"Looks like I just raised the stakes," Soara called across the land bridge as she held her hostage firmly by the arm. Master Cyclonis sneered at her captor, and glared darkly at Dark Ace from where she stood. Unsure of what to make of the situation, Dark Ace stood his ground.
"Impossible!" He shouted. "How did you-?"
"It was almost too easy," Soara replied before he could finish. "Are you not the commander for Master Cyclonis' elite guard, Dark Ace? Since you decided to go and hang out elsewhere rather than returning to Cyclonia for the duration prior to our scheduled meeting, I was able to easily infiltrate the Cyclonian stronghold, over power your standing guards, and break into her royal chambers. She probably could have put up more of a fight…that is, if you had returned the levitation crystal to her." Dark Ace's face paled as he looked down at the pack on his side that contained the levitation crystal she spoke of.
"Now then…" Soara called out, regaining Dark Ace's attention. "Lets clear this playing field. Order your squadron to withdraw from the area, and I mean ALL of them. Oh, and you might want to save yourself some face by not mentioning the little detail of their Master being involved. I'm sure if they did find out, you'd probably be shunned and driven out of Cyclonia as an incompetent failure in your charged duty." Dark Ace gritted his teeth in anger at how she would dare humiliate him like this.
"You think you're in position to give me orders?" His voice was filled with ire.
"I think I'm in a far better position than you are," Soara narrowed her eyes as she raised her energized blade nearer to her captive's face.
"You wouldn't dare!" Dark Ace called her bluff, as he raised his own blade closer to Aerrow. "Don't you care what happens to Aerrow, your brother?"
"Don't you care about the security of your Master?" Soara's eyes grew dark and angry. "If you kill my brother, then Cyclonia will lose its sole dictator. I seriously doubt you are so willing to make that mistake." Dark Ace hesitated for a moment as he and Soara stared each other down across the rock and fire of the Wastelands. After what seemed like an eternity, Dark Ace withdrew his blade and flipped a switch on his switchblade to activate his comms with the Talons.
"All Talons, return to the cruiser!" He ordered. "Collect all hands on board and withdraw from the area at once! Do it now, no questions asked!" The squadron reluctantly obeyed their orders. Soara watched as each talon emerged from hiding in the Wastelands ascended into the clouds to rendezvous with the cruiser.
Meanwhile, above the clouds, the Condor stood by safely observing the cruiser from a distance. Stork watched from the bridge as the Talons all boarded the Cyclonian ship and the cruiser pulled away from the area, heading for the Cyclonian boarder.
"I can't believe it," Stork chuckled slightly with a twitch. "This is actually working!"
Back in the wastelands, the stand off continues between Dark Ace and Soara, neither one willing to budge first as tensions continued to rise beyond a boiling point.
"Now that the Talons are gone…" Soara spoke again. "Toss that Levitation Crystal into the Wastelands!"
"What?" Dark Ace was stunned at the woman's next order. "You still wish to make more demands at this point? Are you mad?"
"I don't want to risk you using that damned crystal again," Soara glared. "After the way you used it to capture Aerrow and abuse Radarr, I don't want to see that thing in your possession, or to give you the chance to use it against me!"
"And if I refuse?" Dark Ace sneered.
"I think you know," Soara's energy blade threatened to nick the side of Cyclonis' neck. Dark Ace hesitated, but eventually reached into his pack and pulled out the crystal. He took a moment to look back across the land bridge before tossing the crystal over the edge of the cliff.
"I have done as you have asked!" Dark Ace bellowed. "Now, unhand Master Cyclonis at once!"
"Release Aerrow first!" Soara demanded. "Once I see he is safe from harm, I'll release your Master!"
"You've already made your demands!" Dark Ace growled as he raised his own energy blade once again to Aerrow's neck. "Now it is your turn to comply with mine!"
"As stated before, you cannot be trusted!" Soara answered. "If I release Cyclonis first, then you'll most likely kill Aerrow and betray me!"
