Chapter 7:
Plymouth, England
Tens and hundreds of ships berthed along the coast of Plymouth. This harbor used to be a military base for the Royal Navy during the First and Second World War. The English Channel provided easy transportation for this city. A five-story building was located just a few hundred yards away from the harbor, overlooking the channel like a sentinel. The building had absolutely no decoration on its outside wall, just a plain gray building that people usually viewed as a mediocre storehouse. A small grass field furnished by evergreens and dense bushes surrounded the building, providing a barrier for it.
But inside the walls, nine Assistant Engineers and one Lead Engineer from Muspelheim and mountains of scientific equipment and computers filled the space. These science nerds had no interest for the beach or the Atlantic Ocean because they were too busy "making love" with their nuclear reactor, laser coolers, and particle accelerators.
"Bryan, this is my last warning, make sure you use the hydrogen flamethrower with extreme cautious, you muttonhead. Playing with a flamethrower which has a range of thirty meters beside a redesigned nuclear reactor is not cautious. If you ignite that thing, the whole building will all go kaboom like a firework. Heavy nuclear waste will be spread across Plymouth, creating another Chernobyl. I don't want any of those to happen because of your egregious incompetence," Fishlegs bellowed as a twenty-year-old engineer fooled around with a hydrogen tank connected with something like an M2 flamethrower.
"Don't worry about this building, sir. We have enough cadmium rods to sink a ship," Bryan replied while throwing flames into the air.
"Ok, but the air circulation of this building is not very good, and if you keep doing that, the hot air is going to damage some precision instruments," Fishlegs yelled as he removed a microscope away from his table to avoid the flame.
After a careful decision made by Gobber and Samuel Timothy, Muspelheim sent a squad of engineers led by Fishlegs to Plymouth, England to set up Muspelheim's first overseas laboratory. They chose Plymouth because they needed to use the ocean as a cooling device. So, Fishlegs and his nine engineers were setting up a private nuclear factory.
Meanwhile, behind the bushes which surrounded the lab, four ghost-oid people dressed in black combat suits hid in shadows. Muspelheim planted these bushes to create a biological boundary between the lab and society, but they provided an excellent hideout for invaders.
"David, are you sure that Fishlegs Ingerman is in there?" Axl, leader of the famous mercenary group: "Heimdall", pointed at the rectangular, gray building before them.
"Yes, he is the Lead Engineer of this nuclear center. He was an Assistant Engineer two weeks ago," the vanguard of Heimdall, David Mulks, a former lieutenant of 10th Mountain Division, replied. Weighed more than 250 pounds, David's friends called him the "moving tank". During missions, David usually struck first, clearing a path for his team. Not because Axl assigned him this job, but because David enjoyed, or even obsessed, rushing an entire defense himself and beating the crap out of everyone. The military thought he had some mental problems and kicked him out. His hair was cut to near bold, but not because of his will: when Heimdall assaulted a garrison in the Middle East a few years ago, napalm exploded a few yards above him, nearly burnt out his entire head. He had two holsters attached to his waist, which contained two redesigned Glock 18 in total.
Other members of Heimdall, Nina Rowland, and Evan Paris hid behind the tree trunk of a poplar, few yards behind David and their leader. Nina was the second-in-command of Heimdall, an Aphrodite-style girl who would attract everyone's attention in public with her pale eyes. She braided her dark red hair into a single ponytail which extended down to her waist. Unlike her goddess overview, she dressed in a latex combat suit with gloves and tactical belt, which changed her into someone like Black Widow. She held an HK416 in hand, extra magazines and a P228 pistol attached to her belt. Contradicting to her appearance, Nina ranked second on "Interpol's List of the 10 Most Wanted Humans on Earth", right beneath her leader, Axl, who took the first place. According to some unverified rumors that spread among other mercenaries and intelligence agencies, Nina fucked more men, and also women, than the casualties on Gold Beach during D-Day. And that also included her three other team members.
