A/N: Now here's a long one. It's climactic! Episode I only has one more chapter after this, then I move on to Episode II. But for now…

CHAPTER 10: THE BATTLE FOR HYRULE

Sneaking into the castle would not be easy to do. Most of them were pilots and Hylian infantry. Link and Mr. Game and Watch were also part of the mix, following the four generals to lead this mission: Roy, Marth, Impa, and Princess Zelda herself. Battle droids were everywhere, and it would take some doing to get into the hangar. Zelda used a small laser pointer to signal to Impa, who had entered from another location. Impa signaled back, showing that she was ready. Roy turned to Link, and spoke to him.

"Once we get inside, you find a safe place to hide and stay there." Roy ordered.

"Sure." Link responded.

"Stay there." Roy said in a lighter tone of voice, but still seriously. Before much longer, Impa and her half of the team brought in a canon, and used it to blow away one of their tanks guarding the entrance, blowing parts of battle droids all over the plaza. Zelda made her move, and led the rest out. Link and Game and Watch stuck close to the princess as Roy and Marth guarded them, ignited lightsabers in hand. Impa and her team kept up the attack by firing on the battle droids long enough for Zelda to get to the hangar. Above them, Wolf, Leon, and Darth Bowser were watching.

"I thought the battle was going to take place far from here." Wolf complained. "This is too close." Leon silently agreed, but while he did that, neither of them noticed the apprentice Sith lord step out of the room.

Once in the hangar, the battle continued. Roy and Marth were up in front, blocking every blast from the droids with their lightsabers.

"Link, Find cover." Roy ordered. "Quick!" Before much more could take place, Zelda turned to her pilots.

"Get to your ships!" she ordered. The battle continued as the droids continued to fall and the pilots did as they were asked. Many Game and Watch units of different colors were also loaded into the ships just behind the cockpit. Once in their ships, they flew out of the main hangar, on a mission to knock out the Droid Control Ship. Mr. Game and Watch was surprised when it was also loaded onto a vacant ship. Link noticed that not many laser blasts were not making it up there, and scrambled into the cockpit. As the ships took off, there was a Trade Federation tank sitting just outside. As it opened fire, one of the Hylian ships was hit, and sent crashing far to the ground below. The rest however, made it out ok, and the battle continued inside the hangar. So far, Zelda already had two casualties, but the droids were suffering much, much more.

The ships of Hyrule soon made it out of the planets atmosphere, and approached the Control Ship. But the Trade Federation was ready for them, and sent out a bunch of ships of their own.

"Fighters, straight ahead." Zelda's main pilot warned.

"Roger, Bravo Leader." Several of his teammates responded. The blasts were fires, and a few enemy ships were immediately taken out.

The droids sensed that their attack on the Zora's was useless with their bubble shield active. Upon further inspection, the droids realized that if walked through, a single droid could make it through, but what about hundreds?

"Cease Fire." The commander droid ordered, as the shots quit coming. A lot of Zora's seemed confused, and started murmuring to each other.

"Steady, steady." Mikau told them. At this order, the tanks displayed a rack carrying 64 battle droids a piece! The Zoras watched as the racks unfolded, placing droid after droid on the ground. The Zora's sensed what was about to come, and activated their water shields while loading water bombs into catapults. They didn't realize that up on the control ship, they had given the order to activate the droids. Before much longer, the droids unfolded, stood up, and revealed their weapons.

"Ouch time." Ruto gulped as she looked at Miaku. The droids marched forward, and simply walked through the Zora's shield. Once through, they opened fire, and the Zora's launched their water bombs. Once hit, the water from their bombs would be released, and short-circuit the droid that it him.

"Fire!" Ruto ordered as the catapults were released. Mikau's steed whinnied, and knocked him onto the ground. As he got up, he noticed another Zora throw a water bomb with a sling. When Mikau tried it himself, he soon found himself on the ground. The Zora's continued their defense as the droids upped the assault. The Zora's had no idea how this would end.

