Black Wolf

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  Zach walked over to the remains of the burned out nest and looked at one of the bodies. Ryches were mutated vermin, almost like rats. They were weak, but they were extremely fast and had razor sharp fangs. Fighting them up close was difficult; if you missed your shot, it was almost guaranteed that you would have one clinging to your throat.

  The recoilless rifle had come in extremely handy during the sweep. Danny had taken out large clusters of them at a distance, and the rest of the team had mopped up the survivors. The nest itself hadn't been much of a challenge. Danny had kept firing shots into the entrance while they killed any ryche that managed to make it out alive. It was extremely overkill and a colossal waste of valuable ammunition, but it was good target practice, at least.

  “Anything valuable?” Danny asked.

  “I'm pretty sure you blew up anything that was valuable,” Gavin commented.

  Zach's wrist alert went off. He had a new message from Anna.

  “What's up?” Danny asked.

  Zach closed out of his menu. “Well, we have quite interesting development. Nora, do you want to come along with me? The rest of you can do whatever. Training would probably be good.”

  “What's going on?” Selene asked.

  Zach turned toward where their ATVs were parked. “We're headed to Sacred Sword. Apparently the gist of what we're planning reached Grizzly. They want in.”

  The others were already there once they arrived. David from Sacred Sword, Anna and Liz from Redd Foxx, and Gina and her adjunct Connor from Grizzly were seated at a table in the meeting room of the base.

  “Sorry for such short notice,” David said.

  “From me as well. I realize this was pretty sudden,” Gina said.

  Zach and Nora took a seat. “So what exactly is this about?” he asked.

  “Well, sources tell me that you're planning an attack on one of the towns to the south. We want to be a part of that.”

  “Ah. And how exactly did your source learn of this?” David said flatly. Zach understood his nerves. If they had a spy in their midst it was probable that this news had reached Ragnarok as well.

  Gina laughed. “You're so suspicious.”

  “Be fair, we have reason to be,” Anna commented.

  “You don't have a spy, if that's what you're worried about,” Connor said. “I go to the same gym as one of your members,” he told David. “That's how we know.”

  “Great,” David said. “I'm betting that it was Nate, wasn't it?”

  “I'm sorry, I'm sworn to secrecy,” Connor replied, not quite hiding a smile.

  “Anyhow, like I said, we want to be a part of this,” Gina said.

  “You're arriving awfully late to the party,” David said.

  “Yeah, I know. But I'm bringing sixty soldiers to the fight,” Gina said.

  Anna frowned. “It's not that simple. We have the attack planned and have our troops supplied. Adding in another sixty troops is going to mess up that balance.”

  “Is it really going to be that much of a difference?” Connor asked. “How much planning do you actually need to attack a small town?”

  “We're not Marauder,” David said. “I'd prefer not to get three quarters of our companies killed in the attempt.”

  Zach sat up in his chair. “I think that both sides have valid points. What if we work out some sort of compromise?”

  “What do you have in mind?” Gina asked.

  “We're going to launch our attack soon, so coming up with a new plan right now isn't a good idea. It would mean we wouldn't have time to coordinate properly, or that we would have to postpone the attack, which I don't want to do. However, I do think that we can and should include Grizzly. What I think should happen is that Grizzly should be the reserve force. That would mean we wouldn't need to alter the plan, and we can use you where you're needed most.”

  “You will need to follow the chain of command,” David said.

  “Sure. What is it?” Gina asked.

  “We're organized as three units. Sacred Sword is going to launch the main attack, Redd Foxx is making a flanking action, and Black Wolf is being held in reserve,” Liz explained. “Zach is the overall commander of the operation.”

  “Ah, taking Levi's spot, are you?” Gina said.

  “Actually, we voted to give him the position,” David said.

  Gina shrugged. “That's a lot better than what Ronin was offering. Alright, I'm fine with this setup. What's Grizzly's role in all of this?”

