Chapter Four

"Storm Hawks," the redhead shouted, his voice echoing around the cave walls as he crouched low before the defending wallop, "prepare for battle!"

Finn sprung to his feet and took position beside Junko, brandishing his crossbow fiercely. Piper dropped the rucksack from her shoulders, twisted her staff around her back and produced a crystal in her free hand. An aura of bright blue materialised around her form and she skilfully levitated off the ground behind the others. Radarr leapt up onto the leader's shoulder briefly to brush his cheek against his before standing beside him, hissing savagely at the enemy.

The last time Junko had laid eyes on the squadron's Sky Knight, he was passed out in the locked arms of his teammates. He knew he was still hurting, but he could not tell by the sight of him. His stance was bold and strong. If this had not been such a serious situation, he would have picked up his friend and hugged him tightly for remaining as steadfast as ever.

The crystal in Piper's hand was thrust out towards the lake of seawater and in one quick, fluent motion a dense cloud of mist rose out of the water and surrounded the team, hiding them from the sight of the ambush.

Radarr must have realised this battle was far beyond his means, for he yelped in fright and took cover as the first weapon was brought in for the attack. It was an energy blade. Its powerful azure glow hissed in the watery air and crashed down against the armour of the leading nightcrawler, the second of the pair met its mark moments after. The visibility was low and it left them no chance to retaliate. The blades' hot glow melted into the armour. The nightcrawler fought back by striking low with a swift kick. Aerrow dodged out of the way. As he skidded across the sand, his leg buckled and he fell on one knee. He gritted his teeth, in either pain or determination and sprung back into the fray.

Elsewhere in the haze, Finn shot blue energy bolts at the advancing clan and bolts of scarlet rocketed back in return. The incoming fire never made their targets, for Piper blocked each one with a flick of a hand, redirecting them back the way they came.

There must have been at least forty dark hooded fiends attacking the team instantaneously. Junko and Aerrow fought back-to-back. Junko's powerful punches took out many of the enemy at once. Aerrow on the other hand, was finding it difficult to build up momentum. His strikes were undeniably strong, but lacked the footwork needed to pull off his more powerful manoeuvres.

"Junko," Aerrow called out as they started to become overwhelmed, "sure could use a hand here!"

The wallop cut off the energy to his left buster and held out his hand. Aerrow hastily crammed the handle of his right blade between his teeth and grabbed his outstretched hand. Junko whirled the Sky Knight around in a complete circle and his outstretched blade took down their attackers in one quick swipe.

The pair quickly righted themselves and Aerrow landed back in position, left foot forwards. He retrieved his blade just in time to block an incoming attack from the claws of a nightcrawler and then fell back on his hands and kicked his challenger in the face with his leading foot. He swivelled into a crouching stance and narrowly avoided getting his head sliced off by sharp talons.

Junko charged his fist into Aerrow's attacker and sent them flying. He was already locked in a struggle with a nightcrawler whose wrist mounted crossbow doubled as a collapsible sword. He led on his back, blocking the sword between his crossed blades, edging it away from his throat. He somehow managed to shunt the blade away and flip himself to his feet.

Junko remembered Finn telling him about the reality of Aerrow's condition. His gaze kept slipping away from the battle to check on him, but, as always, it was impossible to tell how he was feeling – at least for him, it was. Piper was usually the one to notice when something was wrong, but lately even she could not seem to read him right.

All he wanted was for things to go back to the way they were; the time when they could all be happy and every one of their smiles were genuine. He did not know if the huge weight he was feeling was a sign of maturity, or that the situation had grown a whole lot more desperate despite winning the war. He always felt uneasy venturing into new situations. The far side of Atmos was about as new as it could get and he was not ashamed to admit it scared him.

A mass of still bodies had formed up around Aerrow. He held his blades up to shield his face. He was shaking. His breath was laboured. His energy was spent.

"Aerrow?" Junko called out to him, his voice quavering with concern.

