Chapter IX
Unforeseen Cataclysm
The Cyclonian army waited on the main battlefield. There were hundreds of switchblades and heliblades, and dozens of ships ready to attack. Not long later the Sky Knight army arrived. Several skimmers and carrier ships flew towards the enemy army. The Cyclonian leader on the field gave the order to attack. The talons charged at the Sky Knights. Aerrow waited until they got closer, his eyes squinting in anger.
"Fire!" - he yelled as he pointed forward with his sword.
All the ship shot at the Cyclonians, taking a few skyrides down. The enemy army retaliated by shooting back. They had superior armor and weapons, so the Sky Knight ships had to rely on dodging and flanking maneuvers. Suzy Lu and her squadron provided the roaming support by randomly flying around and hunting down Cyclonians that tried to give chase to their allies.
The Screaming Queens shot volleys non stop. Rains of arrows fell down upon the enemy soldiers, severely damaging their rides, giving more opening to the main attacking group: Aerrow and the Red Eagles. The boy used some maneuvers never seen before. He turned the auto-pilot on as he pulled out a sword and walked to the edge of one of his skimmer's wings. The skyride spun around crazily, taking out any Cyclonians on its path.
While that, the Third Degree Burners and Rebel Ducks helped them out by doing some surprise attacks on the talons. And at the same time, the Raptors decided to show their betrayal by doubling the score the Sky Knight squadrons had just gotten. Radarr saw that and cheered. Yes! They had gotten new allies!
Piper supported everyone by using her crystals in order to boost their rides. She'd focus and spread waves of energy that only worked on the Sky Knights' rides. They'd fix their rides of minor damage, increase their speed and firepower and generate a temporary force field around them that deflected the standard blasts from the talons. That special buff was refreshed every single time the rides came in contact with the energy pulses released by Piper, so everyone was flying close to her every now and then.
That started to draw more attention to her. The talons noticed she was the source of their strength, so they proceeded to direct their attacks at her. Realizing that, the Buff Buzzards, the Neck Deeps and the Rex Guardians increased the protection around her. They made a defense that was nearly rock solid. That limited their movements, though, since they had to focus on protecting Piper, which made them more vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy ships.
One shot came and destroyed three ally skyrides at once. The girl saw that and used a levitation crystal to drag the victims safely to a carrier ship. She concluded she'd not be able to focus only on support. She had to go to the offensive as well. Another shot from an enemy ship passed near her and Radarr, missing them by a few inches. Angered by that, she concentrated a little, making ten firebolt crystals and an enhancement crystal she had brought with her spin around her very fast.
"Everyone, move out of the way!" - she warned the groups that surrounded her protectively.
They saw her absorbing the energy of those crystals and focusing it on a point in front of her. They quickly flew away from the area as she shot out a huge beam of concentrated energy that pierced the armor of the enemy ship as if it were made of paper and easily blew it up. Radarr watched speechlessly. So much power! Woah!
"That should teach them not to shoot at a girl!" - she said triumphantly.
But not one second after she said that, more shots came towards her, which made Radarr pull on her, causing the ride to dodge the blasts. The talons were using some kind of special piercing ammo that bypassed her force field. They shot some more at them. The little animal jumped in front of Piper and used a wrench to parry all the bolts of energy, sending some back at the enemies, blasting their rides away in the process.
"That was incredible, Radarr!" - she said as she pulled the co-pilot into a hug and placed a kiss on the top of his head - "You're just as good as Aerrow! No wonder you've been his co-pilot for so long!"
Radarr blinked surprised then melted into the hug. Aww… If she wasn't Aerrow's already, he'd have been in love as well! He now truly knew why his buddy was so attached to her. She was such an amazing girl. She was smart, sweet, loyal, beautiful, a skilled fighter and she really cared about them. She was definitely the one Aerrow was unconsciously looking for. The little guy swore at that moment that he'd protect her with his life, for both her and his best friend.
More Cyclonians appeared. They simply flew through the defenses, trying to reach the two of them. Piper flew away in an attempt to avoid them, but they were in hot pursuit. She tried several kinds of evasive maneuvers, spinning her skyride in the air. She was lucky she had managed to find another heliscooter for her. Radarr held tightly onto his cockpit, using his rear paws, then he proceeded to look for stuff inside its storage compartment he could throw at the talons. He began tossing some banana peels, bolts, screws and gears, a hammer, a screwdriver, some eggs, rocks and branches, even chickens! Piper was actually impressed by how all that stuff fit in there.
