Date: 2014-04-03 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Action; Science Fiction
Description: A new world awaits! Step into the virtual reality of World at War, and experience a revolution like none other. Explore a vast open world and shape it how you wish. From a soldier on the front lines, to a master strategist at the rear, to a crafter making ammunition to feed the insatiable hunger of battle, all will have a part to play. Band together with other players to conquer regions and create virtual empires of your own. But beware: others may have the same designs as you, and they may not be eager to share... World at War is the most ambitious virtual world game in history. Virtual reali

BLACK WOLF

A World at War Novel

By Mitchell T. Jacobs

Mitchell T. Jacobs

Copyright 2014 by Mitchell T. Jacobs

Smashwords Edition

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

BLACK WOLF

Copyright © 2014 by Mitchell T. Jacobs

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2014

Cover art by Maria Montreuil

BLACK WOLF

To Adam and Ryan,
for all the tournaments we
have and will continue to lose.

CHAPTER 1

On the Threshold

BAM!

The building shook, rocked by a barrage of enemy firepower.

“Foxtrot Squad, how much longer?”

“Just give us another thirty seconds,” came the reply over the radio.

The building shook again. Zach could tell the front of it wasn't going to last much longer. The other side was toting heavy firepower. Grenade launchers, RPGs, and probably at least one sniper as well. His troops had all they could do to simply fire back.

“Alpha, this is Golf Squad. We can loop around and hit the enemy from the back.”

“Don't bother Danny. We'll have this taken care of in a few minutes.”

“You sure about that?” Danny's reply came over the radio.

“Positive,” Zach confirmed. He took a quick look at his eyepiece HUD. Normally, all soldiers would have a simple radar showing the location of their allies and any enemies that had been spotted, as well as a layout of the area if it was available. It could only track objects in close proximity. As captain he had access to the entire map of the area, and could see the location of any squad. From what he could tell they were in good shape. But then a large object appeared on the radar, and it was right in front of them...

“Captain!” one of his troops shouted, but it was too late. The enemy tank sent a round through the weakened facade of the building. Zach barely had enough time to notice before he and his entire squad were vaporized.

“Oh come on!” Zach said, now in a black void. A red lettered message flashed in front of him. You are KIA. Then another message appeared. VICTORY. “They made it!” Zach exclaimed to himself.

The waiting lobby materialized in front of him. Now he was standing in a large white room with the rest of the players from the last game. All of them were wearing a variety of civilian clothes.

“That was close,” Danny said as he walked up.

“No kidding. That would have sucked if we had to keep fighting without the captain's tools,” Zach said.

“You're welcome,” a voice said from behind them.

“Yeah, yeah, we do most of the fighting, and you guys get all the glory,” Danny said.

“You mean you all get shot, and my squad takes the objectives. Did you see how many troops they had dug in on the last capture point?”

“It's true. Selene's squad has us both beat,” Zach said.

“That's 'cause we had to work with all new people,” Danny protested, though Zach knew it was good natured. They had been doing it ever since elementary school.

“Everyone has to work with new people. I'm pretty sure that us three are the only ones that know each other, and there's what, two hundred people?”

Zach cut in. “It'll be less of a problem when the full game is launched. We get a group together, and we'll be able to have squads that know how to work with each other.”

Danny nodded. “I can't believe it launches tomorrow. Are you guys going to be on for it?”

“Of course,” Zach said.

“Yeah, me too,” Selene said.

“It's going to be so different from the beta. Having a whole open world is going to be so odd. I wonder how it's going to work.”

“We point guns at people and shoot them. Everything else it there to support that,” Selene said. “Speaking of which, want to go for another round?”

“I'm game,” Danny said.

“Thanks, but I'm going to log off,” Zach said. “I'll see you tomorrow, though.” He opened the digital menu and logged out of the game world.

Zach sat up in his chair and took off the neuro-helmet. World at War was launching tomorrow. Almost three years of hard work was going to pay off.

He carefully placed his neuro-helmet on the shelf. Neuro-helmets had been used to create virtual reality for around four years now. They worked by sending information to the user's brain and interpreting the information it received back. The helmet design had been chosen because it was easy for someone to put on and it provided protection for sensitive electronic components.

They had been used for social interaction over long distances and for simple puzzle games. Simply being able to play chess or marbles had been mind-blowing at first. Games where you could play tennis had been the pinnacle of virtual reality. And this was about to blow them all out of the water.

Zach had done some programing work on the game, though it was nothing that would give him any special advantage. He had been in charge of creating the communication network within the game; the radios, the long range video and satellite feeds were all his work. He definitely knew how to coordinate and communicate better than anyone else, but as for weapons, tactics, and the like, he was at square one with the rest of them.

But there had been nothing like World at War. It was a first person shooter, a genre that had been popular for online play for decades, but it was so much more. The beta had simply been a few unconnected areas to test and show off the battle system. World at War would be a complete world; there would be towns and cities to fight over, where arms and armor would have to be produced as well. Resources for creating ammunition, weapons and equipment would have to be gathered, and, outside of a few starting items, the items would need to be crafted by the players themselves. And players would be able to band together in organizations to take territory and establish virtual fiefdoms for themselves.

