Author's note: This story assumes you are already familiar with the games and events from Tools of Destruction and onwards. This story also takes into account the new timeline created by the Ratchet and Clank PS4 remake, and so will involve characters such as Grimroth Raz. The story revolves around Ratchet's childhood and how he ended up on Veldin/under Grim's care.

Prologue

Planet Fastoon- Clavisia City

It came as not much of a surprise really. When the enemy ships bore down upon the grand city of Clavisia, Kaden simply turned towards Alister Azimuth and sighed.

"I warned you this would happen".

Alister spared him neither a word nor glance; his expression stony and eyes fixed upon the city security monitors, which illuminated his face with an eerie blue glow that made his usually gaunt features look almost skull-like.

"Well, I'm sure your Guard can handle it", Kaden continued as he hoisted a backpack onto his shoulder. "Meanwhile… I'd better head back to the facility, my team need all the help they can get. Most of the new weapons are still in the prototype stage but I'm sure they can come in handy. Don't you have a squadron to prepare?".

Still no reply. Kaden sighed once again. Oh, how he missed those days when the two young Lombaxes' only concerns were secret adventures to distant planets and hoverboot races. Now they were older, their lives just seemed to be filled with stress, pressure and, on Alister's part at least, contempt for those new sprightly young recruits of the Clavisia Guard, who had their whole future ahead of them.

"I don't know why you're being so grim Al, it's nothing we can't handle. What's a couple of Cragmites to an entire army of Lombax soldiers?".

Finally, Kaden heard the faintest whisper of a reply.

"This is it… it's all over. It's all over…"

Kaden wanted to stay by his friend, but at that moment his communicator beeped, summoning him to the Weapon Development Facility. Kaden was head of Weapon and Gadget Development, and he always became sour at the thought that young Lombaxes these days just didn't want to become scientists and developers anymore. They all wanted to be the ones to use the weapons on the battlefield, and he strongly felt their genius inventing skills were wasted. As such, his team were continually understaffed and he was more often than not found in one of the 42 lab rooms at the facility, coming up with some crazy new idea.

"I have to go pal, I'm really sorry", he regretfully mumbled. "Please just… take it easy okay? This is something we can handle".

Kaden's last sight of his childhood best friend was of his back in the darkened room, hunched over the controls and shivering. Kaden was concerned, but there was no time for consolation… there was an invasion to prepare for.

The small Lombax was a clone of his father; in looks and in personality. He was barely one years old, but like most young Lombaxes, he was already very developed. He fancied himself an arena contestant, just like his father was in the old holo-photos around the house. He had been sitting in the window, playing with a dismantled Cryomine

Glove and pretending to shoot the pesky flies that kept swarming around the room and he was so preoccupied that he hadn't noticed the approaching ships in the sky. His mother had however, and so he protested greatly when she scooped him up in her arms and swiftly moved into the bunker in the garden at the back of the house.

She stood at the door of the bunker for the next few hours, peering out of the spyhole with a steely cold glare and a large weapon the little Lombax had never seen before.

For the first time in his one year of existence, he felt extreme fear. He had never seen his usually passive and peace-loving mother look so terrified and angry and it deeply unsettled him, as did the loud explosions he could hear outside. No amount of toys in the bunker could distract him from the shaking and rocking of the walls every time a missile stuck close by.

"Mama?"

The mother hushed him without a glance in his direction. With surmounting fear, the little Lombax persisted.

"MAMA!"

The mother finally span around and hurried towards the child, who was sitting alone on the fluffy Fastoonian Yellow Sandbelly rug laid out on cold steel floor. She dropped the gun to the ground beside her and held him close.

"It's okay… it's okay, mama's here".

There was a sudden loud bang at the door, and the older Lombax's soothing demeanour suddenly turned steely once again. Her body and expression hardened and she moved the child behind her, snatching the weapon from the ground and pointing it at the door.

There was another loud bang and the child squeaked in fear, and then suddenly a large hole was blasted into the side of the shelter, through which his father flung himself. He glanced around wildly for a second, his gun still smoking from the blast and then his eyes settled on his small family.

"Kaden!"

"Carlayla!"

The two adults embraced briefly, and then Carlayla pulled back.

"Kaden… what's happened to you? You're bruised and battered! And why couldn't you use the door like a normal Lombax?"

