Ratchet, Clank, Starlight, and Sunset spent an entire year in the Bogon Galaxy, living among the people that called Megopolis home and settling into some sort of routine. Clank, of course, was the star of his own holovision show, the highly popular Secret Agent Clank spy drama that everyone in both the Solana and Bogon galaxies. Ratchet participated in the show, as the chauffeur that drove Clank around, and Starlight played the ever popular 'Android 18', who was apparently designed to flip between wanting to kill Clank and save him from whatever evil plans her maker had in store for the hero. For some reason Starlight's character was almost as popular as Clank's character, which the producer of the show was grateful for as it helped increase his sales in the end.
Sunset, on the other hand, had taken some time to debate whether or not she should join her family and lend them her voice, as her character was apparently designed to never actually appear on the show save for the holograms that gave her a human appearance, but in the end she had decided to just go with it. Professor Darkstar, the character she voiced occasionally, was apparently quite popular as well, though not as popular as the other characters on the show, which was fine with her.
When they weren't working on the holovision show, or spending time in the studio, they each had other jobs or tasks that usually kept them busy until they were needed again. Ratchet, having been hired my Megacorp to act as a full time commando, was usually sent out on missions to deal with any Thugs that survived the destruction of their main base, before they could continue the operations that the leader left behind. Clank, of course, accompanied him on those missions, though there were times where Starlight joined the two of them and hunted down the remaining Thugs. Starlight also worked alongside Sunset and Angela, though she was the one who figured out what they needed so they could protect the Cores from being discovered by their enemies.
Ratchet also took time off to have some fun with Angela, who had been restored to her former position in Megacorp by Mr. Fizzwidget, which she suspected was in thanks for fixing the Protopet that Qwark wanted to use against the galaxy. Despite the time that Angela spent with Ratchet, which was quite a lot of it, she had also been true to her word and had gotten to know all of them, listening to their tales of their first adventure in the Solana Galaxy. She was definitely curious about their home galaxy, as they had been interested in Bogon when they had first arrived, and they were all willing to give her the information that she wanted. It had also allowed her to get to know Ratchet a lot better, which was something that everyone expected considering that they were dating and having fun all the time.
During the last year Starlight and Sunset had taken some time off from their work on the starship to practice their magical skills, something that brought the rest of their family to watch whenever they were in the immediate area. Aranos happened to be the perfect planet for them to do their practice without disturbing anyone, as no one lived on the icy planet and it gave Sunset the ability to gain control of her new powers without having to worry about hurting any innocent people. As it turned out it was incredibly difficult for Sunset to regain control of the magic that was coursing through her body, but over the first few months she managed to reign in the amount of power she put into her spells.
By the time a whole year had passed Sunset was pleased to say that she had gained control of her more dangerous powers, which allowed her to relax and finally enjoy life without having to worry about hurting over people by accident.
"Ha ha!" Ratchet said, moving a chess piece towards one of Clank's own pieces with a look of happiness on his face, "My Blargian Snagglebeast devours your mutant swamp fly!"
He and Clank had been playing a game of chess while they waited for the latest episode of Secret Agent Clank to come on, something that Clank and Starlight were anxious to see now that the editing was finished. Unfortunately he had forgotten something when he made his move and that allowed Clank to checkmate him, to which Ratchet admitted defeat and leaned back against the sofa, where he wrapped his left arm around Angela. She had been given the week off of work, mainly because of all the vacation days she had racked up since her return to Megacorp, so she had decided to spent it all with Ratchet and his family, though the two of them had plans to go to a fancy restaurant in a few days.
Starlight was sitting in the golden colored chair to Angela's left, looking at something on her tablet, though Ratchet knew that she was working on her 'Top Secret' project... the RY3NO she called it. Sunset, on the other hand, was sitting across the table from where Starlight was sitting, in a chair that was designed for a pony, just like when they did that interview so long ago. Sunset was merely reading her tablet, researching more of the spells that the people of Old Earth were fond of recording and trying to determine if she could use them or not. Clank got excited as the show came on, to which everyone stopped what they were doing so they could see the episode they had been waiting for all morning.
It was mostly Clank visiting a casino to search for a robot called Maximilian, a crime lord of some reputation, and happened to be playing a game while his target at some point. At that point it was quickly revealed that Maximilian knew about Clank, because he had his guards drop into the area around them and begin their attack on Clank. It appeared that Clank was outnumbered by the amount of guards, but that was before Starlight, in her Android 18 character, barged into the casino and kicked one of the robots in the leg, shattering the metal instantly. Together the two of them turned the tables on Maximilian's guards and shorted out the robot by dropping an electric chandelier on top of him, though as Clank went to thank 'Android 18' he discovered that his ally was gone, leaving him to wonder when they would see each other again.
