Howl: A World at War Novel (22 page)

“
Yeah, I'm for telling them as well,” David said. “Trust is a pretty valuable commodity in this world, and we don't want to throw it all away.”

Zach nodded. “Alright then. Let's see if we can get them on the line.” He opened up his menu and sent a message to both of them, telling them to contact him via radio.

He didn't have to wait long. Both Sam and Tafari responded quickly, and Zach put them up on the screen. He was glad that they had a boosted communications set in their headquarters so they could talk in real time. Otherwise, they would be stuck with a delay, and that would get annoying very fast.

“
Sam, Tafari, you there?” he asked.

“
I'm here,” Sam said.

“
Here as well,” Tafari answered.

“
Are you guys in a spot where you can talk privately?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Yeah, what's up?” Sam asked.

Zach paused for a moment. “I just got off the line with Levi.”

“And you told him that you guys are running out of shells, and won't be able to support us for quite a while,” Sam said. “Yeah, we heard about that too. Levi was quite disappointed.”

“
But the whole thing is just a deception, right?” Tafari said. “I mean, it does sound plausible, but I hardly think you would put yourself in such a tough position on our behalf.”

“
Uh, right,” Zach said. He should have known that they would see through his ruse.

“
Why the deception?” Sam asked.

“
Believe me, I wish I could tell you, but I can't. There's too much as stake here, and we can't risk a security breach. But I wanted to tell you guys about the deception anyhow. I really don't like pulling the wool over your eyes, but I don't have much of a choice here.”

“
It must really be important, huh?” Tafari asked. “Well, you helped us out in our time of need. We can return the favor by not prying.”

Zach nodded in appreciation. “Thanks guys. I hope I can tell you about it soon, and I'd really like to work with you again.”

“The feeling is very mutual,” Sam replied. “Good luck with whatever you're up to.”

“
Thanks again,” Zach said. He closed out of the message.

“
Well I'd say that went better than expected,” Selene commented.

“
We might be using them as a meatshield, but I still respect them a lot,” Zach said. “I'd really like to have them in Hydra, but they're too loyal for their own good. Too bad, really.”

“
I still don't understand how Levi managed to get others to go along with him,” Gina said. “I mean, there's always going to be some people that are going to listen to you, but that many?”

Danny spoke up. “I think it's because people can look past how he rubs people the wrong way. Or maybe that's part of his appeal. Maybe they think that they have a leader who will do what needs to be done, and who isn't going to tiptoe around others to do it.”

“I think it also has a lot to do with their loyalty,” Zach said. “They probably thought that he was the best bet when we had several groups trying to form alliances to take on Ragnarok, and once they were in they stayed out of loyalty. Even though Ronin might not be the best option anymore.”

“
Then what about Paladin?” Gray asked. “Why did they join them instead of us, for instance?”

“
Maybe it's about credibility?” Liz suggested. “White Tiger, Dogs of War and Ascension have made quite the name for themselves in the north. That might attract other people to them that normally wouldn't be interested.”

Gray shook his head. “Where Black Wolf, Sacred Sword, Redd Foxx and Grizzly wouldn't. Uh, no offense Yusuf. And Robbie.”

“None taken,” Yusuf said with a smile. “We seem to attract a particular niche of player.”

“
Hey, I'm just flattered that I got invited to this meeting,” Robbie said. “We
are
the newest company around here.”

“
Still, we have a fortress. And armor. Stuff like that,” Gray said. “It's hard to believe.”

“
Maybe people want to be with an underdog,” Anna said. “And unfortunately, we don't qualify as one.”

Zach nodded. “OK, enough about that. Let's get back to the important business. Are we ready?”

“Yes,” David said.

“
Yes. We're ready,” Gina agreed.

Anna nodded. “Well, we've been training for quite some time.  The rangers are ready to storm the beach, and we're ready to take the fight to the enemy after we do so. Hopefully it won't end up like last time.”

“We won,” Liz said.

“
Half of us here died,” Gray said. He had been one of the first victims when the enemy boss had shown up.

Zach saw Nora frown. “Do we have any idea what kind of boss we might run into around the capture point? That's the one thing that could totally destroy our operation.”

