The team was all just sitting around, all suited up and ready to go. Tim Connely yawned for what must have been the thirtieth time in one hour. His eyes were closed, but sleep wouldn't come.
"When are we going?" Connely asked, irritation evident in his voice. He opened his eyes and glanced over in Link's direction, only to find that their fearless leader was sawing logs, with his finger on the trigger of his SA-80.
Connely sighed and shook his head. Frank Kose was toying with something in his hand, and Connely peered over to try and get a better look.
"What are you doing?"
Kose looked over his shoulder at Connely. "I'm making an engagement ring out of C4." He grinned.
"I believe the point is to impress the woman, not blow her up. Janet wouldn't approve."
Every man had a weak spot, and for Kose, it was women. He cringed, and looked at the pitiful molding in his hand.
"But it won't blow up without a primer." Kose whined. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a match, and stuck it in the C4. The funny thing about C4 was that if it didn't have a primer, it just burned for a very long time, but wasn't explosive.
Connely shook his head, and after getting a disapproving look from Tomilson, Kose stuffed the C4 into a leather pouch in his pocket.
A few hours later, Garrison walked in.
"Its time, boys."
The Ghosts walked down the hall, their gear consisting of their respective weapons, extra ammunition, MREs and water, and other small things such as NVGs and silencers.
"What took so long?" Link asked, walking beside Garrison.
"We were discussing naval tactics with Rear Admiral John Turry. He says he isn't afraid to provide every bit of support for you guys, even Broken Arrow."
"Well, let's hope we never have to use Broken Arrow."
The term Broken Arrow used only in emergency. Troops used it when their lines were being breached. It meant that all available aircraft were to redirect their payload of bombs and such to the front lines to hold back the advancing enemies.
"Anyway, I want you to know that this isn't Iraq. If you're captured, we will mount a rescue mission. The methods for torture back then were a lot more painful, and brought the strongest men to their breaking points real quick. We can't have any of your men squealing our plans to the enemy." Garrison unlocked the door to the time machine, and motioned for Link to go through.
"I don't think you'll have to worry about my men. Actually, I take that back, Kose will talk if you threaten his genitals."
Garrison cringed. "And the others won't talk if their genitals were threatened?"
"He's the only one we tested." Link said, his face never changing expressions.
Inside the time machine room, there were chairs set up. Garrison motioned for them to sit down.
After everyone had settled in, Garrison cleared his throat and began.
"Alright, first of all, I'd like to say that this will be nothing like other operations. Most of the time, you won't have air cover. The enemy is ruthless, but they also don't know that you exist. It's a very risky situation. Second, I'd like to go over the battle plan."
Garrison turned on an overhead projector, which displayed a map of Ancient Hyrule.
"You will be inserted a hundred and twenty miles north of Castleton. Castleton is the main town of Hyrule, and it is situated right in front of Hyrule castle."
Garrison turned on an overhead projection, and pointed to a part of the map displayed.
"You will be given swords to use when you get there. I have to ask you to keep your guns hidden unless it's an emergency. These people have never heard a gunshot, so eyebrows will be raised if you shoot at anything. Your insertion point will be known as Little Green." Garrison said
"Sir." Link said.
"What?"
"We already have swords." The General considered this for a moment, and then shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay, I'll sell them to support the GBD."
The team gave him confused looks. "Well," he explained, "the GBD is the Ghost Beer Drive. We're trying to get you free beer throughout the war." The team cheered, and exchanged high-fives.
"Now, as I was saying," the General turned to the map, "There is a road approximately five miles from your insertion zone that crosses Hyrule Field and stops at the gate to Castleton. You will follow it until you come here." The General pointed to a small red dot on the map.
"It's a few miles away from Castleton, and I want you to set up a small post to rendezvous at when necessary."
The General put up a different picture on the overhead, which showed an overview of Castleton.
"Excuse me, sir, but do you have any specific coordinates for the bunker?" The General shook his head.
"It just needs to be well out of eyesight from any guards that might be stationed near the walls."
Santago and Von began chuckling about something, and the General cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Is there something you boys would like to share?"
"Well," Von started, "we were just wondering when the new girl was going to grace us with her presence."
