As he strolled down the hall, Lieutenant O'Toole glanced again at the list.
Grady Tomilson:
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 256lbs.
Hair Color: light brown
Eye Color: black
Military ID: 7562868
Occupation: M4 specialist, squad one leader, and medic
Genetic Background: Pure Hylian
Current Status: Active
Austin Connely:
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 253lbs.
Hair Color: red
Eye Color: black
Military ID: 7649245
Occupation: Squad one demolition expert
Genetic Background: Gerudo
Current Status: Active
Kyle Romero:
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 325lbs.
Hair Color: silver
Eye Color: green
Military ID: 76839868
Occupation: Squad two SAW (squad automatic weapon)
Genetic Background: Sheikah
Current Status: Active
Matt Hanec:
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 278lbs.
Hair Color: blonde
Eye Color: blue
Military ID: 32416453
Occupation: Squad one sniper, Barrett Bolt action .50
Genetic Background: Pure Hylian
Current Status: Active
Josh Von:
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 226lbs.
Hair Color: brown
Eye Color: dark green
Military ID: 8275465
Occupation: M4, squad two radio
Genetic Background: Pure Hylian
Current Status: Active
Aria Harkinian:
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 132lbs.
Hair Color: jet black
Eye Color: brown
Military ID number: 9174822
Occupation: Ghost squad one leader, M4 specialist
Genetic Background: Pure Hylian
Current Status: MIA (missing in action)
Jason Vegas:
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 320lbs.
Hair Color: light brown
Eye Color: black
Military ID: 4193763
Occupation: squad two SAW (squad automatic weapon) gunner
Genetic Background: Hylian, Goron
Current Status: Active
Frank Kose:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 245lbs.
Hair Color: blonde
Eye color: green
Military ID: 9176738
Occupation: M4 specialist, squad two demolition expert
Genetic Background: Pure Hylian
Current Status: Active
Lita Sanchez:
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 145lbs.
Hair Color: light brown
Eye Color: brown
Military ID: 8465739
Occupation: Squad two sniper, Barrett M82A1 Semi-automatic
Genetic Background: Hylian, Zora
Current status: Assigned
Justin Santago:
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 220lbs.
Hair Color: brown
Eye Color: black
Military ID: 9548732
Occupation: M4, squad two radio
Genetic Background: Pure Hylian
Current Status: Active
Dan Moran:
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 232lbs.
Hair Color: light blonde
Eye Color: turquoise
Military ID: 8684768
Occupation: M4, squad two medic
Genetic Background: Hylian, Kokiri
Current Status: Active
The list was pretty long. They were all pure Hylians. That was about as rare as a chicken wire submarine. The Ghosts? What was this team for? Oh, well. He decided it was none of his business, and dropped it on General Garrison's desk. The exhausted General had fallen asleep in his plush chair.
"Sir." the Lieutenant said quietly. The General stirred, and blinked a few times.
"Wha.....?" His head snapped forward, and he gave the Lieutenant a withering look.
"Sir, I have the full report on the Ghosts that you requested.
"Oh! Oh, yes, thank you, Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant saluted, and then left the General's office. Link was going to need the list if he was going to get to know his team. He filed the report, and saw a letter on his desk that had the seal of the President on it. Uh oh, this can't be good.
He opened the letter, and was shocked at what he found.
General,
I have received intelligence reports on locations of Ganondorf's major command centers.
We are starting to push them back, but I fear that they will receive reinforcements soon, just like they did last time. We must not let this happen. If we are pushed back again, we won't have the manpower to launch an offensive again. I am authorizing Nuclear force to destroy these command centers. Destroy the bastards, and reclaim Hyrule. Don't hope on getting Ganondorf. With his Triforce, only Link can kill him.
Godspeed, General
The General thought about this news. Ganon can survive a nuke? Damn. This Triforce sounds really powerful. Then the fax machine began printing up a letter. Good, he thought after reading it, we have the location of the Hero of Time. He dialed a number on the phone.
"Tomilson, we have a go ahead on the operation. Be in the briefing room at 1500 hours."
"Yes sir." Tomilson responded. The General could hear the excitement in his voice.
Inside the waiting room, the team was all prepped and ready for the mission. They were now talking amongst themselves, getting to know each other better. When Lita, squad two's new sniper walked in, the team started hooting and whistling.
"Hi boys." she said seductively, eyeing Vegas as he simply stared open-mouthed at her.
"So, where were you stationed before the war?" Kose asked Connely as Vegas began talking to Sanchez.
"Well, I was a Seal, training with the Delta in the Arctic. We were just in competition with each other on whom could sit in the water the longest when we got news of the creatures. We were immediately shipped back home, and when our transport landed, we were swamped with the monsters. I barely got out alive. I was one of the twelve survivors of that cargo plane. Got picked up the next day in a recon chopper, and ended up here. How about you?"
