Chapter 20: Backtracking
November 15, 3:31 PM
"Finally, a room that isn't… a jail cell!" Spyro exclaimed, flopping himself onto a nearby bench in the room. Jericho sighed as he walked passed his dragon friend, slumping into a nearby chair. He had gotten most of his gear back, all of it packed away into a small duffle. He still didn't have his rifle back, apparently "customs" was still clearing it. Donnelly did assure him though that he wouldn't lose it, the Colonel had made certain of that.
Sparx buzzed into the room, followed by the Colonel himself. He closed the door behind him and sighed, shaking his head. After the… incident in the test chamber, Spyro had been arrested by the guards and placed in a jail cell. It took a few hours of negotiating between the Colonel and the base commander to release Spyro. Apparently the incident wasn't just contained to the test chamber… The burst of energy caused havoc throughout the base and some of the lower streets of Manhattan. It was enough for the base commander to demand Spyro to be locked away. Donnelly had finally gotten him out of the jail cell at least, and moved to a small vacant office for the time being. It was nice to finally have a cushioned surface under Spyro's talons again…
"Well, it might as well be a jail cell still… There have been some interesting developments." Donnelly walked in behind Jericho, carrying a tablet device. As he passed by Spyro he managed to glance and see several images scrolled across the face of the tablet, illuminated by a soft blue light. It was much like the computer monitors he'd seen, just hand held. Donnelly walked over to a desk that had been pushed against the wall and pulled on it so it sat near the center of the room. He grabbed one of the other randomly placed chairs and rolled it over too, setting it beside the desk and taking a seat. Jericho looked up as he was slumped down in his seat, barely lifting his head to look at the Colonel.
"What's happened?" Spyro asked, stepping off of his chair and walking over to the desk. Donnelly placed the tablet on the desk and slid it over to the two of them as Jericho rolled his chair up to the desk to join them. The screen only contained text with the words CONFIDENTIAL written across the top. As Jericho saw those words, he immediately sat up and looked closer at the tablet.
"Confidential, what's all this…?" Jericho asked, looking up at Donnelly who was rubbing his chin across the desk from them.
"It seems that General Hayden was very pleased with the results of today's test…"
"Results? I thought I almost fried that entire room! It didn't feel like a good test…" Spyro said, frowning.
"Well you did manage to knock out power to the lower side of Manhattan and strand three hundred people in elevators for about an hour across the base… but…"
"But… what?" Jericho asked, giving Donnelly an unamused look.
"But… Harper tells me they collected a vast amount of data. Not only that, but they even managed to capture a small sample of your energy in their Borealis prototype. Since you destroyed their prototypes it… well, it only means that what they had was incorrect. As you might quickly find out in science Spyro, when it breaks like that it's because you've gotten it wrong. That's a forward step."
"Yeah… forward step…" Spyro sighed, feeling no better about things.
"As I said, General Hayden was… very pleased with the results, so pleased in fact that as you can see from the note I've given you he's ordering me to create a special task force to further both the research on Aurora, Borealis and now… HADES."
"I… thought that's what you were already doing?"
"Somewhat. I was here to gather intelligence and give them to the science team. Now, I am going to use Spyro directly to… 'further' research."
"What…?" Jericho leaned forward in his seat, gritting his teeth. Donnelly remained slumped back in his seat, looking down at the table, not acknowledging Jericho's aggressive stance.
"General Hayden doesn't want Spyro to leave, he wants to use him for more tests."
"That wasn't the deal Donnelly! You said after this, he could go! I didn't bring him here to be someone's lab rat…" Jericho slammed his fist on the table, eliciting no response from Donnelly. Spyro frowned, seeing that Donnelly's face spoke that even he was unhappy about the circumstances. Still, Spyro had caught something from Donnelly's previous statement…
"Wait… you said HADES too right? Why's your General interested in that now?"
Donnelly smirked as Spyro mentioned that. He reached for the tablet and retrieved it, swiping his fingers across it to change the image on screen. Now there were pictures of satellites and satellite schematics on screen.
"I'm glad you brought that up Spyro, because Hayden would have been completely angered over what happened today if it weren't for this development. He might have even either had you killed or expelled. It appears that there was far more on that flash drive then any of us were expecting."
"Well? Out with it!" Jericho said impatiently.
"When the Dark Master originally captured HADES he took with him all the command and control equipment, meaning none of us could talk to the satellite array. We thought it was all destroyed during the raid. It… well, it appears as though your grandfather managed to recover some of the software to this flash drive. With it, we were able to locate and talk to the sole surviving satellite of the HADES array. So now we have… the collection device… the storage device… and now…"
"…The projection device… You have all the original components to the old Aurora system…" Spyro said, remembering what Donnelly had told them about how the systems worked together.
"Precisely. Now Hayden is… well let's just say he's very, very interested in all of this now. He's very interested in you… which… worries me."
"Yeah, it worries me even more…" Jericho said while crossing his arms.
"Don't worry Jericho, I said we'd get him out… and well now I think… I think it would be best for everyone if we made it happen."
"You're telling me! So, how're we doing this?"
"I… I don't know yet."
"You don't know…"
"Yes Jericho, I don't know. With the General now interested in him, security will be tighter, and it was already going to be hard to get him out. We're going to have to get creative. I'm going to see what I can dig up but for now you two should rest." Donnelly retrieved his tablet and stood up. Jericho sat back in his chair and grimaced.
"Oh, and one more thing Jericho." Donnelly reached to his pocket and retrieved a piece of folded paper. He placed it in front of Jericho on the desk and left the room without saying another word. Jericho watched him before reaching over to unfold the paper. You needed to only read the top line to understand what it was.
"Application for Refugee/Citizen Status of US Safety Zone North," the paper read. Jericho looked at it for a moment, letting it rest in his fingers for a few moments. Spyro could see the text too, and frowned.
"Jericho…?"
He didn't respond for a few moments, only looking at the paper. Eventually he folded it back up and placed it inside his pocket.
"It's alright Spyro… I'll worry about that later. Let's get you out of here, huh?" He smiled at Spyro, who returned it softly. Sparx looked at the both of them and buzzed away solemnly to investigate the different furniture around the room.
"I just wonder how we're going to do it. Donnelly said now the General's paying attention to me…"
"We'll find a way, even if we have to sneak out through the back door."
"Jericho… There's… there's something I have to tell you."
"Yeah, what is it Spyro?" Jericho turned to his friend, who was looking down at the floor.
"I didn't say anything… I… haven't said anything about it for a while but… well Donnelly is right, my powers allow me to do… to do things that aren't normal."
"Well that… I pretty much understood. This isn't news to me."
"It's not that Jericho. I've been having visions for… for quite a while now. I didn't understand them until now, and I saw one when I vanished in the test chambers earlier."
"You did? What… happened?"
"I saw Cynder Jericho. I saw her, she's alive. She's alive and Vivex has her…"
"You're certain of this?"