The General grinned. "Don't worry, I'll I have an informant who will bring her or the next person on the list to a meeting point in Castleton."
Garrison turned his attention back to the display of Castleton.
"Okay, once you get settled in, I want you to get jobs at specific locations in Castleton for intelligence purposes."
He pointed to a building that seemed to have a lot of people going in and out.
"I want the support gunners to get bartending jobs at the local bar," Romero and Vegas grinned at each other, "and keep your ears open for anything that you might hear from the regular drunks."
He pointed at another location. "I want Von and Santago at the Archery shop, right here by the fountain."
He switched the picture to one of the front of the castle itself.
"Now, this is very important. I want Hanec, Aria, and the new recruit stationed in the castle with Link. Now, Link, I am giving you the most important job."
"Our enemy has begun to make attacks on the princess herself. They are trying to take out two birds with one stone, because if Zelda, Aria's ancestor, were killed, Aria would cease to exist. In one of the recent attacks, Zelda's old bodyguard was killed. They are having a competition for her new bodyguard in a week or two. I want Link to be her new bodyguard."
The team gave Link high fives, and Garrison turned off the overhead.
"Any questions?" the team gave no response.
"Okay, next, Dr. Martin will talk with you about the medical dangers of the time machine."
Garrison walked off, and Dr. Martin walked in front of the team.
"There are a few things that could go wrong, but the main one that you have to worry about is the weird time shift. It's early in the morning now, but its going to be dark when you get there in a few hours. Moran, this is where you come in. If anyone faints, just give them a sedative to last until the opposite time of the day. That will clear up any internal clock problems."
A lab tech walked up to the doctor, and whispered in his ear.
"We are ahead of schedule. You will be sent back in time momentarily." Dr. Martin walked off, leaving the trooops to wander around, looking at all the funny-looking things around the lab.
Jones was right where he was supposed to be, waiting with the horses that the Ghosts were supposed to use. He was hiding in the backdrop of a clearing situated in the Lost Woods. He was eager to meet the Hero of Time. It was rumored that the man could break the neck of a moblin with his bare hand.
Jones was an intelligence officer for Garrison, who asked him to be here for the Ghosts.
A small blue ball of light began forming in the middle of the clearing, and Jones grinned.
About damn time.
Link and the team were currently joking about all the possible scenarios that could occur with a rocket launcher that was hidden inside a lamp.
"Oh! I've got one!" Hanec said. They all fell silent to hear what he had to say.
"A couple are having sex, and the girl suddenly stops. 'I can't do this anymore', she says. She sits up, and goes to turn on the bedside lamp. She pushes the rocket ignition, and the launcher goes off and blows away the roof. The guy just stares at the gapping hole for a while, and finally says: I wasn't that bad, was I?"
The team just stared at him, with blank looks on their faces.
"Don't you guys get it?"
"You're stupid." Romero finally said. There were murmured agreements from the rest of the team, and they walked off, leaving the blonde sniper to think it over.
Dr. Martin suddenly ushered them all in front of the time machine, and started rubbing his hands together excitedly.
"And now, I present to you the greatest achievement of modern science."
He opened the door to the time machine, allowing the Ghosts to step inside the small chamber. It was very bright, and it could only fit about twenty-five at the most. There was a small instrument in front of the glass pane, and Dr. Martin went up to it. The team followed him.
"Now, the actual button to initiate the sequence must be pushed at the same time as the one outside. This was made to make sure that no one person could go back in time alone. At the count of three, push the button." Link nodded, and Dr. Martin walked out, sealing the door.
"Oh, I almost forgot, I have a victory dance." Vegas said, displaying twelve Cuban cigars.
"I was wondering if anyone would remember." Link grinned, as he put one of the Cuban treasures into a silver case. It had been a tradition that after every successful mission, the team would light up cigars.
Once the entire team had pocketed the cigars, Link gave Martin a nod, and the Doctor started up the machine. Two large discs began to rotate at very high speeds outside of the room, and the entire place began to vibrate.
Link watched Martin, and when he counted to three, Link signaled for Aria to push the button. The response was slow, but effective. The previously white light turned to a light blue, until finally a darker shade of blue, and Link could faintly hear the Song of Time. Then, everything went white.
