Things aren't looking good. And it will only get worse. Enjoy.
Heart of Darkness...Light to Dark
The Aurora Missile was one of the first devices that Stryker's scientists had managed to create from the small amount of research stolen from Cyclonis. The original plans were more formula than blueprint. It called for using the Aurora Stone as a catalyst in a device that would create a small chain reaction in surrounding ambient energy. The intended result was to have a bomb that could erase an entire system of terras, but the formula proved that the resulting energy would also burn out the atmosphere of the entire Atmos. So it was an abandoned project, never brought past the initial planning stages.
That is, until Stryker got his hands on it. He knew, from what his scientists who analyzed the formula told him, that the Aurora Stone was to powerful. But, there was no longer an Aurora Stone, only shards. And so it was, from many arguments and begging sessions with The Sky Council, Stryker was given the smallest piece of the stone. The energy produced would be smaller than the original scope of the design, but enough energy would still be created to remove a terra from existence. Stryker had the device installed in a missile, so he could be at a good range if he ever needed to use it. He was always anxious about what the circumstances might be where he would be forced to play his one last trump card. Just how bad of a day would it have to be?
That day had come.
........
Stryker's crew simply looked at him, various looks of shock on their faces. The rumbling of the ship, as it withstood repeated attack, could not break the tense atmosphere of the bridge.
Stryker's aide was the first to speak. "Sir, if we fire now, we will be caught in the blast. There's no way we would survive such an explosion."
Stryker thought for a moment on what his aide had told him. "Your right." Stryker said as he stepped towards his aide, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We will be destroyed, and all The Atmos will remember our sacrifice." He turned to look at crewman manning the weapons console. "Prepare to fire."
"Sir, I don't think you understand, everyone here will die." Stryker's aide said pleadingly as he moved close to his commander. "We can't sacrifice everyone here just to defeat Cyclonis. If we concentrate our fire on one point of the Cyclonians blockade, we can still manage to break free and retreat."
"No." Stryker said, desperation in his voice. "We will not surrender, and there will be no retreat. We will either win or die trying. Now, prepare to fire the missile!"
The whole of the crew was feeling a sense of shared fear at the sudden shift in their commander's state of mind. Stryker's aide tried again to calm his leader. "Sir, we have to retre..." He was quickly cut off by the back of Stryker's fist as it came across his face.
"SHUT UP!" Stryker yelled as his aide flew across the room, crashing against the communications console. Stryker drew his sword from his belt, activating it's crystal to give it a strong golden glow. "We will fire the missile and destroy Cyclonis and the threat of Cyclonia once and for all! Even if we have to die in the process! Anyone who tries to stop me will be branded a traitor and Cyclonian sympathizer, and will be put to an immediate execution by me! Am I clear!?" He pointed his sword at the crew to emphasize his words. Anger was in his eyes, and the beginnings of madness.
"Um..." A female voice rang out over the ship's intercom system. "Wait just eh second d'ere now. Did I just hear that Stryker guy say something about us all dying here, eh?"
"Yes, I believe we did." A confident male voice now came on the intercom. "And, I believe it only right that we receive an explanation at once Stryker."
Stryker looked at the communications console where had just sent his aide sprawling. The impact of the landing had knocked on the all-frequency transmitter. Everything he had just said had been heard by everybody in broadcast range, both his ships and the Cyclonians.
"Stryker, respond." The male voice came back on, Stryker recognized it as Harrier now. "I want an explanation of your last transmission." Harrier's voice sounded strained, no doubt he was also busy dealing with the enemy's attacks.
The crewman manning the communication console quickly spoke up. "The general has lost it! He's planning to fire..."
With a loud roar of anger, Stryker unleashed a bolt of energy from his sword into the console, cutting off transmission. "Traitor!" Stryker yelled as he moved forward to swing his sword at the frightened crewman.
The crewman quickly dodged the strike and ran for the rear hatchway, desperate to escape Stryker's rage.
"Somebody stop that traitor!" Stryker yelled as he unleashed more bolts of energy across the bridge to try and hit the escaping crewman.
Instead of following Stryker's command, the rest of the bridge crew quickly moved to follow their escaping comrade's example. The bridge was a flurry with men escaping through the hatch, a couple just ran over to a porthole and jumped out the side, deploying their parachutes once they were clear.
