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25.63% Out of Space / Chapter 172: Chains of Command

Chapitre 172: Chains of Command

Far Harbour, Pier, Fury

Fleet Master Dijon looked at the pitiful few ex slaves that were willing to follow them back to the Isles and sighed. The transport ship was able to carry over 500 men and women, yet barely a tenth of the passager hold will be used. He sighed and glanced at out to the sea, seeing dozens of longboats ferrying his men and supplies to the ships anchored offshore.

"Fleet Master!" His first mate called out, as he walked barefooted towards Dijon and gestured to the pier. "Compliments of the Princess."

Dijon looked down from the decks of his flagship and saw dozens and dozens of crates were being delivered by workers. He strolled down the gangplank and gestured his some of his crew to open the crates and follow each crate was filled with glassware.

The harbor master dressed in a strange single piece of clothing said, "Sir! The Princess offers you this glassware in compensation of the number of freed slaves. It's the least she can offer you, she said."

Dijon checked another few more crates. finding each crate containing at least 40 sets of glass goblets. He gave a low whistle, as the quality and clarity of the glass were beyond anything they have, matching or even surpassing the Master artisans at home and in greater quantities too. He mentally calculated the value, estimating that a single glass goblet could probability sell at around two to three gold coins, meaning the stacks of crates here would be worth as much as a small ship!

"Thank your mistress for me!" Dijon grinned, thinking that maybe he did not lose out much after all on this trip. "I will look forward to coming back for another visit!"

"Please do so, Sir!" The harbor master bowed, "We will greatly appreciate and welcome your visits! Swift winds and calm seas!"

"Swift winds and calm seas!" Dijon replied, gestured his men to carefully load the crates of glassware to the ship, before he glanced at the distance white stone building, "I will be back."

------

UNS Singapore, Command Bridge

"Captain, Far Harbor reports that the Isles' Fleet has left our waters," The communications officer reported from his station. "Harbor security is doing a sweep of the area to ensure no stragglers were left behind."

Blake nodded, "Put me through to Major Frank, please."

"Aye, stand by Sir!" The communication officer tapped several keys, before the screen in front of Blake lighted up with a <CONNECTING VID LINK> text.

Soon Major Frank's image appeared on the screen and he saluted, "Captain!"

"How's the search going?" Blake asked.

Frank frowned, "No news yet, I have the Dragons dropping active radio transmitters with a cable down into the canopy of the forest, and only having my search party replying. The missing platoon is still not responding to our hails."

"Damn, could they been wiped out by monsters or the same thing that took the sailors?" Blake asked worriedly.

"Sir, we found tracks of a campfire and orc tracks," Frank replied, "And tracks of the missing platoon too, so far all indicated that they were following the orc tracks."

"It's been more than 36 hours since they went missing," Blake sighed, "Step it up, if not call off the search, I leave it to your judgment."

"Yes, Captain!" Frank nodded before Blake closed the connection.

"Damn, always one shit after another," Blake leaned his head back.

"Captain," Commander Ford spoke up from his workstation. "You need to take a break."

"Well, when we have no shit happening, I will then take a break," Blake sighed. "There just so much to do, and everything has risks."

"Well at least the slime plant is on track now," Ford grinned.

"Ahhh... slime plant... who came up with such a horrible naming..." Blake groaned at Ford's reminder.

"Well, it processes slimes for use to various industries," Ford replied, "Don't forget, you and the Princess supposed to be there tomorrow morning for the opening ceremony!"

"Urgh, can't you go in my stead?" Blake asked, "I'll take a double shift in exchange!"

"Nope, You're the big boss!" Ford winked, "and besides, your girlfriend is there!"

"Damn..." Blake cursed Ford, "Alright, anyway, what's the assessment of the shipwreck?"

Ford checked his tablet before replied, "Well, we sent a couple of teams down to check it out, looks like its still intact, except for a couple of holes just below the waterline."

"Most of the equipment is still onboard, except for the ship's charts." Ford added, "Guess they are smart enough to remove any maps."

Blake nodded, "Is it salvageable?"

"I have Chief Matt to take a look with one of the teams," Ford nodded, "He says we just need to unload all the heavy stuff onboard, like the ballistas, catapults, ballast, and other supplies to lighten the ship. Next, he said, we can attach the deployable floats from the lifeboats, and wait for the tide and float the ship out. as it is stuck on the rocks."

