Carnage City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 6) (10 page)

He managed to take out an enemy engineer with a flamethrower, and forced another unit back into cover with a shot that just barely missed. But at this point it was like trying to dam a river with paper bags. Even as hard as they tried, they simply didn’t have the numbers to do it.

“Time to fix yet?” Javy asked.

“Wait,” Zach ordered, firing off another shot. It looked likely that they’d have to engage in hand-to-hand combat, but the order to fix bayonets would signal a turning point. If that happened then the enemy would be inside the building shortly, and then they were completely screwed.

At least the enemy attack wasn’t completely coordinated, probably because the jamming signal blocked all communications regardless of what side. It was meant to balance the weapon, but Ragnarok still had the clear advantage. They knew when it would be deployed, and could disseminate a plan among the lower ranks that didn’t have to be told to them over the radio.

They couldn’t adjust on the fly very well, but with those numbers they didn’t need to. Their plan was straightforward enough.

And for Bravo Wolf, the situation was starting to look very bleak. But then his wrist alert suddenly went off.

That caught his attention, and he suddenly remembered he had set his alarm when the jamming began. Now, thirty minutes later, the radios were usable again.

Zach quickly activated his radio and opened a channel to the entire platoon. “All units, this is Wolf Lead. Please respond.”

It took a second, but everyone called in. Zach felt a bit better. At the very least, they could talk to each other even if they weren’t on the same floor.

“Zach, we’re running out of ammo,” Danny warned.

“Yeah, so are we. Try to keep it up for as long as possible.” He switched channels. “Paige, you there?”

“I’m here.”

“What’s your status?”

“I’m up in the command center, still calling for help. Alpha Wolf is on their way to reinforce, but I don’t have an ETA. I’m trying to get us some artillery, but Ragnarok’s been hitting us across the line, so I’m fighting a bunch of others for it.”

“Let me take care of that,” Zach said, and immediately switched channels. “Buck Lead, Buck Lead, come in. This is Wolf Lead.”

“Go ahead,” Bryce said.

“We need immediate artillery support in front of our position,” Zach said flatly.

“OK, just give-”

“We’re going to be overrun in less than two minutes if we don’t get it,” Zach insisted. “That’s not hyperbole either.”

“Understood.”

Zach gritted his teeth and resumed firing at the incoming enemy forces. Could they hold out long enough until help arrived, whether that was shellfire or more troops? At this point he honestly didn’t know.

“Zach, one of the guns is unfireable,” Danny said over the radio. “The barrel warped, and I don’t want to put any more shells through it.

Zach sighed. That was to be expected, given the rate they had been throwing out shots. Right now he would have killed to have a pair of heavy machine guns at their disposal.

“Wolf Lead, Wolf Lead, come in.”

He perked up for a moment as he heard the voice come over the radio. “How close are you guys?” he asked.

“About a block,” Nora told him.

“Step on it. We’re running out of ammo, and one of the guns is out of commission. Otherwise, you guys are going to have to repeat the assault on the tower again.”

“Ugh, I think I’ll pass on that.”

“Same with me,” Selene cut it. “We’re moving.”

Zach’s wrist alert buzzed again, and Bryce came on the line.

“They’re firing now. Shells should be landing in a few seconds.”

Sure enough, he heard a sound almost like a rushing freight train just before the 155s started falling.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

Zach laid down his weapon and braced himself, making sure to stay in cover. There was no point in continuing to fire: anyone out on the streets would be struggling to survive the onslaught, and popping out of cover was a good way to get hit with stray fragments.

“Just in time,” Danny commented over the radio. “Would have been nice if this happened sooner.”

Maybe, but better late than never, in his book.

“
Y
ou just can’t seem
to keep yourselves out of trouble, can you,” Nora commented lightly once the battle was over.

“We’re Black Wolf. Inviting trouble down on our heads seems to be our thing,” Danny said. “Well, that and crazy suicide missions. Maybe this counts as both.”

“So glad I got dragged along for the ride,” Paige said with considerable sarcasm. “Now we’ve got a ton of repairs to do.”

“At least we survived, though,” Nora said.

Zach frowned. Maybe, but it had been quite the close call. Enemy troops had closed to within a hundred yards of their positions, and if it wasn’t for the artillery they would have been overrun.

