• Published 28th Oct 2021
  • 1,282 Views, 165 Comments

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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Tools: Mukow, Nundac Asteroid Ring

Following their departure from Fastoon, a place they swore to explore once Tachyon was dealt with, Ratchet found that a signature was tracking them and exited the hyperspace they had entered, entering an asteroid belt as they got a message from someone called Cap'n Slag.

Ahoy there, young scallywags. This be Cap'n Slag, Scourge of the Galaxy. the obese robotic pirate declared, as that was what they could see on the screen, though none of them even cared too much about the figure in question, as he wasn't too imposing, which had to be their many years of dealing with villains, Surrender your vessel, or be cast to the depths of the universe!

"Honestly, we aren't intimidated at all... though I wonder if we can find some new energy in such a place." Autumn said, as the depths of the universe sounded like an interesting place to find something that might be entirely new or lost, which was when she pulled out her tablet and started making notes on a new weapon or gadget for the future.

"She's too focused on beating Tachyon and tearing him a new one after what happened on Kerwan." Starswirl remarked, all while showing that even he wasn't too concerned by what was going on at the moment, as he was sure that Ratchet, armed with Aphelion's systems, would be able to stop Cap'n Slag.

It cannot be... you are the Terrors of Solana! Slag stated, showing the siblings that even people in Polaris knew of their existence and were rightly worried about their chances of surviving an encounter with them, if they got on their bad side to be exact, something that just amused the siblings.

Slag and his pirates, not wanting to endanger their lives by tangling with the siblings, quickly signed an agreement with all of them, that he would stay out of their way, and possibly aid them if he could, while they dealt with Tachyon and his plans for all of Polaris. He knew that trying to stall the siblings meant certain death, even if it would be some time before they found a way to track him down and fight him on a planet, but this was the favorable outcome for all of them, as it saved a lot of time and allowed them to continue on to Mukow without delay. While they did that, however, Ratchet activated the encrypted line that he and Angela had created in preparation for someone like Tachyon showing up to hunt them down, a fact that interested Aphelion as she ensured it was totally secure, even if the ship was more interested in discovering that a second Lombax was out there. He explained that, while he and Rivet were supposed to be transported to the same area, and had been separated by something, Angela had either been chosen to be send to Bogon or she was like him and Rivet, separated from her family and ended up in Bogon, before he and his siblings arrived years later.

When they finally reached their destination Aphelion exited hyperspace and descended to the Imperial Fight Festival, or at least the fairgrounds that Ratchet and his siblings would have to fight through before reaching the arena and gaining the information Qwark had obtained for them.

"He seems to be doing better this time around," Ratchet commented, referring to the fact that Qwark had pulled the wool over Tachyon's eyes, or at least it sure seemed like that since they got a message from the man and learned that he did have information for them.

"Not that it matters, since Tachyon is an idiot." Autumn stated, though as she said that she found the Vendor and bought a new weapon, the Shard Reaper it was called, which she was pleased to have on hand based on some of the enemies they might find soon, given that they had no idea what sort of danger existed in this galaxy.

Starswirl said nothing to that as they headed down the path that would, apparently, bring them to the arena that Qwark had likely set up their disguises in, to be applied when they entered the ring most likely, and sure enough the commandos wanted them dead before they befouled their Emperor's domain. Sure enough they found that none of Tachyon's forces had enough power to slow or even stall them, allowing the siblings to tear through all of the defenders that were guarding the Path of Challengers, an area that seemed designed to kill most people. It also allowed Ratchet and the others to see a couple of new enemies, ones with electrical shields that really collapsed under the pressure of their weapons, or some of them to be exact, which had to annoy Tachyon when he realized what was going on. The only real challenge was finding their way through the obstacle course, navigating the various challenges and whatever Tachyon put in their way, but that, too, didn't last as Ratchet and his siblings overcame everything that had been placed in their way.

