Skyler woke at the sound; her pleasant dreams interrupted by a loud crash- the Falcon tilted with it. She nearly fell off her bed when another crash occurred. Skyler then realized, they were under attack. She ran to the ship's communication system that hung on the wall.
"Calling all Crystal Raiders, repeat, calling all Raiders! Prepare for battle!" She yelled into the speaker.
The Falcons communication system was state of the art, spanning to the farthest corners of the ship. Each member wore an earpiece that allowed them to stay in contact with one another.
Skyler pulled her dark blue hair in a ponytail allowing a few strands to hang loose and took off down the corridor towards the bridge. She normally would have spent more time on her hair but thought it best for the situation to leave it as is for now. The bridge was the central command centre on the Falcon, that's where Skyler would be giving her orders from.
"Minnie, I need you to keep the Falcon afloat while the rest of us attack straight on." Skyler said as she entered the bridge. Their ship wasn't much, but it could hold it's own. Skyler and her best friend Jinny rebuilt it after they found it wrecked in the forest on their home terra - Terra Mar.
"But we don't even know what we're up against" Jinny said through her earpiece.
Skyler looked out the big window at the front of the ship. Three ships twice the size of the Falcon painted blood red and trimmed with black metal surrounded them. Forty shoulders, dressed in red and green, on their flying vehicles accompanied them. As Skyler assessed their situation her mind was already working out a plan of action.
"Well, they look menacing enough. Jinny I want you to take Brody out and meet them in the air. I'll try and find a way to take them down indirectly."
"Understood. Brody, meet me in the launch bay." Jinny said hastily making her way there. The constant blasts from their attackers nearly knocked her to the ground a few times.
Jinny got to the launch bay just after Brody who was already mounting his skimmer. A skimmer was the most common among flying vehicles because it not only flew through air but had fold in wings so that the rider could convert to drive on land also. Most skimmers had four symmetrical fold-in wings and two all-terrain wheels, although most riders modified theirs to their liking. All the Crystal Raiders kept their skimmers in the launch bay of the Falcon. The launch bay was a large room with not much more than tools and scrap metal.
"Let's get a move on Jin!" Brody called from his skimmer. Because Brody was quite a bit younger than the others his skimmer was smaller so that he could reach the controls.
They flew out into the already raging battlefield ready for anything that came their way. This is what they were trained for. Jinny took out a few crystals she had been saving for a while and shot them at the soldiers. Crystal power was the main source of energy for everybody in Atmos. Their primary function was powering ships and other machinery, but each one has its own power. The Firebolt Crystal for instance is commonly used in combat, powering larger weaponry. When used, the Firebolt Crystal shoots a strong blast of burning hot energy weakening its target on impact. And a Windstone Crystal is powerful enough to throw large objects if wielded properly.
"That should teach them to attack us!" Jinny said celebrating a small victory.
"Um Jinny, we aren't finished yet." Brody said grimly. He pointed out twenty soldiers now blocking them from any attempt of escape. It seemed as if they were trapped from every angle.
Jinny looked around, and her happy face faded to serious and defeated. "I hope Skyler knows what she's doing."
"Whatever she's doing, let's hope she does it fast." Brody added.
Skyler flew her skimmer underneath one of the battleships. She had used a Cloaking Crystal to make her and her skimmer invisible. She found what she was hoping for, however she had known it would be there regardless; a hatch that lead right into the ship. It was located directly in the centre of the enemy ship's underbelly. She leaped from her skimmer and climbed through the hatch and onto the ship effortlessly.
"How hard can this be?" Skyler thought to herself as she started traversing the corridors. "I just need to find the engine room." She added sarcastically.
Skyler dove behind a wall as a squad of soldiers ran by. Catching her breath, she peaked around the corner hoping that they had all moved on. With her adrenaline still pumping she quickly made her way down the corridor.
Minnie had her hands full trying to fend off the three enemy ships as well as all the other individual soldiers. The Falcon was reaching critical condition from taking all the damage. They were about to lose their shields.
She spoke to Jinny through her headset. "What is taking Skyler long? We can't hold them back forever!" Minnie spoke in condensed sentences when she wasn't concentrating hard enough. The common tongue was not her first language. She often forgot less important words and was frequently misunderstood because of it.
"Trust me, she'll come through! She's our sky knight!" Jinny assured her.
Atmos was a land colonised on a thousand mountaintop terras. Each terra was protected by a squadron led by a skyknight. Below the terras was the Wastelands, covered in molten lava and crawling with monsters you only heard about in stories. Because of this, travel between terras was solely dependant on air travel.
