World of Warcraft®

At her joint home with her best friend and comrade, Jade, Cyndine proceeded to walk up the stairs to her room, and unloaded her gear onto the floor of her unit. She proceeded to check all of it, and laid it out for easy assembly for the next day. She proceeded to take off her watch uniform's armour pieces, leaving her with her plainclothes uniform on, and looked at her old green elven ranger uniform. Though she preferred the feel and ergonomics of the outfit, she knew that she would need to wear something much heavier than that, something that was already sitting in her pack.

A knock on the door momentarily broke her concentration. She twisted the handle to open it, revealing Jade, in her gown.

“...Getting ready?” Jade said weakly, her head tilted slightly.

Nodding slightly, Cyndine replied, with a slightly stern tone of voice. “...Shouldn't you be in bed, resting?”

Jade nodded slightly. “I know. I needed to get a snack. I wanted to check up on you before you left tomorrow.”

Turning her head to face Jade, she locked eyes with her, and smiled slightly. Her expression then released, and turned back to her equipment. She knelled back down and started to look over the gear again. “It's going to be a tough mission. I mean...it's not going to be as hard as that orc that messed you the hell up, but still...”

Nodding slightly, Jade looked at the equipment. “Well, you're definitely equipped for the job.”

Sighing, Cyndine turned to face Jade. “...After what happened last time, I don't want to make the same mistake of not being prepared. Had I possessed everything I needed, and was properly prepared, you...” She trailed off, and paused for a moment. “...You know.”

Jade nodded, and smiled. “I know. But you've got to let it go.” She kneeled down to Cyndine's level, and smiled. “I'm here, you're here, that's what matters, right?”

Cyndine sighed. She knew Jade was right, but her guilt remained. “It's not just that...it's just...” She paused to think. “...It's....it's that I don't want to be caught off guard again. And, by the description of our targets, I think this is all I need to get the job done.”

Jade sighed, and nodded. “I get it. Just...how are you carrying all that?”

Chuckling slightly, Cyndine replied, “Well...I spent close to ten thousand gold to enchant them to make them lighter.”

Jade's eyes widened. “You...what?!” She then chuckled slightly. “...I should get that for my armour.” She smiled, and stood back up on her feet, very carefully. “I best do what I intended to do. If I'm not up when you leave...”

Cyndine looked up again at Jade. “...Thanks for the well wishes.” She smiled, and continued to work. Jade nodded, and closed the door behind her.

OOC: Here's the items she's carrying, appearance wise. This does not directly translate to the actual ingame items, but assume that they are or are close to top-of-the-line.
Sword: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/item/45142
Standard Bow: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/item/82266
Upgraded Bow: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/item/82211
Anti-Armour Blaster: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/item/45137
Double-Barreled Rifle: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/item/28581

“Take cover!”

Cyndine bellowed to her fellow rangers as a massive volley of thrown axes and spears rained from above. Her order was just a moment too late as two of her fellow elves were immediately cut down by the volley. Looking over the trench, Cyndine could see the massive horde of orcs, trolls and ogres that were moving up toward the portal. Glancing behind her, she could see Khadgar working hard to close the portal on her end. She could see him struggle, but, considering what they've all been through, she was confident that, as long as she and everyone else did their jobs, that Khadgar would succeed in his task.

“Prepare volley!” Cyndine yelled. She proceeded to notch a pair of arrows onto her bow, while the rest, numbering about thirty-two or so – make that thirty-one, did the same. “Aim, fifty!” She and the rest of her unit aimed upward, with a roughly fifty-degree arc. The horde charged toward the front lines of footmen and knights; she could see Jade fighting through orc after orc after work, taking blow after blow but shrugging it off as best she could. She knew that this volley was a make-or-break manoeuvre; if it didn't do what she had hoped, the front would be overrun.

“Fire!”

The sudden release of dozens of arrows from her unit's bows made a loud, multiple whizzing sound as the arrows flew up into the air. Biting her lower lip, Cyndine watched the arc and the charging orcs with nervous anticipation. Then, a few seconds later, the arrows find their mark, hitting a large number of orcs, trolls and ogres, many of whom fell dead or in severe pain. A third of them, who managed to avoid the volley, continued their charge, and clashed with the front line.

It was at that moment that the ground shook...again. But, this time, it was far more violent. She could see the ground split in two about a half-mile down range. She realized that the orcs, trolls and ogres would want to reach them at all costs – not only because they were the Alliance – but because the portal was as much their own salvation as it was their own. And they were having none of that.

“Last call for wounded!” she heard her commander Alleria yell as the Dark Portal began to heave and destabilize. She knew that anyone who was wounded from this point forward was on their own. What forces could be relieved had already gone through, and it was up to the last of these elite units to finish the job, of which she knew there was no return. She notched another pair of arrows, and again yelled, “Prepare volley!”

She could see more and more of the endless horde of green orcs, trolls and ogres running at them. She could count thousands...perhaps, tens of thousands, fighting for their own survival. She could tell that the remainder of the Allied Expeditionary Force was down to its last reserves, of only a few hundred left. She knew that her death was all but guaranteed, but damn was she not going down without a damn good fight.

“Aim sixty!”

The rangers took aim into the sky at sixty degrees, which would plunge the arrows even closer, while the front lines moved backward toward the portal. Of course, they weren't going into the portal – she could hear the portal warp and bend behind her while Khadgar focused with great skill to close the portal.

“Fire!”

The arrows let loose, into the darkened air, which was becoming more and more corrupt as different portals – the ones that she knew would destroy Draenor in short order, and created by the madman Ner'zhul – and plunged into the charging horde, cutting yet another group of them down with the sound of whizzing, yelling, and thuds.

