(A/N) Hey guys, I have another chapter for you. I needed a bit of time to think of some added OC characters, as well as make sure that everything lines up. So please, read through and let me know what you think.
There was one thing Corporal Tanoldas Bradshaw always hated about Dustwallow Marsh, and that was the Light-forsaken heat and humidity in this place. But, his training and the fact that his commanding officer, Captain Duarrin Fireshade was standing right next to him, kept him standing at complete attention while the sweat uncomfortably fell down his brow. Guarding the gates of any city, let alone Theramore was a boring but an understandably necessary task, anyone with half a mind could figure that out. But outside the city walls, the Marsh smelled like an ogre outhouse, and the full plate-mail he wore only made that worse.
He silently cursed his luck as it came to him that his sister Callie was probably smiling to herself like a fool with some cushy post she more than likely was assigned to. Captain Fireshade always gave her the easy jobs, the quel'dorei was not so subtle when it came to the massive crush he had on his sister. But on the bright side, at least out here he wasn't getting hounded by those deserters and their insane propaganda spree. It was the same thing almost every day, they would find a guard at their posts and just harass them constantly with a garbage buddy act. They were told to merely ignore them and keep to their posts; which was a lot harder than it sounded; they were incredibly persistant.
The human supposed that eventually something would happen that would make this day relevant, like maybe a horde attack from Brackenwall Village or the Grimtotem tribe camped several miles down the road would attempt a raid or something of the sort. The Horde attack seemed all the more likely ever since Garrosh Hellscream was named as the Horde's warchief. Every last person, Horde or Alliance, knew how much the red-skinned orc hated the Alliance. But until then, he would be here, guarding the city gates like he was ordered to. Until he heard what sounded like a sigh of disappointment. Looking over, very surprised to see that it came from the captain, the elf was normally completely silent and focused while he worked; unless he was reprimanding him from something or other that he did incorrectly. It was even more surprising when the captain spoke up.
"Corporal, might I ask you a question?" The human was unsure if this was some kind of test where if he engaged a response back he would just get yelled at for laziness, so he silently tested the waters.
"….Yes sir." The elf looked back up front, keeping his eyes on the bridge that led into the city.
"What is your take on;" He paused for a moment. "intimate relationships between races?" Then it clicked. He fully understood what this conversation was about. Which was ironic, since he was just thinking about that a minute ago.
"Permission to speak freely sir?"
"Granted."
"You're talking about that crush you have on my sister?" Yep, that got the reaction he expected. Seeing the captain heavily flinch and straighten himself up made him almost burst out laughing; key word here being almost.
"W-what? I-I-I-I have no idea what you're talking…Ah damn, how did you know?" Well that was new. He had never heard Duarrin stumble over his words either. Tanoldas had never felt this confident around any of his superiors before.
"You aren't as subtle as you think you are sir." He turned for a moment to see the High elf sulk momentarily before turning back towards him.
"Has Callie ever….said anything about me?" Tanoldas took a moment to actually think about that.
"If she has, I've never heard her talk about it. I know she's never talked down about you behind your back, so there's that I guess." He could see his captain smile underneath his helmet as they went back to their original silence, which grew more and more awkward by the second even though it was supposed to. He felt like he should say something "You know, I could probably set you two up if you wanted captain."
"Really? You aren't joking?" Tanoldas could only nod.
"Of course sir, plus I don't think playing that kind of joke on you would be very healthy for my career." The silence that ensued was a bit more comfortable than the last time until he peered into the sky and saw something most curious. "Captain Fireshade, up there in the sky. I think I see something." Duarrin glanced upwards and tilted his head in confusion. Right now, he couldn't make heads or tails of what it was. But it was descending rather quickly towards the tree line. That's when he noticed the angle of its decent and more importantly, the smoke and flames coming from the thing.
"I'm not sure what it is Corporal, but whatever it is, it's crashing." The captain beat his plated fist against the gate several times "Open the gate!" As the city gates slowly pulled open he turned back to Tanoldas. "Corporal, get inside, get to Lady Proudmoore and inform her of this at once!" The human gave a quick salute and slipped inside the gates, starting to sprint towards the center tower where Lady Jaina had made her quarters.
Tanoldas burst through the door hard and fast enough to make the inner door sentries almost panic and make a lunge at him with their halberds. He then began to make his way up the, in his opnion, the unnecessarily long stair case to her chambers at the top. After making his way through her personal guard, Tanoldas gave a quick bow to the city's leader. "Lady Proudmoore, I have something to report!" Jaina Proudmoore slowly turned from the window and walked to the map-covered table in the center of the room.
