26Sacrifice
A Crysis x Legend of Zelda Fanfic
And Tribulations
Disclaimer: I do not own either Crysis or Legend of Zelda. Nor do I own any canon characters, settings, plot points, etc. I do however own my original characters, settings, and plot points, etc. I also make no money from this endeavor, so please don't sue me
"An army without spies is like a man without ears or eyes." — Chia Lin
Hyrule Castle, Castle Town
2 Weeks Post Prophet's Arrival (P.P.A.)
Shad made his daily commute through the winding hidden passages of Hyrule Castle quickly and silently. It was nearly time for the King's daily intelligence briefing, and in all the years that he had headed the Sheikah spy network, he'd only been late once, an embarrassing incident that he was not keen to relive. Many would have found his anxiety at the prospect baffling, for it was rumored (though never openly discussed) that he held more power than the King himself did.
Shad had been the spymaster of Sheikah Intelligence for as long as anyone could remember. While no written record of the current officeholder was kept, some of the oldest and most observant servants could remember catching glimpses of the man as he had made his way to speak to the current King's grandfather. Thing is, the longer he served the harder it was to get rid of him.
Like any good spy, Shad gathered information from wherever he could, and over the course of his tenure he had come across dirt on nearly every noble, royal, military officer, and bureaucrat in existence. A fact that the now disgraced and ex-noble Jerro family had found to their great dismay when Seth—one of the younger more ambitious members of the family—had set his eye on becoming spymaster and attempted to have Shad dismissed.
Shad had quickly 'discovered' that it was all a ploy to hide the family's price fixing, smuggling, and tax skimming ways. The King's wrath had been characteristically swift and decisive. He had the entire family stripped of their title and land, seized their assets, and imprisoned several members of the family. To the people of Hyrule, Shad was a hero in the fight against corruption, and the surviving nobles quickly reaffirmed him as spymaster. It was a sobering reminder of the power of information and those who master it.
Reaching the end of his commute, Shad pushed several stones in the wall in a complex sequence, garnering a quiet rumbling as the wall slid aside, allowing him entrance to the King's study. With a quiet sigh, he entered. Despite his drive to be on time to meetings—something drilled into him as a child—he never actually enjoyed his meetings with the King. Their personal philosophies were simply too disparate for that. The King favored quick, decisive, and very public action, while Shad, as befitting his station, preferred long-term, subtle, quiet actions that if successful would never see the light of day.
It was difficult for them to work together at the best of times, and only the Queen's moderating influence had held them together throughout the Hyrulean Civil War. Her death giving birth to Princess Zelda nearly a decade ago had lit the slow-burning fuse of conflict between the two. All it needed was a crisis. As he bowed respectfully to King Daphnes, III before starting his briefing, Shad couldn't help but worry that this was that crisis.
Just as he was about to begin the King cut him off. "One month," he said, his voice holding the timbre of a man who had already made up his mind.
"My liege?"
"I received reports of granary stocks across Hyrule just this morning," the King elaborated, tiredness and lack of sleep dulling his eyes, "we have one month, at most, before starvation sets in across the Hyrule. In honor of my wife's dying wishes, I took your advice not to rush over and eliminate these moblins, or whatever they are, and instead wait until you had dealt with them quietly or at least gathered proper intelligence on them".
The King's tired eyes seemed to fill with fiery determination as he locked eyes with Shad, clearly conveying the message that he was willing to wait no longer. A pit of cold dread began forming in Shad's stomach, surely he wouldn't…
"It's been two weeks Shad, and the problem still persists. You've failed to deal with it. Please tell me that you at least managed to figure out who they are. Tell me that I haven't been wasting my time waiting for you to do your job. That while you may not have been able to deal with the problem quietly, you were at least able to identify it."
For the first time in his career, Shad didn't know what to say. He had sent out his very best agents to solve this problem, but they weren't due to report back for another week. The regular spies he had in place around the kingdom had utterly failed to identify or even catch sight of whatever was causing the trouble. He needed another week! Yet he knew the look the King had in his eye. He had become well acquainted with it during the Civil War. When the King had that look in his eye, only his wife could ever talk him out of doing what he'd set his mind to.
Shad's mind was flying, desperately searching through the vast amount of information contained in his photographic memory, hoping that he'd missed some clue, some giveaway as to his foe's identity. Yet again, he drew a blank. There was only one thing for it. Steeling himself and straitening up, Shad forced himself to look the King in the eye.
"Sire," he began, his voice tense, "I would love nothing more, but I cannot. My best spies are not due to report in for another week, and the others haven't even managed to sight the perpetrators, much less identify them. They're either some of the fastest troops around, or they're better at hiding than most Sheikah." That the enemy might be both went tactfully unsaid.
For a long moment, the King said nothing, his eyes continuing to bore into Shad even as his expression remained impassive. Then the moment passed. The King nodded his head slightly several times, as if he had just reached a decision.
