Navy AU during the Iran-Iraq War, setting year is 1987
At the height of unrest in the Persian Gulf, two warships must escort a neutral oil tanker protecting it from Iranian forces. Faced with the threat of enemy gunboats and his unrest of wanting to marry his second-in-command, Capt. Harvey Haddock is stuck in a tough dilemma. How will he deal with this two-fold mission?
Note: All ship classes and certain events mentioned are fictional. Italic quotes mean conversations through radio (e.g. ship to ship), non-italic ones represent normal as well as in-room conversations.
Waves of Fury
The Persian Gulf, one of the most important waterways in the world. 1/3 of the global oil exports passes through this body of water and two sides are at war: Iran and Iraq. The United States Navy acts as a watchdog for neutral shipping traffic that passes through the Gulf as enemy ships from both sides have been harassing all cargo ships regardless of nationality and cargo it carried, although attacks on oil tankers have been more prominent in an Iranian effort to halt Iraqi oil export.
Onboard the USS Stormfly, a Night Fury class missile cruiser equipped with anti-aircraft missiles launchers, three 5 inch main battle guns, harpoon anti-submarine and anti-ship torpedoes, countless short to medium range gun emplacements, and a state of the art command and combat system called the Death Song, based on the successful Aegis Combat Information System. In command is Capt. Harvey "Hiccup" Haddock III and Lt. Cdr. Astrid Hofferson, both priorly served in the Royal Berkian Navy. With a crew of 350, Stormfly is one of the chief warships that escort neutral ships as well as keeping enemy and pirate boats at bay. Convoys usually involve the neutral vessel with at least two US warships as bodyguards: for today, she and the USS Hookfang, a Nightmare class minesweeping frigate will escort the MV Berseker Dragonfly, a Suezmax class tanker measuring in at 400 meters long.
It's no secret that Stormfly has a handful of women sailors enlisted on her crew, 56 in total; the most out of any US warship in the Middle East. What is a secret is that Capt. Haddock and Lt. Cdr. Hofferson are in a relationship and no one except for the bridge officer, knew about their love life. They don't let it get in the way of their work in the navy and have become one of the most respected officers in the US Navy's Middle East outpost in Bahrain, even though they've been on tour of duty for just 5 months.
Inside the cruiser's combat information center, Capt. Haddock scanned the large display screens in front of him, giving him a clear picture of what's going on around their area; Stormfly's high tech radar can track any ship or aircraft from up to 500km away. He then called to the bridge, led by Chief Petty Officer Francis "Fishlegs" Ingerman about the position of the Berserker Dragonfly.
"CIC to bridge, Berserker Dragonfly is at 11 miles to our starboard. Maintain heading, full speed. Report when they're within visuals."
"Roger that captain, speed is at 30 knots maintaining heading 237. Visibility is at 8 miles out, will report when visual. Over." Fishlegs responded. Hiccup then turned to his girlfriend/commander.
"You wanna fly the Deadly Nadder?" he pertained to a Sikorsky SH-40 seahawk helicopter that Astrid gave its own nickname.
"Of course I do Cap'n!" she smiled, "Care to walk me there?" Hiccup nodded.
He handed over control to his tactical officer, Lt. Enrico "Eret" Ericsson as he left his post. The couple headed to the stern of the ship, with Astrid clinging onto Hiccup's arm tightly; as if someone's trying to steal him from her. With over a sixth of the crew being women sailors, her clingy behavior was understandable although she never told Hiccup why she acts like that during their deployment. If only there's a way we can quit sailing for good and settle down. she thought.
When they arrived at the helipad, the helicopter was ready to fly for the reconnaissance flight; her mission was to get a visual on the Berserker Dragonfly and if any enemy gunboats are approaching the tanker without engaging the latter into a gunfight or entering Iranian airspace.
"Be safe out there milady." Hiccup said before pulling her for a quick kiss. Astrid's tough demeanor as a commander melted when her lips met Hiccup's, reverting to Astrid the warm-hearted girlfriend Hiccup had fallen for back in Berk.
"I know, love you babe!" she started the chopper's engines and flew away from the deck.
As he watched the Deadly Nadder gain altitude, Hiccup was feeling confident of his commander's flying skills; both of them used to be pilots in their home navy before transferring to the US Navy under the Allied Navies recruitment program. But as her boyfriend, he's also a bit worried for her safety as she's been known to be reckless at times.
Astrid and her crew flew over the area where the Berserker Dragonfly last reported its location. They saw the tanker by her 3 o clock position and Stormfly at their 12 o clock. The blonde lieutenant estimated that the two ships are less than 5 miles away and should be visible to Fishlegs and the bridge crew.
"Stormfly, this is Deadly Nadder, we spot the Berserker Dragonfly approaching your starboard. You should have visual contact by now." Astrid transmitted.
