//------------------------------// // Commando: Endako // Story: Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// When the three of them arrived at their destination, Megopolis on Planet Endako, they immediately noticed that there were two paths that they could take, which was great considering that they would likely have to search the entire city to find where the Thief had stashed away Clank. Starlight's scans indicated that there were enemies waiting on both paths, be they the Thugs that the Thief had employed or the natural enemies that had been positioned here by the people of the planet. She had figured that there would be enemies native to the city waiting for them, considering where they were at the moment, and the Thugs weren't a surprise either. They approached the weapon vendor and looked at what was available besides restocking their ammo, to which they discovered that there were two more available; a powerful rifle that was named the Pulse Rifle and a glove weapon that dispensed turrets, hence the name Miniturret Glove. Ratchet and Starlight each picked out one of the new weapons for themselves, checking out their new weapons as Sunset made sure that they weren't ambushed by any enemies that might be wandering the nearby area. "You sure you don't want another weapon Sunset?" Ratchet asked, checking out the scope on his Pulse Rifle for a moment, "They may not be Gadgetron weapons, but they sure pack quite the punch when you need them to." "I'll be fine," Sunset replied, turning her gaze to the gadget she had picked up in the arena, the Electrolyzer, before she held it out to her brother, "Here, you might need this more than Starlight or I." "You sure about that?" Ratchet said, taking the gadget from his sister, though he didn't have to worry about how to use it seeing how he had watched how Sunset had used it back at the Resort. "We can burn through or destroy whatever obstacles we encounter," Sunset answered, nearly laughing at the statement, considering that she had no idea she could even use magic six months ago, "provided we don't encounter anything that's resistant to magic... which I'm sure we would have heard about if something had been invented or discovered that could resist us." Starlight sighed and shook her head as she turned back to her own weapons, still quite shocked how her sister changed from someone who was into weapons and became someone who used magic all the time. Sometimes she wished that Sunset had been born a normal Cazar and didn't have that cursed bracelet she always wore, because she had enjoyed being the only one who could use magic. Having someone else who could use magic had been great, in the beginning anyway, but Starlight generally only used her magic to lift her weapons, her staff, her various tools, and the occasional enemy that she wanted to discard. Sunset, on the other hand, used her powers to kill everything that they encountered, as if she had an infinite amount of magic at her disposal and wouldn't have to face the consequences of using too much power. She also had to wonder what would happen if that golden bracelet was ever broken, though considering that it appeared to seal up Sunset's magic she assumed that if it broke then her full power would be released... though if that was good or bad she had no idea. "Do what you will," Ratchet said, sighing as he admitted defeat, because he knew that no matter what he said Sunset was still going to use her magic, "I'm going to go find Clank and see if we can't figure out where the Thief went." As he moved to the left of where their ship was resting he spotted what appeared to be a locked door, though as he stepped near it the door opened and a robot, one that looked like a hydrant that could shoot lasers, appeared before him. He cycled through his weapons and pulled out the Blitz Gun, to which he blasted the robot to pieces before heading into the area that had been opened up. He spotted a terminal that required the gadget that Sunset had handed to him, so he pulled it out, connected it to the terminal, and spent a minute moving the connectors around before the door in front of him was open. As the door opened he found four robots spinning around the floor, though they appeared to be small robots that each had three blades sticking out of the middle of their bodies. Ratchet could tell that they were dangerous to get close to, so he switched to the Chopper for a moment and threw two stars into the chamber, cutting the robots to pieces within seconds. He turned to the left and found two more of the spinning hydrant robots moving along the floor, though as he backed up a little bit to avoid being hit he, once again, switched weapons and pulled out the Gravity Bomb. With the weapon in hand he blew the two robots to pieces and approached the door in front of him, though before he could even approach the next entrance another group of spinner bots came at him. He swiftly erased the spinner bots with another Gravity Bomb charge and walked into what appeared to be a control room, where he found another terminal that he swiftly activated. Once the room