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hunterbahamut · 5 years

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Today is a new story! This story is a one shot that I’m calling ”Journey Home”. This takes place at the same time as the events of the story ‘Rift’, showing what Gene, Nix and Tero are up to.

This is a one shot story, but it’s also a bit of a long one. This story was a long time coming and actually proved to be difficult for me to get right. However, I do hope that the time spent has paid off and I hope you all enjoy!

"It's actually not uncommon for us to split up like this." Nix said, talking to Gene as they sat in the shuttle's cockpit. "Whenever Wart finds smaller jobs like this these, splitting up allows us to be more quicker and more efficient in getting them done."

"It also gives us a break from Phineas and his stupidity and crass behavior." Tero remarked, letting out a gruff grumble at that.

Gene nodded is head as he listened, "It definitely makes sense, and we get the added bonus of extra money too." He said, "But I gotta admit, it feels a little weird."

"I don't see why." Tero said, "You haven't been with us as a full team for a while."

Gene sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "That isn't exactly our fault, but what I mean is that I've been with Lan during all those times. Not being with her now is just...weird for me."

"I understand that." Nix said, looking over towards him, "And honestly I'm not sure why Wart hasn't teamed us up all together as much; there have been some jobs were we could have used the extra help."

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Tero said.

"I guess." Gene said. It was still an uneasy feeling; this was perhaps the first time he wasn't with Lan on a mission like this since they first arrived.

"Try not to worry too much." Nix said, trying to reassure him. "These smaller missions go pretty quickly. And there is far less friction between certain teammates." She said, giving a side glance at Tero, who just huffed at the comment.

Gene nodded his head, "I'll try. This does seem like a pretty simple job at least. Helping a group find a missing person, yeah?"

Nix nodded, "Yeah, though I admit it's odd that they haven't given us much information. Going in blind like this worries me a little."

"I doubt there is any cause for concern." Tero commented, "You know we've taken missions like this before. They'll just give the details in person."

"I suppose, but I'm nervous too. " Gene said, "I mean, I'm sure we're not gonna do anything illegal, right?"

Nix was quiet for a moment, "No, we do try to stay away from that." She said, "But...we have gotten very close to crossing that line on more than one occasion."

Gene twitched his ears; he was surprised to hear that. It reminded him of something and it left him quiet for a moment. "Well, I don't have much room to talk or judge, I have done similar things in the past too."

Nix raised a brow, "Really? I don't think I would have guessed that, you strike me as being too honest."

He laughed a little at that and nodded, "Yeah, but it's wasn't anything horrible. I've mostly lifted some things from people that I felt deserved to be knocked down a peg or two, and help those who really needed it. Kinda like Robin Hood."

Tero just snorted at that. "Petty theft. I suppose there are worse things."

"I think Wart would explode if there was any worse." Gene said, laughing a bit. "But that was just about it, and I haven't done anything like that in a long while."

Nix nodded at that before there was a beeping from the shuttle's piloting console. She took the controls and they headed down to Union, landing down at one of the docking stations before the three headed out.

Nix checked over the details again on her datapad. "The address isn't too far from here, and it seems to be rather secluded."

Tero sniffed at the air and looked around, "Don't exactly like how close we seem to be to Underside."

"Underside?" Gene asked, looking back at him.

"Union's underbelly." Nix said, her voice lowering a bit, "Something that many don't know or like to acknowledge is that Union has a bit of a criminal underworld, known as Underside." She looked around, "All kinds of people, gangs and such are connected to it. You remember Tink?"

"The purple boom-happy guy? How could I forget?"

"That's him." Nix nodded, sharing in that sentiment, "We're pretty sure he has some kind of connection there as well. It's something we like to try and be cautious of if we ever have to deal with it."

Gene nodded slowly, "Right, I get you." He huffed, "Good to keep our guard up."

The group continued on until they reached a rundown looking building. It seemed like an old apartment complex; the old architecture was looking rather dirty and the front was covered in old torn posters and more graffiti covering the sides along the alleyways.

"This is the place?" Gene gave the building a quick look, rubbing his chin. "I’m starting to get this feeling I know why they've kept so quiet with us."

"And would that a good thing or bad thing?" Tero asked.

"I'll have to let you know." Gene looked at the two, "What do we do if this ends up turning bad?"

"You mean what happens if we don't accept the job?" Nix frowned, "With any luck, they will be sensible and we'll just leave. Otherwise..."

Gene sighed and nodded, "Right then, definitely gonna keep my guard up."

Tero rolled his eyes, but otherwise remained quiet.

They gave the area a quick look before heading down a side ally where they found the entrance along with a buzzer next to the door. Nix pressed the button once and waited. Then twice.

