Chapter 5
R reyes- I would be offended by you saying Chief was boring if it wasn't true to an extent. I mean, I love Chief, but, like Batman, he needs that one partner that helped bring out his humanity. Which I was thinking of someone like Thalyssra or Vereesa can help bring that out of him like Cortana did during their time together.
Island
Ikit Claw
"Yes-yes. Definitely Skaven burrow." Said Ikit as he crawled inside the burrow. It was cleverly made to. The main entrance was small enough that only a Skaven can enter it and it was only wide enough to allow one person to crawl out or in at a time. Makes for good defensive position, even though it limited how many Skaven can come out of their burrow at a time. Still, this could be remedied by having many entrances that led to the burrow, all hidden.
"Well, come back with anything you find, okay?" Said Jack as he watched Ikit crawl. "We need all the equipment on this island to survive." Ikit growled as he nodded. Much as he wanted to keep some stuff to himself in secret, he knew that wasn't possible. That AI, Cortana, had been linked to some small drones that flew.
Though they were all exploring the island for them, all it took was for Jack to give them the location of the burrow entrance and the drones can map the entire place out, with them being small enough to fit the entranceway.
Even if he found another entranceway and collapse the tunnel, that damn Courier and Spartan were good at detecting lies as seen when they first met. So, reluctantly, Ikit had to report all his findings to the group. Though, considering that all the rats they found had only knives and other melee weapons, they likely didn't have much to offer to Ikit other than Warpstone. Even if they had a small amount of Warpstone, it was better than nothing.
Eventually, he made it to the other end of the entrance tunnel. Getting up, Ikit looked around what the Skaven home. Scoffing, Ikit found the home to be nothing special. It didn't have much in terms of anything. No source of light, forcing Ikit to use his halberd and backpack to provide a source of light, feces everywhere, and the smell of rotten food. Signs of a poor clan.
Ignoring the smell, Ikit used his Warpstone detector, something he built to help him with finding Warpstone during his many travels all across his world. Warpstone was a valued resource for the Skaven after all and even the tiniest vein of it was precious.
His Warpstone reader, to his surprise, spiked instantly as soon as he turned it on, indicating that a large amount of Warpstone was around. Suspicious, Ikit went to the direction it was pointing to. Eventually, he found a large hole on a wall in the burrow that was covered with a wooden block, something that was futile as Ikit could see the Warpstone from behind the block.
Pushing the block away, Ikit widened his eyes for a second upon seeing just how much Warpstone there was.
It was a large amount. The entire room was filled to the brim with Warpstone. And the room was quite big, almost as big as one of the big vehicle bays in that IMC base. It was enough to last him for years, even decades. Though he loved the sight of seeing so much Warpstone, Ikit was suspicious.
If the Skaven had access to this much Warpstone, then why did they not use it against the IMC. The dead bodies only smelled dead for about several months and there would still be residual traces of Warpstone-powered weapons around if the Skaven used it. It almost looked like they hoarded their Warpstone cache. Something was off.
"Must be care-cautious. Something off-off." Thought Ikit as he grabbed a big chunk of Warpstone and left the Burrow, intending to inform the team of this development and to process the Warpstone for his Storm Daemon and his equipment. As he crawled back, he wondered how the others were doing.
Meanwhile
"So, I was thinking of taking her out to this really nice hotel on a place called the Strip. It doesn't sound as bad as it sounds, there's only one place there that has prostitution on it." Said Courier as he talked to Chief, who simply listened in. Cortana was currently monitoring High Elf Archer, using the ear piece the elf had, so there was no need for them to keep an eye on the elf. So, with her covered, Cortana had encouraged Chief to speak to Courier, so he could get used to the man and trust him more. Although reluctant at first, Chief eventually caved in and the two spoke to each other about their lives. Well, as much as Chief was willing to divulge anyway.
"So, it's called the Ultra Luxe. Got the finest rooms, food, and even a functional steam bath in it. Costs quite a cap, about five thousand caps per night there, but its worth it. Plus the steak, god damn, I don't know what Pre-war steak tasted like, but damn, their Brahmin wellington is the shit. Worth every cap, I assure you." Chief just nodded. Once he was done, Chief spoke.
"Why are you telling me this?" Asked Chief. He had no plans to retire. He planned to continue fighting until his body could no longer allow him to fight. Even then, he'll stay in the military and help train the next generation of soldiers.
"Well," Courier rubbed his neck. "I want to make my girl happy, you know. She's an amazing woman and I want to give her the best first anniversary ever. She said not to go overboard, but I kind of want to. She's the only woman that made me feel this way. To spend so much money on her just so she could have a nice time. What do you think?" Chief just shrugged.
"I'm not the person you should be speaking this to. I don't have much interaction with women aside from professional talks with military officials or those under my team." Courier sighed at that, figuring that was the case with this guy. Still, it was nice speaking about it with someone, even if they had no interest in anything but the military.
"So, no girl waiting for you?" Chief shook his head, causing Courier to frown underneath his helmet. "What happened? Something bad?" Chief nodded.
"A lot. I'll say this. Humanity had a terrible war and it nearly caused our extinction. I didn't have much time to find a woman to settle down with. Too many soldiers were dying, and we couldn't afford to have even a single combat ready spartan take shore leave just to meet up with a girl he likes." Courier frowned at that, wondering what this Human Covenant war was. He needed to ask the spartan about it, but from what he could tell, it was a very terrible war. One that might have eclipsed the Great War in size and destruction.
