As Aphelion entered the atmosphere of Planet Fastoon, she immediately came under fire. "Warning! Warning!" she shouted out. "Tachyon's fighters have locked onto our position!"
"Don't worry!" Twilight replied. "I gave you the perfect countermeasure for homing weapons at our last pit stop. Activate the mirror protocol!"
"Understood!" Aphelion replied, activating the program. An odd signal was broadcast on Aphelion's ID frequency...and the weaponry that was locked onto her veered away, targeting Cragmite and Drophyd craft. "What?"
"In a battlefield as crowded as this, the only way to lock onto a target reliably is to lock onto their ID signal," Twilight explained. "This requires a smart missile, with Friend/Foe recognition protocols. The Mirror signal broadcasts on the ID frequency, and inverts the Friend/Foe definitions in anything locked onto us."
"Even so, it won't be safe to land," Ratchet pointed out. "You'll be a stationary target. They won't need to lock on with homing weapons."
"Then good luck, brother," Aphelion murmured, popping her canopy.
"Wait, what did you call MEEEEEEE?!" As he spoke the last word, the group was launched into a free fall.
"I have an aunt!" Qwark called out as he dove for the ground fist first, not bothering to try and slow his descent. He came down on a Cragmite skull, flipping off the crushed corpse to begin attacking with a wide grin on his face.
When Twilight, Ratchet, and Clank reached the surface of Fastoon, they saw that Tachyon had fortified the place, plainly intending to turn it into a new dark Cragmite capitol. Cronk, Zephyr, and Talwyn joined them, ready to charge through.
"Qwark, Cronk, Zephyr, lay down covering fire!" Ratchet ordered. "Talwyn, Twilight, with me! Let's take out those mega cannons so Aphelion can do some bombing runs!"
"Yes sir!" Qwark, Cronk, and Zephyr barked out.
"On it!" Twilight shouted.
"Be careful everyone," Talwyn cautioned as Clank hopped to Ratchet's back.
The Mega Cannons were plainly visible, and not that difficult to get to with the covering fire Ratchet and crew were given. Actually disabling them proved more difficult, as they were both well constructed and well armored. When they managed to destroy the first, the ground troops immediately focused their efforts on taking them out.
When the assault started becoming too intense, Twilight pulled out a Zurkon the Bearded. "Too many friendlies to Locate City, but anything else goes!"
"Zurkon the Bearded has no need for friends! Zurkon the Bearded has magic omnipotent!"
As the little robot charged into battle, Twilight couldn't help but feel there was something of emotional significance to herself in its words, but she couldn't for the life of her think what.
With all five Mega Cannons down, Aphelion was able to come in for a landing after a few quick bombing runs, causing enough chaos that the airborne troops weren't interested in tracking her. Beyond that, she'd called in the Pirate Fleet to engage in orbit, and their new armaments put them on an even footing with Tachyon's fleet.
With heavy confrontation in the skies, the Cragmite and Drophyd ships began sending more and more troops to the surface. As Aphelion was still working with the Pirate fleet to triangulate Tachyon's exact location, Ratchet and Twilight began unloading their arsenal on the landing troops. Since there was a Grummel-net vendor right nearby - which dispensed free nanotech refills in addition to selling ammunition - neither of them saw reason to be stingy or cautious.
As she watched the pair unload their arsenals, Talwyn gasped for breath. "So...that's what they're like when they cut loose?" she asked breathlessly.
"Not quite," Qwark corrected. "That's what they're like when they're having fun. If you want to see cutting loose, you should see them when they're angry."
A Cragmite managed to come up on Ratchet and Twilight unawares, leaping to attack. Clank, strapped to Ratchet's back, pointed his arm at the leaping Cragmite and fired a massive energy discharge that incinerated the Cragmite. "Do not mess with Agent Clank," he stated calmly before blowing the smoke from his hand.
