World of Warcraft X Halo
Disclaimer: Again with the disclaimer….I don't own WoW or Halo, all right?
Chapter 7
Part 2
Royal Rescue…
( ): Thoughts
…
Author's Notice:
I recently realized that there might have been some errors in the previous chapter that deals with the appearance of King Varian Wrynn and Tirion Fordring. The reason that they are there in the story is that in the month and two weeks that the Spartan stayed on the Dawn to fortify the place as well as train himself, the events that happened to both men such as the return of Varian to the throne of Stormwind and the slaying of Onyxia, and Tirion's return from exile and avenging his son to soon found the Argent Dawn has happened while the Spartan has been alone and doing his work on the Dawn.
As to how Varian found out about the Spartan, let's keep in mind that if we were to use real time, it takes quite a while to get from one continent to the other, plus all the traveling inland as well. So when he finally gets to the throne he then receives the information. At the same time, Tirion has now avenged his son's death and has begun to rebuilt the Knights of the Silver Hand and later work with the Argent Dawn, and right now is with the Alliance discussing the Argent's place in the coming events of the world.
I hope that this is enough to explain things for those who have read the chapter and might have some level of confusion over the events of the story so far.
Anyway, on with the story!
…
In the Albatross…
John looked at the young man who was currently resting in the cargo hanger of the heavy drop ship. The man had been removed of his armor and he was quickly wrapped in bandages and given some antibiotics to counter any possible infections to his body, he was also treated with biofoam to help his wounds heal better. Thankfully none of his internal organs were badly damaged, so he was not in danger of organ damage.
His armor was damaged and his sword was notched, but the gear was still very much usable. For now the man was sleeping and will be waking up soon enough. The Spartan then directed his attention to his companions who were currently resting from the battle that they had taken part in. The Spartan recalled just how shocked the Defias members were when he and the others showed up and began to slaughter them. The attack was so unexpected that by the time the Defias could react, two thirds of them were already dead.
At the moment, Kaelyn and Sandra had recovered all of their used arrows, happy that the arrows that they had used were still in very good condition so they didn't have to buy any new ones yet. Erin herself had also recovered most of her throwing knives, as for White Claw, the wolf was lying next to it's obvious owner. The women and the Druid had also began to salvage the items from the dead Defias members. They were able to salvage a number of coins, several simple weapons, cloth and a few other things. The Spartan looked at the piles of items and sighed a bit. It was not much but selling the simple items would net some usable coin.
Salvaging from the dead is an old time practice that existed in the days of humanity on Earth. While some societies forbade taking the items of those dead soldiers who were on their armies while allowing their soldiers to loot the dead and salvage what they could, others were more practical in such matters and stated that using any weapon no matter who used it before was a good thing. For him, salvaging the weapons and ammunition of slain UNSC Marines and military personnel had always been hard to do and somewhat distasteful, and the same could be said for his fellow soldiers and Spartans. But they all knew that in battle now was not time to be squeamish when it was time to fight.
Besides that, it was far better than letting good ammunition and weapons go to waste, and they were honoring their slain comrades by ensuring that they were able to fight the enemy and kill them effectively with what they were able to salvage. And when they salvaged weapons from the slain soldiers of the Covenant they were more than ready to give the enemy a good taste of their own medicine.
He then spoke to the others to see just how they were doing.
"Everyone of you all right?"
The group nodded as Sandra spoke to the Spartan.
"We're fine, and the salvage can be handy, however the real question is what were those Defias doing chasing a member of the Stormwind Royal Guard? I know that the Defias hate Stormwind and it's allies, but they had never taken any serious action as they avoid both the People's Militia and the Stormwind City Guard as well since they still are at a bit of a disadvantage in comparison to the Alliance military, that is until they get that super weapon of theirs ready for battle with the Alliance. So why would they attack a troop of Stormwind Royal Guardsmen?"
The Spartan already had an answer to that.
"The only reason anyone attacks a convoy of Guardsmen, is if they were trying to capture someone of great importance to their enemies."
Kaelyn quickly understood that and nodded.
"So they kidnapped the person these Guardsmen were escorting, but who is that person anyhow?"
"The only person who can answer that is the Guardsman we have rescued, judging from his insignia, I can wager a guess that he's a high ranking officer in the Guard. He should be waking up soon enough so we can get some answers from him."
That was when Cortana appeared in the nearby holo-tank and spoke to the group.
"He's waking up already, I think now is a very good time for us to get the much needed answers from the man and figure out just what happened here, there is one question though, what do we do with the bodies outside, that many dead is bound to attract attention."
The group looked at the bodies and John replied.
"We'll let either the land or anyone else deal with that, we need answers so let's get to it."
The group arrived in the area where the wounded and treated Guardsman was and sure enough the man recovered, he began to shake his head and seem to come to life.
…
James shook his head and began to open his eyes, half expecting himself to be in the afterlife, but instead of clear blue skies, clouds, the smell of nature and peace in the air, he found himself looking at a grey, metallic roof that had lights and some sort of humming sound. James felt a dull ache in his body and turned to looked about, a haze of pain hit him a bit and he closed his eyes and managed to will it back, and the very second he opened his eyes, he found himself staring right back at his own reflection which was on a golden visor. The Royal Guardsman quickly recoiled in shock and shouted.
"By the Holy Light!"
James moved back hit the nearby wall with a thump and he groaned a bit, he looked to see that what he saw was indeed the same black and green armored behemoth of a being, and when he looked around, he found himself being surrounded by the four elves he had seen before, the Druid seemed a bit amused by what he saw, the Blood Elf seemed to very amused as well, while the female Night Elf Hunter and Archer were calm and having curious expressions. He looked about and spoke.
"Where am I?"
That was when the armored being spoke.
"You happen to be in my ship, you happen to have a name apart from your rank as Captain?"
James quickly narrowed his eyes and his military trained senses told him to reach for his sword or his dagger, but he found none of his weapons near him, just as he realized that he was only having bandages on his body and not his armor at all. The being seemed to recognize that just what was it he was truing to do and spoke out once more in a voice of authority.
"If your looking for your weapons, then they happen to be elsewhere at the moment, if we were your enemies, I would not have bothered to save you and heal you of your injuries. Now then, who are you?"
James saw that this stranger meant it and seeing that he was indeed alive due to their rescue of him, he relaxed himself and replied.
"I am James Hansen of the 31st Stormwind Royal Guard detachment, I have given you my name and you no doubt know my rank, so who are you?"
The Spartan nodded and replied.
"I am Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, of the UNSC? And before you ask, the first four words are my rank, the word and the numbers are my name and recognition number, and the last are the group I belong to."
James was confused but said nothing as the Spartan then gestured to his companions, starting with the Archer, she quickly recognized what the being was doing and she quickly spoke to him with a character of a veteran soldier as he was.
"I am Commander Kaelyn Nightwalker of the Night Elf Sentinels."
Sandra decided to speak next.
"I am Sandra Moon feather, former member of the Sentinels and now a roving Hunter."
Erin then smirked and replied.
"I am Erin Firestar, Blood Elf Rogue and a former Sorceress of the Alliance."
Jarrod then replied.
"I am Jarrod, Druid and part of the force under Commander Nightwalker."
