Fang: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 3)

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  “Contact! Chilus! CHILUS!” he warned as he toggled his carbine to full auto.

  This was bad. Very bad. Chilus were huge mutated centipedes. Stretching up to six feet long, they were highly dangerous. Their mandibles were capable of slicing someone in half, and they were quick as well. Worst of all, their chitinous exoskeletons made them almost impervious to bullets.

  The only effective way to kill a chilus was with either flames or armor-piercing bullets. None of them had either of those options with them.

  The rest of them opened fire anyhow. If they couldn't kill it, at least they could slow it down. Ethan managed to get his light on the chilus and shot a long burst from his machine gun into the creature. It was forced back, hissing angrily at them. As more lights illuminated it, Zach realized that they were in trouble.

  “RUN!” he ordered.

  The chilus behind them wasn't normal size, or even large. It was gigantic, at least ten feet long, and their bullets were doing little more than angering it. Their only choice now was to run for it or be cut in half when it lunged at them.

  Zach could hear it moving behind them, mandibles clanking. He didn't chance a look back, but it was likely that it was fast enough to catch them. They would need some way to get it off their back.

  Thinking quickly, Zach grabbed a hand grenade off his belt and pulled the pin. He dropped it behind him as he ran. A few seconds later there was an explosion, followed by an angry sounding shriek. He didn't expect that it would kill or even injure the chilus, not by a long shot. But at least it would slow it down.

  The others in his group picked up his idea quickly. Gavin and Xavier pulled grenades as well and dropped them in the path of the advancing chilus. It sounded like they were effective, but Zach hadn't looked back. He didn't want to risk tripping, and he couldn't bear to look back anyhow.

  They made it back into the station.

  “It's not following us,” Ethan commented as he looked back. The monster had disappeared back into the darkness.

  “We're going to have to go back there, right?” Danny said.

  Zach grimaced. “Yeah. With a flamethrower. Or five.”

  Things had just become very complicated.

  CHAPTER 2

  Rain of Fire

  “Any news from them?”

  Nora looked up as Selene entered the command center of Lerna Bastion.

  “They're mopping up the last pockets of the enemy attack,” she said.

  Selene nodded and walked over beside her. “Well, that's good.”

  “Yeah.”

  “That doesn't sound very happy,” Selene commented.

  Nora hesitated for a moment. “The attack came out of the subway tunnels under the city.”

  “There's subway tunnels under the city?”

  “My point exactly.”

  Selene frowned. “How big are they?”

  Nora shook her head. “No clue. They got about fifty yards down the tunnel before a huge chilus attacked them.”

  “Ah,” she said. “Well, nothing we can do about that now. We've packed up, by the way.”

  “How much more was there?”

  Selene shrugged. “Most of it was stuff in the armory, which we consolidated in the basement armory here. No point in having everything decentralized up here for the permanent garrison.”

  Nora smiled. “Yeah. I don't envy Knight Battalion one bit.”

  The Hydra Alliance had gained a considerable number of members since the capture of the Eagle Creek district, and command had decided to make organizational changes to accommodate the influx of troops. They had formed their troops into four battalions, each under the leadership of a single commander.

  Lerna Bastion would be held by Knight Battalion, made up of Sacred Sword, Band of Brothers, Bravehart, Jackal, and Merlin, one of the first companies to join after the battle. Their commander was David of Sacred Sword, probably one of the most experienced battlefield leaders in the alliance. They would protect Hydra's northern territory from Ragnarok Company, and they would also conduct limited operations to keep their enemy off balance as well.

  Dragon Battalion would be based in the south, and would consist of Marauder, Crimson Eagle, Griffon and the new arrivals Taurus, Viper and Lion. Their job was to keep on the attack and take the rest of Indianapolis. Other battalions would help them when needed, but they would provide the backbone for most attacks. With Cody of Marauder in command, they would be a fearsome unit.

