I stood outside the airport with a duffel bag slinged over my shoulder. Domino's next to me; waiting for me to leave. "So what're you gonna do once meet up with Dylan?" he asked.
"I don't know to be honest," I answered.
"Are you sure this is something you want to do?"
"I don't want to, I have to. I just can't let him do this," I said.
"Well how exactly are you going to stop him? I hate to say it, but just because you confront him it doesn't mean it'll change much. He already has people siding with him and they've already committed to it," said Domino.
"What do you suggest then, Domino?" I spat with annoyance in my tone. I already know all of what he's saying; it doesn't help hearing over again.
"I don't know, what it sounds like is that if Dylan's getting people to side with him, then you're gonna need to get others to side with you. Maybe exposing Dylan's coup plans to the rest of Eagle Force might get the other members to side with you."
"That's a good idea, but it's dangerous. If I expose that there's power struggle there's no telling what will happen. And it's not gonna be easy getting people's trust with me having to lie to them," I said.
"Nothing's ever easy, but if you're gonna get anyone to side with you I'd get Dakota."
"Yeah I'm going to see her when I get back to Pensacola so I can give her the flash drive to crack the Dultra's information we got. That should be able to get her trust, but I'm not sure if it'll work."
"Tell her that this was what you were doing, trying to get the Dultra's information."
"That could work, but Dakota's not stupid. We would need her to believe that the information is directly related to the Dultras and not the meteorites," I said.
"I actually have something that might help," said Domino. He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket. I took it from his hand and unfolded.
"It's a page from a Dultra financial binder. I got it when we searched their base. It's not much but should help sell it if you need to convince her," he said. I looked over the paper; the information is just how much the Dultra's spent on property and aircraft maintenance. There isn't anything of use for us, but it should be able to convince Dakota or anyone in Eagle Force for that matter, that we were after the information on the flash drive. Although, it still might be a stretch to believe.
I put the piece of paper away. "I probably should get going," I said. Domino checked the time on his phone.
"Yeah, it's not long till the flight's departure, and you still need to get your ticket," he said.
"Yeah, I should be back in a couple of days. Be careful."
"You too," I said. I watched Domino get into my car and drive off. The sliding glass doors opened up me as I got closer to them. I entered into airport. It's entirely filled with vacationers. I continued to the mile-long line of people trying to check in, get luggage scanned, or whatever reason they need to be there. I heard people shouting at how long the lines are, and how they're going to miss their flights. The people behind pushed their suitcases at my feet as if they wanted to me to move up every possible inch. I eventually reached the counter and was able to purchase a ticket for the next fly back home.
After that, I went to the security line. Unsurprisingly, being an agent of the FBI doesn't help me advance through it any quicker. The security officers scanned through my duffel bag when I reached the front of the line. I left my gun back at the mansion, so I didn't have any weapon on me, but that didn't stop them from meticulously scrutinizing every piece of metal I had on me. One of them discovered my badge, they gave me a puzzled look but didn't question about it.
They let me pass and I made my way to my gate. I checked the time and I had about a half hour until my flight. It didn't take me long to find the gate, when I got there I found the rows of empty seats near the desk. I took one and waited until they called on me to board the airplane. I looked up and found two giant televisions hanging up in the air. One of them had a list of flights while the other played the news. I noticed at the bottom of the screen the news ticker mentioned the shootout in San Fernando Valley, thankfully it didn't give out my name or Amber's.
A little while later the receptionist announced the plane was starting to board. I waited until my turn and gave the receptionist my ticket and entered into the plane. I found my seat and put my duffel bag in the overhead bin. I sat down in my seat next to the window. The rest of the passengers entered into the plane and took their seats, no one sat next to me. Minutes passed and a flight attendant her speech that anyone who's ever flied has heard. After that the plane started to go down the runway and take off into the air.