She raised a hand to his dirty and matted face, and Kaden winced and moved away from her touch.

"It's fine", he said, shaking his head.

He scooped up his son, and made his way back towards the hole through which he had entered. He suddenly paused and placed a hand on the twisted steel to steady himself as a sudden wave of nausea hit him.

"Kaden-?"

"No time Carlayla… they are after us. Alister, he's been placed into exile, they think he sold us out…"

"Kaden, slow down! Sold us out? What do you mean? And exile from where? And where's Lorna, is she safe? I haven't been able to get hold of her since the invasion began."

A ship flew low overhead, close enough to rattle the panels in the bunker. Kaden gripped his son tighter, shrinking back from the hole in the shelter slightly. When it had passed, Kaden spoke in a lower hushed voice.

"The Council has ordered that we evacuate the planet immediately. This invasion is much worse than we imagined, Carlayla. We've already lost most of the downtown district-"

He noticed his wife's expression suddenly turn to one of panic.

"But I'm sure Lorna is safe, I made sure some of the Guard went to downtown district to find survivors but they're trapped down there sadly. We can't get them to the Court to send them through the Dimensionator… South Bridge has collapsed".

"Do they need medical assistance?"

Carlayla was a doctor, and one of the best in her field. Kaden didn't doubt that she would have been a great help, but at that moment, a selfish urge overtook him.

"No… they are covered", he mumbled.

He knew this was the wrong thing to say as Carlayla strongly believed that the life of many far outweighed the life of one, but he was already struggling with the loss of some of his closest friends and he wasn't too sure if he was strong enough to withstand losing his wife too.

"Alister has been found guilty of sharing Lombax technology with the Cragmite, Percival Tachyon", he said, quickly changing subject.

"That smart guy that Al became friends with?"

Carlaya couldn't help but notice the slight change in Kaden's expression. He suddenly looked a little sour, and she knew it was a touchy subject for him as Alister and Kaden were childhood best friends. When that Cragmite came between them, Kaden always had a streak of jealousy that still burned to this day.

"Yep, the very same", Kaden replied, regaining his composure. "He's somehow found a way to bring back all of the Cragmites from the other dimension, and now… well, this invasion. We can't fight them back, Carlayla. They have our technology, but improved by tenfold".

"And where are you taking our son?"

Kaden glanced down at the little Lombax, who had buried his face into the fabric of Kaden's torn armour.

"I'm going to get him to the Dimensionator. Carlayla, I need you to stay here and gather all the medical equipment you can take, we will need to treat a lot of sick and wounded on the other side".

Kaden moved away from the hole in the wall, and briefly kissed his partner.

"I'll be back for you, I promise. I can't take both of you and defend you both. It's safer this way".

Kaden pulled back and admired his wife for a brief moment. Her light fur shone brightly in the dim flickering light of the shelter.

'Her fur shines as bright as her fiery compassion to help others', he thought to himself.

Carlayla nodded and watched as her husband carried their son away from her, picking through their once beautiful and elaborate garden. Now it was mostly ruins, and she couldn't help but feel like it was an omen of the dark times to come…

'Damn!'

Kaden hadn't made it to the Court of Azimuth. He was crouched under a large fallen metal beam that had once been attached to a large bank, holding his son close and hoping he wouldn't make a sound. Not only was the North Bridge also out, but the area was swarming with Cragmite mercenaries, and he could clearly see the influences of Lombax technology in their armour and weaponry. Their armour was reinforced with Harmonic Plating, something that could only be forged using the specific type of Raritanium only found in the mines of Fastoon.

Had he not been carrying his son, he would not have thought twice about revealing himself and mowing them all down, but he couldn't risk it. All he could do was backtrack down the street and make his way to the shuttlecraft center.

He shuffled backwards, keeping low and to the shadows. The baby Lombax seemed to understand the gravity of the situation for he made no sound; something for which Kaden was very grateful.

As soon as they were out of sight from the Cragmites, he moved at a faster pace and nimbly raced through the trashed street towards the small shuttlecraft center. This was usually used to deliver post across the galaxy, but Kaden suspected he could also most likely fit a small child in one of these crafts…

As he approached the entrance, he saw that the entrance had caved in but somehow, a path had already been blasted through the debris. Someone else has been here before him, and this caused him slight anxiety. Kaden was a reckless fighter, but he was helpless whilst carrying his son. Nevertheless, he withdrew his wrench and proceeded into the shadowy entrance.