Seeing that they were nearly at their position. She looked back at the portal, which, at that very moment, imploded, then exploded in a loud, concussive bang, knocking everyone in the immediately vicinity to their feet. She knew that at that point, they were on their own.

“Fall back!” Cyndine yelled to her ranger unit. As if on cue, the group immediately lept out of the trench, and moved toward the rest of the expeditionary force, along with Khadgar and the rest of the heroes.

However, the retreat was difficult. She could see the orcs, trolls and ogres charging with reckless abandon, cutting down the retreating Alliance forces as they ran. Many of her rangers proceeded to be picked off by thrown spears and axes. She herself narrowly dodged an axe, which cut about an inch deep into her shoulder. But, with her adreneline running strong, she focused on the task at hand – seeing the other portals forming, Khadgar immediately told the remnants to find a portal – any portal, and save themselves.

Upon reaching Khadgar, Cyndine yelled at Jade, and a few dozen remaining soldiers, to cover Khadgar's retreat. Khadgar, surprised by her offer of protection, told them to fall back. Drawing her bow with a pair of arrows. Cyndine yelled, “Khadgar! Go! GO!!”

The group of them, the last of their respective units, bound together through a very difficult campaign, took on the next wave together, while Khadagar, the other heroes, and the rest of the survivors made it through. Cyndine glanced back and watched Khadgar look back, while he jumped through one of the portals. Looking back at the horde, she could see that they were quickly becoming surrounded. “Everyone! Now!!” Cyndine bellowed. The group proceeded to jump through the portal.

When she exited the portal, something was...amiss. For some reason, she was in Draenor again. But...this wasn't the Draenor she had left. Quickly looking at her surroundings, and looking at her group, she realized that her group was in fact the one she had went with to find and eliminate Ner'zhul – or rather, the alternate universe one that she had been tasked to take down. She turned and saw Jade, many years older, but still as vibrant as ever, and she could feel dread in her gut. A dread that she's felt many times before.

A loud, booming voice, speaking in orcish, echoed through the air. “Destroy the intruders! Protect our master!”

She turned, and could see him. A huge, red orc, who was about a foot taller than average, was very heavily built with muscle from what she could tell from parts not covered by his massive full plate, and wielded two massive two-handed swords.

She knew his name...Ja'ruk...it's something that's run through her mind many times before, and she remembers exactly how this played out. She didn't want to experience this all over again, but, for some reason, she knew she was about to re-live it again.

She raised her bow, which she noticed to be a different model than the one she was using before, and aimed it toward the approaching group. She could see the fighters of the group, Jade included, charging the elite guard. She released her arrows, hitting one of the orcs square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him, and off his feet. Her fellow archers proceeded to release their own arrows, while the priests and mages provided ranged and area-of-effect support. She knew this fight wasn't going to end well...

“Agh!!!” she could hear while she turned her head to see Jade stagger after the two-handed sword sliced across her face, blood being thrown into the air. She instinctively reaches for her face with her right hand, and loses her steadfast focus. Then, in an instant, the orc, with one hand, shoved the sword into her chest, lifting her into the air. Jade's screaming stopped, shocked by the sudden pain and injury she had just sustained, and going partially limp. “...Jade!!”, Cyndine yelled.

Then, pushing upward and back, the sword dug deeper into Jade, and then caused her to become dislodged. As she fell, the second two-handed sword swung with ferocious velocity, clipping her in the left leg, strongly enough to embed itself halfway through the leg plate, and by extension, her leg. She spun a full three-hundred and sixty degrees, and fell to the ground, in a heap, unconscious.

Tears welling up in her eyes, she growled, and then yelled louder than she ever had before in an bloodcurdling enraged battlecry. “I'll kill you!” she yelled in orcish, as she fired an arrow toward him, which harmlessly bounced off of his armour, then drawing her sword. She ran at the orc with an intensity that she never knew she had, jumped over a scissor-like swing of his swords, and lept onto his chest, and plunging the sword into his chest.

That was when she realized that her sword couldn't penetrate his thick armour. Springing off almost as suddenly as she arrived, she landed in a ready stance, a deep, dark scowl on her face. “You'll die for this!”

With the unit badly beaten up, and with Jade likely fading fast if she wasn't dead already, she knew she had to win. But, as she was about to raise her sword and charge, a pair of portals opened up. The orc laughed with a booming voice. “Well...seems that our job here is done,” he said coldly. “I'd enjoy the pleasure of killing you, but my master is waiting.” He grunted at the others, who were either engaged with, or in the middle of killing off members of her unit. They proceeded to disengage and head toward the portals. The unit, seeing an opportunity, proceeded to take swings, arrows, and spell shots at the retreating orcs, but they were stopped by a suddenly appearing magical barrier. The orc laughed again. He looked at Cyndine square in the eyes, while his men and women entered the two portals. In common, he asked, “Do you have a name, slave?”

Bitterly, Cyndine spat at him. The orc nodded approvingly. “I appreciate the disrespect. Remember this...” He learned forward, his expression became darker and darker. He spoke in a deep, low pitched voice, “I am Ja'ruk, and the next time we meet, I can assure you...your life will not be spared.” With that, he turned, and walked through the portal, of which the portals closed immediately after.

Seeing this, she turned to face Jade; she was very severely wounded, with her leg almost cut off, a massive cut in her chest, and a slice across the face. She rushed over, tears again forming in her eyes. Panicking, she cursed to herself as she proceeded to check her wounds. “...Jade! I'm so sorry! Please don't die! Please don't die! Please don't...”

