Chapter Text

“Check this out, Kit!” Rivet said as she showed her the control panel of their new ship. “Multi-targeting missiles, rear-facing rapid fire turret, and a state-of-the art proto shield! I heard some people flew this ship into a black hole and survived because of it! And the thrusters, this baby can go 800 cubits a second! No wonder frigates couldn’t hit this thing!”

Kit couldn’t help but smile as she watched Rivet geek out about the ship. Eventually, she made a giggle loud enough for Rivet to notice. “What’s so funny?” She asked.

“It’s just good to see you like this.” Kit replied.

Rivet smiled. “Yeah, I’ll admit I’ve been kind of a downer. But I know now we have a fighting chance. Besides, I just imagine blowing that Drek lady up with this ship, and it makes me smile.”

Kit wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she remained silent as they pulled into the atmosphere of Terachnos. Rivet and Kit had only heard stories about the terachnoid homeworld. During the reign of Nefarious, they would occasionally give the emperor research data he could use to create new and deadly inventions in exchange for not invading them. Under the Corson V Government, President Phyronix had been in talks with them in hopes of a partnership of some kind, but the two didn’t know anything else.

They soon flew toward the planet’s capital, Axiom City. It was a sprawling metropolis that reminded Rivet of Corson V before it was freed. In fact, she noticed the extremely similar architecture of the buildings to the capital city, from the dark colors to the neon holographic signs. Although instead of Nefarious propaganda it was merely advertisements for the corporations on the planet, most of them being from Pollyx Industries. Perhaps they’re the reason Corson V is the city it is, maybe Kyla was trying to negotiate with them for building plans or mechanics.

The questions weren’t important right now, as they were approaching the location of Armkin’s coordinates, which was the tallest building in the city that had the Pollyx Industries Logo on it. However, they also noticed an orange frigate near the top of it. Judging by the color patterns, this frigate probably belonged to Drek. It wasn’t as big as the ship they saw on Sargasso, but it was still the same size as the top of the building.

“It appears Drek has beaten us to Armkin.” Kit said. Just then, the sides of the ship opened up, revealing 3 fighter ships in its hanger. It was clear now that this was a fighter carrier. Said fighters flew out of the ship’s hanger and flew directly toward Rivet and Kit.

“It also appears that they know we’re here!” Kit said.

Rivet smiled as she gripped harder on the steering wheel. “All right, let’s see if this girl still has it in her!” She then turned the wheel all the way to the left, tilting the Aphelion in the same direction. The 3 fighters gave chase to Rivet as she flew between buildings and under bridges. They fired their canons at her, but they couldn’t so much as scratch the surface of the ship with how fast she maneuvered around them. Rivet had flown many ships in her life, and the Aphelion was the fastest ship she had ever flown. The structures Rivet flew by came and went in the blink of an eye, but she was able to dodge every obstacle with near ease. Even dodging the bullets from the fighters was fairly easy, not just thanks to the ship’s sensors but to Rivet’s skill as well.

Aphelion pilots were known to be among the best, and Rivet was now one of them. But savoring this fact had to wait until after dealing with the enemy ships, so she pulled up on the steering wheel, making the ship turn up and over the fighters on their tail. Once the ship looped behind them, Rivet pressed the button labeled “Multi-targeting missile,” and soon enough she saw a display on the glass of the cockpit that showed targets on their pursuers. She then pressed the button on the top-right side of her steering wheel, and three missiles fired from under the ship. Said missiles effortlessly hit their targets, and the fighters came crashing down into the bottomless-looking pits in between the buildings.

Once again, there was no time to contemplate what happened, since there was one more ship to deal with: the carrier near their destination. So Rivet flew the Aphelion back to the Pollyx building and towards the carrier. Once they got close enough, the turrets at the top of the carrier turned and aimed straight for Rivet and Kit. Noticing this, Rivet preemptively dodged the aim of the turrets before they can fire. This helps as most of the bullets missed her, however one was able to graze the top of the wing. But thanks to the Aphelion’s shields, it simply bounced off of it.

