Carnage City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 6) (6 page)

A Ragnarok trooper came at her swinging an entrenching tool. Selene reacted quickly, simultaneously dodging to the side and parrying with her own weapon. Her enemy stumbled forward as the strike missed, and she took the opportunity to slam him across the face with the butt of her gun. One stab later and he was down as well.

The last few enemies fell, but Selene felt no sense of satisfaction. They still had almost half the tower to go, and they had no idea how many more enemies might be waiting for them.

She activated her radio. “Wolf Lead, Wolf Lead, come in.”

“Go ahead,” Zach replied.

Selene took a deep breath before responding. “We’re meeting heavy resistance. I’m not sure if we’re going to have enough troops to take the place.”

She hated to admit it, but what other choice did she have? Selene wasn’t about to lose the fight because of some semblance of stupid pride. Their success meant far more than soothing her ego.

But right now, that was very much in doubt.

“
D
anny
, how are you coming?” Zach asked over the radio.

“Slow,” came the response, with the sound of gunfire in the background. “Storming stairwells isn’t easy. They have height and cover, and we’ve got nothing.”

“OK, keep at it.”

Zach glanced over at Nora, who was communicating with Crimson Eagle on the outside. Their part of the operation seemed to be going smoothly, but then again they could fight in relatively open ground. Right now, Zach would have killed to switch places with them.

“Well, this is a problem. Any ideas?”

“The fire escape?” Nora suggested.

Zach frowned. “That’s complete suicide. There’s no cover.”

“Yeah, and there’s no cover in the inner stairwells either. If we can get into the upper levels or even the roof we can start forcing our way down. Then we’ll be the ones with the advantage.”

Zach thought about that for a moment. It was a gamble, to be sure, but one they might need to take. Black Wolf Company was taking heavy casualties every second, and the tide of enemy troops didn’t seem to be slowing much. Many of them were probably logging in, having been warned of the ongoing assault.

He activated his radio. “Miko, is anyone covering the fire escape?”

“Doesn’t look like it,” came the reply. “I’d be safe venturing a guess that they’re pretty occupied right now?”

“You would. Thanks.” Zach switched channels. “Danny, Selene, do either of you have a fireteam you can spare? We’re going to try something.”

“We kind of need all the troops we can get right now,” Danny protested.

“So do I, but Gavin’s squad took a beating in the last fight,” Selene said. “I might be able to spare him. What do you need them for?”

“We’re going up the fire escape to the roof,” Zach told her. “From there we’ll fight our way down to you.”

“Really? There’s no cover on the way up,” Danny said.

“Do you really just want to keep charging up the stairs into the teeth of the enemy defenses?” Zach asked. “We’re going to have to take a risk somewhere.”

“Besides,” Nora cut in, “that’s kind of our thing, remember? What would one of our fights be without us trying some crazy stunt?”

Danny laughed. “OK, that’s true.”

“We’ve got a little breathing room right now. I’m sending Gavin down to you guys.”

“OK, we’re on the sixth floor,” Zach said.

“Copy that. We’re on the ninth floor right now. Looks like they’re rallying for another stand on the tenth or the eleventh.”

“We’ll leapfrog you to keep the pressure on,” Danny said.

“Just keep them busy,” Zach said. “The real damage will come when we flank them.”

Surprise would be critical. Their assault team wouldn’t have enough troops to sustain even minor casualties, so they needed to get the drop on their enemy. Alpha Wolf and Bravo Wolf would certainly help. Ragnarok couldn’t ignore their furious assault, and even if they suspected something out of the blue they might not be able to do anything about it. They had limited troop strength as well, and taking any of it away from the main portion of the fighting might spell disaster.

That was the least they could do, Zach thought as Gavin’s squad made their way to them. Even if this didn’t work like he wanted, at least they would get the enemy’s attention.

“Ready?” he asked Gavin.

“Ready and willing.”

Zach nodded. “Let’s do this.”

D
anny dove
through the doorway and slammed it shut, aided by two others. A second later he felt the metal shudder under the force of explosives and shrapnel.

Bravo Wolf had been preparing to assault the next floor when their Ragnarok opponents had suddenly tossed over a dozen grenades down on their heads at once.

“Well, do you think they’ll let us through now?” Javy asked with considerable sarcasm.

Danny opened the door, hearing the hinges creak loudly, but slammed it shut again as more grenades came raining down into the stairwell.

“Doesn’t look like they’re being too friendly,” he said.

“Wonder how long that’s going to last,” Javy commented.

“Should be fine,” said Joe, who was an engineer with explosives expertise. “Now, if they were dropping demolition charges that’s a different story, but I don’t think they want to destroy the building.”

