Characters:
Major Characters:
Grey Legion:
Kor'kron:
Daw'gar Stripribs
Supporting:
Grey Legion:
- Overseer Mol'Tsok Scaleflayer
- Overseer Mu
- Legionary Elite Tsukia Wovenleaf
- Legionary Bopalan
- Legionary Criken
- Legionary Zarrin
- Soldier Eyllwyn
- Soldier Gronak
- Soldier Maru
- Soldier Mirajane
Kor'kron:
Minor:
Mentioned:
Prelude
After dealing with a mysterious threat of monsters at northern Howling Fjord, Leugim and Gronak Bladescar spotted waves of Kor'kron worg-riding scouts, the two kept watching the scene from distance, wondering what the Warchief's elite force could be doing there. Among them was Daw'gar Stripribs, the Warchief's herald to the Grey Legion, the orc changed his route as soon as he spotted the undead overseer, riding in the corpse's direction alongside two other Kor'kron. Like his previous meetings, Stripribs' tone was harsh and completely offensive towards Leugim and his forces, which infuriated Gronak, who swiftly brandished his axe, this called one of the Kor'kron's attention, the orc in yellow armor rapidly aiming his iron rifle at Gronak. Leugim and Stripribs then simultaneously ordered their subordinates to cease the hostilities and resumed their talk, Daw'gar wished to bring Leugim to Apothecary Camp for a summit in order to discuss a vital operation that, according to the herald, would decide whether the Warchief should disband the Grey Legion once and for all or not.
Leugim agreed and was about to move when Gronak said he was going to accompany his overseer, Santangelo instantly rejected the idea and ordered that the orc returned to Conquest Hold, an order which Bladescar hesitantly accepted.
When Leugim arrived, he noticed that the Forsaken were tense, merely walking around in a shaken manner instead of performing their duties, the monk wasn't surprised, their camp was crawling with Kor'kron for reasons he couldn't decipher. Daw'gar and Leugim stopped by the bonfire, the overseer questioning the Warchief's Herald about their presence at Howling Fjord, Stripribs unleashed a taunting dark chuckle, merely saying that his "tomb-walking pieces of a brethren" persisted in brewing their infamous blight at full potency, thus the Kor'kron were called to put Apothecary Camp under martial law. This would have made much more sense if their numbers weren't a little too much for such a small base camp of rotten alchemists, Santangelo's already low trust decreasing by each passing moment.
After a moment of silence, they decided to speak about such mission, Leugim analyzed Stripribs' features as they discussed strategies of storming the Alliance settlement of Valgarde after dealing with the skeleton force left at Westfall Brigade Encampment, something in Daw'gar's speech wasn't right, Leugim had discussed military strategy with the orc before, and, unlike these previous occasions in which Stripribs was mostly eager and almost reckless, he was apathetic and indifferent, but his eyes were as furiously wild as those of the Blackrock orcs he brought with him. Santangelo's patience suddenly ended at this torrent of notions, and confronted Daw'gar to know what did he truly call Leugim for, the orc merely grinned and snaped his fingers, all of the Kor'kron at the camp charged at Leugim in an attempt to crush his body with a simultaneous tackle, but the monk's reflexes allowed him to rapidly avoid the attack by leaping over one of the plague containers, causing the Kor'kron enforcers to clash against each other. Santangelo then jumped off the plague container, proceeding to leap off the cliff afterwards.
