Werewolf: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 4)

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  Lex returned the smile, though it was humorless. “So you see, you're not going to get any competition from us. If we could make a request, though?”

  “Shoot.”

  “We have a schematic that we've discovered, though we're never going to be able to build it. Would you be willing to trade it for ammunition? We don't have much else to borrow.”

  Danny grinned. “Heck, I was just going to offer you supplies in exchange for the use of your base.”

  “We'll take that, though the schematic is still worthless to us.”

  Danny thought for a moment. “Would you guys be willing to join Hydra?” he asked. “That would get you a ton of support that you desperately need.”

  “We're up here because we didn't want to be a part of any of the big alliances,” Evy said. “Though they seemed to have found us anyhow.”

  Lex agreed. “We have no problem cooperating with you, but we don't want to join. No offense.”

  “None taken,” Danny replied amicably. “Well, that kind of puts me in a tough negotiating position, actually. I can't really make offers to you guys without the approval of Hydra Command. Or at least, the one that I'm considering.”

  “What is it?” Lex asked.

  “Not sure if I should say,” Danny shrugged.

  “Tell you what, if you give us the offer, I won't hold it against you if you can't fulfill it.”

  “That seems fair enough,” Danny agreed. “OK, so you guys want Green Bay? So do we, but we just want it as a staging point. We don't care who owns it, so long as we can use it. So join us and help us take the city, and we'll give it to you. All we ask is that we can use it as a base.”

  “Seems fair,” Evy agreed.

  “It might be slightly uneven, actually,” Lex said. “You're spending a lot of valuable resources to take a city that you're just giving away. I'm definitely not going to refuse that offer, but your leaders might be hesitant about it.”

  “The schematic might help a lot,” Danny said. “Plus, our goal is to hurt Ragnarok. We really don't care who's doing it or how, as long as they're getting hurt.”

  “Still might take some convincing.”

  “Then can I bring one of you along?” Danny asked. “It might make it easier, to have someone with me actually requesting help in person.”

  “I'll go,” Lex said. “I'll leave Evy here in charge of both companies.”

  Danny nodded. “OK, do you mind if I leave my platoon here? It gives you guys extra numbers, and they have ammo on them as well.”

  “Fair enough,” Evy said. “I certainly won't refuse the help.”

  Danny nodded. “It'll be much easier to get a supply run up here as well. They really can't drag their feet when a Hydra unit is operating this far behind enemy lines.”

  “When can we expect a run?” Lex questioned.

  “As soon as I can get it arranged,” Danny told him.

  That might be easier said than done. The Hydra Alliance had plentiful stocks of ammunition, bolstered by their new industrial holdings in the Central City district of Indianapolis. Hephaestus Company churned out tons per day, and the warehouses were becoming full. Even with the constant fighting, their supply was growing.

  But getting the ammunition was only part of the problem. Getting it where it needed to go would be far more difficult.

  The initial leg of the journey would be easy. There was a rail line between Indianapolis and Lerna Bastion, and a train could carry several cars filled with crates of ammunition. After that, though, the rail line ended, and the route became much harder. The crates would need to be transported by Mule vehicles, and then by boat once they reached the shores of the lake. That would cost them fusion batteries, which were in short supply and high demand.

  The boats were going to be inefficient as well. Their river craft were excellent vessels, but cargo capacity wasn't one of their strengths.

  Danny wondered if the specialized transport craft they had used during the attack on the Eagle Creek district were still kicking around. They could carry far more cargo, which would save them valuable fusion batteries.

  But in any case, they needed to figure out the logistics if they wanted to mount a successful offensive in the north. Otherwise, they were primed for a disaster of epic proportions. It would be tricky, though.

  Danny informed the other two of that fact.

  Lex shrugged. “Well, it's a lot better than the smuggling runs.”

  “Not like we have too many other choices, either,” Evy said.

  “Right,” Danny said. “I'm going to leave Bravo Wolf here under the command of Xavier. He's a good, steady hand, and he'll be helpful. I think I'm also going to have my guys scout the area a bit, trying to establish where everything is, and if there's any openings around Green Bay.”

  “We can save you a bit of time, actually,” Evy told him. “We've scouted around the outer walls of Green Bay, trying to figure out if there's a way inside. There's none, by the way, but we have the area mapped.”

  “That would be useful,” Danny agreed. “Have you done any exploration around the water side?”

  “Not really within our means,” she shrugged.

  “That might be a job for us, then,” Danny told them. “We've had plenty of experience doing that.”

  “Are you going to leave your boats up here? Minus the one we have to take back, of course,” Lex said.

  Danny thought about that for a moment. “On second thought, no. We'll need as many transports as possible to get the rest of the battalion and the necessary supplies up here. We can wait a bit to scout until we're ready.”

  “Sounds fine,” Evy said. “We're going to keep raiding Ragnarok patrols. I don't want them to figure out that something's up if we suddenly stop.”

  “Smart choice, because they probably would figure that out,” Danny agreed. “I'm going to have my guys stick close to the base, then. They should familiarize themselves with the area, at the very least. We're going to need to make some major revisions to get everything set.”

