DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, this story exists purely cause I want it to, Additionally, credit to cover image goes to Mythorie over on Deviant Art, your awesome mate

AND WE'RE BACK

I do love a fresh start, now I understand why other authors work on more than one story at once, it's so much more refreshing

Now to business, we have some things to discuss

First and foremost, I've made some changes to what was already up

Change 1. I don't know what possessed me to call the Telani's planet 'Antia' but I've now decided I don't like it, as it doesn't feel Storm Hawk enough, so I've changed it to Atmos (Please let me know if there are any instances of 'Antia' I missed)

Change 2. I didn't like the original summary, so I've changed it, hopefully it will be more enticing to Storm Hawks fans now, and I've also decided to include a more detailed blurb at the beginning of each chapter (the blurb will be the story blurb, so it will be the same each chapter, but it does act as a nice reminder of the overall story)

Change 3. I also added a subtitle to the main title, Book 1 of Stellaris is now, 'Stellaris, Book 1: The Fledging'

So those are the changes, now to the important bits for this chapter

First, lets talk shop, and by that, I mean the tech involved in this story

Both Stellaris and Mass Effect have forms of Faster Than Light travel, or FTL in the Sci-Fi bizz, in this instance, Hyperdrive. the only difference between, Stellaris Hyperdrive, and Mass Effect's, is that in Stellaris, it is used as a means of galactic travel, while in Mass Effect, it's used merely as a means of travel from system to system in a single cluster of stars, while objects called Mass Relays, are used for galactic travel

for the purposes of this story, Mass Relays, are NOT a thing (apologies to all Mass Effect fans out there). I do intend to have the odd gateway that can transport ships VAST distances in mere seconds, but they won't be Mass Relays

In addition, the way the Hyperdrive works might be a little tweaked to what fans of Stellaris know. In Stellaris, Hyperdrive takes you from the edge of one system to the facing edge of another, that is connected to the first by a hyperspace lane. Those Hyperspace lanes are staying, however, a ship doesn't need to go from edge to edge, they can just jump directly to any planet in a system, however, this is risky, thanks to the gravity wells of both the planets themselves, and the star around which those planets orbit

It is a far safer option, to drop out of Hyperspace, on the edge of a system, rather than drop out, inside the system. Only the best - or craziest - of pilots would dare make jumps that could threaten to tear their ship apart

Next up is a little piece of tech called a Focus

This is from another game, but as it's the only thing from that game I'm using, I'm going to tell you about it here, rather than make you trawl through another wiki

The Focus is a small silver triangle about an inch long from base to tip that attaches to the user's temple close to the ear, it is extremely durable, able to remain functioning for years

It serves as a multipurpose neural interface, responsive to the user's gestures and voice and displays a 3D visual interface, visible only to them (For the purposes of this story, all Foci have a privacy setting that does the same thing, but which can also be turned off so that others besides the user can see)

It aids in the operation of machinery and technology alike, as well as communications (in this story it is the primary means of communication between members of the UNE Military and their agents, and can hold a huge repository of data)

And that's all you need to know about the Focus, I'll give more details about it in later chapters when it comes into proper use by multiple characters

Finally, after reading back through chapter 1, I'm aware that some people might have a rather poor view of the Telani people, considering they keep sending their kids off, alone into the wilderness, even on years where it's been proven that they disappear, never to be seen again

I would like to reiterate something I already touched on during the last chapter. The Telani have NO clue whatsoever, about what is causing these disappearances

I know you guys know, most of you have probably figured it out already, but that's the point

The Telani are not stupid, or bad parents, their simply trying to keep to their traditions and unsure everyone, even their children are afforded their rights, even if it means sending them off into danger. The Fledging has become such an ingrained part of their society that to postpone it is abhorrent to them, even if it comes with risks, their still going to do it (We'll learn more about why this is later on)

And I think that's everything, oh wait almost forgot

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS THEMES OF DISCRIMINATION, RACISM, AND SLAVERY, IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO VIEW THESE, PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR PREVIOUS PAGE

And with that, let's roll this thing

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Dear Readers all, welcome back to, Stellaris, Book 1: The Fledging

Blurb:

On the planet of Atmos, the Telani people prepare for their annual tradition known as the Fledging, a journey undertaken by Telani about to enter adulthood. On this journey we follow a group of young Telani – Piper, Aerrow, Finn and their older peer, Dove – excited to begin their Fledging. However, unbeknownst to them, they have an unexpected guest, a Human, called Lark Cyclonis, secretly visiting their planet, studying their people and culture

Together they depart on the Fledging, all the while unaware of the shadow that looms over Atmos, and is due to strike again. When it does, the youngsters are flung into a Galaxy of danger, meeting new people, both friends, and enemies, and reuniting with long lost loved ones. The young Telani of Atmos are about to find out, that their world is so much bigger than they could have possibly imagined

