Kaden opened his eyes and blinked hard until the roof of his tent came into focus. The twilight morning sun was making the fabric walls of his room glow obnoxiously bright and he wished it'd stop.

In his mind, he wanted to go back to sleep, but he'd played out this situation many times before, so he knew he'd never accomplish it.

Sleep was something Kaden's restless and ever seeking mind had never been very good at, but one of his worst quirks was that whenever he had something to do in the morning, he would inevitably wake up far too early and be brought unwillingly to full consciousness.

Knowing all of this the tan Lombax sighed, before quickly sitting up, putting on his light armor, and stepping out into the morning light.

After a quick stretch, he hastily removed all of the expeditionary equipment from his tent and initiated the reseal function of his auto-shelter.

In just a few minutes all of his stuff was packed, double-checked, and ready to go.

It was at about this time, as per usual, when a sudden wave of exhaustion hit Kaden and he grumpily laid out across the damp morning grass.

It was true that when he had something he needed to do in the morning, he was blessed with an easy return to alertness when he arose. However, every time this happened, it was always too early to begin said task, as evidenced by the still sealed tents of the Kerchu, mingled with the surprisingly clear sound of snoring from this distance.

Worse than the bad timing, though, was the fact that roughly ten minutes after he awoke, no matter what he did to try and keep focused, his body demanded to go back to sleep. He also knew, from experience, that even if he had stayed in bed for an hour, he still would not have been able to sleep again.

What would come next for him were several hours of drowsy irritability. He only hoped that the Kerchu would be awake soon and that the mission could get back underway before his tired frustration really set in.

This morning was a special one though, as it brought with it a new kind of terrible aggravation. It came to him in the form of a shadow that overcast his closed eyelids.

Kaden opened his eyes and blinked once more until the shadow turned into a familiarly green-masked face, attached to a red-armored body that was staring down at him.

"You were awake?" the tired Lombax questioned, biting back an insult that was born from only half of his actual dislike for said face. It just didn't feel right to Kaden for him to verbally degrade someone unless he completely meant it.

Kor tilted his head slightly, "I am awake as you are awake," he answered simply.

Kaden squinted up at the figure, "What do you mean?" he asked, assuming he was just too tired to understand.

"I was asleep, then I heard you rise. Thus, I am awake," Kor elaborated. "I watched you leave your tent and begin to pack your equipment before I did a sweep of the area. No wildlife or other dangers appear to have approached our camp during the night," he reported dutifully.

Kaden sat up, yawned, and rubbed his eyes before looking back at Kor, "You're saying that you were dead asleep and you managed to wake up just from the sound of me getting out of bed?" he questioned sheepishly as he took a quick look at the two distant boulders that Kor had slept between last night.

Kor simply nodded and Kaden continued to blink the sleep from his tired eyes, "You've got some pretty good hearing, don't you?" he noted absently.

"I have never heard from another's ear, but if that is what it seems, then I cannot argue," replied the armored Lombax vaguely.

Kaden felt another twinge of an insult coming up in reaction to what he perceived as Kor's smugness toward a clearly superior ability, but again he pushed it down, still suspecting that his condition was more to blame than his actual indignation.

"I've always wondered about that though," Kaden continued inquisitively. "Shouldn't hearing everything through a helmet's audio filter decrease the sharpness of the sounds?"

Kor leaned back and looked off into the horizon as he pondered the question, "It's true that the sounds I listened to through my previous helmet lacked the crispness of being heard directly, but it was enough. I much prefer this new one, if for no other reason than the comfort of not having my ears pressed against my skull. On another note, however, I would have to say that my hearing is more that of a skill than an ability. One honed from years of tracking the skittering sound of moltokrabs through sound-distorting heat hazes, or by following the soft crunching of snow, made by crystal devils, through wailing ice storms."

Somewhere in Kaden's tired mind, a vivid landscape image was being painted, but his brain was running too slowly to process it. A single, deep yawn then squashed and blurred it, as he was reminded of his drowsiness.

Any further remnants of the image were disintegrated as the stirrings of several Kerchu being roused from their slumber reached his ears.

So, Kaden stood up and, together, he and Kor went to help their counterparts repack their gear and prepare for the day ahead.


The sun had almost risen completely over the horizon by the time the group was ready to set out again.

Kaden had already shown Siigih and Boogoh how to dismantle the Crust Piercer, but this time, he had ordered Kor to watch as well.

The task had been simple enough; taking something apart usually was when compared to putting it together.

He was reasonably confident that his 'students' could complete their task with little trouble, so they moved on.

Once all preparations were finalized, and all members of the team were gathered, Kaden was to address them about the day's itinerary.

But, the first thing he did was to announce the findings of last night's scan. This was important information as their mission would not end until they had fulfilled their quota of deposit locations for new drilling sites.

Yet, much to everyone's disappointment (except Boogoh's), the scans detected only trace amounts of gelatonium, which were buried nearly thirty miles deep. Not only was that too deep to be economically mined, but it was also so close to Sargasso's Mantle that the precious resource was likely to have shifted by the time Kerchu drills reached it. This meant that all the effort of yesterday's work was for naught.

After this disappointing news, Kaden next detailed the plan for the day.

The group would again split in two and follow the same route they had taken yesterday, reclaiming the Crust Piercers as they went, before meeting up at a land bridge that connected the landmass they were currently on to the next one.

From there, Kaden would reactivate the Kerchu's Piercers and the two groups would repeat the process of setting up the scanners on the new island.

It would likely be mid-day by the time all the scanners were operational. At that time, they would all regroup at the mountain cavern that they had discussed two chapters ago.

Once at the cave, they would clear it out, set up camp, and have lunch, though, not necessarily in that order.

By then, the geo-scan should be completed and they'd all set out to reclaim the Crust Piercers, before returning to the cave once more and settle in for the night.

