15 N.E. Twentieth day of the Third Month
Around two weeks had passed since the loss of those two soldiers and the base. Eventually, after some time, the atmosphere of mourning and loss had passed over; given their profession as well, everyone on the base had mostly dealt with the loss, and they couldn't actually bring anyone back, so they focused on other things. Like getting back to work, for example; it was also the number one priority in Ridge's books. Got to work, they did indeed.
The mine became operational and mostly automatic. During this time period, it managed to dig up quite a bit of stuff for them to use, which naturally sped up operations, and the one refinery had quickly turned into two. At this point, their Metal stockpile had grown from the 260 Units they had left to 4,550 units.
Wiring stockpiles had grown as well, though not as quickly due to the exact material needed to make it being low in number from their mines. At any rate, it had grown from the remaining 820 units to 2,364 wiring units. This number could, of course, expand quicker if they refocused their attention on it, but it wasn't a top priority compared to mining out usable metals to refine and build with.
As for the other resources, Ridge usually checked at the end of every week to make sure things looked right, and as usual the water supply was still more than enough; their food supply, on the other hand, while not critical, was certainly rough. Taking into account their current population of sixty-five people, as well as the slight rationing meal plan they were still following they have around 4,090 units of food remaining. In days, this would be around sixty-seven.
Naturally, because of this, Ridge's top priority at the moment was having an optimal solution researched, and in fact Lind and her small group of scientists had indeed offered one, though it would take time due to the limited amount of high-end equipment available. After all, they needed more specific materials than just certain metals and wiring components.
As for the solution itself, it had some merit, and Ridge thought it was worth a try regardless, even if it did cut into their research time on the crystal. By utilizing the plants already on the planet and noticing their similar nature to the agricultural planet of Petania, they were essentially going to pull out starch-based genes and somehow mash them together and create a newer variation of the plant for them to effectively grow and consume.
According to their research as well, although starch-based diets weren't exactly healthy long-term, so long as they mixed some other things in there to get an ok amount of vitamins and the like, they would be able to survive for much longer and, at the very least, not have to worry about the food.
Changes in the base within this time of two weeks were also rapid, besides the research and mining. They had completely stripped the ground within the designated perimeter of the base and replaced it with a solid ground of metal. This gave the base a much more gray look compared to its original dirt brown and almost desert-like look. Minus the large green trees and green foliage that got torn up, of course.
The wall had also been erected after some planning took place, and the turrets, while not finished, were under construction. He decided after all to go with the bigger guns after Caroline incessantly bothered him about it. The wall was the first line of defense, and so it was planned and built to be around twenty feet tall, or six meters, and six feet wide, giving them enough space to patrol or defend atop it.
On the wall now, Ridge was thinking to himself about the base operations when he was interrupted by a soldier with a message: "Commander Becke is finally awake, sir. I was sent to let you know by Dr. Hopi."
Hearing this, he nodded. "Lead the way."
"Of course, right this way, sir," The soldier responded, leading him back to the clinic where Becke had been in a coma for probably a few weeks in total, though Ridge didn't actually remember the exact day.
Entering the clinic, the first thing he saw besides the instruments and curtains was Becke finally sitting up and talking with Reno, who had been helping out on the base with simple labor and occasionally joining in on the training sessions with the other soldiers during her time since she got here. Besides the two of them, Yahya had joined them as well as Dr. Hopi, who was naturally checking vitals and ensuring the health of her patient.
Walking up to the bed, Becke saluted, and Ridge did the same.
"Commander Becke of the formerly known Tung Frigate. First and foremost, I would like to say that, despite holding the same rank, I think it's safe to say I no longer have any actual command of anything; not to mention, generally speaking, battleship commanders such as yourself hold more power and authority in the Federation system, so if need be, you can treat me as just another soldier. Secondly, I would like to thank you profusely for helping out and not only rescuing me, but Reno here."
"No problem on that second point; it's our duty as soldiers of the Federation to stick together even under these weird circumstances. The first point that you mentioned, I understand your meaning, but I don't think it's necessary to give or take authority that you already have as an appointed commander of the Coro Federation," Ridge said seriously before continuing," I can use all the help available, and with your experience being a commander you can be much more useful than just a common soldier, no offence to them of course. They don't let just anyone command a ship within the military," Ridge said, smiling.
"Ok, no problem. I still feel like I need to understand the situation a bit better before I actually recommend anything, but it's good to know your thoughts," Reno replied.
"Of course, by the way, I didn't actually mention it earlier, though I'm sure you've heard from Reno, but I'm Commander Ridge of the H.C. Battleship. I was previously the vice commander, but I've been burdened with this authority when our old commander and friend tragically passed during a similar ambush to your own some time ago," he explained.
"Understood, glad to be here," Becke replied once more.
Nodding at those words, Ridge quickly replied, "We'll let you rest now and talk with Reno; I am sure you have a lot to catch up on."
After saying that, he brought Yayha with him as they left the clinic. Now walking through the base, "It's good that he survived; it's never a good sight to see our own people die one after another," Yayha said as they walked.
"Naturally, He's also got some experience with leading, so he could be of great use to the management of the base, in my opinion. Speaking of management, I think it's time we make some plans to expand the base," Ridge replied.
Hearing this, Yayha raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? We have plenty of space currently for our vehicles and even a water treatment plant."
"For now, yes, but I want to build out more housing units for our crew and spread out a little more from the main building here. After all, it's more shared housing than anything, so I think a little more privacy would help bolster morale. Even if only a little, not to mention it would be great to continue to increase our power capacity by building a larger power plant and battery for the base," Ridge said as they made their way out of the main building they were talking about.
Contemplating in silence for only a moment, Yayha eventually spoke again as they walked and inspected the base.
"I guess it's not a bad idea. I myself would like a house or someplace to call home without having to share a bunk bed with others," he said while holding his chin as he thought.
"That's the exact thinking that I brought myself to understand, because I have my own personal quarters; I feel like it's unfair to have everyone else simply cram together in sleeping quarters. Especially our crew members who weren't trained on Eserus and aren't used to that sort of military "comfort," he said amusingly.
Chuckling, Yayha seemingly agreed, "Ok I understand; we can probably meet up with Caroline a little later today and discuss it. It's a good thing we have such an all-rounder engineer."
In agreement with Yayha, Ridge eventually split off and went back to doing patrols and occasionally helping out the transport of minerals when needed. Things were on track for now; the only thing really urgent that they needed to continue to do was find wild animals and map out the rest of this world, Ridge thought to himself.