//------------------------------// // R/C: Novalis // Story: Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// As it turned out Novalis wasn't actually too far from where Veldin was located, though it still took some time for the ship to get close to the planet. During their flight Sunset and Starlight remained silent, mostly due to their amazement of the vastness of the space and stars around them, while Clank asked Ratchet to return his appendages to the steering wheel. Ratchet did as he was asked and returned his hands to the wheel, though it was clear that he was also amazed by the vastness of space around them all. After a bit they watched the watery planet get closer and closer, to which all four of them leaned in closer for when they entered the atmosphere, so they could get their first look at the new world. When they neared the edge of the atmosphere Clank spoke up, mostly to remind Ratchet of something that he had forgotten about in the excitement of leaving Veldin. "Remember to lower the landing gear after we enter the atmosphere," Clank commented, but then noticed the look on Ratchet's face the instant he mentioned the gear, "You did remember to raise the landing gear before we left Veldin, right?" That was before the four of them heard a few pings as something came undone, which happened to be followed by what smelled like something else burning. "That's bad, right?" Starlight asked, trying to cover her nose to prevent the burning smell from assaulting her senses, but could still smell it regardless. "That was the landing gear being torn from the ship by the force of reentry," Clank explained, glancing at Ratchet for a moment, who was trying to make sure they could still safely land, "and the smell, on the other hand, is from the holes that were left by the landing gear... which are causing havoc on the ship." "So we're going to crash," Sunset commented, staring down at the planet as their ship flew through the atmosphere, clearly wondering what her brother had gotten them into. "In all likelihood," Clank confirmed, though it was clear that he worried that his mission to save the galaxy from Chairman Drek was over before it really started. "Not if I can help it," Starlight growled, closing her eyes as she focused on her horn, to which Sunset noticed that her horn was starting to glow as they drew closer to the surface of the planet. A light turquoise colored aura began to appear around the four of them, to which Clank turned to look at Starlight in surprise as the intensity of the aura began to grow. Ratchet tried to steer the ship out of the way of crashing into anything, but he then noticed that they were heading towards a mountainside and that the wheel was pretty much dead. He closed his eyes and waited for the impact that he was expecting to occur, but he felt something strange roll over his body as he waited for reality to sink in. After a few seconds he dared to open his eyes, to which he discovered that he and the others were sitting on what appeared to be a landing pad... with the wreckage of their ship embedded in the mountain. "What... happened?" Ratchet asked, gently getting onto his feet as he noticed that his family, including Clank, were all unharmed from what should have been a fatal crash. "I... managed... to teleport us... out of the ship," Starlight huffed, her horn dying down as she sat on the landing pad, "We're going... to need... a new ship..." The truth of what happened dawned on Ratchet as he looked at his younger sister, as both he and Sunset had been used to Starlight using magic for their entire life. She had never tried expanding her knowledge of spells, save for the basic manipulation and a few basic elemental spells, so Ratchet had no idea that she could pull something like this off. He was glad that she had researched more spells before they had left Veldin, otherwise he was sure that they would have been crushed against the mountainside. He guessed that the amount of power required to get all four of them out of the ship and teleport them to safety must have drained Starlight out. That, in itself, told him that he needed to pay more attention on how to properly exit a planet's atmosphere and enter another's, without destroying the landing gear and ruining their next ship. "Well... we won't be able to rebuild that ship anymore," Sunset commented, staring at the mountain for a moment, before sighing and turning to her family, "It seems that we have two paths to choose from; going into the waterworks and looking for people to aid, or heading into the plains and taking the fight to the invaders." "What if we divided our forces in half?" Clank asked, beckoning to her and Starlight for a moment, before turning to Ratchet and himself, "The two of you could easily take the waterworks and search it, before catching up with Ratchet and myself... provided we aren't finished with the plains when you return to the landing pad." Starlight sighed and approached the Gadgetron Vendor that happened to be sitting near their location, to which her mood was instantly lifted the moment she spotted the newest weapon that they were selling, the Blaster she had helped complete the plans for years ago. She had been told that the weapon was supposed to appear on the market soon, during her last session with the Weapons Team, but she had no idea that it would be this soon. She quickly called to her family and they approached the vendor as well, to which the three of them purchased their own Blaster and stocked up on ammo. "Ratchet and I will take the plains and attack the invaders," Starlight said, returning to the conversation she had interrupted, much to the surprise of both of her siblings, "Sunset, it should take you a few minutes to clear out the waterworks and then catch up to the rest of us... I have the feeling that we'll be taking our time outfoxing those robots." "As you wish dear sister," Sunset replied, staring at her Blaster for a moment before she turned towards the entrance of the waterworks, "Remember, watch each others back and don't take on more than you can handle... and pick up any nanotech in case