This is the final edited chapter for Part 1. Old readers, thanks for bearing with me through this process. Many of you may not have read the original chapter 12 when I posted it, since I started the edit two or three days later. After this I'll begin posting new Part 2 chapters, which I'm estimating won't be as long as Part 1.
Shout out to Bost for submitting my 100th review on this story. Now that I'm back over 100k words and I have 100 reviews, I'm hoping to pull in some more readers.
Chapter 12
Link
I was in absolute awe at how fast the Twili had mobilized. It had only been an hour since the decision was made to act, and several hundred of them were gathered on the hill in front of the palace looking over a rough sketch of the Arbiter's Grounds I had made. There was a large portal with a light staircase leading up to it. I could only assume that this meant the mirror had been activated.
Midna was standing in front of the gathered soldiers giving a short speech, but otherwise it looked like everyone was ready to go. These Twili were quite a bit different than the ones I had seen. They were all of the Interloper race, and wore full suits of black armor. Their weapons seemed to be energy-based, which could pose a challenge in trying to take out the Collective troops. Regardless, they were intimidating.
"This is the first battle the Twili have fought in centuries." I heard Midna saying.
As she continued, I turned to Malon. Her hands were shaking, so I discreetly took them.
"Everything's going to be fine." I said, trying to reassure her.
"I… I know." She said. "This is weird. I've never had this happen before, no matter what I'm about to walk into."
"It's that retirement itch." I said, trying to lighten the mood.
Malon grinned half-heartedly, but obviously couldn't take her mind off the battle we were about to fight. I gave her a quick hug, and then turned to face the portal. I was ready to get this fight over with.
I was hoping that Arnav had remained at the Arbiter's Grounds when his army marched out, but I knew that was too much to ask for. I had to be prepared for the possibility, but he had always been present at large-scale battles in the past. This was the largest battle of the entire war, so I'd likely have to travel to the conflict zone and sneak past the rear lines to find him.
The Twili had started moving up the staircase, and barreled through the gateway in pairs when they were prompted. Midna stayed to the side, hurrying them along. Malon and I followed at the back of the line, both hoping that the battle was going well on the other side.
It took less than a minute for all of the Twili troops to get through, and I found myself standing next to Midna.
"You two ready?" She asked, taking a deep breath. I nodded, and then drew my sword. We all stepped through the portal at once, leaving the Twilight Realm behind.
I was immediately met with a blast of warm air and the sound of battle. It was dusk, which was fortunate for the Twili. A bullet whizzed past my face almost as soon as I began to move, exploding as it struck the massive obsidian rock.
Whoever had shot at me was using a very large rifle.
"Let's move!" I yelled to Malon and Midna, dragging them behind the block that the Mirror of Twilight projected on. There were still Collective soldiers on the other side, but they seemed occupied shooting at the fleeting shadows of the Twili.
"Where do we go?" Midna asked, her eyes wide. She was gripping her black sword tightly, obviously very scared.
"We need to go to the opposite side of the plaza. There's a staircase leading down to a door." I yelled over the noise of the battle. "Once we get in there, we'll be able to use our swords. I'll run, and you'll follow after me. Malon will be behind you, so don't look back. No matter what happens, don't stop moving."
Midna nodded, and I shoved her out of the way as I saw a Collective soldier take a pot shot at us. The obsidian behind where Midna's head had been exploded, flinging pieces of rock into our faces. The soldier was quickly dispatched by the Twili, but I wasn't going to continue to take chances.
"You ready?" I asked, turning to Malon. She nodded.
I took a quick peek around the corner. The courtyard in front of the Mirror of Twilight seemed about as peaceful as it could be during a battle, so I knew this was our chance.
"Count to three, and then start running towards me as fast as you can." I said to Midna.
With that, I leapt from behind the rock and engaged my TALOS suit's hydraulic assist, rocketing across the courtyard and leaping over the bodies of several Collective soldiers. Once I reached the stairs, I slid down them so that just the top of my head was visible to Midna. She flung herself next to me, and Malon was close behind.
The Twili radio communications exploded unexpectedly.
"Alpha target sighted and confirmed. Fleeing east in an aircraft." I heard the Twili combat controller call through the link.
Arnav was here, but he was retreating to the canyons. I would be unable to catch up in time.
"Fire all heavy weaponry at the aircraft, but do not pursue." I said.
Several rockets fired into the sky, but I couldn't see Arnav's helicopter past all the pillars and structures on the roof of the Arbiter's Grounds. I couldn't do anything else, so I redirected my attention back to the current situation.
"Are you two okay?" I asked Malon and Midna. They both nodded, so I crept down to the door, my sword held at the ready. We had a decent amount of cover here, although I could hear a gunship approaching in the distance. We couldn't be on this ledge when that thing got here, so I grabbed the door's handle and gave it a twist.
"Shit, it's locked." I said out loud, looking at the frame. The entire thing seemed to be made out of steel, which didn't bode well for my ability to break it down.
"Move." Malon said, pushing past me.
She put her hand up to the door and closed her eyes, concentrating magical energy in her palm. With a bright flash and a deafening bang, the door was ripped off its hinges and flung down the hallway behind it. It appeared that three Collective soldiers had been standing somewhere in its trajectory, judging by the copious amounts of blood they had left behind.
I ushered Midna through, being sure to protect her from anything that might come up behind us. It was kind of a hassle to have to worry about her, but I understood the political message that was being sent with her presence. Fortunately the Twili seemed content in trusting Malon and I to guard her, which allowed us to move quickly and quietly.
We made our way downstairs, ignoring any fights going on between the Collective and the Twili. It looked as if the Collective soldiers had been caught completely off guard, which was a good thing. Some of the greatest victories in Hylian history had only been possible due to surprise attacks like this.
"Where are we going?" Malon called back as we headed towards the front of the Arbiter's Grounds. She deflected a burst of enemy fire with her magic, and then released a wave of energy towards the Collective soldier who had tried to kill her. He was flung back into a wall, a loud crack announcing his death.
"Let's hijack a gunship." I yelled up to her. She nodded in approval, and we set off again.
When we reached the dining room, we stopped in the darkness of the hallway. The whole place was a disaster, with dozens of Twili and Collective troops trading gunfire. It would be a death sentence to run through the middle of that.
"We can't go through there. Is there another way around?" Midna asked, mirroring my thoughts.
"No, I don't think so." Malon said. "This place isn't exactly user-friendly."
I looked around at the Collective soldiers on the other side of the room, who had flipped over tables to block the shots from the Twili energy weapons. They were alternating suppressing fire, which meant that ammo was a concern. Now that I looked carefully, most of them were using their handguns.
"I'm going to charge them." I said. "This armor should be able to easily stop a handgun round. Those rifles will sting, so I'm going to go for those first."
Malon nodded, not bothering to argue with my cold logic. In combat, she was all business.
I charged around the corner, throwing a knife into the face of one of the Collective soldiers who still had rifle ammunition. By the time a few of the others registered what I was doing, I was already leaping over their overturned tables. In the sudden confusion, the Twili soldiers got off a few clean shots and dispatched several of the enemies.