It was the most ambitious undertaking in the history of virtual world games, and Zach sometimes wondered where the money to produce this had come from. But from what he had experienced already, the risk was going to be well worth it. The number of subscribers was going to be huge.

He was going to have to make tweaks to the system, modify problems as they became apparent, but for most of the day he could be in the game world, observing how everything worked and just being a part of the community.

It would all begin tomorrow.

CHAPTER 2

New World

Welcome to World at War, the display in front of him read. You are now entering Old Chicago.

Zach was eager to see the game world. World at War was set in a post-apocalyptic world of sorts, where humanity had been forced back into a few decaying and overgrown cities. Outside of them was the wilds, teeming with all manner of beasts, monsters and hostile NPC armies. The world itself was huge, scaled to one quarter of the size of the real world, but huge nonetheless.

Chicago was the main hub for the central United States; there were other hubs in New York City, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and Seattle. Overseas hubs in Europe and Asia would be brought online in time, and eventually the entire world would be able to play each other in one virtual reality server.

Please choose your class, the display read. There were six classes in World at War. There was the soldier, the standard class that fought with assault rifles and provided the backbone of any army. There was the heavy class, carrying heavy weapons like missile launchers and machine guns. Both had the best protective gear as well. Then there were the lighter classes. The assault class used close range weaponry, and acted as scouts and urban fighters. The sniper class used sniper rifles, naturally. Then there were the two support classes. Medics healed downed teammates and provided status boosts to them as well. And engineers built obstacles, set traps and were equipped to take down fortified positions.

Zach had always liked playing the engineer class. It had frequently been useful to be able to modify the battlefield with obstacles and traps, and it had meshed well with his usual position as a commander. He selected it. Eventually, he would be able to choose specializations, and there were also sub-classes that every class could select. Ten players could have the same basic class and yet play completely differently.

He materialized into the game world. Zach and everyone else around him was clad in the same basic outfit, a dull gray combat uniform. All uniforms were made of nano-fabric, which meant that their coloring could be switched in the holographic wrist menu at the touch of a button. And everyone's vision could be toggled so they could see holographic displays of everyone's username.

“Hey, Zach!” Danny shouted from behind him.

He turned to see Danny, Selene and another player he didn't recognize walking toward them. It was a woman with an Asian complexion and pink hair, with the markings of a sniper class.

“Hey Zach. This is my roommate, Miko. I convinced her to try this,” Selene said. She had soldier class markings on her uniform. “She'll run with our fireteam.”

Fireteams consisted of three to four players, and were the smallest unit that players could join in World at War. Many of the missions against hostile NPCs were designed for a four person fireteam.

“Good to meet you,” Zach said, extending his hand to her.

“I'm not sure how much use I'm going to be. I'm probably going to be a terrible shot,” Miko said as she shook his hand.

“There's an aim assist for the first five levels. It helps you to get used to firing weapons in the game,” Zach said.

“Oh, good,” she said, looking relieved.

“It's kind of weird, not having any health bar in an MMO,” Selene commented.

“Well, everyone has a health bar, and everything has stats. It's just that they're all hidden, to give the impression of realism. Full sense immersion, the development team was calling it,” Zach told her.

“What do we want to do first?” Danny asked. He was equipped as a heavy.

“Well, if we go to the outskirts of Old Chicago there's mutant creatures and stuff in the ruins. We can kill them to get some credits. Or we can go to one of the practice ranges, or do a quest inside the city for money as well.”

“I hear another or in there,” Selene said.

“Well, I know that there's an NPC outpost about five miles south of the city. It might be tough for inexperienced players, but the three of us could probably tackle it, and it will be good experience for Miko as well.”

“Cheater,” Danny grinned.

“Hey, I took one look at a map someone in the design room showed me,” Zach said.

“I'm sorry, what did I miss?” Miko asked.

“He did some programming for the game,” Selene said.

“Just the communications system,” Zach said.

“So how about it? Are we brave enough to tackle something well above our level that's probably going to get us all killed?” Danny asked. “Our experience points don't go negative if we die, do they?” he asked.

Death in World at War meant that you were transported back to the nearest hub and lost some experience points. The number lost would decrease if you kept dying frequently in order to curb frustration, but it was still a notable loss.

“No. We're fine,” Zach said.

“Well in that case, what's there to lose?” Danny asked. “Let's do something crazy.”

* * *

It took a five minute ride on the tram to reach the southern outskirts of the city. In the outskirts Zach's fireteam had passed dozens of other players killing mutant rats called ryches and feral dogs. They provided a bit of experience and their pelts could be sold for some money, but it would take a dozen of them to buy the smallest upgrade, let alone a decent weapon. They were after much bigger prey.

Their team was well balanced, all things considered. Selene and Danny provided a good solid front for the team, able to dish out and take damage. Miko would provide long range fire support with her sniper rifle, and he would clear obstacles, help destroy fortified positions, and set traps as the opportunity presented itself. He was also leader of the fireteam, though in reality it didn't matter much. Selene and Danny were just as able as he was in leading a unit of this size. Their training in the beta had made them strong.

