I do not own Storm Hawks! I will be closing the poll soon, so go ahead and vote, because I will be announcing the winner in the next chapter!

On with the Story!

Junko groaned. The attack at the Terra had thrown the Condor down to a ridge that ran between the Terra and the Wasteland, with just enough room to land the Condor. It had been a brutal battle, with Stork taking on a Cyclonian Carrier, and just getting the last few refugees clear. The battle wasn't a major setback for the war, but the battle had cost dozens of families their homes.

And there was never an acceptable reason to drive someone from their homes, especially if it was to escape Cyclonian rule.

Stork was a nervous wreck, only calming down enough to get the Condor ready to fly, but they weren't going anywhere for the next three days. The damage to the Condor was extensive. In fact, they were missing an engine.

In the Bridge, Radarr sniffed at the burn out Crystal that had gleamed around Aerrow, Finn, and Piper, but no one had touched it since the light that erupted from the Terra. Not many had noticed, for the light was very local and only where the three Storm Hawks were clustered, so many assumed that it was Piper with a Crystal.

But now they had a Crystal, and no Piper.

They needed to get the Crystal to a specialist before they could look for their friends, because it was the only clue they had.

Junko stretched. His muscles had gone past protesting the strain he put on them, and gone to numbing when he pushed too hard. The past two days of making sure that they could repair the Condor had been brutal. Thankfully, the Talons were busy documenting the stores of crates that they were loading, and snagging parts and substituting other items, such as rocks and dirt, meant that the theft went undetected a little while longer.

Radarr would bring them fruit that had survived the fall, but they were running on little sleep and food to get airborne again. Stealing food from Cyclonia was harder, and rather than risking being caught, they avoided the temptation. Stork was too paranoid to go through the trash for food, although Radarr had rescued some moldy bread that was thrown out.

Stork was the only one allowed to inspect food that was rotting to determine whether to risk salvaging the morsel or use it for cannon fodder.

The events from the battle continued to replay in their heads. They knew that getting separated from the Sky Knight of the Terra was the worst thing that could happen, but after being forced to retreat to cover the refugees, Finn, Piper, and Aerrow had gone back to retrieve the very Crystal that now sat on the table in the Condor.

Piper had returned in a panic to give them the Crystal, ordering them to get to Starling and to find someone who could analyze the Crystal, before returning to Finn and Aerrow. She had a desperate look on her face, and her skin looked as though it hadn't fit right on her frame.

Then the light had erupted around them when she returned, and they were close to the ground when it happened, too.

Stork paused in his work. Piper had also seemed to be in pain, and clutched her stomach, scarcely breathing, and had a hard time getting out the simple order. But otherwise, she looked perfectly fine, not suffering from any battle wounds.

He set his mouth in a grim line, and set to work. If they could find out what happened, they might be able to save their friends from what the Crystal did to them.

Stork straightened up and whacked his head on an overhead pipe, but he was too busy with a thought to give it any attention.

What if one of the refugees knew what the Crystal did?

He rushed to the radio, but after learning that the only one who knew for certain what the Crystal did and how to reverse the effects was the dead Sky Knight, he asked if there were any other records.

"There were other records." the Wingman replied. He would have to go to a fellow Terra on the other side of Atmos and dig through the records, and get the express permission of the Sky Knight- the wingman broke off.

"You have my express permission to search the records for the Crystal. All we know is that it is dangerous, and should never fall into enemy hands. I am trusting you to guard it until a new Sky Knight can be appointed, and your friends are safe."

Stork thanked him, and offered his grievances for the lost of the Sky Knight. The Wingman thanked him, and they both hung up.

Stork made his way to see Junko.

"We have to sleep. I have the co-ordinates of where we go next on our little 'treasure hunt' to help the others."

Junko grunted, and then set down the tools he was using. Radarr churred at them, and headed into the hangar where the cots were set up.

They weren't sleeping in their beds until their friends were back. A reminder- and a punishment.

The Condor was finally up and flying. Okay, they were limping from one Terra to the next. Usually Terra hopping was costly and not energy efficient, but the Condor was literally coasting on Crystal dust to make it from Terra to Terra.

Supplies were stretched thin by the war, and being able to renew Crystals was a rarity. Piper was smart enough to be able to refine Crystals to where they could be reused up to three times, extending their life by twice the normal range.

That was the only reason the Condor made it through the first four Terras. After that, Stork really wished that Finn was still with them. He could sweet talk anyone into parting with their hoards of Crystals and entice bartering to occur.

Supplies were scarce, and even though Stork could see the store of Crystals, most Terras insisted that they did not have anymore.

After driving back a Night Crawler raid, Stork started to figure out why. There was an entire string of attacks on the Terras, weakening them from the incoming invasion. The Terra they had just lost the battle for was turning into a base and further pushing into Atmos. To battle against them, Stork began to relay the information via the radio in the old fashion way that Peregrine had shown them.

