Swiftly and without a sound two figures entered into the smoke-filled room. However, they seemed unfazed by its heavy and languid presence. One of them stepped forward in front of the other and bowed his head in reverence.

"Elderthemoonisgreen," he spoke hastily, words blurred amidst the smoke. "Thetimehascome. TheGuardian'ssonishere."

From deep within the smoke the elder stirred, standing up to address the two who entered. "I'm aware." His words, unlike the two who stood before him, were slow, leaving his lips at a leisurely pace.

"Shallwebringthemhere?" The figure in front asked.

"You may. Make sure they are unharmed. They still have much work to do."

R&C

Their camp was anything but quiet. Between the distinct sounds of laughter, the crackling fire, and the distant echoes of the nighttime forest, silence had been a shirking factor amongst the quintet. Aphelion, Zenith, Terin, Ratchet, and Clank had spent the past few dark hours enjoying each other company, currently discussing Lombax "ingenuity". This earned many great recounts of sometimes marvelous, sometimes pointless, and sometimes strange inventions which really, really make one wonder at times.

Ratchet, in his hindered state, tried his best to hold it in. And he succeeded too, until someone, Clank obviously, mentioned the all-purpose gaming upgrade that the lombax made to their couch back on Veldin. Exasperated, Ratchet shot Clank a look. The Zoni didn't mind at all. He and the others were already making light at the expense of the galactic hero.

"Look, in my defense," Ratchet started, "that was an old invention of mine. Made it shortly after Dreadzone."

Clank and Terin exchanged a glance.

"I wanted a break," he finished, speaking with finality.

Terin, sitting opposite of Ratchet and Clank, chuckled one last time before moving to lie down on the ground.

"Now what about you, Terin?" Ratchet asked, "You know, after having rattled off my list of inventions, and you your friends… I want to know what you've done."

Terin sighed. By no stretch of the imagination was he green at tinkering, it's just that he never found cause to sit around with a bunch of tools all day working on the craziest devices his mind could construct. In others areas of life, sure, he went above and beyond the norm, earning for himself a name among his kind. But tinkering? He never really took the time to make anything of it. If he were honest right now, it was actually embarrassing. It was one the most key characteristics of Lombaxes.

"Well..." Terin began, fumbling for words to which nothing would come, failing to save him from the unseen knowing looks Ratchet and Clank sent his way.

"Do not be ashamed Terin," Clank ventured. "We are no strangers to awkward tales."

"Nah, don't bother Clank," Ratchet said lightly, his tone betraying his words. "From what we know of him, he's probably all too military to enjoy anything that makes a lombax a lombax."

Ratchet obviously meant it in jest, that much was true. But if Terin could see the other lombax's face, he'd probably hit it—really hard. And that injury wouldn't stop him either. Exhaling dejectedly, Terin reached around with his hand for something to throw at them. A small rock met his fingers and he chucked it over. The short "whoa" Ratchet said and the solitary chuckle that followed suit proved to Terin that he'd miss.

Whatever.

Terin spoke again, the life in his voice suppressed as he took a breath. "I mean the best thing to my name is Zenith."

"I am honestly unsure whether to be flattered or insulted," the aforementioned ship replied, heavy with sarcasm. Terin reached for another rock and chucked it over to Zenith. Just like earlier, it too missed, sailing clean over the lombax ship. And just like Ratchet, Zenith too laughed.

"Put a sock in it," Terin answered.

"Hmm, strange. Did any of you notice that before?" Clank suddenly asked, earning confused utterances from the lombaxes and their ships. Ratchet looked over at his pal, seeing that Clank was pointing toward the sky. Ratchet followed the direction and at that moment, he saw what Clank saw as well.

"Terin look," Ratchet commanded.

The silver lombax moved up on his elbows and looked at the duo before he could see Ratchet make a singular gesture with his index finger, pointing behind Terin. He wheeled around and gazed across the sky, looking for what grabbed their attentions so forcibly. In short order, he found it. The moon above them was green. Light green. Like Clank's eyes.

"Come to think of it," Terin thought, looking back at the Zoni again, "they are the same." Terin echoed his thoughts in words. Ratchet and Clank both agreed with the statement. Although this simply puzzled them more. As Terin cycled through ideas in his head, he barely made out Ratchet asking Clank what Sigmund said of the Crolnan. More specifically, what they would do when they arrived.

"Interesting," Clank answered, picking up Ratchet's line of thinking. "You believe the moon to be a signal of sorts."