Depending on how long that all took, however, Kaden held out hope that they could even set up the Piercers on the third island landmass before nightfall, saving them many hours of waiting for the scans to complete the following day.

With their plans set, the group divided once more into that of Kerchu and Lombax and headed their separate ways.

It was here, after the Kerchu were out of sight, that Kaden informed Kor that the two of them would be splitting up further.

Kaden had known from the start that there was no way he was going to walk to every site on foot and as fun as it was to make Kor run around after him on his hoverboots, it was very inefficient.

Kor would not need Kaden's help to dismantle the sites as the task was simple enough, so he ordered the armored Lombax to retrieve the first Crust Piercer and then proceed immediately to the land bridge where they would meet up with the Kerchu. During this time, Kaden himself would retrieve the other three on his hoverboots.

Though the tan Lombax was eager to begin asking the ocean of questions he'd prepared for Kor, the efficiency of the mission came first and they were on a tight schedule if they wanted to start on the third island before nightfall. They hadn't even had time for dialogue segments since the new day's preparations had begun, so such worldbuilding and plot drivers would have to wait until a more opportune moment.

This didn't bother Kaden, however, as he was still drowsy from this morning and wanted to be able to put his full attention into the knowledge he sought.


The reclamation process of the Crust Piercers had gone so smoothly and was so uneventful as to be decidedly un-novel-worthy.

And so, the two teams met up once more at the land bridge that connected them to the next island, before Kaden reactivated their scanners and they split up again.

As Kaden looked out over the hill-dotted horizon, carefully taking in the area, Kor readied himself to chase after the tan-furred Lombax the moment he took off on his hoverboots.

To the armored Lombax's surprise, however, no such thing happened. His new master simply put one foot in front of the other and began marching casually in the direction of the first site.

"You intend on walking?" asked Kor with genuine intrigue, as well as a mild sense of relief that he would never admit to.

Kaden was still shaking off his morning irritation, but he felt his mind was clear enough now as to be legitimately aggravated, "Yes, do you have a problem with that? Not that it matters," he growled in response.

Kor shook his head, "It is not a problem, I am just wondering why you are not using your firefe- hoverboots, like usual."

Kaden wore a smug look as he answered, "Do I 'need' a reason?" he asked rhetorically.

Kor was quiet for a bit before replying, "No, I suppose expecting a reason for your actions would be contrary," he noted, more to himself than Kaden.

There had been no tone of insult in Kor's voice, the young warrior had simply come to the genuine conclusion that the idea of Kaden having an actual reason for his actions was unthinkable.

This was all the more reason why words struck Kaden as if he'd been smacked in the back of the head, "Of course I have a good reason!" he retorted angrily.

As a person who prided himself on logic, being told he did something for 'no reason' was a cold insult.

"Unlike the last island, this one is covered in hills, rocky outcroppings, and dozens of crevices where vicious predators can hide. A few anthropods and a couple of Grubsnuckers was the worst we found so far, but Sargasso has much more in store for us. From now on, we can't risk splitting up. Besides, my hoverboots are pretty loud and they'll draw unwanted attention from things we could have easily avoided otherwise."

There was silence for a moment, "Oh… I see," replied Kor, surprised to hear the logic in the brazen Lombax's actions for once. "But, as you said, it does not matter. I will follow your commands regardless of how illogical they are."

Kaden's ears twitched at the insult being repeated, "Everything I do is for a logical reason," he stated flatly and Kor was surprised to hear no sign of humor in his tone.

This caused the armored servant to tilt his head curiously, "I may have to obey your orders, but I do not have to believe your lies," he replied informatively, as if to simply let his 'master' know.

"It's not a lie," growled Kaden as his irritation rose.

Kor shook his head in disbelief, "I have observed you carefully, as any enemy should, but I find no logic in any of your actions."

"My logic beat you in the depot," Kaden shot back, increasing his pace, though fully aware that Kor would have no trouble matching it. "If you could understand the logic behind what a genius does, then you too would be a genius."

Kor was unsurprised to hear his arrogant companion refer to himself as a genius, "The same could be said of a madman," he countered smoothly.

Kaden shrugged, "As I said, it's a fine line," he admitted.

This did not seem like a joke either.

The conversation ended here as they were almost at the first Piercer site.

Once there, Kaden began to unpack his equipment while Kor wandered off to scout the area.


As the two Lombaxes began walking toward their second location, Kaden suddenly turned to Kor and broke the silence, "You're sworn to serve me, right?" he asked pensively. "Then does that mean you'll honestly answer 'any' question I ask, no matter what it is?"

Kor nodded his head at the inquiry, "So long as it is not a secret I would die to keep."

Happy to hear this response, Kaden rubbed his chin inquisitively, "Then tell me, oh great Red Reaper of Nova… Are you really a Red Lombax?" he asked, having decided that the most mainstream question was a good one to address first.

While Varick had said as much about the mysterious newcomer before, the President of the Science Field's words were not something Kaden liked to rely on if he could help it.

There was a low growl from Kor's helmet speakers, "It's Crimson," he hissed cryptically.

"What is?" asked Kaden, oblivious to what he meant.

Kor shook his head, "The name is 'Crimson Reaper'. All of you Demari keep saying 'Red'. The term is 'Crimson'!"

"Um, no," countered Kaden self-assuredly, "I've played all of the games, including the crappy VSV spin-offs. It's definitely 'Red' Reaper."

Kor simply grumbled in response.

After a short silence, Kaden pressed again, "So, are you a Red Lombax or not?"

Kor was silent for a few more seconds, "I do not understand what you are asking," he eventually admitted.

Having to explain the question irritated Kaden, but he conceded that if Kor had asked him if he was 'Demari', he'd be confused too, "Um, let's see… Do you and your family have naturally red fur? As in, without having your genes twisted or dyed?"

Kor shrugged his metallic shoulders, "Most of the time," he answered, without much interest.

