DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, locations, equipment etc used in this story, it exists purely because I want it to

WARNING: This Story contain themes of violence, torture, segregation, slavery and death (not necessarily in that order). Graphic content has been kept to a minimum to avoid M rating, even so, viewer discretion is advised (Seriously advised for this one)

I'm getting into a bad habit aren't I, well I at least have a reason for this one taking just over two months, I've been trying to improve my writing on the advice of a recent review by Paveninteeno 7. Hopefully I've managed to make some small improvement to my writing, but that's what reviews are for, please let me know what you guys think, it really helps me to get better

As for this chapter, I had originally planned for it to be just a single chapter, but between Paveninteeno's review and how it all came together, it ended up a lot longer than I initially planned, so I've split it into two parts, it will be the first two part chapter of the story, but most certainly not the last

Also I would advise getting the hankies ready for this one, I'm not joking about that little addition I made to the warning up there, I'm actually considering changing this one to an M rating, again, please tell me what you guys think after reading this, should I change it to an M or keep it as is. Now on with the show

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Dear Readers (and Mortals) all, welcome back to... The Storm and the Hawk

Chapter 6: Ghosts and Raiders Part 1

Following morning

Images flashed across Lark's vision, falling white flakes, burning wooden buildings, broken and bloody bodies, a flash of emerald orbs and dark hair, the sound of a gun being fired, followed by a scream

Lark woke with a start, it took her a few seconds to register her new surroundings, that's right, I'm no longer in my cell, I got out, she glanced over to the other bed in the room, where Piper lay. She got me out, she helped me escape, and now I apparently have a sister, a family that I've somehow forgotten

The thoughts swirled round and round in Lark's head, she clutched her head as it began to throb. Shaking her head to try and dislodge the thoughts, Lark got out of bed, and began making her way to the bridge. Back in the room, Piper was woken by the sound of the door opening; she blinked bleary eyed as Lark left

The sky was still dark, but had turned to grey, rather than black, on the eastern horizon. Lark walked to the very front of the bridge next to the ship controls. None of this seemed real, at any moment she expected to wake up back in her cell, just Subject C again, the personal plaything of Administrator Long Feng

Anger flared in her chest, but it was short lived, replaced instead with Lark's current confused state. Here she was, aboard a highly advanced ship, with people she didn't know, and memories she didn't know she'd had, trying to force their way out of her head, and as the cherry on top, she had no idea what to do next, she was completely lost. Inside the base, things had been simple, wake up, run through some tests or combat coordination, go to bed, rinse and repeat the next day. Now, she wasn't sure what to do, no one was ordering her to do anything, and she didn't know how to process that

Suddenly the grey skies in the east changed, and now the skies were flooded with a bright light, Lark's eyes squeezed shut in pain, her hand flying up to shield them. After a moment, her eyes adjusted, and Lark was able to gaze at the Terra, now slowly waking up around the ship. The sight was breathtaking, water droplets sparkled on the ground, and in the tall spindly things, which Piper had said were trees yesterday evening

A thin layer of fog covered everything, causing the sudden light to be softened, and creating striking shadows as the light was broken by the trees and rocks that adorned the Terra. Lark gazed in wonder at the sight, completely entranced

"Beautiful, isn't it," came a voice from behind her, Lark spun around to see Piper standing there, smiling

"Yea it is," she replied, smiling as she turned back to observe the scene before her

"It's called sunrise, everyday, the sun rises in the east, and sets in the west, marking the beginning and end of every day," Piper said

"I could watch it every day," Lark sighed, a happy smile on her face

Piper glanced at Lark, paying close attention to her eyes, it could just be the lighting, but they definitely look lighter

Then she looked forward again, "You know, most people take the dawn for granted," she said

Lark looked at her aghast, "How could they, it's such a beautiful sight, how can they just discard it?" she exclaimed

Piper gave her a smile, "Because for most people, this is an everyday occurrence, it's just the norm," here Piper paused, choosing her words carefully, "But for you its different, I imagine this is the first sunrise you've seen in nine years."

