A/N: You may have noticed that this is not what I originally had written. That's because my reviewers were right: my first version was terrible. That's because I wrote it at three in the morning on a night were I hadn't had much sleep. I will try and make this go at a slower pace, but I have to admit that I was kind of hoping for some GOOD reviews last time. I don't mind constructive criticism, but you guys were kind of rude. I don't know why I care what you guys think, though. It's my story, and I can write it however I want… sorry, I'm rambling.

Disclaimer: I don't own Temeraire. That would be incredibly awesome, but I don't. I don't know why I'm saying this; the only real similarity is that there are a few similar species.

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January 1, 1941

Top-secret U.S.A.A.F. dragon division training academy in American Southwest.

Fourteen-year-old Edward "Ed" Robertson was woken roughly from his slumber by a younger cadet. Ed had been training there for three years, and although his father was the commander at the base, he hadn't been given any special treatment, though he didn't have to wait as long for gifts from parents, because, his mother also worked there, training dragon surgeons.

"What?" Ed said to the boy.

"The commander wishes to see you," said the boy. "There's an egg hatching."

Ed jumped out of bed. He followed the cadet out of the barracks and across the yard to where a small, quick, courier weight dragon was waiting.

"Are you Edward?" said the captain of the dragon.

"Yes," said Ed.

"Come on," said the man without introducing himself. "I'm flying you to the incubating chamber."

Ed clambered on behind the man, and the small dragon leapt into the air. After a few minutes flying over the rocks and sand, they came to a high mesa, rising up in front of them. At the top of the mesa, there was a building. The dragon landed in front of this.

The dragon's captain turned to Ed.

"In there, kid," he said. "Just follow the signs to the main hatching room."

Ed nodded, and went into the building, following the arrows until he came to a small chamber with a table in the middle. All around the table were several of the other captains, as well as the commander, and at the center of the table, resting on a soft nest of blankets, was a large egg, a deep, almost black red.

"Welcome Ed," said the commander, his father, as he held out a tiny harness. "You made it just in time. The egg is hatching. Here, take this. I hope you have a name."

"Maybe," said Ed, taking the harness. "What species is it?"

"A Crowned Dragon," said his father.

Ed breathed in sharply. Crowns were rare. They were heavy weights, slightly larger than a Kazilik, and this made them the largest species of fire breathing dragon in the world. They also shared something with celestial dragons, in that they, too, could hover. Crowned Dragons got their name from the long, curving spines on either side of their head, which look like a crown.

The egg shook back and forth on the table, tiny cracks appearing along it. As a tiny shard shot off, Ed began to panic. What if the tiny dragon didn't let him harness him? What if Ed forgot to give him a name? What if…?

A tiny claw appeared in a tiny hole. It began to pull and push the edges of the hole, pulling of little pieces of shell and dropping them. As the hole widened, a tiny little spiked head stuck out, nosed around, then stuck out further. Soon, the rest of the body followed, with the crumpled little wings spreading out slightly to dry.

"Please," said the tiny dragon in a male voice. "Can I have something to eat?"

Ed stared for a moment, then spoke.

"Sure," he said. "But first, won't you let me put this harness on you, and maybe give you a name?"

The tiny dragon thought for a moment.

"Yes," he said. "That would be fine."

Ed took the harness and slipped it over the little dragons' head and strapped it on.

"There," he said. "That looks good. Now for a name… how about… Helios?"

The dragon stood there, with his head cocked slightly, like he was thinking.

"Yes," he said. "Helios. I like it. Now about that food."

Ed laughed and grabbed the little dish of meat that the dragon had been eyeing hungrily. Helios ate quickly, then settled down on top of the blankets, and fell asleep.

"Well," said the commander. "I'd say that went rather well. Good work, Ed."

Ed smiled at him.

"Request to spend the rest of the night here," said Ed.

"Of course," said the commander, as a little bed was wheeled in. "It's perfectly reasonable that you'd want to spend some time with your new dragon We'll move you both to new lodgings in the morning. Good night."

Ed watched as they left. As he lay in bed near his new dragon, his thoughts turned to the training ahead. It would be a long hard road, but he knew that he could do it.

"After all," he said to himself. "I'm a captain."

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December 7, 1941

Same place, basically

A calm sky, high above the clouds. Suddenly, a great red shape burst up from below. Ed and Helios and their small crew went sailing up, followed by several other dragons.

Ed and Helios's crew comprised of his Lieutenant Josephine "Joseph" Hallowitz, his harness men Sam Tannerson and his three sons, Robert, Paul and Kevin. There were also his gunners, Ronald Banner, Oliver River, Joshua Ericson, and Nathan Randall, as well as the six topmen and bellmen: Rick Hanson, Tom Sanders, Andy O'Donovan, Fred Miller, Jane Lanson, Owen Webster, and the lookouts, Anna Fillmore and Danny Pearson. There was also Edmunds' surgeon, his sister, Emily. The crew only had 17 other members because although the U.S. dragons now had crews, unlike in the past, the crews were still smaller than a British crew.

