Chapter 34: Logistical Mastery -32
[Ding! Congratulations to Host for getting SITE-112, a class 3 Foundation facility in Spain! 500 class C combat personnel, 50 research personnel, 100 administrative personnel, and 30 maintenance personnel!]
[Ding! Congratulations to Host for getting SITE-311, a class 5 Foundation facility in Texas, USA! 200 class B combat personnel, 500 class C combat personnel, 5000 research personnel, 800 administrative personnel, 2000 engineering personnel and 3000 maintenance personnel!]
[Ding! Congratulations to Host for getting SITE-462, a class 4 Foundation facility in Turkey! 50 class B combat personnel, 5000 class C combat personnel, 250 research personnel, 1000 administrative personnel, and 150 maintenance personnel!]
Discovering a rare class 5 facility among the newly acquired SITEs left Alex both stunned and elated. Such facilities were the crown jewels of the Foundation, directly overseen by the enigmatic O5 Council or their designated representatives.
These SITEs were not just operational hubs but strategic assets, with each class 5 SITE playing a pivotal role in the Foundation's global operations. The revelation that one of these elite SITEs was now under his control signified a monumental shift in his capabilities within the Foundation's framework.
The inclusion of this class 5 SITE, alongside the distinguished Paris SITE, and the venerable SITE-19, underscored the gravity of his expanding domain. Eager to uncover the specifics of this latest acquisition, Alex delved into the details, his anticipation building with each click and scroll.
To say that he was surprised and happy would be an understatement, as Alex saw precisely what this SITE was about. He had just gotten the main SITE of production and logistics of the entire Foundation. One of its beating hearts, something that had been lacking for a long time, had finally been acquired.
Acquiring the invaluable asset that was SITE 311 had come at a high cost, a dangerous Keter class SCP. Yet it was a cost he was ready to pay given how critical this particular SITE was to his operations.
With this SITE back online he would now be spared the extra expense of buying everything from external sources. Not only would this big costs way down, it would also allow him to push some projects forward in schedule.
While he still needed smaller production and logistics SITEs around the world, having this one meant that he could produce the most important item in the entire Foundation armoury.
"Nuclear bombs"
Alex couldn't help but say those words aloud. Nuclear weapons was simply such an integral part of the Foundation that even a potential XK-class scenario could be considered a fair price to pay for the ability to produce his own.
Despite the logistical challenges of sourcing uranium and plutonium, the facility's existing stockpiles of materials and finished bombs presented a clear improvement in his nuclear capabilities.
So yeah, overall Alex was delighted and satisfied with this SITE alone. Not to mention he acquired another two SITEs as well.
Quickly checking if the other SITEs were anything special, he quickly realized that the class 3 SITE, 112, was also a production SITE; this one was not general production but specialized in something very, very important, something he was lacking desperately, just as with nuclear bombs.
Amnestics, the Foundation wouldn't be the Foundation without the ability to administer amnestics to people who had seen something anomalous.
Sure, they still had plenty of it, but they were also burning through it at an incredible rate right now, particularly as they had to use it for billions of people due to SCP 4255.
The ability to produce it was therefore welcomed by Alex. The last SITE was nothing special, just a containment SITE with its armed forces and the ability to act in the area. It was located in Turkey, a place he hadn't had much reach before now, and it was always good to have a new SITE in a country that hadn't had one before.
"Now I just need to find the many-winged Angel and have him locked up before, well, before anyone inadvertently triggers its growth," Alex muttered, his focus sharpening as he attempted to harness the capabilities of the locating tool provided to him.
His efforts, however, were met with frustration as the tool fell short of its intended utility, offering no clues to the Angel's whereabouts.
Instead of providing a location or even a glimpse of its current surroundings, the tool only supplied real-time data on its growth—a detail that, while interesting, did little to aid in its capture.
The lack of actionable intelligence was a glaring obstacle. If only the tool could relay the sounds surrounding the SCP, their intensity, or their nature, Alex mused, it might have been possible to triangulate its position using some form of acoustic analysis.
Unfortunately, with the data at hand, such strategies were beyond reach, leaving him to rely on chance and extensive scouting efforts.
The realization that luck would play a crucial role in locating the Angel was disheartening. Despite this, Alex knew he had to mobilize his teams to scour potential hiding spots, particularly caves that might echo the original location where the Angel was first encountered—if such a place even existed in this universe. The uncertainty was palpable, yet the urgency of containment pushed him forward.
"System, you choose the most inconvenient times to be unhelpful," Alex lamented internally, grappling with the limitations of his resources. Nonetheless, he clung to the hope that the Angel could be found and secured without incident.
The prospect of receiving a Keter class reward upon successful containment served as a great incentive.
As Alex pondered the implications of introducing this new SCP entity into the Marvel universe, the ripple effects of his recent maneuvers began to unfold with surprising immediacy.
The sudden manifestation of three new Foundation sites, seamlessly integrated into reality as if they had always existed, marked a significant escalation in the Foundation's operational capacity.
This seamless integration, however, was accompanied by an immediate deluge of communications, requests for information, and demands for supplies, particularly from two of the sites endowed with critical resources.
The flood of notifications was overwhelming, but among them, certain directives issued by Alex commanded universal attention.
His order for the entire Foundation to elevate to high alert resonated across the network with unparalleled authority, ratified by the rare unanimous consent of the O5 Council.
