phaselocknroll | Shenanigans!

[ 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.

[ 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?

I think you should take your time.

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

I just wanna get this over with.

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

[ -- 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.

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

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

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

It's okay, really.

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

[ 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.

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

[ 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.

Where do we need to go for that? Tatooine?

[ Have yourself a thousand megawatt grin. ]

I love you so much sometimes.

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?

[ 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.

[ 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? ]

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ At this point it's second nature -- Peter's mask flares up over his face, and his blasters are in his hands.

They're going for stealth, though, and while Peter's never been great at the ninja thing, he stillducks behind a tree, motioning for Maya to do the same. He waits until the other guard comes into view, waits for the slightly puzzled expression that crosses his face to turn into alarm, before darting out behind him and slamming the butt of his blaster into the back of his head. For good measure, he hits the guy with a bolt of electricity from his gun once the dude hits the ground.

(One of the funny things about Peter is that, for having once claimed to be a ruthless outlaw, he rarely kills anyone. Sometimes he even goes out of his way to avoid it. Yondu never could break him of the habit.)

And, just because Peter is petty and in a bad mood, he also kicks the guy in the side. You know, just to make sure he's really out.

He whispers, ] See anyone else?

[ Maya hides and waits, rifle at the ready, while Peter takes out the other soldier. Once the man drops, she steps out from behind her tree. ]

No, but I'm sure they're around.

[ She nudges the fallen soldier with a foot, idly wondering if Axton knows any of these people.

If he does, he probably doesn't care, considering how easily he gave away information and tactics. ]

Let's keep moving.

[ He nods in agreement before forging ahead, weapon at the ready.

Maya's right about more men being around, of course, and pretty soon they happen upon another group of Dahl employees. It seems they're just sitting around and chatting, though, not paying much attention to their surrounds. (They are, perhaps, arguing about the best weapons and gear setup in the latest fad FPS game.)

Peter's about to signal to Maya to take these guys out, as well, when one of the men turn, suddenly. Peter freezes until he realizes the man has a hand to his ear -- an almost universal signal showing the guy was on his comm -- and the guy turns back to the other soldiers. The word "intruders" is just audible from this distance, and the men pick up their weapons and head west.

-- which is when Peter sighs, a hand going to his forehead out of habit (even if he has his mask on), and mumbles, ]

God dammit, Drax.

[ Well, that won't do. Maya instantly brings her sniper rifle to bear and lets off a shot, piercing one of the men through the chest as he stands to leave. Again, his body is wracked with convulsions thanks to the electrically charged ammo.

She has just enough time to duck behind a tree before the rest wheel around and open fire. ]

I think I got their attention.

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