Hi guys, guess what? Looks like I can have a few more characters you may recognise from FF in here. The amazing Nightstar Fury. Author of some amazing Hiccup/Astrid, Hiccup/OC and Hiccup/Toothless fanfics with great variety has given me permission to use her OCs. All credit for them goes to her, and I definitely recommend you check out most of her stories. There is guaranteed to be one for each of you, and I especially recommend 'An Unintentional Hero' and 'A Complete Turnaround'.
Anyway, all credit goes to her, I take no credit for them at all as they are not mine. A full link to her channel is impossible (God damn FF banning links) But I will be releasing an additional book like this one, which will be an entirely universe based one. Not needed, but it will have the more fact based information if you like that kind of thing, or want some insight.
Big thank you as usual to:
VigoGrimborne
Nightstar Fury
Also, If you want to suggest some names for ships. Feel free to, currently I'm relying on a random name generator, and I will gladly add any name, foreign or not to the list. Hell you could suggest the General Belgrano if you really want to. Then again suggesting sunken ships is asking for trouble. That's what I don't get, the sheer number of ships named Prometheus or Icarus. They're both tragedies. Seriously? How many destroyed ships before we clock onto the fact that naming ships after tragedies is a bad idea.
"The surrender of the FTD garrison to the blues was a somewhat embarrassing event, but I don't regret it, they would have executed the entire colony had we not laid down our arms, and the Asari never got ahold of any of our technology, so no harm was done. I saved the lives of thousands, but I don't get mentioned as a hero, only a coward. But I'm happy to go down as a coward, if that means children aren't slaughtered. Any of the men who served on the garrison would agree."
General Williams, Revisiting Freezing-to-Death, on his deathbed after the First Contact war.
"It is settled then. The turians will be providing their fleet to Admiral Chrisjen Avescerala of the Sixth fleet. They will also be joined by several smaller fleets, and will be headed straight for Freezing-to-Death to free the colony", spoke Viggo.
Immediately the room filled with voices and outcry's. Needless to say, he didn't envision himself getting much sleep anytime soon. "What of the Asari, surely we have a plan for that", ahh, that would by Donnell Udina, the director for Foreign Affairs. The conniving bastard was likely related to a Nott, he was almost certain of it, since he was a manipulative and backstabbing politician. At one time Viggo might have respected him, but the tanned and slightly chubby American was stirring up trouble.
He wore a clean white suit and blue undershirt, with a constant scowl or smirk on his face. His almost shaved head was neatly trimmed, and this time he was fixing Viggo with a smirk which he could translate all too easily.
"Due to the fact they have assaulted one of our colonies, and would likely have attacked us eventually, we intend to re-enter the fight as soon as possible". The chubby politician's smiled dropped like a stone, "What?! You want to go to war. That's asking for trouble. We are in no shape to-".
He knew what the director was trying to do. Making the Archians seem smaller and less powerful, making it look like they couldn't afford a war when the opposite was true. The Archians where in great shape. Space was a rich place, filled with enough heavy metals to drown even the most out-of-control economic predictions. Not only that, but energy was almost more common. Gases for fusion like deuterium and the co-material helium-3 where found in abundance in saltwater, or found on the surface of any moon close enough to it's parent star to be struck by the solar wind
"We are in perfect shape. The Unyielding Heirophant is in excellent condition, and the marine corps are already putting together contingencies to evacuate outer colony worlds. Not only that, but the Turian Heirarchy would be perfectly willing to aid us in any offensive attacks".
Hackett took over, "It's true the turians have a more-than-intimate knowledge of asari tactics. We already plan to ruthlessly exploit their dreadnoughts weaknesses". Udina grumbled under his breath. Conniving bastard.
"We have sent a proposal to all governors and senators datapads. Whether we announce an official declaration of war against the Asari, or if we attempt for negotiations".
