Chapter 26: Target: Vah Medoh
"Unity is strength, when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved." -Mattie Stepanek
Satori Mountain
From a nearby hilltop, Sidon uses a spyglass to observe the goings-on within the barrier, able to spot a distant battle close to Rito Village. After a few minutes, he descends the hill to address his compatriots.
"Well, how does it look?" Yunobo asks, anxious to hear any news.
"The fighting has only just begun, I don't think they'll reach the Divine Beast just yet." Sidon reports. What about our forces?"
"They're all waiting for the call." Riju, leaning against a tree, answers. "The soldiers are positioned as usual; we lead our own, Paya and Granté are leading the Sheikah and Commander Mormont and Stannis are leading the Hylian soldiers. Also, Purah and the rest are watching from afar, gathering any data they can and to deploy what ever uncorrupted Guardian they can; they have a considerable amount."
"Alright. Also, does anyone else suspect anything?" Sidon asks in a very hushed tone.
"No, I only gave the order from Link to Paya and Mormont; telling them not to discuss it with anyone else." Yunobo answers.
"Good. Let's keep it that way and get into position slowly."
"Agreed. Come, we must return to our units." Riju concludes and the three Champions return to their respective positions.
Rito Village
The battle near Rito Village continues to rage on with both sides bringing out everything that they have to counter each other.
"Men! Hold the line!" Sooga commands his forces to maintain the logs being used as a makeshift barrier to hold their position for as long as they can at the remains of Kolami Bridge from the Corrupted forces. As the arrows fly from both sides, Corrupted Guardian Stalkers make their way to the fighting. "Guardians! Arm the Ancient and Chozodium arrows! Aim for their eyes!" True to what the Chozo have offered, the Chozodium disrupts the phazon within the Guardians and the Ancient arrows destroy them. "Keep it up, there will be more!"
In the skies above the Village, the Rito employ hit and run tactics against the enemy units on the ground and what little they can on the Village with bomb arrows. Tired of the nuisances, Ridley takes to the skies and begins attacking the Rito.
"Alright everyone; Ridley is in the air! Evasive maneuvers now!" Teba commands and the Rito scatter in an effort to dodge Ridley's plasma breath and missile system. Added to the issue are the Guardian Turrets placed within the Village, taking aim at the Rito.
"Teba!" Harth calls out, catching up to Teba. "Things are already getting out of hand in the first hour; I think we underestimated the sheer number of enemies around the Village."
"Is it that bad on the ground?"
"Sooga and his men are keeping their side at bay for the most part, but they keep bringing in more reinforcements. Link, the princess and Samus haven't made much progress, but they're faring much better; make of that what you will. As for us, the Guardian fire makes it hard for us to shoot from a distance."
Thinking it through, Teba comes up with a new approach. "Alright, here's what we're going to do; we're going to get in closer. Use the new swords."
"You mean the sword flight? But that hasn't been applied to combat yet." Harth asks in a semi apprehensive tone, yet he soon relents. "Eh, there is a technique I've been wanting to try anyway."
"Good; today is the perfect day." Teba states with a smirk before addressing the others. "Rito! Swords!"
On cue, the Rito draw their twin swords with their wings before placing them on their feet.
"Scatter! Aid the ground forces, employ hit and run tactics! Harth, I need you to direct them." Teba commands.
"Me? What about you?" Harth asks in surprise.
"I can give you guys some breathing room if I give Ridley something to chase."
"What?!"
"He can hit any one of us from afar and he has better maneuverability than the Skywatchers. If I can keep him distracted, then we might have a better chance."
"Argh, why do you always have to be the hard headed one?" Harth asks in a frustrated tone. "You all heard him; scatter!"
With that, the Rito (Harth included) separate from each other to offer aid wherever they can, avoiding laser fire and arrows rising towards the sky. Content, Teba makes a mad dash for Ridley and pelts him with bomb arrows, nearly flooring him. Shaking off the impact, Ridley flies in place and glares at Teba.
"You! Who are you to challenge me?" Ridley demands in an aggressive tone. "You would dare face down the harbinger of death than scurry away like the insect you are?"
