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The Dark Ace watched though somewhat tired red eyes as Aerrow struggled with his skimmer. The two sky knights had been up early – or at least he presumed it was early, with no watch it really was impossible to tell – as soon as the sun had even begun to light the sky. They had eaten a little bit of food and gone their separate ways. The red haired young man had gone into the terra's forest to retrieve the former Talon's ride. He had returned a few hours later wheeling it along, leading its owner to believe that it might not actually be in such bad shape after all. Since then, he'd been working on it tirelessly: fixing it but also making some modifications which the prisoner hadn't quite been able to identify.
The Interceptor was yet to return from wherever her outing had taken her. They'd been too far away at the time for him to hear just where they were going and what they were planning, so he wasn't sure whether she would be back any time soon or if it would only be when the sun set that they would be graced with her presence.
That left him alone with Aerrow. Two old enemies, trapped on this forsaken terra in the middle of nowhere. A few years ago he would have laughed. A part of him still wanted to at the thought of the bitter irony which had forced them together like this. He held off however. With the old Storm Hawk, the one he had known before all of this, he wouldn't have been so reserved. The man that he had become was another kettle of fish however. The Dark Ace knew better than most how much hardship could change someone and the sky knight had known plenty of that. In truth, he knew very little of what he was now capable of. That meant that some caution was called for. At least when Starling wasn't around; he knew her well enough to know that as formidable as her bite was, it took a lot more than a bit of mocking humour for her to unleash it.
He hadn't slept particularly well last night. It wasn't so much to do with the cold. Thanks to the blanket that they had (very kindly) provided, he had been able to stay warm enough. Being tied to a post however was not exactly a very comfortable position and his muscles were currently letting him know that he was going to be in for some serious cramps when he was finally let free, whenever that may be.
Some footsteps drew his attention. Starling had returned. With her, she had a collection of gourds as well as a small pouch. He frowned wondering what she could possibly have gone looking for. Now that she was back, at least he might be able to ask some questions and trust her to keep Aerrow in check if his temper were to flare up.
"So what's this ingenious plan of yours to get off this heap of rock?" He asked causing the sky knight to look up from the bike.
"We're going to need rides." Aerrow replied simply. "And if you think you're getting one with weapons and that's faster than ours, then you're dreaming."
"He couldn't out-race Red Streak even on his best day." Starling replied dropping the pouch next to him. "I got them. All seven."
Aerrow stopped what he was doing to carefully open the pouch. He pulled out a crystal. It was a pretty simple one; a fuel crystal, as common as could be. What he did notice however was that it was glowing. Unlike every single other darned crystal on the terra, it still had power. That made it as far as he was aware unique. It also changed things a fair bit. It gave them a method of aireal transportation which they would otherwise have lacked which in Atmos was practically a death sentence in itself. There remained a few issues of course which were so blindingly obvious to him that he believed they must have already occurred to the sky knights.
"And just how are we going to use them?" He questioned the two of them. "As soon as we hit those clouds their power will be drained the same as all the others."
"Not if we avoid the clouds." Starling replied with a knowing smirk. "They begin to break up a bit before the wastelands."
"You're still going to have to march through them!" The Dark Ace reminded her somewhat alarmed by the plan.
"Do you have a better idea?" She answered in a curt tone.
The former Talon didn't respond, choosing to look at the ground instead. She was right of course. They were faced with a very simple choice: go through the wastelands and risk their lives or stay trapped here until their either died from old age or the inevitable happened and Cyclonis' reach finally extended out here to this forgotten part of the Atmos and she found them. He would sooner die – even if it was in the wastelands – than have to face that second scenario.
Content with his silence, the two sky knights got back to work. Starling wheeled their rides over whilst Aerrow finished whatever modifications he was making to the Dark Ace's. Cautiously, she placed a fuel crystal inside of her skimmer's engine. When questioned by their captive as to just how and where they had gotten actual working crystals from. They had told him that they had mined them themselves after discovering a vane in a local cave. It had taken them the best part of two years to dig them out. It would have taken professional miners a few days at most but without the tools and know-how they had struggled for much longer.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to their prisoner. Starling came over she walked slowly, not attempting to hide the contempt that she felt for him as she drew nearer.
"Now I'm going to cut you free. Try anything and I swear it will be more than the ropes I use this knife on." She told him, her voice low and dangerous.
"Don't worry." He assured her. "I won't try anything."