Maybe not, but they were stuck regardless. Danny knew the defenders didn’t have an infinite supply of grenades, but he didn’t want to get half his platoon killed if he guessed wrong. Right now, the best they could hope for was a stalemate.

He just hoped that Zach’s gambit could turn the tide firmly in their favor. If not, they were in trouble.

“
Y
ou’re
clear on the next level,” Miko said over the radio.

Nora moved ahead up the fire escape, focusing on the task ahead and trying not to look down. Heights normally didn’t bother her much, but right now she felt extremely exposed. There was no cover on the fire escape, and they didn’t even know if it was completely sturdy. One wrong step and they might all be plunging to their deaths.

But being on the outside had its advantages as well. Ragnarok didn’t seem to be guarding it, and the snipers could cover their movements. They were currently watching the windows, giving them a heads up about any threats lurking above. So far none had been encountered.

“Thirteenth floor coming up,” Gavin said. “Kiss your good luck charms before it’s too late.”

“Oh, you’re fine,” Miko said. “There’s no enemy opposition.”

Their team continued up the fire escape, moving as fast as they dared. From the sound of things inside they couldn’t afford to dawdle, but charging on ahead heedlessly was foolish. Taking the fight to the enemy meant nothing if they were just flailing around. Their attack needed to be precise, with a clear purpose.

“Are we clear?” Nora asked Miko.

“Yup. You’re clear the rest of the way up. My team’s made them pretty wary about sticking their heads out.”

Two levels later and they were on the stairs leading to the rooftop. Zach held his hand up for a moment.

“Ready?” he asked quietly over the radio.

Everyone confirmed.

“Time to give them something to think about, then. Let’s go!”

Nora hefted her carbine and followed.

B
AM
!

Selene’s ears rang as she slammed into the wall, tossed down by the sheer force of the concussion grenade. Caught inside the confines of a small concrete room, she and several others had been easy targets.

She was lucky though, Selene realized as she struggled back to her feet. The blast had gone off at the other side of the room, and several bodies shielded her from the worst effects. Several more of her troops were dead, with more injured.

And then more enemy troops swarmed into the room.

Selene had lost her carbine in the blast, but she still had her handgun. The first Ragnarok attack through the door took a trio of bullets to the face and fell over, stone dead. To their credit, the rest kept coming, and then even more chaos ensued.

She barely managed to dodge a club that passed mere inches from her face, but Selene fought doggedly onward. She pressed her gun up to her enemy’s head and pulled the trigger.

Someone slammed into her, and Selene lost her weapon in the scrum. She struck out blindly with her fists, trying to fight off her attacker.

How was she going to take the next floor? How many of her troops did she have left? Those questions meant nothing now as she fought for her life.

C
omplete surprise
. Zach had to crack a grim smile of satisfaction as his troops stormed the roof. There were only a pair of guards up top, and they were cut down within seconds.

“Danny, Selene, we’re on the roof,” he said. “Headed down now.”

Danny acknowledged, but Selene didn’t respond. That didn’t bode well.

No time to stop and worry, though. They needed to keep the momentum of their assault going.

Gavin reached the doorway to the lower levels first.

“Ready?” he asked.

Zach put a hand on one of his grenades. “Let’s do this.”

He pulled the pin and tossed it down the stairs, then retreated back into cover, waiting for the sound of an explosion. Their enemy would know they were here soon enough.

Bam!

That was their signal. Zach followed Gavin down the stairwell, gun at the ready.

“Contact!” Gavin yelled out once they reached the bottom of the stairs. He fired a burst from his submachine gun and cut down the single enemy trooper in the hallway.

Zach smiled to himself again. They finally had the upper hand.

T
he knife flashed
in front of her face, and Selene barely managed to roll out of the way. She heard it clang off the concrete floor and desperately grasped around for something, anything she could use as a weapon. By now the room was covered with bodies.

There. Selene made a grab for a pistol, but her opponent stuck first. She twisted away again, but the knife managed to nick her across her left arm. Selene hissed and recoiled in pain for a moment.

Her enemy took the opportunity to attack her with a lunging stab, trying to pin her through the chest with both hands on the blade. Selene kicked out desperately and caught her in the thigh, hitting with enough force to send her sprawling backward. It bought her just enough time to roll over and grasp another weapon.

It was her gun.

Selene swung the carbine around, cocked the underslung shotgun and pulled the trigger. The sheer force of the blast smashed her foe into the wall like a limp piece of meat.

