Change of Pace - 4

Where We Will Be

Darkness eventually fell upon the hemisphere Myaxx and Tetrax were and both agreed it was time they put their plan to action.

Speaking of their plan, there was good news and bad news.

The good news is that at night, Draklens were slower and less alert. The bad news is that at night, to compensate for their sluggishness, they increased the number of guards.

But there was more good news and bad news.

The good news was that the sentries posted outside were the only guards present, which meant there would be no reinforcements emerging from the mine. The bad news was that the sentries posted outside the mine tallied up to two and a half dozen guards.

Two and a half dozen, eight-feet-tall, reptilian guards armed with chains, hammers, spiked knuckles, blades and other assorted melee weapons.

As they say: Good (and bad) things come in threes and news is a thing, isn’t it?

The bad news was that Tetrax would have to face all thirty soldiers on his own. The good news was that he had faced worse, much worse. Vilgax and his army drones ring a bell?

“When the entrance is clear, you make a break for it.” The mercenary instructed.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” As far as Myaxx was concerned, what the Petrosapien was about to do was suicide.

He frowned behind the visor; it was his turn to be annoyed by the lack of trust in his abilities. “I know what I’m doing.”

A snide remark wisely went unsaid as Myaxx turned her attention towards the mine entrance. Instead she mumbles to him a soft “Be careful.”

With a nod, Tetrax got onto his hoverboard and sped towards the guards, blaster guns drawn and firing. The Draklens’ eyes widened in surprise and dismay at the oncoming blur of obsidian armor.

They snapped and hissed out orders, voices low so as to minimize the frequency disturbance. Even if the mineral was in the very heart of the mine, none of them wanted to risk the possibility of being blown to smithereens. Seven charged right for Tetrax, brandishing their blades and spears while nine quickly spread out to flank the mercenary, their spiked gauntlets and daggers at a ready.

The rest remained by the entrance, warily keeping an eye out for any other intruder.

Heavy boots kicked off the hoverboard, giving the slim panel additional momentum that successfully caught two of the sentinels in their gut, sending them flying off into the distance. Several blasts calibrated to stun and paralyze effectively put out four more guards.

There was no verbal taunting on Tetrax’s part, he didn’t need to hurl any insults at his opponents to rile them up into a frenzy. The mere fact he was so effortlessly blocking and countering their attacks was enough to infuriate the guards.

With their bodies far less skilled during evening skirmishes, it didn’t take long for Tetrax to draw the rest of the guards away from the entrance. To keep their suspicions on him and away from the Chimera lurking in the distance, he would make a break for the entrance and allow one or two (or five) to tackle him before he could reach it.

Eventually, Myaxx had her opening.

Her large frame darted silently from shadow to shadow until she managed to get inside. Before disappearing into the mine, she peered at the growing pile of unconscious Draklens and begrudgingly admitted that Azmuth was right in choosing Tetrax for the job.

But, she added with a grimace, now was the Chimera’s turn to prove that the Galvan was right in choosing her to be his assistant.

It didn’t take long for Myaxx to navigate her way to the very heart of the mine and find the minerals. Then again getting into the mine and finding the Draklenite was the easy part. Collecting a sizable sample would prove to be more difficult.

The female studied the jagged outcrops of gems, drawing just close enough to make out the flaws of each cluster. She was careful not to make a sound even as she unstrapped her tools from her torso. Holding a laser-scalpel in one hand and a spatial tuning fork in the other, Myaxx slowly started to carve away at the Draklenite.

                                                    -----

After nearly half an hour’s worth of tense silence, the Chimera had enough to satisfy Azmuth as well as make certain she’d never step foot on this planet again. Sealing the lid on the vacuum canister, Myaxx began to put away her tool.

“What the?” she gasped as a tremor quaked beneath her feet. She stumbled back, reaching out to the cave wall for balance, fear suddenly creeping through her veins.

Quickly, she made her way back to the entrance but found a wall of crystal blocking her way. The laser-scalpel was in her hand in an instant to slice her way out. Only to be greeted with commands to surrender from a new set of guards as well as a blade pointed directly at her throat.

Earlier on, the mercenary had nearly subdued all the Draklens from when he had attacked. And then a large craft carrying another two dozen replacements arrived. It turned out that the sentries had reinforcements after all. Just not from inside the mine.

Seeing most of their brothers-in-arms out cold and the remaining ones losing against the Petrosapien, the reinforcements let out an angry hiss before charging. One or two broke away from the group to inspect the mine’s interior. Tetrax couldn’t risk Myaxx being taken by surprise (or prisoner for that matter) and summoned the crystalline wall to block the entrance. This, however, left Tetrax vulnerable for the briefest of moments.

