Chapter 14

Orgrimmar

Night

A patrol of two Orcs were outside the perimeter that Garrosh had setup for the Orc city. They, along with several others, were to raise the alarm should any rebels or Alliance forces were found.

In Garrosh's mind, the rebels would ally with the Alliance to overthrow his reign. It was a disgusting action, but one that Garrosh must prepare for. Even if they didn't ally with the Alliance, an attack from either will weaken Orgrimmar's defenses enough to make it easier for the other party to attack. And so, his most capable scouts were out, keeping an eye for any rebels or Alliance scouts.

Sniffing the air, one of the Orcs snarled.

"I smell something." Said the Orc as he sniffed. "It smells like an Elf." The other Orc growled at that and readied his axe. The two went over to where the smell was coming from, which was coming from a pair of rocks. The two were about to pounce when one of their heads exploded, sending brain matter and blood all over the area. Before the other could react, a shadowy figure jumped on top of him and slit his throat with a combat knife. As the Orc choked on his blood, the shadowy figure finished him off, ending his suffering as quickly as he could.

"You okay?" Asked the figure as it cleaned its knife with its armored shoulder. The question caused a tiny elf to pop out of the rocks she was hiding in. Her green eyes looking at the figure with relief.

"Yeah." Said High Elf Archer as she went over to the figure, revealing it to be Master Chief. "Thought I was hidden well, but these Orcs got some good noses on them."

"Different to the ones in your world?" Asked Jack as he and Courier were keeping an eye on the perimeter of Orgrimmar, watching if anyone was coming over to Chief's and High Elf's position.

"Yup." Said High Elf Archer as she watched Chief begin to hide the bodies and blood as best as he can. "They're quite dumb and easy to deceive. Kind of like Goblins in that regard. They're also not green. Or this big and tall."

"Huh, well that's odd." Said Jack. "Usually they are. Might have to tell me about them later."

"If we all survive, I'll tell everything that's different of this world to mine." Said High Elf as Chief finished.

"Keep the chatter to a minimum." Scolded Chief. "We still have work to do." With that done, Chief contacted Ikit. "Ikit, you done with the explosives. And are they not anywhere near civilians?"

"Yes-yes, green one." Said Ikit as he snickered about how easy it was for him to plant explosives at all of the Horde's important defensive emplacements. "When invasion come, big explosion will scatter-break Horde forces. Make them easy targets for fast birds! Also, heard stupid green-things talking about some massive machine-contraption made by goblins! Say very dangerous! Need to take-take for our needs."

"You mean your needs." Said Courier as he looked at some Orcs going to the beaches, obviously checking out for some enemy ships. "You want it to advance your own contraptions."

"Yes yes! Making more deadlier machines is dream for all Skaven!" Said Ikit, running to his own location in the beach, ready to make some big fireworks. "Get me contraption and I'll turn it against Horde!"

"Hmm…" Said High Elf as she thought of this. "We'll do it if you promise to only deploy it on bad people, like pirates." Ikit growled at that, wanting to use it as soon as it was finished, but relented. "Well, big guy, want to make the rat happy?" Chief just nodded.

"If this contraption is operational, we need to take it out anyway." Said Chief. "Ikit, try to find it and take it for yourself. I'm coming over to help you kill anyone that'll try to take it from you." Ikit smiled menacingly at that.

"I like-like you, man-thing." Said Ikit before turning around and going back to Orgrimmar, eager to get this flying contraption that the Orcs were blabbering about.

"As for the rest of us." Said Chief. "Get into position. Dawn is coming in a few hours and we need to make the most of it." He then looked at High Elf Archer. "Ready to end a war?" High Elf nodded.

"Let's take down a mad tyrant." Said High Elf as she drew her bow.

Few hours later

Varian

"Are the men ready, Jaina?" Asked Varian as he looked at Jaina, who was standing to his left with Vereesa Windrunner, clad in brown and green armor.

"As ready as they'll ever be." Said Jaina. "I just hope this decision to ally with the rebels won't backfire on us." Varian, though he won't say it, hoped so as well.

As per the plan they managed to agree on, after so many others that failed to have leaders of both factions reach an accord due to mostly hatred, the Horde will launch an attack on Orgrimmar from both land and sea from hidden passageways that only they knew, while the Alliance will launch an amphibious assault on the other side of Orgrimmar, sandwiching the city with their combined forces.

A risky gamble as, if the rebels were just faking their allegiance, then the Horde will have prepared for the assault and it'll make their siege that much harder. While Varian was confident that they can stake anything the Horde can throw at them, the losses will be staggering.

"If they do, they'll regret it." Said Varian before turning to Genn Greymane, the newest addition to the Alliance. "Are your Worgen ready for a fight?" Genn, in his wolf form, just growled.

"Just let us at them, Varian. I ensure you, we'll make the Horde pay for all that they've done." Said Genn, eager to get revenge on the Horde for what they did to his homeland, especially that witch that killed his son, Sylvanas Windrunner. To his rage, Sylvanas was part of the rebel faction and he was forbidden from attacking her, so much so that they had to remove him from any meeting with the Horde rebels in fear that he'll try to attack Sylvanas, which he almost did when he spotted the banshee queen.

She didn't recognize him nor see him, but Genn would have charged at her and ripped her throat out if it wasn't for Varian's son, Anduin, and Stormwind's spymaster keeping him at bay.

Assured, Varian went back to looking at Orgrimmar. The assault would begin once some massive explosive happened at Orgrimmar. That was what Lor'themar was adamant on, much to the chagrin of his other Horde leaders. After the minutes passed, Varian chaffed along with Genn.

"Ragh! What is taking so long?!" Demanded Genn, silently wondering if the Horde betrayed them. Jaina just spoke.

"I knew this was a trap Varian! We need to abort now! Before its too late." Said Jaina. Before Varian could even look at her, a sudden flash occurred before their eyes and, not even a moment after, a massive green plume shot up to the sky, right where the Alliance landing point was supposed to be. Not too long after that, secondary explosions also went off, taking out key defensive emplacements on the beach and on Orgrimmar's great metal walls, sending Orcs flying in the air.

