Hello, internet, and welcome to chapter 3 of ARMA: Callsign Fury! I was not satisfied with my early drafts of this chapter at all, so I took longer than usual. Sorry about that!

Now, let's talk about last chapter's title. "But I do it in the best way" was referring to the line from Immortals by Fall Out Boys which goes like this: "I'm bad behavior but I do it in the best way." I chose this as a nod at Astrid's view of mercenaries as scum, and how Hiccup is now one of these scum. I know, kind of lame, but only one important thing happened last chapter, and I didn't want to ruin it. Let's see what you think of this chapter and its title in the reviews. On with the show!

I do not own ArmA or HTTYD.

Five Years Ago

Island of Berk

"Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at."

Hiccup repeated this mantra under his breath as he adjusted the sights of his ancient but modified anti-tank rifle. Hiccup would down a plane tonight.

It was the middle of a raid. Once again, the mercenaries had besieged Berk to destroy and disrupt supplies. The two squads of troops had been turned back an hour earlier, it was the air-raid that was the real problem. This was also the weak point in Berk's defenses, as the island had fielded no air force since Allied Fighters and Bombers were staged there in World War Two. The smallish island had very light anti-air emplacements, and couldn't afford much in the way of anti-air missiles and artillery, so many Berkian squads were prided for their ability to bring down planes with rocket volleys or concentrated small-arms fire. Hiccup didn't have any of those. What he did have, though, was the uncanny ability to hit a dime-sized target from two-thousand feet.

Unfortunately, the rest of Berk didn't have the recourses nor the ideals to support dedicated marksmen or snipers, and instead focused on brining as much punishment to bear as possible against the threat.

Hiccup wanted to change that.

He took a breath, listening to the night. He was set up on the east side of the village, using the balcony of the conference center as his sniper's nest. No one had attacked this side of the village yet, and no one was actively guarding it, which made the armed watch tower on this side of town a prime target. Suddenly, Hiccup heard the horrible screech of Night Fury.

Hiccup was afraid. How the hell do I hit that? Hiccup asked himself. He already had the answer, which relied as much on cunning and luck as much as it relied on skill.

The young Berkian to the right of the watch tower, zeroing in the distance. The tower was lit up in a plume of rockets as Night Fury made his pass. This backlighted the black airplane of death, showing his chosen recovery path would go right across Hiccup's chosen viewpoint, flying left to right across it.

Acting on instinct, hiccup lead the target, stopped his breathing, and squeezed the trigger.

A massive BANG rattled the island, deathening Hiccup and landing him on his butt. He was able to keep the gun straight during the main firing, though, and his aim was true. The fifty-caliber bullet slammed into the engine housing, rending metal and wires. Hiccup didn't see the full extent of the damage, but he did see the ailerons corkscrew and the fighter sprawl towards the earth.

Hiccup got up, stunned. "I, I did it!" he exclaimed. He quickly turned towards the main battle and put his arms out in a come-at-me gesture.

"Did anyone fucking see that?"

His only response was the thunder of a gunship hovering towards him.

"Except for you."

Present Day

Hiccup stood there awkwardly as Astrid and Toothless glared at each other. The two of them had not moved since they had been introduced. Without taking her eyes off of Toothless, Astrid asked, "What's his real name?"

"Well, he can't speak," Hiccup responded hesitantly, "and he refuses to write down his name anyways, so I gave him the nickname off of a picture I found of his first airplane. He doesn't roll his eyes when I say it, so…" Hiccup gulped. He didn't want to go into how his wingman had lost his vocal chords, so he really hoped the explanation satisfied Astrid.

Hiccup took a deep breath, and continued. "Astrid," He started, much more firmly than earlier, "I know you must have a million questions for me, and I want to talk to you, but let's do it somewhere more comfortable. Toothless, did you get us a room in the barracks?"

After a curt nod from Toothless, the trio made their way through the base to the temporary living quarters. After they sat down and hiccup had poured some stiff brandy, the trio sat in an uncomfortable silence, which was broken by Astrid. "Okay," she began, sounding a little more relaxed than earlier, "Let's start with how you two met."

Hiccup sheepishly rubbed his neck. "The funny thing is," he chuckled, "we met because I shot him down."

Astrid's lip curled up. "Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Hiccup shrugged. "All I did was get lucky. It wasn't like I did anything major."

Toothless swatted the back of his partner's head and handed a piece of paper over to Astrid. Hiccup winced, knowing it was the damage assessment Toothless had made of the plane that Hiccup had shot down. Astrid's eyebrows shot up as she read it. "Hiccup," she stated in a shocked tone, "you call this lucky? You totaled one engine and overheated the other. With an anti-tank rifle! At a plane going at attack speed after a dive!"

