“Do you think they’re going to launch another attack?”
“Who knows,” Anna told her. “I think it’s possible, but maybe they’re just trying to keep us on our toes. They have a lot of fronts they need to devote their strength toward, and our part of the line is probably pretty far down the list.”
“I think they’re focusing here right now,” Zach said as he entered the command center with Danny and Nora in tow.
“Based on?”
“Their last attack hit the entire line, which mean they’d need at least a couple battalions worth of troops.”
“Even if that’s true, can we really ignore the possibility they’ll try to flank us again?” Danny asked.
Anna shook her head. “I don’t think they’ll try it, actually. We have ourselves, White Tiger and Sacred Sword all dug in along the river with pretty strong fortifications. They’re not going to be able to force themselves across without heavy casualties, and even if they do manage that they’ll have a tough fight on their hands.”
“But if you do need backup?”
“That’s what we have Barghest and Spectre for, along with Raven. We just have to alert them and bring them back to our side of the lines if we’re needed, though I don’t think that’ll happen. Besides, they’re tying up a bunch of enemy troops too.”
Selene hadn’t seen signs of the results yet, but according to the sporadic reports the raiding units were inflicting heavy damage on Ragnarok supply lines, destroying vital munitions and equipment, along with valuable supply trucks.
The effects might not be felt a day or even a week from now, but over a long period of time they would begin to bite. All large companies and alliances depleted their supply stocks when engaged in intense combat, and they’d run out eventually if they weren’t restocked. Ragnarok might be able to sustain their effort for a while, but if they didn’t stop the bleeding soon they’d be in trouble.
At first, Selene had been surprised that Black Wolf hadn’t been assigned to raiding as well, but now, standing in the midst of this formidable fortress, she understood why. This front needed fast-moving assault forces to take and hold vital buildings, and they certainly fit the bill.
“So, I saw that you’re adding artillery to this place,” Anna said. “And you have the elevators up and running. Anything else you’re planning to do?”
“We still need to get the mortars on the roof,” Zach told her. “We’re going to add more guns to the other side of the building, and Hephaestus is preparing a supply tunnel that extends back toward headquarters. In case we get cut off.”
Anna nodded. “Ah, OK. The defensive system around this place looks pretty formidable too, so I can see why they think you might end up as a holdout.”
Black Wolf had spent the last three days digging a breastworks system around the base of the building, augmented by pillboxes and bunkers. The entire area around the tower was covered with chest high walls, zigzagging around to make it much harder for attackers to traverse. Not only would they come under fire from the ground level, but defenders on the upper floors could rain bullets down on them with near impunity.
“We’re going to need a steady supply of ammo to hold out, though,” Danny said. “We almost ran out in the last fight.”
Zach nodded. “Yeah, and the flame tanks are a real problem if we don’t have any good way to kill them.”
“I saw the reports. Have you faced any yet?”
“We did, although they didn’t get within range,” Zach said. “But they were getting pretty close.”
“They’re not any tougher than a regular tank, and their range is less,” Nora said. “That’s a weakness we can exploit.”
Danny gave her a look. “Speak for yourself. You didn’t have to fend them off alongside an infantry assault.”
“Field combat, they’re nothing special,” Zach said. “But in urban combat they’re pretty nasty. We’re just lucky they can only come at us from the boulevard.”
“We can use our recoilless rifles outside too,” Selene pointed out.
“Point is, we have to kill them at long range, because once they close within a hundred yards they’re going to fry us,” Danny said.
Anna grimaced. “That far, huh?”
“Yeah, and it’s several gallons at once.”
“Here’s a question for you guys. Can you hold this place?” Anna asked pointedly.
The four Black Wolf members looked at each other and shrugged.
“We wouldn’t be fortifying this place if we didn’t think we could hold it,” Nora said.
“But are you doing it because you think you can hold it, or because you know you’re not going to be able to hold it without the preparations?”
“Both, I guess.”
Selene decided to get to the point. “Why are you asking us that?”
“Because I’m not going to waste one of my battalion’s companies in a futile battle,” Anna said flatly. “If there’s other places you can be useful, then I want you there.”
“Well, we could be exploring the tunnels more,” Selene said. “That might be enough to tip the scales in our favor.”
“Not worth it right now,” Danny said. “This is our best bet right now. If we hold this, we dominate the district.”
Selene wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She felt this place was important too, but it also felt like putting all of their eggs in one basket. She wanted to win, and just standing here defending didn’t suit her. Selene wanted to take the fight to the enemy.
“Until we get a stronger hold on the front line, I think that holding the tower is our best bet,” Zach said. “We’ve spent more than enough time trying to make up for the ground we lost in the counterattack. We can’t do it again. If we can hold the line, we’ll do it.”
Anna nodded. “Then your job is to hold this place. I’ll try to make sure that you get everything you need to accomplish that.”
“One thing,” Selene spoke up. “Right now it might be a good idea to hedge our bets. Can’t we send small teams into the tunnels to see if we can find some way to break the deadlock?”
