Carnage City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 6) (22 page)

A
fter Black Wolf
being the only occupants for a long stretch of time, the addition of Redd Foxx to the mix meant the tower suddenly felt like it was bustling with activity. Even with a lull in the fighting the grounds were busy. The new units familiarized themselves with the area, exploring the trenches, finding good vantage points and learning how to operate the various machines contained within.

They also had to learn how to properly operate the guns, and so Danny had organized a few instructor teams to go over the basics with everyone. Hopefully Bravo Wolf would be the only ones who needed to know the skills, but if worst came to worst he wanted to be prepared.

“This can fire ten to fifteen rounds a minute. More if we're desperate, but we don't want to push it too much. Otherwise we might have ammunition blowing up in the breach,” Xavier was telling his group.

Danny walked through the floor, passing other groups learning the ropes of the anti-tank guns. It was fascinating to watch all the different methods on display. Xavier gave detailed explanations, making sure his charges knew how every piece on the gun worked. Javy, on the other hand, let his group get hands on with the gun, allowing them to look it over and get a feel for the weapon.

BAM!

Danny jumped as he heard one of the guns go off. He glared in the direction of the noise.

Ryan looked back at him. “What?”

“Warn me next time you do that.”

Javy and some of the others laughed. “A little jumpy today, huh?” he commented.

“Maybe,” Danny said. “Anyhow, what are you shooting at? Just random spots?”

Ryan pointed out of the viewport in front of him. “See where the smoke is coming from?”

Danny peered out. “Yup, I see it.”

“There was a Ragnarok observation post there. I figured that I'd give my guys some target practice and take out something dangerous while we're at it.”

Danny nodded. “OK, but don't stir up too much trouble. We're already missing Alpha Wolf, and I don't want to provoke Ragnarok into launching an attack.”

“We'll be careful.”

“Good.”

With the situation on the fourth floor well in hand Danny headed to the lift and punched the button for the basement level. He opened up his wrist menu as he descended, going through the various notes and instructions left for him.

Zach and Nora were currently in Indianapolis, preparing for the inevitable attack on Ragnarok's positions in the Cudahy District. This time, they were going to bring the hammer and drive out the enemy for good. Significant forces had been seconded to them from Knight and Rogue Battalions, consisting of assault guns and even more heavy artillery. If the enemy wouldn't yield to their more subtle efforts, then Hydra was simply going to blast them out of the way.

The numbers were impressive enough when they looked them over. Hydra had two full strength battalions in the Cudahy District, reinforced with an armor company and supported by two companies of artillery. They had special forces, assault troops, fire support, pretty much anything they could want for a fight like this. The only thing they lacked was air superiority, but they could at least contest that and keep the enemy dive bombers off their backs.

But all that might been for naught if they couldn't properly coordinate their actions. Ragnarok's jamming technology would affect both sides, but the defenders would be hurt far less. Since they only had to sit and hold their positions against the incoming assault they required far less coordination and could rely on runners or static phone lines.

Hydra, on the other hand, had to have access to their cybernetic radios. If they ran into trouble they needed to be able to guide in accurate artillery fire. If they found a weak point in the enemy line they needed to exploit the opportunity. If they ran into something unexpected they needed to relay that information back to command.

None of that would happen if the radios were down, and if it happened while they were on the move they might as well be using carrier pigeons to talk to each other. Ragnarok's jamming device had to be destroyed for the Hydra Alliance to have any serious chance of winning the upcoming battle.

But that was only part of the issue, and Alpha Wolf's problem at that. Black Wolf still needed to hold the tower for a myriad of reasons. First, it provided the alliance with their furthest position inside the Cudahy District, and that allowed them to use it as a jumping off point. Second, it was stocked with ammunition which could be quickly brought up to replenish the front-line troops, saving a considerable amount of time and effort.

