Chapter three

To meet the Grand Commander

Albus Dumbledore stared with stoic eyes at the holographic image of Terra and the moon. His hands were clasped behind his back and his gaze, unwavering. he was lost in thought. So lost, in fact that he didn't notice the presence approaching until it was right next to him.

"To be so focused and lost in the torrent of your own mind is going to be your downfall some day, brother. I tell you this at least once a week."

He turned to meet the piercing eyes of his sister. Arianna regarded her older brother with a slightly scolding look. Power swirled behind those blue irises and he knew the devastation she was capable of. He gave a chuckle. "I suppose you are right," he said. "Something is bothering you?"

She closed her eyes. "Yes," she began bluntly. "Your plan...Its fool hardy."

Ah. Right to the point. He very much appreciated the directness in which his siblings spoke to him. It was refreshing.

"It's a worthwhile endeavor," he said. "Our purpose in life is the destruction of the burning legion and all who dare to associate with them." He growled and even he proved to be a Technomancer by not being able to hold in the bloodlust and rage as his magical aura spiked and glowed for a brief second. "I will not allow for them to think that they can get away from us."

Arianna sighed. she felt the same way of course but still...

"Our cities will be exposed. Vulnerable," she began, once again staring into his eyes. "We risk a lot by doing this. I'm just asking to make sure you realize this."

Dumbledore said nothing for a good ten seconds. He seemed to get lost in thought again, and right as Arianna was going to get his attention again, he snapped out of it and smirked.

"You sound like the President."

laughter rang from her in a melodious hymn. it was such a contradicting sound coming from a Technomancer, but he took comfort in it. Her demeanor is one of the main reasons she is so powerful. For she knows the meaning of the word restraint.

"Michelle is right to be the way she is. Especially regarding this plan of yours."

he chuckled. "I suppose you're right."

They both knew full well the reason for President Obama's hesitation. She knows what it's like first hand to lose a loved one to an overly ambitious plan of action. She wasn't always the leader of D.C after all.

"And your involvement of Potter and his team. Its fool hardy as well." Arianna's eyes narrowed just a bit.

"Foot soldiers shouldn't have to be burdened with the responsibilities of the higher ups." She Paused, her face taking on a very slight sorrowful look. "Especially after what those four had already gone through."

Albus Dumbledore stared for a good long minute at his sister, looking her right in the eyes.

"They have the strength," was all he said. It was all that needed to be said. Harry Potter, Ronald Weasly, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy weren't enlisted take on this mission...

They asked for it...

The mission had been as simple as it was so damn hard. Ron, Hermione, Draco and Harry almost downright demanded the honor of carrying out this mission, something, both Lord Albus and Aberforth had been all too willing to indulge in. Lady Arianna had been skeptical, her desire to see that the four of them remained safe, overruling her rational side. It was endearing. Draco himself loved the fact that the lady seemed so interested in them. Hermione found it a bit annoying.

They were on their way to the capital cities to gather the generators for the force fields. Lord Albus wanted them to connect them to his Portkey, but the biggest problem would be telling the leaders to their faces that they had indeed agreed to surrender their shields and expose their cities to the threat of an all out demon invasion in order to transport Terra to Azeroth. Harry knew, that despite the bit of fame they had gained five years ago, they were still just foot soldiers and thus, very hard to take too seriously. It was going to look downright funny that four soldiers were coming to collect their generators when someone like Albus himself should be the one to be doing this.

And the most nerve racking leader was President Michelle Obama. Upon arrival to D.C, she took one look at them, narrowed her eyes then gave an almost resigned sounding sigh.

"Follow me," she commanded, not even taking the time to greet them. She knew who they were and the four of them were smart enough to know why she was being so terse. Even Draco, the most cantankerous of the group knew better than to mouth off.

Everyone and everything was tense but none more so than the woman they were following.

