Werewolf: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 4) (19 page)

No, she was more concerned that the world was steadily eating away at her soul. If she considered her online persona to be her true self, then was acting amorally acceptable? Could she justify her actions because they were taking place in a world where their morality didn't matter? Or did they reflect badly on her regardless of where they were performed?

She closed her wrist menu with an annoyed flick. Try as she might, those thoughts just wouldn't go away.

“Hoplite Leader, approaching the south gate,” Nora signaled. The last thing she wanted was for the wall guards to light her platoon up.

“Copy, Hoplite Lead. We'll have the gates open for you when you reach us,” came the response.”

“Have you heard whether they've taken the western district?” Nora asked.

“Not yet. You might want to check in with command first.”

“Thanks.” Nora switched radio channels. “Ghost Command, this is Hoplite Lead. Over.”

Nothing. Nora was about to signal them again when a response came.

“Go ahead, Hoplite Lead,” Anna said. “Did you have good hunting?”

“Yes, very good hunting,” Nora confirmed. “We're about to enter the south gate. Do you need us to reinforce anywhere?”

“Negative, Hoplite Lead,” Anna said. “We're fine. We're inside the stadium right now, actually, and advancing just fine. We should have control of the district in another hour or so.”

“Copy that. What do you want us to do?” Nora asked.

“You can disperse back to your bases. If we need you we'll have you assemble and cross the bridge.”

“Won't that be way too late to do any good?” Nora asked.

“We still have one reserve that'll reinforce the attack if it starts to falter,” Anna told her. “Your job would be to establish a line of defense so we don't get pushed out of the district.”

“So we're the emergency backup and not the actual reserve, is that it?”

“Pretty much. Any questions.”

“Nope. Hoplite Lead out.”

Miko jogged up next to her. “Anything else for us to do?”

Nora shook her head.

“Huh, that's kind of disappointing,” Miko commented.

“It saves us a lot of walking,” Nora shrugged. “I think we'd show up just as the battle was ending.”

“OK, you have a point. But what are we doing now?”

“We head back to base and debrief. Maintain our weapons and such.”

Miko frowned. “That stuff?”

“You're a sniper,” Nora said. “You of all people should be the most concerned with maintaining your weapon.”

Weapons in World at War needed to be regularly stripped and cleaned, otherwise they rank the risk of reduced performance or outright failure. Nora had heard stories of weapons blowing up in people's faces, though she had never seen it happen in person. Everyone in the alliance had been very adamant about keeping their weapons in top shape.

Still, it was busy work. It might be considered grinding by experienced MMO players. But it needed to be done, regardless.

The gate loomed ahead.

“Let's go,” Nora said to Miko.

“Right.”

“How long did it take you guys to storm the stadium?” Nora asked.

“About an hour and a half,” Zach told her. “Maybe a little more, if you count the preliminary bombardment.”

She wiped the sweat off her brow and continued running. It was odd, really. Other couples sat around watching movies on a night like this. But Zach and Nora had sat around all day, so their idea of a date was to go the the gym and run.

It wasn't a terrible idea, though. Neither of them wanted to be out of shape, and that was exactly what would happen if they didn't exercise. And anyhow, it gave them the opportunity to converse.

“Who lead the attack?”

“Spectre spearheaded the assault, actually,” Zach said. “They took a lot of casualties, but they got us into the northeast end of the stadium, and we were able to take it from there.”

“There's an entrance at that end?”

Zach laughed. “There is now.”

Nora couldn't help smiling despite herself. “That wouldn't have anything to do with the person calling in the artillery strikes, now, would it?”

“I admit to nothing.”

“So, you didn't try to flatten the stadium in Green Bay just because you're a Bears fan?” Nora asked.

“Gosh, you make it sound so petty,” Zach complained. “I called in the artillery to make our attack easier. And yeah, there might be a big hole in one end because of that. Selene and Danny would have done it too.”

“I could see that,” Nora agreed. She looked down at her treadmill. Fifteen more minutes to go.

“But we have the city, and that's what matters most,” Zach said.

“Yeah,” Nora replied.

“You sound down today,” Zach said.

“Do I?”

“Yeah, you do. Anything bothering you?”

Nora paused for a moment, then told him about her thoughts earlier in the day.

“So, it's back to the issue of whether the virtual world is screwing with our heads,” Zach said. “Yeah, I can't blame you for being worried about that.”

“But it worries you too,” Nora replied.

