The Empress and her Inquisitor
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I don't own How to train your Dragon.
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It was a chilly winter night, the full moon shone weakly through the thick clouds. The streets of Berk were empty and the people were asleep, except some. One of them was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Currently he was walking through a dark alley, his intent: to complete his mission. He was very thorough when it came to his missions, especially when she was behind it. He remembered her order word by word:"He must be eliminated! Minumum casualties, minimum attention! I am counting on you!"
One could tell that his attire promised trouble: dark grey body armor, a black trench coat and facemask. It covered his lower face, inclduding the nose. If he was armed or not was left to ones imagination. What was not visible was the blue crest, a doule baded battle axe, on his shoulder guards: The crest of the Berkian Empire.
He continued walking until he reached a small plaza. He looked around, taking in the environment. The neighborhood was bad, the streets as filthy as the criminals living in this area. "A perfect place to hide.", he thought. Then, he spotted something on the other side of the plaza, or rather someone. Two men, who were openly carrying their AKM/20 assault rifles[1]. "Found you, Dagur.", Hiccup thought with a slight smirk. He pulled out his silenced pistol from its holster on his thigh and aimed. "Damn, I can't have those bodies laying around." With a frown, he changed the magazine and aimed again. When he pulled the trigger the weapon emitted a quiet shriek and a weak orange light from the muzzle. The orange projectile left behind a fading orange beam and a completely incinerated target. Before the second guard could react, he too was incinerated.
Hiccup spoke into his comm, which was integrated into his face mask:"Toothless, deactivate cloaking device." Behind him, a mech[2] was unveiled from his cloaked state. It looked menacing with its two green visual sensors, black armor and weaponry. "Scan the building bud, would ya." The mech only rumbled and then a purple wave ghosted over the plaza and through the house. Hiccup put on his goggles, as green as his partners' 'eyes'. On his HUD appeared several targets, but he didn't know which one of them Dagur was. "Seems like we have to do it the old-fashioned way."
With that he walked across the plaza, Toothless on his heels. He stopped in front of the door and examined it. Having come to a decision Hiccup told Toothless:"Bud, the lock." With a white hot fire the lock was melted away. Hiccup pushed the door open with his finger and was about to step into the house with his gun in his hand, but he halted. "Toothless, scan the hallway for booby-traps." Again, the mech rumbled and the purple scanner swept along the hallway. After nothing popped up on his HUD, Hiccup formed a plan in his head. "Dagur is the boss, so he will likely choose to have his room on the second floor, to indicate that he is above the rest of them. Hmm, looks like it follows the principle of the higher the more important. How predictable, brother" "Toothless, clear the ground floor. We'll meet up on the second floor." And with that he walked to the stairs.
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The door was smashed open and Dagur sat up in his bed, startled. In the doorway stood a tall man, wearing a black coat green goggles and a face mask. Suddenly a purple blade appeared from a black handle the man was holding. "Your men are all dead Dagur and you will follow." Dagur stood up, grinning like the madman he was. "Ha! Try m-..." Faster than he could imagine, the man had leapt towards him and jammed his plasma-sword into Dagur's torso, the blade sticking out his back. As he held Dagur by his shoulder, Hiccup whispered:"For the Empire, brother." Dagur's eyes widened in recognition. "Hic-..." Hiccup deactivted his blade and let go of Dagur's shoulder. He fell to the floor, lifeless and smoke rising from the wound.
The death of crime lord Dagur the Deranged was noticed days later, when the local police made a razzia. Officials stated that the leader of the B3s3rkr-gang had died of an 'unknown cause'.
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The next day Inquisitor Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, codename 'Shadow' and personal assassin to the throne, walked along the halls of the Imperial palace. When he reached his destination, he stopped in front of the great gate. The two guards saluted and then opened the gate. Hiccup entered the large throne room and there she was, in her full glory, sitting upon her throne: Empress Astrid Hofferson the Mighty, nicknamed 'the Valkyrie', first of the Hofferson dynasty, Empress of the Archipelago System and the Berkian colonies.
She didn't wear a dress or formal robes as one would have expected, no, the Empress chose to wear her personal armor. It was painted blue and yellow, with a few specks of orange thrown in. On the chestplate, a blue double-bladed battle axe was depicted, it was her banner and as such, the crest of the Empire.
Hiccup walked forward and their eyes met, green met blue, the forest met the ocean. He stopped at the base of her throne and dropped to one knee. Before he spoke, he pressed a button on his mask and it folded into his armor, revealing his full face. "You have summoned me, my Lady." Astrid stood up. "Leave us!", she commanded the guards. Both still held eye contact. After the last guard had left the room Astrid spoke again:"Yes, I have, now come up here." Hiccup walked up the few steps and made motions to kneel again, but Astrid grabbed his arm. "Stand." Obeying, Hiccup stood, he was approximately a head taller than the Empress. For a few seconds they just stared into each other's eyes, gazing into the other's soul. Suddenly Astrid seized Hiccup's collar and pulled him down. Their lips met and their eyes closed. After what felt like an eternity they parted. "You did a good job.", Astrid whispered, breathless. Hiccup grinned. "At killing Dagur or at kissing you." Now, Astrid grinned too. "Well, you handled Dagur excellently, but the kissing part could use some work." "Then surely you wouldn't mind if I practised it on you?" "Who would I be if I missed such a chance?" And with that their lips met again. The Empress and her Inquisitor, kissing inmidst the Imperial palace.
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[1] AKM/20 assault rifle:
Type: Assault rifle
Origin: Russia
Manufacturer: Several
Built: 3020 (first)
Detail: A successor to the famous AK-47 with which it shares all important qualities: sturdy, decent firepower and easily cheap to manufacture.
[2] Toothless
Type: NF-001 prototype-mech
Weapons: {RESTRICTED DATA }
Manufacturer: Dragon Industries
Built: {RESTRICTED DATA}
Detail: {RESTRICTED DATA}
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I know, this is not chapter 9 of "Of Light and Shadow" but this was on my mind and I just had to write it down.
Anyway, This my take on a Future AU(sort of). I hope you liked it! Oh and btw! Hiccstrid!
If there is enough people requesting a prequel, yes PREQUEL/background story sort of thing, I will write it (Eventually)
Bis zum nächsten mal! Until next time! Happy new year (2018) btw! [This was published in 2017 ;) ]
-Eric