"Laid it on a bit thick, don't you think?" Dark Ace whispered to her as they waited in an antechamber while the Council Hall was cleared. Captain Swift wanted the building empty before moving them back to their rooms to avoid trouble. "You nearly got us lynched."
"Mission accomplished if I had," she reasoned.
"I just hope you didn't tip your hand."
She frowned. She hadn't considered that possibility. But after a moment's thought, she shook her head. "No. I'm sure I just played into their expectations of me. They've probably been waiting this entire trial for me to say something like that."
"Quit your whispering, you two!" one of the two guards posted inside the door ordered, sounding nervous. All the guards had been on edge since the verdict reading, not that she could blame them. Not only had they had an angry mob to contend with, but they were probably more concerned than ever about an escape attempt. After all, what did she and Dark Ace have to lose at this point?
That was a fair point. As she and Dark Ace fell silent, she thought about whether it would be worth it to try to escape. Even if they failed, if they died trying, perhaps their deaths would be less ignoble than being executed.
"What do you say we make a run for it," she whispered to Dark Ace.
"Now? That would be suicide."
"No, tonight. Midnight. Out the window."
During their excursions out to the courtyard, she had studied the outside of the building. They were only on the second floor, and plenty of holds could be used to climb to the ground. It would be quick and easy. Then they just had to get over the wall. After that, well, she may be a stranger to Atmosia, but Ace wasn't. Hopefully, he remembered his way around well enough to get them to the docks, where they could steal or stow away on a ship.
"The windows are alarmed," he reminded her.
"I know. We'd best be quick about it, then."
"Are you being serious?"
"Yes. What's the worst that could happen?"
"We could both be shot in the back."
"An acceptable risk. Do you really want to die having never tried to escape?" she asked.
"I said stop whispering!" the guard said, more forcefully this time. "That's your final warning!"
Before they could test his resolve further, Captain Swift and another guard entered the room. "Time to go," he said, taking hold of her upper arm while the other guard prompted Dark Ace forward. They walked in silence as they were led back upstairs. Captain Swift's grip on her arm was almost painfully tight, his expression stern. When they reached the top of the stairs, she threw Dark Ace a questioning look before they went their separate ways, and he gave the barest nod in return. He was in.
Captain Swift marched her to her room, only letting go once they were back inside. Still silent, his face giving nothing away, he unlocked her handcuffs. She rubbed her arm, more to express her annoyance at his harsh handling than anything else, but he remained stone-faced as he turned to go without a single word.
"The silent treatment? Really?" she said to his back. She wasn't sure why his silence bothered her so much. What was wrong with her? Had she really been suckered into caring what he thought of her? Ridiculous. But as he put his hand on the doorknob, not even pausing at her words, she found herself blurting out, "I didn't mean what I said."
He paused at that, shaking his head. "Yes, you did." Turning to face her, he continued, "You know, I've tried to empathize with you. I thought that I was coming close to understanding what makes you tick. And while I believed you were misguided, I didn't think you were a lost cause. But you seem determined to prove me wrong about that."
She didn't know what to say to that. Maybe she had meant it. But could he really blame her? If they had simply killed all the Sky Knight squadrons instead of throwing them into that stupid crystal prison, she'd be free right now. She would have won the war and fulfilled her family's destiny of uniting the Atmos, a goal that so many of her ancestors had sacrificed so much to achieve. She would have made all those sacrifices mean something. Instead, it had all been for nothing. He didn't get to stand there and judge her for wishing things had turned out differently.
In a pique, she crossed her arms and shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint you," she said, trying for sarcasm. She didn't need or want his understanding or his forgiveness. She didn't.
"I am disappointed," he agreed, seeing right through her and twisting her attempt to irk him back at her. She frowned, turning away from him, and with a sigh, he left. It didn't really matter what he thought, she reasoned. If everything went as planned tonight, she'd never see him again, one way or another. Stalking over to the desk, she snatched the daily paper up and dropped into the chair, biding her time until midnight.
It had been an hour since they had cleaned up after dinner, and Aerrow was beginning to think that no one was going to come to hear them out. Piper, stretched out on the couch, looked up from her book occasionally to cast glances toward the doorway, only to look back down in disappointment when no one was there. He did the same from his seat on the floor, a small toolkit by his side as he tinkered with his daggers. Oblivious to their anticipation, Finn sat playing his guitar, which was unplugged from its amp. That was a compromise he and Piper had finally reached after the last of their many arguments on the subject. Any music played in the common areas of the ship had to be played at a reasonable volume, and everyone had been enjoying the relative peace ever since. Junko and Radarr had gone to make minor repairs to the ship's thrusters, and Stork had retired to his room for the night.
Aerrow contemplated doing the same when someone cleared their throat, drawing everyone's attention to the doorway. Starling stood with her arms crossed, leaning casually against the doorframe.
"Oh hey, Starling!" Finn was the first to greet her. "What're you doing here?"
"Ever since the verdict reading earlier, I haven't been able to get past how incredibly short-sighted it seemed for Cyclonis to say what she did. Something told me I ought to come to talk to all of you about it."
"Really? 'Cause it seemed pretty on-brand to me." Finn looked from Starling to a grinning Piper and then to him. He couldn't help grinning, himself, at Starling's words. "Am I missing something?" Finn asked.
"That's what we're here to find out," Starling said.
"We?" Piper asked curiously.
"Yes," Starling said, moving out of the doorway and into the room. "I happened to run into someone outside. It seems I'm not the only one who was given cause to wonder."
Suzy Lu appeared in the doorway Starling had just abandoned. "Hiya, guys," she greeted them. "I brought someone along with me. Hope ya don't mind." Reaching behind her, she pulled an uncomfortable-looking Azar into view by the shoulder.
"Peace," Azar greeted them, placing a hand over their heart. "I apologize if I'm intruding here unwelcome. Starling and Suzy Lu seemed to believe that it was acceptable to board your ship without invitation."