In order to avoid falling to his demise, Leugim managed to conjure his disk-like mount, flying back to Grizzly Hills for safety, however, he was chased and brought down by four Kor'kron Wyvern Riders, falling a crushing fall south of Voldrune, after rapidly placing his damaged limbs back into place, Leugim picked up his severely damaged communicator, attempting to warn them of the Kor'kron's betrayal and barking orders for them to stay away from Horde territory, the monk wasn't aware that the defective communicator only transmitted a small handful of words which would do the opposite to his will. But Leugim's limited communication was cut off by three of the wyvern riders, one of the beasts landed over Leugim with a descending tackle, the impact not only pinned the corpse to the ground but his communicator also flew away from his hand. Santangelo, however, managed to escape by disassembling himself into three elemental spirits of Storm, Earth and Fire, which took the Kor'kron by surprise. After a brief skirmish, the three Leugims managed to overwhelm three loyalist ambushers and ran off to safety. The last wyvern rider landed in the distance, picking up Leugim's lost broken communicator as he observed the corpse's retreat, the wyvern rider mounted on his beast again and flew back to Apothecary Camp, where he delivered Leugim's communicator to Daw'gar and reporting the monk's escape.
Meanwhile, at Conquest Hold, the day seemed a little more eventful for some of the Legion. Watching Overseer Mu lose her temper on Ralph Trickshots, the husband of Criken that was visiting her at Conquest Hold. For others, they just lazed around, kept sentry or made constant patrols.
Hours later, the communicator suddenly sparked to life. Through heavy static and struggle, Overseer Leugim's voice could be heard, the words of the Apothecary Camp barely making sense. For many of the Legion, there was a nervous feeling within them. This didn't seem like the rescue of a less-than-careful patrol as these ambushes usually been. Something was wrong and the air was thick with tension. Grand Commander Lance Topsail rallied a task force composed of Mu, Tsukia, Bopalan, Criken, Zarrin, Suke, Gronak, Eyllwyn, Maru and Mirajane and gave them the order to mount up. Despite the sudden nervous surge in them, the Legion kept strong as they went to go save the missing Overseer.
Howling Tragedy
As they landed in the proximities of the camp, the sight was only encouraging the butterflies in the stomach they all wouldn't admit they had as they saw local Forsaken, guards and apothecaries alike, lined up like prisoners, faced by guns and pinned with a bonfire behind them. Three orcs stood by as they watched the Forsaken, their rifles pointed to their heads with such precision that a single shot from them would be enough to blast their skulls open.
The Kor'kron Enforcers who took over Apothecary Camp.
One by one, the Legion followed their Grand Commander as he walked ahead to confront the orcs on Leugim's location, but upon arriving at the camp, Leugim was nowhere to be found, a rusted communicator was perhaps the only physical proof that he was there. One of the orcs had a smug expression on his face while the Dark Shaman stood back. The Orc warrior, Daw'gar Stripribs, smirked as he paced back and forth with the Legion, Daw'gar was the Warchief's Herald to the Grey Legion, as such, it was his responsibility to bring Hellscream's command to them. Like the many times he showed up to the Legion, he brought orders from Hellscream. But this time, he also let them know that their efforts to prove themselves in the eyes of the Warchief had succeeded and that the Grey Legion would no longer be disbanded as long as they concluded a final mission to Garrosh: the mission that he claimed that Leugim had done his part to, in order to trick them into thinking Leugim perished in the ambush.
To prove their loyalty to him by willingly giving away their lives. The Warchief made his final verdict about the Grey Legion's fate and deemed them useless and officially disbanded, so their demise was the only good service they could provite to the Horde.
At that moment, the quiet Dark Shaman reacted with a simple growl and a snap of fingers: the Legion being encased in earth prisons, unable to move, no matter how much they struggled, how strong they were.
Suke Wovenleaf seemed to have gained a place in the warrior's eye as he was targetted, the pandaren's angry words making Daw'gar order Suke's release so he could try having his revenge. The Elite Legionary attempted to seize the opportunity to land a furious blow against the traitorous herald, but Stripribs avoided his onslaught and, although the pandaren managed to avoid Daw'gar's counterattack by rolling backwards, his proximity to the Dark Shaman had put him exactly where Stripribs wanted.
Imprisoned again by earthly shackles sprouting from the ground and ensnaring his arms and legs, Suke had no choice but express his hatred and rage by roaring and yelling, as did the Legion, the millions of yells and shouts of the other imprisoned Legion members desiring the downfall of Garrosh and death to the Kor'kron sounding like a pleasing chant of blood and thunder in the loyalists' sadistic ears.