“Cyn!”

Gasping for breath, Cyndine awoke to see Jade holding her by her nightgown. She blinked, with tears in her eyes, and took a moment to breathe. Jade released her grip, and sat down on the bed next to her. Cyndine, blinking once more, leaned forward to hug Jade. Jade reciprocated the hug, holding and comforting her.

“...Sometimes, your photographic memory can get the better of you, can it?” Jade finally asked.

Nodding slightly, and letting go of the hug, she sighed. “Yes...yes it can. I was dreaming about the second war...and then I dreamed about...you.” She sighed, and looked away for a moment. “With everything going on...with what happened to you...and this upcoming operation...”

Jade sighed, and put her hand on Cyndine's shoulder. “I've said this time and time again....you can't blame yourself. Bad things happen to good people. And this operation will be no different. Hope for the best, expect the worst. You know this. Heck, you've told me this many times.”

Chuckling slightly, Cyndine smiled, and looked at Jade with warm eyes. “...Thanks.”

Jade smiled. “We've been through hell and back. You know I'm there until the very end.”

Cyndine sighed, turning to look at the dark, star-filled sky through the window. “I know.”

With that, Jade stood up, and carefully and with great patience walked to the door, careful to not injure herself further. “Good night, Cyn” Jade said, looking back at Cyndine.

Cyndine, turning back to face Jade at the door, simply replied in her own native tongue. “Shorel'aran, Jayden.”

Taking a moment to smile, Jade nodded, and replied, “Shorel'aran, Cyndine.” She then proceeded to close the door behind her quietly, leaving Cyndine alone in the room once again. She sighed, and laid her head back on her pillow, and curled up back under her blankets. She blinked a couple of times, and quietly whispered to herself, “Anar'alah,” she exasperatedly said in her native tongue, roughly translated to her speaking in frustration and vain about the Light, her thoughts loaded with her recurring nightmares. She sighed, thinking about the dreams, her friendship with Jade, and everything that had happened up to now. She knew she needed to be at her best the next day, so she quietly medicated to relax herself.

Long, deft fingers delicately settled the little moss nest on a corner of the writing desk deep inside the Cathedral. With a gentle touch, a spray of white flowers sprang up in the center. Smiling to herself, Lily slipped back out, nodding her thanks to the priest who'd led her to the spot. She shouldered the well-worn leather rucksack. It was many times patched and scuffed from a host of untold stories about its journeys with its owner. Blue and gold and been carefully tucked away in a wardrobe until she returned from Northrend in favor of leather armor in deep greens and browns.

The fresh memories of arguing with her cousin warred with others that were far more pleasant. Della- and by extension, Lily's mother- had never quite been able to grasp what pushed the druid to place herself in potential danger to save others. They'd fought her every step on this, and her service in the army previously. All she could do was be grateful that at least one person on Azeroth was willing to admit that while he didn't understand, he could let her do what she was best at with prayers for a safe return. She turned her silvery gaze upwards toward a sky that was just turning pearly gray and walked with purpose toward where the small group had planned on meeting to depart.

There were people- innocent people- who needed her help. Lily had never turned down animal or person that had required her aid before, and she wasn't going to start now. "Back to Northrend it is, hopefully for the last time." She murmured the words to herself in the cool air.

Far in the North, beyond the compound sat a small snowdrift at the base of a tree. For all the but the most trained eye, it was particularly unremarkable, the same as any other tree on the treeline. Had someone gotten closer, had they peered carefully into it, they would have found a pair of piercing green eyes staring right back at them from the snow.

Bundled in his snow attire, bleached white leather with snow hare fur and arctic fox fur layers, Arlston Cross was perfectly warm as he lay covered in snow, watching the compound. He observed the patrols, the twin groups of men and dwarf that ambled miserably, exhaustedly in a counter clockwise manner around the perimeter, more dead tired than awake and not one tenth as alert they'd need to be to even hope to catch a glance of an experienced infiltrator.

Under the snow, he would wait for the call on the hearthstone he had downsized into a sliver and stashed in his mask. With the patience of a stone his gaze never wavered from his targets, his hands on twin hilts on his belt, with seventy four more sharp instruments stashed over his entire body, ready to inflict devastastion on those unsuspecting criminals should the word come down.

This calm before the storm, this silence before the screaming, this peace before the chaos, was an assassin's favorite time.

The sun was still at least an hour from rising as Sergeant Miller stood in the office, drinking her fourth cup of coffee for the day. She looked over those who had gathered there, their provisions packed and ready to go. She set her cup down and went over her list one last time, every provision accounted for, every person in attendance, with the notable exception of one Arlston Cross, who had already moved forward to watch the compound.

Many of those assembled leeched upon the fresh brewed coffee on the table like vampires, but overall it appeared as if they had attempted to rest up for the early departure. Tarryn Aedelric did not partake in any coffee, but didn't seem to need any. She was wide awake and fawning over the Sky Golem that she would be piloting. Her partner, Jaynery Lightshield, stood nearby, a glazed over expression on his face.

"Oh. Oh my. Micro analog distributor plugs? How very interesting. And they're connected directly into the asymetric phase coupling injector... which seems to lead to the main motivational manifest manifold... which is connected to the tritonic thera-magnetic flow regulator. I heard this was only proprietary technology, how do they have access to it?" Tarryn continued to chatter about circuit relays and the like, while poor Jaynery stared off into the distance. Calent didn't understand a word she was saying, either, but she was glad that at least one person was excited.

Finally, the last of their provisions had been checked and double-checked, everything in perfect order. She nodded at Marius Elgram, signalling him to get ready with the portal. While the mage prepared the portal, the sergeant took out her hearthstone and quietly spoke into it,

"Are you there, Arlston?" She listened for a moment, a quiet but articulate reply came back.

