Chapter 136: Reward The Kalkans
Kalli nodded. "That sounds like a win for both our teams. I am quite certain that there are many areas where we could coordinate. Being near Marimgar helps your people with quests, but having your fleet in the bay is also a security measure, in case there is a large sea monster.
Those Survival Arks have some significant weaponry."
The Admiral nodded. "So I have been informed. The technical team is reviewing the user manuals that you sent over, but it will take some time as they are two thousand pages long.
What should we do with all this timber? We don’t have any major use for it, as it is not compatible with our food processors."
Kalli laughed. "I will take care of it. We can always use the lumber for repairs and for fires. The buildings are old, and still have coal boilers that can be used with charcoal."
Then, she walked to the massive pile of cut lumber they had collected, and moved it all to her [Storage Realm] for transport.
"Much better. Now, if you would be so kind as to have someone send me back to the base, I would appreciate it."
The Admiral hesitated, then spoke slowly. "Would you object to us deploying a defensive team to your town for the evening? While we are doing the quests, security is of the utmost importance to us, and it appears we need Marimgar to remain in the best possible shape for the end of the Second Trial."
"Of course. You could always station a few helicopters at the landing pad for the evening. We have ample room for them to sleep, and we’re not short on food for a few more residents.
Also, take this. Your people earlier forgot, and you can have your growth teams work on getting them planted.
The heroes will grow rapidly in power with proper nutrition."
The Admiral gestured for someone to come over and collect the bag of tubers, and a man with a pilot’s helmet stopped beside Kalli.
"Coordinator Marimgar, we will escort you back to the base, and remain there for the evening. We might be few in number, but the Admiral has approved two attack helicopters to remain on station."
"Thank you. Heroes, I will see you tomorrow."
The group that escorted her back was the same one that had come with the first group, minus the Captain and his team. One small passenger helicopter and two attack helicopters.
That was likely a large part of the fleet’s air combat capability, unless one of those ships was an aircraft carrier before it was transformed. But she appreciated the gesture, and the pilots would surely appreciate some solid ground and solid food for the time that they were stationed here.
Flying back, Kalli noticed that the magma corrupted monsters didn’t appear to be any less dense than they had been before the storm.
Whether their power had suffered, she would have to check in the notes tonight. But they weren’t short on monsters to fight.
"You know, it’s a bit unnerving that your turrets track us when we approach." The Pilot announced through the headphones as they flew over the outer wall.
"Sorry about that. I’ve got them set to only attack things that are hostile to humans, but they track everything that approaches. It was too much trouble to change the programming."
The helicopters landed, and Kalli stepped out, then noticed that there were only a few shots left in each rocket pod on the attack helicopters, and one partial case of ammunition for the door guns on the transport helicopter.
"Are you running low on ammunition already?" She asked quietly.
The pilot nodded. "But we’ve got enough left for this mission, even if that’s the last of it. The first Trial was rough on us, and we burned through what was estimated to be enough ammunition to last the whole year."
"I will see that you get some more supplies. I might not have rockets, but I definitely can get ammunition for the guns. It comes from the mystery boxes from quest completions."
Or from her store.
"The Fleet Admiral would definitely reward you, and we would be in your debt."
Kalli nodded, and decided to test the theory.
She created a case of ammunition, and touched it to the rocket pod. The pod instantly filled, and an empty case was left on the ground.
"Well, that’s a win for us. I’ll do them all. It’s only eight pods in total, and we’ve started switching to mana powered Lasrifles."
"When did Marimgar get those?"
"They’re a System reward. Slightly more damage than a standard infantry rifle, but you can recharge them with mana from the hero using them. Zero upkeep cost rifles that never run out of ammunition until the user is exhausted are incredibly popular with the heroes."
"I can’t imagine why." The pilot replied sarcastically.
He was not one of the heroes, but he was level 0, and had received a single common box today after the quest for working his shift.
A case of rations that were hidden in the helicopter with his gunner’s case of beer.
They might not have said anything to the Officers, but they had every intention of having a very good week once they got back to the ship.
"Alright, I will assign someone to watch your helicopters if you want. But they’re all fully armed again, I think.
You might want to check that. I don’t know how many rockets you get from a case. It’s a thousand rounds of standard ammunition, but the case was empty after loading the pods."
The pilot hopped up and flipped the power on to check the ammunition count in the readout.
"It says we gained fifty rockets per pod. That is insane. We’re almost fully loaded again, and we’ve got ammo for the gatling again. You’re a miracle worker, Coordinator Kalli."
Behind them, Sanchez laughed.
"She really is. You’ll realize soon just how valuable she is to the town. But that’s a surprise for later. I’ve got members of my Special Forces team on watch all night, we will keep an eye on your gear.
If you want to follow the Coordinator, she will lead you to dinner, then the gym for the ninety minutes of heavy exertion to get physical gains, then to your rooms.
We’ve got hot water showers, three minutes worth."
The pilots smiled. "Oh, thank goodness for that. The showers on the survival Ark were the most offensive sort of lukewarm."