Planet Protectors: Red Alert/ Chapter Seven

After a short amount of time, the two animals finish taking in their surroundings. The platform had connected to a small tunnel way which eventually heads out into space. Of course, they cannot leave without equipping space suits, which they find within the tunnel. The space suits vary in size and helmet depending on which animal you are (Polly's is completely round whilst Rufus' has a small section to cater for his muzzle). The two put on their suits and head outside. Walking around in space is fairly new so it has not been developed (Velocity has been planning to profit from space, creating shopping malls and an atmosphere where animals can live, but for now Rufus and Polly are exploring one of the very few pathways to space.) The ground of which they are treading on is made out of rubble and broken pieces of rock and asteroid, held together via telekinesis projectors fitted underneath. Also connected to the pathway are small service stores where animals visiting can buy basic goods and towards the end of the path, a guide booth where animals can seek help for practically anything; as long as they have the coins to pay for it.

For this entire time the two had been silent. Rufus was about to try and perk up the situation but was interrupted by a chirpy polar bear.

"HEY! Why, I haven't seen you two around here." She grabbed them both by the shoulders, giving them a forceful hug. "Are ya' sure you're legal? As in, you got a permit to be out here? I might just have to throw ya' out into space if not!!" She chuckled.

Rufus held up his badge once again. “...You must be Mandy, right?" He asked.

"YEP! I guess my family told ya' that. I sure hope they gave ya' a warm welcome; they can be kinda hostile at times." She swiped the badge from Rufus' hand, pressing her face to it followed by short "hmms" and "mmms" before nodding and giving it back. "Yeah, yeah. This looks legit. I can let ya' pass. You're planning to do something about the light?"

"Yeah. We need to talk to our crew some more before we can begin to transfer it." Polly said, double checking her belt's communicator to see if she had a reply from Melissa. Nothing yet.

"Well, best of luck to ya'! I'll keep an eye out for any unwanted visitors." Mandy moved from the path to enter her booth, where she remains standing with her eyes squinted.

Rufus was distracted for quite some time but had noticed Polly had been staring off at a planet in the distance on the odd occasion. A sudden realisation hit him.

“...Wait. Is that."

"Yeah. Scootoop. My home planet." Polly sighed without giving eye contact to Rufus.

"It really is high up, huh... I see why it was a bird exclusive planet now." Rufus stopped. "I'm so sorry Polly... Maybe it's best not to focus on it."

"It's just... It- it used to be so full of life! It was a lovely place; and now that's all gone. Nothing. I wish I could've helped, Y’know?" She held her feathers over her head in frustration before realising the helmet was in the way and dropping to the floor in woe. "It was early in the morning, and everybody was preparing for our annual celebration party... Velocity took this as an open opportunity to swipe in and interfere." She stopped. Rufus could feel the angst building up inside of her. "If I hadn- If I hadn't been so lazy... I would've been up and taking part in the celebration. I could've prevented Sabre and his gang from..." Rufus knelt down next to her, unsure on how to act. "He straight up kidnapped them all! Everyone who lived there! They're gone!" She began to cry softly and tightly hugged Rufus for support (which startled him) but he returned the hug.

"I'm just so thankful that Cindy found you on her stealth mission to reclaim the planet... She promised you that we'd help find your community... your family eventually. I promise too... We'll show Sabre!" He helped Polly up and brushed his suit clean. "Although, the fact that he straight up kidnapped them... That's a first and only. He usually keeps the inhabitants of planets hostage..." Rufus pondered.

"Yeah. I just hope they're oka-" Polly was interrupted by her belt, blasting out a cheesy ringtone. It was Melissa, finally replying with a call.

"HEY GUYS! How's life going for ya' up there? It must be so cool!!" Melissa gushed.

"It certainly is... breath-taking..." Rufus smiled.

"Heh, I get your joke! Because you literally can't breathe without a helmet!" she laughed.

“...I hadn't thought of that..." Rufus chuckled.

"So uh... What are we doing about the huge red light about to kill us all??" Polly chirped in, trying her hardest to act natural.

"OKAY so... Jack and Roary cracked a file that I'll send over now..." She began to tap a few buttons to send the file, which was now stored in Polly's downloads. ".. A loophole was found by the two, and it will be able to begin the transfer process when hooked up with the generator linked with the light. You'll have to get real close and of course you need to get a memory card to put in the generator so that you can start the process..." Melissa stopped for a moment to let it sink in for the other two.

"Well uuh.. We're kinda in space?? With no access to that..." Polly moaned.

"Never fear! I've contacted our good pal Gary. He's on his way up to space to set his booth up. He'll bring a memory card with him for 10 coins, have you guys got that much money on you?" She asked.

Rufus popped his head through his helmet and scuffled around in his suit to check for money. His head popped back up. "Yeah, I've got enough here. But 10 coins is double the price! Isn't he going to give us a discount?"

"Yeah, you know, a "we're saving your butt" discount would be nice." Polly snickered.

"Heh, he usually charges 15 coins, so consider yourselves lucky. At least we're supporting his business I guess." Melissa went into deep concentration for a short while to make sure she didn't miss anything important. "So uh... I contacted him about an hour ago, so I bet he's there already. Just make sure when you get that card to first place it in your belt buckle to transfer the download I sent you before putting it in the generator!" She stopped.

