The Dark Side of the Moon
The Condor
"It's a new day, but it all feels old. It's a good life, that's what I'm told. But it all just feels the same."-Good Charlotte
The day that would lead to a devastating downward spiral of disastrous events began like any other.
At least for the Storm Hawks.
The youngest squadron in all Atmos had grown quite famous by their third year of fighting in the name of Atmosia. True, when they first started out almost no one believed in them, even though they had actually saved Atmos from complete and total conquest at Master Cyclonis' hands within their first week of operation. No, they had received no admiration at all, but they took it good nature. They didn't care, and they didn't let it bother them. What should the opinions of a couple old geezers matter to them anyway?
That's what Finn usually said, anyway.
Right... time for introductions.
Well, first and foremost, was their sky knight. Now a fine young lad of seventeen, Aerrow was still very slight in frame. No over-toned muscles or anything of that kind. Don't assume that he was a weakling though, there was definitely a good amount of iron-like muscle hidden under that flight suit. His hair, still as vibrant and red as ever, remained unruly and wild. Eyes as green as a forest in summer remained optimistic and palyful, though some of the almost child-like joy had faded. Three years of fighting Cyclonia will do that to a person. Said fighting did little to mar his enthusiasm though, despite the number of serious and almost fatal injuries that befell him.
Next up, Aerrow's wingman and best friend, Finn. Still as blonde and blue-eyed as ever, were afraid. And still just as boisterous. The past three years did nothing to dampen his outlook on life. He was perhaps the most wiry of them all, considering he never thought to actually try and tone his muscles. He figured he was irresistable enough as he was. No need for an overkill, he said. No, of course not.
Finn's best bud, Junko, was the one who handled ballistics and heavy-lifting. A wallop like no other, Junko succeeded in remaining innocent and care-free on the outside, but no one knew what he was like on the inside. He was good at hding things like that from others. Most just assumed he was a carfefree, ignorant infant. Really though, he was far from it. Junko could often be counted on to get his friends out of unfavorable situations, whether by brawn or brain depended on the day.
The navigator and tactician, as well as crystal specialist, Piper. Dark-skinned and dark-haired, but her bright golden eyes gave her an almost exotic appearance. Intelligent but short of temper, Piper is almost the mother of the group, she definitely naggs like one. That's what Finn says. Finn seems to say a lot of things, doesn't he? Of all the Storm Hawks, Piper can be considered the second-most complictaed. You can never really tell what she's thinking.
When she's in a good mood, at least.
Last but not least, the Pilot. Stork. A pessimist to the end. A typical merb, Stork is gangly, cynical, and intelligent. In a sick kind of way... He has a deep connection with the ship he flies, and can coax it into doing almost anything. He's the oldest of them all, perhaps 23. No one knows. The rest are all Aerrow's age.
Now, enough with the talking, let's get to the actual story.
An average day. Average weather, average activities, average moods.
EVeryone woke up their usual order, with Finn being the last to wake, as usual, and their morning routines were performed like they always were. Stork steered the ship, Junko helped. Finn was messsing around with his guitar, Piper was out on her daily deck jog, and Aerrow was working on his ride.
Yes, perfectly normal.
If by normal you mean boring... let's liven things up a bit.
Stork had been steering the ship gently over Terra Neon, they had been planning on meeting Starling there later on that night. It was her birthday, and while she didn't know it, the Storm Hawks were planning on surprising her. That plan was thrown out the window however, when the radio sounded.
"Storm Hawks, come in Storm Hawks."
The merb frowned from his spot at the controls, and flipped on the ship's intercom.
"Uh, guys? We got a call, coming from..."
He paused, and flipped the radio on to the loudspeakers. He turned to Junko and motioned for him to stop what he was doing and come over. The huge wallop had been fixing a leak in the water pipe that connected to the kitchen, but put down his tools and came to stand by Stork's side at the helm. Stork nodded his head at the radio and cast the wallop an exasperated look before turning back around and clearing his throat.
"We read you loud and clear. Aerrow, Piper, FInn? You hearing us?"
A series of 'rogers' sounded throughout the ship, signaling the loudspeakers were working right. Stork's lip twitched upward for a moment, he'd been working on that setting for weeks now.
"Good, listen up."
"Starling? Weren't we supposed to meet you later on tonight?"
"Yes yes I know, but this is an emergency. Come to Terra Atmosia, now."
"Why, what's going on?"
"The sky council has issued an mandatory and immediate meeting of all the Sky Knight squadrons, in operation or otherwise. I don't know what it's about, but there hasn't been a meeting like this in-"
"In at least a hundred years. Something is definitely up."
"Right, Piper. Get over here, now. Sorry that we couldn't make that Terra Neon trip."
"Hey, there's always next year, right?"
"Next year?"
"Oh, uh... don't mind Junko. He-"
"Nevermind. Just get over here, now. The council won't wait much longer, and I want you guys to be here for this."
"Alright, we'll be there as soon as we can. Storm Hawks, out."
The radio buzzed out, but the speakers remained on. Stork and Junko glanced at each other, one concerned while the other was merely interested in what the infamous Sky Council could possibly want from them. Like Piper had said, a meeting of this type hadn't occured in a century. Not even when the war between the Sky Knights nand the Cyclonians had become official. Official? Please. A war doesn't need to be acknowledged to be real.
A few minutes later, when everyone had gathered at the kitchen table, the Storm Hawks proceeded to brainstorm on what the meeting could possibly be about. The ship had been put on autopilot, so Stork was able to sit down and think with the rest of the team. Aerrow considered a mass invasion being planned by Cyclonia, Piper thought maybe a third Helix Stone had been discovered, and Stork, as usual, thought it had something to do with a mass disease outbreak.
