The Condor emerged from the portal into the dark sky of the Far Side, its entire crew minus Stork standing amazed outside the hangar. They stared out at the strange land, a mountainous green-tinted place, with a single light-giving tower at the center and a black river flowing through the valley below them.
Finn whistled in awe. "Duuude..."
Then a shrill, foreign cry echoed from above, and the Storm Hawks looked up to see what looked like a dragon circling above them. Many more of its kind flew here and there over the city. The city-that's what Piper guessed it was, at least. The central tower looming ahead reminded her of the Beacon Tower on Terra Atmosia, and the spread of lights over the spires of rock the dwellings beyond. She glanced at Aerrow, who looked starstruck by it all.
"This is going to be fun," he declared, and gave her a smile. She returned it in agreement, and the team exchanged amazed looks.
They all stood a moment longer, gazing out over the strange city, until Stork's nervous voice came through the Condor's intercom. "Guys," he said, a warning edge to his words, "you may want to see this."
Immediately Aerrow tore his gaze from the landscape and nodded to the others, and the Storm Hawks rushed inside to the Condor's bridge.
There they found Stork at the helm as usual, bent over the navigational controls and tapping a dial with one slender green finger.
He turned and straightened slightly as they approached. "Navigational controls aren't responding," he told them. "We still have the Timepulse-" he pointed to the glass ball, its rings still turning, "-but something is different here. Can't get a bearing. You know what that means?" He wrung his hands, waited for an answer.
Junko raised a finger, "Um, something bad?" he ventured.
Stork gestured wildly and cried, "Certain doom! If we get lost here, we'll never find our way back. We'll fly in circles until we die horrible, boring deaths!"
Aerrow shook his head and held up a calming hand. "Stork, calm down. We're not going to get lost. We'll figure something out. We have the best navigator in the Atmos, remember?" he said, resting a hand on Piper's shoulder.
Stork sighed shakily and grunted, still unconvinced. Aerrow continued, "For now, find a safe place to stop. We need to do some serious recon before we go looking for Cyclonis."
Stork nodded and gripped the helm, then took the ship down some and toward the rocky outcroppings that lined the valley floor.
Aerrow turned to the rest of the team.
"Piper, you stay here with Stork. Try and figure out our location, chart some maps, anything that will help us get an idea of what's here. Junko, you and Radarr fix up the Condor, get her back in top shape. Finn, you're with me. We'll take our Skimmers and see what's out there." He jerked a thumb out the window. "Good luck, everyone."
His team gave him a nod, and they split up.
"Be careful," Piper called as Aerrow and Finn headed for the door.
Aerrow grinned. "When are we ever not careful?" he said, and Finn gave Piper a wink.
She sighed in mock annoyance as the door shut behind them, then turned to the maps spread over the table.
...
Radarr and Junko separated and headed to opposite ends of the ship. They started repairs there and worked inwards, patching pipes, hammering out dents in the bulkheads, and screwing in loose bolts. Soon the Condor looked as good as new, and the two Storm Hawks high-fived each other and headed back to the bridge.
...
Stork stayed at the helm until the Condor had anchored under a rocky overhang, then he joined Piper at the center table. She was bent over her maps, cross-referencing, looking out the windows at the land around them, taking notes and drawing lines.
As Stork came to stand next to her she straightened and cried, "This is impossible! There are next to no existing maps of the Far Side, the normal ones of Atmos are no help, and that-" she gestured out the window, "-tells me nothing!" She buried her face in her hands. "What are we supposed to do?"
Stork started to say something, then thought better of it. He wanted to comfort her, or something, but didn't know what to do. He finally just shrugged. "Accept our imminent demise?" he suggested.
To his surprise, Piper laughed. She shook her head, perched on the edge of the table and crossed her arms. He wasn't sure what had been funny, but flashed a nervous smile anyway.
Then the door slid open, and Junko and Radarr entered.
"That was fast," Piper commented, a bit incredulously.
Junko shrugged, "This new Condor is a little more sturdy than the original. She didn't take much damage," he explained.
Stork nodded proudly.
"How's the navigation...uh, stuff...going?" Junko asked.
Piper scowled. "Terrible," she said. "I don't have any maps of this place-I don't think there even are any-so I have no idea where we're going or what to expect."
Junko frowned. "You can't just make a map?" he inquired.
She shook her head. "All I can see is that...city place. We'd have to be far above this whole place to map it," she explained.
"Can't Stork take us up there?" Junko asked then.
Everyone looked at Stork, who shrank away, wringing his hands. "I'd really rather not. We don't know what could be up there. Maybe it's dragons. Or Vulcabats. Or giant man-eating hummingbirds!" he cried, eye twitching.
