This idea came from an anon ask over on hiilikedragons fabulous tumblr blog and with Cat's encouragement I wrote a WWII!AU. In my opinion the fighting in the Pacific doesn't get as much attention as it should when people talk about WWII.
October 1944 - The Gulf of Leyte
The sky was thick with fighters. Each one jockeying for a better position or dodging enemy fire. Gunfire shot out from all angles. Some from the sea, most from the air. So much a pilot was more likely to fly through a random field of fire then be purposefully shot down.
As it was above, so it was below. The sea turned a choppy white in the wake of the great ships mightily engines. There were huge spouts of water as torpedoes exploded and planes fell from the sky. Not to be out down by water, massive fireballs erupted as ammunition from the enormous cannons found their targets.
The battle was the largest, most impressive, most deadly thing Hiccup had ever seen and he had to time to spare any thought for what I could mean for the war. Just that they had to win.
"Black Five!" he yelled into his mike as he rolled his Hellcat out of the way of the oncoming Zeros. "You've got two on your six!"
"I can't shake 'em!" was Ruffnut's panicked reply in his ear. "Black Six, where the HELL are you!"
"I'm headed right for you Five," was Tuffnut's stressed reply. "With five Japs ridding my ass. Ready for a fly bye?"
"Bring 'em on Bro," Ruffnut said. "Right or left?"
"Guess I'll go left, right?"
"Right, left or right, right?"
"Ahh…"
"TUFF!"
"Go right!" he yelled at the last minute.
Hiccups fighter just happened to be pointed in the right direction to see Ruff and Tuff flip their planes on the right wing and their bellies fly by with only feet to spare. The following enemy planes didn't even see each other till it was too late. The two on Ruff's tail slammed headlong into two of the Zero's hounding Tuff. The resulting explosion also took out a third that strayed too close. A fourth had its wing shredded as Hiccup sprayed it with gun fire from his six Browning machine guns. The last dove for the deck and Hiccup lost track of it.
A shock wave hit him from behind and Astrid called in his headset, "You're all clear Black One."
"Thanks for the assist Black Two," he called gratefully. He hadn't even known he'd picked up a tail.
"If you guys are done playing," Snotlout said. "It looks like the Hooligan needs help."
With Astrid on his left wing and the twins on his right, Hiccup swung his fighter north and saw the skies above the aircraft carrier USS Hooligan swarming with fighters.
"Black One to Red One," Hiccup called to the Dragon Squadron leader as he and his Wing caught up with Snotlout and his wingman, Fishlegs.
They continued to juke and jinx, evading enemy fire and taking shots as they presented themselves as Black Wing neared the lead carrier.
"Black One to Red one, come in," Hiccup called again.
"Red one is down," a strained voice said. Red Five Hiccup thought.
"So is Green one and most of our Wing," Green Two shouted.
"Looks like you're in charge Black One," Red Five said. "Orders?"
Hiccup took a quick glance around the Hooligan and took a deep breath before calling out, "Head for the Hooligan as best you can and try and relieve the cruisers and battleships. Take over covering fire."
"Roger that Dragon Leader," echoed in his ear.
Switching back to his wings comm channel Hiccup said "Looks like we're the back bone of the squadron. Red and Green Wings will be our support. I want each flight pair to cover each other as much as possible. Try not to get caught up in dogfights. Remember, protect the Hooligan."
As Dragon Squadron fought their way to the lead aircraft carrier, Hiccup could see its own squadrons in heated dogfights with more Jap planes then they could handle.
"Alright Dragons! Let's go clear the skies for the Admiral! Red Wing, you come out of the north. Green, the west. Support the Meatheads, Berserkers, and Hysterics. Black Wing, we'll come out of the sun on top of them and cover the Lava Louts and Bog Burglars."
A chorus of "Roger" and "Copy that" sounded over the air waves as Black Wing made for the clouds and Red and Green went to their assigned vectors.
"Hold on Dad," Hiccup whispered to himself. "I'm coming." He and his father may not have the best relationship but he also wasn't going to fly idly by when Stoick needed help.
"Black One," Astrid said. "You sure you know what you're doing?"
"Yeah man," Tuff broke in. "There's a whole lotta fighters down there."
"Right, let's not do anything stupid here," Snotlout added.
"Then it's a good think I never do anything stupid," and Hiccup injected as much confidence into his voice that he didn't necessarily feel.
