Howl: A World at War Novel (13 page)

“
That does sound pretty ridiculous,” Nora laughed. “Well, between my complex and you being terrified of the Valkyries we make a wonderful couple.”

“
I'm not terrified of them,” Zach said.

“
Then I don't have a complex either.”

“
You do have that one bit of leadership down,” Zach said.

“
What's that?”

“
You're very encouraging.”

She smiled. “Good to hear.”

As usual, the area in front of Hephaestus Forge was busy with vehicles and personnel carrying materials and finished products to and from the factory. Zach sent a message to Yusuf and then went inside. Nora was right behind him.

His alert buzzed.
Head to the prototype wing
, the message read. Zach and Nora made their way through the massive factory, trying to stay out of the way. They passed by smelting furnaces, ammo presses churning out bullets of every size and assembly lines for small arms. Over in one of the vehicle assembly bays he could see a helicopter being built. It was probably meant to replace the one they had lost yesterday.

Zach and Nora reached the door to the prototype wing and stepped inside. It was much calmer that the organized chaos of the main factory floor. Out there it was industry; in here they were more focused on analysis and invention. Yusuf was standing over by a workbench. He motioned them over.

“Did you get it decoded?” Zach asked. He could read most schematics due to his class, but this one was far too high of a level. Only engineers specialized in crafting had the skills to decipher it, and Zach had built his character as a generalist, good at all aspects of an engineer but proficient at none.

“
Yeah, and it's pretty interesting,” Yusuf said, motioning them forward. “Just look at it.”

U-1 Sparrow
, the schematic read. It detailed plans for a twin engine airplane. From the look of things it had room for two crew plus some space in the back.

“
So we're going to be the first ones with an actual air force?” Zach asked.

“
I've heard rumors that several companies are nearing the end of a quest line that gives them a schematic for aircraft,” Yusuf told him. “But even if that's true these designs are a cut above them anyhow.”

“
Hmm. There's no antiaircraft defenses in Indianapolis. At least, no one fired on them when they tested it,” Nora said. “Could we equip one of these with cameras and do reconnaissance with it?”

“
Probably, but where are you getting the camera from?”

“
We could always buy photo equipment from the vendors in Old Chicago,” Zach suggested.

“
That's yet another expense. I'm not sure how long we can keep it up,” Yusuf said. “Did you look at the power requirements?”

“
No. What's the damage.”

“
Four per engine.”

Zach frowned. “Then we're not going to be able to operate very many of these things. Maybe one or two.”

“I think the helicopters can do what we need,” Nora said. “If I'm allowed to be greedy, I want one or two of these for the south equipped with photo reconnaissance equipment. That's probably going to be the most efficient way to map the entire city.”

“
It's going to take some time to get them up and running,” Yusuf said. “We can build them here, but we have nowhere to launch them from. We have the airbase to the east, but that means we'll have to disassemble them and take them there by land. Plus, we need to have trained pilots to fly them, and there's bound to be accidents while people learn.”

“
We've got to have some real world pilots,” Nora said. “The learning curve is going to be much less steep for them.”

“
I actually think that's far more likely than getting people who know how to fly helicopters, since a lot of people fly for fun,” Zach said.

“
Well, we'll have to ask around then,” Nora said.

“
Could we equip this as an attack aircraft?” Zach asked.

Yusuf shrugged. “Sure we could, but the heaviest weapons we have right now are machine guns. That's not going to be very effective against ground targets. Not any more than the choppers, at the very least.”

“Maybe we should make plans for an attack craft and then wait to see what else we can dig up?” Nora suggested. “If we can't find anything outside the city, at least we have Jackal doing the quests in Old Chicago.”

Yusuf grimaced. “We're starting to strain our production capabilities to the limit. There's only so much ore we can mine and refine in a day, and a majority of that has to go to bullets.”

Zach nodded, thinking. That was going to be a problem. Hydra's power base was built on their superior technology and industrial capabilities. If they started to lose that edge then they were in serious trouble. This was the worst possible time for it to happen as well. They were going to have a hard time splitting their forces between the north and the south.

“
Can we make another production line?” Nora asked.

“
That's definitely possible, but we need people to run it and materials to build with,” Yusuf said. “I'm also concerned that we're running through fusion batteries so fast. We need them to power the assembly lines and furnaces, and you guys need them in the field. I'm not sure how many more vehicles and lines we can add before we're over our practical limit.”

“
There has to be some way to recharge them,” Zach said.

“
Well, there is,” Yusuf told him. “Problem is, it's really expensive. It's cheaper if you bring a certain ore along, but I've never even seen it.”

“
That probably means it's in the middle of nowhere,” Zach said.

“
Most likely surrounded by dangerous monsters and such,” Nora said. “Otherwise this would be way too simple.”

Zach sighed. “So we're going to have to go back to basics. We rely on small units and our troops on the ground over our technology. Our infantry is what's going to win us battles.”

“That's how we got so far,” Nora said. “I don't see how that's so bad. We wanted a challenge, right?”

Yusuf grinned. “It'll be interesting, all right.”

