Shamus Davenport is an old man now. He is nearly seventy, now having outlived three generations of royals of the great house of Cyclonia. At one time, he remembered that his house used to sit on the council of the rulers of their glorious empire, but that ended more than forty years ago. He had designed a weapon that he had hoped would destroy the rebels once and for all, but that day when his mega crystal cannon exploded, destroying the Destroyer with it on that test, killed all chances of that happening from him. The rival noble houses jumped on it immediately and destroyed his house's standing.

It took tireless ceaseless work to maintain his house. Even then, most of their wealth was gone, their political power was very brittle, and they were barely even considered nobility now. So, out of the blue, the young ruler contacted him and offered him a seat on the Tailwind for this event. He wasn't sure why she had done this? Was it because she wanted something from him or was this just giving his house one last honor before they fade into obscurity and die?

That being said, the one who had designed the Tailwind, he could only marvel at him. If only he had been born a few generations sooner or at least been born a Cyclonian. Then the empire's future could be secured completely. He mused on this. A fleeting thought.

"This was the original design?" the man hears as he sits in his room on the little bed from outside his door. "Strange…it feels like it's missing something."

"What are you doing now?"

"Following the power lines. If my thinking is correct, he had it all done and ready to go. But…what was the engine at the time?"

"This."

The old man stands there, confused by what he is hearing as the sounds of paper being ruffled around getting to him. What could they be looking at?

"Yep…thought so. There was a problem. Hook up here…here…and here. And…he had to sacrifice one and jury rig it. No wonder this thing got massive feedback and exploded. The engine was nowhere near capable of building up power to fire it correctly and what was left shot back to the engine. Those lines and connectors weren't ready for such a thing so it sent it out the only way it could."

"So… your thoughts?"

"Ahead of its time. The destroyer…not so much."

"Then let us talk to the designer," a voice he had committed to memory said before his heart nearly stopped as there was a knock on his door.

The door slides open, still a marvel to the man about this design, and shows the young man Dustin standing there while holding blueprint designs and Cyclonis staring straight at him with an even expression. "Master Cyclonis," he breathes out, standing up and giving a bow to her. He may be old and not much of a nobility anymore, but that doesn't mean he forgot his manners.

"Mr. Davenport, may we come in?" Cyclonis asks politely.

Shamus looks up slowly before nodding and stepping back. "Please. Come in. Make yourself at home," he gestures, making Dustin smile at the suggestion. It is almost to him that his manners never truly left a humble person.

"So how much of our conversation did you hear?" Cyclonis asks as the old man moves to take a seat and the door is closed behind her and Dustin.

"About…ahead of time. And the destroyer is not so much," Shamus explains as he does give a small feeble look at them.

"Allow me to explain. I asked Cyclonis here to talk about your mega crystal cannon. Your design was brilliant and would have worked. If it wasn't so advanced for the time. You see, I have gone over it a few times and the engine for the Destroyer at the time could not generate enough power to actually fire a proper shot from the cannon. I wanted to meet the one who was far ahead of his time," Dustin explains.

"Well…" Shamus stammers, feeling a sense of relief from hearing those words for one of the few times in his life. "You're looking at him, sir. Though I will admit, I had to cut corners to even fit onto an airship that can take such a weapon. I checked it up and down for a week and could not find a fault. It should have fired even a little weak shot from a weak engine," he explains haphazardly.

"I think you underestimated your cannon then," Cyclonis points out.

"Sir, Cyclonis and I are working in secret to adapt your design into one for ships in the future. Not the destroyers. A new design entirely as the destroyers will never be able to handle it," Dustin explains.

"But…what about the power? You mentioned it was too much and the feedback for it…" the flustered man tries to start.

"The Tailwind's generator produces a rough estimated ten times the power of a modern destroyer and about fifteen times of one back then," Cyclonis answers as the crystal expert, and Davenport was shaken by that information.

"Ten…fifteen…" he breathes out, unable to take it all in. He heard the fabled Tailwind is powerful and more modern, but this much? It is almost unheard of. They haven't even released the official numbers of the ship, engine, or anything yet. "If I had that back then…when are you planning on…"

"We have a deal. Trying to integrate the Tailwind's insane level of specs into the fleet at this stage of rebuilding the fleet would require a complete retooling of our production, millions if not billions, scrapping a large portion of our navy supplies, and retraining our talons and engineers to work with it," Cyclonis informs as Davenport's mind went over everything about that and thought about how to do so would be a herculean level of feats of engineering, logistics, and financial all together.

