"Well, well," Dark Ace slowly stood up and dusted himself off. "Looks like the Wastelands have tipped the scales in my favor, Sky Knight. Now you have no where to run!"
"Just a minor setback, "Soara coolly replied. "This isn't too big of a problem for me."
"Finding your way out of the Wastelands is the least of your problems," Dark Ace grinned as he flipped a switch on his switchblade and raised his energized blade. "I'll see to it that you'll regret humiliating me this day!"
"Damn it…" Soara sneered as she assumed a defensive stance. "How am I going to get out of this?" She didn't have time to second guess her position as Dark Ace was quickly on top of her with a fierce barrage of energized slashes.
"I will not leave here an empty handed fool!" Dark Ace declared as he locked blades with Soara. "Aerrow may have slipped from my grasp, but I will be returning to Cyclonia with either a prisoner, or a prize!" He grinned wickedly at Soara as she strained to hold his blade at bay with her own.
"If you're looking for a willing surrender…" Soara glared darkly. "You're sadly mistaken! I'll NEVER give in to you, TRAITOR!" She dug in her boots, and gave a strong shove back against Dark Ace.
"Still so strong spirited?" Dark Ace smirked. "I like that. You have that same burning spark in your eye HE once had. It'll make things more interesting once I break you!" He raised his blade and charged Soara again.
"Guys!" Aerrow grabbed hold of Finn's shoulder, causing the young wingman to falter his flight pattern slightly. "Soara's in trouble! The bridge has collapsed!" The others quickly looked back to confirm Aerrow's allegation.
"We gotta go back and help her!" Piper exclaimed.
"Right!" Junko and Finn agreed and stopped their skimmers in mid air. Before they could even turn around, Stork came over their comms.
"Don't be alarmed…" His voice quivered. "But I thought you guys should know that the Talons have mobilized, and their squadron is preparing to head your way! We need to pull out now!"
"Dark Ace must have signaled them!" Aerrow surmised. "If we run now, Soara's a sitting duck down there! We have to go back for her!"
"There's no time!" Stork warned. "Once the talons are fully assembled and in formation, they'll descend into the Wastelands in unstoppable waves! We need to run!"
"But we can't just leave her!" Piper exclaimed. "She'd never abandon any of us!"
"You're right, Piper!" Junko agreed. Aerrow himself lowered his eyes, knowing that Piper spoke the truth.
"What can we do?" Finn asked anxiously. "We're stuck right in the middle! If we go back, we'll get swarmed by the Talons!"
"So far, they don't know we're all down here," Aerrow replied. "At least, they won't know until they pass through the cloud layer. We still have the element of surprise!"
"Ok, you have a point there," Finn nodded. "But just the three of us don't have enough firepower to take out all those talons!"
"Stork!" Aerrow called back over the comms. "Bring the Condor below the cloud line and rendezvous with the others! I need you to back up Finn, Junko and Piper against the incoming Talons!"
"Another suicide mission?!" Stork shouted back. "Haven't we tried to kill ourselves enough for one day?!"
"I just need you guys to hold them off just long enough for me to get Soara out of there!" Aerrow barked.
"And how do you plan to do that?!" Finn glanced back at Aerrow.
"Finn, drop me off down by Soara's ride!" Aerrow instructed. "I'll fly her slip-wing over to the other cliffside and provide her with an escape!"
"You got it!" Finn nodded and whipped his skimmer around and raced back down to the sole standing pillar of rock where Soara's Slip-wing still rested. Aerrow jumped off as Finn flew over the small plateau and landed with a roll near the bike. Finn returned to the edge of the cloud layer where Piper and Junko were standing by. The Condor was just peeking through the clouds, as the first few Talons began to enter the Wastelands.
"We're out of time!" Piper shouted as she pulled out her energy staff. "You guys know what to do, right?!"
"Stall for as long as we can afford!" Finn replied as he readied his mounted crossbow.
"For Aerrow and Soara!" Junko nodded and powered up his Knuckle Busters and Crystal Missiles.
"The odds are tipped heavily against us," Stork muttered with a twitch. "And we are most likely doomed to fail or die…but still, we have no room for mistakes in this mission."
"Alright guys! Let's GO!" Piper ordered the charge and the Storm Hawks intercepted and engaged the first wave of unwary talons.
Back down in the Wastelands, Aerrow jumped up and ran for the Slip-wing, climbing onto the seat and reaching for the controls.
"Hey, what the-?!" Aerrow was left befuddled when he spied the small metal cube that sat on the front of the bike. "What is that?! How do you start this thing?! Something has GOT to work!" He fumbled with the controls until his hand bumped the cube. Instantly, the cube lit up and scanned the rider.
"BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!" the cube buzzed a warning. Aerrow wasn't sure what to make of it. Then the Cube activated a screaming wailing repeating alarm; "BooWEEooW-WEEooW-WEEooW-WEEooW! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! Beeeep! BEEEEP! Beeeep! BEEEEP! Beeeep! BEEEEP!"
The noise was driving Aerrow crazy. At the same time, the alarm drew the attention of the two combatants across the way. Soara turned and her eyes widened when she spied Aerrow trying to ride her Slip-Wing.
