Author's Note: This is a rewrite of my story 'Lightning' and will expand on new ideas that I have developed for the story which doesn't fit with the original story. As such events will be different and less rushed as I wish to develop characters with more depth. That is why I've completely recreated the Storm Hawks crew.

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks or any of the actual characters but I do claim this plot and all Original Characters that will appear. Please Read and Review, rated M for language and later chapters. If you're wondering what the relationship is, it will be OC (Lighting/Aerrow's female version) x Master Cyclonis. Further pairs are to be established in the future. Note, proper SkyKnight age is 18 so that lemons can be included later as everyone will be over the age of 18 when they occur or over the age of consent (16). All Lemons will be noted with a warning to skip of uncomfortable.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Foreign languages"

Intro:

Atmos, world of a thousand top kingdoms. Each protected by a Sky knight against the forces of darkness. Beasts, rogues and worst of all, Cyclonians.

The greatest of all Sky Knights led the Storm Hawks, his mission was to unite all of Atmos and vanquish evil forever. But he was betrayed, the Storm Hawks defeated and all hope lost.

Until now, my name is Lightning and I'm the last descendant of the Original Storm Hawks and I've been given there mission.

Chapter 1: Origins

16 years ago

"I'm not happy with this plan Lightning Strike!" A woman screeched as the red haired knight had informed her of their united front against Cyclonia.

"There's no time to argue, I have to lead them and the others. For the good of all of the terra's," Lighting sighed.

"You've got nothing to worry about Diana, we've got his back," a dark haired crystal mage added.

"I've got everything to worry about! I'm pregnant with our child, I cannot lead my squad into battle with my husband and furthermore said husband is assaulting Terra Cyclonia itself. Are you stupid?" Diana roared.

"Must we really answer that question?" A young Dark Ace, currently just known as Ace muttered.

"Diana you need not worry, the Dawn Treader's are not going to take to the skies without our leader. We'll remain here and receive constantly reports about the battle," a blonde haired woman replied standing firmly next to Diana.

"SkyKnight, come back with your shield. Or on it," Diana sighed finally relenting.

Lightning Strike nodded his affirmation before leaving their home on Terra Atmosia. Diana and her squad watched as the Storm Hawks and all of the SkyKnight Squadrons of all of Atmos prepared for the assault on Cyclonia. If everything went according to plan it would end today and Lightning Strike would come back to his wife Diana Strike and their unborn child to raise towards a bright future.

She watched as the Storm Hawks, the squad her husband led took to the skies on the Condor with various other squads following it. Unfortunately the Dawn Treader's who were also known as the Storm Hawks' partner in battle due to Diana being their leader and Lightning being the leader of the Storm Hawks, would not fly with the Storm Hawks into this battle.

Hours had passed by and the first reports had come in informing them that they'd all reached Cyclonia and the battle had began with the Storm Hawks leading the charge. Lightning had already taken out a squad of Elite Cyclonian fliers and was now battling the Raptors. Diana was tense and only let out a sigh of relief when the news was given that Lightning Strike had taken out the Raptors single handedly with the use of his unique move dubbed the Lightning Chain.

"Mayday! Mayday! We have reports that Ace of the Storm Hawks has gone rogue and produced his own blade with Cyclonian Fire Crystal. Lightning Strike is down! I repeat Lightning Strike is down!" A heart wrenching sob followed as Diana cried out in agony at the news given.

All of her squad mates were as alarmed as she was, they were trying to comfort Diana who had lost her Husband to his long time best friend and co-pilot. However the news only got worse and worse as there were reports of Ace taking down allied forces crying "For Cyclonia!".

"This is Hendrix, Crystal Mage of the Storm Hawks. All forces retreat, we've been betrayed by one of our own!" Hendrix's voice echoed through the com.

Diana and her squad could hear the fighting go on behind her. "Diana, if you can hear me. You and your squad need to escape through the veil! Lightning told me to tell you that if he were to fall and..." Her voice was cut off by more fighting.