He stood, sheathing his daggers. "Starling and Suzy Lu are always welcome aboard the Condor, and so is anyone they bring along with them." Walking over to the trio, he stuck his hand out, and Azar shook it, relaxing. "I'm Aerrow. And this is Piper and Finn," he said, gesturing as he introduced them.
"Well met, Aerrow. I'm Azar."
"It's nice to meet you. Everyone, come sit."
Piper stood to make room for their three guests on the couch, and she, Aerrow, and Finn dragged chairs over to form a rough circle around which they could talk.
"So, what's up?" Finn asked, the only one still out of the loop.
"We came to hear Piper's theory," Starling said, cutting right to the chase. "And what it has to do with the sentencing hearing."
"You guys haven't come to a decision yet, have you?" Piper asked.
"We wouldn't be here if we had," Suzy Lu said, blowing a bubble gum bubble that grew to be nearly the size of her head before it popped.
"We're trying not to make any hasty decisions," Starling said.
"Most of us are trying not to make hasty decisions," Azar amended.
"Most?"
"The Chairman has strong opinions," Starling said. "Cyclonis has clearly not endeared herself to him during her time in custody. What was it he called her?"
"Insolent?" Suzy Lu asked.
"And impenitent," Azar said.
"Incorrigible was the one I was thinking of, but you're right, it was all three," Starling said.
"Dude, that's a lot of 'I' words," Finn said.
"Yes," Azar agreed. "He was passionate in his argument in favour of execution."
Aerrow looked over to Finn, gauging his reaction to what would be for him, a revelation. For a moment, he didn't react at all. Then his eyebrows drew down in a frown as Azar's words sank in. "What?"
"You didn't know? Or you don't approve?" Azar asked.
"I mean," Finn began but paused, thinking it over. "She did try to kill Junko and me with her creepy doomsday device when we first met."
"True," Starling said. "Along with everyone else."
"That, too. And then she tried to kill all of us at Terra Tundras," Finn added and started ticking off each incident with his fingers.
"I remember Piper telling me about that," Suzy Lu said with a frown.
"And then she tried to use Junko to kill us while he was hypnotized."
"I haven't heard that story," Starling said, sounding curious.
"Yeah, well, I might have been a tiny bit responsible for that one," Finn said sheepishly.
"Still-"
"And then there was the time she almost killed Aerrow when she stole the crystal that we sto-uhh, borrowed from Gundstaff. That was crazy. If she had shown up a few minutes earlier, we would've all been goners for sure!"
"It sounds like you agree with the Chairman," Azar said, and Aerrow winced inwardly. Finn really wasn't making it easy for him and Piper to sell their argument, that was for sure. It was already going to be difficult without reminding everyone of how many near misses they had had in their fights against Cyclonis.
"Except we're not like her," Finn said, surprising Aerrow. "And we already stopped her without killing her, so why would we kill her now? Wouldn't that be stooping to her level?"
Piper, too, looked pleasantly surprised and took it as an opportunity to launch into her theory. "Finn makes a good point. And that isn't even the only reason you should consider voting against execution-"
Ace feigned sleep as the guards conducted their hourly check right before midnight. Beneath his blanket, he was fully dressed in the grey outfit he had been given to wear when not in court. He had toyed with the idea of wearing his uniform, loath to give up the protection his armour afforded him, but in the end, decided against it. He hoped that Master Cyclonis-that Lark-had done the same. They'd have an easier time trying to blend in and get off Atmosia without the insignia of Cyclonia emblazoned on their chests.
Adrenaline stirred his blood, and he embraced the feeling of jittery anticipation it brought with it. He had missed this. He heard the door close, the turning of the lock, and he threw back the blanket and was out of bed in an instant. Grabbing the desk chair, he quietly wedged the top of the chair beneath the door handle, jamming the door. Then he went to the window, unlocked it, and flung up the sash. He braced against the alarm that was sure to pierce the peaceful night air and nearly laughed when a low beeping started up instead. The alarm was on a delay. Well, he certainly wasn't going to squander the short amount of leeway that gave them. Climbing out the window, he quickly scaled down the side of the building, dropping to the ground just as the alarm started blaring.
He looked to the other end of the building as a second alarm rang out in disharmony with the first, watching as Lark hit the ground and started running for the far wall. He took a moment to scan the courtyard. He was, unfortunately, unsure what the guard detail was like for the building. He knew that two guards were always posted at his door and two more at hers. He had noticed some patrols down in the courtyard, but they were undisciplined, lacking any sort of regular schedule he could track. There were usually guards posted at the entrances of the building whenever they were escorted to the hall or out into the courtyard, but he didn't know if they were permanently stationed there or temporarily brought in for those occasions. All in all, he had no idea what they might be up against here.
His question was at least partially answered when four guards armed with green striker crystal-tipped staves rushed out into the courtyard. That was fast. Maybe they weren't quite so undisciplined, after all.
With a wordless yell designed to draw their attention toward him and away from Lark, he charged at them. The nearest guard brought his staff up, ready to strike. As Ace came within range, the guard thrust his staff forward in a blow that would have caught him right between the eyes had he not dropped, rolling underneath the thrust and striking the guard in the solar plexus. The winded guard's grip on his staff loosened, and Ace brought his arm up, jamming it against the guard's forward arm to block the man from swinging the staff in towards him. With his other hand, he grabbed the staff and, with a twist, wrenched it out of the guard's hands.
Stepping back, he thrust his newly won staff at the unfortunate, unarmed guard. The striker crystal discharged as it hit the guard, and the man dropped like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
The next two guards came at him at once. While the staff wasn't his weapon of choice, he'd be remiss if he didn't train with a variety of weapons. After all, it wouldn't do to be left defenceless should he find himself without his sword, as he was now. These men, they weren't Sky Knights. They weren't even frontline soldiers. They were prison guards. And they were no match for him. They did put up a good fight; he gave them credit for that. They didn't balk or try to run. But he was able to block and parry their attacks with ease, and soon they joined their companion on the ground.