The group was able to figure out where the arena was when they found the end of the path, linked to a bridge with a vast number of statues that poured out fire from their mouths, but it was nothing to them as they passed through them and reached the teleporter that would take them into the arena. Once their weapons were restocked Ratchet contacted Qwark and informed him of their arrival, where he carefully loaded the teleporter with the guises he had crafted for them, as in a traveling warrior for Ratchet, a simple sorcerer for Starswirl, and a farmer for Autumn. His reasoning, since none of their guises really looked like them and even hid some of their unique features, was that they had trained for this for the two to three weeks and were ready to make an attempt on winning some Bolts. The siblings decided not to question it as each of them walked onto the teleporter, let their guise appear over them, and then teleported into the arena, where Qwark took a moment to wait until all three of them were present before announcing their arrival, even though he had to announce the arrival of Tachyon on the holoscreen, even if he wasn't well received.

After he forced the crowd to cheer for him the siblings got started on wiping the floor with the robotic challengers that were in the arena, which reminded them of what happened in Annihilation Nation, it was just a number of waves of foes and nothing else, meaning they were able to split up and dominate their enemies. What was humorous was the fact that Tachyon had no idea that his targets were in the arena, especially with some of the moves they showed off, mostly to see if he was as dumb as Autumn thought he was, and this just confirmed that he was a total moron. When they took out the waves of enemies it looked like they also had to fight a boss of sorts, a massive frog beast that had cybernetic limbs that allowed it to do battle with whoever it wanted to kill, including missile launchers that they ignored entirely. Taking it down earned them a new gadget, the Heli-Pods, along with people cheering for them, believing that they were simple people and not who their Emperor was looking for, which Ratchet pocketed for now.

Qwark appeared after the battle was over and said a few words, all while handing over a few items to aid them, a book of exercise routines he went through, along with a hidden info device inside it that they learned about in a whisper, and as he returned to deal with Tachyon the siblings exited the arena so they could return to the ship.

"Hopefully this was worth it." Starswirl remarked, as Qwark was a mixed bag at times, either being a worthwhile ally for an annoyance they could do without during their adventures, before Ratchet pulled the device out and slipped it into the slot Aphelion provided so they could figure out what was going on.

What they discovered was that it was a recruitment advertisement for Tachyon's army, but finding that Qwark had been inserted meant it had to be important, before it mentioned the 'Lombax Secret', the device responsible for the downfall of the Cragmites, and their sources claimed a clue might be found at the Apogee Space Station, hence why the siblings left for the Nundac Asteroid Ring to beat him to it.


While they flew to the Nundac Asteroid Belt, making sure to keep an eye out for Tachyon's forces, Autumn did her best to find out more about where they were going and found that most information about Max Apogee was about him being one of the most famous explorers in this galaxy, but that was it.

"I bet Tachyon's behind the lack of information." Autumn remarked, speaking as they landed on the furthest asteroid from the lone station that was in front of them, though her comment was on his apparent dislike of knowledge, based on the Hall of Knowledge they had passed through to get a map of Polaris, before she noticed something, "Though it looks like a familiar figure is waiting for us, or someone else, to arrive."

Sure enough they found the Smuggler waiting near a spherical pod that would likely bring someone to the entrance of the station, where Aphelion landed nearby and allowed the siblings to climb out, finding that there were warp rings that would send someone to another part of the asteroid ring, before they faced the mysterious figure.

"Well hello again, friends. We ought to warn you, the owner of this station isn't welcoming to visitors." the Smuggler said, his tone indicating that he might have a way for Ratchet and the others to get into the decent sized station, no doubt tied to the Leviathans flying around the area, identical monsters to what they saw on Cobalia, all while he petted his parrot for a few seconds, "Some pirates from Ardolis offered us some Bolts for Leviathan Souls, and this here happens to be a prime location to collect them, so how about we make a deal? You supply us with a couple of souls and we'll give you the launch code for the transport vessel... I'll even through in some Bolts as well, to pay you for your precious time."

