Blizzard has been kind enough to give us 20 Murloc Space Marine Pet codes to give away in a contest of our choosing! Since the Warcraft universe is so rich in lore and storylines we decided to have some fun with it and give Grunty some lore of his own - player created of course!
Without further administrative banter; here's our Murloc Marine Contest:
Grunty The Murloc Marine first showed his adorable little face at Blizzcon 2009, and has been capturing the hearts of Azeroth ever since! Despite the vast popularity of this little gun-toting stud, most people know very little about his past.
Who is Grunty?
Where did he grow up?
Who makes ammo that small?
We set out to find out as much as we could about the origin of everyone's favorite pet. While researching Grunty, in the oldest of archives here at the Curse HQ, we came across a newspaper clipping from the Azeroth newspaper about a mysterious little fella found in the woods by a group of Worgen and Goblins who were heading home from Blizzcon 2009! Unfortunately the article comes to an abrupt end without telling us what happened to him after the Worgen and Goblins found him, take a look:
So here's where the real questions lie, did the Goblins take little Grunty home? Did the Worgen? What happened as he followed his new found parents around Azeroth? Did he ever grow up and will we see him in StarCraft 2?
To enter the contest:
For this contest it's your job to write about how Grunty got to be in the Anaheim woodlands and, given what we know about the Goblins and Worgens, expand upon who Grunty went home with and why. Did he think he'd feel more at home in Gilneas or were the Lost Isles the place for him? Talk about some of the things Grunty has to do to traverse the lands of Azeroth to get back to the Universe of Starcraft - does he fix up a Draenai ship? Are there hidden portals to other Blizzard worlds? Be creative and include lots of details!
Winners will be selected by Curse staff on November 1st, and will be graded on creativity and the amount of work put into creating the story. Winners will receive their Murloc Marine Code via private message on Curse.com.
Please post all entries in our Murloc Marine Contest Thread!
Comments
On the way back to the Science Vessel, the waith pilot noticed that the little murloc had some potential to be a strong marine. He told the science officer of how aggressive he was in the ship, and they all decided to observe him to see how he would fair in training. The choice came down to allow for the training, and if successful, the Terrran would take more murlocs from the planet and make more little marines for attacks on the Protoss. While going to Silithis, the wraith pilot noticed a small area in Desolace that would work as a training area for little Grunty. He prevailed in all the exercises, and started taking commands. Now the proiblem was to find a way to make the small weapon, and the ammunition that would be needed. Grunty was then placed in the wraith and was looking for areas that would get the materials to make the gun. As he neared Stormwind, there was a load cannon fire that erupted from the ground. The pilot forgot to trigger the cloaking device, and was spotted by a guard who order the firing. The wing was hit, and the wraith went down. Grunty was able to escape the crash before the vehicle hit. When the wraith hit though, it blew up into tiny pieces, and the humans of Stormwind were not able to find the parts. Little Grunty was knocked unconscious. There was a group of Worgen that were coming through on their way to Duskwood. They happened upon Grunty and took him to Gilneas. While there, a gnome had seen the little guy, and while he was small himself was able to form a gun from the saronite from Icecrown. The alliance had seen the use for Grunty with his little gun, and the ammunition was made from the saronite as well. Then there was an attack on the Dark Portal. The alliance dispatched little Grunty there to help fight back the Burning Legion. As the battle was being won, Grunty ran though the protal, where he was noticed by another wraith and was taken to finish his training to become a mighty maine. The whole ordeal was labled a success by the Terran that they came to get more murlocs, and the Grunty marine was born for covert operations against the Protoss.
One hunting day Ahlurglgr asked the younglings to help him retreave some clams, one of those younglings was Grunty. As they were out fishing in the trenches everything started to shake! Rocks fell and big openings appeared in the mountain,out came UNDEAD MAKURA! They went cookoo and started destroyed huts and stealing clams and the younglings expect 1...grunty!
When the earthquake happened he managed to climb apon a floating ice-berg only for the waves to send him away....for days he floated south and he noticed the tempature started to change..and there were many islands with tiny green things on them. Night came and the suns rose when suddenly he could see a very large land in the distance...it was THE EASTERN KINGDOMS! He got closer and closer to the shore but something caught his eye, a large island surronded by walls,was that howling?..it might of been nothing..as the fog made it impossible to see clear. The ice kept drifting down the shore south for miles until again he started to see palm trees and more green people that were yelling at him! They swam out pulled him in and tried to talk to him "GRRRGGAGR?", it didnt work out..so they thought they would just send him to their study centre...and because of a rocket accident :( the centre ened up in space! So they strapped him up..lit the rocket pack and boooooomed he went up!
When he got into space he htoiced a giant metal ship with flashy lights. He landed on it and the little green men went to help him out when..."KICK" "punch" "flips n stuff" Grunty beat them all up! The security officer came out and said the words that changed him life "He could be a good fighter" They took him in, fed him did some test and by the end of the week he was, a murloc marine. Because the lil green people were so small they were able to construct small armor , guns and ammo for this little guy. After briefing they got word from thrall that undead were breaching kalimdor so they decided they should send Grunty down to help. They put him in the launch pod and shot him down, execpt he didn't quite go to Orgrimmar
he ending up in Elwynn forest. "Pop" the door of the pod came off and he jumped out ready for action but there was no one around, they were at the BLIZZCON EVENT AT STORMWIND!..(or was it cailiforna?:) He knew he landed wrong so he started to cry and think around him mom GIRGALAHG and his friends GORG AND HIGSG..it was too much for him to think about..so he passed out only to be found by people with more flashy objects than the people at the study base! And that was how Grunty was found................