"You heard Hendrix, prepare for escape through the Veil to the other side of Atmos," Dalia, Diana's sister and second in command ordered seeing as her sister and the leader was too distressed to be able to make a decision. She led Diana onto their ship and put her into her bed that she shared with Lightning on occasions. Diana was feeling numb and wasn't able to talk at all. She was vaguely aware of her ship moving and flying away. She was also aware that they passed through the veil and it was sealed off behind them by her squad making it so none could follow them through to their original home.

That was the day the Storm Hawks, the most powerful squadron in all of Atmos fell, and the Dawn Treader's, the second most powerful squadron disappeared.

Present Time

Yellow blasts were sent through the air towards the young girl. She raised her own two handed crystal blade and blocked the shots before dashing forward at an impeccable speed and cutting at her opponent. The older woman blocked the blow and then swept at the red haired girls feet with her leg, the girl jumped over the leg landing on one hand and using the other to cut at her opponents leg with her blade then she pushed off the ground and used the momentum to send kicks at the older woman. The woman was forced to jump back and put distance between her and the younger girl. The older woman gave the young girl no chance to recover after her attack attempts and shot more yellow blasts at the girl giving her no chance to rest, and causing her to dance in order to avoid the shots. The girl, clearly annoyed at the older woman's antics sent a large blast of her own towards the woman and used the surprise of the woman as a distraction to switch her classing blue blade crystal to that of an aqua ice crystal and followed up the blue energy blasts with two calculated ice slashes. The woman blocked the blue blasts with her yellow two handed crystal blade then switched crystals to a red fire bolt crystal and erected a shield to block the ice slashes that were coming at her. Before the older woman could retaliate and the younger girl could push her advantage another older woman in the room clapped and both fighters immediately ceased their training.

"Very well done Lightning, you've gotten better at switching crystals during a confrontation," Diana, was now 36 and significantly older. Her dark hair was held back into a pony tail, her physique was in top shape and she wore her Dawn Treader golden uniform with the symbol of the rising sun on her left breast well.

"Thank you mother, though I'm sure Aunt Dalia was well prepared and even had a counter reader for me," the young red haired girl, Lightning, sighed as she wiped the sweat from her brow and moved the fringe of her red hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear.

"Really niece? You give me too much credit," Dalia was now 30 and wore the same uniform as Diana, though she was a few inches shorter.

Lightning Strike had only just turned 16 a few weeks ago, she was considered an attractive young woman to those that knew her. But she had a habit of getting annoyed and frustrated quite easily, her temper was much like her fathers when it came to people pissing her off. She knew she was destined to one day return to Atmos when she was prepared and take over the mantle of being the Leader of the Storm Hawks and taking the fight to Cyclonia in order to free the people of Atmos once again. Currently Lightning Strike had been training with all of the members of the Dawn Treader's since she was able to hold a shield.

They resided in a region called Nox, it was uncharted to all Atmosian's but the Dawn Treader's were not from Atmos, they originally came from Nox. They ended up in Atmos when they were pursuing a criminal group who crossed the veil into Atmos. Where the Dawn Treader's followed, however being unfamiliar with the region they came to many problems it so happened in their search the Dawn Treader's crossed paths with the Storm Hawks. Her mother Diana had an argument with her father Lightning, whom she was named after, when she tried to ask him where her targets had headed.

Of course, not all of Lightning's days had been filled with training, she also attended Nox Royal Knight's Academy where she got an education, and of course from the members of the Dawn Treader's she learnt about Atmos and her father. However at a young age Diana and Lightning had been visited by the Ethereal Sages who informed them that Lightning's destiny was in Atmos and that she would eventually be called back there to finish what her father began. As such she had been training for that day.