“We need as many troops as we can get here to hold the line,” Danny said.
“Still,” Nora said thoughtfully, “that might be a good idea. Hedge our bets, as you said.”
“No more than a squad, though,” Zach told her. “Danny’s right. We can’t spare many troops from the defense.”
“Right,” Selene replied.
It might not have been exactly what she wanted, but at least it was something. They could hold here while trying to find some way around the teeth of Ragnarok’s defenses.
And maybe, just maybe, they could find a way to get through this urban nightmare.
11
STRIKE BACK
Immediately after the meeting with Anna ended Zach and Nora took the elevator and headed for the ground floor.
“Meeting after meeting,” Nora commented as the lift descended. “Though I guess that’s just part of being one of the leaders.”
Zach nodded. “Yeah. Thought sometimes I wonder what it would be like to go back to the old days.”
Back to the old days. Back to when Black Wolf was only a small company of about ten members, trying like everyone else to make their way in the harsh virtual world, with only an inkling about what they were doing. Back to when he only had to worry about little things, leaving him free to fight and explore alongside the rest.
“I think we already opened up Pandora’s Box a long time ago,” Nora said.
“Did we shut it in time to keep hope inside?” Zach said.
Nora laughed. “Not many people remember that part of the myth.”
“It’s kind of important, though.”
“Yeah, it is.”
Zach thought for a moment. “I wonder if there is some hope to get back to the smaller raids and stuff.”
“Hm?”
“We’ve been fighting Ragnarok for how long, a year? Maybe more? I’m betting that a lo
t of them are getting tired about slugging it out with us all the time.”
A thoughtful look crossed Nora’s face. “So, do you think they’ll want to call a truce, then?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Zach shrugged. “Right now might not be the best time to ask them about it, because we’ve essentially got a dagger at their throats. They’ll probably want to get a stronger position before they’re willing to negotiate.”
“I think that’s true, actually. It’s all about power.”
Zach looked up, watching motion of the cables as the elevator descended. “We’re going to have to be careful that we don’t have blinders on. I’m actually surprised we haven’t made any major contacts with the other hubs.”
“From what I’ve heard, they’re all dealing with their own problems. We’re not the only ones slugging it out with a competitor.”
Maybe, but what if the situation changed? Zach felt the Hydra Alliance was particularly vulnerable, since most of their fighting forces were concentrated north of Old Chicago. If they ran into trouble from certain directions, say from the Dallas or New York hubs, they could end up in serious trouble.
And the player base wasn’t looking to get any smaller anytime soon. The rest of the North American hubs outside of the United States were finally online: Mexico had hubs in Chihuahua City, Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City, while Canada had Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and a combined Vancouver/Seattle hub.
Other servers were coming on line as well. The European section was up and running now, along with a combined Korea/Japan server in Asia and an Australia/New Zealand one in Oceania. The southern Africa one would be coming online soon, followed by the Chinese and Indian sections. Eventually they would all connect together in one seamless world.
That meant a lot of potential adventures, along with many more possible foes. In fact, if they were able to come up with intercontinental transportation, companies on opposite sides of the globe could end up helping each other.
“Switching gears a little, I think there’s a little issue with the company we need to discuss,” Nora said.
“Oh?”
“The leadership thing. You’re not always going to be available, and neither am I. I can step in for you if I need to sometimes, but I don’t think we want to rely on it. So, given that, what do we do about it?”
Zach frowned. “Well, we could always nominate someone else for leadership when we’re not available.”
“It pretty much has to be one of the originals,” Nora said. “Selene or Danny are the obvious choices. Maybe even Xavier. He has it in him to be a leader of a large group.”
“Maybe, but I’m not sure I’d want to put him in command over Selene and Danny. That would just make an awkward situation, I think.”
“Mm, true.”
“So, I think it comes down to Selene and Danny, which I can see good and bad points to both,” Zach said. “Selene has the more dominant personality, and she knows what she’s doing. She’s a really good motivator, but sometimes I think she’s a little too aggressive.”
“Aggression isn’t a bad thing in our line of work,” Nora pointed out.
“Yeah, but I think there’s a big difference between being aggressive and being foolhardy, and sometimes she’s dancing on that line.”
“And Danny’s more levelheaded,” Nora said as the elevator stopped at the bottom floor. “But he’s not exactly great at politicking. At least Selene has her dominant personality to get what she wants.”
Zach nodded as they stepped off and headed for the exit. “And there’s the dilemma. Which do we go with?”
“Are you looking for a replacement?”
Zach thought about that for a moment. “I’m not sure,” he finally admitted. “I don’t want to leave Black Wolf, that’s for sure. But I don’t want to drag us down either, if I can’t find the time to do this properly.”
“Yeah, I understand that. Actually, I feel the same way too,” Nora told him. “I don’t want to put myself in a position of responsibility that I can’t do.”
They headed to the two ATVs parked outside and mounted up. Zach opened up a channel so they could continue the conversation while they were driving.
