Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana

by Blackdrag-rose


Deadlocked: Beginning

Ratchet let out a yawn as he stretched his arms, as he was tired from all the work that he, Clank, Al, and Starlight had done to the Starship Phoenix while Sasha was away. Angela had taken the Hyperion back to the Bogon Galaxy for the next few days, so she could show Maul and the Jedi that they were training the rest of the planets that they would be looking over. According to Angela the new Jedi that they were training were proving to be almost as skilled as she and Maul were, which was wonderful considering what they had seen when the two of them had fought on set six months ago. During that time Sasha had managed to land herself in the seat of Galactic President, though it was mostly because the people who elected her couldn't stand her father and wanted someone they knew, and trusted, to take his place.

He still had no idea if they were okay with their new leader being a member of the new Jedi Order, or if they even knew it at all, but Sasha didn't say that they had found out yet and was keeping it that way... as well as keeping Qwark, her Vice President, out of trouble.

Sunset, on the other hand, was currently asleep in the room that used to belong to Qwark, as both she and Searing were exhausted from the amount of training that they had put into maintaining a seemingly permanent fused state. From what Ratchet had heard Sunset and Searing were trying to unite their powers, in a more humanoid form that looked like a cross between Sunset's alicorn form and Searing's demonic form. So far they weren't very successful in creating the form that would house both of their powers, but they were able to transform without pain, which was what six months of training got them.

Ratchet still couldn't believe that Searing's name, before she became the demon that they were familiar with, was really Pride, which was something that he had held over his sister's heads... until Searing, in an act that caught him off guard, politely asked him to leave that name in the past.

"Incoming call from the Galactic President." Clank said, bringing Ratchet back to reality and allowing him to straighten his posture in the captain's chair before opening the line, "The new Galactic President."

Ratchet smiled as Sasha appeared on the screen in front of them, though she was wearing her old captain clothing under the Jedi robe that she had been given... again making him wonder how the people that had elected her hadn't noticed that she was, in fact, one of the new Jedi that was safeguarding the universe.

"Greetings, Madame President." Ratchet said, though while he knew that Sasha hated being called the President he still had to be formal when starting their conversation, "You seem to be doing well."

"Greetings Captain," Sasha replied, as Ratchet was technically the captain of the Phoenix until she could find a more permanent person to take over the position, "I see you're taking good care of my old ship."

"With some help from Starlight and Al of course." Ratchet said, indicating to the two of them, who waved to Sasha for a moment, "She needed some tuning up, but we've kept her in good shape. Hows the life of the Galactic President treating you?"

"If I can be totally honest with you, I wish I had never been selected for this position." Sasha answered, letting out a sigh as she rubbed her forehead, "I swear, some of these politicians are complete idiots... and yet they make Qwark look like a genius. One of them told me that the creation of a Jedi Order, to help the Galactic Rangers and safeguard the universe, would be a complete waste of our time, energy, and resources... though you'll never guess what he wanted to spend the bolts on."

"Increasing tax laws to give him and the others more bolts?" Ratchet asked, as he had no idea what the person could have suggested that would have made Sasha upset, as he was sure that none of the politicians knew about Searing's existence.

"I wish," Sasha replied, letting out another sigh before she continued, "No, he apparently wants us to fund some crazy and backwards science project that he discovered... so he can imprison and kill the 'Goddess of Destruction'. Everyone else laughed at him and I dismissed his plans altogether, though something tells me that he'll be looking to try again the next time we meet up."

"Is there anything we can do to relieve some of the stress that you are feeling?" Ratchet asked, knowing that there had to be something they could do to help their friend out.

"Actually, there is... though I'm afraid that its bad news." Sasha said, though her tone told Ratchet that this had to be more important than someone who wanted to kill his sister, "As you know, Captain Starshield disappeared over a month ago. I've just been informed that he's been killed."

Ratchet, Starlight, and Al all gasped in surprise and disbelief at the news, because Captain Starshield had been one of the second-tier heroes before Qwark stole most of the spotlight. They were high profile heroes that had done their work, supported good causes, and overall were good people just looking out for themselves and others. The fact that Captain Starshield, one of the better known heroes in that tier, was dead meant that someone, likely the villain that he and his family had been preparing for, was either ridding the universe of heroes or was making them kill each other for sport.

