The Seventh Member of the Storm Hawks

Leviathan!

The Storm Hawks, thanks to some casual hiccups and a bad backdraft had ended up on some smelly terra. Nika huffed knowing her skimmer was in pieces – attempting to sort out an engine issue when they crashed. She leant against the Condor arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "So... at least we know to never try that move again." Aerrow spoke, trying to make light of the situation. Nika face palmed, if the Cyclonians struck now then they may as well kiss their butt's goodbye. "Couldn't we have stopped at the next terra?" Finn asked, "This one smells funny." He complained wavingly his hand in front of his face, Nika walked forward and stood between Junko and Piper, "Finn, just be thankful Piper managed to find us this one!" She remarked, Stork turned to the group, here comes "the rant" Nika thought. "And I needn't remind you how deadly an uncharted terra can be! Probably home to a Murk Raider outpost or a nest of carnivorous rut worms! Or-!" He paused at the climax of his rant, looking his casually bored self. "The crystal heat dissipater's completely shot. It'll need to be replaced." Nika sighed in distaste, this was going extremely well. "No problem. We passed a supply depot a while ago. I'll take a Skimmer." Aerrow smiled, not really understanding how large the machinery was. Nika shifted her gaze awkwardly between the helmsman and Sky Knight. "Um, Aerrow, a heat dissipater's the size of a house." Stork explained, the smile fell from Aerrow's face before he brightened up again. "So, make that four Skimmers." He smiled again, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Okay are you guys ready?" Aerrow asked turning to his team, "Not like we can take anything with us." Finn replied sarcastically. "You want to come with us?" Piper asked, directed towards Nika – the brunette simply shook her head. "Someone needs to keep an eye on Stork plus I don't want to leave him alone here." Aerrow frowned but accepted it, it wasn't fair to leave him alone especially if something happened plus he just told Radarr that he couldn't go because of "weight issues." Nika seemed unbothered by her other friends leaving and turned to the co-pilot, "C'mon Radarr, I need you to check something for me." Nika smiled before walking over to an opened panel in the engine with Radarr following. Soon after the four Storm Hawks took off, the terra let out a loud roar, all three looked at one another, "What was that?" Nika asked, emphasising each word then swallowed a large lump in her throat. "The terra is alive!" Stork shrieked, Nika raised an eyebrow – there was just no way that was possible! "There's no way this terra is a living creature!" Nika shouted back, with that another loud roar sounded – Radarr ran into the Condor with Nika following after, trying to stop him. "Wait, Nika stop!" Stork shouted, the terra was moving and boy it sounded angry. The brunette stopped and turned, feeling her stomach lurch as the "terra" moved, Stork let out a panicked scream as he and the Condor was tossed into the air. "Stork, catch!" Nika yelled releasing an emergency balloon from the hangar. The Condor fell into the creature's mouth, leaving the brunette in complete darkness and it stunk like something else! "Radarr?!" She screamed, the sound of scampering made her flinch before Radarr knocked her to the ground – he shook in fear and clutched onto her like a child. "C'mon we need to get out of here, repair the ship as much as you can." She instructed, thankfully the emergency lights came on, so they could just see what they were doing. The pair made their way to the engine room, hoping for a miracle.

The Storm Hawks were returning with the crystal heat dissipater, eager to get the Condor running again and move on. Piper looked worriedly around her, not seeing the terra or the Condor anywhere. "Huh?" She blurted before reaching for her map, "These are definitely the coordinates." Her stomach twisted, what happened to her friends and the Condor? "So, where's the Condor?" Finn asked, voicing Piper's thoughts. "Everyone scan the area." The Sky Knight called, surprising himself with how calm he was. With duplicates of Stork and Nika's binoculars they all searched, hoping they had passed it by accident. Finn and Piper confirmed they couldn't see anything with Junko joining in, surprising himself with how calm he sounded, "Me neither but it's hard to see with that emergency rescue balloon in my way." He realised what he was saying and turned, like everyone else, to see Stork clinging onto the balloon for dear life. He was utterly traumatised by seeing his beloved Condor and friends being swallowed by the terra. "Stork?! Where's the Condor? Where's Nika and Radarr?!" Aerrow shouted in disbelief, his stomach lurching as he could feel his skin crawl. "It... it ate them." Stork responded, he shook like a leaf. "What did?" Aerrow, Piper and Junko shouted, not sure they heard the Merb correct. "The terra..." Stork clung to the balloon before Junko helped him onto his skimmer. "What should we do Aerrow?" Finn asked, sounding worried, his face pale. "Everyone onto the barge, we need Stork to tell us what happened."