They were in a tunnel of some kind, witnessing events of the past. They saw a few flashes of battles from Vietnam, Then WWII and WWI, then the developement of West Hyrule, and then before they knew it, they were witnessing battles from the first Imprisoning War.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.
They found themselves in the middle of a clearing, in the dead of night. The first thing they noticed was the smell. It didn't smell like noxious gases, but rather like the earth. It was a fresher smell and a very pleasing one at that.
After the Ghosts had examined their new environment, battle instincts took over, and they immediately moved to the edge of the forest, their weapons shouldered, and set up a perimeter.
They were dead still. They had their NVGs on, and were scanning the forest in search of anything that might have seen them. Hanec spotted someone moving through the brush, and immediately put the crosshairs on him.
"Bogey spotted. Heading towards us at six o'clock." He whispered into his radio.
"I hear ya." Vegas said, moving silently through he brush, his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon shouldered and set on rock-and-roll.
"Come on, give the sign." Link whispered to himself. They were supposed to meet someone here, and they were supposed to turn on an infrared strobe, so they knew who he was and could identify him easily. After a few minutes, the bogey turned on the strobe. It began blinking in intervals of two seconds.
"Right, he's our man. Stand down." Link whispered into his comm.
"Copy that." Hanec said, safing his .300 Winchester Magnum. His massive fifty-caliber rifle was disassembled in a leather knapsack, being too big to carry around for long distances.
Hanec waited until the informant walked right by him, and then the blonde sniper slowly enclosed his hand around the man's arm. Jones gave a startled jump, and turned to Hanec with a knife drawn. Hanec laughed.
"Why so jumpy?" Hanec asked quietly. He heard the man swear, and the team chuckled to themselves.
"Well, I'm Jones. It's nice to see you've arrived in good humor. Where's the Hero of Time?" He said, annoyed.
"First of all, he doesn't like being called the Hero of Time, because he doesn't like being reminded that he's responsible for the world, he likes being called Big Daddy Ghost, and second, he's straight behind me about twenty steps." Hanec said quickly, and continued peering through his scope.
Jones just stared at him for a second, before muttering a thanks.
He walked twenty steps, but didn't hear or see a goddamn thing.
"Big Daddy Ghost?" He whispered.
"What?" A voice said from behind him. Jones turned to see Link before him, standing up, looking into his eyes.
Jesus Christ. These guys own the forest.
"I have your horses." Jones said to him, suddenly feeling insignificant.
"Right on, show us."
"Follow me." Jones assumed Link was following him, because he couldn't hear a sound other than his own footsteps.
Josh Von sat silently as the morning sun popped over the horizon, sending an orange glow over the land. This woke up most of the Ghosts, and they began moving about, doing their business and saddling the horses. Von had had the last shift of night watch, so he had the pleasure of watching the Godesses' creations. Von had been studying to be a priest for a few years, until he decided that the priestly life wasn't for him, and he decided to join the army. Ten years later, he was recruited for a Special Forces team, and now he's on the best Special Forces team in the world.
Jason Vegas was walking around his horse, waking it up. "It's nice out here for the middle of June. What's the temp?"
Link glanced at his watch. "Seventy-five Fahrenheit."
Link took this time to properly take in his surroundings. There was a temple of some kind, but the stairs were busted off halfway down. A large tree shaded the entrance, and a tree stump was on the other side of the entrance. Link dismissed it as The Forest Temple, and walked over to his horse. It was jet black, like all the other horses, and Link had named it Shadow. Just as Link finished tightening the saddle, Santago drew his attention.
"Yo, Big Daddy, what is this?" The Latino said. He was staring at a small stone triangle that was covered largely with moss.
"Rip up the moss." Link instructed Romero. The big man took a handful of the moss, and pulled with all his might. The moss was torn from its roots, revealing a large stone hexagon, upon which the Triforce was carved.
"Be careful, there's a magical presence here." Aria said over Link's shoulder.
The team all turned and looked at Aria with blank looks.
"What she's trying to say is that at any time, some beastly horror of a thing could pop out at us and rip off a limb, so watch it."
