Word of Terra Gale's smelting plant being liberated traveled quickly over unshielded transmissions. The story reached about anyone with a transceiver and that included most of Cyclonia. By the time Dark Ace returned, news of his defeat at Gale had spread all throughout the territory. Even the slaves knew about it. "I can't believe I lost to those scum!" Dark Ace grumbled as he marched up the hall towards Master Cyclonis's lab. As soon as he had touchdown he had been told she had requested his presence immediately. There was no avoiding it.
He soon reached the double doors of his master's lab, guarded by two black robed individuals welding crystal staff's. Master Cyclonis's personal guards, trained since childhood to protect her and future heirs to the empire. If only I could have them in my squadron. Dark Ace mused as one guard opened the door. The former Sky Knight walked past them and entered the lab.
The lab was more like a small amphitheater in size. A well lit room with large black boards filled with equations and theories far beyond the understanding of most in Atmos. Standing on a ladder at the far most blackboard was Master Cyclonis. She was wearing a more traditional lab coat contrasted with her shoulder length pitch black hair. In her hand was a thick piece of chalk as she wrote onto the hard surface. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, Dark Ace." She venomously said, continuing to write. A sudden coldness gripped him. Her voice capable of making even the strongest of Cyclonians shiver in fear.
Dark Ace drew closer, quickly remembering the explanation he had rehearsed in his head for most of the trip home. "There was a slave revolt at the Gale plant. My forces were overpowered and we lost control of the territory…" Dark Ace began but stopped when she raised her hand.
"I am aware of that. But where were you when this was happening?" She demanded. Dark Ace knew she'd sniff out his omission of facts.
Master Cyclonis had made an example of Snipe for just that. Something he wished to avoid. "Aerrow and the rest of his Storm Hawks showed up. I was hunting for them when it all went to hell." He told her the truth. His fists balled and turned pale in remembrance of what happened to the Aurora Stone.
A sigh escaped his master as she descended the ladder. A long uncomfortable silence hung between the two as she reached the floor and turned to face him. Then she stepped closer. "The destruction of the Gale scrap metal plant will decrease our production of metal by 10%. That is a dozen less fighters made. And another war front is open with the Gale Knights," Cyclonis stared into Dark Ace's face. "And my best agent got humiliated. Twice." Dark Ace's left eyebrow twitched as the Aurora Stone's destruction played in his mind's eyes. "Maybe I should replace you. I'm sure Aerrow won't be too hard to corrupt. Everyman has they're price. Isn't that right, Dark Ace?" Her words made him go stiff.
"You can't be serious?" He found himself asking. Cyclonis continued to stare at him, making herself perfectly clear without uttering a word. "I do have some important news. The Storm Hawks appear to have a new member. His name is Jack and he's one of the reasons we lost Gale." Dark Ace explained, seeing a brief flash of concern cross Cyclonis's face.
"How clever of them." She mused as she stepped up to one of the other chalkboards, quickly writing the name down with a question mark at the end. "Continue to monitor the Storm Hawks, Dark Ace. And tell me about their newest member," She said with her piece of chalk at the ready.
"Of course, master Cyclonis." Replied the former Sky Knight before he began explaining everything he knew about Aerrow and the other Storm Hawks. Including their newest member Jack. Hoping it was enough to get back on Cyclonis's good side.
Piper wasted no time in getting Jack started on learning. Taking the time to write out every letter of the Atmosian alphabet right onto her chalkboard for him. To Jack, it looked like a bunch of gibberish like Cybertronian. Though the half-curved symbols of Atmos somehow looked less intimidating than Cybertronian. At least it isn't Spanish. Jack thought, thankfully. He watched as Piper set up another chalkboard. Once it was done, she then handed him a piece of chalk.
"Now write down your world's language." She told him, sounding intensely curious.
Jack nodded before writing down each letter in order. "I won't be able to teach you much," Jack warned. "I'm not a walking dictionary." Jack noticed a brief flash of confusion from Piper but she quickly hid it.
"That's ok." Was all Piper said. She reminded Jack of Raf in a way. Naturally curious and with technical skill far beyond Jack. If Piper was Raf, then Finn was Miko. Ratchet would have a fit if he had to deal with both. Jack smirked with amusement. Despite making his distaste known, Ratchet had far greater self-control than he was willing to admit.