Piper raised an eyebrow. "Man-eating hummingbirds," she echoed. "Really?"
Junko snickered behind his hand.
Stork looked indignant. "You never know. This is, after all...the Far Side." His voice dropped to a fearful whisper.
Piper sighed. "Fine. I'll wait till Aerrow gets back, but I'm going to chart a map of this place one way or another." She sat on the table with a huff, and Stork smirked triumphantly.
Junko scratched his head and went to the window. He gasped suddenly and warned, "Guys? Uh, you need to see this."
...
Aerrow and Finn were flying parallel each other, some distance apart, scanning the area. The Condor was in view far behind them so that they wouldn't get lost, and they were nearing the dark spire of a tower they'd seen when they arrived. It was even grander up close.
The tower loomed over the land around it, a massive pillar of stone that looked as if it had naturally thrust up from the earth. Lit windows lined its circumference all the way up, and at its center a bright, steady light washed its surroundings in a green glow. Stone bridges connected the tower to the smaller structures around it, which looked like little models of the tower itself, and the whole arrangement was standing on a tilting table of rock that led from the valley like a spiral staircase.
Aerrow and Finn circled the tower once, looking out over the rest of the landscape. Around the tower were huge claw-shaped outcroppings of stone, with small lit structures built into their sides. Almost as far as the eye could see there was nothing but mountains and waterways. At the horizon on all sides, however, they could see a line of darkness where the mountains stopped. Aerrow sighed in relief.
"So, this is a terra," he called, "This is a city, beyond that is just mountains, and then it's the edge of the terra."
Finn nodded, shouted back, "Yeah, man, looks like it."
Aerrow smiled to himself. This place wasn't so different from their side of the Atmos, it seemed. Well, in the big picture at least. Then he frowned. He gunned the accelerator on his Skimmer, pulled up next to Finn, and said,
"If this is a terra, this place isn't so different from Atmosia, right?"
Finn nodded, "Yeah."
Aerrow continued, "That means there are any number of other terras we don't know about. Hundreds of places we don't know about, but Cyclonis probably does. She could be anywhere!" he was becoming more anxious by the second.
Finn slapped his forehead with one hand. "Aw, man…" he groaned.
Aerrow set his jaw and pulled his Skimmer up, then set off back toward the Condor. This was not good news.
Finn followed in his wake, moodily thinking of all the time that could've been spent on vacation, now as good as gone. Aerrow suddenly pulled to a halt, and Finn barely missed crashing into his tail.
He would've been irritated if he, too, hadn't seen what was before them.
...
Piper and Stork, Radarr close behind, rushed to Junko's side at the window. Piper's hand went to cover her mouth, and Stork whimpered.
Flooding up from the mountains below was a dark cloud, a mass of winged creatures flying as one, headed for the Condor. An ear-splitting shriek pierced the air, and the Storm Hawks' hands flew to cover their ears.
The cloud of beasts were nearing rapidly, and as they approached they came into view not as one, but as a thousand Radarr-sized bat creatures complete with evil red eyes.
Stork stammered, "V-vulcabat hybrids?!"
"Somehow these ones look even meaner than the ones back home!" Piper cried.
Junko straightened up and activated his knuckle busters. "They don't look friendly," he agreed grimly, and ran from the room. Piper grabbed her staff from the wall and followed.
Stork and Radarr exchanged a glance, and then Radarr chirped determinedly and followed. Stork, left alone, let out a squeak as he stared out the window at the approaching beasts.
...
"Uh...are those Vulcabats?" Finn asked.
Aerrow grunted, "I don't know. We've got to keep them away from the Condor, whatever they are."
Finn smiled and loaded a bolt into his Skimmer's blaster. "Don't worry. We've got me on our side," he said.
Aerrow's Skimmer shot forward, its rider drawing his blades and activating them. He leaped from his seat onto the wings, daggers glowing blue, and shot a pair of energy blasts into the midst of the bat-cloud. The red-eyed creatures shrieked once more and scattered, a few of them falling from the sky and out of view, and then regrouped angrier than ever.
As Aerrow growled in determination and gripped his blades tighter, Junko and Piper's rides emerged from the Condor, their occupants armed and ready for a fight.
Junko flew straight into the cloud of bats, swinging his glowing fists and shouting, and Piper kept her distance and fired crystal-powered bursts of energy, Radarr on her shoulder shaking his fist. From behind, Finn fired an arrow that flew into the flock and exploded, then he let out a triumphant whoop. Another group of long-fanged bats went down.
Aerrow sent his own shots into the cloud, guiding his Skimmer with his feet, threading between bats and swinging his blades with deadly accuracy.