"I've faced a lot of monsters before; you don't look so different from the rest." Teba retorts. "If anything, you're just a smaller Vah Medoh."
"Is that right?" Ridley asks as anger wells within him and his chest glows bright yellow. "Care to test your luck?"
"Don't disappoint me." Teba states as he throws a dagger at Ridley, who simply swats it away. As Teba flies off, Ridley shoots a heated plasma blast from his mouth in an attempt to hit Teba, only managing to unintentionally hit a part of Rito Village. Roaring, Ridley gives chase.
Rito Village
Staggering from Ridley's impact, Silas stands back up to overlook the battles surrounding the Village.
"It would seem that Ridley is only focusing on one Rito; his ego must have gotten the better of him." Silas comments to himself as three Armored Yiga walk up behind him. "We're not taking any chances now; spread out and attack all fronts. Notify the others of this as well. It does go against Lord Ganondorf, but we have no choice now; you are to kill the Princess on sight. Now go."
"Yes…" The Armored Yiga answer in unison before leaving to join the fray.
Back at Dronoc's Pass, Link, Zelda and Samus have made little progress in getting through due to the sheer number of gold monsters enhanced through Phazon corruption. As Link continues to fight and cut through squad after squad of monsters, he also struggles with keeping his own phazon at bay.
"The number of monsters has only increased for every one you all destroy." Virginia reports, bringing up the enemy markers on Samus's radar.
"Yeah, Virginia; I noticed." Samus answers, locking on to several monsters and blasting them with seeker missiles.
"If we could just do something about the tentacles around us, then we could get some more leeway!" Link shouts, alternating between the Master Sword and Bow of Light as he cuts down monsters left and right.
"You only had to ask!" Harth, swooping down from the sky with swords on his feet, announces as he cuts down a few monsters encroaching on them. "I'm going to try something; wish me luck!"
"Please Harth; be careful!" Zelda shouts from afar, using Nayru's Love to deflect phazite arrows back at the opponents.
"No time for careful, Highness!" Harth flies low, dodging every monster in his path and has his swords ready. Picking up speed, he flies past the phazon tentacle and cuts deep into it, nearly severing it. "Hah! It's working!"
In response, the monsters screech in anger over Harth's interference. Soon, their attention is brought back to the sound of whistling; Link had been the source of it and took the opportunity to lunge at a pair of bokoblins and decapitate them as they turn around. Taking the chance, Samus jumps above Link and dropkicks an approaching lynel before blasting it with missiles. Zelda imbues her rapier with Din's Fire as she cuts through the monsters, using her power to float over the ground and zip past them. Meanwhile, Harth continues to fly over the phazon tentacles; cutting through them in an attempt to lower the number of monsters.
"One more to go!" Harth shouts from the sky.
"Perfect, once it's down then we can continue the plan!" Link responds in elation.
"Got it!" Picking up speed, Harth brings his swords in with a scissor-like position and chops through the phazon tentacle in their path. However, before they can celebrate this small victory, a large three fingered hand erupts from the stump and seizes Harth mid flight; an Elite Pirate has emerged and in response, Harth let's out a screech that reaches towards the sky.
Alarmed, the three regroup to aid Harth, only to be stopped by the monsters as the latter struggles to get out of the Elite Pirate's grasp.
Kolami Bridge
Sooga and his men continue to keep the enemy forces on the other side of Kolami Bridge (or what remains of it) to keep them from flanking Link's side on the ground. However, the sheer number of monsters and Corrupted begin to take its toll as more Yiga are injured and moved away, Rito warriors are kept at bay by Guardian Skywatcher fire and each enemy they slay is immediately replaced by another. To add to the already overwhelming situation, a blademaster directs several bokoblins holding up a long collection of wooden boards lined with iron bars, wanting to use it as a makeshift bridge.
"Aim at those monsters, don't let them connect that bridge!" Sooga orders before throwing more kunai at the enemies.
"Master Sooga! Over there!" One of Sooga's men points in the direction of the enemies; singling out an approaching Elite Pirate. As it reaches the edge of the destroyed bridge, Sooga and his men react in horror as the Elite Pirate effortlessly jumps over the gap. As it lands, it firess the turrets on its shoulder at the barricade, destroying it completely as well as scattering Sooga's forces.