"Besides," Chief then looked away. "Spartans are forbidden to form romantic attachments with others. It creates a weakness that can be exploited by the enemy or prevent one from treating others as equals. That is a problem, especially if you fall in love with a member of your team." Sighing, Courier looked at Chief.
"I get that, but don't you want to fall in love? That war you mentioned is over, right?" Upon seeing, Chief nod, Courier continued. "Then why not go and fall in love. You kind of deserve it for fighting in such a terrible war." Chief then looked at Courier.
"Even if I do, what do I offer? I was a soldier for my whole life. I don't have any skills that are good for civilian life. I doubt I'll ever make a good father and husband."
"I thought the same when I start my journey." Said Courier. "Yet look at me now. Got a great girlfriend and I'm itching to be a good father. You just need to find that woman that gets you Chief. Trust me. Love always finds a way into our hearts." With that, the Courier stopped to look at his pipboy, the strange device that fascinated everyone in his group. As the Courier fiddeled with it, Chief took what the man said into consideration.
He had heard stories of soldiers, who previously didn't want to fall in love, falling in love when they found the right person. Most failed, whether it was due to one dying on the battlefield or because the two fell out of love, but those that held became things that most soldiers strived to have. It gave them hope. And Chief learned long ago that hope can be a powerful tool in a war. Especially one like the Human Covenant war, where entire worlds were made uninhabitable by humanity's enemy, the Covenant.
"Well, what do you think John? Think you can find a girl?" Asked Cortana as she appeared in his HUD, smirking.
"No." Said Chief. "I don't think I could ever find someone to love. I just…don't have an interest." Shaking her head, Cortana knew that she'll have to play a part in finding Chief a girlfriend.
Much as it as forbidden for military soldiers to form relationship with other soldiers on active duty, it was generally okay for soldiers to form relationships with civilians so long as they kept the UNSC's military goals in mind. And although spartans were forbidden from forming romantic attachments with others, she had heard of some spartans ignoring this directive and forming illegal bonds with each other or other military soldiers. Being an AI had its perks.
As a friend to Chief, she felt like Chief deserved a relationship with a woman after all he's done for humanity. He destroyed an entire Covenant armada, defeated an ancient parasitic race several times, saved countless human lives, and even stop galactic genocide twice. If he didn't deserve someone after all that, she didn't what will.
Plus, with her being near rampancy, she had about two years left unless the others can help fix her, she wanted someone else to be there for Chief. To remind him that he was human and to help him get up when he was down. And to provide him comfort that she could never be able to.
The only question is…who? Who could Chief fall in love with and have a family with?
Humming to herself, Cortana already knew several traits that the woman had to have. She had to be strong, all women with a spouse in the military had to be, willing to put themselves on the line for their people and friends and be there for Chief when he needed a shoulder to lean on. Well that last one was more her want than Chief's, but it was something that Chief wouldn't mind.
With those in mind, Cortana placed her plan to get Chief a girlfriend before she goes rampant. He may be annoyed, but he'll thank her in the end. She knew it.
It was then that they all received a transmission from their elf companion.
"Hey, you guys listening?" Asked High Elf Archer as she spoke in the commlink.
"We read you." Said Chief as he and Courier listened in. "What have you got?"
"Man, what didn't I get. These people are anxious as hell." Said High Elf Archer as she saw a couple of merchants anxiously speaking to one another, talking about some kind of enemy. Despite that though, High Elf Archer, through some careful persuasion, managed to convince people to tell her what this place is and what's going on. She got some strange looks from them, like she stupid, when she asked those questions, along with stares of bewilderment, most likely because of how she looked, which she could get annoyed on as she saw the appearance of the few elves in this place.
They were tall as hell and looked like they were sculpted by gods, just like her. The only problem is, they made her look like a teenager with how small she was and how she was as flat as a board. Still she got the info she wanted, though she did had to refrain from punching people or insulting them back when they made fun of how she looked, particularly her chest and height.
"This place is called Theramore. It's a port city for a coalition called the Alliance. Didn't get much on this Alliance other than its filled with a bunch of races."
"What races?" Asked Chief as he and Courier waited for the answer.
"Shit, you name it. They got a whole bunch of races. Humans, bunch of different elf subgroups, Dwarves, and some race called the Worgen, who are particularly werewolves." Explained High Elf as she looked around for any people. She was currently speaking to the others from an alleyway so as to not attract people, but she needed to keep an eye out. She didn't want people to catch what she was hearing.
"Shit. And they all work together to better their lives? No bigotry or racism?" Asked Courier, shocked to hear a coalition with multiple races in it. The only faction in the wasteland in his world was the NCR.
The NCR allowed ghouls, which were humans that have been subjected to large amount of radiation that they lost some of their outer skin and hair, becoming essentially zombies in appearance, in their ranks as well as the military. Despite that though, the ghouls were subject to much bigotry from their human counterparts because of how they looked and the fact that they might go feral, which many ghouls have, unfortunately, became when exposed to more radiation to the point that they lost their higher thought processes, turning them into animals.