I quickly went to work with the Master Sword, smashing a rifle out of the hands of a soldier and stabbing him through the chest. I then worked down the line, eviscerating any Collective soldiers that the Twili hadn't yet killed.
"Link!" Malon yelled.
I turned just in time to see one of the injured soldiers pull the pin out of a grenade and hold it up in the air. Malon was moving towards him, caught in the middle of the room as she had charged in to help.
I didn't even have time to think as I drew my handgun. I fired a single shot, blowing the fuse out of the top of the grenade and taking three of the soldier's fingers in the process. Malon stomped on his neck, snapping it with the heel of her boot. I breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that there were several hundred things that could have gone wrong in the last few seconds.
"Maybe a little less heroics and a little more not dying." Malon said just loud enough for me to hear. "But I appreciate what you just did. Now let's go grab a gunship."
I looked over at Midna to ensure she was safe. Aside from being a little stunned, she looked fine, so I gestured towards the door.
"There's only one room left before we're outside again." I said. "You ready to go?"
Midna nodded, so I turned around and headed towards the door. Malon took the rear and we burst into the next room. It appeared that the Collective soldiers here had already been defeated, removing our last barricade to leaving the building.
The Arbiter's Grounds suddenly began to shake violently, knocking me off my feet. Rocks started chipping off the ceiling, beginning to form cracks. Even inside, I could hear the noise from the explosions.
"They're bombing their own troops!" I heard Malon yell.
Somehow, this wasn't the least bit surprising. Arnav Nohansen had proven time and time again that he only cared for his own ascent to power. As soon as the battle had begun, he had likely sent his bombers back from the edge of the desert to level the Arbiter's Grounds and kill the invading force, even at the cost of his own men. Any leftover gunships would likely be bombed, as well.
Once the shaking had subsided, I stood up and made my way over to the massive arch that opened to the desert. The sounds of combat had mostly ceased, meaning that the Twili had either captured or killed all of the Collective soldiers, or the bombs had leveled everything. Fortunately, it was apparent that capturing a gunship was no longer necessary, since the Twili had made quick work of the Collective.
This was a little disappointing to me. As much as I hated killing people, I had essentially just been running away from combat for the majority of the battle. The Twili had done all of the work, and I had been left to defend Midna.
I stared up into the sky, hoping that the bombers would only make a single pass. I couldn't see anything, and the shaking had stopped. After several minutes more of taking cover, I decided it was safe to move around. Malon was already ahead of me, though.
"Link, there's something in here."
I turned to see her staring into a side doorway. Midna was looking over her shoulder in awe.
"Something that will shoot at us?" I asked.
She shrugged.
"Come see for yourself."
I walked over to the doorway and looked in. Judging by the scorch marks clinging to the walls and ceiling, it looked as if the Collective had recently blasted this area out of the rock. It was enormous, and had four hangar doors that led outside. My eyes locked on to the line of four aircraft that were situated at the doors. They were easily recognizable.
"Those are copies of the U-53 prototype fighter jet." I said, staring at the aircraft in awe. "They're supposed to be the fastest, most lethal fighters ever created. The Imperial Defense Board put upwards of 500 billion rupees into research and development for this thing."
Malon was already thirsting.
"You think I could fly one?"
"I don't know." I said, shrugging. Those wings rotate, so you take off with it like a gunship or helicopter, and you fly it like a jet. Then if you need to shoot at something for an extended period of time, you have to fly it like a gunship again. But if you want to go into stealth mode, you fly it up into space and it even has an FTL drive. It's a mess."
Malon was practically drooling by this point.
"That's literally the coolest thing I've ever heard." She said. "Since when could you fit an FTL drive on a jet?"
I laughed to myself.
"Just wait until you get that 45mm Gatling Gun turning. It really puts the 30mm to shame."
Malon looked around the room, making sure it was empty before she slipped in and walked towards the fighters. She reached up and carefully ran her hand down the wing of the first one. I checked around, as well, skeptical of the pile of ration boxes in the corner. That was an excellent place to hide.
Once I had cleared the entire hangar, I stepped up to the cockpit of the jet and turned on its radio. The Collective chatter was overwhelming, and they were obviously preparing to attack soon. I pressed a few buttons, changing the frequency over to the Hylian channel. After I plugged in my TALOS suit's decryption key, I was allowed into the Hylian BattleNet.
"Hylian command, this is Ghost-six reporting from the Arbiter's Grounds."
An AI greeted me.
"Identity confirmed, Ghost-six. Routing you to the queen's radio."
A single beep informed me that the Zelda's radio operator was now listening.
"Hylian command, this is Ghost-six reporting from the Arbiter's Grounds." I repeated.
"Ghost-six, this is Hylian high command. We need a status update on the battle."
"The Collective has been driven out of the Arbiter's Grounds, and Alpha target is fleeing towards Phase Line Black." I said. "If you've got any available air assets, he should be halfway there by now."
"General's staff has been notified, Ghost-six. What else?"
"Requesting follow-on mission." I said.
"Follow-on mission is to pursue Alpha target and engage."
"Copy, high command. Requesting update on the status of the battle."
"The ground battle hasn't begun, but the space battle has. Hylian Navy currently in full engagement and gaining space on the Collective blockade. Hylian space victory is predicted within the next four hours, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
"Solid copy, high command. Ghost-six out." I said, and then looked up at Malon. "Let's not waste any time."
The space battle had begun, which meant one of two things. Zelda could have ordered the attack, or the Collective destroyers could have turned towards the surface and prepared to fire on the Hylian ground troops. The reality of this was suddenly hitting me. There hadn't been a serious space battle for several decades simply because Zelda and her generals had never wanted to commit to killing that many people and potentially losing a lot of the Empire's own ships.
The war had just entered a new stage. To preserve Hyrule's existence, the King's Collective needed to be stamped out with a decisive and overwhelming victory. I was surprised that Arnav had allowed himself to be trapped in the desert like this by a weakened, disoriented Hylian Army, but Zelda's generals were geniuses. For many generations, the Royal Family had done their absolute best to prevent politics from creeping into the military, and the results were showing now. Good commanders were developed by good commanders above them, and a brown-nosing mess of a military wasn't conducive to that kind of an environment.
"This means the ground attack will begin sooner rather than later." I said. "Malon, do you think you can fly us out of here in one of those?"
She nodded.
"I can do it."
I turned to Midna.
"What will you do?"
"I'll stay here and guard the Mirror of Twilight." She replied. "If the Collective is driven back and we can't keep them out of the Arbiter's Grounds, I'll order a retreat and destroy the Mirror."
I nodded, hoping it wouldn't come to that.
"Get a body count of Twili and Collective soldiers, as well as a count of prisoners." I said, and then turned back to Malon.
"It's time to cut off the head of the snake." I said. "Let's fly."
"Wait."
I turned to see who the new voice belonged to. A short, hooded figure stood in the doorway holding a Supernova rifle and armed with a sword.
"Sword!" Malon said, running over to her. "Where the hell have you been? Nobody's heard from you since you disappeared."
"Long story." Sword muttered.
"You know her?" Midna asked me quietly, obviously nervous at the sight of the mysterious figure. I nodded.
