Chapter 10: First Flight
~Gen. Stoick~
We pulled into the base with only a third of the group we had set out with. Everyone else had been killed. Only a few Hornets, one Falcon, two Elephants, and a Warthog were the only vehicles that made it out. I got out of the crowded Elephant to see Col. Gobber waiting to greet us back.
"So I take it you found the base at least?" In his normal enthusiasm.
After our loses however, I was in no mood for it. "Not even close." I responded gruffly.
"Oh." Gobber replied with loss of enthusiasm. "Excellent."
"I trust you've had more success than I have." To be honest, those Dragon Trainees could be our only hope against the enemy now.
"If by success you mean that you parenting troubles are over. Then, yes."
What did he mean by that? Just then several soldiers came up to us. Surprisingly happy.
"Congratulations Stoick. Everyone is SO relieved."
"Out with the old and in with the new right."
"No one will miss that old nuisance."
"The whole base is throwing a party to celebrate."
Out with the old? Miss that nuisance? That could only mean...Hiccup. Which means. "He's gone?"
Gobber just looked at me and sounded nervous. "Yeah,"
Oh no.
"Most afternoons."
Wait. What?
"But who can blame him. The life of a celebrity is very rough. He can barely walk through the base without being swarmed by his new fans." He said with pride.
"Hiccup?"
"Who would of thought it ehh. The kid has this, way with the beasts."
~Hiccup-200~
"That was a close one." I told Toothless as we walked to the cove. Astrid had almost caught us.
"She didn't seem very happy to see us either." Commented Toothless as we stepped into the cove.
We walked down into the cove and walked over to where Nogard was waiting for us. He got up to greet us. I took off my helmet and set it aside.
I had brought the Spartan laser for Nogard. We saw that his Nightfury fusion cannon was broken. After taking some scans, Toothless and I found a way to combine it with a Spartan Laser, which would make it even more powerful.
After some work we finally got it to function. We tested it out on a boulder. After we fired it; all that was left was a crater.
"Well. Now that we have that finished. Lets take the ship on its first official test flight." I said.
Several minutes later we were flying above the oceans of Berk. Nogard was flying, while I manned the weapons. We had upgraded the weapons. There were dual Nightfury canons mounted under the wings, and at the front were dual miniguns mounted side by side.
"All right. Lets take it easy."
Nogard took us closer to the water. We flew under a natural archway and past some birds. I looked around in awe at how beautiful it was. I had been flying in hornets before. Why was I only noticing this stuff now?
Nogard then took us straight up. We flew higher and higher. Suddenly an idea came into my head. I took off my helmet and secured it onto the dashboard. I then opened the modified Banshee like cockpit all the way. We had split it in half so that when it opened it split into two pieces. I stood up as far as I could while still holding on.
"Haha. Ohh this is AMAZING!" It truly was. The feeling of the wind in my face. The sudden feeling of zero gravity, and then the feeling of gravity pulling you back. Wait. "The engine!"
I felt the ship fall out from under me and I lost my grip. Me and the ship were free falling.
"Oh man! Oh man!"
"Hiccup! Hiccup!" I could barely hear Nogard over the wind and my yelling.
"Okay, just try to angle the ship towards," the ship was suddenly coming for me and the wing hit me, "Ow!"
We were about 5,000 feet from the ground, I estimated. Nogard seemed to have managed to get ship to stay in a straight nosedive. The open co-pilot cockpit was facing me. I leaned towards it and pulled myself into it. Once I was in I closed the cockpit.
"Nogard. I'm in."
"We've still lost the engines."
"Toothless!"
"I'm trying to restart the engines now."
We were 1,000 feet above the ground when I heard the engines come back to life.
"Hold on." Nogard warned me.
He pulled up causing us to fly straight into a maze of rock pillars. He was a very good pilot. We dodged and weaved through the pillars. We finally faced a last one and I fired both Nightfury cannons, blowing the pillar up. We flew through unscathed. I was so relieved I couldn't hold it in any longer.
"YEESSS!" I yelled.
"Woohoo!" Toothless yelled. He appeared on the holoprojector and was bouncing around with joy. Nogard let out an Elite roar of victory.
We had survived.
We then returned to the cove. On the way Toothless analyzed the engine problem. Thankfully it was easily fixed.
When we were done I gave Nogard one final thing. A modified human radio. I had taken it and modified it so Nogard could contact me on my helmet comm, hopefully, without anyone else hearing. I then returned back to base.
~Installation-117: Barracks~
I sat on my bunk for a while just messing with my computer. I didn't even notice the tall figured enter the room.
"Everybody out." Called a familiar deep voice.
I was startled and quickly closed my computer. I looked up to see my dad standing to the side to let everyone out. I started to get up, but he just pointed at me.
"Not you."
I sat back down as the last of my squad mates left. Dad then started walking over towards me.
"So, uh, dad. You're back. Umm...can I help you?"
"Actually I came here to talk to you." He said standing before me. It was rather intimidating.
"Oh really. Umm."
"Just how long did you think you could keep it from me?"
"Umm I don't know what you're talking abo-"
"Nothing happens around this base without me knowing about it."
Oh no. Nogard.
"Oh man. Look dad. I was going to tell you but..." Wait a minute. He was laughing. He never laughed. I nervously joined in. "Haha. You mean you're not, upset?"
"What!? I was hoping for this."
Oookay, are we talking about the same thing?
"Uhh. You, were?" I asked.
"Oh and believe me. It only gets better. Just wait until you spill a Hunters guts for the first time. And bash you first Brute head in."
Ohh, this was about Dragon Training. He obviously didn't know about Gobber sending in live Covenant yet.
"Haha, what a feeling." He gave me a encouraged backhanded pat to my chest. Which sent me falling off the other side of the bed. "You really had me going there son." I got back up. "All those years of the worst Spartan ever seen. Man, it was rough, and all those years you've been holding out on me. Hahaha." For the first time that I can remember, he was smiling at me. "With you doing so well in the ring." He sat on the bed opposite me. "We finally have something to talk about."
We just sat there in an awkward silence. So much for something to talk about.
"Oh, uh. I, brought you something. To keep you safe in the arena." He handed me a knife.
"Um. Wow. Thanks dad."
"Aye. It was your mother's. She would be so proud of you." He pulled out a knife that looked exactly like the one he had given me. "Matching set. Helps...Helps keep her close." Dad was actually getting emotional about this. Of course it was mom, but he still always seemed to keep it stored away somewhere. I realized that an awkward silence had filled the air.
I semi-faked a yawn, it was getting late after all. And I'm sure my squad would like to get some sleep as well rather than wait outside. "I should probably get to bed." Dad seemed to get the idea.
"Oh, uh, right. Well um good talk."
"Yeah, good talk."
"I should um."
"Yeah and thanks for the knife."
"Right. Um I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow."
As he left through the door I fell back on my bed and let out a deep breathe I hadn't even realized I was holding in. My squad came back in and we all went to sleep. The final round of the tournament was tomorrow.