Asiatica was green, brown, and soon to be very, very, red. Nightwing glanced at the terra from his skimmer, eying the large carriers that would be very useful, in the years to come. He gave Gaeli the "okay", and she dove down from the sky, trailing Talons and crystal fuel in her wake.

The Asiaticans didn't know what hit them.

Blasts came from all directions: North, South, East, West, and everything in between. Nightwing and Notte took to the flanks, Talons firing in on what they called "The Lobster Claw". Gaeli was the mouth, Nightwing and Notte the pincers.

And Gaeli was one hungry lobster...

Black and white skimmers took off from the terra. The Fighting Taoists had arrived.

Their crystal weapons were all white hot, powered by rare Ying Stones. Skimmers melted to metal goop with a few well aimed blasts. Nightwing converted his ride, then landed. They would take this fight to the ground.

The Taoists were pretty feisty. They were smart enough to realize that this was a time to fight first, ask questions later. And they weren't that bad, either.

Better than those blasted Rebel Ducks, anyhow.

"HYAH!" He watched as a few slim, black clad women danced onto the battlefield, slashing out with silver swords that glinted in the sunlight. Ninjas? Holy shit, this terra had frigging NINJAS?!

Gaeli danced around, waving her bow and arrow above her head. "Whoop de da doo, you guys are fast!" she barked.

Notte was having problems of his own; a group of women were on his tail, and not in the good way.

"HEY! HEY! The pan stays away!"

"GOOOOONG!" The kettle slammed into his head.

"YEOW! Okay, sweetheart, you asked for it." Notte drew his sword and charged after her.

Nightwing joined Gaeli in a spirited fight against the...ninja people.

"You know..." she grunted between blows. "Maybe...they shouldn't have been ranked that low."

"Yeah, more like a...fifty."

A sword clipped at her shoulder, drawing blood. She gulped. "More like a forty five."

A dagger narrowly missed Nightwing's head. "Okay, okay! Thirty!"

The men charged. He ducked underneath them and fired from behind. They crumpled. He blew imaginary smoke away from his sword and grinned. "That's how the Wing-man ROLLS!"

"Wing-man?" Gaeli exclaimed. "That's..."

"Hot?"

"I was gonna say STUPID, but...whatever."

"BEHIND YOU!"

She wheeled around, in time to fire a crystal tipped arrow at her attacker. The black clad woman crumpled, blood trickling down her chest and to the ground. Gaeli let out a breath.

The battle raged for a few more hours. Finally, Notte charged up to Nightwing.

"They're pretty good," he panted. "But if we grab our skimmers NOW, and attack the town-"

"Maybe they'll surrender. Good idea. Gaeli, round up the Talons. We're making an aerial attack."

"Ai'ight," she shouted. "Talons, to your rides, on the double, GO, GO, GO!"

The Talons ran, sheathing their weapons, their feet raising hell and raising dust as they dashed to their skimmers.

"On my count...Three, two, one...GO!" Nightwing pulled the converter clutch and rose to the air, Notte, Gaeli, and his Talons not far behind. The dove over the town, the Taoists valiantly trying to take off after them.

"Fire!"

Blasts filled the air. The town was ripped apart, women and children screaming, men roaring with anger and defiance.

"HEY! HEY, Nightwing. The Taoists," Gaeli shouted. "They're retreating."

Nightwing turned towards the black and white skimmers, flying towards the setting sun, into the west. And then, he noticed a blue white streak, moving quickly. The Condor. "No," he whispered as she drew close to him. "They're running for help."

Stork peeked out of the periscope, scanning the horizon, when...

"Smoke! Smoke, from Asiatica!"

"Cyclonians..." Piper breathed. She grabbed the other periscope and swiveled it to face the terra. "Oh, this is bad."

Aerrow held out his hand; Piper handed the periscope to him. He took one look, then pulled back and hardened his brow.

"We've gotta help."

The alarms blared. Stork turned to face his commander. "Proximity alert. Unknown skimmers, approaching from the terra. Do we allow them to land?"

"Who are they?"

"Um, what part of 'unknown skimmers' did you not get?" Stork barked. "Anyways, they can't be Cyclonian. They'd show up on my radar."

"Let them land. We'll meet them in the hanger bay."

Stork flipped the switch that turned off the alarms and watched as the rest of the team ran towards the landing pad. Spark, however, was pale and still.

"I...led them here..." And she looked out the window, at the burning terra below.

The skimmers were black and white, streaked with silver, a Ying Yang sign painted on the wings. They landed quickly, easily, abruptly. The head skimmer was the largest, and its rider was easily the leader of them all.

Aerrow stepped forward, a wary hand extended. The man did not take it; instead, he lowered his head in a small bow. Aerrow returned it, before staring into the man's hard, brown eyes.

"I am General Ying Huo. You may call me Commander Ying. I am the leader of the Fighting Taoists. From the looks of things, we need assistance."

"Well, we're glad to help."

"Do you know who they are?" Ying asked, pointing at the many skimmers attacking his home.

"Cyclonians," Aerrow responded. Ying raised an eyebrow. Aerrow shrugged.

"I'm sure you know who WE are," Fauc said with a grin. "We're famous."

"Of course. The Storm Hawks. But...I don't recognize you," Ying said with a smirk.

"He's with me," Finn replied, rather tersely. "My son."

Spark suddenly burst into the hanger bay, red hair akimbo. Aerrow beckoned, and she raced down the steps, dodging the Fighting Taoist's skimmers.

"I'm Spark. Aerrow's daughter."

"Pleasure, I'm sure. But...for now..." Ying nodded towards the terra. "We need help."

"Well, so do we. We have no skimmers, no weapons. I can't explain now, it's a long story. But we can't attack, not yet. We'll wait until nightfall, after we've resupplied. Fair?"

Ying nodded. "I am almost shamed to ask, but may we impose on your hospitality for a few hours longer?"

"Of course. And do not be ashamed, General. We're all on the same side, here."

Ying glanced at Aerrow with wary eyes. "I would not be so sure of that, if I were you." And he entered the Condor, as if nothing had happened.

Ying Huo means Metal Fire in Chinese. Just putting that out there.