James looked at the group before him and tried to figure out what to make of this whole situation that he found himself in, but his thoughts were quickly focusing right back on his last memories and he tried to get up, but any attempt to do so was stopped by the Spartan who pushed him back gently, but that gentle nudge had enough force to stop him cold and send him back on the bed with some force. James was stunned as he had never been pushed that hard before, but he quickly recovered and glared at the armored giant as he spoke without any hesitation.
"Don't try and stop me! I have to do my duty and save the Prince!"
The Spartan then spoke.
"The Prince? You were escorting the Prince of your kingdom?"
James nodded, realizing that in his desperation he had told them just who he was escorting, normally that would have been a breach of protocol in every fashion, but he knew that if they had rescued him, then they were not the enemy and he could at least tell them what had happened.
"Yes, my unit was escorting Prince Anduin Wrynn when he went to the town of Lakeshire to help check it's current status and see if there was any way he could help the people there. After we were done, my unit and the Prince headed back, we were suddenly ambushed by those Defias bastards, we fought our way through the first wave with half my unit protecting the Prince, and the other half, led by me fought to clear the way. Then two larger bands came….and my unit got separated from the others, we fought as best we could….but we….we failed, I was ordered by the Prince to inform his father, I wanted to save him."
James felt his shame increase even more at the memory of what had happened and that was something that the Spartan saw easily from the man's eyes and his posture. The man thought he had failed his duty and he was ashamed of not doing everything he could to save the Prince as well as his comrades. The Spartan had seen this happen many times before in the wars he had been part of and knew that it was a powerful blow to most new men. But he already had an idea as he spoke in a voice of authority once more.
"Suck it up soldier, feeling guilt and shame is not going to bring your Prince back."
James looked at the Spartan with anger and replied.
"I know that!"
"Good, then get yourself together, because you're going to rescue him, and you are not going alone."
James was surprised by that and so were the other members of the Spartan's companions; they had expected that the Spartan would help the person as the Spartan was trained as a defender of humanity in his work, so it would make sense that he would also defend the humans in Azeroth as well, they just didn't expect him to agree so quickly without getting any more details on what he was getting into. James himself had no idea just what to make of this being, however it was then that he recalled a rumor that had gone on in the barracks days before he and his unit had shipped out to protect Prince Anduin on his mission, the rumor came from the ambassador that had arrived from Kalimdor.
The rumor had spoke of some human warrior from beyond the stars that had technology that dwarfed anything the gnomes and the dwarves, as well as his own fellow humans. And the humans who he was part of had left their home-world and established an empire that had over eight hundred worlds. And the last part of the rumor was that this human warrior wore advanced armor that was black, and green, with a helmet that had a golden plate that hid his face from view, only allowing one to see one's own face.
He like the rest of his unit thought that the rumor was nothing more than a simple case of the ambassador getting drunk on another of those spirits that skewered his perceptions. Now he realized that he was looking at that warrior in question.
"Wait….you're that warrior that Ambassador Durnhelm met in Kalimdor aren't you? You're that Spartan that we heard about!"
That was when a nearby circular short pillar made from metal and had a blue glowing circle there in the middle suddenly glowed brightly and to the utter surprise of the Royal Guardsman, a small human female figure that was made from glowing blue light appeared nearby and the thing or whatever it was spoke in what appeared to be a rather humored tone.
"It seems that you've just become rather popular John, no doubt that this is the result of what High Priestess Tyrande had spoke of before. Oh and before you ask who and what I am Captain James Hansen, my name is Cortana and as to what I am, it's kind of complicated so you can call me a spirit if you like, I happen to be a close friend and ally of the Spartan as well, so what you're Ambassador said was not a rumor, but the truth."
James was speechless as he looked at the woman, then back to the Spartan and then to the others. He had no idea what he was going to do now with what was happening before him, but he then looked at the Spartan and spoke to him seriously.
"You are going to help me rescue the Prince? Why would you do that since you want to remain a neutral party?"
John already had an answer to that.
"Because a child is in danger, and no amount of neutrality is worth the life and freedom of a child."
"Prince Anduin is no child Spartan; he took down a number of those Defias bastards on his own with his bow."
"Then he deserves my respect for his bravery, but there is no doubt in my mind that the Defias have dark intentions for the young man. The fact that you're convoy was ambushed and he was taken tells me that this was a well planned ambush, the fact that they attacked with large numbers and out in the open means that they knew who you were escorting and who they were kidnapping. That means that someone or a group of people in Stormwind helped them know which route your force took and their increased numbers tell me that they were also told how many you were as well. You need all the help you can get the Prince and to help expose the traitor in your city's government, and there is no doubt that if they knew that they have the Prince, they will take him deeper into their territory and you would be hard pressed to find him again, and this would give the Defias Brotherhood a serious advantage to attack Stormwind itself."
James was silent and had to admit that the Spartan was indeed right, if the Defias had the Prince in their hands, this would give them a powerful amount of leverage over the whole of Stormwind, and this would ensure that their operations would go unhindered as they would possibly kill the young Prince if they were threatened. James also knew that it would throw King Varian in an utter rage and grief as well. The Royal Guard knew that the King had suffered already the death of his beloved wife due to the actions of those who were the founders of the Defias….to lose his only son to them would truly be a blow to the King.
And what the Spartan said about a traitor or even a group of traitors in Stormwind had a deadly meaning, if there indeed was a traitor or a group of traitors in the Capital City itself, then there was a great possibility that this same traitor or group of traitors might had a hand in kidnapping the King in the past.
James knew that he now had only one choice.
"All right I will accept your help, but how do I even know where they had gone with the Prince? Those Defias bastards might have spread all over the place by now and who knows which group has the Prince?"
Cortana grinned at that part as she already had a very good idea where the Defias groups had gone.
"I can help you there easily, I happen to have located a number of the Defias groups right now in my sights. One group, a rather large one appears to be heading into a place that seems to have little sunlight, I couldn't get an exact visual due to some form of interference with regular visual sensors, but I have been able to track them with thermal sensors as well. I'm brining up the map right now to show the location of the group."
Sure enough, Cortana revealed the map and showed just where the group was and Sandra recognized that location easily enough.
"That location is Duskwood, I've been there a few times more than not, not the best place to be since the sun never shines there and the town of Darkshire there is constantly under siege, sometimes the Horde would send forces there but not large ones to say the least. The area is surrounded by a variety of creatures, most if not all of them hostile to anything else that moves. But the Defias do have a presence there so it would make sense that they would move there as well."
John turned to James and he nodded as well.
'We know of the Defias presence, but the Stormwind City Guard and the People's Militia have many other cells of Defias resistance to deal with in their own lands so we never managed to send and expedition to eliminate them. Besides, casualties would be high there, since we don't have just the Defias to contend with. The Night Watch are doing their best to hold the line there, but they not only have to contend with the Defias forces but the Worgen and the Undead as well, we have nothing on either the Worgen or how the Undead came there, but we have our thoughts on the matter."
The Spartan then turned to Cortana.
'What about the other groups?"
"One is branching off and heading deeper into the forest here, at least a good distance away from our current location, they are fairly large at the moment, but I do have visual data on them, apparently they are escorting a number of Stormwind Royal Guardsmen, no doubt to use them as slave labor or as hostages, if we rescue the Guardsmen under their watch they knew which group has the Prince."
"What of the other group?"
