And now we're moving onto the attack on Hellfire Citadel... *sigh* Lets just get this chapter over with... I really want to leave Hellfire right now, move onto Netherstorm or something... Maybe Shattara City for starters... any ways... tally ho!
PS: this is going to be a LONG chapter...
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The sound of whistling could be hear off in the distance... getting louder as it drew near.
"INCOMIIIINNNNGGGGG!" Yelled a Grunt as the artillery shell hit mere meters away from him.
The Horde had take then northern ridge which overlooked the path to Hellfire Citadel and were letting the UN forces bombard the Fel Orc positions with heavy artillery and mortar fire, a classic tactic that given the conditions should prove somewhat effective.
Ryan crept next to Nazgarel who was hunkered down in a UN dug Fox hole, he dove to the ground as another shell hit next to him. "THIS IS CALLED FRIENDLY FIRE!" Ryan yelled over the explosions. "I THINK THE UNAAF TROOPS GOT THEIR TARGETS WRONG!"
"UNAAF!?"
"THE ALLIANCE UN FORCES! THEY'VE TAKEN THE SOUTH RIDGE! I GUESS THEY HAD THE SAME IDEA AS WE DID!"
"WELL GET THEM TO STOP!"
"COMMS ARE OFFLINE!"
"WELL THIS IS JUST FUCKING GREAT!"
"MAYBE THEY STILL THINK THE FEL ORCS ARE ENCAMPED HERE!?" Ryan suggested...
"EARS RINGING!" cried Falu who was also in the entrenchment "ELF EARS SENSITIVE!" she clamped her hands over her ears trying to muffled the explosions. Ryan sighed at her, he needed to get the UNAAF troops to stop shooting at the UNHAF troops before Fal got shell shocked... or any of them killed for that matter.
Ryan racked his head... then the most obvious idea came to him... he crawled a foxhole over to where a few German soldiers were taking cover.
"Sergeant Richtofen, pop green smoke!" Ryan ordered
"Yah, pop zee smoke!" relayed Richtofen to his men "Nein, nein! Shietza nein, zee green vone!"
One of the soldiers under Richtofen turned to Cmdr. Ramirez and muttered "Why he talks like that, don't ask..." he sighed as he pulled out three green smoke grenades and lobbed them in different directions.
After several tense moments the shelling stopped and the men who were still alive peeked up above their entrenchments along the ridge... sure enough the Alliance guns on the far side had stopped shooting and redirected their fire towards the Citadel, now knowing that the Fel Orcs didn't have control of the Northern Ridge.
Ryan returned to Nazgarel's foxhole. "So what's the plan?" he asked
Nazgarel pulled out a sheet of parchment with a diagram of the Citadel grounds on it. "Alright, The Alliance will come in through the south hall, here... they'll have to go through a small army of Fel Orcs and Nether Drakes before they get to Magtheridon... but we are going to get to him first..."
"How's that?"
"From what we can tell from the maps, schematics and intelligence we've collected, there will be a weak spot in the wall right near the forge area." Naz pointed to a large octagon room with a red ball the color of lava in the center of the forge room. "This wall segment right here" he pointed to the eastern most wall segment in the octagon room. "If you blow it open, you will be able to jump down a hollow Drake Shaft which will lead you down right to Magtheridon... It's only a matter of getting to the forge room, its not exactly un-protected... The forces between him and the Alliance are thick sure and there will be less where you are going, but they will be fierce nonetheless..."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait... back up there big guy..." said Ryan, making Naz snort at his comment. "What's this about a Drake shaft?"
"Drake shaft, it allows the Nether Drakes that the Fel Orcs ride to navigate the interior of the Citadel."
"Um... what if by chance we... oh you know... RUN INTO ONE!?" Exclaimed Ryan
Nazgarel picked up a long tube on the ground and shoved the SMAW at Ryan. "You blow it up..." he replied smugly "Blow up the Drake, Blow up the Wall, Blow up Magtheridon... Damn well blow up the Citadel if you gotta!"
Ryan shuttered in thought, how did the Horde manage to win anything with this sort of tactical genius...
"Riiiight... improvise... I get it..." sighed Ryan, discontented with the plan... he didn't trust it to work off without a hitch... and there were ALWAYS hitches... ALWAYS... no plan survives contact with the enemy was the old saying... was damn well an accurate one at that... "I'll assemble a squad..."
"Take some of my men with you, we can't let you have all the fun now can we?"
"But sir, with all due respect, your men don't have the equipment we have, they'd just slow us down." Calmly replied Ryan.
"DON'T THINK OF US AS INFERIOR HUMAN!" roared Naz, causing Ryan to jump back out of spitting distance.
