As the trio landed on Marcadia, the devastation was obvious. Two Galactic Rangers greeted them upon arrival.
"Glad you made it sir!" the first proclaimed happily. "The Presidential compound is on the other side of the city!"
"Then why didn't we land over there?" Twilight asked Clank.
"Too much enemy fire," Clank explained. "We'd be shot down and crash before we could find a safe landing."
"I suppose so," Twilight replied. "Haven't quite figured out how to apply the Tesla Barrier to the ship."
Clank blinked. "You've been making the attempt? Why?"
"I was bored," Twilight explained.
"Keep your head down!" the Ranger instructed. "The Tyhrranoids are everywhere! Keep your head down!"
"Come on, Twilight," Ratchet instructed. "Let's get blasting."
Grinning, Twilight reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a new shipment from Gadgetron. "I get to test this baby out!" she said eagerly.
"What's that?" Ratchet asked.
"The RY3NO!" Twilight said proudly. "The latest generation of the RYNO weapon system, complete with the auto-upgrade system that the newer generations of weapons have. It's the prototype, and Mr. Fixxit asked me to test it in combat to see how it functioned along the projected upgrade path."
"I am suddenly a lot less worried about fighting the Tyhrranoids," Ratchet replied.
"And I'm suddenly a lot more worried about property damage," Clank replied.
Chuckling, Twilight led the way through the streets, the RY3NO held in her magical grip, speaking her notes to her holo-comp as she moved. "The self-stabilization systems work flawlessly," she noted as she moved. "The smaller number of missiles per launch does allow for greater control, but there appears to be a bug in the targeting system, causing the missiles to lock onto crates as well. Cost-effectiveness becomes a major quandary as a result. Also, having only 25 salvos makes it difficult to maintain sustained usage through a mission. Will continue further notes as the RY3NO upgrades to future levels."
Ratchet glanced from Twilight taking notes to the devastation she had been causing with the weapon. "She considers this inefficient?" he asked in shock.
"That's Twilight for you," Clank admitted as they continued onward.
Their progress through the city was uneventful, although Twilight eventually ran out of ammunition for the RY3NO and had to switch to a different weapon. Before long, they reached a dropship attended by other Galactic Rangers.
"Nice shooting Sir, Ma'am!" he greeted them in a welcoming tone of voice. "A second wave of Tyhrranoids just landed! They're attacking the compound from the other side. We could sure use your help!"
"You got it!" Ratchet confirmed.
"Just let me reload!" Twilight added.
"The dropship's equipped with an ammo synthesizer!" the Ranger pointed out. "You can reload between waves."
Twilight's grin made Clank a bit nervous.
The first assault wave was the Rangers own assault, driving back the Tyhrranoids who had already laid siege. As there weren't any crates to screw up the RY3NO's targeting system, Twilight was able to purge most of them with a few volleys. As others came as Tyhrranoid backup, she and Ratchet fought back to back against the oncoming waves, especially as the RY3NO proved especially effective against Noid dropships.
When a brief break in the battle allowed for a breather, Twilight and Ratchet both took the time to reload.
"Sarge!" a Ranger called out. "We've got aerial assault incoming!"
Grinning, Twilight hauled out some weaponry. "Get back by the gate for shelter, boys!" she ordered, tossing out some Megaturrets from the arsenal she brought from what Ratchet had acquired in Bogon. "You there!" she called, pointing to the most competent looking Ranger and tossing him the Plasma Coil. "Aim for saucers primarily!" She then tossed the Heavy Bouncer to the Ranger next to him. "You focus primarily on laser wielders and larger Noids. Let the Turrets and the mini-bouncers handle the Mininoids. Daddy and I will handle the dropships and any that are outside your range!"
"Sir yes Ma'am!" the Rangers barked, rushing to obey orders.
"And you said I was military," Ratchet teased.
"Hey, I was there for those lessons, too," Twilight replied, sticking out her tongue.
Twilight's strategy worked surprisingly well. With her focused on the dropships and Ratchet thinning the numbers, the Rangers were able to confidently use their borrowed weapons to take down any Noids that got close to them. Twilight's instructions in that regard also conserved ammunition.