She can then hear the transmissions between the warship and the tanker on the same radio frequency; once they confirmed a visual, she turned around back to her ship when she spotted a group of small watercraft followed by two destroyers. Using her binoculars, she discovered the smaller boats were most likely a group of gunboats.
"Stormfly, we've spotted some enemy gunboats off your 7 o clock inside Iranian waters. Do you copy?" the blonde commander added.
"Roger that Deadly Nadder, we have them on our radar. Confirm if enemy has taken fire over your position?"
"Negative Stormfly. Will not engage. Returning to cover, current altitude is 4000ft." A few minutes later, the Deadly Nadder returned to Stormfly's cover unscathed and Astrid back in her station beside her captain/boyfriend. His eyes had a worrying look, especially when he learned that she had spotted the enemy craft.
"You okay?" Astrid cooed, placing a hand on his chest.
"Yeah I'm good milady. It's just we're gonna have one hell of a morning today." Hiccup reassured her.
Just then, the Hookfang appeared from the tanker's starboard side according to the radar screens. In command of the frigate is Capt. Stanley "Snotlout" Jorgenson and Lt. Theodore "Tuff" Thorston. Like Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs, these two are recruits from Berk under the Allied Navies program.
"Station calling, USS Stormfly. This is Hookfang, you're on our visual now. ETA to the strait: 12 minutes" Captain Snotlout made contact.
"Roger that Hookfang, maintain 1.5 mile gap from the tanker's starboard. We're at her port side now." Astrid replied. Normally Hiccup would reply to the other captain but the second-in-command also has authority to respond.
The convoy sailed uneventfully when they entered the Strait of Hormuz under Omani territorial waters. a dozen Iranian gunboats and two destroyers flanked the convoy left hand side. Stormfly is within direct firing range from the enemy as her port side is facing towards hostile Iranian waters even though they're not inside it.
"Incoming gunboats, bearing 330. Speed is at 55 knots, distance 7.5 miles." surface detection officer Gustav Larson reported. The gunboats fired their machine guns and an anti-ship missile. Their rounds were well short but the missile just grazed past the convoy, nearly hitting the tanker's hull; that alone required a response of force. But before a move of retaliation was to be made, both Captains Hiccup and Snotlout had to ask clearance from their surface commander back in Bahrain, Commander George "Gobber" Belcher. Since the former has the higher rated warship, he asked Cdr. Gobber for clearance to retaliate.
"Gulf Sierra, this is Stormfly. Request to engage Iranian gunboat and destroyer group. We report hostile activity from them and nearly hit the Berserker Dragonfly with a missile."
A few moments later, Cdr. Gobber replied; "Stormfly, request to engage accepted. Authorized use of torpedoes and guns. Please relay. Over."
"Gulf Sierra, this is Stormfly. Opening fire on Iranian gunboat and destroyer group with guns and torpedoes." Hiccup repeated the order and after that confirmation, it was time to set general quarters.
"Alright Astrid let's set general quarters." he ordered Astrid, before giving her a quick peck in the cheek. Normally sailors refrain from intimacy inside the CIC but as the two highest ranking officers in the Stormfly added by the dark environment of the room, Hiccup knew he can get away with kissing his girlfriend.
"Fish, set general quarters" she called to the bridge. Then the alarm echoed throughout the 187 meter warship, sailors running about locking up open hatches and manning their battle stations. Most of this commotion happens on the deck and bridge.
"GENERAL QUARTERS GENERAL QUARTERS. ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS." Fishlegs announced through the ship's PA.
Within 6 minutes, all of her crew are in their respective battle stations and Stormfly is ready for her first real taste of action across the Gulf, aiming her massive 5 inch guns at the enemy boats. The same can be said for the crew aboard Hookfang; their encounter with the gunboats is about to become deadly serious. Aboard the frigate, Capt. Jorgenson and his crew have just finished setting up general quarters and serve as the backup firepower if Stormfly decides to take cover. Inside their CIC, surface detection officer Regine "Ruff" Thorston alerted the captain of potential sea mines planted in their area of transit.
"Keep me updated on any mines Ruff. We don't want to accidentally sweep territorial buoys out of place." Snotlout commented. He knew they wouldn't get to see real action but were still on high alert in case things went south.
The gunboats started to open fire on the Stormfly using guns and missiles. The cruiser responded by aiming the bow missile launcher towards the enemy warheads and fired 2 CIWS (close in weapon system) grade missiles, effectively destroying the oncoming warheads. This caused a large wake of water that capsized some of the unfortunate gunboats close to the blast; Stormfly was unaffected. She continued to fire her main battle guns towards the enemy craft, which caused the whole ship to rattle.
"I hope this works." Hiccup commented, anxiously watching the enemy activity on the screen in front of him. Astrid wrapped her left arm around her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Of course it will babe. We always make things work." She reassured.