"Men, fall back! I'll handle the monster!" Sooga commands, drawing his Chozodium claymores.
"But Master!"
"Regroup and fall back; we must buy the Princess and her friends as much time as we can! I can give you all more time if I give this thing something to fight! Go now!"
Deciding not to argue further, the Yiga fall back, carrying out their injured. With that settled, Sooga faces the Elite Pirate in an effort to hold it and the other monsters back.
Skies above Rito Village
Staying ahead of Ridley, Teba keeps him as far as he can from the fighting while dodging all of his attacks. His attention is brought to the screech from Harth and he knew full well that it was directed at him; I can't make it, you have to help the princess in my stead! That is precisely what they agreed upon with Harth's screech. Before he can come to Harth's aid, Teba dodges a plasma blast from Ridley and both combatants hover a distance from each other.
"Has your friend distracted you?" Ridley snarls. "You are aware that he's the least of your problems, yes?"
"Don't worry; he can handle himself." Teba fibbed, not wanting Ridley to catch on to "the plan".
"But…can the princess?" Ridley asks, earning shock from Teba. "Yes, I know what you're doing; you were trying to distract me from the princess and Samus. That hot air balloon; our forces are looking for it already. Your little princess shouldn't have been so talkative."
Glancing to the side briefly, Teba flies off and away from Link's position and Ridley gives chase. Unknown to Ridley, Teba smirks slightly as he flies off.
Dronoc's Pass
As Harth struggles to get out of the Elite Pirate's grip, Link charges at the beast and drives the Master Sword on its shoulder and Samus fires off more seeker missiles to keep the other monsters from interfering. The Elite Pirate thrashes about as Link holds on tight in an effort to get it to release Harth and Zelda shoots a fireball at its chest with the opportunity that Link allowed her, making it fall. Harth takes the chance to fly off, but the Elite Pirate extends its wrist bayonet, catching him on his back and left leg.
"HARTH!" Zelda shouts as Harth flies past the cliffs before falling down from his injuries. The Elite Pirate pushes Link off and moves to attack the others. Before it can hit Zelda and Samus with its bayonets, Link jumps forward and shield bashes them away and pushes the Elite Pirate back.
"Ok, we're taking too long; Zelda, you and Samus need to get going." Link commands, entering a fighting pose.
"No, we'll face them together." Zelda retorts, motioning to Link's side only for the former to block her path with his sword.
"Absolutely not; you have to leave NOW."
"Zelda, he has a point." Samus adds, scanning the path filled with monsters and the Elite Pirate waiting for their next move. "We can't wait much longer."
"It's settled then; get going."
"No, nothing is settled! We will not leave you here; we either fight as a singular force or not at all!" Zelda vehemently insists, unwilling to continue on with her plan if Link stays behind…and that dream again… "If we hurry, we can cut through them quickly- ahh!" Zelda is cut off as Link yanks her by the top of her cape and shoves her over to Samus. Shocked, Zelda looks at Link with wide eyes. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"You are NOT staying!" Link shouts in defiance. "You have your plan; I'll stay and buy you time."
"But, Link!"
"Zelda, we are really out of time; I can see from here that the Rito and Sooga are struggling. We need to bring the rest of our forces in here. We cannot do that if the barrier is still up, that's why you need to get up there with Samus." Link explains.
"But, they'll overwhelm you…" Zelda quietly adds.
"Do you have that little faith in me? You have your own duty to fulfill, now do it." Link states as he brings out his bow of light along with the Master Sword. "I told you that I trust you; don't you trust me?"
Zelda moves to speak, but as she looks around to see the overwhelming number of monsters and Corrupted Yiga clarify her thoughts; he was right and she must do what she has to do. Nodding twice, Zelda sheathes her rapier and has Samus take her up and over the cliffs as the latter shoots away a couple of monsters trying to intercept them. The Elite Pirate roars and charges at Link, who bats away its bayonets with both of his weapons as he glances over to see Zelda and Samus out of sight.
Teba does his best to stay out of Ridley's reach, but fatigue begin to take its toll as he starts to slow down and the latter takes notice of this.