"I was in Uma, Arizona. The second city to be hit. It was a massacre. We tried to help the civilians, but they got killed too quickly. I saw kids and women lined up and shot out on the street. Thousands of them, and nothing I could do about it. Now, I'm making a difference. Tell you what though," Kose continued, "this Link guy better be all he's sized up to be."
"You won't be disappointed, son." All heads turned to see General Garrison in the doorway, a CD in his hand. "Come along, boys. We got a mission to cover."
The team followed the General into the darkened briefing room, where a projector was hooked up to a computer. The General booted the CD. A map appeared on the screen, with various things on it, like enemy scout and armor positions.
"Okay, this one should be a lot shorter than the last one, you'll be back here by nightfall. You will proceed West down Dodge Street, and turn North onto 168th. Proceed down 168th until you reach Grove Street. The target location is 2379 on the South side of the street. From there, you will stick to the main roads, and head to the golf course to the West. This is the LZ. Entire mission from insertion to extraction no less than three hours. Any questions?"
He glanced around, and was met by determined stares. "Tomilson, I want you to put him in charge of the team as soon as you find him. Give me an assessment of his leadership skills when you get back." Garrison told him.
With that, the General wished them luck, and dismissed them.
Before they left, they all turned to him at attention and shouted as one:
"SEMPER FI!!!"
"Carry on!" he yelled back.
After they had left, the General began to weep quietly, moved by the loyalty of his troops.
On the way to the LZ, the noise of the chopper left no opportunity for chatter, so they took the time to check out their surroundings. All the Ghosts were taking a mental picture of the passing landscape, even though they knew they would never need it. Tomilson saw the pilot hold up two fingers.
He got the attention of the chopper, and held up two fingers to them. They seemed to understand, as all of them got locked and loaded, and Kose even put a book he was reading in a pocket of his jungle camouflage pants.
He glanced at the faces of the men now under his command. There was total relaxation painted all over their faces. They lived for this.
The Black Hawk slowed to a hover, and the troops jumped out onto the roof of a building under the chopper.
Tomilson made circles in the air, and the chopper flew away, leaving the team on their own to listen to the distant chatter of automatic weapons. They made their way down through the main stairs of the building. Tomilson glanced at Von for the reading on the motion sensor. Before they deployed, the Pentagon issued the new technology to the Special Ops teams.
It was an ingenious little device that read the frequencies that the heart of any living organism gives off, and tracks it on a small LED screen. It gave the distance of the enemy and their altitude compared to the user's, telling you if they were above or below you.
Von gave him the go-ahead, and Tomilson motioned for Kose and Connely to head out of the building, and the rest of the team followed suit. They started heading up Center Street, and when they reached what used to be a Gas station, they spotted an unhurt truck with a body hanging out of it.
Vegas held up a fist, and the rest of the team stopped and kneeled down, peering around for enemies. Tomilson approached Vegas.
"What is it?"
"Sir," he said, pulling out a map of where they were supposed to go, "according to my estimate, we have to go, we have four miles to cover. We very well could cover this ground on foot, but we would be stiff from holding up our weapons, and it would take us about three hours to get there and then take Link to the LZ. Now, over there there is a Chevy Silverado that we could use to get there, and it would take half an hour at the most." Vegas said, glancing at the truck.
"Let's do it." Tomilson said. Tomilson looked over to Romero.
"Romero! Come here!"
"Romero shuffled over, looking curiously at a bush that just moved.
"You were a mechanic at the Base in Hereford in England, right?" Tomilson asked him, his face hopeful.
"Yeah, what you got in mind, chief?"
"Well, we've got a long way to go, and that Silverado over there is mighty inviting."
"Got it, chief." Romero said, grinning. The team moved towards the truck, but halfway there, they heard not-to-distant gunshots. The whole team immediately set up a perimeter.
After a few minutes, there was a distant screeching of tires, and a series of explosions. Then, there was silence. Questioning glances were exchanged between teammates. They once again began moving towards the truck, and when they got there, a truck came up from behind them, but apparently it didn't see them, and screeched right by. It was filled with Uglies, some were burned, and some were even on fire.
"Sanchez, take the truck down." If the truck did see them, but instead of attacking, reported them, they could have the entire operation blown. Sanchez responded by aiming her massive weapon at the truck, and with the squeeze of the trigger, the truck flipped over frontward, it's gas tank having been blown away. Sanchez hefted her big rifle on her shoulder, a smirk playing across her lips.