Radarr looked at her, grinning and giving her a thumbs up, but then his smiled faded as he pointed ahead of them. The girl looked at where he was pointing at and screamed. They were going towards one of the enemy carrier ships! A big cannon that was very close by aimed at them. They'd not have enough time to dodge! The girl quickly picked up two crystals and rammed them against each other as the Cyclonian ship shot at them.
The crystals generated an energy barrier right in front of them. The blast hit the barrier and was sent back at the cannon, destroying it. The co-pilot blinked impressed. Wow! A reflective shield! She never ceased to surprise him! He just knew Aerrow would be in good hands with her. They just had to go for it! His joy, however, was interrupted by more talons trying to charge at them.
"Will they ever leave us alone?!" - Piper shouted as she flew away again.
That endless chase was starting to get really annoying. She knew she couldn't bother the others to help her out, they were already fighting for themselves, but she really would have liked some sort of assistance. And just as she thought about that, her knight in shining armor came to her rescue. Aerrow dashed with his skimmer, knocking some talons off their rides with its wings.
He attempted to flank another couple of Cyclonians chasing Piper but they saw him and proceeded to go after him. He flew to the opposite side and met with two more Cyclonians trying to shoot at him. He flew straight at them, betting who'd blink first. But to his surprise, they made a special formation with their switchblades that'd lock his skimmer in theirs if he got closer. He stared angrily at them but didn't give up. He accelerated even more and spun his skimmer in the air, then closed its wings. He passed right in the middle of the hole between the switchblades' wings. The two talons watched him, and in their distraction, they didn't notice the couple of Cyclonians chasing Aerrow heading their way. The four crashed into each other, all of them parachuting so they'd not fall.
After that, the boy flew towards Piper who still had a few more pursuers. He passed in front of the whole group, drawing their attention. Their focus shifted from the girl to him as he dragged them away from her. He flew upwards, the talons following him in a cyclonic formation. Aerrow took that opportunity: he turned the auto-pilot on then jumped off his skimmer with his blades in hand. He spun in the air, hitting all the enemy skyrides in his path and destroying them all. Once he passed by all of them he backflipped and landed on his skimmer that had flown after him on auto-pilot.
Piper and Radarr were watching all that with wide eyes. The little animal gave his buddy two thumbs up, chirping happily. The Crystal Mage clenched her hands in front of her heart, staring proudly and relieved at him. He was her hero alright. Aerrow smiled at his friends. But then something grim happened: a wallop suddenly appeared and charged at the Sky Knight really fast. The girl gasped as she saw that.
"Aerrow! Look out! Behind you!" - she shouted while she reached an arm out for him.
He blinked and looked behind him only to see a spear colliding with his skyride. The ride smoked a lot and fell uncontrollably. The wallop flew around him and threw his spear at him. The boy froze. That was it…
Or so he thought. Piper decided to defy destiny. She focused a little as she held a green crystal in her hand. An orange aura appeared around her, then she shot out a beam of light towards Aerrow.
"Star's Fury!" - she summoned the spell.
The beam hit Aerrow and he was enveloped in the aura. He felt the power flowing in his veins once more. He studied himself then he stared at the spear frozen right in front of his face. Woah! He unleashed a spherical shockwave from his body, which completely disintegrated the spear and the wallop's skyride, causing the later to fall from the skies.
"Wow…" - Aerrow said in awe - "Amazing…"
The girl flew near him, she was in pain for some reason. Radarr chirped alarmed at that and the boy noticed it.
"Piper! What's wrong?" - he asked.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me!" - she said to him, then she turned to the co-pilot - "It's okay, Radarr. I'll get better soon, it's nothing serious." - she tried to hold back her pain as much as she could.
She didn't know why she suddenly felt weak. It was like something was draining her energy away and fast. She stared at the green crystal in her hand. Maybe… Well, she didn't have time to speculate anything. She had to help the others that still battled with all they've got. She could figure out what was going on later. The orange aura faded away from her as Radarr managed to grab Aerrow's hand, then they flew towards the Condor, which was being piloted by Starling.
