Kaotic Beginnings

Kaotic Beginnings Part 6

 It was all well and good bringing orcs in from different tribes that were usually at war with one another when it was just an idea discussed inside the safety of the War Room, but it was a little trickier putting it into practise. No sooner had the pale, young orc men that War Boss Vandegraaz had given him from the caves set foot in the desert of the Lowlands, than the settled-in soldiers from the farming village raised an almighty fuss and had to be firmly swagger-sticked before they could start a fight with the new recruits. Corporal Rave was having none of it – they would be eating, drinking and fighting side by side, clothed in the same uniform and upholding the same values. He quickly moved on to giving them fresh orders before anyone could ask what values the Kaos Army had, exactly, as they hadn't quite decided that one yet.

"Coming along nicely," Anar remarked as he scanned the new buildings that had been erected in his absence.

"Yeah, some people are working hard around here," the velociraptor said with a tone, "unlike certain long-eared mammals. Swanning off making friends and having a jolly time."

Shaking his head with a faint smile, Anar didn't bite, "wouldn't want to get my nice new jacket dirty now, would I?" and he promptly left the sound of dinosaur spluttering behind him.

The Dragon was still tinkering with the console to the Warpways, scribbling portal co-ordinates down that were fantastically long, so as to include intricacies such as planet, time and dimension as well as the usual latitude and longitude. He lifted his long, scaly head and beckoned his General over with a wave, "I see you're doing well with the whole recruiting thing. I've got your Lieutenant bringing in some more skilled personnel from other worlds, just to speed things up here a little, you know, show our soldiers how to do things properly."

Anar's ears flicked, "oh yes? Proper qualified builders, that sort of thing? I noticed we've got a door on upside down, but I didn't want to say anything..." actually he did, but the Corporal had a bloody big stick, and he didn't.

"Exactly. Goodness knows we need them, one of the orcs managed to nail his ear to a wooden beam earlier, which reminds me; we need a medical wing and a proper team of doctors and nurses instead of a first aid box full of Smurf plasters. I'll have Lieutenant Rap on that next. So where are you off to now?"

"I'm off to the mess hall for a coffee, that's where." Anar saw a bony eye ridge lift behind the sunglasses, "but in answer to your question, I'm off to the swamps; this next bunch of orcs are going to be harder to reach. I think I'll take a tank, that should be fun. I might steal an orc from each faction while I'm at it, get them used to the idea of different orc tribes working together."

"You've no concerns that they'll fight amongst themselves and show you up?" He asked lightly.

"I've got concerns about lots of things, sir, but they'll behave if there's sweets in it for them."

The Dragon laughed and Anar really needed that cup of coffee so he nodded his farewell and walked into the main building where it was a reasonable temperature. The newly-hired kitchen staff had quickly learned that the funny grey guy with the long ears and black jacket didn't have to queue for food and was rather partial to a bacon sandwich, so they immediately scurried into action upon his entry through the cafeteria doors. These were a race known as skaven, large walking, talking rodents with round ears, twitching whiskery snouts and snaking pink tails. Rats, that's what they were, and they were in charge of the kitchen. Corporal Rave would launch into an enthusiastic rendition of UB-40's 'Rat in me kitchen' whenever he stood in line for food until Rap hushed him and Anar hadn't dared let his smile be seen in case it only encouraged him. The head cook had a name, of course he did, but they had fondly given him the nickname of 'Roland' after the furry puppet character of the same name back on Earth television in their youth. Roland had been a good sport and changed his name badge on his chef's whites, even though he had absolutely no clue what the officers were on about. All he knew was, he had a sudden popularity and a decent wage. Skaven were not known to have either, as a rule.