//------------------------------//
// R/C: Kerwan 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Thanks to the new ship that had been loaned to them, for a time anyway since Starswil was certain that the Chairman of Novalis would want it back when they found their own ship to take as their own, Ratchet, Clank, Autumn, and Starswirl were able to reach Kerwan with ease, where Ratchet found that he didn't have to worry about activating the landing gear himself, rather the ship had a system that did that for him and allowed them to reach the landing pad that was outside the main part of Metropolis that Al's Roboshack was located in.

"So, this is where Captain Qwark made that commercial," Ratchet commented, where he and Clank made sure that all of the systems for the ship were good to go before opening the hatch, allowing them to climb out and step down onto a rather nice bit grass that lead to a metallic walkway, one that lead right to a split path and a Gadgetron Vendor, who had another of Autumn's weapons in stock, a Blaster that loosed small bits of energy to take down foes, "Okay, which way do we go? If we go to the left it looks like we'll be dealing with a course of some kind, while to the right we have a path that seems to be just fine and might lead to Al's place."

"We should check out both places, just in case we find some gadgets to help us out," Autumn replied, as she had a feeling that if they were to tackle the course they might gain a new toy or some information that might be able to assist them in their question, something that caused Starswirl to nod his head for a moment, even though he had nothing to say this time and simply stared at the large city that the Infobot had brought them to, one that was full of buildings and vehicles, the latter containing citizens who were going about their days.

Ratchet, seeing that Starswirl didn't seem to have an opinion on the matter, decided to follow their sister's idea and turned towards the path on the left, something that brought them to what appeared to be an automaton that looked identical to Captain Qwark, only this was made out of metal and had a spring that replaced the Captain's lower legs, though as they approached the automaton Clank disconnected from Ratchet's back and stared at the area they were currently in.

Welcome to the Captain Qwark fitness course! the automaton stated, no doubt outfitted with a device that allowed it to know when people came here to access whatever was in this area, a fitness course apparently, though Clank frowned as he heard that, as he had been hoping to find the Captain and complete his mission, or at least part of it, and not a robot that looked like him, before it started to move its arms, If you're strong enough, fast enough, and clever enough to beat my fitness challenge, you will receive a reward from my head trainer! Simply make your way to the third island to complete the course. Good luck! Qwark enterprises is not responsible for sprains, broken bones, snapped tendons, bruised egos, or accidental death incurred while taking the challenge.

Ratchet and his siblings glanced at each other as Clank returned to his spot on Ratchet's back, though with that done they started to jump up the couple of stone platforms to reach the upper section of the island that they were on, though that allowed them to discover two new things, the first being two metallic vertical walls that they could jump off of and propel themselves higher, a Wall Jump that impressed his siblings when they saw it, while the second was a set of red crates that had an explosive label on them. Such a thing told them that if they whacked them or stuck them in some manner, like with a weapon or projectile, they would explode, so Starswirl decided to trigger all of the red crates from afar and save them some trouble in the future, finding another set of metallic walls that allowed them to reach the uppermost part of the first island, which had a zipline leading down to the start of the second island. With that information in hand the siblings used the handles of their melee weapons to grind down to where this zipline ended, allowing them to jump over to the main body of the second island and found that it was mostly a tower that was far higher than what the first island was like, and they found that a fair number of moving platforms that seemed to be obstacles for them to overcome, something that did excite them since new was always interesting. Of course the first thing they did was make sure that there were no enemies in the area, of which it seemed like there were none around where the start of the tower was, so Ratchet started first as Starswirl followed after him and Autumn brought up the rear of their group, each jumping on the platforms when they moved out of their hidden areas while making sure to keep some distance between them, before finding a set of walls that allowed them to reach an area with another set, the second reaching the top.

At the top of the tower they found another zipline that lead down to the third and final island, where they found that it did have another zipline leading back to the first island, though as they headed down the new zipline the siblings found a pair of spherical objects that would bring someone to the start of Qwark's course, one small and green with one that was more like a pair and was yellow colored, before they landed in front of a large feminine robot who looked like she was currently in the middle of exercising, only she stopped as she focused on that.

"Listen up, you lardballs! That was the most pathetic display I have ever seen on that obstacle course!" the robot declared, making sure to point at the course they had just cleared, to make them realize why she was so annoyed with them and not just assume what she was talking about, though they found that she was wearing a black shirt and blue pants, though as she said that the siblings just stood there as Clank touched the ground, "You, Lombax, what sort of excuse do you have for not using your feline grace? And you, unicorns, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"To be fair, I have no idea what sort of training a Lombax goes through," Ratchet replied, though he had thought they had done a good job tackling the rather simple course, making him wonder where the true course Captain Qwark used might be located, since this certainly wasn't it, though he could also understand the robot's desire to make sure those who ran her course did their best to overcome her obstacles, something she seemed to take pride in, sort of like how he had taken pride in the ship he had made and whatever other gadgets he had worked on.

