Ratchet and Clank: One's Last Memento

First topic message reminder :

Yes, you've read it right. This will be a discussion thread for my own idea for a Ratchet and Clank game.

One's Last Memento is set some time after the events of Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time. Still living in the Polaris galaxy, Ratchet and Clank are still remembered for defeating such villains as Emperor Percival Tachyon, Captain Slag and Captain Darkwater and foiling the evil plot to control time of Dr. Nefarious.

Whilst working on some new gadgets, two objects fall from the sky one falling towards the surface, the other skimming across the atmosphere before leaving the sector altogether. Ratchet finds the object that landed to be a small sphere, encrypted with lettering not unlike the Lombax language. Upon opening it, it plays a short part of a melody that only he can hear, so it is clear that the message was intended just for him. Upon closer observation, the sphere's song is actually a series of co-ordinates for another sphere just like it and so on. When the complete song is found, all the co-ordinates will lead to the location of its origin.

The other object that fell from the sky and landed on a nearby moon, was not as welcoming. The object was a fragment of technology belonging to a species called the One. The One have been heard of, but never before did they pose a significant threat, until now. Having now "unified" a species with advanced technology, they plan to come to the Polaris galaxy and force species to join their hive mind, in their grisly attempt to make all life theirs.

Further information forthcoming.

Paradise - noun - A place of extreme beauty, delight or happiness. It would be no exaggeration to call it the perfect place.

I believe it is paraíso in Spanish.

Humanity has dreamt of paradise ever since it began to exist. Every religion has a different view, but it is always the same basic principle.

I must say I am intrigued about his

Although I've never played Ratchet and Clank, I think this sounds quite a lot darker, than what I associate with the series?

Midnight is a Yangsu, around the same age as Ratchet, and has a similar history.

During the Great War between the Cragmites and Lombaxes, the Yinsho and the Yangsu took part at great personal risk when the situation became dire. After the Cragmites were defeated, Tachyon tried everything in his power to destroy the Lombaxes and anyone who fought for them, including the Yangsu.

Midnight's family were attacked by Tachyon, her parents and siblings all exterminated, save for her. Similar to Ratchet, she was placed in an escape pod and shipped off to the Thyrullian Galaxy at the same time Ratchet was sent to the Solana Galaxy. Infant Yangsu take on the appearance of cubs, until taken to the Court of Shadows where they become biped upon maturation. The escape pod was discovered by an elderly being who needed company after his family had long since left him.

Thinking of Midnight as nothing more than the equivalent of a pet, due to her remaining in quadruped form. She quickly learnt from the old man, and became very closely bonded to him.

However, when the One began to accelerate, the Old Man refused to surrender to the One and sealed Midnight inside the same escape pod she arrived in, to send her back home, whilst she watched him be unified as it prepared to take off. The One, at the time, ignore the pod, as chasing it would have been a waste of resources, little knowing where it was heading.

The escape pod returning to the Yangsu homeworld and her own people found her and continued to raise her, allowing her to become the biped form she was destined to have. She now trains alone, and prefers her own company, causing her to be somewhat shy and quiet.

When she senses the One moving towards the Polaris galaxy, she sought to find the Prophecy Box to aid her in fighting against the One. She isolates the co-ordinates to the glacier planet of Lyra VI, and excavates the temples in search of the mysterious object of legend. This is where she encounteres Ratchet, looking for the same talisman only a few minutes earlier than she was and finding it before her. After challenging Ratchet and being defeated, she shows herself to be impressed by his skill, but suggests to him where his fighting talent could be improved, promising to him that next time she duels against him, she won't hold back and hopefully he would have improved.

When joining Ratchet briefly as he travels to planet Sk'rusi, she meets a former drone of the One, whom only knows his designation of Unit 6-5-Tau, but not his real identity. Feeling nostalgic all of a sudden, she comes to recognise the figure's face, by looking into his aged eyes and sees that this drone was the old man that raised her when she crashed in the Thyrullian galaxy as an infant.

When visiting the presentation, knowing it to be the window of opportunity she was looking for to strike back at Kr'shek for the One destroying her former home in the Thyrullian Galaxy. Kr'shek admits to letting the pod go, as unifying it would terminate the co-ordinates and flight data she needed to track down the Polaris galaxy and that she only sought to find it, because Midnight was returned there; the Old Man's attempt to defend her would doom the Polaris galaxy.

