Following the destruction of Nefarious' space station, and they were sure to leave nothing behind for him to use if he dared to make another attempt on controlling the entire universe, Starswirl directed the Helios to a hidden space where no one would be able to detect them, allowing him to open the way to the Great Clock, causing Ratchet's jaw to drop.
"So... this is the Great Clock." Alister remarked, where he and the others stared at the massive station that ensured that temporal normalcy was maintained across the universe, which Clank had restored to full functionality after an anomaly let a dangerous device into it's private part of space, "It's... honestly, it's incredible."
"Clank... your father made all of this?" Ratchet asked, as while he knew that Orvus must have used the Zoni to construct a fair amount of the station, given what his friend had told them when he rejoined the group, the sheer magnitude of what he and the others were seeing caused him to pause for a few seconds.
"Yes, and he left it all to me." Clank said, which was the truth of the matter, he had been partly created to be an heir for the Great Clock and partly to be a partner of one of the universe's greatest heroes, or at least that was what he assumed his father meant for him, before they crossed through the Clock's protective barrier, hence why it remained hidden for so long, and he glanced at the landing platform, "Or at least, that was the plan... but, since my father is fine, you won't have to worry about me abandoning all of you."
Ratchet, Autumn, Angela, and Alister had been expecting Orvus to be lost in the streams of time or something, based on the events of Zanifar, but here he was, floating with a smile on his face as if nothing was wrong, which made them wonder what in the world was going on as Ratchet docked near the edge of the platform.
"Good job my boy. You and your friends, both new and old, stopped the greatest threat to the Great Clock." Orvus stated, showing them that he knew that Nefarious was dangerous and that he should be kept away from this important station, a place Nefarious apparently didn't know about anymore, all while he spoke as soon as they walked down the ramp that Ratchet deployed so they could walk down to him, "Before you ask, yes, I am Orvus, and I will answer the questions you have in due time... but first, well, there are two very special individuals I want to introduce all of you to."
As most of the group opened their mouths, so they could ask what he was talking about, Alister dropped his weapon as soon as two Lombaxes appeared at the end of the walkway, showing his surprise over who he was seeing, which caused Ratchet to stop for a moment.
"It... it can't be! I know Aphelion said everyone was alive, but I didn't dare to hope she was right... Kaden? Millie?" Alister said, where it was clear from his shocked expression and his voice that he couldn't believe the scene that was in front of him right now, especially since Angela felt the same when she laid eyes on Ratchet's parents, as while Aphelion said that they were fine many of them were expecting the pair to be in another dimension.
"Alister! It's been ages!" Kaden replied, embracing the shocked Lombax as if he hadn't been gone for a long time, or hadn't been crushed by Tachyon, which was the story Alister had been stuck with since the fall of Fastoon, while Millie nodded as she watched them, even though the pair focused on the one person they were interested in, "Ratchet..."
There wasn't much to say as Ratchet, without wasting any time, rushed into the arms of his parents, two people that he had thought were dead, much like the rest of the universe, and even with Aphelion giving him the information he and his siblings shared with Alister he thought he'd never see either of them. As they walked to a living area that Orvus had made ready for them, in fact he suspected that Ratchet and his family would use the area as a secret retreat whenever one or all of the family needed to rest, Clank filled them in on the information he and Starswirl learned, that upon entering the last chamber, the Orvus Chamber, he learned that Kaden and Millie were fine. Of course his father swore them to secrecy, as it would ruin the surprise when they eventually reached the Great Clock, and while they hated not telling Ratchet the news, as they desperately wanted to tell him about his parents, both decided to abide by Orvus' wishes and kept it to themselves for the short period that was required of them. While they walked, however, a message arrived from Virtuous, who was far more trustworthy than his evil counterpart, in fact Orvus told them that he erased the location of the Great Clock from the evil doctor's core to keep the station safe, informing them that Polaris was safe for the time being.
When they reached the residence and took their seats, with Sigmund passing out drinks while they talked, Kaden told the group about how he escaped Fastoon, as after all the portals had been opened, and everyone but he and Alister had gone through, Orvus opened a portal for him to enter. Of course it was far too dangerous to take the Dimensionator, which had been overused to ensure the safety of the Lombax race and needed time to rest, straight to an area like the Great Clock, so he was moved to another planet in Polaris, without passing through the station. From there it was a simple matter for the two of them to speak, especially bring Millie back to him, who had been saved after sending Rivet off in a ship she had set for Sargasso, even if it never arrived, where Kaden put forth his plan to let the Dimensionator cool down. Of course the downside of his plan was that, until the dimension crisis was over, he couldn't use the device and hid it away where only a select few would find it, Max Apogee not being one of them, showing them that even the bed laid plans could be wrecked by someone they weren't expecting.
They did pause for a time as Starswirl noticed the arrival of the rest of the family, that being Sasha, Nika, and Talwyn now, and opened the way for them to join them, leading to a shock when each of them noticed that Kaden and Millie were here, in this dimension, showing that they believed that they were in another one.
"I've been working for a long time to stabilize the barrier between dimensions, and let me tell you it hasn't been an easy task to take on," Kaden continued, as most of what he had said was old news for some of the group, even though Ratchet was taking in his and Millie's story while he remained silent, showing them that his sworn siblings had helped him out in more ways than one, where he sipped at his tea before considering his next words carefully, "Someone, we don't know who yet, is messing with the barrier between dimensions, weakening it in another portion of this galaxy, and until we stop them we won't be able to use the Dimensionator... we haven't found them, not yet anyway, but that's something Virtuous is working on."
"Other than the other Lombaxes, who would you... be... seeking..." Autumn started to say, though in the following instant she understood what Kaden was saying, especially since she and the others hadn't thought about for some time, simply out of fear that they would harm Ratchet by mentioning her name, "No way!"
"Rivet! It has to be... but, last we saw of her, she was seriously wounded and drugged up." Ratchet said, because after the Dimensionator was wrecked due to their battle with Tachyon he had given up hope of being able to save Rivet from what had happened to her, in fact after an entire year he was worried that something had happened to her and didn't want to think about what that something might have been.
"That's right, but she's still alive." Millie replied, where Orvus pulled a screen over and they saw that it revealed a crack in the barrier between dimensions, the ones that Ratchet and the others had seen multiple times over the years, before they found Rivet up and about, working on something in her home, and she still bared the scars of her ordeal, as her right arm was still missing, "As much as it pains me to leave her like this, wounded and alone, the dimensions will literally shatter if we use the Dimensionator to go to her aid... we have to deal with the ongoing problem before rushing to Rivet's side."
Ratchet sighed as he heard that, as he had been hoping, against all odds, that they could have healed the dimensional barrier and make it possible for them to aid his sister, but this was fine, in fact there was so much for them to catch up on and, with his siblings joining him, he knew that it was only a matter of time until things got better for them.