The anti-tank guns had proved their worth, at least. Not only had they killed two flame tanks, but their firepower had also assisted in keeping the infantry assault at bay as well. Zach had no doubt that they would have lost without them.

“We need to make this position stronger,” he told the others. “Ragnarok sent a ton of troops after us, and we’re not strong enough to fend them off without a ton of help right now. We need to change that.”

“That’ll take time,” Paige pointed out.

“Then we’ll figure out a way to move faster,” Zach replied curtly. He realized he was being short, but the battle had left him drained, without any feelings of triumph. Instead, he felt a sense of foreboding.

More hard fights were coming. And if they didn’t prepare for them, then Black Wolf was going to lose.

Badly.

“
J
avy
!”

Selene called out the name, then flung the ball in his direction, past Danny’s outstretched arms. Zach tried to recover in time to stop the pass, but he couldn’t move quickly enough. A second later, Javy sank a perfect jumper.

“Hah, score!” he said with a fist pump.

Danny wiped an arm across his brow. “Man, it is way too hot today.”

“What, can’t keep up?” Selene ribbed him.

“Hah, as if.”

“I’m down for a water break, if everyone else is,” Xavier said.

Zach raised a hand. “I second that.”

The others agreed as well. That suited her just fine, because the heat was starting to get to her as well. Midsummer was in full swing, sending the temperature into the mid-eighties. They could have played indoors today, but they all wanted to be outside for a bit, even with the high temperatures.

They just needed to make sure they stayed hydrated, a tall task in the heat. A single water bottle wasn’t going to be enough, either. All of them had at least two gallons of water.

“I’m so glad we have air conditioning in our apartment,” Miko commented as they sat in the shade of a nearby tree. “Otherwise there’s no way I’d be out here right now.”

“Can’t take the heat either?” Gavin said, wiping away sweat as he spoke.

“Nope, and can’t take the cold either. Nice, steady temperatures are what I prefer.”

“Then why the heck are you living here?” Danny asked.

“Because I’m getting paid a ton?”

“OK, point taken.”

Selene leaned back against the tree and took another swig of water. “We’ve got to stay fit somehow. Being outside seems like the best way to do it. Besides, won’t you all go crazy in the winter when the snow’s piling on and the temperatures are sub-zero?”

“It is nice to be out in the sun,” Xavier said.

“That’s because you won’t get sunburned,” Danny said.

“I can if I’m out in the sun for long periods of time, and I still can get skin cancer.”

“Well, that’s a lovely thought,” Zach muttered.

“Gosh, you’re all so grim today,” Nora commented. “I’m with Selene. Just be glad that we can be outside today, because it looks like there’s going to be storms the rest of the week.”

Selene nodded. That was part of the reason they were outside today, actually, because they’d probably be trapped indoors for a while. If this was the last sunshine they’d see for a week then she wanted to be out to enjoy it, even if meant running around in the blazing hot sun.

The other reason, of course, was that they’d have a lot of their time occupied in the virtual world. Right now everything was quiet, thanks to the failed assault on the tower, but they were certain it wasn’t going to stay that way.

In fact, Ragnarok seemed to be gearing up for a long, brutal struggle for the Cudahy District. Their last offensive hadn’t just hit the area around the tower. Their enemy had tried to punch through several parts of the line, subjecting Thorn, Crimson Eagle and Lion to especially vicious assaults. Only their artillery had managed to stem the tide.

Black Wolf needed more firepower to deal with the next onslaught, because Selene’s platoon had barely made it in time to save the rest. A few more minutes and Ragnarok would have been inside the building. Machine guns, more artillery and more garrison troops would certainly help, but would it be enough?

“So,” Danny asked Zach, “are you going to be around for the rest of the week, or are your other duties going to take up a lot of your time?”

“Unless something changes, I’ll be online most of the time. But just in case, I want to make sure that we have a clear chain of command.”

“In case of what?” Gavin asked.

“In case Ragnarok decides to come knocking at a time when I can’t respond.”

“Nora’s the obvious one to take your place,” Miko pointed out.

