Chapter 26

"Just......... woah.........." Hiccup mumbled as he stared at the screen. The video kept playing but it only showed Hank and Mary shutting down J..... no........ Johann. "That was.......... Intense."

"I agree," Astrid muttered and Hiccup could feel the sour mood she was in. "Did you find anything else?" He asked.

"Not much, the data has been expertly encrypted." Astrid explained. "I did manage to get some data that was transmitted from the Mars colony but it doesn't make sense."

"How so?" Hiccup asked as he cocked his head. It had become a bit of a habit, even if Astrid wasn't directly looking at him.

"I shall let you listen to the full audio file. There is no video attached." Astrid said and then the holographic screen in front of Hiccup was loading another file. There was static for the first twenty seconds before a frantic voice filtered through "......yday Mayday, Hesperia colony under attack....." More static followed before the voice could be heard again "-equesting reinforcements and aid from Rhea colony. Attackers identified as Titan colony.......... -equest immediate assistance...... May-....... Mayday Mayday........"

"Hesperia colony?" Hiccup asked with a frown.

"Hesperia Planum is a broad lava plain in the Southern Highlands of Mars." Astrid explained. "I seemed to be one of the first human colonies assembled according to historical records. I had thought that this information might have something to do with me not being able to access the information obtained from the Mars satellites but it still would not make sense."

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked. "It sounded like the Mars colony was being attacked by the Titan colony?" Hiccup somewhat asked. "So an interstellar conflict?"

"It is possible but........." Astrid paused here for a moment. "There is absolutely no record of a Titan colony being planned or existing. Ganymede, Callisto and Rhea had been designated as viable targets after the Mars project, but Titan, while possessing a natural atmosphere, was discarded as a colony target because the atmosphere was 50 percent denser than the Earth's and could not be easily terraformed." Astrid explained.

"So we have a colony that should exist but is gone and a colony that shouldn't exist but does?" Hiccup asked with a frown.

There are also other variables that make no sense." Astrid stated. "For one, it would take decades for a Genesis ship to reach its target. To go back to the first colony would take an equal amount of time. Second, the Genesis ships were not outfitted with weapons. Even the late 23rd century did not have weapons capable of firing through the vacuum of space. Third, colony development would have to take precedence before weapons development and travel time. There would be no way for humanity to advance so rapidly in only a few centuries. There is frankly too little data to speculate further."

"I kind of have to agree." Hiccup stated. "But while it is weird about what is going on up there, the priority should be to figure out what is going on down here. There are still several questions that need answering. Mainly, what happened to you, what project Re-genesis is and how Drago is involved."

"Drago?" Astrid muttered and then went silent for a minute before she returned. "You are right," She then said. "He wasn't in the experiment video logs at all. I will see what I can find out. This may take a while. What will you do in the meantime?"

Hiccup looked at the clock on the holographic screen and said "Well it's not too late right now. Maybe I could go talk to either Tuffnut or Snotlout."

"You really think you can convince them?" Astrid asked over the headset as the door to Hiccup's room unlocked.

"Maybe," Hiccup mumbled.

"Just know that I can tase them if things go south." She chirped.

"What is with you and tasing people?" Hiccup asked with a quirked brow.

"Oh, nothing," Astrid said a bit too cheerfully. "It's just very effective."

"Of course," Hiccup rolled his eyes a bit in exasperation.

"I think I should ask Tuff first." Hiccup mumbled quietly as he walked through the halls.

"The twins seem to be in their rooms.......... Colluding." Astrid supplied.

Hiccup stopped for a moment, his eyes widening, before he sped up his walking speed. He reached the twins' rooms in record time and knocked. "Guys..... Astrid said you're collu-AAAH" Hiccup shouted as the door was quickly opened and he was yanked inside by a shifty-looking Ruffnut.

"Ruffnut wha-SHHH!" She shushed him as she bolted the door again.

"Do you want the entire hall to hear what we're up to?" Ruffnut muttered before gesturing for Hiccup to find a place to sit. That was quite a bit harder since barrels were taking up most of their living room.

