Alright, here's the next Squadron Log chapter. I know I haven't had too many right now, and this will be the second to last one. After that, it's nothing but smooth sailing from here on out.
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, Star Wars or Storm Hawks.
Squadron Log
Cyclonis is making her move. After weeks of conquest, she's heading back to Atmos to finish what she started. She's already gathered an army of Night Crawlers, while the First Order is preparing their own ground forces and capital ships. According to Hunter, their Star Destroyer is liable to bombard the Terras from orbit. They volunteered to go up and sabotage the ship so that doesn't happen.
The sooner that happens the better; we've already seen the results of orbital bombardment here. Several towns are now smoking ruins thanks to an attack no one on the planet can see coming.
...
Cyclonis smirked as she looked over the holomap, feeling satisfaction with the power she had at her command. Several villages and towns had attempted to resist her rule since it started, and the First Order forces had to work overtime to keep the peace.
Now, those little disturbances were nothing more than shattered ruins and what few survivors there were traumatized by what they had experienced. This was the same type of power the Exopod would've given her, only multiplied.
When the Finalizer started its bombardment, most of the Far Side holdouts had immediately surrendered. They recognized the folly of attempting to fight against a force that had the complete high ground from orbit.
With the Far Side cowed, Cyclonis could now return to Atmos proper and finish what she started. Atmosia's leadership would be begging to surrender to her, and any Terra that attempted to resist would be utterly crushed. With the First Order by her side, not even the Storm Hawks could stop her.
Now, she stood in the large hanger bay, on a catwalk at the back of the room. Once more, she couldn't help but marvel at all the power and help the First Order had given to her, many of which were down below.
Alongside the black armored Stormtroopers and Dark Troopers were an army of Nightcrawlers, just waiting to be used in the attack. They operated separately, the two groups of allies still somewhat wary of the other.
That feeling did not quite extend to the two women watching events from their vantage point. Despite her allegiance with the First Order, Vestara Khai had struck a bit of a rapport with Cyclonis, reminding the Master of her brief friendship with Piper.
"Your fight against the Storm Hawks was impressive." Cyclonis was saying. "Far better than any of my previous commanders."
"You're too kind, Master Cyclonis." The Sith said. "I only wish I could've finished off Hunter and MK."
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of one of Cyclonis' Night Crawler captains.
"Master, Mistress Khai," The Night Crawler greeted. "We are prepared to assault the other side of the Atmos."
"Good." Cyclonis replied, before turning to Vestara. "I trust you're prepared to lead the assault?"
"Don't worry about me." Vestara said dismissively. "This isn't my first time leading soldiers."
"And what of Hux and Snoke? Will they keep to the plan?"
"They will. I can guarantee it."
"Excellent." Cyclonis looked over the hanger below. "Let us begin."
Hundreds of engines began roaring to life as Skimmers and First Order dropships warmed up and began taking off into the skies, heading for the portal stations. High in orbit, the Finalizer was watching through its sensors, timing the attacks together.
Today would be the end of Atmos.
As for the rest of us? Finn's gathering up more reinforcements while Junko's working on improving our rides. As for Aerrow and I, we've found a way to create a portal back to Atmos, and with Stork's help, we can get it set up to the Condor. If this works, we should be able to jump between the two sides of Atmos at will. One way or another, one thing's for certain:
The Storm Hawks are going home.
...
It took a bit of time for them to set it up, but once it was done, the Condor could open a rift under its own power. Without wasting any time, once Finn returned from his mission, the Storm Hawks took their airship back through the doorway, just a few miles away from Terra Atmosia.
"Home sweet home." Junko smiled wistfully.
"Stay focused guys." Piper reminded them. "This isn't a social visit."
"Piper's right." Aerrow said. "We've gotta warn Atmosia about Cyclonis' new attack."
There was a large crowd of cheering people on the ground, and the Storm Hawks recognized a few familiar faces among them, not least of all Starling and Dove. The Sky Knights of the Interceptors and Rebel Ducks respectively, pushed past the crowd to greet them.
"It's so good to see you." Starling said.
"Likewise." Aerrow replied. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."
"Why? What is the problem?" Dove asked.
"It's a really, really long story." Finn said.
...
