Chapter 27

Darakyon- I don't see what the problem is, but okay. Fixed it.

Draenor

Spartan

"Two guards." Said the Spartan as he, Gorl, and Kudius saw two Orc warriors standing guard near the main hut of the Orc camp. According to Gorl, that was where the clan chief was or, if they're not participating in the attack on the Draenei, then the leader of whomever was selected to lead the attack. Hopefully it was the leader of the entire clan, so it'll be easier for N'Zoth to corrupt them all for his own usages. "We need to lead them away from the hut if we want to get inside and either convert their leader if he's there or wait when he enters." He turned to Kudius, who was hiding along with Gorl and the Spartan in an empty hut that they were fortunate enough to enter before being spotted by an Orc as they infiltrated the Orc base. "Can you identify what we can use to distract them?"

"Dah." Said Kudius. "Got some explosives that can lead those guards away from the tent if we place them in the right spot. Nothing too serious, but enough to draw those guards away from the tent so we can get to work." The spartan nodded at that and motioned for Kudius to get to work and for Gorl to cover him while he provided overwatch. As the two went to work, the Spartan wondered what was going on back in Azeroth.

Meanwhile

Azeroth

Chief

"This is it?" Asked High Elf Archer as she looked at the group of people that both the Alliance and Horde gave them in their mission to rescue survivors from the sinkholes and figure out what caused it.

There were twelve people in total, six for each superpower. For the Alliance side, they have two night elves, three humans, and a dwarf. For the Horde, they have three Orcs, a Troll, and two Blood elves. High Elf was fine with the assistance, thinking it was fine, but she honestly thought both sides would give them a bit more, considering what they're going to face is entirely unknown.

"Not enough." Whispered Ikit, looking at the group of Azeroth soldiers and mages with distaste. He was far away enough from them that he can safely whisper his words to his compatriots without the Alliance or Horde elves hearing him. "Need more-more. We fight in Skaven tunnels. We know them best-best. Many traps and holes for Skaven to ambush and stab-kill us. Many of them will die-die in this mission."

"Keep that to yourself." Whispered back Courier as Chief made his way to an Orc and human that were in front of their respective groups, obviously the leaders. "They probably know their odds of surviving, but I think it's best if we don't tell them that to their faces." Ikit scoffed at that, but otherwise kept silent. Chief, meanwhile, was observing the Orc and human leaders as they exchanged brief, but hostile glances at each other. It was clear they knew each other and hated one another. Chief didn't know what exactly it was that caused their hostility, but he figured it was something personal.

The human was a blond-haired man wearing the armor of a traditional paladin, adorned in the colors of Stormwind. His beautiful and strong face was marred by a long scar that went from his forehead to his lower jaw. In his hands was a helmet of Stormwind.

The Orc had his black hair in a top knot and was wearing crude, but form-fitting black armor that covered his entire body. Similar to the human, he held numerous scars all over his face, marring his features a bit, far more than the human, and held his helmet in his hands.

Looking at both of them, Chief then spoke.

"I assume you both have experience in fighting the unknown?" Asked Chief. He expected it to be true. For, as far as he knew, both the Alliance and Horde don't have much information on the Skaven or anything similar to them. So, they don't have much knowledge on how to fight them or what they should avoid. Heck, even his team didn't have much to go on. Ikit wasn't exactly keen on giving them military secrets of his people. Though now that they were facing his people, it seems Ikit was willing to spill the beans and help them however he can. That being said, there was probably some things that even he didn't know about his people. In addition, these Skaven may have developed tactics and technology that isn't available or known to the main Skaven forces, so Ikit wouldn't be of any help to them in that department.

"Yes sir." Said the human soldier, standing at attention. "Nathaniel Drakos, Alliance soldier. Served in the Stormwind military for eight years now and fought in some of the most hectic years of the Alliance, from the war with the Lich King to the recent war with the Horde." Chief processed this information for a moment before speaking up.

