Work Text:
At what cost
I
Kaden stood among the ruin of his home, his hands cut and his fur caked in dust, he shook violently as he pulled pieces of rubble away getting closer to the sounds of infant wails that pierced through the chorus of screams that echoed through the entire planet.
The usually clear blue sky of Fastoon was instead a scorched red with a mix of grey cloud, fire danced around the horizon, a total solar eclipse painting the moon in a blackness that seemed to consume all natural light.
Alister had naively led the Cragmite to their end, Kaden had managed to convince the council not to kill Alister. They were pretty much brothers, having spent majority of their lives together, from meeting each other during the first days of school all the way up to Kaden proposing the dimensionator to the council.
A flash of orange fur caught his gaze.
Frantically he pulled the rubble off of his wife, his infant son, barely a year old cried loudly as he pulled him into his arms, too young to remember the death of his mother or the severity of their circumstances.
Identical Green eyes stared into his own grief filled ones.
For several moments he sat there on his knees shaking with wet eyes, the choir of death around him reduced to a hum in his burnt ears. She had died protecting their child, he should’ve been here with them, instead having to deal with the dilemma of evacuating the several thousand survivors that had managed to escape through the dimensionator, only ones left being the dead or dying.
A wail of pain and desperation escaped him, finally giving in to the emotions that overtook him.
Holding his child close to his face he felt infant hands tug at his chin fur that was longer than the rest of his fur, he always did that whenever he held him, a coping mechanism for both.
The sounds of Hover boots approaching alerted Kaden to the presence of the disgraced General, nursing a nasty cut and holding his side. Looking past Kaden he cursed, kicking dirt up as he did so.
“Kaden I’m sorr-
“Shut up” The golden Lombax all but growled as he stood back up, the child straddled to his hip.
Alister couldn’t bring himself to look at his best friend, instead opting to stare at the ground instead.
“You know this time yesterday I was sitting on the couch with my wife, watching my son play with toys you made him.”
A barely contained anger sat behind Kaden’s puffy bloodshot eyes, he almost vibrated with it.
“If I accept your apology, I’m admitting that I forgive you for what happened.”
“Kaden I didn’t know Tachyon was going to do anything like this, I thought he was going to help us!”
“That help has killed my wife.”
“You don’t think I see that? I said I’m sorry!”
Kaden swung as hard as he could into Alister’s face, earning a grunt and for him to tumble into the dusty ground, blood thumped in Kaden’s ears as he kicked Alister in the side he was clutching. Holding a shaky breath Kaden wanted to do more but at the same time couldn’t bring himself to.
He turned around to find Alister clutching his side on all fours, the sounds of death stopping at some point, leaving only the howling of wind through the gutted buildings and scorched earth. Confliction brewed inside him as he stared down at his best friend, a feeling mixed between anger and sadness seeped out of him as he caught sight of the body lying in the rubble.
Last thing she’d want to see is us fighting
saw enough of that over the years. Kaden felt tears prick at his eyes again as he sat down on the small green armchair that had somehow survived.
He was meant to grow old in that chair, watching his son grow up without the fear of a genocide over their heads.
Alister brought himself back up on two feet and approached his friend who stared vacantly, sniffing as tears rolled down his cheeks.
Wordlessly Alister pulled him up and into an embrace that Kaden returned knowing full well he was contradicting himself. The evening rays were filtering through the smoke that seemed to encapsulate the planet basking them in extreme heat. Moving away Kaden was the one to apologise.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“I deserve worse.” Half a smile appeared on his face as he spoke.
Kaden glanced towards the floor and back at the ship.
“I think you should run and not look back, as hard as it is, take your son and leave.”
The words hung heavy in the air just as bad as the stench of death, both Lombaxes tired and on the verge of passing out. Kaden looked over at his wife, his ears downwards and shoulders slumped.
“I’m not going anywhere until I bury her.”
II
Her grave sat on the edge of the plateau that overlooked the crumbling ruins of Fastoon, sometime in the several days after the genocide the fires had stopped, the sky clear of the red and black that blocked the sun, it was still a dark grey and rained ash sporadically throughout the day and night.
The Capital lay in ruin, embers danced in the sky and individual smoke climbed through the many destroyed buildings, a shell of its former glory. Kaden had managed to move his family away from the hustle and bustle of downtown despite his status.
