Ratchet awoke to the sound of something arriving at the holding area that he and Starlight slept in between planets and tournaments, though he knew that it couldn't be the shuttle arriving for them already. They were supposed to wake up, go over which planet they wanted to send Sunset to in the third tournament, and then prepare themselves for the one that they were going to take on while they ate their morning meal. Clank and Al would go over what they needed to know about the planets they had to choose from, allowing them to make an easier decision in regards to where they sent their sister, before they determined what they needed to spend their bolts on so they could survive in the arena. Then it was only a matter of time until they were called into the shuttle to do battle with Vox's gladiators or watch Sunset tear through her enemies and damage the world she was on.
However this wasn't like the previous days, as he and Starlight hadn't even taken care of the morning meal yet, but he groaned as he picked himself up and left the area that served as their bedroom... to which he found a shuttle waiting where the Dreadzone one was supposed to be.
"Is something going on that I'm not aware of?" Ratchet asked the moment he approached Starlight, who had been staring at the shuttle with Clank and Al for the last few minutes.
"I'm not sure." Starlight replied, pointing at the teleport pad for a moment, to which Ratchet noticed that the device was currently active, "Though it seems that whoever is in control of the ship is waiting for us to board it."
"Then we had better see what Vox wants," Ratchet said, letting out a sigh as he walked towards the pad, "I bet he's pissed that we took out another Exterminator and advanced to the third tournament."
"Hopefully he's seen the error of his ways and is coming to tell us that we are free to go," Starlight commented, before letting out a sigh of her own as she fell in beside her brother, "but the chances of that happening are slim to none. Let's get this over with."
When they reached the teleport pad, and teleported aboard the ship, they found that the inside was nothing like the inside of the actual Dreadzone shuttle, which was pretty bare. They found themselves in a small hallway that had at least five doors on either side of them, while at the end of the hallway was another door that appeared to lead to some sort of eating area. It was somewhat unnerving when they noticed that there weren't any guards to watch them, as they were quite used to it at this point, but they kept their weapons at the ready as they walked down to the end of the hall. As they walked they noticed that each of the doors had a label that indicated what was inside the room, such as a bedroom, a small library of sorts, and even a room dedicated to weapons.
As they walked Ratchet came to the conclusion that this ship was almost a small warship, except he figured that there weren't any guns that could be fired from the control room. When they entered the room that was on the opposite end of the teleport pad they found a table set for three waiting for them, though sitting in one of the chairs was Ace Hardlight.
"Good morning," Ace simply said, as if he was being friendly and didn't care about the arena, "Please take a seat and have whatever you want... I made sure to have my personal chefs prepare something for the both of you."
Ratchet noticed that there were a bunch of common dishes that had been assembled, like bacon and eggs, pancakes, several bowls of fruit, some meat dishes that he didn't recognize, and some pasta dishes that he assumed was for Starlight. It was clear that Ace had been expecting them for some time, as all of the dishes seemed fresh enough, so it made him wonder what the head Exterminator wanted from them. There was no telling if the food was poisoned or not, which was why he was giving them a careful look at while he and Starlight carefully collected something to eat.
"None of this is poisoned," Ace commented, looking at the two of them as they sat down around the table, all while grabbing something for himself, "I'll cut to the chase... none of the guards that were on the other shuttle want to be anywhere near the two of you. They're not scared of you or anything like that, but rather they are scared of something happening to you on their watch and gaining the wrath of your sister. They have seen how much destruction she can cause when she's mad and they have heard what your old enemies did to piss her off, so the guards decided they didn't want to guard you anymore. As a consequence Vox had to enlist my aid in making sure you reach the planets you need to go to... and thus ensuring that we can plan his downfall without him even knowing."
"Wait, I thought that you liked Dreadzone," Ratchet said, not understanding why the Head Exterminator would want to bring the entire thing down, "Why go against Vox?"
"Because I have been his slave ever since this place opened up," Ace replied, tapping his neck for a moment, revealing that he was wearing one of the collars as well, "I'm only acting like I enjoy fighting and killing other heroes, but in reality I find it sickening. I have been planning Vox's end ever since he captured me, carefully making myself into the Head Exterminator that he wanted while making sure that he never discovered the truth. I've never lashed out against him because of this blasted collar, so maybe when you remove it we can get started on figuring out how to bring an end to PX-17... and then destroy Dreadzone."
"You know where PX-17 is located?" Starlight asked, dropping her fork as she stared at the man across from her, while ignoring the fact about the collar.
"Indeed I do," Ace answered, a smile appearing on his face for a moment, "Once we send Sunset to whatever planet you've chosen for her, and remove this blasted collar at long last, we can begin preparing for an assault on PX-17... though I'll wait until you've run a course before receiving whatever answer you'd like to give me."