“Oh, yeah, it does,” Zach admitted. “Like I said before, I think it relates to how people view their avatars. Some of them consider them to be part of their real selves, but a lot of other think they're just a method for escapism.”

“And the facade?” Nora asked.

She saw Zach frown. “I think that's where the line between the two blurs. I think the facade happens when players
think
they're showing their real selves through their avatars, but they're really just diving into the escapist part. They're being what they wish they could be, and not actually who they are.”

“Then how do you tell the difference?” Nor asked him.

“I really don't think you can, if it's about yourself,” Zach said. “You're too close to the subject matter to know any differently. So I guess it's up to the people who know you best to make that distinction.”

“You're not exactly the most comforting person to talk to about these things,” Nora said.

“Sorry.”

She thought for a moment. “So, in your opinion, am I genuine, or a facade?”

“Genuine,” Zach said.

“That was a quick answer. How do I know you're not lying to make me feel better?” Nora asked.

“Well, jeeze, why are you even bothering asking for my opinion?”

Nora laughed. “Well, come on, it was the obvious question. I'll go ahead and tell you your avatar seems to be the genuine you.”

“Really?”

“I probably wouldn't have stuck around otherwise,” Nora told him.

“For what it's worth, I think the you inside the virtual world is genuine. But I don't think it tells the whole story.” He frowned. “Maybe that's it.”

“Hmm?”

“I don't know, maybe our avatars aren't facades, but they don't tell the whole story. Like, I got a good sense of your personality when I met you in the virtual world. But I didn't know a lot about you. I didn't know you were a sports fan, or you played cello.”

“So our virtual world personas are just a piece of ourselves?”

“Or maybe they can be considered an extension of our personalities,” Zach said. “We're able to let the hidden things out as well.”

“Kind of like the werewolf thing I was talking about, only it's positive rather than negative,” Nora said.

“I'm not even sure the werewolf thing is all that bad,” Zach said.

“How so?”

“Well, when people talk about letting the beast out, it's always in a negative context. But I don't think it always is. People think about it as savage and vicious, but it's also wild and free.”

“So there's a ying and yang thing going on there?” Nora said. “I can see it. I guess it would be about balancing both sides, then.” She thought for a moment. “And I could see the romantic aspects of the beast as well.”

“Freedom does have its allure,” Zach agreed.

Nora smiled. “Well, that actually does make me feel better.”

Zach smiled back. “Glad I could help.”

Nora looked back down at her treadmill. Ten more minutes.

CHAPTER 16

On My Honor

The landscape whizzed past as Zach looked out the window of the train car. It had been a while since he had stepped foot into Hydra territory, and now he was headed straight into the heart of it.

He shifted uncomfortably, partly from his seat and partly because of the situation that lay ahead. His seat wasn't exactly luxurious. It was little more than a bench, barely padded and hard. But at least it was better than walking, and it was faster than most other forms of land transportation.

Not that he was eager to reach his destination quickly, however. The entire Hydra Council had been summoned to a meeting in Indianapolis to discuss the war effort. Normally that task would have fallen to the military council, but for the final stages they wanted everyone's input.

Zach wasn't exactly looking forward to that mess. They had created a military council because there were so many members in the alliance at this point. Discussion took hours, and rifts between the members happened frequently. He was certain they would get things done, but he questioned how long it would take.

And every second spent here was a waste of time they could be using against Ragnarok. Major operations in the north were at a virtual standstill at this point, because all of the company commanders were here right now.

Zach looked around the train car. Neil sat propped against a window, looking like he was taking a nap. Robbie was messing around with something in his wrist menu. Karen was cleaning her weapon. Anna sat across from him, along with David. The rest of Knight Battalion's commanders were scattered around the car.

Zach wasn't nervous about the situation in the north. Even with their commanders gone, their leadership was still formidable. Zach had left Selene in charge of Black Wolf, and Nora continued her command of Hoplite. Liz had control of Redd Foxx, backed up by Gray. Blake Was in charge of Raven, and that made an effective backbone for Ghost Battalion. They could handle anything that came their way.

No, the bigger issue was that it took the planners away from devising future operations. Ghost Battalion's leadership was fine for now, but many of them should have been planning their next moves in the campaign. Instead, they had to deal with day to day operations, and while they were plenty capable of doing so, it would also delay their later efforts.

Or maybe it bothered him so much because he didn't want to deal with all the chaos. Ghost Battalion's meetings tended to be simple and direct, and Hydra Council meetings tended to be anything but. Zach had a feeling he would need to down several drinks after he logged off.

