Ratchet and Clank reached the fleet before Sunset and Starlight did, to which Ratchet sighed as he considered that, once this entire ordeal was over, he'd have to upgrade the cargo ship so it could keep up with his own ship. He had run a scan on the cargo ship's systems, so that he knew what systems and parts he would need to buy when it came time to upgrade the ship, which he knew would take come time to complete once they were finished with Chairman Drek. It was also time that he and his sisters actually acquired their own ships for their own personal use, though he was willing to bet that he could convince someone to let them keep the two ships they were using.
"It seems that, once again, we have an hour to spare," Clank commented, looking at his tablet as his scans ran in the background, "Maybe there's something we can do that doesn't involve waiting for your sisters."
"Like the coolant system on Quartu?" Ratchet asked, remembering his swim through the systems and finding the Bolt Grabber, "I guess if there's something like that here than it might be worth taking a look at... considering we might find something important that could aid us in stopping Drek."
Clank didn't say anything about whatever they found helping them in their quest to stop Drek, but he did agree that it might play some role in the future. Once Ratchet was ready, and received word that his sisters would be at the fleet within the next hour, he returned Clank to his back before jumping into the water around them. It was a simple matter for Ratchet to spot the three rings that would activate the door, so he swam down to them and made sure to circle through them. As he passed through the third ring he turned towards the closed and watched as it opened, allowing him to swim through the small tunnel it had before ascending to a platform.
As he pulled himself out of the water he got a look at what was in front of him, another water filled obstacle course that was filled with electricity... exactly like the one on Quartu.
"Whatever is at the end of this has to be important if Chairman Drek protects the path to the end with electricity," Ratchet commented, though for a moment he had to wonder why he was doing this, before he sighed and pressed the button that would start the countdown.
He leapt into the water in front of him and immediately submerged himself, where he engaged Clank's mysterious Hydropack and swam into the tunnel that was his path forward. As he rounded the corner he spotted what appeared to be a fan, though there were three sections of the fan that were made of what he assumed was electric energy. He decided that it would be bad if the pieces of the fan hit him, so he angled himself into position and passed through two of the electric sections of the fan. As he turned the next corner he barely missed the mine that had been waiting for him, which he assumed would only activate if he ran right into it, and managed to pass through the fan that was in front of him.
Unfortunately behind the fan was yet another one, which he managed to avoid rather easily, before he found a section of the tunnel that was filled with more of the laser spiders from Quartu's coolant system. As he moved out of the spiders way he found another fan blocking his path, to which he swam between two of the electric sections and continued toward two more fans. Ratchet groaned to himself as he carefully moved through the first fan, avoiding the blades, before he approached the final fan and moved between the electric blades. When he turned the corner he found another spinning fan that was protected by four mines, but with some luck he managed to avoid the dangers before moving into a section that had more of the spiders.
As he moved through the spider area he mentally wished that he had come of his sisters' magical abilities, one that would have allowed him to teleport to the end of this death course without having to go through it.
After the gauntlet of spiders he found two more fans blocking his path, so he carefully moved through the openings that were presented to him and made sure to dodge the spiders in his way. He then spotted three more fans in his path, so which he sighed as he carefully made his way through them, avoiding the electric blades until he was through all three of them. He encountered a pair of spiders blocking his path with yet another fan behind them, so he repeated his pattern he had been using the entire time until he was past the fan...until he found two more blocking his path.
Once he was through the fans, which he was already getting tired of, he spotted a trio of rings that he had to swim through and activate the door in front of him, though this time they were lined up for him to swim through. He wasted no time in swimming forward and activating all three of the rings, to which the door opened and he aimed for heading through it so he could end this course. He approached the open chamber in front of him, looking for anything that might stop him from reaching the end, before moving through the open door and swimming to the platform above him.
When he pulled himself out of the water, and avoiding getting shocked to death, he found what he assumed was some sort of robot resting in the middle of the room, but it made no effort to run or attack him.
