Deception City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 5) (13 page)

S
elene emerged
from the water to see Gavin’s squad forming a perimeter with their weapons out. She quickly pulled herself and her waterproof case up onto the pier and settled down behind cover. Her rebreather came off first, and then she opened up her case and removed her assault rifle, vest, helmet and webbing. A few seconds later she was ready for a fight.

“Clear?” she called over the radio to Gavin.

“Clear right now,” he responded. “We knifed two guards, but it doesn’t look like the rest of them know we’re here. Too focused on the other attacks.”

Selene could hear the sound of intense gunfire coming from the south as she removed her hood. Dragon and Sacred Sword would pull most of the enemy’s attention in their direction for now, and those who didn’t had even more problems to deal with.

Out on the lake Barghest’s boats raced back and forth, laying down heavy suppressive fire on the beach. From this distance Selene couldn’t get a good look at the enemy positions, but doubtless they were moving up reinforcements to throw back a landing attempt. Ragnarok couldn’t afford to fight on two fronts at once, and the best spot to stop an amphibious assault was to stall it on the beaches and then throw it back into the lake.

But while that was happening, Alpha Wolf could consolidate their position and provide the rest of the battalion with a clear landing area, free from enemy fire. In fact, their boats could simply pull up to the pier and offload. The troops inside wouldn’t even have to get their feet wet.

They needed to hurry though, Selene thought as more and more of her platoon came surging out of the water. If Ragnarok figured out they were here they would do everything in their power to crush the intruders. Alpha Wolf’s position afforded them too much of an advantage, one that could easily swing the tide of battle. Their enemy couldn’t afford to let them have it without a fight.

“Good work,” Zach after he had emerged from the water and retrieved his gear.

“Still have a long way to go,” Selene told him. “We should expand the perimeter to provide some distance between the front lines and the offload point. Don’t want them to get sniped as they try to get onshore.”

“Have we decided this is the place?” Miko asked as she joined up with them.

Selene shrugged. “It seems like our best choice. We have no opposition here, so why bother trying to get ashore against the teeth of the enemy defenses? Let’s get as many troops as we can here and make a push into the district.”

Zach nodded. “Agreed, but let’s try to keep ourselves unnoticed for as long as possible.”

“Right.” Selene switched to the Alpha Wolf channel. “Everyone set?”

Gavin, Ethan and Logan all confirmed their squads were out of the water, armed and ready to fight.

Selene opened up her wrist menu and marked three locations on the map, then sent them to her squad commanders.

“Gavin, hold center. Logan, spread toward the south. Ethan, north,” she ordered.

“Where do you want us?” Nora asked.

“Preferably in the rear. Do you mind directing traffic?” Selene asked. “Sorry if that doesn’t sound exciting.”

“Hey, it’s necessary,” Nora said. “The faster we can get everyone ashore, the faster we can start pushing inland.”

“Gives us time to coordinate the assault with the southern forces too,” Zach added.

“Can I make a suggestion?” Miko cut it.

“What?” Selene asked.

A waypoint appeared on her map.

“See that location?” Miko said. “There’s a crane. Looks like it’s decrepit, but it’ll make a good vantage point. I’ll be able to see everything around for miles.”

“And shoot them as well, I’m guessing,” Selene added.

“If that opportunity presents itself.”

“I’m going to say yes,” Zach said. “Get up there and get us some information.”

“Good luck,” Selene said. “Gavin, I’m headed up to join your squad.”

“Copy.”

Gavin certainly didn’t need babysitting. Out of her three squad leaders he had the most skill and experience, possessing a certain level of daring as befitting a former assault class. Selene was no coward herself, but her actions sometimes paled in comparison to what Gavin was willing to do. He’d throw himself into fights with reckless abandon, trusting his reflexes and skills to see him through. Sometimes he made it, and sometimes that got him killed. Either way, he could be depended on to make an impact.

But Selene wanted to be where the fighting would be thickest, which she guessed would be the center of their positions. She might be platoon commander, but she had been a soldier long before she had ever held a leadership position. Selene had to itch to fight, and her platoon definitely needed her. Even at full strength they didn’t have huge numbers.