After getting through the crowd and making their way to the Sky Knight elders, the Storm Hawks began to explain about Cyclonis' newest plan to attack Atmos. They mentioned the First Order's otherworldly origins (though they left out the extradimensional part for the moment) and their alliance with Cyclonis. When they got to the end, no one said anything for a long moment. Then Starling spoke up.
"You know, if I had heard this from anyone else, I would've thought they were completely insane." She said. "But considering everything that's happened, I'm willing to believe it."
"Believe me, this was hard to accept for us as well." Piper said. "But right now, we need to focus on the bigger issue.
"We have to make sure Cyclonis can't get a foothold back here again." Aerrow said. "We need everyone we can get to fight their forces."
"What about that ship in orbit?" One of the Elders questioned. "We have no way to fight it."
"We've got friends who can help us with that." Aerrow explained. "They said they'll have it under control."
That was when the bombardment started. A small uninhabited terra sat just South of Atmosia proper. A swarm of green laser bolts peppered the rocky landscape, reducing it to glass. This was only the latest in their demonstration.
In just a few moments, the bombardment had halted, allowing Atmosia to get a good look at the destruction. There was nothing left of the Terra, having been reduced completely by turbolaser strikes. As several bystanders stared in horror, the clouds crackled with lightning and became red, as the large holographic form of Master Cyclonis appeared throughout the Atmos.
"People of Atmos." The holographic visage called. "These attacks mark the beginning of a new age for this world. The First Order will follow my commands, and reduce your Terras and cities to dust if I desire. Submit now, and your lives will be spared, which is more than you deserve after resisting me. You have one hour."
"We better hope your friends get their task done soon." Starling said, glancing at Aerrow. "Or there won't be an Atmos to save."
*After that, there's a snippet about the Storm Hawks listening as Hunter takes on Snoke aboard his Star Destroyer.*
Onboard the Finalizer, Hux and Snoke looked over the holotable with stoic expressions, though inwardly, they were rather pleased. The Cyclonian-First Order forces were advancing through the Atmos seemingly unhindered, the bombardment having convinced the inhabitants of the futility in trying to defeat them.
The first target was a nameless Terra, just south of Blizzaris. The First Order had learned the lessons of Tarkin, and Hux chose to use abandoned regions as an example in order to force the people of Atmos to capitulate. If they didn't then they would switch to populated targets.
So far, they were feeling confident, but not too confident. With Hunter and MK still in play, this victory could be short. So, Phasma and Vestara were keeping an eye open on the ground, while the Finalizer kept scanning from space.
Unknown to the crew of the Star Destroyer, a cloaked vessel had managed to attach itself to one of the starboard airlocks. The door collapsed as Hunter blasted it open, who quickly followed the useless metal and made his way into the hallway.
"I'm in." He said. "Keep the ship and its fighters distracted. Hopefully, by the time they know I'm here, it'll be too late."
The First Order didn't have a large complement of fighters, but like most of their equipment, they made up for it simply due to the fact that they weren't using standard equipment. The ship had squadrons of TIE Hunters, shielded TIE Interceptors, and even a half squadron of TIE Phantoms.
"Copy that." MK piloted the Shadow away. "And hurry. It won't take long before they launch another bombardment."
Hunter nodded and made his way down the passage. With his cloak activated, he was effectively invisible, moving with nary a whisper and sending out a low electric pulse to scramble cameras just enough that they couldn't detect him. He didn't expect the disruption to go unnoticed forever, but hopefully, they would be too occupied in a few minutes.
...
Outside, a dozen TIE Hunters and a pair of TIE Phantoms were providing escort for the Finalizer, and were prepared to launch airstrikes against the Atmosians below if necessary. At the moment though, things were quiet, which wouldn't last very long.
Laser bolts lanced out from nowhere, striking two of the TIE Hunters and shooting them down. A black and somewhat boxy ship decloaked and blasted through space, drawing the attention of the remaining fighters and the Star Destroyer.
"Captain! The Rogue Shadow has been spotted off the starboard bow!"
The Rogue Shadow blew through the First Order fighters, laser cannons blaring and gunning down the TIEs. The TIE Phantoms were providing some actual challenge, but the Shadow's sensors were more than capable of taking them on. The Finalizer attempted to gun the stealth vessel down, but it was unable to land a solid hit, and the Shadow retaliated by firing on the bridge tower.