"And have you fought with these people for long?" Asked Chief, looking at the other Alliance mages and warriors as they conversed with each other, some of them giving glares of suspicion or hate towards the Horde group, whose members also exchanged glares of similar hostility towards the Alliance group.

"I've fought with Niahndra and Varus ever since the Lich King war. I'm confident with their ability to fight." Said Nathaniel as he pointed towards a Night elf in a dress, something that caused Chief to pause a bit as that was a terrible outfit to wear as they were going underground and in an environment where the enemy may be up close and personal, and a human wearing leather armor with a hood and a scarf that covered lower half of their face. "But the other three are still experienced soldiers as well. They've also fought in the war with the Lich king and in the recent war with the Horde. They fought in Orgrimmar with me and I can assure you they're good." Chief nodded at that, seeing no sense of hesitations in the man's voice or stance on his men. That was good. With that done, he turned to the Orc and asked the same questions.

"Grod Longclaw, human." Sneered the Orc as he glared at the Spartan. Obviously, he held no respect for Chief, which was fine by him, he didn't need his respect, only his ability to follow orders. "I've fought with my fellow Horde warriors for years. We fought together in the war against the Lich King, the battles against Deathwing and the forces of the Old Gods, and the war against the honor-less Garrosh. And unlike this Alliance spittle, we did so with the fact that our people were split and fractured because of Garrosh." That caused Nathaniel to glare at the Orc before speaking.

"And unlike you, we don't go around unleashing unspeakable horrors on peaceful lands." Said Nathaniel, glaring at Grod, who glared back. They would have continued had Chief interrupted them.

"Enough." Said Chief, seeing that a fight would occur if he didn't stop them now. "Focus on the objective and don't start fights that aren't needed. If you can't do that, then you're taken off this assignment. Is that clear?" Even though it was likely neither party would find members of the opposing faction, it was a good idea to make sure they help everyone they find and not let emotions take over. Plus, they may need to work together if the Skaven presence is large enough.

According to Ikit, if left alone for a significant amount of time and with sufficient enough food, Skaven can reach the hundreds of thousands in a matter of months. And if they achieved that many numbers, then they are in for a rude awakening. Both them and the Horde and Alliance. For they may have to fight both the Skaven and this Iron Horde at the same time, straining resources considerably.

Both Nathaniel and Grod glared at each other for a moment more until they both looked at Chief, nodding at the Spartan.

"Very well, sir." Said Nathaniel. "We'll follow your lead against whatever we're facing." Grod just grunted as he glared at Chief, who just ignored it, but aside from that, was docile. Making a note to keep an eye on that Orc, Chief then motioned for the rest of the soldiers and warriors to come to him so he can explain the mission. Once everyone was close to him, both his team and the Horde and Alliance personal, he spoke.

"As you know, both camps here were sunk down by a hostile race." Said Chief. "We're going down to the sink holes to look for survivors and determine the severity of the threat that race represents. And we're going to rescue all survivors, regardless of faction. Is that understood?" A few grumbled at that with Grod glaring, but they nodded in understanding. "The race we're going to face is a race of rat men called the Skaven and like you, my team doesn't have much information on their tactics and equipment. Fortunately, that'll be solved by one of my team members, who's agreed to reveal all we need to know in Skaven tactics and what we need to do in order to avoid taking unnecessary casualties. Ikit." Upon hearing his name, Ikit Claw walked up to Chief, twitching all the way. Upon seeing the rat, some of the Alliance and Horde warriors were uneasy, both because he was a rat like man, which they were supposedly going to fight soon, and because well…he's a rat. Glaring at all the Alliance and Horde warriors, Ikit spoke.