"Do not worry guardsman, I saw that flying machine crash from the window. I have already sent the scouts to investigate and bring back any survivors. You may return to your post." Tanoldas gave another quick bow before hurrying out the door. As he was making his way back he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking back, he saw it was his sister Callie, again breaking regulation by not wearing her helmet, her long black hair fluttering from the wind.
"Tan, what's going on? The city's scouts pretty much bolted out the gates once they opened and the rest of the guard is on full alert. Is it the Horde?" Tanoldas gave his sister a pat on her back.
"Some kind of unknown flying machine crashed out in the swamps. The scouts are going out to recover who or whatever is in that thing." He gave her a nod and jogged back to his post.
There was a silence in the marsh that was hard to find in the center of Kalimdor. Just about everywhere west of them was locked in a constant skirmish from the Alliance and Horde conflict. But yet, the fighting hadn't really spread towards Theramore. Sure there were the occasional small encounters, but so far nothing major. So, many who lived in Dustwallow came to appreciate the silence and the opportunity to breathe a little easier; if only for a moment.
The group of five mounted horseman rocketing through the forest killed whatever silence was left following the smoke trail to wherever the machine had crashed. After tying off their horses, the humans walked slowly through the trees, daggers and bows at the ready, brushing aside any foliage in their way, careful to avoid making any noise. After passing through the brush, the humans were awestruck at what they found.
It was a red, sleek, angular craft; but none of them knew what it was, or where it came from. The lead male human up front nocked a bowstring, keeping an arrow ready in case anything did happen. "What is this thing? You ever seen anything like this before Kat?" The human female closest to the ship slowly climbed on one of the craft's wings.
"Nope, but it seems way too sophisticated for a goblin or a gnome to make." She carefully sheathed her daggers and placed a gloved hand on what she assumed to be the cockpit window. She jumped back when she heard it start beeping at her, quickly making her way back to her comrades thinking that the ship would explode; but instead, the glass slid back with a hiss.
They kept their weapons drawn and waited for anything to emerge, when nothing did, they slowly approached, peering into the cockpit to find anything. When they found was astonishing. It looked like a cross between a human and a draenei: dark blue skin, two tentacle things were hanging from her head, and no hooves. It was definitely a female, the breasts and feminine appearance were proof enough of that. She was clothed in white and brown robes and there was some kind of silver metal cylinder strapped to her waist. They jumped back when they finally her breathing, it was ragged but it was there.
One of the humans holstered his daggers and got up closer to get a better look "By the light, she's beautiful." With practiced precision, his dagger severed the cord holding her to the seat, hauled her unconscious body out of the ship, and set her down on the back of his horse, they rode off, hurrying themselves back to Theramore; not noticing the single green-skinned figure heading in the opposite direction.
Morna Steelhand was angry that she wasn't allowed to kill the humans while they were distracted with removing that thing from that odd plane, her battleaxe craved the thrill of battle and the taste of blood; but she was smart enough to realize that the odds weren't in her favor. She could probably get two or three before they eventually cut her down, and her mission was to gather information about the strange crash, not storm the site and kill everything. She ran a hand across her smooth scalp and brushed her ponytail out of her face with a small growl. After jumping back up on the saddle of her warg, she began the long ride back to camp. Her superiors would be interested to hear about this.
Jaina Proudmoore was waiting patiently by the city gate, keeping one of the cities doctors close by. She wished to speak to this person if at all possible. The ships design, from her brief observation was incredible to say the least. It look advanced, far beyond anything the Horde or the Alliance could develop. The biggest thought on her mind was that it was more than likely an other-worldly being like the draenei. There were countless scenarios running through her mind at the moment. Perhaps they could be persuaded to enlighten them with their people's culture and technology, oh the possibilities were endless, and she was almost giddy with anticipation.
But her professionalism took back over once the gates opened and the horses stormed through. She quickly walked down towards the figure draped over one of the horse's back and got a quick look. It seemed she was correct, it was another alien being crash-landing in Azeroth, similar to that of the draenei with a few obvious differences. The scout who was handling the alien dismounted, carefully pulled her off the horse, and started to carry her towards the medical building with Jaina and the doctor following closely behind.
After setting the being down on the operating table, the scout team was dismissed and the doctor quickly and carefully began to inspect her. The human stripped the clothing off the alien and made his initial inspection. The outer appearance was similar to that of a human, but he wasn't sure at all about the inside. If there was one thing the experienced doctor didn't want, it was to try to fix her, but kill her in the process due to lack of knowledge. After another minute of studying, he sighed deeply and turned to Jaina.
"I'm deeply sorry my lady, but I don't have anything to go on with her. Her anatomy is completely foreign to me. There is nothing I can do for her, I am sorry." Jaina felt her heart sink, this being did not deserve to die, and she needed to find a way to help. There were no priests or druids or anyone other magical healer in Theramore at the moment that could aid her, just the city's doctors. But with a species as different as hers, they wouldn't be able to assist her.
