Commando City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 7) (17 page)

But there were too many Valkyries around her. A rifle butt smashed into the side of her neck, knocking her loopy for a moment and sending her even more off balance. Selene tried to regain her bearings when she felt something pierce her side. Then another. Then another. Then another.

She didn't even have time to fall before the world around her went black.

You are KIA
.

“
F
ailure again
, huh?” David asked. He, Zach and Gina looked over the holographic map table, trying to come up with some sort of solution to the latest setback.

“Yeah,” Zach responded, feel the frustration boiling within him.

The rest of the alliance was making progress. Dragon Battalion had three quarters of the St. Francis District in hand, including part of the northern sector. That had allowed Magic Battalion to begin their assault on the Jones Harbor District.

But then there was Ghost, bloodied, beaten and becoming weaker and weaker by the fight. Zach had gone over the numbers from yesterday's absolute disaster, possible worse than the paradrop.

They had lost almost two thirds of their river craft, either destroyed in the dive bombing raids or beached in an attempt to get Redd Foxx ashore. At least the second part had gone relatively smoothly, and they now had a more than a company of troops in Shorewood, based at the Lake Park. But with so many enemies present there was little they could do at the moment except raiding and scouting.

The Gazelle force had managed to link up with the others, running through a gauntlet of intense fire at full speed. That at least meant they still had the long-range radio operational, but Zach wondered just how effective a single vehicle could be. Much to his surprise, Spectre still clung doggedly to the art museum, though how much longer they could hold out was becoming increasingly doubtful.

But the amphibious force had suffered the worst casualties during the fight. Most had been shredded during the dive bombing raid, torn apart by the hail of fragmentation bombs. The few that survived the initial onslaught had been overwhelmed by the subsequent Valkyrie assault and were slaughtered in close-quarters combat.

Zach had the nasty suspicion that they had walked right into an enemy trap. At the very least their enemy had a good contingency plan in place, and it showed. Once again Ghost Battalion was fragmented, wounded and without a clear sense of direction. How were they going to find a way to salvage this?

“I guess we can thank you,” Gina said.

“Thank us how?”

“The last assault in St. Francis. The one that happened yesterday,” David elaborated. “We had to deal with some artillery fire, but nothing too serious. There weren't any challenges to us in the air, so we were able to advance pretty quickly.”

“If there weren't any Ragnarok planes in the air over the district, then why couldn't our fighters have been diverted to our problem?” he snapped.

“Sorry,” David said, his hands up.

Zach took a breath. “Sorry about that. Just frustrated.”

“Well, I don't blame you,” Gina spoke up. “Losing like that has to be tough.”

“That's really not helping me feel any better.”

“At any rate,” David cut in, “you now have a company on the ground along with an understrength platoon. That might give you some options, if they can just expand the beachhead.”

Zach looked back down at the map. “Well, that's going to be tough. They're right between two of the major garrison strongpoints, and if they take out the southern one they're going to have to face the Valkyries.”

“So head north.”

“That's going to come with its own set of problems. If they push north there's only one good landing spot, and that's right next to the university.”

“Isn't that the capture point?” Gina asked.

“Exactly. Having a significant number of troops moving around the area is going to provoke the garrison, and their counterattack forces are going to be a lot stronger than usual.”

“But then you'll end up having to go south, which isn't any better,” David pointed out. “Are there any better choices that come to mind, or is it just pick your poison?”

Zach frowned and looked down at the map again. “There's one way. We could try to perform a helicopter landing at some point, but that's going to be extremely dangerous too. Unless we get a huge amount of air cover then we're going to get jumped by fighters and slaughtered. And since we fly a lot slower in helicopters than in transport planes, it's going to get really bad.”

“But if you got the air cover, could you pull that off?” Gina asked, seemingly interested at the prospect.

“Sure we could, but is that even a possibility or are you just saying things?”

David spoke up. “It's not just a matter of shifting resources. We have to stay on schedule, and a well-timed counterattack could ruin that. Ragnarok's already used a lot of their rocket artillery, so their best weapon against us is their dive bombers. That means we need air cover to counter that.”