"Come now, are you getting tired? You haven't even put a dent on my armor." Ridley jeers. "But, I'm not letting you escape; you've defied me enough." With those words, Ridley picks up speed and is now flying above Teba.
"Damn it…" Teba breathlessly exclaims as Ridley brings down all of his weight on him. Teba desperately tries to get out if Ridley's grip as he brings them both down to the ground. As Ridley roars in early triumph, Teba pulls out a sword and begins hacking away at the former's armorskin, albeit fruitlessly. Eventually Teba hits the plating on his chest and this finally causes Ridley pain. "What were you saying about dents?"
"You…!" Ridley struggles to retort as Teba holds on and stabs his chest several times before the former kicks him towards a cliffside. Before Teba can recover, Ridley pins him down with his wings on both his left and right sides. "End of the line, bird boy…" Ridley opens his mouth and prepares to hit Teba with a plasma blast, only to be interrupted by several Rito warriors swopping down and overwhelming him. "What is this?! Get off-" Ridley shouts in anger before one of the warriors holds his mouth closed.
"What are you all doing?!" Teba asks in alarm.
"Master Teba, we will hold him off; you must go now!" One of the warriors shouts amidst Ridley doing all he can to shake them off. "Go!"
Snarling, Teba reluctantly flies off towards where Link and the others are while his men hold Ridley back.
Dronoc's Pass
Link's struggle against the monsters and Elite Pirate has begun to take its toll on him; his exhaustion has made the phazon in his body even more unstable and it urges him to use Hypermode. As if the situation wasn't bad enough, the damage the Elite Pirate has sustained allowed it to mutate into a stronger form and a berserker like rage. "I don't care how long it takes, I'll keep fighting you all!" Link charges forward with both weapons at the monsters, who respond in kind with their own weapons amidst their screeches and the Elite Pirate's roars. Thanks to his abilities, Link is able to keep most of the monsters at bay, while simultaneously withstanding their attacks to his armor…until a Guardian Stalker emerges from the ravine and shoots Link directly on the chest, throwing him against the wall. Reeling from the impact, Link moves to retaliate and the monsters pin him down by grabbing his arms as he struggles to get loose. The Elite Pirate rushes over and punches Link repeatedly, seriously wounding him until his struggles begin to wane. With the damage dealt to him, the phazon begins to ascend in his body, once again urging him to use its power, but Link was determined; he used his own willpower to keep it down, but this only allowed the Elite Pirate to injure him further. With a final phazon charged punch, the Elite Pirate lands a heavy blow on Link, cracking the stone wall behind him. With Link unconscious and grievously wounded, the monsters move to finish him off until Sooga and his men arrive to offer aid.
"Men, spread them out!" Sooga commands his men to engage the monsters and get them away from Link while the Rito warriors swoop down to lay a volley of arrows on them, particularly the Guardians that have begun to converge on the area. As the Yiga and Rito fight off the monsters and Guardians, the mutated Elite Pirate goes after Sooga, who readily faces the beast. Before he can actually fight it, a total of three arrows (one phazite and two bomb) hit its head and it blasts apart, killing the monster as it falls down the chasm; Link, having invoked Mipha's Grace to restore all damage and fatigue done to him, had been the one to shoot those arrows. "Knight!"
"Sooga, thank you for the save." Link declares as he lowers his bow. "I don't believe it; they got here already."
"The numbers were great; we barely got away with our lives. Is the time now?"
"It should be, I sent Zelda and Samus to get to Harth before they leave." As he says this, several power beam shots pelt a few of the monsters from above; Teba had gotten to Samus, who is firing at the monsters, and is now flying towards Vah Medoh. From behind the cliffs, Zelda races off on the Master Cycle Zero, no doubt towards the hot air balloon near Hebra Trailhead Lodge. "Alright, they're underway!"
"The princess can use that machine?" Sooga asks in confusion.
"I taught her how to use it before all of this happened, she's making good use of her practice." Link answers with a smile, before it sours as he spots the Armored Yiga jumping down from the trees and giving chase. "No!"
"Worthless cowards!" Sooga shouts in anger. "Knight, you must go and protect her!"
