Episode 62

The Road to Freedom

There was an awkward silence inside Ramrod, while they were heading to the Vapor Zone. All four Star Sheriffs were sunk deep in their own thoughts. One could feel the pressure of this new and very serious mission they had. As always, Colt was the one who could not keep his mouth shut for too long:

"So, I'm still curious, April, who started first?..." Colt turned a smiley face.

"Started... what?" she was hesitant.

"You know..., well... you know what I'm talking about..." he winked at her, while scratching his head in abashment.

"As a matter of fact, I don't have a clue what you want to ask me, Colt," she tried to pretend she didn't get it. Her cheeks were as red as roses.

"He wants to ask you if you kissed Jesse first, or if he made the first move," explained Saber Rider, sniggering.

"You guys have been talking behind my back again? Don't you have better things to think about?" she tried to hide her blush.

"Well, you know how these guys are, nosy as ever!" Fireball crossed his arms on his chest and pretended he wasn't interested in the conversation. But he was still kind of jealous... and very eager to find out, too!

"You know what they say: curiosity killed the cat!" she turned the tables on them.

All three guys sighed in disappointment. She excused herself and left the room to freshen up. She locked herself in her little bedroom and exhaled in relief. These guys were too straightforward with her. She didn't expect them to be so intrusive into her personal life.

Now that April was not around, the guys started a little gossip:

"I think she kissed him first," declared Colt. Let's bet on this, guys! Who's in?

"Nah, I think it was consensual," Saber Rider opposed. "What about you, Fireball?"

He frowned: "I don't want to talk about this, but if you really want my honest opinion, I bet Jesse forced her and she had no other option. But I don't think she'll ever admit to that."

After a few minutes, she came back and sat in her chair.

Colt was still fidgeting in curiosity: "Beating around the bush, April?"

Saber Rider and Fireball were all abashed. They were covering their faces with one hand.

"Let it go, Colt..." Saber Rider mumbled.

"Ugh," she sighed. "I was the one to kiss him. Alright? Do you want a more detailed description, Colt? Let's focus on our mission guys. The wormhole is approaching."

"I knew it!" Colt exclaimed. "I won the bet! But wait, what's the bet prize? We forgot about that. Ugh..."

"You guys put bets on this?! Oh, you... are hopeless cases!" April was madly amused.

"Prepare for dimensional jump", Ramrod's voice announced.

They were soon in the vapor zone.

"Kinda' quiet around here, don't you think, Top Sword?"

"Yeah, I think they all hit the road for our dimension." Saber Rider noticed.

"Don't be so sure, they might come out of nowhere!" Fireball was skeptical.

"Until then, let's follow the plan," Saber Rider took his job seriously. He opened the channel with Prince Roland and Capt. Hikari. "Prince Roland, are you ready for our next step?"

"Ready as always! Let's defeat the enemy in his own court!" the Prince responded.

"Captain Hikari, good luck to you!" Saber Rider spoke.

"Good luck to you, too, boys! We'll beat the wranglers once and for all!" Hikari replied with confidence.

"Watch out, dad! Don't want to lose you again!" Fireball was worried.

"You won't, son. Let's do this!"

The three ships split up. Ramrod headed towards the Therrium planet. The planet was named after the precious material called therrium, which was used by the Outriders as their energy source.

Captain Hikari left off for Planet Grunge, which, according to Dr Caspar's recounts, was a huge manufacturing plant for their outrageously destructive Renegade units. Hikari had a recon mission assigned there.

Prince Roland was also on a recon mission, for another planet, called Rammel. There, Outriders were making their wrangler ships and quick attack jets.


On planet Yuma, one parent was in serious panic attack. All the people in Yuma city were celebrating the defeat of the outrider attack, except Mario Firenza. He drove up to where all the people were gathered downtown. Soldiers were parading along the streets. Communications were re-established. People were cheering on the streets. Mario was desperately trying to call his daughter. No answer whatsoever. He arrived close to a group of soldiers and started asking around:

"Gentlemen, I believe my daughter is missing, I need your help!"

A soldier turned around: "Well, there is a big crowd on the street, she might be in there, I think you should calm down and wait for all this parade to end. I'm sure you'll find her."

Mario: "She is not answering her phone, something is wrong..."

"It's loud here, she might not hear it, sir. Or maybe the battery is down. Other people were also separated and look, now they found each other," and he pointed out to other people on the street, hugging each other in happiness.

"Please, sir, can you page your superiors? Tell them it's Mario Firenza... and it's urgent..." he was trying to convince the soldier.