There were also super mutants, humans subjected to FEV, some sort of man-made liquid that turned people into super mutants and other abominations. The NCR hated super mutants because, according to a super mutant he encounter name Marcus, their original home town, Shady Sands, was threatened by super mutants when they were an organized force under the command of someone called the Master.
Though the Master was gone, NCR citizens still hated super mutants, largely due to continued attacks on ranches and towns from super mutants that have devolved into raiders once the Master was gone.
Marcus, seeing the hatred NCR had on super mutants, established a, somewhat, peaceful community for super mutants called Jacobstown in the Mojave wasteland. The town was far away enough from NCR towns and interests, that NCR, upon learning about the community's location, allowed them to stay on the grounds that they don't interfere with their operations or attack NCR citizens.
In recent years, however, with the Courier's help, the super mutants of Jacobstown had begun to trade and work with the NCR. Eventually, whether it was greed for more territory or a genuine want to help the mutants, the NCR had Jacobstown, with the blessing of Marcus, become a town under NCR protection.
Some mutants, like the Nightkin Keene, despised this and tried to dissuade Marcus from doing this, but Marcus's word as final. So, reluctantly, Keene convinced his fellow Nightkin to trust Marcus and though Keene hates humans, he nonetheless trusts Marcus on this, especially after Courier and Marcus helped find a cure for the schizophrenia that plagues his people. So, quite surprisingly, things are going well, despite the bigotry the mutants get from some merchants and NCR citizens they meet when they go to trade with towns such as Westside or Freeside.
So to hear that a coalition had so many races together without bigotry was something that the Courier was suspicious of.
For his part, however, Chief was mildly surprised, even then, it was the fact that humans were in an alliance with other races.
The Covenant were a coalition of different races, ranging from the Sangheili to the Grunts and Jackals. And though the Covenant is no more, disbanded after the war, the Sangheili, after being betrayed by the San'Shyuum, have taken the Grunts, Hunters, and some Jackals to form a new coalition, one that worked with humans that they used to fight.
And though tensions were high on both sides, they nonetheless fought against the Covenant in the waning days of the war, earning begrudging respect on one another.
Though John didn't know what happened after he went missing, he hoped both sides didn't go and restart the war. Much as he was a soldier and was willing to fight humanity's enemies, there was no need to fight anymore.
The Covenant was gone and now they had to focus on rebuilding. To have another war was just impractical for them now.
To hear that humans were working alongside other races, even ones' that looked humanoid was a bit surprising to the spartan. Moving on, he focused on what High Elf Archer was saying.
"Well, they have the occasional racist here and there, but all in all, I say they don't have to worry about that kind of stuff." Said High Elf Archer. "Most of the racism and bigotry is aimed at something else, though."
"What do you mean?" Asked Chief. Sighing, High Elf Archer explained.
"Well, apparently there's another coalition called the Horde. Its also made up of various races." Upon hearing that, Courier and Chief looked at each other, concerned.
"What's their composition?" Asked Chief.
"Well, according to these people, Blood Elves, Orcs, Trolls, and undead zombies. I know I'm missing some others. It sounds like there more of these races, but I'm that's all I got."
"Are they at war?" Asked Courier, worried that they might have stumbled on a war between two super powers with multiple races on each side.
"I think so." Said High Elf. "I overheard some soldiers talking about using some big highway to transports soldiers and supplies to various locations where the Alliance and Horde are fighting over land as well as using Theramore as a staging ground against the Horde. That's all I got on that too. Should I leave?" Courier looked at Chief, who nodded.
"Yeah, that should be enough for now. Get back to the ship, we're leaving." Said Chief, needing to make a plan now with this information at hand.
"You got it, just give me…" She was then interrupted when someone yelled out.
"What are you doing!?" Demanded a female voice.
"Hey! Get your hands off of me!" Yelled High Elf Archer as the commlink went dead.
"Crap, we got to save her!" Yelled Courier as he switched his armor for a black and white stealth suit. He then brought out three stealth boys and gave them to Chief. "Let's go!" Nodding, Chief followed Courier as they rushed out to save their teammate.
Meanwhile
"Let go of me!" Yelled High Elf Archer as she was being dragged by two soldiers, elves by the looks of them. Gritting her teeth, she flayed her legs around as she tried to get free. To her annoyance, it didn't work and the two elves just tightened their grip on her.
As the two elves were escorting High Elf Archer, they wondered how in the hell this girl was an elf. With how she was acting, she was like a human teenager than an elf. Eventually, the two found their destination in the form of their commanding officer, who was patiently waiting for them along with the leader of Theramore. Once there, the dropped the elf, who glared at the two elves while dusting herself.
"We found the anomaly, lady Windrunner." Said one of the elves as he looked at High Elf Archer in disgust, no doubt considering her a disgrace.
"Very good, leave us." Said the Windrunner. With that the two elves left, leaving High Elf Archer in the company of this Windrunner lady and the leader of Theramore, Jaina Proudmoore. Eyeing the green-haired elf with suspicion and some curiosity, Windrunner spoke.
"My men have been telling me that you've been asking some peculiar questions, little elf. May I ask why someone as young as yourself is asking such questions? Questions that you should know about?" Asked Windrunner as she looked at High Elf Archer, who glared back.
"Why? I'm not allowed to ask such questions?" Demanded High Elf Archer as she looked at Windrunner.