"She's another of Zelda's guards." I said. "She never takes off her hood or helmet, so we don't even know who she is. But you don't need to worry about her, she's just here to bring me that rifle."
I walked over to Sword and took the Supernova appreciatively.
"Thanks." I said. "I won't even ask what you went through to get that here. I don't know how I was going to make it to Arnav without this thing."
"Don't rely on being able to." Sword replied. "I scouted their positions over the past week. I heard that Arnav escaped the Arbiter's Grounds over the radio, so he's going to be lost in a sea of two million Collective soldiers. There's no way you'll find him."
"How are the rear defenses?" I asked.
"Negligible when I passed through, but they'll be bolstered now that the Arbiter's Grounds have been attacked.
"So we can assume that they'll be defending themselves against an infantry attack." Malon said. "We could fly in right now and try to gun him down with one of these fighters."
"They've got air defenses." Sword said. "Arnav will have made it past the protected zone by now."
"And I don't suppose we could have one of those destroyers up there just drop a MAC round on him, could we?" I asked.
"Not until the battle up top is already over, and those can last for days if history is any indication." Malon said. "Besides, I think the Navy's ship commanders would balk at the idea of using a MAC cannon to hit the planet again. Let's not even mention Zelda. The damage to the land would go from being unprecedented to irreversible."
"You'd think that the Navy would have a smaller MAC cannon than that." I said, shaking my head. "So space attacks are out, air attacks probably won't work, and shooting the bastard doesn't work. That leaves me with one option."
"And what's that?" Malon asked.
"Malon, you'll fly us to the cliffs overlooking the Collective position, but still far enough away to not get hit by the air defenses. Sword and I will find Arnav with the TALOS facial recognition program and then close in on him once the battle starts."
"The cliffs are guarded." Sword said.
"I'll arrange for a Hylian attack on the position to clear the area before we get there." I said, feeling certain that there was probably a plan already developed by this point.
"We'll keep in contact as best we can." I continued. "Best case scenario, we'll be able to slip under the air defense radar and spot Arnav. If Sword and I fail or don't get there on time, try to take out Arnav with the Gatling Gun or a bomb. If you can get within three kilometers at top speed, you should be able to get a good pass in on him before the air defenses even turn in your direction."
"That's assuming I can figure out how to fly this thing in time." She replied, looking back at the fighter.
"Hell no."
With that, I sat down on the ground to take a breather and radio in to get the cliffs cleared.
The real battle was just about to begin.
…
Night had fallen by the time we were actually moving.
Extraction was going to be an issue. If I actually managed to assassinate Arnav, the chances of a simple escape were minimal. I would have to count on my optical camouflage to be able to cover me enough to escape through the chaos.
This was going to have to be a quick ambush. I had done it a few times throughout the course of my career, but it had never been my first pick for assassinations. Arnav Nohansen was also far more skilled in close combat than me, so I'd never survive if I failed to neutralize him immediately.
Malon was still toying with the Collective jet, but had already established reliable communications with the Hylian forces on the outer rim of the desert and gotten the GPS system working. She was going to do a high-altitude pass over the Collective assault force and find a spot on the cliffs for me to observe from. If I failed, she would dive and unload the Gatling Gun into Arnav's general vicinity. A single one of those rounds hitting him would vaporize his body and, hopefully, nullify his insane healing abilities.
It was basically a suicide mission, because she wouldn't be able to escape the air defenses. If she ejected, she would land in the middle of their forces.
Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but we were both willing to do whatever it took to finish this fight. This had become far bigger than either of us.
"I'm ready to go." Malon said.
"You can really fly that?" I asked skeptically.
"I'm not saying it will be smooth, but it'll work." She replied, punching the ignition button. "I'll find a good spot to drop both of you off, if you can cram into the navigator's seat."
I looked at Sword, who had remained completely silent since our last conversation. She only nodded.
I crawled up into the navigator's position in the jet, taking my seat and buckling in before Sword nimbly climbed in after me. She sat on my legs, barely fitting in the cramped space. It was a good thing she was small, since this cockpit barely fit two people.
As Malon spun the engines up and remotely opened the hangar door, I discreetly examined Sword. She was still an extreme mystery to me. I had never seen her face, even when she wasn't wearing a helmet. Now that she was crammed up against me, though, I realized that she was tiny. Her boots had three-inch lifts on the soles, but she was still below average height. She also couldn't weigh more than 90 pounds, which made me wonder how she ever got in the military in the first place. Based on the way she fought, though, her size was actually an advantage. That was likely the deciding factor in her weapon of choice. The key to wielding a katana effectively was incredible speed.
The jet took off with a lurch, blasting the hangar behind us with jet wash. The world went black for a few moments.
I woke up with a start, seeing Malon chuckling in the front seat.
"My bad, the G's got pretty high there. I wasn't expecting this jet to be able to accelerate that quickly."
"Did you black out, too?" I asked, rubbing my forehead where a headache had just popped up.
Malon shook her head.
"I know a few tricks, and I've done this hundreds of times. Plus, this seat is designed to artificially reduce gravity after 4 G's. Apparently yours wasn't."
Sword squirmed uncomfortably as she woke up, but said nothing. I looked out the cockpit window, watching the sand dunes scream by. We were flying fairly low to avoid detection by the air defenses, but this jet could easily keep its velocity.
"It won't take long to get to the drop point." Malon said. "I'm putting you down twenty kilometers from the canyon, and then I'll get up into the exosphere. Hopefully that'll be far enough from the battle going on in orbit where I won't have to deal with that. I'll find you a good spot and then start scanning for Arnav, although it'll be difficult to pick him up from high altitudes. Once you close in on him, I'll provide some explosive distractions to cover your escape. Based on my GPS, air defenses are covering ten kilometers away from the line. You'll need to get twelve or thirteen kilometers away from them if I'm going to be able to safely land."
"That's not very far." I said. "I figured the defenses could reach further."
"Keep in mind the last thing they expect is an aerial insertion behind their lines. Why would they devote huge amounts of anti-air resources to defending their rear when the bulk of the Hylian force is in the front?"
"Good point." I replied. "Have we really gotten that much of our aircraft up and running again? Is an aerial assault a legitimate threat?"
"They wouldn't tell me over the radio for obvious reasons, but I think so." Malon said. "After all, that's the bread and butter of the Hylian military. Overwhelming air power with highly trained infantry units. I don't think this type of battle is the type that we've ever trained for, though. It could be a challenge."
I knew that from experience. Hylian military operations were usually quick and precise, such as discreetly taking a single ship at a time. I had trained extensively in guerilla warfare as a foot soldier, learning to take small bites out of an enemy's fighting force with the help of extensive support units. Hylian air power was part of that support.
I heard the radio crackle in Malon's ear, and she glanced back at me.
"The battle just started."
"The Collective is attacking?"
"No, Zelda ordered-"
A blinding flash lit up the sky in front of us, and I nearly jumped out of my skin as Malon violently accelerated into the air. About twenty more flashes followed, moving down the horizon with each successive blast.
"MNNB's" Malon said. "Massive Non-Nuclear Bombs. That should soften up the enemy lines a little, although they had a shield covering the bulk of their forces. At the very least, they'll be shell-shocked."
