The Black blur of a ship known as the Night Fury returned to Berk within the same amount of time their voyage had taken originally: three hours. Three long, painstaking hours of HIccup and the others having to listen to the Twins argue over which gun would be more effective for a space zombie attack. Which was a preposterous idea to begin with, Hiccup had thought.
That was until he, who was seen as being one of the smartest on board, joined into the argument favoring Ruff's side. That side being the one of the Ice Beam, now ice was something Hiccup was good with. With him now joined in, Tuff began to back down...until Snotlout entered into the conversation during the middle of hour two. By the beginning of hour three, the whole Night Fury crew had been at war over such a trivial topic.
Tuffnut and Snotlout had even taken it upon themselves to act out their reasoning for using corrosive rounds, with Tuff portraying a space zombie and Snotlout being a warrior with a corrosive cannon. It was quite the amusing show , as it had the crew laughing for a good bit. Ruff soon pulled Hiccup into her show and tell, using one of his element guns to freeze her brother's legs in one spot. Hiccup chuckled as he completely froze a can of soda that his cousin had just opened, watching as the shorter man grumbled whilst dropping the can onto a table.
Their little play was cut short as the sensors went off on the ships main Hud, alerting them of the docking area at the Academy. As they landed the ship, each member began to pile the scales they'd collected onto a large cart to push down the ramp and into the Academy. Hiccup watched as people were hard at work fixing the damaged facility. They'd been using beams of heat fired from floating metallic orbs that circled them to aid in the process, something Hiccup couldn't help but smile about as he watched. He himself certainly had no hand in the creation of these drones, but something about man and technology being so perfectly in synch, made him feel better at times.
That being said, Hiccup did design a good deal of items around the school. His most well known item being a large device that was used to launch up to 10 grenades at a time, even though it was a bit hard to move the darn thing around. It sacrificed the speed factor on the battlefield, and Hiccup still hadn't gone back to fix that problem. He'd long ago placed that on his list of "stuff I'd eventually get to….eventually.". In all honesty, he most likely wouldn't work on it again until someone brought it to his attention.
The crew marched onwards, towards the back entrance of the Academy which housed the Academy Lab. They came to a stop at a checkpoint, where esteemed Officer Finn Hofferson walked over to them with a tablet in hand, checking several items off of a digital checklist as he approached them."Ello Astrid, how goes the crew?" he asks the Nav Cadet who smiles as she replies. "So far so good Uncle Finn. These guys are...alright." she replies while casting a glance to her teammates, many of whom were busy entering their security clearance badges into a scanner to pass by, Astrid going in last as she waves off her uncle. Ruffnut looked towards the area they were approaching, which was made for inspection of all items incoming aswell as outgoing. She chuckled at the thought of how many times she and her brother had been caught attempting to sneak into the Academy by hiding in laundry bins when they were little. Now here they are, 19 years old and going through the Academy's protocols on the daily. Her attention was soon drawn back to the dragon scales they'd been carrying towards the gate, as she became anxious while awaiting their inspection. In all honesty, she wanted to hurry this up so she could retreat to the weapons testing site and get creative. This new suit Hiccup had made gave her a few ideas on how to use it.
As they finally went through a large scanner, set up to frame a small portion of the room with bright red neon lights that flashed green when something suspicious was found, Hiccup finally found a smile fixed upon his face, his emerald eyes moving over towards a bulletproof window where his father watched as he and his crew made their arrival. After a few more steps, the doors opened and the two Haddock men stood before one another. No words were said, no more movements made. Hiccup looked up at the great bearded man before him, and the former did the same. They gave a simple nod to one another before walking alongside each other and heading into the main lab. "Journey went well it seems." Stoick says, finally sparking the match for a conversation to begin with his offspring. Hiccup nodded "Yeah, it went surprisingly well." he replied as he came to a stop and set down the scales he'd been carrying onto a scale in the lab.
"We fought alot of dragoons!"
"I became a human taser!!"
"We got kidnapped by a guy!"
