Undertaker here. It shouldn't be as confusing as the last few chapters, so your minds can take a break. This will give an outlook of what the rest of the story will be like. Enough with the Undertaker, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda, or any characters associated with it, Nintendo does. I do, however, own the souls of the characters that I created
Ghosts of the Past
Five Apache gunships flew over Hyrule field, gliding across the land in the dark of night. Their pilots had been waiting all day to strike the enemy, because if they were seen bad things could happen.
Janet glanced moved her head around, making sure her fifty caliber chain gun was zeroed in. It followed her every move, so she left it.
"How we doin back there, boys?" She asked into the comm.
"We're just lying in wait, Robin." A smooth voice replied.
It was her good ol' wingman, Josh Raffer. His callsign was Striker, for his swift and deadly attacks. Janet's callsign was Robin, because she could fly the Apache like a robin can fly.
A few drops of rain fell on her canopy, and then a full rainstorm came down.
"Dammit, not another one." She cursed under her breath.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I hate cleaning out those missile ports after they get wet. But, I think it's worth it if we get to blow shit up." He chirped happily.
"Whatever." She said casually. He was constantly trying to hit on her, and she succeeded in blowing him off every time.
"I have a visual." Her copilot said.
"Let's move about three clicks closer, near that ridge, and then we'll open up." She instructed her team.
She flew off in that direction, and hovered just above the Kakariko graveyard. Her NVGs allowed her to see perfectly in the dark, and she saw someone walk out of the house right next to the graveyard entrance with a lamp, and he looked around, trying to find the source of the loud noise that their rotors were creating. She shook her head, wondering what he must have been thinking.
She pushed the amusing gravekeeper out of her head, and focused on the convoy of enemy tanks that they were supposed to take out.
"There it is." Striker said.
"Light them up on my mark...three...two...one...mark."
At that moment, anyone who was awake in Kakariko would have been scared out of their minds, and anyone who was sleeping would have been woken up. There was a booming, screaming sound, and Hellfire missiles flew towards their targets by the dozen at super speeds. There was a series of blinding flashes as the missiles blew out of their holders at the wings of the gunships.
Janet watched her target, waiting for it to erupt in flames. It was still there, and she cursed.
"I missed." She hissed quietly. Her copilot heard her, and laughed.
"Ha! I told you you'd miss. You should have let me take care of the payload." He snickered, lining up a sidewinder missile on the tank. At that moment, it erupted in flames, and the turret blew off.
"Oh, I guess I didn't miss." Janet observed.
"There may be hope for you yet." Her copilot chuckled.
"Don't make fun of me." She turned her head to look at him, curling her lip in a mock pout. He grinned, and then burst out laughing. She couldn't help it, and laughed too.
The group of gunships ascended into the clouds, and headed in the direction of their base.
Janet decided to play with Josh, and started to inch closer to his chopper.
"Robin, you're getting a little close." He warned her. She pretended not to listen, and kept inching closer.
"Robin, back off." He said again. He heard her laugh, and he narrowed his eyes. He looked in the direction of her gunship, and his chain gun followed his head, pointing at the canopy of her chopper.
She gave an eek and pulled up, staying behind him.
"That wasn't funny." She pouted.
"You shouldn't be messing around in a two million dollar vehicle." He said sternly.
"Hard-ass." She muttered into the comm.
"I heard that." He said, annoyed. She sighed, and spotted the base.
"We're home, boys." She glided over to her designated helipad, and landed with a grace that not many pilots have the honor of possessing.
She opened the canopy, and took off her helmet, swaying her hair around. She deposited the helmet in the seat, and jumped down off of the chopper.
Janet was short for a pilot, standing at 4'11". The Army had to get her a custom helicopter so that she could reach the pedals. She had brown hair that went down to her shoulders, and she was very attractive. A special agent walked up to her, and shook her hand.
"Hi, my name is agent Smith. I'm with an agency that deals with any magical dangers in the modern world."
"You wouldn't even get a lunch break here, then. Ancient Hyrule has so many problems with that stuff, it's unbelievable." She said, walking towards the debriefing room. The maintenance crew for her bird began to saunter up to it, to top off the gas tank and reload all the guns.
Smith opened the door for Janet, and she smiled at him before walking into a black room.
"Alright, what do you want. And don't say dinner tonight."
"Well, I suppose you've heard of the team that's supposed to arrive next week."
"Yeah, I've heard a lot about them. Isn't the Hero of Time leading them?" She asked, opening a beer and sitting in one of the folding metal chairs. He sat down opposite her.
"Yes. I've talked to him, and he has agreed to come back." Smith said, scratching his head.