"Cowards!" Stryker yelled at his now empty bridge. "Fine! If you want something done right..." He moved to the weapons console and punched in a series on commands. "...you have to do it yourself." He pressed the launch button and could feel a sudden lurch as the missile freed itself from it's housing. Stryker moved to look out the windshield, watching as the missile launched upwards and began to arc it's way back down towards the Cyclonian citadel.
Stryker stood at the window, waiting for the end now. He had wished to get as much salvage as he could from the Cyclonians, who knows what other projects Cyclonis may have had going. Then he would have returned a hero, praised for his victory by all Atmos. But, he resigned himself to be a hero that sacrificed himself for the greater good, people would learn to love the memory of him. He looked at the ships around him, watching as they turned to flee. None of them would escape the blast in time, no one would be left to tell how things really happened. Stryker let a smile cross his face as he looked back to the descending missile. He spread his arms, as if to welcome the coming destruction.
The missile came down on the citadel and blinding white light washed over everything.
........
Aerrow and his group quickly ascended the remaining stairs, they were as high as they could go.
"This must be the throne room." Aerrow said as he moved towards the door, drawing his blades from his back as he went.
"Looks a little different from the last time we were here." Finn said as he looked at the door. "Course we did bring the house down last time too, literally."
Aerrow took a deep breath as he moved to open the door. He carefully opened the door inwards, being carefull not to make any noise. As the door opened, he got a look at a large room with a large chair in the back on a platform that had a series of steps that lead up to it. He didn't see anyone in the room and was worried they had come to the wrong place.
"Come on in, silly Storm Hawks." A familiar voice came from inside of the room.
There was an opening along side of the throne room that lead outside to a railed balcony. Aerrow and company walked slowly inside, keeping themselves at the ready in case of trouble. As they moved closer, more of the balcony came into view. There they could see Dark Ace leaning with his back against the railing, and to his left side they could see the back of Cyclonis herself.
"We're here to stop you." Aerrow said he he raised his blades, prepared for a fight.
Dark Ace and Cyclonis shared a small laugh before Cyclonis began to speak, turning to face the Storm Hawks as she did. "No, I don't think you will. Actually, I expect you will let me finish what I have started here."
Confusion showed on Aerrow's face, as it did on his friends' faces as well. Looking past Cyclonis, Aerrow could see the armada of ships Stryker had brought engaged in a pitched battle against the Cyclonian forces that surrounded them. Now that the ships were closer, Aerrow could make out several of carriers that belonged to squadrons heknew as friends. He knew that if he stopped Cyclonis here, he could still save them.
"Why would we let you do anything?" Aerrow asked, keeping himself ready to defend against Cyclonis.
"It's quite simple really." Cyclonis said with an almost playful tone. "Either I complete my plan, or everyone here will die."
"Just because your ships have our friends surrounded, doesn't mean I will just give into your demands." Aerrow said in a defiant tone.
"Don't be a fool Aerrow." Dark Ace spoke up now. "We're not the only enemies you have here, remember?"
As if on cue, a transmission broke out on the citadel's loud speakers. "We will fire the missile and destroy Cyclonis and the threat of Cyclonia once and for all! Even if we have to die in the process! Anyone who tries to stop me will be branded a traitor and Cyclonian sympathizer, and will be put to an immediate execution by me! Am I clear!?"
Aerrow recognized the voice as Stryker's, he could feel anger rise in him as he heard him sound off over the speakers. Next he could hear responses from the various squadrons questioning what they had just heard. The Storm Hawks were just as equally curious to know what Stryker meant.
Another voice yelled out across the speakers now. "The general has lost it! He's planning to fire..." The voice was broken of by a sharp staticy hiss.
Aerrow looked at Cyclonis, still keeping his blades ready. "What's going on?"
Cyclonis smirked as she spoke. "The ever incompetent Sky General Stryker..." She rolled her eyes as she said his name. "...plans to destroy this entire terra since he can't defeat me by normal means. And, he's going to use a single missile to do it."
"That's crazy." Piper spoke up in a frantic tone. "The amount of energy that would require is to much for one missile. Unless of course he had something as powerful as..." Piper let her words fade, realization hitting her at last.
"Yes Piper." Cyclonis said in a affirming tone. "The Aurora Stone or, at least, one of it's shards anyway."
