Great Cragmite Empire

"The Cragmite return is inevitable! Your kind will never be safe, do you hear me!? NEVERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!"

- Percival Tachyon to Ratchet

The Cragmite Empire was the greatest threat ever seen in the Polaris galaxy, as the Cragmites held unstoppable power at their disposal. The Lombaxes were the only race able to oppose them and fight on even terms. After the war began to reach a turning point, they defeated their empire, freeing Polaris. Percival Tachyon, the last Cragmite in Polaris, eventually discovered his origins and became the crowned prince of his race. In this position, he assembled an army of Drophyds and made them into his personal Imperial Army. Thus, Tachyon ressurected the Cragmite Empire as his own destructive force, though by comparison, Tachyon's reincarnation was the merest shadow of the immense power once carried by the Cragmites.

Great War
The Cragmite's will to destroy all who opposed them resulted in the formation of the Cragmite Empire and the start of the Great War. During the war, the Cragmites set a large capitol on their homeworld of Reepor and quickly took over Polaris using a large, unstoppable army. All of Polaris regarded the Cragmites as the most unpleasant beings in the galaxy, rivalled in this category only by the Kerchu. A large scale resistance was formed to try and halt their reign, but all appeared to be for naught. It was only when the Lombax race took the leadership role of the resistance that Polaris was dawned by hope.

Deeming the Cragmite Empire's rule over their galaxy, the Lombaxes shed fear from the equation of the war and became the only independent force able to challenge the Cragmites. The two races became eternal nemeses and fought for years to come, much of the time both being on equal terms that seemed impossible to break. At the peak of the war, the exhausted Lombax generals, among them Alister Azimuth, knew that the Cragmites would not give up until all life in Polaris was destroyed. They also knew that while the factions were on even terms, the Cragmite Empire and species were just too powerful to be exterminated. A friend of Azimuth, a Lombax leader known only as "The Guardian", helped propose and create a device that could be used to transport any selected race to another dimension.

This device, known as the Dimensionator, was kept a secret and known to all not privy to the Lombax history as the "Lombax Secret". With the powerful machine, the entire Cragmite race was sent to the dimension X2-49, a dying star approximately 8.2 kilocubits from any life form.

Percival Tachyon's Rule
"Greetings, inferior beings of Polaris. Does your life lack a sense of purpose? Do you constantly worry about finding steady income? Do you like killing stuff? Then join the Imperial Army and aid me in my humble quest for galactic domination. Here you'll travel to new places, meet interesting people, and execute them in the name of...ME."

- Percival Tachyon's infomercial on his army

Eventually, however, despite his foster family's attempts at hiding the truth from him, Tachyon would discover his origins. Upon this revelation of his race's imprisonment, Tachyon grew a deep hatred for all Lombaxes. He would build an army of Space Pirates to serve at his whim, collecting various machinery across the galaxy for him. Soon, Tachyon had the tools he needed to ressurect the Cragmite Empire, and promptly banished the Space Pirates to Praxus Seven, no longer needing them. Requiring a proper army to herald the ressurection of the Cragmite Empire, Tachyon traveled to the world of Zaurik and met the Drophyd species.

He presented the Drophyds with a fortune in Raritanium and advanced battle suits made from the collected technology in exchange for their services in bringing about his empire and race's restoring. They agreed, and became his greatly loyal soldiers and enforcers. With his new army in hand, Tachyon marched back to his foster home planet, Fastoon, and prepared to end the Lombax race. A large battle ensued in which Tachyon's enforcers laid waste to Fastoon with their several war machines recovered from the ashes of the original Cragmite Empire, such as the large Imperial Cruisers, which were useful in the bombardment of planetary surfaces.

The Lombax city crumbled into ruin and all seemed lost. One Lombax leader, General Alister Azimuth, was separated from the other Lombaxes in the ensuing chaos. While the rest of the Lombax race fled and took refuge in the Court of Azimuth, "The Guardian" and his infant son stayed behind to protect the Dimensionator. They fled Tachyon's wrath and managed to hide the Dimensionator. Finally, the Guardian managed to safely send his son away to the Solana galaxy and went to face Tachyon. The Guardian was killed in the battle, leaving no Lombax left in Polaris to oppose Tachyon's rule. Setting his capitol on the dormant Reepor, Tachyon led his empire in bringing Polaris to its knees.

