Terachi Kaishaku: Impa is one of my favorite characters in this story too; she just seems to fit in so well as a weapons officer. I will include romance eventually because I'm such an ardent Zelda/Link shipper and because I advertised this story as such, but it won't turn into a total romance fic, there'll still be lots of action and stuff. I forget did I review your fic yet?
Hailfire Sano: I know its kind of getting a little foreboding lol but I like tragedy. Keep on going with your story!!!
You two are my best reviewers thus far and my thanks goes out to you two.
I don't actually know Link's mother's name but I've seen Azalia used before so I will use that here.
This chapter might be a bit depressing just as a warning.
Link's family's residence, Exocron City, Raytheon 2
Link's father's face showed a mixture of sadness and rage as Link finished the telling of the story.
"So what are you planning to do Link?"
"Well our orders are to lie low until our troops get the ok to come and get us. We were wondering if we could stay here until then."
"Of course Link. Ah, here comes your mother."
A slender blond Hylian woman with sky blue eyes walked into the room. Link's mother was a head and a half shorter than her son but she still looked youthful and possessed an elegant sort of beauty.
"Link come and give your mother a hug."
Link stood up and strode over to his mother and gave her a tight embrace.
"It's good to see you Link, who's this? Your new girlfriend?"
"No mom she's my radio intercept officer, we're just friends."
Behind Link, Navi struggled to contain her laughter and Link shot her a dirty look.
"We'll be staying here for a few days mom." Link also went on to retell the story that he had told his father just minutes earlier, she too reacting in much the same way. After that, Link's mother prepared some food for the two and then the two eventually fell asleep.
Hyrule, Harkinian Residence
The senator was sitting in his private study inside of his home. On his desk was the latest Intelligence reports that had been delivered to his home. All that they had discovered so far was increased activity of IFC naval and ground forces and at their shipyards but that seemed reasonable given the situation. However, what was peculiar was that two entire fleets of the IFC navy had seemingly disappeared and they had not been sighted visually or by satellites since the shootdown of the aircraft. Unfortunately Hyrule did not have the assets to go looking for these missing ships. Many of the ships had been destroyed by the surprise attack at IP 457 and much of the existing fleet was spread out at the border worlds. The only thing left was the defense fleet above Hyrule itself which was already down to skeleton size and several other isolated ships around Hylian territory. Already Hylian shipyards were rapidly constructing new ships but it would take time before they were complete. The senator swore to himself at not being able to interpret IFC intentions. He gathered all intelligence documents that he had and reviewed them again, hoping to find a clue as to what was really going on.
Freedom's Cry
Inside one of the cargo bays the thirty members of the 32nd Marine Unit stood at attention while their commander Lieutenant Kitana reviewed the plan that had been drafted.
"Command hasn't given us the go ahead yet but we've formulated a plan so that we will be ready when they do. At out disposal we will have the ship's three dropships with guns and rockets mounted on them. In addition, two Hf-29s will be along with us riding shotgun and to provide air cover. When we hit the ground we will deploy in a security perimeter. Once we have both of them inside, we will re-embark and get out of there. Expected resistance at this time is unknown but we must be on the alert."
Outskirts of Exocron City, early morning
Several hundred IFC troops had moved to the outskirts of the city and were awaiting the signal to move in. Suddenly in the early morning hours a series of huge explosions rocket the outskirts of the city. The IFC commanders waited the appropriate amount of time and led their troops into the city. Small groups of five to six soldiers barged into each house with the pretense of looking for rebels. Civilians were dragged outside of their homes while soldiers ransacked their houses.
I.F.C.N Hammerhead flagship Admiral Twinrova
The Admiral was in one of the docking bays where the remains of the destroyed Hylian fighter were being examined.
"Well where are the pictures?" the admiral queried.
"The film roll is empty which means these pictures were digital and stored on a disc which is usually in the ejection seats. However upon inspection of the ejection seats we found that the discs were not there and were most likely removed by the pilot."
The admiral turned swiftly on her heels without another word and strode rapidly up to the bridge.
"Lieutenant, send a transmission to all of out teams on the planet. When they find those pilots and kill them, make sure they find the data discs that they are carrying and have them destroyed."
"Yes, ma'am."
Link's family's Residence
Link was in the middle of a peaceful dream when suddenly he was rudely awakened by his mother who had a look of fear upon her face.
"What's going on?"
"You must hide Link, the soldiers; they've come looking for you."
Link stopped in horror before panic struck him. He quickly awoke Navi and gathered anything that would be evidence of his stay here.
"Get into the cellar Link; I don't think they will find you there."
"I am sorry mother." Link said regretting having put his family into this situation.
"No Link, there is nothing to be sorry about, now go!"
Link led Navi towards the cellar and went inside. Link left the door a bit open so he could hear and see what was going on. Three soldiers were now standing inside of the house with their assault rifles slung over their shoulders. The one with sergeant's insignia was conversing with his parents in a very menacing tone.
"What are you here for?" Link's father demanded.
"We've been authorized to search every house in this city for suspected rebels."
"You can leave now then because you can rest assured that there is no one else besides us in our home."
"That will be for us to see."
