7 Secure a Base

Mission Title: Secure a Base

Mission Description:

In a world overrun by the relentless threat of the undead, the need for safe havens is paramount. The mission at hand is to secure a base, transforming it from a vulnerable structure into a fortified stronghold. This base will serve as a sanctuary for survivors, a place to regroup, plan, and ultimately take back control from the hordes of walkers.

Your task is to meticulously clear each floor of the three buildings of the condominium, eliminating any lurking danger and ensuring the safety of the premises. Coordinate with your summoned troops to establish secure zones, secure entrances, and exits, and set up a functional communication network for efficient coordination.

Rewards:

Experience Points: 30,000

Gold Coins: 25,000

]

After reading that mission brief, Richard turned his head towards the newly-summoned troops, who looked like a sausage in cans due to how cramped it was inside the penthouse.

"The mission ahead will be quite challenging. This plan was formulated in collaboration with the original ten soldiers I summoned. Our objective is to thoroughly clean the three residential buildings of any zombies. By 'clear,' I mean ensuring there are no zombies remaining in any of the units or bathrooms. Although we have already cleared this particular building, there are still zombies on the ground floor. Our priority is to eliminate them before advancing to the next building. But before that…you the Cyber Specialist."

"Yes sir!" The Cyber Specialist jolted to attention, her focused gaze fixed on Richard.

Richard continued, "We have an additional task that requires your expertise. Is it possible to remotely initiate a lockdown of the entire building? I mean, can you secure all the entrances and exits, effectively sealing off the building from any outside threats?"

The Cyber Specialist paused, considering the request. "It's definitely possible, sir, with the right access to the building's security systems. I can manipulate the main entrance gates. May I ask why you are requesting that, sir?"

"Well, I don't want any uninvited guests coming over once we start firing," Richard answered.

"I see, so by blocking all the main gates of this condominium, we will have no problem with zombies getting reinforcements outside."

"Yes, that's correct. Now, we have a total of one hundred and fifteen soldiers present. I'm going to split you into two teams: forty-five troops for each team. Team Alpha will be responsible for clearing out Building B, while Team Bravo will focus on Building C. Similar to this building, both have thirty-two floors. Keep in mind that every unit might have civilians inside, so if you come across any, instruct them to stay indoors."

"What about the remaining troops?" One of the soldiers raised a hand.

"Of course, they'll stay here, protect this building and this penthouse, which will now serve as our new command center," Richard replied, acknowledging the soldier's question. The Cyber Specialist here is going to scan every security camera from the other buildings and inform you if there are zombies on the floor. Okay, form up!"

The summoned troops began dividing themselves. Five minutes later, they were now divided into their respective teams. Richard's gaze shifted to the Cyber Specialist, who was immersed in her laptop.

The Cyber Specialist looked up from her laptop to the flat television screen mounted on the wall. "I've established a connection to the security cameras in Buildings B and C. I'll monitor the feeds and alert you immediately if any zombies are detected on the floors you're about to clear."

"Uhm sir," Alpha 1 approached Richard.

"What is it?" Richard said as he glanced at him.

"I volunteered to stay here to protect you and the command center, would that be okay?"

Richard hummed in thought, he had been noticing that Alpha 1 is the only soldier that he had spoken to a lot. He seemed to be a nice guy so he decided to change something.

"Alpha 1, from now on, you will be named Mark," Richard declared and continued. "And you will also become my deputy."

"Wa-wait…sir? Are you serious?" Mark exclaimed.

"I do, I would need counsel anyways since I'm new to this field," Richard said. "Why? Do you not want it? I can appoint someone else if—"

"I'll be happy to take the role, sir!" Mark interrupted.

Richard sighed and glanced at the summoned troops who were ready to disembark.

"Cyber Specialist…" Richard called.

"Yes sir?"

"Lock it down," Richard ordered.

With a single press of a key, the main gates of the condominium began to slowly close, sealing off the entire complex from the outside world. The mechanical whirring noise attracted walkers outside. Some managed to enter while others were blocked.

"Lockdown initiated, sir," the Cyber Specialist confirmed. "Perimeter is secure."

"Good," Richard nodded in satisfaction. "Team Alpha, Team Bravo, you are now clear to execute the mission. Good luck out there."

Team Alpha and Bravo soldiers performed a salute before exiting the penthouse. Richard stayed as there is a lot for him to do like buying supplies and personnel from the system. The army won't survive by having combat troops alone, they need auxiliaries.

