Patriots Chapter 11

Date – 3 Months Later, Capitol City Dlamias

<”You utter and total IDIOT!”>

The golden-furred male pinned all four pair of his ears back as the head minister for the Intelligence department bellowed on the holo-projector. The fact that the head minister also liked to adjust the camera on his unit until he only appeared as a giant head and shoulders to anyone receiving a call from him directly didn’t help either.

<”Sir, you should know I was only working to solve the..”>

<”Shut up!”>

The minister snapped at the attempted explanation. His ire only building every time the mid-level minister tried to say anything.

<”I don’t want to hear a single word out of you. Do you have any idea how badly you’ve fucked up? The humans have a very apt phrase for cases like this. You, Minister, have truly ‘screwed the pooch’ with this stunt you pulled.”>

The camera zoomed out a bit as the head minister began to pace back and forth in his office. His hackles raised, and every time he wasn’t speaking his muzzle was curled in a silent snarl.

<”Did you ever think what would happen if your plan to assassinate one of our citizens on a world owned by a sovereign nation went bad? Did you ever think about the fact that The Council wants to solidify an alliance with said sovereign nation?”>

The golden-furred male opened his mouth only to snap it shut as his superior glared at him through the projection.

<”That’s what I thought. So let me enlighten you, not only did your plan go bad and we lost one of our best action teams but our intel network on Earth has been completely compromised and dismantled. All our other intelligence assets have gone silent over the last two months.”>

The head minister growled. <”And to top it off, somehow the Foreign Office has found out about the back-door communications protocol we’ve hidden in their FTL communications gear. So now I have the Foreign Minister chewing my tail and he’s already ordered that communication channel be cut off and the Council is siding with him!”>

The head minister sat back down behind his desk and leaned into the camera of his holoprojector. <”So now please enlighten me as to WHY you thought this was a good idea?”>

<”Sir!”> The golden furred male straightened up as if trying to look impressive as he made himself lock eyes with his superior. <”This mission was to support the need for reducing societal change. Our AI models are deviating from reality at an unacceptable rate. It was done to preserve our way of life and our society!”>

The head minister sighed and pinched his muzzle, a sudden wave of weariness washing over him as he looked at this young, eager, and stupid underling.

<”Clearly there have been mistakes made, but the first one was clearly mine.”>

<”Sir?”> The golden-furred male asked, clearly confused at the sudden turn of tone and subject.

<”Yes clearly my mistake was to promote you too quickly and give you too much leeway in your decision making. And in order to regain any credibility with the Council I must correct this now.”>

<”Am I being demoted?”> The confusion and trepidation in the lower-ranked male’s voice was just a herald to what would come next.

<”In a way yes.”> The head minister touched a control in his office and the golden-furred male turned in shock as the door to his office opened and two large military-phenotype Dlamisans stepped in. Their black fur covered in armor as they hefted their weapons and walked up to him.

<”You’re being reassigned to assist the RGC Specialists with their research. May you aid in discoveries that will bring honor to your memory.”>

<”NO!!!”> The former vice minister struggled as the two guards grabbed him and drug him out of the office. <”I did everything for Dlamias! Everything! You can’t do this to me! I DID IT ALL FOR OUR PEOPLE!!”> His tirade eventually faded as he was dragged from the room and the chief minister just let out a long sigh.

*“One task done, now to spend the next few years rebuilding our intelligence network.”*

Another touch of a control and he closed the connection, the holoprojection fading from the office as it sat empty, awaiting its next occupant.