More MNNB's lit up the night sky as we soared higher. The altimeter read 10,000 meters, and we were rising quickly. The amount of force this acceleration was putting on my body was absolutely incredible, and I started getting tunnel vision as we climbed to 15,000 meters.
"We should be safe from the air defenses up here, but we're going to feel the shockwaves in a minute." Malon said. "I'll come down on the other side of the canyons to drop you off."
My radio crackled as Hylian command announced that the canyons had been cleared. This was the work of the Army's Rangers. As always, they were lightning-fast.
"Okay, let's get this over with." I said.
…
Zelda
…
Cheers sounded through the lines as the horizon lit up, but I only sighed. I had been agonizing for hours over the decision to use nuclear bombs, but had eventually decided to accept the loss of Hylian life and aircraft and have over two dozen bombers drop MNNB's instead. Dropping a nuclear bomb would have irradiated the landscape and tarnished my legacy as queen. Ultimately, we had lost four of the bombers to anti-aircraft fire, but my scouting forces predicted over a quarter-million Collective soldiers had been caught outside the protective barrier surrounding Arnav's forces. Furthermore, the barrier was now flickering in and out of existence.
This was potentially the largest loss of life in Hylian military history, and that was just in a single bombing run. The battle still had to be fought, but at least the numbers would be slightly more favorable towards my own troops now.
Only slightly. We were still outnumbered by over half a million men.
There was no time to think about that now, though. The Army's leadership had decided on a preemptive strike, rather than waiting for the Collective. They had requested the nuclear option, but I couldn't approve that. I would never be able to forgive myself, and the courts would certainly raise objections. It could have ended the battle immediately, but it wasn't worth it.
An assault force of about a hundred thousand was now advancing through a path we had cleared through the rubble in the canyons. They would strike hard and fast, doing as much damage as possible to the Collective and drawing them out of the barrier. Once that happened, they would retreat into the canyons. From there, the Corps of Engineers would wait until the Collective followed and then detonate explosives hidden in the fallen rocks. They hoped to trap or kill another hundred thousand.
"ETA thirty seconds." I heard over the radio. The assault force was only a kilometer away from the outside of the Collective line. I watched the action through a camera mounted on the lead vehicle.
The first gunshots rang faintly from the inside of the canyon a few moments later, followed by a long string of unending fire. The truck with my camera emerged from the other side of the canyon, allowing me a clear view of the action.
The blast had scored a direct hit on the Collective, scorching the side of the canyon and turning the sand to glass beneath it. Their soldiers had obviously been caught off guard, and were now scrambling. Sure enough, the barrier was flickering in and out. It was on most of the time, and its generators would regain the necessary energy to maintain it shortly. This was expected, and didn't hinder our plans more than we had anticipated.
"Aerial footage is now available." My aide said, handing me a separate tablet.
I turned it on, guessing that I was now watching a camera mounted underneath a gunship. The view confirmed my earlier thoughts. A dozen shield pylons were now flickering feebly, barely maintaining the shield that the blast had nearly destroyed. The shield would block incoming and outgoing fire, but not anything moving slower than the speed of sound.
The assault force kept its distance from the camp, careful to stay outside of the two kilometer perimeter that was outlined in the plan, and began surrounding the Collective. Sporadic gunfire was traded between the Hylians and the Collective troops who had been caught outside the shield, but it didn't last very long.
It took a few minutes to form up outside of the camp, but the Collective troops still hadn't organized an effective resistance. The Hylians formed three lines on the northeast, east, and southeast sides, and then waited.
"The general requests your permission to engage the enemy." The radio operator said from behind me. "What should I tell him, your majesty?"
"Tell him he has full control and no longer needs to ask permission before advancing phases." I said.
The radio operator relayed the message. The assault force didn't waste time opening fire.
I quietly turned to the radio operator.
"Get Malon or Link on another line." I said, careful to speak softly enough that the men guarding my position wouldn't hear me. Only Rusl, myself, and this particular radioman knew that Link was behind enemy lines. It had been an hour since I heard from them, and I needed to know that they were alive. Because I had been speaking with them through a radio they had hacked from the Collective, I hadn't been able to say anything that might jeopardize the surprise of the bombing run.
If only my communications network hadn't been so damaged when Spud fired the nukes, I could have been guaranteed secure radio transmissions. As it stood, we only had a few levels of encryption.
"I've got Malon on the other end." The radio operator said. I turned and took the headset from him.
"I need a report on your status." I said.
"Just fucking great, your majesty. Thanks for the heads up. I'm sure glad I knew that we were dropping twenty MNNB's on the Collective. I would have been flying directly at them if you hadn't told me ahead of time. It would have nearly knocked my jet out of the sky."
I'd give Malon a pass on her sarcasm this time. She deserved that much.
"Is Link completing his mission?" I asked.
Malon sighed.
"Yes, your majesty. I dropped him off a few minutes ago. I'm going to fly as high as I can without getting into the space battle. Any idea how that's going up there?"
I looked over at my tablet, flicking through various images and charts that depicted the status of the Hylian Navy fleet attacking the Collective blockade.
I didn't see anything to be concerned about. I hadn't given as much attention to the space battle as it deserved, but I trusted my Navy's leadership to win. We had greater numbers, better weapons, and some of the best strategists in the history of Hylian wars. The MAC cannon was a still relatively-new invention that the Collective hadn't been able to replicate yet, so we had that distinct advantage. Two or three MAC cannon shots could take out a Collective destroyer. Furthermore, Link had ensured the destruction of the Deceit of Kings, which had been the linchpin of Collective space operations.
"It's going well." I said. "Looks like the Collective blockade has lost about a quarter of its strength already, so it should be over in a few hours if they fight to the end."
"Which they won't." Malon said. "They never have."
I didn't say anything over the radio in case our conversation was somehow being intercepted, but I had ordered the Navy to ensure total destruction of the Collective fleet, even if that meant pursuing the survivors into deep space. As much as I hated the totalitarian vibes that put off, I wanted a resounding victory over the enemy. The seeds of this rebellion needed to be completely stamped out in one decisive blow, and today was the best chance.
"Any sign of the package yet?" I asked, referencing Arnav.
"I'm running scans, but I haven't picked up anything yet." Malon said. "You'll be the second person to know when I do."
"Thank you." I said. "I've got to turn my attention back to the battle now."
I handed the radio off to the operator and glanced at Rusl, nodding to affirm that Link and Malon had both survived. I then looked back at my observation tablet, watching as the assault force rained hell on the Collective troops. They were dropping like flies, unable to form any kind of useful resistance from within the shell of the barrier.
Artillery started firing from Phase Line Black, and I saw it impact the barrier twenty seconds later. The rounds were still moving too quickly to pass through, so the artillerymen adjusted the loads and took the barrel extensions off the guns. They fired another salvo, cheering as a few of the rounds passed through the barrier and landed in the middle of the panicking Collective troops.
"Fire for effect." I heard over the radio.
The entire line of guns began firing, joining the chaos of the assault force's automatic weapons. Finally the Collective troops were forced to make a decision. They began pouring from the barrier in their vehicles and even on foot, heading straight for the Hylian assault force.