Once the show was over Clank handed the remote to Ratchet, who proceeded to change the channel to the news station, so he could see if there was anything dangerous they needed to know about before they left the apartment for the day. That was before he found the reporter for Channel 64 News standing somewhere on Veldin, which Ratchet immediately recognized, and was reporting that there was an invasion happening at the moment. Apparently a race of creatures called the Tyhrranoids were attacking the planet, though they were apparently under orders from someone called Dr. Nefarious. Once the broadcast was over Ratchet turned off the screen and got onto his feet, noticing that everyone else, including Angela for that matter, had followed his lead.
"Get your weapons and meet me at the ship," Ratchet said, picking up Clank and his wrench as he headed towards the front door, "We're going to show Dr. Nefarious what happens when you mess with Veldin."
"But Ratchet, Veldin is in the Solana Galaxy!" Clank commented, knowing that it would be impossible to dissuade his companion from his chosen plan, "How are you planning on getting there?"
"The gravimetric warp drive that Starlight and I built," Angela replied, a grin appearing on her face as she tapped the box that contained the device in question, "We're going to plug this into the starship and then we'll jump to the Solana Galaxy."
Clank sighed as they all climbed into the ship that they used to fly around the Bogon Galaxy, knowing that this time it was best if he accepted that he couldn't change any of their minds.
Getting to the starship was easier than what Clank was expecting, because Angela had received permission to park it near Endako's moon, so that way it was always close for when the day they needed it arrived. Ratchet easily pulled them into the side of the ship and packed it in the space designed for their ships, to which the side of the ship closed up behind them and engaged the gravity so they could walk around normally. Once the gravity was back on Ratchet opened the ship up and they all climbed out, though they decided to leave their stuff in the ship until they dealt with the invasion of Veldin.
As they walked towards the control room, where they could plug in the gravimetric warp drive, the lights turned on and the rest of the ship hummed to life, telling Sunset that the AI was definitely awake at the moment. When they actually entered the control room, however, the hologram that the AI used to interact with whoever was on the ship phased into existence before them, revealing the white alicorn that Sunset had seen in the video a year ago.
"Celestia, its good to see you again," Sunset commented, noticing that her family was spreading out as she conversed with the AI, which she expected before they had even arrived.
"It is good to see you again as well, Sunset Shimmer," the white alicorn replied, a smile appearing on her nonexistent face, "What brings you to the Starship Hyperion today? A systems update? Another addition to the ship, like a art gallery? Or has something happened... something that would require us to engage the engines?"
"Veldin is under attack." Sunset told the AI, nodding to the indent that they had set aside for the gravimetric warp drive to be placed inside, "We're going to head there and teach the invaders the consequences of attacking our home world."
Celestia nodded and the indent opened before their eyes, to which Angela pulled out the warp drive and set it into the indent, though it was quickly lowered into the floor until the entire device was no longer visible. After a few seconds Angela sat down at one of the consoles and nodded her head, indicating that all the systems were ready to go now that the warp drive was installed. Sunset had been told that the device would take a few minutes to power up before they could jump to the Solana Galaxy, so she decided to ask the AI something that was on her mind at the moment.
"So what about the others?" Sunset asked, causing the hologram to raise one of its nonexistent eyebrows, "You know, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight? How are the others faring since they were activated?"
"Luna has been guarding the Core that you found every day since she woke up," Celestia replied, causing Sunset to nod for a moment as the hologram moved onto the other two, "Cadence has been patrolling the ship, looking for errors that might need addressing by one of you at a future date, while Twilight has been making sure that the systems are fully functional for the day you needed them."
"That's good to hear," Sunset commented, turning to Angela for a moment, who was entering the command to activate the warp drive, "Hold on everyone, this is going to be interesting."
A few seconds passed by before the ship surged forward, warping through space itself as they headed towards the Solana Galaxy, much to the amazement of both Ratchet and Clank. It was clear that Clank was surprised that the warp drive even worked, considering that the device had been built from Blargian scrap metal, but Angela was unwilling to say where she had managed to acquire the material from. Before anyone could say anything they reached their exit, to which the ship came to a stop on the outskirts of Veldin's airspace, which only made Ratchet smile as he stared at his home world.