"My guess is the viceroy's in the throne room." Zelda said once the hangar was clear.

"Red group! Blue Group!" Impa shouted. "Everybody, this way!"

"Hey, wait for me!" Link called.

"Link, stay where you are." Roy told him. "You'll be safe there."

"But I-" Link began.

"Stay in that cockpit." Roy followed up, shooting down Link's protest. Zelda went to open a door, which would take them almost directly to the throne room, but the door opened before she could even get there. On the other side stood Darth Bowser, and he looked ready to fight.

"We'll handle this." Roy said as he stared into the eyes of the Sith Lord.

"We'll take the long way." Zelda said, knowing it was the better choice. Roy, Marth, and Bowser all shed their robes, preparing for battle as three droidekas rolled into the room. Link saw them unfold and open fire on Zelda and her court.

"We gotta do something, Game and Watch." Link said. On the other side of the room, Darth Bowser had pulled out his lightsaber and showed a feature never before seen in a Jedi or Sith weapon. It ignited from both ends, making it somewhat of a light-staff. As Bowser drew his weapon, the two Jedi did the same. Marth leapt over the sith lord and blocked a shot that was coming, putting the two Jedi on either side of Darth Bowser. The Sith lord blocked a high shot from Roy, then quickly spun to block another from Marth. Bowser took two swings at Roy before having to block another from Marth.

Zelda and her team were not having much luck with the Droidekas, as their blasts could not penetrate their shields. As the blasts got heavier, Zelda faced another casualty on her side, as Link tried to help out any way he could.

"I'm trying to! I don't know where the trigger is!" Link said to Game and Watch, who had beeped, and a translation of what he said shoed up on a screen in front of the boy. Link had pressed a button, and the ship suddenly began to move.

"Oops, wrong one." Link said. "Maybe it's this one!" The lever Link pulled had now shut the cockpit. "Nope. Wait, here it is!" Link got it right, and used the ship to open fire on the Droidekas.

"Yeah!" He shouted as he knocked one of them out, followed shortly by the other two.

"Let's go!" Zelda ordered, her attackers out of the way.

"It's on automatic pilot." Link panicked as the ship took off in the same fashion as those before him. "Try to override it." He said to the droid behind him, who beeped in response.

Back in the hangar, It was still two-on-one as the Jedi battled the Sith in a fantastic Lightsaber dual. At one point, Bowser did a sidekick, knocking Roy back. Using the Force, Bowser opened another door, and led Marth into it, which Roy soon followed inside. Marth swung twice, but was blocked. By this time, Roy was back, and Bowser had to fend off both of them again. Another sidekick caught Marth this time, and Bowser kept the sides even briefly. Roy swung, but was blocked by Bowser's lower blade, then his upper. Marth was back, and the two had locked blades themselves. The Jedi Padawan blocked three shots, and Roy went high, but he was blocked as well. The Jedi then backed Bowser up to a very high ledge, causing a brief stare down between the three of them before the Sith lord blocked Roy's shot and jumped to a platform behind him. The two Jedi followed, swung at the same time, and were both blocked.

Zelda and her team ran as fast as they could up the main hall, but sure enough, soon they were met with more droids. They ducked behind the pillars in the room, and traded shots with the droids. Zelda shot one time, and scored a hit on a droid's shoulder.

"We don't have time for this, Captain." Zelda said to Impa, reminding her of their primary mission.

The autopilot had taken Link into space once again, right where the rest of the Hylian Arial Fleet was.

"Look, there they are." Link said to Mr. Game and Watch as he spotted the droid control ship. "That's where the auto-pilot's taking us."

Three Droidekas had penetrated the Zora's shield, and began to fire in the same fashion they always do; relentlessly. The shots took a fee Zora's off of their horses and tumbling to the ground. The battle waged on, and the Zora's were lucky that the water shield could reflect shots. One shot knocked a battle droid right in half, and the upper area landed on Mikau's back.

"Waaah!" Mikau screamed in panic, before getting a hold of the top half of the droid, and slamming it to the ground.

