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

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  * * *

  Hydra HQ in Indianapolis was situated in a tall office complex, almost a skyscraper by this world's standards. Each battalion had their own dedicated level, and Ghost Battalion assembled in their private meeting room. Nora hadn't seen much of the inside of it before, and she noted its rather spartan interior. Other than a table and chairs, the only thing decorating the room was a banner at the far end emblazoned with their battalion's logo, a hooded spirit dressed in black.

  “So,” Anna said after they all gathered, “you're skeptical of the plan.”

  “That's putting it very lightly,” Neil spoke up. “Again, we're supposed to drop into an enemy-held district, cut off from any support with no heavy weapons and a very tenuous supply line? And then we're supposed to hold out until the rest of the alliance manages to take two district held by Ragnarok? Skeptical is putting it lightly.”

  “OK then, what do you think we should do? We have to start taking districts, otherwise this fight is going to drag on for months. And we can't afford that.”

  There it was again, Nora thought to herself. The impatience that had long seethed just under the surface was starting to flare up again, and it threatened to completely derail their progress. They had to balance between being too cautious and being too aggressive, and right now they were trending toward the later.

  Nora could understand everyone's feelings, because she had felt them herself. The fight for Milwaukee had already taken several months, and though they had made progress there was still no end in sight. In contrast to their rapid advances in the beginning stages of the war, this fight was a slow crawl, a grind for every last inch of ground.

  Maybe they had been spoiled by their rapid progress in Indianapolis. With careful planning, the Hydra Alliance had managed to take many districts within a few hours. Several had to be fought over for a long stretch of time, but those fights lasted little more than a month, and each successive one broke the enemy more and more.

  But even though they had won a major victory against Ragnarok, their enemy wasn't defeated. Not even close. Ragnarok still had over half the city in their hands, a strong, veteran and versatile army, extensive industrial capability and a host of determined members. They could match Hydra in a technological race, and their best units could match or even exceed the capabilities of Hydra's elites.

  Fighting against such a strong opponent meant they had to work for every small victory, constantly on the lookout for any signs of weakness. It became tiring at times, and Nora knew everyone wanted to crush their opponents. Going up against someone strong proved to be quite the thrill, but the enjoyment of it was severely diminished if they didn't win.

  But this? A measure like this seemed like an extreme gamble at first glance, and like the rest of the battalion, Nora remained skeptical.

  “OK, let's start from scratch,” Karen said. “Let's assume for a moment that we think this operation is feasible. Now, given that, what can we do to make it work? What kind of problems would we face and how can we mitigate them?”

  Nora thought for a moment. “First things first, we have to get on the ground. It doesn't matter what we can or can't bring to the fight or if we can supply them, if we can't on the ground and get assembled then we're dead on arrival.”

  “And I think we need to have a better way of getting everyone in the right place,” Liz agreed. “I went over the data from the last battle. Alpha Wolf Platoon got torn up because they dropped slightly north of their planned location. It was just a slight deviation, but it put them right over an AA position, and then we all know what happened.”

  “That's a matter of pilot error, and there's not much they could have done about it,” Robbie shrugged. “It's hard enough to get to a pinpoint location in a helicopter, let along in a plane that can only go forward.”

  “So, do we want to go with one of our original plans?” Neil asked. “Weren't we supposed to have a pathfinder platoon?”

  They were, but time constraints had forced them to scrap that idea. Their original idea had been to deploy a unit with ram air parachutes. They could steer themselves onto the target, secure the landing zone and then guide in the rest of the paratroopers using their beacons.

  “Trouble is, are we going to run into those same time constraints,” Robbie said.

  Nora decided to speak up again. “If we're going through with this, we need to have every advantage possible. If we have to take some extra time to ensure we have a properly trained pathfinder platoon, then so be it. It's necessary.”

  “Agreed,” Anna said. “If we're going to make a jump like this then we're going to be prepared. That's one thing I'm not willing to negotiate with the rest of the council.”

  Neil shifted in his seat. “OK, so we get on the ground. Then what? Assuming we can take the capture point, we're still basically on an island in the middle of enemy territory. Can we really rely on the lake route to bring in our supplies?”

  “There's always the river craft,” Karen said. “They're quick enough to run the gauntlet without too much trouble.

  “Yeah, until you load them down with cargo. And even then, it's not a lot. Probably not enough to sustain us through heavy fighting.”

  “We can perform parachute drops, though those might be hit or miss,” Nora said. “And we're going to need to be careful about them, because if they become too predictable then Ragnarok's going to jump the transports.”

  “So once again, we're looking at the water route as our best resupply option,” Zach said. “That pretty much forces us to take a considerable portion of the shoreline so we can unload safely. And since I don't think we want to fight the entire way across the district to get there, that limits our options as to possible landing zones.”

  Neil looked over at Anna. “Do they even have maps of the district?”

  “We're working on that.”

