Terachi Kaishaku: I have put a lot of effort into the character development parts and I believe that the character backgrounds in the database section will help that area also. Working in the names took me quite a while, and I can't figure out why it did. Yeah, I'm a big gaming and history buff so I had to include it. Many of the future battles will be based on famous battles possibly, but I'm not sure. Would you be willing to read this story even if it were really long cause I just realized it took me 11 chapters to start a war and its going to take me a lot more to continue and eventually conclude it.
Big Niz: Yay, another reviewer. You have made my day. Winston Churchill had some great speeches and he made them in similar times as I am trying to portray here which is why I thought they would fit in, and I'm glad you like it.
Hylian Naval Installation at L-32
For the besieged men and women operating this lonely outpost, the Senator's words of encouragement and passion steeled them for the hardships ahead. Working feverishly, many of the technicians and other workers managed to repair most of the warships to a passable state of repair. A few hours ago several small high speed transports carrying some vital supplies came into the base with word that they would be the only ones coming as the larger and slower ships comprising the rest of the convoy were forced to turn back by the advancing IFC fleet.
In the meantime, Link was talking to Navi about the encounter that he had with Zelda earlier that day.
"See, she's not so bad. I mean she didn't have to return that photo to you after she found it, she could have easily thrown it away or something." Navi pointed out.
"Yeah, well tell that to the midshipman who she singed the eyebrows off of when she ran into him. I never thought I'd see the day when a Goron would be intimidated by anything."
"She can't be that bad."
"You're right. She's worse. I'd better have the infirmary standing by every hour of the day in case we have any injuries."
"Sometimes Link, I swear you can be so juvenile."
Outside of the base, several EF-14 early warning aircraft had established a perimeter in order to provide sentry duty and long-range warning against the expected IFC attack.
Hawkeye 4, EF-14 Early Warning Aircraft patrolling outer perimeter of Hylian base at L-32
The flight officer who was in charge of watching and maintaining the sophisticated array of sensors and scanners on the aircraft was getting bored when the machine let out a series of warning bleeps. She threw on her headset and began typing on the keyboard in front of her to get more specific data. In a matter of seconds she had a positive fix on a large wave of incoming IFC fighters along with five cruisers and four frigates. The sensors officer toggled the channel to the pilot.
"I've got lots of contacts on the scope here bearing 483. Looks like heavy fighter cover and a group of supporting capital ships."
"Alright, ensign get on the line with the base and send them a warning." The pilot ordered his communications officer.
L-32 Central Command Center
"Incoming message from Hawkeye Four sir. It's a raid warning, many fighters, five cruisers, and four frigates bearing 483."
"Scramble our fighters. All ships to emergency combat status. Move a small division centered around the Freedom's Cry to confront this but hold the rest back in case those bastards try and strike us in more than one place."Bridge Freedom's Cry
"Captain, incoming message from the command center. It's a raid warning, large numbers of fighters and accompanying capital ships heading our way. Classify as Flanker cruisers and Cossack frigates at high speed. Command is putting you in charge of a division; they want us to form up with the Badanov, Stalwart, Dreamer's Sky, and Legionnaire to halt their advance."
"Thank you Ensign Saria. Impa sound General Quarters. Ruto scramble all fighters and have the HC-10s ready for search and rescue. I want a fire plan on the lead IFC capital ships right away Impa. Ensign Zelda, tell me what's going on out there."
The bridge became a hive of activity as officers and other personnel scurried about to carry out their appointed duties.
"The fighters are deployed in a standard screening formation with the 5 cruisers in a line abreast formation. The four frigates are operating in pairs at the flank."
"Impa what's our weapons situation?"
"After repairs we still can't bring everything back online. The main cannons are in fine order, but we have four of our 5 in. turrets out of commission, three of our 3 in. turrets out of commission, and three missile batteries out. All in all about eighty to eighty five percent combat efficiency left."
