Episode 61
The Key
Shortly after General White Hawk instructed them about the new mission, all the Star Sheriffs gathered to meet each other and exchange all the necessary information. The General left them and went back to the conference room. The deadline was approaching and he had to finish the negotiations with Nemisis.
Back in the conference room, commander Eagle, along with the commanders of the other sectors of the Cavalry Command, were finishing giving the final orders and the last instructions to the rest of the officers. After all the discussions ended, Commander Eagle remained in his chair. He was writing something on his notebook. Erkanos approached him:
"Commander Eagle... I would like to speak with the Star Sheriffs, before they leave."
Eagle raised his eyes from his papers: "Sure." Then he turned around towards an officer in the room: "Colonel Jones, please escort Mr Erkanos to the launch bay, the Star Sheriffs are still there."
They headed towards the aircraft hangar. All the Star Sheriffs teams were heading towards their assigned mechas.
Erkanos called out for Saber Rider.
"Erkanos, what brings you here?" Saber Rider turned towards the old outrider.
"Before you go..., I would like to give you this..." Erkanos opened his palm and handed him a very old looking coin. "Here, have this!"
"What is this?" Saber Rider looked at it with curiosity.
"It is an ancient artifact; it stayed in my family for many many generations and I believe it will be useful to you in your mission... I believe it is the key to unlock the mystery around our two civilizations. You will know what to do with it, when the time will come. I am sure of that!"
"Thank you, my friend... I will keep it with me all the time. Stay safe! See you soon. Our Eastern team of Star Sheriffs will guard this planet and protect you and Caspar from any Outrider attacks. This is our most secret location in the galaxy, they should not be able to find you here."
Jesse was nearby, talking to April before their departure. He overheard their conversation. He went straight to Erkanos.
"Is that coin the same as mine?" asked Jesse, while showing him a pendant he was wearing.
Erkanos gasped: "Where do you have that from?!"
"My parents gave this to me, when I was little. They said it was so ancient that it bears all history of humanity in it." replied Jesse.
"They might be right, Jesse. But apparently it bears the history of both our worlds."
J: "My parents researched this all their life... They were space archaeologists. They were always talking about a distant planet, far away in the Universe, that might be the place where all living creatures come from."
E: "Really? I'd like to meet your parents, Jesse."
J: "I wish I could tell you that you can, but unfortunately they went missing when I was 15. That's... how I enrolled in the Cavalry Command... My family was gone..., so my new family became the Cavalry Command."
April came next to Jesse. She gasped when she heard about Jesse's parents: "Your parents went missing? I didn't know that... Do you think outriders took them away...?"
J: "I don't think so... There was no war when they disappeared. I am assuming they ventured too far out into space and they were never able to make it back... They might have run out of fuel; they used to always push it to the limits... Who knows where they are now..." and he looked away with pensive eyes. "I used to blame them for caring too much about their passion and too little about me... I eventually forgave them. They might still be alive somewhere..."
"Hope will always be rewarded, Jesse!" Erkanos shook his hand. "Good luck in your mission, all of you!"
It was time for all the Star Sheriffs to take off. April was still not ready to go. She leaned against Jesse's chest and hugged him.
"You take care out there, Jesse..."
"Hey, don't worry about me. I'll be fine... You take care, my love... Be safe out there...!"
Colt pulled his cowboy hat over his eyes. Jesse was kissing her.
"Attention all Star Sheriff teams! Emergency! Planet Yuma is under imminent attack! Enemy ships approaching! All communication has been cut off with Planet Yuma! Immediate help is needed!" a voice resonated in the speakers around the camp.
"Go, Jesse! Good luck!" April shouted, while releasing herself from his embrace and running to get back to her ship, along with the other three Star Sheriffs.
"Hey, bud!" Fireball yelled towards Jesse. "Don't let anything happen to Yuma! All our families and friends are there! A lot of people depend on you!"
"Be careful, Jesse! My Sincia is there too!" Saber Rider shouted.