"Sooga, what about you and the others?" Link asks and Sooga responds by making him face the direction that Zelda went.
"Knight, every second you waste takes her further away from you. You must make sure she reaches Vah Medoh or we will lose this fight."
"He's right." Harth states as he comes out from behind the cliff, having been partially healed by Zelda. "You need to make sure she gets to that balloon and those cretins are in your way. Hurry."
"Listen well, Knight; you needn't worry about us. We knew the risks when we joined your fight; our fight. Do not linger here and protect your princess."
"…I understand." Link states in a professional tone.
"Excellent, I will clear a path for you." Sooga wastes no time and begins cutting down gold bokoblins and lizalfos, expecting Link to follow close behind until he's out of range. After a moment of running through the monsters, they both reach the other end and Sooga grabs Link by the shoulders and tosses him far enough that he can run unhindered. "Good luck, Knight!"
Link gives Sooga a brief salute before he turns back and continues running; the suit augmenting his running speed. His task done, Sooga returns to Harth and his men.
"Did you do it?" Harth asks, fighting off monsters with his sword.
"Yes, he's clear." Sooga answers, parrying a moblin before cutting it down. "And don't worry; he's still unaware."
"Good, I just hope the princess knows what she's doing." Harth adds, curiously looking up at Teba briefly.
"It's truly a gambit, but I will take it." Sooga concludes as they face more enemies encroaching on them.
"You will die…!" One of the Armored Yiga shouts in an almost hiss as he and his unit chase Zelda, who doesn't look back and simply revs the engine. "Continue..!"
Whistling to catch their attention, Link continues to sprint down the path and a few of the Armored Yiga notice him, throwing their daggers in an effort to stop him, though Link is able to dodge them. Eventually, one of them drops down and begins attacking Link with his phazite sword. Link, on the other hand, thinks quickly and bats it away with his Bow of Light before throwing it at his opponent, who swiftly dodges it; in time to see Link running off again. Snarling in anger, the Armored Yiga gives chase, only to be decapitated by the returning Bow of Light's razor surface as it comes back to Link's hand, shaking off the blood and phazon before putting it on his back.
Seeing that Zelda is close to arriving at the Lodge, one of the Armored Yiga throws his phazite sword at the Master Cycle Zero, dispelling it and making Zelda land hard on the snowy path. "Find the balloon…" The Yiga orders the other two as he goes off to execute Zelda with his retrieved sword, until Link arrives and shoots three arrows to hinder his progress.
"Get away from her…" Link demands in quiet anger, bringing out his sword and bow as dual wielded weapons.
The Armored Yiga brings out a smaller sword along with his own in response. "Men…KILL THE KNIGHT!" That same Yiga shouts before rupturing the red phazon core on his chest, allowing him to mutate into a stronger form as the other two regroup with him. Unflinching, Link enters a fighting pose as the mutated Armored Yiga sends out a howling roar as the two unaltered Armored Yiga rush him with their blades. Link blocks both blades with his weapons as the mutated Armored Yiga prepares to blast him with a red phazon stream from his chest and Link has to move aside lest it hits him. After moving, one of the Yiga sweeps his legs before performing a downward strike, which Link blocks with his bow, kicks him off and parry's another strike from the second Yiga before elbowing him in the face. The mutated Yiga pins him to a nearby rock wall, snarling at him before charging up the red phazon stream again and Link uses the Master Sword pressed up against his chest to redirect the stream at one of the other Yiga, blasting him in half. Screaming in anger and frustration, the mutated Yiga attempts to run his sword through Link's head, but Link kicks him in the stomach, winding him and he follows up by ramming his head into the wall, knocking him down. Refocusing, Link spots the remaining Armored Yiga moving to kill Zelda; Link grabs the smaller phazite dagger and throws it at him, staggering him from the impact. Link rushes him and pins the Yiga to the ground, digging his hand into his chest to tear out the red phazon core, tossing it aside before slaying the Yiga with his own sword. Breathing heavily, Link walks over to the unconscious Zelda but a thought crosses his mind as he approaches her; has she gotten taller? Before he can question it further, a red phazon stream hits him across his chest and sends him hitting a tree back first; the mutated Armored Yiga had regained consciousness. Reeling from the impact and acknowledging the burn across his chest, Link quickly gets back on his feet and locks blades with the charging Yiga. Unexpectedly, the Yiga is struck by something that paralyzes it and Link takes the sudden advantage by stabbing him through the red phazon core and following up with a swift decapitation, ending the threat at last. All was not as it seemed however; the source of that paralyzing attack had been Zelda, holding a blaster in her hand. Adding to Link's confusion, Zelda stands up and is revealed to indeed be taller and she lowers her hood, further shocking Link.
