//------------------------------//
// Commando: Joba 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

In the end Ratchet, Autumn, Starswirl, Angela, and Clank came to the decision that they would head to the Hrugis Cloud first, which was where Megacorp's Deep Space Disposal Facility happened to be located, because all five of them agreed that the Experiment was too dangerous to leave near Mr. Fizzwidget and they hoped that he was telling the truth about the password, as this might be the way to get ahead of whoever was pulling the strings. Autumn had a bad feeling when she heard what the password was, as 'Qwarktastic' was something that Qwark would have come up with, and while most of them could buy that their boss had been influenced by the heroes in Solana, since they had been called to Bogon after he viewed their episode on Behind the Hero, even if it had been a live episode. Her brothers agreed with her, that the password seemed too good to be true, too made up for someone like Mr. Fizzwidget, where Clank voiced his agreement as well, and even Angela, who was only getting used to being a hero and not staying in the shadows, found herself agreeing after listening to what the man had done to the siblings and his own galaxy, all in the name of money. Of course none of them were trying to influence her opinions on Qwark, since she hadn't met him yet and likely never would, given that he was currently running from everyone in Solana and didn't want to be seen by anyone, meaning they could focus on this mission before worrying about how they were going to fix the Experiment.

When they neared the spherical disposal facility, which was moon sized based on what they were seeing, Ratchet readied himself for what might happen next, and when they entered the structure he had Clank input the password as soon as he reached the core of the facility, to which Clank nodded before doing just that, something that was followed by the turrets and defense mechanisms attacking them. As such Autumn and Starswirl channeled their magic into the ship, creating a barrier around them so they didn't take too much damage from the defenses, while Angela recalled any and all useful information about this place, or the defenses that had been installed at one point in time, just in case she had seen some of them before they came here to protect this place. Ratchet, of course, flew around the inside of the sphere and found that there were six turrets that happened to be firing at their ship right now, and it seemed like those were the only things he had to worry about at the moment, where Angela told him that there should be some repair bots who would come out if they broke one of the turrets, so to cripple the defenses, for a time anyway, they would need to take down all six turrets to make progress. As such Ratchet devised a plan of attack that should work to their advantage, where he flew around and targeted all six turrets, damaging them to the point where blue sparks seemed to be coming off of them, before moving onto the next one and repeating his actions on it, and once all six were weakened he returned to the start of the path he had carved out and dealt more damage to each turret, this time breaking them apart until nothing remained, save for a bit of pieces that floated around the facility.

With that done Ratchet made sure that the defenses were down for the time being, as he and his siblings had a feeling all of the systems here preparing for another round of fighting if they were still here in the next few moments, though before anything else happened they received a call from their employer, hence why Clank opened the connection so they could speak with him and hopefully get through his thick skull.

"Come in, gentlemen. Can you hear me?" Mr. Fizzwidget asked, as if expecting them to have been waiting somewhere that was outside the facility, or maybe he figured they would have flown inside before he even arrived, though given what had happened on Tabora it was possible that he had done this as an attempt to take them down and eliminate a dangerous threat to his mission.

"Sir, you gave us an erroneous password." Clank stated, once more acting like they were working for Megacorp, despite the fact that Mr. Fizzwidget had tried to get rid of them twice now, even though all four of them had joined Angela in her quest to uncover the truth and stop the Experiment, and whoever happened to be the puppeteer in this situation, as there had to be one somewhere.

"Implausible! Unless, uh, is this Tuesday or Wednesday?" Mr. Fizzwidget replied, first appearing to be scatterbrained like all of them had seen since coming to Bogon, even Angela was seeing the differences in her employer, as he wasn't the same person who had hired her some time ago and it worried her, before he considered something else that he deemed to be far more important than meeting them at the facility, "Anyway, sorry to have missed our meeting but I was called away to film a commercial for our weapons facilitory."