"Aerrow!" Soara shouted. "You're supposed to have escaped with the others! What are you still doing here?!"
"I'm not leaving you here!" Aerrow called back, yelling over the noise of the irritating alarm. "What the heck is this noise and how do you make this thing stop?!"
"That's just Harvey's security alarm!" Soara yelled back. "Harvey doesn't know you! Forget about me and run away!"
"Who or WHAT is this Harvey?!" Aerrow screamed in frustration.
"Of all the ridiculous…" Dark Ace muttered but quickly returned his attention to Soara. He seized her by the stalk of her ponytail, catching her off guard and making her drop her bladed staff. Dark Ace dragged her back until he held her close enough to gloat mere inches from her face.
"OW!" Soara yelped. "Let go of my hair!"
"How heartwarming that Aerrow would feign to care about you so," Dark Ace haughtily smirked. "And to think, he had nothing good to say about you earlier."
"Whatever goes on between me and Aerrow," Soara sneered. "Is just that! He and I will settle it on our own terms! You won't turn me against him with your traitorous tongue!"
"Looks like I still have a chance to take you both as my prisoners," He smiled darkly at her as he jerked her head back to look up at him. "My Talons will soon be joining us, and there will be no escape for either of you!"
"Don't count on it!" Soara gritted her teeth as the harsh tugging on her hair made her wince. She retaliated by twisting around and punching Dark Ace across the chin, making his release his grip on her pony tail.
"Even without your weapon," Dark Ace wiped the blood from his lip. "You still want to fight? I must say…I'm impressed, though your hopes are futile!"
"I don't need a weapon to fight!" Soara balled up her fists. "I've been trained in the art of Sky Fu, as well as other forms of hand to hand combat! If I must, I'll beat you down with my bare hands!"
"An interesting proposal," Dark Ace replied mockingly as he swung his energy blade over his shoulder. "However, I don't abide by the rules of fair combat. I do whatever it takes…to WIN!" Dark Ace charged Soara with his sword fully energized. He hit her with a direct charge of his energy blast, stunning her with the shock of the firebolt.
Aerrow heard Soara's scream over the consistent alarm. He looked up with panic in his eyes and saw that Soara was down for the count from Dark Ace's attack.
"SOARA!" Aerrow shouted at the top of his lungs. He looked down at the flashing, wailing cube with extreme aggravation. "Damn it! Shut up and help me save my sister!" He slammed his fist down on top of the cube in frustration, and the little mechanical box suddenly scrambled its lights and sounds.
"Oh no!" Aerrow slapped his forehead. "No, no, no! Don't tell me I broke this thing! C'mon, c'mon! Work!" The Slip-Wing's engine started up and Harvey beeped in compliance.
"What the…" Aerrow paused. "That actually WORKED?!"
"Beep! Beep! BREEP!" The cube beeped loudly making Aerrow's attention snap back. Then there was a loud "Ka-CHUNK!" noise made as a compartment opened up.
"What's this? A crystal storage bin? But what's…?" Aerrow looked into the compartment and reached in. He felt something inside and pulled out… "My energy blades! Soara must have found them when she recovered my Skimmer…Oh Crud!" He looked back over the expansion and saw that Dark Ace now had Soara at the edge of the cliff, and she was struggling to hold him off while the two grappled with the energy Sword.
"Give up, girl!" Dark Ace taunted her as he pressed forward. "You're cornered and I out power you! You'd best just surrender and save yourself the trouble of a futile fight!"
"Never!" Soara spat, even though her grip was waning and her heel inched over the rocky edge almost causing her to lose her footing. Aerrow quickly acted, mounted his blades on his back, and looked back at the blinking cube.
"Alright you…thing!" He spoke to the cube directly. "I'm guessing you're Harvey! I need you to help me fly this thing so we can save Soara! Can you make this thing fly?"
"Beep! Boop!" Harvey flashed a green light.
"I can't believe I'm talking to a mechanical box," Aerrow shook his head. "And the fact that this thing actually understands me…Alright Harvey! Let's launch-WHOA!!!" At the command to launch, Harvey shot a velocity crystal into the engine and the bike shot forward, launching off the cliff and nearly shooting out from under Aerrow. Lucky for him, he had a firm grip on the steering handles. As soon as they hit air, Harvey blinked on again and the wings quickly extended out and the flight thrusters kicked in.
"Wow…" Aerrow was impressed with the amount of control this little cube had on the slip-wing, but there was time to admire it later. He aimed the sky ride directly for the opposite cliff where Soara and Dark Ace continued to struggle.
"Aerrow!" Piper's voice called to him through the comm. "The Talons are getting wise to our position! We've lost the element of surprise, and they're starting to decend in greater numbers! There's not much time left!"
"I hear you, Piper," Aerrow replied, trying to remain calm. "Just hold them off a little while longer! I'm going in for Soara now!" He switched off his radio and locked his gaze Across the way to the battling Sky Warriors.
"Hang on sis," Aerrow muttered lowly. "I'm coming!"