Ratchet took control of the Turret to handle the next wave of dropships, while Twilight used her N60 Storm pistols to target the saucers that backed them up. However, the turret took damage during the assault, and needed to be repaired. Twilight used her RY3NO to cover them, and during the assault it upgraded to a V2.
When this happened, she began taking verbal notes to her holo-comp. "The Version 2 shows a marked improvement in damage output, and the increase to 12 missiles per shot greatly increases damage potential. The targeting bug mentioned before has not been corrected, and should certainly be addressed before any models hit the open market. However, the disintegration aspect of the missiles is quite impressive, and the change to energy based projectiles instead of physical ones allows for much greater versatility."
With her notes taken, she continued to obliterate the assaulting troops alongside Ratchet, protecting the repair crew.
When it came time to activate the automated turrets, Twilight's remote manipulation of her Omniwrench proved especially useful. Once all the turrets were active, the Noids were pushed back, making the Presidential Compound once more secure.
President Phyronix came out to thank them personally. "Agent Clank!" he said warmly, shaking Clank's hand. "Wow, you're even more impressive in person than you are on the holovid. And I must say, I've never seen a butler fight like you do, son." He shook Ratchet's hand as well.
Ratchet rolled his eyes. "Well, if I'm supposed to keep 'Sparks' out of trouble, I at least need to be able to keep up with her, right?"
"Too true," the President replied. "Speaking of, Sparks, what happened to your cybernetics?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow at Ratchet and Clank, having a hard time believing she was really being asked this. "...synthoskin," she replied finally. "For when I'm going incognito."
"Well it's damn good quality!" President Phyronix rubbed her cheek. "Feels just like the real deal!" He turned back to Ratchet and Clank, completely missing Twilight's facehoof. "Sasha's told me a lot about you, though." He leaned in close. "Don't get any ideas, kid. She is way out of your league." He missed another roll of Twilight's eyes. "Sasha filled me in on the Qwark situation. I'm told the man thinks he's a monkey?"
"He has lost his memory, sir," Clank explained.
"Well then you'll simply have to find it for him," the President replied.
"I don't suppose you have any suggestions on how to do that?" Twilight asked.
"I'm afraid not, but then again, I'm not a secret agent like Clank," he replied.
Twilight rolled her eyes. Typical politician, she thought to herself. Says "Do this" without bothering to think "how".
"My daughter tells me you're a man who's good with his hands, Ratchet," the President continued.
As Ratchet opened his mouth, Twilight kicked him in the shin before he could insert his foot.
"The city's laser shield went down during the attack, and we are defenseless without it," he continued. "I sent out a repairman to fix it, but he disappeared."
"We'll get the shields back online and find out what happened to him, sir!" Ratchet said quickly.
"Good on you, son! Do me proud!"
Arriving at the laser lab, the trio encountered a new Gadgetron product called a Refractor. "Apparently, this device generates a field that absorbs lasers and redirects them," Clank explained.
"Why does it have to be a gadget?" Twilight complained. "Why not make it an armor attachment that auto-refocuses the laser through line of sight on the helmet?"
Ratchet smirked. "Why not try it and see?"
Twilight's eyes gleamed, and she grinned widely.
Ten minutes later, Twilight had adapted the Refractor into two armor attachment gadgets. It reduced the maximum nanotech by 10%, but the refraction field was constantly generated, and would automatically redirect any laser impacts on line of sight from their helmets.
"Not bad, Twi!" Ratchet said proudly.
Twilight blushed happily, and then led the way through the laser lab.
With the two of them redirecting lasers together, they made it through to the end with ease. They found a surprising figure at the controls. "Al?" Twilight gasped in shock.
"Just a minute, Twilight!" Al called back. "I'm almost at a high score!"
"High score-" Ratchet blinked. "Is that...are you playing an interactive vid-comic on the city's laser defense grid?"
