Despite Biscuits and Sharp having stocked the squad's rations on their own, the new day revealed an alarming decline in their capacity to gather resources locally.
Running out of food would be bad for morale, and Sergeant Elena advised Adam to focus on scavenging for food, but he insisted on risking hunger. Adam had faced hunger many times over the past three months. It would be reckless to underestimate its effect on dissatisfied followers, but as the Mess Officer of every group he had joined, Adam knew the remedy.
He made sure to stay friendly with the Men-at-Arms, even sharing his emergency rations with them. This ensured they knew he was not leaving them to struggle alone. On the other hand, he clearly explained why they needed to establish a Command Center before going to look for food.
To him, this was a do-or-die situation, choosing to risk hunger rather than lose communication, as he explained:
"Food is out there. Canned food, non-perishables, everything. The problem is that we can't go looking for it with the base in this state."
"Some of us can stay and guard the base," Buzz said, voicing a hint of dissatisfaction.
"And then what?" Adam asked. "Security isn't the biggest risk. People avoid this area because it is surrounded by the city. Even monsters don't come here since the Dragon scorched this land."
"What's the problem then?" Stone asked.
"Communication," Adam replied. "Buzz has his powerful radio, but there is no communication tower to connect with. Once we have that, we can communicate, receive layout feedback on a terminal, and strategically deploy everyone while coordinating retreat routes and supply lines."
As Adam explained, the Men-at-Arms fell silent, as they had nothing to retort. However, their empty stomachs were protesting loudly enough. Seeing that it wasn't enough, Elena spoke firmly:
"Commander Clay is thinking two steps ahead. Be grateful for that."
"SIR!"
There was a difference between managing survivors and soldiers. Survivors need assurance of an organized plan and a competent leader; this requires established trust in command, which Adam certainly lacked. However, he lacked firsthand experience with leading troops, leading him to treat them like a group of survivors and attempt to gain their trust instead.
Elena was quick to notice the flaw in his logic and worked on addressing the deficiencies in his leadership skills, which were still rather green.
Still, it was true that in such unfamiliar territory, the Men-at-Arms needed communication more than they needed food at this early stage. While most of them were indoctrinated to lay down their lives for the Solarium, at this moment, manpower was so precious that they couldn't afford such sacrifices. For that, the Comm Relay Tower needed to be established first.
There was also much to do at this stage of establishing the Command Center, but for now, they were pleased with their accomplishments.
The Command Center building was a two-story building, like most American suburban homes, constructed of plywood and other unsuitably light materials—before the reconstruction, that is. The ground floor was reserved for the Command Control room, with all the interior walls removed and the exterior walls reinforced with thick Silicate Bricks and Metal Panels.
Two-thirds of the building's space was allocated, reserving a large area for the garage and another for the Auxiliary Training module. Adam checked the Comm Relay Tower components and instructions from the Sacred Code, the most valuable resource in the current base-building process. The group then built the antenna's structural frame atop the Command Center, using iron frames, wood, and metal wires for stability. The antenna array was constructed with magnetic coils for the signal, silicate panes for the sensor dish, a circuit board, and a Fluxgel Battery for power.
After four hours of hard work, the Comm Relay Tower was fully operational atop the Command Center, and diagnostics were run on the main terminal.
> COMM RELAY TOWER — /ONLINE/
> LINKING TO PRIMARY COMMAND TERMINAL — /SUCCESS/
> CALIBRATING…
> SIGNAL RANGE — 12 KM
> SIGNAL STRENGTH — MODERATE
> MODULE STATUS — FUNCTIONAL
> AWAITING TACTICAL UPLINK FROM COMMAND DATA CORE
"Amazing!"
Adam stood before the Command Terminal and couldn't believe how far his group of summons had progressed. The fact that they had built their own communication tower was one thing, but their progress toward a full Command Center building meant more than just establishing a simple structure; they were moving from the stage of desperate survival to the stage of establishing a true power base.
"Commander, when you give the order, I will fire up the radio," said Buzz, the radio operator of Elena's squad.
"We'll be able to contact others?" Having not seen other people in a while, Kave asked with a hopeful face.
"No!"
However, Adam's reply made everyone look at him with narrowed eyes.
For someone who was desperately establishing this base and prioritized the Comm Relay Tower above all else, he was the least willing person to use it.
"Why is that, Commander?" Elena asked.
Adam let out a sigh, realizing that despite her commanding abilities, Elena knew little of this world. In fact, only he knew the error of such a move.
"In the early days of the fall, people would call each other for help, expecting rescue or reinforcements. Unfortunately for them, there was no one to be trusted out there. If you call out for people, hoping they will join you, you'll only attract stragglers and raiders on the other end of the line."
His words were a morbid reminder that this was not a friendly world, and beyond the area Captain Creed had cleared for them were horrors beyond their level of firepower.
