IXL-743596

"The Sand Planet"

Sand dunes and canyon's were everywhere, with bits of thick shrubbery dotting the land every once in a while. A fairly boring sight, all things considered. But in one corner of the planet, right at the base of a mountain, an ATV bounded out of a cave moving 350 kilometers per hour. Hitting the ground running, with the driver, a humanoid bipedal creature whose lower half was covered up in some kind of carbon fiber protection. Glanced back, as the passenger behind, a brown skinned dude in a blazer and jeans, asked loudly "IS IT STILL FOLLOWING US?!"

Out of the cave came out a roar, and was followed by a giant worm crashing out onto the parched terrain. Slithering across it at a rapid pace, and giving the ATV chase. No eyes, no nose, only a giant gaping hole that stretched a massive 20 feet in diameter. Adorned in rows upon rows of teeth, that pulsed with a gluttonous rage.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK REX?!" exclaimed the armored explorer, as the rushing wind brushed past her furry head, resembling that of a canine's.

"THAT WAS JUST POOR TIMING ACE!" exclaimed Rex, as the ATV ran over a tiny bump, and made Rex buckle and hold onto Ace even tighter.

Ace maneuvered the ATV left, and then right. Zig zagging as best as she could to try and lose the giant worm, but failed.

'Damn it, its no use' thought Ace, as she accessed the map of the planet she was on, and had its topography be displayed in the periphery of her retinas. Scanning for anything nearby that could be used to evade the worm, but it didn't take long for her to realize that there was nothing but a rocky ground for miles on either side.

The energy meter on the ATV was less than 50% and was rapidly decreasing, with no chance of being replenished as, to her knowledge, this planet orbited a red dwarf. Which would not do a damn thing for the solar panels built into the four wheeled all terrain machine.

"REX, YOURE SURE THERES NO MORE SHAKERS?" shouted Ace, while glancing back.

"I'M SURE BUT JUST TO BE SAFE LET ME CHECK!"

Rex maneuvered himself to be able to check the storage bin, which hung off the side of the ATV to his left. It looked empty upon initial glance, and Rex was about to say so to Ace, when a bump on the road flung Rex off to the side, and into the storage module. His muffled screams were absorbed by the largely vacant interior of the storage space, as the ATV swung a hard left, kicking dust into the air as the four wheeled machine whirred over the dried up land. The giant worm followed suit, and began to close the distance.

"REX ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

The ATV swung hard right, but the worm would not lose track so easily.

'For a creature with no eyes, it sure does one heck of a good job keeping focus' thought Ace, as Rex's legs dangled out like panic-induced worms wriggling for freedom. Right into Ace's field of view, a giant "WARNING!" appeared, before outlining that there was unstable terrain rapidly approaching. A quick glance at the map in her periphery revealed that there was no way out, and so she steadied herself and exclaimed "HOLD ON REX!"

Rex uttered a cacophony of terrified muffles, as the ATV struck difficult terrain.

The shock absorbers of the ATV being put to the test, as the terrestrial vehicle bounced and jumped over oblong rocks, obtrusively angled ground, and sporadic protrusions of roots. Through much of which Rex bounced inside the storage module. His head striking the bottom a number of times, and each time he grunted in pain. After one particularly strong bump on the non-existent road, Rex was freed from his inopportune prison, but was now hanging off by one hand, gripped firmly onto an edge. Terror booming into the air, from the depths of his diaphragm as fear shot throughout his nerves.

"JUST HOLD ON!"

"YOU'RE REAL HELPFUL!" exclaimed Rex, as he held on as hard as he could. His legs pulled in the direction of the worm, which was only 10 or so feet behind, and rapidly encroaching. From this distance he could see the enumerable rows of teeth, making a spiky sea of death that made Rex think 'that's one ocean I don't want to dive into!'

The unfavorable terrain came to an end, and Rex was able to get a hold of the storage module and climb back onto the passenger seat, behind Ace. But now Ace faced a new dilemma, as made evident from the topographical warning that popped up to the forefront of her field of view.

"WARNING – 10,000 METER DROP OFF UP AHEAD".

'Dag nab it' thought Ace, as she mentally scanned the map of her surroundings, TRYING to find some way out of her current predicament but found none.

Rex was now back on the ATV, and this time he held something clutched in his arms which he fiddled with desperately.

Ace glanced back, and asked loudly "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"I FOUND A SHAKER, TURNS OUT THERE WAS ONE LEFT OVER IN THE BIN AFTER ALL!"

