Howl: A World at War Novel (26 page)

Danny had seen what the enemy chopper had done, but that wasn't the only misfortune, not by a long shot. More enemy infantry had spawned as well, and they were taking advantage of the confusion to launch a counterattack along the right flank, splitting the attacking force into several parts. Bravo Platoon had been separated from
Ursa Major
and Alpha Platoon, and were cut off from the the thrust coming from the gate as well.

He did what he could, rallying his platoon along with stragglers from Marauder and Band of Brothers inside a small apartment complex that afford them clear fields of fire. Their position was strong, and they needed it. They weren't facing a platoon. They weren't facing several platoons, not even a company. Danny estimated that his forty troops were facing down a battalion, between three hundred and five hundred strong. By his best estimate they were going to be overrun in ten to fifteen minutes.

Danny did everything he could to stall for time. He radioed a desperate plea for fire support as the enemy stormed across the the streets toward his beleaguered position. The answering barrage was close, very close. Bravehart dropped several shells in front of their positions, shredding the enemy but forcing everyone inside to cower as shrapnel and shockwaves tore at the walls. That bought them a few more minutes.

He called for more strikes, for mortar shells from the beach, though he found himself arguing over priority with several others. Thankfully, Zach and Anna overruled them and got them the fire support they needed. More enemy troops were cut down in the ensuing barrage, but they couldn't hold them off forever. As soon as the mortar fire stopped the enemy surged across the street again.

Danny cocked the bolt of his machine gun and stuck it out the window. There was no question of orders right now. Everyone in the building knew that there was only one order to follow: keep firing until the end. Danny had no illusions about their prospects. They were all dead. He only hoped that their resistance would buy the rest of Hydra enough time to rally.

That was looking dubious right now though. The enemy chopper was still circling above, spitting out death.

“
Selene, are you OK?” a voice asked.

She coughed and croaked out an answer. “Surprisingly, yes.”

The rest of her platoon definitely wasn't. Over half of them had been killed when the chopper had landed right on top of them, crushing some under its weight and shredding others with its still moving tail rotor. Others had been slammed by the fuselage and tail boom as it had skidded along the street. Selene had only been saved when someone had yanked her into an alley.

She turned to look at who had saved her hide. It was Miko.

“Talk about good timing,” she commented lightly, trying to keep her humor about her. She couldn't. “How are we going to take out that thing?” Selene asked despairingly.

Miko looked like she was lost in thought as she looked up at the dark shape, still dueling with the remnants of Raven Flight. “I think I have an idea,” she said. “But I'm going to need to get on top of one of the artillery towers.”

Selene frowned. Those were still in enemy held territory. But there weren't any better things to do at the moment. Her platoon had ceased to function as a useful fighting unit in the span of a minute. This was probably going to be the best thing that they could do to influence the battle.

“
OK, I'll try to rally as many of the survivors as I can,” she said. “We'll head for the nearest tower, and you can explain your plan on the way.

“
Actually...” Miko said. “Raven 2 and Raven 3 still have their bench seats, right? See if you can call them down here. We can land right on the roof of one of the towers. They should be clear after the bombardment.”

“
That's crazy,” Selene said.

“
Do you have any better ideas?”

“
Nope,” Selene said. She activated her radio and hoped that Miko's plan was a good one.

News from the front lines was dire. The armored company had lost
Fury
,
Thunderclap
and six Rams to a rocket attack from the hovering chopper. Raven Flight had lost two craft. Their lines had been punctured in several places. Danny was cut off in a sea of enemy troops. He couldn't raise Selene over the radio. The left flank was holding steady and Sacred Sword was starting to rally the line, but the enemy had them on the back foot.

It was just like the situation in the battle for Lerna, Zach thought to himself. The boss was the key to everything. If they could destroy it, then everything else would fall with it. But were they going to be able to destroy it before it smashed their forces beyond repair? More importantly, just how were they going to destroy it?

Zach felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was no way around it. They were going to lose.

“Yes, that's right. I said fire on those coordinates,” Danny said.

“
That's right on top of your position,” the Bravehart gunner on the other end of the line responded.

Danny leaned out the window and fired a burst. He cut down three enemies, but by now it was like trying to bail out the Titanic with a bucket.

“I know, but we're attracting the enemy like flies,” he said. “Fire on those coordinates, and don't worry if there's friendly fire. We're all dead anyhow.”

“
Copy, Bravo Wolf,” the gunner said, sounding shaky.

Danny fired burst after burst at the tide of enemy soldiers, cutting them down in droves. Still they advanced on their positions. His officers down below were reporting heavy casualties; they were down to about twenty five troops. Not enough to stem the tide. Not nearly enough.

Then the shells started falling.

The enemy chopper drifted over the beach, and every gun in the area opened fire on it. Assault rifles, machine guns, guns mounted on the boats, even submachine guns and pistols, everything that could throw out bullets was firing at the boss. It didn't do them any good. With one single barrage the enemy chopper blew three boats out of the water, then continued on like nothing was happening. It was too strong.