Rivet flew behind the carrier, continuing to dodge the turret fire, and fired at its engines with her own ship’s blasters, which was enough to blow up the right engine. Rivet came back around and did the same with the left engine. Without those, the carrier tipped downward and descended into the ground away from the building, where it eventually crashes with explosions popping up all over the carrier. After the threat appeared to be over, Rivet landed the Aphelion on the landing pad near the entrance of the building next to some expensive-looking hover vehicles.

“Yeah!” Rivet shouted as she jumped out of the ship. “Did you see that, Kit? Those Drek thugs didn’t stand a chance!”

“How could I not?” Kit said as she oriented herself after the wild ride they had. “I was part of it.”

“All the stories I heard about Aphelions and their pilots, it’s all true! And I got to live it! This is so cool!”

“Maybe we can celebrate later. For now, let’s focus on Armkin.”

Rivet snapped back into focus. “Right!” She said before Kit jumped onto her back. As they left the landing pad, Rivet could see the streets in front of Pollyx Headquarters were empty aside from the data pads and plastic cups on the floor, dropped by the people that were here who ran away from the fight. Rivet just pressed on past the entrance doors, which automatically opened as she approached. It led into a lobby with a shaking terachnoid behind a desk, implying that he was the receptionist.

“W-welcome to Pollyx Industries.” He said despite the terror in his voice. “How can I help you?”

Rivet approached the desk. “We’re looking for Armkin, have you seen him?”

“T-the ambassador? H-he checked in a few hours ago. He’s in the CEO’s office. Are you guys involved with those explosions and gunfire I heard outside?”

“Don’t worry, it was Ranger business.”

Kit turned her head as far as she could to face the receptionist. “Why are you still here while everyone else has run away in possible panic?”

“Because the guys who came before you told me to stay here no matter what happens.”

“Who?” Rivet asked before she felt something press up against her back, including Kit.

“Us, sweetie.” A voice said. “Now put yer hands up.”

Rivet did as he said and turned around, which revealed three of Drek’s henchmen to her. The closest one was pointing a gun towards her. “So you’re the girl who took out our ship?” He said. “You’ve got some fancy flyin’ skills, but you ain’t got your ship to help ya now.”

Rivet only responded with a menacing glare, so the thug kept talking. “Heard ya sayin’ you were lookin’ for that Armkin guy. Well, so were we, but we turned this place upside down, and he ain’t here.”

“That’s not possible.” The receptionist said. “The security cameras don’t show anyone leaving the office since yo-”

“Was I talkin’ to you!?” The thug said, turning his attention to the terachnoid. Using this to her advantage, Rivet reached for her Pixelizer and pointed it at him before blasting it in his direction, hitting him and the thug to her right back and onto the ground. When they got up, they noticed how pixilated their body was and panicked. Screaming in 16-bit, they ran out the door, leaving the third thug alone with Rivet. Once he saw her point the Pixelizer at him, the man immediately put his hands up in the air. She then jumped up and smacked him in the head with her Omniwrench, knocking him out cold.

“Unlock the elevator for us.” Rivet said as they walked towards said elevator, which was to the right of the receptionist desk. Once the two got inside, Rivet pushed the topmost button on the control panel near the doorway, which closed the elevator and made it go up. While ascending, Kit brought up that there might be Drek soldiers once they reach the top. So Rivet came up with the idea to jump up onto the ceiling, where she used her Gravity Boots to attach herself to it, hanging upside down. Once the elevator reached the top, the door opened, revealing two Drek soldiers that shot into the elevator, not noticing the lombax hidden above them. They soon realized that they were shooting at empty air and ceased firing, which Rivet took advantage of. With a fully charged Enforcer in her hand, she dropped to the floor and blasted the goons away, killing them instantly.