Along the way she made life long friends who would stand by Lightning at all times, first there was her friend Piper, an aspiring tactician and the daughter of Leona, the Crystal Mage of the Dawn Treader's. Piper's mother temporarily left the Dawn Treader's to settle down and have a family, however when their home was attacked and her father and older brother killed when Piper was 9, Piper and her mother enlisted the sanctuary of the Dawn Treader's and were welcomed aboard with open arms.

Then there was her friend Fiona, who was a girl from the academy that initially was out to get Lightning for stealing her popularity at the Academy. She was an exceptional sharp shooter with the crystal bow and arrows, she excelled in quick firing and often had a quiver of multiple arrows on her back. The Dawn Treader's were Nox's most famous SkyKnight Squadron whereas Fiona's mother was the Leader of the Nox Knight's, the second most renown squadron in Nox. Fiona had challenged Lightning to a battle of skills, both were allowed to choose their weapons. However Fiona never anticipated just how skilled Lightning was with a two handed crystal blade and although the two traded blows, Lightning won the duel but Fiona grudgingly formed a friendship with her foe and they quickly become friends as they grew closer through the years attending classes at the academy.

The third member of her group was a Dracomancer by the name of Vigil who was Lightning's childhood friend. His kind were a race of humanoid dragons which integrated into Nox society among other species. He had large leather wings as dragons do but they weren't the size of a dragon as they needed to fit to a humanoid frame. He was the tallest of the group and his dragonskin hide was a dark shade of purple. He commanded the ancient magics of Dracomancer kind and wore the traditional armour of valerian steel chest plates and leg armour. Vigil and Lightning met when they were young, the Dawn Treader's responded to an emergency alert about an attack on a Dracomancer village, Lightning was six at the time. Despite being told she was not to leave the ship, she had a strong sense of justice. When she saw Vigil and his mother cowering from an attacker, she attacked the fiend and sent him running. It was after the attack that her mother had given her the scolding of a lifetime while Vigil's mother as the matriarch of their village thanked them and welcomed them to their village as another home which the Dawn Treader's took up and Vigil quickly devoted his time to training with Lightning to become strong like she was. He quickly become the strongest in terms of sheer strength and power, however he still couldn't best Lightning in a duel.

Lastly there was Lightning's familiar and co-pilot, a wyvernmancer by the name of Kip. Kip is a creature akin to the fiercest dragon, but has a form similar to a dracomancer but significantly smaller than them. They also had the ability to chance between their humanoid form and their dragon form. Unlike a dracomander, a wyvernmancer are companions that take on traits of their partners after bonding. Lightning saved Kip from being devoured by a wraith and thus earned Kip's trust and the two formed an unbreakable bond. As such Kip's dragonskin colour was crimson red like Lightning's hair.

"I wish I could fight like that," Vigil muttered from where he, Piper and Fiona were standing on the deck above the training room looking down, Kip was currently on his shoulder in her crimson wyvern form.

"You're not graceful enough to pull off those moves, you just charge in with brute force and use your dragon magics," Fiona snorted as she leaned over the rail.

"Like the time Vigil went after Marc Jordan's after he groped Lightning's ass at lunch in 4th grade?" Piper offered and the two girls snickered.

"He got what he deserved," the dragon snarled amused.

"Ladies, and Vigil. Are you done bickering yet?" Diana asked with a stern voice which caused all three to tense up and shiver at the tone.

"Yes Ma'am," all three replied instantly and Lightning giggled behind which turned to a fake cough when her mother turned the glare on her.

"You're dismissed for the day, you five can go and do whatever for the rest of the day. Make sure to be back here for Lightning's birthday celebration tonight," Diana said with a pointed look at each of them, they grinned at each other and ran off with Lightning running to meet up with them.

"Sure thing Mum, see you tonight!" Lightning called out.