Chapter 2: The Shadow Looms

Outer edge of the Eggellen Prime System, June 25th, 5:45 pm

Five large vessels emerged from Hyperspace on the outer limits of the Eggellen system; their armour plates were curved and jagged, each one about half a mile long. They appeared as though some great entity had flung giant javelins at the system, javelins that proceeded to move towards the centre of the system, and their destination

On the lead vessel, a deck near the top of the ship possessed a wide, panoramic view of the space around it. On this deck stood a single figure, it was a young female Telani, she had hard, deep emerald eyes, a pointed chin, and deep purple hair, that didn't quite come down to her shoulders, except for two bangs, hanging down on each side of her face

Once upon a time, the feathers of her wings had shared this colour, but the last few years of her life had caused the blue tint in them to fade. The feathers were still well groomed, causing them to shine and shimmer in the light from a star the young female hadn't see in four years. Now however, rather than purple, her wings were a deep, blood red, which was how she had received her new name, Red Hawk

She was a Hunter Hawk, trained to fight, to hunt, all for her Master, and she was good at it too, the best. Only one among her Master's slaves, had the skill and power to rival her, but she was still better, which was why her Master favoured her, let her roam around the ship

She wouldn't run – even here, so close to home, closer than she'd been in years – she would never run, because she knew the consequences of such actions. No, she wouldn't run, she would serve, she would bow her head and do as she was commanded, because she had to protect them, her home, her people... her family

As she gazed towards where she knew Atmos was, her mind was dragged back them, to their smiles, their happy faces, to her little sister's infectious laughter. Red Hawk felt hot tears sting her eyes, she quickly blinked them away

Please sister, please tell me you didn't take the Fledging this year, tell me you stayed home, I don't know if I could live with myself if you were taken

As the silent prayer ran through her mind, the five ships continued on their course for Atmos, it was another year, and Telani season had begun once again

Atmos, June 25th 6:00pm

Lark, Piper, Aerrow, Fin and Dove had just finished setting up camp as the sun began its final descent to the horizon

"Sorry we didn't get as far as we wanted, I'm not the strongest flyer," Lark apologised

Piper waved her off, "its okay, we still made good progress for the first day, and besides, we've got a full month, so no rush."

Dove nodded, "Piper's right, and remember, this isn't about getting anywhere specific, this is about enjoying ourselves and having a good time, while learning along the way."

"Fair enough, I just don't want to feel like I'm dragging you down," Lark replied

Aerrow suddenly put his arm around Lark's shoulders, "Listen Lark, because it's time to start learning," Lark raised an eyebrow to this, before Aerrow continued, "Your problem, is you put too much pressure on yourself."

"Excuse me?" Lark exclaimed

Piper nodded, "He's right, you need to give yourself some credit, for someone who doesn't get out or do much long distance flying, you did great for your first day."

Finn and dove nodded in agreement to this as Aerrow spoke again, "You see, don't sweat it, and feel a bit of pride in what you accomplished."

More nods followed this statement as Lark sighed, "Well, thanks then, I guess, and I'll keep that in mind," she replied with a small smile

Aerrow smiled back, and then went over to help Finn cook dinner

As the boys got dinner ready, Dove went over to the nearby river to get some fresh water for their canteens, while Piper saw to the finishing touches on their tents and shelters. Lark was still amazed at the efficiency of it all, apparently, all of the supplies for the participants of the Fledging had been stashed a short way's into the forest, ready to be collected

Lark had had her stuff with her, but her cover of 'not getting out much' meant there were few raised eyebrows. Her flying problem of course was something she couldn't divulge to the others though, and it wouldn't get better over time, in fact, there was a distinct possibility it could get worse

When Lark had fashioned her holographic disguise, she had underestimated the draw it would cause on her suit's energy reserves. This had meant less energy for her Gravitron pack, which was already being taxed to the limit. The Gravitron pack was what allowed her to fly, though that wasn't its original function

It was designed to levitate the wearer by manipulating gravity fields and the mass of the wearer. Propelling her through the air, at speeds to match that of her winged companions, was pushing the pack to its limits, coupled with the power draw of her disguise meant she had been unbearably slow

To compensate, she had activated the pack's solar panels to begin absorbing sunlight and charge up the battery. Normally these were a last resort, for when the pack's internal power source was running low, and couldn't be used while in 'flight'. Lark had needed to override some of the pack's safety functions to get it all working, thankfully, she'd succeeded, and the extra boost from the solar panels had helped her keep up with her companions

I need to get this fixed, if I keep being so slow their going to start asking questions, awkward questions that could blow my cover. Though Aerrow is right, I do put too much pressure on myself, in this instance however, I think it's warranted

Lark was about to head off to a quite spot to run through her inventory, when Piper's voice broke her from her thoughts

"You okay Lark?"

