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// All 4 One: Aldaros Plains 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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When Autumn woke up she discovered that she, Starswirl, Qwark, and Virtuous had been brought to a massive machine, the insides of it to be exact, that looked like a processing center for all sorts of creatures, given that the Z'Grute was asleep and was moving down one of the other pathways.

"I don't know if this is the inside of that moon sized starship, but this place is fascinating." Autumn commented, though she also found that, while she was being suspended upside down by some restraints, just like her brother, the blood wasn't even rushing to her head, meaning there had to be something in effect to stop that.

"Um, a little help here... I think mine is broken." Qwark said, where Autumn and Starswirl turned and found that his arms, not to mention part of his body, were twisted and locked by the restraints, like someone thought he was a beast and not an actual person.

"It is fortunate that I upgraded my head case and fixed the damage, otherwise I'd be playing a tune." Virtuous remarked, a reminder of what would happen to Nefarious whenever he got upset over something, namely whenever Qwark was part of the problem or issue, which he had fixed beforehand.

"'Scuse me?! Whatcha doin' up there?" a voice asked, where the group found a small girl with blue skin standing on a rather well placed platform that, if they were released from their bindings, they could land on without delay, and she had some sort of device in her hand.

"Hanging out, mostly. What's that you got there?" Autumn replied, as she had a feeling that, like their other adventures, it might be the key to completing some of the puzzles and challenges that they would face, meaning they would have to find a way to obtain them, or she could copy the girl's gadget for everyone.

"Lemme show you!" the girl declared, where she activated the vacuum device, as it acted like a modified Suck Cannon, to mess with a nearby device and allowed their restraints to deactivate, something that was followed by Starswirl catching all of them with his magic so they could land safely, "We should go before She finds out you guys are here. Come on!"

Since it appeared that they were in the bowels of the enemy's domain, based on what they were seeing, the group quickly decided that she was trustworthy and decided to place their trust in her for the time being, where she activated another spherical orb device. As she did so the girl identified herself as Susie and informed them that they should head through the Sector Seven air vents and that they should meet up on the south side of it, though once she was done with the orb it brought up a launchpad for them to use. Once she stepped away the group thanked her before propelling themselves across the gap between their platform and the air vent in question, where they found that there was nothing inside it save for a couple of crates and another platform. That one allowed them to connect with a lower rail system that would likely take them outside the facility, or take them to another part so they could fight their way through with ease, before it came to a stop and they were scanned by a nearby helper bot.

Organic life forms detected. a voice said, which had a feminine voice and seemed to be coming from another part of the facility, even though the group was sure that 'She' had already found them without understanding who the robot had discovered, Rerouting to creature pen for probing and experimentation.

"No probing required, as we're... um... new trainees!" Qwark stated, though at the same time he found that they had been thinking the same thing that he said, utter some nonsense to convince the robot into thinking that they were here to join it in whatever crusade it and it's master were currently on.

Very well. Rerouting to training lab for gadget certification training. the voice replied, where they couldn't believe their luck, one of the main followers of the villain of this adventure was stupid, even Virtuous was having a hard time figuring out why it believed what they were saying, while having a better understanding of why Nefarious always lost.

From there they were allowed to continue down a new section of the track, each one quietly praising Qwark for thinking of the idea, even if he knew everyone else had the exact same idea, and even Susie, who spoke through their belts, was also impressed by their actions, to the point where she claimed that she had left something for them up ahead. Eventually they came to a stop at an area they could way through and walked off the platform, allowing the group to follow the path that the AI had brought them to, which involved using their Swingshots to move across a gap designed to test them and also gaining a 'golden star' from the strange AI. Susie caught up with them, deemed an 'interloper' by the AI, and opened up a path for them to use with her gadget, which they took immediately and let her close it behind them, mostly to make sure the AI was confused as she headed down another path. The path she opened for them involved using the Swingshot some more, which they were used to at this point, before reaching a chamber with a central device and our of Susie's gadgets plugged into what seemed to be a charging station, complete with a macaroni letter.

"Apparently these are Vac-Us, and Susie claims they'll come in handy." Virtuous said, though as he said the letter he and the others claimed their new toys, but no one turned one on since they had no idea how to use them and didn't want to suck someone into it or hurt them in some manner.

Sure enough the AI allowed them to learn how to use their new toys, the Vac-U, and provided lessons for them to tackle, such as sucking up items and shooting them into an incinerator, destroy crates and pick up Bolts, solve puzzles, even heal fallen teammates with stored Nanotech, as it zapped Qwark to near death and Virtuous quickly healed him. Autumn was impressed with the Vac-U's abilities, as there were many and she was eager to get it home so she could tinker with it, all while hearing that the AI was preparing them to 'oppress the Tharpods', likely Susie's people. The other discovery that was made was the fact that the Vac-U's were capable of catching small critters and storing them inside a separate part of their internal machinery, reminding the four of them of Pokemon for a moment, likely where all of the inspiration came from, where Autumn confirmed that all of the four little critters were safe and sound. In no time at all Autumn, Starswirl, Qwark, and Virtuous became masters of the new gadget and completed all of the training sessions with ease, far quicker than any of them originally thought as they continued to make their way towards what they hoped was an exit.