"Impressive, isn't it?" Al bragged. "I simply bypassed the security server with a 626 hex matrix adapter, and reprogrammed the graphic subprocessor."
"However," Clank pointed out, "it appears you have a feedback loop in the induction coils of your DB3 signal processor."
"What?" Al demanded. "Impossible!" He examined the codes and the controls. "I ran a recursive checksum on the signal matrix!"
"Did the recursive checksum take into account the power drain of an active bombardment?" Twilight asked. "Because Marcadia's presently under attack by the Tyhrranoids."
Al's eyes widened. "No, it hadn't taken that level of usage into account. Oh my goodness..." A few quick keystrokes and the city's defense grid was back online. "That was close."
Twilight took a closer look at the vid-comic. "Is...is this about Captain Qwark?"
"Indeed!" Al proclaimed. "It's the first of four issues of a historically accurate interactive graphic novel about Captain Qwark's rise to heroism!"
"That could be what we need to help him regain his memory!" Twilight said happily. "It's compatible with a VG-9000, so we could play it right in front of him!"
"If it'll help Captain Qwark, then take it with my compliments," Al replied, handing the vid-comic over to Twilight.
Taking it carefully, with Marcadia now safe, the trio returned to the Phoenix.
And the rabbit hole goes ever deeper with the president...
I'm not one for having the president of a nation being... delicately put, that incredibly naïve, but it makes for good comedy. Not discounting the gags the game itself had, either.
Chauffeur, not butler.
Check-run, not checksum. At least, that's what the subtitles said.
Why did you have Twilight interrupt Ratchets Foot-In-Mouth-Itis? That was one of the funniest things in the original games.
5930950
In the original, he was the chauffer. But in the recasting to include Twilight as 'Sparks', Ratchet was the clumsy but lovable butler/majordomo whose job was to drive Clank's car, keep his home clean, and keep 'Sparks' out of trouble. This change was covered in "Interlude: Stars and Stripes".
As for the other part...
Checksum - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/checksum?s=t
Check-run, however, does not exist as a term according to dictionary.com.
5930966
Because it's not so funny when it's your Daddy doing that.
5930970 True, it would be embarrassing.. I don't retract my statement though, it would still be funny.
there was not enough Al, I NEED MORE AL!!!
5930967 Again, check-run, technically being two words, is what came up in the subtitles.
5931038
Which doesn't necessarily mean it's accurate. I've seen several subtitle errors in official games. Checksum, however, is an actual technological term which fits the context of his statement...while a check-run is a term referring to "accounts payable", in accounting.
I'm wondering who is smarter... President Phyronix or President G.W. Bush???? Because honestly I can't tell
I hope to see more of Twilight's Feedback on the RY3NO as it upgrades.
"So..." Rachet just had to ask
"Yes?" Twilight asked while she tinkered with her armor
"Did you implant a tracking chip on him?"
"Of course I did, Captain Qwark is too much trouble to be left unsupervised. Plus he could get back his real memories any time and you do know how the real him is like. "
Another similarity between Ratchet and the Doctor: He was there at the fall of (M)arcadia.
Okay, here's a question, how exactly do you say RY3NO in conversation? Seems like something you'd bring up.
And really? How the heck did this guy become a politician when he can't tell the difference between a TV show and real life?
5931272 Can... Can I hug you?
>>Poisonjoker09 Simple, money greases palms, and stupidity keep them unaware.
5931732
Well, I suppose this will be a con to Twilight's little list, 'We're going to have him as a step dad/grandfather'
Minus 1000 points!
5930949
Have you played the game cause to put it lightly some extreme pandering to the populace is coming
Was that a Metal Gear reference?
Why do I get the feeling in this version of the games, Al is either related to, or is Discord?
5931649
Rye-No, pronouncing the 3 as an E.
And the same way Qwark became Galactic President between Crack in Time and All 4 One. Charisma.
5931814
Not to my knowledge.
5932044
I am quite sure Twilight has compilated a file with all the Captain misdeeds, and would be willing to make it public. So I don't see Quark becoming a president this time, unless is in a galaxy far away and Twi is really busy at the time.