“Worried?” David asked.

Zach frowned. “Do I look it?”

“A bit, yeah.”

“That's putting it lightly,” Anna said.

“Does this not worry you guys at all?”

Anna shrugged. “Well, it comes with the territory. If we want to be on top, we have to deal with all the baggage that comes with it.”

“I wouldn't consider this baggage. More like a ball and chain.”

“Well, there's not much we can do about it,” David said. “And this is needed. We can't have the smaller companies thinking that they're second class members. They need to have their voice heard, otherwise what makes us any different than Ragnarok?”

“I get that,” Zach said. “But I also think that this is going to devolve into one huge argument.”

“There's not much to discuss, really,” Anna said. “We have one more district to take in Indianapolis, and our battalions have to hold off Ragnarok while that happens. Simple, really.”

“Maybe not quite,” David said. “I don't know a ton of the details, but we've been doing a ton of aerial reconnaissance of the last district. It's going to be tough.”

“How so?” Zach asked him.

“The garrison is huge.”

“Define huge.”

David leaned back in his seat. “Estimates place enemy troop strength within the district between one to three thousand troops, along with armor support.”

“Three thousand? Jeeze,” Zach said. “Are they sure that Dragon and Rogue can handle that?”

“And that's why we're having this meeting,” David said.

“Point taken,” Zach said, and looked back out the window.

A bunch of familiar faces greeted Zach as he entered the council chambers.

“Heard you guys finally took the rest of Green Bay,” Gina said, offering her hand. “That definitely puts us to shame.”

Zach shook her hand. “I wouldn't say that. You've had to take more districts down here.”

“We've also had more troops,” she said.

“Not that many more,” Zach said.

Gina nodded. “Ah, yes. How are those guys working out, by the way?”

“Thorn and Myrmidon? They're working out fine, though they've been out in the field lately. We've done a lot of the heavy work in the city.”

“Yet you're still giving it to them?”

Zach shrugged. “Hey, they're hurting Ragnarok, and that's what we wanted, right?”

“I'd say that's always a good thing,” Bryce said as he walked up.

“Always,” Zach said and shook his hand. “Still raining death from above?”

Bryce laughed. “Yeah, and Marauder owes us a ton. Don't remind Cody of that. He still thinks they could have fought their way out of some of those jams.”

“We could have.”

Bryce turned around and laughed. “Oh, please. You were trapped and about to be annihilated before we saved your bacon.”

Cody approached them. “We had the enemy right where we wanted them.”

“Pounding you into the dust?”

Zach laughed. “Never change, guys,” he said. “I have to go find Yusuf. Anyone know where he is?”

Cody pointed. “Last I knew, he was over at that end of the room.”

Zach nodded. “Thanks, Cody. I'll catch up with the rest of you later.”

Sure enough, Yusuf was at the other end of the room, reviewing a document in his wrist menu. Zach took a seat next to him.

“Did you get the message from Paige?” he asked.

Yusuf nodded. “Yeah, I did. So you found another hull in the dockyard?”

“Yeah, it looks like the same type as
Charon
. It still needs a ton of work, but the hull is completed,” Zach told him. “You have pictures of it, right?”

“A few, yeah.”

Zach opened up his wrist menu and sent Yusuf several files. “Well, here's some more.”

Yusuf opened them up and took a look. “Well, it does look like it's complete. Looks like the engines and the steering might be in place as well. But a lot of the more complicated systems might not be finished. Armament and electronics are probably going to take a lot of time. Plus, there's no bridge, either.”

Zach nodded. “Yeah, Paige said that this was going to be a project. On the bright side, though, we do have cranes and heavy equipment in the dockyard.”

“I heard that from them as well,” Yusuf said. “Wish I could go up there. Messing around with that kind of equipment sounds like it would be a blast.”

“You're welcome any time,” Zach told him.

Yusuf shook his head. “Thanks, but I have a ton of stuff to do here right now. We're putting the final touches on Rogue Battalion's last vehicles, and then we have some more projects to deal with.”

“Ah, so they're finally back to full strength?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, and it took forever. It took us away from a lot of other projects, too. Remember the helicopter schematics that you found in the Decatur district?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that's next on the list. It'll give you guys a proper transport helicopter. One that can carry an entire squad or a good amount of heavy equipment. And we have more aircraft in the works as well. There's a fighter design we're currently building and getting ready to test.”