"The english alphabet is only 26 letters… Plus it's the only language I know outside of some Japanese and Cybertronian I picked up from hanging out with Miko and the Autobots." Explained Jack as he finished, putting the chalk down and stepping back from the board.
Jack quickly noticed Piper's ravenous interest in the foreign alphabet he had written for her. "Wow! Each letter is so distinct from each other!" Piper marveled as she closely examined each letter. "It would be perfect for sending transmissions!" Her eyes sparkled.
"Huh…" Jack stroked his chin in thought. "If only I had brought a dictionary." Piper shrugged and brought his attention back to the first board. Jack stared at it for a moment, noting the three dozen different symbols which Jack couldn't make heads or tails of. This is gonna be fun. Jack bemoaned. He knew he didn't have any other choice and was lucky enough to understand them at the very least.
Sitting down, Jack grabbed the notebook and writing apparatus Piper had given him the night before. "We'll start with Avo't," Piper then grabbed her pointer stick and pointed it underneath the first symbol. Jack drew the symbol and wrote its name underneath.
After the session, Jack checked his notes at the round kitchen table. The first three pages of the notebook were filled with symbols and their corresponding names. Raf and Ratchet would have a field day with this. Jack mused when he noticed Aerrow enter the room. He quickly noticed Jack with nose pointed directly at his notebook. The redhead stepped closer and noticed the various Atmosian symbols and the English symbols Jack had spoken about.
"So that's English? Looks easy compared to what we use." Aerrow commented, leaning against the table.
Jack looked up at the Sky Knight and shrugged. "Would you believe me it's considered one of the hardest?" Jack replied. Aerrow's eyes widened in surprise.
"Really?!" He gasped, earning a nod from Jack. "Wow! That's nuts!" Jack closed his notebook and looked up at Aerrow.
"I guess you're gonna teach me how to fly?" He softly asked.
"You bet," Aerrow nodded and smiled eagerly. "By the time we're done, you'll be flying circles around some of the best racers in Atmos!"
Jack arched an eyebrow at Aerrow's confidence in him and couldn't help but smile a little. He already knew how to drive a motorcycle thanks to Arcee. All Aerrow had to do was teach him how to fly… Arcee would have loved having a skimmer as an alt-mode. He bit his lower lip, earning a concerned look from the redhead.
"Something wrong?" Asked Aerrow.
Jack shook his head. "Just remembering. Nothing important." He lied before standing up. Aerrow wordlessly gestured for Jack to follow and he did so.
Following the Sky Knight all the way to the hangar. Once there, Jack quickly noticed Piper's skimmer waiting just outside the hanger. On the edge of the runway were Finn and Junko sitting on tanning beds. Both enjoying the sun so it looked to Jack. Stepping up to the waiting bike, Jack looked at the controls and felt a sense of calm wash over him. It was almost identical to a normal bike but more low-tech and visibly worn from years of use.
Bits of paint had begun to fade and the windshield had a hairline crack. "We try to keep these maintained. Fighting Cyclonian's multiple times a week doesn't help." Aerrow explained to the student.
Jack mounted the bike. "It's the same back home," He replied as he gripped the handle bars. "So what do I do? I already know how to drive so we can skip that."
Aerrow seated himself behind Jack. "The switch above the keys will deploy and start the rotor blades," Aerrow explained. "Pull the left throttle back to rise and push forwards to lower. The right throttle controls the thrusters." He added.
Jack nodded, looking out towards the clouds beyond the runway. I can't believe I'm doing this. He drew a breath as he took hold of the keys and turned. The engine roared to life as the bike vibrated. Aerrow swung his arms around Jack as the student flipped the switch that deployed the rotor. Wind tore at their hair as the copter's blade quickly revved up.
Jack clutched the throttle with a death grip as he slowly pulled the left throttle back. The skimmer sluggishly rose into the air. Finn and Junko turned to watch, the ladder waving at the two. The teen waved to the Wallop and smiled nervously. Now hovering above the Condor, Jack began looking around. Clouds stretched out in all directions, looking as if they went on forever.
"You ok?" Aerrow asked, sounding concerned.
