Part 12

The others floated down after Heather. Snotlout, Eret and the twins, followed by Hiccup and Fishlegs. The tunnel that Heather had made disappeared once they had firmly touched down on what was left of the original hull. Astrid had meanwhile closed the back ramp and was now zooming around the area shooting Gemini droids to her heart's content.

"My beautiful ship!" Windshear lamented upon seeing it up close as the violent gusts of wind returned. Panels had been stripped, wiring taken out only to be replaced with heavy metal tubes. The once pristine ship that Hiccup, Fishlegs and Heather had seen on Ilum was no more.

"When I get my hand on that bucket of bolts! He'll be wishing he was a therapy droid sent to fight a Zillo beast with only a blaster rifle!" Windshear growled as Meatlug tried to placate her. Toothless meanwhile let out a slight shudder.

"Everything alright?" Hiccup mentally asked.

"The last time I saw Windshear that mad was when a pompous lieutenant tried to tell her how to do her job, and instead set her back months because he accidentally erased some of her research data." Toothless explained as they could still hear the very graphic details that Windshear was spewing. "It took the Council three weeks to find out what she had done with him. Let's just say he was never the same again."

Hiccup raised a brow and mentally told Toothless that the less he knew the better. Hiccup remembered the ship's schematics from the time he was working on it and directed them to an emergency escape hatch that was still intact. Heather and Hiccup shimmied through the hatch without a problem, but Fishlegs got stuck in it. The twins and the two Mandalorians who were still outside tried to shove while Hiccup and Heather pulled. They had managed to finally get Fishlegs through the hatch and he landed on the floor with an 'oof'. The others quickly followed afterwards.

"Where are we?" Eret asked.

"Deck two." Hiccup answered as he glanced around. "These are supposed to be where the crew quarters were situated. The most logical place for Aries to be would be on the bridge which is on Deck one."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Snotlout announced. "I say we go kick some droid behind." Hiccup chuckled and took the lead with Heather and Fishlegs flanking him as they made their way through the dimly lit corridor. The lights were low and flickering eerily. "Does anyone else feel that creepy Horror holomovie vibe?" Snotlout asked as he walked close to Eret.

"It must be the power siphon." Hiccup remarked. "All the energy is flowing through the ship's hull."

"That would explain why we weren't vaporized." Fishlegs commented.

"Eh...... excuse me.... VAPORIZED!" Snotlout shouted briefly before Eret clammed a hand over his mouth.

"This ship was designed to be a passenger ship that could traverse from one side of the galaxy to the other within a few hours instead of days or weeks. It may not have been a military vessel but it was still armed to the teeth with advanced weaponry." Heather conveyed what Windshear had told her. "According to Windshear, the energy siphon has to be messing with the weapons array on board."

"Heather....." Ruffnut spoke but Heather replied "No you and your brother may not go play with the weapons array." The twins began to pout but Heather resisted. Suddenly they stilled as they heard clanking footsteps drawing nearer. Shadows of droids loomed across the wall at the corner and Eret let out a manly squeak, which he would deny later, as a patrol of Gemini droids rounded the corner. They immediately aimed their blasters at the group upon noticing them. It was only Fishlegs' quick thinking that saved them. He had erected a force shield around the twins, Snotlout and Eret while Heather and Hiccup ignited their lightsabers and deflected the shots back at the droids.

"So much for an easy time." Heather muttered as she saw that the droids had personal shields.

"We can use one of these." Hiccup told her as he took out one of Scorpio's EMP grenades and armed it.

"You sure? We only have three."

"The faster we get to the bridge the better." Hiccup stated before throwing the cube while deflecting the blaster shots with ease. It landed in the middle of the group of droids. Nothing happened, and the droids looked at it briefly thinking it was a dud, until it gave a shrill whine and burst into tiny bits of blue fire.

"Holy Sith in a handbasket!" Snotlout exclaimed as he watched the droids all sputter and release sparks before collapsing on the floor. "That small thing packs a wallop."

"It was glorious!" The twins exclaimed in awe as they were suddenly yanked along. The group now easily made it over the fallen droids and towards their destination, the lift at the end of the corridor. The lift took them up once Fishlegs pressed the button for Deck one.