"That will do. I want our initial fire to break the center of the line and have our fighters go in to force their capital ships to veer off. Have our accompanying ships concentrate on the flanks and have them deploy their fighters in a defensive configuration."
Hangar Bay, Freedom's Cry
Inside the hangar bay, a series of red lights were flashing along the wall signifying an emergency combat alert. One by one the HF-29 Interceptors taxied to the two catapults and were shot into space where the other ships of the hastily compiled taskforce centered around the Freedom's Cry was forming up to repel the IFC raid. The types of the accompanying Hylian ships were as follows, the Badanov was a Mediator Class Battleship, Stalwart was a Savior heavy cruiser, and the Legionnaire and Dreamer's Sky were Termina class frigates. The Hylians had the edge in capital ship firepower but the IFC ships had more fighters between them as none of the Hylian ships were packing a full complement of fighters as a result of recent events.
"Star One Control to Flarestars, attack orders are as follows." Ruto's voice came over the intercoms of the four fighters based on the Freedom's Cry an instant before data scrolled up on the screens inside the cockpits.
Link took a glance as it appeared. They, along with the three remaining fighters from the Legionnaire, were to make an all out run on the center of the line, after the Freedom's Cry had opened a hole with her weapons, while the remaining sixteen HF-29s held off the IFC attackers. To this end, in place of four of the HN-17 air-air missiles normally carried, now there were HN-8 rocket pods mounted for this attack run.
"Navi, weapons status?"
"Lights are all green, everything's working just fine."
The four fighters broke up into two wing pairs and orbited near their mothership while waiting for the opening salvo to be fired. Outside Link could see the blue-white shapes of other Hylian fighters launching and forming up to protect the small detachment.
Bridge Freedom's Cry
Nabooru sat in her command chair, gripping the armrests tightly as she waited for her ship to enter firing range. Looking out of the viewport she could see a screen of Hylian fighters protecting her small group from the oncoming rush of IFC vessels.
"Impa, you may fire when ready."
The view outside the windows flashed as the ship's main weapons fired their deadly lances of energy at the approaching enemy detachment. Missiles, smaller beam cannon shots, and heavy machine gun bullets stretched forth. In the distance were the small pinpricks of light that denoted the explosion of a fighter that had the misfortune to be in the way of the barrage.
"Their fighter screen is breaking up near the area of impact for our barrage ma'am." Zelda reported.
"Ruto, vector in fighters now! Impa switch fire pattern to prevent any enemy fighters from making a run on ours."
Outside Space
Link heard the go order and hit the afterburners on his fighter sending his HF-29 towards the enemy with remarkable speed made even more impressive because if the fact that the IFC fleet was headed directly at him. Outside his canopy he saw the fire of his own ship shift as to protect him and his fellow pilots while the other Hylian ships were beginning to fire at extreme range, while the opposing fighter screens engaged each other, marked by the occasional bright orange flicker of an explosion announcing the death of yet one more, or two more people. He steered his fighter into the gap in the IFC fighter screen that the Hylian barrage had opened up. A few IF-3s saw the Hylian fighters scream through the gap and looped their fighters to engage but were forced to take a few extra seconds in order to avoid the incoming Hylian fire, which mean that the Hylian fighters had an insurmountable lead and would reach the IFC capital ship first. Looking forward Link could see the nearest IFC cruiser react to his intrusion. The large main gun turrets swung slowly to bear and let loose a salvo of lethal red energy, while smaller lances of destructive power flashed towards him from the ship's smaller weapons. By constantly, weaving Link was able to avoid most of the shots except for a 3 in. burst that clipped the edge of the left wing, causing superficial damage. Meanwhile, one of the three HF-29s from the Legionnaire received an 8 in. hit directly in the cockpit and Link could briefly see the outlines of the pilot and navigator as a bright ball of flame and debris appeared on his left.
"Navi, best course?"
