Prologue

Mornings on Cyclonia were always the same routine for the lower ranking Talons; get up, get ready, survive training and hope that no one ended up dead one way or another. Their Commanders however, were another story completely; from yelling at the Talons to dealing with Sky Knights to getting yelled at themselves by Cyclonis; their was, needless to say, never a dull moment on Cyclonia.

As a small clock flashed 5:00, the calm silence of the room was broken by the shrill ring of an alarm clock going off. The figure in the bed sighed, wishing that he could ignore the annoying piece of plastic that had decided to help make him painfully aware of the headache he received, courtesy of the Storm Hawks and that stupid Medula crystal.

Well ok, that part was his fault but still, it wasn't as if those annoying brats helped in that department.

Bottom line was, he didn't feel welland wasn't really in the mood to listen to all the Talons whine about how the training was too hard, and he really didn't want to hear Ravess'. . . Dang he needed to come up with a new word for what she did. Yelling about everything in general.

Still, he supposed he should be thankful that Cyclonis hadn't herd of his recent insubordination, otherwise he probably wouldn't be here right now.

Knowing Cyclonis, I'd either be in the Wastelands or she would have kept me to use as an experiment.

Shuddering at that thought, Dark Ace finally decided to get ready. Removing his tall frame from the bed, he stretched, causing his back to give off several satisfying 'pop's and made his way to the bathroom for a shower. Turning on the water and stripping off his night clothes he stepped under the relaxing spray.

Just standing there he could feel the headache start to lessen and previously tense muscles begin to relax. The crystal had really done a number on him, both physically and mentally, heck, he didn't even remember getting back to Cyclonia last night; it was all just one big blur.

At least I'm not dead.

. . . . . .

Ok not a very comforting thought, but still, its true

Stepping out of the shower and drying off Dark Ace walked back into his room to change into his uniform and get ready for the rest of the day. After pulling the uniform over his slight frame, the Talon leader began looking for his boots.

After finding his boots, Dark Ace went downstairs where he, Ravess, and Snipe shared living quarters and ran into Ravess.

"Well well look at who finally decided to get up." the archer said rudely as Dark Ace gave her a look the clearly said 'shut-up-and-go-away-now' and a stiff reply of,

"Ravess if you know what's good for you you'll go away before you end up with your violin somewhere you don't want it."

She didn't seem to get the point. Either that or she didn't really care. He was banking on the latter.

" No, I want to know where you've been for the past three days." She stepping in front him as he tried to walk past her; the jeering look in her eyes flashing to a predatory gleam.

He matched her gaze and watched as she faltered and walked away, thanking the good Lord she hadn't been more persistent. Honestly one day someone was going to end up killing her for prying so much, himself included.

Sighing for what seemed like the 10th time this morning the Talon commander made his way to the throne room to see what his newest mission was.

Oh crap, what if Ravess told her about the crystal? Ok if she told her then I'm screwed six ways to Saturday.

Steeling himself for the worst, Dark Ace entered the throne room. Walking forward toward the slim teen, he stopped just short of the Master and bowed, hand over his heart, eyes focused on her back.

"Master."

The girl's slim fingers paused slightly in her work, only to continue their quick dance across the keys of the machine in front of her.

"Ah the Dark Ace so glad your back." the words were said with and air of someone who was at the edge of their patience.

Those eight words caused Dark Ace's heart to stop.

Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh noohnoohnoohnoohnoon!!!

She can't know she can't know !!

She continued on as if she know nothing "My mission for you is to find an apprentice."

WHAT!?

"Yes Master."

_______

An apprentice? Is she going to replace me or something?

Dark Ace thought as walked down the hall in the west wing of the citadel, wondering why Cyclonis wanted him to get a protégé in the first place.

Of all the new recruits, none of them looked very promising. They all looked to be performing on the same level, unfortunately both physically and mentally. None of them could possibly be the next Dark Ace, or even close to it because, quite frankly, they all sucked. Nothing made them stand out greatly among the rest, nothing that defied the norms or pushed the limits of possibility, which was something that was needed to even qualify, let alone become the next darkest being in Atmos.

At least that was his first thought, but after a moment he began to notice one student trouncing the rest.

It was a girl, that much he could tell; she had deep pink hair with streaks of purple running through it and was fairly small, but she was fast. Her eyes where hidden from view by the standard red goggles all Talons wore, and she was far outreaching the rest around her.

Ok, maybe they aren't all hopeless.

He watched the girl for a few more minutes and decided that if he was going to train anyone, it would be this girl.

Upon completing that thought he decided he was going to dig up her previous history. What? It's good to be well informed on these things. . . well that and he and a tendency to be a bit nosey.

Walking down the hall he decided he may as well find her records while everyone was preoccupied with training and wouldn't notice his snooping. Walking down to Cyclonia's lower levels, Dark Ace made his way to the Records Office where surprisingly, they kept records of everyone in Cyclonia, even Cyclonis' were in there somewhere. The good thing was that no one was ever really down here except to stow the files.

Walking into the room, he saw boxes and boxes with tons of file folders in them scattered everywhere and began to wonder if it was an office or a storage room. Looking around more he saw how much of a potential headache this could be, and a migraine if they were not organized in any way.

_________

Luck must have been on his side because while they were not in order it only took him 3 hours and 7 boxes before he found her file. Brushing the dust that had gathered on it sat down on the cold floor and began to review it.

____

Name: Terin

Age: 17

Height:5 '6'

Weight:120 lbs

Physical Capabilities: Medium

Mental Capabilities: High

Excels in hand to hand and strategizing

Weapons Capabilities: Low

_____

Hmm . . . . This could turn out to be interesting

Dark Ace thought as he looked over her previous history.

Very interesting.