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Episode 60 - The Third Degree
Part 4 - The Siege
Inside the Condor, the squadron wasn't having much success prying Domiwick's mind open. Of course, they were kind of holding back a little with their... "Torture" methods, since they were in general against it, but maybe Aerrow did have a point that it'd take more convincing to get the man to talk. So far what went on in that afternoon didn't turn into too much progress.
After the nearly six-hour movie about Junko sleeping, having the explorer reject the flame corn and the yorka juice several times in a row, which was probably the only thing that kept his sanity while watching that dragged video, the wallop had gone outside, then came back with some snacks, if one could call them that: they were some weird kind of snail with tiny tentacles. Oh, and they were still alive.
The man blinked creeped out and in disgust after seeing the plate being hovered in his face.
"Here you go, a little snack so you won't starve." - the big guy told him.
"Yep, those are his specialty." - Finn said from his position near the doorstep.
"I'll pass." - Domiwick replied.
"Oh, that's just mean. Don't you know it's rude to refuse your host's food?" - Kaya scolded him - "Now you'll eat it all up, and you'll do so smiling, or else..." - she threatened, to which he grimaced.
Apparently, Aerrow wasn't the only one who should be feared in that ship. This new girl, while small, was definitely something else. She knew how to make a very convincing threat, alright. He already knew better than to mess with her, something instinctively told him she was much more powerful than she looked. Since he had no choice, he let the flight engineer toss one of those snails to him. Ugh! It tasted like rotten seaweed! And it was completely slimy! Eww!
"Oh, yeah, here, freshly squeezed berry juice." - Junko pulled the glass out of nowhere and offered it to him.
The man looked at the glass and no longer knew what he was more disgusted at. And... Was that hair in the juice? He turned his head to the side and upon seeing the little girl eyeing him intensely, he sighed and drank a sip of the juice. Oh, Gosh! It was so sour he could feel his lips being sucked into his mouth! And, of course, being the very same fruit, a beard berry, that once caused dismay to the squadron in their vacation in Tropica, suddenly, a long blonde beard grew on his face, making him look like a blond Santa Claus.
"You did this on purpose... Didn't you?" - he asked quietly, staring unimpressed at the wallop.
"That's for us to know." - the sharpshooter remarked, to which the man didn't show reaction.
"Now that's one long beard." - the Grandmaster commented, then she saw Mr. Softy poking his little head from behind Junko's shoulder - "Hey, Mr. Softy, what do you think? You look like you wanna give it a little grooming."
The fat caterpillar wiggled his bum and waved his little arms at that. He wanted to play his part in all that craziness that was going on that day.
"Well, go ahead, little buddy." - Junko encouraged their mascot.
The insect jumped off his shoulder on the ground, then he suddenly spat a sticky string at the man's beard. He did so for a little while, then bit and pulled on it, as if he were trying to turn it into some kind of cocoon thing. Domiwick felt absolutely sickened. That just wasn't... Happening. No, it was happening. It was hard to believe he was wide awake because all that seemed like one creepy dream.
"Wow, it looks so silky!" - Kaya commented - "You should be a hairstylist, Mr. Softy!"
The little caterpillar smiled proudly. He did have a knack for it if one could look past the fact that he used his saliva to do that... People usually would be grossed out. Well, maybe Junko wouldn't, he seemed to be more tolerant than most people. Having that much patience and comprehension was a rare virtue.
And, incredibly enough, even though Aerrow had been angry all day, he usually would've been the second most patient one in the squadron. The two of them were almost always calmer in a situation in which the others were closer to freaking out. But, yeah, everyone knows the more composed and reserved people have the worst snaps when they do get angry. No need to say that twice.
"So, you in the mood for telling us the truth?" - Finn asked the man.
"I'm telling you again. I don't know anything." - the explorer replied angrily - "I told you I didn't speak to Cyclonis ever since we made a deal! She probably knew you'd come after that crystal and sent me as bait or something, without letting me know."
"So you're saying she used you, just like last time..." - the Grandmaster remarked with a taunting smirk.
"It doesn't matter, that's not the point." - he said, pretending he ignored the comment, but he was clearly failing at that - "I don't know her plan, I don't have the answers you're after. How many times do I have to say the same thing?!"
All inside the room just stared blankly at him, their eyelids lowered halfway in front of their eyes.
"Fine then, let's go, guys." - Junko said as he picked Mr. Softy up and headed for the door, the others following him.
"Dude, you are a waste of time." - the sharpshooter referred to Domiwick then turned to leave as well.
They locked the door behind them, leaving the man alone in the tight dark room. Outside, they just pondered about their results along with Piper, Stork, and Radarr.
"Yeah, I'll admit he's tougher than he looks..." - the little girl said - "And do I hate having to say this."
"I can't believe we didn't convince him. We tried everything, we were even nice to him!" - the wallop didn't understand.
"Hm... Junko, I don't think he took those things as being nice. They were meant to annoy him." - the navigator commented, then she looked away almost bitter - "But then again, he wouldn't be able to recognize kindness even if it was right in front of him."
"What should we do now? Torture him for real?" - Finn asked while shrugging as if he didn't know what else to think of.
"Fine... I'll get in on that action." - Stork suddenly said as he walked inside the room.
The others watched him almost surprised by his unexpected volunteering. The blonde smirked a little as if he were thinking that ought to be a good one.
~~~
In the Night Crawler tower, Cyclonis was in the same room she occupied every day. She stared at a holographic monitor that showed the area her three scouts were covering. Soon the doors opened and the yellow-eyed dark soldier entered the room.
"You summoned me, Master?" - he bowed respectfully.
"Are the preparations finished?" - she asked.
"Yes. The elite squadrons are ready to fly off at your signal." - he told her.
"Perfect. Head to the planned position and wait until the scouts deploy their gear." - she ordered.
"As you command." - he curtsied once again and left the room.
He walked to the big hangar bay and signaled for the other Night Crawlers to fly, then he set flight as well. A considerably large group disappeared in the sky.
~~~
The merb was in the interrogation room, quietly fiddling with the equipment he had brought inside a wooden crate in front of Domiwick. The sound of some mysterious objects hitting one another in the middle of that heavy silence certainly made their prisoner a little fretful and unnerved. Finally, the merb turned to him with a blank expression.
"I set some things that are bound to make you talk, so it's your choice if you'll go through all of it or none." - he said almost eerily.
"Guess I'll go through everything since you won't believe anything I say anyways..." - the explorer responded.
Ignoring the comment, the carrier pilot picked a small glass cage up, brought it closer to the man, then opened it, releasing a green dotted spider from it. The small creature walked to the explorer's shoulder and stayed there, not moving at all. He nervously looked at it, now that was a creepy animal.
"This is the scarletma razor-fang arachnoid, the deadliest and most poisonous creature on Atmos. It ought to make you spill it." - he said to him.
The rest of the guys watched from the outside.
"Wait, but isn't that the...?" - Junko was about to say when the others shushed him.
"Yeah, but he's playing him." - Finn explained, to which the wallop "oh"ed in realization.
Inside the room, the man remained uncomfortably silent for a brief moment, until a few things occurred to him.
"On Atmos? The whole world or just anything beyond the Far Side?" - he asked almost skeptically - "I encountered creatures that looked much worse than this." - he nodded to the spider on his shoulder, which irritated it and caused it to bite him.
He suddenly burst out laughing from the bite. The small arachnoid got startled and jumped into Stork's hands. He looked a bit disappointed. So much for trying to pass down the impression that this wasn't the harmless scarletma tickle-fang species. Domiwick ceased laughing shortly after since the effect of the bite quickly wore off.
"That thing isn't poisonous! You were just trying to trick me!" - the man said like it wasn't obvious.
"Of course, this one here was just a warm-up for psychological effect." - the merb figured a good comeback to keep his plan solid - "You haven't witnessed true terror yet."
Well, that certainly sounded ominous and all, but for some reason, it didn't really create such a strong impression of it on the mood. Maybe because the Storm Hawks were a bunch of goody-two-shoes who'd never truly threaten anyone. One could dare say they'd not hurt a fly, just to emphasize the point.
Next thing Stork tried was to lower the temperature of the room quite considerably, the walls could be seen starting to freeze the water in the air, and the atmosphere felt heavier.
"Beware of the dangers of the cold! You'll have your limbs out in no time unless you start talking right now." - he said sinisterly.
Outside the room, Piper could only facepalm. Now that was just plain silly... It wasn't even that cold in there... One light coat would solve the issue easily. And just as she predicted, the blonde man wasn't disturbed at all by that.
"Are you serious? The worst that could happen would be my hands and feet getting a little numb. There's nothing too worrying about that." - Domiwick spoke.
"O-Oh, you think you're not gonna f-freeze to death?" - the merb questioned him, trying to prevent himself from showing how cold he was.
"At this temperature? Of course, I won't. I can even take something colder than you, I see your knees shaking." - the explorer remarked, foiling that tactic.
"Hmpf... I'm f-far from done, though." - he quickly adjusted the temperature back to the normal warmth, relieving him a lot - "How about you take on the heat, then?"
He adjusted the temperature to the hottest level it could get. It felt like an oven inside the room, both started to sweat like two waterfalls.
"Well...? Are you... Gonna talk now...?" - the merb asked between all the panting.
The air was so hot it was harder to breathe.
"I already said... I don't know... Any... Anything..." - the man replied just as affected by all that heat - "Fool... This is... Wearing... On you... As much as... It is... On me."