Ratchet looked over at Starlight and caught the look in her eye; she didn't completely trust Ace at the moment and was thinking of going along with him for now, so they could rescue Sunset. He nodded and resumed eating the food he had collected, wondering what they would find at the Valix Belt, where they would be heading to and dealing with whatever Vox threw at them.
The Valix Belt appeared to be a station that was floating among a large number of asteroids, which happened to be tied together thanks to the various tethers that were scattered everywhere. From what Ratchet and Starlight could see from the shuttle there was also a few towers that gave light to the entire area, which meant that they might have to do something with them. Ace didn't have a map of this place, as it was apparently a new addition that he wasn't aware of, but that really didn't matter to either of them at the moment. They restocked their ammunition as they approached the pad that would take them down to the start of the course, where they made sure that they had any of the latest weapons before they did anything else.
Once the two of them were ready, and Ace bid them farewell, they activated the teleport pad and teleported down to the start of the course, where they would learn what they needed to do in order to complete the entire course and earn the medal they needed.
"We're here live from the Valix Asteroid Belt," Dallas shouted, despite the fact that Ratchet and Starlight could hear him just fine if he spoke normally, "home of the legendary Gamma Energy Beam. This famous space beacon was purchased several years ago by Gleemon Vox. Now, instead of guiding ships through deadly asteroids, it is the centerpiece of Dreadzone's hottest new Battle Course... and just for fun we turned the beacon off. Can Team Darkstar turn the beacon back on, or will hundreds of ships crash into the asteroids?"
"This just confirms the fact that Vox is a terrible person," Ratchet commented as he pulled his weapons out, noticing Starlight nod for a moment, "Come on, let's go and turn that beacon back on."
They walked down the walkway that was next to the ammunition vendor and were immediately assaulted by their enemies, though at first it was merely the little robotic minions that attacked them. Once those enemies were taken care of they had to deal with gladiators that were using jetpacks, though they came in two waves that consisted of three enemies, making them much easier to deal with. They approached the tether station and found a dropship blocking their path, but Starlight tore it out of the sky and opened the way for them to move forward. They were then presented with a challenge that they weren't expecting, as if one of them activated the cable then one of them would get left behind, but after a few seconds Starlight solved it.
All she did was activate the cable for Ratchet to use, though when he was on the other platform she deactivated it and levitated herself over to her brother with ease, allowing them to move forward without leaving someone behind.
On the next platform they found the same enemies they had found on the previous one, though once all of them had been removed they found a larger gladiator had dropped in behind them. It was a simple matter to remove the larger robot from the field, as Starlight merely froze him and Ratchet shattered him with his flail, before they were able to move forward once more. They arrived on the third platform and found a larger group of enemies waiting for them, mainly four of the ordinary gladiators, one of the dropships, and one of the robotic gladiators. It was somewhat easy to remove them all, as Starlight shielded them as they returned fire on their enemies, and when the coast was clear they started jumping over the smaller platforms in front of them.
They stopped at the halfway point to wipe out the smaller robots that were coming at them, as well as the flying robots that were trying to block their path, but eventually the way forward was open and they continued their advance. The snipers that had been waiting for them were easy to deal with, again thanks to Starlight's shield, and the enemies that jumped into the area they were on quickly fell to the combined might of their weapons. They used the cable to reach the next platform and found three of the robotic gladiators waiting for them, along with a dropship and what appeared to be a decently sized amount of the smaller robots. Their first order of business was to tear the ship out of the sky, thanks to Starlight's magic, but instead of destroying it immediately she slammed it into the ground in front of them and crushed two of the three robots with it.
Once that was done it was a simple matter to wipe out the other robot gladiator and the enemies that were around it, so that they could advance towards the building in front of them. Three more dropships entered the area and prepared to deploy more enemies to fight them, but Starlight would have none of that as she grabbed the one closest to where they were standing and made it collide with the other two, effectively destroying all three of them in an instant. The door opened and a host of enemies rushed out to meet them, to which Ratchet and Starlight opened fire with their weapons until they were both sure that the way was clear. The moment all the enemies were taken care of the two of them walked into the building and claimed the crank that had been placed inside it, allowing them to claim the airship that was waiting there.
As they climbed into the ship they heard Dallas briefly mention something about clearing the place of a certain type of enemy, which meant that they were definitely supposed to use the ship for some time.
"They're all over the place," Ratchet commented, looking at the areas that the enemies were located in, who were actually scattered throughout the entire station, "Starlight, take over the cannons and take out anything that might be trouble for us... I have the feeling that this won't be easy on either of us."
"I wish we could take this home with us... I can already see ten upgrades that should be made to it," Starlight replied, before letting out a sigh as she primed the cannons, "Ready whenever you are."
