Terachi Kaishaku: the type of catapult that I'm referring to might be a little different than the one you might be thinking of. It doesn't resemble a medieval catapult. Instead this catapult works in the following manner, along the flight deck there is a single track and mounted on the track is a trolley that attaches to the front landing gear of aircraft. A buildup of pressure occurs and when released the trolley surges forward providing the attached aircraft a speed boost in order to take off. Please keep reviewing I'm glad you like it so far.
Bridge, H.N.S Freedom's Cry
Already six hours had passed since the beginning of the search and rescue operation. On the bridge Ruto was coordinating the ship's fighters, dropships, and early warning aircraft that were conducting the search among the debris.
"All ships report in," she ordered.
"Rescue One, all sectors negative."
"Rescue Two, nothing here," Navi replied, Link and her having gone out again to continue the search after escorting the escape pod in.
"Rescue Three, same."
"Rescue Four, no contacts."
"Rescue Five, big fat nothing here."
"Eagle One, all clear."
"Alright, standby."
Ruto turned in her chair to face the captain. "All search craft report negative sightings ma'am, recommend we recall the craft and leave."
"Alright Ensign, make it so. Communications send a message to Central Command saying that we're done here and inquire if they have any further instructions before we head to Raytheon 2."
"Ma'am I've got contacts at long range, sector A-12!! Sensors identify them as IFC Rebels. Contacts show as one Flanker Class Heavy Cruiser and twelve IF-3s. They've detected us and are vectoring in their fighters."
"Impa, prepare to fire as soon as they're in range. Ruto, order the dropships back as quickly as possible, vector the three fighters we have out to intercept, and launch the three remaining HF-29s now."
"Yes, ma'am," they both chorused.
The last three fighters shot off the catapult and raced off to intercept the incoming enemy. Meanwhile the main gun turrets on the ship turned to bear, while panels slid aside to reveal missiles batteries underneath.
Rescue Two, Flight Officers Link and Navi, Sector A-12
Link and the two other pilots brought their three fighters into a tight formation. One look at his sensors made his insides churn. The Hylians were outnumbered 2:1. While the HF-29 was a superior fighter to the IF-3 one on one, it would be more difficult if the enemy had twice their number.
"Navi, time till we're in weapons range."
"Fifteen seconds and closing."
"Alright, at maximum range launch two missiles and fire the beam cannon. Once we close a bit more you'll track and fire with the cannon and missiles while I use the machine guns."
"Right the, here they come....missiles away now!"
Two air-air missiles dropped from the wings of the fighter and ignited their rocket boosters, sending them straight for the enemy. Seconds later the beam cannon that was mounted on the underside of the fighter fired, sending lances of deadly energy reaching out. One of the IF-3s fell to him while another fell to one of the other two Hylian fighters.
"Break formation now."
The three Hylian fighters split and for a second their maneuver looked much like the blossoming of a flower. Link banked his fighter and rolled to escape the incoming weapons fire that was beginning to come his way. He dove, bringing into his sights an IF-3 that was chasing one of the other HF-29s. Link hit the trigger and stitched the engine nacelle of the IF-3 with a stream of heavy machine gun bullets, while Navi blasted the rest with the beam cannon.
"Got one behind us Link, he's firing, break left!" Navi ordered when she saw that an IF-3 had taken the opportunity to latch onto the tail of their fighter. Link shoved the stick over to the right and saw the stream of bullets streak past where he had been only a second ago.
"This is Two, I need some help here."
Link brought his fighter into a series of dizzying evasive maneuvers, but the pursuing IFC fighter clung fast.
Bridge, Freedom's Cry
"Enemy cruiser nearly is in weapons range ma'am." The sensors officer reported.
"Impa fire full spread at them."
The Lieutenant gave the appropriate orders to the gunnery chiefs. Outside the three turrets housing the main cannons turned to bear on the incoming enemy cruiser. The ship's six thirteen inch beam cannons fired, while the batteries loosed their missiles, and the secondary battery rained smaller projectiles at the enemy cruiser. In the distance flashes could be seen as the shots impacted on the enemy cruiser, and as she fired in retaliation. The cruiser did not pack as heavy weaponry as the Freedom's Cry did but it inflicted a considerable amount of damage nonetheless. Several missiles had struck the bridge, killing the sensors officer and one of the gunnery chiefs. Other shots had impacted on the hull, most of their force absorbed by the ships thick armor.
"Keep up the fire on that cruiser with the main weapons. I want secondary battery weapons to track the enemy fighters to give our pilots some cover.
Rescue Two
As Navi looked back, a stream of tracers from one of the Freedom's smaller turrets vaporized the fighter that had been pursuing them. Meanwhile the ship's remaining three fighters had joined up, evening the odds. However, one of the HF-29s had been destroyed and another had been damaged in the fight already. The IFC rebels had been reduced to 5 fighters who along with the cruiser decided to retreat.
Bridge
Outside the viewports one could see that the enemy cruiser had taken severe damage. Large gouts of flame erupted from various points in her hull, while entire chunks of the ship seemed to be missing. Many of the fighters that she had deployed in battle were now just part of the larger debris field.
"The cruiser and remaining fighters are retreating ma'am."
"Ruto status on our fighters."
"One destroyed, another damaged, and the rest are ok ma'am."
