Author's Note: The Storm Hawks are back, and so am I! Just needed a little inspiration…plus, I never leave a story unfinished (or at least I haven't yet). I really like the new 'traffic' feature of ffnet - lets me see how many people are actually reading my stories without having to extrapolate from the number of reviews I receive!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of "Storm Hawks", nor am I making any type of profit from this story. It is a work of fan fiction, for enjoyment only.
Chapter 8 - Meanwhile…
Dark Ace and his men moved stealthily into the baggage car. One of the Cyclonians tapped his shoulder, pointing Junko's cycle propped to the side. "Hey, boss…"
Dark Ace shook off the hand irritably. "Yes, yes. There's a Stormhawk on board. I know." He fixed his subordinate with an icy stare. "We covered this in the pre-mission briefing."
The man, appropriately cowed, ducked his head in embarrassment.
The four men crept forward, until a noise from the car ahead caused Dark Ace to gesture them into hiding. They quickly melted into the shadows of the cargo car as the guard approached.
The man's voice became louder as it neared. "Thanks, Sam. I'll be back in a second."
A younger voice responded, "You sure the Wallop will be OK by himself?" That answered Ace's mental question about which Stormhawk was aboard.
The older voice replied, "Yeah, the kid's good. He's safe to watch the crystals for a few minutes while I hit the bathroom." Footsteps approached the cargo area where the Cyclonians were hidden, then passed by without a pause. Dark Ace's eyes narrowed speculatively as he rose to follow the guard. Creeping up behind the oblivious older man, he waited for him to enter the restroom and close the door. Glancing about, the Cyclonian spied a loose bar of metal propped in a corner of the railcar. He snagged it with a smirk, then wedged it between the door handle and the frame, effectively locking the man inside. He then spun back towards the cargo car and headed through it at a brisk pace, gesturing for his men to follow to the far door.
Dark Ace peered carefully through the observation window at the young man beyond. He was dressed in the same guard uniform as the man now locked in the toilet, but appeared much younger and less experienced. 'That means the Wallop is the only real threat,' concluded the Cyclonian. His eyes narrowed as he spied the key ring hanging loosely from the guard's belt. 'This will need to be quick…'
He waited patiently for the guard to turn his back, quietly thanking the powers-that-be for the soundproofing given restrooms in Gnossus. The older guard must have discovered his predicament by now, but not a squeak could be heard above the clacking of the train itself. The young sentry therefore had no warning when, as he turned to check the door lock, Dark Ace leapt behind him and struck him on the back of the skull, knocking him out instantly. Catching the body before it could strike the ground, the Cyclonian eased him silently to the floor. He gestured for his henchmen to bind and gag the unfortunate youngster as he himself appropriated the keys.
Junko, meanwhile, had been carrying out Piper's secret back-up plan. As soon as Sam left the compartment for the restroom, the Wallop jumped from his chair and hurried over to the small chest containing the Eye of Siam. Taking the key from its secret spot beneath the table, he furtively glanced at the doorway, then quickly opened the small chest. He marveled for a moment at the beautiful, fiery gem that nestled there before reaching inside his own tunic, producing a worn, leather bag. He then carefully opened the bag, revealing a near-exact glass replica of the crystal they guarded. A moment later, the forgery rested lovingly on the velvet inside the locked casket, while the actual jewel nestled against the Wallop's chest, secured safely in its nondescript container. Piper was taking no chances on the Eye being stolen on their watch. If nothing happened, Junko would merely repeat the exchange at the end of the trip, no harm done. Worse case scenario, if the Wallop got caught with the gem, Piper would simply confess that her paranoia got the better of her. Junko was more concerned that her fears might be real than he was of being accused of theft. With troubled thoughts he settled back in his original chair to await Sam's return, staring out the barred window at the forbidding landscape outside.
It was only a moment before he heard the sound of a key turning in the lock. Rising with a smile, he chuckled, "Wow, that was sure fast. Guess you guys don't…" The remainder of the sentence was abruptly cut off as a surly, thin man with a handkerchief over his face entered the room with a weapon pointed straight at the Wallop's heart. "Wait a second…you're not Sam. You're not supposed to be here!"
The smirk was almost visible through the mask. "Really? I guess I'll be leaving then…after I take the Eye of Siam." Dark Ace's eyes narrowed as Junko involuntarily glanced at the cask on the table in the center of the room. "So it's in there?" he asked conversationally.
"No!" Junko exclaimed, shaking his head in denial. "No, those are just…a few weapons-grade crystals!"
"My sources tell me otherwise." As the leader strode quickly to the table, his henchmen filed into the room behind him, one guarding the door from unexpected intruders while the other two kept their weapons trained on the Wallop. Junko slowly raised his hands in surrender.
"Open it," demanded Dark Ace imperiously.
"No." Junko crossed his arms in defiance.
Without a word, the bandit jerked his head towards the hallway. At the unspoken command, one of the henchmen disappeared out the door, returning seconds later dragging the still-unconscious George. Leveling his weapon at the helpless guard that now lay on the floor, the leader repeated, "Open it, or I'll kill him."