That was true, but Stork didn't give in to that. They remained in the infernal heat until they heard someone beating on the door, then it opened shortly after.
"Turn it off! You're overheating the engine room with this." - Junko warned urgently.
The carrier pilot had to quickly lower the temperature to cold for a little moment and then go back to normal, otherwise, they'd have lost the Condor.
"You're lucky the ship couldn't take it." - Stork mumbled to Domiwick, then left the room.
A few minutes later, he came back with a small black book and a plate of merb cabbage. He sat by the small table he had set with his tools and casually started to eat while reading his book.
"Just what's this smell?" - the explorer inquired, his face twisted at how bad it was.
"That's my lunch. Can't take a break in peace anymore..." - the Storm Hawk commented as he quickly finished his plate and went back to work.
Kaya and Piper exchanged glances. Couldn't he at least have tried to read the book to him or something? It could've helped with the creepy and depressing mood. Well, seems like he had lost that opportunity this time. The rest of the afternoon, he tried his methods one after the other, ranging from things like setting up some eerie fog and darkening the room to make things "scary" to attempt to displease and maybe even agonize him with mindworms.
Yep, that's right, Stork had gotten his hands on a protected cage filled with those things. How he had gotten it would be forever a mystery to the others, but it was impressive nonetheless. Yet, it only proved those "terrible worms" weren't as dangerous as he previously thought... Unless Domiwick had an insane state of mind from the get-go. That'd explain how he wasn't completely overwhelmed by them.
At last, the carrier pilot exited the room, feeling a little tired and disappointed his attempts didn't work.
"Well, as you could see, I didn't get anything out of him." - he said quite calmly and aware of his "failure", which made the others stare at him - "Excuse me while I retire as the team's torturer."
Everyone blinked. Since when did they ever have a position for a torturer or executioner in the squadron? Still, they could understand his feelings, he did try very hard in there.
"So what's next? We tried being convincing... In a creepy way. Being annoying, tried torture, but nothing worked!" - Finn said a bit frantically - "Is there anything else left to try? It's not like being nice to him is gonna help."
"But we can't give up. Sooner or later he'll have to say something." - Junko concluded, which made sense, in a way, and Radarr and Mr. Softy nodded in agreement.
"Yes, but it can't be way too much later. We need answers as soon as possible." - Kaya commented.
"Oh, don't look at me now." - the merb suddenly warned them - "I tried everything I could think of, and I ran out of ideas."
"Everything?" - Piper repeated, raising an eyebrow skeptically, almost sounding like she was teasing him a bit.
"Everything moral, at least." - he amended a little irritably - "And you all know that I've been there with him for a good while."
"We know you did what you could, Stork." - she assured him, then turned to the others - "I was thinking we should try a different approach: instead of having him answer something he claims he doesn't know, we could make him tell us what he does know."
"That sounds like a good idea. Who is going in for that one?" - the Grandmaster asked.
"I guess I'll go. I haven't walked in there so far." - the navigator told them as she stepped in front of the door.
However, as she was about to turn the knob, she suddenly hesitated. Something was holding her back, she felt as if she was scared of going inside.
"Uh... Piper? Aren't you going in?" - the wallop asked after a little while she had been just standing there.
"Yes, but... I think I'll wait a little bit for..." - she began, not wanting to let the others know she was no longer secure about going there alone, even if the others were watching closely.
"Is there something wrong?" - the little girl questioned her, sensing she was a little disturbed.
While Kaya could just read her aura and know what was going on, she thought it'd be best if she spoke her feelings out loud, so everyone could help comfort her. The first officer gave in... There was no point in trying to hide that now.
"I don't wanna go there alone. I don't feel... Safe." - she admitted - "Also I might need some help."
"Do you want us to come in with you?" - the flight engineer offered.
"No, too many people inside wouldn't work right." - the crystal mage told them - "Besides, it'd be best if it was someone with a more... Personal influence on this. Like... Like Aerrow." - she concluded.
Everyone had to agree that, other than Piper herself, the only other person who might have taken that subject personally was Aerrow. And speaking of him, the familiar sound of his boots clacking against the metallic floor echoed in the corridor as he approached them, having come back from his patrol.
"What are we waiting for, then? I'll go with you, Piper." - he responded to her line of thought, which made her smile gratefully and nod.
He took a couple steps towards her, Sinjin following close behind, and she was about to open the door when she stopped once again.
"Since I just want him to tell us what he knows, we can't try to pressure him too much, so you'll have to go easier on him." - she told him.
He remained solemn for a moment, then replied.
"Don't worry, I won't ruin your strategy there. I'll stay quiet near the door then, watching over just in case." - he assured her.
Yeah, that sounded like a good plan, it'd certainly make things safe since he'd be there, and easy going enough for the man to feel more willing to say something. The girl turned the knob on the door and both walked in, the ghost coming in right before the door was locked behind them.
Domiwick was quiet, he wouldn't say a word upon seeing them coming in, yet he somehow faced them. Aerrow leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. He looked strangely relaxed, probably just so he wouldn't raise the tension in the room. Sinjin walked to a corner of the room and sat on the ground as if meditating. She could guess he was only there for more support and to be an extra pair of eyes on the lookout.
She slowly approached the man and stood in front of him, completely silent. It was as if she was expecting him to say something first. And so he did.
"What? Are you going to demand me to spill the beans too?" - he asked like he was snarling at her.
Ignoring his tone, she just shook her head.
"No. I want you to tell us what you do know." - she said to him.
"About what?" - he inquired as to not wanting to waste his time talking about useless information.
"About anything ever since you got to the Far Side." - she specified - "Like how did you get here, for starters?"
"I swam... What else?" - he responded cynically.
"Really?" - she replied sarcastically and unimpressed - "And how did you get past the beasts from the lake? We also learned the caves are like a maze, but even worse than the Forbidden City's."
"Well, my Domiwick beasts weren't as thoughtless as you had claimed." - he told her - "They didn't attack me and just swam through the tunnels when you scared them off. They even disabled a trap in the maze. After following them for a little while I made it to a shore in the Far Side."
"And what happened after that?" - Piper asked - "In the weeks between you arriving and Cyclonis coming to the Far Side?"
"Weeks?" - the explorer raised a questioning eyebrow - "The moment I got out of the shore I escaped some hostile natives, went underground, crossed a canyon and ended up in her tower. We made our deal once I got inside. All that took about a year or so."
The girl blinked, then looked at Aerrow who had a hand on his chin in thought.
"Hm... This confirms the fact time runs faster here than in the Atmos." - he commented what Henny had once told them, and the time matched with her report.
"Well, what was the deal?" - she turned back to the man.
"She'd let me use her resources to explore and would broadcast my progress to the Atmos. In exchange for being able to use anything I brought that could be useful." - he explained - "She also had me map the Endless Caverns."
"Why did she want a map?" - the navigator inquired.
"She never told me. I suppose she was thinking of going back to the Atmos through them." - he shrugged - "But I wasn't able to make a full map, because there was a point where we couldn't swim any further. It was like there was some kind of barrier preventing us from going back."
"Did she manage to get through the barrier?" - she questioned.
"I don't know. I haven't seen her or her Night Crawlers say anything about it." - he told her - "And they won't even address me if I ask. As I said, she keeps me in the dark."
Aerrow looked at the ground in order to keep his expression concealed. Yeah... Of course, she would keep her plans from him. Why would she share anything with such a weak end like him? At least he was still telling them a few slightly useful things...
"What have you been doing since then?" - the first officer asked.
"Expeditions. I brought many artifacts back, even crystals she acknowledged as rare, but didn't pay them mind." - Domiwick said - "The only things that mattered were the map, this crystal I was after and... Some traces I found indicating there was a scripture about some kind of crystal forge somewhere around here. That was supposed to be my next mission."
A crystal forge, huh? Could it be the same one mentioned during the reunion with the council in Liberty Reign? If so, then that'd make a lot of sense, considering the guess of Cyclonis's ultimate plan they had there. Apparently, she was insane enough to go truly through with it.
"Where's the scripture you're talking about?" - the girl leaned in a little.
"I don't know yet. Cyclonis wouldn't let me study the traces to figure out its location." - he explained - "She said I'd only do that when actually going for the mission. It's as if she knew I'd be captured and didn't want to take risks."
"Then where are the traces? And what does she need the Mirror Stone for?" - she made a double question.
"They were taken to the tower, so tough luck getting to see them." - he replied - "And she never said anything, but I assume it has to do with the experiment she's working on with this new... Man she hired since she was urgent about getting her hands on it."
"New man? Is he a scientist? Expert on anatomy to be precise?" - she asked.
"So you know him." - the man said as if not too surprised - "Yes, and he's the creepiest merb I've ever had the displeasure to meet."
"What does he do there? What's this experiment?" - Piper inquired.
"He's been studying scrolls Cyclonis had given him, and he's building some kind of machine she designed herself." - he told her - "I don't know what it's for. It doesn't look like anything I've ever heard of."
So Dr. Sins was building something. He didn't seem like one who knew about the tech part of science... But appearances are definitely deceiving, it looks like he knew a thing or two about machines. A machine for the Mirror Stone... What could it be for?
"And as for the scientist?" - the girl changed the subject since she knew she'd not get anything else about the machine.
"What about him?" - he nearly snarled.
"What are his goals?" - she inquired.
"How would I know? I've never spoken to him." - he said - "His presence creeps me out and makes everything feel uneasy. Shows you the kind of people Cyclonis looks to hire."
