Updated June, 2011
When we last left our young adventurers they had received some startling news about their greatest adversary...
Heart of Darkness...Say What!
The Storm Hawks stared at the tall general who had just dropped a bombshell on them. The looks on their faces could only be described as disbelief. Only one person spoke after the brief silence.
"Of course! There is only one explanation!" Stork yelled after reaching, what he believed to be, the truth. "On Terra Bargus, a volatile little terra on the far side of Cyclonian territory, there is a nasty parasite known to burrow into victims unfortunate enough to land on the terra. It slowly hollows out the body of the victim in what can only be described as a slow, painful, and maddening experience. Then, when nothing is left inside, it wear's the skin of it's victim in hopes of luring whatever friends it may have had to come land on the terra to secure its next meal."
Now it was the Sky General's turn to be dumbstruck as everyone in the room turned to look at the twitching merb. "But," Stork continued. "it's unheard of for them to wear the skins longer than a week, or to run a giant empire bent conquering The Atmos. All the more reason for us to truly be afraid. Remember, wear thick belts, they enter at the base of the spine."
"Is that a real creature?" Asked Stryker, genuinely concerned about the sanity of the young merb.
"The better question is, do you really want to know?" Aerrow stated.
"Right, moving on then." Stryker said, still trying to clear his head. "While that scenario is indeed disturbing, to say the least, it is not the problem at hand."
"This doesn't make any sense." Piper stated." If Cyclonis died three years ago, who have we been fighting against?"
"I do believe I said not to interrupt." Said Stryker, anger rising into his voice. "Three years ago we sent an assassin to kill Cyclonis. The previous Cyclonis had died and we felt it best to eliminate the heir to the throne while things were in disarray. A week passed with no word from our an unmanned Cyclonian messenger ship crashed into one of our border terras with only one box on board. It contained our assassin, and a note that simply said 'Better luck next time -Cyclonis'. We naturally assumed the mission a failure and sealed all relating documents. It was never spoken of again, until today, and this information shall not leave this room."
"Wait a second!" Aerrow chimed in, anger in his voice. "Cyclonis would have been 11 years old at that time. You sent an assassin to kill a little girl? What kind of strategy is that?"
"Are you saying things are better right now with her alive?" Stryker countered.
"That's not the issue here!" Yelled back an angered Aerrow.
"No it's not. The fact that she IS alive is the issue here!" Said Stryker, banging his fist onto the table with a very loud thud. He was becoming very agitated with the fiery haired youth before him. "Now, if I may continue?" Stryker straightened his uniform while regaining his composure and then signaled to one of the guards in the back of the room. The lights dimmed, and Stryker produced a small crystal from his pocket and placed it into a device on the table. Light flared up from the machine, an image was projected onto the wall behind Stryker. The image was of a plain light blue crystal. "Do any of you know what this is?" Asked Styker, surveying the faces of group in front of him. Only one raised their hand in response. Stryker pointed his finger at her, signaling her to answer.
"It's a Flow Crystal." Piper stated, a bit confused at the sight of it.
"So what's a Flow Crystal, and why is it so special?" Asked Aerrow.
"It's not. They aren't anything special, and they not even rare. There used on ships and terras with low pressure flows to push water through pipes. Very common." Piper stated, "Why is this so important? And what does it have to do with Cyclonis?"
Stryker pulled a remote out of his pocket and pushed the button on it. The image behind changed to show another Flow Crystal behind him, only this one was of a completely different shape than the one before. "This image is from the files Starling managed to extract from the Cyclonian database. These same files also confirm that the assassin we sent in actually had accomplished his mission. He was killed escaping the citadel, by Dark Ace no less."
"If the assassin succeeded in his mission, then how is The Goth Queen still kicking?" asked Finn, he was holding his head now as his was getting a headache from everything being thrown at him and only understanding half.
"None of you have noticed it yet?" Asked Stryker, a smug grin spreading across his face." Take a close look at the crystal again,"
The Storm Hawks all leaned in on the table, squinting their eyes and widening them, trying to see what they were missing. Piper, being the resident crystal expert, began taking in every facet and gleam on the Flow Crystal image.