“I would guess an armored vehicle of some sort, but that's just because it makes sense to me,” David said. “I really don't have a clue as to what they might be hiding.”

“
We'll be fine,” Gina said. “We have plenty of trump cards to play. We have artillery. We have the assault guns. We have your rangers. We have some of the best regular infantry in the game, and we have naval and air support. We'll be ready for whatever they throw at us,” she said.

“
We thought that last time,” Liz said. “Then the tank showed up.”

“
We beat it,” Gina said.

“
You didn't get killed by it,” Danny said.

“
Hey, at least you got to shoot at it with an actual weapon that would hurt it,” Selene said. “We had to attack it, and you know how many shots we got before it wiped us out? One.”

“
I killed it,” Zach offered.

“
No you didn't,” Danny said with a scowl. “If you had then I wouldn't have died during the battle.”

“
OK, I crippled it.”

“
There, that's better.”

“
Back on topic,” Anna said, redirecting them to the matter on hand as always. “We're ready. We could launch the attack right now, honestly, but we want to do it on a weekend, of course.”

Zach nodded. That would give them all plenty of time to partake in the fighting. “OK, we're ready. Do you guys believe we can win this? Answer honestly.”

“Yes,” David said.

“
Yes,” Robbie said next.

Anna and Liz nodded. “Yes,” they both answered. Gray gave a thumbs up alongside them.

“I have full faith in you guys,” Yusuf said.

“
Oh yeah, we can,” Gina said, her voice bursting with confidence.

Selene, Danny and Nora all nodded yes.

That was comforting. It was one thing for a commander to believe they could do it. It was another for the troops to believe. Zach had faith in them all. They would do it. They would conquer.

He spoke up again. “One last thing. Can we adapt if something goes wrong?”

“Remember who we are,” Gina said. “What's our motto?”

That was right. They were the Hydra Alliance.

Cut one head, and two more will appear. That was the power of the Hydra. Just when you thought you had killed it, the creature came back even more deadly than before.

That was their strength. That was their ethos.

Cut one head.

CHAPTER 19

Calm Before the Storm

“Can you believe it's all going to start tomorrow?” Miko said.

“
It'll be good having you fighting alongside us again,” Danny told her. “Though I bet you had fun offing some people.”

“
Yeah, it was fun. A little nerve-wracking at times, but still a lot of fun.”

“
And I'm pretty sure the attack is going to be the topic of discussion,” Gavin said.

“
Yeah, naturally.”

“
I have a feeling that we're going to get asked a lot about what we're going to do afterward,” Nora said.

“
What's there to do afterward? We control the city, and then we put everything in place to run it,” Javy said.

“
Says the person who doesn't have to bother with the bureaucracy,” Nora said with a smile.

Danny thought about it for a moment. “What
are
we going to do once we take the entire city? The place is so huge.”

“
Well, I've been toying around with some plans,” Nora said. “We might want to try to recruit more companies into the fold. Or, we could form some new ones.”

Danny shook his head. “I figured. Trying to shove Karen out the door, huh?”

“Hey, if she wants to form her own company again I say we let her,” Zach said.

“
Then my platoon's under strength,” Danny said. He gave a slight smile. “What am I saying, she deserves it. She might be the best leader I have. No offense to you two,” he added, addressing Xavier and Jay.

“
Hey, neither of us has lead a company,” Xavier said.

Danny grinned at them. “Who knows, maybe you'll be next.”

“I don't think numbers are going to be a huge problem. We have about two hundred applicants that want to join the various companies, but we didn't want to do it yet. Unit cohesion, and all,” Nora said.

“
Who has the biggest number of applicants?” Selene asked.

Nora frowned thoughtfully. “I'd have to look, but it's pretty evenly split. Sacred Sword, Grizzly and Redd Foxx have quite a few. We have about twenty people asking. Then there's ones for Marauder, Crimson Eagle and Bravehart. Everyone has a few. Actually, Raven has the most applicants.”

“People want to fly,” Zach said. “That makes sense.”

“
Maybe we want to form a dedicated air force?” Gavin suggested. “We could form another company that's trained for choppers and airplanes.”