"OH WAIT! Rufus, your friend Kaiya is on board with Scott's team! She said hi and she can't wait to talk to you once all this mess is over."

"Wait WHAT??" Rufus started to talk but was interrupted.

"OKAY BYEEEE!!! Good luck!!!!" Melissa shut the communicator off.

"What was that about?" Polly shrugged.

"Uh?? I don't know... Kaiya is an old friend. I haven't spoken to her in years. eep..." Rufus shivered.

"It'll be okay! But we gotta sort this out first." Polly lifted her wing over her helmet to get a better look in the distance. "Hey, I think that' Gary over there."

Gary was busy adjusting the sign on his booth when he had heard the two talking. "Hey guys!! Over here!" he shouted, losing concentration and nearly dropping the sign on his foot.

The two walked up to the booth and helped Gary fix the sign. "I'm glad to see you both! Did you get stopped by that perky polar bear back there too? She seems real friendly." Gary paused, deciding on whether the next thing he is about to say is appropriate. "So, you guys wouldn't believe the latest gossip I got from Sabre. There's a new - Oh wait, hmm... Should I be telling you this? I suppose not, but maybe if you'd put a price on it... Like, 20-30 coins? I would tell you then. For sure." Gary smirked.

"We don't have the time right now, Gary. Do you have the memory card??" Polly questioned.

"OH yes the uh. card... If you wanna know if I have it or not, it'll cost you 5 coins...?" Gary smiled, nudging Rufus.

"Uh... you do realise... we could die if we can't transfer this light right?" Rufus asked. Gary shrugged.

"That means you can't manipulate us into buying stuff. Y'know because you'd be dead." Polly stared at Gary with a blank expression.

"Yeah good point. Okay, yeah, I have the card. I kinda need to scrape up some money to eat this week, so I'm gonna have to charge you for it. Besides, you guys can afford it." He crawled underneath his booth to locate the memory card. He handed it over to Polly. "10 coins, steep I know... But that's the only price I can afford to give it you..."

"Heh, no worries. We'd always want to support our favourite guide dog friend." Polly handed over the money whilst Rufus nodded and agreed with her.

"Gary, do you want to help us transfer the light?" Rufus asked.

"Woah uh... I don't know... I mean, I really have to keep my business up here bud’..." Gary was tapping his hand, arm rested on the desk of his booth, occasionally eying around to see if anybody was coming.

The three stared in silence. It was obvious nobody was coming.

“...Okay I guess I can spare a few minutes to help you guys..." Gary chuckled awkwardly.

The three were walking down towards the end of the path; the rubble forming the path was getting weaker and it was harder to walk. It was incredibly hot due to the light that was practically in front of them due to how big it had grown. Polly was using her "Flamin' Fox" browser app to surf the web whilst walking in an attempt to calm her mind of the troubles she is currently facing (the screen displayed from her belt is transparent, so she can see where she is going) and Rufus was reassuring Gary who was visibly sweating (a first).

"HEY YOU THREE!" Mandy was running down the path, tripping occasionally before eventually stopping and collapsing to regain her breath. "Phew... I made it..." She panted.

"Is everything okay??" Gary asked. "I have some medical supplies back at my booth if you are willing to pa-" He was interrupted by a nudge of disapproval from Polly.

"I'm fine... I just wondered if..." she began to twiddle her thumbs before placing both hands on Polly's shoulders. “...I could help ya'?"

"Sure thing! We must be careful not to get too close to it though." Polly smiled.

The now four animal friends had found themselves at a dead end. They were right in front of the light. A pathway in the shape of a circle surrounded the light, but very thin. Dotted on the floor of the rubble were various Velocity stickers, including their logo and various pictures of Sabre in flattering light.

"Where's the generator??" Mandy asked.

"Oh... So my memory card won't be of any use?? Just a FYI; I don't do refunds." Gary looked down at Rufus and Polly who ignored him, walking over to the back of the light.

"Don't worry! It's here behind the light. In plain sight. They hid that well, huh?" Polly laughed.

The generator had a clear hole inserted for the memory card, but the spot was already vacant by another memory card with "Property of Spinky - Paws off!" written on it.

"Rufus, any ideas?" Polly asked.

"Well, that file is what's making the light grow and generate power. Our file does the opposite, so you will need to load it up in our memory card first. One problem though, that sign is very serious! "Paws off” ... Luckily you have wings so you're not breaking it!" he joked.

"Heh, good one Rufus!" Polly inserted the memory card into her belt and downloaded the file into it. She took the file from "Spinky" out. "What do I do with this??" She questioned whilst putting their version into the generator.

"I bet I could sell that!" Gary moved his hands towards Polly, to which she tossed it over to him, forgetting the lack of gravity so it just... floated for a long amount of time before Gary slowly lifted his arm to collect it. “...Thanks!"

The generator booted. The light began to slowly shrink and the energy emitted from it was slowly moving into the generator.

"What now??" Mandy asked with a dull expression on her face for the first time.

"Well, once it is done we will be safe and we will then have to hook a connector up to our ship to transfer the energy over to us so we can give it out to planets surrounding us... But for now... We just wait... It's going to take a while."

The four sat around in a circle, waiting impatiently, with the growing concern of the light slowly fading away...