Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana

by Blackdrag-rose

R/C: Umbris

"I can't believe that we're going to visit Captain Qwark's personal training grounds and join him in his quest to stop Chairman Drek!" Starligt excitedly said, staring down at her RYNO as their ship made its way towards Planet Umbris, "We're going to be made into heroes and save the galaxy!"

"This is going to be great," Ratchet commented, clearly excited as well, though he kept himself in check as he flew the ship, "We'll run his course, pass whatever trails he has to throw at us, and then start planning our first step in the campaign to stop the destruction of the galaxy. The people back on Veldin are going to be so proud of us when we return to them... once Drek has been dealt with."

Sunset, on the other hand, wasn't saying much about the 'mission' that Captain Qwark had told Ratchet about, as she was reviewing the RYNO holo-plan, by Starlight's request. Her sister wanted her help in completing the weapon, as there were a few problems with the prototype that the Blarg had made and it was taking her longer to fix them... to which Sunset had been brought in to help repair it. She honestly had no idea what Starlight was expecting, as she didn't have a lot of training in the weapon faction of Gadgetron, but decided to help her sister out in the end. She was, however, grateful that Starlight was willing to give her a crash course in the companies guidelines on weapons, as it gave her the ability to understand the holo-plan better.

All she could say was that her sister was definitely skilled when it came to designing weapons, because the more she looked at the plans the more she realized how dangerous her sister's weapons were... and this was only the beginning of her career. She dreaded to wonder what else her sister was capable of creating, but knew that, at some point in the future, she would truly find out what weapons of destruction her sister was capable of designing.

Clank, likewise, remained silent, but considering that he had nothing else to do but start the ship so Ratchet could fly it, he found himself thinking about everything he had already seen from his companions... and that included the weapon that was being repaired in the seat behind him. He was impressed by how well his three companions worked together, though that was understandable considering that they had grown up together, and he was somewhat amazed by how well they could take out a group of enemies with their weapons. Starlight's ability to make weapons, and powerful ones like the RYNO, unnerved him and made him wonder what her limit was... or if she had a limit to begin with. Ratchet was great in combat with that wrench of his, though that wasn't taking into account the weapons that he purchased from the vendors and how quickly he switched them, depending on what enemies he was facing.

When Clank thought about Sunset, on the other hand, he realized that there wasn't much difference between her and Ratchet, save for the strange golden bracelet she was always wearing. He had scanned it the first time he had laid eyes on it, interested as to what gadget the Cazar had created for herself, but even as he studied the bracelet he came to the conclusion that it wasn't a gadget at all. As far as he could tell the bracelet was basically solid gold, though what he found interesting was that his scans indicated that there was some sort of energy matrix residing inside the bracelet... one that he was sure that Sunset was unaware of. He couldn't get any closer to the matrix without telling Sunset of its existence, so all he could do was wonder what the bracelet was supposed to do.

Clank did know that one day he and the others would know what the bracelet's function was, though he had the feeling that it was going to be something that none of them would be expecting.

---------------------------

As their ship flew down to the landing pad on Planet Umbris, which was located on a small island that was close to the citadel they had seen in the Infobot, Sunset and her siblings got their first look at the training grounds that Captain Qwark claimed to use for his personal training. From what they could see from the air they determined that there were a lot of turrets, wandering mines, and other hazards that were waiting for someone to come their way. Ratchet and Starlight were eager to start their trial, where Clank wasn't quite as eager to run through all the hazards that were between them and the end. Sunset, on the other hand, counted all of the various hazards that they could see in her head... until she came to the conclusion that this was more of a death course than a training ground.

Once their ship landed on the landing pad Clank powered off the ship and the four of them climbed out of their seats, but before any of them could do anything they found Captain Qwark riding a helicopter above their heads... though it appeared that he was carrying a megaphone of some kind.

"Welcome to my challenge course," the Captain called down to them, to which the four of them looked up at him, "Now is your chance to prove yourselves strong and brave, like me!" There was a pause as he chuckled for a moment, before continuing with his speech. "Conquer it, and you'll join me in my fight against evil!"

"Haven't we done enough already?" Ratchet loudly replied, wondering if there was a chance that they might be able to get around the course and get to planning their fight against Drek.

"What? I can't hear you!" Qwark called down to them, pretending that the noise from his helicopter was preventing him from hearing anything that they said.

