fleets: PFFFFT I realized half of this was just sitting on my computer, waiting to be finished. Well hallelujah 4th of July weekend, because I finished the other half that needed finishing :P

Chapter 10: The Face of the Enemy

Hawk lay in bed, still in his suit, as he waited for Kestrel working in the other room to decode more information about the government's movements. Right now it was up to him to use that information to think of a plan to fly out of the country – it wasn't safe to stay in the United States anymore. Sighing, he rubbed his forehead and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. It used to be a lot easier back when the group was still together. All he really had to worry about was find information and pick out the most useful ones to present to Dugal so he could make the decisions on what to do next. If Dugal wasn't available, then he would go to Condor who usually turned into the substitute leader when times called for it. Now both of them were gone, and Hawk was beginning to feel the stress of handling responsibilities he wasn't sure he was ready for.

"Huh. Not so sure of yourself, are you?"

A snide voice from one of the monitors made Hawk glance up from between his fingers covering his eyes. There was an image of Dark on the screen, sitting cross-legged where they had left him after their brief meeting. The boy's one eye was red, indicating he was spying with his invisible creature he called 'Bates.'

"You put up a good act earlier, sounding oh so confident about your plans. But here's the truth you don't want to hear; you're not confident at all," Dark continued, gazing intently at the screen.

Hawk narrowed his eyes, and then reached over for the remote and switched off the monitor even though he knew it was bad work ethics to do so: he trusted Kestrel would keep watch of Dark. Right now, he didn't need to see or hear Dark's jeers. It was evident that Dark was trying to gain more information by prodding and seeing if he could get a reaction from him. They had miscalculated about the fact that Dark could watch them anywhere.

Hawk's eyes slowly moved towards the mirror where he caught a glimpse of a flying bat creature observing him. It appeared to give him a little grin, and then flapped away from the mirror out of sight. Hawk grumbled to himself, and then shook his yellow blond hair away from his face as he rolled over on the bed. He closed his eyes tiredly, and remembered how he had first got into the business of working as the infamous Talon Three. He'd never really planned to get into a business so sketchy and treacherous. In fact, he wasn't sure if Dugal himself had ever planned it to be this way. Maybe they just got way in over their heads, and got in too deep to escape their reputation.

He first met Dugal after being dismissed from the United States Air Force Academy, and the day they met was the day the idea of Talon Three had emerged. Hawk had known about the cocky troublemaker before he had met him in person, and it was because of this that he had been given a mandatory leave the same day Dugal had dropped out. He had been the chief editor of the Academy newspaper, "Hawkeye," and he had a knack of fleshing out all of the best gossip around campus. His quest to find the most well-hidden truths ultimately led him to the supernatural incident surrounding Dugal, which in turn made him a dangerous existence in the eyes of the Academy.

That incident with the mysterious shard and the unfortunate student turning into some hideous monster was a rumor that was supposed to remain a rumor. Someone like Hawk who could turn rumors into truths was someone no longer needed on campus.

Before Hawk could publish the article citing evidence for the injustice of blaming Dugal for the disappearance of the roommate, his newspaper was banned and he was asked to leave for some unrelated, ridiculous reason. He had chased down Dugal after they had both left the academy, and they met for the first time at a crowded Dunkin Donuts.

Dugal had been as frigid and intimidating as Hawk had heard him to be. He had only reluctantly agreed to meet after Hawk had managed to describe the incident with the shard with relative accuracy, and when Hawk first saw him sitting at one of the tables he never felt more disquieted by someone eating a donut:

"I hope you're not going to waste my time. I am not in a good mood."

"That's understandable. The Academy was unfair towards you," Hawk sat down, wondering why he needed to feel so nervous by someone eating a chocolate glaze.

"I am not in a good mood because they ran out of Bavarian cream."

"… Ah."

"Now are you going to just sit there and tell me what I already know, or tell me something worth listening to?"

And so for about half an hour Hawk told his story about the ban on his newspaper at the Academy under the condescending gaze of Dugal. Hawk didn't know why he hadn't been offended by the way Dugal, who was supposedly a grade younger than him, treated him as someone as important as a flea. Maybe it was that air of complete superiority – there were some people in the world who were gifted with that special charisma that excused them from crimes and made people listen, whether they wanted to or not. Another hour later and Dugal had finally begun to pay attention, apparently impressed by how much Hawk knew about even the most classified things.