"They also are in Duskwood's location, they appear to be smaller and therefore are more mobile, they may have the Prince under their control and that would explain their smaller size since they would need more mobility, but considering the dangers there in that location, I have my doubts on that matter for the time being."
The Spartan weighed his options and nodded as he got his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and the BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle and his Katanas as well as a number of Frag Grenades along with a set of Flashbang Grenades as well as some sort of kit, afterwards he took out a pair of communication units that he quickly programmed into his MJOLNIR's COM system, as well as a TACPAD that he quickly linked to Cortana so she could easily feed tactical information to the rest of the team apart from him in order to coordinate their attacks and movements, he also took out a pair of military issue binoculars and carried them with him for a more practical use. He then turned to the others and spoke.
"We'll go to the group we can see, if the Guardsmen know which group has the Prince, then all the better, we'll deal with the two other groups soon enough. We have to visually identify the Prince as well."
He then handed the binoculars to the Stormwind Guardsman and explained to the man just what was it he was giving him.
"This is a set of military issue binoculars, when we come close enough to any of the Defias groups, you will have to visually identify of they have the Prince with them."
James nodded and decided to get dressed, thankfully the medical attention given to him was enough to heal him well and allow him to function as he should, he then got on his armor on and quickly directed his attention to his comrades, if they were rescued, they were going to be able to help rescue the Prince and return to Stormwind safely, and he was ready to receive any punishment from the King for what had happened to his son.
He was a bit angry at himself but decided to focus on the here and now. Once he focused himself, he joined the others and to his surprise as soon as they stepped out of the massive ship, the Spartan turned and nodded slightly, the massive ship suddenly shimmered and began to fade away right before the eyes of the Guardsman, even the others were surprised at how quickly the ship vanished from sight. It was then that the Spartan gave them all these units that would be easily fit into their ears, they looked at him with some level of surprise and he replied.
"These are short range tactical communications radio units, these have been logged to tap into my Armor's communication systems so I can communicate with you, it has a range of at least four to five miles maximum, this way we don't reveal ourselves to the enemy we happen to be tracking, whisper into them if you want, we can hear that clearly enough."
The group took the devices and placed them on as the Spartan quickly guided them to the exact location of the Defias group that they were tracking using the orbital coordination from the satellite that was passed to them Cortana herself who remained in the Albatross to act as the quarter back for the operation itself.
It took some time as they moved as quickly and as quietly as they could through the forests to track their quarry. It naturally didn't take long for the group to spot the enemy forces and both John and James looked at the group with the Guardsman using the binoculars while the Spartan used the built in ones in his MJOLNIR Mar VI. They were quickly able to spot that the group indeed had a number of survivors from James' unit, at least a dozen or so, many were wounded while some were not too badly hurt, they still had their armor on, but their weapons were placed far away from them and they were tied up with a number of the Defias watching them. Occasionally the Defias would shout threats and insults that the prisoners and attack them with anger and arrogance. The sight of his comrades, both male and female being maltreated like that was enough to ager James but the Spartan held him back and silently told him to keep calm.
John spotted a number of roving sentries around the area and he quickly formulated a plan and he then turned to Erin and spoke quietly to her.
"Can you eliminate their sentries quietly?"
The Blood Elf smiled, eager to show the Spartan her skills as she nodded.
"I can, this armor might weigh me down a bit, but I can manage."
"Good, as soon as you eliminate them you contact us quietly, take these, toss them into the camp's outer perimeter and if possible, right in the midst of the Defias, this should distract the Defias to allow us to attack them and slaughter them before they can recover from the shock of the weapons going off. Make sure to cover your eyes and ears from the blasts of both the grenades all right?"
He gave the Flashbang Grenades to Erin and then showing her how to use the detonation systems of the Flashbang Grenades, once she was able to grasp it, she took them and she was off quickly relying on her training and skills to sneak into the area. While she was doing that, the Spartan turned to both Sandra and Kaelyn to give them their own set of orders to follow.
"As soon as Erin uses those Grenades, take out any of the Defias sentries that are near the Guardsmen, once that is done, we close the gap and take out any other Defias forces you see that are in reach of your weapons."
Both Night Elf women nodded as John then turned to Jarrod.
"Jarrod, do what you did before when we rescued James, but reserve as much of your magic as you can since we need you to heal them as soon as we get them."
Jarrod nodded as the Spartan directed his attention to the Royal Guardsman.
"Stay close and cut down the enemy that you can reach, stay out of my field of fire however, one misstep and you can end up being shot by me, understand?"
James nodded and soon the others waited while John monitored Erin and spoke to all of them silently.
"One more thing, if we can capture one of them alive, then we interrogate the person, the kit I have has a number of drugs that might loosen their tongues a bit."
"Understood."
…
The First Defias sentry had no time to react when Erin moved quickly from the bushes and introduced her sword right into his stomach, aiming for the part where his light leather armor was open and would allow her a quick killing strike into his vitals, any attempt to scream was silenced as Erin covered his mouth before he could say anything, his attempt to stab her was blocked by her armor and the assault vest. In fact she didn't feel anything, she looked at the man and saw the fire of life die out from his eyes. As soon as she was sure that the man was dead she moved the body into the brush and quickly moved to the next target, moving quietly as she could, she was a skilled rogue but kept in mind that the Defias were just as capable as she was. She quickly moved a nearby tree and hid herself into the bushes as another Defias sentry came nearby and she quickly moved behind the female sentry, she ducked and avoided the attack from the Defias' attack and introduced her other sword into her stomach while her main sword slashed at the neck, cutting the throat quickly.
Erin removed the swords she had and quickly grabbed the dead woman's body and dragged her into the brush to avoid alerting the others. She then moved to attack the very next target she could see. The target in question happened to be a man armed with a crossbow, she then took a small metal ball and quickly timed it right and tossed it right in front of the sentry while keeping out of sight. The man moved to look and this allowed Erin to take out one of her throwing knives and quickly fire it with her elven speed. The weapon quickly flew in the air and cut the throat of the man and hitting the voice box as well. This was more than enough to wound the man seriously as Erin quickly moved in and grabbed the man and knocked him down, as he was still bleeding by the neck and she pinned him down until he died from blood loss.
She moved away doing the same thing in hiding the body and moving to the next target and this one was a female Defias armed with a net gun and a short sword, a bit harder a target but not enough to trouble the Rogue as she moved quietly and quickly, she soon reached her foe and then hit her with a swift kick to the stomach and before the Defias woman could react and shout out an alarm, she moved and struck a blow to the windpipe, making the woman choke and she then sent a powerful cut that decapitated the woman.
This was the last sentry as she spoke silently to the others while keeping an eye on the Defias group who thankfully had not noted something was off around them, either they were not expecting company or they were too arrogant to care, either way in the mind of the Blood Elf, they were all going to be dead soon.
"This is Erin, all the sentries are out."
It took a moment or two before she heard the Spartan's voice.
"Nicely done, are you ready for phase two?"
Erin smiled at that, happy for the praise given to her by her savior.
"Yes, tell me when you are already?"
"We are, toss them in."
Erin then did what the Spartan showed her in how to use the devices in her hands and as soon as she was done, she quickly tossed the weapons into the Defias camp while managing to keep herself hidden, she quickly closed her eyes and covered her ears as per the instructions of the Spartan.
