AT LAST, IT'S BEGINNING! EPILOGUE 2!

Oh, I'm so exited to get this story going! It's been one year since I posted the first chapter of Epilogue 1, so this chapter also marks the first anniversary of the Epilogue series. A moment of silence for Hypernova though, who did not live to see his first anniversary in the archive.

But there are plenty of new OC's incoming! Among them are OC's named after those or from those who correctly guessed that this story would be a crossover with Star Fox.

A warning though: there will be major spoilers and this story will not make sense for those who haven't read 'Epilogue' and 'Epilogue one-point-five: how it all began' in the Ratchet & Clank FanFiction archive.

Also, let me take a quick moment to reply to the reviews on the last chapter of Epilogue 1.5.

Reviews

Destiny W: "This was great, I can't wait for March 10th. : )"
Well, guess what today is? I couldn't wait for this day to come either! Enjoy!

zenith88: "Again a very nice chapter. You could really feel the disappointment from Angela about not getting her parents back. Other than that i have the slightest feeling Alister may could be Angelas father, but that's only a vague guessing. Well, i definately stay tuned."
Thanks! And yeah... forgive me, Angela... anyhow, only time will tell if your assumption is correct, I won't spoil anything on Angela's family. Not yet. Also, I hope this chapter will live up to your expectations. Enjoy!

Max Chronicle: "Man...that was a finale all right. Can't say my prediction was right. (Wanted to meet Angela's parents)
Anyway, "Oh, tea. It has been such a long time!" Best scare ever. You almost killed me.
Another gem of wisdom from a guy who loves his tea: "...but in the end, it was you who let Clank change you." Deep.
Just got to talk to his parents, next thing he knows...there's trouble. Classic.
I like that Kaden was a racer. Fits his character...from what we know...and you added.
Granted, that whole scene was hilarious.
Can't wait for the future.
Max out"
Well, you will meet Angela's parents eventually. But if Angela will meet them in life or death I cannot say, only time knows. Perhaps Travel The Days could help? Speaking of which, yesterday was my birthday and I got a PS4! And now, I seriously cannot wait for April 20th because that day the Ratchet & Clank PS4 game will come out! So... may I borrow Travel the Days for a sec?

And yeah, I just HAD to add that scare! And yeah, deep stuff, but hey, it's Orvus alright? And I wanted to prove Ratchet right: "I can't catch a break!" And I also decided against making Kaden a mechanic. It'd be much more fun if he was a racer, he'd be handy with his wrench and most Lombaxes seem to enjoy travelling at high speeds, so I made Kaden a racer. But I have another reason for doing so, you will find out later. Again, Travel The Days?

And wait no more, Epilogue 2 is beginning at last! Enjoy!

Jadzia Kira Dax: "This was a wonderful chapter! Keep up the good work!
P. S. Nefarious owes me eight billion bolts now!"
Thanks! And Nefarious, you better start payin'! He can't say that he hasn't got the money though, I mean, in A Crack in Time he built an entire space station for crying out loud (why do villains like building stuff that resembles themselves?)

Anyhow, enjoy!

Before we start, from now on, at the end of each chapter, I might list some soundtracks/songs that fit some parts of the story. For example, here are a few soundtracks that fit characters/events in Epilogue 1:

Hypernova/Simon's theme: 'Main Theme' from the game Space Engineers

Hypernova Vs. Black Hole: 'Final Destination' from the game Suprt Smash Bros Brawl

(Might change) Black Hole's theme: 'Danger Zone' from the game Space Engineers

It's not a requirement to listen to those soundtracks while reading the story, it might just make it a bit more fun.

With all that said, please enjoy the start of the grand sequel!

Ratchet groaned in frustration. Why was he here again?

While flying back home from another job well done, Aphelion had received a... 'strange' distress signal. Just a weird sound repeating itself over and over again. What was even weirder is that Ratchet knew for sure that at least 99.9% of all ships didn't use that frequency, because most ships couldn't receive it. It was so ultra-high that even Aphelion had trouble decoding it, but she managed to do it nevertheless.

Ratchet had flown to the source of the signal, but had found nothing. Nothing at all.

He was currently visually searching the area for something that could have been the source of the signal, but so far he had found nothing.

Ratchet was about to give up and fly back home when Aphelion said something.

"Ratchet, it seems I am running low on fuel. I actually doubt we can fly back to Veldin."

Ratchet silently cursed. "Damn it. I actually planned to refuel on the planet the signal came from... if it actually existed!"

He sighed. "Is there someplace we can refuel?"

"Negative. No planets nearby. The local solar system also has no known planets."

