Deception City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 5) (14 page)

“Are they running or falling back?” Cody countered. “There’s a pretty big difference. We could be running into prepared defenses.”

“Which we’ll run into sooner or later. Better to take them out now than to let them recover.”

“Is it worth smashing ourselves into a brick wall without good scouting or a good plan?”

“How are your casualties?” Anna asked.

“Noticeable,” Cody told her. “Enough that I’m leery of losing any more.”

“We’re giving them the initiative,” David said.

Zach took a quick look at the map, which showed advances in several places. However, Ragnarok was holding in others, particularly along the flanks. If he had to guess, it looked like they were trying to shorten the length of the front they had to defend.

He cut in on the conversation. “We’re getting heavy resistance on our end. By the time we’re ready to launch our attack it’s going to be next to impossible to move. Even if we do push them out of their forward positions, it’s going to cost us big time.”

“That’s my problem,” Cody said. “I think we can take them, sure, but are we going to have enough troops left to hold them off if they hit us with a counterattack? They have troops in some of the other districts.”

“I still think we can pull through without taking too many casualties,” David said.

“That’s a pretty big gamble,” Cody pointed out.

“I’m inclined to agree with him,” Anna said. “I think we can make the push, but it’s too exposed to a counterattack. Let’s take the ground they give us and regroup.”

David made a disappointed sound. “If that’s the consensus, I can’t really argue. I see your point, at least.”

“Good,” she said. “Can you give me updated locations of your units? I’ll get a coherent line organized, since I’m not commanding on the ground right now.”

Zach didn’t have anything left to contribute to the conversation, so he switched radio channels and contacted both Selene and Nora.

“They’re stopping the attack,” he told them. “Anna’s drawing up a location for our forward positions. How are you holding up?”

“A lot better since Redd Foxx got here,” Selene said.

“Good. Hold position for now. I’m going to send Barghest around the southern end to link up with Dragon once we get them ashore.”

“You’re in command now?” Nora asked.

“Seems that way,” Zach said. “Here on the ground, at least.”

Not that he had much to do, since the battle was winding down. They had their foothold in the city, but exploiting that was going to take a lot of time and effort.

This had been little more than a prelude. The real fight was yet to come.

S
wish
!

“Ha! Perfect shot!” Danny yelled out, pumping his fist.

“A broken clock’s right twice a day,” Selene snarked at him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ms. Brick,” he retorted. “How many free throws have you missed today? At least I’m shooting threes.”

That elicited a chorus of laughs from the other players.

“Never change, you two,” Zach said as he moved under the hoop to grab the basketball.”

Xavier waved for the ball. “So, how’d it go on your end, guys?”

“I’d say reasonably well,” Miko told him as she grabbed the relay from Xavier.

“Define reasonably well,” Javy said. He moved to block her path.

“We didn’t lose?”

“We didn’t win either,” Selene pointed out. “Ragnarok stopped us only a little way past the beaches.” She made a move and plucked Miko’s pass out of the air.

“You mean our own command stopped us,” Gavin said. “We could have gone further.”

“Could have gotten shot up a lot as well,” Zach pointed out. “We had our reasons for stopping.”

Danny moved to cover Xavier. It was a tough task, considering he gave up several inches of height to him. He managed to tip the incoming pass, causing a mad scramble for the ball. Gavin managed to come out of the scrum with possession.

“But now we’re going to have to grind it out over the long haul,” Gavin said. “That’s going to be tough, especially against Ragnarok.”

Nora took a pass from him and sprinted down the court. “Yeah, we know that,” she replied as she tried to find an opening around Selene.

“David argued for continuing the attack, actually,” Zach explained. “But there was too much risk of being thrown back by a counterattack and losing a bunch of equipment and troops for nothing. Better to take our time and get it right than to go off half-cocked and have a disaster on our hands.”

“OK, I can see that,” Gavin agreed. He relayed a pass from Nora over to Danny.

Xavier moved to block his path, but Danny suddenly stopped his forward movement and made a snap shot from behind the three point line.

Swish!

“Nothing but net!” he yelled out, pumping a fist in the air. “In the zone!”

“What did you eat for breakfast today?” Xavier asked with a broad grin on his face.

“I eat victory, because I’m a champion,” Danny replied with his own grin.

Javy burst out laughing. “Dude, that might be the corniest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say.”

“I thought it was pretty good,” Danny remarked. “Anyone else? Anyone? No?”

“Never change, Danny,” Zach said, trying to suppress a laugh.

“I never plan to,” he replied. “What would you do without me?”

“It would be a lot less interesting without you that’s for sure,” Selene said.

Danny took on an air of mock surprise. “What’s this? A compliment from you in the middle of a basketball game? Mark your calendars, everyone. This is a historic date.”