"And we could have used our magic, but that would have been cheating." Starswirl stated, because he could have used his power to bypass the obstacles by teleporting them over to this island, which would have really annoyed the robot that was in front of them and he felt that such a thing was a bad idea, especially if their thought about her having some gadget for their adventure was true, something that caused the robot to pause for a moment as she listened to them, meaning she might have been expecting them to make some excuses on the matter.

"Maybe I misjudged you three... I am Helga, and I have something from Captain Qwark," the robot said, her tone revealing that she might not be happy about something she had been told to do, where she pulled out three objects that looked like attachments for their gloves, with a device that looked like it fired a grapple hook, though she sighed for a moment as she gazed at Starswirl and Autumn, no doubt thinking about what had been said, "apparently he was impressed by what you three did, so he said to give you these Swingshots, which will aid you in swaying to and fro like little insects... normally, for those who disgrace my course, I would force you to pay or drill until I was sure you were ready to receive them, but, due to your honesty, I will look the other way this time... but if I catch you disgracing my courses again, I will make you pay in Bolts and in sweat!"

"I heard about these, but didn't realize that they were in production," Autumn commented, where she took hers and just slipped it onto her right wrist, where it would fold into itself and hide when not in use and if someone needed it for one of the targets they were connected to it would come out when necessary, though she had a smile on her face as she studied it for a time, no doubt already coming up with new ideas on how to improve it, but that was when she pointed it right at the green target and fired the hook at it.

Ratchet and Starswirl found that Autumn went flying not a few seconds later, as the hook connected to the target and she was dragged through the air, allowing her to swing from their platform to the next and she found that she could cut the connection with ease, allowing her to progress towards the zipline as her siblings followed after her, though Helga took a moment to nod her head before using a taxi to depart for another part of the city, even though they suspected that they would see her again. A few moments later they reached the first island and retraced their steps back to the start of this part of the city, where they found a tall red skinned alien who seemed to be a commander, a Blarg Commander, while he had a Robomutt with him, a robotic mutt who attacked anything the owner was fighting, meaning Drek's forces had to be interested in stealing something from this planet. Sure enough he and his forces, consisting of a number of Blarg that just so happened to attacking the city, something they had missed when they first arrived and had walked down the path that allowed them to see the fitness course, meaning it must have happened after they started Helga's course, but that didn't stop Ratchet or his siblings from attacking their enemies like they had done back on Novalis, swinging their wrenches at their enemies while using weapons for those who were further away. Ratchet found that the Blaster was a nice addition to what they had purchased so far, as it allowed one to blast a foe from afar without having to worry about getting too close to them, especially since it allowed them to take down the pack of Robomutts that were nearby, before they cleared out the enemies that were in front of a bridge and continued to progress towards where they assumed Al's shop was located, as there was a building with a large icon standing on top of it, which had to be their destination.

As they walked across the bridge they found a helicopter moving in and that it fired at them, where Autumn weaved some of her power for a few seconds and blasted the Blarg vessel with a fireball, sending it over the edge and removing it from their path, before finding a pair of escalators leading down to another level for them to explore, one that was connected to yet another bridge and happened to lead right to the building they had been looking for, even though they had to take out a few more Robomutts and a Blarg before reaching their destination.

"Hey, you're that robot guy, right? Al, was it?" Ratchet asked, speaking to the yellowish colored person that was standing on the other side of the counter that he and his siblings approached, all while Clank hopped down to see who they were going to be talking to, while noting the figure was wearing a white lab coat over a green shirt with the name of his shop on it, but as he did that Autumn glanced around, likely looking for inspiration.

"No, actually I build robots. I myself am not a robot guy per se." the figure, Al, replied, where he let out a chuckle after he said that, as if finding something funny about his comment, before he focused on the fact that he had customers and that they might be buying a few items from him, even if one of them seemed to be focused on something else right now, which meant leaving the conversation to Ratchet and Starswirl, possibly Clank as well, "So, now that we've cleared that up, what can I do for the four of you?"

"Well, we saw your infobot announcement, the one with Captain Qwark." Clank explained, cutting right to the heart of the reason they were here, something that caused Al to raise an eyebrow for a moment as he recalled the commercial that he was talking about, before Clank gestured to himself and his companions, "We're trying to find Captain Qwark and thought you could help us."

"Your logic is commendable, however, I haven't seen Captain Qwark since we shot that commercial." Al stated, which was a piece of information they weren't expecting to hear, as they had been hoping to learn where Qwark might be heading next or where they might be able to wait for him so they could take a few days to see the galaxy before heading there, before he finally noticed who was standing in his shop, "Say, you wouldn't happen to be Autumn Blaze, would you? The one who has been making most of Gadgetron's weapons and is rumored to be the one who make the RYNO?"

"I am her, but I didn't make the RYNO... I build the blueprints, before the project was cancelled," Autumn replied, though as she said that, and caused her siblings and Clank to think about something for a few seconds, she thought about what she had said and the fact that the weapon that had been her ultimate creation, or at least for the time being, something that annoyed her to no end since she had ideas on how to improve it, though that was when she found a book being slid over the top of the counter, an autograph book, showing her what Al wanted.