“
That might be a good idea in the future, but I don't think we have enough now to warrant that,” Zach said. “We're at the limits of what our industrial base can support.”

“
Until we take Indianapolis.”

Danny wondered about that. “Even when we do capture the city, can we get enough materials to support our production capabilities?”

“I actually had an idea about that,” Miko said. “I talked with Paige a bit when we were modifying my sniper rifle. What if we paid a flat price for basic materials like vulcanite ore? Like, around the average cost that people get in the Old Chicago markets.”

Danny leaned forward, interested. Basic resources could be sold for cash to NPC corporations within Old Chicago, but the price fluctuated. The more players sold, the lower they were paid.

“Would that be profitable for us?” Selene asked.

Miko nodded. “We're going to have to crunch the numbers a few more times to make sure, but yeah, it should be. Between the amount of time we spend mining and the cost of the fusion batteries we need to run the Mules, we'll break even. And that's not counting how much ammo we'll be able to produce.”

“What about imposing a tax to buy and sell?” Xavier suggested. “Like if you sell something above a certain price, there would be a one credit tax on it. Alliance members would be exempt, naturally.”

“
Wouldn't people just buy and sell in Old Chicago?” Javy asked.

“
Not if we made ammunition cheaper in Indianapolis because we don't have to transport it,” Xavier said.

Danny nodded. It was a good idea. “Plus, that could be a way to increase our numbers.”

“A lot to think about,” Nora said.

“
A ton to think about,” Zach said. “But not right now. First we have to take the place.”

They all looked up as the door opened. Dr. Unger stepped in as usual. But behind him was the president of Elysium Visions, Anton Starvos.

He had met with them a few times. President Starvos had been there when they were recruited for this study, and he sometimes joined in the interview sessions to ask questions and impart some information. It seemed strange at first that the president of a multi-billion dollar corporation was taking the time to interact on the ground level with them, but to Danny it made perfect sense. World at War was his brainchild, after all, his baby and his gem. The enthusiasm in his voice was clear every time he spoke about it. Thus, it was natural that he wanted to be involved with watching the digital society evolve.

“
Good morning everyone,” Dr. Unger said. “President Starvos will be joining us today. He's very interested in the endeavor you are all about to embark on.”

“
We thought so,” Gavin said.

President Starvos smiled. “I really wouldn't expect anything less from you. I think it's abundantly clear why I wanted to be here right now. But I must say, I'm impressed by your audacity. That, and the way you've managed to assemble everything so quickly.”

“We've had plenty of help,” Zach said.

“
True enough. I know very well that an undertaking of that size requires the hard work of a lot of people. But you were the ones to initiate the first meeting, were you not?”

That was true, though it had been more of a consensus between Black Wolf, Redd Foxx and Sacred Sword. Redd Foxx and Sacred Sword had already been working together, and Black Wolf had done little more than formalize the relationship.

“How do you plan to command such a large force?” President Starvos asked. “Naturally, a larger force will be much more difficult to command and control.”

“
Mission based tactics,” Nora said. According to her she had been reading a lot of military history, trying to become a better tactician and strategist. Danny thought it was working quite well.

“
Can you elaborate?” Dr. Unger asked her.

Nora nodded. “Every unit is given their objective. It's up to the unit commander's discretion as to how they fulfill that objective.”

“Ah, I remember reading that the Germans used a similar system during the Second World War,” President Starvos said. “I will say though, those kind of tactics require very discipline troops.”

“
Yeah, it requires a lot of initiative and creativeness,” Nora said. “But we have plenty of that. Most of our troops are veterans.”

“
We've been interested to note that higher level players aren't necessarily the best fighters,” Dr. Unger observed. “Is there a particular reason for that you can thing of?”

“
Maybe it's the quality of opponents they're up against?” Xavier suggested. “They might be used to fighting low level NPCs.”

“
I think the quest system might skew it,” Javy said. “We got a lot of experience points for completing missions inside the city, but the enemies were way too easy.”

Danny spoke up. “I think there's several things that go into it,” he said. “Quests are one of the fastest ways to increase your level, but all that does is to give you more toys to use. I can't even remember the last time I used my class power.”

“Do you have a reason why you don't use it?” President Starvos asked him.