That proved to be the worst fate for Suke as the orcs took advantage. The Dark Shaman seemed to have taken a plague vial of the current blight project that the apothecaries of the base camp had been working on, enchanting it by forcing the power of the subdued elements into the vial through a beam that phased through the glass and fused with the liquid, causing the blight to mutate. After the Dark Shaman replaced the tamp with a sting, one of the Kor'kron guards pulled an apothecary from the crowd by the hair and forced him to approach Daw'gar while keeping a tight grip on the Forsaken prisoner. Stripribs landed several slaps and kicks at the apothecary as he barked orders for the Forsaken alchemist to stab Suke with the sting attached to the vial. In order to preserve what remained of his life, the angered apothecary did so, stabbing Suke's shoulder, the distorted liquid rapidly oozing into Suke's body. Once the Legionary Elite began to agonize, the apothecaries were deemed useless, they were shot in their heads, the bullets, enchanted by whatever dark magic that forged them, ending the connection that kept their spirits to their bodies, officially laid to rest, an unceremonious genocide, such a horrid sight that it could inspire pity towards the betrayed undead.
Suke Wovenleaf post-transformation. Dubbed Stoneslide by Daw'gar.
The powerful new Elemental Plague was forced into Suke's body, and painfully, his comrades were forced to watch as a highly respected member of the Grey Legion was tortured in a horrible transformation. Soon, Suke was not Suke anymore as his body seemingly "exploded" into a earthen monster, a crazed earth elemental with the shape of a dragon: a Stone Drake. The beast, dubbed Stoneslide by Daw'gar, turned to the Legion. As the orcs mounted up and escaped, the Legion was released from their bonds by the Dark Shaman for the sheer pleasure of having them fight against their own.
The Legion took moments to debate how they planned to save Suke and defeat the newly dubbed Stoneslide. Members of the Legion took flight while those on the ground prepared for battle and to heal their fallen comrades.
Stoneslide proved to be a powerful opponent, interrupting all attempts of healing while wreaking havoc, the dire battle lasted for hours. None of the Legion was spared any safety from injuries of his furious bites, tail swipes, wing attacks, or the burns plus bloody cuts that resulted from Stoneslide's blasts of sharp sand, or the trauma that those that weren't war-hardened experienced. But soon, Stoneslide fell and was unable to go back anymore, falling on the ground after finally succumbing to the combined final attack of Grand Commander Topsail, Legionary Zarrin, Soldiers Gronak and Eyllwyn Sundancer.
The Grizzly Front
Meanwhile at Darkfist Outpost, a base camp claimed by the Grey Legion east of Grizzlemaw, Mol'Tsok Scaleflayer walked around the camp in heavy steps, the presence of the undead guards risen from enemy corpses by the Grey Legion's death knights didn't seem to disturb him enough as he went to the post to seek some solitude. However, such solitude was swiftly disrupted as the brainless ghouls of human and ice troll corpses began yelling angrily and desperately, brandishing the weapons they wielded in life and charging against an unknown threat. Scaleflayer followed the sound and stood amid the ghouls long enough to find out where was the threat they found, the overseer watched as a contingent of about ten Kor'kron burned the Grey Legion banners carved in the lower portion of the ramp-like road that lead to Darkfist Outpost, Mol'Tsok swinged his fist upwards, purposefully knocking many of his undead allies away from him, and charged against them, the undead guards following in a similar fashion.
The Kor'kron, also savage Blackrock orcs, who invaded Darkfist Outpost.
