Commander Urgrok Strides into our Frame of Reference, continuing down the same hallway he had been moments ago but Crossing a threshold he was never aware of. On his heels are the two LT’s he trusts most.
He strides with a fanged grin set on his jaw, triumph filling his chest, and pride resonating into the hall about him. With each step he worked to temper himself, to let the victory he just secured in the name of the Coalition sink into his core rather than wear it on his sleeve like a younger orc would. It was unbecoming of the commander of the Green Army to be boastful with out leave, after all.
With out a word the Oldgrowth guard step aside, which was… new, considering that these men were exactly the kind of bark-stiff assholes to stop the Commander of the nation’s military to see passes and papers and confirmations of meetings planned, but Urgrok did paid it no mind, not wanting to turn down a continuation of today’s good luck.
Urgrok prepares his first words to Secretary of Internal Affairs and Commander of the OldGrowth Corps, Elm Leafland, ready for the usual spare of jokes and chiding, when the jocular man simply steps up before him, a cold look under the blue visor.
Leafland: “Commander Urgrok, I understand you have a debrief and a report?”
Urgrok: “I… Wha, Whazzat?”
The Orc commander stumbles for a moment, Caught flatfooted by this unexpected no-nonsens opening.
“Commander, Your report on the Raid of site Exelon.”
Stunned and now fully caught off guard, Urgrok starts to lift the captured laptop, his grin slipping into a frown. He glances over to the President, aghast to find him not even facing their direction, instead seemingly engrossed in the trees outside the armored window.
“Wa’ a Minut! Wha tha Fungus is this?!”
“What is what, Urgrok, can we please jus-”
Urgrok snarls and steps back as his Lt’s shuffle confusedly near the door.
“Whaz wrong wit YOU? Wha is dis? I just BROKE themz ninny Fancypants bois over me’ Knee, Radio ahead to ‘ear youz clinkin beer cans an’ coolin me one propa, and here youz are, stiff as yer fuckin oldgrowth trunk-heads down the hall?!”
“Just turn in your report man, don’t drag this out longer than it needs to be!”
“Draggin it out? DRAGGIN IT OUT? Dis is one of my BEST raids yet! We’z grabbed up the intel, we’z grabbed up the contrabanz, we off’d plenty o Fancypants dung ‘eads, and we know who’s supplien all th-”
President McBawksy “Enough.”
The president turns from the window, and gives Urgruk a firm nod, and raises a hand to cut Leafland off.
"Forgive our good Commander leafland. He’s… we’ve gotten some bad news in the time since you radioed in your victory. Now please, Toss me the laptop and we can save the full debrief after we’ve… had some time to process, Understood?”
Urgrok can’t find his tongue for a moment. Never had he heard his President speak in such a… inside voice. No, no he just spoke
softly. This was out of Urgrok’s paygrade all of a sudden and the usually gungho orc didn’t know how to react.
Without a word, Urgrok hands over the laptop, and watches as the President opens it, types in a password, and starts to flip through files.
“Wa’ a minut… I was jus’ gonna tell youz tha’ we dun ‘ave tha’ password yet…
Mcbawksy pauses, as if caught with his hand down the cookie jar.
“We had another team, in another location… They just sent in the password moments before you arrived.”
“But Sir, I’z hadn’t told youz tha’ I had the Laptop ye’ It wuz my lil’ suprize…”
The president starts to say something else, but just sighs.
“And it was a surprise, Urgrok. It was a surprise.”
“Was? Yer not actin-”
“Urgrok? You are dismissed.”
The orc Commander freezes fully and struggles to contain the blossom of anger that just swelled in his chest. The sound of Teef grinding fills the room for a moment before he turns, and motions his LTs to as well. A day of victory and blood-won-glory had wilted, replaced with the most bizarre interaction with his Commander in chief he had ever had the displeasure of experiencing.
The fell mood sinks in as the three march away and Leafland slumps at the front of the Big Mahogany Desk.
“Leafland?”
“Yes sir?”
“You didn’t need to do that, you know that right? We could have just played along, and this would have been much smoother.” McBawksy glances up from the computer he was rifling through, flitting through firewalls, encryption and password locks with one deft set of clicks after another. He never was a hacker before all this started, but route memorization has it's uses.
“I understand sir, and I’m sorry… i just… I'm tired, sir. I hate playing at this every time, again and again it’s the same... I wish I could go apologize.”