A while had passed and the battle was in the favor of the Sky Knights. They managed to defeat the whole Cyclonian army. Everyone took that brief pause to gather around and fix the damage they took in that fight so they could be prepared for the next battle. Aerrow studied the sky from the balcony in the Condor along with Starling, Harrier, Carver, Suzy Lu, and Tritonn. Piper approached them slowly, Radarr following her with a worried expression. She had her head low and a hand in front of her mouth. She had been coughing a little, but she was trying to hide it from them.
"Ah, there you are. Our Crystal Mage." - Suzy Lu greeted her - "You were a natural there."
"Didn't I say she'd be our secret weapon?" - Carver teased, but he did that more lightly that time.
"You were indeed really helpful in the battle." - Harrier commented - "I've never seen someone single-handedly take down a reinforced Cyclonian battlecruiser like that."
"Thank you, guys." - the girl replied gratefully.
"I think you should rest a little." - Tritonn said - "You look tired. That battle must have worn you out."
"It's okay. I'm fine. I'm just a little worried." - she looked away - "I think there's something wrong… This was too easy."
"Yes… A little way too easy for it to be a good sign." - Starling agreed.
"Because it's not over yet. We still have to finish the job." - Aerrow said solemnly as he walked forward - "Attention everyone! This was just one battle we have won! Now we'll have to end this war once and for all!" - he shouted and everybody cheered, inspired by his words - "It's time to take Cyclonia down for good! Let's fly!"
After that speech, everyone prepared to take off to Cyclonia. The Sky Knights and Radarr left the balcony to go do some preparations as well. Aerrow stayed there, observing every single person under his lead. Piper stared at him in worry.
"Aerrow?" - she began, causing him to look at her with a raised eyebrow - "Are you sure we should be going there like this? Shooting in the dark?"
"There's no reason to wait anymore." - he told her - "Every second we waste in here is one more second for the Cyclonians to plan a counter attack. The sooner we hit them in their core, the better."
She knew there was more to that, though. There could only be one thing that would make him feel such a haste to go to battle.
"You know who'll find there, right?" - she said, which made him glance at the ground - "Aerrow… Please don't try to do that…" - she put a hand on his face to make him look at her again - "Don't forget your promise."
He stared deeply into her pleading eyes. He had made a vow to her… He couldn't back out…
"I haven't forgotten it, Piper." - he said to her - "And I won't forget it. When I make a promise I keep it. Remember?"
Yes, she definitely remembered. He had promised her quite a few things already, and every single time he had gone through impossible odds just to keep them. He wasn't going to change the way he did everything. He'd continue being loyal like always.
"I do…" - she replied to him - "Thank you…"
She left the balcony as well. She went to ready herself for the next battle. Aerrow sighed as he watched her go. He could only hope he'd not become consumed by his hatred towards the traitor. He hoped that he'd not lose his mind when he got to see that man face to face.
Soon all the skyrides and ships invaded the Cyclonian territory. They headed straight to the main Terra. They tried to locate it, but they couldn't. They passed by the exact point where the Terra should have been but didn't see it there.
"What's going on here?" - Harrier asked frustrated - "The Terra couldn't have just vanished into thin air."
"No… It didn't…" - Tritonn said - "It's even worse than that!" - he pointed at a direction.
Everyone followed his gaze and saw something terrifying: the Terra was flying! It was actually detached from the ground and was flying around like a gigantic ship. Thousands of Night Crawlers came out of the tower and swarmed the red thundery sky. Among them was none other than the betrayer, the Dark Ace. Aerrow set his eyes on him and couldn't believe what he saw: his… Uncle… His eyes were no longer the familiar blue, they were crimson red. He had gotten rid of the Storm Hawks uniform and now wore the Cyclonian armor. And the worst detail of all: he was using Lightning Strike's sword.
The young Sky Knight couldn't hold back anymore. He charged at the man with all his might. He sent a few shockwaves in front of him to try to overwhelm the Talon Commander, but he managed to dodge them at the last second. The man was actually surprised, he didn't think the boy was that strong at such an early age. He flew away with Aerrow chasing him. He ignored everyone and went straight after the man. He wanted to strike him down from the skies forever. He kept that way until he heard Piper shouting.
"Aerrow!" - she called for him - "We need help! We're way too outnumbered!"
He looked around and finally realized there were about thirty or forty Night Crawlers for every one person in his army. They were too many! And not only that, they were far stronger than the talons. They couldn't stay there, they had to run away!
"Fall back!" - he yelled - "Fall back now!"