Storm Hawks: Stowaway
Soooooo, I'm a bit behind times in the fact that I only just found the wonderful series Storm Hawks. I had heard of it when it first came out but never really watched it until now. Tell me what you think of the story and I'd be happy to get any feedback :) Thanks and Godbless - Rin
Chapter 1: Pit Stop
"We're doomed!" Stork muttered to himself as he frantically fiddled with the controls of the Condor, the gauges flicking wildly as they began a steep nose dive towards the Wastelands.
"What's going on Stork!?" Finn demanded as he hung on for dear life to a railing, his feet flying up as weightlessness over took the ship.
The rest of the Storm Hawks were frantically trying to figure out what was going on with their Condor before they ended up being turned to ash in a lava pit.
Aerrow was trying to help Stork from crashing the Condor while Junko was turning various valves and realigning pipes that had started to steam and burst open. Radarr was running around frantically before clinging to Finn's head as Piper was running diagnostics on the rapidly spinning energy crystals which seemed to be working fine...except for the whole crashing ship part.
"According to the system readings our main combuster is shot...we're going down." the merb said matter-of-factually, his yellow eyes wide in dread.
"Not without a fight we aren't!" Aerrow growled, and heaved on the controls of the carrier.
"Junko! See if you can try to do a temporary patch on the combuster, we just need to be able to make it to a repair terra." the Sky Knight called out, the needles on the controls spinning wildly as they did a dizzying barrel roll.
The wallop nodded quickly and made for the engine room as Piper and Finn struggled to hang on to the pitching and rolling Condor. For several terror filled moments Aerrow spun the large ship back and forth in an attempt to slow their descent but nothing could stop the Condor as it passed through a thick layer of clouds.
Radarr gave a high pitched screech as the ship began to shake violently, shutting his eyes tightly and clung tighter to Finn's head.
"Come on Junko!" Finn yelled, feeling his stomach flip flop as turbulence overtook the ship.
Stork screamed, curling up in a fetal position with his hands covering his face, "We're not gonna make it! The Condor is doomed to burn in a fiery pit of magma and fire slugs!"
The ship came out of the clouds and everyone screamed as directly below, the smoking maw of a burning volcano appeared.
BOOM!
A shuttering roar rocked the ship and something whirred into life below deck, making the ship swerve suddenly, just missing a razor sharp crag of rock.
"All clear Aerrow!" the voice of Junko came over the intercom and there was a shout of victory from the others.
"We're so outta here!" the Piper shouted, as the Aerrow pulled sharply on the controls and the nose of the Condor pulled upwards just short of scraping the bottom on the perilously close volcano. Slowly, the relic of a ship rose through the heavy mist and clouds until it leveled out and came to a unsteady halt.
Within the ship there was a few moments of tense silence in which the battered Storm Hawks picked themselves up off the floor, limbs shaking slightly. Radarr simply lay on the floor as if he were made of jello.
"We're...alive?" Stork finally broke the silence and peeked out from behind his hands before standing wobbly to his feet.
Aerrow stepped aside so the helmsman could look over the controls, wiping the sweat off his brow.
"Systems are holding steady...for now." the merb muttered, tapping one of the gauges before turning to look at the panting Aerrow.
"Then let's not waste any time. Set a course for the nearest repair terra." Aerrow ordered and the ship started forwards before it suddenly dipped dangerously.
"And let's try not to crash this time." he added with a nervous grin.
"So this ole wreck is going to need more than a new combuster. It's main crystal converter in in a sorry state and the boiler wouldn't have held out more than a few hours." an oil covered repair man said, glancing at the docked Condor warily as if it were to fall to pieces any minute.
"But can you fix it?" Aerrow asked, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
This had been the fifth break down that their air ship had had that month. Everything from the cooling systems to the simplest pipeline had been suddenly coming undone. Nothing as severe as the main combuster breaking though, that had nearly grounded the Condor.
"Aye, I can fix her. It'll take a good few hours though." the repairman said, scratching his stubbly chin.
"Then I guess we're stuck here for a while." the red head sighed and turned to leave.
"Thank you for your help."
The man gave a low chuckle, "Don' be thanking me yet sonny. Thank me once I get this ole beast back into the air."
Aerrow nodded and then exited the smokey repair hangar.
"So..." Piper asked once Aerrow had rejoined the squadron outside by the air docks.
"He says he can fix the Condor, it might take a while." their leader said, glancing from face to face until he stared at Stork.
"You gonna be okay buddy?" he asked, noticing how the merb flinched at the word while.
Stork nodded stiffly, "Oooh yes. I'll be fine just as long as the old man doesn't wreck my ship!" he muttered and crossed his long arms across his chest.
