Episode 56 - True Leaders

Part 1 - The Pirate

The Condor was floating in the sky, near what seemed to be the edge of a reign's territory.

"Okay, guys, listen. We're close to Liberty Reign, so we better leave the ship here and go there on smaller rides." - Kaya said to the Storm Hawks standing in the bridge.

"Why? There's nothing wrong with the Condor." - Junko asked.

"Well, Liberty Reign isn't exactly the nicest place around sometimes." - the Grandmaster told him.

"But, they named it after freedom, why'd it be a bad place?" - Finn questioned.

"That's the problem. Freedom." - she explained - "Liberty in there is completely absolute, everyone is 100% free to do anything."

"Wait, so there are no laws there?" - it was Aerrow's turn to ask now.

"Exactly. Everybody does whatever they want." - she told him - "They do follow a code, though: don't mess with your similar. But that only means they won't do great harm to each other's business and such. Any illegal stuff is allowed. Thieves, assassins for hire, gamblers, pirates... You name it, and you'll find it there."

As she said that, they pictured what that reign would be like, full of bandits and illegal things happening constantly. It certainly seemed to be a horrible place.

"Why are we going to such a place then?" - Stork inquired mildly irritated with the proposition of having to travel to that lair of criminals.

"Because Liberty Reign is in the list of the reigns requested to join the war effort." - Kaya showed them the letter Henny had left with them and pointed to the name of the reign.

"What? I really don't think it's a good idea to ask for these people's help." - Piper said uneasily - "Who knows if they'll backstab us?"

"You have a point, Piper. But I think you might be surprised by their loyalty. You see, if anyone tried to conquer Liberty Reign, all of them would go against whoever that may be with everything they have." - the little girl explained - "So they'd definitely join our army and wouldn't turn their backs on us. They might be outlaws, but even they have standards. They'll protect each other and even outsiders that are on the same side from a greater threat."

"I guess it's worth a shot, then." - the sky knight said, though he still sounded unsure - "Let's go, everyone."

Soon all of them were flying in the skies in their skyrides, even the carrier pilot, something Junko noticed, so he approached the merb's ride.

"Stork? You're gonna leave the Condor alone?" - the wallop asked confused.

"She'll be fine. I've installed a special security system when we rebuilt her in Terra Bogaton and I upgraded it when we added the crystal imbued plates in Warmya Reign." - he replied calmly - "So if anyone ever tries to get on board, I'll know. And then they'll face my wrath..." - he said the last part with a dark tone in his voice, a sinister smile and his eye twitching at the thought.

The flight engineer stared at him with a creeped out expression.

"Eh... Okay... If you say so..." - his eyes moved from one side to another uneasily.

Kaya approached Aerrow's skimmer in her bird form. She noticed he seemed a little troubled.

"Don't worry, just let me do the talking and they'll certainly help us. I kinda have some important influence." - she told him.

"How come?" - he asked.

"Well, I helped during the argument that was going to decide whether they were gonna keep their reign as it was or if they'd have to leave." - she explained - "I said it'd be best if they kept their reign because it'd be bad for everyone to have rogues roaming randomly around the world with a grudge against everybody because they lost their territory. The decision was unanimous in my favor. They'd keep the reign under the condition that their crimes would be restricted to only their reign and the Greatland'd be in peace. Since then they owe me."

"Why not take them all to prison instead?" - the boy suggested.

"Arresting them all would only cause havoc, believe me, some reigns have already tried that." - she said with an upset face - "Besides, their crimes are relatively harmless and they made an oath as to not bring their matters outside of Liberty Reign. If they ever leave the reign to visit another, they have to be under surveillance and have to follow the other reign's laws. They agreed with all of that and took it pretty well. Some outsiders even request services from them when they need."

"Who'd ask a thief to do something for them?" - Aerrow stared at Kaya with a weirded out expression. That sounded totally crazy for him. If they didn't like crimes, why go after them?

