Carnage City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 6) (8 page)

“Nah, you’d be right. They are doing pretty well,” Bryce said. “This is a pretty simple gun to learn on, but that’s a good thing.”

Danny agreed. They’d need well-trained crews as soon as possible, because the peace and quiet wasn’t going to last.

T
he harsh sound
of his alarm pierced through the veil of his dream and forced him awake. Zach rolled over and turned it off, then sat up, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. He had a long day ahead.

After going into the kitchen to make coffee, he turned on his tablet and opened up the file containing the information he’d need for later, when he met with some of the development team at Elysium Visions.

Project Avalon. Elysium Visions’ next foray into virtual world games would take place in a fantasy setting, trading guns for swords. At this stage, though, everything else was up for debate.

What would the classes be? How many different races did they want? How would players earn money? What kind of weapons did they want to make available? Did they want magic? And what about the design of the world?

They had so many questions they had to answer before the design of the project could really start to come together. The one thing that Zach noted was that the virtual world MMO would have a system to convert in-game currency to real world money. That wasn’t just a matter of creating another income stream for the developer either: Elysium Visions had commitments from over a dozen large corporations toward their concept of a virtual marketplace. If successful, advertising dollars would come pouring in, which would then be used to fund the in-game currency. A few hours of adventuring could net players a tidy sum, able to be spent in the marketplace or even exchanged for real-world currency.

Zach remained uncertain if the concept would actually work, but it remained intriguing nonetheless. And if it worked, it was completely ingenious. Players who might be on the fence about joining the game might do so if they had the opportunity to make actual profit.

On the other hand, there was also the possibility of scams and cheating, just like in every other MMO. In this case, Elysium Visions would take security measures in order to lessen the damage, and simply absorb the rest as a loss. No security system could be perfect, and so the only thing they could do was to try their best.

Zach poured himself a cup of coffee and looked over the files again. The parts regarding the monetary system were all well and good, but his focus would be on the actual gameplay and world. All the bells and whistles, buzzwords and concepts meant nothing if the gameplay and world wasn’t compelling.

But what should he do? Where should he even begin? When he was on the development team for World at War Online Zach had a clear direction and purpose. His view of the game was restricted to a small box that he could concentrate his efforts toward. While he did have knowledge of the other systems in play, his main focus had been on the communications system.

His new position, however, wouldn’t allow him to sit back and focus on one thing. He had a supervisory role, making sure the various systems fit together into one cohesive experience. Zach knew the job would be difficult. Even little things could add up enough to becoming jarring and take players out of the experience.

Take, for example, the old class system in World at War. On the surface it was a tried and true concept being adapted for yet another game, but upon widespread implementation the issues became apparent. Players couldn’t operate equipment that wasn’t designated for their class, even if it was right in front of them. That could leave to incongruous situations where a player might be out of ammunition and surrounded by loaded guns he couldn’t use, simply because he didn’t have the right class.

The update had fixed that problem, along with many others, but Zach wanted to make sure Project Avalon was ready when they shoved it out of the door. After all, what kind of two-bit hack would want to release a buggy, broken game? Zach had enough professional pride to take his responsibilities very seriously, and he’d do everything in his power to make sure he met expectations.

He made a quick glance at the clock. Seven thirty. Only a few more hours before he dove headfirst into the project.

“
S
o
, how was it?” Nora asked when he logged in to the virtual world.

“Uh, fine?” Zach answered uncertainly. “Sorry if I can’t be more specific, but there’s not a lot I can say right now that won’t violate the non-disclosure agreement.”

“That’s a convenient excuse,” she replied with a slight smile playing across her face.

“I swear it’s true.”

“You’d swear it was true even if it wasn’t.”

“Gosh, you have such little faith in me,” Zach said, putting on a mock air of offense.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll get over the disappointment,” Nora said. “Can you at least answer how much you think you got done? Without giving away any important details?”