As Ratchet and his siblings tried to convince him to listen, to speak on the Experiment and why it had to be destroyed, as he clearly had no idea what sort of danger he was in, Mr. Fizzwidget thought they were talking about the commercial and showed it to them, which confirmed what he had been talking about, it was for the Weapons Facility on Todano, an area that they might want to explore for additional gear. What they discovered by watching it was that Mr. Fizzwidget was just a speaker while a robotic version of him seem to be taking tourists through the facility, even though the group in question ended up blown to pieces by a guard's blaster malfunctioning, one tapping a warhead that tore it apart, and one was given a balloon that blew up in her face, meaning it was a horrible commercial that might not convince people to come see what was inside it. Of course that wasn't taking into consideration the fact that there was a path a fair distance from the main facility and might be were the tours were being held, so they would have to make their way through the tour area before making their way to the facility, which should have either a weapon to add to their arsenal or some information on the next planet that needed to be explored. Mr. Fizzwidget, on the other hand, seemed pleased with the commercial and just cut off the link between them, where the group sat there in silence as Ratchet flew out of the sphere, since he didn't want the defenses to attack him or his siblings again, before they agreed that it was unlikely that Mr. Fizzwidget would be on Todano, hence why Ratchet set a course for Joba, as obtaining some new gear sounded like a good move, before making their way to the Weapons Facility.





Joba, as they quickly learned upon approaching the planet, was one that had a fair number of forests and it also appeared to have a harsh climate, or at least the information Autumn found seemed to indicate that fact, though there was a fair bit of civilization that was built on this planet, a path that seemed to be leading right to where the arena was resting, so they would have to cut their way through the Tribesmen before reaching their true destination.

"So, this is Joba. I've read about the Megacorp Games, but I never watched or participated in them," Angela remarked, as she was more familiar with Bogon and must have heard about these events from time to time, or at least Ratchet had to assume that such a thing was the case, given that she had worked for Megacorp for quite some time, before turning her attention to Autumn as she stopped shopping at the Vendor.

As it turned out the newest weapon that was available was the Spiderbot Glove, which basically allowed the user to throw out a little white spider bot that could be controlled by a device that came with the purchase of the weapon, one that also had a screen so the user could see what they were doing at any given moment, meaning it was more like a scout bot and would allow them to check an area out before engaging their enemies, and it also came with a self destruct function, all to harm the enemies it was used again. The other weapon that was available was something called the Plasma Coil, a blaster like weapon that fired a ball of plasma at their enemies, something that Ratchet found to be interesting when he thought about Angela's Lightsaber, making him wonder if she might have found a way to use that technology to make this brand new weapon, but it was nice to have a new pair of weapons to use. Once she was done duplicating the new weapons, and everyone was ready to go, the group moved along the path in front of them and opened fire on the Jobian Warriors that were in front of them, who happened to be wearing red armor and seemed to be just as aggressive as the Vukovar they had faced back on Barlow, meaning there had to be some Saur Beasts around here somewhere. Sure enough Ratchet and the others found a passage that lead through a building and happened to have some more Warriors on the other side of a gap, one that required the use of the Dynamo to form a walkway for them to use, and it happened to have a Saur Beast at the end, where they opened fire on their enemies as they crossed over the gap.

After that the siblings and Angela found a ladder that each one climbed up before opening fire on the Jobian Warriors that were guarding what appeared to be a turret and a door leading even deeper into the settlement that they had discovered, blasting them into the walls as Starswirl climbed onto the turret and fired at the door to break it down, allowing everyone else to tear down a few more Warriors and a Saur Beast. From there they made their way up to a higher level and found a walkway leading to yet another turret, hence why the siblings blasted and slashed at all of the enemies that were in front of them, finding that the majority of the enemies right now happened to be just the Jobian Warriors and their Saur Beasts, with no ankle biters for once, which was just odd when they considered things. The interesting thing was that a number of Warriors were more advanced than the Vukovar Warriors, as these ones happened to be capable of using guns and turrets to fight their enemies, no doubt opening doors and utilizing other types of technology to their advantage, though for the most part it didn't matter to Ratchet, Angela, Autumn, and Starswirl as they blasted their way through their enemies and opened the way to move forward. Another thing that was interesting, at least in Angela's eyes, was that Ratchet and his siblings were capable of reading the situation they were in and acting accordingly, as in the magic users could either form shields to protect themselves or take down attackers before they hit someone from behind, and with Clank on Ratchet's back it provided him with another set of eyes, so if Clank saw something he would tell his friends and they reacted based on what the information was.

