Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes

by Blackdrag-rose

Tools: Mukow, Kreeli Comet

Following their time on Sargasso, which ended in disappointment, the group returned to the Helios and Ratchet simply sat down as he stared off into space for a while, causing the others to focus on leaving the planet's atmosphere while trying to figure out how to help him. Most of them were used to dealing with his sadness whenever they found that the Plumber was unable to aid them in saving his sister from what was happening to her, though this time around, after witnessing the event the night before Tachyon's invasion and his failed attempt to save Rivet, there wasn't much they could do. Rivet was right there, right in front of them, and Ratchet had nearly done what the Plumber considered to be impossible, he never brought her out of the dimension she was trapped in and would have succeeded had the crack not repaired itself so quickly. As such he seemed to be moping right now, unhappy with the fact that he had been so close and it had been snatched from him, and this time around his siblings and the others had no idea how to help him, so they focused on moving the starship and figuring out what their next step should be.

Autumn, on the other hand, used her power to summon the other fragments of the RYNO 4 holoplan and assembled the weapon in no time, mostly just to have it since she figured that they didn't need it's power with their full team gathered in the same place once more.

"We got a message from Qwark... from what I can tell, he might have found a clue about Tachyon's next target." Starswirl said, though before that point he had been studying the energy that the cracks produced and confirmed what the Plumber had told them on Sargasso, mixing dimensional energy with magic was a bad idea, causing him to wonder if this might be why he and his siblings had seen some cracks in the past.

"Then we'll head to Mukow and see what's up." Angela remarked, because she had a feeling Tachyon knew of the existence of the Dimensionator, due to everything he stole from the Lombaxes during his attack, before she thought about what they were looking for at the moment as she turned towards Ratchet, "Of course... Ratchet, the Dimensionator!"

"What are you... oh... OH, I get it. It's the key to saving Rivet!" Ratchet said, showing them that he understood what Angela was saying, the tool in question was capable of opening portals between dimensions and, even if they had no idea which one his sister was in, he suspected that the new version of the Dimensionator would be able to help them out, though the rest of the group was happy to see the light return to his eyes, "We find where it's located, obtain it before Tachyon finds us, take out the Emperor and his forces, and then we can open the way to Rivet's dimension and pull her out."

His siblings and Clank smiled for a moment as the old Ratchet returned, though they could see that he was still saddened by not being able to save Rivet when the crack showed up on Sargasso, but there was nothing they could do about it now as he took his place in the captain's chair and set a course for Mukow. Sure enough it didn't take them all that long to reach the planet in question and send down their smaller ships so they could land at the edge of the fair grounds, finding that none of the guards seemed to notice their return, which was fine with them. Autumn found that no new weapons were available, not that she was expecting anything new right now, causing her and her siblings to take the taxi back to the arena entrance as Angela's group joined them, mostly because Qwark knew of their arrival in Polaris and had seats for them in the arena, so they could watch the fights without drawing attention. When the taxi came to a stop the group split in half and went about their duties, one team heading into the stands while Ratchet and his siblings readied themselves for whatever the arena had in store for them this time around, donning their disguises before heading inside.

It wasn't long before they discovered that the arena was the same as before, save for two flame throwing statues of Tachyon in the center of the arena, though it wasn't anything they had to worry about as the siblings tore their way through the few waves of enemies, including an energy being as the final boss, causing the crowd to cheer as they witnessed their victory over the Emperor's obstacles.

"Outstanding work, strangers I've never met before." Qwark stated, emerging from the middle of the arena floor once they tore down the energy being that had been the final opponent, even though the group knew the challenge had been nothing compared to their might, before he handed over another exercise book, volume two to be exact, and a device that looked like a Hologuise, "And now, the fruits of your labor: one Holo-Pirate Disguise, which is great for parties, and a signed copy of my new exercise book, the second volume of 'Body by Qwark'."

As the siblings considered this information, as it meant a venture into pirate territory once more, a crack in reality appeared nearby and this time around something emerged from it, a feminine figure who was wearing a robe that looked like it was made of metallic dragon scales and wore a mask over her face... and, unless they were mistaken, it looked like she was in the middle of a fight with another version of Ratchet, Qwark, Angela, and a few others.

"Fus... Ro Dah!" the figure shouted, releasing what looked like a wave of energy from their mouth, knocking all sorts of weapon charges out of the air with the sheer force of her attack, before she dived back into the portal and clashed with the group on what appeared to be an island, before the crack sealed itself a few seconds later.

As Tachyon and the others took in what they had just witnessed, a scene that seemed unbelievable to many, Ratchet and his siblings departed from the arena, while leaving Qwark behind to keep an eye on their foe, and when everyone quickly regrouped outside they returned to their ships. Once they were aboard the Helios, and were sure that no one followed them off planet, Ratchet played the Infobot that was inside the volume Qwark had handed them, just like he had done to give them the information that pointed at Talwyn's station. What they discovered was that it was an issue of a show called the Polaris Compendium of Historical Importantness, which had information on something called IRIS, a supercomputer that had an IQ of three billion, or 170 Terachnoid Sages, meaning it was one of the smartest things in Polaris, and it was, according to the Infobot, the ultimate search engine for the galaxy. That told them everything they needed to know, IRIS had to be the key to finding out where the Dimensionator was hidden, even if the supercomputer was in pirate territory, a fact that none of them were bothered by, and once the message was done everyone took their positions once more.

