//------------------------------// // Deadlocked: Maraxus // Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// The day following their venture to Stygia, where they decimated the DreadZone gladiators and showed Vox that he made a mistake in seeking them out, Ratchet, Autumn, and Starswirl found themselves on their way to Maraxus, a prison planet no doubt illegally obtained like all of the other ones they had been to. Based on what Clank was able to figure out only one person had survived tackling the Maraxus prison, that being Ace Hardlight himself, but given Vox's desire to elevate him into a figure he could make money off of it was possible they lowered the difficulty for him. Of course Ratchet knew there was a chance that Ace was just that good, just like they were when he thought about it, causing him siblings to shrug as they took a moment to think about the information Clank had found, as there wasn't much they could do about it right now and just had to wait for the ship to reach its destination. Other than that Ratchet found that there wasn't much else to do but wait for the transport ship to reach the planet it was heading to, though he and Autumn got ready anyway, making sure their weapons were prepared for whatever challenges Vox could throw at them this time around. When they finally reached Maraxus, however, they discovered that it was a sandy planet, due to a dust storm that was now raging over part of the area, before the pair were teleported down to the starting area of the massive prison they would have to fight their way through. Today our superstar contestants have their work cut out for them! Dallas said, this time sounding much happier about everything that was going on, as if knowing that this place was going to be their doom, but that was when the other planets had been like, according to the announcers, and each had failed to do anything to the siblings, Their bots have been scattered throughout the prison under heavy guard... we considered trapping his siblings, but due to their magic we know they won't play ball. To escape, Ratchet and Team Darkstar will need to free each of the captives, then fight their way through an army of killer robots! "I had a feeling that was the case." Ratchet remarked, as Clank had informed them that their robots hadn't returned with them after their time on Stygia, meaning Vox was busy setting up the next course before summoning the siblings to run it, though with both of their weapons full on ammunition they bypassed the Vendor this time around. "Yeah, well, he could have done a better job if he wanted to keep it quite." Autumn replied, where she blasted the first pair of gladiators that were in their way and knocked them down, allowing them to head under part of the prison and move closer to the cell block that the first robot was imprisoned in. Clank, making full use of the information they had gleamed from Ace's offering to them, was able to direct them to where they needed to go, thanks to the blue stars that appeared on their navigation units, so the pair blasted the gladiators that dared to get in their way as they carefully moved forward. After a few moments they found a jump pad and used it without wasting time, finding that it allowed Ratchet and Autumn to enter the first containment area, even though there happened to be a swarm of snappers and some gladiators waiting for them. Sure enough their enemies tried their best to take them down, just like all of the enemies they had faced since being brought to DreadZone, though it wasn't long before Ratchet blasted the last gladiator into submission as Autumn smashed open the container that the robot was trapped in. After she did that both she and her brother approached an electric barrier and deactivated it with one of their EMPs, allowing them to progress to the other side of the passage and surprise the gladiators on the other side, who were eliminated without too much time being wasted, showing everyone how skilled they were. The first part of the course was completed when they exited the prison and reached a Puma vehicle, which they would use to locate three control nodes that, when activated, would allow the siblings to enter Beta Block, where the second robot was being stored. As such Ratchet wasted no time and get in his portion of the vehicle, though when Autumn got in they rushed forward and mowed down the gladiators that happened to be in their way, much to Dallas and Juanita's dismay as they realized what was happening, and it wasn't long before the first node was theirs. From there they drove around the perimeter of the prison and continued to blast their enemies into submission, Autumn making sure to use her magic on the dropships and some of the tougher enemies, just so Ratchet didn't have to waste his time on them. Once all three nodes had been turned the siblings were informed that the door to Beta Block had been opened and made their way over without delay, running over more enemies and gunning them down as well, no doubt caused more people to cheer while Vox growled at them. As they climbed out of the Puma, however, a sandstorm kicked up and everyone protected themselves, as it was one of the more powerful ones that struck Maraxus, though as Autumn made sure to have a barrier around them she found yet another crack in reality was forming nearby. This one, however, didn't connect to another dimension's version of the place they were moving through, rather it showed her and Ratchet a scene from what looked like a stormy planet, one with what looked like a rather imposing prison that put the one they were facing to shame. What caught their attention, Ratchet's far more than Autumn's for a few seconds, were a pair of figures who seemed to be infiltrating the prison, one being a Cazar with light brown fur and seemed to be ready for battle, based on her armor and weapons, but the other figure stole their attention immediately. There was a female Lombax