"Samus?!"
"Well, the secret is out." Samus states in an almost timid tone.
"What is going on? Where is Zelda? What about the plan?"
"Alright, I know you're upset, but I need you to understand; the plan is not what you think." Samus explains to Link the true plan; in order to get Zelda and Samus up to Vah Medoh, the enemy had to think that they split up to get there separately, so Zelda had to think radically. First, they needed to make sure the enemies had to hear Zelda detail the plan out loud in their midst, giving them false leads. Then, when they reached their intended rendezvous point where Harth (now Teba) would meet them, they would get behind the cliffs…and swap places. Using a garb similar to what Zelda wore (made by Saki and a few other Rito women through the night), Samus kept her hood down while she drove the Master Cycle Zero and Zelda wore Samus's power suit while Teba took her up towards Vah Medoh; fully intent on administering the phazon vaccine by herself through the fully powered suit. "I added Zelda's genetic code to my suit, so that it would recalibrate to fit her and allow her access to its systems; at the very least she knows how to fire the arm cannon."
Overwhelmed by this information and the fact that Zelda will be all alone on Vah Medoh, Link felt like he was about to drop to his knees. "W-why was I not told about this?"
"Ah, I asked Zelda the same thing and she was afraid that you'd throw a fit. But honestly, I think you had an effect on her; she said she'd go up there without the slightest bit of hesitation. That's the kind of talk I'd expect from you." Samus adds while looking up at the sky. "You told me once that she was mainly timid, I think those days are long past her. You should be proud of her."
Before he could retort, Link realized that Samus was right. Looking up at the sky, past the laser fire and Rito warriors flying swiftly, he spots Teba hauling a clearly shorter frame of Samus's suit and briefly reminisces Zelda's past successes; fighting off the Zeta Metroid, protecting the Zora's from Dark Samus's invasion, defeating the other bounty hunters with their aid, infiltrating the South Goron Mines and gathering useful information, bringing him back from the brink of his own insanity along with openly defying Dark Samus, holding her own against a risen Ganondorf and now Zelda braving the indiscriminate weapon fire to purify the last Divine Beast. As Zelda's words, do you trust me?, echo in his mind, Link breathes calmly and smiles.
"Go."
Skies near Vah Medoh
With the plan known, Teba hauls Zelda (inside of the power suit) closer and closer to Vah Medoh.
"Alright, we're almost there! How are you feeling, Princess?" Teba asks, looking down briefly.
"Uh, I didn't realize how high up it was." Zelda shakily answers, doing her best to not look down. "But, I'll manage.
"Don't worry, if Link could do it then so can you. Ah, there it is!" Teba points out to Vah Medoh, particularly looking at the massive stream of phazon flowing out from the main control unit on its back, obviously powering the barrier. "This is it Princess, are you ready?"
"Yes Teba; bring me down!" Zelda declares as Teba gets in close before she jumps down…only to fumble the landing by tossing herself and then rolling towards a pillar that stops her. "Ow…"
"Princess! Are you alright?!" Teba asks in alarm, having witnessed her botched landing.
"Yes, Samus made it look so easy." Zelda stands back up, a little disoriented from the fall.
"Well, then no time to waste; you have your assignment, I better get back to-" Before Teba can finish, Ridley immediately touches down on Vah Medoh and seizes him.
"Teba!"
"Did you think they could hold me?!" Ridley shouts in anger with Teba in his claws.
"Go! Get going!" Teba shouts, urging Zelda to continue before Ridley swats him away with his tail. Gritting her teeth, Zelda makes a run for it to the main control unit, only for Ridley to stand between her and it.
