Wow, have I been gone for a while. At least I wasn't gone forever! I do not own Storm Hawks.
EDIT: Oh, dear God, did I publish that? I'm really sorry! Here's the finalized version, I really shouldn't have posted until I stopped hacking up- ahem. Here's the finalized version. I'm going to go sit in a corner now.
Update the summary, and notify that the next chapter is rated M for safety.
On with the story!
Snipe and Ravess excavated the temple, carefully dusting the walls and running crystals over them to capture the information. Their small group of loyal Talons scurried about, keeping their mouths shut and obeying orders. All they cared about was the glory of Cyclonia.
They were good soldiers.
The pandemic would certainly cause Cyclonian victory, now if only they could keep the instruction manual with Master Cyclonis and burn off an important section, the war would be as good as over once the Winter Spell was over.
Of course, that meant the only person who saw the whole picture was Master Cyclonis. Ravess and Snipe only prayed that their blind faith in her would be rewarded.
The Council's Errand Boy gave Cyclonis a deep bow. "The council sends their deepest regrets for bothering you, but there's been a relay from General Snipe. It isn't encoded, he just says, 'We found it'. They would like to speak with you about what he found."
Master Cyclonis rose. "Come, Piper, Bolt. We have a meeting."
"They request the animals stay out. On account of their allergies."
Master Cyclonis sent him the frostiest look she could manage. Then she paused.
"I'll be in attendance shortly. Notify them." The council boy bowed deeply, and then left to tell the Council that Master Cyclonis would see them shortly.
Master Cyclonis turned to Piper and Bolt.
"I need your help. If I walk in there, they'll kill me and push the war. They'll kill the civilians to do it too. I've never killed anyone who didn't stand in my way. I'm disgusted that I have to ask two Storm Hawks for their help, but I figure protection in return for caring for you two isn't out of your moral code."
The two cats looked at each other, before Piper began to elongate and twist. Bolt rose to his hind feet. A few wracking shudders, and a nude Aerrow dropped his hands to cover himself. Piper tossed him a spare change of clothes.
She sauntered over to the closet, and started digging around.
"How long have you known?" Piper threw over her shoulder.
"Please, Piper, I study crystals. Part of the reason I invaded that back water Terra was to study the crystal. With the crystal out of my grasp, studying you two was the next best choice. Unfortunately, Dark Ace doesn't know the full details. I can only hope that Finn is surviving just as well as you two."
Aerrow nodded. He searched for weapons, and finding none, flexed his hands. Something rippled under his skin.
Nodding to himself, Aerrow walked over to Cyclonis. "After we save you, we're leaving."
Cyclonis smiled. "But of course."
If Piper hadn't been changing, she would have told Aerrow to start running. The innocent acquiescent smile….Master Cyclonis did not take orders.
Dark Ace felt a chill run down his spine. When he looked behind him, there was no one there. Resolving to call Master Cyclonis and check in on her later, he looped his Switchblade back and sprayed paint all over the rest of his challengers.
His sixth win in a row.
Calling for a break, Dark Ace landed. He watched the others as they cleaned their rides and headed in for lunch. When he had finished, he heard a few squabbles in the break room being worked out, and the teams review training exercises for how to be better next time.
Dark Ace smiled. Being able to take out frustrations on where they belonged was always best. So far, he was able to account for three mishaps that he had fixed himself. Being able to move around in his own skin felt good.
Reaching his room, Dark Ace hailed Master Cyclonis.
She answered him with a clipped 'I'm fine. Meeting with the Council in six.' and hung up on him. Dark Ace smiled. He had seen a glint of black and green behind Master Cyclonis. He wondered why the Council were bending their 'no pets' rule, but decided that it wasn't important.
Of course, the fact that Bolt was the size of a Puma now was cause for alarm, but it actually reassured Dark Ace.
Anything that messed with Master Cyclonis now was asking for a mauling. He reached down and petted Finn. The blond bundle had stumbled in here after hearing him, unused to having his noon nap interrupted. Dark Ace gently tugged on Finn's tail, and the kitten made a tight turn around for more attention.