His gaze travelled to the wallop. "I'm okay." he said brashly, sheathing his right blade behind his back. He shook himself alert, held up his scorched gloved hand, put his bare fingers to his lips and whistled.

The engine of Aerrow's skimmer roared to life and the motorbike crashed through the army of nightcrawlers with Radarr at the controls. Wasting no time, Aerrow mounted the ride and his co-pilot clambered up onto his shoulders. "We're getting out of here." he grunted, swiping out his blade and a powerful ripple of blue energy knocked back the attackers. "All of us." he continued to rev the skimmer's engine impatiently as Junko clambered on behind him.

The wheels span furiously, hurtling sand through the air in all directions and the skimmer rocketed towards the others. As they sped by Finn, Aerrow grabbed the sharpshooter's forearm and with one mighty one-armed heave, he tossed him up over the skimmer and onto the secondary cockpit usually occupied by Radarr.

Aerrow swerved the skimmer on the spot, creating a tidal wave of sand in their wake and shot back in the opposite direction. "Piper, let's go!"

The crystal mage scooped up her dropped rucksack and swooped up high. She deactivated her aura and landed on the back of the skimmer. "Would now be a good time to ask what you're doing here?" she yelled at Aerrow over Junko's shoulder.

"I think it's pretty clear what I'm doing here!" Aerrow shouted back over the slipstream. "You're welcome, by the way!"

"Uh, guys," Finn interrupted, "we got company!"

Junko and the others glanced over the back of the skimmer where the nightcrawlers clawed their way along the cave walls in pursuit. Red flares of energy shot their way.

"We need to get airborne!" Aerrow realised, ducking under a low blast of fire.

"Then, deploy the wings, genius!" Finn insisted, swivelling in his seat and took aim with his crossbow. "You can fly us out, no problem!"

"I can't do that in here!" Aerrow shot back, "There's too many of us!"

"You gotta at least try!" Junko urged.

"I have better idea." he assured, "I just need a moment to focus."

Junko looked out into the dark abyss ahead. The energy blade Aerrow was holding up for light barely illuminated any more than a few feet ahead. It seemed impossible to navigate the twisting cave at such a high speed, but somehow Aerrow was pulling it off. He leaned in towards the frame of the skimmer and skidded around a sharp turn Junko had no idea was coming. Radarr clung to Aerrow's neck for dear life.

"Finn," Aerrow demanded, not straying his eyes from the darkness, "how you doing on ammo?"

"Not good."

"Then, hold your fire. We need to time this just right."

This was how Aerrow's plans worked out. The Storm Hawks had learned by now not to question his judgement. It would sometimes help they actually knew what the plan was before he struck it into motion, but lately, they had become rather skilled at flying blind.

"I only have one bolt left!" Finn informed the leader.

"One is all we'll need," Aerrow said coolly, flicking his gaze to the panicked sharpshooter, "trust me."

Junko could not see how one energy bolt was enough to take care of an entire clan of nightcrawlers and neither did Finn going by the look on his face, but neither he nor Junko said a word against him.

There was the sound of a struggle from behind them. Junko turned his head to see Piper battling with a nightcrawler as she remained crouched on the back of the skimmer. She brought up her staff and whacked it hard across the back of the head, freeing herself. "Communication's still down." she briskly reported. "The nightcrawlers must have jammed the signal."

A light could be seen materialising in the blackness. The cave entrance was approaching fast. Aerrow shot another look over his shoulder, this time at the crystal mage. "Piper, toss up the burner!"

"Aerrow, the nightcrawlers aren't-"

"I know! Just do it!"

Groaning to herself, she yanked the crystal out of the end of her staff and threw it out into the darkness.

"Finn, you're up!" Aerrow ordered, returning his gaze to the path ahead.

The sharpshooter brought up the crossbow in front his face and let loose his last energy bolt at the burning crystal.