  “Great. So they decided to send us on this mission, and we don't even know if we're going to have a good landing zone? I'm honestly starting to think that another mutiny might be a good idea.”

  “I wouldn't go that far, but I think we should draw a line,” Zach said. “We're not going forward with this unless we have concrete information. This entire plan is very risky, and we can't afford to leave things to chance. We need to know that we can do it before we end up stuck in the middle of a battle we can't win.”

  Nora could feel the tension mounting around the room, though none of it seemed to be directed at the occupants within. Instead, their ire was toward the military council, though that hardly made it any better. They couldn't afford to cause a divide right now, not in the middle of a critical juncture in the war against Ragnarok.

  So like it or not, no matter how suicidal or outlandish it might seem at first, they needed to find some way to take the Shorewood District. It might sound like a fool's errand, but there was another side to the madness. If they could pull it off then the Hydra Alliance would own over half the city, including the airfield and the entire shoreline, allowing them even more use of their naval power.

  If they could pull this off this could be the critical break they needed. There had to be a tipping point where Hydra would be able to irreversibly gain the upper hand and triumph over their foes. They just needed to find it, and this could be the solution, if they could pull it off. If.

  But looking around the table, she didn't feel much confidence. Nora saw doubt, nervousness, anger, scorn, frustration…

  That didn't bode well. Ghost Battalion could fight as well as anyone in this world, but if they didn't believe then their performance would suffer greatly. She was certain of that much.

  But this wouldn't do. They had a mission to perform, or at least they needed to decide if it was even feasible.

  “OK, so we're getting nowhere fast,” she spoke up. “We need recon of the district before we can make a proper decision, so let's tell them that. We can't move forward until we get the information we need to analyze our battle plan. Sound good?”

 
The others agreed, though some more unhappily than the others.

  “What happens if we don't get the info we need?” Neil asked.

  “Then the operation is a suicide mission and it's a no go,” Nora replied. “That solves our problem as well.”

  She doubted that would happen, though. Hydra Command would get them the information they needed. And once that happened, Ghost Battalion would be out of excuses.

  5

  On a Dime…

  Danny saw the looks on the other faces in the room as Zach and Nora explained the situation to them. Black Wolf's officer corps had gathered in their private quarters in Hydra HQ to go over possible plans for the future. He himself had been expecting something rather ordinary for them. Raids, maybe an airborne assault in support of the ground troops.

  But this? Danny could scarcely believe what he was hearing, and apparently neither could any of the others.

  “This is Green Bay all over again,” Gavin said after they had finished.

  “Well, I didn't want to say it, but yeah, I'm starting to get that vibe as well,” Zach agreed. “Hopefully it's not going to get to that point.”

  “I don't think it will,” Nora spoke up. “This isn't just a sideshow. This is part of the main effort to take the city. Now, whether it's going to work is a completely different question, but we're not getting hung out to dry like the last time.”

  “Leave it to you to be all calm and rational,” Danny commented with a grin on his face.

  Ethan spoke up next. “OK, but aside from the fact that we're not going to get ditched at the worst possible moment, does that really make any difference? They're pretty much asking us to do the impossible here.”

  That comment led to a buzz of agreement throughout the room, and Danny noted that Nora looked slightly alarmed. Not Zach, though. His face remained stoic, as if he had been expecting that kind of reaction. Was there a divide within the battalion leadership as well?

  “This is feasible,” Nora spoke up again. “It's not going to be easy, but we can do it.”

  “Let me go over this again so I'm sure I have everything clear,” Xavier said. “We're supposed to drop into one of the northernmost districts of Milwaukee, capture said district without any heavy support or artillery, then hold out until the rest of the alliance can break through two Ragnarok held districts south of us?”

  “Don't forget us not having a secure supply route,” Gavin pointed out.

  “There's always a way,” Nora said.

  “Yeah, but there's a difference between them being possible and them being secure. Do you really want to have us gamble our supply lines on that?”

  Danny had to agree. If there was one thing he wasn't about to take chances with, it was their logistics. They could improvise tactically if they had to, but in order to do that they needed bullets for their guns. Without them they'd be reduced to fighting with knives, and though he rated their skills highly there'd be no chance of improvising their way out of that.

  “How are we going to pull this off?” Javy asked. “Actually, if the district's along the lakeshore then why aren't we trying to do an amphibious landing instead?”

  “Force concentration,” Zach said. “If we take away too many troops from the paradrop then we might not have enough force to make it effective, especially if we take a lot of casualties when we're landing. Plus, there's talk about using most of our river craft as a distraction force when Dragon Battalion attacks the St. Francis District.”

  “Huh, so they're putting us in a tough situation and then taking away some of our best equipment? Again, this is starting to feel a lot like Green Bay,” Gavin said.

  “Fine, but this is possible, just as long as we plan everything carefully,” Zach replied. “The biggest obstacle is going to be getting a proper landing zone figured out and getting on the ground. Once that happens I think we can get out hands on enough of the lakeshore for us to ship in supplies by the water route. After that, it's just a matter of taking the district.”