"Do it," Blake gave his approval, "But I do not want the Islanders to know what we are doing. Make sure none of their ships are nearby when we float the ship out."

"Finder keepers?" Ford gave a suggestion, "I mean they should have some salvage rules of the sea here right?"

"We don't know," Blake answered, "So play it safe, and if we can repair and upgrade that wreck, it will be useful in the future."

Ford nodded, "That's why you told the Princess not to mention to them that we found their missing ship?"

"Yup," Blake grinned, "Cause I want to steal it!"

"Heh!"

-----

Somewhere in the forest northeast of the Wreck

"CONTACT!" Someone yelled, and a harsh bark of an M1 Magelock roared out, sending a stab of flames into the dwindling darkness. "Incoming!"

Yelps and shrieks suddenly rang out in the dark forest twilight as goblins rushed out from the undergrowth, ambushing the tired and lost Marines.

"Form up! Give me a defensive circle!" Lieutenant Coraths yelled as he looked around in confusion at the dark figures. "Lights! Give me some flares!" He yelled next to the platoon mage who threw up some magical flares that lit up their surroundings.

"No!" Mills yelled from his position as he saw what the Lieutenant ordered. The pitiful few lights popped into existence, providing a soft warm glow, that clearly exposed goblins but also the Marines within the magical glow.

The goblins screamed in delight as they saw the highlighted Marines under the glow and rushed forward, their eyesight clearly more superior in the dark compared to the elves who tried to filter out which were shadows and which were goblins in the dim glow.

"Fuck!" Mills cried as he fired point blanked at a goblin that appeared to grow out from a bush. "Back!" He ordered, "Form a firing line here!"

The men followed his orders, back pedaling as they fired at anything that moved, while Coraths was rallying the other men on the other flank. Suddenly, Mills heard Coraths calling for a charge, and he was stupefied, a charge into the dark against unknown numbers? Is he crazy?

He saw the men of Section 1 and 2, with a few others from 3 and 4 rush forward, screaming a war cry and slamming into the surprised goblins and for a moment, it looked like the charge worked in the Marines favour, till suddenly a Marine screamed and his broken body flew over the heads of the rest and crumbled against a tree.

A large shadow stepped into the magical glow, resolving into a forest troll. "Troll!" The men yelled, "RPG!!!"

Mills turned and yelled at the nearest Marine with an RPG-1 on his back, "Quick! Take out that troll or they all be butchered!" The Marine and his buddy quickly yanked the tube out and crouched down while the rest hurried away from the back blast and providing cover for the team.

"ONE ROUND AWAY!" The HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) rocket screamed out and impacted on the troll, blowing its arm, causing it to bellow in anger and pain. "RELOAD!"

The angered troll hammered its fist on a slow-moving Marine, beating him into a pulp while the others fired at it and tried to retreat, only to have the giggling goblins sneaking in for a stab or poke.

"Lieutenant! What do we do?" Someone yelled at the stunned Coraths who stared open-mouthed at the Troll ravaging his men. "Sir?!"

"Ah.. hit it with rockets... yes! The RPGs!" Coraths blinked rapidly and turned around looking for any Marines with RPGs. "QUICK!"

"Shit!" Mills cursed as he saw Coraths panicking, "Come on guys! Hit it again and don't miss!"

"You!" Mills ran to the Orc machine gunner, "Ignore the Troll! Suppress the goblins instead!"

The orc nodded his helmeted head, and resting the bipod of his MG-1 on a tree root and fired sending bright arcs of tracers into the undergrowth.

"Up!" The RPG team yelled and aimed the weapon at the one-armed Troll, "ONE ROUND AWAY!" and the rocket impaled itself in the hard belly of the Troll before it blew up, ripping the troll into two halves. The Troll continued to scream and struggle on the ground as its lifeblood slowly drained away.

By then it was too late, more than half of the platoon were dead or dying, with the remaining half with wounds of varies degrees. Despite the death of the Troll, the goblins, like sharks sensing blood, rushed in wave after wave, shrieking wildly and waving crude weapons at the retreating Marines.

"Fuck this!" Mills cursed, as he fired his weapon mechanically, the tide of goblins were like endless, popping out from the shadows every now and then. "Back!"

"Hold the line!" Coraths yelled suddenly. "Hold the line!"