Von and Santago nodded, and went over to their horses. The rest of the team did the same. They started down the trail, and came upon a flight of stairs leading down to a narrow valley. At the end of the valley was a massive creature with a club in his hands.
"What in the blue hell is that?" Romero wondered aloud.
"That is an old-style moblin. These ones are big furry creatures that make funny noises and they brandish everything from knives and sharp sticks to bows and arrows. This moblin is a guard. He isn't supposed to let anyone through. He'll stop at nothing to carry out his orders."
"Kose, you got the AT-4 ready?" Link asked without looking back.
"Yeah, why?"
"I want this thing's head in a thousand pieces."
"Affirmative, sir." Kose grinned, and dismounted, searching through his bag of tricks for the game known as the Anti-tank rocket launcher.
"Wait, Link, won't they hear the noise?" Moran asked from behind Kose. Kose stopped searching through his bag, and looked at Aria.
"The Lost Woods trap all sound. No sound from outside comes in, and no sound from inside goes out. It's fine." She heard assorted clicks from behind her, and Link chuckled. After hearing this news, the entire team had pulled out their sidearms.
Kose continued searching for the AT-4, and finally lifted the tube out of the bag, and went to the other side of his horse. There, he opened another bag lined with AT-4 rockets. He took two, and walked to the side of Link's horse. He put a rocket down the tube, and hoisted it over his shoulder, kneeling in a firing position. His hand rested on the side of the tube, where the firing button was located.
The moblin never saw what was coming for it. Kose always grinned when he was about to blow something up, and this was true when he put the moblin's chest in his sights. He grinned, and squeezed the button. The weapon recoiled, and sent a missile streaking towards it, leaving a vapor trail as it went. The last thing that the moblin did was look up in shock, and then the missile struck home.
The moblin's chest blew away, and it was thrown on its back, unmoving. When the smoke cleared, the moblin was lying on the ground, a gaping, smoking hole in its chest.
Kose stood up, with the At-4 on his shoulder.
"It has been done," he said, imitating a robot.
"And done well, my friend." Link said.
Kose mounted his horse again, and the Ghosts moved on.
They came to another flight of stairs, and walked down. As soon as Link's head came into view, a moblin ran at him down the narrow alley, and swatted him off of his horse. He rolled on the ground to try to avoid the creature, but it grabbed his neck and lifted him to its face. Link reacted instantly, pulling his Desert Eagle from its holster behind his back, and unloaded all eight rounds into the moblin's chest. It jerked to and fro as he was shooting it, and it finally relinquished its grip and dropped him. Link released the spent mag, and jammed another in and cycled it. He didn't need it, though, as the moblin had already fallen over, gushing blood from eight large holes in its chest.
"Link, are you alright?" Aria asked as she rushed to his side. Moran followed after, looking at his neck.
"You might have a few bruises, but nothing severe. You got lucky."
"I got stupid. If that was one of the new moblins, I wouldn't have a head anymore." Link said. Moran offered him a hand up, and he accepted it. Link turned to the team.
"I don't want anyone to hesitate about shooting anything until we get out of the forest. If it can't talk and walk on two legs, its as good as dead." Link said, massaging his neck.
"Sir, I don't think we'll be able to get through unless we go in single file. These passageways are really tight." Vegas pointed out.
"Okay, we'll dismount, and walk the horses. Keep an Eagle in your hand. Romero, you and Vegas get the shotguns and take point. If there are any more of the bastards, I want their blood on the ground."
The two heavy weapons support troops nodded, and searched their packs for their tactical shotguns and shells.
The two led the way through the maze of passageways, jumping around the corners and ripping through the moblins before they ever knew what hit them.
Vegas and Romero blasted another moblin, and pumped their Franci tactical shotguns, and stood at the end of the passage, waiting to bust in and blow away the next moblin.
Romero nodded, and Vegas ran in, his shotgun shouldered. However, he stopped when he saw what was there. They were in a clearing, in front of a lush forest.
Vegas lowered his shotgun, and turned to face the team who were coming throughout the maze, the horses in tow.
"We're finally done with the maze." Von said. Before anyone could say anymore, a wolfos appeared with a howl, making a beeline for Romero.