"Oh yes, just thinking," Lark replied

"About what?" Piper asked, curious

Lark hesitated, on the one hand, she couldn't let Piper know too much about her, on the other, she was here to learn herself, and the best way to do that, was to get to know these people, it was the whole reason for her disguise after all

So she answered with, "Just about what Aerrow said."

"Oh?"

"Yea, I had a, confusing childhood," Lark answered

Piper studied her contemplatively, "How so?"

Lark sighed, can't tell her the whole truth, but there are parts. Steeling herself, Lark's gaze moved towards the fire in the centre of the camp, "Everyone I've ever known has had high expectations of me, while my family has never had any expectations of me."

Piper blinked a couple of times, "Wow, that does sound confusing."

Lark gave a dry chuckle in response, "You have no idea."

"Why though, what was the reason?" Piper asked

Lark closed her eyes, sighing as memories returned, "My grandmother," she said. Piper's eyes widened as the pieces slowly began clicking, but before she could speak, Lark continued. "You wouldn't know her, but from where I come from, she was a pretty famous woman, she did a lot of great things, helped a lot of people. Many people from where I live consider her a hero, a symbol, and you know how they say greatness always skips a generation."

"So there I was, a little girl, marvelling at my grandmother's accomplishments, but shut in by my family, while everyone who knows me expects me to be just like my grandmother. Brilliant, intelligent, kind, compassionate, strong willed, determined, and utterly devoted to whatever cause I'm pursuing," Lark explained

"She sounds like an amazing woman, who'd cast a very big shadow," Piper said

"She did, and in many ways still does," Lark replied nodding

"Did?"

Lark nodded, feeling tears prick her eyes, "She's dead, natural causes, but still a shock." Lark almost mentioned how old her grandmother had been when she died, but stopped herself in time, that knowledge would have been an immediate red flag. Thankfully, Piper didn't seem to notice her cover up

Instead, Piper was staring at Lark, with what looked like sorrow in her eyes, "Oh Lark, I'm so sorry."

Lark gave a small smile as she wiped her eyes, "Thanks, it was a few years ago now, it's an old, well healed wound..." Lark trailed off for a moment as her gaze returned to the flames, "But a wound like that, never really leaves you."

Piper nodded, "I know that feeling," she said, her own eyes now gazing into the fire

Lark gave Piper a sideways look, "You're sister?"

Piper nodded, tears beginning to prick her own eyes, "I still remember the day when we found out, it was about a week or so after Starling and the others left on their Fledging, we heard a knock at the front door one morning." Piper began fiddling with one of the laces on her shoes as she spoke, "Dad opened the door, Lightning Strike was standing on the other side... he didn't have to say anything, we could see by the look on his face what he'd come to tell us."

Lark noticed the others had moved further away as Piper spoke. Dove had a faraway look in her eyes, no doubt recalling memories of the friend she'd lost, while Aerrow and Finn were doing their best to concentrate on their task

"I still remember the cry of anguish my mother uttered as the pieces clicked for all of us, she begged Lightning to tell her it wasn't true, that there was some mistake, that Starling might just be lost somewhere out in the wilderness. All Lightning said was that a search had already been started to determine definitively, who was now missing, and who wasn't, he asked us for any information about where Starling might go to hide from danger. My dad volunteered to help search, and told me to stay with mom..."

Piper trailed off, the tears now flowing freely, "But three days later, Lightning came back, pretty much carrying my dad, who'd pushed himself to the point of exhaustion. They were still searching, but so far there was no sign of Starling. One week after that, the search was called off, the entire forest had been searched, and Starling... was nowhere to be found."

Lark felt a spike of guilt, stab her in the gut for taking the conversation here, she needed to fix this, "I'm sure she's out there somewhere Piper... missing, doesn't mean, dead... but I can understand how similar the pain can be," she said as she put a comforting arm around Piper's shoulders

Piper nodded, wiping her eyes and giving Lark a small half smile, "Thanks, and that's actually part of the reason I wanted to take the Fledging this year."

Lark raised an eyebrow in confusion, "I want to try and find her, or some clue as to what happened," Piper explained

"Piper," Dove sighed exasperatedly, and the two of them turned to the older girl, "We looked all over this forest, we didn't find anything, nothing except scattered equipment and torn tents, nothing that could tell us what happened."

"That doesn't mean there's nothing out there, we might have missed something," Piper retorted

"Even if that were the case, it's been four years Piper, whatever clues might have been left, are probably long lost to nature now," Dove replied

Piper turned back to the fire, a small scowl now marring her features. Meanwhile, Lark turned to Dove, curious, "Torn tents?"

Dove glanced at her, then sighed as she turned to stare up at the sky, "Yea, we found the last campsite that Starling and her group made, the tents were torn up, but there was no blood, so whatever attacked them, got the tents, but didn't hurt anyone, at least initially."