"But that much energy would destroy everything for miles in every direction." Piper said as she lowered her staff, she could feel a cold sense of dread working up her spine.
"Everyone here will die." Cyclonis said, no hint of fear in her voice. "Of course, I have been dead once already, not really a fan. So unless you let me continue, we'll all get to share the experience together."
Cyclonis abd Dark Ace didn't move, they simply stood and stared at the Storm Hawks. The Storm Hawks themselves looked at each other, uncertainty on all their faces.
Aerrow was unsure about everything Cyclonis had said. "She may be bluffing."
Junko was looking past Aerrow to the ships engaged in battle outside and said. "I don't know, I'm pretty sure that I'm seeing the crew of the lead ship bailing out. It's not even damaged enough to even think of doing that."
Aerrow turned to look. Sure enough, the crew of the lead ship, most likely Stryker's, were jumping out, some were escaping on sky rides. The other ships were turning away to take on the Cyclonian ships in an attempt to break through and escape.
"Well that can't be good." Finn said, stating the obvious.
They all suddenly heard a loud noise come from Stryker's ship. Looking close they could make out the shape of a missile shooting up and preparing to arc back down at them.
"So." Cyclonis said, breaking the tension. "What will it be? Shall I simply stand here and wait for oblivion again, with the rest of you joining me. Or, will you submit and do nothing while I complete my plans." She said before adding in a playful tone. "Choose quickly."
Aerrow looked at his crew then back out at the escaping cruisers that carried others he called friends. As much as he hated it, he knew he had no choice.
Aerrow fell to his knees. "Do it."
Cyclonis smiled triumphantly as she turned to look at the oncoming missile. She leaned her staff against the railing and raised her hands. She looked at Dark Ace with a side glance. "You may want to step back for this." Dark Ace smiled at her then made his way back into the throne room to stand next to the Storm Hawks.
Cyclonis closed her eyes and concentrated on the energy around her and within her. She pictured the energy flowing out of her towards the fast approaching missile. Sparks of energy shot up from her hands connecting with the missile. The missile stopped just a few feet from where Cyclonis stood and released it's energy. White light flowed out everywhere, making Dark Ace and the Storm Hawks cover their eyes from the blinding rays. Cyclonis felt the energy was over her, letting it flow around her and into her. She reached out with her own energy and , mixed it with the white light around her, changing it. The light quickly faded, returning to how it was before the explosion of energy.
Piper uncovered her eyes and looked at Cyclonis. What she saw sent shivers down her spine and caused her brain to feel like it was being set on fire. The rest of the Storm Hawks were experiencing similar feelings. Cyclonis was standing under a sphere of pure energy with her arms raised, as if she were holding it up, which Piper suspected she was. The color of the energy was more like pure light than an actual color, but it was starting to fade. It was now turning grey and getting darker by the second as well as becoming smaller. It kept going this way until it became a small ball no bigger than a fist and it color was complete blackness.
Cyclonis smiled and brought the floating ball of energy close to her chest, almost as if she were about to hug it, and with both hands she pushed it into her chest. Cylonis closed her eyes and smiled a dark smile. The Storm Hawks were to shocked and confused to even know what to do, so they just stayed where they were, speechless.
Dark Ace shook himself out of his own shock. Even though he knew what was coming, it was still an unbelievable sight to behold. "How do you feel master?" Dark Ace asked as he took a cautious step towards Cyclonis.
"It feels like..." She opened her eyes revealing complete darkness where her regular eyes had been. She raised one of her arms, a ball of dark energy formed in her hand. It shot out towards one of the Atmosian Guards' retreating ships. It plunged into the ship and instead of an explosion, the ship seamed to cave in on itself. When it had compacted down as far as it would go, it exploded in a shock wave that sent the surrounding ships hurtling out in all directions.
Cyclonis smiled a dark smile and spoke, her voice now carrying a demonic tone, "Perfection!"
Just a little more to go. But things have taken a strong turn for the worst. How will the Storm Hawks prevail against supercharged Cyclonis? Guess you'll have to wait and see. Till next time. Oh, and make sure to review. ;)
Quick note: Remember Cyclonis has been shown to change the properties of crystals on command in episodes before. It's a bit suspect if you ask me.