“I really didn’t think anything of it,” Zach admitted. “They were simple designs of something that’s been around for a long time.”
“Ah, but that’s the trick,” Starvos replied. “Designing something that will work without overcomplicating it or reinventing the wheel. Too many designers are caught up in making their project special, making it their own, and they forget the most important thing. The technology has to function correctly, above everything else.”
“That was my goal.”
“And I would say it worked out beautifully,” Starvos told him. “Which brings me to my reason for meeting with you today. We’re in the process of assembling a production team for our next project, and I’d like you to be on it.”
“What sort of project?” Zach asked, trying gain time to collect his thoughts.
“We would like to broaden our horizons with another virtual world game. World at War remains quite popular, but there are other demographics that the game won’t appeal to. We would like to create another MMO with the expressed purpose of reaching those demographics. A fantasy themed one.”
“I see.”
“We are in the infant stages of preproduction. At this point, we don’t have a full team assembled, a name, or even anything more than a basic concept. But everything must start somewhere, and the best creations are those built with love and care. Finding people who can create that way is of the utmost priority. I would like you to be a part of the development team.”
Zach felt the shock rush over him. He rated himself as a fairly decent programmer, but had shove that aside now that his work involved the study of World at War Online. And now it was coming back to him, with the president of the company making a personal recruitment pitch to him. Zach didn’t know quite what to think.
The obvious question popped into his head. “What about the study?”
“You’ll be a part of that as well,” Starvos told him. “I’m recruiting you because of the study, in fact. You’ve been a part of the various parts of World at War. You know what it’s like inside of the world, and you know what it took to build all those elements. You’re not going to be involved in the day to day aspects. Your role will to be a production manager of sorts, making sure all the various systems fit together.”
Zach frowned. “I’ve never had a position like that before…”
“Which means you won’t be inclined to follow the book,” Starvos nodded. “You’ll bring your own perspective to the project, with a mind for both the technical aspects and viewpoint of a player. I believe that will be our driving force for success. I also believe you’re more capable of leadership than you might think.”
Zach nodded, but his mind still spun. So much had been dumped on him at once. How was he going to straighten it all out, let alone make a decision?
“I don’t need an immediate answer,” President Starvos told him. “Like I said before, we’re in the early stages of preproduction. We won’t be ready to start for at least six months, probably a year. But I would sincerely like you to consider it, because I definitely want you on the team.”
“Can I have time to decide?” Zach asked.
“Of course. Bear in mind this isn’t common knowledge, so I would like you to keep this to yourself, if at all possible. Of course, I know it might slip to an individual or two. Miss Cleary, for example…”
Zach cleared his throat in embarrassment.
President Starvos smiled. “I’m aware that it will probably slip, and there’s no helping that. But please make sure that you keep this to as few people as possible.”
“I will,” Zach agreed.
All he could think is that he needed a drink right now.
* * *
The drink came courtesy of lunch with Nora. They headed to a pub after their session with Elysium had finished.
“So you’ve been recruited to join the development team of another virtual world MMO?” Nora asked.
“That’s the gist of it, yeah,” Zach confirmed before taking another drink. The initial shock of the meeting had faded away, but he still remained lost. What was he supposed to do?
“And he said that you could continue to work in the World at War study?”
“Yeah. The production manager role is going to be part time, essentially,” he said. “All the departments do their thing, and I just make sure they all fit together. And there’s other people who are going to do the actual managerial side of things. I’m more of a consultant than a supervisor.”
“Sounds interesting,” Nora said. “So, what’s the holdup? Sounds to me like it’s a pretty good deal. It might take up a lot of time, but wouldn’t you consider the study somewhat of a leisure activity?”
“I guess,” Zach agreed. “But is now really the time to change things? I’m in a good spot right now. Do I really need to take on the added responsibility? It’s not like I need the money.”
“Maybe it’s not about the money,” Nora shrugged. “Look at it another way. Suppose you never had to worry about money again. Would you be content to sit around, doing nothing all day?”
“I don’t think I could do that,” Zach replied. “I think I’d have to do something, otherwise I’d go completely crazy.”
“Why’d you choose your particular major?’ she asked.
Zach frowned. “Well, it was something I was interested in. The ways people talked to each other always fascinated me, for some reason. I don’t know, it just called to me.”
“Yeah, I definitely understand that,” Nora agreed. “That’s why I went for music instead of becoming a doctor or lawyer. I might have been able to do them, but I didn’t love them like I loved music.”
“Better to do something you love than to be miserable doing something you’ll hate, I guess,” Zach said.
“Doesn’t that apply to you as well?” Nora asked. “You said you chose communications because it fascinated you. You spent years learning about it, enough to get a degree. You worked in the field. So can you really toss that aside, especially if you love it? Because I certainly couldn’t. I can’t, actually.”