"However I must inform you, that voting for the latter, would be a grave mistake on our part". The crowd hushed at the new arrival. The doors swinging open from a darkened red corridor. A black being completely devoid of any protection or guard strolled in. It's four extremely strong arms almost silent against the metal floor, and it's deep grey eyes flicked around the room, already likely marking potential threats.
"Nott'Einfari, we didn't expect you".
"That's because my ship was diverted from Yggdrasil, I expected to be sent back to mars fleet shipyards, or Elysium. Not directly to Arcturus. Now tell me Hackett, why do I have a report that says we lost hundreds of our brethren in battle".
He gulped, staring at an angry night fury was like going for a swim in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, still radioactive years later.
"It was likely a mistake on the Asari's part, firing on the Pillar of Autumn thinking it was a Turian ship".
She had reached the podium by now and was now stood on it. Despite being on all fours, she was still as tall as Hackett, and he could bet his admirals pin that Udina was shitting himself, the bastard was practically terrified of the female night fury, probably something to do with how she carried herself.
Unlike him, while she certainly was manipulative and scheming, she did not do it for personal gain. She did everything to protect her kind, and by extension the Archia federation, and he had foolishly challenged her loyalty, only to find himself pressed against the barrel of a cannon with a claw on his neck, with Einfari dedicated to tearing him apart, should he every have proved to be corrupt.
"This wasn't a mistake. 'Mistakes' are not firing a nuclear yield round on a frigate. A mistake is forgetting to stop charging a blast when sneezing. This is a declaration of war, and if we fold for peace, we will be seen as weak. Incapable of protecting ourselves".
Udina stood, "But they attack us either way, and even if we are prepared we still won't be avoiding war, at least with negotiations we have a chance". Einfari froze, turning and fixing the director with a glare which could crack a neutron star.
"My job is to protect all of dragon and humankind. If we push them back, and show they are not the all powerful overlords they think they are we appear strong. I have spoken to several turians, they are convinced that the vast majority of asari do not wish for war, and that the higher ups only attacked because they suspected a jackpot".
She now spoke directly to Udina, "If you wish to run with your tail between your legs and ask for peace then be my guest, but if you do anything that results in harm, I will not hesitate to make your life hell".
Thor damnit he was having difficult keeping the smile off his face at Udina's surprised look. That woman was amazing with how she so effortlessly defeated the man.
"As I was saying, in this case we have sent a proposal, vote for war, or peace". A notification appeared on everyone's screens, and the room was filled with hushed chatter. Hackett checked the file, followed by Avescerala, and was pleased to see that projected military numbers where made to appear much more powerful. Emphasising how far out of the river the asari had gone. Referring to their largest ships as battlecruisers. Figures on the crushing defeat on the asari frigate in the skies over Freezing-to-Death. As the leaders submitted their votes, the chatter died down. And throughout the entire time Einfari was still glaring at Udina.
"The vote has been received from all colony leaders", said Viggo.
"124 voted for negotiations to occur, and the total vote for war was... 1342. 56 are undecided". He put down the datapad. "The decision has been made, I will call the security council to draft a declaration of war, and mobilisation of the fleets will begin instantly. So Say We all".
The room echoed with a repeat of the motto, "So Say We All".
One by one the representatives left the room, and he could only think of one thing. I'm not getting any sleep tonight.
As Hackett turned to go, Viggo stopped him. "Hackett I may have some assets you can make use of, the first is this". He handed a datapad over, and Hacketts eyes widened.
"The Normandy class Stealth Destroyer.
New developments with element zero drives gifted by a scuttled turian destroyer have allowed us to reintegrate a brand new dimensional drift manifold, which allows the ship to move at near lightspeed even while under a cloak. The Internal Emission sinks of the Normandy's hull allow it to completely avoid thermal detection, while stealth proof plating and radar jamming make it completely immune to technological detection. For all intensive purposes, the Normandy class is invisible, only detectable by LIDAR or visual detection, which is only effective in a 5 kilometre range at most".
"You saying what I think you're saying".