In bitter rage, Midnight lunges for Kr'shek, only to be deflected by Kr'shek's forcefield generator than begins to sap her strength. When Kr'shek turns her attention to the drone that tries to defend Midnight, 6-5-Tau's internal circuitry begins to degrade, as a result of the laboratory's natural forcefield, and Kr'shek seeks to take advantage of this and prepares to decommission 6-5-Tau. As the sword is about to strike, Midnight defends her adopted father telling him she was repaying the favour for him sending her to Polaris long ago to try and save her.

In a fierce duel, Midnight punctures the blood vessels on Kr'shek's neck and subjects her to third degree plasma burns with her staff's built in plasma lasoo, but Kr'shek stabs Midnight, fatally wounding her. As a last bid attempt to stop Kr'shek, Midnight fires an opposing energy signature across the chamber, allowing Ratchet to enter and finish off the mortally wounded Kr'shek, who puts up an intense fight.

In her last moments, Midnight, bleeding dangerously, siddles up to 6-5-Tau, keeping him company as he slowly begins to die. The energy signature, though disabled, has done irreperable damage to 6-5-Tau's internal circuitry, particularly those in his brain, due to it being very old and damaged from his time on Dark Rune. Kr'shek is badly wounded by her battle with Ratchet and Midnight tells her with her last breath;

"You should have unified my escape pod when you had the chance and deleted the flight data. In coming here, you face a foe who will finally stand up to you and kill you once and for all. In coming to Polaris and following me, you've secured your own destruction."

Kr'shek's body, now incredibly badly damaged, collapses to the floor and the paradise project begins to close in on itself, threatening to take the city with it. Midnight finally dies, alongside her adopted father and both remain in the building, handing Ratchet her staff saying it will help him one day, either practically or as sentimental value. Their bodies are never found.

Kr'shek was teleported away in the last moments and began the transfer to the "perfect body" too prematurely. The body, still incomplete as it lacks skin and is still dependant on extensive built in life support, is still very weak and sets the chain of events for which the inevitable final duel will conclude.

Srry I meant what's paradise corner

There is no paradise corner.

I meant paradise core

The paradise core is the project the Utopians worked on. In this "paradise" of theirs, several endangered and extinct plant and animal species would be reborn and would be fit for their race to leave in luxury and bliss for the remainder of time. Unfortunately, in order to have tailor made and adaptable, they had to give it sentient consciousness enabling it to respond accordingly to their desires. This core was able to see through the charade of philanthropy the Utopians were displaying and denied its creators the true paradise they saught for. What they were given was a pale, bleak and unwholesome place that was unsatisfying and had little structural integrity.

Chronophaser - The Chronophaser is a little tool originally planned to focus temporal pockets on a set target to cause them to become younger or older at will, but Orvus thought it was a gross misuse of time for it to take effect on organic beings. The same principle of focussed time manipulation still applies, but it only works on inorganic objects. By focussing a time stream on an object, time can be reversed to return the object to a previous state; great for mending broken objects or activating encrypted mechanisms.
The Chronophaser, another ingenious invention brought to you by Orvus.

Dead Space Manipulator - The Dead Space Manipulator does what it says on the tin. The Dead Space is a freaky region where time doesn't flow, space doesn't expand, mass doesn't form and machines don't work. The manipulator exacts those conditions in the real universe for a short time, which is pretty handy for disabling machines, freezing time, avoiding spatial anomalies as well as many other nifty party tricks.
The Dead Space Manipulator, another ingenious invention brought to you by Orvus.

The Prophecy Box - The Prophecy Box was invented by Orvus and assembled by the Yinsho and the Yangsu, but commissioned by a union of clueless authorities, who really needed a lead on a case, but couldn't see the one staring at them right in the face. Basically, it's a replicator, connected to a temporal circuit and a mind reader, so whatever clues it'll give you will be most suited to your problem. Word of warning though, it only gives you what is most relevant, not what you most want.
The Prophecy Box, another ingenious invention brought to you by Orvus.

Do we get Clank's chrono-puzzles again? Those were fun!

How about these as teaser trailer quotes?

"The Lombax is coming home... and no One is going to stop him."
"Paradise is opening... but for how long?"
"Dead Space is dying..."
"The One way to unite a fragmented galaxy; unification."

Beings that are unified at childhood are inefficient to use as workers in the One, so are left to mature, and critical procedures are performed later. Because they haven't had command isolation protocols implemented, the immature One can be commanded by pretty much anything and can still do a variety of tasks that mature One can perform as well.

As part of Clank's gameplay, the immature One can be released from their chambers and can be used to manipulate machines, mend or dismantle structures and combat certain enemies, similar to microbots or Zoni in previous games.