Serveral years later, Grunty left the isles to find his place in the world as a parting gift the Draenai who raised him as a father gave him a powerful armor, and a weapon unlike any other. Grunty would soon be a legend to the murlocs. He traveled to Ironforge, where he began his quest to alliance with gnomes and dwarves. He seeked out the King of ironforge to gather the Alliance leaders. A few days later a meeting was held, Grunty proposed to be the guardian of the Alliance and to travel wherever they went, they explained to Grunty that he was to small and weak to even think of such things but they said " You may travel with one of our younglings to raise and protect them ." Grunty was not upset but rather intrigued he would like nothing less than to quest with the Alliance. After this proposition, Grunty asked the same of the Horde and was given the same answer. Grunty then would have to choose the Alliance or the Horde!
He was deployed on a scouting mission from deep space by his Terran Commander, his as his ship approached Azeroth the vessel began to fall apart in the atmosphere. He quickly ejected and landed hard knocking his head. He awoke on the shore of a small river, in the distance he saw a large city with an enormous castle behind tall brick walls, he stumbled out of the gully and found himself a dirt road and decided to follow it. He soon found himself by a road sign, his stomach grumbled as he peered up to the multiple arrows and saw "Golden Shire" "Stormwind" and "North Shire" pointing up the road a ways, he decided to investigate. He trekked not far before coming upon something coming up the path. He dived into the bushes, drew out his rifle and waited. Before long the figure walked up to the place where Grunty had been standing and stopped turning and looking around slowly. He recognized the being as a human. The Terran forces were mostly made up of these creatures except for him and his brethren of the Murloc race. He waited with bated breath as the Human turned toward him, his scanner informed him it was a human female and its threat level was a mere 7, so he stumbled out of the bushes. The human mumbled some nonsense to Grunty and pointed at him giggling, She reached into her bags and pulled something out holding it in the palm of her hand. She lowered her hands to the ground and opened them. Grunty's visor began to flash red in warning as a tiny zergling charged toward him. He raised his rifle and began firing and retreating... This world was already corrupted by the Zerg, he was too late to save this place, they must have enslaved all of these humans. He had to escape. He started to run double time, the zergling was hot on his tail, nothing he could do would shake it. Off the path in a world he didn't know Grunty had no idea where to go or what to do. His com was broken due to the crash landing. He bolted south when suddenly something horrid wandered into view. His scanner peaked and the red flashes went off again. Was it another Zerg? no this was much worse... The scanner rang up the info on this horror before him. Threat level 11+, a health level of 666. This furry beast before him, according to his scanner, was the ferocious Hogger! Grunty dove behind a tree, the beast had not seen him. But he could hear the zerg diving through the bushes close behind him. There was only one chance. The zergling burst forth through the bushes snarling and gnawing its deadly teeth. Grunty took aim and opened fire on the Zergling and it charged him. Each pace it came it shook as lead filled its terrifying body. It dove into the air pouncing on Grunty as it landed he prepared to fire, but the beast lay limp on him. He had won! But now a greater threat sounded the evil barking laugh of Hogger boomed in Grunty's ears as the monster crept toward Grunty. He let out a battle cry "MRGRLRLRL" and suddenly he heard the sound of 100s of other battle crys! Murloc Marines were flooding onto the scene, letting loose their hot lead and firing on the towering monstrosity. The battle was great, a majority of Murlocs lost their life battling the legendary Hogger. Grunty along with less than a dozen others survived barely. They told him they came once the ship set out an automated distress signal, and they were ready to take him home. But he knew what he had to do. He told his brothers and sisters that he had to stay, to rid the world of Azeroth of the plague of the Zerg. They admired him and among them he is still a hero to this day. But on this day a new choice lies before him.
The Noble Worgen or the Curious Goblins. The worgen leader turned to him, it appeared to be concerned with him, it shifted and slowly began to shirk its fur withdrawing into pink flesh, its hope was to be less of a threat in this form. They were a Human! Grunty thought back to the human that let loose a zergling onto him, the worgen couldn't be trusted. As he took am and placed his finger on the trigger something happened. An explosion loosed and knocked the worgen back, the fur growing quickly again with a yelp and a growl it tucked its tail between its legs and bolted. The goblins giggled and held up a hands full of grenades and sticks of TNT. They waved over to him and he waddled to them smiling. He chuckled softly at these strange new creatures and they're funny ways. They had protected him without cause or reason. They were to be his new allies. He found great comfort in their place of home, an interesting island full of other goblins along with their friends in the Horde. Grunty quickly made many friends with all of the goblins and their friends. And learned of the great wars of the past and the path of peace the horde was trying to reach. He learned of the trickery the Alliance played with and the corruption they spread among not only the horde but their own forces. Grunty was then admitted into the horde with special honors from the leader of the Horde Thrall himself. He continues to fight both the alliance and the zerg for a hope of someday finding peace in Azeroth.
Dazed by the intense bright light, he was frozen in sheer fear of what it was. After a few seconds of sitting there, which seemed like an internity to him, two humanoid men grabbed him fighting them all the way, they where taking him toward the light. Exhaustion over took him and he passed out.
He awoke to another light shinning in his face, with people walking back and forth around him which he could not understand what they where saying. He tried to move but with no use, he was being held down by some sort of device. Still with people coming and going none came near him until finally one walked up and injected him with something he tried to struggle but still it was no use. He passed out again a few minutes later, but awoke about an hour later. This time he awoke and somthing was different, some how he was starting to understand what the people where saying. This went on for days, getting injected with something and passing out, waking up to new to sensations and abilities. One day before he got his injection he over heard a man talking to another, saying the experimant is going well. The one man kept talking to the other, from what he got, they where at war with somebody.