Kaden raised an eyebrow at the answer. It was cryptic, but so was Kor. It made sense to him that there were other fur colors than just red among the Red Lombaxes. It was likely that black was a common coat as well, but the point remained that some 'were' red furred.

As far as Kaden knew, there had never been a Lombax on Fastoon born with red fur, at least not without some form of artificial manipulation. The simple fact that some among Kor's family 'did' have such naturally red fur meant that he truly could be a fabled 'Red Lombax'.

This confirmation of the question on his mind made Kaden curious about something else, however, "Why do you think it's called 'Crimson Reapers' and not 'Red Reapers'?" he asked, bringing Kor's comment back up.

Kor turned to look at Kaden before facing forwards again, "Because it has always been 'Crimson Reapers'," he stated simply.

Kaden sighed, "Ok, what exactly are 'Crimson Reapers' to 'you', then?" he asked, wondering if the two of them were simply talking about different things altogether.

At the voicing of this question, Kor's masked face suddenly spun around once more to look straight at Kaden. It almost made the tan Lombax jump back in surprise.

"They were the greatest army of warriors ever assembled on Magnaron!" Kor declared proudly, ignoring Kaden's reaction. "At least that's what the Demari term for them was. They were a newly formed military corps for your 'Praetorian Guard', built from friends and foe alike, who had joined as one to fight the most worthy enemies in existence. They were the Crimson Reapers, the red tide of death, and the slayers of the Cragmites!"

At the mention of Cragmites, Kaden became distracted and tripped on a rough patch of dirt. To his surprise, he did not hit the ground, but instead was caught by Kor, who easily pulled him back up to his feet.

Kaden didn't thank his armored servant, but not because he was trying to be rude again.

Instead, his mind was lost in thought, "You mean your people actually 'did' fight in The Great War, just like the legends say?" he asked in mild amazement.

This was another piece of information that Varick had mentioned, but whenever Kaden tried to imagine it, he could only think of the old, unbelievable stories that spoke of red demons being released from Fastoon's core to protect its people. On second thought, however, Kaden realized that, in many ways, Kor did, in fact, fit the description of 'red demon'.

Upon hearing the mild awe in Kaden's voice, Kor puffed out his chest with pride, "On the day the Demari came, with their promises of a campaign worthy of the mightiest heroes, nearly every able-bodied warrior threw aside their squabbles and joined their ocean brothers in the Great War," he explained with his head tilted slightly upward as if he were daydreaming as he spoke. "The Demari had been true to their word. The Cragmites were such an excellent foe that the generation who had been too young to fight, and had missed out on such glory, were known as the Impubes Mori. At least, that is what the great Hero of The War had called them."

Kaden nodded as he tossed the new information around in his head for a while before asking his next question, "What did this 'hero' do to become so famous?" he asked, trying to picture what feats of courage and honor would make a society like Kor's consider a person to be above and beyond.

In the back of his thoughts, the description had also reminded him of his childhood hero, the Crimson Commander, and it made him wonder if it were possible that the 'fictional' Commander might actually be based on a real person.

Kor tilted his head slightly at Kaden, "Do?" he repeated in confusion. "He is the hero simply because he survived the greatest test of ability and skill in my people's history."

"And, what was this 'test' exactly?" Kaden pressed, still curious to hear of the warrior's deeds, but annoyed at never seeming to get a straight answer.

Kor shook his head, revealing his own frustration of Kaden's lack of understanding of what should be obvious, "The Great War, of course!"

As Kaden's mind processed this next bit of information, his steps began to slow, "What was this hero's name?" he asked absentmindedly, only half-paying attention as he continued to absorb this news.

Kor did not notice Kaden's change of pace as he continued to stare skyward while he answered, "He did not give one and, supposedly, there had been none among the Impubes Mori or their caretakers to have known him before he and the other warriors had left. When asked, he refused to give it, saying that it had died along with his brothers in the war and that he no longer needed it, so he was simply referred to as 'hero'.

"But, a Praetorian combat corps is made up of at least forty-thousand soldiers!" Kaden exclaimed as the magnitude of Kor's words finally hit him. "What percentage of Magnaron's population went to fight in the war?" Kor's island home was not very large and extremely inhospitable. Kaden couldn't imagine very many souls had dwelled there.

Kor scratched his armored head absently in thought, "I do not know, exactly. However, it's been said that, for every child left behind in the care of the few remaining 'Grand Mothers', there were ten warriors who marched off to meet the enemy Cragmite hordes. Even the sick and old, given new life with Demari medicines and technology, were granted a worthy and glorious death."

Kaden's heart rate was starting to climb and he felt his legs weighing him down so much that he finally stopped altogether.

Kor, at last, noticed that he'd overtaken his companion and stopped to turn around. He was curious as to why Kaden had ceased moving, as he saw no reason for it.

"Kor?" Kaden began again in a hushed voice, "What does 'Impubes Mori' mean?"

Kor stared at Kaden for a while as he contemplated his answer, "It is from an ancient Magnaronian language and I don't know the exact translation, but in Demari, it should mean… 'too young to die'."


Kaden was just about done with the second site now, but his mind was filled with debate.

He hadn't been able to ask Kor anything else after coming to the revelation that the Red Lombax people had almost been wiped out as fodder in the Great War. It had filled him with many curious and unwelcomed emotions which were taking a great deal of time and energy for him to sort through, or find his opinion on.

He had even called into question his dislike of Kor because of it. However, his animosity was quickly reaffirmed, as neither he nor Kor had been alive during the Great War, meaning that it had no direct correlation to their situation or relationship.

With a mild sigh of relief, Kaden confirmed to himself that he still hated Kor.

Just as the tan Lombax activated the second scanner, the armored Lombax himself appeared suddenly, surprising Kaden yet again with his stealth.

"There is something of interest over the next hill," Kor said suddenly without greeting.

