The old man at the podium coughed a bit, the sound echoing through the room as it was picked up by the microphone. He looked around one last time, and once he saw that every was seated, he smiled slightly. "Thank you all for coming...it seems just about everyone made it. Now, this may have been short notice, but with recent discoveries, it has become more than urgent that this task is seen to, and that it is completed in a timely manner."<br/><br/>Howl had seen the new woman enter the great hall, having been unable to notice her while they were in the lobby. He watched her sit down next to Nadiya, but quickly turned his attention to the old man once he began to speak.<br/><br/>"We have reason to believe that a large radiation storm is moving over our local area here in Balashov, and we don't have the required facilities to outlast it. Now, while we'd normally hop over to the next settlement and take shelter there, recent growth in the local population has left little to no vacancies in most towns, only our old, sick and young being able to land spots in them...but, we have an alternative...one that could solve all our problems- not just the radiation storm, but food, water, shelter, etc."<br/><br/>Howl leaned forward, his interest piqued by this possible alternative.<br/><br/>"As you all know, many reports from the outside have claimed that all the surround major cities had been bombed out, and that Moscow is in the hands of a new Soviet dictatorship...well, this is not entirely true; Novgorod, a large city East of Moscow, is safe from the soviets, and is still very much alive! And there is a way to get there!"<br/><br/>Howl's eyes widened: Novgorod?! A major city?! If they had control over that, then they'd have all the supplies they'd need; large cities tend to be filled with easy prey and livestock that escaped farms, since predators stick to the woods, having trouble hunting in an urban environment. Plus, any city will have subways or underground tunnels which are idea for waiting out radiation storms.<br/><br/>"After a couple weeks of spying and gathering information, we've found out that one of our neighboring settlements, Kalininsk, has been taken over by bandits, and those bandits have maps marked with paths that are free of radiation, and will lead us straight to Novgorod. So, we have selected everyone here for a special mission to get into the city, eradicate the bandit presence, and secure as many maps as possible. We'll need the city in our control, since it's believed that Kalininsk is one of the starting points on the journey toward Novgorod, and will be of great strategic importance in the coming days." The old man stopped and sipped some water, once again clearing his throat with a cough. "We have selected the militia leader and Russian 6th Army Veteran, Alek Aleksandrov to lead in this mission, and he we trust that his military and strategic knowledge will allow him to create an effective plan to take control of the city. Alek, would you please stand?"<br/><br/>Howl nodded with a smile, standing up. The others looked up at him, inspecting their leader, some of them nodding in approval, but others questioning his young age. Despite whatever scrutiny he might have been under, Howl was excited to lead, and was more than capable with strategies...plus, it's a bunch of filthy bandits, how smart can they be?