Oni: Yeah, he will at some point I think. I just haven't found a way to work it in yet.
Fallen Angel: Rest assured that it will be a Zelink fic, its just its going to take a while. You're right, as it stands she doesn't deserve him which is kind of what I wanted to depict and so she has to change but it will take lots of time i.e. more conflicts between the two and such before they get together, but I'm hoping all the conflict will make the eventual romance seem much better.
Hero o Donuts: Thank you.
Terachi Kaishaku: Alright, I think I might start running out soon so it would be great if you could help me, especially with names for warships and such, or cities too. Yeah, the wrench and hammer thing I thought was funny, it came after a giant cup of coffee which induced a caffeine buzz. Marth is here and I hope you enjoy his role in this chapter.
Big Niz: Well heres another update, i hope you like it too.
I'm looking for people who would be willing to make character illustrations for this fic, so if you're interested please tell me in a review or in an email to .
Also please read my other stories and review, especiallyLegend of Zelda 1776 and Legend of Zelda Passing of Time, which are my two other main fics
Spacelane on approach to Nayru Lunar Base
The Hylians were sorely pressed by the IFC ships coming from all sides. Slowly they were being overwhelmed as ship after ship died from the withering IFC fire.
Link banked his fighter into a steep turn, narrowly avoiding a stream of energy spewing at him from a turret of a nearby IFC frigate. Hauling back on the stick, he inverted his craft and was now diving at the frigate, red torrents of energy and the orange flicker of bullets seeking him out. Dodging nimbly Link managed to avoid most of the enemy fire while Navi fired several bursts from the beam cannon which started a small chain of explosions on the outer hull of the frigate. Unfortunately for them, the frigate called for help in the form of a small swarm of IF-3s which pounced on him.
Nearby, three Hylian cruisers were trading broadsides with a IFC battleship. While taking fearful damage from the enemy 15 in. main guns, the cruisers in turn raked the superstructure of the battleship. One volley impacted on the bridge and detonated the entire bridge command structure. The massive ship began to waver as direction was lost and began turning listlessly before setting on a new heading for a group of IFC ships holding up the flanks. Its engines still churning at full power the ship plowed ahead and into another IFC battleship causing an explosion that enveloped the entire group of IFC ships in that area leaving a small hole.
Bridge Pride of Hyrule
"Admiral, we've got a gap on our left flank!" the sensors officer reported after witnessing the events that had just passed.
"Order all ships to focus on that hole. Cruisers move ahead and keep it open, everyone else huddle up to make a run out." The Admiral ordered.
The ship shuddered as another broadside struck home and the Senator was nearly thrown off his feet.
"Are you alright sir?" the admiral asked with concern.
"Fine." He replied with a grimace of pain.
Outside the viewports, the Hylian ships were now changing direction making all possible speed in order to escape.
Bridge Freedom's Cry
The Freedom's Cry and its accompanying two battleships were still not back in he engagement yet when events shifted.
Nabooru saw the gap open and the subsequent Hylian maneuver to take advantage of the hole.
"Ensign Mido, change heading for that gap!" she ordered with newfound exhilaration. "Saria, order the Freedom and Independence to follow us in. Impa, full on barrage with what's left when we're in range."
"New group of contacts ma'am." Zelda reported from her station.
"What is it now?" Nabooru inquired with dread, fearing that more IFC forces were on the way.
"It's one of ours ma'am, a flotilla centered around the Kokiri Forest." Zelda replied much to Nabooru's relief.
"How long till they arrive?" she asked hopeful that it would be soon.
"At current closing rate, twenty minutes at best ma'am." Zelda answered.
Nabooru swore to herself. Twenty minutes was far too long, the way things were going the Hylians would be lucky if they lasted another fifteen. In accordance with that thought a series of bright flashes announced the death of another Hylian battleship.
Outside Space
"Damn it Link, you just had to get their attention!" Navi exclaimed, looking back to see at least four IF-3s eager for blood.
"Well unless you rather have preferred being vaporized by that frigate it was all we could do." Link shouted back rolling the fighter at the same time causing a volley of bullets to barely miss.
Link dove in the narrow space between a Hylian destroyer and a IFC cruiser that were exchanging broadsides at point blank range, filling the distance between them with a dazzling display of light and destruction.
"Alright now they've got to come here to get us." Link said hoping that the fighters would be discouraged by the sheer volume of weapons fire.
