I do not own Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs or SeiJushi Bismarck. This is strictly a work of Fan-fiction, for entertainment only. Let me know what you think.
Discovery of the Secret Base
"You have entered the airspace of Planet Yuma. Please identify yourselves." A voice says over a com as a group of ships approach Yuma.
"This is the delegation convoy requested by General Whitehawk. We request clearance to land. Call number eight-three-zero-seven-zero."
"Acknowledged. Call number accepted. You may proceed to specified landing docks."
"Roger that, Yuma. ETA is ten minutes. Over and out."
The convoy of ships land and several men in military uniforms descend the ramp of the ship, saluting to the men on the ground.
"The general thanks you for coming, gentlemen," the apparent leader states as he leads a small group to a boardroom.
After everyone is gathered, they are standing around a round table that acts as a monitor, the picture of a planet on it.
"This planet appeared on the edge of the New Frontier Spatial Authority just a few hours ago. We don't know why it's there, but it has done nothing since it's arrival. It is perilously close to Planet Leto, which as most of you know is where Commander Eagle's ship was supposedly headed when it disappeared."
"I say we assume it is hostile and blast it with everything we've got," Says a thin tall man, who is standing next to one of the leaders, who is studying the monitor closely.
"It could be where the Commander ended up. We can't just go in and blast it without due cause."
"You both make valid points, but that is why we are here. As the heads of the council, we need to come to an agreement on what action, if any to take. General Whitehawk has entrusted us to make the right decision."
"Where is Whitehawk anyways.? It was at his request that I came, I expected him to be here," King Jared states obviously a bit agitated.
"I believe he is following up on some leads as to possible sightings of Commander Eagle. He felt we could handle this."
"Perhaps it would behoove us to send the Bismarck team to investigate why the Outrider planet has appeared here so suddenly. They are currently on Leto which is nearby where this mysterious planet is, so if something should come of it, they could react quickly; hopefully preventing a catastrophic loss of life. They might also find information on why Commander Eagle was going to the planet so far from here, and clues as to where and why he might have been taken."
"You make valid points, sir. I say this should be our next course of action. I will contact the team and have them begin their investigations straightaway."
"This is a nice change of pace isn't it?" Colt asks as he, April and Fireball admire the peaceful scene of the planet they're on via viewing screen.
"This is the place my father was headed when he was taken. I don't see why he would meet someone so far out," April mutters.
"I know we are hoping to find out his reasons for coming here. Saber is looking through the ships manifest and such now," Shinji replies to April before turning to Saber. "Saber, have you found anything yet?"
"Not really. I don't see anything out of the ordinary, the asteroid belt isn't helping either.. The strange planet's appearance here is also messing with equipment."
"Maybe we should take off. We might get less interference," Shinji replies.
"I say we go to the blasted planet and start shooting til they give us the Commander," Colt says as he heads for his saddle unit.
A sound indicating an incoming transmission sounds and they all turn to the main screen. April reaches over and accepts the call and a young woman in an orange, yellow, and white space suit appears on the screen.
"Cassidy?" April says in surprise.
"Hey. It's good to see you again," Shinji says with a smile.
"Hello again, Shinji. It's good to see all of you as well," She replies as Saber and Colt come stand to either side of Shinji.
"I've decided to go and check out the weird planet myself. I've got a fix on it and I'm the closest to it."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Shinji replies.
"Where exactly?," Saber asks.
"It;'s in the Alpha quadrant. I'll be there long before you."
"I don't think you going it alone is a good idea." Saber replies adds.
"Yeah, the Outriders are dangerous." Shinji emphasizes.
"We'll see. They'll be looking for you, not me. So I'll use that to my advantage and sneak right on in. I'm in one of their ships. They won't suspect a thing.
"Are you out of your mind?! The Outriders will KILL you! They won't hesitate. " Shinji Counters.
"I'll just go on ahead and do a bit of scouting. Maybe I can find the Commander while you make a show of coming for him. I'll send you his location when I find him," she says smugly holding up her right thumb.
"Cassidy!" Shinji calls out as the screen goes dark.
"Shinji, Let's get moving. Maybe we can intercept her," Colt says.
Shinji nods and they take off.
Meanwhile, back on the Outrider planet. A n Outrider officer is watching various screens in what appears to be a bridge to control the vessel, when Nemesis and two of his commanders appear on a nearby screen.
"All hail your Lord Excellency Nemesis is on deck!" a soldier calls as a pair of doors open to show the three entering the bridge.
Nemesis walks up to the officer, who looks at him with fear, but salutes him. Then walks past him and sits in the commanding chair for the bridge.
"What have you to report, officer?" Nemesis says coldly.
"Um, well, no one has approached us thus far sir. We are headed straight for Yuma, Your Excellency," the soldier replies.
