Chapter 1

2.4 K

It was impossible to tell whether it was night or day, as it was always dark in space. Captain Haddock had tried to keep track, but forgot about it only two days later.

The sound of shouting brought him out of his daydream.

"Captain! We're picking up multiple signals, from all sides!" A woman with short blonde hair looked at him, her electric blue eyes wide.

"How many Lieutenant?"

"Hundreds, Sir, maybe thousands, they're closing in really fast." There was a beeping noise and she turned back to her monitor, furiously pressing buttons. The Captain turned his attention back to the view screen in front of him. He squinted, eyes darting around.

"I could've sworn I just saw somethin-" A flash of red appeared on their left, growing bigger by the second. milliseconds later, other colours appeared as well, approaching in from all sides. Red, yellow, green, blue…as beautiful as it looked, Haddock could tell this was not a peaceful encounter.

"Mister Sven be ready, make sure we can go to warp on a split second notice." He pressed a button on his armrest and spoke down to it. "Mister Belch, are those weapons online yet, we might need 'em. I've got about thirty seconds here until we're in firing range. What can you give me."

Their was a huff on the other end. "Aye Sir, they are good te go, but I wouldn't advise putting to much strain on the warp drive. We can at most go ta Warp three, but even that's pushin' it."

"Yes, I understand Mister Belch." Haddock released the button he was pressing and looked a science officer to his right. "Ten seconds to go, switch all remaining power not used on weapons and necessary systems to forward shields."

"Yes sir."

"Five seconds" The helmsman reported. All eyes not busy working on a command were nervously watching the view screen. The Captain gripped his seat.

"Four."

"They've locked weapons on us Sir!"

"Three."

"RED ALERT" Red lights flashed in all levels of the craft. The seconds seemed to lengthen as the crafts approached.

"Two."

"One."

"Zero." As soon as the words left the helmsman's lips, a blast rocketed the ship. Two more blasts hit the ship and sparks flew from control panels. A lieutenant cried out as the sparks blinded her. She fell to the floor, screeching as blood poured from her eyes.

"Medics! We need people up here!" Star fleet officers in blue rushed to her aid immediately, attempting to not get injured themselves in the process.

In one of the four med-bays on the ship, a missile was fired, ripping a hole in the wall, shrieks were cut off as people were sucked into the abyss of space.

Death was instantaneous.

Back on the bridge, the Captain was barking out commands left and right.

"Keep those shields online!"

"Sir! One of the Med-bay's been taken out!"

Haddock stopped cold. "Which one."

She didn't answer the question. "Incoming transmission from-"

"Lieutenant Hofferson! Which one!" The blonde looked at him, brown eyes sad.

"Three sir."

No, He thought, No, no, no, n-

"Mister Sven, warp us out of here! I want warp four!"

"But sir! Mister Belch said-"

"I don't care what he said! Get us out of here!"

"Yes sir." He rapidly punched a few buttons on his panel. "Ready for Warp sir."

"Punch it. Do it now!" The Helmsman threw the lever forwards with such force that he had to hold onto his seat as to not fling himself over the controls as well.

As the ship blasted into warp, the crew remained tense, awaiting orders from their Captain.

Thirty seconds past by before he spoke. "Slow us down to Warp One Mister Sven."

"Yes sir." At this, the crew relaxed slightly, but they knew there was still work to be done. The Captain stood and made his way to the turbo-lift.

"Sven, keep us at Warp until we reach the docking station. I'm going to assess the damage. I need five of you to come with me. I don't care who it is. Let's go." Five officers stood up and followed the Captain, stepping into the lift as the turbo doors closed.

Valka.

…

Hiccup shot up in his bed, gasping. This was a recurring Nightmare. While it seemed harmless, these were the events that took place the day Hiccup's mother died. She had been in the Med-bay as it was blown up. Her head was all that remained, the rest severed by pieces of the ship being tossed violently around and sucked into space.