Third, and most importantly in Danny's mind, if the offensive failed they still needed to hold onto their gains, and the tower provided a strongpoint for that purpose. No one could move within the immediate radius of the structure without their notice, and Black Wolf would put hostiles under withering fire if they tried anything.

But could they hold it with just a company and a platoon? Danny couldn't help but feel that Ragnarok wasn't finished with them yet. This place might be the most critical area of the district aside from the capture point, and he was quite surprised that the enemy hadn't taken even greater efforts to seize it back from them.

Then again, what could they do against something as powerful as this? Infantry and armor couldn't touch it, and even artillery and air raids barely left a scratch. And if the structure of the tower wasn't enough, the defenders made it even worse. Danny knew from experience that Black Wolf would fight tooth and nail to hold their positions, even in the face of overwhelming odds. They might lose, but Ragnarok would have to kill every single one of them to take this place.

But that wasn't much different from their own experience attacking this building, he mused as he stepped off the elevator into the basement level. In fact, that was probably what made confrontations between them so violent. Neither side would run, give up or falter in the face of their enemy, so battles quickly devolved into complete carnage.

“Getting a feel for things?” he asked as he approached Gray, Redd Foxx's de-facto third in command and the person currently in charge. Much like Danny, he had been selected through process of elimination, since Anna and Liz were also in Indianapolis.

Gray nodded and looked around the vast spaces of the basement, filled with ammunition, crates of spent casings and racks of weaponry.

“We've got quite the stockpile built up here,” he commented. “Enough to kill an army in one go.”

Danny grinned. “Yeah, if they were sporting about it and lined up for us to just shoot them. I don't think Ragnarok's going to be that accommodating for us, though.”

“Yup, we're going to have to force them out by assault. And that's not going to be easy. Ah well though, it might be fun.”

“What's your plan?” Danny asked.

Gray put both hands up and shrugged. “I don't know, I'm not the one in charge.”

“Well then, your best guess. Or maybe what you'd want to do if you were in charge.”

Gray cracked a smile. “I think I'll go with the second option.”

Danny could imagine why. He had worked with Gray long enough to know he wanted to be in command, but the current circumstances made that impossible. Anna was firmly entrenched in her position as company commander, and Liz was just as set.

Maybe he needed to form his own company, much like Karen had split off from Black Wolf and formed Barghest. That was far beyond the scope of their plans right now, though, so he'd have to make due.

But at least he could enjoy being in charge until the others got back. Danny wondered if Anna had thrown him a bone by choosing him over someone like Jana, Gwen or Will. No use dwelling on that, though.

“So, what do you think?” Danny asked.

“I think we should use our stealth skills to our advantage.”

“We normally do.”

“I get that,” Gray said. “And no offense, but your company's stealth skills aren't as good as ours.”

“None taken,” Danny said amicably. “That's not a debate either. That's just a fact of life.”

Gray nodded. “Right, which is why I think we should use them a lot. We don't have the assault skills you guys do, so hitting the enemy head-on is just asking for disaster. We'd be better off infiltrating their lines, dividing up their units and picking them off one by one.”

“That makes plenty of sense,” Danny said. “So aren't you going to use that, if that's the best choice?”

“It might not be practical, if we have to move quickly. Infiltrating takes time and skill, and we might not get that. And from the word I'm getting it seems like Hydra Command wants us to hit them hard to draw attention away from the main thrusts.”

“Ah OK.”

“It makes me wonder, though.”

“Wonder about what?” Danny asked.

“Why pick us instead of you? You guys are a lot better suited for assaults. You're the ones who are always spearheading the amphibious landings or the air assaults.”

“Eh, true. But they assigned us to the raid to take out the jammer, and I don't think they want to switch things at the last minute. Alpha Wolf has experience in the tunnels, so I think they want to use that to their advantage.”

“So we might get stuck performing a mission we're not suited for,” Gray said unhappily.

“Hey, Alpha Wolf's basically getting sent on a suicide mission. What do you think Ragnarok's going to do to them when their precious little toy goes boom? Let them just waltz back here?”

