Cragmite

Cragmites were a militaristic species from the Polaris Galaxy that predominantly formed the Cragmite Empire. They were the main villains in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. They were once defeated by the Lombaxes a long time ago during the Great War. It was said that the "Lombax Secret" was used to completely vaporize them all. In reality, they were sent to another dimension. According to the IRIS Supercomputer, they were moved to the dimension X2-49, a dying star approximately 8.2 million kilocubits from any life form, their status: angry and bored.

Biology
Cragmites are insect/reptile like creatures with six legs and two arms in adult form. Cragmites reproduce in two ways: either they lay eggs or an adult form dies which creates three baby Cragpoles. Cragmites except for young Cragpoles are slow creatures and rarely walk, rather they move about by splitting their atoms and warping around the area, in this state they can't be harmed. Cragmites all start out as Cragpoles and then later go on to become Hunters, Warriors, Slayers, or Assassins. It is possible that there are even more types of Cragmites that never got to appear, as Tachyon only freed the equivalent of one Cragmite Armada from X2-49 before he was defeated.
 * Cragpole: Cragpoles are baby Cragmites, which lack the adults warping ability, but they do vomit out stomach acid and bite to defend themselves.
 * Cragmite Hunter
 * Cragmite Warrior
 * Cragmite Slayer
 * Cragmite Assassin

Great War
"Who…? Are you kiddin' me? The Lombaxes! Vaporized the whole lot a them years ago, left the Cragmite planet nothin' but an empty hunk of dirt."

- The Smuggler

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, whose empire stretched from the Nundac Asteroid Ring to Praxus XII. Dozens of sentient races were rendered completely extinct by the Cragmites, hundreds more devastated. The ghost-like Loki were an excellent example of a species nearly wiped out by the Cragmites, whose homeworld,Toranux, was destroyed by a Class Three Planet Smasher after it was accidentally discovered by a Cragmite Warrior Bagogg. The ever growing number of captured worlds were completely depleted of natural resources by the Cragmites. All of Polaris regarded the Cragmites as the most unpleasant beings in the history of the galaxy, rivaled in this category only by the Kerchu. The Lombaxes took the leadership role of the resistance, deeming the Cragmite Empire's rule over their galaxy unacceptable. The Lombaxes became the only independent force able to challenge the Cragmites.

The two races became eternal nemesis and fought for long periods of time. Much of the time both were on equal terms that seemed impossible to break. Eight of the most brilliant minds in Lombax history created a device that could be used to transport the entire evil 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, thus ending the Cragmite rule over Polaris.

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 military infomercial.

During the Great War, a Cragmite egg was frozen on the Kreeli Comet. This egg later hatched into Percival Tachyon. Tachon was raised by the Lombaxes, who took pity on him. Eventually; however, Tachyon discovered the truth of his origins. Upon the revelation of his race's imprisonment, Tachyon grew a deep hatred for all Lombaxes. Crowned prince of his race, he set out to bring his brethren back from their prison. He built an army of space pirates to serve at his whim, collecting various machinery across the galaxy for him, including Lombax technology. He also went before the Lombaxes himself and convinced General Azimuth to give him the secrets of their technology, under the pretense that he was making a new defense force for the protection of the galaxy.

Soon, Emperor Tachyon had the tools he needed to create his own empire, and promptly banished the space pirates to Praxus Seven, no longer needing them. Requiring a proper army to herald the resurrection of the Cragmite Empire, Tachyon traveled to the world of Zaurik and met the Drophyd species. He presented them 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 complete waste to Fastoon.

The Lombax city crumbled into ruin. While the rest of the Lombax race fled and took refuge in the Court of Azimuth, the Lombax leader known as the Guardian and his infant son stayed behind to protect the Dimensionator, and General Azimuth was forbidden from joining his comrades, exiled because of his hand in aiding Emperor Tachyon's rise. 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
Emperor Tachyon ruled over most of Polaris in the reincarnated 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. 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 cowardly running away. Qwark was inevitably captured. To save his own life, Qwark swore allegiance to Tachyon and became his 'confidant.'

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. Due to Tachyon's actions, at least the equivalent of one Cragmite Armada managed to return to Polaris before he was defeated.

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 Armada that had been released 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 confrontation
"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 large 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 wormhole opened by the malfunctioning Dimensionator. Emperor Tachyon survived the impact and was trapped within the depths of an alternate dimension, and the remaining Cragmites who had escaped from the dimension they were stuck in were banished.

Notable Cragmites

 * Percival Tachyon
 * Bagogg

Trivia

 * All Cragmites had the ability to split their atoms and warp around areas during battle. They used back and arm-mounted blasters that fired purple energy bolts.
 * Cragmites laid eggs; this, along with their appearance, suggests that they were either reptilian or insectoid. Their true biological type is unknown.
 * In a Cragmite story called "Bagogg and the Loki", a Cragmite warrior named Bagogg crashed landed on planet Toranaux and hid there for years while fighting off spirit creatures called the Loki. Once he managed to escape back to Reepor, he destroyed the planet with a class three planet smasher, blasting the planet to pieces.
 * Cragmites were originally going to appear in A Crack in Time as minions of Nefarious as shown in the concept art.

Appearances

 * Secret Agent Clank
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
 * Ratchet & Clank: Issue 3: Lost and Spaced
 * Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One