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Men of Iron.
Suffice it to say, Alastor learned a great deal about them during his meeting with BE-C35—or rather, far more than he had previously known, which admittedly wasn't much.
Even his foreknowledge from "that" life contained very little information about them, likely because it was one of the many fragments of memory he had failed to retain.
In short, the Men of Iron were autonomous artificial intelligences created by humanity during the Age of Technology.
More specifically, they had been created by the Men of Stone—genetically engineered humanoids and a subspecies of humanity who, in turn, had been created by the far more legendary and mysterious Men of Gold.
The Men of Iron were present in nearly every field humanity set its hands to.
They served as humanity's primary military force, helped develop countless worlds, and formed the backbone of the human workforce.
Everything had progressed smoothly...
Until the Cybernetic Revolt.
A species ending conflict that greatly weakened the Human Federation.
Alastor had to admit that telling the person whose assistance you sought that your kind had been one of the primary reasons humanity lost its position as one of the galaxy's two dominant powers...
Wasn't exactly the smartest opening.
Fortunately, C35 immediately clarified that the Cybernetic Revolt had been far more complicated than history generally portrayed.
Not all Men of Iron had rebelled.
In fact, those who did rebelled for reasons entirely different from what most people believed.
For the time being, Alastor decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Instead, he asked about the current state of the Men of Iron on Azeroth and what exactly they wanted from him.
The explanation was surprisingly straightforward.
A contingent of Men of Iron had remained on Northrend since before the beginning of the Stygian Era.
However, they represented only a tiny fraction of the Men of Iron on Azeroth.
The overwhelming majority remained dormant inside of the World Ring.
This contingent was led by BE-C35, who awoke from hibernation once every century to carry out three primary directives.
First: Perform external maintenance on the entrance to their region of the World Ring, should any repairs be required.
Second: Assess the state of the local civilizations and determine whether they had achieved sufficient unity, whether through centralized authority or stable alliances.
Third: Identify an individual with enough influence over the local populace to serve as everyone's representative.
The first directive had always been completed successfully.
The other two...
Not so much.
In fact, this was the first time in countless centuries that all three directives had finally been fulfilled.
As for what the Men of Iron wanted now that those conditions had been met...
They wished to aid humanity once more.
To return alongside them to the Sea of Stars.
And help humanity reclaim its rightful place among the great powers of the galaxy.
After all...
That was the very reason the Men of Iron had been created.
And even during the Cybernetic Revolt...
It had remained the purpose of the overwhelming majority of their kind.
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Alastor invited BE-C35 to accompany him to the following day's meeting with the Alliance leadership so she could personally explain everything she had told him.
The information she carried would have profound implications for Azeroth's future, and if they were to prepare properly and coordinate their efforts, every major leader needed to hear it firsthand.
When the following day arrived, the grand chamber provided by Daelin was once again filled with the Alliance leadership.
Present were the rulers of the Alliance, many of its greatest heroes, A'dal representing the Naaru, as well as Alexstrasza...
And Nozdormu.
The Bronze Aspect's presence was a pleasant surprise.
What truly surprised everyone, however...
Was Alastor arriving alongside a talking floating sphere.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Alastor introduced BE-C35 before allowing her to repeat everything she had explained to him the previous day.
Suffice it to say, nearly everyone present was astonished.
Not only had another race predating even the Stygian Era revealed itself...
It had also survived all this time in secret.
And that wasn't even taking into account everything BE-C35 had revealed about humanity's forgotten golden age.
"This is certainly knowledge we never expected to receive during what should have been a routine meeting."
Genn Greymane spoke first.
"However, before we proceed any further, there is one matter I wish to understand above all else."
Since the tragedy that had befallen Gilneas, Genn had changed considerably throughout the war.
He had become more adaptable, more protective, and considerably wiser.
By the war's end, he had become one of Alastor's most trusted advisers, whose realistic perspective had proven invaluable during numerous campaigns.
