//------------------------------// // R/C: Oltanis // Story: Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Ratchet wasted no time in getting the new ship to Oltanis, landing on the only available landing pad as the ship he and his family had used to reach the now none existent Gemlik moon base landed next to him. Before he opened the hatch of the new ship Starlight opened the cargo door of the second ship before she threw up a barrier around the two ships, preventing the lightning storm from hitting any of them. Clank, now protected from the lightning, also jumped out of the faster ship before making his way over to the cargo ship, where he and Ratchet followed Starlight inside before the door closed behind them. Sunset was laying in the middle of the cargo hold, still knocked out cold from the punch that dented her Pilot's Helmet and potentially exposed her to the space around them. "When do you think she'll wake up?" Ratchet asked, worried that his sister might be in a coma of sorts thanks to her going feral and being surprised by Qwark like that. "She should resume conscious in a few hours," Clank commented, pulling up one of the readings that Starlight had taken on the flight down to the planet's surface, which had just finished in time for him to calm down the Cazar's siblings, "With such a storm raging outside it will be impossible for me to provide aid to either of you, but I can watch over Sunset until either of you return to the ships." "If she happens to wake up before we return, which she might, I want you to show her some of this." Starlight said, copying the images and video she had of Sunset going feral to the tablet that sat beside Clank, "She needs to know what she's capable of when her emotions mix with her potent magical abilities... and how much power her attacks have when she can't control herself. When we're done with Chairman Drek I'll put aside some time to train her on how to use her powers, even if I have to take time off from inventing new weapons." "We had best see to the people of the city and make sure that they're okay," Ratchet said, pulling out the Devastator for a moment as he walked towards the door, "Come on Starlight, let's go save the day again." Starlight nodded and followed Ratchet outside, closing the door to the cargo ship as they approached the weapons vendor to replenish whatever ammo they spent when they were on the moon base. There they found a weapon that was created by one of Starlight's colleagues, the Tesla Claw created by Professor Nora, that was available for purchase. Starlight had helped create the design of the actual weapon, but the function had been developed by her colleague, who Starlight openly admitted that she didn't trust since the first day they had been introduced to each other. In fact Professor Nora was one of the other four weapon designers that had worked along side Starlight on the RYNO project, though that fact only made Starlight more suspicious of her colleague. Regardless of her personal opinion towards the Professor, and her suspicions on who sold out the RYNO plans, she and Ratchet bought a Claw to add to their arsenal, which the promise that a third would be provided to Sunset when she woke up later on. "So, which way do you want to go?" Starlight asked, beckoning to the path that lead into the city before moving her hoof to the path that lead away from the city, where her scans indicated there was another weapon for them to pick up. "We had best deal with the city first," Ratchet replied, lifting up his Tesla Claw for a moment, a grin appearing on his face as he wondered how much power the latest weapon had, "and I'm eager to see if your colleague's are on your level of weapon making." "I hope Professor Nora's weapon is to your liking," Starlight said, holding back her negative opinion of her colleague for a moment, as she had no idea if she was right or not. The two of them walked over to the path that would take them into the city, where they leapt down into the ruined walkway and slowly walked into the open area in front of them. Within seconds of them entering the area a slot in the ground opened and four robots leapt out to face them, turning their weapons towards them as they did so. Starlight noticed that their weapons mimicked the Tesla Claw's function, shooting lightning beams at whoever the wielder's target is, but it was a simple matter to throw up a shield to block the first wave of attacks. Once the attackers realized that they weren't doing any damage, and lowered their weapons, Ratchet returned the favor and blasted one of the robots with his own weapon before Starlight joined in on the fun. Ratchet spotted a bomber ship blocking their path, so he pulled the Visibomb Gun for a moment and locked on to where the ship was floating, flying a missile right into the front of the ship and obliterating it in seconds. The next platform they came to had five of the smaller robots roaming the skies, which were easily removed with their new weapons, before a group of electric robots emerged from their hiding place and started attacking them. This time Ratchet and Starlight leapt over the lightning beams that their enemies were using, before returning fire with either their Tesla Claws or Devastator. When the enemies had been removed they rounded a corner and found another bomber ship, to which Ratchet once again switched weapons and took it out so they could move on. Unfortunately they were then ambushed by a group of six robots appeared from their hiding places and, once again, started to fire at them. "Seriously, these guy are already getting old," Starlight commented, loosing a missile that tore her target to pieces, while Ratchet did the same with the Tesla Claw. "Then why don't you use the RYNO on them?" Ratchet said, noticing that she hadn't pulled out the weapon that would have cleaned their enemies up much faster than they were currently doing. "I'd rather not use that at the moment," Starlight replied, clearing the remaining enemies with her Devastator before making sure that the area was clear, "Besides, we should be taking our time to be sure that Sunset has enough time to rest before we return to the ship." Once they were positive that the area had been cleared, and that they had collected all of the scattered bolts, they jumped up to a smaller platform and found a grind rail that would take them further into the city. Ratchet hopped onto the rail and started sliding, to which Starlight used one of her spells to keep an eye on where her brother was going before teleporting to him when