The fourth and visibly youngest guard gave an approximation of a battle cry and attacked. Ace blocked the attack, using his staff to drive his opponent's staff tip down into the dirt, holding it there.
"Turn around and walk away. You don't want to get hurt here," he told the young man.
"Uhm, these crystals are just stunners," the kid pointed out.
Ace glanced over to the downed guards, watching as the first one he had taken out stirred slightly, groaning.
"Huh, so they are."
He smirked as he looked back at the young man and snapped his staff up, knocking him out. Hitting the first guard with another blast from the stunner to buy them a bit more time, he grabbed a second staff. Striking the staff's tip against the ground, he knocked the crystal loose, then ran to meet Lark at the wall. The wall was roughly three meters tall, not much of a challenge. Propping the staves against it, he laced his fingers together, offering her a boost up.
Once she was at the top of the wall, he passed the disarmed staff up to her. "All clear?" he asked.
"Yes," she said as she scanned the area outside the wall. Then, looking back toward the building they had just escaped, she added, "But you'd better hurry."
He glanced over his shoulder and saw four more guards sweep into the courtyard. Throwing his staff over the wall, he backed up a few paces and ran at the wall. Jumping, he planted his foot on it and used his momentum to push himself up, grabbing onto the edge and pulling himself the rest of the way to the top.
Together, they dropped down to the other side. He picked up his staff and ran, and she followed.
"Is this the way to the docks?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"That's the first place they'll look for us."
"That's why we need to get there first and get off this terra!"
"No, first we need to lose our shadows, and then we can work out a plan to get off the terra."
It didn't take long for the four new guards to follow them over the wall. At every street corner, he made a turn, weaving them through the streets of Atmosia without any rhyme or reason, trying to shake their pursuers. The plan seemed to work. The sounds of the guards following them began to grow dimmer until they faded entirely. He slowed their pace but continued to zigzag through the city until they came upon a mechanic's garage. It was the perfect place to lie low for a short time while they formulated a plan, and if they were lucky, it'd have tools they could use to get rid of those cuffs that were keeping Lark hamstrung. And if they could do that, then they didn't need a ship, just a couple of skimmers.
The place was locked up tight for the night, but when they walked around to the back, they discovered some high windows that weren't shuttered. They were small, too small for him to fit through. But not too small for her. They looked from the window to each other, and wordlessly he offered her another boost, this time up onto his shoulders. Balancing there, she tried the window, finding it locked. Looking away from the glass, she slammed her elbow into the window. Once. Twice. The glass broke. She froze, listening for any sign that the guards had been drawn by the sound of the shattering window. When all remained quiet, she knocked the rest of the glass free from the window frame and squeezed through.
He went around front, warily keeping his eyes and ears open for any hint of sound or movement. After a moment, the door opened just enough to allow him to slip inside. She closed and relocked the door, then turned to face him, smiling. The light was dim, the small lamp that sat on the reception desk barely illuminating the front office. But even in the faint light, he could see that her smile was blithe, her eyes shining. He felt a pang of sorrow at the sight. He hadn't seen her smile like that in a long time.
"What's got you so happy?" he asked lightly. "We're not out of danger yet."
"Obviously not, but I wasn't sure we'd even make it this far, so it's a good start," she said. Grinning, she added, "And who knew running from the law could be so exhilarating?"
He chuckled. "Perhaps you missed your true calling. Maybe you should have been a pirate," he joked.
"Maybe it's not too late. If we can steal a ship and get off this cursed terra, we could live out the rest of our days peacefully terrorizing merchant ships as we sail the seven skies," she replied, looking all too pleased with the prospect. "If we do that, we should hunt down Snipe, if he's even still alive. We could use some dumb muscle on the crew."
"What about Ravess?"
"After I banished her? Her memory's not as short as her brother's. She'd try to stage a mutiny against me within a week. Besides, she has her hands full. She's seized control of Terra Bluster and is trying to rally the rest of the empire behind her. It was in today's paper. Frontpage news."
That sobered him up. "She's what? All joking aside, if we manage to steal a ship, we should chart a course straight for Cyclonian territory. You're the true Master of Cyclonia, not Ravess. Few Cyclonians will believe that an abdication submitted under duress changes that, and there should be minimal resistance when you reclaim the throne."
Her smile faded, along with the spark that had lit up her eyes. "Of course."
"Unless you don't want to?" he probed carefully, frowning in confusion at her sudden change in mood.
"Obviously, I want to, Ace!" she snapped. "I swore an oath to govern Cyclonia, and it is my honour and duty to uphold it."
Her rote answer sounded as authentic as a three-mark bill, and he was about to tell her as much, but she cut him off the moment he opened his mouth to speak.
"We're wasting time here," she said as she began rifling through the desk drawers. "Look around for something we can use to get these cuffs off. Lock picks, bolt cutters, anything."
He flipped on the overhead lights to the garage and began searching there, and soon she joined him, having found no lock picking tools in the main office.
"Why don't you want to reclaim your title?" he pressed.
"I told you I do."
"Yes, I heard what you said. You just weren't very convincing."
She didn't answer at once, but she spoke again after another minute or two of fruitless searching. "What I want doesn't matter. It never has."
He stared at her silently for a moment, processing her words and considering what she meant by them. "You make it sound as if you wish you had never become the Master at all."
She heaved a tired-sounding sigh. "No, that's not what I meant. I just…sometimes I wish the role wasn't so all-consuming."
"It doesn't have to be."
She scoffed at that. "Sure. Because conquering the world leaves so much room for other pursuits."
He frowned and went back to his search. He wondered how long these thoughts and feelings had been rankling her. It bothered him, just a little, that she'd never expressed any of this to him before. He was her right hand.
"Let's not return to Cyclonia."
"You don't mean that," she said. "You swore to serve and defend Cyclonia."
"I swore to serve and defend you. It's your call. I'll follow your lead, whatever you decide."