"What happened to him?" Al asked, as he was the one who kept up to date on what all the heroes were up to, though he was immediately saddened to hear of Starshield's passing.

"According to all of the reports, he was involved in some sort of illegal combat sport... something called Dreadzone." Sasha answered, to which she pulled up a picture of a blue skinned slug man that happened to be wearing a red suit and had one arm replaced with a robotic one, "We believe it was being run by this man, Gleeman Vox. He operates an underground media empire from within the Shadow Sector."

"You mean that lawless region of space on the fringes of the Solana Galaxy?" Starlight asked, though she pulled up her own map, one that had a blinking circle that surrounded the entire Shadow Sector.

"Indeed, but you'll need to be careful when you arrive there." Sasha told them, a worried look appearing on her face for a moment, "Many other heroes have disappeared over the last few weeks, which leads me to think that not all of those who have been in these 'games' are in there willingly."

"And unfortunately Ratchet and Starlight are the biggest names in the hero industry at the moment." Al commented, receiving a stare from Ratchet for not including Sunset, "What? Most people in the Solana Galaxy only remember the destruction that Searing caused to Metropolis and the complete obliteration of Koros... so Sunset's actually not included on that list at all."

"It doesn't matter either way, because I called to..." Sasha started to say, but then the screen went blank as the power to steer the ship went offline and forced them to stall.

Ratchet growled as the alarms went off, indicating that they had intruders aboard the ship, but as he got out of the captains chair and faced the door he found several soldiers waiting for them. He turned to look at Starlight, to see if she could get rid of the soldiers that were blocking their path, but when he laid eyes on his sister he found that both she and Al were surrounded by enemies. The invaders were using Al's life to stall Starlight's magic, though Ratchet knew that they were had at the moment and let out a sigh of defeat as the three of them surrendered themselves.

As they were escorted out of the bridge, and onto the ship that was now docked in the hanger, Ratchet also spotted a swirling glass container that was holding Sunset, indicating that the invaders had been prepared to capture her as well. He only hoped that whoever was taking them knew what they were doing, because he was sure that Sunset and Searing would blow up the moment they realized that they had been captured by the enemy they had been preparing for.


When Ratchet finally came to, as he had fallen asleep during the seemingly endless flight that their captures had taken to reach their destination, he found that some sort of helmet had been placed over his head. He looked down at himself and found that he had been dressed up in some sort of brownish-red armor, though after what had happened on the Phoenix he had to assume that this was the armor that the gladiators in Dreadzone wore. It looked somewhat menacing, which he guessed was the point of the armor, but at the moment he didn't care too much about that as he looked around for either Starlight, Al, or even Sunset.

After a few seconds something teleported into the area next to him, though once he realized that it was a pony, dressed in a modified version of the armor that he was wearing, he knew that it had to be Starlight. The two of them waited for a few minutes, because their suits appeared to be calibrating themselves now that they were awake, though once they were finished Ratchet could hear something in his ear.

"Starlight, are you okay?" Ratchet asked, though he had the feeling that neither one of them were going to be okay until they were finished with bringing this entire place to the ground.

"Not really," Starlight replied, though she huffed for a few minutes before she drew herself to her full height, "Just our luck, isn't it? We have a discussion with Sasha about heroes going missing, only to be kidnapped ourselves."

Ratchet nodded as his helmet's screen came on and indicated that he was to hit the nearby target, so he pulled out the gun that happened to be attached to his side, one that was called the Dual Vipers, and blasted the red target in the head. Once that one was taken care of another red colored target appeared, to which he blasted through that one as well, though when a blue target appeared a message appeared on his helmet's screen. Apparently his calibration testing was over and that it was Starlight's turn, so he stood back as he watched Starlight take out both of her targets in rapid succession, which was what he suspected would happen considering that Starlight was used to testing her own weapons before allowing Gadgetron to make more of them.

