Before Rift Apart (Complete)

Rise of an Emperor

Rivet had walked by a store on her way to see Drek, the man in charge of Drek Industries to see if she can land a job on the company's most important project: the restoration of planet Orxon. The store had several Holo-Vids on, showing the news and Rivet herself did a double-take as to what she had heard. "Chairman Drek hadn't been seen since last night, only for his office secretary to come in and find a business partner of Drek's in his seat. This business partner calls himself, Nefarious and has taken control of the company. Drek himself, declined to elaborate on the change, mainly due to the fact that he's been turned into.. A sheep. Where the little guy is now, no one knows but safe to say, he got the heck outta there before this Nefarious guy could do anything else to him. This has been Dallas with your news, over and out!"

Rivet stood there, speechless. Who was this Nefarious guy? The name itself sounded entirely laughable. And who did he think he was turning her boss into a sheep?! She was not in an ask questions first type of mood. Rivet marched on to meet this Nefarious guy, whoever he was. But before she could get to the tower, it looked like it had been entirely recedorated. She stared in awe and shock. "Who is this guy?!" she asked herself. Anyone who could change a building so quickly had probably been planning this for a long time. Especially since it seemed no one was fighting this very sudden change. She had to do something! But she didn't. Her drive for wanting to do something about this had come as a shock to her. She wondered if maybe, just maybe, these feelings were a sort of taste of her origins, where she came from, and what her people were like. After all, it wasn't exactly a secret she was adopted.

Instead of following through with her instincts, she ignored them. Rivet ran home as fast as she could, over time seeing that robots had come out of the main building that once housed Drek Industries. She was dumbfounded. Had the take over been quick or not? How does this nobody have an army?! She didn't have that answer, and she sure was not going back to ask. The whole ordeal felt like a full adventure to her. She had no idea the long road of adventuring among other things had yet to even start for her. And it wasn't going to, not just yet. Rivet finally made it home, and ran to her brother, they shared a moment of silence and a long and tight hug.

"I heard what happend... He said. I was so afraid I had lost you..." I replied "I wasn't even in the building or anything.. I was on my way to talk to Drek and I saw the news and.. And I saw the tower too. Just who is this guy?" Layden thought for a moment, wondering if he should tell her. "He tried turning everyone into robots some years ago. He used a kind of device, called it a Bio-Bliterator. He was stopped by an alliance of several worlds, and even companies. 3 sectors were key to the victory, the Cerullean Sector, the Praxus Sector, and the Verdegris Sector. Some sources mention the Corvus Sector. But they were for strategic importance. Nothing out there but junk masters and weird people called Fongoids.."

I couldn't help but interuppt him. "Wait wait.. The Cerullean Sector? Where Ardolis is? The Pirate Base? You're telling me pirates helped kick this guy's butt?" Layden nodded briefly. "They fought longer and harder than I would have in their place. They may be robots, and pirates, but appearently they understood what galaxy would be like if they could only steal from AI more intelligent than them." My ears drooped and I sighed loudly. "So they did it because non-robots are easier to steal from??" Layden couldn't help but chuckle. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it.. But don't let this story fool you. It took a majority of unified planets to take this guy on. Nefarious isn't some guy you just laugh off. The galaxy nearly regretted it last time he wasn't seen as a threat.."

As it turned out, Layden was more right than he could have ever realized. The military and police forces of Corson V had no idea of Nefarious' build-up. The planet was his in just 10 weeks. Robot and non-robot citizens originally had shared equal rights, this was revised by the Corson V's new leader Nefarious. "Squishes" as he liked to call organic lifeforms, were now second-class citizens, a sizeable robot army took over the old police and military instillations. Many robots who disagreed with this new way of life, having organic friends, suddenly had their minds changed after a forceful reprogramming. The rest who agreed went into hiding, many with their organic friends. Rivet, Layden and many others weren't disheartened by the events, as it was widely known that the galaxy wouldn't stand for a part 2 of Nefarious' take over.

Megalopolis was re-named Nefarious City, the weeks dragged on, and more of his ships were seen in the skies as well as his troops on the ground. It seemed his takeover of Drek Industries was crucial to his plan, as now all factories on Corson V were pumping out Nefarious' warbots almost daily. Eventually it was determined that the galactic authorities would need help to retake the planet, but with no police or military left, the fight would be entirely up to civillians now. Those who were originally begging to be saved, now had a new sense of belonging. This was their home. They made a paradise here and they're willing to fight for it. With Rivet being so young still, she wasn't allowed to join in this fight just yet. She argued with her brother daily, and seemingly got nowhere.

(While Rivet will be mentioned, to give the story a broader scope, and her being too young to fight with a Resistance she'll eventually join, the next chapter will be mostly from Layden's point of view.)