Chapter 7: A fight, a feign, and fire in the sky
A dragon will always, always go for the kill..."
"So why don't you…" Hiccup muttered under her breath as she re-examined the Artemus' gold wing fighter plane. The hull had been sealed and the welds smoothed. All that remained was light weld scar that was practically invisible to the untrained eye. She held a contemplative hand to her chin and scowled, too deep in thought to hear the approaching footsteps.
"I didn't do what, now?" Said a voice behind her, jarring her from her internal war and making her jump. She turned to see Artemus saunter through the mechanic's shop towards her. "Because I swear it wasn't my fault…probably… What are you blaming me for not doing?"
Hiccup attempted a smile in greeting but her mind was still racing, not entirely focused on the physical world around her. "Uhm…" She shook her head, trying to remember how to communicate in words. "… oh, no. Not you. I was just thinking…"
"Well, don't think too hard, you might start getting ideas!" He shivered at the thought sarcastically but he still didn't have Hiccup's attention. He coughed into his hand...Then louder.
Hiccup's green eyes shifted from the plane to Artemus then back to the plane, a finger tapping rapidly at her chin. Then she froze and turned back to Artemus. "..Wait a second…"
"There ya go," he encouraged her.
"What are you doing here? I thought you went to look for the nest with the others!" She wiggled in barely concealed excitement.
Artemus chuckled at her attempt to conceal her enthusiasm. "Stoick wanted a few seasoned pilots to stay behind in case of a raid while they are gone. Besides, I'm not much use on the ground."
"Oh this is perfect!" Hiccup jumped on the balls of her feet a few times before sprinting over to work bench and returning with a thick, leather-bound notebook and a bronze ink pen. She raced past Artemus again and dragged a stool over from him before promptly sitting on the ground cross-legged, notebook open, eagerly waiting for the man to sit as well. She flicked through the notebook, past hastily scribbled notes and sketches and schematics, trying to find a blank page. When she was ready, she looked up again.
Artemus chuckled again but sat, leaning his elbows on his knees and hunching over to rest his chin on closed fists. "Alright, let's start at the beginning…
...
Sirens wailed and a cold breeze blew through the open bay doors as Artemus raced through middle level docking bay. All around him was the orderly chaos of dozens of pilots and co-pilots and deck hands prepping for take-off. Dull silver and grey planes lined the hanger, a few splattered with painted designs, family crests, or catch phrases. The east facing hangar was home to the higher ranking and more seasoned pilots who were the first line of defense in case of a raid. They were the first to head out and the last to come in, and on occasion, it was their duty to not return at all. It was a sacrifice they were all willing and ready to make every time those sirens went off.
Dragons. Artemus shook his head in disdain for the creatures. It seemed that they had a personal vendetta against Berk and its people.
His deck hand had inspected and prepped his plane already by the time he finally approached the stunning gold plane. It was certainly one of a kind; sleek and deadly, small yet powerful. It was one of the finest craftsmanship that had ever graced the sky. He whistled in awe every time he laid eyes on the custom plane and made a mental note to again commend the mechanic's apprentice for such amazing work.
Artemus quickly scaled the short ladder and hopped gracefully into the open cockpit, strapping on the metal lined leather helmet and connecting safety lines from his seat to his harness. The ladder was rolled away and his deck hand gave him the all clear.
Engines roaring and sputtering to life filled the air, propellers spun up and planes started rolling forward one by one, waiting for the all clear from the flight coordinators that stood at equal distances between bay doors waving flags and multicolored light sticks. Artemus followed suit behind a brightly painted older plane that was still spewing a bit of grey smoke in response to its hasty start-up. He watched as planes glided off the edge past the bay doors, bobbed a bit, then streaked out into the early morning sky and quickly disappeared from view.
A few doubled back around instantly, engaging a few beasts that had intended to strike the bay directly. The battle quickly heated up and by the time Artemus entered the fray, it was going full force. He ascended quickly above the brunt of the battle and banked wide around the growing fire fight, scanning for anyone who might need his help. His plane was one of the few that had forgone a communications array which saved several pounds of equipment and offered a rather significant increase in maneuverability. A few pounds could be the difference between life and death in the air. But the only possible downside was that he had no means of talking and strategizing directly with anyone. Not that he ever needed to. He was a renowned solo fighter, one of the best at intervening without interfering, and getting in and out without so much a ripple in the air currents. He owed most of it to Hiccup, who had analyzed his flight and fight patterns in some of the older planes and outfitted this one to match his preferences and strengths.
Artemus had thought and said it many times before, but Hiccup truly was a very gifted strategist, seeing one thing and interpreting motive, strength, and possible next moves and creating a counter within seconds. There were times when he wished she could be out here with him, but not only had he also forgone a co-pilot' seat, he really wouldn't want to put her in danger. He would be content with his strategy sessions before and after each raid.