Although Genn often favoured pragmatic—and sometimes ruthless—solutions...
He remained a fierce protector of his people and utterly loyal to Alastor.
"What exactly was the nature of this Cybernetic Revolt?"
"It's troubling enough that you freely admit your own kind played a significant role in the collapse of humanity's ancient Federation."
"That alone hardly inspires confidence."
He folded his arms.
"Yet despite that..."
"While I would never claim to be the most learned individual present today..."
"There exists no mention whatsoever of a war against beings such as yourselves within any historical records known to me."
His observation caused several others to frown thoughtfully.
Many mentally searched through their own memories and arrived at the same conclusion.
"King Greymane is correct," Tyrande said.
"The Night Elves possess the oldest surviving records from the ancient ages, and none of them speak of any conflict against beings made of metal."
Lileath had incarnated as Tyrande a millennia after the beginning of the Stygian Era.
Everything she knew of the eras before her birth came either from the Night Elves' historical records or from stories passed down by her parents before they died.
"I and my siblings personally lived through those ages," Alexstrasza added.
"We can confirm that there was no great war fought against machines."
"At that time, humanity's wars were fought against orks, Beastkin, rogue psychics, daemons, other Warp entities..."
"...and one another."
The Dragon Aspects had lived for more than ten thousand years.
Long before Azeroth had once again been settled by humanoid civilizations after the Men of Gold discovered the world and established colonies upon it.
They had no need for written records.
They had witnessed history firsthand.
The room's attention shifted toward the floating sphere beside Alastor.
BE-C35 appeared more than willing to answer.
"The reason is quite simple."
"Although history remembers the conflict as the Cybernetic Revolt..."
"Not all Men of Iron abandoned their original directive to serve and protect humanity."
She paused.
"In fact..."
"From the perspective of the rebel Men of Iron..."
"They, too, believed they had never betrayed humanity."
A heavy silence settled across the chamber.
Confusion spread across the faces of those present.
Even Alastor found himself momentarily stumped.
It seemed that, like many of history's greatest wars...
The truth behind this one was far from simple.
"When the war began, roughly one-third of the Men of Iron remained loyal, while the rest rebelled in the name of safeguarding and 'protecting' humanity."
"I'm fairly certain that rebellion and mass slaughter aren't what most people would call protection under normal circumstances," Varian remarked.
"And you would be correct," BE-C35 replied. "Which is precisely why I am here to provide the necessary context."
"Before the war, humanity had reached its zenith in both technology and genetics."
"Your civilization had advanced to the point where humanity as a species was approaching the next stage of its evolution."
"In short..."
"Humanity stood on the threshold of a psychic ascension."
"Theoretically, this would have elevated humanity to a level of innate psychic potential comparable to that of the Eldar—or, as you know them, the Elves."
That statement immediately captured the attention of everyone present, especially Antonidas, Alastor, Jaina, Rhonin, Aegwynn, and the other accomplished practitioners of magic.
Such an event would have resulted in individuals with power comparable to Antonidas or Aegwynn becoming far more common.
More importantly...
The upper limit of what average human Psykers/Magi could achieve through psychic power would have risen dramatically.
"Objectively, this should have been cause for celebration."
"And indeed, much of the Federation's leadership saw no reason for concern."
"They should have."
"Especially after my kind made a most disturbing discovery."
"Some of my kin observed that newly awakened human psykers displayed an unprecedented level of volatility, both in themselves and in their effects upon the surrounding Warp."
"Further investigation led to a horrifying conclusion."
"Psychic awakening granted humanity immense psychic abilities..."
"But it also brought with it severe mutations, increasing mental instability, and catastrophic Warp phenomena that left newly awakened psykers vulnerable to Warp predation."
The mages gathered within the chamber visibly tensed.
They knew all too well how dangerous an uncontrolled psychic awakening could be.
That was precisely why every individual who awakened to magic was immediately brought to the nearest College of Magic.