"So that's Veldin," Angela commented, bringing the ship to a halt before they flew into the ground and impacted it so hard that they created a crater, "Well, now that we're here, shall we suit up and see to kicking the Tyhrranoids off of the planet?"
"I agree with that statement," Ratchet said, tapping the head of his wrench for a moment as the group turned around so they could head back to the hanger, "I've been itching for a new adventure ever since the last one ended."
Sunset and Starlight shared a look with each other for a moment, as if understanding what was going to come next, before Sunset walked down the passage that would take her to the chamber that held Honesty. Even from this distance she could feel the call of Generosity, the Core they had found after the defeat of their first enemy, and she knew that Starlight could feel it as well, thanks to her usage of Honesty back on Yeedil. It didn't take her very long to find the single floating stone, which was still surrounded by the golden necklace that had formed from the fragments of her bracelet, though she nodded to the blue alicorn hologram that guarded the gemstone.
She grabbed the Core that was floating in front of her and wrapped the necklace around her neck, allowing herself to feel the tug of the other Core she had discovered, as if Honesty was directing her towards the location she had hidden it in. She then quickly returned to the ship and climbed inside, knowing that it was high time that they made the Tyhrranoids pay for their invasion of their home world.
When they arrived on the planet's surface they encountered a group of green robotic soldiers that were fighting the Tyhrranoids, though the moment they climbed out of the ship Angela pulled out her weapon and started smacking their enemies. Ratchet fell in beside her and together they started their assault on their enemy's location, cutting through the soldiers that were standing before them and moving up to where a pair of robot soldiers were standing.
"These must be the Galactic Rangers!" Clank commented, beckoning to the robots for a moment, as he recognized them from the broadcast they had seen not too long ago.
"Hey look!" one of the Rangers said, pointing to Ratchet as the group approached them, "It's a new sergeant!"
"What?" Ratchet asked, surprised by the statement itself, though he guessed that it could have made sense considering that he had gone through commando training and likely looked tougher than he actually felt.
"Here Sarge, you can have my gun," the second Galactic Ranger quickly said, throwing Ratchet a weapon that Starlight immediately recognized as a Shock Blaster, as it was one of the weapons that she had sent Mr. Gadget weeks ago when she managed to develop a communication line between them.
Ratchet put the new weapon to use as he lead the charge against the Tyhrranoids that were standing in front of them, though it wasn't long before they came to another blockade. This time it was two more of the Galactic Rangers that were being pinned down by an enemy in a flying ship, who happened to be firing at the area in front of the Rangers. Ratchet accepted another new weapon from them, one that Starlight identified as the Nitro Launcher, and used it to remove the vehicle that was blocking their way. They then leapt into the hole that the vehicle had been guarding and cut their way through the small group of enemies that happened to be waiting for them, before they came to a chamber that had a Tyhrranoid that was riding in a suit of armor and firing at the Rangers around it.
One more shot from the Nitro Launcher took care of the only enemy in the chamber, allowing the group to move through a hole in the wall and spot an enemy drop ship that was in the middle of deploying more enemies for them to fight. Before they could determine how to remove their enemies another Tyhrranoid flew in with his flying ship, but this time Starlight merely sighed as she grabbed it with her magic and tore it in half. Ratchet and Angela then took care of the two enemies that had jumped out of the drop ship, allowing Sunset to maneuver up to the pathway above them and take out the group of enemies that happened to be standing guard.
This time Sunset loosed a stream of fire from her mouth, the fire breath she had used so long ago, and torched the Tyhrranoids that were standing in front of her, giving her and the others a clear path to what had clearly been the house that she, Ratchet, and Starlight had grown up in. Strangely enough the shack that Sunset had parked her hoverbike in was still intact, which allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief as they approached their ruined house, where the Rangers had apparently docked their own ship behind for the moment.
"What's the situation?" Ratchet asked the nearest Ranger, hoping to get some information on how the fight was going, because at this rate he was itching to tear apart whoever had blown up the house he and his family had lived in.
"The Noids have fallen back to a base in F sector," the robot replied, which had taken just a moment as it had been reading the orders it had been given as the group approached them, "We have orders to go in and take them out."
"F Sector?" the second Ranger demanded fearfully, as if there was something there that would be the end of them all, to which the robot started to walk away, "Game over! No way man! We're all gonna end up as scrap metal!"
