trans_9 | A Brief Briefing [open to others, but keep it in one subthread]

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A Brief Briefing [open to others, but keep it in one subthread]

This could not be happening. It could not be happening. They'd been called into a briefing.

"You want us to what?"

Stacy explained again.

"I heard you the first time! I just meant--are you--you want us to what?"

Stacy explained again.

"Rhetorical! That was rhetorical! And yes, I realize I'm slightly hysterical, but this--Stacy, this is crazy. You can't possibly be sending just us." He just couldn't believe it. He'd been skeptical from the moment she called him and Toothless--and just him and Toothless--in for the briefing.

||After running multiple tactical scenarios, it has been determined that the only crew members necessary to complete this mission are yourself, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, the Third, and the dragon designated Toothless. Sending you both on this mission--alone--guarantees the greatest and perhaps only possibility of success.||

The could not be happening. Not when everything was finally going so well. Not when he'd finally, you know, ahem, with Astrid, and there was the possibility of more of it happening on a regular basis. Not with a ship full of warriors and soldiers and mages and--and people that weren't him, people that could do this mission easily and not get killed horribly.

"So what you're saying--correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this is what you're saying--there is this world with dragons and--I'm sorry, does this say elves? And dwarves. And something called moppits. And there is some sort of Lord of all Darkness casting his shadow over everything that is, sending out whole armies that devastate everything in their paths."

||Yes.||

"And in the face of all this, instead of sending out, oh, the small army on the ship with the lasers and guns that go pwew pwew, you're sending the single, admittedly awesome dragon, and the scrawny Viking with the limp. This seems like a good idea to you."

||Yes.||

Hiccup tilted his head a the ceiling, a difficult maneuver, but one of many skeptical gestures he was something of a master of. Then, eyes wide, he blurted out:

"Daa daa daaa--" he beat out the next few beats on a nearby chair, just because it needed percussion this time, then turned to his best friend with a snap of his fingers. "We're dead."

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Toothless was seated, perched on his hind legs and "reading" over Hiccup's shoulder. He had no idea if that did in fact say "elves", or what it said if it didn't, but he gurgled curiously at both Hiccup and Stacy. When Hiccup sang and drummed on the back of a chair, Toothless' attention went to the chair and the boy's hands, and he craned his neck to nudge Hiccup in the side.

Hey. Hey, Hiccup. What in the hell is a couple of armies to us, huh? We're totally awesome. If Stacy thinks we can do it, we're good, right?

Hiccup just shook his head at his dragon after that nudge. No. No, Toothless.

"No you don't. Don't you encourage her. We are not fighting any armies of darkness today. Or ever."

Edited 2011-03-23 05:00 (UTC)

The dragon sat back on his haunches, chirruping and tilting his head to the side. It didn't honestly seem that bad to him, not after the things they had been through. His tail circled around him and he pawed at the prosthetic fin idly.

"You're a tactical infiltration team. The point isn't for you to do any fighting."

Yeah, Zuko was listening to the tactics. Infiltration, as he's learned, is kind of his strong suit.

"If you can take over a fortress with stealth, throwing one army at another would be a waste of their armies and yours. But it's still stupid for you to go without backup."

||You must gain the trust of key individual natives of this world to complete the mission. An individual is someone that can be reasoned with. A group would be perceived to be an attacking force and killed on sight.||

Hiccup's knees went a little weak.

"Ooor an individual is someone they'll think is a lone spy and they'll kill me and Toothless on sight. You forgot that option."

Edited 2011-03-24 02:01 (UTC)

"All the more reason why you're not going without backup."

Astrid folded her arms, looking downright pissed, anxious, and more than determined to become a stowaway if it came down to it.

Kang snorted from his spot nearby, "Astrid, you're not the only one worried, but don't do anything brash. I'm sure Hiccup and Toothless are more than capable of doing this. We need to trust them."

Hiccup flailed. "Armies! Armies of darkness! Kang, she's insane not to send backup--"

||If you are in position to be killed, immediate backup would likely be in the same dire situation and unable to save you. If you fail the mission or are captured, backup will be sent down to intercept, for a rescue attempt and an attempt to complete the mission as planned.||

"...oh."

Hiccup looked at the briefing on his omnicom again, then looked to Kang, worry in every crease on his face.

"Still, this is--I saved a village. One village. Maybe it was my whole world, but it's not the same as an actual whole world."

He would've asked 'Why me?' but the more he read about this world, the more he understood.

