//------------------------------// // R/C: Quartu, Kalebo III // Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// It took some time for Ratchet, Clank, Starswirl, and Autumn to reach Quartu, a green planet where Drek was building the Ultra-Mechs that had been on the Infobot that they recovered from the merchant in Gorda City, a scrap seller as Autumn claimed after thinking about it for some time, though as the ship descended towards a landing pad Clank recognized the facility that they were landing near. "Ratchet... this is the facility I was made in..." Clank commented, looking out the window as they landed and stared out at the rest of the area, where it looked like there might be an aqueducts of some kind resting nearby, a large facility that had to be producing pieces of machinery for Drek's forces, and an area that seemed to be a testing arena for the Ultra-Mechs and the other items that were produced here. "Geez, they sure chased you for a long time," Ratchet replied, referring to the fact that Veldin was a good distance from where Quartu rested, so it was possible that the robots had chased after Clank for a few days before he was gunned down and crashed on their planet, though as he thought about that he turned off their ship as soon as it landed, and he was sure that nothing was attacking them, allowing them to climb out and stare at the planet. "Well, we should focus on tearing down Drek's Ultra-Mechs, before worrying about the facility," Autumn said, where she took a moment to walk over to the nearby Vendor and found that nothing new had been added to the store, as she knew there were more weapons she had created and had been expecting a few more to have come out at some point in time, but their current arsenal was more than enough in her eyes. With her done looking for new weapons, and they made sure to restock before doing anything else, the siblings started to move as Starswirl noticed something above where they had landed, it was an opening into the aqueducts and he quickly teleported up to the opening, leaving Ratchet and Autumn standing there as they waited for him to come back, though it took him no time to jump back down before rejoining him. What he discovered was an item that could be attached to the belt of whoever happened to own it, where the gadget was called the Bolt Grabber, something Autumn knew since it was another item that Gadgetron had created and produced, and that it was designed to attract bolts to those who used it, as the name implied, so she wasted no time in duplicating it for her and Starswirl so they could join Ratchet in attaching the devices to their belts. With that done they headed down the path that was in front of them and quickly found a large black robot guarding the facility's entrance, along with a trio of smaller bitter bots, so Ratchet blasted the larger target apart as Starswirl swung his staff and knocked the smaller ones out, allowing Autumn to see that there was an electrical barrier on the other side of the door, meaning none of them could deal with it, so they focused on what the other path had in store for all of them. Sure enough there were a few more Plasmabots for the siblings to take out before using their Swingshots to reach an outer ring of the arena, for things to walk on before coming to a stop inside the arena, though as they walked down the outer edge Ratchet found more of the smaller robots and they simply swung their melee weapons at their foes, saving all of their ammunition for the Plasmabots that happened to be in front of them. They ended up making their way over to a building which seemed important, one that had a locked section nearby, which might be important at some point during their quest to stop Drek, before they found a scientist who was a lot like Fred in front of a machine that also appeared to be important, something that caused the siblings to come to a stop as they heard him talking about something. "Hey, you wouldn't know anything about the Ultra-Mech project, would you?" Ratchet asked, because he seemed like one who might know where they might be able to find their current target, while at the same time Autumn studied the device in question, no doubt imagining what it might be capable of, where he decided to add something else that might convince the scientist to speak with them, "We might be able to help you fix that." "Actually, I'm planning on destroying it... and you're looking at the project." the scientist replied, gesturing to the device for a few seconds, even though he did glance back to see who was standing nearby and seemed surprised by Autumn being in the same area that he was in, especially since she was the greatest mind in Gadgetron right now, "I was commissioned to use my enlarging machine to make huge, heavily armed mechs, which I fought were for safety... had I known that Drek was behind this, I never would have agreed to do it. However, I cannot leave my machine here, where he can use it, so I need to destroy it before I leave Quartu..." "Well, why don't you tweak it so that it only works with a specific type of robot?" Autumn inquired, because while it might have been designed to work with whatever machines Drek wanted she was sure that the creator of the device could make it so that it was coded to something different and then lock it, preventing their enemies from using it, causing the scientist to raise an eyebrow for a moment, "From what we've seen, most of Drek's people don't have the knowledge or know how to even begin to reverse engineer something as complicated like this... even if they can build planet destroying bombs and planet destroying machines... but if we coded it to, say, Clank here, we can prevent Drek from using it and you can blame all of their problems on their incompetence, and with me here we can make it so he can grow and shrink on these pads, making our own Ultra-Mech in a sense." The scientist stared at her for a few moments, clearly wondering if she was brilliant or insane, before deciding it was the former, especially after recalling who he was dealing with, before they tweaked