Twisted Destiny: Majora's War
Destiny has told of the heroics of Link, a young thief who turned to be the Hero of Time. He went onto an adventure that would eventually determine the fate of Hyrule, the place he had known as home. After slaying the man he had come to call father, Ganondorf, and began to rebuild what had been destroyed, he set off on a new quest with a mage, Erk, and would eventually be asked again to save the fate humanity. Clock Town, the human dominate capital of Termina, was a bustling, if not prosperous city. Unfortunately for Link and Erk, it was on the verge of siege. This would be the first of many, and would ultimately lead to the defeat of Clock Town and the rise of The Terminian Empire.
In another section of time, The Terminian Empire and Hyrule were engaged in a Holy War; a war that has been waged since the time of Queen Zelda's rule. The beginning of this war was the siege of Clock Town, lead by the Terminian Deku Army. After weeks of Siege, Deku troopers moved in and claimed all of Termina for their own. After securing the Capital Clock Town, iron was taken from the mountains of Snowhead and used to make weapons. After purging the rest of Termina, The Deku King, blinded by an evil force, tried his hand against the Hylian army. After centuries of war, both armies are exhausted, but show no signs of retreat. …
Light shone through the window as Jeric Karon began to stir; then came the horrid sound of the bugle calling everyone to attention. Jeric sat up and let out a sigh of relief. It was times like this he did not regret joining the Hylian Special Forces. He sat up and cracked his neck, letting the shrill pops hang in the air. An intense rapping came upon his door.
"Lieutenant, we need your assistance." The voice called. It was the Private that was recruited to be a runner. Jeric stumbled out of bed and made his way to the door.
When he opened the door, the Private nervously threw up a salute.
"S-Sir, the Commandant requests your presence this morning." The runner nervously stated.
"Right then, carry on." Jeric replied, relieving the private. He wasted no time in beginning his jog. Jeric made way to his military grade draws and pulled out his Military Combat Uniform. The Military Combat Uniform, or MCU, was, in this case, an olive drab colored jacket and pair of utility cargo pants with black boots. On Jeric's sleeve was the flag of Hyrule, and below it was the insignia of the Hylian Special Forces.
After strapping his holster to his thigh and place the black cap with his rank sewn on front, he left his private room on base and headed for the Commandants Office. He witnessed the battalion jogging by, singing along with the cadences that were being shouted by the sergeants.
…
"Hello, Lady Silda." Jeric casually waved as he entered the Commandant building. Kathrin Silda was a decedent of Queen Zelda herself, sharing her sleek blond hair. Although she was not aloud to have it out so long, she tied it in a bun and hid it under her cap, with the occasional strand finding its way out.
"Good morning Sir Karon." She smiled sweetly, waving to him with her unusual three fingered wave. It wasn't that she had lost any fingers; it was that she held down her little finger with her thumb. Jeric did not know why, but he had made several points to ask over coffee.
"Is the Commandant in?" Jeric asked as he leaned over the front desk. Silda sure did look rather pleasant in her MCU.
"He is; he sent a runner out for you not to long ago." She replied.
"Oh yes, I received him around five minutes ago." Jeric stated, making small talk.
"Oh, I see," She pressed a button on the intercom at her desk," Sir Commandant?"
"Yes Lieutenant?"
"Lieutenant Karon is here." She said, taking her hand of the button.
"Oh yes, yes do send him in." The Commandant said in anxious reply.
Silda looked towards Jeric and smiled. Jeric returned the smile and went into the back room. He stood at the door and knocked.
"Come in!" A gruff voice replied. Jeric walked into the door and shook hands with his superior.
"I believe you called for me, sir?" Jeric asked, moving towards the coffee machine.
"I have, Jeric. Please, have a seat once your coffee is made." The Commandant said, waving his hand towards a chair. Jeric, with mug in hand, found his way towards the seat.
"Jeric, this war may be at its breaking point," The Commandant started, placing his hands lightly yet firmly on his desk.
"The Deku Regiments outnumber us three to one, and their lack for materials ensures that they may never really run out of resources," paused the gruff voice.
"So is the problem with fighting plants…" Jeric joked as he sipped from his coffee. The Commandant's face still stood grim.
"If only they were truly plants, Jeric. They decay much faster than a more… naturally moving tissue, which prevents us from doing any research on corpses. Even then, we don't have the weapons to cut their spirits." The Commandant paused for the next line he was about to speak.