For most of the plane ride I stared out of the window, just thinking to myself, contemplating what I'm going to do. I thought about maybe visiting my family; seeing that this might be the last time I'm going to be back home for a while, but's probably going to be a bad idea if do. My family hasn't made any attempt to contact since they kicked me out. As for my friends, I probably should follow Domino's advice; meet up with Dakota and try to convince her that we're after the information on the flash drive. I'm not sure if she'll buy it or it.
The plane ride lasted for a few hours. I had about a half hour layover in Atlanta, and then the next airplane will take me back to Pensacola. After the next trip, I landed back in my hometown: the place I live, the place I grew up, the place my life changed.
It didn't take long to get out of the airport, and when I did I took a taxi back to my apartment. When the driver arrived, I paid him and got of the yellow cab. I walked to the door and took the key out my duffel bag. I unlocked it and entered inside. When I got into the apartment, I closed the door and tossed my luggage on the couch. The place has remained the same since Spyro and I were last here: small, ugly, and disgusting. It's hard to believe that I came from a mansion in Los Angeles. Although, I'm not gonna stay here long; only to sleep and restock on weapons.
Dakota's house isn't too far from my mine, so I have no need to take a cab. I contemplated on whether if I should arrive unannounced or call first. I decided that I need to see the expression on her face when she's that I'm back. I exited my home and paced my way to her house. When I got there I noticed that her parents aren't home, but her car is in the driveway. I walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. A minute later she opened the door. When her eyes laid upon mine, her face became filled with shock.
"Jack? What the…? What are you doing here?"
"Do you mind if I come in?"
"Umm, yeah I guess, but what the hell are you doing here?" she asked. I continued to ignore her question as I entered her house. She closed the door and stared at me.
"Jack, either answer my question or leave," she demanded.
"I need your help with something," I answered. She looked confused.
"What?" she wondered. I pulled out one of the flash drives from my pocket. I handed it to her, and she examined it.
"What's on it?"
"A lot of Dultra files, don't ask me how I got them. They're encrypted, I was hoping that you might be able to crack their passwords," I said.
"I can try, come with me to the computer room," she said. I followed her to the back room of her house. She had three large monitors and next to them are a couple computer towers on stacked on their sides. She pulled out the computer chair that's in front of the desk. Dakota pointed out another chair for me to use that's in the corner of the room. I brought the chair next to hers and sat down. She put the flash drive in a USB port. Dakota booted up the computer.
"Woah, Jack how many files are on this drive?" she wondered when she saw the massive number of files and folder on the flash drive.
"More than a few terabytes, I don't have an exact number."
"Wow, how did you get a flash drive to hold all this data?"
"Umm, I got a guy who made while I was out west."
"Who?"
"Someone you wouldn't know," I answered. I was worried about her asking about the flash drive. I need to direct her away from any further questioning. "So do you think can crack the passwords?" I asked her. She clicked on a file and a screen popped asking for a username and password.
"Cracking passwords isn't as easy as it sounds. I just can't type in a few random keys and make it open. The only really technique I can use to break encryptions is the brute force tactic, where I just repeatedly guess passwords until one of them would work. It especially won't be easy with the computer trying to guess both a username and a password," she said. I began to wonder if all the work everyone did would go to waste.
"So all the data I nearly killed myself to get is going to be useless?" I asked. Dakota made a mental note of my last statement. I almost regret what I just said, but it seems like she isn't going to press on.
"No, there's some software that I made a while ago that'll do the work for me. I made it to help speed up the process for decryption; the problem is that'll still take a while before it figures out the right combination of a username and password. Especially since the Dultras probably use higher-grade encryption techniques," she said. I became a little discouraged. I had hoped that I could get access to the files and continue on with my mission, but there's always another obstacle that I have to pass.
"Is there any way you can speed up the process?"
"Maybe, I can run the software on two different files at the same time and adjust the settings for it, should be able to find one quicker. Jack, do you have anything physical documents from the Dultras?"
"Actually I do," I said as I pulled the sheet of paper from my pocket. I handed it over to Dakota, and she scanned over it. "This is good, I can make adjustments to the program, it'll definitely speed up the process," she said.
