Storm Hawks Fan 3rd Season - Episode 55 - Part 2

Episode 55 - Overload!

Part 2 - Tough Training

Everything was calm during that night in Techne Reign. So calm that it gave someone the perfect opportunity to put an evil plan into motion. A lone Night Crawler climbed up one of the docks and sprinted in the street. He wore a bit more armor than the rest of his clan and he had yellow eyes, instead of purple or red ones.

He hid behind trees when he saw security robots patrolling an area, so they'd not spot him. He made it to a kind of square and looked for something... There! On the ground, there was an access to the sewer, which was a secret passage that led to the main control panel of the reign. The Night Crawler walked close to the round metallic grate and noticed it was too small for him to fit in... Or so it appeared... He figured out the grate was being concealed by a holographic illusion, so thieves trying to go down through it would give up on the idea after being fooled by the hologram, but that didn't happen this time.

He also noticed the grate had a complex puzzle that had to be solved in order for it to open. Well, now he had three obstacles: getting rid of the hologram that was very likely going to have sensors concealed by it, solving the puzzle and getting in without alerting anyone or letting the system know he opened the grate because the security would obviously be monitoring that.

First, he picked up a roll of metallic paper from his pocket and proceeded to unroll it until he had obtained an amount of paper that had the same measure of the grate's circumference. He carefully placed the metallic paper on the edge of the grate, blocking the hologram's path by reflecting its light, so the sensors wouldn't activate. One problem down, two more to go.

He observed the exposed grate, it showed many of its circuits and some cables were also visible. He considered cutting the cables... But that'd be way too suspicious and the security would track down where the issue came from quickly. Maybe he could fry the circuits. Nah, the result would be the same as cutting the cables... Ah! Jamming the system would be a good idea!

He picked up a device and connected it to the circuits. He began sending several fake signals to the circuits, flooding the system, so the actual signals produced by the grate's security system would be missed by the guards monitoring it.

Now, all he had to do was solve that complex puzzle... He opened the holographic panel and touched it, typing commands to prompt the system to show him the puzzle for him to solve. The puzzle was a bunch of very complex codes that had to be rearranged in the correct order to generate the open command. He touched the panel, sliding lines of code to their correct places until he finally managed it in only one, but long try.

The grate opened and he used another device to scan for traps and such. He found out that only the ladder had a trap on it that would set off an alarm if he touched it. Hm... Very clever... The height from where he was to the ground down there was quite big, a normal person would definitely break both their legs if they jumped in there. But he was no normal person. He was a skilled soldier, so he jumped down and landed perfectly on his feet.

He walked to a panel that showed an arrow pointing towards the control panel, then he ran. Once he got to the control panel room's door, he discreetly peered through the tiny window. There were two guards and a robot inside, plus a security camera in the ceiling. He peeked up a leech crystal and let out a pulse, cutting the power of the room for a few seconds, then he threw the unstable crystal inside, which exploded and knocked out both guards and injured the robot. He then got inside and quickly put a screen with a fake video that'd loop over and over right in front of the camera, to fool whoever watched it for some time.

When the power came back, he looked for a small hole on a machine and inserted a memory card in it. The computer did the rest: a program was opened and began hacking the system, now the Night Crawler had access to everything in the reign. He used that to look for something he had come to retrieve: the Reignition Stone. Once he found its coordinates, he set up a big virus attack that would begin right after he picked the crystal up.