Leaving the elevator led Rivet and Kit into a massive office space, possibly for the CEO, with a desk in the middle. “Are we sure this is where Armkin is?” Rivet asked as she looked around for the terachnoid.

“The president’s team traced the call to this office. If he’s not here, he might be in-” Before she could finish, a bookshelf to Rivet’s left slid to the right, revealing a small metal room with a monitor and a purple terachnoid with a white mustache, which the two immediately recognized as the Terachnos ambassador.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Armkin said as he ran towards Rivet. “I knew the rangers would send someone! It was only a matter of time before they found out about the panic room here!”

Rivet grabbed him from his shirt and lifted him off of the ground. “Rivet, what are you doing!?” Kit shouted.

“You had information on Drek this whole time!” Rivet said to Armkin. “And you didn’t tell anyone!?”

“I-it’s not what it looks like!” The terrified terachnoid said. “I’m on your side!”

“Then you’re gonna tell me everything you know about Drek and her army!”

“I will, I promise! Just put me down, please!”

“Rivet, put him down.” Kit said. Hearing her partner calmed Rivet down a bit, enough to let go of Armkin’s shirt and letting him fall to the ground. He caught his breath before speaking.

“I’ll hold up my end of the bargain, but I need to get off this planet and away from Drek!”

Rivet contacted the Defense Center and told them the situation. Once it was confirmed that they were sending a transport ship for the ambassador, she turned to Armkin. “We’ve got some time to kill, now start talking.”

“Very well, a few months ago a bunch of companies on this planet were commissioned by Drek to do R&D for her company, Pollyx being one of them. The only thing we knew about Drek Co. was that they were a robotics manufacturer, so we assumed we would be helping them with their robot production.”

“Let me guess, it wasn’t robots.”

“Oh, it was robots, warbots to be precise. Alongside developing weapons and armor for the biological soldiers.”

Suddenly, Kit spoke. “Where did this development take place?”

“I don’t know, all I know is that it was originally a Nefarious factory that Drek retrofitted as her own.”

“The factories that Drek bought… so Drek was using them to make her army.” Kit speculated.

“That’s the thing, though.” Armkin said. “Only Pollyx was working on warbots and war equipment. Each company worked at a different facility, and from what I’ve heard each one had a different focus. Ship building, bombs, genetic engineering, terraforming, I’ve even heard about research into special magnetic beams that could rip a planet in half!”

Rivet pursed her lips when she heard that, reminded of what happened on Sargasso. She took a minute before speaking. “And you didn’t think to mention this to President Phyronix?”

“I didn’t think much of it at the time. There’s no crime against a corporation working on multiple projects! How was I supposed to know that she was going to declare war on the government!? Trust me, we all found out about this the same time you did… most of us, anyway.”

“Most of you?”

“Apparently there were some of us who were all too happy to serve another dictator as long as their profits went up, and Drek only told the ones she knew she could trust. Pollyx was one of them.”

“Pollyx is working for Drek?” Rivet said, which Armkin replied with a nod. “If you’re against her, then why are you here?”

“I used to be a head researcher here before I became an ambassador. I came here when I knew for sure Pollyx wouldn’t be in his office hoping to find any information on Drek.”

“And did you?”

“Not as much as I’d like. I got the coordinates to the factory they worked at, but that’s it. I was a fool to check in though, because no sooner did I download that info did this building become swarming with Drek’s goons. Don’t worry, I remember my promise. Any information I have will go straight to the rangers.”

“Be sure about that.” Rivet said. Soon enough, they received a communication from a ranger telling them they were approaching their location, so Rivet escorted Armkin outside and waited.

“I know it looks bad, and I should have told everyone sooner.” Armkin said. “But I want Drek stopped just as bad as you do. I know what it was like living under Nefarious. Sure, he left us alone for the most part, but any day he could’ve changed his mind and enslaved us. We practically had to kiss his feet when he commissioned us to build Nefarious City.”