"Yes Jericho. I'm going after her Jericho. As soon as we get out of here I'm going for her. I… I lost Flame to the Sentinels and I won't make that mistake twice. If… if I had a chance to save her and I didn't…"
"No, no it's alright Spyro. I understand… Although, if you're going after Cynder you won't be going alone."
Spyro looked up at Jericho who was sitting back in his seat with a smirk.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… I'm coming with you."
"No, Jericho, she's being held by the Sentinels if-" Jericho raised a finger up to Spyro, stopping him.
"If you go, it's going to be heavily guarded. You'll need… back up. You'll need someone to watch your back. Sounds like a perfect role for me."
"No Jericho I don't think that-"
"No, no, no. Look Spyro, I once thought the same as you, that it's too dangerous for others to follow, that you'd do best on your own. I once thought that until some little punk dragon convinced me otherwise. I think that punk dragon's rubbed off on me now. I also kind of owe him a favor, for getting me all the way up here in one piece…"
Spyro looked up at his friend for a good while before leaning back. His eyes looked around as he pondered Jericho's words and finally relented with a sigh before smiling back up at him.
"Thanks…" Spyro said softly.
"Plus… you're not the only one, who regrets what happened to Flame. I want to help save Cynder as much as you do. She was a comrade, and we'll leave no comrade behind."
"Thanks Jericho… " Spyro turned towards the window, seeing as a small snowflake fell from the clouds above. The sun gave a few rays of light through the thick and overcast sky, defiantly trying to still warm the good Earth even as winter was now here. He sighed softly.
"Now, how're we going to get out…?" Spyro muttered softly.
"I might have an idea on that…" Jericho said, rubbing his chin.
/Transitioning…/
[Done]
"You want to do what now? Look I'm all for smuggling you two out of here but… Jericho this is…"
"I wouldn't ask you unless I didn't think it was important." Jericho slammed his hand onto the table, but quickly regretted it as a few people passing by them caught notice. Donnelly frowned at Jericho who quickly retrieved his hand as to not make such a scene.
The two stood in one of the hallways in the base, hardly a discreet place to meet.
"Let's discuss this in another place Jericho." Donnelly said, offering to lead him to another place to talk. Jericho nodded, and the two of them worked their way into a nearby vacant office. They walked over to the desk near the end of the room and stood at opposite ends, facing each other.
"So you two want to go on a… what?"
"It's a… look, it's a rescue mission. We're going to save one of… our… friends from Sentinel captivity. We know they're alive, and we don't want to waste time sitting around here waiting to get smuggled out!"
"So then what do you want? I can't just let you two out the back door…"
"We need supplies, and probably a vehicle."
"A vehicle? Jericho that's…"
"Yeah, yeah I know. We need it though Donnelly."
Donnelly pushed himself away from the desk and placed his hands against his jaw and elbow in a defensive positon while turning away from Jericho. Jericho sighed and pressed on.
"I'm asking this as a favor Donnelly. We've helped you so much, it's the least you can do to help us now."
"I already agreed to help smuggle him out, how is it I owe you more?"
"Look Donnelly, I just-"
"How do you even know they're alive?"
"Spyro… had a vision."
"So, this is aaaaall based on a vision then?"
"Yes. Yes it is."
Donnelly shook his head, turning away again.
"Yeah, so what if it's a vision? He was right about the Dark Master and that Infinity Lab place from his visions. You said it yourself, he can wield the Inner Light, see things nobody else can see. Why would this be any different?"
"Because you're asking me to not only risk my job by allowing him to "escape", but also to part with a piece of military hardware. Even if I gave you two a jeep, I doubt you'll get very far with it. Most roads are impassable passed the FOBs."
"A plane?"
"A plane? Seriously? You're escalating Jericho, there's no possible way I can allow you to take an aircraft! Especially without concrete evidence of what you're doing!"
"All we want is something to get us outside of the safety zone Donnelly! Get us that far out quickly and that's it, nothing else!"
"Do you even know where you're going? Where your friend is being held?"
"Well… no…"
Donnelly was not amused with that response. He gave a low groan of disapproval while turning away from Jericho.
"Alright, you got me, we don't know where they're being held. We know that she's at a Sentinel base… though not in Baltimore. Would you have any clue where any other Sentinel bases are?"
Donnelly sighed, rubbing his head as he thought for a moment.
"Their base in Baltimore would be the only one we know about for sure. There is… another base they use, smaller then Baltimore but we know it exists. It's a… a staging ground, a pass through location on their way from the west to the east. We assume it's a second base, but other than its existence we have no real idea where it is."
"That's probably it… Spyro said that Vivex had her and was taking her to a large structure at the foot of a large hill… It might be that second Sentinel strong hold. It would make sense if the Sentinels have been driven out of Baltimore."
"Say what now? The Sentinels aren't in Baltimore anymore?"
"I… well I don't know but when we left we kind of… instigated a fight between the Baltimore guard and the Sentinel commander, Vivex. I uh… I don't imagine their time in Baltimore lasted after that."
"Well that's news to us! That's actually a huge development! If they've been driven from Baltimore, they're likely to retreat to that second base. It's likely their primary base now. A… primary base that you're looking to… attack."
"Yeah, don't remind me how stupid it is."
"Then why do it? Surely this friend of yours isn't worth the trouble."
"No… she is…"
"A 'she', huh?"
"Not for me smart ass, for Spyro. She's a dragoness, one of the dragons from our group. Probably the only other surviving member. It's… kind of important."
"I see. Well… I don't know what to tell you Jericho. You'd be going against a target we know little about and I'm sure you'd know little about either."
"Then… why don't we help each other out?"
"Come again?"
"If you… allow us to leave with some equipment, and we head out to this base and raid it… well I'm sure there'd be a lot of precious intel we could extract from there as well." Jericho leaned forward, crossing his arms as he leaned over the table. Donnelly raised an eyebrow while standing on the other side.
"I'm listening…" Donnelly said, intrigued.
"We could give you information like troop assessments, their movement into the base, what kind of fire power they have… maybe even information on where they plan to move next. Think about it Donnelly, that's like… the wet dream of an intel guy, right?"
"Not… exactly but that actually isn't far off the mark… For years it's been difficult to track and make a clear assessment of the Sentinels on the east coast due to… very limited long range missions, and… well the difficulty of humans blending into the world out there. Our information on the Sentinels is very limited, and usually based on what we can gather from other sources, like the Baltimore guard. Having someone willing and able to pursue the Sentinels might be… useful."
"Well… there you go! You could even let us out under the guise of a long range mission or something, that'll give us a cover story to leave the safe zone! We'll leave, find information on where the base is, then we'll hit it. While there we could gather information and I'll bring it back… somehow."
"Yeah, somehow."
"Well if it's a plane you give us then it might be a whole lot easier…"
"Can you even fly, Jericho?"
"Yes! Of course! Back in my old village I was shown and taught how to fly an Osprey. I even flew one… briefly during our journey."
"An Osprey."
"Yes, an Osprey. That isn't a problem, is it?"
