Deception City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 5)

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  “Assuming that we didn’t attack them and take them away,” Aaron of Band of Brothers pointed out.

  “Honestly, I think they were relying on their numbers to win the battle for them,” David said. “They thought they had enough troops to fight both the city garrison and hold off us. But we got so much push in the initial offensive that their plan just shattered right in front of them without warning.”

  “And then we stalled out,” Cody said.

  “To be fair, that happened when Ronin ditched us,” Gina of Grizzly Company said.

  “Yeah, that’s right when it happened,” Cody agreed.

  Maybe, Nora thought to herself, but Cody’s dislike of Ronin Company was on full display as well. Many in the alliance had a standoffish relationship with Ronin, mostly due to personality clashes with its captain, Levi, but Cody had a particular axe to grind. Nora had been there when Levi had tried to organize the first group to fight Ragnarok, only to have it collapse due to infighting and egos. Cody, in particular, didn’t like Levi’s way of handling things, and he especially didn’t like being told what to do.

  It surprised her that Cody had brought Marauder into the Hydra Alliance, and surprised her even more that he had first risen to battalion command and then to the military council. At first blush, it didn’t seem to fit his style, especially his resistance to higher authority that she had witnessed. But maybe it was because of their methods. The original five members of the alliance had gone to great pains to invite others to the alliance, not demand their allegiance. They had also offered them significant incentives to join, promising the vast technological and economic resources at Hydra’s disposal.

  It had worked, and Hydra’s numbers had swelled dramatically. Now, with firm control of their own city, they could challenge the normally unassailable Ragnarok Company on equal footing.

  Ronin had managed to survive and bring a few more allies into its fold, though Nora didn’t quite know how they had managed that feat. Regardless of how, the fact remained that they were still alive, and that presented a significant wildcard. Hydra couldn’t rely on them as steady allies, but then again Ragnarok couldn’t bank on them staying on the sidelines either.

  Regardless, they wouldn’t be influencing the battlefield anytime soon. Danny had heard through his friends in the grapevine that Ronin was aiming for Davenport, trying to establish a base of their own before the other two alliances swallowed them up. That took them out of the battle, but Hydra wasn’t counting on them. They had learned long ago that the two sides had vastly different agendas.

  Nora couldn’t fault Ronin for that, because Hydra had used them as pawn plenty of times in the past. As far as she knew they remained none the wiser, but two could always play the same game. She guessed Ronin was using them as a distraction this time, fully occupying Ragnarok’s attention while they took Davenport.

  But that was fine. The alliance had enough resources to meet Ragnarok on equal footing, and they were looking forward to the slugging match.

  Nora’s attention drifted back to the conversation unfolding in front of her.

  “Back to business,” Anna said. “One of our recon units discovered a large hole in the wall of the southernmost district,” she said, bringing up the photographs on the projector.

  “Undermined,” she heard Yusuf mutter.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought when I first looked at it,” Zach agreed. “Looks like they couldn’t breach it with artillery or go around it like we did.”

  “Or scale it,” Cody said.

  Karen looked over at him. “Would you want to try to climb those walls?” she asked. “They’re thirty feet high.”

  “And really thick,” added Shayna of Jackal Company.

  Nora nodded. While looking for a possible city to invade, Redd Foxx had scouted Milwaukee. They quickly deemed the attack next to impossible due to their lack of troops and the extremely tough defenses around the city. Instead, they had attacked a small town with no wall, and from there built their forces and bided their time.

  Even with the significant resources at their disposal, breaching a wall like that remained difficult. Luckily, Ragnarok had already done most of the hard work for them.

  “We think this is our best bet to break into the city,” Gina said.

  “But won’t they expect that?” Evy asked. “It seems like the most obvious solution, so they should be heavily guarding it.”

  “Right, but we have other options as well, and Ragnarok has to cover their bases,” Gina elaborated. “Distractions and feints might be able to draw away significant amount of defenders.”

  Anna nodded and picked up where she left off. “Ghost Battalion has been planting those seeds in the enemy’s mind. We’ve been raiding the coastline, destroying their naval forces, blowing up shore defenses, that kind of thing. And that points to one possibility.”

  “Amphibious assault,” David finished. “Everything Ghost Battalion has been doing points to an amphibious assault along one of the Milwaukee coastal districts. It lets us get on the ground and in the city without having to either break down a wall or push ourselves through a narrow breach.”

  “I’d imagine it’s tough getting onshore, though,” Aaron said.

  Nora tried not to make a face. He didn’t know the half of it. Ghost Battalion had performed an amphibious assault before with wild success. Black Wolf had spearheaded the attack, coming under withering fire from the defenders. Through a combination of skill determination and aggression they had overrun the beach defenses and paved the way for other units to land.

  Those had been NPC troops, though, which couldn’t come close to matching the ability of veteran players. Even so, Nora remained confident they could force a landing. Their enemy might be tougher, but Ghost Battalion had a lot more firepower as well. They had proven their toughness during the last major raid, getting Redd Foxx ashore to wreak havoc.