"Astrid, how's everything going?" Hiccup asked over the commlink.

"Everything's fine babe. Just the usual. Blasting stuff, Throk nearly having a heart attack." Hiccup hummed an affirmative as at Astrid's explanation as the lift doors opened, not even remotely surprised by the heart attack part. "Well have fun!"

"Will do." Was Astrid's reply before ending the call. Hiccup stepped out of the lift and the group stilled as they heard the clanking footsteps of the patrolling droids come nearer. They were at an intersection of corridors. The footsteps were coming from the left of them.

"Which way now?" Eret asked as they had their blasters ready this time. Snotlout looked wildly at the approaching shadows as he held his gun steady.

"The bridge is that way." Hiccup pointed forward. They moved swiftly but not quickly enough. The droid in the lead had noticed them as it rounded the corner and gave the order to open fire.

"Not again!" Tuffnut groaned as blaster fire seared the walls and narrowly missed his hair.

"Hiccup fry that panel!" Heather shouted while pointing to a panel on the far end of the wall. Hiccup sent a blast of Force lightning at the panel without question. Sparks flew and heavy blast doors came down between them and the advancing droids.

"Heather, what was that?" Ruffnut asked as they could hear the droids cursing and firing against the door separating them.

"Blast doors to contain decompression." Heather explained. "This one should separate the bridge from the rest of the ship. We'll need to hurry before they manage to get it open."

The bridge wasn't far off and the gang burst in with weapons blazing after Hiccup sliced through the locked doors with his lightsaber. There behind a console stood a silver plated droid with its back turned towards the group, seemingly ignoring them.

Snotlout unleashed a warcry as well as one of the EMP grenades, which hit the droid and exploded in a spectacular show of blue sparks. Snotlout then proceeded to fire his blaster multiple times at the droid and only Hiccup yanking it out of his hands with the Force stopped him.

"Snotlout stop! Something isn't right." Hiccup mumbled as he inspected the scene. The droid and the consoles behind it were in complete shambles from the blaster fire.

"What do you mean! I had him!" Snotlout waved his arms wildly about.

"What you had is an empty shell." Fishlegs stated as he walked over to inspect the smoking pile of metal. "It's just an empty droid body."

"But that can't be!" Snotlout reasoned. "That thing looks just like the holo Scorpio showed us of Aries. She said he had a one of a kind body."

"Oh, I have no doubt that this was Aries' body. It just isn't anymore." Fishlegs stated.

"Then what was it doing here?" Eret now asked as he too looked at the husk.

"Being a distraction." Hiccup muttered as his eyes narrowed. "One that we fell for all to easily."

"What?" Eret asked.

Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to think. "Scorpio mentioned that Aries used to conduct experiments on humanoid behavior in his early development. She thought it had just been curiosity but we should have taken into account that he could have predicted how we would act and had countermeasures in place. He got us right where he wants us now, stuck on the bridge, trapped behind blast doors with an army ready to turn us into strainers on the other side."

"Let's not forget he could probably turn off the life support for this area whenever he wants to." Fishlegs mumbled. "The odds of him doing that are....."

"Babe, never tell me the odds." Heather mumbled as she thought. "He needs the controls on the bridge to make the ship compatible with the Genesis device which would need constant monitoring. It's inconceivable that he isn't here."

"Well..... What about a secondary bridge?" Ruffnut suddenly asked. "All the Star Destroyers have one."

"According to Windshear, there is a secondary bridge on Deck three near the engine room but it was never connected to the ship. Several components hadn't been installed yet." Heather explained.

"It's been ages. Who knows if Dagur, Camicazi or even Drago managed to get it operational. Aries certainly wouldn't have a problem with getting it to work." Hiccup surmised. "Heather, Windshear said Deck three right."

Heather nodded as she noticed the determined look on Hiccup's face. "What are you planning Hiccup?"

"Aries thinks he has us trapped......."

"He actually does." Snotlout interrupted.

"No he doesn't." Hiccup stated. "He only thinks he does. He doesn't expect us to do something crazy and illogical."

"Oh boy. Hiccup has that gleam in his eyes." Fishlegs whispered to Eret who let out a gulp.

