Commando City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 7) (10 page)

“Right. We should be good for now. Even if this was a real fight and they were making a push, we could still hold the zone until backup arrived.”

“OK then. Thanks.” Nora switched radio channels. “Yusuf, you there?”

“I'm here,” he said. “And I'm really not cut out for this.”

“How bad was it?”

“It's one thing to hear about it. It's another thing to be on the receiving end of it. Your guys are
fast
. We barely had enough time to get properly organized before they were right on top of us.”

“Is it worth continuing your opposition?”

“Nah. We're done, and we know it.”

Nora looked over at Zach and Anna, who both nodded.

“We have the drop zone and are down safely,” Zach said. “Now it's just a matter of getting the rest of them on the ground.”

“We just need to make sure that the rest of the battalion can make it to the ground safely,” Anna added. “But you're all set.”

Nora nodded, feeling a bit of satisfaction inside her. Their mission might be tough. Some might say it was a fool's errand, or an insane gamble. But after this drop, she felt confidence growing inside her. No matter what odds they might face, she knew the battalion could pull it off.

Now it was just a matter of performing when it counted.

A
rgonaut
.

A fitting name for their operation, Zach thought. They were about to embark on an adventure that some might call a fool's errand, far from home and facing a myriad of dangerous foes. It would certainly be tough, but if they managed to pull it off they'd add yet another legendary battle to their name.

But Argonaut was only part of the overall plan. Ghost Battalion would lead the way during the offensive, dropping today. While they were attacking the Shorewood District, Dragon Battalion would launch a simultaneous assault into the St. Francis District to the south, aiming to catch the Ragnarok defenders by surprise and quickly overrun them. Once that was finished, Magic Battalion would follow up with another attack into the Jones Harbor District. If all went well the Hydra Alliance would have control of over half the city within the week, including all of the shoreline.

Zach remained somewhat skeptical that the other units could pull off their objectives in a timely fashion, but that wasn't his concern right now. Whether they could win or not was irrelevant if Ghost Battalion didn't take the Shorewood District, and they needed timing and precision in order to accomplish that. Any distractions could prove to be their undoing, so he needed to focus on the task at hand.

Zach glanced around the hold of the Colossus, past the pair of Gazelles, past the supply pallets toward the rear ramp. Once again the command staff was going in with the armored support, deploying with ram air parachutes. They could land on target with precision and then have their vehicles up and running within a few minutes, even if they landed away from the main force.

Spectre would lead the charge into the district, deploying with ram air parachutes to secure the drop zone and eliminate any antiaircraft guns that might cause them serious trouble. After they landed the main assault force would follow. Black Wolf came first, followed by Barghest and then Redd Foxx.

Raven Flight wouldn't be taking part in the battle today, but if the rest of the battalion was able to secure a large enough zone then they would deploy several Hornet gunships to be based within the district. That way, they could take off and go after targets at a moment's notice.

He leaned back against the side of the hold, trying to clear his mind. So many things could go wrong. They come under heavy fire from the ground. Spectre could be unable to properly secure the drop zone. The winds could suddenly shift and blow them off course. The enemy opposition could be stronger than they thought.

It didn't matter, though. Ghost Battalion was committed to the attack, and they would have to see it through to the end. Doubt and nerves would only serve to slow him down, make hm second guess himself. Besides, Black Wolf had seen far worse and come out on top. What was one more borderline insane mission?

“
A
ll section commanders
, this is Spirit Lead. We're coming into the drop zone now. Some resistance, but we should have it secure when you drop.”

Selene listened to the message with some satisfaction. This might be a difficult mission, but at least she wasn't going to get killed in her harness like last time. The Colossus buzzed with activity as her platoon got to their feet and hooked their static lines. After one combat drop and several weeks of practice this was second-nature to them all.

And yet, she could feel the atmosphere around her. Alpha Wolf was one of the most veteran platoons in the entire alliance and had seen plenty of combat, but there was still a sense of uncertainty, of nerves. Everyone remembered how the last jump had gone, and even with all the preparations and precautions in place it was hard to wipe the memory from their minds.

“Two minutes until drop,” the pilot spoke over the radio link.