“If they're timing the offensive for when the jammer goes down then how much is Ragnarok going to be able to do against them? I know they'll be pretty ticked that their toy went boom, but can they really spend the troops they'll need on the front lines?”

“They might just lob a bunch of explosives at them and call it a day. You know, just for blowing up their toy,” Danny said.

“But that still takes troops away from the front lines, and that helps us,” Gray said. “Assuming that we do the obvious thing and launch the offensive after the jammer is destroyed, right? Because I have a feeling they'll end up replacing it if we wait too long.”

Danny had that feeling as well. He didn't know for sure, but if Ragnarok had the ability to manufacture the device they'd probably have at least one in reserve. Would they be able to deploy it immediately? Did it take time to install? Was it even in the district, or would they need to ship it in from Madison?

None of them had any idea what the thing even looked like. It could be the size of a suitcase, or it might take up several rooms. Hephaestus Company had analyzed some of the reconnaissance photos of the area, but given their lack of available data they couldn't make any solid conclusions. Alpha Wolf would simply have to prepare for every possibility. In their case, that meant carrying as many explosives as possible and using them liberally.

“I'm guessing that'll be brought up,” Danny said. “Zach and Nora aren't ones to let something like that go unnoticed. Plus, it's our company that gets killed if we don't think about that.”

“So… what about you?”

Danny frowned. “What about me?”

“Your platoon, I mean. What's your job in all of this? Hold the tower?”

“Pretty much. We're the best available gunners, and that's the only way we've held onto this place. Plus, I've already had to fight for it once, and that was before we put all the fortifications in place. I really don't want to do it again.”

“Heh, don't blame you. But you're lucky. You get to skip out on some of the worst fighting.”

Was that really true though? After all, despite the realism this was still a game, and everyone played World at War for the action. While they didn't want to constantly put themselves in extremely dangerous situations with little hope of survival, taking on challenges was part of the fun.

“I'm not sure we will,” Danny said.

“You think they'll change their minds?”

“I think they will. Ragnarok, I mean,” he said. “They've tried to take the tower back twice, and by now they know all our trump cards. They'll be back again.”

“Are you sure?” Gray asked. “Seems to me like that have a lot of other problems to worry about. You're just one company, even if you do have a strong base of operations.”

“We've been calling down artillery strikes,” Danny said. “Plus, this is right in the middle of their territory on the western end of the lines, and that has to make them nervous. If Crimson Eagle and Marauder open up with an assault on their lines we could suddenly just hit them from the rear and destroy their plan.”

“So you think they'll try to preempt you and take the tower.”

“Right. Plus, they know by now we have some way to get reinforcements and supplies past their lines. There's observation posts all over the place, pointing right at us. They've seen you guys here, and who's to say we might not have others showing up soon. Where are Barghest and Spectre at?”

“Last I heard they were still in the wilds raiding supply lines, but that's slowed a bit. Ragnarok's getting wary, so they're not getting as many targets.”

Danny nodded. “Right. And then they suddenly disappear off the map. Put yourself in Ragnarok Command's place. They have a lot of questions to answer, if our raiders suddenly disappear. Did they go to ground, or did they leave the area? And if they left the area, where did they go?”

“So you're saying the threat of this place is far greater than the actual capabilities?”

“That might not be the most accurate way to put it, but somewhat, yeah. They see the threat, and they know they have to do something about it.”

Gray leaned up against a pillar. “So you think they'll attack, is that right?”

Danny nodded. “It's going to happen eventually. The million dollar question is, when? If we move quickly enough we might be able to punch first.”

“And if not?”

Danny paused to take a breath before continuing. “If not, then we're in trouble. Ragnarok knows we're here. They know what we've got here, and they're not going to play around. This time, they'll be coming in to crush us.”

“Fun times.”

Danny cracked a smile. “I wouldn't be so flippant about it if I were you.”