Zach's team climbed to the top of a ridge overlooking the enemy outpost. It looked like a small national guard armory, decrepit and decaying in the post-apocalyptic world. There was a brick wall around the complex, with only one gate. There was one guard tower at the entrance, and it looked like it had a heavy machine gun or a belt fed grenade launcher. Tackling that was not going to be pretty.

“How many soldiers can you count?” Zach asked Miko as she looked down the scope of her rifle.

“I count sixteen,” she said. “There might be more inside the buildings. I think they all have assault rifles.”

“Nothing too tough,” Danny mused.

“Yeah, but that gun in the tower is going to shred us before we can get close enough,” Selene said. “If we can blow up the tower, this is a cake walk, but if not we're all going to be back at Old Chicago with nothing to show for it. You wouldn't happen to have a missile launcher on you, would you?”

“Unfortunately, the heavy's starting weapon is a machine gun.”

Zach thought for a moment. “How many rounds does your sniper rifle hold?” he asked Miko.

“Three.”

“Can you hit the gunner in the tower?”

“I think so,” she said.

Zach nodded. “Alright, here's the plan. Miko stays up here on overwatch. The other three of us go to that rubble over there,” he said, pointing to a spot that was just before the open ground of the outpost. “On my signal, Miko kills the gunner in the tower, and then takes out anyone who tries to man the gun. Meanwhile, we attack and get close enough to take out the tower. Once that happens, we can sweep the armory.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Danny said.

“This is insane, but what's the worst that could happen?” Selene said.

“This is actually a life or death game and if you die in here then you die in real life? And there's no way to take off the neuro-helmet without killing you?”Danny suggested.

“Yeah, except they specifically have overrides built into the helmet to prevent that,” Zach said. “Let's get this done. Wait for my signal,” he told Miko

“I'll do my best,” she said, though she didn't sound confident.

It was for the best, Zach thought. She was the least experienced and weakest member of the fireteam, and she would probably feel inadequate if she was forced to rely on them. Making her a critical part of their operations would serve to bolster her confidence and give her more experience as well.

He slid in behind Selene and Danny and toggled the radio controls on his helmet. “Ready?”

“Ready,” the reply came back.

“Go!”

A shot cracked through the air. Zach saw the gunner in the tower fall. The other soldiers in sight started to scramble for their weapons. One tried to mount the stairs to the tower and was immediately shot. So much for Miko being worried about her aim.

Selene and Danny stormed out of cover toward the main gate. Zach hefted his carbine and followed behind them. Selene was fast, slowing only occasionally to fire a quick burst at anyone who showed their face. Danny's approach was slower. He walked at a brisk but steady pace, firing long bursts from his belt fed machine gun to keep the enemy's head down. And then there was him. His carbine wasn't going to be effective at this range, so he didn't bother firing. The trump card was the under-slung grenade launcher, but Zach only had two grenades and was going to need to buy more later. He need to make the ones he had count.

Selene gunned down an NPC soldier leaning out around the open gate with a beautiful head shot. Up ahead of them was the remnants of a building's wall, close enough to the outpost to put them in range to take out the tower. Zach made a headlong sprint and dove into cover alongside Selene. Danny followed and started to load another belt into his gun.

“Once you're reloaded, hose the gates!” Zach shouted over the din of gunfire. The enemy soldiers guarding the fortress had gotten over the initial shock and were starting to launch a ferocious barrage at them.

“I'm reloading,” Miko said over the radio. That meant that she had killed another NPC going for the gun. It was now or never.

“Loaded!” Danny confirmed.

“Loading!” Selene said as she ducked back behind cover, pulling another magazine from her carrier.

“Pick off any targets of opportunity once you're reloaded!” Zach told her. “Danny... Now!”

Danny propped his machine gun up against the top of the ruined wall and opened up on the gates with a long burst. The NPCs around the gate leaped back into cover, though two didn't make it before they were scythed down in the rain of bullets.

Zach cocked his launcher and stood up. He took care aim at the tower and squeezed the trigger. The launcher kicked, and a split-second later the tower blew up in a shower of smoke, flame, and shrapnel. The way into the fortress was now clear.

“Miko, shoot anyone that looks threatening,” he said over the radio. “Everyone else, through the gates!”

Selene broke cover first, sprinting straight for the gate. Zach followed close behind, hefting his carbine. Danny brought up the rear, providing cover fire for them, though with the tower out of commission it was less necessary. An enemy solider peeked out from behind the gatepost. Zach eased his weapon up and pulled the trigger. The NPC dropped like a stone, hit with a perfect head shot.

It was something he had noticed while playing through the beta. Early on, Zach had been a terrible shot. He had struggled to hit anything further than point-blank range. After hours spent practicing and getting himself killed, however, he had steadily gotten better. And it seemed to have improved in the real world as well. He had played paintball with friends a few weeks ago and had been able to score a reasonable amount of hits, whereas before he had struggled to make more than a kill a game.