Romero, meanwhile, had been checking out the truck for anything that might be wrong with it. Upon finding nothing the matter, he lifted the body out of the passenger seat and started the vehicle. Tomilson got in the passenger seat, while the rest got in the flatbed. Sanchez and Hanec had their .50's ready, just in case another truck came along. Romero started down center, and Tomilson had the map on his lap, instructing Romero on where to go.
"Come on, man. There aren't any cops here. Floor it!" Tomilson said in aggravation.
In response to his superior's orders, Romero put the gas to the floor, and the twelve-liter monster diesel engine roared, and soon they were well on their way, going 125 mph.
Romero slowed, and turned onto 168th. He put the pedal back on the floor, and they started getting very close to their future leader.
The setting sun cast a red-orange glow on the house, and Link just stared at it. Aria was still in the car, and she was just as flabbergasted.
"How did they know I was here? How did they know which house?" Link asked himself quietly.
"What do we do now?" Aria asked. Link could tell she was losing strength, the magic obviously having taken a toll on her physical well being. "We leave."
Link gathered all the weapons, clothes, ammo, and food he could find, and packed it all in the Mustang.
He started down the street when suddenly, a supply truck came speeding towards them. Link took a sudden turn into the nearest driveway, and hopped out. He got the Barrett, and took several poor, panicked shots at the truck. It showed no signs of stopping, and he ducked as bullets started whizzing past his head faster than he could comprehend. The uglies poured out of the trucks, and soon Link was ambushed with enemies. He tried to grab for a different gun, but a searing pain in his chest told him that wasn't a good idea. He collapsed to the ground, and felt claws ripping at his flesh. His vision started to blur, and he fought it away. He swung at the dark blue figure that obscured his vision, and the result was a pain he had yet to experience.
His whole body felt as if it were on fire, and he squirmed under the pressure of something on him. Then, as abruptly as the pain started, it stopped. He stumbled up, and tried to walk to the Mustang. He made out a figure being dragged from the vehicle, and something going through the figure, and being pulled out. Then, the darkness at the side of his eyes spread, and he blacked out.
He woke up sprawled on the ground, in a pool of his own dried blood. He could see relatively clear, and he tried to stand up. His entire body screamed in protest, but he got to his feet, despite the pain ripping at his senses. He glanced around him, and saw blood all over the place. He followed the blood to its source, and found Aria, with a blade sticking through her, attached to a blackened corpse. Blood was all around her, and her shirt was stained completely red with blood. He stumbled over to her, and fell on his knees.
"No, Aria." his voice was hoarse, and his throat was burning. At that moment, he collapsed onto the ground.
"Turn here." Tomilson instructed Romero. Romero took a left, and headed down the street.
"Shit, look at that."
Tomilson looked at the Mustang that had blood all over it. Then he noticed two familiar figures right by it. One was a black haired girl that had a blade running through her, and the other was a blonde guy that was known to them as the Hero of Time. The latter was currently sitting up, pulling the blade from her chest.
Rom stopped the truck next to the Mustang, and everyone jumped out to aid them.
"I don't think she'll live...," Link said, staring at Tomilson as he ran over to Aria.
Moran rushed to her side and immediately began to treat her for everything that he could.
He first of all gave her morphine, and started to stitch up the chest wound.
Tomilson pulled Link over to the truck, and got him in the passenger seat. Tomilson got in the driver's seat and sighed. He looked at Link, who had gunshot wounds to his arm, legs, and a nasty slash on his chest. It was a wonder that he wasn't dead already.
"What happened?" was the first thing that came out of the leader's mouth.
"We were ambushed. We didn't stand a chance. They knew we were here. Who are you?" he said with no emotion in his voice except pain.
"I am a member of your future team. We were sent to take you back to base to brief you on the situation and what we had to do. We need to get back to the base and get her to a hospital." Tomilson said.
But Link had fallen unconscience. Tomilson sighed, and Vegas pounded on the back window of the truck, and Tomilson turned to see the team back in the truck with Aria in there. Tomilson immediately started the car and headed towards the golf course for their extraction.
When he reached the golf course, he set out a red flare for the chopper, and in a few moments it appeared above them, and when it landed the team loaded up and soon they were on there way back home.
Three weeks later, both Aria and Link had recovered, and Link was fully briefed on the situation. He had yet to earn his team's full respect, but that would have to wait. Link dialed up Tomilson from his office and asked him to be there as soon as possible. Link started filling out the paperwork for applying for the position of the Team leader. As soon as he put the pen down, Tomilson was in his office.
"You rang." Tomilson said in his monotone voice.
"Yeah. Two things. First, we are going to need special equipment for this job, and I don't mean what everyone else has. But, before we do anything, I need your opinion on something."
"And what would that be?"
"What does the team think of me? As a leader, or anything else?"
