//------------------------------//
// Commando: Smolg 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

	As they departed from Planet Snivelak, and the ruined base of Thugs-4-Less, Angela told them that she had managed to swipe something out of the Leader's pocket. She claimed that her captor had gotten arrogant and sloppy after her capture, which allowed her to take anything that might give them a clue on where to go next. The video she played for them revealed that Megacorp had a distribution facility on Planet Smolg that could very well have 'over a million crates of Protopets', though that was the Thug Leader's personal opinion. Ratchet and Starlight discovered that there was also a large number of mutant creatures that were designed to protect the shipment, which immediately told them that they were going to need to be careful when they visited the facility.

After returning the video to her own pocket, and allowing Ratchet and Starlight to form their next plan of attack, Angela remained silent for the most part, though she occasionally glanced at the sleeping cazar that was to her left. She knew that Sunset Shimmer had very potent magical abilities, and she had almost been on the receiving end at one point if Ivan hadn't interrupted their fight, but what she had seen on Dobbo was nothing compared to what had just happened. In just a few swings of her fist Sunset was able to release enough power to shatter the entire area around her, though Angela was starting to believe that that had been a mere fraction of her actual power. Even the brief discovery of what happened on Planet Veldin, the world where Ratchet and his sisters had lived for the majority of their lives, did nothing to make Angela feel better.

Angela would never admit it to either Ratchet or Starlight, because she was afraid of what they might say to her if she did admit it, but she was absolutely terrified... of Sunset Shimmer.

No matter how many times she tried to wrap her head around what she had seen on Snivelak, and even on Dobbo for that matter, she still had no idea how the cazar had the ability to use magic like Starlight could. She had been told, at one point she was sure, that the golden bracelet she wore was the heart of everything that was happening to Sunset after they started their last adventure. It was a brief tale she had been told, but for some strange reason she knew that the bracelet was the problem, though she had an even stranger feeling that it wasn't a normal bracelet. All this information did noting to make her feel better, because she had absolutely no idea how a seemingly normal cazar had developed the powers that Sunset currently possessed.

She wiped some of the sweat off of her forehead in surprise, leading her to realize that she was so terrified of what Sunset was capable of doing, or could be capable of doing, that she had started to sweat in response.

"Is something wrong Angela?" Ratchet asked, causing Angela to look up for a moment and remember that she wasn't alone at the moment, and that three of her four companions were looking in her direction, considering that Sunset was still sleeping.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," Angela replied, smiling at them for a second to get rid of whatever they were thinking about, "I was just... lost in thought for a moment. Just taking into consideration what we need to do before this Protopet nightmare is finally over. Maybe thinking about what I'll do once we've saved the galaxy from those little monsters."

Ratchet nodded and turned his attention back to the ship controls, along with Clank, though Starlight seemed to be lost in thought before returning to whatever she was working on with her tablet. Angela had heard that Starlight was responsible for the creation of the first and second weapons in the RYNO series, which was the reason that Megacorp had created the Zodiac weapon. She was convinced that the unicorn was creating the next weapon in the series, no doubt working on the holoplan so she could be prepared for when they returned to the Solana Galaxy. Though Angela knew that she was more scared of what Sunset was capable of doing, though she knew that she would have to talk with Ratchet when they reached Smolg.

Angela had the feeling that they hadn't seen the full extent of Sunset's power... and she was sure that something horrible was going to happen to release it all.





When they reached Smolg they studied the facility as Ratchet brought them closer to the only area where they could safely set their ship down, though Angela also noticed that Sunset had yet to wake up during the entire flight. As they landed the ship and climbed out Sunset still hadn't moved, leading Angela to worry that something might have happened during her clash with the Thugs Leader. Ratchet and Starlight moved towards the weapon vendor to restock their weapons, though Clank remained in the ship and took a seat by Sunset. Angela felt that she was missing something important, so she followed Ratchet to the vendor and restocked her own weapons, those that needed it at the moment.

"So, is this normal?" Angela asked, causing Ratchet to look at her with confusion on his face for a moment, "I'm referring to the fact that Sunset has been sleeping since we departed from Snivelak and hasn't woken back up yet."

"Oh, you mean that," Ratchet replied, nodding his head as he finished restocking all of his weapons, "Every time Sunset releases a large amount of magical energy, and her anger I might add, she exhausts herself to the point where she'll be out of commission for a few hours to an entire day. Clank prefers to stay behind so that there's someone there when she wakes up, which allows Starlight and I to focus on the task at hand without having to worry about something happening to our sister."

