Chapter Text
Chapter One: The Best of Times, The Worst of Crimes
“You look like hell”
“Thank you, Az. It’s a new look I’m trying out.” Kaden rubbed his eyes as if he could rub away the tiredness from them. It was another day of being thankful of his Lombax fur – it was a great cover for the dark circles that were slowing taking up a permanent residence on his face. Between his heavily pregnant wife, the work on the secret project with Mags, and keeping an eye on his family, Kaden was struggling to find the time to rest.
“Just remember, it’ll be worth it when the baby comes”
“It’ll be worth it when Uncle Azzy babysits the kid so Leia and I can sleep” Kaden playfully punched his friend’s arm. In two short months he was going to be a father. Last time he checked him and Alister were just graduating the academy.
“I’m still not sure on ‘Azzy’.” Alister laughed, “Besides, you say you’ll sleep but then I’ll get a call from you two from the hanger telling me you’ve decided to give your baby son flying lessons and I need to bring him pronto”
“Like you haven’t searched the holonet for infant hoverboots”
“How dare you!” Azimuth mocked offense, “I also searched for a helmet and kneepads. I’m gonna be a responsible uncle”
Kaden yawned again as they continued to make their way down the hallway of the Praetorian Guard to the meeting they had been called to by the Elders. He had not been to the Guard in a long time now that his own work had relocated to the Centre for Advanced Lombax Research. He had been approved to look more into his theory about alternative dimensions alongside Mags who was doing all the hard work.
After his work relocated, he used to come here every day to visit Leia for lunch. She taught the new recruits how to fly. He had always loved to watch her fly – it was how they even first started talking in the first place. Anyone else would panic in a war zone. Not her. He had never seen someone so calm as hundreds of rockets were fired in their direction. She missed every single one with style and grace that had even impressed higher command. He had watched her nervously since day one and it was only when Alister had had enough of watching Kaden pine over her that he finally pushed him towards her and introduced them both that he found it in himself to talk to her.
They were sixteen then. Now they were married with their first kid on the way. But he still looked at her with the awe he felt when he had watched her fly that day.
Since she had gone on maternity leave, he had come here less often. Azimuth was too busy with the Guard to have lunch every day and the General did not have the clearance to come to Kaden’s workplace. Not that it mattered, his own secret project was beginning to take up a lot of time. Mags was finally beginning to fully map the dimensions. This was the most crucial stage. When he was gone Kaden remained behind to explain any recent discoveries to the few trusted with the information. None of it was allowed to be kept on any form of mainframe. Mags’ audio journals were the only physical evidence of the work.
“This meeting better involve free coffee” Kaden muttered as they made their way through the winding corridors where lower ranks would pause to salute to them both. Despite still being young by Lombax standards, the two were high in the ranks of the Guard. Kaden remembered the day they had received word of their promotions to Generals. It was on the same day – the day before Leia and Kaden’s wedding. Leia had joked that they had been more excited to share a promotional ceremony together than for the wedding.
Alister gave a nod of acknowledgement to the lower-ranking Lombax who had been the last to salute. “It’s the Elders. It’ll be herbal tea”
Kaden winced, “Gross.”
“We can get you some coffee afterwards. I don’t know what you’re doing over at the research station, but I feel like it’s something you should at least have some awareness for.”
“Sir, yes sir!” Kaden mocked saluted.
Alister shock his head with a smirk on his face before pressing the elevator button. The pair waited in a comfortable silence – both staring out the windows at the city around them. Kaden had been to many planets in his life but his home would always be his favourite. Lombax architecture was like no other. The blue sky punctured by the city skyline built over thousands of years. The Guard stood in the middle of the city in the highest tower. The top floors had floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed you to gaze over the city. On a clear day, you could see for miles.
The Elders themselves resided in the top of the tower in the observatory. Before his current project with Mags began, he had only met them a handful of times. Alister had often spoken highly of the Elders, but he had no idea that Kaden had been meeting with them a lot more recently. Kaden knew they were wise, but there were times he did not agree with them. Alister had met with them far more times in his career. The Elders were also a friend of the Azimuth family and had named the Court after them when Alister’s father was a young boy.
As they walked into the elevator and waited to get to the top floor, Kaden watched out the window as a school group walk into the Court of Azimuth on a tour led by a lower-ranking Guard member. There were often school children on tours around there. He smiled as he thought that when it came time for his child to do the tour, he would be the first to sign up to give it. He knew that Alister would too, neither of them would pass on the opportunity to show off their work in front of Kaden’s child's group. They were going to be the cool dad and uncle duo. They had already decided it.
He was drawn away from his excitement for the future when the elevator reached the top floor. Neither he nor Azimuth had spoken of the elephant of the room. It was odd that the two of them were to be in a meeting with the Elders. They would have separate meetings with the Elders, but their work did not overlap in any way so them being there together was unusual. Kaden had wondered last night if Alister would say anything about it when they met in the morning, but Alister had chosen to greet him with a comment about his looks instead.