"You-you all, listen to me-me." Said Ikit, pointing at all the Horde and Alliance warriors and mages. "I say this only once-once." Ikit rapidly looked at everyone once again before speaking. "Skaven fight-kill in big numbers. Big numbers. We swarm our foes with tide after tide of rat bodies. But that isn't our only trick-sneak. We sneak-kill enemies from hiding or kill from afar. Or we kill using our superior magic or technology. Yes-yes. No technique or method of killing is not used by Skaven. We use all methods. All kill contraptions. That is first lesson. Nothing is above Skaven." A few of the Horde and Alliance members shifted uncomfortably at that. Fighting a race that held no limitations on what is acceptable fighting wasn't exactly appealing to them, especially after the recent war against Garrosh Hellscream. Before they could compound on the matter even further, Ikit continued.

"So, to fight Skaven, you need to do this-this." Said Ikit. "We must look-see every hole-hole in tunnels. We fighting Skaven in their home-dens. They know every hidey-hole in tunnels and where best way to ambush us. We must be careful and be watchful of all sides. Yes-yes. We must also be wary of traps and bait. Skaven captured you weak-inferior ones. They likely use them as bait to lure more of you-you to your deaths or worse." Some of the Horde and Alliance members drew faces of disgust of the Skaven using their comrades as live bait. Before any of them could express disgust at this, Ikit continued. "We also must kill, if given the chance, their paw leaders or warlord. Skaven very cowardly and will break when leaders are slain. Yes-yes. Focus on leaders and Skaven will flee-flee." Truth be told, Ikit was annoyed that he was giving ways of fighting against his people to the Alliance and Horde as well as his own team, for they were not Skaven, but he had to. These Skaven were not his allies. That and it'll make them more efficient in taking down the warlords of the clan, or clans, down in the holes.

The Skaven here have developed away from the guidance of the council of thirteen and will likely not be friendly to him. Even if they were friendly to him, he still was going to fight him. Skaven, as a whole, were back stabbers that will betray one another for power and prestige. And in Ikit's mind, these Skaven will try to kill him and steal his designs, both those that he made prior to coming here and after coming to this planet. And that was something that Ikit could not allow. Those designs were his. He deserved the credit for them, no one else. But on the plus side, if he had his allies kill the leaders of the Skaven clans here, then he can easily become leader of them and then he'll get even more prestige from the council of thirteen, both from his designs and getting another clan for them to use as disposable bodies in their wars against the man things and dwarf things. There'll be some annoyance and even anger from his allies for this, but he's sure his team won't mind too much of him having an army of Skaven by his side, and by extension, their side as well. At least, for now.

But in order to get the best shot at that, he needed to give them tips on how to fight Skaven. Ah well. As he was instructing everyone on what to do against Skaven, some of them were wondering who survived the collapse of the camps and what they were doing right now.

Jack

"This place is completely horrid." Said Sylvanas as she and Jack were crawling through a, barely lit, tunnel that forced them to crawl in order to go through it and even then, it was a tight fit. Not to mention it completely smelled of feces and other horrid smells that made Sylvanas nearly wish she had lost her ability to smell when she was reanimated to what she was now. Grunting when her right hand landed on a small pile of rat dung, she looked at the hand in disgust before looking at Jack, who was ahead of her. "Does your rat do this as well in your home?"

"He lives separate to the rest of us, so I imagine he does." Said Jack, having never visited Ikit in his quarters since helping him check the den that he took as his home. From what Cortana told of it, however, having sent drones there to check what Ikit does, it smells horrid and he constantly sprays urine near the entrance to the den, acting similar to certain predators on how he marked his territory as a warning to others. Sylvanas grunted at that before the two resumed crawling to wherever this tunnel led them to. It only took them a few minutes before they made it out of the tunnel and through another passageway.

"God damn. All these tunnels look exactly the same." Said Jack as he looked around, seeing nothing but dirt and feces all around them with some old wood as support, preventing the passageway from collapsing. "At this rate we're going to stuck down here forever."

It had been hours since they meet each other and since then, they've been avoiding these rat people, the Skaven if their similar appearance to Ikit Claw is anything to go by, so far, but it was just a matter of time before the find and capture them. And neither of them wanted to think about what those rats had in store for them.

