Chapter 4: Invasion.
Aerrow whizzed around quickly at Finn's question about the Talons. "Stork get us airborne and into that dense layer of cloud!" Aerrow commanded as Finn stood in a state of shock as the Legion of Talons that came charging towards Terra Cavernia and the Condor. "Piper?" Aerrow called into the loud speaker, "Have you and Junko finished connected the crystals to the engine yet? We need you in the docking bay. The Talons are here! Repeat, the Talons are here!" Aerrow called, he'd just finished summoning Piper when the alarm started to beacon out across the Condor.
"Junko, come on!" Piper called back to Junko who was still trying to get a crystal into the engine. "Aerrow need's us at the docking bay." She turned on her heels and ran to the hanger bay as fast as her legs would allow her to. ….. the docking bay...Junko who was still trying to get a crystal into the engine.
"Radarr, get to the skimmer." Aerrow ordered Radarr with a smile on his face.
"Um…Aerrow, I think we should leave, the Condor isn't going to take all the fire power that those Cyclonians have." Stork called to Aerrow as he was about to run out the door of the bridge.
"Well then, we'll just have to stop them getting to the Condor." Aerrow explained grinning fiercely at Stork.
"Aerrow come on! We'll be into tomorrow by the time you get to your skimmer." Finn called from where he, Junko and Radarr stood, already on their skimmers waiting to go.
"Don't worry Finn you'll have your chance at the Talons before the day is out!" Aerrow comforted an overly exited Finn. "Where's Piper?"
"I'm here!" Piper yelled racing into the hanger bay with a bag of crystals in her arms. She loaded some of them into her heli-scooters crystal conduction turbine, threw the rest to the boys and leapt onto her heli-scooter.
"What are these for?" Aerrow asked taking an eruption stone out of the half empty bag.
"They're eruption stones! Hit the Talons' skimmers with them and hopefully, if the Talons have any sense, they'll jump before their skimmers are blown into oblivion." Piper replied starting up her scooter and waiting for the boy's to finish faffing with their skimmer's blasters.
"Awesome!" Finn cried loading handfuls of crystals into his conduction turbine.
"Leave some for the rest of us!" Aerrow said stealing the bag away from the over-exited wingman.
"Now Finn, be careful, these people's Terra is in out hands now. If we mess this up, then their not going to be happy." Piper warned Finn as he geared up and sat waiting for Aerrow to send them off.
"Piper's right Finn, which means sticking to the plan, but to summarize, let's go kick some Cyclonian tail!" Aerrow cheered as he started up his skimmer and rode off the docking bay ramp and into the clouds, closely followed by Piper, Finn, Radarr and Junko who cheered as they too followed Aerrow into the clouds.
"So Aerrow, what's the plan?" Piper asked, as she flew her skimmer parallel to Aerrow's.
"We'll do a sneak attack, up from below. I don't think they've seen Condor, so we have the upper hand at the moment. We'll climb up slowly and then surprise them by coming up amidst them." Aerrow replied to Piper's question.
"And you think that'll work?" Finn butted in over the skimmers com link.
"As a matter of fact, I do, unless you have a better idea Finn?" Aerrow asked knowing that he'd just stumped Finn for good.
"Alright cocky, just keep us alive please. I'd like to taste my victory feast!" Finn answered making them all laugh at the thought that they hadn't even shot down a single Talon, and Finn could already taste victory, and no doubt see, in his minds eye, girls swooning over their, supposed, hero.
"I think you're the cocky one!" Piper contradicted as they approached the cloud surface.
"Okay everyone, quiet down. We're coming right under them." Aerrow commanded his crew as he looked up to the cloud layer above them.
"When do we make our move?" Piper asked in a whisper as they came closer and closer to the Cyclonian Talons.
"In three…two…one…" Aerrow said counting down and then, when reaching "zero!" uttered a loud cry and directed his skimmer up through the clouds and appearing right in front of the Talons. The rest of the Storm Hawks directed their own skimmers as Aerrow had done and all yelled a war cry as they dispersed into the muddle of Talons.
Ravess looked on as the Storm Hawks battled their way through her legion of Talons. Their Talons befell the Storm Hawks little tricks, but she would not. She summoned her own skimmer forward into the open. If she could at least draw one of the
Storm Hawks away from the battle then she would have a very good chance of winning this unexpected meeting with the Storm Hawks. Snipe on the other hand was throwing his club at the first sight of Aerrow's team darting through their Talons. Snipe lashed out at Finn and struck one of his smaller rear engines.