Ratchet grumbled. "Oh, damn it!"

But that's when he saw a glistering in the distance. "Aphelion, I think I just saw a ship at two."

"Scanning... an unknown type of ship is indeed flying past mere cubits from here."

"Give it a call."

"Out of reach. Please fly closer to the ship."

"Could you lock onto it so I know where it's headed?"

Aphelion did as she was told. Ratchet flew towards the spacecraft in the distance.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a silver spaceship roughly in the shape of an A, with the cockpit in the middle and two large wings that were folded backwards.

As soon as he got within range, Ratchet gave the ship a call. But, instead of answering, the craft did something strange.

It's wings moved forward and unfolded themselves, the craft shot forward, and if that wasn't bad enough, it turned around suddenly and opened fire at Aphelion. "Hey!" Ratchet yelped in surprise as he pulled on the controls like a madman, barely avoiding the torrent of plasma sent his way. "What's their problem?!"

After dodging fire for over five minutes, Ratchet suddenly received a call from the pilot. Ratchet immediately patched it through. "What is your problem?!" Ratchet yelled as soon as the connection was established. Though he couldn't see the pilot, he could hear a strong, male voice.

"You're better than most space pirates I've encountered, I'll give you that. But there is no escape for you. By locking onto my ship and choosing to try to rob me, you've made the biggest and last mistake of your life!"

"Space pirate?! What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Don't try to get smart with me, scum. You're going down."

Ratchet was getting fed up with this guy. "Hey, egghead?! Haven't you noticed that I never attacked you?! For the past five minutes you have been attacking me, not the other way around! I only wanted to ask if you knew a place nearby where I could refuel!"

The pilot enabled video-communication and stared at Ratchet. "Hmm, you don't look like a pirate..."

"That's because I am no pirate! Does this look like a pirate ship to you?!"

The pilot that had tried to kill Ratchet had orange-brown fur. He had golden-brown white-highlighted hair that had been cut into a crew cut, and he had strong, determined green eyes. It was a fox.

He was wearing a white jacket with a green vest underneath, and he was wearing a special headgear of some sorts. "May I ask why you are so hellbent on trying to kill me?" Ratchet asked.

"I won't fall for that..."

"Just tell me where I can refuel and I'll be on my way, dammit! Look, I just saved an entire planet, and now I really want to go home to my friends for a well-deserved break. I have absolutely no intention of taking anything from you!"

The fox frowned. "The most nearby planet would be Titania. There, I told you, now go."

Ratchet grinned sheepishly. "Well... there is one small problem... I don't know this solar system, nor does my ship."

"Argh! How long are you going to bother me?"

"Could you show me the way? Please?"

"How do I know you won't double-cross me and attempt to kill me?"

"I can pay?"

The fox looked convinced. "No pirate would say that. Still, you'll fly in front of me and I'll keep my ship locked onto yours for the entire trip. Don't try anything funny, okay?"

"Gotcha. Now where do I need to go?"

"Seventy-five degrees to the right, then one degree downwards."

"Thanks!" Ratchet said as he reorientated his ship and flew off, the fox on his tail.

After fifteen minutes of flying, a planet came into view. It's surface was covered in vast orange-reddish deserts, the atmosphere was deep crimson and orbiting it was a set of massive rings. Ratchet couldn't help but be impressed by this massive world. "Head to coordinates -2486.1, 14.2, and remember, don't try anything funny."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time too!" Ratchet yelled, getting fed up with the other pilot's behavior.

After entering the atmosphere and flying over the dunes of Titania for five minutes, a massive construct came into view. By the looks of it, it was a miniature city inside a gigantic glass dome. "You can land and refuel just behind the western gate. Remember, I'm watching you."

Ratchet eyerolled and steered Aphelion to said entrance to the dome. He flew into the airlock, the fox behind him, and after a few seconds, Aphelion informed him that the atmosphere surrounding the ship had become breathable. The doors on the other side of the airlock opened up, and Ratchet flew out. He flew to his right and landed Aphelion on a refueling pad. He got out, but as he was about to begin refueling Aphelion he could feel cold metal being pressed against the back of his skull.

"And now we'll have a little talk about what you're doing here." the vulpine pilot said behind Ratchet.

Ratchet snapped. He ducked and kicked the left knee of the vulpine pilot with such force that the pilot tumbled over. Ratchet quickly grabbed the man's gun and aimed it at the pilot, who looked up at Ratchet in defeat.

"I am getting so very tired of your behavior, pal." Ratchet growled, grabbing the blaster a bit tighter.

The pilot looked up at him. "Do it. Do me that favor."