They also didn't have much to fight back. Just a few knives and arrows without a bow to fight back. Not exactly much to defend themselves with. Sylvanas did have her banshee form, but it wasn't something she can use all the time. Eventually, she'll get tired and be forced out of it, leaving her vulnerable to the Skaven.

"I do not survive Garrosh's foolishness just to die underground by a bunch of ratmen." Said Sylvanas, looking at Jack, the barely lit passageway not interfering in any shape or form for her. "We need to get to the surface now."

"Yeah, but how?" Asked Jack. "Those rats probably know we're looking for a way up and likely have guards stationed in every single exit out of here. Got any ideas?" Sylvanas was about to make a nasty retort when her elven ears heard something up ahead. Something big and loud.

"Quiet." Said Sylvanas as she tried to hone in on whatever was making that noise. Pushing Jack aside, she tried to listen in as she made her way towards the noise, trying her best not to make a sound. Following Sylvanas, Jack readied his knife as the two pushed deeper and deeper into the passageway.

Eventually, even Jack heard the noise. It sounded like electricity and the roars of something. A lion perhaps. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good for them or the Alliance and Horde. After a few minutes of walking, the two found what was making the noise and were flabbergasted on what they saw.

They saw, to their utter astonishment, a massive spiraling city of wood and stone before them. But they weren't places of great beauty and etiquette like those of humans or elves. Even Orc architecture was more beautiful than the ramshackle buildings before them. They were more akin to those made by soldiers that either didn't knew what they were doing or were meant to be temporary lodges for desperate soldiers. Yet, they saw massive amounts of ratmen scuttled around those buildings, hissing and fighting each other for space or territory, not caring that their fighting might cause the buildings to fall and kill them and their fellow rats.

Among those buildings were more studier, but still broken down, buildings made of stone that had green lightning coming out of them along with roars of great beasts. And amidst all this, was a massive army of rats, armed with all manners of weapons and armor, chanting and screeching, as they feasted in a massive feeding pen just beyond the city, surrounding a massive statue of a metal humanoid that looked like it was the only thing that was built with care.

Sylvanas, eyeing the rats around that statue with her keen elven eyes, could guess that there were thousands of rats, gouging on whatever food they could get their grubby hands on, fighting and snapping each other as they fed. Such a large number of rats alarmed the undead elf. How could these rats maintain such a population without them knowing? How did neither the Horde or Alliance have ever heard of these things? And why did they know show up against them? These questions and more were permeating through Sylvanas's mind. Jack, meanwhile, was stunned at how many rats there were, also wondering the same questions as the dark ranger.

The two were so stunned that they didn't notice the rats stopped their feast and began sniffing the air. The rats didn't know what it was, but they smelled a new musk that they never smelled before and it made them hungry. Eventually they picked up the scent of Jack and Sylvanas and looked at where they were, high up in one of the many tunnels that were above their home. Snarling the rats began chattering and skittering amongst themselves before one of them yelled out.

"Man-thing and dead-thing here!" Yelled the rat before pointing at where Sylvanas and Jack were. "Get-get them!" With a massive roar, the rats began charging towards them, trampling those that didn't move fast enough. The army of rats coming towards them caused the two to snap out of their stubborn and try to find a way out. Looking around, Sylvanas spotted a tunnel that was larger than the one they were in and quickly, jumped towards it.

Wincing as the wound on her side tore open and black blood spilled from it as she entered the tunnel entrance, Sylvanas ordered Jack to do the same, which he did soon after her. Jack wasn't nearly as graceful as Sylvanas, but still managed to make to the tunnel. Soon, the two ran down the tunnel as various rats began climbing their way towards the duo, snarling and screeching at each other as they made their way to the two. As both Sylvanas and Jack ran for their lives, Jack found himself praying that his team will come to save them soon or else they're going to be lunch for a bunch of rats.

Meanwhile

Team Sigma.

