Drowning
Fastoon. What was once a hub for an entire society of highly intelligent lombaxes, was turned into a bloody, fiery hellscape in a matter of minutes. The "saviors of the universe" had all fled for their lives when Tachyon attacked. Only a handful of the lombaxes were able to escape, while the others' dead bodies laid scattered across the desert fields.
Alister Azimuth, a young praetorian guard was one of the very few survivors. But because it was he who gave Tachyon access to the lombax technology, Azimuth's brethren forbid him from joining them in their escape to another dimension.
The once highly respected soldier sat down on the blood stained sand, right in front of the corpse of his dear best friend, Kaden, who stayed behind to protect his own son and keep the Dimenstionator away from Tachyon.
With Kaden's wife and son nowhere to be found, and Kaden himself lying dead on the ground, Azimuth knew he had nothing left. No home, no society, no friends, no family, nothing. And he was to blame. The thick smell of smoke, gunpowder, and blood made Azimuth gag as his battered body crawled over to his fallen best friend.
Azimuth's shaky hands cupped Kaden's lifeless face and held on gently. Tears streamed down Azimuth's face and he could taste the saltiness of every tear as he couldn't look away from his deceased lifelong friend. His hands shook at a more aggressive pace at every passing second. Before Azimuth had the chance to hold Kaden closer, the ground beneath him began to cave in.
The sand sank deep as if there was a sudden sinkhole and Azimuth frantically attempted to carry Kaden away from it. Azimuth fell into the hole before he could save himself or Kaden's body. Everything turned to black.
Azimuth gasped and choked on sand once his head fell beneath the ground. Before inhaling a second time, the sand surrounding the lombax turned into water. Azimuth continued to sink in a seemingly bottomless abyss of pitch black water. The water was freezing cold, and Azimuth shivered as he sank and gasped for breath.
His heart beat fast and his mind raced with only thoughts of Kaden; the sound of his voice, and the lifetime of memories that the two lombaxes shared. Azimuth darted his head from side to side as he continued to sink in the water. He couldn't see or hear anything. All he could feel was the freezing water and his own body starting to give up.
Suddenly, Azimuth could hear echoes of a familiar voice. Kaden's voice rang through Azimuth's ears and pierced through his body like a sword. "Why did you do it?" Kaden asked. "Why did you trust a Cragmite over your lifelong best friend? Why didn't you listen to me?"
Azimuth opened his mouth to speak, but could only let out a choke as he swallowed more water. He thrashed his body harder than before and spoke to his dear friend in his mind, Kaden… he thought, Kaden… I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Azimuth continued to sink and his mind continued to race.
Kaden's voice spoke to Azimuth again, "You are such a selfish fool, Alister." he said. "You put your own ideas above everyone else's and refused to trust your loved one… And now look what's happened."
Azimuth's head and chest tightened so much to the point where he could no longer control any part of his body. He could feel his heart beating in his ears and his lungs completely filling with the ice cold water. Azimuth frantically tried to choke out just a few words to speak to the voice inside his head with no success.
Kaden's voice spoke once again, this time, in a much deeper, distorted tone, "Soon you will get exactly what you deserve..."
Azimuth's breathless screams were cut off and he was instantly in the depths of Krell canyon, standing across from Ratchet.
Ratchet raised his voice firmly, "You still haven't given me a straight answer. Now, why aren't you with the lombaxes?"