Yeah, it's been quite a while since I've written a chapter for this one. I've been just so busy and caught up in my other stories that I've kind have forgotten about this one. Oops. Anyway, first chapter in a REALLY long time, so I hope you like it.
Chapter 9: Gale
Dove flew through the skies, troubled. As a new member in the Rebel Duck squadron, she had spending even more time protecting Terra Gale than ever before. It wasn't like it was too hard, the majority of those who came to Gale were lowly rogues squadrons who could barely fly themselves. They were easily dispatched and thrown into jail in a manner of minutes. However, it wasn't the rogues that were bothering her; it was the rumors of the return of the Cyclonian Empire. She, like the rest of the Sky Knights, had seen Cyclonia fall and the Storm Hawks giving chase to Master Cyclonis. The Storm Hawks definitly defeated her for sure. But, it has been three years, she thought, what if they failed.
She shook her head violently; she wasn't allowed to think that way. The Storm Hawks were the best, if Cyclonis ever did escape again; they'd still follow her until her terror was over.
Just as her mind started to wander off, Dove's communicator on her bike blinked rapidly.
"Dove, there's trouble on the west side of Gale. Hurry over, quick!" called her commander.
Alert, Dove quickly turned around and headed for the west side of Gale.
Upon arriving at the scene, Dove couldn't believe what she saw. Cyclonian troops, everywhere. They were destroying everything and causing all types of chaos. Already, the rest of the Rebel Ducks were in the heat of the fight. Despite the obvious questions regarding the return of the Cyclonians, Dove entered the fray with intensity.
Wielding her energy staff with skill, Dove cut down the Cyclonian troops. However, they were so many of them that the Ducks were starting to become overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. The Ducks began to fall back and the Cyclonians advanced. Dove, still fighting her hardest, knew it was only a matter of time until they'd be overrun. The Ducks were pushed back further until they were trapped by a sea of Cyclonian solders. The soldiers laughed as they prepared to end the meddlesome squadron.
Dove, still trying to fend off the troops, heard a sound in the distance. It was a sound she'd never forget: the horn of the Condor. Sure enough, coming from the cloud line, the veteran battleship of the Storm Hawks appeared.
-00000-
On the Condor, everyone was getting back into the swing of things. Aerrow reclaimed his room and began with Piper and, surprisingly, Finn on battle tactics and strategy in dealing with the rogues and Cyclonians. Junko and Stork continued to fine tune the ship.
While looking at the map, Piper noticed Terra Gale to the south.
"Hey, guys. Why don't we stop by and say hello?" Piper suggested, "It's only been three years."
"Getting pestered by some crazy old man?" Finn said, "No thanks."
"Dove will be there," Piper teased.
Finn thought about it for a minute, "I'm in!" Aerrow and Piper only laughed.
However, a few miles out of Terra Gale, the sirens in the ships blared to life.
"What is it?" Junko asked.
"Cyclonians, attacking Gale," Finn said solemnly, looking at the scene.
"Let's go, guys!" Piper yelled, heading to the hanger. However, she stopped, seeing Aerrow blocking the way.
"Why don't you guys let me handle this?" he said.
"Uh, Aerrow. There's an army out there. I don't think one guy is going to cut it," Finn pointed out.
Stork piped, "He's right you know. The chance of survival in this situation is .00000000001 to none."
Aerrow simply waved it off, "Guys, don't worry. I haven't got the chance to show you guys what I can do."
"But-" Piper tried to say. "But nothing, trust me, I'll be fine." And he was out of the room in seconds.
-00000-
Dove looked up at the carrier with a mixture of relief and confusion. With the Storm Hawks here, the Cyclonians were done for. But how did they get back and what took them so long?
Out of the carrier, a small figure came speeding down towards them. It wasn't a skimmer; it was too small. If anything, it looked like someone was on a surf board of some type. The Cyclonians laughed at the figure, asking what someone could do on that thing.
-00000-
The rest of the team watched as Aerrow approached the troops with nothing but his air board from the Far Side. They all just stared stupidly.
"Anyone else think that our leader just went from being completely reckless to completely insane?" Finn asked.
Everyone just nodded their heads. This wouldn't be the last time they would question Aerrow's sanity.
-00000-
While the troops laughed at the absurdity of the situation, none of them were prepared for the full-on assault the newcomer was about to bring. Coming in fast, the newcomer turned sharply, knocking off one of the troops with his board. Looping around them, the fighter proceeded with the same process until they realized what was happening. The troops shot at the fighter would with an eased casualness dodge with little effort. In fact, his hands were in his pockets the entire time, not even bothering with any type of normal balance.