After having the same dream for sixteen years, Hiccup would have thought that the fear would now be replaced by boredom, but each time, the nightmare seemed to be more and more frightening. Sometimes, he would just see his dead mother's severed head, staring at him. Sometimes it would laugh. Not his mother's laugh. An ugly, raspy laugh. Either way, he was always frightened.

But he never ran to anyone in the middle of the night. His dad wasn't exactly…warm and fuzzy.

A high-ranking Starfleet Admiral and expectant father, Stoick Haddock wanted his only son to follow in his footsteps and become a great man.

Yeah, that's going to happen.

Turning on his stomach, Hiccup noticed his roommate walking into the room, probably from the showers. He groaned and got up, groggily picking up his red uniform and walking out the door, towel and toiletries in hand.

…

Astrid had to be the unluckiest girl in the world. Now not only was she stuck in the simulation with the Thorston twins- Ruffnut and Tuffnut- but Snotlout and Hiccup as well. The only plus side was that she was with her roommate and best friend, a Jaylan named Heather, and Fishlegs, by far the smartest and kindest cadet she'd ever met. Although, he wasn't exactly the bravest guy either. So there was that.

There was a time when Hiccup may have had a crush on her, but he seemed to back off a bit lately, although it could just be the busy schedule. As Hiccup was a major in Command (it was rumored that he actually wanted to be in engineering, but his father wanted him to be Captain eventually or something), he'd be in charge of the group of us. What made it harder was that we would be picking up crew as we went, so the number of people he would have to manage would constantly increase.

As Astrid and Heather walked towards the center of the empty room, they noticed that bags had appeared in front of them, two gym bags had her last name inscribed on it.

Picking them up, Astrid searched inside. Everything she'd need was right inside these bags. Food, water, tech, healing supplies, a water suit, a lot of other random things, plus…

"Official uniforms." She breathed. Although she wouldn't be getting a promotion right then and there, it made Astrid feel so much taller, proud, and in command. If only her mother could see her now.

Unfortunately, she was just a nurse. So she wasn't really in command.

"Cadets, please take the bags with your names on them. This is a simulation, but you will be required to face certain challenges. The simulation will feel real, and you will be injured as if it were real life. If you die in the simulation, you won't die in real life, you will simply be removed from the simulation. You will be graded fairly. Remember that if you fail this, you cannot graduate and you cannot do the test again for another two months. Before we begin, you are asked to change into your uniforms," The world shifted around Astrid and she found herself in a stall. Stripping down out of her red cadet uniform until she was wearing nothing but her undergarments. She reached into her bag and pulled out the blue outfit, sliding the dress over her head. It was lightweight, and allowed much more mobility than the red cadet uniform, which was stiff, long-sleeved, and unbearable on hot days. This dress was short, but under she wore shorts to prevent anyone like Snotlout from getting a look. The sleeves were so short they were barely there, just barely coming off her shoulders. That was fine, she'd hoped for something like this, something that didn't restrict her in any way. "You may notice a few things in the uniform that were not mentioned to you before in any of your classes. This is the new design. Built into your badges are com-links. You will carry a communicator on you as well, at all times. For Medical Officers, you will find a bag for each of you with all the supplies you need on the ship you will be in during the simulation. Your boots have other used as well. Picks can be extended to help navigate on difficult terrain. Weapons for emergency use can be concealed in the hidden pockets." Astrid slid on her boots and placed her cadet uniform in a hatch that had appeared, and disappeared as soon as her uniform had been placed inside. As soon as she slung her duffel bags over her shoulder, the stall disappeared, and she was standing, once again, in the white room.

Hiccup stood in the center, staring at her. As soon as their eyes meet, he looked away, blushing. Had he seen me change? No. That's something Snot would do. Not Hiccup. Astrid gave him a confused look and turned around, looking for Heather. Not five seconds later, Heather materialized next to her, wearing her red Starfleet uniform, but a bit different. Heather's uniform consisted of a single piece suit. The sleeves were as short as Astrid's, but there was no shirt, but instead the outfit extended down her legs and wrapping around her boot. Astrid felt jealous in a way; Heather would be much more mobile, doing things you just couldn't in a dress. But then she realized that the Jaylan would have a much harder time going to the bathroom.