Of course it was only a matter of time until the AI realized that they weren't who they said they were and sent minions to take them down, even resorting to removing all of their stars and marking their certifications with a frown, replacing the smiley they had been given, but the group paid it no mind as they found a way to leave the facility and took it, only to find an interesting sight on the other end.

"There must be an anomaly nearby, as gravity's broken in this area." Virtuous remarked, referring to the fact that there were a number of floating islands and pieces of earth for them to walk on, where Autumn nodded her head to show that she agreed with him, "Why, I do not know... but, given your adventures, I have a feeling we'll find out in due time."

In that moment Qwark pointed at the sky and they found one of the bullet satellites rushing through the air, where it just struck the area in front of them and deployed a message from Cronk, Zephyr, and Ratchet, as the warbots were currently trapped in an asteroid field surrounding the planet they were brought to, Magnus to be exact. These devices would allow them to purchase more of Autumn's newest weaponry, the sixth tier weapons as she called them, as this was their sixth adventure that took place on or near their birthdays, as well as restock their ammunition. Ratchet and the others were in the middle of holding down the fort in all three galaxies, just in case this was one of Nefarious' traps, but he knew that his siblings and their friends would be able to take care of this adventure on their own, without needing him to come rushing to their aid. With that information in hand the group restocked their ammunition, purchased whatever upgrades might be available for their weapons, and picked up a new weapon, the Arc Lasher that stunned enemies, before turning their focus to the area that the training facility was on the edge of, as it was time to get moving.

Susie also came floating by in what appeared to be a makeshift hot air balloon, where she informed them that all sorts of gravity machines were active in this area and that she'd lead them to a safer location, to which they started to navigate the area while keeping their eyes open for enemies.

Sure enough more minions started to attack them, which meant that their enemies knew where to find them, meaning the AI was slightly smarter than they gave her credit for, but none of them were worried as they carefully wasted their foes, in a way that conserved ammunition, before moving further into the gravity twisted region. While they did that Zephyr called and informed them that Cronk was going to sign up for an online subscription to the Hall of Knowledge, just in case they encountered any creatures they didn't recognize, as while he didn't doubt their intelligence he knew that their studies of the universe were far from completion, which the group appreciated. One thing Qwark noted was the number of foes that were being sent at them, as if someone really wanted Autumn and Starswirl, no doubt for whatever reason the villain of this adventure wanted all of the other creatures for, which the others agreed with. They also found a new type of what all of them assumed to be transport, as they had to latch onto four floating shot targets that launched them up into the air and let the group land on another floating stone island, making them Springshots in Autumn's eyes.

In that moment they discovered a new platform that had a number of critters on it, which the group surpassed with ease, where they discovered that it was a lab of someone called Frumpus Croid and that it was a testing area for people who he felt could join him in the fight against 'Nevo'. Apparently the test in question was incredibly simple, all they had to do was use their Vac-Us to activate the systems inside the hidden lab, which seemed to be in a pocket space of some kind, where Autumn took notes of what was around them before they got started on the test. As they activated the machines to start the test they heard Croid's message continue, revealing how this was project 'Last Resort', where Autumn assumed it had to be a RYNO weapon, as the RYNO VI was known by such a name, in fact it was supposed to be far more dangerous than the last two, especially since it could be turned into a mech. Virtuous had to wonder what in the world could have made her make such a weapon in the first place, though he had a feeling that he didn't want to know as they completed the test and claimed the first of six RYNO blueprints, the head compartment to be exact.

With that in hand they returned to the gravity fields and resumed their trek, finding that more minions were waiting for all four of them, or maybe their master wanted something from this area, and quickly crossing the unstable ground before using a spinning Swingshot device to hurl themselves at another section of the area. In addition to that there were patches of lava rocks that fell when something blew up above them, a minion dispenser that actually deployed bombs, and even discovered an interesting fact, those gravity robots did give the group messed up gravity for a time, allowing to jump as if they were on a moon with low gravity. Everyone was happy with the gravity, since Autumn and Starswirl didn't have to use any of their magic to help them across some of the gasps, before eventually coming into contact with the gravity machine as it tried to take them out. Since it was an illegal machine Autumn took great pleasure in breaking it with her magic, as in very carefully since she didn't want to break it, and when it was in ruins the gravity returned to normal, allowing her to do a bit of reverse engineering to use the pocket technology to store any interesting minions they came across, like the ones that warped into an area that they were exploring.