"No response?" Gene looked around, "I don't like this."

"You're being paranoid over nothing." Tero grumbled. "There has yet to be any cause for concern."

"Maybe, but then again, this does feel suspicious." Nix grabbed hold of the door and pulled on it to see if it was unlocked, surprising bother herself and the others when it actually opened for them.

Gene perked an eyebrow, "Should we consider this an open invitation?"

Nix slowly nodded, "We should investigate. I just hope that Tero's right and we really are just being paranoid."

"I hope so too." Gene moved to stand by the door and Nix slowly opened it, both of them walking in cautiously. Tero just rolled his eyes and waited for them before stepping in after them.

The place seemed run-down, but still livable. There was a hum of electricity coming from ahead of them, but otherwise everything else was quiet. The entrance lead into a small hall with two doors on either side, and the only light came from the room ahead of them.

Gene and Nix looked at each other, wondering the same thing before Nix called out, "Is anyone here?"

They didn't get any response. The two slowly walked further in, looking into the side rooms before entering the main room.

"Oh no..."

Tero raised a brow and he followed after the two. "What is it?" He asked before he got a good look himself.

The room had been set up with multiple computer terminals on tables, which explained the humming sound, but what caught their attention was the numerous blast marks along the walls, and the three bodies that laid at different ends of the room. Two Narth and one Needlix, each one having a weapon nearby them.

"What the hell? What did we walk in to?" Gene asked, the first to break the silence.

"Nothing that ended well for these three." Tero said, sounding rather impassive as he walked over to one of the Narth, activating his scanner to look him over.

"I hate to say it, but I think someone got here before we did." Nix said grimly, looking at the scene.

"You would be right." Tero said, "I'm scanning for traces of what might of happened, and I'm picking up a very familiar energy signature."

"You mean you know who did this?" Gene asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"Given the blaster marks on the bodies and the residue around them, I think I do." Tero turned to the other, "This is Razor's handiwork."

"Razor?" Nix looked even more concerned now. "Are you sure?"

"I'm 98 percent sure, his weapons have a unique signature that's very difficult to mistake. I would say that these three had little time to react, they may have gotten shots off before they were killed, but it did them little good."

Gene looked at them, "So who's this Razor guy?"

"A Glimneon mercenary." Nix explained, "Glimneons are easy to identify; usually very colorful and they have these large antenna that have glowing parts. Razor is a gunman and merc that we've run into a few times before, and usually when he's under Ezskar's employ."

"Oh great, so the pink terror might be involved in this?"

"It's a possibility." Nix said, "But we can't guess as to why without knowing more about what was going on here and why we were called in."

Gene rubbed his head, "So what now? I mean, I figure we should inform the authorities, assuming they don't already."

"We should," Nix said, "but I think we should take a look around and see if we can learn more. If these guys were up to something and Razor was somehow involved, I want to know what that was."

The Glimneon grumbled as he chomped down on a glowstick as he turned his comm-unit on, dialing the all-to-familiar contact with some annoyance. After a brief moment, the image of the pink mutant appeared on the screen.

"Ah, Razor!" Ezskar said with a slick grin. "I assume you have good news to report."

"Eh, yeah and no." Razor said, leaning up against the wall in the alley. "He wasn't there with 'em, but they weres sayin' that they might've found 'im."

"Good!" Ezskar grin widened, "So they're going to get him now then?"

"Nah, can't do that on account of them bein' dead."

Ezskar's grin immediately dropped. "What?! What happened?" He asked, his voice suddenly lowering to a low growl.

"They didn't wanna cough up the info when I asked, and they tried t' pull guns on me, so I responded in kind."

Ezskar let out a low grumble, "Hmph, fine. Were you able to get any information off of their logs?"

"Didn' have a whole lotta time t' check." Razor said, "Someone showed up jus' as I was startin', so I made a hasty exit."

There was the sound of something getting smashed or knocked over, which only made Razor roll his eyes. "Then what are you going to do about it?!" Ezskar demanded.

"Oy, cool yer jets, will ya?" Razor said, "I downloaded some of the info before I skedaddled. Didn' check it fully, but I saw where they was at last. I can start lookin' round there; dun think this guy's gonna be hard to spot."

"Hmph!" Ezskar grumbled before he nodded, "Fine, that will do. Just keep me informed of your progress. And keep your eyes out for Team Prototype! I do not want them to interfere in this!"

"How ya know they're gonna be here at all?"

"They will be." Ezskar said, "Just make sure they do not interfere! Get him and bring him back to me!" He grumbled out, "If I can't have him, then no one will!"