"What would you have said caused the tears?" Lark questioned

Now all of them stared at her questioningly, "Why so curious?" Dove asked

Lark shrugged, "I've studied a lot, not much else to do when your shut in most of your life," she then tapped the side of her head, "I've also got a near perfect memory, there's a lot of info up here I can access almost instantly."

That was half true, Lark did know a lot, and she did have a good memory, but she also had a bit of tech to fill in the gaps in her own knowledge, her Focus

Dove raised an eyebrow, then sighed, shaking her head. "They were large tears, whatever animal attacked them, it was big, at least as big as an adult man, I'm thinking predator as well, only a predator has claws that sharp."

"Not necessarily, some herbivores have been known to have some formidable equipment at their disposal, not for hunting though, mainly for defence, or digging up roots..." Lark countered, then glanced to Piper. "Is there any local fauna around here like that, something big that could have attacked Starling and her group?"

"That's the weird thing," Finn interjected, everyone turned to him, "There hasn't been anything like that in the last three centuries."

The others all nodded in agreement, "Didn't you know this already, there are no large animals on Atmos, there haven't been any for centuries," Piper said

Lark frowned, that wasn't right, nearly every planet capable of sustaining life had some sought of mega fauna, or large fauna. It was an unspoken rule of evolution, even on planets where the sentient life had killed all the other large animals off, they had still existed at least right up to the advent of space travel, if not longer... so why not here, how could they have all disappeared three centuries ago?

"This is the first I've heard of this, does anyone know exactly what happened to them?" she asked

Shrugs all round, "Not really no," Aerrow replied, "All our history says, is that evil spirit's came long ago and began killing any large creature they could find, including our people."

"Those who survived had to learn a whole new method of survival, as the spirits seemed to know exactly where their prey was, even if they couldn't see it," Dove continued

"After the spirits left, only those who had successfully hidden themselves, or flown fast enough were left, that's how the Fledging started," Piper explained

Now Lark was listening, intently, this was why she was here, to learn more about the Fledging, "How the Fledging started?"

Piper nodded, "The majority of Telani who were left were all between the ages of 15 and 19, and none of them were older than 26."

Lark's eyes widened, the youngest survived, where the older generations perished, along with every large animal on the planet, caused by evil spirits. But this makes no sense, no one else knows about this planet except the Academy, could it be some unexplained phenomenon, I'm missing something, something important and I don't like it

"When the survivors had their kids, they decided that they should learn how to survive like they had, in case the evils spirits ever returned," Dove stated, "And so, once a year, every year, those between the ages of 15 and 17 are sent out on their own into the wilderness for a whole month."

"It began as survival training and over time turned into a sort of spiritual journey for the participants, as many learned more than simply how to survive, they also learned a lot about themselves," Aerrow said, "Even more so when going on the Fledging with friends, as the participants learn from each other, as much as themselves."

Lark's head was spinning with all this information; Piper noticed the look of intense concentration on her face. "Lark, is everything ok?"

"Hmm, yeah, just fine..." Lark trailed off, "Actually, I need some time alone, I have some things to think about, call me when dinners ready." And without waiting for an answer, she marched off into the now dark forest

"Okay..." Piper replied awkwardly

"How'd you meet her again Piper?" Dove asked, as they all stared after where Lark had disappeared into the brush

"I bumped into her at the gathering, before Lightning started his speech," Piper replied, "Why?"

Dove frowned as she stared into the part of the forest Lark walked into, "Not sure, but something just seems... off, about her."

"You're probably overreacting Dove, cursed year and all that, you're being a little overprotective," Finn said, waving a hand dismissively

Dove rolled her eyes, "Oh, like I'm going to listen to the guy who was hitting on her, mere seconds after meeting her."

That caused a bout of laughter to erupt from Piper and Aerrow, and an indignant cry from Finn, and just like that, Lark's strange behaviour was for the moment, forgotten

Lark walked a fair ways into the forest, before dropping her disguise and un-slinging her pack, she plucked her Focus from her temple, and hooked it up to her data recorder, then pressed record.

"Observation log 2, date, Monday the 25th of June, 2277, time, 6:55pm. Current location, Atmosia Forest, on the surface of the planet Atmos in the Eggellen Prime system," Lark began

"It's been a single day, and I already feel like I'm in over my head, the physical demands of the Fledging are a lot greater than I could have possible imagined, I'm currently having power problems with my Gravitron pack thanks to the power draw my holographic disguise causes."

Lark glanced around to make sure she was still alone

"I managed to compensate, but I need to find an alternate long term solution to the problem, as the stress I'm placing the pack under could render it inoperable before the month is over, and a Telani unable to fly would raise too many red flags."

Lark took a breath as she prepared to deliver the bombshell of today

"But that's nothing compared to what I've learned today, I'll edit all of this together back at the station after the month is over, but I will be transmitting copies of all the footage I recorded today. Of note are the final segments, where I discover the origins of the Fledging, and some conundrums that would seem to indicate that the UNE are not the first space faring species to visit this planet."

