Beyond What's Known

Chapter 9

It took a few moments to get Eli to his feet. He was clearly exhausted and in pain, but he stood without complaint. Alana looped her left arm under Eli's right arm to give him some extra support as the two followed after Burpy to find Trixie. He glanced over at Alana's face, which still sported some soot and the cut where he'd hit her with his blaster.

"I assume that was me?" he asked. "Sorry."

"Don't," Alana said immediately. "Don't apologize. For any of it. That was the Goon, not you."

Eli nodded, but didn't seem very committed. Alana knew the gang would have to sit down and talk about what happened today and yesterday, but for now she had to focus on actually getting the gang together.

Ash led the two around a half dozen boulders that had once formed the bridge. Other than a few tables and pickaxes that looked decades old, the quarry was completely abandoned.

Luckily, it appeared Trixie had been watching for them, because the very second she saw them, she gave a thumbs up.

"I'm okay!" she said quickly. That still didn't stop Eli and Alana from wincing.

She was still in her kart-mode mecha, but it was completely tilted on its side. Boulders boxed it in from both sides and even most of the top, but Trixie was relatively unscathed. The rocks were held back from Trixie by the bars of her mecha's roll cage. It was a feature the other Shane Gang mechas didn't have - with her mecha transforming into a kart instead of a bike, she lost out on some maneuverability, but made up for in safety features.

"The cage held up fine, I'm just stuck," the redhead continued. She revved her mecha's engine and twisted the steering wheel, but with the kart's wheels off the ground, the machine didn't budge. Then it seemed to process what exactly she was looking at. "Wait, oh my gosh - Eli! Are you okay?!"

"Been better," Eli admitted. But he had a small smile on his face. "At least I'm not stuck sideways in a mecha."

"I think you win as far as who's had the worst day," Alana laughed quietly. Eli nodded in agreement. "Alright, I need to help her. You just stay here."

She carefully lowered Eli to the ground, where he was able to sit and rest his back against a fallen stone. Burpy sat on his shoulder, pressed against Eli's neck and watching his slinger diligently.

"I can help," Eli protested. But he didn't seem to have the energy to get to his feet on his own.

"Just supervise," Alana insisted, rolling her eyes and turning to inspect the rocks holding down Trixie's mecha. "I'm thinking some Arachnet and Lariat shots."

Trixie shrugged, trying and failing to look around her to see the scope of the situation.

"I'll be honest, I can hardly see what all's around me, so you do whatever looks right to you," she said, sitting back. "I'll call Kord and Pronto to let them know we got Eli back."

Alana nodded, loading her Arachnet first and stepping back to stand next to Eli. She waited a moment before firing. The purple slug transformed and spat out a spider web on the first of the half dozen rocks pinning down Trixie's mecha. The Arachnet kept moving to maintain its momentum, flying upwards and dragging the rock down off the pile. When it hit the ground, Alana could feel the rumble through the soles of her boots.

While she loaded and aimed her Lariat, Trixie radioed Kord and Pronto to update them. Eli watched as Alana fired, and her Lariat did the same move, pulling another boulder away.

"So where did Kord and Pronto end up? Are they okay?" Eli asked. Alana nodded quickly.

"Yeah, they're okay, they're just in town," she explained. She stooped down and picked up her returning Arachnet. "Things got hectic there, so Trixie and I had them stay while we came after you."