"I see," he began, giving Shad a look that clearly conveyed his well-known disdain for subterfuge and those who practiced it. "It is quickly becoming obvious that what little faith I had in your abilities was terribly misplaced. While I can't say I'm surprised at your failure to eliminate the threat—I've always said that is something only the army can effectively do—I am surprised that you haven't been able to learn anything about this foe after over two weeks, especially given the vigor with which you argued your agents be sent in before the army. Either your people are losing their edge, or moblins have suddenly overtaken the Sheikah as masters of subterfuge. Either way, it is clear that Sheikah Intelligence is no longer capable of serving as Hyrule's intelligence service effectively."
Shad could normally school his features with ease in nearly any circumstance, but having the King openly state that his people were unable to do their jobs, sorely tested his training. He may have been a spy, but Shad was fiercely protective of the people working under him. The loyalty that protectiveness inspired was one of the reasons it was so difficult to replace him.
"Had I the time, I'd personally ensure that Sheikah Intelligence was shut down and replaced with someone competent. Unfortunately," he continued, getting up and turning to exit the room, "I have to go out and deal with raiding moblins. When I get back though, things will change; you can be assured of that."
That garnered a reaction from Shad. "You would nullify the unification treaty?!" he asked, clenching his hands, anger and disbelief tinging his voice.
"It is already broken," the King retorted flatly, moving to exit the room "the positions the treaty gave to the Sheikah were based on the premise that they-you, would make an effort to perform your duties competently."
Pausing, the King turned his head to meet Shad's eyes, his gaze a mixture of disappointment, pity, and determination, "I don't like it any more than you do, Shad, Goddesses know the last thing I want is to be in charge of setting up an Intelligence Agency. Ultimately though, I am responsible for the safety of this Kingdom, and Sheikah Intelligence has consistently failed to anticipate this attack, identify the attackers, glean information about their forces and motives, or eliminate the threat.
"You are no longer the reliable spy network you once were, and while I may not like subterfuge, I am well aware of the benefits such actions can provide. Benefits," the King said pointedly, "that Sheikah Intelligence is no longer providing".
Shad opened his mouth to refute the accusations, but to his mounting horror, he realized there was nothing he could say. Every one of the King's accusations was true. This threat had come out of nowhere, completely blindsiding his organization, and the only trace they could find of their enemy was the destruction they left behind. Still, he couldn't help but feel that the King was overreacting.
Finally, Shad managed to force out, "I realize that our…performance may have been lacking recently, but surely dissolving the entire organization is an overreaction?" Swallowing down his pride he continued, "If you really feel that the organization could be run better by someone else, why not just replace me?" By the end of that sentence, Shad was cringing and the King was looking at him in surprise.
"You would be willing to resign and take responsibility for these failures?" the King asked, an eyebrow perched inquiringly.
Shad could only bring himself to nod wordlessly in in reply.
Shaking his head in wonderment the King replied, "I didn't think you had it in you to do that. Honestly, I didn't think you or your organization would be willing to take a public reprimand, much less allow you to be ousted. The murmurs that you thought yourself more powerful than me were also worrisome".
The King's piercing gaze seemed to look through Shad, seeing everything. It was an extremely disquieting feeling for a spook, but he forced himself not to waver.
"Hmmm…perhaps I have misjudged you and your organization," the King murmured, before quickly raising his voice and delivering his decision, "I'll think about how to deal with this while I'm in the field, you'll have my answer when I return." Turning back to the exit and opening the door, the King paused for a second, "If you can find out anything about this enemy, it would go a long way towards proving your competence."
The thud of the door closing behind him barely registered with the shocked Sheikah. After a moment, he shook it off. I definitely need to have a word with my PR department. He thought absently, Damn idiots nearly promoted us to death.
Unknown Location
3 days later…
The gurgle of a man drowning in his own blood filled the chamber, only to be abruptly cut short and replaced by the dull thud of a severed head hitting the ground rolling. It eventually came to a stop, dead eyes fixed in a perpetual gaze at its executioner.
Vincent was unaffected. Calmly, he wiped his former subordinate's blood off on a clean portion of the dead man's clothes. Examining the blade closely, he wiped down a few spots he'd missed. Satisfied, he sheathed his sword and finally turned his attention to his surroundings.
Standing off to the side a short distance away and arranged in a semi-circle around a large map table were the figures of his four remaining commanders. Their expressions ranged from mild surprise to well-hidden fear. Each of them was from a different race in Hyrule, hyllian, zorah, goron, gerudo, and, lying dead on the floor, sheikah.
Vincent met each of their eyes in turn, his eyes boring into them, as if daring them to object. A few of them shifted uncomfortably, but no one spoke up.
Finally, the man spoke his first words since entering the chambers. "I trust none of you were aware of Seth's duplicity?" he asked, his voice terrifyingly devoid of inflection.