Lark ran her hand through her hair as she prepared to deliver her next statement

"I don't see how that's possible though, considering that upon discover of this planet, it was placed into the Protected Planets Program, and became part of UNE territory and according to the records, there is no indication that another species discovered the planet first. So either the records are wrong... or we missed something... and I honestly don't know which is worse."

Lark heard Piper's voice calling her name as she finished

"For now, I'll have to leave this mystery to unravel later, I'm sure my constant questioning about this subject has earned me some suspicion... however, Professor Torrens, could you please make a separate folder labelled, Fledging mystery, and place a copy of this transmission into it for when I return."

Lark heard Piper's voice again, closer now

"I have to go now, I have dinner waiting, then I need to solve my power problem, I'll report in again at the end of the week, to maintain my cover and lower the risk my transmissions are detected by the Telani."

With that, she stopped the recording, clipped it to the recording she'd taken throughout the day, and then transmitted it to the stealth station where her team was. That was another thing she didn't understand

Three days earlier, Torrens had recalled all ground personnel to the station, and a week before that, had ordered cameras set up all over this forest, and other areas like it. She had assumed he wanted to make another distanced study of the Fledging

But the more she thought about it, the less sense it made, they'd learned all they could about the Fledging from a distance, why repeat something they already had tons of data on and could learn nothing new about it, without getting closer

I really am missing something, but what, Torrens told me everything... didn't he?... but if he didn't... why would he lie to me?

"LARK!?" Piper called once more, shaking Lark from her thoughts. She quickly activated her disguise after putting everything away and slinging her pack once more

"Here Piper, I'm just coming," Lark called back

"Okay," Piper replied through the trees, before Lark heard her start to make her way back to camp

Lark gazed one last time at the stars above, before turning and following Piper

UNE Stealth Station Orion, Behind Atmos' largest moon, June 25th, 10:55pm

Torrens sat in front of the console, starring out towards the system's edge; five tiny pinpricks of light had appeared just an hour ago. Torrens knew what they were, his whole team did, he'd handpicked them for this mission, they knew the stakes, they knew the score. The only one who didn't, was Lark

Why though, why did I choose to take Lark Cyclonis?

He knew it had been a mistake when he had asked her if she would like to go on an observation mission. Not because of her skill set, hell no, her skill set was incredible, she was every bit Anarchis' granddaughter

Intelligent, driven, determined, kind, compassionate, and devoted to a fault... and that was the problem

She was becoming every bit the woman her grandmother had been, he had known that the moment he'd seen her file, seen it in her eyes, the passion with which she spoke about her grandmother's work

And yet, he'd brought her, to the very planet that had both been Anarchis' motivation for her work, and her downfall

And now here I' am, repeating history, oh Anarchis, I'm so sorry, so sorry I dragged your granddaughter into all this

He didn't even know what kind of insanity had driven him to make the choice, though he suspected it was the feeling of familiarity Lark created. She was so like her grandmother, that when she was working with them, Torrens was transported back 60 years ago, to when he'd worked with Anarchis for the first time

A silent tear slid down his cheek, god how he missed her, they could really use her help right now, if Anarchis was here, she'd know what to do to fix this. She wasn't though, it was just him, and he'd screwed it up, big time

Torrens tapped his Focus, "Jimmy," he said

"What's up Doc?" came Jimmy's tired voice on the other end – he was their communications officer

"I need you to connect me to the nearest UNE way-station, code Beta," Torrens said, his eyes never leaving the five pinpricks heading for Atmos

Jimmy was instantly awake, "Code Beta?" he gulped, "Are you sure, I mean, if we're exposed..." he trailed off

"I know, but the chances are high that they'll detect Lark once they reach the planet, I'm not leaving the granddaughter of my best friend down there to die, or worse, which means we'll need some protection to ensure that when they arrive... they'll agree to let us leave... remember, no one wants to be the one to fire the first official shot," Torrens replied

There was no immediate reply, then Jimmy sighed, "I'll have you connected in a moment Professor."

