Chapter 1- Rwwrwr

"Day 227. The subject appears to be growing at a steady rate" Angela retrieved a piece of raw meat from the plate lying on her desk. She held the moist morsel through the bars of the cage, the Razor Tooth Sand Cat laid out on the rock at the end of the enclosure looked up at her sharply, sniffing the air.

Without a sound the creature pounced towards Angela, snatching the meat clean out the air. Angela brought the recorder up to her lips. "Subject displays astonishing reflexes" Angela leant down to pat it on the head in congratulations. The creature looked up from its meat, snapping its jaws at her open palm, hoping for another easy meal. But Angela quickly pulled her hand back in shock. "And certain, violent tendencies. Report on Subject 16/H9 by Megacorp Head Geneticist Angela Cross. End Recording"

She stopped the tape recorder, collapsing down into her chair, the hem of her white lab coat cascading over the edge of the chair. She removed her brown lab gloves, tossing them down onto the desk. She held her left hand up in front of her eyes, ensuring all of her fingers had made it clear in time. She reached over to her desk and placed the recorder next to the other paperwork of the day and retrieved her cup of caf she had collected to keep herself awake.

She set her long, elegant feet on the edge of the desk as she enjoyed her first break in a long time, the cream white walls of the lab soothing her mind. She had been working on the project for months now and each day saw her getting closer and closer to her goal. Head of Megacorp Abercrombie Fizzwidgit was hoping to turn this creature from a deadly predator to a cute and cuddly pet. The results so far were, inconclusive.

Angela stared past her desk at the animal trapped in the cage across from her as it gnawed and chewed at its dinner, something about it seemed so familiar to her. She scanned over her desk, her eyes passed over the photo which lay atop a sea of papers it finally hit her. She reached for the photo as she stared at it in awe, the photo was a picture of her and Ratchet at the party held at Megacorp HQ to celebrate the success of the revised Protopet project. She brushed a lose tuff of hair from her eyes as she stared past the photo, thinking. The thing that seemed familiar was Ratchet- his primal, fierce character when he fought that mutated Protopet was just like the Sand Cat. It was amazing, he was so primal so….. She had to see him again- fluffy and cute on the outside, fierce and primitive on the inside. She reached for her communicator- typing out the code for Solana. The communicator glided into the air before her as she took another slow sip of her caf.

Ratchet struck his opponent's torso with all his might, hoping to break their stance before delivering the final crushing blow. But she could see right through his feint, she gripped his wrist and twisted it free from her stomach. She used his own technique against him as she struck his left shoulder blade, causing him to recoil backwards, leaving him exposed. Sasha took advantage of his weakness as she struck him clean through his chest causing him to plunge backwards onto the soft mat below him. Sasha seized the opportunity and pounced on top of him pinning his arms to the floor. "Hehehe. How'd I do Ratchet?"

Ratchet struggled to no avail. "Not bad but you should remember" He thrust his shoulder upwards catching her hand and loosening her grip slightly, that was all he needed to break his arm free and flip them over with him on top, the tables had turned in this battle. "Never drop your guard, even when the enemy is down".

Sasha simply smirked up at him, he was so cocky when he thought he'd won. Boy was he in for a big surprise. "And maybe you should remember" Sasha lifted her knee quickly up into Ratchets waiting ribs. As he gripped his stomach in pain Sasha seized the opportunity and forced him onto his back, Sasha straddling his stomach. "There's more to me than meets the eye".

Ratchet squirmed and writhed underneath her. "Very good pupil Sasha, you learn fast". Ratchet lay underneath her expecting her to get off him, but a cold silence simply filled the air. "Urh, you can get off me now" Ratchet finally broke the silence.

"Why would I do that? Right now you're at my mercy." Sasha smirked down at him, she leant over him as she laid a kiss upon his furry lips. Sasha's tongue began to fly across Ratchets lips. A sudden beep destroyed the moment as the communicator on the table floated into the air, the screen crackling with static. Before they could react Angela's fuzzy figure appeared on the screen. She looked down into the cup of caf in her hand, oblivious to the spectacle on the screen before her. She placed the cup on the table next to her as she looked up at the screen, still unaware of the circumstances.

"Hey Ratchet I- Wah!" She fell back in her chair in surprise. Behind the bars of the cage the Sand Cat sat on the large rock at the end of the enclosure- it almost appeared to be snickering at her. Angela glared at it in anger. "Oh shut up, you're still in a cage" She scrambled up from the floor, looking up at the communicator, still shocked at what she saw. "Ugh is this a bad time?" Angela stumbled past her lips, slightly embarrassed that she had stormed in on them doing, whatever they were doing.

Ratchet was the first to reply. "Not at all. I was just-" He pushed up against Sasha, still well and truly pinned. "Sasha?"