Selene rolled her eyes as she went for the ball. “Oh please…”

“He has a point, you know,” Zach said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you compliment an opponent when you’re in the middle of a game.”

“Not you too.”

“Ha, your own teams turning on you,” Danny laughed.

“Not turning on her, just making an observation,” Zach said. “Besides, we still need to win.”

“Now that’s more like it,” Selene said with a smile.

“Come to think of it, what’s the score?” Nora asked.

Zach frowned. “I haven’t been keeping track.”

“Neither have I,” Danny said.

One by one, the others said the same thing. All eyes turned toward Selene, who gave them all a sheepish look.

“Um, I haven’t been keeping track either,” she said.

Danny decided not to make any snide comments about that. Selene had always been extremely competitive, but something must be taking her mind off that aspect of the game right now. Maybe it was their fight in World at War, or maybe it was something else. Either way, he decided not to pry.

Besides, they had decided to play basketball today less as a competition and more as a reason to go outside and stretch their legs. Winning and losing meant even less than usual. Most of them just welcomed that chance to get out and do something physical.

Being required to play a virtual world MMO for eight hours a day sounded like a dream job, and it was, but there were times that it could become taxing. Sometimes you just wanted to get up and go outside, enjoying the heat or cold, stretching your legs and just being active. Ideal conditions were great most of the time, but sometimes it was good to go outside into the imperfect world and experience it in all its glory.

Scrapes, bruises, sweat, muscle fatigue, all of those experiences were just a shadow of themselves in the virtual world. That might sound like a dream come true, but what was the point of striving to overcome something that didn’t actually hurt? Sure, they could have fun, and there was some sense of accomplishment, but nothing could beat spending blood, sweat and tears in the real world to accomplish a goal.

But goals in the virtual world could have their meaning as well. If they devoted their time and effort toward them, then of course they wanted to accomplish them. Humans needed a purpose in life, even if it was the most arbitrary goal with only a hint of real meaning. That’s why he had kept up with his studies and finished his philosophy doctorate, even when he didn’t need it. That had been his goal when he started out, and he wanted to finish it, no matter how superfluous it might be now.

A question popped into his mind. “Are we going to get shifted back to Milwaukee?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” Zach said. “They want a mobile force to deal with possible Ragnarok attacks along the other parts of the front. That probably leaves you guys as the best bet.”

“And they’ll probably want Sacred Sword back as well,” Nora added. “They have to know by now that we weakened part of the line for the district attack, so they may be looking to exploit that opportunity.”

By now everyone had stopped playing and joined in on the conversation.

“That’s going to make our job pretty difficult,” Gavin said. “You can’t just pull a hundred troops off the line and expect nothing to happen.”

“That goes both ways, though,” Nora pointed out. “And what’s the point of grabbing the district if Ragnarok punched through our lines to the west and cuts us off?”

“It’s going to be a grinding fight,” Selene said.

“That means I get to hunt, though, right?” Miko asked happily.

“You and everyone else,” Selene said. “Must be a sniper’s dream.”

“Oh yeah, it is.”

Danny could certainly see the appeal. Sneaking through the damaged and destroyed buildings of a city, stalking unwary prey before finally putting a bullet into them was probably quite the thrill. In fact, given the elimination of classes he might be able to learn those same skills and experience the same thing.

Or maybe not, he thought to himself. He could probably learn how to shoot a sniper rifle, but stealth would always be his nemesis. Danny knew he’d never be anything more than passible, and that was fine with him. His real skill lay in providing fire support with all manner of heavy weapons, and that was good enough for him right now.

“So the company is going to be divided again?” Xavier asked.

Zach nodded. “Yeah, I think we’re going to work it like last time. Platoon commanders will generally have autonomy to command as they see fit, with just general oversight from company command.”

“Shouldn’t be much of a change. We only pretend to listen to you to humor you,” Selene said lightly.

Zach smiled. “Oh, you might not want to be saying that. Because you’re going to be the one with me looking over your shoulder this time.”

Danny had to laugh at that commented. The last time they had split their forces Zach had gone north with Bravo Wolf, and Nora went south with Alpha Wolf. Neither he nor Selene minded, though. Both Zach and Nora were capable commanders in their own right, and more importantly, they knew how to handle situations. They could tell when to be hands off and when to step in and give orders.

Plus, it was always good to have someone higher in the chain of command to advocate for your cause. World at War might be only a game, but the Hydra Alliance still had a bureaucracy of sorts, and politics were inevitable. With only limited resources to go around, competition for them was often fierce. Luckily the military council tried to be evenhanded, but even so, the squeaky wheel got the grease, as the saying went.

He had Anna’s lobbying to thank for his new equipment, though Bravo Wolf hadn’t gotten a chance to test it out under actual combat conditions. The training exercises helped, but they wouldn’t know for sure until they had to fight a real battle. They looked promising, though, and Zach was thankful that Robbie had assigned Blake to command the airborne section of his force. Having a skilled and experienced pilot with an intrinsic understanding of helicopter tactics was a godsend.

Danny often wondered about the opinions of military or former military members regarding the other players. Did they respect them, in some fashion? Were the amused by their attempts? Did they find some of their actions annoying or somewhat insulting?

There probably wasn’t enough to turn them off, because Blake and David had both stayed and become heavily involved. He knew David had left the army, but Blake was still a reservist. How did Hydra compare to the real world military? Did it matter, since they were simply an organization in a world that didn’t actually exist?

The conversation had started to move on by the time he finished musing over the thoughts in his head.

“Well, I think we killed any chance of getting this game finished,” Selene said. “At least with any satisfying conclusion.”

Xavier took a look at his wrist watch. “Looks like we’ve been playing for over an hour. Maybe now would be a good time to call it a day?”

“I’m starving,” Javy said. “Anyone want to go grab a bite?”

The conversation shifted to where they wanted to go. Pizza, tacos, Chinese food, pub fare, Danny didn’t have a strong opinion in any way. Variety was the spice of life, and he’d enjoy almost anything that was put in front of him.

“Anyone want to try something different?” Nora suggested. “There’s a Greek place around here that just opened recently. Their moussaka is really, really good.”

“Is it,” Selene said with a slight smile. “It’s going to take a lot to be able to equal my great grandmother’s moussaka. I’m game for trying it though.”

One by one the others agreed.

“I can see why you’d be skeptical,” Nora commented as they walked. “It’s hard for something you buy from a store or restaurant to equal the homemade stuff.”

“Yeah, it’s the same with me and Japanese food,” Miko agreed. “I can get plenty of good curry, but nothing beats the real stuff cooked at home.”

The real stuff, Danny thought to himself as he listened. The restaurant food might use higher quality ingredients, might be prepared by a better chef with huge amount of experience and skill, might even be objectively better than the homemade item, but it would always be second best because it wasn’t the ‘real’ thing.

Perception really did change everything, whether it was food, or music, or even different realities. Such a weird, complicated world they lived in. And Danny wouldn’t have it any other way.

“
E
veryone here
?” Blake asked.

Danny looked around at the assemblage of battalion and company commanders. They had a good cross section of the various forces arrayed against Ragnarok on the front extending west of Milwaukee. All of Rogue Battalion’s commanders were present, along with several commanders from Knight Battalion as well. David couldn’t attend, but Morgan, his second, sat in for him on the meeting. Shayna stood present for both Jackal Company and the military council, while Aaron represented Band of Brothers.

And as explained earlier to him, Danny would be left to his own devices. Zach and Nora were busy on the Milwaukee front, coming up with a plan of attack for Ghost Battalion. He didn’t envy them, given the terrain and foe they had to face, but they had their own problems to deal with here.

“Looks like we’re all set,” Gina said. As the commander of one of Hydra’s founding companies she would normally be leading a meeting like this, but not today. Blake and Danny had called the council after a considerable amount of discussion, so the leadership role fell to them.

“OK then,” Danny said. “So, as for why you’re all here. Blake and I have been discussing the strategic situation for a while, and the more we look at it, the more we’re becoming convinced that Ragnarok’s going to try something on the western end of the line.”

“Mm. What are you basing this off of?” Gina asked.

“We haven’t had any intelligence that suggests they’re moving forces to that location,” Aaron pointed out. “Granted, they’d try to keep it quiet, but still, I image that we’d hear something about it.”

“And wouldn’t their forces be better used elsewhere, like trying to fend us off around Milwaukee or expanding their corridor to Old Chicago?” Tyler asked.

“On the surface yes,” Blake answered. “Right now the greatest danger to them is being cut off from Old Chicago. They have the corridor right now, but there’s always the danger that we’ll shut it. And if we manage to capture Milwaukee, that danger becomes an inevitability.”

“So why would they move forces away from that front, then?” Tyler pressed. “Seems like the only good option is to work on the corridor.”

Blake nodded. “If you look at it from their strategic perspective then yes, that makes the most sense. But the danger of that is you’re putting on blinders and focusing on one side of things. They shouldn’t just be looking to their own situation, but to ours as well, to see where our weaknesses might be and where their next blow might hurt the most.”

“So you’re suggesting the best way for them isn’t to focus on their weak point, but to focus on ours?” Gina asked.

“Right,” Blake told her. “Focusing the attention on us also gives Ragnarok the initiative.”