Howl: A World at War Novel (10 page)

Anna shook her head. “Unless Jana's team found some we have no idea.”

“Nope, didn't run across any,” she confirmed.

“
What about other schematics?” Gray said. “I know for a fact that we can get schematics for small fixed-wing aircraft if we do enough quests.”

“
Actually... we might not have to do that,” Nora said. “The schematic that Ronin wants us to grab is at an abandoned airfield. We're almost certain that it's some kind of aircraft.”

“
That's... convenient,” Jana said.

“
Yeah, it's also really heavily guarded,” Selene said. “They're going to have to use both platoons, and they're going to back them up with Bravehart Company's mortars.”

“
Even if we do get something from that, the fact remains that we still don't know if we can operate safely,” Anna said.

“
We're going to have to take that kind of risk,” Nora argued. “We can't afford delays. Ragnarok is getting stronger and stronger.”

“
Maybe we should send one chopper over the city tomorrow during the daylight hours,” Gray suggested. “That should prove once and for all whether we can do it or not.”

“
We might end up losing it,” Jana said.

Gray snorted. “That's a risk we have to take. I'll even fly as the copilot.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Selene said.

“
Hey, it's your neck on the line,” Anna said. “As long as you're fine telling Yusuf why we're building another helicopter we're fine.”

“
Wait a minute, how do Zach and Liz get out of that?” Gray asked.

“
Because they didn't know they were going to be in danger and got ambushed,” Anna said. “You might as well be walking over the bridge with a target painted on your chest.”

“
That's a completely different thing from what I'm doing,” Gray argued. “That's guaranteed to get me killed. I have a pretty good chance of surviving the overflight.”

“
Hey, better hope so,” Jana said with a smile.

“
I think we're rubbing off on you guys,” Selene laughed.

“
That's probably true,” Gray agreed.

“
We're not going to be able to to much more about this until tomorrow,” Anna said. “Do you have anything else to add to the report?” she asked Jana

“
Other than the fact that the garrison is good, which we already know, nope.” she said.

“
OK, let's pick up on this tomorrow,” Anna said.

“
I'm not going to be on tomorrow night,” Nora said.

“
Date night?” Selene asked her, looking amused.

“
Yeah,” Nora said sheepishly.

“
Have fun,” Anna told her.

“
See you later, everyone,” Nora said. She opened up the menu and logged out.

The clock read 11:03.  That didn't seem late to Nora, since she had been up later for the past week. All part of the job, she thought to herself. She and Selene were doing a lot of the heavy lifting within World at War since they didn't have day jobs to go to.

She set her neuro-helmet on the end table next to her chair, then got up and stretched her legs. Five hours in the world had left her stiff.

At least she didn't weight three hundred pounds by now. Elysium had insisted that they stay in proper physical shape while performing the study. They wanted their test subjects to be solid both mentally and physically, since unhealthiness could lead to skewed test results. Nora imagined that there was plenty of people they could extract that kind of data from. It suited her anyhow. She had been a runner and a hiker since she was young, and she enjoyed doing them far too much to give them up. Staying healthy was just an added bonus.

There were less pleasant things to be done in the outside world as well. Dishes, for instance, needed to be washed. Nora walked over into the kitchen, fixed the drain plug in place and turned on the water.

There had been so many technological advances over the past half century. A complete virtual world existed, and she was still stuck washing dishes by hand. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same, she thought sardonically.

It all seemed so mundane, Nora thought to herself as she grabbed the sponge and started to scrub. Many activities in the real world seemed like they were so boring. But then why were they so much better within the game world? Nora had taken logistics as a skill when she had first started out. It had proved to be valuable, but it also turned her and many other people into glorified accountants. So why did it seem like it was so much fun in the virtual world?

Maybe it was the sense of escapism, Nora thought to herself. Maybe being able to become something you weren't was liberating, even if that other thing might be simply mundane for other people. It was all just a matter of perspective. That was probably why there were stories of royalty with everything they could ever want dressing up like commoners and roaming the streets. It allowed them the freedom do be something they weren't.

Nora's phone lit up on the counter top. There was a message coming through the World at War app. One of the most interesting parts of the communication system was that players could message each other even if they were outside of the game through the World at War app. They could also voice chat with others. It was an ingenious idea, Nora had to admit. It kept players plugged into the game even when they weren't logged in.

