• Published 7th May 2016
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Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana - Blackdrag-rose



Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer grow up alongside Ratchet on Veldin, where they begin an epic journey to save the galaxy.

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Time: Torren IV

Clank and Sigmund made their way across a massive gap, by using a launch pad that happened to be located nearby, before landing on a platform and watched as the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler, or rather a different version of it, flew through the air and tore several pieces of the walkway apart. From what Clank was able to gather, based on what Nefarious and Lawrence had said when he woke up, the machine that was tearing apart the Great Clock was from another timeline, though Sigmund specified that by stating that it must have fallen through the time-space anomaly and continued whatever rampage it had been programmed to do. Clank determined that the Dimensionator, the weapon that they had recovered some time ago, was partly at fault for the anomaly existing, which Sigmund seemed to agree with, but that only made Clank worry about the large station they were in... especially if something like the Dimensionator could affect it.

He had to boost himself over the gap that the violent machine had created, while at the same time vowing to tear it apart the first chance it presented him with, before he landed on the other side of the walkway and had to boost up four more floating platforms so he could reach the door that Sigmund had brought him to. He arrived in time to hear the end of Sigmund scolding a computer for not opening the door, though once it was open he beckoned him inside... where he found two strangely colored panels on the floor.

"While you were unconscious Nefarious and I installed a quantum actuator into your systems," Sigmund explained, though he noticed the confused look Clank was giving him, "its allows you to create multiple images of yourself to get things done... here, I'll show you how to use it."

As it turned out Sigmund stood above the blue panel and initiated a 'temporal recording', which he stopped once he pressed the button that was behind him and 'ended' the recording. With a flash of light Sigmund was standing beside Clank again, though there was a blue colored Sigmund standing above the blue panel, to which the robot stood on the green one and started a second recording. This time both he and the blue recording moved at the same time, but while the blue one stopped on the button Sigmund continued towards the door and passed through it, calling out for Clank to give it a go. Clank, in turn, studied the puzzle that was laid out before him and repeated the process that Sigmund went through, allowing him to catch up to the Junior Caretaker.

"Excellent job sir," Sigmund said, to which beckoned to the next puzzle and explained that Clank could record over something he had already done before, though once he was done explaining he let Clank have a go at it.

A few seconds later Clank was walking through the door and Sigmund was praising his skills in adapting to a new environment, to which the Hypersonic weapon moved through the area and tore another structure apart... though they eventually passed through another door and came to a contraption that reminded Clank of the one he had woken up in.

"Where is Orvus?" Clank asked, knowing that the name meant something to Sigmund and the Zoni, so he assumed that he was a figure of importance that he needed to know about.

"He's in your head, of course!" Sigmund replied, though the way he said that made Clank wonder if that was the truth or if he was kidding, "Locked away in a secret partition in your memory banks! Nefarious has been trying to help you see him for the last few days, but he's run out of options and this is the only path that's available to you now. Now we need to deactivate your neural safeguards and send you into your own subconscious."

Clank nodded and hopped into the machine, where he sank down into his subconscious and found himself in a white space that appeared to be some sort of training area designed to help him understand the abilities that he had only begun to tap into while he and the others had been dealing with Tachyon. The image that appeared in front of him allowed him to see what Orvus looked like, while at the same time understanding that it wasn't the real Orvus, before he was given a golden scepter that had rotating rings at the top of it. His training consisted of throwing small balls of time energy to slow down a rotating ring, hitting things to restore them to their original condition, as well as some training in using the scepter as a weapon to 'lay the smack down' on a large group of Qwark clones.

After a few rounds of testing out the various combat applications that the scepter could go through, and receiving some praise from the image of Orvus, Clank was ejected from his own subconscious... where he acquired the actual scepter and made his way through the various puzzles that Sigmund brought him to.

Clank had to admit that the first few puzzles that he encountered were rather easy, though he expected as much and decided that this was to ease him into using the scepter and his new abilities. In between puzzles he spent some time repairing the broken pieces of the Great Clock, wherever he found them, as well as dealing with small creatures that apparently fed on quantum energy, meaning that they could eat his other selves during the puzzles. While he moved he marveled at the sight of the Great Clock, taking in everything that was around him while he wondered what Starlight and the others would make of it when, and if, they ever came here.

During their walk Clank decided to ask Sigmund about something that was bothering him, which was why Nefarious was here and why he was defending the Great Clock... especially when he was sure that the villain wanted to use it for his own goals.

"Oh, another version of Nefarious wants to use the Great Clock like that," Sigmund commented, waving his hand as the two of them moved forward, "but that version of him never had someone like the God of Destruction to put him straight. After seeing how much his stupidity annoyed the god that could obliterate him with a single word, like what happened to that nasty Gleemon Vox, Nefarious decided that working against her was a bad thing... so he decided to work with her."