"Not returning isn't an option. I can't turn my back on five hundred years of-"
She cut her words short, and he turned his head to look at her as she triumphantly grabbed a pair of bolt cutters. With a smirk, she handed them over to him, and he wasted no time working one of the blades underneath the cuff on her wrist. The cuff was snug, and it wasn't an easy fit, but he managed to get the blade into a good position with a bit of effort. Slowly, steadily, he squeezed the arms of the cutters together and, with a snap, the jaws cut through the metal cuff.
She pried the cuff off her wrist and tossed it to the ground. Then, for good measure, she grabbed the unarmed staff he had given her and brought the butt end of it smashing down onto the leech crystal, shattering it. "If I never see another leech crystal again, it'll be too soon."
He was about to start on the other cuff when a noise drew their attention toward the front office. A burst of red energy blasted the bolt cutters out of his hands, and they clattered to the floor, the metal glowing white-hot as the jaws melted into a twisted, fused mess. The four guards who had been pursuing them poured into the garage, and he grabbed his own staff, ready to fight.
The guards pointed their staves at them. They had ditched the stunners in favour of more lethal striker crystals. "Drop your weapons and put your hands up! You can't fight us! We've got you outnumbered!" ordered one of the guards, stepping forward. He was young, obviously brash. The kind of man who wanted to take charge without earning it first, Ace thought, judging by the irritated glance one of the older guards gave the back of his head. He disliked him immediately. He looked pointedly at the stunner crystal arming Ace's staff and at the lack of any crystal on Lark's, adding, "And outclassed!"
Lark laughed derisively, and he couldn't help but do the same. Was he being serious?
"Ohhhh, you're still funny," Lark said. "Unfortunately for you, Captain Swift isn't here this time to intervene on your behalf. But I'm feeling magnanimous. If you all drop your weapons, we'll let you live."
"You think Swift intervened on my behalf?" the man scoffed. "You're the one who's lucky he was there, or I would've taught you some manners. We all know you can't use your sorcery, and all you've got is a glorified stick. So, what're you going to do, Cyclonis? Glare us to death?"
Ace exchanged a glance with Lark, all the communication they needed passing between them with just a look. The fact of the matter was that magnanimity had never been her strong suit. That imbecile, by insulting and discounting them both, had blown his one chance and signed his and his friends' death warrants.
"Why don't you come over here and find out?" she challenged, with a grin that really should have given him pause but didn't. The Atmosians had grown far too complacent.
Only one of the guards, the one who had looked annoyed moments ago, seemed to realize that this could end badly for them. "Henri," he said warningly, shaking his head. But it was too late. Paying his more competent friend no heed, Henri launched himself at Lark, and Ace sprang into action, striking out hard and fast against the other three.
After his warmup in the courtyard, he felt like his old self. It took hardly any time to teach these men the true meaning of the word outclassed. Too bad for them; it was the final lesson they'd learn.
Once he was finished with his three opponents, he looked back at Lark and was unsurprised to find that she had successfully taken down Henri. The fool had clearly not respected what a 'glorified stick' could do, especially in the hands of someone who had been trained in its use since the age of four. It took disturbingly little force to crush a windpipe. A solid thrust to the throat with the end of a staff was all that was needed to do the job. Without immediate medical attention, which he didn't have access to, Henri's fate was sealed. The fact that Lark continued to bludgeon him was a bit overkill. He appreciated the need to release some of the frustration caused by their capture and conviction. Still, they had a terra to escape from. Setting his new striker crystal-armed staff aside, he strode over to her. "He can't get any deader," he told her, grabbing her staff on an upswing with one hand while hooking his other arm around her middle, pulling her away. "And we need to move."
"Right. They probably radioed in this location the moment they realized we were here," she surmised. He nodded in agreement, letting her go.
"And if they haven't called in any Sky Knights for help by now, they will once they find their friends here," he said, kicking one of the bodies.
"The Storm Hawks will be the first ones they turn to," she said, the venom in her voice at odds with the way she seemed to deflate as she spoke. He knew what she was thinking. If they couldn't beat them when they were at their strongest, what hope did they have of doing so now? If only they had found those bolt cutters thirty seconds sooner.
"Then let's get as far away from here as we can before they come to investigate."
"Stockade to Storm Hawks. Stockade to Storm Hawks. Come in, Storm Hawks. Over."
Aerrow's attention was drawn to the radio the moment it crackled to life. The business part of their conversation with the others had wound down a while ago, but all three were still onboard the Condor, having stuck around to hang out and play cards. A glance at the clock told him it was late, way too late for the authorities to be contacting them about anything good. He jumped to his feet and went over to the radio, picking up the mic. "Stockade, this is the Storm Hawks. Go ahead."
"Storm Hawks, we have a situation your experience could greatly assist us with."
"Let me guess," he said, feeling his brow furrow. "The prisoners have escaped." He didn't think he needed to specify which ones.
"Affirmative," came the response.
"We're on our way."
He sprang into action the moment he set down the mic. "Piper, do we have any stunner grenades?"
"I think so. I'll go grab some," she said, dashing out the door.
"Finn, get everyone earpieces. We're gonna want to split up for this, cover more ground."
"On it!"
"I'll go get Stork," he said and sprinted off toward Stork's room, skidding to a halt outside the door and banging on it to wake up their pilot. He wasn't kept waiting long. The door opened, revealing a grumpy Stork wearing a pair of shorts, a ratty t-shirt, and a look of consternation as he squinted at him, eyes adjusting to the hallway lights.
"I'm guessing this isn't a social call."
"They escaped. I need you to run through your preflight while we go out searching for them. If they somehow manage to get off Atmosia, I want us to be right on their tail. We can't let them cross back into Cyclonian airspace."
With a beleaguered sigh, Stork padded out of his room and down the hall, Aerrow on his heels. "They escaped. Who could have possibly seen this coming?" Stork asked sarcastically before answering himself. "Me. I saw this coming."
"Yeah, we all knew this was a possibility."
"Inevitability."
"The only inevitability here is their recapture," he said confidently, not wanting to encourage Stork's negativity.