"Oh, are you the famous car racer? Sorry, sir, I didn't recognize you! I'll page the Command center." He dialed quickly on his radio. "Sir, yes, I have a civilian here, Mario Firenza, our champion racer. He is looking for his daughter."

After a few minutes, his superior paged him back. Mario's heart was beating to break his chest.

"Sir, they said that one of our pilots saw her earlier today."

"Where? How is she?" Mario jumped. "The desert? I'm going right now!"

He rushed out of the city and sped up on the desert road. Far in the distance, a pink car was parked on a sand dune. There was smoke coming out of a big pile of metal and debris, about a hundred feet away.

The area was surrounded by tape and a group of soldiers were guarding the area.

"Sir, you are not authorized to enter here," one officer met him.

"But that is my daughter's car! Where is she? Can I see her, is she alright?"

"Your daughter? You must be Claudia's father, Mr Firenza! Sir, your daughter apparently embarked on one of our ships, thinking that Fireball was in it. She was accompanied by two other young ladies, Saber Rider's girlfriend and Colt's girlfriend. We tried to contact the pilot, but he was already too far away when we realized it. He left off for a different dimension, apparently."

"Another dimension? What is she thinking? Ohhh, Claudia, you always manage to get yourself into trouble!" Mario was crushed. He fell on his knees and started crying like a child.

The Cavalry Command was on alert about this situation. Commander Eagle was ready to send a rescue mission. General WhiteHawk opposed:

WH: "We are complicating the plan. We don't want more people involved. We don't even know where Jesse is now. We'll just have to take our chances on this one."

Eagle: "But General, these three girls are civilians, they are not trained in any way to survive in a war zone, they might get injured inside the ship, during maneuvering, take off and so on... Who knows where Jesse is now and what dangers are out there. We don't know where those Moai heads were pointing and the lasers went off shortly after his departure."

WH: "Commander, I am very aware of that. But I trust my former cadet. He was the best in many generations at our academy. I believe Jesse will be very careful."

Eagle: "Careful? He blatantly disregarded our orders and left off for an unknown dimension, although he was not assigned any mission there. His mission on Yuma was over. He defeated Nemisis. He should have returned to base, not wander away! He is using Ramrod I as a... recreational vehicle now, for... who knows what mystery he wants to solve. Is that a disciplined soldier? That virus might have done more damage on him than we thought!"

WH: "He has always been kind of like that, Commander. More of a maverick type."

Eagle: "And you approved of such behavior in the Academy?"

WH: "We didn't, and we always tried to tone him down, but he was darn good at all classes and always got the best grades. Commander, my judgement here is to let Jesse pursue this opportunity. Whatever the Moai stones are indicating, it might be a major discovery. "

Eagle: "With all do respect, sir. I believe you are giving him too much credit. I think he should have returned to the base. And Captain Ranger covered up for him, so he should be held responsible too."

Eagle left the room in anger. White Hawk was disturbed. He didn't expect Eagle to be that adamant about this situation. Although... he was kind of... right. What are they going to tell Mr Firenza now...? And Robin's family? And Sincia's?... A huge responsibility was weighing down on his shoulders now. But then again, this was totally an out of control incident, and it was not Jesse who provoked it. The girls shouldn't have stuck their noses where it wasn't their business.


"There it is!... The Therrium Planet!" April stood up from her seat and looked out the windshield.

"Looks funky to me!" Colt exclaimed.

"More like a giant black potato," Fireball was amused.

"Ugly as a big boulder," Saber Rider added. "Caspar gave us the exact coordinates, indeed. Chums, I will go in there and send the nano-drones. Follow my directions, alright?"

"Gotcha', Top Sword!" replied his team.

Saber Rider took off on Steed, while Ramrod made a sharp turn and ventured around the planet to investigate more.

"I've got to be silent as a sneaking cat..." Saber Rider thought to himself, while landing his robotic horse behind some hills. He turned on his jet pack and flew behind a dark blue building. "Hm.., even the soil here is black like the therrium material. I guess it's all about therrium here. These wranglers were hiding it all for themselves."

There were a couple of guards walking around the entrance of the building.

"Let's distract their attention..." Saber Rider said. He activated one of the nano-drones (it was a tiny insect-like robot, equipped with a camera and sending out videos and images to Saber Rider's own helmet and to Ramrod. The bug started going around the Outrider guards, buzzing in their face and in their ears.

"Hey, get off of me, yuck..." the guard started making dumb faces and waving his hand in the air to catch the bug.

"I'll catch it!" the other guard jumped in.

The bug took off around a corner of the building.

"Hey, where are you going?" they both started running after it.

This planet was so desolate and empty, that any minor little entertainment was an enormous distraction for the Outriders. They just could not resist running after the bug.