Suddenly, all of Ratchet's anger was replaced with confusion. "Wait, wha-"

"I said do it. Shoot me. End it."

"Are you insane?"

"No. In fact, I am perfectly sane. I just don't have a reason to live anymore."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"But... there surely are people who will miss you."

"You really think?" the fox said with tears in his eyes. "Do you really think?!"

"I'm certain."

"Then you are wrong. I have nothing to live for."

"Why is that?"

"Simple. The woman I love is gone."

"Gone as in... dead?"

"As good as. A long time ago, I made a very, very stupid decision, and she left me because of it. I've been searching for her ever since, but no, nothing. I've been searching every square inch of every planet in Lylat, and I haven't found her anywhere. Can you imagine how hopeless I feel? How tired I feel? Please... please let me die."

"No."

The pilot growled. "KILL ME, DAMMIT!"

"No. I've got a better plan."

The vulpine pilot stayed silent. "I'll help you find her."

"R-really? But tha-that's crazy!"

"Without your help, I'd have run out of fuel, and I'd be hovering in space somewhere, waiting for death to come. I owe you my life, so the least I can do is lend a hand."

The vulpine pilot got up. "But I will need to know more about you." Ratchet said.

"Fair enough. Name's Fox."

"My name is Ratchet." Ratchet replied.

"Well, nice to meet you, and sorry for being such a douche earlier, Lylat's having trouble with pirates. My old buddy Falco and his team 'Star Falco' should be working on it, but I don't see much happening to be honest."

Ratchet nodded. "Well, I still don't know much about you."

"True. You see... I'm a celebrity in Lylat. It all began with my father, James McCloud. He founded the legendary Star Fox team, an elite commando unit of mercenaries-for-hire, originally working freelance. Although it may have seemed as if money only mattered to the Star Fox team, they would only accept missions with the goal to bring justice to evil. Anyhow, the team consisted of my father, James, his good friend Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar, who had proven himself to be a skilled pilot. They had a pretty good time together, that is, until strange activity was detected on Venom, a barren and poisonous planet close to Lylat, and also the planet where the evil, mad scientist Andross had been banished to. The Star Fox team were sent on a scouting mission, but upon arrival, Pigma betrayed the team, having received a 'better' offer from Andross. Peppy managed to escape, but my father... he wasn't as lucky. He died a hero."

Ratchet's ears lowered. "Oh. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks. Anyhow, upon returning, Peppy told me what happened, and I swore to get revenge on Andross and bring that lowlife Dengar to justice. I decided to reforge the Star Fox team, following in my father's footsteps. Although I offered the leadership role to Peppy, he politely declined the offer and told me to become the leader instead, and so I did. I hired the mechanical genius Slippy Toad, and my old friend and friendly rival Falco Lombardi. General Pepper, an old friend of my father who felt that James' death was his fault as he was the one who sent them on the mission, decided to take responsibility of my career.

A few years later, Andross launched a massive attack from Venom. Andross had found out that the world that everyone thought was barren and uninhabitable, turned out to be inhabited, and he had persuaded the natives into following his orders. Driven by madness and greed, be began to tear Lylat apart. That's when the new Star Fox team came in. As a team, we kicked Andross' sorry butt. As we reached Venom, we were being awaited by Andross' elite weapon Gorgon, as well as a rivaling mercenary-for-hire team, though this team, Star Wolf, didn't quite mind to work for the wrong people. What's more, Pigma had been able to join the team. We defeated Gorgon, before confronting Star Wolf on Venom. As Peppy, Slippy and Falco kept Star Wolf busy, I entered the mastermind's underground base. Apparently the various dangerous experiments had taken their toll on Andross, for he had been reduced to a flying head with two mechanical hands. Upon destroying the hands, Andross revealed his true form, a flying brain with two eyeballs connected to the brain through some sort of energy-beam. He put up quite the fight, but I managed to destroy him. Andross then tried to blow up the base, stating that 'if he died, I would go with him'. What's more, his base was one gigantic maze of tunnels."

Ratchet frowned. "Darn."

"Indeed. But that's where stuff got weird. Another ship came blasting out of nowhere, and through the communication channels it seemed to be my father. I didn't have time to talk or even wonder what the heck was happening, for everything around me was on fire. I followed my father's ship out of there, but as soon as he flew out of the base, he turned, flying out of sight for a split second. As I flew out just in time, I searched the area, but saw nobody, nor did my ship's radar show any ship save for Peppy, Falco and Slippy. What's more, when I told my teammates what I'd seen, I could see in their eyes that they were thinking that I had gone insane, and they told me that they hadn't seen anyone leaving the base save for me, and they had been keeping an eye on the base at all times."