The house that he built with his own two hands spread over the place, a piece of bedframe was the only thing solid enough for a headstone.
It had hurt, a lot.
He had found his Omni Wrench, the one he had forged himself, still as clean and shiny the day he had made it, no amount of rubble being able to destroy it.
The several scouts that had been looking for survivors no match for the unending fury Kaden had within him.
There had been enough food and water left to last them a week. A week neither of the two Lombaxes wanted to stay.
Kaden was numb at that point, he didn’t truly blame his friend for what had happened, and the only thing he wanted was to get his son far away from Polaris, maybe as far as Solana and at least try to get back at Tachyon.
There was nothing he wanted more than to kill him with his own hands, or die trying. Either way was a win to him. It was eating up at him on the inside, he could’ve stopped this had he just killed the cragmite like the council wanted.
Alister had been silent the entire time, helping Kaden out with his son and occasionally giving a hand in making sure the ship was operational. It was nearing Dusk as they spoke for the first time since burying his wife, the golden light of the day fading into the especially eerie night that threatened to swallow the remainder of the planet.
Kaden sat by the ship holding his son who has cawing loudly, mocking the crows that flew above them into the city below. A smile sat on Kaden’s tired face for the first time in a week as he gently bounced the child on his knee.
Alister kicked out the makeshift fire they had been using for the past few days, gathered his belongings and hoisted it over his shoulder, the generals Wrench being used more as a cane.
The plan was simple enough, Kaden was going to leave and find a place to stay. Alister refusing the offer to leave, as far as he was concerned he was deserving of a death here. Kaden didn’t think as much but he was too tired to argue anymore.
I’m the one who deserves to die
“The offer still stands Al” Kaden Stood in front of his best friend, child sitting by the ship, messing around with his wrench and drawing in the ash covered dirt.
The silence was deafening, not even the wind dared make a sound.
Alister looked at his feet before pulling his friend into a one armed hug.
“Take care of yourself Kaden, I’ll see you around.”
Kaden tensed up at the hug but returned it with wet eyes.
“Goodbye.”
With that Alister turned on his heel and made his way down into the ruined city below, not risking a glance back in case he took Kaden up on his offer. Kaden sighed as he picked up his child, mentally preparing himself for what he was going to do.
Placing his son on his lap in the small ship he took off, not looking back at the ruin that lay below them. Clutching his son tightly he set coordinates to the Solana galaxy, he was lucky that his ship had a warp drive good enough to take them the distance, cutting the two month trip down to only a few hours. Plenty of time to think over what he was doing, how he was going to do it.
The kit in his lap shifted clutching at his torn bomber jacket, the sounds of light purring emanating from the ball of golden fluff. Kaden sighed shakily as he shifted once more, the note he had written would be enough, he hoped.
He hated himself already about what he was going to do but he kept telling himself it was the right thing to do.
He will grow up safer.
The words sat funny in his head. He let sleep take him for the first time in a day, the nightmares of soot and the stench of death playing foul in his brain, along with the thoughts of abandoning his son for a chance at Tachyon. A selfless act for selfish reasons.
III
The gentle hum of the spaceship was interrupted loudly by an alert that startled Kaden out of sleep, his muscles stiff after hours of sleep on a well-worn seat. He yawned as he took in his surroundings.
They were here.
Veldin’s huge dusty brown surface taking up his entire vision outside the cockpit, instinctively he held his knees closer to him, curling into a sitting ball with his son. He knew that it was the right thing to do, Tachyon had to be delayed somehow.
The demonsionator safe for good off world, he just had to ensure Tachyon still thought it was on Fastoon, a six hour trip back. As well as make sure the bastard knew how he felt. A thirst for revenge began steadily replacing the feeling of guilt inside him.
The feeling of guilt would be gone as soon as he was rid of him.
Nausea sat in him, thinking like that, his son wasn’t a burden this was the right thing.
Tachyon would kill the infant child without a shred of guilt, if the thousands of unburied corpses were anything to go off.
As he entered the atmosphere of the dusty backwater planet he shook uncontrollably making his son stir. Sleep riddled green eyes stared into his own, a small laugh escaping his mouth.
“You’re home kiddo.”
The streets of the Kyzil plateau city were quiet in the early hours of the morning, something he was grateful for as he held the bundle of blankets within the raggedy brown coat, giving Kaden the appearance of any other bum.