She was quite old, probably the same age as her sister. The woman had silver hair and green eyes. She had a toned figure that most elven ranger had, so High Elf Archer assumed that she was a skilled huntress of sorts. That meant that High Elf Archer would have to be cautious around this one if a fight happened. She may be a skilled fighter, but she could never beat an experienced elven ranger in single combat. She just wasn't experienced enough to do so. Plus, there was the human mage with her.
The blond woman was tall, almost as tall as Windrunner, and had blue eyes. In her hands was a staff, indicating she was a mage of sorts. Behind those eyes, were stress and frustration, but it wasn't directed at High Elf Archer. No, the elf had a sneaking feeling that it was directed at this Horde.
Feeling the hostility, the mage spoke up.
"You're allowed to ask such questions, of course." Said the mage, in a calming voice in an attempt to lessen the tension that was occurring between the three women. "It's just that my companion is simply concerned with the safety of Theramore." Upon hearing that, Windrunner looked at the mage in annoyance.
"I have every right to be concerned, Jaina. Theramore is one of the few places the Alliance has a foothold in Kalimdor. With Garrosh going on a destructive rampage, we need to fortify our position in Kalimdor before he escalates the tensions between the Horde and Alliance further. And because Theramore is one of the few places that the Alliance controls, it stands to reason that Garrosh would send spies to evaluate our defenses." Upon hearing that, High Elf Archer glared at Windrunner.
"You think, I'm a spy for the Horde! Over asking simple questions?" Asked High Elf Archer glaring with anger. Windrunner returned the glare.
"I do. And if I were in charge, you would be locked in the brig and under interrogation." Said Windrunner. The two elves then glared at each other for a couple of minutes before Jaina stepped in.
"Fortunately for us, you're not in charge, Vereesa." Said Jaina, outraged with what her friend. "From what your men told us, this elf was merely asking of the situation between the Horde and the Alliance and what each faction represents. She also, oddly admittedly, asked where she was. Although all odd questions, they are all academic and have no significant military gains. Isn't that right, child?" Pouted that she was called a child, High Elf Archer nodded. "Good, though I would ask that I place a detection spell over you so that my friend is appeased. Will that be fine?" Pouting again, High Elf Archer nodded.
"As long as it would get the old prune to get off my back." Said High Elf Archer. Vereesa narrowed her eyes at the insult, but Jaina ignored it.
"Very well. This will only take a moment." With that, Jaina casted a detection spell, designed to detect if one is lying or not, on High Elf Archer. Upon casting it, she determined that the elf was telling the truth. "She isn't a spy for the Horde, Vereesa. Satisfied?" Upon hearing that declaration, Vereesa nodded.
"I am." She then looked at High Elf Archer. "My…apologies. I should not have ordered my men to forcibly take you away." Upon hearing the apology and sensing the truth, High Elf Archer sighed.
"Well that's a fair apology. Next time don't forcibly take people against their will. Sheesh." With that, High Elf Archer was about to leave when Jaina spoke.
"My apologies, elf, but can you tell me your name? As well, can you explain to us why someone as young as yourself is all alone here?" Biting her lip, High Elf Archer.
"My name is Jade Farstrider." Said High Elf Archer with confidence so as to not draw suspicion. Her fake name got a raised eyebrow from Windrunner, who narrowed her eyes. Hiding her nervousness at being found out, High Elf Archer answered the next question.
"I'm on an errand for my group. They thought that I was the best suited for this role so, while they stayed behind to tend to our transportation, I went to get supplies for the road." It wasn't a total lie. They did think, upon finding out the races of Theramore, that she was the best for infiltrating the place and getting information. The armor of Chief and Courier would have had them sticking out like a sore thumb and they didn't have any native clothes to disguise them with. So, with her outfit, they calculated she was the best choice to get in and get out without any complications.
Plus, Chief, Courier, and Cortana were tending to their transport while she went to Theramore. So, if Jaina does another detection spell, she wouldn't be caught lying.
Humming at that, Jaina tilted her head as she spoke.
"They sent you, despite you being so young? Are they incapable of coming here? Are they Orcs and Trolls? Asked Jaina. High Elf just shook her head.
"Nope, they're human. They're just more gifted in terms of fixing things than me. So, while they fixed our transport, I go and shop. Nothing else." Frowning, Jaina casted another detection spell. Upon finding out that she was telling the truth, Jaina nodded her head.
"If that is the case, then should I sent aid to your friends? We certainly have some people that can help." Upon hearing that, High Elf shook her head.
"No. No. It isn't something that you need to worry about, Miss Jaina. We can handle ourselves." With that, High Elf Archer looked around. "So, if that is all, can I go now? My friends might start getting worried with how long I'm taking." Upon hearing that, Jaina nodded.
"Of course, once again, I'm sorry for taking you away on such short notice." Said Jaina. "Have a safe travel." Nodding her head, she bowed respectfully at Jaina before taking off. As she did, she turned around and stuck her tongue out to Vereesa, who narrowed her eyes at the Elf. Once she was gone, Vereesa turned to Jaina.
"Letting her go was a mistake, Jaina. Her friends could be Horde spies without her knowledge. We should have them all rounded up and interrogated." Jaina sighed at that.
