Before Rift Apart (Complete)

Choices All Must Face

Orbit of Planet Ardolis, Cerullean Sector; Rivet's POV

After a week long trip on the slowest prison barge I've ever flown, I was adrift in orbit over the Ardolis Pirate Base. Trying to stay alive I shut down every system to keep life support on and even then I had to lower the temperature to about as low as I could be comfortable with. At least I wasn't dying just yet. Despite not really caring for the Pirates, I let my mind wander a little as I remembered their world. "What I wouldn't give to feel some grass or water right now..." I sighed out, somewhat struggling to breathe here and there.

Hours had gone by with me still adrift, the power being very low. It wasn't until the power level alarm went off that I noticed the sensors had picked up a ship heading towards me. "About time..." I whispered before passing out on the console. Not long after that I could smell air. I sat up quickly and looked around me. I was on a makeshift medical bed surrounded by pirates, but I was on the planet surface. "Air!" I said excitedly. "Oh sweet air!" I smiled and took a deep breath. It was wonderful to me.

The Pirates were all drinking and laughing and having a good time not being concerned about me. Except one. "Rivet! Mon Cheri!" It was Pierre. I flopped back down onto the bed and groaned. "All things considering, I'll go back to that ship now." I sighed. "Do not fret dear Rivet, I'll be back later!" I sat up and looked at him realizing there is in fact a war still going on out there. "Who's winning?" I asked Pierre. "Us of course! Minus Gadetron." I sigh. If Gadetron really was a done deal then we may have lost a lot more than we'll admit to...

After several moments in which I described my gloom and doom state, Pierre pointed me to where Phantom was hiding out. I decided to visit him and when I walked up, he seemed busy with something so I decided to wait outside the door. However I could hear whenever he spoke and I couldn't help but be curious what he was up to. While listening in on what he was up to I looked around me. After being in a prison on a dark and stormy planet it was nice to be here again.

Ardolis was a lush green planet with water as far as the eye could see. In this particular area the waves were almost non-existent. It was calm and the slight breeze affected my ears and tail. I was snapped out of the calm when I heard my brother's name said by Phantom, and so I leaned in to listen. "So you're the one who got Layden. I'll be looking for you soon." My eyes widened and I leaned in to get a look at the face of the man who murdered my brother. I etched it into my mind.

After giving it a good stare for a few seconds, I marched off. When no one was looking I stole a Pirate ship and flew off, and by using a machine capable of mental imagery I got the name and location of the an in question. This was personal for me.  I thought by fighting Nefarious and helping others I was doing what my brother wanted. But now I had the chance for something else: Revenge. Pirates weren't know for their non-lethal methods. That didn't matter to me when I grabbed a weapon from the armory locker.

Phantom's Office, no one's POV in particular.

Phantom was sitting around, trying to get a perfect profile and I.D. on Layden's assassin. He was interrupted when one of the Pirate's offered him a drink. "When the door is shut you guys know better than to bother me." Phantom said, rather annoyed. "But I wanted to get you a drink, and the door was open slightly. Not to mention I figured you'd wanna see that short friend of yours. What's her name?" In that moment, Phantom knew why that door was open. Without a second thought he got up, ran and looked around for Rivet.

Rykan V, Verdagris Sector, Rivet's POV

I tracked the image of the assailant to Rykan V. "I hate the heat, why would anyone go here?" I sighed. After a moment I figured out why, most sensors don't work when it comes to surface scans on extremely hot planets. Rykan V was about as hot as it got. The natural lava fields made it the perfect place for multiple companies to set down forges and factories. Automated of course. Wouldn't want to pay up those living right violations right? I giggled to myself.

After betting that they wouldn't hide in an already hot factory, I used the sensors to look for a cool spot and found a few; but only one with a building perfect for hiding in. I set down, turning the ship off and grabbing my belt. Putting on the belt with this kind of weapon made me feel powerful, like I could take on anything. I grabbed one of those mobile pirate cannons and aimed it perfectly at the entrance to the little hideout Layden's assassin had been hiding at. At that moment I lit it and waited for the cannon to fire.

When the cannon fired it caused a nice explosion. I was impressed with Pirate technology. So destructive, yet surprisingly accurate. I growled slightly as I took my weapon out of it's holster and marched in through the destroyed entrance. I looked over and saw my target, walking closer with the weapon out. "W-wait wait, what do you want? Money or something?!" He was begging. I shook my head and aimed at him. "What I want? What I want, you took from me you son of a-" I was interrupted by Phantom. "Rivet no! Don't do that!"

I look over at him, a tear down my cheek and the high amount of heat noticeably singeing my fur. "He killed Layden!" I said through my teeth. "Yes, he did. But it's done, it's over. There's nothing that can be changed by doing this." Phantom said. I cried a little more as I gritted my teeth, aiming the weapon at the murderer. "He killed him!" I said through the crying and gritted teeth. Phantom simply nodded, knowing I was sort of looking at him. I held the weapon tighter as I aimed at him with a slight growl. I shook my head.

The weapon I had aimed at him was a Pirate special. A back up, but a special nonetheless. Made to kill someone from the inside out, an extremely painful process. Something I thought was worth using. "Layden wouldn't want this. Just.. let him go Rivet. Look at what it's doing to you. We have other things to do." Phantom pleaded. I shook my head, wanting to pull the trigger. Instead I threw the weapon at the face of the assailant and and threw hot sand at him, walking to him and tossing the weapon to Phantom. "You're only still breathing because the man you killed would never have killed someone. For that, I can't kill in his name."

I sighed. "Let's just.. get out of here." Phantom nodded, some other rebels came in and took the assassin like a prisoner of war. It was over now. The thoughts, the memories. I had some level of closure over my brother. Closure I never thought I'd have. It was time to move on and do something better now. There was an entire galaxy to save.  This was the job Layden died for, and this is the job I do now.