They rejoined the others, and he was handed an earpiece by Finn. He put it in, pressing down on the mic button, "Check, check?" There were nods and thumbs up all around.
"Okay," he said. "Piper, Starling, and I will go meet up with the folks from the Stockade. Finn, you're with Suzy Lu. I want you to stay in the area and patrol the docks. They're gonna want to get their hands on a ship."
"Then it sure would be a shame if something iced up all the engines 'round here, eh?"
"Sure would," he agreed with a grin. "Azar, Junko, that leaves you to check out the shipyard on the south side. Suzy Lu, can you radio Brimir and get him to meet them there? Tell him your engine idea."
They all nodded, and Aerrow turned his attention to Radarr. "I need you to stay here and help Stork. Okay, buddy?"
Radarr squawked his assent and gave the okay sign.
"Alright, everyone, move out!"
About twenty minutes later, Aerrow and his friends were standing with Captain Swift in the garage that served as the last known whereabouts of Cyclonis and the Dark Ace while a small contingent of Stockade personnel bustled around them.
Captain Swift had his arms crossed as he stared grimly down at the body of one of his fallen guards. There were three others a short distance away, all with telltale striker crystal burns on their chests. But this one had no crystal-induced wounds, just nasty bruising around his throat and other signs of blunt force trauma. It wasn't hard to figure out what had gone down here.
"They were ordered to track and report, not to engage," Captain Swift finally spoke. "When they called in the broken window, I specifically told them that we were requesting backup from the Sky Knight Council and to keep their distance until your arrival. If the fugitives moved, they were to follow them and keep us apprised of their location."
"Looks like they felt they had good reason to defy those orders," Starling said as she walked up to them with a warped and useless set of bolt cutters in her hands. Piper followed with a broken metal cuff and some crystal fragments.
"We only found the one," Piper said, holding up the cuff. "Which means the other one is probably still intact." She looked down at the bloodied body at their feet and then quickly away, frowning. "Almost certainly still intact. For now. But we need people at every other mechanic's shop on the terra as a deterrent."
Aerrow nodded. "We want them thinking that their best bet is to hijack a ship now, worry about the second cuff later. Cyclonis is a lot less dangerous without crystals than with. If we can corner them while she's still powerless, they're done."
"If this is what a lot less dangerous looks like, then I agree with that plan," Swift said as he motioned to the fallen guard. "But why are you so sure they'll want a ship? It'd be a lot easier to steal some skimmers, and it'd draw a lot less attention, too."
"They can't," Piper answered. "Not as long as Cyclonis still has one cuff on. There's no way to put enough distance between her wrist and the fuel tank to avoid the leecher feeding off the engine crystals. A ship is their best bet. They'll only use skimmers as a last resort."
"Alright, makes sense," Captain Swift agreed before turning to one of his men. "We need people at every garage on Atmosia. I need every other available man here ASAP. We'll fan out from this spot and search every building between here and the edge of the terra. But be quick about it. I don't want to give them the time or the opportunity to stop and formulate a plan or find another way to get that cuff off her wrist. If they're forced to keep moving and improvising, they'll make mistakes. And then we've got them." He clapped the man on the shoulder, sending him on his way to carry out his orders.
"We'll check buildings as we move west, toward the docks," Aerrow told him. "That's where they're most likely to be headed."
"I'm coming with you," Captain Swift said.
"Erm, are you sure? Wouldn't it be better for you to stay back and coordinate the search?" Aerrow asked, carefully not looking at any of the bodies on the ground. Those were the captain's men. Aerrow could imagine how he'd feel in his position, knew that it would throw him off his game, and it didn't inspire him with a lot of confidence. They wanted the Cyclonians to be the ones to make mistakes, not them.
"I'm sure," Captain Swift replied, his expression unbending. "They're my responsibility. I want to be the one to bring them in."
"Alive?" Piper asked, being blunter in her questioning than Aerrow. It wasn't an unreasonable concern that this might be some sort of vengeance quest for him.
"That's entirely up to them," he answered, just as bluntly.
He exchanged looks with Piper and Starling before nodding to Captain Swift. It's not like they could stop him from coming along, even if they wanted to. "Okay."
Ace paused outside a general store, the first time he had stopped since they left the garage. They were managing to stay ahead of their pursuers and were making good time on their way to the docks, so Cyclonis wasn't sure why he was stopping now.
"What are you doing?" she asked him.
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he kicked the door in and pulled her inside. Only once it was shut behind him did he speak. "We're still too recognizable. They know what we're wearing. Also, you're covered in blood spatter."
She looked down at herself. True, there was some blood on her hoodie, but it wasn't like she was drenched in it. "So?"
"So, if we're still on Atmosia in the morning, we'll want to blend in better with the locals. The non-bloodstained locals."
"If we're still on Atmosia in the morning, that's a problem. The longer we're here, the tighter they'll have the place locked down."
"We have to be prepared for that contingency. We need new clothes. Ideally, we would disguise ourselves with a cloaking crystal, or even a chroma crystal, but that's not an option right now."
She frowned. It wasn't a possibility because of her. She looked away from him, her chest tightening the way it had a few times during the trial. Without further comment, she wandered over to a rack that displayed some jackets, picking out one that would fit her. It was a plain, dark forest green with a low-cut standing collar. She found a pair of black pants to go with it and changed into the new outfit, putting the jacket on over the grey t-shirt she was already wearing, then shoving her discarded clothes into a garbage can stationed near the door.
Ace had found tan pants, a brown leather jacket, and a light blue shirt with a stylized graphic of the Beacon Tower and the words 'Welcome to Atmosia!' emblazoned across the front. She laughed when she saw the shirt. "Really?"
He shrugged. "I grabbed the first one I saw in my size."
Holding a bottle of water and a small stack of napkins, he beckoned her over with a jerk of his head. When she walked over to him, he poured some of the water onto the napkins, tilted her chin up, and began to wipe her face. "You really did get blood everywhere," he complained.