"I see what you mean," Talwyn commented, priming her pistol. As she watched Ratchet fighting for a time, she bit her lip...then promptly turn to shoot a few other Cragmite and Drophyds, in a direction where she wouldn't be distracted by hunky Lombax.
With all the cooperative effort, it wasn't long before Aphelion had Tachyon's exact location. "Let's finish this!" Twilight proclaimed firmly. She, Ratchet, and Clank leapt into Aphelion's cockpit, riding to above Tachyon's location before leaping into battle with him.
Coming down in the Court of Azimuth, they found Tachyon waiting for them, Dimensionator on his head and riding a massive war armor. "You know, Lombax, when I laid siege to this place, the Lombaxes took shelter in these very walls. You seem far more capable than they could ever be. Perhaps that's why they left you and your father behind when they fled from this dimension."
"...Fled?" Ratchet asked, shocked. "What are you talking about?"
Tachyon grinned as he pulled the Dimensionator's power cord. "Dimensionator! Find the Lombaxes!"
Before Ratchet's very eyes, a dimensional gateway opened. Beyond the gate beneath a blue sky lay a shining city, the architecture unmistakably Lombax. A place of absolute peace. Ratchet was startled to discover just how strongly his heart yearned for the place.
"I offer you this one chance," Tachyon explained. "Go home. Join your race. Or stay...and suffer."
Ratchet, as though hypnotized, began to reach forward.
"Daddy?" Twilight called out worriedly.
Blinking, Ratchet turned, and saw Twilight looking up at him worriedly. Thoughts raced through his mind, and a realization struck him with a force unbearable. He turned back to Tachyon. "Here's my answer!" he snapped, yanking out his Negotiator rocket launcher and firing it at the Dimensionator.
Tachyon did his best to evade, but the Negotiator was homing. The explosion rocked the world.
When the blinding light faded, Ratchet, Clank, and Twilight found themselves in the midst of a Dimensional Vortex. The Cragmites, Drophyds, and Tachyon were all caught in the wake of the damaged Dimensionator. "You fool!" Tachyon roared. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"
"What my Father would have done," Ratchet replied, drawing out his upgraded Omega Disruptor. "And now I'm going to finish the job he left me...with the weapon he left for me to find." He began to charge it.
Tachyon laughed. "Do you really think that is all it will take to stop me? A second rate Lombax weapon?"
Ratchet grinned widely. "Twilight took one apart and experimented with it. Found ways to upgrade it. Found out how to disengage the Charge Limiter. In a dimensional vortex like this..." He left that sentence hanging as the weapon began to shake from the amount of energy it was storing.
Tachyon stared a little nervously. "You're bluffing!" he proclaimed hysterically. "You wouldn't take such a risk!"
"Wouldn't I?" Ratchet replied. "I'm a Lombax. And in the words of, I'm certain, so many of my brethren..." He braced the Disruptor against the ground. "What does this button do?" He pulled the trigger.
Tachyon screamed as the dimensional blast knocked him into the Vortex, which quickly began to consume everything within it. Twilight managed to catch hold of the falling Dimensionator. "We need to get out of here, fast!"
Ratchet quickly looked over the device. "It's not working! I think something got knocked loose!"
"Perhaps a three and three-quarters centicubit hexagonal washer?" Clank suggested, holding out the one The Plumber had given him on Sargasso.
Grabbing it, he pushed it into the Dimensionator, where it clicked in. Strapping it on as the platform began to crumble, Ratchet grabbed hold of Twilight and Clank. "Dimensionator!" he called out as he pulled the cord. "Find home!"
The world swirled before their eyes, and he blacked out.
oh I can't wait to see all the main six use their new over powered abilities (by equestrias standards anyway) on the tirek and the like
I don't know how you do it, but.. You make some of the encounters so much more MEANINGFUL while still keeping the humor intact. Hats off to you, good sir.
And they end up in Equestria as a result of this...don't they?