"That is why I am having the Ravens pursue this research and development outside the normal chain to avoid bureaucratic nonsense and slow it down. For the future, when we soon finish this war with the rebels," Cyclonis informs, getting Davenport's attention again with that claim.

"After? Why not make one defeat them? I can help make a smaller scale version too to attach to a smaller ship even," Shamus offers, looking surprised and shocked they would hold out on taking a weapon he made for the rebels to not be used at all until after the war.

"Because if she did, then there would be a rebellion. On this ship are around forty specialized anti-skimmer turrets. You can imagine what a true anti-skimmer weapon would tell everyone on both sides," Dustin informs.

"The nobles are constantly looking to kill and/or unseat so they can take control. With that, they can stir up those who fly the skimmers. And with them, they would have a sizable army to try to depose me. Right now, all the talons listen to me for the war," Cyclonis informs.

"I see. Those vipers would take the opportunity," Davenport agrees, recalling what they did to his house.

"Therefore for this research, Mr. Davenport, would you be willing to use your remaining years in service to the crown?" Cyclonis asks.

Shamus gives a wry smile. "Master Cyclonis, it would be my pleasure to offer the last years of my life and knowledge to whatever it is you need."

"Then from this day forward, you will once again be a researcher for the empire. You will work inside the Ravens, though not in R&D. I do not want the nobles catching wind of this. They will continue to think the reason I invited you was because I was bribed so you could be a part of this," Cyclonis informs, making the old man very happy.

Dustin chuckles. "Dinner for everyone in two hours. Make sure you get yours," he reminds, packing up all the paperwork and blueprints.

The rest of the week for the guests was mostly one of luxury, rest, relaxation, and being a part of this historic event. For Dustin, it was a week of documentation and many important meetings, both public, and backroom. Dustin had met with the Colonel and negotiated a deal with his organization discreetly dropping off supplies and items at prearranged locations. The price for this was Dustin had to design for him a luxury yacht cruiser and he wanted to be on the board of the Typhoon Raven's business department. After that, it was negotiations with several Atmosian merchants trying to find the right one to outsource building the Nimbus and other future ships of theirs. Eventually, Dustin struck a deal with a company called Crane Sails. There were other secret meetings on the Tailwind that the crew were not a part of but Dustin didn't feel the need to learn about them.

After the return, all the pictures from the trip were published and seven new species were discovered with six more thought to be extinct were rediscovered. It had set the entire Atmos alight with these and the revolutionary designs along with the reports informing all sides one of Dustin's ultimate goals was to make stratosphere travel a standard function for ships in the future.

Dustin accepted Cyclonis's condition in hiring Domiwick into the Ravens as the archaeological expert and the Ravens started doing digs led by Domiwick who had some oversight, but mostly to make sure he was being legitimate with his reasons for choices. Domiwick was also made to attend meetings with the other high-ranking members to keep everyone on the same page. For Domiwick, he found his popularity going through the roof being a part of the first stratospheric journey and then becoming a high-ranking member in the Ravens. Of course, he didn't like to share the spotlight, but with Cyclonis funding the digs and the Ravens handling security and manual labor cutting expenses, he couldn't complain much.

Over the next two years, Dustin focused heavily on projects. He designed a new model of luxury cruisers as his agreement with the Colonel, then he started working on a modified navigation system that, while based on the timepulse, aimed to improve it completely, and he completed the new ship design, the Thunder Strike model. The fast carrier cruiser was already a popular product amongst both Cyclonian and free Atmos squadrons. Already, eighty percent of cruiser production in Cyclonia was changed to build these new ships to augment their forces and their business partner Crane Sails got several orders for the ship from nearly every squadron, even the Rex Guardians. Internally, the Ravens had started producing their own personal melee weapons and finished the first model of their new weapons. They had gone from an organization of two hundred to around eight hundred members on both sides and their ships consisted of Nimbus, Onyx, and now Thunder Strike cruisers, but no new Tailwind models yet. The words of Dustin to 'Make it the best ship out of them all,' still ring around every ship goer's dream of seeing this majestic thing that can go anywhere and do anything.