"I understand doctor, do not worry. Try and find a way to sustain her; I must try and find a solution." The doctor bowed and made his way out of the room, as did jaina. Making her way back to her tower to think on their new visitor, and anything that might be done to help her.
Hakk smiled as he exited hyperspace, taking in at the look of the planet in front of him. It was a marvel indeed, perhaps his master would make good use of it once his business was concluded. His train of thought was broken when his holo-communicator began to beep incessantly, seeing it was his master calling, he wasted no time and hit 'accept'. Darth Malgus stood in the same position he had left in, arms crossed legs straight. "I will make this brief apprentice; I have transmitted the coordinates of the jedi's ship. How you handle the situation next is up to you." Hakk inclined his head to the hologram
"I will not fail you my master. The jedi will die." Malgus nodded once and turned away, ending the transmission. Just as soon as the image had flickered away, his navigation system zeroed in on the coordinates he had been given. Wasting no time with being discreet, he gunned his engines and shot towards the planet's surface.
Upon entering the planet's atmosphere, he slowed the engines and descended into the marsh. The sun had already faded and a pure, beautiful night sky could be seen. Hakk would admit, it was nice to see those every once in a while, it made landing on planets like these a little more discreet.
He could already see a small plume of smoke rising from the trees, which he assumed was the jedi's ship. But he also spotted the city at the edge of the land. It was a pitiful example of civilization. Part of him wanted to tear it down himself and let the new Empire rebuild it later on; but that would be a time wasted that he didn't have. He needed to find the jedi before she could make any sort of escape. Knowing them, if she did make it back to the Republic, she would report this planet and they would attempt to recruit in into their weak system. It would be like Voss all over again.
He contemplated landing in the city and going from there, but decided against it. He didn't want anyone, let alone a city of primitives touching his ship. He instead set the ship several miles west of the wreck hiding his ship deep in the cover of the trees.
After hoping out of the cockpit and closing the hatch, he took a moment to fully check his surroundings. Looking for any threats or points of interests. Seeing a road around a few minutes ahead he began to trek forward, immediately regretting not bringing a larger ship so he could bring a land speeder with him. He really did not wish to walk across this planet. And the fighter only had enough fuel for a return trip back to his master's ship.
After making it to the road he saw two banners in the distance. One was a stylized blue and yellow symbol of what looked to be the head of a maned Cathar. But the one to the left of it caught his interest. A red and black symbol. It intrigued him, so, he figured he would try his luck over there first. After a very mundane walk through stone walkways and wooden bridges he found a most curious sight: a gate made purely out sharpened logs that were tied together. It seemed that this settlement was a far worse example for civilization than the last city. As well it looked like he had finally gotten sight of this planet's populace.
He was instantly disgusted by the sight of them. They were large, fat, and their skin had a tan-ish color to them. As well, all seemed to have a massive underbite, and they were wearing nothing but looked like a dirty cloth diaper. He had to avoid retching in his mask as he kept to his approach, he needed answers, and if he had to deal with these freaks then so be it. But they had better hope that they didn't anger him.
As he reached the gates the things each held down their large maces to block his patch, which he could see were just large smoothed out rocks tied to branches. To him, that was strike one. He resisted the urge to strike them down, he couldn't get answers from a corpse. "What little humie want? This ogre land! You gonna leave now or we gonna put you in da stew!" Hakk could only raise an eye. That was strike two. But still their language surprised him.
"They speak Galactic Common? How is that possible? Never mind, this just makes things easier. Never look a gift nerf in the mouth." He was interrupted from his thought when he felt the thing that was apparently called an ogre push him with the end of his weapon. He took a deep breath to quell the rage and spoke "I wish to speak with whoever leads you, you will bring me to them, now." The ogre looked down at the sith with a confused look.
"Why we do that, puny thing?" Hakk was starting to struggle to keep his anger contained.
"Simple. I will kill you if you do not" The ogre sat there for a full minute in silence before bursting out in a guttural laugh that only made Hakk want to kill him more. But, that was strike three. Smiling behind his mask, he reached in his robes, pulled the lightsabers from his hips and with a quick motion, sliced at the creature's chest. Then seamlessly, he reached out to the other guard and forced pushed him hard enough that its head cracked against a nearby tree. Letting the corpses fall to the floor, he took in a deep breath, he was going to enjoy his time here.
(A/N) Well, there you have it. As always, please review, let me know of any mistakes you may find, whether they be from my grammar or the lore. And if you have any ideas, please let me know. I promise they won't be ignored. But I will tell you. I only have enough time to post one or two more chapters. I leave for the US Navy bootcamp here in about eleven days. So, I'll work on the next chapter very soon and have it up as soon as I can.