"As if you're one to talk when you were hired yourself." - she commented on his arrogance.
"She didn't come looking to hire me, I stumbled on the tower and made a deal." - he retorted - "That's a whole different thing."
"What else can you tell us? Do you know the tower's location? Secret entrances, what the rooms have inside and their purpose..." - Piper pushed him to talk once more.
"The area around the tower is now protected by a huge cloaking barrier, you can't spot it." - he explained - "Once Cyclonis figured out you had come to the Far Side she doubled security. The tower's inside has so many traps I don't even try to wander around so I won't set one of them off. I don't have much detail on that."
The girl paused for a moment to think if there was anything else she could ask. It seemed like they really got everything they could out of him. It wasn't that much, but it at least confirmed some suspicions and let them in on one thing or another that they had no clue of. Now they had a better chance of guessing what the Empress had in store. She turned to Aerrow leaning against the wall.
"I think we learned everything we could from him." - she told him.
"No more questions then?" - he asked, to which she shook her head - "Then we should get going. We need to decide what to do with him now."
Both left the room, and the man saw the boy nodding towards the door while staring at one of the corners of the room. He briefly flitted his eyes in the same direction and saw nothing. Just what was that kid looking at? And he had also noticed he was wearing a golden amulet, but he couldn't figure out what it could be for.
In the corridor, the three were met with hopeful gazes from the others. They waited silently for a second, but upon seeing they weren't talking, they just had to ask.
"Did he finally say something? You were there for a good while." - Kaya inquired.
"Yes, he said a lot of things." - Piper told them - "Not much more than what we already knew, but he did mention one new thing or another."
"Well, then tell us what he said!" - Junko could no longer hold his anxiousness.
"We'll fill you in on the way to the bridge." - Aerrow said, pretty much signaling the others to follow him - "We need to discuss what to do with him and fast. Night Crawlers are tracking us, I spotted one far away in my patrol."
"Are you serious?!" - Finn was almost shocked - "But we're totally camouflaged! How did they find us?!"
"I don't think they did yet, but they're sure trying hard." - the sky knight responded - "It'll be just a matter of time until they track our position if we stay in this area any longer."
"Should I set a course to one of the reigns?" - Stork asked.
"No. I'll go outside one more time to see where they seem to be headed to, then I'll signal you to go to a different path." - the leader said as he quickly made his way to the hangar bay, Radarr following him close behind, along with Sinjin who would be dragged regardless of anything. The others stayed behind as the navigator placed some maps on the round table to see where they'd be going next.
Once the boy mounted on the skimmer, he saw the co-pilot staring at him expectantly. He wanted to join him like usual, he was growing bored of watching Domiwick all the time. Plus, Kaya could do that job just fine on her own with the extra cameras and sensors she tossed in the room.
"Hop in, buddy." - the red-haired kid nodded to the cockpit, which made the little animal chirp in delight and jump to the seat he always belonged to.
After his two passengers were set, Aerrow accelerated his skyride and shot out very fast, immediately cloaking the trio with the cloaking crystal he had with him. They flew towards the direction the Condor had come from.
"Do you sense him?" - he asked the ghost.
"Yes. He's still there, same distance from us as last time." - the spirit told him.
"Then let's take a closer look and find out what's going on." - the boy said determinedly as he flew them towards the scout Night Crawler.
As they slowly approached him, they were in for a little unpleasant surprise: the dark soldier suddenly sped up a lot and flew past them fast as a lightning bolt. For a moment it almost looked like he was charging at them and they even braced for impact, but it never came.
"Just where is he going?" - Aerrow asked to himself.
"I don't like the looks of it." - Sinjin commented with a serious expression, something bad was about to happen.
The scout soldier rapidly went past the Condor and stopped quite a good distance ahead of it. The two Storm Hawks on the skimmer blinked, while the deceased monk watched cautiously. He had a feeling of what was going to happen right after. And he got it right.
"Commence the encirclement." - Cyclonis told her scouts from her room back in the tower.
Just as Sinjin briefly predicted, the Night Crawler dropped something that summoned a huge barrier, like a fence around a yard. It had covered a very large triangular area.
The moment Stork saw the force field appear right in front of the Condor he screamed, for he didn't have enough time to fully stop the ship. It rammed against the barrier, the force of the impact greatly damaging the triple barrier shield Piper had set up, revealing a now vulnerable Condor. Everyone inside it was pushing themselves off the ground.
"What's going on?" - Finn asked frantically.
"It's a siege!" - Junko warned them as he pointed at the dark cloud full of Night Crawlers flying towards them.
As they observed, then saw that this time they weren't the ordinary purple and red-eyed Night Crawlers. The group was led by the yellow-eyed Night Crawler they had met in Techne Reign, they had glowing orange eyes and extra armor and gadgets. Nonetheless, the Storm Hawks all went to the hangar to fight outside and protect their ship, except Stork who remained by the helm.
The two squadrons clashed in a fierce aerial battle. There were hundreds of blasts of energy being shot in all directions by both parties. Junko and Finn covered each other's back in perfect sync, thanks to the training with Kaya the previous day. The blonde would shoot and hit all his targets flawlessly, while the wallop used bombs for an area attack and caught any incoming enemy who dared get into melee range with his bare hands, dismantling their skyrides as if he were ripping a piece of paper in half.
Aerrow would fly in the middle of several enemies, Radarr shooting at them with a modified slime crystal, extra sticky, gluing each skyride on one another making an "Indian line". As they couldn't get out of it, they were dragged towards the front of the Condor, where Stork shot them all down with its cannons. Now that was great teamwork.
Piper and Kaya provided support from a distance. The crystal mage shooting blasts with varied effects to disturb and stagger the dark soldiers and the Grandmaster blinded enemies from afar in her Xeedwox form, then burned them with her phoenix form. The two girls noticed one thing, though: not long after they had been taken down, the Night Crawlers appeared again, their rides completely unscratched.
"This isn't good. What did Cyclonis do this time?" - the navigator wondered.
"They have a repair matrix installed on their armor, no matter how many times we strike them down they'll keep coming back." - the little girl commented - "We gotta retreat."
And they weren't the only ones aware of that. Aerrow had noticed something was wrong too, but he wasn't about to give up the fight. He kept slashing at each one of the enemies, taking them out one after the other. They'd come back again, but he didn't stop attacking. The only problem was that he was starting to get worn out and the Night Crawlers were perfectly fine. He'd not be able to keep with that for too long, they needed a plan.
Finn and Junko were still clueless about that until the wallop had taken down an enemy with a bomb and just a few seconds later he came back unharmed.
"What?! How did he do that?!" - he was alarmed.
"Did what?" - the blonde asked from his cover position behind him.
"I just blasted him away and he came back as if nothing had happened!" - he warned the sharpshooter.
He shot at the Night Crawler with a missile once more and yet he came back. He repeated that a few times.
"Just. Go. Down. Already!" - he was starting to feel frustrated.
Soon the Night Crawler appeared right in front of him, in melee range. The big guy then grabbed the wings of the skyride with a smirk. Hah! Now he'd rip it in half, let's see that thing coming back after that! But when he tried, for some reason it was much harder to do that, it was as if the soldier's armor had become more resistant. That was a bad sign.
Upon realizing he could no longer break the skyride with his bare hands, he laughed nervously at the Night Crawler. The orange-eyed enemy smirked evilly and shot a powerful blast from point blank. Junko was pushed with his skimmer by the force of the impact, luckily the skyride was still able to stay afloat, but it was severely damaged.
"Junko! You okay, big buddy?" - Finn asked as he flew closer, but then he saw the other dark soldiers coming at them incredibly fast.
He shot at them but this time all he did was barely stagger them, for they were much more resistant and his arrows no longer worked.
"How come they're so much stronger?!" - the flight engineer asked almost desperately.
"Well, who could know there'd be an elite within the elite!" - the blonde commented.
Those Night Crawlers were clearly far more advanced than the ones they had faced in the Atmos. They were more coordinated, more combat skilled and their equipment was a lot better. Overall they were much stronger than the average Night Crawler. And nobody could guess whether they were the same ones, just trained better, or completely new soldiers.
When the two noticed they couldn't stand a chance against that swarm of powerful enemies, they decided to get out of their vicinity. They flew away, Finn shooting behind him in order to slow the Night Crawlers down. But, as always, he was a magnet to disaster: one of the dark soldiers aimed carefully and shot a piercing blast that cut his skimmer in half.
"Oh, c'mon! Even here?! Why always me?!" - the sharpshooter complained about how he was a target who'd be taken out exactly the same way over and over, nearly every single fight.
And, as usual, he also landed crotch first in front of Junko's skimmer. He winced in pain, but not as much as he used to. It was almost as if his body had accustomed to the pain. Well, at least that was a good thing, maybe one day he'd not feel anything at all.
"You really have a bad luck streak there." - Junko commented.
"Now I can get that out of my list of 'to do in the Far Side' things." - the blonde said a little dismayed.
Yet, even after becoming pretty much harmless due to the damage on their equipment, they weren't left alone: more Night Crawlers flew towards them to attack. But Piper came to their rescue. She had shielded her heliscooter and rammed against a few incoming skyrides.
"Guys, we gotta stop fighting them." - she warned - "The more we damage them, the tougher they get!"
"Then why are we still here?! We should run away!" - Finn responded as another wave of blasts showered over them.
"Head back to the ship, I'll cover you." - she said as she used a nil crystal to quickly fix Junko's skimmer so they could get out of there.