"Wait, Nefarious knows where Sunset Shimmer is?" Clank asked, because out of everyone that could know where the missing god was located, the robot doctor was one he hadn't been expecting.

"Um... yes and no," Sigmund started to reply, though at the same time he spotted something moving towards them, to which he pointed at the robot that was causing chaos around the Great Clock, "Oh no, its the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler!"

Clank let out a sigh as he hurled one of the time bombs at the machine and slowed it down, to which he slammed the scepter into it and smashed several pieces of its circuitry, causing it to back off for a few seconds. It loosed a wave of energy that spawned more of the creatures that ate quantum energy, but they were easy to take care of as Clank tore more of the machine to pieces. The third time he delivered the same set of blows to the machine he caused the entire thing to shudder before it exploded, raining pieces down around them. He suspected that Nefarious would be pleased that the machine had been taken care of, though he knew the doctor would be busy tearing the time-space anomaly apart... thus he wouldn't know about the death of the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler until he was done with his own task.

With the machine defeated, and the Great Clock saved from its rampage, Clank and Sigmund continued on the path that Sigmund had created for them... though as they walked Clank had to wonder what his friends were up to at that exact moment.


Ratchet stretched as he, Starlight, Sunset, and Searing climbed out of Aphelion as they landed in the area known as Molonoth Fields, where they were supposed to find Alister Azimuth. As he and the others looked out at the area around them, and determined the best route for them to use, another ship entered the atmosphere and landed near them, to which they noticed Angela climb out of her ship. They had sent word to her and Talwyn that they were heading to the Vela Sector to search for a Lombax called Alister Azimuth, whose full name they had uncovered thanks to Aphelion. Angela had asked them to wait so she could join them, because he was apparently someone that she wanted to meet, which was understandable considering that he was a Lombax.

"Any idea where Alister is hiding?" Angela asked, though she took a moment to give Ratchet a hug, and a quick kiss on the cheek, before looking at the area around them.

"According to Qwark's information he's in Vulgram Pass," Starlight commented, pulling up her tablet for a moment, so she could view the message they had been sent while they were in the warp space, only to find that there was nothing different from when she last checked, "We should ask one of the locals where that is."

They moved towards the pieces of machinery that were laying nearby, creating a platform they could jump across to reach their next destination, before Ratchet moved a platform around so they could use a jump pad to get up onto the cliff above them. When they were on the cliff above their ships they noticed that one of the natives happened to be standing next to a jump pad, though the grey skinned person seemed to be collecting scraps before noticing that they were approaching him.

"Greetings outsiders," the person said, his voice sounding modified to be more like a robots, or maybe he was a robot that had been designed to look more humanoid, "what brings you to Molonoth?"

"We're looking for Vulgram Pass," Ratchet answered, though he had to wonder if the person would impede their progress or help them along in their mission to find Alister Azimuth.

"Vulgram Pass?" the person stated, as if he was verifying what they had said, before making up his mind about something, "Surely such peaceful adventurers such as yourselves has no business in such a dangerous place... but, if you insist, you may ask the Guardian for entrance to the Hollow. You can find further directions if you make it there."

Ratchet nodded and lowered the jump platform that was behind the person, to which he launched himself and Angela over to the other side, allowing Searing and Starlight to teleport as Sunset flew over to them. That was where they discovered that their new enemies were robots that had blades for hands, leading the group to wonder what their original purpose had been. They dismantled their opponents with their guns, or lightsaber in Angela's case, before they used the next launch pad to get them even closer to the Guardian that they had been told about.

After fighting their way through another trio of enemies they found a large metallic head, though it appeared to be empty on the inside while at the same time possessing the mechanics to be able to turn and speak to them.

"Halt, outsiders!" a voice called out, though as the head's mouth moved it became a little difficult to determine if it was remotely controlled or if it was an ancient machine that had been remade into what it was now, "What business have you in the Hollow?"

"We're looking for Vulgram Pass." Starlight answered, though at the same time she studied the machine in front of them as she attempted to determine how it worked.

"Volgrom Pass?" the head said, though its voice echoed for a moment, as if it was thinking about something, "Where the exile dwells? It is beyond this Hollow, but we do not grant entrance to outsiders. They must find it for themselves."

The entire group looked at each other as they shared a look, as they had known that it would have been too easy if the natives had simply handed over the information they needed, so they immediately started looking for an alternative path that they could use. As they followed the other path Starlight noticed a Zoni floating around in front of them, though the moment it noticed her it flew over to the vessel she was carrying and entered it without delay. After that they had to go through a short obstacle course, which was really just a grind rail that brought them to a launch pad, which in turn launched them through the large head.

