Logistics of survival
=RECORD START=
"The recorder is now running.
This is Lieutenant General Goodwitch, interviewing the commanding officer of supply station Gamma Upsilon Five. Please restate your full name and rank."
"Specialist Jaune Miles Arc of the Supply and Logistics bureau. Acting commanding officer of supply station Gamma Upsilon Five… sorry former commanding officer of supply base Gamma Upsilon Five. It is my understanding that the station has been lost, Maam."
"Indeed. If you don't mind, could you state for the record how a Specialist became the sole commanding officer of the entire station?"
"Field promotion, Maam."
"Elaborate, Specialist."
"...about six months ago, I believe it was 24th of May, a large breach in the frontlines led to an evacuation order being issued for the entirety of supply base GU-5. This order was issued by the then commanding officer Major Cardin Winchester. It was our belief at the time that the Major simply didn't realize or forgot about the broken transport, which resulted in seven people unable to evacuate. Higher command later confirmed transmissions proving that not only did Major Winchester know, he deliberately issued evacuation orders without informing higher command of the malfunction or the seven people he intended to leave behind.
As a consequence of his actions, the seven of us ended up the only survivors, as the evacuation convoy came under heavy attack by the Grimm forces."
"But that wasn't when you assumed command."
"Not officially no, that would be the then Staff Sergeant Pyrrha Nikos; she has since been promoted to Second Lieutenant. However due to her lack of familiarity with the base she defaulted to my suggestions frequently."
"It is my understanding that it was one of your suggestions that allowed you to survive that breach. Please elaborate on how the seven of you did that. Begin by stating the full name and Rank of the six others."
"Right. Apart from me and Staff Sergeant Nikos there was Private E-1 Scarlet David, Private E-2 Neptune Vasilias, Private E-2 Nora Valkyrie, Private First Class Lie Ren and Private First Class Sun Wukong. Apart from Staff Sergeant Nikos, all of us were part of the Supply and Logistics bureau."
"Please elaborate on your work as a part of the Supply and Logistics bureau."
"In simple terms, we drive a forklift and make sure the soldiers on the front lines don't starve or run out of bullets, Maam. Additionally I was tasked with the maintenance of our mechanical equipment."
"So you're glorified civilian subcontractors."
"With all due respect, I've turned a supply base into a defendable fortress and survived far too many combat situations in the past six months to be called a "glorified civilian subcontractor", Maam."
"Apologies, Specialist. Please continue your explanation."
"Staff Sergeant Nikos, as the only one of us capable of using a firearm proficiently, decided to take her service rifle and occupy a vantage point to provide cover fire. Unfortunately the rest of us had minimal training with firearms and were only issued two magazines of pistol ammunition each. With the amount of Grimm sieging our position we simply couldn't rely on those firearms.
As a last resort effort I came up with the idea of modifying several of our forklifts by bolting spare armor plating to them and modifying the forks into makeshift lances and crushers by attaching makeshift spears and heavy weights respectively."
"And this… worked?"
"We managed to dispose of the Grimm force nine hours before the relief force arrived."
"A feat, considering the GU-5 was considered lost and a target for recapture after the unsuccessful evacuation."
"Ah…that. Unfortunately our communications were sabotaged at the time. It was never proved who exactly did it, but it's fairly clear it was someone from the lost evacuation convoy."
"How come new officers didn't take over command after the recapture efforts?"
"That comes down to the bureau's decision. Since we, the people originally stationed at GU-5 not only survived, but technically didn't even need to evacuate, the bureau decided that obviously, they didn't need to add a new chain of command. They elected to send Staff Sergeant Nikos to officer training in order to promote her and for her to assume command permanently. Unfortunately the situation of GU-5 changed drastically in the month that she was gone. As you know, the front line of Alpha Lambda fell shortly followed by Beta Lambda. As such Gamma Lambda became the new front line. This meant that suddenly the newly promoted Second Lieutenant Nikos wasn't fit to lead a base on the frontlines and thus never returned to GU-5 and was assigned elsewhere. Unfortunately for me, a supply base wasn't a priority and "legacy leadership" would suffice. So poor old me, Specialist Arc got to lead the whole base, logistics, defense and all."