He and Selene reached the gates, each taking a side to provide full coverage of anyone lurking within the outpost. Zach saw movement and responded by putting a burst of gunfire into a enemy lining up for a shot. He saw another one in cover and started to shift his aim, but the NPC was cut down by a head shot just as he was lining up his sights.

“You were worried about being able to make the shot?” Zach said to Miko over the radio.

“The auto aim makes it much easier than I thought it would be,” she replied.

That was true enough. He had forgotten just how easy the auto aim had made firing a gun in World at War. Beta players like him, Selene and Danny had started out at level 2, but had the auto aim function disabled in order to level the playing field. They had more than enough practice to prepare them for the fighting in the game.

“Loading!” Danny said. “I'm down to one belt after this one.”

Zach gripped his carbine. They hadn't taken the time to earn cash and buy more ammunition for their weapons. They could loot the bodies of the fallen NPCs for more, but that would prove difficult in the middle of a firefight. At least they would be given more if they died and respawned at a hub, but that would serve as a severe setback. They would have to succeed with what they had, or they would start to fall far behind other players.

“I have four magazines left,” Selene said.

“Two clips left here,” Miko said. “I see a group of six of them behind a low stone wall in the courtyard, but even if I get all of them I'm going to be useless up here.”

“How close together are they?” Selene asked.

“Pretty close together. The wall isn't that big.”

“Grenade them?” Zach asked. “I've got one shot if we try that.”

“There's not many better ideas,” Danny said as he finished reloading. “And we either succeed or go back to killing monsters in the ruins.”

“Cover fire, then! Make your shots count!”

Danny leaned around the gate pillar in a prone position. This time he used short, controlled bursts. They weren't going to be nearly as effective in suppressing the enemy, but their ammunition situation left them with no choice.

Zach loaded his launcher with the last grenade. It was now or never, and he was going to have to hit at least half of the enemy behind cover to make this worth it. He stood up and aimed, then prepared to pull the trigger. A burst for fire forced him to duck back into cover. But he had to do it now. Every second waiting was a waste of ammunition. Zach took a deep breath and leaned back out around the corner. Bullets whizzed by him, but he did his best to ignore them. He took careful aim at the stone wall and fired at a spot just above it. A second later the grenade went off. It looked like he had managed a good lob, but he wasn't in the best position to judge.

“Did I get them?” Zach asked Miko over the radio.

It was silent for a moment. “Almost all of them. I had to snipe the last one, but the others are down.”

“Alright then. Are you both ready?”

Selene and Danny nodded.

Zach loaded a fresh magazine in his gun. “Let's take this place!”

CHAPTER 3

Wolf's Lair

There wasn't much more to be done. Only three enemy soldiers had survived their initial onslaught and had been quickly dispatched. Zach had severely underestimated just how powerful the beta had made them.

Their fireteam had begun to explore the base, scavenging ammunition and looking for resources, weapons, and anything else of value. The post-apocalyptic setting really did suit the nature of an MMO, Zach thought. Standard procedure for any player was to steal everything in a room not nailed down. In World at War, living in a world where technology and the last vestiges of civilization had to be scavenged suited that ethos perfectly.

Selene had found a key on one of the dead soldiers that opened the locked weapon storage. The rest of the complex was in run-down but functional condition. It had electrical power provided by a pair of generators in the back of the complex, though they were run off some sort of fuel that he couldn't identify. There was a small lounge area in the front, along with storage lockers. Behind that was a machine shop for upgrading and repairing weapons, as well as a furnace for smelting metal. It also had what looked like an ammunition press, though none of them had the materials or skill to do anything with it. Zach also found several offices and a briefing room. As he stepped in the briefing room, his wrist alert went off.

Everyone had a holographic interface mounted on their wrist, from which they could access their inventories, message friends that were out of radio range, check statuses and a myriad of other things. Zach opened his interface. New Discovery, it said. Zach opened the message and scrolled through it.

“Do you all see me on the radar display?” Zach asked through the radio.

“Yes,” the rest of the fireteam said.

“Could you come join me? There's something important we need to go over now.”

“More important than looting the armory?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, much more.”

“Be right there, then.”

Miko arrived first, followed by Danny and Selene. All of them took a seat in the various chairs of the briefing room.

“What's up?” Danny asked.

“You all got alerts when you came in here, right?”

“Haven't checked what it is, but yeah, I did,” Danny said.

“Just how important is it?” Selene asked.

“This outpost? It can be claimed as a stronghold once you're defeated all the guards. Which naturally, we just did. And it's free.”

Danny let out a low whistle.

“Um, the new player would like to know what exactly that means,” Miko said.

“You can form more permanent groups here in the game world called companies. You can then do things like open a shared armory or resources stockpile. But you need to have a stronghold in order to form a company, and the strongholds in settled areas cost money to rent,” Selene said.

“How much money are we talking?” Miko asked.

“For a small one? Two thousand per day,” Danny said.

“Jeeze, that seems extremely high,” Miko said.

“Well, if you have four players it works out to five hundred apiece per day, which is achievable. And it's not like you can't form fireteams or squads if you're not in a company,” Danny said.

“Still, this place is better than anyone is going to be able to afford for a long time. And this will give us a great jump on everyone else.”