"Its finished. Just got released from the Utopia fleet shipyards, and it needs a CO". He held a single hand up to his whiskery chin. "Rear Admiral Anderson. A true patriot. He's an excellent tactician. Used to be in Fury corps. Then his dragon friend became a politician".
"Einfari?".
"Einfari".
"I knew she got her suspicions about Udina from somewhere, and those two are about as opposite as one can get before relativistic effects start kicking in". They both chuckled. "Anyway, aside from the CO, we need a director for the marine contingent, and I think you're gonna like my suggestion". He switched over to the side, and Hacketts smile grew.
"Oh I feel so bad for the Asari. First Avescerala is running the counterattack, then Heift is leading an attack on their homeworld and now? Let's just say, I don't think the empire will be around much longer". He nodded,
"Nevertheless we still have work to do. Get me an OAI team, and send them into Asari space. I want them to try and contact these republicans. Maybe we can avoid all-out war".
ASW Deathbringer, Archian Donnager class Flagship
[play file labelled as '3']
In the depths of the Deathbringer, the armoury was silent. Until without warning about 100 marines clad in armour burst in. Almost immediately they began opening lockers. Ammunition was taken and distributed among them, as they loaded plasma shells into their sidearms, and began the process of cleaning their main weapons. Such was the case during a war. Grenades, designed to release a deadly stream of explosive energy where triple checked for flaws, and loaded onto belts. At the rate they could travel, the journey to Freezing to Death could take as little as 2 hours once the fleets had been mobilised, and that meant suiting up and loading the guns now, to ensure they where ready. Throughout the other armouries on all of the ships, PA systems announced in distinctly feminine voices, 'All Archian soldiers, please retrieve weapons and head to battlestations. Departure from Arcturus in 1 hour'.
On another ship, a squad of engineers began loading massively heavy artillery shells onto a 'Shieldmaiden' main battle tank. The canisters loading snugly into the main body, completely safe until the safety was removed. In conjunction, belts of 30 millimetre rounds where loaded into the machine guns onboard dropships and on the various fighters and bombers throughout the fleet. Explosive missiles which carried enough energy to turn sand into glass where manoeuvred on Gronkle tugged carts and slotted onto the Aurora and Raptor craft, while thousands of tons of explosives, napalm and Willie Peat was loaded onto the bomber squadrons. After being fully loaded, the planes where taxied over to the main launch catapults, and where left attached to nuclear fired magnetic accelerators, which would propel them to take-off speed on undocking with Arcturus.
10 minutes ticked by, and soon people began preparing the railguns. Massive tungsten slugs, designed to be fired from any railgun where dragged across the various stations, and loaded into the massive magazines onboard the ships which where lucky enough to mount railguns. Similar mixtures, containing a set of mirrors designed to reflect laser beams where loaded on ships with magneto-hydrodynamic projection cannons, which would be hit with a huge amount of energy, then sent flying through coilguns to obliterate enemy vessels.
"Attention all crew, fighter launch in 12 minutes, please man battlestations and launch positions".
The turian fleet had prepared by 20 minutes in, and had left already, since their FTL was far slower. But mainly to make room, as a pair of 500 meter tall metallic crabs with dual railguns and a weapons complement which would make a frigate blush where fixed onto the Deathbringer and crewed with hundreds of people, such was the requirements when running an ANGEL class assault platform. The legs where folded in, making them look like giant drop pods, but they where hiding the deadliest fighting platform in known space.
In the depths of ships, the fighters fixed in their magnetic launch tubes began to vibrate, before a mighty jet of steam was let loose, and they rocketed forward at 9gs. On leaving the bulk of a Valkyrie class, the swarm pulled round in an enormous loop. Across the entire system. Hundreds of other ships where carrying out similar operations, and the swarm consisting of hundreds, soon turned to thousands of aircraft, before they engaged their magnetic outer clamps and attached themselves to the outer hull, ready to join with the craft when it entered FTL.