"How often has this happened in the past?" Angela inquired, wondering how many episodes Sunset had that would allow Ratchet and Starlight to move on without her, because she had seen that they worked better as a unit.

"Once I do believe," Ratchet immediately answered, though it was clear that he wasn't completely sure about his answer, "or maybe it was twice this has happened before today."

"Its only twice if you count the time she turned into Searing and destroyed Chairman Drek," Starlight commented, moving away from the weapon vendor to check her tablet for a moment, "though, to be honest, this is actually the second time this has happened... and I'm getting sick of it already. I'd rather have Sunset fight beside us, instead of having to rest from burning through too much of her magicka. I wish she would listen to my warnings about magic, but I'll keep barking up that tree until she does so."

Angela nodded again, though this time she had to wonder if they would be splitting up once more or if one of them was going to suggest that someone stays behind with Clank and Sunset.

"I'd like to suggest that Angela and I check out the large ship over there," Ratchet said, to which Angela surpassed a gasp of surprise as he pointed to the ship in question, "I take it that your okay with that Starlight?"

"Yeah, I can deal with that," Starlight replied, shaking her head as she started moving to the right, "Have fun with your girlfriend Ratchet!"

Ratchet brought his palm to his face for a moment while Angela's face went red, to which Starlight walked away with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. As his sister walked away Ratchet turned around and went the other way, though Angela followed after him not a second later, before the two of them used the jump pad in front of them and leapt over to the back entrance of the large ship. They immediately spotted a two headed creature that was clearly one of the mutants that had been designed to protect the cargo, though they pressed the button to lower the field it was trapped behind and took it out with their Minirocket Tubes. The moment the creature was taken care of they turned to their left and started up the pile of crates that formed a walkway, though they had to bash their way through the smaller purple mutants that were standing there.

They followed the path until they came to an area that had two larger crates that opened as soon as they were in range of them, to which they spotted four of the larger mutants coming their way. Both Ratchet and Angela cycled to their Plasma Coils, which they then used to clear the mutants out of their way so they could move on without having to worry about something attacking them from behind. They then spotted an area that would require them to climb on top of each other so they could move on, so Ratchet helped Angela get to the top of the crate and then waited for her to return the favor. There was one more of the smaller mutants sitting on top of the crates, so Angela simply smacked it over the head with her weapon before they moved on.

Ratchet did find it odd that Angela's handheld weapon was a simple metal pole that extended when she needed it and collapsed when she was using an actual weapon, but he decided to say nothing about it.

The next area they walked into had at least eight more of the larger containers, thought they were scattered in a manner that told Ratchet and Angela that they were going to have to activate all of them before they reached whatever was ahead of them. They looked at each other for a moment as the containers started to open, but they merely grinned as they pulled out their Plasma Coils and continued blasting their way through their enemies. Once they had cut their way through the mutants that emerged from the containers they approached an area where they would have to jump down, though there were a large amount of small and large mutants prepared to guard Megacorp's shipment.

Ratchet cycled to his Lava Gun and leapt down into the pit, though the moment he touched the floor he turned and saw Angela standing beside him, though she was still carrying her Plasma Coil. Together they took care of the enemies that were in the pit with them, before pressing the button and releasing the remaining enemies so they could move further through the cargo ship. During their assault on the second wave of enemies Angela switched to her own Minirocket Tube and took out the enemies that happened to sit near the back of the pack. Once the enemies were actually taken care of they took a moment to catch their breath, knowing that they needed to take their time before they did something rash.

The next part of the ship had another of the larger mutants guarding the passage between the pit and where they were heading, though it quickly fell to Angela's rockets. They then encountered a group of smaller mutants walking around a spawner, so while Angela took out the thing that could spawn more enemies Ratchet smashed the mutants into the floor with his wrench until the area was clear. After a few seconds of collecting bolts they approached a conveyor belt that was being protected by more of the mutants, so they tore into them with their weapons until the entire lower area was clear.

"A Dynamo Activator..." Angela commented, spotting the device as she looked around for a path for them to take, "kind of wishing that I had grabbed one when I was on Oozla."

"Don't worry about it," Ratchet replied, holding his Dynamo out and activating the device, allowing the conveyor to move, "Come on, let's see where this will take us."