The One capture Captain Qwark and prepare to unify him.

One voice: Specimen identifies himself as "Copernicus Qwark".

Qwark: That's "Captain" to the likes of you!

One voice: Designation is irrelevant.

Qwark: I think not, because if you knew just who you were messing with...

One voice: Subject demonstrates above average strength, resilience, but has low level intelligence.

Qwark: You calling me stupid?!

One voice: Subject qualifies for an adequate worker.

Kr'shek: Belay that command.

Qwark: I want to speak to who's in charge here!

Kr'shek: I am designated as superior, you will speak to me!

Qwark: Okay, first of all you should have this place redecorated, I don't think this colour scheme brings out my eyes-

Kr'shek: The elegance of this vessel is irrelevant, you will be unified to serve as one of us.

Qwark: Yeah, about that... what nerve do you think you have of taking me over?

Kr'shek: I am Kr'shek Motraz! I am the One! You are but one individual, trivial and selfish. Your unification will benefit us.

Qwark: Sorry I asked then your... Oneness.

Kr'shek: However, you have a greater purpose to us than we have expected.

Qwark: That's more like it. A hero should be treated with a bit more respect, you know? As a celebrity, I should be able to have my way with styles. I don't think the whole motif you have is very friendly.

Kr'shek: You are not required for your hero status, your image is far more important.

Qwark: Well, I do work out quite a bit-

Kr'shek: Not once have I invited you to communicate. You shall remain silent unless I allow you speech.

Places clamp over Qwark's mouth.

Kr'shek: You represent a figure of interest and authority within social cultures. Therefore you will be of use to us in that respect. You will be ambassador to the One, and you will proceed to speak to your contacts. You will pursuade them that the One will help this galaxy and so you will deliver all of your fans to us for unification. You have no choice in the matter, but we have to preserve you somewhat so that your memories can be accessed, but you'll serve us.

Releases clamp over Qwark's mouth

Qwark: No, what are you doing? Captain Qwark is the hero, I would never serve evil!

Kr'shek: You will, because once the trancievers have been installed in your brain, what you want will be irrelevant.

Qwark: In...stalled?

Kr'shek: Prepare the chamber for open installation. I will need to directly pick his brain to prevent memory loss. Take care in removing the top of the skull, the brain of the average biped is very delicate and soft.

Sounds of Qwark screaming and saws are heard as Kr'shek walks away to sterilse for surgery.

It wouldn't be an understatement to simply say... Utopians are monsters.

"I think you'll find, Lombax, you have done us a tremendous favour. With you trying to access Galactic Authorities and taking out the soldiers, it was all that much easier to completely unify them.

I take it you also found the chief and I'll explain that. You see, the higher officers all went to a meeting, but it was actually an interception mission on our part. Don't think you killed him when you shut down the headset, he was dead already and had been dead for a very long time. We removed most of the brain and attached the headsets just so we could access memory and motor function. By shutting the head piece off, you simply cut the signal. That's right, the flesh attached to the head piece you pulled out was part of their brain.

But now that the ministers are dead and the authorities are unified, there is one thing left to do. They would have put up a better fight if you hadn't walked in, so their unification is partly your fault. That makes you, the robot and the Yinsho and Yangsu public enemies number 1, 2, 3 and 4. You best be careful where you land next, because no-one is going to trust you again.

However, as I am a compassionate being I will happily accept you into the One should you find life as the most hated being in the galaxy a bit too hard. I shall wait for you to make your reply."

I'm really liking this still.

Captain Qwark is currently working on the set of his new movie, but audiences have begun to drop for Qwark's films. He and the director then have a meeting and decide that the audience wants to see real heroes, and so Qwark asks Ratchet and Clank to appear on set, to increase box office revenue to meet demands.

The filming begins on planet Thespor and begins to go well, until the fight scene. The extras were all unified during the break the director called to discuss the film with Qwark and now they have all come to attack and unify Ratchet. Luckily, Qwark lends a hand, not realising the dire nature of the situation.

After the scene comes to an end, Qwark calls the take a success and wishes to thank the extras for their hard work. When he realises they were actually killed, Ratchet tries to tell him that they were all unified and they were trying to kill him and Qwark. Qwark unfortunately takes killing the unified extras too personally and thinks his career will go down the drain as a result.

Distracted by the grief, Qwark is then captured by the One and injected with paralysis nanaprobes and taken away.

Later in the story, Ratchet asks why the One always seem to find him and his friends, at which point Aphelion runs a diagnostic with an advanced processor installed later on.