"A'right then. " Razor snorted and closed the commlink. "I can do that."

"I see very little point in doing this." Tero said, tapping his foot impatiently as he watched the two working at one of the computer terminals.

"These guys died for someone." Gene said, "If this Razor guy came by and gunned them down, then whoever they're looking for could also be in trouble."

Tero crossed his arms. "So?"

"I think I found something." Nix said, enlarging one of the computer screens, "This looks like a list of locations on Union where they were searching. It looks like they may have had a lead in a section of Underside, not too far from here."

"So wait," Gene said, "if they knew where this person was, why call us in?"

"No idea, but this is only a lead, not anything concrete." Nix said, "We also don't know the details about what was supposed to happen. If they are in Underside, then for all we know they could be in trouble. "

"And so we let someone else deal with this." Tero interrupted, "This isn't our job anymore."

"Are you seriously suggesting we back out now?" Gene asked, looking over to the smaller polartix with a look of frustrated shock. "Someone could be in danger!"

Nix interjected, "And if Ezskar is involved, then this is something that the local authority won't be able to handle."

Tero snorted, "We don't know the who, what, where or why, and we don't even know if Ezskar is actually involved. We came for a job, and our clients are now dead. Out part in this is over."

Gene was about to speak up, but Nix stood up, "We're going to investigate further." She said in a commanding tone, "We don't know if Ezskar is involved or not, but I don't want to take that chance, especially if another's life is in danger. Besides, do you think we'll hear the end of it when Wart finds out we ditched without finding some way of finishing this mission?"

Tero snorted and turned away. "Fine." He wouldn't admit it, but she did have a point on that last part.

Gene grinned, "Great! So where are we off to?"

"It's a nearby place called 'Lucky Strike's Tavern'." Nix said as they started to make a hasty exit. "I know where that is; we can head there after we leave an anonymous tip to the law enforcers about this."

The areas referred to as 'Underside' was the opposite to most of the rest of Union. Many of the buildings were much smaller and in rougher shape compared to what what was normal for the rest of the planet. It had a much darker feel to it, and the denizens were a lot more 'rough and tumble' than average people. There were tons of rumors about the place about how there were black markets, gangs, and all sorts of notorious things hidden away. This was rather familiar to the group, even to Gene. Not only was Tink's workshop not far away, but the tavern in question was a place Nix had been to before because of Volrex, so they were more familiar with this than some might have liked.

"The tavern isn't too far from here." Nix said as they walked along the smaller streets. "It should be a good first stop to ask for information.

"Sounds good." Gene said, "Hopefully someone will have something we can use."

The tavern in question was one of the larger buildings, the front lit up with a simple neon-tube sign, and a small gathering near the entrance just minding their own business. However, as the team approached, they could hear some kind of commotion inside: there was the sound of yells and grunts, along with breaking glass and the crashing of furniture.

"Sounds like they're having fun in there." Gene said.

Nix frowned, "Sounds like it, I hope that won't involve us." She turned to Tero, "We'll go and check it out. Just in case, you better-"

"Stay back here, of course." Tero said, "I don't want to be here in the first place, I'm not going to get caught up in some bar brawl."

Nix nodded at that before she and Gene headed for the tavern.

The commotion was getting louder as the two got closer and stuff started to fly out ; a few bottles at first but was soon followed by a chair, and then one of the patrons. The two moved off to the side as they reached the entrance and took a look inside. As expected, some of the patrons inside were in a scuffle, with the staff doing little to help. However, it looked like there was a group going after someone much larger, and as they were knocked around, the two got a good look at who it was.

Nix gasped out. "That's a polartix!"

Gene perked his ears, "And they're rarely seen off their own homeworld." He said, recalling the information, "Think that's our missing person?"

Nix nodded, "I don't have a doubt." She started to think, "We need to make absolutely sure, but we need to get him out of there first."

Gene looked back inside, "Well, looks like we don't need to worry about that."

The brawlers tried to gang up and pile onto the polartix, but they were all lifted up at once by the larger creature and tossed aside while the polartix let out a hearty laugh. By now, more of the staff started to clear out the rabble-rousers, tossing them out.

"Alright, get them out of here!" One of the bartenders shouted out, "I want them all out, and that goes double for you there, fuzzball!"

"Ha! Fine, fine." The polartix let out a laugh before he gathered up a bag and stomped out of the tavern.

Nix and Gene stood back and watched as the large polartix came sauntering out, watching him for a moment. "My goodness, he looks so young." Nix observed.

"He's that big and he's still young?" Gene twitched his ears, "He looks like he would give that Trask guy a run for his money."