Shocked at this display, Varian nonetheless recovered and looked at his other friends, seeing they were just as shocked as he was. Once they recovered, Varian ordered them to being the assault.

"What are you all waiting for! Begin that assault!" Yelled Varian. Hearing the order, Jaina immediately teleported herself and Vereesa to their ship and Genn began barking orders to the crew. Soon, the entire Alliance fleet was pressing forward to Orgrimmar, where they will take Garrosh and bring him to justice.

Lor'themar

"Its about time they did it." Said Sylvanas, hiding how impressed she was at the amount of destruction such a small team did. When Lor'themar told the other Horde leaders how small the advance team was, they couldn't believe that he was putting the hopes of the invasion on such a small team of strangers. Now, Sylvanas could see those hopes weren't in vain.

"Hmm…perhaps I should convert them to undead. They would be valuable pawns indeed." Thought Sylvanas as Lor'themar looked at her.

"Its time for our part to commence. I hope your Forsaken are ready." Said Lor'themar. Sylvanas just scoffed.

"Believe me Lor'themar, we're always ready to spill the blood of fools." Said Sylvanas before departing to ready her personal guard. Lor'themar, always chilled to the bone when around Sylvanas, was relieved to see her gone. He then turned to Liadrin and Aethas, who were standing by for orders.

"Prepare for the assault. It's time we depose a madman." Said Lor'themar.

Ikit and Chief

"About time he did it. What took so long Ikit?" Asked Jack as he and Courier watched the explosions go off.

"He had the safety on." Said Chief simply as he and Ikit were behind a pillar watching some goblins working on some big metal scorpion-like contraption along with some mechs. From the looks of it, they were rushing to get them working. Probably because of the explosions. "What do you want?"

"Big bug." Said Ikit with a smile. With a yell, he charged at the goblins, firing his warp fire thrower at them, melting the ones that were closets to the big flying contraption. As the other Goblins were in shock at this, Chief sprang out and fired his silenced battle rifle at them, taking them out with a single shot in order to save ammo. Once they were all gone, Ikit began to inspect the giant contraption.

"Hmm…so shiny. So deadly. So, mine." Said Ikit as he eyed the contraption with greedy eyes.

"You're going to pilot it?" Asked Chief as he eyed their perimeter.

"Yes-yes!" Yelled Ikit as he wandered around the contraption, trying to find how to get in. Eventually he found it and began to get in the contraption. "Okay, now to find controls. Hmm…Oh!" Ikit then found a big red button and pressed. As soon as he did, the scorpion contraption came to life and began to take off. "Its working! *Crazy laughter*" The contraption then crashed through a wall and went outside, to the bewilderment of some Horde soldiers. Shaking his head, Chief brought out some grenades and began walking towards the Horde mechs.

Jack

Several minutes later

"Got one!" Yelled Jack as he snipped an Orc armored with black armor.

"Got two." Said Courier as he blew the brains out of two Orc warriors, one who seemed to be a leader, based on how he tried to rally others around him. "Explosions really rattled them. They're scrambling to respond quickly enough."

"Might be too late." Said Jack as he saw Horde rebels coming inland, their flags indicating they were with Vol'jin. "Got to hurry up before the rebels mingle with Garrosh's loyalists. There are, after all, Orcs that hate Garrosh." Courier nodded before the two began to snipe as many Orcs' loyal to Garosh as possible before the rebels clash with them. This lasted for about five minutes before they had to stop, they could no longer figure out who was either side.

"They couldn't have better ways to identify each other?" Asked Courier as he got up. He then turned to Jack. "I'll try to help the Horde by trying to snipe high value targets. You go help out the Alliance. Remind them that we're on the same side."

"Got it." Said Jack. "What about High Elf Archer?"

"She's running to go meet up with the Alliance. Now go." Said Courier. Before Jack could do so, however, they heard a massive explosion and before they knew it a large giant metal scorpion appeared from the wall of Orgrimmar and began wrecking havoc on Garrosh's forces.

"What in the god damn." Said Jack. Before Courier could speak, they heard over the radio Ikit, laughing like a mad rat.

"Hahaha! Flee-flee stupid green-things! Fear the wrath of Ikit Claw!" Yelled Ikit as he pushed buttons randomly, all of which somehow was causing damage to the Horde and not to the rebels. As they watched Ikit pick up an Orc with one of the scorpion's pincers, slicing him in half with them, Jack looked at Courier.

"Yeah, I'm going now." Said Jack before taking off, leaving Courier to shrug.

"Eh, I'm used to this kind of shit." Said Courier before leaving to find a better sniper point.

Alliance

Few minutes later

"Get out of my way!" Yelled Varian as he hacked and slashed any Orc that tried to attack him. His guard were at the ready, but they weren't needed. The explosions had scattered the Horde, leaving them helpless to the Alliance as they bombarded the already stunned Garrosh loyalists so they can make the landings easier.

Splitting his sword, Shalamayne, in two, separate swords, Varian slashed a group of Orcs as they charged at the Alliance high king, eager to take his head as a trophy. Ducking underneath an Orc's swing, Varian sliced the Orc's leg off before throwing one piece of his sword in another's head. He then used his other sword to slash at another Orc's throat. The final Orc tried to tackle him, but an arrow suddenly embedded into his head, killing him, just as Varian grabbed both of his swords to kill the final Orc. Raising an eyebrow, Varian looked around to see a small elf with green hair, her posture indicating she was the one that fired the arrow.

Remembering her from the meeting with the Horde envoy, Varian marched towards her, his guard behind him.

"I see you kept your side of the deal." Said Varian as he placed his two swords back into one. "You have my thanks. My landing would have been a disaster without your aid."

"Its just part of the job." Said High Elf Archer as she looked behind Varian to see Jaina and Vereesa coming towards them. "Anyway, the rebels are engaging Garrosh's forces as we speak. I don't know how they're doing, but they could use your help." Though he displeased working with the Horde again, especially against something that was their own fault, Varian nodded in agreement.