"We're clear, Cortana. Take the transports up. We'll call if we need quick extraction and medivac." Said Chief as he and Ikit landed on the rocky terrain along with the Horde team they were given. High Elf Archer and Courier had the Alliance team. The plan was simple. Sweep for survivors, especially Sylvanas and Jack, and access the threat of the Skaven people here if possible.

As the Pelican flew out of the sinkhole, Ikit began sniffing the ground around him as the Horde warriors and mages began securing the area around them while a group of Specters began forming a perimeter of auto turrets so they have a nice defensible position if the Skaven decide to pop in unannounced.

"Yes-yes." Said Ikit after a minute of sniffing. "Skaven people here-here. Musk of acquisition here. Skaven claim this for themselves. Yes-yes." Master Chief, upon hearing that, asked Ikit how Horde survivors and Jack. "Hmm…*Sniffs* Yes-yes. Smell of Orcs and cow-things here. Blood here. Being dragged somewhere. Yes-yes. To tunnels." Ikit continued to sniff until he began running, causing the Horde party and Chief to follow him. Eventually, he found a tunnel of synthetic making. "All traces of Horde go through here-here. Skaven must have taken them to home-nest for eating or experiments. Yes-yes."

"Is Jack and Sylvanas among them?" Asked Chief as a few of the Horde members, especially the Forsaken, worried for Sylvanas. Ikit sniffed around a few more times before speaking.

"Hm…human smell older than others. Even Skaven smell." Said Ikit as he sniffed the floor. "Must have escaped. Not sure on dead elf-thing. Too many dead-things to know which if dead elf-thing." Chief nodded at that before looking at the Horde.

"Alright, follow closely and remain close to each other. These Skaven are expert ambushers so make sure each and every corner is checked as we moved. We're dead if we get ambushed at all sides in these tunnels. Understood?" Asked Chief. The Horde members all nodded. With that, Chief ordered the Spectres to remain to reinforce the perimeter as the team began moving deeper and deeper into the tunnels, watching every knock and cranny for suspicious activity as well as for any survivors.

Meanwhile

"Shit!" Yelled Jack as a spear nearly hit his head as both he and Sylvanas ran for their lives against the mob of Skaven coming after them, their beady red eyes filled with the desire for flesh. Looking back, Jack could see that the Skaven were getting closer and closer with their teeth getting ready to gnaw on human or elven flesh, no matter how decayed it was. He counted at least twenty rats before he looked at his front, right at Sylvanas's back. "Sylvanas, you got anything to deal with them?"

"Just wait until we're in a more advantageous position!" Yelled Sylvanas as she looked ahead, seeing a bright light up ahead along with an air draft coming from it, albeit a faint one. Hoping to use her banshee form to kill their impending attackers without killing Jack, Sylvanas could only hope that there weren't any rats that were only minutes away from finding them and were right behind the tails of this group as well as there being enough room to protect . Otherwise, they're going to end up as a meal for a couple of rats. And she would rather not end up having that fate befall on her. And Jack too. Much as she hated to admit it, he was actually a better man for her sister than she had initially thought. And, given her recent rekindled relationship with her sister, she supposed it would make her look bad if he died while he was with her. So, she had to keep him safe and alive.

A few more seconds later and they eventually reached an intersection that linked various tunnels to each other. Seeing the intersection, Sylvanas grabbed Jack and pushed him ahead of her. As he stumbled into the intersection, Sylvanas summoned forth her banshee form and turned towards the rats.

Screaming out in rage, Sylvanas charged towards the rats as they saw the banshee queen unleash her fury upon them. They didn't even have time to whimper or scurry away in fear before she was upon them, black magic coursing out and killing them, ageing them and ravaging their insides.

Once all the rats were dead, Sylvanas returned to her normal form and examined the rats to see if they were dead. Once she was certain they all were dead, she looked back at Jack as he walked back to her.

"Nice." Commented Jack at the dead rats, seeing their blackened flesh and sunken dead eyes. "You alright? You're bleeding." Looking at her waist, Sylvanas saw that her wound reopened more, and black blood was spilling all over the floor. Seeing the blood, Jack went over to Sylvanas and began to escort her to a nearby rock so they can patch her up.

