Author's Notes: I wrote this story a long, long, long, long time ago. This was actually my story that I ever wrote. The first 3 chapters were beta read by Kitty, who I think goes by Saffronica612. You have both my thanks for editing this for me and encouraging me to be a better person. And my apologies for chickening out of posting it back then. Well here it is. If I get good reviews, I might post the rest of the unedited story. Unless someone wishes to edit it for me that would greatly appreciated.
CHAPTER ONE:
Story Begins
"Can you believe it—the sunrise looks exactly the same," Aerrow commented, partially to himself.
Today was the day. The day where the sky knights of all of Atmos, once again, came together to defeat the new Cyclonian forces. It had been two long years since the Storm Hawks were unofficially reformed and when the young Master Cyclonis took the throne to Cyclonia. During which time, the Storm Hawks were almost constantly interfering with her plans of ruling the Atmos. But now, having finally retrieved the oracle stone, she had gained access to the Far Side and its technology. Using it to outfit her Terra and Night Crawlers, it was only a matter of time before it was all decided—the fate of the world.
Flash to Cyclonia: while the Storm Hawks were creating and outfitting their small fleet, Talons, night crawlers and the Dark Ace were making the final preparations to the tower. Master Cyclonis sat atop her grand bed, surrounded by personal items, stroking them gently for perhaps the last time. She most of all realized how very tenuous the outcome. Their fate hung on a thread, on a number of uncontrollable, unpredictable variables, and it was just as likely that tomorrow she would be sitting on the throne of Atmos then her corpse would lie on the Waste—
She shook her head violently, trying to clear her mind, to prepare herself with what was about to go down. Despite her flaunted royalty, she was still a child. A child that was about to wage the final battle that would decide the fate of the Atmos.
She knew that those that came before her, were all great leaders of Cyclonia, with the confidence to win any battle, but she? She was the last, the last of her family. Her mother and father had been killed when she was little, her grandmother that she looked up to for guidance and was the last of her family died when she was 15. She grew up secluded in the tower, with no friends, just talons and servants who would one day look up to her as their leader. She was a queen, not a person. So much is on her shoulders, she not only had to avenge her family, but also lead all of Cyclonia? She didn't know... she didn't know if she could. Or why she was fighting sometimes, she had never killed anyone before and didn't ever want to. Sometimes she just wanted to run away, somewhere where there was no more killing, no orders to be given or the cold, harsh, icy mask she wore. Somewhere where she could be normal.
No matter what she did, she couldn't concentrate, couldn't come to terms with her doubts. Her thoughts slowly drifted to her arch nemesis...the Storm Hawks. Stork was paranoid and insane—she admired the first quality, but the latter destroyed any respect she might have for him, Finn was a complete joke, Junko was a toddler in a Wallop's body, Piper was too "good" and "cheerful" and fakey (and the pain from her rejection ran too deep) and Aerrow. She both envied him and admired him at the same time. Every time they were in battle he was always confident and brave in his abilities and in his team, no matter in what situation he was in. He was always willing to sacrifice himself for others, yet always supported by his team... his friends. Yes, she was truly jealous of him for what he had: no qualms in the cause he was figting for.
A knock came from her door, shaking her out of her thoughts.
"Come in." Cyclonis said, annoyance evident in her voice. Slowly the door opened, revealing the Dark Ace. He stood awkwardly, knowing that Master Cyclonis loathed anyone entering her room, even with permission.
"It is time." he simply stated, then elaborated, "The first wave has already been deployed. The second wave is waiting on standby for your orders."
"Wait to see the outcome of the first wave. I want to see what Aerrow has put together to fight with... How is the storm canon going?"
"It is still yet to be operational," Dark Ace admitted. At the glare of frustration and disappointment from him empress, he quickly reassured her, "but I know it will be operational when the terra is air born."
"Make sure that it is!" she snarled, hurling some random object at him with her staff, but it went high, hitting the doorframe. Familiar with the queen's temper, he simply bowed and left, closing the door behind him.
