"…" – Regular Speech

="…"= - Inside Head

{"…"} – Dragonese

["…"] – Translation Collar

*"…"* - Telepathic Speech

#"…"# - Radio/Telephone/PA System Speech

If you see a mixture of two or more of the above, that means they're using them all at once

Chapter Six: Return to the Front

Over Isotxian Forward Airship Base - Near Present Day Aarhus, Denmark; Viking Verse

IAS Jonah – Command Bridge; 8th Airship Fleet and 7th Independent Mechanized Corps

September 17th, 2246/2011 – 1842 Hours

The Jonah, the rest of the 8th Airship Fleet, and the transports carrying the 7th Mechanized Corps transitioned high into the skies of the Viking Verse with the USAS St. Louis

="This whole 'transitioning' business is not agreeing with my stomach."= Holland thought as he slouched down in his captain's chair as the reinforced shutters covering the bridge windows were lifted while the Communications Officer acquired reports from the other airships of the fleet

"All ships have reported in, nobody appears to be missing." The Communications Officer said to Holland, who quickly got up from his chair

"Good, lower us to normal altitude and tell the transports to initiate landing procedures." He replied

"Yes sir!" The Communications Officer replied before returning to his post as Holland went to look out the windows

="So this is the Viking Verse?"= Holland asked himself, ="Looks exactly like Europe back home…just with different people trying to bring us down and dragons."=

"Admiring the view?" Erwin asked Holland as he joined him

"Not much to look at." He replied, "Where's your wife?"

"Still in our quarters asleep." Erwin said as the Communications Officer returned

"Admiral, General Schnitter, General Chadaface is requesting your presence at his headquarters as soon as possible." He said to Erwin and Holland

"Probably wants to go over the invasion plans with us." Holland said to Erwin before looking at the Communications Officer, "Prepare us a dropship to take us to his headquarters."

"Yes Admiral!" The Officer replied before he left as the feelings in Holland's stomach made him bend over a little

"Something wrong?" Erwin asked him

"It's just my stomach, the whole transitioning thing doesn't seem to agree with me." He replied

"You'll get used to it." Erwin said, "Just take some aspirin and you'll be fine."

Holland nodded

Isle of Berk – Dragon Sanctuary – Tactical Operations Center (TOC)

Task Force Nautilus

1914 Hours

Jayden was in his human form as he stood with Reaper, Titov, Lucile Sévern, Earc, Turner, Barnes, and Karlson as they monitored the increase of activity in Isotxian-controlled Denmark inside the TOC

"They are definitely preparing to move against Drago and Martin, probably toward the Baltic Straits or near Asloa, or maybe even both." Reaper said, "Jayden I suggest you get call off any ops you have planned and get your men ready for major combat operations."

"Will do." Jayden replied

"General Reaper! General Smict is contacting us!" An APMSF Officer shouted to Reaper

"Bring him through!" He shouted back as the face General Earl Smict, the supreme commander of Coalition Forces appeared on the main screen

#"Good, you're all here, I'm sure you've noticed the Isotxians picking up the pace in Denmark by now so I'll skip that part."# Smict said to them

"I guess you know what's going on?" Barnes asked him

#"Yes, the Isotxian High Command has informed that they are finally going through with their invasion of the Baltic Strait Islands and Southern Scandinavia, codenamed Northern Star, which will be the largest combat operation in this war since we invaded Europe."# Smict replied, #"And the Isotxians have requested any assistance we can give them and Jayden's here in particular."#

"What do they need?" Jayden asked him

#"They want you to help their friends in the Scandinavian Resistance stage an uprising in Hafnia to slow down the flow of enemy reinforcements from mainland Scandinavia until an Isotxian force led by General Schnitter the 31st and Air Admiral-General Ernest Holland, who will be making landfall north of the city at Frederikssund."# He replied

"Hafnia?!" Barnes shouted, "That's one of the most heavily fortified fucking cities that Drago has under his control, a direct attack on that place is going to turn into a bloodbath!"

#"Which is why the Isotxian Special Projects Division is detonating EMP weapons over the islands and Southern Scandinavia to weaken their defenses before the invasion."# Smict said

"Do we even what to know how that asshole Siegbert got his hands on EMP weapons?!" Reaper asked

"Probably from one of the Gene Corp Facilities that his men have ransacked." Barnes replied, "But even with most of the defenses knocked out by EMP and an uprising by the populace, taking and holding Hafnia is going to be easy as Drago knows he needs to hold it for him to be able to reinforce the islands and will do whatever he can to keep Hafnia under his thumb and how do the Isotxians know that they'll have the backing of the resistance?!"

