Enter the Wastelands

Piper stormed through the sky following the trail of choking fumes in search of Aerrow, hoping to see him soar through the sky on his hand-glider with Radarr in his arms. But this desire was far from possible. Aerrow was long gone.
Piper was now in serious danger as the Dark Ace prowled through the clear sky, haunting the crew with his sinister laugh. Piper spiralled downward hoping to come across the Sky Knight.
"C'mon Aerrow..." Piper repeated, reassuring herself of Aerrow's safe return.

Junko took hold of the stray wing-nut and bolt, running them through his fingers and scouring his mind for the answer to the objects' existence. He couldn't work out what part of the skimmer the bolt had come from. Guilt had overrun his mind with darkened thoughts. Finn ran back into the skimmer bay.
"What 'cha got there big guy?"
Junko glanced at the bolt and remained silent as his thoughts danced ritually through his head.
Stork's voice blared through the halls of the Condor howling with a sense of worry.
"Um... guys, I hate to ruin whatever's happening in the bay, but we're gonna need some heavy fire... A Cyclonian Destroyer's on our tail..."
Finn glanced at Junko and then darted for his gun.
Junko felt his heart beat against his ribcage as he glanced out at the trail of smoke. He rushed to his canon and began belting out as many shots as possible at the seemingly harmless ship edging its way toward the Condor.

Stork manoeuvred the ship through the sky with ease and narrowly missed the first few shots from the enemy ship. But that wasn't enough as the Condor took a direct hit from behind causing Stork to lose any control of the ship whatsoever.
Junko was thrust forward and nearly thrown of the ship. The Condor pelted through the sky, nose-diving into the abyss below.
"...To the few remaining crew members aboard... You might wanna hold on..." Stork's depressing words sent the last heartbeats of the crew across the world of Atmos. Once again, the Condor had started a downward journey into the fiery pit below, where treacherous rock formations awaited.
Finn let out a girlish scream as he raced for the bridge. Junko attempted to crawl back inside the aircraft, but gravity prevailed and dragged Junko toward the heated pit below. With all his strength, Junko latched on to his blaster for dear life. The heat from the lava below had trail sweat along Junko's neck.
"GUYS!" he yelled. It was useless. The sounds of erupting magma chambers had already began hammering against the Condor, rendering any noises below a certain frequency inaudible. Junko tightened his grip on the blaster but with his incredulous Wallop strength he crushed the metal.
"Happy thoughts... Happy thoughts..." he murmured continually, closing his eyes and trying desperately not to look at the bubbling, glowing substance below.
A snake-like being burst from the depths below and sprayed the Condor with handfuls of magma, finally shrieking an ear-piercing howl into the musty air. Junko yelped for help once again, but it was no use.

At that same point, the metal blaster gave way.
"AHH!" screamed Junko. He fell down into the wastelands.
However, his perilous journey down was cut short as he landed on a cliff edge.
"Ow! Ow! Ow..." Junko cried as he leapt to his feet and rubbed his back vigorously. He had rolled several feet away from the edge of the magma lake and now the Condor was nowhere in sight.
Junko was now stranded and had nowhere to turn. He could only hope to reunite with The Brotherhood of Atmosian high-risk Fuel workers.
His ordinary day had taken a downward spiral. He reached into his pocket and ran the missing wing-nut and bolts through his fingers, desperately hoping both Aerrow and Piper were okay.

Junko wandered through the wastelands with his nerves almost breaching the surface of his throat and sweat falling from him in a waterfall fashion. Screams from beasts echoed through tunnel walls as he continued to walk in search of harmless life-forms, or in any case, the Condor.
"Aw man... All this is my fault... If only I looked at Aerrow's skimmer properly..."
He trudged through uncanny rock formations toward unknown territories uncertain of who- or what he would meet next.
"Hello?" cried a familiar voice.
Junko spun around but saw no one. "Is anyone there?"
"Piper?" Junko answered cautiously. "Piper is that-"
"JUNKO! Thank god you're here!"
Although Junko could hear the calming voice, he couldn't figure out where it was coming from.
"Piper, where are you?" Junko glanced around, but found he was pretty much surrounded by misshapen boulders. Piper hammered her fist against one of the boulders.
"I'm over here- with Aerrow. Junko, we really need your help!"
"I don't know where you guys are-"
"Follow my voice." Piper said cunningly. As always, she had a plan; even if it wasn't stuck to. Piper called out to the Wallop for the first time.
"Okay..." Junko waltzed around the disfigured boulders until he arrived at a boulder he was sure the other Storm Hawks were behind. He lifted his fist and pounded the boulder with an almighty force, causing the ground to tremor. Junko smashed it several more times.
"Keep going Junko!" Aerrow started weakly.
"Aerrow!" Junko cried with a sense of relief. His heart was uplifted within seconds compelling him to tear through the wall with great haste, bursting with excitement to see his leader once again and apologize.
"Stand back guys, I'm coming through!"

Rock fragments bounded in several directions as Junko pounded the boulder the last few times. However, the last blow was mind provoking, heart wrenching blow.
"ARGH!" screamed Aerrow, though his cry was muffled by the downpour of blackened stones falling from above. Junko leapt through the stone-fall valiantly, only to be disheartened once again. A large boulder rested on Aerrow's leg, shaking slightly. Piper screamed as she gaped at the large object blocking any circulation to Aerrow's leg, and watching Aerrow howl in pain as his leg was near breaking point. Junko once again was paralysed with fear and regret.