Evan Paris, unlike his three blood-thirsty teammates, didn't carry a rifle or pistol. Two black, steel cases rested beside his feet. This five-feet-two little man graduated from MIT and worked in Lincoln Laboratory for three years, received some of the best engineering education in this world. His friends gave him the nickname "Hephaestus," who is the god of the forge and fire.
"Evan, I know you are good at engineering, but this mission needs someone that can fight," Axl commented. "I don't know why you are here. You can sit in the van and do your computer thing."
"Which one of you knows how to control their nuclear reactor? You guys only know how to fight, but you need me to deal with their reactor in case you empty a mag at it," Evan snorted. "Bunch of simple-minded fight dummies."
"Wait, if they are working next to a nuclear reactor, won't the radiation kill them?"
"No, Muspelheim has its way of dealing with radiation, which is a classified file in their central database. I can't bypass their firewall to get that information. But I do know that a lot of their apparatuses and products are nuclear powered or generated."
Evan supported the idea that people don't always need physical power to win a battle. He believed in computers and robots because he correctly foresaw the unlimited future of technology on battlefields.
"Screw you. I bet that Fishlegs Ingerman is way better than you. I rather have him as my technical specialist," Nina punched him in the belly.
"He knows about engineering, and I respect his expertise in that field, but I also know computer, which he doesn't know shit about. After capturing him, you should use your method to extract information about Hiccup from him," Evan pointed out while covering his vulnerable belly.
"What's my method?"
"Seduce him, like what you did to almost everyone we captured whom we need to extract information from."
"He is a fat ass, if not extremely necessary or Axl doesn't give the order, I won't do it."
"Oh, so you do care who you lay with," David laughed. "We thought you didn't care."
"Well," Nina untied her ponytail and loosened her hair. "I don't mind laying with you three, which I already did, multiple times, and other normal humans."
"Then how about that Hiccup Haddock? I showed you his picture and file," David asked.
"Seems like a good target."
"Ok, enough talking," Axl ordered. "Get ready."
"Uh, they haven't set up their defense system, and that means we won't face any resistance. Unless some of the engineers know how to defend. I don't think we need weapons," David replied, even though he still loaded his two Glock 18.
"I didn't give you real bullets. Those are rubber bullets," Axl took out his M4A1. "I don't want to leave a mess behind."
"So does that mean we can shoot them without worrying about their life?"
"Well, just don't shoot at and above their necks."
A few minutes later, the four members of Heimdall jumped over the bush and started rushing across the grass field. David automatically took the lead. He held one Glock 18 in hand and another one in holster. Even though his pistol held a 34 rounds, extra occupancy mag, David's redesigned Glock 18 could empty it in less than two seconds.
David ran toward the metal door and launched himself at it a few feet away, both his feet landed on the door, detaching it from the frame by his weight and impact force. The door slammed on the floor and knocked over a desk with a computer on top. David flew into the room and descended among some file boxes. Following the breakthrough, Nina stepped into the lab and immediately ducked to her right, avoiding potential attacks.
No one in the lab tried to attack the intruder. Those engineers just turned their heads toward their detached door, intrigued by what on earth was wrong with their hardened steel door. After a quick search of a target, she fired a rubber bullet at the nearest engineer. The bullet bounced off from his belly and dropped onto a table, but it created a palm-size bruise that turned his skin purple. The engineer fell on his back, covering his belly and screamed like someone got their arm cut off.
"Great, there will be a lot of crying babies," Nina said as she emptied a whole mag of rubber bullets at another engineer twenty feet away from her.
Comparing to real metal bullets, rubber bullets have less power, range, and accuracy. Twenty-seven rubber bullets were projected at that engineer, but only two hit the target, and others just created some dents on water pipes and gas tanks.
"Invaders!" Fishlegs was the first engineer to recover from the shock. He ran for a red emergency handle on a wall.