The two did as they were advised without hesitating. The girl flew towards the cloud of enemies, using paralyzing crystals to make them go numb, then icers to freeze them solid. Apparently, the only way to hold them back was to stun them, instead of beating them.
Aerrow was holding off a few of the Night Crawlers, when one of them jumped on his skimmer, knocking Radarr out of the cockpit in the process. The boy tried to push the enemy out so he could fly after his co-pilot, but his sore muscles from the excessive fighting didn't let him do so. Yet, to his relief, Kaya grabbed the little guy with her claws before he'd hit the ground.
"Got you, little buddy." - the Grandmaster assured the animal, who chirped in relief.
The sky knight smiled, grateful for the backup of his partner, but his distraction cost him his not so great advantage: the Night Crawler on the skimmer grabbed his left arm and another one quickly jumped in and held his right one, both holding him in place. He couldn't move, their grip on him was firm like he was chained to two pillars strongly attached to the ground, and their armor gave them an edge in strength. His struggle was useless, and thus he was hindered immobile and defenseless. He glared at them. Oh, yeah, with armor that augments your abilities, of course, they could take him down that easily. The cheaters!
Finn and Junko had managed to get inside the Condor while Piper drew the focus to herself. However, with nobody else to shoot at, since Aerrow was safely immobilized and Kaya had to protect an unarmed Radarr, the rest of the Night Crawlers proceeded to shoot their strongest blasts at the navigator. She saw her force field weakening and flickering around her. She gasped and immediately used her crystals to strengthen it, but it was no use when they were bashing so hard against it that the power she poured on it was drained instantly. Her shield was finally down and a blast pushed her off her heliscooter.
"Piper!" - the sky knight shouted while Sinjin had been trying to materialize himself to help him.
The moment the ghost saw that he changed his plan and quickly dove after the girl. He managed to materialize only his hands just in time to grab her forearms and stop her fall. She blinked surprised, she really thought she was a goner a second ago. He used the energy he had left to pull her with him back to her skyride and dropped her on her seat after his hands suddenly disappeared. He panted, clearly exhausted. Who would have guessed spirits could get tired and worn out?
Aerrow watched just as surprised, then he noticed the deceased monk giving him a thumbs up to signal the crystal mage was okay. The kid smiled, he did look out for her when he couldn't. He meant what he had said when he offered his help. The girl sighed relieved.
"Thanks for the save." - she said to the ghost, even though he knew she'd not hear his answer or see his reaction at that moment.
He grinned a little nonetheless. It felt good helping people in need, almost made him remember his glory days, back when he was alive. Everyone would say he had been a hero in his time, even if he didn't think of himself like that. He pushed his thoughts aside and materialized only his index finger to poke Piper on the shoulder and then point at her crystal compartment. She eyed it for a moment until it finally came to her. The girl opened the compartment and pulled out a Binding Crystal.
"Titan's Might!" - she shouted as the green energy enveloped her and a beam was shot at Aerrow, giving him the same energy.
"Now that's more like it!" - he smiled.
Oh, yeah! With that boost, those Night Crawlers would regret trying to pin him down like that. He forcefully moved his arms, dragging both soldiers along, after twisting himself around a little, and knocked one enemy against the other, pushing both off his skimmer. But before he could cheer his freedom, he saw the cloud of Night Crawlers flying straight to the Condor.
"They're trying to break through!" - Piper warned.
"But they won't." - Stork said from his position at the helm as he fiddled with some controls - "Initiating lockdown."
Suddenly, extra reinforced plates came out of the ship, they covered everything: every hatch, window, even the tiny dents between an armor plate and another. In other words, it was like the ship was double armor-clad. One thing that it missed, though, was the yellow-eyed Night Crawler hiding between the usual armor and the reinforced one, then opening a hatch and entering the ship. The merb ran a scan and saw something had been detected in the air ducts.
"There's something inside the ship." - he said slightly alarmed.
The place was already dark because the plates blocked any entrance for sun rays, but then it became even darker when the lights went out, Finn and Junko gasping scared, while Mr. Softy cowered on the latter's shoulder. The three Storm Hawks and their mascot had to go to the corridor to find the intruder. But he found them instead. He leaped at them from the air duct, knocking them down with its hatch. Then he used a purple crystal to place a cage around them, so they'd not try to stop him.
"Now that you don't have that crystal mage to help you, you can't do anything against me." - he smirked as they were electrocuted when gripping on the bars.
It was almost sad that he was right. The dark soldier made his way through the ship, eventually snatching the Mirror Stone from Piper's lab and even breaking into the interrogation room where Domiwick was held. He used a crystal to release him from his binds.
"So you were finally sent to aid me." - the explorer said arrogantly.
"I came for the crystal." - the Night Crawler replied - "But the Master still might require your abilities. So I'll bring back what she needs."
Talk about having one's importance shoved down below the ground. The man followed the soldier to their way out. They walked to a control panel and the Night Crawler manually disabled the Condor's lockdown system. The Storm Hawks in the bridge were startled after seeing their protection barriers going back into their special hatches. Soon the dark soldier was out, taking Domiwick along by his shirt.
"I've got both items, Master. Should we attack?" - he asked his communicator.
"No. Have the squadrons leave at once." - the Empress' voice told him - "And bring me the crystal immediately, I'm not risking it being caught by them again."
"As you wish." - he signaled to the other Night Crawlers and they suddenly flew away.
After just a few seconds they activated some kind of speed boost that made them all shoot out in the sky with an intense flash of light so fast they disappeared instantly without leaving traces. At least, not traces that could be followed. It almost reminded Aerrow of how Cyclonis had teleported herself away from the infirmary he had been recovering at when he was injured. The squadron could only watch perplexed.
~~~
The Storm Hawks quickly reunited in the bridge to discuss their plans. Finn had checked Piper's lab and had just come back to tell the bad news.
"Yeah, they took our crystal." - he said.
"And Domiwick's nowhere to be found. The interrogation room was busted." - Junko told them after coming back from the lower deck.
"This isn't good. Cyclonis wouldn't send such a strong squadron to guarantee she'd get the Mirror Stone back if she didn't need it so much." - Piper concluded - "We gotta find out what she's planning to do with it."
"I think I should start mobilizing the Guardians. Things are looking ugly, we might have to interfere to protect our future." - Kaya said - "Which means I'll have to say goodbye for now."
"Wait, you're leaving?" - Aerrow asked, and the others looked almost hurt by the news.
"Only for a little while." - she assured him - "The place where the Guardians are is very far away, so it'll take a few weeks to go there and come back."
"Can't you send one of those messages in the stars to them?" - Stork inquired while pointing at the sky.
"It might be risky. Considering Cyclonis has so much technology she could have something that might intercept my message. We better stay low." - the Grandmaster explained.
"Well, what about our next destination?" - the sky knight questioned her - "And the recruiting of the reigns?"
"The recruiting might have to wait a little bit. I think it'd be best if you guys trained this time." - the little girl suggested - "I wasn't expecting they'd get ahead of us so fast with all the training I've been giving you guys. But they did. And you know they'll only get stronger, so you guys need to catch up and surpass them."
"Then where should we go next?" - the navigator asked.
"There's a special place: the Astral Training Grounds." - Kaya told them - "You should head there right away, it's a little far, but it'll be worth it. Both Sinjin and I have trained there once. It's the best place ever."
Aerrow glanced at the ghost, who nodded in response.
"Alright, let's set a course, then. And who will be our guide while you're out?" - the leader inquired.
"I'm sure Sinjin can help with it. I'll leave you guys some channeling stones so you can communicate with him in the Condor." - she placed one on the ground, fiddled with its control support and the field enveloped a small round area.
Soon the deceased monk was visible, greatly startling the other squad mates who hadn't seen him yet.
"Woah! You were watching me like this the whole time?" - Finn asked creeped out.
"Uh... No... I didn't follow you in the bathroom or something if that's what you're worried about." - Sinjin replied unimpressed - "I can't wander too far from the amulet, so I was pretty much sticking next to Aerrow all the time."
"Phew, what a relief..." - the blonde relaxed at that.
"You're in guide duty now, Sinjin." - Kaya said to him - "Watch over them while I'm gone, okay?"
"You can count on me. We'll go straight to the training grounds." - the ghost spoke.
The child turned into a bird and flew extremely fast in the skies, the squadron waving and wishing her a good trip. Then the Condor took off to their next destination.
~~~
In the Night Crawler tower, the yellow-eyed soldier brought the Mirror Stone to Cyclonis, who waited in Dr. Sins' lab. Domiwick stood by the door, just discreetly peering by the small opening as the Cyclonian bowed and handed the crystal to her.
"Perfect. We're just one step away from completing the experiment." - she said as she placed it on a support specially built for it.
She let out her evil laugh that echoed in the tower as the scientist kept making a few adjustments on the machine. Whatever was it she was trying to do, it was something big... And bad. Very bad.
Part 4 - The Siege
Inside the Condor, the squadron wasn't having much success prying Domiwick's mind open. Of course, they were kind of holding back a little with their... "Torture" methods, since they were in general against it, but maybe Aerrow did have a point that it'd take more convincing to get the man to talk. So far what went on in that afternoon didn't turn into too much progress.
After the nearly six-hour movie about Junko sleeping, having the explorer reject the flame corn and the yorka juice several times in a row, which was probably the only thing that kept his sanity while watching that dragged video, the wallop had gone outside, then came back with some snacks, if one could call them that: they were some weird kind of snail with tiny tentacles. Oh, and they were still alive.
