Gaspar is a planet in the Solana Galaxy, featured in Ratchet & Clank and the 2016 re-imagined game. The hottest planet in Solana,[1] it is covered almost entirely in volcanoes and lava, and is home to the Blarg Depot, which was used by blarg scientists to develop gadgets, weaponry, and warships, as well as to refuel warships. The Depot contained several stored cannonball tanks, docked blarg destroyers, and other weapons used in the blarg assault on Batalia, suggesting the planet may have been used as a staging point for the attack. It was home to the Pilot's Helmet, which Ratchet and Clank came to the planet to collect.
In the re-imagined release, the Blarg Depot is instead part of a larger Blarg Research Outpost operated by Dr. Nefarious, used for testing many of his products, including the XK-81 Jetpack. It is also the home of telepathopuses located in its Telepathopus Fields out in the lava, with a Brain Scientist collecting their brains as a hobby.
History[]
Ratchet & Clank[]
The Blarg Depot was used to stage the attack on Fort Krontos, Batalia. In "Find the Pilot's Helmet", Ratchet and Clank arrived, after purchasing an infobot for the planet from the Deserter on Batalia, showcasing the helmet being tested. Ratchet and Clank also destroyed several blarg destroyers docked at the shipyards for a gold bolt.
Re-imagined[]
In Captain Qwark's version of events, Gaspar has a larger role. Ratchet and Clank received coordinates for the planet from an infobot in the Blarg Tactical Research Station, Nebula G34, after defeating the blargian snagglebeast. The infobot contained Nefarious' transmission regarding the XK-81 Jetpack located on the planet. After the two reported to Captain Qwark, he requested they travel to the planet in search of the Jetpack so that Elaris could construct more for the other Galactic Rangers.
Upon arrival in the Blarg Research Outpost, they were unable to explore the outpost further from where their ship landed. In "Fight the Blarg", the two fought through Nefarious' Blarg Depot, and obtained the Grindboots, allowing them to explore the outpost further, leading them to find the Jetpack. Upon exploring further, they encountered the Brain Scientist on the outskirts of the outpost, a blargian scientist who collected telepathopus brains as a hobby. He possessed a Jetpack, and assigned them the mission "Trade 10 brains for a jetpack", in which they collected nearby telepathopus brains found in egg sacks. After collecting enough brains and obtaining the Jetpack, they used it to explore the Telepathopus Fields further for more brains, and he offered them the mission "Trade 20 brains for an infobot", after which he gave them an infobot for Batalia. The two also collected all 90 brains and traded for bolts, thus being rewarded with the Box Breaker.
Geography[]
Overview[]
The area visited in the original events is the Blarg Depot area, while in Qwark's version of events, the Depot is instead part of a larger Blarg Research Outpost area.
The area visited is surprisingly dense, with many large rocks and small mountains jutting out of the massive lake of lava that covers the entire location. The lava is perpetually fed by a multitude of volcanoes of various sizes, though does not appear to hinder any formations, both natural and constructed by the blarg, nor does it seem to inhibit plant-growth, as there are many tall odd purple tree-like plants, some of which even partially touch the lava without any issue. The blargian constructs are quite numerous, with several inaccessible buildings and towers placed on top of rock formations, and partially on lava at times. Many of the towers have large anti-air turrets or cannons mounted on-top. Somewhat less notably, the planet appears to have a lower gravity than average, as there is a constant ring of flying rocks surrounding the Depot. Said low-flying objects will occasionally crash into the Depot, doing no lasting damage, though they do make a loud explosion.
Blarg Depot[]
The Blarg Depot is a central complex visited in both the original events and Qwark's retelling of events.
The most prominent sight upon landing is the Blarg Depot, a military research and storage complex in the center of the area. Partially constructed on two rock islands, it spans a large river of lava between the two, and has many pipelines extending from the lower regions into the lava below. A few tall spires extend from the top, with odd gold rings in a vertical position mounted on some of them.
The landing pad is situated on top of a large rock plateau, from where one can either head south and take an elevator platform to a lower region, or go west and explore the shipyard. Heading south instead leads to a three-way junction, with the left path leading to another elevator platform that must be activated from the other side, and the right path leading to an apparent dead end due to a massive barrier. Lastly, there is a small dock for small transports coming from the shipyard. The barrier has to be destroyed by a nearby turret, which then allows passage into the next area.
The path leads around a large rock formation, and then ends in front of a larger platform, the south end of which stands another metal barrier. Continuing west, past a small gap, is a rising slope that leads to three metal platforms and another turret. The destroyed barrier will reveal an elevator, that lets one gain access into the interior of the main structure.
On the inside, the first room is a storage for robot parts, with many shelves lining the walls and a central pillar. The next room is used to store half a dozen cannonball tanks, and is also where a group of blarg will ambush intruders. Another large force of these units awaits in the final room, which features another turret and barrier. Several large computers line the walls, all of which have a map of Fort Krontos on display.