Unwrapping her bandages, Jack began to treat her wound again. As he treated her wound, Jack couldn't help but feel intrigued with the undead elf and the undead race as a whole. No need to eat, drink, or sleep. They were like the Spectres units, but with the ability to think like a human being. Plus, given that Sylvanas was able to still fight despite losing a lot of blood, he guessed she lost a full pint or two of blood during their running from those rats, tougher than most soldiers he knew. Even pilots. No doubt his people and the IMC would want some undead soldiers in their ranks if Sylvanas is any indication of their strengths. Especially the IMC. Oh, he can just imagine the fanfare and intrigue the IMC will have in them. Not the type that anyone would want. No sir. And that wasn't even counting all the mystical shit in Azeroth. If the IMC learned of this place, they would definitely launch a full-scale invasion of Azeroth to plunder it of all it's value, enslaving everyone for their own gains. While Jack wasn't certain of a ground IMC victory with all the factors of magic and such, he was certain that, once the IMC achieve orbital superiority, they'll be the victors in a war against the people of Azeroth for all they need to do is just paint a target and their ships will bombard it from orbit as he wasn't sure they had access to any spacefaring vessels or magic that can teleport you into space or something.

But focusing on Sylvanas, Jack patched up her wound again and applied new bandages for her. With that done, he helped her up and the two looked around, seeing various tunnels for them to use.

"So, any ideas how to get out of here?" Asked Jack, looking around the tunnels, unsure of which to take. Sylvanas just nodded as she felt for the breeze that she had felt earlier. A few seconds of searching, she found what she was searching for.

"That tunnel. I feel a breeze coming from that direction." Said Sylvanas, pointing to a tunnel to their right. "Let's go."

"Understood." Said Jack as they walked. "Let me contact my team. Maybe they're nearby and here to rescue survivors?" Sylvanas just nodded at that as they continued to walk. As they walked, Jack tried using his radio to contact his team, hoping that they were in the area and were looking for them.

"Team Sigma, this is Jack Cooper." Said Jack as he tried his radio. "Team Sigma, this is Jack Cooper. Can you read me?" It didn't take long for someone to respond to him.

"Jack! Oh, it's great to hear you." Yelled the loud and cheerful voice of High Elf Archer. There was a lot of static interference, but it was definitely her. "I knew you wouldn't have died down there by a bunch of rats! Where are you!? Are you nearby?"

"I think so. Have to be if I'm here you." Said Jack. "I got Sylvanas with me, but that's about it. Everyone else must have been dragged away by those rats."

"You sure?" Asked High Elf Archer as she and the Alliance team were making their way through a tunnel. "Because you weren't in the Alliance camp, so maybe."

"I doubt there's any other survivors." Said Jack. "You didn't see how many rats there are down here. Thousands. Maybe tens of thousands are here. I doubt there's anyone left here that the rats didn't get. Even if they're around, there were so many rats in the debris fields when I came to that I doubt it's not to dissimilar to the Alliance sink hole."

"But…we should at least try to save someone." Said High Elf Archer as Courier, having overheard the conversation stopped the team before listening in on the conversation completely. "Some people might have escaped and hide themselves enough. We should try to find those people and…"

"Believe me, archer, I want to save some more people, but I don't think that we're going to find more people." Said Jack. "Between the disorientation from the sinkhole and the number of rats here, I don't think it's worth trying to find more people. Plus, I think you guys want to know how many rats are here. I'll tell you right now, it's lots." High Elf wanted to complain more, but Courier spoke.

"Alright, get yourself to either sinkholes. We'll have a dropship come over to extract both of you out of here. I'll also inform Chief and the others that we found you and Sylvanas so they can keep an eye out for you two." Said Courier, deciding to butt in. "But to appease High Elf Archer and the Alliance, we'll try to keep searching for people for around an hour. After that, we're leaving.' Jack just nodded at that.

