Howl: A World at War Novel (25 page)

Danny lined up his sights and pulled the trigger.

Danny and Selene were reliable commanders in the field. So were all the sergeants. That was good, because under the circumstances there was no way for them to exercise central command. They were too busy fighting to do anything else.

Nora had gotten on the roof of her building along with Avery, Logan's sniper. She figured that her rifle would be more useful from a higher vantage point.

She and Avery had formed up an improvised team, each covering a certain arc. When the situation warranted they would call the others attention to their area.

Both of them were able to lay down rapid, accurate fire. Nora had her burst assault rifle, while Avery was carrying a semiautomatic sniper rifle. It had lower range and accuracy compared to the standard bolt action gun, but it had a bigger magazine and could be fired quickly if needed.

“Platoon coming in to my side,” Avery said

Nora shifted her aim and focused on a machine gunner, setting her sights on his chest. Head shots would cause more damage, but at this range she wanted to be sure she could get a hit. They had plenty of ammunition for the time being, but their supply wasn't infinite. She pulled the trigger twice and the enemy heavy fell.

She aimed at an engineer with a grenade launcher next, but she fell, hit by someone firing from below. There were plenty more targets in front of them, though. Nora shot a soldier who had stood up to take a shot.

“
Down! Down!” Avery said from beside her.

Nora threw herself behind cover on the roof, just before a bullet passed overhead with a loud crack. That was definitely from a marksman's rifle.

“Did you see where the sniper is?” she asked.

“
I eyeballed him, but I'm not going to be able to get a good shot,” Avery said.

Nora activated her radio. “Wolf Lead, Wolf Lead, this is Wolf 2. We're pinned down. Be warned that the enemy in front of us has a sniper.”

“Already aware of that, Wolf 2. Lone Wolf is hunting him now. I'll let you know when you're clear.”

“
Copy that,” Nora said. She gripped her rifle. “Try to see if you can spot him after the next shot,” she said.

“
What are you planning?” Avery asked dubiously.

Nora didn't answer. She pushed herself up into a crouch and then moved along the length of the roof, staying in cover. Whatever the danger, she couldn't just sit here and wait. The rangers needed every gun they could muster to hold off an attack of this ferocity.

She popped up, quickly took aim and hit an enemy assault trooper crossing the boulevard square in the chest. She ducked back down, but there was no crack. Maybe the sniper had moved, or maybe Miko had taken him out. She still wasn't in the position to take risks until she knew for sure. Nora moved again, popped up and opened fire.

The enemy attack was getting closer, pressing harder. There was little else to do right now. Nora would continue to fire until the enemy assault broke, or until she was shot.

“
Target destroyed,” Ethan confirmed. From the roof of his squad's position he had manged to take out three enemy vehicles threatening the right flank with a recoilless rifle.

He might be the best anti-tank gunner in Black Wolf
, Selene thought to herself. His actions had bought them some breathing space, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Not even close.

An enemy platoon was still pressing on the flank. Selene had tried to rally as much support as she could spare, but she still had to hold her own section of line. Miko was gone, hunting a sniper around Logan's position. Gray and Gavin were going to have to hold out a bit longer.

“Alpha Wolf, we have another platoon coming down on us. We could really use some support,” Gavin said.

“
Understood, but we're still waiting for it,” she responded. What was taking them so long? They had a golden opportunity here, and they were squandering it.

They had been lucky that they had been able to take the beach so fast. If they had been caught there by a force this size they would have been slaughtered. Here, in a strong defensive position, they could hold out for a while, but they couldn't do it forever. Logan's squad had already lost two, and Gavin and Gray were starting to take casualties as well.

“Another one,” Ethan said over the radio link. “Should be easy enough. The wrecks are restricting its movement.”

“
Don't expose yourself too much. We can't afford to lose you,” Selene said.

She leaned out of the window in front of her and put a semi-auto shot through the head of an advancing NPC soldier. More shots forced her back before she could fire again.

By her estimation they had about fifteen minutes before they were overrun. Their backup had better get here fast.

“Buck Lead, Buck Lead, this is Wolf Lead. Buck Lead, please respond.”

“
Go ahead Wolf Lead,” Bryce answered.

