Talon Academy

"She was just a kid!" Piper ranted as she passed back and forth. "This is a new low even for Cyclonia. How could they even do something like that?"

"Piper," Aerrow tried.

"I mean, who would have thought that Cyclonis would have sunken that far?" she continued.

"Piper!" Aerrow said a little more forcefully to get his teammates attention. "We're going to help them."

"Oh," she said sheepishly as a blushed graced her face.

"We need to show these kids that Cyclonia isn't what they think it is," he said as he held up a poster he had found. "Let's tell the others about this and come up with a plan."


Lilith sat in her room. Ever since she had gotten back from Terra Neverlandis, a week ago, she had refused to leave her room expert for when Master Cyclonis had a mission for her. This of course had set the rumors flying through Ravess' head, but Lilith didn't care.

Dark Ace had tried to talk to her about it, but she refused to speak. Finally he had gotten her to spar and she was beginning to act a little more like she used to. She refused to speak to anyone about what had happened on the Terra. In her mind, all that they needed to know was that the Terra had been burned, and everything destroyed. No one needed to know that she found a picture there.

The picture she had grabbed from the old house, was safely stored away with the rest of her drawings. She knew without a doubt that the picture was hers, because she had been drawing the same one ever since she had gotten the position as a general. It was a picture of a young red headed boy around the age of ten. He had green eyes like her own. Lilith knew that he meant something to her, she just couldn't figure out what.

Lilith was still in thought when she heard a knock at the door. Putting on a fake facade, she answered the door. She needed to appear somewhat normal.

"What?" Lilith demanded of the Talon that stood right outside her door.

The poor girl was terrified as she tried to find her words. "Ma…master Cy…Cyclonis is l…looking f…for you," she stuttered in fear.

"Did she say why?" Lilith barked out in frustration.

"N…no ma'am," the girl replied.

"Fine," Lilith said as she left her room to go report to Master Cyclonis. Not wasting any more time she quickly walked to Mater Cyclonis's office. Lilith waited patiently as the Talon standing guard announced her presence. 'See, I can follow orders,' Lilith mentally thought to Ravess who had sneered at her for never waiting to be announced and let into Master Cyclonis's office.

"Send her in," came the sound from Master Cyclonis.

Not missing a beat, Lilith entered the office. "You asked for me Master?" Lilith asked as she bowed her head respectfully.

"Yes, I want to start showing you off to our new recruits. Snipe has already left for my Talon Academy, and tomorrow morning I want you to leave for there as well," Master Cyclonis said simply. "I've noticed that you've been down lately, and I think that this will give you a chance to become your old self."

"Of course Master," Lilith said hesitantly.

"You have an objection?" Cyclonis inquired with her eyebrows raised. "I thought that you wanted a mission?"

"I do, it's just that I was wondering why you would send two of us?" Lilith asked cautiously.

"I see," Cyclonis smiled. "Snipe uses brute strength and will no doubt, inspire many of the boys that are at my academy to become great Talons. But there are many girls there as well. I want to give them another role model to look up to. You are an excellent pilot and fighter. You are a perfect role model for them."

"I understand Master. If that is the case, I would be honored to go to the Talon Academy," Lilith answered with a bow of her head before she left.

"Why are you sending her?" Dark Ace inquired as he walked out of his hiding place once he was sure that Lilith was gone.

"When you found her, she was liberating my prisoners that I intended on sending to the Talon Academy one day," Master Cyclonis said as she turned around to face her most trusted general.

"So you want to know if the crystal has truly changed her. Get her to go to the Academy and teach these young kids that they should be Talons," Dark Ace said as he figured out Master Cyclonis's plan.

"Think of it as another loyalty test," Master Cyclonis said. "Also, I think that it is time for the Sky Knights to learn that I have new weapon."


"To shut down this Talon Academy isn't the only reason that you wanted to go is it?" Piper asked as she and Aerrow sat in the airship heading to the academy.

"You're right, it isn't," Aerrow agreed in a whisper.

"You're hoping that Adrianna is here," Piper said in realization.

"That, or someone here knows something about her," Aerrow admitted as the two of them felt the airship land. "I figured that this would be a perfect time to poke around a little."

"Make sure you keep the Chroma crystal with you at all times," Piper whispered as they exited the ship with all the other teenagers.

"How long did you say that they would last?" Aerrow asked quietly.

"Long enough," Piper said confidently. Her confidence quickly faded as she realized that the three of them were alone on this mission. It was just her, Aerrow, and Radar against the Academy of Talon teachers and students hoping to become Talons.

The two of them were talking in hushed tones when they heard the sound of a skimmer approach the school. Looking up, Aerrow realized who exactly was coming.