It was there that they found another one of the natives waiting for them, though this time the person they encountered seemed pleased to see that they had succeeded in part of their mission.

"Welcome outsiders," the person said, though at the same time he sounded a little sorry for what he had done, "I apologize for the ruse, but we like to keep our operations away from the prying eyes of galactic authorities. Come, you have proven yourselves worthy."

Angela looked annoyed by the statement, because in both the Solana and Bogon Galaxies a Jedi Knight was one of the variations of a galactic authority, though it appeared that either the race that they were dealing with didn't know that fact or they didn't consider Jedi to be authorities at all. For a moment Ratchet thought that Angela was going to do something drastic, but then she let out a sigh and shook her head before they followed the person to the entrance of the Hollow. As they passed through the opening they noticed a small red robot, with a plug at the top of its head, wandering around, to which Starlight grabbed it with her magic and reattached it to the outlet that was on the wall to their left... allowing the door in front of them to open and reveal the Hollow to them.

That was when the group found that the 'battery bots', as that was what the small red robots were called, were apparently revolting against the people that could show them to Vulgram Pass. After agreeing to gather the bots and return them to their sockets, in exchange for gaining access to the part of the Hollow that they needed to visit, Ratchet and Starlight purchased the Dynamo of Doom before the group separated from each other. Starlight moved to the right of the entrance and grabbed the battery bot that happened to be in front of her, to which she inserted it into its socket so she could find a second one and powered up the compactor... though once that was done she engaged her magic and teleported back to the main area of the Hollow to avoid being hurt.

Ratchet continued past where Starlight went and threw a second battery bot, which happened to be near the one that Starlight had grabbed, into the socket that was across from where they were standing, allowing a bridge to extend and connect to where he was standing. He then crossed over the bridge and searched for the next battery bot he needed to find, though at the same time he found a modification for the pistol that he and the others were carrying, before he found the bot he was searching for past some shredder blades and threw it into the necessary socket. Angela and Searing jumped up some platforms that occasionally shot out fire, though they arrived at an area that had flames jumping out of the ground... but after a second Searing grabbed the battery bot with her magic and sent it flying into its slot, powering up the final piece of machinery that opened the way to Vulgram Pass.

As they gathered together again they noticed that Sunset was missing, though before anyone could ask where she had gone one of the natives pointed at the top of the passage they needed to travel through... to which they passed through some compactors and used a jump pad to arrive in an area with cut up robots like the ones they had encountered outside the Hollow. They followed the trail of robotic parts that eventually brought them to where Sunset was standing, but as they opened their mouths to ask why she had gone ahead they noticed what she was looking at. The entrance to Vulgram Pass was odd, because on the side where Alister was located the entire area seemed to be shrouded in night, while on the other side it was as clear as day... leading Starlight to assume that they had found another creature that possessed unique powers.

"I've had it with these unnatural creatures," Angela growled, though at the same time her eyes glanced around the area and searched for whatever creature they were dealing with, "Yes, their powers make things more interesting, but at the same time we can only fight them so many times before they overstay their welcome."

"Come out demons!" a male voice called out, to which the group turned towards the head of another robot and watched as a male Lombax, one that was much older than Ratchet and had a white coat with red stripes, walked out of what was apparently his home and stared up at the sky above them, "Which one of you wants to be blown into pieces? Despair? Doubt? How about both!? I've got enough bombs to tear the both of you down!"

Ratchet and the group watched as two shadowy creatures, reminding him of the wraith that had called itself Fear, materialized out of the shadows that existed around the area, though they seemed to be focused on the Lombax and not on anyone else. One of the wraiths, the dark grey one, seemed to be staring into the Lombax's heart, as if it was searching for something, though it didn't appear that it had any weapons to speak of. The second wraith, wearing a normal grey colored robe, seemed to have two small sickles in its hands, though as it pointed one at the Lombax, and the first wraith looked up, Ratchet could have sworn that his doubts and despairs rose to the surface... forcing him, and everyone else, to their knees as they watched what was going on.

Oddly enough neither Sunset or Searing seemed effected by whatever the two wraiths were doing... and, when Ratchet looked closely, the Lombax seemed to be in the same state as them, as he didn't seem to be weighed down at the moment.

"See? I've become immune to your abilities!" the Lombax shouted, swinging some sort of wrench around in his right hand as he pulled out what appeared to be a set of bombs, "I've also had enough of your games... I'm going to finish the two of you off right here and now!"

With that said the Lombax threw the set of bombs into the air and sent them flying at the two wraiths, though as they expanded into their explosive form they struck some sort of shield and detonated upon impact.

"You overstep yourself, Lombax." the dark grey wraith said, though while Ratchet was sure that the wraith's voice sounded like a stretched out version of Sunset's it also sounded a little sad, causing him to wonder if it was the one called Doubt, "There is no hope for you... not when we use our full power against you."