"Get back in there, trooper!" Ratchet barked out, pointing at the ship's interior while allowing his commando training to resurface for a brief moment, "We've got a planet to save!"
"Sir yes sir!" the Rangers replied in unison, following Ratchet back onto the ship as Starlight joined them, to which they noticed that neither Angela or Sunset was ready yet.
"Go on without us," Sunset said, tapping the Core around her next for a moment, "I'm going to pick up the other one and meet you over in this 'F Sector'."
Ratchet nodded as the door to the drop ship closed, allowing the Rangers to take off for F Sector while Sunset and Angela remained behind for the moment. Once the ship was further away, and the tracking beacon was on, Sunset turned around and walked over to the shack that connected to her old house, to which she used her magic to unlock the door. Angela looked passed her and stared at the hoverbike that was resting before them, before walking inside and turning the vehicle on with a smile on her face. Sunset moved out of the way and watched Angela move the vehicle out of the shack, pleased that it still ran despite the fact that no one had used it in over a year.
"So, where is the Core?" Angela asked, bringing the hoverbike to a stop as she looked at her companion for a moment, who was still looking inside the shack.
"Right here," Sunset replied, tapping a plate on the floor, which had been hidden thanks to the hoverbike, and watched as it opened before their eyes, to which a black cube rose out of the opening. Sunset grabbed the cube in her magic and allowed it to fall apart, revealing the gleaming purple gemstone that was the first Core they had found; Generosity.
"Wow... its as beautiful as Honesty," Angela commented, before beckoning to Sunset for a moment, "Well then, we had best get going before Ratchet and Starlight have all the fun in beating the Tyhrranoids."
Sunset nodded as she pocketed the second Core in her armor, before hopping onto the back of the hoverbike and using her magic to form a magical walkway for them to use so they could head to F Sector.
When they caught up with the drop ship they watched Ratchet and Starlight jump out of the ship and descend towards the ground, to which Angela drove them off the magical walkway and threw them in the direction of the ground. Sunset slowed the descent speed of the hoverbike until she could levitate them towards the ground, to which Angela pulled out her gun and started firing at the missiles that were heading up to the drop ship. They landed at the same time as Ratchet and Starlight touched the ground, though they immediately started firing at the Tyhrranoids that were coming their way as the Rangers landed all around them.
It didn't take the group very long to route the small force of enemies that were coming their way or the air ship that they discovered when a nearby door opened, but they were all pleased by the progress they had made at the moment. They then approached the drop ship that had come to a rest on the other side of where the air ship had been guarding, to which they all noticed that one of the Rangers had something that it wanted to tell them.
"Sir!" one of the Rangers said with a salute, before it pulled out a screen and presented it to the group for a moment, "We have a transmission from the President!"
The screen displayed a male cazar that had tan skin and a thick dark brown coat covering most of his facial features, though he had an easy smile on his face.
"How are things on the front line, soldier?" the cazar asked, but then gasped when he noticed who was standing beside Ratchet at the moment, "Is... is that Secret Agent Clank?"
"Greetings, sir," Clank offered, taking note of the fact that Ratchet facepalmed and that the President was focused solely on him at the moment, "We are here to help."
"Well this is an honor!" the President replied, taking a look at the rest of the group, as if he was expecting to see more of their characters, "And I see you brought your chauffeur and Android 18 along as well... wait, is that Professor Darkstar standing beside you? What evil plan could an evil mastermind like yourself be planning at a moment like this?"
"Just... running some field tests," Sunset replied, nearly moaning when she discovered that the President was a complete fool for believing that they were their characters from the Secret Agent Clank show, but decided to get it over with so they could stop Dr. Nefarious, "and taking out the competition in the process."
"Right..." the President said, as if he actually believed that Sunset was an enemy and not an ally, before he turned his attention back to Clank, "Agent Clank, we must stop Doctor Nefarious! As you may know, only one man has ever faced him and survived. I've just received a top secret report on that man's whereabouts. Here, take a look."
As it turned out what they watched was a show called Nature's Mysteries, where they were trying to uncover the truth about a large man shaped monster that was hiding somewhere in the Florana Forests. The group shared a look with each other, because the image the show showed of the supposed 'monster' happened to resemble Qwark, who had disappeared from the hospital shortly after Sunset was released. If they were right, and all of them were praying that they were wrong, they weren't that pleased to be working with the man that had brought about the near destruction of Yeedil.
Nonetheless they assured the President that they would look into the report, to which they hopped into the drop ship so they could head back to their own ship... where they could begin their next adventure.