the machine a little and Clank, having no need to be told anything, stepped on it, allowing him to enlarge into a massive warbot that was armed with some weapons to defend himself. With that done he set out and smashed his way through the path Ratchet and his siblings had walked through to get to the scientist's location, which also allowed him to crush several more robots before he reached the arena that had been unlocked for him, where Clank opened fire on some of the giant Ultra-Mechs that were coming at him and punched those that got close to him as well. Ratchet and his siblings watched as Clank tore apart the robots that Drek had ordered, no doubt to bring down all sorts of planets so the Blarg could be the dominate force in this galaxy, though at the same time this was a good chance for them to just relax before heading off world to find a gadget or something that would allow them to invade the facility that Clank was made in. Still, it was a fun display to watch, especially since it seemed like Clank's inner weapons had been brought to the surface as he smashed his foes, though he also seemed unlike everything else Drek had made, meaning someone else must have influenced his design before he was made, something they would figure out after they dealt with Drek and saved the galaxy from the Blarg. Once all of the Ultra-Mechs were taken care of, and both Clank and the scientist confirmed that, Clank returned to where the device rested and reverted back to his original size, something that lead to their new friend gifting them an Infobot for all that had been done to stop Drek, one that happened to have the coordinates for Kalebo III, the planet Gadgetron was built on, and that it had a Hologuise device, to which the siblings returned to their ship and blasted off so they could get their hands on the gadget in question. What the siblings discovered when they flew down to Kalebo III, a planet filled with lush islands and vast oceans, was that Gadgetron Headquarters happened to be under attack by Drek's forces, meaning the mad Blarg was trying to take out the people supplying Ratchet, Starswirl, and Autumn with weapons and ammunition, though none of them had to worry about being attacked since Autumn had sent the signature of their ship to Mr. Lumos and they were allowed to pass through the defenses with ease. It was interesting to see that Drek even had elite soldiers, given everything Ratchet and his siblings had faced off against during their time exploring the galaxy, and each of them wondered if fighting them would be more interesting than some of the fights they had been in since Clank landed on Veldin, but he decided not to worry about the Blarg, as Gadgetron's defenses were tearing them apart with ease. Ratchet was sure that Autumn had a hand in creating some of the weapons that happened to be tearing Drek's forces to shreds before they could even damage the structures in question, given her knowledge and ability to make some rather interesting weapons, which only made him curious as to what the future held for her in terms of creating new weapons, before he landed in the employee docking area and turned off their ship. With that done they climbed out and glanced around the area, finding that all of the other Gadgetron people were just talking and working like nothing was going on right now, which made sense given everything that Mr. Lumos had added after looking at Autumn's blueprints for weapons and defenses for this place, and sure enough they spotted Fred off in the distance, likely talking to his new boss or something. Autumn, on the other hand, climbed out with her tablet at the ready, already downloading all of the new schematics she had created since their adventure had started, weapons and devices that could be used by soldiers or the public, there was even a schematic for a robotic guardian to be the defenders of the galaxy, a prototype right now, before she walked into the building and made her way to her destination... a chamber that had a reptilian male, with green scales, standing near a desk, though he was wearing brown clothing and had glasses over his eyes. "Mr. Lumos!" Autumn said, where Ratchet and Starswirl smiled as they found that her earlier happiness had returned to her, that she was no longer down or enraged by what happened back on Umbris, even if it would leave a nasty scar in her memories that would never go away, though her words caused the man to turn and look in the direction they had come from, as he set his secondary office near the docking bay, more to greet people whenever he wanted to, though his main one was somewhere else inside the facility. "Autumn, now what have I told you about being less formal with me?" Mr. Lumos replied, where a smile appeared on his face as he noticed her and her brothers walking into the area he happened to be standing in at the moment, even though he did glance at Clank for a moment, since this was his first time seeing the little robot in question, even if Autumn likely sent him a notice about their new friend at some point in time, "I'm not about to make my number one designer, the best of the best I might add, be weighed down by formalities... those are for everyone else, such as customers and investors. Now, what brings you, your brothers, and your new friend to my office?" "Oh, you know, saving the galaxy, finding or receiving new patents, discovering new gadgets to work with, finding a couple of scientists to add to Gadgetron, blowing stuff up... oh, and recovered the RYNO." Autumn answered, going through the list of things that had happened since they left Veldin, even though she was more interested in the weapons, gadgets, and her RYNO, but Ratchet was happy to see that she had returned to normal, or as normal as she could be, before she took a moment to shrug, "You know, the usual for heroes." "Yes, I can see that." Wendell said, where he glanced at the helmet that she was wearing and could already imagine the alterations Autumn might have made to the device, especially since he only knew of a few helmet gadgets and there was no way for