"Launch more TIEs and divert power to shields!" Hux ordered, before turning to Snoke. "This doesn't make any sense. Why reveal themselves now?"
"Because the Shadow is a distraction." Snoke replied. "One of them is already onboard."
"I'll alert internal security of the breach."
"You do that." Snoke turned on his heel and left the bridge. "I'll see to their failure personally."
...
On board the Finalizer, Hunter was wreaking havoc, shutting down systems using his power, while Jarvis infiltrated what systems he could. It wasn't as quick and easy as they were expecting, however. When the First Order realized that the superhuman had boarded, they began shutting down and isolating electrical systems when they could, slowing him down. As for Jarvis, they had cut off servers and isolated them, leaving the Republic AI limited in what he could access. Given that Jarvis was also largely responsible for piloting the Rogue Shadow, which was currently engaged in a dogfight with the First Order's TIEs, the AI wasn't working at full capacity.
Still, Hunter was confident about his chances of bringing down the Star Destroyer, right up to the point where a half-dozen seeker missiles came around a corner from another hallway.
"Oh, shit!"
Leaping back, Hunter activated a drop shield, which protected him from most of the blasts, but the final one broke through the shield and sent him flying with his own personal shields drained. Quickly rising to his feet, Hunter saw what was waiting for him.
Phase I and Phase Zero Dark Troopers stood there, the latter of which were armed with blast cannons to keep him from getting a power boost. But it was the large figure in the center that caught the attention; it was a large bipedal being, easily towering over the other robots.
It was much more heavily armed as well, with missile launchers in its shoulders, blaster cannons built into its wrists and a large assault cannon being held in one hand. Hunter's spine shivered at the sight of the Phase III dark trooper.
These were some of the deadliest war droids ever built, just below everything the Republic and Separatists had in regards to robotic soldiers. There was only one person in the First Order who could afford and would use such a droid, and it was almost certain that he was inside it right now.
"Oh hey Snoke."
For the droid's part, a single voice emerged from the speaker, confirming Hunter's suspicions. "Did you really think we would be unaware of your infiltration?" The First Order general taunted.
"Well, I was kinda hoping so." Hunter shrugged. "And I was hoping that antique of yours would still be out of commission."
"Unfortunately for you, the damage you inflicted wasn't enough." The Dark Trooper raised its assault cannon and aimed it at him. "Now, I would just surrender if I were you."
"Hm." Hunter put his finger to the chin of his Rogue helmet, as if considering it. "Tempting, but I have a better idea."
Seconds later, he unleashed a storm of electricity that would've fried any First Order trooper within the hallway. Unfortunately, the more robust systems of the Dark Troopers allowed them to survive with merely a momentary halt, though the Phase Zeroes took a moment to recover (the only reason they hadn't been killed was because Hunter's power was dispersed throughout the hallway).
The Republic agent hadn't expected his attempt to work, though. Rather, it was meant to delay them while he tried to find another way to the reactor. He had to hurry. Given enough time, Hunter might have been able to take down Snoke and his entourage. Unfortunately, time was not something Atmos had, and if he didn't stop the Finalizer now, every resisting city and Terra on Atmos would be reduced to molten slag.
"Come back here you little Kriff!" Snoke's voice roared from behind him.
Of course, he still had to get past Snoke's forces. The Republic agent sprinted through the bowels of the ship, frying any security forces he came into contact with while avoiding Snoke's personal guards behind him.
"Jarvis, I need a new plan and stat!" Hunter sent a bolt of lightning behind him as he ran, this one having enough power to fry the Phase Zero Dark Trooper behind him. "Where's the targeting array?"
A waypoint appeared on his HUD, which the Republic agent immediately followed, sending bursts of lightning behind him and ahead as the First Order attempted to keep him tied down. Jarvis aided in his efforts by shutting the blast doors as they moved through them, but this was only a temporary delay for Snoke's Dark Trooper suit.
Soon, the Republic agent had reached the targeting array, allowing Jarvis to upload a virus into the computer. It was just in time; the Destroyer was just about to switch to populated locations, but now, they would miss entirely. Hunter spun around at the sound of approaching soldiers, just as the Finalizer opened fire.
