Vanquo was left free to act as he preferred by Nemesis. He could lead his missions as he preferred, to attack what he wanted and to cause all the trouble he could figure. Vanquo was thinking he gained this chance thanks to the trust he should have gained by Nemesis discovering information about the Ramrod project. Obviously he didn't feel at all in fault for Ramrod not being destroyed. After all, his mission had been only to find out information. And Vanquo didn't know Nemesis instead thought it was his fault for giving him late the information and that, if he let him act as he preferred, it was only for two precise reasons. The first was to value better his new enemies gaining information about them, the second to get rid of Vanquo in case Ramrod pilots were really too much able. Vanquo wasn't realizing the deep despite his commander felt for him, despite that made Nemesis consider disgusting the idea to end Vanquo's life by an Outrider's hands too. Vanquo was simply enjoying his freedom believing he already was an important Commander. With his team he created small plans in small cities to conquer small objectives which would never be judged even remotely interesting by Nemesis (And for Vanquo's own well being it would be better if Nemesis never know about them considering he wouldn't be able to appreciate that one of his underlings would waste time and resources in such an unuseful way). To Vanquo's credit it could be said that the reports he consigned later about Ramrod but mostly about its pilots were always extremely detailed. Much material about Saber Rider, April, Fireball and Colt was collected by him alone in his time of independence. The Ramrod pilots became, thanks to his work, the only soldiers of the cavalry Command that had the title of Star Sheriffs toward the Outriders, considering that all the other members were considered simply "humans" . The Star Sheriffs, with his big disappointment, troubled him always in his projects. And he always accused them of his failures and of his loss of prestige in Nemesis' eyes. All his attempts were vane and Saber Rider, the most expert among the Star Sheriffs gave the main contribute in ruining his plans. He even managed to fight against him! Vanquo hated him. His plans, so beautiful and complex! He destroyed them all! The attempt to have fighting Indians and cowboys among them to be able to attack undisturbed their city, the tentative to distract the humans with a gold hunt to push them to leave their city so they could occupy it and his biggest, most beautiful and important plan: to conquer an old inhabited Highland castle! That failure hadn't been completely caused by the Star Sheriffs. There had been a small error in his plans or, for being more exact, an exchange of castle. The castle of Saber Rider's parents had been confused with the one he wanted. And his parents managed to contact him. They didn't say him much because he interrupted the transmission that's for sure, but it has been enough to cause that curious to come there with April who had obviously a crush for him and of which the stupid seemed to be oblivious. The soldiers he left in substitution of his parents and that should have sent him away or killed him didn't do any good and they were defeated thanks to the Sheriff's "dog". No, all this hadn't been useful at all. And now poor Vanquo, without plans for the future, found himself again without his freedom, forced again to follow precisely Nemesis' orders...

Author's notes:
This was planned to be an interlude named "New Frontier hosts the Outriders". When I realized the interludes turned out to be 6 one after the other I placed them all in a single book "The first battles" which is the one you're reading now. This chapter is based on the episodes 13 "The Highlanders", 17 "The Saber And The Tomahawk" and 18 "All That Glitters". The episodes weren't considered in their transmission order but this doesn't change the storyline of the series.

Author's notes: