Goals for the camp

It took all of 5 minutes for Joseph to get lost in filling his belly. The varied cuisine satisfied his palette in a way he had never experienced before. He continued to receive strange looks from those around him, but he paid them no mind.

After finishing his meal 20 minutes later he returned to the side walk outside of headquarters. It didn't take long before three large vehicles pulled up Infront of him. A tall burly man hopped out of the drivers seat of the middle car, quickly approaching him the man snapped to a salute and said. 

"Sir, Sergeant Cole of the logistics team reporting."

Joseph returned the salute and introduced himself, after which he stepped into the passenger seat of the car that was opened for him by sergeant Cole.

As they began to drive away he asked some of the questions that were on his mind. "Sergeant Cole could you please enlighten me on the current situation at Triple D camp?"

"Not a problem sir." Came the swift reply. "6 months ago our former Captain was killed in the field during the yearly raid. Unfortunately the General has not been able to send us a replacement until now, putting a severe strain on the less powerful delvers to clear the towers. We have managed to keep them from going red but we have not been able to meet our quota at all in this time. Our budget has been cut significantly due to repeated failures, as such key infrastructure projects have had to be put on hold to fund just the bare bones operations. These three towers that we have occupied were won from the enemy only a year and a half ago, the base is still very bare bones but we are hoping to change that now that you are here."

Joseph pretty much understood the situation now, he had been sent to this post as the fix it man. The general knew full well that he alone could clear those towers quicker than a normal team. She was hoping that with him the quota could be quickly met and the budgets revamped to allow swift construction of this forward base.

"Not to worry Sergeant Cole, I will make sure we get back what was lost and more. When was the last time the delving team went in?"

"Yesterday morning sir, they came back just this morning and are recuperating." Cole's somewhat dejected tone indicated the apparent difficulty of the towers, as did the fact that it took a D grade team a full day to clear.

"Are they the only team we have available?" Joseph needed to get a grasp on the resources available to him, if he had only one team then he may have to change the way he operated.

"We have only the bare minimum personnel at the moment sir. This base, while forward in position, was meant as a recourse gathering site. Headquarters is focusing most of the fighting personnel in other areas, so we have 6 D grade personnel on site to rotate through as team members."

"Why 6?"

"Because each Tower run only allows 4 people to join as a team, any more than that and the Tower won't open. You can run it with less but I don't recommend it."

The conversation continued back and forth for the remainder of the drive to base. By the time they arrived it was getting dark, but at least Joseph had a good idea of what he was dealing with and how to proceed.

"Sergeant Cole, please have all personnel gather for a meeting tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. I will be making some proposals after I have had time to look at the ledgers over night."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Cole snapped a salute and then about faced heading to spread the word of the meeting.

Stepping into the small one story building he found his office on the right hand side of the hallway. There were at most 6 offices and a break room in this building, his office being the largest one. As he looked at all the books on his desk he let out a low whistle, "This is gonna take a while." Settling down comfortably in his chair he began to read.

As the next day dawned the camp became a beehive of activity. All the differing departments and their teams were hustling to gather before the headquarters building in the large courtyard. There was a small podium set up from which their new commanding officer would address them, they couldn't help but hope that this new blood would be able to get them back on track.

The minute the clock struck 7 there was a blinding flash of light accompanied by rolling thunder. Fortunately no one was close enough to the stage to be affected physically, but the mental impact of their CO literally appearing as lightning was rather more than Joseph bargained for. 

He stood there before the assembly counting the individuals present, he had asked for everyone to be here and was somewhat dismayed by what he saw. A total of 40 individuals stood before him, not even enough for a full platoon. And what's more is that most of them were members of the support unit, in charge of meals, facility management, and goods transportation and handling.

He could tell that aside from the 6 D grade delvers, there was no one above F grade at all in the camp. "Don't need to be strong to drive a car i guess." Joseph mused dejectedly inside. He had been briefed by Sergeant Cole on the situation but he had hoped it wouldn't be quite so bleak.

"Attention!" He called, to which each individual snapped to and locked eyes on him. "I am Captain Thornwood, I have been given command of this post by General Rose."

A glimmer of hope could be seen kindling in the hearts of those present, his dramatic entrance and strong demeanor giving the men something to hope for. It was rough out here on the front, especially when your budgets have been cut so most of your days are spent in complete boredom. There was nothing to do in the camp except work, all the entertainment budgets had gone and none of the buildings aside from canteen, sleeping quarters, and head office had been completed. They hadn't even fully completed the enclosure that was supposed to keep wandering monsters and other threats out.

"My first order of business is to redo the delving schedule for the towers, I can promise you that with my help we will be able to delve these towers more efficiently and more frequently than ever before. It is because of this fact that I was given this post, but I cannot hope to complete this camps objectives on my own. I will need each and every one of you to perform your duties exceptionally, and I will do mine. Together we can build this camp into the envy of the front, and I can also promise generous rewards for those who perform above and beyond their call of duty."

He could see in the eyes of the men, especially the delvers, the growing sense of relief that they felt. It was all they wanted to make this camp into a home to be proud of, it wasn't every day that you got be be on the front line of reclaiming part of humanity's ancestral home. This was how cities were built! Towers were claimed, wall's erected, and infrastructure put in place. This was the way humanity had scrapped out a place to live since the towers descended, and by frack it worked.

"I will lead a team of 3 individuals into the towers 2 times each every week. We will then tabulate the resources gained and send them back to main camp at the end of every Friday. Saturday and Sunday will be non duty days however if you wish to accompany me in my weekend Tower runs you may do so."

This was a big shock to the men, they were barely managing to run each tower once. To more than double there projected output was a daunting prospect to say the least. But if the Captains show of force was anything to go by he could do it.

"Now," Joseph continued his final thoughts, directing their attention to the delvers in front of him. "These six men have been responsible for the saftey of the camp for the bast six months, and have done a remarkable job in performing their duties."

The chests of the men in question swelled with pride at being recognized for their hard work, these towers were brutal and they had put their lives on the line day in and day out to keep them in check.

"That is why," Joseph continued. "I will be delving into the towers with each of them on rotation until they have reached their maximum level and can safely upgrade. On my honor I will get you what you need to grow. As well as any one of the rest of you who decide to be brave and volunteer, not one of you will die under my watch, I so swear."

All that could be heard throughout the camp was the roar of the men as they excitedly welcomed the new possibilities that their captain would bring them.