The battle raged on for hours, happening simultaneously with the rest of the Legion's fight against Stoneslide, Scaleflayer constantly stabbing the ghoulish guards with his bladefist and using them as meat shields against the loyalists' offensives, switching "shields" as soon as the pinned undead was too destroyed to be used to block, while cleaving their flesh to open deep wounds with several cleaving axe strikes against them. Once he ran out of undead to use, Mol'Tsok decided he had already crippled his enemies enough, taking advantage of his enemies' ensuing fatigue and excessive bleeding, he cut three orcish heads in a single swing of his bladefist, rapidly sheathing his weapon to grab one of the falling corpses by the arm and swing it against a quartet of Kor'kron who were about to slice him from behind, knocking them back. The overseer then hurled the corpse against a Kor'kron who attempted to charge at him, causing the orc to fall on his back, an orc suddenly landed on his feet in front of Mol'Tsok and sliced his stomach, although severe, the wound didn't seem to bother Scaleflayer, but something would: Mol'Tsok looked around him, finally noticing that he was rapidly surrounded by six Kor'kron as he focused on the orc he just knocked down and the one who slashed him.
The scales of the battle were evened by the sudden arrival of Leugim, still divided into three elemental spirits, the Storm Leugim forced the Kor'kron to convulse by unleashing a chain of jade-blue lightning, which upon hitting the first orc, soon spread out to the other five, causing them to fall on their knees, Scaleflayer then kneeled down slightly while unleashing a spinning strike with both his bladefist and his axe, beheading three of the five orcs, the other two managing to roll away and regroup with the other Kor'kron that was pinned down by the corpse of his ally. The trio of survivors refused to yield and charged at the Leugims and Mol'Tsok, the Earth Leugim leapt and landed in front of the three orcs, using his earthly strength to kick them away with a single kick of his heavy stone boot-shaped foot, which allowed the Fire Leugim to unleash a flaming burst of Chi against one of the repelled Kor'kron's stomach, the ensuing explosion leaving a trails of fire and a hole in the damaged area as the orc fell lifeless on the ground. The other two were then destroyed by Mol'Tsok through a simultaneous swing of his axe that cut both the head and the left arm off of the first one, and a frontal slam of his bladefist against the last Kor'kron's neck.
Aftermath
As Stoneslide let out low and agonizing growls of pain, a wind that could only be felt by the monster blew away its earthly body, reducing it to sands that were carried away, revealing the living Suke, more exhausted than anything. Compared to all the things the Legion had gone through that night, he seemed to only be sleeping. It must have been the reason the Legion stood there for several moments, unsure of what to do, what to think.
Finally, the Grand Commander spoke up and gave the order to pick Suke off the floor. As the Grand Commander spoke, it could be felt, the gazes of each of the Legion resting on Lance Topsail. They never realized just how much now they needed to rely on the ones around them now. They had been betrayed and the Legion was all they had left. As the leader, Lance had suddenly become the person to look to in this situation.
The moment of sudden reliability on the Grand Commander was cut off as a call in Mu's communicator reminded the Legion the original reason they had come: to find Overseer Leugim.
Leugim had managed to escape the ambush staged against him and ran back to Grizzly Hills to seek shelter in his squad's outpost, only to find its undead guards dead and Overseer Scaleflayer having to fight against a quintet of Kor'kron elite orcs by himself, together, they managed to fend off the assassins and were on their way to make a "move of their own", which Overseer Leugim refused to reveal for the Kor'kron could be well spying on both.
Using Scaleflayer's communicator to speak to Mu, Overseer Leugim's orders confirmed the Legion's fears: They were not safe in Northrend, or in Conquest Hold that had served as a temporary home. They needed to evacuate the wounded and the sentries that had stayed behind. Again, the Grand Commander spoke up, giving the orders for the sentries to evacuate the Hold and help the wounded, having the Legion move out to Thunder Bluff for safety.
A lot of things changed in the Grey Legion that day. For once, the Grey Legion was encouraged to remove their tabards, hide their faces, and try to keep from being in a group. The Grey Legion was being hunted and its members tagged as traitors for failing their mission: To willingly give their heads to Garrosh. Now, it's the beginning of a new story for the now rebellious Grey Legion.