Danny shrugged. “It takes too long to activate. And skills that we naturally learn instead of leveling up seem more useful. Driving, shooting, the like.”

President Starvos nodded. “I see. That was an issue that came up in game design. Several of the designers were for learning skills naturally, like you said. It seemed like a less arbitrary system. But others were concerned that it would feel to unfamiliar to the average player, and that it would push away new players.”

“
There was a learning curve,” Miko said.

“
Yeah, it was a pretty steep one at that,” Gavin said. “I'm really glad that some of the systems were in place, like the auto-aim.”

President Starvos nodded. “Yes, and some of them are quite helpful, I agree. But the amount of skill use in the top half of players is abnormally low. Like you mentioned before, naturally learned skills seem to dominate, and we're looking for a solution to the problem. We may have it, though it will drastically alter how the world operates.”

He leaned forward. “You're the first ones outside of the development team to hear about this, and I would very much appreciate if you kept this confidential. We are currently working on a massive patch for World at War. Levels are going to be eliminated. Classes are going to be heavily revamped and effectively eliminated. There are going to be no weapons restrictions based on specializations. Anyone will be able to learn how to perform any role, as long as they are willing to take the time.”

The room went completely silent for a moment. Everyone was stunned.

“Um, won't eliminating classes take away some of the individualism for each player?” Danny asked. Pulling such a massive change after the game was launched was mind-boggling.

President Starvos nodded. “There was great concern about that from the development team as well. But we believe that we have a solution. The basic roles that each class performs will still be there. Your class is a heavy, am I correct?”

“Yes.”

“
Any one of you could carry a machine gun, for instance, but it would be in your best interest to split up roles. Combined arms are what triumphs, after all. So a player who was a heavy before the patch will still be able to have their role as a heavy, and so on and so forth for the other classes.”

“
Aren't you concerned that someone could learn how to perform every single role and then turn themselves into a one man army?” Selene asked.

“
Says the person I would peg to become one,” Zach commented.

Danny laughed to himself. He could definitely see that happening. “I'd think there's enough balance in the game to keep that from happening.”

“There is,” President Starvos said. “True, one person is able to turn the tide of battle if they are especially skilled. But they're not invincible. They can be taken out by concentrated fire, or by artillery strikes.” He turned and looked at Miko. “Or a skilled sniper.”

“
Yeah, that's possible,” Miko said. “Though I'm not the most skilled in the region. Not by a long shot.”

He smiled. “Oh, I'm not quite sure about that. We've been keeping track of your exploits for quite a while, and I'm not ashamed to say that I would be completely terrified if I was a commander and you were on the other side.”

“So everything will be learned naturally?” Zach asked.

“
Yes, that is our aim.”

Danny thought about that for a moment. In game terms that was a stunning change, but in another sense it was absolutely staggering as well. Right now World at War was still a video game, with abundant game elements everywhere. Once the patch went through, those elements would disappear. World at War would no longer be a game set inside a virtual world. It
would
be a virtual world.

Or maybe he was just over-thinking things. Was there really a distinction? Wasn't it already a true virtual world? Why would removing game elements make it any more legitimate?

President Starvos continued. “I imagine this must be a huge shock to you all, though it will take several more months to implement.”

Nora spoke up first. “It's a surprise, sure, but does it really affect us? We tend to use just natural skills.”

“Hey, I like hawkeye,” Miko said. “Although, it wouldn’t be earth shattering for me if it suddenly disappeared.”

“
I'd imagine it will hurt the companies inside the city the most,” Zach said.

“
They will have to learn. But they will have plenty of warning, and they'll learn how to survive,” President Starvos said. “People will step up to teach them, and to lead them. Maybe you will some of the ones to do so.”

Danny started to realize just how important they were becoming to the world.

The pass came rocketing toward him. Danny plucked it from out of the air and laid up a beautiful accurate jumper.

“Nice shot,” Nora said as their team sprinted back down the court.

“
Thanks,” Danny said, but now the real challenge was starting. The other team had both Selene and Xavier. That was the tradeoff for having three basketball players on his team. They got Nora, himself and Javy, and the other team got the two tallest players. This was going to be tough.