He was genuine. Not only would he be unlikely to succeed in any sudden attempts at backstabbing them – not that he hadn't briefly considered it. Even if she was alone, Starling would prove to be a ferocious enemy of that he was certain and in any case, Aerrow would be upon him in a flash. Besides, with an Atmos pretty much under Cyclonia's thumb killing off two of the last freewilled sky knights (which he doubted he could do) would hardly be beneficial to him. Like it or not, he needed their help.
It came as something of a relief when the sky knight cut the ties which had been keeping him in the same position for the best part of a day now. He stretched carefully not wanting to spook her. Starling took a few steps back. The Dark Ace got to his feet perhaps a little too quickly, what felt like every single muscle in his body complained in the only way they knew how: in the form of massive series of cramps which practically brought him to his knees.
Starling and Aerrow said nothing but didn't exactly seem to relish in his pain either. They exchanged glances for a couple of moments. He caught his breath as best as he could before stranding back up, slowly this time to give his muscles some time to become accustomed to bearing his weight. They waited patiently for him to pull himself together before heading over to their skimmers. He followed uncertainly, stopping by his own ride. It was rather scratched but if first impressions were anything to go by it looked like it would still fly.
"No weapons and you won't be able to reach maximum speed." Aerrow informed him as he examined the modifications. "So don't count on slipping away from us."
"Why would I do that?" He asked a little frustrated.
"Once a Talon. Always a Talon." The Storm Hawk muttered bitterly.
"Come on. We'd better get a move on if we want to get out of the wastelands before dark." Starling declared beginning to wheel her bike along.
"And how do you plan to get down there in the first place?" The Dark Ace questioned.
They didn't respond, instead wheeling their machines all the way to the very edge of the terra. As they drew nearer, he was able to made out some sort of strange contraption. It looked like a platform of some kind comprised of chains and some primitive cogs. The whole thing didn't exactly give off a feeling of stability or reliability as much like pretty much everything on this forgotten piece of rock, it had been made out of what little its builders had been able to salvage and craft themselves.
Starling carefully wheeled her skimmer onto the platform, checking it out a couple of times to make sure it was stable. She raised her head to look at her fellow sky knight and nodded once, signalling that it was all okay.
"You're going down with her." The Storm Hawk told him pushing him forwards slightly. "Try anything. You'll regret it. Understood?"
"Yes sir..." The Dark Ace muttered bitterly as he joined the Interceptor.
Aerrow headed over to the giant pulley system and using a fair amount of strength, pulled the lever. Instantly, the platform they were standing on began to lower itself down. The Dark Ace had enough time to catch one last glimpse of the apparent paradise he had landed on only a few hours ago before it disappeared as they were lowered into the abyss bellow.
He turned to face Starling. The young woman looked a little haggard. The years that she'd spent trapped here hadn't been a walk in the park. Littered all over her tanned and rough skin were scrapes, scratches and the occasional scar. Nothing too severe and all to do with the fact that for the past three years she had been forced to survive out in the wilderness. A few of them of course he presumed would be old war wounds, some of which were likely even done by his hand. Ultimately, he didn't sense much of a change in the Interceptor.
It was the Storm Hawk whom he was more curious about.
"Aerrow seems a little..." He paused searching for the right word and one which wouldn't get him pushed off of the platform and to his death. "Uptight."
"Oh. I'm sure it's just a phase..." Starling replied with bitter sarcasm. "I think having your entire squadron and friends be turned against you and then beaten half to death by them can have a bit of a detrimental effect on a young man's psyche."
"You haven't changed." He noted looking up to the top of the terra which was becoming increasingly far away. "Still that dry sense of humour. You always were cruel for a sky knight."
"Having your squadron killed right in front of you can have that effect on you..." She replied turning away from him slightly.
He smirked. They must have hated this. He was under no allusions, just because right now they happened to have a common enemy and even more bizarrely actually needed his help – as he needed theirs – that didn't make them friends. He wasn't going to give them an excuse to kill him, that would be counter productive in the extreme but that didn't mean that he had to play nice. The Dark Ace intended to have a little fun with the sky knights and it looked like they might have some waiting to do whilst they waited to reach the wastelands and then for Aerrow to join him with the other skimmers.
"You must hate this." He remarked unwilling to let things drop so easily. "Hate me, am I right?"
"Frankly, Ace… I want nothing more than to shove you right off of this thing into the wastelands." She replied deadly serious.
"Think you could win?" He asked raising an eyebrow as he stood a little straighter to boost his height in an attempt to intimidate her somewhat.
"Yes. Easily." Came the simple response.
"How's the shoulder?" He asked with a teasing smirk.
