//------------------------------//
// Tools: Friends and Family 
// Story: The Sparkle in his Eye 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	As the group made their way towards Rykan V, they had to stop in the Rakar Star Cluster so Aphelion could absorb more solar energy to refuel.  Upon entering the cluster, however, they found themselves surrounded by Slag's pirate ships.

"Captain?" Twilight asked.  "Am I missing something?"

"Well...mah boys are having trouble believing ya beat me in that race before," Slag explained.  "They want ta see it again.  Care ta indulge?"

"We don't have time for this," Talwyn complained from her ship.

"Aphelion needs to refuel her interstellar drives, anyway," Twilight pointed out, once more hooking herself up to the neural interface.





The race went by swiftly, and even Talwyn got into it once Cronk and Zephyr badgered her into competing.  Twilight once again came in first, with Talwyn a close second.

"Arr!" Slag shouted.  "Ah'm losin' mah touch at these speed games!  You youngins are just too fast for me!  But mark mah words, ah'll beat ya next time!"

With Aphelion's interstellar drive fully topped up, the two ships left to reach Rykan V.





As they came into Rykan V's atmosphere, it became clear that it was occupied by heavily hostile forces.  Missiles were coming from below, targeting them for destruction.  Ratchet, Twilight, and Clank were forced to free fall to the surface.

Staring down, Twilight saw that Rykan V was an almost entirely lava world, and the heat waves coming up from below were intense.  She quickly clung to Ratchet's side.  "Clank, I'm going to have to rely on you to land me," she called out.  "If I try to spread my wings in these thermals at this speed, I could lose flight feathers!"

"Understood," Clank replied.  "I have been upgraded to handle such weight."

Glancing down, Ratchet saw that Cronk and Zephyr had jumped with them.  He frowned, unsure if the pair were actually up to this sort of thing.

Talwyn's voice spoke over the comms on a private channel.  "Ratchet, would you please take care of Cronk and Zephyr?  It's been a long time since they've seen real combat."

"Don't worry," Ratchet replied.  "I'll keep an eye on them."

"Thanks, Ratchet."

Once the group landed, they immediately pulled out their weapons as they became surrounded.  "Get behind me!" Twilight called out as she pulled out her RYNO IV.

"But there's no real sunlight," Ratchet pointed out.

"It can draw from heat, too!" Twilight called back as she held down the trigger.

"Then what are we here for?" Clank asked jokingly as the barrage devastated the attacking forces.

"For the Lombax specific systems," Twilight indicated.

Talwyn continued to feed them information, including the specific location the starmap gave them on the planet's surface, though they would have some difficulty getting there through Tachyon's forces, simply from the sheer numbers Tachyon was bombarding them with.  Not only that, there was a heavy barricade in the way that the RYNO's blasts weren't destroying.  Twilight was forced to switch to other weapons to avoid hitting Cronk and Zephyr while they set up the charges to blast the barricade to bits.

This strategy served through several such waves as they approached the space port.  When they had to deal with the space port's defense turrets, however, they pulled back and let Twilight's RYNO blast them to bits.  With the space port open, Aphelion was able to slip in and land, though Talwyn's ship wasn't maneuverable enough to follow.  She continued to search for their destination from the air.

Blue Shift was waiting for them at the space port.  "Well hey there, friends," he greeted happily.  "You picked a dangerous time to come to Rykan V.  Percival's shut down the spaceport until he gets his paws on the Lombax Secret."

"Funny," Twilight replied.  "That's why we're here.  To get it before he does."

"Well, if you're looking to explore the lava refineries, you could use this here Gyro-Cycle," Blue Shift indicated.  "Course...being a merchant, I'd like some form of monetary compensation.  Ya know how it works."

"Where did you get this Gyro-Cycle?" Clank asked curiously.  "If it can cross lava, it must be very unique technology."

Blue Shift glanced away, looking evasive.  "I bought it from a Lombax who was looking to get rid of it quick," he replied.

"Can you tell us about this Lombax?" Clank asked.

"Eh, you know how they are," Blue Shift replied.  "Not big on answers."  He glanced towards Ratchet.  "Looked a bit like you, though."

"Kaden?" Ratchet gasped out in shock.

Blue Shift rounded on Ratchet, his hand trailing to his hip.  "How'd you know that name, boy?" he asked hostilely.

"He's...my father..."

Blue Shift stared at Ratchet for a time, then lowered his gaze.  "...take it," he stated, handing over the Gyro-Cycle.

"What?" Ratchet asked, shocked.

"Kaden...was a good friend o' mine," Blue Shift replied sadly.  "He didn't pawn the Gyro-Cycle off on me.  He gave it to me because he knew I'd never let it fall into Tachyon's hands.  He saved my life more than once, and I never got a chance to repay him.  Havin' that debt on my conscience...it don't sit well.  If I can help his son out..."  He shrugged helplessly.

Ratchet nodded as he climbed into the Gyro-Cycle, Twilight and Clank with him.  It was a simple vertical metal circle generating a spherical energy field.  "Thanks," he replied.

Emotion was thick all around, so Ratchet quickly quit the scene, using the nearby launcher to fling the trio in the Gyro-Cycle out into the lava refineries.

As Ratchet drove the Gyro-Cycle, he was amazed at how intuitive the controls were, as though it were made for him.  Remembering who made it, he sighed, realizing it may very well have been.  Eventually, however, the sheer exhilaration of riding the vehicle - and the sound of Twilight's screams of delight as they passed each hypergate for a burst of acceleration - broke through Ratchet's dour mood.

Reaching the end of the refineries, the last launcher propelled them to an old bunker.  They found Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr waiting for them outside it.

"This is where the coordinates lead," Talwyn stated as they approached, seeing a great many runes on the surface.

"What do these mean?" Ratchet asked, confused.

"In this room a secret born," Twilight recited, using the same Lombax translator program she used to translate the runes on Aphelion's sides, "to quell the angry Cragmite storm.  You've traveled far but to be clear, without a tail, your quest ends here."  She blinked.  "Whatever the Lombax Secret is...this is where it was made.  And only a Lombax can open it."

Ratchet rested his hand against the door, only for the door to flash, the runes glowing brightly.  "Welcome back, Lombax," a computerized voice stated.  "I hope your long journey has been rewarding."

The door then opened ponderously, allowing them entrance.

Inside, however, was only an old holo-vid player, which activated at their presence.  It then played an educational documentary on a Lombax invention called The Dimensionator.  It also included coordinates for Planet Sargasso, indicating it was a testing facility for the weapon...as well as what was hopefully a taste of Lombax humor.



Ratchet, however, was reacting to the nature of the 'weapon'.  "The weapon used to vaporize the Cragmites was...a hat."

"And now I understand why Tachyon was so scared of your Thunderpants," Twilight groaned.

"An 'interdimensional' weapon?" Talwyn gasped in shock.  "There's more to this than we thought.  We need to get to Sargasso immediately."