World of Azeroth, Eastern Kingdoms, The Blasted Lands.
The ceaselessly swirling cosmic starfield at the center of the Dark Portal had vanished, leaving it completely silent. Only the enormous, empty gateway remained, as though this great door connecting to Outland had suddenly run out of warranty and failed outright.
But this had no real impact on the World of Azeroth. Outland was already practically Azeroth's full-fledged colony. The permanent Portals of every size opened by the various factions had nearly turned Outland into a sieve leaking from every side. They could lose anything, but they could never lose Outland.
So what if the Dark Portal could no longer be used? These days, any mage knew Outland's teleportation coordinates. Throwing up a temporary or permanent portal was effortless.
"Quick! Reinforce the defenses and complete the final inspections! The enemy will open the Dark Portal soon. You have only one task: drive them back to where they came from! Do not let them set foot in Azeroth's heartland!"
On the Southern Alliance's frontline positions, officers briskly inspected the entire line while soldiers hurried back and forth, continuously reinforcing the heavy sandbags piled at the foremost edge of the defenses and checking the heavy machine guns assigned to them.
The heights surrounding the basin where the Dark Portal stood had now been transformed into a tightly defended frontline position.
Ever since the Dark Portal had abruptly closed and fallen silent, the main forces of the Northern and Southern Alliances, the Horde, and the Shaohao Dynasty had immediately moved into The Blasted Lands and begun constructing this impregnable position around the Dark Portal basin.
In the sky, Alliance and Horde airships circled above the Dark Portal. Their large-caliber main guns and every ship-mounted cannon were on standby, ready to unleash a barrage at any