"Snipe, I should have known," Aerrow growled as the general landed and dismounted his skimmer.

As he walked over to the group of 'future Talons,' he spouted off some stuff about how great being a Talon was. Aerrow listened but forcibly tried not to grimace at what he was hearing. He shot Piper a look, and could tell that she was thinking the same things.


That night after everything had happened, including cleaning the bathrooms twice. Aerrow, Piper, and Radar met in one of the smaller rooms away from everyone and everything else.

"I heard Snipe talking over the radio about invading Terra Tranqua," Piper told Aerrow in a hushed tone.

"But they don't have any weapons or anything to defend themselves," Aerrow said in realization.

"I know," Piper stated. "This has me worried, if Cyclonis is prepared to have kids fight for her, and invade peaceful Terras, how much farther is she willing to go?"

"I don't know, but we'll have to make our move soon," Aerrow said as processed all the information.

"I found the girl we rescued," Piper said excitedly. "I feel bad for her. She wants another shot at us to boost her rankings."

"Well, we can't let her know who we are," Aerrow explained.

"I know," Piper said simply.

"Can you ask her about Adrianna?" Aerrow asked as he switched topics.

Piper nodded her head as she stood up to her back to the girl's sleeping quarters. "I better get back before I get in trouble."

Aerrow nodded his head in understanding.

"Good night," she said as she slipped out the door and made her way back towards where she was staying at. Piper quickly snuck through the halls back to the girls' room. She stayed away from all the main parts of the building as to not be discovered. Relief washed over her as she finally made it back to the girls' barracks.

"You're lucky," Lynn said as she watched Piper sit down on her own bed.

"How so?" Piper challenged as she carefully took off her boots.

"Curfew was a half hour ago," Lynn reminded her friend.

"That's right, we have curfew," Piper said as she smacked her forehead.

"I told sergeant that you were in the library looking up recipes for tomorrow's meals," Lynn smirked.

Piper groaned at the mention of having to prepare food for everyone again. "I don't know whether I should thank you or strangle you."

Lynn laughed at her new friend's reaction. "How about a thank you, because otherwise you would have been scrubbing the mess hall with a tooth brush for missing curfew," Lynn said with a smile.

"Thanks," Piper said with an eye roll. "Hey Lynn, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said as she laid back on her pillow.

"Have you ever heard of a girl named Adrianna?" Piper asked as she continued to stare at her friend.

"I can't say that I have," Lynn admitted as she stared at the ceiling. "I mean, she could have graduated from here before my time and just have been one of the many people that come through here to get trained. Not everyone is memorable."

"Oh," Piper said dejectedly.

"Why?" Lynn asked as she rolled over to face 'Giggles.'

"She was an old friend of mine. I haven't seen her in a long time and I was just hoping that maybe she was here," Piper said as she tried to keep her voice steady.


The next day was a whirlwind of different training exercises that typically ended with Aerrow having to clean something. They did aerial combat training, hand to hand combat training, and many other forms of training.

Most of the training ended with Radar and Aerrow making Snipe look like a fool. One of the things the two of them did, was have Radar dismantle Snipe's skimmer as they were getting ready for aerial combat training, which put Radar and Aerrow into a laughing fit as they watched the skimmer fall apart. Or when Aerrow and Radar were supposed to be helping prepare lunch and instead filled Top Dog's bunk full of spiny spud peels that had been pureed and had rotten vegetables also added. Or Aerrow's personal favorite was giving Snipe a wedgie during the hand to hand combat training.

"Ugh, we probably ran twenty miles in this gear," Piper stated as she dumped her pack onto the ground after their run.

Lynn let out a sigh before replying, "Beats wrangling scoats. That's what I'd be doing back on my Terra."

"But don't you ever think about what you will have to do as a Talon? Do you really want to harm innocent people?" Piper asked her friend as she went stiff.

"No," Lynn said as the thought started making her feel uncomfortable. "But, I can't go home now. I don't have a choice."

"What if I told you that you did?" Piper challenged as she glanced around.

"I'm listening," Lynn said intrigued by what her friend was saying.

"I'm Piper of the Storm Hawks," she admitted. "I saved you when your chute failed and I want to save you now."

At first Lynn didn't know what to say. Here was someone who she had wanted to get revenge against. The same girl that had saved her life when her parachute hadn't opened, and was now offering to help her get away from the Talon Academy. She then smiled as she realized that Piper was her way out of the Academy. She was about to respond when they both heard laughing.