Then, in a glorious display, hydraulic docking ports on the outer hull where withdrawn from the door, and the entire ship vibrated as the reactors where suddenly pushed to full power. The few civilian ships had to be ordered out of the way of the largest fleet every to assemble since the Rachni wars. With a massive Donnager class. The light carriers of the patrol fleet, the Verocity and the Indominant took up their escort positions around the fleet, as their own fighters where prepped for the extremely complex task of blowing up the enemy.
In the Deathbringer itself. Avescerala was marching down a corridor, making final preparations, while talking to her XO. "What's the status of the railguns".
"All main turrets are online and warmed up. Magazines full".
"Magneto cannons".
"We where stripping the conductance coils to increase efficiency so we had to remove the containers. We've refitted them, its not much, but its enough for at least 12 seconds per gun".
"Okay, keep me updated". He nodded, before scurrying off.
"PDC Controls?" she yelled from her position.
"All cannons are fully loaded with 40 millimetre rounds, and the targeting algorithms can shoot the wings off a fly from 12 kilometres". She nodded, "All forces, prepare for acceleration". She headed back into the bridge. "All engines ahead flank".
"Aye sir all engines ahead flank". The gargantuan Epstein drives on the rear of the vessels lit up, and the ship began accelerating forward with far more force than one would think. As it manoeuvred into position, it was followed by hundreds of other ships. Within their hull, torpedoes where loaded into their appropriate, magazines, all plasma or flechette classification, while the tanks and dropships where connected, ready to drop onto Freezing-to-Death.
From her vantage point on the spire of the Deathbringer, she could see as hundreds of smaller frigates and other vessels began closing and spinning up. Her own ship began to distort as the negative point drives lowered the relative mass of light, raising it's speed limit. The light from outside was completely bent by the field, similar to how one would perceive looking into water or thick glass.
The guns on the outside where brightly lit by spotlights, and just staring at them made her feel powerful. In the distance, the last ship, a Thor class hit its FTL threshold, and disappeared from space. Green lights where displayed across all of her systems. Her crew was standing by. All of her fighters and raptors where attached to the outer hull, the dropships where in the hangar bays, ready to take off while the bombers remained in the magnetic tubes for a quick launch.
The main cannons where still oriented forward, but she could almost see the sparks of electricity jumping from rail to rail as they sent their deadly payloads towards the enemy fleet. Every dragon onboard was with their humans. All saddled up and fitted with as many kinetic barriers as the turians could spare. The most elite soldiers humanity had to offer, with the deadliest dragons in all of history had already boarded.
And the Fury Corps where bloodthirsty.
Finally, she gave the order. "Take us in".
The fleet shot forward into the night. Leaving trails of high energy particles, which decorated the rim of the system, occasionally interspaced by a distorted section of space,
which had not yet recovered from the manoeuvre.
Hiccup Haddock, Freezing-to-Death Command Center
The first time he had arrived at the command center, he had been entirely focused on getting Toothless back, and so had ignored much of the amazing technology which was scattered around. Now he wouldn't get to see it, as it seemed like much of it was being packed away. Most of the weapons had been loaded onto those vehicle things the humans seemed to use. Anything which was damaged was currently in a pile which a pair of soldiers was drenching in monstrous nightmare gel, apparently to prevent the enemy from using it. All around him, soldiers weary and streaked with blood and dirt where loading into trucks, or heading out in squads of four.
As he moved through the courtyard with Toothless on his heels, he could see the dish-like shapes on the concrete building being deconstructed and taken down, while General Williams was shouting orders to a pair of engineers. "Uhh, General Williams?".
"Ahh Hiccup, we're packing up the base and moving on". He was mystified, Packing up? The alien things where attacking, surely it made more sense to stay where they where and hold the line. "Why? Surely we need to hold the position". Williams shook his head, "The scouts spotted an armour column 2 clicks south. We're withdrawing to the bunkers to protect the civilians. We can't let them fall". Hiccup could see the intelligence behind it, reducing the total space needed to defend.
"What about me?". Williams grabbed a crate of ammunition, regular plasma cannisters by the looks of them. "You ain't technically under my command. Though...". He looked around before leaning in, "There's a decommissioned freighter half a click north. But it's reactor is active still. I'd appreciate it if you could make another asari commando division... play dead".