Fifteen minutes later, Team Alpha cleared the ground floor of walkers, the one he failed to clear with his team earlier. It is to be expected as the newly summoned troops are now equipped with more efficient and powerful weapons. The machine gunners were armed with M249 machine guns and carried additional magazines for the rifleman. The riflemen on the other hand are still equipped with the M4 Carbine.

What's more interesting is that whenever they kill zombies, his experience points and gold coins increase, like he is playing an idle game where he lets his summons do the job for him.

This means he can only focus on commanding and organizing the troops. The problem is that he doesn't know how? Most of his knowledge about the military is from the military movies he watched. If he wants to be an effective leader, he has to start studying the military know-how, the military lingo, and the strategies that real commanders use.

While browsing his system, a message notification appeared.

[Your level has risen to 7.]

[User: Richard Gonzales

Age: 21

Level: 7

Skills: Weapon Proficiency Level 2, Melee Proficiency Level 1, Driving Proficiency Level 1.

Experience points: 22,900/ 34,936.

Summoned Troops: 115/300

Current Balance: 4,750,000 gold coins]

[You gained one skill point]

Richard invested the skill points he acquired to Melee Proficiency, he will now need four points to level it up to two.

After that, he wondered what is the level cap of the system. Every time he levels up, the experience requirements grow exponentially. Well, that might be reasonable as Makati City alone has over 500,000. If all of them turn zombies, that would be around 10,000,000 experience points. He checked his shop and it seemed like the good products would be available at ten.

He shook his head, focusing on the task at hand. He bought new personnel from the Communication, Medical, Intelligence, and Reconnaissance troops. Increasing his personnel and his personal army to 190. He also bought equipment for them, costing him around 200,000 gold coins.

[Current Balance: 4,438,900 gold coins.]

If he hadn't drawn that wheel of fortune, this wouldn't be possible.

While in the shop, he decided to explore the food tab as he was getting hungry and thirsty, and when the display showed up, disappointment etched his face. There's no proper meal, there's only MREs and bottled water. And it seems to be the only product available under that section.

"There's no way I'll eat MREs my whole life!"

Richard was aware of the quality of the MREs from Youtube videos. So after setting up his base and getting his sister out of danger, he'll forage for proper foods in the supermarkets, assuming that there are still left.

But still, he needed to eat, so he bought himself and the other personnel present inside the penthouse MREs and bottled water.

"What's the situation?" Richard asked as he took a sip from his bottled water.

"Both teams are in the respective buildings, sir," the Cyber Specialist replied. "They have cleared the garages, and recreation center, and are making their way up."

"Any casualties?"

"There's none."

"Okay, Cyber Specialist, I'm going to name you because your title is long. How about I call you Sara?"

"It's an honor, sir," Sara replied.

The rest of the summoned troops turned their heads towards Sara and Richard, their expressions almost envious that Sara had received a proper name.

Observing this, Richard chuckled. "No need to fret; I'll assign each of you a fitting name once we're through with this mission…with a name generator of course to make it easy."

Richard watched the television, observing the soldiers mercilessly kill zombies from every floor.

"It seems that we haven't encountered any mutated zombies yet," Richard observed.

"So far, it's just the walkers," Mark added.

"I hope we don't encounter one," Richard said, feeling anxious when facing that monster he saw from the window hours ago.

Two hours later, the team leader of Alpha and Bravo announced the completion of their operation.

"Building B clear!"

"Building C clear!"

"Mark, hand me the reports later. I need to know how many civilians are in this condominium and if there are any casualties."

"You got it, sir," Mark nodded.

Ten minutes later, Mark approached Richard who was sitting on a sofa.

"Sir, these are the initial reports for Buildings B and C," Mark handed over two folders, each labeled with the corresponding building name.

Richard accepted the folders and started reviewing the contents.

"In Building B, there are 120 civilians while in Building C, there are 150. No casualties from both teams…" Richard closed the file, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

[Congratulations for completing your mission titled: Secure a Base. Rewards are now credited to your account]

[Your level has risen to 9.]

[Current experience points: 54,120/73,125]

"My level jumped twice huh?" Richard mused.

[You still have one mission. Check it on your Mission Tab to see the description and rewards.]

"Now that I have a base, I can go and save my little sister."