"Mr Blue! Please do me favor and be a nice sidewinder! Bite those bushwackers real hard!" shouted Colt. Robin was back on Yuma also. And Jesse was assigned to protect it, along with the Northern team of Star Sheriffs from Cavalry Command. .
"Don't worry, guys! I'll beat the heck out of them!" Jesse yelled back while rushing to Ramrod I.
Back in the command room, the screen lit up again in front of all the Generals. Nemisis started speaking in his dark voice:
"So..., pitiful humans, what have you decided? What's it going to be? Do you want to give me back what belongs to me, or do you want to suffer the consequences?"
General White Hawk stepped in front of all the leaders of the Cavalry Command: "Nemisis, we will bring Caspar, Glower and the other ones back to you. But in return we want our captive humans back unharmed and you stay away from Yuma. Otherwise our treaty is over. Can you keep your word?"
"Well, well. Easy to say, easy to do. I will not attack Yuma, as long as I see my doctor back. When I will have doctor Caspar, I will bring you back the humans I'm keeping captive in my dimension. "
"Right. We will send Caspar and the rest with our Ramrod team of Star Sheriffs. They will be there in one hour. Remember: any attack on Yuma and the truce is over!"
"See you soon, humans!" Nemisis hissed.
The screen turned off. Everyone in the room sighed. The plan was on a roll. General White Hawk opened an encrypted channel with Jesse.
"Jesse, remember, under no circumstances Nemisis is to know who is inside Ramrod, and which Ramrod this is."
"Acknowledged, General!" Jesse replied, while he was warming up the engines.
Static sounds on the intercom.
"Prince Roland here. I am ready for departure."
"Good luck, my son!" King Jarray replied from his own Monarch Supreme Ship. He was already out there, ready to fight.
"Captain Norio Hikari here. Ready for the challenge."
"This is Ranger, captain of the Southern Star Sheriff team. We are all ready."
"Wayne here, Eastern group. Ready!"
"Saber Rider here, Western sector. Ready!"
"Clint from team North. Up for it!"
Jesse paged Glower and his team:
"Glower, come in!"
"We are here, trail boss! Waiting for your orders.", Glower replied.
"Trail boss? Hey, we don't know of such names here! Watch it, pard!" Colt paged back.
"Sorry... I mean... commander, I mean Captain Blue..." Glower stuttered. "The heck, you've been my commander for so long and you still are. Can't I just call you trail boss? What's wrong with it?"
"Hahaha!" Jesse was amused. "I like this."
"You are the "trail boss" to us, and you'll always be! " Annabelle added over the radio.
"Guys, call me what you want, just stay focused and do what I say. Don't go out of my orders, alright?"
"Acknowledged, trail boss!" all of his subordinates responded over the radio.
"Pheeewww...! I guess a habit remains the same, no matter if you are human, bushwacker or... fresh convert! Hahaaa..." Colt was amused. "Amigos, you stay out of trouble out there, ok?"
"We will, Colt! You keep an eye on dangers out there, too! And don't let April stay by herself anymore , OK? I don't want her to be captured like last time." Jesse replied.
"Relax, hot shot! Everything is under control!" Fireball paged back.
"I can take care of myself, Jesse!" April opened her screen and looked at Jesse in anger.
"Mmm, you look so sexy when you frown at me!" Jesse replied.
She stuck her tongue out at him, with a playful face. He blew a kiss back at her.
"Chums, this is it! We are all heading out! Let's do this!" Saber Rider announced.
"Star Sheriffs numero uno!" they all shouted.
"Head 'em up and move 'em out! Power stride and ready to ride!" Ramrod's voice announced.
The hangar's ceiling opened and each mecha took off in a different direction.
In the conference room, General White Hawk lit up a hologram of the galaxies. He started pointing out and pinning different locations:
"Folks, let's review what we discussed. This is our location now, planet Amman. We are currently the top secret location on the New Frontier and our planning here is critical. Nobody leaves this building until the mission is over. The Eastern team of Star Sheriffs, led by the skilled captain Wayne is here to protect us.
Alamo planet is under the guard of King Jarray and the Northern team of Star Sheriffs, led by Captain Clint.