"I can do that myself," she said, making a grab for the napkins, but he shook his head, holding them out of her reach.
"There're no mirrors, and I'm already halfway done."
She dropped her arms to her sides and let him finish. Once he was done, she addressed the cause of the uncomfortable feeling that had started in her chest and had now sunk into the pit of her stomach.
"I'm holding you back."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about. There was a skimmer in the garage you could have taken. You could've been sixty klicks away from this place by now if you had."
"Would you have taken the skimmer if the roles were reversed?"
"Yes," she said firmly, and he snorted.
"No, you wouldn't have," he said. "Our situation isn't that desperate yet. I promise that I'll abandon you when I absolutely have to, but no sooner."
She smiled, the knot in her stomach loosening. "Good. Now let's go steal a ship."
Less than an hour later, they were crouched behind a stack of empty pallets, staring at the docked ships and their frozen solid engines. She turned and plunked herself down onto the ground, leaning back against the pallets and covering her mouth as unwelcome laughter overtook her.
"Please tell me you haven't cracked," Ace said, frowning over at her.
"I haven't cracked," she told him through poorly stifled giggles, fully aware that she sounded less than convincing.
"Then why are you laughing?"
"I don't know! Just wondering why we can't catch a break," she answered as she slowly managed to get ahold of herself.
"So, let's explore our options. We could pick a ship and try to get rid of the ice with your striker crystal, but that could take a while, and we run the risk of damaging the engines in the process. Or we could try to start one up, but assuming that even works, the heat from the engines will take even longer than the staff to melt the ice. Either way, whoever did this will be watching the docks and will notice us long before we can get off the ground. Looks like you were right about us still being here in the morning. You know Atmosia better than I do; can you think of anywhere we can lay low for a while? Maybe if they think we already made it off the terra, security will loosen up a little, and we can try again in a couple days."
He kept scoping out the docks as she spoke, waiting until she was finished before saying, "We could try waiting. But there's one other option to consider."
She picked herself back up and followed his line of sight to the single ship whose engines weren't frozen.
"No."
"It's not like you to balk at a challenge."
"Challenge? Ace! That's not a challenge; that is a trap."
"I'm not suggesting we hijack it. Though we could."
"Then what are you suggesting?"
He gave her a disappointed look, like he couldn't believe that he had to explain it to her. "Think about it."
"If we aren't going to steal it, then why would we possibly-the key!"
Her heart began to race as she realized what he meant, and he smirked at her triumphantly.
"This is a bad idea."
"Do you have a better one?"
"Not really, but that doesn't make this any less of a bad idea," she said, though she couldn't help but grin back at him.
He scanned the docks again, pointing. She looked where he indicated and saw that the Blizzarian Sky Knight and the blond Storm Hawk were some distance away, currently with their backs toward them.
"The rest of the Storm Hawks are probably out looking for us," he said.
"Not the Merb," she guessed. "No doubt he's still on board, manning his little traps."
"Traps? I take it you have experience with those from one of your rogue excursions?" he asked. She'd gotten an earful from him upon returning to Cyclonia both times she'd ventured onto the Condor on a personal mission. It was all very hypocritical of him, considering the trouble he'd managed to get himself entangled in over the past couple of years.
She rolled her eyes. "Don't start, especially not now that you're the one encouraging us to enter the lion's den."
He shrugged. "The Merb will probably be on the bridge. We'll have a clear path to your little…friend's quarters and be in and out before anyone even knows we're there."
She gave him a sidelong look, raising an eyebrow at his slight smirk and how he emphasized the word 'friend' in a way that she had expected to be mocking but wasn't. She wasn't quite sure how to interpret it.
"She's not my friend," she muttered, which only made his smirk grow.
"Mm-hmm. Let's go before those other two come back this way," he said, and they stayed low as they ran toward the Condor, keeping an eye out to make sure they weren't being spotted.
They paused at the open bay doors. "I'm still not convinced this isn't a trap," she whispered. "All that's missing is the key just lying there under a giant box that's been propped up with a stick."
That earned a snort from him, but he remained undeterred. "We don't have a lot of other options," he reasoned and was up the ramp before she could say anything else. She followed, and they quickly made their way through the halls to the living quarters.
"Which room was yours?" she whispered curiously as she led them to Piper's.
"I don't talk about my life before Cyclonia," he answered, with a coldness he rarely ever directed at her.
"That's a little melodramatic, don't you think?"
"No," he said, making it clear he wasn't going to budge.
"Okay," she mouthed silently and hit the button to open Piper's door. But it, too, didn't budge.
"Locked. Why am I not surprised?" she sighed.
"I could blast it open," Ace suggested.
"And alert the Merb that we're here?"
"Well then, let's go find him and take him down before he realizes we're here. If we're lucky, he might even have a skeleton key on him. Then we won't need to waste time forcing our way through this door."
"I'd rather not run the risk of him getting a message out to the rest of the Storm Hawks. The slightest call for help will send them all running back here, and then what? There has to be some other way." She mulled over the problem. "What about the air ducts?"
"That's not as easy as the movies make it look."
"I can manage."
"Even if you do, you're not going to be as stealthy about it as you think you are. Every move you make is going to echo all around the ship."
"Which leads right back to our original problem."
"Well then?"
"Fine. Let's go to the bridge. Hopefully, the Merb really is there, and we can-"
A shriek of alarm caused them both to snap their heads in the direction of the noise. The Storm Hawks ' pet nuisance stood where the living quarters and main hallways intersected. The moment they looked at him, he tore off back down the main hall, loudly chittering and squawking the whole way.
So much for stealth.
They ran after him, and it soon became apparent that he was heading for the bridge. The little rat was trying to warn the Merb, and with the racket he was making, she didn't doubt that he had succeeded. Well, they may no longer have the element of surprise, but if they could be quick enough-
It didn't register until she and Ace had crossed the threshold onto the bridge that the creature had skidded to a halt and jumped out of their way at the door rather than run inside himself.
"What the hell?"