"I'm not sure knocking directly on their door is the best way to achieve your mission, sir," Jesse says from slightly behind Nemesis. "This is a fool's plan."
"Who are you calling a fool, Blue? My plan is flawless. We arrive at their headquarters and decimate it. After that, the rest falls," he replies with a flourish of his hand.
"You really think they'll just give up?" Jesse replies amused. "You've got to plan better if you want to win," he adds smugly.
"You ungrateful little shit! I've been fighting longer than you hav-"
"That's enough," The officer to Nemesis' left says sternly. "I'm sure his excellency is tired of your bickering."
"If you think I'm gonna follow that no good kiss ass weasel into battle, you're wrong!"
"You will do as I command you without question!" Nemesis says forcefully, causing the soldier to cease his tirade.
"As you command," he replies, saluting with his fist to his chest, head lowered in submission.
"What exactly is it you have planned, Jesse?" Nemesis asks, his attention turned to the soldier to his right.
"Well, you start by looking at the whole issue..." he begins, walking toward a large screen at the head of the bridge. "The resources for this world is almost gone, thanks to the gross negligence of some of your so-called commanders," he adds, pointedly looking to the soldier he was previously arguing with.
"You arrogant bas-"
"Silence!" Nemesis calls. "Continue, Blue."
"We have something the humans want. We have commander Eagle." Jesse says simply.
"What good does that do us?" the agitated soldier asks. "It's not like they can get him."
"But they will try." Jesse counters. "They don't see any other human as expendable, unlike us."
"I don't see where you're going with this?" the other soldier near Nemesis states.
"Simple. We have the commander. We're running out of energy. We 'let' him escape. He meets some of our citizens. He sees their plight. It puts doubt about our true intentions. Have the ones he come in contact with convince him we just want a peaceful settlement. A temporary reprieve."
"What good does that do us?"
"We convince them we want to live together on Yuma."
"They won't go for that!"
"Oh, but they will. Unlike us, humans are empathetic beings. They feel it is always best to make peace. We use this to our advantage. Once we're there and settled, we take over."
"What about the Bismarck crew?"
"Commander Eagle is the father of one of the members. And their superior officer. Get him to see 'our side' of the story, and they will do as he says." Jesse adds with a smirk.
Commander Eagle is sitting at a desk when two armed Outriders come in and cuff him before taking him to the bridge. Once there, he is stood in front of Nemesis. Forcing back his fear, he stands tall in front of the evil leader of the Outriders.
"Commander, I do hope you are enjoying your stay here," Nemesis says by way of greeting.
"You have no right to keep me here."
"I have no intention of keeping you here, Commander. As you can see, we are running low on energy and other natural resources."
"Resources you've wasted in your fight to destroy us," the commander counters.
"Ah, but we have seen that this fighting only depletes us. And we now wish to instead make peace with you and live together on Yuma."
"What?" the commander asks, unable to hide his shock.
An alarm sounds and everyone turns to a soldier manning monitors.
"What's going on?!" The other commander asks, as Jesse and the others turn to view the screens.
"It's a Cavalry squadron. They've discovered us."
"Blast them!"
"Now wait a minute," Jesse says pointedly. "We have just said we wanted to make peace. That isn't the way to do that."
"We've got to. It's the Bismarck ship."
"The Bismarck?!" Commander Eagle says in astonishment.
"I'm not going to sit here and them blast us before getting off a shot!"
"The laser cannon takes up too much energy. We'd not survive more than a day," Jesse counters, stopping the soldier in his tracks."
"But..."
"Jesse Blue is correct. The time has come to make peace. Before it's too late," Nemesis states.
"Uh...Grr..." the soldier starts to protest.
"Send out a defense squadron. Do not shoot unless fired upon," Jesse orders and several soldiers scramble to fighters and take off.
Cassidy and her squadron are approaching when she spots several fighters leaving the base. "Here they come..." she mutters as she readies to dodge incoming ships.
"It looks like they saw Cassidy and her fighters. We should pull back," Shinji states.
"No. If they are coming out, then they are on the defensive. This may be our best chance to get down there and find Commander Eagle," Saber says sternly.
"But...Um, okay. Let's do this," Shinji replies hesitantly.
"Cover me, I'm going in," Cassidy says to one of her team.
"Aye Captain."
She takes off in a dive towards the base.
Just then, a laser pops out from the side of the base and fires on the Bismarck, landing a hit.
"Argh!" the four call out.
"What the Hell was that?!" Colt asks as he lurches from the hit.
"Damn it!" Shinji calls as he tries to keep control of the ship.
"We hit their forcefield," Saber replies.
"Then I'm gonna blast our way through it," Colt replies as he reaches for the trigger.
"No! They aren't actually firing at us. Just near us... Shinji. Keep dodging the shots. We need to get closer," Saber calls.