"That's not fair!" Finn called as he turned his skimmer around abruptly to face Snipe, and then fired numerous arrows from his crossbow. Finn watched intently as his arrows headed straight for Snipe. Finn watched as, to his disappointment, one by one his arrows failed to strike Snipe. "Stop moving!" Finn called as Snipe laughed wickedly. Finn reloaded his crossbow, and took aim again, but just as he was about to shoot an arrow at Snipe, he felt a jolt hit him from behind. Finn turned around quickly to see Ravess place another arrow on her bow. "Oh Man! Why does everyone pick on me?" Finn wailed as he tried to dodge Snipe's spinning club and Ravess' streaming arrows. Finn crouched over his skimmer as he braced for impact, but then felt no jolt. He sat up and looked around to see Junko shoot a missile at Snipe's heli-scooter, sending him ricocheting out of control and into one of his Talon's skimmers. Finn and Junko watched as the Talon and Snipe leapt off their skimmers, pulled their Para shoots, and started to drift downwards. Snipe let out a loud and wrathful yell as he watched Finn and Junko observing him fall from his skimmer. "You rock Junko!" Finn yelled as he and Junko clashed fists.
Back on the battle field, Aerrow was trying to protect Piper and the Condor from the Talon's fire, when he saw the commotion with Finn and Snipe. Aerrow smiled to himself as he saw Snipe fall from his heli-scooter and deploy his Para shoot. "Only Ravess left." He thought to himself as he watched Piper, Finn and Junko continue to shoot Talons out of the sky.
Aerrow took a moment to study the battle field, and suddenly he noticed that his squadron had wiped out almost all of the Talons. Aerrow pressed the button on his com link and barked the command to "Drive them back to the cruiser!" that had brought them to the Terra. But suddenly, as Piper gave a whoop of delight at the sight of the fleeing Talons, Aerrow saw in the distance, two more barges, bigger than the previous one, came into view behind the fleeing Talons.
Aerrow watched horrified as the two cruisers in front of them opened their hatches and released, almost double the amount than before, of Talons into the clouds.
"Aerrow!" Piper called through the com link.
"I know." Aerrow Admitted, a tone of defeat in his voice. "Junko, Finn, fall back." Aerrow ordered regrettably.
"Um…Aerrow?" Stork called over the com link, "I need help in the Condor. I can't shoot a cannon and fly at the same time." He continued worry surrounding his voice.
"Don't worry Stork." Aerrow tried to comfort. "Junko'll come back to the Condor to help." He replied nodding at Junko who sped back to the Condor as fast as he could.
"Aerrow, we can't take on that many Talons!" Finn explained worriedly.
"You probably can't take out all these Talons, but I'm not giving up the lives of these innocent people, without a fight. Whether you join me or not." Aerrow Said, a look of anger and revenge in his eyes.
"Whatever Finn decides, you know I'll always stand up beside you." Piper comforted, shooting a look of comfort and understanding at him.
"I knew you would Piper." Aerrow said the look of anger lifting off his face.
"I'm your mate too, and no matter what you say, I can always take out more Talons than you." Finn butted in abruptly flashing a cheeky grin in Aerrows direction.
"What about you Stork?" Aerrow asked his pilot through the com link.
"I was doomed from the start so what's the point of even answering that question?" Stork muttered drearily at Aerrow.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Aerrow said, grinning at the thought of his crew.
"We're with you till the end!" Piper chirped in, reaching across from her heli-scooter and placing her hand on his shoulder.
"I knew you were all special from the moment we met!" Aerrow said looking over his crew, a tear brewing in his eye but being consumed by the reality of the war they were in the middle of at that very moment in time.
"Um…Aerrow those Talons look very, Very angry." Finn pointed out.
"I know we are a bit worn out right now, but we have to do this for the Cavernians and for the Storm Hawks! Let's show them that we still have some fire left in us! Let's do this!" Aerrow cried out, as he ordered Radarr to charge towards the Talons. Aerrow's crew let out a whoop at they followed their leader into the battle again, none of them knowing if they'd come out alive.