<INTRO>

D E E P S P A C E:

Francis felt a bead of sweat trickle down from his forehead, as he headed topspeed, bearing his snubfighter straight for Earth. His throat was already dry from rapidly breathing in cold, compressed air from the power suit he was forced to wear. His hands were trembling, but he made efforts not to let go of the controls or even let an idea of throttling down enter his head. Navigation was a bit hard since his eyes were blurred with tears, but he knew he was still on course; Otherwise the core system would let out a screech of warning… He should know… He helped build the fighter. Cursing under his breath, images of the events that happened two hours ago flash in his mind.

The Orbital Station where he was posted in wasn't even in any strategic location, and it only had a small salvage value. The Meadow, as what the Orbital Station was called, was the usual target for amitious raiders, but it had no trouble defending itself. It was, after all, one of Cavalry Command's reflex point at Saturn, so it still held a few characteristics of a battle platform. But the last assault was different from the others. These unknown visitors appeared out of nowhere and released smaller crafts that started to attack the Meadow. All with the ruthlessnes that would match the Nemesis and the Outriders and worse.

During that time, Francis was in the lower decks near the hangar with his elder sister, who was the special R&D engineers of Cavalry Command. They were conducting final tests on a prototype snubfighter that CavComm asked them to design. Their operation was supposed to be top secret, but these unknown visitors seemed to have known… That was the only formulation that Francis concluded, afterall, why would those massive black ships attack otherwise? He wanted to go out to battle and defend the "Meadow" from the intruders but his sister pressed him on a higher responsibility --- not letting the intruders get their hands on the prototype fighter. He left the best parts of the Academy just to indulge CavComm with their wishes, he was sure as hell not going to let anybody ruin his chances of going back now. He wore the black power suit that was specifically designed for the ship's pilot interface without any hesitations. His sister rushed him to the fighter's cockpit, not even letting him say his goodbyes --- she was always like that, he reminded himself , she never mixes her professional life with anything else. But that was the last Francis ever saw of her. Just as he took the fighter out of the rear bay, the Meadow turned into a giant fiery flower, spitting what was left of its once sturdy hull. He locked up all the mixed emotions he felt that moment and took the first opportunity to make a run for Earth. `Cause from what he just witnessed, he had lost his confidence on the other nearby Battle Stations where he could go to.

His HUD lit up and beeped him an alert which pulled him back to the present. He took the headgear off, wiped the tears from his face, and got a better view of the alert status. Up ahead he could see the blue orb that defined Earth from the other planets in that Solar System. Swallowing his saliva, he activates his comm-link and starts sending distress calls with all the strength he has left. Hopefully, he thinks to himself, with the fighter's augmented radio-pulse range and with all the emergency comm channels he could remember during his Academy life, somebody's bound to pick his signal up.

Cavalry Command H.Q. :

The Command Center was busy as always, but the personnel had no troubles keeping it in an organized manner. The sound of electronic chatter, and muffled voices filled the room; Comm Techs running back anf forth from their posts to the Radars, constantly matching what they find. Everything that shows up in their posts are relayed to the Giant monitor at the very end of the room, constantly watched by the people in the main control room… One of them is Commander Eagle, who is currently engaged in an important Vid-link conference.

"… you shouldn't worry yourself too much, Keith. You'll see that there's not much difference in ruling a kingdom of your own with leading the Lions." He supresses his urge to laugh, after seeing his son's expression the moment he received the vind-link. His daughter, in the other hand, had no problems whatsoever of showing the same reaction and, let out a giggle. Clearing his throat, Commander Eagle continued. "I tell you what, son… You should talk to your wife about this, first thing. Allura will definitely have the answers to the nagging questions in your head."

Keith Eagle can be seen scrathing the back of his head, in final realization of something he missed. "Jeez, now why didn't I think of that?" He chuckles at his untimely ignorance.

April gives a wide grin. "Oh, come now, dear brother. Don't tell me that you're finally getting some heebie-jeebies on settling down."

"Hey, hey… That's a bit harsh." Keith exclaimed. "I'm not regretting my decision one bit. We love each other, there's not reason for me to be afraid of staying with her for the rest of my life."

Laughing again, April gives her brother a wink. "Oh, don't be mad at me… I was only kidding." Keith shakes his head. "It's all right, April." He then renders a crisp salute. "Well, then… I guess I better talk this matter out with Allura now."

Commander Eagle nods as he gives a grunt of agreement. "Okay, Keith. I believe in your abilities… And I'll always be proud of you, no matter what your decision may be."

"Thanks Dad, it means a lot to me. Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. I hope Galaxy Command comes to better terms with CavComm, dad. See `ya, April. I love you both."

