DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to, having said that

Hello and welcome, my name is Stormhawk fan SHhype, this is my first piece of fan work so please try to be nice, however I' am completely open to constructive criticism, so yea fire away with that. I would also like to apologies to any who have already read this story and found no Authors note and were expecting one, again, I'm new at this and didn't no how the Author's note section worked, from this point forward I will ensure that I make a small note at minimum both before and after each chapter.

With that out of the way, I would now like to present my story, as you've probably guessed this is a Starling and Cyclonis story, please note, THIS IS NOT A SHIP! I do not ship these two characters, but the story IS about them, with Piper acting as a high level secondary character and the other members of the Storm Hawks having varying levels in the support character category. For those wondering about a time placement in the series, it's somewhere between the episode with the Nil crystal - that the Storm Hawks use to heal Aerrow and that Master Cyclonis subsequently steals to repair the holo-picture of her and her Grandmother - and the end of the second season. Essential this makes this story my, "How it should have ended" version of the Storm Hawks, as wherever you insert it, anything after that in the show, stops being Canon for the purposes of this story.

In addition, there will be a few OC's joining us in this story, some of them you will be introduced to in the next chapter, however, only ONE of these characters has had any impact on the story, and I'm going to let you guys try to decipher that little tib-bit on your own ; P. However, I've rambled long enough, you came here to read a story so lets get started, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and girls, dear readers all, it gives me great pleasure to present to you this story, so sit back, relax, grab a drink (maybe some popcorn) and enjoy, this, is Choices

Choices

Chapter 1: The Bird that got away

The unnamed Terra flashed with light as crystal shots flew back and forth, on one side, the Storm Hawks, aided by Starling of the Interceptors, on the other, the Talons of Cyclonia led by Master Cyclonis herself. The mission had been to recon the Terra, after reports indicated a high level of Talon activity in the area, Starling had been the one to bring the mission to them, and had volunteered to join them because of how little they knew of what the Cyclonians were planning, as well as how quiet they had been lately.

At first the mission had been going straightforward enough, they had even found a Cyclonian outpost/listening station that was keeping tabs on Atmosia's ship activity, then Cyclonis had shown up, and things had gone downhill from there. Starling had insisted that they capture Cyclonis and bring her back to Terra Atmosia for trial. The Storm Hawks had been reluctant at first, Cyclonis outmatched each and every one of them, but Starling stated that if they all worked together, as one, they'd be able to bring her down, adding that this might be their best chance to end the war. Aerrow, Piper and the others finally agreed, but one stroke of bad luck later and they were thrown into the fight of their lives, one of the Talons had spotted Finn after the marksmen had stumbled while trying to reach his position, the ambush foiled, the team had to go for a direct attack.

Now however they were on the clock, the Talons had quickly sent off a distress signal after Piper had launched a leech crystal at the parked skimmers, first draining them of their energy and then exploding causing heavy damage to the vehicles, grounding the Cyclonians, soon enough though, the Skyknights knew that Cyclonian Battle Cruisers would be arriving at the Terra, they needed to be gone by the time they arrived. Finn, Junko, Piper and Radar were taking care of the Talons, leaving Aerrow and Starling to face Cyclonis, who was squaring off against them.

"Well, here we are again, different setting, but this is oh so familiar," Cyclonis said with a smirk

Starling flourished her nun-chucks around her before pointing them at Cyclonis "You won't escape this time Witch; you're going to answer for what you've done." Aerrow had heard this kind of talk from Starling before, but for some reason, today it seemed, off, as if she were forcing the words out. Nevertheless though, he nodded and took a step forward

"Just Surrender Cyclonis, there's nowhere for you to run," he stated

Cyclonis's lips became half smirk half teeth bearing "You think I'd give up just like that, oh no Aerrow, today, I'm finally going to destroy the meddlesome Storm Hawks, and finish what that idiot Repton started!"

At the mention of Repton – the Raptor responsible for killing Starling's old Squadron the Interceptors – Starling leaped forward a roar of primal fury escaping her throat, nun-chucks whirling above her head. Having no choice but to follow her in Aerrow was right behind her. Cyclonis just smiled as her enemies rushed towards her, when they were just a few feet away, Cyclonis activated her shield crystal, Starling and Aerrow ran right into it and were sent flying. Both righted themselves in mid air and landed neatly on their feet, but the action had given Cyclonis enough time to discard her cloak and leave her standing in her Combat jumpsuit, as well as ready her staff for battle.