"You want me to kill people? I did it before to rescue Toothless, but what if I could reason with them".
The man slowly put the crate down. "Reasoned with? They're fighting us because they where ordered to. If they deny us, their boss kills them, or locks them up".
Hiccup wouldn't give up though, "But what if we could...".
"It's not possible, the blues want a war and we have to defend the civilians. We just blew up one of their frigates, there's no way they're going to let that go, and if they-". He didn't get to finish, before a distant, very loud bang echoed out. Hiccup snapped round and stared into the sky, looking for the source. All he could see where a few dozen faint lights in the sky.
"ORBITAL STRIKE". He didn't grasp the meaning of the words, until Williams grabbed him and pulled him behind and a barricade.
The array of mass accelerators slammed into the ground with huge force, sending up massive plumes of dust. The vibrations from the strike rippled out and caused buildings across the colony to simply collapse from the force. Dust shook from every surface, and he heard a heart wrenching cry.
As he turned he saw a horrifying sight. A young Nadder, barely even mature as her tail spikes where not yet grown in, had been pierced by a falling piece of debris, and she was crying, massive tears from her green eyes as she struggled weakly. Those people are like Grimmel, they don't even care. Gobber told me what he did to the other warlords, and now these people are doing the same.
His fists tightened, he made a decision. "Where's this freighter". Williams pulled up a wounded soldier, who had a massive cut across his leg. "Half a click north". He hopped onto Toothless, "I'll be right back". Williams grunted as he supported the wounded man, helping him into a truck. "Status on the strike".
A radio operator tweaked the settings on a short range FM radio. "The accelerators pierced D-Block, killed a dozen or so civilians and set off an arms store, injuring about a hundred people. It was a miracle the damage was so little". The soldier pulled himself up weakly onto a pallet and leaned back against the wall. Williams sighed as his men looked dead, completely out of morale or hope. A distant bang shook the landscape, and he vaguely registered a shrieking cry before it occurred.
Williams knew they couldn't keep this up, he had to save the civilians. "Get me a broadcast to the alien fleet in orbit". The entire camp appeared to still. "You heard me, contact their flagship". The radio operator nodded mutely, likely too tired to care. A short beep sounded out. "You're in".
He took a deep breath. "Unknown aliens. You are now killing innocent civilians of the Archian Federation. What is it you want". There was a pause, before a creepy feminine voice replied, "Hmm, who is this?".
"General Williams of the Archian Military, please hold your fire, you are killing non-combatants". Another pause, this time with some faint moving around, "Surrender to the Asari Empire, and we will hold fire on the colony".
His fists clenched. The absolute bastards where demanding a surrender or they would open fire on the civilians. He looked around, his soldiers looked horrified, and Hiccup was nowhere to be found. "On behalf of the Archia Federation, the Freezing-to-Death garrison is ordered to lay down their arms. We surrender".
"Glad to hear it general. My troops will handle prisoners". He sighed and switched off the radio. "Destroy everything they could get technology from. Scuttle the tanks, and tell any special forces we have to disappear. I want to know they're keeping their word". He nodded mutely, before switching channels to the Archia military channel. "This is general Williams. All troops lay down your arms. We can't risk the civilian populace, we're surrendering to the Empire. I repeat, we are surrendering".
As an afterthought, he switched to a top secret military channel only for special forces and psionic forces. "Special force operatives and Psi operatives, this order does not stem to you. Keep an eye on the blues. Do not let them kill the civilians". He switched off the radio completely, before slamming his pistol into it, destroying it.
In the sky, he watched as blue flashes lit up the landscape. Transport following transport. And no-one, and nothing was left now to fight them. Freezing-to-Death belonged to the Asari.
"War is an inherently unstable interaction between three things. Intense emotion, Politics and Luck", Anders Kongur, The Rachni Wars, Shortly before the disappearance of Galactica.