"Strange."

"Indeed. Moving on, four years after Lylat's defeat, we got a distress signal from Katt Monroe, an old friend of Falco who had helped us on Zoness and Sector Z during Andross' invasion. Katt is... well... 'unique', she finds it great fun to call me 'little man' as well as hitting on Falco, much to Falco's annoyance. Anyhow, Falco left immediately to help Katt, even though the other members of the team, including me, didn't like it. Nevertheless, he flew away to help Katt. With no idea where our team member went, we flew to a research base on Titania, the planet we're currently on, and talked with the officer in charge, Commander Shears. He was willing to help us track down Falco, but in return we had to take out some remnants of Andross' forces who were trying to get away with some of Andross' research data. Upon confronting the Androssian vessel,t to my surprise, Falco came flying out and began to open fire on me. I was able to take down Falco, but upon returning to the Great Fox, a giant ship that used to be the mobile main base of operations for the Star Fox team, Peppy scolded me for fighting with Falco, and he was shocked when I told him that Falco had come flying out of the Androssian vessel, apparently having sided with them.

I became a bit suspicious of Shears' intentions, and thus I sent Slippy to investigate while I worked on figuring out what the hell was going on. As it turned out, I hadn't been sent to destroy some remnants of Andross' forces, but if Falco hadn't badly damaged my ship, I would have destroyed the Hot Rodders, Katt Monroe's team, and a team that Falco was in before he became a member of the Star Fox team. The Hot Rodders had no business with Andross, on the contrary, they had uncovered data that Shears was working on something that couldn't see the light of day. After ROB, the robot that kept the Great Fox running, analyzed the data and uncovered that the project was about creating a clone of Andross, and after learning that Slippy had been imprisoned in the base under Shears' command, Star Fox and the Hot Rodders cooperated on taking down Shears and preventing him from creating a clone of Andross. I and Shears had a sword duel, and in the end I won. However, while Slippy worked on stopping the maturing of the Andross clone, he accidentally sped up the process, and the Andross clone matured far enough to recognize me, and out of rage, he freed himself.

As Shears attempted to make a run for hit, he ended up getting crushed by the Andross clone. I'll spare you the details, but after taking care of Andross once again, Falco told me he needed some time off.

Four years after that, Star Fox wasn't doing very well, we hadn't had a paid mission since Andross' invasion. As I asked ROB if there were any jobs, he told me the answer was none, though he did tell me that he was concerned about this one planet, Dinosaur Planet, or Sauria. He showed me that Sauria seemed to be breaking apart. At that moment, Pepper gave us a call, asking us to save Sauria. I went planetside, though I was forbidden to take my blaster with me, because Pepper believed we had to save Sauria without relying on brute force once again. Upon landing, I found a rather awkward staff not too far from my landing site, and I decided to use it for protection. Sauria was breaking apart because a few powerful artifacts were not in place. Artifacts named 'spellstones' that were keeping the planet together, who had been removed by the evil General Scales. However, there was more to it. A vixen named Krystal, searching for answers about the mystery of her home planet's destruction, had landed on Sauria before my arrival because she had received a distress signal. She discovered that Shears was trying to take control of the planet, and decided to help by returning the powerful Krazoa spirits to Krazoa palace to turn the tides in the dinosaurs' favor, so Scales could be stopped. However, as she freed the first spirit, something pushed her forward into the spirit's path, resulting in her getting trapped inside a crystal at the top of Krazoa Palace until all Krazoa spirits had been returned. As I placed the first spellstone back where it belonged, the Krazoa spirit that Krystal had freed reached out to me, informing me that I had to free the other Krazoa spirits, or she would die.

After placing the second spellstone and collecting the fourth spirit, I placed the spellstone back where it belonged, but the planet did not reassemble. Realizing that I had to collect the other spirits, I found the fifth one and made my way to Krazoa palace, where I released the spirits. However, after learning that the last spirit's shrine was on top of the palace, I made myself to the top, only to be confronted by Scales. We battled, though for some reason, he suddenly released the last spirit, being commanded to do so by some strange voice that sounded quite familiar to me. Anyhow, next I freed Krystal, and my goodness was she beautiful. I seriously had never seen anyone more beautiful than her in my entire life, and I don't think I'll ever will. Moving on, the staff I found turned out to be Krystal's, but after giving her back her staff, the true enemy and the source of the voice that killed Scales, he was killed upon releasing the final spirit, showed itself. Andross again, this time in the form of the Krazoa god. He shot out into space, attempting to destroy the Lylat system, but I flew after him, and together with Falco, who came flying out of nowhere, we took him down. After returning to the Great Fox, Falco told me that he was rejoining. However, a few minutes later, Krystal came flying up, telling me that she hadn't thanked me for her help. I must admit, I had never stood so close to her... and I, err... my brain went jelly. I had no idea what to say. And, of course, my friends just had to make fun of that."