"And if I release Aerrow," Dark ace sneered. "You'll keep Master Cyclonis as your prisoner and use her to force Cyclonia to surrender!"
"You know…" Soara paused oddly. "The thought never crossed my mind…but it's not a bad idea…" Master Cyclonis then shot Soara a glare that snapped her train of thought back to the current situation.
"By my word and honor as a Sky Knight," Soara called back. "I wouldn't stoop to that level of intention!"
"At this point, your word is as good to me as mine is to you!" Dark Ace replied.
"Compared to you," Soara pointed her weapon in Dark Ace's general direction as she shouted angrilly. "My word is golden!" Master Cyclonis then seized the moment and kicked Soara in the shin. The Sky Knight faltered and the young dictator managed to wrench free of Soara's grasp and proceeded to flee across the land bridge. Soara quickly recovered and ran after her.
"Master Cyclonis!" Dark Ace realized his Master's moment of escape, but the Sky Knight was in hot pursuit to reclaim her lost prisoner. Dark Ace hesitated for a moment, but then threw Aerrow aside onto the ground behind him and charged forward to aid his fleeing Master. Just as both sky warriors converged on the young girl, Dark Ace leapt over Master Cyclonis and locked blades with Soara, halting the young woman in place.
"Run Master Cyclonis!" Dark Ace gritted his teeth as he struggled to hold the woman at bay. "Get to the other side! I'll take care of this nuisance! GO!" Master Cyclonis paused at the scene before turning on her heel and running to the other side of the land bridge.
"Looks like you lose, Sky Knight!" Dark Ace smiled as he pushed Soara back, unlocking their blades.
"This is far from over!" Soara replied as she charged forward again. Dark Ace and Soara engaged in a heated battle of skill and blades on the land bridge. Each clash sparked fire and thunder that lit up the air around them.
"You can't possibly win!" Dark Ace spat as they locked blades once again. "Do you really think a woman like you could ever possibly defeat me in battle?"
"If Aerrow can do it," Soara grinned as she shoved him back with her staff. "Then this should be a walk in the park for me!" She pressed a switch on her staff, causing the weapon to convert into its three sectional state. Seeing her weapon convert and change before his eyes caught Dark Ace off guard for a moment, but he refused to let it intimidate him.
"Regardless of what you use to fight," Dark Ace smiled darkly as the fiery energy of his blade began to illuminate brightly, prompting the build up for his energy blast attack. "I'm will not lose to you!"
"For the sake of my brother…and the honor of my father," Soara's own blades sparked brightly with their energies, building up for her own Thunder Strike attack. "I WILL defeat you!" Both warriors leapt up and launched their powerful energy attacks, once again lighting up the skies of the Wastelands. When the lights from the explosive flash finally dimmed and cleared, Dark Ace looked to face off against his opponent again, but she was no where to be seen. He assumed his attack could possibly have knocked her over the edge of the bridge.
"Hey!" Soara's voice called from behind him. Dark Ace turned and found her blade aimed right for his face. She had managed to use the blinding effects of their impacting energy attacks to jump behind him unnoticed. "Touché, Dark Ace. You really should allow yourself to be more mobile after such an attack." She grinned mockingly at him. In frustration, Dark Ace swung his blade to deflect Soara's weapon away from him.
"Don't think you're too clever!" Dark Ace spat. "You won't win so easilly just by using such infantile tricks on me!"
"Funny," Soara smirked. "That infantile trick could easily have ended this bout had I not a sense of honor to have you turn around to face me!" Dark Ace growled and once again charged forth to engage wht Sky Knight.
As the two sky warriors fought, Master Cyclonis made it to the other side where she found Aerrow struggling on the ground still trying to break free of his bonds. He looked up to see Master Cyclonis hovering over him.
"Master Cyclonis…" Aerrow narrowed his gaze. "What do you want?"
"I'm here for you, Aerrow," Master Cyclonis replied coolly. She took a moment to look back at the quarreling fighters. She then turned back and wriggled her thin wrists free of the ropes that bound them. Aerrow's eyes widened as he watched Cyclonis free herself easily from her ropes.
