"The First Great War was brutal.
When they came from their Portal, the Orcs outnumbered us tremendously, and even with all of the Orbal Technology, the number of the Greenskins was something that we couldn't defeat alone.
The Orcs were terrible foes, boy...
Every single one of them is a peak warrior, and they are much stronger than we humans... they could regenerate from injuries at a staggering speed, they are physically superior, and their senses are more accurate than those of humans.
The only saving grace is the fact that most of them are stupid.
The Orcs are not known for planning or anything.
When they attacked, they were stupid enough to land at the Freljord. Damm... I was on that island once, and it's a place that I never want to return to. Nevertheless, the number of the Greenskins was overwhelming, and they soon enough started overhelming the Stormwind and Sacred Phoenix Kingdom.
Even though the brain was something that the Greenskins lacked, lack, and would lack... they still had far more than enough power and numbers to compensate for the foolishness. The Orcs were troublesome foes that we held only with the superiority of our Magic, Light, and Orbal.
If not for those, the entirety of the continent would fall to them in mere months.
I personally fought at the 1st Battle of Great Bastion with the Imperials until the bodies of the Greenskins created small hills through their sheer numbers. Yet, despite that, the Orcs just kept coming over and over.
I also fought alongside the Sardaukar... you won't find finer warriors in the entire Imperium or even world than the Sardaukar. They cut through the Orcs with methodical cold precision as every single greenskin was killed until not even one remained.
Yet, even the horrors of the First Great War paled in comparison to what was to come..."
- Records of the Knight Champion Gavinrad the Dire, Unknown Tavern in the Stormwind, Grand Alliance of Azeroth
*
"I... am the reason for the Legion's return. Years ago, I brought the orcs into this world, and by doing so, I opened a path for the demons as well. For my sins, I was murdered by those whom I cared for the most. Despite my death, war raged across the lands of the east for many long years, leaving entire kingdoms devastated in its wake. Now, at long last, I have returned to set things right. I... am Medivh, the Last Guardian. I tell you now, the only chance for this world is to unite in arms against the enemies of all who live!"
— Medivh revealing himself to Aenarion Septim, Jaina Septim, Tyrande Whisperwind, Malfurion Stormrage, Anduin Lothar, Turalyon and Sylvanas Septim before the Battle of Mount Hyjal
***
Valflame Palace, Chambers of the Elder Council
"See... that's why you should never underestimate your enemies, Azula... but this situation is highly problematic. We have one Demigod working actively against the wider Azeroth as he is controlled by Medvih, an entire epidemic of the Evil Cults, and who knows what is running rampant across Azeroth and now the Horde."
Irene said, as everyone here was aware of Aenarion's circumstances... the concept of reincarnation wasn't anything new to Irene, and similar things existed on Earth due to Spiritual practices.
It wasn't that outlandish as it sounded, truth to be told.
"This will require strong cooperation between the nations... something like that wouldn't be done easily... especially with the humans in the north and conservatives in Quel'Thalas. They won't easily join the efforts, and at the same time, humans in the northern kingdoms would be eager to see us wiped out by Greenskins."
June had been Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the past seventeen years or so... which meant she had an excellent understanding of foreign nations and of the relationships between them and the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom.
She knew very well that in the north, in the Lordaeron Continent, the Fire Nation had not lost friends as did the Quel'Thalas and Dalaran, with Stromgarde approaching something that could be termed as a healthy approach for each other.
Yet both Quel'Thalas and Dalaran had their own problems along the way.
"That's why we will do it another way... Once we repel this invasion attempt and stabilize the situation, Irene, you will open the Portal to the Amani Region that would be used as a gateway for the Airship carrying me and the delegation to Quel'Thalas. Most of the High Elves won't be in favor of participating in the war without a proper reason, and this is something that I would need to handle. Anasterian Sunstrider is a reasonable man, but the thousands of years of isolationism among the High Elves made them very reluctant to get involved in anything."
Aenarion planned to personally reach out to the King of the Quel'Thalas and the Silvermoon Convocation after gathering necessary evidence about the origins of the Horde.
What was fortunate was that they managed to re-establish the Council of Tirisfal, which led to the increased participation of the High Elves in the matters of Azeroth, if not anything else, and because the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom had a good relationship with them, Aenarion was confident that he could get them on board.