was fully functional again he activated the crane in the room ahead of him and experimented with the controls for a few seconds, to be sure that everything was actually working. He then picked up the massive cube that was resting in the room and smashed the spinner bots that were moving along the floor, before depositing the cube in front of a section on the wall that would allow him to continue onward. He dropped into the room for a moment, making sure that he had gotten rid of all of the enemies he had seen on the screen, before jumping on top of the cube and pulling himself into the walkway it connected to. He found another laser robot spinning around, so he swiftly leveled his Gravity Bomb with where it was at the moment and blew it up with one of his remaining charges. The moment the charge tore the robot to pieces another one took its place, but Ratchet merely sighed and took it out in the same manner as the previous one. As the second charge dissipated he approached the door that they had been protecting, to which he discovered that he was at the end of the building he had entered, because he was now standing at the edge of a walkway that was made up of two small floating ships. He spotted a laser robot waiting on the other side of the walkway, so he swiftly switched to his Chopper and threw two stars at the robot, watching them tear the would be enemy to pieces before making his way to the other side. After he crossed the gap he found what appeared to be a large robot that had two guns and was ready to fire them, but he simply sighed, pulled out the Pulse Rifle, and took aim at the robot's head. He waited a few seconds to be sure that the robot was actually an enemy, but when it turned its guns on where he was standing he pressed the trigger and blew the robot to pieces. "Really?" Ratchet commented, looking at the rifle for a moment, wondering how powerful Megacorp had actually made the weapon before producing it, "A single shot was enough to kill that robot... fells like I'm back in Solana for some reason." He turned the corner and spotted another large robot waiting in front of a sealed door, but as it turned towards him he lifted the rifle up once more and put the robot down before it could fire at him. As the robot fell a second door opened and a group of the spinner robots came out to attack him, to which he switched to the Lancer and loosed a few shots to get rid of them. He then approached the previously sealed door, pausing for a moment to destroy the laser robot that was in his way, before he cycled to the rifle and shot down the larger robot that was waiting on the other side of the gap he had come to. Once the enemies were taken care of he leapt over the gap and approached what was an entrance to another section of the building he had entered near his ship. He found six more of the spinner robots waiting in front of another control panel, so he pulled out the Lancer and removed them before they could come close to hurting him. As he approached the terminal he noticed that the door that would allow him to enter the next area was sealed off by a blast door, which told him that there had to be a powerful explosive nearby that he could use. He repeated the process he used in the previous chamber of the building, using the Electrolyzer to reactivate the control panel before taking command of the crane. He moved the crane around, using the cube that he found to smash any and all enemies that happened to be resting in the three rooms he could see into, before placing it in a position that would allow him to climb up to a walkway. With that part of the task done he picked up the explosive cube and carefully carried it back to the sealed door that was blocking his way, dropping it with a loud thud and starting the detonation sequence. He backed away from the control panel and watched the door explode, though as he advanced through the next couple of chambers he kept his eyes open for any enemies he might have missed with the crane... though when he reached the metallic cube he had found nothing alive. He swiftly climbed onto the cube and leapt into the walkway, though when he landed on the edge of the walkway he spotted two more of the larger robots waiting for him, to which he swiftly took them down with his rifle. The two doors in the room opened up and out of them poured more of the spinner robots, though Ratchet sighed as he pulled out the Chopper and started throwing stars at every enemy he spotted. It didn't take him long to clear out the robots that were trying to kill him, so once the area was clear he spotted an elevator that he rode up to another walkway. When he reached the end of the walkway he spotted the table that had been in the video that the Thief had sent to him and Sunset, when he shocked Clank in an effort to make them head back home. Ratchet had been expecting the Thief to be smart and actually take Clank away from the area after sending the video, but Clank was resting right on the table with the Thief nowhere in sight. Sunset had already told him that Clank was offline, how she could tell that from a video he