"I never said you were inferior, I'm talking about their gear" Ryan sighed "But whatever, your call boss man..." Ryan rolled his eyes... he hated tense situations like this... all he wanted to do when they came up was to put them behind him and move on, forget it happened and get onto more important things... and that was the reason he never took up politics...
"Alright, I'll order them to assemble at the top of the Citadel, make your entrance through the Ramparts, don't let any Fel Orcs stand in your way!"
"Sir, yes Sir!" Ryan Saluted...
Ryan began to make his way towards the ramp to the... well... the Ramparts... he made it just before those ramps when he heard a light footsteps behind him. "Fal... you're not coming" he said without even having to turn around.
"Fal?" said a pretty female voice... Ryan turned around to face a beautiful Blood Elven maiden draped in dark purple and golden robes, holding a white staff with a silver jewel mounted on the end. Her silvery blonde hair flowed down to her petite shoulders... a blue hair band ran through her hair and she wore red and golden ear rings at the tops of her foot long ears.
"Oh sorry, thought you were Faluara..." Ryan replied and the Elf's ears perked up
"Falu? She's here?!" exclaimed the blonde priest...
"Gala!" exclaimed a voice he recognized as Fal's. The red haired elf ran up and hugged the blonde one, who returned it in kind. "Gala, I didn't know you were sent to Outland!" Faluara said in Thalassian.
"Me? Forget me! What are you doing here?! Shouldn't you be back in Undercity right now?"
"Sylvanas sent me to learn from Ryan" Faluara pointed at a confused looking Ryan... "I'm getting better! Screw bows, swords and magic, guns are all I need..."
Ryan coughed loudly getting the two women's attention... "I hate to interrupt your girl chat, but we need to go. Falu... stay..." Ryan said the last part slowly so as to make sure she understood...
"Why me stay?" asked Fal, her friend trying not to laugh at her friend's horrible Common grammar skills... "You say Falu gooder than was before!"
Ryan was now at an impasse... sure he said she'd improved, but not THAT much... not enough to join an assault on such heavily entrenched enemies... so in a way, he could come clean and admit he'd sort of lied when he'd said she'd greatly improved, and keep her safe... or could agree that's she'd improved enough to come with them, and put her in danger... it was a lose-lose situation...
If he admitted to lying... not only would she lose trust in him, but judging from her mental state when he'd found her crying her eyes out a few days ago, he wasn't sure she'd be able to take the emotional effects of his lie... I mean he was someone she now trusted and probably referred to as a friend... but it would at least keep her out of harm's way and she wouldn't get hurt... or worse... killed... if she died, Ryan believed he wouldn't be to cope with the guilt...
On the other hand, this might prove as an effective test for her, he'd just have to make sure he kept an eye on her at all times... if she made it through here alive, then he'd admit that she was finally amounting to something greater... if she didn't survive... he wouldn't know how to cope with it...
Ryan clenched his fist... he glanced pleadingly at this... Gala chick who had just shown up, seeming to be Faluara's friend...
Galadria seemed to understand his look... she turned to Faluara "Falu, what Ryan is trying to imply is that, he's worried for you, your under his care and he wouldn't know how to deal with the guilt if you were to perish in there... in fact I don't know how I would manage either... not to mention your Brother... so I think it would be best if-"
"C'mon Falu..." Ryan sighed, catching both the female elves off guard, quickly drawing their attention to him... "Hold on though..." he pulled his sniper rifle off his back and turned to a Russian UN soldier who was guarding the path way up to the Ramparts...
"Comrade, trade you." He said in fluent Russian and held up his DSR-50 Sniper Rifle... the Russian pondered the trade for a moment...
"Da, what that hell..." he nodded and threw Ryan his AN-94 assault rifle and ammo belt who in turn received the ammo satchel for his DSR-50 along with the actual gun, the most powerful sniper rifle to date aside from the old classic Barret Anti-Material Rifle.
The Commander turned back to the two Elves, he removed the clip from the assault rifle, then reached over to a magazine on the ammo belt, grabbing it and clicking it into the rifle's magazine slot, pulling back the bolt on the side of the rifle... the AN-94 was... in a way, the great grandson of the legendary AK-47, sharing similarities in both appearance and stopping power... velocity, design and general operation remained much the same however the AN was of a much more reliable and sturdy design...(Considering how durable and rugged the AK was, that's saying ALOT) it simply had a better feel to it, allowing more stability when aiming. Speaking of aim, the AN-94 was also a great improve on the original AK-47, since it had a adjustable stock, recoil absorbent barrel and muzzle allowing for higher velocity and recoil management... combine that with the iconic red fluorescent glowing iron sights of the AN series made this a much more accurate gun then it's predecessor while still keeping all the power and ruggedness people loved but with a much more sleek feel and design, while still retaining that, nostalgic feeling...