"What?" Mills paused and turned to look at the Lieutenant. "What is he trying to do now?"

"We leave no man behind!" Coraths yelled again, "Stand your ground! Kill those green scum!"

"Is he serious?" Mills felt like he was dreaming, "Shit!"

"BELAY THAT ORDER!" Mills roared angrily, and the remaining Marines looked confused.

"Sir! We need to pull back and regroup!" Mills yelled at Coraths as he made his way over while reloading his weapon. "We are outnumbered and blind here!"

"No! We hold the line! We will not leave the bodies of our brothers to the green scum!" Coraths stubbornly cried, his M2 against his shoulder as he fired at anything that moved in front of him.

"You serious?" Mills looked at the wide eyed Coraths. "We need to fall back! You impulsive charge nearly killed everyone! The goblins will overrun us!"

"Coward!" Coraths screamed at Mills, "You hoomans think you are so smart! But when come to fighting, you are all the first to run!"

"What did you say?" Mills expression turned cold, "You want to repeat that again?"

"Coward! Sergeant, I am charging you for insubordination!" Coraths continued to scream at Mills, "I am busting you back to private! Get out of my sight!"

The surrounding men turned and looked at each other, confusion on their faces. "Sir, I don't think this is the time for this..."

"Shut it private! You want me to charge you for insubordination too?" Coraths turned and screamed at the Marine.

"Enough!" Mills yelled, "Lieutenant Coraths, I relieve you, sir, under the authority of paragraph 1088 of Naval Regulations, for your reckless hazarding of your command. I assume full responsibility with this and will forward a complete report to the next higher commander, with witness statements from all concerned. You will stand down as the commanding officer, and remain escorted until such time as you are notified otherwise."

"Corporal!" Mills barked to the surprise of the men around him, "Take the Lieutenant's weapons! Assign someone to watch over him! Lieutenant, I hope you cooperate as we are under combat situation now, don't make it worst!"

"What? You are relieving me of command?" Coraths eyes looked even wider than before. "You have no authority, coward!"

"Take him, Corporal!" Mills sighed, "The rest watch your sectors, prepare to move out!"

"You... you...!" Coraths looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

"Sir?" The Corporal gently removed Coraths's rifle and his sidearm before gesturing the private he scolded earlier to look over him.

Mills quickly reorganized the remaining men into two sections, "One, pull back 50 meters and hold! Two provide fire support!" He commanded the men to pull back in a tactical withdrawal.

"Back! Move it!"


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Chapitre 173: Meetings

UNS Singapore, Conference Room

"Output of our current mines has risen by a total of 4%, while saltpeter output has dropped by 12% as military demand for saltpeter has dropped. We are reallocating manpower from the saltpeter mines over to the mines. Estimated transfer of manpower will take roughly three working weeks." Chief Engineering Officer Gale reported.

"A third of our all our M1 Magelocks have been recalled back to the factory for retooling to the newer 6.5 mm smokeless cartridge and will be issued out to the frontline troops first, while the Militia will still use the original black powder M1s till the Marines have all switched over to the new ammunition."

"Production of the new smokeless propellant is moving smoothly, but we had a couple of accidents. Thankfully all minor injuries," Chief Gale paused and looked towards Dr. Sharon. "Dr. Sharon and my team have worked out some SOP* (*Standard Operating Procedure) and safety measures for the workers in the factory. We will also be conducting more safety courses to ensure workplace safety for all our works in the entire production sector."

"Also the new slime factory for processing slime for use as raw materials is scheduled today, at 1100 hours," Chief Gale gave a nod to Captain Blake and the Princess. "This new factory will be able to process up to 4 tons of slime daily, with more room to expand should we need to."

"Slime captured or harvested will be gutted, cleaned, sterilized, and sorted out to either as a food product or raw material." Chief Gale explained the purpose of the Slime factory to those that were clueless about its usage. "Slimes like the Green and Yellow variants will be dried and processed into food. Honey Slimes will be sterilized and milked for its nectar, while Black Slimes found in the northern swamps will be sun-dried and aired, before being processed into bio-rubber."

Bio-rubber were made by using the rubber-like bodies of the Black Slimes, stacked together and heat bonded, before been shaped into the tires, gaskets, soles, or linings and many other products. The demand for Black Slimes rocketed, and teams of hunters ventured into the swamps to hunt for the Slimes, while farmers attempted to breed the Black Slimes in their own backyards.