"Going somewhere, Sam- wait a minute…" Ridley stops before smelling the air around "Samus". "…you? This filthy kingdom's princess? Heh…hahahahahahah! What are you doing? Playing dress-up?"
Undeterred, Zelda points the arm cannon at Ridley. "Get out of the way, now!"
"Clearly this is your first time, isn't it?" Ridley, with an unconvinced look on his face, flicks Zelda away. Zelda stops herself before she reaches the edge. "You don't have the conviction like Samus does. That suit is just a safety blanket for you."
Zelda gets back up and fires off a missile that harmlessly detonates on top of Ridley's head, much to his amusement. He responds by flapping his wings furiously, producing gusts of wind that throw Zelda off balance, forcing her to hide behind a pillar.
"Zelda, may I offer my assistance?" Virginia asks from within the helmet.
"Virginia? I forgot that you were here." Zelda states in realization. "Of course, what can you tell me?"
"Very well, accessing previous log book entry; Reborn and evolved through Pirate technology, Meta Ridley is a fearsome enforcer. His armored hide is extremely resilient, save for the chest, which has thinner plating. The Pirates have fused a number of potent weapons to the creature, including a Multi-Missile System, a Kinetic Breath Weapon, a Meson Bomb Launcher and an Ultrathermal Flamestrike Projector. Meta Ridley is also a formidable melee combatant making any sort of engagement a risky proposition."
"Unbelievable, Dark Samus managed to bring him back with all of that?" Zelda asks in bewilderment. "Regardless, it's like how Teba told me; his chest is where he's weakest."
"Yes- dodge to the right." Virginia immediately commands and Zelda does so, just in time to avoid a claw swipe that destroys the pillar she's hiding behind. Refocusing, she stares at Ridley who does the same.
"Do you yield?"
"No." Zelda defiantly answers.
Back down below, the fighting rages on as the Corrupted continue to encroach on Sooga, Harth and their forces as the Rito have decided to remain on the ground to aid them, relinquishing their air advantage to aid the others.
"Damn, this never ends!" Harth shouts amidst the fighting, cutting down a lizalfos.
"Do not falter! We can still survive this!" Sooga retorts, decapitating an Elite Pirate and kicking its corpse at a group of monsters to scatter them before bellowing at the allies to rally them into continuing. Before the enemies can retaliate, a mildly injured Teba swoops down and bombards them with bomb arrows before landing less than gracefully with the others. "You're back! Did you do it?"
"Yeah, but Ridley is up there with her; I don't know if she can handle it." Teba breathlessly answers looking at the sheer number of enemies. "Hylia above…"
"Then we continue fighting and pray that she makes it; I will not drop to my knees and die shamefully!" Sooga declares, throwing several kunai at the monsters and Guardians to slow them down. From the other end of Dronoc's Pass, Link arrives on the Master Cycle Zero and as he swerves, Samus jumps out from behind him and drop kicks a moblin in the face. Link dispels the Cycle and slams down his AKEB charged Master Sword on the ground, scattering the enemies even further and giving his allies more leeway.
"Welcome back." Teba states with a smile.
"I wasn't gone long, was I?" Link asks in return.
"I'd say we arrived just in time for the party." Samus adds as she draws Zelda's rapier on one hand and her blaster on the other.
"Then we waste no more time; the princess is on Vah Medoh, it is only a matter of time now!" Sooga shouts, twirling his blades thrice in each hand.
"Uh, everyone?" Harth calls out to everyone and points to a particular direction; Silas had arrived with his own forces.
"Yiga, attack!" Silas commands his Armored Yiga squadron who arrived with him to engage the battle weary group.
"Usurper!" Sooga angrily calls out to Silas, only being held back by the Corrupted.
"Ah, Kohga's dog. Now we can kill two birds with one stone." Silas calmly states before looking at Samus. "And what is this? Dressed like the prin- wait, where is the princess?" Silas asks in stunned realization. "Where is she?!"
"Out of your reach." Samus answers pointing up at Vah Medoh.
"No…NO! You tricked us!"
"Figure that out on your own, did ya?" Teba sarcastically comments.