“Maybe we should ask for an outside opinion?” he suggested. “Anna or Liz might be able to give us some good perspective, since they’ve seen us work together, but they’re not part of our company.”
“Maybe, but we might want to keep it in house,” Nora said.
“Do you not think they’ll give us a good opinion?”
“Oh, I trust their opinions, but is it really going to be what’s best for Black Wolf?” Nora pointed out. “They’re focused on stealth, so they might not favor aggressive actions. And that might hurt us, since we’re a very different unit.”
That made sense to him. All companies in Ghost Battalion were capable of stealth, but Redd Foxx was head and shoulders above the rest. Black Wolf was oriented for far more straightforward combat, acting as an elite rapid assault force, capable of taking critical objectives with lightning fast attacks.
In those situations aggression served them well, because they were able to take the fight to the enemy before they even knew what was happening. Sometimes they took heavy losses in the process, like they had done at the tower, but Zach still counted that as a win. If they were any more hesitant, then they might have ended up losing those battles instead.
“We could just ask them and then just not take their advice if we don’t think it’s right for us.”
“Agreed, but let’s make sure we do it pretty soon, if we do. We don’t want our command structure in limbo when the next attack comes.”
Zach sighed. “Oh boy, that. I have a feeling this meeting is going to be a whole lot of fun.”
“We’ll be fine, and anyhow, it’s not like we’re doing anything complicated. Hold the tower until we push through the district. Simple enough.”
Maybe, but they also had units from three different battalions vying for resources, and teamwork in those kind of situations wasn’t always smooth. Everyone wanted to have the advantages on their section of line, sometimes to the detriment of the others.
Zach had worked with Dragon and Magic before, but he wondered how those two were going to get along amongst themselves. Neither had worked with each other before the assault on the Cudahy District, and he wondered if Magic, the newest battalion, was going to be pushed around. Or, possibly worse, they would push back, causing even more friction.
“Are you panicking?”
“Huh?”
“You suddenly went silent. Are you worrying about something?” Nora asked.
“Oh.” Zach paused for a second. “I’m just worrying over what might happen if everyone’s at each other’s throats. Probably just my imagination.”
“You seem to think that Dragon wants to fight everyone.”
“That’s pretty standard for them.”
“Cody’s smart enough to get along for the good of the alliance,” Nora said. “Plus, even if he does decide to get ornery, he has Bryce to reign him in. And Lex isn’t one to cause problems either.”
“Which leaves us, the troublemakers,” Zach said with a smile. “I wonder if they still remember that time we defied the military council’s orders?”
“You don’t forget something like that. Of course, that’s probably not going to happen right now. We really only have one choice at the moment.”
Zach nodded. They had to take Milwaukee, no matter what the cost. They couldn’t allow Ragnarok to get their hands on the city, and Hydra could use the resources as well, especially since they had given up Green Bay to concentrate their forces here.
But the fight could take months, even a year or more. Zach had been at the forefront of the invasion of Indianapolis, but this was an entirely different beast. The AI wasn’t a pushover by any means, but it was at least somewhat predictable and not overly aggressive. Combat ebbed off and on in Indianapolis, with sporadic assaults interspaced by periods
of complete quiet. As long as they were quick, the Hydra Alliance could dictate the pace of battle.
Milwaukee, however, remained a completely different obstacle because of the presence of an enemy player alliance. Ragnarok fought much like them. They weren’t predictable by any stretch of the imagination, often coming up with tricks and gambits that Hydra hadn’t even though of until they were on the receiving end. They were well armed, and most notably of all, they were completely relentless.
That last fact made all the difference, because Ragnarok exercised relentless aggression on both the tactical and strategic level. Zach had faced Ragnarok attacks dozens of times, and each one had been an absolutely nerve-wracking experience. Even in the face of heavy casualties, even when faced with a determined foe in a strong position, Ragnarok troops would simply not give up. They’d keep coming until they were defeated, or they broke through.
It seemed suicidal, almost foolhardy at first, but to him it was actually a testament to their confidence and their skill. Their assault on the Ghost Line around Green Bay had been performed under horrific conditions for the attackers, facing defenses that would shatter almost any company in World at War. Yet Ragnarok had managed to smash their way through with a combination of smart tactics, fighting skill and sheer determination.
They had seen some of that on display here in the Cudahy District, but even worse was their use of aggression on the strategic level. Unlike in Indianapolis, there was no rest for the weary, no respite. Large-scale attacks came and went, but in between them there was always fighting almost every hour of the day. Most of it amounted to little more than skirmishing, but the threat remained, ever present. Hydra couldn’t afford to let their guard down for a second, lest their enemy get the drop on them.
This place was truly a battlefield, Zach thought as he and Nora pulled up next to Hydra HQ. Not merely a place where they fought for a few hours, not just someplace where two sides shot off some rounds at each other, but a battlefield, a place where they fought tooth and nail for days, weeks, months, even years, bleeding each other white.
Carnage City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 6) Page 11