"No… but that does give me an idea. If you do go… and somehow survive… I will be expecting that intel package somehow. You'd have to fly it back into our airspace to transmit it… and… well I don't know what happens after that."
"If it gets us out of the safe zone, and helps us save our friend then I'm up for it."
"That's if you even survive the Sentinel base."
"Well then we'd be dying attacking a Sentinel strong hold, possibly inflicting damage that'll… hamper their efforts here!"
"Indeed. Well, I have to admit this sounds more plausible then getting a truck out of the safe zone… but it's not going to be easy."
"You keep saying that. It'll be easy as long as none of us blows it."
"Alright, fine, we'll do this. I hope you deliver on your part of the agreement Jericho, because it'll be my ass on the line if they ever figure out I let you guys walk off with a multi-million dollar drop ship!"
"It'll be fine! I swear!"
/Transitioning…/
[Done]
"There's no way this'll work…" Jericho muttered his arms crossed as Donnelly ushered him through the halls.
"It was your idea, you're not bailing on me now." Donnelly retorted as he walked a few feet in front of him. Jericho groaned as he pulled on a cart behind him, carrying a few crates of supplies as well as a kennel. Spyro groaned himself as he shuffled a bit inside the small kennel, feeling the cart pull him along. He could barely see anything from where he was, only the floor and several feet of people walking around them.
"Can I change spots please…?" Spyro asked, his entire body feeling crushed inside of it.
"Shush! You're supposed to be the dog, remember? Bark or something."
"What?" Spyro asked, so confused.
"Quiet you two…" Donnelly said back at them as he continued to lead them through the halls of the massive underground base below Manhattan.
"Come on, stay this way." Donnelly instructed as he stayed in front of Jericho. They continued down long and largely dull hallways, passing by several guards and base staff as they went about their day. Finally, Donnelly lead them towards a massive room, one that even from where Spyro was could tell its absolute scale.
Jericho was almost overwhelmed as he craned his head around the room, the size of it rivaling the Aurora chamber! Three massive circular landing pads rested in three corners of the room, making up a triangle shape. They looked to be connected to a massive lifting system that would bring the pads up to the ceiling, which would be the surface since they were technically underground. Drop ships rested on each platform, and several more rested in the center of the room. A honeycomb grid lined some of the walls, each individual cell being large enough to house a drop ship or another size of aircraft. A network of robotic cranes fitted to suspended tracks would retrieve the aircraft from the different cells and deposit them onto either the landing pad or into the center for them to be prepared for lift off.
Hundreds of workers walked around the craft, preparing each of them for various missions. Each landing pad looked large enough to accommodate four, hell maybe even five of their dropships. They looked very similar in nature to Jericho's old Osprey, with pivoting engines mounted at the end of fixed wings. Unlike the Osprey, these engines were all turbo fan jet engines. Several variants rested throughout the room, going from slimed down to very bulky and large.
"This way, our bird is already fueled and ready for departure. Try to keep a low profile." Donnelly said as he walked towards the elevator on the far side of the room. Spyro managed to press his head against the edge of his kennel to see the craft. Like the others it was so similar to the Osprey, save for a few cosmetic differences. It was far more sleek for one, and this particular one was a little smaller while having a third jet engine mounted in the tail of the craft. It too, could pivot to aid with directional thrust. Two humans stood near it, disconnecting a hose from the aircraft's fuel tank. Donnelly approached them and talked to them for a moment before the two of them walked away, leaving them to their craft.
"This is your bird Jericho. It's an older variant, introduced after the war as a way to… supplement the aging and… mostly destroyed fleet of Ospreys and Valors. It's highly influenced by the Osprey's design though, but uses jet engines over the rotor wings. It's onboard avionics are almost identical, so I thought it would be the easiest for you to fly. Also its more… well…"
"Expendable the word you're looking for?" Jericho asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Bingo."
Jericho smirked at the Colonel and began to walk over and unload the crates of supplies Donnelly had provided. Donnelly stood off to the side, watching for a moment before he felt a presence behind him. He turned, seeing a man wearing a red beret walking up to him. It was General Fuller.
"General, sir!" Donnelly said, raising his arm in a salute. Fuller quietly returned the salute and approached the craft, looking it over.
"I wanted to… personally congratulate you Lieutenant Colonel on a job well done yesterday."
"I… thank you, sir."
"Yes, I do believe that I have to disagree on a few things with the good General Hayden. What he sees as a breach of protocol I see as… an opportunity. What about you, Lieutenant Colonel?"
"What do I think about it, sir? I, well, I see it as an opportunity myself. One that we shouldn't… waste…"
"Right you are. However, I do believe that such opportunities are only as beneficial as the causes they serve. It would be wrong to abuse such things." The general continued watching the aircraft, speaking in his usual soft, but assertive tone. Even if Fuller sounded soft spoken, there was still a hint of a growl in his voice, though it almost sounded like a hiss. It was a good analogy for Fuller. He was more akin to the snake, to Hayden's bull. He was always up to something…
"I couldn't help but hear that you were dispatching a long range reconnaissance mission. It's not often we have one of those…" Fuller remarked, rubbing his chin.
"Uh, yes sir. With the intel we've received from Jericho and the dragon we've learned of some Sentinel outposts that we'd like to investigate more about." Donnelly's eyes kept going from the dropship to Fuller, trying to read his expression. Did Fuller know…?
"Isn't that Jericho there, the man who brought us the flash drive?" Fuller pointed to Jericho's silhouette in the cockpit. Donnelly cursed himself and swallowed a bit.
"Why, yes sir, that is."
"Interesting. Is he attending this flight?"
"Yes sir, I… I thought his expertise would be helpful. Not many of our pilots are too familiar with the terrain beyond the safe zone. Since he was the one who… first gathered the intel on these locations I thought perhaps he'd be helpful on the mission."
"I see… Where is the rest of the flight crew?"
"They're still getting prepped, they'll be along shortly."
"Interesting." Fuller's eyes came upon the dog kennel still resting on the dolly. He looked at it silently for a few moments before moving a hand up to straighten the red beret on top of his head. He turned to Donnelly and gave a low smile.
"Well I do hope the mission is a success. I look forward to… what they bring back…" With that, Fuller reached over and patted Donnelly on the shoulder before going to walk away. Donnelly watched him leave while letting out a low and half nervous sigh. Did he know? If… he knew would he say anything? If it were anybody BUT Fuller he'd be even more nervous but… there was always something to Fuller. If he did know, and was allowing them to leave, it was fulfilling something for him. Still… it worried Donnelly.
Jericho stepped out from the troop bay, seeing Fuller walking away. He had overhead some of the conversation from inside the dropship but didn't get a chance to see who it was.
"Who was that?" Jericho asked.
"He… he's an important guest. Don't worry about him though, let's get you guys out of here." Donnelly stepped forward to help Jericho unload the equipment off of the dolly. Most of the boxes were empty, just there to make the story more believable. Donnelly was kind enough to give them some extra ammo, fuel and most importantly, food! There was no telling how far away or where Cynder would be so any extra rations were greatly appreciated. Jericho even managed to get his old weapons back with some upgrades. Donnelly offered to give him a more… updated weapon but Jericho felt that his old rifle was more than enough.