Engineers all started yelling and running aimlessly in the room, just like what people tend to do when terrorists attack a shopping mall. Almost no engineers from Muspelheim received any military training, and that caused the Security Division to overwork themselves all the time. Gobber and Helga tried to convince Samuel Timothy to provide at least the very basic self-defense information to the engineers, but Sam decided to reject their advice because he believed that the engineers should use their brain cells at the right place.
Axl and Evan quickly followed Nina into the lab and David stood up, recovered from his "battle ram" style attack, and they also started firing rubber bullets at anyone who wore white lab coats.
"Why is our target going for the alarm when they don't even have a security system yet?" Axl asked as he shoved a running engineer down.
"Uhh… I don't think that's an alarm," David answered as his Glock 18 started roaring after reloading.
"Stop him! That's their alternative security system. That handle connects with Plymouth police department. They use that before they set up their security system," Evan yelled as he took out a cutter and ran for the communication wires in the corner."
"Give me the tranquilizer!" Nina bellowed, trying not to get her sound covered by the gunshots. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I think I forgot!" Evan replied sarcastically.
Fishlegs knew that his lab was extremely valuable, considering the giant nuclear reactor in this building. He thought the invaders were after his precious reactor. Any component of his reactor could sell more than ten thousand dollars on black market, and some countries might spend tons of money to gain the technology behind this redesigned nuclear reactor. Before setting up this lab, he tried to persuade Sam to provide a squad of guards from the Security Division, but unfortunately, Timothy rejected his request.
David pulled out a tranquilize needle from his pocket and threw it to Nina, who stood closer to Fishlegs. After receiving the needle, Nina started sprinting across the lab for Fishlegs. If Fishlegs activated the emergency handle, the whole Plymouth police would come after them.
"You guys stop him, and I'll shut down their communication," Evan cried as he prised off the door of a communication terminal cabinet. More than thirty different wires and switches showed up before his eyes.
"Fuck!" Evan whispered as he searched through the wires. But he quickly lost his patience. "When things go complicated, go old school."
He lifted his shirt and unveiled his belt, more than a dozen construction equipment like screwdrivers and wire cutters were attached to it, making him look more like a Home Depot person than a mercenary.
All members of Heimdall equipped a specially designed tactical belt that could hold almost anything from a bayonet sheath to an M60 machine gun. Heimdall nicknames their belts the "loader" due to its capability of attaching objects onto it. Axl, Nina, and David's "loaders" were covered by handguns, extra mags, flashlights, grenades. but Evan's a hammer from his and pounded the cabinet into pieces. The wires zapped and sparks fanned out in the room.
Nina finally reached Fishlegs, who was trying to break the protecting glass of the handle. She quickly pierced the needle into his neck, and the needle automatically injected the drug into Fishlegs' neck vessel. After a few seconds, Fishlegs fell unconsciously on the floor.
"Done," Nina relieved, smoothing her hair that tangled up during the break-in.
Hiccup walked up to the stairs in front of his house, followed by Astrid who's hand still held on his wrist like a handcuff.
"So this is where you live?" Astrid asked as she looked at the one-story brick house with a small front garden.
"Yeah, for about four years," Hiccup searched through his pocket for his key and unlocked the door with one hand. "Could you… let go?"
Since they encountered each other in the corridor of Asgard, Astrid hasn't let go of Hiccup's wrist. So as the duo walked out of the building, pretty much everyone stopped and whistled at their best engineer.
"Is there a problem?"
"Well, not really, but it looks very weird to hold someone's wrist instead of...hand," Hiccup scratched his scalp.
"I don't think this looks weird," Astrid said as she gently pulled Hiccup to her.
"Here is the thing, Astrid," Hiccup stopped before entering his house, turning toward Astrid. "I did miss you, every day, but...I don't think I can adjust to this… rapid change in my life."
"What do you mean?" Astrid could see from Hiccup's eyes that this wasn't a time for jokes. "I'm glad to meet my childhood lover again. I didn't know you are this close to me the whole time."
"Before you… disappeared, I didn't know what to do without you, but after these years, I'm kind of used to live by myself… I mean, I still love you and you still have a huge place in my memory," Hiccup said quickly.