In chimed the voices of the twins and Snotlout, who'd not been all that far behind the Haddock men this time, placing the scales that they'd been carrying down as well. "Kidnapped?" Stoick questions the male twin on his claim, his large brows raised in slight surprise.
"Yeah, about that...there was a dude on that planet. Called himself the Breacher or the Reacher or something of the sort." The female twin chimed into the conversation, informing Stoick of their encounter.
"The Treacher…." Stoick replies, his voice now low. "Aye, he is well known around here. Former Berk Guard who rebelled and was cast out for staging a coup in order to seize control. It was unanimous, the decision to cast him out. He was sent from here to another planet….though it had always been unclear which planet he'd been sent to until now."
"Well that's... unexpected. I mean wow. You must be pretty bad to be expelled from an entire planet!" Fishlegs exclaims as he looks closer at one of the scales while the lab techs came over and wheeled them away. Hiccup's eyes glanced over, briefly, towards the lab technicians, Bucket and Mulch. Though they may seem to be….a but off on the surface, the two were still two of the Guard's smartest technicians. Which is why Hiccup was relieved as they relinquished the scales over to them.
Stoick laid a hand onto his son's shoulder, causing the latter to turn towards the large man. "You've done good ...would you like to see how your prisoner is doing?" He asked. It took a moment, but eventually the memory of the event that led to his promotion came rushing back to him. Hiccup looked up and gave a simple nod.
The authorization process was Not a quick one, Hiccup made a mental note of that while filling out a form and waiting to get an ID Badge printed off at the HQ Prisoner Housing. He adjusted the neckline of his hyperspace suit and clipped the badge onto it. He let out a brief breath and walked through the doors that led to a long white and silver lined hallway. Hiccup and Stoick both headed down the hall ,passing each prisoner's cell as they went along. Finally they reached the end and another door opened to reveal a large black figure, held against a wall by incredibly strong magnetic cuffs on its neck, wrists, ankles, tail and waist. The Night Fury was incredibly bound at this time.
Hiccup observed the creature closely, as he moved closer to look at it's seek black scales. The creature stood around 8'9 and stared at Hiccup with a look that resembled despair. It was odd, him somehow finding contempt for something that had cost so many lives to his home. He stared into it's green cat-like eyes and was taken aback. It was as though his mind and the Night Fury's became one for a moment. He could see the pain dwelling deep within. He stood there for a moment, but only a short one, taking in all of the emotions that the creature emoted through a simple stare.
Suddenly, Hiccup found something more. Almost as though he could feel the pain of more than just one of these creatures. It was as though he was connection with them all, dead and alive. He let out a soft gasp, as his emerald eyes began to fill with something new. A new feeling, though Hiccup had become used to it throughout his life, this time it struck him as being much worse. It was fear. And it sickened him. He Began to blink wildly and shook his head, earning a look from his father who moved closer to the boy.
"Are you alright son?" Stoick asked Hiccup, who took a breath before all seemed to clear up for him. He could've sworn he heard a voice say something before he snapped back into reality. "I'm...I'm fine...just thinking of ….stuff.." Hiccup responds,while quickly turning away. He didn't look at his father or even at the Night Fury, he simply turned his attention towards the floor. It as almost as if he was deeply analyzing each crevice and line on the tile, but truly , he was attempting to figure out what just happened.
Hiccup's mind had been plagued with various theories and thoughts, even several hours after it had happened. He was currently sitting on the roof of his and his father's two story home, staring up into the stars and contemplating. He and his crew had been sent home after their first mission and he was already prepared to get back out there. He wondered if they had at all felt the same. He'd taken a great deal of pride in watching their reactions to his and Fish's various inventions; from the suits to the ship, even down to his guns. A small smile slid onto the young man's face as he began to think of what improvements he could make to their equipment, if only to see the positive reaction from it all.