Though she could understand the suspicion and hatred that Vereesa, and all high elves for that matter, had for the Horde, their race being nearly driven to extinction by two members of the Horde, it was truly taxing when they started arresting people simply because they thought they were Horde or Horde spies.
While Vereesa didn't have as much hatred for the Horde as other high elves, she still hated them a good deal. The Orcs had killed most of her extended family, including her parents and brother. That disaster caused her older sister, Alleria Windrunner, to go to the Orc home world of Draenor for vengeance. She and her husband, Turalyon, along with the Alliance expedition sent to Draenor disappeared, never to be seen again.
As if that wasn't enough, she lost her other sister, Sylvanas Windrunner, to Arthas Menethil, a former hero to the Alliance and friend to Jaina that had been turned into a death knight and then later became the Lich King, ruler of the Scourge, a faction of undead. And to make that loss worse, Arthas killed most of the high Elf race and turned Sylvanas into a banshee, using her as a weapon against her own people.
Though Sylvanas rebelled and formed her own faction of undead, called the Forsaken, she didn't return to the Alliance, largely because of fear and hatred of all undead, and instead to the Horde, something that hurt Vereesa, no matter how much she tried to deny it.
While it was all tragic, and Jaina felt for Vereesa, she will not tolerate Vereesa arresting people on the whim, even if they're at war with the Horde right now.
"Unless Garrosh had a hidden soft spot for humans, I doubt that her companions are Horde spies." Said Jaina, glaring at Vereesa. "So, please, stop being so paranoid and let this matter go. I can vouch for them. So unless you don't trust me, then go ahead and arrest them." Sighing, Vereesa stood down, much to Jaina's relief.
"Now that you're past this, what do you have to report?" It wasn't common for Silver Covenant, the military faction of the Kirin Tor, a group of some of the most powerful mages on Azeroth, in charge of the floating city of Dalaran, much less the leader of the Silver Covenant.
"It must be something dire." Thought Jaina as she looked at Vereesa, who donned a worried look.
"There's been confirmed reports of Horde movement and build up Northwatch Hold. The Kirin Tor and SI:7 believe that it's a prelude to an assault on Theramore itself." Upon hearing that, Jaina widened her eyes in horror. She couldn't believe that the Horde would attack Theramore itself. But then again, its leader was far different from the one that she used to work with.
The horde, during her younger years, had been different. It was still somewhat barbaric, but still an honorable coalition that kept its word on deals it made. Something that its leader at the time, an Orc by the name of Thrall, saw to. And for a time, despite hatred from both factions, things were good. That is until Thrall left to attend a disaster that had befallen on every being on Azeroth. In his place, he appointed Garrosh Hellscream as Warchief until he returned.
Garrosh, for all intents and purposes, was a hothead. He had all the ferocity of an Orc and temper of one, but he didn't have Thrall's patients and wisdom. He believed in taking what his people need, even if he had to hurt others to get them.
From the few times she met Garrosh, the Orc was impatient, arrogant, and more than willing to wage war on the Alliance if it meant a good future for the Orcs and only the Orcs. So, needless to say, Jaina had a bad feeling when Thrall left Garrosh in charge. And now it seemed she was right as Garrosh was intent on waging war on the Alliance for resource on Kalimdor.
Its gotten so bad that King Varian Wrynn, the leader of the Alliance, is building up Alliance forces on the Eastern Kingdoms in anticipation for an all-out war with the Horde, which seems all the more likely with each passing day.
Although Jaina believed that diplomacy can still prevail, she knew that she had to place the defense of her people ahead of her dream of peace, especially if Garrosh intends on attacking her home.
With a sigh, she looked at Vereesa with determined eyes.
"If Garrosh intends to attack Theramore, he will get more than a fight." Said Jaina. "If its not too much to ask, may I request reinforcement from Kirin Tor should Garrosh intends on attacking Theramore." Vereesa nodded her head at that.
"Of course, you can count on the Silver Covenant in being there to defend Theramore should those Horde brutes intend on attacking Theramore." Nodding gratefully, Jaina wondered on who that Elf was and why she looked so different than other elves.
Her appearance was far too young to be an adult. Jaina wasn't an expert on Elf biology, but she should be a young teen for an elf, yet the way that Jade carried herself created a confusing aura that she was much older than Jaina suspected. That and her green hair and eyes were a mystery to her.
As far as Jaina knew, only Blood elves had green eyes, but this Jade's was more lighter then their own, which were a result of their magic. This Jade, however, seemed to have natural green eyes and hair as Jaina didn't sense any magical prowess from the elf. Humming, she wondered who this Elf was and what her group was as well.
Later
Meanwhile
Goblin transport
"Well that was a waste of some stealth boys." Said Courier as he and Chief got on the Goblin with High Elf Archer. "I hope you can make more Cortana because we may need them."
"Don't worry. Ikit and I will get right on it. We should have a working prototype in about several weeks. That is if you guys can leave us alone to work." Courier sighed as he looked at Chief who was putting his gun on his back. "So, how was the Stealth boy, Chief?"
"Fine. We'll need to upgrade the duration of each device though. The stealth field went away too soon." Said Chief, recalling a close call he had with an elf when his stealth boy wore off. He barely had enough time to use another one when the elf turned to his direction.