"Here." Arlston Cross spoke in his typical manner, professional, nearly robotic. "Approximately four hundred yards from compound. Observing."

"Excellent. How does everything look out there?" She should not have been terribly surprised that the assassin had already gotten himself in position, but she was still impressed with his initiative.

"Status normal. Patrols ongoing. No sign of suspicion from within the compound. Weather prospects good." came the quiet reply, he listed each item as if he were reciting a grocery list, his focus never wavering from his targets.

"Good to hear, We will be departing for Dalaran shortly." Calent glanced at Inspector Elgram as he stablized the portal.

"Noted. Recommend avoiding daytime flyovers. Stationed marksmen are on lookout." Calent nodded absently as she listened, she would have to dissuade Lily from flying over the compound, at least while it was light out.

She watched the team gather their belongings and stand in front of the portal, "We will be proceeding on foot from the Westfall Brigade encampment." They had known about the marksmen in advance, thanks to the intel they'd received. Flying to their destination had never been a part of the plan.

"Noted. Avoid northwestern treeline. Current Position." Calent nodded absently again, unrolling her map and noting the position before replying.

"Thank you, I'll be in touch. Be safe, Arlston." She replied, she was able to cover the concern in her tone fairly well. She knew Arlston would be careful, but that wouldn't stop her from worrying about him. She did not need the rest of the group to catch on. She smiled, willing her confidence to overtake her nerves.

"Noted. Will maintain updates. Agent Cross on station." He went quiet, devoting his full attention to observing the compound once again.

"Over and out." Calent spoke into her hearthstone, closing the connection for the moment. She smiled and looked over the group, "Good to see everyone's ready. Please proceed through the portal in a single file line. Ms. Aedelric, please go first. I'd like to see that Sky Golem on the other side."

Tarryn Aedelric eagerly climbed inside the Sky Golem and very gently piloted it through the portal, vanishing onto the other side.

Moments later, the rest of the team emerged in Dalaran. Calent was glad she had brought a warm cloak. The extra layers she wore under her armor had been bothersome only moments ago in Stormwind, but she was now glad of the extra warmth. She bundled her cloak about her and signaled the group to stay put while she arranged their travel arrangements to the Westfall Brigade encampment.

Investigator Marius Elgram's head spun as .. whoever that was[1] ... spat out what appeared to be a random assortment of words that made sense individually, but didn't quite seem to fit in that particular order. It sounded vaguely gnomish, which meant it would probably never actually make any sense to him whatsoever - as soon as people started messing around and putting all that unnatural technology together with the forces of magic, things just got messy.

Well, there was the signal for the portal. Time to get to work. While he brought together the energies and formed them into the pattern, he started to realize he hadn't actually thought much about where they were going - it would certainly be good to see Dalaran again. He hadn't been back once since being accepted into the Watch, there just hadn't been a chance to take the time off.

Looking at the Sky Golem, he realized this would need to be a bit larger than usual. Not exactly a strenuous effort, but he was glad he wouldn't have to maintain it for any longer than was needed to get the team through.

He watched as the mechanical monstrosity marched through, wincing as it hit the energy field. He felt as if he should expect some kind of backlash[2], as if the magic would resent having that abomination in contact with it, but the operation completed without as much as a mana hiccup.

Watching as the party and their supplies entered one by one, he made sure the last was safely through before stepping into the portal himself.

He emerged to the sight of the rest of the party gathered around the Sky Golem. Dalaran. He'd forgotten quite how much it felt like home, despite his issues with the way it had been governed recently. Maybe there would be an opportunity when all this was over to spend some time there, he found himself hoping.

[1] Aedric? Eidelric? Something like that... he really should take some time to get to know people outside his own department some time, he figured, but quite honestly his hands had been far too full of the Conclave murder investigation for the past few weeks to do much of anything else.

[2] Everything he knew said it should work just fine. They'd even tested it with some of the gnomish inventions the Watch utilized. Still, he couldn't help but shake a certain uncomfortableness about it all.

Blinking a few times, Cyndine yawned from her exhaustion; she hadn't slept well, and, atypically for her, she slept through her alarm clock, and barely made it on time. She was thankful that she had the thought of mind to pack in advance, so that her rush to the offices, and to be on time to head through the portal was not in vain.

At the offices, with adrenaline rushing through her veins, and sweating in her cold-weather gear that she wore for the mission, she arrived in time for rollcall. She gave a quiet, curt apology for her rush, and she proceeded to go through the portal when it was her time.

Arriving, she looked around; Dalaran was a fair-sized city, and a city she knew too well over the past few months. She thought about the medical facilities in Dalaran, the ones that worked night and day to save the sickest of soldiers and people in their top-of-the-line medical facilities, the ones that saved Jhayden's life. She wanted to speak with Dr. Felding about Jade's progress, but, depending on when they were going to the mission, she instead turned to Sargeant Miller, and, in a firm, professional demeanor, asked her, "When is our departure for the rescue mission?"

As daylight started to near, a mechanical chipmunk could be heard chirping… loudly. One might think anything of the noise but for the patrolling guards that worked at Nisensi’s headquarters, that sound signaled a much-needed shift change.

Carena sighed as the chirping stopped. She was a bit tired herself but she’d keep herself awake. This rogue was currently in a small attic area that was located above the foyer of the main building. Here, she could listen to the guard shift changes without too much interruptions. However, it was a bit chilly even with the extra layers she wore…

That was another matter to think about later. Her focus right now was to listen to the shift change and hear if any of the tired crew complained. Working the long shifts in the frigid weather had to one of the most miserable jobs anyone could do. There was the rare moan but for the most part, the employees that worked for Nisensi organization-type cult seemed to enjoy their job or at least didn’t outwardly object.