"They're advancing! Assault force retreat!"
Immediately, the assault force turned and retreated in an organized, practiced fashion. Within two minutes, the entire force had retreated back through the canyon. The Collective troops took another three minutes to arrive.
The next phase was on the Corps of Engineers.
…
Link
…
I still wasn't very close to the Collective camp when the sound of gunfire echoed up through the canyon, reflected off the sheer rock cliffs below me. This wasn't like the shots from earlier, which were sporadic and obviously placed at single targets. This was cyclic, continuous machine gun fire.
"Link, I have some information." I heard Malon's voice say through my helmet's earpiece. "We're secure on this channel."
"Go ahead."
"There's a barrier around the bulk of the camp. The Hylian forces are firing from a long ways away so that their bullets will drop below the speed of sound and pass through, but you're going to have to come up with something else. The Collective troops are on the move, and I'm not picking Arnav up at all. You're not going to be able to find him."
I stalked up to the edge of the canyon several seconds later, in awe of the chaos laid before me. The Hylian assault force was slipping through the canyons at breakneck speeds, followed by the leading edge of a Collective counterattack. They were trading machine gun fire, but it looked as if the Collective was the only side taking any damage in this fight. Artillery was raining down on the barrier, with most of it passing through and hitting the troops still beneath it. The damages were minimal, considering the massive numbers the Collective had on their side, but the psychological effect was astounding. This was the most obvious trap in the history of obvious traps, but the Collective was being drawn into it regardless. Between the artillery and the false security of the ruined canyon, they had only one real option.
There were at least five thousand tanks forming a massive column behind the main force, although I didn't know how much luck they'd have getting through the canyon. The paths the engineers had cleared were only big enough for a standard armored vehicle. The tanks would have to drive over the obliterated rocks, which could prove deadly. A bigger problem was in the swarms of gunships still hiding beneath the barrier. Hopefully there was a significant amount of air defense behind Phase Line Black.
The shooting went on for several minutes, until it was clear that the Hylian assault force had retreated fully into the canyons. The ongoing artillery barrage had already killed several thousand Collective soldiers, and Hylian gunfire had done an equal amount of damage. It was a gruesome thought, and I hated that these people had been convinced to die for Arnav Nohansen's cause.
My suit's facial recognition wasn't picking anything up, although it was a nearly impossible task. I'd just have to scan enemies until I got a ping. I doubted he would be wearing a helmet, since he never had in the past. His presence would boost morale, so he would have to make himself known.
As the minutes passed, I noticed something was amiss. While this was still a sizable force of Collective soldiers, it didn't look like the two million that we had been expecting. I guessed that there were a million and a half soldiers left, although that could have been a conservative estimate. Regardless, the bombs and artillery certainly hadn't killed half a million of them. That wasn't even counting the quarter-million Collective troops that had already been stationed at the Arbiter's Grounds.
Furthermore, this force looked devoid of any serious tactical ability and leadership. They were literally charging into the most cut-and-dry trap I could possibly imagine. There wasn't a shred of organization.
"You sense it, too?" Sword asked quietly from the ground next to me. I nodded.
"Something's off. I expected far more resistance. They're all hiding or running around confused. In past battles, their forces were equally matched with ours until it came to individual skill."
I nudged the transmitter on my radio, connecting to Malon again.
"Malon, something's wrong." I said. "None of these guys know what they're doing, and I'm not seeing the numbers I was expecting. Also, I still don't see Arnav."
"I know." Malon replied. "I've scanned the camp three times now, and he's still not coming up."
"Run a strength check on their forces." I said.
There was a momentary pause.
"Just over 1.4 million." She said. "That can't be right."
"Are they planning something else?" I wondered aloud.
"Malon, can you see the sea to the north of the mountains?" Sword asked, jumping on the radio channel.
"Yes, but I can't get any details. What should I be looking for?"
"Try running a scan for any life above the water. I have a hunch."
"Yeah, give me a minute. I'm going to fly closer. The sand from the desert gets caught in the wind from the mountains and it's partially blocking my view. ETA three minutes."
I looked back through my scope and continued scanning. The Collective forces were moving into the canyons, and the gunships had formed a flying box formation underneath the barrier.
"They're about to counterattack." I heard through the Hylian Army channel.
"Assault Force is out of the canyons."
I routed my radio through Malon's stolen gunship so that I could speak with Zelda again.
"High command, this is Ghost-six. The Collective forces are now moving into the canyon in pursuit of the Hylian assault force."
A male's voice came back through my headpiece, crackling because of the sand blowing up out of the desert.
"Solid copy, Ghost. Advise you stay clear of the canyon path and continue mission."
I was several hundred meters away from the top of the path's rock cliff wall, so that would have to be good enough.
I heard a step next to me and turned, drawing my handgun. Fortunately, it was just Sword. I hadn't even noticed her leave.
"I scouted the canyon path. Our forces have set several thousand pounds of explosives in discreet places and are planning to crush the Collective forces when they come through."
"I figured as much. I'm going to keep-"
"Link, I think I found Arnav." Malon said through the radio.
"Where is he?" I asked, shouldering my rifle again.
"He's fleeing the planet. It looks like a sizable force of Collective troops are boarding an enormous spacecraft several hundred kilometers out into the ocean, and they left the majority of their forces behind to distract us. This would have been easy to detect if the Collective hadn't shot down all of our satellites the second they invaded the planet."
That explained why this Collective force was so insanely inadequate at what they were doing. They were following the Hylian assault force into a textbook trap, and most of them didn't look like soldiers. All of their leadership had fled, leaving only conscripts and the youngest members of the army.
We're killing slaves.
I froze at the thought. I had known the Collective was capturing young males across the far reaches of occupied space, but the thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I had been too caught up in trying to take out Arnav.
Sword sensed my hesitation and turned on her mic.
"Did you tell command about this already?" She asked Malon.
"Just did."
"Are they going to attempt to force a surrender?"
"I don't know."
I shook my head, putting aside the sinking feeling I had in my gut. That could wait until later.
"Malon, can you do any damage to that spacecraft that Arnav is on?"
…
Malon
…
"I don't know." I said, looking at the camera feed on my monitor. "I don't see any obvious weak points in the armor. I can try to mark it, though."
"Do something. We can't let him escape if we don't want to go through this again."
"I'll see what I can do." I said.
I pulled up the holographic image of the space battle to see if there were any assets nearby. All I needed was one MAC round. It looked as if the Collective Navy had officially lost any momentum they'd had before, because many of the ships were in pieces or fleeing. The Hylian Navy wasn't giving any ground, though. Any Collective ships that fired up their FTL drives were instantly caught in a deadly crossfire by the waiting destroyers, while the carriers continued the bulk of the ship-to-ship combat. The orbital cannons were still floating, useless, but it didn't seem to matter. The Navy was undeniably dominating the Collective.
Unfortunately, it didn't look as if any of the Hylian destroyers could be spared right now. I decided to radio in to the fleet anyways, just to be sure. It was a pain to try to connect with command through the Collective transmitter, so I just hacked my way through the decryption and synced it up to the fluctuations in the code. It only took a few seconds, which was slightly disconcerting.