"We lost 243 troops in the trenches in the past month." The Commandant spoke with death on his tongue. Jeric nearly spit his coffee in his face.
"What!?" He exclaimed.
"They know that they can't beat us at ranged combat. Their charges have been devastating physically and mentally." The Commandant rested his head in his hands.
"What are we going to do?" Jeric asked, wide eyed.
"We haven't found a strategy yet. Some new technology is being tested, but we don't have anything yet." The Commandant answered grimly. He stood up to the board behind his desk. Stick in hand; he began to strike different parts of the board.
"As you can see, this is the defense line that runs across the Hylian-Terminian border. Here," He pointed out," is the front-line. We have about ten yards of no-mans land before we hit their trenches."
"What about our armored divisions?" Jeric asked, finishing his coffee.
"The only armored divisions we have left are mainly troop transports, and their busy carrying out the dead and wounded." The Commandant responded coldly.
"And the Airborne Infantry?" Jeric asked, refereeing to the unit he had previously been in before he transferred.
"The 41st, 56th, and 60th Airborne are all busy helping clean up what's left of the Gerudo resistance. The dessert is often… difficult to handle, so I expect that they me be out for a while."
Jeric stood and walked towards the board, hands behind his back.
"How far does their line stretch?" Jeric asked, looking for a weakness.
"As far as ours; it spreads from the Great Bay to Ikana Valley."
Jeric looked at the board, hoping to find a solution.
Airborne Assault was possible, but it would require all three divisions and every anti-air unit, to defend against the Deku with flight capabilities. Armored assault was another answer, but it also added a whole list of questions. The top of the list was: Where would we get the tanks?
"I see, they can't move, but neither can we. Have we tried negotiation?" Jeric's eyes wandered to the Commandants'
"Like you said, we're fighting plants." The Commandant said nearly under his breath.
"When do the transports arrive for our shift on the front lines?" Jeric ask.
"About 1300 hours. That should give you seven hours to prep the troops." The Commandant said.
…
"Lieutenant on Deck!" The first sergeant in the debriefing room shouted as Jeric approached the stand.
"At ease." He commanded. The soldiers in the large room obeyed and responded with the sound of chairs scooting around.
"As you know, we ship off at 1300 hours. Our route to the Front Lines move through the forest to the south, eventually ending up at the south of our border. Most of you have made this trip, and most of you know what to expect. We'll be using the 4th Armored transport. As usual, we won't have ground or anti-air support to and at our destination. Same drill as always; we stay there for three days and switch out with the 31st Hylian Infantry. Any questions?" Jeric asked. There were none.
"Com-pany," He shouted," Atten-shun!" The room was filled with one sharp click of boots.
Jeric gave the next commands. " Left… Face!" He called. His soldiers pivoted to the left and clicked their heels.
"File from the left!" He bellowed. He was responded with the first squad leader calling, "Forward!", and gave him the order to move out.
"March!" Jeric commanded.
They moved out, one squad at a time. Now they would move to the Armory where they would gather their equipment. Jeric though of going there while it was all full, just to give them a sense of comradely. He decided against it, however, figuring that it would only overburden the Quarter Master.
Their Quarter Master, Sergeant Milson, was much alike her counterpart in the Commandants front desk, they did not share many of the physical features. Silda was tall and graceful, but Milson was petite. She almost did not pass the minimum requirement of 5"4'.
…
"Hey Jeric." She said as Jeric walked in the Armory. They had grown close, mostly because they had meet at basic training five years ago. It was hard to believe that she had not grown an inch since then, but most kin to Kokri did not. She carried her human father's dark skin and fiery eyes, and her mother's dark hair and height. She had once said that her father was Gerudo and her mother was Kokri.
Probably the oddest combination ever conceived. Jeric though.
"Hey Eiza." Jeric replied. They had been on a first name basis since they met; friendship was one of the few things rank could not take away.
"Are you here to pick up your M12 Sub-Machine Gun?" She asked with a smile on her face. Jeric was about to respond when he noticed his weapon was missing from the rack. Eiza tapped him on the back in a playful way and presented him with his missing weapon.
The weapon at hand was known as a M12 Sub-Machine Gun. It chambered a 12x52mm round and it was accurate enough for the Front Lines. A casket magazine held 30 rounds and chambered 1. It came with a foldable wooden stock and black finish.