  There were two special battalions as well. The first was Rogue Battalion, lead by Gina of Grizzly Company. The battalion was based off of the existing armored company, consisting of Grizzly, Ironfist, Archangel and Storm Hawk, augmented by the arrival of Viking Company. They would provide the hammer to any attack, bringing assault guns and mounted troops to bear. The problem was that they had sustained heavy losses in the fighting for the Eagle Creek district, and it would take time to replace their lost vehicles. They still had plenty of experienced infantry, however, and that would be very valuable.

  And then there was them. Black Wolf, Redd Foxx, Raven, and the newly arrived Spectre had been formed into Ghost Battalion, lead by Anna of Redd Foxx Company. They were rangers, the fast-moving, quick hitting strike force of Hydra. They lacked the staying power of the other battalions, but they made up for that with speed and infiltration ability. Utilizing helicopters and river craft they could deploy anywhere in the Old Chicago region. Once they were on the ground they were like their namesake, able to fade in and out of the landscape without being noticed. They could fight well too, and all those strengths lead them to be expert raiders. They had carried out a campaign in the north for some time, attacking Ragnarok installations and supply lines.

  There were other companies that didn't fall under the umbrella of the four battalions. Hephaestus Company, their builders, were completely separate, and there was talk of forming an air force company to operate their choppers and aircraft. But the battalions would be doing most of the fighting.

  Selene looked away for a moment. “Speaking of organizational changes, are the rumors about Karen true?”

  “What rumor are you talking about?” Nora asked.

  Selene shrugged. “Nothing huge, and it's mostly contained to her squad. I heard about it from Danny. Supposedly she's being removed from her position in Black Wolf to form her own company. Is that true?”

  Nora sighed. “Yes and no. She's being asked to form another company, yes. But we're not exactly kicking her out of Black Wolf. She'll still be a part of the company.”

  “Doesn't she have to leave to join another company?” Selene asked.

  “Actually, she doesn't,” Nora informed her. “You can join another company as long as both company commanders approve. You can only be a part of two companies at a time, though, and you're out of luck if one of the commanders decides they don't want you to do that. But it serves our purposes just fine.”

  “Purposes?” Selene asked.

  Nora nodded. “We're getting a lot of requests for membership, but a lot of them are inexperienced players. They don't have the stealth skills, and they're probably not going to be able to pass the ranger challenge for a while. But we want them to join, and we don't want to turn them away.”

  “So your idea is to form up a company of those recruits lead by Karen?” Selene deduced.

  “Yeah. Our plan is to form the recruits into squads. They'll learn, and they'll take the ranger challenge with their squad mates. Once they pass the challenge they'll have the choice of joining any of the companies in the ranger battalion.”

  “What are they going to do while they're learning?”

  “They'll fight as normal. They might not be able to infiltrate, but they'll be able to provide support to us, at least.”

  Selene leaned over the holographic map table in the center of the commander center and idly cycled through the battlefield view of the Eagle Creek district. There wasn't much going on right now.

  “What's she going to name her company
?” she asked.

  Nora smiled. “You remember what her previous company was named, right?”

  “It was Bulldog, right? Is that what the name is going to be?”

  Nora shook her head. “No. in her mind Bulldog Company is dead and buried.”

  Karen had been the company commander of Bulldog Company, a small group of around ten members. They were content to exist as such, going on small adventures by themselves. Nora could certainly understand the sentiment. Some of the best times she had with Black Wolf was when they were a small company trying to find their way in a vast world.

  Their size had cost them when Ragnarok Company had come calling for them. Karen and the rest of her comrades had refused Ragnarok's offer to join; they would maintain their own identity, or they would go down fighting. They had gone down fighting.