Michelle's Back story is a tragic one riddled with the over ambitions of her lover that resulted in his death, the death of their two daughters and the near destruction of D.C. Her reluctance to go along with this plan could be misconstrued as cowardice, but to assume so would be a very, very grave mistake. To question her resolve to protect her people and see to the deaths of any demon, even in a joking manner risked bodily harm, dishonor or even death, but to ask her to willingly surrender the greatest defense against the endless tide of demons was something no person should have ever felt right to do.

Harry thought all of this as he and his team followed the President towards the capital building. a large white structure that glowed with blue runes on the doorways and pillars, and was patrolled by the android forms of the past D.C Presidents. all of them stood at attention when they spotted the current leader approaching, which she acknowledged with a nod.

D.C was a perhaps twice as large as London, spread out across more miles of land than London, With citizens that were a bit more technological than they were magical. Many carried wands but preferred their machines and armor. And a good portion of the people here used their magic more as a power source for their weapons than as a weapon itself. It was always surreal, visiting another capital city. Each one was different in so many aspects. Harry cast a glance at both his legs and thought briefly of his upper back area. The D.C mechcrafters were the ones who had saved his team five years ago and he would always be grateful for that.

They followed Michelle into the capital building, down the hall and right to her main office. An oval shaped hub of hovering screens and streams of data and magical energy. Up in the corners you could just barely spot the motionless forms of a pair of large mechanical spiders, ready and waiting to strike at just the slightest twitch of the president's aura. Michelle walked up to her desk and lightly tapped a single -glowing yellow button.

"The generator is below," she said. "Get ready."

Draco opened his mouth to speak "Eh? for wh-?"

They were all engulfed in a flash of light before he could finish.

They reappeared in a large circular room with no doors and no windows. It was almost eerie, the darkness that blanketed this area and the four soldiers had to the darkness. Michelle chuckled in amusement at their disorientation, waiting for them to get situated before she continue don.

"What the bloody hell was that?" asked Draco with a grimace and a glare. "Warn a guy before you do something like that! Bloody hell!" Hermione almost gasped and smacked Draco upside the head. "Show some respect you idiot!"

"Fuck you! I hate Teleportation and all of you know this." He clutched at his stomach. Ron just looked up, a slight smile upon his face while Harry took the time to subtly observe the president. Michelle was just standing there, an amused smirk upon her lips as she watched Hermione and Draco bicker, perhaps memorizing her own past and the little squabbles she use to get into with her husband. But the look only lasted a few seconds before she cleared her throat.

"come. We are wasting time." She turned and the four followed without complaint.

They came upon very large metal door that although looked like a simple door, was far from it. Harry could feel the overwhelming amount to energies flowing through. Nothing was getting past this door with brute force. Harry knew instantly that almost nothing had the strength to simply barge into the room through this door.

They would die an agonizing death.

There was a brief flash of a pair of glowing green eyes, filled with a twisted kind of lust in his mind for a just a second, causing him to tense up for just a second.

"Before I open this door," began Michelle with a very serious look upon her face. "I will once again reiterate the danger of this plan. You were given time to get your minds set right and to gather resolve needed to do this in the form of simply flying here. I am not pleased with this plan of Dumbledore's...but I can see what he wants and I support that, if anything else."

She placed a hand on the handle and began to channel her magic into the metal, causing thousands of runes to spring to life on the door and a dozen holographic screens to pop up, each of them streaming a piece of the security code longer than anyone would every hope to try and count.

"Once I disable the main unit powering the force field, and hand it over to you, you will have no time to rest. There are portals already waiting for you to take you to each city after this one. This has to be quick. The demons WILL notice our defenses are down. You have a day at most. a few hours at minimal."

She pierced them with her gaze. Her magical eye seemed to glow more intensely. "Are you absolutely sure you can do this? I will not risk the safety of my city on a possibility that this can be done. You have to be certain."

The four of them exchanged looks. It only took a second.

Draco, grinned almost impishly. "Hand us that Generator already, President Obama."

she stared for ten seconds, then smirked. "Fine then." The runes flashed red and the screens beeped. "Access granted."

The door swung open and bathed them all in white light...

(-)

Glowing green eyes radiating with the emotions and power of a dozen high-level demons narrowed as they snapped to the west.

