Kaden kneeled down, leaning on his OmniWrench for support as he gripped his injured side. Most of his body hurt, blood trickling from various wounds he'd sustained during the short, but fierce battle. He glared up at the Cragmite that towered over him in his mechanical throne, appearing slightly damaged, but not enough to call it an even match by a long shot.

"I knew we should never have trusted you, you bastard." Kaden says coldly.

Tachyon laughs. "You really shouldn't have! It was fortunate that pathetic Lombax friend of yours was gullible enough to believe I would actually help your kind. Perhaps I should find him and thank him personally after I'm done with you?"

Kaden grimaced at the mention of Alister. It's only been a few days since their confrontation, and his feelings haven't subsided. In fact, after leaving Kieran in Solana and having to painfully excavate Marie's corpse from the rubble to bury her, he only felt more fury towards him, and was half-tempted to make a small detour to pay him a visit. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that he had no idea where to start looking.

But even then, that didn't give Tachyon the right to threaten him. At the end of the day, he was the one responsible for all of this. He was the one who dropped the bomb that sealed Marie's fate. Not Alister.

"You won't ever find him." He says as he looks away. "He may have underestimated you, but that doesn't mean he'll make the same mistake again."

He shrugs. "Perhaps you're right. And in the end, his whereabouts are ultimately inconsequential to me, as it's only a matter of time before he kills himself out of shame, knowing he's the reason his inferior species will become extinct. What a fitting end that would be to an exiled disgrace such as him!" He chuckles. "But while we're on the subject of abandoned Lombaxes, maybe you would be so kind as to tell me where I can find your son?"

Kaden snaps back up to him with wide eyes. How does he know about Kieran? For all he knows, he died in the bombing of their home like Marie. In fact, how did he even know he had a son?

"He's… he's dead." Kaden tells him flatly, masking his shock with anger. "Thanks to your walking tuna-cans, you son of a bitch."

He sees Tachyon's face shift into anger. "Don't lie to me, Lombax!" He points to him from over his throne. "Your home was the first place I checked for the Dimensionator, and I. Looked. Everywhere." He says slowly. "That includes your poor excuse of a grave, and while I didn't find it in there, I did find it quite curious how there was only one body when all those pictures on your wall showed there should be one more as well."

Kaden's eyes widen as he stands there, mouth agape. He… he dug up Marie's grave?! He knew he was a goddamned psychopath just by looking at all those bodies outside, but… this… atrocity? Desecrating her final resting place, defiling her body?! And he had the gall to insult it?!

That,

Filthy,

FUCKING,

BASTARD.

Kaden snarls as he leaps up to swing his OmniWrench at him. He gets tunnel vision as he focuses onto his target; his small, disgusting face. He was already imagining how it feel like to see the blunt metal connect into that giant head of his, cracking it like the rancid egg it was.

He feels his Wrench fall as he swings his arm down. For a few beautiful moments, he thinks he has him as good as dead. But before its finished traveling even halfway down its descent, Tachyon's throne simply smacks him like a toy, slamming him against the wall.

"That was close, I'll give you that." Tachyon says with an evil smile as Kaden coughs up a phlegm of blood on the floor. "But I can see you're done fighting. So, I'll give you a choice; Tell me where I can find the Dimensionator, and I just might spare you and your son, letting you live your miserable lives in peace on whatever rock you'll call home. Sounds fair, doesn't it?"

Kaden scowls, and he stares daggers at Tachyon as he wipes the blood from his mouth. "You say you'll spare us, just like how you said you'll help us protect the galaxy before you began to raze it?"

Tachyon waves his hand to dismiss the notion. "I have no need to lie now. I got what I want from your people, and now I have the upper hand. I have no need to fear you stopping me, as this skirmish of ours has proven I can easily kill you if I want. And, what's the cost of letting two Lombaxes live if it means the opportunity of exterminating the rest? I assure you, Kaden, I am offering you and your son salvation."

He then frowns. "But should you reject my gracious offer, I'll have no choice but to kill you slowly and painfully. I will turn this galaxy upside to find the Dimensionator, but not before I pay a visit to your precious son. And believe me, when I do, I will make him suffer."

He clasps his hands together as he leans forward on his throne, resting on his elbows. "So, what'll it be?"

Kaden glares up at him. He doesn't doubt that Tachyon would keep his word about sparing him, because he was right. There would be no way to stop him if he was allowed to live. And as he rests on the floor, bleeding with a broken body, the temptation of making it out alive and raising Kieran on his own was admittedly great. All he has to do is tell him the Dimensionator is on Rykan V, and he gets to spend the rest of his life with his son.

But then he thinks of Marie, and all the corpses lying on the road outside. If he tells him where to find the Dimensionator, the rest of his people will suffer that same fate. How would he live with himself if he permitted that to happen? He was the Keeper of the Dimensionator. He was the protector of his people. He would not fail them like Alister did.

Tachyon might have said that Kieran would die a horrible death if he found him, and knew it was true. But he was in another galaxy, somewhere too far for Tachyon to look. He wouldn't be found. Nor would the Dimensionator, either. And he might threaten Kaden with a painful death all he wants, but he already accepted his fate the moment he stepped foot into this building. He had no upper hand.

"I'll take the offer." Kaden says as he shakily stands up, using his Wrench to help prop himself up.

Tachyon's eyes widen as he smiles in glee. "Oh?"

Kaden looks into his eyes and gives a smirk as he uses his Wrench to point up at him. "Give me all you got, you filthy Cragmite."