They followed the crate that was sitting on the conveyor belt, watching it move towards the end before returning to where it had been resting before Ratchet had activated the device, though Angela pointed out a hole between containers that they could jump thorough. With the hole discovered Ratchet reactivated the device and they climbed onto the crate, though when they approached the hole Ratchet helped Angela jump to their destination. Ratchet, on the other hand, had to ride the crate again, though when it came time for him to jump Angela caught his arm and pulled her up to where she was standing.

With that deed done they approached another gap that they would have to jump across, though once again Ratchet helped Angela across first before attempting it himself. When he was standing beside her again he activated the device that was floating in front of where they were standing and they rode forward until they came to an area where they could jump to another section of the cargo ship. It was a simple matter to get rid of the small mutants that were standing around the place where they landed, though once they were taken care of they approached a elevator device that they would have to ride.

Ratchet pulled out the Dynamo again and they quickly rode the elevator to the top of its destination, though once they were at the top they carefully climbed down into the pit below them. The moment they entered the second pit the containers that were blocking their path were torn apart as a large group of mutants broke out of them and made their way towards them. Ratchet pulled out his Plasma Coil again as Angela followed suit, to which they combined the last of their charges to blast away the entire host of enemies until they were alone again. Once they had cleared out the mutants Ratchet pulled out the Dynamo yet again as they approached another conveyor belt, though this time they had to climb onto a platform and ride it to the end of the conveyor belt, where they rode it to an area where an actual elevator was waiting for them.

"And now we need an Electrolyzer," Angela commented, turning to see Ratchet pulling out the hacking device in question, "Yeah, I kind of figured that you had that one already... I'll move out of your way."

Ratchet smiled and went to work on the terminal for a few minutes, to which Angela watched him while keeping her eyes peeled for enemies, before he backed away and pulled her onto the elevator, where they rode up to an opening that would allow them to exit the cargo ship at last. Before them rested a rail that would allow them to move through the rest of the containers and see if there was something useful that they would use in their quest, though Angela stopped Ratchet before he could move on.

"Is something wrong?" Ratchet asked, wondering why they were stopping at the moment, when he knew that there were more enemies out there that were going to get in their way.

"You could say that," Angela said, sighing as she put her weapons away for a moment, before she pulled out a small data card and handed it to Ratchet, "The coordinates for Planet Grelbin, my home world, are on this card... where the completed Helix-o-Morph is waiting for me to collect it so we can use it against the Protopet."

"Wait a second... did you say completed?" Ratchet inquired, surprise flashing on his face for a moment, "I thought that you said that the device was far from complete when we spoke on Siberius."

"Ratchet, as much as I hate to admit it, I lied about the device," Angela admitted, sitting down on the platform as she looked out at the planet around them, "I had no idea if you or your sisters would believe me about the Protopet and Megacorp's madness, so I didn't want someone to tell them that I actually had a device that could cure the Protopet before they could put their plan into action. Go ahead, dislike me for wanting to keep something like the Helix-o-Morph a secret until I was ready to use it, but I can live with whatever you decide..."

"Everyone hides something Angela," Ratchet replied, placing an arm around her as he sat next to her, "I'll never tell my sisters this, but I spent a good year building a ship that would get us off our home world of Veldin, though when they discovered it I played it off as a birthday present for Sunset. I had my reasons for keeping the ship a secret, just like you had your reasons for keeping the device a secret, so I can't blame you at all."

Angela turned to Ratchet for a moment and quickly kissed him on the cheek, before pulling back and clearing her throat so she could tell him something else.

"We had better get going," Angela said, to which the two of them got back up and turned to the rail in front of them, "There's no telling what else Megacorp has that's guarding the shipment... or what gadgets they might have waiting for someone to grab."

Ratchet smiled and followed Angela down the rail, where they approached the vendor that was sitting before them and restocked all the ammunition they had already used. He had the feeling that this was the beginning of a relationship between the two, and that thought made it much easier for him to want to get through all their enemies all that much quicker.





Starlight sighed as she watched Ratchet and Angela jump over to the back of the cargo ship, though she knew it would be good for her brother to connect with Angela. She was positive that Angela had a crush on Ratchet, which she was sure that Sunset had noticed long before she had, though she was fine with her brother finding someone to take an interest in. Whether their relationship evolved into a serious relationship or they stayed friends was up to them, but eventually Starlight let out another sigh before turning back to he path she had been given. These days she was used to splitting up from her family so they could explore more of whatever planet they happened to be on, though this was likely the first time she was doing this alone.