"Fleet Command, this is SSC-6 requesting assistance, over."
"SSC-6 this is Fleet Command, go ahead."
"I've located Arnav Nohansen and the bulk of the Collective ground forces. They're attempting to escape on a spacecraft at the coordinates I'm sending now. Requesting MAC assistance."
"Coordinates received. Checking available resources."
There was a pause as the AI worked through the situation.
"SSC-6, Fleet Command currently has no MAC assistance that can be offered within the next half-hour. All Hylian destroyers are currently engaged in combat with the enemy, and cannot safely retreat in time to render aid without putting our defenders on the ground at risk of a space-to-ground attack."
I sighed, not knowing what I was expecting in the first place. I was going to have to try to disable this escape ship until the Navy could take care of it.
"Solid copy, Fleet Command. Keep me updated on any changes."
"I've put out a general call for assistance on the Hylian BattleNet for you. Hopefully someone around there can help. Fleet Command out."
I shook my head and turned to my weapons display. For all its glory, the Gatling Gun wouldn't do much against an armored spacecraft. I had several missiles with enough explosive power to ding up the engine armor pretty bad, but otherwise I was out of luck.
Unless…
This was one of the fastest aircraft I had ever flown, and it was fairly heavy. I did the energy calculations on the computer and realized I had an option. It was extremely dangerous, but it could be done. I radioed back to Link.
"Link, I'm going to fly this thing as fast as it will go into Arnav's ship. Obviously I'm going to attempt to eject before I hit, so I'll need a water rescue team. I need you to radio the coordinates back to the Army and get that moving. I don't have time to do that right now."
"I'm guessing the Navy couldn't help?"
He knew better than to argue with me over this when we had so few options.
"Not soon enough." I said, watching the Collective troops board the escape craft on my monitor. They were almost completely loaded up, and the engines were already running. I estimated another ten minutes until they were ready to leave the atmosphere. If they made it out of the local cluster, it would be very difficult to track them before their FTL signature faded away.
I nudged the nose of my jet down and opened the throttle to 90%. I'd have to be careful to not go too fast so this thing didn't fall apart before it hit the Collective ship. Plus, I still had to be able to eject without getting killed. There was a lot of research that had gone into high velocity ejection survival in the past decade, but the human body had its definitive limits that even technology couldn't overcome.
Based on the technology I had seen in this jet, I could safely eject at Mach 20, or 20 times the speed of sound at sea level. This jet had more than enough mass to do significant damage at that speed, and I'd fire all of the missiles right before ejection. If everything worked out, the escape ship would be too damaged to leave the atmosphere. If I hit the engines, it wouldn't be able to draw enough energy to fire the FTL drive, which would solve all of my current problems except for one.
The escape was going to be interesting.
I was quickly dropping through the atmosphere towards the open water, so I primed the missiles and double checked my safety harness. I was currently traveling at Mach 12, and I would easily reach the Mach 20 ejection limit before entering the stratosphere. I brought the throttle down to 50%, not seeing a need to accelerate too quickly.
The back of the ship was facing me, and I could see its engines firing. There were four of them lined up along the middle of the aft section, so I set my autopilot to fly directly into it. Twenty different warning messages popped up about being on a collision course with a friendly vessel, so I had to take a few seconds to override them.
By now I was pushing Mach 16, so I pulled the ejection cable. A handle popped up between my legs, which would most likely require 60 or more pounds of force to be applied upwards before I could actually escape. I didn't have an oxygen tank, so I'd have to time my ejection just right. I wasn't properly acclimated to high altitudes due to having lived in Castle Town for several years and growing up in the same type of environment, so I needed to get out under 5,000 meters. That would be optimal for breathing, ensuring that I wasn't too close to the Collective ship, and safe ejection. Lower air pressure meant that there wouldn't be quite as much whiplash when I exited.
Recognizing that, I did some quick calculations in my head and decided to take a risk. I set the speed to Mach 18 and checked my altitude. 75,000 meters. At 8,000 meters, I would completely open the throttle before ejecting. I estimated that the jet would continue to accelerate to Mach 25 or faster before it impacted the Collective escape ship, which would do considerably more damage than Mach 20. The downside was that the jet would push slightly over its top speed, which could potentially make it unstable in that final stretch. It was a risk I would have to take.
"I've got someone coming to get you." I heard Link say over the radio. "Are you sure about this?"
"I have to be." I said. I noticed he had sent me the radio link, so I forwarded my estimated landing coordinates.
"What's the story on the ground battle?" I asked, noticing I had dropped to 50,000 meters already. I was already starting to notice the effects of the increased air pressure resisting this jet's insane speed.
"Sword just ran off to try to blow the canyon path before they get there, and our gunships are ripping theirs to shreds. Hopefully the ground troops will be trapped and we can force them to surrender."
I admired that Link was always trying to save lives, even in the middle of a war. I highly doubted that Sword had simply run off to do that of her own volition, because she had never shown any hint of mercy in the past. It had probably been Link's idea.
"Do you know that Arnav was on that ship?" He asked me, interrupting my thoughts.
"No, but it's pretty safe to assume." I said. "Where else would he be?"
"I guess you're right."
25,000 meters. I could see the Collective ship with my own eyes now, although it was nothing more than a dot. I put my finger on the trigger for the missiles, looking at the monitor to double check that they were locked onto the ship's engines.
"I'm going to have to eject soon." I said. "We'll be out of radio contact once the jet hits that Collective ship."
"Yeah, I figured."
There was a moment of silence as I dropped to 18,000 meters. I was traveling so fast that Link couldn't finish what he was trying to say before I hit 10,000.
"Malon, be careful. I-"
I opened the throttle and pulled the trigger on the missiles, then yanked upwards on the ejection handle. Time almost stopped, and I panicked as I thought that there had been an ejection failure. In slow motion, the canopy of the jet exploded off of the top and was swept back by the roaring wind. My seat accelerated forcefully upwards, but I didn't feel the wind due to the thick energy shield that appeared in front of me.
I realized too late what I should have remembered about jets in the first place. The sonic boom washed over me, blowing my eardrums to pieces and pounding in my chest. Everything went silent, and I panicked realizing that I could no longer hear. I pushed the initial reaction aside and looked down to the Collective escape ship just as my missiles struck. I didn't have time to observe the damage because the jet impacted half a second later. I could feel the pressure and heat wash over me a few seconds later. It felt like an MNNB had just detonated nearby.
I stared in anticipation, hoping that my insane plan had worked. I didn't even notice my parachute automatically deploy as I scanned the massive cloud of smoke and fire.
Finally I was able to see the Collective ship. The impact had struck directly in between the four engines, and looked as if it had done massive damage. I sighed in relief. Just looking at it, that thing wasn't going anywhere.
I chuckled to myself, although I couldn't hear it. My hands were shaking so hard that I could barely hold on to the parachute's guide ropes. I hadn't realized how much adrenaline had been coursing through me in the last thirty seconds, but it was more than I'd ever experienced before. That had certainly been a thrill.
It wasn't over, though. About a thousand Collective soldiers had still been trying to load up into the escape ship, but it started to lift away from the water.
How is it still moving?!