Deep down, Hiccup knew they have the upper hand against the gunboats. What he wasn't sure would work is his proposal to Astrid. They've been dating for 5 years now and the 23 year old captain's earlier statement pertained to this rather than the mission. He loved his lieutenant commander not for her rank in the Navy, but her rank in his life as his girlfriend. And to him, that's all that matters. Before they set sail for their 6 month deployment in the Gulf, Hiccup had already bought an engagement ring to Astrid and a short speech that he originally wrote back when he asked her to be his girlfriend, but figured would be perfect as an engagement gift.
His thoughts snapped back into reality when he felt something hit their ship. "Captain, we've got Iranian destroyers. Port side!" Gustav relayed back to him. Straightening up his seating position, Hiccup was about to go on the offensive and end this once and for all.
"They're returning fire! Gustav, give me a target lock on the nearest vessel! I want an immediate take order on track 7749." Hiccup ordered, turning his fire authorization key for the harpoon torpedoes. The younger officer did as he was told and once he had a target lock on the enemy, Astrid gave the go ahead.
"Target locked on track 7749. Do I have a go ahead on the take order?" Gustav replied.
"Yes take!" Astrid commanded.
With a flick of a switch and a faint rumble onboard the ship, the torpedoes fired away. The rest of the crew looked towards the larger screens for the progress of the torpedoes; Lt. Eretson called out the progress."Estimated intercept time 7 seconds." he reported. Hiccup anxiously waited as one by one, the torpedoes made contact with the destroyer.
Up at the bridge, Fishlegs and the deck officers saw a wonderful sight: the enemy warship was starting to sink, listing to its port and a few moments later, it had collided with the other destroyer, bursting into flames. The officers cheered for their victory in this skirmish and Fishlegs grabbed for the radio, while still in his binoculars watching the enemy ships succumb to the waves.
"Bridge to CIC, we confirm the kill. Both destroyers are down and gunboats are retreating." he relayed to the CIC crew. He was expecting a reply from Capt. Haddock when the captain of the Berserker Dragonfly, Capt. Darwin "Dagur" Flint intervened.
"Thanks for the cover Stormfly and Hookfang. Those gunboats have their eyes on us every time we get out of here, but y'all did a spectacular job." he transmitted.
The convoy made it's way past the strait into the less hostile Gulf of Oman without further incident just before 4pm. They knew they've past the most dangerous part of the trip and the two warships decided to let Berserker Dragonfly head on her journey east. Once the tanker disappeared from the horizon, both Stormfly and Hookfang turned around and started the week long journey back to their home port in Bergen, Norway to a roaring crowd, welcoming them as heroes.
As the crew of Stormfly disembarked, Hiccup and Astrid stayed at the rear deck to have some intimate time. After a few kisses and cuddles, he pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and just as he was about to read it, he threw the paper aside. Instead he pulled out a small box, and kneeled on his left leg.
"Astrid" he started, "That piece of paper contained a little speech for you today but I'd be selling you off the things I really wanna say and I'm saying this from my heart." His girlfriend placed both her hands in front of her mouth, tears already welling up her blue eyes as Hiccup continued.
"Milady, I may be a sucker for words but 5 years is what it took us for this moment. 5 years of love, hurt, anguish, everything the world had to offer us but look where we are? We may be the best naval officers Berk has ever had but I never looked at you like that. Because regardless of what your rank is, you were always there for me in times of trouble and I wanna always be that person for you, forever. That is..." He stopped then opened the box, revealing a silver ring with a blue gemstone on top; a minimalist design but perfectly matches Astrid's eye color and style. "If you will marry me?"
That's when Astrid lost it, her tears of joy overtaking every part of her being. She didn't care whether or not they were breaking navy protocol or that her fellow sailors were watching from the docks. All she saw was Hiccup kneeled in front of her, asking her to be his wife. She playfully punched the kneeling Hiccup in his right shoulder.
"That's for taking so long to propose to me babe." she smirked.
"Is that a yes or no?" Hiccup asked, rubbing his sore shoulder.
She stood him up and instead of replying, she pulled the auburn haired captain for a long passionate kiss. This one felt better than their first kiss as boyfriend/girlfriend, initiating a new chapter in their lives. When they pulled out for air, Hiccup finally had the answer he wanted to hear.
"It's a yes Hiccup!" his now fiancée whispered, their foreheads still against one another.
Without warning, Hiccup lifted her off her feet and kissed her again. Her lissome arms wrapped around his shoulders, not wanting to end the moment.
"Looks like we ain't sailing the waves of fury no more milady."
"I don't mind, now it's time we sail the waves of settlement."
A/N: I recently watched The Hidden World and read a CRAP TON of Hiccstrid fanfics here, so I thought of writing my own. Let me know if I should start a dumping ground for these one-shots, all Hiccstrid related by reviewing! I'm planning to have canon-verse and modern AUs, rating may change depending on requests.