Isle of Berk – USMC Beachhead
Four Hours after arrival of American Reinforcements
Inside the passenger compartment of an American Amphibious Assault Vehicle two squads of U.S Marines were preparing themselves for battle
"So what's the story behind the big guy?" Asked Private First Class Roderick Hernandez, the newest member of Bravo Squad led by Sergeant Jayden Henderson to Corporal Phillip Turner as he looked at Sergeant Henderson who was sitting in the far back of the transport with the platoon commander as he read a small book about the armored fighting vehicles of World War I
"You've never heard of Henderson?" Phillip asked him
"No...should I have?" He replied
"Oh yeah I forgot, you're new. He's the son of Former General Martin Henderson, you know the one who keeps on criticizing the PP in Europe?" Phillip said to him
"Oh yeah...I never knew he had a son." He replied
"Most people don't and for good reason, Henderson hates his old man." Phillip said to him, "Rumor has it that he actually helped the APMSF try to capture him before he fled to Europe."
"And I thought I didn't get along with my dad..." The Private said as he looked back at Henderson, who was now putting the book he was reading into his ruck while looking at his wristwatch
"Time to lock and load marines!" The Platoon Commander shouted as the AAV made landfall before opening the back door allowing the Marines to exit the transport with Henderson being the last one to leave, "Henderson!"
Henderson ran over to the platoon commander
"What is it sir?" Henderson asked him
"I want you and your squad to go ahead and head inland to try to link up with the Hairy Hooligans or the APMSF 1st Legion." He replied
"But wouldn't that require us to go through enemy territory Staff Sergeant?" Henderson asked him
"Yes, you're squad is some of the best men in the unit which is why I'm sending you." He replied, "And I also understand this isn't your first encounter with the Vikings...or the 1st Legion."
Henderson nodded
"I was with the Vikings at Salt River Canyon during the Gene Corp War and I rather not talk about my...previous cooperation with the 1st Legion." He said to him
"I understand." The Platoon Commander replied, "Head out as soon as you're ready."
Henderson saluted the Platoon Commander before rejoining his squad
"The Staff Sergeant wants us to advance in front of the main unit and attempt to link up with the 1st Legion and Hairy Hooligans advancing through the forest from the east." He said to his squad, "Which means we will be cutting through enemy territory, so I want weapons loaded and cool nerves, am I making myself clear?"
"Sir yes sir!" His Squad replied
"Good, we move out immediately." He said to them
USAS Patton
Hiccup and Toothless were with Tesla, Calvin, and Sheva in the hangar bay when the post-human dragons and the rest of the dragon riders flew in and landed, all of them tired and exhausted
"What are you guys doing here?" Hiccup asked Barnes
"Conrad told us to take a break." He replied
"I can see why..." Tesla said as Calvin and Sheva ran to their father as he came toward Tesla
"Hey you two..." He said to them while Toothless limped his way over to Barnes
"You look horrible." Toothless said to him telepathically
Barnes snorted
"You're not the one who's been up for several hours straight flying around and blowing shit up." He said to him
"Come on Barnes, lets get this armor off so we can get some sleep." Samantha said to him as she helped Leon remove his armor
"Just a minute..." Barnes said to her
"We heard about your run in with those Blackwater Infiltrators, any word why they were here?" Hiccup asked him
"Not yet, but Twones has sent a field team to check out the bodies and the remains of their submersible." He replied before he turned around and went over to Samantha
"I've never seen him this exhausted before..." Hiccup said as Astrid and Stormfly came over toward him and Toothless
"You be exhausted as well if you had been out there...the Outcasts don't know when to give up." Astrid said to them
"I've heard..." Hiccup replied, "So do you really think those were Blackwater Infiltrators?"
"If they weren't, they were pretty convincing." She said to them, "Really spooked out Barnes that was for sure."