"You alright in there?" Jericho asked as he picked up the kennel housing both Spyro and Sparx and lifted it into the troop bay of their aircraft.
"Oh just peachy! I can't feel most of my body so… hurry up please!" Spyro grunted from inside. Jericho gave a chuckle.
"Alright, alright. Just give us a second." Jericho placed the kennel against the cockpit compartment and flipped the switch for the troop bay to seal itself. Donnelly tugged on the canvas webbing on the ceiling of the troop bay, ensuring it would hold all the equipment stored up there. As the door sealed, Donnelly reached over and undid the latch to Spyro's kennel. Spyro flowed out of it like liquid onto the floor of the dropship and gave a sudden gasp of air.
"Finally!" He said, panting.
"Alright Jericho, you think you're up for this?" Donnelly asked as he walked over to the cockpit. Jericho was seated in the pilot's seat and was in the process of placing his headset on and looking over the control panel.
"You were right, it is a lot like the Osprey. I think I can manage."
"I'll take that as a yes… Just don't plow yourself into the side of a building until you're outside of New York.
"How reassuring…"
"Here's a list of questions and responses for you. The air traffic controllers will stay with you until you're outside of American airspace so… keep this handy…" Donnelly said as he passed another paper to Jericho.
"Thanks." Jericho said, taking the paper and taping it to one of his displays.
"Once you're outside of American airspace… you'll be on your own. Because of the radio jammers your signal won't be picked up by us. Whatever you find out over there you'll have to return to our airspace to report it."
"Got it. I'm sure we'll find more than enough where we're going to justify this."
"I sure hope so! I could lose my job over this. I'm trusting you'll get it done Jericho."
"I got it, I got it! We already delivered you Aurora and all that. We'll get you someone even juicier out of this. We are going after the head honcho Sentinel himself."
"Which worries me."
"Look at it this way Donnelly. We'll just be another crew sent into a highly dangerous recon mission that never returned. You identified a… hmmm… let's say high priority target! It would be worth the gamble if you tried to send a recon team to tail the leader of the Sentinels, especially someone who himself, was interested in Aurora."
"Yeah well you tell that to the brass when they start asking questions about a lost dropship. There's also the lie I got to tell about how a dragon escaped a high security detention order." Donnelly said as he pointed to Spyro.
"Just tell them he used his special magic powers or something. He is a special magical dragon, remember?"
"Uh huh." Donnelly said sarcastically. Jericho just smiled at Donnelly, who couldn't help but laugh.
"Well… good luck, to all of you. What you guys did… you've done a lot of good for us, humanity that is. With Aurora and even HADES we finally have something the Dark Master doesn't. We are this much closer to being able to stand up for ourselves and against the Dark Master and his armies. You've done us a great favor." Donnelly said, turning towards Spyro. He smiled and nodded softly.
"I'm glad to help. I'm hoping that good will come of this… This world could surely use some of right now." Spyro responded.
"You and me both dragon. Well, farewell to both of you. Good luck." Donnelly turned and walked towards the back. Jericho dropped the troop bay ramp for him, and Spyro and Sparx both ushered themselves into the cockpit while the ramp was lowered. Donnelly stepped out of bay onto the landing pad. The ramp rose, slowly sealing them once again inside of it.
"Well… this is it Spyro. I hope you're ready." Jericho said, turning back towards the front of the ship. Radio chatter came in over his headset, and he tapped the earphones to hear them more clearly.
"Roger…" Jericho leaned in, looking at Donnelly's prepared responses. "Echo-whisky twelve, ready for deployment for LRR."
Spyro walked over to the co-pilot's chair which said next to the pilot's but rested behind and to the right of the pilot's chair. The angled bubble meant both pilot and co-pilot had great views from their seats. Spyro held his head low so anyone standing outside the craft wouldn't catch him in the chair. They were still sitting in the large hanger bay, but soon they felt a great jolt, and the elevator holding the landing platform came to life. The loud hum of machinery filled the cockpit as they were slowly being raised to the surface. Looking up through the canopy, Spyro could see a massive hatch at the end of the elevator opening up, revealing the cloudy sky beyond. Blueish gray clouds rolled above them, and Spyro caught a few birds as they flew overhead. As they got closer and closer to the surface, light began to fill the cockpit more, giving Spyro a sensation of freedom and elation since they had been underground for so long.
The elevator finally reached the top of the shaft, filling their entire view with that of a landscape. Water flowed around the edges of the landing pad, and Spyro could see they were at the very foot of the Manhattan island. Three large landing pads jutted out from the natural edges of the island, surrounded by water but anchored back to land by three large metal struts. Catwalks and small air traffic control towers and control rooms serviced the pads.
Out across from them Spyro could see more buildings and city as New York stretched farther then just Manhattan island. All the land surrounding them was coated with buildings, it was truly a sight to see! It was a shame Spyro never got to explore the city… Perhaps one day.
Two men walked out from a small nest along the edges of the pad, and waved two colored batons at Jericho. He looked at his notes, reading what they meant. He flipped a few switches and was rewarded when he could hear the engines spooling up. Their soft whir got louder and louder as the powerful jet engines began turning their fuel into thrust. He stopped them just short of lifting him off the ground, awaiting for clearance from the tower.
"This is Echo-whisky twelve, awaiting clearance for… take-off, over."
"Roger Echo-whisky twelve. You are cleared for take-off and to use exit corridor bravo nine, heading south, southwest," came the reply on the radio. It was all Jericho needed as he reached his hand over to the thrust controls. The two humans standing in front of the aircraft with their batons changed the color to green and waved them down. Jericho nodded and pulled forward on the thrust control. Spyro felt the change immediately as he could feel the engines flare up and begin lifting the craft up and off of the ground.
"Oh yeah… you feel that? Feels good!" Jericho said, feeling the craft lift upwards. Spyro held onto his seat as they ascended from the landing pad and slowly began to turn. Jericho reached for his control stick and pushed down on it, and they began to go forwards. With great power and speed the craft accelerated into the sky. Around them Spyro could see the landscape of New York swimming away beneath them, their ship now bound for the clouds. As they sailed above, Spyro peered below, watching it all melt below. He could see forever across the horizon, and it felt glorious. It made him miss flying, but he could grow to enjoy the feeling of seeing this all while only having to sit down in a comfy chair.
"Oh yeah!" Jericho couldn't help but contain himself as the craft sailed farther and higher. It was far more powerful than the Osprey, and Jericho was like a kid playing with his new toy. He flipped a switch, causing the engines to rotate to cruising position, and the drop ship rocketed into the clouds and away from New York. As the city disappeared from view, Spyro began to wonder if they'd ever return, or if he'd ever see another place like it. He was… hopeful, but knew that sometimes things… happened and you weren't always able to control those events. For now, he was content to enjoy the ride.