"More people than you think, actually." - she said - "An acquaintance once told me someone had stolen a very important family heirloom from him. He hired a thief from Liberty Reign to steal it back."

Aerrow blinked.

"Wow, I never thought of using a thief to do something like that..." - he mused. Maybe it was indeed possible to make that kind of people do good deeds, to find a good way to use their... Abilities.

"I know right?" - she giggled - "So we can have some faith in them. They might prove to be much more helpful than we'd imagine."

The leader smiled. She was right. Who knows? Since they must know how to be really sneaky, they might help them infiltrate Cyclonis' hideout and capture her without even having to make everyone go to war. His thoughts were interrupted when a giant stingray looking beast emerged from the clouds right in front of them.

Everyone stopped their rides from going any closer. The creature was relentless, it flew in the air roaring and moving its body frantically. They watched it fly confused until they noticed what was causing it to go berserk: there was a person holding onto its tail. He was a black young man, probably in his early twenties, with grayish green hair and goatee and dark blue eyes. He wore a teal bandana on his head, a red coat that was very worn out, a black thick belt, dark blue pants and black boots with metal spikes attached to the tips. He had two swords and two pistols in his belt and also a golden earring on his left ear.

"C'mon, quit flying around like that, I need to take that pearl of yours with me, so just hand it already! You know I can keep doing this forever." - he said to the beast.

At that, the creature got even angrier, so it moved very roughly, agitating its tail with all its might. His hands slipped from the tail, but he managed to kick the beast's skin to keep himself stuck to it.

"You're just making things harder now." - he complained with a smug grin on his face, trying to get a hold of the tail again.

The beast didn't let him, though. It shook its tail even harder, making the grip from the metallic spikes on its skin get loose, then it threw the man in the air far away from it and dived into the clouds again. The man screamed as he flew in the air until he ended up crashing into the front wheel of Piper's heliscooter. He began slipping from it, so he reached out for a metallic flat plate from one of its sides and held it, so he'd not fall.

"Woah, are you okay?" - the girl asked while offering one hand to pull him up.

He lifted his head to look at whoever was this person talking to him, then blinked. Wow! She was gorgeous! He smiled and raised his arm to accept her help.

"Thanks for the rescue, kitty." - he flirted, which made her giggle nervously. Well, that was out of nowhere.

"Piper? Kitty? Are you kidding?" - Finn said in disbelief as his ride floated beside Aerrow's, drawing the latter's and Kaya's attention - "She looks nerdy to me." - he crossed his arms looking unimpressed.

The Grandmaster glared at him while Aerrow blinked confused at the sudden topic.

As the man was about to grab her hand, Piper withdrew it quickly while gasping.

"You're a pirate!" - she said after being able to take a proper look at him.

"Oh, so you've noticed. I see you're a very observant girl, I like it!" - he began pulling himself up on his own, which made the navigator uneasy, so she shook the heliscooter's front wheel a bit - "Hey, take it easy, sweetie. I didn't mean you any harm." - he said as he grabbed the wheel more firmly and that made her attempt to retreat from him.

Aerrow definitely didn't like that approach. He rapidly flew below them while pulling out one of his swords, then shot at the man. The bolt of energy passed really close by the pirate's face, which made him lose his grip on Piper's heliscooter, causing him to fall. He landed flat on his back on top of one of the left wings of Aerrow's skimmer.

"Oww... That hurt." - he said as he sat on the metallic wing while rubbing the back of his head.

"Who are you?" - Aerrow demanded, he had already placed his sword back in its place.

"You know, you really didn't have to do that. You could just have told me to back off like a civilized man." - he said shrugging and shaking his head with his eyes closed.

Kaya giggled at what that man had implied there while Aerrow just glared at him, quite bothered by the man's last two words and somehow oblivious to what she had noticed. A pirate speaking of being a civilized man? Talk about irony.

