Endless War

XV

"A second chance? In my society, there are rarely any second chances. Especially not for me."

-Princess Hilda

"We're fucked, aren't we?"

"Excellent observation, Soap!" Link snapped as he struggled again to free his hands from the rough rope. "Now, why don't you be useful for once and get your shit together?"

It had been a rough day - no, it wasn't even noon. A wild and brutal morning so far.

It had all started when Soap and Ghost, after making up (and out) with each other, decided to enlist the help of the local soldiers, counting on a kinship between armies that no politics could divide. Probably these soldiers hated the Yiga as much as the Hylians did, and Ghost had been banking on them being willing to defy their orders to team up with them. The team had money, but they did not expect to use it, as they did not want mere mercenaries working for them. Only those that fought with them without pay were trustworthy.

As it turned out, none of them were trustworthy. The defenders immediately opened fire when the pair appeared unannounced at the nearest military base. The two men retreated, returning 20 minutes later with a makeshift white flag. This time, the commander was willing to negotiate and took them inside his office to discuss terms.

The negotiation was extremely short after the commander found that the two strangers were unwilling to pay him.

Soap and Ghost were forced to flee from the office, and could not take on their attackers, so preoccupied were they with escaping. The base was immediately locked down, although the two stole horses and escaped the outpost.

What followed was an epic chase across the land of Lorule, with the husband and husband riding hard and fast across broken and uneven ground. Behind them thundered a horde of at least 13 soldiers on horseback, taking aim with their bows and attempting to get anywhere close to the two. They took many arrows and continued riding on. Several times they nearly got knocked off when the Loruleans tried to skewer them with spears, but the armor was impervious to anything but a hit to the power core.

In the end, though, it was all for naught. One brave soldier got close enough to Ghost's horse, pushing the two toward a short but fatal drop. Ghost was forced to abandon his horse, where he was almost run over on the ground by the following troopers. Seeing his partner's fate, Soap chose to give himself up.

Then the two invaders were given a choice: tell the soldiers where their team was, or die right there on the spot. At first, each refused. They couldn't sell their friends out like that. Then the soldiers threatened to kick this "incident" up the chain of command to Princess Hilda herself, who would most likely declare war over this event. It was enough to make both pause and think for a moment. They couldn't risk a battle between the two kingdoms. It would cost far too many lives, especially with the Calamity looming.

Link, Mason, Yuri, and Reznov had all been surprised by the arriving soldiers. There had simply been no warning, and though their first instinct was to fight, they immediately stopped when their opponents threatened to kill their hostages if they didn't give themselves up. To a man, they dropped their weapons and climbed into the back of a wagon, hands tied and faces blindfolded.

But here, the Loruleans double-crossed the Hylians again, as the convoy went straight to Hilda's castle instead.

....................................................................................................

Princess Hilda sat atop her throne, surveying the six prisoners. It was looking grim for Noble Team. They had heard from the briefing that the young princess was strict, which was reasonable given her kingdom's decline. Probably they would get a cart ride to the guillotine after being labeled as spies or assassins, and King Rhoam would lose face over such a thing. Rhoam would claim he knew nothing and try to appease Hilda, or war would erupt.

Neither event was good for their nation.

Link looked more closely at Hilda. She looked surprisingly like Zelda if Zelda had purple hair and red eyes and carried a scepter with an inverted Triforce on top of it. Her dress was sleeveless, white with purple highlights, and the monarch wore gloves almost touching her shoulders. Zelda typically only wore her white prayer dress and the royal blue dress now, but Link could remember when she had worn the sister of Hilda's clothing, which had been white but with pink highlights.

If those two were cousins, I wouldn't be surprised.

Each prisoner looked at the floor when Hilda spoke.

"Guards. Leave me with the prisoners. Ravio, stay with me."

The troops left wordlessly.

Again the princess studied them closely, her eyes lingering on Link with what the boy thought was hunger. It was quickly banished, of course, but Link was too observant to let such a thing slide.

"The commander of the prisoners may now stand up."

He did. The princess blanched.

"Uh. Ahem. Now, may I ask what brought you here? I know you are from the Hyrulean Army, but I need you to explain what you are doing in my country."

"Link Miyamoto. Captain. Serial number 69837175."

"I know all that. Explain to me your mission, or I may have to bring in my more...talented interrogators."

Link gave a humorless smile. "You can try, Hilda, but I don't give secrets freely."

A bemused smile. "Look here, Link. We're on the same side. We have reports of a dead man with a Yiga sickle found stuck in his stomach. You clumsy men, you forgot to strip him of identification. I believe his name was...what was it? Oh, yes, Joseph A. Turner."

Everybody froze. They hadn't expected the Yiga to give their compatriot a proper burial or their enemy to find their friend's body.

A playful grin spread across the ruler's lips. "So, I think we can have a deal. I know you're fighting the Yiga. I will send my best team of soldiers to help you. In return, one of you must stay with me when this is all over to train my forces. I say it's a win-win for both of us, wouldn't you say? Perhaps this arrangement can strengthen the bonds between Lorule and Hyrule."

Link didn't like the way the princess was looking at him.

But he had to do it. Their egos as elite soldiers would be bruised, but they needed help. They couldn't take on the entire Yiga clan, even with power armor.

Wordlessly, the commander shook hands with his new superior. For the time being.