The two hurried to catch up to the polartix. "Excuse me." Nix called out, "Can we talk to you for a moment?"

The polartix stopped and turned, his eyes going wide as he caught sight of the white hybrid, a grin appearing on his face for a moment before he let out a laugh. "Ha! You must forgive me, for a moment there I thought you were one of my brethren!"

"Don't worry, I get that a lot." Gene replied, laughing a bit. "Sorry to bug ya, it's just that we don't see many actual Polartix around here."

He laughed at that, "Now that is something I get a lot too! But I have heard it is unusual for my kin to be seen off the homeworld."

Nix nodded, "That's why we wanted to ask you; what brings you all the way over here?"

The polartix let out a small laugh, "Well, I'm trying to find my way back home! I have heard this is the center of the, uhm, what did they call it? the Alliance? I think? I'm hoping that I can find someone here who can take me there!"

That seemed to surprise both Nix and Gene, "You don't know about the Alliance?" Nix asked.

He huffed, "Well, I know of it. I just...I don't know much about it. I have been somewhat on the outside."

Nix was starting to understand as she put the pieces together.

Tero was starting to get impatient.

He had moved to a less crowded corner with arms crossed, tapping his foot. "How long does it take?" He grumbled to himself. He finally was fed up and he stepped back out into the open, looking towards the tavern and spotting his teammates. "What are those two doing-?" He asked, stepping towards them before he stopped suddenly in his tracks, catching sight of who they were talking to, a deep scowl crossing his face. "You cannot be serious."

With some heavy hesitation, he continued to approach, starting to hear their conversation.

"Well before we start bombarding you with questions, I'm Gene and this is my friend Nix." The white hybrid said, introducing themselves, "What's your name?"

"Rauha!" The polartix said, sounding incredibly proud of that.

"It's good to meet you. " Nix said, "We do have a third, but I should warn you-"

"Well speak of the devil." Gene spoke up as soon as he spotted Tero.

Nix tried to say something again, but Rauha turned, spotting Tero and immediately had a huge grin on his face. "COUSIN!" He almost yelled out and he went right for him.

Tero tensed up, but he stood his ground, holding his arms up at him to stop him before he got too close. "Don't you dare." He said in an almost threatening tone.

The larger polartix reached him and clapped his hands onto Tero's shoulders; it wasn't a hug like he was expecting, but the action was still very unsettling for him. "I'm so happy to see you!" Rauha said, smiling wide. "I have met so few others on my way home!"

Tero was tense. "Let go." He said, his voice unsettlingly calm and deadpan.

Nix and Gene were right behind him; Gene himself was trying hard not to grin and laugh, though Nix was a bit more worried. "Uhm, this is Tero." She started to say, but as she tried to explain, Rauha spoke up, cutting her off.

"Tero!" He said, still grinning wide. "I am so glad to meetcha! You're the first I've seen in a very long time!"

One of Tero's ears twitched and he gave a glaring glance to both Nix and Gene. "Get him off."

"Listen, Rauha...there are some things we really need to ask you." Nix tried her best to ease the polatrix off of Tero. "Did you know that there have been others possibly looking for you?"

The polartix twitched and he looked over at her, his grin slowly fading and he gave her a bit of a suspicious look. "Aye, there have been many who have been looking for me. Both for good n' bad."

"I was afraid of that..." Nix said, letting out a heavy sigh, "This isn't an easy thing to ask, but how long have you been away from Wintera?"

Rauha shifted a bit at that question, looking troubled yet he steeled himself a bit. "I have not seen my home in many years. I was lost since I was a small pup."

Gene looked confused, "What? But how did that happen?"

"Poachers." Tero replied with a deadpan tone.

"Wait, what?!" Gene was shocked. "How is that even a thing?! I thought they were a part of the Alliance?"

"They are." Nix said, "It's just there are some who don't see Polartix like that. There are still plenty who see them as too primitive or savage and would rather try and.." Her voice trailed off. "I'm sorry Rauha..."

The polartix was quiet and he pounded a fist to his chest. "There were many who came after me, but many who tried to help me as well. It is how I came to this Union afterall." He looked at the group, "But what of you? Are you here to help me?"

"I think that was what we were hired to do." Nix said, "We were asked to help out by another group, but we weren't given a lot of information so we had to come looking for you."

"No." Tero just said firmly.

Gene looked over at him, "What do you mean 'no'?"

Tero let out a small growl. "Just that. No, we're not helping him. This is not our business or our concern anymore. In case you've forgotten, we weren't hired by anyone on account of them being dead now. This is no longer any of our concern."