"I think it is important to tell you Ratchet, I have been unified. Don't worry, it didn't hurt much, but it wasn't very pleasant either.

My software and hardware have both been affected, so I couldn't scan myself to see whether I was unified, because it wouldn't register. Only with the new components could I detect it.

The data relay you retrieved contained a fail safe, by tampering with it you essentially released the program that would prevent its information being accessed by unauthorised species. I shielded you from it, which is why I haven't spoken to you beyond basic responses.

Only with the new processor I have been able to speak, but that will be unified soon. Because I was unified, I've been sending data to the One of your location, so they know where we're going before you've even arrived.

I'm afraid the unification cannot be reversed, both my software and hardware is unified; replacing one or the other wouldn't completely rid myself of it. The only way I can be completely released is for me to be destroyed.

I am indeed sorry."

BUMP

In the distant reaches of the galaxy, prophets foretold the coming of the One and so contacted nearly every species in near reach to help create a weapon that could defeat the One; the Ryno VI.

The weapon in question would be able to overcome the One's accelerated adaptation capabilities, by firing missiles and shots wildly and at random. Even if a One could adapt to the individual shot, there was no chance it could survive or adapt to the next volley of shots which varied continously.

When they were due to arrive, the plans were deliberately scattered to prevent them being located. Without the complete plans, the One couldn't analyse them to develop a defence. The only problem with that plan is that no one had a complete copy of it and so the weapon cannot be built.

Centuries ago, the Zoni began to recolonise the universe after the Great Clock was completed such as to monitor their work first hand. A group visited planet Utopia and were discovered by a small hunting troupe that had other plans for the extraordinarily rare little creatures. Zoni bio-energy was extracted from their bodies and harvested as valuable trinkets amongst the Utopians and the craze for hunting Zoni began.

The hunt carried on for a long time and thousands of Zoni were captured, right up until Orvus discovered what was taking place. Despite removing the deceased Zoni from Utopia, the hunt still continued and the Utopians carried on driving species to the brink of extinction with their insane hunts. Orvus then decided to intervene properly and used the Great Clock to put in place a phenomena around the planet known as the "Dead Lock".

The planet would be centre of a causality field for which every action towards their development or towards harming another species, the entire planet would come under great misfortune. Because of their vicious hunting habits, the Utopian world changed from a technologically advanced haven into a monstrous world with a choking atmosphere, terrible storms and their biology began to manipulate such that their deceased would only exist to destroy the living that replaced them. This hadn't originally been Orvus' plan, but the causality "Dead Lock" created this world.

The actions of the "Dead Lock" are still seen in effect today. When Kr'shek made the first movement in creating the One, the world was dislocated in the universe so as to slow her progress down. It only seems natural that their finest hour in creating a new world will only turn to disaster whilst the lock is still in effect.

News has reached the One that Utopia has reappeared, after falling through a wormhole in space, and placed itself in orbit around a suitable star. Now, Kr'shek is returning home with a project that will hopefully destroy the Dead Lock once and for all, at the cost of the fabric of existence.

When you enter Utopian air space, the landing platforms are too heavily guarded for an official landing, so you'll need to jetison over a weakly defended point, the Wastelands, to proceed. The wastelands are an expanse of twisted wreckage and active volcanic hotspots, so you'll need to move quickly and carefully. You'll be using your hover boots for this step, so just dodge the fiery springs and pitfalls to reach the goal. Part way through, Clank will take over, covering Ratchet from the hover turrets that were reactivated by you passing them in the wreckage. He'll have to deflect their shots back at them in order to avoid taking damage.

Eventually you'll breach the defenses and lower the barrier shielding the landing grid, allowing Aphelion and Remmi's craft to land. Midnight has successfully gotten her hands on a forged pass, allowing her a VIP seat at the seminar presenting the Utopia Project's Grand Opening. She'll need you to try and reach the Cataclysmos Building on the other side of Scarred City.

Scarred City is a death trap to say the least. As the capital of all Utopian work, most of the Dead Lock took its effect here, leaving vast ruins with some citizens still alive inside the burning buildings. Just do your best to take out any soldiers that try to engage you in combat, they aren't very tough. However, the real dangers are the Utopian Sages. Trained in "Utopian Black Magic", they will either sap your health and feed it to troops or mess with your weapons. Stray too close whilst they have their glowing orbs present and they'll lock you in their spells. Their defences are weak, but their offences can deal great damage.