Dalaran was... mostly the same case, but Aenarion was also aware that Dalaran wouldn't be able to send large-scale military support. They certainly didn't have the numbers, but they had powerful Archmages, far more than Fire Nation had, which was more than enough.
The Orbal Technology would take care of the numbers, but they also needed to account for the powerhouses among the Horde, and Aenarion knew that even in the canon, the Horde had a lot of high-end fighters.
Now he was sure that in reality, their numbers would be even higher.
Right now, his personal priority was to stop some things that he knew would happen from even happening.
"Not only that... Irene can the Psijics do the most comprehensive analyses and autopsy on the Orcs to prove the Demonic Corruption of Fel?"
Aenarion looked at his 4th wife, who was also the Grand Patriarch of the Psijic Order that was basically cultivated by the efforts of Irene and several High Elven Magisters who migrated to the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom.
"I think that I should be offended if you doubt my capabilities in such a simple manner."
Irene huffed, much to his delight, because if he had proof of the correlation between the opening of the Dark Portal and the Burning Legion, then the entire Kingdom of Quel'Thalas would join the war efforts.
Many among the High Elves vividly remembered and were aware of the threat of the Burning Legion, and the Horde was just a pawn for the Burning Legion to invade Azeroth, as Sargeras would never give up this world.
"Excellent. Then, right now, please operate the ODIN System and provide support to Freljord as much as you can. Hopefully, this invading force of the Orcs won't have any of their Warlocks or something else, or this would get really ugly."
The Warlocks of the Shadow Council were extremely troublesome to deal with. Even though Aenarion knew that his nation would be able to deal with them, but the losses would be inevitable.
The Shadow Council is a group of mortal Warlocks that serve the Demons of the Burning Legion. The Shadow Council was formed by Orcs as a clandestine council of the Old Horde, and they held a considerable position, as their leader was Gul'dan himself.
"What is it, Azula?... You look rather pale..."
Aenarion looked at his first wife, who was silent for most of the part of their aftermath talk, which was totally unlike her because well... they were talking about war and killing, which were her favorite activities.
And she was staying silent for almost the entire time?
Something wasn't adding up.
"I-i thin..."
Suddenly, she grabbed her stomach as her body crunched, and she abruptly vomited on the floor. As she was about to fall, Aenarion appeared behind her as he supported her with a worried expression on his face, because he thought that something was wrong with her.
And it wasn't really an outlandish thought, because she was Champion Level Bender and Chi Master, meaning that there were not many things that could make her feel unwell.
"Are you okey? Is it poison?! We are poisoned?"
He asked with worry because the first thing that came to his mind was that she had been poisoned somehow. Even though he had utmost faith in the security of the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom, he couldn't really rule out the possibility of targeted assassination from the side of Medivh, Burning Legion, or some of the Old God cult.
Instantly, Aenarion felt an immense fear when he saw her complex, painful expression...
"I am not poisoned, you dunderhead!! I am pregnant! And now let me sit already."
In a split second, he felt like he was struck by a thunder... coincidentally, this happened several times when he trained with Yoruichi because even though she was at the Hero Level, her Lightning Bending capabilities could easily summon thunderbolts to obliterate her enemies with ease.
He was feeling rather complex emotions right now, because they had been trying for a child with Azula for a very long time. And Azula was also his first crush, first girlfriend, and first love...
She was his little psychotic Fire Princess.
Whom he loved beyond the seas and mountains.
"Y... You are with child?"
He asked with an almost shaky voice as Azula sat down in the chair, and Irene used a spell to clean the mess.
"Yes... It seems that I got pregnant a month ago during that time... you filled me to the brim, so if I didn't get pregnant during it, then something would be seriously wrong."
The former Princess of the Fire Nation looked pretty pleased with herself that she was finally pregnant, as this was her long-lasting wish. Even though Azula wouldn't talk about it out loud, Aenarion knew that she felt really troubled by the fact that she didn't have a child yet.
For someone of her pride, all things considered, she felt like a failure for not giving him an Heir to the Ruby Throne. It was more than evident that the sole child among the Royal Household's Main Line, Erza Septim, wasn't suited for anything related to governing.