The next Vendor didn't have any weapons to add to their arsenals, so they moved on and continued their assault against all of the minions that were being deployed to this region, using the new Swingshot types to navigate from place to place, before reaching an area where they discovered a new obstacle, a Voltergeist. According to Cronk and Zephyr they were used to power certain devices, provided that they were placed in an appropriate socket, where Qwark fired it at the socket in question and a bridge extended for the group to move forward once more. There were also Gravoids for them to worry about, who latched onto sections of ground and swelled up like a balloon, allowing it to fly off with a portion of the ground that they had to walk on, so those targets needed to be taken out before there was nowhere to move. The problem with a Gravoid being here was that they were only found on the black rock moons of Ebaro, which, combined with the Z'Grute in the facility and all four of them, meant someone had to be collecting creatures from all across the universe, which made everyone wonder what Nevo might be planning.

Other than the minions there wasn't a lot for them to be interested in, at least not until they found a zipline that brought them to yet another area, where they laid waste to their enemies while keeping an eye out for anything that might help explain what was going on with this odd planet. They also clashed with a Gravoid Brute, which was a smarter version that had learned to make weak weapons and armor, though Starswirl wiped it out with a powerful flurry of wind slashes, which allowed them to keep the pace they were used to. Susie also floated by and directed them to a launched that actually put the group into four tubes before propelling them through the air, as she was leading Autumn and the others to her village, meaning a place to rest for a time before even worrying about the next stage of their new adventure. Autumn also found a few sections where they could use the Magneboots function of their Onmiboots, as Virtuous had outfitted himself with a pair in case he needed them, before finding a Vendor to restock on ammunition and empower their weapons.

With that done they entered the 'village' in front of them and found that the Tharpods were basically starving and eating whatever one could find, one even claiming to have eaten a shoe very recently, causing the group to spread out for a few seconds and delivered vital items that would allow them to survive.

As soon as everyone was done, and Virtuous praised Qwark for being able to follow him and the magic users in showing the Tharpods had to live and not be poisoned by what they ate, the group regrouped before heading down another path, especially since the main one seemed to be blocked by some plating a new gadget was needed for. As Susie floated by, all while the group used some bridges to move forward, a Gravoid captured her hot air balloon and dragged her off, where Qwark lead the charge to recover her as he blasted his way through the minions that appeared before them. Of course it was only a matter of time until they found another device that the orb activator was attached to, which grappled a piece of ground and pulled it over to where the group was standing, so they could jump up onto it and move forward. After that it was a simple matter to locate another new gadget to add to their arsenals, four Agorian Glob Lobbers, which were used to anchor ships in low gravity, so they were able to use them on all of the new icons they had seen in the village, causing all sorts of things to lower and form a path for them to utilize as they followed Susie and her kidnapper.

It took a bit of doing, but they found her crashed hot air balloon and that meant they had to be close to finding her, but as they did so a barrier machine trapped the four of them inside a prison and minions came in to defeat them, not that they were worried about such a thing as the group trashed their enemies. Autumn, of course, wrapped her magic around the machine in question and transported it into her new storage area for later, as she was gathering all sorts of new things to learn about, once this adventure had come to an end. After that they crossed a field of moving rocks, which was easy for the group to overcome, before Autumn raised an eyebrow as she spotted another of Croid's hidden labs, though none of them were surprised to find that they qualified to enter it and did so without delay. Once more they found that it was just a matter of moving the various machines to form a path for the critters to take, even using the new Glob Lobbers to move pipes into position, allowing them to complete the test and claim the chest piece of the RYNO VI.

After that they returned to their main quest, crushing minions and messing with the various machines to move further along the area, before coming to a section that had a number of moving rock platforms and they navigated it easily, but as they did so they spotted a large warbot, at least three times the size of the ones they tackled during the last adventure, off in the distance, complaining about his work.

Interestingly enough the orange plated robot placed a created in their path, something that looked like an octopus with some odd tentacles, called an Octomoth by Cronk, though while it seemed to have a hard outer shell it pierced the ground with it's spiked limbs, which they fired upon to weaken it. When they did enough damage the creature opened it's mouth and both Qwark and Virtuous stepped aside as Autumn and Starswirl combined their magic into a single charge and sent it inside the Octomoth's mouth, causing it to blow up on the inside and send the creature into the depths of the gravity area. Autumn assured the others that it was still alive, as she and her brother had held back to avoid doing serious harm to it, but with that done they found that Susie didn't need their help, she was bouncing on the Gravoid that had abducted her not that long ago, allowing them to chuckle as they escorted her back to the village. Or rather they would have since a creature came and took her to their destination, where the group quickly returned to the village and found that many of the Tharpods were pleased to see them, allowing them to meet up with Susie and her guardian for some rest.

It also gave them a chance to see the massive moon station moving overhead, ignoring them entirely, where the elder set up a campfire as night fell upon them and explained things, that the station was known as Ephemeris and that it had been collecting creatures for a hundred years, while the orange warbot was Spog, a commander. Such a thing told them that the next piece of the puzzle would be to confront him to learn how to stop Ephemeris, plus it would help save the village as well, so the group got a good night sleep before facing whatever was waiting beyond the village.