Relief pulsed into Ace's very veins, as she shouted "THEN HURRY UP AND THROW IT!"

"SET ME UP FOR IT!"

Ace nodded, before saying "HOLD ON" and swinging hard to the left while Rex held onto Ace's waist to steady himself, while tossing the activated shaker onto the ground behind him. The cylindrical device with built in tank threads, upon hitting the ground whirred to life and darted forward with a burst of mechanized speed. Generating sizeable seismic tremors that quickly caught the attention of the giant subterranean worm, which turned around at a break neck pace and followed the little machine into the great dehydrated beyond.

Ace came to a full stop, and glanced back alongside Rex to see the worm slither off, taking danger along with it. Terror dissipating from Rex's heart, while Ace was able to collect her nerves and cool.

"You know, watching the giant sand worm slither off into the distance, kind of looks…almost graceful…" said Rex, as he cocked his head to the side while adding "in a…perilous wonder kind of way".

Ace quickly glanced over her vitals, which appeared in her periphery at her mental command. Heart rate was normal, neuro-chemical levels were balanced, circulation rates were optimal, and so far everything looked well in the realm of ordinary.

"Setting aside the fact that we were almost swallowed whole by it" said Ace, as she looked at Rex with her piercing blue eyes.

"Wouldn't have happened if we didn't go 'disturbing' the ground where it lived" said Rex casually, as Ace glared at him.

"Gathering soil samples wouldn't have even registered on the sand worm's sensory threshold – unlike dropping several storage containers consisting of analysis equipment".

"Oh give me a break, you're expecting me to believe that dropping a couple crates would've done any more than jabbing giant rods half my size into the ground" argued Rex.

"Well, regardless…we're alive and that's what matters…" said Ace, as reality began to process within the electro-chemical synapses inside her techno-organic brain.

'That's what always matters…' Ace thought, reaffirming a sort-of personal credo that she carried forever stitched into the fibrous artificial dendrites of her mind.

"So uh…what now? We're gonna have to go back and get the soil probes right?" asked Rex.

"What do you think the chances of us getting there and out before the sand worm returns?"

"If I had to guess…pretty slim?"

"Immensely slim" she said, before briefly running some rapid fire probability calculations in her head, which more or less cemented her verbal proclamation. Even with the small range of variables, and datasets considered.

Rex held his head down a little, and said "darn…"

"Ah, it's nothing. I could just patch through to the soil probes via an orbital uplink from the Aython, and retrieve the data remotely" surmised Ace.

"Yeah, but what about the equipment?"

Ace nodded sideways, and replied "it'd be too dangerous to go back. Same reason as with the soil probes, and besides it'd probably be damaged and somewhat useless. It's sensitive equipment after all".

"Sensitive, and very expensive" said Rex, a tad bit astonished.

"Yeah well…we'll manage" said Ace, as she revved up the engine of the ATV and plotted out a route back to their ship.

"Ace…" began Rex, a combative defensiveness erupting in his voice.

"We'll manage" affirmed Ace resolutely, and shutting down any chance that Rex might've had to argue her stance.

Rex shrugged, and said "alright…"

Very much sounding like he wasn't happy about it.

Aython – Low Orbit

"Ace's Rocket Ship"

In orbit around the "sand planet", beside the sad-looking gray rocky moon, was a sleek aerodynamic vessel, with twin large jets aimed towards the rear, and two smaller ones on the edges which weren't fixed, and served as a means for the ship to control it's movement in 3D space.

Ace was in the cockpit, handling the piloting controls and maneuvering the ship into the correct position over where the soil probes were located. Tapping into the probes built in locator beacons, and simultaneously linking it up to the ship's navigation system using her mind.

'Alright, we're in position' thought Ace, as she put the ship into an orbital lock – effectively keeping it spatially stagnant, in spite of the revolving planet.

Ace leaned back in her pilot's chair, and fully connected to the ship's computer system. Her eyes turning a neon blue, as the cockpit around her, the display of stars and a planet's curve in front, all manner of glowing buttons, tiny knobs, switches, and the whole suite of flight controls, vanished into a miasmic blue mist. Being replaced by a keyboard in front, and an eclectic office space all around with a myriad of displays popping up around her.

