Aphelion


 * Ratchet: "Clank, you see that? It's an old ship."
 * Clank: "Very old it would seem."
 * &mdash;Ratchet and Clank finding the Aphelion. [src]

The Aphelion was a Lombax ship shot down on Fastoon during Tachyon's invasion. It was later repaired by Ratchet when he was stranded on Fastoon, Ratchet then continued to use it as his own ship for the events afterwards, including several instances of space combat. There were two words written in Lombax on the Aphelion; one read as "Aphelion" and the second one as "angel". The Aphelion was the first ship Ratchet came across that could speak. Alphelion's signature was 3371-Alpha.

Use by the Lombaxes
"Miserable little Drophyds! I can't believe they used Seeker Ammo! Oh, what a bunch of cheats!"

- The Aphelion after being repaired.

The Aphelion was originally constructed by the Lombaxes, presumably as a defensive fighter as it was armed. During Percival Tachyon's invasion of Fastoon the Aphelion was used to attack Drophyd forces at the Court of Azimuth, it was here that the ship was shot down by a Drophyd fighter using seeker ammo. It was not known if the Aphelion was piloted during the battle, however if it was, the pilot was probably either killed or escaped into the Lombax dimension. The damaged ship was then left on Fastoon as the planet was abandoned.

Repair
"Oh, a Lombax... I thought I'd never see one again."

- The Aphelion meeting Ratchet.

Many years later, Ratchet landed on Fastoon and needed to find a way to get off of the planet. He came across the damaged Aphelion and found that it needed six parts. He then found all of the pieces needed for the ship's repair scattered in six different locations on the planet. After repairing the ship, he found that the ship could perform space travel. The Aphelion thanked Ratchet for fixing her and identified him as a Lombax. Ratchet used the Aphelion 's HD-800 screen to view a Holo-Vite from Qwark inviting him to the Imperial Fight Festival on Mukow. The Aphelion took off with Ratchet and Clank to Mukow.

Under Ratchet's ownership
The Aphelion then became Ratchet's ship, taking him all over galaxy to whatever planets he needed to go to. She travelled with Ratchet and Clank to four sectors of Polaris: The Cerullean sector, the Praxus sector, the Drogol sector and the Verdigris sector. On Rykan V, the Aphelion even assisted Ratchet and Clank during a HALO jump with Cronk and Zephyr.

Voron Asteroid Belt
At the Voron Asteroid Belt, the Aphelion was used by Ratchet to destroy many Space Pirate fighters. At one point Clank used the rear-facing turret on the ship to destroy other enemy fighters. After defeating many space pirates the Aphelion with Ratchet controlling it went into combat with Puffy Pants Wallis and emerged victorious.

Rakar Star Cluster
At a later point the Space Pirates attacked Ratchet, Clank and the Aphelion again this time at the Rakar Star Cluster. Here they destroyed many more fighters and several pirate heat harvesters placed on nearby stars before facing Iron Crotch Caruso in a one on one battle.

Verdigris Black Hole
"We haven't even finished building the pub!"

- Rusty Pete commenting on the destruction of the Pegasus Outpost.

The Aphelion was involved in space combat with the pirates once more at the Verdigris Black Hole on the way to Jasindu. Ratchet decided to destroy the Pegasus Outpost on an ice moon as a "parting gift" to Captain Slag. Ratchet then piloted the Aphelion into a black hole where they confronted Greasepalms McGee. After defeating him, they arrived on Jasindu.

Return to Fastoon
"Tachyon's fighters have locked on to our position! I'm not sure we can shake them!"

- The Aphelion in the atmosphere of Fastoon.

When Ratchet, Clank and the Aphelion returned to Fastoon to defeat Tachyon and stop him from using the Dimensionator the Aphelion was nearly shot down by Drophyd fighters again. Clank suggested that the Aphelion should remove extra cargo, prompting the Aphelion to eject Ratchet and Clank from the ship. The Aphelion survived and Ratchet continued using her.

Search for Clank
During Ratchet's search for Clank, who had been taken by the Zoni, Ratchet and Talwyn traveled to Merdegraw with Aphelion. Later Ratchet and Qwark both traveled together in the Aphelion. . At that point, an unknown energy wave rendered Aphelion's flight capabilities useless and, after a horrific crash, had her wings and several other parts blew off of the ship. He soon after used a zoni device capable of containing zoni and harnessing their energy to repair Aphelion, changing her look to that of zoni technology.

Equipment and abilities
The Aphelion was fitted with a rapid fire cannon and a missile system which could be charged. The ship also had a rear-facing rapid fire turret which Clank used to take out enemies that were attacking from behind. A HD-800 screen, which could show the Galactic Map and other things, such as Holo-Vites was also fitted on the ship.

The Aphelion had a "female" AI and a "voice" that could provide some navigational and space combat help; it could also open the cockpit by itself and perform simple manouvers on it's own.

Abilities could be unlocked and used via the Aphelion to complete side quests. One of these was the space tether. The Aphelion could also be upgraded by collecting Zoni during Ratchet's search for Clank.

Behind the scenes
It has been confirmed that the Aphelion will be returning in Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time. The Aphelion will have new powers in the game as well along with new abilities.

The Aphelion was voiced by Rajia Baroudi who also voiced the IRIS.

The name Aphelion may have come from the point in a planet's orbit; when the planet is the furthest from the star.

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty (mentioned only)
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time