"No wonder 'Hawkeye' was banned. You dredge things up that aren't meant to be found, not to mention you actually have facts to back you up instead of just guesswork."

"Rumors don't satisfy me. I like to turn them into facts."

"Hmm. You also have this… 'look.' Has anyone mentioned that to you?"

"Er, maybe?"

"You can get people to talk. You look harmless, even if you're not, and people trust you because of that. And even if they don't tell you everything, you're good at picking up things that are important, and even things that are left unsaid. Most people don't understand how much you can learn just by listening to the things people avoid talking about, but you have a talent for that."

Hawk hadn't been flattered by the compliment. He probably would have been, if it weren't for the way Dugal looked at him like a specimen of interest.

"I can use someone like you. That's what you really wanted to talk about today, isn't it? You want to find the truth about the shard, and you figured I would too. You can't do it alone, so you want me to join you in your search."

In truth, Hawk hadn't really known what he had wanted out of that meeting with Dugal. Initially he had simply wanted to talk to the student who was so famously rebellious towards the upper ranks, and who had caused a stir in the Academy with the shard incident. He had wanted to learn what kind of a person he was to satisfy his own curiosity, and had been planning to move on and cut ties with the icy Dugal afterwards. However, it had been difficult to deny that kind of authoritative decisiveness and Hawk had ended up nodding in agreement.

"We're not equals. I don't need you. I have a purpose that will push me forward. I already have an offer that will take me to where I need to go next to get closer to my goal. You, however, need me. You were expelled from the Academy and now you don't have anywhere to go. You have no purpose without me, because without me the truth that you want will just melt through your fingertips."

Now that he thought about it, maybe he had been hypnotized. But that was just the way Dugal was with lots of people – he just told them what they were, and they became what he told them they were supposed to be.

"I will work with you under a few conditions. First, you will use your skills to find a few more men who are capable but will listen to me. Men only: I don't want to deal with any complications that may arise from having women working alongside men. We will form a group that will be the most reliable for hire by companies who want their activities… hidden. In return, I will pay everyone handsomely for their services and you will be able to get closer to the truth about the shard incident."

"I don't understand… is this… legal?"

"Is what legal?"

"What kind of jobs are we talking about?"

"Hawk, you must have realized by now that if you want to learn more about the shard incident you can't stay a good citizen. The only way to see the reality is to go where people are unafraid of seeing the dark side of things."

"Hawk? You mean me?"

"That is what you will be called from now on. Should you take up this proposition, you will refer to me as Halstead Dugal and forget the name I used at the Academy."

"… Alright, Dugal."

"Fantastic. We'll start right away so we can begin to earn necessary funds. The first thing I need you to do is to find the large corporations that are interested in energy manipulation, or those that are interested in 'zerons.' The black market and the underground is where you'll want to look first. Here's a down payment of one thousand dollars. You will receive three thousand more if you can track a corporation interested in these things."

"… Yes, sir."

"Perhaps you'll be able to recruit more people during your search."

"There is someone that comes to mind who dropped out of the Air Force Academy for personal reasons: a brilliant strategist whose skills were put to waste because he's more of a follower than a leader. I think I can track him down."

"Good. He'll be Condor. And we'll be called… Talon. Raptors who'll one day soar above all, with the knowledge that the Academy was afraid of."

Hawk opened his eyes. What a long way they had come since that outrageous plan that had emerged in a modest fast food restaurant. He had done his part and had recruited the best in the business; Condor who was the perfect right-hand-man to Dugal, Kestrel who could handle the most difficult decoding and inventing gadgets, and Harrier the ruthless assassin. Hawk took the job of information master. There hadn't been anything they couldn't handle, and these powerful characters had all been held together under the overbearing authority of Dugal the Helmaroc King. Now the king was dethroned and they were falling apart. It forced him to look at the purpose of Talon Three's existence now that the spell had lifted.

"Hawk, I finished the decoding. Time for you to do what you do best and pick it apart." Kestrel walked into the room holding his laptop with lines of information on the screen. He stopped and hesitated, glancing at Hawk lying on the bed and all of the monitors turned off. "Are you feeling alright?"

Hawk sighed and sat up slowly. He avoided Kestrel's gaze. "Kestrel, I don't know how much longer I can do this. I'm not a strategist like Dugal or Condor. I'm a member of Talon Three, but now that the leader is gone I can't help but feel like I'm still only the editor of my university newspaper."

Kestrel frowned and nudged his sunglasses. "You're doing a good job so far. I mean, we haven't been caught yet."