There were reasons for that; she wouldn’t get into them right now. The day patrol guards were about to exit the main building and go on their shift. Occasionally, the humans and dwarves were tired before their shifts began. A few of the night patrol guards had sounded very tired last night. That wasn’t the case for the daytime shift this day; the guards seemed to be awake, very awake.

It had been a few weeks since the rogue had heard the day-shift guards this alert. Granted, she couldn’t see them but could tell by the movement when they exited that they were energetic; possibly to the point of spotting infiltrators. Hmm… this was worrisome. Well, she just had to hope their energy wouldn’t last the entire 12 hour shift.

Why would she be worried about infiltrators when she was one herself? Well, she didn’t want Nisesni to suspect that she was the ‘traitor’. It was very risky for her being here; especially considering her twin brother was a captive.

The rogue had stolen some of the potions and replaced them with brews. Luckily she had framed Quickit for the crime’ whenever Nisensi found out about the threat. And yes, the alchemist discovered and had the paladins search for him. To Car’s surprise, they found his body a few days ago in Stranglethorn Vale. How and why it got there was a mystery… his errand was supposed to have taken him to Ironforge.

A mystery but one that’d she think about later. About the potions she stole, at first she sent them to the overweight pandaren Xing Quai and have her deliver them to Stormwind Watch office. However; after hearing rumors about said stuff breaking and getting the pandaren sick, Car decided she’d risk and take most of the other potions back to Stormwind Watch.

The last time she brought the potion that was responsible for brainwashing; she actually got ill. That wasn’t due to the potions; her Uncle Erdin was visiting Stormwind at the time. He had cooked chicken soup but for some reason had used lobster stock in it. He didn’t know about her severe food-intolerance to the shellfish. As much as Car didn’t like having ‘extremely law abiding’ folks treat her; it was better than going back to Nisensi sick.

Anyways, Car’s thoughts got interrupted. The purely exhausted guards from outside were just coming inside and heading towards the barracks bunks. She smirked; the sounds they made were of ones sleepwalking. Would they even make it to the barracks bunks? Usually they did… however, there was one human guard coming in that suddenly collapsed in the foyer.

Huh… It had been a while since one had actually collapsed in the foyer. Was that one of the guards that was extremely tired last night? That was a possibility… and that’s when she heard a soft ‘flop’ right outside the main building near the entrance. That had to been the other extremely tired guard last night. Yes, she had sharp hearing and from where she was located, could easily hear stuff right outside the building

Interesting; the last time she heard a guard collapse outside was a few days after she first started to infiltrate the organization. That dwarf guard had received a reprimand for it. However, something was wrong with the guard outside. Two of the paladins had found the sleeping fellow and… they couldn’t get him to respond.

Had the guard died? Not from what she was hearing but possibly very ill. The person seemed to be unconscious. She frowned after hearing which the name of the guard. North; he was human and one of the guard who patrolled the perimeter. Recently, she had suspicions that this person might have started to have hesitations about joining the cult.

That meant he hadn’t been brainwashed. Maybe there was hope for him and realize what this cult was really about. That could change if her suspicions are right and those paladins find out. Nisensi ordered hesitant employees to drink potions in an effort to stay and be more ‘obedient.’

Still, that was something to think about later; assuming the human wasn’t sick with a deadly illness. How could he be sick and not anyone else? She didn’t hear anyone else cough and no, she hadn’t poisoned the food supply or anything similar. Car had to keep a low-profile; especially now since there was no one else to frame. The rogue didn’t want to risk the plans she had after all…

Wait a minute; was hypothermia mentioned? Car thought back and might be possible but the patrol guards were required to wear extra layers under their armor. He should have been plenty warm unless… his extra layers of clothes were affected by the bizarre accident yesterday morning after that shift change.

Carena was asleep when it happened but heard all about it. One of Berryrocket’s mechanical critters, a monkey ‘malfunctioned’ and got a hold of vial of pink dye. Then it got inside the barrack bunks room and got dye on a few of the guard’s clothes and one set of armor. Talen took out the mechanical monkey but the dye had ruined the affected items.

One might wonder why would dye ruined clothes? Well… she would get into that later. Ian and Daven had lifted North and were bringing him inside the main building. The guard that was sleeping in the foyer started to stir. Not only that, Car heard the limping footsteps of Talen heading towards the foyer. Hmm… it seems the guard that had been sleeping in the foyer was awake now.

“Merel…” Chief Enforcer Talen’s voice had a bit of an irritated tone to it.

“Sorry sir… I was doing a… quality check of the pandaren rug. It’s still fuzzy and warm.” Merel got to his feet. “Wait, what happened to North?”

“He’s seems to be suffering from hypothermia.” Daven said in quieter voice.

Merel shook his head. “Hypothermia… that’s serious! I should have known something was wrong when he was staggering.”

“Be thankful it’s not the plague of undeath.” Ian commented. “We’ll take him to our area and keep watch just to be sure.” The paladins headed to the end of the foyer and turned right.

“A quick word.” Talen motioned over to Merel. “Did North ask any of the guards for an extra set of warm clothes to wear?”

“No, sir. Was he suppose to?”

“Yes. His warm clothes were affected by Berryrocket’s unnatural ‘creation’. I suspect he wasn’t wearing warmer gear out there. He deserves a reprimand for this incident.” Talen let out a sigh.