"Aside from Buzz using his radio to monitor nearby signals and report interesting details to me or Sergeant Elena, we would use the tower for secure communications only. Our names and locations would be encrypted; this was the best course of action for the time being."
Hearing that, the group fell silent and understood his reasoning—an irrefutable understanding of reality that raised the trust between Adam and the Wartopians to a new level.
"Regarding the food situation," Adam then boldly addressed the matter that still caused some unease between him and his troops. "We can now assemble a team that I will personally lead."
"Finally!"
"Some action!"
"Man! I thought I'd have to stay here forever."
The Men-at-Arms were finally in a cheerful mood, even though they had spent the last two days on half rations. Adam sat among them and started to make plans.
"We will be split into two teams: one for base defense and one for exploration. I'll leave Sergeant Elena to select the members of each team," Adam said.
"Yes, sir." Sergeant Elena took charge and looked at the faces of her squad members. "We'll do the usual split. Stone will secure defensive positions; Sharp will handle scouting. A medic for each team: Patch with Stone, and Biscuits with Sharp. Jazz and Dusty, you will be on defense. Hammerhead, you will be with scouting. Finally, Kave…"
"I want to be out there."
Kave immediately stood up and declared his desire, making Elena frown and turn to Adam.
"You're not ready, Kave," Adam said, looking intently at his friend.
"You're not going to shelter me here forever. Without you or the Sergeant, I'd rather leave anyway," Kave said stubbornly.
"Hey, I make for good company too." Corporal Stone said, seemingly heartbroken, before bursting into laughter, "Little skinward can't leave the Sergeant's side, can he…"
As Stone continued, Sharp poked him, and Stone noticed Elena's death stare, immediately falling silent.
"No offense, guys," Kave didn't seem bothered by Stone, "I just don't want to stay here all the time," but remained stubborn about going.
"Fine. Arm yourself and dress inconspicuously." Elena agreed, but still didn't like it. "The Commander and I will also be on scouting. Stone, this base is under your command for now."
"Sir!"
Stone saluted Elena and got his three followers—Dusty, Patch, and Jazz—to establish defensive perimeters.
"Commander Clay," Sergeant Elena then turned to Adam with a stern look on her face. "Strategy meeting."
"Yes, ma'am… I mean, yes… Alright. Ahem… lead the way!"
Startled by her stern attitude, Adam tried to maintain his "commander" image, but he wasn't used to playing the leader at all, as he always fancied himself a mastermind.
Following Sergeant Elena inside the Command Center, the two stood face to face.
"Is everything in order, Sergeant Skarn?" Adam asked, attempting to assert his superiority.
"It is, sir," Elena replied, reading him perfectly but choosing to ignore it. "I've reviewed the map you have given me, and I've made a plan based on the markings you provided."
Elena spread the city tourist map Adam had handed her from his personal effects, marked with all the information he had gained while wandering.
"According to this, the best places to acquire more food would be the sector that was formerly a commercial hub." Elena circled a place on the map.
"That's good, but without heavy firepower, we'd be walking into a Gobzkin hot zone," Adam said.
"After observing and assessing the risks, we should consider it our priority. I don't think we can find anything worth looting without venturing into a danger zone that other survivors avoid."
"Alright. I'd love to pay a visit to that mall," Adam said, remembering that this hypermarket had a section for RPG games, making it very likely to yield more Solarium miniatures.
"Additionally, these other locations may prove useful if we look into them." Elena marked other locations that were easy to access from their location, offered a good probability of escape, and were still within the 12 km radius of the Comm Relay Tower.
"For a significant haul, we'd need a vehicle," Adam said, watching Elena's expressions carefully.
"Sol, forgive us." Elena took a deep breath. "Fossil vehicles are quite taboo."
"For now, they are the best we can have," Adam said, knowing that this would be a significant obstacle for the Wartopians. "But since we are able to produce a good supply of Fluxgel, I assume we can repurpose fossil vehicles with holy batteries."
Elena looked at Adam with a faint smile.
"Glad you're finally thinking like one of us, sir."
"Don't mention it."
By the time the two finalized their plan, Adam had tested the Comm Relay Tower with Buzz. Buzz moved to the edge of the base and communicated with Adam, who had rigged an old telephone device and had connected it to the base's control terminal for communication.
Old Dusty was instructed on how to operate the base's communication systems and was given another version of the city map to track the group from the Command Center.
Finally, Kave collected some of the clothes and Kevlar vests used by the ex-military personnel who had attacked Adam and Captain Creed near the shelter when they first arrived, taking Adam's M16 as his weapon. Adam, for his part, also took a Kevlar vest and switched to a pump-action shotgun and a pistol, as 5.56mm rounds were almost depleted, and plenty of shotgun shells had been looted from the raiders.
Before noon, the party decided to move to avoid attracting the attention of the monster hordes roaming the city.
The Solarium's forces were finally ready to face the world of the apocalypse.
✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
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