Seems to be longer and longer times in between when I can work on this, but I really want to finish this so I can move on to another story I'm thinking about. But, that doesn't mean we are close to an ending yet, I want to hold at the drama a little longer. So, when we last left the Storm Hawks, thing weren't going well. The Condor has crashed into Terra Cyclonia, with Stork and Piper still onboard. Finn, Junko and Aerrow are on the ground and seeking shelter. So what happens now? Sadly you won't find out just yet. This chapter is dedicated to a man and his motives.
Heart of Darkness...Motives and Machinations
Stryker always wanted to be a hero. His boyhood dreams were filled with thoughts of flying through the skies on adventures to numerous to count. He would hear stories of Sky Knights fighting the scourge of Cyclonia, the heated dogfights in the skies drove his imagination. He would listen to the same stories over and over, placing himself in the stories, fighting next to his heroes. His favorite team to hear about was, of course, the Storm Hawks. It was his dream, when he became old enough, to join them.
And then the dark day came, a day that many remember, when the Storm Hawks fell. He was heart broken, his dreams destroyed the moment he heard the tale of the greatest of squadrons falling from the betrayal of one of their own. He was only six months away from legal age to petition a squadron for membership. It didn't matter anymore though, their was no team he had wanted more than the Storm Hawks.
He began to see things differently from that day forward. A single squad, even one as great and talented as the Storm Hawks, wasn't enough to take on the might of The Cyclonian Empire. Squadrons had also been famous for not working together smoothly, each preferring their own tactics and style. What was needed was a united force to counter the army of Cyclonia. Only someone with his vision could bring about this change, to lead the charge.
He started by forming his own squadron under the name of The Atmosian Guard. He refused to be assigned to a terra though, stating that his squadron would serve all Atmos equally. He then began to expand his forces, far beyond the numbers of any other squadron. It took six years to gather the funds and men he felt was necessary to be a counter Cyclonia's forces. He appointed himself the title of Sky General, and brought his forces before The Sky Council to seek approval to battle Cyclonia and bring justice to The Atmos.
He met with a mixed response. The Sky Council felt that an out right war with Cyclonia would only bring disaster. Cyclonia itself had gotten quieter with rumors spreading that Cyclonis himself was in failing health. The Sky Council did agree however to allow his Stryker's squadron to acknowledged as a reserve force directly under The Sky Council's authority. This allowed Stryker more authority in the goings on of The Atmos, but stopped him from pursuing his goals of mobilizing his forces against Cyclonia. He resigned himself to his current role, he knew sooner or later he would bring his full force down on Cyclonia, he just had to wait.
A year later he received intel that Cyclonis had finally succumbed to his illness and had passed away. Stryker saw an opportunity to bring down Cyclonia. He knew that the only heir was Cyclonis' daughter, and she was only eleven. This was the time to strike, while Cyclonia forces had no leadership. He once again brought up the plan to launch a full scale invasion into Cyclonia. Just as before though, The Sky Council turned down his request. They stated that even though Cyclonis was dead, Dark Ace was still there and could command their forces. Then Stryker came up with a secondary plan to have an assassin sneak in and kill Cyclonis' heir, since it would still be easy to slip in while they were distracted. The Sky Council was horrified at the idea of killing a child, such a thing was to horrible to consider. Stryker then proposed that he would send his most loyal subordinate and that all records would be sealed. No one need know, this was the only chance to assure peace by ending the Cyclonis line.
After careful consideration, and many heated discussion behind closed doors, approval was given for Stryker's plan. Stryker finally began to feel victory was in his grasp. He wanted to go and carry out the plan himself, but decided to stay behind and send his most loyal and highly trained man instead. After all, he was far to important to risk if things went badly. After a week of no word from the assassin, the body was recovered. Stryker's plan had apparently failed, and he had lost face with The Sky Council. He tried again to launch an attack, but the council would hear none of it.
He was able to keep his forces and his position, but his duties were relegated down to basic intelligence gathering and reserve force. It was while he was preforming these minor duties that he met an unfortunate sky knight who had just lost her squadron. Starling was ready to serve and felt she had nothing to lose anymore. She was perfect for an infiltration mission into Cyclonia to gather intelligence first hand. Stryker felt that this may be his chance at getting back into the council's good graces.