had no idea, so he started looking for a way down into the area... before he found himself being pushed into the chamber with the Thief fleeing the scene. "Son of a Qwark!" Ratchet snapped, annoyed that he had been caught off guard like that, though he had to wonder how he had missed where the Thief was standing as he moved to where Clank was resting, "Alright buddy, let's get you up and running again." He approached the terminal that was connected to the table that Clank was resting on, using the gadget that Sunset had acquired once more to work his way through the system until he had reconnected all of the connectors and restored power to Clank's systems. "Final digit of Pi is..." Clank said, bolting upright for a moment, but he seemed to regain himself as he noticed that Ratchet was standing right beside him, "Ratchet? Where are we? Hmm, I must have dosed off." "We're in Megopolis," Ratchet replied, not surprised that Clank didn't recall being shocked by the Thief, "We should look for a way out of here... then I'll fill you in on what happened after we parted ways." "And what about Starlight and Sunset?" Clank asked, noticing that neither of their sisters were around them, "I don't see either of them at the moment." "They're likely on the other side of the city looking for clues as to where the Thief ran off to," Ratchet commented, noticing a hole in the wall that Clank could climb through, at the same time that the robot did, "Say, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "Unfortunately, I am," Clank replied, sighing as he climbed off the table and approached the hole they had been staring at, to which Ratchet helped him up, "I shall return in a few minutes." ------------ Clank found himself in a small room that had only one exit to, though as he approached the opening he found that he would have to glide over the large gap that rested between where he was standing and the platform ahead of him. He spotted what appeared to be small robots that spun around with blades attached to their bodies, along with a larger one that appeared to use a laser as its weapon. He sighed and leapt into the air, gliding down to the platform below him, though the instant he landed he balled his robotic fists and smashed the two spinning robots before they could get him. He knew that he couldn't touch the laser robot, but as he turned the corner he found what appeared to be the Megacorp version of the small robots he could command back in the Solana Galaxy. Clank smiled as he released the four robots that were sealed in glass, before connecting to them thanks to his special programming and sending them at the laser robot. He also moved along with them, because he noticed that the laser followed him, so he used that to his advantage and moved the laser out of the way so the little robots could tear the larger one to pieces. The four of them then advanced further into the next room, where there was another laser robot that they ripped to pieces, opening the way for Clank to move forward. When he entered the room he found a larger robot trapped in a cage, one that his systems identified as a Bridge Bot, so he let the robot out and rapidly commanded him to build a bridge across the gap that the room lead to. With the bridge in place Clank moved to the other room, where he found a large crate blocking his way and another laser robot that happened to be protecting the robot that he assumed could move the obstacle in front of him. The little robots surged forward and tore into the laser robot, giving Clank time to release the Lifter Bot and remove the crate that was in front of him. As he turned the corner he had the Bridge Bot move positions and make another bridge, connecting him to the area that he knew he would find the switch that would release Ratchet. He connected to the smaller robots again and sent them forward, watching them run across the bridge and separate into two groups, which was followed by both of the laser robots being destroyed. With the way clear he approached the terminal that rested near the door he had seen and sent some of the small robots into it, opening the door that he was standing in front of. He bid the remaining robots farewell, released them from whatever he had them doing, and ran up the walkway he had revealed, pressing a button that reunited him with Ratchet. "Nice job Clank," Ratchet said the moment the door was opened, to which Clank polished one of his hands with a smile on his face, "Come on, I'll tell you everything that's happened since we last saw each other... while we track down Sunset and Starlight, before they get into trouble." Sunset and Starlight had waited a few minutes after Ratchet departed from them before they started down the path on the right of where the ship had landed, which happened to be blocked by a type of electric gate. "So, shall we do this with magic and slip by the gate?" Sunset asked, knowing that they would be able to do the task with ease, "Or should we investigate the area and do it without magic?" "Like this!" Starlight replied, smashing the trash can that had been in front of her, which