A meeting between the Blackburn Jaegers and the Storm Hawks has probably been the most requests thing to happen with regards to our squadron. So, here it is: part one of what will hopefully be a three part short story! Enjoy!
"Ah, Terra Saharr," Piper sighed, "It's nice to see that they managed to fix things up around here after that whole race fiasco."
"Yeah, that was a blast!" Aerrow exclaimed.
"A 'blast'," Stork air quoted, "is not the word I would use to describe that experience."
"Oh sweet, that guy's got guitars for sale!" Finn cried. Just as he began to dash over to the stall with wide, excited eyes, Piper grabbed the collar of his shirt to stop him.
"Finn! We aren't here to buy you a new guitar!" she chastised.
"But the string on my old one snapped when I was busy saving the Atmos from that music cannon! And I really, really, want a new one!" he whined.
"No," Piper insisted, "we're here to restock on supplies and get some equipment for repairs. We barely are it out of that last fight with the Talons between your skimmer breaking down and the ship's cannons jamming. It's just not in our budget."
"Ugh, fine!" Finn sighed in annoyance. "But you owe me one for this Piper."
"Um, I don't think that's how it works, Finn," Junko added.
"Ok, I took the liberty of making up a list of everything we need!" Piper chirped, pulling out a thick scroll. She held the top corners between her fingers as the rest of the scroll slid down and rolled across the sandy terrain.
"Whoa, that's a long list…" Aerrow commented.
"Are we gonna have enough time to get everything on it?" Junko asked.
"I know one way we can! Split up!" Finn exclaimed, ripping a section off the list before dashing off into the bazaar.
"Finn! This list took me three hours to write up!" she shouted after him, but he was already long gone. Piper heard another loud rip sound and saw Junko smiling with another piece of the list in his hand. He laughed nervously before diapering in a cloud of smoke.
"Aw don't sweat it Piper, at least this way, we can get all the shopping done faster!" Aerrow placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.
"I guess you're right, Aerrow. I think I'm just worried about Finn and Junko spending all our money on junk food. Stork, you coming with us?"
"No thanks. I'll be much faster on my own," he replied, taking another section of the list.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me. Come on," said Aerrow as they headed into the bazaar. While the two browsed the stalls, Radarr wandered off to another stall when he bumped into something rough and fell onto the hot sand. Once the shock passed, he looked up to see what he bumped into. A tall, broad-shouldered green lizard towered over him. As the lizard glared at Radarr with his bright yellow eyes, Radarr couldn't help but whimper as his ears drooped.
"Watch where you're going," he hissed before continuing on his way.
Once he was a few feet away, Radarr rushed over to Aerrow, jumping straight on his back and tightly clutching his face. "Ah! Radarr, what's wrong?" Aerrow asked as he pried his co-pilot off him. Radarr chirped loudly and pointed to the large Raptor walking through the bazaar. "Piper, we've got a situation," he whispered to her.
"Finn bought that guitar, didn't he? I just knew he'd blow our money on that. I shouldn't have let him run off on his own!" Piper grunted.
"No, no, not that. That!" Aerrow grabbed her small shoulders and turned her around, pointing out the Raptor that Radarr had bumped into earlier.
"A Raptor? What are they doing here?" she asked.
"I don't know, but I'm betting with one of them here, Repton and the rest of them can't be too far behind," Aerrow smirked. "Let's follow him!"
"Aerrow, wait!" she called after him before sighing and following him. They carefully tailed the Raptor until he disappeared into one of the tents. The pair tightly hug the entrance so they could eavesdrop on the conversation inside.
"Bas! Long time no see! How's it going?" the clerk greeted heartily.
"Not bad. Is my order in?" the Raptor, 'Bas', asked.
"Yup, a whole crate of heater crystals," the clerk replied, heaving up a large crate of glowing red-orange crystals.
"What would a Raptor want with a whole crate of heater crystals?" Aerrow whispered.
"Let's keep listening," added Piper.
"Perfect! Ah, these are great!" he admired.
"Still having fights over the thermostat setting are you?"
"Ugh, what do you think? Ray and I are always fighting over the temperature. But what does she expect? I'm a Raptor? We like the heat! And whenever Ossy catches us fighting she reams us out! She said the ship stays it's designated temperature and Ray and I can keep our rooms set to whatever temperature we like. And with these, my room will be as hot as this Terra!"
"Those don't sound like any of the Raptors…" Piper said quietly.
"Maybe Repton got a new crew," Aerrow whispered back.
