|
Interlude 13
Triton 1's flight home is long but uneventful. The plan, once the ship arrives, is to begin looking at spreading our experience and rank around. Even though most guys at Atlantic haven't been around long, they've gotten one thing everyone at South China Sea hasn't, and that's real missions.
As Triton 1 is pulling into it's bay, I'm informed that the new sub pen at South China Sea is ready. I OK the lease of another 'Cuda and equipment for it. I also order two more storage faciilities built at the base, because its becoming an issue once again. I also put in for 18 more scientists there to fill out the lab.
The unload of Triton 1 is quick, as these kinds of missions don't usually bring many spoils. What we sell, though, has great value and the haul brings in almost a million dollars. This is enough to cover the new 'Cuda and its weapons, plus the new buildings.
With advice from our Captain, MrBug708 II, I put together a transfer list. Transferred from Atlantic to South China Sea are:
Kodos III
Chief Rum II
illinifan999 III
From South China Sea to Atlantic are:
Neon Chaos III
ntndeacon III
Izulde
path12 II
Abe Sargent II
The men pack their bags and say their goodbyes. Even for a group with so little time together, the battles have brought them close quickly, and this is no easy thing to do.
The next morning sees our general storage at Atlantic finish, but more importantly our second lab at South China Sea is done. I requisition 25 more scientists. This only half fills the space, but we're a little tight on the budget until the end of the month.
Five more new recruits show up on the 28th. The list:
gkb
Rank: Seaman
Base: Atlantic
Missions: 0
Kills: 0
Roberto II
Rank: Ensign
Base: Atlantic
Missions: 0
Kills: 0
kingfc22 III
Rank: Ensign
Base: Atlantic
Missions: 0
Kills: 0
PurdueBrad IV
Rank: Ensign
Base: South China Sea
Missions: 0
Kills: 0
Qwikshot II
Rank: Ensign
Base: South China Sea
Missions: 0
Kills: 0
The last two on the list are immediately rerouted to South China Sea. The transfers have left them a little thin. There are four more recruits awaiting paperwork problems, two for each base.
The sub pen at the new North Pacific base is also ready. I don't think we're quite ready to run ops from there, though, so I hold off on ordering Triton 3 and any more troopers. The next morning sees the storage units at North Pacific also ready. I order a sonar unit for the base, and when that's ready we'll start operations there. Our alien containment facility is also ready at South China Sea, making us fully functional there.
Later on the 29th, our 37 scientists for South China Sea arrive. We put them to work with their fellow eggheads on the current project at that base, the large alien torpedo unit. Hopefully we'll be able to bring this thing along on missions soon.
The end of the month arrives and I make my monthly trek to UN Headquarters. The report is again excellent, and our funding increases by almost ¾ of a million dollars. Unfortunately, with all the expansion we've been doing, our operating budget puts us in the red. We need some missons to get things back in the black.
As I make my way back to Atlantic on the 1st, the sonar guys at Atlantic radio me that they have a contact near France. I order the Barracuda 1 to intercept. It finally catches up just north of Columbia in the south Carribean Sea. After an intense fight, the 'Cuda is heavily damaged and hasn't taken down the aliens. I order Barracuda 2 to pursue and 1 to return to base. As it moves to intercept, the alien sub sets down on the bottom off the coast of Cuba. I order Triton 1 out to investigate.
|