Anyways while Ryan could go on about the gun forever, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
He held out the rifle to the red haired elf and motioned for her to take it... she already knew what he wanted her to do. She repeated his actions by un-locking the clip and loading a new one before pulling the bolt back... he nodded and took the rifle back and showed her how to properly hold the gun, aim down the sights and fire by taking three pot shots into the dirt. He returned the rifle to the elf, who repeated his actions... despite having no experience with such firearms before, she caught on very quickly... a gun in Ryan's opinion wasn't a hard tool to use... unlike the ancient ones used in the late 1500's until the late industrial revolution when rifles became more lever-action and bolt-action...
"Alright, let's go, just try not to shoot us with that ok?" Ryan said the last part with a hint of sarcasm... however the point remained that, he hadn't meant it sarcastically...
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The party of ten made their way down the narrow halls of the inner workings of Hellfire Citadel. The team was comprised of three UNAF Soldiers, Ryan included, and seven Horde Adventurers, Falu and her friend included.
Ryan checked his tactical map on his RTSMD... HUD... whatever you wanna call it... and looked for the forge room, which, according to the map was coming up in about maybe three corridors. One right then straight past an intersection and they'd make it to the forge.
Ryan led the team to the next turn, peeking around the corner. Three Fel Orcs stood just around the corner, coincidentally just standing there for no apparent reason... which is how a lot of the encounters so far had been... certain corridors and doorways coincidentally had several huge ass Fel Orcs just standing on the edge of it or right around a corner... Ryan had no clue as to who was playing games with him, but since it was real life he figured he just had bad luck today...
Ryan mentally sighed and before any of the others in his team could protest... or even register what happened... Ryan rolled out from behind the corner and shot the orcs with his M27, each Orc taking two shots to the chest and one to the head in quick succession.
Ryan waved up the other 9 adventurers, however when they hesitated one of the UNAF soldiers explained that he wanted them to move up, or follow.
Of the 7 Horde adventurers there were two who were armed with an arsenal of healing spells, them being Gala the Holy Priest and A Tauren Restoration Druid. There was only one who had been designated to protect the healers, and he wasn't doing a very good job pulling the encountered hostiles away from the others, what since all enemies encountered so far had been one-shot without much difficulty by Ryan or one of the UNAF soldiers, this was a rather hot headed Orc Protection Warrior (Dunno if I got the spec right... I don't play as Warrior). The rest of the adventurers were comprised of a Tauren Retribution Paladin, an Undead Subtlety Rogue, a Troll Arms Warrior and finally Faluara the (loosely) Marksmanship Hunter.
A UNAF Soldier took point for a while, scouting the hallway they had just cleared which according to the maps lead to the forge room. Their booted footstep clacked softly off the light brown cobblestone floor as they made their way to the entrance to the forge room, which was easily made out due to the bright orange and redish glow emitting from behind the double door sized archway.
One of the soldiers peeked inside, his gun aimed forward as he scanned the room. He turned back to the others "There is no one there." he said with slight confusion.
"Maybe the alliance attack force was more severe than we thought, maybe the forge workers were also called to arms to defend the alliance wing of the attack?" Ryan offered.
"Seems kind of stupid though..." added the Orc Warrior "Why would they pull off the only men who were tasked to repair their broken arms and armor from the battle?"
"Da Orc be right, dis may'a be a trap mon!" said the Troll Warrior.
"Alright, we file in slowly, check your corners- oh right the room is round... well check your sides and any possible hiding places." Ordered Ryan
The party slowly entered the room, Ryan and the UNAF troops filed in and turned a 180, looking at all parts of the room, even the ceiling, finding no sign of hostiles anywhere... the party even risked a look in the still hot melting pots near the center of the room, nothing.
"Well then..." Ryan said as he sat down on an anvil, he reached around and slung a bag of explosives off his back, opening the top revealing enough C4 to level a large house, maybe nine or ten blocks of the stuff. A UNAF soldier threw a small blue screened device to Ryan, who began to walk along the walls of the room, holding the device up to them. Finally he came to a point where the device changed from blue to red. He signaled for the other UNAF troops to bring up the C4, which was planted in a square around the predicted shaft area.
"Clear out of the room!" ordered Ryan and herded the others out, before taking cover himself and taking out a small pistol like device and pulling the trigger.
*Ka-boom!*
Smoke and shrapnel filled the room, most of the smoke was already flowing out the archway and into the halls of Hellfire Citadel. Ryan peeked back into the room where most of the equipment and tools were in flames or in pieces. But they had accomplished what they had set out to do, blow a giant fucking hole into the forge room which sure enough lead to a large shaft which went nearly straight down...
"Well, fuck..." said Ryan "Ready rappel belts."
"No need." Said Gala who raised her staff and cast a white spell on the party members, making everyone feel lighter then they had before... "Now just float down."
