The moment Rivet and Kit came into view of the planet, the first thing they saw was an orange frigate covering up one-third of the planet. From its front, it shot three blue beams into the planet's surface. Rivet and Kit were concerned about that, but there was nothing they could do about it with their ship alone. Their major focus was the safety of the Morts.
As their ship entered the atmosphere, Rivet saw the green swamps and bogs of her home planet she was familiar with. However, they were accompanied by fires, explosions, and small fighter ships flying around in the sky. The more Rivet saw, the more she became worried about the inhabitants of the planet.
They landed their ship on the landing pad of the nearby factory. As they got out of their ship and Kit jumped on Rivet's back, they could see the frigate from space shooting its tether lasers into a large area of the planet, forming a blue circle around it. There were also visible cracks around the outside of the circle.
"What are they doing?" said Rivet. As if it heard her question, a flying screen came towards her, playing recorded footage of a short blarg woman. She had pink skin and a long pointy head with medium-length hair.
"Greetings, intelligent beings of **SARGASSO**. I am Alicia Drek, Chairwoman of Drek Industries. Your planet has been selected for our special project. Unfortunately, this process will cause it to become uninhabitable and/or destroyed. So for your safety, a Drek employee will escort you to our transport ship. I highly encourage you to listen to their instructions."
An earthquake shook Rivet off her balance as the video looped back to the beginning. The land that was engulfed in the beam rose slightly, spreading the cracks even further. "They're…they're taking a piece of the planet," said Rivet.
"What special project could require that?" Kit asked. That answer would have to wait, as they heard screaming coming from the factory. The chief engineer Mort ran out with two crocodile-like goons with the word "Drek" written on their vest chasing after her.
"Don't you pay attention, you little furball!" One goon said, pointing his gun at her. "We're employees, so you listen to us!"
"I'm not going anywhere till I know where you're taking me!" Mort shouted.
"Listen here, unless you wanna die, you do what we say!"
"Hey, you two!" Rivet shouted as she ran towards the goons. "By order of the Galactic Rangers, release that civilian and surrender your weapons."
"That sounded very professional." Kit said.
"Thanks, I've been practicing." Rivet whispered back.
"Oh shoot, the Rangers!? I don't wanna go to prison!" One goon said before the other smacked him on the side of the head.
"You idiot!" The other goon said, "We're at war with them, remember?"
"Oh, right." The "employees" then pointed their guns at her. Rivet pulled out her burst pistol and shot one employee in the head, taking him out instantly. As the death of his friend distracted the other gunner, Rivet ran up to him and smacked him away with her hammer. After taking care of the goons, her attention shifted to Mort.
"Rivet!" she said, "Boy, am I glad to see you!"
"Same with you!" Rivet said. "Do you have any idea what's going on here?"
"Not a clue! One minute it's business as usual while I'm talking to Mort and Mort. The next thing you know, that giant spaceship comes out of nowhere along with these goons that round us up and put us in cages. Excuse me if I wanna know where these folks are taking us!"
Another tremor came, and the circled land rose further. The cracks opened wider as trees and buildings collapsed. "We need to get everyone off this planet!" Rivet said. She remembered what Alicia said about a transport ship. That could be the key to getting everyone safely out of here. "Do you know anyone who can pilot a transport ship?"
"Yeah, Mort does. He's applying to be a cargo ship pilot."
"Good enough. Here's the plan: we're going to hijack the transport ship they were going to put you in. Kit, I need you to find the rest of the Morts and bring them to my location. Hopefully, the transport area will be clear by the time you do."
"Understood!" Kit said as she got off Rivet's back and transformed into her warbot form before flying off in search of the Morts. Ever since the fight with Emperor Nefarious in Megalopolis, she had full control over herself in that form. However, she could only be a warbot for a limited time, as it drained a lot of energy from her.
"Alright Mort," Rivet said, "Take me to that transport ship."
"You betcha! Just let me get the Seekerpeede and we'll have some real firepower. It's where I was trying to get to before you came and saved me." Mort walked toward a bridge that led to a platform where the Seekerpede was parked. However, another sudden earthquake made the floor below the platform open up, swallowing it and the Seekerpede into the chasm below.
"...Or we could just walk there," Mort said.