The exit leads to the testing area that was viewed in the infobot containing the coordinates for the Depot, including the ramp and remains of the crashed blarg minifighter. Past this is a final platform, where the Pilot's Helmet was found. To the north is the elevator platform that connects to the earlier three-way junction, whereas to the east, there stands an inactive volcano or hollow mountain, which can be entered to reach a hidden underground tunnel.
Shipyard[]
The shipyard is visited only in the original version of events. In Qwark's retelling of events, this was replaced by a grind rail leading to the outer area of the Blarg Research Outpost.
The shipyard is in fact a series of small islands and metal plateaus that span almost three-quarters of the Depot's circumference, starting from the north point, and ending somewhere to the east-south-east. Each individual island features a tall metal tower, on top of which is a mounted vertical ring, akin to those on the main facility. They also have branching arms connecting to each docked airship. Each destroyer is also connected to a refueling station through a large tube. Said device can be destroyed; this sets off a chain reaction through the tube and destroys the entire ship. Remains of the ship's armored hull, some versa-targets, and a few platforms are then used to cross from area to area. There are a total of ten destroyers, though the final metal plateau has the highest number of four. To the south of said plateau is a lone platform with a gold bolt and a parked transport, which when used, will safely move across the field of lava and park at the three-way junction.
Underground tunnel[]
The aforementioned underground tunnel by the Blarg Depot is visited both in the original events and Qwark's version of events. However, in Qwark's retelling, a large blarg structure is built over the tunnel, and is reached via a platform containing a Jetpack fueling station and a grav-ramp leading into it, and more grav-ramps inside to climb down, allowing one to access the tunnel.
The tunnel is known to the blarg forces, as made apparent by the large number of blarg forces present inside. There are also several large structural support equipment devices set up along the cave walls, as well as plain in the center of the path, to support the weight of the lava above. Said lava also appears in a more molten form, though still red-hot, appearing as massive pillars that reach from the ceiling to the floor in two of the larger chambers. At the very end is an elevator that leads to a ridge with a gold bolt, and connects to the plateau that forms the starting area.
Telepathopus Fields[]
The Telepathopus Fields appears only in Qwark's version of events.
The Telepathopus Fields is connected to the landing area by a grind rail, and a green bridge from the main Blarg Research Outpost, and is located to the north of the Blarg Depot. It is a large archipelago of islands varying widely in geometry situated on top of rocks. It consists of rocky terrain, with limited vegetation coming in the form of brown grass, large trees vaguely resembling palm trees with red spikes up their trunks and purple leaves on top, and some trees still flowering. The islands often contain pools of lava, or have small lava rivers running across them, and some have small volcanoes on top. Many telepathopus egg sacks are planted throughout the ground, while large live telepathopi are found in the lava between. The islands are home to a wide variety of creatures, including sandsharks along with their nests, alien swarmers, alien snappers, alien spitters, and toxic crabs.
Throughout the fields, several blarg structures can be found on the islands, in the lava, and constructed on top of the large, rocky mountains found between the islands. These primarily consist of large spires with domes and antennae on their tops, often with circular platforms mounted on them, located either on top of the islands, or on top of metal plateaus constructed in between. A large assortment of wide pipes can be seen connecting several islands, many of which lead down through the lava. Jetpack fueling stations are found both on islands and on the metal structures, and the Brain Scientists' telepathopus traps can be found throughout, with tripad buttons to unlock them. A few gun turrets appear on some buildings. Despite moving, they do not attack Ratchet.
To the far north of the fields, the islands stop, with several large volcanoes at the end. A few small, metal blarg structures are found here, containing fueling stations and some blarg forces, and in the northernmost area exists an enormous blarg compound, with several rotating fans, pipes, and a few turrets outside. A platform below just in front of the compound contains two turrets and a bolt crank opening a door leading down to an underground tunnel through a canyon, where a fueling station is found. This tunnel consists mostly of lava, with a few telepathopus egg sacks along the edges, and leads to the end of the tunnel with several blarg structures and pipes, a fueling station, and the artificial, metal end of the tunnel above.
Transport docks[]
The transport docks appear only in Qwark's version of events, but vaguely resemble the shipyards in the original events.
The docks consist of two metal plateaus located to the west of the Blarg Depot, surrounded by small volcanoes, with several blarg forces defending them, and flying vehicles often travel between them. Both plateaus contain a Jetpack fueling station, a tripad button, a telepathopus brain egg sack, and a spire building with a dome on its roof. The larger plateau on the right is situated on top of a large rock, and has large barrels on its south end area as well as a wider spire. The smaller plateau on the left has a thinner but taller spire, on which a rotating platform is mounted part of the way up, containing another tripad button and telepathopus brain egg sack.