He was debating saying something when the doors opened to reveal a familiar Lombax. Mags was pacing outside the meeting room when Alister and Kaden. He was buried in his datapad – not yet taking noticing of the two men now watching him as muttered to himself. They could not tell what he was saying but they could sense his annoyance of being dragged away from his work. His tail was angrily twitching behind him as he continued to pace. His only pause was to push his glasses back up his nose as they continued to slip down. Kaden noted how Mag’s white fur was pushed in all directions – making his blue stripes look rougher than usual. That was a sign that Mags had recently returned from a different dimension. He made a mental note to ask him about it before speaking.
“Mags, pal.” Mags finally looked up in surprise when Kaden spoke.
“Kaden, hi. Hello. Sorry, I didn’t notice you there”
“Alister, meet my partner in the project, Dr. Elio Mackenzie. Better known as Mags. Mags, this is-“
“General Azimuth! I’m familiar with your work. My brother-in-law is in your squadron, in fact! He spoke very highly of you, Sir. Kaden does too. He’s always got a story involving you! N-not in a bad way, of course. All good things! I promise.” Mags adjusted the glasses once more slipping down his snout. He could have sworn he had adjusted the strap to them recently to stop them doing that. “Sorry, Kaden says I’m a talker. I really am. Uh, good to finally meet you”
Azimuth smiled and took Mags’ extended hand, “I’m sure I’ve got some equally bad stories about Kaden. Nice to meet you”
“The Elders are waiting for us. I figured I’d wait for you, Kaden. It’s been weird up here” Mags looked left and right before lowering his voice, “There’s someone from every department. Weapons, Flight, biotech, regular tech, and some people from the research centre. Bunch more who I didn’t even recognise. All very high ranking. With me, you, and Alister here that is probably every department of both the Guard and the Research centre represented.”
Alister and Kaden shot each other a look of confusion. Now Kaden wished he had said something before. He had no idea what they were about to walk into. There had never been a meeting this large in the whole of Kaden’s career.
“Did any of them give you an idea what this could be about?” Alister asked.
Mags shrugged, “everyone was silent as they went in. Guess they were just as confused as we are”
“Gentlemen” the three turned to the Lombax who had stuck their head around the door the Elders meeting chambers. Kaden recognised her from around the research centre. “The Elders are waiting”
“We’ll be right in” Alister told her.
The Lombax nodded before going back into the room. The three men looked to each other and gave small nods before walking to the door. None of them said anything as they were all thinking about what could be on the other side. Alister went in first, followed by Mags, and Kaden behind them both.
Kaden heard his two companions quietly gasp but could not see over them. Kaden would always curse his smaller height. It may have been helpful when it came to hiding in the battlefield to surprise enemies, but in moments like this he wished he had Alister’s height. Not that he would ever tell him.
The pair in front of him parted to find seats around the long wooden table in the room.
And there, stood at the head of the table, was the last thing Kaden ever expected to see.
“Everyone, meet Percival Tachyon.”
Months Later
Kaden entered the lab in the research centre in a hurry, “Mags, how we lookin’?”
“I met the weirdest creature in this dimension. Couldn’t tell if he was a weasel or what-“
“Mags, have you found what we need?” Kaden interrupted before Mags could begin one of his long-winded speeches about his latest discovery. Whilst Kaden appreciated the enthusiasm, he did not need it today.
“I don’t think so. But I’m getting there, Kaden. I’m sure of it. I’m just adding this latest dimension to the map.” Mags watched as Kaden rubbed his forehead as if he was nursing a headache. He felt bad for the General, work around here had become more intense since the Elders had summoned them all to meet the inventor. Like the other Lombaxes, Mags was apprehensive of this inventor. Normally he would have been ecstatic to meet a genius mind like his own, but the inventor was something else. Perhaps it was because of him being a Cragmite, or because his ideas seemed… violent. The Lombaxes were obsessed with technology and, yes, weaponry, but they had their limits. Mags thought back to that meeting, where Tachyon had used words like ‘empire’ and ‘complete control’.
Kaden seemed to be in a world of his own. His face was illuminated purple by Mags’ holomap placed between them on the worktable next to the newest version of the Dimensionator. Mags studied his face – Kaden was chewing his bottom lip as a million ideas seemed to be rushing through his mind. Mags had spent enough time with him to know when Kaden was thinking something through. He had the same look whenever Mags came up with a new theory or suggested a change to their work. Recently, he had the look on his face a lot more. Ever since Tachyon had made his presentation to the Elders.
Mags wondered if Kaden knew something he didn’t. And he wondered whether he didn’t know because he did not have the clearance to know, or if Kaden was protecting him from something.
“Kaden, permission to speak freely?”
Kaden looked up and frowned, “I think we’re way past needing permission, Mags. Go ahead.”
“You look like shit.”
Kaden blinked. “Okay, let’s go back to not speaking so freely.”
“Sorry for the harsh language, but it’s true. What’s going on? Every time I see you, you’re more and more stressed.” Mags snapped his fingers, “your baby has started teething? I heard that’s a nightmare. Or is he not sleeping through the night? That’s gotta suck. My sister hasn’t slept in months, either. She had a daughter not too long ago. In fact, I think my niece is the same age as your son! I’m babysitting for her soon, you could bring your son too and you and Leia can have a night off? I’m happy to do it! My advice to you right now though is watch your tail. You think you’re all good and then suddenly you’ve got a baby chewing on it!” He noticed Kaden watching him with a bemused look, “sorry, I asked you a question then kept talking. Lemme try again. What’s happening?”