After peicing everything together, they where the United Space Consortium, at war with another alien faction, and the sceintist where trying to genically alter a lower life form. Basically they are trying to mass produce soldiers, to help fight the war and he was the first test subject. After about a month he stopped receiving injections, and they started showing him how to use objects which where the basic items for the equipment he was going to be using , which they where impressed by how easy he picked things up. Finally one day they came in and started having him put all this gear on, which he had never seen before, but all seemed formilur to him. They finally finished by putting the last peice on, that went on his head, he didnt like it at first, because it was dark inside it. Finally a little light came on in front of his eyes, which calmed him down a little, things started appearing in front of his eyes, pictures, and colors.
They finally escorted him to a ship, to where they where taking he did not know. After he got on board, he heard them saying that this going to be a live trial run for him. After they had launched everything was fine, but about a couple hours after, enroute to their destination they where attacked by the other faction. They managed to escape but the ship was badly damaged, and for his luck the only habitable planet was his home world. On renetry the ship was to damaged to land, and they had to get into the escape pods, one of the men grab him and threw him in a pod, just before the door closed the man gave him a gun and the door shut. With a huge jolt he fell on the floor, the pod had launched; gathering himslef back up he looked out the tiny little window to see what was going on, with a flash he was blinded like the first time he was taken. The ship just exploded, but in that few seconds, he didnt see any other pods leave.
Within a few seconds later he could see a red glow threw the tiny window, he was coming into the atmosphere of the planet. Shortly after lights where going off inside the pod, and a automated voice was saying that landing procedures have failed, for the moment he was more curious about where the voice was coming from, seconds later the pod crashed. He awoke with a spliting head ache, but didnt know how or where he was, things seemed formilur to him inside the pod and some how got the door open and crawled out. Falling onto the ground and looking up it was another bright light, but this was easier to focus on with a warmth to it. Looking around he saw himself in a wood area with a stream near by. But still with a head ache, he couldn't remember how he got in the pod, or how he got to where he was. Not knowing what to do, he grab the gun the man had gave him and headed off in a direction. While walking away he turned around and looked back at the pod, thought to himself, maybe one day i'll remember.
The world, torn with anguish, in a state of "Cataclysm", was a ticking time-bomb, and in hopes of the Blood-line to remain, Queen Mrgglrg was attempting to find a way to return Grunty to the past, to protect him from the horrors in the present. The Murlocs did not believe in technology, and thus, never wanted to evolve from the old ways, and with this loss of tinkers and futuristic items, there was only one way that Grunty could be placed in the past, and that was through a Time Warden, Murlocs who are heavily close to time. In hopes of finding a Time Warden, The Queen embarked on an epic quest to the lost kingdoms, to the forbidden Elwynn Savannah.
A long journey finally met it's end, and the Queen and her beloved son, Grunty, finally made it to the horrible Desert. The town of Mrgluglugshire, the only inhabitable village in the desert, was where these Time wardens were found, and thus placing the Queen right where she needed to be. In a small pond, right outside of the small village, was an old hut, inside this old hut, was an old, crazy Murloc, named Mrgll guglug. This Murloc was one of the last Time Wardens left. The Queen instantly took the old 'loc, and headed to the center of the pond. After the queen explained what she wished to do, Mrgll didn't have any questions, but said this, "Mrgglgrgglrggrlgrrgl"(roughly translated means, "Be warned, Queen, for this portal is restricted to one, and when that one passes through, he/she will not return", and began the spell to open the portal to the Past Azeroth.
When the portal finally opened, The Queen looked down at Grunty, handed him a dusty'ol bag, labeled "from the Terran" and let out a loud, "MRRRRGLLLRRRRGLLLL!!!" sending him into the unknown past. Looking back at his mother, grunty let out a wave, weeping at the sight of the portal growing smaller and smaller... Never to see his mother again.
Arriving in the past, Grunty began to tremble, glancing down at the bag his mother gave him, he began to cry, "mrgglrgglrggll." Sitting down on a nearby log, Grunty started to open the bag, and in the moonlit sky, the bag cracked a small shine, blinding Grunty for a split second, as the shine became brighter and brighter, Grunty, through the tears and sadness, became happier and happier, finally the bag let off the hidden shine. Grunty, estatic with his new gift, pulled out the armor and gun. Inside, underneath the cluttered metal, was a note, reading, "Mrgll Grunty, Mrggluglug muglurgaglur, mrgllen, mrgmrggll," which, translated read, "Dear Grunty, for when you need this most, Love, peace, Mother."
Standing from the log, Grunty placed one foot in the plated armor, then the next, grinning as this happened. When he finally put the last of the armor on, Grunty picked up the gun, and began to walk towards the dark forest. Farther and farther through the forest he moved, louder and louder the noises grew. Flustered, Grunty began to wimper, louder and louder, the noises grew, the sound started becoming clearer as the noises closed in. Grunty, afraid of what was to come, jumped in the nearest bush. Shadows started forming as the noises came closer. Grunty let out a loud, "MIGLAR". The shadows stopped in there tracks, and turned, looking towards the "noisy bush" and started walking towards it. As they began creeping closer and closer, the moonlight began to shine, taking the shadows away and showing the forms of two Worgen, and two Goblins. The bush began to shuffle and the four creatures unsheathed their swords, placing their feet in a battle stance. Suddenly Grunty popped out of the bush, screaming of fear. The Worgen and Goblins screamed back at the broken silence, a few moments of silence passed and the Murloc began to look curious. The worgen and goblins look at eachother, and squatted down, glancing at the armor plated Murloc with curiosity. Grunty looked a bit more confident and began to walk towards the four adventurers.