  “Our plan is to attack from the north and the west,” Nora said. “Sacred Sword will hit them head on while Redd Foxx performs a flanking maneuver from the forest to the west. If all goes well then both sides should push the enemy forces toward the center of town and catch them in a crossfire.”

  “Do we want to stage a diversionary attack from the south or the east?” David asked. “That could be a good job for Grizzly.”

  “I'd rather keep Grizzly in reserve so they can reinforce the two main attack forces. We can also stage a diversion if we think it should happen,” Zach said.

  “Are we going to arm them with the new weapons?” Liz asked.

  “You have new weapons?” Connor asked.

  “We found a schematic for a recoilless rifle,” Nora said. “We've armed several of our heavies with them. We'll use them for taking out emplacements and enemy heavy weapons teams.”

  “Nice. Do you mind hooking us up with them?” Gina requested.

  “I have no problem giving you guys the schematics, but I don't think we have enough time to get your crews trained with the weapons,” Nora said. “I think it would work better if we gave you both our heavies. They've probably had the most training, so they'll be good as support for you.”

  “Fair enough,” Gina said.

  “You're being a lot more cooperative than you were at council in Ronin Fortress,” Zach commented. “I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why?”

  “Because you guys have a plan,” Gina said. “And also, because you're willing to cooperate, not order. The problem I had with Levi's methods, however noble, is that he was making demands of others instead of trying to work with them, and I'm not sure he realizes that. Trying to get you to stop selling overdrive was ridiculous.”

  “I didn't really think we were doing anything all that profound,” Zach said. “It all just seemed to make sense.”

  “It did,” David said. “Though I will say that it was pretty surprising how fast you were to share those schematics with us.”

  “It made the most sense,” Zach said. “How well would you have reacted if I just held the plans and made you buy the weapons and ammo off of us?”

  “You have a point there,” David said. “Although you're giving us a lot of money for free as well.”

  “Again, that makes the most sense. You need the ammo and weapons to fight. And besides, it's not like you're contributing nothing. Black Wolf would get slaughtered if we tried to take on that town alone.”

  “Do we want to try to pull the other companies in?” Gina asked.

  “For this operation no. We have enough troops to take the place,” Zach said. “Although, it is a long term goal to get them all together.”

  “That's provided they're willing to cooperate,” Nora said. “You have more contact with the northern companies. Any sense about what they're feeling?”

  “Quite honestly? They're trying to resist Ragnarok as best they can at the moment,” Gina said. “The incident at Ronin Fortress seems to have soured them on the idea of an alliance. They're trying to see if they can find schematics. Some sort of super weapon that will allow them to fend off Ragnarok.”

  “Are they deluded?” Liz asked. “They have to know that something of that scale would never exist in the game. That would throw off the balance so much.”

  “Well, Black Wolf seems to have found a secret weapon,” Gina said.

  “That's more of an exploit,” Nora said.

  “Well, regardless, that's what they're pin
ning their hopes on. That they can find something that will let them win against Ragnarok. But if we can present them with another good option, then I think that they'll be willing to listen. That's why I came forward to offer our help. This operation needs to succeed.”

  “It's planned for two days from now,” Zach said. “Will you be ready to fight by then?”

  “We can mobilize most of our forces by then,” Connor said. “It's not like we're doing anything special, anyhow. Where are we assembling?”

  “I'll send you the coordinates,” Zach said. “The plan is to meet at the staging area at around 1 PM since it's a Saturday, then launch our attack. If everything is set, we'll be launching our attack in two days. Have your troops organized into fireteams and armed for battle by then.”

  “Not a problem,” Gina smiled. “Here's to good hunting.”

  “Well, we have more ammunition than the Illinois National Guard,” Danny commented, looking over the crates of bullets stacked in the staging area. “Are you sure we really need this much?”