standing near the Cazar, with white fur and blur stripes, matching the ones Ratchet possessed, she had piercings in her ears, two on her right ear and one on the left, while she wore a black and gray jumpsuit with an orange scarf, but what really caught their attention was that she looked a lot like Ratchet, save for the more bushy fox tail she had, where Autumn summoned her magic again. She made sure to add in a few barriers to keep what was said to themselves, while preventing the cameras from seeing the crack in reality, while Ratchet disengaged his helmet for a moment, as he couldn't believe what he was seeing and just wanted to see it with his own eyes. "SIS!" Ratchet called out, as while he had no idea whether or not his words could cross the crack in reality, to let his long lost sister hear his words and turn back, he was going to try and get her attention anyway, because this might be the only chance he might have to pull her to safety. Autumn was sure that his words fell on deaf ears, that the crack didn't allow sound to move between dimensions, but as her brother touched his necklace fragment, however, the other Lombax raised her right hand for a moment and touched the same area, causing her to glance back and see the crack, though as she locked eyes with Ratchet, surprise crossing her features, the breach slammed shut, preventing anything else from happening. "Sis... thank the Maker that she's okay." Ratchet said, as he had been looking for her for a long time and was starting to run out of ideas that would help him track her down, especially since the Plumber was of no help, but at the very least he could let out a sigh of relief as he confirmed that his twin was still alive. "The Plumber was right, she's just fine... and she's a hero, no doubt breaking into prison to release those who might have been wrongfully imprisoned." Autumn remarked, because in the brief time they had seen the other Lombax it was clear that she had to share some of Ratchet's view points on heroism, as she was sure that, if such a thing happened to them or someone they knew, her brother would break into prison to save them as well. Ratchet smiled as he glanced at Autumn for a moment, as he agreed with her assessment, before finding that the storm was winding down, to which he reengaged his helmet while his sister carefully lowered her barriers, as it was time for the pair to resume tearing down Vox's empire. Once the sandstorm died down, and everything was back to normal, they were able to finish the challenge, much to Dallas and Junaita's dismay, which allowed them to tackle the next portion of this course, locating Delta Block. As it turned out this was just a pit stop or something, so Beta Block was useless to them in the grand scheme of things, to which the siblings rushed forward and blasted the gladiators out of the way, showing Vox that neither of them were to be underestimated and that he'd have to pull out every trick if he wanted to bring them all down, given that the Liberator tournament was up next. There were a few control orbs in their way that they had to hack into, so the siblings guarded the area as their robot companion did that, and once the forcefield was taken down they headed out into the sandy area once more, finding a turret and a dropship waiting for them. Sure enough the announcers groaned in dismay as Autumn smashed some of their opponents to pieces and opened the way for Ratchet to tear down the gladiators, due to the fact that magic was more potent than they originally believed it to be, before they deactivated another barrier and entered another part of the prison. From there it was a simple matter of them wiping out the guardians once more, hacking into some control orbs, and then using a Grind Cable to reach where the other robot was being held, which was a sunken area surrounded by laser turrets, large gladiators, small gladiators, and dropships. As such Autumn jumped down first and loosed bolts of magic that blasted her targets apart, as she wiped out the ships to make sure no reinforcements were dropped in on them, allowing Ratchet to join her before targeting the guardians of the area, though temporary barriers showed up to deal with the lasers, opening the way for them to take all of them out as well. Once the enemies were wiped out, and no more were coming into the block they were in, Ratchet and Autumn stood on the activation button and lowered the cell that the second robot was in, which broke when it reached the bottom of the chamber, allowing them to leave the prison chamber with ease. With the Black Medal earned for this planet, much to Dallas and Juanita's disappointment, the siblings tackled the couple of Dread Challenges that were designed for this place, the first one called Speed Trap, which seemed like a race of some kind, much to Ratchet's delight. Sure enough he was right, he had to climb into the puma and race around the prison, all while following the checkpoint rings that he and his siblings had seen in the past, all while Autumn watched him from the stand that had been provided, as the cannon wasn't needed in the challenge and she had to sit this out. Sure enough her brother succeeded in beating the challenge and returned to her, before they tackled the second challenge, Spider on a Wire, which was a Landstalker course, destroying stuff to earn points while working towards a goal. After seeing what the other challenges of this type produced the siblings were a little disappointed by how easy this was, in fact it seemed like Vox might have withdrawn his gladiators once they beat the campaign challenges, so it wasn't long before they smashed the goal and won the final challenge. As soon as that was done, and they were sure there were no more Dread Challenges to do, the siblings regrouped on the dropship so the could head back to the containment suite, as it was time for them to bring down Vox and terminate all of Dreadzone at the same time.