Kaden simply nodded as he secretly tried to recapture his breath and slow his heartbeat.

The diligent warrior then led the way forward while he followed.

In silence, the two walked to the top of the next hill, where Kor stopped and looked out over the horizon.

They had reached the edge of their island now, where solid ground met murky swamp and what had caught Kor's attention was apparent right away.

Standing like a skyscraper, several hundred meters away from solid land, and knee deep in mud, was a troglosaur. A massive dinosaur-like creature that roamed Sargasso's surface without concern for most predators, as its size made it almost invulnerable.

"That 'is' interesting," Kaden noted, somewhat sarcastically.

Troglosaurs were harmless herbivores and the only way it could possibly pose a threat to anyone was if it stepped on them by accident.

"Could this creature cause any complications?" asked Kor, with evident concern. Clearly seeing a living creature of such size had startled even him a bit.

It was a strange, but welcomed sight for Kaden. He wasn't really paying attention to the question, though. Instead, he was slightly annoyed by what an irrelevant waste of concern this had been and was semi-ignoring his companion because of it. That was, until he began to study the surrounding area a little better.

The troglosaur had apparently waded its way through the swamp in order to eat the hanging plants off of a tiny island sitting alone in the expansive mire. The micro-island was composed mostly of a single tall rock pillar that was covered in leafy plants, of which the troglosaur was preoccupied with eating.

What interested Kaden, however, was the small plot of flat land that sat adjacent to the far end of the tall rock structure. There was also a large outcrop of boulders sticking up from the swamp right around the troglosaur's tail.

The final piece of the puzzle that Kaden needed was a smaller rock pillar that stood on the edge of their own landmass.

The sight of everything together made the tan Lombax grin, "Quite the opposite," he began answering finally, "this could be quite… useful."


"Explain it to me again," Kor demanded as he followed the mad Lombax to the border of where solid ground gave way to swamp.

Waiting at their destination was a tall pillar of rock that stretched at least a hundred yards into the sky.

Kaden sighed, "Like I already explained, we are going to blast this stone pillar here so that it falls away from us, making a bridge over to that small outcropping of boulders there. Then we're going to hop across them until we get within range of the troglosaur's tail. Once we get on that, we can then climb up onto its back, hop onto its head, scale that 'other' rocky pillar, and then I'll place a Crust Piercer on that small piece of land at the bottom."

Kor watched as Kaden dug through his supplies to find his explosives, his mind spinning, "And, why are placing a Crust Piercer there?" he continued.

Kaden pulled a small rectangular object with a circular device in its center from his bag, "Because, if I can get a Piercer all the way out there, then I can get a much better picture of the swamp area. I hadn't planned on scanning that area for this mission because I thought we couldn't, but with the troglosaur standing there, it's the perfect opportunity that we need to reach that islet. With an extra scanner that far out, we can add a huge range of land to our search radius for the price of just one Piercer and that means a better chance of fulfilling our quota faster."

Placing the rectangular object on the pillar, Kaden began typing the arming code into the circular console for the det-charge. After the code was accepted, the metallic lock around it hissed and came off.

From there, Kaden pulled the rectangle apart, revealing it to actually be a series of smaller squares. Each one was a small, self-contained explosive attached by a thin wire to the central detonation device. Kaden used his experienced eye to place the tiny explosives around the pillar so that he could control the direction of its fall.

"You're beginning to lean over to the madman's side of that line again," pressed Kor. "Your plan is to jump on that things head? That's insanity!"

Kaden grumbled at Kor's ignorance, but brushed it off, "Don't worry, you big baby, troglosaurs are so massive and invulnerable that they could care less if something as small as us takes a stroll on their head. We'll be fine… Any other cowardly questions?" he asked mockingly as he stood up from his completed work.

He didn't like having to explain every little detail of his plan, but he did like the feeling of superiority and control over Kor that it gave him.

Kor just shook his head, having resigned himself to follow whatever his crazy master ordered, while also secretly upset at being called cowardly.

They then moved back to the other side of the hill before Kaden used his NID to detonate the explosives.

A ground shaking boom rocked the soil beneath their feet as the base of the pillar was shattered in a roar of fire and dust, causing the tower of stone to fall out across the liquid swamp and land with a splash.

Kaden didn't even wait for the dust to clear before he was crossing the newly formed bridge and Kor quickly fell in line behind him and the two began the journey toward the tiny island.

As they hopped from rock to rock, Kaden had found that he'd finally recovered from the shock of Kor's last revelation and was now ready for more answers, "The Red Lombax people were great heroes who played a huge role in winning the Great War," he reiterated, giving himself time to set up a line of questioning that wasn't yet straight in his head, "So, why was that all covered up? I mean, the Grand Elder Council would have surely given your people anything they asked to repay their service."

Kor leaped from one rock to the other, keeping a close eye on Kaden the whole time, more concerned for his master than himself, "After the war, my people made the Hero chieftain of all the newly-united clans. Fearing the possibility of another galactic war or of being attacked by outsiders in their weakened state, the Hero made the decision to hide from the Demari, and the rest of the galaxy, in order to allow his people to regain their strength. While I personally see this as a choice of cowardice, I understand the reasoning. You are correct in your assumption, Kaden: the Demari leaders offered our people anything we wanted as repayment... my ancestors asked to be forgotten."

Kaden was coming up on the final boulder, which sat a jump's length from the swinging troglosaur tail, "So what, after years and years of concealment, your people finally decided it was time to come out of hiding?"

Kor shook his head, but it was to himself reflexively, as Kaden wasn't looking at him and could not see it, "No," he answered with a subtle tone of disapproval in his metallic voice, "even now the majority of my people wish to remain disconnected from the outside world. While the elders know better than to repeat the events of another 'Great War' themselves, they also know that there would be no stopping the young warriors of Magnaron from joining such a glorious battle, should the opportunity arise. Their only option is to keep the outside world... outside."

