Milo

"This is getting out of hand." Kite muttered in his ear.
He turned to face her, raising his brow. "How?"
She frowned. "With the numbers we've accumulated so far, we're not getting to the Rainforest Kingdom without being detected."

He glanced away, silently doing a headcount.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven…..

(I wonder if I'm gonna make it into heaven…)
Milo sighed. "I guess you're right."
She frowned. "So what are we going to do about it?"
Milo shrugged. "Nooothing?"
Kite grumbled, lashing her tail in irritation. "You know that's not possible without us being caught."
He threw his talons up. "So what if we get caught? We can deal with a few patrols of like, five dragons."
Kite eyed him skeptically, then looked over Milo's shoulders. "They don't exactly look like they can fly yet." She muttered, raising her brow.

Milo glanced over his shoulders, staring at Jake, Sidewinder, Sparkwire, Leighton, Zazilie and last but not least, Tradewind, who were all engaged in a casual but oddly excited conversation.
Jake, Sparkwire, Zazilie, and Leighton were all holding their wings in a significantly different way than Tradewind and Sidewinder, who had been trained and educated in how to use them properly.
"...Yeah, I guess so." Milo sighed. "I think I might be able to teach them something before we go on."
Kite growled. "Great, let's add another day to 'How long it took us to get to safety.'" she grumbled crossly.

"Oh calm down, It's not like it's gonna take us too long."

Four hours later…
(A.K.A. Too long)

Milo sighed as Leighton finally landed correctly, the SandWing setting down and digging his talons into the soft dirt.
"How come you couldn't do that the FIRST time!?" Kite growled.

"Because I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing in the first place!" He complained.

Jake and Sparkwire had already completed what little Milo had been able to actually remember about his own rushed flight instruction less than two hours ago.
Zazilie had finished in an hour before them.
Kite asked him on this, wondering why most of his descriptions had been sporadic and vague.

His ears felt hot. "Uh, well, it was a while ago….and Trade's distracting me."
Kite raised her brow. "What now?"
Milo knew if it was possible for him to do so, he'd be blushing profusely. "I-It's nothing, nevermind." He muttered, pushing several thoughts about the hybrid out of his mind.
I'll need to read up on SSM tech, see if it can affect neurological thinking and my subconscious. Normally I don't think I'd be attracted to a dragon if it weren't for what form I'm in….

God damn, she's hot though…

SHUT UP THOUGHTS (Thots?)

Pushing his troubling internal conflict aside, he began thinking about what else laid heavy on the future.
The U.S.C.M. is here, in the middle of what Crusoe says is one of the bloodiest wars in these dragons's history, not to mention Scarlet's out there somewhere, probably confused on why half the flesh on her face was blown off, no doubt wanting revenge on Crusoe, and Jyn, if she ever finds out who did it and an explanation how. Or, you know, the dragon Sidewinder described in his dreams, the hybrid. OH AND WE CAN'T FORGET THE HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE.
He paused mid-thought.
And protecting any important dragons, whether it's sentimental or important to the war's outcome.
We've already screwed things up enough as it is, so we should be trying to keep other outside factions, like the U.S.C.M., out of it.

That's why I'm still here.

I helped make this mess, so it's about time I try to clean it up.

But I'll need help.

If Jake, Leighton, and Sparkwire are all here, that means everyone else is in this continent somewhere.

And of course, this means whoever's out there might not know what's going on…

Oh.

Well that's great.
I think I have an idea.

When we get to the Rainforest….

When we get there….

I'm not going to stay.

I have to leave them. At least they'll be safe. I can't let them stop me, either.

I'll leave at night.

I have to find Crusoe, Cuia, Terri, Arc, Jyn and Nathan.
(Note that he doesn't know that Nick and Ryder are here.)
A question roused him from his thoughts.
"Have you seen anyone else from our little coup?" Jake asked, raising his brow.

Milo shook his head sadly. "Just you guys. I honestly didn't expect to find you all here,"
He eyed Jake with an amused expression. "Much less, like this."
The MudWing smiled. "Yeah. Leighton said it had something to do with your bracelet being electrocuted. Something like chain-lighting-something?"
Milo raised his arm, reaching over and tapping on it with his opposite talons. He pressed to button to take it off.
It made a beeping noise, like "Dutt dutt".
Nothing happened.
He tapped it again, this time a little worried.
"Dutt dutt."
Ohhhh shiiiit.
"That doesn't look good." Jake murmured, looking up from the bracelet.
"No kidding." Milo muttered, trying to take it off.
He pressed the button that undid the clasp.
"Dutt dutt."
Once again, nothing. The bracelet remained motionless and inanimate on Milo's black scales.
Small blue blinking letters appeared on the shiny silver surface.
Insufficient Power source. Power source 'Gamma Arc generation chip' inactive. Please replace 'Gamma Arc generation chip'.
Uh-oh.
That's not…

"What's a 'Gamma Arc generation chip'?" Jake asked, wrinkling his snout as if it'd tasted strange to say a word like that.

Milo shook his head slowly. "I….I dunno."
Jake frowned. "I'm guessing that's bad."
"You can stop guessing, I KNOW it's bad." Milo amended.
"What does it mean?"
"It means you're not gonna be kicking ass with that shiny white armor of yours for a while." Milo said, grimacing as he experimented with the other buttons, all doing nothing and still presenting the same message.
Insufficient Power Source.
Insufficient Power Source.
Please replace 'Gamma Arc Generation chip'.

"Oh." Jake sighed. "I suppose it's permanent until then, huh?"
"Yeah. Not exactly what I had planned."
Oh right, and then there's that corrupt doppelganger from the future who was whispering in my ear. He might be a problem, along with that "Dark-Stalker" guy. Whoever the heck that is.
(Just to make this clear, YES I'm going that far into the series.)

He frowned, then inhaled deeply.
"I think we'll need to find Jyn before we can fix it entirely."
Jake nodded. "He'd know something on a topic like that, probably. I mean, he made Crusoe's clothes turn invisible at will, how hard could fixing some sort of miniature power source be?"
(Jyn: *shakes his head* Hard. Very hard.)
"Hopefully do-able."
"Hey!" Kite called from the other side of the clearing. "We gonna go or what?"
"I'll be right there." Milo said, spreading his wings.
Jake's eyes widened. "Oh, I almost forgot! We didn't come alone!"
Milo blinked. "Wait, there was others? Why didn't you say anything?"
Jake looked down at the ground, his wings drooping. "I may have forgotten…."
"Huh. Who was with you guys?"
"Oh, just some guys from the Epsilon Expanse, Eric, Moria and Gage. Nobody really, but they're the whole reason I'm here and not locked in a cage with only Leighton for company." He said, his voice sounding mildly amused.
Milo let the names sink in.

Moria.

No way, she wouldn't have-

Aw, who am I kidding, of course she would.

I need to find her. Tell her about Howard.
Yeah.
If she doesn't already know.

"Where?" Milo said ordered immediately, unfolding his wings.

Jake frowned. "Uh….just on the southern shore of the river, in-between the plains and the forest. We were building a boat, until Zazilie lured us here. Why do you ask?"
"No reason. Tell Kite I said I'd catch up later. I have someone to reunite with."