"Don't worry Stork, the ship will be fine!" Finn smiled broadly and put a hand on his squad mate's shoulder.
"How about we find something fun to do in the mean time?" the blonde winked and elbowed the grumpy looking merb.
"We may as well stock up on supplies and get something to eat, if we're going to be here a few hours." Piper shrugged and started towards the large building set in the middle of the small terra, closely followed by Stork and Aerrow.
"Mmhh..." Junko hummed dreamily, "Food sounds good." he began thinking of what sort of delicacies the small nearby inn held.
After about a half hour of supplies shopping, the Storm Hawks made their way to the small inn/pub and all sat down at a small table in the corner. Exhausted by the days events and the thought of having to stay for a couple more hours. Within a few minutes each of them had ordered some food and drink and they chatted quietly in the buzzing pub.
"Can't believe the Condor is in such bad condition. We've had to replace almost everything important on it lately." Piper said, her head resting on her folded arms.
"Can you really blame the ship? The things we put it through on a daily basis would wreck most normal cruisers." Stork said, his arms still stubbornly crossed, feeling he had to defend his beloved vessel.
The rest of the squad nodded reluctantly in agreement, they did put the Condor through it's paces an awful lot. Whether it be out running Merk Raiders, dodging Cyclonian attacks, escaping the Wastelands, or simply racing to get to the next terra their ship was almost constantly in motion. And it wasn't a new ship by any means.
"Atleast we're getting most of the problems fixed today, hopefully the ship will be good as new." Aerrow gave a hopeful smile that did nothing to cheer up Stork.
'At least he's handling it better than when we traded it for a new ship and it got taken by the Colonel. He ended up almost losing his mind with Sky Shock.' the Sky Knight thought to himself as their food arrived.
Most of them had simply gotten soup or a sandwich, of course Junko hadn't been that easy to please. He ended up getting...well the team didn't actually know what it was. It looked like some one had taken a fish and let it sit out for several days before it started to grow moss and other mushroom looking things all over it. To add to the...uniqueness of the dish some weird green sauce had been dribbled over the fish that smelled like a mix of pickles and old socks.
"Um...Junko what is that exactly?" Finn asked, his face turning slightly green as he plugged his nose.
"It's called the Ramien special!" the Wallop said, a huge smile coming over his face as he stared down at the slightly steaming plate and grabbed a fork.
Ravenously, he dug into the dish and began eating noisily, the smell of the Ramien whatever being pushed further across the table.
"I think I lost my appetite..." Piper muttered, pushing her soup bowl away as she waved a hand in front of her nose as Aerrow laughed.
Several people turned to stare at the group and the slurping noises that were coming from Junko but soon turned back around as they saw what exactly the wallop was eating. Aerrow sighed but smiled slightly, as odd as his squadron was he loved every single one like family.
That's when a sharp noise made Aerrow turn his attention to Radarr who was perched on his shoulder. The furry copilot hackles had gone up and his eyes were narrowed to furious slits. The sharp sound was actually a growl making it's way up out of Radarr's throat.
"Hey, hey. What's got you spooked?" Aerrow asked, trying to follow the copilot's gaze through the hazy pub.
"Probably mind worms." Stork said casually, peering closely at Radarr as he continued to stare unwaveringly forward.
The Sky Knight glanced around the pub and finally his emerald eyes caught what Radarr was growling at. Across the room sat a figure in a small corner booth, their hood conveniently covering their face as they simply seemed to stare back. Slowly, as the figure saw that Aerrow had caught sight of them, the hood turned and continued to stare at the wooden cup clutched in their hand.
"It's all right Radarr..." the squad leader muttered, not wanting to make a big deal about it to his team mates and simply looked away.
Finally, after a few minutes, Junko finished his dinner. This allowed the rest of the Storm Hawks to get their appetites back and finish their meal. The whole time Aerrow kept a sharp eye on the figure across the pub, noticing that they never ordered any food and simply continued to look either at their lap or at the other pub goers.
"Hello! Earth to Aerrow?" a hand obscuring the red head's vision snapped him out of his observations and he blinked rapidly.
"What? Sorry..." he said, glancing at Piper who's hand it had been in his face.
"I said are you ready to head out? We should see if the Condor is ready to go or not." she asked.
"Oh, yeah. We probably should get going since it's starting to get dark." he answered, standing up from the table.
Soon the Storm Hawks had paid for their food and were about to head out the door when Aerrow glanced back across the pub to the far corner table. A shiver went down his spine as he saw that the table was empty save for an empty wooden cup that had been knocked over haphazardly.
"I really hope the Condor is ready to go Radarr." he said, to his furry companion who gave an uneasy growl.
"I don't want to stand here any longer than necessary."