The Worgen and the Goblins walked away from Grunty for a moment, and placed themselves in a circle, as if they were debating on who gets to keep the little thing. Breaking from the group, a Worgen walks towards Grunty, looking him up and down, then comes a Goblin, leaving the other two behind. The Worgen puts his hand in his pocket and hands Grunty a seashell, a sign of friendship among the native Murlocs. Grunty, looking down at the shell, picks it up, and eyes it. Picking out flaws and cracks. But looks up and smiles at the Worgen, walking towards him. The Goblin begins to look around, and pulls a berry from a nearby bush, and hands it to Grunty. Glancing over at the goblin, the Murloc takes the berry, and starts to smell it, biting it slowly, Grunty jumps back and spits it out, growling in Nerglish at the Goblin. Defeated the two Goblins continue to walk down the path, leaving the Worgen. Grunty looks up at the Worgen and hops on one's shoulder, issuing to take him somewhere away from the dark forest.
Taking Grunty to Varian Wrynn, the Worgen stop by the local one stop 'loc shop, hoping to take a second Murloc with them, as a Translator for the king. Arriving in stormwind, the guards haulted the two Worgen and the Murloc, asking them what the reason for their visit is. The Worgen simply told them that they have something of dire importance to tell the king. Unable to figure it out, the two guards escorted them to the Keep. As they trek through the hall, the guards look in astonishment at the Murloc being inside the walls. The hall met the throne room, where King Varian Wrynn resides. Closer the three came, as they arrived in front of the king, he eyes them up and down, confused.
A few moments pass and Grunty popped from the Worgen's bag, startled, the King grabbed his sword. But as the Murloc became clearer, Varian resheathed his blade, and placed a knee, asking the Murloc what he was doing here, and where that Plated armor, and odd gun came to be. Grunty began to explain in Nerglish, and the Murloc behind him translated clearly for the King's convenience. Explaining of how Azeroth would go through a "Cataclysm" disrupting the peace of the world, the King issued all forces begin to train for the hardships to come, hoping that this will solve the future of Azeroth to be safe for all.
And with that, Grunty became a great ally to the Alliance, adding another to the ranks. Thus, the ending of the tale of the Armored Murloc of the future. The tale of Grunty!
.....
“He’s coming!” Matron Anguish screamed. We’ll skip the birth scenes, and go 2 hours later, when Grunty, the 5th child, was coming out. “Almost!…” The family Murloc doctor said to the matron. You see, Anguish was the queen of this tribe. It was very powerful, 8th ranked of the dozens of camps and tribes. That meant they were rich with money taken by force, and she could tell the thousands of Murlocs she owned to do whatever she desired. She was also very evil, like all other Murlocs. If you weren’t evil, it was believed the Murloc God, Rage, would personally come, and sacrifice you. Rage walked the Abysmal Shelf, with all the other evil powerful demons walked., and was the source of all Murloc power. “Here he comes!…” the doctor said with excitement, but then the unpredictable happened. A huge Ally Raid, 1300 strong, came for the camp! They had no other choice, finding out about where the human corpses were being hidden, a mile away from the Hill. She couldn’t die, or let Grunty die. Without Grunty, this whole plan would fail. He was going to be the true Weapon Master, according to the priests. He was going to be the new army leader, the one who taught all the Murlocs who showed talent to excel in they’re weapon choice. Anguish commanded the Murlocs to fight, and used all the traps, weapons, guns, armor, items, and magic they stole or possessed. Within all the explosions and gunshots, Anguish snuck off to give birth to Grunty. It was a success.
...
The battle was a win. A huge win. The Murlocs killed or held every last Ally prisoner. And now was the perfect chance to strike back. They came to Sentinel Hill, chanting their battle cry of “MRGRLRLRL!…” as they marched from the west coast of Westfall. Anguish thought it would be a great idea to show baby Grunty what he would be doing in a short 7 years. In this time, Cloth, Leather, and Plate was near useless. They used futuristic armor. Armor that had extreme resistance to magic, and metal swords, and increased healing taken tenfold. Instead, everyone learned to use guns, or become suicide warriors, running into towns with bombs on they’re chests, and no regrets on they’re minds. The Hill was in sight. Everyone knew what they had to do. The humans saw this coming, and were prepared. But it was not enough. They easily killed what little forces they put up, but the Murloc forgot about something. The flight master. She tore through the Murloc forces, armed with an enchanted, deadly, blessed shotgun looking weapon. After seeing how easily she tore through her warriors, Anguish became enraged. She decided to go for the flight master herself, forgetting everything else. But then, Grunty showed his prodigy like skills. From the chariot Anguish and Grunty were protected by, Grunty picked up the spare weapon, managed to loaded it, and placed an expert shot into the master of flight, and killed her. The whole army in disbelief just stood there, the battle won. Anguish grinned evilly and let out an evil laugh. Despite the fact that 3 of her children died in the fight, she could careless. Grunty was the ultimate killing machine. Grunty was gonna help them become the 1st ranked camp.
*Seven Years Later.*
Grunty was anxious. Anguish was going to announce him Weapon Master, and Rage was going to be there. He had obtained armor, beautifully crafted, the magic weapon pouch that held unlimited ammo, obtained from a legendary raid over 50 years ago, and the replica gun from that fateful day seven years ago. They expected him to be an evil killer. But Grunty wasn’t like the rest of the unkind Murlocs. He was peaceful. He had a kind heart, wanting the Ally to taken no harm. After learning the murloc language, he learned what his destiny was. Big brother Frizz taught him that the Ally were the good guys, and how they would never accept a Murloc like them. and he knew Grunty thought the same. Grunty had adopted the old weapon masters gun, and was taught how to use it, excel at using it. Frizz couldn’t do it. He knew that Grunty possessed more talent and skill than him, and would make more of an impact of peace and friendship on this world, so he made a secret boat and sent him out. Rage would kill him, but he didn’t care. Grunty would find a real home. So at 6 PM, the Murloc sent Grunty on a hand made boat, and pushed him to sea. Grunty was overcome with sadness. Frizz could not come with him, he told Grunty that he would just hold him back. “Goodbye, my Brother.” he cried. Grunty just cried.