  Bulldog Company had been crushed by Ragnarok, their ten members no match for the thousands of troops that their huge enemy could call upon. They had no allies to call upon either, and their pleas to Hydra had gone out far too late. They had lost their stronghold and then tried to take it back in a hopeless effort, but they had failed. Their company had been disbanded when the forty eight hour time limit had passed without them being in possession of a stronghold. They had come south to Lerna Bastion, asking to join Black Wolf.

  Nora was glad that they had joined. Karen's leadership qualities were almost immediately apparent, and she had quickly been put in command of the third squad in Danny's Bravo Wolf Platoon. The rest of Bulldog Company had acclimated well, and were valuable members of Black Wolf Company. But Karen had a grudge against Rangarok Company, and it drove her into a fury every time she fought them.

  “So what's the name?” Selene asked.

  “It's going to be Barghest Company,” Nora told her.

  “I have no idea what that is.”

  “A barghest? Well, it's a mythical creature from northern England. It's kind of like a big, black ghost dog. They're supposed to be heralds of death.”

  Selene smiled. “Ragnarok is going to crap themselves every time she shows up.”

  Nora laughed. “I don't envy them at all.”

  “So who's taking over third squad?”

  “We haven't figured that out. Still hammering out the details,” Nora said. “The debate is whether to move someone in the squad up to command, or to shift someone else into the spot.”

  “Ryan is the obvious choice,” Selene said. “He's the only one of the originals without a command. Well, except Miko, but can we really count her?”

  “Technically she's in command of a unit.”

  “That's consists of herself,” Selene pointed out.

  “It still counts.”

  Selene shrugged. “I just think that he shouldn't get passed over too many more times. He's definitely cut out for being a leader, and it's going to rankle if he gets passed over again. He already was passed over twice for people with less experience.”

  “But you chose Logan,” Nora said. “And Karen was the right choice as well. Also, keep in mind that Barghest Company is going to need officers, and that might be a landing spot for him as well.”

  “We need to make sure that we don't drain ourselves too much,” Selene said. “We're still going to be doing a lot of fighting, and we need good leaders.”

  “Right. But we have plenty of good leaders to choose from, and this might help some of them spread their wings when they might not be able to in the main company. I-”

  “Nora?” the single other occupant of the command center called to her. It was Sean of Jackal Company, who was acting as the radio operator.

  “What's up?” she responded.

  “I'm getting a transmission from Ronin Company. They say that it's urgent, and that they need to speak to the highest ranking officer.”

  “That would be you,” Selene said.

  “Technically that would be Yusuf, or Jack. You might even qualify,” Nora pointed out.

  “Yusuf's on the walls right now, I have no clue where Jack is, and he's part of a new company anyhow, and you're a lot better at making nice than I am,” Selene said. “That makes you the highest ranking senior officer present.”

  “Great,” Nora said flatly. She wondered just what they were asking for now.

  “I'll put them up on speaker,” Sean said. He flipped a switch on the huge main set which boosted the range of personal radios.

  Nora cleared her throat. “Ronin, this is Wolf 2. Ronin, this is Wolf 2.”

  “Wolf 2, this is Sam from Ronin Company. Our position at Fort Odin is under attack by Ragnarok forces. We're requesting reinforcements.”

  Nora looked over at Selene, who raised an eyebrow. Fort Odin and its sister Fort Baldr had been captured by Ronin's alliance. Originally built to guard Ragnarok's territory from Hydra attacks coming from the south, they were now a thorn in the side of the enemy company. Ragnarok wanted them back for sure, and Nora was honestly surprised that it had taken them this long to mount an attack.

  To Ronin the forts were an important strategic position and a source of pride, but for Hydra they were something else entirely. Their presence would keep Ragnarok busy, giving the Hydra Alliance the time they needed to take Indianapolis. At least, that was the theory. Several of them had been dubious of Ronin's ability to keep Ragnarok at bay, and Nora was on the fence about it. But at least it would buy them some time.

  “Sam, how large is the force that's attacking you, and how are they armed?” Nora asked, trying to delay her answer for as long as possible.

