Werewolf: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 4) (8 page)

“So we can't use one of our best assets because of a few people carrying basic heavy weapons?”

David shrugged. “Hey, it happens in the real world too. Third world militias are still using hundred year old Kalashnikovs, and they'll kill you as well as our modern assault rifles. Or, you can kill an eight million dollar tank with a five thousand dollar landmine.”

“It still sucks,” Nora said.

“Yeah, I really can't blame you there,” David agreed. “But look at the bright side. You'll probably be able to get in on the action once they take the ship.”

“Right,” Nora said, and she turned her attention back to the holographic table. It was all up to them. And like it or not, she needed to trust that they'd pull through yet again.

“We're close,” Javy said.

“We are,” Danny replied.

Only five hundred yards until they reached the rendezvous point. But it was going to be the longest five hundred yards of his life.

Somehow, miraculously, the enemy shells had missed them. There had been several close calls, but Neptune 4 and Neptune 5 were still afloat and operating. Even with the enemy's good aim, their boat pilots had skillfully dodged every single shell that came their way. Once again, Danny had to hand it to Raven. If anyone else had been piloting their boats they would probably be at the bottom of the bay by now.

But he still had the sinking feeling that their luck was about to run out.

“What?” Javy asked, and Danny realized that he was laughing.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I just realized that I had a 'sinking feeling', and I just thought that was funny.”

BAM!

The boat rocked from the force of the explosion, and Danny had to steady himself against the shockwave. A cascade of water showered over them. The shell had missed, but it had landed close. Very close.

“I hate you so much right now,” Javy said. “You had to say 'sinking feeling', didn't you? We're all going to die because you just had to make a stupid pun.”

“Hey, I thought I was a good one.”

“It was awful!”

“Says you.”

“I'll have to agree with him as well,” Ryan said.

Danny's wrist alert went off. “Well, there you go. We're past the waypoint and no one died. Gun the motors!”

Neptune 4 and Neptune 5 pulled away from their pursuer, and Danny got on the line with Zach.

“Wolf Lead, we have a bite. Fang. I say again. Fang.”

Zach looked over at the shape of the enemy vessel, then switched channels.

“All units, code is Fang. Raven, start your attack runs on the ship. Alpha Wolf, follow behind them and hit them while they're reeling. Barghest units, follow me. We're going to give them some cover from a distance.”

“Putting yourself in the line of fire,” Lex commented as the boat started forward. “Bold move. Glad to see we're not the only ones who do it.”

“We can do that when we have good leadership.” Zach said. “Danny or Selene can direct the battle just fine if I go down. Heck, I'd trust Xavier, Javy or Gavin to do it fine as well.”

“Glad to see I rank so highly,” Miko said over the radio.

“Well, I can put you in charge of a unit anytime you want,” he said, knowing full well what the response would be.

“I'll pass, thanks,” Miko replied.

“How are you doing up front?” Zach asked, looking forward. Even though they were on the same boat, it was difficult to hear over the noise of the engine. Thus, they often used their radios to communicate.

“It sucks,” Miko said. “Bobbing up and down plays havoc with my aim.”

“Can you man a gun?”

“I said it sucks, not that I can't do it,” Miko retorted. “I'll be fine when the time comes.”

“Good,” Zach said. He checked the machine gun mount in front of them, then turned back to Lex and Evy.

“Know how to handle a heavy weapons mount?” he asked.

“Never used one before,” Lex said. Evy just shrugged.

Zach nodded. “Alright, just stand by and watch for the time being. We might need you later.”

Hopefully not. Because if they did, things were probably going horribly wrong.

Selene felt the rush of wind as Raven 2 and Raven 5 swooped in low, heading straight for the enemy ship. Their miniguns blazed, throwing out a hail of lead. And as quick as they had appeared, the were gone.

Someone buzzed in on her radio.

“Alpha Wolf, this is Raven 2,” Blake said.

“Go ahead, Raven 2.”

“We took out one of the starboard side autocannons. The one facing the rear quarter. That might be the best angle of approach for you.”

“Copy that, and thanks,” Selene replied. She switched back over to her primary channel. “Pilots, did you catch that? Approach from the rear starboard side and pull up alongside it.”

Neptune 3, 6 and 7 sped toward their target. The gunners on board started laying a torrent of fire on the enemy ship, while her own troops prepared their boarding gear.

It was the best they could come up with on short notice. Gavin had suggested the idea; they took grappling hooks, attached thick rope and then made knots at regular intervals to give them something to grip as they climbed. They weren't the greatest, but they would get the job done.

One of these times their improvised solutions were going to fail them. But this time didn't seem likely. It was a simple rope on a hook, after all. Selene was more concerned about getting from one moving platform to another. Raven said they could maintain a consistent speed that would keep them abreast of the enemy vessel, but if they didn't then Alpha Wolf was going for a swim.

Anyhow, thinking about it too much was going to slow them down. She needed to focus. Grab the rope. Climb the rope. Clear the deck. That's all they needed to do. Nothing more, nothing less.

Their target loomed ahead of them.

“Looks like they're going for it,” Nora said as she watched the blips on the map move.”

“Good luck to them,” David said.

Others were beginning to cluster around the table, watching the battle unfold. There wasn't much to see unfortunately. The only thing to view was the blinking dots, and they told nothing other than the location of the river craft and choppers. For all she knew, the task force could be getting slaughtered at this very moment.