"But the Cragmites nearly destroyed the galaxy," countered Kaden, as he landed on the final rock and waited for Kor to catch up, "It's possible that the war was only won thanks to your people's aid. What if Fastoon itself had become overrun?"

Kor landed next to Kaden smoothly and stared up in awe at the mammoth troglosaur that now stood before him, answering distractedly only after taking it in, "My home is a desolate land that kills all unfamiliar to it without mercy," he pointed out. "No transmission signal can escape the island or the nearby sea, so as long as no trespassers survive to tell the tale, no one will know of my people. If the Demari remain true to their word, then even if your civilization falls and your cities are left broken, barren, and devoid of life, my people would be left untouched."

Even though Kaden had been the one to use Fastoon's hypothetical defeat as an example in the first place, he still took offense to Kor's casual reference to the destruction of his people, "You think that we would ever be defeated?" he demanded indignantly.

Kor nodded simply, "Your people almost fell once during the Great War. It is not, as you said, 'possible', but it is 'without doubt' that my people were key to the war's outcome. If such events could have happened once, they could happen again. Even if this world falls, even if every single Demari Lombax were removed from its surface by some invading force, my people would remain, hidden from all who did not know to look for us."

Kaden considered Kor's words as objectively as he could. At the very least, his armored companion had a point. The interference radiation made locating Magnaron by anything other than prior knowledge, or a complete accident, nearly impossible. Even if an invading army somehow removed the Lombax people from their homeworld and occupied Fastoon, as impossible as that seemed, Magnaron 'would' likely remain untouched.

Besides, even if enemies did go there looking for them, it was likely that the Magnaron natives could hide amongst their environment until it had taken its toll on their attackers, then defeat them with the same skill and ferocity that Kor regularly demonstrated.

It was an interesting piece of information, Kaden mused, but it was only worth anything if he needed a place to hide should his entire world end.

For now, though, he just needed to focus on the troglosaur's tail as it swung back and forth in front of him.

Kaden closely studied the massive limb for well over a minute, trying to get the rhythm down. Once he had gauged the timing as best he could, he waited for the perfect moment and then jumped forward, landing cleanly on a large, flat part of the creature's tail.

Kor repeated Kaden's actions and the two of them quickly scaled the beast's back.

The armored Lombax was hesitant as they moved along the top of the troglosaur, but Kaden was unfazed and acted as casually as if he were on solid ground.

Just as he'd said, the troglosaur didn't seem to even notice their presence. It didn't even twitch when the two of them landed on its head. It simply kept on chomping on the high perched flora like nothing important was going on.

From this point on, Kaden and Kor had to scale the jagged rock edifice. While the flat piece of dirt that was their goal was at sea level, they would need to climb up and over the rock pillar to reach it.

It was treacherous going as well, forcing Kaden to focus on his task, rather than continue his questioning.

On several occasions during their climb, the two Lombaxes came to a point where the next ledge would be too high for even their agile race to reach easily.

In these cases, the two would work together. One Lombax would become a boost platform for the other to push off of and reach the next ledge. That Lombax would then turn around and catch their partner's hand as they jumped, before pulling them up as well.

Despite the seemingly good teamwork being done, Kaden only thoughts were of how he could have simply used his Swingshot's grapple to reach the column's top in seconds. He only went up the hard way for Kor's sake.

Several times, while it was Kaden's turn to pull Kor up onto the next ledge, the idea of simply dropping the armored Lombax crossed his mind.

Though, this was more of a passing thought based on opportunity, rather than one of actual consideration.

The same was true for the idea of simply pushing Kor off the edifice that came to him, as the two of them slid along a rock ledge with their chests pressed against the stone.

Kaden had no real intention of doing that either, but the strangely calming images of Kor falling through the air kept him in good spirits.

However, the daydreaming of his antagonist's demise also left him distracted as he approached a large crevice in the rock wall just big enough to be considered a cave,

Because of this, he missed the fact that there was already something living within it.

The loud, territorial screech of a massive dinosaur-bird shook the air and immediately brought Kaden's focus back to reality, just in time for him to dive forward and avoid the creature's snapping jaws.

In fact, the shallow hole in the side of the rock wasn't a natural cave at all, but was actually a nest, dug out by a mother pterodactyl preparing to lay her eggs.

There was almost no room for Kaden to maneuver in the tiny, dug-out hollow and sharing it with an animal that had a wingspan capable of encompassing it in its entirety was not an optimal situation.

The bird's angry screeches echoed throughout the rocky concavity as the tiny Lombax desperately shifted and dodged flapping wings and thrashing claws.

Frustrated with its slippery intruder, the massive pterodactyl stepped forward, using its wings to block off the rear of the cave as it slowly started to push forward.

This move cut off Kaden's ability to retreat deeper into it, forcing him to stay in front of the creature, where its beak and claws could more easily locate him. If nothing else, the strategy would eventually lead to him being forced out of the small room and then straight over the edge.

Seeing the danger in the situation, Kaden took his chances and dove once more, just managing to grab hold of the creature's talon tipped leg, before another snap of jaws closed around the air he'd previously just been inhabiting.

With a simple thought, Kaden activated the electric nodes on his gloves and poured electricity into the pterodactyl.

The flapping bird screeched again, but this time the roar was filled with pain as its wings flapped furiously in unnatural spasms.

But the creature refused to drop, even as Kaden continued to pour electricity into it, until the backlash from the attack caused the power cell that fueled it to overload and its Scram failsafe to initiate. The electrical attack had stopped… but the bird had not.

Slowly, Kaden raised his head and looked up into the rage-filled eyes of the pterodactyl, whose body was too big and whose skin too thick to succumb to his lighting gauntlet attack.

The next few actions happened so fast that they appeared to have been executed simultaneously.

The first action was made by the pterodactyl. It stabbed its sharp beak straight down towards Kaden in an effort to skewer the intruder with one devastating blow.