The several dozens of demons behind her flinched as her aura fluctuated a bit, their eyes nervously dancing about. She rose, her form becoming illuminated as she rose up out of the shadows and continued to stare to the west. She was a tall lithe thing with a sinful attractiveness about her. Her skin was an ashen grey and her hair, a glimmering purple curtain that hung almost to the ground. Her body was curvaceous with plump rear, thighs and breasts and her face a cute heart shape.

Massive wings spread out like an ominous beacon from her shoulders and bathed the area before her in shadow and a pair of horns curved up and back from her forehead. Fangs glinted as she laughed, full and loud.

"Oh my, what's thiiiis?"

A female Nethrazim, a rarity thought to not even exist. In fact, the females of the dread lords didn't fight. Not that they couldn't, they were more of the caretakers of the worlds they inhabited, acting as guards for the young, harsh trainers for adolescents or wives and concubines for their male counterparts. To see one out on the front lines engaging in battle is a sign not of power or respect. It is sign of banishment, shame. She must have been viewed as unattractive or was truly pathetic at the tasks she was being taught to perform. But this one was different. This is a woman so powerful she actually had the ability to command the demons that reside upon this stubborn world.

Though her path wasn't an easy one.

She's been fighting against the technomancers for the last ten thousand years. She is a veteran of this war, more powerful and more experienced than almost any other demon. She's been here since she was but a child, flung to this world for her weakness, under the guise of training when in reality her home world simply wanted to cast her away to die. She's seen the rise and fall of countless would be generals and over lords and she herself has clawed her way up from the very bottom of the latter. To ignore her advice is to invite a painful agonizing death...either from the technomancers themselves, or from her for foolish arrogance. She has survived countless encounters with the denizens of this world and has a kill count even higher.

She arrived on Terra, a timid runt of a thing afraid of her own shadow. But has evolved into the demoness she is today, gleefully engaging the denizens of this world in glorious battle, uncaring of who or what stood in her way. The other demons learned long ago of her bitterness. She cares not for the legion, or their goals or why they ventured to use this world as their makeshift training facility. At one point in her life when she was younger, she might have even tried to join the Technomancers had they actually stopped trying to slaughter her long enough to hear her story. But now all she cares about is the next fight. Everything about her is a deadly weapon designed for that purpose and that purpose alone. Becoming the grand commander was just a nice little after affect

She is NOT to be lightly trifled with, and everything, both demon and Technomancer know this.

Power swirled around her as she closed her eyes and took a long desire-filled inhalation through the nose

Technomancers were so...alluring! She could not deny this. their power and their pride and determination. Everything about them was impressive. She wouldn't deny that she liked them. No one had the power to call her on it and live anyway. The Technomancers didn't look at here with judgmental eyes, that is, not the type of eyes that were given to her all through her childhood. They saw her as a powerful demon who needed to be killed. they didn't even flinch at the fact that she was a female dread lord. They didn't care, and for that, she has developed a twisted sort of attractiveness towards them. The way the Technomancer treated her...

Like an equal, was far greater than those of her own so called affiliation had treated her.

But none of them...no other Technomancer, no matter how strong or weak would ever have her interest like...Those four. Their faces were burned into her memory, never to fade away or blur. She made sure to remember every detail about them, right down the very expression of defiant determination in their eyes in the very last moments they had been staring each other down. She Knew them. And they her.

It had been five years since they'd met. The fight they had, had been the most exhilarating little duel she'd had in her entire life. They were still new, probably fresh from training. And honesty, when she and they had bumped into each other, she was ready to kill them quickly and be on her way. They weren't even worth all of her full attention. That had changed very quickly and before she knew it, she was in a fight that actually threatened to end her life.

They fought for an hour, and in the end she had been the victor.

She knew that they'd survived though. they were too tenacious not to. Even though she'd all but dismembered the four of them, they were the only ones who can claim the impossible title of those-who-lived, survivors against her. It was amazing. Those that had witnessed the battle were quick to spread the word. Both Technomancer and Demon talk about the four who had not only managed to survive an encounter with the Grand Commander, they had actually fought her to a draw AND grievously injured her. Something no demon or Technomancer either alone or in a group had ever managed to accomplish. Even the leaders of the great capitals were weary of facing her.