Sure enough, the escape ship was slowly rising into the air. It looked like a single engine was still functioning. Much to my horror, it turned so that the line of turrets on the side were facing me.
"SSC-6 to any Hylian troops within range, requesting immediate assistance." I said into my helmet radio, although I couldn't hear a word I was saying. "Arnav Nohansen is aboard a Collective escape craft, and they're turning to fire on me. I say again, I need immediate assistance at Quebec-Uniform 3862 0891."
I yanked my buoy knife out of its holster, prepared to cut the ropes on my parachute if they started firing at me. It would only buy me a little time, since I'd have to pull the reserve chute within twenty seconds, but it was better than nothing. There was no way they could hit me in freefall from this distance.
Sure enough, I saw tracer rounds start flying towards me. I quickly cut the ropes holding me to the parachute and entered freefall, my hand gripping the reserve chute's release handle. I spent a few seconds calming my nerves. I had trained on this exact scenario dozens of times when I was in the Army. I would open the chute about 50 meters above the surface of the water to minimize my time in the air. Once I touched the surface, I would release the seat harness and swim about ten meters down. At that depth, conventional weapons couldn't do any damage. I estimated I had enough air for three minutes of constant activity before I'd have to come back up and replace my suit's minimally maintained atmosphere.
If only I'd just invested in a rebreather system, I lamented to myself. They were heavy, but I certainly wouldn't have minded the extra weight now. It was no matter, I'd have to make this work.
I yanked the reserve chute handle as bullets whistled several hundred meters above my head. The gunners on that ship certainly weren't sparing a single round trying to kill me, making the next ten seconds the longest of my entire life. After what felt like years, I touched the surface of the water and bailed from my safety harness.
As soon as the water washed over me, the flight seat was ripped to shreds by incoming fire. Fortunately there was still quite a bit of distance between myself and the Collective ship, but it was still nerve racking to watch the .50 caliber bullets coming to a stop several feet in front of my face. I quickly swam down further.
I was now at the end of my plan. I had no idea what to do from here, but I couldn't stay forever. An oxygen light immediately appeared in my visor, warning that I had just over 4 minutes until asphyxiation.
I had no options at this point, so I turned north and started swimming. The nearest piece of land was a small island 34 kilometers away, but it was my only hope at this point. I estimated that I could make the swim in about 8 hours if the Collective ship gave up on trying to kill me. Based on the volume of bullets being fired into the water above my head, though, that wasn't happening soon.
I checked my thermal display, which was still working surprisingly well despite the fact that I was underwater. It appeared that the Collective ship was coming closer to me, which wasn't a good sign.
Why are they trying to kill me rather than escape?
I kept swimming, hoping that they didn't have the capability to see where I was. Bullets were sinking down below me into the darkness, though, so I knew they did. Apparently they were getting the hint, though, because the volume was decreasing.
Hopefully they'll think I have a rebreather and just…
Fuck.
I could see a blue glow coming from the ship, and thermals showed a massive heat spike near the bow. They were spinning up something big, and I couldn't imagine it was anything besides a bomb or extremely high velocity round. If they had a heavy-mass cannon, it would take a lot more than 10 meters of water to be protected.
I had three minutes of air left, so I dived down deeper, gulping back my fear of the pitch black below me. There was a reason I had joined the Army instead of the Navy, but I knew that the Collective ship posed a much more immediate threat to me. Once I was at 25 meters of depth, though, another light appeared on my visor.
Pressure warning. Great.
I couldn't see the Collective ship anymore, and only a small disturbance appeared on thermal, so I stayed put for the moment. Hopefully they would lose track of me.
I nearly leapt out of my skin as the water exploded above me. Several meters to my right, a large caliber projectile slipped through the water, boiling everything around it. I lost sight of it in the darkness before the water managed to stop it, which meant I was still in the killing range.
My goddesses, they're using a railgun! Who the hell puts one of those on an escape ship?!
That didn't even come close to addressing the question of why an escape craft would bother trying to kill a single pilot, but I didn't have time to worry about that. I started swimming frantically past where the railgun round had just traveled. The water to my left exploded again, boiling to the surface as another round passed through. This one had missed me by a little more than the last one.
They don't know exactly where I am.
If they were truly following thermals, I would be hard to pick up at this depth. Furthermore, those rounds were creating enough friction to boil the water, which would further impair thermal vision if they were having a hard time picking me up.
Another round entered the water only two meters in front of me. I jumped, swimming backwards quickly.
Shit, maybe they can still see me.
A minute of air left. I'd been going through it quickly because I was breathing so heavily, but now I was between a rock and a hard place. I had to surface for air soon, which meant I had about twenty seconds before I had to start swimming since I was so deep under the water. Once I reached the surface, I'd be killed in a heartbeat.
An idea popped into my head. It was complete insanity, and I'd probably be killed anyways, but it was my only option at this point. I let my body go limp, allowing the air inside my suit to pull me towards the surface. Another railgun round pounded the water behind me, but I ignored it. Hopefully they would think the sheer force of the impact killed me.
I may have been right. Those rounds were expensive, and it appeared that the Collective didn't want to waste them on a dead person. I was several seconds from running out of air when I reached the surface, allowing my suit to cycle with fresh atmosphere. Fortunately it did that on its own, or I wouldn't have been faking death for long.
I had been careful to surface with my face up so that I could see what was going on, but I almost wished that I hadn't. The Collective ship was hovering several hundred meters above the water with its main gun facing directly towards me. Much to my dismay, the main gun was far bigger than the railgun they had been firing at me.
This isn't an escape ship. At least not a dedicated one.
Are they even escaping? Or are they preparing for another attack?
There was no way they were that crazy, unless their command was completely unaware of the beat down the Hylian Navy was laying on their forces above the planet. They had to know that they weren't in a position to attack without orbital backup.
It was possible that they were just desperate.
The Collective had always struggled with its respect among the Hylian populace, especially within the most heavily populated areas of the galaxy. This could be their last ditch effort to prove themselves or an attempt to die as martyrs and potentially stain Zelda's reputation.
I nearly jumped as the main cannon started warming up.
Fuck, that's a plasma cannon.
There was no way I would dodge that shot. Likely the only thing that had stopped the Collective ship from using that weapon until now was the fact that there was only one engine creating energy. It looked as if they wanted to make a point now, even if that meant firing a vacuum-designated weapon in the atmosphere.
There was nothing I could do at this point. I couldn't run. I couldn't hide. I couldn't defend myself. There was no backup coming.
I was going to die.
I sighed to myself. This wasn't how I imagined it would happen, but at least it would be painless. Terrifying, but painless.
I breathed deeply a few times, only now realizing how scared I was. I'd been on the verge of death dozens of times before, but I had always had a viable escape route. A ship-mounted plasma cannon against one person stranded in the ocean wasn't exactly the greatest odds, though.
The cannon continued to warm up, eventually turning a bright purple color.
This is it.
I closed my eyes. I didn't want to watch this.
Link will be upset. I made him promise not to die, and here I am.
He'd probably be upset regardless of the promise.
Several seconds passed, and I cringed. The ship was obviously going to fire any moment. I wanted this to be over with.