The next action was made by Kaden and was a preemption of what he expected the bird's next move to be, rather than a reaction to having seen it coming.

The cornered Lombax had fallen purposefully onto his back before putting his hands up in front of him for protection.

This wasn't a reflexive move of self-defense, however. Kaden still had two power cells that ran the rest of his suit's system and his repulsors were still fully charged. All he had to do was wait for the pterodactyl to get close enough and he could blast it back with the full force of its fields.

The final action was made by Kor, whose red and green armor flashed into existence, seemingly from thin air.

The Lombax warrior slammed into the side of the pterodactyl's head and quickly wrapped his arms around its neck, stopping its beak just short of making contact with Kaden.

The tan Lombax then looked up in confusion at the scene that played out before him. He had already predicted what was going to happen and had already decided how he'd handle it. The sudden save from his hated enemy was very off-putting and it left him dumbfounded.

"Don't just lie there!" shouted Kor toward the immobile lump of fur at his feet. "Move!"

Shaken into action, Kaden quickly rolled clear of the pterodactyl and made his way out of the cave-nest.

Once outside again, the first thing he did was to get his bearings on the rock column that they'd been climbing. Just below him and a little further ahead was an open ledge that looked stable enough to support him, even if he had to jump onto it.

After noting several other possibly useful features, Kaden then turned back toward the cave just in time to watch Kor get thrown off of the pterodactyl and slammed into the cave wall.

The massive bird screeched in victory and clawed at its new prey with one set of its sharp talons.

Seeing the opening, Kaden pointed his forearm at Kor and fired his Swingshot.

The magnetically propelled grapple struck the armored Lombax on the side of his abdomen and latched itself onto his metal shell with its microgrip polymer.

Kor was distracted momentarily by the sudden impact, which at first had looked like a sneak attack by a traitor.

Because of this, he lost his focus on the attacking pterodactyl.

This proved unimportant, however, as just before the creature struck, Kaden pulled with all his strength, yanking Kor clear out of the cave and out into the open air.

Next, Kaden braced himself as Kor's momentum brought him over the side of the cave ledge. He fell several meters down the stone column's side, before catching on the end of the Swingshot line, and being swung over to the open ledge that Kaden had seen a short distance below.

Kor quickly figured out what was happening and landed skillfully on his feet.

Once the line went slack, Kaden sent the release signal through his Swingshot tether, de-gripping the microgrip polymer, and reeling it back in.

The two Lombaxes then shared a brief look of understanding that both had helped the other.

A moment later, the angry screeching of the pterodactyl boomed forth from the cave mouth, reverberating off the walls like an amplifier.

"Get to the plateau," ordered Kaden with a nod toward their objective.

No sooner had Kor returned the nod of acknowledgment, than the pterodactyl burst out of its nest and launched itself out into the open air.

The two Lombaxes took off at speed, moving over the treacherous rockways as fast as they dared, while the bird circled back through the sky and came for them again.

'Of course,' thought Kaden as he watched the eyes of the pterodactyl make contact with his. A moment later the rest of its body made a beeline for his position.

Knowing that the bird was now his opponent, Kaden stopped and turned to face it.

After judging its range and speed, he then launched a single Fastball at the flying creature, but it was evaded with surprising ease.

He had missed the shot but it didn't discourage him, since the blast had at least fulfilled its secondary objective and made the pterodactyl change its trajectory.

Having been thrown off its original course, the large bird was unable to redirect itself in time as Kaden jumped away from the rock pillar while simultaneously firing his Swingshot.

The crafty Lombax managed to swing his way onto another ledge a few meters below him and was now much closer to his goal. If he could just get to that open plateau on the ground, he could more easily dodge the bird and mount a defense. In the time it would take the pterodactyl to come around for a second swipe, he would have time to charge up a full Nuclear Fist.

Unfortunately, this hope began to fade when the large predatory bird screeched with even greater rage and determination as it dug its talons into the rock, allowing it to recover from its first attack much faster than Kaden had predicted.

Kaden prepared to jump again, but there were no other wide ledges in view that he could reach.

At this point, his only hope was to swingshot around the stone column and make a straight attempt for the plateau itself, using his hoverboots to slow his descent.

While this would leave him open to attack while he floated down slowly. He would just have to time it as best he could and hope that the large bird couldn't make it back in time to pluck him from the sky like an insect.

It would be a close shave as, even if everything went perfectly, Kaden knew that he couldn't make it to the plateau from here, but he just might be able to get close enough that he could land in the swamp and swim the rest of the way.

Shallow as the swamp may or may not be, its tar and mud composition would likely pull him down quickly. He estimated that he could get maybe three good strokes before he drowned in the muck. All that was left to do now was to figure out how far those strokes would take him.

This plan never came to pass, however.

The moment before Kaden was going to jump, a massive wrench sailed into the fray from above and slammed into the side of the pterodactyl's head, knocking the bird out of the sky, before being reeled back up to its owner.

Somehow, Kor had managed to get up higher than Kaden in order to execute his next attack. A small part of the tan Lombax's mind reluctantly admitted that this feat was quite impressive.

The pterodactyl refused to give up, however, managing to stop itself from crashing into the mire below and furiously flapping its wings to regain altitude.

It had changed targets as well. This time its eyes saw nothing but red... with a tinge of green.

While a small part of Kaden's mind viewed this as a golden opportunity to make it to the plateau and leave Kor to deal with their attacker, the majority of him knew that, since Kor lacked a Swingshot, his movement options were much more limited.

Even with his impressive skills, Kor was little more than a sitting duck for a much larger duck… one that had talons and a sharp beak. While a portion of Kaden's mind insisted that this was actually a favorable outcome, the rest of his consciousness knew that he could not just leave Kor to die here… there were still more questions that needed to be answered.

