The Renegade

The Assignment

This story's set to be an epic one, and the drama has only just begun. We now join Astrid, eight years older and a whole lot more determined. She's just as much in the dark about Hiccup as anybody else At BATO....though she of anybody has her reasons not to be. Let's continue and find where the tangled web of the storyline takes her!

Astrid's POV:

I, Astrid Hofferson, one of the top ten agents on the field, number one in defensives tactics, was being summoned by the boss. The highest authority BATO had, Stoick Haddock. Previously known as the Assassin's Undertaker, he was one of the best agents in BATO's history till he retired and went into full-time command.

I never got my missions directly from Stoick. They always came through some lower authority, but I always knew he was the one assigning and watching us all the time. Today, I've been ordered to his office directly after training. I have nerves of steel, but this rattled me more than I ever thought it would. I mean, I'm going to see the big man himself, the top dog, the head-honcho. This was a privilege, but also a terrifying experience.

"Pull it together, Astrid. You're one of the best. You can handle this." I scolded myself.

My elevator reached the top floor and the doors opened. The giant entry doors to Stoick's office were the first things I saw. They were huge, but then again, he was huge. I gulped and took a step forward.

"Toughen up, Astrid. They don't call you the Iron-Warrior for nothing."

I stood before the doors and knocked. The door in front of me was immediately opened, and a familiar face appeared as it did.

"Astrid." The man said flatly as he gave me a nod.

"Knox." I said with equal calmness and nonchalant tone.

He stepped aside to let me pass and I casually did so, walking into the large room. He let the door close behind him as he came up to walk behind me but to my right.

"I'll tell the Chief you've arrived." Knox said as he came around in front of me. "Wait here."

I paused and stood where I was as he turned a corner and disappeared from my sight.

Knox was an interesting character. He spoke very little, only when absolutely necessary. He wasn't extremely tall, but he was still taller than me. His face was expressionless, free of any emotion or feeling; but home to a dark scar that told his story. A large deep scar ran through his eye on the right side, blinding it and leaving a clear reminder of the enemy. He came back from a mission badly wounded and near death. The right side of his face was drenched with blood and his eye swollen shut. The rest of his body didn't look any better, but his eye was the worst. He almost died, yet miraculously survived the ordeal; but his scars were a constant pull-back to what really was out there. He'd gone out to stop a murder, but failed and almost became the victim. The enemy was getting stronger, had been for the last eight years and we were losing more and more good people to the wicked ways of the dark side.....................The League of Assassins.

The worst nightmare to the world's humanity. The number one assassination organization ever seen, and had been such for eight long years. All attempts to penetrate it have failed and we lost more of our tops agents each year. They have become unstoppable, claiming the top assassin in the world to their ranks. His targets never see him coming. His work is clean and fast, and he has never been at the site for more than a few minutes. No one knows who he is, or where he comes from; but everyone knows the legend of the Night-Fury. Some say he doesn't exist or that he merely is made up by the opposition to scare us, but he proves them wrong every time he strikes. His record is flawless, with no error, no screw-ups and NO fails. Every victim he has been assigned to is always terminated.............always. There's no stopping him that I can see, but for societies sake we all must try.