She pressed the button to answer the call. “Hey.”

“
Hey. Did we catch you at a bad time?” Zach said at the other end.

“
Nope, just doing dishes right now.” Nora looked over who else was on the line. Danny, Selene, Liz, Anna, Robbie, Gray. Danny, Anna, Gray and Zach were the only ones in the game. The rest of them were talking through the app.

“
Oh, good,” Zach said.

“
Sounds like someone got in trouble before,” Gray commented wryly.

“
Hey, it was once,” Zach said.

“
I bet it was,” Danny interjected.

Nora shook her head and smiled. “Surprisingly it was only once, and we don't talk about what happened. Severe bodily harm might follow.”

Selene let out a laugh. “Well, he certainly knows what that means.”

“
Right. So anyway, we have our plans in place for the schematic raid,” Danny said.

“
We just have one question. Can we borrow Alpha Wolf Platoon for the mission?” Zach asked. “The place is really, really heavily defended.”

“
Well, I have no problem with it,” Anna said. “We're not going to be doing much the next few days. We can put off scouting the city for a few days. Plus, we all want to watch Gray do his best to imitate a clay pigeon.”

Nora burst out laughing at the comment. She could hear Selene laughing as well.

“What did we miss?” Danny asked.

“
They're going to try to fly over the city,” Robbie said. “I'm going to be the pilot since no one else seems to want to volunteer, and you owe me big time if we die.”

“
We'll be fine,” Gray said.

Anna got the conversation back on track. “When do you need them?” she asked.

“The day after tomorrow,” Zach said. “That's when we're launching the raid. They should make their way up north before then.”

“
We would do it tomorrow, but someone had to go ruin it,” Danny said.

“
Oh please. Go have a date night yourself,” Zach retorted.

“
What, you don't think a battle is a fun date?” Danny asked innocently.

“
Oh yes, running around with bullets flying at your face and explosions galore. Sounds like a girl's dream come true,” Liz said sarcastically.

“
Are we talking about World at War or Danny at a Cubs game?” Selene asked.

Everyone else burst out laughing.

“OK, OK, we'll get Alpha Wolf Platoon up to you in time for the raid,” Anna said. “We'll send their choppers up with them as well. And Nora, I think you should be with them as well. Oh, and have fun tomorrow you two.”

“
Thanks Anna. Good night everyone,” Nora said. She closed out of the app and finished up the dishes. There was certainly a lot to look forward to in the next two days.

CHAPTER 10

Twilight of the Gods

“Wolf Lead, Wolf Lead, this is Raven 1. We're starting our attack runs now.”

“
I copy that, Raven 1,” Zach said. He switched channels. “Alpha Wolf, Bravo Wolf, Fox 1, we're commencing the attack now. Follow the plan and let's get this done.”

Zach looked down over the airfield in front of him. Raven Squadron dove in for their attack runs. The NPCs on the ground weren't pushovers, however. They were putting up a considerable amount of fire from their machine guns. It didn't look like they were radar controlled or anything, but it would be troublesome all the same.

That was where Robbie's insistence on fast attack runs would pay off. True, they wouldn't be as accurate as they would be if they flew slower, but they were also much less exposed. The gunners on the ground barely had any time to get a bead on them before they were gone. Raven Company had been practicing a lot as well. Zach noted that their aim had improved a lot since their assault on the Ragnarok base.

Choppers weren't their only ace in the hole. Bravehart Company was sheltered across the river with a pair of artillery pieces. Nora was with them, acting as a liaison. From his vantage point, high up and out of range of enemy guns, he could observe enemy movements and call down shells on their heads. They also had a battery of mortars, although their range was too short to hit the airfield. Zach didn't think they would need them, but it never hurt to be careful.

There was a particularly thick concentration of guns next to one of the hangers. Zach made a note of the location and started to call in the coordinates to Nora. “Wolf 2, Wolf 2, I have a target...”

“They're firing now, Wolf Lead,” Nora said.

BANG! BANG!

Nora watched with satisfaction as the gun crews moved to reload their weapons. This was what made Hydra such a deadly opponent. The synergy between forces was uncanny, and it made every single one of them all the more deadly.