  Doubtless Ragnarok would remember that and be prepared to counter such an attempt. But every soldier they place on the beach was one that wasn’t guarding the southern approaches.

  And that’s where the hammer blow would fall the hardest.

  “The amphibious force isn’t going to be the main axis of attack,” David elaborated. “They’ll go in first to serve as a distraction. We’ll have them just offshore, making it look like they’re preparing for an attack. That should draw at least some of the enemy reserves to the beaches. Meanwhile, our main attack will be focused on taking the breach in the wall and forcing our way into the city.”

  “Dragon Battalion is going to be assigned to this task, along with reinforcements from Knight and Rogue Battalions,” Cody said. “We’ll be spearheading the attack and tasked with taking the breach. Once that happens, the rest of our forces will push into the city and start fighting their way through to the capture point.”

  “Most of our assault guns will be committed to this attack,” Gina said. “As for our armored cavalry, you’ll be helping to hold both sides of the Ragnarok corridor to Old Chicago. Urban streets are a deathtrap for APCs, so you’ll be better off on open ground.”

  “Sacred Sword will be deploying alongside Dragon Battalion for the duration of the attack.”

  There were some murmurs around the room at that announcement.

  “Won’t that leave the western part of the front pretty weak?” someone asked.

  “Like Gina said, we’re going to be deploying Rogue’s armored cavalry in those areas,” David said. “So while we may lose some of our numbers, we’ll gain the combat power of their vehicles.”

  Anna spoke up again. “Plus, we have some more options for reinforcing our fronts. As some of you are aware, Hephaestus has started mass production on a new model of helicopter for Ghost Battalion, which can carry more cargo and more troops. Our plan is to keep Bravo Platoon of Black Wolf Company as a mobile reserve, able to be quickly deployed to any hotspots.”

  “Just a platoon?” Evy asked.

  Nora decided to speak up. “I
t’ll be a pretty heavily reinforced platoon, all things considered. They’ll have a significant number of helicopter gunships with them, since we don’t want to risk large numbers of them over Milwaukee.”

  Gunships were powerful assets, but they remained extremely vulnerable to antiaircraft fire. RPGs were especially dangerous in an urban environment, because teams could duck in and out of buildings and then ambush the helicopters from anywhere. So while their air support might be valuable, the danger was too great to risk many of them. Only the most experienced pilots would be allowed to operate over the city. The others would work in other sectors, providing much-needed firepower.

  Anna nodded in agreement with Nora’s statement. “Remember, their role is to tip the battle in our favor, not to win the battle by themselves. We have plenty of confidence in the troops that will be holding the flanks.”

  A wise statement, Nora thought as she surveyed the sea of faces, and one that needed to be proven true. If Ragnarok managed to smash their way through the flanks, they could potentially cut off the bulk of Hydra’s forces from their supply lines.

  Lex finally spoke up. “What’s Magic Battalion’s role in all this?”

  “Continued harassment,” David told him. “Keep hitting their vital areas. Draw as much strength as you can, and if you can’t do that, then do some damage. We want to make them howl.”

  Certainly, Nora thought to herself, but they didn’t want to push too hard. Eventually Ragnarok would reach their tolerance point, and after that all bets were off. They might very well go after Magic Battalion in order to protect their economy, and while that would take vital troops from the south, it also could mean that Hydra would lose their important strategic base at Green Bay.

  So many moving parts. So many different faces, each with their own way of doing things. That was their alliance’s gift and their curse. It was where their namesake came from: unlike a monolithic organization like Ragnarok, Hydra incorporated many different ways of fighting and thinking into a conglomeration.

  And that was both a strength and a weakness. The heads might fight against each other, but when an enemy cut one off, another would appear to take its place. In the same way as a hydra replaced its heads, their alliance could adapt to the changing situation, drawing on new tactics and strategies when their previous attempts had failed.

  But they faced an equally powerful foe. Ragnarok was like a force of nature, furious, unbending and unrelenting. Even the most brilliant minds and most determined fighters could fall under the sheer weight of its wrath.

  That was their war though, pitting their skill against a formidable enemy. Would they come out on top, or would they be smashed aside? Only once the battle was joined would they know.

  But they were close. Oh, so close.

  David closed out the meeting. “That’s the basics of the plant. Battalion leaders will receive their specified orders, along with the start date of the offensive. Company commanders, you’ll be receiving instructions as well. Other than that, we’re ready to go. Good luck to everyone, and I’ll see you on the other end.”

  Nora and Zach stood up and caught Anna’s eye. The preliminaries might be over, but they had a lot more to discuss before they were ready for show time.

  * * *

  “Alright guys,” Anna said once Ghost Battalion’s officers had gathered in another part of the bastion, “let’s get down to business on our end of things.”

  “You said that we’re going to be performing an amphibious landing,” Neil said. “Redd Foxx and Black Wolf are the only companies in the battalion with experience in that kind of thing. My guys and Barghest are flying blind. Are we going to get practice?”

  “It might also be a good idea for the rest of us to get a refresher course,” Nora suggested. “The last time we did one was a couple of months ago, after all.”