"Oh" She raised herself off Ratchet, the loss of the moment was a small price to pay to avoid having to explain this to Angela and whoever else she may mention this to.

Ratchet scrambled to his feet as a sheepish grin grew across his face. "I was just teaching Sasha a few martial arts moves I learnt during commando training" Angela gave him a strange and disturbed look.

"Right. Well then I'm sure you would be able to show me a few moves then?" She gave him an evil grin.

"Urh sure. Why don't you come visit us here in Solana? I'm staying on the Starship Phoenix"

"The what?" Angela questioned. "Come and see for yourself, here's the coordinates"

A set of coordinates flashed on the communicator screen. "Hum?"

Angela took another sip of her caf, swilling it around her mouth with her tongue, staring down into her mug. She placed the cup down on the desk calmly. "YES!"

She screamed as she exploded out of her seat thrusting her fist down into the air, overwhelmed by the excitement of getting to see her favourite furry lombax again. As the thrill subsided Angela rummaged through the papers on her desk looking for her datapad containing the report on the Sand Cat project. She found the datapad; shoved it in her bag and ran for the door, encountering Nigel, another scientist working on the Sand Cat project. She never broke her long stride, charging clean past him and out of the lab. "See you Nigel, I've got to run. I already fed him and I'm just goanna file the report" She stuck her head back into the lab. "Oh and be careful, he bites".

Nigel looked over at the sand cat, as if hoping to decipher an explanation. The sand cat stared back at him blankly before lowering its head to the rock, to enjoy a long afternoon nap.

On the landing pad outside Megacorp HQ stood Angela's ship- small and nimble but still with enough hidden firepower to hold it's own in a dogfight. Angela popped open the cockpit as she jumped into the pilot's seat. The cockpit sealed as the engine flared to life propelling the ship into the sky. Angela hooked the datapad into the nav-computer, uploading the coordinates Ratchet sent her. The computer blipped as it locked the co-ordinates and switched to auto-pilot. Angela tapped a series as button as smooth music began to play over the cockpit speakers. She rose her feet onto the control panel and drifted off to sleep, her head swimming with thoughts of her in the arms of her favourite fuzz ball.

Angela's sleek fighter dropped out of hyperspace without a hitch. The computer bleeped, alerting Angela of their arrival. Angela shook her head, trying to clear herself of a half sleep daze. She looked out of the view screen at her approaching destination; she stared slack jawed at what she saw. Her destination was an enormous military cruiser; the hull of the ship was lined with hundreds of auto-targeting heavy cannons. This ship had enough fire power to swat her clean out of the space and not even slow down. She took the controls of the craft as she slowly manoeuvred the ship towards the hanger of the humongous craft.

She decreased her speed as she docked inside the hanger, the large steel doors closing behind her preventing any chance of escape. The cockpit hatch hissed open as she lifted herself out of the pilot's seat, her steel tipped boots clanking against the metal floor. Before she could even react a squad of armed robots advanced and surrounded her ship, their weapons raised and ready to fire. "Halt. This is a Federation, military vessel. What is your business aboard the Phoenix?" Angela raised her hands, as if she believed it would stop any in coming plasma discharges.

"Wow wow, I'm here for Ratchet. He's expec-"

"Watch out it's got a gun, RUN!" The robots screeched as they scrambled over each other to escape. They leapt behind whatever cover was available; some cowered behind supply crates while others hid behind the supports that protruding from the walls of the hanger, their weapons still raised shakily. Angela stood, frozen. If they decided to fire nothing would be left of her but a big pile of plasma.

"Rangers, stand down" A bold voice called out through the hanger. At the far end atop a raised platform stood a figure in a purple military uniform, a golden headdress holding back their flowing dark purple hair. As commanded the Rangers lowered their weapons and rose from cover. The mystery leader stepped down from their elevated position and stepped across the divide towards Angela.

"Sorry about that. The rangers are a kind of jumpy. I'm Sasha, Captain of the Starship Phoenix" Sasha raised her hand as Angela shook it gratefully.

"Oh my god! She's the one I saw duelling with Ratchet" Angela thought. She shook her head, clearing her mind. "Nice to meet you Sasha. I'm here to see Ratchet?"

"Oh, then you must be Angela. He's in his quarters, I'll show you" Sasha held out her arm, indicating the way.

The doors parted before her as Angela walked into a lavish room, the far wall dominated by a large widescreen TV. Sasha followed suit as she steeped onto the rug in the centre. "Hello, Ratchet" A rough groan rumbled through the room. "Ratchet?" Another moan riddled through the room. Sasha glanced over at the far wall covered in bunks, to see Ratchet laid out across one of the beds, his tail swaying over the edge.