"And who do you think you are to..." - the sky knight was about to retaliate, but then he sighed impatiently, realizing that was pointless, since all that argument would lead him to was to more teasing and the guy avoiding the topic and he had nearly fallen for that little trap - "Just answer my question!" - he shouted while slamming his fist on the skimmer.

"Alright, alright. Jeez, cool your jets, pal." - the man stared at him with a calm expression, then stood up - "I'm Captain Jake of the Bladed Gunners." - he pointed a thumb to himself with a confident smile on his face.

Well, that explained the metallic skull in his belt with a small sword and pistol instead of a cross of bones.

"Wait, I've heard about you!" - Kaya approached him - "You've been to the other realm and came back, right?"

"You're very spot on! Just like I'd expect from the Grandmaster. It's a pleasure to meet you." - he actually bowed down to her politely.

Looks like she was indeed right about the people from that reign respecting her a lot.

"Wait a sec, what do you mean by being to the other realm?" - Aerrow asked.

"She means I died then came back from the dead." - the pirate said with a small grin on his face.

"You've been... There, in the other realm..." - Stork suddenly approached the man - "What's it like there? Is it an infernally cold place, with a huge plain that goes beyond the horizon and a very thick fog surrounding everything around you, from where an infinity of things could come at you at any moment and you have to face it for the rest of your eternity?" - the merb described his question really fast.

"Ah... I don't remember it too clearly, I can't really tell you much about it." - Jake shrugged a bit uneasily, which made the pilot stare at him disappointed, then leave.

The man sat down on the metallic wing, one of his legs bent on top of it and the other hanging from the edge. He rested an arm on his knee as he observed Stork flying to his previous position in the back of the team. It was then that Aerrow and his team noticed the large scar on the man's exposed chest.

"That was a nasty wound, huh?" - the Grandmaster said.

"Yeah, the scar doesn't look pretty, I know. But I have no shame in showing it." - he told her - "I got it in a duel against a barbarian guy during a request mission. He managed to disarm me and thrust his real big sword in my chest. I can still remember the pain. That was the only fight I ever lost, how ironic."

"No way you survived a stab in the heart." - Aerrow said skeptically. He couldn't believe someone could die and come back, much less after receiving a fatal wound like that.

"I didn't." - Jake laughed a bit - "I died for real. But I guess the other realm didn't want me there, so they kicked me out and here I am!" - he joked, which made the sky knight glare at him.

How could he joke about death?! Aerrow had faced it several times and was really lucky to be still alive! That certainly wasn't something he'd joke about. It was really scary. The thought of him never being able to interact with his friends again was astonishing in the worst way imaginable.

"So... You're a captain, that means you should have a crew and a ship." - Stork deduced.

"Yep. They've been waiting for me in the docks for a while already..." - Jake told him - "Uh, you wouldn't mind giving me a lift there, would you?"

"Well, we're on our way there, that shouldn't be a problem, I guess." - Junko said.

"Excellent! Let's go then!" - he pointed towards the reign, then lied down in the wing, with his arms crossed behind his head, serving as a pillow - "I can show you guys around in return. I see you're not from here."

Aerrow glared even more at him, then looked away, towards the path he should follow with a pissed off expression. Great... He, the sky knight of the Storm Hawks, was serving as a chauffeur to a pirate!

"No, they're not even from the Greatland. They came from the Atmos." - Kaya explained.

"Wait, outsiders from OUT outside?" - he stared at her surprised - "Now that's a thing I've never heard about in my life..." - he smiled at them - "Uh... In my two lives, that is." - he corrected himself - "So, who are you guys?"

"The name's Finn, best sharpshooter there is." - the blonde said confidently while motioning his signature "chick cha!".

"Oh, a sharpshooter! We should have a match of marksmanship when we get to the town." - Jake said friendly.

"I'm Junko. I'm the flight engineer and take care of the heavy ballistics." - the wallop said - "Oh, and I'm also becoming the official cook while we're here."