He got out of the room and made his way towards a corridor that'd lead to quite a maze he'd have to go through to find the access to the room where the Reignition Stone was being kept. He used his scanning device again and discovered several traps in the way. He smirked at the challenge. Well, that was going to be one long night for him, but guess that didn't bother him...

~~~

"Alright, everyone! Out of the bed! It's time to begin your training!" - Kaya shouted in the corridor, making all of the Storm Hawks go out of their rooms.

"What time is it?" - Finn wondered as he walked sleepily in the corridor.

"5:00am." - the Grandmaster said.

"5:00am? Why do we have to wake up so early?" - he asked.

"Because you have a lot of work to do? Gee, that's so obvious! How come you didn't figure it out by yourself? You're much denser than I thought." - she said, attempting to stir him up.

"Hey!" - he was clearly insulted.

And it worked. The more irritated he felt, the harder he'd work, or that's what usually happened with the lazier and more arrogant pupils she had trained so far.

"Well, moving on... Follow me. Each one of you will use a special place prepared for the training you'll go through." - she spoke as they all entered that big room they were in the day before - "Alright, I've identified the training grounds with numbers from 1 to 6: Aerrow, you'll go to number 1, Piper, number 2, Radarr, number 3, Junko, number 4, Finn, number 5 and Stork, number 6. I'll go to each one to begin your training schedule for today, so just wait until I come to you."

When the team had arranged themselves in the correct training grounds, they turned to look at Kaya. The first one she went to was Aerrow. His training ground was an arena.

"Okay, let's start with some tests before we begin." - she told him as she pressed a button near a small pillar - "Say the name of your worst enemies."

"Ah... Cyclonis and the Dark Ace are the worst of them, I guess." - he scratched his head - "But there's also Carver, Ravess, Snipe, Repton..."

"Okay, that's enough. Wow, you've got lots of enemies there... Now let me check their profiles." - she looked at a holographic screen that contained information and even pictures of the Cyclonians - "Hm... Okay, let's start with this." - she pressed a button - "Aerrow, I want you to defeat the Dark Ace."

A holographic image of the talon commander appeared and he looked just as menacing as always.

"Well, that's easy." - he pulled out his swords and lit them up.

The sky knight and the hologram clashed at each other a few times, attacking, parrying and dodging until Aerrow finally won without way too much effort by disarming his opponent.

"You took 10 minutes... You're holding back, Aerrow." - she told him.

"What? But..." - he was confused. Why would he hold back against an enemy? He gave that fight his all!

"You have two swords and he only has one. Yet, when you managed to parry with only one sword, you didn't use the other one to your advantage." - she said.

"I... Never thought about that. I guess..." - he stared at his swords.

"You're afraid of hurting your enemy too badly. That's nice of you, but remember, they're not afraid of injuring or murdering you, so you shouldn't show too much restraint." - she spoke - "Let's try again, but differently. I want you to defeat him in less than one minute and by using a maximum of 5 moves."

The hologram appeared again. Aerrow stared at it for a few seconds in thought, trying to figure out a strategy.

"C'mon, Aerrow. He'd not just stand there and let you think how you're gonna beat him. Clock's ticking!" - she urged him to act faster.

The Dark Ace hologram made the first move, he shot a bolt of red energy at Aerrow and the sky knight dodged. 1 move. He leaped in the air and struck with both his swords, but the talon commander parried. 2 moves. He used all his strength and the momentum of his attack to push the Dark Ace backward, disorienting him for a second. 3 moves. In that split second he crouched and kicked the Cyclonian's legs, knocking him to the ground. 4 moves. Then he focused a bit to perform his special move, the Lightning Claw. The blue bolt of energy hit the Dark Ace directly, knocking him out. 5 moves.

"Oh, great timing, you did it in 40 seconds and with exactly 5 moves." - she said - "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"That sure felt amazing." - he confessed.

"By the end of your whole training, you'll defeat the Dark Ace by just looking at him." - she giggled.

"That'd be... If he was still alive." - he told her.

"Yeah... Well, it's too bad he won't be around for you to kick his tail. But he's still gonna be very useful in your training later. Now let's enhance your body a bit before we can enhance your combat skills." - she said - "Warm up in this running circuit over there while I introduce the training to the others. I'll be back soon."

"Alright!" - he said and ran towards the circuit.

Kaya approached Piper and Radarr that waited since both their training grounds were nearby.