"We're offloading our siege equipment as we speak, but I can spare some men already." Said Varian. He then looked at Jaina. "Jaina, have Vereesa and her rangers be sent immediately as a vanguard along with Genn and his Worgen. The Dwarves need time to get the siege equipment ready." Jaina just nodded and looked at Vereesa, who nodded and stepped forward.

"We're at your command, Varian." Said Vereesa before looking at High Elf Archer. "Try to keep up, little elf." Going red at the comment, High Elf was about to yell at Vereesa when a Widow transport flew past them and hovered some distance away.

Opening its cargo bays, several Legion-class titans came out and landed roughly on the beach, their massive chainguns at the ready. Leading them was BT.

"Titans ready for operations, High Elf." Said BT, wielding a chaingun, looking at High Elf and the Alliance leaders, who were stunned to see such massive machines. High Elf just smirked at BT.

"Hey big guy. Ready to wreck some havoc?" Asked High Elf as BT walked over to her, towering over her by a large margin.

"Affirmative. We're ready to engage the enemy." Said BT as he pumped his chaingun for emphasis. "Is Jack here yet?"

"No idea. Last I heard, he was snipping with Courier. Though he might be coming here to meet up with you." Said High Elf. BT nodded before looking over to Vereesa Windrunner.

"You are the mother of the children we took." Said BT. Seeing that it was talking about her, Vereesa nodded. "I like to apologize again for my group. They are wonderful kids that did not deserve what happened to them. This may sound strange coming from a machine, but I have learnt much from my pilot, including the ability to feel shame for one's actions." Widening her eyes at such an apology Vereesa was at a loss of words, including Jaina. Before Vereesa could respond to that, BT suddenly stood at attention. "My pilot approaches. We must unite to maximize our effectiveness." With that, BT left them, leading the legion titans toward the front. High Elf then waved at Vereesa, who was still stunned.

"Come on, old lady." Said High Elf with a smirk. "We got a battle to win." With that, High Elf ran after BT and the titans, leaving Vereesa in the dust.

Shaking her head, Vereesa narrowed her eyes and ran after High Elf.

Raising an eyebrow at what he witnessed, Varian looked at Jaina, who was still shocked.

"Do not stand their gawking Jaina. Like the little elf said, we have a battle to win." Said Varian, going back to organize his men for a long siege.

Jack

Few minutes later

"BT, where are you!?" Yelled Jack as he ran past some Horde rebels and Garrosh loyalists clashing at each other.

"We are several hundred meters away from you, pilot. Hold on. We are on the way." Said BT as he finally arrived at the battle. Seeing people exchanging swords and magic against each other, BT raised his chaingun and fired at the Horde Orcs loyal to Garrosh. The chaingun wreaking havoc against anything it touched, turning the Orcs into bloody chucks of flesh.

"Good! Check your fire, BT! Some Orcs on our side!" Yelled Jack as he raised his R201 assault rifle and fired at some Orcs that tried to chase after him. As he was running, Jack could see both rebel and loyalists' soldiers falling. Both having different ideals on what the Horde should be. One of conquer or simple survival. It reminded Jack of the differing factions within the Militia during its earlier days.

Back during the beginning of the war with the IMC, the Militia was made up of a bunch of opposing factions. Pirates. Disgruntled colonists. Mercs. People that fought for true freedom in the frontier. The Militia didn't care, they took in anyone that hated the IMC and were willing to fight. It caused some major political problems for the Militia as factions fought each other on how to fight the IMC. They still had them, though they weren't as significant as in the past.

"Hate to admit it, but they remind me of the Militia." Thought Jack as he ran towards BT, where he could hear the sounds of chaingun fire. "Except we don't have a crazy tyrant that needs to die in the command of the entire Militia." Seeing BT's frame, Jack was about to comm him when the ground underneath him went away, sending him tumbling down a newly formed ditch.

Shaking his head, Jack looked around to see some Trolls with him. As they wondered what was going on, Jack looked up to see an Orc shaman glaring at them before several Orc warriors descended on the helpless rebels.

Yelping, Jack rolled out of the way of a massive hammer trying to cave his skull and pulled out a Wingman heavy pistol. Aiming at the Orc as he lifted his hammer, Jack fired his pistol, hitting the Orc in the head, causing brain matter to spill all over the floor.

His assailant gone, Jack looked to see the Trolls being killed by the Orcs, too disoriented to fight. Just as one Orc was about to snap the neck of a Troll, Jack fired and killed the Orc, saving the Troll. He then was about to open fire again when he saw the shaman cast a fireball at him.

Rolling out of the way, Jack got up just in time to avoid the fireball. Some embers caught in his armor, but it was nothing too serious. Aiming his pistol, Jack was about to fire when an Orc warrior slammed his fist into his stomach, sending him flying to a wall.

Puking out blood, Jack looked up to see the Orc raise his axe, eager to end his life. Before he could, an arrow embedded itself in the back of his head, and flew out the back of his head, taking an eyeball with it. Shocked, Jack looked up further, to see Vereesa Windrunner, ending the life of the Orc shaman with another arrow. Once she did, she went to the ditch, sending arrow on all the remaining Orcs, saving Jack and the remaining Trolls.

Once they were safe, Vereesa looked at Jack, twitching a bit at seeing him.

"About to be killed by a grunt, I see." Said Vereesa, disapprovingly as she held out her hand. Trying to ignore the pain in his stomach, Jack grabbed the hand and yelled out when Vereesa hoisted him back on his feet. Seeing the tight stance he had, Vereesa felt a brief flint of concern before casting it away.

"Think he injured some ribs." Said Jack as he held his gut. "Maybe broke them." Laying back down, Jack began to rummage one of his packs for some painkillers. "Don't worry about me, I got something for the pain. Get back out there and fight the Horde."

"I'm not going to let you die from something silly as blood loss." Said Vereesa as she knelt down in front of Jack, watching as he rummaged his packs for the item he sought for. Patience running low, Vereesa took away Jack's hands and began to rummage the item he sought for by herself. "Let me. What does it look like?" Jack was about to respond when he spotted something behind Vereesa. Pushing her away, Jack raised his pistol and fired at the Goblin that tried to pounce on them, killing it.