She turned back just in time to watch the door slide shut. She slammed her hand against the button to open it but, just like with the door to Piper's room, it was locked.
Looking back to the room, she found that the bridge was empty except for her and Ace.
"Greetings, Master Cyclonis and Dark Ace," came the voice of the Merb from over the ship's speakers. "I commend you on your wise decision to turn yourselves in, and I've taken the liberty of notifying the rest of my squadron that you're here. They're on their way to collect you now, so just sit tight!"
She sighed and frowned over at Dark Ace.
"You were right," he conceded. "It was a trap."
Wordlessly, she turned her attention back to the door and pounded the control button several more times with the side of her fist.
"D'you know what they say the definition of insanity is?" the Merb asked.
"Thinking that you can keep us in here forever?" she replied.
"Erm, no, that's not quite the answer I was going for. And I don't need to keep you in there forever. Just a little while longer."
She stepped away from the door, turning just in time to see Ace wander toward the center of the room. "Don't!" She lunged toward him, grabbing his arm to stop him.
The speaker clicked back on, and the Merb's startlingly fiendish chuckle filled the air. "Oh, don't worry about that. I don't want you ejected from my ship. Yet."
She wasn't about to take his word on that, so she pointed out the circular Storm Hawks insignia on the floor that Ace had almost stepped on, shaking her head. Nodding, he walked around it, placing himself at the helm. He reached for the ignition, only to discover that the key was missing.
The speakers crackled to life once more. "You didn't actually think I'd let you abscond with the Condor, did you?"
Ace glared up at the ceiling, his gaze sweeping along its edges until it landed on the camera in the corner. He made a particular gesture toward it, and the Merb's voice filled the room once more.
"That was rude and uncalled for!"
Ace wasn't done. Adjusting his hold on the staff, he threw it like a javelin toward the camera, hitting his mark and shattering the lens.
"We're running out of time," she told him quietly. "Work on blasting your way through the door while I try my air duct idea. I'm getting what we came here for!"
They were on the right track. They had come across a store that showed clear signs of a recent break-in. A quick search turned up discarded clothes that Captain Swift confirmed had been issued to Cyclonis and the Dark Ace. The Cyclonians themselves had moved on, but at least they now had confirmation that they were heading for the docks.
It wasn't long after that that they got even more confirmation.
"They're here!" Stork's urgent voice spoke over the comm.
Aerrow paused and pressed his mic. "At the docks?"
"On the Condor!"
"What?" Aerrow exclaimed, exchanging worried looks with Piper and Starling. "Okay, Stork, don't panic! We'll be there as fast as we can." Putting words to action, he started moving again, double time. The others followed.
"Oh, I'm not panicking. I prepared for this."
"What do you mean, you prepared for this?" Starling asked.
"You didn't think I would let Suzy Lu ice up the Condor's engines, did you?"
"He threw a fit when I tried," Suzy Lu confirmed. "We're almost to the Condor now. What do you want us to do?"
"When you get here, stay outside, just in case this doesn't work, and they run again," Stork said. "Anyway, with the Condor being the only operational ship here, I knew I had to be prepared for the possibility that they'd be desperate enough to try and commandeer her. So I came up with a quick plan to stall them. Right now, Radarr is-it's working! Please stand by."
There was radio silence for a painfully long few minutes, then Stork was back. "I've got them trapped on the bridge."
"Dude, no way," Finn said, sounding impressed.
"Yes, well, let's not celebrate until you all get here and finish the job. This won't hold them for long, and they know i-that was rude and uncalled for!"
"What happened?" Piper chimed in.
"Sorry, that wasn't meant for you. Dark Ace just flipped me off."
"What-where are you?" Aerrow asked. "Are you talking to them?"
"I'm somewhere safe for now. And I wouldn't say I'm talking to them so much as taunting them," Stork answered, sounding pleased with himself.
"Stork!" Piper chided.
"Hey, I…umm, they just took out the camera. I can't see what they're doing now, but I know it can't be good! You should hurry."
"We're close," Aerrow said. "Suzy Lu, Finn, hold your position. I don't want you confronting them alone if you can help it."
He broke into a run, trusting the others to keep up.
Dark Ace hadn't been wrong when he told her that this wasn't going to be easy. There had been several points where the already small air ducts she was crawling through constricted even further. Not to the point where she couldn't get through, but it had been close. Luckily for her, she wasn't claustrophobic, so the only thing that bothered her about that was that it slowed her down.
But she finally made it to the vent that gave her access to Piper's room. Pushing out the vent cover, she scoped out the room. Piper's collection of crystals had grown considerably since she was last here. She'd need to grab the lead box and get out quickly for her own safety. But once she had the key and rid herself of the cuff, she could turn right back around and liberate some of those crystals from Piper's possession. Suitably armed, she and Ace would have no trouble getting off the ship and then off the terra.
Dropping down from the vent, she grabbed the box and hit the button to the door. It slid open, revealing Piper standing just on the other side.
"Hi," Piper greeted, smirking.
"Bye," she replied, hitting the button to close the door. This wasn't a problem. She had what she needed. She set the box down on the ground, straightening just long enough to hit the button again as the door slid open before crouching beside the box once more as it closed. She flipped open the lid, and her stomach dropped as she stared into the empty box, too caught up in her own disappointment to even react as the door opened with a quiet whoosh.
"Aww," Piper said with mock sympathy from the doorway. "Didn't find what you were looking for, huh?"
Gritting her teeth, she sprang to her feet, lashing out with a punch meant to wipe the smug look off Piper's face. Piper sidestepped, grabbing her wrist, and used her momentum to throw her across the hall. She collided with the wall, landing in a heap on the ground. Pushing herself up with a grunt, she brought her fists up defensively in front of her. She wished she had her staff, but it hadn't been feasible to bring it with her through the air ducts.
Piper made a beckoning motion, inviting her to try again. It was tempting, but she knew better. If Piper was here, where were the other Storm Hawks? Where was Dark Ace? She couldn't let herself get distracted from her goal, which was to get off this ship and away from her would-be captors. It had been a colossal mistake to come here. There was no need to pile more mistakes on top of it. So, instead of trying to attack Piper, she took off down the hall toward the skimmer bay.
