"Good. Settle the new arrivals in. As for the National Guard… keep them separate for now and observe them."
"Already being arranged." Rickson took the tablet Calista handed back to him, his gaze sweeping over the newcomers helping unload. "The team has grown, and it's become… more complicated."
"Complicated is interesting, isn't it?" Calista looked at him, her gaze deep. "Make sure Dr. Jenner starts work immediately. Those instruments are exactly what he's been dreaming of."
She paused, then lowered her voice slightly. "We ran into an unprecedentedly large horde on this trip. I hope he can come up with something useful as soon as possible."
Rickson nodded, his expression solemn. "Understood. Leave things here to me. You two go rest."
Calista said nothing more. She only patted Rickson lightly on the arm, then turned with Leah and headed toward the main building.
Rickson watched them leave, then turned back to the busy crowd. His booming voice rang out again. "Bossie, take our new friends to Building C! Jenson, add more people to the sentry posts!"
The three main buildings at Rock Fortress served as the dormitory area.
Building A housed Calista, Leah, Rickson, and the other mercenaries.
Building B housed the Howards, Dr. Evans, Dr. Jenner, Elena and her four students, Martha, Joey, Tom, Mira, Little Jimmy, Morgan, Duane, Guillermo, Felipe, Miguel, and Merle.
The newcomers Daryl, Shane, and Michonne would also be assigned here.
Building C had originally housed Martha and the others, but after the National Guard arrived, everyone else moved into Building B.
At the moment, Building C only housed the Tennessee National Guard, and now the soldiers from Fort Benning would be moving in as well.
Fortunately, every room was large enough to add extra beds as needed.
...
The next day.
Inside the command room of Rock Fortress's main building, the atmosphere was serious.
A detailed map of the surrounding area and the base personnel roster were spread across the long table.
Calista sat at the head, with Leah on her left and Rickson on her right.
Calista spoke first. "I'll keep this brief. We're starting the personnel integration. The new forces we've taken in must be absorbed as quickly as possible and turned into our own fighting force."
She placed the list of the dozen or so soldiers brought by Lieutenant Welles beside the list of the more than twenty former Tennessee National Guard soldiers already sheltered at Rock Fortress, then drew several lines across them with her pen.
"First, break them up completely." Calista tapped the two lists with the tip of her pen. "Forty National Guard personnel in total. No more distinction between Tennessee and Georgia. All of them are to be split up, and their original squad structures are canceled."
Leah added, "Aside from Rickson and me, our original team has twenty-one core combat personnel who can be reassigned. We can mix those twenty-one with the forty broken-up National Guard personnel."
Calista laid out her preliminary plan.
"I plan to establish eight combat squads first. Each squad will have one of our people as squad leader, with a former National Guard soldier or someone like Merle as deputy, chosen from the strongest candidates. The rest will fill in as squad members.
Later, when we have more people, or if others at the base want to join, we'll vet them and keep filling the ranks. We need to make sure every squad has two or three of our own people in it, and that we hold firm control over command."
The purpose of the plan was very clear.
She would use the absolute loyalty of her core mercenaries as the skeleton and brain, then fill the ranks with National Guard soldiers who had formal military training and basic combat ability.
That would fundamentally prevent the National Guard from maintaining its own system or forming small factions as their numbers grew.
"What about people like Carver and Mike, the ones who often go out on missions with you?" Rickson asked with some hesitation. "They could be pulled away at any time."
"That's why the squad leaders must be people stationed at the base," Calista said plainly.
"Carver and the others should be scattered among the squads as mobile spearhead personnel. That way, even if they're reassigned, it won't affect each squad's command structure."
Besides, Calista was already calculating in her heart that she probably would not be going out as often as before.
In the early stage, the base had been short on people, and the operations related to the Wildfire vaccine had to be kept secret.
Now that they had more people and the framework had been laid out, the next step was to properly develop the base and keep an eye on Dr. Jenner's progress.
"All of these combat squads will fall under the Rock Fortress Defense Force, and the Defense Force will be led by Leah.
From now on, the Defense Force will be responsible for supply runs, patrols inside and outside the base, external reconnaissance, and daily military training plans. That includes Dr. Jenner's experiments. If he needs help in the future, personnel will be drawn from the Defense Force."
Calista looked at Rickson and Leah. "As for the command structure, Leah is the overall commander. But considering she may go out on spearhead missions, we still need one of our own people stationed at the base to serve as commander. The deputy commander can be selected from the National Guard. Do either of you have a suitable candidate?"
Leah fell into thought. The most capable members of her team were basically mobile operatives, while the others were somewhat lacking in command ability.
Rickson, however, quickly had someone in mind. "How about Maya as the Defense Force commander? She's already in charge of the search teams and reconnaissance, while the soldiers handle patrols."
Maya was a veteran female mercenary under Rickson, fiercely loyal to Calista and Rock Fortress. She had also performed extremely well when she led a team during the "Whisperers" project.
Putting one of their own in charge of military affairs would undoubtedly ensure the army's absolute loyalty.
Calista and Leah nodded. "That works."
"As for the new arrival, Lieutenant Welles," Calista continued, "he'll serve as Maya's deputy. His regular army experience will be useful in this area."
Lieutenant Welles held the highest rank among the two National Guard groups. This arrangement made use of his professional strengths and reassured the National Guard, while also placing him under Leah and Maya's command, limiting his actual authority.
After all, he had voluntarily joined them while bringing assets along. Demoting him straight to an ordinary soldier would be a bit much.
"As for our air power," Calista's pen moved to another list.
"Including the Black Hawk we brought back this time, the base now has one Hercules, two refueling aircraft, one F-16, one small plane from Blackberry Ranch, one Black Hawk, and one civilian helicopter. This is our future strategic focus, so it has to be controlled by the most reliable people.
One combat squad will be made up entirely of people who can fly. Since you and Maya both have your own areas to handle, Thompson will be in charge of this aviation combat squad."
Thompson was another capable subordinate under Rickson. He had experience flying both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, making him the right fit to oversee the development of their air power, and his loyalty was beyond question.
Rickson nodded. "Thompson will do."
He continued, "That new Black Hawk pilot, along with the former Tennessee National Guard pilots Robert, Kenny, and Lee, will all be placed under Thompson and follow his orders. Oliver from the ground crew will be assigned to him as well."
Leah added, "Rickson and I will finalize the initial roster and division of responsibilities for the mixed squads as soon as possible. Maya and Lieutenant Welles will be responsible for the specific training and deployment after they take over. Thompson's side will need the base's full technical support."
"No problem," Rickson nodded. "I'll coordinate the supplies and facilities."