Dark Ace wound up scooping Finn up and snuggling with him. He forgot to put Finn down before he left the room.
The Talons were openly staring. Finn was happily purring, and Dark Ace was still muttering 'what in Cyclonia'.
It had all started a few hours ago. Finn was squirming around, looking everywhere. He refused to be quiet. Dark Ace finally set him down, and watched as Finn raced around, taking in all of the new sights and sounds. Then a Talon threw a wrench at Finn.
Dark Ace turned around at the sound of the wrench clanging in the pipes. Finn yowled and shot towards Dark Ace, hiding behind him.
"That little piece of shit was climbing on my ride! Put it on a leash or leave it in its cage!" Finn cowered behind Dark Ace.
"My cat is smart enough to handle itself, soldier."
"Yeah, well, you're stupider than that animal if you think that, sir." The soldier spat out the respectful word with venom.
Dark Ace stiffened.
"Is that a challenge, soldier? Then I'll see you in the air. Two months probation if you lose. My apologies if you win."
The soldier scowled and moved off. "You can even have your friends help you." Dark Ace called after him. Now, baiting the enemy isn't a smart move. Tricking the enemy into selling out his allies can land you in hot water if you can't handle them.
Finn yowled.
"It's okay. I'm just going to win for the seventh time today. Take care and stay out of under their feet." Dark Ace gave Finn a quick scratch and made his way to his Switchblade. He checked the ammo and revved the engine. Everything sounded fine.
The light switched from red to green.
Dark Ace roared down the runway and into the sky. The enemy squadron was seven in number, basic build, no surprises in the frame. Dark Ace scattered them, and began to pick them apart. He tailed one plane long enough that the enemy came up behind him and nearly shot him.
He was never telling Aerrow he borrowed the barrel roll from him. Ever.
After that, the remaining five tried to tag team with each other, using pincer movements. Dark Ace dropped his altitude and used a loop-de-loop to shoot down another plane.
The other bunched into a formation. Far enough apart that Dark Ace couldn't waste his shots on a cluster or spread shooting, too close together for him to easily break them.
That's when a blast of paint came from below. Dark Ace goggled at the distant landing strip. He couldn't see anything down there. But it looked like one of the cannons for the mock invasion had accidentally been fired.
Well, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Flying in, Dark Ace blitzed the remaining four while they were still in shock. Then he headed back to base.
The men would get in after their walk of shame up the Terra. He wasn't sending out a ship to pick up the falling soldiers.
Walking onto the platform, Dark Ace looked around. "Who fired the cannon?"
"No one was near it, sir. We were watching the fight from down here. We're all present and accounted for."
Dark Ace rubbed his face. There was no way that the cannon went off on its own. "Someone find out if the cannons have been wired, especially if the servants have wired it. It would be ridiculous if we couldn't land on our own Terra because the servants had overran it."
Stalking away from them, Dark Ace paused. He looked around.
"Where's Finn?"
The soldiers shuffled.
"Where's my cat?" Dark Ace ground out.
"Mew. Mew." Finn came scampering over to him, purring and rubbing. He had blue paint on one of his paws. Dark Ace turned to his men.
"Is that the direction of the cannons?"
"Yes, sir. Some of them have been assembled, but I don't know if the soldiers had already loaded the ammo. When that shot went off, we started scrambling because we thought we were under attack. When it turned out to be paint, we stood ready for take off."
Dark Ace nodded.
"Well, then, go ahead and move onto the next exercise, the mock invasion once everything's set up. I hear that some people have waged their desserts on the outcome."
The Talon bowed and scurried off to assign chores and team battle rosters.
"I'm going back to my quarters. Someone needs a bath."
Once back in his quarters, Dark Ace gently set Finn down.
"I am honestly thinking of putting a collar on you if you keep wandering into mischief every chance you get." Dark Ace muttered. Finn shook himself once he was out of the bath. Ignoring the cat, Dark Ace went about his usual schedule.
He also dropped by the kitchen to tell them about the wager.
