Commando City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 7)

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  “We do have our own engineers, you know.”

  “Yeah, but do they really have the expertise of Hephaestus Company?”

  “Point taken,” Zach said. He rated his own engineering skills fairly highly, but even those weren't up to par with the dedicated specialists.

  “That's one thing we have to worry about though,” Danny said. “If there are valuables here we don't want to let Ragnarok get their hands on them.”

  “They won't,” another voice joined in, and they turned to see Nora walking up.

  “Did Selene come with you?”

  “No, she'd on the practice range, plugging away at targets with some of the rest, and they didn't look happy so I didn't even bother approaching them.”

  “Can't say I blame them. Getting killed in your harness before you even hit the ground has to be frustrating,” Danny said.

  “Is it really different from getting shot down inside the plane, or getting a shell dropped on top of your head?” Zach pointed out. “Both of them end with you dead without being able to even face the enemy.”

  “OK, fair enough. So, Nora, what was it you were saying about the valuables? We need to do something about them.”

  “We will, provided you find any.”

  Danny swept his hand around. “Well, this is an airfield. I'd hope that there was at least a few things we could use. Although Bravehart certainly did a number on everything aboveground.”

  “Still leaves the underground,” Zach pointed out. “And we have no clue how big the complex actually is or what they might have inside.”

  “No, but we can find out,” Nora said. “Anna and Liz are still back at HQ. We can track the teams sweeping the base with the holographic map table and coordinate them in real time.”

  “The wonders of a networked battlefield,” Zach nodded.

  That was the difference between the major players in the region and everyone else. Fighting ability among the elite companies was relatively even across the board, but the strongest alliances knew how to coordinate them properly, using communications to make sure they were in the right place to have the greatest effect. All the ability in world meant nothing if their units weren't in the right place at the right time.

  “Again, if we do find something then how are we going to keep it safe?”

  “That's why I brought a helicopter transport instead of an ATV,” Nora said. “If we find something it's going onto the helo and then we're lugging it straight to Waukegan.”

  “And if we can't?”

  “Well, we'll be adding more NPC guards within the next few days. Until then we're going to be hanging around the place as defenders.”

  “All of us?” Zach asked.

  “You'll have to talk to Anna about that,” Nora said.

  “What, you haven't said anything to her about that?” Danny spoke up. “I don't know how effective we're going to be after the beating we took. Shouldn't we be at Lerna Bastion or Indianapolis training?”

  “I didn't really have time to say anything. Everything was moving too fast,” Nora told him. “Plus, that's not my decision. I'm not company commander.”

  “I guess I'm going to have to talk to her about that, then,” Zach nodded. “I know we can do training around here if we have to, but I think it would be better for the company if we were able to retrain away from the front lines. Going up against nature instead of players might be a good change of pace.”

  “Huh, for everyone but you,” Danny said. “Nature seems to have a way of killing you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever. It'll still be good practice without having bullets flying at us. Unless you want to stand around one of the districts shooting at tin can targets?”

  “I think I'll take my chances with the fen wolves and chilus. Though I think everyone would appreciate it if you didn't make us do anything especially dangerous. The goal is to get us back into fighting shape, not to repeatedly get us killed.”

  “You say that like you don't trust me.”

  “Well, the last few missions you've gotten us have been pretty much suicide. When's the last time we weren't facing overwhelming odds or certain death?”

  “Never, since the beginning. And as I recall, you were one of the ones that was for our crazy little stunt on opening day.”

  “Yeah, I blame you guys for rubbing off on me,” Nora said. “I join up with you and my sense of self-preservation goes right out the window.”

  “But how boring would it have been without us?” Danny replied with a grin. “Anyhow, I'm going to see how they're faring with the sweep. See you guys later.”

  Zach turned to Nora after he had left. “So, from someone watching the battle from afar, how do you think it went?”

  “It went about as well as expected,” Nora said with a shrug. “It was our first major drop into a hot combat zone, and we were expecting casualties regardless. We knew the risks of making a paradrop in broad daylight, and we still took the district. I'd say that went about as well as expected.”

  “Except for Selene's platoon dropping in right over an AA position,” Zach said.” And of all units it had to be hers. That's not going to sit well.”

  “No kidding. Why do you think I didn't approach her before coming here?”

  “Is it that bad?”

  Nora shrugged again. “Probably not, but I really didn't want to tempt fate. And I can't blame her. It's like blowing out your knee in the first five minutes of a basketball game. She didn't even get a chance to do anything.”

  “Is that speaking from experience?”

  “Hm?”

  “The part about blowing out your knee,” he elaborated.

  “Eh, sort of. I didn't blow out my knee, but I broke my ankle in the middle of my junior year of high school.”

  “Ah, so less severe but still along those same lines. And yeah, I get it. Losing hurts, but not even having a chance to affect the outcome hurts even worse.”

  “Are you feeling any of that?” she asked.

  “Why, because I couldn't be here?”

  “Yeah, that.”