“You have grand plans, I'm sensing?” Selene asked.

“Just think about it. What does a stronghold in the city come with?”

Danny cycled open his display and looked in the codex. “Armory and bank space depending on the size of the stronghold, and not much else.”

“Exactly. We have a fully equipped workshop in place. And we have a good amount of armory and storage space here,” Zach said.

“But there's one problem with that idea,” Danny said. He was still skimming through the codex. “This stronghold can be taken by other players. If we're logged out when someone comes here, we'll lose our stronghold. We can hire NPC guards, but putting a decent force here could get really expensive really quickly.”

“Well, we should try to attract more members. That will give us more people and more resources to fend off any kind of attack.”

“In my opinion, it's a good idea,” Selene said. “I mean, we already took on this place with the bare minimum of ammunition and no preparation. What's to say we can't do this too?”

“While we're recruiting, what happens if a group decides they want to take this place from us? What's the upside of joining our company instead of just forming their own once they have the stronghold?” Danny asked.

“Money.”

“Where are we going to get that?” Danny asked. “Killing monsters isn't going to do much for us.”

“Have you looked in the machine shop?” Zach asked.

“Briefly, yes. How is that going to help us?”

“Come on. I'll show you.”

The other three followed him into the shop. Zach led them in front of the ammunition press.

“That's going to be our trump card.”

“None of us can work that. And we have no resources to use either,” Danny said.

“Every one of us leveled up in the last fight, right?” Each of them confirmed Zach's question. “Then we each have a skill point we can assign. You noticed that mineral quarry we passed on the way here, right?”

“So one of us puts a skill into mining, and another puts a point into metallurgy?” Selene deduced. “That still leaves the ammo press.”

“That requires machinist. And I can put a point into that,” Zach said.

“Why can't I see that option?” Miko asked.

“It's a class specific skill. You'll have some that we don't as well.”

Danny looked at the codex again. “Ammunition press. Can be used to make pistol ammunition with one skill point in machinist.” He looked up. “So your plan is to sell pistol ammunition? That's actually a pretty good idea. I noticed a lot of the players were using pistols to hunt the smaller monsters. Though you'll have to compete against the NPC stores that have infinite stock.”

“Can't you set prices on what you sell, though?” Miko asked.

“Bingo. A box of twenty bullets sells for ten credits. If we sold them for, say, eight credits, we still stand to make a decent profit, and it will be a good deal for the other players. That will be how we build up our treasury.”

“This is sounding good. How do we want to break up our responsibilities?” Danny asked.

“Well, I have to be a machinist, naturally. I think you should be the miner since you're also a heavy.”

“So should I choose metallurgy?” Miko asked.

Zach shook his head. “I think that Selene should do that. You should invest your skill point in some sort of combat skill.”

“Why me? I'm the weakest fighter in the group,” she said.

“The skill point will help you to get better. Plus, we need at least one guard for Danny when he's mining, and a sniper would be well suited for that.”

“I agree,” Selene said. “Given time I think you could end up as one of the company's best fighters.”

“So I guess it's settled, then.” Danny said. “Since this is your idea, I think you should found the company.”

“Right.” Zach opened his menu and navigated to the option to start a company. “Huh.”

“What?”

“It already has a name filled in, I wonder why...”

“What's the name?” Miko asked.

“Black Wolf.”

Miko pointed to the wall. “Like that?”

All of them looked. Sure enough, painted on the wall was the faded but still visible head of a wolf.

“Huh, the logo here even matches it.” He looked around. “Any objections?”

There were none. Zach approved the founding of the company in his menu screen. Congratulations, it read. He noticed that the company markings appeared next to his profile picture.

“Alright, guys. Black Wolf Company is in business.”

CHAPTER 4

A Call To Arms

The start-up process for Black Wolf Company had initially been slow. With only one miner, Zach and Selene were often forced to spend time at the stronghold waiting for Danny and Miko to come back with the ore. They had taken the time to sort through the contents of the armory. There was a good stock of basic assault rifles, submachine guns, and plenty of ammunition. Zach had also found a dozen claymore mines in a crate and put them to good use. The overlook that Miko had used was booby-trapped, as were the ruins in front of the stronghold.

The money had come in, first in a slow trickle and then in a steady stream. Their ammunition was being sold out as soon as it reached the markets of Old Chicago. Zach had leveled up enough to start producing basic assault rifle and submachine gun ammunition as well. The income had given them enough gold to beef up their defenses. Black Wolf headquarters was now a formidable obstacle to anyone trying to take it. The stronghold has protected by a platoon of thirty NPC guards. They weren't especially capable, but they would at least serve to give most players pause. They had also put two automated turrets in the courtyard in case any attackers got that close. And most important of all, Black Wolf had started recruiting new members.

There were only three so far, but they added considerably to the power of the company. Xavier was another soldier added to their ranks, who also doubled as a miner. Miko and Danny had met him in the quarry and had asked him to join, which he had accepted. Another addition had been Gavin, an assault class. He had become their runner, taking their goods to market quickly and effectively. Lastly, there was Nora. She was a soldier, but her real value lay in her administrative ability. She kept track of both the treasury and the operations of the base. Unusually, she had chosen to invest skill points in logistics, which gave her access to better data tracking equipment. Things would not be going nearly as smoothly if she wasn't around.