"Rorack, how were the sky knight trials? Any good potentials to try and scout?" Dustin asks the wallop.

Rorack looks at him with a deadpan expression. "You want real figures or hopeful ones in the future?"

"You know the answer, but start with how many passed the trials. I know they have really dropped the bar the last few years to try and get the numbers up, at least on paper," Dustin informs.

Rorack, now wearing heavy round pauldrons with gauntlets made of the same material as the ship, sighs. "At this point, we have around six people who qualified for the sky knights. Only a few others looked promising on the trials, but if we want them, we would have to do our version of the trials."

"Heh, funny. Our training course put those trials to shame." Viper says, now bigger having grown a bit more and gained some muscles with new chest armor, gauntlets, and shin guards made of many kills he had made over the years.

Dustin scoffs, trying to rifle through some paperwork of the reports from the R&D crew. "They weren't even a player at our level," he jokes, making the two laugh as he smiles at them. He sighs as he sits down, adjusting his long coat to sit easier. "Where's the…?" he stops as another paper is handed in his view. Dustin takes the report of the Tailwind and looks to see Salv standing there with long hair but also tied with a sky shark hairpin made by his hand when he was bored. "Thanks," he says, looking over the paper while eyeing the more formally dressed raptor but still keeping her legs free like normal with the split sides.

Salv giggles. "The paper guy forgot to pick it up," she mentions before leaning down and giving him a small kiss on his lips. "And I still have my report to write up."

"Where are Daria, Condor, Angus, Frost, and Domiwick? They are to be here for this meeting," Dustin asks.

"Busy, busy, busy, busy, and out at a ruin," Salv lists off on her fingers. "They send their condolences and mention their reports will come in when they can."

"Tell them to get in here. Except for Domiwick. Rorack, after the meeting, you are to go to Domiwick's location and remind him of how we operate," Dustin instructs.

"Smack him over the head with a hammer. Got it," Rorack mentions and makes the boss snark to the side.

Salv rolls her eyes before walking away with a sway to her tail. "I'll get them. And make sure to kick their butts to hurry up when I can," she informs with a wave over her shoulder.

Dustin watches the raptor leave before his view is blocked suddenly by a spear, courtesy of Viper who still looks a little annoyed at his boss looking at his sister like that. "Calm down Viper. Salv knows what she is doing," he assures, going back to reading. "Now, it looks like Crane Sail is on time with ship orders and only slight delays. So now we can worry less about production. Though we still need another dock or company to do our ships to really ramp up production. Maybe one category or side for each one we get."

"They can't match the orders we get from Cyclonia as well," Viper points out.

"Nor can the Free Atmos throw as much money at us for the ships," Dustin adds as Salv returns.

"Got the stubborn oafs," Salv informs as she sits down in her seat while the rest of the leaders of the crew walk into Dustin's office. Angus is the first to walk in and sit down in one of the many seats at the large conference table. His new goggles sit on top of his head with its many visions and functions while he rests his armored greaved covered arms on the table. Condor follows behind him in a red lab coat while wearing a mechanics belt filled with electrical instruments and tools along with crystal materials and tools with some charms around her she says is to ward off a variety of things. Most of which Dustin is half certainly didn't exist. Daria is the next, looking big and tough as ever but now has a heavy stitch mechanic overalls and tough shirt with a few wrenches and drivers for her job. As for the last, Frost walks in with a happy grin on his face as he munches on a frozen pie while he wears the padded jacket and cargo pants. Frost was the most recent addition to the inner circle. He was one of the original blizzarian helmsman they had hired, but when they started acquiring more ships for the Ravens, they needed someone to be the head of the pilot and helmsman of the organization. Dustin had decided to let the original Helmsmen decide amongst themselves who would get the promotion. Frost lost the game so he was the one forced into the extra responsibilities. "Okay cap. What's the news for us all?" Salv speaks up, asking for them all.