"Thank you," Torrens replied, before disconnecting, and continuing to stare at the five pinpricks of light

I do hope he isn't coming this year, that's a disaster just waiting to happen

Hegemony Slaver Ship, The Jagged Claw, June 25th, 11:30pm

The he, Torrens was referring to, was none other than, Lord Repton Corvax, High noble of the Gorvan Hegemony and second in line to the Imperial throne. Currently, Repton was on the bridge of the flagship of his slaver fleet, The Jagged Claw

He was overseeing final preparations for the hunt to come as they approached the planet, it would take them about a week to enter orbit and fully prepare. They'd done this hundreds of times already though, they'd grown very efficient at it

The Gorvan's were a reptilian looking species, but their closest cousins were actually that of the Raptor family from the dinosaurs on earth. Indeed, they shared many of the same characteristics, large cranial capacity and eyes, they were bipedal, though Gorvan's had a more upright posture to the ancient Raptors

Jaws full of carnivorous teeth, an incredible sense of smell, and bodies that were designed to be all muscle, built for speed and power, even their tails could be used as weapons, as well as for balance

Repton was a particularly intimidating specimen, standing at six foot six, every inch of his body was rippling with muscle, and covered in a hide of thick scales, which were a dark green in colour, except for the chest, which were a light grey

He had yellow eyes with no whites and a single dark slit down the middle of each, as well as a small frill of spines along the top of his head. He was currently in his noble's tunic, military design, which meant dark green and brown colours

Made of real leather, form the skin of an animal he had personally hunted, it had a tall collar which covered most of his neck, it was buttoned down along his right side, with the buttons curving in towards the middle at the bottom, the buttons were made of precious metals that cost a small fortune on the galactic market

Other than this, the tunic was pretty plain; it was accentuated however with the medals that adorned it, the most prominent of which, was the one clipped directly below the collar. His Bogaton Star

It was a five pointed star, hung upside down from the fabric clip, gold in colour and with the words 'Dominatumque Conver Omnis', which translated to, 'Supremacy, Over All', engraved in a circle around the clawed hand of a Gorvan, clenched into a fist while raised in the air

This was the core of Gorvan society, they firmly believe that they, were the superior species to all, and that the rest of the galaxy should bow down at the feet of the Hegemony and serve them. This made them the centre of the galactic slave trade, a trade that had made the Hegemony incredibly wealthy, wealth which now paid for an every growing military, in response to the rise of the UNE

Repton ground his teeth in frustration at the thought of the upstart humans

First contact with the Gorvan's never usually went well, but most of the time, it was the species meeting the Gorvan's who received the short end of the stick

With the humans however, things had been different

First contact had occurred between a human military vessel, and a Gorvan slave ship. When the humans had discovered what the ship was, they'd been outraged, and had demanded the ship captain to turn over his rightful cargo to them, just so they could release them

Naturally, the captain had refused, and a small skirmish had broken out as a result

More powerful galactic players had stepped in to put a stop to the altercation, but neither side had forgotten the event. The humans had firmly established their anti-slave policy after that, other races already had anti-slave policies in place, but they had never been as vocal about it as the humans had

This simple action had caused a subtle shift in the balance of power

The Galactic Council, the UNE's closest neighbours, had approved of the human's stance on slavery, and had offered an invitation to join them. The humans of course accepted, and in just a few decades, had proven themselves to the point that they were invited into the ruling body of the Galactic Council, becoming its fifth, and newest member

The Gorvan Hegemony saw this as a threat to their own Empire, and the Imperial court decided that action needed to be taken, a military build up had begun to counter the rising power of the UNE. The rest, was history

Now the two races stared each other down, each waiting for the other to blink first. The Hegemony wouldn't take direct action, out of fear of the Galactic Council. Likewise, the UNE kept its peace, because it knew it was no match for the Hegemony alone; they needed Council support, which they would not get, if they were the aggressor

It was a standoff, one that had lasted for nearly a century now

As Repton stared off towards the distant planet, reports were brought to him, which he handled as each arrived. He was just finishing the last, when the door to the bridge opened

Repton didn't have to turn around to see who it was, the speckles of red light that were suddenly cast around the room were clue enough

"How was the view, Red Hawk?" he asked, his voice rough and reptilian, the s, sounding longer than it should

"Spectacular, Master Repton," came the neutral reply, as Red Hawk walked up to stand just to the side, and a little behind him

Repton glanced at his favourite slave

Despite being a member of a lesser species, Repton couldn't deny Red Hawk's beauty, particularly on the hunt. She was a finely honed weapon, a precise instrument, which he was very proud of

Traditionally, slaves needed to be completely indoctrinated before serving their masters. Red Hawk however, had been special. Repton had immediately seen great potential in her, potential that would have been dulled by total indoctrination

Instead, he had personally trained Red Hawk, had shown her the benefits of bowing her head, and the repercussions of disobedience. And she had learned well, coupled with a burning desire to protect the ones she loved on her home planet, she had willingly bowed down to him, and had been loyal ever since

Repton still remembered the first hunt he took her on, Red Hawk had been presented a chance to escape, she had no binder to stop or track her, could have easily gotten away before anyone could react in time to catch her

But she hadn't; instead, she had calmly walked back to his side, turning away from her chance at freedom

Repton's peers could only stare in shock, as Red Hawk had fallen into step behind him, and back aboard their ship

Four years she had served him faithfully, but this would be the ultimate test. After that first hunt, Repton had made the decision to take Red Hawk with him to Atmos for his next Telani hunt. His peers had called him crazy, mad