Closer to the Cataclysmos Building, an "Undead Warning" is called and civillians are urged to stay away from the dead roaming the streets. The undead cannot be destroyed by physical weapons, only by high energy weapons that will overrun their undying survival instinct (electrical weapons are good at this). Besides the threat of the undead, there is still falling rubble and it rains fire in certain places, so keep a good eye on anywhere you can take cover. Once past, the causeway to the Cataclysmos building collapses into the magma, but there is still a way.

Clank helpfully pulls out his robo wings, the warm air rising from the magma will give enough of a boost to keep you in flight. There are hover turrets in certain areas, so just keep an eye on those. Once you finally make it to the Cataclysmos building, the barrier will drop to allow Midnight's ship into the building.

Once inside, the plan is simple. Midnight, posing as a scientist, will be escorted to the main chamber where the project is due to be activated in front of an audience, so you need to keep tracking her whilst excavating the maintenance shafts to avoid detection. Of course, Remmi doesn't like this plan.

Remmi - "Why are you taking the main way in and we are taking the shaft?"

Midnight - "I have a pass that'll get me in unnoticed, you two will just draw attention to yourselves and we'd never get inside. Besides, if you just follow my signal on the Nav Unit, I'll lead you right to where you need to go."

Remmi - "Grr..."

~

Remmi - "Midnight!"

Midnight - "Don't shout like that! You'll ruin the entire plan!"

Remmi - "Sorry, Proffessor... Anglestar? How exactly are you going to pass as him?"

Midnight - "Anglestar is a she and I can pass much better than you can keep quiet!"

~

Remmi - "Yangsu! Yangsu! YANGSU!"

Midnight - "What!?"

Remmi - "You're going to blow our cover by talking to people!"

Midnight - "And you shouting "Yangsu" into the communicator isn't? Keep it down!"

~

Midnight (to other guests) - "Excuse me a moment."

Midnight (to Remmi) - "What is it now?"

Remmi - "You're going to blow our cover!"

Midnight - "I'm blowing the cover? You're the one shouting into the communicator, can't you stay quiet for just a few seconds longer!?"

~

Midnight - "Okay, I'm inside the chamber, they haven't started yet. They are serving food and... Oh, that's disgusting!"

Ratchet - "What is it?"

Midnight - "Agorian hearts with tetramite pate, fongoid livers, shank of vullard, Blaargian salad... this is just revolting!"

Ratchet - "Eeuch!"

Remmi - "I know, salad."

Waiter (on communicator) - "May I take your order, madame?"

Midnight (to Waiter) - "Actually, I'll just have the soup."

Waiter - "The liver is very tender this evening..."

Midnight - "I hadn't realised we were dining so I already had something, just the terratrope bile soup."

Waiter - "Very well, madame."

~

Ratchet - "Looks like Kr'shek knew we were skulking about, she's destroyed the shaft above the main chamber."

Midnight - "There should be another hatch, just drop through that and take the main entrance."

As Ratchet and Remmi drop into the corridor, the door is guarded by a giant machine that is designed to protect the door. Deal with it as effectively as you can, just avoid the shockwaves it makes when it slams its staff into the ground and electrical discharge it makes. Once defeated, you'll have a brief moment of respite to resupply and enter the main chamber.

Inside, Kr'shek has just activated the machine, but still finds time to challenge you. She is notably strong, using both Utopian Black Magic and standard weaponry. The guards will periodically try to fight you as well, but in comparison to her, they are fairly easy. When down to half health, a cutscene interrupts where the new Utopia is being opened, but it has gone very wrong. The sentient interface wishes to see proof to justify its action, however an old friend visits just in time, Unit 6-5-Tau, formerly unified, and is evidence enough of what the Utopian's leading scientist has done. The interface denies the Utopians the freedom from the Dead Lock and destroys itself.

Midnight, recognisising Unit 6-5-Tau, goes to defend him when Kr'shek fires her weapon at him, and takes critical injuries. Now, with nothing to lose, Kr'shek infiltrates 6-5-Tau's circuitry with her own One array to burn out his mind and destroy him. The project not only refuses to break the lock, but to destroy itself and Kr'shek with it, becoming a wormhole into oblivion. The remainder of the fight continues, only this time, One units will be dispatched and Kr'shek is much stronger. Once defeated, Kr'shek tries to resist the pull of the wormhole, but Midnight is able to scar her long enough to take her out. With the project unable to sustain itself with the high energy demands, the entire building will be destroyed in a matter of seconds. Luckily, Midnight calls her ship with the last ounce of strength to keep Remmi, Ratchet and Clank safe. Her fate, is most likely, an unfortunate one.

Hard to believe this is over a year old.