"Fucking bastard tried to jump us." Said Jack. He then turned to Vereesa who looked around for any other Goblins. "Those ears for show? Thought they're good for hearing." Eyeing him with annoyance, Vereesa went back to rummaging his packs.

"Tell me what the item looks like." Said Vereesa, eager to get back into the field and away from this child kidnapper.

"Looks like a needle with a glass vial attached at one of the ends." Said Jack. "You'll know it when you see it." Just like that, Vereesa found the item and gave it to Jack. Jabbing the needle to his gut, Jack gave a yell when he injected its contents into his system.

"Damnit." Said Jack as he threw away the syringe. "Never could get used to that shit." He then looked around for his R-201, finding it behind Vereesa. Grabbing it, he looked at Vereesa, who got up. "Thanks. I'd be dead if it weren't for you." Instead of saying your welcome, Vereesa bumped into Jack, getting out of the ditch.

"I did it because you might save a few of my men." Said Vereesa. "Nothing else." Shaking his head, Jack followed Vereesa, just as BT arrived.

"Pilot, are you alright?" Asked BT as he knelled down and opened his cockpit.

"Got one in the stomach, but painkillers are holding up." Said Jack as he got in. "Should hold enough for the entire operation. Let's get to killing BT."

"Understood." Said BT before screens showed up in the cockpit, giving Jack a full view of the entire battlefield. With that, the two went into action and charged into the thick of the battle. Looking at BT as it left, Vereesa sighed and went into the fray as well.

"Well, I'll be damned." Said High Elf as she helped some Trolls get out of the ditch. "She totally digs him. Huh…guess we elf maidens like humans."

Chief

Twenty minutes later

"By the Sunwell, Garrosh forces are fighting with all they got!" Yelled Lor'themar as he ducked underneath an Orc swing and countered with his own, expertly slicing the Orc's throat while also wounding another with another sword that he acquired from a fallen Blood Elf ranger.

"Watch your left." Said Chief before firing at an Orc shaman that tried to cast a spell behind Lor'themar's back. He then attempted to reload, but an Orc warrior charged at him, forcing him to jump over the Orc and fire his pistol at the Orc's head, sending several bullets to his brain. Landing, Chief swapped out his battle rifle for a shotgun on his back and fire, blowing up an Orc's head with one shot. He then charged at a group of Orcs that were surrounding two wounded Taurens. Firing both his pistol and shotgun, Chief fell three of the Orcs while the Tauren held off the other three just enough for Chief to finish them off with some quick shots to the back.

Roaring thanks to the green warrior, the Tauren ran off to friendly lines to heal their wounds. Chief, used to fighting with non-humans, went back to Lor'themar, who finished off another Orc.

"I can't believe so many Orcs follow Garrosh." Said Lor'themar as he pulled his sword out of his most recent kill. "I know that most of them belonged to the original Horde back in the first war, but I never expected them to be this loyal. They used to follow Thrall's ideals so well. How could they abandon them so quickly for Garrosh's way?"

"You can ask them when this is over." Said Chief as he reloaded his weapons. "For now, let's focus on the battle. What's the situation here?"

"We're advancing, but Garrosh's forces are making us bleed for every inch we gain. *Sighs* They're a tenacious bunch, I'll give them that. But we'll be by the gates in just a couple of hours. I swear it."

"Probably sooner." Said Chief as he pointed to where a couple of legion titans were carving a path of destruction into Garrosh's lines, creating so much disarray that both Alliance and Horde rebels were taking advantage of.

"When you told me had advance technology, I didn't think it included robotics that made Dwarf robots look primitive." Said Lor'themar, a bit unnerved with how natural the legion titans moved. "Still, it helps. A lot. I just hope that Garrosh doesn't have a hidden ace." Speaking of Garrosh, Chief was wondering where the warchief was. By all accounts, he should be here, leading the defense of Orgrimmar at the front, but Courier hadn't spotted him from even the start of the operation. He was up to something, he had to.

"He must be. Why else isn't he on the front lines?" Asked Chief. Lor'themar nodded grimly at that.

"Yes. I'm afraid my fears are correct." Said Lor'themar before looking at Chief. "Once we get the gates, I'll order the Horde's greatest champions charge and take Garrosh. You'll support them?" Chief nodded.

"I'll see what I can do." Said Chief before firing at an Orc that charged at him from the back. "They make poor ambushers." Lor'themar shrugged at that.

"Believe me, that's not even the worst attempt by an Orc to sneak on a Blood Elf." Said Lor'themar before charging in with Chief in tow.

Thirty minutes later

Two hundred meters from Orgrimmar gates

After thirty more minutes of blood shed, the rebels and Alliance forces managed to break the enemy's back, forcing them to the gate's of Orgrimmar, where the steel doors were preventing the armies from advancing any further. To their frustration, the gates were holding, despite the attempts of their siege equipment to bring down the gates. Attempts to send rouges and rangers to open the gates had failed with them either forced back or killed when they were discovered. The gate mechanisms were just to heavily guarded for them to capture without heavy reinforcement.

"This be taking too long." Said Vol'jin as another attempt by rebel and Alliance siege equipment tried, once again, to break down the gates, to no avail. "The longer this goes on, the more time we give Garrosh to make more defenses for us to contend."

"Agreed." Said Varian, keeping his disgust at being next to Vol'jin at bay. "We need to break down those gates now."

"How?" Asked Shandris as she arrived with Tyrande. "Our latest attempt to infiltrate the enemy has failed. And the next shipment of siege equipment will take hours to arrive. What can we do?"

"Got a solution." Said Chief as he arrived with Ikit, who had brought his latest toy with him. "Our titans have a feature in them that caused them to explode with a force of twenty kilos worth to TNT. We bring a few to one spot and that section of the wall will go do, giving us an opening." Varian looked at Master Chief at that.

"And you think your machines can get close enough to accomplish such a feat?" Asked Varian, looking over at said machines, who are currently being gawked on by Gnomes and Dwarves, obviously entranced with such impressive machines.

"They will." Said Chief. "I'll be piloting one to ensure that they make it." That caused them all to look at Chief in surprise.

"You'll get caught in the blast." Said Lor'themar, not believing Chief would risk his life like that.