"That's cool. I'd like to have a taste of your food. You do look like you could be a chef." - he said, which made the big guy smile.

The others, except for Aerrow and Junko, stared at Jake, exchanged glances, then looked at him again. Not really... Looks can be very deceiving...

"My name's Stork. I'm the carrier pilot and mechanic. I'm training to become a tech expert now." - the merb introduced himself.

"Interesting. Hey, tell you what, I'll take you guys for a stroll in my ship. Then I'll let you fly, Stork. I'm sure you'll like it."

The green skinned guy blinked quite surprised by the offer. That might be great! He'd learn how ships worked in the Far Side, then he could upgrade the Condor even more.

"I'm Piper, tactician, navigator, first officer, crystal mage, I also used to be the main cook..." - she listed her jobs.

"Oh, you're very versatile, aren't you?" - he commented - "Is there anything you can't do?" - he joked, which made her smile proudly of herself, then he looked at Radarr - "Who's this little fella?"

"That's Radarr. The mission specialist. He's just the cutest little thing, isn't he?" - Kaya approached the little animal and rubbed her head against his - "Oh, and he's not a pet. Have that real clear in your mind." - she warned him for his own sake.

"I'll remember that." - he laughed a bit - "And what about you, buddy?" - he asked to Aerrow.

But the red-haired boy seemed to ignore him completely. Piper frowned at that. That wasn't like him... Kaya noticed something was wrong with him as well.

"He's Aerrow, the sky knight." - the Grandmaster said - "They all form the Storm Hawks squadron."

"Storm Hawks, huh? That name has a really cool ring to it." - he complimented them - "But what's a sky knight anyway?"

"Sky knights protect people from danger and outlaws like you." - Aerrow said to him quite a bit harshly - "And that also means I'm the leader."

"So, you're the boss, eh? Here, have this, pal." - he pulled out a bottle and offered it to Aerrow - "A nice drink, from boss to boss." - he tossed it to him, but the green-eyed boy pulled his sword out and slashed the bottle in half, the pirate watched as its pieces fell down until they disappeared in the clouds - "Aww, that was my best rum..."

"First, I don't drink. Second, what makes you think we're on the same level?" - the sky knight said with some disdain in his voice as he put his sword on his back again - "I sided with justice, while you're a criminal!"

"Jeez, you're taking this way too hard, you're so yesterday. Just because I'm not a pure and righteous knight, it doesn't mean I'm some evil monster." - the pirate said unimpressed with that uptight argument - "I never hurt someone that couldn't defend themselves, I don't steal from the poor... I like challenges, thrilling missions. There's no fun in something so easy, I'm way above that."

"Well, you're definitely not like the Murk Raiders." - Piper commented - "They only cared about enslaving people to make them part of their crew and being rich. They helped us only once, and it was because Finn convinced them to join the war on our side somehow." - she explained, then looked at the blonde - "I still wonder how you did that, Finn."

"I just worked my magic, that's all." - the sharpshooter told her bluntly.

"But what did you say?" - she was quite curious.

"Hey, 'a magician never reveals his secrets'! I'm not telling that." - he said to her, which made her roll her eyes and give up on asking him.

"What a cheap bunch they are, huh?" - Jake said - "I'd rather have my crew follow me because they're loyal, not because they fear me. Fear's not the key to being a good leader, that's a fact. Lots of people that ruled through fear have been taken down in Liberty Reign, now we have no rulers."

"Hm..." - Piper stared at the clouds below in thought, and he noticed that.

"I see you probably had something in mind involving a ruler." - Jake guessed - "What is it? Maybe I can help."

"We came here to ask Liberty Reign to join the war effort." - the crystal mage told him.

"War? Against who?" - he asked.