“Yeah, I guess I can do that,” Zach agreed. “Well, it was your typical first day on a project. Getting to know people, defining what you’re doing and then starting to decide how you want to go about accomplishing that.”

“Sounds very typical.”

“Yeah, it was. The really exciting stuff isn’t going to happen until much further down the line, but we have to lay the groundwork for it first.”

Nora nodded. “I certain have had my fair share of stuff like that. I’ll probably have it again, if I pass auditions.”

Zach gave her a warm smile. “I think you will.”

“Thanks, but we’ll see,” Nora replied. Though she tried to hide it, he thought he could see a bit of worry on her face.

“So,” he said, trying to change the subject, “what have you guys gotten done today?”

Nora opened up her wrist menu and began scrolling through a list. “Well, we’ve made pretty good strides getting the communications lines set inside the buildings. The first six levels are all connected, and we have a line running from a command post on the top floor all the way back to HQ.”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “That much line was laid that fast? Is it buried?”

“It is,” Nora confirmed. “Mostly because we didn’t have to dig the trench by hand this time. Hephaestus Company brought an engineering Mule with them and simply carved it out with the bulldozer.”

That was certainly welcome news. If Ragnarok used their radio jamming technology in the coming attack, and Zach believed they would, Black Wolf needed some way to communicate with the artillery batteries and commanders in the rear. Their tower could also act as a nexus for the forward part of the line, becoming a secondary command post if the radio went down.

In fact, once the artillery was installed the tower could act as formidable fire support as well. It might not be able to reach out and lay down hurt like the 155s could, but in the chaos of battle some fire support was better than no fire support at all.

Nora continued. “We brought up another one of the 45mm guns and installed it, so we have some firepower built into the tower now. We’ll add the others once the elevator gets fixed.”

“How’s that coming?”

“Slow. The elevator cars are completely unsalvageable, so we’re going to have to build new ones in Central City, then ship them in by rail and then by ship.”

“That sucks,” Zach commented. He had hoped that their engineering team could repair the heavily damaged elevator cars, since that would save them a lot of time and effort.

“Do we have a timeframe for them?”

Nora touched something in her wrist menu and then sent him a message. “Actually, Paige looked it over and came up with an alternate design that’ll take less time for them to build.”

Zach opened it up and took a look. “OK, so is this more of a lift than an elevator?”

“You could say that. It only needs a platform, four cables attached to winches at the top of the shaft, and maybe a railing if we really want it.”

“Looks simple enough,” Zach agreed, using his engineering skills to assess the plans. “If we reinforce the lift platform that might allow us to carry much heavier payloads than a regular elevator too, since the lift design is a lot lighter and will put less strain on the building.”

“That’s something you should probably talk over with the other engineers. Me, I’ll stay out of the way and try to stick to something I’m good at.”

“That’s a lot of things, actually.”

“Thanks. Oh, and Javy’s putting together a team to get a field hospital operation inside the tower.”

“I can’t believe we didn’t think of that.”

“Yes, but that’s why we listen, isn’t it? In case someone comes up with a good idea that we’d never think of in a million years?”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Nora closed out of her wrist menu. “So that’s it, really. We’re still trying to get the interior of the building set before we move on to getting the outside parts of it ready.”

Zach nodded. Sure, they’d like to have everything done at once, but Ragnarok probably wouldn’t give them enough time for that to happen. If it came down to it, the existing building provided enough cover and strength to repel an infantry assault, especially with their numbers. Black Wolf’s biggest concern right now was dealing with tanks from inside the tower, which was why they spent so much time and effort getting the anti-tank guns ready to fight.

“How much ammunition do we have for the guns?” Zach asked.

“About thirty rounds of both fragmentation and HEAT ammo,” Nora told him. “There’s more on the ground floor, but we were going to wait until the elevators were operational before bringing them up.”

“OK. As long as we have them in the building we should be fine,” Zach said.

“That’s what I thought too.”

“So, I guess I’ll go see how much I can help with the construction, since there doesn’t seem like there’s anything else to do right now.”

