Free Skies

A/N: Hello there one and all. Sonicfighter here giving you a brand new story, this time It takes place in the Skyland cartoon. This is an AU, meaning that a new Resistance group will appear not just to help Lena and Mahad rescue their mother, but to take down Sphere. Also the other episodes of the cartoon will go differently. This story takes place a week after Heart of the Arena. I don't own Skyland. It belongs Teletoons and Nicktoons. I only own the Alliance of Free Skies and it's vehicles and characters. So without further ado, on with the show!

Chapter 1: The new Resistance

It's the 23rd Century, and the Earth have shattered to millions of inhabitable floating blocks. Water have now become the most vital resource. The Sphere, an evil dictatorship comprise of Guardians, controls the distribution of water with an iron fist. Guardians are half-humans called Seijins, born with super natural powers active by sunlight. Some Seijins escaped The Sphere and joined fellow rebel Pirates to fight against this oppression. Today, they represent the only hope for freedom. Among them, Lena, a young Seijin and her brother, Mahad. My beloved children. This is there story. However, unknown to anyone same for myself and a few others, there's another resistance faction who have been fighting Sphere since the begining; The Alliance of Free Skies. Who rescue Seijins from Sphere and recruit them as soldiers to free all of Skyland from The Sphere's rule. -Mila Farrell, Mother of Lena and Mahad Farrell, and Wife of Marcus Farrell.

A week has past since Lena, Cortes and Wyet rescue Mahad from a gladiator fight. Since then, the Pirates continue to cause problems for The Sphere, while Cheng try to break the encryption on a transponder given to them by a friend of Mahad. But so far, he haven't been able to crack it cause it's heavily encrypted then first though. But he continue to keep trying til he break the code.

"Access Denied" A computer voice said to Cheng.

"Gee. This Sphere encryption is tougher than I though." Cheng said to himself as he type in more codes in his laptop, hoping to continue working til he crack it.

Elsewhere in Puerto Angel, Lena looked at the endless sky, thinking about her mother.

She knew that both she and Mahad miss her dearly, but they need to be strong for her.

Still, they need to find Kharzem Prison and rescue their mother. But finding the prison is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. A blue giant endless haystack.

In the Vector's lighthouse, the old man is working on his map of Skyland as he type in a few codes and a new block appear on the map. The Vector smiled seeing that he's getting closer on completing his map.

In the hanger, Mahad is working on fixing the Hyperion after it took a couple of hits from a Sphere Patroller during one patrol, and once again, Cortes yelled at Mahad for his recklessness and for nearly compromising Puerto Angel's location.

"It's not my fault that I ran into that Patroller." Mahad said to himself as he banged out the dents with a hammer. But he knew that if a single Patroller find the Pirates base, the Sphere will attack in full force.

In the tavern, where the people of Puerto Angel chat and have a drink, Dahila, Cortes second-In-Command, is busy listening on the radio for distress calls from other blocks. Normally it's Cheng's job to listen, but since he's working on the transponder, she gladly fulled in as she change to different channels.

Aaran Cortes, the leader of the Pirates walk to his second-in-command as the Scottish man said,

"Any calls, Dahila?"

"No sir. Nothing so far." Dahila said to Cortes before the radio crackles.

"Wait a minute. I got something."

"Put it on speaker." Cortes said as Dahila turn the speaker on and they heard a voice,

"Hello? Anyone there? If anyone's receving this transmission, I'm calling from a Sphere transport heading for a prison complex. Help us please."

Cortes at first though it was a Sphere trick to lore them in to a trap, but by the sound on the person's voice, It sounded real.

"What are your orders, sir?" Dahila said to Cortes.

"We track the signal to where the transport the person have speak of and help them. Tell Lena and Mahad to meet me on the Saint Nazaire in 5 minutes. After worth, meet me on the ship." Cortes said as he leave Dahila to prep the ship for launch with the help of Wyet.

"Understood sir." Dahila said as she turn the intercom on and said,

"Attention Mahad and Lena, please report to the Saint Nazaire in 5 minutes."

She then turn the intercom off and went to help Cortes.

After repairing the Hyperion, Mahad heard the announcement and went to get Lena.

Mahad soon find Lena sitting on the ledge looking over the endless sky. He know that Lena is thinking about their mother.

"Lena." Mahad said as Lena jumped in surprise as she turn and face Mahad.

"Mahad. You scared me." Lena said to her older brother.