"Guys, I'm in!" Saber Rider announced his friends.

"We hear you, Saber Rider. Send us the maps and locations."

Saber Rider flew inside the building and hid behind a corner. Some Outriders were walking down a corridor. He released another nano-drone, this time a silent one, that was flying low to the ground, right behind the soldiers. "That's it, my friend. Go scout the area."

The soldiers opened a sliding door and entered another hallway. Images from the drone started coming in.

Saber Rider ran down another hallway and released more nano-drones.

In a matter of minutes, the drones started sending out images and mapping out the area.

"There they are!" April exclaimed. "The workers! We found them! Zoom in, Fireball, let's see if they are Humans or Outriders."

One of the drones managed to get inside one of the lower chambers of the therrium mine. It was the extraction site. It was a huge underground chamber, with large pillars sustaining the big ceiling and lots of little compartments and corridors shooting off of it. Stairs and decks all around, connecting the different levels. People everywhere, drilling and carrying wheelbarrows with raw material. Some Outriders, wearing brown uniforms, were watching over them.

"The workers have rounded ears. And their skin is not bluish! I think we hit the jackpot, Top Sword!"

"I can see it, too," confirmed Saber Rider, who had mini images projecting on his helmet visor. "April, can you compose a map out of all the data?"

"Sure can, Saber Rider," she replied. "It looks like there are two entrances. We can ambush them."

"Right! Fireball, bring Ramrod close. I'll meet you at the west wing. April, you and Colt take the east entrance."

Ramrod turned to stealth mode and landed somewhere close to Steed.

"Not exactly a playground, huh?" Colt was commenting, while he and April were sneaking into the mine. The two guards were still distracted out there somewhere, chasing the bug.

"Looks very creepy to me," said April.

"Stop, someone's comin'," said Colt.

Another guard passed through a hallway. Colt and April sneaked behind him. They followed the maps and arrived at the mine entrance, after rushing through several corridors and going down some stairs.

"Oh, no, the entrance uses some sort of biometrical device in order to open it," April sighed.

"Let's blast the door!" Colt offered.

"No, we have to be quiet, these prisoners depend on us," April opposed.

Meanwhile, Saber Rider and Fireball were infiltrating west wing.

"Let's follow this path, it's shorter." said Saber Rider.

"Right. That way we'll avoid being seen, also. "

Suddenly, an Outrider jumped out of nowhere:

"Star Sheriffs! Who invited you here!"

"No one! But I guess you never come invited to our dimension either! So we're square!" Saber Rider kicked him.

By this time, the sound attracted more soldiers.

"We've been tracked. Repeat, we've been discovered. Are you there, April?"

"We're here, Fireball" she replied. "Did you find the prisoners?"

"Not yet, but we will, after we fight off these vapor bags!"

"Watch out, guys!" April shouted.

"Hurry up, April, get those humans out of there fast, I don't know how much time we can buy, more Outriders coming!" shouted Fireball, while April could hear the sounds of blasters in her helmet, coming from Fireball.

"Then I say we go for the loud solution here, too!" exclaimed Colt, while he pulled out his blaster and shot at the door lock.

A big explosion... then Colt kicked the door with his foot and both him and April stood aside, waiting for the outriders to show up. And there they were, fierce and angry. April and Colt were ready for them. One by one, they were falling down. And... because they were in their own dimension, they were all turning to humans... A pile of disoriented humans formed in front of the entrance. April helped them stand up and asked one, who seemed to be their leader:

"How many humans are here?"

"A... about a thousand... ma'am..."

"Whoop-de-do!" Colt yelled. "A thousand? How are we going to transport so many inside Ramrod?"

"I... I have a big ship that can take them..." the newly humanized Outrider explained.

"What?..." April gasped.

"We were just going to make a shipment of processed therrium to Planet Grunge, to fuel a new Renegade unit. But we can use it to take the humans instead."

"Right, let's go, help me bring all the humans out of here!" April demanded, while jumping inside the mine to help Colt fight more Outriders.

"Nemisis, we've been attacked. Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs are here! Were are screwed!" one Outrider officer paged Nemisis.

"Am I interrupting a great conversation?..." April showed out of nowhere and blasted the Outrider. He fell on the floor and turned human. He rushed to run out of the room, but Colt stopped him and pushed him back:

"You'd better do what we say now!"

"Oh... I will, whatever you say, man! Don't hurt me, please!" He was so disoriented he couldn't even hold his posture.

More Outriders kept coming out of the mine. Some were running away, trying to escape to the ships. Some were fighting, but to no avail. Colt was the best sharpshooter. April started evacuating the humans out. "Quickly, people, let's go!"