Zach smiled as well. They were right. Even though it was going to be tough, it was going to be a lot of fun as well. And that was what was really important.

CHAPTER 12

Melee

One enemy fell before her blade. Then another. Then another. She drew her pistol and fired off a pair of shots at another out of reach.

Five. Six. Seven. Eight
.

But then she was thrown down onto the hard deck of the battledome. A message flashed up on her HUD.
Objective Failed.

“
Maybe you should turn down the difficulty level?” Miko suggested from the sidelines where she was observing.

Selene stood up and shook her head. “I'm going to beat this no matter what,” she said insistently. “Simulation, start.”

Ten enemies armed for combat in close quarters materialized. Selene kept her knife out and charged at them.

Their failure against the Valkyries had rankled. She knew that it wasn't rational. Hydra had built themselves around the firepower they could bring to the battlefield. Whether it was recoilless rifles, armored vehicles or air support, they could lay down a devastating amount of hurt on the enemy. It was natural that they were far less proficient at close combat.

She disabled the first enemy with a slash across the ribs followed by a stab to the neck.
One
.

It stood to reason that the Valkyries were so proficient at it because of Hydra. They were using close combat as a way to negate their firepower advantage. And while Black Wolf might have been slaughtered in the last battle, that was because they had been caught off guard. If they were faced with a more even fight then they could probably carry the day.

Two more enemies loomed in front. One came in with a downward stab. Selene sidestepped and slashed her enemy across the throat.
Two
. Without skipping a beat she pushed aside the falling body and made a lunging stab into the next enemy's ribs.
Three
.

That sentiment didn't sit well with her. Nothing about this game was balanced or fair, which was why it appealed to her. Valor and reliance on one strategy could only carry them so far. In World at War, victory went to the smartest, the most adaptable, the most prepared. They had to be ready to confront any situation that they might be faced with. Hoping to fight in optimal conditions wasn't going to give them victory. They had to evolve or perish.

Selene drew her pistol and shot a pair of enemies that were too far away for her to reach.
Five
.
Six
.

Part of this was personal for her. People had seen her achievements and thought she was incredible, but in truth they stemmed from something else. Whether it was academics, sports or anything else, her success came from one source. Deep down, more than anything else, Selene hated losing.

She sensed someone coming from behind. That wasn't going to work this time. Selene stepped to the right, then pivoted and stabbed in one fluid motion. She caught her enemy square in the chest.
Seven
.

Selene brought up her pistol to fire again. But something hit her in the back and she fell to the floor again.
Objective Failed
. She slapped the floor in frustration.

Miko walked over to her. “Well, you're getting there. But I think you're missing a few things,” she said as she pulled her up.

“What are you thinking?” Selene asked.

“
For one, I noticed that you're spending a lot of your time moving so you can reach the target. You might want to use your assault rifle with a bayonet. That will give you a much better reach.”
Miko handed Selene's weapon over.

She nodded and clipped the bayonet on “OK, that's a good point. What's the second point?”

Miko drew her own knife. “You're fighting alone. There's no way you can take out this many opponents without someone watching your back. And isn't this completely unrealistic? You're always going to be fighting as part of a unit.”

Selene nodded. What a stupid error, she thought to herself. She had been so focused on trying to erase her failure that she forgot the most important part of their ethos: teamwork.

“If you want to have another go, I'm happy to fight alongside you,” Miko said. “Never know when I might need it.”

“
Aren't you going to use something with a longer reach than a knife?” Selene asked her.

“
I'm always going to be carrying my sniper rifle, and that's probably the worst weapon to try to use in close combat,” Miko said. “Plus, I'm almost always going to be far away from the front lines. If I have to fight like this then things have gone very badly.”

“
OK, fair enough. Ready?”

“
All set.”

“
Simulation, start.”

Ten enemies appeared in front of them again.

“Be aggressive. I'll cover your back,” Miko said.

Selene grinned, gripped her assault rifle and charged forward. Her first enemy took the bayonet straight between the ribs.
One
.

She pulled it back and whipped the rifle around in an arc. The enemies trying to press closer were forced to back off. One took a deep slash across the chest.
Two
.

Another enemy came in with a knife in a downward slash. Selene sidestepped, knocking her enemy's arm aside as she moved. She followed up with a sweeping slash across the throat.
Three
.

Two more were standing further back. Selene had breathing room now. She switched her assault rifle to full auto and fired a burst at them.
Four. Five
.

Another enemy came rushing in from the right. She whipped the butt of her gun around, almost like an elbow strike, and smashed it into the side of her enemy's head. She finished off the staggered trooper with a bayonet thrust.
Six
.

She heard shots come from behind her, but there was no time to turn and look. An enemy came at her swinging a climbing axe. Selene brought her rifle up and blocked the downward swing. She kicked her enemy in the gut, causing it to stagger back. One pull of the trigger later and her opponent was down.
Seven
.

“
One left,” Miko said from behind her. Selene turned around to see the last enemy fall, a knife buried in the side of its neck. The message flashed up on her HUD.
Objective Completed
.

Miko sheathed her knife and turned around with a grin on her face. “See, that was much better, wasn't it?”