"II'm telling you, it's probably got something to do with Hyde Rabies! You can only get it after you've been bitten by a Cyclonian Blood Hyde Trackerbeast, no known cure..."
"Stork, Trackerbeasts can only be found in Cyclonia. How would we get them here?"
"They must've escaped! They are highly intelligent, you know." Not really, you don't have to be a genius
"The Cyclonians treasure their Trackerbeasts. How would they let it be possible for them to escape?"
Stork was silent for a moment, and Aerrow and Piper glanced at each other, before his eyes lit up with a horrified gleam.
"Oh no. Aerrow, you were right, the Cyclonians are planning an invasion! They're going to use their beats to infect us with Hyde Rabies, and destroy us from the inside! And you know the worst part? They won't even have to get their hands dirty..."
His eye was set a-twitching as he saw the plan unfold in his head, while his teammates stared with both concern and fright. Their pilot really had an active imgination. 'Active' is one word. Piper was then first to recover, she shook her head and cleared her throat.
"Um, Stork. How close are we to Atmosia?"
The pilots ears snapped up and he practically lept out of his chair. With a quick, 'I'll be right back,' he jogged back in the direction of the bridge. Aerrow sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and prevent the headache he knew was coming. Though they'd been working together for three years, Stork's personality still managed to wear him out every know and again. The fact that the Sky Council was calling a meeting that hadn't occured in a hundred years didn't help.
Just then, Stork's voice rang out on the intercom.
"Um, we've arrived at Terra Atmosia, everyone. Now... where do I park?"
Finn and Junko both stopped the small side conversation they were having and looked at the intercom as if it had just told them the Dark Ace was a girl. That is, they looked at it with an expression of extreme fascination. Heh.
"What are you talking about, Stork?"
"Come and see for yourself."
Aerrow put his hand down and cast Piper a glance, but she merely shrugged and stood up. The others followed and made their way to the bridge. When they arrived, what they saw made them weak at the knees. They had indeed arrived, but the usualy calm Terra was flooded with ships. They littered the grounds, hovered about the skys, and gave the Terra a very intimidating appearance, as if it was prepared for war. Because, in a way, it was. They just didn't know it yet.
"Wow..."
"That's... a lot of squadrons."
Aerrow was really concerned, now. Just hearing that there was a mass emergency wasn't enough. But now that he was actually seeing the ships and the skimmers, it seemed like the full weight of the situation was htting him.
And then, the radio buzzed.
"Storm Hawks, welcome to Terra Atmosia. Please park the Condor next to the Third Degree Burner's carrier, if you please."
"Excuse us?"
It was a voice they'd never heard before that came on the radio then, and they weren't expecting it. They had been expecting the weak, yet authoritative voice of one the Sky council members, or maybe even the voice of a fellow Sky Knight. But the voice that came over the radio was unfamiliar. It sounded like it belonged to a young man perhaps a year older than Aerrow.
"Oh, excuse me. My name is Vaan, I'm the Sky council's head guard. I'll be present at the meeting today, I look forward to meeting you."
"Head guard?"
"The Council will explain later. Please, park your ship and come down to the Council hall as soon as possible, there is an extremely important matter that must be addressed today."
"Uh... okay. Thank you, Vaan."
"Of course."
Finn glared at the radio. He didn't like the sound of that guy's voice, though he couldn't really place why. Piper saw his expression and asked him what was wrong.
"It's nothing, that guy just doesn't sound right. I mean, he didn't even say 'your welcome.' I'm not looking forward to meeting him."
Junko quirked a brow at his friend and put a hand on his thin shoulder.
"Aw, come on Finn. I'm sure he can't be that bad, can he? I mean, he works for the Sky Council after all."
"Yeah, and Carver was the most famous and respected Sky Knight ever. And look where he is!" Don't you mean, where he was? Oh wait... we haven't gotten that far yet.
"Look, whether or not you like him doesn't matter. We are here to listen nto what the Council needs to tell us. That's it. Stork? "
"Yeah, yeah."
The Condor swerved down to the Terra below, and flew among the many carrier ships that rested on the hillside by the beacon tower. They soon saw the familiar bulk of the Third Degree Burner's ship, and Stork seated the ship down next to it. After putting on their armor and grabbing their weapons, just in case, they headed outside. Even the nearly-uninhabited hill was bustling with activity. The Storm Hawks waved and smiled at familiar faces as they made their way to the town square. They recognized the Necks Deeps', the Rebel Duck's, and the Screaming Queens' ships when they passed by them, and there were even a few ships they didn't recognize.
They managed to make it to the center of town before they saw their pals, the Absolute Zeros. Unfortunately, their furry friends were too busy wrapped up in conversation to even notice their prescnce, and they passed by without a second glance, despite Aerrow calling out their names in an attempt to get their attention. When they were out of sight, the confused Sky Knight turned back to his squadron. He lifted a hand and gestured with his thumb in the direction that the blizzarians had left, but they merely shrugged.
He frowned, but rolled his eyes and turned to face the tall, familiar figure of the Grand Council Hall.
"Well, time to figure out what all the hulla-ballu is about, right?"
"Starling?"
The Storm Hawks turned naround to find the last remaining Interceptor smiling at them.
"Hey! You wouldn't happen to know what this meeting is about, would you?"
Starling laughed as she walked past them up the stairs, she stopped when she reached the large oak doors. Hm... investing in something a bit more secure would be smart, don't you think? I mean, there are plenty of people who aren't that fond of our 'beloved' Sky Council...
"Always right to the point, right Aerrow?"
She pulled open the door on the left and gestured for them to enter.
"What do you say we find out?"
Aerrow smirked and turned back to his team. He flicked his head in the direction of the doors and started up the stairs, his team following suit. Starling smiled and followed them inside.
And the door slammed shut behind them.