"Link they don't need to come get us! We'll be killed first." Navi screamed as a burst of tracers chewed into the wings.
Link finally dove out of that area and into a relatively clear space.
"I think we lost em." Link said with relief.
"You and your big mouth." Quipped Navi as the pursuers dropped in from above having waited for Link to leave the maze of weaponry.
Link swore loudly and decided to climb again towards large dogfight taking place off to his right. Luckily for him a fellow Hylian noticed Link's peril and managed to cut two of the pursuers to pieces with his machine guns. Turning to give his fellow pilot a salute of thanks he was cut off by Navi's scream.
"Watch out Link!"
"What is it…Oh, shit!" he said as he saw a damaged out of control IF-3 heading right for him.
At the last possible second Link veered left allowing the wreckage to pass him by, but one of his pursuers was not as quick and met his death.
"Watch where you're going!" Navi berated.
"Sorry." Link replied sheepishly for almost having caused them to meet a rather embarrassing death.
"Just pay more attention next time." Navi said calming down a bit.
His last remaining pursuer broke off the chase for reasons that Link did not know.
As that occurred, a transmission came crackling in over the radio.
"This is the Pride to all fighters, request immediate support. We are under heavy attack." A panicked voice filtered through.
Navi took a quick glance at the radar screens to confirm this. The large blip of the Pride was not too far off, and a swarm of small red dots were closing in on the beleaguered ship.
"Link we got to go help them out." She informed him.
Acknowledging her, he motioned for two nearby HF-29s to form up and together they flew to the aid of the Pride.
A swarm of IFC fighters were making runs on the Hylian battleship. Cruise missiles blew large holes in the armor, and began venting atmosphere from several compartments. Bullets snapped antennae, and disabled the ship's secondary weapons. The gunners on the Hylian ship threw up a desperate barrage but the IFC fighters kept on boring in. Luckily, several nearby ships were holding off the capital ships that were eager to move in to finish off the Pride.
"Link, group of 'em over there making a run on the topside centerline." Navi indicated.
Seeing the tight formation of IFC fighters streaking down the topside of the Pride towards the bridge reminded him of the battle at L-32 not so long ago where one of his friends had nearly died. However, this time he could prevent it he thought to himself.
"Follow me, we're taking those six fighters making a run over there." Link ordered his two wingmen, indicating the marauding IFC fighters.
Opening the throttle wide open, Link's fingers tensed upon the triggers. Unfortunately as he had no missiles left he would have to close in further to utilize the beam cannon and machine guns. Within seconds the rangefinder informed Link that he was within distance and he depressed the triggers sending a long line of bullets at the enemy fighters.
A short burst of the incendiary armor piercing bullets hit a cruise missile under the wing of one of the IF-3s, detonating the warhead and turning the fighter into a molten heap of slag. From either side, his two wingmen split off to envelop the IFC fighters.
However instead of turning to defend themselves the remaining three bored in straining to reach the optimal launching point. Yet if he reacted fast enough, he would be able to down at least two more, Link thought to himself. After lining up another shot, Link depressed the triggers once more to find that nothing happened.
Shocked, Link looked over to a screen which indicated that he still had bullets left.
"Shit, Navi, the guns are jammed!" Link exclaimed.
"Hold on let me try to clear them." She replied desperately, her fingers working over a diagnostic board.
In a flash, Link saw three bolts of blue pierce the space above him as one of his wingman fired his beam cannon, vaporizing the three fighters. A ball of flame and debris hid anything from sight, but Link hoped that they had been destroyed before they had launched their missiles. As the debris and flame cleared, the radar picked up two cruise missile tracks heading for the superstructure of the Pride having been launched as their pilot sensed his impeding doom.
Swearing Link lined up his fighter for a last ditch effort. He had a little energy left in the beam cannon, and if he was accurate enough, he would be able to detonate the missiles. Sweat beaded on his brow as he tried to put the missile into the targeting sight. The sight blinked red signifying a lock and Link moved to hit the trigger. Just as he began pressing down, intuition told Link to divert which he did, and out of the corner of his eye he saw another HF-29 roar past. Link looked in frustration at the Hylian fighter and was greeted by the familiar markings of Marth's fighter.
"Marth what are you doing!" Link shouted over the radio.
"Saving the day, and fixing your blunders." The taunting voice of Marth came back.
"You're going too fast, you won't be able to get them both." Link responded.