  “We're going to have almost two hundred of us, and it's going to be a pretty fierce battle,” Zach said. “I'd rather have too much ammo than too little.”

  Danny patted one of the crates of shells for their recoilless rifles. “Should we conserve ammunition?” he asked.

  “Try not to be wasteful, but use what you need to,” Zach said. “If you have to use it to take out heavy weapons, do so.”

  “Alright then. Do you want me and Ethan to operate as one crew, or do you want us to both carry weapons?” Danny said.

  “Do whatever you think is best,” Zach said. “Just keep in mind that you're going to be the only anti-tank team with Grizzly.”

  “Ha, Grizzly. Seems like they showed up just in time to take all the glory.”

  “Maybe, but if things start going south then we're going to be glad to have them as a reserve force,” Zach said.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Danny said. He fiddled with the straps of his body armor.

  It had taken a lot of time, effort and trial and error, but Gavin had managed to figure out how to make armor plates out of chilus chitin. He had taken a point in taxidermy, which allowed him to extract more resources from wildlife, and also allowed him the ability to craft with those resources. Using free crafting with an industrial press that they had purchased, Gavin had been able to craft the chitin into armor plates that could be fashioned into suits of ballistic protection. They were much, much weaker than the original chitin had been, but they still provided reasonably good protection from bullets and shrapnel.

  The main issue with the armor was that it was clumsy and bulky, so it wasn't as useful for classes that relied on speed or stealth. It was more useful for classes that would be up close and personal with the enemy. Black Wolf had prioritized making armor for engineers, medics and heavies. They had want to equip the soldiers as well, but they had run out of the time and resources to do so. Zach didn't have a set, since he was going to be so far behind the front lines.

  Zach contacted the rest of Black Wolf through his radio. “Everyone set? Come find me.”

  The rest of the company stopped what they were doing joined up with him. Gone was the myriad of uniforms with only the Black Wolf as a unifying symbol. Black Wolf had chosen to wear an urban camo pattern, colored with varying patches of white, gray, and black. Their vests and kit were black, along with their helmets and knee pads. Most of them had chosen to wear face paint.

  There were some individual differences in their dress. Miko didn't have a helmet, and was wearing a boonie hat instead. She also had an urban colored cape to help camouflage herself. Gavin had chosen to wear a black balaclava and a set of goggles. Nora's helmet was hanging from her belt and she was wearing a patrol cap, since she was going to be in the field headquarters unless something went wrong.

  They formed a semi-circle around him. “OK, you all know the plan we've worked out. I think I'm going to make a quick alteration to it. Selene, I'm going to have you take Miko, Xavier and Javy to the east of the town. Set up somewhere with good cover, where Miko can take potshots at the garrison. The rest of you should provide cover for her. The goal is to try to draw as many enemies to that side of town as possible before we launch the main attack.”

  “Got it,” Selene said.

  “Danny and Ethan, you'll be supporting Grizzly. Ryan and Gavin, load up two ATVs with recoilless rifle ammo. We want to make sure that everyone has enough for the battle,” Zach said. “We'll keep in radio contact with each of the squad commanders. If they need more, then take it to them. Otherwise, try to provide cover for Ethan and Danny.”

  “When are the others getting here?” Ryan asked.

  “Should be any time,” Nora said, looking at her menu watch.

  “Sacred Sword and Grizzly will meet us here,” Zach said. “Redd Foxx is going through the forest to get in position. They'll attack on our signal. We'll have our sniper team get on the roof of the gas station we used the last time we're here to observe the attack, once they're done with the distraction. We want this to be as coordinated as possible, so make sure to listen to the person on the other end of the line.”

  “If we're going to provide a diversion I think we should get in position as soon as possible,” Selene said. “I'd rather go on foot to sneak up on them.”

  “Go ahead, and be careful,” Zach said. “Remember, your job is to provide a distraction, and you can't do that if you're dead.”

  “We'll keep that in mind,” she said. Her team fell in behind her and headed down the road.