he reached the end. Once they landing on the platform at the end of the rail they found six more robots waiting for them, to which they let loose a few missiles to get rid of them. They also found three of the smaller robots floating above the walkway behind where the electric robots were standing, allowing them to move on with ease. They then walked up to the walkway that sat in front of them, finding another one of the bomber ships that Ratchet took out with a Visibomb missile. When they rounded the corner they found another enemy looking down at them from where he was standing, but Starlight removed the robot with a Devastator missile. They then spent a few minutes climbing up to the top of the area they were in, giving them a decent view of what was waiting for them while Starlight took out the small robots that were sitting above their heads. The next walkway had a turret waiting at the end of it, but a well placed Blaster shot took it out in seconds and allowed them to move on with ease. The next platform was guarded by only two of the smaller robots, to which neither Ratchet nor Starlight bothered wasting ammo as they used their hand weapons to get the job done. Once those enemies were dealt with they stopped in front of a grind rail that had three rails, to which Starlight voiced her concerns about the hatch that was sitting behind them. "This is the only way forward, unless we wanted to backtrack," Ratchet commented, readying himself for the ride he was about to go through, "but we might as well see where this leads. You going to create a walkway for yourself, seeing how you don't have any boots of your own to use on the rail?" "Yeah, I can do that," Starlight said, not liking the idea of letting Ratchet face whatever this rail had in store all alone, before her magic ignited and formed the beginning of the magical walkway, "I'll race you to the end of the rail." Once Ratchet started sliding down the rail the hatch behind him opened and three more of the electric robots emerged from their hiding place, each one taking a different rail as they followed Ratchet. Starlight followed on her magical walkway, though as she pulled out her Devastator to take out the robots Ratchet called out to her and told her not to worry about the enemies that were following him. Ratchet was glad that his helmet gave him the ability to look behind him, because he was able to dodge the attacks that the robots threw his way until he came to a electric grid that forced him to move to the only open rail that didn't run through it. He then repeated the process twice more, allowing the next two grids to remove the remaining two robots that were following him before he reached the end of the rail. He waited for a second before Starlight appeared beside him, to which they approached the man that they had seen in the Infobot, who still had his slightly burned hair. "Hey! Welcome to my shop!" the man loudly said, greeting them as they approached him, "What can I do for the two of you!?" "We're looking for Chairman Drek." Ratchet replied, indicating the height of the Chairman with his hand for a moment. "Sure! Yeah, I've got lots of stuff on sale!" the man said, as if he hadn't heard what Ratchet had said, to which Starlight suspected that his hearing had been damaged by the bombing, "After the bombing no one is around to buy anything!" "Are you okay?" Ratchet asked, worried that the man might have been hurt during the attack. "Low prices?! You bet!" the man replied, reaching behind him for a moment before pulling out an Infobot, "I can make you a deal on a busted turborater, a mangled carbonizer, or... I've got this Infobot." "I guess the bombing must have been pretty loud," Starlight commented, to which Ratchet nodded his agreement as he wondered what to say to the seemingly deaf man. "Oh ho! You are one shrewd negotiator!" the man said, as if he had interpreted Starlight's statement as an agreement to buy the Infobot, "I'll tell you what, I can let this Infobot go for half price!" Starlight and Ratchet looked at each other for a moment, somewhat surprised by the fact that they could buy the Infobot for half of the price that he was going to originally charge them, before agreeing to take it off of his hands. When Ratchet thanked the man for the Infobot the man got upset, indicating that he believed that Ratchet was complaining about the price for a moment, but he made no move to take the little robot back as he walked away. The Infobot revealed that Chairman Drek had built large mech warriors to act as 'bodyguards' for whoever bought them, but they both knew that it was a cover for what he was really doing. Drek was building an army of battle mechs that were likely designed to target and destroy his enemies, which they were sure meant them, Clank, and Sunset. "I should have known that this was only going to get harder as we neared the end of our journey," Starlight commented, pressing a button that opened the way for them to return to their ship, "but at least we have a target for when we arrive on Quartu. So, should we check on Sunset and then leave this planet, or should we go check out that other path and see what we find?" "Well, it appears that there's a second path besides the one that you mentioned," Ratchet said, looking at the pair of ships for a moment before following his sister, "Look, why don't you take the path that leads away from the city and I'll take the one that involves using that metallic surface that's sitting behind me. I'm sure that we'll both find something interesting that will definitely aid us in our quest to stop Chairman Drek, be it another weapon or some sort of gadget. Also, don't worry about Sunset too much, because I'm sure that she'll be just fine when she wakes up." Starlight nodded for a moment before heading towards the path that would take her away from the city, allowing her brother to walk up the rail behind him so they could cover more ground in a shorter amount of time. ------------------------------------ Sunset moaned as she picked herself off the floor of the ship she found herself in, rubbing the side of her face for a moment as she wondered what had hurt her. She looked around and found that she was in the cargo ship that she and her siblings had taken from Qwark's base on Umbris, resting on the floor of the cargo hold. She reached up to her helmet for a moment, only to find that it was no longer on her head and that it was actually sitting on a bench in front of her, with a dent in its side. She was so confused as to what was going on, because the last thing