#soh50

By the time they reached the base, Link could see the battle as it crested over the distant hill, and the conditions did not appear to be in their favor. Link threw the car into park and barely had a chance to cut the ignition before he ran towards the base with Mipha at his heels. The Hylian soldiers that stood guard, however, were not about to make things easy for him, despite his arguments.

“I don't care who you are,” he said, narrowing his gaze on Link and stealing a glance at the sword in his hand. “Unless you have orders from the king, you're not getting through.”

“Don't be ridiculous,” Zelda said as she pushed passed the two soldiers. “Link doesn't need permission from anyone.” She narrowed her gaze on them. “In case you have forgotten, Link is the only one that stands a chance in that battle. Unless you plan to lose all your men out there, I suggest you let him through.”

The two soldiers exchanged uneasy glances. One of them turned his back to them, speaking into a radio as he walked away.

“Look, Your Highness,” the first soldier said, turning to Zelda, his voice fierce. “Our orders are to -”

“Your orders are to stand back and let us do our job.”

“Our orders are to defend the Princess of Hyrule.”

“While I'm out there doing my job.”

The soldier turned over his shoulder when his comrade called to him. He beckoned with his hand, and the soldier sighed.

“You're clear,” he said, turning his back to them abruptly.

Link and Mipha followed Zelda into the base. More soldiers hurried about, shouting commands to one another. When Link passed, their eyes turned to him, their voices momentarily silenced. Link met their gazes, his brows furrowed. He pulled his gaze away and tried desperately to ignore their stares. When they reached the center of the base, they found Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa waiting for them.

“Does anyone have any clue what the hell's going on?” Urbosa said.

Zelda shook her head. “I can't get a hold of Impa, either. Or Paya for that matter.”

“There was a problem,” a voice said from behind them. Dorian emerged from the hurrying soldiers. “They're safe right now. Focus on keeping the city safe.”

At that moment, there was a loud explosion, and the ground erupted just a few yards away from them, ripping the corner of the base apart and turning it to rubble. From the opening, Link could see that the battle had moved closer.

A decorated soldier moved to them, then, sneering at Dorian.

“Sheikah,” he hissed. “Get out of the way and let us do our jobs.”

Dorian's brows knit together angrily. “And why don't you stand down and let me do mine?”

The captain chose to ignore him, however, and started barking commands to his men once more. “Let's move!” he shouted to his men, but they didn't need any orders to tell them it was time to fight. They were already on their feet, scrambling to their weapons and hurrying out of the base to meet the onslaught of enemies.

“No!” Link shouted at him. “You're sending them to their deaths!”

“In case you haven't noticed,” the captain barked at him. “That's what we do in war. Keep out of our way and let us handle this.”

“You're weapons will be useless,” Link hissed. “This isn't my first rodeo.”

“You will stay here and out of our way.”

“I don't take orders from you.”

“Your orders,” Dorian started, “are to protect them while they clean up your mess.”

“Fine,” he muttered. “I don't give a fuck what you do. But if I so much as see you drag the princess out there, I will make sure the King throws your pathetic ass in jail.”

Link watched the captain join his army, still barking orders at them until they left the base.

“You can't let them go out there,” Daruk hissed.

“Let them,” Link said stubbornly. “I don't fucking care anymore.”

“This isn't their war,” Daruk reminded him. “They'll all die out there.”

Link pinched his lips together and crossed his arms. Daruk was right, of course. Link knew that. And when it came down to it, he wasn't going to sit back and watch them get slaughtered. Still, it didn't make him any less infuriated with the captain and his damn army.

“His threats are empty,” Zelda assured him. “And there's no way in hell I'm staying behind.”

“Of course not,” Link said. He sighed and let the sword rest on his shoulder. “Alright,” he continued. “Let's do this.”

The six Champions hurried out to join the army on the battlefield. Just as they expected, the gunshots proved to be ineffective against the undead army. From time to time, the explosion from a grenade showed to do fairly well, scattering the bones of the smaller skeletal soldiers. Yet, the larger, heavily armored skeletal soldiers were unfazed by such attacks, and they pressed on, grabbing Hyrule's soldiers by the neck and slicing through them with ease with their sharp swords. They were losing men and barely making a dent in the battle.

“Pull back!” the captain barked to his men. “Pull back!”

The soldiers ran back towards their base, prepared to defend it at all costs, despite the grim outlook of the battle. But Link and Zelda and the other four Champions burst through the rush of retreating soldiers, meeting their charging enemies head on. Urbosa's attack hit first, knocking the undead soldiers down. Those that remained standing, still charging forward, met the power behind Daruk's fists, and Revali quickly shot his arrows, taking out the undead one by one. He whooped with each hit, counting out loud in triumph as each undead soldier fell to his bow.

“Catch up, Link,” Revali shouted over his shoulder. “I'm already at seventeen!”

Link ran forward, swinging his sword across his enemies with ease, all too pleased to be showing up Hyrule's trained army and their snobby captain.

Daruk thrust his fist into the ground, sending a wave of the undead army flying through the air and crashing to the ground in pieces. “I've got seventeen in one blow,” he said with a smug grin. “Don't get cocky.”

Zelda and Mipha fought side by side. While Mipha did her best to control her own power, sending water-based twisters through the battle, Zelda focused her power on close ranged attacks, taking their enemies out en masse as they tried to close in around them.

Above them, two helicopters circled. Dorian's voice shouted to them, and the six Champions quickly retreated back to the base. As they did so, the helicopters each dropped a set of explosives which erupted upon impact with the ground, demolishing the rest of the undead army almost instantly. Hyrule's soldiers hurried forward, quickly taking out the few stragglers that remained and thus ending their battle.

“Assholes,” Revali muttered as they made their way back into the base. “Stole the winning point from us, just to prove that they could.”

“We're probably better off,” Zelda said. “We really don't need that kind of attention.”

But she spoke too soon. There, waiting in the base, was a crew of cameramen and reporters, and they instantly turned their attention on the six teens as they entered the base.

“Keep your damn mouths shut,” Zelda muttered to them as the reporters swarmed in around them. They thrust cameras and microphones in their faces, shouting questions and accusations.

“A hero? Me?” Revali said smugly in response to one of the reporters. He shrugged, feigning modesty. “I've never considered myself a hero. Just doing what's right.” He winked at the camera. “All in a day's work for this single guy.”

Link would have done anything to ruin Revali's moment of fame, but he was too busy feeling suffocated as the reporters continued to press in.

“So, you're saying that the legends are true?”

“Princess Zelda; is it true that you possess the power of the Goddess Hylia?”

“How are we supposed to believe that you are the spirit of the Chosen Hero?”

“Do you really posses a piece of the Triforce?”

Dorian pushed his way through the crowd, snarling. “That's enough,” he growled at the reporters. “You have no business being here, now scram.”

But this only caused the reporters to ask more frantic questions.

“The kingdom deserves answers!”

“You will get your answers,” Dorian said. “There will be no further comments until then.”