"Are you sure about that sir?" asked a UNAF soldier to Ryan.
Ryan himself looked a little skeptical but just to make sure he used an anvil which was still intact to boost jump off of and he slowly fell back down... landing softly on his ass...
"Alright... I guess it works..." he admitted before jumping down the shaft. The sensation when you are near weightless was... tingly to say the least... the spell affected your body externally but not your insides so it felt like the inside of your body wanted to fall faster than your outside... apparently falling like this had resulted in more than one person losing their lunch before...
Soon the bottom was in sight, well, sorta... the shaft of grey smooth metal started to curve and slant becoming less steep... but still steep enough to slide down... so without anyway of changing course Ryan landed on the slant... and as soon as he made contact with the smooth metal...
"HOLY SHEEEEEETTTT!" he yelled as he slid down and away after the spell had worn off with contact to the metal.
*One Long ass slide later...*
Ryan struggled onto shaky feet after sliding for what seemed like hours... probably had only been a few minutes... he was about to continue along the now flat shaft when.
*Whap*
Ryan got taken off his feet and landed on his face after doing an amazing backflip. He peeled his face off the metal and glared at the one who had slam dunked him. He then sighed after realizing it was only Falu... he couldn't stay mad at her what with a face as cute and apologetic as that looking back at him.
He got to his feet and offered a hand to the Blood Elf who took it in turn, letting herself be hauled to her feet by the Human Soldier.
"We might want to step to the side... considering what just happened..." suggested Ryan as he stepped to the side of the shaft just as the others came sliding down the shaft...
"Well that was fun..." said the Orc
"We ain't outta the woods... or rather shaft yet guys, let's keep moving." Said a UNAF soldier armed with a Grummond-8 Pump Shotgun, one of the latest additions to the UN's small arms arsenal.
The group headed along the shaft for several minutes with nothing spectacular happening... or with any interesting scenery for that matter... it was just shiny grey metal ovular walls with the occasional ventilation grate which just seemed to go out into darkness.
"Damn" mused one of the UN soldiers, "This shaft is wide enough to fit a Mammoth Tank through..."
"Mammoth Tank?" asked Ryan
"Yeah, most of the world's arsenal changed while you were gone sir. Japan's especially..."
"Do tell... give us something to think about."
"Well... the American's replaced their M1-Abraham with two new tanks, their MBT Crusader Tank and a Heavy Anti-missile Paladin Tank, armed with an anti-missile laser which can cut down infantry and rockets."
"Wow..." replied Ryan "Anything else? What was that about Japan?"
"Japan is... unconventional now..."
"What do you mean?"
"Their new weapons don't use bullets, rather kinetic energy! Like a rail gun from sci-fi movies. They even have giant cyber robot warriors!"
"What the fuck?!"
"I dunno man, it's Japan... crazy shit always happens there! Anyways, let's see... Russian's got their Apocalypse and Hammer Tank, Brittan has the Guardian Tank and the Gerhardt-Giraud Assault Destroyer... Japan also has a new tank called the Tsunami Tank, its amphibious with a automatic 65 or 80mm Kinetic cannon. Germany has of course the best armor, the Mammoth Tank which is a double barreled 120mm heavily armored behemoth and the smaller Predator Tank, Canada, Spain and a few others who used German tanks have also begun to switch... as far as I know, none have been shipped here due to costs and we are stuck using outdated armor and some slightly outdated weapons... mostly... like your M27 and stuff are still in service of course but there have simply been a few new additions to the small arms arsenals of the world..." (For anyone who didn't know, all the tanks mentioned are related to the Command & Conquer series)
Ryan took this information in, wondering how much his world had changed in the two years he'd been gone... he chuckled thinking of a world where he'd return to flying cars, he was tempted to ask but a part of him would have felt stupid for asking such a dumb question... what next time travel?
His train of thought was broken by a sudden shudder of the drake shaft... everyone raised their weapons and tensed up... seconds passed which turned into minutes... after three minutes of patience everyone lowered their weapons and continued onwards.
"So, maybe I should have asked this before." Said Gala "But how do we know when we are above Magtheridon?"
Ryan wanted to facepalm, how could he have been so careless... sure the intel he had gotten wasn't always solid, but the idea of them not actually being able to get out of this shaft was not a pleasant one...
"FUCK!" he cursed... then seconds later nearly shrieked when:
"WHO WAS THAT!?" bellowed a deep and menacing voice... "Come out here! I only want to kill you!"
Ryan looked ahead and saw a faint light coming from the floor of the shaft... he slinked over to the light and looked down through a ventilation grate which actually led out into a room... far bellow he could make out a large and... fat... for lack of a better word, creature. He couldn't see the face of the creature from his current angle but he was almost positive that is was Magtheridon...