“We've just earn another three thousand credits,” Nora said to Zach as she looked over her data feeds.

“That's plenty to keep our guards paid and make sure everyone gets the stipend,” Zach said.

Each member of the company was given two hundred credits a day as a stipend. Players would have to kill monsters for almost sixteen hours if they wanted to earn that much.

“I'm surprised we don't have more members,” Nora commented.

“I want to keep the number under control, until we get a better source of income. Otherwise, we're going to be unable to pay them all.”

“I think we should start raiding,” Gavin said. “That will give us access to good loot that we can sell.”

“Is it going to be enough to offset the number of guards we'll have to keep here, though?” Selene commented.

“It gets boring just running ammunition back and forth, you know,” Gavin said. “I mean, I like the company, but I'm playing this game for the action too.”

“We can organize a raiding group soon enough,” Selene said. “Maybe send a fireteam-”

“Black Wolf, Black Wolf. Is anyone there?” Danny's voice came over the radio. He had opened a channel to the entire company.

“What's going on?” Zach asked.

“Get up to the quarry. We're about to have trouble.”

“We'll be there. Give me details on the way.” He looked at the rest of them. “You all heard that. Let's go. Leave the the base to the guards.”

Zach's fireteam grabbed their weapons and took off for the quarry. It was only a mile away, but from the sound of things Danny's fireteam was in trouble.

“OK, we're on our way. What's up?” Zach asked.

“There's a player being chased by six other players. The six look like they're in the same company. The other guy is unaffiliated. Xavier is trying to get the situation under control, and I'm going to-”

The sound of gunfire erupted in the background.

“Danny!”

“They're shooting! None of us are hurt, but Xavier is separated from us.” he paused for a moment. “Xavier just killed one of them.”

“Move!” Zach shouted. His fireteam picked up the pace and ran to the lip of the quarry. Gunfire was crackling ahead of them all the while.

There were five enemies down below in the quarry. They were laying down a steady, concentrated fire on Danny's fireteam. Zach could see that Xavier was separated from the other two, and about to be flanked. Selene saw it too and raised her assault rifle.

“They have a sniper! Get down!” Danny warned them over the radio. All of them took cover a split-second before a bullet cracked over them. Zach peered over the cliff's edge. Xavier was fighting gamely, but there were too many. One of the enemy got a bead on him and opened fire. Xavier fell behind the rocks, shot.

But then he saw another movement. Someone was crawling toward Xavier's stricken form. Oblivious to the bullets, the stranger crawled up beside him and pulled a medical kit off his back. Zach could see him start to treat Xavier's wounds.

“We need to get down there,” Gavin said.

“Yeah, but the first one to try is going to get shot,” Zach said.

“That's a risk we're going to have to take,” Selene said. “Otherwise, Xavier is going to lose a lot of experience points.”

“Can all of you move down here at the same time?” Miko asked over the radio.

“Yeah, why?” Zach answered.

“I don't think they know I'm here. I've been camouflaged, and I haven't fired yet. I can use my hawk eye ability to spot him, but it only lasts for a few seconds and I need to know where to look. If I can get a muzzle flash I can concentrate on that area and take care of him.”

Zach grinned as Selene, who smiled herself. “Good plan. Alright, on the count of three, everyone slide down the cliff. One. Two. Three!”

The four of them jumped up and leaped down the slope of the quarry. A shot rang out, and a bullet impacted where Zach had been seconds before.

“Got him,” Miko said, just before she fired. “He's down.”

Zach's fireteam reached the bottom of the quarry and hurried into cover beside Danny.

“Glad you could make it,” he told them. “It's been all I can do to cover Xavier and the other guy.”

“Give us some more cover. My team, move up and crush them!”

Gavin and Selene broke cover. Danny let out a long burst to cover them. Zach and Nora followed behind them. Zach saw one of the enemy fall like he had been hit with a hammer in the head. Miko was beginning to turn into quite the fearsome sniper.

The enemy trying to flank Xavier's position looked up in surprise as Gavin was suddenly right on top of him. He tried to aim, but he wasn't fast enough. Gavin shot him with a burst of his submachine gun, then leaped on him and finished him off with his knife.

Zach ducked behind cover and put his radio on the all in range setting. “This is Black Wolf territory. Either leave now, or we will kill you all.”

“Give us the medic, and we'll leave,” the answer came.

“Wrong answer,” Danny said.

“Open fire!” Zach commanded. The rest of Black Wolf complied, even Xavier who was patched up and back on his feet.

The remaining three intruders stood no chance. Selene and Nora flanked them and forced them into cover close together. It was their final mistake. Zach now had a steady supply of grenades; he loaded one and shot it off.

“You got them,” Selene confirmed to him.

Zach let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the rocks. “You alright, Xavier?”

“Well, that wasn't fun,” Xavier said. “Thanks to him, they didn't kill me, at least.”

“No, no, thanks to all of you they didn't kill me,” the newcomer said. “I'm Javier, by the way. Or Javy, for short.”