Ratchet nodded. "This Krystal, is that who you're looking for?"

"The one and only. Krystal soon joined the Star Fox team because she liked how we stood for what was right in Lylat, taking Peppy's place as the fourth pilot. According to Peppy, he was getting too old for mercenary work, so it was about time for him to retire. However, he hasn't retired yet. Anyhow, skip ahead a few years, and we had just defended the Lylat system from the 'Anglar Blitz'. I... I was concerned for Krystal's safety so I kicked her off the team... and she hated me for it. And to torment me or because she just liked the skies too much, she joined Star Wolf. Star Wolf's leader, Wolf O' Donnell... let's say he and I got a long history, we're rivals, you see. Star Wolf had changed a lot, while the team originally consisted of Wolf, Leon, Pigma and Andrew, Pigma was kicked out because of his unreliability and Andrew had only gotten a place because he was Andross' nephew, but he was a horrible pilot, so he was kicked out the moment Andross' empire fell. Instead, Star Wolf had hired Krystal and Panther Caruso. And if Krystal joining Star Wolf wasn't bad enough already, Caruso also got an eye on her.

Then the Aparoids came, alien creatures from another solar system seeking to invade Lylat. We flew from planet to planet, destroying Aparoids everywhere before heading to the Aparoid Homeworld, unnamed at the time but now named 'Aparosis', and destroying the Queen Aparoid. After that... I offered Krystal to join Star Fox again. She accepted but... with the history between us, she couldn't really handle it, so she left again. She tried to join Star Wolf again, but she didn't find her place there either. What's more, rumors began to circle about her, slowly driving her to insanity. She vanished completely, and I've been looking for her ever since. As for what happened to Peppy, General Pepper was killed during the Aparoid invasion, and Peppy took his place."

Ratchet shook his head. "What a history."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, it's not like my history is any shorter."

"I told you about me, now it's your turn."

"Fair enough."

Ratchet cleared his throat. "I'm a Lombax."

"Okay... so?"

"Well, until fairly recently I was one of the few Lombaxes left. Lombaxes originate from the desert planet Fastoon in the Polaris galaxy. However, a long time ago, Polaris was being dominated by the Cragmites, ugly humanoid creatures that somewhat resembled various insects. Fed up with the Cragmites' cruel acting, the Lombaxes rebelled, defeated the Cragmites and banished them to another dimension. A few years later, a Cragmite egg was discovered in Lombax Trillium mines. Despite it being a Cragmite, the unborn child had nothing to do with the Cragmite domination, and the Lombaxes wouldn't let a child pay for the crimes of it's race. They raised the Cragmite as one of their own, but the Cragmite inevitably noticed that there were no other Cragmites. He began to dig, and soon enough he had found the reason of his race's near extinction.

Driven by the thirst for revenge, he made the Lombaxes an innocent-looking proposal. He had made several blueprints and schematics of various war-machines. He offered the Lombaxes the blueprints, if they granted him access to their technology so he could complete the designs. No Lombax trusted him... but one.

The Cragmite was given full access to the Lombax technology, and shortly after on my first birthday... the sky was put on fire as Tachyon attacked Fastoon with the Drophyds, ugly and weak fish-like creatures in control of the war machines he had designed. Millions of Lombaxes were hunted down and killed by monsters made with their own technology. Only ten percent managed to escape, using the same device they used to banish the Cragmites to flee to another dimension. I was sent away by my dying mother in an escape pod to planet Veldin, where I was found and brought to the orphanage. I had a horrible time there for six years, after which I was becoming suicidal because literally everyone there was bullying me. I escaped, and luckily for me I was found by a man named Simon Polaris. He adopted me and looked after me for years, that is until Tachyon found me. He sacrificed himself to save me, or so I thought.

