Werewolf: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 4) (27 page)

But Ragnarok wasn't finished. Not by a long shot. More troops surged up the street, this time being careful to hug cover. She heard calls for medics all around her.

Gavin slid in beside her. “I just got a message from Zach. He's coming in our direction with a platoon, if we can hold out for a few more minutes.”

“Doesn't look good, but we can try, at least,” Selene said.

Gavin started get back up. “OK. I'll-”

His words were cut short. Gavin flopped over, stone dead.

Sniper. That was the only way he could have been spotted. There was no way to see them from the street, unless they stood directly in the window. That meant they were in a position with an angle on the room, probably where the could see through the busted roof.

And that probably meant she was next.

Selene looked around for cover, but there was none. The only shelter was the stairwell, and that was too far away.

She ran anyhow, though she knew full well it was a futile gesture.

This was it for her.

“Should we fall back?” Ethan asked.

Danny had to duck to avoid a hail of machine gun bullets. “With these guys right on our backs? There's no way we can do it with just two squads.”

“Stand and fight?”

“More like stand and die, but yeah,” Danny said.

“You're not very motivational,” Ethan said.

“You're welcome to go out and try to find Selene,” Danny offered.

Ethan laughed. “I'll pass, thanks.”

There was little else to laugh about, though. They had at least a hundred, probably more in front of them, and they had no way to escape. Javy and Ryan were picking at the enemy's flanks, but their units were too small to inflict enough casualties. And worst of all, they were running low on ammunition.

Danny fired in controlled burst. After this, he had one box left. Once that was gone he was stuck with a pistol.

And with no way to withdraw, his unit was about to be cut to pieces. If that happened, there was a good chance Ragnarok would take the bridges and cut off the rest of the defenders from the east side of the city. Once that happened, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the city fell.

If they could only stay alive long enough to fall back and resupply. But that wasn't happening. They were about to lose.

“Bravo Wolf, you there?”

“Nora, is that you?”

“It's me. You need help?”

“We need to fall back. We're running out of ammo,” Danny told her.

“Well then, let me take care of it. Get ready to move.”

Danny alerted his troops and chanced a glance out across the street. To his utter shock, he saw an exoskeleton limping down the middle of the street.

“What are you doing!?” he exclaimed.

“Fall back now,” Nora ordered. She lifted her right arm and sprayed the area in front of her with bullets.

“You can't possibly-”

“NOW!” she cut him off.

“Right. Good luck.”

Nora didn't answer him. Her targeting systems identified a whole host of threats in front of her. Several, perhaps a dozen RPG teams were getting into position, and she couldn't kill them all. Oh well.

She blasted away with her minigun and autocannon, trying to keep the enemy suppressed while her comrades made their escape.

There would be none for her. The damage to her leg was critical and worsening by the second. The power was draining out of the suit, and her ammunition stocks were being depleted. She would probably have to abandon the suit in the next ten minutes anyhow.

She was at least going to do some good before that happened. Her presence was a challenge that the enemy couldn't ignore, and all eyes were on her. That gave the others time to escape.

But it also meant her death.

The first RPG slammed into her chest plate, knocking her back. It felt like she had been punched in the gut, but the armor held out. Nora continued to fire.

BAM!

Another RPG slammed into her, and then her left arm was gone. Thankfully it didn't get past the armor, but the autocannon was twisted and useless.

But she still had a weapon left, and she continued to fire.

BAM!

Alarms started blaring inside the suit. There wasn't much she could do about them, though. Her limbs were crippled, her armor was heavily scarred and she was almost out of ammunition. But her radio still worked.

“Bravo Wolf, are you away?”

“We are,” Danny replied.

“Good,” Nora said with a smile.

She was firing off the last of her ammunition when two RPGs hit her square in the chest.

You are KIA.

Selene was sure she was dead when the bullet came flying into the room.

But it passed harmlessly overhead, missing her by a few inches. The impact showered her with plaster, but she was alive. The sniper had missed.

He had
missed?
How was that possible? Selene was almost certain the Wraith was shooting at her, and his aim was hardly something to be taken lightly. His hit to miss ratio was off the charts.

“Are you alright?”

Selene ducked into the stairwell and answered her radio. “Miko?”

“Oh good, you're alive,” she said. “I was worried for a minute that I was too late.”

