I DO NOT own Saber Rider or Seijushi Bismarck.

Chapter 13: The Leaders of Jarre

"This sandstorm isn't letting up. I can't see anything but sand," Fireball complains as they are slowly moving forward in the Bismarck unit.

"This is not ordinary sand," Saber replies. "It seems to have flecks of metal in it, so our equipment can't give us accurate readings."

"Yeah, yeah, but it can't be that hard to get out of here," Colt replies, adding his input to their discussion.

"The equipment is all over the place," April states.

"That is the reason I'm taking it slow," Fireball states.

"I bet I could get us out of here faster than you are right now, equipment or not," Colt retorts, while stretching to impress just how bored he is.

"Of course you didn't state that you'd get us out in one piece, Cowboy," Saber adds with a smirk. "There are a number of mountains to consider as obstacles."

"Buckle in, and I'll show all of you just how easy it is to fly with your gut," Colt says while they all buckle in before he takes control and sends the ship up. Once off the ground, it is met with stronger winds, and he forces it forward, the ship shaking violently from the effort.

"Okay, we're out of the worst of and we've stabled out," Saber says to Fireball as they get out of the sandstorm.

"Man! This star system has ferocious storms," Colt grumbles as an alarms sounds.

"What's the problem, April?" Fireball asks, casting a glance in her direction.

"It seems to be a distress call, but my instruments are still recovering from Colt bringing us up so violently," she replies.

"I'll see if I can get a reading on my system yet," Saber says as he hits several buttons on his console. "It seems to be coming from about four o'clock."

"Heading in that direction now," Fireball states and turns the ship. Looking over the horizon he sees smoke. "Well, that seems to be the right direction," he says. "See if you can pull up a better view, April." April nods and hits a few buttons, and in a moment, they see the base being attacked. "Some sort of communications base."

"Outriders. Let's go and put a stop to them," Colt says, eager for some action.

"We need to be careful, there could be survivors," Fireball says.

"Okay!" Colt replies and readies the guns for the fight. They make quick work of the fighters, but half of them escape.

After landing the ship, they survey the base, calling out for any survivors to come forward. "I'm not sure we're going to find anyone, this looks pretty bad," Fireball states quietly.

"We need to do a quick search regardless. There is a chance those escaped fighters will be back with reinforcements," Saber states. An alarm sounds and the three men look in April's direction.

"Enemy ships approaching," she states and the three jump back into their saddle units as Fireball lifts them from the ground, shots landing where they had just lifted from.

"That was close," Fireball states.

"Too close, if you ask me," Colt states.

"Do you still have them on radar, April?" Fireball asks.

"No fighters, Fireball, but I am receiving a transmission."

"Attention Bismarck, this is the Royal Command of Jarre. Land your ship, we have you surrounded," a voice over the com states. "I am Prince Roland, Commader of the Royal Guard, you have invaded our airspace, come out and surrender," Roland states through a loudspeaker.

"What?!" Colt exclaims.

"Invaded?!" Fireball states. "That's a fine thank you for stopping the attack."

"They may not know we came to help, we answered a distress call, perhaps they did as well and found us here with the remainders of the base," Saber says quietly. "We should go out as they request and explain what has transpired."

"Oh, I'm going out all right... to give that Prince a piece of my mind," Fireball says as he gets up and heads for the ramp.

The others follow him and they reach the bottom of the ramp just as the Prince does, his soldiers armed and ready to fire.

The Prince looks a bit shocked. "Well, I wasn't expecting to find a group of kids out on a picnic to be in such a nice ship," he says with a smirk.

"Who you callin' kids?!" Colt says becoming angry. "Don't you know-"

Saber places a hand on his shoulder, "Easy Colt," Saber warns quietly.

"Are you crazy? Don't you know who we are?" Colt asks in disbelief, shaking Saber's hand off his shoulder. "We're the Star Sheriffs that just saved your ass."

"Yeah," Fireball confirms with a nod.

"Funny, from my vantage point you look like illegal intruders into our territory," the Prince states.

