Location: Inspiration plaza of Coalition HQ

"....With all of our might, we cannot allow such acts of terrorism to go unanswered. We must cast aside the voices of weakness and the naysayers. We must not crumble in the face of evil. If you're not with us you are with the terrorists."

The end came out in a almost rabid pitch, heady with fervor and patriotism.

Johnson was the president of the Coalition. He was 6+ feet with smooth black hair sprinkled with spots of grey that served to accentuate his power. His slight chin, strong cheek bones,deep green eyes, and clean shaven face only furthered his looks. The only deficiency was his manner, which on close inspection, would reveal sweaty palms, licking lips, and an unneeded amount of power being put into squeezing his cane. But these were partially distracted from by his dark green military style jerkin and high quality cotton black pants. He glistened with his military medals of doves, flags and skulls that dangled about his chest.

The teeming mass of peasants, upper class and government officials in the circular cobbled square cheered. Some got on the large fountain with his likeness in the middle of the plaza and screamed his name. Johnson waved his right hand to the left and the right. He was standing on the balcony of a large U shaped building as he basked in the glow of praise from the masses.

He then backed off into the wooden double doors into his main office. It was a grand affair with a rich dark oak desk opposite of the main door entrance from the building. The desk was now to his right as he came in from the balcony. A blue crystal on it maintained a cool room temperature. He sat down in his fine leather chair and observed briefly the tapestries, dark red painted walls, and stone floor with bear fur rug in what was an other wise barren room. After this moment he deigned to looked at the older, tan skinned gentlemen, donned in the black suit and white gloves of a butler, standing opposite of him.

"So how badly did we fuck up this time?". Johnson asked, without any of the pretense of unshakable confidence in his previous speech and a tone more similar to the exasperation of a mother asking how many dishes their children managed to destroy.

Sweating and gulping down his fear as he wiped down his balding head to deliver the bad news, something he had become all too accustomed too, he quickly went over a list of all the goods.

" 50,000 sacks of wheat, 500 cross bows, with corresponding ammunition, and about 7,500 men although we are getting some more coming back from the slau... ambush, so we may recover a few hundred there. Otherwise, the caravan is considered a total loss."

"How?" Johnson asked with a look of hurt on his face. So many good men lost and resources destroyed in a single day. It was enough to keep him up the night he got news of the attack, as he ordered the surrounding stations put on alert, which was about 4 days ago.

"The bridge leading over the first river to the Stop Gap. Our scouts report says it has totally collapsed. From what the survivors have testified, the leading officer then brought the caravan through the lowlands forest which was then waylaid by a frojan and orc ambush. They were bogged down in the mud from a rain storm of the previous night and well...." The tone of sadness denoted the horrific slaughter that they sent those men into.

"Those filth dare attack our very roads?" Johnson asked in cold rage.

"The Department of Infrastructures inspector is still in the preliminary stage of his report but it seems that they merely took advantage of the bridges natural collapse. Those bridges were not designed to take the constant volumes of traffic we have been sending over them these past several decades and the DOI recommends some emergency repairs", Henry said to his superior.

'All of our roads could use some emergency maintenance while we are at it' Henry thought to himself bitterly.

"Damn, alright have the Snake whip congress into order and put in the needed funds. I will be attending the service for the troops tomorrow and make sure to message Annie and tell her that she is to get my boys to write me letters when they get to the academy." Johnson glowed slightly at the last item. His two boys were the world to him and they were also very powerful mages to boot. Andrew, 18, a redhead after his mother with his fathers strong cheekbones, was a scion level mage. The magic department head personally looked him over and said he would go on to reach the heights of magic, the future laid open before him.

Jeff ,17, was not as innately talented but he had a dual fire and wind type to Andrews single fire type. Even though he was more than full year younger he had a certain intelligence and patience his more willful brother lacked. His black hair and slight chin marked him as Johnson's son. They both shared the ocean blue, with sprinkles of teal irises that showed the exotic heritage of their mother. The slight pain in Johnson's heart at the thought of his lost beloved kept him still for a few seconds.

"My lord, I must inform you that mister Alton has stressed that the countries finances are already strained. Might I suggest pulling our manpower from the swamp and focus it on re-enforcing the Stop Gap? " Henry suggested nervously. He normally would have just hopped to it but he had been understating the discontent in the senate and chamber, well the senate anyway. No one gives a damn what the chamber thinks.

"Henry, that is....." Johnson replied, but paused as he collected his breath. "The orcs must be dealt with, permanently. They are the living malice of a mad man. If we don't do everything we can to get rid of them they will overtake us one day. That destiny, our destiny, is determined by the outcome of these battles" the avatar of absolute determination and unyielding will became manifest at the last portion of this speech.

Swallowing his impending sense of doom Henry quickly went over a few more inconsequential items on the docket then bowed and turned around to deliver the demand from the president.

After a while Henry came into a small office with wooden floors, a small desk and bookshelf off to its side. The man sitting behind the desk was the 'Snake'. A pudgy man with short brown hair and eyes.

He looked up from his desk and at the messenger.

" Ah Johny's butler, how do you do?" Alston asked. He was a man of middling looks, if one was being generous. His large bulbous nose and fat rolls made for a displeasing vision of humanity, especially when compared to his rivals rather appealing visuals.

" His presidency wants funding to be made available for the repairs to the bridges and roads to the Stop Gap." Henry replied aloofly.

"I heard of that unfortunate bit of business, unfortunately I don't think the senators will be receptive to such a request. Might I suggest shifting our resources from the front in the cursed water hole?"

Alton replied calmly and humbly.

Henry had a quick moment of panic, which he managed to keep off of his face. 'How could he have gotten word of our conversation? I will have to fire all the staff, again. Well, maybe it's more mundane than that. Is this solution just that obvious or is it a ploy to get under my skin? Nah, better not take the chance, but I will leave them with good references.'

" Our gains cannot be lost at this critical juncture" Henry said, the irony of overriding his own objections not lost on him.

"What gains? Last time I checked we only hold a few miles of swamp. The Frojan and orcs live in mud and thatched huts, what do they care of the sections of the swamp we take, unless we take the whole of it. Which I hope is something our esteemed president would be wise enough to not even consider." Alton said. He first talked in a mocking tone at the start of the conversation but he accidentally slipped into genuine concern towards the end. 'Damn, I never really cared about governance. Just making connections and getting cushy public jobs was what my politics boiled down to. But the state of the infrastructure, the dysfunction of industries as more and more resources were poured into the swamp, and the growing impatience on the streets for a 9 or 13 month operation in its near 20th year all pointed to growing dissatisfaction with the system among the whole populace which is far too hazardous for the likes of me to ignore.' Alton knew all too well that when things turn sour every last one of their heads was going on a pike, no matter their level of involvement and he didn't have the advantage of any magical abilities to aid him if it all goes tits up.

"Those parasites must be done away with. Do you remember Latra? Do you even care for our troops lost to their evil?" Henry snapped, in part because of his short temper with Alton and in part frustration from the fact that he couldn't think of a good counterpoint.

"The Birds razed Latra. What does this all have to do with the orcs and Frojan?" Alton threw back.

"But still, this is not important to this particular spat. I will see what I can do with the senate if the president can deliver a few items. Now kindly fuck off."