"That's because the government is using its energies trying to track Dugal, don't you see? Look, Dark was right; we're picking a fight with one hell of a country. Maybe we're way in over our heads…" he tugged his tie miserably, "we haven't thought ahead at all."

Kestrel crossed his arms angrily. "You're letting Darkie's comments get to you, I bet. You would never have thought such a thing if Dugal was still here."

"Because he knew what we had to do! Me? I might be able to pretend like I do for the sake of us both, but I don't have a clue!" Hawk clenched his teeth, the stress finally getting to him. There was only so much a man could take before he finally broke. "All I ever wanted to do was find out the truth about the shard incident at the Air Force Academy, and why there was so much confidentiality surrounding it. Years later and I still don't feel like I'm any closer to the truth, and I've even deviated from my original goal. Look at me! I'm running for my life from the government, fighting against my former colleague who's turned traitor, and getting hired to complete the shady assignments of the underworld. What have I become?"

"A fucking badass," Kestrel laughed, and patted his partner on the shoulder. "We're not helpless just because we don't have someone telling us what to do. Din, we have everything to be able to pull off what we need to pull off. It's the king without his servants who is the most helpless right now, not us. Just grin and bear it: you're just nervous."

"Except servants who're not used to leading are bound to make blunders in the beginning, and blunders are something we can all do without right now."

Hawk and Kestrel immediately whirled around and reached for their guns at the sound of a voice by the door. Dark was standing by the doorway, free from his confinement and watching them smugly as he tossed Bates' red stone in his hands. "You made a mistake when you switched off your monitor, Hawk. I'm pretty resourceful, and I'm good at sneaking in and sneaking out of places." Dark flipped the red stone in the air, and then put it back into his pockets. Bates flew around the two Talon men like a watchdog, occasionally making sure to stop in front of the mirror where he was sure they could see him. Dark casually strolled over to the couch in the room and sat down.

"How did you get out?" Hawk demanded, ruffled from earlier.

Dark merely grinned broadly. "I have my ways." He refused to elaborate, and changed the subject. "I think I decided what to do." Dark raised his arms up in the air in a sign of truce. "I'll work with you under the condition you don't treat me like your prisoner. From everything I've heard I'm going to assume you'll be looking for Vaati next, and I want to find him too. Keep me involved, and I promise I'll be invaluable."

Hawk smirked, now recovered from the initial shock of finding their captive out of his room. "What can a runt like you contribute? We would prefer it if you cooperate, but not necessarily as equals."

"Who saved us from Harrier's gas chamber, huh?" Dark snapped. "You can't say you've forgotten about that."

That got Hawk to shut up. During the Avilux incident, it had been Dark who had figured out how to escape from ex-Talon Harrier's murderous trap. Maybe he could be more useful than being a mere captive. Still, he was hesitant on letting Dark in on everything.

"Look, I don't trust either you or the government right now so don't worry about me turning you in," Dark added. "You also have to understand the risk I'll be going through by working against the government with you – I know Dugal's gone and you're not feeling confident but I've seen what you guys can do."

"You were listening…" Hawk muttered grudgingly.

"Well yeah," Dark said it like it was obvious, "and you said so yourself that the only reason you haven't been caught is because the government is focusing on Vaati and Dugal right now. Well, all we have to do is find them before they do and you won't have to worry about that anymore.

Kestrel lowered his gun. "Kid's got a point."

Hawk seemed to mull over it for a little bit. Then, he finally put his gun away and turned his back. "Dark, was it?"

"Yeah."

Talon Three's information master reached over and handed Dark Kestrel's laptop. He sounded a lot more confident than before. "First order of business is to leave the country, and this is what we're going to do…"

XXXXXXXX

"Oww," Vaati woke up inside a tent of some sort that had been set up on a beach somewhere. Once his vision had returned, he surveyed his situation: his hands were cuffed together behind his back and there were three guards with rifles standing at the entrance of the tent. Night had fallen completely, and Vaati thought he could see the outline of those creepy hounds pacing outside with their faintly glowing red eyes. They eerily reminded him of a breed of Wolfos from the distant past, except these only had a single eye in the middle of their foreheads.

Vaati clenched his fists and rolled his fingers. Feh, I can escape this easily, he thought as he experimented with a small spell that summoned a breeze within the tent. Shackles like these won't contain me.