"There's an ejection seat in all the titans. I'll be safely away from the explosion. Trust me." Said Chief as he looked at Lor'themar. "It'll take less time then getting more siege equipment. And the more time we waste, the more time that Garrosh can put more defenses or plan a counterattack." The other nodded in agreement at that. Seeing no objection, Chief left them, saying he won't be long.

"Cortana, you got all that?" Asked Chief as he left to go pilot a legion titan.

"Yes, and, like I've said before, you're crazy." Said Cortana as she monitored the whole battlefield from Torrington. "Normally Jack would handle this as he's the expert, but with the wounds he suffered, I think it's best you do this. Courier is too busy tending to him and other wounded to do it and I don't think that guy knows how to pilot a giant robot mech, even with his street smarts. The others…well, I'll let you guess why they're even worse." Chief just nodded as he got inside one legion titan and turned it on, having been taught by Jack the basic functions of operating a titan, along with how to trigger its nuclear self-destruct function and how to eject from a Titan when he needs to.

Checking all the necessary systems for problems, Chief then began to move the titan's hands, flexing them. After being sure they function, Chief grabbed its chaingun and motioned the other Titans, five others, to follow him, which they did in earnest.

"I'll manually trigger the self-destruct function, John." Said Cortana as the titans moved forward. "You just make sure you're not a pancake when you hit the ground.

"Understood." Said Chief before turning his focus back on the battle incoming. As soon as the titans reached the gates, both shamans and missile fire from Goblin tech began to shower the mechs.

One was immediately destroyed, having been hit by several massive stone boulders that punctured its weakened shields after it got blasted by several fireballs, the armor held for the first two, but the 3rd broke the armor and destroyed the titan's systems, sending it crashing to the ground.

The other titans then opened fire on the wall's defenders, activating their gun shields to give them some cover. They killed some Orc warriors and shamans, but the magic and missile fire kept coming.

Chief dashed his titan out of the way of a crevice that a shaman made on the earth, something that caused another titan to fall to the crevice, unable to get back up. Looking at the wall, Chief fired a charged shot at the wall, taking out a bunch of shamans before moving towards the wall section he was aiming for. Looking at his backup, Chief could see another titan fall after repeated magic strikes of either boulders or lightning against it. The remaining two were on fire, nearing destruction.

Wasting no time, he charged forward, reaching the wall just as a massive magic lightning strike hit his titan, sending sparks all over the cockpit.

"Bail out!" Yelled Cortana as she activated the self-destruct on Chief's and the other Titans. Wasting no time, Chief ejected out of the Titan, which caused him to fly straight up, hundreds of feet away from the Titans as they glowed bright blue. Chief watched as the three Titans blew up, taking a massive portion of the wall with them, causing Orcs and Goblins to fell to their deaths or simply being incinerated from being near the explosion.

Seeing the destruction, the rebels and Alliance forces began to move toward the hole, not wanting the enemy to regroup and plug the hole with bodies.

Chief, meanwhile, was falling to the ground. Locking up his armor, Chief braced himself as he landed on top of the gates of Orgrimmar, completely unharmed.

Unlocking his armor, Chief saw one Orc warrior charging at him. Before he could retaliate, the Orc warrior was blown apart by a rocket. Chief then looked to his right to see a Pelican coming up and firing its machineguns at the remaining Orcs and Goblins on the wall, taking them out. Once the threat was gone, the Pelican turned around to reveal Courier and High Elf Archer.

"You are one crazy human, you know that?" Asked High Elf with a smirk. "You're just like Orcbolg! Crazy and willing to die for others." Chief just stayed silent as he got in the Pelican and sat besides Jack, who was being treated by Courier.

"You stole my spotlight." Said Jack as Courier treated his ribs.

"Wouldn't have if you didn't get hurt." Said Chief as the Pelican landed somewhere safe.

"I could have done it if you…wow!" Yelled Jack as Courier injected a stim pack on Jack's stomach.

"There you go." Said Courier as he finished. "Your ribs are all fixed. Though I recommend not going toe to toe against on Orc anything soon."

"Ha ha. Very funny." Said Jack as he got up and sat on one of the Pelican's seats. "Think they got it now?"

"Well that wall was all that was standing in their way." Said High Elf as she saw the battle from afar. "Don't really see why we shouldn't help out more though."

"Agreed." Said Chief as he grabbed a sniper rifle above him. "Land on a building in Orgrimmar. We'll provide sniper cover for them."

"Them and Ikit." Said Courier as he brought out his trusty gauss rifle. "Crazy rat is in his metal scorpion and he's out making life hell for them Garrosh loyalists."

"How much?" Asked Chief as he inspected his sniper rifle for any faults.

Ikit

"Die-Die! Fear Ikit Claw!" Yelled Ikit as he piloted his giant scorpion against Garrosh's Orcs and Goblins, either tearing them apart with its metal pincers or blasting them with energy blasts from its tail. Crackling like a maniac, Ikit charged the tail gun and fired an energy blast at a group of Orcs emerging from a building, taking them out and the building as well. He then saw a massive rock. Grabbing it, he tossed the rock towards a building, creating a massive hole.

"Fear me!" Yelled Ikit as he piloted his scorpion to a group of Orcs.

"That is one insane pilot." Said an Alliance foot soldier as he watched the metal scorpion, piloted by Ikit Claw, wrecked havoc everywhere he went. A blood elf ranger, also watching the carnage, simply nodded before going to kill some Garrosh loyalists.

Courier

"Eh, a lot." Said Courier as the two landed on top of a building in Orgrimmar. High Elf was about to go with them when Chief stopped her.

"Keep an eye on Jack. He needs someone keeping an eye on him." Said Chief with Courier nodding.

"Yeah, if none of us are keeping an eye on him, he might go and get his balls kicked by Vereesa again. Or get himself killed by fighting an Orc again." Said Courier as he readied his rifle.

"I won't do either!" Yelled Jack as he looked at Courier, who chuckled. High Elf groaned but, nonetheless, agreed and went to the cockpit of the Pelican. Upon getting in the cockpit, however, she pursed her lips.

