Ladies and Gentlemen. The counterpart to the Fall of the Horde, long awaited, has finally arrived. My apologies for the delays.
As usual, I do not own World of Warcraft, associated characters etc. etc.

Without any further ado, I present to you...

The Fall of the Alliance

Part I - The State of the Nations

Chapter 1 - The Alliance

It is often assumed that the Alliance was weak, or even incompetent. This in itself is a fallacy, and was to nearly cost a people their freedom. The Alliance was, and always had been, exceptionally strong. It's capability to bounce back no matter what the punishment inflicted on it was it's greatest strength. And this was precisely the factor upon which the Fourth War was fought.

Shortly after the end of the Cataclysm, it was obvious to all that there were few, if any, external threats to Azeroth's safety. The hateful Burning Legion was enmeshed in the ruins of Draenor, the Lich King no more (even if the Forsaken so assiduously claim otherwise), and the Old Gods imprisoned once again, for the spirits know how long. This left all the factions of Azeroth with the pursuit of that one unchanging fact of this world's political face - There are no permanent friends or rivals, there are only permanent interests and survival.

The Alliance knew this, more so than ever. Originally a hurriedly cobbled rabble of humans meant to halt the march of the Old Horde, it had by this time grown to a full-fledged and well-organised faction of several races, some human in appearance or stature, some less so but present within nonetheless. It had but one goal - it's survival on Azeroth as the only rulers of the world. And they were prepared to go any length to make this so. To this effect, they used every tool they had - the Light, their Paladins, their innate cunning and their art of deception, charm and guile, not to forget their vastly superior technology.

And yet, at the end of the days of the Cataclysm, they did not seem too strong to themselves either. They were being pushed back on all fronts. In Gilneas, they had won by the slimmest margins. In the Plaguelands, the Forsaken had pushed them back viciously, even if the victory was unprincipled. In Kalimdor, they were sweltering in the Barrens, with no change in the situation whatsoever. In Ashenvale, their precious forests were being felled away right in front of them, while they strove in vain to halt the Horde's march. But for all of this, they were still far from beaten, and very formidable at that.

None knew all this better than King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind, the titular and actual head of the Alliance and all the disparate factions that lay within it.

The man had always been somewhat hot-headed, impetuous, even if open to peace (which was soon forgotten). But it was after Angrathar the Wrathgate and the Skybreaker mission during the days of the Cataclysm that he had become particularly vicious. As far as he, and for that matter much of the Alliance, were concerned, the Horde were nothing more than barbaric outworlders, doing exactly what the Old Horde had done, showing the same callous brutality of that time, and who were fit for nothing but extermination. They often conveniently overlooked the fact that there was demonic corruption to answer to at that time, but even if they did pay heed, it made no difference. They believed they still had the right to own this world, and that it belonged to them and them alone.

For these reasons, or reasons very like, the Alliance swore (or at least, the King swore) that the Horde would be made to pay. Accordingly, the plans were drawn up. The first drafts were drawn up in the Ironforge Conference, not a week after the death of the World Devourer. It was at this meeting of Alliance chieftains that the King outlined his plan to bring the Horde to its knees. For the most part, however, the King's focus was purely on the northern Eastern Kingdoms, and the domains held by the undead Forsaken. He had every intention of punishing the Forsaken hard for their actions at Angrathar, and all his plans were directed, in one way or the other, to this end. Kalimdor mainly had its focus on the death of Hellscream, the belief being that the death of the Warchief would put the Horde into disarray.

Most of the Alliance leaders were only too willing to agree with this planning. All save for Prophet Velen and High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque. Both had their reasons for not being ready to cooperate. The Draenei, in spite of their hatred of the Blood Elves and the Orcs, could not persuade themselves to attack the Horde and provoke a bloodbath which would end badly for all sides. The Gnomes were unwilling to fight, since most of their military was invested in Gnomeregan, to clear out their irradiated city and make it habitable for their race. But their opinions were mostly disregarded, the general favour being towards a full-blown offensive against the Horde. In particular, High Priestess Whisperwind and King Genn Greymane demanded an invasion, the Night Elves to take back Ashenvale and Azshara, and the Gilneans to secure Silverpine and punish the Forsaken for the invasion of Gilneas. The presence of so many radical elements effectively drowned out the few voices of mediation that were present.