She let out another sigh before she jumped onto one of the floating platforms to her right and continued forward, though she had to engage her Swingshot to get over the gap between her and the ship she was heading towards. The instant she landed she swung her staff and smacked the three small mutants that were waiting for her on their heads, making sure to knock them off the edge before continuing forward. She quickly leapt over the next set of floating platforms, following the path until she reached the building they were connected to and rode the elevator she found downwards. Once the elevator reached its destination she walked forward and found another weapon vendor, though beside it she found a pad that Ratchet used to activate the wings that he had installed in Clank some time ago.

Starlight considered going back and asking Clank to assist her for a moment, but then she decided that it was better if she did this by herself and merely used her magic to surround her entire body. Once she had accomplished that she lifted herself into the air and levitated through the air, heading over to the large floating platform that she assumed that she was supposed to head to. When she reached the platform she noticed that there was absolutely nothing she needed to do there, no enemies to get rid of and no bolt cranks to turn, so she floated through the air and started the trek towards the next one. Again she found nothing on the second platform, so she sighed for a moment and continued towards the ship that was resting some distance in front of her.

When she reached the ship she found a larger two headed mutant waiting for her, so she switched to her Minirocket Tube and blew the mutant apart without wasting a second. As she started to look around the ship she spotted a heavily armed robot guard that had its weapons trained on her, so she merely raised a shield around her and waited until her opponent was done firing at her. The moment the robot stopped its attack she lowered the shield and loosed a pair of rockets at it, blowing it to pieces within a matter of seconds, though she was sure that it was the only enemy left on the ship. As she looked around the ship she discovered that there was nothing else for her to do here, so she surrounded herself once more and floated over to the next platform.

This time there were two of the two headed mutants waiting for her, so she gladly used her Plasma Coil to get rid of them as she approached the platform, though from there she headed towards the next ship. All she found aboard the ship was a group of the smaller mutants, so she quickly got rid of them with her Lava Gun before she approached the middle of the ship. She looked up and spotted another platform some distance above her, though this one much larger than the ones she had passed to get here, but she engaged her magic and started the trek to the end of the platform.

As she reached her destination she spotted two more of the larger mutants guarding the edge she needed to land on, so she used her rockets once more and got rid of them. The moment she got rid of them she spotted at least ten more of them coming her way, which told her that the path she had taken must have something interesting that someone wanted to protect. Instead of wasting her time fighting the creatures that were coming her way, and costing herself some time, she engaged her magic and flew over the mutants, listening to them snap at her as she moved towards her next destination. She flew over the large group of containers, keeping her eye out for any of the flying robots, before she landed in the building she had been trying to reach the entire time.

As she walked up the stairs, however, she spotted a large mutant that was different from all the others she had been dealing with the entire time... this one was missing one of its heads and was wearing a scarf of some kind.

"Go ahead... you'd be doing me a favor," the creature said, waving one of its claws as it accepted a fate that Starlight was hesitant to give it at the moment.

"Why would I end your life?" Starlight asked, beckoning to the two mutants that were fighting each other nearby, "Clearly you aren't like them at all... which reminds me a lot of my friend Clank."

"Oh really?" the creature commented, eager to hear something different than whatever he had been listening to his entire life, "And how do I remind you of this friend of yours?"

"Because he, too, was built from a series that was designed to destroy," Starlight answered, noticing a look of surprise appear on the creature's face, "and he ended up saving the galaxy we were born in from complete destruction."

That thought made the creature think about something, which made Starlight happy that she might have influenced someone without really trying to. They spent a few minutes talking about what Clank had done, which added to the creature's surprise and desire to live again, before he traded her a broadcast for some bolts to get him started. What she discovered was that Megacorp had put their plan into action, part of it anyway, and that there was a planet under attack by the Protopets, to which she thanked the creature before she headed in the direction of the ship once more.

When she arrived at the ship once more she found that Sunset was up and about once more, though Ratchet and Angela had also arrived shortly before she had. Apparently they had uncovered a fragment of a device that could control certain Megacorp robots, though they would need the remaining two pieces of it if they wanted to use it. That was before the rest of the group discovered that there was a planet under attack at that very moment, so everyone hopped back into the ship and let Ratchet get everything set up. They were going to strike at whoever was attacking the people of Planet Damosel and save them from the Protopets... and then they agreed that they needed to venture to Grelbin and retrieve the device that Angela had been working on.

They needed to stop Megacorp before they did something that couldn't be fixed.