She was more of a free spirit and warrior first... that much was clear from the observation, not to mention that, even though she was just eight, Erza avoided the thought of being groomed for the position of Monarch.
That was something that she found tiresome.
Using her father as an example.
Though by the looks of his other wives, it seemed that he was the last person to find out about it. That wasn't actually that surprising... when Irene was pregnant, he was also the last one who found out... or rather, noticed it despite Irene giving out clues.
"Azula, in your current state, you cannot go to the battlefield."
His words were met with Azula's incredulous expression because there was war going on, and she couldn't participate. Well, Aenarion knew that the First War lasted five years, and who knows how long this one would last.
So there would be plenty of opportunities to participate in the war for his 1st wife, but right now, her safety was paramount as she wasn't there just for herself. She also carried his child, so there was no way that she would be allowed to leave the Homeland, and he would feel much safer if she remained within the Wei-Jin for the duration of the pregnancy.
"Tha-!"
She couldn't finish the sentence as Aenarion glared at her with a stern expression, leaving no room for further negotiation. He was sure that his wife wanted to negotiate to at least be allowed to command so she could direct troops, but even that was out of the question right now.
"And don't dare to override my order. I will order Sardaukar to shadow you non-stop, are we clear?"
He knew that when it came to the Sardaukar, they followed only his order. Nobody else, not even that of his family or his wife. The King's Blades listened only to the King and nobody else.
That was the reason why he decided to put them in charge of her protection, or rather, in charge of her "containment", because he was sure that if the Phoenix Guards were the sole troops in doing so, she could pressure them using her authority as Queen.
But when it came to Sardaukar, that was impossible.
"Dammit..."
Azula pouted sadly as he patted her head gently and gave her a kiss on her forehead.
Even she knew that going to the battlefield in her current state wasn't the best idea, but... the craving for fight and blood was something that could hardly be erased because it was engraved in her fundamental being.
"Now then... I will escort Azula to her quarters and speak with Supreme Bashar Sanyo about this situation before joining the relief force."
As Aenarion said that, everyone left the chambers of the Elder Council because there was a lot of work for them to do and even more fights on the horizon. With this moment, the era of peace has ended, and the Era of Warcraft has started.
The First Great War of the Dark Portal would be the starting point of countless wars and conflicts that would come to Azeroth one way or another.
***
Kingdom of Stormwind, Stormwind City, Stormwind Keep
They often called it the "Golden Age of Stormwind".
The current times.
The Kingdom of Stormwind was prospering like never before, with its border stretching through most of the Continent of Azeroth, and with the inclusion of the Stranglethorn Valley, its territory even eclipsed that of Lordaeron.
Formerly the largest human kingdom in the Eastern Kingdoms.
With the development of the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom since the Jungle Troll Coalition War, Stormwind benefited enormously, as it was able to occupy most of the territory that belonged to the Gurubashi Trolls and minor Troll Tribes all around Southern Azeroth.
This led to an abundance of food and other resources, and, along with other factors, especially the Orbal Technology that flooded the kingdom through the Fire Nation's merchants, the population of Stormwind grew exponentially.
Its military was stronger than ever, and they even adopted many Orbal Tech defensive measures that were bought from the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom, Ironforge, or Gnomeregan, making them even stronger.
Yet, the past year was full of peril and tribulations for the superpower of Azeroth.
The recent trap for Stormwind's Royal Magic Corps left them with severe losses, and only because some of the Orbal Detection Devices were not completely wiped out. Still, the losses that the Royal Magic Corps suffered were rather high, and they were very far from their full power, which was highly problematic for Stormwind.
Still, reports of mysterious creatures lurking around the Black Morass, beyond the Great Bastion, in an uninhabited area have recently reached Stormwind. Firstly, they were dismissed as rumors, but after several incidents, King Llane dispatched Marshal Lothar to investigate the situation.
King Llane was currently waiting for the reports from Marshal Lothar in his Throne Room within the Stormwind Keep, which was rebuilt from scratch and armed with tons of Orbal Defenses.
