The smell of sea spray and burning wood accompanies the salty scent of the ocean breeze, as dreadnaughts wage war atop the waters of the Great Sea. The twin moons of Azeroth shine brightly in the night sky, illuminating the field of battle. The Fist of Uther, displayed on its field of majestic aquamarine, flies high in the sky above four warships, denoting the emblem of the Silver Hand. Five other warships, painted white and scarlet, denoting the alliance of the Army of the Truthfuls, sail around the slightly smaller fleet, firing shell after iron shell into the flanks of the trapped ships. The smoldering husks of several other warships lay floating just above the waves, most of them with remnants of scarlet paint. The alliance of Uther, consisting of the Silver Hand, the Highguard, and their hired ally, the Risen Flame, fight back desperately to attempt to get out of their current predicament. The small fleet is surrounded, outgunned, outmanned, and out of time.
At the stern of the Equinox, a lone worgen woman stands, her hand resting confidently on the hilt of her high caliber rifle. Her armor is comprised of ornately decorated moonsteel chain links and sheets, woven together to create the perfect armored shell for her form. Moonsteel sheets jut out from her shoulder pieces, tautly held together by moonsteel links. Gracing her hips and the back of her belt are three sheathes, each about a foot in length, containing a foot-long combat knife and two magnum, high impact revolvers. Her deep blue eyes show years of experience in conflict, and her grey and white muzzle is contorted in an expression of confidence.
By her side stands her faithful friend, a large scarlet warp stalker, almost ten feet in length. His mouth is open, tasting the sweet scent of the mist-filled air, his claws digging into the solid oak planks in eagerness. The woman looks to the giant beast and offers a grin, showing off her perfectly cleaned canines. As they exchange the grin, a gnome a waddles up behind them, and salutes the woman.
"Commandant MacPhairthe!" He says, his voice echoing behind his hood. A death knight with a severe speech impediment, the gnome is the Risen Flame's chief militant to the woman he is speaking to. "We are getting hammered hard! Thtromheart ith going to order a full retreat thoon!"
As the woman surveys the field of battle, a cannonball wizzes by close to her head, and she grimaces, crouching for cover. "I won't let that happen, love. Ya' go and tell Rose to deploy the ropes and harpoons. We're going on a suicide mission..."
The gnome's eyes, although obscured by his ebonsteel hood, clearly widen with surprise at this crazy order. "Are you thure? A move that rithky will put EVERYONE in danger!" Another cannonball flies by, and the gnome lets out a yelp of fear.
"Of course I'm sure! Sparr will lead they way and clear a path for us." She gestures to the warp stalker behind her and the beast nods in understanding, teleporting away. The two mercenaries risk looking over the railing of the Equinox at the deck of a distant warship, to see the vicious beast on the fighting off multiple heretics of the Army of Truthfuls. They attempt to slash their swords at his tail, but he warps out of danger, only to reappear behind his attacker and tear them to peices. He swings his aqua dynamic tail around behind him, sweeping several Truthfuls off of their feet. He pounces on one of them, and rips their throat out in his jaws, his eyes blazing in excitement and fury and blood drips from his maw. When the deck is clear, he warps back to the Equinox, and plops down on his side, slightly tired out.
"Alright, loves! Get the ropes! We're boarding that ship!" The woman, Valinae shouts across the deck of her warship. She looks out across the waters to see men and women, cheering for them on the other ships in the Uther Fleet. One of the soldiers forces a rope into her clawed hand, breaking her out of her stupor of momentary fame. She looks to Sparr, and projects a mental message to him.
Get some rest, love. When you are ready, join us on the ship. We need an escape plan.
What does it look like I'm doing? The beast snaps back, in his usual sarcastic tone. Valinae simply roles her eyes, then kicks off of the deck, swinging across the water to the opposing ship.
Upon landing, she immediately detaches her rifle from its clasp on her back and moves into an offensive position, the buttons of gun digging snugly into her shoulder. The gnome joins her immediately, along with a night elf dressed in shamanistic garb.
"Bilgrik, clear out the lower deck and the cannon bay. Get those cannons online, and tear into the enemy's hide. Rose, make sure he doesn't kill himself." The worgen snaps to her comrades. The gnome salutes, then scurried off, wielding a pair of small rune swords. The nightelf, equipped with two long orcish blades, blonds respectfully and follows the gnome swiftly. Valinae moves across the deck, approaching the captains chambers. She kicks in the door, to reveal a stunned admiral surrounded by lower ranking officers. Without lowering her weapon, she smirks at the group. "'Ello, loves. Am I interrupting something?"
Without hesitation, the men reach for their swords and charge the worgen. She fires a diamond tipped round into the approaching group, dropping one of the heretics. She quickly changes her weapons, replacing her rifle in its clasp on her back, and pulling out her left revolver and combat knife. One of the heretics lunges at her, sword positioned in a forward slash. She sidesteps this, and when the man comes down, his blade meets the wood of the deck. She gives the man a swift kick with her exposed foot, knocking him aside, before she fires a round at the head of another man. The Truthful's head explodes in a vibrant burst of viscera and bone as the round impacts the forehead. The final officer, a woman, slashes at her with a wide sweep. Unable to dodge, the worgen attempts to block the attack with her left gauntlet, the same arm currently holding the revolver. The sword hits, and cuts deep into the reinforced metal padding. Valinae grimaces at the hit as it reverberates through the metal appendage, but she shrugs it off and makes her move, burying the foot-long knife up through the woman's chin. As the woman drops, the worgen removes her blade, leaving the woman to clutch at her throat as she bleeds out.