As Ratchet tried again in vain the Captain proclaimed that they should tell him whatever they were saying later on, to which Ratchet roared that they could be dead by then. As Qwark flew towards the citadel in the middle of the entire course, where they all agreed that he would be waiting for their arrival, they turned towards the weapon vendor and restocked on their ammo. Once their weapons were at the ready, and Clank had taken his place on Ratchet's back, they moved forward and activated the Swingshot targets that allowed them to travel down to the beginning of the training course.

The first thing that they came across was a bomb dispenser, where the head of the machine spun around in a perfect circle and threw out bombs in a predetermined area. They pulled out their blasters and each put a shot in the machine, causing it to explode and open the way for them to move on through the course, where they crossed a bridge and took out a second dispenser. There were a few floating mines blocking their way, but with some well placed shots the three of them removed the floating spheres and moved onto the turret that rested before a few ledges. Clank suggested that to Sunset that she should use her hoverboard to get passed the turret and take it out, but instead she merely ran at the turret, leapt over everything it threw at her, and put a shot in its head to deactivate it.

They circled around the ledge, being careful to take care of the mine that was lurking near a tree, before they came across a second bridge, but unlike the previous one this one happened to have a set of mines moving in a set path around it. The three of them lifted their blasters and took turns shooting at the mines, eventually destroying all of them and allowing them to move to the other side of the bridge. They also removed the duo of dispensers that stood in their path, allowing them to move up the stairs that they had been guarding, where they found two more mines floating in the air. The mines were quickly removed before they turned their blasters on the third bridge in front of them, where they shot down every mine that had been floating around the bridge.

Once they crossed the bridge they found a trio of buttons waiting on the ground, so each of them stood on one of the buttons and the gate in front of them opened before their eyes, revealing an area that had four more dispensers waiting for them. Ratchet moaned a little bit, but leveled his blaster with one of the dispensers and took it out, while Starlight and Sunset aided him in taking out the other three. With the dispensers taken care of they each stood on another button, though these ones were spread out from the others, before the second gate opened and allowed them to cross two more bridges. Ratchet went first, crossing over them and trying to keep them intact as certain sections fell into the murky water below, though once he was across he realized that there wasn't a way for Sunset or Starlight to cross.

As he started to shout at them he watched as Starlight fashioned her own bridge, to which she and Sunset crossed over the gaps in the original bridges until they were standing beside him once more.

The next area they found themselves in appeared to be a medium sized ledge that had a maze of barbed wire, which had only one way forward, and a turret at the end that was shooting in a wide swipe like motion. The three of them followed the path that was open for them, collecting whatever bolts just happened to resting on the ground, before Starlight reached the end and took out the turret, giving her siblings an easier time getting to the end. Once the three of them were together again they engaged their Swingshots and swung over to a much smaller ledge, before activating a second target and swinging over to a long bridge.

Before they moved into the next area, however, Clank had them wait a moment before they went charging in blind, where he detached from Ratchet's back for a moment.

"What's up Clank?" Ratchet asked, curious as to what his robotic companion wanted from them, though it gave them a slight break before they continued Qwark's trial.

"These green buttons seem to placed as a trio," Clank replied, referring to the buttons that Ratchet, Starlight, and Sunset had stood on to open the gates, "and it appears that there's another trio of them somewhere in this area. My suggestion is that the three of you go into this area and find the buttons, but when you do one of you would stay behind to make sure that its active until the gate is open. Once that gate is open I'll pull out the flare gun I found earlier and signal for all of you to return to this position, so that we can all move into the citadel together."

"Where did you find a flare gun?" Ratchet inquired, finding no reason to object to the plan, though he was curious about one thing that his companion had mentioned.

"In the ship we borrowed," Clank replied, pulling out the small flare in question, "I had a feeling that we'd need it during the trial and it appears that I was correct in my assumptions."

Ratchet nodded before he and his sisters ventured into the next area, though as they approached the first turret that was shooting at the wall they found that it was protecting one of the buttons they needed to press. Sunset took the turret out and stood on the button, allowing her siblings to move around and find the remaining two buttons that would allow them to enter the citadel's lower area. Starlight spotted the second button literally around the corner from where Sunset was standing, though Ratchet, on the other hand, moved towards the end of the ledge they were wandering around and found it near the wall. A few seconds passed before the flare burst into the sky, to which they gathered near Clank and, once he was attached to Ratchet's back, they advanced into the citadel.

