Ax and Marco would have absolutely killed Tom. Smoking, much?
They would not have gone to kill Tom, for their own reasons, or they'd have bungled it in some way. Situations that would have gotten Rachel killed, they'd have avoided outright, because they are survivalists and not mission-minded near-altruists like Rachel.
Read a sentence in context for ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, will you please.
I didn't say they wouldn't have killed him, given circumstances favourable to it. I said they would not have GONE to kill Tom. They wouldn't have taken this out-of-the-way suicide mission, when so many other options would have been perfectly feasible.
Also, before they'd even consider taking such a mission, they'd have a very serious sit-down with Jake to see if he's off his head, because in all honesty, up until that point killing-Tom was a very hopeless and unJakelike thing to do or even to suggest. They'd be wondering what, specifically was the last straw that broke his resolve to save his brother/family, which was the one thing he pretty much PROMISED early in the series.
If being infested himself in The Capture (6) wasn't enough, if seeing his cousin, quasi-girlfriend, best friend, and two others loyal to him get almost-killed over and over wasn't enough, and if his parents' capture toward the end of the series wasn't enough, then whatever makes him crack has gotta' be big.
That all being said, there was never any doubt in my mind that, even only halfway through the series, if Ax had been given sufficient opportunity and received no direct order against it, he'd've killed Tom.
Closer to the end, or even shortly after his rescue in 4, when he didn't know the group dynamic as well, it'd have been perfectly logical for him to do it, because at both those times he has returned to being cold-and-calculating-for-the-greater-good, and especially toward the end he is questioning Jake's stability. He's already seen that Marco's mum created a few glitches in the group, like keeping secrets and all such. He simply cannot allow that to happen with his Prince. Also, depending on the situation at hand, Ax might believe that sparing Tom would be noticeable to the Yeerks in such a way that it would cause them to be aware of the humans-not-Andalites situation, although as many humans as they did knock-out-but-not-kill... that should have been obvious from the start.
Leaving Tom unharmed would just help them find Jake faster.
Marco's another story. The only times he'd kill Tom are a) self-defence b) Jake asked him and has demonstrated some measure of sanity c) Marco sees Tom as a threat to Jake's ability to lead, sufficiently that he'd 'betray' his best friend to fix the situation.
Both characters have major thinking-on-their-feet and cold-calculation skills, but Marco is a long-term-planner, overall, and Ax is an opportunist. [I'll be happy to discuss that sentence elsewhere, but let's get back to Rachel on this thread, please.]
Anyway, no denying that they'd kill him, but the situation would have to fit their criteria first. Go-and-take-him-down is very Rachel-adapted. Let-him-come-to-us is Marco/Ax adapted.
Right, well, that's that.
Smoking? I've been called 'hot' before, but that one is fairly unused in this part of the world. Thanks for the compliment.
*chuckle*
Now, regarding 32... yeah, they could have afforded to make Nice-Rachel a bit less of a wimp.
Admittedly, though, it was a great way of showing that she's just as scared as everybody else.