  “They're coming in battalion strength, at least. Five to eight hundred. We barely have two hundred in the fort right now, and Ragnarok is heavily armed. They have armored vehicles with them, and artillery.”

  “Pulling out all the stops,” Selene muttered next to her.

  Ragnarok had another trump card in their arsenal. For months Hydra had been the only group to possess significant armored vehicles, but Ragnarok had started to debut their own. They were wheeled, so they lacked the off road mobility of their Hydra counterparts, but they were still useful. Even though they had less armor than a Ram or a Bull, they could move quickly and provide armor support that would trouble infantry.

  “Can you hold them off?” Nora asked.

  “Not unless we get help, and we're going to need a lot of it,” Sam replied. “Reinforcements are coming from across the river, but it's going to take time, and Ragnarok might have something else planned.”

  Nora paused for a moment. “Sam, we can't spare any reinforcements. The only thing I have here is the garrison force for the bastion, and even that is understrength right now. Most of our troops are in Indianapolis right now, and they're currently fighting. We have no way to get them to the battlefield right now either. We took a pounding in the battle for the district.”

  “We need help. Anything,” Sam said.

  Nora thought for a moment. “There's always some members hanging around up in Old Chicago. I'll ask them for volunteers to come and help you. Sorry we can't do more, but we're tied down pretty badly here.”

  Suddenly the building shook. It sounded like an explosion had gone off outside.

  “What the heck?” Selene said.

  Nora and Sean looked at each other, then winced as another explosion went off. Alarm sirens started to blare throughout the command center and the bastion.

  “What's going on?” Sam asked.

  Nora opened up her menu and started to send a message to the rest of Hydra. “We're going to have to cancel those reinforcements,” she replied. “We're under attack as well.”

  Her alert beeped. Yusuf was on the other end of the line.

  “Nora! Tell everyone in the bastion to take cover!” he said.

  “What's attacking?” she asked.

  Then she heard it. A long series of explosions went off outside. It sounded like they were close together, and they were nearly simultaneous. What was going on here? Artillery couldn't fire that fast unless they had dozens of guns, and no
one had that many resources to spare. Maybe-

  Nora was thrown backward as the roof suddenly caved in. A chunk of masonry narrowly missed her head by inches. Another explosion rocked the building. Someone pulled her up.

  “Move!” Selene shouted to her.

  “What about-”

  “He's dead,” she replied. “Come on!”

  Selene took off at a dead run, and Nora was close behind. More explosions rocked Hydra HQ. Part of the stairwell had been blown apart when they reached it. Selene cleared the large gap with a flying jump. Nora followed, though she landed heavily and almost fell backward down the gap. Selene hauled her up.

  “Get on the line with Yusuf. I'll get the rest of Black Wolf assembled,” Selene said.

  Nora opened up her radio as she ran. “Yusuf, HQ is gone. What is Ragnarok using?”

  “They're firing rocket artillery,” Yusuf replied. “A lot of it too. That explains why all the explosions happened at the same time. Be advised that we're coming under heavy fire at the north wall.”

  “Are they attacking?”

  “They're firing, but they're not advancing. It might be only a matter of time, though.”

  “Roger. We'll get there as fast as possible,” Nora replied.

  “Logan's getting the rest of the company together, but it's going to be rough going. Perfect time for us to have none of our officers present,” Selene complained.

  Nora shook her head. “At least we don't have to do anything complicated. We get on the wall and we hold them off.”

  Selene frowned as they ran. “You would think that they would be attacking us right now instead of waiting.”

  “Maybe they're trying to suppress the wall defenses?” Nora suggested.

  “I think the better option would be to rush us while we're still reeling from the rocket attack,” Selene said. “Unless that's not their goal.”

  “So you think that this is a feint?” Nora asked.

  Selene shrugged. “Do they really have enough troops to attack us and Ronin at the same time? They still have to hold their garrisons in the north as well.”