The Mistral had barely cooled in the drydock before Reeve was already setting the next wave of orders.
The shipyard was alive. Sparks flew from welding rigs, giant mechanical arms moved like clockwork, and automated haulers carried crates of modular hull segments into the skeletal frame of the next vessel. Fort Sentinel's construction drones ground night and day, carving bunkers into volcanic stone, laying fiber optics, and rigging power conduits. From the balcony of HQ, it looked like the first steps of a real naval command post—functional, disciplined, expanding.
But power alone wasn't enough.
Power needed fuel. Fuel needed resources.
And resources meant one thing: logistics.
---
Reeve stood inside the command center, eyes locked on the updated map overlay projected across the main table. The fog of war had been peeled back across 20 hexes around Fort Sentinel, courtesy of long-range recon flights from the NH90 helicopter. With each pass, more data was compiled, rendering the terrain in topographic detail. Several new icons blinked in amber:
> UNCLAIMED RESOURCE ISLANDS DETECTED
Delta-7: Iron Veins (Heavy Yield)
Echo-2: Timber Swamp (Moderate)
Gamma-4: Petroleum Pools (Rare)
Note: Hostile Entities Present – Minor Pirate Detachment – Wildlife Threats – Possible Sea Monster Nesting Zone
Each island had a projected Control Rating—a numerical assessment of how difficult it would be to seize and hold the territory. Delta-7 was the lowest at 3/10.
> Delta-7 (Iron) – Control Rating: 3/10 (Easy) Echo-2 (Timber) – Control Rating: 5/10 (Moderate) Gamma-4 (Petroleum) – Control Rating: 8/10 (High – Predator Class Monster Nearby)
Delta-7 was greenlit immediately.
---
> MISSION CHAIN UNLOCKED: "Resource Initiative Protocol"
Objectives: ✅ Identify & Scan Resource Island ☑ Secure Island With Ground/Air Units ☑ Construct Mining Module (Modular Outpost) ☑ Develop Cargo Transport Vessel ☑ Maintain Escort Missions Until Fully Operational
In parallel, the Shipyard UI chimed with new availability:
> SHIP CLASS: Logistics
[NEW]: "LCV-22 Atlas-Class Cargo Vessel"
Capacity: 3,000 Units
Speed: Slow
Armor: Minimal
Modules: Defense Hardpoint (1x), Sensor Relay (1x)
Crew: 12 (AI or Officer-led)
> Construction Cost: 600 Steel 300 Electronics 1,000 Timber Time: 8 Hours
[Queued – Atlas 01]
---
Reeve had already begun drafting a rotation schedule. The Atlas would serve short-haul resource routes while protected by the Mistral and Brandenburg. Eventually, a proper escort wing would be needed—corvettes, UAV drones, fast-attack hydrofoils. But that would come later.
He knew the truth. Wars weren't just won by firepower.
They were won by who could keep the ships fueled, the guns loaded, and the bases running.
---
At 0700, deployment began.
The Brandenburg led, her radar sweeping steadily. Mistral flanked on the left, its main gun system calibrated for suppression fire. The NH90 flew recon loops ahead, relaying visual data in real-time. The sea was calm, but not silent. Sensors constantly pinged faint disturbances below the thermocline.
At 9 nautical miles out, the radar pinged surface contacts.
> UNKNOWN VESSELS DETECTED IDENTIFICATION: HOSTILE
Wooden-hulled monstrosities bristling with scavenged weaponry—deck-mounted mortars, jury-rigged missile tubes, shields made from engine parts and rusted steel. Three of them, flying bright red bone motifs. One bore a black flag marked with a stylized octopus skull.
"Engage. Standard pattern," Reeve ordered. "RAMs first. Mistral, suppress with main gun. Helo, mark any hidden emplacements on the island shore."
The battle lasted ninety seconds.
RAM missiles launched in rapid succession, crisscrossing through the air before slamming into the pirate craft. Explosions rocked the sea. Flames engulfed their makeshift decks. The 127mm cannon on the Brandenburg opened fire, punching clean through hulls with surgical precision. The pirates never stood a chance.
Three ships destroyed.
No survivors.
---
The NH90 did a sweep pass over Delta-7. No further hostiles. Green light.
Landing drones descended from the Mistral and Brandenburg. Modular platforms unfolded midair and slammed down onto the rocky shores of the island: prefab barracks, generator arrays, water filters, turret mounts. Automated engineer bots scuttled from cargo bays, shaped like mechanical crabs. They dug into the earth, unfurled power lines, bolted mining drills into position.
> RESOURCE OUTPOST ESTABLISHED: "Fort Ironjaw"
Output: +30 Iron/hr (Scalable) Defense Rating: Low Expansion Potential: Moderate
Next Objectives: ☑ Assign Escort Route for Cargo Pickup ☑ Hold Island for 24hr Cycle ☑ Optional: Build Recon Drone Hangar (Unlock Rare Mineral Scan)
Reeve watched as the first outpost infrastructure came online. Antennas swiveled. Power blinked from orange to green. Atmospheric sensors linked to Fort Sentinel.
---
Back at base, the drydock doors groaned as Atlas-01 slid into the water. The vessel was ugly—boxy, slow, unarmored. But it floated clean, engines responsive, and system readouts in the green.
Reliable.
The first of many.
Reeve leaned back in his chair. He reviewed the numbers: Two warships. One cargo vessel. One forward outpost. An expanding fuel reserve. An R&D lab now analyzing fragments recovered from wreckage and biological samples.
This was the beginning.
Tomorrow, Echo-2.
Then Gamma-4.
And when the fleet was ready, when the sonar picked up that next Leviathan...
He would hunt it.
Because in this world, it wasn't enough to survive the sea.
You had to conquer it.
---
[End of Chapter Four]