"How?" I asked with curiosity. Dakota pointed to the upper-right corner.
"There's a username, now I can tell the program to just look for a password instead of looking for a combination of both. That'll save a lot of time."
"So how long do you think it'll take?"
"I don't know; it could take anything from hours to days. It's gonna take a huge demand on my computers and I'll have to make sure they don't overheat," she said.
"Alright, get on it. The quicker I get this, the better," I said.
"Fine," she said. Dakota clicked around on her computer and opened up the programs she needed. She moved a random file from the flash drive into the software. She adjusted the settings on what the software needed to look through. She opened up the same program again and did the same thing. She was about to click the start button on the program, but she stopped.
"Jack, before I do this I need to know what I'm finding," she said with concern.
"Dultra files, I already told you this," I said.
"You know what I mean. You just show up out of nowhere and expect me not to wonder where the hell you've been. If this is related to the Dultras, then you would've gone to Dylan and not to me. I know you're hiding something from me and from everyone," she shouted. I debated in my mind on what I should do. Should I tell her the truth, or should I fight her? I might be hiding something from her, but I know she's hiding the coup attempt from me. In a way, she's no better than me.
"Dakota, I don't think you have the right to criticize me. I know for a fact that Dylan's planning a coup, and that you've known about for almost a week now. I might not be answering any of his calls, but you haven't even tried to warn me. The only reason why you don't know what I'm doing is because I don't want anyone else in Eagle Force involved," I retaliated. Her eyes lit up at my last statement, she made no attempt to fight it.
"How did you figure out?" she disappointedly asked.
"Figure it out for yourself. Listen either do this for me or don't, or I find someone else that will."
"Jack, who else are you going to go to? Also, I didn't support Dylan, but don't think I'm on your side either. You've been across the country for weeks, not giving anyone even a slight hint to what you're doing," a she combatted. I looked at her with anger in my eyes; I know I might've just lost her trust.
"Dakota if you trust me enough, then you'd know what I'm doing is important," I stated.
"If you trust me, then you would at least give me the courtesy of a clue. Every day you're gone, it gets harder and harder to even trust you. Dylan's planning a coup not because he wants to be the leader, but because he doesn't want you to the leader. He's not the only who wants you removed from command, the rest of the original members agree with him as well. So don't blame me or him, blame yourself," she combatted. The words she just said struck a nerve, but they were words that I probably had to hear. None of what she said was false. In a way, this is my fault. Dylan and I have been at odds for almost a year now. I should have expected this betrayal of his.
With everyone wanting to remove me from command, maybe I should consider giving control to him once my business with the Skylanders is over, but for now I need to stay in charge, so I don't have to answer to anyone.
"All you need to know Dakota is that if I stop doing what I'm doing; a lot of people's lives will be in jeopardy. I need those files on the Dultras to help me out on my job. I'm not going to force you do this, but I will appreciate it if you do," I said. Dakota stared at me. She understood how serious I am.
"Alright, I'll crack the passcodes if you promise one thing," she said.
"What?"
"Once you're done with your mission, and you have no loose ends to tie up, you tell what you, Domino, and Amber have done, okay?" she asked. I contemplated on what I should do. I can easily tell that I'm beginning to lose her trust. When Amber and Domino discovered the existence of the Skylanders, it should've been me to tell them, not Spyro. I have enough trust in them to know that they aren't going to tell anyone. If they won't speak, then I know Dakota will do the same.
"Fine, you get me all the information you can on the Dultras from the flash drive, then I will tell you everything after it's all done. Besides, there's a good chance I won't even be alive at the end of it."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Spyro's POV
Rage has been slowly building up in me for the past day. Ever since Jack rescued Cynder; the darkness that resides inside of me is trying to come out. It's getting increasingly harder to control it. I haven't been in my dark form in a long time. I don't know why it's starting to come out. I need to contain it, but I don't know how. Back on Skylands I could go in and out of it on my own free will, but ever since I arrived on this planet, I lost this ability.
