Episode 60 - The Third Degree
Part 1 - A Recon Expedition
The Condor flew in the skies towards its next destination. One could hear the sound of snickers coming from inside the hangar bay, where Kaya and Sinjin were talking. The first giggled a little about something.
"Haha, you're not serious..." - she said as she wiped some tears, but then looked at his expression telling he meant all of that - "Hahahaha, I can't believe it! Oh, my Gosh! What I'd have given to see that!"
"Seriously, that was all so awkward I myself had started laughing." - he told her as he gestured to himself - "I've never seen anything like that before, but I'll admit I also didn't expect things to end right so easily."
"Hehe, what did I just tell you? By the way, what did you think?" - she asked as she crossed her arms.
"Well, kinda impulsive, headstrong... But with a good heart." - he commented as he subconsciously stared at Aerrow working on his skimmer a few feet away from them.
"There's more, though, no? Well...?" - she insisted, trying to get him to just read her mind so she'd not have to speak out loud.
"Hm... I'd say it's..." - he pondered with a hand on his chin - "Adoration. Lots of it. Oh, and devotion. So much devotion... It's actually inspiring."
"Haha! I know right! Now what can you tell me about that?" - she asked with just as much curiosity while she nodded towards the exit of the hangar bay.
"Smart, comprehensive... Oh, really good with words. I'll confess I was impressed..." - he said almost in awe.
"Hey, don't go getting your hopes high, I already thought of plans here!" - the Grandmaster warned him, shaking her index finger at him.
"W-what? No, of course not! I'm going for something else myself, really." - the spirit shook his hands defensively, quickly dismissing the idea - "As for... What you actually want to know... Lots of devotion too. If anything, it's pretty much the same. But there are some complications. And I'm sure you know why."
"Hm... You're right... The situation isn't that easy..." - she thought of that for a moment as she rested her head against her knuckle and realized he spoke the truth - "Well, no biggie, we need just to shed some light there and we'll have the purest l..." - she even clasped her hands and batted her eyelashes, when she quickly trailed off.
"Just what are you two talking about?" - Aerrow asked after having cleaned the metallic plate of the right wing from his skimmer with a piece of cloth.
"Oh, you were listening? I thought you were working on your skyride." - the little girl said sheepishly as if she had been caught doing something naughty.
"I fixed it already." - the sky knight shrugged a little confused - "Why are you suddenly avoiding the question?"
"Ah, it's really nothing important." - she told him - "Just some... Gossip."
The boy stared at them unimpressed, then turned to the spirit, expecting an actual answer. Right... As if a ghost would like to gossip.
"Sorry, my lips, if I still had any... I mean, just look at this." - the deceased monk said, then materialized his mouth and vocal cords, but when he tried to speak, he suddenly faded away until he was almost invisible, so he quickly stopped and allowed his body to go back to normal - "See that? I had to use all this energy just to do that and it nearly sent me back to the other realm. It's kinda unfair don't you think?" - he complained about his limited materialized soul, to which the boy just blinked with a weirded out face and Kaya grimaced a little in sympathy.
"But why? You've partially materialized before. What happened now?" - the redhead couldn't understand.
"Let's just say some body parts are way more complex than others, so they take more out of me to materialize." - he explained - "Anyways, my lips are sealed. But, again, it's nothing important. Why are you insisting to know?"
"Maybe because it seemed like you were talking about me in my back?" - the leader rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
"Well, we weren't talking badly about you." - the girl explained casually - "We were just commenting a little about the skills you showed in your training yesterday. Sinjin was quite surprised by how great you did."
"Really?" - Aerrow questioned him, a raised eyebrow perking on his face.
"Of course, didn't I say you were something else?" - the spirit smiled - "You still have a long way to go, but if you keep this kind of progress up, you'll get there easily."
"That's good to hear, though this isn't the only progress we need." - Aerrow commented, then he turned to Kaya - "Don't we still need to recruit the help of more reigns?"