“All Alphas, if you run into enemy patrols try to knife them,” Gavin warned. “We don’t want any more attention.”

Sage advice, Selene agreed. She gripped her own gun and made her way toward the front of Gavin’s squad. Most of them let her pass by, but Gavin stopped her two from the front.

“Sure you want to expose two commanders like this?” he said. “Maybe you should think about heading back?”

Selene shot him a look. “Bite me.”

Gavin gave a quiet laugh. “Just a suggestion.”

Their scout on point, Lyla, suddenly held up her hand to stop their advance, then gave a signal in sign language. Enemy patrol. Three of them. A second later they appeared around the corner.

They didn’t stand a chance.

Lyla quickly grabbed one and stuck him with her knife, stabbing right between the clavicle and neck. Gavin lunged and caught the second one square in the throat with his own blade.

The third started to raise his weapon, opening his mouth to call for help. Three Black Wolf troops were on him in a flash. One stunned the unfortunate Ragnarok trooper with the butt of his gun, the second helped wrestle him to the ground, and the third stabbed him while her comrades held him down.

Quick, merciless, brutal. That was their M.O. for knife attacks, and they weren’t going to deviate from that ethos. Ragnarok would do the same thing in their place, and both sides knew it. Viciousness ruled the day.

“Looks like we’re here,” Gavin commented as they continued pressing forward.

Selene glance down at her map and nodded. They had perfect location to hunker down and form a perimeter among the buildings of the dockyard. Alpha Wolf might not have enough troops to form a completely cohesive line, but they didn’t need it. As long as they could buy enough time for their comrades to get ashore, they were golden.

She activated her radio. “Wolf Lead, we’re in position.”

“Copy that. Ethan and Logan have reported they’re in position as well.”

“Miko, anything on your end?”

“A lot of Ragnarok troops scrambling around, but they’re focused on the beach and the southern flank.”

Selene nodded. “Then we’re golden.”

“Right,” Zach agreed. “We’re signaling the rest of the battalion. Hold the perimeter till reinforcements arrive.”

“Roger that,” Selene replied. They might be all clear for now, but sooner or later their enemies would figure out what they were up to. Once that happened, all manner of hurt would descend on them.

They’d be ready.

A
s soon as
the order was given Nora had jumped on the channel to battalion command.

“Ghost Lead, Ghost Lead, come in,” she called out.

“Ghost Lead.”

“Anna, we have a breakthrough,” Nora told her. “We’ve established a perimeter around one of the piers and can start unloading troops on it immediately. I’d suggest exploiting it as soon as possible before Ragnarok figures out what we’re up to.”

“I agree. I’ll keep Karen at the beach keeping them busy there. Spectre will come in first, followed by Redd Foxx.”

“Copy,” Nora replied. That made the most sense. Spectre was the smallest unit in the battalion, but that meant they could offload quickly and have a complete unit on the ground in short order.

“Too bad the landing craft aren’t going to get much use,” Zach commented. “Pity that they spent so much time training for a beach assault, and now they just have to climb out over the sides.”

“I’m sure they’d rather do than have to run down the ramp into withering enemy fire,” Nora replied. “Besides, who says that training won’t come in handy later? There’s plenty of beaches around here.”

“Eh, point taken.”

Nora switched channels again. “Neil, Liz, you see my marker on the map?”

“Yup,” Neil replied.

“You’re on the end of the pier, right?” Liz asked.

“Yes, that’s me. We have a beachhead. Neil, you’re coming in first. Land your troops at the end of the pier and we’ll direct you to the spot on the front lines. Liz, follow them in with Redd Foxx after they’ve offloaded.”

“Copy that.”

Nora switched channels. “Karen, you get your orders from Anna?”

“I did,” Karen confirmed. “We’ll do our best to keep them distracted.”

“I have no doubt about that,” Nora replied with a smile. Having been a part of Barghest Company in the past, she could certainly vouch for their determination.