Ratchet maneuvered the ship out of the hanger and took off immediately, zeroing in on the closest indicator on his map as Starlight loosed a stream of energy blasts from the cannons and tore the enemies around them to pieces. Whenever something appeared on the map Ratchet immediately told Starlight, who zeroed in on them and blew them to piece before they could fire on their ship. As they flew over the station she also fired on the enemies that were standing on the ground, making sure to get rid of them before they could deal any damage to them. Once the enemies in their immediate area were taken care of Ratchet moved them to the next part of the station, a smile appearing on his face as Starlight tore apart everything that came at them.
There were also some type of swarm enemies flying around the station, one that formed some sort of shape every time it tried to attack them, but Starlight removed them before they could touch them, though once everything was dead they flew to their next destination and prepared themselves for their next task.
They approached the entrance to the part of the station that they were supposed to go through first and tore through the two gladiators that happened to be standing there, but before they went into the building they waited for a second and three more enemies came into the area. Ratchet wondered where the enemies had come from, but then decided that they had to have come from inside the buildings around them as the three gladiators fell to the ground. The door in front of them opened and they spotted one of the larger robots coming towards them, though Starlight decided to grab it with her magic and threw it into the space around them. There were two more gladiators waiting for them near the orbs that they were supposed to hack into, though they were easily removed like everything else that they had fought so far.
Once the immediate enemies were taken care of, and the map remained clear for a few seconds, Ratchet started hacking into the orbs while Starlight looked out for enemies... all while something came to mind while she watched for enemies.
"Really? They aren't throwing anything at us while we hack into these orbs?" Starlight commented, sounding a little disappointed that nothing was coming at them, "Its almost like Vox doesn't care."
"They might be scared of you," Ratchet replied, moving to the second orb and starting the hacking device, "I mean, you have been snatching dropships out of the air and either slamming them into other dropships or just crushing them and whoever happens to be standing beneath them."
"I guess so," Starlight said, letting out a sigh as Ratchet moved through the remaining orbs and, when the fourth one was claimed, opened the backdoor to the building they were in.
With the way open they walked forward and opened fire on the gladiators that were coming out to fight them, though once again Starlight grabbed the dropships and threw them at each other to prevent an increase in enemies. It didn't take them long to reach the second building, where they removed a few more gladiators so they could hack into the two orbs that were waiting for them. Since there were only two orbs in the building it was much easier for them to get through the building and fight the enemies that were waiting on the other side of the door. Once the door was open they let loose with their weapons, tearing into the gladiators and the larger robots as they sought out what they needed to do next, though the moment all of their enemies were dead Dallas declared that they were finished with their current challenge and were to move onto the next one.
While they listened to Dallas telling them that they needed to turn the main crank, which was located in a building on the other side of the station, both Ratchet and Starlight noticed that the Gamma Energy Beam had been turned on again... and that the connection between the three reflectors was incomplete.
Several enemies came at them once the challenge started, a few gladiators and a dropship, but Ratchet and Starlight easily dealt with them before they accessed the swingshots that were ahead of them. As Starlight landed on the platform she spotted a dropship coming towards them, to which she smiled as she grabbed it with her magic and slammed it into the large robot that was waiting for them. As Ratchet joined her two more dropships came at them and again Starlight smashed them together with her magic, effectively allowing them to move forward once more. Starlight allowed Ratchet to ride the rail down to the building in the middle of the entire station, before following him with her levitation magic and hitting the enemies as she landed beside him.
They fought their way through the small group of enemies that happened to be there, accessed the elevator that happened to be in the middle of the tower, and rose to the top of it. They looked around for a moment, gathering all of the ammunition crates that rested around the top of the tower, before using the swingshots to move onward to the next platform. They found a few enemies waiting for them, a pack of six little robots and a larger robot, and removed them with some ease before they used the next cable line to reach the asteroid that the last reflector was on.
That was where they found the rest of the gladiators that were supposed to be opposing them, as the moment they landed they were assaulted by every sort of enemy that they had fought before. The gladiators moved out and fired at them as the larger robots came at them, while several dropships flew into the area and began to drop additional enemies for them to fight. Ratchet and Starlight opened fire on their enemies, jumping behind Starlight's shields every now and then, giving them a chance to slow down while Starlight latched her magic onto a dropship and smashed it into some of the other ships. Starlight even resorted to blowing some of their enemies up with her spells, not on the level that Sunset used of course, but she was able to remove some of their enemies without harming herself.
They walked around the building and entered it through the back, where they fought some of the flying robot enemies, before laying claim to the crank that they had come for. That was rapidly followed by Dallas announcing that they had reactivated the entire network and that they had completed all of the challenges that had been thrown at them. Ratchet smiled at Starlight as they made their way back to the teleport pad, because now they were determined to tell Ace what they thought about his plan.
They were going to enjoy bringing an end to Vox and his shadowy empire... once they rescued Sunset from PX-17 and disabled the rest of the Dreadzone collars.