It was dark. Dark Ace stirred, looking out at the night sky, and wondered what had woken him up. The disrespectful Talon had been taken away to cool his feet after dinner. Scanning the room, Dark Ace noticed that everything was in its place.
That was when he realized that Finn was missing from his bed. Swearing, Dark Ace ran out to the hangar. He barely had time to grab his sword, and his shirt seemed to be missing. Ignoring that the soldiers had just gone to bed, Dark Ace ran as fast as he could.
Where had that Talon been stationed? Who could have taken Finn? He was not losing his cat, damnit!
He noticed a figure moving in the shadows. It was the guard. Realizing that the man hadn't seen him, Dark Ace slipped past. If the guard had seen anything, he would have left his post. Dark Ace didn't have time for questions, or for rumors about him running around half naked looking for his cat to run the gossip circuit.
Slipping into the hangar, Dark Ace decided to added infiltration to the exercises in the morning. He stopped when he saw someone in the darkness saddling up a Switchblade and quietly walking the hangar.
Were they planning to do an unsupervised flight and drop his cat into the Wastelands? But everyone would hear the engine, know there would be a check, and that whoever returned would be in very hot water.
Dark Ace snuck after the person. He was getting his cat back no matter what. Sneaking up on the person was no problem. Dark Ace realized that whoever it was, they were really short, and really nervous. Most likely a slave trying to escape.
Knocking the boy out, Dark Ace felt relief that his cat wasn't in the bag. Just a few rations and a change of clothes. A short wave radio. The moon decided then to come out.
"Finn?"
Dark Ace made his way after putting the rations back and hiding the rest of the evidence to his room. He slung the bound and gagged Finn onto the bed.
"So, for how long have you been hiding here?" Dark Ace mused. He had one of the Storm Hawks in his bed, and the blue eyes were glaring at him.
"You wouldn't have happened to have seen my cat, have you?" The blue eyes narrows at him. In fact, Finn was arching his back, and looked like he was in discomfort. Well, he was bound hand and foot. But his hands weren't bound to his feet, so why did he look nervous?
He had almost succeeded in flying away. But why wait for now? When everyone was locked down because of the Winter Spell? No one could fly past the protective shielding anyways, and the prolonged cold against a hot engine would sink the Skimmer in no time.
Dark Ace reached for his shirt and remembered that it was missing. He sighed and turned back around to face his prisoner. That was when he saw his personal rank sewn onto the shirt. How in Cyclonia did Finn end up wearing his shirt?
Dark Ace paused, then he reached around to the small of Finn's back. Watching Finn's eyes widen, Dark Ace felt around until he came to what he needed. A fine, golden tail was straightened out as Dark Ace pulled his hand back.
Finn had the oddest, yet most endearing look on his face right then. He was caught between 'oh that feels good' with hazy, lidden eyes, and an 'oh shit he knows' panicked expression.
"So Finn, I take it that you turned into a cat?" Dark Ace gave the tail a firm yank. Finn squirmed and writhed.
"Well, interesting. It seems through some twist of fate or other, you are mine." Finn shrank away from him. "Oh, I'm not going to abuse you. I actually like having a companion with me. But seeing as how you nearly escaped, I'm going to be limiting your movements. You are never leaving this house without me again. And my servant can easily handle you."
Finn's mouth widened in a surprised look as the servant stepped through the door with a change of clothes. It was the other item that had Finn pressing against the wall.
"Oh, come now, Finn. Wearing a collar isn't that bad. Or is it the leash that you're worried about?"
The servant stepped out as Dark Ace stripped and dressed Finn, before cinching the collar around his throat. "You do know that holding your ears flat isn't doing you any good, even in your hairstyle?"
Finn reluctantly allowed his ears to go up as Dark Ace secured the six foot chain into the ground.
"Good. The crystal will let you go anywhere, but without me, you aren't stepping more than six feet past the outside door. Now be a good kitten and go to bed."
Finn blinked a bleary eye at Dark Ace.
"I hate you." He muttered.
"And I see that the new form has thrown you for another loop." Dark Ace turned out the lights and crawled into bed.
"Goodnight, Finn. Don't bother attacking me."
Not that Finn would be capable of much in another fifteen minutes.
