Vanquo, after Nemesis' order, got immediately to work. He arrived to New Frontier and started searching information. He was good in talking with the people, he confused himself well among them and he never catch the eye too much. He had a good hearing and a discrete intuition for who could give him information. His men, all from his same race, were them too able in this sort of things. But the results weren't encouraging. It was true, the humans had a secret project but... what was it? He knew what would be his destiny if he didn't discover it. And he didn't like the thought. He ordered to his men to intensify the research. Slowly, bit of news started to be discovered. With the progress of the project the humans were becoming carelessly. Enough to allow him to understand that the humans' project could be dangerous for them. But not enough to allow him to understand what it was. Or where it was. But with those small tracks his work was, very slowly, becoming easier. More bits of information were found by his men. A secret arm... invincible... big project... need of space... need of specialized technicians... construction problems... used particular materials... troubles resolved thanks to the participation of the daughter of the Commander... superior power... need of an able crew... Vanquo was sending all he discovered to the base. His only ability was to discover information, not to put them together. To put them together was a work, which he left with pleasure to someone else. He had to move many times, from planet to planet and the more he tried to come near to the secret project, the more he had to expose himself. And the more he exposed himself, the more he was risking to be discovered and to fail. And he knew how Nemesis would take a failure. Patience. And prudence. For picking up the information were needed more than anything those two qualities. But Nemesis was starting to become impatient. He didn't love to wait. And Vanquo didn't want at all Nemesis to be mad at him. He had to expose himself and to gain two precious information: the name of the project, "Ramrod", and the name of a planet, "Yuma". But he was discovered and now over him was hanging a price. He knew he was hunted mainly by a young Bounty-hunter and by a stupid member of the Secret Service of the Cavalry Command. He made fun of them both and managed to leave planet Alamo, direction Yuma. Yuma was a too big planet for exploring it all. He needed the precise place in which Ramrod was. And he was trusting to have another advantage over his followers. Yuma was handing a stupid thing called Grand Prix. It wasn't a military activity and it hadn't a utility of some sort but it was calling there a lot of people. Confused between the people he wouldn't be an easy target. And the humans, now that they knew the Outriders knew about Ramrod would act for protecting it. And they would do some errors, which would make easier his work. As to send in a small outpost the daughter of Commander Eagle. She was involved with the project Ramrod. She should surely be on the planet for this reason. And where she was, there should surely be Ramrod too... Now he had the last information he missed and he was ready to give it to Nemesis...

The race was keeping totally busy Fireball's mind. It has always been like that. The boy was born for this. Young, apparently too young for to be a pilot, thanks to his talent, his love for the races, good will and good temper managed to have a chance. He didn't throw it away. And now, after a good number of victories he was there, in the Yuma Grand Prix, uncaring of the war against the Outriders, uncaring of all, wishing only to win. And to share this new victory with... who in fact? He had nothing more than vague memories of his father the most based on photos than anything else, his mother died some years before. She didn't see him to become a pilot. But Fireball wasn't used to live in the past. Only the present mattered. And the present was that race. And the victory was about to be his, considering that now he left far behind the other pilots. He was about to be the champion! When, from where it's not known, appeared a small single pilot spaceship, which in a manoeuvre excessively near to him risked sending him to smash against something. His ability allowed him to keep himself in the street but it didn't avoid him to loose precious seconds. The spaceship left him while the pilot said something, which Fireball took as apologizes. But he wouldn't stay alone for long. The other cars were reaching him. But after an intense fight he still managed to gain the first place. And the record time of the Grand Prix! But the day wasn't designate to end so well. Once he arrived to his hotel he found himself involved in a discussion with a guy who pretended HIS room, which he obviously wasn't interested in giving away. As if this wasn't enough, someone else joined the argument, the pilot of the spaceship, which risked causing him to loose the competition, a cowboy who dared to treat him with his gun for getting his room. But the cowboy had to give up to it soon, thanks to the arrive of the overprotective father of a girlfriend of the cowboy who wanted to dissuade the cowboy to see his daughter again, using as principal reason his Winchester. Literally vanished the cowboy, was still there the guy with the British accent. Unluckily he hadn't troubles with overprotective fathers so Fireball accepted unwilling to share his room with him. His day has been surely filled with adventure. First, the interruption to his race, then his victory (and this for now seemed to be the only pleasurable thing), then the guy with British accent who wanted his room, the cowboy who treated him with a gun for getting it for first and in the end having to accept to share the room with the English who was similar to the cowboy for another thing other than trying to steal him his room, he too was searching a guy with a pale face, long white hair and empty eyes called Vanquo. Well if this Vanquo was the cause of all the troubles he was having he too would like to find him. And to have with him a nice chat. He was feeling pretty tired, the race exhausted him and he wanted only to rest. And this Vaquo and the troubles, which he caused to him weren't welcomed.