However, another event arose to to give Stryker a chance to regain glory. The Aurora Stone had been stolen and all the sky knight squadrons had been defeated. Stryker was summoned by The Sky Council to form his forces together and prepare an assault on Cyclonia. At last, this was his chance to prove what he had set out to do in the first place, to defeat Cyclonia and assure his place in history. But, fate can be cruel, no sooner had he brought his forces together and was preparing to launch, a small group of immature fools had returned saying they had destroyed The Aurora Stone. Starling herself vouched for them, stating it was the only way to save everyone. Stryker was furious, they dared to rob him of his chance at glory, and they carried the name of the very squadron he had idealized in his youth, Storm Hawks.
Stryker went before The Sky Council and demanded that the Storm Hawks have their registration revoked for destroying the Aurora Stone. The council then reminded Stryker that The Storm Hawks were not an official squadron and therefore not under the council's control, and that they felt that it was the best course of action given the circumstances. Stryker was outraged but kept his anger in check. Everything was not a complete loss though, Starling had managed to obtain some of Cyclonia's database. It was just a matter of time till it was decrypted and Stryker would have another chance, He just had to bide his time a little longer.
Over the course of the next several months the, Storm Hawks had begun building a heroic reputation through their various adventures. All the while, Stryker waited patiently for the information to be decrypted. Then finally, a month before current events, the code was cracked. It was then that Stryker learned that the information was incomplete, but they still learned some interesting things. The mission had been a success, Cyclonis had a miraculous resurrection, and an interesting new device schematic.
After having his personal scientists research the plans it was discovered to be a type of shielding device. It's properties borrowed from leech crystals, absorbing any crystal energy that came in contact with the generated field. The only problem is, once the device has absorbed a certain level of power it overloads. The result is a field that generates out from the device itself and expands out in all directions over a distance of one square mile, completely negating any crystal energy it comes in contact with including ship it generates from. Obviously, any ship that used this would endanger itself and surrounding ships, as well as any terra it might be near. And that is when Stryker's mind began formulating a plan.
He would bring up the new information on Cyclonis to the Sky Council and suggest that the Storm Hawks would be perfect for the plan, given their previous successes against Clyclonis and infiltrating the her citadel. Then while he had the Storm Hawks distracted in the briefing, a group of his loyal highly trained engineers would plant the device onto their carrier. The Storm Hawks merb pilot was known to have various safety and trap protocols in place, they could use those against them. And to top it off, a small pulse transmitter to transmit a signal to a small crystal to keep him aware of of close they were to their doom. Then swoop in with armada, sadly to late to save the poor Storm Hawks, and defeat a defenseless Cyclonia in one fell swoop. Of course, as The Atmos' newest hero, he would give a tearfull speach at theStorm Hawks funereal.
This was his moment to shine, to get rid of Cyclonia and these wannabe Storm Hawks, and to be a hero to all Atmos. Everything was according to his plan now. He stared out from his command deck now at a powerless Cyclonia. Looking down he could see the wreckage of two Cyclonian carriers and The Condor. Everything was perfect. He looked around at his loyal crew, out the window at his own fleet, and prepared to give the order to fire on the powerless citadel before them.
He was preparing to speak when the lights started turning back on in the citadel. Stryker was dumbfounded. "What's happening!?"
A crew member stationed at one of the scanning readouts started yelling out the readings on the screen. "Sir, power is coming back up in the citadel!"
"I can see that!" Stryker yelled at the young crewmen. "Why is it coming back on!?"
The young crewmen said nothing, he didn't know what to say. Stryker went as close to the viewing window as he could and stared out at the citadel before him. At the peak of the tower he could see a thin figure holding a staff, face hidden by a cowl.
Stryker felt fear rise up from within him. Cyclonis!? Stryker thought in a frantic mind, unable to speak. She should have died from the wave robbing her heart of energy.
"Orders sir!?" One of the frightened crewmen asked, everyone caught off guard by the current stuation was suddenly unsure of what to do.
Stryker just stood there, staring out the the hooded figure. The figure raised it's hand, all the sentry turrets were now turning to target Stryker's ships.
"Sir! Your orders!?"
The cowl pulled back revealing the face Stryker already knew it to be, Cyclonis with a smile on her face. She brought her hand down and all turret began firing at Stryker's armada. The sky knight squadrons behind began taking evasive maneuvers while Stryker's ships didn't move. The first volley hit, snapping Stryker out of his trance.
"RETURN FIRE!" Stryker yelled.
The battle had begun.
Well, not a lot of dialogue in that chapter, but I hope you can understand that I felt a bit of back story was needed. If you agree, tell me, if you don't, please tell me. Your the audience so you matter. I'm already working on the next chapter, couple days tops, maybe sooner. Till next time everybody.