Ratchet was filled with renewed energy as he realized that they might be close to obtaining the Dimensionator, the key to saving Rivet from the terrors of her dimension, and he had a feeling that soon everything would be fixed, he just had to be patient and make sure nothing stopped them from claiming the gadget.

---

Upon reaching the Kreeli Comet, where IRIS was located, the group headed down with their smaller ships, landing on the outskirts of a pirate base, where Autumn discovered that a new weapon, the Pyro Blaster, was available and added it to their collection, before they approached the pirates.

"Oh not you guys again... the Captain won't be happy about this." one of the pirates said, possibly the same one they had talked to back on Ardolis, who went off to tell Slag about their arrival and what they were after, before she sighed as she and the others realized why the group was here, given the massive supercomputer that was housed in the comet, "Just stay here and don't do anything. I'll tell the Captain that you're here."

Ratchet nodded his head as he and his family stood back, allowing the pirates to relax while they waited for Slag to show up, since it looked like they needed his permission to use IRIS, though while they waited everyone thought it was amusing for Qwark to hand over a device that would let them sneak through the area. Autumn then found that there were doors that pirates stopped and danced at, showing their piracy or something like that to make the doors open, causing her to understand what she was seeing and knew that the new gadget would have allowed them to do the same without being detected by their enemies. One thing they all agreed on, however, was that Tachyon knew about IRIS and likely wouldn't show up to attack the pirates to get at the supercomputer they were guarding, but if that was the case, and Angela had to agree with Starswirl and Autumn, it made them wonder what his next target was. They had no way of knowing because he was more of a moron than they originally assumed, especially with Qwark being a well known hero and his legacy of being able to beat villains, even if those were just tales, but they figured that time would tell in due time.

Their thoughts were cut short as they found Slag and his second, Rusty Pete they believed his name was since some of the pirates mentioned him during their conversation, flying in on one of the smaller ships, where Slag took one look at them before beckoning the group onto the ship, which took them towards IRIS' command center.

"It would seem that the artifact, in some way, brought you here." Slag commented, showing them that he was following their exploits as Ratchet and his family made their way across Polaris, to find the Lombax Secret and stop Tachyon from whatever it was that he happened to be planning right now, "Be warned, IRIS is damaged and none of us are capable of fixing her... so either keep the questions simple, or get ready for a long stay since I hear fixing a supercomputer can take a long time to pull off."

"Slag, you wouldn't happen to know where Tachyon's going next, would you?" Ratchet asked, though at the same time he found that they stopped at what appeared to be the entrance of IRIS' command center, something that caused Clank and Autumn to rush forward first, the former likely hoping that the Zoni would come and help them, "He hasn't made a move since we arrived in Polaris and I'm starting to worry that we might have missed something in our haste to find and claim the Dimensionator."

"No, but our forces are gathering for an assault on Jashindu... the Kerchu have annoyed us for the last time." Slag said, all while he filed away the information about the secret's name in his memory, finding it fortunate that Ratchet would let it slip while in the presence of someone who might misuse it if he found it first, but that meant betraying them and he really didn't want them as his enemies.

Ratchet and Angela said nothing to that as the others made sure the area was clear for the smarter members to do their work, Clank heading into the machine as Autumn got to work on everything that was outside, in her range, where it didn't take them long to put IRIS' insides together to the point that it was operational again. As it came online they discovered an interesting fact, the supercomputer had been waiting for them to arrive and called them by their names, revealing that it was smarter than most assumed, before she, as the voice was female, went into a tale about Tachyon being found by the Lombaxes, being raised by them, and betraying them in due time. IRIS also confirmed what Ratchet knew, the device his father carried for some time had been a gun at one point and had been redesigned at some point by another Lombax, all while informing them that existence was divided into infinite dimensions and the Dimensionator opened portals to those worlds, with reckless use causing harm to the barrier between the dimensions. The last thing they discovered was that the device was found by Talwyn's father and was relocated to a safe vault on Jasindu, which happened to be where Slag and his pirates were going, but as IRIS turned off, before Ratchet could ask about himself, his sister, his adopted siblings, or any of the other questions in his head, they learned that Tachyon's forces were making a move on Jasindu.

In that moment Clank informed them that the Zoni told him why they hadn't heard from Talwyn since Rykan V, she and her warbots were in Zordoom, a prison world that none of them would be able to escape from, to which the group made their way outside, the pirates swearing to battle Tachyon's forces and keep him away from the vault, giving them time to save Talwyn before worrying about the Dimensionator... though Ratchet could only hope this was the right path and no harm would come from their new plans.

Comments

[Golden_Reflection]

As expected, the alliance with the Pirates made getting to IRIS much quicker, and she was able to confirm some information.

Now I'm just curious to know if the final pirate level will be skipped due to no betrayal meaning no needing to get the Dimensionator back from Slag. And I'd Qwark will be smart enough this time around to not accidentally give Tachyon the Dimensionator.

Only time will tell.