"Dumb droid." Mikau muttered. "Take that!" Mikau kicked the droid, but soon got his foot tangled in its wares.

"Get off! Get off!" Mikau panicked as he tried to get his foot free. He soon flipped the droid, and it fired upon another, taking it out.

"Ooh! Cool." Mikau said as he did the same thing, taking out another droid. He saw and approaching Droideka, and did the same, taking out one of it's legs.

Back in space, things were not looking good for the Hylains. Just as Roy said to Zelda, their weapons couldn't penetrate the ships shield.

"The deflector shield is too strong!" Bravo-Leader said as one of his comrades was gunned down. They released a few energy bombs, but still, no damage to the ship.

"This is tense!" Link called as he got a feel for the battle. A few enemy ships passed over head, missing with every shot. "Mr. Game and Watch, get us off this auto-pilot. It's gonna get us both killed." Game and Watch let out a few whistles to let Link know he was on the job. After a few minutes, the job was done.

"You did it, Game and Watch!" Link cheered in his cockpit, as he now had control of the ship. "Okay, let's go left." Game and Watch beeped again, communicating to Link.

"Go back?" Link questioned. "Roy told me to stay in this cockpit, so that's what I'm gonna do." Link outmaneuvered one of his followers, causing him to crash into the target ship.

"I'll try spinning, that's a good trick." Link said. He began the spin, but his attackers were still on his tail. Game and Watch beeped again.

"I know we're in trouble, just hang on." Link said to the droid.

The battle continued in the main hall, and Zelda's team couldn't take much more. Impa aimed for one of the window's and promptly shot it out.

"Go!" She commanded, sending the whole team to the outside. "Ascension guns!" She said again as they climbed to the outer windowsill. They aimed their blasters up, and attached them to a higher platform, carrying them up to another window. They filed to the sides, where Zelda shot out the next pane of glass, getting them closer to their destination.

The fierce lightsaber duel continued in the giant room with what seemed to be an endless pit. Roy swung, Bowser blocked, Marth swung, Bowser blocked. Another kick knocked Marth off of their current platform, and down to another. A closed backhand from Roy knocked Bowser down as well, but not as far as the Sith had knocked Marth. Roy jumped down, and continued the battle. As he went for the kill, Bowser kicked and knocked Roy away. They were both up, and dueling one-on-one again. Marth managed to get back up and retrieve his Lightsaber. He then did a force leap to where his Master and the Sith lord were battling towards a wall, and ran to join them. Roy had forced Bowser through a group of deactivated force fields, and battled their way towards a dead-end. Before much longer, the Force Fields reactivated, separating Roy from Bowser and Marth a several force fields back. The battle would have to wait to be continued as Roy extinguished his lightsaber. Bowser poked the force field with his lightsaber, and then extinguished it after no damage was done. At that point, Roy dropped to his knees and began to meditate while Bowser impatiently paced back and forth.

A stray shot scored a direct hit on one of the Zora's shield generators, and the bubble shield had disappeared. Upon noticing this, Ruto gave a whistle, signaling for the Zora's to retreat. This allowed the tanks to attack!

"Retreat! Retreat!" Mikau yelled as he ducked under a towing trailer for cover. "This is nuts!" Before he knew it, the trailer moved, exposing him again. He dove onto the back, which opened the door, causing around 15 or 20 water bombs to roll out. Mikau scrambled to dodge them, but was sent running in the other direction toward the danger! Rolling down the hill, the water bombs did their duty, disabling a few tanks and droids.

"Gimme a lift!" Mikau called to a passing Zora on a horse. He was pulled up, and they started running. A shot sent The horse and the original rider down, and Mikau soaring through they air, when he landed crotch-first onto the barrel of a tank, and groaned in pain.

"Mikau, use a water bomb!" Ruto yelled, who was riding right beside the tank he was on.

"But I don't have a water bomb!" Mikau called back.

"Here, take this one!" Ruto said as she pulled one out and tossed it to him. Mikau was a butterfingers, and juggled the blue ball until the driver of the tank appeared. The water bomb hit his chest, sending the tank into a spin.

