S15-13
A little help from the cavalry

On this day, Aerrow and Suzy-Lu's son, Danny-Sky, became a Sky Knight.

On this day, the Murk Raiders appeared over Blizzaris, with intentions unknown.

On this day... Aerrow sent out a call over the radio, asking for help.

A few Murk Raider ships landed, letting loose the pirates onboard, while the ones that stayed in the air were occupied with the Absolute Zeros.

"Don't give up!" Aerrow yelled as he narrowly avoided crystal cannon fire. "Why are they here anyway?"

Suzy-Lu used her staff to freeze one of the cannons. "They're pirates! They probably think they'll find treasure here!"

"Then they're in for some painful disappointment!" Danny-Sky jumped off his father's Skimmer, the energy of his weapon's Blizzard Crystal surging through him as he unleashed the Arctic Fang with a single slash. The attack blasted a frozen hole through the side of the leading ship. Landing back on the Skimmer, Danny-Sky headed into the hull breach. "Take down the leader, and the rest will go without a fight!"

Hearing his son's words, Aerrow's mind turned back to when he told his family about the time the Storm Hawks found themselves at Terra Deep. He snapped back to the present, then drew his blades upon entering the ship.

They were immediately confronted by the onboard Murk Raider welcoming committee, with all their weapons at the ready, but it was four against at least twenty-seven. This wasn't a fair fight. Then again, when have the Murk Raiders ever fought fair?

The overwhelming odds forced them to retreat back to their vehicles and fly back out. "If we can't bring it down from the inside, then we need to find a way to take it down on the outside!" Danny-Sky surmised.

"Where's that help I called for?" Aerrow wondered, seeing more Murk Raider ships coming in overhead. "And what're they even here for? It's like all of Terra Deep is raiding Blizzaris at once!"

"Look! Down there!" Suzy-Lu exclaimed.

Aerrow looked down at the Terra, seeing Murk Raiders coming out of the houses, some holding crystals. "They're here for the Blizzard Crystals! With those, they could freeze any resistance they meet on any ships they board! We have to stop them!"

"But how? The help you called for hasn't even responded!" Right as Danny-Sky said that, there was a loud horn bellowing through the air. Another ship flew out of the clouds overhead, blasting away at the pirate ships. "What in the..."

"You were saying?" Aerrow had that smug 'I told you so' look on his face. "The cavalry has arrived." From the new ship's landing strip came a few more vehicles.

Suddenly, a familiar voice was on the radio. "Terribly sorry for the delay. We had to make sure we got everyone."

"Starling? What're you doing here?" Aerrow questioned. "And where's Stork?"

"A bit occupied with those Murk Raider ships at the moment. It was his idea to gather the rest of your old squad." Starling replied. "And he's a bit riled up about the Murk Raiders calling the Condor a flying trash heap."

"Three Murk Raider ships against one angry Merb?" Aerrow started. "We could barely handle one ship as a squadron!"

Just then, Starling showed up in person, riding her Interceptors Skimmer. "I don't think that'll be a problem."

As if to confirm Starling's statement, two Murk Raider ships started falling out of the sky, dropping into the Wastelands. All that remained in the sky were the Condor and the leading vessel of the Murk Raiders, on which resided the leader, Captain Scabulous.

"You ready to apologise yet, scab face?!" Stork yelled over the radio. "AND DON'T THINK I FORGOT WHAT YOU DID TO THE CONDOR THE FIRST TIME!"

"Aerrow!" He turned back to Starling. "You four head into that ship and take out Scabulous. The others and I will deal with the Murk Raiders down on the Terra."

Danny-Sky interjected. "We already tried. We were immediately outnumbered."

Starling looked back up at the Murk Raider vessel, seeing a hull breach surrounded in ice on the side. "I see." She got back on the radio. "Junko, Danny-Sky's Arctic Fang punched a hole through that ship. We need you to clear the room."

"Wait!" Aerrow exclaimed, getting Starling's attention. "Junko's allergic to Murk Raiders!"

Starling chuckled briefly. "I know. Finn told me. Junko's sneeze will blow them away, allowing you to make your way to Captain Scabulous, take him down, and force the Murk Raiders to retreat."

Aerrow looked up as Junko's Skimmer flew right into the hull breach. Seconds later, there was a loud noise. "AAAHHH-CHOOOO!" They took that as a signal to head back inside.

Upon entry, Aerrow, Suzy-Lu, Danny-Sky, and Radarr saw the Murk Raiders all knocked out against the far wall. "Gesundheit." Danny-Sky said, giving the Wallop a pat on the back. Junko smiled at him.

Within minutes, they had arrived at the bridge. Right there, sitting in his chair, was the notorious Captain Scabulous. "Now what do we have here?" He cackled. "The rumors were true! Two Sky Knights got together and had themselves a son! Haa!"

"I have a sister!" Danny-Sky growled angrily. "She went to Atmosia to talk to the Sky Knight council about restoring the Red Eagles!"

Captain Scabulous had an amused expression on his face. "Ooh! We haven't seen a Red Eagle for years! And when we're done here, we're heading to Atmosia to pay your sister a visit!"

"LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!" Danny-Sky leaped into the air, the energy of his Blizzard Crystal surging through him. With a horizontal swipe of his blade, he unleashed a powerful bolt. The Arctic Fang blew a newly frozen Scabulous out of his now shattered chair.

Aerrow and Suzy-Lu looked at each other, then at the new Scabulous-cicle. "That was quick." Aerrow said, surprised.

"Our son doesn't mess around, does he?" Suzy-Lu turned to the other Murk Raiders in the room. They were cowering. "You!" She pointed to the one that had only a single eye. "Why were you stealing Blizzard Crystals?"

"Blizzard Crystals can freeze crew!" From the way he talked, you could tell this guy's not running on all cylinders. "We take crystals, we can steal crew with no trouble. Take crew first, then steal ship and supplies. Captain's idea!"

Danny-Sky spoke up as he put a foot to the frozen Murk Raider leader. "I'll bet he's going to Atmosia anyway... only to end up behind bars."

With the Murk Raiders defeated, and Captain Scabulous taken to the prison on Atmosia, Aerrow and his family grouped up with the people who helped them.

"We couldn't thank you enough." Aerrow said, shaking Starling's hand.

Starling chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Just seeing the Murk Raiders gone is good enough for me."

"Same here." Danny-Sky added.

Pirates... They make me sick. Good riddance to the Murk Raiders.

Oh well... See you guys next time.