...
An hour later, Rage and Anguish were furious. Anguish’s weapon was on the sea somewhere, but she thought he was dead, or missing. After finding out Frizz was Gruntys mentor, they both knew what was gonna happen next. Torture. After hours and hours of extreme, maddening torture Frizz would not tell. They beat him almost to death, forced a potion down his throat, then beat him again. After 3 days of this, Rage gave up, put a gun to his head, and killed him.
....................
Grunty woke up to the crash of the waves. He heard whispering, common tongue. He had a long journey on the sea, and was exhausted and extremely hungry.
“What is that?” said a low, rough whisper. “That’s some strange armor.” said the other.
“Lets take him back, maybe Elder has something to say about him.”
So Grunty, armed only with what his people had awarded him, the ammo pouch, the gun, and the armor, went to Gilneas, and made his new start. The Elder, the wise one of this camp, saw his skill. He learned the Worgen were the good guys. Part of the Ally. He could make his home here. But will his Murloc family pursue him? Did Frizz die? Will the horde become interested in him? Would the Worgens treat him like one of they’re own? Only time will tell, but he had one goal in mind. KILL MATRON ANGUISH.
*To Be Continued.*
- - - - - - - -
The grass felt soft, like a thick mat of slick fur beneath the fingertips and brushing against the metal at his back. He heard his mother's voice, harsh and gruff, "We'll take the little one back to Gilneas...see what they think..." But it wasn't his mother at all...she didn't sound like that! The voices were snarling, like sharp teeth and thick tongues flickering about in communication.
Blue sky and sunlight met his murky gaze as Grunty focused a muddy pair of over-large eyes to the scenery. It was strange though, something blocked his vision - black bars on either side that he couldn't shake away. Have I gone blind? He asked himself.
"Where am I?" Grunty breathed.
A cool, robotic female voice responded, "Location: Planet Azeroth."
"Azzah-wha?" his body felt heavy as he spoke. Grunty attempted to sit up, and found himself encased in something. Something metallic.
"Planet Azeroth," the female voice in his head repeated, "Coordinates unknown. Current status: green...Environment check: life-sustaining atmosphere detected. Sys check: optimal. Weapons check: ammunition depleted. Universal language filter: on..."
"Wha-what is this?" Grunty began to thrash at the grass below him, a blistering headache split into life at his temple. He reached up to knead the pain away, but recoiled as something banged into the glass in front of his eyes. It was his hand. Well...a metal gauntlet that housed his hand anyway. The glass visor was remarkably transparent, almost invisible if he didn't squint and cross his eyes to see the slight glare of the sun's rays.
Grunty looked down and saw the suit. Large pieces of steel were attached to his small frame. His body bulged where the plates were assembled like armor, completely covering his limbs and joints. It was nothing he'd ever seen before, and as he sat up, he heard the whirring of gears and the whine of turbines assisting his movements. Over by a large shady tree, the big shaggy dogs heard him too.
Grunty began to sweat and shake. Oh god...he kicked out against the grass, scooting away from the very, very big teeth that were bared at him from the large monsters approaching at a lope.
"No don't!" he squealed.
"The thing can speak?" the leading werewolf paused and sniffed at Grunty's iron boot.
"Y-yes. M-my n-name is Gr-Grunty!" he almost screamed.
"Gr-Grunty?" the sound came out as a snarl and Grunty scooched another foot away from them. "I am Gershal Silvermane, and these are my kin."
"You're not going to kill me?"
"Of course-"
"NOT so fast, rugs'r'us," a high-pitched squeak sounded behind Grunty. All eyes turned to the low hill of green as a smaller forehead of green skin sauntered over toward the gathering of wolves and murloc.
"Goblin..." the werewolves growled as one.
"Yeah yeah," the green-skinned goblin marched confidently, gun in hand, and said through a crooked smile, "We'll take that little gizmo with us...unless you want some silver for dinner...we're buyin'."
A few moments and some very smoking gun barrels later, Grunty was bound and carried away by rough goblin hands.
The goblin camp consisted of two large tents; one where half-dressed goblins emerged from and one where blackened-faced ones ran out of. The less burnt of the two seemed to Grunty to be sleeping quarters. The one with big holes and scorch marks looked like a smithy or maybe even bomb factory of some sort.
Grunty was carried into the latter. As they sat him up against the main supporting pillar of their smithy tent, numerous green-and-black hands groped his armor and helmet in greedy passes as Grunty struggled, repulsed by their glimmery-eyed looks. "What's it made of? Why's this gun have seven barrels? How's it so small?" the horde of tinkerers tried to pry the armor off to no avail. Hammers, chisels, and screwdrivers began to leave the workbenches in droves.
Several hours later, a very tired and terrified Grunty sat facing several very perplexed and quiet goblins. Goblin fingers twittered with their tools, sporting bleeding fingertips or jammed knuckles. Grunty's armor was completely unharmed and looked possibly a little more shiny due to their frequent buffing.
"Impossible." One said.
"Not of this world," another agreed.
"We know less about it now, after three hours than we did earlier!" A third chimed in.