Nora shrugged. “Well, I can if I need to, but I’m not always going to be available either. I’m gearing up for auditions next year, so I really want to practice as much as I can.”

“Weren’t they this year?” Selene asked.

“I decided that I wasn’t ready,” Nora told her. “I’m not confident enough to go in as I am right now. Give me another year and I should be good.”

“Jeeze, that long?” Danny said.

“Coming from the person who’s still working on their doctorate, can you really say anything about that?” Gavin pointed out.

“Eh, I’ll get it done eventually. Probably by the end of the fall semester.”

“That’s a question, isn’t it,” Xavier said. “What are we all going to do when the study ends?”

Selene frowned. “I haven’t thought about that much, to be honest. Or maybe I’m only doing it subconsciously. It’s not like I’m spending extravagantly, so I can stash away a lot of my earnings.”

“That’s what I’m doing,” Miko said. “Though I don’t want to be just living off of my savings account when it ends.”

Zach straightened up. “Well, there might be an alternative in a few years. Hypothetically speaking, I mean.”

“And would this hypothetical thing be a project currently in development?” Javy asked.

“Maybe.”

“How exactly would we be getting money out of it?” Gavin asked, clearly interested.

“Conversion between in-game and real world currency. Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

“Of course.”

Xavier spoke up again. “That’s still pretty vague. I’d stick with my strategy. Actually, I could help the rest of you with it too, if you’re interested.”

“Does it have to do with the stock market?” Zach asked.

Xavier nodded. “Well, that, the commodities market, bonds and the like. I have plenty of experience dealing with investments, so I can consolidate them all into a portfolio which pays out steady earnings. I can do that for you guys too, if you’re interested.”

“How do we know if you’re any good?” Javy asked.

“Well, you’re going to have to trust me on that. I have passed all the necessary exams, by the way, so there’s that.”

It sounded interesting to Selene, but right now she wanted to go back to the competition. She took one last drink and stood up.

“Well, let’s get back to basketball. We’ve still got a beating to dish out.”

“Wow, someone’s cocky today,” Gavin said.

“Someone’s cocky every day,” Danny corrected him. “Oh well. It’s going to be fun making you eat those words.”

Selene looked over at him and smiled. “Bring it on.”

“
N
ice setup
you’ve got here,” Anna commented as she entered the command center.

“You don’t want to know what we had to go through to get our hands on it,” Selene told her. “And count yourself lucky that you could just take the elevator.”

“I’d imagine that would be a pain.”

“No kidding, and that’s without a bunch of people trying to drop grenades on your head as you’re trying to climb.”

“No, but Ragnarok’s been taking potshots at us every chance they can get.”

“Ah. How is that end of the line?”

Anna leaned up against one of the walls and sighed. “Well, it’s stable, at least. But Ymir is deployed to the area, and they’ve been making raids across the river. David thinks they’re trying to find a weak point in our lines, and I’m pretty sure that he’s right.”

“Do you think they’re going to launch another attack?”

“Who knows,” Anna told her. “I think it’s possible, but maybe they’re just trying to keep us on our toes. They have a lot of fronts they need to devote their strength toward, and our part of the line is probably pretty far down the list.”

“I think they’re focusing here right now,” Zach said as he entered the command center with Danny and Nora in tow.

“Based on?”

“Their last attack hit the entire line, which mean they’d need at least a couple battalions worth of troops.”

“Even if that’s true, can we really ignore the possibility they’ll try to flank us again?” Danny asked.

Anna shook her head. “I don’t think they’ll try it, actually. We have ourselves, White Tiger and Sacred Sword all dug in along the river with pretty strong fortifications. They’re not going to be able to force themselves across without heavy casualties, and even if they do manage that they’ll have a tough fight on their hands.”

“But if you do need backup?”

“That’s what we have Barghest and Spectre for, along with Raven. We just have to alert them and bring them back to our side of the lines if we’re needed, though I don’t think that’ll happen. Besides, they’re tying up a bunch of enemy troops too.”

Selene hadn’t seen signs of the results yet, but according to the sporadic reports the raiding units were inflicting heavy damage on Ragnarok supply lines, destroying vital munitions and equipment, along with valuable supply trucks.