As Ace toiled away in a digital workspace, elsewhere in the ship, specifically in one of the two observation decks that resided on either side of the vessel. Rex watched the very edge of the curving planet, and the stars above. Getting lost in both the emptiness of space, and the drifting thoughts of his mind. It was a place he often found himself, drawn by a combination of the beauty of the cosmos and the atmospheric solace that the area provided. What swirled around in Raj's frontal lobe this time, was the expensive equipment that was left to breakdown and deteriorate on the planet below.

Rex recalled a memory from the past, under the shimmer of stars, which ebbed into existence from the celestial glow.

It took place in the cargo bay, situated far back near the engine room. A vast interior space that looked rather unseemly, with a patchwork of metal all over the place, a bit of exposed wiring, and a lingering dampness in the air.

"Been 2 years, and I still haven't gotten used to the moist air" complained Rex, as he pulled a large wheeled cart which carried a plethora of equipment that were contained in boxes.

"I've been doing this for 6, and neither have I – at least not completely" replied Ace, as she leaned against a wall with her eyes a glowing neon. Her mind in cyberspace, but her ears down on the ground.

"Why is it even moist to begin with? Like, there isn't a water leak somewhere in here is there?" asked Rex, as he continued to pull the largely mechanical cart.

Ace chuckled, and replied "the hydro-pipes don't run past the cargo hold Rex".

"Then why?"

Ace shrugged, and said "beats me – been trying to figure that out for years and well…you can figure out how that went".

Rex stopped his pulling to wipe some sweat off his forehead, and give his muscles a brief rest.

"Also…why am I the one pulling this thing up by myself?""

"Because you're stronger than me, much stronger".

"You concluded that from your tests?"

"Your lifting strength capped off at 50 tons, literally none of my people, outside of certain exceptions, possess strength like that" said Ace, her mouth going from a glimmer of curiosity to a meager somber frown.

"Alright fair, but come again how much does all this stuff weigh?"

"10 tons, give or take 2".

Rex blinked, before looking at Ace incredulously asking "10 tons? What the heck am I pulling?"

"You seriously didn't read the cargo manifest?"

Rex shrugged, and replied "I trust you enough to figure this stuff's safe…and not at all shady".

Ace sighed, and said "well, since you didn't read it – that equipment by and large consist of some soil probes, and geological field analysis equipment. We're making a trip to IXL-743596…"

"I-what?"

"The sand planet".

"Gotcha".

"In order to study the composition of the dens of sand worms. There's a study that's being carried out which require that information".

"Okay, but 10 tons? Really?"

Ace nodded, and then added "and it's also very expensive equipment – top of the line and very delicate".

"Right, so I'll take extra good care of it" said Rex, before adding "I'll give you my Rex seal of approval".

Ace smirked, as her eyes flickered back to normal before saying "then I expect this stuff will be in good hands".

Faded clouds in the upper atmosphere of the sand planet below, gave the world underneath an orange glow. The void in-between the land below, and the indecisive stars absorbing the light and matter which fell into some other-world. The memory disappearing along with all that light.

There was a churning feeling inside the depths of Rex's stomach, sweeping up, and building up an uneasiness regarding what happened today down on the planet.

'I can't just leave that stuff down there…even if they were a little damaged, Aethon's workshop should be more than able to repair it. And besides, I gave her my word…' thought Rex, as a memory unearthed to the surface of his mind.

A fleeting vision, shrouded in darkness, and a stabbing pain. It didn't last long, but it left an audible echo ringing in Rex's ears.

…your word is your bond…

Rex nodded, and looked resolutely into the endless cosmos – a determined thought filling his head.

A beeping echoed from the device that wrapped around Rex's left wrist, and after glancing at it briefly and seeing that caller ID flagged the caller as Ace, he answered with a tap before bringing the device over to Rex's face.

"What's up Ace?"

"Alright, so I've gotten a connection to the soil probes and am transmitting the data now. It'll take some time, so we've got some time to kill…you feeling hungry?"

Rex's stomach grumbled a little, and he replied "a little".

"Solid! Meet me in the lounge, cause I'm starving…"

The call ended, and Rex got up before leaving the observation deck thinking 'my word is my bond'.

Leaving the observation deck behind, Rex walked into an open space, and then a hallway to his left, before turning into spacious room that consisted of an open kitchen connected to a dining room, which doubled as a living room.

Ace was looking through the fridge, her head buried inside the 7 foot tall metal gray appliance with the door to its upper half flung open. Her bushy tail wagging left, and right. Her ears picked up Rex's entry into the lounge, and she pulled herself out of the fridge and glanced back beyond the dividing kitchen wall, and rectangular opening at Rex.