His eyes glanced over all the buildings until he saw a huge wooden building, the sign out front telling him it was an orphanage.
He had been mentally preparing for this moment, whatever barricades he had put up came crumbling down the moment he sat his child in the weave basket with his wrench and two notes.
Hugging him for one last time, Kaden felt tiny infant hands wrap around his neck, tears flowed down his cheeks as he sucked in a shaky breath.
“I love you.” He whispered in a broken voice, the reinforcement more for himself.
He risked a glance down at his son one last time and rest his head to his own. The kit giggling as he played with his father’s ears.
“Please forgive me son.”
With that he stood up and began walking away, a growing crowd of people staring at him in confusion, at what he was and what he was doing. He was in the ship breaking down mentally before the infant cries of a Lombax reached his ears.
“Dada.”
Alister sat in the great court panting heavily, Tachyon had returned to look for the dimensionator. Instead only finding death and scorched earth. Tachyons throne of Lombax forged steel sat in the centre of the city near the Court of Azimuth on three spider like legs, several loud speakers blaring orders to the many Drophyd foot soldiers below, their advanced weaponry and armour able to turn almost anything into nothing. The sounds of Tachyons throne whirring mechanically made Alister’s breath hitch in his chest.
They had come as soon as Kaden had left for the stars, several hours of fighting in between ruined buildings taking the most out of him. He had taken a piece of shrapnel to the shoulder at some point, the blood caking his fur in a dry brown.
At last it seemed death was going to take him, in the blaze of bullets and explosions he had always thought would befall him.
He just wished it was on his terms.
Steadying himself on his wrench he began to step outside into the cloudless night blaster in hand. The faint sounds of a ship blasting through the atmosphere caught his attention, tracing it with his eyes he saw it land by the cliff where Kaden’s house stood. A feeling of confusion followed by anger swamped over him.
“No”
Jumping out of the ship Kaden glanced downwards into the valley below shrugging off his jacket, his black armour glinting in the moonlight.
The metal of a large tripod as well as several hundred yellow lights lit up the dead city, Kaden pulled his blasters out of the ship and made a glance to the sky, the universe staring straight back at him in in all of its glory, a storm brewing on the horizon.
A fine night to die.
The sounds of footfalls made him turn and aim at the source of the noise, the sight of a wounded Alister meeting him. Pulling the gun down Kaden sighed heavily.
“You coward.”
Kaden shifted on his feet as his ears drooped.
“I have to.”
“No! Don’t start with that crap, you’ve got a son Kaden, you’re willing to abandon him just so you can die at the hands of that bastard?!” The Rage in Alister’s voice rose clear through the sounds of bangs and shouts that were getting closer.
“It’s about protecting him! If I stayed with him Tachyon would’ve found him as well as me, he knows I know where the Dimensionator is!”
The battle cries were getting closer by the second, Kaden took note of this cloaking the ship.
“At what cost?”
The words hung heavy in the air for a few seconds as the crack of green blaster fire went over their heads.
“Run!”
Kaden yelled out as he dodged fire from his left that went careening into the sky.
Alister responded with returning fire as the two Lombaxes fought back, melting a hole into any Tyranoids that dared peak their heads. Within the hour they were surrounded and the sounds of Large mechanical legs began to thud towards them from down the hill, a shrill rat like shriek following.
“Bring me their heads!”
Tachyons voice sliced through the air in between blaster fire, the two friends slaying dozens of his men with skill.
“We can go through the caves up to the cliff!”
Kaden yelled out running down the path that had been there since they were kids, daring each other to sneak into the caves under bluestone ridge, the elders calling it an ancient burial ground full of ghosts when in reality it was a sandstone cave full of stalagmites and sharp drops.
Alister followed Kaden through the caves climbing over slippery ridges. The sounds of metal and blaster fire followed them as they made the ascent, Kaden breathing ragged, wordlessly Alister supported him with his good arm as the night air shone its way through the Lombax sized hole on the other side, its smooth rock hard to grip onto. Climbing through the hole both Lombaxes took in the sight below them through the hole.
“They’re in the caves!”
“Everyone pile in there I want them found!”
“Tachyon was never the brightest.” Kaden said in between breaths.
“Keep pushing Kaden we can sneak back around.”
Kaden looked up at his friend as he coughed a tired smile on his face.
A smile of acceptance.
“We ain’t both gonna make it.”
