Chapter Summary:
Plans made, plans failed, enemies made.
"Excuse me, come again?"
Piper took a deep breath and steeled herself.
"We need to get the Aurora Stone back," she repeated steadily. "Ourselves. We're the only ones who can."
Practically every squadron with numbers and resources to spare had been in the failed assault on Cyclonia's fortress; the first attempt at such a thing in a decade. Who knew how long it would take for the Free Atmos forces to recover enough to try again? The Talons would surely launch an attack of their own before that.
Everyone was staring at her. Shocked, scrutinising, picking her apart.
"Piper, that's…" Ciel began, only for Finn to interrupt.
"Wicked. I knew you had it in you, Piper."
He did not actually believe she'd had it in her.
"How are we supposed to get it back?" Junko asked. The Wallop was more worried than sceptical. After what he'd just witnessed, he couldn't imagine what would happen if something went wrong for them. "An attack would be shot down in an instant."
"We won't be leading a full-on attack," Piper clarified. Quickly, she ran to grab one of her many collected maps from the nearest shelf. "That'd be suicide. We'll need to do this discreetly; sneak in and out without anybody noticing us. The Free Atmos's spy network has someone on the inside I can contact…"
Dark Ace groaned into wakefulness, his ears ringing with clamouring voices and footsteps. He could smell the sterile cleanliness of the infirmary; his face was crusted with what he knew to be dried blood. There was a pounding in his skull that wouldn't let up.
"He's awake. Sir! Don't get up yet."
He got up, grimacing when his ribs burned in protest. Definitely bruised, probably broken, and it hurt to move his shoulder. There was a fuzz in his limbs that he vaguely recognised as an excess of crystal energy. That would need getting rid of soon.
"I need a status report," he said, gritting his teeth against the pain. Now his head was clearer, it wasn't as sharp as he thought it would be, numbed by the fuzziness of painkillers. The doctor in his shadow looked ready to protest, but a quick look shut it down. He wasn't done with this day just yet. The pain and the care could wait.
A Talon captain came up to him, a file already in hand and ready to speak,
"Talon casualties were minimal, sir, and we managed to capture some minor members of the Amazonia, Bluster and Nimbus squadrons so far after your Crescendo," the captain rattled off, "It appears most of the Free Atmos troops fell to the Wastelands. Men are searching the battleground as we speak."
Dark Ace nodded, "Good."
"The Sky Knight of Xerxxes also surrendered during the battle."
That got him to do a double take. "They what?"
"They surrendered, sir. Lieutenant Deider is discussing negotiations with them as we speak."
Nonplussed, Dark Ace was silent for a moment. He knew the Knights of Xerxxes, and Knight Hwamei was infamously stubborn as far as Sky Knights were concerned. For them to surrender out of the blue and negotiate with the enemy, something serious must have happened on the Terra.
"I see… Keep myself and the rest of the war council informed. Now where's the Empress?"
"She's still in the Storm Engine chamber with-, um… with Lotus, sir."
He barely thought to mutter a thanks before he was marching off in the direction of that blasted contraption's room. There was a horrible feeling in his chest, weighing him down. He didn't like it one bit.
True to the captain's word, Cyclonis was tinkering away at the Storm Engine once more. Front and centre, fitted into a clasp above the main console, the Aurora Stone hummed innocuously, as if it hadn't just wiped out a small army a few hours ago. She was – seemingly – alone.
"Oh, you're up already," the girl remarked, and his mood soured even further. He could've died, been left injured beyond all reason by what he'd done, and that was her reaction? She didn't even turn to look at him.
"Yes, I am," he said dryly, regarding her with annoyance and the crystal with disdain. "I hope you know what you're doing. Just having this crystal in our position is a risk."
"Says the man who used the Aurora Stone for a Crescendo. You know that could've left you paralysed, right?"
He scowled, "I'm. Aware. I'm talking about the Free Atmos. Stealing their 'symbol of peace' is going to encourage more attacks. Sooner or later they're going to try taking it back again."
Cyclonis just laughed at that.
"You just took out the majority of their squadrons, Dark Ace. The biggest statement Cyclonia has made in years. Who would be dumb enough to try getting in here again so soon?"
"You would be surprised…"
"Junko. Junko, you're stepping on my foot!"
When Piper had said they'd be sneaking into Cyclonia, this hadn't been what Finn had pictured. Crammed into a supply crate with Junko while the mage snuck in with the aid of a cloaking crystal and a blast of distractions was not the glamorous, daredevil stunt show he'd been hoping to perform during this mission.