Meanwhile in the Infirmary, General Conrad entered the room with his two bodyguards as a APM Intelligence Officer searched the bodies of the Blackwater Infiltrators
"What do you have to report?" Conrad asked the Intelligence Officer
"They're defiantly Blackwater, that's for sure. Uniforms match and everything." She replied, "But this is something that I found on them."
The Intelligence Officer lifted up a evidence bag containing a large knife with a black wooden handle
"It's a knife...what's so interesting about it?" Conrad asked her
"It's a Bowie Knife, but what's more interesting is the symbol on the handle because the last time I checked Bowie Knives didn't exist during the time of the Roman Empire...or for that matter stainless steel." She replied, "Their AKs have the same symbols as well."
"Are you certain isn't just a symbol they put on there for decoration?" Conrad asked
"I can't be for certain, I sent a picture of it to the CIA Field Team that's on it's way here so they can analysis it." She replied
"How old is our latest intel on the Roman Empire in this dimension?" Conrad asked
"The end of Operation Bodyguard, 134 years ago." She replied
"Then I guess it's time we update it, if we have any long range drones available I want them over Rome as soon as possible." He said to her
The Intelligence Officer nodded
"Anything else?" Conrad asked
"No, but I'll notify you once I find anything." She replied
Conrad nodded and left the Infirmary
Isle of Berk
Savage regained consciousness as he was being dragged by two American soldiers through the Hairy Hooligan village in chains
"Man this guy is heavy!" One of the Americans said
"Better get ready, because it's about to get worse." The Other replied as Savage started to struggle as he tried to break free, "You can try all you want big guy, there is no way you're getting out of this!"
"Make me!" Savage replied
"Okay then!" The Other Soldier said as he pulled out his weapon and whipped Savage in the back of the head with it, knocking him unconscious again before they continued to drag him toward a Mallard that several other Outcast Prisoners were being loaded onto in chains by APMSF Stormtroopers
"We have a major one here, Stoick's confirmed that this one is Alvin's second-in-command." One of the Soldiers said to the APMSF Officer who was leading the Stormtroopers loading the captured Outcasts onto the VTOLs
"Hmm...we might use for this one then, get him aboard." The Officer said to them before they continued to drag Savage into the the Mallard's cargo bay before dropping him on the floor and leaving while in the forest, Henderson and the rest of Bravo Squad was continuing on their way through the forest to link with the 1st Legion and Hairy Hooligans while the sounds of battle echoed from all around them
"With all that gunfire, I'm surprised we haven't ran into anybody yet." Said Corporal Jasmine Morrison, the Corpsman attached to Bravo Squad
"Same here." Replied Lance Corporal Dean Oliver
"Our mission is to link up with the APMSF and Vikings, not kill Outcasts." Henderson said to them
"Aren't the Outcasts technically Vikings?" Phillip asked
"Well yes...but you know what I meant." Henderson replied when he noticed that his motion sensor was starting to detect movement before he held up his fist, signaling to the rest of the squad to stop
"What is it sir?" Hernandez asked him over the radio
"We got movement to our front." He replied quietly
Henderson and the rest of squad readied their weapons when they heard heavily accented voices coming from the foliage in front of them
"Does anybody have a visual?" Henderson asked
"Negative, the foliage is too thick." Dean replied while Bravo Squad's Marksman, Corporal Benjamin Smith used the thermal scope mounted on top of his DMR
"I do...they're Vikings, but I can't tell if they're Outcast or not." He said as he motioned for Hernandez to take point as the squad slowly crept through the foliage toward the Vikings trying to get a ID on them, but before they could get into position Henderson's motion sensor detected several more Vikings who surrounded them and pointed the weapons at them while Bravo Squad immediately pointed their weapons back at them before Henderson recognized them
"Lower your damn weapons! They're Hairy Hooligans!" Henderson shouted as the Vikings lowered their weapons
"Sorry for the scare, we thought you were Outcasts!" A Viking wearing a helmet with four horns and fat blonde beard said to Bravo Squad
"Same here." Henderson replied
"Hey you look familiar have we met before?" The Viking asked him
"Depends were you at Salt River Canyon?" He replied
The Viking nodded
"Aw yes now I remember you, you're that Henderson person that helped bring Bucket back to us!" He said to him
"That would be me." He replied
"Name's Mulch by the way." Mulch said to him
"Yeah Bucket mentioned you when I found him." He replied, "Strange fellow he is."