…
The results of the detonation of the Flashbang Grenades were obvious as the once shaded location was suddenly bathed in blinding light which was soon followed by a very loud boom that was more than enough to make anyone cry out in pain form the massive audio assault and couple that with the massive blinding light was a powerful visual assault as well. Erin, Jarrod, Kaelyn, Sandra, and James had enough warning to cover their eyes and ears due to the Spartan's warning as the Master Chief's own MJOLNIR quickly reacted to the detonation of the Flashbang Grenades, allowing him to still see and hear without any interruptions.
The same couldn't be said for the Defias as they had no expected this sudden and unexpected event and as such, they were completely disoriented as they milled about, this was the opening that the Spartan and his companions were waiting for as the Spartan quickly moved in while being supported by Kaelyn and Sandra who quickly unleashed their arrows in rapid succession. Several of the Defias were quickly killed with arrow shafts buried in their bodies, neck, and head, just as the Spartan used the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and cut down more of the enemy as they were still reeling from the effects of the Flashbang Grenades.
James, Jarrod, White Claw and Erin were quick to attack in battle as well, the Druid took the form of a Bear and roared into battle and began to tear into the forces before him, the Blood Elf Rogue moved in and began to shred through the enemy before her, quickly using her throwing knives to wound and distract their foes while the wolf attacked those it's master directed it to attack, the Royal Guardsman roared out in triumph and vengeance as he swung his broadsword and began to cut down the Defias.
The Defias eventually recovered from the shock, but by the time they did recover, many of them were killed or severely wounded. Several of them were easily cut down by the weapons of the Spartan and they were bleeding profusely from bullet wounds as their armor stood no chance against the attacks of the Spartan, the leader of the bunch, a rather tall and burly male managed to recover and fire a blunderbuss of all things to the Spartan. The weapon was an effective tool in battle and if properly used as well as being in the hands of a good marksman could be effective at certain ranges. The Defias group leader had no doubt in his mind that at this range, this thing would be hit one way or the other.
However, the problem for the blunderbuss was that by comparison to the UNSC's weapons technology it was remarkably primitive. Humanity in the Spartan's own world had already perfected the use of various types of firearms when they had also used muskets and various types of old style guns, and instead of seeing those as the pinnacle of technology, they delved even further, testing, experimenting, discovering, and improving on the designs and uses of guns, gunpowder and more. Over the past many years until the 26th Century, the guns of the UNSC were considered as practical and reliable in the eyes of their makers and were millennia ahead of the earliest firearms. Compared to the blunderbuss, the basic M6 Magnum series was already at it's apex of power as a firearm even though by Covenant standards it was primitive and worthless. Which was why the round of the blunderbuss only flattened on the shield and made it glow and crackle, but the bullet did not have either the speed, or the mass, to even take a millimeter from the Spartan's shield gauge.
This became obvious to the Defias leader as he tried to take out his sword and toss away his blunderbuss, but the Spartan's superior speed and reflexes allowed him to come close and smash his Assault Rifle's butt hard into the stomach, forcing the man to his knees in pain, John quickly struck with cobra like swiftness at his target's arms with his kicks, hitting with only enough force to break the bones of his chosen target without killing the man quickly.
"AAAAAARGGGGGGGGG!"
The man screamed in utter pain as the last of his gang were soon dealt with by the rest of the Spartan group and to prevent the man from escaping, the Spartan quickly attacked both legs in the thigh areas, breaking the bones there as well, crippling the man very effectively. The Master Chief looked about and saw that the attack had gone off without a hitch and that to his mind was good thing since the whole attack was planned on the fly and plans made that way usually didn't go according to plan.
He turned to see James cutting the ropes that held his comrades down with a knife and he looked to see that Jarrod had reverted back to his Night Elf form and began to use his magic to heal their wounds, he then turned to Kaelyn, Sandra, and Erin as he spoke to them.
"Search the bodies carefully, see if we can find anything there that can help us."
The three Elves nodded and it was not long for them to find a number of items, some were junk and not worth much attention, the rest however would prove useful, there were several pouches of coins as well as some weapons and a store of bullets and as well as some net rounds, along with a number of healing potions. The Spartan took everything into account, distributed the coins evenly through their value, took a potion for analysis at a later date as well as the other weapons. He gave the potions to James to give to his fellow Guardsmen. This would help ensure that Jarrod had enough magic for any other emergency that might crop up.
James was happy for the treatment and quickly looked at his comrades who were recovering from the shock of those devices that the Spartan and his comrades had used to disorient the Defias in the start of their attack, he was not questioning their effectiveness to say the least, but it naturally took a while to recover from what had happened as he had never seen such devices that could unleash such a powerful blast of sound and light at the same time. As soon as his companions were freed, he spoke to them.
"Are all of you all right?"
The others nodded as a female officer spoke to him.
"We're fine Captain, bruised and wounded but thankfully not dead, who are they?"
James already had a very accurate idea on who his fellow officer was referring to and replied.
'They saved my life when the Defias tried to kill me to prevent me from informing Stormwind of the kidnapping of the Prince, and they are here to help us locate the Prince, but have any of you seen where these bastards tried to take the Prince?"
One of the men nodded and spoke.
"Yes, when they managed to overwhelm us, they threatened to kill us all if Prince Anduin would not surrender peacefully, we tried to tell the Prince not to surrender to them, but he agreed as long as we were not harmed. The Defias took those of us who were not yet dead or too badly wounded and then we were separated from the others and brought here. The other half went to Duskwood, no doubt to hide in one of their hidden camps. But they knew the Prince and this leader of this band was talking with the others as well, so he might know."
The Defias leader, unable to move or fight however was defiant as ever as he spoke with venom and hate in his voice.
"I will never tell you Alliance dogs anything!"
That however changed as the Spartan grabbed him by the collar and easily lifted the man and he spoke seriously as he pulled the man close to his face, allowing him to look at his very own reflection off his polarized visor.
"You will even if you want to or not, I will make sure of that."
Before the leader of the slain band could say anything, the Spartan put him down and took out the kit, and removed a syringe which was surrounded by seven more like it. This was filled with a powerful chemical cocktail that was by all accounts a powerful truth serum. This mix was certified to work on human beings and was quite effective when administered in the right dosage. This was developed by ONI and used to be exclusive to field agents on covert missions, but was soon issued to the UNSC forces if they needed vital intelligence in a hurry and getting it via satellite or COM system was considered too risky. There were some variants of the truth serum that was designed to work the biology of the member races of Covenant on the rare moments that the UNSC managed to obtain Covenant prisoners, of course there was no way they developed a variant to be used on Brutes as it was considered nigh impossible to take a Brute prisoner for any period of time.
The Spartan took out his sword and then cut the man's face, eliciting a scream of pain. The cut was not deep enough to kill, but to drawn out blood which the Spartan took some samples of and placed it before him and allowed Cortana to scan it.
This to make an on the field verification of the person's biological chemistry to ensure that he or she didn't have any possible allergic reactions to the truth serum since that could become rather problematic. There was always a chance that they would have such a reaction and would die of the dosage was too high, and they would not be very coherent if the dosage of the truth serum was too low.
It was not long before Cortana spoke to the Chief.
"I'm done with the blood analysis, he is human and has no viable markers in his genes that suggest any possible allergic reactions to the serum, go for it John, the sooner we find out which of the two groups the Prince is in and where they are going then even better."