Kor, on the other hand, unaware of Kaden's scheming, saw defeating the pterodactyl as a way to repay some of his life debt. He knew that his positioning was terrible and that he was open to attack, but he compensated for this by burying his wrench into the rock face behind him.

He then used his winch tether like a climbing line, lowering himself down to its full extent, and giving him the ability to maneuver along the rock wall as if he were on the ground.

The pterodactyl dove at him, talons bared menacingly, but Kor was now nimble enough dodge the attack.

The pterodactyl slammed its feet into the rock where Kor had been, but before it could follow up with another attack, the armored Lombax slit a deep gash across its leg with his Vibro-knife.

The massive bird screeched in agony as blood oozed profusely from the cut.

Seeing the threat Kor posed, the pterodactyl flapped hard and returned to the sky, still screeching angrily and afraid to approach again, but unwilling to give up just yet.

It circled back around again and dove for a second time.

Once more Kor dodged the attack and this time he managed to slice a long line through one of the creature's wings.

The cut wasn't enough to eliminate the beast's flight altogether, but it did make staying aloft much harder, as air escaped through the rent with every flap of its wings. This slowed down the pterodactyl greatly and inside of his helmet, Kor grinned with pride.

'One or two more attacks like this one and the bird would certainly be dead,' Kor thought excitedly.

Even if the pterodactyl chose to cut its losses and escape now, he would still consider it a victory, making him one step closer to regaining his tail.

This delightful thought was then completely washed away when Kor realized that he'd underestimated the pterodactyl's intelligence.

Having recognized the futility of direct attacks, the large bird had circled around again, but this time it went after Kor's winch line instead.

Kor saw what was coming and he just barely managed to drive his Vibro-knife, blade-side up, into the rock, before the pterodactyl severed his safety line with a swift fly-by of its talons.

The knife had done its job and Kor was held in place, but he was suddenly acutely aware that his desperate gambit had left him with nowhere to go.

As the pterodactyl circled around yet again, Kor racked his mind for a solution. He didn't think he could survive the fall into the swamp, even if he could survive the impact, and there was nowhere else he could jump to.

There was a ledge nearby, but in the time it'd take him to scale over to it, the pterodactyl would surely skewer him.

The only option that he could see was for him to try and jump onto the pterodactyl itself, after it came in for its final attack. The chance was a slim one, but it was all he had.

Kor eyed the massive bird as it seemed to revel in its victory with a gleeful screech, before flying up high above its prey. It then dove almost straight down at him.

From the angle with which it was attacking now, Kor's chances of jumping onto it were even less than he'd first thought, but his eyes never blinked as he calmly waited for his chance.

An ear-rattling boom shook the air and the image of the pterodactyl was suddenly engulfed in bright orange flame that would have blinded Kor had his helmet's filters not activated.

Kor spun his head around and quickly found Kaden's smiling face looking up at him from a lower ledge, his still smoking palm pointed at where the pterodactyl had exploded.

However, Kor's first thought was not of relief at having been saved, but was instead full of anger that he might have to add another life debt onto his tab.

This thought was then brushed aside as another loud screech erupted from what was now a cloud of black smoke.

Unable to fly, but still trying to gain control of its fall, a horribly burned and blackened Sargasian Pterodactyl emerged from the black fog, flapping like mad as it rapidly fell toward the swamp.

Using what small amount of flight-control its horribly tattered wings had left, the bird desperately tried to direct its trajectory toward the tan Lombax that had finally brought it down.

Kaden was so surprised that the thing had survived his attack, that he barely had time to put up his repulsor fields before it crashed into him.

The shields did their job, stopping the flaming creature from making contact with him, but the force of the impact overwhelmed the ledge that he had been standing on.

The rocky floor shattered like glass beneath Kaden's feet and, a second later, he found himself falling through the air with no way of stopping.

His repulsor field was the only thing keeping the thrashing pterodactyl from tearing him to shreds, but it was the one on his swingshot arm, meaning that to use it, he'd have to lower the shield.

Kaden reached up instinctively for something to grab, despite knowing that there was nothing to be found.

This knowledge, however, made him even more surprised when he suddenly felt his hand catch on something and a sharp tug of pain explode in his shoulder.

After blinking several times at the image of a roasted bird sinking into the swampy muck beneath him, Kaden raised his head back up to find Kor holding firmly onto his hand from a small ledge, barely big enough to hold him, the metal fingers of his other hand dug powerfully into the rock like tiny anchors.

"Are you injured?" the armored Lombax asked as he pulled Kaden up onto the stable ledge.

Kaden heaved hard in a desperate attempt to breathe as he came down from the adrenaline rush that the fall had caused to flood his veins, "Yeah… I'm fine… Nice catch," he added, in what sounded dangerously close to gratitude.

Kor offered Kaden a small bow, "No words of thanks are necessary, this is my duty," he assured his master happily. "This life repaid is more than enough."

"Huh?" intoned Kaden curiously, suddenly losing his sense of gratitude, "What do you mean 'repaid'?"

Kor tilted his head as he regarded his companion, "I saved your life from that fall just now. A fall that was the end result of your actions. A life saved warrants a life repaid."

"No, no, no… no," rejected Kaden, unhappy to see half his slave-debt vanish so quickly, especially the part about admitting that his own life had been saved by Kor. "First of all, we are not that high up and the ground below is made up of soft swamp. Saved me from some broken bones or a concussion maybe, but you definitely didn't save my life. Besides, the plateau is right there. Not only did you 'not' save my life, but the truth is, I was about to hoverboot over to the landing from here anyway, so in fact, it was as much a hindrance as a help."

Kaden knew that this was only half true. While he would be capable of making it to the plateau from here, he likely would never have been able to pull it off with a burning pterodactyl on top of him. That's not even factoring in the time delay it would have taken him to assess his situation and plan out his maneuver. But Kor didn't need to know that.