They weren't even all that strong, but they were smart. They were strategic, they were crafty. And for them, that's all that was needed.

Since then she's developed a sort of obsession. She pursued the four of them everywhere, just barely out of range, she always missed them by a week, a day...an hour. All she encountered were the devastated remains of whatever poor fools had tried to face them. They were getting stronger everyday and she wanted to taste that power. she wanted to face them again. She wanted to Enjoy every aspect of them.

So when her senses tingled with the feel of a familiar quartet of auras, she gasped in giddy excitement.

They were on the move. Had been for about a week now. At first, she was confused. As she chased them across the world, she became lost in thought. What were they up to? what were they doing? it was weird. they hadn't even stopped to engage some of the demon camps. They passed over them without so much as a second glance. She kept her distance, curiosity preventing her from simply rushing up on them.

Her patience rewarded her. she followed them across the world to the Technomancer City of D.C and waited, just outside the boundaries of all the sensors. She simply plopped down and stared, unblinkingly down at the city.

She waited, perhaps ten minutes before something so astonishing, she actually fell over, happened.

There was a pulsation of energy, a large hiss, and then the barrier surrounding the city abruptly vanished. She was so shocked that she almost missed her quarry teleporting away.

"Holy shit," she gasped out as she came to a startling revelation.

The generators that powered the force fields that protected their cities...

They were shutting them down.

Such a thing was...monumental. If the burning legion learned of this before the technomancers were ready, it would cause chaos. the demons, foolish as they were, would swarm the cities. But it would cause massive problems for the Technomancers. She knew that a demon invasion would be nothing but a very large annoyance at best for the zealous strugglers for the ownership of their world. They were much too powerful now to be worried about losing any of their capitals to the legion. However the distractions that dealing with said invasions would cause, would leave them open for thievery. Important information, vital items key to the techniques of the Technomancers, if reverse engineered to fit demon purpose, could even weaken them or strengthen the demons enough for the legion to secure complete control of this world. Oh she could elevate herself to even higher levels of rank simply by being the demon responsible for taming Terra...

But, the mere fact that they were shutting down their generators meant that they were up to something. something big. Did she really want to cause anything to keep them from accomplishing it? technically it was her duty to do just that. But in reality?

A giggle escaped her lips.

"Do your thing, little Technomancers. But as a reward I will have what I seek."

And without another word, she dispersed into a swarm of bats.

She was so close to them. She'd wait until they finished their little mission.

Then she would swoop down upon them without warning and without hesitation.

(-)

Anduin stood before the numerous leaders of the world's neutral factions and the alliance, three weeks after Velen had sent him to inform the people of the coming strangers. At first, no one had believed him. They wanted to refuse to believe his words, already fearful of the chaos currently taking place on the world right now, but as he insisted and continued his message, the people began to believe him. The leaders of the alliance themselves had asked him for more details. But he couldn't give any.

"All I know is that these people...they are the Burning legion's first enemy." he said. "The prophet seemed both excited and fearful of them. He claims that they are stronger than anything we have or ever will face again."

This of course made the leaders uneasy. Many glances were exchanged and silent conversations took place. All eyes focused on Prophet Velen who hadn't said a word yet. His eyes were closed, as if he were in a trance, but they knew he was aware. He was listening as well.

So Varian spoke directly to him.

"Just what kind of people...are we dealing with? and when are they supposed to arrive?"

For a second... Nothing. Velen gave no indication that he heard anything, until his eyes snapped open.

"They are called Technomancer. It is both a race name and a battle class with several sub divisions. They are...they are mixed. A blend of their planet's numerous home species with the bulk being that of a pair of races extremely similar or perhaps almost exactly that of Humans. Countless years of evolution and struggle has blended all sentient life on that planet into one singular species, who have honed both magic and Machine to such a degree that a single one of their weakest soldiers could lay waste to an entire Stormwind squadron. They are that powerful."