"Storm Hawk spy," Top Dog said happily. He knew that exposing Piper would get him even more points in Snipe's book. He was even hoping that it would carry over and he would impress the new general that was supposed to be arriving later. "Serge! Serge! She's Piper from the Storm Hawks. I heard her say it."

"No, just a misunderstanding. Nothing to worry about," Piper tried to plea.

"Storm Hawks? I knew there was something about you," Snipe said in a disgusted tone. "That must make the other one," Snipe said as he turned to face Aerrow, "Aerrow, the Sky Knight."

Aerrow dropped the Chroma crystal to the ground as he decided to face Snipe. He had nothing to hide any more. As the crystal hit the ground, its effects wore off to reveal his true self.

"Gather around class," Snipe sneered, "you're about to learn how to smash a Sky Knight."

"I have to warn you Snipe, you're making a big mistake," Aerrow said as he held out the tooth brush he had been using to clean various things throughout the day.

Shouting a battle cry, Snipe ran at Aerrow, hoping that his brute strength would be enough to beat the teenager.

Aerrow jumped and used Snipe's momentum to get over Snipe. As Aerrow touched down on the other side, Top Dog came racing at him. Aerrow easily knocked Top Dog onto the ground before trading his tooth brush for the other cadet's weapon.

"They made being a Talon sound cool," Aerrow said as he held his own against Snipe. "But do you know what they have planned for you? You're going to be leading an invasion to Terra Tranqua. A Terra full of unarmed innocent people."

Lynn finally had enough of the lies. "Down with Cyclonia!" she shouted.

Soon most of the other cadets joined in her cheers against Cyclonia.

Being the loyal Talon that he hoped to become, Top Dog took off running back into the Academy building. Getting Lynn's attention, the two girls took off after the cadet.


"I'm only going to ask you this once," Aerrow growled as he stood in front of the make shift jail cell that Snipe had been thrown into. "Where is Adrianna?"

"Who?" Snipe asked genuinely confused. He was not expecting that question. He was expecting a question on how to defeat Cyclonis at the very least.

"We know that she was taken by the Cyclonian Empire, we just need to know where you are keeping her," Aerrow said as he was getting angrier by the second.

"Look, I don't do dealings with Sky Knight scum," Snipe said to Aerrow mockingly. "All I do with you guys is beat you up."

"She was taken by you, and she's not here or at any of the other prisons. So, where would Cyclonis have taken her?" Aerrow demanded as he was ready to rip off Snipe's head.

"Look, Cyclonia doesn't always take prisoners," Snipe said with a sick and twisted smile.

"You-" Aerrow threatened.

"We have a problem," Piper interrupted as she came running out of the academy building with Lynn beside her, and Top Dog tied up. "We have a squadron of elite Talon fighters coming here. I thought that his message didn't go through, but it turns out it did."

"That's not all," Snipe smirked confidently. "Lilith is coming here as well. So even if you beat the elite Talon fighters, Lilith will be coming in next with two more elite squadrons."

At the mention of the name Lilith, several cadets started whispering, while others paled at the name. A lot of them had heard from some of the older Talons that had been working with Master Cyclonis talk about the fearsome general. Aerrow's mind went blank as he realized that he might just get the chance to meet the newest general.

"Aerrow?" Piper asked, concern leaking into her single word.

"Contact the Condor," Aerrow ordered. "We'll have to stall for time before they get here. We can take on one squadron, and we will just have to hope that it is enough." Under normal circumstances, he would have said that they should wait for all the Talons to get here. It would give them a chance to finally meet this new threat, but now they had a bunch of young teens that they couldn't put in harm's way.


"You are pathetic," Lilith spat as she glared at the general and cadet that were still held captive in the make shift jail. "Letting kids do this to you."

"Just let me out already," Snipe whined he reached for the key that Lilith held.

"I should leave you here," Lilith said in disgust.

"Ma'am," Top Dog said, gaining Lilith's attention. From the moment she arrived, he was smitten with the general. He wanted nothing more than to have her talk with him. "It's not our fault."

"It's not?" she challenged. "Tell me, whose fault is it then?"

Top Dog was starting to regret opening his mouth. His crush on her, quickly vanished as she glared at him. The young woman in front of him scared him a lot more than anything else he had ever encountered.

"Tell me, whose fault is it?" she demanded again.

Snipe was silently shaking his head no. Even he knew better than to tell Lilith that the Storm Hawk had been the cause of their down fall.

"It was Aerrow and Piper of the Storm Hawks, Ma'am. They impersonated cadets and turned the others against Cyclonia," Top Dog squeaked out.

"Who was it?" she demanded as she reached through the bars of the cell and grabbed the cadet's uniform.

"It was the Storm Hawks," Top Dog answered again.