John nodded and quickly jabbed the syringe into the man and injected the serum. The others watched in surprise as they had no idea what was it that the Spartan had used on the Defias leader. The man groaned and seemed to suddenly be in a daze. The Spartan examined him carefully, meticulously looking for signs that told him that the drug cocktail was taking full effect. As soon as he was sure that the man was completely under the drug's control, he spoke to James.
"Go ahead and ask him what you need to know, the drugs will last at least a full hour or so."
Kaelyn was confused a bit and spoke.
"What was that you injected into him?"
"UNSC issued Truth serum, it's a powerful cocktail of drugs and chemicals that forces the person to tell the absolute truth. Usually issued only to ONI field agents, it was made part of the UNSCDF field kit if getting on the ground intel from living beings is better than getting intelligence from electronic sources for different reason. You have to be careful of the dosage of course since you might end up killing the subject."
The others thought about that and Erin grinned at that, interested on how she could get her hands on such a drug, which could be effective if used in the right situation and on the right subject. She however decided to hold the thought for now as she was still not sure just how the drug cocktail was made. James decided to speak to the man and get the information that they needed to rescue the Prince.
"Where is the Prince being taken?"
"He is being taken to our base of Moonbrooke to be taken into the hidden passageway into the Deadmines, we would send a smaller but large enough escort with more speed to take him there are insurance to keep the King from trying something rash."
James' eyes widened at that and so did the other member of his unit as he spoke once more.
"Why is he being taken there to the Deadmines?"
"The Deadmines is where we have our main base of operations and where our leaders are."
"Is Edwin VanCleef there?"
"Yes…"
"Who else are there with him?"
"The others are Sneed, Marisa du'Paige, Gilnid, Mr. Smite, Captain Greenskin; they are there as well as our leader Edwin."
"What are they doing at the Deadmines?"
"Researching on new technology to destroy Stormwind and to finally complete their newest weapon, a weapon to destroy Stormwind City itself and avenge the wrongs done to the Brotherhood because of the corrupt House of Nobles. Once it is fully completed and ready to be unleashed. Once that is done, the Defias will finally have it's revenge on Stormwind for it's crimes on the Brotherhood."
That was enough to grab the full attention of the Stormwind Royal Guardsmen but James motioned them to be silent as he spoke to the drugged man.
"What is this weapon?"
"Something from…the First War, built with the aid of the….Goblins we have under our employ. An Ogre Juggernaut, with better armor and cannons to lay siege to Stormwind City by cutting off all trade, depriving the city of the riches that rightly belong to the old Stonemason's Guild. With that, the Defias shall rule both the land and the sea, and we will bring Stormwind to it's knees."
That enraged the Royal Guardsmen and it took a great deal of self control for James himself not to run the man through with his sword, he knew that he needed to get as much information as he could in order to finally expose the true extent of the Defias Brotherhood's plans for Stormwind and it's people.
"Are there people in Stormwind that are helping the Defias?"
"Hartargan Stark, our best Tinker and advisor to our leader has relatives in Stormwind who inform us of all caravans that come to and from Stormwind. We also have a Noble in your employ….Baron Lucian Dunmoore, who also helps funnel supplies and plans that are not accessible to us."
James finally asked the final question that preyed on his mind.
"Did these allies of yours in Stormwind have anything to do with the previous kidnapping of King Varian Wrynn?"
"Yes."
That was all the James needed to know and he looked at the Master Chief who was also looking at the still drugged man. The Spartan looked at James and he could see the emotions in the face and eyes of the Royal Guardsman and he understood them easily enough and he replied.
"You learned everything you need to know?"
"Yes I have."
"Then let's not waste time, he's of no use to us now so there's no reason that he stays alive."
James didn't need any other invitation and quickly cut down the man by decapitating him with one clean stroke of the sword. Kaelyn and the other Night Elves were not happy with that, but they could understand the Captain's anger, learning just how far the Defias would go was more than enough to convince them that this was inevitable. Erin herself couldn't help but agree with the human Captain's actions.
As soon as the head of the Defias Captain hit the ground, The Spartan looked at the Royal Guard and their Captain. He knew that time was of the essence, now that they had narrowed the group that had the Prince with them, they needed to move at all speed to intercept the Defias forces before they could escape with the Prince and bring him in the hands of the leaders of the Brotherhood.
"We need to hurry and make our move soon, the longer we delay the more likely they will be able to get the Prince into the hands of their leaders, a small team must go back to the capital and inform your king of what is going on as well as give him the information concerning what has been learned. The rest will move to rescue the Prince, let's hurry it up."
James nodded and in a few minutes after cleaning up the mess and hiding the bodies of the slain Defias members, a small band was sent back to Stormwind while the others were soon on the move with their Captain as well as the Spartan and his comrades into Duskwood with Cortana now updating them on the location of the Defias group that they now knew had the Prince with them.
…
In Duskwood…
The Spartan was currently in the lead with the Night Elves behind to him as well as the Blood Elf, while the Stormwind Royal Guard followed suit, they needed to move as quickly as they could possibly manage and since the Spartan somehow was able to locate the group that had their Prince in their clutches, they were willing to follow him and his group in order to finally free their Prince from the grasp of the Defias no matter what would happen.
Kaelyn, Sandra, White Claw, and Jarrod strained their senses as they knew that such a place like this would have many hidden dangers. Sandra knew these lands well as she had been here before on a simple trip, but that simple trip had been more than enough to tell her that something was deeply wrong about this place. She had never bother with the history of the land as she was only interested in looking at with an eye on the ground so to speak. She had heard rumors and stories from the past, but she had neither the time nor the inclination to find out more of those said tales as well.
Now she wished she had listened, something about the darkness had bothered her, which in itself was surprising she was a Night Elf and her kind were able to operate well in the dark. This was an unnatural darkness and that was what worried her a good deal. She could see the very same thoughts in her other Night Elf comrades as they continued to move about. The ones who were not fully affected apart from James and his forces were the Spartan and the Blood Elf herself as they moved through the location.
Kaelyn focused her hearing and prayed silently to Elune for help in this odd and seemingly cursed forest, she had heard of places in her own land cursed by Fel magic by the Legion and more. And she had seen them for herself on more than one instance. Yet this place was different, seemingly older and more….unnerving.
She turned as they stopped and she was greeted by the voice of the Spartan.
"Are you all right?"
She turned to look at him and saw that he was indeed looking at her, even though she couldn't see his face, she heard in his voice that he was indeed concerned for her, and that made her spirits rise up even more as she nodded.
"I am fine."
"I hope so, I need you to focus all of your skill and attention here and now, do you understand me?"
Kaelyn nodded eagerly as John looked at Sandra next as he also spoke.
"Are you all right?"
The Hunter nodded and replied.
"I've been here before….it still unnerves me a bit, but I'll be all right."
The Spartan gave a nod, getting one from Jarrod as well, showing that the Druid was all right and he looked at Erin who grinned and replied.
"I'm in good straits as it is, this place will work well to my sneaking about and taking out the targets."
With that the group moved on, they needed to cover as much ground as they could before the group of the Defias who had the Prince managed to escape from them.
The Spartan stopped and looked to see someone moving towards them while they were currently moving towards the location of the next Defias force that they were going to deal with. So far, their force had been moving for a while now and thankfully there had been few attacks as they steered clear of possible dangers thanks to his MJOLNIR's sensors and that of the sensors on the Satellite that was being used by Cortana who was still in the Albatross and coordinating them.