Speaking of which, he recalled their brief conversation before-hand as he turned his attention to the outskirts of the city. His mission today was to find where and when the Night Fury arrived. In previous raids, Artemus had only engaged the black dragon after it had made its presence known, but Hiccup said she had a hunch she wanted to investigate. What it was, she wouldn't say, but he trusted her.
So he scanned the eastern horizon, eyes flickering between incoming and fleeing dragons, past darting planes and through streams of bullets and missiles that rained down from the tower defenses. The hive-like network of bridge defenses inhibited his vision of the city below but most of the fighting stayed above as the metal matrix was an unnecessary hazard to both sides. Only a few lone dragons rose and fell between the lattice-work before quickly darting away east with prey in claw.
He cursed under his breath but it was snatched away by the wind, unheard by even his own ears. The beasts found the sheep housed in the middle level. Before he could react, a team of four blue and silver painted bi-planes streaked after the fleeing dragons. His eyes were off the horizon for barely more than a minute but when he banked back towards the edge of the city, the bone chilling shriek sounded below and behind him. Artemus banked hard, trying to pinpoint the sound.
There! A shadow streaked like a black lightning bolt from the south eastern part of the city, rising impossibly fast straight up past Artemus' current altitude. He swore again and throttled up, quickly rising. His heart raced. Why didn't he see it approach the city? Artemus wanted to scream. He had only looked away for a minute, it shouldn't have been enough time for the dragon to make its approach from the mountains, bank around to the south eastern side of the city, and stay hidden through the middle levels long enough to come up that close to the center of the city.
His internal rant was cut off when the shadow streaked towards him and he barely had enough time to dodge the incoming blue-white plasma blast. The plane responded perfectly to his every command as he nearly rolled it to pursue the black dragon. He quickly flipped a few switched and readied his weapons systems, and felt the small machine gun turret hum to life behind him.
The shadowy form of the Night Fury was mostly still hidden by the thickening morning fog and even with the lightening sky, all Artemus could see was the hazy outline of the creature's wings and body. There was a flash of green eyes and Artemus quickly ducked left out of its line of vision. But the movement did not go unnoticed, and the creature twisted right, away from the gold plane, and ducked down before shooting upwards again.
Artemus throttled up more to gain speed and altitude. He let out a quick burst of gun fire up after the dragon and it seemed to clip a wing tip, but didn't do any apparent damage as the dragon tucked in its wings and flipped over. Now plummeting straight for the gold wing plane, Artemus had all of two seconds to dodge the attack and double back to keep the dragon in his sights. The ensuing chase lasted until the first rays of dawn touched the sky, and Artemus only got a few chances to open fire on the creature, never once inflicting any visible damage. He dodged blue blasts and one nearly took out his rudder, but he managed to pull up before the blast struck home. Their fight led them around the outskirts of the city, away from the majority of the fighting and out of range of the Tower defenses. They traded roles as cat and mouse and there were times when they would simply circle each other, unsure of who was chasing who.
Artemus risked a glance back at the city center to see that most of the fighting had died down and most of the dragons were retreating, albeit with livestock in their claws, but there didn't appear to be much damage to the city at first glance. That was a victory all its own.
With the sun rising, and the fog lifting, Artemus hoped to see the Night Fury properly, but when he turned back to face his opponent, there was only eerily silent air. He darted his gaze this way and that trying to relocate the beast. Then, before he even had time to register the keening shriek, there was a flash of brilliant light and a deafening explosion as his plane was hit. Hard.
Thick smoke clouded Artemus' vision and alarms blared on his dashboard as he struggled for control of his sporadic descent. The wings of his plane leaned heavily to the left and he pulled right to compensate. By the time he finally regained control, he had lost half his altitude, was nearly back to the city center, and the Night Fury was nowhere in sight.
He pounded his dashboard in frustration and conducted one last sloppy bank around the east edge of the city trying to spot the fleeing black beast. Only a few Nadders could be seen wobbling through the air with some pitiful prey in their claws. Artemus huffed before returning to Malm Lagid for repairs.
Hiccup wasn't going to be too happy.
:.~.:~:.~.:~:.~
I forgot about a question that was asked a while ago. Someone asked about the 'gold wing plane' that the night fury was referring to a few chapters back was Artemus, not the plane that Hiccup i working on. I didn't mean to cause confusion. The night fury refers to Artemus as the gold wing fighter pilot, or simply the gold wing. Hiccup's plane doesn't some into play just yet.
sorry for the long time gone. I wrote an extra long chapter to make up for it but forgot that i had a two chapter buffer... so you guys gonna have a reeeeallly long chapter 9. But youre still gonna have to wait a bit longer. College.
Please review
"The beat of a heart, like the beat of a drum
sounds in the silence:
a war hymn's hum"