The man blinked creeped out and in disgust after seeing the plate being hovered in his face.
"Here you go, a little snack so you won't starve." - the big guy told him.
"Yep, those are his specialty." - Finn said from his position near the doorstep.
"I'll pass." - Domiwick replied.
"Oh, that's just mean. Don't you know it's rude to refuse your host's food?" - Kaya scolded him - "Now you'll eat it all up, and you'll do so smiling, or else..." - she threatened, to which he grimaced.
Apparently, Aerrow wasn't the only one who should be feared in that ship. This new girl, while small, was definitely something else. She knew how to make a very convincing threat, alright. He already knew better than to mess with her, something instinctively told him she was much more powerful than she looked. Since he had no choice, he let the flight engineer toss one of those snails to him. Ugh! It tasted like rotten seaweed! And it was completely slimy! Eww!
"Oh, yeah, here, freshly squeezed berry juice." - Junko pulled the glass out of nowhere and offered it to him.
The man looked at the glass and no longer knew what he was more disgusted at. And... Was that hair in the juice? He turned his head to the side and upon seeing the little girl eyeing him intensely, he sighed and drank a sip of the juice. Oh, Gosh! It was so sour he could feel his lips being sucked into his mouth! And, of course, being the very same fruit, a beard berry, that once caused dismay to the squadron in their vacation in Tropica, suddenly, a long blonde beard grew on his face, making him look like a blond Santa Claus.
"You did this on purpose... Didn't you?" - he asked quietly, staring unimpressed at the wallop.
"That's for us to know." - the sharpshooter remarked, to which the man didn't show reaction.
"Now that's one long beard." - the Grandmaster commented, then she saw Mr. Softy poking his little head from behind Junko's shoulder - "Hey, Mr. Softy, what do you think? You look like you wanna give it a little grooming."
The fat caterpillar wiggled his bum and waved his little arms at that. He wanted to play his part in all that craziness that was going on that day.
"Well, go ahead, little buddy." - Junko encouraged their mascot.
The insect jumped off his shoulder on the ground, then he suddenly spat a sticky string at the man's beard. He did so for a little while, then bit and pulled on it, as if he were trying to turn it into some kind of cocoon thing. Domiwick felt absolutely sickened. That just wasn't... Happening. No, it was happening. It was hard to believe he was wide awake because all that seemed like one creepy dream.
"Wow, it looks so silky!" - Kaya commented - "You should be a hairstylist, Mr. Softy!"
The little caterpillar smiled proudly. He did have a knack for it if one could look past the fact that he used his saliva to do that... People usually would be grossed out. Well, maybe Junko wouldn't, he seemed to be more tolerant than most people. Having that much patience and comprehension was a rare virtue.
And, incredibly enough, even though Aerrow had been angry all day, he usually would've been the second most patient one in the squadron. The two of them were almost always calmer in a situation in which the others were closer to freaking out. But, yeah, everyone knows the more composed and reserved people have the worst snaps when they do get angry. No need to say that twice.
"So, you in the mood for telling us the truth?" - Finn asked the man.
"I'm telling you again. I don't know anything." - the explorer replied angrily - "I told you I didn't speak to Cyclonis ever since we made a deal! She probably knew you'd come after that crystal and sent me as bait or something, without letting me know."
"So you're saying she used you, just like last time..." - the Grandmaster remarked with a taunting smirk.
"It doesn't matter, that's not the point." - he said, pretending he ignored the comment, but he was clearly failing at that - "I don't know her plan, I don't have the answers you're after. How many times do I have to say the same thing?!"
All inside the room just stared blankly at him, their eyelids lowered halfway in front of their eyes.
"Fine then, let's go, guys." - Junko said as he picked Mr. Softy up and headed for the door, the others following him.
"Dude, you are a waste of time." - the sharpshooter referred to Domiwick then turned to leave as well.
They locked the door behind them, leaving the man alone in the tight dark room. Outside, they just pondered about their results along with Piper, Stork, and Radarr.
"Yeah, I'll admit he's tougher than he looks..." - the little girl said - "And do I hate having to say this."
"I can't believe we didn't convince him. We tried everything, we were even nice to him!" - the wallop didn't understand.
"Hm... Junko, I don't think he took those things as being nice. They were meant to annoy him." - the navigator commented, then she looked away almost bitter - "But then again, he wouldn't be able to recognize kindness even if it was right in front of him."
"What should we do now? Torture him for real?" - Finn asked while shrugging as if he didn't know what else to think of.
"Fine... I'll get in on that action." - Stork suddenly said as he walked inside the room.
The others watched him almost surprised by his unexpected volunteering. The blonde smirked a little as if he were thinking that ought to be a good one.
~~~
In the Night Crawler tower, Cyclonis was in the same room she occupied every day. She stared at a holographic monitor that showed the area her three scouts were covering. Soon the doors opened and the yellow-eyed dark soldier entered the room.
"You summoned me, Master?" - he bowed respectfully.
"Are the preparations finished?" - she asked.
"Yes. The elite squadrons are ready to fly off at your signal." - he told her.
"Perfect. Head to the planned position and wait until the scouts deploy their gear." - she ordered.
"As you command." - he curtsied once again and left the room.
He walked to the big hangar bay and signaled for the other Night Crawlers to fly, then he set flight as well. A considerably large group disappeared in the sky.
~~~
The merb was in the interrogation room, quietly fiddling with the equipment he had brought inside a wooden crate in front of Domiwick. The sound of some mysterious objects hitting one another in the middle of that heavy silence certainly made their prisoner a little fretful and unnerved. Finally, the merb turned to him with a blank expression.
"I set some things that are bound to make you talk, so it's your choice if you'll go through all of it or none." - he said almost eerily.
"Guess I'll go through everything since you won't believe anything I say anyways..." - the explorer responded.
Ignoring the comment, the carrier pilot picked a small glass cage up, brought it closer to the man, then opened it, releasing a green dotted spider from it. The small creature walked to the explorer's shoulder and stayed there, not moving at all. He nervously looked at it, now that was a creepy animal.
"This is the scarletma razor-fang arachnoid, the deadliest and most poisonous creature on Atmos. It ought to make you spill it." - he said to him.
The rest of the guys watched from the outside.
"Wait, but isn't that the...?" - Junko was about to say when the others shushed him.
"Yeah, but he's playing him." - Finn explained, to which the wallop "oh"ed in realization.
Inside the room, the man remained uncomfortably silent for a brief moment, until a few things occurred to him.
"On Atmos? The whole world or just anything beyond the Far Side?" - he asked almost skeptically - "I encountered creatures that looked much worse than this." - he nodded to the spider on his shoulder, which irritated it and caused it to bite him.
He suddenly burst out laughing from the bite. The small arachnoid got startled and jumped into Stork's hands. He looked a bit disappointed. So much for trying to pass down the impression that this wasn't the harmless scarletma tickle-fang species. Domiwick ceased laughing shortly after since the effect of the bite quickly wore off.
"That thing isn't poisonous! You were just trying to trick me!" - the man said like it wasn't obvious.
"Of course, this one here was just a warm-up for psychological effect." - the merb figured a good comeback to keep his plan solid - "You haven't witnessed true terror yet."
Well, that certainly sounded ominous and all, but for some reason, it didn't really create such a strong impression of it on the mood. Maybe because the Storm Hawks were a bunch of goody-two-shoes who'd never truly threaten anyone. One could dare say they'd not hurt a fly, just to emphasize the point.
Next thing Stork tried was to lower the temperature of the room quite considerably, the walls could be seen starting to freeze the water in the air, and the atmosphere felt heavier.
"Beware of the dangers of the cold! You'll have your limbs out in no time unless you start talking right now." - he said sinisterly.
Outside the room, Piper could only facepalm. Now that was just plain silly... It wasn't even that cold in there... One light coat would solve the issue easily. And just as she predicted, the blonde man wasn't disturbed at all by that.
"Are you serious? The worst that could happen would be my hands and feet getting a little numb. There's nothing too worrying about that." - Domiwick spoke.
"O-Oh, you think you're not gonna f-freeze to death?" - the merb questioned him, trying to prevent himself from showing how cold he was.
"At this temperature? Of course, I won't. I can even take something colder than you, I see your knees shaking." - the explorer remarked, foiling that tactic.
"Hmpf... I'm f-far from done, though." - he quickly adjusted the temperature back to the normal warmth, relieving him a lot - "How about you take on the heat, then?"
He adjusted the temperature to the hottest level it could get. It felt like an oven inside the room, both started to sweat like two waterfalls.
"Well...? Are you... Gonna talk now...?" - the merb asked between all the panting.
The air was so hot it was harder to breathe.
"I already said... I don't know... Any... Anything..." - the man replied just as affected by all that heat - "Fool... This is... Wearing... On you... As much as... It is... On me."
That was true, but Stork didn't give in to that. They remained in the infernal heat until they heard someone beating on the door, then it opened shortly after.
"Turn it off! You're overheating the engine room with this." - Junko warned urgently.
The carrier pilot had to quickly lower the temperature to cold for a little moment and then go back to normal, otherwise, they'd have lost the Condor.
"You're lucky the ship couldn't take it." - Stork mumbled to Domiwick, then left the room.
A few minutes later, he came back with a small black book and a plate of merb cabbage. He sat by the small table he had set with his tools and casually started to eat while reading his book.
"Just what's this smell?" - the explorer inquired, his face twisted at how bad it was.