As gasps echoed all through the hall, Velen spoke some more. "They will be here within the week."

"Then we must get ready," said Tyrande, plans already flowing through her mind. "These people will be needing sanctuary and help. We mus-"

"No."

Velen's word stopped everyone in their tracks. His face was uncharacteristically serious, wary almost his tail twitched nervously.

"The Technomancers are not on the run," he began. "They are not abandoning their endless fight against the burning legion. They are not in search of allies or sanctuary. They do not need any of that." he paused, his eyes boring into them all.

"They are simply on a hunt. We are a means to an end." he leaned forward. the images of the possible futures all still clear in his mind. "They will come here, and we will have to prove to them that we are worthy of their respect...their attention. That we are capable of fighting alongside them, or we will be simply swept aside as they chase the dark titan."

The impact of those words were profound. No one could believe what they had just heard.

"So then," began Varian Wrynn, his adrenalin already beginning to rise. "They are a threat, a hostile group." His eyes narrowed. "I will not kowtow to anyone, let alone some alien race looking to selfishly pursue their revenge at the cost of our world."

His hands were already clenching. "We've already been through so much. Who are these people to judge us? If I have to. I will march up to their leader myself, and say as much."

Velen gave a smile at the king's response. "Good," he said. "That may just work."

At his confused stare, the prophet elaborated. "The Technomancers are a threat, yes this is true. they are perhaps the biggest threat Azeroth will ever face. But they are also the greatest potential salvation. The Technomancers are not a hostile or conquering race. They are simply battle hardened and know only how to interact with one another." His smile turned almost impish. "Show them strength. Show them the iron will to fight. Prove to them you are a king, that you are a man, a warrior."

"Is there another way?" began Tyrande. She wasn't so sure about challenging the strength of such a powerful race, if the prophet is to be believed. "Is there another way to gain their favor?" she asked.

Velen nodded. "The best way to gain the technomancers as an ally, as far as I've seen. Perhaps the only way to gain them as companions, would be to heal their world. Do that and they will bond with us for the rest of their existence."

"See? now that just impossible," grunted Gelbin. "How in blazes are we supposed to get to their home world to do that?"

Velen's eyes flashed with amusement. "It's simple really." he began. "They are bringing it with them."

Thus time there were spit takes.

Anduin stayed in the background, seemingly forgotten. He watched as the alliance leaders got themselves all excited over the Technomancers and couldn't help the warm smile. But as he smiled, he began to think.

"Technomancer..." he muttered. "A blend of Magic and machine within your own body..."

He gave his light magic a quick pulse, and then eyed his bow. "How interesting ."

(-)

Without any sort of hesitation. Harry, Hermione, Draco and Ron dropped to one knee in front of Aberforth, Albus and Arianna.

"Mission accomplished," said Harry. He rose, presenting a glowing box.

"The power crystals to the force field generators to the nine great capitals, all safely gathered and ready." The ruler of London took the box, holding it gently, as if one sudden move would break the box open.

This was it.

"Now all that remains...is London's crystal," he muttered. Aberforth nodded and began to type in a code, while scanning his eye and palm. Arianna approached the four of them. "Get some rest," she muttered. "Ten consecutive teleportations while carrying an increasing number of powerful items must have been exhausting."

Draco gave a cocky smirk. "For the Mudblood perhaps." Hermione smacked him upside the head. Ron sighed. Arianna laughed.

"But in all seriousness my lady," began Hermione, her eyes brimming with excitement and lust for battle.

"This world we are going to. It could be filled with all manner of hostiles. This horde and this alliance in particular..." the rest didn't need to be said. Arianna could see it plain as day and she found herself smirking.

The Potential for battle...

"Yes, I see your point. I would like to test these people," she said. "It is only fair that you get to do the same."

"System shut down commencing."

The entire world of Terra shuttered as the last anti-burning legion city-wide Force field shimmered and died, leaving the world's entire population of technomancers, exposed to the burning legion for the first time in over two-thousand years. Everything seemed to go still for just a second as Albus gathered London's power crystal from the generator and made his way over to his portkey.