Junko's eyes widened as they flew from the guard to the chest and back again. Finally his shoulders sagged in defeat. "All right. The key is underneath the table."
"And what about the booby trap?" Dark Ace backed away, indicating that the Wallop should do the honors and open the security box. With a sigh, Junko shuffled over to the table, retrieved the key from its hiding place, then sprung the lock. The lid swung open, revealing a glowing red stone in the center of the velvet.
"Now move back." Dark Ace waited until Junko was out of reach before approaching the table himself. Keeping his eyes on his opponent, he barely glanced at the stone before he scooped it out of the box and thrust it deep into his pocket. "I knew you could be reasonable, given the right motivation."
The Wallop's eyes suddenly narrowed as he took a step forward. "Wait a second…don't I know you?"
Ace said nothing, but turned on his heel and strode from the room. The Wallop started to follow, only to be brought up short as a club struck the back of his head, knocking him out.
---------Stm Hwks--------------
Meanwhile, in the passenger compartment, Finn had not been idle. One of the Cyclonians, not unsurprisingly, confiscated his sandwich and proceeded to wolf it down while the other laughed. Finn managed to look as innocuous as possible, and, ultimately bored, the pair moved off to bother other targets. As they were hassling an older man with a cane in the rear of the car, Finn slowly snaked his hand back into his bag.
It only took a few moments this time to locate Piper's silent alarm, and he pressed the button with gusto. He then rearranged his crossbow to a more manageable position before settling back with a satisfied smile to await events. He was ready for a little action.
It wasn't long in coming. The car shuddered once again as the rest of the Stormhawks landed on the roof, causing Finn to break into a grin. The bandits looked up in confusion, which quickly changed to alarm as the doors burst open on either end of the car.
"Drop your weapons," demanded Aerrow from the front as he advanced into the compartment. As the crooks hesitated, Piper moved towards them as well. The final straw was Finn standing up, crossbow leveled, ready for business. The two thieves' guns hit the ground as their hands rose in surrender.
"What's the situation?" asked the Sky Knight as Piper secured the prisoners.
"They're Cyclonians!" Finn announced. "There's two up front with the engineers, and four more went back to the security car," replied Finn.
"You take the ones up front while Radarr and I go help Junko. Piper, you keep watch on these two until we get back." Aerrow began moving down the aisle when a small beeper went off on one of the Cyclonian's belt.
"Hah. You're too late," he crowed.
"Why? What was that?" the redhead glowered at his captive.
"That was our signal to leave; objective achieved. You may have us, but Dark Ace has the Eye of Siam!"
"No…" mouthed Aerrow in horror. He and Radarr raced into the cargo car as Finn ran forward to try and capture the rest of the gang. He noted the secured bathroom door in passing, then pulled up short in the doorway to the security car as he spied both Junko and the guard on the floor and the strongbox open and empty on the table.
"What happened?" groaned Junko as he began to pull himself up.
"Dark Ace has the Eye!" replied the Sky Knight. "Radarr and I are going after him!" With that, Aerrow leapt to the door leading to the outside ladder, and his ride.
'So that's where I've seen the boss before,' Junko thought, as he called out,"I'm right behind you!" He quickly helped George to his feet and asked, "Are you OK? Can you go find Sam?"
George nodded. "Yeah. Catch the crooks that did this."
Junko needed no further encouragement. In moments he was at his ride in the cargo car, just as Finn raced in from the front. "Piper's turning over our captives to one of the engineers," the blonde sharpshooter explained. "Come on - the rest are getting away!" So saying, he threw open the loading door and hopped on his own skimmer.
Once aloft, they had no problem locating Aerrow; he was the Stormhawk with four Cyclonians buzzing around him, with the Condor hovering nearby. Stork clearly couldn't fire without hitting the Sky Knight, so the odds were still four-to-one (or four-to-two, counting Radarr).
"No fair!" cried Finn, smiling dangerously. "Let's even that out a bit…" A well-placed shot caught the attention of one of the henchmen, who peeled off to engage him. Junko pulled off a second Cyclonian just as Piper arrived, attacking a third. That left Aerrow fighting the Dark Ace.
"Now that the odds are even, why don't you give back the Eye and surrender?" taunted the teen.
"Don't be so sure of yourself. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." With that the older man pulled his ride into an elaborate loop, coming up behind the teen firing. Simultaneously, at an unseen signal, eight more Talons suddenly joined the fray from their hiding place among the rocks below. Aerrow managed to dodge the Ace's shots, then maneuvered his flyer into a sideways slip until he was side-by-side with the Cyclonian. The two exchanged blows evenly, Aerrow making up for his lesser strength with greater maneuverability, executing several complex moves while managing to stay on the offensive. He trusted his team to deal with the other enemy combatants.
TBC…and it will, too! I've already written the next chapter, but need to proofread it first. Warning: more Stork-whumping ahead!