Destiny of Honor
Destiny of Honor: Heir to the Legacy
The Storm Hawks world concept is copyright to Nerd Corps and Asaph Fipke.
Aerrow, Stork, Piper, Starling, Junko, Finn, Radarr and other Sky Knights are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.
Master Cyclonis, Dark Ace, Ravess, Snipe and the Talons are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.
Repton and the Raptors are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.
Ageless Specter, Lord Xivor and The Ancients are the intellectual property of AgelessSpecter and used with permission.
Genisis/ Light Oracle, Marrshal, Psychos and Lord Astrel are my intellectual property; please credit them as such if for some reason you use them.
Chapter 1
Five months later…
Piper walked into Aerrow's room, hoping to talk with the red haired Sky Knight about going on a date to Tropica since they were in the area and goodness knew another vacation to work off the stress of the past three years or so would be nice. What greeted her though was a miniature avalanche of books, papers and scrolls; evidently the collected history of the Ancients. For nearly three months now the Sky Knight had been reading the information the Archoni'ent had sent him during the free time he had in-between missions, trying to reach a decision on whether or not to go to Terra Anki for training. It was a more difficult decision than anyone had anticipated; if the discussions Aerrow and she had on the subject were any indication. The Archoni'ent had their own oaths which differed from the Sky Knight Oath, namely with respect to their dedication to preserving what they called the Balance of the World. It was a concept that had been taught to the founders of the Archoni'ent by the Light Oracle and Dark Oracle when they originally broke from the archaic orders of crystalmancers millennia ago. Evidently all other concerns were secondary to maintaining the balance and that was where Aerrow had issues: what if preserving this balance required him to fight Atmosia as he had been forced to do as Night Aerrow? He had been searching for some answer among the texts; after all, the Ancients had defended Atmosia except when some other event had called them away for over a year and Aerrow did not want that to happen with him. Atmosia could easily fall in a year as had been shown before during his time as Night Aerrow. By the same token, the thought of being able to decisively defeat the Dark Ace and ensure that no more Sky Knights would fall to him was a powerful motivator. Before gaining that power though, Aerrow wanted to make sure that he was doing it for the right reason and not because he wanted to defeat the Dark Ace. It was a fine line for any Sky Knight to walk, the line between personal ambition and a desire to defend, but in Aerrow it was a particularly touchy subject due to his experiences as Night Aerrow. Aerrow had never been one to let his own personal doubts stop him though and had resolved that he would only do what was best for Atmosia and learning the secrets of the Ancients would give him the skills necessary to defeat the Dark Ace decisively.
Piper sighed internally, in contemplating Aerrow's choices she had fallen into his cycle of reasoning which often turned out to be circular and branch off on random tangents as complications suddenly occurred to him. It was not a bad thing, besides; complicated moral debates often followed similar patterns. Currently Aerrow seemed to be lost in his research and Piper considered leaving him be until Aerrow suddenly turned to face her, his green eyes focusing on Piper immediately.
"Oh, sorry Piper, I was lost in thought." Aerrow said in a remorseful tone as he got up and cleared a path for the navigator. "I think I found something…"
"Really?" Piper asked, glad for anything that would help Aerrow reach his decision. "I was kind of hoping to talk about a trip to Tropica."
"Oh… Oh!" Aerrow said as realization dawned on him. "Okay, so Tropica…"
"Don't worry Aerrow, although you do have to admit we need a break if even I think we need a vacation. First off though, what did you find out?" Piper asked, willing to hold off on discussing Tropica until Aerrow got this off his mind.
"Are you sure, I mean…"
"I'll put it on your tab." Piper said as she took a seat. "So, let's hear it."
"Right… Well, I was reading through the later editions of the Archoni'ent oath and it looks like what I was reading earlier was a rather idyllic version of the Oath written thousands of years ago during the founding days of the Order. At that time apparently the only enemies there were disrupted the Balance and so there was no need to place emphasis on the other points of the oath, no need to write down what was understood. The crystalmancer orders were clearly defined as the enemy, they had been corrupted by some kind of chaotic crystal that drove them to destroy the world and everyone else was simply trying to get along."
"What happened?"
