Before Rift Apart (Complete)

A Break

Planet Igliak, Praxus Sector, 2 months later

Rivet was never one to take any sort of day off, just wasn't her. Phantom forced her to take time to herself and he even chose the location Rivet went to so he knew she'd relax. Igliak was the current capital of the free galaxy. It's government and military were so strong it was among one of very few worlds to never surrender to Emperor Nefarious. A beautiful world, bustling economy, skyscrapers as far as the eye can see and potted plants. Some type of pink Roses were Rivet's favorites she figured out. She was happy with her little vacation at this place.

It made Phantom happy when Rivet decided to stay at the planet and get a job as an engineer while she stayed at a place. Rivet was happier now than she had ever been. Every other night she'd bathe and surround herself with those pink roses, she really enjoyed the sweet smell they had. She was actually relaxing. She even had a chance to catch up on some reading she like she used to. A normal life almost. Her engineering job was the best part of her vacation since it was something she enjoyed doing.

Rivet was doing some technical research at home as she wondered if she would be doing exactly this if Nefarious hadn't come into the picture and took over Drek Industries. She smiled to herself while thinking of it. Should could have been an advisor by now, but it seemed life didn't have that in mind for her. Rivet was happy with how things turned out in the end for her. It's been an extremely tough road for her but she has come to understand that sometimes, things really do happen for a reason. She finally came to terms with a few things.

For one, her brother was long gone and she finally got over that after her choice to let go of her brother's killer. Ironically that same person was now using his expertise for the Resistance. Rivet's only condition was that he be kept really far away from her or else. Rivet reminded herself that time would heal all wounds. She however found out that sometimes the band-aid needed to be ripped off, and the truth was pretty good for that. She wondered if letting him live was truly the right call, but she made her decision so she had to live with it now.

Another thing Rivet had come to terms with was her decision as to what to do with her life. She was a Rebel and would stay as such now that Nefarious knew about her. That didn't mean should couldn't take a well needed break from it all however. She thought it over a few times about all the things that had happened to her over the years. It was quite a bit to take in, and now with everything else going on out there she needed to clear her head if she was going to continue the fight.

Rivet decided while she was making sense of things that she would learn to live a little. Working and not talking about the Rebellion as well as living a normal life has made her feel much better. At this moment she's sitting at home curled up with a book and a little bit of drink. Normally she wouldn't drink but since she's by herself she figured it would help with relaxing. Her breathing was relaxed. Not a single thought going through her head while she smiled and read her book.

Rivet wasn't really one for romance either, although she loved a good romance book. Her lifestyle wasn't exactly risk-free and dating in the Resistance wasn't something one did for various reasons. She preferred the solitary lifestyle and was firmly enjoying it on Igliak. The world of Igliak reminded her of Corson V and it's capital of Megalopolis, before Nefarious renamed the city after himself. Snapping out of her thoughts she shook her head and put her book and drink down. Rivet got up and walked over to her desk and decided to look at her computer's mail system and didn't see much of note.

Ad after ad was all she seen until she got to a few letters she didn't get notified for. Three of them were from Pierre, no doubt talking about how beautiful he thought Rivet was. One was from MoyDoy, a mission report most likely. Then there was one from Phantom. She hesitated at first and then decided to read it. Phantom talked about a few things and as it went on it got deeper. He had started to talk about the amazing person he believed Rivet had become, and how proud he was of her.

She smiled as she kept reading until she got to the last bit. Phantom mentioned how no one would blame her if she decided to leave the Resistance and stay on Igliak. She was safe there and Emperor Nefarious wouldn't be able to do anything about the entire system for decades to come. That she could finally live a perfectly normal life, one without all the heart ache and trauma she had been dealing with since her early teen years. On the inside she let her guard down and let herself think of what that kind of life would be like.

Could she really just abandon her friends? The Resistance? Rivet felt her stomach turn over because of it. "Abandon everything? Can I really justify that?" She asked herself aloud. The more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea was. It made her sick that she could consider it. Was she wrong for it she wondered. Rivet's answer was both yes and no, and for various reasons. Rivet sighed to herself and looked up at the ceiling briefly and looked back at her computer's letter system. She read Phantom's letter over and over again, at least a few times.

Rivet got up and crossed her arms as she walked to the window, looking outside. "What do I do with myself?" She asked herself. She knew what she wanted to be. Rivet kept thinking to herself, wondering if she could truly lead a normal life. At the very least her engineering job taught her how to make tools out of next to nothing. She laid down design plans for a hammer that'll allow her to access restricted areas. She tried to focus on that thought, instead of the one where she abandons her friends to an extremely cold world.

Rivet then went to her workshop to drown out those thoughts and made her final decision when she started making the parts for her hammer. It'll be useful to the Resistance in some way, but the hammer would be hers. She'd make smaller access devices as soon as she could actually make a smaller design. She reached over and grabbed her new goggles and proceeded to make her hammer. After about half a day, she created what she called a work of art. Rivet swung it around and tossed it in the air just to catch it. Perfectly balanced... Her break was over.