"Well, to be fair, they're hundred of years old. The power supply must have eroded with time." Chief gave a grunt of acknowledgement before looking at High Elf Archer, who took a seat away from the two.
"So, what's the plan?" Asked High Elf Archer. She didn't know about the rest of her group, but she didn't intend on joining either Alliance or Horde. She was fine with killing those that deserve it, but she was a bit reluctant to kill other Elves and both sides had some on their side.
"Well, I don't know about Ikit, Jack, or Chief, but I ain't siding with either side." Said Courier. He was fine with helping the innocent and weak, but he wasn't going to fight for either side, especially since they don't have much information on either. High Elf Archer nodded in agreement before the two looked at Chief, who nodded upon seeing their stares.
"We'll stay out of their conflict unless either side forces our hand. For now though, we should train. We need to coordinate with each other if a battle falls upon us. That means we need to run drills fighting in pairs, alone, and in a group. We also need to know each other's strengths and weakness and the best way to do that is by training. So once we get back, we're going to run drills." Upon hearing that, Courier groaned. That would be fun.
Few weeks later
Island
"Come on, Courier and High Elf! You guys could do better!" Yelled Jack as he ran along the length of a rock formation. It was uneven ground, but Jack was traversing the wall like a pro. As he neared the end of the rock wall, he jumped off and landed in BT's waiting hand, who then placed Jack into the Titan's cockpit. Once inside, Jack piloted the Titan to the finish line, where Chief and Ikit were waiting. As he neared the finish line, Jack suddenly ejected out of the cockpit and used his jump pack to close the distance between his Titan and the finish line. He then landed near Chief and Ikit.
"That's it." Said Cortana before signaling the race was over with an IMC drone outfitted with speakers.
"God damnit!" Yelled High Elf Archer as she landed on top of BT. "It's not fair! Jack has a giant robot with him and all we got are ourselves!"
"I second that." Said Courier as he came into view, out of breath. He had to run twenty miles to get here and was exhausted. He could use a lot of water right now.
"You did say to use every advantage you have." Said Cortana, appearing in another IMC drone, this one being outfitted with a video screen, allowing everyone to see the AI. "That includes BT as he's a standard piece of equipment for Titan pilots. Isn't that right, Jack?" The pilot nodded as he gave BT a thumbs up, something the AI followed with his own.
"Well, next time you won't have your big dumb robot, Jack." Said High Elf Archer as she glared at the pilot, who shrugged. "Next time, I'm going to win and you'll be in my dust."
"Whatever you say." Said Jack as he looked at Ikit, who grinned at seeing the whiny Elf being whiny.
"Alright, with that over with, we need to do another combat drill. Take a ten minute break. After that, meet me in the simulators. We're going to practice team coordination again." With that, Chief left with Ikit in tow.
Now having a break, Courier collapsed at the ground, asking the Jack or High Elf Archer to get him some water. Rolling her eyes, High Elf Archer went to get some water from a nearby IMC crate filled with it. After getting a handful, she dropped them all near Courier, who greedily drank several of.
"You need to work on your endurance man." Said Jack as he watched the Courier drink from several water bottles. If this man couldn't traverse twenty miles without collapsing, then he had no place as a pilot. Then again, the reason Jack could do it was because of some gene therapy that enabled him to run such miles without getting tired.
"F you, man." Said Courier as he drank his last bottle. Once done, he got up and looked at the two remaining organic companions. "Moving on, you think our teamwork needs some more work? I mean we did pretty well the last time in that virtual world."
For the past few weeks, Master Chief had been drilling them nonstop. Even Ikit was put into it, much to the annoyance of the rat as he wanted to focus on his research on…well everything. The spartan had been training them to work with each other, putting them in different pairs each time, trying have everyone learn of each other's strengths and weakness so that when the times comes to fight, they could learn what to rely on the others to do and what not to rely on them to do. He also had them trained in a virtual reality simulator put up by the IMC to train their soldiers.
At first, they did poorly. High Elf Archer constantly got killed when an enemy titan came and fired at her or crushed her under foot. Same thing with Ikit, though the rat fared a bit better.
Courier, Chief, and ED-E did better, but without much knowledge on the enemy, they got defeated when a huge wave of Titans showed up.
Jack, knowing what was in the simulator, did the best and was the only one to survive the first team-up of the group.
After that, however, the five steadily got better with team coordination and fighting with each other. Though Ikit hated the elf and relying on others, thinking they'll backstab him, he did his best to help the others as, much to the rat's reluctance, he needed them to survive.
They kept practicing and practicing until they got their teamwork to work just enough for them to survive a wave of IMC titans and other robotic soldiers. They lost the next wave after that, but they put up a good fight. Still, Chief kept drilling them, saying that they needed to have their skills sharp and up at all times. High Elf disagreed and hated the fact that Chief was ordering them around like soldiers but since Chief was in charge, she reluctantly followed orders.
Ikit also hated the drills as it took him away from building precious Skaven vehicles for himself as well as reverse engineering IMC, UNSC, and Enclave technology. When he brought it up to Chief, the human, much to Ikit's surprise, gave him a compromise.
In exchange for drilling with them, he'll allow him to test his new Skaven weapons and vehicles on IMC drones, ones recently made by Cortana or old junk robots that were no longer useable.