The humans were all rushing towards a big ship. It was a fuel cargo ship. All the barrels were waiting outside to be embarked. But now instead of the barrels, humans themselves were getting on it.

"April, we are in. What's your status?" Saber Rider asked, while gunshots were being heard everywhere.

"We started evacuating, Saber Rider. There are about a thousand people here! There is a big cargo ship behind the entrance, that can hold all of them in."

"Right! We'll direct them to the cargo ship!"

"Oh, and one more thing, Saber: I think Nemisis was informed we are here... I heard one outrider sending a message to their supreme Trail Boss," said April.

"Not good! We've got to rush!" Saber Rider shouted.

After a few more minutes, everyone was inside the transport ship. April was still scouting all the corners of the mine to find more people left behind. She was shouting inside the mine: "People, everyone out, you are free! Let's go!" Suddenly, she saw a move behind a pole.

"Who's there? Come on out, whoever you are!" she went towards the pole with her gun out.

In an instant, a kid jumped out from behind the pole and ran towards the inside of the mine.

"Hey, come here! Come on out!"

The kid was so scared, that he was desperately running away from her. April ran quickly and caught his hand.

"Hey, come with us, we have to rush! It's dangerous in here, you can't stay here anymore!"

"Leave me alone! Let me go!" he screamed, trying to escape from her clasp.

April leaned forward: "What's your name?"

He was not answering. Instead, he was looking in terror at her right hand. She was still holding her gun.

"You're just one of them!" he screamed.

"No! I'm not!" and she put her gun away. "Look, see, I have round ears, like you! We just beat up the bad boys. Now you are with humans, like yourself! Let's go, we have a big plane to catch!"

The kid's distrust was slowly fading away. He liked airplanes, so he followed her.

"What's your name?" she asked him while they were running to the exit.

"I'm Jason. What's yours?"

"I'm April. I'm a Star Sheriff. Where are your parents?"

"Far away, back home, on Durango. Outriders took me when they attacked us."

"Quick, let's run, fast!" Colt lifted the boy up.

"Will you take me back to my parents?" Jason asked.

"Right, little buckaroo, you'll be home in no time!" answered Colt. "Now, hurry up, you're making all these people wait for you!"

Behind Colt, an Outrider showed up out of nowhere. The kid saw him and screamed at Colt:

"Look out!"

Colt turned around and shot him in the split of a second.

"Yay!" The kid exclaimed, while the Outrider turned into a human and fell down. April lifted him up: "Now you go with us!" and she pushed him inside the cargo ship, along with everyone else.

"Let's go up here, alright?" Colt tried to put the kid in the cargo room, along with all the other humans.

"No, I wanna come with you, I wanna pilot the ship!" the boy kicked and started screaming.

"Alright, but you gotta promise me you won't scream anymore," April intervened.

Colt, the little boy and April ran up into the command room of the transport ship. There, the former outrider leader was waiting for them, with the engines ready for take-off.

"What's your status, chums?" Saber Rider asked through his radio.

"Ready for departure, sir!" Colt responded, as he sat in his pilot seat.

"All engines on, destination planet Grunge," announced Fireball.

"This puppy is very maneuverable!" Colt was excited about the big cargo starship he was piloting. "These Outriders are not that stupid after all. They can engineer really cool stuff."

The former outrider leader next to him nodded, then he said:

"Right. But now it's time to use them for a peaceful purpose."

"Phew, I never knew you guys can turn into good people just with the click of a gun! I like this!" Colt was very content. Then he pushed the throttle lever. The ship lifted up from the ground very fast.

"Now don't get too acrobatic about it, Colt! There are humans inside this ship, you don't want to scramble them inside there, do you?" April was seriously admonishing Colt.

"I'll be as gentle as a little lamb, ma'am!"

"Yay! Let's go, Star Sheriffs", exclaimed little Jason.


"I have to stay hidden until the Star Sheriffs come. I can do this," Hikari told himself while he was hiding inside his ship behind some hills. "Won't you look at this..." he was watching something on his computer screen.

Hikari was also equipped with nano-drones, which he had just used to map out the entire area. He was looking at the film and realized he had just discovered all the locations where the prisoners were being held.

"Well, well, you nasty Nemisis, you are sedating the rebels and keeping them in containment rooms. We'll show you hell. Soon!" Hikari said to himself.

"Captain Hikari, this is Saber Rider, please come in."

"Saber Rider, I'm here. Mission accomplished. Sending you the maps."

"Acknowledged, Captain. I'm receiving the files right now."

Suddenly, the transmission got interrupted. Saber Rider was baffled. He received only half of the map file.

