Oh god I've only uploaded the prologue and already I'm handing out terribly late updates. Jesus I am so sorry seriously.

The reason for such a late chapter update is because recently I've had serious trouble with writers block, like I didn't even feel like writing at all which seriously sucked. But I'm finally back on track and here with chapter one of stone cold ^^

I hope you like this chapter and sorry it's kind of short ~

OoO.

An ear wrecking shriek ran through the Condor, causing Finn to fall out of his chair, and made Aerrow subconsciously reach down to his belt which had been empty for over a month now.

The culprit behind the noise was Piper, therefore triggering the redhead to race to her, which seemed to be echoing from the hanger bay.

Images flashed with every step as he ran, eyes forgetting to blink as he worked to keep his cool. He reached her, panting with fear rather than need for breath.

Besides Piper who appeared to be fine, there was nothing around that he could see. Aerrow looked befuddled as he watched the Crystal Mage jumping on the spot with her amber eyes squeezed shut.

"Piper are you OK? What happened?"

Her eyes snapped open and the second she laid eyes on her friend, she practically pounced on him, waving a golden envelope in his face.

Her elated state heightened her voice to a squeak, "Oh Aerrow! Look! Look! Look! Look what came in the mail!"

"A letter?"

"Not just a letter; a Golden letter!" The Sky Knight held onto her, smiling at her giddiness but silent with confusion.

"That means it came from the Rex Guardians! I opened it and - just look Aerrow, look!" He obeyed and pulled the letter out of the already torn envelope. The writer had clearly mastered the beautiful art of calligraphy, and as he read it the teen guessed that a woman probably wrote it, until he spotted Harrier's signature at the bottom.

The letter was actually an invitation. Harrier and the Rex Guardians had funded a hotel, that had just been built in their honour. It was the grand opening tomorrow night and he was officially inviting them to spend a week in 'Hotel Le Rex' free of charge.

Which explained why Piper had been squealing high enough to shatter glass. It was one thing to visit the Terra and soak up their culture and art, but to be asked to attend the opening to a luxury hotel by the Sky Knight whom she admired? No wonder she couldn't stop jittering with delight.

Once the couple had returned to the rest of the squadron, and after they reassured Stork that it was safe to take the ear plugs out, they stood before the crew and readied to share the news.

A quick side glance and a sweet smile, then Aerrow announced with exaggerated enthusiasm "Alright guys pack your best clothes, we're going to Terra Rex for the week!"

"Aw man are you serious?" Finn groaned, slamming his head on the table.

While Aerrow could relate to the sharp shooter's grumbling, Piper was highly offended and nagged, "Finn, show some respect! Besides, we should feel honoured that we've actually been invited. It means more and more people are seeing us as an actual squadron, not only that, but it means they're recognising a sense of maturity with us too."

The blonde crossed his arms and grimaced, "Hmph either that or he was desperate to fill up the rooms."

In between munches on a sandwich that was dissolving in mustard Junko asked, "Opening to what?" And then he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, as if already trying to practice looking dignified.

Clasping her hands together, "Hotel Le Rex!" she exclaimed with a high pitch accompaniment, the Merb was unfortunately too late with the ear plugs.

Finn sighed, burying his face in his grubby hands.

"Finn," she chimed with sparkly eyes, "there's going to be free food for the whole week."

He jolted up, his face a whole new kind of happy, "I'm in!"

The boys packed their stuff, all the while with slumped shoulders and a moan rumbling in their throats. Because Piper insisted that she help each of them decide which clothes were acceptable for such a prestige place.

And she was glad she did too. Because Stork wanted to take a gas mask, Finn thought a shirt with a curry stain was acceptable, Junko had a pile of metal that he wanted to take to make his hotel room more "homey", and Aerrow thought that wearing his Sky Knight attire would be fine for most of the time.

Luckily she had actually managed to salvage some smart shirts, pants without patches or holes, and shoes that would be fine with a little spit shine.

Once that was out of the way, she hurried to her own room and fished out some skirts and dresses saved for a special occasion. The Crystal Mage grinned with enthusiasm as she looked in the slightly cracked mirror, and pictured herself in the grand hall of the glimmering hotel. Her cheeks flushed as she began twirling on the spot, her eyes drifting shut, as she imagined herself slow dancing with Aerrow.

Once they were all relatively presentable for a Terra such a Rex, Stork flew the Condor to the immense landing strip. Waiting for them on the freshly cut grass was an escort with his chest pushed outward, who lead them directly to the newly opened building with pride, which was littered with people and cameras. Just outside the grand doors was Harrier currently signing autographs, his golden hair shining as brightly as the sun.