"While you and the rest of your followers were busy with us, she slipped under your noses. She outsmarted you at every turn and you walked right into her ploy." Link proudly states to the dumbfounded Silas. "How will you tell your master you failed?"
With his own phazon welling up within himself, Silas exclaims in anger and frustration over being made a fool of. "SLAUGHTER THEM!"
"Forward!" Link leads the charge to engage the Corrupted forces and all follow him into the fray.
Vah Medoh
Thanks to Virginia's consultation, Zelda has been able to stay ahead of Ridley's attacks while coming up with a plan to get Ridley in the chest and purify Vah Medoh at last, though it involves her getting close.
"How much longer are you going to keep this up? This little game of cat and mouse." Ridley calls out, stalking through the area.
"Zelda, are you sure this is a good idea?" Virginia asks, bringing up Zelda's plan.
"Yes, it's risky but I checked and I can in fact combine the two." Zelda answers, standing behind a pillar to stay out of Ridley's sight. "Do you think it can work?"
"There is a 27% probability that it will succeed, given that your current speed and agility pales in comparison to Samus, forgive me for saying so."
"Well, I admire your honesty…arm it." Zelda states, asking Virginia to select the super missiles.
"Let me remind you, highness; I am a leader of the Space Pirates. If you are counting on me to flinch because I can't spot you for the moment, then you have made a fatal error." Ridley declares in a tone of superiority.
Gaining her own confidence, Zelda calls out. "Is that right? Well, let me tell you something; I've been in your position before and I can already see it. You're nervous that you'll fail."
Ridley, hearing Zelda close by, skulks over to where she's hiding. "You little fool! You fail to realize that my forces and those of Dark Samus will wipe out all that you've brought and I will rip you in half!" Ridley now begins charging plasma in his mouth as he's mere inches away from where Zelda is standing.
"He's in position, Zelda…" Virginia brings up the radar.
"And what you don't realize is that the God's are on my side!" Zelda uses the boosters on her back and points the super missile at Ridley's chest…imbued with Din's Fire. A stunned Ridley can only watch as the holy fire powered super missile detonates on his chest, significantly damaging it and causing him great pain.
"Argh, you worthless little thing!" Ridley shouts in anger before shooting a plasma stream from his mouth at Zelda, who immediately invokes Nayru's Love to redirect it back at Ridley, further damaging and disorienting him. With both attacks successful, Zelda uses Farore's Wind to get to the tip of Vah Medoh's left wing.
"Virginia, now!"
"Activating speed booster." Virginia states as Zelda starts running, eventually picking up blinding speeds and she throws all of her weight plus the kinetic energy at Ridley, at long last knocking him off Vah Medoh as he roars in anguish. Standing tall, Zelda imbues the suit with her power and makes a beeline for the main control unit, opening the arm cannon to select the phazon vaccine.
The fight continues on with Link, Samus and their allies able to keep their opponents back. Though, it is clear that the enemy has the numbers on their side; Silas engaging both Samus and Sooga, Teba and Harth bombarding arrows around their perimeter to keep the enemies relatively at bay and Link being stretched thin as he fights monsters on every point he's needed at.
"Don't falter!" Link shouts, clearly fatigued from the fight.
"NEVER!" Every single combatant on Link's side shout in unison, unwilling to go down.
However, Link's approval of his forces confidence soon begins to sour as his phazon once again urges him to enter Hypermode, though he resists it. Before a random moblin strikes him with a claymore, every monster and Corrupted Yiga's attention is brought to the sky as a radiant light expands from atop Vah Medoh, bringing the fight to a halt. With a mighty screech from Vah Medoh, the barrier covering Tabantha and Hebra begins to lower. As the Corrupted shout and holler in anger, Link slowly begins to smile; Zelda had succeeded in bringing down the final barrier at long last and she pronounces her victory by shooting up into the air which doubles as the indication for the Allied Forces to finally mobilize to take back Rito Village.
To be continued
Author's Note: Whoo hoo! At long last I made it to this chapter, no more barriers over the land! I don't really have much else to say on this chapter except thank you all for reading thus far and I wish you all a Happy Halloween. Alright guys/girls, take care. :)