The troops charged at him, furious for being taken so lightly. As they came closer, the fighter jumped from his board and flipped over the skimmers at the same type knocking off the pilots to them. He then landed perfectly on his board, made an about turn and faced the rest of the troops.
Dove and the other Ducks watched with awe. Just who was this guy? He may have come out of the Condor, but this guy was just insane; extremely skilled, but still insane. What type of person readily takes on an entire army with nothing but some flying surf board? Then again, it was working. Dove studied the man, she definitely had never seen him before, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was somewhat familiar.
The troops charged at the fighter again. This time the fighter flew towards the outcropping land masses around them. With his board, he was able to maneuver much better than the bulky skimmers that the Cyclonians had. As a result, several of them ran into the random land masses. The fighter seeing his opponents dwindling fast flew directly towards one of the bigger land masses. He came closer and closer, but still didn't change his course. A few of the Cyclonians, scared, flew away in fear of running into the wall. The others continued, determined to get rid of the pest. When he was less than a foot away from the wall, the fighter suddenly shot up, hovering upward inches from the wall. As he ascended up the wall, the Cyclonians following him all ran into the wall.
Coming back up, the fighter saw that there were only six troops left. Raising an eyebrow, he asked them, "So, who's next?"
Looking at one another, the troops hightailed it out of Gale, not bothering to pick up their fallen comrades.
Laughing, the fighter flew towards the stunned Ducks. He was met with three others that came from the Condor, all on skimmers.
"You do realize that you've completely skipped crazy and went straight to insanity," a blond young man said to the fighter.
The fighter smiled, "I told you that I'd fine."
The girl of the group shook her head, "Finn's right, Aerrow. What you just did was nothing that a sane person would do."
"Since when have we've done what sane people do?" Aerrow asked, offended.
The Wallop interjected, "He has a point, you guys." The other two merely shrugged.
Dove and the Ducks gaped at the conversation. Did they? Did they just-? How could? WHAT?
Dove came closer and examined them for a moment. "Storm Hawks?" she said, barely a whisper.
The group all smiled. The blond winked at her, "Come on, Dove. Don't tell me that you don't remember the Finnster?"
"Like she'd want to remember," Piper added.
"Hey!"
Realizing who they all were, Dove turned to Aerrow, "Aerrow?"
"It's good to see you again, Dove," tipping his hat to her.
Slowly, a bright, wide smile appeared on her face, "It's you! It's really you!"
"Of course. Who else would we be?" Finn said.
"Finn, go easy on her," Piper patronized, "Remember the reactions we got in Atmosia? What was she supposed to think?"
"Easy, Piper," Finn ginned, "I'm only joking."
As Finn and Piper continued to argue, Junko asked, "So, you're a full member of the Ducks now, huh? Congratulations!"
"Thank you," Dove replied sheepishly. Then she turned to Aerrow, "So do you mind telling me want the Cyclonians are doing here?"
The smile on Aerrow's face faltered a little, but stayed in place. "That's a long story."
-00000-
After some time, both parties were up to speed on things. The Ducks learned of the Storm Hawks travels and adventures, while the Storm Hawks learned in better detail the situation in the Atmos. Aerrow was troubled by the situation. He wished that they could have done something about it. Nevertheless, even with the rogues everywhere, their number one priority was taking care of Cyclonis. She and the Dark Ace were still the Atmos' biggest threat, and they needed to be stopped.
After spending some time in Gale, the Storm Hawks set out again, looking for Cyclonian activity. As they left, Dove watched with a new sense of hope. With the Storm Hawks back, the real ones, the Atmos was bound to be safe again.
Unknown to her or anyone else, a figure had watched the entire battle and scene with great interest. Slipping away, the figure had great news to tell his master.
Yeah this chapter was mostly just to get across the point that Aerrow went from the reckless daredevil that he was to just full out insanity. Why, because he can now, all that training with the crazy chicken farmer did its work. Then again, in the Far Side story bits I came up with in my mind, Aerrow had to come up with random and very "original" ways to stay alive. So, yeah, any fear of losing, getting hurt, or even dying are completely non-computable in his head any more.
Again, sorry for not writing this story more often. I've just been so into my other ones that it's been taking time away from this one. If I ever do get back into writing this more, the story does pick up quite a lot. I promise.
Until then, hope you enjoyed and please review and give suggestions!
Disclaimer – I don't own Storm Hawks