He was discussing the current defenses around their expanded borders with the High Clerist Mara Frodragon, who was one of the first Paladins of Stormwind. She was the current Matriarch of the Highlord House Fordragon, one of the most powerful Stormwindian Noble Houses.
She was a middle-aged woman of unparalleled beauty, wearing bulky armor, long red hair, and piercing blue eyes. She was also second-in-command of the Holy Order of Northshire Clerics, or Clerics of Northshire, that were slowly being transformed into the Stormcast Paladin Order of the Kingdom of Stormwind.
A clerical order, comprised of clerics, priests, and paladins based at the Northshire Abbey, in the Northshire Valley of Elwynn Forest. It was a branch of the Church of the Holy Light dedicated to the cause of the Kingdom of Stormwind.
"Your Majesty! There is an urgent report from the Fire Nation!"
Out of nowhere, one of the Court Mages that was placed in charge of the Orbal Communication Network between the various nations burst into the Throne Room with a very worried expression on his face.
King Llane hurriedly took the message and started reading... the more he read, the more disturbed he became, because he knew that this must be connected to the rumors of the weird green creatures that he sent Anduin to investigate.
And now, just after he sent his friend and brother-in-law to investigate the situation in the area... There was an enormous attack on the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom consisting of more than four hundred vessels and an unknown number of hostiles.
He was sure that the Fire Nation would repel the attack as their military was the strongest in the world and on the same level as that of Quel'Thalas. In recent years, many scholars debated who would emerge victorious in the war.
Many were of the opinion that Quel'Thalas had comparatively stronger military per se, but the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom had much better military doctrine, experience, and most importantly, a mindset for waging war.
It was true that most of the High Elven population of Quel'Thalas was lazy, indulged, and not interested in the military or being soldiers. That was the main reason why even the might of Quel'Thalas had problems quelling down the Amani Tribes.
Only the House Windrunner was fully dedicated to their task of exterminating the Amani Trolls, which they had been doing for the past seventeen years. As one of the most influential Noble Houses among the High Elves, the Windrunners were the most pivotal voices for the greater mobilization of the Quel'Thalas and initiation of the final war against the Amani Trolls.
Especially the current Ranger-General, Sylvanas Windrunner, was a war hawk like no one else, and she pushed deeper and deeper into the Amani territory. Personally implementing the Orbal Weaponry in the most destructive and deadly ways against the Amani Trolls.
"Summon the War Council and send a message that Stormwind is in a state of war with!"
King Llane said in a heavy voice because it seemed that the times of peace were coming to an end.
Well, for the past seventeen years, there has been relative peace within the Eastern Kingdoms as a whole, aside from the occasional raids of the Amani Tribe after the Quel'Thalas started pushing against them strongly, bolstered by the Orbal Tech.
"I would appreciate it if you would join the meeting as well, Lady Fordragon, as it seems that this would be around the thing that we were talking about. As we are speaking, the rumors of the greenskin humanoid that has been attacking our colonies in the Stranglethorn Valley are true... right now, they are attacking Sacred Phoenix Kingdom's island of Freljord."
It was almost shocking how much irony this entire thing was.
Nevertheless, King Llane also knew that he had to honor the alliance that Stormwind had with the Phoenix Kingdom, and he also knew that if they were being attacked through the sea, then the next targets would be the Great Bastion and Stormwind's own frontier.
"Of course, Your Majesty, the Paladins of the Holy Order of Northshire Clerics await your command. Many of our Paladins are itching to be tested in the field of combat."
Most of the Paladins came from the various Knight Lineages and Knight Households, so they were already pretty skilled with the use of weaponry. Coupled with the Holy Light, they were a real force to reckon with.
What was most peculiar was that, unlike its northern counterparts in the Lordaeron Continent, the Holy Order of Northshire Clerics were rather friendly to the Imperial Cult. The Imperial Cult was even generous enough to share some of their lore with them on how to use the Holy Light more effectively and offensively.
"I am glad to hear. We need to mobilize the Royal Guard and Magic Corps to be ready to join the fight. Mage Forian sent a message to the Wei-Jin that Stormwind has received the call and will answer. Once we mobilize, we will march to the Frontier."
The Stranglethorn Valley was the Frontier of Stormwind.