"Damn Soara!" Aerrow thought. "Couldn't you at least manage to properly tie a knot?" He looked nervously up at Master Cyclonis as she tossed the ropes aside and knelt down near him.
"Stay back!" Aerrow warned as he tried to back away from her. "I don't know what you're thinking, but just because I'm still tied up doesn't mean I can't still fight!"
"What are you talking about?" Master Cyclonis looked oddly at Aerrow. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help you."
"Yeah, right!" Aerrow sneered. "Just like Dark Ace wants to be best friends with me or something! I'm not falling for such a stupid and obvious trick, Master Cyclonis!"
"Master-? Oh, I forgot!" Master Cyclonis reached up and removed a crystal necklace from her neck. Is a quick flash of light, Master Cyclonis' appearance changed right before Aerrow's eyes.
"PIPER?" Aerrow was stunned. "It was you this entire time?"
"Shh!" Piper quickly hushed Aerrow. She looked over her shoulder making sure Dark Ace hadn't heard Aerrow's shouting. Luckily he was still heavily engaged with Soara.
"This was all part of Soara's plan to rescue you," Piper explained. "While she engages and fights Dark Ace to distract him, I'm supposed to free you and get you out of here. Come on, we don't have a lot of time!" Piper quickly untied Aerrow's arms and gestured for him to follow her to the opposite edge of the cliff. She then pulled out a radio.
"Junko, Finn!" She called. "Phase two is complete! We are ready for pick up!" Moments later Junko and Finn pulled up to the cliff on their skimmers.
"Air rescue, at your service!" Finn teased.
"Ready to head back to the Condor?" Junko asked.
"I can't believe Soara coordinated all this…" Aerrow paused then looked back. "Wait! We can't just leave her here!"
"She'll be alright," Piper assured Aerrow. "She planned for everything! Once she sees we've made our escape, she'll head back to her sky ride and escape after us."
"Are you guys sure about this?" Aerrow hesitated. "This doesn't sit right with me…"
"Yeah," Junko nodded. "She's pretty much thought of everything, down to the last detail. She guarantees everything will work out."
"So far," Finn added. "Everything has gone exactly as she had planned. I don't see why you're so worried about it."
"C'mon, we gotta move," Piper urged. "If Dark Ace sees us, it could ruin our chances of escape, or jeopardize Soara's position."
"Alright," Aerrow sighed. "I guess we'll stick to her plan." He climbed aboard Finn's skimmer while Piper climbed aboard Junko's. Their skimmers quickly began their ascent and circled into visual range of Soara. She spied them and quickly changed her battle tactic. She ducked below his blade and delivered a low blow to his groin, causing him to stumble and fall.
"It's been fun, Dark Ace," She grinned as she walked past his crumpled form. "But now, I have no more time to play with you!" Dark Ace paused and then he too noticed the Storm Hawks skimmers above them. He then shot a quick glance back to his side of the bridge, and saw that both Aerrow and Master Cyclonis were gone.
"You!" Dark Ace turned back and scowled angrily at Soara. "You tricked me!" Soara just smiled in response and converted her weapon back into a single bladed staff. Dark Ace struggled back to his feet, bracing himself with his own energy blade. Before either of them could manage another step, the Wastelands suddenly rumbled and a quake erupted, shaking the cliffs violently, and forcing both Dark Ace and Soara to stumble and fall on the bridge. Below them, a volcanic vent burst spewing rock and fire up into the land bridge, making it unstable and causing it to crumble and collapse. Dark Ace and Soara saw the land bridge giving way and both scrambled to their feet and fled in the opposite direction of the crumbling rocks. Once they reached the cliff side, th whole bridge collapsed into the magma lake below.
"Damn…" Soara grimaced when she realized she was now trapped on Dark Ace's cliff side. She gazed across the expansion to her Slip-wing on the other cliff side. "This definitely wasn't part of the plan…"