"Oh my God! You've met him? Is he hot?" She asked with wide eyes.
He stared at her blankly.
"Nevermind, just what do you want?" She asked again impatiently.
"Well, here's a file about his team. They're called the Ghosts. Everything in that file happened in an alternate universe. Now, after you read it, I want you to consider taking the place of a deceased member of the team. I know you have a background with the Delta and Green Berets, so please consider."
Smith got up, and walked out, disappearing into the horde of people getting food in the cafeteria.
All the other pilots and copilots from her flight group walked in, and took their seats, with beers and vodkas in their hands. Janet's copilot, Jack, sat down next to her.
"What's up?" He asked, motioning towards the file in her hand.
"It's the background of the Hero of Time's Special Forces team. Look at these guys," she said, showing him various pictures of the team members, "they're huge. This guy looks like he could take out a polar bear with his bare hands." She said, pointing to a portrait of a large black haired man.
"Kyle Romero," Jack read from the profile that was next to the picture, "Interesting name."
"Yeah.." She was staring at the portrait of the only deceased member of the Ghosts. It was a picture of a pointy-eared young woman. She had red hair, and looked to be of Mexican descent.
"Hey, let's look at that later in the barracks. The General's coming."
The General walked in, and so began the boring debriefing that always comes after an assignment.
*****
Grady stared at the people gathered before him. They were the best of the best of the best. No other Special Forces group could even come close to rivaling them. The eight men before him made up the infamous elite soldiers known as the Ghosts.
"Gentlemen, you've been briefed on the situation." He said, walking along the row of soldiers. He stopped in front of a particularly muscular soldier.
"Isn't that right, Vegas?"
Jason Vegas stepped forward, standing at complete attention.
"Sir, there's an ass out there begging for a kickin, and we're the boot that's going to kick that ass, sir!"
"Well put, soldier." Grady smiled at him.
"However, you haven't been told the whole story." Grady said, stopping in front of Matt Hanec.
Hanec was one of the snipers for the team. He was the only person for five thousand miles that could lug a forty-pound rifle through the battlefield with a smile on his face.
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Alright, gentlemen, follow me into the briefing room." Grady proceeded out of the locker room, turned right in the hall, and unlocked a steel reinforced door. He paused, turning to the team.
"Beyond this door, there is no turning back. What you witness in this room will forever change your lives. Any man who wishes to turn back now will be allowed to do so without any criticism."
He watched the team intently. No one moved an inch. Grady smiled.
He punched in a number on a keypad, and the door swung open with a loud click.
"Gentlemen, welcome to your future."
They walked in, and were astounded at what they saw.
The room was at least the size of a few warehouses. There was a big Plexiglas dome in the middle, with a large cable attached to it. There were tons of computers scattered throughout the room, and scientists in white lab coats.
Grady stood in front of the team, and cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Link will be here shortly. Until then, Doctor Bilinear will explain what you will be doing for the next half a year."
Link was walking down the hall, looking at a clipboard containing the extent of their trip back in time.
They will be using a time machine to go anywhere in the world. The machine would have a lasting effect on the troops, so they advised Link to 'use caution'.
Bullshit. If these guys can take seeing a giant pig, they can take this. Link thought.
He came to a door that had two armed guards, and one of them held out his hand. Link fished around in his pocket, and pulled out his ID card. The guard looked it over, and signaled for Link to pass.
Grady was waiting for him at the door to the time lab. Grady smiled, and motioned to the door.
"Ready to save the world again?"
Link grinned. "You bet your ass I am."
Link stood there, thinking about his men.
"You're thinking again. That's not good." Grady said. Link looked confused.
"Don't try that 'what are you talking about' deal, because I can read you like a book."
Link looked downcast. "I'm just a little apprehensive about leading them again. There could be a million things going through their minds right now. Anger. Betrayal. Trust. Friendship."
"Look, they all know you did the right thing. If Lita hadn't sacrifice herself, we might not be standing here right now."
"I guess. Still, you know what it's like to lose a friend. They could be pretty angry."
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Grady pressed a few buttons on the keypad, and the door clicked open.
The team looked up when the door opened, and immediately they all felt the same thing. Respect.
They stood at attention, saluting. Link saluted back.
"Boys," he said, lowering his arm, "its been a while."
The head lab technician was explaining to them how the vast time machine worked. Apparently, it was powered by a small amount of plutonium. They had used it once before, and it had run smoothly. The only danger was the stress that one's body goes through.
Normally, going back in time wouldn't be dangerous to the body, but this machine was special.