But as he thought of this, he was taken back to his encounter with the Night Fury. What was that? That feeling that seemed to connect man and beast, something he couldn't explain even if he tried. It felt nice...comforting almost. But at the same time, it terrified him. It rocked him to his core. He was at a loss for words then, and he still is now. But whatever it was , he had it feeling it was the beginning of something….something no one would be prepared for. Hiccup was interrupted from his thoughts as the sounds of sirens filled the Berk streets. His head arose and whipped towards the flashing lights, which all moved towards the Academy.
A cloud of smoke had formed over way and the holding area was lit ablaze. He shook his head wildly as he rushed back into the house through the window, rolling onto his bedroom floor and quickly putting on his mission suit. Once the flexible material adjusted to his thin but well toned frame, he grabbed his twin guns and placed them at his sides using magnetic grips , then took off downstairs. He wasn't surprised to see that his father had taken off already and grabbed his own keys , lunging out of the front door and rushing to a hover cycle he'd made and improved upon in recent years. As the white and silver bike roared to life, it look off as Hiccup frantically made his way to the Academy.
He was almost there, swerving through traffic to approach the building. As he finally approached the main gate, he skid to a stop as his eyes widened further. The entire building was now on fire, people running rampant trying to put out the flames and save as many lives as possible. This stunned Hiccup- as it reminded him all too much of his past. It gave him a wild flashback of when he was much younger, when his mother had just been taken from his family. The smell of burning wood alongside the terror behind some green eyes as a thin frame was dragged off. The tears that fell from his eyes at the moment. He was snapped back into current times as a commanding officer rushed past to get to the building, Hiccup picking up his guns and rushing off as well. He'd set them to the ice setting, for maximum freeze and began firing upon the flames.
But it wouldn't be enough...not now. Hiccup's focus was drawn from the fire and fleeing people to his own workshop. The roof had been blown open and the Night Fury was still inside. He ran over as fast as his feet could carry him, dodging through a crowd of panic and focused soldiers as he approached. Finally he swung open the door and looked at his ship, still intact. No damage done whatsoever- that much was good. But that's not why he was there.
He was there to take flight and activate the weapons systems, both of the turrets in the back area entered into a cryobeam mode. He set them off , firing concentrated beams of ice at the burning construct below. This finally put an end to the flames. He landed the ship and departed from it, heading back outside in an attempt to find his dad or Gobber. So far he'd found no one.
He looked around and only saw other recruits and guards, feeling relieved that the fire was out finally. Hiccup's walked over towards the side of the building, near the lock-up area and headed into an opening in one of the walls. This led to the cells, and to his surprise, they were all empty.
His eyes moved over each name plate by each now empty cell as he went along. Dagur Bazerk. Viggo Grimborn. Ryker Grimborn. Mildew... And the Night Fury. Before his eyes laid the door to the Night Fury's cell, on the floor with tears in it. "This day just keeps getting worse…" Hiccup says with a sigh as he enters the empty room. He looks around before heading back to the outside of the building. "Still no sign of dad.."
"Hiccup!!!" A voice shouted put to him , causing him to whip his head around to face the owner of the voice. A raven haired figure in a dark blue zipped up blazer approached, three silver badges on her left breast and a JX-7 Laser Pistol holstered onto her dark brown trousers. "Heather hey!" He said as Heather approached. " Your crew!! Your crew! They got most of them!" She frantically says to him.
He attempts to calm her down, placing hands onto her shoulders. "Calm...calm...come on talk. Who got my crew? How??" He asked as he began to panic himself. She managed to gather herself. "Ryker and Viggo's crew, the Hunters. They staged a prison break, burned the prison and took prisoners- your crew and mine included. I saw Fishlegs and Ruffnut were still free but others….they have them."
The emerald eyed pilot's eyes widened as this news was told.
"Gone…?? Oh Gods..oh Gods...we ...we need to do something." He replies after a moment of recollection. "We need. We need to speak with my dad, see if there's anything can be done. We'll get clearance for a rescue op…" he says as he begins thinking of what to do.
Heather's eyes were wide as he said this, and focused more on the sky than her friend. She gave him a nudge and this caused Hiccup to turn around and look up, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape.
"Holy mother…"