"That's my lunch. Can't take a break in peace anymore..." - the Storm Hawk commented as he quickly finished his plate and went back to work.
Kaya and Piper exchanged glances. Couldn't he at least have tried to read the book to him or something? It could've helped with the creepy and depressing mood. Well, seems like he had lost that opportunity this time. The rest of the afternoon, he tried his methods one after the other, ranging from things like setting up some eerie fog and darkening the room to make things "scary" to attempt to displease and maybe even agonize him with mindworms.
Yep, that's right, Stork had gotten his hands on a protected cage filled with those things. How he had gotten it would be forever a mystery to the others, but it was impressive nonetheless. Yet, it only proved those "terrible worms" weren't as dangerous as he previously thought... Unless Domiwick had an insane state of mind from the get-go. That'd explain how he wasn't completely overwhelmed by them.
At last, the carrier pilot exited the room, feeling a little tired and disappointed his attempts didn't work.
"Well, as you could see, I didn't get anything out of him." - he said quite calmly and aware of his "failure", which made the others stare at him - "Excuse me while I retire as the team's torturer."
Everyone blinked. Since when did they ever have a position for a torturer or executioner in the squadron? Still, they could understand his feelings, he did try very hard in there.
"So what's next? We tried being convincing... In a creepy way. Being annoying, tried torture, but nothing worked!" - Finn said a bit frantically - "Is there anything else left to try? It's not like being nice to him is gonna help."
"But we can't give up. Sooner or later he'll have to say something." - Junko concluded, which made sense, in a way, and Radarr and Mr. Softy nodded in agreement.
"Yes, but it can't be way too much later. We need answers as soon as possible." - Kaya commented.
"Oh, don't look at me now." - the merb suddenly warned them - "I tried everything I could think of, and I ran out of ideas."
"Everything?" - Piper repeated, raising an eyebrow skeptically, almost sounding like she was teasing him a bit.
"Everything moral, at least." - he amended a little irritably - "And you all know that I've been there with him for a good while."
"We know you did what you could, Stork." - she assured him, then turned to the others - "I was thinking we should try a different approach: instead of having him answer something he claims he doesn't know, we could make him tell us what he does know."
"That sounds like a good idea. Who is going in for that one?" - the Grandmaster asked.
"I guess I'll go. I haven't walked in there so far." - the navigator told them as she stepped in front of the door.
However, as she was about to turn the knob, she suddenly hesitated. Something was holding her back, she felt as if she was scared of going inside.
"Uh... Piper? Aren't you going in?" - the wallop asked after a little while she had been just standing there.
"Yes, but... I think I'll wait a little bit for..." - she began, not wanting to let the others know she was no longer secure about going there alone, even if the others were watching closely.
"Is there something wrong?" - the little girl questioned her, sensing she was a little disturbed.
While Kaya could just read her aura and know what was going on, she thought it'd be best if she spoke her feelings out loud, so everyone could help comfort her. The first officer gave in... There was no point in trying to hide that now.
"I don't wanna go there alone. I don't feel... Safe." - she admitted - "Also I might need some help."
"Do you want us to come in with you?" - the flight engineer offered.
"No, too many people inside wouldn't work right." - the crystal mage told them - "Besides, it'd be best if it was someone with a more... Personal influence on this. Like... Like Aerrow." - she concluded.
Everyone had to agree that, other than Piper herself, the only other person who might have taken that subject personally was Aerrow. And speaking of him, the familiar sound of his boots clacking against the metallic floor echoed in the corridor as he approached them, having come back from his patrol.
"What are we waiting for, then? I'll go with you, Piper." - he responded to her line of thought, which made her smile gratefully and nod.
He took a couple steps towards her, Sinjin following close behind, and she was about to open the door when she stopped once again.
"Since I just want him to tell us what he knows, we can't try to pressure him too much, so you'll have to go easier on him." - she told him.
He remained solemn for a moment, then replied.
"Don't worry, I won't ruin your strategy there. I'll stay quiet near the door then, watching over just in case." - he assured her.
Yeah, that sounded like a good plan, it'd certainly make things safe since he'd be there, and easy going enough for the man to feel more willing to say something. The girl turned the knob on the door and both walked in, the ghost coming in right before the door was locked behind them.
Domiwick was quiet, he wouldn't say a word upon seeing them coming in, yet he somehow faced them. Aerrow leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. He looked strangely relaxed, probably just so he wouldn't raise the tension in the room. Sinjin walked to a corner of the room and sat on the ground as if meditating. She could guess he was only there for more support and to be an extra pair of eyes on the lookout.
She slowly approached the man and stood in front of him, completely silent. It was as if she was expecting him to say something first. And so he did.
"What? Are you going to demand me to spill the beans too?" - he asked like he was snarling at her.
Ignoring his tone, she just shook her head.
"No. I want you to tell us what you do know." - she said to him.
"About what?" - he inquired as to not wanting to waste his time talking about useless information.
"About anything ever since you got to the Far Side." - she specified - "Like how did you get here, for starters?"
"I swam... What else?" - he responded cynically.
"Really?" - she replied sarcastically and unimpressed - "And how did you get past the beasts from the lake? We also learned the caves are like a maze, but even worse than the Forbidden City's."
"Well, my Domiwick beasts weren't as thoughtless as you had claimed." - he told her - "They didn't attack me and just swam through the tunnels when you scared them off. They even disabled a trap in the maze. After following them for a little while I made it to a shore in the Far Side."
"And what happened after that?" - Piper asked - "In the weeks between you arriving and Cyclonis coming to the Far Side?"
"Weeks?" - the explorer raised a questioning eyebrow - "The moment I got out of the shore I escaped some hostile natives, went underground, crossed a canyon and ended up in her tower. We made our deal once I got inside. All that took about a year or so."
The girl blinked, then looked at Aerrow who had a hand on his chin in thought.
"Hm... This confirms the fact time runs faster here than in the Atmos." - he commented what Henny had once told them, and the time matched with her report.
"Well, what was the deal?" - she turned back to the man.
"She'd let me use her resources to explore and would broadcast my progress to the Atmos. In exchange for being able to use anything I brought that could be useful." - he explained - "She also had me map the Endless Caverns."
"Why did she want a map?" - the navigator inquired.
"She never told me. I suppose she was thinking of going back to the Atmos through them." - he shrugged - "But I wasn't able to make a full map, because there was a point where we couldn't swim any further. It was like there was some kind of barrier preventing us from going back."
"Did she manage to get through the barrier?" - she questioned.
"I don't know. I haven't seen her or her Night Crawlers say anything about it." - he told her - "And they won't even address me if I ask. As I said, she keeps me in the dark."
Aerrow looked at the ground in order to keep his expression concealed. Yeah... Of course, she would keep her plans from him. Why would she share anything with such a weak end like him? At least he was still telling them a few slightly useful things...
"What have you been doing since then?" - the first officer asked.
"Expeditions. I brought many artifacts back, even crystals she acknowledged as rare, but didn't pay them mind." - Domiwick said - "The only things that mattered were the map, this crystal I was after and... Some traces I found indicating there was a scripture about some kind of crystal forge somewhere around here. That was supposed to be my next mission."
A crystal forge, huh? Could it be the same one mentioned during the reunion with the council in Liberty Reign? If so, then that'd make a lot of sense, considering the guess of Cyclonis's ultimate plan they had there. Apparently, she was insane enough to go truly through with it.
"Where's the scripture you're talking about?" - the girl leaned in a little.
"I don't know yet. Cyclonis wouldn't let me study the traces to figure out its location." - he explained - "She said I'd only do that when actually going for the mission. It's as if she knew I'd be captured and didn't want to take risks."
"Then where are the traces? And what does she need the Mirror Stone for?" - she made a double question.
"They were taken to the tower, so tough luck getting to see them." - he replied - "And she never said anything, but I assume it has to do with the experiment she's working on with this new... Man she hired since she was urgent about getting her hands on it."
"New man? Is he a scientist? Expert on anatomy to be precise?" - she asked.
"So you know him." - the man said as if not too surprised - "Yes, and he's the creepiest merb I've ever had the displeasure to meet."
"What does he do there? What's this experiment?" - Piper inquired.
"He's been studying scrolls Cyclonis had given him, and he's building some kind of machine she designed herself." - he told her - "I don't know what it's for. It doesn't look like anything I've ever heard of."
So Dr. Sins was building something. He didn't seem like one who knew about the tech part of science... But appearances are definitely deceiving, it looks like he knew a thing or two about machines. A machine for the Mirror Stone... What could it be for?
"And as for the scientist?" - the girl changed the subject since she knew she'd not get anything else about the machine.
"What about him?" - he nearly snarled.
"What are his goals?" - she inquired.
"How would I know? I've never spoken to him." - he said - "His presence creeps me out and makes everything feel uneasy. Shows you the kind of people Cyclonis looks to hire."
"As if you're one to talk when you were hired yourself." - she commented on his arrogance.
"She didn't come looking to hire me, I stumbled on the tower and made a deal." - he retorted - "That's a whole different thing."
"What else can you tell us? Do you know the tower's location? Secret entrances, what the rooms have inside and their purpose..." - Piper pushed him to talk once more.
"The area around the tower is now protected by a huge cloaking barrier, you can't spot it." - he explained - "Once Cyclonis figured out you had come to the Far Side she doubled security. The tower's inside has so many traps I don't even try to wander around so I won't set one of them off. I don't have much detail on that."