"Your training will be very similar for now. I need you two to meditate for a while because I'm gonna teach you something really cool." - she said.

"What's it?" - Piper asked.

"I'll teach you how to see and interact with auras. You'll become aura whisperers. Well, I guess Radarr might not be able to learn how to see the auras, I think it's too much for him, but he can learn how to smell them. So he can be... An aura sniffer." - she shrugged sheepishly.

The animal chirped at that.

"Wow, that sounds really great!" - the navigator commented.

The small girl smiled.

"Alright, then clear your minds from everything and concentrate on finding your own essences. I'll be back in a few minutes, so you'll have meditated for long enough."

The crystal mage and the co-pilot sat on the ground and focused while closing their eyes. They were really taking that training very seriously, they'd do their best.

Kaya approached Finn's training ground.

"So, what are you gonna teach to the best of the best?" - he asked smugly.

"Hit that target." - she said as she pointed to a dummy a few feet away from them.

"Is that it? You can be more specific. Do you want me to hit it in the eye or the nose?" - he was kinda disappointed she had been rather blunt with his instructions.

"Hm... Okay, hit it exactly between the eyes, then." - she voiced it differently after noticing he was truly interested in his training.

He aimed for a second and shot, hitting squarely in the right spot.

"So, what's next?" - he blew his finger.

"Hit these targets in the head with only one arrow." - she said, pointing to three dummies lined up side by side.

Finn aimed and shot at a pillar that was nearby. The arrow ricocheted and hit the three dummies in the head, one after the other in a straight line.

"Impressive, huh?"

"Meh, nothing special." - she said as if playing hard to get, after all, it'd be easier to get him to push his own limits if she kept acting like he was okay but not there yet - "If you manage the next one, then it'll be something."

"Hmpf." - he mumbled as he followed her.

"Hit this target." - she said as she pointed to a large stone blockade.

"It's a wall..." - his eyelids fell halfway completely unimpressed.

"No, I'm talking about the dummy behind the wall." - she had him follow her for a second to see there was indeed a target beyond that wall.

After walking back to the position he should shoot from, he looked around and saw there was nothing he could use to ricochet his arrows and he obviously couldn't shoot through the wall. He couldn't shoot upwards either, because the ceiling wasn't tall enough to let ballistics do its thing and guide the arrow to the target from above, it'd hit the ceiling before it began to fall. So that was...

"It's impossible!" - he said.

"No, it isn't. I should've known you'd not be aware of this trick. Guess you're not so good, after all, Mr. Sharpshooter." - she commented teasingly.

"Oh, yeah? Then why don't you hit the target?" - he said as he handed her his crossbow.

"Sure, if you're up to being utterly humiliated, that's fine by me." - she shrugged casually and walked to his position.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then she opened them and shot an arrow while moving her arm from the left to the right. The arrow literally made a curve around the wall and hit the target right between the eyes.

"No way! How did you...?"

"I changed the arrow's trajectory, that's how. It's a trick that can come in very handy for sharpshooters. I'll teach you how to do it, so you'll be more useful and unpredictable in battle." - she told him as she gave him his crossbow back - "First, you gotta learn how to go into an adrenaline surge. Here, keep trying to do this." - she took him to another place - "Catch that ball over there."

He stared at his challenge. He was supposed to put his hand inside a box with several rotating saws that moved around really fast to reach the ball and retrieve it.

"You've got to be kidding me..." - he said quite afraid of trying it - "If I don't do it right in the first try I'll lose my hand!"

"You think I'm crazy? These saws aren't real. They're just holograms, go for it." - she said.

He put his hand inside the box and right after he immediately screamed as he pulled his intact hand out. He had seen the hologram show him his hand had been cut off, and that scared him a lot. Plus, his brain had truly tricked him into believing he lost his hand, so he felt the pain. But he soon calmed down when he saw his hand was right there in his arm, just fine.

"But they do look and almost feel real." - she smiled in sympathy - "Keep trying. Call me when you manage it." - she told him as she walked towards Stork.

The merb was in front of two walls with shelves filled with many books.

"Stork, I'll help you become a tech specialist." - she said.

"A tech specialist?" - he asked.

"Yes. You're a mechanic and an inventor, which's great since that already opened the doors for you. What I'm gonna teach you is advanced tech stuff, like hacking systems, building A.I.s and such. You'll need that knowledge here in the Greatland a lot." - she explained.