"Why are we whispering?"
Piper squealed loudly and jumped out when she heard Finn behind her. "Finn! You startled me!"
"Well what else was I supposed to do? Last time you hit me because I was too loud, now I'm too quiet? What are you two doing anyway?" Finn asked as Junko and Stork appeared behind him as well.
"Good, everyone's here. Storm Hawks, we have a situation: there's a Raptor inside that tent and there may be more nearby," Aerrow announced.
"Raptors? You don't think Cyclonians are here too, do you?" Finn whimpered. Before anyone could get another word in, the Raptor came out of the tent, holding the crate of heater crystals. The group instantly froze when the Raptor cast his bright yellow eyes towards them, narrowing his eyes into a vicious glare.
"What are you looking at?" he muttered before walking off.
"Whoa, that was close man," Finn sighed.
"It was like he didn't know who we were…" Junko added.
"Well, if he is a new member of the Raptors, then we wouldn't have met in person until now," Aerrow reasoned.
"Yeah but we all the Storm Hawks emblem on us. There's no way he couldn't not notice that!" Piper argued.
"Let's follow him and see where he goes," Aerrow grinned. The squadron tailed the Raptor on the skimmers, careful to keep enough distance so that they didn't lose him or that he would wise up on their presence. They recognized his skimmer as the same kind the Raptors rode, but noticed the distinct black and orange color, much like his own attire.
"Black and orange… Where have I seen those colours before?" Piper muttered to herself.
"You say something Piper?" Aerrow asked.
"Oh, no, it's nothing!" she answered.
They continued tailing the Raptor until they came to a large black frigate with a bright red hull. "Whoa, check out that ship!" Finn cried in awe.
"I've never seen anything like it," Aerrow added.
Piper, however, eyed the ship carefully, examining every detail she could notice at their distance, in particular the large orange, flaming bird emblem on the side of the frigate. "Wait, that emblem… I've seen it somewhere before."
"If we're gonna attack, we should do it now before they have a chance to prepare!" Aerrow announced.
"Aerrow, wait!" Piper called out, trying to stop Aerrow, Finn and Junko as they rode on ahead, but to no avail.
"I have a feeling this is going to end badly… for us," Stork muttered from his seat behind Piper.
"If that emblem means what I think it means, then I'm afraid you're right, Stork."
"Finn, fire a warning shot. Let him know we mean business," Aerrow commanded.
"Hehe, you got it," Finn grinned, focusing the sight on his crossbow before firing a shot that just missed the Raptor by a hair. Noticing the shot, the Raptor turned around and saw his approaching attackers.
"What's your problem!" he shouted.
"Where's your buddy Repton? He's gotta be around here somewhere!" Aerrow called back.
"Repton? You think I'm with him?"
"Who else could you possibly be with!" Finn added too.
"Oh I can't believe this is happening again," Bas muttered to himself.
"And then Basil just turns up the thermostat again, after I specifically told him not to!" Ray exclaimed.
"Well, in all fairness, Ossy did tell the two of you to cut with the fighting," Crow mentioned.
As the two teammates spoke, Krane noticed something through the periscope of the ship: Basil on his Thrasher skimmer being chased by three other skimmers. 'Not good,' he thought to himself. He turned away from the periscope to inform Crow and Ray, but couldn't get a word in during their conversation.
"What do you expect, Crow? I'm a Blizzarian! As in, covered in fur. We thrive in the cold!"
"And Basil is a Raptor, who thrives in the heat," Crow pointed out.
"Oh, don't be such a hoser!"
"Look, I don't know what to tell you, Ray. Ossy said the thermostat stays at its current setting and that you and Basil can make your own rooms as hot or as cold as you like."
"But-" Before Ray could utter another word, Krane suddenly blew the frigate's horn, causing both her and Crow to quickly cover their ears. "What with you, eh?" Krane remained silent but pointed to the window and the skirmish that was still taking place outside.
"Whoa, looks like Basil went and got himself in to some trouble," Crow commented.
"You said it. Why didn't you say something sooner, Krane?" Ray asked. Krane simply cocked his eyebrow at them before rolling his eyes and sighing.
"What's going on?" Osprey asked, entering the bridge. "Where's Basil? He should have been back by now."
"Yeah, well there's an explanation for that," Crow said as Krane pointed to the window a second time. Krane pulled down the periscope for Ossy as she looked through it.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Krane, hold the fort; Crow, get up to your nest to provide us cover fire; Ray, you're with me," she ordered.