In short, Junko cranked the handles while Stork talked. Radarr refused to run around on a wheel for the ten minutes it would take to talk.

So far, when Crystal energy failed them, they could always resort to themselves. Stork shook off the depressing undertones in that statement. He had a mission to reclaim his friends from their uncertain yet certain doom, and he needed to focus on this catastrophe before wondering about current, minuscule ones.

Defenses were mounted as Stork forewarned the Terras, and the Night Crawlers found themselves no longer able to push into the free land of Atmos. Driving the Night Crawlers back was left to the Screaming Queens.

The Condor proceeded to limp to the next few Terras. After another day of searching, Stork kicked a crate in frustration. He couldn't find the Solar Crystal anywhere, and it could easily pull the sun's energy into renewing the Power Crystals nearly endlessly. There was a small clang as the crate tipped over.

Stork opened up the crate, and there was the Solar Crystal. Stork surmised the side of the crate that had been pushed to face the wall when they were doing repairs- FINN KEEP OUT was printed in large letters.

Of course, Stork didn't believe in miracles.

Stork sighed to himself, before taking the crystal to the bridge and getting the Condor to half power.

Now they could say they were flying.

It had been two weeks. Only fourteen days since the Piper, Aerrow, and Finn had disappeared after the battle. The grape vine through the Sky Knights and their squadrons had Starling landing on the Condor a day before they finally made it across Atmos and to the Terra with the details they needed.

She had landed barely a foot from the cots that Stork was sleeping in while the Condor hovered. That had been a pleasant wake up. He had spazzed out when she addressed him in a terse manner to get his attention.

"I'm sorry. I've been in a hurry to reach you- and you look like you need that sleep." Starling watched Stork as he swung his legs off the cot and stood up.

"Yeah, well, turning a month long trip into a week's trip is hard on the engines." Stork started walking. "I presume you want to see the Crystal that appeared before the others disappeared. I mean, Junko and Radarr are still here."

Starling nodded, and followed him to the bridge.

The Crystal was yellow, with flecks of orange around the outer layer, and an acidic green stripe down the center of the Crystal.

Starling scrutinized it, before shaking her head. "If I've ever heard of this Crystal before, I'm not recognizing it."

"I was afraid of that." Stork grumbled. He stretched, and went to check the Condor. Starling peeked over his shoulder.

"How safe is it for the Condor to be airborne?"

Stork looked at her. Starling looked back at him.

"Oh."

"Yeah, we should have sunk to the Wastelands by now, but we aren't giving up until we have them back. They're probably in Cyclonian custody, or in hiding, or dead. Of course, if they are dead, we'll need you to be the Sky Knight."

Starling paused for a moment, gauging how serious Stork was.

Stork nodded at her.

Rather than say 'oh' for the remainder of her stay, Starling folded her arms and proceeded to review what was needed done on the Condor. Stork allowed her free run of the ship, and she met Junko, who was diverting steam to a few pipes while he made new ones to relieve the pressure.

Radarr was in the kitchen, which was now covered in a faint layer of fur and dust. The rest of the ship was running, but it was in desperate need of a clean. Rolling up her sleeves, Starling set to work.

She couldn't abide standing still and waiting to arrive at the destination.

Dark Ace sat up. The attacks had been stopped by the Storm Hawks, who were in such a hurry that the Screaming Queens were now his main priority to defeat.

He did so with ease, but the little princesses had obtained Warp Crystals, and they all escaped after he sliced their parachutes.

He was snarling at the Talons who arrived. It had been nearly ten days, and so far, thirty percent of the refugees who had fled were now kept in factories.

As the murmurs of dissention and faded, Dark Ace allowed liberalities, such as a half hour supervised community time, warm food that was actually cooked, but still portion reduced to stem strength, and blankets.

Some people stopped trying to escape, and accepted their situation, but Dark Ace knew that they would always dream of escaping.

As it was, the supplies were being produced, there was little trouble, and the Terra was being outfitted for a permanent base. The stronghold would be built in the following months, the barracks would be strategically placed, and Dark Ace had surveyed and submitted a draft for the civilians to live.

Dark Ace hated drawing maps, but after talking to the Cartographer, what he envisioned was drawn up and sent back to Cyclonia.

Then he left to attend to the kittens.

In two weeks, they had gone through more than a growth spurt, they had gone through an attitude change as well. The ember and black colored one seemed to hate him, and were resigned to being near him.

Only the golden furred one would twine around his feet when he entered, demanding to be picked up.

Dark Ace always obliged, even when he was smarting from the day's work. After being petted and purring loudly, the kitten would climb up, onto his shoulder, and then wind his way around Dark Ace's neck to settle on the right shoulder facing forward.