And Yuma, as we discussed, will have Jesse Blue and his squadron, plus the Southern team of Star Sheriffs, led by Captain Ranger.
Every inhabited planet on the New Frontier is on alert. Our fighters are ready to go at any time.
As for the Saber Rider's team, he will be heading into the Vapor Zone. Prince Roland insisted he will join them, although King Jarray would rather much have him around. Captain Hikari will join forces with Saber Rider and together they will raid the Outrider dimension."
One of the leaders inside the room was doubtful:
"General White Hawk, what makes you think that Nemisis didn't bring the human prisoners with him in our dimension? After all, he wants a fair exchange. Caspar against the prisoners. What if Saber Rider will go to the Vapor Zone and he won't find anyone there? It might be a trap. "
"Colonel Hahn, let's analyze what Nemisis said. Here is the recorded conversation:" and White Hawk lit up the screen and replayed the last words with Nemisis: "When I will have doctor Caspar, I will bring you back the humans I'm keeping captive in my dimension." As you can see, he didn't even bother to hide the fact that he doesn't have any prisoners with him. He is promising us a pie in the sky, that somehow he will bring the captives AFTER he gets his hands on Caspar. I don't believe in after fact promises, and especially not coming from Nemisis. We will proceed with our plan. Jesse will arrive there and we will follow through as we discussed here."
On Yuma, three girls were sitting down at a cafe table, on a chic downtown street. Claudia, Robin and Sincia decided to meet up and have a little chit-chat, among girls. Now that the boys were on a mission again, they wanted to get together and share some thoughts.
"I'm glad we met today! It's such a nice sunny day. What is it, Sincia, you seem very worried." Claudia asked.
"This last call that they got was very urgent. Saber Rider left in an absolute rush. I'm really worried that this is going to be another tough battle, maybe the worst of all. I'm afraid... I don't even know where he left, he said it was top secret." Sincia whispered, with a concerned voice.
"O, don't worry, Sincia! They always have urgent calls and top secret missions. That's their job! I'm pretty relaxed." Claudia leaned back on her chair.
"I'm not relaxed, Claudia." Robin started speaking. "Ever since I met Colt, I feel this knot in my chest... Always danger, always guns... I worry about him a lot."
"Don't worry, girls. We'll all be fine." Claudia laughed.
Suddenly, sirens started zinging out loud on the streets.
"Everyone, shelter in place! Bushwacker alert, bushwacker alert! All communications with the Galaxy have been cut. We are on our own!"
"Quickly, girls, let's get to the car!" Claudia stood up and grabbed the other two girls by their hands.
"I've got my own car, Claudia, I'll drive Sincia back home," said Robin.
"No way, Robin! My car is much faster, I'll drive!" Claudia shouted.
They all arrived at Claudia's pink racer car and got in.
"Where should we go?" Sincia cried.
"I know where to hide. I'll drive there as fast as I can," said Claudia.
"Whoooow...!" the other two girls started screaming.
Claudia was racing through the streets in a frenzy:
"Buckle up, girls! We're in for a ride!"
"No wonder Fireball likes you! You're just like two drops from the same pitcher!" Robin cried.
Jesse was approaching Yuma planet, in his Ramrod I robot. April did a good job in remodeling the ship. Now, there was one saddle unit that had all the commands of the ship. The other three chairs were still in place, but their command buttons were deactivated.
"Glower, prepare for the stop and hide maneuver, at my command." Jesse announced, through their encrypted transmission.
"Roger that, trail boss!" the response came through.
"Jesse, we will wait for your sign," captain Ranger spoke.
"Acknowledged, captain Ranger! Good luck to you! Remember, look for vigilantes, they always show up in the most unexpected moment." Jesse replied.
When they reached the outskirts of the Yuma solar system, they all split apart: Jesse in Ramrod I proceeded straight ahead towards Yuma, to meet Nemisis. Captain Ranger's Star Sheriff team proceeded cautiously around the planets and turned to stealth mode. Glower's team hid behind some asteroids.