"You cannot hope to prevail, dog!" The admiral declares triumphantly, even as his last comrade falls. Below the deck, Bilgrick's voice was heard. "Bow down before the awethome power of Bilgrik Runethpark, almighty paragon of evil!" Valinae pays no heed to these words, as she is more focused on the derogative word used to insult her.
"What did you just call me?" Her voice is steely, and her eyes are narrowed to slits, emitting her icy gaze. A deep growl can be heard echoing through her chest, and reverberating out of her throat.
The admiral smirks satisfied that he hit a sensitive nerve. "You heard me, you mangy bitch. Get the hell off of my ship!"
Upon hearing the second insult, Valinae's eyes cloud over, and her teeth bare as she lunges across the command table, jaws open, poised to rip out the admiral's throat. The man bashes her skull, knocking the frenzied worgen off course and into the side wall. Her rifle springs loose of its clasp upon impact as , but not down, she springs to her feet and resumes her charge, no longer inebriated by ferality. The man prepares to sidestep her again, aiming to remove her head from her shoulders as she passes. She does not fall for that trick again, and stretches out her left arm to grapple the man in her claws. She hits, and the man is swung forward and knocked to the ground, his head bashed against the oak floorboards. Keeping her promise, she reaches down and grasps his esophagus in her jaws, then pulls it out of his body. The admiral chokes on his own blood, as Valinae spits the organ out of her mouth. Cannon fire can be heard below her feet, and she breathes a sigh of relief.
"No one gets away with calling me a dog, love." She says through narrowed eyes. The man keps his gaze on her even as his life ebbs away from his corpse. Satisfied, she collects her discarded weapons and leaves the cabin, emerging onto the main deck. Across the ocean, several scarlet vessels have been done in by fire from the cannons on the lower deck. The Silver Hand and Highguard fleets depart the area, heading home to the docks of Stormwind. Across the deck, Rose and Bilgrick emerge from the belly of the wooden beast. Rose has several cuts running down her arms, but otherwise she appears to be unharmed. She sheathes her blades on her back, then proceeds to make her report on the lower decks.
"Lower deck secured." She says calmly. Her voice carries a faint orcish accent, and her face is decorated in tribal paints.
"We've rigged the boat to explode in lethh then thirty thecondth!" Bilgrick chirps out, a grin apparent by the tone of his voice.
As if on cue, the Equinox pulls up alongside the dying warship. On the deck stands the ship's proud first mate, Sonny Wards, an expert in navigating shallow waters and high seas. Her green apparel shimmers as she tosses ropes over to them and fastens the ends to the central oak mast. The trio swings across the ocean into the safety of their flagship. The Equinox pulls away and heads towards the docks of Stormwind, where payment and food await the mercenaries. As they leave the site however, the warship explodes behind them, sending out a large wave that catches the Equinox in its grip.
" 'old on!" Sonny yells to the deckhands and soldiers, crouching to maintain her balance at the helm. The boat rocks violently in the waves, sending it off course and speeding towards the shore of Westfall. The rocky crags bristling along the shore threaten to pierce the ship's hull and moor them on the land. Sonny pulls the wheel hard towards port, but the wave has the ship in its grip.
Valinae glares up at the woman at the helm. "Wot are ya' waiting for?! Squall shape!"
"I can't! There's no' enough plant life below us!" She screams back at the commandant.
Valinae grits her teeth as the boat hits a rough spot in the waves. "Bloody fel..." Bilgrick is holding onto the side railing for his unlife. He turns and looks at the worgen, his eyes wide with fear. The ship drifts ever closer to the shore, the crags ready to pierce the ship. Rose stares blankly at the rocks of their undoing, all terror purged from her visage. Sonny is clinging to the wheel, struggling with all of her might to bring the ship away from mortal peril. The worgen stares at the shore, watching it loom ever closer, keeping an eye out for the green beneath the waves that could save them. Sailors and soldiers alike scurry across the deck,doing all they can to keep from crashing.
Valinae spots a small splotch of seaweed underneath the waters. "Sonny, right there! Hurry, love!" She points at the dot.
Sonny follows the worgen's gaze to the spot. "Go' it!" The squallshaper closes her eyes and drags out as much water out of the seaweed as they can muster, creating a swell in the surface of the water to act as a bumper. The Equinox collides with the swell just as a crag scrapes along the hull. The wave passes around them, and the swell immediately shifts, throwing them in a path parallel to the shore. Sonny yanks the wheel hard to port, and the boat sails away from Westfall, nearly unscathed. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief, too anxious to cheer for the woman's heroic deeds. The shpi sails for the docks, back home to a celebration of epic proportions.