“And putting air cover over your forces means that you're protected, and they'll probably look elsewhere.” Zach felt a twinge of anger. “I see. So we're serving as cannon fodder to draw their attention north while you complete your objectives.”

“I wouldn't put it that way-” Gina began.

Zach cut her off. “I was wondering why the military council was so insistent that we keep fighting in the district even with the losses we were taking. Now it makes perfect sense.”

“We still think you can win,” David said.

Zach laughed mirthlessly. “Oh come on, what about the past two attempts makes you think we can win? We lost a huge amount of equipment both times and got completely slaughtered. Do you honestly give us much of a change in the next go around?”

“I do,” David said. “And that's not hyperbole either. You've pulled off crazy stunts in the past, so I'm confident you'll be able to do something this time.”

“Meanwhile, we're taking a pounding,” Zach said. He paused for a moment, mostly to calm himself a bit. “Look, I can see why you'd choose to do it this way. I know we're drawing valuable resources and troops away from the main areas of fighting, and that's probably helping you a lot.”

“That is one of the side effects,” Gina admitted. “Not that we don't think you can take the place, but it's always good to hedge our bets.”

“Right, but this is starting to become a habit, and it's not going over well,” Zach reminded them. “There was the time we were sent up to Green Bay as a distraction force, the time we were deployed as raiders when we were preparing for the Indianapolis attack… Should I keep naming them?”

“No, we get the point,” David said. “So the feeling is that you're being used as expendable cannon fodder?”

“Well, what else would you think?” Zach asked. “We're being thrown into the grinder and taking heavy losses in battles we can't win or the outcome is very doubtful, and we're supposed to take it like that? I realize there's value in being a distraction force, but a lot of the others don't like it. And what am I supposed to do if a bunch of them up and quit?”

“Do you think that's a danger?” Gina asked. “Or is that just speculation for now?”

“We're still solid, but people are getting frustrated,” Zach told her. “It's not just that we're losing. A lot of people feel that we're getting hung out to dry. The plan was way too ambitious in the first place, and we're suffering for it.”

“OK, I get that.”

“So what are we going to do about it? We can't keep going like this, because we're going to be crippled for months if we continue,” Zach argued.

Troop losses hurt and put them out of action for days or weeks, but material losses hurt even more. Ghost Battalion's materiel losses in the last battle had been devastating. The number of river craft destroyed obviously hurt, but the smaller items would begin to put a strain on their logistics system as well. Assault rifles, grenades, ammunition, combat gear, all of those needed to be replaced, and their stocks weren't infinite. A few more battles like this and they could run out of critical supplies at the wrong time.

“It's going to depend on the progress we make in the other districts,” David said flatly. “I'm sorry to say, but capturing the Shorewood District doesn't mean much if we don't get our hands on the other two first. So priority has to go to those ones first.”

That was the answer he feared, but at this point Zach was completely resigned to it. Nothing seemed to be going right for them in the battle for Milwaukee. Black Wolf kept taking blow after blow, constantly coming out the worse for wear. How much more could they take before they completely cracked?

“You got Redd Foxx ashore,” Gina said. “I assume they have enough supplies with them?”

Zach nodded. “Yes, we made sure of that.”

All of their transport craft had been laden down with ammunition and other essential supplies, and Redd Foxx had brought it all ashore when the landed. Before destroying the river craft to prevent their capture, they had also stripped them of weaponry and other salvage. The force in the Lake Park had a significant number of machine guns, along with enough ammunition to keep them going for a while.

“If they have a strong base of operations they can fight a guerrilla war until you're ready to strike back. Hit the enemy wherever they're weak, keep them on their toes, that kind of thing,” Gina said.

“That's one of the reasons I had them go in,” Zach confirmed. “But Ragnarok can get reinforcements, and the garrison respawns right in the district. Killing them is going to only do so much.”

“It keeps them tied down,” David spoke up. “And if Ragnarok has to divide their forces it dilutes their effort. We've made plans for fighting smaller battles. I doubt they anticipated having to fight both you and the NPCs for the district.”