Zach nodded. “Are you still planning on auditioning for the Philharmonic Orchestra?”
“Yes, I am. Because music’s a part of who I am, and I just can’t let it be. I have to let it out. I have to try to use it, otherwise what did I spend most of my adult life for?”
“I guess… I guess I just think this is different,” Zach told her. “You’re auditioning, taking a chance that you’ll make it. But there’s no guarantee. It’s like a test, to be able to say you tried or you could do it. But this isn’t a test for me. If I go for it I already have a spot waiting for me.”
“True,” Nora agreed. “But shouldn’t that make you more confident? I have to prove that I’m good enough to be a part of an orchestra like that. You’ve already proven yourself, and you have people who believe in you. I’d kill to have that.”
Zach smiled. “Would you?”
“OK, maybe not that far, but you get my point.”
“I do.”
Nora took a drink before replying. “It’s your decision. But if you want my honest opinion? I think you should go for it. You have the chance to do something that you’ve devoted a lot of your life toward. Shouldn’t you take it?”
Zach frowned and then sighed. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
“Well, at least you have time to decide.”
True enough, but would it become any easier as the deadline approached? Pluses and minuses swirled around in his head, creating nothing but a whirlpool of confusion. What was the right answer?
“Gah,” he grumbled in exasperation. “I don’t know what to do. What the heck am I supposed to do?”
“That’s for you to decide,” Nora told him. “Not sure talking to me is going to do much more good, since you already know my stance on it.”
“You’re the only one I really can talk to about it,” Zach said. “I’m pretty much banned from mentioning it.”
“Wait, should you have said anything to me about it?” Nora asked. “Will that get you in trouble?”
Zach shook his head. “No, he gave me de facto permission to ask you about it.”
“Did he really, or are you just telling me that?”
“He mentioned you by name. Said that it would probably slip to a person or two.”
“And I was the example?”
Zach rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, you were the example he named.”
Nora laughed. “Well, that’s not exactly a huge secret. I never mentioned that we were dating, but everyone knows, so it probably got to him through the grapevine.”
“Still, it’s a little embarrassing when your potential boss starts making mention of your love life out of nowhere,” Zach said.
Nora giggled. “Oh, I know. I’m such an embarrassment.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know, but that scowl always amuses me.”
Zach put a hand over his mouth and tried not to smile. “Still… What am I supposed to do?”
“Can’t help you there. You’ll have to decide that for yourself.”
And that could take a while, Zach thought to himself. A very, very long while.
7
TEST DRIVE
The landscape zoomed by the train car’s window. Selene sat leaning up against the side of the car, idly watching the scenery pass by. Not that there was much of note. She had a choice between either watching open fields, or watching thick forest. The area around Old Chicago certainly lacked terrain variation.
But she wasn’t here to sightsee. Zach had ordered her south to Indianapolis, where she had several task to perform. From their forward base in Racine she first took the water route to Hydra’s main port along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, about where Gary would be in the real world.
From there she had climbed aboard the train running between the port and Lerna Bastion. After the trip and a brief stopover, she had boarded a second train and was now headed south for Indianapolis.
So many changes in such a short period of time. Selene could remember when transporting troops and material between locations took hours upon hours, or even days. They had to either haul it by Mule transport, put it on the backs of ATVs or lug it by foot. None of those options were terribly quick, and the amount they could actually transport remained limited.
But the railway changed all that immensely. Reflecting on it, if Selene had to name Hydra’s most valuable assets, the first would be Lerna Bastion, the second would be Hephaestus Forge, and the third would be the railway. Their air force, their navy, their armored battalion, all those were the flashy and showy toys of the alliance, but World at War operated on a much deeper level than that. Logistics ruled all.
The greatest strength of the most powerful alliances wasn’t their numbers, or their technology, or even the swathes of territory they held, but their ability to move, control and supply large numbers of troops in a coordinated fashion. Many players never participated in a group larger than a small platoon, due to how difficult it was to coordinate and supply a group larger than that. Both Hydra and Ragnarok could do that in their sleep, though.
Selene had just been a part of a major operation involving hundreds of troops spread over a wide area, coordinating several different units along with naval, air and artillery support. And Ghost Battalion had performed like it was nothing.
That skill was what truly separated Hydra and Ragnarok from the rest of the pack. Ronin’s alliance lagged in a distant third because they lacked the logistical ability to properly command the forces they could bring to bear. It was no surprise that their greatest victories had happened when they were cooperating with the Hydra Alliance, because they could cover for Ronin’s deficiencies in those areas.
It had taken a long time for Selene to realize this side of things. Early on she had been little more than a grunt, focusing on little more than the next fight. Command and logistics could be left to people like Zach and Nora who were more inclined toward that sort of thing. But as Black Wolf Company grew, as the alliance expanded, she found herself becoming more and more immersed in the areas that didn’t involve combat. The change really started to take hold when Ghost Battalion had formed and Alpha Wolf could truly be called a platoon. She had to pay attention to how and when her troops were supplied.