"Yes. But you guys also need some more resources, other than numbers in your army." - the Grandmaster said, gesturing to him - "You need better gear, and now that Detective Fire is on our side doing some investigation on Cyclonis, we probably should do some researches of our own." - she pulled out a holographic codex - "The Detective found two big leads..."
~~~
As the little girl explained, the squadron listened carefully, sitting around the round table on the bridge, with the exception of Sinjin, who just stood behind Aerrow's seat.
"She's currently pursuing one right now, and she asked if we could check on the other one since it's on the way of the next reign. She even sent us the coordinates." - she informed them, as she changed pages on her codex.
"What do we know so far about this lead we're following?" - Piper asked.
"Cyclonis seems to be planning something pretty big, sneaking out many Hooded Shadows in search of resources." - Kaya reported, to which Finn rolled his eyes as if he were saying 'as usual, always with the big plans' - "Detective Fire is attempting to figure out her plans by doing some recon near the tower itself. Our lead tracks some assets she's after."
"Maybe we could intercept the Night Crawlers so they can't get them." - Junko suggested.
"Great idea. The longer we can stall her, the better." - Aerrow agreed, and Radarr nodded from his spot on his shoulder.
"That's if they don't try to ambush us first..." - Stork gave his always pessimistic point of view, causing the sky knight to cross his arms in thought.
"And what makes you think we can't sneak by them right away?" - the blonde questioned him.
"Maybe the fact that ever since we got here, the Night Crawlers slipped by us unnoticed four times?!" - the merb retorted as he literally counted that on his four fingers - "And I don't wanna see one of those hideous things inside the Condor ever again." - he glared back at Finn.
"That wasn't even the first time they invaded the Condor! I'd think you'd have gotten used to it." - the sharpshooter supported his elbow against the wall and rested his face against his hand, almost in a facepalm motion.
"You can never be used to those freaks of nature hissing at you." - the carrier pilot shivered.
"Nah, they're not that bad." - he started, but upon receiving weird looks he quickly amended - "I mean, they're bad, but they're not the worst enemies we have."
Aerrow, Piper, Junko, and Radarr exchanged glances in thought, then looked back at the blonde.
"Uh... Pretty sure they're the worst thing we faced so far." - the red-haired boy said.
"They were the only ones who ever defeated us. Twice." - the girl added - "And Cyclonis obviously trained them a lot harder now. They're more dangerous than when we last saw them in the Atmos. We've had to throw pretty much all we had at one single Night Crawler to retrieve a Reignition Stone."
"But what about Radarr's fur giving those crystals allergies?" - the wallop asked as he pointed a thumb at him - "He was really helpful when we took Cyclonia down."
The little animal smiled at his opportunity to shine again, then winced a little bit at the slightly unpleasant cost it had.
"They're probably coming up with something to counter that." - the navigator said while she gestured to the animal - "And... I think only the crystals suffered, last time Radarr jumped at a Night Crawler, nothing happened."
The co-pilot's ears fell a little. She had a point... Looks like his grand main hero career was cut short way too soon... Well, it was good while it lasted.
"Still, just because they're tough it doesn't mean we can't take them on. We beat them before." - the leader began as he uncrossed his arms and punched his own hand - "And if they try to counter our tactics, we'll just come up with new ones."
"Wow, you make everything sound so easy." - Finn commented - "Even when we all know it's not."
"I never said it was easy. I just mean we don't have a choice." - the red-haired told him, then he smirked knowingly - "I said that before we waged war against Cyclonia. How do you figure we won?"
"I'll be honest and tell you it was more than just not giving up, especially in your case." - Kaya gave him a look as if she were expecting him to take a hint from that - "But you're right about persistence helping you out a lot."
Aerrow smiled determined, then turned to the merb.
"Stork, set a course to the coordinates Fire sent us." - he ordered.
The carrier pilot nodded, then accelerated the ship towards their new mission. Their objective wasn't easy, and it was quite dangerous and risky too. But, as always, they never backed down from a challenge, that was only one more mission just their style. They knew the seriousness of their plans, though, so they decided to prepare their gear more thoroughly this time. Radarr leaped off Aerrow's shoulder to head straight to the hangar bay, the others went to their quarters, except Stork, who remained near the helm, and Piper, who went to the crystal lab. The sky knight traced a path to his room when he noticed Kaya walking towards her own with her codex.