Once both of their suits were calibrated a map appeared on their screens, indicating that they needed to test out the rest of their movements before they were allowed to leave the area they were in. They followed the path that the map wanted them to follow, blasting the targets that appeared along the way, before they forced an energy field to appear and give them access to a teleport pad. When they used the teleport pad they found themselves in what appeared to be a large open area, which was clearly a practice arena of some kind. It was clear that they were supposed to make sure that they would stand up to whatever their captures could throw at them, so they pulled out their new weapons and waited for something to happen.

What happened was a holo-screen appeared in front of them with Gleeman Vox's face on it, though after a few seconds Ratchet pressed a button on his helmet and watched as it pulled itself apart, to which he helped Starlight find her button before they faced the screen.

"Greetings, heroes," Vox gloated, as if he believed that he had the upper hand in this game at the moment, though Ratchet knew that he would make a mistake in due time, "and welcome...to Dreadzone! Rest assured you are now far beyond the reach of hope. There will be no rescues, no pardons, no possibility of escape. You are now a contestant on the greatest holo-vision program the galaxy has ever known! A celebrity gladiator, battling for the pleasure of a billion screaming fans across the Shadow Sector and beyond! Chances are you'll be dead by tomorrow. But those of you who play the game with skill and strategy will earn a chance to win your freedom. So, good luck... heroes. We'll be watching you."

When the screen closed the other teleport pads in the immediate area activated and enemy robots started to pour into the arena, forcing them to turn their attention to them and slip their helmets back on. As the enemies came at them they were allowed access to a second weapon, something that they discovered was called a Magma Cannon, or a variation on the Shock Cannon according to Starlight. With this new weapon in hand the two of them opened fire on the enemy robots that were coming their way, occasionally switching to their pistols on the smaller enemies, before the entire arena was cleared of enemies.

Once they finished with their targets, and put their weapons away, the screen lit up again and Vox reappeared, though it was rapidly followed by him explaining the special collars that were attached to their necks. They were designed to shock contestants when they disobeyed Vox's rules, though they could also explode and kill whoever they were attached to if they pushed Vox's buttons too much.

"Oh, and don't bother attempting to tinker with our special collars," Vox told them, which made the two of them give the screen their full attention, "We are well aware of Starlight's magical abilities, which is why your collar is pressed more tightly against your fur, though if it is exposed to your magic, be it from a tool your holding, a spell you cast on it, or any sort of magical teleportation... well, you can use your imagination. For Ratchet's sake, however, I'll spell it out for the both of you; if you attempt to break either of your collars with you magic, a signal will be sent to a special cage... where your sister, Sunset Shimmer, will die when the cage explodes."

The video feed cut to a containment area that was different then the one that Ratchet and Starlight had woken up in, though in the middle of the room they spotted a cage that Sunset was still sleeping inside, as if she had never woken up since they all had been kidnapped by Vox's soldiers.

"So think carefully before you attempt to tinker with you collars..." Vox told them, a smirk of some kind appearing on his face, "unless, of course, you'd rather kill your sister and bring both of your lives to an end."

Ratchet let out a growl as he thought about what Vox was doing, because he wasn't pissed that his life was in jeopardy if Starlight tinkered with the collars... it was Sunset's life. If Sunset was caught in the blast, and died as a result, than Searing would likely take over and go on a rampage until she killed the one responsible for this whole mess. If both Sunset and Searing were caught in the blast, however, then he guessed that Hatred would take control and likely continue with Searing's destructive nature in mind. Either way Vox was meddling with powers that were beyond his understanding, because it was sheer lunacy for him to believe that he could get away with this without being hurt in the long run.

Starlight knew what was going through Ratchet's mind at the moment, because she had experienced the same things that he had, though now that they knew the consequences for tinkering with the collars they accessed the nearby teleport pad and headed to the containment area that they would be staying in between whatever Vox had planned for them. They needed to play by Vox's rules at the moment, because it was only a matter of time until Starlight detected Sunset's magical signature and figured out where she was being held... though it would take some time before they would be able to free her.

Starlight allowed a small smirk to appear on her face as they walked, because Vox had doomed his entire empire by capturing Sunset... and he didn't seem to be aware of the storm that he was about to unleash.