"Mikau!" Ruto called, still riding beside him. "Jump, Mikau, jump!" Mikau jumped down, but Ruto failed to catch him, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Things weren't looking so good for Zelda's team either, as Battle droids and destroyers soon surrounded her.

"Put down your weapons." Zelda told her team. "They win this round."

Link also was still having a hard time shaking off his attackers. Mr. Game and Watch let out a shriek as the blasts came closer and closer. It wasn't long before the inevitable happened.

"We're hit, Game and Watch!" Link called as his ship went into an uncontrollable spin, right into the Trade ships hangar bay! Link fought to get his ship under control as Battle droids just watched as the ship passed by at a remarkable speed. Mr. Game and Watch beeped to Link.

"I'm trying to stop, I'm trying to stop!" Link told him. Sparks flew from the bottom of the ship as it hit the ground and skidded to a stop.

"Everything's overheated." Link said to the droid before noticing approaching enemies. "Oops, this is not good." Now Link had to get this ship up and running again, and he didn't have a lot of time.

Darth Bowser continued to pace, Roy continued to meditate, and Marth continued to watch. The Padawan could sense the shields were about to power down once again, and re-ignited his lightsaber. As the shield shut down again, Roy and Bowser did the same, and the battle continued. Once they had gotten to where Marth was standing, he rushed to join them once again, but the force field reactivated before he could get to them, and he was left standing where his Master was moments ago. Roy went high, then low, then to the other side, but only to be blocked all three times. Bowser went for a side shot, but was also blocked. Roy was blocked again as his turn came, and Marth could only watch. Bowser spun his double-bladed lightsaber around as Roy watched in anticipation. Roy was then sent to block three shots from the Sith lord. They swung at the same time, blocking each other in the process, as Bowsers two bladed advantage began to put the heat on the Jedi. Roy came for an overhand swing, but was blocked once again. Unfortunately too, because Bowser's next move was to hit Roy in the nose with the butt of his weapon…then spin around and sink his blade into the Jedi Master's chest!

"NO!!!!!!!" Marth yelled as he saw his master double over in pain, then fall to his back. Bowser then extinguished his weapon, and waited for the force field to deactivate again so he could finish the job with Marth, going back to pacing.

The Zora's were all but defeated, as the droids led them off with their hands in the air. Ruto and Mikau had not yet been captured, but they were surrounded.

"No giving up, General Mikau." Ruto told him. "We'll think of something."

"Hand's up." A droid commanded as he aimed his weapon at the Zora's.

"I give up, I give up." Mikau said as he threw his hands in the air. Ruto only sighed and grabbed her forehead.

Zelda would soon be meeting Wolf O'Donnell, but not the way she wanted as several droids led her and her team to the throne room.

"Your little insurrection is at an end your highness." Wolf told her. "Time for you to sign the treaty and end this pointless debate in the senate."

"Viceroy!" Someone called. Wolf looked down the hall and saw Zelda's decoy in royal attire. "Your occupation here has ended!" The decoy shat a few droids, and ran off.

"After her!" Wolf ordered. "This one's a decoy!" Wolf had no idea that he had the two of them mixed up. Zelda sat in her throne, and opened a secret console on the royal chair, revealing two blasters.

"Captain!" Zelda called as she tossed one to Impa and took the other for herself. The princess and Impa used their weapons to eliminate the remaining droids in the room.

"Jam the doors." Impa ordered to the rest of Zelda's team, as the princess herself approached the viceroy of the Trade Federation.

"Now viceroy, we will discuss a new treaty." Zelda ordered.