"Roger that," he replies and begins maneuvering around the laser beams.
"Nice flying, Bismarck" Jesse says smugly as he appears on the vid screen. I'm sure by now you've noticed that we really aren't trying all that hard. We've decided it's better to make nice. We'll even let you speak to Commander Eagle as a show of good faith."
"What?!" Colt exclaims.
"My Dad?!" April cries.
"Put him on!" Saber mutters taken aback.
"You've got to be kidding me?!" Shinji adds in obvious disbelief.
"See for yourself," Jesse replies as Commander Eagle's face appears on the screen.
"Father, are you alright?" April asks in relief.
"I'm fine, April. They've not harmed me," he replies.
"We're coming down now to get you," Shinji states.
"No!" Commander Eagle says firmly. "You are to hold back. I will not condone the loss of more lives in an attempt to rescue me. I hav-"
Just then the Bismarck is hit by a blast, terminating the connection and the crew scream from the hit.
"Who fired that shot?" Jesse calls hotly, turning his glare to the soldier who has argued with him the entire time as he turns away from the cannon. "You idiot!"
Commander Eagle takes the chance to run, seeing the soldier about to fire again, he rushes him, knocking him down befor etaking off out of the bridge room.
"After him!" the soldier calls from the floor, sending the few remaining guards scrambling, the doors to the bridge closing after them.
Jesse watches the scene, a satisfied smirk on his face.
Commander Eagle finds a transport and hops on, racing through corridors in an attempt to flee. Several soldiers in close pursuit in similar vehicles.
"Catch him you fools! Blast him if you have to" the soldier he knocked down calls from the back of the line, Jesse in the vehicle next to him.
Jesse jumps in front of the other soldier. "Let him escape! That's a direct order! Fire close, don't shoot to kill." Jesse calls out.
"What?! Are you crazy? Nemesis will have our heads!" the soldier calls.
"I'm going on Nemesis' orders. This way he sees just what we want, without it looking like we planned this," Jesse says smugly.
"Why?" the irate solder asks, obviously displeased.
"Watch and learn."
Commander Eagle sees the Outriders closing in with a quick glance behind him. "I've gotta do something, or they're going to catch me," he thinks to himself as he looks ahead of him for ideas, as he flies quickly around another corridor. Seeing another curve, he races around, jumping off as he vanishes from sight momentarily. Sliding down a lower wall, into a crevice, the Outriders flying past him above him. Stumbling to the ground, his ankle gives when he tries to stand. He also realizes his shoulder was hit. Looking around, he starts slowly to a small cavern, in hopes of finding shelter.
Back outside, Cassidy is making her dive in an attempt to breach the base, taking heavy fire in her direction. "Damn it!"
"Shinji! It looks like Cassidy is taking on heavy fire." April calls over her shoulder.
"I told her to pull back!"
"Obviously she didn't listen," April replies. "I think we'd better intervene."
"Argh! I wish for once she would listen to a superior," he mutters.
"Don't worry about me, Shinji," Cassidy calls over her com. Get in and get what you need. I've got this,"
"Damn it!" he mutters, eliciting a chuckle from Saber he heads towards Cassidy.
"I like her. She's got balls of steel," Colt says amused.
"Let's go save her ass." Shinji says irritably as he charges in, immediately taking fire.
"Shit!" Colt calls as he fires back, hitting an Outrider fighter, destroying it.
Suddenly they are surrounded and taking on heavy fire. Colt makes quick work of the surrounding fighters, soon none are left in their immediate vicinity.
"Cassidy, are you okay?" Shinji calls.
"I'm fine. Thanks for the help. That was kinda fun." She replies sweetly.
"Cassidy, you really should have pulled back."
"Aw, come on now. I knew you'd save me if you had to, Shinji. We should work together more often."
"Damn Shinji, you know some crazy ass women," Colt says with obvious amusement.
"Cassidy, Land on the asteriod to your seven. We'll meet you there," Saber calls over the com.
"Yes, let's go meet the wild one for more fun, eh?" Colt says as they go to land.
Upon landing, Shinji opens his com to see Cassidy sitting idly in her ship. "Go ahead Raceboy, get the lecture over with."
"Actually, I was going to say thanks for being a distraction. Saber was able to get the readings he and April need. So no harm no foul."
"Huh?" She says in disbelief.
"You acted just like I knew you would, so we went with it. We have confirmed where Commander Eagle is."
"You have?"
"Yes, thank you, Cassidy. We learned a lot because of you actions," April says sincerely, as she comes up beside Shinji and places a hand on his shoulder.
"Glad I could help, April," she manages to mutter. "So he chose her..."she thinks to herself, as a voice calls over her com and she takes off.