And while it wasn’t her favorite thing in the world, Selene found herself enjoying the logistical side of things more than she thought she would have. She could see how hard and how efficiently they were fighting from the amount of ammunition they expended. She could make sure they received the proper equipment when it was time to go on the offensive.
And then, there were the new toys that came along now and then. Receiving a new set of equipment was almost like opening a present on your birthday, and Selene enjoyed that feeling for all it was worth.
But her newfound knowledge of logistics also made her keenly aware of just how valuable their system was to the alliance, and how much of an advantage it gave them. This railroad might be their most astonishing feat.
All of Hydra’s industry was located in Indianapolis, mostly in the Central City District. If they had to rely on truck or Mule their supply lines would probably be extremely strained by now. They definitely couldn’t provide enough ammunition for the front lines as needed, especially with the fierce fighting that currently raged.
But the rail line allowed them to move supplies from Indianapolis to the north at rapid speed, and they could carry vast quantities in one train load. That alone gave them a huge advantage, but it didn’t stop there. Trains could be used to transport troops as well. In fact, one of their first objectives in the coming campaign was to secure a route for a rail line into southern Milwaukee. Once they had that, they could flood their forward base with ammunition, supplies and troops.
The railway gave them a huge advantage, but how much would it matter in the coming campaign? Ragnarok lacked similar capabilities, but their supply lines were much shorter. They could afford to use truck convoys because they could make multiple trips in a relatively short period of time.
The supply war, Selene thought to herself. Something that most players never even thought about, but upon which everything hinged.
She glanced back into the train car and caught the eye of Blake, who sat across from her.
“Excited?” he asked.
“I’d think you would be more excited than me,” she responded. “The new toys are for you guys.”
“Yeah, but you get to fly in them,” Blake pointed out. “Just think, you don’t have to go into battle flying through the air on a board.”
“Put that way, I’d say that’s a welcome change,” Selene agreed with a smile.
She loved the Hornet for its versatility and ability to drop troops in tight locations, but the helicopter certainly had its shortcomings. It was a small multirole craft, able to perform many tasks but not especially proficient at any of them. It could act as a gunship, but its size limited the payload it could carry. It could transport troops, but the riders had to sit outside on bench seats, exposed to the elements and enemy fire.
But another option had finally arrived. Working through the massive backlog of schematics, Hephaestus Company had constructed a prototype of a new helicopter, bigger than a Hornet. It would be a dedicated transport, capable of carrying ten troops in its hold. Unlike the Hornet it could also act as a cargo transport ferrying heavy weapons and ammunition wherever it was needed.
Hephaestus also indicated that it could possibly be used as a gunship if outfitted correctly, though more tests were needed before that became practical. But the prototype helicopter was ready to be tested, and if it passed then they could begin full-scale mass production.
The addition of the new weapon could drastically change the dynamic of their war, both on the tactical and on the strategic level. Having a proper transport helicopter would help them to concentrate more troops in each landing, but the
effect would be even more widespread than that. Right now, Ghost Battalion could only transport about a third of the battalion by air, even if they used every Hornet at their disposal. Their effective number was even less, since they needed helicopter gunships to provide cover for a landing force.
But the addition of new airframes would increase the number of troops they could transport at one time, and that could be a deadly trump card at their disposal. An airmobile platoon or company was dangerous enough. If Ghost Battalion could move its entire strength through the air at once, that opened up a whole new world of possibilities.
And once that news reached Ragnarok, they would have to find some way to compensate. Their enemy’s best raiding force could show up anywhere and everywhere without warning, and that was something they wouldn’t be able to ignore.
“You look pretty happy about it,” Blake commented.
“Well, I am,” Selene shrugged.
“Maybe that’s not the best way to put it,” Blake corrected himself. “You look giddy? That might be the word I was looking for.”
Selene frowned. “I do?”
“Well, you look really, really happy.”
“I didn’t think I was that excited,” Selene said. “I mean, yeah, I’m glad we have new equipment, but it’s not like we won some ridiculously hard battle or took a district.”
“Yet you still look giddy,” Blake said. “I can understand that, though. I’m really looking forward to finally getting my hands on the controls of that thing.”
“I’ll bet,” Selene nodded, trying to shift attention away from herself. Did she really look that happy about it?
“Are you coming up with me?” Blake asked her.
“I wasn’t sure what I was going to be doing, to be honest,” Selene admitted. “Zach told me he wanted me along to make arrangements and get a good feel for the new chopper... excuse me, helo,” she corrected herself.
“That’s better,” Blake said with a smile.
Deception City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 5) Page 7