Kaden…oh Kaden, how could he have done that?
General Alister Azimuth was mortified, in retrospect, by his behavior… But he'd been lonely- so lonely- for the longest time. All he'd wanted was someone to connect with. But…he'd had that, for a short time, and thrown it away just as suddenly. Had he really meant what he'd once done? The fact that he might have murdered without actually intending to was horrifying.
Oh Kaden, he was sorry…
Years of isolation… compulsively interfering in the plans of those he deemed evil… Had he slowly been going insane, since the race's departure? Were his acts in the Great Clock simply those of a desperate man? He'd been expecting a confrontation with the younger lombax, true, but he hadn't intended it to end so…miserably…both times.
Perhaps it had been unwise to grow so attached to Ratchet… but…was it really Ratchet that he'd become companions with? At first sight, Alister had mistaken the other for an imposter wearing a holo-guise… just moments later, however, he'd turned around and seen his best friend in the younger lombax's place. True, there was a certain resemblance between the two…but not as much as he'd believed. Kaden…was dead. It was a shame that he could not accept that; he honestly thought that, had he seen Ratchet as his own person, they would have gotten along splendidly. But Alister had not done that, and- in one timeline- both father and son had been gone. He'd truly been alone.
In the Great Clock he had believed that he was fighting for his race. He hadn't known that the Clock's intended purpose had been completely different…and he'd like to say that he wouldn't have made an attempt, had he understood that…but honestly, he could not do so.
After being defeated…he didn't know what took over him. Alister Azimuth simply couldn't comprehend why he'd tampered with the Great Clock, even after all of the explanations…but he had. Immediately, his impromptu adversaries had lurched into action…but there was nothing to be done, without making a sacrifice. It was at that point, having seen the resignation in Ratchet's eyes, that he'd realized that there was more to the younger lombax than he'd known. Moreover, he couldn't let the other pay with his life for Alister's mistake.
It didn't just end there, either. Having witnessed the way those two- both Ratchet and Clank- got along, there was another familiar sight to be found: an impossibly close companionship and desperation to stay together. He'd already taken that away once. It hadn't registered, through his own urgency, but the little robot had been crushed as he fled the enraged- and, at the time, only- lombax headed for the Orvus Chamber. General Alister Azimuth simply couldn't do that again, upon regaining his sanity.
Oh Kaden, he was so sorry…
He was so very, very sorry, Clank…Ratchet…
