Disclaimer: I do not own anything affiliated with "Storm Hawks". Characters, places, and other aspects of the story (except for original characters, animals, locations, and some other aspects) that are referenced to do not belong to me.

A/N: Since this story is pretty much a "stagnant" project, I might as well try out some new techniques I've observed from other fanfiction's I've read. Constructive feedback is highly appreciated!

Early morning, 3 days since Crow's and Finch's departure, on board the Thunderbird…

Warbler felt the sun's warmth tapping his eyelids as the young blizzarian awoke. He swivelled his head slightly and slowly began to open his eyes. Through blurry vision, the weapons specialist trudged over to his door to begin his day's work.

…

Warbler flicked a switch in the hangar bay as the darkness receded to reveal three skimmers parked neatly beside one another. Instinctively, he stepped toward the place where he always left his toolkit. The blizzarian picked up a wrench and examined it briefly, grimacing at the slight crack that had been left by excessive usage.

"It will do." the blizzarian remarked to himself as he began working on a skimmer.

…

Warbler stood up as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. The breeze brushed past as he had opened the hangar bay doors earlier. The familiar creak of the hangar door was heard as the blizzarian turned around to address the arrival.

"Looks like someone was up early!" Sparrow exclaimed happily as she gazed upon the polished skimmers.

"Just doing my job Sparrow." Warbler replied mundanely as he gave her a thumbs up and picked up a cup from the tray she had brought with her.

"What's wrong Warbler? You sound upset." Sparrow asked gently as she sat down beside a skimmer.

"It's just, I'm kinda uncomfortable since the crew is separated again." Warbler admitted as he sat down beside Sparrow. "It's like when Phoenix left for sky knight training." the glum blizarrian added.

"Knowing that we can't all be together right now affects me too." Sparrow agreed letting out a long sigh. "It's just important to know that they'll be back again. That's what I told myself when Phoenix was off at training." Sparrow shared as she laid a comforting hand on Warbler's shoulder.

"I remember the time before all of this happened." Warbler stated letting out a sigh of his own. "Crow and I had just met up on Quies, and we were the spark that caused the Cyclonian regime there to go down in flames." Warbler reminisced as he took another sip from his mug.

7 years ago, early afternoon, Terra Quies…

Warbler wandered the streets aimlessly in search of his next job.

Orphaned at a young age, Warbler never knew what being part of a family felt like. Day in, day out, he'd search for tasks pertaining to fixing trolleys and skimmers for street vendors, all while trying to keep himself nourished and living for another day. Curfew meant staying hidden in the deepest and darkest parts of the city, for fear that an annoyed guard might round up and slaughter or imprison those who had no where to go; he had seen a few unlucky souls get captured before from the shadows, never to be seen again.

Today, Warbler was en route to a job that had been specially requested by an anonymous client. His services were well known within the Quies street vendors, so it was no surprise to him that someone with such a good reputation as himself would be called upon to do even the most suspicious of activities.

"You gotta do what you gotta do." Warbler whispered to himself as he rounded a corner and neared the rendezvous point.

As he entered a seemingly empty alley, he suddenly heard a step behind him causing his ears to perk up.

It was then that he came face to face with a merb shrouded in a brown tattered cloak.

"My name is Crow. I'm with the Quies Resistance and I need your help." the merb whispered.

Warbler had heard little about the Quies Resistance among his local clients, but there was definitely a stir surrounding the mysterious group.

"I heard you're good with wiring and repairing skimmers. We could use someone like you in our group." Crow remarked as Warbler's expression changed to one of nervousness.

"Look, I don't want any trouble, but what do you want me to repair?" Warbler inquired as the cloaked merb stared at him.

"We have a warehouse on the outskirts of town with a pile of banged up skimmers. We need these operational by the time we break our friends out from the local lock up." Crow informed as Warbler's expression turned panicked.

Red flags sprung up in Warbler's mind as assisting this merb would mean treason at the highest level.

"Staging a coup? Breaking into one of the most heavily fortified prisons on this terra? Have you lost your mind?" Warbler whispered hastily as he glanced to both ends of the alley in paranoia.

"We've been oppressed for long enough! You can help free our people, and restore what is rightfully ours!" Crow insisted as he too glanced to both ends of the alley.

Warbler's legs were cemented to the floor as he stared into the merb's eyes for a while longer. He slowly began retreating to the alley wall and sat down grasping his head in his hands as the dilemma played on.

"Look, I know it's a difficult decision. You don't have to help us if you really don't feel comfortable. I don't want you to get hurt because of our cause." the merb admitted as he stood in front of the blizzarian.

"Goodbye. Thanks for your time anyway." Crow remarked glumly as he began to walk away.

"Wait!" Warbler exclaimed to which the merb turned around instantly.

"Look, I've never known family, I've spent my days earning enough to get by, and I have to hide every single night because the Cyclonians bully and abuse us who have no where to stay. I'll do it." Warbler said as he let his thoughts spill out.

A short silence followed.

"I'll repair your skimmers and join you." Warbler stated as he got up and walked toward the merb.

"You're a good guy Warbler." Crow stated as he held out a hand for the blizzarian to shake.

"Well, I try." Warbler stated as he warmly welcomed the shake.

"Welcome to the Quies Resistance my friend." Crow said with a grin.

…

"So, you repaired all those skimmers then?" Sparrow inquired as Crow paused and took another sip of his drink.

"Yep, all 2000 of them. Took me a good month or so." Crow admitted to which Sparrow went wide eyed.

"You repaired 2000 skimmers in a month!" Sparrow stated in awe.

"Fast fingers and knowledge of skimmer anatomy helps a lot." Warbler said flatly as the door to the hangar bay creaked again.

"We're having a party in the hangar bay?" Phoenix remarked as he entered and sat beside his teammates.

"Remembering some old times." Sparrow informed.

"I don't wanna get in the way of anything. If we have stuff to do I can-

"Go on Warbler. I haven't heard a good story in a while!" Phoenix encouraged to which his weapons specialist smiled.

"Well then, Crow and I did a lot of things together before we had you, Finch, and Sparrow join. We had an army to rally and build." Warbler continued.