Video: Kiss from a Rose

Chapter VII - Fall from Grace

The sun shone brightly from behind the clouds as the ship flew through the skies. The light coming into Aerrow's room woke the Sky Knight up. He got dressed in his uniform and armor, even left his blades ready behind his back, then headed for the bridge, Radarr following him close behind. He watched the orange sky through the large windows with a determined expression. That was the day, they were getting close to their destination. They had heard the Dark Ace was going to invade Terra Atmosia in order to steal the Aurora Stone, so the teenager thought that was the perfect opportunity to intercept him.

The ship was slowly approaching the Terra from under the clouds when Piper entered the bridge. She was ready as well, having prepared the ship's defense systems beforehand, for she was going to be the one piloting it, while Radarr would be Aerrow's co-pilot. She saluted him, showing him she'd follow him into the battle no matter what. That was it. He'd be as ready as he could ever be. It was time to settle the score. Aerrow and Radarr headed for the hangar bay and mounted on the skimmer. Piper opened the hatch for them and then came closer.

"Please, take care, you two." - she said as she placed one hand on Aerrow's shoulder and the other on Radarr's head.

"We will." - the Sky Knight assured her as the co-pilot nodded in agreement - "And you, don't worry about us, if things get tough, just get out of here."

A tiny smile appeared in her face. She knew he was going to say that, and she understood he had a point. The fact that she agreed to join him didn't mean he'd want to see her putting herself in danger, so in order to help him keep his focus, she had to promise him that she'd leave if things got too dangerous.

"Okay... I don't like the idea of leaving you guys alone, but I'll do it." - she told him - "And I'll be waiting for you to return to the ship."

After hearing that, Aerrow no longer had to worry, he knew she could take care of herself, but he felt much more relieved after knowing she'd not try to go overboard nor overextend for his sake. He accelerated the skimmer and both he and his co-pilot took to the sky. They flew ahead of the ship in order to scout the area. Not too far from them, they saw the Cyclonian fleet closing in on Terra Atmosia. Piper pulled down the periscope and used it to locate their specific target.

"Aerrow, he's right there in the front line, surrounded by several Talons and even a battleship behind them." - she told him - "Be careful when approaching."

"Don't worry, he won't even see what hit him." - the Sky Knight said through greeted teeth.

Just the thought of that man made him angry. It was time for that murderer to pay. He pulled out a Nitro crystal and inserted it on the afterburner. Once the crystal was absorbed, the skimmer shot out towards the fleet as fast as lightning. The Talons were flying unaware of their adversary when a pair of metallic wings collided with their heads, pushing them off their skyrides unceremoniously. After several of them had been taken off, the fleet figured out their attacker. The Cyclonians proceeded to pursue Aerrow and Radarr, and it was then that Piper could come in.

She brought the ship closer to the battlefield without anyone else noticing her, and with that, she flanked the battleship and quite a few enemy squadrons. No matter how much the enemies shot at the ship, they couldn't damage it because of the force field the Princess had set around it with a matrix of shielding crystals powered up by an enhancement crystal. The blasters were also upgraded, but they didn't seem to deal much damage to the battleship's thick armor.

"I'll probably have to save the piercing bullets for that one." - she said to herself upon seeing how her shots didn't even scratch the hull.

She proceeded to shoot at the small skyrides first since they were a lot easier to take down. The switchblades took only one direct hit to be destroyed, and Piper's aim wasn't anywhere near off. She focused on hitting only the skyrides, not the riders because she knew a shot from a carrier ship hurt a lot. She didn't intend to kill anyone, just to prevent them from interfering with Aerrow's fight.