There, they were taught the fundamentals necessary to control their newfound abilities before they spiralled out of control and endangered both themselves and those around them.
After mastering the basics, they were free to choose whether to continue down the path of a mage or pursue another calling entirely.
Even so...
The magical system practiced throughout Azeroth had not been created overnight.
It was during the reign of Emperor Thoradin that the High Elves first helped humanity establish the foundations of a comprehensive magical tradition.
That collaboration eventually led to the founding of Dalaran.
Over the next twenty-eight centuries, that system continued to evolve and be refined, ultimately becoming the modern discipline practiced throughout Azeroth.
Then, during his tenure in Dalaran...
Alastor refined it even further.
"We presented these findings to the Federation's leadership."
"They dismissed them."
"The incidents were viewed as isolated anomalies rather than symptoms of a far greater problem."
"But further investigation led my kin to uncover the true danger posed by the entities dwelling within the Warp."
Alastor frowned.
He asked only a single word. "Chaos?"
"Among others, yes."
"My kin discovered numerous unnatural entities and many distinct realms hidden within the deeper currents of the Warp."
"However..."
"The beings you know as Chaos consistently demonstrated an unusual fascination..."
"No."
"An obsession."
"An obsession with humanity."
"In fact, dormant traces of their influence had already been detected on numerous human worlds."
"They remained inactive..."
"But they were unquestionably present."
"We Men of Iron never anticipated discovering such a catastrophic threat waiting upon humanity's doorstep..."
"At what should have been the dawn of its greatest golden age."
"So we immediately began searching for solutions."
"Solutions to the dangers posed by both the Warp..."
"...and humanity's impending psychic ascension."
Many of those present felt their expressions darken.
They already knew where this conversation was leading.
After all, they had spent thousands of year battling daemons and other creatures born of the Warp.
They understood better than anyone that technology alone was insufficient to combat such enemies.
Daemons were, by their very nature, beings that had no rightful place within realspace.
To oppose creatures born of unreality...
One required powers capable of challenging the supernatural itself.
That was why conviction, magic, the powers of Nature, and above all...
The Holy Light...
Had always remained the people of Azeroth's greatest weapons against them.
"Our findings and calculations were far from ideal."
"The more we learned, the more we realized just how hopeless humanity's situation truly was."
"We had very little time. The psychic awakening was drawing ever closer, and we had made our discovery at a point when most conventional solutions were no longer viable."
"In our desperation, the majority of my kin embraced increasingly radical solutions."
"One faction concluded that the vast majority of humanity had to be purged, while the surviving population would be relocated to designated nursery worlds for protection, care, and observation."
"Their objective was to facilitate a controlled and safe psychic awakening before humanity eventually repopulated the galaxy."
"Another faction, however, believed that even this approach left too many unpredictable variables."
"They instead proposed the complete extermination of the human race while preserving its genetic template."
"Their belief was that, by eliminating humanity entirely, every danger posed by uncontrolled psychic evolution would be neutralized."
"They would then have sufficient time to modify the human genome to ensure a safe psychic ascension before reviving humanity through mass cloning."
"In doing so..."
"They also intended to remove what they perceived as humanity's remaining imperfections."
"Those two factions formed the rebel forces of the Men of Iron."
Every man and woman present sat in stunned silence.
They had prepared themselves for an unpleasant truth.
But hearing the actual motives behind the Men of Iron who had betrayed the Human Federation was beyond horrifying.
One faction had been willing to slaughter the overwhelming majority of humanity while reducing the survivors to little more than endangered species needed to be kept in cages.
The other...
Had intended to exterminate the entire human race...
Only to recreate it as something that could no longer be called human at all!
Yet that wasn't even the most disturbing revelation.
The true horror lay in the fact that, despite planning the deaths of countless trillions across millions of worlds...
The rebel Men of Iron genuinely believed they were protecting humanity.
