Braxton returned and exited the hanger. "I'm back. Send me your coordinates. I want to test out this suit's run speed and see if I can get the battery changed up." Braxton said into his comlink.
"Sending them now." Vixen replied.
Braxton locked onto her location and started moving. It took a few seconds to get up to max speed. Once he was moving though it was effortless and he was running at a three minute mile pace. The suit was doing all the work. He was even able to make agile moves at this speed. He drew the sword to practice with it. He made a few cuts and thrusts as he was traveling. He didn't try anything crazy like doing flips, but he did do some spins.
The nicest thing with this suit was, it would make a weaker person able to do super human feats. In the hands of someone with superhuman abilities it enhanced their abilities. The armor plating on this suit was three inches thick in places. The suit monitored attacks and was capable of moving on its own to avoid attacks.
It only took twenty minutes for him to reach Vixen. The power meter stayed at 95%. Considering the rigorous exercise he had undergone he took that as a win. He took the suit off and put it in storage. Then put his scout suit back on. "I think I'll use the other suit for special occasions." He told Vixen.
The second wristwatch had fused with the armor suit. It went into storage all in one piece.
"Which way are we going next?" Vixen asked.
"East, I hope we find something quick. We have three options right now on what to do next. The tunnel below the plateau, exploring the northern area and killing the demon looking thing." Braxton listed out the things he wanted to do.
"You really think fighting that demon is a good idea?" Vixen eyed him hard.
"It's a challenge. I think he is guarding something good. Not to mention his sword. Well if it didn't break during the fight." Braxton said excitedly.
"You can fight him, after you knock me up ok." Vixen bargained.
"That isn't likely to happen unless something changes. So at the rate we are going that means never." Braxton calculated.
"You aren't as dumb as you look." Vixen said as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Okay after we find a home for the next gate, what do you want to do?" Braxton inquired as he mounted up.
"I want to go north and check out the sea you can breathe in. It's kinda unique. Maybe those locals will have some special underwater weapons." Vixen replied.
"You just want to have sex in water." Braxton teased.
"That sounds like fun too." Vixen said with a smile.
It took a week to get past the end of this desert area. They didn't see any villages. The Breakneck Mountains finally ended. They ended in the same place and the desert. "Well damn, now we have the north/south decision to make again. Let's just go south. If we go north and don't find something the mounts will be an issue." Braxton said aloud, then turned south east.
The second day they saw creatures flying above. There was a snow capped mountain that looked like a volcano. It was a day or two further in the distance. The flying creatures looked like dragons. Braxton had got some good videos of them with his Scout Vision. There were plenty of other creature in the area too. Most in this area were the more aggressive types judging off their skin colorings.
"We should roam around here until we see a nice spot." Vixen stated her opinion freely.
"What you getting tired of this?" Braxton questioned.
"A little yes. All this riding is making my ass sore." Vixen responded tersely.
"Well we will take care of it. Then we can ride back. I don't want to leave the mounts unprotected." Braxton said honestly.
"Yeah, they kinda grow on you." Vixen admitted.
"It's crazy, all these wide open spaces we've found. It makes me wonder how they were so unlucky with where they gated in initially." Braxton wondered more now than before if there wasn't more to it than what was being said.
"You think they linked into an old gate somehow?" Vixen asked.
"I'd really be surprised if they didn't. If that is the case, how did they stumble across them in the first place. We have no idea where this planet even is in the universe. Those Merlude are really quite human looking. If you get rid of the scales and the bluish skin obviously." Braxton added.
"Is this some ancient aliens theory?" Vixen asked dismissively.
"Hell if I know, it's just curiosity. There is more at work here than random luck. These gates need dragon's eye gems to function. My dad give me another twenty. That mine just so happened to be a dragon's eye mine. It's to much of a coincidence to just be random." Braxton replied.
The conversation came to an abrupt end. They reached a cliff edge that dropped down a hundred yards. In the valley below there were steam vents spouting moisture into the air. They were sending a constant steam of white clouds into the atmosphere.
"This will do. If they don't like the exact placement they can move it." Braxton said as he set up the gate.
As is often the case, on the return trip they found so many nice areas. They paced all four of the other gates. When they placed the fourth one, they went back and grabbed four more. In total it took two weeks to get back to where they left Blaster.
Blaster was having issues. He had spent many years alone. He did well with the small circle in he apartment building. Here he had time little time on his own. His relationship was going well. She helped him stabilize his emotions.
"Why don't you see if she wants a job? She can come here and help you with your work. Even if it doesn't work out, it's an option. We can get her sorted easy. What's the point of having money if you never spend it on things you want?" Vixen asked.
"I got to agree. This is so much easier with Vixen's presence. I dumped money to help people that were important to me. If that doesn't work for you. We can keep you on or you can quit. Whatever is best for you is good with me. I'll make sure you have enough to get by for the rest of my life." Braxton promised.
"Why would you do something like that for me? You didn't know me before a few months ago." Blaster inquired.
"Because you risked everything to come to the aid of Vixen and the rest of the people under siege at the mines. Then you wandered around this place for eight plus years trying to find survivors. That makes you a hero in my book." Braxton responded plainly.