"Is there a communicator so we can call the station?" Starswirl asked, as while he knew that he and his siblings could easily do what the Smuggler wanted, because each of them knew that they would be able to take out all of the Leviathans in no time, he wanted to see if they could book an appointment or something with the owner of the station.

"Why yes, I do believe there is one." the Smuggler replied, where he realized that they were going to try something, due to the fact that Ratchet was walking back to his ship, something that caused him to tip his hat to them before backing away, because he wanted to be there in case they failed.

"Aphelion, connect to the frequency of the station, and shield the connection so Tachyon doesn't figure out what's going on at the moment." Ratchet said, where he paused for a few moments, allowing the intelligent ship to set up the link he was requesting, before informing him that everything was set up so he could speak to whoever owned the station, or, if he failed to talk to someone, leave a message, "To whoever is in control of the Apogee Space Station, this is Ratchet Cross of Solana, along with my siblings Starswirl and Autumn Blaze, and our friend Clank, and we come baring a message for you: Emperor Tachyon believes that you have the infamous 'Lombax Secret', or at least a clue as to where it might be hidden in this galaxy, and is planning a raid to come get it. My siblings and I would like to help you, be it defending this place or even finding the secret itself... and if it helps, I'm one of the last Lombaxes in the entire universe."

There was more he could say on the matter, he knew that much, but it was better revealed face to face, instead of said in the presence of someone like the Smuggler and his odd parrot, so he simply leaned back as Autumn checked the Vendor, finding nothing new, while Starswirl stood nearby, before a hologram of a female figure, who had shoulder length brown hair, a red hairband, blue eyes, and civilian attire with a jetpack attached to it, appeared nearby.

This is Talwyn Apogee, owner of the Apogee Space Station. the figure said, where she and Ratchet locked eyes with each other for a few seconds, allowing her to see that he was telling the truth about being a Lombax, while he could see that she had a tail, a hairless one that didn't end in a tuft, before she regained herself, Forgive me for being surprised, it's... well, everyone believed that the Lombaxes were exterminated a long time ago, and yet here you are, telling me that there's more than one of you out there. Come in... let's chat.

Ratchet and his siblings found that the transport was primed once the call ended, no doubt Talwyn's doing, though as the three of them and Clank entered it, however, the Smuggler bid them farewell as he left the station behind, allowing them to focus on entering the station. When they stepped inside they found that it was basically a massive living area, a hidden location that would keep someone safe for a long time, and two warbots, named Cronk and Zephyr, escorted them to the dining area so they could speak with Talwyn about the secret she was rumored to know about. The moment the siblings met up with Talwyn, who offered them a drink while they talked, Ratchet explained why they were here, in Polaris, and she wasn't too surprised by Tachyon attacking another galaxy because they had a Lombax, even though one of Ratchet's wives was a Lombax, a fact that caught her off guard when he mentioned Angela, Sasha, and Nika. He briefly mentioned his still missing twin sister, who he was currently searching for, before explaining what they had learned about Tachyon's plans, a fact that included his assault force that would be coming to her private home, even though Zephyr had a few choice words when he referred to the secret.

Talwyn was more focused on the fact that, while Ratchet was here and knew some things about his species, he had next to no idea what the secret was, even though she, too, had no idea what it might be, even though she mentioned the fact that her father found a clue before he went missing, with Cronk confirming that Max Apogee was a famous explorer and loved to collect rare antiques.

"I'd love to help you out, but the pirates of Ardolis stole the artifact years ago." Talwyn said, as that was the end of their conversation, though as she said that, and the others took it in, Ratchet smiled as he considered what had happened just before they reached Mukow, "Something tells me you have a plan of some kind."

Ratchet nodded as he explained his plan to them, where Autumn, Starswirl, and Clank were impressed by his plan, while Talwyn and her warbots were surprised by it, before he explained what happened on the way to Mukow, though once all of them knew what was going on they split up and the siblings returned to their ship, as it was time to head to Ardolis and speak to Slag.

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