"Could be," Ratchet returned. "Though this could just be the reflected light."

Flimsy.

Ratchet knew it wouldn't hold, especially with all the crazy related events that have gone down in such short time. At this point, Ratchet believed nothing could surprise him now. The lombax watched as Clank stood up and walked over to Terin, who stood gazing at the rotund green sphere in the sky.

"Sigmund said to land and not worry. They will find us." Those words rolled around his thoughts as Ratchet used his ears to catch the slightest off-noise. Only the conversation of Terin and Clank and the crackling of a dying fire was all that could be heard. It was too quiet. And that put him on the defensive. He stopped immediately, allowing his ears to rest on his head. He was taking matters into his own hands now. And that usually meant wielding the closest weapon he could find to carve out his own path to his goals. That may only work in the thick of things, but now, they were currently resting, not in the middle of a firefight.

Plus he was injured.

Ratchet adjusted himself away from the tree he was using as a prop and slowly let himself down, coming onto contact with the cool ground. He was becoming more adjusted with the endoskeleton now, yet it still hurt to move. Bathed in faint red of the dying fire, Ratchet closed his eyes and allowed himself to be carried off by slumber.

The snoring nabbed their attention immediately. Both of them looked to the golden lombax as a result. Terin chuckled and said quietly, noting the Zoni's sour expression, "He may have a point Clank." In response, Clank shrugged and shook his head. "You may be right, Terin. It does seem to be quite late." They took another lasting look at the bright moon. "I'll take watch," Terin offered, tone indicating that it was more of a statement than anything else.

"Okay. Good night then Terin," Clank said, walking back toward Ratchet, Aphelion, and Zenith. The lombax watched as Aphelion opened her canopy silently and Clank climbed in using his Heli-pack. She closed it again once the Zoni was inside, saying goodnight to the last awake members of their group. Zenith mumbled a response. Terin's was better, but it too was given over to certain degree of mumble. The lombax turned away and looked back to the moon. It didn't hold his attention for long and he dropped his head to gaze about the camp. Dark green trees encircled them on almost every side, stopping short to where Terin was standing (for he was on the cliff's edge). Between the net of evergreens was an all-encompassing wall of darkness, lying about lazily, but steadily creeping in as the fire died out.

Terin walked over to Zenith where he had set a pile of kindling. He picked up a few pieces and walked back to the fire. He took a piece—a twig—and kneeled down, poking about, looking for a warm enough spot to reignite the flames.

"There we go," he thought, finding an ember pile suitable for his purposes. He placed the twig on top and hoped it would catch. He took a step back as a solitary flame leaped up at him. Quick reflexes pulled his hand out. He took another piece of kindling and placed it into the young fire. One by one, the lombax deposited more and more fledgling pieces into the flame, growing it sizable before he stood back up, wiping off his gloved hands. Terin looked about the camp again. The fire fought back the darkness, giving the lombax some much needed breathing room. He reached behind for his Praetorian Omniwrench, only to find it not there at all.

One brief panic moment followed by another, even briefer realization ran succession as Terin remembered he no longer carried his wrench on his back anymore. Clank now held that position.

A smile creeped up on Terin's muzzle as the novelty of it all just sat there in the lombax's thoughts. Strange to think about, but it is what it is. Terin walked over to Zenith and found his wrench on top of the ship's split nose. As he grabbed it, faint brushes and cracking underfoot told the lombax of another presence in the vicinity. Immediately, he went to guard stance, piercing the veil around the camp with his sight. Held high and alert, his ears too joined the search for the intruder. Right there he noticed it coming from the black—a high-intensity blue energy shot—heading for his feet. Terin backflipped away, landing near the cliff's edge as the shot came into contact with where he'd been standing, exploding into a large hemisphere of energy.

Nothing happened to anything caught in the vicinity. Everything remained intact as Terin landed and swept his gaze throughout the blue orb. Only when he saw the fire did it start to register.

"Whoever that was can manipulate time," he thought as an attack from his peripheral came in and his wrench moved to block it. Terin's foe passed by him as soon as the attack became null and the lombax was soon meant by another attack out of his peripheral, this time coming from the opposite direction. Only able to deflect this time, Terin took a step back and sensed the cliff getting closer to him. Another attack came at him from the left side. Whoever they were, they were moving with an enhanced speed most races weren't capable of naturally. All he could see as he blocked their attacks was a streak of blue and the lombax quickly noticed that it was their weapon which was so.