Zach stood up and extended his hand to Javier. “I'm Zach. This is Black Wolf Company.”

Javy took his hand. “Black Wolf? Weren't you the first company that was founded?”

“As far as I know, that would be us.”

“Pleased to meet you all.”

“So why were those guys out to kill you?” Gavin asked as he jogged up.

Javy sighed. “It's a long story.”

“Well, luckily we have the perfect place to talk about it that's not far from here,” Danny said. “Provided our esteemed commander will allow it?”

“Fine with me,” Zach said. “Follow us.”

“So, start with how you ran afoul of those guys back there,” Zach asked after they were back at their base.

“Well, they're a company called the Kings,” Javy said.

“Wait, the Kings? Those Kings?” Gavin said. “The crown jerks of the Old Chicago area Kings?”

“Yeah. I was with them. Part of the company, in fact,” Javy said.

“I'm sorry, but you don't seem to fit in with those types,” Gavin said.

“Well, I was looking to join a company, and they were recruiting. They didn't seem too bad at first. They needed a medic for their team, and I wanted to have a good group. It started off fine, but then they started doing some questionable things.”

“How questionable?” Selene asked.

“They liked to ambush new players in the north end of the city and shake them down for money. If you paid, you were allowed to hunt. If not, they killed you.”

Selene shook her head. “I hate griefers.”

“I'm ashamed to say, I went along with it for a little while. I wasn't the one doing the shooting, I just patched up our team. But then I finally got sick of it and left the company. They didn't like that much.”

“I can guess,” Gavin said.

“I tried heading south, but they followed me to try and kill me, and here I am.”

Nora frowned. “They were awfully intent on killing you, even after we wiped most of them out. Any particular reason why?”

Javy scratched the back of his neck. “Well, there is one thing.” He pulled something out of one of his pockets and laid it on the briefing table.

“Is that a map?” Nora asked.

“Yeah, that would be a map. I'm not sure what it's for,” Javy said.

Xavier leaned over and took a look. “Looks like it's marking a specific spot. I think that's our stronghold here at the top, and then the quarry is here. The main part of the map is another five miles south of here.”

“Think it's important?” Miko asked.

“I would think so. So did everyone else in the Kings, which is probably why they tried to kill me after I left,” Javy said.

“Isn't there supposed to be abandoned technology and stockpiles lying around the game world?” Danny asked. “This could be one of those spots.”

“I don't know. I was never going to be at a high enough level to go that far into the wilds alone, and my company was too busy harassing people up north.”

“Care to join Black Wolf?” Zach asked. “We definitely can use a medic. And we'll be more than willing to go south with you. Do we all have time to do an expedition tonight?”

Everyone said yes.

“Thanks. Hopefully you'll be better than the Kings,” Javy said as he accepted the offer in his menu.

“Not like that's going to be hard,” Gavin said.

Javy laughed. “That's true.”

“So how many of us go?” Nora asked.

“All of us,” Zach said.

“Are you sure?” Selene spoke up from her spot at the back of the briefing room. “What happens if someone tries to take our base while we're away?”

“Our defenses should be able to hold them off,” Zach said. “Plus, I think that Gavin's right. Why are we playing if we're not going to take the time to explore the world?”

“Your choice,” Selene shrugged.

“We should bring as much ammunition as possible,” Danny said.

“Agreed,” Zach said. There was no telling who or what they might run into.

“How are we going to divide up?” Nora asked.

Zach thought for a moment. “Two fireteams is probably going to be our best bet. One should be the forward unit, and the other one should follow behind in a support role. The front team should be me, Gavin, Danny and either you or Xavier. That will give us the ability to take on any resistance we come across, and I can keep an eye out for obstacles and traps. The follow on team should be Miko, Javy, Selene, and whoever doesn't go with us.”

“I'll stick with the rear fireteam,” Xavier said.

“Who's the commander of the second team?” Selene asked.

“That should be you, if there's no objections.”

“And you're leading the forward squad, obviously.”

No one objected.

“Alright, we'll move out in ten minutes. Get anything you need from the armory before then.”

CHAPTER 5

Abyss

“It's around here somewhere,” Javy said as he looked over the map.

Zach could see very little through the trees around them. The trek down here had been relatively quiet. Black Wolf Company had been attacked by a pack of feral dogs, but the eight of them had easily dispatched them with their pistols. They had passed by a few ruined buildings, though they were so decayed that Zach thought they probably had next to nothing of value in them. And then they had reached the forest.

“Any way to pinpoint a more exact location?” Danny asked.

“No, we're going to have to keep looking. It would help to know what exactly we're looking for.”

“Well, we can split up and search the area,” Selene suggested.

“Uh, let's split up is one of the worst suggestions you can make,” Danny said.

“Oh come on, we can see each other on the radar. Just run toward the sound of gunfire if you hear it.”

“Maybe go in pairs?” Nora suggested.

“Sounds like a plan. Javy should go with either me or Xavier,” Selene said.

“I'll go with him,” Xavier offered.

“Miko, that means you're with me.”

“Right,” she said.