“Sounds like a plan. Oh, and by the way, I pulled Selene off the line for now and sent her platoon back for the gun crew training. It seems pretty quiet now, so this is probably the time to do it.”

Zach nodded. “Well, we’re going to have to do it eventually, so now is probably the time for it. What are you going to be doing?”

“I’m going with them. It’s going to be pretty bad if I’m the only one that doesn’t know how the gun works.”

Zach laughed. “Yeah, wouldn’t it?”

H
e could hear
the sounds of construction as he entered the tower. They really needed to come up with a name for this place, Zach thought to himself. Calling it ‘the tower’ all the time seemed so impersonal. But right now there were a lot of other things to worry about at the moment.

“How’s it going?” Paige asked as he passed by her team, still working in the elevator shafts.

“Good. How are you coming in there?”

“Making progress. Did-”

“Did Nora give me the lift plans? Yes, yes she did,” Zach confirmed. He opened up his wrist menu again. “They look pretty good to me.”

“Good, because I took the initiative to order them built as soon as possible,” Paige told him. “I figure you want them up and running pretty soon.”

“That’s a pretty good guess, yes.”

“It’s going to take a few days for them to be built and shipped up here, but in the meantime we can get the rest of the machinery ready and running.”

“So, the motors, pulleys and cables then,” Zach mused. “One question. How are we going to power them?”

Paige bit her lip. “Well, that’s the other thing. We could use a nest of fusion batteries, but two lifts are going to tear through them in a matter of a few hours. So I also took the liberty of ordering one of the power plants we have in Central City, miniaturized for a building this size. It’ll generate less power, but it’ll also be easier to fit in the building. Plus, it’ll take less rare elements to operate as well.”

Zach frowned. “Can we get a steady supply to keep it going?”

“Oh yeah. They’re collecting enough of it, though Yusuf and some of the others are really wishing they had someone else to send into the really dangerous areas. You guys, for instance.”

Zach smiled and shook his head. There were many resources in World at War, ranging from plants to metals to scrap and debris left over from the old world. The rarest and most valuable of those lay in dangerous areas, swarming with all manner of monsters. Zach had done enough adventuring with Black Wolf in the early days of the game to know what kind of dangers lurked off the beaten path.

They all seemed to have it out for him too. Zach had been attacked by chilus far too many times, and had been killed by one the size of a bus in the tunnels of Indianapolis. He’d be glad if he didn’t have to repeat that experience again.

“Do they need help?”

“Well, getting chased by a massive pack of fen wolves isn’t exactly fun, but yeah, we’ve been managing,” Paige told him. “We’re not exactly in danger of running out of it, and it takes less space to ship than a bunch of fusion batteries.”

“OK, that’s one part. Are we sure we want to put it here, right on the front lines where it might get captured?”

“Just hold the building and everything will be fine.”

“Well, yeah, that’s the plan, but what happens if the plan goes south?”

Paige ran a hand through her dark hair. “We’ll be putting a failsafe on it. Wire it up with explosives, and if you need to…”

“OK, problem solved then,” Zach agreed. “Do you need me to request anything else?”

“Nope, we should be all set.”

“Great then. Keep it up.”

Zach activated his radio as he walked away and tried to find Danny.

“Where are you at right now?”

“Fourth floor, with the guns,” Danny replied.

“OK, then I’ll be up to see you in a minute.”

There was no response.

“Danny?” Zach asked with a frown. Again, he received nothing but silence.

And then he realized the radio was completely dead.

“Oh no,” Zach muttered to himself. He sprinted for the stairs and took them two or three at a time to get up to the fourth floor.

“Radio is dead,” Danny said when he emerged.

“I know.”

“That means they’re coming.”

“I know,” Zach said. He looked out one of the windows, trying to decide what to do.

Ragnarok wouldn’t use their jammer for just a small raid. They’d be coming full-force, and they wanted their tower back. And all he had at his disposal right now was a single platoon, along with an engineering team that wasn’t used to combat against other players.