But that alone wouldn’t win a battle, Nora thought to herself as she watched the landing craft approaching their position. They needed numbers as well.

“
A
lpha Wolf
, we’ve got company,” Logan said over the radio. “At least an enemy platoon, probably more.”

“Just infantry, or do they have support?” Selene asked.

Logan tried to respond, but his words were suddenly cut off by a series of explosions in the background. His channel remained open, though he wasn’t dead, at least.

“Sorry,” he said over the sound of gunfire. “They’ve brought up an auto grenade launcher. Other than that it’s mostly infantry.”

“Roger. Sit tight and I’ll get reinforcements to you as soon as possible.”

“Thanks.”

Selene switched her radio channel. “Zach, we need to get reinforcements to Logan pronto.”

“Got it. Spectre’s offloading now. I’ll have Neil head that way. How’s the rest of the line holding up?”

“Holding steady,” she replied. “Doubtless we’ll have enemy troops headed our way soon, but we should have a little bit of time before-”

The word had scarcely left her mouth when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. A second later a squad of enemy troops came around the building in front of them, heading in the direction of the pier.

“Alpha 1, open fire,” Gavin ordered.

Shots tore into the Ragnarok squad and decimated them in short order, but that only served to kick the hornet’s nest. A mere second later a deluge of bullets came flying back at them, forcing some of the squad to take cover.

“Selene?”

“Forget that last statement,” she replied. “We’re under heavy attack in the center as well.”

“Copy. Hold tight. Dragon’s starting to break through to the south, and I can get reinforcements to you soon. Just hold out for a few more minutes.”

Encouraging word, Selene thought to herself, but did they really mean anything? They had a numerous, relentless enemy before them. Just holding them off wouldn’t be a simple task. It didn’t matter, though. At this point their choices were twofold: fight, or die.

Or maybe, she mused darkly, there was a third option: fight
and
die.

N
ora gave
Liz a hand up as her squad disembarked onto the pier. “Selene’s under heavy attack. Get your squads up to reinforce the line.”

“Got it, but you might want to check in with Anna,” Liz warned. “There’s an argument going on right now, and it might be good to have some input from ground level.”

“What kind of argument?” Zach asked.

Liz motioned for her troops to advance and stepped to the side to clear room for the next squad.

“They’re debating whether to sustain the attack or halt once we get into a good position.”

“That’s not going to go over well with some people,” Zach commented.

Maybe not, Nora thought, but it still might be the best course of action, especially if they were suffering heavy casualties. Even if they could take the district relatively quickly, they probably couldn’t hold it against a determined counterattack.

And the news from the front lines didn’t sound promising. Alpha Wolf was holding out with help from Spectre, but their casualties would rise dramatically if they were forced to leave cover and fight out in the open. Consolidating their positions and gathering their strength for a planned push might be their best option at the moment.

She looked over at Zach. “Maybe you should see about that? We’ll handle things on the ground.”

“Thanks. I’ll try to get you a resolution as soon as I can,” he replied before jogging off.

Nora contacted Miko over the radio. “Can you see enemy troop movements from your position?”

“Yup. The southern force is through the breach. Sacred Sword’s pushing the enemy back on their end of the front. Dragon’s doing the same, though some of the spots are giving way faster than the others.”

“Which ones?”

“The part from the breach extending toward our landing area,” Miko informed her.

Nora opened her map and took a look at the lines. Just as she suspected, the Ragnarok positions giving way were the ones most in danger of being flanked by Ghost Battalion’s landing on the eastern shore.

“I wonder,” she said half to herself.

“Wonder what?”

“Eh, nothing,” Nora said. “Keep tabs on them.”

If her hunch was correct, they’d find out soon enough.

Z
ach had butted
in on the radio conversation to find Anna playing referee in an argument between David and Cody. Surprisingly, David was the one advocating a continued attack, while Cody wanted to stop and consolidate their position. On second thought, Dragon Battalion had to use such tactics in their attempt to take Indianapolis. It stood to reason he’d fall back on them when faced with a tough foe.

“They’re retreating. We have them on the run, and we should press the advantage,” David argued.