They walked up the small set of stairs that happened to behind the gate they had opened, but at the top they found two groups of floating mines blocking their way, to which their blasters popped out and they started firing at their targets. Once the mines had been taken care of they separated from each other once more and pressed the buttons around the floor, opening another gate that rested beside the golden statue of Captain Qwark. Instead of a traditional staircase they found a ladder that stretched all the way to another area of the citadel, so Ratchet sighed and started climbing until he reached the very top, where Sunset followed suit until she was standing beside him. Starlight, on the other hand, used her magic to create a magical elevator and traveled up the length of the ladder until she was at the top, to which she leapt off of it and landed beside her siblings.

In front of them, however, happened to be a large pool of water that had at least two large sharks swimming around in it, to which Sunset wondered how they would get through this obstacle.

"Ratchet, I believe that we can use the Hydrodisplacer here," Starlight commented, pointing a hoof at what appeared to be a pipe in the floor, one that looked like the pipes that interacted with the gadget.

Ratchet grinned and pulled out the gadget in question, to which he interacted with the interface and drained the pool of all its water, leaving the sharks to try and move around. Once the water was gone they descended into the empty pool and smacked the sharks with their weapons, ending their misery before moving through a pipe and walking up a decent sized pair of steps. They took a moment to walk around the railing before they found a second Hydrodisplacer interface, but before Ratchet emptied the water inside the gadget into the pool Starlight ignited her horn and took down the two sharks that were waiting for them. The moment the sharks were taken care of, and the water was stored in the pool, they swam across the gap and came to another walkway that had yet another interface for them to use.

When the next pool was drained the three of them dropped into the area the water used to reside in, to which they pulled out their blasters and took out every shark that happened to be waiting for them, making sure to collect the bolts along the way. Once they were sure that there were no more sharks left, which wasn't hard to figure out, Ratchet returned to the interface while Starlight and Sunset remained near the ledge that would allow them to move deeper into the citadel. In seconds the water was back where it belonged, to which Ratchet dived under the water and, after a few moments of swimming underwater, he emerged near where his sisters were waiting and climbed out of the water.

They found another interface and Ratchet lowered the water level, making it safe for the three of them to use the Swingshot targets that happened to be resting above the water. Once they had crossed the gap they found another area, one that was larger than the previous one, that was void of water and had what appeared to be five or six of the sharks moving around. In the middle of the chamber was a pillar of sorts, though at the top of it was a trio of buttons that only required one of them to activate them all so they could move on.

"Okay, I'm getting tired of this," Starlight moaned, her horn glowing as she formed a magical bridge connecting where they were standing to the pillar.

Neither Ratchet or Sunset complained about what their sister was doing, as it allowed them to cross to the middle of the area and open the door in front of them, before Starlight swung the bridge around and let them cross to the open door. They moved through a tunnel for a minute or two, breaking open the nearby crates and collecting the bolts or ammo that they dropped, before coming to an area that had a walkway that ended with Captain Qwark standing in the middle of a circle. They silently approached the Captain, three of them eager to begin their work on bringing an end to Chairman Drek's schemes while one, on the other hand, worried that they were walking into something dangerous.

"Well, well, the four of you continue to surprise me." the Captain said, leaping back onto a floating platform before beckoning to the circle he had been standing on, "Step into the Ring of Heroes and I will finally give you what you deserve."

Clank immediately detached from Ratchet's back and moved into the circle, before he turned back to his companions and beckoned them to join him.

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Orvus watched the scene that was unfolding from the Great Clock, though he hated what his eyes were showing him because he knew what could happen. He knew that Captain Qwark was a clever person at times, so much so that if he chose to convince the heroes to join him he might actually get them to join with Chairman Drek and his crazy plans. There was also the chance that Qwark could accidentally turn the three of them into a group of mercenaries that didn't care who they worked for so long as they got paid, but that, too, would result in disaster. His favorite future, the one that Sigmund agreed was the one they desperately wanted to happen, was where the three siblings and Clank became the greatest heroes throughout the universe.

The only common similarity between those three possible futures, and he was sure there were only three because he had constantly checked his readings before the group had reached Umbris, was the creature that was created in the heart of this planet... one whose creation he would forever blame on the chaotic being he had sent back to its own plane of existence. No matter what future Qwark chose for the heroes, be it the good future or one of the bad futures, the creature would be born regardless of his decision. All Orvus and Sigmund could do was watch the event unfold and reveal which future the universe would be heading towards... without bothering to have their usual snacks while the future unfolded.