him to tell which ones she had acquired over the course of her adventure, even though he was tempted to take away the RYNO, something he eventually decided not to do, "We've also heard of the depollution machine you made, back on Pokitaru, and believe it or not we have been receiving orders from other planets... people want your device, especially if you're able to make certain modifications to them. However, knowing you, I have a feeling that you'll only give us the plans if we sell them at a cost to the planetary governments... personally, I would agree, since most of them are inefficient and get on my nerves... so here's what we'll do: we'll come up with a more permanent agreement on what your demands are, exactly what you need from us to hand over the Pollution Blitzer blueprints... that's what the reports called it, not what we decided on." "The manager probably came up with it." Autumn replied, where she resisted the urge to sigh when she thought about it, as he was the only person who might come up with a name like that, but for now she felt that naming the machine was the last thing that she and Wendell needed to talk about, as there were far more important matters for her and her employer to talk about, especially the gadget she and her brothers needed for the facility on Quartu. "Now, what's this about you winning the hoverboard race in Blackwater City?" Wendell asked, as that was a story that was a surprise for him and the others sometime ago, when they heard the tale in question for the first time, especially since he was sure that neither Autumn or her brothers had such a skill, though he figured that if it was true they could have learned how to use a board and won the race. "That was Ratchet's doing, as neither Starswirl or I stepped on the track... though I have a feeling that you made a track to test our skills on," Autumn said, as that seemed like something that her boss would do when he heard something like this, even though she had to blame Starlene for spreading rumors about all of them, especially untrue ones, and she could see that Wendell was nodding his head, meaning that he really wanted to test her skills and might have included her brothers in it as well, before an idea came to her, "How about we tackle whatever you have set up on the track, likely make a brand new commercial once that's over, and we take one of those Hologuises... I'd love to test it out in the field, where we can see if it has any problems or bugs that need to be fixed." That was how Ratchet and Starswirl found themselves on the track, as their boss seemed to like the idea, something that lead to Autumn making duplicates of the Z300 and the prize that had been earned back in Blackwater City some time ago, giving each of them a board to use, where he made sure his siblings knew how to use the boards in question before they bothered to face Wendell's test. With that done they found a number of robotic test dummies that had been designed to race against each other, or people like them, to which Ratchet and his siblings took to the track as their boss watched all of them from where his second office rested, since he was in for a show, or at least they hoped so since most of them didn't have the skills that Ratchet had when using the board. As it turned out Autumn and Starswirl, both masters in their own fields, were able to match his skills on the track, even if this was the first time they were using them and racing against a fair number of enemies, and Wendell found something interesting as he watched his rising stars, they were skilled, likely far more than Skid McMarx if they put for the time and effort to learn how to use this new skill of theirs. None of the bots that were racing against them seemed to do much, despite the skills that had been installed inside each and every one of them, hence why he thought they were more skilled than Skid McMarx, since the bots had his skills, to some degree, and it looked like Ratchet, Starswirl, and Autumn were going to come out on top, to the point where they were going to circle the test bots in no time at all. When it came time for the commercial, since they beat the test bots with ease, Autumn gave a few statements about the boards that Gadgetron was coming out with, which happened to be the ones they had raced against, and Wendell found it was a good thing her brothers were showing off since her words and expressions would have convince him, but once the commercial was over he handed over a Hologuise and the siblings departed, causing him to smile as he watched them go, as his rising stars were the heroes this galaxy needed right now. It took a bit of time to double back to Quartu, though while they did that Autumn explained that the Hologuise had been designed to emit an electrical wave that would convince robots that the user was a robot and not someone in disguise, all while the catroonish look happened to be so organics wouldn't be fooled by what they were seeing, not that Ratchet was even surprised since his sister likely worked on the device. Once they arrived on Quartu again they walked down the path and pulled out their devices, as Autumn had duplicated it as well, and put on their disguises, allowing the siblings to walk down to the facility's entrance and found that the robotic guard didn't seem worried about them walking in, it even took a moment to lower the barrier for them to enter. Instead of causing an alarm to sound Ratchet and his siblings made sure to keep their disguises up, only changing when they were sure that none of the robots were looking in their direction, but all of them found that it required some patience on their part, even if Starswirl found that he could form magical walkways in this form, which didn't draw the attention of the robotic guards, no doubt because it was hidden thanks to the abilities of the new gadget. Even with that fact the siblings had to be careful of the guards that were patrolling along every section of Drek's factory, though there were times where Autumn had to weave her magic around some guards, just a tiny bit, which was