The twins appeared later, in different locations but at the exact same time. It was kind of unsettling. Ruff's outfit was like hers, only yellow, which made Astrid feel a little better knowing she wouldn't feel awkward wearing a dress.

Snotlout appeared a mere second later, followed by Fishlegs who stood awkwardly next to Heather. Cadet after cadet appeared, and the room seemed to grow as more people joined them. As soon as the last person appeared, the landscape changed. All she saw now was grey. Slowly, other colours began to appear until she was on the bridge of a Starship.

"What the…?" Astrid looked to the side, surprised to find herself standing directly next to Hiccup, who was sitting in the Captain's chair. The twins were sat at the controls, Tuff on the left, Ruff on the right. Heather sat at a language officer station, and Fishlegs and Snotlout were…nowhere to be found. There were other cadets stationed at multiple posts, and Astrid assumed that the others were elsewhere on the…ship.

Next to her, Hiccup picked up a holopad, briefly reading what was written on it before pushing a button on his chair. There was a beep and the voice of Fishlegs could be heard.

"Uh…hello?" Hiccup grinned and looked back at the holopad briefly before speaking towards the armrest.

"Head engineer Ingerman! How are things holding up down there?" Astrid looked at the brunette, wide-eyed. This was a…new side of Hiccup. Since when did he get so…confident? Then again, it wasn't as if she were close with the guy, so she didn't really know what he was like.

On the other side of the line, Fishlegs was noticeably relieved. "Oh thank Thor it's you-I mean, uh, everything is well down here, Sir."

Hiccup laughed. He seemed so…relaxed. "Fish, come on. I'm your roommate. Chill."

"You know your dad can probably hear our conversation right now, right?" Hiccup tensed a little but maintained the relaxed persona.

"Right. Okay, glad to hear the Fury is doing well." The bridge was silent. They were on the Fury. Or at least the simulation for it. This was an honor. The USS Fury was the newest ship, almost done construction. It was the latest in advanced, well, everything.

Fishlegs let out a small squeak. "I knew this looked familiar! Oh Thor this is so awesome!"

Hiccup laughed- a real, happy, good-natured laugh. It made Astrid want to laugh along with him. She managed to hold back a laugh, but managed a small smile. "Yeah, it sure is." Hiccup ended the transmission and turned to Ruffnut. "R.T, give me ship-wide."

Ruff mock-saluted and punched buttons on the console. "Right sir, you are good to go."

Hiccup leaned towards the armrest and cleared his throat. "Good morning everyone! Welcome aboard the USS Fury. This is Captain Haddock speaking. We have been assigned a very special mission today. This mission isn't easy, so don't get too cozy. We will be going to a small, uninhabited planet and search for resources. We will be passing through Klingon space, and remember, the Romulans still hate us for that time we accidentally bombed their planet like a hundred years ago so expect a…rocky trip once we enter their territory. The planet we are going to be paying a small visit to has a few moons, so different groups will be on each of the seventeen moons, plus at least three groups accompanying me to the planet's surface. We have to get these supplies and bring them back aboard the ship. Also, make sure to account for any inhabitants on the planet or any of its moons. It'll probably happen. This mission is only scheduled to last about three days, then we'll be nicely transported back to earth. We should be arriving at the planet in about an hour, at Warp 10. We could go faster- way faster- but I have orders here telling me that if I try to go any faster, I'll get in very big trouble meaning they'll purposely blow us up. So! On that happy note, let's do this people!"

It was silent as he switched off the transmission. Then, a few seconds of awkward silence passed before someone on the bridge let out a "YEAH!" followed by laughs. Hiccup chuckled and sat up straighter in his chair.

"Alright. Thorston, punch it!"