...
The green laser bolts streaked through the atmosphere... and missed Atmosia entirely, instead flying harmlessly into the Wastelands. The Sky Knights looked around in confusion, but Aerrow and Piper breathed a sigh of relief. The red-haired Sky Knight pulled out the comlink that the Republic agents had given to him and set it to the correct frequency.
"Hunter, can you hear me?"
"I'm a little busy at the moment, Aerrow!" The sound of energy blasts could be heard over the link, along with the crackle of electrical arcs.
"Your plan worked." Aerrow said. "The bombardment is just missing." Suddenly a beam of energy struck Atmosia itself, shattering a small dock for civilian ships.
"Or not!" Piper yelled as the dust settled.
...
From his position on the Destroyer, Hunter could see that the turbolasers were starting to get more accurate. The panicked shouts from Aerrow's line on the ground was pretty compelling proof of that.
"Jarvis?! What's happening?"
"The First Order is working to counteract the virus." The AI explained. "This was only a temporary solution."
"Damnit." The electrokinetic cursed. "MK, can you take out the targeting array?"
"No can do." The cryokinetic responded, sending the Shadow into a diving roll. "I've got TIE Hunters and Phantoms on my six and a fully shielded Finalizer ahead of me. I'm having enough problems avoiding them, even with Jarvis' help."
"Need I remind you that I do have limits." The AI snarked. "I'm not exactly a top of the line Republic AI, and it's hard to coordinate a space battle while simultaneously hacking a Star Destroyer."
"Alright, I'll have to figure something out." A missile shot around the corner, causing Hunter to leap back. "Hopefully soon."
On the surface of Atmos, the Sky Knights had rallied behind the Storm Hawks once again, ready to fight off the latest threat to their freedom. Now, hundreds of skimmers and airships had gathered in the sky, facing off against a fleet of Cyclonian Destroyers and skimmers, dozens of Night Crawlers, and multiple First Order airspeeders and drop ships.
Aerrow and the rest of the Storm Hawks led the charge, opening fire as soon as they were in range. The Cyclonian-First Order alliance retaliated in kind, and soon the sky was filled with bursts of light and explosions.
Surprisingly, the sheer number of free Atmosian airships meant that they were doing fairly well against the Cyclonians, who had lost a fair bit of their manpower over the last year. But the First Order was still another story, as their dropships and airspeeders could easily outmaneuver many Atmosian airships and retained the firepower to shoot them down.
It didn't help matters when a turbolaser bolt lanced from orbit and struck a makeshift battle ship, instantly reducing it to boiling scrap metal. Several other ships suffered the same fate, one laser narrowly missing the Condor in the process.
Seeing this from his skimmer, Aerrow immediately activated his radio, calling up the Republic agents. "Guys, what's going on?" He shouted. "I thought you were going to take care of the orbital problem."
"We're working on it, Aerrow!" MK said. "I've only got to deal with several squadrons of TIEs by myself."
"And I'm being hunted by the entire ship's security." Hunter finished, then paused for a second.
"Also I think Snoke's mad at me." There was a loud explosion in the background followed by Snoke's shouted curses before Hunter spoke again. "Yep, he's definitely mad at me."
At that moment, his conversation was interrupted by Radarr's screeching, and Aerrow turned to look at where he was pointing. His eyes widened at the sight of Vestara Khai, standing on the wing of a Cyclonian skimmer flying toward him with her lightsaber drawn, then narrowed in determination.
Nodding to Radarr, who nodded back, Aerrow leapt onto his own wing and drew his blades, while his copilot took over flying. Waiting until they were close, both combatants swung their blades at each other, red and blue clashing.
...
Back on the Finalizer, Hunter sprinted through the halls of the ship, barreling through anything in his path and frying any soldier he could while on the move. No Terror Trooper, Shadow Trooper or Dark Trooper could stop him, and soon he made his way to the reactor room.
Hunter ran into the reactor room, still being hounded by Snoke. By now, the Republic agent had worn down Snoke's personal guards during the running fight, leaving him alone with Snoke... and the armed technicians and Shadow Troopers in the reactor.