designed to temporarily turn off their vision sensors, effectively blinding them for a time, allowing them to switch out of their disguises and get by the troublemakers before using the devices once all three of them happened to be in the clear, allowing the robots to continue as if nothing had happened at all. One thing that made all of them angry was all of the poisonous waste that was leaving the factory, no doubt meaning that Drek intended to make Quartu like Orxon at some point in time, especially when they found a few areas that had mechs being put together, though for now they continued down along the path and explored everything that the factory had to offer, since it had to have a clue as to where Drek had gone next. None of them were surprised by discovering a number of chambers that were making mechs, no doubt the ones that became Drek's Ultra-Mechs, though since they didn't want to draw attention to them Ratchet and his siblings continued to remain silent and did nothing but walk through the sections of the factory that were in front of them, even though Starswirl was keeping a note of where things were, as he was getting ready to blast everything apart with his magic, once they found the information they were after. Ratchet was interested in the fact that all he had to do was wave in his robotic form and any guard nearby happened to stop and wave, something all of them used to alter the patterns of the patrolling robots so they could make their way through an area much quicker, saving some time as they reached an area that Autumn opened with her magic, as it was another lock like what they found during their visit to Pokitaru. Autumn was still surprised that the Hologuise worked so well, especially since she was sure it hadn't been designed to work so well and knew that it would need some tweaking before it was sold to the public, or the people that Wendell planned on selling them to, before they found a chamber that seemed to be leading back to the area that was in front of the factory, an area that Clank recognized. "This... is where I was made," Clank explained, referring to the room this time around, as they knew that the factory was his birthplace and where he had escaped from after a few moments of being born, no doubt where he found the Infobot he first shared with them, though as everyone dropped their disguises he landed on the floor and glanced around for a few seconds, before Ratchet found a machine that seemed to be waiting for something. In that moment the machine, which was connected to a conveyor belt, revealed the word 'son' when Clank stared at it, the fact surprising him for a moment as he realized that this was his mother, something that caused Ratchet to wrap his arms around Starswirl and Autumn's necks, because none of them knew their parents and it was nice to help Clank find one of his parents, though they guessed that meant Drek was his father, given everything else. The machine went on to tell Clank that he had done well, something which would have brought a tear to his eyes and he even made the motions, as if he was organic, before moving onto the fact that they had more work to do before Drek was stopped, something all of them, not just Clank, confirmed as she said it, though once that was done the machine revealed that it had been hiding an Infobot, a second one based on what they had learned so far. This one also contained a message from Drek, where he was pleased to tell his people that his 'perfect world' had been completed, even if it looked like a mess to the siblings, and that his team of scientists had figured out where to place it, as the 'perfect orbit' happened to be where Veldin was resting, something that enraged all four of them, even if the siblings were far more enraged since Brook and the colonists were still there, no doubt unaware of the danger that was coming their way. After that Drek went on to explain that to remove the offending planet he had to use a new device called the Deplanetizer, a large platform sized device he claimed could fire a super laser that was capable of wiping out whole planets, meaning he was planning on wiping out Veldin, in its entirety, and replace it with his artificial world, and Drek even confirmed that he would be on planet to destroy it, likely with a suit or teleporter to get off Veldin before it was wiped out. "How dare he!" Autumn growled, where it was easy for Clank to see that the siblings were pissed, enraged to the point that they wanted to strangle Drek and take him out, as it was one thing for him to tackle other worlds that the siblings had no connections to, but for him to target their home world, the one they had grown up on and called home for all these years, it struck them harder than normal. "He's going to pay for this!" Starswirl stated, where Clank found that the dark mist had returned to his eyes, just like what he and Ratchet had seen back during their time in Umbris, something he suspected was tied to either rage or hate, it was hard to tell with magical beings since this adventure was still the first time he had faced such power, though it did confirm that the siblings were angry. "And we'll make him pay, for everything he's done." Ratchet replied, though this time around, while Ratchet was angry over everything they had discovered over the course of their journey to see more of the galaxy, Clank found that his friend just stood there, not touching his necklace like he had done back during the events of Umbris and when they found Qwark on the station above Oltanis, before Ratchet noticed it as well and calmed himself, with hints of anger lingering in his eyes, to show that he wasn't totally over this. As the siblings headed for the passage that would take them back to their ship, to head for Drek's fleet, Clank promised his mother that he would make her proud, though when he turned to join his friends he missed the message that came up, as she was already proud of him, before they returned to their ship and departed for the fleet, as it was time to declare war on Drek's forces and stop his plans at long last.