"And the new additional personnel?"
"...we didn't get any. Closest we got were refugees from other bases and none of those were above the rank of Corporal."
"So… how did you manage to run a supply base? Surely you didn't have the necessary experience to lead so many people."
"I effectively established a do-ocracy."
"I'm sorry, a what?"
"When someone thinks something would be better, they do it. When someone disagrees, they are free to spend their time to undo it."
"That sounds like chaos at best and anarchy at worst. It shouldn't work."
"Well, the supply chain needs to be maintained for us to survive, as every base lost means the Grimm are that much closer to us. This means everyone has an incentive to work out what everyone does and make it as efficient as possible. As for defensive improvements, there were almost none that were undone. Most people simply added to them with anything they had expertise in. For example one of the mechanics that took refuge managed to rig our forklift weapon attachments to be removable. A former civil engineer designed and led the construction of new fortifications. And the only medic on base established an entire field hospital in the old commands barracks."
"And where did you get the materials? The defensive modifications alone were extensive enough to dwarf that of the main command of the Lambda sector."
"Supply convoys sometimes leave with materials only to return a few days later with most of the materials and news of the loss of the destination. Those materials are officially lost as they were technically delivered to locations that no longer exist. Thus out of the system surplus is created."
"Those materials are considered salvage and shouldn't be used."
"With all due respect, Maam, it is my belief that that doctrine exists specifically so that surplus may be created. There have been several instances where we simply have not received the supplies we were supposed to send further down the chain. We sent the surplus materials instead in order to speed up the process. The supplies, munitions mostly, often arrive barely in time to save lives."
"...let's simply call you resourceful then… Either way it would seem we're out of time."
"Maam?"
"There is someone who would like to talk with you."
"Sir!"
"At ease Specialist. Please sit back down."
"Yes, Sir."
"Now then, do you know who I am Specialist?"
"General Ozpin, Sir, you're the head of command of the recovery teams."
"Indeed. Tell me, Specialist, how would you like to return to Gamma Upsilon Five?"
"Sir?"
"You see, after reviewing the changes GU-5 underwent under your leadership, we believe it to be a key position for reestablishing our presence on the Gamma Lambda front. I'm sending one of my best teams to recapture the station. They will remain assigned there for as long as Gamma Lambda remains the frontline, but they have no experience running a supply station."
"Wouldn't this be the purview of the Supply and Logistics bureau?"
"Certainly, they would like to put in a new chain of command. Fortunately, GU-5 is due for a reclassification from a Supply station to a General Logistics and Command station. That would make it my purview and I see it fit for you to assume joint command of GU-5 together with the CO of the mentioned recovery team Captain Ruby Rose."
"And what about the other personnel?"
"They are currently being given a similar choice to you. An opportunity to return to GU-5 or accept a promotion and be resigned as the Supply and Logistic Bureau sees fit."
"I see… When do I leave for GU-5, Sir?"
"Excellent! You leave tomorrow at 0600 from motor bay seven, Captain Arc."
"Sir, but I?"
"You've earned that promotion, Captain, and I'm sure the month you've spent in officer training for the past month was worth it. After all, it wouldn't do to have Captain Rose outrank you."
"I… I don't know what to say, Sir."
"Neither did Captain Rose… and just between us, she spent exactly the same amount of time in officer training as you."
=RECORDING END=
Author's note:
This one is loosely based on my summer job, and yes, I am forklift certified. Another inspiration were the military stories of one Zack Hazard which brought about the idea that something like this is somewhat possible from a logistics and command bureaucracy shenanigans standpoint. It is also deliberately written as an audio recording with only dialogue. It is just an experiment and helped in shaping the Vital festival commentary in Arsenal of Arc.
I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless. There is a small chance I will reuse the world building and use this as a sort of prologue to a larger fic, but it is unlikely at this time.
On the of-chance that you've found yourself here without knowing about my work, check out Arsenal of Arc, my main work right now, you may like it.
And hey if you want to support me you can do so on P a treon . com (slash) OlympianScribe