratchet pulled out his heavier weapons to blast away at the Thugs. "But the way I see it, there are three possibilities here."
"Oh? And what might those be?" Vendra asked teasingly. "Please, enlighten me."
"First, we get there before you free Mr. Eye and stop you," Twilight explained. "Of course, this probably means we end up sending you both to jail...and I don't really like that outcome."
"Well that's touching," Vendra purred. "Why don't you want to send us back to jail?" On the screen, she could be seen taking a sip of something.
"Well you can hardly be my newest Mommy from prison," Twilight explained logically.
Vendra wound up spraying her drink all over the screen. "Aren't you being a bit presumptuous?"
"We've been on three separate adventures where there's been a dashing lady involved who caught Daddy's eye," Twilight explained. "All three of them are my Mommy's now, and the three of them put together don't have as many common binding identifiers to Daddy and I as you do. It's almost like someone out in the ether went out of their way to design the perfect love interest for Dad and Mommy to me when your story took shape. All that's missing is a redemption arc where you bond to the both of us."
Vendra blinked several times, apparently unsure how to respond to that.
"Anyway," Twilight continued, "the second possibility is that we get there after you bring Mr. Eye into this world, he's everything you hope he is, and we're there to negotiate a peace treaty with the Nethers. Since my BBBFF is President of the known universe, that means we'd be the ones handling all the negotiations, leaving you and Daddy plenty of time to spend together, and Diplomatic Immunity means we don't have to worry about your past criminal record." She frowned as she and Clank continued typing away at the relay, seeking to hack it. "But that might cause problems with you getting along with Angela, Sasha, and Talwyn..."
"Fuck 'em," Vendra joked, laying back.
"Well, you probably will if you join Daddy's harem," Twilight allowed.
Vendra frowned, hiding a blush. "Not what I meant..."
"Third possibility is that Mr. Eye is what I suspect, and when you find out we're able to save you from him, you help us defeat him, and you get that redemption arc I mentioned," Twilight concluded. "I'm personally hoping for the second and third. With what I've learned about your past, I wouldn't want to send you to prison..."
"You didn't hesitate the first time," Vendra pointed out bluntly.
"Well I didn't know you the first time," Twilight countered. "By the way, we're finished hacking, and we've got your location. See you soon."
"Wait, what-" Vendra's words were cut off as Twilight blew up the relay.
"How are you doing, Daddy?" Twilight asked, turning away from the former Relay station.
Ratchet glanced from Zephyr to the strewn wreckage of everything sent against them to himself, and then up to Twilight. "I think we're done here. So where are we headed?"
"There is a large power surge at the Sky Train Station," Clank explained. "We can reach it through the aqueduct."
"Which we'll need to fly through," Twilight concluded. "Shouldn't be too hard."
Wait is Twilight going to be getting the Ryno during this game? She has missed several points where the plans where found or will she just get it from the Plumber at a specified point later on?
Should be "On it" i think?
Twilight is seriously OP I like it
I love the spit take... so few people make good use of them.
Well played, Twilight! Well played!
Another enjoyable chapter. Great job.
I really should have seen the spit take coming the moment you mentioned she was sipping something. It's like the perfect opener for it.
Regardless, good a chapter.
7725737 Honestly given that it's CLANK working with her, the 2nd/3rd most intelligent artificial lifeform in the known universe, I don't see how cracking the security that quickly was anything special. And that's if zoni are artificial lifeforms. Otherwise he would be 1st/2nd, depending on how you rank Dr. Nefarious. Basically you have 2 of the 5 most intelligent people in the universe working that system. And as a specialist in network infiltration, I can tell you one of the most basic facts of any system/network. Anyone can break in given enough time and a connection.
She has Invoked Murphy's Law, May God save their souls...
Soon(TM).
7725934
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It's a pity Vendra can't see that Mr. Eye probably isn't looking out for her
Still she's lucky Ratchet and co don't really mean her harem
I'm loving the interactions on this arc. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
The banter is so hilarious.
7725846 On one hand, it's to be expected in moments like these. On the other hand, we're talking about a pony who made causality her bitch.
7725846
or May God have mercy on Murphy's Law seeing that Twilight managed to do many great feats that could have been impossible...... and i think she got a couple of heavily modified Rhynos as well.
Not even the slightest hesitation with that response, huh Twilight?
7725704 BINGO, bro.
So what? Hot cat lady, rough military lady, sounds like Twilight pirate, and now a magic lady?
Resistence is futile. You will join Ratchet's harem and be assimilated. Qwark and Neftin will have an awesome Uncle-Nephew relationship.
(If I spell anything wrong, Grammarly is down.)
7726503
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Well, Twilight has this whole thing PEGGED.
7726777 Nah. *gunfire*
Someone needs to bop Twilight on the head for invoking Murphy's Law.
Very nice chapter, I'm hoping Twilight keeps interacting with Vendra to convince her to become her fourth Mommy. Though maybe she could question why Twilight refers to Clank as Mommy as well out of curiosity after overhearing a group huddle or something.
Damnit, any time I hear or read THIS WORD, my first thought goes to Monty Python....
7726777 Assimilation complete.
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7725704 Dude, she's already had it long enough to make a RYNO battle suit.
7725934 damnit! I was going to post that.