"Well," Tomilson thought for a moment. "They really were impressed with how you recovered from three gunshot wounds in three weeks. As for leadership, they all pretty much agree with everything you say. They especially like how you don't bullshit when there is a job to do, and how you do things with them, and not just tell them to do things. They also like how you talk, and some of the things you can do. Beating Vegas in arm wrestling is quite an achievement." Tomilson grinned.
"Yeah, but I had a sore hand for a few days afterwards. Thanks for the update. Now," Link continued, "we need to gather the team to discuss things. Have everyone at the cafeteria at 18:00 hours."
"Yes, sir." Tomilson said. He saluted, and Link saluted back and dismissed him.
Everyone was in the cafeteria, and were chatting happily amongst themselves.
"Hey!" everyone said when Link walked in. He gave a mock bow, and took his place at the head of the table they had set up.
"How we doing boys?" Link asked the team.
"Pretty damn good, sir." Vegas said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Link nodded, and opened a notebook that he brought with him.
"Alright, " Link cleared his throat, "the reason you are all here is because our current equipment just won't work for the kind of things we do. For example, we can't deploy from this base, because a chopper is too noticeable, and suprise is something we always want on our side. So, I say we inhabit the old underground base at Offut. We also need our own vehicles. Any suggestions?"
Moran spoke up. "How about a Hummer. We could enhance it any way we need to, and there are plenty of gas stations still functioning that we could use."
Everyone nodded. "Alright, that problem is taken care of." Link said, noting the change in his notebook. Now, the standard round we use is not powerful enough to knock down and kill the enemy. Any suggestions for a new caliber?"
"How about 30-06?" Vegas suggested. "Well, that would be nice, but not everyone is three hundred plus pounds with the frame of a grizzly bear. So, full automatic with 30-06 would destroy our shoulders."
"What about .308 Winchester?" Moran asked.
"I'll look into that."
"Okay, now that that is taken care of, does anyone have anything they want to change?"
This time Sanchez spoke up. "Yeah. These uglies can't shoot for shit, generally speaking. So, the only real danger we have is when they swarm us, and slash us with their blades. So, why not replace the kevlar with just metal plates on our chests and backs?"
"Alright, we'll do that." Link said, happy that people were speaking up.
"Something I would like," Hanec said, "is to switch rifles. .50 cal is awesome for killing anything and everything, but lugging the forty-pound rifle for five miles is a serious strain. Do you think we could get .300 mag armor piercing instead?"
"I don't know about that, but I'll talk to Garrison about it." Link said.
"Now, you've all been in some sort of Special Forces group, and I'm sure you've noticed that you're all pure Hylian. In this world of rounded ears, we still have pointed ears. This means that we can use a limited amount of magic. So, " Link drew the Master Sword from it's scabbard on his back and laid it on the table, "we are going to give you all swords, and then Aria is going to split the power of the Master Sword into all of your swords. So, if the creatures get close we can slaughter them with these instead of relying on our guns. However, we are going to have something special to our bullets, too. Aria, can you explain it to them?"
"Yeah. In ancient times, the first Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, my ancestor Zelda, gave the first Hero of Time a special magic arrow that could hurt the magical creatures that Ganondorf created. Now, we are not using bows. Since I have the Triforce of Wisdom, I am going to harness the power of the light arrow into our bullets." Aria explained.
"The last thing I have to tell you is the plan for ending this war." Link said. "In order to defeat Ganondorf, we have to get him when he's paralyzed. Aria doesn't have enough power to hold him down, so we have to find seven people that are called Sages. They have the power of the ancient protectors of Hyrule. We have to 'awaken' these people so that when we find Ganondorf they can stun him, and we can kill him. When he dies, all the uglies are supposed to burn up and die. If they don't, we'll slaughter them while the death of their leader is still fresh on their minds."
He paused to let them absorb this new information.
"We got lucky, cause the sages are here with us. All of you are the sages. All of you except Von, Hanec, Santago, and Kose are sages. Vegas is the Fire sage, Connely is the Spirit sage, Tomilson is the Light sage, Moran is the Forest sage, Romero is the Shadow sage, and Sanchez is the Water sage. Aria is the 'Princess of Destiny', so she is also a sage."
They all just looked like someone had punched them in the face. Silence descended upon the cafeteria as the team thought about this new turn of events. Link had predicted their reactions, but he didn't think they would take it so well. Now, they were staring at him with looks that said: Let's go kick some ass.
"Get some sleep, tomorrow we train. And I go lightly on no man......or woman." he added with a chuckle. Soon, the team erupted in laughter as they all left to go to their houses on the base.
Woo. That was a long one. Well, as always, REVIEW!! I have only a few reviews right now. Next chapter there will be romance.