Xabungle Ep. 22: A Tattered Rag

Rag tries out a Walker Machine but balks at the seller’s price. Soon the steering wheel and arm fall off. Meanwhile the Iron Gear is being refueled. A landship owner named Kaldas Bruhn stops by and thanks Elchi as they had saved his ship earlier. Elchi says she will set up a bazaar in another area as the recent fighting has soiled any relationship with Karas Karas. Jiron gets in a fist fight with a large man who tosses him aside with ease, eventually into a large pile of supplies. Elchi and Kaldas soon arrive to put a stop to the fighting. Karas’ men decide to stop when told that his younger brother Gully will soon be arriving. Rag walks by on a Walker Machine, saying living on her own better suits her. Blume stupidly ask her about her former plans to steal the Iron Gear in front of Elchi. Rag says she may go to Horla’s ship and Elchi gets angry saying she never wants to see her again. Rag leaves. Jiron on the other hand looks at her worryingly. Kaldas thinks of seeing Rag running off the prior day. Rag tells herself she is going to have to go through with it now. Meanwhile Horla and Geraba spy from the mountain nearby. Horla wants to hold off on their attack, thinking Karas won’t support them if they attack by their bazaar. He wants to wait until Karas’ wife and brother show up. Kotsett and Chill work on repairs on the Iron Gear. Elchi and the others are told the ship was attacked while they were gone. Jiron wants to leave and find a new route. Kotsett and Jiron argue about the fact that he hasn’t taken down Horla yet. Meanwhile Rag runs up to a fellow Walker Machine pilot and holds him at gunpoint, and is brought to Horla saying she wants to work with him to get revenge on the Iron Gear. She says she will head out in advance and fight for them to prove herself, since she was a traitor. The Iron Gear heads off and Elchi and Jiron say goodbye to Kaldas. Rag schemes with Geraba over where to attack the Iron Gear. Horla tells her the Iron Gear has departed Karas’s area and he’ll let her lead some of his breakers in an attack. Geraba is worried about him putting too much faith in Rag and gets slapped by Horla. Repairs continue on the Iron Gear as it heads through a canyon. Horla’s forces soon show up behind them and Jiron spots Rag on one of the Walker Machines. Jiron wants them to flee so they don’t have to attack Rag, frustrating Elchi.

Rag and Horla’s forces continue to pursue the Iron Gear, which has trouble as it strikes against the side of the canyon and stops by some water. The Iron Gear tries to fire on the enemy without success. Rag tells her men to hold back. Jiron wants to head out on the Xabungle but Elchi wants him to stay. Her former Sand Rat colleagues don’t think Rag is serious about this and think she has been tricked. Elchi thinks she is serious and they don’t know a woman’s true feelings. Horla approaches with his Double Scale landship and attacks. Rag tells her colleagues to scale the nearby cliffs. Horla is unable to see what they are doing yet punches Geraba when he doubts Rag. Rag meanwhile doubts herself. Chill goes to Lovely Rose and her dancers, crying over Rag attacking them. Jiron asks Kotsett to halt the Iron Gear. Horla tells Geraba to not rush in, but he can attack if Rag bungles things. Horla continues forward wondering what happened to Rag. Rag watches the attack from above and heads down on her Walker Machine, having some trouble along the way. She tells her colleagues to follow her. Having trouble attacking in this tight spot, Elchi demands Kotsett transform the Iron Gear; when he says they’re in too tight a spot she tells him to shovel them out. Elchi tells Jiron to head out in a Xabungle. Elchi calls her colleagues back. The Iron Gear transforms into its Walker Machine form. Jiron attacks Horla’s Galabagos Walker Machine, knocking it down and holding him at gunpoint. Rag jumps forward onto his gun, saying Horla’s more of a man than him and she won’t let him kill him. Geraba is able to grab the Xabungle from behind. The Iron Gear continues with pushing itself out of its tight spot and is able to move forward, scaring away the enemy. Horla destroys Jiron’s rifle with a drill. Elchi yells at Blume to defend them when an enemy Walker Machine climbs aboard the Iron Gear. Jiron is able to escape with the Xabungle just in time causing Horla’s drill to strike Geraba’s Walker Machine. He jumps on Geraba’s Walker Machine until it is slammed into the ground. Elchi and Rag argue, and Elchi tries to flick away Rag’s Walker Machine with the Iron Gear‘s hand. It grabs onto its hand and Rag tries to shoot Elchi, missing when her Walker Machine falls. Jiron jumps down with his Xabungle and saves Rag just in time as her Walker Machine hits the ground. Jiron holds Rag angrily after her attempt to kill Elchi. Rag tries to flee and Jiron yells at her, and then starts repeatedly slapping her, demanding she not fall. He then starts punching her in the face until she falls over, crying the whole time.