“Oh… why didn’t he say something? Any one of us would have let him borrow warmer gear. Unless…“

“Unless… what?”

Merel let out a yawn. “I may have overheard North mutter several curses about his long shifts and regrets about joining Nisensi’s organization, sir.”

“Regrets… how long ago did you hear it?”

“Last night, sir.” Merel yawned heavily.

“I see. It’ll be discussed once he’s awake. Now, get some sleep in your bunk. You got another long shift tonight, guard.”

“Yes sir.”

The rogue listened to Merel yawn heavily while he walked to the barracks room. Talen then started to limp down to where the paladins had their room. A few months after Car infiltrated the organization, Nisensi made a rule that prohibited the guards from sleeping in the foyer. Talen generally made sure it was enforced.

Car then thought about the conversation she heard. She had reasons now to be concerned. North seemed to have regrets over joining the organization and others besides her had noticed. Was that a reason he hadn’t asked the guards for extra layers to wear under his armor? Who knows but it may have cost him.

That human hadn’t been brainwashed but that’d change. Knowing Talen, he was going to let the paladins and Nisensi know of the guard’s regrets over joining the organization. If North didn’t have any deadly illnesses and was able to recover from hypothermia, he most certainly would be given the brainwashing potion; even if was against his will.

She frowned. A majority of the employees here had been affected by that potion. As much as she didn’t want another worker to get brainwashed; she really couldn’t do anything to prevent it. Blowing her cover wasn’t an option in this case. Only thing she could do was wait for that rescue party Sergeant Miller was planning.

Maybe they created something that’d counteract the brainwashing potion. Well, she could hope. When would they arrive? She let out a sigh, it had to be sooner than later. Danner had been moved from the small cage to the other experimentation table in the lab building a few days ago.

He was still alive, thankfully. He had many injuries and was scary thin but he had managed to survive. Her brother was stronger than she thought and that was a good thing. However, even she thought he was reaching his limits.

Nisensi mentioned two nights ago that she was pleased the ‘Vasile Rat’ had woken up quite startled after being restrained on the other experimentation table. She shook her head; she hated that particular nickname the elf had for her brother. The dungeon guards also had a name for Danner, ‘Girlish Soldier’.

How did he did get that name? Well… it had to do with his horse Hiren killed and the fact Danner had been wearing a pink shirt under his plate armor when he was captured. The paladins and guards were convinced the prisoner had been friends with ‘girly’ blood elf and name stuck.

Car was surprised and bit amused to find out the horse had been named Pink Sparkles. Mandi told her that two little human girls had originally named it and Danner had kept the same name to spite Venn. The rogue knew her oldest brother hated the color pink as long as she could remember.

Still, she wondered why Danner’s superiors hadn’t ordered him to change the name. The blood elf mage Car hired months ago to teleport Coriani Arrowind to Thunder Bluff actually owned a dragonhawk hatchling named Pink Sparkles. Hmm... maybe Danner’s C.O. knew he wasn’t the best at naming things. As a young teenager, he had a black cat named Vomit. Poor cat was always sick.

About the pink shirt Danner was wearing, Mandi got that for him as a gift (supposedly he’d wear it around Venn to annoy him). Car wasn’t surprised that Danner had been wearing that color of a shirt; The Vhitaker-Vasile had a saying that ‘real men wear pink’ and two of Car’s uncles did wear pink shirts (both were affected by Worgen curse). She wasn’t sure about the one human uncle she hadn’t met though.

It was shortly after Danner was imprisoned, the dungeons and patrol guards added a rule to not wear anything pink colored. They weren’t allowed to wear red colored shirts, either. Talen told her that wearing red makes the guards too expendable (the paladins were excluded). He at the time cited the engineers as the reason. True, the engineers did wear red shirts and there were many accidents that were often fatal…

Her thoughts drifted back to Nisensi and Danner. He still had the pink shirt on but it was heavily ragged. The elf alchemist also forced a new sleeping potion down him that was supposed to give nightmares early yesterday. That mixture was expected to knock him out for at least a day; possibly longer with all the injuries he sustained. More testing was expected for him along with new plans of ‘procedures’.

Car was worried; especially the bit about the ‘procedures’. No details were mentioned about it but Car noted she heard Nisensi inspecting small knives and other tools including thread at her small table. The rogue had her suspicions about elf wench’s latest plans for Danner and didn’t like the thought of it.

In fact, it angered the rogue to the point where she thought about her weapons. Her right hand briefly checked on her sword; she had it enchanted to be swift. Car briefly had her left hand on the sheath for her pandaren-styled dagger; one that was enchanted so it was lighter in weight. Some duelist rogue tended to use heavier weapon for both hands- not her. She had her reasons for it, ones that she’d not explain right now.

She did carry a few small throwing-knives on her. Yes, a few. She had a higher chance of missing and/or hitting a wrong target due to her eyesight and thought it was a waste to carry loads of them. Her most prized knife was one that actually belonged to her great aunt Tara. The blade was of high quality and it had blue gems on the handle. She kept that one clasped on her shoulder-armor.

Car started to yawn heavily. Yes, she was tired but a bit too irritated to sleep. Nisensi’s newest plans concerned Car greatly. There was a good chance Danner wouldn’t survive the ‘procedures’ if performed on him. This was one situation Car would consider breaking her cover but she didn’t know if she could take out Nisensi if Bran was in the room. He was very dangerous for a paladin…

Nearly every time she had gone to the lab building, he was near the high elf. There was only one time he hadn’t been inside and even then, Hiren was keeping watch. She knew she’d need help to deal with Bran. Hopefully Sergeant Miller’s rescue party would be in the area soon. In the meantime, she’d just have to hope Nisesni wouldn’t do any ‘procedures’ on Danner.