Lark turned back to the sunrise as well, tears brimming at the edge of her eyes, "To think, I've been missing this, that a sight like this has been denied me all this time," Lark now brought her hand to her chest, as a hurt expression crossed her face, "What else have I been denied, what experiences and things have been taken from me?"

Piper turned back to Lark, "Too much, but I promise Lark, nothing else, your free now, that means you get to go where you want to, do what you want to, and if you like, I'll watch the sunrise with you, every morning," she said, with a smile

Lark smiled back, then suddenly, her stomach growled rather loudly. Lark's cheeks flushed red, while Piper just chuckled, "Come on, let's find the kitchen and see if this crate has some food." Lark nodded, smiling as they left the bridge in search of some breakfast, as they reached the door, Lark looked back at the dawn one last time, before following Piper

The ship's kitchen didn't have much, thankfully though it had been acting as Stork and Junko's home, during off work hours. So on top of everything being fully functional in the kitchen, there was also what looked like the last of last week's groceries. Not much, but enough to make a big pot of scrambled eggs for everyone, something which Piper got right to work on, while she had Lark clean and slice the last of the apples

Piper observed Lark while they worked, at first she hadn't known what to do, but some gentle direction and encouragement from Piper, and Lark was working away, a happy smile gracing her pale features. Not for the first time, Piper wondered if Lark's pasty complexion was a result of her nine year imprisonment, and being shut away from the sun

She was broken from her personal thoughts, by Starling's arrival; the older girl had clearly just woken up, and had been attracted by the sounds and smells of breakfast

"Heh, how long you two been up?" she asked curiously, rubbing her eyes tiredly

"Just before sunrise, so only about ten minutes," Piper replied, "We were just getting some breakfast started," she continued, gesturing at her pot, "It's not much, I hope your extraction team is stocked on supplies, because what we have won't last us two days with seven people, what you see here is most of what's left..." Piper then trailed off as she looked to a box, where she'd placed the more, questionable, food items. "Well, most of what's edible anyway," she finished

Starling grabbed herself a plate, as she made her way to Piper, "Don't worry, their professionals, and they'll have prepared for the eventuality that we might be unable to get supplies," she said confidently. "Mmh, smells good, is there any bread?" Starling asked, as she breathed in

Piper pointed her wooden spoon over to a metal cabinet with a sliding door, "It's not fresh, but it's not quite stale either, and perfectly edible," she answered

"Thanks," Starling replied, after Piper loaded her plate with eggs. On her way to the bread bin, she passed Lark, who shied away from Starling, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. Starling, looked about to say something, then thought better of it, and continued to the bread bin

Behind Starling came the others, first Dove, then a very tired looking Aerrow, and finally Stork and Junko. Upon Junko's arrival, the whole group got a shock, Junko made his way over to the box Piper had set to one side, "Heh thanks Piper, I was meaning to get these all in one place, makes it easy to find them," he said, before grabbing, what looked like two week old bacon, ripping open the packet and downing the whole lot raw in one gulp

Starling, Piper, Lark, Aerrow and Dove stared at Junko, mouths open, and the colour slightly drained from their faces. "Erm Junko... that can't have been edible?" Aerrow said, voice wavering with amazement, shock, and a little bit of horror

Then Stork leaned across to them, his voice deadpan, "Wallop, remember, stomach's of iron."

Realization swept across the group, though it did nothing to counter the still horrified looks on their faces, as Junko continued to dig into the items in the box. "Well, at least we will not have to worry about throwing anything out," Dove stated, as she quickly tucked back into her food before she lost her appetite, the others following suit

As everyone ate, Starling decided to put into motion something she had neglected to do last night, "So," she began, grabbing everyone's attention, "Seeing as we'll be working together for the foreseeable future, I think it's only prudent we all get to know each other a little better."

Piper straightened up at this, "That's a good idea, though you already know a lot about me, and Lark's your sister."

"True, but I've forgotten her, apparently," Lark noted, a pointed stare levelled Starling's direction

Starling sighed, "Alright, I'll start, that seem fair?" Everyone nodded to that, "Ok, you of course all know who my parents were, you know, I've trained most of my life to fight for Cyclonia's freedom, and the freedom of its people. Grandmother practically trained me at her knee to one day lead Cyclonia... just like she did for father," Starling's voice grew distant at that, and a silent moment settled over the kitchen, before Starling shook herself out of it

"After the attack nine years ago, I kept pushing grandmother to rescue Lark, despite the fact that grandmother wanted her back as much as I did, she also knew that Long Feng would have taken her out of our reach, making any rescue a costly endeavour, both in terms of resources and manpower."