"What?! You've got to be kidding me," Colt says agitated.

"We've been unofficial allies for years, Prince Roland," April states.

"We came because of a distress call," Fireball states.

"This territory belongs to the Kingdom of Jarre. You claim you came to our aid, but I don't see how that can be the case, given your inferior equipment. We are perfectly capable of fighting these Outriders without the help of your Cavalry Command," Prince Roland replies. "Now, because of your interference in our affairs, my father demands that you be brought to him to answer for your actions." April goes to speak and the prince silences her with a look before continuing. "You may follow us to our palace and speak with my father," he says with arrogance, leaving no room for debate. He turns and signals to his troops, who flank the ship and they reluctantly turn and go along with the prince's demands.

"This is insane!" Fireball grumbles as he moves the ship forward.

"We do as they request for now, Fireball. No need to increase tensions," Saber states.

April nods. "I've got a treaty I'd like to pass to the king. My father had it drafted and was hoping to send us to make a formal request once we had a chance to read over it. I guess we should just try and see what he says now, since we're evidently going to have an audience with him."

The four travel in silence, looking around at the city as they roll through the main road. After some time, they arrive at the palace and are escorted from their ship and led into the receiving area, flanked by armed guards. After waiting for several minutes, King Jared enters the room and sits on his throne before looking over the people before him.

These are the people sent from Cavalry Command, sir. The pilot of the ship is Shinji Hikari," the prince says as Fireball steps forward.

"Shinjiro Hikari's son?" the king asks.

Fireball nods and then motions towards April, "And this is Commander Eagle's daughter, April."

April bows and then stands and offers a tube, "We have been sent as representatives of Cavalry Command, your highness. We are here to offer this treaty of friendship between our two governments."

The prince takes the tube and opens it before passing it to the king, who looks over it briefly. "Seems to me like this contract is setting up to overthrow this government."

"What?" April asks in shock. "It is a mutual contract. It has both sides working together to fight the invasion of the Outriders."

"This stems back nearly sixteen years ago. I was on the front lines, and the cowards of the now Cavalry Command ordered their men to pull back, leaving my men to die at the hands of the Outriders. They were cowards then, I seriously doubt much has changed in these years sense. Keep them confined to their vehicle, I'll have to think on whether to charge them with any crimes," the king says as he stands and leaves the room.

"My father died then too!" Fireball states. "He defied orders and stood by you!"

"This meeting is over. I will not listen to more of the same thing. Take them away," the prince says and stands up and leaves the room.

Armed guards encircle the four, their weapons aimed at them. A while later, they are sitting around in their ship when April breaks the silence. "We have an incoming transmission, stand by."

The screen comes up and they all turn to see the face of Commander Eagle on the screen.

"It seems that the impression of our offer was not well received," the commander states.

"He has confined us to the ship, father. It is like we are prisoners here," April states.

"Yeah. He barely let us speak to him. He didn't really even read the treaty papers that you sent," Fireball states.

"I think he only took them so them so that he could say he made an effort," April adds.

"I wish I had better news, but for the moment our hands are tied. Did he give any reason for his decline?"

"He said that this stems from something that happened fifteen years ago. He claims that the government abandoned them, costing many lives," Saber states.

The commander sighs, "I suppose there is some truth to his statements. We did have a falling out fifteen years ago. Our government was unfamiliar with the capabilities of the Outriders at that time. We realized too late that we weren't equally matched technologically. Our orders were to pull back and regroup, but Jarre's people were refusing to move, not wanting to leave their homes. Most of our people followed the order to pull back, Jarre's soldiers did not. They saw the retreat as an act of cowardice, not a chance to regroup and form a better plan. Not all of our people returned as ordered. Your father was one of the ones that stayed.

"And he never returned," Fireball adds quietly.

"It is said that he sent a warning to the king and because of that, he was able to escape," the commander states. "I don't know the exact circumstances, but perhaps you can use your father as a tool to open a dialog between us."

"I suppose it would be good to know just what happened," Fireball states.

"At least then you'd know," April says quietly.