you gut hit by something." "Don't worry about us Sunset," Ratchet said, priming his Blaster as he approached the platform that would take him and Starlight down to the plains, "We can take care of ourselves." Sunset turned and looked at Ratchet for a moment, before sighing and nodding her head towards him, to which she merely patted him on the shoulder before she walked into the waterworks. She leapt onto the rock platforms that were in her way, only to stop when she felt the cavern rock for a moment and watch as two spikes fell from the ceiling, though they fell in such a way that opened the way for her to continue. The path lead her right into a small room that was filled with what appeared to by fly like robots, but as they noticed her she leveled her Blaster with them and started blasting them, jumping over some of them and putting a blast in the back of their heads, until they were all gone. The next chamber was split in half, with running water separating the two halves, to which she spotted several of the robots that she could have sworn were descending on the plains. One leapt over the gap and pulled her blade into her spare hand, cutting one of the robots in half as she turned around and tore the second one to pieces with a few blasts. The third chamber was actually separated into three platforms, again separated by the running water, so she sheathed her blade and returned her new gun to her side, before running to the end of the platform she was standing on and leaping to the middle platform. Once she landed, and determined that there were no more enemies to fight, she followed through with her momentum and leapt to the final platform, where she spotted two rising pistons. She rode the two platforms to the upper level, though as she broke the boxes that laid in her way she spotted more of the fly robots and pulled her Blaster out, blasting the small group out of the way as she reached what appeared to be the end of the waterworks. As she passed through the final door she spotted a blue skinned person that had a bulky body and was wearing dark brown overalls, though he appeared to be working on the pipes. "Excuse me," Sunset said, noticing that his back was turned to her and felt uncomfortable addressing the person's backside, though she noticed an immediate change in the person's movements the moment she spoke. "Huh... that's odd," the person said, turning around and looking at her, with a completely surprised look on his face, "You aren't who I was expecting... its actually a nice surprise in a way." "And just who were you expecting?" Sunset asked, curious as to what the plumber was talking about, though she suspected that he was referring to someone like Captain Qwark because of the planet being under attack. "Originally I was expecting a Lombax and his robotic friend, but you'll do," the man said, his hand reaching out and lifting her right arm into the air, to which she discovered that his eyes were lingering on her golden bracelet, "This definitely wasn't something I was expecting... I wonder if that means what I think it could mean." "Why were you expecting my brother and Clank to come here?" Sunset asked, not understanding why he was waiting for them, nor did she understand what was so special about her unremovable bracelet, "Just who are you anyway? And what's so special about this bracelet?" "I... am the Plumber," the man dramatically told her, letting go of her arm for a moment as he dug into his pockets, to which he pulled out an infobot, "I was supposed to give this to someone else, but I know that it will reach its intended destination if I leave it with you. As for that bracelet of yours... I'm afraid that you aren't quite ready for any of the answers I could give you." Sunset could only stare at the man, the Plumber as he called himself, as he handed her the infobot, before moving to her right and heading towards what appeared to be a large sewage tunnel. She had absolutely no idea what the man had been talking about when he mentioned that he had been waiting for Ratchet and Clank, while making no actual mention of her or Starlight. The other thing that annoyed her was that the Plumber clearly knew something about her bracelet, but felt the need to tell her nothing about why she had it or what purpose it served. "None of this makes any sense." she called after the man, who stopped at the edge of the pipe the instant she resumed speaking to him, "You haven't given me anything to actually work with." "Look, I'd love to give you all the answers now Sunset," the Plumber replied, turning to her for a moment, "but if I did then it would take away from your journey. Just remain true to yourself and enjoy life... that's all I can offer you." As she looked out the window to gather her thoughts, and try to make some sense of what she discovered, she spotted her family engaging the robots that stood near the bridge. She turned towards the pipe that the man had been standing near and watched him leap into the water, no doubt heading back to the entrance of the waterworks. She stared at the pipe for a moment and realized that it was actually the fasted way back to the landing pad, besides backtracking through the waterworks, to which she sighed and followed the Plumber back to the beginning. She was determined to head back to her family and catch up with them, so that they might be able to defeat the robots that wanted to bring about the destruction of the city. She also wondered how the Plumber could have known her name without her ever having the opportunity to introduce herself... which she knew was only going to bug her until the two of them crossed paths again. -------------------------------------------- "Are you sure that your sister will be okay?" Clank asked, just after attaching himself to Ratchet's back as he and Starlight moved down to the plains, to which the two of them had been studying their enemies before reaching their destination. "Yes, because according to the Gadgetron scans of that area there isn't much in the waterworks that would be too much for her," Ratchet replied, blasting one of the robots in the face as