"Just nervous. I've never flown before." Jack quickly replied, tightening his grip on the controls. Aerrow looked taken back by that info but composed himself. "Well, we're gonna take it nice and easy and only do a few laps around the Condor." Aerrow responded, hearing Jack sigh in relief.
"Few laps around the ship… Got it." The student slightly pulled back on the right throttle, his eyes tight slits as the wind assaulted his face. He turned the steering column and the skimmer shifted directions as the two occupants tilted into the turn. The small bike entering an orbit with the stationary carrier.
"Keep an eye on your propeller speed. If it passes the red line we'll lose altitude!" Aerrow warned as Jack increased throttle until the needle was hovering above the line. "That's better."
After several laps of the ship, Jack then slowly descended towards the carrier. Killing power to the propeller as soon as the tires touched down onto the runway. Jack could feel his skeleton vibrating as the engine's rumbling ceased.
Aerrow dismounted the bike and proudly smiled his student. "Not bad. Need some practice but we can worry about that later." He said, watching Jack wipe away the sweat from his brow. The newbie smiled softly as he pulled himself off Piper's ride.
"So what now?" He asked.
"I dunno," Aerrow shrugged. "That's up to you. I'll be on the bridge if you need me." He added before walking into the hanger. Jack slowly waved before pushing the skimmer back into the hanger.
"How much longer can a guy take?" Finn sighed deeply as he tapped his fingers impatiently on the table. After Jack's first flight, he suddenly volunteered to cook dinner for everyone. Stork, who sat across from Finn, held a paranoid expression that the blonde quickly noticed.
"I can't believe we are actually letting him cook." The Condor's pilot griped to himself. His thoughts dominated with the possible thought of spending the night throwing up into the toilet.
Before anyone could interject, Jack suddenly stepped into the room. Carrying a large plate of what Finn saw to be ground up beef sandwiched between two slices of bread with tomatoes, onions and lettuce used as extra filling.
"What the heck are those?" Finn found himself asking. He hadn't seen anything close to what Jack placed on the table.
"Hamburgers," Jack replied quickly. "It's an old recipe Fowler taught me. Had to make some adjustments because some of the ingredients just don't exist on Atmos…" The cook sat down, taking a burger and putting it on his plate. Finn also grabbed a burger and so did everyone else. Raddar wasted no time in eating, accepting the newbies cooking with open arms.
Aerrow and Junko were next, taking a decent sized bite from their burgers. Junko nearly fell over backwards in surprise. His eyes wide as truck lights as he looked at the new meal. "It's great!" He said before eagerly taking another bite.
Finn followed suit and so did Piper. "Looks like I'm out of a job." Piper giggled, earning a disbelieving look from Stork.
"It can't be that good," Stork muttered, finally taking a bite. Looking down at the food, the Condor's pilot nodded in satisfaction. "For once, I am glad I'm wrong." he added with surprise. Jack took another bite, happy with himself.
Aerrow smirked at the Merb and took another bite from his burger. "So Jack, any riveting tales from Earth?" Aerrow asked, curiosity getting the best of him.
The raven haired teen looked at Aerrow and turned his gaze upwards in thought. "Umm, I went to Cybertron. Optimus lost his memories and he asked me to go to Vector Sigma and fix that." He explained before taking another bite.
"So this is the second planet you've been to?" Piper asked, curiously. It was an honest question but it still stung like a cold needle stabbing at his heart.
"Unfortunately yes. This is my second Ground Bridge accident," Jack nodded in response. "Miko, Raf and I got stuck in a weird in-between world with an undead Deceptacon. We only got out thanks to Miko leaving her cell phone back at base!" He explained, noticing the concerned looks he was getting.
"U-undead giant r-robot!" Junko stuttered, trying to wrap his head around the horrific idea.
"Why not! We didn't even know aliens existed till you landed on our lap!" Stork loudly groaned in dismay.
Jack ignored Stork's groans. "Skyquake was as dead as one could get… Until Starscream dug him up." Jack answered softly, images of the long dead Decepticon tearing his way across Atmos flooding his mind.
A chilling coldness ran up Jack's spine. Hopefully Megatron thinks I'm dead. He mused, knowing what would happen if the tyrant decided to find out what happened to him. Jack shuddered at the idea of the Nemesis flying unopposed above Atmos. He quickly shook the thought aside and focused on answering the questions asked of him by the crew.
End Chapter.