#"They seem to be positive that they do."# Smict said, #"But anyway, the Isotxians are launching the invasion after the EMP bombs go off at 0000 hours the day after tomorrow and due to the scale of this operation, we're calling both of your task forces in along with the 2nd and 3rd Legions!"#

#"And they're now just telling us about it?!"# Barnes asked

#"We think something is going on behind the scenes and Military Intelligence suspects that the Isotxians' friends might be involved somewhere in all this."# Smict replied, #"But Barnes, we want Task Force Therian to support the Isotxians landing at Frederikssund to make their advance go quicker."#

Barnes nodded

"Where will the 2nd and 3rd Legions be landing?" Reaper asked Smict

#"The 2nd Legion will be deploying with you at Frederikssund and the 3rd will be going to help the Isotxian Task Force that will be landing in Southern Scandinavia and march to Asloa as securing a foothold on Scandinavia could a long way in bringing Drago and Martin down." He replied, #"You don't think you'll be needed?"#

"No, just wish you had asked me first before dedicating them to this operation." Reaper said, "What else is the Coalition throwing into this?"

#"Whatever we can muster together."# Smict replied

"Somebody find Eret and get him down here, I'm going to ask him if he knows anything about Hafnia and its defenses because I'm sure he's probably been there as it used to be a major base operations for dragon trappers operating in the Baltic." Barnes said

#"We're sending you the plans the Isotxians have sent us now, I'm going to end this here now so you all can start getting ready."# Smict replied, #"General Smict out."#

Smict ended his transmission

"So what are we going to do Barnes?" Titov asked Barnes

"You know the answer to that, starting your men ready." He replied, "Tell Wensky, Pentrov, and the other instructors to rush their recruits through the rest of their training and get them ready for combat operations."

"Should we call Stoick in on this? Because he's been itching to get back into the fight." Karlson said to Barnes, who nodded

"We'll need all the hands we can get." He replied

"What about Calvin, it's going to be very hard to get him away from Emily and their kids' right now." Reaper said

Barnes sighed

"As much I'd hate to rip him away from his family right now, we might need him and his Bewilderbeast form if Drago decides to bring in his 'heavy artillery'." He said

"You mean his Bewilderbeast?" Reaper asked

"That or another one of those fucking Red Deaths." Barnes replied, "But to keep him safe we'll keep him on one of the airships and put it a safe distance from the fighting."

"Well you can always try to do that glowing thing you did back at Dragon Mountain." Karlson said to him

"What 'glowing thing'?" Titov asked

"During the Battle of Dragon Mountain when we were fighting the Red Death that Drago unleashed, Barnes lost his temper and starting glowing blue and shot out blasts that were far more powerful than a Night Fury's normal plasma blasts." Reaper replied before he looked back at Barnes, "Have you been able to do that again?"

"Yes, I've also been practicing with it." Barnes said, "The blasts I can do with it 'on' are powerful enough that I managed to sink an East Roman battlecruiser with them."

"Impressive." Sévern said, "Any downsides to it?"

"None that we've noticed." Barnes replied, "But enough chit-chat, we need to start getting everything ready and plan out how we're going to do this."

Jayden, Reaper, Severn, Titov, and Karlson nodded before they and Barnes left the TOC with Barnes going into an empty chamber across from the TOC to switch into his Night Fury form

Headquarters of the Isotxian 3rd Army – Chadaface's Study

1920 Hours

Himu opened the door for Erwin, Holland, and Spiros as they entered the study where General Chadaface was waiting for them as he stood in front of the study's lit fireplace with one hand on its mantle and another holding a cup of brandy as he watched the fire burn before he looked at them and smiled

"About time you got here! Come on in and take a seat, we got a lot to talk about!" Chadaface shouted to them and they quietly sat in the nearby chairs while Chadaface sat down in the chair across from them

"I see you've made yourself at home here." Erwin said as he looked around

"Well I had to since we've been stuck in this frozen hell since we got here!" Chadaface said, "But now that you're here we can finally get this war back on track!"

Erwin nodded

"Holland told me about the mission you had intended for us and our men." He said, "Rather risky one I should say, but I can't say I haven't had harder sounding ones. So about this 'resistance' in Hafnia…are we sure we can trust them to do what they're promising they're going to do?"

"They haven't let us down in the past, all we know about the islands' defenses along with Hafnia's comes from them!" Chadaface replied

"We understand that, but are they actually capable of staging an uprising large enough to actually affect our enemy's ability to react our attack or defend the city?" Erwin asked

"They think they can." Chadaface replied, "But they don't think they won't be able to hold against the might of Drago's army if they come barreling across the Øresund at them, which is why we're calling in for the Coalition's help on this…much to the dismay of Herr Asshole of the Special Projects Division."

Holland scrawled as he gripped the arms of his chair tightly

"And why does he want the Coalition to stay out of this?" Erwin asked Chadaface

"Because he doesn't want them stealing his thunder with their better weapons." He replied

"So have actually managed to secure Task Force Nautilus' dedication?" Spiros asked Chadaface

"General Smict said so himself and he's even called in Task Force Therian to help with your push toward Hafnia along with two of America's stormtrooper legions, one of which will be helping you and the other will be going aground on Southern Scandinavia with Admiral Xavier's task force." He replied

"Good, the more guns we have aiming toward the enemy, the better." Erwin said

"We've heard much about the Coalition's forces and we look forward to the prospects of fighting alongside them." Holland said

"Well you're going to get your chance to because General Smict is trying to muster whatever he can right now, just wish we could've gave them more of heads-up so they would have more time to assemble a larger force." Chadaface replied