He looked with the built in binoculars of his MJOLNIR Mark VI and saw someone wearing what appeared to be heavy plate armor and mail as well, the only kind of beings who wore that were usually elite heavy shock troops. He looked a bit more and quickly noted that the person before them was a female and definitely human from the looks of it. The woman appeared to have red hair in a series of braids, she had blue eyes and had a rather attractive appearance though that was offset by the way she carried herself. The Spartan could tell that the woman was no stranger to fighting and the way she carried the rather large shield with her and kept her sword hand close to her weapon told him that she was no stranger to combat. He looked to see anything else that would indicate which side she belonged to but it was then that Sandra spoke as she also spotted the woman in question.
"She's a Paladin, a Knight of the Silver Hand."
The Spartan turned to look at Sandra, he was not unfamiliar with the term Paladin, in Earth's history, the term 'Paladin' had been given to the twelve most respected and noble Knights in King Charlemagne's court, and the most famous of the twelve Knights or the Twelve Peers as they were called was Roland, other sources in Earth's history stated that the term Paladin was given to those men who were part of Roland's own forces. The Paladins represented the martial valor of the Christians over the Saracens. Many of their later exploits were all fictional works, but the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in which they and Roland died to protect the retreat of their king was very real.
He also knew that the more magical and fictional term for Paladin in the past was a warrior of virtue and light that was given divine powers to fight evil, demons, and undead. That was usually the stuff of fictional writers and game makers, something he and his Spartans never bothered with, but considering that he was currently in a world were magic existed and was the norm and many mythological creatures existed, the idea of that kind of Paladin existing here was not too far a stretch.
"Can we trust her?"
Sandra nodded.
"I believe so, Paladins are loyal to the Alliance and are defenders of Humanity as well as warriors of the Light."
Erin snorted and replied.
"They are, but they are a bit uptight if you ask me, they've got a stick named tradition that's been placed too deep in their…"
James replied.
"Careful what you say about them, I trust them more than most."
The Blood Elf sighed a bit but replied.
"Fair enough, but still, they do need to lighten up and live a little, they may be paragons of virtue and such, but they are human as well right?"
The Spartan replied.
"That's enough you two, I'll go see if we can talk to her and get her to help us recue the prince, an extra hand can come in handy."
Erin then replied.
"You might want to be careful, she might think you are something else considering how you look."
"Trust me, I have dealt with worse."
…
"Hold it right there."
The moment the Spartan said that, the woman stopped and quickly got herself into a defensive position and looked around carefully, her eyes alert for danger while moving back to a nearby boulder to cover her back from sudden attacks from the rear. That was enough to tell the Spartan II Commando that this woman was indeed very capable as the boulder would indeed serve to block any possible attacks to her from behind.
He then heard her speak, she was indeed female, but her tone was that of a seasoned fighter.
"Who are you? Show yourself!"
The Spartan decided to reveal himself from the shadow and he was soon before the Paladin, and naturally, once the woman got a very good look at him, she was quick to comment on who she saw before him.
…
"What in the name of the Holy Light?"
Dana looked at the armored giant of a man who was before her and she raised her Light Earthforged Blade in a defensive posture along with her, she had no idea just who this stranger was but she was not going to take any chances, for all she knew this could some sort ofne demon or an escaped Elemental, though she had to admit that it looked too human sized and shaped to be an elemental and if it was one, where that the mage that controlled it? She wondered just what was going on here, she had recently rested long and hard from the hard work that she had been doing ever since coming back to Azeroth.
The reason she needed the long rest was from the harrowing experiences in Lordaeron where she and a host of other adventurers had helped the famed Tirion Fording try to free his beloved son from the grip of the Scarlet Crusade but had only arrived in time to avenge his son's death at the hands of the Grand Inquisitor Isillien and eventually reform the Knights of the Silver Hand. It had been a harrowing time for the female Paladin, to finally come so far, only to see the young man die and see the battle between the father and his former comrade in arms.
That had been hard for them all, and had been a brutal battle, but it was there that she saw how corruption, overzealousness to a cause, and madness could do to a once understandable and noble cause. That and helping Tirion recover and regain his purpose in life had been bittersweet, bitter in the sense that she and her companions had failed to allow both father and son to be united once more, and sweet in the sense that these events led to the rebirth of the Knights of the Silver Hand and the birth of the Argent Dawn.
After she and her companions recovered, she was hoping to get things done but some business had cropped up in Duskwood, she had received a letter from one of her former companions, the Priestess Talia Vallis had asked for her help in some sort of problem in the town of Darkshire and she was going there to check on her old friend.
The last thing she expected was find this being before her, this was no Orc or any member of the Horde forces, or that of the Alliance either. The being wore armor that was unlike anything she had seen in any forge whatsoever. The armor on the being had on it was colored green and black and she noted that the armor itself was completed by a helmet with a full golden plate that hid the face from view…if this being even had a face to begin with.
Dana quickly gathered her wits and replied.
"Who or what are you?"
The Spartan would have replied but decided that now was not the time for introductions, the group of the Defias they were soon going to stopping was moving on and if they didn't hurry, they were going to be in some serious trouble if the group got ahead of them before they could work up a plan to stop them once they were in range.
"Now isn't the right time for this, my allies and I need your help."
Before the Paladin could ask what that thing meant by that several other figures appeared. Dana was surprised to see three Night Elves appear, two of them women were wearing armor that she never saw before though these were not the same as the kind worn by the being before her, the other was a male Druid, judging from the way he was dressed. The next was a female blood Elf who was also dressed in the same armor as the Night Elf females. And the next were a band of humans like herself; but to her surprise they wore the armor and symbols of the Stormwind Royal Guard.
Dana was completely confused by all this and spoke out.
"What in the name of the Holy Light is going on here?"
The Spartan quickly placed his fingers near the area where his mouth was which was the signal for silence.
James then introduced himself and this was where Dana revealed her own name and then asked what was going since she was still very much in the dark as to what was going on. Needless to say, when she got her answer to that question, she was quite surprised by what she had just been told by the Stormwind Captain.
"What? The Defias Brotherhood kidnapped the Prince?"
"Yes, all of us here are on a mission to rescue him, but we could use all the help we can get right now. Your skills and abilities as a Paladin can truly be of great help Dana Tyr."
Dana looked at the group and had to admit to herself that this band seemed to be more than able to handle the situation, but she was not the kind to turn down a request for help, especially from her fellow humans. Even more so considering that she was being asked to help rescue the Prince of her kingdom, which naturally was something she was not expecting to be doing the very second she decided to take a different path to Darkshire to work out some of the kinks in her body after the long rest she took.
"So who's in command of the rescue attempt?"
James then spoke to Dana in answer to that question.
"The Spartan is the one leading the operation at the moment so we can follow his lead."
Dana was naturally confused by that as she had never heard of the term Spartan before and she made that very clear to the group before her as she spoke.
"Spartan? What or who is this Spartan you speak of?"
John then replied.
"He's referring to me, we need to cut them off from retreat on either side so we have to divide into two groups, trap them in a pincer strike and make sure to annihilate them to the last man to make sure that there is no escape route for them. Now then, will you listen to what I have to say about how we all can rescue the Prince before they escape us?"