"Well maybe YOU know less about it, but I happened to have found the fuel injection gasket," the other chirped indignantly.
"Right. And YOU, gnome-brains, didn't even see the ammunition loading widget!" the third yelled back.
So they squabbled. The goblins took turns berating each other and refueling this and reloading that...until, at last, a cool female voice sounded out, "System Report: Fuel cells full. Weapons check: all weapons online. Unrecognized ammunition loaded, commencing nativization of alloys. Unrecognized ballistic missiles loaded, commencing nativization of alloys. Nativization complete."
"See! It worked, I TOLD you it could stock any ammo! You owe me fifty!" a smug-faced goblin stood in front of Grunty, hands cupped and waiting while the others dug into their pockets.
Meanwhile, Grunty, bored to death and his buttocks more than stiff from sitting there so long, marveled at the lines and lines of information passing across the screen. The suit seemed to be made just for him, parsing all the data before him in Murloc.
"Hm...now how does this all work?" he whispered under his breath.
The suit's artificial intelligence piped up, "Tutorial mode engaged. Please select tutorial option: Battle, flight, defense, other."
"Ooh," Grunty's eyes lit up. "Flight please."
"Flight mode engaged. Caution: Clear flight deck."
"WHAT?!" the goblins screamed as one.
- - - - - -
"Gosh, how long has it been?" Grunty's voice was drowned out by the roar of wind. High up in the Azerothian atmosphere, a small metallic blue murloc-shaped figure hurtled across the sky.
"Flight time: One Azerothian hour, twenty minutes," The suit replied.
"I wish I knew how to get home...I miss my mur-mom," Grunty groaned.
"Suggestion: Scan planet for suitable interdimensional vessel."
"Scan?" Grunty asked.
"To scan. To search. To find."
"Find...yes, please find, robot lady," Grunty tried a smile.
"Acknowledged. Planetary Scan Report: Dimensional vessels capable of travel - zero. Scanned one badly damaged vessel. Vessel status: Occupied by alien life form designated "D4AN1I". Additional scan report: Numerous dimensional rifts. Stable rift cluster found in Northern Azerothian territory designated "D414LA8N". End report."
"D4? I can get home then?"
"Possibility of dimensional jump: 85%"
"Eighty-five? That's good!" Grunty's heart leapt at the thought of seeing his mother again. "Take me home."
-- -- --
"WARNING WARNING: Non-flight zone. WARNING WARNING: Dismount imminent!"
Grunty landed with a bang. And then an audible splash as he tumble-rolled into a pool of water. His steel-clad body sank right to the bottom. Grunty's neck was jerked backward as a strong force pulled him up.
"Hey look! I got epic loot!" a large, hairy, horned beast dangled Grunty up by a fishing pole.
"I'm not loot!" he yelled, panicking.
"Weapons engaged." The suit's shoulder and thigh components sprung open. Missiles were separated like bee larvae in Grunty's open shoulders and thighs as red dots appeared on the small crowd of Azerothian natives crowded around a fountain.
The lasers flickered from stunned face to stunned face, lighting their hanging jaws with precision targeting.
"Is that...a friggin' murloc baby?" someone pointed and looked around for some recognition.
"Aww what a cute widdle guy," a woman purred.
"He's lost, let's help him," another offered.
Grunty twitched as a message appeared on his visor projector that read "Huminmayge invites you to join a party".
- - -- --
"So all we gotta do is send you home?" the one named Huminmayge asked.
"I suppose so...do you know anyone who can do 'dimension-able lifts'?" Grunty stumbled on the complicated words.
"Dimension rifts? Oh you mean teleporting, yeah, I can send you somewhere. Where do you need to go, Stormwind?" the mage inquired brightly.
"No...I don't like rain. I need to return to my world."
"Oh...let's just take a look at what arcane trails you've got on you, and just send you back along those lines?"
"Yes, trails sound great. I can follow trails." Grunty offered a clumsy smile.
"Nah, you don't have to do anything. Let me work my magic. Just click on the port."
---- ---- ---
As the energy wrapped around Grunty and sent him hurtling through no-space, a jolt coursed through his body. The lights flooding his helmet stuttered and went dark for a moment. He heard the horrible ripping sound of the fabric of reality tearing apart.
A memory, not his own, flooded his mind. Curious about the sound, his body moved on its own, drawn to whatever bright pinpricks of light were found in the darkness. As his own thoughts swam, his hand (not mine!) gently patted a swell on his belly. "Little Grunty, soon to be born...let's see what all that noise was about, hm?" a familiar voice spoke (too loud!) somewhere past his ear.
As the image of his mother walked close to the dimensional rift, a brilliant (no!) light blinded the woods. When the light was gone, so, too, was his mother.
"Excellent! To think a creature like you existed! Your DNA is compatible with Terran, Zerg, AND Protoss samples! This is a miracle!" the man named Samir Duran shouted with glee as Grunty's mother lay unconscious on a lab table. Her hand lay protectively over her belly.
"Your child will be the epitome of all three races! He'll be perfect!"
- - -- --
Grunty snapped awake on the floor of some dusty, dark place. A slithering of movement caught his sensors.
"I'm back." he said to no one.
"What is this?" a slithering female voice raked across the silence. "Who dares enter the chamber of the Queen of Blades?!"
Grunty shoved himself up off the ground. His visor was cracked from the sudden 'drop' out of no-space. The helmet lights were irreparably damaged, but through the shadows, he could see Sarah Kerrigan lurking towards him. Something in the back of his mind knew that this would be the last thing he saw. Everything was getting darker. Mother...he thought as he readied the gatling gun at hand.
"Hell...it's about time."