"Alright kiddo" he whispered, clutching the child close to him, "it's gonna be fine. Daddy's here to keep you safe, you hear?"

He crept through the main lobby, dust rising around his feet. It was dark, but Kaden didn't dare risk activating his in-armour torch.

'Besides, nothing guarantees that it still works', he thought to himself,

A little further into the lobby, there was a short flight of stairs which led down into the mail sorting room. Letters and crates were strewn everywhere, and he carefully stepped over them, treading further into the building. The building wasn't large as it was only a facility for small postage items, so it wasn't long before he reached the shuttle room. The power was out here too, but that didn't matter as each shuttle operated on a solar charge.

Kaden walked past each of the shuttles, squinting in the darkness to read the labels above each section.

"Short distance… long distance… other star systems… live cargo… got ya".

Each shuttle came in different categories depending on where the sender wanted to send their post. The longer trips required slightly more powerful, and as such, slightly larger craft, and this was perfect for Kaden. The shuttles that required transport to different galaxies involved teleportation, which cut the trip time greatly.

"Hey bud", he said softly, holding the child out in front of him. "This isn't going to be a particularly pleasant trip. This is the last thing I want to do you know. Carlayla willhate me for sure… but I can't get you to the Dimensionator, this is the only way I can keep you safe. But I promise, I will come back for you".

The child simply cooed at him.

"Yeah, you don't get it, it's fine. That's probably for the best-"

"Finally going mad huh?"

Kaden span around suddenly, his heart in his chest. In the shadows, he could just make out another Lombax form standing a couple of meters away from him. The form stepped closer, and he could just make out who it was.

"Lorna!"

Lorna moved towards Kaden and crouched down next to him, He could now see that she also was carrying a small child.

"Is this Angela?" Kaden asked, leaning in to peer at the sleeping Lombax girl.

"Sure is", Lorna whispered back. "Looks like we both had the same idea… I managed to get out of Downtown without being spotted, but the Cragmites have swarmed the only entrance to the Council District and I can't risk taking her to the Dimensionator".

"Same problem here".

Lorna glanced the shuttle next to Kaden's.

"The only other solution I could think of is sending her to some friends of mine in the Bogon Galaxy, but the main shuttleport is out of action".

Kaden nodded. "Yeah, I had the same thought. I know a few people in Solana who can take care of him, a sweet couple on Kalebo III. Remarkable engineers, they work for Gadgetron. Once this mess is over, I can go and pick him up again".

"It's for the best", Lorna agreed. "We should leave letters in the shuttlepods though, I haven't had time to-"

Suddenly, a loud crash could be heard from the main lobby and Lorna stopped speaking, her eyes widening in panic.

"Cragmites!" Kaden mouthed.

He motioned towards the shuttlepods and Lorna understood. They had to get the children out of here as quickly as possible, before the Cragmites came down here and found them. Kaden placed his son into the pod, and the child picked that unfortunate moment to cry out loud. Kaden, his heart in this throat, hastily hushed the boy as he heard screeches from the lobby. There was no way they hadn't heard that, and they were making their way down.

"We have to do this now", Lorna whispered.

Kaden nodded, and pressed a button on the control panel. The top of the shuttle closed down, sealing the child behind a glass dome. Kaden placed a hand on the cold glass, and a tear trickled down his cheek.

'Why am I crying?' he wondered, 'I'll see him again, it won't be long'.

An elbow nudged into his side, and he saw Lorna motioning towards the launch button. She had already inputted her co-ordinates, and the words MRS. AGNES NOODLEBOTTOM, YEEDIL, BOGON were flashing on the screen. Kaden snapped out of his thoughts, and inputted his coordinates onto the screen.

MR WENDEL AND MRS CYNTHIA LUMOS, KALEBO III, SOLANA.

With a deep breath, and one last look at their beloved children, they simultaneously pressed the launch buttons, and the teleporter lit up and took them away… but not before Kaden caught the deeply hurt look in his son's eyes, right before the "live cargo" gas knocked him out cold.

That memory of the pain in his son's eyes would live with Kaden, right up until that last moment when he would draw his final breath on the battlefield with Percival Tachyon. And the final thought that crossed his mind?

'I couldn't keep my promise. I can never come back for you..."