"Which brings up another question, why is Northern Star being pushed through all the sudden?" Erwin asked while Chadaface sighed and leaned back into his chair and looked at Margaret before he finally answered

"I guess because yesterday one of our Resistance contacts brought us a recorded conservation that Martin and Drago had with an individual who has been confirmed to be Major General Teppo Suomi of the Eastern Imperial 15th Special Operations Division." Chadaface replied

"Eastern Imperials?! Here in the Viking Verse?! How?!" Erwin shouted

"We don't know, but we think that he and his men are the only ones over there…for now." Chadaface replied

"Does the Coalition know?!" Erwin asked

"I didn't tell them, but I'm betting they probably at least suspect it." Chadaface replied

"Oh dear Isotx, as if this war wasn't bad enough as it was." Erwin said

"I think we can all agree that it was inevitable that the Eastern Imperials were going to get involved in this war in some way or another." Spiros replied, "But let's just hope we can bring it to an end before they can escalate their involvement."

"I agree, we must act quickly and find out how Suomi's men got here, so we can stop any more Imperial forces from entering this conflict." Holland said, "My best bet is that they must have somehow smuggled one of the portal machines like the ones used by the Romans to invade Altoona Province to the Eastern Empire."

"That's the only explanation I can think of on how they got there." Chadaface said

"But speaking of the disaster that occurred at Altoona Province, do we know if Drago has any AIU Canisters in his arsenal?" Erwin asked Chadaface

"If he does, we haven't seen or heard him using them." He replied, "But at least we have that cure now, so we can turn anybody turned into dragons by them back."

"Yes, but any unit shelled with them will still cease to be effective combat as was the case with many of the units that were shelled with them during the Altoona Province Crisis which was why the Romans were able to take so much ground in a short period of time and is still a good enough reason for Drago to use them if he does have them." Erwin said, "Although I do understand that the new anti-air guns that the Air Navy has been fitting onto their airships are capable of shooting them down mid flight."

Holland nodded

"But there is always the chance that a few will get through." He said, "But if Drago Bludvist does have any of them, I see him using them on either Hafnia, Othonia, or Asloa because they'll do the most damage there and most likely with no regard to the safety of civilians or even his troops."

"And speaking of people being turned into dragons, I wonder if those Eastern Imperials know what's going on inside the walls of those conversion camps?" Erwin asked

"Their higher-ups most definitely know due to what happened in Altoona Province, but I doubt Major General Suomi or his men do." Chadaface replied, "I'm betting that the only reason the Eastern Empire is even giving Drago that amount of attention is because they, like us, want to get the technology that Drago has inside those Gene Corp facilities in Scandinavia and the only way they knew how to do that was by providing him with support and will probably drop him like a hot potato after they got everything they can from him.", "But I'm also worried that Suomi and his men are not the only Imperials over there as well."

"Well even if they aren't, the Imperials are going have to walk on eggs in order to prevent them from getting the Coalition on their ass, so if there is any more Imperial forces in Scandinavia they'll probably be mixed in with Blackwater formations wearing their uniforms and using their equipment to mask their presence or strictly limited to covert operations." Holland said

"Or they'll only deploy to areas what they know that they'll just be fighting us and probably near Gene Corp facilities and if they do decide to openly engage the Coalition, they'll try to keep it limited to small skirmishes and probably as Holland said, wearing Blackwater uniforms using Blackwater equipment." Erwin replied, "However even then I see an open engagement between Imperial and Coalition forces as inevitable, but what happens after it depends on whenever or not the Coalition will let it go or not as they may not want to get involved in another war so quickly after whenever this one ends definitely since they're going have to pay to rebuild this continent and keep supplying it's people with humanitarian aid until the effects of the dark energy from the Roman reactor wears off and I won't be surprised that the Coalition doesn't already know about the presence of General Suomi and his men in Scandinavia, but are keeping it under a rug."

"Are you saying that the Coalition won't be able to stomach another war for a while after this?" Holland asked him

"No I'm just saying that it probably won't be in their best interest to get involved in another one so quickly due to economic reasons as war is a bit more of an expensive venture for them than it is for us and this one is no exception although it's small enough for them to shake off its effects, but our war with the Imperials will make their economies take a much bigger hit due to the sheer scale of our conflict over this one." He replied, "Although that means we shouldn't at least expect some form of limited involvement from the Coalition such as a continuation of their lend-lease."

"Well I got to admit I wouldn't mind using some of these weapons the Coalition have given us against the Imperials." Chadaface said, "Speaking of which, I've read about the some of the upgrades that the Americans gave to your forces and can't wait to see them in action!"

"I can't either." Erwin replied, "Some of our tanks have been upgraded so much they're practically new vehicles, for instance some of our Yardens now carry ATGM launchers on top of their guns which give them a fighting chance against heavier tanks."

"What about your Ripper tanks?" Chadaface asked

"The new smoothbore guns on our Rippers have longer range and more hitting power than the rifled ones along with the added capability of firing ATGMs." Erwin replied, "The Americans also gave them a hydrogen engine which requires less maintenance and is more fuel efficient which means they get more miles for the gallon while also increasing the Ripper's top speed to 80mph."