The tadpoles were by the windmill playing with a human skull they found, tossing it back and forth and playing other various tadpole games, when a dragon swoops down and grabs one of the tadpoles and swallows him up in seconds. The other tadpoles scatter all heading towards the windmill for cover, the dragon races towards them, they all turn towards the dragon thinking it's the end. The dragon corners them and taps its chin, thinking about which tadpole to eat first. He reaches over and grabs a handfull of them leaving only one behind. The dragon drops the tadpoles in his mouth and moans with pleasure, then looks down at the lone tadpole cowering in fear. Right as the dragon reaches over to grab him a huge blue rock falls from the sky and lands on the dragon, making a crater out of it. The tadpoles eyes are wide as can be, he mutters, "grrrgulergur." A moment later a small box starts to move on the side of the rock, it opens a compartment and out comes a human wearing odd blue armor and using a bad ass blunderbuss. He looks down at the tadpole and pats it on the head. The man runs off to the north for who knows why, but the tadpole sits and drools over this awesome ensemble. The tadpole goes home and tells everyone the tragedy that befell the other tadpoles and about the giant blue rock, but none of the elders believe him and blame him for the little tadpoles deaths. They kick him out of the village.
With no means to pwn the little tadpole can only think of one thing to do. Find the blue man. He heads off towards the north, avoiding aggro from raptors and sneaking by the dwarves. He travels through dangerous lands full of giant spiders and hungry birds. He reaches a giant wall and slips through a hole and climbs to the top to take a look around. "grarrrgul" He says. He races towards the blue man and starts to yell out at him. Right as the man turns to see what the yelling is, Forsaken jump out from the bushes. Stabbing and slashing. the man shrugs them off and blows a hole through one with his bad ass blunderbuss, the other vanishes and flees. The man looks back at the tadpole with it's jaw seemingly UN-hinged and touching the ground. The man waves the tadpole over, and over the tadpole runs. The man laughs and asks, "what's your name little one?" The tadpole looks up and tells him, "Grurrr." the man laughs again, "how about Grunty." Grunty skips along as they walk westward.
They reach a gate with a lot of sickly looking men outside. Grunty /groans. The Blue man /sighs, and blows the door down with his blunderbuss. They walk through while the rest of the men run past them. The town seems to be under attack, so the Blue man and Grunty run over to the coast to see ships bombarding the town. The Man runs towards the fight. Grunty sees a woman outside of a burning house screaming for someone to save her baby. Grunty runs over and jumps through a window in the burning house. Grunty can hear the baby coughing and runs over to see it surrounded by fire. He holds his breath and runs through the fire, grabs the baby, and with the same momentum goes through a window landing outside of the house and safe from the fires. He brings the bay over to the lady and holds it up to her. She smiles at Grunty and gives him some cloth gloves. Grunty waits for her to leave and then drops the gloves and kicks them. The bombardments are still going on when the earth decides to move and shake everything on it. Grunty grabs the dirt by his feet and holds on, afraid the earth is going to shake him off. Once it stops he looks around for the blue man. He sees a large group of men standing around something, so Grunty runs over to see. It's the blue man, he's been wounded somehow. Grunty runs up to him, the blue man lying on the ground looks at Grunty and struggles a smile, "hey pal" Grunty looks him over, and he finds that the blue man has been hit with a poisonous arrow. Grunty looks around for help but only sees Shadow Priests and Hunters. Grunty buries his face in the blue mans armor and cries. It begins to rain and the men from the town all slowly go back to the town. Grunty is nudged and looks over at the blue man. The blue man struggles the words, "Take this, find the distress beacon and save them." As the mans last words come out so did his last breath. Grunty was given an odd box half the size of the little tadpole. He opens it to see a little platform. Grunty stands on it and it starts to make odd noises. Grunty is suddenly frozen, paralyzed where he stands and he sees the blue mans armor and blunderbuss start to collapse and shrink down to Grunties size. Once it is done Grunty is able to move again. He walks over to the tiny armor and blunderbuss and plays around with trying to put it on. After some time he has the armor on and the blunderbuss in hand. There is a little flashing light on a small magic mirror attached to his wrist, maybe that is the distress beacon. Grunty /nods to himself and heads off to find the people in distress.
After a long journey Grunty located the distress' location. On an island far out in the sea. Grunty gets on a boat and heads out. He finds an island full of goblins with lots of crazy contraptions. He goes up to the dock master and shows him the flashing mirror map. The goblin says, "Oh our distress beacon! We are saved, how will you get us off this island little tadpole?" Grunty stares off into space with his mouth open, then /shrugs. The goblin goes back to work with his shoulders lowered. Grunty looks around and finds a rocket with seats on it. He taps the goblin working on it and points at it nodding. the goblin says, "Sure, you can test it out" Grunty looks at him and tilts his head a bit, "Huh?" The goblin laughs, and presses the button to launch the rocket. The rocket shakes violently and Grunty holds on tight. The rocket launches him way up in the air, the rocket begins to slow down and starts to hover for a second then tilts down and starts to fall, Grunty screams, "GRAAAAGULRRR!!!" The rocket smashes into the ground and Grunty is thrown from it landing unconscious in some random forest.