"It's the usual meeting. One which Domiwick decided not to attend. Rorack will visit him later and he better have a good explanation why he missed it," Dustin says as the door is closed and everyone takes their seats before starting the meeting. They first reviewed their growth since the last meeting and products they are manufacturing and selling to all sides. "Alright, next order of business. Angus, I believe you have started limited production on what will be the main weapon for our organization in the future," Dustin says, calling him to take the floor as he looks at the R&D report.

Angus clears his throat, swinging his paper around. "Yes. Our rifle project is now being made. Although we are controlling who is ordering it by offering it to those you specified. And the ammo alongside it in the same manner."

"So right now just our sniper teams. Anything you want to inform us about them?" Dustin inquires.

"Yes. Just don't put the ammo in wrong," Angus warns.

"Alright, moving on. Next is budgeting," Dustin says and this is the part all of the members dreaded about the meetings.

"Starting off. Security department. You both," Dustin says, stopping to check the papers, "are making both of you one percent under budget. An actual improvement this time," Dustin informs, sounding genuinely surprised.

Viper groans in relief as a tired hiss comes from him. Dealing with the crazy security concerns around here is nuts compared to the ship alone. Luckily he can leverage his title as a warrior to the raptor workers and shave some budget off.

"Next, engineering. You are ten percent over budget. What's going on there? This is unusual as you're pretty good with keeping everything on budget, Daria?" Dustin inquires, more confused than anything.

Daria groans, holding a palm to her face. "Would you believe we needed more ore as we butchered a set?"

"And not consulting Salv?" Dustin asks, now giving a sideways glance.

"One…dang…week she was away for something important," Daria whispers, sighing.

"All new metal has to be done with her in the room," Dustin warns, writing off the budget report and sliding it over to the dejected aquinos.

"Next, the crystal department…fifty percent over budget?" Dustin asks, looking at the paranoid merp.

Condor slowly gives a concerned grin. "We need to always be prepared. Just because we are safe now, doesn't mean we won't have something happen. Especially with the crystals we use."

"Please don't tell me you are mist bunny proofing again," Daria speaks up, remembering the last time she did that in the foundry.

"Those things are real. They steal your socks and curse them," Condor reminds, pointing a finger at her.

"Who did you order the crystals from?" Dustin asks, trying to get this back on track.

"Who else has all the crystals? Cyclonians," Condor answers, looking hungry for more chances.

"No more buying until you approve with the finance department…speaking of which, someone better remind me next time to have someone from there come down and do this part," Dustin warns, signing off the budget and sliding it over to her.

"Next, R&D, yours, like always, seems to be the most expensive. You guys are one hundred seventy percent over budget this time," Dustin reads off from the paper, half regretting that he told the accounts to allow them to go over budget by this much at times.

"And yet you ask us to do so much with so many things. The timepulse systems are your biggest endeavors. The time communication was easy. But now an authentication system? Ask us to make a communication system, why don't you?" Angus groans.

"Watch the tone. Yes. I know," Dustin sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Try to…limit the amount spent in other areas. Maybe the ones getting close to completion or last stages. Only new or ones that need careful steps to be taken get more," Dustin advises, sighing. He had to ask the team to give full attention all the time. But they are bleeding money a lot at times and not enough orders come in for their various ships and products now like before. Maybe they would need to take more pre-orders for various things and put a deposit down. Have the rest be paid later once it's delivered. Should give them a good starting pool to work off of and help other areas. Plus he can't keep going to Cyclonis even if it's a high budget for all that. She isn't made of money. Her or the empire. "Okay…do your best at trying to limit certain areas. Work on what you can, finish the closest projects, go at it one by one maybe, and if stuck, warn us so we know why and when or how it can start up again," he lists off, signing off their budget.

"Moving on. This is the latest graph for our recruitment numbers," Dustin says as assistants started setting up the graph when someone came in.

"Boss. Sorry to interrupt, but this message from Cyclonia just came in marked urgent from the radio room," the member of the organization informs, handing him the telegram.

"It has begun," Dustin says, standing there in silence with his brow slightly scrunched up.

There is silence in the room before someone sighs. "Fucking perfect…" Salv speaks up.

"Have all our ships at Atmosia and near it hunker down. For no exceptions are they to lift off or do anything until further notice. Tell them it is for maintenance and we may need them ready to receive something," Dustin orders the member as a familiar form enters the conference room.

"That thing still freaks me out a bit," Daria comments about what had entered.