"Sorry. Anyway, Cortes want us to meet him on the Saint Nazaire in about 5 minutes. I don't know what it is, but It must be important." Mahad said to Lena.

"Maye it have something to do with mom or something." Lena said to Mahad, thoughtfully.

"Maybe, but we have to check it out." Mahad said to her sister as Lena got up and she and Mahad both ran to the hanger to join with Cortes and the others.

About 4 minutes later, Lena and Mahad made it to the hanger where Cortes and the others are waiting.

"There you two are. You're early." Cortes said to the Farrell siblings.

"What's the mission, Cotres?" Mahad said to the leader of the Pirates.

"A few minutes ago, we receive an SOS from an unknown person. He said that he's on a transport, heading for a Sphere prison complex." Cortes said to Lena and Mahad.

"You think it's mom?" Lena said, hoping that the person who called them was her and Mahad's mother.

"No, Lena. But whoever it is, we need to help whoever's sending the signal." Cortes said to Lena.

"You think the Prison complex is Kharzem?" Mahad said to Cortes, hoping that the prison complex is Kharzem.

"We don't know, Mahad. But we need to hurry before the transport enters Sphere-controlled skies." Dahila said to Mahad.

"Right. Mahad, you take the Hyperion and stay close. Lena, you're with us." Cortes said as he ordered the two siblings.

Mahad and Lena both nodded and went there separate ways.

A few minutes later, the Saint Nazaire and the Hyperion fly out of Puerto Angel and into the endless sky.

Inside the bridge, Wyet look at the map and saw a ping, which is where the signal came from.

"The signal came from 13 degrees North, 17 degrees East." Wyet said to Cortes.

"Good." Cortes said as he turn the wheel which turn the massive carrier.

Both ships continue flying to the unknown signal for a few hours til they finally reach where the signal is coming from.

Dahila look out the window of the bridge and saw something that shock her.

"Um, captain. You might want to see this." Dahila said to Cortes.

Cortes, Wyet and Lena look out the window and what they saw surprised them.

About a mile from the Saint Nazaire and Hyperion is a large rectangle ship with a Sphere symbol on the side of it. Escorting the ship is a flight of 6 Sphere Patrollers, 2 on the front and back and one on the sides.

"That's a Sphere Prison Transport." Cortes said in surprise. "I've heard about those things, but to see them for real."

"And it's look like their carrying new prisoners off to a prison complex." Dahila said as she look at the map and see the route where the transport is heading and saw the signal ping from inside the transport. "And the signal is coming from inside that ship."

"Well, let not waste time then." Cortes said as he turn to Wyet. "Wyet, prepare to launch Mosqetoes."

"Yes, sir." Wyet said to Cortes as he ran to the Mosqetoe bay to launch an attack.

But suddenly, Dahila detect additonal pings on the radar. "Captain, I'm detecting more contacts coming on fast."

"Sphere reinforcements?" Cortes asked his Second-In-Command.

"Unknown, sir." Dahila said to the Pirate captain as the multiple contacts moves closer.

Then, out of the clouds, 5 fast fighters attack three of the Patrollers and shot them down, much to the Pirates, and Lena and Mahad's surprise.

"Are those...Hyperions?" Lena said in disbelief. The fighters have the same design as the Hyperion. But there are a few difference. These fighters are faster then the one Mahad is flying and armor covering some parts of the fighter. The squadron split up as one of them shot down another 3 Patrollers as they went down in flames.

"Look like it, Lena." Mahad said to Lena on the radio. "But I though this is the only one."

"Look like this guys figure out how to make more." Cortes said to Mahad on the radio.

Just then, another ship came out of the clouds and heard toward the slow moving transport. It was about the size of the Saint Nazaire with 2 medium-sized turrets on it front. It also have a bridge on the back of it.

Cortes look at the ship and saw the symbol of a sun within a circle as he gasp in shock.

"It can't be. I though they were destroyed." Cotres said to himself.

"Sir?" Dahila sajd to Cortes, not understand what he means.

"That's the symbol for the Alliance of Free Skies. I haven't seen them since the Battle of Maelstrom." Cortes said to his second-in-command.

"Well whoever they are, they sure save us the trouble of fighting those Patrollers." Wyet said to the captain.

The Alliance ship stop next to the transport and a boarding ramp extends form the right side and locked into place with the Sphere ship. Then, about 23 soldiers run across the ramp and stop where the 'S' is and one soldier, with a laser start cutting through the transport's hull.