Harrier wore a bloated grin, bearing his pearly whites. He wasn't wearing his armour or uniform, instead he was modelling a suit complete with frills and a bow tie. Finn couldn't reign back the urge to roll his eyes, and muttered the word "Lame."

He greeted the Storm Hawks with a gracious bow, which Piper happily curtsied to in response. On the way in through the doors each Storm Hawk shook his hand and politely thanked him for the invitation, almost exactly like Piper had told them.

Once they were all inside the Rex Guardian followed them in, and without a moment to spare began the tour, asking them to keep up as he was expecting more guests within an hour. Piper was by Harrier's side all the way, listening intently, asking questions about what kind of crystals they used for the lights and where they purchased the expensive looking busts from.

There were members of staff running around in an orderly fashion, carrying blinding white towels and pushing neatly organised trolleys. Each one greeted the guests respectfully.

As they reached the top of another flight of stairs, they passed Starling chatting to the Screaming Queens, and all of the ladies appeared to have dressed for the occasion.

It was odd seeing the Interceptor in a short dress and heels, she was even wearing a bit of make up, and had styled her hair. She looked so different, but so beautiful, Aerrow and Finn were gaping without even knowing.

Naturally the Crystal Mage excitedly approached them, telling them what a lovely coincidence it was to see them here.

After saying hello, Starling smirked and teased, "Ah Harrier, how big of you to invite the Storm Hawks here too, I'm so proud of you." She noticed the Storm Hawks looking a little confused, so when they passed her on the stairs she whispered to the young squadron, "Your action figures just came out and they're selling better than his."

"Dude no way! Is mine selling the most?"

A slight pause then she answered with a fake smile, "Yes."

"Sweet," Finn gleamed and fist pumped.

They were all shown to their rooms. Aerrow, Piper and Radar shared. The two of them tried to shroud their bashful faces after noticing that the beds were pretty close together.

Finn and Junko had a room together, and were reminded five times that if they were going to order room service to please keep the mess to a minimum.

Stork on the other hand was given a single and was grateful for it. He headed straight inside, and proceeded to spray a disinfectant all over.

It was expected of everyone to attend dinner tonight together. And because Piper kept giving Harrier all of her attention, Aerrow tried to look as formally as possible to impress her. So the redhead was wearing a white shirt, with a blue striped tie and black pants for the meal.

Piper came out of the bathroom with a midnight blue dress on that reached past her knees, with tiny gems twinkling at the bottom. Aerrow was dumbfounded when he first saw her, the words "You look beautiful" tumbled out of his mouth.

They met Finn and Junko out in the hallway. The sharpshooter was wearing a casual blue t-shirt and black jeans, because the Wallop mentioned that maybe shorts were a little too make-yourself-at-home, but he insisted on wearing the sunglasses. Junko had navy blue pants on, and a clean jumper that he kept nervously tugging on.

Stork was the last one out, and had not bothered to change, so he was wearing a white t-shirt, with a green jacket over the top, and was still wearing his Storm Hawk pants, because this place wasn't impressive enough to make that much of an effort.

Dinner was shared with the rest of the guests, and Piper found the atmosphere to be absolutely delightful. Everyone was smiling, relaxed and polite. The boys of the Storm Hawks had revised their manners and were actually acting them out which was a bonus.

The food was delicious, every morsel tickled your taste buds and left you hungry for more. Of course every time someone complimented it Harrier boasted as if he himself had prepared it, but everyone resisted the urge to sneer.

All the civilians were at the bottom of the massive table, and all the squadrons were grouped together at the top where Harrier sat. It was so pleasant hanging out with every singly knight of the sky, without any form of competition or reason to squabble ruining the tranquil mood.

Of course, Finn just had to start a session of joke telling. Unfortunately he started it with his lame impression of Ravess, and was ignorant to the fact that they were laughing at him not with him. But it kept the evening light and other peoples jokes were actually good.

One of the Buff Buzzards spoke up, "OK wanna hear a good joke?" He waited for a few nods then said, "Cyclonia!" There were chuckles and amused head shakes from the Sky Knights, and he even got a few "You got that right!"

The Sky Knight of the third degree burners then said "You think that's funny? Listen to this," he waited for the crowd to silence and focus on him, "How many Cyclonians does it take to screw in a light bulb? Doesn't matter, they never figure out how to use the ladder!" That one received an explosion of laughter, people declaring how true it was and slapping the guys shoulder.

In the middle of the horde of laughter, Aerrow sat there quietly. The fun had died out for him. They didn't know what they were talking about, sure the Talons were a little clumsy, but not all of them were mock worthy. One in particular certainly didn't deserve to be spoken about in such a way.