"Looks like we got high morale today." - he commented, then quickly added - "But just what did you try to say to me with that 'it was more than not giving up, especially for me' part? Were you talking about luck?"
"Hm... Now that you said it, you definitely were lucky back there... Otherwise, you'd not be here to tell the story. But you didn't win that battle out of sheer luck." - she said to him - "Many things helped you there. I'm telling you this because you'll like to remember them when the next big battle comes. You know, so you won't die."
"Is my life really that much at risk?" - he asked a little bit upset about such grim news.
"Well, you're the leader of the main opposing force to Cyclonis's control over the world... Can't get any more spotlight than that." - she explained - "After what you told me about that battle, I'll just ask: why do you think Cyclonis went straight after you and Piper, instead of attacking the others?"
He looked down in thought for a moment. It was true the Empress had once said he was her biggest annoyance. And it was likewise on his part...
"Yeah... She did go out of her way a few times to try to kill me." - he admitted - "But I can't let that hold me back from my duties."
"You're right, of course. But you still are the first target they'd take out if they had the chance." - the Grandmaster warned him - "So be aware."
"Well, I've lived through that for quite a while. I guess I can handle it." - he shrugged - "And she can't kill me if I..."
"If you kill her first." - Sinjin suddenly completed for him from his relaxed position resting against the wall a few feet back in the corridor, nearly startling him.
"Uh... I was gonna say if I stick close to the squadron... Because we're always watching each others' backs." - the leader corrected him, staring at him almost in disbelief for such a suggestion of his mindset.
"I know. But there might be a time when you're out there alone. That's usually when your enemy will strike at you with no mercy." - the ghost told him - "You might wanna consider your lack of other options then. Unless you think you can reason with her."
"Hardly... She's way too crazy to listen to anything I could say." - he commented - "She was unfazed after the Dark Ace exploded... Like she was just disappointed her little toy broke."
"Then you know that if she can't be reached by words, there might be one day when you'll have to make a choice." - the spirit said - "Just choose wisely."
Aerrow lowered his head with a thoughtful frown. He knew Sinjin had a point, but how could he ever bring himself to do such a thing? What would the others think of him if they saw him taking someone's life? Stork would say he was insane, Finn and Junko would stare at him in disbelief, Radarr would be wary of him, and finally, there was Piper's horrified expression pictured in his mind. He clenched his fists, he couldn't do that... He just couldn't. Kaya noticed his reaction and decided to soothe him.
"Hey, don't worry about that, Aerrow." - she placed a hand on his arm and smiled reassuringly - "If the time comes, you'll know what to do, but right now just focus on staying close to your friends and being there for them. Keep an eye out for yourself too, okay?"
He grinned back at her and nodded, then headed to his room. Yeah, so far Cyclonis hadn't gone that far into her madness... At least, that's what he could pick up from the lack of seeing her activity around those last days. But that didn't mean he could stop worrying. He had to be careful and, pretty much like Sinjin had said, strike at her before she could strike at him. Well, who says that couldn't be applied to the investigation strategies too? Plus, at the moment, that would be a more productive plan than worrying about her murder attempts on him anyways.
Sinjin remained outside the room, close enough to Kaya, so he could talk to her.
"You're aware he'll go through that eventually, aren't you? I know I'm not the only one who sensed that." - the spirit spoke, looking at her with a serious expression, as if trying to guess her reasoning - "You shouldn't have him completely push that aside."
"I know. But now isn't the best time to prepare him for that." - the little girl told him, then she poked her index fingers against each other - "I had an idea for a few plans, and I'd like to know if you could help me."
"Hm... Sure. What do you need me to do?" - he shrugged, then leaned closer so she could whisper - "Oh, you're not serious..." - he looked at her funny after hearing her first idea - "That's crazy and the chance of success is so slim..."