"Sorry!" Junko hissed under his breath. He shifted a little and Finn breathed a sigh of relief. His foot was going to be so sore now.
The supply crate shifted and shuddered as it was lowered into a storage bay, and the two Storm Hawks waited until there was total silence outside the crate before pushing it open. Certain the coast was clear, Finn crept out with Junko behind him.
"Okay, so Piper said to go…"
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
They froze. Shit. Shit, this was bad. A purple-haired Talon in red goggles was glaring at them, spear in hand. Eyes darting, they couldn't see any signs of other Talons, but that didn't rule out the possibility of more lurking in the shadows. Who knew what kind of cloaking technology Cyclonia had on its home base.
"We, uh…" Finn scrambled for a lie that would get them out of this. Nothing good came to mind. "We got lost?"
"Clearly," the Talon growled, gesturing for them to move. "You're not even in uniform. Come with me, do not argue."
Confused, Finn glanced over at Junko, who also shrugged. He contemplated the idea of just fighting this Talon and making a run for it. No, bad idea. They could sound the alarm and both of them would be caught almost immediately. Could he flirt their way out? No, what was he thinking? Flirt with a Talon? They had bigger sticks up their asses than Rex Guardians, that wouldn't work at all. Not sure what else to do, he reluctantly followed the Talon. Surely an escape would show up eventually.
They were led to a loud, stuffy and hot laundry room and the Talon shut the door behind them.
"Put these on," she said gruffly, throwing a pair of uniforms at them both. "That mage of yours owes me big time. Do you know how easily my position could be compromised by helping you kids?"
Finn did a double take, "Wait, what?"
"You're helping us?" Junko asked incredulously, and the Talon rolled her eyes.
"Of course I'm helping you, I'm on your side. Didn't Aniara tell you I was here?"
"Who now?"
"…Piper. Piper Aniara. Storms, what am I working with here?"
Finn's eyes widened in understanding, "Oh, you're the contact she was talking about. I was expecting someone else."
The woman – not a Talon at all, thank goodness – sighed and muttered something along the lines of 'amateurs' under her breath.
"Well, she meant me, so make do. My name is Starling, you will call me Juno for as long as this takes. This is horrendously against protocol. You don't even have a Sky Knight-,"
"We're working on that."
"-if it weren't for Aniara's connections, this would be considered going rogue."
"It would?" Junko piped up.
"Piper has connections?" Finn asked. All this time he'd thought she was an antisocial shut-in before asking them to join the Storm Hawks.
"Focus!" Starling snapped, making both boys jump. "Listen, I can direct you to that awful contraption that the Empress built for the Aurora Stone, but beyond that I can't help you directly. Not unless it's an extreme emergency."
"Why not?" That wasn't fair, weren't the Free Atmos's forces meant to help each other?
"I'm on thin enough ice as it is. The Council will have my hide if they found out I helped you. Now be quiet and put those uniforms on."
Spurred on and intimidated, Finn and Junko swiftly changed into the Talon uniforms while Starling kept watch. Their Storm Hawks uniforms were unceremoniously shoved into a half-empty drier to pick up later, and they stepped out feeling much more secure in this mission. Starling gave them directions to the Aurora Stone before leaving to rendezvous with Piper, who was sneaking in through another entrance to cause some distractions, and they were on their way.
"I don't think these uniforms have been washed," Junko remarked after a while, in an empty corridor where he couldn't see anyone listening in.
Finn grimaced in agreement. There had definitely been the smell of sweat and dust when they'd put the Talon uniforms on, but he'd been too afraid to bring it up to Starling. The woman had been rude and tetchy and he didn't want to piss her off more than she already seemed to be. If he had, she might have refused to give them directions to the Aurora Stone altogether.
"I'm surprised they have anything in your size here," he remarked quietly.
Junko chuckled, sounding awkward. "Haha, yeah… lucky me. Uuh, we should focus on not getting caught."
"Good idea."
It took them a while to find the machine. Starling's directions were detailed, but confusing, and they had to retrace their steps at least once. There were several close calls with some Talon guards asking why they were in a 'restricted area' that Finn had barely managed to lie their way through. Eventually though, they managed it. The room was dark and dimly-lit by the crystal mechanisms of the machine, but Finn only had eyes for the blue star-like crystal held in its centre console.
