The Crimson Claws

Here are the Crimson Claws, a 4 man squad of mercenary/pirates who make up in quality what they lack in quantity.

Galen is the leader, nephew of Swift, an original Wind Wolf. His father, Sirus, Swift's much younger brother, was bitter at Swift's taking of the pirate ship Hurricane and her turning it and its crew to the service of Terra Arborea. He left to form his own pirate band with the aid of the Crystal Gauntlet, an artifact similar to the Crystal Manica borne by Drake, Perin, and most recently Kestrel. He retired to start a family much later than his sister and the Wind Wolves, so Sirus' son is only a little older than the Wind Wolves' grandchildren.
Galen has inherited all of his father's hatred of the Wind Wolves and all they stand for, as well as his father's small, fast pirate carrier ship, the Vortex. He set about recruiting his own crew and despite being merely 17 years old, is gaining a reputation for cunning and brutality. Dark Ace generally advises Master Cyclonis against hiring the Crimson Claws since he regards Galen as little more than an arrogant puppy, untrustworthy and uncontrollable.

The raptor twins, Preen and Phlex, have a complicated and troubled past. Born from the same egg, they defy the laws of nature. Such a thing could not have occurred without the aid of the dark magic and crystal knowledge of the Bog Witch, an ancient raptor residing on Terra Fauna. She hatched them both safe and healthy, but extracted a promise from their mother that she would have the girl-child in a few years- in classic fairy tale fashion. As it happened Preen was given little choice in the matter. Rejected by their nest mates, taunted and shunned, eventually their sibs went too far in cornering Preen and threatening to push her off a cliff. Phlex, aware of his sister's trouble through their telepathic twin-bond, came to her rescue...and between the two of them, they slaughtered their sibs. Even on Bogaton, such a crime could not go unpunished, and the two were exiled forever from their Terra. Their mother sent them both to live with the Bog Witch, where Preen was a natural at crystalmancy, particularly with Flora and Fauna crystals, as well as darker Shadow Magics, similar yet different to the powers wielded by Cyclonis - her skill undoubtedly due to the magics she was exposed to in the egg. Meanwhile, Phlex trained to his limits against the terrifying creatures of Terra Fauna, becoming his beloved sister's sword and shield. Galen found them quite by accident, but sensing a violence and bitterness seething in them to equal his own, he was quick to recruit them to his side.

Last is Skirr, once a young Murk Raider at the bottom of the totem pole named Squab, picked on and tormented by the older and larger Raiders. His species is unknown...he seems to be some kind of mutated Merb. There's no doubt that he's not quite right in the head, but Galen recognized the brilliance behind the madness and snatched him away from Scabulous. Skirr has a genius for explosions, and he's been developing his own crystal-powered muskets and pistols, shrinking the technology of carrier ship cannons to useful personal size, even for someone as scrawny and short as he is. He tends to cackle and talk to himself a lot, but he is a crack shot and Galen would rather have Skirr's guns beside him than on the other side of a battle. No, he didn't lose his right eye in an unfortunate experiment - yet. He wears a focusing crystal in that lens to see farther for lining up shots.

The Crimson Claws are mercenaries when they're being paid, and pirates when they aren't. They've worked for the Cyclonians on several occasions...and have also raided Cyclonian ships when times get lean. No job is too brutal for any of these young killers. Having heard rumors of surviving Wind Wolves in the southern Terras, Galen has brought his squad out of the western sky lanes to try and track down these last remaining scions of the Arborean squad so he can put his father's ghost to rest.

pencil and ink, scanned and colored with PS6. Background compliments of SaturnGrl's tutorial ^_^