Blake gave a nod, "We will be there for the opening. What else?"

"The vehicle factory output currently far exceeds our needs, so I might cut its production to half, we have sufficient vehicles like trucks, tractors, buses, harvesters, jeeps, and half-tracks to support a population of fewer than 10,000 people, not to mention the need for bio rubber for tires." Gale added, "On the other hand, the market for consumer products has risen, and I most likely will focus on that instead."

"Ok, work with the Princess on what the population needs most," Blake replied. "Next?"

"Sir, I had the boys comb over the entire ship and found dozens of hairline cracks in the main structural frame of the ship," Matt said as Gale finished his report. "The ship took quite a beating when it landed, but firing the main guns finally cracked the spine of the old lady."

"What can we do?" Blake asked.

"Either we refrain from firing the guns, or we brace the main structural frame with patches which will barely do any good once you fire the guns again. Alternately, we can remove the guns and site them on stable ground." Matt listed out his suggestions.

"Give me a detail report," Blake replied, "I take a look later."

"My team has fully surveyed the shipwreck and will commerce salvaging operations in three days once the Isles's Fleet has left the area," Matt said, "We will strap and secured the self inflating flotation devices we salvage from the lifeboat and wait for high tide before we attempt to float the ship out. Pumps will also be installed to pump out the flooding in the bottom hull."

"Great, make sure the Isles don't spot the wreck!" Blake said. "I don't want them to claim it."

Magister Thorn gave a cough, "I will have my best students cast a shimmering spell over the wreck before the Isles ships can spot it. I will also be there to oversee it." Thorn gave a grin, "Always wanted to pirate a ship!"

"Hahahaha," The people around the table laughed and smiled at Thorn's joke before Blake gestured them to cool down and listen to Matt's report.

Matt nodded, "Next, Ordnance have come up with a new weapon, a simple dual purpose breech loading cannon, 3" 23 monobloc gun design using a vertically-sliding breech block, firing a 76.2 mm or 3" shell. It can be mounted on a fixed pedestal or field carriage."

"So far, tests results are quite favorable. Its range, firing at a 45.3 degrees angle, it can land a 5.9 kg shell at 7,315 meters away." Matt read off the numbers from his notes as the display screen showed a video clip of the weapon being test fired. "At an anti air angle of 75 degrees, laser calculation recorded the shell reaching heights of 5,181.6 meters."

"That's pretty impressive," Blake whistled, "Give my thanks to the team."

Matt nodded and continued, "The R & D on the fast craft is still proceeding, the team is currently testing out a 1:10 scale model, once their results are refined, they should be starting the next step of testing."

"Good, we need at least some presence in the waters around us," Blake grinned. "And with a light gun, we can at least have more firepower on the field or at sea against large sailing ships like what the Isles have!"

"Sir, why not develop torpedoes?" One of the naval department heads asked. "Won't it be more devastating against their ships?"

"Yes, it will, but we know nothing of building a torpedo, and the amount of resources we need on developing a torpedo is not worth it as it can only be used at sea," Blake explained to clarify the doubts of his people. "While a dual purpose light gun, it can be used at sea, land, and against air targets."

"Also. mounting a light gun takes up less space than a torpedo," Matt added, "A 3" gun can carry more ammunition than a torpedo launcher, and sink or damage more ships per gun than what a single torpedo launcher can do."

"All clear?" Blake looked around the table, "Good? Ok, what else do we have? Magister Thorn? Dr. Sharon?"

"Captain," Magister Thorn stood up and gave a slight bow, "Dr. Sharon and I have actually discovered something strange and disturbing about the origins of the Hero."

"What is it?" Blake frowned when he heard it was about the Hero.

"We are unsure as of now," Magister Thorn replied, "But we will like to request some help in finding out more before we release the information."

"What help do you need?" Commander Ford asked.

"We need some people to help with our research." Dr. Sharon spoke up. "I like to access HR's records."

"You need HR records?" Blake looked at Ford in confused, "Ok, sure."

"Thank you," Dr. Sharon replied. "We will give a full report once we have finished our investigations."

"Eh... ok, next?" Blake looked around the table.