Sasha approached the fuzzball, shaking his shoulder roughly. Ratchet moaned as he batted her hand away, intent on remaining soundly where he was. Sasha was not going take that. She jumped forward as she tickled his exposed ribs. Ratchet curled up into a ball as he squealed in surprise, rolling across the bunk trying to free himself from Sasha's squeamish grip. Ratchet rolled over the bunk, slamming down onto the floor. Sasha pounced on the confused Ratchet, tickling whatever exposed fur she could lay her hands on. Angela watched intently as they roughed around with each other, oblivious of her existence. "Well nice to see you're finally up, I found someone I think you know…"

Ratchet looked over at a waiting Angela. Ratchet scrambled to his feet as he brushed his ruffled fur. "Oh hey Angela, when'd you get here?"

"Oh about five minutes ago" A taint of anger in her voice.

Ratchet, naïve of Angela's mild anger, simply continued on unmindful. "So, uh, you wanna sit down, you know catch up?"

"Sure" The three walked towards the couch, Sasha sat down with Ratchet next to her with Angela left alone on the other sofa. Ratchet began to tell her tales of the war with the noids, of dreadzone and of Sasha. Angela didn't pay attention to what he was saying, she was preoccupied with Sasha. She noticed how close they were sitting; Ratchet had never gotten that close to her.

It may have been her height, her clumsiness, or it may have simply been that Ratchet wasn't attracted to her like that. Her eyes shot open as she saw Sasha cup Ratchets gloved hand in hers. He eyes narrowed, piercing through her veil of lies. "Angela?" Ratchets soft voice broke through her mind. She shook her head clear. "I was wondering if you wanted to stay the night since you've come all the way from bogon." "Yes, thank you" Ratchet raised from his seat. "I'll show you to our spare quarters, see ya. Hotshot" Sasha nuzzled her nose into Ratchets cheek. Angela's stomach turned, she raised her lip in anger exposing, her left fang. "She makes me sick, Di'kut"

"These will serve as your quarters while you're here" Angela stepped into the room, a large TV stood at the far side and a set of bunks lined the left wall. "If you need anything feel free to ask me or the crew" Angela stepped in front of her, blocking her front entering the room. "Thanks" She punched the controls as the doors slammed together. Angela strode gallantly through the room, dropping her waist pouch down on the sofa. "Who does he think he is, leave me high and dry in bogon and find himself a new girl, well I'll show her" She reached into her pouch, removing the plasma pistol she got from her days as the masked thief, aiming the weapon at arm's length, sure it work.

Angela strode through the deep bowels of the ship, searching for her target. She finally came across a door labelled 'Training Room'. She parted the doors as she looked out at the gym before her. She watched as Sasha striked the punching bag with impressive force; nearly enough to knock it clean off the cable. Angela stepped down the steps towards her. "Oh hey Angela, what are you doing here?"

"Oh I was just…." She removed her weapon sure of her decision. "….looking for you"

Sasha stood there stunned at her sudden hostility. "You can try…" Angela half expected her to swing her foot into the back of her hand, knocking the gun clean out of her hands. Sasha assumed her stance. "But you won't find me easy prey" Angela mimicked her stance, sure of her decision that if Ratchet was to be hers, Sasha must no longer be a factor. Angela stabbed forward, throwing all her weight behind her punch. Sasha side stepped the attempt as she took her chance, jamming her fist into Angela's bare ribs. Angela recoiled at the punch, taking a step back to clear herself of her aggressor which was proving to be more of a challenge than first thought, but he wasn't going to let that stop her. Angela stripped off all etiquette in this battle and stooped to different tactics. She charged towards Sasha, wrapping her arms around her waist as she dragged her down onto the hard training mat. Angela bit and scraped at fur and fabric as she clawed away at her opponent. Sasha flipped her onto her side scratching and fighting for dominance over her assassin.

"Hey Sasha what's with all the ruckus?" Ratchet casually strolled into the training room, Clank closely in tow, surprised at his discovery of Sasha and Angela ripping each other to pieces on the sparring match. Ratchet stood there frozen. "Should I come back later?" Ratchet raised an eyebrow, still unsure of exactly was going on. "She tried to kill me" Sasha screamed through blood stained lips. "She tried to steal you from me" Angela butted in. "You, rwwrwr" Angela ripped and clawed at Sasha's robes, ripping holes in the delicate fabric. "What should we do Ratchet?" Clank heard no response. "Ratchet?"

"Wooh. Yeah ladies, fight for the prize that is me!" Ratchet cheered.

"RATCHET!" Clank yelled in shock at Ratchets attitude.

"I'm kidding, come on. We'll leave them too it, I'm sure they'll calm down after a while"