/Transitioning…/
[Done]
It had been at least an hour since they had left New York, and Spyro wasn't done taking in the scenery yet. Jericho had taken them along the pre-planned route Donnelly had given them, and as Jericho had put it, they were getting close to leaving US airspace. Once outside of it, they couldn't be tracked or talked to. They would be in the clear and ready to continue on their way. So far, things had gone well and without a hitch! Spyro felt uneasy, thinking perhaps they weren't out of it yet. Jericho kept telling him to just enjoy the times when a plan just fell into place and worked. Spyro still wasn't convinced.
"So… do you have… any idea where she might be?" Jericho asked from his seat.
"All I remember is that… that fort in the distance. I couldn't make out anything more then that. Donnelly thinks it's their second base of operations here on the east coast."
"Yeah well that doesn't exactly help. He didn't know where it was and we don't either. We'll need to do some digging if we want to find out where their 'second base' is."
"You think Robert might know?"
"You know what? That doesn't sound like a half bad plan. Robert might not know, but I'm sure he can point us in the right direction. To Robert's it is! Well… soon as we clear the airspace, that is."
"How… can you tell if we have?"
"I have the coordinates. Also when I get nothing but static in my headset, then I'll know." Jericho tapped his headset while keeping his eyes pointed forwards.
"I wonder how Robert's doing…." Spyro asked, looking down at the floor.
"I'm sure he's fine. Tough bastard's lived there long enough, he knows how to take care of himself."
"Right…"
"Speaking of which… I think we just passed through the airspace. I'm getting nothing but static on my comm. I think we're home free." Jericho said with a smile. Spyro returned it but was immediately jolted when Jericho put the craft into a roll, turning towards the southwest. They had been heading out following the coastline, and now he was heading back inland.
Spyro peered up and over the edge of the canopy, looking outwards over the landscape. He could see… so much forest down there. There were the occasional buildings that poked through the foliage, but for all he could see it was thick forest. It was crazy to think it took them several days to navigate that… and now they'd pass overhead in a few hours. A trip that took an entire day from Robert's to… Raven FOB and even New York they'd make in almost three hours flight time. It boggled Spyro's mind…
"Wow I think we're actually a lot closer than I thought! We'll be there in like ten minutes! God damn it if only my old Osprey didn't blow a fuse we'd have done this trip so long ago!"
"That's… assuming everything went well. Also if I remember Cynder still hated you and wanted you dead. Maybe it was for the better… I guess."
"Yeah… well you say that and well…"
"Yeah, I know…" Spyro said, frowning as he remembered Flame again. Now he regretted even bringing it up.
The rest of the flight to Robert's was quiet and uneventful as Spyro watched the Silent Goliaths in the distance slowly get bigger and bigger. Jericho slowed the craft down and began to lose altitude as they approached the ruins of Oxford and its bus station. He spotted a large enough landing spot near the front of the bus station where he could put the craft down. It took a few attempts and fly overs but eventually Jericho got the hang of putting it into a controlled descent- while also shifting the engine positions from cruise to hover.
The craft slowly descended to the cracked and overgrown parking lot, and Jericho had to do some fiddling to make the drop ship clear all the old car wreckage. The exhaust from the engines kicked up clouds of dust and shuffled some of the old metal wrecks and car husks that sat around them. Spyro breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the tires make contact with the ground and Jericho began the process of shutting down the engines.
"Alright… I think we're good…" Jericho said as he thumbed through a small booklet on how to disengage the engines Donnelly left for him. The whir of the jet engines finally died down and silence once again took control of the environment around them.
"That was great Jericho! Looks like we won't crash and burn like Donnelly worried…" Spyro joked as Jericho dropped the ramp for them.
"Ah he worries too much. He needs to have more faith."
"He sure seemed to have it, or else he wouldn't have trusted us with this."
The two of them including Sparx left the dropship and walked towards old bus station. Things were still and quiet around them as cold winter winds blew in from the north and swept over their bodies. It gave Spyro a few shivers as it was much colder out here then it was when they were here last. Snow wasn't on the ground, but it was almost cold enough for snow.
"I wonder where the old bastard is… I'm surprised he isn't out front with all the noise and ruckus we caused…" Jericho said as he stepped over an old car near the entrance.
"Think he's hiding? He might not even know it's us!" Spyro said with some worry. Jericho thought about it for a bit, looking around the silent and still environment. It… was unnervingly quiet. Maybe he was out hunting or something. Jericho would have sworn the old man would have been out in front with his shotgun already to investigate their dropship.
"Hello? Robert? It's us, Jericho and Spyro!" Jericho called out as they entered the entryway where Robert had originally encountered them. The room was as empty as it was then, with a saturated blue tint to it rather than the yellow of dusk.
Silence returned Jericho's call, making him feel uneasy. His weapon had been slung away, but now he was reaching back to retrieve it as they continued to walk through the silent depot.
"Jericho…?" Spyro asked, peering around the empty room.
"Where the hell is he…?" Jericho gripped his rifle, scanning the entire room over and over as he stood near the center of it, as if anticipating something to come out of the shadows.
A soft wave of wind washed over the structure, causing it to creak somewhat. Birds that had nestled on the roof of the building flew away, their wing beats echoing throughout the room. Their shadows washed over the pair as they continued to stand almost back to back.
Suddenly Spyro caught something in the corner of his eyes. He saw it for only a brief moment, a small movement in the shadows. His eyes snapped to its position, and was greeted with a soft glint of light emerging out to greet him.
"Jericho! Sentinel!" Spyro cried out as a large wolf anthro adorned in their signature angular and geometric crystalic armor emerged from the shadows, wielding a sword cut of the same type of crystal. He slashed it at Spyro, and a wave of purple energy lashed out from the blade. It struck a row of seats behind the dragon and the force of the energy split them in two. Spyro was sent flying as he leapt out of the way to avoid the blast, landing a few feet away.
Jericho reacted immediately, swinging his rifle to point at the Sentinel and firing a few bursts out of it. The bullets impacted onto his armor and were absorbed before bouncing away harmlessly. The Sentinel grinned at Jericho before bringing his sword to bare for another strike at him. Jericho grit his teeth in worry as he fired another burst from his weapon. The bullets were again absorbed but were chipping away at the armor's effectiveness slowly as more and more began to cause cracklings along his armor.
Jericho continued firing until he saw the Sentinel slash his blade, which meant that Jericho had to begin moving to dodge. He threw himself forward and away from the attack, nearly getting away as the slash of energy slammed into a metal crate nearby, ripping it in two. The Sentinel gave a crazed laugh as he slashed again and again, blowing holes in the walls and seats. Jericho was forced to fire on the move as he leapt from column to column, chair to chair to put everything and anything between himself and that weapon.