A well-defensible place, which would be a literal nightmare for anyone trying to attack it without a ridiculous amount of siege engines or unparalleled might. Stormwind even paid an exorbitant amount of gold to hire Engineers from Ironforge and the Fire Nation to create a second Great Bastion.
Now called the Stormfall Wall.
***
Sacred Phoenix Kingdom, Freljord, Howling Abyss, Some Time Later
The entirety of the city of Howling Abyss was mostly empty right now as the citizens of the kingdom were ordered to either hide in the shelters or join the Provincial Guard as auxiliaries to fight in the defense of the kingdom.
Within the entirety of the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom, even the civilian population knew very well how to fight and defend themselves. The Fire Nationers were always a highly militaristic and warrior-like society, even before Aenarion became the Fire Lord and then, at a later date, the Phoenix King.
Most citizens were trained in the martial arts or joined the army. Their military was very large, and from their overall population of more than four million, more than 10% of the entire population was currently serving in the Armed Forces.
Then, another 40% of the whole population was affiliated with the Armed Forces in one way or another, as they were employed in related private-sector branches that were doing something with the military.
This played to their advantage because when they were attacked, basically every able man or woman, in the case of need, could join the defensive forces and fight like any other soldiers.
Obviously, the civilians only served as Auxiliary Troops, which meant they were assigned positions behind the actual defensive lines and were tasked with less dangerous duties, as the primary fighting was always left to the Army.
Not to mention, the Orcs here were landing at the Freljord.
The home of the most dangerous flora and fauna, as well as home to the Partas Tribe.
Here, even children as young as six knew at least ten to fifteen ways to kill someone, because of their hunter-like society that placed utmost importance on strength and hunting.
Esdeath was personally overseeing the mobilization of the Legions, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the Provincial Guard.
The Provincial Guard, also called the National Guard, was a group of soldiers tasked with defending their Province against threats and assisting the Royal Military Police and the Department of Homeland Security in securing their areas and the Fire Nation.
Each Province had their own Provincial Guard that numbered exactly ten thousand men.
Most of the Provincial Guard were civilians who were rotating on duty; in this way, the Fire Nation could train and uphold military standards across as wide a population as possible.
Right now, she has around 170 thousand troops under her command. Most came from the Royal Legions stationed in the Freljord, which was pretty fortunate, as the 9th Legion was supposed to leave the Freljord and go to the Great Bastion next week.
Three Royal Legions consisted of 150,000 Legionaries. Then she also had a few thousand members of the Khaos Brigade, around twenty of the Phoenix Crownsguard, several hundred members of Imperial Military Police, and Imperial Bedning Legion.
The Sacred Phoenix Kingdom boasted of a standing army of half a million...
In terms of Royal Legions, as the population of the Kingdom shot up exponentially during the past seventeen years due to high encouragement to have children and a selective migration policy that brought another few hundred thousand people to the Kingdom, mainly from Stormwind and Stromgarde.
But also a lot of sample Knightz Households from Lordaeron, Gilneas, and Alterac.
Obviously, everyone was subjected to an extremely rigorous vetting process.
Aside from these numbers, Esdeath also commanded the Provincial Guard of ten thousand, mostly consisting of the members of the Partas Tribe and another 30,000 Auxiliary Troops recruited from the fighting-able men and retired soldiers on the Freljord.
The 4th Naval Fleet had 12,750 Royal Marines on it, and the 4th Air Fleet would return hopefully soon. There was also one Sadality of the Holy Templar Order of the Secret Fire on the island, commanded by Knight Champion Alexandros Mograine, who was returning to the Homeland and some Psijic Mages here and there.
Right now, she was in a meeting with her Father, Ezran Partas, the Patriarch of the Partas Clan and Governor-General of the Freljord Province, General Liver Partas of the Khaos Brigade, Knight Champion Alexandros Mograine of the 1st Sadility of 1st Retinue of Vindicator Chapter, and a few other officers.
Generals of the 7th Royal Legion, 8th Royal Legion, 9th Royal Legion, and Admiral Yueya of the 4th Naval Fleet were connected through the Orbal Devices.
"Now, according to the latest information, enemies have split into several smaller groups... even with the capabilities of the Naval Forces, we won't be able to block the landing, and at least half or more will make it to the island."