  Gavin shrugged. “Well, the ammo isn't going to load itself. Come on.”

  “Right behind you,” Danny said. He looked north over Zach's shoulder. “There's troops coming over the hill. I think it's Sacred Sword.”

  It was indeed. A line of troops clothed in gray marched toward them. Sacred Sword's troops were wearing puzzle camouflage uniforms in various shades of gray, with dark blue helmets and vests. They were ready for a prolonged fight, he noticed. Everyone was draped with ammunition belts and magazines. It would slow them down considerably, but at the same time it meant that they could project a huge amount of firepower.

  And behind them was Grizzly. They were clothed olive drab uniforms and tan colored kits. All of them were wearing balaclavas and goggles. Zach noticed another figure walking next to who he assumed was Gina. It was Liz, wearing Redd Foxx's woodland camouflage pattern of green, brown and tan. Her face was painted, and she was wearing a boonie hat. Zach also noticed that she had a harness for ammunition pouches, but no vest.

  “Are we ready?” David asked. “Boy, you have a pretty good command post set up here.”

  “Yeah, and it cost us a pretty penny. We're down to under a hundred thousand credits now,” Zach said. Black Wolf had purchased a large canopy tent, dozens of holographic video screens, and a huge number of fusion batteries to power them all.

  In the back story for World at War every player was equipped with cybernetic comms and video feed. That meant video of what one player was seeing could be streamed to another player and viewed through their menu. Video could also be displayed on holographic screens, either by connecting a receiver or directly patching the feed in through one's menu. Black Wolf didn't have even close to enough money to buy a video receiver, so they were forced to use the second option.

  The attack forces were divided into squads, consisting of two fireteams made of of four people. Each squad would have a controller back at the headquarters, who would patch themselves into the video and radio communications of the squad leader. Each controller would have a video screen so the command staff would be able to know what was going on. They also had a table with a map and tokens spread across it. Liz and Nora would keep track of the squads, moving their corresponding markers to their position of the battlefield. It would have been much easier to use a holographic map, but again, Black Wolf didn't have the money for it.

  “Do you have the controllers for your squads all set?” Z
ach asked.

  “Yup. Just direct them where they need to go, and we'll make sure they get set up fine,” David said.

  “I'll help them,” Nora said.

  “Alright, so let's get everyone together to finalize the plans,” David said. He waved Gina and Liz over.

  “Nice command post. It's sure great having rich friends,” Gina said.

  “Like I said to David, we're not so rich anymore,” Zach said.

  “Hold on, I'll get Anna on the line,” Liz said. She fiddled with her menu. “Anna, can you hear me?”

  “I hear you,” came the reply. “Is everyone else there?”

  “Yeah. We're just getting ready to go over the final plan.”

  Zach cleared his throat. “We'll stick to the plan that we made before, with one small change. I sent Selene to the east of the town with a fireteam. Miko is going to take pot shots at the garrison on my signal, which should hopefully draw then to that side of town. Once that happens, we follow the original attack plan. Sacred Sword pushes from the north. Once they're engaged, Redd Foxx will attack from the west. Grizzly will stay in reserve and reinforce where needed. We should have enough ammo to last us through the battle as long as you're not extremely wasteful. If you need it, ask for it.”

  “Do you have a retreat plan if things go wrong?” Anna asked.

  “Do we really need one? If we die, we respawn back at base and lose some experience points and whatever we were carrying,” Gina pointed out. “Not a big deal.”

  “Yeah, just curious,” came the reply. “Though I'm not sure Black Wolf wants to lose all their stuff.”

  “I don't think they'll attack this far out,” Zach said. “Or, at least I hope they don't. We at least have Grizzly to help hold them off.”

  “OK then. We're in position, and I have our snipers trying to scope the town. Looks about the same as last time. There may be a few more soldiers,” Anna said. “About how long do you think you'll be?”