"Alright, recall them now. Send out a dropship to recover the body of our downed pilot. Impa, what's our damage situation?"
"We took some hits in the bow, but nothing too serious there. The damage to the bridge we can fix. Four of our secondary battery turrets are gone and one of the missile batteries is heavily damaged. Casualty reports throughout the ship have been light."
Rescue Two
Link watched as the remaining IFC rebel forces withdrew, and then turned his fighter to head for home. On his way back into the hangar he saw one of the dropships heading out, most likely to try and recover the body of their downed pilot, for a proper funeral service. Within a few minutes his fighter was inside the hangar and safely secured to the deck, and he and Navi headed for the locker room to stow some of their gear. The death of one of their comrades had sobered them. The two then headed for the mess hall to get something to drink and to relax their nerves.
"Navi, what do you think is going to happen next?"
"I don't really know. Nabooru said we're heading to Raytheon 2 next. I heard some rumors that said we're going to work with some IFC forces in order to investigate some reports of rebel activity there, but that's just rumors. So what's this about your parents living there?"
"Well I was born and raised on Hyrule, but after I graduated form the academy, my father decided it was time to retire and move somewhere quiet and he chose Raytheon 2. Of course now that's not looking like that good of a choice, with all these problems erupting there."
"Who knows, there might be no rebels there at all. Goddesses Day is coming up you know, maybe we'll get some leave and you can visit your family." Navi said trying to remain optimistic.
"Yeah, that would be nice."
Bridge
One of the medical officers strode onto the bridge, came up the captain and saluted.
"Yes, what is it?"
"We've identified the survivor ma'am. She's Zelda Harkinian, the daughter of Senator Harkinian. We've identified no major injuries, just a few minor cuts and bruises."
"Well then, Saria send another message to Hyrule. Inform the Senator that his daughter is alive and well."
Meanwhile the captain looked around the bridge. Repair crews milled about repairing the damage from the missile strikes. She noticed the empty chair at the sensors station. She swore to herself, going without a sensors officer to warn her of impending danger was not wise. The two early warning birds that the ship carried could help alleviate the problem, but the impact definitely would be felt. It would be something that she would have to figure out with time.
Hyrule Senate Building, Defense Committee meeting
The eleven senators of the committee sat in a small room discussing the new agreement with the IFC to track down the rebels.
"We can't send that many ships out to the border worlds. Doing so would stretch us thinner than we already are."
"But we must. We cannot fully trust the IFC to not take advantage of our situation and to annex some of our territories while we are weak."
"Yes, the IFC is still a threat but the rebels are even more so. Sending more ships then would leave us weak at home. What if the rebels chose to strike us here on Hyrule?"
Eventually those on the committee who favored a larger scale deployment won out and every available ship was ordered to join the IFC forces on the border in order to investigate rebel activities.
Senator Harkinian strode out of the meeting in a very somber mood, still digesting the news he had received that morning. As he walked through the hallway two more naval officers accosted him. It would be most likely them confirming to him that his daughter would never come home to him again. There were many on the planet of Hyrule who called him one of the most powerful men on the planet, but at this moment he had never felt more helpless in his life.
"If we can have a second of your time sir."
"I suppose you've come to deliver the bad news then."
"No sir, actually we have good news. One of our ships that we dispatched on a search and rescue mission found your daughter amidst the debris. The message from that ship states she's mostly in good physical shape except for some minor cuts and such. Unfortunately she will not be coming back anytime soon as that ship has been assigned to patrol Raytheon 2."
While he was disappointed that she wouldn't be coming home right away, he was deeply relieved that his beloved daughter was still alive and well.
Sick-Bay Freedom's Cry
Zelda awakened to find several concerned faces peering down at her.
"Where am I?" she said startled.
"You're aboard the H.N.S Freedom's Cry, one of our fighters found your escape pod and brought you in."
"My father! You must let me talk to him now."
"Its all right, we've notified him that you are alive and well."
Zelda nodded as she saw a tall red haired young woman who was evidently the captain of the ship stride over to her.
"Well then, you will be our guest for the duration of this deployment as Central Command cannot assign a ship to bring you home yet. However, we're going to need all the help we can get because command can't send us any replacements. You wouldn't happen to know computers and mathematics do you?"
"Yes." Zelda replied not sure where this was going yet.
"Well then, you're going to be my new sensors officer for the time being. Welcome to the navy Ensign." Nabooru said decisively, leaving and ensign's insignia at Zelda's bedside before walking off.
Bridge
"Well captain you've done something no one has done before." Impa said as Nabooru stood on the bridge once more.
"What's that?"
"Draft the kin of a high ranking politician into the armed forces."
"Impa we're running on a short crew and we need everyone we can get here." Nabooru replied before allowing herself a smile.
"Incoming reply from Central Command. They say to proceed to Raytheon 2 at flank speed, rendezvous with the IFC forces already there and begin conducting photo-reconnaissance missions on the flight plans that the IFC ranking officer will provide "Saria informed her captain.
"I don't like the idea of taking orders from an IFC officer but what command says goes. Helm, take us out of here and to Raytheon 2 at all possible speed."
"Yes ma'am"
Authors notes: whew that took a while. Updates might take a little longer cause I have midterms this week at school, but hopefully not too long. Keep reading and reviewing!