• Published 28th Oct 2021
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Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes - Blackdrag-rose



Starswirl and Autumn Blaze grow up on Veldin with a Lombax called Ratchet, where they'll begin an epic journey to save their galaxy from the dangers that plague it, unaware of the dangers that exist in their universe.

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All 4 One: Octonok Cay

Following their departure from the N.E.S.T. Autumn found another of the holo-diaries they were collecting, the first one out of the set according to what it told them, and they discovered something interesting, that all of the creatures were like a rite of passage for the people of Magnus, in a fascinating way. It appeared that the critters in question were able to enrich, inspire, and motivate them through a bond that no one understood, or even attempted to understand, at least until a pair of figures dared to do just that. Sure enough Autumn, Starswirl, Qwark, and Virtuous figured out that Croid and Nevo were the ones in question and the pair used a number of devices, which were left unnamed in the diary, to study the connection, and in an interesting twist Croid's companion, a fox or cat creature called Mr. Dinkles, amplified his talents as a paradoxologist.
Qwark decided not to ask as they learned that the companion creatures had some sort of energy inside them that had to be what Croid and Nevo had been studying, in fact Nevo was the one who apparently came up with the idea to extract that very energy from it's host, which was where the video ended as Autumn put the diary away for later.

"This 'Master' that Spog mentioned must be some sort of energy creature... whether it's the energy of the critters or one that was drawn in because of the experiments, I don't know." Starswirl commented, something that caused Autumn to nod her head as Virtuous considered what they had just learned, even though Cronk and Zephyr had no information on Magnus' critters to confirm or deny their findings.

"If we're right, this won't be an easy fight for us, especially if it has the power to possess bodies." Autumn added, where it was far too easy for the others to understand her statement, she was referring to herself and Starswirl, which would spell disaster for the entire universe if either of them were possessed, before she sighed, "We'll have to gain more information before worrying about the Master... let's find the Architect and see if we can't get any information out of him."

Cronk and Zephyr did have some information to share with them, as the information Spog gave them had to be pointing to Terawatt Forest, which is where they assumed they would be able to find the Architect, of that Autumn and the others agreed with, given the information that had been discovered so far. In addition to that the warbots informed them that they were heading to Octonok Cay, a coastal region that was no doubt either being wrecked by the new creatures or might be in the near future, but from the ruined state they could see from afar it seemed like it was too late to do anything for this place. Once the platform reached the end of it's rail, at the edge of the ruined city, the group had a chance to add yet another weapon to their arsenal, the OmegaTech Frost Cannon, which turned enemies to ice and was incredibly powerful when more were combined on a single target. With the weapon added to their arsenal the group got started and headed down the path in front of them, a combination of wooden piers and large stones, including large turtles of some kind that didn't seem annoyed by anyone jumping on their shells.

The first foe of this place happened to be some sort of fish creature that had a powerful looking beak, though they were able to take care of them with ease, but from what they could tell it looked like the minions had cleared out after bringing a new creature to this place, so their main foe would be in the dark for some time. After clearing out the group of enemies they discovered what appeared to be a metallic water buoy, a sonic pylon that would summon tortemoths, which were the passive creatures they used the shell of earlier, for them to stand on for a time. As such they were able to use a pair of Swingshots to access another pier, collecting more Bolts and critters for later, before discovering some blue blob critters called Slorgs, electric beings that were more dangerous than the smaller ones they had taken care of earlier, though the new weapon proved to be the best countermeasure against them. The only interesting thing was that if they hit the Slorg with the bullets and rockets of the other weapons they would slide around for some odd reason, something Autumn kept in mind as they moved through all of the scattered piers and used Swingshots to move forward, though they were slightly surprised by the lack of people.

Even Cronk and Zephyr, who were observing them from space, noticed that the area seemed devoid of life, save for the creatures that now called this place home, while reminding them to keep their guards up, since they had no idea what had been brought to this area. As they continued to push through the Slorgs, a few being armored surprisingly enough, Cronk also informed them that the reading had been updated and there was a single heat signature near the water, which had to mean it was a fishing vessel and that there might be someone left in this abandoned town. After that minions warped into the ruined town and attacked them, meaning that Spog's forces might still be chasing them, or maybe these were the ones stationed to watch over this place and engaged them because they weren't supposed to be here. At the same time Autumn found that the town seemed to love using the sonic pylons, as she found that there were a fair number scattered throughout the town and the area that surrounded it, as they even moved platforms for them to use to progress deeper into Octonok Cay.

As they used one of the lifts, however, Starswirl pointed out an object in the distance, which seemed to be another type of weather machine that was making the natural habitat for another creature, where Cronk and Zephyr informed them that they'd do some digging while they caused some mayhem.