"I think we just found him." Whispered Ryan and signaled for the other UNAF soldiers to bring up more C4. The soldiers all planted C4 on the corners of the vent before standing back and having Gala cast a slow fall spell on them.
3... 2... 1...
*BOOM*
"Go, go, go!" yelled Ryan who went over the top first, metaphorically speaking... as he descended he wasted no time in opening fire on the demon, who after getting a glance at his face, was positive this was the right... thing... however something happened he didn't expect...
Whenever he fired his rifle, the recoil, despite being so slight would cause him to flip backwards and spin around as he fell slowly. The room after all, was quite high and it would take at least five minutes falling at this speed to reach the bottom. He glanced down again, seeing the floor was probably close enough for him to land without breaking anything.
"Gala!" he yelled
"yeah!?"
"Is there a way to cancel the spell?"
"Yeah! Just angle yourself straight down and place your arms at your side."
Ryan did just so and the spell canceled, he released his pose to get into a proper landing position, where he landed bending his knees as just the right speed to prevent any injuries, though the impact was rather shaking.
The room was wide and rather spacious, but considering the fatass who occupied it, in the end it made sense why it was so large. Four rugged metal pillars rose up and held the ceiling, spikes protruding from them. Braziers and torches lined the room filling it with a dim but sufficient light.
Ryan raised his rifle just as the others landed, glaring up at the monstrosity before him... pieces of rotten flesh hung from the beast's maw, probably the last adventurers who thought to kill him. Well this was going to be different...
"Bring up the SMAW!" Ryan ordered "We'll one shot him!"
A UN soldier ran beside Ryan and got into a crouched position, aiming the rocket launcher at Magtheridon who had started making towards them, ready to strike.
"Fire!"
*Ka-boom!*
Once the smoke from the resulting explosion from the rocket impact cleared... it was clear that Maggy had not been one shot...
"Shit..." muttered the soldier...
It had been a clean headshot with a rocket but this only left his face shredded and even more heidious than he had been before, bits of his own blackened seared flesh hung from his face now.
"OPEN FIRE!" Ryan yelled and opened up with his M27 while the other UN soldiers went loud with their LSAT Machinegun and Grummond-8 Shotgun.
The Two Warriors brandished their blades, striking with hardened vigor, cleaving long and deep wounds up the monster's body. One of the Warriors was slung aside, the Orc, causing Gala to spring into action with a flash of light, restoring the Orc's vitals.
Falu who was holding her AN-94 with shaky hands aimed it up at the monster... hesitantly pulling the trigger and almost being knocked back by the recoil, being unprepared for it... she locked her arms to try again and managed to get off burst after burst without knocking herself off her feet. Ryan noticed her shooting, spraying bullets more than actually aiming... no one was in danger of being hit however, but later he made a mental note to teach her the difference from firing from the hip and actually aiming down your sights.
The Shotgun wielding UN soldier dove to the side as a cleave from Magtheridon impacted right where he'd been standing, shattering the stone floor and sending rock shards flying in a cloud of dust.
"Sir! I have an idea!" yelled the soldier who had just dodged. He dug around in his bag and pulled out a brick of C4... "This is the last one sir!" and he threw the block to Ryan. "We'll distract him... I think you know the rest..."
Ryan nodded and readied himself...
The machinegun wielding soldier ran over to the side and fired at Maggy yelling "Hey! Ugly ass-breath! Over here! Come get me!"
The beast roared and turned his attention to the soldier, exposing his side... it was then that the opportunity presented its self... Ryan set off at a dead sprint, un buckling his grenade belt, which had three frags still latched onto it... before Magtheridon could process what was going on, Ryan had slid under the lumbering giant, coming out from under him on the other side in a skid. Ryan ran into a pillar to stop and brace himself for what was to come...
"HEY! MAGGY!" he shouted... getting the giant's temporary attention... he held up a small remote device... with a red trigger on it... "High Explosives solves all problems..." he said before pulling the trigger, detonating the block of C4 that had been stuck onto Magtheridon's underside resulting in a chain reaction which detonated Ryan's belt of grenades which he'd dropped under the creature...
The resulting gore and blood splatter upon everyone in the room was well worth the price of admission... as the one they had set out to kill was now a gut-busted corpse whose innards spilled out over the floor of Hellfire Citadel...
An enormous cheer erupted from the party, smiles and glee plastered over everyone's faces.
"We did it!" cheered Gala
"Hell yeah!" jeered the UN CQB specialist "Next stop Tempest Keep!"
Ryan just dropped his hands to his knees, panting as the adrenaline wore off from his slide-and-C4 maneuver. He wiped a fair amount of demon blood off his forehead before standing back up straight.