"No pain, no gain! You should know that by now." - she smiled - "And the second plan is much easier: I want you to teach Aerrow some of your techniques and how you train."
"But... You know most of my techniques too, why do you want me to teach him?" - he asked.
"Because it'd be good for both of you to do something together." - she said - "You can learn a lot from each other."
"Okay, I get your point... But I don't have enough energy for this." - he told her - "I'd disappear in the first 10 seconds of training."
"About that, relax, I think your training should be somewhere special, where your energy limit wouldn't be a problem. The only thing we need to worry about is if he'd withstand the place's harshness..." - she explained.
"Are you suggesting the Astral Training Grounds?" - the ghost was almost surprised by such a bold choice, and she nodded to confirm it - "Then that's not only a matter of physical resistance. He'd also have to accept to go through all the changes that place will do to him. Not everyone would be willing to do that."
"Yeah, you're right. That's why I'll save it for when we really need to go to that extent." - Kaya said to him - "You know that time is coming, don't you?"
"I do. I feel like something big will happen. Something bad." - he agreed with her suspicions.
"I just hope we'll be all ready for what's to come." - she looked away in thought.
~~~
A little while later, the squadron was reunited around the round table in the bridge. Piper had laid out some charts on the table and was pointing to one of them.
"I studied the maps Kaya gave me of the coordinates Detective Fire wants us to check." - the navigator began - "It's an area filled with spiky mountains and some kind of tunnel leading to a bigger mountain in the center. We can use them as cover to spy the Night Crawlers heading to the cave. And then flank them."
"Sounds like a good plan." - Aerrow commented - "Any idea of what they're after?"
"Mountains like those can sometimes be the lair to ruins of temples or even chambers to ancient artifacts." - Kaya explained - "I suppose if your Master there sent a fleet of Hooded Shadows to that place, it has something valuable inside."
"I do hope it's somewhere loaded with treasure! Because last time was a total disappointment." - Finn crossed his arms and shook his head, referring to the time the squadron had first gone to the Forbidden City, to which the red-haired boy rolled his eyes.
"What about how many of them will be there?" - Junko asked.
"According to Fire's report, it's a considerable fleet." - the Grandmaster told him.
"Then we better double check our gear before we go." - the leader decided.
The group was making their last preparations for their new mission. The sharpshooter was checking out the enhanced arrows he was given to use as improved ammo on his crossbow. He grinned satisfied as he loaded one of them on his weapon and aimed with it. The wallop was loading his skimmer with his new bombs, made of crystals only found in the Far Side. He adjusted some controls for the bombs and nodded to himself.
The merb messed with the control panel near the helm of the Condor. As he flipped some switches, a very solid shield barrier enveloped the ship, then some electricity flew around it. He smirked and let out a very soft giggle as if he were planning a very painful outcome for anyone who tried to touch his beloved ship. The first officer was in her lab, selecting the crystals she was going to bring with her. She lifted her hand and a few crystals floated towards her, then she levitated herself to grab a crystal on the top of a crate placed on a shelf near the ceiling.
"That should do the trick." - she said to herself.
Aerrow and Radarr were making sure they had all they needed. The co-pilot tossed over some stuff he didn't need from his cockpit and replaced them with more useful tools. The sky knight verified if the engine was working, if the wings and shields were deploying correctly and if all the controls were properly responsive.
"I guess that's about it." - he said, content with the results of his tests, then he turned to the rest of the group who was entering the hangar - "Ready to get going?"
"We're all set, dude." - Finn responded, one of his hands making his "chick cha" signature.
"Then let's fly!" - the leader commanded.
Everyone accelerated their skyrides and shot out to the skies, the carrier pilot followed close behind them with the Condor in silent mode.
"It's almost hard to believe we're already taking our new skyrides made with the Far Side's technology into battle." - Piper commented - "I think they'll do great, I barely tested all the new controls on mine." - she turned to Junko flying not too far from her, who nodded smiling in agreement.
"Well, I suppose that's also because I made many modifications on the rides to give them an edge in combat." - Stork said from his position at the helm - "Those Night Crawlers aren't the only ones with brand new upgrades now. They'll be in for a little surprise..."
Kaya flew in her bird form near Aerrow's skimmer, while Sinjin just sat casually on the back of the skyride. The boy noticed that and eyed him with a weirded out expression.
"Uh, are you sure you wanna sit there? Aren't you gonna fall off in the middle of a dogfight or something?" - the green eyed kid asked his new passenger.
"It's not like I'd die again if I fell." - the deceased monk shrugged - "Besides since I'm a ghost, I'm stuck to this ride like glue. And don't worry about going by narrow places, I'll phase through everything. Just do your stuff like you usually do."
"If you say so." - he said blankly.
They flew in low altitude, hiding behind the spiky rocks. They stayed in strategic positions around the area and waited for a moment. Soon, they heard the sound of something approaching the mountains: the squadron of Night Crawlers.
The relatively small group of dark soldiers flew straight to the tunnel. And there was a different skyride from theirs right in the middle. Its rider was concealed by a large and rounded black windshield. It was as if they were guarding that mysterious pilot.
"That's suspicious... What are they looking for? And who's that?" - the wallop wondered.
Piper closed her eyes, reaching her hand out to touch one of the many rocky spikes, then focused for a brief moment: something flashed in her mind. She suddenly gasped.
"Guys, I know what they're after! It's the Mirror Stone, a very powerful crystal that can copy and reverse the effect of any other crystal." - she explained - "We can't let Cyclonis have it!"
She quickly accelerated her heliscooter to intercept the enemy fleet. Aerrow and Finn flew after her right away.
"And how did you figure that?" - the blonde questioned her.
"The books I got in the Praetora Province taught me a lot." - she told him - "I'm able to sense crystal energy without the need of a crystal scope or a radar."
"You never cease to surprise us." - the sky knight smiled.
"Hm... Sorry to interrupt, but we got company at six o'clock." - Sinjin said calmly while pointing a thumb at the approaching threat, drawing the boy's attention.
A Night Crawler that was scouting the area instead of guarding the mysterious pilot from up close had seen them and decided to attack. The purple-eyed enemy charged at Aerrow right away. No wonder Kaya had told him he was a target. He immediately moved the skimmer out of the way, causing the soldier to fly past them at incredible velocity.
"You know, you could've made that sound a little more urgent!" - he said to the ghost.
"Why? Yelling for you to dodge will confuse you more than help you." - the spirit replied nonchalantly, then he crossed his arms with a challenging grin - "For example... Dodge!" - he suddenly shouted.
The leader was stunned for a millisecond, then looked up right before a fist connected with his face and the enemy managed to pin him against the controllers of the skyride. The teenager grunted as he hit his back, then he struggled against his attacker.
"I told you yelling wasn't the right way." - the deceased monk rolled his eyes amused.
"That's not helping..." - Aerrow glared at him, then he felt the Night Crawler grab on the amulet around his neck and attempt to pull it off.
He gasped and immediately held the soldier's wrist in place. The moment Sinjin saw that he acted: he materialized his hands and wrists, then quickly pulled the enemy's arm and twisted it in his back, followed by grabbing him by his hood and tossing him out of the skimmer.
"Phew... That was close." - the boy sighed in relief.
"You almost let him take the amulet off you! Are you out of your mind?" - the ghost yelled at him.
"That's because you kept distracting me." - the sky knight retorted - "You could've helped a little sooner too. Or were you planning on getting lost already?"
The tension between them went sky high with that. They stared at each other angrily, neither willing to yield or admit their mistakes. Radarr watched that still fight hopelessly until he realized there was nobody actually piloting the skimmer. He screeched in terror as he pointed ahead of them. The other two looked at him questionably for a brief instant, then quickly flit their heads to where he was pointing at. They screamed as they saw a spiky mountain approaching very fast, there'd be no time to avoid it so they just braced for impact, well, Aerrow and Radarr, anyways.
The skyride smashed against the rocky wall, exploded loudly, then fell in pieces. But, miraculously, the boy and the little animal didn't suffer any damage, for Kaya had managed to rescue them before they crashed. She had shifted into a small phoenix, still big enough to carry both of them in her claws. Aerrow and Radarr opened their eyes and blinked surprised and relieved. The girl stared at the teenager with a reprehensible expression, shaking her head.
"You're lucky I got here in time. The same goes for you!" - she turned to Sinjin who floated nearby - "Quit fighting, will you? We don't have time for this."
"What am I gonna do now? My skimmer's gone." - the leader asked.
"We got that covered." - Piper flew past them - "Junko, did you get all the pieces?"
"Every last one!" - the wallop responded as he carried all the pile of twisted metal that was left of Aerrow's skimmer.
"Time to fix this!" - the girl shouted as she shot a green beam from her staff equipped with a nil crystal.
The skyride was back to its former glory in a matter of seconds and even floated off the flight engineer's hands.
"Haha! Cool!" - Junko was amazed by how fast it had been patched up.
The Grandmaster flew by the skimmer, dropping Aerrow and Radarr, then shifted back into her usual bird form. Sinjin quickly went back to his passenger position on its back plating.
"Hey, thanks!" - the sky knight appreciated the hard work his friends put into helping him out.
"You two should start working together, or at least tolerate each other more." - the navigator told them as she flew nearby - "If you don't, we can consider this fight here a defeat."
"Yeah, I know." - the boy said - "I'll leave that pointless discussion for... Never."
"For once, I'll second that." - the spirit agreed.
They should focus on their mission, not on some stupid rivalry if one could even call it that since they barely knew each other and they weren't competing for anything. Pushing those thoughts aside, Aerrow flew by the scouts, in order to distract them, using himself as bait. Good thing, though, was that he had his friends backing him up.
He got two scouts on his tail, then he leaped off his skimmer, grabbing on the wing of one of the Night Crawlers, and used his weight to cause the first soldier to crash against the other. That served them right for having such lightweight skyrides. He safely landed back on his skimmer and proceeded to chase more enemies.
While that, Finn shot at some scouts very far away, easily sniping them square in the head. One by one they'd fall from the sky, their rides heavily damaged since they were part of their armor.
"Scouts are all down!" - he signaled the area was clear to the others.
Junko and Aerrow immediately dove at the squadron escorting the mysterious rider. The wallop dropped some bombs to disrupt them before the two got into melee range. One of the Night Crawlers had the rider get out of that mess and go ahead to the tunnel without them. The only different skyride accelerated straight into the cave. Piper flew past the commotion in pursuit of whoever was that rider.
Kaya noticed a Night Crawler going after the crystal mage and approached the group fighting. Shots were fired in all directions, she had to dodge a few dozens of bolts of energy before she finally reached the boys.
"Aerrow! You better go to the tunnel too! There's another Hooded Shadow heading there as well!" - she warned him.
"Right! Radarr, stay and help the others!" - he told his co-pilot, who jumped up and was caught by Kaya's claws, then tossed at an enemy.
The sky knight turned his skimmer and flew straight at the soldier. He hovered a little higher than him and pointed his skyride downwards to strike. The skimmer spiraled towards the enemy as Aerrow shifted it into bike mode. He took the chance to close the gap and slash at the chest of the Night Crawler, cutting off his upgrades on his armor and causing him to fall from the sky. The boy quickly deployed the wings again before he hit the ground and headed for the cave.
Piper landed at the entrance of the tunnel and saw the distinct skyride there, its pilot long gone. She pulled out a warp crystal from her pocket and concentrated for a brief second before teleporting away. She reappeared inside some kind of chamber and nearby there was a small pillar with a crystal on top of it, right under an opening in the ceiling.
Aerrow arrived in the chamber shortly after, along with Sinjin, who floated behind him, and witnessed a scene he definitely wasn't expecting: as the girl was about to pick up the rare crystal, someone else also grabbed on it, making her gasp - it was none other than Domiwick. Now that was... Unnerving.