It was an opportunity the Draklens did not miss. They swarmed the Petrosapien while others signaled for backup.

Myaxx scanned for any sign of Tetrax and she did not like what she saw when she found him. His helm was gone, there were dents in his armor, and he was breathing heavily. As if wasn’t bad enough that he was being overwhelmed by the reptilian guards, in the distance the Chimera made out several headlights of incoming vehicles.

“Surrender!” The sentinel snapped.

The female narrowed her eyes at the Draklen as he pressed the tip of the blade against her skin. Had this all happened before her imprisonment in Incarcecon, she might have done just that. Had this all happened before she picked up where she left off as Azmuth’s assistant, she might have done just that. But it wasn’t and that was all Myaxx needed to tell herself.

In one smooth motion, she sliced the offending weapon with her laser-scalpel.

“I don’t take orders from you.” She snarled, arm pulling back before smashing her fist into the guard’s scaly snout, sending him soaring. With a break in their formation, Myaxx dashed past them, pulling out her hoverboard and getting on in two steps. Blasters in hand, the female fired several beams at the pursuing guards.

“Tetrax! I got the samples!” She yelled out, swerving to narrowly miss the bludgeoning from a large mace. Her arm rose to her side, effectively clotheslining any of the soldiers that got in her way as she zoomed towards the mercenary.

The Petrosapien only grunted his response, crystalline hands shifting into sharp peaks that shot out a hail of shards at any encroaching soldier. From behind him a hiss was emitted, he spun to in time to see a chartreuse blur slam against a scaled body.

“Good thing your combat abilities have gotten better.” He remarked. An odd way to show his appreciation, but that was Tetrax for you.

Myaxx didn’t mind, it certainly was more than what she ever got from Azmuth. “What now?” she asked in between dodging and slicing and firing.

Before Tetrax could answer, the humming of the transport vehicles grew silent, only to be replaced by numerous treading of feet. If the pair thought they were outnumbered before, the silhouettes that marched up was jaw-dropping. At least that was how it appeared to the scientist.

The mercenary didn’t so much as blink. “Now? Now we stand our ground. We’ll get that sample to Azmuth one way or another.”

“How?!” Myaxx hissed, instinctively inching closer to Tetrax until their backs were practically against the other’s.

“I’m still working on that part. But trust me, I’ll handle this.” The confidence in his voice did little to reassure the Chimera.

An expletive escaped the female’s lips, he’s kidding right? This whole plan was suicide and somehow she got herself signed up. This was not how Myaxx envisioned how she would go. But if this was how it was going to be, she planned to go out with a bang. She unstrapped one of the vacuum canisters and held it aloft in one hand while the other took out the tuning fork. “Hey, lizard lips!” she declared, “You all know what I have here, don’t you?”

“Myaxx, what are you doing?” Tetrax glanced over his shoulder to glare at the female.

“I have a hypothesis and I’m simply testing it out.” She mutters before turning her attention back to the soldiers. “Unless you let us both leave in one piece, I’ll use the cluster I have to blow us all to atoms! And I’m sure you all know an explosion occurring in such close proximity to the mine can cause a chain reaction that will split this planet in half!”

Countless pairs of eyes stared in recognition of both their precious mineral and the tool in question. “You wouldn’t dare!” one of the commanders snarled, crossbow aimed at the scientist only to have it shot from his hand by a shard.

“Try me.” Her lips press into a grimace, praying to whatever deity or unseen forces in the universe that the Draklens valued their resources (not to mention their lives) enough to let them go.

“Myaxx, you don’t have to resort to that.” Tetrax fought to keep his face a careful blank.

“Shut it, stone-breath. I’m trying to save both our necks here. The least you can do is use this time to come up with a plan!” The nerve of the mercenary, talking down to her like that!

“No, I mean you really don’t have to do that.” He insisted, unusually calm despite the danger of being reduced to fragments. With Myaxx’s back turned to him she couldn’t see the barest hint of a smirk on his face. Had she seen it, she might have figured out the reason behind the mercenary’s smug calm.

An aerial craft’s engine suddenly roared in the darkness. And finally the scientist understood what Tetrax meant by “he was working on it.” Somehow amidst the chaos of the fighting, he had managed to contact Gluto.

Lasers fired from their ship, scattering the Draklens. Myaxx’s arms lowered as she stared up into the sky to watch the pilot effortlessly land and open the hatch.

Tetrax wasted no time in grabbing Myaxx by the arm and practically dragged her into the ship. If it weren’t for the gravity of the situation, the sight of the shorter but stockier Petrosapien successfully pulling the taller but leaner Chimera would be considered amusing. The female might have protested had the arm the Petrosapien yanked not been holding the canister of Draklenite. Her attention had been focused in keeping a firm grip on the container lest she accidentally followed through with her earlier warning.