Autumn figured that it wouldn't hurt to sign it, since it seemed like Al was a fan and had no idea what he wanted to say to someone like her, though she did so by using her telekinesis to lift the pen for a few second before signing the area that Al wanted it to be placed in, something that caused him to smile for a time as he looked at it, but as he did that Clank turned to speak with Ratchet about leaving, which drew Al's attention to him.

"I haven't seen a robot with your model before," Al commented, which was a surprise to Ratchet, since he assumed that whatever had made Clank had already made hundreds of copies of him, though with that statement they learned some new information, that there was a chance that Clank might be more unique than they originally thought, all while Al took a moment to study their companion with his goggles, "do you run on standard XP-18 sisterboards?"

"Version 7.66." Clank answered, though while they had planned on coming here to talk with Al, to find Qwark, neither he or his companions had been expecting to find someone interested in the specifics that went into his make, but this did make him interested in what the man might say to his response, since there might be a chance that Al might be of assistance to all of them and their quest to find Captain Qwark.

As it turned out Al was able to help them, because Clank was a Version 7.66 he was eligible for an upgrade that happened to be a Helipack upgrade, something that would end up giving their companion propellers that would replace his hands as Ratchet performed a number of movements, which he would have to be told about ahead of time so he would know what to do in any given situation, but in the end Clank was quite pleased, Autumn and Starswirl learned a bit more about their new friend, and Al was happy to be of assistance, so much so that he waved the fee for them. Of course Clank didn't lose his original arms, as all he had to do was pull his hands in and a few seconds later they were back to normal, meaning he could react according to the situation that Ratchet happened to be in, though with that done Al opened the other door to his shop and allowed them to continue deeper into Metropolis, which was when the siblings found some large crates that were too tall for anyone to use their double jump ability on. Ratchet, having an idea, crouched for a moment and then leapt up while using Clank's new propellers, something that allowed him to reach the top of the first boxes before he did it again to reach the top of this area, though of course Starswirl and Autumn just walked up some magical steps to reach the area he and Clank were in, but he said nothing as he threw himself over the edge in front of them and used the Helipack to reach the area in front of a lift, causing him to smile for a moment as he thought of the uses this had. Starswirl used his magic to form a small walkway for him and Autumn to use before they accessed the lift, which brought them to the top of a small tower before Ratchet glided down to an area that had a few Blarg in it, even if his siblings teleported down to the area he landed in, since they didn't have someone like Clank to aid them, though as soon as they were together again all three of them opened fire on their enemies so they could figure out what sort of information they would find in this part of the city.

What they discovered was that the first group of Blarg were guarding a lift that brought them up to a bridge, one that did have a pair of escalators for Ratchet and his siblings to use, which brought them to what appeared to be a station for one of the grav-trains, trains that used specialized rails to move from place to place, though they did blast and smash their way through several more Blarg and their Robomutts, before finding that there was a grav-train resting nearby and that it did have an Infobot on it. As such they found their way onto the train, even if it happened to be at the end, and when they did that the train actually started moving towards the next station that was on the route it was following right now, before all of them found a few Blarg guarding the path that would bring them to the Infobot, to which Ratchet and his siblings took the fight to their enemies and started to clear out the area, working their way over to the front of the ship. When the last of the Blarg fell, not a few minutes after they started fighting them, Ratchet found that the train came to a stop in an area that looked like it was right above where he parked their new ship earlier, which was when he and his siblings found that the Infobot started to move out of the area it had been in, though Starswirl stopped it by summoning a sphere of magic around it. With that done the three of them regrouped near where the little robot was and Clank joined them in watching what sort of information it held, where it took them no time to see that Chairman Drek happened to be talking to a robot who looked like he was a commander or leader of some kind, where they were discussing the harvest of Eudora, as they were cutting down trees and were likely clearing out an area to be extracted at a later date, all while learning that the new robot was a Lieutenant.

"Chairman Drek is destroying another planet, but his help seems to be lacking," Autumn commented, as based on what the Infobot had recorded it sounded like the Lieutenant was behind schedule and might be that way for some time, so if he maintained the course he was using, and stayed on Eudora for a time, they would have enough time to check out what had happened to Skid and his agent before heading to the new planet that was under attack.

"Yeah, which means we have enough time to check Aridia before heading to Eudora," Ratchet said, because while he knew that Clank wanted to head over to the new planet, to confront the Lieutenant and get some information from him, he had a feeling that heading to the planet Skid crashed on would be best for them, since there was no telling what they might discover while they were looking for the pro hoverboarder and his agent, "so let's go help Skid, get some new items that will help us out, and then we can tackle the Lieutenant."

Clank, despite his desire to face off against Drek's forces, found himself agreeing with Ratchet and his siblings, to which all of them used a nearby lift to head back down to where they found the Gadgetron Vendor earlier, before returning to their ship once more, where they climbed inside it and got comfortable as Ratchet set their course for Aridia, as it was time to help Skid and see what sort of gadgets were waiting for them, before heading to Eudora to confront the Lieutenant.