The girl paused for a moment to think if there was anything else she could ask. It seemed like they really got everything they could out of him. It wasn't that much, but it at least confirmed some suspicions and let them in on one thing or another that they had no clue of. Now they had a better chance of guessing what the Empress had in store. She turned to Aerrow leaning against the wall.
"I think we learned everything we could from him." - she told him.
"No more questions then?" - he asked, to which she shook her head - "Then we should get going. We need to decide what to do with him now."
Both left the room, and the man saw the boy nodding towards the door while staring at one of the corners of the room. He briefly flitted his eyes in the same direction and saw nothing. Just what was that kid looking at? And he had also noticed he was wearing a golden amulet, but he couldn't figure out what it could be for.
In the corridor, the three were met with hopeful gazes from the others. They waited silently for a second, but upon seeing they weren't talking, they just had to ask.
"Did he finally say something? You were there for a good while." - Kaya inquired.
"Yes, he said a lot of things." - Piper told them - "Not much more than what we already knew, but he did mention one new thing or another."
"Well, then tell us what he said!" - Junko could no longer hold his anxiousness.
"We'll fill you in on the way to the bridge." - Aerrow said, pretty much signaling the others to follow him - "We need to discuss what to do with him and fast. Night Crawlers are tracking us, I spotted one far away in my patrol."
"Are you serious?!" - Finn was almost shocked - "But we're totally camouflaged! How did they find us?!"
"I don't think they did yet, but they're sure trying hard." - the sky knight responded - "It'll be just a matter of time until they track our position if we stay in this area any longer."
"Should I set a course to one of the reigns?" - Stork asked.
"No. I'll go outside one more time to see where they seem to be headed to, then I'll signal you to go to a different path." - the leader said as he quickly made his way to the hangar bay, Radarr following him close behind, along with Sinjin who would be dragged regardless of anything. The others stayed behind as the navigator placed some maps on the round table to see where they'd be going next.
Once the boy mounted on the skimmer, he saw the co-pilot staring at him expectantly. He wanted to join him like usual, he was growing bored of watching Domiwick all the time. Plus, Kaya could do that job just fine on her own with the extra cameras and sensors she tossed in the room.
"Hop in, buddy." - the red-haired kid nodded to the cockpit, which made the little animal chirp in delight and jump to the seat he always belonged to.
After his two passengers were set, Aerrow accelerated his skyride and shot out very fast, immediately cloaking the trio with the cloaking crystal he had with him. They flew towards the direction the Condor had come from.
"Do you sense him?" - he asked the ghost.
"Yes. He's still there, same distance from us as last time." - the spirit told him.
"Then let's take a closer look and find out what's going on." - the boy said determinedly as he flew them towards the scout Night Crawler.
As they slowly approached him, they were in for a little unpleasant surprise: the dark soldier suddenly sped up a lot and flew past them fast as a lightning bolt. For a moment it almost looked like he was charging at them and they even braced for impact, but it never came.
"Just where is he going?" - Aerrow asked to himself.
"I don't like the looks of it." - Sinjin commented with a serious expression, something bad was about to happen.
The scout soldier rapidly went past the Condor and stopped quite a good distance ahead of it. The two Storm Hawks on the skimmer blinked, while the deceased monk watched cautiously. He had a feeling of what was going to happen right after. And he got it right.
"Commence the encirclement." - Cyclonis told her scouts from her room back in the tower.
Just as Sinjin briefly predicted, the Night Crawler dropped something that summoned a huge barrier, like a fence around a yard. It had covered a very large triangular area.
The moment Stork saw the force field appear right in front of the Condor he screamed, for he didn't have enough time to fully stop the ship. It rammed against the barrier, the force of the impact greatly damaging the triple barrier shield Piper had set up, revealing a now vulnerable Condor. Everyone inside it was pushing themselves off the ground.
"What's going on?" - Finn asked frantically.
"It's a siege!" - Junko warned them as he pointed at the dark cloud full of Night Crawlers flying towards them.
As they observed, then saw that this time they weren't the ordinary purple and red-eyed Night Crawlers. The group was led by the yellow-eyed Night Crawler they had met in Techne Reign, they had glowing orange eyes and extra armor and gadgets. Nonetheless, the Storm Hawks all went to the hangar to fight outside and protect their ship, except Stork who remained by the helm.
The two squadrons clashed in a fierce aerial battle. There were hundreds of blasts of energy being shot in all directions by both parties. Junko and Finn covered each other's back in perfect sync, thanks to the training with Kaya the previous day. The blonde would shoot and hit all his targets flawlessly, while the wallop used bombs for an area attack and caught any incoming enemy who dared get into melee range with his bare hands, dismantling their skyrides as if he were ripping a piece of paper in half.
Aerrow would fly in the middle of several enemies, Radarr shooting at them with a modified slime crystal, extra sticky, gluing each skyride on one another making an "Indian line". As they couldn't get out of it, they were dragged towards the front of the Condor, where Stork shot them all down with its cannons. Now that was great teamwork.
Piper and Kaya provided support from a distance. The crystal mage shooting blasts with varied effects to disturb and stagger the dark soldiers and the Grandmaster blinded enemies from afar in her Xeedwox form, then burned them with her phoenix form. The two girls noticed one thing, though: not long after they had been taken down, the Night Crawlers appeared again, their rides completely unscratched.
"This isn't good. What did Cyclonis do this time?" - the navigator wondered.
"They have a repair matrix installed on their armor, no matter how many times we strike them down they'll keep coming back." - the little girl commented - "We gotta retreat."
And they weren't the only ones aware of that. Aerrow had noticed something was wrong too, but he wasn't about to give up the fight. He kept slashing at each one of the enemies, taking them out one after the other. They'd come back again, but he didn't stop attacking. The only problem was that he was starting to get worn out and the Night Crawlers were perfectly fine. He'd not be able to keep with that for too long, they needed a plan.
Finn and Junko were still clueless about that until the wallop had taken down an enemy with a bomb and just a few seconds later he came back unharmed.
"What?! How did he do that?!" - he was alarmed.
"Did what?" - the blonde asked from his cover position behind him.
"I just blasted him away and he came back as if nothing had happened!" - he warned the sharpshooter.
He shot at the Night Crawler with a missile once more and yet he came back. He repeated that a few times.
"Just. Go. Down. Already!" - he was starting to feel frustrated.
Soon the Night Crawler appeared right in front of him, in melee range. The big guy then grabbed the wings of the skyride with a smirk. Hah! Now he'd rip it in half, let's see that thing coming back after that! But when he tried, for some reason it was much harder to do that, it was as if the soldier's armor had become more resistant. That was a bad sign.
Upon realizing he could no longer break the skyride with his bare hands, he laughed nervously at the Night Crawler. The orange-eyed enemy smirked evilly and shot a powerful blast from point blank. Junko was pushed with his skimmer by the force of the impact, luckily the skyride was still able to stay afloat, but it was severely damaged.
"Junko! You okay, big buddy?" - Finn asked as he flew closer, but then he saw the other dark soldiers coming at them incredibly fast.
He shot at them but this time all he did was barely stagger them, for they were much more resistant and his arrows no longer worked.
"How come they're so much stronger?!" - the flight engineer asked almost desperately.
"Well, who could know there'd be an elite within the elite!" - the blonde commented.
Those Night Crawlers were clearly far more advanced than the ones they had faced in the Atmos. They were more coordinated, more combat skilled and their equipment was a lot better. Overall they were much stronger than the average Night Crawler. And nobody could guess whether they were the same ones, just trained better, or completely new soldiers.
When the two noticed they couldn't stand a chance against that swarm of powerful enemies, they decided to get out of their vicinity. They flew away, Finn shooting behind him in order to slow the Night Crawlers down. But, as always, he was a magnet to disaster: one of the dark soldiers aimed carefully and shot a piercing blast that cut his skimmer in half.
"Oh, c'mon! Even here?! Why always me?!" - the sharpshooter complained about how he was a target who'd be taken out exactly the same way over and over, nearly every single fight.
And, as usual, he also landed crotch first in front of Junko's skimmer. He winced in pain, but not as much as he used to. It was almost as if his body had accustomed to the pain. Well, at least that was a good thing, maybe one day he'd not feel anything at all.
"You really have a bad luck streak there." - Junko commented.
"Now I can get that out of my list of 'to do in the Far Side' things." - the blonde said a little dismayed.
Yet, even after becoming pretty much harmless due to the damage on their equipment, they weren't left alone: more Night Crawlers flew towards them to attack. But Piper came to their rescue. She had shielded her heliscooter and rammed against a few incoming skyrides.
"Guys, we gotta stop fighting them." - she warned - "The more we damage them, the tougher they get!"
"Then why are we still here?! We should run away!" - Finn responded as another wave of blasts showered over them.
"Head back to the ship, I'll cover you." - she said as she used a nil crystal to quickly fix Junko's skimmer so they could get out of there.
The two did as they were advised without hesitating. The girl flew towards the cloud of enemies, using paralyzing crystals to make them go numb, then icers to freeze them solid. Apparently, the only way to hold them back was to stun them, instead of beating them.
Aerrow was holding off a few of the Night Crawlers, when one of them jumped on his skimmer, knocking Radarr out of the cockpit in the process. The boy tried to push the enemy out so he could fly after his co-pilot, but his sore muscles from the excessive fighting didn't let him do so. Yet, to his relief, Kaya grabbed the little guy with her claws before he'd hit the ground.
"Got you, little buddy." - the Grandmaster assured the animal, who chirped in relief.