Kaden smirked before answering, “The baby is fine actually. He’s actually a very quiet baby. For a few months old.”
“You’ll miss that when he’s a toddler”
Kaden laughed, “Or when he’s an angsty teenager. Kieran’s great. Leia too. It’s… just work.”
Mags was silent for a moment. He knew what Kaden was talking about. ‘Work’ was just a simpler way to put it. They had been holed up in this dark, dingy lab for the better part of a year now. Though Mags barely spent any time in it at all, Kaden was the one waiting for him to come back. He did the research. He delivered the reports to the appropriate people. He was the one who running around at all hours to keep it all on track. And he was doing that whilst also juggling being a first-time father and supporting his wife as she returned to work.
Mags secretly admired Kaden’s strength.
“Does this have something to do with the Return to Planet mandate going on?” he asked quietly. Last week the Lombax Elders ordered all off-world forces to return to Fastoon and all future off-planet explorations were cancelled for the foreseeable future. As of that moment, Mags and Kaden were the only two who had permission to leave Fastoon if their work needed it. Though no one else knew this.
Kaden hesitated for a moment before nodding. He sank heavily in the ratty old chair on the other side of the glass table. “There’s something going on, Mags. We’re preparing for the worst.”
“That’s why you want me to find an empty, habitual dimension, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I need you to hurry. Something in my gut says we don’t have a lot of time”
Mags thought once again to his niece. If there was something Kaden knew that would threaten her, he needed to know. He made a promise to himself the moment she was born that he would protect her. “Kaden, what is going on?”
“Mags, what I’m about to tell you cannot leave this room.”
One Month Later
Kaden’s eyes were burning.
Ash was raining down on him like snow as he navigated his way through the ruins of his beautiful home planet. He was careful with his step – not wanting to disturb what was left of the wildlife. He avoided staring at the blood stains on the ground leading to where he had just come from. The Dimensionator was heavy on his back. The burden of what he had done adding to the weight.
Kaden’s ears shot up at the sound of approaching footsteps. His hands were quick to his blaster as his eyes swept the area. Though Fastoon had once been beautiful, it had always been a dusty planet and the invasion had caused dust clouds to invade too. He struggled to see just a few feet in front of him. He had given up on goggles a long time ago. The fur on the back of his neck stood on edge as he attempted to keep his breath steady. Tachyon could not get a hold of the Dimensionator. It would reverse everything Kaden had ever worked for.
But the dust tickled the back of his throat, and he could not stop a cough from escaping. The footsteps immediately stopped. Kaden heard a weapon being unhooked from whatever was holding it. He pointed his weapon towards the sound.
“Who’s there?” A cautious voice called out from the clouds.
“Alister?”
“Kaden!” The man in question emerged from the cloud in front of Kaden. His white fur was caked in the same dust that covered Kaden as if he too had been wondering alone on Fastoon for some time. His Praetorian wrench was held tightly in his right hand and a combustor was in his left. Kaden put his own combustor back in its holster before taking a step forward and falling into his friend, putting an arm around him in relief. Alister was a far better sight than a Cragmite right now.
He did not question why his friend did not return his hug. He would never know that Alister died regretting it.
Kaden released him and frowned, “You should be with the Lombaxes, Alister. Why aren’t you with the Lombaxes?”
“I…” Alister hesitated, “are they okay?”
“Mags led the evacuation. The Lombaxes are safe. Those who made it to the court anyway. Anyone else who didn’t…” Kaden shook his head. Now was not the time to dwell on it. As much it pained him. “I need to get the Dimensionator off Fastoon and away from Tachyon. You need to leave too.” Kaden began to walk away with urgency as he remembered his mission, the happiness of seeing his best friend quickly fading, “If we get somewhere safe, I could open the dimensions one quick time and get you to the others. They’ll need you. But we’ve gotta get away from Tachyon first-“
He turned when he realised his friend was not following him. Alister was staring at him. Something about it… Kaden swallowed. There was something Alister wasn’t telling him. They had known each other since they were small children. After that amount of time, you knew what someone was thinking just off one little look. It was a joke in the academy that they were telepathically linked. Alister and Kaden were brothers, the ability to know what the other was thinking or feeling off one small look had saved them on multiple occasions. From life-threatening moments in the field to pushing the other to chat someone up. A bond like that between two people was rare.
But right now, Alister was feeling guilty about something. Kaden knew it in his bones. And he did not like it one bit.
“What is it?”
“Kaden… the Elders… I’ve been exiled” Alister began to speak quickly as the past few hours poured out of him, “If I join the Lombaxes, they’ll imprison me. Or kill me. I, uh, I… Tachyon attacked the Guard first. They had just begun the evacuation. But I was with them. The Elders. They found out who had given Tachyon his technology. They were giving me a chance to… confess. I had to tell them what I had done. That I had given Tachyon access to our technology.”