Eager to test his weapons and contraptions, Ikit agreed and spent much for his free time testing his new Ratling gun, and Warpfire thrower, both improved with designs inspired by the technologies of the UNSC, Enclave, and IMC, at those stupid machines. What he got excited him and he soon began thinking of new ways to improve his designs as well as making some vehicles inspired by the vehicles he saw, particularly the UNSC scorpion tank.
Courier and Jack didn't mind, even with Courier complaining about it. They came from harsh worlds and involved in several wars. Some harsh training was nothing to what they had to deal with on a daily basis.
"Like our boss said, we need to train again, even if we're doing fine." Said High Elf Archer, reluctant to get into that virtual world again. Even though she was in awe at it, she was unnerved with how a world can be so perfectly replicated by technology. The fact that the others were so unphased by it, aside from Ikit, who actually drooled in his virtual reality pod when he learned of virtual reality tech, made High Elf realize just how far beyond these people were to her own world.
"He's right, though." Said Jack. "With what you've been telling us, the Horde and Alliance looked like they're about to thrown down with each other. We need to keep our skills sharp, even if the sims are tuned against what either side has." High Elf Archer reluctantly nodded.
When she wasn't training with the others, the elf would go to Theramore and keep an eye on the place while also getting information from travelers and soldiers stationed there. Unfortunately the news she got was always bad.
It seems the Horde was getting even more and more aggressive, attacking anyone remotely aligned with the Alliance, even if it meant killing their own. Just a week ago, they destroyed a grove filled with peaceful druids. Wanting to confirm this, High Elf Archer and Chief took a Goblin dropship to verify this. Under the cover of night, they discovered the location where for grove was, only to see Horde forces mining the location for any resources it had as well as establishing a base. Needless to say, it didn't give them much love for the Horde.
Still, as they weren't affiliated with either side nor did any of them want to, the group decided to leave the Horde alone, which Cortana, and BT said had been the right choice. They predicted that the Horde would assume the Alliance was the result of the loss of their outpost and mining operation and would have attacked the Alliance in retaliation, thus sparking a war. Even though they all knew that war would happen between the two faction unless a miracle happened, they refused to be the spark to ignite it. So, to the reluctance of High Elf Archer, who wanted to avenge the innocent, they left the Horde alone and built up their strength.
And news kept getting worse. Through infiltration of several high-ranking Theramore officials, High Elf Archer determined that skirmishes between Alliance soldiers and Horde warriors were increasing in frequency every day. And they were encroaching on Theramore with each pashing day. She hadn't been there for four days, due to Chief increasing their drills, but High Elf Archer just knew in her heart that it was getting worse.
"Yeah, and I'm telling you guys." Said Courier, looking at the two. "We're going to be dragged into this, no matter how much we want to avoid this conflict." Sighing, Jack nodded his head in agreement. He was about to tell everyone to pack up and meet Chief and Ikit at the IMC base when they all saw a flash occurring in their eyes. Stunned, they all looked around until they saw a massive purple blast occur in the horizon. In the direction of Theramore.
"What the hell!" Yelled Courier as he instantly got up, shocked at what he saw.
"What just happened?" Asked High Elf Archer as she put her hands to her mouth, horror filling her. Jack, however, narrowed his eyes before he placed his helmet. A bad feeling was filling up in him and he intended to correct that.
"We need to meet up with Chief and Ikit now!" Yelled Jack before running to find Chief and Ikit with the other two following soon after. After a few minutes, they found Chief and Ikit, their weapons in tow and going to the launch bay, which was filled with IMC Goblin fighters, IMC phantom fighters, IMC Widow titan carriers and UNSC pelicans. Upon seeing them, Chief looked at the three.
"You saw?" Asked Chief, referring to the exploding purple dome that occurred in the direction of Theramore. Upon seeing them nod, Chief tilted his head toward the armory. "Then get what weapons you want. We're going to investigate." With that, the three went to the armory to get what equipment they need. As they ran, they had a feeling that their decision to fight had just been forced on them.
Several hours later
Pelican
"Alright, team, check your weapons and equipment. We don't know what happened or if there are hostiles in the area. Before we disembark, Cortana will send a drone to scan the area for any hazardous material. If its clear then, we all disembark and sweep for survivors. And if there's hostiles, eliminate them. It doesn't matter if they're Horde or Alliance. You're free to fire back if they attack first." Ikit grumbled at that, but didn't say much. He just continued to tinker with the new Doomflayer he made.
The large, if a bit comical, vehicle was ridiculous to look at. It was basically a large wheel on front with a large arced piece of metal that provided some form of seat for the rat so that Ikit could steer the big wheel, which had several large blades, sharpened to shred flesh and limbs from bodies, no matter how big the victim war.
When the others saw it, they looked at it with incredulous at how impractical and goofy it looked. Those looked changed when Ikit drove the Doomflayer at several IMC spectres and tore them to shreds, showcasing the power of the Doomflayer. Ikit got a kick when he saw the look of horror from High Elf Archer, no doubt she was thinking what would happen if a man-thing or elf-thing was the victim of his Doomflayer.
Good thing that she wasn't on the Pelican. She was on the Goblin with the other two.
"You got it Chief." Said Courier as he radioed in from the Goblin transport he was in. "You sure, we need to bring BT, though? Seems overkill."