Jinny threw her last Frost Crystal at a group of about five soldiers causing their engines to freeze up and fall out of the sky and into the Wastelands. Luckily for them, they all had parachutes that would make their landing softer. Every soldier wore one just in case of unforeseen circumstances. A blast of fiery red energy hit Jinny's skimmer making it malfunction. Luckily the bast wasn't critical and Jinny regained control. Jinny looked toward the origin of the blast and saw a man with jet black hair coming towards her. He was not dressed like the other soldiers, his armour was more advanced and the way he held himself made Jinny assume he was the leader. He stood on the hood of his sky-ride as if he was taunting her. This was a battle she would not back down from. She stood on the seat of her skimmer and drew her twin guns from their holsters. The man laughed when he saw this. Very few citizens used guns nowadays because other weapons were more efficient with crystal power. Jinny loaded her custom made rifle with an Enhancer Crystal that would improve the guns performance and shot at the leader. The shot missed him but directly hit his skimmer sending it into a swirling hurricane of malfunctions.
When he levelled out he glared at Jinny and yelled "No mercy!" which was his favourite way of saying "I will defeat you if it's the last thing I do."
Jinny replied with a mocking smile. When she got close enough she jumped off her skimmer and kicked the man in the face, landing safely on her skimmer.
The man was taken-aback at what just happened. He checked to see if he still had all his teeth and nursed his suddenly aching jaw. That normally didn't happen to him.
"You obviously don't know who you're dealing with deary. I am the Dark Ace, right hand of Master Cyclonis, and I never lose." He said proudly.
Jinny raised an eyebrow, her fists held in front of her face "So I'm supposed to just let you win now? Sorry, I don't think so."
"Very well, you brought this on yourself." He said raising his energy blade in the air.
Jinny had a fraction of a second to examine the Dark Ace's weapon. It had two prongs one longer than the other. Its handle was long, to be wielded with two hands and on the tip of the handle he attached a Firebolt Crystal, no doubt his personal favourite. Jinny braced herself on her skimmer for the coming blast and when it came she rolled her skimmer out of the way.
The Dark Ace laughed "Impressive, you'd make an excellent Cyclonian Talon."
Jinny glared at him "Not on your life."
She jumped again, this time going for a punch in the gut but the Dark Ace anticipated her actions. He grabbed her wrist and spun her around so that she was forced on to his skimmer. She was at his mercy. If she tried to wrestle free he would break her wrist.
"Surrender and I will let you live." He said, his face close to hers.
Jinny knocked her head against his, making him loosen his grip on her wrist. She used this opportunity to get free, She brought her leg up swinging it under his, kicking his leg out from under him causing him to lose his footing. He started to fall but he grabbed a hold of one of the handlebars on his skimmer. He growled in anger.
"I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jinny of the Crystal Raiders, and a force to be reckoned with. Remember that next time." Jinny jumped of the Dark Ace's skimmer and landed safely on her own and flew away.
When Skyler finally found the engine room she managed to enter unnoticed and started to look around. She found what looked like the main reactor, if she disconnected the power supply or inserted mixed messages maybe that would be enough to take the ship down. Suddenly Skyler had an idea. She had with her a few Leach Crystals, she packed them in a protective pocket away from the other crystals she had on her. Leach Crystals sucked the power from other crystals, and when they can't hold any more energy they cause a massive explosion. This pocket was specially made to contain the Leach Crystal's energy. Skyler took out the few and hoped it would be enough. She attached them to the main reactor and ran faster than she had entire life. She found the escape hatch where her skimmer was waiting for her. It was hovering right where she left it. She jumped down and landed on her skimmer just in time. The Leach Crystals had done their work effectively and sucked what they could from the reactor and exploded. Skyler flew away on her skimmer just as the ship started to fall from the sky. Minnie was successful in taking out one cruiser as well, leaving one remaining.
On the battlefield, events were clear as they unfolded. They were now evenly matched. But instead of trying to win the battle, the Dark Ace called for the Talons to retreat.
"Yeah that's right you run away! Don't even think about messing with us again!" Brody yelled at them.
Jinny had just finished taking care of the Talons on her tail so she allowed herself to exhale and calm her adrenaline rush. "Where's Skyler?" She asked huffing from exhaustion.
Brody scanned the sky that was now clouded from the cannons from both ships. Debris and what remained of the two cruisers still falling from the sky. From a far off, one small skimmer remained distinguishable from the retreating Talons.
"Raiders meet back on the Falcon for a debrief." Skyler addressed her team through her headset.