The sky knight smiled, grateful for the backup of his partner, but his distraction cost him his not so great advantage: the Night Crawler on the skimmer grabbed his left arm and another one quickly jumped in and held his right one, both holding him in place. He couldn't move, their grip on him was firm like he was chained to two pillars strongly attached to the ground, and their armor gave them an edge in strength. His struggle was useless, and thus he was hindered immobile and defenseless. He glared at them. Oh, yeah, with armor that augments your abilities, of course, they could take him down that easily. The cheaters!
Finn and Junko had managed to get inside the Condor while Piper drew the focus to herself. However, with nobody else to shoot at, since Aerrow was safely immobilized and Kaya had to protect an unarmed Radarr, the rest of the Night Crawlers proceeded to shoot their strongest blasts at the navigator. She saw her force field weakening and flickering around her. She gasped and immediately used her crystals to strengthen it, but it was no use when they were bashing so hard against it that the power she poured on it was drained instantly. Her shield was finally down and a blast pushed her off her heliscooter.
"Piper!" - the sky knight shouted while Sinjin had been trying to materialize himself to help him.
The moment the ghost saw that he changed his plan and quickly dove after the girl. He managed to materialize only his hands just in time to grab her forearms and stop her fall. She blinked surprised, she really thought she was a goner a second ago. He used the energy he had left to pull her with him back to her skyride and dropped her on her seat after his hands suddenly disappeared. He panted, clearly exhausted. Who would have guessed spirits could get tired and worn out?
Aerrow watched just as surprised, then he noticed the deceased monk giving him a thumbs up to signal the crystal mage was okay. The kid smiled, he did look out for her when he couldn't. He meant what he had said when he offered his help. The girl sighed relieved.
"Thanks for the save." - she said to the ghost, even though he knew she'd not hear his answer or see his reaction at that moment.
He grinned a little nonetheless. It felt good helping people in need, almost made him remember his glory days, back when he was alive. Everyone would say he had been a hero in his time, even if he didn't think of himself like that. He pushed his thoughts aside and materialized only his index finger to poke Piper on the shoulder and then point at her crystal compartment. She eyed it for a moment until it finally came to her. The girl opened the compartment and pulled out a Binding Crystal.
"Titan's Might!" - she shouted as the green energy enveloped her and a beam was shot at Aerrow, giving him the same energy.
"Now that's more like it!" - he smiled.
Oh, yeah! With that boost, those Night Crawlers would regret trying to pin him down like that. He forcefully moved his arms, dragging both soldiers along, after twisting himself around a little, and knocked one enemy against the other, pushing both off his skimmer. But before he could cheer his freedom, he saw the cloud of Night Crawlers flying straight to the Condor.
"They're trying to break through!" - Piper warned.
"But they won't." - Stork said from his position at the helm as he fiddled with some controls - "Initiating lockdown."
Suddenly, extra reinforced plates came out of the ship, they covered everything: every hatch, window, even the tiny dents between an armor plate and another. In other words, it was like the ship was double armor-clad. One thing that it missed, though, was the yellow-eyed Night Crawler hiding between the usual armor and the reinforced one, then opening a hatch and entering the ship. The merb ran a scan and saw something had been detected in the air ducts.
"There's something inside the ship." - he said slightly alarmed.
The place was already dark because the plates blocked any entrance for sun rays, but then it became even darker when the lights went out, Finn and Junko gasping scared, while Mr. Softy cowered on the latter's shoulder. The three Storm Hawks and their mascot had to go to the corridor to find the intruder. But he found them instead. He leaped at them from the air duct, knocking them down with its hatch. Then he used a purple crystal to place a cage around them, so they'd not try to stop him.
"Now that you don't have that crystal mage to help you, you can't do anything against me." - he smirked as they were electrocuted when gripping on the bars.
It was almost sad that he was right. The dark soldier made his way through the ship, eventually snatching the Mirror Stone from Piper's lab and even breaking into the interrogation room where Domiwick was held. He used a crystal to release him from his binds.
"So you were finally sent to aid me." - the explorer said arrogantly.
"I came for the crystal." - the Night Crawler replied - "But the Master still might require your abilities. So I'll bring back what she needs."
Talk about having one's importance shoved down below the ground. The man followed the soldier to their way out. They walked to a control panel and the Night Crawler manually disabled the Condor's lockdown system. The Storm Hawks in the bridge were startled after seeing their protection barriers going back into their special hatches. Soon the dark soldier was out, taking Domiwick along by his shirt.
"I've got both items, Master. Should we attack?" - he asked his communicator.
"No. Have the squadrons leave at once." - the Empress' voice told him - "And bring me the crystal immediately, I'm not risking it being caught by them again."
"As you wish." - he signaled to the other Night Crawlers and they suddenly flew away.
After just a few seconds they activated some kind of speed boost that made them all shoot out in the sky with an intense flash of light so fast they disappeared instantly without leaving traces. At least, not traces that could be followed. It almost reminded Aerrow of how Cyclonis had teleported herself away from the infirmary he had been recovering at when he was injured. The squadron could only watch perplexed.
~~~
The Storm Hawks quickly reunited in the bridge to discuss their plans. Finn had checked Piper's lab and had just come back to tell the bad news.
"Yeah, they took our crystal." - he said.
"And Domiwick's nowhere to be found. The interrogation room was busted." - Junko told them after coming back from the lower deck.
"This isn't good. Cyclonis wouldn't send such a strong squadron to guarantee she'd get the Mirror Stone back if she didn't need it so much." - Piper concluded - "We gotta find out what she's planning to do with it."
"I think I should start mobilizing the Guardians. Things are looking ugly, we might have to interfere to protect our future." - Kaya said - "Which means I'll have to say goodbye for now."
"Wait, you're leaving?" - Aerrow asked, and the others looked almost hurt by the news.
"Only for a little while." - she assured him - "The place where the Guardians are is very far away, so it'll take a few weeks to go there and come back."
"Can't you send one of those messages in the stars to them?" - Stork inquired while pointing at the sky.
"It might be risky. Considering Cyclonis has so much technology she could have something that might intercept my message. We better stay low." - the Grandmaster explained.
"Well, what about our next destination?" - the sky knight questioned her - "And the recruiting of the reigns?"
"The recruiting might have to wait a little bit. I think it'd be best if you guys trained this time." - the little girl suggested - "I wasn't expecting they'd get ahead of us so fast with all the training I've been giving you guys. But they did. And you know they'll only get stronger, so you guys need to catch up and surpass them."
"Then where should we go next?" - the navigator asked.
"There's a special place: the Astral Training Grounds." - Kaya told them - "You should head there right away, it's a little far, but it'll be worth it. Both Sinjin and I have trained there once. It's the best place ever."
Aerrow glanced at the ghost, who nodded in response.
"Alright, let's set a course, then. And who will be our guide while you're out?" - the leader inquired.
"I'm sure Sinjin can help with it. I'll leave you guys some channeling stones so you can communicate with him in the Condor." - she placed one on the ground, fiddled with its control support and the field enveloped a small round area.
Soon the deceased monk was visible, greatly startling the other squad mates who hadn't seen him yet.
"Woah! You were watching me like this the whole time?" - Finn asked creeped out.
"Uh... No... I didn't follow you in the bathroom or something if that's what you're worried about." - Sinjin replied unimpressed - "I can't wander too far from the amulet, so I was pretty much sticking next to Aerrow all the time."
"Phew, what a relief..." - the blonde relaxed at that.
"You're in guide duty now, Sinjin." - Kaya said to him - "Watch over them while I'm gone, okay?"
"You can count on me. We'll go straight to the training grounds." - the ghost spoke.
The child turned into a bird and flew extremely fast in the skies, the squadron waving and wishing her a good trip. Then the Condor took off to their next destination.
~~~
In the Night Crawler tower, the yellow-eyed soldier brought the Mirror Stone to Cyclonis, who waited in Dr. Sins' lab. Domiwick stood by the door, just discreetly peering by the small opening as the Cyclonian bowed and handed the crystal to her.
"Perfect. We're just one step away from completing the experiment." - she said as she placed it on a support specially built for it.
She let out her evil laugh that echoed in the tower as the scientist kept making a few adjustments on the machine. Whatever was it she was trying to do, it was something big... And bad. Very bad.
Storm Hawks (c) Nerd Corps
Storm Hawks Fan 3rd Season (c) me
Kaya, the Grandmaster and Dr. Sins (c)
DON'T copy, edit, distribute, repost, etc WITHOUT my permission! D:<
(Fan) Storm Hawks Season 3 Episode 8 - Part 4
The Third Degree - The Siege
<<Episode 60 - Part 3 | Storm Hawks Fan 3rd Season - Episodes | Episode 61 - Part 1>>
Alright, guys, now who can guess Cyclonis' plan?
Storm Hawks Fan 3rd Season (c) me
Kaya, the Grandmaster and Dr. Sins (c)
DON'T copy, edit, distribute, repost, etc WITHOUT my permission! D:<
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(Fan) Storm Hawks Season 3 Episode 8 - Part 4
The Third Degree - The Siege
<<Episode 60 - Part 3 | Storm Hawks Fan 3rd Season - Episodes | Episode 61 - Part 1>>
Alright, guys, now who can guess Cyclonis' plan?
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I wonder if merbs are more sensitive to cold temperatures due to being part amphibian?
Also, it kind of sounds like Cyclonis is going to resurrect a dead relative maybe?
Also, it kind of sounds like Cyclonis is going to resurrect a dead relative maybe?