Later that night, the pilots of the 588th fighter squadron sat in the ready room, waiting for their captain to turn up. Soon, Hiccup entered the room, followed by Toothless.
"Well, hello there. Good evening boys, hope I didn't ruin your evening fun." Hiccup said, smiling at his teammates as Toothless took a front row seat.
"Don't worry about it, Captain." One of the pilots replied,"Just tell us, are we going to play in the fields again?"
"Oh, you are. You all are." The captain said, taking his spot in front of a white board.
Hiccup took out a folded paper from his pocket and unfolded it, revealing it to be a map and stuck it on the board with the help of a few pins. The map is of Germany.
"So here's the mission, boys." Hiccup began, turning to face his pilots,"We got word of this ordinance factory, well not just a factory it's a whole small industrial area, situated about here." Hiccup pulled out a marker and marked a spot on a hilly area with a river going through it.
"As you can see," He continued,"This facility is placed real close to this river. They got a dam on this river that powers this facility allowing it to be really productive and produce huge supplies of armaments that are supplied to the front lines. And it being situated so close to the front lines, it can provide a supply to their troops real fast. So, the high command wants us to get rid of it."
"Sounds easy enough. Why would they need us to do it? Can't they just send a couple bombers to do that?" Another pilot questioned.
"Well, I was getting to that part." Hiccup said, before pointing at the map,"Excluding the defenses that the facility itself will have, it has some other protection too. You see, the dam I just mentioned doesn't only serve as just a power source. The Germans posted a heavy number of troops there, armed with machine guns and AA guns. With their presence, this dam provides an initial layer of defense against anyone wanting to attack them from the skies on this particular side.
Not only that, but it's also very close to a German airfield, so if a word of the facility getting attacked reaches their commanders, luftwaffes would be scattered out on moments notice to take out the threat, which in this case is us. So far, we don't have any info on what aircrafts they might have hidden in those hangers, but we can't underestimate them.
The presence of the airfield also allows them to have aerial patrols snooping around and on a look out for any form of threat.
With all these layers of defenses, bombers simply can't go past all of them and manage to finish the target, let alone come back alive."
The pilots were silent as they soaked in the information relayed by Hiccup. Things aren't appearing to be as simple as they had thought at first. But it still didn't explain why they were assigned on this mission.
"And how do we come into play, captain?" Another pilot asked.
"Well, despite the whole area being very tightly secured, considering how vital it is for the Nazis to keep fighting, it would make a good dent if we manage to take it out. And that's what we're supposed to do. Unlike bombers, we can't carry much ordinance, nor do we have that impressive range. But we're much more nimble and can better defend ourselves against any defenses they throw at us." Hiccup announces.
The pilots looked up with confidence in their eyes. "Just give us the orders, cap'n and we'll blow 'em up sky high." One of them cheered.
Hiccup chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Oh you guys surely will, but we can't just attack them blindly. We need a plan before we strike."
"Oh, just get it over with Hicc. They're getting anxious." Toothless moaned, causing the pilots to laugh at that.
"Oh, hush you, you useless human." Hiccup groaned, earning another series of laughter.
"Alright boys. Here is the plan." Hiccup began with a serious face,"We're gonna take a page out of the book of our English friends and attack them at night to avoid most casualties. Our squadron will work along with the 456th squadron.
Two thirds of the planes will carry bombs while the rest will work as escorts. We will first strike the dam. This will cut down the enemies power supply and put them in a disadvantage but also will alert them of our presence.
The moment they know about us being there, they will send their fighters from this airfield to stall us, so you have to be ready to engage in combat at a moment's notice. The pilots who have dropped their bombs will join us for combat, unless your plane is damaged by enemy defenses or other technical problems occur.
Am I clear?"
"Yes Sir/Captain!" The pilots replied in chorus.
"Alright then. Tomorrow and the day after, we will train on attacking strategies and team coordination for this mission. And then we will strike on the day after that."
"Yes Sir/Captain!" another chorus rang.
"Okay, now go and have some rest tonight. You boys will need it. You're all dismissed." Hiccup announces, bringing the meeting to an end.
The pilots, along with their captain soon left the room. Each continuing on with the night with their own routine as they usually did until it was time for supper. Once done eating, they all headed for their barracks.
Hiccup laid down on his bed, dressed in his sleeping attire. His prosthetic was removed and set beside the bed as he sat down on it. On the other bed, Toothless was already in a deep sleep, snoring audibly. Hiccup laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, letting his body get comfy as he mentally prepared himself for tomorrow.
"Tomorrow is gonna be a long day." He said in his mind as slowly sleep took over him.