Amber and I have been talking about our next steps. Amber has been using her computer trying to figure out which Skylanders are near us and which ones we have a possibility of finding. She discovered that Cynder was one of the Skylanders that fell in this city, so this at least decreases the number we need to find here. I waited in the third floor's living room with her.
"Any progress?" I asked Amber.
"Well before I devote any time into finding a meteorite, I need to figure out figure out which one to look for," she answered.
"Have you decided?"
"Maybe, I was thinking we could try going after this one," she said as she turned her computer towards me.
"That's Flameslinger, probably one of the best archers on Skylands," I said. Amber studied him closely.
"Why is he wearing a blindfold?"
"Let's just say he's a bit of a showoff. Maybe this time we don't have the lengths we did to get Gill Grunt and Cynder."
"I hope, but knowing our luck, we probably will."
"Well, there's always going to hurdles you'll have to jump. We survived every time we met them, I don't think that's going to change anytime soon."
"Yeah, but with Jack gone, it just puts us at greater risk."
"If you're worried about a lack of manpower, we could get one of the Skylanders to come and help us," I offered. I remember how irate Cynder was when we left her there and she offered to help, but with the darkness trying to come out of me, I'm not sure if it's safe for me to be around her. Maybe I can get Bash or Gill Grunt to come and help us.
"Yeah, that's probably something we're going to have to do. We shouldn't add anymore unnecessary hazards if we can avoid them. I'll get working on this in a little bit," she said.
"Do it soon," I said. For a little while longer, I continued to sit in the chair next to the couch. The television played some show that I have no clue of what it is about. I began to grow quite tired of this boredom. "Hey Amber, I'm gonna go look around the house," I said as I hopped off the chair.
"Alright, I'll tell you and Domino when I make some progress," she said.
I walked over to the staircase began my descent. I've never really had the chance to explore this place when Jack's family was still here. I decided to check on Domino, I haven't seen him ever since he got back from dropping Jack off at the airport. He's rooming on the second floor, which I remember Jack saying that it was the nicest place in the house. I continued to walk down until reached the second story.
This place is like the third floor, but it's much grander. The living room area has much more luxurious furniture. Spectacular hand-painted art hanged of the wall, the art varied from purple sunsets to wooded forests. The drapes on the window that lets you view the front yard looks like they're made of silk. I looked around for Domino, but I couldn't find him. I noticed one of the bedroom doors slightly open. I paced over to it and pushed it open.
"Woah," I awed when I noticed it. This room is twice the size of my room. The green king-sized occupied the middle of the room. There's a desk in the far-right corner of the room with a computer and files all around it. To the left of the bed is a plush couch with a cherry-oak coffee table in front of it, some of Domino's stuff is on it.
"Did anyone ever tell you should knock before enter?" said Domino. I noticed that he's next to the window.
"Sorry, I didn't know if you were in here. Nice room, I wish I got this one."
"Ehh, finders keepers," he said. I laughed a little bit.
"So how are you settling in?" I asked as I looked around.
"Fine, I guess. What's brings you down here?"
"I just wanted to look around a little bit; I never got a chance to explore this place."
"Anything else you came down here for?"
"Yeah, Amber said she is gonna start looking for another Skylander."
"Good. Hey Spyro, do you mind if I ask you something?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure."
"Back when we were at the airstrip, you were acting kind of strange. Was something wrong?" he asked. I became nervous after he finished asking his question. I know I can't keep this thing a secret for much longer, but if I let the others find out, everyone will just be afraid to even be around me. Maybe if I tell someone they'll understand and share the tax of this secret, but that's a huge risk, I'm not sure if I want to take it. All of the Skylanders know this, but even they can be afraid of me whenever I use it. My dark form, however powerful it might be, has been one of the biggest burdens to my life. I looked backed up at Domino after my short pause.
"Nothing's wrong."
I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry if the ending is kind of abrupt. Anyway, if you like the story, leave a review.