The immediate compliance of the sites with the high alert directive served as a beacon, revealing to the entire Foundation that a reconnection with these previously isolated sites had been achieved.
This revelation propelled the Foundation into a state of heightened activity, driven by the need for the critical resources these SITEs produced.
Particularly striking was the urgent demand for nuclear armaments, a response to the perceived threat of potentially having thousands of SCPs running around and the need for a formidable deterrent.
SITE 311, being the primary production facility for such weapons, found itself at the center of this maelstrom, tasked with significantly increasing its output. The rapid assembly of an extensive arsenal of nuclear warheads.
For Alex, the burgeoning responsibilities and the logistical gymnastics of managing the Foundation's expanding infrastructure were par for the course. Despite the immediate challenges and the anticipated complications, he recognized the intrinsic value of these developments for the greater good of the Foundation and humanity at large.
The balance between safeguarding the world from Keter class SCPs and optimizing the operational capabilities of the Foundation was a tightrope walk he was prepared to navigate.
"Still, with thousands of Keter class SCPs waiting in the wings to be summoned, and a mere handful of class 5 facilities at the Foundation's disposal, we're bound to hit a bottleneck," Alex mused aloud, contemplating the logistical challenges ahead.
"The system will inevitably have to diversify its incentives or cease offering rewards for summoning altogether, focusing solely on containment rewards. Yet, the likelihood of such an abrupt shift in the way it does things seems unlikely." He continued.
His mind racing through the implications of this situation. "This situation can't go on for like this, something like that to change. Given that the Foundation's sites number only in the hundreds, allocating even one site for each SCP is unsustainable even more so when I'm often awarded three or four sites at a time.
With a mix of frustration and curiosity, Alex addressed the system directly, "Oh, how I wish to unravel the mysteries of your operation. The insights into your decision-making process would be invaluable."
He gazed intently at the floating user interface, half-expecting it to yield answers to his probing inquiries. "But you remain as secretive as ever, don't you, system?" he sighed, the silence from the UI only deepening the mystery.
The acquisition of SITE 311 marked a pivotal moment for the Foundation, significantly boosting its capability to manufacture quinjets. Until this point, the production of new quinjets had been stalled, hindered by the absence of necessary facilities and machinery across existing sites.
Collaboration between the Foundation's engineers, scientists, and Tony Stark had laid the groundwork for quinjet production, resolving many technical challenges and setting the stage for manufacturing. Confidence was high among the team; they understood the process but were constrained by the lack of a suitable production environment.
Financial considerations had previously deterred Alex from committing to the construction of specialized facilities. Although SITE 19 possessed production capabilities, it wasn't equipped to handle aircraft manufacturing on the scale required for quinjets, which had become increasingly critical, especially for operations involving highly mobile SCPs like SCP-4255.
The new potential unlocked by SITE 311 changes everything. It not only facilitates the in-house production of quinjets but also positions the Foundation to assemble an extensive fleet, ensuring that both established and emerging sites have access to this crucial asset.
The strategic importance of quinjets, coupled with the Foundation's ambitious standards, predicates a significant investment in SITE 311 to meet the anticipated surge in demand.
He would, however, be able to downscale the amount of money the other SITEs have been given lately, down to more manageable levels now that they wouldn't have to make purchases, for everything they required but could instead just request it internally.
Even with Alex's impressive criminal empire, he still had to pay premium for everything his SITEs needed, as it all had to be bought in secret.
Buying materials in bulk was far cheaper, even if a lot more materials were needed now. Indeed, this single SITE added to his roster would allow him far greater breathing room in the near future.
And with the number of plans Alex has for the future of this world and the future of the Foundation, as well as the many plots of Marvel, he would need a lot of money. A few projects, in particular, could now be pushed forward thanks to these SITE's production abilities.
With the help of the Vanko pair of father and son, He already had the arc reactor, both the small one for personal use and the bigger, more powerful one able to power entire facilities on his own. Now he just needed the new and improved element made using the tesseract's energy signature.
The large reactors would soon be in high demand since every SITE would want one or two of those, maybe even more, depending on a few factors. The final count would depend on whether they could be blown up in a massive explosion. After all, all SITEs did need some powerful self-destruct capabilities.
As for the smaller reactors, he might be able to use them soon, as he had some of his best men working on Ironman-like suits. "I'm sure my men will come up with a proper name for it."
Yes, Alex had big plans, and those naturally involved making an army of Iron Man-like suits for his Foundation personnel, not to mention some for himself personally.
It wouldn't be something they could do immediately. It would take some time, but they could now start. There's also the vibranium suit, which he was looking forward to a lot.
Those would naturally be far rarer given the material constraint of the Vibranium. No, he wouldn't be able to mass-produce those.
The Iron Man suits, however, each SITE would have hundreds available for important research staff and combat personnel.
With Hank Pym working under him as well, he might even be able to incorporate the Ant-man suit into his own, creating an army of suited agents able to shrink and increase their size at will. He would need to get him to agree to share the Pym particles for that, which seemed unlikely for now.
That was properly a long-term project. There would still be many years until such things are needed; so he wasn't in a hurry. For now, the biggest danger in the Marvel universe was his own damned system.
Today was destined to be long and chaotic for Alex and the Foundation. Tomorrow would be equally so, if not more, depending on what SCP he would summon then.