"Uh, how do you work this thing?" Asked High Elf as she took the pilot seat. To answer her question, an image of Cortana came up on a screen on the elf's right.

"I got it. You just sit tight." Said Cortana before piloting the ship out of danger, both to prevent it from being shot down and to get Jack some better medical help.

"Wish we could be there to see Garrosh get his just deserts." Said Courier as he snipped an Orc from killing a human soldier. "But Lor'themar wanted the Alliance and Horde to get the prize." Chief simply nodded before firing at a different Orc. They didn't know why, but Lor'themar had requested that they leave Garrosh for the Horde and Alliance. Chief and the others thought it was because that, since Garrosh had caused so much damage for both sides and not much on them, it felt right for both the Horde and Alliance to take him down and not some outside party. Chief disagreed but Lor'themar had out his foot down, so they reluctantly helped take down other high targets.

"Kind of sucks that we get relegated to clean up duties." Said Courier as he saw a mix-match group of Horde warriors and Alliance soldiers going into Orgrimmar's capital. "Looks like the big heroes have arrived. This will all be over soon." Chief just nodded before sniping another Orc commander. Just as he was about to fire again, he saw an Orc Shaman launching a fireball at them. Ducking down, Chief felt the impact of the fireball as it hit the building. Once he was certain they were safe, Chief got up and fired at the shaman before he could fire again.

"Nice." Said Courier before firing again, taking out a Goblin in a mechsuit. "You remind me of my sniper pal, Boone. He would have loved to meet you." Chief didn't say anything as he continued to fire.

Thirty minutes later

Chief and Courier

"Sir, this is going to hurt more if you keep moving." Said Courier as he helped an Alliance Dwarf with a massive axe stuck in his femur. Ten minutes ago, the fighting on the surface of Orgrimmar had ended. The remaining holdouts were in the inner sanctum of Orgrimmar, where the champions of both Horde and Alliance were facing Garrosh and his remaining loyalists. Forbidden with suspected reasons, Courier, Ikit, and Chief were held back, either watching out of stragglers or tending to the wounded.

"But it hurts!" Yelled the Dwarf as he tried to find something to hold on to.

"For wasteland sakes, I've seen geckos hold it better than you." Said Courier as he brought out a syringe. "Here, this is null the pain." He then injected the syringe's contents into the Dwarf's system, who immediately felt the effects.

"The pain. Its gone." Said the Dwarf in awe as Courier tossed the syringe away. "What sort of magic is this?"

"Its not magic, its modern medicine." Said Courier as he got ready to remove the axe. "You might want to hold on to something. This will still hurt." The Dwarf groaned before bracing himself.

The resulting scream caused Chief to snap away from his conversation with Vereesa Windrunner as they both saw Courier remove the axe before quickly patching the Dwarf up.

"And they saw Dwarves are the hardiest of races in Azeroth." Said Vereesa plainly as the Dwarf Courier was patching as yelling out in pain, slamming his fists on the dirty grounds of Orgrimmar. Chief, however, just turned back to Vereesa and spoke.

"Are they still fighting Garrosh?" Asked Chief. Last he heard of Lor'themar and Varian, they both, along with most of the Horde and Alliance leaders had left for Orgrimmar's inner sanctums, wanting to help their champions in taking down Garrosh.

"We haven't received any word from them." Said Vereesa, Chief detecting a little worry in her voice. "Shouldn't take them this long. Its just one Orc with no magical prowess."

"Should I take my men and investigate?" Suggested Chief. Vereesa, however, shook her head.

"No, let's wait a few more minutes. If we don't receive words from them, I'll go with a platoon of my best men. You can come if you want, but I'd rather not get into trouble by bringing you." Said Vereesa.

"Why?" Asked Chief, confused a bit. "We're allies at this moment. Why not have us against Garrosh?" Vereesa sighed.

"Its one of the few things that they all agreed upon when they all met up." Said Vereesa. "Varian wants the Alliance to be the one that takes Garrosh down while Thrall and Vol'jin wants the Horde to be it. They argued back and forth until a compromise was made. That the Horde and Alliance best champions will work together to defeat Garrosh."

"Why not us, though?" Asked Chief, still a bit confused. "We're a 3rd party. We have little to no affiliations with the Horde and Alliance. Why not send us?"

"Simple." Said Courier as he arrived, having finished treating the Dwarf. "They both want to show the world that their faction is strong. Or show the world that they're capable of rectifying their wrongs. For the Alliance, if they take down Garrosh, it'll be a sign that the Alliance can overcome anything. There's also the fact that they want to punish Garrosh with their own laws, which are different to the Hordes'. As for the Horde, if they take down the Horde, it'll show the world that not everyone was with Garrosh and that they are capable of dealing with their own internal strife. That and the fact that Thrall and Vol'jin probably want Garrosh to die by their own hands rather than the Alliance. After all, Garrosh proliferated everything they stood for, right?" Vereesa just sighed and nodded.

"Unfortunately," Said Vereesa as she pinched her nose. "You're correct in all regards. Politics. They keep getting in the way of common sense." Courier just shrugged.

"Tell me about it." Said Courier, remembering all the times Hsu and Hanlon talked to him about their frustrations with NCR politicians and Brahmin barons back in California giving them trouble. Even with the Legion fragmented, the politicians were delaying troop and ammo deliveries from California to the Mojave. The NCR was doing fine for now, but Hsu needs more men to arrive so he could better secure the Mojave, especially after Oliver and Moore left to take care of the Legion now that they were leaderless, taking with them some of the best rangers and troopers in the NCR army.

"Just having their champions take Garrosh down won't be enough." Said Chief as he looked at Vereesa. "There still is the problem of dealing with Garrosh and who gets to deal with him." Vereesa sighed again.

"Unfortunately, you're right." Said Vereesa, fearing that things will go badly. "I hope calmer heads will prevail, but considering Varian is there…" Chief just nodded as he and Courier wondered how this will go down and if they should just get out of here if things go downhill.

Before they could think about what to do, they heard some crazed laughing. Turning around, they saw Ikit getting out of his scorpion and laughing.