The Alliance fighters then take up escort positions around the Sphere transport as one of the fighters hailed the Saint Nazaire.

'Attention Pirate vessel, this is Captain Jane Wilde of the 72nd Sky Hawks. State your business here.'

"Captain Wilde, I am Captain Aaran Cortes of the carrier Saint Nazaire, we are not your enemy." Cortes said to the fighter captain.

'Ah, the famous Pirates of Puerto Angel. I've heard great things about you and your band. What brings you to these parts?'Captain Jane said to Cortes.

"We intercepted a transmission from one of the prisoners inside that transport and went to investigate, before we can launch our fighters, you guys show up." Cortes said to Jane.

'Well, it'll be great if you can assist us. Our men are cutting their way into the transport and it'll take some time before they can breach the hull.' Jane said to Cortes before a fellow pilot said.

'Captain, I'm picking up a large number of Sphere Partollers coming in fast. The transport must've send a distress call.'

Hearing this, Cortes orders his crew, "Man your battle-stations!"

The crew of the Saint Nazaire waste no time manning the turrets and their action stations as Cortes said to the Alliance fighter captain. "Captain Jane, we'll assist by launching our Mosquitoe fighters."

'Roger that, Cortes.' Jane said as 12 Mosquitoes launch from the Saint Nazaire and went to an attack position.

"I'll help too." Mahad said as he stir the Hyperion to help their new ally.

'Hey kid, is that the Mark 1 you're flying?' An Alliance pilot said to Mahad.

"Mark 1?" Mahad said confused. "I though this is the only fighter."

'It was, until we manage to build more and equipped them with better armor and engines.'The pilot said to Mahad as he join the other fighters.

"How to you manage to do that?" Mahad said to the pilot before Cortes interrupt.

"Cut the chatter. We'll have all the answers after we hold off the Sphere onslaught."

Just then, 5 squadrons of Patrollers emerge from the clouds and race to protect the Prison Transport.

'All fighters on me. Attack pattern Bravo.'Jane said to the other pilots as they race to engage the Patrollers as the Mosquitoes and the Hyperion follows.

Soon, both approaching fighters became in range of each other and open fired.

The Alliance downed 3 Patrollers while the Pirates downed 5 and Mahad shot down 2 as they all make evasive actions to avoid crashing into each-other.

The fight then turn into a furball as the Sphere, Pirates and Alliance fighters dodge laser fire, maneuver to get a clear shot and try to gain to upper hand.

A Mosquitoe have a Patroller on his tail as the Patroller try to shot him down and the Mosquitoe try to shake off his pursuer. The Patroller soon have a target lock. But before the Brigider piloting the Patroller can bring its foe out of the sky, the Patroller got shot to pieces by an Alliance fighter as the pilot gave a thumbs up to the Mosquitoe pilot as he nod back.

Elsewhere in the fight, Mahad chase a pair of Patrollers and he pulled the trigger, quickly bringing them down.

"Nice shooting, kid." An Alliance pilot said to Mahad.

"Thanks." Mahad said to the pilot as he smiled.

Lena help out as she use her powers as a blue light surrounds her arms and wave them out, unleashing a blast of energy at 6 Patrollers, turning them into scrap metal.

"Whoa!" Jane said in surprise. "Captain Cortes, do you have a Seijin on board your ship?"

"Yes, her names Lena." Cortes said to Jane. "She and her brother are with us in our fight against the Sphere."

"I see. I like to meet them." Jane said as she roll behind a Patroller that was tailing her as she open fired and the Sphere ship went down in a fireball.

Several Patrollers also got shot out of the air from the Saint Nazaire's gunners.

"This is Alpha leader, we've cut through the hall and are breaching the ship now." The leader of the squad said to Jane as the hole was cut and the soldiers begin pouring into the breach and open fire on the Brigiders with their assault rifles.

The robots are quickly shot to pieces before they can react. Some manage to mount a resistance against the invaders as they fire their arm blasters. The soldiers gain the advantage as one of them toss a grenade that short-circuited the Brigiders and shut the robots down. "You two, free the prisoners. The rest of you, follow me to the bridge." The leader of the squad said to his men.

"Yes sir!" The men said as they follow his orders.

"Hey! Get us out!" One prisoner said to the soldiers. He got his answer as the soldier fired at the lock, destroying it and the force field shut down freeing the prisoners as the soldiers escort them to the transport. The other soldiers repeat the process throughout the ship til all of the prisoners are free and out of danger.