Lowering her stance and leveling her staff at them, Cyclonis sent them a mocking grin, before gesturing them to come at her again. Starling growled with frustration, but there was no headlong rush this time, instead, Starling began slowly circling Cyclonis, Aerrow mirrored her, moving round the opposite side of Cyclonis, splitting her attention to two fronts would force her to divide her concentration while ensuring Aerrow and Starling weren't getting in each others way. It was a common tactic used against opponents who were more powerful, or stronger, hitting them from two different sides; Cyclonis was expecting it though and made the first move.

She swung her staff towards Aerrow, letting off a lightning bolt that if it touched him would cause him immense pain, then death by electrocution, Aerrow showed his skill however as he sidestepped the projectile, however he failed to see the standard crystal shot that Cyclonis had fired behind her lightning bolt. It hit him square in the chest and caused him to stagger and winded him, as this happened Starling rushed Cyclonis again, but the Master's staff came round fluidly to block the aggressive attack.

Cyclonis smirked at Starling between their weapons "Like I said on Cyclonia, 'you're good' too bad you're on the wrong side!" she growled as she sent an energy blast coursing through her staff which blasted Starling backwards, her feet skidding on the ground. Aerrow, having gotten his breath back now attacked, lunging through the air, his twin blades swiping downward, Cyclonis flowed away from his attack like water, and proceeded to do the same around him and ended up behind him. She slammed the heel of her hand into Aerrow's back, adding a kick of crystal energy to the attack; Aerrow went flying forward and straight into Starling who braced herself, the impact still sent both of them into the dirt.

Cyclonis began advancing towards them when a shout came from behind her "Heh Lark, over here!"

Cyclonis sighed "Piper, ready for a rematch already?" she said as she slowly turned to face her one time friend, the dark skinned, blue haired Skyknight glared at her with fierce Amber eyes. Several months ago, Cyclonis had infiltrated the Condor – the Storm Hawks ship – in order to try and recruit Piper to her cause. Needless to say it hadn't worked and ended with the two of them fighting on Terra Tundras, while the rest of the Storm Hawks had battled a squadron of invisible Talons. No one had really won the fight, Aerrow, Finn, Junko, Stork and Radar had successfully beaten back the Talons, and though Cyclonis had fled the battle, she hadn't – as was evidenced by future encounters – used even a full fraction of her complete power on Terra Tundras, leaving the Storm Hawks to wonder how they would ever defeat her, as the ruler of Cyclonia seemed to outclass all of them.

Still, Piper stared her nemesis down with a fiery determination that she was already famous for "You going to stick around to finish the fight this time, best friend?"

That got under her skin, Piper saw an almost infinitesimal twitch in Cyclonis's right eye, Cyclonis hated losing, particularly to Piper, and running from a fight was just as bad in her opinion, "Unlike last time Piper, I won't be holding back!"

Cyclonis leapt through the air, bringing her staff down in a vicious strike as crystal energy sparked around it. Piper dodged to the side, then sent her own crystal shot at the Cyclonian queen. Cyclonis easily deflected the attack, she was then charging Piper again and this time their staves came together with a clang and flurry of sparks as the crystal energy in the weapons collided with one another. Suddenly a shadow passed over them and Piper gave a shove before darting away, Cyclonis turned to see Aerrow, performing his lightning strike move, she was just able to raise her shield in time to absorb the attack, upon lowering it Starling charged in nun-chucks whirling through the air. Cyclonis leapt away, trying to get as much space as she could before halting Starling's charge with a crystal blast that forced her to dodge and killed her momentum. Cyclonis stood to face all three of her opponents now, and noticed that Junko and Finn were finishing off the last of her Talons, leaving her alone with the five Skyknights.

"Five VS one, that hardly seems fair, and I thought you Skyknights fought with honor?" Cyclonis mocked, she wasn't actually worried they might beat her, she was the most powerful crystal mage of her generation, she could take on five opponents at once, it just wasn't advisable. She'd tire eventually; all they had to do was tag team and wear her down.

