The Chief Engineer is a minor character appearing in Rift Apart. She oversees all Blizon mining operations on Blizar Prime and is the highest authority at the site. Two different dimensional versions of the Chief Engineer appear; one in the ruins of Blizar Prime in Rivet's dimension, referred to as the Mysterious Stranger, and another on an alternate, intact Blizar Prime in an unknown dimension.
In Ratchet's dimension, she seems to either not exist or does not work on the planet, as Clank stated he did not encounter anyone like her on his Blizar.
History[]
Rift Apart[]
When Rivet and Clank travel to Blizar Prime to acquire Phase Quartz to power the new Dimensionator, they find the planet has been completely shattered to pieces. Upon striking a Blizon crystal that has absorbed excess dimensional energy from the many rifts appearing throughout the universes, they find themselves shifted into another dimension where the planet is still intact. They come across a figure known only as the Mysterious Stranger back in the planet's ruins, who appears to be the sole survivor of what had happened. She angrily curses her predicament until Rivet mentions that there's another dimension where the planet is still intact. Upon hearing this, the Stranger eagerly asks Rivet how she knows this, but figures out that she had used the Blizon and quickly runs off in a hurry. Rivet and Clank then soon begin hearing gargled audio/video broadcasts from the Stranger to anyone who will listen in both dimensions, her signal is choppy and not fully comprehensible, so the two decide to look into it later once they obtain the Phase Quartz.
Rivet meets the Chief Engineer in her survey station on the alternate Blizar Prime.
Upon reaching the Chief Engineer's survey station in the intact dimension, Rivet asks to use the main site's drill to excavate some Phase Quartz. However, the Engineer has been intercepting messages through the dimensional rifts in the area and affirms that she needs to investigate it before she can authorize use of the drill to make sure it is safe. She refers to the dimensional lacerations as "the purple" and has been hearing voices coming from them. She had not long ago, sent three of her utility science bots; B.O.B., J.I.M. and S.A.M. to scan the dimensional disturbances and is waiting on them to return with their findings. Rivet offers to speed up the process and find them herself. Whilst shifting back and forth between the two dimensions to reach the bots, Rivet and Clank hear snippets of the Stranger's messages trying to issue an urgent warning but are still unable to understand it fully. After finding all three bots, Rivet returns to the survey station where a hazardous lifeform proximity alarm is sounded, causing the station to go into lockdown. The Engineer tells Rivet not to worry as she designed the security system herself, although she made an oversight and forgot about the ceiling, as she admits she always forgets to look up. Lava puffoids and toxic crabs begin pouring into the room from the exposed ceiling hole and a displaced Nefarious Juggernaut emerges from a rift. Rivet is able to protect the Engineer and destroys all of the intruders, disarming the security walls. With the message fragments recovered by the bots, the Engineer begins decoding them and gives Rivet permission to use the drill with J.I.M. escorting them.
The "Mysterious Stranger" trying to warn her dimensional counterpart about the danger of the excavation drill.
Upon activating the drill, however, the Engineer decodes the Stranger's warning message and it is revealed that the excavation drill was damaged by the rifts and what caused the Blizar Prime in Rivet's dimension to be destroyed. The Engineer attempts a remote shutdown but the drill is not responding as their network keeps faltering, she then curses that she didn't upgrade to a faster service provider. Whilst Rivet fights back the attacking Goons-4-Less, the Engineer regretfully informs her that she cannot shut down the drill as she forgot to update to system tools 4.331 and tells them to prepare for death. Rivet however is determined to figure a way out of this situation and is able to knock one of the goon dropships into the drill and dislodge its laser, successfully preventing the planet from being shattered in time. In the process of this, however, the Phase Quartz they were extracting was broken by the laser, leading Rivet and Clank to leave for Torren IV to find someone Rivet was told about by the Morts known as the Fixer, who is said to be able to fix anything.
The Mysterious Stranger and her bots in the debris of Blizar Prime while the Fixer pulls the broken planet together again.
Afterwards the Chief Engineer stays in the site's mining hub with her three Science Bots and thanks Rivet for her help in saving all their lives and the planet. She also expresses her fascination for the limitless possibilities of interdimensional communication after making contact with her counterpart in Rivet's dimension. In the ending credits of Rift Apart, the Mysterious Stranger is seen with her own Science Bots in the debris of Blizar Prime in Rivet's dimension, while the Fixer uses his special restoration abilities to pull the pieces of the shattered planet back together.
The Chief Engineer being served by the Blizar chefs after the events of Rift Apart.
Later in the ending credits, the Chief Engineer is seen amongst the rest of the miners on the unknown dimension's Blizar Prime. Chef Tulio and the Sous Chef serve the Engineer and the Blizar miners their Sirangian Honey smorgasbord. Rivet had earlier helped Tulio harvest honey from the Fendersax wasp hive by defending her VAC-U-SUK machine from enemies and in doing so, provided her with inspiration for many new dishes.