Sure enough when the lift stopped they found more minions and creatures to deal with, which was becoming a trend on this world, just like all of their previous adventures when Qwark mentioned it, showing that he had been paying attention over the years. Virtuous also noted that he was very pleased with the weaponry that Autumn created before they sprung Nefarious' trap and faced the Z'Grute, though at the same time he did have to wonder what sort of weaponry she'd make for the next generation, her seventh tier. Autumn chuckled at that, as she had schematics in mind for several weapons, a fact that no one was even remotely surprised by, and she was eager to see the RVNO VI in action, because the seventh in the set was supposed to be even stronger and deadlier than the one Croid modified. She knew that the RYNO VI had been designed to wipe out large groups of enemies with a single volley, so it really made her eager to see what had changed to her weapon, and the RYNO VII had been designed to literally shred enemies.

"This might not be the best time to mention that I'm not stopping there... I've already started on the RYNO VIII." Autumn remarked, taking a moment to blast some of their enemies off the platforms so they could keep moving, though she did discover that Starswirl, Qwark, and Virtuous were surprised by this information, even though they felt she'd be doing it at some point in the future.

"Don't tell Ratchet, but... I'm hoping you stay away from the Dimensionator, as I shudder to think what might happen with two dimensional weapons." Virtuous stated, as while he had no idea if he had struck gold or missed out, since Autumn had said nothing about the true nature of the RYNO VIII, he suspected that she'd make something dimensional related at some point, hence his desire to keep her away from the Dimensionator, least she weaponize it.

Autumn chuckled at that, as she knew Ratchet would want her to work on the device once the barriers were fixed, which Kaden was working towards right now, before turning her attention back to all of the creatures and minions that were in their way, allowing all four of them to resume their journey. One thing they noticed was that there were a few tendrils that emerged from the water and crushed parts of the wooden walkway that was their only way forward, before coming to an area that required them to use the Slorgs as power sources to power up certain machines in the ruined town. It was far too easy for Autumn and the others to set up a system to allow them to power up the various areas they had to navigate through, especially with her and Starswirl having magic to fall back on, though it did surprise them that the people used the Slorgs as power sources before being run out of town. Qwark also noted that whatever those tendrils were attached to seemed to be following them, as it snatched a large fat shark that was hanging out of the water and hauled it down into the depths, likely as food, causing the others to realize that they would be dealing with it in due time.

Along the way they also encountered a new type of minion, those that dropped bombs, though they weren't bothered by the newcomers and simply blasted their way through them as well, before finding a series of sonic pylons that allowed the group to reach the area that a boat was clearly waiting in. While they did that Zephyr informed them that he sent a scan of the device to a Terachnoid friend of his and confirmed that it was a weather manipulation device was called a Weather Alteration Systems Platform, or a W.A.S.P., and that it had been patented by Nevo Binklemeyer. It wasn't too strange for all these devices to be patented by the same person, especially one that was either employed or enslaved by the villain that was lurking in the shadows, but both warbots informed the group that they would do some digging to see if there was more for them to learn about Nevo. Autumn thanked both of them ahead of time, just in case either of them found any new information to share with her and the others, as they tore through more minions that tried to use another barrier to stop them, allowing them to approach the lone boat.

What was surprising was that there was a Tharpod hanging out near the vehicle, which looked like it was in pristine shape, as opposed to the poor condition that Autumn was expecting given everything that was around them, and it looked like he was in the middle of preparing to go somewhere, before pausing as he spotted them.

"Oh, hello there! Sorry, I wasn't expecting there to be anyone else left in this town." the Tharpod said, where he set down the item he had been carrying, likely supplies that had been left over, before turning to face the group as he noted that all of them weren't members of his own race, "What can I do for you folks?"

"We're actually trying to get to Terrawatt Forest to speak with Dr. Croid." Autumn replied, since that was what Spog told them after beating him into submission, and both he and Virtuous had confirmed he was speaking the truth, though they were hoping this guy knew how to move forward, without them having to use more of their magic to do so, "Do you know where we might find a railway station that would allow us to head over there?"

"Well, there is one by the lighthouse, but I can't take you there because the water is too dangerous for me to use the boat in." the Tharpod stated, where he gestured to the machine that was hanging in the air, which they had learned about due to their friends doing some research, before glancing back at them, "Ephemeris hauled that in last month to help create a habitat for some sepiads, and the storm basically ran everyone out of town in no time at all... the only way up there, that I can think of, is a cannon that the minions use to launch food over to the sepiads."