"Well that's what happens with you have your skull fractured, but he doesn't wear the bucket anymore thanks to the work of your doctors." Mulch said to him
"Good to hear." Henderson replied, "So are you alone out here?"
"Stoick sent us ahead of the main force to link up with you."Mulch said to him, "But I'm guess your leader sent you to link up with us."
"Guess so." He replied as he and Bravo got up, "But I'm sure the others aren't that far behind."
"I hope so because this place is crawling with Outcasts!" Mulch said to him
"It is? Because you guys are the first faces we've se-" He replied before Dean took a hit from a Outcast crossbow
"Ambush!" Mulch shouted as Outcast Warriors charged at Bravo Squad and his men while Jasmine ran to Dean, who pulled the metal bolt out from his bullet-proof vest
"I'm fine!" Dean shouted to her as he got back up and picked up his rifle
"Form a circle!" Henderson shouted as he gunned a Outcast with his rifle while activating his comm link, "This is Sergeant Henderson, we are under attack by multiple hostiles and require immediate assistance!"
"We copy you sergeant! We can hear the gunfire from here!" The Platoon Commander replied, "Just hold on! We're on our way!"
"Roger!" Henderson said as he deactivated comm link, "Hold them off! Help is on the way!"
"Kill them all!" One of the Outcasts shouted while Benjamin picked them off with his DMR
"Henderson we're surrounded!" Phillip shouted to Henderson
"I can see that Corporal!" He replied
"I swear why is it always us that get stuck in situations like this?!" Dean shouted
"Because we're always the ones on point!" Jasmine replied
"Fire in the hole!" Hernandez shouted as he fired the grenade launcher mounted beneath the barrel of his rifle, taking out a group of Outcasts
"Good shot Private!" Henderson replied as several AAVs and LAVs supported by more Marines came crashing through the trees and began firing their automatic grenade launchers and auto cannons, quickly gunning down most of the attacking Outcasts while the others fled into the forest
"I almost thought they had us there!" Mulch said to Henderson
"Didn't even come close." He replied as they approached by the Platoon Leader
"See you managed to complete objective!" He said to them, "Where's the others?"
"Somewhere behind us with the APMSF." Mulch replied
"Good, Henderson I want you to make sure our friends make it back in one piece while we finish cleaning up here." The Platoon Leader said to him
Henderson nodded
"Lead the way Mulch, you know this forest better than we do." He said to Mulch, who nodded and led him and his squad into the forest
Somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea
That Night
The Russian nuclear sub carrying Titov and his men was now sailing southward, submerged beneath the surface as the Spetsnaz Colonel and his men prepared two Zodiacs for deployment in the Torpedo room
"This one looks good!" Titov said after helping finish inflating the first zodiac, "What about you guys?"
"Still working on it sir." One of the Spetsnaz Operatives working on the other Zodiac replied when the PA system came on
"Colonel Titov please report to bridge, Colonel Titov please report to the bridge." A Russian Sailor said over the intercom
Titov sighed
"You guys finish up here, I'm going to go see what's going on." He said before leaving the Torpedo Room and making his way through the cramped corridors of the submarine to it's command bridge where the captain was looking through the periscope, his face in a expression of shock as he took his eyes off the periscope
"Colonel you better come look at this." He said to Titov as he stepped away from the periscope as Titov came up and took control of it, allowing him to see the Roman port city of Ostia where several there several iron clad warships in dock with smokestacks for multiple factories visible against the horizon
"Captain, I think it's time we break radio silence." He replied