"That's a Codebot," Clank commented, looking around to see what Ratchet was looking at, "they're supposed to interact with the Invinco-Vault they were created with. My scans indicate that there are no Vaults on this fleet, so it might be a good idea to take it along in case we discover where its specific Vault is located."
"Alright," Ratchet said, picking up the Codebot and stashing it with the rest of his gadgets, before turning to the left a bit and noticing a shuttle that he assumed would return him to the area he had landed his ship in, "Let's head back to our ship."
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When the two of them returned to their ship they found that the cargo ship had caught up with them, as both Sunset and Starlight were getting ready for their assault on Chairman Drek's forces. Ratchet had expected his sisters to arrive shortly after he had finished swimming though the water tanks, as that was what had happened on Quartu, but he was pleased to find that he was wrong. They were clearly going over their scans of the entire fleet, as if they were trying to figure out where they should hit their targets and where they needed to use stealth to avoid being overrun.
Ratchet popped the lid on his ship and pulled out his towel so he could dry his fur off, though after a few seconds he threw it back inside the ship and walked up to his sisters.
"So, what's the plan this time?" Ratchet asked, as he was curious as to which route they were taking this time, "Are we going to hit them with everything we have, or are we going to play it safe and sneak through Drek's entire fleet? Or do we loose the beast from its cage and let it smash through our enemies so we can reach the end of the fleet faster?"
"I hope your seriously not considering trying to awaken that... that thing inside me," Sunset replied, referring to the feral creature she had become on the moon base as another entity, because she still found it hard to believe that was actually her, "because its not that simple at the moment."
"Why not?" Ratchet said, wondering what was stopping Sunset from beasting out, "Because the last time it happened you were overjoyed that we had finally caught up with Qwark and could finally let all your rage out on him. Chairman Drek ordered Qwark to eliminate us, so shouldn't some of your anger be directed at him as well?"
Ratchet still hadn't told either of his sisters what else he had found on Oltanis, the whole PDA being sold by their still alive enemy, but he didn't want to bring that up. As much as he liked the destructive power of Sunset's feral state, which might end this conflict much quicker, he personally didn't want to be on the receiving end when Sunset learned that Qwark was still alive. He also felt incredibly terrible for even offering the idea to the table, but the deed was done and there was no taking it back... though he only hoped that it wouldn't come back to bite them in the future.
"Its because she doesn't know how to call on that power," Starlight replied, priming her Devastator as she finished purchasing all the ammo that the three of them needed, before heading over to the teleporter with Sunset not far behind, "and besides, we've already decided that we should advance with a mix of fighting our enemies and sneaking by them. You'll get to fight some enemies and we'll be able to sneak by some of the other ones, so everyone wins in the end."
Starlight and Sunset walked into the teleporter and vanished, but before Ratchet could follow them he felt Clank wack the back of his head, to which he winced for a few seconds.
"What was that for?" Ratchet demanded, growling for a few seconds.
"For treating your older sister like she was a common animal," Clank replied, as he couldn't believe that Ratchet would stoop to wanting the feral creature back, especially after what had happened last time, "She's already rejecting what happened at the moon base and she doesn't need you to remind her that she became something different, even if it was for an hour or two. You should be helping her overcome what happened, not bringing it back up every now and then."
Ratchet remained silent for a few seconds before letting out a sigh, because he knew that he had failed as a brother for even considering that they use the creature Sunset had become.
"I'll make it up to her," Ratchet replied, priming his Devastator for a few seconds, to be sure that it was ready, before he stepped onto the pad and activated the teleporter.
When he appeared in what he assumed was the next ship he found that his sisters were waiting for him, though Starlight seemed prepared to get the raid started without him. The instant he approached the door Starlight aimed her Devastator at the middle of it, as the moment the door opened she zeroed in on the sole robot guard in the middle of the chamber and loosed a missile at it. As the robot fell to the ground in pieces the three of them moved into the chamber, to which they approached the door on the other side and prepared themselves for what might be on the other side.