"Shut up, and let those who know what they're doing carry out their jobs." Marth called out scathingly.
Link saw Marth close in at maximum speed and fire a burst at the missiles. The bullets managed to detonate one, but his high speed caused him to overshoot and forced him to try and make another run which he did not have time for. Link swore as he saw that in diverting earlier he had given up any chance of destroying the missile.
Bridge Pride of Hyrule
"Admiral, incoming missile!" shouted the sensors officer from his station.
"Shoot it down!" was his first instinctive response.
"We can't sir, its too close, our weapons cant track it." The officer shouted back.
Senator Harkinian froze in fear as he saw the bright glow of the rocket engine of the incoming missile looking as if it was heading straight for where he stood on the bridge.
"All hands brace for impact!" the admiral shouted which grabbing the senator and shoving him behind bank of consoles where he would perhaps be offered some protection.
The incoming missile did not hit the bridge itself, but rather the base of the superstructure and detonated below the bridge. It totally destroyed a third of the forward superstructure, leaving only twisted remained left there. The bridge was heavily damaged, many of the crew being killed as the explosion tore out the floor from under them. However, under a pile of wreckage the senator lay unconscious, but alive.
Near the stern of the ship, several officers struggle to bring the auxiliary bridge online in order to keep up headway and escape the battlezone as soon as possible.
Bridge Freedom's Cry
Nabooru's ship and its two consorts were not yet back in range to re-engage, however radio chatter from the Pride and other elements of the flotilla drew Nabooru's attention to the situation of the Pride. Many of the crew watched stunned as the explosion consumed a large part of the superstructure.
From her station, Zelda let out a cry of anguish, fearing that her father had died in the explosion.
Nabooru felt a flash of compassion for the young woman who had just apparently seen the fiery death of her last remaining family member.
Now the three Hylian battleships surge back into the fray, weapons firing in vengeance. The IFC ships, not expecting to be struck from behind were caught off guard by the assault and were momentarily driven back allowing elements of the fleet that had been trapped to make a break for freedom. Yet, as time passed the gap was beginning to close as IFC ships destroyed the Hylians who courageously were attempting to hold the corridor open for their comrades. It seemed now that a portion of the Hylians would manage to escape but a large part of the Hylian force committed to battle would be trapped and pounded into oblivion.
At that moment, reinforcements from the Nayru Lunar base arrived.
"Ma'am the Kokori Forest and its accompanying ships have arrived." Saria announced having received the transmission.
Nabooru looked with relief where a new group of Hylian ships were moving forward. In the vanguard was the Mediator class Battleship Kokori Forest. The ship was famous throughout the fleet for its unusual paint scheme of various shades of green and brown, and its sterling service record. Charging forwards, the new Hylian ships held off the IFC predators while the rest of the Hylians limped away.
Last to leave was the Freedom's Cry, still engaged in a running fight to keep the IFC attackers at a respectful distance until the Hylians retreated.
IFC Headquarters Hylia City
"I have failed to destroy their flagship my lord. My life in forfeit." The new general said dropping to his knees expecting a horrible death for his failure.
"Yes, General you have. Yet you acquitted yourself quite well. While you didn't destroy the flagship, you managed to eliminate and damage a good portion of their committed force. In addition your plan was quite sound, and had your officers in the field shown a little more initiative the victory would have been complete." Ganondorf replied.
"Thank you my lord. You are most kind." The general thanked profusely.
Hangar Bay Freedom's Cry
One by one, the ship's remaining fighters landed and taxied to their service areas. When Link climbed out he saw how much damage he had really taken. The tip of the left wing and half the control surfaces were gone. The right vertical fin sported a huge hole and the starboard engine intake was riddled with machine gun holes.
Yet this did not entirely register with Link as he was extremely angry at the moment. He did not even notice the complaining from Darunia at Link having brought back the fighter in such shape.
Running over to where Marth's fighter was parked, Link grabbed a fold of Marth's flight suit and spun him around.
"What in Goddesses name do you think you were doing out there you idiot!" Link exclaimed. "I had the shot and I would have gotten both the missiles if you hadn't decided to show up."
"Oh please, the thought of trash like you accomplishing such a feat is hilarious. There's no way a lowlife such as you could have the necessary skills. At least I got one which is far better than you could have done." Marth replied acidly and haughtily.