That was a pleasant surprise for Zach. “So we'll be able to take Ragnarok on in the air?” he asked.

“Hopefully,” Yusuf said. “Though I think that the Ragnarok machines might be better than what we have.”

“Still, it's better than nothing,” Zach said. “We have to plan all of our operations knowing that the enemy has complete air superiority. That's really restrictive. If we can contest that, at least, that gives us a whole lot more options.”

“Like I said, we still have to test it and then build enough to make a squadron,” Yusuf told him. “But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Good.”

The rest of the council assembled and took their seats. Zach found himself sitting next to Yusuf and Anna along with the other founding members of Hydra.

He was relieved to see that the others were mixing freely. Zach had been worried that the alliance was going to devolve into cliques centered around each battalion, but that didn't seem to be the case. Even the Ghost Battalion members, who had been isolated from the rest of them for so long, were intermingling with the others.

Or maybe that separation was exactly the reason why they were being so friendly. Zach liked working with the other battalions, even if he didn't know many of the members very well. That was probably true for the of the other commanders as well.

David stood up and called the meeting to order.

“Welcome, everyone. As I'm sure you're all aware, we're here to discuss operations over the next month, particularly those around Indianapolis. In particular, we want to focus on the capture of the final district.” He looked over at Gina. “We have intelligence as to the enemy's strength.”

Gina stood up and opened her wrist menu. “The enemy in the final district is strong. Estimates on troop strength vary wildly, but my best estimate is around three thousand enemy troops.”

That number caused a considerable stir among the rest of the council members.

Gina held her hand up for silence. “We also know that the garrison has armor support and several fortified positions. Given the size of the enemy force as well as its equipment, I'm afraid that it's going to be hard for Dragon and Rogue to carry the day alone.”

“I agree with that,” Cody spoke up. “We're going to need reinforcements if we want to succeed.”

David stood up again. “The reinforcements will come from Knight Battalion,” he said. “Sacred Sword will be on the front lines with them, along with Jackal and Band of Brothers.”

“That leaves Merlin and Griffon to hold Lerna Bastion with whatever NPC guards are there,” Neil spoke up. “How exactly are they going to do that?”

Zach wondered that himself. Merlin was an infantry company, but they had the least experience out of the entire battalion. Griffon specialized in artillery, and even though they could fight, it wasn't their strength. A disciplined Ragnarok force would crush them.

“Will Ghost Battalion need to provide Lerna Bastion with reinforcements?” Anna asked.

That probably made the most sense. On the other hand, it would weaken their efforts in the north. But there might be no other choice.

“Actually, we would like Ghost Battalion to remain in the north for the time being,” Bryce spoke up.

Anna looked over at him with a bemused look. Zach shared her confusion. How were they going to cover themselves without more troops at Lerna Bastion? There was no way they could hold off a determined attack without reinforcements.

“I'd guess that you want a distraction from us?” Karen asked.

“That's underway, actually,” Bryce said.

“Did you not inform us of something?” Anna asked.

David spoke up with a look on his face that worried Zach. “A rumor is being spread around Old Chicago that our alliance has captured Green Bay.”

Zach tried to contain his shock. “And you're the ones that spread the rumor, is that right?”

To his credit, David answered honestly. “Yes, we did.”

Zach felt livid, but David had the good grace to at least
look
guilty. The rest of them sat there with stone faces.

He finally knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of Hydra's ruthless ways. But in this case, he wasn't sure the decision was the right call.

“Let me get this straight,” Zach said. “You spread a rumor that our alliance is in control of Green Bay right now. Doubtless, Ragnarok will put two and two together after all the raids on their mining groups. That means we're positioned to threaten their rear areas, and that's something they can't ignore. So they'll come after us. Is that what you're hoping for?”

“Yes,” Gina said bluntly. “I'm sorry, but even if we put all of Ghost Battalion at the bastion, there's no guarantee you'd be able to hold off the Ragnarok attack. But if you draw their forces north that buys us extra time.”

“You don't have to stay in Green Bay, either,” Bryce told them. “Once they've moved their forces north you can evacuate the city and return to Lerna Bastion.”

“Evacuate,” Anna said with a cold fury in her voice. Zach had never seen her this angry before.

“It's the most judicious course of action,” Bryce said. “I know you spent a lot of time and effort taking the city, but your goal was to provide a distraction. And you've done that. There's no shame in leaving.”