Esdeath opened the meeting, and with the first sentence that she said, she managed to put gloom and dread into every person. Though it was more than obvious that with the sheer size of the enemy's fleet, their own fleet wouldn't be able to stop the greenskisn from landing.
Every Naval fleet consisted of 1 Flagship, 3 Battleships, 5 Dreadnoughts, 10 Cruisers, 25 Destroyers, and 12,750 Royal Marines distributed across the entire fleet. Despite its smaller numbers, all ships were made from metal and were armed to the teeth with the Orbal Weaponry.
"Capability of the enemy ships?"
Admiral Yueya asked about the combat capabilities of the enemy ships, because a considerable part of the defense would still take place at sea. She was an Admiral from the generation of the old Fire Nation and a powerful Firebender on her own.
She was a beautiful woman with long black hair and green eyes who looked to be in her thirties, but she was much older than that due to taking RegenX-E, which prolonged her life and youth.
She maintained her body in a prime condition.
"Not much... aside from crude catapults and scorpions, but that's all that we could gather. Most of their ships are made from wood, crude by any design, as it's evident that they were made primarily for transportation instead of naval combat. Still, their number is around ten times our number."
From the viewpoint of many, this wasn't really the worst outcome.
"Reporting to the General, the coastal defenses are activated and prepared for the fight. The Provincial Guard will withdraw to the closest fort once they start disembarking in greater numbers."
Commander Ragnar Partas reported to the meeting room as he was in command of the Provincial Guard. He was also Esdeath's younger brother and Heir Apparent to the position of Patriarch of the Partas Clan.
He was a young man in his mid-twenties, with small blue hair like Esdeath and Ezran, and a goatee, wearing traditional heavy armor of the Partas Tribe that was created to provide the best defense and also keep a person warm in the cold, freezing enviroment of the Freljord.
"Good. Your task will be to lower their number as much as possible during the landing and let the wildlife take care of them until they arrive at one of the forests."
One of the advantages of the Freljord was that there were only two settlements.
Howling Abyss, which was the provincial capital, and then Howling Abyss Harbor, which served as a docking depot for the Naval Fleet and Air Fleet. Due to this, the entire island was very easy to defend, as they didn't need to stretch their forces across the entire island too thin.
"Shall we lure some of the Yetis and Balestriders toward them?"
Esdeath's father asked as everyone had the same gleam in their eyes.
According to the preliminary information, they would be outnumbered 3 to 1, as those ships carried approximately half a million Orcs. Only Esdeath knew that this was the worst-case scenario, because it meant that there should be at least five million Orcs that crossed through the Dark Portal to reach Azeroth.
Orcs bred fast.
They needed only a few months to reach a state where they could fight and be physically as strong as elite Mortal Level soldiers of Azeroth. This was the speed of reproduction that no other race could even hope to match, and given the physical advantages of the Orcs, they needed to be defeated faster than they could obtain a stable foothold in Azeroth.
And on the other side of the Dark Portal, there was an enormous popiulation of Orcs of tens of millions, according to Aenarion.
All gathered under the single banner of the Horde.
The might of the entire race united under one banner that now marched upon Azeroth with the intention to conquer the entire world.
"Yes... Either they will greatly lower their numbers overall, or they will kill their experts... either way, it's playing into our cards splendidly. Now let's talk about the main defensive line around the capital and the harbor."
Everyone then looked at the map of the island, displaying the landmass of the Freljord.
Esdeath knew more than she was allowed to say out loud because it contained some top-secret information of the Kingdom. She knew very well that the Horde was anything but weak, and they would be bringing a lot of powerful Warriors and Warlocks among their ranks.
"The 7th Royal Legion will take care of the harbor with more reinforcements on the way. The rest of our forces will congregate around the Abyssal Maw and the main fortresses. Our priority is to inflict as many losses as possible on them while guarding the city and harbor. Until the reinforcements are in the vicinity of the Freljord, we won't be counterattacking the enemies."
Esdeath was aware that right now, defense was their best offense. They were fortified in the Freljord like a turtle, which was a standart for any settlement or city of the Sacred Phoenix Kingdom.