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It took longer than the few minutes he'd anticipated, but he had to be careful lest the whole structure of this part would break down and send him into an unknown debth or crash down on him. He'd had enough of that for a lifetime.
Aren wasn't comfortable sending the boy up on his own in unknown territory, but if he made a mistake and the ship, unstable as it was, would break down further or trigger another explosion, he could not have the kid here with him. Or the seeds they had found.

Right when he was about to call it quits, he found it. A third one, safely lodged between two broken down plating parts that had shielded it from the fire. He had just reached out and grabbed it, satisfied with the outcome of this little expedition, when ...

"AREN!"
he cursed, making his way back out as fast as he could, but not fast enough to his liking. Yet, he had to be careful, it would not to if he got caught up down here trying to get to Argent.

He was fast though, and the sight he was met with made his blood run cold. Why didn't the stupid boy run as he'd told him to? Unless ... no, he could see it almost a split second later from the movements of the beast, momentarily distracted by the wound the kid had scored and his appearance, that it was not just huge and bulky, but also fast. Too fast for the boy to match.

"Move!" he hissed, brushing past Argent and in front of him, pushing the third seed pot into the boys hand and pulling out his own weapon just as the beast moved to attack again.
He tried not to focus on the kid being injured, or hoping that he would hide, get to safety and out of the way. Focus on the threat, the movements, the weakpoints.

It didn't take long to find them, a heartbeat, a split second, maybe two. The beast charged, and he moved, the dual blades of his beamsaber humming to life.
Deflecting the first blow, evading the second. At least the thing was focused on him how. Protect the children. Damn, it was fast!

But he was faster.
The blade split, twin daggers hissing against the thick plate of the creature as he moved around it, too fast to follow. It howled in anger as he jumped, landing on its upper back with practiced ease, sinking both blades into the unprotected space of it's neck and throat.

He barely caught something moving towards him with lightning speed from his peripheral vision, pulling out a second, smaller blade from his belt, the energy hissing to life just in time to deflect the blow of ... damn, how had he missed the tail?!
The huge equally plated spikes drew sparks against the too small blade, scraping across his shoulder and back as the beast faltered, easily ripping the thick fabric of his suit and the skin below.
Scratches, nothing more. If he hadn't had deflected it though ... he brushed the thought off as the thing finally fell and he jumped back as not to be crushed below it's weight.

He saw how he'd missed it then, as the thick plated skin shifted color from dark browns and greens to an ashen grey as it died. Camouflage. Of course the boy hadn't noticed the danger until it was too late. He might not have either.

Right. The boy. He cursed again, his head whipping around to look for him. To see if he was safe.

Good, the boy was safe.
Aren sighed, sheating his weapons and quickly moving over to Argent, who was just standing there staring at him, seeds clutched to his chest, his other hand still fiercely wrapped around his weapon.

"You did good, protecting them. You can put your sword away." He said, waiting until the bod did as he was told before taking the seed pots from him. They were small enough to safely store in one of the bags at his belt after he'd taken the travel med pack out.

"Now. Let me look at your face." there was a lot of blood, and he'd seen his fair share of injuries on the battlefield not to need more than one look to know that there was nothing to be done. Poor kid, that thing got him good, he was lucky to be alive for sure.
"yeah, we're gonna put a loose bandage around it and let someone back home take care of it. Any other injuries I should know of?"

He didn't really mind the scratches he himself had gotten. They were just that, scratches. Barely a nuisance. Although they did sting, and it made him mad at himself for not being more careful.

Aren let him talk while taking care of the injury as good as possible, knowing full well that it probably helped the boy stay calm as he was. It would be enough of an issue when the adrenaline of the fight wore off. He didn't even seem to realize the state he was in fully. Or the pain. They were made like this of course, to be more efficient on the battlefield. A soldier could fight until he fell, their young were no different.

"I'm fine kid, it's just a scratch, it will be gone by morning. But you are right, we need to go."
He squeezed Argents shoulder once, lightly, before straightening up and got ready to move, motioning for the kid to follow.

His shoulder protested at the movement, the stinging from before numbing slightly, making his movements feel a bit .. off. Great. Scratches they were for sure, but that feeling was undoubtedly thanks to some sort of poison.

While he, more so than the others of their kind, was immune to any known poison - his creators had made sure of that one way or another - and thus to most unknowns as well, making whatever it was sure to fade on it's own after a while, it could still become a problem if they got into another fight.
If his movements were just a bit too slow ...

Brows furrowed, he kept walking, making sure the boy was following close. The sooner they got home the better. And there was no telling when the battle high of his young companion would wear off and how he would react. The first time was always the worst.

Thankfully, they made it to the dome without further incidents.
Now, it would only be a small walk back to the ship, half an hour at most. He turned towards Argent, sighing quietly. Poor kid was exhausted, no surprise there. He waited for him to catch up the two steps or so and placed a hand on his shoulder so they could pass the force field together.

Just as they did, he relaxed. Not fully, not yet, but the children were safe for now. Once again, they had been lucky.
"We did. Just a short walk now. Can you do that?" He might have a bit of trouble carrying the kid with his shoulder not quite behaving the way it should, but he would manage if he had to. There was no doubt the barbs had been poisonous at this point, but at least it wasn't getting worse. Sleep it off and he'd be right as rain after a few hours of rest.
The boy though ... oh, Ghost would be furious.

Speaking of ... still keeping close to Argent in case the boy would collapse, he send a quick heads up to the ship that they would arrive soon in need of medical attention. He quite expected Ghost to meet them half way. That would be like him.

Aren half snorted, half laughed at that.
"No, don't worry kid. Keeping your safe was my responsibility. If he's gonna be mad, it's gonna be with me."

He had to give it to Argent though, he was one tough kid. If he really wanted to be a soldier and protect the colony, he would grow into a force to be reconed with. If he didn't get himself killed before that.

Sure enough Ghost met them just outside of the ship, the look on his face turning from worried to livid to ... disappointed? and back to worried so fast it was almost comical.
"Stars above, what happened to you?!" 'you were supposed to protect him!' was the unspoken reprimand Aren could clearly see directed at him, but the anger in the younger mans eyes quickly dissipated when he saw that he, too was injured, scratches or no. Someone like him didn't get scratches just like that.
"Both of you, inside!"

"I'm gonna get the seeds to mother. You can shout at me later, I know you want to." Aren gave Ghost a wry grin after Argent was done talking. "And don't be too hard on him, he did a great job out there."
He didn't really wait for a reply, didn't have to, really. They knew each other well enough. And Ghost needed to take care of the kid now. He would be fine on his own, and he was pretty sure Argent would prefer if he didn't watch his breakdown, even if he didn't care about it now, he surely would later.
So he left. There would be enough time to talk afterwards.

Ghost frowned for a moment, but let him go nonetheless. Aren was right of course, from what they had told him, neither of them could have done anything different. Or better. And he was sure Aren was mad enough at himself for it.
"Argent ..." he said, placing both hands on the boys shoulders. "I'm not mad at you."
He shook his head, all traces of anger gone from his voice. If anything he was ... tired, sad, to have something like this happen with him not there to prevent it. Not that he could have.
"Don't worry about it. You heard Aren, if he says you did a great job, I'm sure you did your best." His poor, sweet, headstrong boy, trying so hard not to cry ... he couldn't take it. He wanted the children to be safe and happy, not like this ... With a small sigh he let go, then wrapped Argent in a tight hug. "I'm just glad you are alive."