"Just what are you even up to?!" Hiccup's brows shot up. If his eyebrows hadn't been attached to his face they might have hit the ceiling.

"Hiya Hiccup!" Tuffnut called from the kitchen area and Hiccup turned to see some type of chemical set up in the kitchen area.

"Hi Tuff.... Uhm... please tell me you guys aren't trying to blow up Arcadia." He mumbled.

"Of course not," Tuffnut laughed. "Then we'd lose our customer base."

"Your what now?!" Hiccup asked. "Wait...... you guys are making alcohol again?!"

"Customer base silly." Ruffnut said as she slung an arm over Hiccup. "Remember that red wine we drank? It was such a hit that we decided to expand."

"So you're making more wine?" Hiccup asked as he eyed the barrels.

"Something better!" Tuffnut said as he held up one of the mugs there. "Mead!"

"But the caravan could already make mead," Hiccup remarked.

"Ya can't even call that mead lad!" Gobber popped up from behind the kitchen island with Chicken in-hand looking quite insulted. "That...... That..... Swill isn't fit to be called mead! The mead I remember had the sweet taste of honey in it and felt like a Valkyrie had fallen into your embrace!" He spoke passionately.

Hiccup was so shocked by Gobber's sudden appearance that he nearly tripped when he took a step backwards.

"So ya see lad. Ya can't call that swill mead. It just isn't done!" Gobber said and all Hiccup could ask was "What in Thor's name are you doing here Gobber?!"

Chicken clucked before wiggling out of Gobber's hands and went about her merry way as Gobber realized he shouldn't have revealed himself when he noticed Ruffnut's facepalm.

"Okay...... I can totally handle this." Hiccup mumbled more to himself. "My Godfather and the twins are just running a bootleg alcohol business under the Chief's nose. Absolutely nothing to worry about......"

"Well considering what we're into right now this doesn't seem very worrying." Astrid chirped into Hiccup's earpiece. "Although, I have had to use the fire-prevention system in this room more than once already."

"Why don't you try a mug of our new product." Ruffnut said as she shoved a mug into Hiccup's hands. Hiccup looked down at the foamy liquid before gulping down the brew. After the last few days he needed something.

"Well.........." Ruffnut asked expectantly.

"It was good." Hiccup told her as she took back the now empty mug.

"Yo bro! Mark down batch number 48 as the not-exploding kind!" She shouted.

"Wait.... WHAT?!" Hiccup nearly shrieked.

"So lad what brings you here?" Gobber asked as he took a mug from the same batch that Ruffnut had given Hiccup.

"Well..... You see. I kind of need Tuffnut's help." Hiccup mumbled. "It would actually be more of a favor so I was hoping I could talk to him in private."

"You can ask away Hiccup. No one here will spill the beans." Ruffnut said as she flopped down onto an available cushion. "Besides, Tuff tells me everything."

"And it's not like I don't already know ya got the hots for Astrid." Gobber added. "Now lad....... If you needed tha talk about the birds and the bees."

"OH MY THOR GOBBER, NO!" Hiccup started blushing fiercely. Just what the heck did Gobber think he was even doing with Astrid? "There are no birds and bees!! I don't even know how there can be birds and bees!"

"Well there actually can be....... Birds and bees," Astrid whispered seductively into his earpiece which caused Hiccup to turn a brighter shade of scarlet. "Teasing you is fun," She added afterwards and Hiccup might have thought that she winked at him by the tone of her voice alone.

"Well if it ain't the missus then what's wrong lad?" Gobber asked as he took a sip from the mead.

Hiccup took a deep breath, fighting back the blush, and just decided to get it all out in the open. "I need help smuggling the Nightfury out of Arcadia."

Gobber nearly choked on his mead as he spat it out before shouting "WHAT?!" While the twins looked like Snoggletog had come early. "We're in!" They immediately said.

AN: Sorry for the long wait guys but I had a serious case of writersblock and decided to take a bit of a break last week. Also, more adulting happened and I still don't have wifi in my new apartment. That sucks majorly. Next update will be Tuesday. XD