The other dragons and their captains were Henry "Hank" Donovan, who also had a Thorny-Green, named Zeus. A Thorny green was a huge, heavy weight dragon, which was dark green with numerous dark brown spikes along its body. Another was Allison "Alice" Madison. She flew a dragon named Anna, a Prairie dragon, which is a light brown dragon with dark brown stripes and a solid frill around it's neck. It was one of the few acid spitting dragons in North America. There was also Gregory "Greg" Macmillan, who flew a light blue and sea green lower Middle-weight dragon called a fishing dragon, who's name was Poseidon. They were all in a formation.

Helios led the formation. Behind and to the right of him was Anna. Behind and to the left of Helios was Zeus. Between Zeus and Anna (though slightly behind) was Poseidon.

The formation rose and turned, circling around until another formation rose above the clouds. This formation was different though: it was a formation of planes. There were two B-17's, and numerous P-51 mustangs. They flew in a tight formation. The two formations lined up next to each other, mingling together as they dove through the clouds. They leveled off just beneath the ceiling and cruised along, looking for their target. Suddenly, one of the planes radioed over to them telling them that they'd seen the target. But they didn't need to. Everyone could see the lines of the town below. The bombers and the dragons began to drop their bombs.

"Sir," called Eds' lookout. "Enemy ahead."

Another formation of dragons and planes had drifted down from the clouds. The dragons from each group charged ahead in their formation, flying at each other at full speed, he shoulder gunners firing their Browning M2 machine guns with modified stands at each other, while the others had their Tommy Guns out and ready for boarders. The formations collided together; dragons struggled to gain control while their crew jumped aboard another dragon.

An hour later, the two formations of dragons stood on top of a high cliff. Both dragons and crew were covered in either blue or red paint. That's right, it was a paintball battle. (A/N: I know paintball was invented after ww2. Well, carabiners were invented after the early 1800, so… yeah… I win)

The members of the battle shook hands, then flew off to wash up before dinner. After they had washed, Helios and Ed took a short little flight together.

"Good job today," Ed told Helios. "I think we're progressing well."

"Yes," said Helios. "By the way, how is your brother?"

"Pretty good," Ed replied. "I got a letter from him earlier."

Ed was talking about his brother Allen or Al, who was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He was also a captain, and his dragon was Pan, a Thorny-Green dragon.

Ed and Helios flew back to the main area for dinner. Whenever the weather allowed, the men ate in an open-air pavilion with the dragons, but when it rained, the men would eat in the largest hanger, as would the dragons. That night, both dragons and men got stew.

Ed was just finishing his food when a younger cadet came up to him.

"Sir," said the boy. "The commander wants to talk with you in his office. Please follow me."

"No need," said Ed. "I know the way."

Ed went to the building were his fathers' office was. Outside he found his sister.

"Do you know what's going on?" she asked.

"No," Ed replied. "But if you're here, then it must be a family thing."

Together they entered and found their fathers' office. Ed knocked.

"Come in," said their fathers' voice. It sounded strange, almost weak. They entered, and found not only their father, but also their mother and their older sister, Rebecca who flew a Dakota dragon. She looked like she had been crying.

"What happened?" said Ed.

"I'm afraid that… I'm sorry to report that…" Their father said trying to form the right words. He sighed. "Kids… I have some terrible news. Earlier today, the Japanese launched an attack on Pearl Harbor. It was a terrible loss. I'm afraid you're brother didn't make it."

Eds' mother began to cry. After the initial shock wore of, so did Emily. Emily sat down on the little sofa that her mother was on, with Rebecca on the other side and they hugged and wept quietly.

"Listen, Ed," said his father. "Apparently, Al fought bravely. He was fine until the second wave… but… there was a Ka-Riu and a Siu-Riu. He didn't stand a chance."

Ed just sat there. For the next few minutes, he just sat there as his mother and sisters cried, and his father explained to him how it was okay for him to cry, and how his brother had fought valiantly. Finally, they all got up and left, except Eds' father. On the way out, Ed saw another captain walking up the hallway with a confused look on his face.

"I hope you don't have a brother or sister at Pearl Harbor," said Ed. "If so, then I know what this is about."

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"Will you be okay?" asked Hank. Ed was sitting with the other captains from his formation.

"No," said Ed. "Of course not. Why would I be? My brother is dead."

"Look, Ed," said Alice. "It's okay for you to cry. You don't need to be strong in front of us. We're your friends."

"I'm not going to cry," said Ed, looking down. "It's not because I'm trying to be strong, or trying to be a man. It's because it won't do any good. Crying can't bring him back."

"Besides," Ed said, and looked up with stern face. "I'll be fine emotionally. After all: I'm a captain."

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A/N: Well, what do you all think? By the way, I don't mind constructive criticism, but I wouldn't mind a few good reviews.