Rivet followed Mort through the crumbling factories and swamps, shooting and attacking any Drek employee that got in their way. Halfway toward their destination, they heard the roar of an animal. But it wasn't just any animal, this roar they recognized.
"Trudi!" they shouted as they ran towards the cry.
Rivet and Mort found Trudi in a small open area. Two goons were poking her with electro sticks, trying to force her into the cage behind her. Rivet shot multiple burst pistol rounds into the employees, saving Trudi.
Rivet embraced Trudi in a hug, happy to see that she was ok. But Trudi's happiness at seeing Rivet turned to worry as she cried out into the distance. "What's wrong, girl?" Rivet asked.
"Those thugs took her kids away. Last time I saw them, they were in cages near the transport ship."
Rivet felt sorry for Trudi at first, but then an idea popped into her head. "What say we go save the kids?" she said to Trudi. The Pterafoid looked at her with eager eyes and a smile. Rivet then got on her back and offered a lift up for Mort. "Come on, this'll be the quickest way there."
Mort got up on Trudi's back before flying off into the sky. From there, they got a good view of the transport ship and the five goons guarding it, two of them on mounted turrets. Good thing Trudi could shoot fireballs from her mouth. Rivet had her shoot them at the turrets, annihilating them. Trudi dodged the lasers from the rest of the goons as Rivet got her Shatterbomb ready. As they flew closer to the goons, Rivet threw a grenade between the two of them, blowing both of them up. She then jumped off of Trudi and landed on the last goon, smacking him in the head with the hammer.
Rivet looked around and saw Trudi's kids, Modi, Toni, and Lumi, locked in cages by the side of the ship. She opened them up, and the kids flew to their mother, happy to see her after being separated. They then jumped happily onto Rivet, making her fall to the floor.
"Ha ha ha! It's good to see you too!" she said, patting them on the head. Just then, the large door to the ship opened, and a small purple alien in a pilot uniform came out.
"Alright, just checking if we got every-" He then noticed that instead of other Drek employees, he was greeted by a purple lombax, a mort, and a pterafoid with her young. He immediately rose his hands up. "Please don't kill me! I'm just a pilot!"
Rivet approached him with her hammer out. "Where are you taking the morts?"
"We're sending them to one of our space stations, where they'll be put to work as sla - I mean interns, under Drek Industries!"
"Well, change of plans. You're taking this thing and the morts to Hope City."
"I can't do that! I'll get fired!"
"I don't think you have much of a choice. Tell you what, if you do what I say, I'll put in a good word for you with President Phyronix. Maybe she'll offer you a better job."
"Well, when you put it like that, I guess I could make a detour. She probably has better employee protections than Drek."
Rivet smiled "Looks like we don't need Mort after all." she thought to herself. She then received a comm from Kit, telling her she was on her way with the morts she found. Rivet, Mort, and Trudi's family waited for a bit before seeing Kit carry a bunch of morts in the sky. Some she was carrying on her back, others she was holding in her arms. As she landed next to them, she released the morts and transformed back into her normal form.
"Is that everyone?" Rivet asked.
"The ones that didn't have ships of their own, yes." Kit replied.
"How are you holding up? That didn't take a lot out of you, did it?"
"I'm fine, Rivet. Thank you for your concern, though." She then jumped onto Rivet's back. The lombax led everyone into the transport ship, which went smoothly until The Pilot ran up to Rivet.
"I've got bad news!" The Pilot said, "I just got off the comms! One of the fighter ships outside saw you take out their guys here! Now they're coming back with backup! We'll get destroyed if we take off now!"
Just when Rivet thought they were safe. She had to think of something. This transport didn't have any defenses on it, and her ship was too far away. Not that it would've helped, since that wasn't made for combat either. There was only one option left: Trudi.
Rivet jumped up onto Trudi's back. "Everyone get inside the ship! We'll take care of those fighters!" Almost everyone followed her directions, except for Mort.
"Be careful!" Mort said, "I don't know how long Sargasso'll last!" She then went inside the ship.
Trudi lifted Rivet and Kit up into the air, where they flew towards the oncoming fighter ships. There were three of them, each readying up their weapons. Trudi shot a fireball at one of them before dodging their fire, destroying it instantly. She then flew towards the other, landed on it, and ripped the wing off with all her might, making it crash land into the bog below.