I stayed on Veldin, and by studying various crashed spacecrafts I learned how they worked, and became a mechanic. After a while I had finally gotten all the parts I needed, or so I thought, and built my ship, but it did not work due to one crucial component missing: the robotic ignition system. As I was silently cursing about this new obstacle, a rocket fell from the sky just two miles from my home, so I went there to check it out. As it turned out, it was a small robot. I brought the robot to my home and fixed it, and as I worked on my ship, trying to find a workaround for the ignition system, the robot wake up. He scared the hell out of me when he popped up behind me all of a sudden. As it turned out, he was a defective security drone manufactured by the Blarg, and he had found a recording of a message from the Blarg to the citizens of planet Novalis. I'll spare you the details, but the Blarg were telling the people of Novalis to get off their planet, for the Blargain homeworld had become too polluted for habitation, so the Blarg were going to build a new planet by tearing pieces of other planets and putting them together. I made a deal with Clank, I nicknamed the robot Clank for it had no name, that he would start my ship and I would help him search for the galaxy's greatest hero at the time, Captain Qwark.

When we finally found Qwark, he told me that, for my efforts, he was willing to make me a hero, and all I had to do was beat his obstacle course. He quickly shoved us out of his trailer after telling me that, and told us to meet him at his base on Umbris. After passing the obstacle course, we met up with Qwark, but he betrayed us and left us for dead. Clank and I escaped, and continued. I was bittered by Qwark's betrayal, and because it was Clank's fault that we fell into his trap, but Clank would refuse to start the ship unless I went exactly where he told me to.

But then we reached Oltanis Orbit, where Clank and I found a rather... disturbing message. It was a news broadcast live from Gorda City, planet Oltanis. What was so disturbing was that Gorda City was being attacked, and frankly more than half of the city had already been reduced to rubble. It was then when I realized how blind I had been to chase Qwark while the real threat had been Drek. However, upon landing on Oltanis, the thunderstorm going on struck Clank, and he was nearly killed. He stayed in the ship, and I explored Oltanis. I managed to find information that Drek was building special gigantic war-machines on planet Quartu, so Clank and I went there, but in order to explore the facility, the one that, ironically, Clank had been built in, we needed a gadget called a Hologuise, and we managed to find one on planet Kalebo 3 after destroying the war-machines with an unusual hidden upgrade of Clank, apparently when standing on a special pad he could toggle between 'regular' Clank and Giant Clank, an enormous metal titan with triple-layered raritanium skin, Ion Blast bombs, missiles and strong punches to back it all up.

Anyhow, we explored the facility, where Clank's own mother told us that Drek was planning to destroy the planet that had been my home for so many years, Veldin. We tracked Drek down and took him out, destroying 'his planet' in the process.

Shortly after my next adventure began. Mere hours after being interviewed by the television show 'Behind the Hero', Clank and I were suddenly teleported to a ship in orbit around Veldin, one that sped off to another galaxy almost immediately. The one who 'abducted' us made himself known, the CEO of the largest company in the Bogon galaxy, Mr. Fizzwidget. He told us that not much earlier a secret project had been stolen from Megacorp HQ, and that he wanted to hire us to get it back. Clank wasn't that interested, so he was offered a home in Megapolis on planet Endako for the time being. However, we met up again after the thief I had been tracking had kidnapped Clank and had electrocuted him in a desperate attempt to scare me off. I fixed Clank and together we went on a manhunt to bring the thief to justice. We finally caught up with him on planet Siberius, where he barely managed to reclaim the item stolen from Megacorp, a prototype of a genetically engineered pet. The thief escaped however, but with the pet in our possession, we had no reason to pursue him further.

We met up wih Mr. Fizzwidget on the coordinates he sent us, somewhere in the deserts of planet Tabora. However... Fizzwidget kinda crushed our ship upon landing, he landed on top of it. He assured us that it was 'insured', took the pet and entered his ship again. Clank and I took the back seats. However, Fizzwidget said something about 'flight music' and next thing we know Clank and I were flying through the air because Fizzwidget had activated the back ejector seats. We landed in a cave through a sinkhole in the roof, and we battled our way out through the old mines that had been infested with local unfriendly wildlife. Upon exiting the cave, we were ambushed by the thief, who held us at gunpoint and demanded the pet back, but he was too late. He gave us three seconds, but as he was about to reach one, he slipped and fell.

Turns out, it was a Lombax. What's more, it was a she."

"You're kidding." Fox replied.

"Nope, I'm not. Anyhow, as it turns out, she was a geneticist working on the pet, officially named 'Protopet'. It was a success, save for the fact that the Protopet was highly aggressive, and her task was to fix that behavior. She was close to succeeding, when Fizzwidget pushed up the public release date of the Protopet all of a sudden. When she argued with him that the Protopet was not ready for distribution, she was kicked off the project. Knowing that the entire galaxy would be at risk if the Protopet were to be distributed in it's current state, she broke into Megacorp HQ and stole the Protopet, and thanks to our work the galaxy was at risk once again. She did still have her ID badge, and after setting up a plan we broke into Megacorp HQ. Well, she broke in, I kinda walked through the front doors whilst blowing up every hostile robot in my path. Anyhow, according to the Lombax geneticist, Angela Cross, the 'original' Protopet was being kept at the heart of the facility, where it would be cloned over and over again to create more Protopets. She had already designed and built a device capable of fixing the Protopet, but she had to reach it first, and that's where I came in.