Cyclonis sighed, regretful already. She knew the Dark Ace was the most loyal to her and he would not let her down, not if he could help it. Just as he served her grandmother, during her reign…she shook her head. He might be loyal, but he was hardly much of a true friend.
She had studied Machiavellian politics for years, and she ruled with an iron first of fear, right from the first day she sat on her throne. She understood that fear would keep them in line, that her reputation if not her actual persona would keep Cyclonia together; if the people found out she was not worthy to rule, if she was weak…it was unthinkable. She would never be able to keep the dreams of her grandmother and mother alive. She needed to, she promised herself she would, at any cost, the day everything that they had all left her here alone.
Her mind was still clouded by these random weedy thoughts, and she knew what she needed most right now: guidance. Slowly, she reached out for the item most precious to her, a sky blue crystal. Superficially it held an image of her and her grandmother, but with it accompanied a holographic program of her grandmother, the closest thing to her grandmother's presence. Cyclonis activated the crystal, revealing the projection of a fragile old woman, yet one glance at her posture and the glint in her eye revealed herself to be a ruler.
"Hello dear." said the elderly woman. The program, she reminded herself. Just the program. Her grandmother was dead.
"Hello Grandmother." She replied carefully.
"What is wrong my dear?" the crystal asked.
"Cyclonia is about to go to war." She stated, "and I don't know if I can lead them."
"Oh, my dear you can and you will. You are part of a great line of natural born leaders. It is in our blood to lead Cyclonia. You will not only lead them into battle, but you will also lead them to victory!" she said, slipping into the familiar skin—no, the programmed role—of giving Cyclonis a lecture. "You need to trust yourself, my dear. Listen to your heart, not your head, and you'll find what you need. "
Her heart? Where had that come from? She examined the crystal, but it seemed to be functioning properly. The woman—no, the program—sat patiently, waiting for another question, another impetus.
Slowly Cyclonis lowered the crystal, still wondering what her grandmother meant. But her grandmother was right, she is the last of the Cyclonises, she has to win this battle, if not for herself, than for her grandmother and mother, even if it meant using fear to accomplish it. She was still shaken up a bit by the machine—it seemed so real, she kept forgetting it was just a trinket, a bit of programming, nothing more. This was why she rarely used the crystal—it always messed with her head. She got off the bed, putting on her cloak, while waving the staff as each item returned to its proper place. She strided towards the control room, returning in her throne, her proper place.
"It's time." She proclaimed to everyone, a sinister edge to her voice. They all quickly nodded. She let out an evil laugh as the entire tower shook as the terra slowly lifted off the ground and into the air.
"For Cyclonia!" she screamed, then, to herself, whispered, "For grandmother and mother."
Later...
The battle exploded around them, skimmers plunging towards the Wasteland, destroyed, people from both sides screaming as they fell. The Sky Knights and the Condor were trying to distract as many Talons and Night Crawlers as they could, while the Storm hawks focused on taking down the tower.
"Piper!" screamed Aerrow over the roar of engines of their skimmers, "Any genius ideas to take this thing down?"
"I don't know," she shouted back. "She must be using the technology from the Far Side to give the gravity crystals more power!" She still could barely wrap her her head around the fact that Cyclonis had actually gotten the terra airborne. She had to think, think think…a glimmer from the sides of the terra caught her eyes, and suddenly, it hit her.
"There!" she yelled back to Aerrow, waving her finger at the elusive glimmers. "They look like levitation platoons. That's what's keeping the terra afloat!"
Aerrow veered his skimmer in a sharp right, peering towards it, firing, but his shots rebounded from some invisible force shield. In the few seconds it took him to realize what was happening, he barely had time enough to dodge the shots. The wind tore away his sigh of relief.
"Alright, here's what we're going to do! Finn, Junko!" he radioed, catching their attention, "try to destroy those crystals! Piper, you and I are going to go for their power source. That should drop the shields!" All of them swiftly nodded their heads, acknowledging their orders, then they split up.