Metropolis Assault
At one point Tachyon ruled over most of Polaris in his own Empire, the reincarnation of the Cragmite Empire. Holo-screens were placed on various planets controlled by the emperor so he could broadcast messages to his troops and the local citizens. These broadcast screens were constant reminders of who was in control. Throughout the game, Tachyon plotted to find the Dimensionator and bring his race back. However, before bringing back his brothers, Tachyon went to the Solana galaxy in order to kill the last Lombax that had escaped him years ago: Ratchet. The Lombax and his robot companion, Clank, made it through the bombarded Metropolis while dodging Tachyon's troops. The famed hero, Captain Qwark, encountered the Drophyds and tried fighting them, only managing to destroy two, and then running away. Qwark was inevitably captured.

The emperor and his soldiers eventually cornered the Lombax on a platform and demanded that he come quietly, saying no one else would be harmed. The duo escaped and Tachyon made several attempts on various planets to capture and kill them, constantly broadcasting to citizens and his men. Qwark swore allegiance to Tachyon and became his confidant, but secretly gave information to Ratchet and Clank. Ratchet eventually found the Dimensionator, only to have it stolen by the falsely brave Qwark. Tachyon caught Qwark on Reepor while his soldiers fought Ratchet, Clank, Talwyn Apogee, Cronk and Zephyr. Tachyon took the Dimensionator and activated it. One by one, the Cragmites were brought back from their dimensional prison, raising a black cloud over Polaris.

Meridian City Assault
"Ingrates of Meridian City! Welcome the true rulers of the Polaris galaxy! Welcome the return of the Cragmites!"

- Tachyon to the resistance of Meridian City

The Cragmite race followed under Tachyon's leadership to fully restore the Cragmite Empire and reconquer all of the galaxy. The Drophyd and Cragmite troops fought alongside one another for the remainder of the conflict. Their first act as a fully reunited empire was to attack Meridian City, the Polaris galaxy's capitol and the symbolic refuge of all free Polaris not yet conquered by Tachyon. The Cragmites organized an aerial bombardment against the city while sending in their ground forces to escort surrendering citizens to safe areas during the bombing and to stop Ratchet and Clank from reaching the imprisoned traitor Qwark. All the while, Tachyon repeatedly broadcast his gloating to the citizens that he had finally conquered the one planet that had mocked him for so long. The Cragmite Empire intended to end the resistance by taking over Meridian City. While the attack was too powerful to be stopped, Ratchet did manage to rescue Qwark.

Final Battle
"You can't kill me, Lombax! Only I know your true purpose in this galaxy! Only I know your true name!"

- Tachyon, among his final words to Ratchet

Afterwards, all but the cowardly Qwark went to Fastoon in order to stop Tachyon, who was setting up his forces, knowing the Lombax would eagerly go after him. After fighting through a severe number of Drophyds and Cragmites, Ratchet and his friends made it into the Court of Azimuth, where Tachyon further revealed the history of the Lombaxes and Cragmites. He told of how he laid waste to Fastoon and killed Ratchet's father. Ratchet then fought Tachyon in the court room and in an alternate dimension spawned by the Dimensionator. Tachyon, defeated, declared that he would survive and that his empire would destroy the Lombax race another day. He was then sucked into a black hole. Due to teleportation powers, Tachyon most likely survived the impact and the Cragmites, although not appearing further afterwards, most likely retreated back to Reepor, awaiting their next oppurtunity to strike. It is unlikely the Cragmite Empire is finished.

Trivia

 * According to Aphelion, Tachyon did not originally know the extent of the Cragmites' evil. However, rather than get rid of the seemingly feeble creature, all of the other Cragmites accepted his leadership. This suggests that Tachyon gained his position as crowned prince and emperor of the Cragmites through family heritage, meaning he was connected to the original leadership of the Cragmite Empire.

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction