Yesteryears
Terror of the Seven Sky's! The Most Difficult Mission Part I
AN: Hello! Thank for reading chapter one of Yesteryears. I was going to post this as the next chapter of Broken Wing, but I decided that it didn't fit with the overall theme. Broken Wing will from now on take place slightly before the series, during the series, or several years after the series. Yesteryears will be entirely dedicated to Kai's past, before the event that caused Broken Wing. Now, this chapter's title might be a bit dark, but once you get a few paragraphs into it you'll understand. This chapter is going to take place six years before the first episode of the show, so Kai will be about twelve. Starling and the rest of the Interceptors will be between seventeen and twenty, since I'm sure that Starling was not the oldest of the squadron (same as Aerrow not being the oldest of the Storm Hawks, Stork is actually nine years older.) Also look forward to seeing some familiar faces this chapter; I hope that I can pull them off. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do Not own Storm Hawks, and never will. If I did I wouldn't be writing FANfiction. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, also I don't own A&W, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.
"Speech"
"Thought"
Sound
"Ugh." Kai rolled over to try and hide from the light that was shining through his window. "Why, why oh why did I take the one room that had a window facing the East?" After a few minutes passed he finally managed to pull himself up and out of his bunk bed. The only reason he had the thing was he had bought it, dragged it, and assembled it by himself. He could have had a normal bed, but he preferred to be off the ground when he slept. After a few stretches he made his way to the showers to get ready for the day. He was vaguely able to recall that today was important, but the haze of having just woken up made it impossible to remember why.
A while later, he emerged fully awake and ran to the kitchen. "I wonder what they guys made for breakfast this morning!" When he reached the kitchen he was surprised to find it completely empty. "Huh what's going on?" He took a deep breath and was about to shout when a slender arm made its way around his neck and a second around his arms, placing him into a headlock.
"Ok brat, where are they hiding?" Came a menacing voice from behind.
Twisting his head as far around as he could, Kai was able to make out a few strands of purple hair and the corner of a green eye. "Starling? What are you talking about? Where are the guys? And more importantly where's breakfast?" Kai asked in a confused tone.
"Ughhh! I can't believe they did this to me, the least they could have done is taken me with them." The arms released their hold as Starling, seventeen year old Sky Knight, and flight lead of the Interceptors dragged herself over the large couch in the center of the living room. After setting down she covered her face with her hands and let out a long groan. "This is not fair. I told them that they would be needed here today and not to run off."
Kai made his way over to the couch. "What's wrong? Where are the guys?" He asked. It was unusual for the others to just up and leave in the middle of the night. "In fact I don't even remember hearing them take off last night. They must have walked their skimmers a good little ways before taking off. What's going on?"
Kai might have been twelve years old, but he was very smart for a kid. Thanks to living with the Interceptors, he had already learned more than most people his age could even dream of. From weapons training, to skimmer repair. He trained alongside them, and helped whenever he could. Though he had not yet been with them out on any missions. He had become the team's unofficial mascot. And though his mother didn't want him to be anywhere near anything that had to do with the currently cold war, she knew that he would never leave the people he had grown up with. Sure they were nearly twice his age, but they were the only friends he had. So while she had packed up and moved to Terra Atmosia, Kai had chosen to stay behind. The Interceptors were reluctant to let a child stay with them, but he was able to win them over, mostly through a combination of offering to be a maid for free, and the fact he had enough blackmail over all five of them to use on their grandchildren.
Starling looked up through the gaps in between her fingers and let out a sigh. "The guys are gone Kai, they left me here to fend for myself it seems. Who knows where they are, and right now that doesn't really matter. What does matter is the fact that I am in very big trouble." Starling's shoulders were slumped, even though the day had only just started, she looked utterly defeated.
"Can I help? I mean there must be something that I can do." The little boy knew that it must be something major to have her in such a low mood.
Reaching out she ruffled the boy's hair before standing. "Honestly, I don't know." With that she walked back into the kitchen and pulled out two bowls and a box of cereal. "Breakfast?" She said shaking the box in one hand.
"They didn't leave us anything? Can't you cook som…..never mind, cereal it is." Kai sweat dropped at the memory of last time Starling attempted to cook, it was one of the reasons they had new furniture for most of the HQ. "She can do a lot of things." Kai remembered that day all too well. "Include make water burn, toast turn into napalm and make milk into jet fuel." The two ate there bowls of cereal in near silence, until Kai could no longer take it. "Starling what's going on? Why are you so upset?"
Starling thought for a few moments before speaking. "Today we will have several visitors, do you remember Aerrow? His father was…" Starling didn't want to finish the sentence.
"Aerrow, red hair, kinda moody? Yeah I remember him, what about him?" His expression was somewhat sour. He understood that the poor boy had a rough life, but he didn't like his attitude. It was like he didn't care about anything anymore.
"Well he will be staying here with us today, along with several other children from terra Lyn. Aerrow has been living there for some time now, but their squadron has an important mission today, and since we are the neighboring terra." She left the sentence hanging, but Kai got the point.
"You got stuck with baby setting duty." Kai finished. "Well it can't be too bad, I mean what's the worst that can happen?" He asked.
"What's the worst that can happen? This could be a very large mark against the Interceptors. If we, err I mess this up, ugh you have to realize how important Aerrow is. His father was the flight lead of the Storm Hawks, the undisputed king of the skies, and the greatest Sky Knight to have ever lived. His son has the potential to exceed him, but so far he hasn't shown the slightest hint of even caring about what happens in the future. That's why they are taking him to all the different Terra's, to try and motivate him."
"But if he doesn't want to fight, he shouldn't. Isn't that what you taught me?" The boy asked slightly confused.
"It is true that if a person has no desire to fight, they will do so only half heartedly and thus poorly. Which is a very bad thing. But the Sky council won't force him to fight, their trying to motivate him, so he will want to fight." Starling hoped that the boy would accept her response and not notice the crack in it.
"You mean their trying to make fighting look appealing to a six year old whose daddy was killed by a man who he once considered to be a brother? Oh I'm sure that will turn out well." Kai replied in a sarcastic tone.
"Dang, he caught it." "I know it sounds bad, but if there is a war, people like him will be needed. People who have the natural born gift. I taught you that, you know full well that numbers only play a small part in fighting, quality over quantity, whichever side has the most Aces has a better chance at winning."
It was then that Kai remembered something. "Wait a minute, did you say he was coming from terra Lyn. As in The Terra Lyn?" Kai's voice quivered.
"Yes, that terra Lyn." Starling's shoulders sagged even further. "And before you even ask it, yes HE is coming as well."
Kai's eyes became as wide as dinner plates and his jaw hit the ground. "Um say nice weather, could I borrow the Red Streak? I just remembered that I had something to do somewhere……….not here." Kai ran for the hanger only to become quickly acquainted with the floor. "Ouf!" Struggling to catch his breath Kai tried to get up and make another run for it, but noticed the he was now quite a bit heavier than normal. Looking over his shoulder he saw that Starling had tackled him to the ground.
"Oh no you don't. You're going to help me whether you want to or not. I might have baby set you in the past, but you were just one kid, and you were mostly tame. I need help and you're going to be that help understood?" Her tone might have been firm, but Kai could see the fear in the back of her eyes.
"No way! He's a monster; I know he was sent here by the Cyclonian's to destroy us from the inside, I just haven't been able to prove it yet! There is nothing you can do or say to make me even be on the same Terra as him, much less the same building, and in his range." Normally Kai loved to help his friends, he was a nice kid, and more that he was brave, but nice and brave did not mean stupid and suicidal.
"Please? I tell you what; if you help me I'll make it worth your while. Name your price." Starling, like Kai knew what was coming, she had no chance of escaping, but he was not under her command, he wasn't even a soldier, so she couldn't pull rank and order him. She knew that her only chance was bribery.
"Name my price? Hmm there isn't anything I really want…I mean you guys are already teaching me, and giving me a place to stay. Besides, I like my head where it is, firmly resting on top of my neck between my shoulders. Sorry." Kai headed towards the hanger.
Sigh
"That's alright; I'm sure that I'll pull through this somehow, even if it is alone, without a single friend or ally." Starling pulled herself up and walked back towards the living room.
"Don't give in, don't give in, don't give in, come on man be strong, you know she'll be ok." That's when several memories sifted through his field of vision, disaster zones, piles of rubble, and collapsed buildings. "Dang, I can't do it; I just can't do that to her." "Hey Star! I'll stay." Looking up he gave a wiry grin. "I don't think I could handle your death on my head, it's hard enough to sleep at night now."
Starling disappeared, she was there one minute, and gone the next, she just vanished. Next thing he knew Kai felt two arms envelop him in a tight hug. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. I promise that I won't forget this. I will make it up to you." "Like shooting skyfish in a barrel, it still works on him, even after seven years." Releasing the boy Starling ran to the kitchen.
"AHHHH I FELL FOR IT AGAIN!" Kai smacked his head on the wall at his side. "Why do I always fall for it?" Kai trudged towards the kitchen knowing that he had just signed his own death warrant.
"Ok let's see, there is plenty of food in here, I should be able to whip up something for lunch." As he entered, Kai could see Starling digging through the fridge. That's when he was hit with the same memories from breakfast.
Flashback to six months ago
The Interceptors stood around a small boy glaring down at him.
"What did you do!? We come down here and find the kitchen on fire! Do you have any idea how lucky you were that Starling was up and managed to grab the fire extinguisher?!" One of them shouted.
"How did you even manage to catch it on fire, it looked like you were making oatmeal, that stuffs not even flammable!" Another shouted.
"Actually it wasn't Kai, this time anyways. It was me. I was just trying to make you guys some breakfast, a reward for that mission last night." Starling's face was a light pink color, she knew she wasn't the best cook, but simple oatmeal should have been doable.
Returning to normal time
"Um Star, maybe you could just head up to A&W and get some Skydogs?" Kai was praying to whoever was listening that she would agree, he loved his home, and had no desire to see it burned to the ground by his best friends bad cooking.
"There's not enough time. They should be here in a few minutes, do you have any idea how bad it will look if they arrive and I'm missing along with the rest of the squadron?" Starling turned to look at her young ward.
"Think Kai, come on think! If she cooks, we all might die!" "Don't worry about it, I'll cover it, just head up there grab a small party pack and high tail back."
"And what would you do if they arrived while I was gone? You think you can just lie to a representative of the Sky Council and get away with it?" Starling had crossed her arms and was leaning on the wall behind her.
"Hey I happen to have a very good poker face and you know it! Or have you forgotten how you and the guys banned me from your weekly game? Oh and by the way, you can tell the guys to stop digging through my stuff. If you and they want their stuff back you'll have to win it back." Kai said, his face settling into a smug grin.
"Ok ok, I'll go pick up some take out, just don't bring that up ever again." Starling grabbed her keys and left for the hanger. Kai couldn't help but notice that her face was burning red.
Kai did his best to make the place look clean, not that it was dirty or a mess, it just had the tell tale signs of people living in it. After a few minutes passed he heard the door bell. "Crud their here! Ok don't panic, you can do this, it's just like poker, only no prizes and plenty of penalties." Kai walked towards the door and checked the view screen. Sure enough he saw a small group of people, mostly kids but there were two adults with them. "Show time."
The door opened and the group entered. Kai took the opportunity to give each one the once over. "Ok first up, red messy hair, gloomy expression and giving off major negative vibes, this must be Aerrow. Up next we have a young girl, dark complexion, blue hair; she seems to be cheery but a bit nervous. She's probably never left her home terra before. Hmm this is strange, a Wallop. He seems to be older than the others, he could be my age, but it's hard to tell. He looks kinda shy, probably gets picked on a lot about those glasses." After looking over the kids Kai let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Atmos the terror isn't with them."
"Man this place is lame! They call this place HQ? It's smaller then my house!" A young blond kid stepped out from behind the two adults.
Flush The cosmic toilet just flushed
"There goes my day, straight down the pot. Star, you had better be giving me hazard pay for this." Kai stepped forward and put on his best poker face. "Hello my names Kai. It's nice to meet you." Kai reached out his hand to the older of the two adults.
The old man looked down at Kai and glared. "Where are the Interceptors? They were ordered to be here, no excuses. And when we arrive their not even here, but some child is loitering around in a military compound. They can all expect demotions for this." The old man then turned to leave.
"Eep not good. Come on you can do this." "Excuse me sir." The old man turned and glared at Kai. "Sir the Interceptors are here, just not right here at the moment." Kai knew he had to tell the truth, these old buzzards could tell an outright lie before you even said it.
"Oh then where are they? They had better have a good excuse for disobeying a direct order." The old man peered over the rim of his glasses. "And that still doesn't explain why you are here."
"Sir, most of the Interceptors are not here today, Starling is the only one present. The other four were not present when I woke up this morning. I thought I heard someone say something about a suspicious looking skimmer sighted near us. More than likely they went to investigate the report. After all we are close to the border, and anything that could be a threat has to be checked out. Starling is not here at the moment because we were down to E.M.R's and she did not believe that would be fitting for guest." Kai noted that when he said E.M.R's the second adult, (whom he recognized to be Carver of the Red Eagles) face scrunched in disgust.
"What are E.M.R's? The young Wallop asked.
"Emergency Merb Rations. It's Sky Knight code for Merb cabbage." Judging by the man's face, he, like every other non-Merb cared little for the vile green veggie.
"Is what you speak the truth." The old man asked.
"Sir, I swear, Starling went to get food, and I have no clue where the other Interceptors are, but I know for a fact that they would not have left their post without just cause. There have been a few sightings of unknown skimmers around us lately, and standard procedure would be to investigate any sightings." Kai knew he was safe. Everything he said was the truth, and nothing but the truth.
The old man regarded Kai for a moment. "That still does not explain who you are, or why you are here."
"Ok how can I go about this, hmm ah." "I'm an apprentice studying under the Interceptors." "Well it's mostly true, I am studying under them."
"And what might I ask are you apprenticing?" The old man was doing that glare over glasses rim thing again.
Kai swallowed before answering. "Mechanics sir, right now I'm being taught engine and drive train repair." "Once again, it is true, the guys are teaching me mechanics, among other more….interesting things."
The old man's eyes narrowed, and for a second Kai thought he was busted. "Ah my mistake, it's always good to see young people get started early in life." The old man smiled. It was at this time that a skimmer could be heard pulling into the hanger.
"Ok Kai, time for the performance of a life time." Kai turned as soon as he saw Starling enter with the bags of food, which thankfully were unmarked. Running towards her he grabbed the bags and went towards the kitchen. "Ah welcome back Miss Starling, let me take care of those for you. The other bags are back in the hanger right?" Kai smiled as he went towards the hanger doors. Starling was puzzled for a moment.
"Miss Starling? He never calls me by that. What's he up to?" As she stepped out, she saw the people waiting by the doorway. "By the Oracle Stone! What did he tell them?" "Greetings sir, I apologize for my being absent, and for my squadron as well."
"It's not a problem; I was just having a nice little chat with your apprentice. I didn't catch his name though."
"Apprentice? Oh I get it." "Yes sir, he is a good student, from what the others have told me he is almost finished with engine repairs. His name is Kai, he grew up here on terra Mesa." "Smart boy, he must have told them he was apprenticing under us."
"Kai eh, I look forward to seeing what becomes of him. Tell me, has there been anything unusual lately?" The old man's face was like stone.
"Unusual? What on Atmos does he mean by that? The circus went by a few…days…ago." "Erm yes sir, there were several rather odd skimmers that were sighted a few days ago." Starling was in her professional mode.
"How strange exactly?" He asked.
"I did not recognize the model type; I had never seen them before." "Which is true, the circus uses custom skimmers, and they got new ones just last month."
"Ah just wondering, the boy said there had been several sightings of strange skimmers. He also said that your squadron would not have left post without a good reason. Would you say that's true?"
Looking at the small group Starling focused on a familiar mop of blonde hair. "Sir I can honestly say, the only reason they would have left, is if they felt there was a threat of some sort. The fact that they did not awaken me leads me to believe that they went to make sure the threat was genuine, and if it was, they would want someone at HQ that could radio for help." "Which is true, Kai knows our S.O.P. and combined with what he knew to be coming, managed to make a very convincing story, which is completely true. It just happens to be half truths. I wonder what he said was the reason for me to not be here."
She then heard the hanger doors open and someone walk towards the kitchen, but their steps were slow, slow and heavy, almost like they were carrying something. "I'll go ahead and put up the grocery's ok?"
"Clever boy." She looked up to see the old man from the Sky Council looked surprised for a moment.
"Well, we will be on our way. You did receive the message regarding the change in plans correct?" The old man asked.
"Changes sir? No I did not receive any messages today, I left after waking up Kai, and the others were already gone, so they would not have been able to report anything to me."
"Ah well, young Aerrow and the other children will be staying overnight, we will be here to pick them up tomorrow morning."
Starling/Kai Shared Thought
"THOSE RATS! THAT'S WHY THEY WERE MISSING THIS MORNING! WHEN THEY GET BACK HERE I'LL SKIN THEM ALIVE!"
"Good day to you." As the old man left, Starling noticed Carver shooting her a sympathetic look.
Looking down, Starling saw what would prove to be her most difficult mission yet.
"Hey there hot stuff. My names Finn, nice to meet you."
End Chapter 1
AN: SO what did you think? You might have noticed that I have avoided using the names of the four deceased members of the Interceptors. This is for a very good reason. I don't know them. The Storm Hawks official site shows only their outlines. From those the only things I know for sure are, A. All four were male, B. All four were humanoid, C. They all used close range weapons like daggers and nun chucks, and D. They were all slim body styled. This has led me to believe that the Interceptors were all more or less Ninja type fighters like Starling, Aerrow, and Carver. This would make them close range fighters, and put them at a severe disadvantage against range fighters like the Raptors. Anyways, this mini arc will be one more chapter, then…who knows? Till next time Ja Ne!