Autumn, Starswirl, and the others chuckled as they told him that they'd take care of it, though as they moved Virtuous told them that he finally remembered what the tendrils belonged to, sepiads, and that meant there was a king sepiad nearby, as they brought food back to the king, which they should stay away from. As it turned out they ran into a normal sepiad, as it was right in front of the cannon platform, to which the group opened fire on it and used both sonic pylons to weaken it, or rather distract it since it connected to a fishing station, causing the creature to expose it's belly to them. That allowed the group to unleash pain on the sepiad and defeat it in no time, as with four experienced fighters it stood no chance at all, which really surprised Cronk and Zephyr, even though they were used to Autumn and Starswirl's abilities at this point in their travels. The more impressive part was that neither of them had bothered to use their magic against it, meaning it was just them, Qwark, and Virtuous' combat skills at work, leaving the warbots to continue scanning the area to see if the king sepiad was nearby or not.

While they did that the group found another holo-diary and Autumn collected it as the others used two sonic pylons to form a path to the cannon platform, where they learned that Croid's lab had been vandalized and the plans that he and Nevo made had been stolen, along with Mr. Dinkle.

"It says here that Nevo is an expert in robotics, avionics, and quantum mechanics." Cronk stated, reminding them that the two warbots were doing different things, one was focused on the sepiad and the other was focused on Nevo, though this did make them wonder what was going on with this world, "As you know he's Croid's partner and he co-owns the Croid Exploratorium of Scientific Wonderment... there's no way, with his bond with his friend, that he'd betray Croid."

"Meaning this 'Master' is the one in control." Starswirl remarked, which they suspected after their recent discoveries, but now there was no way for them to assume that he was at fault, in fact someone else was to claim and Croid had blamed his own friend for whatever had happened.

As they made their way over to the Vendor, to restock before attacking the weather station, they also learned that Nevo had several patents in his name, despite Croid's desire for Tharpod technology to remain on Magnus, and, what was more important to them, he had expertise in space travel, all sorts of dangerous theories, and espionage. The reason they were interested in that information was because he was labeled as an expert in all sorts of energies, such as temporal energy, dimensional energy, the power of the soul, and the theory of magic itself, which meant his gadget was primed for Autumn and Starswirl, after everything they had learned so far. With that in mind the group agreed that the Master needed to be defeated as quickly as possible, because with Nevo's devices there was no telling what might be waiting for them when they finally reached where he was lurking. The siblings also noticed that Ratchet was silent, as he had been listening to all of their conversations as he waited for them to finish an adventure without him, but they knew that he was focused on the fact that Nevo had an expertise in dimensionality, meaning he was hoping this was the villain damaging the barriers that existed between the dimensions.

After checking the Vendor, and purchasing the Thundersmack, which created traveling thunderstorms, the group used the cannon and launched themselves into the air as Starswirl ensured that they landed on the edge of the weather platform, a fact that was followed by everyone getting to work. Zephyr informed them that, in order to shut down this machine, they had to smash three charging docks and then use a central escape device to flee the destruction, where the group crossed the platforms in front of them as they opened fire on the minions guarding the W.A.S.P. There was a new obstacle for them to overcome, the fans that were spread around the machine, where they either had to hide behind cover until they stopped blowing or let Starswirl use his magic to make moving shields so their progress wasn't stalled. The charging stations had a fair number of guards protecting them, though while two of them tore through the minions in question the other two used a Glob Lobber to lower the shields so the last member of the group could deal massive damage to the station, the first falling within a few minutes of them reaching the machine.

They also discovered a second obstacle to move around, black platforms that were shocked with electricity every now and then, in fact they glowed before being struck, a warning for the workers no doubt, something that the group used to their benefit as everyone avoided the lightning that was in the air around the machine.

Even with the newest obstacle it was only a matter of time until they reached and destroyed the second charging station, even though another new minion type showed up, a large one that fired missiles, which they tore down before moving up to a series of fans that they had to power down before progressing. The challenge was ensuring they had enough time to reach the fan before it turned back on, even though Autumn was sure that they would remain unharmed if they failed to complete any of the time trials, which ended up breaking the fans once a set was completed. At the end of the path they found the third and final charging station, which the group wiped out in no time at all, though upon doing that they heard the Steward mention that everything was failing and that the station would fall out of the air soon. Autumn put a tracker on one of the walls as they headed into the heart of the massive machine, as once this adventure was over she was going to salvage it, before discovering that the escape vessel was a massive raft with four fans on it.

After climbing onto the raft the group was ejected from the massive weather machine, which started to break down not a few moments after that, before they crashed into the water below them, where they had to use the four fans to navigate the water between where the raft landed and the lighthouse.