caused the gate to open up and dispense a group of spinning robots to fight them, "See? Easy as pie." Before Sunset could cut any of the robots to pieces Starlight pulled out her Lancer and put some shots into them, though she smirked as they walked into the second area that was sealed off. Sunset spotted another trash can and, after a moment of internal debate, decided to take Starlight's approach and knocked it over as well, though this time a robot wielding a laser came at them. She smiled as Starlight raised her weapons, but before her sister could touch the robot Sunset leapt above it and drove her sword into its head, cutting off its power and bringing an end to it. Starlight sighed and walked through the second gate, to which she unleashed a hail of Lancer shots on the spinning robots that happened to be blocking their path. After a minute she lowered the weapon and nodded when she discovered that all of them had been taken care of, before she teleported up to the walkway that they would have to travel through. The two of them found another trash can that, when knocked over, called on more laser and spinning robots, though together both Starlight and Sunset removed them before they could touch them. When they walked out of the room they spotted who they assumed was the leader of Thugs-4-Less, though as he taunted the two of them they simply ignored him and moved on through the walkway on their left. They noticed two more of the laser enemies waiting for them, but Starlight merely took them out with a well place Gravity Bomb charge and opened the way for them to move forward. They then came to a drop off into a room that rest below them, though as they lowered themselves into the room Sunset whipped up a small wind cyclone and took out the trash can that was resting in the middle of the area. When the doors opened, and the enemies started pouring out of them, Starlight started firing the Lancer at everything that came near her, while Sunset tossed them into the walls around them with her wind magic. As the last spinner fell to pieces a laser enemy came their way, though Starlight blew it apart with a Gravity Bomb charge and opened the way once more. They walked out of the area and spotted what appeared to be a grindrail, though they ignored it and took the nearby elevator to wherever it connected to. It took them to a walkway that clearly would let them enter a building, but as the door opened two more laser enemies revealed themselves as the Thug Leader flew overhead once more. Once the enemies were taken care of they entered the building and spotted another elevator, this one appearing to head up just a bit, but they each wondered what they would find in the next area. They found two trash cans that, when they were knocked over, unleashed an army of spinning robots and laser robots to fight them, to which Sunset actually pulled out her Chopper and threw several clusters of stars as Starlight used the Lancer on other enemies. It actually took them some time to get through the amount of enemies that were standing before them, but when no more enemies came out of the doors that had opened around them they knew that they were definitely done with the area and could move on. When Sunset saw the area that they would soon be entering she noticed that it appeared to be the perfect place to set up a trap, to which she had Starlight stay back with the Pulse Rifle. She was correct in her assumption, because the moment she stepped into the area the Thug Leader appeared and started spouting some nonsense about how his employees did a terrible job of dealing with the three of them. Before he could finish whatever he was saying Starlight loosed a shot and blew a hole in the engine, causing the ship he was flying in to tilt as he turned the guns on where she was standing. Sunset had been expecting something like that, because she poured some magic into her blade, causing it to catch on fire, before she swung it and extended the blade, allowing it to dig into the ship's right wing and sever it from the main body of the ship. The Thug Leader, deciding that he was already outmatched at the moment, disengaged from the ship as it dropped into the abyss below them, though neither Starlight or Sunset moved to eliminate him as he disappeared. A teleport pad opened in front of them, to which they appeared before Clank's apartment and spent a few minutes looking around before they found Ratchet's Grindboots and Swingshot. With the gadgets in hand they opened the back entrance to the apartment and stepped into another teleport pad, where they appeared near their ship. They spotted Ratchet and Clank sitting near the ship, apparently catching up on the adventure, so they joined the duo and handed the gadgets over to their brother. They were all glad to have Clank back with them, because he had been a big part of their first adventure and had assisted them many times during their visits to the various planets. Starlight knew that the Thief had to be sweating at the moment, because now that the four of them were together again there was nothing they couldn't overcome.