"Yeah, thank you." Jeric returned her smile.
"I was just finishing up some cleaning and whatnot." She added. Jeric walked over to the armor section as she returned back to her desk.
"So, how have things been going?" Jeric asked as he handled a helmet.
"Pretty well, Marcon broke a bayonet again, said he was practicing his throw when it came right out of the hilt." She said, not looking up from her paper work.
"Really now?" Jeric said, trying on different tactical vest, "I had always assumed he broke them trying to get the lid off his rations can." He joked.
Her slightly freckled face crinkled in delight. She let out a small laugh as Jeric tested the weight of a vest. Jeric smiled, until he noticed the clock hanging above Eiza's head. She caught the sad aura that had suddenly surrounded him.
"Don't worry, plants die pretty easily. My mother's garden was my favorite target as a kid." It was Jeric's turn to laugh.
"When I was a kid, I'd always piss mother off by shooting an arrow at the tallest plants she grew. She'd get mad, I'd have a good laugh, and so was my life growing up in Kokria." She said, reliving the old memories. Jeric had heard this before, but he never got enough of imagining an even smaller Eiza and all her shenanigans. Jeric noted the sudden look of pain on her face.
"What's wrong?" Jeric asked, concerned about his friend.
"I don't know, sometimes I wonder what it'd be like if I hadn't run away." Eiza said, averting her eyes. This was the first time Jeric had heard of this.
"Why'd you run away?" Jeric asked, taking a seat across his friend. Eiza looked up at him and stared into his blue-gray eyes. She drew in a deep breath.
"I wanted to die." She whispered. Jeric was taken back. How could someone as happy as her wanted death? Jeric asked.
"I was never really a Kokiri. I was always out casted; I didn't even get a fairy. Then my mother told me about a Gerudo man had crept into our village long ago, and well..." She stopped.
Jeric understood, despite the fact he didn't have any experience in this line of work. Eiza continued.
"I remember of tales that spoke of death for the Kokiri that left the forest. I ran out after dark, and made it to the field. I was 17, but I had no knowledge of this place. No one really had telescreens, nor did we have any family outside of this forest. I had my bow, and a few arrows, but the skull-children coming out of the ground scared the shit out of me. I waited up in a tree, shooting whatever tried to get at me. At the first stroke of light, I ran to the castle gates. I was intercepted by a patrol, and I was taken to a shelter. I lived there for a week when I was conscripted. I think I was the only one in my initial group that was glad to go." She said, a tear streaming down her cheek.
Jeric recalled the first day of Basic. He had noticed that a great deal of the people there had been conscripted from government-run homeless shelters. That was all 5 years ago. Jeric looked into her grass green eyes and thought back to their days with the Hylian Special Forces. He was always the last to leave the armory then, too, just to sit and talk to her. He thought that it was close to fate that she had been transferred to the same unit as he when the HSF disbanded. The unmistakable rumble of the APC's nearly shuck the windows out of the sill. Eiza and Jeric both jumped to their feet and did something no military personnel were supposed to do; they hugged.
"Please come back, Jeric, I've lost too many people." She whispered into his chest.
"I will." Jeric promised. He collected his things and made for the barracks. He checked his watch before entering.
Damn, thirty minutes early, he thought. This in particular was a bad omen. He ensured everything was in place and that he looked his best, then entered the barracks. He knew that the soldiers were too busy getting prepared, so he didn't make a point to enforce respect. He came up behind the sergeant trying to strap a private's vest into place. The sergeant threw up a salute when he saw Jeric's insignia. Jeric replied with a salute when he asked if there was a problem.
"Well, sir, the private here has not learned how to properly wear the tactical vest." The sergeant stated. The private look straight out of Basic Training.
Jeric stepped up to the private. He looked much younger than usual. He gripped the vest by his shoulder.
"This vest is designed to keep your internal organs at least protected from shrapnel and splinters," He started, adjusted some straps.
"In the unlikely case that you were to get hit in the head or the neck, this here," Jeric grunted as he pulled the vest down onto the private's torso," would not provide you much benefit.
Their aim is not that good, so you shouldn't worry about this."
He finished, patting the soldier on the chest with both hands.
"What's your name?" Jeric asked.
"I'm private Lesen, sir." The private spoke. Jeric nodded and turned to the sergeant.
"Get them ready, our rides here."