"Tero-" Nix started to speak up but he interrupted her. "No!" He said, "We found out what was going on, but there isn't any reason for us to do more than this! This is not our concern, and there is no way Wart will want us wasting time trying to help some lost child."

"How can you be so heartless?" Gene snapped at him, "Fine, so we do this on our own, there's no reason to help this guy get back home! If you don't want to be involved, then fine!" He looked over to Nix, "Right? We got this covered now."

"Do you mean it?" Rauha asked.

Tero snorted, "This is just stupid..."

Nix was quiet at first, but before she could say anything, there suddenly was a loud bang as a blast of dirt came flying up near the group.

"What the hell was that?!" Gene shouted out, looking around as another shot came crashing near them again. The crowd around them all started to panic and started to run around.

"Sniper!" Nix yelled out, looking around, "They're above us somewhere, but I don't see where!"

There was another shot near them, making Rauha growl out in irritation. "Coward!" He bellowed out, "Come out and face me yourself!"

"Get down!" Tero snapped at him, "You idiot, you're going to get yourself shot!"

Gene reacted quickly, moving in front of the group and slamming his hand down to the ground, throwing it back up and summoning up a wall of ice to provide them some cover as another blast crashed against it. "We're too exposed here, we need a way out!"

Nix nodded and looked around, "The main road will be covered by the sniper." She looked around and pointed towards a alleyway between two buildings. "Over there! That will give us better cover!"

"Right! Get ready to run!" Gene pulled his arm back and punched the ice, causing the wall to explode into a cloud of ice and mist, obscuring them and giving them cover to rush for the alley. The sniper fired off several more shots wildly at them as they ran, but they were able to run inside without too much trouble. As soon as they all ran inside, Gene turned around, creating another large ice wall to cover the opening and closing them off from any more sniper fire.

"This leads to a dead end!" Tero said, getting a good look to where they were. "We're stuck!"

"For now." Gene said, "But we're safer here until-" He paused when he heard a few more shots hitting the ice wall. "-until we figure out what to do next, or until the enforcers get here."

"-If- they get here."

"Why not just find this 'sniper' person and deal with him ourselves?" Rauha said, looking quite eager to fight.

Nix shook her head, "No way, that sniper will get a clear shot at us if we try and leave now, and we don't know where he is exactly."

"He didn't hit us before." The polartix said.

"We had a crowd around us." Nix said, "If he got the crowd to move, then we would have been sitting ducks." She started to look around the alleyway. "We might be in luck though...if I remember right there might be a secret way out of here through some hidden tunnels."

"Smugglers tunnels?" Gene asked, nodding his head. "Sounds good, let's find it and get out of here!"

Nix nodded, "You two sit tight, we'll look around for the entrance."

Tero huffed out, "How long will that ice trick of yours even last?"

"Oh you don't need to worry, it would take ages for it to melt, and it should give us enough cover from 'Mister Trigger-Happy'."

Rauha let out a growling huff before he seemed to plop down to sit. "I would rather go out and face him head on, but, you seem to know how to handle this better than I." He grumbled, "I will follow you."

Nix nodded, "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here and on your way back home."

The needlix on the roof grumbled quietly to himself, looking down his scope at the ice wall that was now in his way of his target. "Friggen frak and smeg. Had a clear shot and I blew it, but I didn't know they had some weird looking Aqualine with them there." He grumbled, "If the other muckers knew about this, I'd get booted from the team."

He adjusted his sights; he knew it would be a while before any law enforcement would arrive, and there was no way that ice was going to last, not with a few good blasts to it.

He suddenly felt something though, pressing up against the back of his head. "Oy, yer takin' shots at my target there. Dun appreciate that much."

"Oh crap..." The needlix grumbled a little to himself; of all the times not to pay attention to his surroundings. "Look pal, the I had sights on him first." He shifted a little, moving his rifle to the side to get a look at the person behind him, suddenly tensing up when he saw the orange figure. "Wait...I know you! You're Razor!"

"Yeah, that's me." He said, "And you're shootin' at my target." He kept his pistol right up against the sniper's head. "I've already dealt with enough people like you today, so, how about you kindly drop it, before I drop you, huh?"

The sniper grumbled and cursed his luck. Then again, maybe his earlier misses saved his hide. "Alright...alright." He said finally, lowering his rifle down, "I know about you and your reputation; no way am I stupid enough to try and tussle with you. You want the polar dog, then fine. Good luck getting him along with his new friends."

Razor actually smirked at that. "Ya might be the first smart one I've met in a while." He said, pulling his pistol away. "Ain't your concern now no more, I'll deal with the lot of them." He motioned for him to get up with his pistol. "But now, how 'bout you make like a shepherd and get the flock out of here, hm?"