Selene took a deep breath and then made one last check of her kit. No matter how they might feel, they were committed. They just had to make the leap and hope for the best.

“
T
hink
we can pull it off?”

Danny frowned at the question. “Of course we can pull it off. Why would we even be trying this if we couldn't pull it off?”

Javy shrugged. “Well, there was that one time in Green Bay...”

“That was different,” he said, though he could see the point. Hydra Command hadn't been hesitant to put them in situations where victory was impossible, so long as they occupied the enemy. They'd been sent to take Green Bay to threaten Ragnarok's holdings in the north near Madison, but Hydra Command had never expected them to hold it. Their enemy had been too numerous, too overwhelming.

“Look on the other side, though,” Danny said. “We managed to hold Green Bay when no one else thought we could. Sure, we had to abandon it eventually, but when it counted we pulled it off.”

Javy laughed. “And it only took a full-scale mutiny to do it. Are you planning on doing that again?”

“Well, according to Zach there was some grumblings about just that, but they're not planning on it. We just have to do our jobs and take this place.”

“Easier said than done,” Xavier chimed in. “Although with our insanity I really shouldn't be surprised about anything we pull off.”

Danny grinned at him. “See, what's there to worry about?”

“One minute until drop,” the pilot suddenly broke in.

“Well,” Javy replied, “there's that.”

“
L
ooks
like Spectre has the drop zone secure,” Anna said, looking at her wrist menu map. “That was fast.”

“Compliments to them,” Liz said.

Nora nodded and looked down at her own menu. “Honestly, we shouldn't be that surprised. Both them and Barghest have been gaining a lot of ability lately. And that's good, isn't it?”

“Maybe we won't get stuck spearheading every assault,” Zach said from his spot leaning against the side of the hold.

“Right,” Anna nodded. “And we could also look into adding more companies to the mix, since we can consider the newbies veterans now.”

Nora felt a bit of happiness from that. She had helped with the founding of the company and temporarily served as a senior officer until the others gained enough experience to take over. Now they were coming into their own, able to equal the abilities of the founding companies.

She was about to say something else when the radio link started going wild.

“Ghost Command, Ghost Command, please respond. Ghost Command, this is Spirit Lead. This is urgent. Please respond.”

Anna frowned and replied. “Go ahead.”

“We've got trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“I haven't completely verified it yet, but… Wait. One second.”

Nora could hear radio message over her own link, and noted the sounds of intense gunfire in the background, along with shouts and a few explosions. Was the enemy counterattacking already? And if they were, what were they doing to make that kind of racket? NPC troops weren't pushovers, but she didn't think they'd be putting up that tough of a fight.

“Neil?” Anna asked. “What's going on?”

“We're coming under heavy fire from unidentified hostiles. They're not NPC troops.”

Anna frowned again. “Not NPC troops?”

“I think they might be Ragnarok.”

A stunned silence filled the hold. The quartet looked at each other.

“Are you sure?” Anna asked.

“Like I said, they're unidentified, but it fits their style. I don't think it's line infantry either. They act like special forces.”

“Try to hold the drop zone until we get there. If-”

The pilot's voice suddenly cut in. “Enemy contact. Enemy contact. Taking evasive maneuvers. Taking evasive maneuvers.”

Nora barely had time to brace herself against the side of the hold before the Colossus banked violently to port.

And then everything went wrong.

S
elene barely had
time to grasp what was happening before a series of holes appeared in the fuselage. Several of her troops lined up and preparing for their jump were killed instantly, and others were thrown off balance by the sudden shock.

She went to steady herself against the side of the hold, but then the Colossus lurched to the right, sending her flying and knocking the breath from her lungs for a moment. Selene desperately tried to regain her bearings.

The Colossus shuddered again, and this time a huge chunk of the upper roof blew away. Even over the chaos unfolding in the hold, the howl of wind and the drone of the engines, she could hear the fuselage start to groan. From the sound of things, it was going to have a hard time taking the stress.

And then something streaked overhead, blocking out the light for a moment. It took a second, but Selene suddenly realized what had passed by them.

Despite the wild motion of the plane, she steadied herself and opened up her wrist menu, then activate the open channel.