“You…you did what?” Kaden’s voice began to shake. For the past few weeks, a voice had been bugging at the back of Kaden’s mind to check on Alister. He had been the only one to argue that they should trust Tachyon. Kaden knew that Alister was stubborn when it came to the protection of the Lombaxes after the war. It was what made him a great general.
Kaden had ignored the voice. Telling himself that his paranoia was simply due to sleepless nights and the stress of work.
He wanted to scream at himself. Leia had been right the other night. He could have just asked Alister. He could have stopped this.
“I did what I thought was right! To protect us all!” Azimuth explained. Kaden could see that his friend truly believed what he was saying. His face was illuminated by the flames around them as the city they had grown up in burnt to the ground. “I had no idea he would do this- “
“That’s bullshit, Alister. I told you! Time and time again! We all warned you, but you were so stuck in the past that you refused to listen!” with every word he pushed Alister’s shoulder as if he could pass the pain he felt to him. “Leia. Kieran. Their blood is on your hands.”
Azimuth stared at him for a moment before saying, “They’re…gone?”
“Dead. I was too late, Alister. Tachyon murdered them. And you gave him the tools to do it.” Kaden lied. Kieran was on a pod halfway to the Solana Galaxy at this point. He couldn’t risk sending him to Torren IV like the original plan. Not with Leia gone. She would have been strong and resisted telling Tachyon anything he knew it. But he could not be too careful. Not when it came to the only family he had left. Kieran was all that mattered to Kaden now.
Tears welled in his eyes as he thought of the house in pieces. How he found Kieran tucked away in a box out of sight asleep in a blanket stained with blood. The panic he felt when he couldn’t see where the blood was from. The brief relief he had felt when he checked the baby over and found no injuries.
The pain that flooded his body when he realised the blood could have only belonged to Leia.
The worst part was he had no time to grieve the love of his life. As soon as he realised Kieran was okay and Leia was gone, he had to jump into action. He ran miles with Kieran tucked into his chest to the ship Leia had stashed out of sight for them to use. Kieran was silent until Kaden finally let him go. He began to cry as Kaden said his goodbyes and held his little hand one last time.
“Your mother and I are always going to be with you, my son. We will always love you.”
He looked at Azimuth. He was once his brother. He was supposed to be the one to teach Kieran how to hoverboot when Kaden pretended he wasn’t looking. The fun uncle who would crash family vacations and make them far more exciting. The one to spoil him at the Winter Festival. The one to tease Kaden for growing old when Kieran began to bring dates home. The one to hand Kaden and Leia tissues as he pretended he wasn’t also crying when his nephew graduated the academy.
Instead, he was the one who tore it all apart. He was the reason Kieran was going to grow up alone in a different galaxy. The reason he would never know his species heritage. The culture.
His own parents.
Kaden’s heart skipped a beat. Kieran would never even know his own name.
He drew his combustor and pointed it to Azimuth’s head. His hands were shaking.
Azimuth looked between the gun and Kaden. The weight of what he had done settling on him as their future turned to ashes around them. The fallen general dropped both his weapons and looked down to the ground. “Do it” he quietly pleaded, “I’m so, so sorry Kaden.”
Kaden’s eyes bore in Azimuth who began to blur behind his tears. His finger rested lightly on the trigger. His breathing staggered as a million memories rushed through his head. The day they met as children in school. Kieran asleep covered in his mother’s blood in the box. Alister helping Kaden back to the ship after he broke his arm at Krell Canyon after they went to distract Alister from his parents upcoming funeral. The last kiss from Leia as they parted in case they never saw each other again. The tear Alister had discretely wiped away as he gave his best man speech as Kaden’s wedding. The way Kieran wailed as Kaden typed in the coordinates for Veldin into the ship. The nerves which quickly softened on Alister’s face as he held Kieran for the first time.
Alister’s head snapped up when the blast went off. Kaden was aiming behind him to something in the shadows. He could hear the creaking of Tachyon’s throne approaching.
“Torren IV. Go.”
He sent off two more blasts as Azimuth stared at him dumbfounded. “I said go!”
Azimuth shook his head, “I can help you!”
“You’ve done enough” Kaden spat out, “Go. Before I change my mind.”
Azimuth grabbed his wrench from the ground and began to run. He knew better than to argue with Kaden.
As the dust began to envelop him once more, he looked over his shoulder to where Kaden was firing away with a rage Alister had never seen in him before. He swore to himself in that moment he would make it up to Kaden someday. He would find a way. He had to.
He turned and fled.
That was the last time Alister Azimuth ever saw Kaden Artemis alive.
Azimuth stumbled off his ship and fell onto his back on the rough ground of Torren IV. His head was still spinning from the past few hours. The Elders, the order of exile, the screams as Lombax families fled to the court he was forbidden to go to.
The horror in Kaden’s eyes when he had realised what his most trusted friend had done to him.