Alister looked his friend in the eyes before glancing down towards his friend’s torso, a burnt hole sat where his hand was.
He’d been hit.
He had been hit badly.
“No, no Kaden no.”
“Alister.”
“Kaden No.”
“Please.”
Placing a hand on Alister’s shoulders he held his grip as tight as he could. He was feeling weaker with every second.
“It would mean a lot to me.”
Alister made a sound of protest but was cut off again by Kaden.
“I’ll hold them off, just go.”
Kaden looked away for a second before hugging his friend for the last time, the smell of plasma and ash ripe in the air.
“Don’t look back.”
Alister looked at his friend again as he watched him make the steady ascent higher up the cliff face.
“You’re my brother Kaden.”
Kaden paused for a second glancing back, his eyes full of emotions that were about to come spilling out.
“Take care of yourself, Alister.”
Alister took several unsteady steps backwards before turning around into a run holding his shoulder.
The rocks cut through Kaden’s gloves as he climbed, his breathing becoming more and more rattled with every step. Standing at the peak of the Cliff Kaden looked down towards the ruined capital, a smouldering scar on the landscape, Pistols in hand he closed his eyes letting a breath escape him.
The wind gently blew through his fur and for a moment he was 13 again, climbing this peak with Alister just because they could, staring in wonder at the sight of the city. The sounds of yelling below him caught his attention once more.
Breathing through closed teeth he began shooting at the three dozen warriors that made their ascent up towards him. He let fly at them all the while shouting his best war cry, attracting the attention of Tachyon himself who stared at him in a look of rage, a hint of something else present.
Fear.
“This all you got Tachyon?”
The blood rushed in Kaden’s ears as he felt blaster fire zoom past his face, singing his fur.
soon there was barely fifteen figures left, their bodies shrouded in the darkness.
“Can’t even kill a dying man.”
The taunt seemed to trigger something within the Cragmite who riddled the cliff side with an explosion that killed off the rest of his soldiers and sent Kaden careening into the rock face below.
Landing with a thud Kaden chocked on air as the thick dust cloud surrounded everything, the good ten metre drop breaking several bones.
Rattled breaths escaped him as he clutched at his stomach, barely finding the strength to roll over and start crawling to one of his pistols that sat a few metres away.
His gloves were torn to shreds and he couldn’t feel his legs any more, blood dripping from a nasty gash above his eye.
He ignored the sounds of mechanical footsteps as he crawled closer to the gun, knowing damn well that Tachyons tripod was shielded. Grabbing the gun he rolled over only to find it click empty, the energy cell damaged in the explosion.
“You’ve lost my weak friend.”
Kaden groaned as he threw the gun at the Cragmite with as much force as he could, the blaster ending up a few feet short.
“I got what I wanted.”
“Tell me where the dimensionator is and I won’t have your son killed.”
A laugh escaped Kaden as he spat blood at the emperor.
“You’ll never find him.”
“Where is the dimensionator!”
As Tachyon said this he lowered himself to mere inches away from Kaden, who took the opportunity to spit in his face, earning him a pistol pointed straight at him, Kaden could see the Green glow from within the gun, the deathly light reflecting off of his face.
He was dead regardless if he got shot, a mixture of the fall and gunshot tearing his insides.
“Go fuck yourself.”
Tachyon’s eyes lit up with rage as he began almost growling, a trait he had inherently picked up after years of being around the Lombaxes.
“You’re not better than me.”
The words practically hissed out of him. Kaden returned the glare with all the strength he had left, the rain that had started falling soaking his bloody fur.
“Whatever you say you fool.”
“Damn you.”
A rumble of thunder burst through the night, the wind howling.
“Damn us both!”
A final yell full of pure hatred.
The blaster went off with a crack that dropped him instantly, splitting a hole clean through his forehead. Tachyon laughed loudly as he stared down at the dead Lombax, spitting on Kaden’s body before rising back up to full height and ambling down the hill, leaving the smoldering remains of his soldiers that littered the cliff face along with Kaden’s body to the storm.
IV
The storm passed by the morning, leaving the dry planet drenched.
Alister couldn’t bring himself to take off last night instead collapsing near Kaden’s house, slouching against the rubble as he watched the beams of plasma shoot through the stormy night, the faint outline of the cliff at one point being lit up with a blast that boomed through the crying sky louder than the storm. The explosion vibrating his body to the point of pain.