Even so, she couldn't tear her eyes away.

“Fire, and make sure you don't hit anyone on our side!” Zach ordered.

Neptune 1 circled around the bow of the enemy ship and attacked. Machine gun and minigun fire ripped through the air. Bullets clanged off the metal hull. Zach couldn't see the individual enemy sailors well from this distance, but it didn't matter. As long as they kept their heads down, they were doing their jobs.

“Do we want to save the gun?” one of the Raven crew in the bow asked.

“Take it out,” Zach ordered. “We can replace it later.”

“Copy that.”

Zach watched the main gun begin to turn toward them. Apparently several others saw that as well, because several explosions went off, and the gun stopped moving. Three recoilless rifle shots had hit it square in the barrel and turret mount. It wouldn't be operating any time soon.

“Good shots,” Lex called out.

Zach nodded in agreement.

Selene's voice rang out over the radio. “Wolf Lead, we're aboard.”

“Copy that. Boat crews, cease fire! Cease fire!”

“We're making our run in toward the target,” Danny informed him.

“Copy that, Bravo Wolf. Good luck.”

Now it was all up to them.

“Keep moving,” Selene urged her troops. So far two of her three squads had managed to get on top of the deck. Logan's squad was currently moving up to join them.

It had gone better than she had dared to hope, and that was all thanks to Raven. Their boat pilots had performed masterfully, maintaining a constant speed between their own boats and the ship. Climbing up had been a cinch. And when they had reached the top of the rope, there was no resistance. There were enemy sailors aboard, to be sure. The deck was littered with bodies. But Raven had performed several precision attacks, hovering and putting themselves at risk to protect the boarding parties below.

Black Wolf certainly owned them one, because without them they would have been gunned down as they tried to climb over the railing. But now, they could storm the vessel at full strength.

But that might be the most difficult task of all. Selene was glad that they had the schematics of the ship, because the twists and turns of the inside would be challenging without them. Her troops were restricted when it came to weaponry as well. Almost everyone had a carbine, because assault rifles would be too unwieldy in such cramped spaces. The heavies had machine guns, but Selene wasn't sure how useful they would be in close combat. They couldn't use grenades, either for fear of damaging important machinery.

Logan's squad made their way up the ropes, and their transport pulled away. Selene could see Bravo Wolf approaching from the east.

“Raven 2, how does the deck look?” Selene asked.

“As far as I can see, clear,” Blake responded.

“Keep an eye out and cover Bravo Wolf,” she said. “I'm taking my platoon below decks.”

“Copy that. I'll relay it to everyone as well.”

“Thanks Blake.”

“Don't mention it.”

Selene opened up Alpha Wolf's channel. “OK guys, you know the entry points. Alpha 1 takes the bow, Alpha 2 takes the bridge and Alpha 3 takes the stern. Be aggressive, and don't destroy anything that we can't fix. Actually, don't destroy anything, if you can help it.”

“Might be hard, in the middle of a battle,” Gavin commented.

“Just try,” Selene said. “I'm sticking with Alpha 2 for the time being. Call if you need help, and I'll try to funnel reinforcements to you.”

Alpha 2 pushed toward the bridge, stepping past dead enemy gunners and destroyed machine guns. The entrance to the bridge itself was locked up tight.

“Can we destroy something?” Ethan asked.

“Well, duh.”

Ethan smiled. “OK, just asking.”

They fitted shaped charges to the door, right where the locking mechanism sat. One good blast, and they would be able to shove the door open with a simple push.

“Fire in the hole!” Ethan shouted, just before the charges went off. He kicked the door in and was the first inside.

Selene gripped her carbine and plunged into the bowels of the ship.

“That was fast,” Lex commented.

“That's what we do,” Zach shrugged, trying to conceal his sheer glee. The plan was going far better than he could have anticipated.

“They still have to take the ship,” Evy said.

“Boy, you're a downer,” Lex said.

“No, she's right,” Zach said. “That's going to be difficult. And we haven't pulled it off yet.”

“We have Selene leading the charge,” Miko said. They could hear each other without radio equipment now that their craft had slowed.

Zach laughed. “Right. They're dead meat over there.”

“They've got to have some way to defend against boarders,” Evy said.

Miko shrugged. “Against a few commandos, maybe. Against an entire commando platoon? How the heck do you defend against something like that with a crew that size?”

“She's got a point,” Lex said.

Evy took a deep breath. “OK, this is just making me nervous, that's all.”

“Just think about how much ammo it can carry,” Zach said.

He looked back over at the ship. They still had to take the thing, but for him, the worst part of the operation was over. In his opinion, the battle was pretty much over right now. It might take some time, but they had already won.

“Dead!” Ethan shouted over the din. He knelt by the body of one of his fallen troopers

Selene automatically moved up to the front to take her spot. Even though the enemy had been caught off guard, they were putting up ferocious resistance. All of them had submachine guns for the close quarters fight, and the confines of the ship only exacerbated the problem. Alpha 2 had already lost three troopers, and Selene was forced to act as a soldier rather than a commander.

That suited her just fine, however.

An enemy sailor started to peer around the corner, and Selene put a bullet in his head.

“The stairs are right around the corner,” she said over the radio link. “Once we get there it's a simple matter of storming the bridge.”

“That's suicide without grenades,” Ethan said. “They have an angle on us, and I don't think we can throw one up the stairs without getting shot.”