He wanted to cry. He laid there and expected the tears to come quickly. He blinked as the hot Torren IV sun beat down on him – a humid heat compared to the dryness of Fastoon he was used to. He’d be happy to let it burn him alive right now. The contents of the bag on his back dug into him and began to hurt. In his escape he had gone past what was left of the once great Centre for Lombax Advanced Research and something told him to go in. Maybe he would find something to stop Tachyon before he got to Kaden. Or a way to reverse the past few hours.
What he had found was Kaden’s research on something that could do exactly that.
The damn tears still wouldn’t come. The adrenaline of the past few hours was keeping them at bay. He punched the ground beside him before sitting up in a huff. He would have plenty of time in exile to cry. Right now, he needed to ensure his own survival on this planet so that he could make good on his silent promise to Kaden.
He pulled himself to his feet and looked around in search of a civilisation. He had little knowledge of Torren IV but knew that it was where mostly Vullards resided. Anyone who came here was mostly looking for scraps and junk. It was the perfect planet to lie low on now that Tachyon would be after any Lombaxes who made it off Fastoon. If there were others.
In the distance at the bottom of the canyon he stood on, Azimuth could make out a small village made of multi-coloured metal huts, market stalls selling all sorts of goods, and dirt path winding between them all. He could make out the Vullard population mulling around the area, talking with one another, or making their way to other huts. None of them had spotted him stood above them spying on them.
He was so caught up in watching the Vullards that he had no time to react to the sound of a person approaching next to him. His hand had only just twitched to grab his wrench when a blade whipped out the shadows to his throat, “You have two seconds to tell me why you’re here”
Azimuth’s ears pricked up at the familiar voice, “Leia?”
“Where’s Kaden, Alister?” Leia stepped out the shadows formed by the mountain structure behind him. Stepped is perhaps the wrong word. Azimuth noticed her limp out – favouring her left leg over the right. Her armour was ill-fitting and with a start he realised she was wearing Kaden’s Great War Guard armour. He had not worn it since the war ended and had left it to gather dust at the back of his closet. Alister couldn’t even remember what he had done with his own one.
There was a large cut on her right leg surrounded by dry blood. The wound itself had a tourniquet made from what looked like a blanket covering it. However, it could not cover the horrifying smell of burnt fur and flesh. He could see small bits of the light brown fur on her leg tinged black.
Azimuth decided against asking her how it happened, knowing the answer was probably his fault too.
“He… he told me you were dead” Azimuth explained as he remembered the blade resting on his neck, “he stayed behind on Fastoon. He told me to come here”
Leia narrowed her eyes. “Why? What happened?”
Azimuth refused to look at her, instead settling his eyes on his ship in distance. “I found him not too far from the court. He had the Dimensionator. I… he told me to go. That he needed to hide the Dimensionator. Leia, he thinks you’re gone. He thinks you’re dead.”
“I got away from Tachyon.” She said coldly. Alister wondered for a moment if she knew of his betrayal to their people. It would explain her hostility towards him. He snuck a glance her way and found her gazing off in the distance. He was about to say something when she spoke with a heaviness. “If he thinks I’m dead… then he’s not coming, is he?”
“Leia, I’m sorry. But I don’t think he is”
She dropped the blade from his throat. “We had a plan. Kaden and I. He was supposed to meet me here. I was supposed to bring Kieran with me. But…but as I was about leave the neighbourhood was bombed. I got Kieran to safety, but the house caved in. If I hadn’t been wearing this suit…”
She looked to the name badge on her chest.
Kaden Artemis
“I woke up under some rubble. There was enough to hide me away from any forces passing by but not enough to crush or trap me. I… Kieran was gone when I woke up.” She began to limp towards where she had landed. Azimuth followed a few steps behind as she continued. “I couldn’t get to Kaden or the Dimensionator anymore. Tachyon’s army had blocked it off. I tried to go over them in Aphelion, but they used Seekers to shoot us down.”
“So how did you escape?”
“I stole one of their ships. I shouldn’t have come here but… I hoped…” Leia grabbed Alister by the shoulders, “If Kaden thinks I’m dead then where’s Kieran? Did Kaden have him?”
“Leia… Leia, he told me Kieran was…” he shook his head, “Kaden thought you and Kieran were both gone. He told me you were both dead!”
Her silence was deafening. She searched his face for any sign he could be lying, or perhaps Kaden was trying to send her a message through Alister? Made him the unknowing messenger? Kaden could do something like that, couldn’t he? Or maybe he sent Alister ahead to check she was here and wasn’t being used as bait for Tachyon?
Alister twitched uncomfortably under her intense stare, looking anywhere but her. She took note of the orange dust clinging to his fur. He had been on Fastoon during the invasion. Why wasn’t he also with the Lombaxes? Had he been trapped like her until it was too late? Or had Kaden let him in on the plan? Azimuth was practically family, but Kaden would have told her if he had changed the plan. Adding another person would have increased the risk. He would have known that.
If Kaden had Kieran with him when Alister found them then he would have given Kieran over before staying behind. If their son was with him, then Alister should have been holding him right now.
Deep down she knew the truth about her husband and son. The rational, logical part of her was telling her that this was her own guilt for leaving them behind. She had just gone through a traumatic experience and now she was in denial about it all. She knew that.