"Understood." Said Jack. 'I'm leaving my comms open so you guys can locate me and we'll link up, hopefully you'll prove me wrong and find some people."

"Ditto." Said Courier before ending the call. With that, Jack looked at Sylvanas and motioned her to trudge forward. Scoffing a bit at that, the two nonetheless walked forward, hoping a bit to never encounter anymore rats until they were safe.

Meanwhile

"Great one." Said a Skaven rat, wearing leather armor, as he looked at another Skaven that was wearing a metal suit of armor with a massive helmet with horns that protruded up. "Man-thing and dead-thing found under-land and escaped. Minions finding them right now, but other man-things here with Horde-things and Alliance-things. They look-look for us-us. What we do-do?" The other Skaven growled before yelling out.

"If weak-inferior ones come to us-us, then we fight-fight!" Yelled the rat before bringing out a metal sword. "Ready minions and beasts! We fight-fight them all-all!" The first Skaven just nodded before skittering away as the other Skaven roared out, anticipating much blood and food for his people. Yes-yes.

Meanwhile

Draenor

"This was easy." Thought the Twilight Hammer Spartan as he looked at the Orc leader communing with the Old God N'Zoth. It was pathetically easy. Once the dispatched the guards and entered the leader's hut, they restrained him and forced their crystal at him. From there, N'Zoth began his work in corrupting the Orc and force him to submit to his rule. Try as the Orc did in resisting the Old God, the outcome was not in doubt. Soon he'll be under the command of N'Zoth and they'll use him to be one step closer to acquiring Garrosh for their master's partner.

As he waited, the Spartan wondered what N'Zoth's partner wanted with Garrosh, Grom, and Gul'dan. What could he possibly want with those three Orcs? What kind of person would want three genocidal maniacs running around that had no plans to work alongside him or N'Zoth? What did they want with them? Whatever it was, it better not get in the way of his revenge or N'Zoth's ultimate goal of corrupting Azeroth. Otherwise, they'll be eliminated for their insolence.

Meanwhile

Trazyn

"Oh yes. Yes. This will be a grand exhibit." Said Trazyn as he looked at the massive amount of space, he had for his future exhibits from Azeroth. Oh yes. They'll be quite grand indeed. "Now if only, I can get something to keep taps on those that are out there and capturing some of my exhibit pieces."

"And this is why you are absolutely despised by some of the dynasties." Said Orikan as he watched Trazyn looked over the amount of space before them. "Wasting valuable resources and space for useless trinkets and exhibits that can be easily be recreated using holograms or stored in digital records." Trazyn, a bit angry at what Orikan just said, kept cool as he needed him still. Plus, attacking him when the Silent King himself has of need of him as well wasn't exactly a wise idea. Trazyn was willing to do many things for his galleries, but going against the Silent King or drawing his ire was not one of them.

"Oh, be at peace, my friend." Orikan's eye glowed at that. "It's not as if the other dynasties' forces are being expended for these expeditions. Only the forces of Solemnace are being expended for these noble ventures. So, there's nothing to worry about."

"Forces that are better spent assuring the future prosperity of our people." Said Orikan, turning towards Trazyn with his glowing eye glowing even brighter. "You have witnessed my visions. As has the Silent King. Imotekh. Szeras. Anrakyr. Even that insane Valgul has seen my visions of annihilation. They, and all others with even the most slimmest of common sense that have seen my visions, know that the future of our people can only be achieved by uniting under our king and for him to find us a new home. One far from the threat of the great devourer. And to do that, we need all available resources to defend the Nexus from all threats. Not just from the great devourer, but from the foolish humans, the Aeldari, and the agents of the formless horror. And right now, you're the only one that isn't significantly committing resources to its protection. And Szarekh is not happy with it. I advise you know, to either allocate more resources to the Nexus's protection, or you will face the wrath of the Silent King. And I assure you, his exile did not alleviate his wrath in any shape or way when his patience is at an end." Trazyn simply chuckled at that, though both he and Orikan knew that what he said was true. The Silent King was not foolish, and he will, sooner or later, investigate what is going on with the master of Solemnace and his reduced support for the Nexus. Still, Trazyn held confidence that he can still the wrath of the Silent King and convince him that nothing he will do will badly affect the Nexus in any shape or form. Nothing short of a miracle can do such a thing from his ventures. At least, he held confidence in it. He knew that unlikely events and scenarios can still happen, the universe was funny like that, but he had fail safes in place to ensure that nothing bad happens to the Nexus or his prized Solemnace from his ventures on Azeroth.