"I think we should rake their topsides from bow to stern with the rockets, loop back and hit 'em with the machine guns and beam cannons."
"Alright sounds like a plan."
"Flarestar Three, to group, we're making a stem to stern run on the topside. The rest of you take different routes so that they'll have to split their fire."
The rest of the group acknowledged Link's orders and broke off to do so. He dove and hugged the enemy cruiser's hull as Navi peppered the ship with rockets. Each rocket pod carried twelve 3 in. rockets, which blew holes in the turrets of the smaller battery, tore through armor, and began to crack the hull. The launchers ran dry just as the bridge of the enemy cruiser flashed by and Link pulled the stick back and ascended in the shadow of the bridge tower so that many of the IFC weapons could not fire for fear of hitting their own ship. On the way, back Navi switched over to the beam cannon and fired indiscriminately adding even more destruction to that caused earlier. Meanwhile one of the fighters off the Freedom's Cry had been ploughed through with a missile, leaving five fighters to return of the original seven. Leaving the damaged cruiser behind them, they streaked back towards their ship to re-arm, while strafing the opposing fighters on the way back. The cruiser that they had hit was still operational but was dropping out of formation and leaving a gap that the Hylians could exploit, which was what they did.
Bridge Freedom's Cry
"Ma'am there's a gap in the formation now where that cruiser is falling behind!"
"Order the Badanov into the gap with us and have the Legionnaire, Dreamer's Sky, and Stalwart cover our flanks."
"Helm, keep us in tight formation with the Badanov."
Outside Space
The two Hylian battleships, with the Badanov in the lead and the Freedom's Cry slightly to the left, behind, and below, following, while the three other ships took positions to prevent the enemy ships from trying to flank the Hylians. Together, the two battleships engaged the enemy cruisers and frigates at close range, trading blow for blow. While there were more of the IFC ships, the two Hylian ships had more firepower which was repeatedly demonstrated when their 15 and 13 in. cannon repeatedly blew out entire chunks of hull. The thick armor and sturdy construction of the ships allowed them to absorb many of the 8 and 6 in. fire. However, the two still took damage and one could see the fires that were raging on several decks, the smoking wrecks of what had been turrets, and the pockmarks of missile impacts
Bridge Freedom's Cry
"What's the status of that cruiser on our port bow?" Nabooru asked as the ship rocked under the impact of another 8 in. salvo from the aforementioned cruiser.
"She's heavily damaged. Her structural integrity must be pretty close to zero, and most of her secondary battery is destroyed or disabled."
"Impa, retarget a full main gun salvo on it so we can break her back."
Her weapons officer nodded and issued the appropriate orders to the gunnery chiefs and outside the three turrets swung along the new target line and fired. The salvo impacted on an area that had already been heavily damaged and the result was that the cruiser snapped into two halves accompanied by a gout of flame as internal magazines and propellant storage areas ignited.
"The remaining ships are pulling back now ma'am!"
Looking out Nabooru saw the remaining IFC ships turn tail as fast as they could while they rapidly recalled their fighters.
"Casualties for them?" she inquired of Impa.
"We got two of their cruisers and a frigate, along with heavy damage on most of their surviving ships, and around fourteen fighters." Her weapons officer replied.
"What about for us?"
"We took some pretty heavy damage in some parts of the ship and I don't know if its repairable or not. We lost another fighter, the Legionnaire lost another one, and out of the other sixteen, eleven remain."
"Distribute those eleven evenly among the Badanov, Dreamer's Sky, and Stalwart. Then I want repair assessments given to me in an hour."
"Yes ma'am. Congratulations Captain on a battle well fought."
'Thank you Impa, but that was only the beginning. I'm afraid our enemies have many ships to spare."
Hyrule
The defenders of Hyrule stood to their stations on the orbital battlestations, and the small defense flotilla. Meanwhile the IFC invasion fleet was minutes within range as it plodded onwards at the thin blue line of Hylian ships and fighters.