"Jackpot," he whispered, marching into the empty room with Junko hot on his heels. He reached out to grab it, but when he tried pulling it out of the console, nothing happened. "Oh. Junko, help me get this."
"I think you'll find that this is a restricted area."
…Shit.
Turning around, Finn and Junko felt the room go cold. Two figures stood at the door, one with a hood obscuring their face and an odd-looking creature perched on their shoulders. The other was a young woman whose head was crowned by a strange-looking collar of dark feathers.
"Um… we got lost?" Junko said weakly.
"So you decide to take what's not yours?" the young woman asked coldly, and the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. "Most people just ask for directions."
"Hey, you stole this," Finn jeered, pointing to the Aurora Stone, "We're just here to take it back where it belongs."
At that, the woman rolled her eyes, "Of course you are. I hate when he's right. No matter, you won't be leaving either way."
So it was a fight then. The air crackled slightly, and Finn and Junko reached to ready their weapons.
Only for a cage of liquid metal to spring up around them, shoving them into a corner of the room. Growling in frustration, Junko slammed a punch into the metal. It responded with an electric shock, and he yelped and jumped back in pain.
"Ow…"
"I must admit, you almost got past us," the girl drawled, coming up to the machine's console. "But those distractions you set up were… counterproductive. And you did a bad job hiding the clothes you came here in."
To prove her point, the hooded figure tensely approached, and Finn recognised them as the one who'd stolen the Aurora Stone to begin with. In their hand was a scrap of fabric, with the Storm Hawks insignia still attached to it. It was a piece of Finn's own uniform. The way it was held up seemed angry. Threatening, almost.
"You won't get away with this!" he snapped, "Our squadron came here with us, they'll bust us out with that crystal!"
"Finn!" Junko hissed, but it was too late. Now they knew that they hadn't come here alone.
"I highly doubt that," the girl said, "After all, those friends of yours decided to fly straight into a hornet's nest."
"Uhm… Finn?" Junko said, voice shaking, "Check the comms."
Because in his own comms, he could hear Stork and Ciel screaming in panic.
"Nightcrawlers! On the ship! We're compromised!"
Piper's heart was in her throat as she tried to stealth her way through the corridors. This was bad. Really bad. She'd heard over Finn's comm line that the boys had been captured. Thank goodness he'd been smart enough to turn it on while he gloated about getting rescued.
She kept up the distractions as best she could while she searched. Alarm crystals here, a swarm crystal there, but she was starting to run out. This was taking too long. Why hadn't she gone with the boys to meet with Starling? Then she'd know exactly where she was goi-.
"You lost, little Hawk?"
Piper froze. In her search, she'd entered a dimly-lit side room with tables and chairs. Some kind of conference room? At the door, staring right at her, was the Dark Ace. Red eyes gleamed at her from the shadows, pinning her to the spot with terror.
He took a step towards her, and she stumbled back, hitting a chair.
"I know you're probably worried about your friends, but a word of advice: check the charge on your cloaking crystal every now and again. I've been following you for five minutes."
Piper didn't hear him through the pounding of her heart. How was this man still standing?! He'd channelled the Aurora Stone just a few hours ago, that kind of power should've knocked him out for the whole day if not killed him outright. She could feel the residual crystal energy buzzing in his voice, bouncing against the cold steel walls.
He was coming closer, and she could see dried blood on his upper lip.
"What's the matter? Talon got your tongue? Come quietly, and we can-."
Those words were the push Piper needed to break free of her fear, and she bolted for the door. He made a move to grab her, but she ducked under his arms and kept running as fast as her legs could carry her. Behind her, she could feel Dark Ace hot on her heels.
A hand on her arm, she screamed. Her last sparker crystal went straight to his face, forcing him to let her go.
She kept running, hearing him curse in pain as she rounded a corner.
She had to find the boys and get them to the Condor. And fast.
There wasn't a lock that Finn could pick on this stupid cage, and Junko's attempts to punch his way through the strange metal bars only lead to him getting shocked by them. Up in the rafters of the room, the hooded figure who'd come in with the weird mage laughed at all their attempts to escape. They sounded like a trackbeast.
The mage had left at some point, leaving the two Storm Hawks under the shadowy watch of the hooded figure. All Finn's attempts to taunt them into letting them out for a fight had ended in failure. Even using the stupid name 'Lotus' that the mage had called them hadn't worked. They'd just thrown the stolen insignia at Finn, hitting him on the head. The marksman now had a stinging red mark on his forehead. Eventually though, Lotus's cackling stopped, and both Storm Hawks got the feeling they'd gotten bored and left. Finn went back to (unsuccessfully) trying to escape.
