AN: Sorry about the format. Fanfiction destroys all signs of proper paragraphs, and I don't have the patience to re-upload all my chapters for proper editing. Anywhos, thanks for the reviews everyone sent in. It always gives me an extra push to write faster when I know people like my stuff. (So if you want faster updates, make sure to tell me what you think.) I accept anonymous ones too, so you don't have to worry about signing in.
Chapter 2: Past
It felt like they had started all over again. As Aerrow entered the room, memories of the battle between himself and the Dark Ace flooded back to him. It was the fight that had started it all – the opening to the war.
The Sky Knight turned towards Piper and he could tell she must have felt the same way. This Inner Sanctum was almost identical to the one back in the Forbidden City. The only difference was the green light and the absence of treasure (much to Finn's displeasure). In the middle of the room stood a stone platform, with a statue of a woman standing in the center.
Everyone knew what would happen next. The Storm Hawks turned towards their leader, a little apprehensive. Aerrow gave a half confident smile which didn't reach his eyes, and approached what he knew to be the stone vessel of a spirit.
"Um…" Aerrow hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Hello?"
At first, nothing. …Then…
"Ah," said the spirit, appearing into green light as she spoke. She was not the same as the Oracle, yet she was definitely similar in appearance. "So the Sky Knight returns. Welcome, Storm Hawks, to the Far Side."
"You… know who we are?" Aerrow asked, not very surprised. Truthfully, he was somewhat expecting it. The spirit gave a slight nod. "Who are you, exactly?" Aerrow asked, cutting directly to the questions. "And what can you tell us about this place?"
As the other Storm Hawks gathered behind their leader, the spirit smiled down at Aerrow, much in the same way a wise adult would smile down at a small child. "I am all that remains of the original inhabitants of the Far Side."
"Do you mean the same people who built the Forbidden City?" Piper questioned, hoping to confirm their suspicions.
The spirit nodded again, a trace of sadness in her face.
Aerrow, sensing that there was something the spirit should tell them, asked, "…what happened?"
"Your questions will be answered," promised the spirit. "But it is a long story, and to understand fully, it is best to start at the beginning."
Aerrow turned to his squad, and they all nodded in agreement. He turned back to the spirit, with fiery determination in his eyes. "Let's hear it."
The spirit looked pleased and began, "At first, the world was one terra. It stretched endlessly and was at peace with itself. However, a great storm came and ripped it in half, scattering one half into shards across the sky. This was how your Atmos was created."
"Man," said Finn under his breath. "When she said beginning, she meant beginning." He was quickly shushed by Piper. However, Aerrow was reminded of something he heard Cyclonis say a long time ago… 'storms made us, storms tore us apart…'.
The spirit continued, not noticing Finn's side comment. "The other half remained intact. It came to be known as the Far Side of Atmos. However, great obstacles separated the two halves, and the people of Atmos knew they had to establish ties in order to survive. The calamity which had scattered them across the skies also left them with few resources of their own.
"The people of the Far Side supported their brothers, and together they were able to create several passages between the two worlds."
"Several?" asked Aerrow, unable to prevent himself from interrupting.
"Of course!" Piper exclaimed. "It wasn't just the door! Remember Domiwick? He was convinced that the endless caverns reached to the Far Side. There must be other physical means of transport, too!"
"There were many ways…" the spirit confirmed. "However, they have been destroyed over time. There are only a few if any means left."
Piper looked a little disappointed by this. Aerrow could understand. They had yet to discuss how they were actually to get back to Atmos once their business here was finished. The portal they came through had vanished once they had entered.
The spirit didn't offer any words of advice; she merely continued with her story. "All was peaceful for a while. The routes to and from the Far Side were used for trade and support when needed. However, soon those who sought to establish dominion over both worlds came out of the shadows."
"Don't tell me," Aerrow said. "Cyclonis' family."
The spirit nodded. "The first Cyclonis. She and her kind had realized that Atmos remained at a technological disadvantage to the Far Side. They exploited the passages between the worlds to grant themselves power.
"Eventually, the guardians of the passages became aware of this, and forbade Cyclonis to use them. However, she still found a way. The main passage, the doorway, was still open to her.
"A great war ensued to try and prevent the growing threat. Terrible and indestructible weapons were created. Unnatural beasts were trained to be vicious and fight, but by then it was too late. It was apparent that Cyclonis would overpower those still willing to oppose her, so they constructed a plan. They would steal the door from her, forevermore preventing her from entering the Far Side. However, by that time, it was one of the only remaining passages left. The warriors of the Far Side knew that if they were to destroy the door, it would be almost impossible for anyone to find their way to the other world.
"Even then their plan was not without its flaws. The people of the Far Side were able to lock the door, but they could not destroy it. Cyclonis had interrupted their plans and taken back possession of the door, hiding it in away and positioning a terrible beast in front of it to prevent anyone from going near."
Aerrow turned to face Stork briefly. All this made sense…
"Fortunately, she was without the key that would unlock the door. The people of the Far Side, now separated from their true home, built a hidden city made solely to protect the key.
"Eventually, all this passed from memory, however, the Cyclonis family still retained their desire to rule the Atmos."