But Repton was confident, that not even being on her home planet would erode Red Hawk's loyalty to him, and this would prove it. He gave a sly smile as his ship continued on its inexorable approach to Atmos

This year's hunt, would most certainly be an interesting one

Forest of Atmosia, June 26th, 12:30pm

Lark had woken before the others, giving her time to work on her Gravitron pack, she felt she'd found a workable solution. She still would not be the fastest flyer, but she had managed to streamline her power efficiency by turning off some of the more redundant systems that just ran in the background anyway

She had also performed a proper adjustment to how the solar panels on her pack worked, making them more efficient, and allowing them to run with some of the safety protocols back in place

All this meant that, after they started off that morning, she'd had a much easier time keeping up, and it showed. Her pack was no longer being taxed quite so much, allowing her to go faster for longer

She still require frequent 'rests' to, 'recharge', but the others didn't seem to mind, they simply assumed that thanks to being a shut in, she wasn't as physically fit as the rest of them. As such, the 'cross country flying' was a challenge for her

But then again, that was what the Fledging was all about, pushing yourself to your limits, and in their eyes, Lark was doing exactly that

They had decided to stop for a small snack lunch next to a crystal clear pool that was being supplied by a cascading waterfall from the top of a cliff. Tall trees grew from the cliff top, and leaned over the edge, like they were looking down on the group below

Aerrow and Finn had changed immediately to their swimming costumes upon their arrival, and had dived head first into the water. Now they were flying a short ways above the water's surface, doing stunts while flying through the cascading water

"Come on in girls!" Finn called, "The water's great!"

"If you think we're changing right where you can see us Finn, your more delusional than you look," Dove called back, while Finn just stuck his tongue out at her

Piper giggled as Dove stalked off, and then turned to Lark, "You coming?"

Lark glanced at the water, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't tempted, unfortunately, she had a cover to maintain. It wasn't like her equipment would short out if it got wet, but her holographic wings would be disrupted by the water, as they relied on light to project them

If the holographic beams were suddenly immersed in tens of thousands of tiny prisms, her wings would start contorting in odd ways, or just fizzle out altogether. Hell, she'd been lucky the weather was looking so nice at the moment, if ever it rained, she'd have to find shelter and quick, though that did give her an idea

"Thanks, but I think I'll stay here, my wings don't do well in water, never have, it's a genetic thing I think," Lark replied

Piper blinked at that response, then a look of pity crossed her face, "So wait, you've never gone swimming before?"

Lark shook her head, "I know how to swim, my parents insisted in case it ever became necessary, but I'd prefer not to, if I don't have to."

Understanding dawned on Piper's face, "Okay, in that case, I'll stay with you," she said

"What, no, Piper please don't deprive yourself just for me, its fine, I don't mind you guys enjoying the water without me, besides we have a whole month to do fun stuff together, so go on, have some fun," Lark quickly interjected

Piper glanced to her, then to the others – Dove had just joined the boys – then back to Lark, "You sure?" she asked, her voice laced with concern

Lark smiled and nodded

"Well okay then," Piper replied as she turned to go, and then glanced over her shoulder, giving Lark a sly smile, "You can be lifeguard."

That got a chuckle out of both of them

A few minutes later, Piper had joined the others, they dove and spun through the waterfall for a bit, then Dove descended to a shallow area to begin cleaning her wings. Meanwhile, Aerrow and Finn, seemed to be discussing something with Piper

Curious, Lark subtly activated her Focus to hear what they were saying

"No way, do you see how tight that cave entrance is," Finn said

Lark peered around, looking for the entrance he spoke of, she soon found it, hidden just behind the waterfall

"I'm telling you, it can be done," Piper replied, "There's an entrance on the cliff top that comes out at that exit," she explained, pointing to the entrance Finn mentioned

"Not that we doubt you Piper, but you were a kid the last time you were here, everything looks bigger when you're a kid," Aerrow stated

Piper folded her arms and smirked at them both, what she said next, almost caused Lark to burst out laughing, "Chicken."

Aerrow and Finn, visibly bristled

"What did you just say?" Finn responded, a small scowl now developing on his features

"Bwack, buck buck, bwack," Piper taunted, using her arms to emulate the wings of a chicken, as the boys faces turned red with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment, while Lark was desperately trying to hold in her laughter

Aerrow and Finn were both scowling now, before both looked back at the cave entrance, then to the cliff top, then at each other. They both nodded before turning back to Piper

"Chickens we is then," they both said simultaneously, before repeating Piper's actions from a moment ago, causing Lark to finally lose it, Dove wasn't far behind her

Piper just smirked, "Alright then Chickens, you wait here, I'll show you how a real hawk flies." Then, she flew straight up, rising above the waterfall and the cliff, and kept going, until she was well over 100 metres above the cliff top

Lark's laughter died in her throat, Dove too had ceased her amusement, now she was looking concerned. "Tell me she isn't about to do what I think she's about to do?" Lark asked

There was no reply for a moment as they all stared straight up at Piper, then, as one, the other three Telani replied, "Yep, she is."