"Hey Rex, what you in the mood for?"

"Something cooked on a burner and made by hand?" said Rex with an edge of sarcasm.

"Ha, but for real?" asked Ace, as she turned around fully to look at Rex.

Rex shrugged, and replied "maybe something with meat?"

"That's practically 50% of what's in the fridge – care to be a little more specific?"

"Meat, and wheat?"

"That…doesn't narrow things down by much…"

"I dunno man, I told you before I'm not very picky with what I eat".

"Alright, I guess we're having Proscumo" said Ace, as she turned her attention back towards the contents of the open fridge.

"Great" said Rex, as he walked over to the couch to pick up the TV remote for the wide-screen television that was apart of the wall, before returning to the dining table for 4 and taking a seat.

"We don't get any reception this far out right?" asked Rex, as he turned the TV on.

"No, but I did record a bunch of stuff last time we were at my home planet so you we can watch that".

"Nice" said Rex, as he perused through the menu using the remote to finding the recorded movies and shows. While Ace pulled out two small plastic containers, and put them in a small rectangular appliance that sat on the counter, next to the fridge. At the push of a button the appliance came to life, and a warm glow came out of the square window that let light leak from the vacuous interior – now filled with two plastic containers, that were rapidly defrosting and warming up.

After a minute's time, the glow of the machine disappeared, accompanied by a resounding "beep". Ace opened the machine's small front door, and took out the two plastic containers which now radiated with a pleasant warmth. Peeling off the tops of the two containers, revealed a smoking concoction of hollow noodles, beside a bundle of meat balls, and sauce. The smell of which quickly spread through the air, and entered the nostrils of both Ace and Rex.

For Ace it made the slight hunger pangs that she'd been having, get more riled up while Rex simply nodded thinking 'meat'. Taking two forks from a drawer, Ace moved over to the dining table with the two exposed containers in hand.

"Alright, dinner is served" said Ace, as she put one container of food in front of Rex before taking a seat across from him, with her container of food plopped down in front.

Ace, with the aid of her fork, tore into her food. Mixing the sauce and noodles together, as Rex asked "so uh, know anything good on here?"

"Depends on what you're in the mood for".

Rex put the remote on the table, and slid it over to Ace.

"I'll let you decide. I'm feeling something with both action, and comedy".

"Ooh, I know just what to watch – it's a movie called Temperate Lightning, its really funny I think you'd like it" said Ace, as she picked up the remote and sifted through the menu to find the aforementioned movie.

"Temperate Lightning? What kind of name is that?" asked Rex, as he picked up his fork and dug into his meal.

"You'll understand it once you see it – trust me" said Ace, as she selected the movie and hit play.

After lunch, Ace returned to the cockpit and hooked up her mind to the ships on board computer. Leaving the realm of her usual cockpit surroundings, and entering a cybernetic office space. Her eyes flashing neon blue. In the digital environment, Ace tended to the data stream's that had come in from the soil probes down planet side. Sorting it into something more manageable, and workable.

Rex, on the other hand, was contemplating his options and putting together a plan to head down to the planet, under Ace's nose. He was in his room, a modest space situated right beside Ace's room. There was a dresser to the right, next to a bed, and a foldable table that made up a part of the wall.

Rex, laid on his back, on his bed, looked into the ceiling and peered off into his own mind. As the element's of his plan came together.

'I'll take the orbital speeder when Ace is asleep, deactivate it's transponder so she won't know' thought Rex, as he felt confidence building up the more he thought about it.

Confident that this plan would work, and confident that this was a good idea.

Half an hour later in the kitchen, Rex was forced to try and figure out dinner on his own. Looking at the labels on the sealed plastic containers, and failing to decipher the alien language that they were identified by.

'Where's Ace?' thought Rex, as he closed the fridge and left the kitchen before checking in on her room. Not finding her there, he checked the workshop, and seeing the spacious DIY engineering lab devoid of Ace's enthusiastic ingenuity. He made a beeline for the cockpit, the last place he thought to check and sure enough that's where he found her.

Seated in the pilot's chair, leaned back, with her eyes open and glazed over with a neon glow. One that shrouded the details of her eyes.

"Hey Ace, you still sifting through the soil data?" asked Rex curiously, while poking his head into the cockpit.