The other 3 soldiers made their way to the bridge and fire at the Brigaders piloting the ship, reducing them to scrap.

"Captain, we've freed the prisoners and taken the bridge." One of the soldiers said as she and the other take the controls.

"Good. You know what to do next."

They all nod as they started turning the prison ship around.

"Captain Jane, my squad and I have rescue the prisoners and have gain control of the vessel." The leader of the squad said to the squadron captain as her squadron via com-link, Mahad and the Pirate fighters finish blasting the remaining Patrollers.

"Copy that Sargent, you know what to do." Jane said to the Sargent, knowing what to do next.

Understanding what the leader of the 72rd Sky Hawks meant, he nod to one of the soldiers as he pulled out a circular device and place it on the console. Several over soldiers does the same thing throughout the ship as they place the devices all over the ship.

"Sir, the charges are set and ready to detonate on your orders." One soldier said to the Sargent.

"Good. Everyone back to the transport. We're leaving." the sergeant said to one of his men.

"Yes sir."

The soldiers and the sergeant all rush back to the transport with the freed prisoners as the ship detach itself from the prison ship as it slowly started to drift.

"Captain Jane, the charges are set and all are accounted for." The sergeant said to Jane on the com-link.

"Very good Sergeant Ron, you know what to do." Jane said, knowing what's next.

"Roger." Ron said as he press a button on his holo-device on his wrist.

A few seconds later, the outer hull of the prison transport ship explode, including the bridge. The engines then cuts off and the entire ship started to fall into the clouds, never to be seen again.

Cortes, Dahila, Lena, Mahad and the other Pirates are surprised by what they just saw. They've never seen this kind of technology before.

'Thanks for the assist captain.' Jane said to Cortes, causing him to snap out of his surprised look.

"No problem Jane." Cortes said to Jane. "We're glad to see that we're not the only faction fighting the Sphere."

'Hey, nice shooting back there kid.' A pilot said to Mahad.

"Thanks." Mahad replied.

'Cortes, come with us back to our base.' Jane said to Cortes. 'It's not far from here and it's well hidden from any Sphere ships and sensors.'

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid I must denied your request." Cortes said to the squadron leader. "The reason we're here is because we intercepted a transmission from one of the prisoners."

"Which he may have information on our mom." Lena said to the captain.

"Yeah, we've been trying to find her for sometime now." Mahad also said to Jane.

'What's your mom's name kid?' Jane ask the young Seijen.

"Mila. Mila Farrel." Lena answered.

Jane gasped when she heard that name. After a few seconds of silence, the squadron leader said, "Excuse us for a minute." As she cut the transmission and switch to a private channel to her squad mates.

"Lena's the daughter of Mila Farrel?" A squad member said in surprise.

"It's been a while since we heard anything about her." Another squad member said.

"Yeah. Last I heard, she was captured by Oslo and transported to Kharzem." Another squad member said to her leader.

"Khrazem." Jane said to her squad mates. "That place is impossible to find." Then she have an idea. "Wait, if what Lena said is true, then their mom is one of the prisoners of Kharzem."

"Yeah, and she would be a great ally to us." Another squad member said as the others agree.

The captain of the Skyhawks then switch back to Cortes.

"Me and my squadron know who you seek. Believe it or not, your mom was once a member of the Alliance."

This information surprise Lena and Mahad. Their mother never told them she was once a freedom fighter.

"I'm sure you have questions and they'll be answered in due time." Jane said to the Farrel children.

Cortes was also surprise by this but soon regain his compromise and said.

"What that you said about following you?"

A few moments later, the Saint Nazaire begin following their newly formed allies to parts unknown. As the Pirate carrier flew into the clouds, Lena and Mahad have a few questions in their heads; how long has the Alliance been fighting the Square? How do they know their mother? And can they help them find Kharzem Prison to rescue their mother? Only time can tell them that.

(A/N: Finally. The first chapter of the story is complete. As you can see, the Pirates have encounter another Resistance group, The Alliance of Free Skies. It's a mixture of the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Republic from Star Wars. In the next chapter, the Pirates along with Lena ans Mahad enters the Alliance hidden base, Free Land, a massive city with it's own water supply that rivals the Sphere as well as an army of Seijin warriors, unlike the Sphere's Guardians. They'll also discover Mina's past that then they don't know about. Don't forget to read and review. Until the next chapter, bye for now.)