"Hiccup we can't go through that thick blast door again because there'd be an army waiting for us. And as illogical as that is I don't think that's very good for my health and beautiful face." Snotlout reasoned.

"Oh no Snotlout." Hiccup grinned as he ignited his lightsaber. "We aren't going through. We're going down."

"Say what now?!" Eret asked as Heather and Fishlegs got the idea and ignited their own lightsabers.

Meanwhile down on Deck three there was no sign of a problem. The steady hum of machinery was the only sound breaking the quiet that the room held. That was until three lightsabers broke through the ceiling and quickly cut a large circle in it. The ceiling fell down to the engine room with a loud thundering sound, crushing a nearby console and spreading debris all over the room. It was however not the only hole in the ceiling. Above that was another one that now connected all three decks.

Fishlegs jumped down and had his shield ready in case of hostiles as the others descended. "I don't see Aries anywhere." He noted as he looked around. He then spotted something near the ship's power source. "Hiccup, that looks fairly out of place." He mentioned as he pointed towards a large piece of jet black equipment with golden circuitry interwoven. A steady hum could be heard coming from it. The device looked out of place for the mere fact that the Celestials favored beige or grey equipment that had an aesthetically pleasing look to it as opposed to the large black device in the room with its sharp corners and ominous look.

"There is still no sign of that damn droid." Tuffnut muttered as he looked around warily.

"Can we just destroy this thing?" Ruffnut suggested.

"We first need to disconnect it from the ship's power source.' Fishlegs stated and pointed to the large red crystal that floated above them.

"By the Force. What have they done to it?!" Heather gasped upon seeing the once white crystal turned blood red. She turned to Hiccup "You managed to revert Astrid's red crystal back to normal. Is it possible to save this one?"

Hiccup frowned and reached out with the Force. The moment his mind made contact with the crystal's consciousness he was however flung back by an immense pressure. "AAH" Hiccup shouted as he landed against the far wall of the room, his head hitting the wall with a loud thud. The others rushed to him with worried looks as he picked himself up and stumbled slightly. Ruffnut and Eret caught Hiccup as a sudden wave of vertigo assaulted him.

"Hiccup how many fingers am I holding up?" Fishlegs asked as he fussed over his friend over like a mother hen. Once it looked like Hiccup was going to be alright he asked "What happened?"

"It's gone." Hiccup told them while nodding towards the large red crystal. "Its consciousness is all gone. I only felt extreme cold and a loud wail before being flung back."

As Hiccup stood an ominous and oppressive aura began to fill the room and a malicious chuckle could be heard. "Foolish organics." It rumbled in the normally quiet room. "I will give you credit for reaching me." The cold voice stated as the crystal started to glow, bathing the room in a deep blood red. "But that is as for as you will go. The end of all organics has come."

"Is that voice coming from the crystal?" Snotlout asked as the group looked up.

"Aries must have somehow found a way to transfer his consciousness into the kyber crystal." Hiccup mussed. The calm however didn't last long as Aries used the powers that the crystal possessed to shove all of them to their need.

"What's worse than a murderous droid?" Tuffnut grunted.

"A murderous droid with access to the Force." Ruffnut responded as she grit her teeth at the weight that was being pressed onto them.

"Good point." Tuffnut sighed.

"You two don't have to be smartasses right now." Eret grumbled in annoyance.

"Swear your allegiance to me and I might let you live." Aries offered in a sinister voice.

"You have nothing to offer us." Heather responded as she glared at the floating crystal.

"I can promise you power! Unlimited power!" Aries stated with as much flare as a giant floating red crystal could.

"Power that's it!" Hiccup whispered as he realized something. "Fishlegs when I tell you to, throw the you-know-what."

"Hiccup" Fishlegs hissed as Hiccup stood up with a grunt. He was still slightly hunched over from the Force that Aries was exerting over them but he walked steadily closer to the crystal.

"Power you say?" Hiccup asked as he managed to look up. The others held their breaths upon seeing Hiccup so casually walk up towards their foe. Aries believing that he might have swayed one of the humans eased up on the Force pressure surrounding Hiccup. Heather and the others watched nervously at whatever hairbrained scheme Hiccup had cooked up this time.