Her decision to flee seemed to catch Piper off guard; it took a moment for her to give chase. When she did, Piper proved herself to be the faster of the two. She had enough time to curse herself for growing overly reliant on crystals and neglecting to keep her physical skills as honed as she should before Piper caught up and tackled her to the ground.
They grappled with each other, vying for the upper hand. After a brief scuffle, she ended up on top, straddling Piper and pinning her hands to the ground. It was still a struggle, though, as Piper wasn't giving up on trying to get free, and she racked her brain, trying to figure out the best way to subdue the other girl so that she could get away.
"Nice jacket," Piper commented suddenly. "That colour looks good on you."
"Thanks," she said, her treasonous mouth quirking up into a small smile even as she knew that Piper's remark was meant as a distraction. But what was she distracting her from? She watched Piper's gaze flick briefly to something behind them and, acting on instinct, she flipped their positions. Less than a second later, a bolt of purple energy slammed into Piper's back, sending her flying several meters away to hit the ground, dazed.
She scrambled to her feet, shooting a grin at the dismayed Sky Knight who had just knocked out the wrong person. "Thanks for the assist, Starling," she laughed and ran, turning the corner just in time to avoid another blast aimed at her by Starling.
She could see the door to the skimmer bay just up ahead. But before she could reach it, Captain Swift stepped through it, blocking her path. She skidded to a halt with a frustrated growl.
"It's the end of the line, Cyclonis," he told her.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she said. She could hear fighting not far off, which answered her question about where Ace was. There was a good chance that he'd be joining her here soon.
"I'm sure," he said confidently. "You're not stupid. You know how outnumbered you are. And you know that there's no way I'm letting you and Dark Ace escape on my watch, especially not after you killed four of my men."
"We had no choice," she defended herself. "We gave them the chance to stand down. They refused to take it. If you want to blame anyone, blame the Galean for escalating the situation."
His mouth thinned. "For someone who took so much pride in ruling an empire, you seem to have a real problem taking ownership of your own actions suddenly," he told her. "You're starting to remind me of 90% of the inmates at the Stockade. Nothing is ever their fault, either."
She scowled at his supercilious tone. "I have only ever done-"
"What you needed to do," he interrupted her. "So you've said. Do you feel the need to keep repeating that to convince yourself or me?"
She scoffed but was spared having to respond when she felt Dark Ace's looming presence come up to stand just off to the side and slightly behind her. Captain Swift's gaze stayed firmly locked on hers, not even sparing him a glance.
"I'm not moving. If you want to get through this door, you're going to have to kill me."
"With pleasure," Ace said, raising his staff, but she held up a forestalling hand.
"What the hell are you doing, Captain?" she asked, at once baffled and angered by his behaviour.
"I told you, I'm not going to just let you walk out of here. And I'm under no illusions that I'll win a fight against an armed Dark Ace. So, I really have no choice but to leave my fate in your hands."
She couldn't believe he was being so reckless. She had thought he was smarter than this. "Don't be stupid, Swift. You have a family!"
"You don't have to remind me. I know."
"Then step aside!"
"No."
She stared at him, flummoxed. At that moment, all she could think about was the fondness with which he had spoken of his kids and the kindness he had shown her from day one. That sick sensation she had gotten in the pit of her stomach when the witness from Terra Cascade spoke of her lost husband returned with a vengeance. Swift was a good father; his children would be devastated to lose him.
She didn't want to be responsible for that.
"Master?" Dark Ace prompted when she wasn't forthcoming with any commands.
"It's okay, Captain. Step aside," a familiar voice cut into the conversation. She half-turned to see that Aerrow had come up behind them, stopping a short distance away, flanked by Piper and Starling.
"What game are you playing?" she asked suspiciously.
"No games," Aerrow said. "We just don't want anyone else getting hurt. Captain, trust me. Keeping them here isn't worth your life." He beckoned him over, and reluctantly, Captain Swift moved to join them. Dark Ace kept his staff trained on Swift, shifting to keep himself between her and the captain the entire time. Once they had a clear path to the door, Aerrow turned his attention from Swift back to them, eyebrows drawing down in a frown. "You want to go? Go. Just know that you're not going to get very far. I promise you that."
They backed away from the group of Sky Knights, through the door and into the skimmer bay. A quick glance around proved that it was empty. None of the other Storm Hawks or their friends were lying in wait, ready to ambush them. That was a surprise, but it didn't make her feel any more confident. There was no way that the Storm Hawks were just going to let them walk out of here without a fight. So, she made a decision.
"I'm sorry," she told Ace quietly. He looked at her aghast.
"What?" he asked like she was speaking a foreign language he didn't understand.
"I choked back there," she admitted. Not that it would have made much of a difference to their situation if she had ordered Ace to kill Swift. It would have only bought them an extra minute, at most, and that wasn't enough. Still, her hesitance to act was an embarrassing moment of weakness.
"You let him get in your head," he agreed. "But now's not the time. We can talk about it later if we must."
She took a deep breath. "No, I don't think we can."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Take a skimmer and go."
"What happened while we were separated?" he demanded to know. "Did you hit your head again?"
"Ace, you promised."
"If the situation got desperate enough."
"Which it is. Aerrow's right. We won't get far. Or rather, I won't get far. But you might."
He shook his head disbelievingly. "This is bul-"
"Ace! That was an order. Do you really want to disobey what might be the final order I ever give you?"
He huffed but didn't argue. "Just in case it isn't, and we both make it off this rock, where should we meet?" he asked instead.
"Terra Nimbus."
They had reached the nearest skimmer, and he settled himself on the seat, nodding. But before he could fire it up, she heard a metallic tink, tink, tink, and looked down just in time to see a small sphere studded with crystals roll to a stop between them. Before either of them could act, there was a flash of light, an electric jolt, and then everything went black.