He took note of Tachyon scuttling away into a large ship nearby, taking off sometime around dawn.
He was alone again.
Alister physically couldn’t bring himself to make the ascent, sleep finally claiming him after two days of endless fighting. By the time he woke the sun had crept over the horizon, its warm rays not yet reaching the surface.
Groaning he stood on shaky legs as he glanced up at the cliff face, a large portion of it a blackened mess of molten rock and dust. A feeling of pure dread sat in his gut as he began walking up the path he had taken last night down the cliff. It had been close. What seemed like a whole platoon had passed him at one point scaling the rocky surface, he had ran harder than he ever thought possible in an attempt to avoid detection. Alister took note of the sheer amount of corpses on the cliff, he had lost count by the time he came to the ridge where he had last seen Kaden.
He stood in shock for a moment, the only sound he heard being his own breathing. Kaden lay dead on his back, his body soaked in the rain. The feeling of shock gave way to realisation and Alister couldn’t even make a sound. Tears welling up as he stepped closer to his best friend’s corpse. Falling to his knees he let tears fall down his face for the first time in years.
“No.”
Alister half expected to hear Kaden’s laugh fill the air, it wouldn’t have been the first time he had played dead for a laugh.
He begged to whatever gods where listening that this was one of those jokes.
A deafening silence was all he heard in response.
Alister picked his friend up into a hug, his body giving off no warmth that made Alister sob silently, the tears in his eyes not stopping. With shaking hands Alister threw the rusted shovel into the dirt behind him, he felt nothing but grief chew away at him, his ears drooping. Letting out a shaky sigh he opened his eyes again and looked at the graves. They couldn’t even have the luxury of names on their headstones, just a broken piece of wood that had once been their bed, the only thing solid enough that would last more than five minutes.
Words failed him when he opened his mouth, instead choking on his own breath.
He had nothing anymore.
Just broken memories and dead friends.
Himself to blame for it all.
Thoughts swirled in his mind as he took a few shaky steps backwards towards the now uncloaked ship. The only things Alister owned anymore was the clothes on his back and his wrench, a reminder of the life he had lost.
Climbing into the cockpit he glanced at the large storage panel that took up the entire back wall. Curiously he opened it, several books and blueprints fell out onto the floor as well as a pair of Hover boots that fell out. The thing that caught his eye however was the watch that was dangling out, the gold glinting in the light. He had lost his own at some point fighting. Picking it up he flipped it open to reveal the photo of himself and Kaden, younger without a care in the world.
Without the fear of dying alone in a storm.
He closed the golden watch with a click and put it back in the locker as well as the Hover boots and books. With a shaky sigh he looked out towards the graves once more, the feeling of sorrow strengthening in waves.
“How long did you know my dad?”
The question seemed to come out of nowhere, catching Alister off guard.
Glancing down towards Ratchet he couldn’t help but smile, he looked so much like his father.
“Since we were kids, met in school. He was your age when he had you.”
Ratchet smiled in contempt while chewing his sandwich, they had found a great spot to sit after a long day of Teaching Ratchet how to use the Hover boots, something that had earned him a few cuts and scrapes so far.
They Dangled their legs over the edge of a cliff into the valley below, a several hundred foot drop illuminated by the setting sun.
“What was he like?”
“Like you, someone people admired, someone who cared.”
“When he wanted something done he did it whatever it was, sounds pretty similar to another skinny Lombax I know.”
A huff escaped Ratchet which made him smile even more, the grin close to falling off of the Lombaxes face.
A comfortable silence sat between them for a few seconds before Alister spoke again.
“He also ate a canyon wall first time he wore those boots.”
Ratchet couldn’t help but laugh a little only to groan when he felt the top of his head being ruffled, Alister taking the opportunity to do so whenever he caught him without his cap.
“Not as bad as you did though.”
After another five minutes of watching the sunset Alister stood up and stretched.
“We should head back soon it’s starting to get dark."
The sun had begun to hide below the horizon, the sky a deep purple.
Putting his cap back on Ratchet looked at his friend and kicked on his father’s hover boots.
“Hey Alister.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Alister stood still for a second before nodding silently.
He began to lead the way back to their camp, his thoughts of Kaden that were for the first time in a long while not a punch in the gut. A smile began to grow on Alister’s face, the feeling of hope returning for the first time in years.
He would bring them back, no matter the cost.