  And at least they'd be fighting NPC guards, Danny thought as he reviewed the notes in his wrist menu. They weren't pushovers by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't like they were fighting the Valkyries or Ymir. Given enough time and the right equipment, they could take the district.

  The big question in his mind wasn't about their end of things. Rather, it was about the other part of the alliance charged with taking the two additional districts. Reconnaissance reports indicated that the St. Francis District was weak, drain by constantly feeding troops into the Cudahy grinder. Much of the garrison had been hurriedly reassigned after Ragnarok's main forces had suffered heavy casualties, and they lacked the edge of the elites.

  But they weren't slouches either, and while they might not be the elites, they could still fight ferociously. Plus, they would be on the defensive, and it was much easier to stand your ground than to try to take an enemy position. Ragnarok's deficiency might not be as pronounced as people thought, and that could slow down Hydra's efforts considerably.

  That made him somewhat skeptical of the second part of the plan. He believed that their battalion could accomplish their objectives, but that meant nothing if, at the end of it all, they were trapped behind enemy lines with no prospects of relief coming anytime soon.

  And experience in the Cudahy District had taught them that Ragnarok would fight tooth and nail to hold their positions, just as Hydra had done on their own side. As a result, the fighting could spiral out of control for weeks or even months, with both sides drained at the end of it. Could they really take two districts in a row during such a short period of time? Unless Hydra's intelligence had something up their sleeve, Danny couldn't see any reason why they would think this was even possible.

  He decided to address that. “Why do they think this is even possible, after how long it took for us to take just one district?” he asked. “And now they want us to take two of them within a short period of time. Something's not adding up. Do they have some ace up their sleeve we don't know about?”

  “I'm guessing yes, because they're not ones to go off on some completely crazy scheme,” Zach replied. “Sure this might be a gamble, but I'd say it's a calculated one. They wouldn't consider it otherwise.”

  Danny had to concede that point. No matter how much they might disagree with some of the military council's decisions, the fact remained that they were always made with an overall plan in mind, and they were well thought out. The battalion commanders were all in place due to their abilities, and the others were elected for their skills as well. If they were insisting upon something, it was likely because they thought they could succeed.

  “Here's one problem I'm seeing,” Xavier said. “We don't have any good info on the Shorewood District right now, so how do we even know that an aerial assault is going to work?”

  “This is preliminary,” Nora said. “The military council believes this is possible, but they also want to make sure it's feasible. We're looking before we're leaping, so to speak, so we're going to gather as much information as possible before we launch our attack.”

  “So, are we going on recon?” Selene asked, finally speaking. She had been oddly silent throughout the meeting, Danny noticed.

  “No, we're going to be training for the paradrop,” Nora said. “Most of the recon work will be done by aircraft and compiled here at HQ. We're going to work on making sure that we can hit our target accurately without having a lot of drift like last time.”

  “Speaking of which,” Zach cut in, “there's a pretty good possibility that we're going to be forming a pathfinder platoon to lead the way into the Shorewood District. They'll be dropping in first to secure the drop zone, then using their waypoint markers to guide the transports in. If all goes well then we'll be able to drop everyone right on target.”

  “How are we going to make sure that the pathfinders end up on target in the first place?” Logan asked.

  “Ram air parachutes,” Zach told him. “They're going to act
as a commando team, essentially.”

  “OK, so once we get on the ground, we have to take the shoreline,” Danny said. “Then what? Are we going to have an immediate resupply available, because I'm guessing we're going to spend a lot of ammunition in the process. And we're going to take casualties too.”

  “That's one of the things we're going to have to hash out. As of now we'll probably have them drop ammunition supplies with us so we can sustain the assault.”

  “Huh, we just have to hope they actually land with us,” Gavin said.

  “Yeah, that'll be a challenge as well. But we really don't have a choice. Transport planes can avoid the worst of the AA fire and are a lot faster than helicopters. That minimizes the window we'll be exposed to enemy fighters, and that's the main point of doing the operation this way.”

  “This isn't going to be like the airport district,” Nora said. “We're going to have more time to prepare, and this time we know what we're doing. And keep in mind, even with everything that went wrong in that last operation we still won.”

  Danny nodded and took one last look at the notes in his wrist menu. True, this would be a tough goal. But Black Wolf had faced worse in the past and had come out on top. They'd do so again, he was confident of that much. All they needed was more information, and a lot more training.

  * * *

  “One minute out from the target area,” the pilot said over the radio link.

  Danny looked down the length of the hold, filled with his platoon beginning to stand up and prepare for their jump. He looked down at his wrist menu, activating the map and watching as the waypoint marker come closer and closer.

  Preparing the pathfinder platoon was one of their top priorities, and ensuring they could properly guide the transports was on the top of the list. They wanted to make sure they had a foolproof technique for the pathfinders to use, which would likely come from Spectre Company, and so tests were in order.