Russell gave Niko a smile as she struggled to make herself more presentable.<em>"Don't worry about cleaning up,"</em>he told her.<em>"We still have to wait for Lieutenant Black to decide what he wants us to do. In the meantime, just gather your gear and be ready to move out."</em>Giving Niko a quick wink Russell turned away, heading over to join his commander.<br/><br/>"Reporting for duty, sir," he stated as he approached Sebastian. "Lady Niko was upset by the gunfire, and by the CAS. She's getting herself back together, but I'd recommend we give her some space to sort herself out," he advised the lieutenant in a quieter voice. Russell looked over at the orc prisoner, where Delaney still covered him with his rifle. However the empty look in his eyes made it clear he wouldn't be going anywhere even if he wasn't being watched. When Sebastian told him to translate his words to the prisoner the young Marine nodded in agreement.<br/><br/><em>"Take a long hard look at what happened to your friends,"</em>Russell ordered Dor'Lan harshly.<em>"You attacked us from ambush, without provocation. You tried to kill us. You are responsible for this. We did not come here looking for a fight. We only defended ourselves. Try to attack us again, or attack those under our protection, and our response will be even harsher."</em>The young Marine's voice softened a little.<em>"We will give you food and water, and then send you on your way. Remember what you have seen here, and think about it should you decide to attack us again."</em>Russell stepped back as another member of the 13th Recon left a canteen and a small bag of food beside the orc.<em>"Now leave!"</em>he ordered the orc harshly.<br/><br/>Russell watched warily as the orc pushed himself to his feet and then lumbered towards the treeline. Instead of heading directly into the forest, however, he went around to each of the orcish corpses and took a necklace or amulet from each one. The blue-eyed Marine was reminded of a time in Iraq where he'd seen a Graves Registration team taking the dogtags from dead GIs and Marines, and he blinked at the thought. He turned away from the field of slaughter to regard Sebastian thoughtfully. "Lieutenant, I've got no love for orcs, not since I fought 'em in Frisco," he began. "When they were charging at us I'd have gunned them all down and felt nothing but satisfaction and recoil. But what those Little Birds did..." Russell shook his head helplessly. "That was cold, but more to the point it was unprofessional and stupid. They'd surrendered! We could have interrogated them for intel about the area we're operating in, questioned them about orcs overall - hell, there was<em>so much</em>we could have learned from them! And it's all pissed away." His icy blue eyes met Sebastian's brown ones. "Sir, what the hell was going on with that decision?"<br/><br/>