"No," Astrid agreed. "Just crazy." And maybe he just wanted to hear it but she sounded proud.
"I like crazy," Ruff cooed over the headset.
"If that's the case, me too!" Tuff added, as usual not understanding his sisters double meaning.
"Am I the only one who thinks this might be ill advised?" Fishlegs cautioned.
"Yes," five other voices echoed over the wing's channel.
"Ok, just checking."
When the fighters reached the clouds, Hiccup knew it was now or never. "Dragon Riders," he encouraged as he pulled the yoke hard to starboard in a rolling dive. "Let's plow the road!"
He didn't need to check to make sure Astrid stayed on his wing or that any of the others managed to stay with him. They'd trained and flown together for so long and survived countless missions. They were a team and there were no other group of pilots he'd want at his back.
With the sun behind them, Black Wing managed to take a group of Zero's by surprise, downing 3 and scattering the rest. And just like that they were in the thick of the battle. They broke up by wingmen and began to push back the enemy from the Hooligan.
What felt like hours, but couldn't be more than a few minutes, Snotlout shouted over the comm channel. "I'm hit!"
"Bailout," yelled Fishlegs.
"No! I can land. I …." And the comm when dead.
Hiccup wanted to mourn his friend, as the others called out. But the thick of battle was no time to lose your head and he let the comm chatter float over him as he fired on his current target.
The Hellcat fired and he knew he struck a wing and then the fuel tank as the Zero erupted in flames.
Just as he was about to pull about to find another target, strafing fire hit his right aileron and narrowly missed his vertical stabilizer.
"Black Two, I'm hit!"
"How bad?!" and he could hear a note of panic in her voice.
Hiccup pushed on the right aileron. It was sluggish but responding. "It's dragging but still flyable," he reassured her. "I'm with you."
"You sure?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Fall back and watch my six," Astrid told him and he throttled down to just off her left wing.
She managed to finish off another plane and the skies cleared for brief instant. He could see the gray of the Hooligan silhouetted against the darker sea around her. Fighters zoomed past, both friendly and not. Astrid maneuvered to follow a group attacking planes trying to land when suddenly one of the Zeros broke off and headed straight for the carrier's bridge.
This was the first time Hiccup had seen a Japanese suicide plane. He had heard about them from other pilots, but this one was right in front of him and headed for the commanded deck of his father's ship.
"Black Two!" he called, while simultaneously pulling a hard turn to intercept. "There's a rouge Zero headed for the Hooligan."
"Kinda busy Black One," Astrid said. "I'm on two headed for the deck."
As he closed on the rouge Zero he lead the target and open fired. A few bullets and markers shot out then abruptly stopped before the enemy plane could enter into his line of fire.
"Damn it!" he shouted to empty air.
"Black One to any available fighter. There's a Kamikaze headed for the Hooligan. Is there anyone with some fire power left?"
"Red Five, I'm out."
"Black Six, Sorry One, I'm over by the Berk."
He got a few more similar responses and he knew what he had to do.
Pushing he's engines to full throttle he called his wingmate. "Astrid," he said not even bothering with call signs. "Stay on those two. Don't follow me."
"Hiccup, don't. Stop thinking what I know you're thinking! Right now!"
"Astrid, I have to. I'm the only one close enough"
"No! I won't let you."
"You can't stop me."
"Hiccup," she sobbed and it nearly shook his resolve. "I'm coming, just wait for me."
"There's no time. I love you." They'd never said the words to each other. It was always implied by a thousand different looks, a caress to the hand or across the shoulders, but never said. As if saying what they felt in the middle of a war would sign their death sentence. He was going to say it after. After the war. After the killing and death were over. But time had run out for him and he needed her to know how he felt.
"Don't you dare say that to me" she pleaded. "Not now."
The Zero was almost to the bridge and he pushed the Hellcat for everything it had. He had already undone his buckles and his hand on the lever to pop the canopy when he said, "Please milady, forget me." And pulled the canopy release.
He heard her anguished cry of "Hiccup! NOOOO…." Before the rushing wind filled the cockpit and stole her voice from his ears.
Hiccup scrambled as fast as he could from the doomed plane. He knew bailing out was a long shot but he had to at least try, keeping his hand on the yoke until the last moment. The fighter was so close to the Zero that Hiccup could see the Jap's surprise as he jumped from the plane.
The explosion above him was deafening and buffeted him as he pulled his parachute release. As soon as the chute opened he felt a searing pain in his left leg and…..Nothing.