"80?! Holy crap, that's a huge improvement! What else?" Chadaface asked

"All of our armored vehicles have upgraded with improved gun stabilization allowing for accurate fire while on the move and active point defense systems to protect against ATGMs." Erwin replied

"Impressive." Holland said, "So I guess the plan is to eventually make all that stuff standard for all of our vehicles?"

"If they're successful on the field, yes." Erwin said

"Well I don't see why it can't be successful as most of those features have been probably standard issue on Coalition Verse tanks since even before we even knew what a tank was." Spiros replied, "Speaking of which, how good are Blackwater's T-95s?"

"While they're way out of date by Coalition Verse standards, T-95s are by all means are well-built machines and very upgradable as Blackwater keeps improving them every day by adding new features…hell I've been hearing reports that Rome's Blackwater forces have started to up gun some of their T-95s with 130mm smoothbore guns that are capable of taking on the Coalition's MBTs from anything other than short range which could also explain the increase in AFV losses across the board and we're also seeing those laser tanks more often as well." Chadaface said

"They're closing the tech gap and we're playing catch-up." Holland replied, "Which is why I guess we…need the Special Projects Division."

"I'm as much of a fan of Siegbert as you are Holland, but yes we need him right now more than ever." Chadaface said

"Have you heard anything from my brothers or sister?" Erwin asked

"I haven't heard anything from them, but I do know that they are being deployed with some kind of new division with the Marines landing at Nykøbing and will be coming to help with the attack of Hafnia after they're done there." Chadaface replied

"New division?" Erwin asked

Chadaface made a shrug-like motion before he replied

"High Command was being hush-hush about it, but I do know for sure that they are being deployed.", "I was wondering when you were going to ask about them, I didn't like the idea of them separating you four as much as you and your father did."

"It's hard to part from them when you've shared a command with them for four years like I did." Erwin said

"And you were a good team." Chadaface replied, "Speaking of which…can you still turn into a dragon?"

"You can what?!" Holland shouted as he and Spiros looked at Erwin

"Oh I didn't tell you that did I, it's something else that the Americans gave me for helping them taking down Gene Corp HQ." Erwin said as he pulled his sleeve up, revealing his transformation device

"May want to be careful using that thing around Drago's men because he has a bounty up for anybody who can capture one of those and it's wearer." Chadaface replied

"I know." Erwin said as he pulled his sleeve down to cover the transformation device

"When's the last time you used it?" Chadaface asked

"After my wedding when me and Margaret took a short flight." Erwin replied

"What kind of dragon?" Spiros asked

"Skrill, it can soak up lighting and shoot it out at people." Erwin replied, "It can also survive being frozen in ice for about a decade although I haven't tried that out for myself nor do I really want to…ask my father-in-law about that if you ever meet him."

"He isn't the only who can do it either, his wife and all the post-humans involved with the Coalition's task forces can do it as well now." Chadaface replied, "Why don't you show them?"

"Now?!" Erwin asked, "Well...I guess it won't hurt, I'll probably be using sometime soon anyway."

Erwin went behind one of the bookshelves, undressed, and changed into his Skrill form before coming out

"Impressive." Holland said as he and Spiros got up to get a close look at Erwin, "So you said your wife can turn into one of these as well?"

*"Yes, but she's smaller and can lay her spines back, the latter of which we think is something Gene Corp added for some reason."* Erwin replied, *"She also has more grey on her than I do."*

"And you can communicate telepathically as well, interesting." Holland said, "Sorry if this is old news, but I was overseas when all this broke out so we didn't get much news."

*"It's understandable."* Erwin replied

"What's your top flight speed?" Holland asked

*"Well on radar tests I clocked exactly at 135mph, but supposedly I can wrap myself in my wings and 'ride' on lightning bolts which supposedly makes us faster, almost as fast as a Night Fury whose top speed can break the sound barrier."* Erwin replied

"Amazing." Holland said, "So don't you have armor?"

*"Yes, but it's still on your airship in its crate along with my wife's."* Erwin replied

"So what happens if you use all of your lighting and can't recharge it?" Spiros asked him

*"Well my armor has power generators built into it that provide me with a constant supply of electricity as long as I have it on."* He replied

"Then what happens if you don't?" Spiros asked him

*"Well if I can I'll fly away, if not I'll fight as well as I can as these spines and teeth aren't just for looks."* He replied as Holland looked under his right wing and saw the patterns on it

"What about the patterns on your wings?" He asked Erwin

*"We think they're for attracting mates."* He replied

"I guess that they don't work on post-humans?" Holland asked

*"No."* Erwin replied

"Well I got to admit, you do look pretty Isotx damn scary when you're like that." Holland said, "Can you stand on your hind legs?"