"Like you've ever fought fair in the past," Piper countered, giving Cyclonis a glare that wouldn't have been out of place on the monarch's own face

Cyclonis just smirked at her as Aerrow once again delivered his ultimatum "Surrender Cyclonis, this is over, you have no forces to protect you now and you can't last against five opponents at once."

Cyclonis's smirk faltered, she knew he was right, but that didn't mean she was going to give up. Suddenly a buzz of static from a nearby radio caught their attention "Master Cyclonis, this is the Dark Ace, we picked up you're distress signal, we're five minutes out, making all haste to your position."

The smirk returned, almost as quickly as it faded "Looks like I won't be alone for long," with that she leapt towards the weakest links in the group facing her, Finn and Junko. The marksmen dived for cover, while Junko stood his ground, Cyclonis easily bashed him aside with a crystal blast, she then sent a small lightning bolt Finn's
way, hitting him square in the behind causing him to begin spasming on the ground, he'd be fine in a bit, but it was safe to say he was in a lot of pain right now.
Aerrow, Starling and Piper moved to try and cut Cyclonis off and it became a race to the edge of the Terra, away in the distance a small spec could be seen, Dark Ace's Cyclonian Cruiser. Just as Cyclonis reached the edge however, another ship appeared, this one, much closer, it was the Condor, rising up out of the clouds next to the Terra, cutting Cyclonis off from her reinforcements, Stork at the helm. Cyclonis slid to a halt at the edge of the Terra, behind her Aerrow, Piper and Starling did the same, cutting off all escape routes as they did so.

"That's far enough Witch!" Starling growled as she advanced on Cyclonis

Cyclonis slowly turned to face Starling, reading her staff for another confrontation, then suddenly, her eyes widened, and she stared at Starling intently "No, it can't be," she breathed

Starling didn't wait for her to recover, in a single strike she had lashed out with her nun-chucks and disarmed the Cyclonian Queen, the staff clattering across the ground, while Cyclonis herself hit the ground hard, mere feet from the edge of the Terra. Starling then raised her nun-chucks over her head, intending to knock Cyclonis out, but as she prepared to do so, Cyclonis spoke in a whisper that only Starling could hear "Is it really you?"

Starling froze, staring down at Cyclonis, a look of terror, dread, but also hope displayed on her face, "Starling, what are you waiting for!?" Aerrow cried

The words were enough to break the spell, but Cyclonis acted first, she kicked out at Starling winding her, and then reached out for her staff, which flew back to its master. Piper and Aerrow attempted to stop her, but her shield saved her yet again, before the sound of skimmer engines filled the air. Cyclonis looked back past the Condor to see the Dark Ace and a squad of elite Talons had arrived ahead of the cruiser. "Looks like my ride is here, better luck next time, Skyknights!" the last was said with a pointed glare at Starling, before she leapt backwards off the Terra, Dark Ace dived down, and came up moments later with Cyclonis safely seated on the back of his skimmer, before turning and heading back to the cruiser, the Talons acting as both escort and shield.

Starling slowly stood, watching the Queen and her minions depart, Finn and Junko joined them, while Radar hopped onto his usual perch, which was Aerrow's shoulder "We shouldn't stay here, she'll want payback, and now she has the forces to do it," Starling said, in a voice totally devoid of emotion

Aerrow and Piper looked at one another, they both had questions about what just happened, but it could wait for the de-brief, right now, it was best they make themselves scarce "Storm Hawks, back aboard the Condor, we need to leave," no one argued against the order, and after a brief landing to get the squadron and their rides on board, the Condor, took off, in the opposite direction to the Cyclonians. As they left however, Starling couldn't stop staring at the cruiser, even after it was lost from sight, a single thought weighing on her mind you do remember me, but what memories are they?

Okay, everyone who likes mysteries, put your hands in the air ; )

I made some adjustments to the dialogue on the advice of my first reviewer, Clockwork Orange, Author of one of my Fav stories on this site titled "Infinity stone", if you haven't read his/her story yet, go do so NOW, it's a great story and Clockwork has recently started working on it again to bring it to a successful conclusion, please give him/her lots of love and support from me, thx ; )

As for Chapter 2, it will be up when it is DONE, not before, so until then, you guys are just going to have to wait in suspense, so long for now, and I hope to see you guys in the next chapter ; )