She shot him a glare which was enough to discourage him from pushing her any further. He could read people well enough to know when they risked snapping and they were still a little too high up for his liking for him to risk taking a chance.
Still, the former Talon couldn't help but think back, not necessarily fondly to the day he had shot her down. Well, he hadn't exactly shot her down. It had been more like a coup de grace. The sky knight had already been put through her paces by the numerous foes who had attacked her. As usual, she'd been doing noble: protecting a terra that was nothing to do with her. Her skimmer was in bad shape and she'd been wounded. Basically, the Interceptor was in no shape to be taking on the Dark Ace. The end result had been a sword which had gone clean through her shoulder. After that she'd spectacularly nose-dived into the wastelands. Had he been thorough, he would have gone down to find the body, especially given Starling's sly nature – they should have suspected that it was all a ruse. Then again, with Cyclonia practically ruling the skies, they hadn't seen much of a point.
The platform reached the wastelands and not too soon for the Dark Ace's liking. He didn't much care for such makeshift contraptions dangling them hundreds of feet above pits of lava. Starling waited until he was off before wheeling off her skimmer. The platform began it's long ascent back to the top of the terra leaving the two of them in the barren and lifeless land below.
The Dark Ace's eyes instinctively scanned the surroundings. There was a good reason why Atmosians chose to live above the clouds, not least of which was because of the beasts which lurked below them. Given that their weapons weren't charged, he could only pray that they didn't come across some fire scorpions or other niceties which the wastelands seemed to specialize in. He didn't want to appear overly nervous in front of Starling – no doubt she would have some cruel and teasing words for him if he did – but it was common knowledge that if you were for some reason trapped here then you wanted to spend the least amount of time possible in the one place. Moving quickly and silently was your best chance for survival.
Unfortunately, they had to wait around for Aerrow and the other two skimmers. It must have been a good five minutes which in the wastelands felt like a hell of a lot longer before the Storm Hawk showed up. He unceremoniously handed the Dark Ace his skimmer before they set off. The group said nothing as they trudged through the almost apocalyptic landscape. They preferred to keep all of their senses alert, even if things did seem to be, so far at least, rather pleasantly quiet.
Sure enough, in the distance, the Dark Ace saw what the sky knights had been talking about. The storm, for some reason which he couldn't even being to comprehend didn't seem to reach down to the ground. Perhaps the heat from the lava and burning inferno prevented them forming properly. He wasn't a scientist. It did allow him to guess that Starling and Aerrow had already ventures down here. No doubt looking for a way to escape this place. He just hoped that they'd gotten it right this time and that they weren't about to drain the power of the only fuel crystals that they still had left.
Frankly, the idea that he could potentially be stuck with these two for the rest of his life was a truly terrifying one and one which he really didn't want to face right now.
Finally, after what he guessed was an hour. They reached the edge of the terra. Starling looked back to them.
"Well… Here goes." She declared before setting off under the cloud.
Aerrow was quick to follow but not before ensuring that their captive was moving also. They weren't about to let the Dark Ace out of their sight, that much was certain. The clouds were a fair way above them yet there was no telling just how far their power draining qualities could reach. If their crystals were completely drained then that was it, they were done for. It struck the former talon as they walked through the desolate landscape that all of this was essentially relying solely upon hope. He doubted that either of the two sky knights had any sure fire way of knowing this would work.
How he hated uncertainty. Naturally, circumstances had often forced them to act under it in Cyclonia but knowing exactly what was going to happen and how events were going to unfold, even if it was just theoretically was a lot better than this stab in a dark of an expedition.
"After we pass through the clouds." Starling spoke without turning around to face him. "Where should we be heading?"
"We need to rendez-vous with the Resistance." That much he presumed was fairly obvious. "They move around a fair bit so it's not going to be easy."
"Atmos is a big place and we don't have a lot of fuel." The young woman reminded him. "Care to be more specific?"
"They follow certain paths." The Dark Ace replied gazing up uncertainly at the storm above him. "Avoiding Cyclonian controlled areas mostly. I was due to meet them somewhere between terra Rex and terra Neon."
"Well then..." The Interceptor came to a stop. "We'd better get moving."
They had reached the edge of the storm, although it continued to rumble in the distance. Starling climbed aboard her skimmer and in a moment which had all three of them with their hearts in their mouths attempted to start it. There was a roar as the engine sprung back into life. Its owner's smile was as clear as day as she revved the bike. Aerrow and the Dark Ace were soon to follow as the sky knight took back to a sky which she and her friend had been forced to abandon some three years ago.
