Xabungle Ep. 44: Take Care of Yourself, Lord Arthur

Kotsett struggles with transforming the Iron Gear into its landship form as part of a test. Jiron, outside in the Gallier claims a rock is holding things up and the test soon succeeds. The Iron Gear reverts back to its landship form. A small transport group arrives. Meanwhile at an Innocent dome, Elchi and an underling watch as some ammunition and supplies are being transported, being surprised to find that the Innocent have more supplies than they’ve been told. Elchi wants to ask Biram for another landship. On the Iron Gear, Jiron and the others talk about what route they’ll take in order to get to Yop. They spot some more landships approaching, which display the flag of Salt. The captain is revealed to be Kaldas Brune. Kotsett and Rag head over to one of the landships and realize Kaldas has been spending blue stones previously stolen by Katakam. Kaldas talks about a unified fleet gathering with Timp and Horla’s landships among the group. The Gallier and Xabungle construct a couple of fake Walker Machines. Kotsett, Kaldas and Medic plan the route their forces will take to get to Yop. The Iron Gear continues on, with the fake Xabungle and Gallier on its deck. Elchi goes to see Biram, requesting an Emperor type landship. She thinks Jiron and the others are planning on attacking Yop. Dowas tells Elchi she can take out the Emperor but it has to get fitted with supplies first which is still happening. As Elchi leaves her underling tells her she’s realized that she’s abandoning Biram and trying to curry favor with Kashim King. Biram, watching via a camera wonders if Elchi is more trouble than she’s worth and also ponders if Dr. Manet’s brainwashing doesn’t work well enough on the civilians used to the current world. If not for Kashim King he’d have abandoned Elchi long ago. On the Iron Gear, Kaldas and Kotsett talk about the diversion they’ve got planned. Meanwhile the Gallier and Xabungle travel along a nearby cliff, with Jiron using the map he got from Kuramu to guide them towards Yop. Blume and Birin follow closely behind on a small craft and Maria comes out revealing she has come along. Blume is surprised at the large gun she is carrying with her. Jiron thinks Maria has become a fine soldier. The Iron Gear continues on with Chill acting as lookout. Jiron, Rag and the others make their way to a cliff around Yop, seeing a number of Innocent domes. Suddenly several enemy Walker Machines appear and start chasing them. The Gallier and Xabungle make their way towards a cave. The enemy sets off some explosives, causing a large avalanche. Kashim King is told of some enemy Walker Machines being nearby by his underling Ariba. Walker Machines dig through the snow trying to find the Gallier and Xabungle and find a hole, which is the tunnel Jiron and the others have been digging through. They soon make it to the surface near the cave. Rag is happy at the map they were provided being accurate.

The Innocent detect the Gallier and Xabungle heading into Cave E. Blume pushes a rock that causes an opening to appear. The Innocent’s hired soldiers prepare themselves outside. The Gallier and Xabungle make their way into Yop and Jiron opens up an entrance causing them to immediately get fired upon. Maria and Birin help fire back until Jiron and Rag get back into the Gallier. They make their way out of the cave and head up a hill towards an Innocent dome. The enemy is forced to stop firing due to fear that they will hit ammunitions and cause a large explosion. They do nonetheless continue the pursuit. Jiron and the others make their way to a freight elevator underneath a dome. They are able to make their way inside just avoiding some enemy fire. They immediately have to flee from an attack upon getting inside. Ariba reports to Kashim, saying they seem to have some knowledge of Yop. Kashim thinks they are seeking Arthur Rank. He whispers to Ariba that they should let the enemy take Arthur’s life. The Gallier and Xabungle make their way across a bridge, continuing to take on fire. Arthur, inside a fancy looking room realizes something is going on outside. Kashim comes to see him, telling him it’s a Civilian invasion but they have nothing to fear. He tells Arthur to take refuge, but Arthur is excited at the arrival of those from the Iron Gear and wants to meet them. Kashim says he is endangering himself by seeking to meet them. The Gallier and Xabungle continue to be on the run. Kashim has Arthur led into a direction where he’ll run into Jiron and the others, without his knowledge. Blume is able to defeat several enemy Walker Machines with a well thrown grenade. Jiron and the others run into Arthur Rank’s craft and Jiron picks him up with the Gallier’s hands. Rag, Birin and Maria are all enamored by Arthur’s good looks. Kashim and Ariba are surprised to realize that rather than kill him, the civilians are taking Arthur with them. Jiron tells Arthur that Kashim is trying to make it so the Innocent will rule over the Civilians. He tells him Kashim has grown an army for such purposes. Kashim angrily watches via video and demands all of them, including Arthur be executed. Arthur says he won’t be able to survive outside, but Jiron tells him he’ll take care of that. The Gallier gets fired upon despite Arthur saying to stop. The Gallier and Xabungle make their way into a storehouse for ammunition where they won’t be able to be fired upon. The ladies try to think about how they can protect Arthur from the outside. Jiron finds a large metal barrel which they can put him in, while the ladies find an oxygen tank and something to keep him comfortable. Once finished, the Gallier puts the barrel in a large box while Dyke keeps the enemy at bay. The Gallier and Xabungle find a craft to jump on which takes off just before the enemy is to attack. The craft is able to blow through the dome and down the snow, away from Yop. Everyone wonders when it will run out of fuel.