Erwin snorted and sat up while stretching his wings out to their full extent

"So how big are you?" Spiros asked

*"29 Feet, which puts me in with the medium-sized dragons."* Erwin replied

"Just as I thought, all the dragons I've heard the news reel talk about are much bigger than that." Holland replied

"Oh trust me there are dragons much bigger than him out there." Chadaface said as Himu opened the door to let Margaret, who was also in her Skrill form, into the study

"I'm sorry sir, but she insisted on coming in here…and I'm not going to try stopping when she's like…that." Himu said

{"There you are! Could've at least told me you were going down here!"} Margaret said to him

"Oh this could be entertaining…" Spiros said quietly to Holland as they stepped back from Erwin

{"Did you fly all the way down here by yourself without any escorts?!"} He asked her

{"Erwin this entire area is swarming with your people's airships so I doubt there's anybody up there who would want to hurt me."} She replied

{"You can never know Margaret."} Erwin said, {"But at least you're okay."}

Margaret nuzzled Erwin before he embraced her with his wings

*"Love you too."* Margaret said to Erwin

"I think we should probably leave those two alone for a little while." Chadaface said before he got up from his chair and left the study with Holland and Spiros leaving Erwin and Margaret in the Study by themselves

{"It's been awhile since we were like this."} Margaret said to Erwin, {"I almost forgot how it was like."}

{"I did too."} Erwin replied

Isle of Berk – Dragon Sanctuary – Infirmary

Calvin, Emily, and Sheva were watching Valka, Hiccup, and the other dragon riders play with their children when Karlson entered the room

*"Oh no I know that look, something's going on."* Emily said to Calvin when they saw the look on Karlson's face

{"What's going on dad?"} Calvin asked him and he sighed

"We just got word from Command that the Isotxians are launching their invasion of the Baltic Strait Islands the day after tomorrow at midnight and they've requested our assistance, so Smict is sending both of us out to help." Karlson said

"The day after tomorrow?! And they're now just telling us about this?!" Hiccup asked

"Command thinks something is going on that is making the Isotxians go forward with this invasion and Smict suspects that it might have something to do with their war with the Eastern Empire." Karlson replied

"Do they think they're helping Drago?!" Valka asked him

"We don't know." He replied, "But they've requested our assistance in a particular part of their invasion, they want us and Nautilus to help them in a joint attack with the resistance against Hafnia to try to cut off the flow of reinforcements from the mainland."

"Hafnia, its port has been major base of operations for the dragon trappers that operate in the region since even before the Romans conquered the islands." Valka said

"Just another reason for us to take it then." Karlson replied, "We'll explain more in the briefing me, Jayden, Barnes, and Reaper are putting together in the morning, I just wanted you to be ready."

{"Why does this all have to happen now?!"} Emily asked

"Emily if we want this war to end operations like this have to happen, even if their timing is not the best for some of the people involved." Karlson replied as Emily scooted closer to Calvin, who sighed

"Enjoy what time you guys have together, as we always say, it might be your last." Karlson said

{"We know."} Calvin replied as Milo crawled over to Karlson's feet followed by Nicole, Calvinia, and Kiara while Karlson kneeled down and started to pet them

"I don't like this either you two, but we don't have any choice." Karlson said, "But if we and the Isotxians can secure a foothold on Scandinavia, it can really help bring this war to a quicker end meaning we won't have to do stuff like this again."

"Isn't that what they also said when we took down Gene Corp?!" Hiccup asked him

"We were hoping that Marcus would be there, but he wasn't and that was also before Drago came into the picture." Karlson replied

"We better go tell my dad, he and the others may want to be part of this." Hiccup said, "And do you mean by 'the resistance'? I never heard of one being active down there before."

"It's been active for a while, but it's only started to pick up steam fairly recently due to the aid the Isotxians are giving them and some of its cells have also somehow learned to ride dragons." Karlson replied

"How?!" Valka asked

"We don't know, you guys know any other dragon riders or anybody who might know how to train a dragon?" Karlson asked

"Well there was this one person we kind of taught how to." Hiccup said as he rubbed the back of his neck

"You mean Heather?" Astrid asked him, "What would she be doing in Scandinavia?"

"Well she never really said that she and her parents were from the Archipelago." Fishlegs said, "But there is no way we can prove it was her."

"The Isotxians probably know who's teaching them." Hiccup said, "Who's leading it?"

"Ake Svendsen, he wants to use the war to unite the tribes under a single banner." Karlson said

"I've heard of Ake, he was a chieftain of a small tribe on Funen and when the Romans invaded, he managed to unite the tribes on it and Zealand to fight them and might have been able to stop them if he could've gotten the support of the tribes of the mainland, but they were too busy killing each other and dragons to worry about the Romans, so they were eventually crushed after a few months of intense fighting, but I thought for sure that he was slain." Valka replied

"Well apparently he's still alive and well because he's been giving Drago and Martin a run for their money now that the Isotxians are giving them weapons and he has a growing amount of supporters all across Funen, Zealand, and the mainland." Karlson said

"Any man who can stand up to Drago Bludvist is worthy of my respect." Valka said

*"You okay?"* Calvin asked Emily

*"No."* She replied, *"I want you to stay here with us."*

*"I wanted too as well, but what my dad said is right, stuff like this needs to happen so it can stop happening."* Calvin said to her