When the shimmers of blue and orange collided, a huge dusty explosion rumbled the cave walls. Aerrow accelerated as rocks came plummeting down from the ceiling around them. Hot flames licked the back wheel of the skimmer and the cavern fell in on itself their wake.

The light at the end of the tunnel was closer now. Sixty feet. Fifty feet. Forty feet. A huge boulder began falling over the cave entrance. Thirty feet. The bright light protruding from the outside world became narrower. Twenty feet. Their only chance of escaping was slipping away. Ten feet. Aerrow yanked the speeding skimmer into a sharp skid that forced the left wing into the ground, sending up sparks.

The vehicle trundled out into the open, jostling all who were on it onto the cliffside. A horrendous rumbling accompanied their exit, almost deafening to large wallop ears. They covered their heads as a cloud of thick rubble chocked the air.

Once the dust settled, Piper was the first to recover. "That was really dangerous." she said fearfully, staggering to her feet and began dusting herself off. She looked mostly unharmed aside from the scrape marks on her elbows. "Is everyone okay?"

Radarr's fist shot out of a pile of rubble and he supported thumbs up before digging himself out and shaking dust from his fur.

"I'm good." Junko replied shortly. He helped Finn to his feet, who was coughing into the back of his hand.

"Me too." he added, brushing earth out of his blond hair.

Their gazes fell on the leader's motionless form sprawled on his side next to his battered skimmer.

A stunned silence lingered about the team. The dusty hawk on Aerrow's back glinted in the falling sun. His unlit blade still held tightly in his left hand. They came to their senses and scurried over to him at once.

"Is he…?" Junko blurted out, barely knowing how he was going to end that sentence.

Piper got to her knees beside him and shakily placed a hand on his shoulder. "Aerrow?"

He did not move. Radarr pushed his head under his limp right hand, but still no response. Piper removed his sheathed blade and pulled the Sky Knight onto his back. The gash on his forehead was instantly visible through his parted red hair. It did not take a genius to figure out that he had collided with the windshield.

Piper placed her ear near his airway and assessed the situation. "He's breathing." she stated, straightening up.

Junko let out a breath he did not know he was holding. "He's going to be okay, right?"

Finn snorted and folded his arms. "As long as he keeps playing the hero, he's never going to be 'okay'."

"He should be fine." Piper put in sternly. She examined his wound more closely. It did not look that serious and this was awfully lucky, considering how fast he had been driving.

"You don't know that." Finn pointed out. "Look, we gotta move. We can't stay here. Aerrow bought us some time, but once they clear out those rocks, they'll be on our tail again."

"I'm aware," Piper assured him, getting to her feet, "but I'd rather not move Aerrow until he wakes up."

"He wouldn't want that." Finn argued. "Besides, we don't know how long that'll take."

There was an odd prickling working its way down Junko's spine at the thought of being so close to those who were pursuing them. "Finn's right, Piper." he contributed, "It's not safe."

"Something could be seriously wrong." she stated, "If we move him, we'll only make it worse."

"Better worse than dead." Finn snarled. "If we stay here, all Aerrow did will be for nothing."

Piper held up her hands in defeat. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just really nervous, okay? The burden Aerrow has is huge and I don't think I have the skills to take his place." She turned away from the others and glanced down at their Sky Knight. "If he hadn't showed up back there, I don't know what would have happened."

"Stop." Finn insisted shortly, "Just, cut it out." he waved his hand in a dismissing fashion. "You and your crazy calculations are the best we got, alright? I won't have you downing yourself like that." he crossed his arms and squinted at her with what he obviously thought was a look of authority. He shot his next look at Junko and Radarr and they mimicked his actions. "The squadron agrees."

Piper's worried frown softened into a look of confidence. "Okay." she acknowledged. "Junko, you take Aerrow. Finn, grab his skimmer. Radarr, you're with me. Rendezvous in the bridge. We have a lot to discuss."