Her thoughts began to put together the basic facts. About the size of a fist with odd bulging on the sides, no symmetry, and holes seemed to have been drilled into the sides at different sections, but connect at a central chamber within the crystal. Hmmm, I'd swear it almost looks like...and then she let a gasp, realization of what the crystal was hit her.
"I see one of you has finally grasped it." Stryker said, impatience once again apparent in his voice. "Piper was it? If you would please inform your fellow teammates before the wallop and the blonde boy have an aneurysm."
"It's a heart." Piper stated, disbelief apparent on her voice.
"Yes, a heart, to replace the one that our assassin had run his blade through." Stryker said, his voice now carrying a grim tone. "She was technically dead for a grand total of one day, two hours, and 34 minutes. According to the files, it was during this time that the Dark Ace 'procured' a crystal expert who was studying crystals for medical uses. The expert was pushed to create this little miracle of modern crystal technology and implant it into a dead Cyclonis. And just like that Cyclonis was brought back into the world. I will NOW take your questions, which I am sure you have plenty of."
The Storm Hawks just stared at him.
It was Finn who broke the silence. "Wait just a sec, I'm still trying to figure this all out. Even with a crystal for a heart, that doesn't explain how she came back to life. I mean, Piper said that type of crystal is common, how can it bring her back to life just by placing it in her chest to replace a heart? I mean, just cause you replace something with something else, doesn't mean everything magically works again, right?"
"Good question, though I am surprised to hear it come from you." Stryker said, with a slight smile.
"Well I am just full of surprises." Finn said, taking Stryker's comment as a compliment.
Piper rolled her eyes. "Finn's right though. It wouldn't be enough to reanimate someone by just replacing it. No one knows what it would take."
"Except Cyclonis." Aerrow chimed in. "Since she is alive, they must know how it's done. Did the files say anything about that?"
"No, unfortunately, the files are only partially complete." Said Stryker, the annoyed tone now returning to his voice. "Starling had to take to file in small bits at a time, leaving us with only a third of the necessary information. Starling's cover was compromised before she could complete this task because she decided to help when… how did you put it?" Stryker asked, looking at Finn with a glare in his eye and a sneer in his voice. "Got stuck in Cyclonis' 'Weather What-cheri-do'."
Finn was trying desperately now to disappear underneath the table. Junko was looking up examining the ceiling very intently, trying to avoid Stryker's glare.
"That aside," continued Stryker "the mystery of her resurrection is not the only issue we are facing."
"How could it be worse?" inquired a slightly agitated Finn.
"Oh there are too many ways for me to count off. I'll show you my list later." Stork said with a slight grin.
"It would appear," Stryker continued, hoping to get along before the merb could let off a few choice examples. He cleared his throat. "It would appear that Cyclonis was not happy to let the crystal inside her stay a common crystal. She has, from what we can tell from the fractured files, been adding improvements since a month after it was implanted. The image we showed you was how the crystal was before it placed into her. From what we can tell, it is no longer a simple Flow Crystal anymore. It would seem that with the crystal in her chest has been modified continuously over the last few years. She can now use her body as a crystal resonator. Possibly explaining her never before seen mastery of crystals. The exact modifications we can't be sure of without more data. But we have a plan to find out exactly how she was resurrected and the exact modifications to her crystal heart."
Stork's ears pricked up and left eye began to twitch. "Here it comes." He said to himself.
"What's coming?" asked Junko sitting next to Stork.
"Wait for it." Stork replied
"Since, in the end, it was partially your actions that prevented us retrieving the information, we would like you to go in and get it by any means necessary." Stryker stated, waiting for response.
"Was that it?" Asked Junko.
"Wait." Stork said, eye twitch now at full speed.
"Of course we will!" Aerrow responded towards Stryker. "Anything to help us defeat Cyclonia and keep The Atmos safe."
Stryker grinned. Too easy. Stryker thought.
"And there it is," Stork sighed.
"What?" Junko asked still not getting it.
"Our complete and inevitable," Stork paused to breathe in enough air for the next part. And, with a low tone, he finshed. "Doooooooooom."
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