Out of Space

Chapter 52: Recovery

Blake sat at the head of the meeting room's table, his fingerings forming a tent shape under his chin. The elves as new allies were also included in this meeting. He started the meeting when everyone had settled down in their seats.

"Alright, the last few days were quite a test. We had lost men and elves to enemy attacks and also we retaliated back." Blake looked around the room, catching the eyes of everyone. "Chin up people, we beat back a force over three times our weight." He spoke in elvish for the benefit of the newcomers.

"Let's start the meeting. Status on our forces?" Blake asked Lt Frank.

"Yes, Sir," Frank stood up, the combat action he led had matured him, giving him more confidence than before. "Our current Marine combat strength is at 25, with one KIA and two WIA, while the supporting security section's strength is at 93, with 12 KIAs and 17 WIAs." He paused and flipped his notes, "Under Lord General Joseph command, he has a total of 970 soldiers of varying equipment. In the course of the last few days, his command had suffered 111 KIAs and 215 WIAs."

We lost 3% of our current manpower in just 2 days of fighting while the Goldies lost almost 10 times the amount! Blake mentally calculated. He looks at the princess next to him, knowing she will be greatly affected by the news.

Sherene lowered her head in sadness, when she heard the number of deaths, struggling to keep her eyes from tearing and smiles in gratitude as Blake places a calming hand on her arm.

"He also has erm, 14 mages under his command." Flipping his notes again, Frank continued, "We captured over 137 POWs, all of them wounded but not life-threatening. 43 of those creatures they called war dragons and over 400 sets of swords, spears, and armor. A total of 372 confirmed kills and another estimated 900 kills from the missile strikes. 900 is the low end of the estimation, we calculated that as high as 1,800 deaths to be exact. That's all for my report."

Joesph was surprised at the efficiency of the hoomans. He knew they were good but this is out of expectation. From the numbers of soldiers to kills and death, they are highly organized! While some of the things they said, he couldn't recognize, but he managed to guess its meaning.

Grayson stood up and did a quick report "The census as of this morning for the elven civilians joining us stands at 2052, the security working with the elven mages had screened them to prevent another incident like the day before from happening. The total number of elves including the soldiers is at 3039." Finishing his part, Grayson sat down.

QM Chen stood up next, "We need to watch our ammunition expenditure or train the troops to fire more conservatively. We expended over 40% of our existing stores of small arms munitions over the past three days, at this rate we will be fighting with swords and spears soon."

"Understood," Blake said, "I have a plan for that problem which I will go through with everyone later."

Chen nods and continues, "In the past week we fired off 10 AIM-32s, while the action with the wolves we burn eight missiles. Now we have left a total of 82 missiles in our inventory."

"The elves had brought along several of their domesticated animals which will help out with manual labor and transportation. They have 184 of those giant crocs like creatures which they called land dragons, 142 of those woolly 'muffalos' and over 300 small chicken-like wyverns which they breed for eggs and meat."

Blake glances at his tablet on the images of the land dragons which truly looked like some kind of docile giant dark blue crocodile with huge packs saddled on its back and sides, while muffalos look like a giant furry grey-blue buffalo with a face that reminds him of a kids show in the past using puppets. The chicken-like wyverns looked look a tiny fat fluffy white dragon with feathers instead of wings.

SA Alice who used to be from hydroponics made her report next. "For food, the elves had told us that they just barely have enough to support their own people over winter, which according to the elves is coming in a couple of months time. And because of that, we have to prepare too, if we want to fed over 3,000 people in the future. I propose we build several greenhouses to allow hydroponics farming and if possible convert part of the ship for indoor farming."

"Ok, submit a plan for that," Blake ordered. "Next?"

PO Letts who was in charge of construction spoke next, "We laid down plans for new accommodations for the new arrivals, and should be ready for them to move in, in about three to four weeks time. Also, we plan to beef up the defensives at the Pass, with a double reinforced concrete wall layout and heavily fortified bunkers that can provide better protection from fireballs. I wonder if lightning rods work against their lightning spells?"

"Get it tested with Magister Thorn," Blake ordered, turning to the Magister, "If you are willing to?"