6699540 Nah. We still have Crack in Time to go through, and (probably) one more Nightmare Twilight when Azimuth betrays her, then dies.
always a joy, I look forward to these updates far more than I should....
I'll bet that Tirek's gonna be obliterated by R&C's equivalent of a nuke.
Didn't get a notification for this for some reason. Only saw it updated because I refreshed the Fimfiction homepage and saw it was in the featured box again.
That is the question, isn't it?
6699600 which one? Devastator, Annihalator, RYNO?
I knew it! I called it! *hefts baseball bat*
Something tells me that Robin Williams would have loved to voice act for your version of Qwark.
All hands to battle stations! We have hit the DeeDee threshold! I repeat, we have hit the DeeDee threshold!
---
An Excellent chapter all around.
6699573 Don't you think this would be a big reveal to anyone who hasn't played the games?
Yep. Dee Dee confirmed as Lombax.
DeeDee and various other blue eyed ditzy blond girls would be proud of you Ratchet.
6699685 Especially RYNO IV.
yes but what is the definition of home ratchet is a lombax so the dimensinator might bring him to the new lombax home
6699752 Who?
6699743
...that hit to the feels couldn't have been more accurate if it was aimed.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6699751 ...Hasn't everybody played that game?
6699792
Dexter's Lab. One of the staples of the good Cartoon Network.
6699872 i haven't played that game. and it was spoiled. but it's been out for quite a while so it's officially my own fault for not playing crack in time for so long.
6699792 Google Dexter's Laboratory
Will we get to see Twilight and Family find Equestria?
Uhh, so basically, that was pretty much an Alpha Cannon blast on steroids.
6699909 And there's my other point. If you haven't played it yet, you probably never will, so it doesn't matter anyway.
Your name is no longer Qwark. It is now Michael J. Caboose.
And Ratchet has claimed the title of Church.
STARLIGHT GLIMMER IN BLOOD GULCH!!!!
6699751
I'd break out the old FFVII saw, but that game is getting a remake. As such, have one from FFV:
Galuf dies!
6699752 Ha!
6699792 From Dexter's Laboratory.
6699935
*Points gun at Riku* No matter how good an idea it is you just proposed something that would span 13 seasons, the wait would kill us all.
Equestria is next isn't it?
6699935
...what's Blood Gulch?
6700081 Ever hear of Red vs Blue? It's that.
If you haven't heard of Red vs Blue, imagine Halo, but being fought by the actual gamers in the power armor and you have a good idea of what its like. For the first 5 seasons at least. After that, well... let's just say that awesomeness ensues. Especially once Monty Oum hits the scene.
6699600 that is most likely a black hole up the ass.
6700151 Or maybe an ACTUAL nuke?
Those ARE a thing in R&C you know?
Dude, awesome! Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
6700201 true.
RIGHT int Equestria Where all the Lombaxes are i hope LoL
6700064 13 and counting.XD
So either they end up at Veldin, the Qwark family home, the new Lombax home, or Equestria. I'm honestly hoping it's not Equestria unless they have a way to make a portal back to the R&C universe at will.
6700081 ...That was more for myself than anything else.
Sorry.
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6700073
6699912
6699540
Glad I wasn't the only one to think of that.
6700097 it's really sad he won't be around for next season
6700347 ...You know, I can see Tatsurou doing that... but at the same time I doubt he would. The whole point of this story is about making your family, not finding them. Of course, I've only ever accurately predicted Tatsurou like... what? Once? Twice?
Drum roll... Boom, Equestria!
6700347 But Ofc we cant forget the 3rd best Game out of the (Zoni Saga) A Crack in time.... Sigh im gonna miss 60fps R&C
6699540 Home is where the heart is.... So they will appear inside of a giant Lombax's heart.
6699540 That might be true if Twilight asked to find home, but it was Rachet who did, so no.
6699600 Do you mean the RYNO V? Because it actually is anti individual targets rather than anti army like the current IV.
6701626 So, RYNO IV = Crowd Control, RYNO V = Single-target