Grunty wakes up and looks around. He cant remember anything, why he is here, what sex he is or even his name. Grunty quickly finds out what sex he his then tries to find out more information by pressing random buttons on the blue armor. Finding nothing Grunty walks randomly in a north eastern direction. Grunty stumbles on a gnome, literally, and falls to the ground. The gnome jumps up in shock, "WTF" Grunty clasps his hands together in apology and looks at what the gnome is doing. Seems to be working on a small flying machine. The gnome sees Grunty's interest in his work and smiles, "Oh you like machines huh?" Grunty looks at the gnome and /nods. 'Well let me show you how it works and then we can take it for a ride, sound good?" Grunty /highfives the gnome and they fix the ship up and climb in. "Hold on" the little gnome yells back at Grunty. The ship takes off nice and easy and flies out and over the woods. Grunty can see everything from up this high, if only he could remember what everything was. The gnome looks down, "OMG! that town is under attack by Forsaken. Hey, that use to be an alliance town. We should go help "Grunty looks down and sees a town that looks familiar. The ship lands and they jump out ready for action. A huge Worgen jumps down from the top of a building and roars with a ferocity never before seen. Then a woman runs by him and grabs Grunty and hugs him tight. 'This is the little odd ball that saved my baby" she yells to the town. They all cheer, "The hero is back" Grunty /shrugs and goes to battle. With blunderbuss in hand Grunty lays waste to many Forsaken. While in combat a loud noise above them vibrates the ground. It's a huge blue ship, the town scurries for cover and Grunty looks up at it thinking. Not long after he notices the big blue ship a light shines down from it right on Grunty, and sucks him up to the ship.
Grunty is checked over by the medics on the ship and they clear him for debriefing. Grunty grrgles and they dismiss him to his bunk. He follows the nurse and is shown to his bed, he then unwinds and rests.
From then on Grunty is always right behind another hero, ready for anything. Fighting the wars from planet to planet. Grunty the Space Marine.
On one fateful day, a slew of undead noobs approached the vile fin murlocs on the northern coast of Tirisfal Glades. They began to slaughter the tribe without mercy in attempt to harvest scales and eggs. Though the oracles of the tribe cried out for an end to the massacre, their foes only mistook their sounds as nonsensical gargling.
The fight wore on, but only a few adult murlocs remained to protect their precious young. Knowing the fate of her family was at stake, a single mother murloc dove into the waters and scooped up her only surviving egg in her mouth. With all the strength she could muster, she ran towards freedom: a distant coast in Silverpine forest where another branch of her tribe lived.
One restless forsaken warlock chased after her, refusing to let any needed materials for his beloved Dark Lady go to waste. He cast his curses upon her, but it was not enough to slow the desperate mother. She made it past the border into Silverpine before finally collapsing from exhaustion.
She used every last ounce of life within her to protect the tiny egg inside her mouth while it hatched. Worgs howled in the distance as her little tadpole finally crawled from her mouth and out into the turbulent world of Azeroth. She smiled fondly at her son, but had no more energy left to guide him towards the coast where his cousins dwelled. She died then, from the excruciating curses that had been cast upon her.
Confused and mourning the loss of his mother, the young murloc wandered aimlessly through the treacherous Silverpine forest. As he stumbled down a long road, a short, green-skinned goblin discovered him. The goblin was a merchant and never missed an opportunity to make a few gold.
"I'd bet there's a whole market out there for little fellas like you!" the goblin exclaimed as he picked up the young murloc, intending to sell him into slavery or as a pet to some wayward adventurer.
Just then, a howl erupted through the air that shook the gnarled branches of the trees. Before the young murloc's very eyes, he witnessed a human transform into the menacing form of a worgen. The orphaned murloc found himself in the middle of a deadly skirmish. The endless war waged between the horde and the alliance sparked a battle even between two solitary foes passing on the road.
The brawl was over quickly as the goblin dropped the young murloc to the ground and used his rocket boots to flee from the scene. Cowering in fear, the young murloc peeked up between his fingers at the powerful worgen looming over him. In a wave of fog and light, the worgen transformed back into a man and picked up the poor little orphan.
"There, there," he said. "You're safe. Only a monster would harm a cute little guy like you."
The Worgen-man took the young murloc under his wing and returned to Gilneas. He had been trained in military tactics during the great struggle against the vicious attacks by the scourge and he imparted all his knowledge to his young companion. It was then that the little murloc, who had such an unfortunate beginning, found a family and was affectionately named 'Grunty'.
Grunty travelled far and wide across Azeroth with his Worgen savior. It was only when they ventured into the shattered Outlands that they became separated. Though full of spirit, Grunty was still a youth and prone to irresponsible behavior. While aiding his Worgen father-figure on a mission, Grunty fell asleep on one of the many drifting rocks floating on the outskirts of nagrand.
This floating rock drifted far beyond the reach of the Outlands and when Grunty awoke, he was surprised to see nothing familiar. Instead, a large spaceship named 'Hyperion' full of Terran marines was cruising very near his little rock. The ship itself seemed to be fleeing some location, though a swarm of its Zerg attackers still fought fiercely to bring it down.
Remembering all that he was taught, Grunty lifted the gun at his side and began shooting at the attackers in attempt to help those in the ship escape. Though his weapon was ineffecient against the strange Zerg creatures, the battle was soon won by the marines and their powerful guns. The spaceship opened its hatch and a marine named Raynor stepped upon Grunty's rock. He commended Grunty for his bravery and offered to take him aboard the 'Hyperion'.
From spare parts, Grunty's own marine suit and gun were fashioned so that he could learn to fight the Zerg and any other foe they came across. Soon he too was a fully trained marine. He had many encounters with the Zergs, in all of which he was the victor. He battled other Terrans alongside Raynor and his Raiders.
Though still of youthful joy, Grunty was a hardened fighter. It was not long before his sense of duty and a deep home-sickness led him back towards his home planet. The day he landed proudly upon Azeroth, Grunty vowed to protect it from any and all Zerg invasions. He's now fully equipped to deal with the menance and will fire without hesitation on any zergling he sees.