"Look at that, Saber. It seems that even though they can't see it, Cassidy could. Things promise to get interesting if he keeps unknowingly breaking hearts." Colt mutters as he and Saber watch the scene before them with amusement.
"What?" Shinji and April say as they turn around. "I think you're the heartbreaker Colt. Cassidy is a subordinate." A signal is heard and Shinji answers it.
"What is the status of your mission?" A man in a Cavalry Command uniform asks.
"We have confirmed that Commander Eagle is on the Outrider planet...or whatever it is."
"Very good. Pull back and await further instructions."
"Yes sir," Shinji replies and they take the Bismarck off the asteroid and away from the Outrider base.
"Damn it! The Bismarck has left our base. We could have had it." The soldier gripes.
"Things are going exactly to plan," Jesse replies.
"I don't see how. We had a chance to destroy the ship and you blew it."
"You will see in time. You've got to learn to have patience," Jesse says smugly.
Elsewhere on the base, Commander Eagle is limping along a corridor when he hears birds chirping and the sound of running water. "Water?" he says aloud, as he continues towards the sound. Reaching the source of the sound, he looks up in awe of a huge waterfall. Reaching out to touch the water, he finds that it is nothing more than a hologram. He then hears the sound of a young woman's laughter and rushes to find the source, only to see what appears to be a teenage girl, being chased in jest by a boy close to the same age.
"Hurry, Hurry. The water's flowing."
"Don't wait for me, I'm right behind you," he calls.
They arrive at the water falls where he has just left and the girl happily steps into it, her face falling at the realization it is only a hologram. The young man looking equally as disappointed.
"Come, things will be alright. We must continue to pray for peace," the man says offering the girl his hand before they walk off together.
The commander watches them go. "Perhaps what Nemesis said is true," he thinks to himself as he watches the couple disappear. Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, he turns to see soldiers have spotted him. Turning, he makes a dash in the opposite direction. Running blindly down a corridor, he missteps and falls into a ravine of sorts, landing with a crash in a pile of beams piled along a wall. His ankle temporarily pinned underneath. After exerting some effort, he frees himself, but finds himself unable to stand and collapses back to the ground. Hearing someone approaching, he grabs a piece of metal, in an effort to defend himself. Only to find an old man, who appears to be some sort of monk. Forcing himself to stand, he holds the pipe in a defensive stance.
The old man looks at him before speaking, "If you want to escape the soldiers, I suggest you follow me." With that, he turns and heads off.
After staring after him dumbfounded momentarily, he cautiously follows after the man, tossing his pipe to the side.
The monk leads him through a maze of corridors, finally entering what appears to be an apartment. "We have a visitor," he calls. "Come sit, let us look at you."
Hesitantly, the commander goes and sits on a couch. A woman in similar robes comes over and places a patch on his ankle before taking out a type of gun and sending signals to the patch for a few seconds. "What was that you did?" he asks as the woman gets up without a word.
I trust your ankle is feeling better now?" the old monk says as he approaches, two wine glasses in his hands. "It would bring me joy to share a drink of peace with you. I will gladly answer any questions you can as we drink."
"What is it she did to fix my ankle?"
"She used the healing ray. It is an old technology."
"Why would you help me?" he asks as the man places the two glasses on the table.
Perhaps these talks of peace can begin with two old men sharing a drink. Perhaps this is long over due," he adds as he ours first for the commander, then himself.
"I also pray for peace in these troubled times," the commander states as he sniffs the wine, sloshing it around in his glass, admiring it before taking a drink. "To peace."
The old man raises his glass and takes a swig, the commander just after.
"Such fine wine. I did not expect to find such here." the commander says, looking at the remaining wine in his glass.
"This world was once full of such fine things."
"What happened?"
"We allowed ourselves to be ignorant of the greed of our leaders. We have paid the ultimate price. I hope your people do not make the same mistake. Come, let me show you something, go and look out that window," the old monk says standing up and walking around a corner.
As he disappears, the commander gets up and goes to look out the window. His eyes widen in shock when he comes face to face with a Moai. "A Moai? Here?"
"These were once part of our world. A symbol of peace. Of how working together, few can accomplish much."
The commander comes up beside the couple, the two kneeling at the base of the statue. They rise and turn to face him. "The way to peace is a harder trek than the way to war. I pray you succeed, as I feel we all are of one mind."
"As do I. Thank you for your hospitality," the commander says as soldiers beat on the door.
"Open up! We're looking for a fugitive!"
"This way," the man says leading the commander out the back as solders force their way inside the apartment. "Down that corridor is the way to the launch bay. Try and commandeer a ship and get back to Yuma. I hope you succeed in your path to peace."
"Thank you for everything. I will not forget your kindness," the commander says as he shakes the monk's hand briefly before taking off down the corridor.
To Be Continued...
