Outer Olympus

Outer Olympus: Chapter 31

While Viola was watching the fight unfold in horror, Geode and Taroh had one last bit of work to do. They had arrived here by train under by pretending to be extra security arriving for the party. That story had effectively covered their entrance, but would not do much to hide their return to Outpost Raven. A return the Enforcers would be ready for, judging by the fact that they had sent someone who clearly had a history with Rune to investigate. And with each passing second, it became more clear that she had been sent alone not because the Hegemony didn't know what was happening but because this girl, alone, was enough to handle the situation. Rune, the unstoppable dynamo of violence who chewed through Enforcers like it was nothing, was losing.

Geode had not wanted to ever rely on it, but there was a comfort to having the failsafe of Rune being able to fight off Enforcers. But as the fight continued, that seemed less to be an option. They couldn't hide their movement in the train, and it was nearly inevitable that they would arrive to a station full of guns pointed at them. They couldn't stop midway; climbing out onto the glass between stripes of the colony would be tantamount to asking to be captured; there was nowhere to hide but the train tunnel, which would inevitably be searched by Enforcers and lead to their capture. They needed another solution.

"We need to help her," Viola complained, "I can't just stand here and watch." Geode understood her distress. Watching a friend get picked apart and be unable to help was a sickening experience. Geode also wanted to run out there, but right now, all they could do to help was try and give her a viable escape route.

"What are you going to do? She's is letting us go. That's the only advantage we have right now. If she stops ignoring us, we're dead," Geode almost shouted. They didn't want to be mean, but right now, they really didn't need Viola doing something stupid and taking a psyblade through the chest for it.

Viola of course, ignored this, grabbed a wrench, and chucked it at the seemingly indestructible psychic. Even with Viola's relatively weak throwing arm, the wrench hit. For a moment, Hope Beckons and Viola stared into each other's eyes, Viola teeming with defiance, and Hope with the realization that she might had underestimated these kids. The moment shattered as Rune punched Hope in the face.

"Idiot." Geode hissed. Viola shrugged.

"Worked, didn't it?" She replied. They couldn't believe she was right. Somehow, Rune had taken the advantage back. Geode went back to looking at the diagram of the train track for several seconds before the strategizing was interrupted by Rune's mechanical arm flying into the train and shattering against the reinforced window of the doors on the opposite side to the fight.

"Close the doors!" Rune yelled, and Taroh quickly obliged. Geode continued to stare at the wireframe. They had a plan, now, and they hated it. There had to be a better way. Even if this plan worked, it would-

Rune screamed, loud enough Geode could feel it in their bones. They grit their teeth. Rune was tough, seemingly impossibly so, but she was just a teenage girl. She didn't deserve to be hurt like this. Nobody did. Geode turned to Taroh.

"The second there's an opening, I'm grabbing Rune. Be ready to launch the train the second we're on board," Taroh looked concerned.

"What about the Enforcers?" He asked.

"I have a plan. We don't have time for a better one," Taroh realized what those words meant. If Geode was ordering a dangerous, desperate plan, it was only because there were no other options.

Outside the train, Rune collapsed from pain and exhaustion. Taroh opened the doors, and Geode ran out.

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