"Brilliant! My brain has found a way to make Doom bug more powerful! More killy!" Yelled Ikit as he laughed like a madman, firing his warpfire projector all over the place as he jumped in excitement.

"There is something very wrong with your rat." Said Vereesa as she saw this, along with other Alliance and Horde soldiers.

"We know." Said Courier as Ikit calmed down, only for him to laugh madly again as he climbed up the scorpion tail and continued to laugh from there. "You just get used to it. After living with him for a few weeks, of course." Vereesa's ears twitched as she thought of her living with Ikit for a few weeks. Just imagining it left her uneasy.

"I very much doubt that." Said Vereesa before looking at Chief. "Where are your other companions? The little elf and the one that took my children?"

"Jack is being tended for by High Elf." Said Chief as he looked at Vereesa. "They're fine if that's what you're asking."

"I'm only concerned with the elf. Your other companion I could care less of." Said Vereesa, narrowing her eyes at Chief. Chief, knowing the problem, just turned away.

"He regretted what he did." Said Chief. "He told me how much he regretted the fact he did it and took care of them whenever he had the time." Courier nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, you have the right to be pissed at him, but come on." Said Courier. "Just talk to him and you'll hear the regret in his voice. Just don't kick him in the nuts again. Even though it was funny, that was kind of mean." Vereesa sighed before looking at Courier.

"How can a parent forgive a person for kidnaping their child?" Asked Vereesa, not accusing them of anything. "I can I just let that go and be friends with him?"

"Can't tell you myself." Said Courier. "I don't have kids so I don't have the emotional bond that you have with your own children. But what I do know is, you shouldn't hold a grudge against Jack for doing something that he regrets to the point that it'll hamper your ability to work with him. Sooner or later, you two may have to work together on a dangerous assignment and if you have that bad of a grudge, both of you may die because of it." Vereesa pursed her lips, seeing the logic in Courier's words. "Plus, your kids forgave him. Might as well join them, right?"

"…Very well." Said Vereesa after a minute of thinking. "After all this is over, I'll talk with him. And…I'll try not to hurt him." Courier nodded at that.

"Thanks." Said Courier. "Trust me, its better for all parties. Sometimes just sitting down and talking can be the best solution." Vereesa scoffed at that.

"I haven't seen that solution be effective for quite some time." Said Vereesa, recalling all the times that the Horde and Alliance tried to sit down and talk, only to backfire or end with people at each other's throats. Chief, who was silent, then received a call from a transmission code that he didn't expect to receive.

"I have to take this. Courier, deal with any Horde and Alliance problems that are dragged onto us." Said Chief before leaving.

"Uh…sure. I guess I could do that." Said Courier as he watched Chief leave. Once he was fully gone from his sight, he looked at Ikit, continuing laughing like a madman. "Wonder if I should stop him before he hurts someone."

Meanwhile

Chief

After finding an abandoned and checking for any hostiles, Chief answered the call that he was receiving.

"Kel'danath, is that you?" Asked Chief, already knowing who will talk on this frequency. "Have you found a cure to your people's addiction?"

"Yes, my friend." Said Kel'danath, all the way from the Broken Isles. He was using the satellite transceiver that the Spectres had installed in the cave system that he and Farodin were using to both experiment on the Arcan'dor seed and see if they could stabilize its great power. "We've found a way to stabilize the Arcan'dor. With it, I believe we've found a way to free my people from our cursed addiction."

"That's good to hear." Said Chief, genuinely happy for Kel'danath. "So why are you contacting me?"

"Well, this may sound strange, but I would like you to be there, along with your friends." Said Kel'danath. "So would Farodin. If it weren't for you, I would be a Withered now and this cure may never have been found. So, if you have the time, I would like you to come with your friends to witness the Arcan'dor seed become the salvation my people need. The rat included." Chief took a moment to take this in before speaking.

"I respect your want for us to be there, but we are busy at the moment." Said Chief. "The war I spoke of is currently at the end. We're about to end the tyrant I spoke of and soon we'll be in the process of discussing war reparations and the like. We'll be busy for quite awhile. You may want to do it without us."

"Of course. I understand." Said Kel'danath. "But do visit when the Arcan'dor tree is fully bloom. Farodin claims it's a tree of great beauty when fully bloomed. You should witness such beauty yourself."

"I'll keep that in mind. With luck, we'll see each other again." Said Chief as he ended the call. With that done, Chief went to find Vereesa and Courier.

Through some luck, they were still in the same place, watching as Ikit began to sniff a crate of food.

"Something smell-stink good-good in this barrel." Said Ikit as he looked inside, finding nothing but wheels of something yellow. Grabbing a wheel, Ikit sniffed it again, finding it good to smell. "What is this?"

"Its cheese." Said Vereesa, looking at the creepy rat as he examined it like a child looking at something that caught its eye. "Don't defile all of it. People eat it." Ikit, however, wasn't listening and began to chew on the cheese, thinking it was something good. Upon swallowing, Ikit froze and dropped the wheel of cheese, mouth open.

"Ah crap." Said Courier as he saw this reaction from Ikit before. "In three. Two. One."

"*Laughs madly* This good-good!" Yelled Ikit as he grabbed the cheese and looked at it like it was something holy. "Must have more-more!" He then began to eat the cheese rapidly, savoring the taste. Upon eating the entire wheel, he began to ransack the crate, eating all the cheese he wanted. "Mine! All mine! *Laughs madly*"

"Great. I got a mad rat to deal with." Said Vereesa as she saw this happen, creeped out that Ikit was reacting this way around something as simple as cheese.

"You should have seen him when I gave him a Nuka-cola Quantum. Crazy bastard was in so much of a sugar rush, we had to lock him up in a room for several days until he calmed down." Said Courier, watching Ikit eating cheese.

"Are the leaders back yet?" Asked Chief as he walked up to Vereesa and Courier, ignoring Ikit.

"No, I fear the worst." Said Vereesa as she sighed. "I'm through waiting. I'm taking a group of my men and investigating what's going on. If Garrosh somehow won against our leaders, then we need to take him down now. While he's weakened."