When Lightning joined her friends outside of the ship she was greeted with grins. Vigil smirked and fist bumped Lightning. The five of them had plans for before Lightning's party, the snuck around to the council building and Fiona aimed her bow at the Library bell tower. She show the arrow and then secured the rope before they used enchanted speed crystals to propel them up to the down where they jumped through the gap and into the building. Of course, Vigil just flew up there using his wings much to the chagrin of the girls.

All of them knew about Lightning's destiny to return to Atmosia and face her father's killer and his horrid master. As such they had gotten used to sneaking into the council library, specifically the restricted section which gave them access to all of the records that contained news of Atmosia, including a catalogue of all SkyKnight teams which are updated every five years that the Dawn Treader's head back for a week of intelligence gathering, in which Lightning stays with Vigil and his mother or boards at the academy. This was no different, they got out the most recent catalogues and began to analyse the information. Piper wrote down notes while Vigil was going through battle history with his own notes, Kip was keeping watch and Fiona was... Well she was trying not to be a distraction, but she had the latest Celebrity Nox magazine and was reading up on gossip.

"Wow, I can't believe the Interceptor's had been taken out by the Rogue Firebirds. Starling was the only survivor and despite receiving offers to join new teams, she's remained as the solo Interceptor left," Lightning said in disbelief, she had heard about the Interceptor's from what little communication with Atmosian council they had.

"I've got the attack patterns of the Raptors, they're a mercenary group often employed by Cyclonia for dirty business," Vigil said from his textbook.

"Take note of that, we might need to know them if we come across them when we head to Atmosia," Piper told him.

"Why do we need all of these notes on possible enemies?" Fiona asked turning another page in her mag.

"Because Fifi, we need to know our enemies attack patterns in order to remove them as obstacles as soon as possible," Piper retorted in a lecturing voice.

"Blonde's an idiot," Kip chided from her position at the door causing Lightning to laugh.

"What did Kip say that made you giggling?" Fiona asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Lightning dismissed but still had a smile.

They finished up the last of their notes and the last of the updated files within the few hours given to them with enough time for Lightning and the girls to get ready for the party, Vigil went back home to get changed as well and would be meeting the girls at the Great Hall where the celebration would be held.

The party was in full swing with many of their friends in attendance, as well as family, the council and fellow SkyKnights. Naturally the Dawn Treader's were all in attendance as Lightning was Diana's daughter. But there was also the Nox Knights, the Hex Hazards, the Deep Freeze's and a few others that's names escaped Lightning. The party was disrupted when three large birds shifted into the forms of men.

"Can I help you?" Lightning asked stepping up to them.

"Glory be, what a beautiful young woman don't you think?" one said.

"She looks too skinny," another said.

"Excuse me?" Lightning asked confused.

"We bring good news," the first one said.

"We are here to deliver you the gift of your heritage. You must find the ship, you must rebuild the team, you must face the darkness that threatens the very core of our existence," the first one elaborated.

"Mum, who are these three chicken people?" Lightning called out and when her mother saw then she had a look of surprise on her face before she frowned.

"Lightning's not 18 yet, they're not old enough to be SkyKnights," Diana said to them.

"Ah, but she has the skill, she has the spirit, and the has the support of talented friends," the first one said enthusiastically.

"We present you, Lightning Strike. With your future," the third said bowing and offering a cylinder to the red haired teenager.

Lightning took them off of the man and unscrewed the cylinder, a blue key dropped out which she and the Dawn Treader's recognised as the key to the Storm Hawk's condor. Along with it was a map with a red 'X' marked on it.

"Your destiny awaits, the call has been made, you must return to finish what he started," the second one sighed before the three turned back into birds and disappeared.

"Well, safe to say the party is over," Piper murmured and sighed as guests began to file out.

"You'd best get your things packed and on the ship tonight, we all knew this day would be coming soon. We'll talk more in the morning," Diana sighed.

Lightning and Piper's things were already on the ship, it was Fiona and Vigil that needed to go and pack their belongings. Now feeling like staying up after that bombshell was just dropped on her, Lightning retired to her room for the night citing that she was exhausted from the days training and the nights events.