He was just about to give up out of boredom when he heard rapidly approaching footsteps, and a surprisingly welcome face rounded the corner.
Finn grinned, "Hey, over here!"
Piper skidded to a halt, eyes wide and darting between the cage and the door she'd just run in through. To Finn's horror, instead of going to the cage to spring them loose, she ran to the machine with the Aurora Stone.
"What are you doing?!" he hissed, making Piper flinch.
"Looking for a way to get you-."
Piper didn't get to finish before she was cut off by a shadowy figure dropping down from the shadows. She barely had time to react when the swing of a spear caught her eye, and she dodged out of the way of its red light.
Finn's heart dropped. Oh no… Lotus hadn't actually left. Next to him, Junko resumed his attempts to fight their way out of the cage with renewed vigour.
Lotus swung their spear again, and Piper leap out of the way, bringing up her staff to return with her own attack. The Talon dodged out of the way of the crystal attack, then rushed towards Piper again. Finn and Junko could only watch as the two fought, hearts in their throats as the two seemed to be evenly matched. Red and blue light flashed between them in a dizzying display, the blue getting brighter and wilder from Piper's staff the longer she went on. Finn was suddenly glad that they'd spared the time to repair that thing.
Eventually, for a brief moment, it looked as if Piper was actually gaining on Lotus. She got in close and swept her staff behind their legs, sending them sprawling, and a swing with the wind stone she had fitted in the secondary slot sent them flying into the wall.
Then another beam of crystal energy knocked her to the ground. Only it didn't come from Lotus.
"You know, I was expecting a rescue attempt, but this is... poor."
The creepy girl in the hood was back. She was looming at the doorway with none other than a pissed-off, bloody-nosed Dark Ace by her side.
"I really expected more from the fabled Storm Hawks," she continued. "I guess you're just another poor imitation, like the last ones. Not to worry, you won't share their fate just yet. We do have standards here. Lotus, are you alright?"
From the floor, Lotus gave a weary-looking thumbs up. Finn swore he saw Dark Ace roll his eyes at them.
"Good. Now, you three are going to come along quietly, or else someone will be getting hurt."
"Fat chance," Piper snapped, leaping up onto her feet and slamming the ground with her staff. A wave of energy flew from the wind stone, leaping up her staff and suddenly exploding in her hands.
Well. That probably wasn't supposed to happen. Yelping, Piper dropped her staff, and another stray bolt of energy flew from it, striking the storm engine console.
That was when all hell broke loose. The Aurora Stone seemed to shriek in response, and energy exploded from it in waves, flinging everyone back. Wicked winds burst forth, metal groaned and to Finn's horror he could see the metal panels of the walls were starting to bend, buckle and tear. He could hear screaming. Horrible, agonised screaming, and it took a moment to realise that it was coming from the Dark Ace. The man was on the floor, clutching his throat and writhing in agony.
"What did you do?!" Master Cyclonis screeched at Piper. She ducked out of the way of a spark of energy from the Aurora Stone, which hit the cage holding Finn and Junko. It dissolved, leaving them free to pick up their discarded weapons and start looking around for a way to get out of this mess. "You brought a broken weapon to this?! What is wrong with you squadron mages?!"
Piper seemed to be frozen, caught between wanting to run and trying to find a way to stop the crystal's mad influx of energy so she could make off with it.
"Piper, don't bother! There's no time!"
"But it's what we came here for!"
"It'll drop this castle on our heads if we don't leave!"
Suddenly, a red light flashed overhead, and everyone looked up to see a spear - Lotus's spear - flying through the air towards the machine.
It hit the Aurora Stone squarely in the centre, and with a massive BOOM! it exploded. Metal and machine parts went flying in every direction, almost hitting Junko in the process. Still, crystal energy was wreaking havoc.
"We need to get out of here," Finn decided, and Junko nodded in agreement. "Where's Piper?!"
Piper was on her hands and knees in the midst of the chaos, searching frantically for the shards of the Aurora Stone that she knew had to be here somewhere. She managed to grab a handful of them before she was hoisted up off the ground by strong arms.
"Junko, what're you-?!"
"Time to go, Piper!"
"But the crystal-!"
"It's destroyed!" Finn shouted, "Isn't that what we wanted? To make sure these nutsos can't use it?!"