Ace's ears twitched, and her digitally tethered consciousness was made aware of Rex's presence. Reaching down, and reconnecting with her body, Ace said "unfortunately, there's a lot of data to parse through. I may have to skip dinner - sorry".

A smirk worked it's way onto Rex's face, as an idea thumped into his brain.

"That's fine, take as much time as you need" said Rex, before dipping out of the cockpit and heading off into the depths of the ship.

Ace blinked, before thinking 'he sure sounded eager...'

Which in turn made her just a tad bit suspicious.

Inside the hangar bay, which sat right beside the cargo bay, Rex deactivated the transponder of both the orbital speeder, and the ATV. It took a bit of finagling to do so, but he managed.

'Not the most cleanest operation, but the timetable's moved up - so it'll have to do' thought Rex, as he pulled his hand out of the underside of the orbital speeder - a large streamlined vessel built for two, with folded magnetic arm's behind the seats, that were locked onto the ATV.

Rex hopped onto the driver's seat of the orbital speeder, and began pushing buttons, and flipping switches.

The orbital speeder whirred to life, the engine emitting a low rumble as the words "anti-gravity generator - ON" blinked green on the dashboard. Coinciding with the speeder hovering 6 inches above the hangar bay floor.

With a series of taps on Rex's wrist device, the hangar bay door's began to open, as the front of the speeder expanded back and over Rex, with the flip of a switch. The hood sealing Rex inside, and the hood interior turning translucent - displaying the video feed from the speeder's array of camera's.

The hangar doors fully opened, Rex revved up the engine and took off. The speeder, living up to it's colloquial name, zooming off into space. Before dipping down into the planet below.

IXL-743596

"The Sand Planet"

Beneath a sea of stars, under the cover of darkness and radio silence. Rex took off across the rugged landscape, bounding over bumps and hills riding on the ATV. It was a bit of a long ride from where the orbital speeder landed to where the sandworm's den was. But once he got near, he moved the ATV behind a rock and got off. Before activating a Shaker, and letting it loose. Not long after, there was a rumbling across the ground. Followed by a giant worm giving the mobile Shaker chase.

Rex waited five minutes for the sandworm's full body length to pass by, and an additional three minutes for it to put some distance between itself and it's den.

'Alright, time to make my entrance' thought Rex, as he hopped back on the ATV and drove into the den.

The clock was now ticking, and the word's of Ace from way back when, echoed into the forefront of his mind.

"Shaker's run off a small disposable battery which lasts for about 2 minutes and nothing more".

'That's all I got' thought Rex, as he ramped up the ATV's engine and kicked into high gear. Kicking dirt into the air, as the mouth of the den neared. In twenty second's time, Rex was knee deep in the depths of the sandworm's den.

It was dark, virtually pitch black, save for the angular cones of light that beamed from the front light's of the ATV. Needless to say it was going to be a difficult endeavor, and paired with the time that weighed down on his shoulder's. Rex was frantic, as sweat quickly trickled down while moving on forward.

Hoping to locate the area with what little he saw.

The seconds ticked a way, as the ATV rolled on forward. The headlight's illuminating odd shapes, shadow's, and discolored ground. His anxiety intensifying by the microsecond, as a part of him started having doubts. Right as he stumbled upon the twin giant soil probes that he'd helped Ace embed into the ground.

'Finally' thought Rex, as he positioned the ATV such that it's light's would reveal the many large crates, upon crates of sensitive equipment.

Putting the ATV into park, Rex hopped off and darted over to the crates. Their content's were still inside, if likely damaged.

'Just like I left it' thought Rex excitedly, and anxiously as he tapped a hexagonal button on the side of the ATV, and the storage module popped out. It's size expanding in sizeable increments every time the button was pressed. The size being large enough to fit all the crates, Rex dumped each one into the storage module and closed it with the push of a button on the module's side.

By the time that Rex got back onto the ATV, and revved up the engine to leave - he had only a minute to spare, highlighted by the time displayed on Rex's wrist device.

'Okay, I've got time, I can do this' thought Rex, overwhelmed with confidence that unfortunately didn't last long.

A roar echoed throughout the den, and before Rex could even think. The ground him trembled, as a giant sandworm tunneled through the dirt with anger in its heart. Adrenaline spiking to dangerous heights, Rex stepped on it and drove the ATV forward. The sandworm hot in his trail, sensing the pounding of four large wheels tearing across the parched land.

