The Banana Saga, Part 4: Swarming the Compound 

The Approach

Sergeant Sally crept through the gorgeous autumnal scenery of Azshara. As she took it in and watched the deer spring by she almost forgot her mission. For a fleeting moment she even forgot what it was to be a gnome; so few of which take the time to appreciate the natural world without asking how they can improve on it with technology.

That was, at least, until she caught sight of Trade Prince Gallywix‘s ghastly stone statue of his own ugly face in the distance, and the rivalry between the two races boiled up inside her and, more importantly, set her mind back on the task of  ending his corrupt operations in Gadgetzan.

Pressing on to her destination, she clambered over one last hill. There it was: the Bilgewater Banana Company’s plantation. From her elevated position she could just about make out the banana trees over the high fence, along with the storage house parked right in the middle of it all. “Good” she thought to herself, “there’s my target. Now how to get inside?”

The Team

Mere moments after setting her mind to the problem a Locust flew by being chased by a Bug Collector. She watched politely as the old gnome swung this way and that with his net, eventually capturing the tiny critter and cramming it in a jar.

“Phew” he said jokily to her, “my boss wouldn’t have been happy if I had lost that before we started.”

Upon hearing ‘the boss’ Sally instantly assumed he meant Gallywix and crept her hand down towards her pepper spray (or “Noggenfogger’s special brew” as it was labelled).

“Hey, you’re police too!” the old gnome noticed. “I didn’t know we had reinforcements. What unit are you from?”

‘Police?’ Sally thought. There was no way Gallywix would be involved with law enforcement, so she let down her guard and answered “Gadgetzan P.D.”

“Ooh, come over from the big city eh? Makes sense the princess would have tipped you off while she was over there. I’m from the Gilnean Special Winged Arthropod Team, or SWAT, myself. Come, I’ll take you to the others.”

The gnome guided her through the thicket to a secluded clearing not far from the compound’s entrance. There she met the Gilnean Chief Inspector, who while surprised to see her was more than happy for the extra support. Aside from the SWAT team and its accompanying Swarm of Locusts, they had roped in a couple of Questing Explorers and a certain Leeroy Jenkins sitting quietly on the grass.

The Plan

Sally soon learned the Gilneans were there primarily to rescue Houndmaster Shaw, who had been brainwashed by a Cult Master and set to work as the compound’s guard along with his pack of hounds. Rescuing him certainly wasn’t going to be easy, not with all his dogs guarding him and the local Lynxes taking advantage of anything they miss.

The inspector had marked on a map of the compound everywhere his scouts had seen guard dogs roaming or Sightless Rangers hidden in the trees. “So many dots” Sally muttered to herself. “Do we at least have a weapon?”

“Of course. Take some of these Desert Spears. Throw it at your target and a locust will follow."

Sally looked up at him with a furrowed brow, clearly doubting what he just said. 

"Trust me, it works. Anyway, the aim is for the locusts to harry and distract the guards long enough for us to get in, grab Shaw, and get out. We’ll worry about saving his mind later.”

“Hmm, do you think there will be time enough for me to get into the vault? Saving Shaw is one thing but we need to know what’s going on in there if we are going to shut it down for good.”

The worgen shook his head. “I doubt it, but maybe if we deploy the swarm tactically we can buy you some more time.”

The 'Execution'

Several iteration in and glaring issues remained with the plan, but as much as they wanted to work them out, they were not given the luxury of time as the hitherto silent and motionless Leeroy stood up, calmly said “Time’s up, let’s do this” and recklessly ran straight into the compound screaming his own name.

“What the -?! Dammit. SWAT team, go go go! If we don’t go now the whole operation is a bust.” Yelled the worgen, and within moments the sky filled with a swarm of insects.

“Perfect” Sally said, first sarcastically, then a second time with a cheerful grin. “Of course! I dealt with the chaos of three warring factions back in Gadgetzan. There is no better cover during battle than the appearance of being harmless and neutral.”

Taking advantage of her situation and expertise, she scurried through the compound, dodging cats, dogs, bats, bugs, rats, monkeys and - to her surprise - a couple of dragon Whelps as she made her way to the storage house. At the door she brought out a little gnomish gizmo to crack it open, then stood aghast as she saw the dangerous power that lay inside…