"Guys, we have to watch out, these guys are out there, they spotted us."

"Aargh!" Fireball yelled. Ramrod was just given a thrust from behind.

"Hello, old friends!" Grimace's face popped up on their screens. "We were waiting for you!"

Grimace was piloting a big fighter jet.

"Top Sword, it's the two of us now, let's show this dude what we can do!" Fireball shouted.

"Right!"

Ramrod started looping up into the sky, to avoid Grimace's ship.

"Oooh, I'm getting dizzy here..." Grimace was annoyed. Ramrod was gyrating around him and he was trying to follow their moves. "Whoooah!" suddenly Ramrod was behind him, shooting. He didn't have time to react. His ship got blasted and spiraled down towards the planet.

Down on the ground, Outrider troops were already detached, waiting for combat.

"Did you receive my maps?" Hikari came back.

"We'll have to try again, Captain. Only half of the file came through. We're getting closer, I'll let Colt and April know where to land safely," Saber Rider responded.

"Wait, they are not with you?" Hikari asked.

"No, they went with a cargo ship, they took all the humans there. More space than inside Ramrod. They are hiding behind the asteroid belt, and they will land here as soon as we neutralize the enemy."

"Smart thinking, guys. We have to keep the humans safe," said Hikari.

"Alright, file download complete," acknowledged Saber Rider.

"Quick briefing, Saber Rider: they increased the number of troops twofold since I started monitoring the area. They must have sensed we are in their dimension," Hikari responded.

"Yes, indeed, they sent out word to Nemisis." Fireball said.

"Apparently, they are not very well equipped here, they probably sent all their heavy duty weaponry to our dimension. Defense here is pretty shallow. Let's show them a real Star Sheriff ambush!" Saber Rider added, while looking at the images he had just received. .

Ramrod headed down into the planet's atmosphere. In the meantime, Grimace managed to eject himself from his falling ship and activated his jet pack to run into a control room inside his underground command base. Commander Patch was already there, watching desperately all the developments.

"Patch, we're fried! These guys are out to get us!" Grimace muttered.

"Big news, small-brains! Like I don't know!" Patch replied glumly.

The ominous voice of Nemisis came through their comm-link: "You slackers, what did you do? Patch, I told you to protect my Therrium planet! Why are you on Planet Grunge? And you, Grimace, lousy worthless worm..., you'd better get your act together and fight the Star Sheriffs! "

"Sorry, sir, but I thought you wanted me to work on the Caterpillar Renegade..." said Patch. "We just reconditioned it and we just sent it to the wormhole exit, to guard it. It will be waiting for the Star Sheriffs there, when they will try to return to their dimension. They'll have a pleasant surprise..."

and Patch rubbed his palms.

"Imbecile! You should have kept it there, to fight the Star Sheriffs! How are you going to protect the planet now? Uhhhh... Another planet for the scrap pile!" Nemisis hissed and closed the radio link.

Ramrod showed up in the radar screens. All artillery was ready. But behind a big hill, a dark green jet fighter was already shooting at all the Outrider outposts. It was Hikari's ship.

"Sir, we are being surrounded!" and Outrider leader from the field shouted back to Grimace through his intercom. "Sir? Hello?"...

Both Patch and Grimace had bailed out. Their ships were darting away from the planet.

"Retreat! All troops, fall back!" the Outrider yelled.

Just like little ants running left and right, all the troops scattered.

"That's right, go away buds!" Fireball was happy.

Ramrod and Hikari landed their ships. In a minute, they were inside.

"Colt, come in!" Fireball called.

"Right here, pard!" came the answer.

"Operation successful. Bring in the freight ship."

In a matter of minutes, Colt landed the cargo ship and opened the loading door.

"I'm coming with you," little Jason jumped.

"No, you stay here and guard your friends, OK?" April winked at him.

"Mmm, OK!" the kid was happy that he had an important mission: to protect the humans.

"You have a way with kids, April. How do you do that?" Colt was curious.

"I'm a natural, Colt," she giggled.

Saber Rider and Fireball decided to stay and guard off the doors outside. Colt, Hikari and April went in, following the maps provided by the nano-drones. Many of the doors to go deeper underground were sealed. They had to blast their way in.

In a few more minutes, people started coming out.

"This way, folks!" Saber Rider guided them into the cargo ship. The newly arrived people were taken by surprise by the amount of humans already inside the bay. The joy took over everyone – they started hugging each other, welcoming one another. A feeling of solidarity was hovering over the crowd.

After all humans were evacuated, Hikari said:

"Colt, April, follow me!"

"Where are we going now? Aren't we supposed to get back up there now?" Colt wondered.