“Yeah, I'd say so,” Selene agreed. “I feel a lot better after that.”

“
Are you going to take the time to train the rest of your platoon?” Miko asked.

Selene shrugged. “I want to, though I'm not sure when we'll get the time. We're trying to step up the scouting in the city before we run out of time or resources.”

“Shouldn't that be less of a problem now that they can recon from the air?”

“
Yeah, but we still have to explore stuff on the ground. Anna and Nora want to use air recon to figure out the places where we need to send ground teams in. It'll make us more efficient, but it still will take time.”

Miko nodded. “Yeah. And I have a feeling I'm going to get called on a lot in the north, since we have other options down there.”

“Yeah, I'm not sure what to think about that. On one hand, I hate losing. On the other hand I like challenges as well.”

“
That's probably not the greatest combination,” Miko said. “I could see where it could get really frustrating.”

Selene nodded. “Yeah, but the south is going to be frustrating as well. There's very little room for error with the ground recon teams.”

“I don't envy you guys. Not one bit,” Miko said.

“
Careful what you say, because you may end up being assigned to the south,” Selene said.

“
No offense, but I really hope not.”

Selene nodded. “Know what? I really don't blame you.”

Nightfall. That meant they were ready for another recon mission, and Selene was going to lead her troops in tonight. They were going to observe the area north of the bridge that crossed the middle of the reservoir. There hadn't been much scouting of the area before, but they had some extra help. This time they had intelligence from choppers that had made low passes over the city.

The observation crews had spotted an area along the shore that was less defended than the rest of the area. It would give them the perfect place to land.

Two boats glided through the darkness, their engines on low power to muffle most of the noise. Tonight was going to be unusual. Selene had decided to take her entire platoon on the mission. It increased the risk of detection, but it also meant that they could cover more ground. Alpha 1 and Alpha 3 were split into their fireteams of four. They would be the ones scouting the city, observing troop concentrations, making note of enemy positions and trying to find weak points. Alpha 2 was going to dig in around the landing area. In the past it had been very difficult to extract troops trying to retreat under fire. Done this way they could give them cover as they fell back.

Jana's team had observed that the city was divided into districts, though from her perspective she couldn't tell how many. The scouting runs from Raven Company shed more light on the situation. Indianapolis was divided into nine districts, each separated from the other by walls. Each district had a capture point, which meant that they could take control of the city bit by bit. The problem was deciding where to strike first.

Hydra's strength was its armored units. No matter how skilled the ranger or artillery companies were, the armored forces would always be the alliance's trump card. If they wanted to win the battle then they would have to use them to their full potential.

The problem was that there was no good way to get them inside the city. The walls around Indianapolis were too thick to knock down with what they had on hand. There were areas of the city that weren't covered by walls, but they bordered bodies of water, and Hydra didn't have the ability to transport large vehicles over them.

Anna had thought the bridge might be a possibility, and Selene had to agree with her assessment. It crossed the reservoir and was easily big enough for APCs and assault guns to cross. They had surveyed it and found that it wasn't rigged to blow. Nora had been more pessimistic about their chances, though. She had argued that the bridge was going to be a death trap, funneling their vehicles in where they would be sitting ducks.

After several hours of discussion they had come up with a plan that suited everyone. The bridge was definitely going to be a useful piece in the upcoming battle. Selene had suggested launching the initial assault by boat and helicopter on the shoreline spearheaded by the ranger company, since they had the most experience in those type of attacks. Once they had secured the beachhead they would send more troops in by boat to help with the followup attack. Their goal would be to take the gate and outer walls, allowing the armored company to cross the bridge once they were captured.

That was going to be their plan. Now they had to find out if it was feasible.

The landing area was deserted. The three craft motored up to the beach and unloaded their troops. They moved quickly to secure the area.

“
Ethan, set up shop in that house in front of us,” Selene ordered. Besides providing security for their extraction point, Alpha 2 was going to coordinate the actions of the scout teams inside the city. The had brought along a boosted radio set that allowed them all to talk over greater ranges. They could also relay requests back over the reservoir to their main HQ. There was a pair of choppers on standby if they needed the cover fire.

Selene moved up with Alpha 2 and helped to get them situated. “Alpha 1, Alpha 3, Scout 1, Scout 3, can you hear us?” she asked through the radio. All teams responded yes.

She settled down next to the radio set. “Alright, let's get this done.”

“I think my idea is possible,” Selene said the next day when they were gathered for a meeting. The scouting mission had gone off without a hitch. The maps that Raven had provided them were crude, but they were also very helpful. Logan's team was able to get very close to the gate without being spotted.

“
Do you think we're going to be able to storm the gate?” Nora asked.

Selene nodded. “Logan scouted the area. The walls are going to be really tough from the front, but if we can get in behind them then they should be easy enough. I think it's a good idea if we get specialized assault squads from Sacred Sword, Marauder or Crimson Eagle. They should be equipped to fight up close and personal while they're taking the gate. They're heavily defended, but they lose most of their advantages if we're behind the wall.”

“It seems odd that they're not defending the shoreline,” Gray said.