Rex veered left, and then right. Zig sagging to both avoid the rocky pillars that connected the ground to the subterranean ceiling, and make it hard for the worm to track. But his latter attempt was for naught, as the sandworm expertly maneuvered, matching Rex's pace.

Soon, Rex jumped out of the den and hit the ground driving. The worm not far behind.

'This is bad, this is bad…' thought Rex, as he tried to reach for a Shaker but realized it'd be a fools errand, for he'd need to relinquish his hold over the handlebars of the ATV.

'Damn it, I had a whole extra minute, how did it get back here already?' pondered Rex, as he swung left and the worm followed.

Making matters worse, it seems, the extra weight of the metal crates that he carried, slowed the ATV down considerably. Giving the worm the edge it needed to rapidly approach the all terrain vehicle.

Closing the distance, and threatening to devour Rex in a matter of minutes.

Rex knew that he couldn't head to the orbital speeder, at least not before losing the sandworm, and with every passing second. His chances dwindled, siphoned into the gaps between the stars above, and lost forever.

Rex was in full-blown panic mode, his mind a flutter and unsure of what to do, other than veer in a direction other than, the one that led to the speeder. The worm was now mere inches away, the pungent smell of death prevalent in the air.

For the longest time in a while, Rex felt like he as at deaths door. But he wouldn't have the chance to open it, because like all those other times. Something got in the way. And this time it was a spaceship – the Aython specifically.

It dropped down from the sky at a rapid pace, and fired off several blasts of energy at the sandworm. Bringing the worms sliding rampage to a stop, and writhing in pain before turning around and beating a retreat.

Leaving Rex sweat ridden, while coming face to face with the Aython. Which landed on the ground in front of Rex, with the loading ramp connected to the cargo bay hold, unfolding and touching the ground.

Rex let out a sigh, now that his heart had calmed down. Thinking to himself 'I'm gonna have some explaining to do'.

Aython – planet bound

"Aces Rocket Ship"

Rex sat there in the vacuous emptiness of the cargo hold, as the orbital speeder came in. Hovering above the ground, before falling back onto the ground with a low "thud".

Ace stepped off the speeder, and marched towards Rex. Who could tell that he was in for a verbal reckoning.

To get ahead of the vocal onslaught that lay in store, Rex gets up and walks towards Ace, starting with "look I can expla-"

Before Ace cut him off with a swift, and tight embrace. Catching Rex off guard, and bringing him to relent to her gesture of warmth. Invoking a feeling of comfort, and longing. Rex felt the tension that was relieved, pulse from Aces body to his own. Like heat transferring from a cup, into the surrounding air.

Rex returned the hug with his own, conveying an apologetic sentiment.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" asked Ace, as she pulled her head back from Rex's shoulder, before looking him in the eyes with a fierce gaze.

"You just took off with the orbital speeder, and the ATV and nearly got yourself killed and for what? Some admittedly expensive equipment?"

Ace looked incredulously at Rex, demanding him to offer up, not an explanation, but rather an admission.

Rex let out a sigh, and said "no, no it's not. But I figured that…I could've hopped down and swiped the equipment, and be back without a hitch…"

Now Ace let out a sigh, and replied "but it didn't, now did it?"

Rex nodded sideways in response, and Ace pulled back from the hug but didn't quite let go of Rex.

"Don't risk your life doing stupid things like that next time alright? It's more important than some expendable equipment".

There was a personal edge in Ace's voice, which Rex caught in the softness of its cadence.

Rex nodded, and replied "will do", before giving Ace an affirming smile.

"Regardless, since you got the equipment back…I can get it checked over in the workshop and see if they can be repaired" said Ace, wearing a pleasant smile, before slightly shrugging and adding "and maybe shave off a couple thousand credits or so by not having to pay for those puppies replacement".

Rex nodded smiling, as Ace let him go and pat him a couple times on the shoulder before saying "and you should go ahead and get yourself checkout in the medbay".

"But I'm feeling great" jokingly protested Rex, as Ace pointed an authoritative finger at him and said.

"Just to be sure".

Rex nodded, and said "yeah, yeah I know, I know".

"And hey, maybe after that we can watch a movie or something, if you're up for it".

Rex blinked, and asked "you're not busy tackling soil data?"

"Nope, it's all finished."

Rex smiled, and nodded before heading out of the cargo hold alongside Ace.

Not long after, the Aython took off into the sky. It's twin engines blasting jets of blue flame and lifting the vessel into the air. Rocketing through the atmosphere, and shooting off into low orbit.

The End