Luckily for him, they weren't forcing him to give ground, but he couldn't make any himself. After another attack, Terin jumped backward, sending himself falling off the edge of the cliff. A jet blue flame flickered to life as his hoverboots slowed his fall, eventually being replaced by an orange flame as the lombax then moved upward, toward the cliff's edge. He blasted beyond them and held himself far above the intruders. They turned around and looked up at Terin. With the distance between them (and their backs to the suspended fire), Terin couldn't easily pick out specific features about his attackers. But he could see their weapons were tridents; the triple prongs was the blue he saw earlier, obviously crystals. They carried the tridents top-heavy, allowing the shards to rest on the ground.

The three of them watched each other in silence for sometime and the lombax noted his shift to restlessness. They had long-ranged attacks, so he wondered why they weren't using them. But he didn't expect what happened next… or what it revealed. One of the attackers raised his trident and tapped the shoulder of his friend with it. Several pulsing blue circles flashed about his body and he leaped over the edge. Instead of falling however, the unknown attacker simply levitated off the ridge, looking up at Terin.

It was in that brief flashing moment that so shocked Terin. Purple skin with white swirl patterns on the arms, a head that flattened out on top and curved as it came down to the neck, horns that wrapped inward, stick-like legs, long arms, three fingers, and three toes... they were Fongoids. Only taller, obviously more capable in combat, and more toned than their Polaris cousins. Terin blinked, as if to tell himself he was seeing things. In the span of that moment, Terin felt himself butted in the gut by the 'Fongoid's' trident and a sharp strike nailing mid-point on his back, sending him flying toward the cliff edge. He collided against the rock hard, leaving a broken imprint. The force caused his hoverboots to sputter and fail.

Coughing, the lombax fell over, losing consciousness as the last thing he felt aware of was himself being grabbed hold of.

R&C

Battalions of ships swept the surrounding area of the tragic firefight. Salvage crews worked tirelessly to secure scrap and debris of the broken ships. Rescue teams were sent down to Alnek, checking for survivors. Inside a cruiser, Harper and Erin had just been looked over by a medic and were standing before the CO. of the operation. They explained everything they knew: from the falling of the Platforms, to the terrible weapon the invading force brought with them, (to which the officer had them repeat in order to begin fathoming such an occurrence), and lastly, Talwyn's sacrifice so that they could escape.

The officer cursed at their own delay. Getting vengeance on the invading force would be most fitting at the moment; but Harper and Erin had told him that after they escaped, the enemies' remaining forces mustered up into whatever fleet they had left and hightailed it out of there, heading north to who knows where.

"You're excused," the officer said grimly after they finished their report. They saluted him and left.

"Gale, progress report," someone commanded. Gale turned toward his console and pressed a button. "General sir, I just finished speaking with the survivors of the attack."

"What did they say?" The general asked.

"Our entire defense force had been defeated. Afterwards, the attackers regrouped and headed north."

"Toward Tempalo?"

"It would seem that way," Gale replied, "there isn't much beyond that point." Silently, another trooper opened the door and walked in, brandishing a paper at him. Gale took it and thanked him with a nod. Saluting, the trooper left in haste.

"What are your orders sir?" Gale asked, returning his attention to the call.

"Just continue with the salvage operation," the general answered. "I'll worry about the losses."

The call ended and Gale looked down at the paper in his hands. Scanning through it, the report told of every energy signature among the wreckage. After a quick scan, it appeared that most checked out. However, two sources had strange readings. Numbers he couldn't make sense of. And both were off the charts. Raising a hand to his face, he scratched at his beard while pondering the answers. If Harper and Erin were correct that would account for one of the strange numbers. But that still left one unaccounted for.

"Something happened out there today," Gale thought as set the paper down. According to Harper and Erin, Grayman had initially refused to bring in the whole military, thinking that they were not needed.

"He always wanted to prove himself after he lost his brother and sister." Gale exhaled to try and calm down. He knew—just like Walreck—that it was a foolhardy move to limit your forces when you could ask for them. It's not like they were busy or anything, they could have deployed the extra reinforcements. Now, because of that one mistake, the entire defense force was gone. Kaput! His vision returned to the paper on his desk.

"They'll need to know about this," Gale thought as he grabbed his hat and set it on his head. Next, he grabbed the paper and moved around the desk, making his way toward the door where he opened it and crossed the threshold, not acknowledging it close behind him as he walked toward the hangar. He wasn't sure what happened today or what his COs were discussing, but he was going to make sure it mattered. Alnek lay broken below them because of it. And the defense force was shattered because of it.