Vanquo was proud of himself. He was sure he discovered the localization of the Ramrod project. And while he was communicating it to Nemesis he was sure he would obtain a good reward from him. Full of pride for the success of his mission he forgot to be prudent and realized his error only when he heard the glasses of the window behind him shattering. The Bounty-hunter found him! He had to escape from him! But he didn't make in time. He was hit in the corridor in front of two other boys, one of them was the Cavalry Command member who should have stopped him. Too late now! My mission is done! The iperspace transport system entered in work. His body was taken back home while he was falling on the ground unable to sustain himself for the injury. Soon the doctors would heal him completely. He allowed himself a satisfied smirk. The troops on Yuma now knew where to attack. Ramrod project would be destroyed. They would win again. And, in fact, while Vanquo was falling into unconsciousness, the Outrider troops started their attack. With meticulous precision they were destroying the entire Outpost. And they weren't planning to stop not even when a turbo car, a small spaceship and a guy riding a mechanical horse tried to oppose to them. Oh their new rivals were good but they were more numerous. And anyway they weren't there for them. To destroy, to destroy, to destroy! What was Ramrod project? Where was it hidden? Where was this so powerful arm? Did their attack damage it? Was it damaging it? To hit, to hit with more determination. They were trying to destroy all, everything had a strange form, everything that could be a treat, everything that could be the "Ramrod project". If Nemesis had been present he would appreciate that battle that remembered, for the high number of destroyed things, the ones he did once even if, obviously, his ways had been much more destructive. They were doing a good job. Smoke was starting to rise everywhere. Even in places where it shouldn't be. The Outriders started to take conscience of the fact the intruders were making more damages of what it was supposed they did. The intruders were destroying their spaceships! And they didn't look like as they received some damages. Some Outriders hurried to go against the intruders in the attempt to stop them, without success. The intruders stopped them. The attention started to be concentrated on those three small creatures who were starting to cause so many troubles. They had to be stopped. No insignificant creature could oppose to them. But to stop them... wasn't easy. But their high number was starting to put them in trouble till they retreat all toward the same place and soon they would destroy them when... something happened. A spaceship, a spaceship much bigger than the usual the humans used for to oppose to them appeared from the ground. A spaceship of a bright black color. Could it be... Ramrod... project?

April started to prepare herself to the worst when she saw the Outriders to attack. Alone, she couldn't drive Ramrod. And even if she wouldn't be alone... four should be the members of the Ramrod crew but, for now, with her, the Cavalry Command chose only Saber Rider. Who at the moment should be busy with Vanquo. And what if something happened to him? Oh, if only he was there! All the hopes of New Frontier were placed in Ramrod but if Ramrod would be destroyed... She had to do something. Ramrod had to be piloted by four persons; it has been her own idea. At the moment the Cavalry Command didn't have the technology adapt for building a robot, which a single person could drive. Alone she couldn't fight with Ramrod but... she could at least try to take it away, to avoid it was destroyed. All while some strange guys, appeared out of nowhere, were keeping the Outriders at the bay. Yes it could work, till when, running down of the stairs, she didn't meet one of them. An idea came to her mind. Could he be a supporting pilot found and sent there by the Command at the last moment? No, unluckily he wasn't. It didn't matter. He was a good pilot. He could be useful. And she was determinate to try everything. They were joined by Saber Rider, finally he arrived!, and by the third guy, a cowboy with a great aim. Now they were four. The destiny united them. Maybe the destiny could help them to win. Finally New Frontier had some chances against the Outriders! All this could happen if her Ramrod, not yet tested, managed to answer to the expectative of the Command and to compete with the Outrider arms. And obviously if the two new members of the team revealed themselves adapt to the work... April hoped all would go well, after all their enemies were only small spaceships... Ramrod had to work; she projected it, with her father and the other Command members! And at the moment all was seeming to go well. The advantage to share with four people the control of Ramrod was to simplify the commands. If the team managed to work in synchrony and cooperation, Ramrod would work well as if drove by a single person. And it was doing it. If they wouldn't be in the middle of a battle April would have shout her joy in seeing her Ramrod working. And the two new entries were working very well! The spaceships were about to be defeated! When, all of sudden, the sensors showed something bigger. Bigger and more dangerous. A Renegade Unit! The Outriders' most powerful arm! And the one's of the Outriders were piloted by a single person, with less chances to have synchrony or speed problems and more technologically advanced. And their pilot was surely an expert. It would be a hard fight. She counted mentally how many hopes they had and after she chose, after all, she wasn't so curious to wish to know the exact number. Or to wish to say it to the boys. And this probably was a good idea because, not knowing the danger they were in, they were making their best. Would it be enough? April never know how but she found herself to observe a place in front of herself free by the Outriders while her heart was still beating fast for the excitation of the battle. They did it. They won!