She knew that they were…
She began to storm off as best as she could as Azimuth followed behind, “Maybe someone heard him crying and took him through the Dimensionator? Or-or Kaden found him and sent him through? Told me he was… maybe he’s protecting Kieran!”
He yelled in surprise when Leia spun around and slapped him hard across the face. There were tears streaming down her cheeks.
The tears he had been waiting for had finally sprung to his eyes. They weren’t from pain.
“Shut up, Alister. Please.” She begged. “I’m sorry. But just… stop”
“Leia, I need to tell you something” his voice was thick. Kaden’s face flashed once more in his mind from the final moments he had seen him. The way his happiness from seeing a familiar face turned to betrayal as he had confessed what he had told the Elders merely hours before.
He remembered the Elders scathing looks as he had spoken to them. He had once been highly respected by them. His whole family had been. His grandfather had been one of them before his death. His father was on his way to joining their ranks before he had died when Alister was still a teenager. The Elder’s disappointment felt like it had been coming from his father. The word exile had bounced around his head for hours. He was a war criminal in their eyes. And the worst part was that it was true.
He remembered the way Kaden had trembled when he held his gun to his head. That was a far worse punishment than anything the Lombaxes could have given him.
Now Leia was what he had left that was close to family. And he had to break her heart too. Even more than it was already broken because of his actions.
Leia was a little startled to see Alister crying. She had known him since the early years of the academy. They had been through a war together. She watched him go through the deaths of his family. She had tended to many hoverboot related injuries. And yet, despite all that, she had never seen him cry. But the single tear rolling down his cheek was enough for it all to come crashing down on her.
Kaden had told her about the meeting with the Elders where they had met Tachyon for the first time. His proposals and schemes to build the Lombax army to an unstoppable force. He had talked of a Lombax empire. He had told her three days later because the night he came back from that meeting she gave birth to their son. She remembered because the night Kaden told her about it was right after Alister had come to visit them at the hospital. It was the night they had asked him to join them in the official Lombax naming ceremony and be named as Kieran’s guardian. It was when Kaden told him Kieran’s full name.
Kieran Alister Artemis.
She remembered how six months later the rumours were floating around that someone had granted Tachyon the access he wanted. That there was a group working on a secret project just in case. She knew because it kept Kaden up at night. She remembered the night she woke alone and found Kaden in the nursery with Kieran. He had been sat on the floor with his back against the crib with Kieran gurgling happily as his father bounced him on his knee. The room was glowing with the deep blue holomap of the Polaris galaxy in the centre of the room.
Kieran hadn’t noticed his father tears, but his mother had.
She had settled next to him in silence and snuggled into his shoulder. It was that night he had told her everything. About the full extent of the work he and Mags were doing. About the Elder’s warnings. About his own fears of what was to come. That was the night they made their plan.
She remembered all of this because it was merely days ago.
And she remembered how Kaden had worried about Alister Azimuth.
“It was you. You gave Tachyon the access, didn’t you?”
His mouth stuttered as she took the words right of it. He hated the way she was looking at him. It wasn’t anger like the Elders, or betrayal like Kaden, it was something worse. It was simply acceptance. Like she had been expecting this. He wanted her to scream at him, or punch him, or shoot him.
She simply shook her head a little and continued her way to the village in the distance.
He didn’t know whether to follow her. She hadn’t snapped yet, but she could. Did she even want him to follow her now she knew he was the reason that Kaden and Kieran were both gone?
“Where are you going?” he finally asked.
“To get some damn nanotech for my leg” she continued to limp away. Unlike Azimuth, she knew where they were on Torren IV. After disabling the tracker on the Cragmite ship, she put in the same coordinates she had been memorising for days. The mountains above the Monoloth Fields of Torren IV – somewhere close enough to a civilisation so they could get help but far enough to not draw attention when she landed in case something went wrong and they had to make a quick escape. Until Azimuth turned up, she too had been observing the village. She was hoping she would get just a flash of golden fur on the ground or see Kaden’s ship land on the agreed spot.
She had no idea how long exactly she had been crouched in the shadows, but it was long enough that when she finally stood again as the sound of a landing ship, her head had gone light from blood loss. The adrenaline from seeing Azimuth was what had kept her focus once more, but she knew it would not be long before it would fade. She needed nanotech before it was too late.
“What happened to you, Leia?” Alister finally followed behind her.
“I told you. A house fell on me” she retorted. She hated that he was following her, but a small part of her was comforted at a familiar face. She hated herself for that part knowing what Azimuth had done to her people and to her family. “I heard commotion outside and made the stupid mistake of going outside to see what was happening. That was when they started bombing the houses. The one opposite went first. I took cover but I was a little too slow and some shrapnel got my leg. Burnt it too.”
“Leia-“
“I dragged myself back in the house and tried to stop the bleeding with Kieran’s blanket but once I realised that we were trapped I wrapped him in it and got him to shelter in the house. Some sick logic of mine was that if they found him wrapped in a bloody blanket… well, I hoped they would assume that he…” Leia swallowed, remembered the sight of her son wrapped in the blanket Lorna Cross had given to her when they first announced the pregnancy. It had belonged to her daughter, but Lorna had wanted Leia to have it now. She had joked that she had competition to be the best family member and she was not going to let Alister win.