Ratchet, thinking ahead for a moment, pressed the button on his Hologuise and opened the door, where they discovered a guard that was protected by another barrier. The moment Ratchet waved his hand, and barrier fell down, Starlight moved to the side and loosed a missile into the robot's chest, getting rid of the obstacle and allowing them to move forward. The next chamber had a pack of six robotic dogs sleeping on the floor, though before any of them stepped over the single laser in front of them Ratchet pulled out a minion sphere and sent it rolling across the floor. The four robots tore four of the dogs to pieces before they knew what had hit them, though as the other two woke up Starlight switched to her Blaster and shot them in the head before they could move towards her siblings.
Once they cleared the chamber of their enemies they approached the next door, with Ratchet in his disguise once more, but when they opened the door they found another teleport pad that would allow them to move to the next ship in the fleet. They quickly moved through the teleport pad and appeared on the next ship, though as they opened the door in front of them they discovered three buttons that were separated by laser beams. They quickly moved back as the doors lining the sides of the hall opened, revealing three sentry robots that walked out to their laser before returning to their rooms.
"I've got an idea," Sunset said, pointing to the button furthest from where they were standing, "Ratchet, why don't you use your Hologuise to traverse the room and stand in front of that button. Starlight, why don't you do the same thing and stand in front of the one in the middle. Once the both of you are in position I'll take out the robot closest to where we're currently standing, which is when you both should drop your disguises and do the same for your robots."
Ratchet nodded and leapt over the first laser, to which he activated his Hologuise and slowly walked towards the second button as the robots reappeared, before repeating the process and coming to a stop in front of the third button. Once he was in position Starlight moved out into the open area, quickly leaping over the lasers in her way before coming to a stop in front of her button, where she assumed her disguise as the doors opened once more. Sunset waited until the doors had closed before moving into the room, though a spark of lightning coursed around her hand as she stood in front of the door that her target was resting behind.
The moment Sunset's door opened she held her hand up at the confused sentry for a few seconds, which immediately flashed red the moment it spotted her, before she released the energy she had been gathering and tore the robot to pieces. That was followed by the sound of Devastator missiles going off, telling Sunset that her siblings had gotten rid of their targets and cleared the way forward. The three of them gathered before the next door and waited for a few seconds, to be sure that they were all ready for whatever they would find in the next chamber. When the door opened they found that there were five robotic mutts waiting around a button in the middle of the room, though that was seconds before four sentry robots walked out of their hiding places, turned around when they reached the button, and returned to their rooms.
Ratchet pulled out his Blaster and waited until the sentry robots were in their rooms, because the moment their doors closed he aimed his weapon at the heads of the mutts and took each of the five out before they knew what had happened. He then rolled a minion sphere into the chamber, to which the little robots emerged from their home the instant the sentry's doors opened and the sentries walked into the area. Their enemies barely knew what hit them as the minions tore the four of them to pieces, opening the way for Ratchet and his sisters to move forward without having to worry about more enemies at the moment. They then approached the door at the end of the room and Ratchet engaged his Hologuise, where they found another barrier and had it deactivated by the robot guarding it, before taking their target out and moving into the front of the ship.
Before they moved onward they stopped in front of the teleport pad, to which they made sure that they were ready for whatever was waiting on the next ship before crossing to the next ship in the fleet. When they appeared in the next ship they found that there was a laser grid on the floor in front of them, so they engaged their Swingshots and crossed over the lasers with ease. The moment they landed they found five more robotic mutts waiting for them, but Sunset was ready for them as she used the air around them to blast the mutts back just a bit. That gave Starlight and Ratchet plenty of time to simply bash their hand held weapons into the mutts heads, breaking them into pieces and allowing them to advance further through the ship they were in.
The next room had five more of the robotic mutts and three sentries waiting for them, but it was at that moment that Starlight decided that stealth was getting them nowhere fast and pulled out the RYNO. She pressed the lever the moment all of her targets were in the room together and took all of them out without them even being aware that enemies had entered their area of the ship.
"Isn't that a little much for the few enemies we're fighting?" Ratchet asked, wondering why his sister would waste some of the RYNO's ammunition on such a small amount of enemies.