She yawned again. Her irritation was starting to wear off. Maybe she could sleep for a few hours… if she wasn’t so cold. She wore extra layers under her armor and a gray cloak but for some reason, they didn’t keep her as warm as she should be. Was she coming down ill? Hopefully not. She was getting too thin herself but that shouldn’t be a reason…

Anyways, she felt for and grabbed a woolen blanket. Car wrapped it around her and sighed. She should be able to stay warm now. She took off her gray-framed glasses and carefully put them into her large pack. The human didn’t want them to get broken; after all, she had spent lots of gold coins to get these glasses and the other pair. A good investment in her mind.

She was ready to sleep; well, almost. She thought about her Uncle Keeneth and sighed. That was another situation that worried her. He was currently recovering from a broken left leg and right foot. How that happened? Well… the situation was complex and she had to get her Uncle Erdin and Greywell involved from her father’s side of family.

Another quiet yawn could be heard. This was something Carena would have to think about later and besides, her uncles were protecting him. Uncle Keeneth wasn’t in any danger right now. Within some seconds, she was asleep. It wasn’t a deep sleep, a ‘light’ one. After all, she wasn’t a heavy sleeper and any unusual noise could awaken her.

((My apologies it took so long to get up. I've had some RL issues (mainly about a relative's health) that came up. Still, I hope this thread can be finished.

I'll do an ooc description of Carena's gear later. ))

Mazzi Berryrocket was near the workbench inside the engineering room, tinkering. She was small; even by gnome standards but that didn’t stop her from doing work. Except when her tools were occasionally misplaced on a shelf she couldn’t reach but that hadn’t been a problem for the past few weeks.

The gnome smiled as she put screwed the last bolt onto the casing of her latest masterpiece, a bandicoon. It was a mechanical in nature; however, Mazzi made sure the covering of it had real fur of one. About one month earlier, Nisensi wanted a device that could inconspicuously set off a deadly airborne-poison in populated areas of Pandaria or detonate explosives their supplies.

Right away, she decided the devices would be hidden inside of a mechanical creature. It needed to be small and something native to Pandaria; the Valley of Four Winds to be more precise. Squirrels weren’t an option and Berryrocket knew creating a mechanical virmen wouldn’t work. Hani Tara made the suggestion of it being a mechanical bandicoon. She liked the idea and went to drawing up the plans for it, along with a mechanical grasshopper.

It had taken her a few weeks to design the schematics. There were two plans just for the mechanical bandicoon model; one for a plague-poison canister and the other for explosives. Her workbench was covered with wires, blasting powder, casings, froststeel tubes, power cores and detonators.

This particular creature contained a small saronite explosive. The bomb was enough where it could incinerate a person within 3 yards of the detonation. The mechanical bandicoon was programmed where it would seek out a target that was pandaren cub size.

She let out a sigh. Mazzi had been awake for two days straight, finishing up the bandicoon. Nisensi wanted progress being made and this small gnome wasn’t going to fail. She wanted to impress the elf alchemist with her skills. She had created many, many mechanical critters since she had sworn a blood oath and joined Nisensi’s organization. There were over thirty of them in the compound.

This one had to be her best work yet. The best part; her creation had a very low chance of breaking down. If her calculations were correct, there was only a .01% chance of sudden malfunction failure. Far better odds than Banana, the mechanical monkey that broke down yesterday and caused a mess in the barracks bunk room. That beloved creature only had a 2.5% chance of sudden failure.

She frowned. Chief Enforcer Talen took out Banana before she reached the barracks and could fix it. That night elf was in a bad mood at the time. He claimed he had to do what was necessary. The guards had such strange rules. They weren’t allowed to wear pink or red colored shirts.

She actually asked about the red shirts shortly after joining and he told her wearing red makes them too expendable; using the engineers as an example. That didn’t make her happy; that was something that still irritating to her. Like all the other engineers of Nisensi’s organization, she wore a red linen shirt. It was just a color.

Yes, there were frequent accidents here but engineering could be a dangerous profession. There was always a risk when making bombs and such but she was a great engineer and knew how to take precautions. Besides, she planned to live a long, productive life.

“What’s the progress on the latest project?”

“The mechanical Bandicoon is finished, Lady Nisensi.”

“Excellent.”

“Would you like to see a demonstration?” Mazzi asked with excitement.

“Yes, I would to have one done.”

“I can have the test done momentarily if you would like. The small pandaren target dummy was put up last night by the other engineers.” Mazzi shrugged. That’s when she remembered there was a good chance Nisensi would be heading to bed soon, assuming the elf stayed awake during the night. “Unless you wish to have it done later tonight…”

“I’m awake for now. One of my potions hasn’t finished brewing. It’s needed for the Vasile Rat.” Nisensi yawned briefly. “Have your test done momentarily, Berryrocket. If it’s successful, I want you and the other engineers to get started on creating more of them right away.”

“As you wish, Lady Nisesni.”

Berryrocket put away the hearthstone and then carefully picked up the mechanical bandicoon. It was powered off and she would keep it that way until the test. Lengthwise, it was the size of her. It did weight some but it shouldn’t be too much trouble carrying it outside…

---------------------------
The gnome smiled as she carefully placed her creation on the snow-covered ground. She accidently dropped the mechanical bandicoon near the entryway of the main building. Berryrocket checked the device and there didn’t seem to be any damage done to it.

