"Aerrow, Aerrow wake up" He heard the voice whisper urgently, accompanied a moment later by a hand shaking his shoulder. Aerrow stirred and stared into his pillow for a moment before he realised who had woken him. Shooting up he could just make out the blurry outline of his father.
"Dad? What is it? Are the Talons here?" He asked in immediate worry. Lance shook his head as he lit a nearby lantern.
"No, don't worry it's nothing like that, but I want you to go and get your friends, there's something I need to show you all" He replied.
"Now? Can't it wait until morning?" Aerrow asked, wondering what in the Atmos could be so important that it had to be shown at this time of night.
"Now" Lance told him as he went over and picked up Aerrow's boots from where they were stood besides the tent's entrance and threw them over to him before heading outside. Aerrow was confused at this sudden request. What could his father possibly want to show him and his friends in the middle of the night? He shook the thought from his head as he got out of bed and pulled on his boots. There was no point trying to guess as, given the currently dangerous status of Atmos's power balance or the fact that Lance was Sky Knight of the famous Storm Hawks squadron, it really could be anything.
But the curiosity and imagination of what it could be still seeded itself into Aerrow's mind and only grew larger as he crossed the camp to where his friend's tent was. Thinking about it for a moment Aerrow realised that his father's impulsiveness was just another way they could be compared, as so often they were. With the identical untidy red hair that never seemed to lay flat and the same tall, well built physical resemblance it was only Aerrow's eyes that bore any difference to Lance as, whilst his father's were a dark brown colour, Aerrow had inherited his late mother's shade of emerald green.
Reaching his friend's tent he walked straight inside.
"Hey guys? My dad wants to show us something, now I'm afraid" He told the four people tucked up in their beds. There were a few yawns and mumbles as they all groggily woke and sat up.
"What is it?" Piper asked as she stretched out her arms before climbing out of her bed. The only girl among them Piper was small and slim with long bushy midnight hair and sharp amber eyes that fitted her high intelligence.
"I don't know but he wants all of us" Aerrow replied with an apologetic shrug.
"Maybe he wants us to join the battle!?" Finn asked excitedly as jumped out of bed eagerly, the possibility of heroics enough to vanish any tiredness he'd had a moment before. He was as tall as Aerrow but skinnier with spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes. The most energetic and reckless of the group, Aerrow coming in a close second, Finn would often act both cockily and lazily towards a given task, much to the particular annoyance of Piper.
"J..join the battle?" Stork stuttered at the same idea as he found his boots. Unlike Aerrow, Piper and Finn, Stork was not human but rather a Merb which were a species of green skinned humanoids with pointed faces and ears with yellow eyes. Stork himself was the tallest of the group but also the slimmest with long black hair and had a tendency to become worried, sceptic or paranoid over any form of news, good or bad.
"Don't be silly Finn we're nowhere near old enough! And stop worrying Stork!" Piper said with a glare towards Finn as she slipped on her boots, knowing Stork tended to think the worst of a situation.
"Well whatever it is it must be important if it can't wait until morning" Junko pointed out as they all came over to the tent's entrance where Aerrow was stood waiting for them. Junko was also not human but instead was a Wallop, another of Atmos's species. Tall, broad and bulky with a small amount of dark green hair and grey eyes he resembled a large humanoid rhinoceros and possessed the strength to match his appearance, though his personality was far from his brutish appearance, the complete opposite in fact.
"Good point, anyway let's not keep him waiting" Aerrow said before turning around and leading them out of the tent. Just as they all stepped outside, however, a young man with short black hair and dark eyes collided into them as he was walking past the tent's entrance.
"Watch it!" He shouted over his shoulder, not looking back to see who he'd nearly knocked to the ground.
"Who was that?" Piper asked, scowling at the man's rudeness.
"Ace, my dad's co-pilot" Aerrow answered with a shrug. Until recently, when the preparations for the battle had begun, Aerrow couldn't remember the last time he'd seen him but knew he'd never known Ace fly as part of his father's squadron before now. Being honest with himself, however, he was rather glad he'd had little contact with him as Ace had quickly shown himself to be a rather irritable and troubled type of person.
"Guys over here" Lance suddenly called, drawing the group's attention away from Ace to himself. Standing a short distance away, just besides the large oak tree in the centre of the camp, he was lent against one of four bulky objects which were all covered by a large sheet of material. As the group approached he stood up straight, a knowing smile on his face. "Now as you know Aerrow has just become Atmos's youngest ever Sky Knight, making him able to take over the squadron when he is needed," He began to say, determined to hold the suspense for as long as possible. "But seeing as you all have the right skills, I want to invite the rest of you onto the squadron when you're old enough" He told them all. All the groups jaws dropped as one with the shock and excitement of the news. "Of course, you can't be Storm Hawks without these" Lance continued to say as he pulled off the material covering the objects to reveal three Air-Skimmers and one Heli-Scooter.
At the moment they looked like three bulky motorbikes and a scooter but could change into flying versions at the flick of a switch. All four vehicles were also bearing the Storm Hawks symbol of a Hawk taking wing. They were also the main modes of transport for individuals in Atmos and it was rare to find someone who didn't know how to pilot one or even both. "And Stork I'm sure piloting the Condor would be a great opportunity for you" Lance added in the direction of Stork, who was not fond of flying unless it was in the relative safety of the Storm Hawks ship, the Condor.
"Dad I..." Aerrow began to say, surprised by the sudden and significant gester.
"Not another word, just think of it as a welcome present, now back to bed it's late" Lance told the group firmly, leaving no room for discussions or questions.