Most of the other machines that they had could only send things back to a certain coordinate on the globe. However, this machine could transport troops to any coordinates in the world. Thus, there are some physical dangers.
"Now," Doctor Martin explained, "you will be going back in time tomorrow. It will be almost like a normal deployment. You will get suited up, and be sent to the destination. However, this will also be vastly different."
Dr. Martin paused.
"First of all, you will be all alone out there. No air cover, no medivacs," Dan Moran, the team's corpsmen, cursed at hearing this, "and no help from friendly forces." Martin finished.
Justin Santago raised his hand.
"Excuse me, senor, but will we have hummwvs?" the Mexican asked.
"Yes and no. You will be given horses for the operations in the market towns. Otherwise, you will have some kind of vehicle."
"Gracias, senor."
"Also, you will be given rations by informants who are stationed at certain places across the country. If you have any further questions, ask him." Martin said, pointing to Link.
"Alright, boys, follow me to the armory so you can pick your poison." Link said.
There were grins from the Ghosts as they began to heatedly discuss what weapon they preferred.
Link led them to a large door labeled Armory. Link swiped his ID card in the reader next to the door, and it opened swiftly.
The team stared at the contents of the room with wide eyes. Never before had they been trusted with such a vast amount of weapons in one room.
The walls of the room were covered top to bottom with guns of all kinds, from single shot .50 caliber BigBangs to .38 special pistols, this place had it all.
Hanec immediately spotted the Barrett M82A1 from across the room, and went over to it. He had never before seen a more spectacular weapon. It had a black finish that didn't glare in sunlight, and the magazine held eleven rounds. It had a hydraulic recoil system, which made the recoil feel like a .300 Winchester magnum instead of an Anti-tank gun.
Frank Kose was in Heaven. There was an entire shelf of the room that was covered in explosives. He was the Demolition expert of the group, and knew what the best explosive was for every situation. He had grown up on a farm making C4 explosives out of household chemicals, and had always had a knack for blowing things up. He spotted a duffel bag, and snatched it, loading it with every explosive he desired.
Link saw Kose's eyes g wide when he saw the explosives and Link just shook his head. He walked towards Hanec, and when Hanec spotted him, he held the Barrett protectively, giving Link a look that said 'touch my gun and die'.
There was one rack of guns that had foreign firearms on it, and Link spotted his favorite gun in the world. The SA-80 was perhaps the finest assault rifle on the market today.
It was very unique in the sense that the magazine and the action were behind the pistol grip. This made for much higher accuracy without needing a long barrel, and it had a small scope/NVG on it. It wouldn't jam even in the harshest conditions, and it was waterproof.
The British SAS used this rifle as a standard weapon, and they are perfectly satisfied with it. Link had fallen in love with the rifle when he was competing against a Brit in a national rifle shoot.
It was a long course. The shooters had to shoot fifteen targets in twenty seconds, pop four balloons, and then do the same on their stomachs, at an angle, and at an elevated position. You were timed from when you started shooting to when you finished shooting. Link offered to go first, and the Brit didn't argue. Link was making incredible time, until his AR-15 jammed. He had to take out the magazine, get the jammed cartridge out of the weapon, put a fresh magazine in, and cock it. This docked him about ten seconds, which was enough to lose to the Brit.
After Link lost, the he and the Brit got to talking. The man's name was Bradley, and he had won the competition before. Bradley offered Link to try his gun, and Link couldn't resist. With Bradley's rifle, Link beat Bradley by eight seconds. The two became friends, and from that day on, Link had always wanted one of those rifles.
This particular SA-80 was completely black, from the stock to the action. It was a non-glare finish, and the magazine capacity was forty rounds. Link attached a sling to the rifle, and put it in a duffel bag. Then he went to check out the pistols.
Jason Vegas had always been a fan of big guns. When he was fourteen, his dad had gotten him a .44 Magnum revolver for his birthday. Vegas loved the gun. It was immensely powerful, and Vegas loved the feel of it more than any other handgun on the market. After picking out an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, Vegas headed over to the handgun section to pick out a sidearm.
He came to a shelf that was loaded with magnums. It had everything from Desert Eagles to pocket revolvers. Vegas picked out a six-shot Taurus Raging Bull. This .44 Magnum revolver was the same kind that his dad had gotten him, but this one had a black finish like most of the guns in the room.
The Ghosts spent the next hour in the Armory, reminiscing of old times and familiarizing themselves with their guns.
Whew! Well, I'm afraid you guys probably won't get an update until after Thanksgiving on this fic or The Hunter. Thank you Great Divide, Junky, and Lunatic Pandora for your friendly reviews. As always, please review!