Dana thought it over and quickly gave her decision, this was important as she had encountered the Defias before and she despised them for their actions towards Stormwind and it's people even though they were once people of Stormwind themselves. Now that they had willingly kidnapped the Prince of her homeland, she was more than ready to do what she could to inflict as much pain on the Defias as possible.
"All right I am in, what do you have in mind?"
The Spartan quickly laid out the plan while on the move and using the TACPAD to show the movements of the enemy, apparently while the group of the Defias was more mobile, their progress was slowed by the dangers of the location they happened to be in. The Spartan's plan was to have one team intercept the group while the second group would attack from the rear, the first group would shock the Defias and break their ranks just a bit, allowing the second group to move in and take them completely by surprise. This would then work to the first team's advantage as they closed the gap and surrounded the Defias.
It was a risky gamble as there was a great chance that the Defias might kill Anduin than allow him to be rescued, but the Spartan had a plan for that as well. Seeing that this was by far the only option they had, the rest went for it.
Dana and James left took a number of the Royal Guard along with Sandra and Jarrod to the front while the Spartan and the rest moved to the rear, they were directed by Cortana who kept track of their targets and as soon as they were in position, John looked at the convoy, he spotted the Defias forces and scanned them, he quickly spotted two other members of the Stormwind Royal Guard, but the real thing that got his full attention was that there was a young child in the group, appearing to be twelve years of age and wearing grey clothing as well as a tabard with the symbol of a Lion in golden cloth in a blue background. The boy had blonde hair and blue eyes as well as the face that spoke of wisdom, experience, bravery, and skill, along with a rather attractive face, more than enough to attract any young girl's attention.
Cortana who was currently linked to John's visual data feed smiled a bit as she spoke to her Spartan in regards to the young man.
"Not bad, he might be a real lady killer when he's given the time to grow older. But there is naturally the important question, is he the Prince we're looking for?"
John nodded at that question in Cortana's mind, the two of them had no idea what the Prince of Stormwind looked like, but they already had people here who would recognize him with one in particular. With that in mind he was quick and spoke into the COM system to the Captain of The Prince guard detail.
"James, this is Spartan-117, I have spotted the Defias forces and have located a young child in the force, apparently a prisoner, along with two other Royal Guardsmen, can you look and confirm if the young man is the Prince?"
The Spartan waited for a full minute and a half when the Captain spoke to him.
"Yes! By the Holy Light, that is indeed Prince Anduin, they must be using the other Guardsmen from my unit to try and keep the Prince from trying to escape."
The Spartan however was going to take precautions first.
"Can you identify the Guardsmen and confirm their identities? There's a chance the Defias might have taken the uniforms of your unit's members and are disguised to make sure that if a rescue it attempted, they would be able to kill him in a moment's notice."
He waited a bit more and James replied.
"Yes, the two Guardsmen are Felix Darrel and Tricia Marcellus, they served in my unit for years and I know that they are loyal to Stormwind."
That was enough for the Spartan to make the decision as he kept an eye on the moving Defias unit, he made sure to time the attack carefully, he also studied the environment and determined that they had the advantage for this attack, he quickly spoke silently to Kaelyn to move and keep an eye on the convoy and locate viable targets that she could hit the enemy quickly and effectively while he and Erin would move in quickly and make the move when it was the right time with the other half of the Royal Guardsmen with them.
As soon as everything was set, the Spartan moved away from using his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and took out the BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle, the reason was this was a far more effective choice due to the range that he had work with and it's accuracy was more effective in this kind of situation than his Assault Rifle. He had to avoid hitting the Prince and the two other Royal Guardsmen to make this mission a success so the Battle Rifle was in. It was then that Cortana spoke to John.
"All right John, targets are in the zone, now's a good a time as any."
"Roger that! Execute!"
…
The Defias were suddenly stunned out of their wits as several loud war-cries came out of nowhere that they had not expected. The leader of the bunch was wide eyed as she spotted a woman who she recognized as a Paladin and behind her were a number of the very same Stormwind Royal Guardsmen who were supposed to be hostages with the rest of their comrades keeping an eye on them. She was also surprised when he spotted a Night Elf female with them and armed with a bow as well as a Night Elf male who quickly turned into a massive bear that roared at them and charged right at them. Three of her comrades died with arrows in their chests and she turned to shout at the others.
"Damn it all, kill the…"
Her orders were forgotten when several of her comrades dropped dead in cries of pain, the moment they fell, she spotted that some of them had arrows in their back, telling her quickly that there must be another archer or Hunter in the group. She and her surviving comrades looked behind them as they spotted another band of Royal Guardsmen coming behind them and to their surprise, they spotted what appeared to be a female Blood Elf Rogue as well. They were suddenly surprised when a massive figure came from the shadows and seemed to be spitting out fire and three more of their comrades fell down dead…gaping holes in their heads or in their chests, and those holes were smoking as well.
The figure looked to be a marriage of black and green, as well as some sort of reflecting golden plate that was where the face was as the flashes of this weapon revealed it's form to them in the darkness of Duskwood. The leader turned to the prisoners and their escorts and before she could make the order to kill the prisoners, the guards were quickly killed and she turned to see that the first group had smashed into their forces that were up front, with them caught on all sides, she knew that they were dead.
She roared and took out her sword and quickly slashed towards the Prince who didn't show any fear at her. But to her shock the sword she had bounced off as a massive form appeared before her, shimmering in glowing gold yellow light. She looked to see only her face in the reflective plate of the giant as the being moved so fast and quickly hit her with great force with the butt of it's weapon, she was sent back and before she could recover she looked to see the being reach down to what appeared to be swords and he quickly took out one with blinding speed and quickly stabbed her with such force and power that she barely felt a thing, she looked down and saw the sword had easily cut through her armor and she looked to see her killer's face, seeing only her own face looking back at her.
The Spartan easily pulled out his sword and killed two more Defias with terrifying ease as he dropped his Battle Rifle to free his other hand as he quickly moved through the movements and cut down two more who were still alive from crotch to shoulder and even decapitated two more. His attacks were so fast that the Defias were not even aware that he was among them until they turned to see him as he cut them down.
It was not long before the Defias group which numbered at least two and a half dozen were all dead or dying around him, and throughout all this, none of the hostages were harmed. The Spartan then turned to cut the ropes that bound the Prince and those who were with him, as soon as that was done, the Prince looked at him, and to the slight amusement of the Spartan, the young man showed only surprise but no fear or shock whatsoever, this Prince certainly has the bravery and the backbone that James praised him for. The young man then spoke to him.
"My thanks for rescuing us stranger, but who are you?"
"Master Chief Petty Officer, Spartan-117, UNSC Navy, and I take it that you are Prince Anduin Wrynn?"
The young man nodded just as James appeared with Dana and the other member of his force coming behind him after mopping up what was left of the Defias forces, the Captain quickly kneeled down and spoke to his lord with relief thick in his voice.
"Prince Anduin, I am happy that you are safe."
Anduin nodded and smiled at the leader of his guard unit as he spoke.
"I am happy to see that you are alive and so are the others of your unit as well Captain, did you manage to reach my father in time to warn him of my capture?"