When she awoke in the morning there was a blur right in from of her. Her vision cleared and she was looking directly into a snout, it puffed air at her and she fell off the bed causing laughter to come from her friends.

"Ugh... I had the weirdest dream... Wait why are we moving?" Lightning asked looking around in confusion.

"You're not dreaming Lightning, we're heading for the rally point where we'll travel through the vortex to Atmos," Piper said factually.

"So... That means three birds really did crash my party and announce my destiny?" Lightning asked rubbing where she hit her head.

"Sure did," Vigil nodded.

"Come on, you're mother wants to brief us as we're heading to Atmos," Fiona said dragging Lightning from her room and into the kitchen where breakfast for the red haired girl was plated up in front of her by her mother.

"Looks like someone had a good sleep, I'm glad you did sweetie. You might night get another good nights sleep for a while as your mission begins," Diana said as they were sucked into the vortex leading to Atmos.

"How are you feeling about everything?" Dalia asked concerned.

"Shocked, overwhelmed, confident? I don't know, the least I can say is. I'm ready? You've trained me ever since I could walk for this mission, you've taken in my friends and taught them as well. So I think between all of us, we'll be able to overcome adversity," Lightning replied.

"Very well spoken, like a true Sky Knight. Your father would be proud if he could see you now," Diana said, her hand rising to wipe a tear from her eye.

"Unfortunately we can't assist you, we have duties back in Nox. You'll be on your own, but your mission is to unite the Sky Knights of Atmosia and bring the fight to Cyclonia. However, we are going to upgrade the Condor once we find it, you'll be able to retreat to Nox if need be," Leona said with a smile.

"Grim, steer us towards the Condor's location, but keep us under the clouds in the Wastelands. We don't need to bring any unnecessary attention to ourselves," Diana called out and the Dawn Treader's ship manoeuvred bellow the clouds heading towards the last known destination of the Condor.

When the Condor was finally spotted, Diana frowned as she looked at it. It looked like a lot of it had been repaired somehow. And it was located in a wide open space, something didn't seem right. The group consisting of Vigil, Fiona, Kip, Piper, Lightning, Diana and Dalia proceeded with caution.

"Something's off about this," Dalia mentioned.

"Hey! I found some string!" Kip's voice chirped and Lightning looked to see her familiar pulling on a piece of string.

"Kip no!" Lightning shouted and before she knew it, arrows were flying in their direction.

She sprinted forward and dived grabbing Kip in her arms as she rolled to the side bringing her two handed crystal blade up having switched out her usual crystal to that of a phoenix crystal and created a wall of flames that melted the arrows being sent at them. Kip looked up at Lightning sheepishly and gave a toothy grin. "Whoops," the familiar said lightly causing Lightning to roll her eyes.

"Who goes there!" A voice called out, immediate blasts were sent from the ramp of the Condor at the group.

Fiona having seen the blasts coming quick drew three blue crystal arrows and shot them, they met the blasts and went through, absorbing the blue bolts and adding their power as they travelled towards the figure on the ramp. The figure in question erected a shield to protect them from the bolts.

"Halt, stand down girls!" Diana called out and Fiona gently let down the bolt she was about to release muttered "Way to ruin the fun," under her breath.

"Hendrix, is that you?" Diana asked cautiously.

"Diana...? You're alive?" The figure came into view. She was around the same age as Diana but she had dark hair, in her hand was a crystal mage staff while she wore the worn and torn uniforms with the blue symbol of the Storm Hawks on her left breast.

"Hendrix, it's so good to see you! We were led to believe that all of you had been taken out when..." Diana couldn't bring herself to say the next words.

"When Ace betrayed us all?" Hendrix said with anger, Diana nodded.