There was no reaction from the armored warrior as his expressionless metal face stared silently at the Lombax that he had 'not' just saved. Kaden did not break his arrogant expression of superiority either, despite the clear tension in the air.

But when Kor finally spoke, his metallic tone seemed almost jovial, "I see," said the armored Lombax in a static-riddled voice that seemed to be happy to resolve a misunderstanding. "Then I apologize for interfering," he said with no signs of dissatisfaction at all.

Having assumed that Kor would be upset by his refusal to acknowledge his rescue, Kaden was caught off-guard by this unexpected turn of events. It distracted the tan Lombax so much so that he hadn't even noticed the armored hand that had been placed on his chest.

By the time Kaden finally realized it was there, he'd only had time to say, "What are y- Wai-!" before Kor shoved hard and launched Kaden clear off of the cliff edge.


Kaden pulled another large, tar-soaked weed from his gauntlet, "You're supposed to insert the rods at the 'exact' angle that the projection shows, you muscle-brained meathead," spat the irritated, mud-drenched, previously tan-furred Lombax.

Kor was currently in the middle of assembling the latest Crust Piercer while Kaden picked muck from his armor, pausing only to yell instructions mixed with insults at him along the way.

In retrospect, pushing his master off the side of a cliff definitely did not help Kor repay his debt, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to regret the action.

In fact, he felt more satisfied with his choice each and every time his now brown-furred commander reminded him of his shoddy craftsmanship or his inability to comprehend how the device even worked. Each insult was like sweet music to his ears.

Kaden sighed as he watched Kor correct his mistake without comment and continued working obediently.

His armor's systems were flooded with grime and he would need to do a proper cleaning later, but for now, his priority was to ensure that no foreign material was interfering with any of his equipment.

As he cleaned each piece, he would grow more irritated with every heap of mud that he scraped off or out of his armor. This frustration would eventually boil out the moment Kor made another mistake and result in his pointing out of the error along with Kor's technical incompetence.

"So what are the rules to this whole debt thing again?" Kaden eventually asked when he was sure that his gauntlets had been cleared enough for operation and he had calmed down slightly.

Kor was almost through installing the scanner's rods and was surprised to hear a calm question instead of another angry insult, "The debt is a matter of honor. I do not expect you to admit it willingly, but when I feel that I have repaid my life to you, then I will stop serving. It is that simple."

Kaden thought about the answer, "And how does pushing me off a cliff help repay that debt?" he questioned further.

Kor shrugged and smiled inside his mask, "Admittedly, it does not, but your intentions were unclear in your wording and… I was curious to see if you were bluffing about your chances of survival."

Despite his anger, Kaden held back from doing something petty, like ordering Kor to go jump in the swamp as well, by the fact that he 'had' said that being stopped mid-fall was a hindrance.

It was a simple matter of interpretation, but Kaden had been exploiting such things since he was a child, so he didn't really have the right to complain. There was also the minor fact that Kor 'had' saved him from falling down the cliff... the first time at least.

Eventually, when he was tired of being mad, Kaden just shrugged it off and moved on, he was more interested in further shrinking his list of unanswered questions anyway, "So, if your people are so set on remaining hidden from the rest of the galaxy, why did you come to Nova?"

There was a clang of metal as Kor accidentally smacked one rod against another, "That…" he began hesitantly, "Well, that is a matter of one seeking to improve their skills. Nova Academy has always been suggested by the Demari diplomats who've kept contact with Magnaron as a way for our two people to reconnect should we ever desire it. Above that, however, they had promised that the best young warriors of the entire Demari world would be assembled there to train and test their abilities. I eventually accepted the offer in hopes of improving myself and testing my mettle against theirs."

Kaden rubbed his chin, and was annoyed by the wet, squishy feeling it created, "But, why only you? All these years your people remained hidden and even now it doesn't sound like they're keen on becoming good neighbors, so why are you the first to leave?"

Kor placed the final rod in the ground and activated the Crust Piercer, "It became necessary," he admitted reluctantly. "Much of the reason my people continue to isolate themselves is because of how little we know about you Demari. Despite my father's opposition, the elder council of my people decided that I could no longer grow as a warrior on Magnaron... and so, in hopes of furthering my training as well as bringing back knowledge about another world, they sent me to Nova."

Kaden nodded and was satisfied with the answer for the most part. He still felt that Kor was hiding something about the exact reasoning for his transfer, but he also felt that it was most likely a personal matter and that was almost guaranteed to be extremely uninteresting, unimportant, and not worth the effort to pry it out of him.

The mostly mud-covered Lombax then stood up, flicked a few remaining drops of muck from himself with a long shake of his fur, and began heading back toward the rock pillar.

This detour had ended up taking longer than he'd anticipated and they were in danger of running late on their scanner laying schedule. They needed to hurry now because he didn't want to keep the Kerchu waiting.

It was fine though, with his questions finally being answered this story was, at last, coming to a close.

But, there was still plenty of time left. This tale was not over yet.


AN: Batwizard15, I love your review, but I can't tell you why yet. If you haven't figured it out for yourself by the end of the second book, remind me and I'll explain it to you.

VSV - is a form of gaming device, like a PSP. The crappy spin-offs of the Red Reaper series that were mentioned was a reference to the PSP Ratchet and Clank games, Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank.

Impubes Mori - is Latin and literally translates to 'too young to die.'

Three Strike Rule - Kaden's calculation about only getting three strokes in the swamp muck before sinking is a reference to any Ratchet and Clank game when Ratchet gets stuck in some kind of swamp. The player usually gets three good chances to jump out of the muck, before they sink and die.

SCRAM - in some nuclear fission reactors, a 'scram' is a way of shutting down a nuclear reaction by jamming negatively reactive material into it. There is some debate about what the term actually meant originally, though. Some say it means 'scram' as in English slang for 'get the heck out of here', while the more standard definition is that it stands for Safety Control Rod Activation Mechanism (among others).