Without another second's warning, Piper dove, heading straight for the trees that covered the cliff top, building up tremendous speed, with no sign she was going to slow down

The others watched in mute horror and fascination as she descended at breakneck speed for the tree tops

Then she jinked to her left, pulling her wings in at the last moment, and passing through a hole in the crisscrossing canopy, and into the forest below. While the others lost sight of her, Lark was able to follow Piper's progress with her Focus

Her mouth opened in awe as she watched Piper duck dodge and weave between the branches of the trees, then dropped through a sinkhole, into the cliff side itself. Now she was dodging stalagmites and stalactites, making hairpin turns, all while maintaining her incredible speed

Then she was racing for the exit, Lark saw how tight it was, she'd have no room to manoeuvre whatsoever. Piper once again, tucked her wings in close, relying on her speed and careful angling of her wings to keep her in the air, her control was incredible

Then she flew through the exit, and straight into the waterfall, bursting through it in a cascade of water, the sunlight glinting off the water droplets around her, and off her feathers. The whole effect gave her a blue aura, that looked... very familiar to Lark, but before she could place it, the aura was gone, and Piper had descended, panting to the water's edge

They all rushed over to her

"Spirits Piper, that was incredible!" Aerrow exclaimed

Piper chuckled, "Thanks, I haven't done that in years, and you were right, it was smaller than I remember."

That got a nervous chuckle out of all of them

"You're not hurt are you?" Dove asked

Piper shook her head, "I'm fine Dove, never even touched the sides," she replied with a wry smile

I can attest to that, Lark thought

After that, they broke out some food and lounged on the bank, Lark and Piper sat together. Lark was still amazed at what Piper had just done

"How did you even know about that cave system?" she asked

"Starling showed me," Piper replied

Lark glanced at Piper, seeing a faraway look in the young Telani's eyes, "Her, me and Dad used to come out here on camping trips, both as a fun family outing, and also as preparation for the Fledging," she explained, then waved her hand around the area they were now in. "This was one of our favourite camping spots, we would come here at least once a year, every year, until..."

Piper trailed off, she didn't have to finish for Lark to know what the end of that sentence was

"You haven't been back since then?" Lark asked

Piper shook her head, "No, it just didn't feel right without her."

"Why come back now?"

Piper took a breath, then looked around, "Before she left on her Fledging, Starling told me she and her friends were going to come here," Piper said, "I wanted to retrace her steps, figured that was the best way to find some clue as to what happened to her."

Silence settled between them, before Piper sighed, and broke it, "So far though, nothing, maybe Dove's right, maybe there's nothing left to find."

Lark glanced at Piper, saw the look of despair on her face, I need to do something, she needs closure, and maybe pursuing this, will answer some of the unexplained questions about the Fledging, and these disappearances

"It's been one day Piper, you going to give up after one day?" Lark asked, being careful not to look at Piper, and keeping her face hiding from Piper as well

She could feel Piper bristle at her side though, "No, it's just... it's been four years, whatever might have been left to find, has probably been claimed by nature now."

"Not necessarily, nature works slowly, there might still be something," Lark now turned to look at Piper, who appeared deep in thought. "Where was her last campsite located?"

Piper blinked and looked up at Lark, "I don't know," she replied, then saw Lark give her a wry smile, while glancing over her shoulder, towards the others. Piper took a glance too, then returned Lark's wry smile, "But I know who does."

UNE Stealth Station Orion, June 26th, 1:15pm

"Admiral, I understand the situation believe me I do, but this is a special case, please you have to make an exception, if we don't intervene then things could spiral out of control and we could have a war on our hands where we're seen as the aggressors," Torrens said over his private Comm

He listened silently to the Admiral's reply

"Very well sir, I understand, yes, we'll remain on standby until we hear back from you, thank you Admiral."

With that, he hung up, before running a hand down his face, two days of no sleep had really done a number on him

"Professor, sir, you need to get some rest," Jimmy said

Torrens nodded, "You're right, I've done all I can, rest is what's best now."

With that, Professor Torrens stood to leaves the communications hub. As he reached the door, Jimmy spoke up, "What did the Admiral say?"

Torrens paused at the door, he didn't turn back as he answered, "He needs to pull some strings, we can't expect any back up till the end of the week."

The silence seemed to stretch out, before Jimmy answered, "That might be too late for Lark."

Torrens sighed, "I know." With that, he walked out and back to his quarters, all he could do now, was pray

And that closes out Chapter 2, hope you all enjoyed and please don't forget to leave your thoughts in a review, it really helps me get better

I'll see you all next time ; )