It is interesting to note the structure of the Alliance political hierarchy. Unlike the Horde, which maintained a geodesic political outlook, the Alliance treated all it's members as equal. This was not the best course of action to follow, since many had their own idiosyncrasies and tendencies which made smooth operation quite a difficult approach. Only the Dwarven ruler, Magni Bronzebeard, the Gnomish ruler Gelbin Mekkatorque and the Human King really saw eye-to-eye on most topics of discussion. The Night Elves, pride-filled and arrogant, often refused to negotiate or take any position or stance not aligned with theirs exactly - which was to be expected from a society that had isolated itself from the World for over ten millennia. The Draenei did not truly care much about the Alliance or any of its issues, in as much as their own survival was guaranteed - an understandable concept. The Gilneans were openly cynical about any Alliance decision, for they made it clear from the beginning that for them it was merely an Alliance of convenience - the disdain these half-beasts had for their Alliance colleagues since the Second War was well known.

As such, it became clear from the outset that the only true core of the Alliance was Human, Dwarven and Gnomish. And the Humans, with their superior numbers, made up two-thirds of this core. Hence, any decision made by Stormwind would affect every member. This extremely imbalanced outlook was to prove a considerable weakness, and a major irritant in the days that followed. This also meant that the other members were regarded as mere proxies - either by their own admission or by general consensus. It was a case of numbers without agreement - a dangerous trend.

As such, the invasion plan, named The Lothar's Edge, was drawn out in considerable detail. It's essential facets were as follows,

Primary Objectives:
1. Destruction/Capture of the Undercity
2. To force capitulation, or annexation, of Silvermoon City and the Eversong Forest region (present day Ghostlands and Eversong Woods)
3. Destruction/Capture of Orgrimmar

Secondary Objectives;
1. Recovery of Ashenvale, Stonetalon and Azshara
2. Pacification and control of the Barrens
3. Persuasion of Goblin trade fleets to assault the Bilgewater Cartel
4. Reclamation of Silverpine Forest and the Plaguelands in order to secure Gilneas

Oppurtunity Objectives:
1. Persuasion of Blood Elven defection
2. Persuasion of Steamwheedle Cartel to side with the Alliance
3. Capture and pacification of Stranglethorn Vale

It must be noted that the attempt to persuade the Blood Elves to defect to the Alliance was merely added as an afterthought. Far too many wounds were fresh to consider this too seriously, the general attitude being one of belligerence for what was felt as Blood Elven betrayal, barbarism, uncontrolled addiction to magic and the like. The more extreme opinion was forced sterilisation and extermination of Blood Elven lines, but this was deemed impractical, though it was considered as an addition to attract the attention of the Silver Covenant of Dalaran.

The Stranglethorn Vale decision was strictly a backs-to-the-wall concept. If the Steamwheedle Cartel could not be "persuaded" to assault the Bilgewater Cartel, the idea was that they would be made to do so by force, guile or bribery. While a sound concept in theory, it was to prove useless as events would show.

Overall command of forces in the Eastern Kingdoms was to be given to Lord Halford Wyrmbane, the legendary commander of Legion VII. However, due to the fractious internal politics of the Alliance, he was forced to accept at least one deputy from each Alliance race, who would act in an "advisory" capacity. In reality, each deputy was in charge of his particular racial contingent of troops, and was in total command. This move was to severely limit the High Commander's authority - though it was not done intentionally. As a result, he initially refused to take command under the conditions imposed. For some reason, he relented later, some say as a result of intense pressure put on him by the human King. This friction between him and the King would prove significant as the days went by.