This way, the kitten would be around him and sociable to only him. A Talon had come to his private quarters with what he thought was an important message, and the kittens had shredded his uniform.

Dark Ace refused to issue the Talon a new uniform until he learned to respect his superior officers, and confided to the captain that the Talon was lucky he didn't order restricted rations as well, as was the norm.

As it was, the Captain explained to Dark Ace that the Talons had a bet running on who the 'lucky lady' was.

Dark Ace starred at him for a long, hard moment.

"I don't sleep with whores, Captain. I've taken in three kittens, two of which may become Master Cyclonis' personal pets. You can have the masseuse who tended to me collect on the bets."

Then he marched out and settled in for an evening of talking to the kittens. That was before the ember and the black furred one started going through an attitude phase.

Perhaps they liked girls better, and would take to Master Cyclonis. The golden furred one was happy enough to be around him. The others were exhibiting strange behavior in accordance to this.

Sometimes, they behaved like cats in the way they communicated to each other, and there were others times that Dark Ace swore that they could actually understand him.

It really helped when he told the ember one to move from his seat, and the kitten climbed onto his arm rest, and then settled right back in his lap.

Now, at the present time, Dark Ace was entering his quarters after the Screaming Queens had escaped. He sat down after radioing in to Master Cyclonis his defeat at allowing the Screaming Queens to escape.

Master Cyclonis had afforded him neither victory nor defeat, and ordered him to have the Night Crawlers push forward as far as they could to capitalize on his partial-success.

Dark Ace informed her that he had already ordered such, and that the Night Crawlers were only awaiting her approval.

Master Cyclonis didn't hide the trace of a smile in her voice as she applauded his foresight and sent him to go to bed.

Okay, she told him that he was to continue working to her standards and to do so, he was to rest.

The golden furred one twined around his legs, mewing loudly. Dark Ace leaned down and stroked him, then picked him up. Still stroking him, Dark Ace passed the cleaned litter box, and went to fill in the food for the kittens.

The servant had left them plenty of fresh water. Dark Ace looked at the toys he had fashioned in his spare time, and spotted that the two male-hating cats were playing with the balls.

Dark Ace chuckled, and then picked up a crystal.

Off to the side of the ember cat, a red dot appeared. The cat caught the motion of the dot as Dark Ace waved his hand slightly, and then chaos erupted in the room.

Both of the cats went wherever the red dot did, and once they were exhausted, Dark Ace put up the crystal. It was a small price to pay for the hours of amusement that were compiling from playing with the kittens.

The golden furred one signaled that he wanted down, and Dark Ace bent his leg a little. The kitten leapt to the thigh, then down to the floor.

The kittens then curled up for a cat nap, and Dark Ace curled up with a mystery novel that he had been working through for the past two months.

There wasn't a lot of reading time when he was running around and getting the Terra up and running, ordering around Talons, and trying to thrash the impudent Sky Knight that lead the Storm Hawks.

Dark Ace had worked his way through another chapter, when the captain knocked on his door.

Dark Ace bade him to enter, even though the door was open.

"Sir, someone stole parts and replaced them with dirt and rocks. We have checked the Talons, but the end consensus is that the Storm Hawks must have stolen them to repair the Condor. We need you to sign off on the new shipments and the budget, Sir."

Dark Ace repressed showing any emotion, and calmly stood.

"Do you have the paper work with you?"

"I gave it to the servant to put in you study, sir."

"At ease, and take the men for their evening out. Same rules as always apply. The Private's birthday present should be delivered on time."

"Yes sir, thank you sir." The Captain took his leave, and Dark Ace set the book aside.

Damnit, he was only a hundred pages into a three hundred and major change book. Dark Ace stood up, and went to tackle the paperwork. There was a good, three inch think book on his desk.

Apparently the Talons had decided to list not only what was stolen, when and where, but also what the part was needed for, the replacement's acquirement, and how much it would cost to make, ship, and install.

There was even a time frame for how long until construction could resume. At least the workers could gauge how the work was to be done and prep the sites.

Dark Ace read through the items in detail, and then ran through the itemized list in the back. Everything seemed to be in order.

Thud.

Dark Ace glanced up, and the black furred kitten had jumped onto his desk. She then walked over to him, and sat on his paperwork.

She gazed up at him expectantly.

"What? I fed you."

She continued to stare. Then she lay down on the booklet. Dark ace gave her an annoyed look. She patted his raised hand with the pen with her head. With a sigh, Dark Ace began to pet her.

"I guess it really was a phase you went through. Nevertheless, I can't take care of three kittens forever, even if I do love all of you. But I do know someone who would love a few kittens to help her with stress. What time is it anyway?"

Dark Ace glances up at the clock, and nearly fell out of his chair.

He had left work to retire at nine in the evening. It was now one in the morning. Pulling up the female kitten, Dark Ace made his way to bed, where the other two kittens had already curled up on the pillow. Dark Ace set her down, and she scampered to join them.