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Starlight and Ratchet happily joined Clank in the Ring of Heroes, but Sunset stared at the Captain for a moment and continued to wonder if there was something else that was going on. As she looked at him, however, she noticed that a brief look of agony flashed on the Captain's face before disappearing, though she was positive that she had seen it. Her siblings turned towards her and started encouraging her to join them, mentioning that they could begin planning the moment they were all deemed heroes by the Captain. She sighed and joined her family, but while she did so she made sure to keep her eyes on Qwark... just to be sure that there wasn't something that she had overlooked.

A few seconds passed before Qwark's hands moved behind his back, though not an instant later the floor beneath their feet gave out and the four of them fell into the pit below them. Starlight, thinking fast while falling, cast a quick spell that slowed their falling speed, allowing the four of them to safely land on the ground and stare up at the Captain, whose platform lowered down into the pit as well.

"Why did you drop us in here?" Starlight shouted, glaring up at Qwark for a moment, silently wondering if they had been lured to their deaths by the galaxy's own superhero.

"I'm the spokesman for Drek's new planet," Qwark explained, to which the four of them shared a look of disbelief at the revealed news, as if none of them believed that it was true, "That means, among other things, I have to stop anything getting in the way of the planet being completed. When the four of you left Veldin I saw greatness in all of you, though I knew that potential would be wasted if one of Drek's soldiers took you down before you reached me. I was ordered to get rid of the lot of you, but after everything I have seen I've decided that it would be a benefit to the cause if you joined us and helped me restore order to the planets of this galaxy... after Drek is finished with them. He gets to build his planet and we become the greatest group of heroes that the galaxy has ever known!"

"So we either join Chairman Drek and betray the entire galaxy, or say no and what?" Sunset fired back, curious as to what the Captain could do when there were three of them and only one of him, "You'll keep us down here until we change our minds?"

"Considering that I actually don't want to hurt you, keeping you down here would be the best course of action," the Captain agreed, though his expression turned serious for a moment, "Chairman Drek might ask for some serious decisions and the destruction of a few organizations that still oppose him, one of which is the company that supplies weapons to all of his enemies, but I'm sure that we can..."

"NO DEAL!" Starlight roared, pulling the completely fixed RYNO out of her stash and pointing it right at the Captain, though as her magic gathered around her all of her weapons seemed to pull themselves out of where she kept them, "I will not betray the galaxy and join the person who seeks to bring an end to everything... nor will I turn my back on Gadgetron and destroy them because someone asked me to do so. Now that you know our answer I have an offer for you; either surrender yourself peacefully and receive your punishment by the proper authorities, or decline and receive advanced punishment by method of a barrage of weapon attacks combined with a RYNO charge."

Sunset had seen what her sister was capable of threatening when she was angry, thanks to the shady salesman back in Blackwater City, so this wasn't new for her or Ratchet, but as she glanced at her sister she noticed something different. A dark purple mist was rolling out of her eyes, something that she assumed had to be magical in origin and started to make her worry that something had changed in her sister. She was also worried by the fact that her sister's magic was lingering in the air all around them, as if it was waiting for something else to happen.

"Then I guess I have no choice," Qwark said, his platform rising into the air as a massive cage door opened on the other side of the cavern, "this Blargian Snagglebeast should be enough to keep you entertained until Chairman Drek is done with his plans. I'll be back when that time comes, so don't die while I'm gone."

Before Starlight could fire on the Captain, and drop him into the cavern so she could punish him, the platform took his well out of her range, forcing her to turn her attention to the approaching enemy. It was the massive creature that she and her siblings had seen in the Infobot that had taken them to visit Big Al, though this time it seemed more annoyed than it was in the commercial. It reached for the person that was closest to it, which ended up being Sunset, but Starlight noticed that if she fired the missile her sister would still get hurt by the creature. She made a split decision and threw up a barrier spell around her sister, but before she could level the RYNO with the Snagglebeast the creature grabbed the small shield and picked it up... with Sunset inside it.

Though as Ratchet watched the event play out he noticed something odder than the weird mist rolling off Starlight's eyes... there was a faint glow around Sunset's golden bracelet, almost as if it was reacting to Starlight's magic.

"Starlight! Ratchet!" Sunset shouted, glancing at her siblings for a brief second, seemingly unaware to the change in her bracelet, "A little help would be appreciated!"