The effects might not be felt a day or even a week from now, but over a long period of time they would begin to bite. All large companies and alliances depleted their supply stocks when engaged in intense combat, and they’d run out eventually if they weren’t restocked. Ragnarok might be able to sustain their effort for a while, but if they didn’t stop the bleeding soon they’d be in trouble.

At first, Selene had been surprised that Black Wolf hadn’t been assigned to raiding as well, but now, standing in the midst of this formidable fortress, she understood why. This front needed fast-moving assault forces to take and hold vital buildings, and they certainly fit the bill.

“So, I saw that you’re adding artillery to this place,” Anna said. “And you have the elevators up and running. Anything else you’re planning to do?”

“We still need to get the mortars on the roof,” Zach told her. “We’re going to add more guns to the other side of the building, and Hephaestus is preparing a supply tunnel that extends back toward headquarters. In case we get cut off.”

Anna nodded. “Ah, OK. The defensive system around this place looks pretty formidable too, so I can see why they think you might end up as a holdout.”

Black Wolf had spent the last three days digging a breastworks system around the base of the building, augmented by pillboxes and bunkers. The entire area around the tower was covered with chest high walls, zigzagging around to make it much harder for attackers to traverse. Not only would they come under fire from the ground level, but defenders on the upper floors could rain bullets down on them with near impunity.

“We’re going to need a steady supply of ammo to hold out, though,” Danny said. “We almost ran out in the last fight.”

Zach nodded. “Yeah, and the flame tanks are a real problem if we don’t have any good way to kill them.”

“I saw the reports. Have you faced any yet?”

“We did, although they didn’t get within range,” Zach said. “But they were getting pretty close.”

“They’re not any tougher than a regular tank, and their range is less,” Nora said. “That’s a weakness we can exploit.”

Danny gave her a look. “Speak for yourself. You didn’t have to fend them off alongside an infantry assault.”

“Field combat, they’re nothing special,” Zach said. “But in urban combat they’re pretty nasty. We’re just lucky they can only come at us from the boulevard.”

“We can use our recoilless rifles outside too,” Selene pointed out.

“Point is, we have to kill them at long range, because once they close within a hundred yards they’re going to fry us,” Danny said.

Anna grimaced. “That far, huh?”

“Yeah, and it’s several gallons at once.”

“Here’s a question for you guys. Can you hold this place?” Anna asked pointedly.

The four Black Wolf members looked at each other and shrugged.

“We wouldn’t be fortifying this place if we didn’t think we could hold it,” Nora said.

“But are you doing it because you think you can hold it, or because you know you’re not going to be able to hold it without the preparations?”

“Both, I guess.”

Selene decided to get to the point. “Why are you asking us that?”

“Because I’m not going to waste one of my battalion’s companies in a futile battle,” Anna said flatly. “If there’s other places you can be useful, then I want you there.”

“Well, we could be exploring the tunnels more,” Selene said. “That might be enough to tip the scales in our favor.”

“Not worth it right now,” Danny said. “This is our best bet right now. If we hold this, we dominate the district.”

Selene wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She felt this place was important too, but it also felt like putting all of their eggs in one basket. She wanted to win, and just standing here defending didn’t suit her. Selene wanted to take the fight to the enemy.

“Until we get a stronger hold on the front line, I think that holding the tower is our best bet,” Zach said. “We’ve spent more than enough time trying to make up for the ground we lost in the counterattack. We can’t do it again. If we can hold the line, we’ll do it.”

Anna nodded. “Then your job is to hold this place. I’ll try to make sure that you get everything you need to accomplish that.”

“One thing,” Selene spoke up. “Right now it might be a good idea to hedge our bets. Can’t we send small teams into the tunnels to see if we can find some way to break the deadlock?”

“We need as many troops as we can get here to hold the line,” Danny said.

“Still,” Nora said thoughtfully, “that might be a good idea. Hedge our bets, as you said.”

“No more than a squad, though,” Zach told her. “Danny’s right. We can’t spare many troops from the defense.”

“Right,” Selene replied.

It might not have been exactly what she wanted, but at least it was something. They could hold here while trying to find some way around the teeth of Ragnarok’s defenses.

And maybe, just maybe, they could find a way to get through this urban nightmare.