But then another Ragnarok trooper appeared in the doorway, gun trained at her. Selene desperately tried to get her weapon around, but she knew she wouldn’t make it in time.

It had been a good run, at least.

But then a burst of gunfire rang out, and her enemy fell dead.

“Anyone alive in there?” Danny’s voice called out.

“Yeah,” Selene replied as she got back to her feet.

A moment later he appeared around the corner, followed by a few more members of his platoon.

“Well, aren’t you a mess,” he commented, his trademark grin covering his face.

“When did you get here?” Selene asked incredulously.

“Zach’s team came down our stairwell first, so our end of the building is clear. We’re sweeping the rest.”

Selene nodded. “I’ll get my guys to help, but I’m not sure how many of them are actually left.”

Danny nodded. “Yeah, my platoon took a beating too. I think Zach might have the biggest squad right now, actually.”

Selene sighed. “So many casualties. I hope this is worth it.”

“
W
ell
, we have about twenty five troops left if you count Miko’s sniper squad,” Nora reported.

Zach leaned up against a wall and let out an exhausted breath. After clearing the building they had started counting bodies, and at last report they had found about thirty of the enemy. Less than half of Black Wolf’s number had managed to kill almost two thirds of the company.

This place was a fortress.

“Well, at least they’ll be the ones having to force us out next time,” he commented.

“I think we need to prepare a little more,” Nora replied. “The defenders lost this time, right.”

“Eh, I’ll see what I can scrounge up. Besides, I think command will want to invest a lot to keep this place. And-”

Zach stopped speaking as his wrist alert went off. He opened up his menu and scrolled to the new message.

He didn’t recognize the name of the sender, but he certainly recognized the symbol next to it: Ragnarok.

“What?” Nora asked.

“Looks like we’ve made quite the impression,” Zach said. “Enough for them to talk to us directly.”

“Why, what does it say?”

Zach looked over the message again.

“Good fight. We’ll be back for more.”

“
N
ice place you have here
,” Paige commented as they walked through one of the floors of the now cleared tower.

“Yeah, it wasn’t too nice trying to get our hands on it,” Nora said. “Thanks for coming all the way up here, by the way. I imagine you have a lot to do in Central City.”

“There’s always stuff to do,” Paige shrugged. “Sometimes it’s good to do something a little different, and this gave me the perfect excuse.”

“Glad I could be of service.”

“So, you said something in your message about fortifying this place even more?”

Nora nodded. “Yes. I have a feeling that it’s going to be very important to us as we try to take the rest of the district, and Ragnarok knows it as well. They’ll try to take it back, and I want to be ready for them.”

“If your entire company is guarding the area, won’t that make it really hard for them to recapture the tower?” Paige asked. “You said that you had a hard enough time getting it cleared with a platoon guarding it. How much worse is it going to be with a company?”

Nora stopped and looked out one of the windows at the streets below.

“I really don’t know,” she admitted. “But I don’t want to take any chances. Once we were inside the building there was nothing they could do to stop us. Sure, they delayed us and hurt us bad, but we just kept pouring it on until we won.”

“So you want to keep them from getting inside.”

“Yeah, and I want some way to deal with this problem,” Nora said as she opened up her wrist menu and activate the projector. A second later an image appeared on the wall.

“Ah. That problem.”

Nora’s wrist menu projected a photograph that had been taken a few days ago along the section of line covered by Magic Battalion. It was a tracked vehicle, a tank that at first glance looked like any standard one that Hydra had confronted a million times.

But this one had one significant difference. Instead of the normal cannon, the tank had a heavy flamethrower fitted to the turret. They still didn’t know how far it could shoot, but witnesses to its attack had estimated it managed to hit targets fifty yards away.

That made it a serious threat to anyone dug into a fortified position. Flamethrowers were extremely dangerous in close quarters, but their operators remained vulnerable due to their short range. A tank solved that problems, encasing the weapon into a heavily armored vehicle that was impervious to small arms. It could shoot more fuel a longer distance as well, making it even more effective.

They could still kill it with an accurate recoilless rifle shot, but to Nora that still remained chancy. If they screwed up then the flamethrower tank could wash the first few floors of the tower with burning fuel.

“I want some way for us to kill it. Something reliable,” Nora elaborated. “Otherwise I’m guessing they might use this to spearhead their counterattack.”

“And use it to force their way inside. I think I’d be safe in guessing you guys won’t want to be on the receiving end of that weapon.”

“You’d be guessing right.”

A thoughtful look crossed Paige’s face. “Well, do you know how many defenders you’ll have here?”

“So far it looks like Black Wolf’s staying here for now. This is an important position, and besides, we need to get our strength back up. We lost way too many veteran troops in the assault, and they needed to train their skills.”