"So you've mastered this area as well..." - he began to wonder what the requirements for becoming a guardian were, because, from what he remembered, Ayrgyn didn't seem like a guy that understood much technology.

"Not really. I'm not that into it. I know a little, but not everything. Only someone with a true passion can truly master this area." - she told him - "Let's start with the basics. I'm sure you'll really pick up the pace on your own soon."

She put him through a quick test about logic. He was meant to solve a tricky puzzle in one minute. The puzzle was about a simple system. He had never seen anything like that before, but he managed to solve the puzzle correctly in time.

"Not bad! How did you get to that answer?" - she asked.

"Well, it reminded me of how an engine works. So I could relate to the puzzle somehow." - he told her.

"Nice comparison! I knew you'd have a knack for it. Now you'll have some light reading." - she gave him five really big books that probably had thousands of pages - "They'll explain the basics, then you can read these others for the advanced knowledge." - she gestured to a large pile with dozens of books of about the same size - "This tech stuff is something you'll pretty much teach yourself. The same way you're creative when it comes down to building things, you can be creative while hacking as well. You just have to think outside the box, and I see you're good at doing that. I'll be back later with some tests for you. Have fun!"

She walked away to allow Stork to study. She made her way towards Junko's training ground.

"So, what am I gonna learn today?" - the wallop asked.

"Well, I'll help you increase your strength, then I'll teach you how to meditate to both control it and your hunger. Guess I'll also teach you how to cook! This will help you become more cautious and focused." - she told him.

"Cool!" - he smiled excitedly.

"Let's begin with some endurance tests." - she said - "I want you to carry me around in your back while running in this circuit for as long as you can."

"Alright." - he said as he kneeled so she could climb on his back, then he walked towards the running circuit.

"Ready? Go!" - she said as she shapeshifted into a heavy Xeedwox.

He could feel she was much heavier, she wasn't heavy enough for him not to be able to carry, but he surely would get tired fast. And he wasn't supposed to use his knuckle busters to boost his strength, so... After several minutes, he began panting and breathing heavily. Yeah, he was tired, but he could keep up for a while until he collapsed.

"That's enough, Junko." - Kaya said gently as she turned into a human and leaped from his back - "You lasted quite long. You may rest now. Meditate for a while, this will be your next training."

He nodded and walked to a spot where he could sit comfortably. He looked funny while meditating. It was his very first time doing that to actually augment his body instead of just keeping that typical wallop temper under control, so it probably would take a while for him to get used to concentrating into something so specific for that long without feeling sleepy.

Henny approached Kaya with Orion close behind.

"They all seem to be really focused. Training warriors looks like hard work for sure." - she commented.

"Yeah, it's a lot of hard work, but it's fun and very rewarding when you see your warriors came out of the training so improved." - the Grandmaster told her.

"Oh, I see." - the Warmyan smiled - "Hm... Kaya, besides looking for your help, we also came to this reign to send a message to the ruler about a union of the reigns in the fight against Cyclonis."

"So you wanna propose him an alliance. Sure, I'll tell you how to get to him." - she said as she picked up a holographic screen - "Here, this map will show you the way. Just follow this green line, it's not too far from here. Ah, and take this note from me, this way the guards will let you in without questioning."

"Great! Thank you!" - Henny said as she took the map and the note from Kaya - "So, guys, Orion and I will deliver the message to the ruler of Techne Reign while you're training, okay?"

"Good, this way we won't waste any second to only either train or warn the kingdom." - Piper commented then went back to meditating.

The lilac girl and her Xeedwox ran towards the entrance to the building and exited it. They walked by the sidewalk, following the map. Then they saw that there was a section of the sidewalk that moved and most people used it to get around.

"Oh, this is so cool, a shortcut!" - she said excitedly.

She saw a panel that had a map and asked for a person to pick a destination. She pointed on the map the location marked on the map Kaya gave her, then the panel lighted up a small platform and told her to stand on it, saying it would take her to the desired place. She and Orion stood on it, and it moved quite fast towards their destination.

"Great. We'll get there in no time, then we can take a look at the city before we get back." - she said to Orion and the Xeedwox nodded happily. He was also excited and curious about that amazing place.

