Shenanigans!

[phaselocknroll]

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[phaselocknroll]

[ she spares a second to double-check her gear before guiding him towards the airlock ]

Do you want me to go first, or-?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ By all rights, Peter really should be the first one out. It's his home planet, after all. It's his home turf, and he has a claim to be the first one out.

... But he really, really wants to be the last one. Sometimes his instinct to flee manifests in strange ways, and he seriously has to wrestle with it.

Usually he does it by telling himself he's being a dumbass, and he mentally shakes himself as he heads to the airlock. ]

... Nah. Come on.

[phaselocknroll]

Well, as they say- age before beauty.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Thaaat earns her a low level glower, as he opens the door to the airlock. ]

You're lucky I like you so much.

[ He hops down into the airlock (and what the Milano lacks in horizontal space, it certainly makes up for it vertically). Some weird compulsion makes him punch in the code to open the door bay doors properly, even before Maya's made her way down -- maybe an eagerness that's only now rearing its head? Or maybe the feeling that he should just do it quick, like ripping off a bandage? The doors part, and Peter hesitantly steps out, taking a deep breath as he catches his first proper view of Earth in almost three decades.

They've landed in a forested area near the mountains, and the clean, crisp air carries the scent of pine and earth; memories of spending holidays at Gramps' cabin immediately spring to Peter's mind, and he inhales sharply, recoiling as if from a physical blow.

This is getting too fucking real, and he leans against the ship's hull for a second to gather his composure. ]

[phaselocknroll]

[ She just smiles in response to his glower. She's trying to lighten the mood, okay?

But she is right behind him, and she spares only a moment to look at the scenery before moving to his side, hand on his shoulder again. ]

Take your time, Peter.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Once Maya is there, he stifles that panicky feeling rising in his throat, tries to go into Professional Mode. ]

What do you think, scout the area? Take out anyone outside before moving in?

[phaselocknroll]

I think you should take your time.

[ her voice is firm, but not unkind ] Seriously, give it a moment.

[nostalgiabomb]

I just wanna get this over with.

[phaselocknroll]

I know you do, but we still have to do this right. If you need a moment, you take it, got it?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ -- she's right, and he knows she's right, which is why he stares out over the landscape and stops shutting out the shit rising up to the surface.

Quietly, ] You may need to take lead on this one.

[phaselocknroll]

Whatever you need. [ she gives him a light kiss on the cheek ] Let me know when you're ready.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He takes another breath before shoving off from the hull. ]

I'm good. Sorry. I promise this won't become a habit.

[phaselocknroll]

It's okay, really.

You are right, though. We should scout around and pick off any stragglers- work our way towards their main camp.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ By now the others have made it down into the airlock, and Peter favors them with a quick nod.

He splits them into teams of two -- Rocket and Groot, Drax and Gamora, and naturally, himself and Maya -- and sends them off in different directions to scout the area surrounding the camp, while he and Maya scout the camp proper. ]

One of these days, we're seriously gonna take, like, a whole month off.

[phaselocknroll]

A whole month? You know we'd go crazy from lack of stuff to shoot.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He shrugs, and once everyone's out of the ship, he locks it up tight. No one's messing with his baby. ]

We could always bullseye womp rats.

[phaselocknroll]

Where do we need to go for that? Tatooine?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Have yourself a thousand megawatt grin. ]

I love you so much sometimes.

[phaselocknroll]

Only sometimes?

[ she flashes him a grin in return, fishing her sniper rifle out of her digistruct and slings it over her back ]

Shall we?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter just keeps his hands resting against the grips of his blasters before stepping out; a quick nod to the others sends them all on their way. ]

I'll follow your lead.

[phaselocknroll]

[ She nods and heads into the trees, keeping to the shadows as best she can. They're likely to have sentries posted, and they're likely to have their turrets on them.

She wants to ask him questions- she wants to know if he's ever been in a forest like this, wants to know more about his home, but this isn't the time and she doubts he's in the mood anyway.

Just as well, since she spots movement up ahead and motions for him to get down. There's a Dahl soldier wandering through the woods, off by himself- apparently looking for a nice clump of bushes to do some business. She motions to the gun at her back.

Take him out? Or wait? ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Occasionally, Peter feels guilty about taking a guy out as he's pissing, but other times? It's kind of hilarious.

He's hoping this will be one of those other times, which is why he waits a quick moment, looking around to make sure they haven't overlooked someone. After that, he nods. Take him out. ]

[phaselocknroll]

[ Maya nods back- Got it- and raises her rifle. She has no such qualms about taking people out, regardless of what they're doing. If she has a shot, she'll take it.

And take it she does. The soldier topples forward, having been relieved of most of his head, body twitching slightly thanks to the electricity coursing through him. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Ugh, grody. Maybe not so much one of those hilarious times, then.

But that was a damn good shot, though, and he puts a hand on her shoulder. Nicely done. And with one less Dahl goon to worry about, it's as good a cue as any to press forward. ]

[phaselocknroll]

[ She takes a moment to move to the body and pluck the still-folded Sabre turret from it, sticking it into her digistruct device. Rocket would probably appreciate it, and if he happens to nab one of his own, she'll just send it to Axton- he's always said he wanted another turret anyway.

But it seems he had a squadmate or two nearby, and Maya's sniper rifle shot didn't go completely unnoticed, because someone is shouting for him and they're coming closer. ]