There was only one ship left, or so they thought. Three other fighters came to help their coworker. With the help of Rivet and Kit, Trudi made quick work of them by shooting them with her fireballs. Rivet then got a call from Mort, who said that they were clear for take-off.
"Perfect!" Rivet said, "We're coming back, just hold-" Before she could finish, a fighter ship came out of nowhere and got a lucky hit on Trudi's left side. This made her roar in pain as she, along with Rivet and Kit, spiraled down into the swamp. The fighter pilot thought he had killed them, so he told his higher-ups via comms about what had happened and left the planet.
He was half right.
"Rivet…Rivet! Are you ok!?" The sound of Kit's voice brought Rivet's consciousness back. She found herself on the ground, with a few bruises but uninjured. Kit was looking directly at her face with concern.
"I'm fine." Rivet said as she got up, "Where's Trudi?" Kit remained silent. The look on her face showed she knew something, but didn't want to tell her. "Kit, where's Trudi?" she asked again, this time with concern.
Kit pointed behind Rivet, making her turn around. What she saw made her heart sink. Trudi was lying on the ground, breathing slowly. She was trying her best to stay alive, but that was a visible challenge to her. It was clear she was dying.
Rivet ran towards her and kneeled. "Oh, no no no! Trudi! It's gonna be ok, Girl! We'll get you out of here and you'll see the kids again!" She tried to comfort Trudi by petting her, doing anything she could to keep her up. "Come on, Trudi! You can make it!" But one look at her eyes and she could tell that she wasn't going to. So Trudi gave one last cry as if saying goodbye before slowly closing her eyes as she stopped breathing.
"No…TRUDI!" The tears flowed from Rivet's eyes as she rested her head on her childhood friend's body. To think that just a couple of months ago she saw the birth of her children. Now those tiny Pterafoids will grow up without a mother. Rivet then looked around Sargasso, seeing all the buildings and trees destroyed by the earthquakes. It then settled into her: Sargasso, her home for as long as she could remember, would be gone as well.
"We have to leave." Kit said, "Trudi wouldn't want us to die along with her."
Rivet wiped away her tears before nodding in agreement. She then contacted Mort, telling her to get the ship into orbit. "But what about you!?" Mort said.
"We'll get to our ship. Now go!" After talking with Mort, Rivet lifted Kit onto her back and activated her hover boots, racing towards their ship. Rivet's tears flew in the wind as they jumped over cracks, chasms, and fallen trees. They eventually reached their craft and jumped into the cockpit. Just as the landing pad was about to crumble thanks to an earthquake, Rivet got her ship airborne and into orbit.
A sigh of relief was given by her when she saw the transport out in space, along with the personal ships of the Morts. At least the people were safe. But that hope turned to dread as the massive frigate took a large piece of Sargasso in its tractor beam, exposing the core. The frigate then pulled the piece inside itself before jumping into hyperspace along with the other Drek ships.
As that happened, Sargasso went from green to black and orange in a matter of seconds. And before anyone knew it, the planet exploded, causing a shockwave that Rivet and the others felt. When everything got quiet, all that was left of Sargasso was rubble floating in space. Rivet couldn't believe her eyes. She had already seen the remains of a planet before, but to see the death of one firsthand, and of her home for that matter, was something she would never forget.
"I am so sorry." Kit said.
"It's not your fault. It's just…I can't believe it's all gone now." Rivet said. She would've cried, but her tears were dried up from Trudi. Instead, that sadness was replaced with anger. "Whoever this Drek lady is, she's going to pay for what she did!" Kit was a bit startled by her reaction, but not surprised.
"We should make sure the civilians are ok." Kit said, trying to get her to focus on something else. It ended up working, as Rivet nodded and connected to Mort through the terminal.
"Rivet!" Mort said, "Oh, thank goodness you're ok."
"I am, but…Trudi didn't make it." Rivet said.
"Oh no…that's awful."
"How's everyone on the ship doing?"
"We're shaken up, but we're alive."
"That's something, at least. Make sure the pilot gets you to Hope City. I'll meet you there." Rivet cut off communications before going into hyperspace. If there was one person who would know what to do in a situation like this, it would be Kyla. Hopefully, she would have a plan for this.