*"You sound too much like your dad sometimes."* She replied

*"I'll be careful, I promise."* Calvin said to her

Hafnia, Zealand – Outskirts; Present Day Copenhagen, Denmark

2032 Hours

Before its fall to the Romans, the city now known as Hafnia had been a thriving Viking settlement, but now little of that remained as the Romans had destroyed most of the original settlement during their attack and the settlers that followed tore down whatever remained and built Hafnia over it, but despite this, there were still numerous Vikings who still called Hafnia their home, most of which were enslaved by the Romans and lived in specially built "ghettos" located in the city's outskirts until its' "liberation" by Drago Bludvist who freed the enslaved Vikings who were willing to cooperate with him or he had other use for while keeping the others still in chains and also putting their former masters in the places of the ones he freed while others lived freer, but more dangerous lives in Hafnia's incomplete sewer system while raging a guerrilla war against the previous and current occupiers most of which were claimed loyalty to Ake Svendsen and his United Scandinavian Resistance Front, whose headquarters was located in the deepest chambers of Hafnia's sewers and from which the USRF was led from

"Ake! Heather's back!" A Viking shouted to Ake, who was planning an ambush on a Blackwater supply train that would be traveling between Hafnia and one of the Blackwater bases located deeper in Zealand with several of his second-in-commands in the machine room that Ake used as his command center

"Finally! Send her in!" He replied as Heather and Windshear entered the machine room

"Sorry it took us so long, Chadaface kept me at his headquarters a little bit longer than I expected…and for good reason." She said to him, "The invasion is coming tomorrow night at midnight."

Ake's second-in-commands went silent as they and Ake looked at Heather

"Are you certain of this?!" Ake asked him and Heather nodded

"It's happening because they're gearing up for it right now and they're planning to attack the city to cut the flow of reinforcements from the mainland and they want our help." She replied

"What do they want us to do?" One of the Second-in-Commands asked

"They want us to stage an uprising after they detonate several bombs over us that will disable Blackwater's weaponry." Heather replied, "In return they will be providing us with reinforcements in the form of paratroopers, commandos, and maybe even a task force from their allies."

"We have little time then, we need to alert all the cells across the islands." Ake said

"That isn't all either, they're also going to be landing another and larger force of theirs near Frederikssund which will be marching over land to reinforce us and secure the city." Heather replied, "They're also going as far to landing another force near Asloa to try to gain a foothold on the mainland."

"Good, it might take some pressure off our backs." Ake said, "But we aren't going to be of any use to General Chadaface if we're not ready in time! Heather, you and Windshear get your rest, because once the sun goes down tomorrow I want you two to fly to Frederikssund and show the Isotxians landing there the best route to get to the city."

Heather nodded and left

"I'll start sending messengers out to the other cells to spread the word." One of Ake's Second-in-Commands said, "So I guess we should call-off all of our plans for tonight and tomorrow?"

Ake nodded

"So what's the plan then?" Another one of his Second-in-Commands asked him

"We'll attack the guards protecting the ghettos, which will hopefully rile up the slaves into fighting if the invasion doesn't do that for us after that we'll have to take one or more of Blackwater's armories to get weapons and ammunition then we cause as much chaos as we can to keep the garrison busy until the first wave of Isotxians arrive and then we switch focus to actually trying to take and hold the city until the second Isotxian wave arrives." He replied

"Are we sure we can hold the city that long?" One of the Second-in-Commands asked

"No, but we have to try because the fate of Scandinavia and our people rely on it." Ake replied

Isle of Berk – Dragon Sanctuary – Dragon Armory

Oili was doing her best to hold still as four APMSF Engineers placed her's and the other recruits' armor on

["Are you about done?"] Oili asked them

"Just about, we just need you to hold still a little bit longer until we can get the rest of the plating on and then we can run the diagnostics and calibration tests." One of the Engineers replied

["What do those do?"] She asked him

["Well the diagnostics test makes sure that everything inside the armor works the way it should and the calibration test makes it easier for you to use and locks it to your DNA so only you can use it."] He replied

Oili nodded

["And what happens to the armor if I…die?"] She asked them

"Depending on how damaged it is, we recover it, repair the damage, and reset its systems so it can be calibrated for somebody else." One of them replied, "But hopefully the armor stops that from happening."

["I hope so because I have two children."] Oili said

"The armor's purpose is to protect its wearer ma'am, so unless you get by something really big or something going really fucking fast it when and if your shield is down you'll be okay." The Engineer said to her as the other Engineers placed the last of the armor plating onto Oili

"Okay that's the last of it!" One of them said

"Just stay calm and relax ma'am, this will only take a few seconds." The Lead Engineer said as he used his PDA to activate Oili's armor causing the visor to closer

["Is that supposed to happen?"] Oili asked

"Yes, you should start seeing numbers and text on the top, bottoms, and sides of your view, can you see those?" The Engineer asked her

["Yes."] Oili replied

"Good that's what we call a Heads-up display or HUD, it tells you important stuff like how well your shields and armor are holding up, location of friendlies and hostiles, and target identification." The Engineer said

["I can't understand any of it."] Oili said

"Don't worry, the calibration test will fix that." The Engineer said, "Let's see…shields are up and running, communication systems operational, cloaking device…"

The Engineer looked up as Oili turned invisible for a few seconds before turning visible again

"Online…and everything else is green across the board." He said to her, "Moving onto the calibration test."