The commander of the Kalimdor forces was given to High General Shandris Feathermoon. However, at the last minute, Lady Jaina Proudmoore was also added as a co-leader. This was not by the Theramore chief's consent, since she was afraid of her city becoming a prime target as a result of this maneuver. However, due to political pressure from Darnassuss and Stormwind, she too was forced to accept command. General Feathermoon made her disdain for the decision painfully clear from the outset - the general distrust of Night Elves towards Arcane users being a considerable factor in this regard, not to mention the lack of military experience (as compared to the Sentinel Warlord's own). This strained relation between the two commanders was also to prove highly significant in the days that followed.

Logistics requirements for the Alliance were significant, and the Gnomish Army was given the responsibility of ensuring smooth flow of supplies and to deploy provost as was needed. Unlike most other decisions, this was a wise one in itself, for Gnomish technology was (and some say still is) quite suited for the highly demanding requirements of the Alliance armies. It should be noted that on basis of their supply situation alone, the Alliance was much further ahead than the Horde, mostly due to superior technology and better planning and decentralised economies. This would remain so right until the end of the war.

The Alliance armies were relatively stronger than most Horde units, since they had been involved in mostly low-intensity conflicts (With the exception of the Barrens), this in spite of the Cataclysm. As such, the forces deployed were as follows,

Kalimdor Forces -
= 15 Night Elven Divisions, of which Four were Sentinel Divisions. Three more were in training. Two understrength Divisions from the Stonetalon Mountains were pulled back to Darkshore for rest and refit.
= 4 Human Divisions (Theramore Garrisons), one understrength Mechanised Infantry Division from the Barrens (comprised of mostly Dwarven units) and one understrength Gnomish Armored Division from the Stonetalon Mountains.
= Two Worgen Infantry Brigades, deployed for "special tasks".
= Draenei Armed Forces, comprising Five Divisions, of which two were Elekk-Cavalry. These had been inactive since the days of the Burning Crusade, and were significantly strong in contrast to most of the Alliance forces in Darkshore. On the downside, they had virtually no Armor or Siege units of any kind.
= Hippogryph and Gyrocopter Squadrons, numbering Three Divisions total. Many Hipppogryphs had been lost during the skirmishes over Mount Hyjal during the Twilight Hammer incursion, though there were still enough to make a considerable impact. The Gyrocopters were fresh from the factories of Gnomeregan, and were hence the biggest threat to the Horde.
= Night Elven Navy - 120 Ships of the Line, with an additional 20 ships for supply, transport and logistics.

Eastern Kingdoms Forces -
= 24 Infantry Divisions - 17 Human, 4 Dwarven, 2 Worgen, 1 Gnomish (support/logistics).
= 5 Armored Divisions - Mostly steam Tanks (new pattern) and Gnomebots for recovery operations.
= Legion VII Mechanised Infantry Division for "special tasks".
= 6 Squadrons of Gyrocopters and Mega-Bombers.
= Stormwind Navy - 80 Ships of the Line, with an additional 15 for supply, transport and logistics (Gnomish manned).
= Four Wildhammer Auxiliary Brigades, comprising mostly Gryphonhawk-mounted Shamans and Paladins.

It can be seen that there were slightly more forces in Kalimdor, due to Night Elven military buildups prior to the Cataclysm. The inclusion of the Wildhammer Brigades was not entirely unanimous, since the Wildhammer Dwarves were still recovering from the brutal blood-letting they had received during the days of Cataclysm, but the prospect of being overwhelmed by the Dragonmaw Clan if left alone was probably enough incentive for persuasion.

Such was the state of the Alliance just before the outbreak of the War. Slightly blooded, almost unscathed in some cases, and eager to be let loose upon the Horde. With superior technology, albeit weaker troops than a Horde deployment, they were a force to be reckoned with. It now remained to be seen whether it's legendary effectiveness could stand up to the acid test waiting for it.

Alrighty, that's the Alliance deployment. If any of you have any suggestions as to what the Horde should put forward, do let me know. The next chapter will be up in a week, so stay tuned! (That's also the time limit for suggestions on Horde deployment, in case it isn't obvious :P)