Ratchet snapped out of his standby mode and pulled out several minion spheres, to which his robotic minions raced across the ground and attacked the Snagglebeast's feet. While he did that he pulled out his blaster and started shooting at the creature, though he did notice that Starlight was priming the RYNO this time, though her other weapons provided Ratchet with some aid as she readied her massive gun. The Snagglebeast, somehow sensing that Starlight was the main threat, turned towards her for a moment as she released the button, loosing a wave of nine missiles that surged through the air and barreled into the creature's chest. The nine missiles pushed the creature back until they were all gone, though as the beast staggered before their eyes Starlight knew that the power had taken the creature down in an instant.

As the creature fell to the ground its hands closed, crushing the sphere that Sunset had been inside, but before either Ratchet or Starlight could say anything there was a flash of light beside Starlight and Sunset appeared, as if she had warped from one place to another.

"What... just happened?" Ratchet asked, wondering how Sunset could have teleported from one spot to another, without having any sort of magical abilities.

"I... I don't know," Sunset admitted, staring down at her bracelet for a moment, watching the glow disappear while she wondered if it had something to do with what had happened, "but I'm glad that whatever happened had worked."

"I'm tired, angry, and confused," Starlight moaned, laying on the ground for a moment after placing the RYNO next to her, "let's take a break before we bother with finding a way out of here... though if that fails I could always build a way out for us."

Ratchet let out a chuckle as he sat down near his sisters, as he was merely happy that they both had emerged from the ordeal as the same people they had been before Qwark had revealed his hand. The strange mist that had been lingering around Starlight's eyes was gone now, though the same could be said for the strange glow that had overtaken Sunset's bracelet for a moment. He briefly wondered if Starlight had attached some of her magic to the bracelet during the creation of the sphere that had surrounded Sunset, so she could pulled their sister over to them if something bad happened, but when he looked at Starlight's expression he knew that his idea wasn't correct.

Something strange had happened when the Snagglebeast crushed the sphere, but they were all tired from their journey through Qwark's death course and needed a short break before deciding what to do next.

-------------

Orvus moaned as he watched the screen in front of him, pulling up two smaller screens that had points of interest he had noticed while Qwark had betrayed the heroes. The screen on the left had the image of Starlight's dark and sinister mist that had begun to emit from her eyes, though that was already gone at this point. The other screen had a brief image of Sunset's own eyes, where he had noticed the color had changed to golden for a moment, though it was a sinister gold color. A nightmare had been born in the heart of Umbris, as he knew that was going to happen regardless, but the problem he now faced was trying to figure out which of the two sisters had the creature he had caught a glimpse of.

With how hard it was to actually determine the future these days he knew that he had no choice but to watch from the Great Clock and see what the future had for them... though he dreaded to wonder if two nightmares had been created in the heart of Umbris, a thought that made him shiver slightly. He only prayed that one nightmare had been created... though he knew that he would eventually find out as the three of them continued their adventure to stop Chairman Drek.

Comments

[Aria Blitz]

I think its safe to assume that Sunset's bracelet reacted with Starlight's magic, pulling her out of the shield s[here and dropping her near her sister.

Though Orvus does raise a valid point about there being the possibility of two nightmare creatures; Starlight's misty eyes are a sign of Dark Magic, which is usually brought on by powerful emotions such as anger. Sunset, on the other hand... I wonder if that's the look of a hollow she had for a moment.

[Night_Moon60606]

how well the three of his companions

how well his three companions

going to be something that none of the would be expecting.

going to be something that none of them would be expecting.

dark and sinister mist that had begun to admit from her eyes

dark and sinister mist that had begun to emit from her eyes

[Blackdrag-rose]

7264474 I appreciate you finding those errors and showing them to me.

[Night_Moon60606]

7265530 u r welcome

[Sonata Blaze]

7265540 I only just got around to reading the story and noticed two of the errors that you noticed. Good on you for finding them.

[Sonata Blaze]

7264070 Oh dear... so we're got the potential for a dark magic creature AND a hollow running around in this story?
Oh dear... Chairman Drek is so screwed when the end of the first game comes around.

[Night_Moon60606]

7265552 i was taking note as i was reading, had a word doc up and everything...

[Sonata Blaze]

7265567 Ah, nice. Though after this chapter I'm more excited to see what's coming.

[Vigilant of Stendarr]

So Qwark has made his move and we've got something happening with both of Ratchet's sisters... things should be getting much more interesting once they leave Umbris.

[Fluttershyfan30]

oh no Starlight got the Sombra eyes. I'm genuinely scared for both Sunset and Starlight now. I hope Ratchet finds a way to temper both his sisters. because right now he might be the only one to save them from themselves when the time comes