“The bullet passed over my head,” Selene said. “Does that mean?”

“Yeah, it was the Wraith,” she said. “I got him. Must have hit him just as he was firing.”

“Then I can really thank you for saving my hide,” Selene said.

“Oh, that's not all. You have some company coming your way,” Miko said.

Selene was about to ask what she meant when her alert buzzed.

“Alpha Wolf, this is Wolf Lead. We're coming up on the east side of your position, so don't shoot us.”

Selene couldn't contain her smile. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry, it's hard to cover that distance on foot,” Zach replied. “But that's not all.”

“There's more?”

“Ragnarok looks like they're holding their position,” Miko said.

“There's a reason for that,” Zach informed her.

Selene's alert went off again. It was a radio communication from Anna, set to all channels.

“Attention all forces. Hydra has launched their southern offensive. I say again, Hydra has just launched their southern offensive into Ragnarok territory.”

“Apparently they know it as well,” Miko said.

“They do,” Zach confirmed. “And they know what will happen if they stay here.”

Selene breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the stairwell.

“Guys?”

“Yeah?”

“Let's not do this anytime soon, OK?”

CHAPTER 23

A New Beginning

The railroad had saved them. Flush from their victory in Indianapolis, the southern forces had rapidly moved north by train and massed north of Lerna Bastion. Within a day they were able to launch their attack in conjunction with Ronin Company.

Ragnarok had been forced to withdraw to defend their territory from the onslaught, and Green Bay was still in Ghost Battalion's hands.

But Zach knew they had been very fortunate. Anna had taken the time to calculate their losses during the three days of battle, and they were at almost 300%. Many had been killed two or three times during the fighting. Huge amounts of ammunition had been spent. One of the exoskeletons was gone. Their only ship was at the bottom of the harbor.

They had won, though, and they had their city. That was all that mattered.

The offensive had ground to a halt, though they had still managed to take considerable chunks of enemy territory. There was still a lot of fighting to be done, though, and Ragnarok wasn't going away anytime soon.

Zach pushed those thoughts away. Right now he was going to revel in their triumph. Every single company commander had gathered for the opening of the new Hydra Command center in Indianapolis.

Headquarters was located near the river inside fifty story highrise. The building had been heavily reinforced to protect it from attack, and all of the critical areas were underground. It had everything; armories, meeting rooms, several command centers, and separate wings for the battalions.

But his favorite part was outside, along the riverfront. Flagpoles line the entrance, displaying the colors of each company. Zach could see Black Wolf's emblem fluttering in the breeze.

“So, we finally did it,” Anna said.

“We did,” Zach agreed.

“I heard you guys had quite the time up there,” Cody said.

“Heard you had quite the time down here as well.”

“We all did,” David added. “But that's a story for another day. We have a lot more of them to make.”

Zach looked back at the flags. “And we have a lot more people to make those stories with.”

At the very end, two flags rippled in the breeze. One had a rose and thorns. The other had a Greek soldier.

“So, what are we going to to tomorrow?” Danny asked.

Zach shrugged. “We're going to get used to all the changes. Lucas called a week long ceasefire with us until we can get used to everything that's different.”

“That seems a lot more honorable than I'd expect. From anyone, not just him,” Xavier said.

“It's no fun if all we do is take cheap shots,” Selene said.

Nora agreed. “It is a game, after all.”

Zach leaned back in his chair and took a drink. For the first time in forever, the world was gone. It would be back tomorrow, once the patch had been completed. And tomorrow, none of them were going to be the same.

“It's going to be weird, not having classes,” Javy said.

“It will be,” Nora said.

“The other stuff interests me more,” Gavin said. “Having actual weather systems and changing seasons? Taking away the level system?”

“The level system no one uses?” Miko said.

“Yeah, that might not be that big of a change,” he said.

“It'll be different, that's for sure,” Danny said.

Zach nodded in agreement. For over a year, they had struggled and fought inside the old world. They had triumphed, they had lost, but most importantly, they had enjoyed themselves. But now that old world was fading away, to be replaced by a new one, and Zach couldn't help feeling a bit nostalgic.

Things were about to change. But he would still have his comrades, and they would still have the vast, wondrous world to explore.

And the beast inside of him would be free to roam alongside its packmates.

THE END

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