"This wasn't part of the plan!"
"Neither was being captured, let's go!"
Before she could argue further, she was carried off. Out of the room, through the collapsing rubble, and they were racing down hallways to get to the rendezvous point. All around them, Talons were rushing to reach the Storm Engine room, none of them thinking to stop the three teenagers making their escape. They made it to the manhole cover that Starling had picked out for them uninterrupted, and quickly clambered down it to find the Condor waiting for them, the shadowed figures of Nightcrawlers fleeing from it. There was no time for greetings as they raced out of the tunnels and into open sky, heading a course for Free Atmos territory.
"That... was way too close," Finn said breathlessly.
"You're telling me," Junko piped up. "I don't want to know what would've happened if we hadn't made it out. Is everyone okay? Piper?"
"I'm fine," Piper murmured, finally managing to squirm out of Junko's grip. "That... none of that went as planned."
"But we're alive," Stork pointed out. "That's a very nice plus. And the Aurora Stone is...?"
"Destroyed. Though I guess that's better than Cyclonia still having it. And I managed to get a few of the pieces, so they won't be able to make full use of its power."
"So if you think about it," Finn cut in, "This mission counts as a success. Storm Hawks one, Cyclonia zero."
"And probably down one Dark Ace too," Piper said, sounding almost hopeful. "Nobody can channel that much crystal energy and make it out in one piece. He's… even if he does survive, there's no way he'll be a problem for Atmos again."
Rubble and blasted-out metal surrounded him on all sides, scorched white and smoking from crystal energy. He just barely managed to squirm out from under the wall panels that had fallen above him, armour catching on the jagged edges in his haste. Fabric ripped but he paid it no heed as he scrambled to reach another pile of fallen debris. Distantly, he could hear voices shouting to each other, the drum of tools wearing away at steel.
"Ace. Ace?!"
This was where he'd seen him last, wasn't it? Peering into the wreckage, he searched desperately for any sign that Ace was in there.
He smelled the blood first, then found a pale face, practically glowing in the shadows. Pinned under several rafter beams, bleeding from a gash in his forehead.
"Ace!"
No response. Fear rose in his chest and he frantically looked around for a way to get him out. There weren't any gaps big enough for him to squeeze through, Radarr had already gone to get help elsewhere and his spear had been lost in the wreckage. He had nothing but his own strength to try and pull away the wreckage, so he braced himself, grabbed one of the heavy beams and pulled.
It didn't so much as budge, but that didn't stop him. He kept it up, even when his muscles screamed in protest and his knees threatened to buckle underneath him.
"Come on, come on… Ace, get up!"
Footsteps behind him, the metal slipped from his fingers and he screamed out in frustration.
"Come on!"
"Aerrow."
A gentle hand on his shoulder, he whipped round to meet violet eyes with green.
"Let me," Delphi said firmly, pushing Aerrow out of the way. There was a chirp and a flash of blue fur before Radarr was clambering up into his shaking arms. Both of them watched, tense as the Empress raised her staff, a grey crystal flashing in its claws. Metal groaned and creaked as it was lifted by seemingly sheer force of will. Sweat beaded on her brow as she focused on the task at hand.
She'd managed to get several of the beams out of the way before the clamouring Talons finally managed to break through the wreckage blocking the door. Doctors and officers all rushed in around them, two mages joining the Empress's side to aid her in freeing Dark Ace. Despite his protests, Aerrow was pulled aside to have his own injuries looked at. Bruises and a few scratches, nothing anyone needed to worry about. The last thing he saw of the man was his bloodied, unconscious form being loaded onto a stretcher and carried away to the hospital wing.
Delphi sat down next to him on a warped sheet of metal. "He'll be okay."
"You're sure?" Aerrow questioned softly, and the Empress nodded.
"I'm always sure. It's Dark Ace, nothing keeps him down. In a few weeks, he'll be back in fighting shape. Just wait. Atmos won't know what hit them."
Slowly, the tension left Aerrow's shoulders, and his expression solidified into something more resolute.
"Yeah. They won't. And neither will those Storm Hawks."
A/N: And here concludes Age of Heroes.
I'm sure most of you figured it out already, but here's ya boi! And he ain't happy.
This chapter took a while for me to write originally, and totalled up to over 4k words. Still though, it was a lot of fun to get finished, and I owe it to my friends Grimm, Artie and Panda for being great proofreaders for this fic.