“Right. Well, if you have a company of troops defending this spot that makes things much easier. You can have a layered defense inside and outside the tower.”

Nora resumed walking, heading up one of the flights of steps. “What do you think we should do? Or rather, how should we go about making this place even stronger?”

“How many more levels do we have to go?” Paige asked.

“Seven.”

“Well, first thing I’d do is to fix the elevators, but that’s because I’m lazy.”

Nora laughed. “Well, that might not be a terrible idea either. It’ll make moving troops through the building much easier. One problem, though. Won’t that make it easier for attackers that get in the building too?”

“They’d be coming out of a doorway from a confined metal box,” Paige pointed out. “Still, I can see where you think there might be a problem. I’d actually suggest wiring up a kill switch and putting it on one of the upper levels. That way you can shut them down even if you lose the lower floors.”

“How long is that going to take? We have engineers, but I’m not quite sure they have the expertise.”

“Oh, you’ll probably need us again. That’s fine, though. It’s not like we have to cover Green Bay anymore, and practical battlefield engineering is fun to do anyhow. I can certainly get a team together.”

That was a relief, Nora thought to herself. Every company in the alliance had their own set of engineers, but none of them could touch the feats that Hephaestus Company was capable of performing. From simple small arms, to vehicles, to massive constructs like Hephaestus Forge, if anyone could dream it then they could probably build it to the highest standard.

“OK,” Nora continued, “so the elevators are on the list. What else?”

“Depends on what you want to use this place for,” Paige replied. “You said you want to use it as an observation post for the artillery, but what about mounting some of it either inside the building or on the roof?”

That comment made Nora frown thoughtfully. “Is that even possible?”

“Well, you’re not going to be putting the 155s in this place, but if the structural integrity is good then you can probably get the 75s mounted. We’ll reinforce the mountings of course, and make sure the building can support the weight of the recoil.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“Calculations.”

“And if they’re off?”

“They’ll be fine,” Paige assured her. “Remember, most of us do this for a living in the outside world as well.”

“Don’t you have the ability to do computer simulations and projections out there?” Nora pointed out. “Unless you’ve made some rapid breakthrough that I haven’t heard about, how are you going to replicate that in here?”

“We’ll do it the old-fashioned way. Do the calculations, check them to make sure, then implement them.”

“And if they fail?”

“Then we have a disaster on our hands, same as what happened in the old days,” Paige told her. “But I don’t think that’ll be the case. We all know how to do our jobs without the aid of computers. They built the pyramids without mortar or concrete, after all, and we have access to better materials.”

Nora had to smile at her confidence. “Ok, I really can’t argue that. Besides, you guys have pulled off miracles before.”

“We’re not in the business of miracles,” Paige replied with her own smile. “We’re just the best at what we do.”

“So, you think mounting artillery is possible?” Nora asked her as they continued walking.

“Again, I’ll have to look at the structural integrity, but at first glance this place looks pretty sold. It’s concrete and metal, so it should be able to stand up to the shock.”

And that could prove to be a valuable asset, especially given the height they could operate from. Normally in an urban environment artillery had to rely on indirect fire to attack enemy units, but when mounted on a tall structure they could see and fire for miles around.

“We can also add mortars to the roof,” Paige added. “Those we can do without any kind of problem.”

Nora thought about that for a moment. “That’ll help us direct fire support. We can just call down to the batteries by an internal line instead of having to contact them through headquarters.”

“Speaking of which, we should also install telephone lines within the building, along with ones that go back to the main headquarters.”

Nora nodded in agreement. If Ragnarok launched an attack with their jamming technology, and she was certain they would, they needed some way to communicate when the radios went down.

Another question popped into her head. “All that artillery is going to make us a pretty fat target. I can’t imagine that Ragnarok is just going to let us sit here and take pot shots at them.”

“Are you concerned more about a ground assault, or counterbattery fire?”

“Probably ground assault. I get the feeling that they’re like us and want to keep the structure relatively intact.”

“Yeah, and I’m not sure how much damage they could do to it anyhow,” Paige commented. “This building is pretty sturdy. Looks like solid reinforced concrete. Ever see pictures of one of those flak towers that are still standing in Germany?”

“Yeah, I think I remember seeing them in my history textbooks in high school.”

“Going on one hundred thirty years and they’re still holding up,” Paige said. “I ended up touring one of them when I was in Berlin for a trip. This reminds me of one of them, actually.”

“Really?”

“Well, this might not be quite as sturdy, but it can probably take some hits. We’d probably have to bring in the 155s at point-blank range to hurt them.”