Starling paused here, taking a couple more bites of her food, while using the moment to gather her thoughts. "Eventually though, I was able to convince her to let me infiltrate Terra Atmosia with a small team, we'd use our past political victories to get ourselves in position. It took 4 years of patience and planning, but we finally succeeded."

"During that time, we met Ace, a young Atmosian who had become disillusioned with the current regime, Ace was in fact the person who helped us break into the concentration camp as he lived nearby, but had never seen inside, once he did... it was the last straw, he pledged loyalty to me and our cause, and using his birth as an Atmosian, we were able to infiltrate Traven Academy by having him fudge some records.

"After that, it was simply a matter of preparation, training and patience, waiting for the right moment to strike; we quickly learned that Long Feng attended every Skyknight exam at the Academy, so we began planning around that day. Ace managed to get into Long Feng's underground headquarters and began providing Intel for us. When another team – on a completely unrelated mission – were captured by Long Feng's forces, Ace made contact with their leader Commander Osprey."

"Osprey provided information to Ace regarding Lark and the facility, and Ace would pass it along to me, which I then used to plan our attack on the facility. Nine years it took, nine years of careful, meticulous work, all while maintaining a cover to prevent us from being discovered," Starling gave a dry chuckle, "It was exhausting at times."

"Of course, you all know how it eventually panned out, and now we're here. I know that Atmos is your home, and that there are people you care about, who probably now see you as the enemy. Well I have people I care about as well, their my people, each and every Cyclonian currently living, and I will do whatever it takes to free them, to give them a life worth living, and not be forced into servitude... or worse."

No one spoke for several moments after Starling had finished, no one could doubt her commitment though. Before the silence got too uncomfortable, Aerrow spoke. "Wouldn't expect anything less from the Crown Princess of Cyclonia," he said respectfully

Starling nodded in thanks, before smiling, "So Aerrow, why don't you go next, after all, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about why you'd want to become a Skyknight when I first heard."

All eyes now turned to Aerrow, who chuckled, before staring down at his plate, food now finished, his eyes, suddenly gaining an almost sad look. Beside him, Dove looked at him curiously, as did Piper; they'd never seen Aerrow like this before

"It has to do with my father." Piper felt a chill go up her spine at his words, Aerrow had often mentioned that his father was a Skyknight, heck, he'd said as much last night, but he'd never gone into detail. "For most of his career, he did everything a Skyknight was supposed to do, uphold the peace, stand for justice and the helpless. But as time passed, things began changing; dad became frustrated with some of his fellow Skyknights, and with the higher ups in ALF command. He started breaking some rules, always insisting that he was upholding the true ideals of the Skyknights."

"It got him into trouble, he was suspended on multiple occasions, during one of the last ones, he got a visitor." Here Aerrow sat back, his eyes now staring at the bulkhead ceiling, "It was Traven, he'd come to discuss some things with dad... I don't think they really came to an agreement, whatever it was Traven wanted dad to do, dad would have none of it."

Aerrow then frowned, like he was putting pieces of a jigsaw together, "But I think he did get me into Traven Academy, it was the only part of their conversation I overheard, dad said 'If it comes to that, will you make sure Aerrow is safe?'"

Junko frowned in confusion, "Comes to what?"

Aerrow shook his head, "I don't know, I never heard that part, it must have been whatever they were arguing about, shortly after that however, dad disappeared, a lot of very important people asked me a lot of complicated questions about where he'd gone, but I didn't know anything. Dad's sister, my aunt, took me in, and I got offered a place at Traven Academy not long after that, when I met Traven again for the first time since he'd talked to my dad, he told me that dad had made a hard decision, according to what he believed, and to protect me."