Nemesis listened two times the telltale of the battle. And for who knew him, even if not intimately, this wasn't a good sign. And who didn't know him would understand it very fast. The soldier who took him the news from Yuma unluckily knew him. Well. And he was trembling in fear. And if this situation would have been happened fifteen years before he wouldn't have managed to get out of that room alive. But now it was different. Nemesis was less... passionate. Not that this could be called a good thing for the soldier since he was killed anyway. The poor guy never had the chance to say which dead he would have preferred. But, after all, what did a soldier's opinion matter? There were others who didn't end well that day. As many tyrants, Nemesis was disposed to get mad with his inferiors, when a failure happened in his plans. His anger revealed itself in a democratic way. For him they were all equally culpable, equally deserving a punishment and equally idiots. His underlings would likely give up democracy in that sort of thing. They would all prefer Nemesis to use a single scapegoat, possibly someone who wasn't them and to do with him what he wanted. It didn't matter if in front of them or not. But Nemesis had... became more cold in his blaming. And this was scaring even more his commanders who were quite happy to take the chance to get out of that room promising repeatedly to take care soon of that failure, making unfruitful attempts to pretend a calmness they didn't have and slamming into each other while they kept a walking speed two or three time faster than the usual. Nemesis always appreciated the effect his simple presence had over them, not mention his anger! Little coward idiots! And now he appreciated even more the fact he got rid of them. They were so boring! So predictable! So coward! And those were all things Nemesis never appreciated. But he personally got rid of who wasn't like that in order to not have obstacles in his race toward the power twenty years ago and now he couldn't mourn if there was no one among his commanders who he could like. And whom he could trust in enough for using him against the humans. He didn't know why but he was sure those stupid wouldn't know what to do against the new arm. Ramrod. The name was ridiculous. But the power those primitive creatures managed to obtain was impressive. Their little toy could compete with one of his Renegade Desperado Unit! Maybe the humans weren't so inferior as they thought. Or maybe they learned something from the war of fifteen years ago. Or maybe they had been simply lucky and placing together pieces in a casual way they managed to have a powerful arm. If only he wasn't forced to stay on the planet but he could go for a while to have fun with them! And to do... what? It was strange he still felt this sort of impulses. It was his old himself who loved to fight and command in the first line, risking his life in order to make a show of himself like a dumb young boy, not him. His old himself has been a fool. And he had fun in his madness till the end. Anyway this wasn't going to be a trouble for him. His commanders would stop this Ramrod in a way or in another. Or he would stop them... definitely...

The battle ended. They won. Ramrod worked perfectly. And they all did a great work. Wasn't life wonderful? And everyone in Ramrod cockpit seemed to think in the same way. The two boys who helped them so well seemed to feel like if they won the war. Colt and Fireball were their names. They both were pretty cute. April smiled while she was thinking at it. They had been very useful. They could be it again. They could be the two missing members of the team. She was sure the Cavalry Command would approve her choice. And her father too as soon as she would talk to him about it. But, for now, she had to hope the boys would accept her offer and change their lifestyle for a badge of the Cavalry Command. April was hoping it but she knew she was asking a lot. And when she proposed it to the boys, hoping Saber Rider would support her, she prepared herself to receive a cold no. After all, she was asking them to give up to their dreams, to their life and to their ambitions for what? A dangerous life, which left few space to the fun, to the relax and to the personal interests. Who would ever blame them if they would refuse? And how she guessed there were some objections. Colt should stop his Bounty Hunter career. But the cowboy declared himself favourable considering the work would still be to fight the Outriders. He seemed to truly hate them. There should be something personal between them and him. It could be. The Outriders killed so many people, took so much death and destruction! Her mother too has been one of their victims! She could understand the resentment against them. For Fireball the troubles were different. He was a pilot. The cars and the speed were his passion. And he wasn't driving cause he was pushed by a particular hate toward the Outriders. If he would accept he should give a rough stop to his career. "But" April said trying to show him the situation under a better light "Ramrod's faster than any racecar you'll ever see." A tempting thought. To pilot the fastest spaceship ever built from the humans. And to protect them by the Outriders. To stop the children to grow up orphans. As he grew up. He would accept. His people needed him as Ramrod pilot more than as a racecar pilot. For this there would be always time later. Now it was the time to fight. To fight for building a better future. A free future. A future of peace. A future of love. A future of hope. A future where fear and dead weren't ruling. A future where the dark shadow of the Outriders wouldn't cover their lives anymore. Now they were four. Only in four against a powerful numerous army well armed. In four against the most terrible army of the entire universe. Only in four. Four. Less than the fingers in a hand. But they were determinate to be the four who would make the difference and send back and defeat the Outriders. And they would do it. They were sure about it.

Author's notes:
In this book I did some small changes to the original plit of the story. Plus, in order to give to "The Chronicles of Two Dimensions" a storyline with a logic chronology order of the facts, the chronological order of the episodes, from this point, was changed. The storyline of the series is still more or less the same, were removed from it only the time paradoxes (Eagle kidnapped who became free and then again kidnapped and the leadership that kept jumping from Vanquo to Gattler [who the Sheriffs knew before his apparition] to Jesse without comprehensible explanations).
"The Chronicles of Two Dimensions" was written before I knew the Japanese original episode order and so it doesn't respect it. This isn't a big problem and it's not very noticeable in the story but anyway consider yourself warned.