The needlix sighed, "Yeah, sure. Don't need to tell me twice!"

Nix and were searching through the alleyway, moving all sort of debris around hoping to find the way into one of the secret tunnels. "So how did you find out about these?" Gene asked as he tossed some boxes aside, "Back from here I come from, these are usually closely guarded secrets."

Nix nodded, "They are here too. To keep it simple, I found out about these during one of our earlier missions. I was pretending to be a pirate captain to this one gang we were trying to take down."

Gene let out a small laugh, "You as a pirate captain? That must have been interesting to see." He paused for a moment, looking back to the two polartix up the alleyway. "I know I shouldn't ask, but what's up with Tero? I know that he's not really a fan of the polartix, but he seems to be a lot nastier to Rauha."

Nix let out a soft sigh as she paused for a moment, "Tero doesn't have the greatest love or appreciation for the Polartix, sharing some of the same ideas that some others have about them."

"Being savages and uneducated and all that?"

Nix nodded, "Though I don't think that's the only thing. Tero can be very...blunt and straightforward with certain things."

"Blunt feels like an understatement." Gene remarked, "I mean...yeah I get that this isn't really a job but we really can't just leave the guy hanging." He sighed, "I can't help but wonder if Tero has a heart at all."

"Well I think he does." Nix said, "Sometimes things are just more black and white to him."

Gene nodded his head, "Yeah...sorry about that. He's a teammate after all, not really nice to talk about him like that."

"I agree, but...believe me I do understand." Nix sighed, "C'mon, let's pick up the pace."

Tero grumbled quietly as he sat there, watching the others searching around in the trash for their exit. He was just so exasperated with this whole situation, and sitting next to the other polartx only added to the whole thing. "This is infuriating.."

Rauha looked down at him when he heard him and he chuckled. "As frustrated as I am, cousin?"

Tero grumbled at that. "Don't call me that." He said, "I'm frustrated with all of this, and with you."

The larger polartix tilted his head as he looked at the smaller. "You confuse me, cousin." He said; calling him that again with the same sincerity as before. "I have not met many others, but they didn't behave quite the same way as you."

Tero crossed his arms across his chest. "That's because I'm not a polartix, not the same as you or the others." He said, his tone still tinged with frustration. "I am an bio-organoid more like the Gorm."

Rauha looked at Tero with some confusion. "I...do not understand. I have met some Gorm, but I did not know that they are different?"

"Of course not..." Tero grumbled quietly. He never liked doing "demonstrations" for things like this, but it would move things along much faster. One of the ports on his back opened out and he extended out one of his extra arms so Rauha could see. "Cybernetics."

"Aah, I see." Rauha rubbed his head, "I admit I am somewhat ignorant to some of these things, but I am trying." He grinned wide, "But it is still amazing! You may seem different, but you are Polartix deep down!" He gave him a firm pat on the back, grinning as he almost knocked the doctor over.

"Hmph..." Tero grumbled out, letting out a small snort as he managed to keep himself upright. "What about you?" He asked, shifting the focus of the conversation, "You have said you have encountered other Polartix, why haven't any of them taken you back to Wintera?"

Rauha's happy demeanor started to slump at that question, his smile fading as he let out a loud sigh. "I have not met many." He said, "And those I have met have either had other challenges or...have passed." He lowered his head down, "The very first I had met had died to ensure I would escape from the first planet I was on after being taken."

Tero twitched his ears, simply observing the larger as he spoke. "That does explain a few things. So others have helped you make it this far?"

"Some tried their best. Some paid a heavy price for it." Rauha sighed, "I do my best to honor each of their sacrifices as best I can. It is one reason why I learned this language as best I can. And why I try to get back home."

Tero didn't say it out loud, but part of him was actually impressed. Many Polartix he had met in the past just never bothered with some things that he felt were not only easy, but essential, like learn how to speak Unity. Rauha here...he was frustrating, but he had been through a lot, and he seemed much more galaxy-conscious than most.

Before either of them could say anymore, there was the sound of a heavy blast against the ice at the alley's opening, causing everyone to look back in surprise. "What the heck was that?" Gene shouted out just as there was another blast. Cracks started to form in the ice as steam started to rise from the other side.

"Someone's trying to get through!" Nix said, "It can't be the sniper!"

"I think we know who could be!" Tero growled out, "Have you found this exit yet?"

"We're nearly there!" Nix said, she and Gene scrambling moving and shifting the rest of the items and debris.

Rauha was on his feet, looking at the cracking ice with a growl. "Then let them come! I'll face them and give them a real fight!"

"Don't be stupid!" Tero said and he grabbed his arm, "You're very close to getting off of here, don't risk it for a pointless fight!"