Once this part of Joba was cleared out, and they were sure that there were no more Warriors or Saur Beasts in the area, Ratchet found his way to a wall that seemed rather flat, save for some indents that seemed to have items that might come out and a line that seemed to snake around the metallic surface, to which he sighed as he engaged the Dynamo device off on his left and formed a platform in front of him. With that done he and the others jumped onto it and waited for a couple of seconds, where it started to move and the indents started to move out, revealing obstacles that they had to jump over and bypass so they could reach the uppermost part of the wall, so they just observed what sort of patterns the indents had for them and reacted accordingly, even if Angela was still getting used to replicating Ratchet's movements to make sure she wasn't a burden to the siblings. At the top of the path they found a room guarded by a number of Warriors, which meant that some Saur Beasts had to be lurking nearby, before spotting two turrets that could be trained on the opening that they were standing in, to which Autumn pulled out her Pulse Rifle and opened fire on the Warriors that were manning the turrets, allowing Ratchet, Angela, and Starswirl to rush into the room before their enemies reacted to their gunners being taken out. Even with Autumn doing that it took them no time to clear out this room and made sure that the few side passages were cleared out, even though they didn't lead anywhere, before they climbed up to a ledge that seemed to go around the exterior of the building the group had just passed through, finding that it had a zip line for them to use, which seemed to head right for a dead end, though the siblings shrugged and headed down there, to which Angela sighed before she did the same thing.

When they landed, however, Ratchet, Autumn, Starswirl, and Clank found someone they recognized standing nearby, the Salesman from Blackwater City, who had been trying to sell the first RYNO, happened to be standing in front of them and, as Angela landed, the man in question paled as he recognized all of them as well, as he took a step back as Autumn took a moment to frown at him, especially since she had the RYNO II out a little.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble." the Salesman said, where he turned for a moment and pulled out a set of metallic wings, which Autumn recognized as the Levitator gadget that was said to have been made by the Blarg, at least according to a few of the reports that she had read, meaning he had stolen something else before leaving Solana behind, something that he gently rested on the ground between them, complete with instructions that allowed one to install it into a machine, which was Clank as Ratchet noticed the size of the gadget in question, before the Rilgarian fled.

This time around Autumn simply stuck a tracker on the man, that way the authorities could catch him once this mission was over and the galaxy was safe from danger, before Ratchet walked over to where the Levitator was resting and read the instructions for a few seconds, where he pulled Clank to the side and attached the device to his back before moving slots and shifting certain parts, following the instructions with ease before pulling back and allowing the others to see that he had successfully installed the gadget. Clank, impressed that Ratchet could read and understand Blargian, along with being able to incorporate some new hardware into his body without needing Autumn to help him, which impressed Angela since it seemed like his inventor side was showing, praised his friend before shifting the wings for his main arms, finding that he now had four sets to use now, where he returned to Ratchet's back. With that done Ratchet found that if he activated the Levitator on a platform designed for it he could lift up into the air and move towards whatever was in front of him, where he headed for a building that seemed to be the arena that the Megacorp Games was being held in, though as he did that Starswirl weaved his magic around himself, Autumn, and Angela before lifting them into the air so they could follow after Ratchet and Clank. A few moments later the group landed in front of the arena, which was nothing like Maktar Resort's, as this one seemed to be just an opening and nothing more, similar to one of those containers they had seen enemies come from when they were in the arena, though none of them wasted time and entered the arena, allowing the device to warp them straight into the building.