Hiccup sighed. "I only got that shot because the typhoon was backlighted against an explosion. It was merely good circumstances that allowed the shot."

Astrid shook her head. "That must have got you some sort of praise, though, shooting down a plane like that."

"Actually, I was on the exact opposite side of the village from everyone else when I shot down the plane, which was painted pitch black, and the plane itself never came closer than a kilometer to my position, so no one but me saw it go down, making it hard to convince Dad to put together a search party. Also, it was a full day before I found the wreckage, so more important things than tracking down a destroyed airplane came up." Hiccup paused. "Enough about me now. What about you? How has NATO been going?"

"It has been crazy. I started out as a fireteam leader and have slowly worked my way up to platoon sergeant. Deployments are rare compared to some other militaries, and advancement opportunities are even more so." Astrid sighed, lost in thought. "However, these people feel more like family than anyone on Berk ever did. For example, Heather, the platoon medic, sought me out the month after I graduated and asked me about my home. Talking with her helped me cope with the disaster at Berk." Astrid hesitated, and Hiccup knew immediately what she was going to ask. "What exactly happened on Berk?"

Hiccup got as still as a rock, a hurricane of emotions settling inside him. How was he going to explain that he had forced both Berk and the outcasts to go, all in, with the only winners being those who had survived? Where did he even start?

Fortunately, Hiccup was spared from the question by the arrival of another soldier. She had black hair and a medic patch. "Sir, you are wanted."

Astrid turned around, and her eyes lit up. "Oh, Hiccup, this is Heather, my best friend and a stellar medic."

Hiccup nodded towards the stunned medic. "Ma'am."

Heather nodded hesitantly, then stated "the general also wanted you, sir."

Uncertainly, Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothless got up and left the barracks. Astrid spoke suddenly.

"You never did tell me how you met him."

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I went looking for his crash…"

Five Years ago…

Hiccup let out a groan. "No, other kids lose pens, or knifes, I have to lose an ENTIRE AIRPLANE?" Hiccup shoved a branch, which whipped back and hit him in the face. Wincing, Hiccup looked up at the tree…

To see that the tree had been sheared almost in half.

Looking down the hill, he could see a swathe of carnage, ending near a smaller hill, behind which smoke was rising. Quickly, Hiccup ran to the small cusp, and peered over.

There was the plane he had shot down!

"I, I did it," Hiccup said in disbelief. More cautiously, Hiccup took the pistol off of his belt, an m1911. Slowly approaching the wreckage, Hiccup saw that the pilot was still in the cockpit. Brining his pistol up, the young Berkian approached the wreckage. If I get the pilot, Hiccup thought, that will change everything. More confidently, he moved towards the cockpit.

He almost threw up when he saw the pilot. A mass of twisted metal, maybe the electronics, pinned the pilot in place, deep cuts and gashes running across his face and chest. His torn jumpsuit revealed a part of the canopy had impaled the pilot. What made Hiccup stop, though, was the pilot's appearance.

He can't be much older than I am! Hiccup stood there, slightly startled by how young the pilot was. He was indeed not much older than hiccup, looking like he was merely on the other side of puberty from the feared flyer of the Night Fury. Suddenly, the pilot's eyes opened, revealing the acid-green irises, which widened in fear.

Hiccup brought up his pistol. Come on, Hiccup, he told himself. The pilot closed his eyes accepting the inevitable. This pilot has killed dozens of your brethren. You want them avenged, don't you? You want this war to end! You want to see them dead, don't you?

No.

Hiccup lowered his pistol. Not like this. No one deserves to die like a dog. "I did this," he muttered, disbelief and regret emitting from every muscle.

Hiccup bent down and tried to move the metal off of the pilot, straining from the effort. The pilot's eyes opened in surprise, then narrowed in determination. With the combined strength of the two young men, they got the twisted wreckage off of the wounded pilot.

As soon as the metal was off, the pilot leapt up and grabbed Hiccup's pistol, a look of anger and fear on his face. Hiccup was shocked as he was pinned to the ground and had his own pistol leveled at his face. So much for the Good Samaritan, Hiccup thought. Something gleamed in the pilot's eyes, then he stood up. The pilot, all the while glaring at Hiccup, released the clip onto the ground, ejected the bullet in the chamber, and threw the gun into a nearby bush.

The pilot then limped away from Hiccup's shocked expression, not looking back.