“All units, all units, we have enemy fighters in the area. All units, we have enemy fighters in the area. Abort the drop. A-”

She never got the chance to finish her sentence. More shells slammed into the Colossus, tearing out huge chunks of siding and causing carnage. A few Selene braced herself for another impact, but then the world around her started spinning.

The wind whipped around her, and Selene suddenly realized she wasn't in the plane anymore. As she struggled to right herself, objects started falling past her. Debris, pieces of kit, bodies…

The Colossus was raining down around her in pieces. And if she didn't get her chute opened in time, she was going to make a very nasty smear when she hit the ground.

Z
ach heard
the call go out over the radio and quickly opened up his wrist menu to determine their position. They were still over the lake, headed toward the drop zone. The next series of transports was right behind them. One of Barghest's planes was too close to abort without having to make a turn over the city, but the rest of them could probably pull out.

“Should we abort?” he asked.

“If there's fighters and opposition on the ground, we have to,” Anna said.

That would mean leaving most of the first wave to die, but the couldn't afford to take heavy losses. Not when their chances of success had plummeted so rapidly.

“If we're going to do it, we need to do it now,” Liz said.

Zach was still mulling over their options when his own choice was made for him. He felt impacts, a bit of pain, and then his vision went completely black.

“Oh, come on,” he groaned as the red letters flashed up in front of him.

You are KIA.

N
ora saw his death
, but they had bigger concerns at the moment. Anna immediately got on the radio and started broadcasting to the rest of the battalion.

“All units, mission is compromised. Abort and return to base. Abort and return to base.”

“Doesn't help us,” Liz commented as she glanced out one of the windows.

Nora looked as well. Sure enough, an enemy fighter was streaking toward them, guns blazing. One of the engines took several hits and started smoking.

“There's no way we're getting out of this without getting shot down,” Liz said. “We have to drop.”

“What good are we going to do with just a few of us?” Nora asked.

“Well, then we at least have to get on the ground so we can destroy the Gazelles. Do you really want to hand them over to Ragnarok? There's no guarantee that they'll be destroyed in a crash.”

“Fine then.”

“Let's go,” Anna said. She contacted the pilot and instructed him to lower the rear ramp.

Like it or not, they had to make their jump as soon as possible. If they survived that long, Nora thought grimly.

“
W
e've lost Alpha Wolf
,” Xavier said, looking at his wrist menu. “Should we abort?”

Danny thought for a moment, his mind racing as he tried to figure out a solution. The order to retreat had gone out, but given their current position he doubted they would make it out of the combat zone alive. The Colossus might be relatively fast compared to a helicopter, but it was a fat, lumbering target for a fighter. More than likely they'd all be killed as they tried to flee over the lake.

That left them with only one choice.

Danny activated his radio and contacted the pilot. “Open the ramp.”

“We're not over the target yet.”

“Open the ramp anyhow,” he insisted. They were at least over dry land.

This wouldn't be ideal, but they had little choice. It was either jump now and hope for the best, or continue on in what was essentially a flying coffin. He activated his radio again.

“As soon as the ramp opens up, get out as quick as you can,” he told the rest of his platoon. “Once we're on the ground, form up as best as you can and we'll go from there.”

Enemy fighters hadn't targeted them yet, but at this rate it was only a matter of time. They needed to get out of the plane and on the ground, fast. Some of them were going to get hung up on buildings and other obstacles, but jumping now at least gave them all a fighting chance.

The ramp started to go down, too slow for his liking. That was probably just because of nerves, though. Danny glanced out the window. Still no signs of fighters, but that could change in a hurry.

The rest of Bravo Wolf stood to attention, restless but not panicky. There would be no mad rush out of the aircraft, at least, and he was thankful for that. If they could keep their cool, then they could attempt to rally no matter the situation.

But there was no more time to think. As soon as the ramp locked into position, he gave the order.

“Bravo Wolf. Let's MOVE!”

T
ossing
, tumbling, turning. Selene struggled to right herself in midair, buffeted by the wind, air resistance, gravity and her own momentum from being tossed clear of the transport. If she couldn't gain at least a bit of control over her descent then she was probably going to get tangled in her chute when she deployed it. Once that happened there would be no going back, and all she'd have to to look forward to was more retraining.