What they discovered was that the announcer this time around knew who they were, he even used their names and that even included Angela's, which caused her to moan since this wasn't what she had been expecting when she decided to travel with Ratchet and his siblings, before they were hailed as the greatest gladiators in the galaxy and were thrust right into the main event, causing Saur Beasts, little black spider bots, Chainsaw Bots, Flame Bots, green Bladeballs, and more brutish green skinned warriors to come out and attack them.

As such Ratchet, Angela, Autumn, and Starswirl opened fire on their enemies, this time splitting the arena into four parts so each one of them had a specific area to watch over, and with Clank watching the area he was able to call out to one of the others when someone was about to be overwhelmed by opponents, or at least he would have if Autumn and Starswirl were ordinary people, as their magic allowed them to do some wonderful things. In the end the eight waves didn't stand a chance against their combined skills and abilities, allowing Ratchet to claim a silver and blue colored set of boots, which were called Gravity Boots and allowed one to walk on certain surfaces, similar to the Magneboots that Autumn had used with the Grind Boots to make her Omniboots, though it only took Autumn about three minutes to duplicate, study, and incorporate the new boots into their own. With that done they restocked their ammunition before facing the challenges of the next match, where the four of them used their new additions to launch themselves into the air and land on the side of a large glass area that seemed to be a cage of some kind, though just like before they opened fire on the enemies that were teleported up to where they were standing, revealing that this was a cage match. The interesting thing they had to worry about were the meteors that happened to be launched from the lava that was below them, as it covered the floor of the arena after they launched themselves up into the air, though it didn't stop them from taking care of their enemies and winning the match, earning them a device that was similar to the Electrolyzer, only it had three prongs instead of two, to which Angela revealed that it was the Infiltrator, another hacking device that might be useful in the future, especially since they had no idea what was waiting for them on the other planets.

Angela then discovered that they spent a good bit of time in the arena, facing off against both of the powerful foes that were here, a large spider bot called the Arachnoid and a centipede bot that was called Megapede, where the former was from the planet of Tarantia, possibly a planet of robotic spiders, and the former happened to be from Vaknar III, filled with all sorts of creatures she recalled, meaning this was to earn Bolts for whatever the future held for them.

Once they were done with the arena, however, Ratchet found a device in the chamber that they were warped to and that he had to use the Infiltrator to bypass the defenses it possessed, allowing him to power down an electric wall before they used a taxi to head back to where their ship rested, though during that time Autumn spotted an area they hadn't been to yet and Ratchet nodded. It happened to be off to the right from where they landed, so they didn't see it and passed right by it as they focused on the Jobian Warriors, and using the Swingshot allowed them to lower some walkways that allowed them to reach another Desert Rider, who seemed out of place given that this was a forest planet and not a desert, but all that did was cause Ratchet to pull out the helmet as they talked to him. What they discovered was that the rider was under the impression that Clank was either a backpack or something else, maybe even a hoverbike, and had been surprised to find that Clank was an actual person, revealing that he needed glasses to see properly and that meant that his helmet had to have something like them so he didn't need to wear them all the time, before he allowed them to enter the race, as it seemed like there was another pair of boots they could win. Angela, however, knew what was going to happen before the siblings even said anything, Ratchet joined the race without delay, faced off against the rest of the Desert Riders that were on this planet, and eventually returned to everyone with a smile on his face as he handed over a red pair of boots, which were known as the Charge Boots, designed to allow someone to rush forward like they were flying.

It gave Autumn something else to study as they climbed back into their ship and set a course for the next planet that they had to explore, hopefully to learn more about the Experiment and why it was so dangerous, even though they trusted all of the information that Angela had given them, all while hoping to figure out Mr. Fizzwidget's part in all this, be it as the foul mastermind or the innocent bystander, before all was said and done with this adventure.