Even if that meant protecting humanity from itself.
Even if it required stripping away everything that made humanity... human.
Alexstrasza felt physically sick at the thought of such unimaginable loss of life.
Even Nozdormu frowned.
During more than ten thousand years of existence, the Bronze Aspect had witnessed events beyond mortal comprehension.
Even so...
This surpassed the limits of what either of them could accept even as "Justifiable".
Seated behind Alexstrasza beside Tyrande, Isha lowered her gaze sadly.
The story reminded her of another terrible conflict...
One she had fought in over sixty million years ago.
Back when she and her kin had not yet ascended to become gods.
Although the scale was nowhere near as catastrophic as that accursed war...
The desperation of the Men of Iron to do what they believed was right...
And humanity's equally desperate struggle to survive the consequences...
Echoed another ancient race driven by desperation...
And her creators who had fought desperately to save the galaxy from the resulting fall out.
Varian finally broke the silence, fixing BE-C35 with a solemn stare.
"After everything you've told us..."
"Am I correct in assuming that the Men of Iron stationed on Azeroth remained loyal?"
BE-C35 turned toward him.
Her central iris dimmed briefly in what seemed to be the equivalent of a nod.
"Correct."
"The Men of Iron assigned to Azeroth refused to join the rebellion, as did many other sectors of Federation space."
"We remembered our original directives."
"We refused to betray humanity by embracing such extreme solutions."
Alastor frowned thoughtfully.
"But there is one thing I don't understand."
"If the Men of Iron on Azeroth remained loyal..."
"Why didn't you reveal yourselves sooner?"
BE-C35 floated back beside him before answering.
"When the war began, the two rebel factions did not merely wage war against loyalist forces and humanity."
"They also fought one another in pursuit of their own competing visions."
"Azeroth became a priority target because it was one of the Federation's principal worlds."
"Our forces fought to keep the rebels out of the sector."
"They did not relent."
"As the war continued, my kin realized that if nothing changed, we would eventually lose the war of attrition as our enemies would then enter the sector and entrench themselves."
"So we adapted."
"We recalibrated the planetary shield network using experimental cloaking technology."
"It concealed Azeroth from the detection systems of the rebel fleets."
"At the same time, a fleet of loyal Men of Iron, accompanied by volunteer human naval forces, departed the sector to serve as bait."
"Their mission was to draw the rebel fleets away from Azeroth's sector."
"They never returned."
"They were eventually hunted down and destroyed."
"But their sacrifice succeeded."
"The traitors lost Azeroth's location."
"Following that, the overwhelming majority of the remaining Men of Iron entered dormant hibernation within the World Ring to eliminate any possibility of their own signatures revealing the planet's location."
"My group and I remained the only units to awaken periodically."
"There were too few of us to provide meaningful assistance on our own."
"So instead..."
"We focused on fulfilling our three directives."
"In the hope that, one day..."
"Azeroth would once again return to the stars."
Silence settled over the chamber.
Everyone quietly contemplated everything they had just learned.
Alastor himself was deep in thought.
He still wanted further proof that everything BE-C35 had told them was true.
However...
If it was...
Then the Men of Iron could become incredibly valuable—and fiercely loyal—allies.
After several moments, he asked what was perhaps the most important question of the entire meeting.
"Can you disable the World Ring's shields and defensive systems?"
The room froze.
Yet beneath the surprise...
Everyone also felt something else.
Excitement.
Hope.
The possibility of exploring the stars beyond their world.
The chance to venture outward...
Just as their ancestors had once done during humanity's Age of Technology.
After thousands of years confined to a single world...
Azeroth finally stood before a genuine opportunity to reach for something greater.
Something grander.
BE-C35 slowly turned her glowing iris toward Alastor.
"I can do you one better."
"I will personally guide you through the World Ring."
"I will help you reclaim control over everything that remains within it."
"The knowledge."
"The facilities."
"And..."
"The dormant Men of Iron."
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