The blue planet was fast approaching. If they didn't destroy the remaining chunks of the Morbo asteroid, then this would turn into a salvage and rescue mission. It wasn't Viper's first plan, but they'd come prepared for the worst.
Hope
Molten rock strafed across the sky, a shooting star in the middle of the day. The deafening sonic boom rocked the hillside as the bright object lit up the sky. Hope covered her ringing ears as she stared wide eyed at the phenomenon. It got larger and brighter with the smoke trail parting the horizon.
"Holy crap, HOLY CRAP a METEOR!"
It just kept coming. Her first thought was to get in the rental car and drive fast, but there was no way to tell where the flaming ball would strike. Hope watched relieved as the projectile crossed over the cityscape. It looked like the meteor would hit somewhere out in the ocean.
"Thank God!" Hope sighed as it disappeared from view where the ocean met the sky off on the western horizon.
The sudden eruption of water out at sea was cataclysmic. It reminded her of an A-bomb. She didn't know how far out it struck but that had to be more than just water that burst into the air. Despite all the water that rained back down on the horizon, the forceful impact of the rock left so much vapor and debris hanging in the air it darkened the sky. The mist and a violent wind quickly swept into the bay, buffeting the rocky hillside.
Hope's damp blonde hair whipped at her face as she ran to the car, hopped in and turned to watch through the windshield. She'd never witnessed anything of this proportion, it was frightening, awesome and humbling. Hope's ears were still ringing as the bulk of the water continued its descent back down towards the ocean surface. It was doing more that misting now, the rain fell like a hurricane. Thankfully the bits of debris didn't crack the car windows as it pelted the earth, like hail.
Hope turned on the wipers in time to see the water in the bay recede towards the ocean, the tide rapidly rushing out.
"Shit, this can't be good!"
The wave of water that barreled towards San Francisco a moment later was small at first but grew in size as in reached the island shore. Hope watched with her mouth agape in shock as it reached the height of the Golden Gate Bridge then crashed down onto the populated island. She stared silently as the water pushed aside massive buildings. She couldn't even fathom the level of devastation occurring in front of her.
"Oh God all those people!" She choked.
Instinct pushed through the panic and adrenalin that coursed through her, telling her to move! Immediately Hope started assessing where she was and where she needed to go to ensure her survival. Hope was high enough up, she felt safe from the tsunami, but what about the resulting chaos?
The Golden Gate made a groaning noise as it rocked from the onslaught. Suddenly a massive cable snapped. Hope could see the battered cars being swept over the bridge into the churning bay.
She couldn't watch anymore. Hope threw the car into drive and pulled out onto the road. She took the first road that led up and north away from the ravaged city. Hope didn't realize she was shaking and crying till she'd been driving fifteen minutes without slowing down. Her knuckles were white as they gripped the wheel.
"If you don't calm down you're going to wreck." She admonished herself and slowed to a more reasonable speed on the winding wet road.
Viper
Canvasing alien forests for viable flora and fauna samples, as they scouted the damage from the Morbo asteroid and gathered up survivors, was always exhilarating.
The dark, hairy, nine foot tall beast in front of Viper was one of those interesting specimens. The thing was barrel-shaped with claws and a long muzzle full of teeth that currently roared its displeasure at his presence. It could probably do a number on him, but Viper wasn't bothered. He was more intrigued by the majestic hairy predator.
"Sorry big guy, if you're going to survive you need to come with me." Viper told the creature as his current partner, Mamba, trained the tranquilizer on the disgruntled beast.
"I've got him, Prognatus Viper." Mamba fired striking the animal in the neck.
The beast charged and Viper jumped into the tall coniferous tree at his back. The angry beast dropped to the leaf littered ground with a grunt, fast asleep, dreaming of a hairy female beasts or perhaps a Viper dinner.
"You got this one Mamba? I'm going to continue forward." Viper inquired as he leapt down from the branch.
The mercenary nodded as he started prepping the creature for transport to the ship.
Viper's generals were out with recon and rescue vehicles focused on the sentient population. Though his Imperators refused to admit it, they viewed Viper as too valuable to risk his hide with the potentially aggressive people that occupied the planet. It was for the best, Viper was still amped up at their failure to stop four of the nine sections of the Morbo asteroid before they struck the planet atmosphere. Viper hadn't argued with his generals. Instead he opted to head up this crew and salvage what they could of this planet's unique ecosystem.