Spyro had recovered himself by now and was working his way behind the Sentinel as he was focused on Jericho. Finally Spyro decided it was time and he raced forwards to meet the Sentinel and attack him. He fired an arc of electricity at the Sentinel, only to have his armor absorb the energy and expel it. The Sentinel turned and brought his sword onto the dragon now. Spyro's eyes widened as he had to flap his wings to escape his attack. He sailed up into the air, trying to stay ahead of his attacks. The Sentinel slashed again and again, sending wave after wave into the air. They struck the ceiling, blowing massive holes in the wood and glass structure. The entire building rocked as the structural integrity of the old structure was put to the ultimate test. Spyro continued propelling himself from spot to spot, trying to get enough time to use an attack. After having had enough Spyro finally opened his muzzle and unleashed a wave of fire that descended onto the Sentinel. He raised his arm to block the fire but Spyro continued pouring it on, ensuring to not give him a break.
Jericho added his own attacks in too, firing a fully automatic burst that caused some of the Sentinel's armor to fail and shatter. Finally the Sentinel ended the attack by slamming the sword into the ground, sending a shockwave that threw both Jericho and Spyro to the ground.
Spyro hit hard, scraping his head against a nearby bench and groaned as he felt he was bleeding. Jericho rubbed his head as he had been thrown against a wall. He reached for his weapon quickly as the Sentinel pulled his sword from the ground. He gave an evil grin as he began walking towards Jericho. Jericho quickly pointed the weapon his way and pulled the trigger.
Only clicks responded to his actions, causing Jericho to start gasping as he realized his magazine was dry. Spyro saw this and sprung up to act, but was stopped when the Sentinel let out a wet gargling sound.
Confused, Spyro raised his head to get a closer look, and was shocked when he saw an arrow jutting from a small gap between the Sentinel's helmet and his vulnerable neck. There might have only been less then an inch of space where the gap existed, but the arrow had found its mark and had sank deep into the creature's flesh. The wolf gasped for air as his wind pipe had been pierced by the arrow. With both hands he gripped it, his eyes bulging out and rolling up as life left the beast. He collapsed onto his kneels and fell backwards, one of his paws still defiantly gripping the arrow as they could both hear him exhale his last breath.
"Jericho?!" Spyro asked, racing out now that he knew it was safe. Jericho had been frozen this entire time but finally took in a breath. Without a second thought he dumped his empty magazine and placed a fresh one in its place, not willing to risk that again.
He walked forward cautiously, his rifle swaying from side to side as silence came to claim the room again. He walked towards the dead Sentinel, and slowly knelt down to inspect the arrow jutting from the wolf's neck. Spyro walked over too, leaning down to get a better look at it.
"An arrow…?" Jericho asked, placing a finger on it.
"You know, you two can make QUITE a racket. It's hard to get sleep!" A voice bellowed from nearby, causing them both look up. There, on the same balcony where they had seen Robert for the first time they saw him once again, his shotgun slung over his shoulder. This time, however, he wasn't alone. There, beside him stood another figure. It was an anthro cheetah wearing a thick winter overcoat and a ballistic vest covering that. In the cheetah's arms he held a bow and arrow, with another one already drawn halfway. The cheetah reached up, pulling down the part of his tunic that covered his head. It was Hunter, of Avalar.
/Transitioning…/
[Done]
"Looks like it's all clear. Front ends clear." Robert said as he walked down the hallway, clutching his shotgun. Jericho ran down from the other end, stepping over a fallen piece of the wall.
"Back end is clear too. Looks like that guy was alone." Jericho said, taking in a deep breath.
"We should join Hunter and your friend, see what they have to say." Robert said while turning to go back upstairs. They had searched high and low for any more Sentinel intruders, but they hadn't found anybody else inside. They bumped into Hunter and Spyro as they were descending down from the second floor, and Robert ushered them down the halls to an open office. Spyro recognized it as where he had found Robert looking at the old photo the last time they had visited him. Robert let his shotgun fall against the desk as he walked around behind it and sat down, kicking his legs up. It seemed like a scenario that both Spyro and Jericho were familiar with by now. The rest of them huddled around the small office, quickly filling the room.
"You boys picked an interesting time to come back, you know that right?" Robert said, looking up at Jericho who only smirked in response.
"What was that thing? How come my elemental attacks did nothing to him?"
"My bullets pinged off his armor, like it was shielded or something…" Jericho said, recalling the battle.
"That is because he is a Sentinel Shock Troop. His armor is highly energized and resistant to both elemental attack and ballistic weapons. They are what the Dark Master sends before his ground forces. He is a prelude to an invasion." Hunter remarked, leaning forward.
"Prelude to an invasion? What's he doing here and not… I don't know, in Baltimore or somewhere else. This seems like a strange place to send your spec ops guys…" Jericho said with a huff.
"I think they sent that fella to find you guys. Find him." Robert motioned to Spyro, who tilted his head.
"I think Masters is right. The Sentinels have sent a number of these special operatives into the forests here. I do believe they were meant to find you, Spyro. They are after that flash drive that Jericho carries."
"Well, they'll be awfully disappointed, because I don't have it anymore!"
"Oh? So then… how'd your trip to New York go? Get any suvineers? Get a t-shirt?"
"A what?"
"It's an old joke." Robert said, laughing.
"No… t-shirts but you wouldn't believe what we found up there."
"Try me, I'm gullible." Robert placed his arms behind his head, while leaning back into his chair, smiling at the other human. Jericho laughed at that.
"Try… the entirety of human civilization. The entirety of old US North, holed up behind a massive security wall."
"Say what? US North?"
"Yeah! Philadelphia, New York… it's all there Robert. They survived the war and are still there!"
"Well I'll be damned! How the hell did they manage to sneak all that under the radar all these years? Not once did I ever get a single radio broadcast from that way… Nobody I've ever talked to has either."
"That's because they've gone through… extensive lengths to hide themselves. Radio black outs, complete isolation. They're there though Robert… humanity is there."
"Well I'll be damned… I would have never thought… Heh, haha!" Robert gripped his head as he started laughing. Spyro tilted his head.
"What's so funny?" He asked.
"This, all of this! I knew we were too tough for some… magical beasts to snuff out. Yeah… that makes me happy inside." Robert smiled wide, his beard and mustache parting for the briefest of moments as life entered his eyes.
"That is quite impressive. Our scouts have done extensive investigations but we never suspected for an entire human society to exist out in the Forbidden Zone…" Hunter said, rubbing his chin.
"Well… they kind of didn't want to be found. They propped up the myth of the Forbidden Zone. They weren't too thrilled of being discovered…"
"So then the flash drive is safe? It is in good hands?" Hunter asked, walking to the table.
"The best of hands. The US Military has it now, and all the toys that were on that thing. No way in HELL the Dark Master'll ever see it now." Jericho leaned back in his chair, proud.
"There's enough defenses between here and New York that they'll never get through that. I bet the Dark Master doesn't even know about the humans." Spyro said with his own smile.
"Oh I doubt that. But… well he's sure made some pains to find you guys before you made it up north." Robert added, his face shifting from happiness to solemn.
"Why's that? They didn't send an entire army up north to comb the forests, did they?"
"Well… that's one way to put it." Robert sat up straight in his chair and pressed his elbows against the table.