Link would have punched Marth right in the face had he not have been interrupted by a cry from the entrance to the hangar bay. The cry came from a figure running towards the two pilots who proved to be Zelda who was evidently quite distraught.
"Zelda, what's wrong dear?" Marth inquired suddenly sounding very caring.
Zelda ignored Marth's statement and instead ran up to Link.
"I hate you! It's your fault my father died!" she cried out angrily catching Link off guard.
"I was watching the whole time. You had two opportunities to stop those missiles and you didn't! You let him die! That whole time you did nothing and now my father is dead!" she shouted.
"Wait a minute, I tried to stop 'em but my guns jammed and lover boy here knocked me off course." Link said in a vain effort to defend himself.
"Lies! Don't you dare slander Marth! At least he tried and he was able to get at least one, unlike yourself." She spat bitterly. Link could see Marth smiling smugly behind Zelda as if he were taunting him.
Link's feeble defense only infuriated her more until her anger and pain overcome her rationality, and she jumped Link knocking him to the ground and with clenched fists began beating him as she continued shouting. "Damn you Link, you're a cold hearted Murderer!" she accused. Link was already weary and Zelda first blows had caught him off guard and deprived him of the ability to defend himself. A loud crack was heard as a particularly hard blow was landed upon his cheek. Link felt as if his chest and face were on fire and he remotely felt a trickle of blood from his forehead.
Navi was still near Link and her fighter having a conversation with the mechanic when shouts from the other end of the hangar drew her attention where she saw Link on the ground being beaten by Zelda.
Swearing to herself, she hurried to the aid of her friend after getting one of the hangar bay mechanics to summon a medic. As she got nearer, what greeted her was not a pretty sight. Link's face was bloody and his jaw appeared to be broken. Several lacerations scored his cheek and in the meantime Zelda still rained punches on a helpless Link. Grabbing Zelda's arms from behind, Navi pulled her off Link who was moaning in pain.
"Get off me!" Zelda cried out viciously.
"Damn it, you're going to kill him!" Navi replied just as loud.
"He deserves it for what he's done." Zelda retorted her eyes flashing with anger twisting out of Navi's grip and turning around to face the diminutive fairy who stood her ground despite being shorter than the angered Hylian.
"Are you saying that after he risked his life to protect all of ours that we should punish him because he couldn't accomplish everything we wanted him to?" Navi asked incredulously.
"He's the reason my father died, he killed him!" Zelda cried as if that was all that mattered.
"I'm sorry that you lost your father, I really am." Navi replied with some sympathy. "But that does not make it right for you to treat others this way. From what I've heard about the Senator, I don't think that's what he would want you to act like." Navi stated scoldingly.
"Don't you dare talk of my father." Zelda shouted, having been set off again by Navi's last remark.
At this point Marth moved to Zelda and draped a comforting arm around her shoulder.
"It's alright." He said soothingly. "Don't listen to her." Zelda fell into Marth's embrace, letting the tears fall freely from her face.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't have saved your father Zelda. If only I had been there earlier…" Marth lamented.
"No, Marth you did all that you could, and I'm thankful." She softly replied burying her head into his shoulder.
Navi stood disgusted at how Marth could stand shamelessly taking credit that wasn't his and slander those who nearly gave their lives to protect others. She turned around to her friend and knelt down to check on his condition.
"Hey, can you hear me?" Navi called softly.
"Yeah…." Link replied, coughing up blood.
Just then the medics arrived. Without a word they lifted Link onto a stretcher and wheeled him off to the infirmary with Navi following her injured comrade.
In addition, a messenger came requesting Zelda's presence in front of the captain. Marth gave Zelda a last embrace and kissed her softly before she trudged back to the bridge, her anger and sadness still inside her.
Yay another chapter! Well what do you think. Let me clarify something, I know some of you will be like hey Link's so much bigger than Zelda there's no way she could beat him up. In this case Link is already fatigued from combat thus dulling his response and he is not expecting such a reaction from Zelda. So yeah hope that clarifies things. For all the Zelink fans out there, do not worry this WILL become a Zelink fic, I promise you. I know it doesn't seem like it now but it will be eventually, just bear with me.
Please review!
Next time on Legend of Zelda Freedom's Cry:
The crew of the Freedom's Cry arrives at the Nayru Lunar Base where their ship is repaired. However, there is no rest for Link and his comrades as they are dispatched to the planet surface to take part in a counterattack in an effort to rebuild sagging morale.