"But please, do allow despair and doubt to overpower you," the second wraith said, to which it and Doubt raised their hands back towards the sky for a moment, "we'll hurt you now, to teach you a lesson, but in the future we'll drain the good out of you until your nothing more than a husk... and then we'll ravage the worlds until we rescue our leader, the Wraith-Queen of Reepor."

Searing, somehow sensing what was coming, wrapped her magic around Sunset, Starlight, and herself for a few seconds before teleporting them in front of the Lombax as the two wraiths released whatever they were doing, sending a wave of dark energy at them. Starlight and Searing, who seemed to know what was heading in their direction, allowed the magic to course between the three of them before the two unicorns summoned a shield in front of them and the Lombax. The attack struck the shield a moment later and forced them to take a step back, but then Starlight ignited her magic and the shield really sprung to life, repelling the attack with enough force to send it right back at the wraiths... who barely avoided being hit by the attack.

"There is no hope for us now," Doubt said, the top of her hood turning towards Despair, as if the sickle carrying wraith was the one in charge, "come sister, let us withdraw before they obliterate us as well."

"You win for now, Alister Azimuth," Despair stated, though her hood was turned in the direction of the three ponies that were standing in front of the Lombax, "but next time we meet you won't have these three to come defend you... and then we shall determine your fate at that time."

The two wraiths surged into the middle of the dark sky and disappeared into the shadows that they had appeared from, though as they disappeared whatever magic they had used on the area seemed to break as the sky returned to normal. Starlight sighed as she and Searing cancelled the shield spell that they had summoned, because now that they had found two more creatures, with abilities that reminded her of the other strange enemies they had encountered, she had hoped that they could end this in one go... but they were going to have to wait for another day to do that.

"I thank you for your timely assistance," the Lombax, Alister Azimuth, said, causing the trio to turn towards him, "With everything those two have been throwing at me for the last five months, and all the illusions they have been using, I would normally suspect that you were figments of my imagination... but none of them have ever bothered to step in and save me like that. The Vullards have shared stories with me whenever I visit the Hollow for supplies, and one of them spoke about the death of another wraith creature..."

"One called the Witch-Queen of Reepor?" Ratchet finished, just as he and Angela finished using the grind rail to reach where they were standing, while at the same time causing Alister to look back for a moment.

"Wait, those eyes... your Kaden's son! And you... your Lorna's daughter!" Alister said, staring at the two other Lombaxes for a moment, as if he was in total shock, before he brought his left hand above his chest and knelt before them for a few seconds, "I am General Alister Azimuth, Four-Bolt Magistrate of the Lombax Praetorian Guard and Elder Councilman for the Center for Advanced Lombax Research. And the two of you look so much like your parents."

Ratchet and Angela shared a look with each other, wondering how best to approach the introductions, before they let out a small sigh and decided to get it over with.

"I'm Ratchet Cross, Hero of both the Solana and Bogon Galaxies... though that includes the Polaris Galaxy now that I think about it," Ratchet replied, rubbing the back of his head for a moment.

"And I am his wife, Angela Cross," Angela said, offering Alister a smile as he stood back up, "I am also one of the highest ranking Jedi Knights for the Solana Branch of the Jedi Order."

"I am Ratchet's sister, Starlight Glimmer," Starlight added, causing Alister to turn towards her, Searing, and Sunset for a second, "I work for Gadgetron, making weapons of every grade imaginable... though I'm mostly famous for making the first variation of the RYNO weapon, as well as helping save the galaxies several times. These are our friends Searing Flame and Sunset Glider, who helped us save the galaxy a few days ago by stopping someone from using the Dimensionator to detonate a planet and wipe out all of existence."

Alister looked at all five of them for a moment, as if he was somewhat shocked by what they had told him already, before he let out a sigh and tapped his wrench on the platform they were standing on.

"I can see that some explanation is needed so I can understand everything that your telling me," Alister said, to which he beckoned them to follow him inside the robot's head, "I'm going to brew us up some tea and grab something that we can snack on... because I have the feeling that this is going to take some time for us to go over."

Ratchet smiled as they followed Alister inside his home, because he had assumed that they were going to have to fight him in some manner for him to understand that he and Angela were real Lombaxes, but he was pleased to discover that they wouldn't have to do that. Perhaps fate was telling them that good things were coming their way... and Ratchet hoped that his feelings were correct in that regard, because he wanted to find Clank as soon as possible. Once they had rescued Clank, and had stopped the villains in this sector from whatever they were planning, they had agreed to resume the search for their sister, Sunset Shimmer.

Ratchet only hoped that his sister was okay... wherever she was in the vast amount of stars that rested across the universe.

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