Oili watched as the text on her HUD translated into Nordic runes

["I can understand the HUD now!"] Oili said

"Good that means the calibration test is working." The Engineer said, "Now just move and walk around a bit, get a feel for the armor and then take it out for a flight."

Oili nodded as she started to walk around in her armor

="This armor is lighter than I was thought it was going to be."= She thought to herself as she walked around the armor before running into Freja, who was also in her armor

{"So they pulled you guys into this as well?"} Freja asked her

{"Yeah, although they haven't told us what's going on."} She replied

{"They haven't told me or the others either yet, but it's got to be big if they're pulling both of the Task Forces in for it."} Freja said to her, {"Is that the new armor that General Henderson's men are issued?"}

{"I have no idea, I didn't really ask either."} She replied

{"Well either way, it gets the job done and wearing it around is better than getting a spear, arrow, sword, or whatever else through the chest."} Freja said as Pentrov entered the Armory

{"Pentrov! Do you have any idea what's going on?"} Freja asked him

{"Not a clue."} He replied as he looked at Oili, {"But whatever it is, it must be serious because me and the other instructors have been ordered to rush our trainees through the rest of their training, which is why I'm here."}

{"What are we going to do?"} Oili asked him

{"Whatever I can get into you and the others before whatever is going to happen happens."} He replied, {"Where are the others?"}

{"Over there still getting their armor on."} Oili said as she motioned toward the other trainees, {"They should be about done though."}

{"Good because I want to start your training as soon as possible."} Pentrov replied, {"So what do you think of the armor?"}

{"Don't know what to think of it yet, I've only had it on for a few minutes."} Oili said

{"Well hopefully the training will help you get used to it."} Pentrov replied

{"Just promise not to hurt Oili too much here, I might need her during whatever is going to happen."} Freja said to him

{"I won't."} He replied, {"Just want to make sure she's ready for battle, defiantly with the crazy shit you and your outfit like to pull off."}

{"Well that 'crazy shit' works does it not?"} Freja asked him

{"I didn't say they don't."} He replied, {"Speaking of your outfit however, I suggest you get it together for the briefing Barnes is going to give in the morning."}

{"Still got plenty of time, do you need help with the training thing?"} Freja asked him

{"Well since I think Calvin is unavailable right now, I could use somebody to help teach the trainees how to fight other species of dragon."} He replied

{"Okay I'll get the others together."} Freja said, {"Are you sure Calvin isn't available, I always love watching him help train new people."}

{"Well I haven't seen or heard from him since Emily gave birth, but I'm certain he doesn't want to be bothered right now."} Pentrov replied

{"Hmmm…pretty sure I heard they were bringing him in on whatever is going to happen."} Freja said

{"They have and I'm defiantly certain that he wants to spend as much time with Emily and their kids as he can and I'm not going to be the asshole who is going to get in the way of that defiantly after what they've been put through."} Pentrov replied

Freja nodded

{"What happened to them?"} Oili asked

{"It's a long and difficult story and we don't have the time for me to tell you it, but let's just say they were forcibly separated for a long period time."} Pentrov replied

{"Well I'll go get the outfit together."} Freja said before she walked away

{"So how are your kids?"} Pentrov asked

{"They're fine."} Oili replied, {"I'm sorry about putting you through that yesterday…I honestly didn't even notice how much you resemble Mavic until those twins mentioned it."}

{"Well even I have to admit the resemblance is uncanny."} Pentrov said, {"He and Aslog seem to be pretty good kids going from what I've seen them although they seem to like to wander off."}

{"I was admittedly a bit of a wanderer myself when I was younger."} Oili said and Pentrov laughed

{"Me too."} He said, {"I think everybody was at one point in their life, but it surprises me how far they can travel by themselves, most dragons their age rarely ever venture beyond wherever they were born without their parents until they're mature enough."}

{"Well they must've been looking for me, I'm all they have and they're all I have anymore."} Oili said as they were joined by the other trainee Zipplebacks

{"Okay everybody follow me! We're going to try finish your training before everything goes down!"} Pentrov shouted as they left the armory and headed for the main chamber

Meanwhile in the Operation Planning Room; Reaper, Catherine, Karlson, Jayden, a holographic Zephaniah, Stoick, Gobber, Spitelout, Barnes, Earc, Turner, Wensky, Titov, and Lucile were standing around the large holomap projector in the center of the room as they reviewed the plans for the attack on Hafnia

"My forces will land just east of the outskirts and push into the city, if the Isotxians' EMP bombs do as much damage as they hope they do it should be relatively easy since most of Blackwater's vehicles will be crippled leaving only the captured Roman vehicles that Drago's men use which are pushovers." Jayden said as he pointed to areas of the map "After entering the city proper, we'll advance toward the port and secure it, denying its use to any ships Drago might try to send across the Øresund and then move on to secure the rest of the city after the rest of you and the 7th Mechanized Corps arrive."

"Sounds like a sound plan." Reaper replied, "Any concerns you would like to address?"