Zach ducked as an autocannon shot ripped through the wall above him. Another came through, then another. Then they stopped. Someone must have killed the enemy vehicle.

“Buck Lead, my troops are under attack by an enemy force of about 200-300 troops, backed up by armor support. We need backup
now
.”

“
Sacred Sword is in the process of landing,” Bryce said.

“
Then tell them to step on it!” Zach snapped. “We can't hold out much longer.”

“
Copy that Wolf Lead.”

Zach grimaced. They weren't kidding when they had said that the troops here would be tougher. Even with his veteran troops, they had about fifteen minutes before the enemy burst through their line and took back the beach. Once that happened the operation was over.

“Wolf Lead, Wolf Lead, come in.”

Zach perked up as he heard the voice. “Sword Lead, I read you.”

“We're moving up, Wolf Lead,” David said. “I'm sending Morgan's platoon to the right flank. They'll help to jump start Marauder's push toward the gate. Staci's platoon will cover the other areas. Where do you need support?”

“
Everywhere,” Zach said. “I think we can hold out in the center, but the flanks are taking the greatest beating.”

“
Copy that. I'll send her over to the left flank and I'll put Gio's squad in the center once he gets here.”

“
Any estimate on time?” Zach asked.

“
They're coming across now,” David said. “Anna sent half your boats back to pick them up. The transports are headed back to grab Crimson Eagle and Band of Brothers as well.”

“
Good news. Thanks David,” Zach said. He breathed a sigh of relief. They still had a battle to fight, but the danger had passed. That had been close. Too close.

They had come just in time. The right flank was starting to falter when Sacred Sword had suddenly appeared behind them, moving up to reinforce them. They brought Marauder with them, and the enemy assault buckled and then broke as they launched a ferocious counterattack. The pressed on toward the gate in the ensuing confusion.

Selene took a deep breath and sat back against the wall. The enemy had fallen back, discouraged by their stubborn resistance. The first phase was over. They had their beachhead. Now they had to take the city.

CHAPTER 21

One in a Million

“Good job, you guys,” Anna said. “You probably fought the toughest battle.”

“
How's the push for the gate going?” Zach asked. He and Nora had moved back to the beach during the lull in the fighting. Crimson Eagle and the rest of Sacred Sword had moved up to reinforce the front line. Band of Brothers had spread out to the south, covering Marauder from the rear as they assaulted the gate.

“
They're clearing out the last pockets of resistance, but the gates are open and the armored company is crossing the bridge right now.”

“
Good.”

Zach turned and looked back at the beach. Supplies were being unloaded from a pair of transports. Part of Griffon Company had crossed as well, bringing their
81mm
mortars to provide fire support. The artillery on the other side of the reservoir was thundering as well, taking aim at enemy positions and the antiaircraft defenses. Once they were down Raven Flight would have free reign over the district.

“
We're going to be part of the push into the city,” Anna said. “Our role is to be the vanguard. We find and engage the enemy. If they're too tough, then we call for backup.”

“
What's the plan for the armored company?” Nora asked.

“
They're going to wait for us to engage before they move. Gina's hoping that our attack draws in a lot of enemy forces. Once that happens, they'll sweep in and hit the from the rear.”

“
Isn't that going to be tough to pull off inside a city?” Zach asked. “I mean, there's only a certain number of ways they can get places.”

“
That's what their infantry is for,” Anna shrugged. “It may work, it may not work. But regardless, they should have enough troops to achieve a breakthrough even if they can't perform a flanking maneuver.”

“
Understood,” Zach said.

Liz had been on the radio the entire time they had been talking. She finally spoke up. “Good news. They're going to lend us a couple of assault guns. Gina told
Ursa Major
and
Kodiak
to detach, and they're going to move up with us.”

That was good news indeed, especially with the presence of enemy armor inside the city. The rangers would have two assault guns, and Sacred Sword had a pair as well. They would be invaluable for taking out enemy strong points and destroying vehicles.

“How long until we begin the next attack?” Zach asked.

Anna looked down at her wrist menu. “About ten minutes.”