Before long, against the might of the Storm Hawks the bats gave up and scattered, diving down into the safety of the rocky crags below. Aerrow dropped back into his seat, and he and Finn joined the others and they flew into the hangar.
Each Storm Hawk parked their Skimmer, and then Aerrow addressed everyone, "We've got some news to share, but I'll wait till we reach the bridge. Everyone okay? No injuries?"
Junko raised a hand. "Um...I think I chipped a tooth."
Everyone looked horrified. They remembered what had happened last time Junko had dental issues.
Then he smiled, "Just kidding."
Aerrow sighed in relief and rolled his eyes. "Any actual injuries?" He looked around and was met by silence. "Good," he said with a nod, and left the hangar.
The team followed, and they wound their way down the halls toward the bridge. On the way, Piper hurried to catch up with Aerrow. She spoke, "Um, hey, you know the, uh, maps? There aren't any. Not of this place. And I can't make any either, 'cause Stork wouldn't fly up high enough to chart anything, and I'm really sorry, but we still have nothing and it's my fault. I'm useless here! Come on, a navigator in a place where navigation is impossible? I mean, if I had more time, maybe-"
"Piper," Aerrow cut in, "don't worry about it."
Piper was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry. This whole thing is making me kind of anxious." She hugged herself.
Aerrow noticed the rest of the team had dropped behind some to let them talk. He said, "It's making us all anxious."
Another second, then they arrived on the bridge. Stork, who'd been at he helm staring out the window, whirled around, a spray can raised threateningly. He dropped his hand when he recognized them and explained, "Vulcabat repellent. Best to always be ready."
Aerrow nodded. "Uh, yeah. Right."
He stepped up to the center table then, the others following suit, and said, "First of all, there's a bit of a problem-"
Stork cut in, "Did you mean the evil fanged bats, or the fact that Master Cyclonis is loose, or maybe that this entire place is actually the back of a giant sleeping Sky Serpent? Or was it something else?"
Aerrow frowned at him. Stork slumped, "Sorry. This place is getting to me. Continue." He waved one hand, and Aerrow nodded and went on,
"As I was saying, we have a problem. This place-" he gestured out the window, "-is a terra. That means there must be others. A lot of others..."
"And Cyclonis could be on any one of them!" Piper realized. She raised her hands to her face and shook her head. "This is bad. This is very bad," she almost whimpered.
Finn patted her shoulder. "Don't sweat it. At least we've still got me." He pointed to himself, grinning.
Junko ignored him and clarified, "So while we're looking for her, she could be hatching evil plans and building an army of bat things on some terra we don't even know about?"
Aerrow nodded. "Exactly."
Junko nodded in understanding.
There was a silence, and then Finn asked the question on everyone's mind, "So what do we do?"
Aerrow sighed and scratched his head. "Well, first let's go over what we already know. Cyclonis came through the same portal as us, so she was here not long ago. She couldn't have gotten very far."
Piper raised a finger, "Unless she had a Warp Crystal or a really powerful Teleportation Crystal."
Aerrow nodded. "Right."
"Well, since that narrowed down our choices so very much..." Stork muttered.
Aerrow ignored him and went on, "What else?"
Piper ventured, "Well, knowing Master Cyclonis, I'd say she probably had a pretty solid contingency plan, so she most likely has a small army here somewhere."
Aerrow nodded again. "Probably. What about this place itself? It has technology better than ours, terras similar to ours-"
"And evil bats," Junko added.
"-That too."
Piper said then, "People must live here, obviously-" she gestured at the tower, "-and, oh, the Endless Tunnels reach here, too. They may be useful for travel in a pinch."
"But aren't they sealed?" Finn asked.
Piper shrugged, "The entrance we know of is sealed on the Atmosian side. There may be some still usable." she said.
Aerrow replied, "Ah, yeah, I'd rather stay away from the Tunnels."
Stork nodded, eye twitching, "I agree. Too many ways to die horrendous deaths. Sharks, underwater volcanoes, falling rocks, mutant guppies, sky eels..." He rattled off several more, counting on his fingers, until Piper cut him off,
"Anyway! We don't have much to go off of here. I think our best bet would be to land, ask around, see if anyone's seen a psycho with a spiky hood and too much eyeliner. What do you guys think?"
Finn snickered at Piper's comment, and Aerrow said with a smile,"I think you're right, as usual. Stork, you stay here. Be ready to fly if there's any sign of danger. The rest of us will take our Skimmers down and see what's up."
Stork nodded and gladly returned to his post at the helm. The rest of the team went down to the hangar bay, mounted their bikes, and left the ship.