As the others returned to their tent Aerrow returned to the tent he and Lance were sharing, his mind racing. In Atmos the eldest child of a Sky Knight were expected to and nearly always became a Sky Knight themselves in order to take over their parent's squadron. Seeing as there were only a hundred or so Sky Knights in Atmos they had to be well trained as Sky Knights and their squadrons, who each had an area of expertise like piloting the squadron's ship or navigating, protected their world from evil and crime. Normally trained at an academy in flying and combat, both of which Aerrow was very good at, the children were normally in their late teens when they were considered skilled enough to become Sky Knights.
Aerrow, however, had completed his trials earlier than anyone on record at the age of twelve. Yet, even though Aerrow had always known he would inherit the squadron, gain his first skimmer and have his friends inducted into the squadron, as had been assumed by them all to form as one when Aerrow took over, the night's events had made it all that little bit more real.
As the sun slowly peeked above the horizon a few hours later the air of anticipation that had been growing across the camp reached it's peak as the Storm Hawks prepared to join Atmos's other squadrons for a battle to rid their world's greatest threat.
Master Cyclonis had first shown her lust for forceful and violent power nearly a decade ago which had quickly turned into a full scale war between her and her followers against the Sky Knight squadrons that had cost many lives and left all but very few people unaffected. But after only a few years of power she'd vanished without a trace, leaving her followers to either be imprisoned or to beg forgiveness, turning on each other to save themselves from harsher punishments. In the last year, however, she had finally resurfaced with her own private army, calling themselves the Talons. She'd even acquired her own Terra, the land masses in Atmos that were separated by skies and the volcanic Wasteland far below the cloud line.
There were nearly a hundred of these mountain top kingdoms. Nearly all of which were protected by a Sky Knight squadron. But not on Terra Cyclonia. It's permanent blood red sky and stormy clouds were enough to scare off nearly all of the rest of Atmos. But a Sky Knight squadron was different, each of them having taken an oath to protect Atmos from the very likes of Master Cyclonis.
Away from all the noise of the camp Lance was sitting in his tent at the edge of his bed. Dressed in his Storm Hawks uniform, which closely resembled a dark blue two piece flight suit, with shoulder, chest and knee guards attached to it, he was also wearing a large metal sheath on his back for his blade. The large weapon was propped up besides him. Powered by a light blue Striker crystal, crystals being the main power source in Atmos, it could not only be used for hand to hand combat but also a range of long range energy attacks.
As Lance waited for the call to leave he couldn't help but glance over to Aerrow, who was fast asleep in his bed. Lance smiled to himself as, although he was nervous about the battle, he knew that if it was a success it would create a more peaceful Atmos for his son to patrol.
"Lance are you ready?" Rick, the Condor's pilot, called from outside the tent.
"Yeah" Lance called back as he stood up and sheathed his blade. With a last look at Aerrow he left the tent.
As Aerrow woke up and turned over onto his side he saw the time on the bedside clock and groaned. He had overslept and missed his father's departure, having wanted to wave him off. Annoyed with himself he quickly dressed in a plain red T-shirt and a pair of jeans before putting on his black zip up hooded jacket that was decorated with a red Storm Hawks symbol on the left side and on the back with red stripes running down the arms. It along with ones for his friends in their own colours had been a present from Lance on their last birthday's. Since then they had all worn them as an unofficial uniform for their yet as unofficial squadron. Finding his black leather flight boots from the previous night that came up to his knees Aerrow quickly left the tent.
The first thing he saw was his friends among the small amount of friends and relatives of the other squadron members, all of them standing around the large oak tree. They were all in quick discussion but, as they saw Aerrow approaching, they quickly fell silent.
"What's wrong?" Aerrow asked, immediately knowing something wasn't right when he noticed a few were and had been crying. His friends separated themselves from the group and came over to him.
"It's horrible! Terrible!" Piper said, half crying herself, as she was comforted by Junko.
"What?" Aerrow asked again, knowing it was bad if Piper was upset as she was normally very tough.
"The ah.." A tall grey haired man, who Aerrow vaguely recognised, began to say as he stepped towards them a little. "The battle was a success and Cyclonis's hold on Atmos has been released for now, she's disappeared again, but, there were casualties" He told him but then paused thinking of how to say his next words. "The Storm Hawks included" He finished, dropping his gaze from Aerrow as he spoke. On instinct Aerrow tried to reply but had to pause for a moment as the words became stuck in his throat.
"Dad as well?" He managed to ask in utter disbelief. Finn, who looked very grave compared to his normal bouncy self, shook his head.
"Lance is in the hospital on Terra Atmosia and, er..." He began to say but also paused as he tried to find the right words. "Ace has disappeared" He finished, looking just as shocked and confused as everyone else. Aerrow gave a small nod to show that he understood as it all sunk in. Without another word he turned on his heel and headed straight back to his tent.
Soon he had packed the few belongings he never went without including his twin blades which were powered, like his father's weapon, by a pair of light blue Striker crystals which stuck out of the hilt of them. Although shorter than most Sky Knight's weapons they could fit together via the Striker crystals when ignited to form a double edged blade. They had been a gift from Lance on the day he had been knighted as an official Sky Knight. Placing them in his attached shoulder sheaths he grabbed his packed rucksack and left the tent to get his skimmer that had been parked for him just outside. As he was climbing onto it and started up the engine, however, a roar of more engines was heard a short distance away. Looking up Aerrow saw his friends all packed and on their rides, with Stork sharing Junko's.
"Thanks guys" He said with a grateful smile.
