AN: so sorry friends! Last week was suppose to be a double post, but I forgot to upload the second chapter, so you only got one. As a result, this week is a triple upload! Enjoy!

"Ikata!" 628's yell echoed through their headsets.

Jim took aim and shot a man running for an unarmed turret. Just behind him Hiccup and Mellow hit the triggers in their speeders. Panels opened in the front and milky gas billowed across the ground. Braxton led the group in an arch around the compound. The men below them were obscured by the gasses that settled low against buildings and vehicles.

From the left a turret opened fire on the squad. Bullets rattled through the air. Something pinged off the wing of Braxton's ship. He ducked his head down to avoid being shot.

628 peeled off from the group, his blasters blazing. "Detaka! Detaka! Detaka!"

The man on the turret went down. Two more turrets picked up where he left off.

Jim wove his way through the hail of bullets as he locked in on a target of his own. "This is Messier 45. I've got the south western turret, 628. Can you get the south eastern?"

"Yes! Ikata!"

"This is Cyborg One, I've spotted the king. He is running north, he appears to have been set free. I'm swooping in to collect him."

"Copy that, Cyborg One," Sy replied. "Grab him and rendezvous with the ship."

Hiccup assumed command. "Snotlout, Tuffnut, cover for Braxton so he can make his escape. Mellow how much gas you got left?"

"Uh, about a quarter tank?"

"Arch north. As soon as Braxton has grabbed the king, lay it down thick to cover his retreat. As soon as you've emptied your tanks, retreat. I'll stay to the south side and help our gunmen."

"Yes sir."

"Braxton, once you and the king are secured, give us a shout, we'll pull out."

"Copy Rider One. I'm diving now." Braxton's ship plunged down towards the ground. He swept in front of their fleeing king, the bottom of his speeder slicing into the ground. The king approached Braxton's unit before he shimmered out of the simulation.

A moment later Braxton's voice came over their headsets again. "King confirmed passenger. I'm heading for the ship now." He flicked the top of his unit shut once more and took off from the ground again. Mellow opened his canisters once more, the ground where Braxton had just been disappearing in a plume of white.

Jim pulled his craft into a sharp bank. He took aim with his hand gun as his speeder turned at a nearly sideways angle moments before he could crash into a building. Sparks flew as the belly of the craft scraped across the stone wall. Jim pulled his trigger. An enemy unit sporting a gas mask tumbled to the ground as the stunner hit its mark. "Messier 45 to all units, enemy has located gas masks. Be prepared for attacks from within the sleeper gas."

"Copy that," Hiccup responded promptly. "Tuff, Loutman, get yourselves up and out. Mellow you already gone?"

"Yes sir, Braxton and I are almost to the ship."

"628, Jim, cover the other two with me, we'll retreat in just a second."

"Wait!" Sy's voice held a note of panic. "Has anyone grabbed our agent yet?"

"No can do, we need to get out." Hiccup answered bluntly.

"But..."

Jim clenched his jaw with determination. He wasn't going to disappoint Sy. He'd made a promise, and he was going to keep it. "I'm on it, Sy."

"Jim, are you insane? There's enough gas on the ground we can't even sight him any more. You're more likely to run your speeder into him than to successfully extract him." Hiccup swooped his craft past to try and look at Jim.

Jim shrugged. "I'm good at insane. See the blue building? Park your speeder on top of it in two minutes."

"Hawkins!" Matt took his turn yelling at Jim this time. "Absolutely not."

"I'm ejecting now."

"Those speeders don't even have an eject button!" Matt protested.

"Eh, maybe not an official one." Jim flipped his craft upside down. The artificial gravity kicked on, tugging him towards the top of his craft. His lid was still open and his blaster flew up out of the craft. It launched out of the speeder and beyond the range of the artificial environment. Caught between two conflicting gravities it slid off to the side and clattered across the ground.

Mrs Parr looked up at the noise just in time to see one of her students fly up into the air.

Jim landed on his feet on the ground. He stumbled and fell to his knees. His unmanned speeder spun through the air in the simulation before smashing into a building.

"You have died." The announcement came through his headset in a cold detached voice.

"JIM!" Jim winced at Sy's shout. Sy sounded absolutely panicked. "Non, non, non, non!"

"I'm fine, Sy. Speeder took a beating, I'm good."

"What are you doing Hawkins?" Braxton demanded. "You're off the map, we can't see you."

"I have eyes on you guys," Jim replied. "Now shut up, there's sleeper gas, I shouldn't be talking." Jim held his breath and bolted through the units. He bounced off a pod that wasn't part of his simulation, but kept moving all the same. He could see their friendly unit collapsed with the other ursidae. A knife was still clutched in his hands, likely the very one that had cut their king free.

Jim's lungs burned for air. He started to wonder how many breaths he could get away with taking before realistically he would be asleep. His eyes scanned for what he needed. As if to answer him, the gasses parted just enough for a stray streak of sunlight to glitter off a hint of metal. Jim couldn't stop the grin on his face.

It took two breaths before he felt he had successfully taken the gas mask off the enemy unit. The simulation wouldn't let him do it, but Jim was sure he could talk Mrs Parr into understanding that he would have otherwise had it. He mimed putting on the mask for good measure.

Turning to the allied agent Jim reached out to grab him. He wasn't sure how realistically he would be required to haul the agent around but he imitated lifting him up all the same. He stepped forward to walk through the image for good measure, pretending to hold him across his shoulders.

"Allied target acquired."

"I've got him guys!" Jim declared as he heard the announcement. "I'm heading for the blue building now. Rider One, still good to grab me?"

"You are absolutely insane. I'll meet you there."

Jim wove his way through the room, bumping off real obstacles and dodging fake. He reached the blue building in what he hoped was record time. The staircase on the outside of the building posed an interesting challenge.

Jim set his foot where the first step should be. He paused, then planted it back on the ground. He began to climb.

Much to Jim's relief, the simulation appropriately adjusted his view as if he were truly climbing the stairs. Jim wasn't certain how much this program could handle a non official unit, but it seemed to have adapted well enough. "I'm on the roof, Rider one. Where are you?"

"Coming in now, I can't see you. Program isn't recognizing you, just your destroyed craft."

"It recognizes me enough, but I think it's treating me as an NPC. I have eyes on you, I'm coming your way." Jim answered. He started moving in anticipation of where Hiccup would park within the simulation.

Hiccup landed his speeder in the center of the roof. One of the few remaining enemies started up a turret and took fire. Jim ducked low and ran as fast as he could. The system glitched out twice before he finally made true progress to Hiccup's location.

"Lower your top!"

Hiccup obeyed just before Jim vaulted into the small craft.

"Allied unit acquired."

Jim could hear Hiccup's announcement as his program synced with the ship he was in. Hiccup took off the moment he had confirmation.

628 circled in behind them, still shooting at enemies wildly with his duel stun guns. "Detaka! Detaka!"

Jim relaxed and settled back in the space behind Hiccup's seat. "Thanks for grabbing us, man." Hiccup shrugged his reply as he navigated into the belly of their ship.

"All remaining units returned." This time the announcement was for all of them. The boys at the control panel snapped the doors shut and took off.

"Good timing guys, those fighter jets were just closing in on us. Aladdin, keep cloaking on until we're certain we've escaped." Matt instructed. "Sy, Fishlegs, keep an eye on those displays. If anything seems off, give me a shout."

The control ship zipped through the air and back towards their base. After a couple of minutes Matt announced, "Mission accomplished boys. I'm ending the program."