~~~

"Okay, Piper and Radarr, have you found your essences?" - Kaya asked the two meditating Storm Hawks.

"I'm not sure. But I can feel my own presence, it's strange, it's as if I'm perceiving the world with other eyes." - Piper said, and Radarr nodded in agreement.

"Ah, then you managed it. Now let's begin the training. Just like you managed to feel your own presence, try to find the presence of others around you, try to feel how their auras interact with yours." - she instructed.

"I think I can feel Radarr beside me, and you right in front of us." - the crystal mage said and the co-pilot nodded again, indicating he could feel them too.

"Good, now try to find something in the aura of someone near you. Anything about them." - Kaya instructed.

"Hm... I can feel... Radarr misses a certain hen from Terra Gale." - Piper smiled at that.

"Aww..." - the Grandmaster found that so adorable!

The mission specialist chirped surprised and embarrassed by having this little secret of his revealed out loud. But then he smirked and made some noises as if he were talking.

"Ah, I agree with you on that one, Radarr. She certainly does." - the girl smirked as well.

"Huh? What are you two talking about?" - the navigator asked.

"Nothing!" - Kaya replied playfully.

"What is it?" - Piper asked again out of curiosity as she opened her eyes.

"Oh, no, don't open your eyes yet! You're gonna..." - the Grandmaster tried to warn her, but it was too late.

What Piper saw were several colorful blurs everywhere and she couldn't see anything properly. The colors were so vibrant, so intense, that she began feeling a really bad migraine. She even winced in pain while putting a hand on her forehead.

"I can't see... My head..." - she said weakly.

"It's okay, I'm here. I'll take you to the infirmary so I can heal you." - Kaya said as she helped Piper up - "Keep your eyes shut, or the headache will get worse. And Radarr, just meditate and clear your mind from everything, so you can open your eyes again. I don't know if your eyes were affected since your training will have a different result, but better safe than sorry."

"What happened?" - the crystal mage asked.

"You opened your eyes too soon, so you saw the energy from the auras directly, without any filter or protection. And that energy is very intense, it's too much for the human eye if it's unprotected." - the Grandmaster explained.

"Then how do I protect my eyes?" - Piper asked.

"I was gonna teach you that, but you already opened your eyes, so you'll have to rest for a while to recover from this." - she told her.

When the two walked by Aerrow's training ground, he immediately noticed something was wrong. So he ran towards them.

"Hey, what happened?" - he asked them - "Are you okay, Piper?"

"I'm fine, I just have a migraine." - she told him.

"Don't worry, she'll be okay. This can happen in this kind of training sometimes. I'll heal her in the infirmary, then she'll get some rest to recover." - Kaya explained - "Now go back to your training ground because I'm about to start your training again!" - she said as she walked with Piper to the infirmary.

He didn't question them, he just went back to warming up, hoping Piper would recover soon.

~~~

In the infirmary, Piper was laying on a cot while Kaya placed a floating nil crystal above her head. It sent energy waves that would heal her overtime. The crystal mage looked calm, but Kaya could tell something was going on inside her mind.

"What's it, Piper?" - she asked her.

"Huh? Oh. Well, when we passed by Aerrow, I could see his aura even with my eyes closed. And I could feel it reaching out for me as if it were trying to help." - the navigator said.

"Ah, I see. Yeah, his aura does that a lot, I read through it." - the Grandmaster told her - "You probably don't know it, but ever since you two first met, your auras interacted with each other. They knew you were compatible, that's why you could literally just stare at each other and share the same idea. I learned that from just glancing at them. By the way, you had a hard time while using the Binding a while ago, didn't you?"

"Yes, why?" - the blue haired girl wanted to understand that sudden line of thinking.

"Your aura was scarred by that. But I see you recovered when he healed you, right?" - she said - "It was because in that dangerous situation when you were very weakened, Aerrow's aura wanted to lend some strength to yours, but it couldn't until you two unlocked the perfect attunement."

"I didn't know that. To tell you the truth, I still have no idea of how or why we reached this perfect attunement." - Piper admitted - "I mean, if we were compatible all the time, why didn't that happen right away when we first met?"

"Don't worry about that, you'll find out all about it. I don't want to spoil the fun of discovering this mystery." - Kaya smirked - "Well, just rest now. I'll go check on the others." - she walked to the door and left the room.