Once everyone was fine, and they checked to be sure of that, the group carefully navigated the reefs they were in, while at the same time blasting any explosives that were resting in the water, likely to keep the sepiads in one area, though at the same time they watched as the weather station crashed nearby. The moment it did so Autumn made sure to make sure it's new beacon was working, so she knew where to find it, before focusing her effort on carefully moving through the rest of the water between them and their destination. The group noticed a lot of overturned boats, no doubt victims who fell when the weather station was hauled into place near the lighthouse, and several ruined sections of the town, meaning it had been far larger than they originally assumed and that the Master had much to answer for. Of course there was one thing they actually stopped for, that being the fourth of Croid's six labs that were scattered around Magnus, to which they climbed off as Starswirl wrapped around his magic around the raft, so it wouldn't float away while they claimed the next RYNO VI piece.

Sure enough the lab was the same as before, escort the critters to the very end while they listened to Croid talk, or at least welcome them to the structure in question, and it was easy for them to complete this one in record time, granting them the other arm of the RYNO VI Protosuit before they departed.

With that done the group resumed making their way through the rest of the area, navigating around the hazards, taking care of the minions that happened to attack them and their raft, and actually relaxing a little, for the first time since they were brought to Magnus, since the stop at Susie's place was more for rest. Autumn let the others move the raft, as there happened to be a number of machines either below the water or around them that she made notes on, since most had to be made by Nevo, hence why she sent her scans up to Cronk and Zephyr to confirm her findings. An interesting fact was that there were area that they had to stop in and let a ring fall behind them, preventing the raft from moving so they could walk for a time, allowing them to recover yet another holo-diary after beating up a group of minions. This one continued from where the other left off and revealed that twenty-two years had passed since the last entry, as odd as it sounded, so they had to wonder if Croid was mad, before discovering that he repurposed an old servitor drone into a search pod that would look for Mr. Dinkles, the start of Ephemeris.

"So Croid created Ephemeris and the Master ended up stealing and modifying it into the station we saw." Autumn stated, as that was what the various holo-diaries had revealed to them since they came to Magnus, and she was sure that one of the next ones would confirm that fact, before she sighed, "The only question is why..."

Since there was no answer to that question, not until they found the Master and confronted him, the group continued on their way through the area, dealing with some more slorgs and minions that happened to be standing in their way, before finding a new raft to use. As such they used it for a short time, all of two minutes, as they were able to use some machines to propel themselves over some hazards as they tore apart some more minions who were flying by, and once those two minutes were done they were able to dock at another ring and walk once more. From there they crossed a graveyard that was made out of Octonok Cay's various boats, using the various Swingshots to carefully make their way across the area as they kept an eye out for their enemies, with minimal encounters. At the end of the path the group discovered another cannon to propel themselves over to their destination, which they used without delay, only to land in a ruined town area so they could rest a little before moving forward.

The Vendor allowed them a chance to restock their ammunition before moving down the path and head towards the next foe they would be facing on this planet, where everyone watched as the King Sepiad, a massive sepiad, emerged from the water and crushed part of the walkway they were on, before the Tharpod from behind boated by and they grabbed onto it with their Swingshots.

Following that the Tharpod rode around the area that the lighthouse was in, where he avoided bombs as they paid close attention to the King Sepiad, who tried to swing it's tendrils at them to knock them into the water, before Virtuous learned that they needed to use the shock towers that were around the area. In order to actually use the shock towers they had to let go of the boat for a time and use the speed they had been going to power up the towers in question, linking up to one and transferring their speed over, which was rather easy since the devices had Swingshot links for them to use. Once one of the towers was ready the King Sepiad tried to eat them and got shocked by the device, forcing it to back off while they continued around the bay as the Tharpod tracked down all of the other shock towers his people had installed in the past. The third tower seemed to sink it for good, based on how it went down, but Autumn and the others knew better, so they kept their guards up as they skied over to the broken dock and let the Tharpod leave before anything else happened, as all of them knew their foe would be back in no time.

As they started to climb the lighthouse, however, the King Sepiad returned and devoured the Tharpod, showing that their foe had caught their ally before he could leave, giving the group a little more fuel as they activated the devices that were in their way so they could access the top of the lighthouse. At the peak they discovered what needed to be done, they had to use a number of slorg to power up the potent system of the lighthouse to blind the King Sepiad, followed by stuffing some into it's mouth to constantly shock it. Autumn and Starswirl confirmed that it was a crude method for dealing with one of their enemies, but it was effective and they were able to supercharge some of the ones being eaten to deal some massive damage to their opponent. What was interesting was that the King Sepiad actually got heartburn or stomachache and it tried to upchuck everything it had eaten so far, in vain no less, before they delivered the knockout punch and knocked the beast off the lighthouse, allowing them to take a platform down to where it had fallen, finding that the Tharpod was fine, as odd as it seemed.

At the end of the walkway they found a hatch that had a ladder that brought them right to where the rail system station was located, to which everyone relaxed for a time as it moved off in the direction of Terrawatt Forest, their next stop in the search for Croid and their quest to stop Ephemeris' master.

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