At first, he could see they were a little uneasy. Despite how much the inhabitants of Atmos relied on air travel and were accustomed to it even from the youngest ages, suddenly finding themselves back flying through the sky must have been a mixture of liberating and a little scary. They didn't have enough fuel to be able to preform any tricks or even to travel all that quickly. Skimmers could cover a fair amount of ground, it was true but not as much as a carrier that was for sure. If they ran out of power out here, it would mean either tumbling back into the wastelands or being trapped somewhere this time in Cyclonis' Atmos.
There was one thing that was bugging him however. It was his skimmer. Your ride was meant to be yours alone. He had become accustomed to how it felt and handled. To have had it suffer Aerrow's modifications - even if he could understand the logic which had pushed the sky knight to do so - felt like something of a violation. He tried to ignore it at first but when his bike refused to bank and much as he would have liked or indeed once would have, the former Talon was unable to contain a complaint:
"You've made this thing almost impossible to steer!" He yelled at the younger man.
"You'd be riding in the side-car if I felt I could trust you!" Aerrow snapped back as a reply.
"Like we said Dark Ace..." Starling flew a little closer so as to be able to join in the conversation or rather argument. "Frankly, after all you've done. We don't trust you. So it's this or nothing..."
"Fine…" The sight of something ahead caught his attention. "But don't blame me if I can't help you with these morons."
"Huh?" Aerrow turned to look ahead, following the Dark Ace's gaze. "Starling! We've got incoming!"
The young woman raised her head instantly to turn and face what he was warning her about. Before them, a group of about five or six skimmers had appeared on the horizon. They were closing in quite rapidly but remained far enough away to not be entirely visible. As it was, their rides appeared simply as glints on the horizon which caught some of the dull light. The skies here were no longer blue, the fumes from the numerous factories which had been pumping out fumes into the air whilst they worked on constructions for their new ruler. It would seem that both Starling and Aerrow had been sparred that fate in the little corner of paradise that they had somehow stumbled upon.
No doubt, the former Talon mused to himself, that they would be truly horrified when they saw just how much their beloved Atmos had changed.
If they survived the next few minutes and that was by no means a certainty.
"You think they've seen us?" Aerrow asked taking note of the formation.
"Almost certainly. Yes." Came Starling's neutral reply.
It would have been fool's hope to assume anything else. Those skimmers were closing in fast. There was little chance in an empty sky such as this that they hadn't been spotted. A better question would have been just what they were doing here in the first place: were they just patrolling borders or was this a more coordinated search party? No doubt Cyclonis was still searching for him. Much like with the two sky knights who had evaded her, she would want a body.
He turned to face his two companions as they shifted slightly on their rides. The incoming squadron weren't quite in range yet but would be soon. Until then, there was little point in acting. With little fuel and no power for their weapons, this fight promised to be complicated if nothing else. Ordinarily, such odds would have been so bad he might have considered running but that wasn't an option here. They would have to rely on their (theoretically) superior fighting skills. Starling was still squinting, trying to make out just who they were going up against. After a few more seconds, she let out a frustrated sigh.
"The Rex Guardians..." She muttered somewhat distastefully. "It could be worse."
"How so?" Aerrow questioned looking uneasily at the approaching formation.
"Could be your friends." The Dark Ace finished for her.
Starling adopted a clearer fighting stance, drawing herself a little nearer to her skimmer as the squadron drew ever closer. Sure enough, he could make out its various members more easily now. Harrier was still flying? He'd been old fashioned fifteen years ago. Any other day, going up against the Rex Guardians, he would have laughed. The Dark Ace had already proven that they weren't a match for him, not even when he was on his own. So with two of Atmos' best sky knights with him? This should have been a walk in the park. Sadly, they were woefully unprepared for battle.
"Remember we don't have any parachutes or gliders so try not to fall off or get shot down or else it's the wastelands." Starling reminded them as they shifted trajectory so as to be charging the attacking for head on.
"You're one hell of an optimist." Ace noted dryly.
"Only when it's warranted." The Interceptor replied.
A sudden volley of fire disrupted them causing the Dark Ace to swerve or at least try to. He was bitterly reminded of Aerrow's modifications. It was simply adding another level of difficulty which quite frankly, right now he wasn't entirely sure that he could handle.
The Rex Guardians raised their swords as they charged into battle. Of all of the squadrons in the Atmos, they were by far the most out of date. The fact that they relied so heavily on their traditions and even right now in their state of psychological imprisonment he knew that they would follow that darned Code of theirs. It made their actions almost painfully predictable. No doubt that was what kept them alive. Any other squadron from the Sub Zeroes to the Rebel Ducks and they wouldn't have stood a chance but with these guys? It was possible to predict their attacks easily enough and to react accordingly.