Zach frowned. “We needed more recon work. Aerial photos didn't show us any signs of them being in the district, and that intelligence failure is costing us big time.”

“We'll keep that in mind. But right now we have to focus on winning the fights in front of us,” David said. “I'll give you your orders for now. You're still tasked with securing the Shorewood District, but take it slow. Try to find a way into the district without taking heavy casualties, and then do what you do best.”

Zach felt like dishing out a nasty retort, but he bit his tongue. There was no point in arguing right now, and like it or not he wasn't in a position to make demands.

“I'll do what I can.”

“Thanks. And we'll try to get as much support to you as we can,” David said. He straightened up and headed for the door.

“Good luck,” Gina said before following him out.

Zach looked down at the display for a moment, then opened up his wrist menu. At this point he couldn't think straight. Some time in the outside world might help him focus.

“
M
an
, it's been a while,” Gavin commented before taking a drink.

“Or never, in my case,” Javy added.

No one felt like being in the virtual world right now, so a night off was in order. Selene, Miko and Nora had decided to go out, so that left the rest of them with nothing to do. They elected to hang out at Zach's apartment and drink.

“Drowning our sorrows,” Danny commented lightly before taking a swig of his own drink. “I mean, how screwed up does that sound? We're drowning our sorrows because we got completely destroyed playing a video game.”

“Well, when you put it that way it sounds lame,” Javy said, elbowing.

Zach shrugged. “Well, is it any different from drowning your sorrows when you lost a big game out here?” He gestured to the TV. “Or because we have to watch another bullpen meltdown?”

“Hey, that's a pastime. Watch the Cubs and drink yourself blind to dull the pain.”

“You're making me really glad I'm not much of a baseball fan,” Gavin said.

“You could be a White Sox fan,” Xavier suggested.

“Yeah, I could also walk out in front of a bus,” Danny snorted.

“Funny, I thought that was most similar to being a Cubs fan.”

Zach couldn't quite hide his smile. “He's got you there.”

“Some fan you are.”

“Hey, I'm a fan, but I'm a realist. Somehow, some way the season's not ending well, and I've got a front row seat to the train wreck. At least I don't have season tickets.”

“Why don't you?” Xavier asked. “That seems like something you'd do.”

“Too busy. I have my other job to worry about as well, and that's going to end up eating most of my time outside of the case study,” Zach explained. “Believe me, despite my griping I'd love to see every game, but it just isn't possible right now.”

“How's that going?” Gavin asked. “The project, I mean.”

“About average. This time around they have a defined template thanks to the World at War design, so they can reference that instead of having to build everything from the ground up.”

“Any idea how long it'll be until it's ready to launch?” Javy said.

Zach took a drink before responding. “It's going to be years. Probably at least another one before any real news starts getting out, and then it all depends on how it's progressing. It's a fantasy based one, so that means a different combat system. There's debate on whether they want to add magic, or if it's going to be too much.”

“Too much how?”

“It's one of the problems you deal with when you're making deep immersion virtual worlds,” Zach explained. “You can't make things too outlandish, because the brain is conditioned for the outside world and can't handle extreme changes. So for example, if you made it so that you walked on the sky and had the ground above you that would cause problems because it screws with perception.”

“So it's about a frame of reference?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, that's the way I might put it,” Zach agreed. “It has to fit within that frame of reference, otherwise your brain can't handle it.”

“So how do you determine what is and isn't too outlandish?” Xavier asked.

“Testing, I imagine,” Gavin offered. “Of course, when you're dealing with brain chemistry then things can get screwy pretty quickly.”

Zach nodded. “We try to pare down the ones that definitely don't work, but we do have to test some of the others. That's why we're in the case study, actually. A lot of our medical data is being used as a baseline.”

“So have you seen our data?” Danny asked. “Should I be worried you know all my deep, dark secrets?”

Zach laughed. “Nope, I don't look at the raw data. That's for one of the others to sift through. I see the results, but I don't know where they came from or who experienced them.”