[GATEverse] Cicatrices Patris. (13/?)
Writer's note: There isn't an American Military Post in existence that doesn't absolutely sell mountains of tornados. Best combo, a pepperoni and a pepper jack that you eat at the same time with a coffee monster.
Enjoy.
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Lord Ekron's eyes rolled as he sat at his desk and read the week's paper.
>PETRAVIANS IN THE ACADEMY!!!
ARE OUR FUTURE LEADERS BEING CORRUPTED?
He skipped that story and turned the page.
Aaaand saw more about Choi.
>Monsters in the city?
How a new academy teacher is changing Monsterology.
He looked at the adjacent page and his hands flexed, creasing the sides of the page.
>Sniv's curiosities sold.
New foreign-run shop opening on corner of Daedra and Shopper's lane.
Ekron gambled on Choi NOT being on the next page and turned to it.
Only to see an artists rendition of a very recognizable dragon swooping down toward the academy.
He didn't bother looking at the title, knowing it was the continuation from the previous pages.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Yes who is it?" He said with mild annoyance as he already knew who was knocking on his door. It wasn't normal for his assistant to interrupt his morning time. So he knew it was something at least mildly important.
The door cracked just enough for Thirfin to poke his dwarvish head in.
"A request from the Earth embassy sir." He said uncertainly. "They desire your presence for a communication request. Though they were adamant that it was at YOUR availability sir."
Ekron took a deep steadying breath as he discarded the paper that he was now certain he wouldn't read.
"Is it regarding Mister Choi?" He asked, his eyes glazed over.
Thirfin's eyes squinted as his eyebrows rose.
"Yes and no?" He said, causing Ekron to actually look at him curiously. "It's not the Mister Choi who's HERE.... sir."
At that Ekron actually expressed interest. "Oh?" He wondered.
"Arch Mage Choi, of Petravia, has requested an audience utilizing one of the Embassy speaking rooms." Thirfin informed him.
"Ah." Ekron said. "Thank you Thirfin. I'll... I'll go there today."
"Yes sir." Thirfin said with a small smile. "Anything I can get you sir?"
"No that will be all. Thank you." Ekron replied.
Thirfin nodded and withdrew, closing the door behind him.
Ekron leaned back in his chair.
So Joseph actually wanted to speak? Directy. For the first time since they'd last seen eachother nearly twenty years before.
Interesting.
Ekron stood up and summoned his Lordly Mage robes from the nearby rack with a wave of his hands.
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"You sure you're ready for this?" Joel asked
Mazze took a deep breath. It was very obvious that he was uncomfortable outside of his Cobalt Legion armor.
"Yes." He said simply.
Joel nodded. He gestured for Mazze to fallow him as he began walking toward the Embassy main gate.
He was still a little in awe at the half orc's size. He knew that armor didn't add as much to a person's size as media made it seem. But the Legionnaire was still remarkably tall and muscularly built. And if he were a woman, or even just into guys, the half orc's brilliant purple eyes would be very distracting. Even though they simply marked him as being very closely descended from a Kragg Orc.
A few minutes later, and with Joel guiding him through the guest sign in process, they were inside the Embassy and being escorted to one of the conference rooms where a tubular display projector would allow them to speak with Joel's dad via "hologram". Really it was just a projector on some lightly hazed glass.
"You've been allotted one hour." The Marine sergeant escorting them said. "After that the satellite goes out of window and we're on Gate signal only. As always the room is recorded for security purposes." He said as he opened the door for them. "Let us know if you need anything."
"Thank you." Joel said.
"Yes. Thank you very much." Mazze said, surprised the Marine spoke his language.
"No problem." The Marine said with a nod before departing.
Joel turned to Mazze, who looked at him curiously.
"First few minutes are gonna be me catching up with my dad." He said. "Nothin' crazy. Just haven't gotten to talk to him since I got to the city."
Mazze nodded. That made sense.
"After that I'll turn it over to you. They CAN censor the feed if either of you start talking about anything against the rules. But it usually takes a minute to kick in." Joel whispered as he leaned in conspiratorially. "My dad's pretty easy to get rambling about stuff if he finds it interesting. So if you wanna slyly wheedle some info out of him. That's your prerogative mister legionnaire."
Mazze's eyebrows drew together as he understood what he was hearing.
"Why are you telling me this?" He asked, confused.
Joel shrugged.
"My family has a historically bad case of not-liking-government-itis." He said with a sly grin. "We won't blatantly say fuck you Mr. president.. But we will like.... give em the finger. You know."
Mazze looked at him in confusion.
Then Joel walked in and pressed his thumb to the terminal's print scanner.
The hologram tube lit up and showed the spinning wheel of trying to connect.
A few seconds later he was looking at a slightly grayed out version of his dad. Though the display made his antlers look warped and distorted.
"Jelly Bean!" His dad said with a huge grin. "How are you buddy? How's the city? Kinda messy right?"
Mazze began circling the display and Joel watched as his dad noticed it and followed him with his eyes.
"Ha!" Joel laughed. "Yeah that mage sector was a hot mess." Then he pointed at his head. "Those gray hairs are gettin' worse old man."
His dad rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me." He said. "Your mom keeps bugging me about siphoning some energy. But I told her it doesn't work. Anyways how's the academy? You fitting in alright?"
"Oh it's great." Joel replied. "Got the office set up. Got the first few animals moved into the facility. Classes are great. The students are really smart."
"That's good." His dad said with a grin. "Knew you'd do well." Then he turned to where Mazze was closely inspecting his antlers. "I assume this is the person you asked me about?"
"It is." Joel said as he gestured for Mazze to step near him. "Dad this is captain Mazze of the Cobalt Legion."
Joseph Choi turned to address the tall half arc directly.
"It's nice to meet you." He said to Mazze. "I understand you have some questions. I... don't know how much I can tell you. But... I'm all yours."
"And you sir. I imagine talking to Petravia's Arch Mage will be quite a big deal for my higher ups." Mazze said.
Off to the side, Joel nodded and stepped out of the room. He'd decided to do that earlier. This was Mazze and his father's business, not his.
Once outside he sought out the nearest direction sign and headed to the embassy commissary.
And about ten minutes later he was on his way back with a bag full of candy and energy drinks, which he'd been missing since he'd left home.
He was more than a little surprised when he rounded the corner and almost ran over his boss.
"Lord Ekron?" He asked as he nimbly dodged around the elder mage.
Ekron stood rooted as he took a deep breath and braced himself.
"It seems I can't avoid you today Mister Choi." He said after a moment.
Joel looked at him in confusion at that.
"What are you doing here sir?" He asked. "In fact, how'd you get into the embassy?"
"I have a digital meeting with your father." The lord replied. "And I've got an As-Needed guest pass for when I have business here." Then he looked at Joel. "What are YOU doing here?" He countered.
Joel shrugged. "Pretty much the same." He answered. Then he held up the bag. "My dad's talking to someone. Want a snack while we wait?"
Lord Ekron looked at the bag curiously. "Do you have one of those Tornados?" He asked.
Joel's head tilted, almost like a dog. Then he looked into his bag even though he already knew its contents.
"Uh.... no... How do you know about Tornados?" He asked in surprise.