"Do your best, but try not to agitate the situation," Eagle says.

"Yes, sir," Fireball states quietly before the connection terminates.

"Well, it appears that we've got some action," Saber states quietly, as he watches activity outside. The king and his son have just arrived.

"Then I'm going to go talk to him," Fireball states as he heads for the ramp.

"Shinji!" Saber calls after him. "Do not make things worse," he warns. "You should wait until he's ready."

"Not my style, sorry," he replies as he heads on down the ramp.

"King Jared! Your Highness, I have something I want to discuss with you!" Fireball calls, as he reaches the bottom of the ramp, the others not far behind him.

The king stops briefly and turns in his direction, "We have nothing further to discuss. I have made up my mind," he says before turning and heading into a building, his guards behind him.

"Wait!" Fireball calls, as the guards stop him at the bottom of the ramp.

"I believe you have your answer. I'd drop this before you make your situation worse. We are about to stop the Outriders once and for all. Sit back and watch how superior technology can succeed where you have failed," the price says as he turns and follows his father.

"Damn it," Fireball mutters.

"It seems we wait on the bench this time, Shinji," Saber states. " We wait and watch, all the while being ready if it seems they are in too deep. I do not think they will listen to what we say, they must learn the hard way."

"There's the base!" the prince calls to his soldiers. "Lay waste to it! Attack!" The attack commences and quickly they discover they are in over their heads when a renegade unit appears. "Retreat!" the prince calls and they do thier best to move to a better vantage point. He starts losing men quickly and he sends out a distress call.

"Well, it appears that perhaps you were correct in your assessment of our readiness," the king states on the vid-com of the Bismarck. "As much as it pains me to say it, I think we do need your help. I have ordered the guards to stand down. Will you please help us?"

Fireball nods and looks to the others, who are already preparing to take off to the battle.

"Let's get going," Saber states.

"I was iting to get into the action," Colt retorts.

Fireball hops into his unit and the ship takes off.

"Looks like they're taking a good deal of damage," Saber adds wryly.

"Yeah, and all of this could've been avoided if they'd just listened," Fireball states.

"Perhaps they'll learn from this, let's hope so and stop that renegade unit," Saber replies as they approach the battle.

The renegade has focused in on the prince's unit and is just about to fire when the Bismarck appears and hits it from behind. It turns to face them and readies to attack.

"Fall back, prince Roland," Fireball calls over the com-link.

"As you wish," he replies begrudgingly.

"All right!" Colt calls as he readies the blaster of the Bismarck Challenge Phase. He fires and lands a hit, but then the unit swings and lands a hit on the unit, shoving it back.

"We need to move!" Saber calls.

Fireball moves then up and the sand starts blocking their visuals. "I can't see it!" he states.

"I'll try and get an infrared reading," Saber replies as he hits several buttons on the console. The unit is hit from a blast, stunning them for a moment. "Damage report!"

"Got our leg, but we're not bad," April states.

"Got it in my sights, Saber," Colt calls.

"Ready..." Saber says as he waits for the infrared reading. "Ready...Now!"

Colt fires the main blaster as Saber activates the other laser cannons and they land a solid hit, causing the unit to explode.

"The Bismarck unit saved us, father. However, I lost contact with them," the prince states.

"We lost a lot of good men, perhaps it was time for them to lose some too," the king replies. An alert is heard and the two men turn and activate the vid-com.

"Hello again, your highness," Fireball says with a grin. "Have you give our treaty more thought?"

"I still wish to remain independent, although I will think about your offer a little more this time. I will speak to Commander Eagle when I have a final decision. You are free to leave our kingdom," the king states and terminates the connection.

"Well how do you like that?" Fireballs says with obvious annoyance.

"So much for the treaty," April says with a sigh.

"He didn't fully decline, so perhaps one day he will come around. But until then, we should leave and report back to Cavalry Command," Saber states. "We have done what we can here."

Fireball sighs. "Okay, let's go," he says as he hops into his unit and sets the coordinates. "Home we go." The ship heads for orbit, returning to their base once more.