"Not really." Jayden replied

"What do we know about Drago's naval strength in the Øresund?" Stoick asked

"According to the intel given to us by Isotxian Military Intelligence, they have four captured Roman Destroyers, at least twenty Blackwater gunboats, and numerous warships from Drago's Armada that have been modified with modern propulsion systems, torpedoes launchers, and anti-aircraft guns, all of which are stationed in Malmögia's harbor." Jayden replied, "None of which should be a problem for the anti-ship missile launchers we'll deploy in the port after we take it."

"What about dragons because surely he has some in the area, if not in the city." Spitelout asked

"Intel says they got a brigade of post-human and war dragons stationed in the port and at least a division of them stationed in Malmögia that will no doubly accompany any ships that Drago sends across the sound, which is why I'm leaving Earc, Turner, and the rest of our post-humans to help defend the port." Jayden replied while Earc and Turner nodded, "I would stay with them, but I need to command the rest of the battle."

"No need to worry, we can handle them just fine by ourselves." Turner said

"Anything else you would like to tell us." Reaper asked Jayden, Earc, and Turner, who shook their heads

"Okay then, so let's move on to Therian's part in this operation." He continued and Barnes nodded as Reaper used the remote for the projector to change the projection to Frederikkssund

"This is Frederikkssund, a small fishing village located a few miles outside of Hafnia where we and the 7th Mechanized Corps will be making landfall." Barnes said, "According to the Isotxians' intel, the village is protected only by a small militia equipped with small arms and a limited supply of light and heavy weaponry, mostly of Roman origin meaning they shouldn't give us much trouble if they don't scatter as soon as they soon as they see ours' and the Isotxians' airships. After securing Frederikkssund, we and the Isotxians will advance overland to Hafnia on the system of roads that the Romans built to connect Hafnia and their other settlements on the island together."

"Sounds simple, what's the terrain like?" Zephaniah asked

"Mostly flat farmland with scattered patches of woodland and wetlands." Barnes replied

"Perfect stomping grounds for our tanks." Reaper said, "But it also means that cover from artillery and air attack is going to be extremely limited out there and we're also going have to take and secure any towns and villages we go through, slowing our advance."

"Well the EMP should deal with any Blackwater artillery pieces, but aircraft are still going to be a threat because Blackwater stores their aircraft in hardened hangars which will protect from the EMPs, but I think the air cruisers in Air Admiral Holland's fleet will make most of them keep their distance with their anti-aircraft weapons leaving only Drago's dragons if he has any in the area that won't be trying to defend Hafnia." Barnes replied

"If any do show up, could give us a chance to test out the new weapons we got from research and development designed specifically to deal with them." Karlson said

"What new weapons?" Stoick asked

"The lab boys are calling most of them dragon pacification weapons, they're non-lethal weapons designed for use against both pure and post-human dragons including sonic weaponry, nip gas, and stronger tranquilizers." Reaper replied

"Sorry, but nip gas?" Lucile asked

"It's a gas that the lab boys at Area 51 cooked up which has the same effects as dragon nip on pure dragons that breathe it in meaning it distracts them and makes it easier for our guys to capture them without having to shoot them." Reaper replied

"Wouldn't shooting them be easier?" Lucile asked

"Be glad my wife isn't here to have heard you said that." Stoick replied

"Yes it would be, but the war is starting to put a serious dent in Europe's dragon population which wasn't doing so great before it between Gene Corp and Drago trapping and exploiting them, Rome trying to reduce their numbers, and just people killing them for whatever reason and it's causing a uproar back home from the tree huggers, many of which are calling for us to introduce dragons into our world so they can be better protected from trapping and hunting which isn't in best our interest but neither is a possible ecological collapse in Europe from the dragons going extinct there, so something has to be done to slow or stop the bleeding." Reaper said

"I'm sure those speeches his wife gave to those people didn't help that either." Titov said

"What can I say? She's dedicated to protecting dragons!" Stoick replied

"Well none of the less besides the tree huggers there is also a lot of soldiers have been sent home for whatever reason calling for dragon introduction as well…at least in the United States that is and there is more and more serious talk going on about a possible vote on it and if there is one and those people get a majority, then well as the saying goes, we serve the people." Reaper said

"Merde." Lucile said

"Merde is right." Karlson said, "But admittedly my time as one of them has made me a lot more sympathetic for the dragons, enough for me to believe that they do need to be protected."

"That goes for all of us Karl." Barnes replied, "But back to the invasion, after we link up in Hafnia, we still will have to defend the city until the main Isotxian force arrives and Drago will not hesitate to jump on the chance to destroy both our task forces at the same time even if it means going through Holland's airship fleet, so we'll need to be prepared for that."

"What's preventing the Isotxian Navy from blockading Hafnia's port?" Titov asked

"Drago has the Øresund's approaches heavily mined making it suicide for any watercraft larger than a patrol boat from entering the Øresund and the anti-ship missiles that he has positioned on both sides of the Oresund make it impossible for any minesweepers to clear a passage through the minefields without getting blown out of the water and the anti-ship missiles make transitioning directly into the Øresund too dangerous as well." Barnes replied, "So this is our best option."

"Drago can't make anything easy for us can he?" Zephaniah asked, "So is this a done deal?"

"Unless anybody here has anything else to say." Reaper replied and looked around as nobody said anything, "So it is a done deal, so let's get this started."