"You too, Keith." April blinks as her brother signs off. She then turns her attention back at Commander Eagle. "So, Daddy… when will you have a free time? It's been a while since we've actually been together for something." She momentarily looks back at someone off the screen, retuning with a sweet smile on her face. "and, oh… Saber and I have something to tell you."

Commander Eagle smiles, thinking to himself. "So… The moment has finally come for my daughter, too. My life can never be better than this." He then return to her daughter's inquiry. "Oh… sorry about that, April. I just had something in my mind just now." He clears his throuat again. "Anyway, it won't be long now when I get time off. The Garrison Summit ends this week. We can see each other by then. Is that fine with you?"

April tilts her head over her right shoulder and smiles. "All right, daddy. I'll be waiting, till then." Just then, Commander Eagle's comm panel lit up. "Hold on, April, something's come up." He presses a button and another person appears in place of Keith's section of the screen. "Yes, what is it?"

The Comm Officer saluted. "Sir, we've been having troubles contacting anybody in Saturn. And just now, the Radars have spotted a small, unidentified craft approaching Earth at speeds of .42 Meg-lights. We traced it's flight path and assumed that it came from one of Saturn's Orbital Stations. We're also receiving some garbled communications signal from the craft."

"Hmm…" Commander Eagle pauses for a moment, rubbing his hand under his chin. "Patch the signal though, soldier.. let's hear it. April, I think you should listen to this, too."

"Okay, daddy."

The Comm Officer saluted again. "Yes, sir… Patching though." He presses a button and his image is replaced with that of the static video feed from the craft's pilot. Everybody listened attentively to the hails.

"I re--at, thi- is Ca-et Fr---is Gerardo of O----- Plat--- --dow. The re— of Saturn Ba-e could be go— by now. We've been attacked by un---- forces. Reques—ng immed---e ass—nce. Please resp—d… Cavalry C--mand, UNIT Spa--, anybody…"

"Are we able to reply?" Commander Eagle was now sitting firm infront of his desk.

"We're still narrowing his… wait… we just found his comm frequency, sir. He's using one of the emergency broadcast wavelengths."

April kept silent as she continued to watch the transmission.

Commander Eagle pressed a button. "Pilot, this is Commander Eagle of Cavalry Command, we barely received your last transmission, can you repeat it? What has happened to Saturn Base… who attacked?"

The pilot's expression changed from panic to relief. "Oh, Cavalry Command, thank God! Please Commander, take a look at the flight recorder log I'm going to send over. I don't think I can get to Earth anymore, my fuel's about to burn out." He takes a deep breath as he relays his logs over to the Command Center. "These death black ships came out of nowhere… they attacked the Meadow, we couldn't send any destress calls out, I only managed to escape with this prototype fighter… Please, sir…" His face was replaced by the playing record log of the black ships and the exploding Station. "I don't think I have much time left…They may be following me as we s----." The signal was cut off and the rest were static.

The Comm Officer reappeared on the screen. "Sir, we've lost communications signal with the small craft, and the Radar has detected a medium-sized ship defolding just behind it."

"Thank you, that will be all." Commander Eagle returned salute before the Comm Officer disappeared. He then returned his attention to April. "Did you get all that, April?"

"Yes, daddy…" April replied, "We're way ahead of you. We've taken Ramrod on an intercept course with the fighter. We can't be sure about the configuration of the attacking ship at the moment though… it looks simmilar to that of Outrider's fleet guards, but there are a number of structural alterations."

"All right, April… I'm counting on you and the StarSheriffs, along with the Neos if the need arises, to see to that fighter and the pilot's safety. He's the only one who knows what happened to Saturn Base. Let's continue our chat later… Godspeed to you all."

"Okay, daddy, will do… Ramrod, out." Commander Eagle leaned back on his chair, with his eyes fixed on the giant monitor before him, watching as the unknown ship continue to release smaller-sized crafts to overwhelm the snubfighter that seems to be handling itself so far with the first assault wave. "So… Are there more of Nemesis' kind out there?" He sighs and replays the recorder logs that was sent earlier. "Just when Earth has finally rid itself of the Outriders, another threat replaces… Will there be an end to this?"

"It is good that we found the Neo-StarSherrifs in time, isn't it, Commander Eagle?" General Whitehawk stepped out from the shadows and come to stand beside Commander Eagle. He puts a hand over the Commander's shoulder, gesturing him not to stand. "No need for formalities… let's just keep an eye on that young pilot for now."

"General?" Commander Eagle turned to look up at General Whitehawk with a puzzled expression. Seeing a firm yet reassuring face looking back at him, he decided to follow the old man's suggestion and returned his attention to the monitor. "I understand… We'll do what we can for that young man."

The General gave a nod. "Somehow… I feel that he will prove himself to be a valuable part to Earth's stand in this new war." And with that, he disappeared from Commander Eagle's side.

Cavalry Command Chronicles:

The New War

A Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs fanfic