"Alright... now then, shall be find a way out of here, preferably before the Alliance guys get here? I doubt they'd be happy about us stealing their prize." Said Ryan and the whole group seemed to murmur in agreement.
They started heading for a large double door about half the size of the Dark Portal before...
*Ka-boom!*
An explosion shook the citadel... followed by several more and more... and more and more! The explosions didn't seem to stop and the entire fortress shook furiously, Causing the Troll Warrior to lose his balance and fall on his face.
"What's going on mon?" he asked
Ryan wasted no time in getting the Troll to his feet, helping him up "I think the Alliance had a change of plans... I think they mean to bring the citadel down on Magtheridon... in hopes of killing him before we got to him..." Ryan glanced at the demon's corpse... "We need to get out of here... NOW... Cpl. Grey your on point." Ryan pointed at the Shotgun wielding Soldier.
"Rodger that sir!" barked the soldier and ran ahead of the group, shotgun at the ready while the others followed in a wedge formation, Ryan and the LMG wielding soldier taking the left and right flanks just behind the pointsman.
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The party made their way through the halls, blasting any Fel Orcs who still remained inside after the shelling started, the explosions and shaking stopped... the shaking of which had been enough to cause many of the torches within the citadel to go out... and at this depth it was nearly pitch black... however this was hardly a problem as each UN soldier was armed with a powerful and very deadly flashlight... yes a deadly flashlight... and you wonder why cops carry these things... that as well as Gala being able to light up her stave with holy light, making a sort of magical torch light which shone an eerily bright white light, casting menacing shadows of the party on the walls of the inner workings of the Citadel...
"Are we there yet?" asked the Orc, who seemed to be getting impatient.
"Calm down..." said Ryan "The shelling has stopped... but if we're not carful we might run into an ambush in this dark..."
As they came to a three way split, Ryan edged to the corner of one of the pathways... then quickly crouched down and swat turned around the corner ready to take on anyone who might be standing down the hall... no one...
"Ok... which way?" asked the Tauren Druid.
Ryan opened the holographic map on his Arm-pad "Uh... this hallway isn't showing on my map... shit..."
"Are you saying we're lost?!" exclaimed the Orc.
"No... we're just... searching for the way out..." stuttered Ryan
"So... Lost...?"
"Yes..."
The Orc sighed long and hard before punching the wall to his left...
*creeeeaaaaakkkkk...*
"I think I know why the shelling stopped..." solemnly stated Cpl. Grey as he slowly looked up at the ceiling which was shedding dust, bits of gravel and other substances which slowly fell down to their level as though it were snow...
Then a little red headed Elf strode into the middle of the pathways... "This way..." said Falu as she pointed Left...
Ryan stood from his sitting thinking position... "Well... its not like we have a better plan..." he said.
*Creak!*
This one was much louder...
"Hey Orc! Stop punching the walls! You'll bring the whole place down on our heads!" yelled Ryan
"That wasn't me..." replied the Orc...
They all looked back down the hall from which they came and saw a single wooden board fall from the ceiling, causing a loud and wooden *clunk* which echoed throughout the halls... this was then followed by another board... and then three more... five more... the citadel began to shake again... Ryan the realized what was going on but before he could say anything...
"RUN FOR IT!" Screamed Gala as more and more boards and now even stone chunks fell from the floor above them as the whole citadel began to collapse.
Without hesitation or pause the whole party started to run for all they were worth down the hallway that Falu had pointed down... no one talked, no one slowed down and no one definitely looked back... the shaking and crashing was more than enough to confirm their fears that the whole fortress was falling down around their ears.
"Dun dun dun daaaaaaa dun dun dun! Dun da dun dun daaaaa dun dun dun dun dun dad a daaaa dun dun dun!" huffed Ryan.
"DUDE! SIR! THIS ISN'T A GIANT ROLLING BOULDER! ALSO YOUR NOT HARRISON FORD!" wailed a soldier.
"Yeah yeah!"
As the team rounded a corner their hopes of escape were dashed... a large wreckage of wood, stone and metal blocked their way...
"This is bad..." said Ryan.
"Wait! I can see a ligh' thru tha' mon!" said the Troll who ran towards the wreckage and pulled a loose metal pip free, which shifted the wreckage just enough so that they could squeeze through the splintered wood, sharp stone and jagged metal wreck to safety.
It looked extremely painful... but it would be better than being squished to death by falling debris...
"Tally ho!" said a UN soldier who crouched and started to inch into the wreck... he made it about two meters... "It's safe c'mon that falling debris has slowed but it's still tip-toeing towards us."
Ryan shrugged and followed the soldier... soon everyone was working their way towards the light of the Outland day sky, getting splinters, scrapes and cuts along the way...
After nearly 5 minutes or crouch-crawling through the debris the first UN soldier emerged... "Holy shit..." he said as Ryan emerged, he turned around.