"Evidently one of the orders, known as the Stormweaver Order went underground and began to recruit many of the normal civilians for a major attack on the Ancients. How long they waited is not known exactly, but the last crystalmancer order fell over three hundred years before they began their assault so we can guess their plan began sometime before that. Anyways, the Stormweaver Order attacked at long last eventually, but that is not where I'm going with this really… Long story short, the corruption the Stormweavers spread had a side effect of creating social havoc and eventually led to a coalition of Terras known as the Cytolian Alliance. This alliance sought to dominate all the terras of Atmos and launched massive military strikes on the neighboring landmasses, setting off a regional war and putting thousands of innocent civilians in harm's way. The beleaguered terras appealed to the Ancients for aid, but they had no written precedent to fall back on, they had never had to defend against a civil uprising before. In order to justify their involvement to the civilian governments of the other terras, the Ancients developed a more complete Code, a code very similar to our own Sky Knight Oath." Aerrow explained as he handed a scroll to Piper so she could follow along with his narration. From what she could read on the scroll, it looked like Aerrow was correct; the later code the Ancients published bore many similarities to the modern Sky Knight oath. There were differences such as the promise to maintain the balance of the world was still the highest priority and there was no oath to protect Atmosia, but there were portions dealing with coming to the aid of any who needed it and protecting the innocent. Overall this version of the oath would probably allay many of Aerrow's concerns about the order itself. Piper figured there was probably only one thing left for Aerrow to do, visit Terra Anki itself and find out exactly what the training would entail.
"Are you going to train with the Ancients then?" Piper asked out of curiosity.
"I think so, I'll need to find out what that training involves, but I'm sure it is nothing I will not be able to handle with enough effort." Aerrow said confidently, "I'll have Stork lay in a course to the Rift after we pay Terra Tropica a visit."
"Thank goodness for that." Piper said with a smile as the two walked out of his room, heading for the hanger to catch a ride to Tropica.
Marrshal looked up as Master Cyclonis walked into his lair beneath Cyclonia then went back to working on a large mechanical spider that occupied most of his desk's workspace. He was relatively unconcerned about the repercussions that might normally result from such a show of disrespect; after all, this was a very special project that he was working on, given to him by Master Cyclonis herself. Dark Piper might be more skilled in vessel design than he was, but he was still the best mechanical genius in Cyclonia, far better at designing devices than anyone else on Atmos could be. All thanks to his innate talents combined with his Illuminati training, which had amplified his skills. Such was why Master Cyclonis had come to him to design a means of projecting her presence remotely so that she could physically be in two places at once. Several such devices would be necessary if the latest scheme Master Cyclonis had were to work.
"So, how goes it Marrshal?" Master Cyclonis asked as she leaned across the desk to examine his workmanship. Over the past two months, the Specterization that had consumed her had receded; the only evidence of it that remained was in her irises, which still blazed a fiery red. Marrshal imagined she would like to keep that feature if possible; it was most effective in striking fear into the Talons with a simple glance.
"Construction progresses ahead of the anticipated schedule my lady." Marrshal answered in a somewhat distracted tone. He had just reached a very delicate part of the assembly, designing the crystal control surfaces that would allow the Master Cyclonis projected by the device to move in a semi-realistic manner as directed by the Master herself.
"So all seven of these projectors will be completed within the next two months then?" Cyclonis asked as she stood up fully, clearly satisfied with the quality of Marrshal's work.
"I cannot guarantee that my lady, I still have no way of communicating sound and visual stimuli between the projections and their controllers. Well, actually transmitting the sound is easy enough; radios should do the job nicely… The main issue at hand is the visual stimuli." Marrshal said, making sure to keep the scoffing tone out of his voice. If he were to use his full range of knowledge he could easily build in the technology to do everything that Master Cyclonis wanted, but that would be revealing far too much.
"I suppose I could create some kind of crystal that would do that, badness knows I've already been developing the crystals that will transfer motions between the projectors and controller… You know Marrshal; I'm amazed at how complex these schemes of yours are, to say nothing of the new crystals I have had to develop to make your plans possible." Master Cyclonis commented as she held up one of the clear flat crystals that would interlock to make up the top surface of the projector walker.
"All for the glory of Cyclonia my lady." Marrshal stated calmly as he linked one of the top plates to a light grey crystal prong inside the core of the walker. The prong was one of thirty nine identical crystal prongs held in a sphere around a central sphere of crystal by a framework of silver filigree. Each of the crystal prongs was linked to a joint in the upper body minus those of the spine and would allow the projections to move their upper bodies in a realistic manner, minus facial expressions and any moves that would require the spine to curve. Still, they could bend at the waist, collarbone and top of the neck; which would be sufficient for most rudimentary movements.
"Indeed… and I must confess these devices would have several applications, in addition to aiding in my own plan, congratulations Marrshal."