"That won't be necessary." Said a voice from Orgrimmar's capital building. Looking at the source, everyone saw Taran Zhu, a Pandaren, coming out with Garrosh in chains. "The war is over. This monster," He raised Garrosh's chains. "Will be brought to justice in Pandaria." He then looked at the gathered crowd of Horde and Alliance soldiers. "You're leaders and champions are all fine. They will be there to participate the case of Garrosh Hellscream. They…will decide his fate." With that, Taran Zhu moved on, escorting Garrosh somewhere. Garrosh, despite being beaten, growled and glared at everyone, hate in his eyes, which was done back in kind.

"Well, that was good." Said Vereesa as Garrosh and Taran Zhu was out of their sight. "Problem now is reparations from the Horde."

"They'll pay it." Said Courier. "Only problem is deciding what much they'll pay and how." Vereesa nodded at that before looking at Chief.

"If you want your friend to make up with me properly, tell him to visit me in Dalaran." Said Vereesa before leaving to tend to her men.

"Hope Jack doesn't get kicked in the nuts again." Said Courier as he watched Vereesa leave. Chief then slapped Courier in the back of the head for that. "Okay, I deserve that."

"Cheese!" Yelled Ikit with a mouthful of cheese as he held up two wheels of cheese.

Few days later

Broken Isles

"So, Chief." Said High Elf Archer as she, Courier, and Master Chief were walking in the cave system that Kel'danath and Farodin were hiding out. "How come you had Jack and Ikit not be here and in Pandaria? Nothing much is going on anywhere. We could all be here at the moment."

"Because I've heard rumors that the remnant of Garrosh loyalists are conspiring to free him from captivity in Pandaria. Even though he doesn't have much power anymore in the Horde, he can still do some damage if he ever got out. And with his trial today, I had Ikit and Jack placed near him in case they try to make a move on him." Said Chief as he walked.

"Get that, but why not all of us?" Asked High Elf. "Be better off that way."

"I just received a transmission from Kel'danath. He needs us and to be here quickly." Said Chief. Courier, confused at that, looked at Chief.

"How come? Guy is pretty secure, and the titans got him covered. What could cause him and that other guy trouble?" Asked Courier. Before Chief could reply, they suddenly heard the sounds of lightning occurring deeper inside the cave system. Looking at each other, the three rushed toward the source.

As they ran and ran, they heard the source of lightning grew louder and more rapid, causing them to think that someone was attacking Kel'danath and Farodin, which made them increase their movement. Eventually, after some close calls with some collapsed flooring they found the source of the lightning sounds.

It was a giant tree, dark as night, and multiple branches the spread out all over the ceiling. In the middle of the trunk was a large-window like space that glowed white. And said tree was emitting lightning all over the place, nearly striking some spectres. At the base of the tree was Farodin and Kel'danath, trying to do something against the tree.

"We're here! What's the situation?" Asked Chief as the three rushed to Kel'danath, who was struggling to do something.

"Thank Elune that you arrived." Said Farodin as he turned to Chief and the others, relief in his eyes. "We bring dire news. The Arcan'dor tree…its reaching its final stage of development."

"Okay, is that a bad thing?" Asked Courier as he ducked to avoid a strike of lightning.

"Yes." Said Farodin as he looked at the tree. "Normally there wouldn't be a problem, but the tree is reacting violently. Its energies pulsing out of control."

"Why!?" Yelled High Elf as she watched a whip of energy hit a spectre, turning it into ashes.

"The Arcan'dor tree is a fusion of Arcane energy and nature. Without balance, it'll go out of control and die. Kel'danath and I fixed the nature portion of the tree, but it seems the final stage has it draining any Arcane energy that it can find." Said Farodin as he looked at the tree, spasming out of control. "Without enough energy, it might die, exploding with all the Arcane energy it build up.

"So, it goes like a nuke?" Asked Courier. Despite not knowing what a nuke is, Farodin nodded. "Well, can we fix it before it kills us!?"

"Yes, but to do so will require massive amounts of Arcane energy. Even more than what is around us. But I don't know where to acquire such amounts." Said Farodin, unsure of what to do.

"There is!" Yelled Kel'danath. "Suramar! It has the energy that we need to feed the tree!"

"But isn't that city loaded with guards and a bunch of people skilled in magic arts that can turn us into toads or some other shit?!" Yelled Courier as he recalled a story of Arcane users. None of which made him want to fight one.

"Its either that or the tree explodes and takes us with it! Along with the last hope of curing my people's addiction." Said Kel'danath as he stopped what he was doing and looked at Chief. "I beg you. Help me do this and help free my people of our dependence on the Nightwell." Staring at Kel'danath, Chief nodded before looking at High Elf and Courier.

"We're going to Suramar." Said Chief, causing them both to sigh. "If you want, you two can stay here with the tree." Chief then walked away with Kel'danath.

"Oh no. I'm not missing out on this." Said High Elf as she ran after them.

"Well, might as well go." Said Courier as he ran after them too.

"Please hurry, travelers!" Yelled Farodin as he stayed behind to take care of the tree. "Otherwise, all that will be left of this place will be a crater."

Meanwhile

N'Zoth

"Yes." Said N'Zoth as he sucked the last amounts of energy from Y'Shaarj's heart. Even now, the last strength of Y'Shaarj was fueling his strength, making him even stronger. "With the last vestige of your power, I will ascend and achieve the goal of the void. A pity that you cannot see it come to reality. But that is the price you pay for your lack of vision and forethought." With that last statement, the last powers from Y'Shaarj's heart was sapped from it. As a result, the heart dissipated into nothing, finally bringing to an end to Y'Shaarj and his dark legacy.

With the last vestige of power from the heart taken, N'Zoth could feel his influence grow. Already, he felt his chains weakening, struggling to contain his growing power. Yet despite that, they held. The Titans have thought ahead.

"Even with my increased power, my chains will not break." Said N'Zoth, a hint of respect in his voice. "No matter, Y'Shaarj last sacrifice will not be in vain. With his power, I will bring more followers to my cause. Followers that have already felt our touch. They will add nicely to my might." With that N'Zoth began the necessary preparation to convert people that have felt the Old God's touch to his cause and his alone.