"Ever since you boys left, sentinels of all kinds have been pouring in from the west. They flooded that old field of Goliaths a couple miles from here and have set up a staging ground. I figured they set it up as a command center to find you guys. They… seemed awfully determined to track you guys down. Least, that's what I thought after Hunter told me about how much they wanted that flash drive of yours."
"Hunter, how… did you get here?" Spyro asked, turning to the cheetah.
"After you all left Avalar's borders, more and more Sentinel activity began to occur along the frontier. We thought they might be on the brink of an invasion, and I found out more about that flash drive of yours. Vivex, the Sentinel commander was going to stop at nothing to retrieve it, so I knew you were all in grave danger. I set out at once to find you, following your path and meeting with your old acquaintances to retrace your steps. I arrived here only a day or so ago."
"Boy did he ever. You two should have seen it, it was quite the game of cat and mouse! That was the most fun I've had in years… Only reason why I didn't shoot him first chance was because of how fun it was."
"Indeed." Hunter said, sporting a small smirk at that.
"Yeah because I was about to say, I'm surprised Robert DIDN'T shoot you. You haven't been that… well, welcoming to guests Robert."
"Well I made friends with a dragon, didn't I? A cheetah's no different! Right, that's not crazy, right?"
"No, no it's not Robert." Spyro said, laughing.
"So you… came to find me Hunter? We delivered the flash drive, we… well we did it. What did you want of me?" Spyro asked, turning to the cheetah.
"Spyro the east is on the brink of war, with the Dark Master marching in to take it. I wanted to ask you for your help to trying to stop that. You aren't like other dragons, I can feel it. You're meant to fulfill a special role, and I think its to help fight back against the Dark Master."
"Special doesn't even begin to cover it, Hunter." Jericho said while raising an eyebrow.
"I don't see how… one dragon can do that…" The young dragon looked at the floor, unable to believe he'd really be able to make much of a dent in the invasion.
"Spyro, you kidding me? You nearly leveled that research lab in New York! I think you can do a number against the Sentinels. Plus… well with as much as Vivex wanted you in his control, I think the thing they fear the most is… well, you!"
"I guess so… I came down here with my own mission in mind. Both Jericho and myself…"
"What, delivering that drive wasn't enough for the two of you? Boy, take a vacation!" The old gruff human let out a chuckle as he waved his hand dismissively from behind his desk. Hunter gave a sigh at that.
"What were you looking to do, Spyro?" Hunter asked, turning to him.
"I had… a vision. I saw Cynder, she was captured by the Sentinels. I'm going to save her, bring her back."
"Ah yes… Masters told me that your two comrades met an unfortunate fate outside of Baltimore. My condolences, Spyro."
"Thanks… If there's any way I can help her… any way I can save her, I'm going to do it. I won't lose her like I did Flame. I won't… I won't allow it." Spyro looked up at the cheetah with sheer determination. It made the cheetah smile slightly.
"Well, do you know where she is?" Hunter asked.
"I… I don't… know. I just know that she was being taken to… a fortress, somewhere up in the north."
"A fortress?" Hunter reached up and rubbed his chin before turning and walking to his rucksack which he had placed against the wall. Robert even sat up now, and was fiddling with one of the nearby drawers. He pulled out a rolled up map and spread it out over the table. After clearing some of his nick nacks, the map filled the entire table, revealing a full read out of the continental United States. It was Robert's personal map, so personal inscriptions and writings filled it. Detailed descriptions of factions, towns and new cities filled the east coast of the continent.
"Man, she could be in any number of places…" Jericho commented while leaning over it. Hunter walked back over and leaned over too, looking intently across the map's surface. He reached over and traced a paw along the paper's surface, arriving at a few different points as the cheetah was thinking.
"The Sentinels operate another base along the east, outside of their Baltimore base. We've known about its existence for years, but have never been able to find it. It was nothing more then a staging ground to bring troops east, but with their expulsion from Baltimore, I imagine it's taken on a more… commanding role."
"You don't have any idea where it might be? Where any possible places could reside?" Spyro asked, looking up at the cheetah for any answer at all. Hunter pulled a few scrolls from his sack and set them on top of Robert's map, spreading them out. A few were maps themselves, with circles dotting dozens of possible places. Some placed this supposed base in Philadelphia, southern Tennessee, even smack dab in the forgotten lands! More possible places included just west of the Appalachians, or even as north as these massive lakes only referred to as the "Great Lakes."
"You don't remember anything else from your vision Spyro? Anything at all?" Hunter asked while thumbing through different possible locations.
"No… just that it was in the north. That's all I can remember…"
"There are a few possible places in the north, but that's still at least three." Hunter placed down three separate sheets of paper that had a clipping of a map showing the possible place, and a detailed report of what the place might be like. Jericho picked up one of the papers and began looking it over, and Spyro pulled on a paper to call his own as he began scanning its surface. This dossier was about an old abandoned shopping center in a city called "Columbus, Ohio." There were some old pre-war photos attached to the paper, but none of them reminded him of what he had seen. The area was urban, with buildings as far as the eye could see. Even if the war had changed this place, Spyro recognized nothing from here. Disappointed, he placed the paper down and looked at the third one.
From a quick glance, he could see some of the attached photos. He saw what looked like a series of buildings in the shadow of a hill, separated from the rest of the world by a sprawling forest… Spyro reached out and immediately grabbed the paper, reading over its contents. It was an old prison, one that Hunter's group suspected the Sentinels used as a staging ground, a stopover on their way to the east. As he looked over more of the photos, they reminded him more and more of the vision. This had to be it!
"Hunter, what about this one?" Spyro placed the dossier down in front of the cheetah, and he leaned in to look at it closer. Jericho set his own dossier down and leaned in, curious.
"The old prison? What makes you sure of this one?"
"In the vision, I remembered a collection of buildings, in the shadow of a hill. A large, luscious forest surrounded the compound, just like in these photographs…"
"You know, that description would have helped us sooner…" Jericho said, smirking. Spyro gave him a look speaking of stress and tension, which was enough to make the human smile and shake his head.
"If you ask me, a prison sounds like the best place to set up shop! Those old cell blocks can make for excellent barracks to house your army." Robert said, throwing his own two cents in. Hunter nodded at his comment and gave a quick read over the dossier. He removed a folded map from the last page of the dossier's clippings and unfolded it for them to see. It was a highly detailed schematic of the prison, dating from before the war. He set it down on the table now.
"This place, it could possibly be it. From the scattered… rumors of this place we've seen and heard, the Sentinels always referred to it as the Citadel, or even at times, the Prison."
"There you go! Where is this place, then?" Jericho asked, elated.
Hunter pushed the papers aside, looking down at Robert's old map. He scanned its surface before finding the city of Pittsburgh on the map. He tapped his finger on a spot residing northeast of the city.
"Here, it is here. Just outside the old city, nestled amongst hills just as Spyro said."
"That's a bit far, but I think Donnelly gave us enough fuel for us to make it there and back. I just hope he's right, I'd hate to fly on fumes." Jericho said while rubbing his chin.