“It’s Hope City now.” Rivet replied.

“Uh, yes, of course. The point is, I don’t want to live like that again.”

Rivet didn’t respond as the ranger ship landed in front of them, opening its side and revealing a row of seats and a ranger coming out to greet them. “Commander Rivet!” The man said with a salute. “We’ve been ordered to take the ambassador from here.”

“He’s yours.” Rivet said before the ranger escorted Armkin toward the ship. “Armkin!” Rivet shouted, which made the terachnoid stop and turn toward her. “A lot of people lost their lives and homes because of Drek. I hope this info is worth it.”

“I hope so too, Rivet.” Armkin said before entering the ship proper. “I hope so, too.”

Rivet and Kit watched the ship leave orbit. Once it was out of sight, Kit spoke. “Rivet, I-” Before she could finish her sentence, they received a call from the President, so Rivet answered.

“I just got word.” Kyla said. “Nice job out there, you two.”

“The Aphelion definitely helped.” Rivet replied.

“I’m sure it did. Once Armkin is here, we’ll figure out the location of that factory. Hopefully, it could lead us to ones we don’t know about. In the meantime, I have another assignment for you two.”

“What do you need, Ma’am?” Rivet said.

“We just got word from one of our operatives that went missing a while ago, during the resistance days. Apparently, they have information that might help us fight Drek, but it looks like they’re a prisoner. Your mission is to rescue this operative and help them complete their mission.”

“Will do.” Rivet said.

“Sending you the coordinates.” Kyla said before ending the transmission. Without hesitation, Rivet and Kit went back into the Aphelion and left the planet, on their way to their next destination.

Meanwhile

On board Drek’s flagship in her office was the woman herself sitting in her chair, talking to an infobot who was filming her. “As you can all see, our stocks went up tenfold once we declared war on the government!” She said as she pointed to a graph on the wall next to her. “Which means you, fellow investor, will be doubly rich when-”

She was then interrupted by the door to her office opening, revealing her small robot secretary, Zed. “Uh, Ms. Drek?”

“Zed!” Drek said as the infobot stopped filming. “What did I tell you about barging into my office!?”

“I-I’m sorry, ma’am, but this is an emergency. The soldiers you sent to take out Armkin? They didn’t make it.”

“What!?” The anger she originally felt toward her secretary was now targeted at someone else. “Who was it, the rangers!?”

“Yes, but there’s more to it.” Zed nervously approached his boss and showed her the datapad in his hands, which had captured footage of the inside of the Pollyx Industries building. It was in this footage where she saw Rivet turning one of her soldiers into pixels and knocking the other one out.

Drek became a tornado of emotions, shock and fury being at the forefront. “Rivet!? I thought she was dead! Give me that datapad!” She said as she swiped it from Zed’s robotic hands. “And bring Victor Von Ion in here!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Zed said before running back to his desk to call Drek’s top lieutenant. A few minutes later, a tall, bulky warbot enters the office.

“You called me, boss?” Victor said.

“You told me your men killed that lombax and her pet robot on Sargasso, right?” She said, restraining the anger inside of her.

“Yep, shot down that pterafoid she was riding and stranded her on that planet before we finished it.

Drek walked toward Victor and showed him the datapad. “Then why was she spotted on Terachnos!?”

“I-I don’t get it, I thought-”

“You thought? You thought!? I don’t pay you to think, I pay you to do your job and to make sure your men do the same with theirs!”

“But she was stranded on the planet we were taking a piece off of, there’s no way she could’ve survived!”

“Well, she did! And you’re going to make sure you finish her, before she ruins my entire rebellion!”

“Y-yes, boss!” Victor said before scuttling out of the room.

Drek gave one last menacing look to Rivet and Kit on the Datapad. “Trying to use my own creation against me, are you Rivet?” Drek said to the security footage. “We’ll see about that.”

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