"Duly noted, Orikan." Said Trazyn. "Now can you peer into the future for me and see what needs to be done to gain even more prizes from Azeroth." Orikan simply grunted before his eye glowed even brighter, nearly eclipsing the entire room both he and Trazyn was in in green light. Trazyn, adjusting his optics to the bright light, waited for Orikan divine the future and tell him of what needs to be done. For that was the power of Orikan the Diviner. The robotic individual was a Cryptek, technological specialists of their race that were well versed in all fields of science to the point that some lesser races may call them wizards or magicians, much to the annoyance of many Crypteks. Subsects of the Crypteks exist that specializes in a certain field of science, such as psychology and energy manipulation. Orikan's field of specialization was the discipline of Eternity, the ability to manipulate time and use it as a weapon against their foes or augment their allies. Moreover, he was in the subsect of that specific discipline called Astromancy, where Crypteks of this branch were able to use the stars themselves to divine the future. And Orikan was the most powerful of this subsect.

And right now, he was divining the future for Trazyn, using the stars themselves what the future entails for them and Trazyn's ally. Trying to see what outcomes are the most likely to occur and what they needs to do in order to ensure the desired future, for them at least, will be the one that occurs.

Orikan divined the future for a good two hours before stopping, his eye returning to its normal glow. The Cryptek was silent for a few more moments before he spoke.

"I have peered into the future, Trazyn." Said Orikan. "You'll be pleased to know that there are many futures that have you acquire the Orcs you wish to have for your galleries as well as that brute of a Draenor alongside this Velen. One of them at least. In addition to that, I have also seen many futures that have you acquire other leaders of the Horde and Alliance as well as other individuals that are no doubt of interest to you. I will provide you a detailed list of what needs to be done to ensure the acquisition of all these beings as well as things to avoid doing." Trazyn, pleased at this, thanked Orikan for his cooperation. He then told him a cache of resources will be delivered to his ship at once. Resources that are both vital to the Cryptek as well as satisfying his quota to the Silent King. Before he could speak more, a small robotic spider flew next to Trazyn and latched itself onto his shoulder. Soon, the master of Solemnace was receiving information that made him annoyed.

"Oh dear. It seems one of my exhibits are attempting to escape again." Said Trazyn. "If you'll excuse me." Orikan just stayed silent as Trazyn left him to attend the recapturing of one of his exhibits in order to prevent them from escaping or releasing more of his exhibits, either by incident or to provide a distraction. Once he was, however, Orikan went into deep futures that he had witnessed. The ones that concerned this Azeroth. Though there are plenty of futures that leave with Trazyn more than satisfied with his captures, there were plenty more that benefitted their people as a whole. Far more than the Silent King's original plan. If they could ensure those futures become a reality than…yes. Yes.

With new purpose, Orikan immediately made haste to his ship, not caring if he got Trazyn's resources or not. They were insignificant compared to what he had foreseen on Azeroth. What must happen for their people to thrive.

Walking towards the halls of Solemnace, Orikan vowed that one of the futures that he'd seen that benefitted his people will come to fruition. That their people will thrive once more. Though it will cost the people of Azeroth much, much more than some will say fair, such things were insignificant to Orikan. What mattered to the Cryptek was his people and right now, the Silent King needed to know about what he had seen and how he needed to modify his plans.

Whether they like it or not, the people of Azeroth were going to be pawns for the salvation of the Necron people.