If that was true, then that eliminated one possible issue. Nora had been worried that the Ragnarok would eventually give up on retaking the tower once they met heavy resistance and would then simply flatten it with rocket artillery strikes. But if Paige’s observations were correct, that option was off the table now.

“Would the 75mm guns be able to take out a tank from long distance?” she asked.

“Possibly, though we really don’t have good anti-tank ammunition for it.”

“That has to be making it hard on the assault gun crews.”

“Yeah, it is. But we might have an alternative.” Paige opened up her own wrist menu and activated the projector. “Get a load of this.”

“A gun? Isn’t that a lot smaller than the 75mm one?” Nora asked.

Paige touched her wrist menu and sent her a codex entry. “It is, but size doesn’t mean everything.”

Nora opened up the message and took a look at it. 45mm anti-tank gun, the entry read. Nora skimmed over it mostly technical data, but from what she could gather it looked somewhat promising.

“So is this really any better than the 75mm gun?”

Paige nodded. “Oh yeah. That gun is an artillery piece. Good for fire support against structures and infantry, but against something with heavy armor it’s not going to do much against it except at close range. This might have a smaller caliber, but the gun and the ammunition are tailored for killing armored units.”

“So we can pretty much take out an enemy tank with this?”

“Um, most of the time,” Paige elaborated. “It can’t penetrate the frontal armor except at close range, but then again, neither can the 75mm gun. But anywhere else on the tank is fair game.”

Nora looked back at the entry again. “Looks good,” she commented. “And if we put it up high then we can aim at the top armor, right?”

“Right. Oh, and another advantage is that the ammunition is much lighter, and the gun can fire pretty rapidly.”

“How much faster?”

“Well, the 75mm gun can fire between three to eight rounds a minute, depending on the crew. This is more like fifteen to twenty five.”

“Oh. That
is
a lot faster.” She paused for a moment. “Where did you get this from? Did it come out of the archive in Central City?”

Paige frowned. “Um, I wish it did, but no. We’re still having to decode most of the schematics, and that’s slow going. We’ll eventually have enough skill points in engineering to do it all, but that’s only half the problem. Even if we have the designs, we don’t have some of the resources needed.”

“So where did this come from?”

“It’s a public design from the foundries in Old Chicago, like the 75mm gun and the ATVs. Someone must have found the schematic and then sold it for a profit.”

“Ah,” Nora replied, suddenly understanding.

Schematics could be sold to NPC corporations for significant amounts of money, and many companies were hard-up for cash. Selling what appeared to be a nearly useless item for hundreds of thousands or even millions of credits seemed like an attractive option.

Neither Hydra nor Ragnarok took that option, though. In fact, when Black Wolf had discovered their first schematic Nora had been insistent that they keep it to themselves. It gave them a significant advantage on the competition, and they had parleyed that into a fortune, and then into a sprawling alliance.

Overdrive still sold well to companies that used combat stimulants, and the Hydra Alliance could charge high prices because they were the only ones who could produce it. That was true for many of their other assets, from their helicopters, to their armored vehicles, even to things like their power supply. Ragnarok had their own secrets as well, and both sides remained locked in a technological race.

“You’d think they would have learned by now,” Nora said. “Even if they didn’t have any use for the schematic, they probably could have leveraged either alliance for a ton of money. How much would we have paid to keep this away from Ragnarok?”

“A lot, I’m guessing,” Paige agreed. “But then again, maybe they needed money badly. Strongholds within the city aren’t cheap, and trying to grab one anywhere close to the hub is pretty much impossible.”

Nora nodded. Ragnarok and Hydra pretty much had a deadlock on the immediate area surrounding the Old Chicago hub. Other areas further away were less settled, but they were wild land, teeming with all manner of vicious creatures and far from supply. Running out of medicines, batteries or even bullets was a real possibility, and only Hydra and Ragnarok had significant industrial capability outside the hub.

“That means they’ll have them too, right?”

“I’m guessing they’ve kept themselves in the loop, so yes. I’m not sure how much that will help them, though, because they already have a good gun for their tanks. It’s better than this, at any rate. But if you want to create a fortified position, these can certainly help.”

Nora glanced at the number along the stairwell wall as they continued to climb. 14. They were almost at the top.

“So, we’ll look into adding artillery and communications lines. What can we do outside at the base of the tower?”

“Depends how much time and effort you want to spend on it,” Paige shrugged. “If we’re going by what’s ideal, then blockhouses or bunkers with tunnels leading back into the tower would be ideal. But that would take forever, and I’m pretty sure we’d get mortared during construction.”