“
Wish we had more crews,” Bryce commented from beside her. “A battery of five of these would be nasty.”

“
Why not bring Griffon along?” she asked.

“
They were needed elsewhere. Plus, this should be enough.”

“
I noticed that you brought along your mortars,” Nora observed. “Why keep them on this side of the river?”

“
Zach's orders,” Bryce shrugged. “The reasoning seemed pretty sound. He wants them here to provide cover fire in case they have to make a run for it.”

Nora grimaced. “The Valkyries. They really have him spooked, don't they?”

“I don't think the unit was fully formed when we were fighting Ragnarok, but from the stories I've heard they're not ones you want to cross.”

“
Stories can be exaggerations.”

“
Or they can be heavily based in fact. I think it's prudent that we consider the second choice, otherwise it could really come back to bite us,” Bryce pointed out.

“
Can't argue with that,” Nora agreed. There were times to take risks and times to be cautious, and this was the time to do the later. Too many resources were at stake here.

Bryce looked at his clock. “They're landing in thirty seconds. Makes me glad that we decided to specialize in artillery.”

Selene was unbuckled before the chopper's skids even hit the ground. She brought her assault rifle up to bear and moved forward into cover behind the remains of a shed. Machine gun fire from the choppers had sawed it clean in half. The rest of her group joined her; Riley, Jade, Kelsey, Mara and Colin.

“Lay down some cover fire for the rest of them,” Selene ordered. Most of her platoon had landed by now, but Bravo Platoon was still in the air.

Colin grunted and laid prone, shifting his machine gun to a good position. He opened up on the enemy, still staggered by the combination of artillery fire and strafing runs. Selene brought her own gun up to bear and opened fire.

This was definitely what she enjoyed, she thought to herself as she lined up an enemy in the crosshairs and pulled the trigger. Planning and strategy could be interesting, but there was nothing like the rush of battle. It was like playing a sport to her, and that's what made it so exciting. Selene would never ascend to high command; if asked she would refuse, because nothing beat being in the field.

“
All Alphas, come in,” Logan's voice said.

“
Here,” Ethan said.

“
Here as well,” Gavin spoke up.

“
What's up, Alpha 3?” Selene asked.

“
My squad landed out behind some of the hangers. I'm going to take them around and try to hit the enemy from the flank.”

“
Copy that,” Gavin said. “My guys are going up the center.”

“
We'll stay back and provide you with some cover,” Ethan said. His squad included Selene's team, so she would stay with them. It was probably the proper place for a field commander of her rank anyhow.

“
Don't take too many risks,” Selene said. “Remember, we have Bravo coming in, along with air and artillery support. Don't hesitate to call on them if we need it.”

The word's had barely come out of her mouth when a pair of explosions went off in front of them. Several of them ducked in surprise, Selene included.

“Whew, that was kind of close,” Logan said.

Selene immediately switch channels and got on the horn with Zach. “Careful where you're aiming,” she said.

“Sorry, I didn't see them making a flanking maneuver until it was too late,” he said. “I'll let you guys call in targets for now.”

Selene looked behind her at the approaching choppers and switched her radio channel. “Wolf 2, Bravo Wolf, do you copy?”

“Copy,” Danny confirmed.

“
Copy that,” Nora said.

“
We have the landing zone, and Logan's going to make a flanking maneuver through those hangers, Danny,” Selene said. “Nora, hold off on firing any more shells until we call for them. The last ones ended up really, really close.”

“
You said they're going through those hangers? The one with the machine gun nest in front of it?” Danny asked.

“
Yup, that would be the ones,” Selene said. There was another group of hangers and a control tower further down. That was probably where the schematic was located.

“
Doesn't look like there's much over there other than the nest. Can they take it out? Once they do that I can drop all of Bravo Platoon over there to make an immediate push.”

“
What about the troops at the far hangers?”

“
I'm going to call in another strafing run from Raven,” Danny said. “That should keep their heads down long enough for us to get on the ground.”

“
Alright, I'll relay that to Logan. Good luck,” Selene said.

Seeing enemy choppers suddenly dive out of the sky had to be absolutely horrifying if you were on the ground. It looked bad even from up here, Danny thought. And despite the fact that the NPCs here were a cut above the normal ones, they still didn't compare to what players could do. This place might be difficult smaller groups or low level players, but they had almost two hundred troops committed to this operation.