Aerrow now brought his gaze back to the rest of them, "That was the day I decided I would follow in his footsteps and become a Skyknight, whatever it was that he was doing, I knew it was important, and I wanted to help him, I wanted to stand by his side and fight with him, for what I believe in."

"And that would be?" Stork asked

Aerrow looked at him, then his gaze came back to Lark and Starling, "That everyone deserves a chance to live their lives, the way they want."

Piper's lips quirked into a small smile at that, and Aerrow gave her a wink in response, Lark noticed and gave Piper a playful nudge while grinning at her. Meanwhile Starling sighed exasperatedly, "Wish I'd asked you this sort of thing months ago, Atmos what has this war done to us?"

Aerrow gave her a cheeky smile, "Well, isn't that why we're all here?"

Starling chuckled at that, "Fair point." Before standing up and taking her empty plate to the sink, "We can continue this on the bridge; I'd like to be ready for when the extraction team shows up."

Everyone was just finishing up, the dishes washed, when an alarm began blaring through the ship. Everyone ran straight for the bridge, where Stork quickly shut off the proximity alarm before it gave them away, and everyone else began searching for what had set it off

"The extraction team can't be here yet, can they!?" Lark exclaimed

"No, they're at least a couple hours away still," Starling replied, voice hard and eyes focused

"You might want to rethink that Starling," Aerrow said, pointing to a shuttle, making for the Terra, its engines smoking, and flight path dangerously steep, a shuttle with the Cyclonia emblem painted on the side

"What!?" Starling exclaimed, brow furrowed in confusion

"What's wrong Starling?" Piper asked, worry coating her words

Starling didn't reply, instead, she turned and ran from the bridge, making for the hanger ramp; the others all exchanged a look, before rushing after her, as the shuttle crashed on the other side of the Terra

Being only a small Terra, it took roughly ten minutes to get to the other side, where they found the shuttle had carved a furrow into the Terra, ripping up trees in its path, and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Now that they were closer they could see the beating that the shuttle had taken, black scorch marks and gouges broke up the dark Cyclonian colours, meant to camouflage the ship against dark clouds

Starling ran right up to the shuttle's side door, grabbing hold of the emergency release and heaving; the door jolted and partially opened, but refused to budge any further. From the gap came the sickening stench of death. Starling, growing frantic now, began pulling desperately at the door, trying to pry it open

"Come on, open damn it!" she snarled

Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder, she looked back to see Junko standing behind her, "Allow me," he said, gently moving her to one side, before grabbing hold of both sides of the door, and pulling it straight off its housing with an almighty screech of tearing metal

Junko hadn't even had a chance to put the door down, before Starling had rushed inside, she quickly came up short as she took in the scene before her. They were now in the cargo hold of the shuttle, most of the containers were intact, but littered around them, were bodies, almost a dozen of them, and most wore Cyclonian uniforms, of the remainder, they were squat, skinny reptiles, with patchwork armour and clothes, wielding Energy Cutlasses and poor quality guns, clearly scavenged from a scrapheap

"Murk Raiders!" Starling snarled, fists clenching, eye's blazing

"Mu-Mu-ACHOO! MURK RAIDERS!" Junko's sneeze startled everyone, more than his terror filled cry that followed

Piper stared down at the corpses, before turning to Starling, "This doesn't make any sense, we're leagues away from Terra Deeps, what would Murk Raiders be doing all the way out here, especially seeing as ALF would never tolerate their presence?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it," Starling replied, giving the nearest Murk Raider corpse an angry kick

While carefully covering her mouth, Dove knelt next to one of the Cyclonian soldiers – she was beginning to get used to seeing dead bodies – and began examining it, "Merde, they have been dead for hours it looks like, was very messy too," she said, grimacing at the mutilated and disfigured corpse

"But if everyone back here is dead, then how did the shuttle get here? Who's flying now?" Lark asked, unfazed by the bodies around her

At her words, everyone stiffened, and turned towards the door leading to the cockpit. Carefully, Starling began making her way towards the door, the others following behind her (All but Stork, who had wisely chosen to remain on the Condor). Once at the door, Starling took a breath, well aware that there could be a dozen Murk Raiders on the other side of the door, their weapons all pointed at it, ready for them, she drew and powered up her Nun-chucks just in case, while Lark's hand began crackling with energy

As Piper watched them get into position on either side of the door, she was acutely aware that the rest of them would need weapons, especially if this shuttle indicated that the extraction team would no longer be coming for them

Then Starling hit the door release, as it slid open, she dived into the room, Nun-chucks raised and ready to swing, Lark was right behind her, hand raised a lightning bolt ready to fire, until a cry ripped from Starling's throat. "Lightning!?"