"We have more rooms to open, let's go!" Hikari called.

"More?" Colt asked.

"Yes, Colt, look at the map!" April answered. "There are more locations."

Soon enough, they were running along some dark corridors.

"Let's enter this room." Hikari was also watching a video projected onto the inside of his helmet visor. The video was a live transmission from one of the nano-drones.

On a bed, a person was lying, with a mask on her face and tubes coming out of it."

Colt leaned over and took the mask away.

"She is asleep!" April said.

"Hurry, we have to get to the next chamber. There are dozens of them and we have to move fast!" Hikari encouraged Colt. But he was just standing there still, in a mute astonishment.

"What is it, Colt? You look like you've seen a... ghost!" April tapped his shoulder.

Indeed, Colt's face was white as a sheet of paper. He couldn't utter a word.

"Do you know her?" April was already worried.

A tear came out of Colt's eye...

"Mom..." he leaned over and hugged her.

April gasped.

The lady suddenly opened her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Mom!" Colt exclaimed. "Mom! Wake up, it's me!"

"Where am I... What is happening...?" she was confused.

"You're safe now, we're getting you home!"

"Home... Colt?!" She suddenly stood up from her bed. "Colt! Is that really you? What are you doing here? How...?"

"I'm with the Star Sheriffs, mom! We came to save all of you! Everything will be just alright!" and he hugged her.

"We have to find John also... They took him away the same day they took me..." she whispered.

"Right, let's go open all the rooms!" Hikari called.

They rounded up all the rooms. No trace of Outriders, they all had run away, in fear of the Star Sheriffs. Some rooms had several people inside. Slowly, they were all waking up. In the last room they opened... Colt spotted his father... His mom took the mask away. The sedation gas was very short acting. In a few minutes, he started opening his eyes. He first saw Alice, his wife.

"Alice...! What are... you doing here? You came to rescue me?" John asked.

"No, but look who came to take us home, my darling!" and she looked at Colt.

"Dad! It's me, dad!"

John was still dizzy from the sedative gas. His eyes were blurry.

"Who...? What...? Colt...? My son!"

April was wonder-struck. Tears were dripping down her cheeks.

"Time is flying! Let's get everyone upstairs!" Hikari rushed them.

People were starting to sober up from the sedatives. April, Colt and Hikari helped them go up the stairs and after a while, they all arrived at the exit. Saber Rider and Fireball were very anxious to see everyone out and safe.

"Whew, what happened there, guys? Did you encounter some bushwackers?"

"No, Fireball, we found Colt's parents!" April exclaimed.

"Whaaat?" Saber Rider and Fireball were both taken by surprise.

Out of the dark tunnel, Colt appeared, holding his mom and dad by their shoulders, as they were still walking slowly and wobbly. He passed among everyone, victorious and proud of his family. As they were heading towards the cargo ship, Colt started asking them:

"So, you're saying that they forced everyone to work on building Renegades?"

"Yes, Colt, and we and a few others started a riot. We risked everything, we didn't care anymore. It was just unbearable..., the situation was desperate. They separated us from the rest, they interrogated us, they beat us up, then they wanted to kill us. But one of the doctors here said he would keep us for some medical experiments, that's why they had us under sedation, for a future medical study... It was terrifying..." his mom replied.

"Yes, Colt, it was a nightmare..." his father added.

"It's over, now, everything will be alright," and Colt stopped in front of the cargo ship. In the meantime, Colt's radio link beeped. Saber Rider spoke:

"Colt, very sorry to interrupt, but we have a very urgent communication from Prince Roland – he sent us a message at Ramrod – he needs our help on Planet Rammel. You and April are needed at the commands. Captain Hikari will take the lead on the cargo ship.

Colt turned to his parents, with a saddened face: "Mom, dad, this ship will transport everyone back to the Human dimension. I'll have to get back to Ramrod and continue my mission... I'll see you on the other side, very soon! I promise!"

"Wait, son, where are you going? I thought you are coming with us..." John asked.

Colt hugged his parents tight... His heart was torn apart between his mission and reuniting with his family. "Dad, I promise I'll be back again. But I'm on a mission... I'll stay close, I promise! But you guys have to stay in this ship, it's safer!"

He ran back to Ramrod. Tears were coming out of his eyes.

"Here he is! Are you alright, bud?" Fireball asked, when Colt sat back on his seat in Ramrod.

"I'm fine, race-boy! Let's hit it!" Colt replied with a drowned voice.

Ramrod and the cargo ship took off. Hikari felt he had a tremendous responsibility now. He was piloting away all the humans rescued from the two planets. And there was one more planet to go... planet Rammel.


"Aaargh!" a human screamed.