Seeing the confused glances the commanders shot each other, Vincent continued, "Last night, following our strategy meeting, one of our counter-intelligence agents spotted and managed to intercept a spy exiting the base." Reaching into one of his pockets, Vincent removed the oilskin-covered message the agent had found on the spy.
Tossing the message onto the table, he leveled a furious glare at his commanders. "The message contained everything about our plans; including some details that even I didn't know." Sweeping his furious gaze across his commanders, he continued, "The message was so complete in fact, that had I neglected to order a locksmith to look at the locks to each of your offices, I would have had the lot of you executed.
"Fortunately for you, I made that order, and his report that all but Seth's door showed signs of being picked open are enough to stay my hand…for now. But if this happens again," he said, the venom clear in his voice, "I will not be so lenient".
Having said his piece the anger seemed to drain out of Vincent. "Now that's over with," he started in a far friendlier tone, "how should we deal with the forces the king is sending our way?"
5 hours later…
Niburu walked back to her quarters. Actually, it would be more accurate to say she 'marched' or 'stormed' her way to her quarters. She was tired, and fed up with the day's events. That goddess-cursed spy had just made her job much more difficult. Lord Vincent had readily informed everyone that they were going to be closely watched from now on for what he called 'unfortunate lapses in judgment'.
Which was really just a flowery way of saying they all had a knife to their throats.
Turning another corner, the welcome sight of her quarters came into view, along with the much less welcome sight of the guards Vincent had ordered posted at each commander's quarters. Ostensibly, they were there to prevent any more 'incidents', but she knew better. They were both members of the Lord's personal detail, loyal to him and him alone. She had no doubt that their primary objective was ensuring the loyalty of the four remaining commanders, not their protection.
With that in mind, she did her best to school her features, forcing her face into a coldly neutral expression. But even her considerable will power was strained by the mocking salutes the guards gave her as she neared the door to her quarters. The message was clear: despite being one of the highest-ranking officers in Lord Vincent's army, she held no power over these soldiers. The salute, if one could call it that, was for appearances only, not to show respect.
Gritting her teeth, Niburu forced herself to return the salute before barging into her quarters and slamming the door behind her. They were here under the Lord's orders, and she had to show she respected that, if not the men carrying it out.
Upon entering the room her eye immediately darted to the sleeping pad. She was exhausted, and right now, that pad looked incredibly inviting. With a sigh, the woman tore her gaze away from the pad, it may have been inviting to just crash now, to hell with her nightly routine, but she knew from experience that she'd feel horrible in the morning.
Moving towards her pack, she resigned herself to being awake for a little longer. Digging into her pack, she removed and old, battered jewelry box bearing the Sheikan Eye. If one were to ask her about it, she'd spin a wild story about how in her younger days she had been dared to sneak in and out of the sheikah village of Kakariko and come back with proof she'd done it. She'd tell of how, sneaking through the village she'd spotted the jewelry box in the window of the general store. And Niburu would enchant her audience with the lengths she went to in order to get into the store without being seen.
The truth was quite a bit different. She'd been given the box for her most recent assignment.
Placing her finger on the pupil of the 'eye', she pressed down until there was an audible 'click'. Opening the box, she removed the top shelf, exposing the four ornate metal clips holding the shelf in place. Reaching in, she turned the far left one 90°, the near right one a full 360°, the near left one 180°, and the far right one 240°, before closing the box again. As the lid made contact with the rest of the box, another click could be heard, and the Sheikan Eye popped up just enough for someone to grab hold of it.
Pulling it off revealed a hidden compartment containing red hair dye, a contact case, and tan colored skin dye carefully encased in a specially crafted form-fitting padding. This prevented the contents from rattling around; mitigating the chance that someone would discover the compartment through a brief inspection.
Niburu grimaced as she pulled the contact case out; she hated this part. It just felt wrong to mess with your eyes, especially by placing glass in them. She'd had nightmares for days about them shattering while she had them on. Forcefully pushing the thought aside, she opened the case and carefully removed the colored contacts she had worn during the day, placing them in the case, closing it, and putting it back in the box.
Moving to the mirror she gave herself a once over, her beautifully tanned skin, flaming red hair…and the blood red eyes staring back at her. Isn't it ironic, she thought, a slight smirk twitching at the corners of her mouth, how everyone knows the Sheikah are masters of spying, yet nobody considers that we might be masters of disguise as well. Everyone seems to think we always present ourselves as sheikah, and that our spying never extends to outright duplicity.
Shaking her head at the idiocy of those around hers, she returned her focus to her bedtime preparations. Minutes later, she slipped under the covers, her last thought being that even though she hadn't been able to provide Sheikan Intelligence with intel, at least her backup plan to finger the treasonous sheikah for her actions had gone according to plan.
A/N: Sorry for being gone so long, I got busy, did a little beta reading, and got otherwise distracted. It wasn't until I got a sudden surge in reviews/follows/favorites that I figured I might as well put another chapter up.
I hope you enjoyed it!