"Who are these teenagers? They're quite skilled to get past my defence and to even force me to raise a shield. Did you recruit them from Terra Atmosia? We're in dire need of new recruits to win this war," Hendrix asked looking at Lightning and her friends.

"Hendrix, this is Lightning and her friends. Lightning is my daughter, I named her after my late Husband," Diana said raising an eyebrow solemnly.

"Bullshit? It's only been like what... Three years since we failed?" Hendrix said incredulously.

"It's been sixteen years Hendrix," Diana said quietly, Hendrix's face fell and she fainted, but luckily Lightning and Vigil caught her before she could.

"Let's take her aboard and lie her down, come aboard and search your new ship. We'll grab Mason to check over Hendrix's vitals," Dalia said heading back towards the Dawn Treader ship to retrieve their healer.

Lightning and Vigil followed Diana through the ship and down the corridors to the only room that seemed to be occupied. They placed the dark haired woman down on the bed and Diana gestured for them to go explore the ship while she waited for Dalia to return with Mason.

Lightning walked down the hallways of the ship, looking for where the carrier bay and armoury were. She entered quite a few empty rooms before she found the one she was looking for around a few hours later.

"Guys in here," Lightning called, moments later Fiona, Piper and Vigil entered with Kip on his shoulder.

"Are those...?" Piper asked.

"Sky Rides, oh yeah baby!" Fiona ran over to a yellow one and was looking it over.

"Guess these were theirs huh?" Lightning voiced as she walked over to the red one and placed her hand over it.

The Sky Ride seemed to respond to her touch, humming silently under the feeling of the red haired girls hand. She could feel a fond connection with it. The shield on the wing was the one she only saw in pictures, ones with her father and his team in full Storm Hawk regalia, his two handed crystal sword in one hand and the shield in the other.

"They're yours now," Hendrix was standing at the door with a sigh, Diana was next to her.

"Diana's caught me up on the 16 years I've been cut off from the world. It seems you've been given our job?" Hendrix more commented than asked but Lightning answered the affirmative.

"Your mother offered me a place on the Dawn Treader's to head to Nox with them. But I kindly rejected her offer, this place is my home. I fixed it up and rebuilt everything from scratch. So, I will remain with you on your journey as your mentor and your crystal mage," Hendrix said with a small smile.

"No offence, but aren't you a little bit too old to rejoin? You've been in isolation since the fall of the Storm Hawks," Fiona said and Piper elbowed her.

"Hendrix is most possibly the best crystal mage to have ever existed in all of Atmos and Nox, I assure you, her skills will be fine. Plus her mastery of crystals can help you Lightning," Diana said.

"Your mother tells me you're a crystal duelist, I've noticed the circle of crystals on your belt. It means you've adopted the skills of a crystal mage to suit the uses of an elite duelist. Am I correct?" Hendrix asked and Lightning nodded.

"I'll have much to teach you about crystals then," Hendrix summarised.

"For now, why don't you go take your rides out for a spin. They could use a bit of a run," Hendrix lowered the ramps for them.

The Condor, with help from the Dawn Treader crew as well as Lightning and her friends was completely fixed and upgraded with Nox technology. During this time Lightning and the others got to know Hendrix on a more personal and team orientated level. However Lightning was the one that Hendrix insisted would lead them, although she was older she was not a leader and if Lightning was anything like her father, which Hendrix often commented on how the two were alike, she would make the perfect leader for the new Storm Hawks with Hendrix remaining as the mentor and crystal mage of the group.

When everything was prepared and the new group settled in, Lightning gave her mother the biggest hug she had ever given her in her life and promised to keep in touch through the use of their new Nox technology known as a subspace telecom. And when all the goodbye's were completed, the new Storm Hawks watched as the Dawn Treader's returned to Nox.

"So where to first?" Lightning asked.

"We head to Terra Atmosia, we need to register as the new Storm Hawks Squadron," Hendrix replied.

"Atmosia it is, take us there Piper!"