"Holy fuck..." he gasped. The entire citadel had collapsed and was one huge pile of torn metal and wood, warped beyond repair or even recognition.
Gala was the next to emerge, followed by Falu... then the others... all of them had gruesome cuts on their arms and legs... even Gala and Falu who were by far the smallest creatures present hadn't escaped unscathed. Gala had a small cut on her face and splinters decorated her arms along with a few scrapes while Falu had a shit load of splinters in her right thigh which pierced her thin leather armor surprisingly well since they were so thin and could squeeze through the molecules of her armor with enough pressure... like gel through mesh.
"So..." said Gala, holding the cut on her face "Where's hellfire citadel?"
"I think we're standing on it..." replied Ryan.
He turned around and climbed up a slight embankment, peeking over and then just as quickly ducking back down as a rocket the shape of a firework flew over his head, impacting the wreckage just above they had emerged from, collapsing the tunnel...
"Well... that was close..." said the Tauren who had just barely made it out of there... she having been hurt the most from the hazards of it.
"What was that?" Asked a UN soldier...
Ryan looked back up... "what the hell?" he said and the others came up to look...
The Fel Orcs sure didn't want to go down without a fight and they seemed to have broken out some Dwarven Firearms, Goblin Rocket launchers and Gnomish Steam Tanks... which were the only things, even if just marginally, could stand up to the UN forces for more than five seconds... give or take three...
A row of Fel Orcs charged out from behind a wall of debris and charged towards Thrallmar which was nearby the area of which the Party of Horde members had emerged from. Unfortunatly for the Fel Orcs the UNH troops were stationed on alert and had built sandbag areas for protection. The Fel Orcs foolishly charged a machinegun emplacement where a Big .50 was mounted, which tore apart the Fel Orcs how were dumb enough to attempt to organize a firing line for their muskets, which ended up getting them cut down before a unified barrage could be taken.
Six Steam Tanks rolled over the debris which the Fel Orcs had been hiding behind, now dead of course... and rolled towards the line of sandbags...
A few troops cleared out from a section of the sandbags, letting a single Tank with two antennae protruding from its turret and a long and narrow barrel, painted blue with a sleek main body through.
"That's a Guardian Tank!" exclaimed one of the soldiers "I guess maybe the brass finally coughed up enough dough to get some more modern gear here?"
The top of the Tank had what looked like a Laser Designator up to on the turret where a man mounted machinegun would normally go... it aimed at one of the Steam Tanks and the laser up top fired at it, the tank seemed like it was heating up, turning red... once it reached a point where it looked like a cherry the men in the trenches opened fire with small arms, ripping the Steam Tank and its occupants into shreds with bullets alone.
"That's the CHB-12 up top on the tank... or Concentrated Heat Beam, it targets an enemy's armor, heating it up, making is softer which causes the enemy armor to take extra damage... it's not as effective as the Cryobeam at reducing the defences of an enemy but it gets the job done." Explained one of the soldiers.
The tank turned off it's CHB and reverted to it's main gun. The tank turned to the remaining Steam Tanks, fired and obliterated one in a single shot... it then took aim at the next one, reloading in mere seconds, before blasting the next one to oblivion! It rolled towards the third tank, aiming at a fourth, firing taking out the fourth Steam Tank before using the third's cow plow thing up front to gain leverage and roll on top of the Steam Tank, causing it to cave in and collapse due to shoddy workmanship... it literally just ran another Tank over... kinda...
The last one fired at the Guardian, hitting it's side armor leaving a small but hardly noticeable dent... the Guardian turned to aim at the last Steam Tank, blowing a hole right through the tank.
A cheer ereupted from the UN soldiers as the Guardian turned around and returned back towards them... then Ryan heard it... the sound of tank treads grinding stone... and not the squeaky wheels of Steam Tanks... the crushing, whinging sound of un-oiled and burdened machines of war... he looked back towards where the Steam Tanks had come from...
*Ka-boom!*
A shell flew over the debris and hit the back of the Guardian... it exploded, the turret of the tank flew off and landed in front of the UN trenches...
"What the fuck was that!?" yelled a soldier...
"W-w-w-what!?" asked Ryan... who turned his attention back to three greyish-brown machines of war with bulky bodies, full rotating turrets and coaxial machineguns mounted on them... the front of the new tanks, which they obviously were was covered in a hastily riveted plate of green metal... Fel Iron...
Another shell flew from the tanks leaving a green trail behind it...
Then suddenly a Soldier from the UN ranks yelled out. "Take cover! Enemy tanks! Panzer IV'S!"
Which they were! They were old WW2 German Wermacht Tanks from Earth! Nazi Germany had used them in their attacks against the world in the 1940's... what in the worlds were they doing here!? And how had Fel Orcs gotten their hands on such equipment!?