Blaster bolts flew all around him, a few striking his shields, while Hunter retaliated with pinpoint bolts of lightning, knocking several technicans off the catwalks they were standing on. The Shadow Troopers were a little smarter, taking potshots from the control pillars that gave them cover, but even they couldn't do much.
The Republic agent was moving too quickly to pin down, occasionally launching himself between the catwalks and giving himself a better angle to target the defenders. As he laid waste to the First Order troopers, he couldn't help but internally thank Imperial engineering for designing so little cover into their warships. Though after the last technician fell, he quickly realized that flaw went both ways.
The catwalk in front of him exploded, causing Hunter to stumble forward and nearly plummet down, barely managing to grab the edge in time. Looking back up onto the ledge, he found Snoke standing above him, one arm holding an assault cannon, the other with its laser cannons in its wrist out and on its shoulders were the seeker missile tubes.
All of which were pointed at him.
"Jarvis?!"
"Shutting down artificial gravity in the reactor."
Everything in the room began floating, including the Republic Agent and the First Order general. While the former activated the thrusters built into his armor, the latter flailed around for a second before activating his magnetic boots. But he was too slow to land back on the catwalk, and Hunter used the split second of confusion to hit the Dark Trooper with an electrically charged uppercut.
Snarling, Snoke began firing at Hunter, who twisted in mid-air to avoid the plasma and blaster bolts. Some of Snoke's missed shots struck one of the control panels, causing red lights to start flashing in tune with an alarm.
"Careful." Hunter said sarcastically. "I'd hate to see you bring your own ship down."
"You really think you can force me to bring this ship down?"
"Maybe, maybe not." Hunter shrugged. "It really doesn't matter." Without looking, he sent a bolt of lightning into another console. "I can do it myself."
The electrokinetic simultaneously fended of Snoke's attacks or avoided them, while frying every important machine he could see. Snoke was forced to limit the use of his arsenal for fear of causing catastrophic damage to the ship, something Hunter wasn't chained by. Alarms were blaring all over the place with the more damage taken.
Finally, the ship really began shaking, indicating that the battle had finally caused the power to fail. The shields had been disabled as well, and MK wasted no time in targeting the engines.
Shuddering, the Finalizer descended, slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed. Inside the reactor, Hunter smirked behind his helmet and gave a cheerful wave to Snoke, who was still magnetized to the floor.
"Thanks for the help asshole!"
Roaring in fury, the General took aim once more, only for Hunter to strike first with a dual blast of electricity, staggering the Dark Trooper while the Republic agent simultaneously launched himself towards the nearest door, and quickly ran towards the nearest escape pod.
Launching himself from the ship, he simply watched as the ship began listing downwards until the Rogue Shadow picked him up. Having managed to shake the TIEs in the confusion, MK cloaked the vessel and headed towards Atmos.
Back on the Destroyer's bridge, Hux and his crew were unable to keep the ship from crashing. They were however, able to give the Finalizer a controlled crash landing. Aiming for an empty region in the Far Side, it was a very rough ride, not helped by the power fluctuations.
At that thought, Hux looked at one display, then breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the power to the containment cells hadn't been cut. With the Finalizer going down, the last thing they needed was for those things to get loose as well.
Their trajectory took the ship back into the Far Side, where they were finally able to get some of the repulsorlifts back and running. The Finalizer had a rough landing, but it landed fairly intact, even in spite of the internal and external damage.
Back on the ground, the attack stalled as the First Order's comms were thrown into chaos from the Star Destroyer's fall. Vestara and Phasma were able to rally the troops and they fell back to regroup, the Cyclonians joining them.
The First Order's Star Destroyer may have been brought down, but most of their forces had survived, and were eager to fight. Combined with the remaining Cyclonians, and it was looking like a difficult battle for the future of Atmos.
...
They've done it. Hunter and MK managed to bring down the Finalizer, which effectively rallied the rest of Atmos. Unfortunately, we're not done yet: the First Order is still present, along with the Cyclonians, and will strike again very soon.
The only way Atmos can have peace once more is if Cyclonis is defeated and the First Order driven from our world. And that's exactly what we're going to do, one way or another.
And this concludes the penultimate Squadron Log chapter. There is only one more after this, and then it'll just be the main story. Anyway, the end of this chapter leads in to the very first chapter in this story.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and reviews are always welcome.