“
Headed down,” their pilot said.

Danny had embedded himself in Xavier's squad and was riding on their first chopper. He activated his radio.“All Bravos, listen up. We're landing next to the hangers and will make an immediate push for the other cluster. Rock them, grab the schematic and let's get out of here.”

Despite their superiority he felt nervous. Something about this mission wasn't sitting right with him. He didn't know why, exactly. It was just a feeling he had in the back of his mind. His instincts were telling him that danger was afoot here, and it wasn't coming from the enemy NPCs.

Their chopper touched down in front of one of the hangers. Logan's squad had already cleared the area and had set up a perimeter. Danny unbuckled himself and jumped off the bench seat, but there was no real rush. Logan's troops had done a good job of clearing out the enemy. Danny hefted his machine gun and walked over to him.

“We're going to leapfrog you,” he told Logan. “Form up with the rest of Alpha once they move up here.”

“
Got it,” Logan said.

Danny tuned his radio as the rest of his troops landed. “Alright, as soon as the choppers make their next attack run we're going to storm the last part of the airfield. Be ready.”

He looked up at the sky and watch a pair of choppers come swooping in, guns blazing. As soon as they were past his troops were on their feet and running. They would crush the enemy before they had a chance to respond.

“Do you see that?” Zach asked Cole.

“
See what?”

Zach pointed into the forest below. “I think I see movement. There's troops moving down there, and I don't think they're ours.”

Cole looked down as he made another pass. “Yeah, I see them. Maybe they're NPCs?”

“
Would they be that far away?” Zach asked. “I'd think they'd be closer to the airfield.”

“
We can always call in a strafing run on them,” Cole suggested.

“
Yeah, or an artillery strike. I want to make sure that they're actually hostile. Wouldn't want there to be friendly fire or-”

Something behind them gave a loud clank, and suddenly there were alarms blaring inside the helicopter's cabin.

“What the...” Zach said. The helicopter started to drop.

Cole wrestled with the controls. “Well, I think that answers that question.”

“What hit us?” Zach asked as he tried to render whatever assistance he could. They were staying airborne, barely, but the would need to land soon. They would probably need to blow the chopper up as well.

“
We took one hit, and it was aimed,” Cole said. “There would have been a lot more noise if we had been hit by machine gun fire. And we wouldn't be talking now if they were using rockets or missiles.”

Zach felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Does that mean-”

Cole cut in on his sentence. “Yeah, that means we just got sniped. And there's only a few people who could pull that off. Brace for impact. This is going to be a rough landing.”

That could apply several ways, Zach thought to himself. He switched his channel to all commanders. “All commands, all commands, we have hostile forces coming in from the northeast. We believe they are from the Valkyries. I repeat, we're under attack from the Valkyries.”

“
What?” Bryce exclaimed.

“
OK, that's going to be a problem,” Nora said. “You sure we're safe over here?”

“
Unless they have boats we're fine. Though I wouldn't put it past them at this point.”

Nora nodded and got on the radio again. “Wolf Lead, what's our move?”

Selene watched as the chopper came in trailing smoke. About thirty yards from the ground the engine suddenly died.

“Uh, Nora, you might have to take over,” she said. The chopper made a hard, ugly landing. The tail hit first and was torn completely off the rest of the helicopter. Parts of the fuselage buckled as they slammed into the hard surface of the runway. It looked bad, but then she saw two figures struggling to get out of the wreckage.

“
I need medics. Joon, Lyla, head over there,” Selene ordered. She sprinted over to check on their status. Zach gave her a shaky thumbs up as she approached.

“
You OK?” Selene asked.

“
Yeah. We have bigger problems than that,” Zach said.

“
The Valkyries?” Selene asked. “How close-”

Something triggered her combat instincts and she dropped down behind the cover of the wreckage. Zach dove down as well, but Cole was a split-second too slow. He fell, dead before he hit the ground.

“He should probably stop being your pilot,” Selene commented.

“
Yeah. I have no idea how many we have coming at us, but it looks like a lot.”

Selene got on the radio. “Alphas, do what you can to hold them off. Logan, come back to us. Danny, how close are you to getting the schematic?”

“
We have it in hand,” Danny said, looking at the notebook in Karen's hands.