Once the two were safely onboard, Gluto pulled out all the stops and blasted off into space.

                                                    -----

From the docking bay windows, Myaxx watched the planet of Draklore Prime swiftly shrinking into a tiny speck as they sped farther and farther away. She let out a relieved sigh, muttering “Good riddance.”

Tetrax shared the sentiments, though he was less vocal about it. Wordlessly, he started off for his quarters, intending to get some well-earned rest.

“Tetrax,” Myaxx suddenly called out.

He paused mid-stride, glancing over his shoulder to find the Chimera glaring at him. He groaned, too exhausted to bother with sparing her feelings, “Yes?”

“What the hell was that back there?” she demanded.

Crystalline brows knitted together in confusion, “What are you talking about?”

Sullenly, she replied, “Why didn’t you tell me that the ship was on its way?”

Tetrax couldn’t very well have told Myaxx at the time, not and maintain the element of surprise. “I thought you’d figure it out. Why else would I tell you there was no need to play the self-destruct card?”

“I thought maybe because you didn’t want to get atomized.” She supplied testily. Myaxx wasn’t really upset that Tetrax didn’t tell her that Gluto had been en route to their location. Given the minimal amount of information he provided meant he acknowledged her abilities to understand his intentions. And like his earlier attempts at gratitude and consoling, she appreciated his efforts.

She was just extremely embarrassed that her little stint at playing the hero had been for nothing and tantamount to blowing up in her face. No pun intended.

“There’s that too.” Tetrax shrugged nonchalantly. He was not one to admit his relief that Myaxx didn’t need to make good her threat. Especially since the Petrosapien had no idea what he would have done had he been unable to contact his partner. What the Chimera did had been quick thinking not to mention extremely reckless but he supposed scientists had to be risk takers if they were to ever accomplish anything.

“Though I have to say I couldn’t have thought of a better distraction. Good work.” He adds, recalling her need of affirmation. Gluto would have been impressed by the mercenary’s consideration. For his effort, Tetrax is rewarded by a surprised look and what appeared to be a blush on Myaxx’s face.

It was certainly unexpected, both the praise and the flush of features, the former for being as direct to the point and the latter for simply happening.

“O-of course, what would you expect?” Myaxx stammered, clearly unaccustomed to receiving an obvious commendation. Quickly she regained her composure, eyes suddenly narrowing. “One more thing, Tetrax.”

“Yes?” he asked.

“There was no need to be so grabby.” She declared.

He canted his head, obviously unaware of what the she meant with that statement. “What?”

“Oh come on, when Gluto arrived you nearly ripped my arm off!” She declared heatedly.

“Well what did you expect me to do? I was paid to protect the samples!” he reasoned.

“So you only grabbed me to protect the Draklenite?” She clarified.

“No, I grabbed you to protect you!” He snapped.

Heat suddenly spread across both the Petrosapien and the Chimera’s faces when they realized exactly what his words implied.

Quickly Tetrax added, “B-because you were holding the samples!”

“G-good!” Myaxx nodded, before breezing past him to hide her sullen shyness, “Since I don’t need protecting.”

“I never said you did.” He followed after her.

She smirked, “You implied it.”

Tetrax shook his head; strangely comfortable that they were back to bickering.

Gluto detected the change in the pair’s tone as they exchanged remarks and arguments. It was more teasing than taunting, more amused than snide. “I take it you got the samples?”

Myaxx displayed the three canisters to the pilot. “These had better be enough for Azmuth because I sure as hell ain’t going back there.”

“That goes double for me. Not unless he’s willing to pay quadruple.” The Petrosapien concurred as he marched towards Gluto to check on their current course.

“You both sound like you need a drink.” Gluto commented.

The Chimera grinned, “I could definitely go for a tankard of Hypernova.”

“I’ve earned a bottle or two, myself.” Tetrax nodded, “We should go to the usual after we get paid, Gluto.”

Myaxx grew quiet, mentally berating herself for assuming they wanted her company. She couldn’t blame them, not after how snarky she had been with them until a few hours ago.

Gluto could sense an awkward silence about to descend and to ward it off he nudged at his captain to draw his attention towards the sulking scientist.

Oh damn, what did I say that upset her now? Tetrax faced the pilot, his eyes pleading for help, still very much the socially inept individual he had always been.

The gelatinous alien refrained from smacking his face. Instead he whispered, “Ask her to come along.”

Is that it? The mercenary scratched his head, surprised at how simple the solution was. “Myaxx, if you’d like, you could join us for a round or two afterwards.”

“Really?! I mean,” She cleared her throat before responding with a nonchalant, “Why not?”

Tetrax smiled.

As did Myaxx.

As would Gluto had he a mouth.