"We have power as well." Hiccup stated. "In fact why don't Toothless and I show you just how much power." With that said Hiccup let loose an immense stream of Force lightning right at the red crystal.

"Aries however simply let out a laugh. "Foolish organic. Your power will only help me to charge the Genesis device up faster."

"Fishlegs now!!" Hiccup shouted as he kept on pushing the Force lightning into the crystal. A single small cube, the last EMP grenade, was thrown towards the consoles and as it came to a stop it exploded covering the consoles in blue static while rendering them inoperable.

"Tell me something Aries. What happens when you can't cycle all that incoming energy to the device anymore?" as he watched the consoles controlling the energy transfer shut down with a smirk.

"NOOOOO!" Aries shouted and tried to reach out with the Force to push Hiccup back. His momentary lapse of emotion was all it took for Heather and Fishlegs to free themselves and attack with their own bursts of Force lightning. The others were momentarily blinded by the immense light that had filled the room when a sickening crack was heard.

"No no no no no!" Aries shouted as he let his anger out as the crystal started to crack.

"Astrid we'll need a pick up soon." Eret spoke over his commlink as he watched the cracks getting bigger in the red crystal. Energy now in the form of plasma started seeping out of the cracks and lashing about violently through the room.

"I think it's time to go now!" Fishlegs suggested as they had to duck as a burst of energy seared past them.

"Right" Hiccup said as they stopped the Force lightning and retreated. "Astrid...." Hiccup opened his comm.

"Already waiting for you babe!" Astrid chirped happily. "You can thank Eret."

"Come back here you insolent org-AAAHHH!!" Aries shouted as a large crack suddenly split off a quarter of his crystalline body.

"We've set off a chain reaction. This whole place is going to blow soon." He told the group as they hurried to the nearest exit that they could find.

"Hurry up Snotlout!" Eret shouted.

"I'm running, I'm running!" Snotlout huffed. "I can't help it if my legs are short!"

They made it to a hatch just in time as a plasma stream ripped through the side of the ship. "What was that!" Astrid could be heard shouting over the commlink as she kept the ship steady so that they could fly over.

"Victory that's what!" Ruffnut shouted as she and Eret were the last ones in. She closed the ramp and then yelled "Go go go!!!"

Astrid didn't need to be told twice. The silver cruiser shot forth through the planetary exhaust vent just as the Celestial ship exploded. The explosion rocked the ship and they were about to be engulfed by it if Astrid hadn't activated the hyperdrive that instant.

"Hold on!" Was all Astrid said as the ride turned incredibly bumpy. They dropped out of hyperdrive after a few seconds and found that they were almost near the edge of the solar system that housed Iokath.

"Astrid....." Hiccup said as he took a seat in the co-pilot's chair. "You are one crazy woman. Jumping into hyperspace while still in the atmosphere."

"Well I do have one crazy boyfriend." She replied before capturing Hiccup's lips in a passionate kiss.

"Hey, I just got a message from Scorpio. She extends her thanks for our help and congratulates us on our success." Ruffnut said as she came into the cockpit. She hadn't looked up as she was reading the missive from the datapad until that moment. Ruffnut flushed slightly when she noticed that Hiccup and Astrid hadn't heard a word she said and instead were engaged in a makeout session. "I'll just...... show myself out."

"Do you have a feeling we forgot something?" Eret asked Tuffnut while a blushing Ruffnut quickly walked past.

"I know what you mean. I just can't put my finger on it." Tuffnut frowned.

Meanwhile back on Iokath, in a trash heap somewhere on the planet. "Dagur get your foot out of my face!"

"Oh will you shut up!" Dagur growled. "There is a spring digging into my rear and my nose itches!"

--------------------THE END-----------------

AN: Hello all my wonderful readers. Thank you all for staying until the end of this tale. This trilogy might be over but there is one more story coming in the future. A spin-off called 'HTTYD-Star wars: Eclipse' which will feature what has happened to Hiccup's clone during and after the events of this story. Bringing back old and new foes. More adventures await in the Unknown Regions so I hope that you will all join me. XD