"You got it, Ossy," Crow winked.
Ossy and Ray hopped on their skimmers and took to the skies after Basil on his assailants. "So what are we dealing with?" Ray asked.
"Judging by the emblem on those skimmers, it's those kids that are pretending to be Sky Knights. And I'm betting I know what happened," Ossy muttered in annoyance. "I'll take the leader, you and Basil take the other two.
"You got it, boss lady!" Ray beamed. Ray joined up with Basil as Finn and Junko flew off after them. Aerrow revved his engine to follow, but was cut off when Ossy flew right by him, cutting him off.
"Oh, so you wanna play like that, huh? All right then, let's play," Aerrow grinned.
"So, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time Basil?" Ray shouted.
"I didn't do anything!" he shouted back. "They did what everyone does and assumed I'm with Repton!"
"Man, that happens a lot, doesn't it?"
"You think getting the Jaegers emblem tattooed on my chest would help, but nooooooo," he growled. "Oh great, their marksman is shooting at us," he grumbled, noticing an arrow pass right by him.
"Well, good thing we've got a marksman of our own," Ray winked.
Basil narrowed his eyes towards the Frigate and noticed a faint shimmer of light. He smirked before yelling, "Let 'em have it, Crow!"
From atop his Crow's Nest, Crow caught sight of Basil through his scope. "You got it, Basil," he smirked, turning his rifle over to the blonde boy and wallop that were tailing him. "Nighty night!" he whispered, pulling the trigger and unleashing several shots onto the blonde's skimmer. The shots struck the main body of the skimmer when the skimmer suddenly came to a stop and split in half.
"Oh, man…" Finn muttered before falling from the sky.
"I gotcha buddy!" Junko shouted, catching Finn.
"Opps, did I do that?" Crow laughed before returning to his scope and catching Ossy in his sight.
As Aerrow caught up to Ossy, she suddenly pulled her skimmer up, flew over him and jumped onto his skimmer, landing right above the engine as she stood over him. "So, do you mind telling me why you're attacking my squadron?"
"Your squadron?" Aerrow asked in confusion.
"Yes, my squadron, the Raptor included. For someone claiming to be a Sky Knight, you're not managing your squadron very well."
"Hey! I'm managing my squadron just fine!"
"Is that so?" Ossy pulled out one of her katanas and activated the Tundra crystal that sat in the pommel. With blinding speed, she sliced through the wing of his skimmer, sending into a downward spiral. Ossy leapt off the crashing skimmer, sheathed her katana and pressed a button on her gauntlet, summoning her skimmer to her as she took her seat. Aerrow grabbed Radarr and jumped off his skimmer just as it crashed violently into the sand, parts scattering all around it as a large cloud of grey smoke rose to the sky. He pulled out his glider and coasted safely to the ground as Junko and Piper landed their rides next to him.
"Aerrow! Are you ok?" Finn cried.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," he insisted, brushing the sand off his clothes.
"I was trying to tell you guys before you flew off, that guy's not with the Raptors!" Piper exclaimed.
"He's not?" Junko asked, scratching his head.
"Look at that emblem, don't you guys recognize it?" Piper asked, pointing to the orange firebird on the side of the frigate.
"Uh… no," Finn answered.
"Finn! That's the emblem of the Blackburn Jaegers!"
"The who now?" Aerrow asked.
"The Blackburn Jaegers! One of the most skilled Sky Knight squadrons in all of Atmos! Their leader, Osprey Phoenix was the youngest graduate in Sky Knight Academy history! Everyone calls her the Blackburn Phoenix!"
"Please, she's got nothing on the Finnster, the greatest marksman in all of Atmos," Finn smiled proudly.
"Finn, nobody calls you that but you. And it's never going to catch on," Piper said.
"It so will catch on!" he insisted.
"Enough!" Finn and Piper immediately fell silent as the Storm Hawks turned their gaze to Osprey and the Blizzarian and Raptor that stood behind her.
"Hehe, we can explain?" Piper squeaked.
"Oh, I'd love to hear that," Ossy said sarcastically.
I think one of the things I like doing with these short stories of the Jaegers is exploring a little bit about each character (whether it's backstory, quirks, etc.), like why Basil has a tattoo of the Jaegers emblem on his chest as opposed to everyone else who just has it emblazoned on their armor. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed it and feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing thoughts from my readers ^_^
Part 2: The Blackburn Jaegers and Storm Hawks get to know each other after the misunderstanding of their first meeting.