The Maelstrom

One, two, three! Eyes on me, niños!

It's Thursday, and you know what that means! That's right—it is Cloud Strider Day! What do the Cloud Striders do? Right again! They keep us all safe. And how do we tell them "Thank you?" By remembering them!

Today, we will learn about Maelstrom. That's a new word, isn't it? Do you know what it means?

A maelstrom is a big storm. A maelstrom is loud and scary, and it can cause a lot of damage. The Cloud Strider who picked Maelstrom as her call sign was also loud and scary. But she wasn't scary to us. She was scary to the Vex. She was a strong warrior who could fight as well as any of the Vex, but she was also a very smart leader who taught all the other people on Neptune how to defend ourselves.

And do you know what she did? She started a special school called the Assur Academy. And you can go there today, if you study hard and you want to learn to be a good leader like Maelstrom. They even train new Cloud Striders!

But, today, we mostly remember Maelstrom because she saved the whole city from the Uplift Coven. The Uplift Coven were humans, like you, but they were selfish and mean. Good people talk out their differences and find ways to fix their problems that help everyone. But the Uplift Coven hurt people and stole from people, and they all wanted to be Cloud Striders.

Why shouldn't more people be Cloud Striders?

That's right. Because the Cloud Strider sacrifices. A Cloud Strider must have affinity, awareness, and altruism. You cannot be a Cloud Strider if you demand things from other people.

Maelstrom made the Uplift Coven stop, and now we are very careful to teach everyone to be better citizens when they are young. Because good children grow up into good adults, and even good Cloud Striders!

That's all for today, niños. Three, two, one! Now, have fun! And remember: Thank you, Cloud Striders!

—Carlita Capybara, Capybara Corner, s44, ep2

Conrad Jain

Category: Book: Cloud Strider Legacies

Sedderik Assur