But there was nothing he could do, expect sit, listen, and force out a laugh and offer a strained smile.

"Anyone got some about Dark Ace or Cyclonis?"

It was almost like they had been rehearsing for such an opening, because immediately Sky Knights started to stand up, one after the other, and execute their humour on the two famous faces of the hated Terra.

"Dark Ace must have be born in the wastelands, because that's where most accidents happen!"

"Cyclonis' parents hated her so much that her bath toy was a toaster!"

"Dark Ace couldn't pour water out of a shoe if the instructions were on the heel!"

Aerrow couldn't even look at them, and was trying to concentrate on the plate in front of him, he felt utterly appalled.

He had to restrain a disappointed expression when Finn spoke up, "Dude you should see the drawing of him on our fridge."

There was a sputter of laughter, feeling encouraged the blonde continued "Yeah, we use it as target practice!"

"Now there's an idea!"

The redhead couldn't take it, his emerald eyes were glazed with despair and he wouldn't be able to hold back if someone asked him to join in. He leaned to Piper and told her he was going to their room.

"But we haven't even had the entrée yet."

"I know, but I...I feel ill," with that he got up, nearly knocking over his water and sped for the door with hectic urgency.

The Rex Guardian with a goatee called out to him, "Where are you going Aerrow? Come on I want a story about you kicking that bastards ass!"

The redhead mumbled, barely forming the excuse properly, "No I have to go, sorry."

As soon as he was out of the dining room, he was sprinting up the stairs with breakneck speed. His bedroom couldn't be close enough, and when he was finally safe behind the closed door, he sank to the floor with a hand over his mouth as he fought to muffle his grief.

They had no idea. Dark Ace had died to save them. He felt enraged at them all down there. And of course soon he was welling up with guilt, for thinking so negatively about his comrades. All these feelings were supposed to have died with the zombies. Unable to handle it he rested his head on his knees.

Tears were forming. Aerrow clenched his fists, "No," he growled, "I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to cry...he'd be pissed off if I cried over him." He sniffled and shook his head "Come on, get a grip."

A knock on the door sent him flying forward in a panic, he got up and straightened himself out, hastily wiping the tears that had not yet fallen from his eyes.

"Aerrow? Can we come in?"

"Yes..."

It was Piper and Junko, their faces long with concern. "I thought you might have been in bed, are you OK? Your eyes are red."

Unable to conjure words their leader merely nodded and swallowed hard, then proceeded to sit on the bed and take his shoes off, pretending like he was actually planning to go.

"Can I get you anything buddy?"

"No thanks Junko I uh, probably just have a stomach bug or something, I'll be OK, I should just sleep it off." He flashed them a smile, trying to make it glow as brightly as it had been this past month, but he had a feeling he'd failed, their expressions proved him right.

Piper was the first to speak, rubbing her arm nervously, "Well if you're sure. I'll be up soon anyway." And then she left, looking back a few times in the hopes that he might stop her.

Much to his dismay Junko stood firm. He was wearing a warm smile, a smile that made people curious as to how he'd managed to survive growing up on Terra Wallop.

The flight engineer took a seat beside his Sky Knight and placed a hand on his shoulder, then spoke with a soft voice. "Aerrow, I just want you to know that if something is bothering you, and you want to have a talk in confidence, I'm here. You can confide in me, I won't say anything to anyone."

Junko was offering a blessing of silence, and he believed his friend, and for a split second he considered telling him everything; The zombies, the multiple deaths he had witnessed, the time travel, the Dark Ace. But that consideration was only for a second, and then reason fought it's way through and regained his attention.

"Thanks Junko, I appreciate it, but uh...I'm fine, honest. Just a little queezy." He offered the Wallop another 'reassuring' smile, but it soon sunk into a frown when Junko stared back at him looking offended.

"You know, if you want to feign illness, at least sound like your sick, or rub your forehead like you've got a headache or something." Then he stood up quietly, leaving Aerrow speechless and anxious.

He opened the door and just before leaving said quietly, "I won't say anything, or ask any more, I promise, and my word is my bond. So I'm going to ask once more, and I would really appreciate an honest answer. Aerrow, is there something bothering you?"

There eyes were locked for a moment that lasted a lifetime. The teen was frozen in an inner debate, a simple one word answer conflicting him. Finally his brows creased, he swallowed with defeat, and dryly answered "Yes."

OoO.

There ya go hope it was worth the wait ^^" I will try with all my might to update quicker next time.

Please review if you read and liked :)

Until next time!