The trio moves on, but before they get far, four more Hammerons descend from the sky, but our heroes manage to land in a convenient patch of forest before the enemy ships spot them. It's here where we learn why Jack and co. are so far out into Renard's territory: they're looking for a data bank that might have info on how to open the vault in the New Valley.
Jack and co. get off their vehicles and look down into a nearby canyon (or dried out riverbed) and it just so happens King Renard's command ship is passing by. No big deal, right? That's until Xyber 9 says the data bank is IN the command ship somewhere. So our heroes travel along the canyon a bit, to figure out how they're going to sneak aboard.
Meanwhile, Princess Roselyn, on board the command ship, is sort of having her daily princess lessons (something about the difference between a dictator and a monarch). It's here where she complains about celebrating her birthday on the command ship. Anyway, she gets distracted and looks out the window, spotting Jack, Ana and Ikira. However, since Anakonda was kind of in disguise when Roselyn first saw her, the princess is like 'Who is this person?' She says it almost jealously too; it's the first sign that she doesn't like Anakonda in the slightest.
Well, Jack and co. find a
way into the ship, but it's not exactly the most glamorous one. Yep, you
guessed it; they have to go up the garbage chute on the bottom of the ship.
So they do that, and they're flying around inside the ship looking for
the data bank. They go down one corridor, and as they leave the shot, Roselyn
comes out of a door and heads after them. Anyway, Jack and everyone find
where the data bank is and . . .
<insert commercial break
here>
The show comes back, and Ikira's sword slices through the door of where the data bank is. The two guards in the room go to check it out, but they're quickly dealt with by Ana and Ikira. Those two put the guards in a nearby storage locker while Jack and Xyber 9 check out the data bank.
Jack hooks the Xyber up to the data bank, the usual special effects ensue . . . meanwhile, in the Underworld, an alarm goes off in Machestro's throne room. Machestro notes the break-in and gives Dakartar hell for it. The lackey tries to apologize, but it's too little, too late and Machestro zaps him. After he's done with the target practice, Machestro checks the video feed from the ship and discovers the Xyber.
Cut back to the data bank for a sec: Xyber 9 tells everyone that they've been discovered. Then the scene switches to the Machina tunnels, where Machestro sends out the Tunnel Rats.
Meanwhile, King Renard's up in his war room with a crowd of his various lords and ladies; the evil king's showing off a model of his newest war toy, the Rail Cannon. Anyway, he goes on about how it's gonna be THE weapon to destroy Tatania, but that's when his Machina comm goes off. He leaves the room to answer it; Machestro tells him that the Xyber is on the ship.
Cut back to the Underworld
. . . Machestro's complaining about Renard and wonders if it's time to
consider an alternative to the foolish king. Dakartar says 'At least Renard
can be controlled' but as usual, Machestro doesn't care for his lackey's
opinion and zaps him for the second time in the episode! Meanwhile, back
in the ship's corridors, Renard is sending his soldiers after the Xyber.
<insert commercial break
#2 here>
The show returns, and Princess Roselyn shows up in the data bank room. There's a bit of a conversation, but Jack winds up saying that King Renard attacked them when he showed up at the New Valley in an earlier ep. Roselyn thinks Jack is lying and goes to slap him, but Anakonda grabs her arm and growls at her. And so begins one of the bigger rivalries in the entire series: Ana the wild girl vs. Roselyn the pampered princess. They trade insults for a bit, but then Renard's soldiers decide to make their presence known. Ana naturally blames the princess, but Roselyn says she came alone. Meanwhile, the Xyber isn't finished downloading yet and he tells the gang to stall the soldiers.
Ordinarily, our heroes would be in big trouble right about now, but Roselyn says she'll hide the Xyber for them. Of course, if she finds out Jack was lying about her father, they'd never see the Xyber again. Jack agrees and just in time, since the soldiers finally break the door down. The princess backs up against the console where the Xyber is so the soldiers can't see it, then she tells them to take Jack and co. away.
The soldiers take the prisoners
away, meanwhile the Xyber finishes up and Roselyn takes him from the console.
She leaves the room and heads down a corridor, but hides off to the side
while her father and some of his soldiers come through the same corridor.
Once they're gone, Roselyn continues on, but the Xyber says, and I quote,
"I'm sorry, child. Machestro's corruption lies dark upon your father."
At which point, Roselyn asks what her father has to do with 'a story to
scare children'; the Xyber gives a bit of an explanation, but Roselyn heads
for the brig, wanting to find out the truth of the whole situation.
<insert commercial break
#3 here . . . Fox has too many commercials, don't you think?>
When the show comes back, we're given an external shot of the command ship; it stops and a hole opens up in the ground below it. A Tunnel Rat squad comes up out of the hole and enters the ship via a ramp.
Meanwhile, in the brig, Jack, Ikira, and Ana are waiting for the princess to help them escape. Roselyn shows up, disguised as a servant girl with a rather suspscious looking mop (it's the Xyber). Before the princess can do anything, King Renard and what is most likely a torturer show up.
Renard demands the Xyber, Jack says he wouldn't tell him where it was even if he did know, so then Renard turns them over to the torturer guy.
Roselyn asks her father 'Is this any way to treat your subjects?'. Renard doesn't even recognize his daughter's voice and slaps her one for her insolence. The king leaves, and the torturer guy's about to get to work. The princess is crying, but she knows she has to act, so she reveals the Xyber, then sneaks up behind the torturer and whacks him one with it. Ikira gets the keys and frees himself and the others, and since Jack wasn't lying about Renard, Roselyn gives the Xyber back. There's a bit of a conversation where Roselyn tells them about her father's latest construction site, and our heroes go to escape.
The rest of the ep plays out rather quickly. The group fights the Tunnel Rats for a minute or two, but when Ikira says Machestro would send his whole army until he got what he wanted, Jack uses the Xyber on a console down there and floods out the ship. The trio escape, although not without dodging a few shots from the command ship's guns. Needless to say, Machestro is very angry . . .
The ep ends later that night, with Princess Roselyn and her teacher. The princess says she's beginning to understand the difference between a monarch and a dictator, and then they leave for her birthday party.
Go back . . . 'Trio'