The Polartix hesitated and looked back at the smaller, seeming a bit surprised, but he seemed to nod slowly. "You are right...very well."

"We found it!" Nix yelled over at the others as she and Gene pushed away the last of the junk, revealing a metal door that lead into a a tunnel. "Over here, hurry!"

The two polartix ran over to them just as there was another blast against the ice wall, causing it to shatter and sending shards flying. An all too-familiar form could be seen in the rising steam and vapor stepping through.

"It's Razor!" Nix said, "We gotta go! Hurry!" Rauha looked like he was itching for a fight, but he did climb into the tunnel; a cramped fit for him. Tero followed after him before Gene and Nix hopped in and moved, slamming the door closed.

Razor charged towards them, aiming his rifle at them, but the door slammed in the way before he could get a good aim. He grumbled, grabbing hold of the door thoug he yanked it back when he felt the severe cold coming off of it. "Aaargh, that damn elementilist again." He looked back down the alleyway, hearing the on-coming sirens. "A'right, gonna have t' make this quick. Least I know where y'all are goin'."

Traveling through the tunnel was not easy due to Rauha's size, but thankfully with Nix's guidance, they managed to get out of the tunnel and into the spaceport.

"Alright!" Gene let out a small cheer, "Glad to be out of that one!"

The Polartix nodded his head, starting to grin again. "It's amazing...this has been interesting but I owe you all a great debt!"

"We have a ship close by here." Nix said, making sure he door was closed before they started to head into the port. "We can get you up to our station, then we can make arrangements to get you straight to Wintera from there."

Gene smiled at Rauha. "We're almost in the clear, and you're almost home!"

"The only place he's goin' is with me!"

The group were caught by surprise when they heard the voice and they turned around, spotting Razor on a level above them with both of his pistols drawn.

"What?!" Gene flicked his tail back, "How the hell did you get here so fast?!"

Razor let out a laugh. "Yer not the only ones dat use them tunnels. Easy t' figure out where y'all were goin'." He aimed his pistols at the group. "Now, give the fuzzball up. He's comin' with me."

Rauha growled out, but Gene stepped in front of him. "Not on your life!" He growled out, holding his ground.

Razor laughed again, "Ain't my life you gotta be worried 'bout."

"You don't really think you can get away with this out in the open, do you?" Nix yelled out at him. "As soon as anyone catches you on the security cams-"

"Oi," Razor huffed out, starting to sound irritated, "I ain't dumb, Miss. Ain't no one gonna catch sight of this, and this can be over a lot faster if ya jus' hand him over."

Now the Polartix shouted up at him, "You will not get me without a fight!"

Gene didn't waste any time; Nix was giving them a slight distraction, so he had an idea of what to do. While Razor was talking, he had formed a hunk of ice and snow in his hand and he waited for just the right moment. Just as Rauha offered out his challenge, he chucked it right at the Glimneon.

Razor reacted with lightning reflexes, quickly turning and firing off a blast from his pistol at the incoming attack, but as soon as it did, it exploded into a huge cloud of ice and steam, creating some cover. "Oi!"

"Go!" Nix yelled out and the others turned and started to rush, Gene pushing the eager Rauha forward and heading to the platform their shuttle was at.

Razor started to fire through the cloud, taking a few pot shots before he was forced to move down from his vantage point. "Why you-!" He started to fire at them, trying to cut them off before they could reach the platform, causing the team to stop and take cover behind some of the spaceport's equipment.

"This guy doesn't let up!" Gene huffed out, "Man, really wishing we had some more artillery to throw back!"

Nix huffed out, nodding a little as her feathers shifted color. "We're just going to have to do what we can." He turned to the other two. "We'll do our best to provide cover, as soon as you can, get to the shuttle!"

Rauha was itching for a fight, but he nodded his head.

"Just don't get yourselves shot!" Tero told them.

"Always the plan, man!" Gene replied back before he hoped out from over and threw out a shard of ice, causing it to crash and shatter in front of the gunman and forcing him into cover as well. Nix hopped out next and she threw several fire blasts out at him; neither she or Gene were great with long range combat like this, but they did whatever the could to providing as much cover fire as possible.

"Fire n' ice." Razor just let out a grumble, moving around behind his own cover to try and take whatever shots he could at the two.

Tero watched the skirmish taking place, letting out a huff as he tried to time it before he turned to the larger. "Alright, get going! Right to the shuttle!"

The two started to rush for the shuttle; though Rauha was moving faster since he got to all fours to run. Nix looked back, catching sight of them and shouted out to Gene, "They're starting to move! Fall back!"

The two elementailsts started to move back, still sending attacks out to try and keep the gunman down. Razor wasn't having any of it though. He growled out and waited before he ducked and rolled out, fire off his pistols at the retreating group. He spotted Tero moving the slowest and started to train in on him, several of the blasts starting to get rather close to him.

"COUSIN!" Rauha stopped and turned back, rushing over to Tero and lifting him off the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Tero snapped at him, looking rather flustered now being carried.

"Got to move faster than that!" Rauha shouted out and made a break for the shuttle. Nix and Gene stopped their attacks and just ran for it now as well.

They were getting away, but Razor wasn't going to stand for that. He remembered what Ezskar had said, "This gonna end, one way or another!" He wasn't going to pull his punches this time. He rushed forward, taking aim and fired at the fleeing group. Some of the shots still struck the ground, but just as the four reached the the shuttle's port, he landed a couple blasts against the largest of the targets.

Rauha let out a howl of pain, falling forward and collapsing right at the shuttle, causing Tero to fall as well. "NO!" Gene and Nix hurried over to them, grabbing hold of the larger Polartix and pulled him inside, getting the doors closed.

"Hang on! We're gonna get you outta here!" Gene and Nix ran for the shuttle's cockpit, starting the engines up and headed off into the sky, leaving the gunman alone on the platform.

Tero was beside Rauha , starting to look him over. "Dammit..." He said, activating his scanner and grabbing what first aid they had on hand to help.

Rauha groaned, laying on the floor as his breathing started to get pick up. "So...hnnngh...this is how...how it will end..."

"Quiet, it's not over yet." Tero said as he got the supplies out. He started to work on patching him up, but he knew that it wasn't going to be enough. "Just hold on until we get you back on our station."

"I...I don't know if I can, cousin..." Rauha let out a small laugh, "I've...been fighting so much now."

"And keep on fighting." Tero said, "This is the last one you have to face. Once we're back on the station, I can treat you properly."

Rauha nodded and he closed his eyes, "You...you are quite amazing, cousin."

Tero twitched an ear, quiet for a moment as he focused.

Rauha continued, "You have a unique wisdom I have...I have only seen in a few...and a healer..." He coughed out a bit, struggling to take in a breath for a moment. "I knew...deep down...you are one with us..."

"Stop and save your strength now." Tero said, "You'll be back to Wintera soon. You'll make it back home."

He nodded his head as his breathing started to get more ragged. "Home..." he said, his voice starting to waver. "I can feel it..."

Tero paused. "What?"

"I can feel it, c-cousin...the chill." Rauha smiled, "That chill...I'm...going home."

Arrangements were made with the Polartix and Union to have a ship at the station so they could take Rauha back to Wintera with the others.

Things were very quiet on the station; even Wart didn't seem to have much to say to the three after they were able to give their reports. The boss was obviously disappointed that the job they were supposed to take care of ended up not working out, but the Polartix were willing to offer the team a small reward for returning their lost kin.

The three left Wart's office in silence before Gene shook his head, his ears drooping down. "I feel awful..."

Nix looked to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be hard on yourself, we did what we could."

Gene sighed, "Just don't like the idea that his journey had to end like this. We tried to get him back home."

"In the end, that is what we accomplished." Tero said, his tone sounding as neutral as it always did.

Gene looked over to him, "How about you? How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Tero said,

Gene twitched an ear. "Fine?"

"I am disappointed we lacked what I needed to aid him," Tero added, "but it is as Nix said; we did what we could do. None of us expected for things to turn out as they did."

Gene was quiet, but Nix spoke up. "Are you sure? Do you want or need anything?"

"I will be fine." While he didn't show it, Tero did feel a little strange, yet he had no idea why. He had faced situations like this before, so why did this one feel so different? He shrugged it off for now and started to head down the hall, "I will be in my lab."

Gene and Nix watched him as he headed down the corridor before the white hybrid let out a heavy sigh. "Good grief..."

"Are you going to be okay?" Nix asked him.

"Yeah, I will. It's just gonna be hard to shake." Gene rubbed his head, "Tero though...I seriously thought he was going to chew us out or blame all of this on us."

Nix didn't want to admit it, but she was expecting the same thing. He as the only one that spoke out against this idea.

"Ya know, I said this before even though I wasn't completely serious, but I felt like it was so hard to tell if Tero had a heart or not."

Nix frowned, "I remember, and that is still a little harsh."

"Yeah, I know it is." Gene said as he looked back down the hall after Tero, "But now though? Now, I feel like I have a pretty good idea now."

#bahamut writing #team prototype #nix #gene #tero #razor #polartix #rauhu #journey home

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