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// Interlude: The Colony 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Brook and the others were able to get back to the colony within a matter of minutes, as Kyzil Plateau was near the border of the colony and there was a bridge connecting both of them, though most of the residents happened to be working on whatever tasks that needed to be completed, so no one was around to see them return. As such the first thing she did was make sure Ratchet, Starswirl, and Autumn were quickly placed in the care of the Helper Bots that ran and maintained the orphanage, where some were humanoid shaped and others were just spheres that floated in the air, doing whatever each of them were programmed to do, sometimes even developing personalities overtime. They were truly helpful robots, as a fair number of them were able to help the colony become stabilized, among other things, and it made her wish that they had more Helper Bots on hand, but for now she and the others were able to make due with what they had. Once Ratchet and the others were in more capable hands, and were still asleep by the looks of it, she departed from the orphanage and made her way back to her office, leaving the Mining Director and the Captain of the Guard to return to what they had been doing before they investigated the sudden crash.

Given the size of their colony it didn't take her all that long to return to where her office was located, as the building she was heading towards happened to be just across from the orphanage, though she closed the door behind her and took a seat in the chair that was resting on the other side of her desk.

The investigation into what had crashed into Kyzil Plateau had raised a lot of questions in her mind, especially since they had found a Lombax resting in a pod designed for two, given that there were rumors about something happening to the race in their home galaxy, the Polaris Galaxy to be exact. Most assumed that the Lombaxes had been wiped out, likely taken out by a race that didn't like them or something, though given the position of their planet it was hard for them to get information on what was happening to the rest of the universe, or even their own galaxy for that matter. As she thought about that she considered the other two, who she assumed were Unicorns based on their horns, and their sudden arrival with Ratchet, either a mere coincidence or maybe it was fate that they arrived on Veldin at the same time, hence why she kept them together. She considered the Helper Bot's report on what happened, about Ratchet's pod having flown through a crack in reality, or an opening of some kind, while Starswirl and Autumn seemed to arrive in a flash of light, though she had to assume that the 'flash' was their pods bringing them to a stop before harm came to those that were resting inside them, causing her to sigh for a moment.

As of right now there was no problems with taking in three more orphans, as they had more than enough supplies and the Helper Bots could handle anything thrown at them, though she did have to consider the abilities of the Lombaxes, as they were said to be some of the greatest inventors and warriors in their galaxy. It was why she found it so hard to believe that someone or something had wiped them out, not without the Lombaxes fighting back to save themselves, but that didn't change the fact that Ratchet had arrived on Veldin, in a pod that she and the others had found him in. On the other hand she had no idea what sort of skills or abilities the two Unicorns had, even though stories claimed that they had access to all sorts of magical powers, making her wonder if there was some truth to those tales, or if their horns were for defense and contained no energy inside them. Part of her considered using her tablet to search for more information, since there had to be something out there that would help all of them understand who they had found on Kyzil Plateau and what sort of skills they had, before she shook her head and turned her chair so she could glance out at the colony.

She and the others had built the colony on the edge of several canyons, carefully crafting areas for farms to be built in, all while installing an electric fence to keep themselves safe from the dangers of this world, though there wasn't much they could do to personalize anything, so they were stuck with the village look for the time being. Brook knew that many of the buildings were a single story tall, save for ones like the orphanage, which had been built with two stories, and her office was one of the smaller ones, as she didn't need that much room to do her job, especially since some days she was out in the field, working with the others to provide for their people. The shed on Kyzil Plateau was one of the larger structures, all of them were since there was so much that needed to be stored inside them, though the one that Ratchet and the others had landed in front of happened to be one they didn't use all that often, making her wonder if it was another sign, before shaking her head again. She did consider the possibility of moving the pods into the shed so they would remain safe and sound, since there was something inside Ratchet's pod, a compartment she couldn't open, and it made her curious as to what might be inside it, though she was going to have to ask the others about the pods before making a decision, just to see what everyone else thought about the situation.