For the Dark Ace, the fight quickly degenerated into a game of cat and mouse. With no weapons and a skimmer whose manoeuvrability and speed had been greatly reduced pretty much all he could do was try to stay out of the way of his enemies and the occasional bursts of laser fire which lit up the sky. He kept an eye on the rest of the battle as best as he could whilst trying to shake the young man who was following him relentlessly as he attempted to get a clear shot in.
The sky knights were faring rather better than he had dared hope.
There was a time when this wouldn't have been a contest. Any one of the tree of them could have taken down the entire squadron (Harrier included) without even breaking into a sweat. How the tides had changed. Now, they found themselves truly fighting for their lives with less fuel, no functional weapons, outnumbered and for Starling and Aerrow out of practice to boot. The fact that they were rusty was painfully obvious, the Storm Hawk more than the Interceptor it had to be said. She was older, more experienced had more battles and conflicts (both that she'd witnessed and participated in) under her belt. He was a sky knight who for the first time in many years found himself in a battle and no longer had his trusted and noble squadron to back him up.
A howl of pain cut through the sky as Aerrow was shot in the back by a laser. For a minute, the Dark Ace thought that they had just lost the young redhead. Fortunately, he seemed to pull himself together having sustained the injury on to part of his left shoulder and the back of his forearm. Starling barely responded, he couldn't even read the slightest trace of concern on her face. He had to hand it to the Interceptor: she was a practical woman and a cold soldier when she put her mind to it.
Aerrow clenched his teeth fighting the pain as he went. Standing as best as he could on his ride, he managed to catch up to one of their attackers. The Rex Guardian lunged at him with his sword. It was his loss. Acting quickly, the Storm Hawk dodged taking advantage of his enemy's loss of balance to grab his sleeve and pull him off of his ride. A second later, his parachute deployed saving him from the fatal drop into the wastelands. Above him, Starling pulled off a trick that the former Talon could recall Repton going on about after she had used it to take down two of his Raptors. He watched as the Interceptor leapt from one craft onto another and knocked both of their pilots clean out of their seats before jumping back onto her own ride. An impressive feat although he didn't have much time to wonder if he would be able to match it as another volley of fire skimmed right over his head.
Thanks to his two allies they now outnumbered the two remaining Rex Guardians. Harrier slowed down somewhat as the fact that the odds were no longer in his favour seemed to register. His eyes darted over his three enemies.
"Those who fight with honour always prevail." The sky knight snarled as he looked at his foes.
"No." Starling shook her head negatively. "Otherwise we would all have won long ago."
The Dark Ace raised an eyebrow curiously at the sky knight's statement. It wasn't the sort of thing that he expected from one of them. Then again, Starling had suffered far more than many others. That had left a bitter mark. He imagined, when like her you had seen her entire squadron being shot down, it made one a little sceptical of all things to do with a code of honour. The leader of the Rex Guardians glared daggers at the Interceptor who only looked back blankly. There was no anger on her face, only a look of strange acceptance, perhaps a little bit of sadness.
Suddenly, a horn tore through the silence which had settled in. The sky knights turned around concerned as three massive shapes became visible through the clouds.
"You haven't heard the last of this..." Harrier hissed before turning tails with his remaining ally and beating a quick retreat.
Aerrow hesitated a moment but chose to return to his allies rather than give chase. Somewhat out of breath but still rather relieved to still be alive, the Dark Ace joined them. He could see the pain etched on the youngest sky knight's face. The Storm Hawk would likely need some medical attention but it shouldn't be too severe. Right now however, their attention was focused on something else entirely; namely the new arrivals. The tree massive ships had emerged from the clouds becoming entirely visible.
"Murk Raiders..." Starling muttered frowning at the sight of the ships. "We can't outrun them and we certainly can't fight them."
"We don't have to." The Dark Ace informed her coming a little closer.
She raised an eyebrow. Ordinarily, at this distance they would have been shot down or captured already. Yet the Murk Raiders seemed to have just stopped. It was as if they were waiting there for something. In some circles, the pirates were actually considered to be worse than Cyclonians which truly was saying something. He could see the unease on the two sky knights' faces as they hovered there; no doubt expecting to be shot down at any moment. Perhaps it was time to ease their nerves.
"Meet the Resistance." He declared taking a satisfied look of their shocked expressions.