"Annabelle, come in," Glower called.
"Right here, captain," she replied.
"Stay behind me, alright?"
The big moment was approaching. The outriders had a belt of ships surrounding planet Yuma. Nemisis was in a black ship, flanked by his jet fighters. Ramrod I appeared in Nemisis's visual range. Nobody could make the difference between Ramrod I and II.
"All units, get ready!" Nemisis ordered.
Ramrod was getting closer and closer.
"So..., Star Sheriffs! I want to see that weasel of mine, Caspar!"
Jesse had a series of recorded videos. He started playing them. He sent a recording of Saber Rider speaking:
"Nemisis, we have your prisoner: here he is." Caspar's face showed up on Nemisis's screen. "And here are all your soldiers – Glower and all the others. "
"Good... I will send my ship in to take them all. Nemisis closed the intercom, then he turned towards his commanders: "This is too easy. Something is fishy here. The Star Sheriffs are giving in too fast."
"But sir, that's how they are, they care about their friends and families: they want their friends back really badly." one of his commanders replied.
"Don't be naive, they know what they are doing and they lost their trust in us. They might be hiding them somewhere else and they just want to lead us on. Prepare the renegade! Alert commander Patch to be in position at Alamo. If they don't give us what we want, we'll give them hell. Let's test them a little bit."
He opened the intercom with Ramrod again: "So, Caspar, how is it like to be a human now?"
Jesse had an answer for that too. He had a voice simulator. He started talking, while the simulator was transforming his voice into Caspar's voice: "It's great, Nemisis. I'm better as a human. You should try it too."
"Are you mocking me now? How dare you?"
"No kidding, Nemisis, Humans are much better than Outriders. "
"Aargh! Let me see your face while you speak!" Nemisis grouched. He somehow realized that they were poking fun at him, although he couldn't understand human humor.
Well, for that, Jesse didn't have a solution. So he decided not to answer at all.
"Silence, ah? So you don't want to show your face, Caspar? Star Sheriffs, what games are you playing? Let's see how you respond to MY games! Haha!"
Suddenly, an fleet of Outrider ships descended towards the Yuma planet.
"Let's see what you'll do now, lousy humans!"
The ships started throwing down missiles. Yuma responded with its own fleet of defense.
Jesse started simulating Saber Rider's voice, while he was piloting Ramrod closer and closer to the black outrider ship:
"Let's do the prisoner exchange and let's get over with this!"
Nemisis: "Pitiful humans! Too late for that! I will take over your Ramrod once and for all! You are mine!"
A giant Renegade unit arose from behind his black ship. It was a ninja renegade, playing in space with a massive nunchaku.
"Wow, looks like we are going to have a lot of fun tonight", Jesse told himself, while he pushed the Ramrod transformer button.
"Ramrod will now take navigational control"... The ship turned into the giant cowboy and dodged a hit from the outrider mecha. "What a sleek transformation. Good job on Ramrod, April!", Jesse was content.
"I guess you guys forgot who you're talking to! I'm the best karate fighter on the New Frontier! Let's see how you take this!" and he swirled the Ramrod around and kicked a giant foot into the renegade's face.
"Fire at will!" Nemisis shouted while piloting his ship towards Ramrod. "My scanners show only one person inside your cockpit! You did not bring me Caspar and you will pay for this! That was a foolish decision! Whoever you are inside there, you made a very, very bad move!"
Shots and hits started coming towards Ramrod. Now Jesse had to defeat both the Renegade unit and Nemisis's ship. It was time for the next step of the plan. Jesse paged the rest of his allies.
The ninja Renegade was flipping the nunchaku weapon closer and closer to Ramrod. Suddenly, another mecha showed up from behind. It was Captain Ranger's unit. He opened the communication with Jesse:
"Needed some help, amigo?"
"Never refusing it, man! Let's beat up some vapor bags!"
"Aargh, so you do have more teams around! Let's see how you deal with my Vigilantes now!" shouted Nemisis.
Another group of fighters showed up in the skies above Yuma. The vigilantes started attacking the Star Sheriffs. Little did they know that Glower and his team were right behind them.