On the flagship of the invasion fleet Admiral Twinrova was gleeful that battle was about to be joined.
"Weapons, I want the fleet to fire a time on target barrage, followed by individual firing, and then have our fighters make their runs."
The subordinate acknowledged and issued the fleet-wide orders. Now, on the Admiral's command every ship in the fleet would fire their weapons so that all of the shots arrived at the same time, which gave the enemy no warning. Within seconds the targeting computers had calculated the firing solutions and now all that was needed was the command from the admiral.
"We're in range now ma'am" her sensors officer informed.
"Fire."
A wall of energy and missiles sped forth and within a few blinks of an eye landed on the defenders. Ships crumpled under the simultaneous impact of concentrated weapons fire. One of the Mediator class battleships was turned into a molten glob of metal and flaming debris within seconds as more 15 in. salvos than could be counted impacted at the same time. Defending fighter squadrons were vaporized by the sheer volume of fire. Then when the volley cleared a swarm of IFC fighters came in at full speed to follow up on the attack. The fighters that survived bravely rushed forth in the face of insurmountable odds to do their duty to Hyrule. Right on the heels of the swarm of fighters was the vanguard of the invasion fleet, which began to duel with the battlestations in orbit. The Forger class battlestations were powerful emplacements easily able to overpower two or three battleships, but the sheer number of targets forced the stations to divide their power again and again. One section of a station flared and turned black as damage cut off the atmosphere supply for that section of the station.
On the bridge of her flagship the Admiral reveled in her triumph. Her officers periodically reported on a new situation that was always dealt with by a decisive order.
"Two squadrons of Hylian fighters have broken through in sector 29-D ma'am along with a couple of frigates."
"Launch more fighters and then have all ships in that area concentrate on the frigates."
Blinking lights could be seen as another wave of IFC fighters leapt from the flight decks of IFC warships and the red beam cannon fire could be seen again on the left flank as IFC ships in the area overpowered the two frigates that had dared to approach the mighty invasion fleet. Within moments the two small ships succumbed their small groups of green fire looking pitiful in comparison with the flood of red. Gradually even though the Hylians fought hard for every inch the sheer firepower and numbers of the IFC fleet pushed the Hylians back further and further until the entire defense flotilla had been destroyed save a few isolated groups of fighters. Divisions of the fleet encircled the two remaining battlestations and pounded them repeatedly until they began to break up as they took more far more punishment than their designers had originally intended.
"Sensors report no significant Hylian space forces active over the planet now ma'am,"
"Excellent, move the troop transports in and begin ferrying in the troops as soon as possible. Rear-Admiral Vigden, you are now in command of the space forces and General Valeran you will command the entire ground force, as I must leave to return to my own flagship and then to report back to Lord Ganondorf in person. I trust that you will ensure our victory here."
The officers saluted as the Admiral who was second in command of the IFC military second only after Ganondorf strode out of the bridge and into the hangar bay where a high speed shuttle awaited to take her back to her own flagship which was by now refueled and ready to make the journey to the IFC capital where the Admiral would personally deliver the news of success. In the space outside, the massive troop transports lumbered forwards, scores of landing craft descending from their bellies to ferry the hundreds of thousands of troops that the IFC was landing on the planet. Meanwhile, a large part of the fleet was now beginning to move out to carry out assignments elsewhere, either to make further attacks or to consolidate gains already made.
Authors Notes: Whew that was long. What do you guys think? The technical/character database will be updated next time I post a new chapter, I promise.
Next time on Legend of Zelda Freedom's Cry:
Nabooru's words ring true as the IFC continues their siege of L-32 with increased intensity. The fight on Hyrule is now taking place on the planet as only the Navy post of Nayru remains over Hyrule, a lone bastion of strength in these dark times. IFC ground forces break out of the perimeters they have established and move in all directions as the people of Hyrule brace themselves for the full brunt of the onslaught.