After a few days of flying - well, Moonsky was still being carried, though now by a harness - the now five dragons(Winter had tagged along) had reached the rain forest. The Silkwings had apparently been welcome in, and lots of fruit was on the wide arrangement of platforms. Contrasting the cheerful look, a Cultist prisoner ship flew over, and Moonsky felt bad for the dragons inside, who went through cruel torture and slavery.

The Terrans in the group only got a few looks; it was Moonsky that got a lot of looks from the Rainwings. It made sense - he was a hybrid and a Cloudling - but he couldn't help but try to shrink. As Moonsky took of the harness and the dragons around started whispering, the other four walked into a hut set in a tree. Moonsky quickly followed them, and he was just in time for the conversation.

"Hello, Queen Glory. this is Moonsky," Moon said. The queen saw Moonsky and studied him, an awestruck look on her face.

"Hello, Moonsky. May I ask what tribe you're from?" Glory asked politely. A Nightwing beside her sidled a bit closer, probably protective of the queen.

"A Nightwing-Skywing hybrid. I'm a Cloudling from Skykeria, we get our wings cut of at hatching and the tattoos tell others that i'm a Cloudling," Moonsky answered. The queen still looked confused.

"The point is," Moonwatcher interrupted, "that he fell of his home, so we need to get him back. We lost it and need help to find it again."

"I see. What are we looking for?"

"A cit-"

A loud gunshot stopped Moon from continuing. The others turned to Moonsky as voices started telling everyone to stand down and surrender. "Ummm... First Responders?"

From outside: "what are we doing to ya? Why, enslaving you!"

"Marauders..?"

"FOR THE CULT!"

"...Crud."

HIISSSSSSSS-BOOOOM! KRA-BANG!

"..."

Everyone walked outside. A fleet of Cultist ships was above them, and a strange walker of some sort was sending grenadiers to capture the three tribes in the rain forest. A citadel hovered in the fleet, as well as a few cruisers and destroyers, which was very overkill to take the rain forest. The Cultists really wanted the peaceful kingdom apparently. A prisoner transport was floating beside the fleet, escorted by a pair of corvettes.

The transport flew down to to platform the small group of dragons were on. Cultist guards aimed at them, their light armor reflecting the sunlight. "Stand down and no-one hurt!" a soldier said. The end of the rifles gleamed with a bayonet.

A cult leader stepped out of the transport. She looked from Glory to Winter to Moonsky, her eyes never once faltering. "You will make good slaves. Get on the transport and you won't be harmed... for now, that is."

Glory's bodyguard stepped forward. "You hurt Glory and I'll kill you."

The guards from the transport moved pointed their rifles at him, aimed and ready to fire. "Save it. If you threaten me, these soldiers will turn you into a tiger's next feast. You WILL come with us, or you will DIE. We Cultists know no mercy."

As if on que, one of the corvette escorts burst into a massive fiery explosion and the fleet began to fire on something. A biplane peppered the running troops with bullets, eventually managing to ignite their landship, although it was quickly destroyed as a Batallion-class battleship dropped a few bombs on it.

"Now! Get the leader before she can escape!" Moonsky told the Nightwing bodyguard. Instantly, he pounced on the worm eye branded dragon and stopped her from going anywhere. as the guards realized what was happening, they were turned into ash as the same Batallion bombed them.

The hum of engines from the citadel made Moonsky look up, and soon his mouth was open in amazement: the Cultists are retreating! A whole citadel! Only three ships in all of Skykeria could scare of a citadel, and based on how well the biplane flew, he had the feeling he knew which this was.

There it was. The Titan, one of the three Skykerian capitalships. It's two imperial cannons fired, making large holes in it's enemy. The ace pilot carefully yet quickly ignited the exposed ammo store on a destroyer, making the entire ship explode.

"Who do you work for?" Glory's bodyguard demanded. He had an angry look, probably for threatening his queen.

"What's happening?" A green Rainwing asked when he flew up to the platform. "Can I help with something?"

"Yes, you can," Moonsky said. "When I tell you, knock out that Mudwing," he pointed to the cultist leader.

"Ok," the Rainwing said and loaded some sort of dart gun.

The cultist spoke. "I work for my High priestess and the worm eye, and you will never be able to get any secrets from me. But first," she lifted a talon to the side of her neck and Moonsky gave the new Rainwing the que. "For the cult." Then, before she could slit her own throat, she was put to sleep by a sleeping dart, her last moments awake showing her face paling with realization.

All the cultist soldiers were arrested and the Skykerian warships settled down. The Titan's captain was climbing down a tree with ease; she was a Rainwing, after all. Other soldiers and guards were calming down the panicked Terrans, explaining that they weren't going to do any harm.

"Well, I never thought I would see a Cloudling stand on solid ground in my career as captain," the Titan's captain - Anaconda - said on the platform. She walked over to Glory. "Captain Anaconda of the Titan. I expect you are the one to cause so much more commotion in the rain forest?"

Glory seemed surprised. "Well, I guess you could call it that. How would you know?"

Anaconda chuckled. "Skykeria is a kingdom that sprawls across the entire continent, if above the clouds, and you don't think there are trade routes? I'm surprised."

Moonsky squeezed into the conversation. "Excuse me, Captain Anaconda, but I fell off Vannahime a few days back. Can you take me back?"

Anaconda looked at him. "Sure, kid, I heard of you before I left port. Give everyone a day to settle down and you can come on the Titan."

Moonsky nodded. "Thank you."

                                   ----<-->----

The creak of a metal airship echoed across the rain forest. Moonsky, who was still awake, looked up to see the moons blotted out by a fleet of Lightning Order ships. What are they doing here?  He thought. And why are they below the clouds?

The lightning Order is a civilian-run military division who often fended off smaller marauder and pirate fleets. They sometimes also sold arms to the Government or other civilians. Being here, of all places, was very alien for them.

A thought passed Moonsky's mind. Could they be selling to a black market dealer? Needing answers, he set out across the trees, following the sluggish fleet to their destination.