"Scout Chess? May I speak to you?" Captain Delaryn Summermoon said, her Darnassian accent thicker than a wheel of Telmor-Aruuna Hard Cheese. Delaryn had been charged with the defense of Darkshore against the incursions of the Horde. The Horde forces had gathered at the Zoram'gar Outpost - their goal to capture the World Tree. Malfurion had sent Captain Summermoon to gather the Kaldorei defenders. King Anduin Wrynn had gathered and sent the Alliance fleet to help blunt the Horde offensive, but certain freelance elements had been asked to travel by portal to attempt to forestall the Horde advances until the Alliance fleet could arrive.
Matthias Shaw had, through Elling Trias, met Chess in Stormwind. "Jon, Master Tiras has... postponed your trade mission to Kul Tiras," Shaw had said. "I need for you to put your...discomfort working for SI:7 by the wayside, and take a team of reconnaissance scouts to Darkshire, and operate as a detached unit, like you did in Northrend. I am re-activating in Anduin's name your Northrend commision, Commander Chess." Jon's rank when he had left the Alliance Military had been the courtesy rank of Commander, even though his team of scout specialists had been less than a dozen men, which normally only rated a Sergeant - but detached scouts were granted rank out of the chain of command so that others would not try to give them orders that they would likely disobey or disregard; Recon scouts where notorious for their penchant for independent action.
Chess' reputation had been worse than most. Chess thought that it was the true indication of how desperate measures were that they had reactivated his commission for the current emergency.
Jon had done what Recon Scout commanders often did when they needed to recruit a crack team of operatives in the haste engendered by the Horde offensive. Jon went to the Stormwind Stockade with writs of absolution, and permission to recruit a team of the kind of people that it was impossible to train.
And Stormwind Stockade prisoners were ultimately disposal.
He left without having recruited a single prisoner; Jon was not going to lead a team that he considered disposable. Instead, he sought out Lorixie "Mouse" Lunafare, a gnome cat burglar who had trained with Jon at Ravenloft, and with whom he had served in Northrend. Even with Jon's use of Shadow magic, she was so stealthy that she mad Jon feel like a stomping elephant on a rampage, and while she was not particularly violent, when she did use a weapon, the intended victim was dead before they know they had been dispatched. He had recruited Dane Greyhawk on the recommendation of Doctor Horatio Feldspar, who had described Grayhawk's defense of the Doctor against ravenous dinosaurs in Un'goro. Finally, he had recruited a Ren'dorei named Telcontyr, who was wanted by the Stormwind constabulary in connection with a dozen thefts of expensive jewelry; he had made no secret about the fact that he had stolen the items in question, and had challenged the authorities to apprehend him. The constabulary had not been able to find him, but Jonathan Chess had been a private investigator before he had renewed his employment for Elling Trias as an Agent of Cheese. He had located Telcontyr, and had traded filing a Writ of Absolution with the Stormwind constabulary for Telcontyr joining his team.
Jon had lost Dane Grayhawk when his team had been asked to "confiscate" a large supply of Azerite crystals from Bligewater goblins at Nazj'vel, located south off the coast of the Twilight Shore in Darkshore. Bilgewater gyrocopters had dropped firebombs, and Grayhawk had been rendered to ash. The next morning a dozen Bligewater pilots had been found dead of "steel poisoning" but vengeance had not restored Grayhawk to Jon's team.
Jon shook his head to clear it of the memories. "What do you need, Captain?"
The Alliance fleet was still days away. There was more work to do.
Matthias Shaw had, through Elling Trias, met Chess in Stormwind. "Jon, Master Tiras has... postponed your trade mission to Kul Tiras," Shaw had said. "I need for you to put your...discomfort working for SI:7 by the wayside, and take a team of reconnaissance scouts to Darkshire, and operate as a detached unit, like you did in Northrend. I am re-activating in Anduin's name your Northrend commision, Commander Chess." Jon's rank when he had left the Alliance Military had been the courtesy rank of Commander, even though his team of scout specialists had been less than a dozen men, which normally only rated a Sergeant - but detached scouts were granted rank out of the chain of command so that others would not try to give them orders that they would likely disobey or disregard; Recon scouts where notorious for their penchant for independent action.
Chess' reputation had been worse than most. Chess thought that it was the true indication of how desperate measures were that they had reactivated his commission for the current emergency.
Jon had done what Recon Scout commanders often did when they needed to recruit a crack team of operatives in the haste engendered by the Horde offensive. Jon went to the Stormwind Stockade with writs of absolution, and permission to recruit a team of the kind of people that it was impossible to train.
And Stormwind Stockade prisoners were ultimately disposal.
He left without having recruited a single prisoner; Jon was not going to lead a team that he considered disposable. Instead, he sought out Lorixie "Mouse" Lunafare, a gnome cat burglar who had trained with Jon at Ravenloft, and with whom he had served in Northrend. Even with Jon's use of Shadow magic, she was so stealthy that she mad Jon feel like a stomping elephant on a rampage, and while she was not particularly violent, when she did use a weapon, the intended victim was dead before they know they had been dispatched. He had recruited Dane Greyhawk on the recommendation of Doctor Horatio Feldspar, who had described Grayhawk's defense of the Doctor against ravenous dinosaurs in Un'goro. Finally, he had recruited a Ren'dorei named Telcontyr, who was wanted by the Stormwind constabulary in connection with a dozen thefts of expensive jewelry; he had made no secret about the fact that he had stolen the items in question, and had challenged the authorities to apprehend him. The constabulary had not been able to find him, but Jonathan Chess had been a private investigator before he had renewed his employment for Elling Trias as an Agent of Cheese. He had located Telcontyr, and had traded filing a Writ of Absolution with the Stormwind constabulary for Telcontyr joining his team.
Jon had lost Dane Grayhawk when his team had been asked to "confiscate" a large supply of Azerite crystals from Bligewater goblins at Nazj'vel, located south off the coast of the Twilight Shore in Darkshore. Bilgewater gyrocopters had dropped firebombs, and Grayhawk had been rendered to ash. The next morning a dozen Bligewater pilots had been found dead of "steel poisoning" but vengeance had not restored Grayhawk to Jon's team.
Jon shook his head to clear it of the memories. "What do you need, Captain?"
The Alliance fleet was still days away. There was more work to do.
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