Ryan who had already made his way back to the UN line while watching the Steam Tanks get owned had grabbed Two SMAWs and started to creep around the edge of the battlefield in hopes to get behind one of the Tanks... a rocket from the line impacted the front of one of the Fel Tanks without leaving a scratch!
The Fel Iron riveted to the fronts of the tanks were protecting them! And the new shells must have been cased in Fel Iron as well, giving them more impact which is how they destroyed the Guardian so easily.
By now the Fel Tanks were close enough to open fire with the machineguns which to Ryan's dismay tore apart the UN Lines.
"FALL BACK! FALL BACK TO THRALLMAR! GET THE TANKS UP AND RUNNING!" yelled the voice of Captain Price.
Finally he'd made it around to the rear of the Tanks... but to his surprise the Tanks had been hiding a gift behind them...
"Human!" yelled an ordinary Fel Orc, holding an ordinary MP40 "Uh... how do use this thing?" he muttered.
Ryan wasted no time in opening fire, killing three of the nine Orcs, of which each tank had been hiding from the fire of the UN troops.
Ryan dove behind some Steam Tank debris as a group of the Orcs figured out how to use the SMGs, letting a stream of highly inaccurate but still deadly bullets at him... while huddling behind his cover Ryan cursed. "How the fuck did you get old World War Two German Weaponry!?"
Loud steps were heard from beyond the cover... Ryan jumped back as an Orc smashed his cover with a huge club. "We find... in Netherstorm!" roared the Orc.
That still leaves me with no proper answers... how did this stuff get to Netherstorm in the first place then? Ryan thought. He drew up his rifle and gunned down the Orc and two more... the other three had smartened up a bit and made for cover but not before Ryan got a few shots off and took one more down.
By now the Fel Tanks had noticed the fighting and one was in the process of turning around to cover up it's rear armor which had been facing him, the other two kept on going towards Thrallmar.
Ryan tossed his own personal safety out the window and down the ravine as he charged towards the Orc's hiding places, diving around it and gunning the two crouching Orcs down. He then turned his attention to the Fel Tanks... he readied one of his SMAWs and fired at the middle Tank, hitting its rear armor and to his relief sending it up in smoke... he discarded the launcher and readied the second... aiming and firing at the third, also sending it to kingdom come.
Ryan smiled at his handy work but then remembered... the first and most angry of the Tanks was heading right for him... he readied a hand grenade and ran directly at the tank... he took a leap of faith and dove to the left as the tank fired a shell which exploded, knocking the wind out of him, sending shrapnel through his armor and into his body... he shook it off and got back up and started running circles around the tank... if he could stay ahead of the turret he could avoid the machine gun on it and leap on the back of the tank. He slid towards the Fel Tank at an angle, kicking it's treads before jumping to his feet and climbing up top of the tank...
The tank stopped and a smaller than average Fel Orc opened the top hatch... Ryan guessed they chose smaller ones so they'd actually fit into the seats. The orc climbed up with a knife in his mouth, he spat it out and grasped it in one hand... Ryan drew his Combat Knife, the grenade still in his other hand...
The Orc lunged at him but Ryan dodged while trying to maintain his footing lest he fall and give the Orc a clear opening. The Orc swiped again but Ryan ducked and slashed the Orc across the waist, stumbling him... giving his the chance he'd been waiting for... he pulled the pin on the grenade and tossed it into the tank's upper hatch before jumping clear off the Tank, the Fel Orc took this as a sign of victory before...
*BOOM*
A small mushroom cloud of smoke burst out of the top of the tank, killing anyone inside or on top of the machine, sending the Orc who had been standing on the turret off the edge with a shredded chest, filled with shrapnel... smoke billowed from out of the Fel Tank, which just remained motionless... Ryan looked at the other broken down tanks... even though the wrecks were few and the tanks were old... Ryan felt like he'd just relived history and taken part in a great battle in WW2... the blackened ruins of the Panzers which smoked in the field of red mars like soil hit a nerve in him, making him smile... however now with the adrenaline wearing off... it was apparent just how injured he was... he dropped to his knees, glacing up to see two UN soldiers approaching him in a rush followed by a thin and petite girl wearing red leather armor with splinters in her hand...
And then he blacked out...
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I don't know about you guys... but that last part with the German Tanks... writing it was AWESOME!
HAHA! Anyways I bet you know what this means huh? No? Well then if you do don't go spoiling it for others!
Anyways I've got some... very interesting plans for Kael'thas's faction of Blood Elves along with Illiden's forces... though I have something very special planned for Kael... MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
But like I normally say nowadays, since I took the time to write this out (despite it taking so long -.-), why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?
Anyways... I shall sign out now, as per usual with my normal saying.
WTYL guys :D
Sooner or later...