It needed to be as small a group as possible, a two-man--er, person, given one of them was a dragon--team. And given the information on the briefing about what had to be done, she needed Toothless to go. And he was the one that could fly Toothless the best--in fact, the only person that knew how. The gear was made for him. Backup sent on the world itself couldn't keep up with them if they went by air. Not without introducing weird anachronistic technology that wasn't supposed to be there.

Still, that didn't mean he was ready to save a whole world, that he'd have what it took when it was all on the line.

Edited 2011-03-24 03:04 (UTC)

"I know. It's big, a lot to take in, but you were picked for this, and you need to have faith in yourself, that you can do this," Kang said, wings rustling. "Remember when I told you about the fire dragons?"

"Yes, but there's a key difference between your impossible situation and my impossible situation and it's that your impossible situation had you to face it down instead of me."

Whole world. Whole world on the line.

Edited 2011-03-24 03:47 (UTC)

Kang sighed and moved over to put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder, looking him straight in the eye, "You'll do fine. Trust me."

Hiccup sighed, and his gaze turned away from Kang to look at his other friends and girlfriend. Toothless, well, it was obvious Toothless thought they could handle it, but what about Zuko and Astrid?

Astrid gritted her teeth, turning her back on everyone, hands squeezing her folded arms. Just ubelievable. Absurd. Of course she has faith, but...

So there really wasn't a way out of this, huh?

Controlling herself, she eased and took a deep, shuddering quiet breath before masking her face and turned around to Hiccup, jabbing a finger at him.

"...stay together at all times."

And that finger drew away so she could fold arms again, her expression softer, and a hint of something deeper in her eyes.

"Don't keep me waiting."

"You heard Stacy. You're a tactical strike. You probably won't get in the way of any real battle. At worst you'll probably just get injured."

Beat.

"Well, MORE injured."

Hiccup's eyes rolled skyward, but he smirked at his friend's honesty regardless.

"Thank for for that stunning vote of confidence in my abilities, Zuko," but he patted him on the shoulder with the hand not holding his omnicomm to show he did actually appreciate the part where Zuko thought he could do it.

"Okay. Okay, get our things. We need--we need gear, food, this looks like--a long trip from the drop-off point."

||This world's inherent magic makes it resistance to technology. The dropship will only be able to let you down a certain distance in the atmosphere before it must retreat, or else it will crash. There is only one place where the planet's thaumotological field will even allow the dropship to get you down far enough. A paper guidebook and book of maps will be provided. It is magical in nature, one of the artifacts from Weapons and Possession and thus will have much information about the world and the mission, but always be light to carry. You will also be given bags of holding, to allow you to carry more supplies without being weighed down.||

"Bags of--you know what, whatever you say, Stacy," Hiccup said, passing his hand over his face.

||Your supplies will be waiting for you in the dropship in the hangar. Please report there immediately.|| A pause. ||You have several minutes to say goodbye, however.||

Hiccup glanced up at the others, nervousness all over his face.

"Who's our backup? Who will come if we get into trouble?"

||Those standing with you right now. They have the most investment in your well-being. As well as several others on the ship, such as--||

Edited 2011-03-25 22:59 (UTC)

Finding her cue for possibly the first time since her arrival Ruffnut stepped up with a smug proud smile. She had hashed things out to a point where she no longer felt the need to hide from her fellow vikings, and after a minor scuffle earlier she was feeling pretty full of herself.

"Even more trouble~"

Hiccup's nervousness gave way to a small smile.

"Well, I guess with backup this good, we've got nothing to worry about. Right, Toothless?"

Except for the fact that the mission would take him far, far from the only possible drop-off point, and even if one of the other dragons went with them, they could only fly so fast, but still. He knew they'd work something out.

They were their friends. Knowing they had their backs made it seem like maybe they could actually pull it off. Knowing they believed he could pull it off without their help, made Hiccup feel like he was good enough to really do it.

"There you go, then," Kang smiled, standing next to Astrid and placing his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Good luck, Hiccup. I'm sure you'll have some good stories to tell us when you get back."

When, not if. He truly had complete faith in the boy's capabilities.

There was a quick and nervous hug that he gave the draconian, and yes, he gave it in front of everyone. Juuust in case.

The hug took Kang by surprise, but he returned it with his free arm without hesitation. When Hiccup pulled away, he looked over at the dragon, "Good luck to you too, Toothless."

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A Brief Briefing [open to others, but keep it in one subthread]

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