He stripped out of his armor, and pulled on sleeping pants. Then he pulled the cover back, trying to entice the kittens to chase the sheet and get off the pillow.

They gave him looks that said, 'you already tried that'. Giving up, Dark Ace settled in bed and pulled the pillow to him. The golden one gave up his spot for Dark Ace to have a space for his head, and curled up on Dark Ace's chest.

They always did that. Dark Ace slept on his back, and at some point, the kittens would make their way to sleep on his chest, or in the valley between his legs, and cause a fuss if he disturbed them getting up in the morning.

The golden one in particular would follow him around, yowling if he woke up cranky. The other two would give him sullen glares.

Dark Ace sighed. The kitten began purring, and Dark Ace stretched a hand up to pet him. Sleep, as with the first night, came easy to him.

Starling looked about the Terra. The library here was legendary for collecting stories, so of course there would be information on the Crystal. Most likely, information that didn't have her name on it, with the Screaming Queens asking her for help after Dark Ace trashed their rides, their parachutes, and nearly their lives if it wasn't for some spare Warp Crystals.

Taking her leave, Starling headed out to the Terras. She had a feeling that next time she met the Storm Hawks, she would see the whole squadron.

Stork waved her off, and Junko was healthy enough to wish her a safe journey. Radarr just watched. Then, they turned to face the library. They had managed to get there a day after Starling had met up with them, and the inside of the Condor still smelled of potpourri.

The librarians checked their permission, and allowed them into the Restricted section. Then Stork set to reading through the books related to the Terra, while Junko flipped through old legends related to the region, and Radarr ran about, pulling likely books with the words that Stork had emphasized to him.

It was a good stack of fifteen books each. None of the librarians were old enough, or could help with identifying the Crystal, which now resided in a transportable shield that the Library graciously provided.

They checked their journals and logs of previous Librarians for any mention of acquiring information that they found interesting, and information on a rare Crystal being recorded might be intriguing to the person in charge during their time.

Stork estimated another four days for reading and referencing before they found out what the Crystal was, what it did, and how to find Piper, Aerrow, and Finn.

At least with them, the work would have gone faster, and Piper knew how to read a book, looking up table of contents, and reading the entire book if she thought a reference might be stuck in an unlikely space.

Finn could barely read, but he would flip through a book and look for pictures or phrases, and Piper had taught him enough of the Common tongue that he could read those books, despite most books in the Common tongue being common knowledge.

He had, of course, learned many valuable subjects that he had picked up in passing, but now Finn had depth to the subjects that he eavesdropped in on.

Stork jerked awake. Dreaming about Finn. That was a warning sign of mind worms if he ever knew one. Blinking himself back to the land of the living, Stork looked around. Radarr was curled up under the table, and Junko was passed out on the floor.

Stork had a pillow under his head, and the librarian was tidying up the books. Another one was reading through the stacks that they had already gone through.

"Did we miss something?"

"Non, I was just hoping to help Finn." Dove raised her head. She shut the book, and removed her librarian hood. "They had to sneak me in, even with the word of a Sky Knight. The mayor here is very strict on the rules." Dove closed the book. "Sleep well?"

Stork nodded.

The next few days passed by in a blur. Finally, they had read through nearly all of the books in the Restricted section related to the Terra.

Dove groaned. She hit her head on the desk. She had come all this way, and she still couldn't help. She was frustrated that Finn could be held prisoner, and she couldn't rescue him! If he hadn't seen her trying to sneak away, she would never have had the Storm Hawks help in freeing the people from the factory.

Stork was gazing at the Crystal and mumbling. Junko gaze a glance at the Crystal.

"Maybe it looked different when it was charged?" he suggested.

Stork shook his head. Even without power, the Crystal should still be recognizable. Dove reached out and touched the Crystal. She picked up the Crystal, weighed it, and with a shrug, put the Crystal back and sat down. She reached for a book on the shelf that had nothing to do with the region, and then pulled her hand back.

She was biting her lip. Stork and Junko watched as Dove curled up, wracked with pain. Then a bright light occurred, and the librarians came running through the stacks to find out what was going on.

When the light faded, Dove was sitting on the chair.

The only problem was, she now had a tail, ears, four paws, four, and was about an eighth of her usual height.

Stork mentally calculated her supposed weight of one ten to being a little less than ten pounds, so her weight had undergone an even bigger reduction. The Librarians gazed at her.

"Miss Dove? Do you understand us? Nod if you can." The kitten stared at them blankly.

"Oh, we are doomed."

A/N: I'm a little pressed for time, so I'll just proofread and post, shall I? And before I forget, if I had turned Junko into a kitty, may I credit reviewer The Alien of Pluto of giving me the cutest metal image of a Junko kitty that I just had to share- a kitten with green -grey fur with a horn (above the nose).