Chapter Text
“Alright, place your bet, Clank.” The ship hummed through space as Ratchet and Clank raced towards their next mission. “Will Solle be a huge tech empire, one of those backwater planets that no one wants to visit, or a secret paradise island?”
“What gives you the idea that we will ever get a quest that takes us to a paradise island?”
“Well it’s gotta happen someday, doesn’t it?”
Clank shook his head. As big as the galaxy was, that one seemed like a long-shot. And definitely a long-shot given the pieces of information they knew already. “We are looking for a powerful and little-known resource, the photogears. If they were home to an empire, that would imply someone makes a large profit off of them, and they’d be a more commonly-known material. So, I will go with the second option- a small and uninviting little planet.”
Ratchet rolled his eyes. “Well, fine, Clank. I hope it’s a giant paradise so all your logical reasoning can take it to the curb while I find a tropical slushie to sip on while we work.”
“Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm,” Clank laughed. “You would spill it out the cup the second you have a chance to do a backflip.”
Planet Solle finally pulled into view and Ratchet started the re-entry procedures. “Ha! Imagine being a genius robot, but still not knowing that some cups have lids!”
The pair flew through the atmosphere, winding past a few giant electronic towers when they neared the surface. There was quite a bit of open space to land. Green and yellow gear setups, holo-bridges, and open sky other than the towers spanned for acres. They touched down and climbed out the ship, ready to for another successful stop.
Further down the plane of layered gears was a metal hut and a robot working with a machine. Ratchet raised an eyebrow and looked to his buddy. “So this is… what?”
“It appears to be an agricultural community,” Clank decided. “One where the inhabitants find some sort of resource in these large gears that they harvest like that guy.” Just as Clank gestured to the robot worker, he saw the duo himself and was waving while walking over. “He seems friendly enough to talk to. And as an aside, I believe your paradise island guess wins as most accurate.”
“Uh-huh,” Ratchet scoffed. “I don’t know about that second part, buddy.”
Ratchet and Clank met the robot worker halfway. He looked rather tall up close, and had a nicely shined, mostly blue appearance. He had a slight slouch at the shoulders and wide hands, but a relatively kindly smile. Especially considering their line of work. “Howdy, boys!” He cheered. Clank reached up on his tip-toes and was granted a handshake that practically bounced him up and down. Ratchet took the next one and winced at how hard the metal palm clasped his hand. “I’m Ole Duggy. What brings you round these parts?”
“I’m Ratchet, and that’s Clank. We heard some photogears might be on this planet. Know anything about ‘em?”
Ole Duggy’s eyes lit up. “Oh yeah! They’re one of these mystic elements Solle’s Tech-Core produces. And lucky for you two, it’s the middle of photogear season now!”
Clank realized this planet had a lot more going on than it appeared to. He’d love to know more about it, but resigned to research that himself once they got on with the mission. “Where does someone find the photogears?” He asked.
“Yeah, and is there anyone who would get upset or possibly violent if we went and grabbed a few?” Ratchet tactlessly added.
“Ha!” The robot slapped his hands together and beamed. “No, no. They don’t belong to anyone. Everything the Tech-Core produces is for the planet and the good of the robots! It’s kind of like how other planets have- oh what’s the word, oceans? Yeah, it’s like how oceans give other planets food and water and it’s for everybody to take.”
Clank laughed to himself and tapped at Ratchet. “And with that, I think you’ve won the bet.”
“Oh, joy,” Ratchet droned.
“You can find them underground, especially in the orange-tinged areas. Just look out for critters that live underground; some of them have nasty sets of teeth.”
The heroes shared a glance. Critters with teeth would be no match for them. Ratchet waved a salute to the old robot. “Thanks, Duggy. Guess we’ll get looking now.”
He and Clank had barely turned around when Ole Duggy spoke again. “Say,” he said, “are you, uh, you know uh-“
“The heroes of the galaxy? Yeah, that’s us,” Ratchet shrugged. He started listing points off his fingers as he continued. “Yes, I’m the last Lombax around. No, I’m not lonely; I’ve got Clank. And no, you can’t meet Captain Quark.” Clank couldn’t help but giggle at Ratchet’s tone on that last one. “Trust me, though, you’re not missing out.”
“Oh, uh I meant are you organic?”
Clank tilted his head and saw Ratchet’s jaw lower a bit. His friend seemed a little stunned to speak, so Clank jumped in himself. “Do the locals have a problem with someone being organic, Duggy?”
Duggy was quick to hold his hands up in defense. “No, not the locals. But there are… stories.” He shifted his eyes and leaned in closer to the pair, holding his giant hand up to his mouth as if someone not-a-local could hear. “They say the Tech-Core, the planet itself, isn’t kind to organics. I don’t know all the big words and sciency-parts - my skills have always been the ones in the fields. But they say when organics have come here before, their bodies broke down, or their slimy parts popped right out of their skin. They say every time, they don’t make it home alive.”
Clank looked to the ground. Could this be true? The guy they were retrieving the photogears for hadn’t said anything about Solle being possibly deadly to organic life, and he’d been there before. But then again, that guy was in a suit of armor- what if he was a robot under there and never heard these stories? Even still, why would a planet that was only friendly to robots develop an atmosphere?
“You don’t have to worry.” Ratchet’s voice broke Clank from his thoughts. He was a little relieved to look up and see the Lombax was still talking to Duggy. “Clank and I are experts at getting in, getting stuff, and getting out. We’ll be gone before the Tech-Core can so much as breathe on me- err, not breathe but… you know what I mean.” His buddy turned around, and Clank let out a quiet sigh before hopping onto his harness. “You ready, pal?”
“Ready. Let’s be quick.” Clank and Ratchet nodded firmly and headed off.