*******
"Wow... the video about the 'Real Captain Quark' already got over five million views, and you uploaded it only ten minutes ago." Rachet said impressed
"Well, in this case Quark popularity worked against him, even if they take the video down in the next minute or two, I have uploaded copies to every site that would be interested in it, and sent higher quality versions to all news networks on this galaxy. Even if his campaign managers are able to discredit it, his popularity will take a severe hit. Hey Clank, how do you feel about being president?"
"WHAT?"
"Well, I needed a believable rival to beat him since I don't think the video alone will be enough. You're a hero, a TV star, and unlike me and daddy, you are popular with everyone, not an specific age or group. Plus being a Robot you bypass the age requirement."
Clank thought about it "Well, the last leaders and presidents we have meet were just morons with charisma, I guess I could do it better if I had help. But what about your and Rachet's public image?"
"We will deal with it, this is too important and I am tired of all high ranking political positions being filled by incompetent people. Plus we can always become your personal assistants, is not that different from the role we fill in the Tv show, so people will buy it."
"What? Are you really going to do it?" Rachet asked "This is insane, think about everything that could go wrong."
"We originally meet because an idiot with power was destroying planets, do you wanna risk another idiot becoming president?" Clank asked
"I... I can't honestly argue with that. And I guess being the president personal assistants will make however its targeting Lombaxs come out and face me, only we will be prepared and with a lot of resources."
5932454
One, you're assuming at that point that Twilight would want to stop Qwark becoming President.
Two, by that time the threat to the Lombaxes has already been dealt with.
5931748 Once, yes. Long ago.
I recently watched a playthrough of Up Your Arsenal to refresh my memory.
5932044
Wouldn't Ratchet respond like 'Wait, isn't that the name of the Ryno YOU made?'
I don't know, seems like in situations like this it's like everypony has fourth wall breaking abilities to check the spelling of it.
... Good Point.
5932751
No. She pronounced RYNO as 'Rhino'.
She pronounces RY3NO as 'Rye-no'. With more space before the N. It's pronunciation difference, but still obvious when speaking.
5932824
-_0 Really? And that extra space actually makes a difference? Alright, if you say so.
So yeah, nice set of series, I have to ask, if this hasn't been asked already, are all the mane 6 separate sets of universes? Or are all of them going to be badass and meet each other for a fight against supreme evil and blah blah blah...
5932836
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/TheInfiniteLoops
They are separate timelines. The discussed "My Little Pwny" will be a Fused Loop, as per the terms in that Wikipedia article.
5932892
Nice~
... My Little Pwny? I need to look into where that discussion is.
5933088
It's been mentioned on several of my blogs.
5933097
~Awesome.
I'll look into those.
5932892
Ah, a Loops fan! Good to see you enjoy our work. ^u^
5933485
Actually, not a fan. I encountered the term and liked the concept, but never read any of the stories.
The "Fused Loop" terminology is just the easiest way I've found to explain the planned Crossover-crossover, "My Little Pwny".
I fear for the structural integrity of Equestria once this Twilight returns.
Also, Twilight's habit of reverse-engineering devices into better and combined equipment remind me a bit of Alchemitizing from Homestuck. Is it something that happens in the games, or is it just another aspect of Twilight being awesome? Because it's really cool and kudos for having it.
5934478
It's a Twilight only thing.
Well that escalated quickly, with the ry3no and all......
in defense of the president ...
I would much rather have a superior give an order and expect me to find my own way to fulfill the order than one that give an order and follows around giving directions at each step micromanaging the whole process ...
QWAAAAARK! I mean, yes, he's not in this chapter, but it's because Al was playing his comic this all happened!
5933494 Oh... Well, we have pony loops if you want to take a look. Right here if you're interested.
I...I got to the end of the updates....
Is good but after the first mission and the return, It become a little confusing. Not sure why
5936220 AAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!
The RY3NO pic isn't working. Thought you ought to know.
7667847
Fixed.
7667916
Just as a heads up, the pic is down again
10094298
Fixed.