  Anna nodded. “And we will. But we have about a week until the operation kicks off, and we’re getting some new equipment.”

  “The helicopters, you mean,” Robbie said.

  “Not just that,” Karen said. “Not a lot of people know about this, but the Hephaestus team in Green Bay has been working on a special project in the dockyards. They’ve designed a proper landing craft and put it into full-scale production.”

  Nora frowned. She had heard nothing about this new development, though doubtless the military council wanted to keep tight wraps on certain information. Still would it hurt more than it helped in this case? This didn’t leave them much time to practice with the new equipment, and she voiced those concerns.

  “Should be simple enough,” Anna said. “They’re based on our river craft, so they use the same engines, controls and steering systems. It’s just a matter of adapting to the different size. It should be just fine.”

  “Should,” Neil echoed, letting the word hang in the air for a moment. “A lot of things should go right.”

  “I agree with Neil,” Zach said. “We at least need to have some experience working with the new landing craft, otherwise we’ll probably end up swimming for shore.”

  “Speaking of that,” Nora added, “are we going to send in combat swimmers?”

  “That’s a question for you, actually,” Anna said. “You guys have the most experience with the diving gear. Do you think sending in frogmen is practical?”

  Zach and Nora looked at each other.

  “We’re already down Bravo Platoon,” Zach said. “That means we’ll only have one of our platoons committed to the attack. If we cut down that number even further by taking, say, a squad, are we even going to have an effective fighting force?”

  “If we’re going to do it, we should use the entire platoon,” Nora said. She looked back over at Anna. “You’ll have to decide whether that’s worth it or not.”

  “If we do try, can you provide enough disruption to get us ashore?” she asked pointedly.

  “We’ll be going in without heavy weapons or armored support. We’re not going to be able to hold out for long,” Zach reminded her. “But as long as you can relieve us relatively quickly, we should be fine.”

  “But we’re going to need time to train as well,” Nora reminded them. At this point she was quite glad Selene’s platoon had been doing dive training under their own initiative. That would begin to pay dividends soon.

  “And is this really worth it?” Neil asked. “We’re providing the initial distraction sure, but if all goes according to plan we’ll be going ashore into the teeth of the enemy defenses, which will be reinforced by more troops.”

  Liz spoke up. “The distraction will take place before the main ground assault, but we won’t launch the actual attack until Dragon Battalion is committed. That will force Ragnarok to choose what part of the district they want to defend.”

  “Still… that’s going to mean heavy casualties for us,” Neil said.

  “It’s going to mean heavy casualties for everyone,” Karen said. “There’s no easy way into the city.”

  Anna nodded. “I know that getting killed hurts a lot more because of the gameplay changes, but we can’t let that cripple us.”

  “Oh, I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it. Just that we might need time to regain our strength afterward,” Neil clarified.

  “Nothing new there,” Robbie said.

  “Whatever the case, we’re going to need specialist training to pull this off,” Zach said.

  “Right,” Anna agreed. “OK, our plan is as follows. Black Wolf will spearhead the attack with their frogmen, followed by troops from Redd Foxx, then Barghest. Spectre will stick to the river craft on the lake and provide fire support. Raven will provide air cover with their gunships. That means Barghest and Redd Foxx will need to get the most training with the new landing craft.”

  “And we’ll need to do more diving practice,” Nora said.

  “If I could make one last suggestion?” Zach said.

  “Shoot,” Anna told him.

  “We’re not going to do much good sitting off shore. I’d
like for both Nora and myself to go in with the first wave.”

  “Permission granted.”

  Nora gave him a wry smile. “Gosh, you always find the best assignments for us, don’t you?”

  10

  TESTING, TESTING

  “Your exams came out normal?” Xavier asked.

  Zach nodded. “Yup. Everything’s been normal for me ever since we started. How about you?”

  “Same here. I’ve actually been told that I’m in enviably good shape, both mentally and physically. For whatever that’s worth.”

  “Yeah, I can definitely see them saying something like that,” Zach agreed. Xavier had one of the calmest, most even-keel personalities he had ever seen.

  “Have you had anyone say anything to you about something like that?”

  Zach paused for a moment. His conversation with President Starvos immediately came to mind, but he knew he should be sharing such sensitive information with a lot of people. He had already determined that, until he gave an answer, Nora was going to be the only other one to know.

  “They’ve pretty much said I’m normal,” Zach told him. “Nothing exciting, but I’m pretty glad as well. I wouldn’t want to have any neurological problems or the like.”

  “Or the perception ones,” Xavier observed. “Some of the side effects sound like they could really be a problem.”

  “Did they tell you about them?” Zach asked.

  Xavier shook his head. “No, I decided to read the manual one day for entertainment. There’s some interesting stuff buried in there, by the way, but the side effects were what I was really interested in.”

  “How bad are they?”

  “They’re not crippling or anything, and they’re not common either. It’s mostly minor things like having phantom senses. You know, like smelling things or hearing things that aren’t actually happen. Most people don’t experience them, and the few that do usually readjust in about five to ten minutes outside.”