  Zach thought for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. What did he feel, exactly? Ever since he had agreed to take part in the study this had become a major part of his life, and now that was in complete upheaval. How would he feel if he was taken away from more critical battles like the one fought today?

  The new project had his interest, there was no doubt about that. Zach had agonized over the decision for a long period of time, and he was sure. Project Avalon, as it was currently known, stirred the passion within him, and he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to play a major role in its development. But he could still feel a bit of pain that he wasn't alongside his comrades as they pushed on.

  “I think I'm missing it,” he said, “but isn't it the same as being a commander? We've gone through this before, when we're behind the front lines running the battles and being in the thick of the fighting. Don't you sometimes miss just being a part of a small team? That's why we took the time to create Fang Squad, right?”

  “OK, that I get. But you have to miss it.”

  “Of course. But I'm doing other things that need my attention. It's like all the times that you've taken to practice the cello. Speaking of which, how are you doing with that?”

  Nora grimaced. “Well, I'm getting there, though not as fast as I'd like. I feel like I'm not going to be prepared in time for the Philharmonic auditions.”

  “Those are almost a year away,” he pointed out. “I know you're extremely particular about how you perform, but isn't that taking it a little too far?”

  “Would you settle for second best when you were designing something in a game?” she asked.

  “Not if I could help it.”

  “And that's the way I feel. I might fail, but I'm not going to settle for second best. If I know I can do better then I'm going to make sure that I can show that, and I'll do every bit of work I need to accomplish that. No excuses.”

  Zach
was just about to reply when their wrist alerts went off.

  “What's up?” he asked as he answered.

  “Oh, you're on now?” Karen responded on the other end.

  “Yeah, showed up just in time to watch the cleanup phase,” he said. “So what do you need?”

  “Well, we've found some stuff sweeping the underground hangars,” she said. “Mostly spare parts and Gales.”

  “Are they flyable?” Nora asked.

  “That I don't know. You'd have to ask someone trained as a pilot, or an experienced engineer. I don't deal with that stuff. But they're not falling apart.”

  “OK, so how many are there?” Zach asked with some interest. If nothing else they could save themselves from having to build more planes, even if they were of an inferior design.

  “About a dozen. But there's a hangar that I think we need to have Hephaestus come look at.”

  “What's in it?”

  “See for yourself,” she said.

  Zach's wrist alert went off again, and this time a photo message popped up. He opened it up to take a look, and…

  “Oh, wow,” Nora said from beside him, looking at her own wrist menu. “That would be important.”

  “We haven't found any schematics, but even without them this is pretty important.”

  Zach agreed. The image in front of him was a plane, about the size of an average fighter with straight wings and a single tail. It looked unremarkable, save for one significant difference: the propellor was nowhere to be found. Instead, a nacelle sat under each wing.

  There was no mistaking it. This was a jet aircraft. But how useful would it be? That was the real question. They'd find out soon enough.

  “I'm going to message this to Anna,” he said.

  “Thanks. We'll keep looking.”

  “Well, there's some good results,” Nora commented. “I think that might be worth the casualties we suffered.”

  Zach nodded. “If for no other reason than to keep this out of the enemy's hands.”

  They had the airport district. And once again, the technological race was on.

  3

  The Alpha Wolf

  “Contact to our left.”

  Selene shifted her aim and found the target, a charging fen wolf baring its fangs. She steadied her assault rifle, let out a breath to relax and squeezed the trigger.

  And her shots missed.

  Selene groaned inwardly as she tried to compensate. Once again, she was slightly off target, and she knew that it wasn't just because of the creature's speed. It was fast and agile, to be sure, but her diminished skills were also contributing to her predicament.

  As a precaution she toggled her selector switch to full auto, just in case. If the monster managed to close the distance then she needed to be able to put out a ton of firepower quickly, otherwise she'd be starting from scratch once again.

  The fen wolf managed to get within thirty yards, right before a hail of bullets from all directions tore into it. Selene couldn't tell if she had scored any hits, but the creature fell, stone dead.

  “Any more of them?” she asked over the radio link.

  “Looks like we're clear,” Logan said.

  “Clear on my end as well,” Ethan spoke up.

  “Clear here too,” Gavin finished.

  “OK.” She switched channels. “Yusuf, we're clear.”

  “Thanks,” came the reply.

  “What the heck is this place? Is there really no place else to mine for Vulcanite?”

  “Not in these kind of concentrations. Besides, there's a few other materials in the ore fields around here that aren't found in the safer zones. And we need those for some of the more advanced construction. It's either that, or paying out the nose for supplies from Old Chicago.”

  Selene saw his point. Many components and weapons could only be purchased from the NPC shops and foundries in Old Chicago, but they were expensive. It was much cheaper to produce their own supplies and munitions, and Black Wolf had realized that from the beginning. First it had been bullets out of a simple ammo press, then simple tracked vehicles, and then even more complicated equipment. Now, with several large factories inside Indianapolis, they could mass produce huge amounts of materiel and munitions.