"Maybe we should have stayed on Rammel!" a lady yelled, as the ship they were in was looping up in the sky.

Prince Roland was piloting his big ship outside planet Rammel. Here, Nemisis has been producing all the fighter jets and vigilantes' ships. When the Star Sheriffs attacked the Therrium planet, Nemisis sent out word everywhere to guard off and secure all the areas.

When Prince Roland arrived there and sent the drone spies, he noticed that there had been a sudden change of troops and tactics down on the planet, so he figured out that he'd better take the mission upon himself, rather than wait for the Star Sheriffs to come. Time was of essence, and any extra minute could have meant death sentence for the human prisoners. So he managed to already extract all the humans from the manufacturing plant. It proved to be a very risky mission, but he was an excellent sharp-shooter, and he defeated all the Outrider guards.

But what Prince Roland didn't expect was a Renegade unit! Just as he was lifting the ship up from the planet, a caterpillar-looking Renegade crawled among some distant planets and headed right towards him.

He started throwing torpedoes at it..., but the Renegade had some sort of shingles that were deflecting all the hits. So his only option was to try to run away and maneuver the ship out of the blasts. The ship he was piloting was a member of the Royal fleet, a little brother of the Monarch Supreme ship. It was holding enough space to keep at least one thousand people in its bay area.

"Hang tight, everyone, we are under attack by a Renegade unit!" Roland announced the rescued people through his radio.

"Renegade? We are basically dead!" someone cried.

"Prince Roland, come in!" Saber Rider's voice came through the Prince's voice com.

"Star Sheriffs! Finally you responded! Hurry up! I need your help, we are under attack by a Renegade unit!"

"We? What do you mean "we"? I thought you were by yourself in your ship!" Colt interrupted.

"Not anymore, cowboy! I already rescued the prisoners! But I can't hold off this creature!"

"Hide behind asteroids! You are smaller and the Renegade can't get in there, it will crash into the boulders," April suggested.

"I'll try!"

"We're on our way! Coming as fast as we can!" said Fireball.

"Hurry up, these people depend on us!" the Prince demanded.

Prince Roland maneuvered the ship among some asteroids.

"Yuck, not exactly my favorite type of ride, among boulders..." He had to pilot the ship in sharp moves, and the people inside were not exactly happy about that...

"Hey, it's gone! The Renegade is gone!" Roland exclaimed, after he waited around for a while. "It worked! Star-Sheriffs, it worked!"

"We've got your location, Prince Roland. No sign of Renegade here. It must have headed towards the Human Dimension. We have to track it down and stop it. Stay behind us! Captain Hikari is coming in with a cargo ship behind us also.

"Boys! Look! The renegade unit!" April jumped out of her seat. It looks like it's fighting off some other ship now! But who is it?"

Indeed, big blasts were lighting up the sky among some dark planets in the distance. The caterpillar was wiggling its tail, trying to strike another robot.

"Let's take a closer look!" Fireball was eager to unveil the mystery.


"I've got to hold this beast down somehow..." Jesse was thinking, while backing out of the caterpillar's path. He pushed the transformation button and the Ramrod giant cowboy robot started shaping up.

"Ramrod will now take navigational control..." the ship responded...

"Jesse, what are you doing here?" the intercom opened up. April's face popped on the screen.

"Hey, you are here!" Jesse exclaimed. The three girls next to him sighed in relief: help arrived. "I... missed your pretty smile!" Jesse threw her a glamorous look.

"Watch out, Jesse!" The Renegade unit tried to clench Ramrod with its numerous insect-like legs. Jesse jotted out in the last moment. "Guys, let's blast the beast away!" April shouted.

"Right!" Colt pushed the cannons buttons and pointed a few shots at the caterpillar Renegade. The shield deflected the energy back.

"Shucks, this thing is worse than I imagined!" Colt was angry.

"Alright, Jesse, I have a plan: let's grab this caterpillar by both sides and try to hit it against the asteroid behind it. What do you say?" Saber Rider came up with a suggestion.

"Sounds cool. I'll grab this end, you grab the other! One-two...three!" The two Ramrod robots joined forces and grabbed the huge squirmy beast by the two sides. The Renegade unit was spastically trying to release itself from the clasp.

"Got to hold it tight..." Colt was grunting.

They turned on their turbo engines and flew in the same direction in the same time. Once they gathered enough momentum, they let go of the giant renegade into an asteroid giant boulder. The Renegade snapped right in the middle and exploded in millions of pieces.

"Good job everyone!" Hikari showed up from somewhere out in the space and congratulated them.

"Thanks, dad!" Fireball was very proud.