Master Cyclonis was announced at the door by the Council's errand boy, and Piper and Aerrow stood back. Dressed up in clothes similar to the Night Crawlers, they stood two steps behind Cyclonis as they entered the chamber.
Master Cyclonis said that these men would kill civilians if they weren't stopped. She promised not to. Was that good enough for them to imprison Cyclonians unto Cyclonians to protect Atmos?
And how had she known that they could understand her?
There were six men seated around a table in there. Piper gave a curious look with only her eyes and noticed that aside from the two of them, there were no women to be seen beyond the few maids that waited on Cyclonis.
Was there a severe imbalance to the gender here or something? Master Cyclonis made a gesture, and both Aerrow and Piper came to a complete stop. They relaxed. The collapsed staff felt as a familiar weight in her hand
"Master Cyclonis. It appears that you have left us out of your plans once again. But this time, it would also seem that you have a very competent team on the assembly of your plan." The voice of the Council sent goose bumps not only down Aerrow's arms, but shivers down his back. He held still and waited for the chilled feeling to pass.
"There's no one new in the running if that's what you mean." Master Cyclonis diplomatically replied. After all, the only new additions were standing behind her.
"We mean, that perhaps it's time for someone else to be leading the teams." The implied threat went right by Cyclonis, and right into Aerrow's and Piper's head.
Let's explain something. Cats are not loyal animals. They love the person who feeds them. The person who strokes their egos. The person who cuddles them and praises them. And how do cats prove their respect?
By bringing the carcass of their kill before their owner.
The Council never stood a chance. The few that managed to run to the door found it barricaded from the outside.
The errand boy removed the chair and opened the unlocked door once he heard Master Cyclonis praising her two pets.
"Shall I send them to the Wasteland, ma'am?"
"Do so." Master Cyclonis ordered. "And after that, spy on the replacements."
"Of course, ma'am."
Master Cyclonis continued petting Piper and Aerrow. The two had a dazed look on their faces, as though they weren't quite in the moment. Aerrow was panting, sweat dripping from his face from the chase. Piper had flecks of blood on her face, and she was holding her staff with a death grip.
"Come, sweet hearts. Follow me. I have at treat for you." Eager to be rewarded, Piper and Aerrow stumbled after Cyclonis, back to her quarters.
Once back in her quarters, Cyclonis fed Piper and Aerrow. They ate, before they convulsed. Piper twisted and writhed as her body shifted, growing back a tail and ears. Her eyeteeth lengthened, turning sharp, and peeking out of her upper mouth over her lower lip by just enough to get a glance of pearly white.
Aerrow didn't react so well. He passed out, and his body jerked as the tail and ears came in. His eyes blazed, catching the light and turning a hazy orange red. Cyclonis waved her hands and moved the light far enough back to get it out of his reflective lenses. Aerrow's eyes turned back into their deep green.
Exhausted, Piper collapsed. She buried herself into the covers and rolled over, falling asleep.
Cyclonis moved Aerrow apart from Piper. Breaking the two separately would go faster than giving them the faint hope of hanging in together. She would put them back together…eventually.
But for tonight, she needed her kittens to stay a little drugged until she could ease them into her line of thinking. Call it Stockholm Syndrome, call it brain washing, Cyclonis liked to call it making friends.
Cyclonis reclined on the bed with Piper curled next to her. In her head, she composed the reply to General Snipe
Continue with your work. I will be there shortly for the notes. Oh, and excellent job with your report.
Master Cyclonis went back to ruling the new Cyclonia with a more complacent Council in place. No one to question or snoop about what she did behind closed doors, so long as all the numbers added up.
Even though her odd hours were only tracked by one errand boy.
A/N:
Yeah, I'm debating if I should bump the rating up just in case. But now there's a sense that the Cyclonians are holding all of the cards, and that the Storm Hawks have more trouble in store.
I wonder what the Guardians will try to do?
EDIT: I revised chapter six. Thank God for the reviewer who spoke up. Chrissy Renee Pinto, you deserve a medal of honor. I'm gagging a little for what I did have up.