Tachyon groans with a scowl. "You pathetic Lombaxes and your 'courage'. Do you realize what you've done? You've sealed your son's fate, despite all your efforts to protect him. I will make sure your death pales in comparison to the pain he will endure when I find him."

He rests his finger on his chin. "Actually, I think I'll keep him as a prisoner instead, and make him watch the extermination of his race firsthand when I find the Dimensionator. It'll be a relaxing break from the torture he'll receive in his downtime. Oh, the fun I'll have with him! But enough daydreaming, I've got a pest to squish first."

He presses a button on his throne, and a large blaster emerges from the chassis, and points directly to Kaden as he hears a subtle hum emanating from it. He doesn't recognize what kind of weapon it is, but it doesn't matter. He knows it'll just kill him in the end.

"Any last words?"

Kaden stares into those vile yellow eyes. And grins. "Happy hunting, Percival."

He sees his face curl into a snarl. "It's EMPEROR!" He cries out, giving Kaden one last wave of satisfaction before he sees him slam his tiny hand onto a button.

The gun beside him begins to glow and hum with a charge. Kaden closes his eyes, knowing full well he won't be able to dodge them in his condition. Despite his impending death, though, he feels… calm.

His son is safe, too far for Tachyon to even think of looking. And the Dimensionator is just as secure, protecting the rest of his people from the genocide. And now, he was done fighting, feeling assured that has upheld his duty as protector of his people. He was done.

He was scared out of his mind when he walked into this place, knowing he wouldn't walk back out. But now that he's moments away from oblivion… he felt peaceful. Now, he can finally rest from this living hell.

"I'm coming, Marie." Kaden whispers.

He hears the blaster fire.

But instead of death, he is knocked down to the ground as it connects into his chest. He gasps in pain as he looks down and sees the front of his jumpsuit torn slightly, but the skin beneath undamaged. He wonders how he's still alive, and why pain began to flare even though he couldn't see any damage to his body.

"I hope you like my latest invention, aided by your technology, of course." Tachyon says with a wicked smile. "It fires a concussive blast that sends the muscles of your heart into disarray. They'll start to contract out of sync, ever so slightly deviating from normal. It'll be a dull throbbing pain at first, but as time goes on, it will start to become unbearable as your own muscles will start to pull and fight each other, like a morbid game of tug-of-war. After about ten minutes or so, the metaphorical rope will snap as your muscles will literally tear your heart apart, finally ending your miserable life."

He chuckles as Kaden grasps his chest, feeling a sharp pain with every beat of his heart, feeling it start to get more irregular and painful.

Tachyon then turns around and starts to walk out of the chamber. "I do wish I could sit here and watch you slowly die, but a soon-to-be Ruler of the Universe has more important duties than watching a furball get a heart attack. I'll send a soldier to throw your corpse outside. Until then, enjoy your last few minutes of life. As best you can, anyway."

He hears his laugh echo through the room before he hears the door slam. Kaden lies on the ground, gripping his chest as he can feel his heart failing. It was painful, too painful to even stand up or curse Tachyon one last time.

He can't help but think this was a pathetic way to die. Not in some blaze of glory as a last stand against his people's enemy, but from a heart attack. He would laugh at the absurdity of it, but it was beginning to get harder to breathe. It seemed that timetable of ten minutes was a little optimistic if it was worsening at this rate.

But as he lies there, he hears a strange sound.

It was coming beneath him, and he saw a glow begin to emanate from the ground. As he looks down, he sees it is a portal, and he suddenly falls, landing hard on his back. He is suddenly surrounded by two concerned-looking Lombaxes, and above him, he could see the portal he fell through, looking just like the kind the Dimensionator makes, but much more unstable with the way it shook at the edges.

"Close it before that Cragmite gets through!" The male Lombax with white fur says. "I can't believe it worked!"

The portal then closes, and he looks over him from behind a pair of glasses. "Kaden, are you alright?"

"Does he look alright? Look at all that blood! We need to get him on nanotech ASAP!" The other Lombax says, a female with yellow fur.

Kaden feels himself being picked up as he starts to black out from the pain, bewildered about what was happening.

The Drophyd soldier sighed as he walked to the Court, where Tachyon ordered him to dispose of the Lombax waiting inside. He didn't understand why not just let leave him in there, but orders were orders, even if they were tedious.

He opens the door, and as he walks in, he finds… nothing?

Sure, there were bullet holes and the occasional blood splatter, but no body. Was Tachyon wrong? No, he couldn't be, but he can't just go and tell him there wasn't a body, right? He was done for if that was the case!

"Sentry!" Tachyon screeches through his communications, making him jump in surprise.

"Y-Yes sir!" He responds quickly.

"Have you finally disposed of that wretched body?"

He glances back up to the empty room. Well… it's not like he was going to check for it. All he wanted was for a body to not be here anymore, and, well, it wasn't here anymore.

"…Er, uh, yes sir! It's rotting with all the others as we speak!" He replies, trying to mask his nervousness.

"And did you find anything of interest on it? A note, or a set of coordinates, anything?"

"Er, nope. Not a thing." He hoped not, at least.

He hears him grumble. "Lombaxes…" He clears his throat. "I have another task for you, then. Clean up the mess he made as soon as possible. I'm setting up a base of operations in there, and the last thing I want is to track blood all over the place. Got it?"

"Sir, yes sir!" He says as the transmission cuts out.

He then groans as he walks off to find a mop. At least he wasn't found out.

I mean, it's not like Tachyon said to Ratchet how Kaden died, right?