"A dangerous empress, Master Cyclonis, ran away from the Atmos after she lost a war there. She came to the Far Side... Ah, I mean the Greatland, as you call it here, and is currently hiding. She's trying to conquer the whole world from here this time. We believe she might be in the Night Craw- the Hooded Shadows tower, but we can't just go there and make her surrender, we have no idea of what we'll find there." - the girl explained.

"Hm... So you'll need people like us if you ever wanna infiltrate that tower or spy on her... Well, sure, you can count us in. If there's something we all hate the most is someone trying to boss our reign around." - he said.

"But how can we get the word to the rest of you?" - she asked.

"Don't sweat it, I'll take care of that." - he gestured to himself.

"There's something else you need to know. She's after the Reignition Stone." - Kaya mentioned - "Is yours properly guarded?"

"Haha, of course." - he assured them - "You can see for yourself, that is, if you can track it down."

"What do you mean?" - Junko asked.

"You know, we don't keep the Reignition Stone in one place, it's always on the move." - he told them - "We steal it from each other all the time."

"Wait, what? How can that be?" - Finn was completely confused.

"I'll explain. Imagine I take the crystal with me. A while later someone will steal it from me, then another person will steal it again and so on. This helps us train how to hide stuff and how to steal really well-hidden things." - he said - "No outsider'd be able to figure out its exact location, only people from the reign that are currently working on stealing it."

Everyone pictured in their minds Jake's explanation. Yeah, that made a lot of sense, actually.

"Well, that's really clever." - Piper commented - "An interesting way of keeping it safe."

"Yep. We're way too unpredictable, it's really hard to find out who has the crystal, since any of us could've stolen it, and where the person hid it. Our Reignition Stone's safe and sound, I guarantee it." - he reassured them.

"Good... One less thing to worry about, that's the least a bunch of thieves could do. You better be useful in battle when the time comes, though I do expect you cowards to run away at the last second." - Aerrow said with the same disdain in his voice, while Jake just blinked.

The pirate motioned to the other Storm Hawks to fly a little closer, so he could speak.

"Your friend there has a really strong grudge against humble thieves like us. He's been through some tough times in his life, hasn't he?" - the man whispered.

Aerrow still heard them talking, though, but he pretended to be oblivious to that. He just kept staring at the sky in front of him with an angry expression in his face.

"Yes, but Finn and I have been through a lot as well and we're not acting like that." - Piper said.

At that, the sky knight blinked then frowned. He had not realized that until she mentioned it.

"He's just not being himself..." - she continued - "And I can't figure out why because he won't let me."

"He won't let you?" - Jake was a bit confused.

"Wait, you mean you can't perform the mind link with him right now?" - Kaya asked, to which the crystal mage nodded - "This isn't good... There's something you must know: even if you've mastered a bridge, you can lose the ability to use it if you block each other's access to your minds for way too long. The abilities only become permanent after mastering the bridge of the soul."

Wow, now that was news for them. And bad news... Piper sighed.

"It wasn't easy to go through that training to unlock this bridge... I just hope our hard work won't go to waste..." - she was a little dismayed.

Aerrow was now feeling awful. He wished he wasn't putting their training at risk, but he couldn't always share everything he thought about... He didn't want to burden her even more. His thoughts were interrupted when the pirate spoke again.

"Don't worry. He'll soften up eventually, I'm sure of it. He can't stay like that forever." - the man smiled calmly.

The sky knight felt bothered by him, but he had to admit that Jake had a point. Either he'd have to change his attitude, or he'd have to trade the link of the mind away so he could keep feeling angry without having to explain himself to anyone... He wasn't selfish, guess there was only one choice for that. He thought about it a bit and came to think of giving Jake a chance to prove he wasn't a bad person. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit threatened by that for some reason. Well, he'd have to push all that aside: they were about to arrive at the docks, where the pirate would unknowingly go through a test.

"Ah, there they are, my crew!" - Jake stood up and waved to a bunch of people standing in the docks near a ship.

"Time for the test to begin..." - Aerrow said to himself.