Leia slowed down for a moment as yet another wave of grief washed over her. Her best friend was probably gone too.
Her eyes drifted to the scrap she had torn off from the blanket and tied on her leg. It was all she left of Lorna now, “I was about to use the comms to get hold of Kaden to tell him that we were trapped when there was a flash. I remember the floor caving in below me and then… darkness. Then I woke up”
Alister remained silent. They walked the rest of the way to the village like that. Leia tried to keep her mind on her leg, choosing her physical pain over getting lost in her emotions. She knew she would have to face it eventually, but she wanted to remain in denial for a little longer. She wanted to continue to believe that maybe, just maybe, Azimuth was wrong. That Kaden would be here shortly. He would have found Aphelion in the plaza and was on his way here in her right now. He would jump out the ship as gently as he could to not wake Kieran in his arms. She would rush to them, and Kieran would wake and smile at her and-
“Are you okay there, Miss?” she was pulled out her fantasy by a Vullard who was staring at her leg.
“Do you have any nanotech?” she asked. Azimuth remained behind her, and she noticed his hand flinch and twitch backwards towards the wrench on his back. She knew he had met Vullards before, Kaden had told her about their hoverboot adventure to Krell Canyon, but after what they had just endured on Fastoon, she was not surprised that he was on edge.
“Yeah, there’s some emergency nanotech by the village hall. We don’t exactly need it, but we keep it around for people like you” The Vullard pointed down the main dirt path they were stood on, “just keeping following this path and you’ll find it easily enough.”
“Thank you” she said before continuing to limp forward. Alister finally moved from walking a pace behind her to walking besides her though he still would not look at her. He was still waiting for her to turn on him, to make him pay for what he had done.
She would turn on him eventually. They both knew it. But luckily for Azimuth, Leia was still in denial about everything that had happened. Once she finally processed it all, he was going to be in a lot of trouble.
“Do you have a plan?” Alister finally broke the silence as they walked through the village. Every Vullard who saw them paused what they were doing to watch the two outsiders. Alister wondered if they had even ever seen a Lombax before. Leia had told him that she came here because that was her and Kaden’s plan, but there was more to it than she had said.
“I do.” She glared at him, “For me. Once we are done here, I will be dealing with you.”
“Let me help you. Please” he begged her.
She stopped, “You think I’m gonna let you help me after what you’ve done? I don’t have the time to deal with your guilty conscience, Azimuth. You’re just a scared little boy who got in way over his head and now you think I’m just gonna let you swoop in and try to make it okay because you’re feeling guilty? After I get this nanotech and we figure out exactly how much of the galaxy Tachyon has claimed, you and I are going to go our separate ways. You can live with your guilt somewhere else.”
Alister tried again, “I promised Kaden I would make this all up to him. I found how I can do it, but I need your help.”
She was about to hit him again when the area around them began to shake.
They both looked up to see Tachyon’s ships enter the atmosphere. Vullards began to run and scream, none of them knowing what to do with themselves. Alister and Leia began to run too, looking for cover knowing they were the targets for this invasion. Leia wanted to protest when Alister threw her arm over him and helped carry her along, but she knew he would not hear it. She was yet to get the nanotech and that would make her slower on her feet anyway. With Azimuth dragging her along, they at least had a chance to find shelter before they were spotted.
A voice called out besides them. The Vullard they had met early was standing in the doorway of a grey hut, “Get in here, friends!”
Both Lombaxes ducked into the shelter hut when the drophyd ships filled the sky. Other citizens of the village ran to cover in huts, shacks, and under the umbrellas of the local stalls. They were all yelling and screaming that no one else took notice of the two strangers in their village. Leia and Alister both crouched under the window and peeked out, both trying to keep their ears as flat as possible to hide their notable Lombax feature from sight of the windows. The Vullard who called to them had joined them on the other side of Alister. The three of them waited in silence for something to happen.
Leia’s blood boiled at the sound that screeched through the speakers of the village, “Citizens of Torren IV! It is I, your new Emperor! Emperor Percival Tachyon!”
“That’s really his name?” The Vullard whispered, "You'd think an emperor would have something cooler."
Leia hated herself for cracking a smile at that moment.
The three in the hut watched as a hologram projection of the emperor in question appeared in the village centre. It made Tachyon seem like a huge, looming figure – hiding his real height. If Leia hadn’t just watched his army tear her world apart, she would have laughed. She heard Azimuth’s breath get faster at the sight of the genocidal maniac.
She wanted to remind him that it was his fault, but the words died in her mouth as she saw the Vullard on the other side of him. Though he had cracked a joke earlier, she could see him shaking in fear. She knew Torren IV was a peaceful planet and the Vullards were peaceful junkers – it was why Kaden and her had decided to escape to here with Kieran. She had the expertise of a mechanic. Kaden was a scientist. They were going to make themselves useful to the Vullards.
Now, because of her desperation, she had brought her nightmare with her and got these people caught in her war.