  But all of that required resources, which meant they either needed to buy it at exorbitant prices, or they needed to mine and gather it themselves. And the second option often meant going into dangerous areas teeming with hostile wildlife.

  “How were you managing before we came along? Because this seems like a lot of enemies to deal with. Especially since it's you guys.”

  “What, you rate our combat abilities that low?”

  “Well, relatively speaking, of course. I'm sure you can handle the wildlife, but this many at once? Even we're having some trouble with that.”

  “Well,” Yusuf said, “there's been a trickle of new blood coming in from Old Chicago, and they're not immediately sending them to the front lines.”

  Selene nodded. “Yeah, probably because they'd end up getting slaughtered.”

  “Yeah, but they need some way to train their skills, so we've been taking them along with us as caravan guards. And let me tell you, they can't complain about that being boring.”

  “No kidding. But is that all? That seems like something that would get a lot of them killed.”

  “Eh, we've had our fair share of casualties. But they learn fast not to underestimate the wildlife. Plus, we sometimes get veterans who've gotten killed on the front lines and are trying to retrain their skills. Like you guys, for instance. They can help provide pointers and a little backbone to our guard force.”

  “There can't be that many, though.”

  “No, which is why we've resorted to bringing a Ram with us into the really dangerous places. Fen wolves can't do much against a completely enclosed vehicle. Now, other things can wreck it, but it still gives us a fighting chance.”

  Selene wasn't sure she wanted to know what those other things were. The fauna she had encountered in the game was bad enough, and Zach had informed her that they had barely even scratched the surface. There were even more dangerous creatures lurking in the far corners of the world, capable of ripping through entire platoons or armored columns singlehandedly.

  “So what are you looking for, exactly?” Selene asked, trying to keep the conversation going for entertainment. She kept scanning the foliage, though, wondering if they'd have to deal with another attack.

  “It's a material called cyrocite. We use it to basically make plastics or polymers. That assault rifle you're carrying is pretty much made up of cyrocite, with steel in a few places like the barrel.”

  “Aren't all of our small arms made with plastic?”

  “Yeah, but the older versions don't have the durability of the newer cyrocite models. And getting the material from Old Chicago is really, really expensive. So we're going with this for now, even though it's dangerous.”

  “I'd hate to see what else we have to dig up,” Selene commented, still keeping a sharp eye out for any signs of activity. “Did you hear about our new discovery?”

  “Of course. I was one of the first ones they contacted about it,” he replied. “Although it's interesting that they didn't find a schematic. That's odd, since most places have something like that for new equipment.”

  “Is that going to be a problem?”

  “Well, it's not helpful, certainly,” Yusuf said. “If we want to find out how they're built we're going to have to take one apart and analyze it, and that should be done in Central City. Getting it there might be a problem too.”

  “Can't they just fly it south?”

  “Would you want to screw around with something as valuable as that if you didn't know how to properly operate it?”

  “OK, point taken.”

  “If we can get a pilot that can fly it safely then yeah, that's going to be the best option. I'd say that they'd fly it to the Indianapolis airfield and drop it off there. That's the most direct
route. But if we want to play it safe then the best way would be to take it apart and ship it to the Gary port, then bring it south by rail.”

  “That's going to take some doing,” she replied. “And I think a lot of people would be sacred of doing something wrong and accidentally ruining the plane.”

  “Yeah, we'll probably send a team north to do it,” Yusuf confirmed. “Thought your engineers have been providing us with a ton of good information on the planes, so I don't think that they should feel incompetent.”

  “That's good to hear, but our specializations tend to focus more on battlefield engineering and less on the technical side of things. Or at least that's what they tell me.”

  “Makes sense. That's mostly what you're dealing with on a daily basis anyhow.”

  Selene moved a little to the left, trying to improve her field of vision a bit. It was difficult in the dense undergrowth of the forests south of Indianapolis. Lines of sight only extended about fifty yards or so in every direction, and even those were restricted. Trees and bushes created significant blind spots, places where a wily creature could sneak up on them.

  They had a few troops with flamethrowers, but they couldn't be everywhere at once, and anyhow, some fen wolves were still fast enough to avoid the gouts of flames. Her platoon would have to rely on good aim, or if worst came to worst, their close-combat abilities.

  “Here's a question for you,” she said. “You've taken a look at the designs of the plane we sent to you, right?”

  “Right. What about them?”

  “Do you think it's something that we can use to turn the tables on Ragnarok's air force?”

  “I'd have to make sure that we can build it first,” Yusuf said. “There's a good chance that it's going to take materials that we don't currently have access to, and then it's a matter of getting our hands on them. Plus, even if we can, are the planes going to be too expensive to create in the grand scheme of things?”

  “So it's a matter of quality versus quantity?”

  “Not exactly. Quantity is a quality of its own, and that's not just a saying either. What would you rather have, the newest, hottest design that looks cool and is technologically advanced, but breaks down or is too complicated to build in huge numbers? Or would you rather have the less advanced design that's more reliable and available in greater quantities?”