The group watched as Starling dropped her Nun-chucks and raced to the pilot's chair, where a man in Cyclonian uniform sat, he was alive, but barely, his hand clutched his side, which was drenched in blood. The left side of his head was also caked in blood from a gash on the side of his head

As the group followed Starling, Piper got a good look at the man's face as Starling turned the chair around to begin inspecting his wounds. Piper was vaguely aware of Starling asking Dove to find some medical equipment in the cargo hold, but Dove was in the same boat as Piper. The man had red hair and green eyes, and his face had a familiar angular quality to it, even if it was a more mature version of the one they already knew

As one the two girls looked at each other, a lead weight dropping into their stomachs, before turning to Aerrow, who looked like someone had just walked over his grave. He walked slowly forward, as Starling – completely oblivious – continued to demand someone look for medical equipment, right up until Lark spoke, "Starling," she said, in a clear voice, her tone demanding the older girl's attention

"What!?" Starling snapped, spinning round, and seeing Aerrow for the first time since entering the cockpit. Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the shell shocked Aerrow, and then back at the pilot, who could have passed for an older version of the young Atmosian

"Aerrow... never thought... I'd see you... here," the man spoke, his voice cracked and weak, "You've grown up... a young man... Traven kept his word then?"

Tears rolled down Aerrow's cheeks, "Yea, he did," fists clenched

"Good... that's good... I imagine... you have... questions," the man replied

"You joined Cyclonia" Aerrow stated, looking the man up and down

The man chuckled, "So have you... if you're with her," he replied, nodding to Starling, then he noticed Lark, "And you helped rescue her sister... then I really did fail."

Aerrow squinted as he stared at his father, "Fail? What are you talking about!?"

Lightning took a breath to reply, but was overtaking by a coughing fit, flecks of blood spattered his hand. Starling whirled to Dove, "For Atmos' sake Dove, go get a first aid kit quickly!" she exclaimed, Dove nodded and took off into the cargo hold, Junko following her

"I left... to try and bring an end to the fighting... I couldn't do that with the Skyknights... those who wanted to do something... were too afraid of Long Feng and the Senate... and those who could... were their loyal lapdogs," Lightning began, after recovering, "Traven tried to get me to join his group... to play ball while we waited for an opportunity... I should have taken his offer... but I didn't want you to grow up in Long Feng's world... and Traven's plan... was too slow for me... people were suffering... dying... I needed to do something... I couldn't just sit and wait... so I left... I found the Cyclonians... pledged myself to them... became a pilot in their fleet... and here we are."

Another coughing fit overtook Lightning as Dove rushed back in, first aid kit in hand, she knelt beside him and began to run through her medical lessons, "Okay just stay still monsieur, we will have you patched up-"

"Don't bother... you'll just be wasting your supplies," Lightning cut her off, stopping her from continuing

"But you will die!" Dove exclaimed

Lightning chuckled, "I've been dead a long time... I only held on as long as I did, because I needed to complete my mission first," now he looked to Starling, "Princess, the extraction team isn't coming."

Starling's eyes widened, "What, why!?" she asked aghast

"Ambush," Lightning croaked, a chill settled in the room at the word, "We were responding to your transmission... we'd barely left our hidden base where we'd been waiting, when they attacked."

Lark's eyes drifted to the cargo hold, "Murk Raiders?" she asked eyebrow raised

Lightning nodded, then began coughing again, "Damn it Lightning," Starling growled, before turning to Dove, "Can't you do anything!?"

Dove looked up at her with sorrowful eyes, "He's right, he's lost too much blood, even if we had a real doctor and proper medical facilities, it would be a miracle if he survived."

"You still haven't answered me," Aerrow interrupted, his voice devoid of emotion, eyes hard, "How did you fail?"