"Well, radio communication does lack a certain presence and this will certainly eliminate that issue." Marrshal commented smugly as he finished hooking up a second crystal to the corresponding top plate, making sure that he was hooking them up correctly. It would not do for the controller to bend their elbow and have them bow instead, and with forty connections per projector… well, it would be inconvenient to have to redo his work. Still, it was better than the responsive illusion crystal idea he had originally had, these walking projectors were much more versatile, and the projections would even be able to fight to a limited degree, although they were too limited to do so for long.
"Certainly true, I look forward to seeing the finished products. Speaking of which, how close are the others to completion?" Master Cyclonis asked as she set the crystal she had been examining down on the desk.
"As with this one, they still need radios implanted, some method of transmitting visual information installed and the motion mechanisms connected. Two of those tasks will be easy the last will take time to make sure it is done properly." Marrshal answered patiently as he continued his work.
"Provided I develop a crystal to send visual data…"
"Provided you generously craft a crystal such as that." Marrshal corrected her in a subservient tone.
"Oh I probably will; it would give me a good excuse to kick Ravess and Snipe out of my throne room, not that I need an excuse." Master Cyclonis mused to herself, taking Marrshal's comment in stride. "Make sure you have those projectors ready in time for the unveiling of our grand project."
"I will have them ready in time." Marrshal replied as Master Cyclonis vanished in a flash. As he resumed his work, Marrshal contemplated how different the Cyclonian leader was, the biting edge of her personality had been somewhat softened except when dealing with Ravess or Snipe. It was a result of the emotional roller coaster she had been riding he was sure. Thankfully though, her desire to dominate the Atmos had survived intact, this plan was proof of that: elegant in its design yet lethal in its implications. Marrshal had to admit that he looked forward to seeing the end results of this plot.
After leaving the spymaster to his work, Master Cyclonis teleported to a massive dry-dock hidden in the Wastelands contained within the outer defensive wall of Cyclonia where none of the creatures that made the desolate landscape their home could reach it. The Talons and newly minted Claw Squadrons had seen to that, particularly after she had ordered them to clear out the offending monsters. Here they were building the future of Cyclonia, a future she would not have imagined a year ago. Now however, thousands of Talons worked under the supervision of Dark Piper's crystal engineers to complete the largest vessel ever built in Cyclonia, a vessel so massive it had been built in twelve sections and only recently had been united to form a complete vessel. Dubbed 'the carrier' by those working on it, the massive vessel was larger than a small terra and could only fly thanks to massive batteries of downward pointing engines, artificial floater crystals and windstone crystals that created the additional lift necessary for the vessel to fly as well as helped provide the thrust to drive the craft forward. It was necessary that the vessel be so massive, it was intended to house fifty Talon Squadrons in addition to a normal crew, a small Switchblade factory and enough supplies to feed the crew for at least a year. Under normal circumstances, such a vessel would be impractical since at least a dozen destroyers could be made using the materials that went into constructing this behemoth; materials that had to be mined from the Wastelands rather than deplete the more visible mines that the Sky Knights could be watching. However, its size was needed for the mission it was to be sent on, a mission which hopefully would not involve combat with Sky Knights and was only possible due to discoveries Marrshal had made approximately five months ago. Chief among those breakthroughs was a means to navigate through the Great Expanse as well as a way to safeguard against the Sky Sirens that roamed those foreboding skies. With those hindrances out of the way, a whole world of untapped potential awaited, it would only be a matter of time before Cyclonia claimed it.
"Hi Master Cyclonis!" Dark Piper yelled suddenly as she spotted her friend.
"Hello Piper," Cyclonis responded as she glided over to where Piper stood, examining her blueprints to ensure everything had been built correctly. "How soon until the carrier is completed?"
"Oh, another few months at least, the Talons are very motivated to finish this project, probably tired of working in this place for nearly five months now." Piper said cheerfully, apparently unaffected by the sweltering heat that was a trademark of the Wastelands. "Then again, with over twelve thousand Talons working on this project you would think that we would be able to finish fairly quickly."
"True enough, at least construction is proceeding ahead of schedule thanks to your other methods of motivating the Talons; just make sure they don't slack off, I would hate to have this project be unfinished when the Duplication Crystal finally runs out of power. It's just pure luck that fragments of it survived and I was able to reforge them into another Duplication Crystal, although its power is greatly reduced, this small work crew is taxing the limits of its power, even given that I recharge it with my power every hour or two."
"Agreed, my recent scans of the crystal show that it is beginning to lose its energy at an exponentially increasing rate; were it not for the infusions of power you give it the crystal would have disintegrated into dust a few months ago." Piper said as she checked her notes. "But yes, I am confident that the carrier will be done by then."
"Excellent…"