"Take this from us, Nemisis!" Glower shouted while shooting at the vigilantes.
"Good timing, Glower, let's kick some ass!" Jesse paged them. Then he turned to Ranger: "I'll take care of this nasty Renegade."
"Right! I'll make sure to send Nemisis to scrap!"
Nemisis was putting up a fierce fight. His ship turned into a giant robot also and started hitting the Star Sheriffs. The ninja robot threw itself over Ramrod and they started falling down towards planet Yuma.
"Aaargh!" Jesse was screaming. "You're not going to win! I'm better than you!" They landed in the desert next to the Yuma city. A sudden hit came from the nunchaku. Ramrod fell down. The Renegade came raising a gun over Jesse's robot. Ramrod gave it a foot and made it trip. In the split of a second, Ramrod took the nunchaku weapon and hit the Renegade in the head. The mecha exploded in pieces, making a big blast in the sky.
Far in the distance, in the desert, some Moai heads were standing up against the sun. Jesse flew towards them.
Inside the Yuma city, the three girls were racing to get to shelter.
"Where are we going?" Robin shouted.
"I have to get to my dad!" Claudia yelled.
Out of the blue sky, ships started coming. Outriders started shooting above them. Debris and bricks from buildings started falling over. The girls were terrified. Claudia thought to herself: "I have to be brave, just like when I'm doing the races. Fireball taught me so." She raced as fast as she could through the streets, among other cars. The other two girls were screaming their lungs out in fear, while she was piloting her racer left and right.
They managed to get out of the congested traffic inside the city and Claudia pushed the gas harder on a clear road. She tried calling her father. The lines were down. All satellite communications were cut off around the planet.
Suddenly, above them, an outrider jet appeared.
"This is it..." Sincia whispered.
Fire from the sky was falling above them. Claudia started moving the car left and right, to avoid the hits.
"Hang tight, girls!"
The ship was getting closer and closer. Its shadow was getting bigger and bigger over Claudia's car. The Yuma desert started showing up in front of them.
"There is nowhere to hide there! Turn around, Claudia!" Robin yelled.
"I know, but this thing is chasing me, I can't change course!"
All of a sudden, another ship came from behind. A red haired girl was piloting it. That was Annabelle. She started firing at the outrider ship. A few more blasts and the ship fell to the ground in a big boom. Claudia stopped the car.
Annabelle landed next to them: "Are you alright, girls?"
"Thank you!... Yes... we are...!" Claudia sighed in relief, hugging her friends, Robin and Sincia.
"Better run to a shelter, it's not safe for you out here." Annabelle continued.
"Right, let's go get your father and hide away," Robin turned to Claudia.
"Hey, I've seen you before! Aren't you the girls I met when we all landed on Yuma? You are Fireball's girlfriend! And you must be Colt's friend! And you were up in the sky with Saber Rider!"
Sincia blushed.
"Yes, we are those girls." Claudia replied. "Look, there is Ramrod! Let's go see what's going on with our friends!" and she pushed the gas pedal to go greet them.
"Stop, girls, it's not them in there! Hey, stop!" Annabelle tried to warn them.
Inside Annabelle's cockpit, Glower's voice called over the radio:
"Where are you, Annabelle? Report back!"
"Oooh, girls, too late to go after you now. I have to go back", whispered Annabelle. She rushed to her ship and took off, to Yuma city.
Claudia's fast car was already approaching Ramrod. Jesse parked it next to a boulder, while he went to check the Moai heads in the distance.. In the blinding light of the hot day, his silhouette disappeared behind one of the big stones.
"Claudia, it's dangerous out here, let's let the guys do their job," Sincia tried to persuade her friend.
"What if they are injured? They might need our help! Look, the hatch is open, let's go inside!" Robin was feeling a little more brave this time.
The three girls ran up the ramp and entered Ramrod.
Up in the stratosphere, Nemisis was fighting hard with Ranger and his Star Sheriffs.