An hour later, after getting some work done, Brooke got up and departed from her office so she could head over to the orphanage, where she found a number of kids hanging around it, those who were here due to being part of the daycare, though sure enough they were gathered around the area that Ratchet, Starswirl, and Autumn were in. She quietly joined everyone that was watching the trio and quickly discovered something interesting, Ratchet was the first to wake up and he was staring at the area with shock on his face, possibly even fear when she thought about it, before his siblings stirred. It took Starswirl and Autumn a few moments to get up and glance around the area, where they seemed confused and scared as well, though that was when the trio spotted each other for the first time, even though none of them seemed ready to cry over this situation. Brook had to wonder if the Blaze Siblings, as she had taken to calling the trio despite the fact that only one of them had a last name, were more mature than she originally believed, but she said nothing as she glanced at all of the children, seeing that many of them were happy to have new children to play with, putting a smile on her face as she thought about it.

While Brooke was thinking about what to do next the Helper Bots did their job and one of the robots flew off to the side before returning with a few bottles of milk, a few strips of meat, and some small clothing so Autumn and her brothers could wear something other than the bundles they had been wrapped in. It's memory logs informed it of how similar the Lombaxes were to the Cazares, hence why it focused on Ratchet first and found that he was more than happy to accept both the milk bottle and a few torn strips of meat, confirming what it was being told right now, before it focused on both Autumn and Starswirl. This presented a problem to the Helper Bot, given their equine nature, though it didn't have much to fear as the pair carefully ate what was offered to them before sipping on the milk like Ratchet had done, meaning that their appearances didn't affect their diets. With that done the Helper Bot hovered in the air for a moment before heading to another part of the orphanage, as it was seeking an area to place them in, leaving Ratchet and his sisters behind to do whatever it was that they wanted to do, not that there was much for them to do since they were only two years old and all of the stuff in the room was out of reach.

As the Helper Bot did that Ratchet glanced around the room once more and found that Brook was escorting the children outside, leaving them to take in their surroundings before trying to stand up, where each of them struggled with it since none of them had much experience with this sort of thing. Of course they fell every now and then, which was common for children of their age, but it wasn't long before they were able to get onto their feet and actually stand for a time, as their tails had to be aiding them, before the trio moved to look at the room they were in. Ratchet found nothing of interest, as a child was more interested in toys, though that didn't stop Starswirl from finding something of interest, as on one wall there were a couple of books on a shelf that happened to be just out of reach, meaning they wouldn't be reading anytime soon. In that moment Starswirl paused as his horn started to glow and an aura wrapped around one of the books, where it just shook for a moment before being pulled off the shelf, as if something was moving it, even though nothing was there, and not a few seconds later it came to a stop in front of the siblings.

As it turned out the book was about the heroes of their galaxy, opening to the page of a tall bulky male with a green suit over his body, with a blue marking on his chest, though the siblings were too young to truly understand what was inside the book he had picked out, which meant they were just staring at the pictures of the man and nothing else.

While they were doing that Brooke stood on the other side of the door, as she had decided to come and check on the trio before doing anything else, and had seen Starswirl's horn glowing, not to mention the book moving on it's own, which did make her wonder if the tales from Old Earth, about magic, were true in some manner. As she thought about that she took a moment to take a look at the book that had been picked out, finding that the siblings were staring at a few pictures of Captain Qwark, a well known hero in Solana, causing her to chuckle for a moment, as many looked up to him and he might be a good role model for them. After looking at that for a few minutes Autumn got up and resumed exploring, finding her way to a door that lead outside before discovering one of the Helper Bots opening the way for her, which caused both of her brothers to follow after her out into the outside play space. There were about ten children and two orphans on Veldin right now, mostly humanoids like the Captain, so Ratchet and his siblings wouldn't have to worry about being lonely, and sure enough the others were happy to have some new faces to play with.

Brook smiled as the siblings were embraced by the children of the colony, even though they were wearing simple brown clothing, something that could be switched out at some point in time, meaning they wouldn't have to worry all that much about Ratchet, Starswirl, or Autumn as they headed outside, as this would allow them to form bonds and learn things from the other children. She had no idea what the future might hold for them, not after the siblings landed near her colony, but she had a feeling that things were going to get interesting from this point forward and hoped that the siblings were able to grow well before facing whatever the future had in store.