Hawk kept scouting as they returned to base, and Karl realized that while they got closer to the base, the monsters became more sparse and weaker. Groups of five and ten Goblins at the Common Grade, a single lizardman, and threats at that level were all that the short range scouts of the base would have found.
But the further he flew away from the base, the stronger and more numerous the monsters became.
So, the problem wasn’t that they had found unexpected monsters, it was that the limited scouting that the base had done hadn’t given them a proper expectation of the monsters which were in the region.
The Captain had determined this as well, and as they approached the base, everyone could see his resolve to have a “discussion” with the base commander and the head of intelligence.
They had flown multiple helicopters over the region, they should have some sort of idea what was there, but it seemed that nobody was even looking out the windows.
They were met at the edge of camp by a supply sergeant with a clipboard in his hands. “Captain. Are you in for the night? Our barracks are entirely full at the moment, triple racked. Would it be too much to ask you to set up on the edge of the base? We have more barracks tents, but no place left to put them.”
Karl looked inside one of the barracks tents, at the rough, stretched canvas cots, and sighed.
“Alice, permission to set up a scouting position in the trees?” He requested.
The supply Sergeant thought that was a wonderful idea because he knew they were short on decent scouts, while Alice wasn’t quite as sold on the idea of sleeping in a spiderweb in a tree.
But after a look at the surplus, bargain brand cots, she had a change of mind.
“Captain, my team will set up further out in an elevated position for the evening. We will rejoin you after breakfast for patrols tomorrow.” She announced.
“Understood. Unit, grab the barracks supplies and get to work. I want them set up and the stove burning to get everything dried and heated by the time that I get back from my meeting.” The Captain announced.
The soldiers nearby made a gesture of condolences for the base commander, and anyone else who might happen to be in the room. None of the soldiers from the base knew what had happened on his mission, but it was obvious that he was not happy about it.
Alice turned to Karl with a serious look as the others got to work. “We’re trusting you on this one. Don’t let us down.”
Hawk already had the tree picked out, and Rae got right to work building a new fort. Again, it was as far up the tallest tree in the area as she could get it, and blended into the leaves, with some branches pulled down as cover.
She had only gone a hundred metres from the edge of camp to set up, but Karl doubted that anyone in the base had even noticed. They were watching the ground, and only the immediate area around the camp, which was a terrible defensive choice for a remote location, on par with the Goblins level of simple thinking.
Karl could tell he wasn’t the only one wondering who was in charge here, and how they had gotten the assignment. Forward bases were always run by the army, but not every officer was suited to life anywhere but behind a desk.
It was possible that someone in one of those roles had been sent out here “for experience” leading up to a promotion, and they were just making a mess of things.
It only took Rae a few minutes to finish as the group watched from down below, and Alice finally noticed that their group consisted of six people now, not five. She gave Dana a curious look, which was returned with Dana’s best pleading face.
“Volunteers and Mercenaries have to set up their own tent, we’re not attached to the military units. You’re not going to make me sleep in the dirt when there’s plenty of room up here, are you?” She begged.
Alice smirked at Karl and nodded her acceptance. “Fine, you’re with us until further notice. I’m sure that Rae made enough space for you. I know that you two are good friends.”
That made Dana laugh, recalling all the times that Jill, her personal tutor, had been webbed by Rae to prevent her from waking them up.
Rae sent down a rope ladder, and the whole group sighed, realizing just how far up the tree their fort was built.
“How about this. Hold on to the ladder, and I will have Rae pull it up into the fort, so you don’t have to climb? It will be faster and easier for everyone.” Karl suggested.
That seemed like a sketchy idea as well, being pulled a dozen stories into the air on a rope ladder made of silk, but it was better than climbing the ladder.
[You come up first.] Rae insisted.
Karl smirked as he realized she had no intentions of pulling everyone, just him, and he would have to raise the rest. But it was no problem, he could run up the ladder in thirty seconds or less.
“I will go first and help everyone up. I’ve got the strength.” Karl explained after he finished talking to Rae.
Karl ran up the ladder, and the others began to climb. They started with the smallest, so the first on the ladder was Lotus, then Dana, then Sergeant Rita, at which point Karl hauled the ladder up into the fort, just in case it didn’t hold up to five people’s weight.
Rae was slightly insulted at that, but attributed it to Karl’s lack of faith in his enhanced strength to actually lift them all.
Once they were up, Karl sent the ladder back down, and began to haul up Alice and Tessa, while Lotus happily explored the small fort.
“This place is incredible, but why build it with that branch extending through the room?” She asked.
“Oh, that would likely be because Doug, the Green Dragon Cleric that we had with us during our last deployment, liked to turn a branch into a table to work and cook on. So, Rae left you a branch to work with.” Karl explained.
“That is brilliant. I wish I had thought of that ages ago, shaping branches is so easy.” Lotus laughed, and then ran over to give Rae a hug.
The spider was somewhat mystified by the sudden affection, but she wasn’t going to complain. If Thor’s presence had taught them anything, it was that there were benefits to everyone liking you.
Karl finished bringing the last two up, and Alice looked around the fort.
“It’s waterproof, with a double outer shell to keep the wind down, a cooking table, plenty of springy net for sleeping, and loose woven windows all around, so we can scout from this position. I must say, this is a wonderful base, Rae.” Alice congratulated her.
The spider gave her a head bump, then vanished back into her space to rest in her own den for the afternoon. It was almost sundown, and she wanted to get some real sleep before she took her turn on watch after full dark.
Hawk had a nest built at the very top of the tree, where he could see everything that was going on around them, and keep watch for any stronger monsters that got brave and came near the camp.
“Alright, here is your watch schedule. We will watch in pairs, since there are six of us. I will take early watch with Dana, the second watch will be Rita and Lotus, the third watch will be Karl and Tessa.”
That made sense. It did the best to give them a warrior and a caster on each watch, so that the skills they had were diversified if there was an attack.
Karl nodded in agreement. “Hawk will keep watch until full dark, then Rae will take over, as she doesn’t need any light to see. Hawk will return to duty when we head out in the morning, while Rae will sleep again once my watch starts, or once the sun starts to come up, depending on how she feels.”
Alice smiled at that. In her estimation, Rae was the cat to Thor’s dog, much more whimsy driven and casually violent. If she didn’t feel like doing things, you would have to force her, and then she would likely slack. She didn’t know for certain, as Karl never seemed to push them to do things they didn’t want to, but Alice had her suspicions that Rae had a rebellious streak that would run wild with Malicious Compliance.