Jesse walked around the group of Moai heads. "Won't you look at that! The same heads that were on the Outrider planet are also here. I wonder if they are connected somehow... Maybe Erkanos was right. At the right moment, we might find the key to unlock the mystery around our two civilizations."
He walked around them again, holding his chin.
"Wait a minute! Did I just say... THE KEY?" and he looked down at his own pendant, hanging at his neck. He took it out and removed the coin from the setting in which it was encased.
"Where should it go now...?"
He started walking around all the statues. There were all sorts of geometric shapes written on their backs. But only one statue, the central one, had a circle, right in the middle of its back. Jesse pushed the coin into the round socket. He felt a click under his fingers... and in an instant, all the statues started making a shuffle sound. Jesse stood aside and watched the scene unravel.
First, the eyes of the statues lit up... Rays of light started coming out... A show of lights was happening... But then slowly the rays intersected and an image started forming into a dome-shaped hologram, above the ground, in front of the Moai row of stones.
"It's a map! But what map is this?" Jesse was amazed. "I don't recognize any of these constellations! It's a different dimension! Is there a … THIRD dimension out there? I'd better take a picture of this!" He put his helmet on and started filming the map, with the mini-camera mounted on his helmet viewer. "Where is this, how do I get there?"
Out of a sudden, as if someone was reading his mind, a strong red laser light jutted out of the central Moai head and pierced the skies deep into the abyss.
"It points to the direction where I need to go! That's it!"
He ran as fast as he could to Ramrod.
Nemisis showed up from above. He saw the big red laser coming from Yuma and he wanted to know what that was: "A-ha! So that's where the lasers come from! You have Moai heads on your planet too... Interesting... Let's drop some shells on them!"
Suddenly, Nemisis realized that Jesse was there, running towards Ramrod. "So it was you inside Ramrod all the time! Jesse Blue...You are going nowhere!" Nemisis's ship started shooting at him. A big blast blocked his way to Ramrod.
"Take it easy, Nemisis! You ain't going to get away so soon!" Ranger's team kicked Nemisis's mecha from behind. "Run Jesse, we've got you covered!"
Jesse activated his jet pack and flew as fast as he could to Ramrod.
"Don't let him shoot at the Moai heads!" Jesse shouted at his peers.
He got into his ship and ran up to the control room. He pulled up the lever and took off, leaving a big cloud of dust behind.
"Take this from me, Nemisis!" and he started blasting back at the evil outrider leader.
Nemisis was circled. Ranger was hitting him hard and Jesse was launching torpedoes at him. His ship spiraled down into the ground. A big explosion followed, throwing a lot of sand and fire up into the air.
Among the ashes, the cyborg body of Nemisis stood up.
"You haven't seen the last of me! I am Nemisis! I am much much more than this body! Planet Alamo is next and it's too late for you to stop it! My commanders are already there! Say goodbye to Cavalry Command and your friends at Alamo!"
"You are so predictable, Nemisis! You think we don't know your moves? Game over, big fella'!" shouted one of the Star Sheriffs from his cockpit.
Another blast and the dark cyborg fell down. Above them, the Vigilantes were also circled by Glower's squadron.
"I have to follow this laser path! Guys, we won this one on Yuma! Keep it safe! Glower, take your team and help rescue survivors at Yuma!"
"Roger that, trail boss! Safe trip! Come back, alright?" Glower responded.
"Jesse, you know you are on your own out there, right?" Ranger asked.
"Don't worry, man. I'm up for anything!" and Jesse took off. The red laser was still pointing up into the sky.
"Ramrod calculating path... Coordinates set... ready to go!" Ramrod's voice announced inside Jesse's cabin.
"To a new dimension!" Jesse shouted.
On Planet Alamo, King Jarray's royal ship was defending a heavy attack from the Outriders. Commander Patch was leading the offensive. He came with a very destructive renegade unit, which he called "The Ripper". The Star Sheriffs under the command of Captain Clint were fighting side by side with King Jarray.
"Some other Star Sheriffs? Who are you, fleshlings? I haven't seen this robot of yours before."
