Challax is a location in the Solana Galaxy featured in Size Matters. It is a desert planet that appears inhospitable, but is inhabited by the technomite species, who live in the miniature Technomite City, which cannot be accessed by regular beings. Despite the planet's apparent barren appearance, the Technomite City is an advanced, high-tech metropolis that appears heavily populated. The planet is also guarded by orbital technomite defenses.
Ratchet and Clank traveled to Challax in order to find Luna. Though the city was far too small for either of them to find it initially, the Shrink Ray allowed them to access it. While there, Clank used his Giant Clank form to destroy the orbital defenses, and the duo fought through the city's defenses, including a powerful technomite dropship, to reach Luna.
History[]
Ratchet and Clank found the coordinates for Challax in the Medical Outpost Omega, after intercepting a conversation between Luna and Otto Destruct. Upon landing, the duo found the planet barren and near inhospitable. Ratchet threw some rocks, and almost threw a miniature hovercar in the process before Clank noticed it, as the two were able to access the Technomite City.
Nearby the landing pad was an Ultra-Mech Pad, which Clank used to transform into Giant Clank in "Destroy the space fortress". Clank fought through several technomite warships and eventually destroyed their orbital fortress, from which he obtained Electroshock body armor.
On the planet itself, Ratchet and Clank rode the miniature hovercar to Technomite City, commencing "Explore the miniature city". Here, they fought through the defenses of the city and destroyed a technomite dropship that chased them, before finding Luna. Here, they discovered she was actually a robot controlled by the technomites, but before they could access her, she left the planet. The two then tracked her to the Dayni Moon.
Geography[]
Overview[]
Map layout of Technomite City.
Challax is a desert planet with two suns, and with a surface comprising rocky mountains above a plain ground. It appears to be barely hospitable,[1] and its only known intelligent life is the technomite species, residing in a miniature Technomite City that cannot be detected by most lifeforms due to its size. Aside from this, small flowers and clover-like plants can be found inside its mountains. These plants themselves attract beetles and dragonflies, which to the technomites are colossal in comparison. Further out, skreeducks appear to live in its vast deserts.
Landing plateau[]
The landing plateau.
Ratchet's ship lands atop a tall plateau in the middle of the desert, which is adjacent to the Technomite City that exists on the surface below it. The plateau is much smaller than the rocky mountains nearby, but stands high above the surface. The plateau contains a landing pad, an Ultra-Mech Pad, and a small hovercar on a platform connected to the plateau by a bridge. These structures were likely placed here by the technomites due to the plateau's proximity to the Technomite City. A few small plants live on the plateau, but aside from this, it is entirely deserted.
Technomite City[]
The Technomite City.
The Technomite City is located below the plateau where Ratchet's ship lands, built atop the surface. It is contained within metal walls which are surrounded by gun turrets, and a few large towers are situated nearby. Dragonflies and beetles also frequent the city and a spider web as seen further in, as well as plants that would be small to Ratchet's normal size, but tower over the miniature city. Some of these plants even form a path across the buildings, with a path made of leaves having small towers adjacent to it, suggesting it is used by the technomites for transport.
The city area.
Technomite City is comprised of skyscrapers with dome and spire rooftops, as well as neon trims. Also on the trims of the large buildings are patterns, resembling those seen in the Ryllus temple. Its focal points are two skyscrapers that tower above the rest of the city, and a cluster of skyscrapers with a honeycomb-shape window halfway down encapsulating them. Of the two largest towers, only one is entered; this tower appears largely hollow, used to house Luna. Below then, the towers comprising the city are largely disparate, spread across the barren ground and rock plateaus of the surface, and joined by tubes that appear to be bridges for transportation. Small pyramid-like structures can also be seen across the surface.
The skyscraper.
In the south end of the city is an airport, where Ratchet's hovercar lands on one of multiple landing pads connected to it by bridges. The airport has conveyor belts for luggage and an arrivals lounge, past which are a few streets with small metal dome houses, and further in is a plaza adjacent to the large orange skyscraper cluster with a statue of Otto Destruct. Beyond this, little is seen of the streets below the city. Past this is a factory with bronze chimneys, located adjacent to a path made of plants that leads to one of the larger focal points of the towers.
Technomite Orbital Facilities[]
The technomites' orbital facilities comprise a collection of tall spire-shaped space stations, with a series of large green rings surrounding them. There is also a single massive space station, with tunnels large enough for spacecraft to fly through. Somewhere on the inside is also a large hollow chamber, where a technomite dreadnought was fought. Many more technomite spaceships guard the surrounding area, which contains a handful of small asteroid and debris fields.