Starlight smashed another one's head in with her staff, "Besides, Sunset is the oldest sibling, so she can take care of herself." "I still do not understand how a Lombax came to be siblings with a Cazar and a pony," Clank commented, his curiosity getting the better of him as his companions fought the invaders, "Its very odd." "First off, I'm a unicorn," Starlight fired back, turning to a pack of fly like robots and blowing them to pieces with a bomb, "and second off, its not that difficult to understand. The three of us landed on Veldin in the same pod and we were raised in the Orphanage, until we proved that we were a benefit to the colony when the toads broke through the fence." "That still does not explain how the three of you originally met each other," Clank pointed out, still trying to figure this out, though he knew that he had to be fighting a losing battle. "That's the one part that none of us know either," Ratchet replied, approaching the bridge before holes were blasted in it by an enemy fighter jet, "but the three of us arrived together and we've lived together for the last ten years, if not longer. At this point the three of us have determined that the how doesn't matter... unless we were able to find out the truth someday. The odds of that happening are slim to none, so we've come to the decision to leave the matter alone... so you're going to have to accept the fact that we don't know everything." Clank decided to remain silent as the three of them arrived at the end of their journey, which happened to be when a transport vessel landed on the ground in the middle of the crater and was swarmed by more of the robots they had been fighting. Both Ratchet and Starlight sighed as they primed their weapons, as they both had believed that their search to find a new ship had ended in complete failure. The robots advanced on them, their blasters firing at them and forcing the two of them to separate from each other, to which they returned fire immediately. Several of the robots, the flies, went down swiftly, though that was when the remaining robots gathered into one collective group and trained their weapons on Ratchet. Starlight, seeing the opportunity to try another spell, ignited her horn and summoned a moving barrier that blocked the robots from hitting her brother. As the robots stared at the wall for a moment, trying to understand what they were seeing, the two of them flanked the robots and blasted them in their backs, before they both used their hand weapons and broke them into pieces. Once the robots were down they turned to the ship that had landed in front of them, to which Clank detached from Ratchet's back and stared at the ship. They didn't have to wait long for the door to open,as the moment it did a elderly man with a cane stepped out of the ship, though he was followed by an infobot. "Don't hurt me, don't hurt me!" the elderly man exclaimed, waving a hand as he walked down the walkway, "What are you? Mercenaries? Torturers? Assassins? I'll tell you anything... here, take my infobot. Its all I have left." Both Ratchet and Clank moved to tell the man that they meant him no harm, but Starlight shot them a glance to keep them quiet before turning her attention to the infobot. As it turned out the infobot showed Captain Qwark during one of his commercials for Big Al's Robo Shack in Metropolis, telling people that Al was the person he went to for repairs on his weapons. None of the three of them knew what to make of Al and his store, but they now had a destination that Captain Qwark was supposed to be at... though that was when reality sank back in. "Now if only we had a ship," Ratchet moaned, facepalming as he realized that it was his fault that they wouldn't be able to leave Novalis any time soon. "A ship! You're not going to torture me!" the elderly man said, before pointing at the area that the landing pad was in, "Well as Planetary Chairman I could arrange for you to borrow our cruiser ship." As a large green ship lowered onto the landing pad, which brought a smile to Starlight's face, Ratchet thanked the Chairman for the ship while Clank promised that they would tell Captain Qwark about the invasion. With the Chairman saved the nearby bridge extended itself to the other side, allowing the three of them to return to the landing pad without much delay. They arrived in time to see Sunset pull herself out of the water near the opening of the waterworks, which told them that she must have taken it to get to them as quickly as possible so she could aid in defending the city. "I really should have just retraced my steps," Sunset moaned, seeing the glances she was getting, "So, how were things on your end?" "Oh, the usual," Starlight replied, trying to hold back her laughter at the thought of her older sister riding down the sewer pipes like she did, "fought a bunch of robot invaders, saved the Planetary Chairman from robots that were trying to kill him, and secured an infobot for Metropolis... along with securing a new ship to use, courtesy of the Chairman himself. Apparently Captain Qwark should be in Metropolis, Ratchet and I have decided that we should go there first... unless you found something in the waterworks that would make us change our direction." "No, all I found in the waterworks is someone who gave me an infobot for someplace called Outpost X11, on Aridia," Sunset explained, not bothering to mention the Plumber's name just yet, though she shook herself a bit to get the excess water off of her, "but I do agree that we should head to Metropolis first... just as soon as I dry off from my ride down the pipes." At the mention of the pipes both Ratchet and Starlight fell to the ground in laughter, causing Sunset to moan as she realized that they would be holding this over her head for quite some time. She was grateful that they had found a ship and a lead that would take them one step closer to finding Captain Qwark, so she supposed that she could handle being laughed at every now and then. She would find some way to get back at them in the future, she just had to figure out when the best opportunity to do so would be.