He could escape any time he wanted to; the question now was when. Dugal was nowhere in sight – they had no doubt taken him elsewhere for separate interrogation. The sorcerer shifted his weight and made himself comfortable as he waited patiently. Perhaps he could learn a few things about what the government wanted before he made his escape. This could be a good opportunity to learn what Dugal wouldn't tell him, and he was also curious about the mysterious shadow hounds as well.

XXXXXXXXX

In a few tents away from the one Vaati was held, Halstead Dugal was at a complete loss of words before the man, no… thing… in front of him. It chuckled in a near mechanical voice like something from a twisted science fiction movie. Unlike the other soldiers on the island, it was dressed in an expensive black suit, and it took a few minutes to fix its cuffs. "I can't believe you gave us so much trouble, sir. You are unbelievable," it chuckled again and observed its leather gloved fingers nonchalantly.

"You…" Dugal finally managed after having trouble finding his voice. He rarely lost his composure, but this was one of the few times his mind had gone blank.

The creature turned its head, masked like the hounds by a metallic helm that was skull-like in appearance, towards the captured ex-Talon leader. Lodged in the center of the mask was a single, red mechanical eye that watched the speechless Dugal with a hint of amusement. Bits of black shadowy tendrils like the ones from the hounds seeped from the back of its head. There was grotesqueness to the way its monstrous head mismatched its impeccable wardrobe. "Unfortunately it was only a matter of time before we finally caught up to you. Because you see, I don't think you realized we had inside information."

The corner of Dugal's mouth twitched. His face darkened behind his glasses and his lips contorted into a snarl. No wonder the government had exceeded his expectations to catch up to them. No wonder the government could predict their movements with relative accuracy. It all made sense now, but it didn't make him any happier knowing the reason why.

It made him absolutely enraged.

"Ha," Dugal snorted, and then looked at the emotionless Cyclops straight in the eye, "I should have known."

"Perhaps."

"Condor," the name came out in a hiss.

The once agent of Talon Three, no longer recognizable as his former self save for the bright blue tie, took a few steps towards Dugal who sat on the ground with his hands restrained behind his back. Condor brought his inhuman, mechanical eye closer to his former boss's face, and then gave a short bow. His voice was artificial, yet he managed to make it sound mocking.

"Yes sir."

fleets: Condor was so lame in Avilux. He was such a boring, cookie-cutter character because I didn't know what to do with him. Now he's not, and I like him so much better for it. I'll be sure to put up a deviation of him and the hounds soon: I've wanted to draw them for a while now but couldn't because it would be too big of a spoiler (and now I can!). Sorry if this chapter was OC heavy. I don't really know how to write this story anymore without writing a ton about the OCs. Hope you don't mind...

Midna Hytwilian: Lol now you've got me imagining that scene with Demyx running around with Heartless running after him XD

msfcatlover: Poor Hawk, he kind of broke down in this scene. Seems like he was forcing himself a little in the last scene. It's all part of Thistle's little card reading coming true... Dugal and Vaati are horrible together because they don't listen XD

Sapphiet: Condor is totally a dirt rat. You'll be seeing more of that. I forgot my login information on Squiby, so I don't know what it looks like anymore hahaha :P

Purplegc: The government totally makes crazy stuff all the time! I was super surprised when I learned they were making laser weapons to shoot down missiles. My first reaction was: "holy... Star Wars anyone?"

henslight: The comment about Dark - you're thinking exactly like him ;) The hounds are something else. We don't know what they are yet though. Yep, they're doomed if they don't learn from their mistakes and start working together for real.

windmaster45: We don't know what they are yet, but we'll find out later (well, I know what they are but I'm not saying yet!) :P

SubZeroChimera: Someone in the government knows a bit about magic, hmm? ;)

Reily96: Yes. Yes you do ;P

Lord Siravant: Haha I know how you feel about focusing on the sequel before finishing the current story. Dark seems to have decided to take his chances with Hawk and Kestrel, let's see if his decision was the right one!

TwilightWakerofTime: :D :D Thank you! And yikes I forgot how I left this story at an evil cliffhanger! And now I'm going to leave it at another evil cliffhanger. I'm such a terrible person XD

wish799: The temple should be up next (finally!) we're almost there!

Kate: Vaati still has his magic, but seems like he's going to wait it out for now. Oh, sure thing! I'll probably put up a writing guide I follow for all of my stories sometime soonish on my deviantart website since the process is too long to explain here :) I plan a lot of it before I write anything because it's a lot easier later.