They had been so arrogant, Nora thought to herself as she fired her gun uselessly at the boss. They had been so focused on getting their own air power in the skies that they hadn't even considered the possibility that the enemy here could have air power as well. Their hubris was going to cost them.

They had no way to stop it; no antiaircraft units, no guns, not even proper targeting equipment. It could shrug of anything they threw at it with impunity, and it could devastate their own units. It was over. They were little more than a corpse at this point, twitching but already dead.

Something in the sky caught her attention. A pair of choppers made a run at the enemy chopper, guns blazing. They broke off as it turned and fled toward the center of the city. The enemy chopper followed after them.

It was a brave attempt, but that was all they had left at this point. The only thing they could do was to go down fighting hard.

“Here it comes,” Selene said. The plan was iffy at best, but it was their only hope of success.

She had managed to rally a half dozen others to join them; Ethan, Gavin, Jade, Kelsey, Leigh, Riley. The others had been too badly injured to be any help. Lyla was fit, but she had far too many casualties to treat.

They had mounted up on Raven 2 and Raven 3 and had flown to the roof of a gun tower. Miko's hunch had been right, and there was no resistance to be had. They could never be too careful, though, and half their number was guarding the stairs. That left herself, Miko and Ethan on the roof.

The plan was audacious. Raven Flight had made a run at the enemy chopper and had baited it into chasing them. They had put themselves at an altitude that was level with the tower, and would pass by it at about one hundred and fifty yards. That was when they would strike.

They had two chances at it; Miko would fire at the cockpit, hoping to kill the single pilot. At the same time, Ethan would try to hit it with his recoilless rifle. If he got a decent hit she was certain that they would destroy it, but that was going to be far easier said than done. The chopper was moving fast, at hundreds of miles per hour. They had one shot at it, and that shot would be difficult in the extreme.

The battle was going to hinge on this moment.

Time seemed to slow. Raven 1 and Raven 2 streaked pass, performing evasive maneuvers to avoid being hit by the enemy's cannons. Then they were past. The boss was in front of them.

Ethan fired, drowning out the sound of Miko's own shot. It looked straight and true. The shell streaked toward the enemy chopper, right on target...

It missed.

It missed. Selene sank to her knees in despair. All that time and effort, and they had just lost the battle.

“Oh man,” she heard Ethan say, but his tone was of wonderment, not despair or frustration. Selene looked up.

The chopper was flying erratically, jerking upward as it moved forward. Its nose suddenly pitched upward, and then it spiraled out of control. Selene watched in amazement as it hurtled toward the ground and exploded into a million pieces.

The radios came alive with chatter. There was shock, wonder. Selene contacted Zach.

“
I thought you guys were dead,” he said. “What just happened?”

Selene was grinning ear to ear. “We're up on one of the artillery towers. Miko just sniped the pilot with one shot.”

Danny had been too busy to notice the miracle in the sky. In between shells he popped his head out of the window, firing off shots at anyone who dared to show their face. They had killed scores, hundreds, but there were just too many to hold off. Now they were down to seventeen troopers.

His gun clicked empty. Danny grabbed another belt and tried to reload as quickly as he could manage. The artillery fire outside had stopped. They needed more firepower, and they needed it quickly. He slapped the gun cover back into place and cocked the bolt, then leaned back out the window.

Something was different, though. The enemy wasn't pressing them anymore. In fact, they were facing a different direction altogether. There was a furious firefight going on down there. And then the enemy broke, driven back by the a torrent of fire and a storm assault. He knew that style at once.

“Raider Lead, Raider Lead, you out there?” he asked.

“
Roger, Bravo Wolf,” Cody replied. “We're making another push for the capture point. The boss is down.”

“
Copy that. I don't have many troops, but we'll give you what support we can,” Danny said.

He didn't know how much they could do, but they could try. They had a battle to win.

Zach found them leaning up against the ruins of a destroyed Ram, exhausted. “Good work guys.”

Selene, Danny and Miko were too drained to answer him at first. Danny finally spoke up.

“
That was rough,” he said.

“
Want to know what's rougher?” Selene asked. “There's eight more of them.”

“
And it's going to get tougher,” Nora said as she walked up. “The armored company took a beating. They're completely shattered right now. We can rebuild them, but it's going to be weeks, months.”

Zach nodded. “I wouldn't worry about it. Tech didn't win us this battle. Sure, it helped a lot. But we won because of ingenuity and determination.”

“We're going to need a lot more of that,” Miko said.

“
We'll get it. That's who we are,” Nora said.

Zach looked out over the smoking district, the place that they had fought so hard for. It was indeed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mitchell T. Jacobs was born in Anyang,

South Korea and was adopted at an early age.

He currently resides near Ithaca, New York.

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Also by the Author:
Black Wolf: A World at War Novel

Hydra: A World at War Collection