Romero was ready for it, and shot it in the shoulder. The beast was blown backwards, but kept its footing and continued running. Romero pumped his shotgun, and pulled the trigger, just as the Franci clicked empty.
"Fuck!" Romero shouted, and fumbled with the bandoleer across his chest, trying to reload the weapon. Vegas, however, was already on it, jumping in front of Vegas.
Link heard the distinctive click of the Franci's action, and turned to see Vegas shouldering the weapon. He took no time in pulling the trigger and sending a shower of buckshot at the creature. It was assaulted by the blast, and began backing up every time Vegas pumped more buckshot into it. Vegas's shotgun finally clicked empty, and the beast fell backwards, blood oozing out from numerous holes in its body.
"I got you motherfucker." Vegas said quietly, hiding the weapon under blankets on his horse.
Romero had just stood there with his hands covering his face throughout the ordeal, and slowly let his hands go down by his sides, staring at the chewed up body of the wolfos.
"Serves you right, you bastard." He muttered to the wolfos, and went over to his horse. He put the now reloaded shotgun on a sheath on his back.
"I'm keeping this handy." He told Link. Link smiled and nodded, and waved his hand forward.
"If you gentlemen are done," he looked around at the Ghosts, "shall we proceed?"
Moran and Vegas nodded.
"Si, senor." Santago said. Link urged his horse forward with a light kick in the sides, and the rest of the Ghosts followed. They rode on in silence for the next few hours, Romero and Link watching the forest, keeping one hand on their weapons.
There was a distant boom from the direction of the Lost Woods, and Saria looked up from what she was doing and searched the edge of the woods.
.
"Did you hear that?" She asked Mido, who was helping her pick carrots for the harvest.
"Yeah. They've been going on for the last half-hour at least. I don't know what they are."
Saria, however, was pretty sure what they were. They were gunshots. But guns weren't supposed to be developed for another eight hundred years. She was determined to find whoever was responsible.
Link and the Ghosts emerged from the Lost Woods two hours later, and found themselves in a village of some kind.
"Hey, Mido, someone just came out of the Lost Woods!" A little kid with green clothes said. Little children wearing the same clothes ran up to them, asking too many questions to count.
"Are you hurt?"
"What happened?"
"Who are you?"
"You smell funny!"
"What's this?"
Aria looked around, smiling. "They're so cute!" She exclaimed. She dismounted, and started talking to one of the children. Link was just staring at the little children, shock plastered all over his face. He and Vegas got the same idea and looked at each other with wide eyes.
"It does exist!" Link exclaimed.
"They do exist!" Vegas said back. Link was suddenly brought out of his reverie by a high-pitched voice.
"Link!"
Link's head snapped to face who had called his name, while his hand reached for the Desert Eagle hidden under is camo. He saw a little green-haired girl running towards him.
"Saria?! What are you doing here?" Link asked, dismounting. The rest of the team was preoccupied with the curious little kids. Most of the guys were having fun, there fatherly skills taking over. Most of them had kids, after all.
Saria ran up to Link, and he hugged her.
"I should be asking you the same thing. Were those gunshots I heard earlier?" She asked, a hand on her hip.
"Yeah, we came across some moblins. They're history."
"I ask again: what are you doing in the past?"
"We're taking care of something. Look, can we talk somewhere else?"
She nodded, and led him towards her house.
"Hey, Big Daddy, where are you going?" Von asked.
"I'm going to talk, just keep the Kokiri entertained."
"Keep who entertained?"
"Nevermind. Just stay out here." Von nodded, and then a Kokiri tugged on his pants, and he bent down to talk. Link followed Saria into her house, and she made him a cup of tea.
"So, what is the future Hero of Time doing in the past? Do you realize what this is going to do to the Triforce of Courage?"
"Yeah, it splits its power between us. That's why we came at night, so the other Hero of Time wouldn't notice that the Triforce had split."
Saria nodded, and took a sip of her tea. Link took a sip too, and immediately regretted it. The tea was a strong mint, and Link hated mint.
"What's going on that the Ghosts had to interfere with time?" Saria asked, apprehensive about what she was about to hear.
Link sighed, and began explaining the complex scenario.