"Sadly no my Lord, the Defias forces that pursued me surrounded me and were about to kill me when the Spartan and his comrades came out of nowhere in their flying vessel and saved my life. They healed my injuries and offered their aid to rescue you and any of my unit that were still alive. We tracked down the first group and rescued a number of my comrades as well as interrogated the leader of the band and learned some very important information that we will report to the King once we return to Stormwind. We healed them and several of them went to Stormwind to inform the King of what was happening while I and the others continued to rescue you, we encountered Paladin Dana Tyr and she volunteered to rescue you as well and here we are."
Anduin looked at the group just as the second band arrived, the Night Elves moved away to give some space while the Blood Elf female looked on as the Spartan himself sheathed his sword and now cradled his gun while the other members of the Royal Guard were on one knee and so was the Paladin who was part of the attack force that had saved his life. The young prince then spoke to James as he had a plan to rescue the others of Captain James' unit.
"I see, now rise, there's no time to waste, we still have to rescue the others of the unit, before I was separated from the others along with Felix Darrel and Tricia Marcellus, I saw them move the group a fair distance from the borders of the town of Darkshire and they had some sort of camp there. It's only been at least four hours or so before I was separated from them, I do not know just what is it that the Defias plan to do with them, but I doubt that it is going to be good."
The Spartan looked at the visual package being brought in by Cortana and then spoke.
"The Prince is correct in that regard, they will no doubt either kill the remaining survivors or use them as slave labor, however we happen have both the strategic and tactical advantage right now. The last group that has the survivors have no way on knowing that their comrades are dead and the Prince has been rescued. We can use this to plan our own assault on them and free the last remaining members of the Royal Guard. If we move into the town of Darkshire and hide the Royal Guard somehow from sight we can make them think that everything is going to plan. Once we have an opening and they have lowered their guard, we can strike fast and hard."
Anduin nodded as well.
"I agree with the Spartan on this matter, and I will come with you as well."
James was not liking this and replied.
"My Prince, you do not need to come with us."
"I know, but your people risked their lives to save mine, I am not going to let them become slaves to the Defias if there is a way for me to free them. Give me a moment to get my bow, the Defias carried it with them to use as a token of me being in their hands when they would send it to my father, I think it's time I use it again for a more honorable purpose."
Anduin found his own hand made bow and a large number of arrows as well as taking a short sword for protection, while the two captured Royal Guardsmen were now fully armed that they began to move towards Darkshire. It was then that Dana spoke as she recalled just what she was doing here in Duskwood.
"I have something to mention that I believe may be able to help us, I have a female friend who happens to be a very skilled Priestess currently staying in the town of Darkshire. She sent me a letter before that told me about recently increasing activity of the Defias bands that were here in Duskwood so she asked for my help to both aid the Night Watch as well as track down what is the reason for the increase of activity of the Defias bands. I have a feeling that it might have something to do with this kidnapping attempt of the Prince."
James thought it over and nodded.
"That makes sense, they would keep the Night Watch busy to make sure that none of them would be aware of what was going on in their area."
The Spartan then walked over to the Paladin and spoke seriously.
"Is this friend of you're a capable Priestess?"
Dana nodded and replied.
"She is very capable and her healing magic is very good, she has saved my life and the lives of our old party too many times for me to count. And she is truly loyal to the Alliance. I can assure you that she is someone you can trust and have by your side. She does have skills to fight with though she is not a master swordsman by trade."
The Spartan seemed silent and nodded a moment later.
"Then let's hurry, the land and whatever creatures living here will deal with the Defias, but not before we take whatever we might need later on, no sense leaving anything we can use at a much later date."
…
In Darkshire…
Talia was currently treating a number of the wounded Night Watch, usually this was not a problem but she had noted that the activity in Duskwood had increased and somehow Defias activity had spiked for the past few days, some of the bandits were even attacking Darkshire more openly, something that they had done in the past but never this intensely before.
She looked and hoped that her old friend, Dana would arrive, as much as she had gained a good level of skill in fighting with her own sword, she was still a novice compared to her Paladin friend. She had sent her friend a letter and thankfully got a response that she was soon going to be on her way once she settled some accounts back home.
The light brown skinned, green eyed and black haired Priestess finally finished her healing and decided to take a good drink of water to recover her strength after the healing as the Night Watch members bade her farewell and head off to report to their commander and get some much needed food and drink after another hard day of keeping their homes safe from all the threats that would come around in their location.
As she finished her drink, she wondered how soon she was going to see her other friends, it had been some time since she had seen her old party as they each had moved on to handle other matters that they needed to handle on their own.
(I wonder what else could happen today?)
She got her answer when one of the Night Watch came in and called to her.
"Priestess Talia, someone is looking for you."
"Who is it?"
"A Paladin, but she's not alone either, it looks almost like she has a large platoon with her."
That confused Talia as she had not expected Dana to come with a large company in tow as well. Something was not right as she walked out to see if the Paladin that the Night Watch member had spoken of was indeed her friend. The moment she walked out of the building to look at the group which had drawn quite the crowd as well, she spotted her old friend and she smiled out as she walked over to Dana and spoke.
"Dana! I'm happy to see that you've made it here safely."
The red haired female Paladin smiled as well and replied.
"You have little need to worry Talia, I am fine, but there is something that we need to discuss."
"I can think of one right now at the moment, who are all these people behind you? You mentioned nothing of bringing a small army with you."
"It's a long story, and three people are about to tell you that as well."
Dana turned and from the group came three figures to Talia's vision, one was a ornately armored male soldier with a sword and shield along with a massive figure that was wearing green and black armor along with a golden visor as well as carrying some odd devices and two swords on him. That was enough to surprise the Priestess as she had never seen or heard of anyone armed and armored like this fellow before, but then she looked to see a young twelve year old boy between the two men and she wondered briefly on what this young man was doing here.
However, she quickly recognized him and gasped as she fell on one knee and spoke.
"Prince Anduin Wyrnn!"
The Prince quickly spoke to Talia.
"Priestess Talia, please, now is not the time, we need your help."
Talia stood up, still trying to digest what was going on before her, she had not expected this to happen and she quickly looked at her friend for some answers. Dana could see the utter confusion in Talia's face and she replied to that.
"It's a long story."
…
To be continued…
…
Author's Notes:
That wraps up the rescue mission and the battles were quick and not too descriptive since the focus is the rescue mission for not just the Prince but the surviving members of James' unit as well, in the next chapter is the rescue for the remaining Guardsmen and then the arrival of the whole team to Stormwind where Varian, Bolvar, and Tirion will soon meet the Spartan for themselves and in this meeting he will be able to reaffirm not just his neutrality, but to prove to them that while he is neutral, he is not an enemy and can be trusted as well to come to their aid when it is needed.
One of the characters mentioned in the poll has now been introduced, along with another character as well; these two apparently had been in a group that had taken part in the events that gave rise to Tirion working to rebuild the Knights of the Silver Hand and also the rise of the Argent Dawn. So you can bet that these two are not amateurs. I plan to have them eventually work with the Spartan at the end of this arc as they also help him learn about Azeroth's history as both of them happen to be natives of the Kingdom of Stormwind as well. They might also join him as he would go back to the Dawn but that is still going to be planned out.
As for James and his unit, what will be their fate after this situation that they were part of? That will be seen soon enough on the next chapter so you don't have to worry too much about how this situation might end for now.
Before I go, do you guys want this story to have a single couple route only or do you want me to go for the H couple route? I need this answered so I can decide what to do with all the other characters I will be adding soon and they will be given good parts to play soon enough as well.
See you on the next chapter!