R&C

Dornavan paced the control room, glancing between the monitors, the staff at the computers, and Nathaniel himself. Suspended inside a proton field, pumped full of cryogas, and—for extra measure—some fine binding runes added to the psychic's prison, Dornavan knew their was no way that Nathaniel could escape.

Yet, he still felt uneasy.

The fight didn't go as planned. Well, yes, it did go as planned, but he wasn't expecting the fight to go the way it did. If that was how powerful Leviathan was then he wasn't as powerful as everyone made him out to be. Dornavan slowed his pace down and turned toward the psychic's prison. The battle had taken its tolls on everyone. Only two space-faring vessels were operable after the bout with Raynarn's Defense Force. And the worst part was that both vessels were short of staff, not to mention military.

It was the soundest retaliation ever delivered by a loser. In addition, the lack severely annoyed Balloch, who got into contact with Liege and broke the news to him. The Cragmite expressed severe disappointment at their failure and commanded them to meet up with him in Tempalo. After signing off, Balloch had their signals scrambled to prevent anyone from tracking them down.

Dornavan returned his thoughts to the prison behind the glass.

"I have a vessel; he can't handle the strain of my full power. Already, I feel his body threatening to rip apart."

Leviathan may have been right then. But that only worked in his favor. He'd take it. From behind, a booming voice divided his attention. "Admiring the spoils of war?" It asked.

"No Balloch. I'm just thinking," Dornavan answered wearily. "Ever have something go your way and it be much easier than originally thought?"

"A few come to mind from off the top of my head. Why?"

"I'm disappointed in the Leviathan. The battle was easy. Can't help but feel cheated."

Balloch shot Dornavan a look. "You'd rather run the risk of losing?"

"Of course not. It's just that I had a chance to settle an old grudge. But the universe saw to it I wasn't satisfied with the result." Dornavan sighed heavily and turned away, walking toward the door where he left Balloch alone, watching the psychic's prison. In time, the Fell-Enk too turned away and followed where the Ribunis had walked out. As the commander moved throughout the ship, workers got out of his way, allowing for smooth, undisturbed traveling. Balloch soon returned to his office and sat himself down, placing his beefy arms on the chair's armrest. He should probably find Dornavan and spar a bit since there was nothing else better to do.

It gets boring tracking someone down day in and day out.

Reclining back in the chair, Balloch turned his seat toward the vast emptiness outside the window.

"At least the hard part is behind us."

Dornavan entered the cell, finding its only red head prisoner sitting on the floor, looking down at a pair of cuffs some troopers put on after the mage rendered her unconscious from his spell. She looked up at him upon entrance, her features transmitting surprise at seeing the mage.

"Hello," Dornavan said upon making eye contact with Talwyn. He moved to the far side of the room, opposite of the markazian and sat down, continuing to hold her gaze. Talwyn regarded the mage's behavior as odd and returned his greeting with a tentative 'hey'.

"How are you holding up here?" Dornavan inquired. "And please no biting remarks, I'm in no mood for those."

Inside, Talwyn wondered what happened to the mage that made him so weary but decided in the end to accede to his wishes.

"To be honest, okay," she began, looking around the cell, avoiding the mage's boring stare. She didn't see it but Dornavan smiled knowingly. "It's quite monotonous in here. Mind-numbing actually."

"I can see that. The walls are so astonishingly white," Dornavan said, chuckling. "And plain. And uninteresting. So what else?" Talwyn raised her hands up, showing the mage the cuffs which enclosed them. She nodded to the right one and uttered one word: "Stings."

"How come?"

"Some soldier nailed my Combuster and it exploded. I got lucky and it ruined my glove. That saved my hand from what could have been a disaster."

"You'll have to excuse me if I don't do anything about it."

"I thought you said 'no biting remarks'."

The mage picked up on the underlying tone and groaned in annoyance, burying his face into his right hand. He didn't see it but, Talwyn smirked in pride. "First off," Dornavan said, holding up his left index, looking back at the markazian, taking note of the victorious expression she wore. "I meant you no biting remarks. Second, I'm being one-hundred percent serious: I'm not doing anything about it because I don't care!"

Dornavan looked away in exasperation toward the door where he had entered. Audible breathing pricked Talwyn's ears as she watched the mage, quietly contemplating the outburst. Time rolled on as they continued sitting there, anywhere except the other person holding their interest.