"Good luck going forward! Be very very careful there now. Nemisis is still out there, be very prudent, don't underestimate his powers. Me and Prince Roland will now head back to our dimension. Got to bring all our friends home!" Norio Hikari added.

"Safe ride, Prince Roland and Captain Hikari! We'll meet you shortly! Nemisis has some bills to pay!" Saber Rider replied.

"See you soon, April!" little boy Jason jumped into the conversation. "Promise you'll come visit us!"

"I will, Jason! Now you behave yourself there and get home safe, alright?" April winked at him.

"Oh, April has a little boyfriend?" Jesse laughed.

"Well, you know how she is, charming all the hearts around her..." Colt giggled.

A moment of silence over the intercom...

"Did my daddy send you here, Jesse?" April's eyebrows were lifted.

"Mmm, not quite... More of a "me, myself and I" mission," he muttered in a sort of shyness.

"Oh, reverting to your old selfish ways, Mr Blue?" Colt tried to banter him.

"So, then... why did you come here?" she asked.

"He's afraid he might lose you, April," Saber Rider jokingly teased her.

"Oh, come on, guys, I smell something else here. You're not here because of me, are you, Jesse?" she was trying to keep her cool demeanor.

Claudia just couldn't keep her mouth shut: "He came here because of the Moai heads! He followed their laser lights!"

"Claudia?" Fireball stood up, bewildered. He looked at her with big eyes. "You? Here?"

"That's right, hot shots! And I am here too!" Robin showed up from behind Claudia and giggled.

"Robin!" Colt took off his cowboy hat and threw it down on the floor on with a dazzled expression.

Sincia didn't say anything. She just slowly walked behind the girls and leaned against their shoulders.

Saber Rider's heart jumped to break his chest.

"No, no, no! Tell me this is not real! Jess, what did you do, why did you bring our girls here? Are you out of your mind?" the blonde Star Sheriff leader had the most eruptive reaction of all three.

"I don't think I had any other option, Mr Rider," Jesse innocently glanced back at him. "And... I think I remember telling you some time ago: my name is Jesse, not Jess."

"Are you becoming your old self, Mr Blue? Shall I remind you that you still need to graduate the Academy, before you can wear a star on your chest?" Colt was already extremely aggravated. "How dare you talk to us like this? How dare you make such reckless decisions about our girlfriends?"

"Hold your horses, boys!" Robin intervened. "You are misinterpreting all of this! It's all a misunderstanding! Do you think we would be laughing and giggling if Jesse took us here against our will?"

"Then what did you do to them, bud? How did you lure them to come with you? Did you seduce them, like you always do with the girls around you?" Fireball jealously clenched his fist.

"I think Claudia said something about some Moai heads... " April was the only one who actually listened to what the girls said. The boys were absolutely blinded and deafened by anger and shock.

"That's right." Claudia stepped forward. "It's all my fault. I saw Ramrod and I thought the Star Sheriffs were inside it. Instead, it was Jesse Blue, and we realized it when it was too late. Jesse was just ready to take off on the path pointed by the Moai head lasers."

"Moai head … what?" Saber Rider was astonished. "They are just big sculpted boulders!"

"They are more than that, man..." Jesse replied. "And we've got to decipher the code inside the ones on the Outrider Planet too."

"That's right! I saw the laser light with my own eyes, when we embarked on Ramrod." Sincia added.

"Sincia, are you sure? The Moai heads were pointing out in space? That is fantastic! Jesse, you found the key to the Moai stones!" Saber Rider was amazed.

"Oh... man..." Colt stuck his face in his palms, looking at the girls. "Trouble girls... What are we going to do with you now?"

"That's what I was thinking, too, Colt... when I discovered them here. Just a few minutes before jumping dimensions..." Jesse nodded with his old smirk.

"We're not trouble! You'll see! We can help, too! Just tell us what to do!" Robin was infuriated.

"Can you shoot a gun, darlin'?" Colt smiled at her, smugly.

"Ohh, boys and guns..." Robin was angry.

"Better take them back home, Jesse!" Fireball was all heated up.

Out of a sudden, a shiny robot with the shape of a human came out of nowhere and attacked the two Ramrods. It started blasting out fire through its palms. The robot was moving extremely fast.

"Star Sheriffs, did you want to see the real Nemisis? You'd better pray for your life, because you are about to meet the real Supreme Trail Boss! Hahahaaaa!" Nemisis's voice resonated into their radios.

"What is that?" Claudia asked fearfully.

"Buckle up, girls..." Jesse advised them worriedly. "Can't back out of here anymore. We're in for another dance..."


Ready for the next level? Follow us on the next episode of "Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs"!