"Surprised, Patch? Oh, don't cry, I know you miss Saber Rider's iron fist, but guess what? We have lots and lots of surprises for you, too!" and the Star Sheriffs pulled a giant spear and threw it at the renegade.
Patch skillfully avoided the spear's trajectory. "Haha, you don't get me that easily, fleshy creature! Take this from me!" and he replied by slashing a bayonet at his opponent.
King Jarray fired at the renegade's arm. The bayonet fell and the Star Sheriffs threw a fist towards the renegade's head. The giant robot lost balance and fell. Patch gnashed his teeth in anger.
"Patch, come in!" Nemisis's voice called through their radio com.
"Nemisis! You came to save me!" Patch replied.
Nemisis, in his dark, angry voice: "No, you idiot, I need you in the vapor zone! Leave Alamo and come at once to the base. Saber Rider tricked us! He is in the vapor zone now and we are in deep trouble! Report back as soon as possible!"
Patch: "I'm afraid I'm kind of busy now, Nemisis! Sorry I can't help you! Aaaargh!" His ship had just lost a limb. Clint's mecha was using Patch's own weapon, the bayonet, to slay into his "Ripper".
"Looser! I guess I'll see you in my vapor chamber!" Nemisis replied in dismay.
"Woaaahhh... Bail out time!" Patch gave up and vaporized. His mecha exploded, seconds after.
"There you go, beat the vapor trail, drifter!" exclaimed Clint.
"Good job, Star Sheriffs!" King Jarray congratulated everyone.
"Whaaat? This is not a new coordinate! This is the …. VAPOR TRAIL!" Jesse exclaimed in a big worried face. The red laser beam was sending Jesse directly in the vapor zone. "Maybe this is how it should be! The Moai heads are communicating with each other... I'm coming to help you, April!"
Suddenly, he heard sounds coming from behind him. A female voice was sobbing...
He jumped out of his seat and pulled his blaster. A few steps and he reached to the source of the sounds.
"Jesse, don't shoot!" Claudia opened her palms in a defense gesture.
"Claudia? What in the Universe are you doing here?" Jesse was taken by surprise. He recognized her... from their previous... less fortunate encounter, when he was still under the virus influence.
"We thought the Star Sheriffs were in here!" Robin showed up from behind Claudia.
"Oh boy..." sighed Jesse. "What am I going to do with you now?"
Lying on the floor, in the back of that little control room next to Ramrod's cockpit, Sincia was sobbing. During the take off, Ramrod made some abrupt moves that threw the girls around. They were not expecting the ship to take off like that. Sincia's ankle was injured.
"Are you hurt, ma'am?" Jesse asked. He didn't know her or Robin, he had never met them before. But the girls knew who Jesse was; his face had been on all the "Wanted" posters across the New Frontier.
Sincia gasped and tried to retreat. Jesse put his gun away and extended his hand to help her.
Sincia: "Please don't hurt us..."
He looked at the three girls... They all had frightened faces.
Jesse: "Hey, don't be afraid, I'm with the Cavalry Command."
Moment of silence...
Robin: "I told you, girls, he is back, just like April said. He has recovered from that virus they were talking about."
Jesse: "So, you know who I am, too."
Sincia, with a trembling voice: "Everybody knows who Jesse Blue is..."
Jesse, with a flustered smile: "I'm not THAT Jesse anymore. Come one, let me help you, you're supposed to buckle up during flight. You girls can sit in the cockpit with me, there are three more chairs there."
They helped Sincia lift up and take a seat in one of the saddle units.
"Here, let's wrap this around your ankle." Jesse brought a bandage and helped Sincia.
"Dimensional jump approaching in 2 minutes." the voice of Ramrod announced in the room.
Jesse gasped: "Ohhh, rats! Too late to turn around and bring you back to Yuma! If I slow down now and try to turn around, the gravitation will still pull us into the wormhole, and it might be actually dangerous, we could get lost inside there and never come back. We have to keep moving."
Robin's eyes got bigger: "Did you just say wormhole?"
Claudia: "Yeah, I heard "dimensional jump", right?"