A surge of water suddenly rushed over me, pushing me under the surface. I opened my eyes, realizing that I had been pushed all the way back down past my previous depth, and my helmet was flashing another warning.
39 meters?!
I quickly started swimming towards the surface, but realized I was a little disoriented and actually just swimming downwards. Once I had gotten pointed in the right direction, I ascended slowly.
What the hell just happened? How did I end up that far down?
Blue text scrolled across my visor.
SSC-6, this is Umbra-1. Are you unharmed?
"I think so." I said sloppily, unable to hear myself.
Excellent. Please stay where you are, we're mopping up here and then we'll send a rescue team.
"Can I come to the surface?"
Yes, but there are a lot of dead bodies floating around.
"Wha… How? Who are you?"
A mutual friend sent us. You're safe now, there's no need to worry.
It took me a little while to reach the surface, but I was absolutely shocked at what I saw when I got there. The Collective ship had been ripped clean in half and was sinking into the ocean. There were still soldiers jumping away from the burning wreckage, but many more were floating lifeless on the water. Above it all hovered a ship so black that I couldn't get my eyes to focus on its surface.
What the hell is that?
From what I could see, it was shaped like a very small destroyer. There were no markings to indicate which side of the battle it was on, but I could only assume it was "Umbra." My suspicions were confirmed when it fired a thin purple beam of energy into the sinking Collective ship, cutting it into smaller pieces.
In a matter of seconds, the escape ship had sunk below the surface, leaving tens of thousands of dead, wounded, or angry Collective soldiers stranded in the ocean.
I let out a breath I had been holding.
Was this really over? Or was I in some sort of pre-death hallucination?
The black ship appeared over me suddenly, dropping down until it was almost right on top of me. A hatch opened, and a man in the same pitch-black colored armor appeared. I could barely keep my eyes on him.
He stretched his hand out, and I reached up to grasp it. In a flash, I was inside the ship. There was a jerking motion, and then everything was still again.
Please follow our representative to the medical bay. We need to repair your eardrums.
I was a little sketched out by all the cloak-and-dagger, but these people had saved my life, so I followed the man down the hall. The inside of this ship looked like any other Hylian spacecraft, except that each person I saw was either covered in this headache-inducing armor or magically concealed underneath a black cloak.
I was ushered into the medical bay, where a doctor stood waiting for me. She was the first person I had seen with an uncovered face on this ship, and it was a surprising relief. I realized she was gesturing for me to remove my helmet, so I did.
Words scrolled across the monitor on the wall.
Please put on a robe, lay down, and get some rest. We're going to perform immediate surgery on your ears so that they can regain 100% function.
I looked up at the bed the doctor had prepared for me, and then back up to her.
Oh shit, here it comes.
I felt my eyes well up with tears as I came off of the adrenaline rush. I couldn't believe I had actually been saved, and now I could go home. I yanked off my wet armor quickly, putting on the dry robe that was offered to me and relishing its warmth. As I laid down, the doctor connected a needle to an IV line, which I could see was connected to anesthetic.
Well, I guess if they wanted to kill me they could have done it by now.
I let her stick the needle in my arm, and didn't even bother fighting the blissful sleep that followed.
…
Link
…
"This is Umbra-1. Your… friend has been recovered. She's in pretty bad shape, but we'll take good care of her. Once we get her ears put back together we'll bring her back to SSC headquarters."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"We also shredded the Collective ship. I'm sending you the coordinates of where it went down in case the queen would like to send a few rescue ships. There's several thousand Collective soldiers that will all drown in a matter of hours if she doesn't."
"I'll let her know." I said. "And thank you."
"Anytime. I know you'd do the same for me if I asked, so don't worry about it. Are you going to be coming back to the main group soon, though? You know we need you."
"No, I don't think so. I've finally found something to live for here, so I think I'll stick around. You know I'm only coming back if you guys find Eta Ali."
"Yeah I know, I was just hoping that maybe you'd changed your mind. What you're doing is a noble pursuit, though, so I can't fault you for wanting to stay in Castle Town."
"It's not the job." I said. "It's that girl you just picked up."
There was a momentary silence.
"Oh, this makes sense now. I guess I need to go get a better look at her, then."
I chuckled quietly.
"Try not to stare. She bites."
"I would expect nothing less from a girl who finally made you break that stone-cold façade. Anyways, I've got to get back to my crew. Be sure you keep updating me on this… Nabooru. I'm becoming increasingly concerned about her every day."
"If you don't mind me asking before you go, why are you concerned about her?" I said, hoping she would answer. "I've been feeding you information for months now, but nothing she's doing seems overly suspicious."
Umbra paused uncertainly.
"I guess you wouldn't know." She said finally. "The problem isn't her story, but the fact that she lacks a unique one."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"My name is Nabooru." Umbra said. "All of her information that you've fed me so far matches me perfectly, but that shouldn't be possible. I was wiped from the records when I went active Black Ops. Whoever Nabooru actually is, she's hiding something. That being said, she hasn't actually done anything to indicate that she intends to harm the queen, so I'm trying to figure out a motive. She may be your key to information about Eta Ali."
I didn't know what to say. This was a lot to take in.
"Could there just be another Nabooru? Is this some really strange mistake?"
"Definitely not, so keep me updated. Anyways, now that you've figured out more about me than you ever should have known, I'm going to cut the line. We'll return Malon to Castle Town discreetly."
The radio connection went blank, and I quickly forwarded the coordinates of the Collective survivors to command. I was close enough to reach them with just my suit's radio now.
I reached up to turn on my helmet's microphone, but realized that I had never actually turned it off.
Crap, I thought to myself, glancing over at Sword. She had heard my entire conversation.
"So now you realized." She said simply. "Who are you feeding information to? Why are you concerned about Nabooru?"
I shook my head.
"You shouldn't have heard that." I said. "I'll talk to you about it later, but keep your mouth shut for now."
My radio activated again. This time, it was Hylian command.
"Ghost, this is High Command. We've got a helicopter coming to your location right now for extraction. Please hold position."
"Copy, High Command. Holding position."
I gestured for Sword to stop, and then sat down on the canyon overlooking the trapped Collective troops. The demoralized and shell-shocked men had surrendered quickly and without bloodshed once the canyon path had been blocked. All the preparations the Hylian Army had made were now unnecessary, and the war was over. If Arnav was still alive, he'd be captured soon. Even if he wasn't, he no longer had an army to fight, and his fleet was ruined.
As far as wars went, this day couldn't have gone any better for the Hylian Empire. It was strangely anticlimactic, but I would take that over what I had expected.
As the sun rose over Hyrule, I looked up to the sky and took a moment to thank the Goddesses for sparing Malon. If there hadn't been any Black Ops troops in the area, she would have been obliterated.
Now we had to move on to rebuilding Castle.
…
Please review! Let me know what you expect/would like to see in Part 2.
Summary of edits
Zelda denies the use of nuclear bombs and orders a barrage of non-nuclear bombs on the Collective instead
The Collective force is scaled WAY up from the previous version
Umbra, Link's Black Ops contact, is revealed as the real Nabooru, leaving the identity/motives of the SSC's Nabooru in question