"So you mean you don't want to see me even though you still love me?"
"I don't know. On one side, I do want you to come back to me and we can continue what we did when we were young, but I've been living alone for a long while."
"How long?" Astrid asked, looking him in the eye.
"Around six years."
"Where is your father Stoick? We are the same age, so you just turned eighteen, and that means you started living alone since… twelve?"
"Yeah, and that's why I'm already used to living alone."
Astrid sighed. She let go of Hiccups wrist and pulled him in for a hug. Hiccup didn't react, just letting Astrid's arms surround him. Through the opened door of Hiccup's house, Astrid could only see a small part of the house, but she could already feel the loneliness from the lifeless house.
"We'll talk about this later," Astrid said. "Right now I only have one question: do you want us to be together again? Just like when we were young?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?" Astrid stared at him.
Hiccup looked down at the ground, all thoughts ran through his head like a flood. He wasn't ready telling what happened to Stoick to her, and he didn't know how to get used to another person in his life after a long time, even though that person was someone he loved. Sometimes when a couple lives apart from each other for a long time, they might get this feeling that they don't need each other in their lives anymore, even though they still love each other.
"I'm sure," Hiccup looked up at Astrid again.
"I guess we are back on track again," Astrid smiled as she closed the distance between her and Hiccup.
"Heather, are you keeping an eye on Astrid?" Valka's voice came out from Heather's headphones with the sound of heavy footsteps in background.
"Yeah, I'm a few hundred meters away from Hiccup's house looking at her and Hiccup," Heather held a binocular before her eyes, observing Hiccup's house. She stood behind her blue Sadan like some sort of assassins. On the hood of her car, a computer was connected to a camera.
"What are they doing?" Valka asked.
"What a young couple usually do. I have a pretty good vision here," Heather shrugged, still spying on Hiccup and Astrid through her binocular.
"Well… that's not how I expected."
"What did you expect?"
"Hiccup accepted her pretty quick. If two people separated from each other for too long, the reunion won't be an easy one, usually."
"I guess they are not usual. That girl can hide her past pretty well," Heather replied carelessly. "Any progress there?"
"No, we are currently searching an abandoned storehouse," Valka replied. "But seems like Heimdall aren't even in Charleston."
"Maybe there is an information error, or you just can't find them."
"I connected the local police department, and they said they'll put every resource they have to find Heimdall."
"And you believed their shitty response?" Heather cried. "They don't give a fuck to you, and a few days later, maybe they'll say that other priorities need to be taken care of."
"Well, at least better than nothing."
Around five police cars showed up from far away, advancing toward Heather at full speed. Their sirens produced enough sound waves to attract every pedestrian's attention.
"What's going on? I can hear sirens," Valka asked.
"I don't know, at least they are not coming after me," Through her binocular, Heather could see the "Sheriff" sign on the leading car, and followed by it were a black truck with four white letters. "Damn, SWAT is out as well. I guess someone is in big trouble."
Heather thought that the motorcade would go pass her and disappear, but they stopped in front of her.
"What the fuck," Heather murmured. The leading car stopped so close to her that she could see the face of the driver without a binocular.
All doors were pushed open from inside, cops jumped out from their cars as if a bomb was about to go off. SWAT officers rushed out from their truck, wearing their standard black combat suit. Heather didn't expect any of these. She tried to pull out her P229 pistol from her pocket, but then she realized that all guns were pointing at her.
"Ma'am, put your gun down or you will be shot," a six-feet-two cop yelled as he withdrew his pistol. "Remove your pistol and get yourself on the ground."
To be continued
I'm not a military expert, and that means some parts of the story might sound weird to my fellow readers who are military experts.
I'm not in a relationship, and that means I don't really know what it is to be in a relationship, and that means some part of the story might sound weird to my fellow readers who knows about these things.
Guys, what do you think Heather is getting herself into and why the police wants her?
Please leave a review below and tell us your idea.
Thank you for reading.