However, upon reaching the Protopet, we were ambushed and held at gunpoint by various robotic commandos. They took the device from her, and Fizzwidget came walking in. He then took off his disguise, revealing himself to be Captain Qwark. The real Fizzwidget had been tied up by Qwark and locked in a supply closet. Qwark then activated a camera and took Angela's device, the Helix-O-Morph, and attempted to frame us, making it seem as if Angela, Clank and I were behind the Protopet attacks and that he, the 'hero' Captain Qwark, was there to save the day. Qwark's plan backfired when he attempted to cure the Protopet, instead of becoming harmless, it grew to an enormous size before swallowing Qwark and running off. While Angela attempted to find the real Fizzwidget, Clank and I battled the King Protopet, and after taking it down, it spit out Qwark who, in turn, spit out the Helix-O-Morph. Angela took a look at her device, trying to find out what was wrong, and upon being asked if she could fix it, she said that she could likely fix the problem but that it would take months of research. Luckily, Clank found the issue, Qwark had put in the batteries backwards."

Fox laughed. "What a story so far, and something tells me this is only the tip of the iceberg."

"Yep. A few months after defeating the Protopet..."

Ratchet told Fox everything. Dr. Nefarious' attempts to take over the Solana galaxy and turn everyone into robotic lifeforms, Gleeman Vox and Dreadzone capturing Ratchet, Clank and their gadget expert (ergo nerd) friend Big Al and making them fight for their lives in everlasting arena battles, Tachyon's attack on Metropolis and the inevitable showdown between the last Lombax and the Cragmite prince, the search for Clank, the Zoni, the Clock, shifting time itself, planet Magnus and the collectors, Stuart Zurgo and the Grungarians, the Nethers, and last but not least, the adventure with Hypernova and Angela.

Fox laughed. "And I thought my story was long."

"Oh, I've even cut out some parts."

"Dang. Anyhow, nice to meet you. For real this time. And thanks for giving me hope again. I'm not one to get a mental breakdown like I had earlier, but if you've been searching for years without success... you begin to lose hope."

"I know. I'd been looking for my race ever since I was a child. Thanks to Hypernova though, Lombaxes have returned. Even the ones that everyone believed to have died."

"Hm. Wish I'd met him, perhaps he would've been able to bring my parents back too."

"Isn't your mother still alive?"

"She was killed when I was just a baby. Andross again. Apparently my dad wasn't the only one with an eye for her, and driven by jelousy Andross had planted a bomb in my father's car. However, my mother started the car instead of my father, and... she was probably thinking about going back to work, watching her son grow, that stuff. I hope she was dead before she realized what was happening."

Ratchet shook his head. "If I ever meet that Andross guy..."

"Don't. He's dead, Ratchet, don't get mad about the things he's done. He's not worth even a second of your time."

"True. Anyhow, have you got any leads on Krystal?"

"No, and that's the frustrating part. It is as if she vanished completely. I was going to search on Corneria again."

"Corneria?"

"Corneria is home to Corneria City, the capital city of Lylat. It's basically the heart of the Lylat system."

"I see. Corneria it is, then."

Meanwhile, on planet Veldin, an aqua blue Lombaxian Starfighter touched down in front of a lonely garage on the edge of the Kyzil Plateau. The cockpit opened up, and the pilot climbed out. Long golden hair waved in the wind, and aqua blue eyes scanned their surroundings for the man the pilot wanted to speak to.

Angela shook her head, and walked over to the garage. She knocked on the garage doors. "Ratchet?"

No answer. She knocked again. "Ratchet, please, answer me. Please, let me say I'm sorry."

Again, no answer. Angela was getting a bit worried. She got back to her ship, and activated it's scanner feature, something she had designed herself. Aphelion was not in the garage, the scanner revealed. Angela was getting really worried now, perhaps Ratchet had packed his bags and left?

Her eyes filled with determination as she started up her ship's engines. She flew out of Veldin's atmosphere as fast as she could, and used the scanner to track Aphelion's flight path. She would retrace every step of Ratchet until she would find him, even if it would take her a million years.

"Perihelion."

"Yes?" she ship spoke up.

"Engage the warp drive."

"Certainly. Accelerating to approximately 0.5 gigaparsecs per second..."