she remembered was the arrival at the moon base, but anything that happened after that was lost to her. "Oh good, your awake," a voice behind her said, to which she turned around and found Clank sitting behind her, "Your siblings will be quite happy to see that your up and about again. How are you feeling?" "Horrible." Sunset admitted, gently pulling herself into a sitting position, wondering why her body hurt so much, "I'm feeling pain all over my body, which I'm sure I wasn't feeling when we arrived at the moon base. Though that raises the question that I need to ask; what did we do at the moon base anyway?" "Wait, so you remember nothing?" Clank asked, trying to determine what she knew and what she had forgotten, though he had the feeling that Sunset might not remember anything. "I remember arriving at the moon base, but anything that happened after that is lost to me." Sunset admitted, sighing as she looked over at the little robot, "Why? Did something interesting happen at the moon base?" Clank was silent for a moment, wondering what the best way to tell Sunset that she became a feral creature that was bent on the destruction of Captain Qwark, only to be knocked out by her target. He considered telling her nothing of what happened at the moon base, to leave it for one of her siblings to take care of when they returned to the ships, but he saw no reason to withhold the information. He also had no idea what would happen if he showed Sunset the images and video that Starlight had copied to the tablet that was sitting beside him, but it appeared that he was going to have to take a risk in that regard. "I wouldn't call it interesting," Clank finally replied, opening the tablet to the video that he had been given, before turning it towards Sunset, "but your sister wanted me to show this to you." Sunset raised an eyebrow as she took the tablet from Clank, pressing the button that would start the video as she wondered what Starlight wanted her to see. When the video started up she found herself staring at the moon base through Starlight's eyes, as she had been the one to film the video, before it turned to her as she completed her scans of the station. That was when she discovered the change in her attitude when she found out that Qwark was at the station, as her eyes had taken on a sinister look as her emotions took over. Before she could make a comment on her change in attitude she watched as her past self went into a feral state, before leaping off of the landing pad and striking the first enemy she came to. She watched as the video progressed, seeing her past self become more feral as they drew ever closer to the end of the moon base, where she knew Qwark had been waiting for them. She had to admit that she must have pretty terrifying to their enemies, but she also knew that she must have worried her siblings the entire time. She cringed when she saw herself growl at Ratchet, when her claws had grown into the sharpened state they had been in, and did so again every time she saw herself eagerly take on enemies that stood in their way. She couldn't believe that the person that Starlight had filmed was actually her, especially when she used her claws to rip her enemies in half as if they were made of paper. She was sure that the person in the video was someone else entirely, but she couldn't deny that she had turned into some type of monster when her emotions mixed with her magic. "I don't believe it..." Sunset commented when the video was over, rubbing the side of her face as she realized how she had been hurt in the first place, "I became a monster that had no control over itself. Is this what my magic is capable of creating? If so... then I might as well learn how to lock my magic away so something like this doesn't awaken and turn on anyone that annoys me." "Sunset, you cannot hate your magic for this," Clank said, collecting the tablet the moment Sunset let go of it, "You let your emotions cloud your judgement for a moment, which is something that all of you need to work on. Prove to yourself that this incident will better your life, that you'll use your powers to the betterment of the galaxy and not let your emotions dictate your actions." Before Sunset could reply to that statement the door to the cargo hold opened up, to which Starlight and Ratchet walked through the door and closed it behind them. The instant they entered the area Starlight noticed that Sunset was up and ran up to her, throwing her hooves around her and tightly gripping her sister. Ratchet, on the other hand, stood next to them and waited his turn, knowing that Sunset would need some time before she was ready to go into the field again. "So, what did you guys find out there?" Sunset asked, not wanting to discuss her feral state she had assumed, now that she knew what had happened at the moon base. "Well, we bought the Tesla Claw," Starlight replied, pulling out the weapon in question before switching to the one she had found when she was by herself, "and I found the Morph-O-Ray! Its a weapon that turns enemies into chickens and was made by, you guessed it, Gadgetron... though how one of them ended up on this planet I will never know." "We also got the coordinates for Quartu, where Drek's building large mechs to 'sell' to the general population," Ratchet added, indicating that he believed the mechs were for something else besides what the Infobot told them, "So we're going to pay Quartu a visit and see if we can't get rid of those weapons... and maybe figure out where Drek's new planet is being moved to." "Then what are we waiting for?" Sunset asked, pulling herself onto her feet before facing her siblings, "Despite what happened at the moon base we should move on with our adventure, before Drek destroys anymore planets and ruins the lives of millions of people. We'll deal with my magic when we're sure that the galaxy is safe from harm." "I shall start our ships and set our destination," Clank added, following Ratchet to the door before turning back to face Sunset and Starlight, "Let's go deal Drek another blow that will leave him quaking in his shoes." Sunset smiled, because despite everything that Drek threw in their way the four of them were going to find out which planet their enemy would be replacing with his own, fight through whatever challenges he decided to put in their way, and then defeat Drek before he got away with his plans. They were confident that they were going to win this fight with Drek, and at that exact moment that was all they needed to believe as they got ready to visit a new planet.