The soldiers went through house thoroughly but didn't bother to notice the cellar and they did not find any evidence of what they were looking for. The sergeant in charge was about to order his troops to leave when something caught his eye. It was a photograph of the man and woman standing before him with a younger man in a crisp new Hylian Naval Uniform, whose face was exactly was the one that he and the rest of the soldiers in the city were looking to kill.
"You have lied to us. Do know the penalty for lying and obstructing the military efforts of the Independent Federation of Colonies is? It is death by summary execution."
Link heard these words in horror and was about to burst out of the door when he felt Navi pull him back. Through the crack of the door he could see his mother and father stand proudly erect, not flinching even though the IFC soldier had drawn his pistol.
"Do you have anything to say for yourselves?" the soldier inquired.
Links parents merely stood there holding their silence knowing that they would die today in order to protect their son.
"Well then, your time here on this plane of existence has come to an end."
The IFC sergeant cocked his pistol, put it to the chest of Link's father who stoically faced his fate, and fired two shots into his chest. Before Link's father even hit the ground the soldier turned his pistol on Link's mother and pulled the trigger once. At this moment, Link let out an animal cry and leapt out of the cellar, Navi having failed to hold him back, his own pistol out and blazing. He caught the sergeant with two rounds in the face and another in the neck but he saw that he would not be able to bring his pistol to bear on the third before he fired the killing shot at Link. However just as the third soldier finished bringing up his rifle two more shots sounded in quick succession dropping the third soldier. Link turned around to see Navi there with her own smoking pistol in her hand. He then swiftly turned around and knelt next to his mother who he saw was still alive, barely. She lay on the floor next to her husband. The bullet that struck her was near her lungs and her breath was coming in short shallow gasps.
"Mother, I didn't mean for it to end like this."
"Do not apologize Link. There was nothing more important to your father and I than your well being. My time here with you is ending Link, you have truly been a mother's dream."
"No! Please, don't go." Link was breaking down in tears as he saw his mother slowly drift away.
"I love you Link." Were his mother's final dying words.
For several minutes Link knelt over the bodies of his parents and silently wept while Navi watched silently. She had never seen her friend so crushed in her entire life. However, she knew that they could not linger here long lest they be discovered.
"Link we have to go."
"It's all my fault Navi. They would still be alive if I hadn't been so stupid to come here in the first place."
"Damn it Link we have to leave. Your parents died so that you could live, do you think that they would like to know that their sacrifice would be in vain."
Link merely nodded as he couldn't find the words to say what he wanted to.
"There's soldiers crawling all over the city now, and there's no way we'll make it out of the city in our own uniforms. Those soldiers are about our size so we should switch uniforms and leave some stuff behind and that should buy us some time."
Navi went over and relieved the dead soldiers of their uniforms and handed one to Link. Within moments they had put their own flight-suits on the corpses of the dead IFC soldiers along with one of their radios, a flashlight and some other miscellaneous gear to fool the enemy into thinking that they were dead. Link knelt over his parents once more for another quick prayer and then the two left.
Several hours later another group of IFC soldiers wandered in on the same house and saw the two bodies in Hylian uniforms. He called over his commander who then relayed the message to the admiral that the Hylian pilots were now located and dead. Soon enough a convoy of IFC vehicles rolled into the city and the admiral got out of one and strode over to the house to talk with the officer in charge there. The admiral stepped inside and took one look at the bodies and knew instantly that they had been duped.
"Damn it you fools, they must have switched uniforms." Anger flashed through her eyes and she pulled out her sidearm pistol and fired several shots into the faces of each of the corpses in Hylian uniform to vent her rage. She finally managed to calm herself and to improvise a plan that would hopefully by more time.
Hylian Central News Broadcast
Ladies and Gentlemen this is Joseph Cristoph of the Hylian Central News service. We have recently received news about events that have just taken place on the world of Raytheon 2. Early today several explosions rocked the city of Exocron causing heavy casualties among the civilian populace. The IFC alleged that these were the work of separatist rebels who have eluded capture for quite a time. In reaction to this, the IFC sent in troops to find the rebels that they believe were behind this. The commanding officer in charge testified that there were rebels in the city that had taken civilians as hostage and that IFC troops were battling as hard as they could to rescue them. Luckily by the end of the battle civilian casualties were relatively light and the IFC reported that the rebels had left the city. Unfortunate news broke however when a search party of IFC soldiers found the bodies of the two Hylian pilots shot down yesterday. The IFC states that the two were shot in the head repeatedly before the rebels withdrew from the city."
Mess Hall Freedom's Cry
The entire mess hall was silent for the first time that anyone could remember as crewmembers and officers watched the news broadcast on the television screens. On the screens they could see what were their comrade's bodies being held up by several IFC soldiers while others brandished the identification necklaces to confirm their identities.
"Damn it! They shot them, and all we did was sit here and do nothing." Mido said as he pounded his fist on the table.
"We did nothing..." he trailed off, tears beginning to form in his eyes.
Authors Notes: This is the saddest thing that I've ever written. I hope it isn't too depressing for all the readers. Please read and review!!
Next time on Legend of Zelda Freedom's Cry
Senator Harkinian grows increasingly suspicious of the IFC and receives disturbing reports as the IFC plan becomes startlingly clear. Meanwhile Link and Navi struggle to leave the city and their pursuers behind while trying to re-establish contact with the Freedom's Cry.