  “Such as?” Evy asked.

  “We need a helicopter landing field, a berth for our river craft, and places for supply and ammunition dumps,” Danny informed her.

  “Sounds fine with me,” Lex said. “If you're going to help us, we'll be more than willing to accommodate you.”

  Danny nodded at him in appreciation. “OK, I think we should head south as soon as possible. Get the ball rolling that much quicker.”

  Lex headed toward the door. “I'll tell my second, and grab the schematic while I'm at it.”

  “I need to tell my guys their orders as well. I'll meet you by the north gate,” Danny replied.

  Lex hurried off. Danny started out the door as well, but Evy caught his attention, and he turned around.

  “I'm grateful for the help, but don't think you can dominate us,” Evy said. “We'll fight to the death if we're backed into a corner.”

  Danny nodded at her. “I understand. We were in your position once. And we'll hold up our end of the deal.”

  “You'd better,” she said lightly.

  Danny grinned. “Wouldn't dream of doing otherwise. But you guys are in for the ride of your lives. Trust me, it's never boring around us.”

  He headed out the door.

  CHAPTER 4

  Crossover

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Zach emptied his magazine and put the weapon on safe. Around him the others were finishing up their own shots, squeezing off their last rounds.

  “How well do you think you did?” Gavin asked from beside him.

  “I'm not sure,” Zach admitted. “But it feels a lot more comfortable than the last few times. I think I'm getting used to it.”

  Gavin agreed. “Same feeling I'm getting. It just feels natural to me. Like, I know that I'm not a marksman by any means, but I can hold my own. At least, on my own weapon.”

  Zach had experienced a similar phenomenon. Part of Elysium Visions' study of the World at War
MMO pertained to its influence on real world ability. At least once a month, they had been taken to a shooting range, where they were given weapons and told to hit targets. Several range masters were present to make sure that they didn't do anything dangerous, but other than that they were given no instructions.

  Zach had fired a few guns in his life before, but it was shocking how familiar the carbine had felt when he picked it up. He knew how to handle it as well, always conscious of where the muzzle was pointed, and always putting it on safe when he wasn't firing. To him, gun safety was firmly entrenched in his mind, almost as a reflex.

  Firing it had been a slightly different story. He knew how to fire the gun, and he was mentally prepared for the recoil. Zach's shots weren't bad, but they were far under what he was capable of in the virtual world.

  He had wondered why. Danny had posited the theory that virtual world gameplay caused somewhat of a disconnect between mind and body. The mind was used to firing these weapons and it knew what to expect. The body, however, wasn't used to the physical stimulus that the weapon caused, and that created a significant disconnect that diminished their ability.

  There had been one other noticeable effect, though. Several of the range masters had noted how fast they were all able to learn how to shoot, and sure enough, they had become better very quickly.

  It made sense to him. Virtual world gameplay created the neurological pathways that pertained to some task. Once they were in the real world, it was simply a matter of syncing their physical bodies with those pathways. Once that happened, they would be able to perform up to their virtual world standards.

  At least, that was his pet theory, though he definitely wasn't an expert by any means. Still, it left many interesting possibilities on the table.

  Zach had wondered about the potential of full-immersion virtual reality as a training tool. To him, this confirmed that potential. Trainees could be immersed in a virtual world where they could learn skills. Once they were back in the real world, they could bring their physical abilities up to par. It wasn't a magic bullet, but it was valuable nonetheless. At the very least, it could speed up the rate that people learned.

  “Trade,” Gavin said, handing over his submachine gun.

  “Great,” Zach commented, trading his carbine.

  His ability with a carbine was good, but with other weapons it was lacking. He wasn't the only one. Miko struggled with automatic weapons, Gavin struggled when given a machine gun, and everyone but Miko was terrible when trying to snipe. Xavier, Nora and Selene were the best all-rounders, which made sense given that they were soldiers in the game. They had experience with the most weapons classes, which meant they were better prepared.

  Zach wondered if their virtual world experiences would apply anywhere else. Close-quarters fighting might be another area. All of them knew how to grapple and fight in game, but outside was a different story for most of them. Xavier had a black belt in jujitsu, but the rest of them didn't have any formal fighting experience. How much would trickle over from the virtual world?

  He loaded a magazine into the gun, cocked the bolt, switched it to full-auto, aimed and fired a burst. His aim was better than the last time he had fired a submachine gun, though it was still below his ability with a carbine.

  It wasn't just the physical aspect he wondered about. Many people liked to claim that the virtual world and the real world were completely separate universes. It was rapidly become etiquette not to allow real world problems to seep into the game. World at War was an escape from the daily grind of the real world, and anything that compromised that was unwelcome.

  But was that really true? Could the social interactions of the virtual world stay contained inside?

  Zach didn't think so. He had first-hand experience with the social experiences of the game world radically influencing his life in the real world. Completely ignoring the fact that he was being paid to study the virtual world, he had met almost all of his real world social group inside World at War. He had known Danny and Selene forever, and he most likely would have met Miko. But he probably would have never crossed paths with most of the others.