"So hold on there dragon. You're talkin about assaulting their main base on the east now. You sure that's such a good idea?" Robert asked, turning to Spyro.
"I let Flame down. I won't do that to Cynder. Besides, if what Hunter says is true, if war truly is here, well I can't just let them act first. We have to go there, find out what's happening."
Robert smirked at Spyro's determined tone. He gave him a smile before sitting back in his chair, seemingly satisfied with his answer.
"You won't be going alone Spyro. I will be there to aid you. Masters is right, assaulting this place will not be easy. What little information we have on this place is from before the war, and from hearsay. We've never seen the place in person, or know what it will even be like. It will not be easy."
"Well we never asked for easy, did we?" Jericho said, crossing his arms.
"I'm ready for it, if you guys are." Spyro looked around, seeing both Jericho and Hunter nod. Sparx gave his own smile of approval, even doing a backflip from excitement. Robert laughed and crossed his arms while leaning back in his chair.
"Man, sounds like you boys are about to have yet another exciting adventure! I'd join you but… well… these old bones have had plenty of adventure already! You have my best of wishes though young one. I hope you can find her, and save her. It'd be a lot more then I could do in my days." Robert smiled, a smile that resonated far more with the dragon then any of his previous smiles. It was genuine, and heart felt. It made Spyro smile in return, and nod softly.
"Thank you Robert…"
"Robert, where are you going to go while we do this? You can't stay here, not with those Sentinels within rock's throwing distance…"
"Robert, I actually have a favor to ask of you." Hunter walked over to his sack again, and retrieved a folded slip of paper. He handed it to Robert who took it and stood up.
"What's this?" Robert asked, opening it up to read it over.
"It's a message I want passed along. There is an old crow who lives along the eastern shores here. He is an ally of my Order, and lives amongst an old radio station on the coast. It would help our cause if you could pass this message along to him."
"Old crow… wait, you're talking about Daedlyn, aren't you? Yeah! I know that old crow! He can sell a mean batch of fish, let me tell you!"
"Wait, you know Daedlyn? I thought you were the only one up here." Jericho asked, genuinely surprised.
"What? I know other traders around here! As far as I know, I'm the farthest fella north! That doesn't mean I don't go out and visit with others here. I have friends too you know! I'm not a total shut in! Come on, give me some credit…" The old man huffed and placed the paper in his jacket pocket, making Spyro laugh.
"What's on the message, Hunter?" Jericho asked while turning to the cheetah.
"It's a message I hope Daedlyn can use his radio tower for. It's a plea to all the leaders along the east, warning them of the coming war. It's a call to unite, to stand up against the Dark Master."
"Unite? I don't think that's possible out there…" Jericho said, frowning.
"We passed a lot of conflicts, a lot of wars. There isn't much uniting out there, Hunter…" Spyro said, agreeing with Jericho.
"That may be the case, but without a united front, they won't last a moment against the Dark Master or his armies. If what you say is true, the only ones who can truly contest the Dark Master now are the humans, and they've isolated themselves so much they would be unwilling to hear any plea for help."
"It's worth a try, what do you say, Robert?" Spyro turned to the human, who gave a shrug.
"Makes sense to me. I guess I'll make a detour and visit the old crow for a little bit. It'll be nice to get some quality sleep since those rowdy Sentinels moved in next door."
"Alright! We'll hit that Sentinel base, get Donnelly's intel, save Cynder and even stop a Sentinel invasion! Looks like we'll be able to kill all our birds with one stone!" Jericho said with a laugh.
"Do what now?"
"It's an old saying, just go with it."
"We should head out at once. There is no telling how much the Sentinel presence here has increased, and it would not be wise or safe to stay here for much longer."
"I agree with Hunter, we ought to get going. I'll go get the bird ready for lift off. We can leave as soon as you guys are all ready." Jericho turned and walked out of the room to return to his drop ship. Hunter turned to leave, but spotted Spyro still looking at the map.
"Is there something wrong young one?"
"Uh, oh! No… I'm just wondering what it's going to be like. There, I mean, at the Citadel."
"Well whatever it's like, I'm certain we can conquer it, together."
"Right, together." Spyro said, nodding back at the cheetah. Robert walked over and began rolling up his map, along with putting several other of his items away in cases for storage or travel. They began to pack their things away and prepared for the imminent assault. Soon, they would be underway, going against a place they knew little about.
Spyro walked outside of the depot, seeing Jericho and Hunter walking around the dropship, looking for any damage or any imperfections on the craft. Hunter was saying something to Jericho, pointing to what looked like a canon mounted to the nose of the craft. They both knelt down and began inspecting it, and it very much looked like a case of Hunter explaining the canon to Jericho. It was a sight that perplexed the dragon!
Robert came out of the depot after Spyro, carrying a sack of supplies on his back, as well as his good old shotgun slung against his shoulder. He walked passed Spyro and waved at him, throwing his pack down next to the craft to get Jericho and Hunter's attention.
"So fellas, are we ready to go? I hope there's an onboard movie!"
"Just about. Ain't she a beauty?" Jericho motioned to the craft while walking over to Robert.
"I guess you really weren't kidding about society still being out there somewhere. Now that's the sign of engineering there! No duct tape or… glue… Good old craftsmanship there." Robert took a walk around the aircraft before clasping his hands together and turning back to Jericho.
"Well, shall we?"
"Alright guys, let's get going. I don't want to hang around until the Sentinels start poking around for this massive drop ship!" Jericho climbed up the open cargo hatch and entered the cockpit, followed by Hunter and Robert.
"Hell, I'm surprised they didn't notice! They must have their faces buried in that field over there!" Spyro smiled at Robert's comment, but it did make him think of something. Before boarding the craft, he turned his head towards the distant and faded Goliaths. The Sentinels were over there, doing something. What were they there for? Was it all part of their invasion plan? For now, Spyro couldn't ponder too long on it. They had another fish to fry.
As soon as Spyro and his dragonfly compatriot boarded the craft, Jericho sealed the ramp. It didn't take long for the massive jet engines to start spooling up, invading the quiet and still sunset. The dropship sailed up into the air, kicking away more fallen leaves and pieces of debris in the old parking lot. As they shot onwards into the sky, dark clouds began to churn overhead. They began to cover and obscure the setting sun, denying the world a final glimpse at the powerful and mighty star. Snow fell in the wake of their craft, coating the dead and dying grass of the hidden depot. The last dying gasps of life were being sucked away by the black cold of winter. It was an omen of things to come.
End of Chapter 20
A/C: Hey guys! Man, it's been crazy right? Three chapters in three weeks (or so lul) and not ten months? Yeah, that's crazy... :p So the next chapter is "finished" but not really... I need to redo one of the more major scenes because it... well it just doesn't seem right and I need certain things to happen for future chapters to make sense. So... the next chapter might not be as fast coming out. We'll see though... My laptop also broke, which is the primary way I write the story so I'll need to somehow get another one... Still got my trusty desktop though, so that's a plus. Anyway, just thought I'd keep you guys updated. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and look forward to more =D