Leah nodded. "I understand. Estimated walker count around the perimeter is one or two thousand?"
"Based on repeated drone scans and observations from the reconnaissance team, excluding the unknown numbers inside the various factory buildings,
the visible wandering walkers in the rest of Block D number between thirteen hundred and fifteen hundred. They're relatively scattered, but some buildings may contain clusters."
Calista pulled up several reports brought back from the reconnaissance operation. "The cleanup has to be quiet. Avoid large-scale gunfire and explosions as much as possible. We can't alert whatever is inside Singularity Polymers."
"Manpower won't be a problem," Leah said after thinking for a moment. "Our Defense Force has been through rotating training during this period. We can spare enough people. I suggest Maya and Lieutenant Welles command this cleanup operation together."
Calista nodded in approval. "Good. You'll review the detailed operation plan, Leah. Personnel safety comes first."
"If everything goes smoothly, and barring any major accidents, we can finish in one to two weeks," Leah estimated cautiously.
"Good." Calista turned to Rickson. "Rickson, you'll need to fully support the cleanup operation on the logistics side.
Also, establish a forward supply base on the outskirts of Block D and stockpile enough food, drinking water, batteries, and medical supplies."
"Understood." Rickson nodded.
Once Calista confirmed the first step had been properly arranged, she moved on to the more critical part. "The second step is the core decontamination operation.
We form an elite task force. Once the cleanup is complete and the necessary protective equipment has been secured, they will infiltrate the Singularity Polymers core facility and carry out the final mission.
Their job is to locate and permanently destroy or seal off the main contamination source left behind by Project Black Fire. If possible, they will also retrieve the hard drive containing the key original experimental data."
Calista lowered her voice, but every word was clear. "This team will face the electromagnetic interference and the mutants head-on, fighting in an extremely hostile environment where communications may be cut off.
They are going in for a spearhead mission."
Leah answered without the slightest hesitation. "I'll choose the team myself and lead them in."
"The team has to be composed of the absolute best, and they must be suited to close-range combat inside a factory." Calista agreed, then continued,
"Based on that, we won't assign a sniper. The focus will be on people with outstanding close-combat ability, extremely stable nerves, and experience in indoor close-quarters combat and adapting to hostile environments."
After thinking for a while, Leah gave a preliminary list. It was clear she had considered it carefully. "Carver, Mike, Turner, Wells, Jonathan, Merle, Daryl, Shane, Michonne,
plus three or four people with the strongest close-combat or specialized skills, like lockpicking...
Keep the team to twelve or thirteen people at most, to preserve mobility and command efficiency."
"Approved," Calista said. "Training is entirely in your hands, Leah.
They need to adapt to fighting under anti-jamming conditions. Full heavy protective suits during movement drills, shooting drills, close-combat training, all of it.
Add tactics against the mutants, and emergency response procedures for the interior environment of a chemical plant."
Leah nodded. "We'll use the Knoxville Industrial Park as the training ground. I'll find an abandoned factory with a complicated layout for simulated training."
Calista patted her sister on the shoulder. "Safety comes first in the spearhead operation. If it doesn't work the first time, we withdraw and prepare for another attempt.
No matter what happens, survival and evacuation take priority over the mission."
"Don't worry, Calista. I'll forge a proper blade and try to finish it in one strike." Fighting spirit burned in Leah's eyes.
"Go make your preparations," Calista said at last. "The cleanup operation begins immediately after this meeting."
...
Three days later, in front of the Block B command center in the industrial park, people were being guided into orderly groups.
Members of the different work teams stood in their assigned areas, while the soldiers of the Defense Force formed neat ranks at the very front.
Large-scale mobilizations were not common at the base.
So people whispered among themselves, unsure what the commander was about to say.
Calista stepped onto the temporary wooden platform and picked up a simple megaphone.
"Residents of Rock Fortress, soldiers, today we are launching an important operation. This operation is not about defending against a threat. It is about actively opening up our future."
She paused briefly. "We all know that the Knoxville Industrial Park contains the machinery, raw materials, and space we urgently need.
Over this past period, we have successfully reclaimed Blocks A, B, and C.
Today, our eyes turn to Block D."
A low murmur spread through the crowd.
Block D, the place marked off as a restricted zone and said to be dangerous.
"The situation in Block D is more complicated than in the other areas," Calista said plainly. "Chemical plants are concentrated there.
Industrial accidents before the apocalypse left behind chemical contamination and structural hazards, and they also drew a large number of walkers to the area.
For safety reasons, we have kept it isolated all this time."
"But isolation is not the end.
If Rock Fortress is going to survive, grow, and become stronger, we cannot keep walking around every difficulty forever.
Block D holds the most concentrated chemical-industrial potential on this land.
Those dormant reactors, pipelines, and production lines, once safely recovered and repaired, will provide us with vital chemical products.
They may become the agents needed to purify water, the raw materials needed for medicine, the materials needed to repair equipment, or even fuel to power our vehicles."
Her voice gradually became more compelling, and many residents' eyes began to brighten.
"Therefore, I announce the launch of Operation D-Base!" Calista raised her voice.
"In Phase One, we will systematically clear every chemical plant, warehouse, and auxiliary facility in Block D, excluding the most complex core area. We will eliminate the walkers entrenched there and recover every usable piece of industrial equipment, every usable raw material, and every piece of protective gear."
She looked toward the Defense Force ranks. "Commander Maya and Lieutenant Welles will lead our Defense Force soldiers in carrying out the main cleanup and security missions."
Maya and Welles stepped forward and nodded to Calista and the crowd.
The soldiers in formation straightened their backs.
"This is not just a Defense Force mission!" Calista's gaze swept across all the work teams.
"Logistics Team, you must ensure that ammunition, food, drinking water, and medical supplies continue reaching the front line.
Engineering Team, you must remain on standby at all times to conduct preliminary assessments and emergency repairs on recovered equipment and buildings.
Medical Team, you must establish a forward aid station."
She brought every ordinary position into this grand operation and gave each one meaning.
Once everyone was involved, the whispers in the crowd gradually turned into agreement and a shared sense of purpose.
"Yes, of course there are risks," Calista said with complete honesty. "Block D is a complex environment. There may be dangers there that we still do not fully understand.
So, for this operation, safety is the first and absolute rule. We do not encourage reckless bravery. What we need is disciplined cooperation.
This operation will lay the strongest foundation for our industrial revival.
Every workshop we clear and every machine we recover will help build a safer, more hopeful tomorrow for our families.
It will tell this brutal apocalyptic world that humanity has not bowed down. We are not only surviving. We are rebuilding.
The will of Rock Fortress is to turn chaos into order and ruins into a home.
I expect every one of you, at your own post, to show the highest sense of responsibility.
Together, we will turn Block D into our new source of strength."
After a brief silence, the square erupted like a powder keg being ignited, bursting into deafening cheers.
"For the future!"
"Clear Block D!"
Calista stepped down from the wooden platform amid the thunderous chants.
The real threat was far stranger and more dangerous than what she had described.
But before that, the entire base had to pull together and clear the way for the coming spearhead operation.
The mobilization meeting ended, and Rock Fortress fully began preparing for battle.
This was not their first time preparing for battle, and from what they had heard, Block D did not seem to contain any invincible enemy. So everything proceeded in orderly fashion, with everyone in high spirits.
The armory doors opened and closed constantly as box after box of ammunition was logged and carried out.
Engineering vehicles began undergoing inspection and maintenance.
The medical team packed instruments and medicine.
Thicker smoke rose from the cafeteria chimney as the cooks worked harder to prepare more nutritious food.
Everyone seemed to walk a little faster than before.
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (70 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.