  He certainly wouldn't be dating Nora at this point, which was a depressing thought in and of itself. And he knew that many of the others in Hydra had formed real world friendships, begun in the confines of the virtual world.

  But if World at War had brought camaraderie, it had also brought a sense of isolation as well. It was very easy to become anonymous in the virtual world. There were now over a thousand members in Hydra, and Zach only knew a fraction of them. He interacted with far less of that fraction on a regular basis, and counted an even smaller number than that as friends.

  Many of his 'comrades' in Hydra simply weren't. Heck, even some of the members of Black Wolf weren't quite on the level of being his comrades, even though they were in the same company.

  And even worse was the question lingering over his head. Was the disconnect between the virtual and real worlds limited only to the physical? Or did it spill over into the mental aspect as well?

  People in World at War had a tendency to act as vicious, amoral sociopaths; it was simply a product of the harsh world. Everyone did what they needed to do in order to survive, and if they had to step on others to do so, then so be it. But he also knew that those same sociopaths in the game were well-adjusted, normal people in real world. But could the realities truly stay separate?

  Zach had never been a believer in the theory that video games desensitized people. Even with all their supposed realism, a healthy human mind could draw a distinction between what was acceptable in a virtual world and what was acceptable in normal, functioning society. The psychopaths were the ones whose brains didn't function correctly, and couldn't properly make that distinction. But was that distinction recognizable, now that the games had such a high level of realism?

  Zach wasn't worried about anyone going on a murder rampage because they played World at War. Even with its ultra-realism, the normal human mind could still tell it was playing a game. It was the social interactions of the game that made him wonder.

  In game, Ragnarok was his sworn enemy. He had spent nearly a year fighting against them, devoting many hours to the struggle. They were his nemeses, and one of the obstacles in his life, even though everything that had happened was simply just a bunch of 1s and 0s floating around on a server somewhere.

  But still, the fight consumed him. It consumed them all. Ragnarok needed to be held at bay, Hydra needed to survive, and that would take all of their effort. But when would it be enough?

  There was a disconnect between the real and the virtual world, Zach thought to himself. But it wasn't just restricted to World at War. He had felt it elsewhere, especially in social media. And World at War was a social media of some sort, as well. To him everything felt gilded, embellished and faked, the person behind it all buried under the polished veneer.

  It was a masquerade, that's what it was. Everyone wore a mask, played a role and showed that cover to the world. But hidden under that mask was the real person.

  That thought disturbed him greatly. Was he hiding behind a persona in the virtual world? And was that persona leaking over to this side of reality?

  “What do you think?”

  Yusuf groaned and shook his head. “You've got to be kidding me. How the heck are supposed to build that?”

  Zach shrugged. “That's why I asked you. Do you guys not have the time?”

  “We might have the time, but we most definitely do not have the equipment.”

  “Can we get ahold of it?”

  Yusuf shook his head. “Listen, this is going to take a lot of doing, and it might not be worth it.”

  “Or it could radically shift the balance of power back in our favor,” Zach said.

  He held the schematic that Lex had brought with him from the north. To his surprise, the council had quickly agreed to fulfill all of Thorn and Myrmidon's requests. It was probably because their moves would take the pre
ssure off the south, where the most important fighting would occur. In any case, Ghost Battalion had their base, and Hydra had a new schematic.

  And what a find it was. Danny had told him that their erstwhile allies believed the schematic was useless to them, and Zach had to agree. They never would have been able to build something on this scale.

  The schematic was for a patrol vessel, much bigger than the river craft that they currently possessed. It probably couldn't fit up many of the rivers in the area, but it was perfect for use on the Great Lakes. Over sixty yards long, it could carry a large amount of cargo, and it could also be armed with heavy weaponry.

  Ragnarok might have to think twice about going after Milwaukee, especially if a patrol ship showed up armed to the teeth with artillery. It could also make their supply situation in the north much easier. The ship's cargo capacity meant that it would take far fewer trips to move the necessary goods. Zach had also noted that the power plant for the ship was of a design that he had never seen before. Using his engineer skill, he had studied the design and found that it ran off steam powered turbines. They required fusion batteries, but they were much more efficient than a straight battery nest.

  But then, there apparently was a huge problem; Hephaestus couldn't build it. Yusuf started in on the explanation.

  “We're going to need to build that right next to the shore. To do that, I'm going to need a drydock and some heavy duty cranes, and we have none of those anywhere near where they'd need to be. Plus, it'll take a lot of resources, use a lot of labor, and Rogue is still breathing down my neck,” he elaborated.

  “How's that going?” Zach asked.

  Yusuf shook his head. “We're not at the point where we can replace losses that fast. We can do it, but it's going to take time. We'd appreciate it if you all would stop losing vehicles in the meantime, by the way.”

  “Sorry, Ragnarok's not being very cooperative,” Zach said. “Supposing we could get ahold of the building equipment you'd need. Would you be able to do it then?”