"Of course, of course!" Thorn looked excited and lost at the same time, trying to figure out what these hoomans are talking about all afternoon.

"I propose we build more wind turbines to help power our growing future needs and also to charge the Point Defense lasers." Chief Matt spoke next. "Our reactor remaining fuel won't last, so we need new forms of energy generation. If will be best if we can dam up the river up north and build a hydro dam, it will provide more than enough power for our lasers."

"Ok, please look into it." Blake replied, "Dr. Sharon? You are awfully quiet today."

"Ahem," Dr. Sharon cleared her throat, rolling her eyes at Blake's comment. "Medical is totally swarmed, I haven't slept for days, so pardon me for being quiet." Her remark made the others chuckle, "Supplies are almost gone, I saved up some of the supplies for serious cases in the future, while I am back to using spit and tape for the less serious cases. So expect the wounded to recover in weeks or even months rather than days with advanced medications."

"No luck in finding any native plants with medical properties yet?" Blake asked.

"Nope, but with the elves here, I plan to grill them about their medical knowledge." Dr. Sharon gave a cold smile, making the elves feel a chill down their spines.

"Alright everyone, from the security side of things, I want everyone properly screened. We made a mistake, letting the refugees into the camp, lucky they were isolated for medical reasons that we managed to lower casualties. So let's not make the same mistake again."

'Next, prioritize food production and for the upcoming winter season. Submit your plans for your ideas and I will review them. Alice, recruit among the new arrivals with farming and animal husbandry skills to help you"

"Chief Gale, I want you to start producing heavy tools and if possible to replicate more fabricators out."

"Chief Matt, work on the plans for the dam and wind turbines. See which is more feasible or if we have the resources to go both ways."

"Letts see what you can do with the defenses against magic, work with the good Magister here."

"Dr. Sharon, I think you know what to do, right?" Blakes looked at everyone who nodded and making sure everyone understood his instructions.

"For the Pass, improve the defenses asap, I want 24 7 UAV scouts overhead. Anything that moves, I want it tracked and reported, clear?

"Alright I need everyone to work together, we are all in the same ship now. So if it sinks, we all drown together, best is we work together to survive." Blake encouraged everyone while earning blank stares from the elves. They probably don't understand a word I said.

"Final item, I will need people with mining or construction experience," Blake listed out his requirements to everyone including the elves. "Princess, please find out if any of your people are miners have mining experience, I need their help."

He nods to Ford who activates the display screen, displaying a map of the area. "We found several caves here," He points to the southeastern side of the hills. "I want to set up a team of miners and a relay station here."

"Caves?" Matt asked, "For what?"

"Saltpeter," Blake clarified, "We can make black powder with it and also it is used as fertilizer."

"Black powder?' Matt looked surprised, "Our guns able to handle it?"

"No, that is why we are designing a new weapon, but first things first. We need to have a source of niter." Blake explained.

"Eh, my Liege," Magister Thorn raises his hand like a schoolboy and asked, "Can I be allowed to learn your magic?"

Everyone laughed around the table, leaving the elves in confusion and slightly embarrassed.

"We do not have magic, in the same sense as you can cast magic," Blake explains. "What we have is science and technology." He further explains, "Our power comes from the understanding of how the world works."

"I-I see," Thorn looked crestfallen.

Blake feeling sorry for the old man said, "You can view our library, we have books teaching you about science and technology. And we also like to learn and understand magic from you."

Thorn brightens up as he heard Blake's words. "Of course! I will teach you all I know about magic too!"

"Any more requests?" Blake asked the other elves.

"Yes, my Liege," Joesph stood up and gave a salute, "I like to learn from your warriors, and your ways of war."

"Frank, see to it," Blake ordered. "Princess?"

"Can I follow you around as you work? I want to learn your ways too," Sherene spoke shyly.

"Erm, ok," Blake scratched his head, thinking is it a good idea. "Sure..."

"Alright everyone," Blake claps his hands together, "Get to work! The enemy won't wait for us to get ready!"

"YES MY LIEGE!" yelled the room, before bursting into laughter at Blake's expense.

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