"Well then, let me turn your question back on you," she started after a while. "How are you holding up here?"

Dornavan looked at her. His searching orange gaze conveying a sort of distrust in Talwyn's words. "Well enough," he said at last.

"Really? You seemed tired coming in."

Dornavan shook his head as if it were cumbersome. "Your friend was rather annoying," he said. "Speaking of who, you're starting to remind me of him."

She let the insult slide. "You mean Nathaniel?"

"I do. The fight was tough, but I won." Dornavan sighed. "I feel cheated."

"Cheated?"

"Apparently, there were some restrictions the Leviathan—"

"—Leviathan?" Talwyn's head cocked to one side. "You mean that super powerful entity dwelling in Nathaniel?"

Dornavan looked visibly surprised, then nodded with an air of respect. "Indeed. How do you know that?"

"Terin gave an exposition on him a while ago," came the markazian's easy reply.

"Well informed then," Dornavan said, "I'll give both of you that. In any case, there were limitations in Nathaniel that prevented Leviathan from fighting at full strength. It's both a good and bad thing."

"Ooookay," Talwyn thought, letting the mage's statement go without reply. Her gaze found the door as Dornavan exhaled and stood up.

"Leaving?" she asked, noting the mage's movement out of her peripheral.

"I guess I will." He moved toward the door where it receded at his approach. He stopped and lingered at the threshold as he placed a hand on the doorway. "Goodbye, Miss Apogee."

He left before Talwyn could reply.

R&C

The room was illuminated in light, both blinding and glaring. Battered bits of steel lay crushed before him. Kneeling amongst the wreckage, he moved a claw over a piece and grabbed it. Using his other hand, he grabbed hold of the piece and proceeded to tear it in half. Liege dropped the pieces and stood up.

"You're not one for random destruction Liege," one spoke from behind the cloaked Cragmite.

"Sannabrich," Liege replied quietly. "Da kur?"

A holographic projection of the Fell-Enk commander moved about the room, taking in the littered mess blanketing the floor. Balloch stopped once he came around and stood before Liege. Leveling a stare toward the Cragmite, Balloch spoke one word: "Scon."

"Bishe dier tok." It was blunt, filled to the brim with biting admonition.

"The only question is why?" Balloch pressed. Liege refused the Fell-Enk satisfaction of an answer. Instead, he gestured to the floor and then pointed straight at Balloch. A slow, creeping hint of amusement found its way onto Balloch as he let his gaze again sweep the cluttered floor.

"I'm lucky then to be a hologram."

"Bar."

"We've entered hyperspace and are approximately a few hours out of Tempalo. Are you there yet?"

"De ak."

"Have you encountered the Lombaxes and Zoni?"

"Nx."

The commander reared his head forward, seeing how Liege was dealing with this scenario. He knew that somewhere something was unnerving Liege. First Dornavan, now Liege. Something was wrong. He wondered if the psychic was somehow pulling this off. Unlikely yes, but he would have to check.

"My earlier statement still stands," Balloch said aloud.

"Q-se yot." Liege admitted, albeit sounding weary. "Q-si hana zivin."

"What kind of vision?"

"Siem."

The next few moments were met by silence between the two leading members. Balloch took a step back and asked solemnly, "What happened?"

"Q delk," Liege answered, head bowed low, his normally agonizing speech reduced to nothing less than a disgraced whisper.

"And the truth is set free," Balloch thought. "What are your orders?"

Liege crouched and picked up another broken piece of steel. He stood up and twirled it around in his fingers. Looking up at the hologram Fell-Enk, Liege stretched out his claw, offering the piece. Balloch noted the movement, silently posing a question to the Cragmite. In response, he smiled and crushed it, filling the room with a thorough crinkle.

"Gen cik warr, Sannabrich."

"Will do."

Balloch cut off the hologram. Liege dropped the crushed steel and left the room, trampling more metal underfoot.

AN: (3-22-18) Edited.

Still the same, Cragmite translations are as follow:

"Sannabrich" = "Commander"

"Da kur?" = "What is it?"

"Bishe dier tok." = "Bite your tongue."

"Bar." = "Indeed."

"De ak." = "We are."

"Nx." = "No."

"Q-se yot." = "I'm aware."

"Q-si hana zivin." = "I've had a vision."

"Siem." = "Real."

"Q delk." = "I died."

"Gen cik warr, Sannabrich." = "Just get here, Commander."