Ursa Major
and
Kodiak
rumbled forward, and Selene felt her confidence building. She was sure that her troops would be capable of doing whatever was asked of them, but this kind of support would put them over the top. Now they had some serious firepower to back them up if they got into trouble.

Their whole force here was formidable, truth be told. Between Redd Foxx, Sacred Sword, Crimson Eagle and Black Wolf they had almost three hundred troops present, backed up by four assault guns, mortars from Griffon and air support from Raven Flight. The batteries on the other side of the reservoir were in the process of destroying the last of the antiaircraft defenses. Speaking of which, they had heavier artillery support to call on if they needed it as well.

Still, this wasn't going to be easy, not by any means. Then enemy inside the district was well-armed, well-trained and intelligent. They weren't on equal footing with human players, but their numbers and equipment could make up from that difference, and they weren't dumb by any means. After all, the rangers had barely held on by the skin of their teeth.

Her radio buzzed. Anna was on the other end of the line, broadcasting a general alert.

“All rangers are to move forward through the streets. Black Wolf will take the right flank, and Redd Foxx will take the left flank. Each section is going to have the support of an assault gun.
Kodiak
will go with Redd Foxx, and
Ursa Major
will support Black Wolf. You are to act as the vanguard force. Find, engage and destroy the enemy. If they're too tough, hold them in place until support from the infantry arrives.”

Selene adjusted her channel. “Hammer 1, Hammer 1, do you read me?”

“I read you loud and clear,” said Connor,
Ursa Major
's commander.

“
Good. Glad to be advancing with you again.”

“
Feeling's mutual, Alpha Wolf.”

Selene switched channels again and reported directly to Anna. “Fox Lead, we're launching our attack now.”

“Copy, Alpha Wolf. Good luck.”

Once their orders had been given there was little discussion to be had. This was a textbook case that they had practiced many times, and no one bothered to confer with the others. Everyone knew what to do.

Selene's platoon would take the lead in front of the assault gun, walking about thirty yards in front of it. That would mean they were still in range of its support, but they also were far enough ahead to intercept anti-tank teams that were trying to destroy it.

Bravo Platoon would trail the assault gun, providing protection for it from the rear. If the forward platoons ran into a tough spot they could also advance forward to lend them aid.

Ursa Major itself would be used to take out enemies holed up in fortified structures, and to take out enemy armor if that ran into it.

As an added bonus, they weren't walking blind. Raven 5 and Raven 6 were hovering above. They could provide air support, but their real value was their ability to track enemy movements, unobstructed by the buildings in the streets below.

“Let's move people,” Selene ordered.

They were ready. But she had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that this place had some sort of nasty surprise waiting.

Danny had heard the talk. It came from the newer players, the inexperienced, even a few of the veterans, When they had repulsed the enemy push on the boulevard they thought that they had inflicted a crushing defeat, and that the city would fall shortly afterward.

He didn't share their enthusiasm. In his mind, the enemy hadn't been routed. Sure, they had been pushed back with heavy losses. But if they were fighting a player army he would have credited the enemy commander with knowing when to fold. They had been stuck attacking a strong position that had been heavily reinforced. The only sensible thing to do was to withdraw and regroup.

Well, they clearly had regrouped now, and they were coming back at them with a fury that Danny had never seen out of NPC troops. He had to credit them. They were fighters, and Bravo Platoon had to fight them house to house.

Black Wolf's formation had come apart when they had been attacked form the flank by an enemy platoon. Selene and Ursa Major were already engaged by an enemy platoon in front, so Danny had to react with extreme levels of improvisation. He had Javy's squad lay down cover fire for the assault gun, trying to keep the enemy anti-tank teams at bay. While they were doing that Xavier and Karen stormed the set of building that the enemy was using for cover.

From his position Danny felt somewhat useless. He had devised the plan and had given the orders, but once that was complete it was in the hands of the sergeants. For him there was little else to do but join Javy's squad in laying down cover fire. It was an area where he was very proficient, at least.

By sheer luck another squad from Marauder had been moving up the streets on the other side of the buildings. While Xavier and Karen stormed in from the front they attack from the back in a fury, tearing through a confused enemy that was suddenly surrounded. In about a minute it was all over.