The story ended abruptly as the spirit grew silent. Aerrow felt there may be more she wasn't telling them, but he couldn't place what, so he ignored the feeling. Everyone else was silent, lost in their own thoughts. "It all works out…" Aerrow confirmed.
The spirit looked down at the Storm Hawks. "Cyclonis won the war against us a long time ago. Although not all were killed, it was unnatural for us to be separated from our brethren, and we eventually died out.
"Such does not have to be the case with you. Cyclonis is indeed here, but you are still able to stop her."
Aerrow turned just in time to see the spirit fading back into the stone statue. "Wait!" he yelled out. "What do you mean?"
But it was too late. She was gone.
"Dude," Finn muttered. "That was seriously weird."
"So we know the history of this place now…" Piper stated. "Okay, good, but we still don't really know what our next course of action should be, nor what Cyclonis may be planning."
"Well…" said Aerrow, examining the statue. "I doubt we'll get any more answers here. Let's head back out and see if we can gather any information. Who knows? There may still be some records intact if we're lucky."
The Storm Hawks left the way they came, Piper noticing that Aerrow seemed a little uneasy. As they exited the temple and emerged back onto the city streets, it became apparent why.
"Listen up, everyone," Aerrow announced. His team turned to him. "None of you are going to like this, but it's my decision as the leader so…" Piper's face fell. She suspected where this was going… "I'm going to do some recon at that tower…" Aerrow gestured towards it as he spoke. "… alone."
Immediately his team broke out in objections. Aerrow merely waited for them to subside before giving his retort.
"Aerrow, that's completely unnecessary!" Piper put in.
"Why can't one of us go with you?" Junko asked.
"Guys, guys!" Aerrow tried to calm his team, putting up his hands to signal to them that he had a valid explanation. "Look," he said, his will set in steel. "I was thinking about it since the spirit left. Cyclonis knows that we're here, and she's going to try and use her own knowledge of the Far Side as an advantage against us. While we're stumbling about trying to get our bearings, she can go on with whatever she might have planned. We need to know what she's up to, however, we also have to do it in stealth and… well… it's just best if I go alone. It'll be in and out. I won't make any contact, promise. I just want to know what we're up against."
"Aerrow, this is ridiculous," Piper protested.
"Look," he said, turning on her. "We have no idea what she may be up to. If something goes wrong, I don't want any of you guys getting hurt."
"If something goes wrong, we should be there backing you up."
"Nothing will go wrong," said Aerrow with a note of finality. "Just if there's a risk, I want to be the one taking it. I wouldn't be going there at all if we had some course of action planned, but investigating that tower is going to be the only way to proceed with our mission."
Piper looked doubtful, but came around to his side. "Just come back," she nagged with a half smile as she handed him a radio.
"Piper, trust me, I'll find a way." Aerrow smiled back.
"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" asked Finn, still pouting a little.
"I got the feeling that there was something that the spirit wasn't quite telling us," Aerrow said, turning back to his team. "Look around and see if you can find something, anything that may give us more information on this place. Maybe an old library or something… Don't worry. I won't be any longer than fifteen minutes."
And with no more to say, he turned and started making his way towards the tower.
It took a little longer than Aerrow expected to reach the tower. He took several detours as he made his way through the city, and decided once he grew close, that he'd use a nearby rock shelf for cover. As he climbed up the small cliff, he could hear the echoing wails of the winged beasts they had caught a glimpse of before. He wondered to himself if they were the vicious beasts the spirit had spoke of… but there was time to think on that later. Right now he had a task at hand. As he reached the narrow crevice, he crawled underneath. Shadows covered him from the bright light shining from the tower's center, and as Aerrow positioned himself under the rock, he found he had the ideal vantage point of the tower's entrance.
"Perfect," Aerrow said with a smile, pulling out a pair of binoculars. As he zoomed in on the tower's entrance, he realized it looked more like the entry of a hanger bay… he zoomed closer… it was a docking bay of some sorts… and were those shadows or skimmers? He couldn't tell for sure, but it definitely looked like there could have been some kind of activity down there…
Suddenly he heard the distant noise of an engine, and turned his gaze to the sky. As he realized what he was seeing, his heart plummeted.
It was a Night Crawler.
It circled once in the sky, clearly on some type of patrol. However, Aerrow was too far away to be noticed. As it circled once more, it closed its wings, dropping to the ground and pulling into the docking bay. It was then that Aerrow knew those distant shadows were skimmers… and there was a lot, enough for an army. And there was only one reason Cyclonis would need an army – she was planning an invasion.
Aerrow put down the binoculars and pulled out his radio. "Piper? Come in! You won't believe – "
"Aerrow, you have to come back to the Condor right now!" Piper's voice buzzed over the radio.
"What? No it's fine, just…"
"It's not fine! You won't believe what happened!" Piper's tone caught Aerrow's attention, and now he listened to her, putting his own news on hold.
"Piper? What is it? Is something wrong?"
"I can't believe it… he's actually here…"
"Believe what?" Aerrow asked. "Who's there?"
"It's Domiwick," Piper answered. "Aerrow, we've found Domiwick!"