"Sir," Major Frank spoke, "Search operations for the missing platoon is still ongoing, but there were reports of what appeared to be gunfire, therefore the platoon is most likely engaged in combat, I took the liberty of deploying a third platoon in for support into the area and also increase the search radius."

"Ok, keep me updated." Blake nodded.

"Master Sergeant Pike has also revised the troops' loadout to maximize their firepower out on the field after the incident with the Hero," Frank loaded up a chart on the main display for everyone to view. "1st and 2nd Battalion will be reorganized into the following, Three infantry Companies, One Weapon Support Company, and One Motorized Support Company."

"Infantry Companies will have an HQ company and four rifle platoons," Frank further detailed, "Each rifle platoon now will have an additional machine gun section attached." Previously, each platoon only has four seven-men sections.

"Each section will now consist of an AT (Anti Tank) and assistant AT, a grenadier, a marksman, a point man, and finally the section IC and 2 IC (InCharge)," Frank continued, "Machine gun sections will be a three-man team, consisting of the IC, machine gunner and assistant gunner. An ASAG will also be supporting the MG section."

"Under the Support Company, four 120 mm mortar platoons with three mortars in each platoon will provide heavy fire support for the Battalion, while the Motorized Support Company provides logistical support to the Battalion."

Blake nodded, "Looks good, when will it be implemented?"

"Within the month or longer," Frank replied, "Depending on how fast we resolve the current issue with the missing platoon."

"I like to nominate the whole of Claymore One for Silver Valor Cross, another other merit awards," Frank pushed a list of recipients and nominations over to Blake. "Also for a few outstanding Marines."

Blake nodded and looked towards, Commander Tommy, "What's the Air Force status now?"

"We lost two pilots and three aircraft from the fight with the Hero," Tommy reported, "Our current manning is at 27 F/A - 1 Cobra and 6 T-1 training crafts." The T-1 training aircraft were the original two-seater prototypes that were improved and turned into trainers for the pilot trainees.

"I am also recommending Blue Thunder and his crew for a Silver Valor and also confer them the title of Ace pilots for their efforts for taking down six confirmed aerial dragon kills." Tommy handed over a list of names to Blake. "As for the injured Blue Thunder, he is recovering well and will be flight capable in a couple of weeks."

"Next, we are working on a heavy rotor lifter," Tommy added, "We are designing a helicopter that will allow us to transport troops and supplies. The Valkyries are overworked at the moment, and if any one of them goes down, or is down for maintenance, our lift capabilities will be seriously screwed."

"Not only that, we are looking at designing a cargo plane for short haul air transportation purposes," Tommy said, "This will be useful not only for the military but also the industrial and civilian sectors in the future."

"Also, we are working on a parachute course for the Marines," Tommy gave a nod towards Frank, "It will improve our combat reach in the future."

"Great work people, good initiative all around!" Blake grinned. "How's about the civil side, Princess?"

"Rebuilding of the city is still underway," the Princess replied, "Shelters for civilians are also being planned out."

"On agriculture, we are expecting a large bountiful harvest, and with the new harvesting tractors, we do not expect large spoilage. So food will not be a problem for winter this year. Also with the trade agreement with the Isles, we will be able to start our own fishing industry which will also increase our sources of food." Sherene read off her notes.

"There has been some unrest due to the damages in the city caused by the cannons, but we managed to pacify the affected parties," Sherene looked up from her notes and said, "Issues now is the production of winter clothing."

"Matt and Gale. Can you work out a heating system to the city?" Blake asked, "Or some heating stoves for those outside the city grid? And also see if you can start up a proper clothing manufacturing process. We got like, five months roughly before its winter? Work with the Princess on it."

"Got it, Captain!" The two nodded.

"Anything else?" Blake asked.

Quartermaster Chen raised his hand up, "Sir, I have a proposal here."

"Go," Blake gestured to Chen to speak.

"Sir, the rail gun has actually left a small trail of destruction directly into the Uncharted Forest," Chen said, as he pulled up some UAV imagery onto the screen which showed the blue-green canopy of the forest and a somewhat pencil straight line of destruction could be clearly seen from the over top view. "While it is not a straight line from Sawtooth Pass to the town of Falledge, it at least covers a third or more of the distance."

"Look, what I am saying here is that we can actually make use of the destruction to carve a highway into the forest!"


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
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Advance chapters are available on Patreon (18 Chapters Ahead)

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