ok so apparently the ping process is not processing incoming ICMP replies.. that's why mtu of 1296 is returned from the script.
x > 8.8.8.8: ICMP echo request, id 9, seq 1, length 1480
8.8.8.8 > x: ICMP echo reply, id 9, seq 1, length 76
x > 8.8.8.8: ICMP echo request, id 9, seq 2...