"Trust me, better to be overkill now than regret not doing so later." Said Jack as he drove the Goblin. High Elf Archer, meanwhile, prayed that nothing bad happened at Theramore.
Even though she didn't know many people from Theramore, she meet and got to known some people from Theramore. She also got to know the personality of Jaina Proudmoore and couldn't help but respect her for it.
Despite it being an unpopular opinion, she believed that peace between the Alliance and Horde is possible and she was willing to do anything for peace, even if it harmed her reputation. That was something that High Elf Archer could respect. She also got to know that little Gnome, a race that High Elf Archer mistakenly thought as just Dwarves, called Kinndy, who was an apprentice to Jaina.
She was just so adorable and cute. High Elf Archer hoped that both women were fine and no harm came to them.
"Please be safe." Thought High Elf Archer as Cortana sent the drone to scan the area so that they could determine if its safe for them to proceed. After a few minutes, she confirmed that it was safe and told them to proceed, though she advised them to be careful as Horde forces were approaching Theramore. Whether to sack or to investigate she wasn't sure.
With that, the two transports began making their way to Theramore, though cautiously as they didn't want to attract the Horde's attention. Eventually, they approached a small landing location that wasn't filled with Horde. It was a fair distance from Theramore, but its distance meant their ships couldn't be easily detected by Horde scouts. Upon landing, Chief ordered everyone to get out and get on the Warthog, Doomflayer, or BT.
Disconnecting the Warthog from the Pelican, Master Chief took the driver's seat while High Elf Archer took the shotgun seat with ED-E on her lap. Courier, liking the big coil gun on the back, got on and manned the big gun. With Ikit on his Doomflayer, and Jack in BT, Chief ordered the team to move forward to Theramore.
"Alright, move out!" With that, the group ventured to Theramore.
Sneak peak
Warning: Subject to change
Dalaran
Vereesa grunted as she looked at the man that was responsible for freeing the Sunreavers from their captivity. As the remaining traitors escaped via some sort of flying contraptions, guarded by this stranger's men, including that traitorous Jade Farstrider, Vereesa glared at him with all that she had. If only council of six weren't busy at Stormwind, talking with King Varian about Garrosh and what to do. If they're best mages were here, they could have stop these Horde sympathizers from freeing the Sunreavers. Instead, most of their soldiers were dead, killed by their strange, but deadly technology. And though she couldn't see more, she had a feeling they had more to offer.
As she continued to glare at Chief, she heard the sounds of struggling children. Freezing at the sounds of children, Vereesa looked to see, to her horror, her own children being carried by a overgrown rat with metal armor.
Growling, the rat ignored the half-elves as he carried them on his back. Along with the children was a bag of something, most likely stolen items from Dalaran. Horry filled her as the rat got on a transport filled with other bags and Sunreavers. As soon as he was on, the transport left, taking her children away from this.
Upon seeing this, Vereesa glared at the man in green armor again, hatred and rage in her eyes. With a yell, she got up and clashed at the man with her hidden dagger. Having saw this before she even made it, the man in green armor brought out a strange hilt and pressed a button. Then, before Vereesa's eyes, the hilt formed a strange sword of light.
The sword was two-pronged and had an opening in the middle, where the middle of the hilt was. Along the sides of hilt, the blades of the sword reached out and passed the hilts, encompassing the man's hand and wrist. Seeing, to her horror, her arm was fast approaching the blade, she tried to stop it, but couldn't.
She could only watch as her wrist passed through the blades and it was instantly sheared off. As it passed, Vereesa could feel the heat of the blade as it passed through her flesh. Screaming in pain, Vereesa went to her knees as she clutched her cut arm. Looking around, she saw, to her horror, her hand clutching her dagger. As the bile gathered in her throat, the man in armor deactivated his sword and grabbed her from behind. He then placed his strong arms around her throat and began chocking her, cutting off her air supply.
As she was being chocked, Vereesa tried to fight back, but couldn't tear the man away from her throat. His grip was simply too strong. Eventually, she lost the fight to stay conscious. As she was about to lose consciousness, she thought of one thing. Well two things.
"Giramar. Galadin." Thought Vereesa before she lost consciousness. Once she was knocked out, the man in green armor gently laid her on the ground before taking off. Just before he did, he looked at Vereesa and spoke.
"I'm sorry." With that, the man ran towards the last transport and fled with the remaining Sunreavers and his team.
So yeah, I wanted to do a minor sneak peek cause I felt like it. If you guys want more of these, I'll do them.
And before anyone asks, Vereesa is still up for a pairing between Master Chief and Jack. Though considering that Chief, at least for now, is responsible for…well cutting off one of her hands and then chocking her, that would make for an awkward relationship. Especially, when Alleria comes back. That would also be awkward.
So what do you guys think and how should I get Thalyssra into this. I know that it would be sometime, years actually, before Suramar is introduced in Legion, which is too long. Too long for me. So I was thinking of adding the Nightborne, who are really just a way to introduce a Night-elf like race to the Horde, early by having Chief and gang to help the rebels in overthrowing Elisande. And along the way, Thalyssra would get attached to Chief or Jack. What do you guys think?
Also, anyone have a team name for them? I was thinking team Dark star or team Sigma, but I think I'll leave it to you guys. Its really something that isn't story breaking, so give me your opinions on what the team name should be.