"At the rate we're going Drek will have destroyed Veldin before we even figure out where he's placed that laser of his," Starlight fired back, hopping into the chamber and approaching the door on the other side, "I'd like to see our home survive this ordeal and not get blown to smithereens while we're taking the stealth option."
Ratchet opened the door in front of them and spotted another barrier blocking their way, but as he prepared to use the Hologuise he looked back and noticed that Sunset wasn't standing behind them anymore.
"Um... where did Susnet go?" Ratchet asked, to which Starlight merely pointed a hoof to the barrier, which made him look back at the barrier for a second.
Sunset appeared behind the sentry as if she had moved through the shadows themselves, all without her target even knowing that she was behind it. A second later lightning pierced the sentry's chest, destroying it in the process, before the barrier it had been guarding collapsed on itself and opened the way for Ratchet and Starlight to move on.
"Well then, if we're not using stealth anymore I might as well use some of my magic to get us through this quicker," Sunset commented, beckoning her siblings forward as she approached the teleport pad that the sentry had been protecting, before disappearing and heading to the next ship.
"So... what was that power then?" Ratchet asked, because he had never seen something like that, which only told him that his sisters might be scratching the surface of their potential at this point.
"We found that among the spells that Sunset wanted to learn," Starlight explained, walking forward as she moved to where her sister had been standing a moment ago, "the people of Old Earth called it the Flash Step, or Shunpo in some cases. I'm impressed that she managed to replicate the spell... though I think she might have added another spell to the mix to improve its usefulness."
Ratchet sighed and followed Starlight through the teleport pad, to which they found Sunset standing in the room that they appeared in with a frown on her face. Before they could ask what was troubling her, which Starlight knew there was something that was currently annoying her sister, Sunset beckoned them through the airlock and they stepped outside. Their platform moved around a bit before docking on another walkway, giving them the ability to discover that they were being stopped by turrets on the last ship. She then pointed at the midway point of their walkway, where Ratchet spotted a hanger that he could use to take out the turrets and allow them to move on to the last ship in the fleet.
They quickly made their way to the hanger and passed through the airlock, to which Starlight and Sunset remained near the left wall while Ratchet hopped into the ship and took off.
Ratchet flew through space and circled the ship that the turrets were on, priming his missiles as he used his guns to take out the fighters that Drek had left behind to protect his fleet. Every now and then he zeroed in on one of the turrets and took it out with a few of his missiles, before he was forced to go away from the ship and take out some of the fighters. He repeated this process seven more times, taking out a turret before he backed off and took out whoever followed his way from the fleet, to which he'd head right back in. Once all eight of the turrets had been dealt with, and the way forward was cleared, he remained in the ship for a few more minutes and took out the remainder of Drek's fighters.
He didn't want any of them to shoot at them after he returned the ship to its hanger, so he figured that it would be better to take them out first before returning to his sisters.
When Ratchet returned to the hanger the three of them walked back out the airlock and returned to the walkway that they had been forced off of, to which they resumed their walk around the exterior of the ship until they entered another airlock. They spotted a pack of robotic mutts barking at them the moment they entered the airlock, but they decided to ignore them and focused on the moving lasers that were blocking their path. They took their time in moving through the obstacles, making sure that none of them were touched by the lasers, before they approached the door on the other side of the room and walked onto a platform that turned them around.
Once they were right side up again they approached the next door in their path, to which they discovered a room that looked like the control center for the entire fleet. The three of them approached the chair in the middle of the room, each of them with their hand held weapons drawn, before they discovered that there was an Infobot sitting on the chair. The information that the robot shared with them revealed that Chairman Drek was already on the surface of Veldin, though he had apparently chosen an area that was around their house because he had been standing in front of their home when he shot the small commercial.
"We've got his location!" Ratchet said, activating the nearby teleport pad and teleporting back to where their ships had been docked, before his sisters appeared behind him, "Let's go end this."
Ratchet knew that Chairman Drek was going to be in a world of pain when the four of them caught up with him, though he couldn't help but shake the feeling that they might be walking into a trap of some kind.