Stars became a blur of white as Angela shot through space at dozens of times the speed of light, and after a while, she had reached the end of Aphelion's flight path. She scanned her surroundings, there was no sight of the deep crimson Lombaxian starfighter, and Angela certainly didn't like that. But then she noticed a glistering out of the corner of her eye. A lonely starfighter was crossing the cosmos, but it was being attacked by six other ships. Angela flew over to them immediately, and opened fire on the attackers, recognizing the six attacking ships as space pirate vessels.

She destroyed one of them, but it's comrades immediately came after Angela, seeking revenge. Angela performed a flawless aileron roll whilst opening fire, Perihelion's Quantum Barrier taking the damage while she fought back. The ship that had been under attack used the distraction immediately by letting loose a barrage of plasma fire on one of the ships, causing it to explode. The other ships soon followed the same fate.

When all pirates had been destroyed, Angela called the other ship. The other pilot accepted the call. "You okay?" Angela asked.

"Fool. I didn't need your help." the pilot said. It was a vixen with deep blue fur with a tiny hint of violet, but that was all Angela could see, the rest was hidden by the pilot's visor and helmet.

"You're welcome." Angela muttered. "How frequent are pirate attacks here actually?"

"Very frequent as of recently. Star Falco is supposed to get rid of 'em, but knowing Falco he isn't doing such a great job at it. He should really let Katt do the strategic part, since his ego easily outnumbers his brains."

"Well, I'm gonna be here for a while, so perhaps I should restock on ammo. Is there a depot somewhere around here?"

"Nearest planet with ammo for sale would be Titania. Anything else?"

"Well... I don't even know where Titania is. In fact, until a few seconds ago I wasn't even aware of it's existence. Could you show me the way?"

"Not gonna happen. I've got work to do."

"What, even after I just saved your behind there?"

"I. Did. Not. Need. Your. Help! Get it into that brain of yours!"

The vixen sighed. "You did help me out though, I suppose it's only fair that I show you the way. You better hurry up though, waste any more of my time and I'll shoot you myself."

"Gotcha." Angela said, and broke the connection. The vixen frowned. "The hell is that... and what do they want? I've got enough enemies... a quick mindscan wouldn't hurt..." the pilot muttered, and reached out to Angela's mind, but she was too far away."

"Darn it." the pilot hissed. "I'll scan on Titania."

As the two ships entered Titania's atmosphere, on the other side of the planet, two other ships began to warp, setting sail for Corneria.

Angela called the other pilot again. "Hey."

"What?"

"Thanks."

The pilot frowned. "Why are you in Lylat anyway?" the pilot asked, carefully digging for more info.

"I'm searching for a good friend of mine who apparently flew to a location close to where I found you before his trail went cold."

The pilot grinned. "Jackpot." the pilot thought. "Hey, you do know who you're talking to, eh?"

"Nope, not a clue."

"I'm a bounty hunter. If there's anyone who can find your friend, it'd be me. For a small... 'fee', of course. And you must swear to protect me."

Angela bit her lip. She really didn't want a bounty hunter on Ratchet's tail, but on the other hand, Ratchet could be in danger. She sighed. "What fee?"

"Five hundred credits per day."

Angela frowned. "Credits?"

"The currency used in Lylat?"

"Well... I do have bolts, I'll see if I can trade them somewhere. Otherwise, can I pay you in bolts, the currency used by the rest of the galaxy?"

"Rest of the galaxy? What have you been smokin', pal?"

"Absolutely nothing. Bolts are a currency used in three galaxies: Solana, Bogon and Polaris."

"Bolts as a currency? You're crazy."

"On the contrary."

The vixen suddenly got an idea. "I believe you."

"You do? Despite your earlier skepticism?"

"Yes, I do believe you, and bolts are just fine." the vixen said with an evil grin. The moment they would land on Titania, she would turn this stranger's mind upside down. If she was telling the truth, if bolts were indeed a currency in three galaxies, then those three galaxies must have access to intergalactic travel, the chance of three galaxies all selecting the same currency independently is astronomically small. And if they did indeed possess intergalactic travel, then who knows what advanced weaponry they might have? If the stranger was lying, she would steal the stranger's ship.

The vixen chuckled evilly. Nobody, absolutely nobody, was going to fool her, the most feared bounty hunter in Lylat.

Kursed.

Alright, how was that for a starting chapter! Mind you, this story is only just beginning. It might even be longer than Epilogue 1. Because I'm so exited for this story, I might actually have a new chapter this Saturday! I said 'might', so please don't get mad at me when I don't have a new chapter by then, I aim to make all of these chapters at least 4000 words.