The chief engineer looked around and she wasn’t the only one outside. Several of the dungeon guards were keeping up their weapons training near the big pandaren target dummy, located southwest of the entryway of the main building. Talen would normally be supervising them but he was occupied elsewhere- apparently North, one of the patrol guards collapsed from the cold after their shift.

She overheard the commotion earlier while working on the bandicoon. No guards had fallen unconscious outside since she had joined the organization. It seemed to be a rare occurrence from what she heard from the dungeon guards. Still, she hoped the one guard would recover. Surely the human would want to get back on his joyful duties of patrolling.

Her attention went briefly towards the Alchemy Lab building that was about 18 yards to the northeast. She then looked at the tower building that was even further away. Regulations for the organization stated that engineering bomb tests had to be conducted from at least 15 yards away from any buildings. She went just a bit further just to be safe.

Berryrocket walked over to the small pandaren target dummy slightly west of where she was. It was slightly taller than her or what would around the size of a smaller pandaren cub. It would have been nice to test her device on a fat pandaren but none had been captured. This target replica would have to suffice.

Wait; was it her imagination or did the mechanical bandicoon’s head just move? It had a power switch and she hadn’t turned it on. Mazzi shrugged and figured it was her imagination. She was just nervous, Nisensi would step outside soon enough and she could conduct her test.

She inspected the sleeves of her red shirt and realized she heard the mechanical whirring coming at her. Berryrocket looked and realized the mechanical bandicoon was powered on. Not only that, it seemed to be moving towards her. Wait, she programmed it to go after anything pandaren cub size. She swore there was a safe-guard that prevented it from pursuing her. Had the bandicoon malfunctioned?

O fel!

She took several steps back before turning and attempting to run. However, that failed as the mechanical creature sped and caught up to where she was standing. Berryrocket had a horrified expression on her face as she heard the bomb inside it tick.

This was her supposed to be her latest masterpiece! It should had a very low chance of sudden malfunction failure. Why did this have to happen to her? Hmm... maybe she should have worn a different color shirt.

---------------------------
Not even a second later, an explosion happened right where Chief Engineer Berryrocket had been standing. It may have not been the biggest one but it was enough to heard anywhere on the compound. The two guards that were stationed at the entrance of the alchemy lab building saw the mechanical critter move and before they knew it, boom! The accident happened so quick.

One of the guards, named Jims let out a sigh at the other. There was still smoke from where the mechanical device lit off. He looked at the dungeon guards who definitely had noticed and a few of them were making their way over to the smoke. From the few noises he could inside the lab building, Lady Nisensi and Bran would be outside soon.

Once the smoke started to clear, he could tell that the pandaren target dummy was damaged as it was some feet away. As for Chief Engineer Berryrocket and the mechanical bandicoon, there seemed to be a tiny crater from where she had been standing. The black-haired gnome was most certainly dead. There was very small metal fragments from the bandicoon and mysterious dark spots on the snowy ground.

Jims glanced at the other guard and shook his head. There was one observation he had made since he joined Nisensi’s organization after the Cataclysm. Ever since the engineers started to wear red shirts after Theramore was bombed, there had been a lot of fatal accidents involving them.

The guards were forbidden to wear red shirts- Talen claimed it would make them too expendable. Hmm, maybe the Chief Enforcer was right on this matter.

((I hope it was alright for me to post this. ))

Carena moaned as the sound of an explosion woke her from her light sleep. Where had it come from? The main building wasn’t on fire, or at least she didn’t smell smoke. She also didn’t hear anything near the direction of the engineering room. However, there seemed to be some commotion outside. That must have been where it happened.

Based on the types of noises she was hearing, it wasn’t an attack. The whole place would be in alarm for one. No, the noises seemed to be more… investigative. That told her the explosion had to been caused by an accident and it was likely fatal. They were common but it had had been a while since there had been one involving explosives.

Which engineer was involved? Well, she knew Chief Engineer Berryrocket had been working on her latest creation, a mechanical bandicoon that would have explosives inside it. Car ‘suggested’ the idea after all (Her pandaren contact actually thought of it after Carena mentioned Nisensi’s plans and Berryrocket’s other critter creations.). The gnome hadn’t slept last night or the previous one in an attempt to finish her project.

Hmm, had the gnome finished the mechanical bandicoon and it was the cause of the explosion? Maybe; the more she thought about it, she hadn’t heard Berryrocket’s childlike voice since being awake. The gnome also wasn’t one to let someone else to test her creations. If that was the case, the chance of the newest Chief Engineer had died in the accident was very high.

Not surprising, Nisensi mentioned she had many chief engineers die in various accidents since creating her cult-organization. There had been… two, three chief engineers killed in accidents since Laris was arrested. Huh, had she informed Stormwind Watch about the engineer situation? She couldn’t recall…

Car’s attention was interrupted as she heard Nisensi and Bran outside the entrance of the main building. She heard Nisensi mention something about losing another chief engineer. Knowing the elf alcheimist, she was going to head to the engineering room and have another engineer look over the plans for the mechanical bandicoon.

Nisensi wanted to know how these types of accidents happened while Bran tended to make sure the accidents wasn’t actually sabotage or assassinations. Another reason she kept her a low-profile here, despite the lures of causing 'accidents'.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The rogue was really tired but knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while, as much as she wanted to. Noises tended to keep her awake. Besides, she needed to check out the explosion accident scene before it was fully cleaned up.

With that thought, she felt for and carefully grabbed her gray-framed glasses from the large pack. After they were on, she grabbed her dark mask that covered most of her face (her left eye and part of the right one was exposed). Once that was over her head, she got to her feet.

She had a bit of a headache but she would have to deal with it. She was getting the feeling it could be a long day…

((I got a bit more in-coming. ))