Lightning stared at his son, then put a hand into his pocket, he drew out a small Crystal storage device, and held it out to him, "All your answers... are on this... I made it... for you... just in case... I never got the chance... to tell you myself."

Aerrow stared at the device, then at his father, anger flaring across his features, "Your here, why can't you tell me yourself!?" he snarled

Lightning's own voice now rose for the first time, "I don't have time... and I must complete my mission first... or none of you will make it!"

Aerrow flinched, as though he'd been physically struck, then his face fell, his eyes misting up, "I'm sorry, it's just... you've been gone so long... and now you're back and..." Aerrow trailed off as he fought back the tears

Lightning's face softened, "its okay... I understand... it's been hard for you... but I promise... all your answers are on here," he replied, continuing to hold out the CSD, which this time, Aerrow took. Lightning nodded as he did, before turning to Starling again, "Commander... couldn't risk... the Murk Raiders... finding the rendezvous... so he told me and my crew... to break off... and get through to you... the Raiders chased us... boarded the ship... killed my crew... only just fought them off."

Lightning was forced to pause again as he fought for air, his body clearly failing him, no one breathed a word. "Have... a map... on the ships... computer... needs decoding... but... will lead you... back home... supplies... in cargo hold... food... medicine... weapons... even some... spare skimmers... just in case."

Starling glanced towards the cargo bay, her own eyes misting, yet again, others had sacrificed, given their lives for her and Lark, "Thank you Lightning, I promise you, your efforts will not be in vain." Lightning nodded, a contented smile on his face, and then he turned to Aerrow once more

"I'm... sorry... Aerrow... so... sorry... I... wasn't... the... father... you... needed..." Lightning's eyes lost their focus as the last word past his lips, before giving a final shuddering breath, and then was still

Aerrow collapsed, his knees thudding into the deck of the shuttle, before slumping back onto his legs, unable to hold the tears back any longer, the CSD slipping from his fingers. Dove and Piper both went and sat next to their friend, putting comforting arms around his shoulders, Starling meanwhile, stood, and reverently closed Lightning's eyes, giving him and almost peaceful look, it was as if he could have been asleep

Starling then turned to Junko, "Head back to the Condor and tell Stork to bring it over here, we need to off load the supplies..." Starling paused as she looked back at Lightning, "And bury the fallen." Junko said nothing, simply nodding as he left

Several hours later, the graves were dug, and the fallen Cyclonians and their Atmosian Captain were buried, the Murk Raiders had been piled up on the other side of the shuttle, once the last had been brought out, Lark used her powers to light the small pile of bodies on fire, the acrid stench of burning flesh rising into the air

Each grave was marked with an upright stick, on each was the tag of the respective fallen, Starling held the extra tags that each had worn, except for Lightning's, Cyclonian military protocol stated that the tags be passed on to next of kin, well Lightning's was right here, not that it made the situation any better for anyone

The group took a few moments silence for the fallen, then, one by one; they began getting to work off loading the shuttle's supplies, onto the Condor, until Aerrow was the last left. No one disturbed him, the whole situation felt cruel, just a few hours ago, Aerrow had been telling them how he had wanted to join his dad in upholding the true ideals of the Skyknights, now Lightning was gone, and Aerrow would never get that chance

Only once the supplies had been transferred did Piper dare approach Aerrow, everyone else waited aboard the Condor, "Aerrow... we're all ready to leave," Piper said carefully

Aerrow, took a breath, idly turning the CSD over and over in his hand, his eyes finally left the grave, and turned to the sky, "Does the Condor have somewhere I can access this?" he asked, holding up the CSD

Piper nodded "Yea, there are several Crystal Computer terminals," her voice hopeful

Aerrow nodded, and then turned to Piper, "Then I need to see what he left me."

To be continued

As of this upload I' am currently 3/4 of the way through Part 2 so expect that up within the next few days, I won't keep you waiting too long ; P

Now for the French Translations (really having fun with these)

Merde = S (This is censored for a reason guys)

Monsieur = Sir (an easy one)

We'll be getting a lot more French next time, like I said, REALLY having fun with these, I'll see you all next time ; )