Sincia: "Oh dear God, where are we going?"
"Some place new..." sighed Jesse. He didn't know how to explain to the girls that they were actually going to... the Outrider dimension!
He was never put in a situation like this. Having to take care of three vulnerable girls in a crucial adventure of his life.
J: "Buckle up, girls, roller-coaster approaching!"
Everyone sat in their chairs, waiting for the big moment.
"Dimensional jump in 3 – 2 – 1 seconds!" Ramrod announced.
"Whoooowww! Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" screams of terror from the girls.
"What's your name?" Jesse shouted to Sincia, trying to soothe her shock. Ramrod was accelerating into the wormhole.
S: "I'm... aaaauch! I'm Sincia!"
J: "Nice to meet you, Sincia! You must be Saber Rider's girlfriend, right?"
S: "I am! How do you … know that?"
J: "You look like you're his kind of girl!"
The ship was moving fast into a whirl of lights inside the wormhole. The whole experience was like falling into an abyss with the speed of light.
J: "And you must be Colt's significant other, right?"
Robin glanced at him in absolute terror. Her face expression was petrified. She always thought roller-coasters were the most abominable thing ever invented and she would have never ever climbed into one. And this thing, this... dimensional jump... was just about the worst roller coaster ever...! ever...! in existence.
Jesse continued, trying to make her calm down: "Close your eyes, ma'am. Breathe in, now exhale! Now, tell me again, what's your name?"
R: "I'm... oh boy, I don't know my name anymore! Whoaaaahhh!" the ship was shaking from the pressure outside.
J: "I guess I'll have to find out from Colt, then," he tried to joke.
Out of a sudden, the roller-coaster trip ended. They were in the vapor zone now.
"I'm Robin..." she finished her sentence.
"Nice to meet you..." he turned a smily face "...Robin."
Then he added: "I guess Colt will have to learn that you don't like roller-coasters!"
"You guys like only dangers. I don't understand how that works for you, but it's a fact," she crossed her arms and threw a grumpy look.
"Oh, you can't change us, that's for sure!" Jesse laughed.
Claudia was all a smile: "This was fun!"
"You didn't scream a bit." noticed Jesse. "Did Fireball give you any lessons into jumping dimensions?"
"My father taught me car racing! Speed is my thing!" she announced proudly.
"Where are we now?" asked Sincia with an innocent look.
"Um... it's called... uh... vapor zone," Jesse replied hesitantly.
"VAPOR ZONE? You took us to the vapor zone?" Robin was outraged.
Jesse: "Hey, relax, ma'am, I didn't know you were hiding in my ship; do you think I did this on purpose?"
"We weren't hiding in here, we came looking for our friends!" Robin exclaimed.
Jesse rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to start a tense conversation with them. He had just gained Colt's trust, he definitely didn't want to lose Robin's. That could have turned into a "diplomatic" disaster.
Suddenly, a shower of blasts from a squadron of Vigilantes came upon Ramrod.
"Look out!" shouted Sincia.
"I'm lookin'... out..." mumbled Jesse. ("Calm down, ladies, I got this!" he thought to himself).
He started blasting back at the Outrider speed-jets. He managed to cut his way through a carpet of Vigilantes and advanced his way deeper into the vapor zone.
The Vigilantes were following them. Jesse started maneuvering the ship among asteroids, just to avoid the attacks.
Jesse: "Hang tight, girls!"
"I think I need a strong drink after this!" shouted Robin.
"If there is an AFTER this!" replied Sincia.
From behind a red planet, a giant shadow appeared. It was another renegade unit, three times bigger than his own robot... Behind him, the Vigilantes were getting closer and closer...
"Oh, man... I think I can beat this, but I might shake these girls too hard. The Star Sheriffs will hate me for this." Jesse said to himself.
"Ladies, do you mind if I start another fight...?"
"Do we have any choice...?" Claudia looked at him in desperation.
Will Jesse be able to overcome this new challenge? Where are Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs? Did they survive in the vapor zone? We'll find out in our next episode! A big surprise awaits, so stay tuned!