Danny smiled grimly to himself. Another block, another tough fight. There had been plenty of those these past few months, and there were plenty more coming. But he was looking forward to them all the same.

Progress was good. The main thrust was pushing through the outer streets into the heart of the city. Crimson Eagle had come under attack by about two hundred troops. They had a hard fight on their hands, but they were occupying a huge chunk of the enemy while the rest of them pushed on. Reports were that Sacred Sword was sending a platoon to help flank and crush the enemy.

Nora looked through the other reports in her menu. Black Wolf was running into tough resistance, but they had backup from the right wing of Sacred Sword's force. They had also run into infantry from Marauder and Band of Brothers advancing from the gate area, and they had started to coordinate their actions with each other. Whenever Black Wolf was engaged along their right flank the other two companies would launch an attack on the enemy's rear. Several enemy platoons were decimated by the tactics.

Coordination. Teamwork. Cooperation. Those cornerstones of Hydra were essential to their success. The enemy was skilled, tough. They would have been difficult for many to fight, but Hydra was a unique animal. Any time one of their companies ran into trouble the others were there to bail them out. Infantry that were pinned down had an assault gun come to blast the enemy to smithereens, or had mortar fire dropping on the opposition's heads. Armor that was under attack from RPG teams had a chopper drop out of the sky, guns blazing, or was shielded by a curtain of fire thrown out by their support ground troops.

“The armored company is almost to the capture point,” Anna said. The initial plan hadn't materialized, but they were able to smash their way through enemy lines with brute force.

Once the reached the capture point they would only need to take and hold it for a certain period of time. When that happened the district would fall under the control, and they would win the battle.

But approaching the capture point meant that the area's boss would spawn, along with reinforcements. None of them had any idea what it could be, and that unsettled her. True, they were more prepared than last time, but the boss in Lerna had destroyed half the attacking force, and that was for a small town. She imagined that the boss here would be much more powerful, and she wasn't sure that even with their improvement that they would be up to the task.

Liz seemed to pick up on her mood. “It can't be worse than last time,” she said reassuringly.

“Famous last words,” Zach commented lightly, but there was truth to that.

This was going to turn out very badly, Nora thought. Then her alert rang.

“Attention everyone, we have an aerial contact over the city. I repeat, we have an aerial contact over the city,” Robbie said.

“
They're at the capture point,” Zach said. They all knew what that meant.

Nora looked over at Liz. “Know how it could be worse than last time? If the boss could fly.”

Liz shook her head. “OK, maybe opening my mouth was a bad idea.”

Nora looked around at them. “So we know what it is. How are we going to kill it?”

How, indeed.

*
              *              *

“
What's that noise?” Ethan asked, and then they saw it. A helicopter, bigger than the ones they used, was flying toward the capture point. It was large and heavily armed, with a chin mounted cannon, chain guns, rockets and other weapons that Selene couldn't identify on the stub wings. She also noticed that it didn't have a tail rotor; instead, it had two counter-rotating rotors mounted to the main drive shaft. It looked like it was heavily armored as well.

“
OK, that's not good,” Selene said. No sooner had she spoken when the thing opened fire. Dozens of explosions ripped through the area around the capture point. Selene couldn't see any of the carnage, but it sounded bad. Very bad.

“
OK, that's really not good,” Selene said.

She saw Raven Flight make a run at the enemy chopper, guns blazing. It opened fire on them, causing them to scatter. All of them backed off but one. The pilot skillfully turned his machine, rotating around the enemy chopper in a circle. It was out of the firing arc of the enemy and could line up its own shot. The boss might be heavily armored, but it couldn't turn as fast. They had found a critical weakness.

Then the chin gun started to rotate. Selene watched in horror as the cannon shells tore the rotor clear off of the drive shaft. The chopper fell out of the sky like a stone.

No, not like a stone. It wasn't coming straight down. The momentum from its circling was forcing it to drop at an angle. And judging by the direction it was dropping...

She looked around. Her troops were transfixed by the sight, oblivious to the danger. “RUN!” she shouted. That broke them out of their trance, and they started to flee. But they couldn't outrun gravity.

A shadow fell over them as the wrecked chopper fell to earth, right on top of them.