"When I begin the sequence, what little time we had before the demons realize we are exposed to them, will vanish in an instant, and I will go into a trance-like state in order to guide the portkey to get to the right coordinates. Be ready to fight. Not a single drop of demon blood is to remain within their vile corpses!"

Harry's mouth twisted into a bloodthirsty grin. "Let them come! It's already been too long since I've spilt demon blood!"

Draco's canines grew and his hair got a little wilder, his form crouched down and hunched, like a predator waiting and ready. Hermione's aura flared out around her and Ron began to glow.

Arianna began to float, her pure white robe flaring out all around her as a sickly, ghostly aura began to swirl around her. Aberforth's entire body broke apart at the seams, coming apart like a complicated puzzle revealing for a split second, the organic brain, heart, lungs and entrails, before it came back together again in the form of a large mechanical lion.

Dumbledore opened the box and chanted in rapid succession. The world began to hum as the crystals rose up out of the box and began to orbit around the portkey. Tethers of energy began to attach themselves to the hourglass at the top, feeding their potent energy. Then Albus himself touched the hourglass and instantly became engulfed in a glowing sphere of white.

At once, the demons reacted. A great cry of monstrous anticipation rang up from the ground and into the sky as the burning legion became aware of the Technomancer's exposure. The skies turned black with the innumerable forms of flying demons.

In D.C, President Obama armed her weapon and with a twitch of her aura, the countless forms of mechanical animals materialized all around her as the denizens of the city cried out in blood thirsty anticipation. vehicles sprang to life all over the city and took to the skies and to the streets.

"Let's raise some hell," she muttered, her glowing eye pulsating once.

Harry eyed the sky as the top of Hogwarts castle opened up and allowed for the platform holding the portkey to rise up and out of it. He growled as he spotted the demons.

He turned to his team. Aberforth and Arianna had long since rushed out to meet the demons head on. "I hope you're ready," he practically growled. "Because it's about to come to a head."

There was a flash and a shock wave of demonic power exploded out from the point between the four of them so suddenly, they could do nothing but allow themselves to be thrown off in four different directions.

"Argh! what the hell!?"

"Oh my, OH MY! So this is what you lovely little toys have been doing? How absolutely fascinating!"

The voice that rang out froze all four members of Harry's team in an instant before the bat cloud had even finished dispersing.

Draco's feral features faded instantly and Ron subconsciously clutched at his throat. Hermione's eyes were huge and unblinking and Harry himself could only gape in shock.

That voice, that body. That aura! she couldn't be here! not now, not during this critical moment! why now, of all times!? why couldn't she wait till after!?

"Hello there," she said in a sensual voice so full of electric sexuality that it would have made a man who didn't know what she was capable of, instantly try and be her slave. "It's has been...such a long time."

She walked with a sway in her hip towards Draco first. her tongue sensually dancing over her lips as she approached.

"How I've so...Missed you all," she breathed out when she got too close, Draco hissed and sprang to his feet, a condensed ball of energy already exploding from the tip of his wand, aimed at her face. She smirked and flicked the attack to the side.

"Oho? such hostility!" she giggled, this time looking directly into Harry's eyes. The man resisted the urge to flinch and rub the scar on his forehead. "You haven't missed me at all?"

It was Hermione who spoke, her arm already transformed and ready. "I can't say that any of us in particular are happy to see you." She smirked, an almost insane gleam exploding to life in her eyes. "But then again, it would be both a great honor and an extreme satisfaction to end your life right here in this very room," she said, her voice a low growl. "Grand commander of the Burning legion stationed on our planet."

"Vasiliva the death weaver."

The female Nethrezim's eyes flashed red...

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WHEW! feels good to get this off mah chest! ugh! finally gettin back into the groove or writing! I think. After a very long period of writer's block, something I'm sure isn't all the way gone just yet by the way, I AM BACK! With the completion of this chapter! i hope yal enjoyed it. It was a very hard thing to write. hard to connect the different stories going on in this chap.

Anyway tell me what ya thought.