“Now, as your emperor, it is my duty to take care of you all, but I need you all to work with me. There is a Lombax fugitive on this planet, and I am giving you a chance to hand them over to me! These are very dangerous individuals!” Tachyon snapped his fingers and several members of his army materialized in the central plaza. “We tracked an escapee to here. If you do not hand them over then we will search every inch of this place!”
“How did they find us so fast?” Azimuth asked, looking over to Leia.
“I disabled the tracker in the ship before leaving Fastoon, there must have been a second one in case the first was tampered with” she looked pointed at Azimuth, “that’s what Lombax ships have.”
He swallowed and looked away. Leia looked back to the hologram. Handing themselves over was a death sentence. But if Tachyon didn’t get his Lombax then who knew how many Vullards he would slaughter to get to them. It was one life or hundreds.
Besides, a death sentence meant she would see Kieran and Kaden again.
Leia went to stand when Azimuth grabbed her shoulder, seemingly reading her mind. “No. I’ll go.”
“Alister- “
“I’m the reason for all of this. This is my punishment. I deserve this.” He took the bag off his back and placed it besides her. He took his wrench off too and placed it on the ground. “You’re the only one who can make any sense of Kaden’s notes. You can save the Lombaxes. It’s what Kaden would want. For you to live.”
She hated that he was right. Kaden talked of them one day ridding this galaxy of Tachyon and using the Dimensionator to bring the Lombaxes back to their home. Kaden would want her to do that instead of getting herself killed. She would do it in his name. In the name of Artemis.
As Azimuth stood and began to make his way out the hut, she called back, “Alister…”
He sighed and gave one small nod. She didn’t need to say anything else. “Take care of yourself, Leia.”
She watched in silence as Tachyon’s forces dragged Azimuth’s corpse behind them to their ship. His death had been swift. He did not try to fight back, nor did he plead for his life. He remained silent as Tachyon interrogated him about the Dimensionator. The only time he had spoken was when he was asked if he was alone. He was insistent that he was, and Tachyon believed him. Alister earned a little bit of Leia’s respect back for that. She had closed her eyes when Tachyon gave up and ordered his men to fire on Azimuth. No matter what he had done, a part of her still cared for him. He was Kaden’s brother. Best friends until the end.
When the ships cleared and the Vullards emerged from their homes she dragged herself to her new base. The Vullard whose hut she had hidden in had told her to head to Vulgram Pass where she could make a base and settle as there was an empty, habitable space. None of the Vullards had a use for it so she was welcome to it. She was hesitant to call it a home quite yet. Though this was now where she going to be stuck for the future. Tachyon believed the Lombax who stole one of his ships and escaped to this planet was dead. She should be safe here. The Vullards seemed like kind people. She was already thankful to them. She decided in the morning she would go back to the village and offer her services. But right now, she needed to be alone.
The base was small. The old head of a large robotic guard that overlooked the canyon of Torren IV. There was enough space for a bed and maybe some chests for whatever possessions she would acquire over the next few years. She set down the bag and blade on the metal ground before walking to the ledge outside the large window. The small village of Vullards had gotten to work cleaning the mess left behind by Tachyon – grabbing whatever metal bolts were left behind for spare parts and cleaning the blood smears from where Azimuth had been dragged away. Leia felt the same pang of guilt again for bringing the war to their planet. Lombaxes used to pride themselves on their independence, but Leia never bought it. Kaden never did it either. Their travels had taught them that the galaxy was full of brilliant creatures who could help one another. If they had never travelled, Kaden would have never begun his research into alternate dimensions or the Great Clock.
She kept her composure as she unpacked the bag Azimuth had handed her. All she arrived with was the clothes on her back and the rusty blade she had found onboard the Cragmite ship. Inside were papers covered in Kaden’s scrawly handwriting over diagrams. She recognised it as his research on the Zoni and the Great Clock. She swallowed back her tears – she didn’t want them ruining what she had left of Kaden’s mind. His brilliant mind. Something she had hoped Kieran would inherit.
She pulled out a pair of hoverboots that had also belonged to Kaden. She had escaped with her own pair on her feet but something about having Kaden’s pair felt comforting to her. A part of them could still be together in some way.
She took Azimuth’s wrench off her back and laid it on the floor besides her. It was longer than the omniwrench that Kaden had found himself attached to. This wrench had been a gift from herself to Azimuth after he had supported her when her father passed suddenly, and Kaden was off world and unreachable. Azimuth was the one to break many rules in order to reach Kaden and bring him back to Fastoon. The night they came home from the funeral Alister had left them some meals for the next few days. He had later told her that he had done it because it was what he had wanted someone to do for him after his parents died. That was the day she realised he wasn’t just Kaden’s friend but hers too. Her hand gently rested on the handle. It was now all she had left of her own Lombax culture.
She turned back to the notes and began to flick through them. A small piece of paper fluttered to the ground and landed by her feet. She carefully set the papers on top of a box before bending to the paper.
It was a picture. From the day they brought Kieran home.
Her knees gave away beneath her as the sobs overtook her body.
She was the last one left.
The last Lombax left in this dimension.