Marth watched as the murderous Sith Lord paced back and forth. The force field was moments from deactivating again, and the two of them ignited their weapons. Once the door opened, Marth ran forward, and battled Darth Bowser for all the two of them were worth. Bowser, accustomed to making the first move, soon found himself playing defense as he had to block a jumping slash from the Padawan, then one from below. Bowser pushed his opponents weapon back, and then struck for Marth's rear. Marth put his weapon over his head, blocking his back, then brought it forward, guarding his front. The battle got more heated by the second, as Marth backed off, allowing Bowser to spin his weapon, just as he had before stabbing Roy where it counted. Marth was now on defense, as he blocked two shots, and had to jump to dodge a third. Marth swung back and fourth, with Bowser blocking every shot, at one point, Bowser had his weapon perpendicular, and Marth slashed right through the butt. One end dropped into the pit in the center of the room, and Marth returned the favor for so many kicks, and kicked the sith lord to his rear.

Bowser jumped up and ran from Marth for a moment until the battle was on again. Bowser was now swinging for the fences, as Marth had no choice but to block. Bowser gave another kick, but only caused Marth to stumble backwards. They both spun, and attacked again, blocking each other's shot. Their lightsabers clashed three more times until Marth got an upper hand, and slowly pushed Darth Bowser's lightsaber towards his own throat. Bowser pushed back then did a force push, knocking Marth into the pit! With all his life energy, Marth grabbed an outward stud inside the pit, and clung for dear life. Bowser let out a growl and Kicked Marth's lightsaber inside as well, sending it falling into the unknown.

"Yes, we have power!" Link said as he got his ship running again. "Shields up!" Just in time, as the droids opened fire, but Link's deflector shield kept him safe.

"Take this!" Link said as he shot the droids much like he had done to the Destroyers in Zelda's Hangar. "And this!" Link pushed a different button on the trigger, and shot a few energy bombs, which collided with the control ship's main reactor!

"Oops." Link said.

"We're losing power!" The pilot of the ship said to the captain. "There seems to be a problem with the main reactor."

"Impossible!" The captain insisted. "Nothing can get through our shield."

"Let's get out of here!" Link said. It was a good Idea, as he raced to outrun a wave of fire, which engulfed everything in its path. The effects could be seen from the rest of the Hylian fleet.

"What's that?" A female pilot asked. "It's blowing up from the inside!"

"We didn't hit it." Bravo leader responded.

"Now this is F-Zero racing!" Link said as he raced out of the ship.

"Look, one of ours out of the main hold!" A male pilot told them.

"Whoo!" Link cheered excitedly as he escaped the ship. His cries of joy were soon joined by the rest of the fleet, at the Droid Control ship exploded behind them as they made their escape back to the planet.

The droid's that had the Zora's captured all of a sudden just stopped moving, as their motors winded down.

"What are they doing?" Mikau asked.

"The control ship has been destroyed." Ruto said. "Look!" She pushed one over, and it gave no resistance as it hit the ground.

"They're all broken." Mikau said as he pushed another down himself. The Zora's cheered in victory as they continued to push over deactivated battle droids.

Marth was in a heap of trouble as Bowser threw his lightsaber to and fro against the rim of the pit, causing hundreds of sparks to fly up. The Sith lord saw that Marth had only two options. Let go and fall to his doom, or jump up and be killed.

Marth, however, saw a third option. He cleared his mind, closed his eyes, and listened to the midi-chlorians as his Master had taught him to do. They told him a very useful piece of information, that Roy's lightsaber was lying next to him! Marth had never gotten the force-pull right, but there was no better time than now to learn how to do it. With a mighty grunt, Marth jumped up, pulled Roy's lightsaber into his hand, ignited it, and upon landing, gave a mighty slash right through Darth Bowser's stomach!

The Sith gasped, blinked, and fell into the pit, his body separating on the way down. Darth Bowser was no more. Marth extinguished the blade, and ran over to his downed master and lifted his head.

"No, it…" Roy muttered weakly. "It's…too late."

"No." Marth said, not accepting what was happening.

"Marth." Roy continued. "Promise…promise me you will…train the boy."

"Yes, master." Marth obeyed immediately.

"He…is the chosen one." Roy said. "He…will bring balance…train him." With those words, Roy's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his eyelids closed. Marth hugged his master close, and wept silently.