“How are we going to split up, then?” Danny asked.

“I think that pairing the assault and the heavy together is a good idea,” Gavin said. “It will give us more options if we run into trouble.”

Zach nodded. “OK, Nora, you're with me. Split up in the four directions, and make sure to shout if you run into trouble.”

Zach and Nora went west. The trees were becoming thicker the further they went. There was definitely a large forest here, though he had no idea just how large it actually was. Taking the time to consolidate their power base had come with the tradeoff of not being able to explore the world around them. Outside of their territory and Old Chicago, they were walking blind.

“So... I don't know much about you,” Nora said as they walked.

“Well, same goes for everyone. I know Selene and Danny in real life, but I've never met anyone else,” Zach said.

“So, tell me about yourself,” Nora said.

“Um, that's a little personal,” Zach said. “How the heck do I know that you're not a guy? Or some creepy stalker?”

“It's not like I'm going to know if you're lying,” Nora said. “I'll go first. I'm a grad student at DePaul University.”

“Hey, you went to DePaul?” Zach asked. “I went there for communications.”

“What do you do now?” Nora asked.

“Well, I actually helped to design some of the communications systems in the game,” Zach said. “What's your major?” he asked.

“I'm studying music. I play cello.”

“Ah, that's pretty cool.”

“So you're in Chicago as well?” Nora asked.”

“Yeah, still there. Danny lives in Chicago too. Selene moved up to Minneapolis after she finished school, and Miko is her roommate. No clue about anyone else.”

“Our company should meet up some time in the real world. Go for drinks, or something.”

Zach nodded. “Maybe. Depends on what the others think about it.”

“Hey. What about that?” Nora said.

“What about what?”

She pointed to a rocky outcropping. “Think that's what we're looking for?”

“It's worth a shot.”

They hurried up to the outcropping. To Zach, it looked like it was built to disguise something. It was difficult to tell around the overgrown mess of grass and weeds.

He heard a clank. “Found something,” Nora said. She pointed to what looked like a ventilation pipe.

“Does that go to somewhere?” Zach wondered.

“Not like we're going to be able to find out,” Nora said.

“Yeah, but if it's a ventilation pipe, then whatever it's for should be around here somewhere,” Zach said.

His radio buzzed. “What's up?”

Danny answered on the other end of the line. “We found something. Looks like the entrance to a bunker, or something. We'll wait for you to get here before we do anything.”

“Copy that.” Zach frowned as he looked down at the pipe. “Maybe...”

“What?” Nora asked.

He looked up. “If that pipe goes to the same bunker that they're in front of, then that place is going to be huge. Let's go.”

The rest of Black Wolf was waiting for them at the entrance to the bunker. The door was off its hinges, rusting on the ground. The concrete facings were covered in ivy and moss. Danny turned and motioned with his machine gun as they approached.

“There's a small entry complex at the front of the bunker, but we didn't want to explore too much in case there was something nasty lurking.”

“You and me go first, Gavin and Nora follow. Then the rest of the team.”

“Copy that,” Danny said. He turned on the flashlight he had fixed to the end of his weapon and went for the door. Zach turned his own light on and followed.

The entryway wasn't much; just a hallway with two rooms branching off. There was a door in front of them, but it looked like it has some sort of security system on it that would probably require some hacking to open. That would require an engineer, and Zach didn't have nearly enough skill points in that area to even try.

“Gavin, Nora, left. Danny and I will take right.”

Both teams approached their doors. Danny went in first. His heavy defense and firepower would deal with any problems that lay in store for them. But there was nothing.

“Clear,” Gavin shouted from the other side. “Looks like a break room or something.”

“Yeah, this doesn't look like much,” Zach said.

There were a few skeletons in the room, with the remains of military uniforms hanging off them in rags. A couple of desks lined the walls, but there was no treasure trove here.

“Paper, office supplies, and a whole lot of nothing,” Danny said as he looked through the drawers of the desk. “So much for waiting.”

“There's got to be some way through that door, though,” Zach said. “Maybe one of theses guys has a key on them.”

Selene and Xavier walked in.

“There's nothing on the other side,” Selene said.

“We're thinking that one of the bodies has a key on him,” Zach said. He saw Xavier shift his light over to something in the corner.

“I think I found it,” he said.

The other three walked over to join him. Sure enough, there was a skeleton in the corner, a key card clutched in its dead hand. Selene took it. But there was something else beside the body. Zach knelt over and opened his menu. There was a new codex entry.

“Flamethrower. Can be used by the engineer class. Requires fuel tanks to fire.” He frowned. “I'm not going to be able to carry both this and my carbine. Should I grab it?”

“Uh, yes?” Danny said. “We're going to get attacked by a swarm of things once we step in that bunker, and that flamethrower is going to be the only thing that's going to save us.”

“How do you know that?” Selene asked.

“That's how every single game I've played works. When they offer you a weapon you had better take it, or else.”

“Well, there's two fuel tanks,” Zach said. He unloaded his carbine and ammunition onto the ground and picked up the flamethrower. “I hope this works, because it's going to suck fighting with just a pistol.” He opened a channel to the the rest of Black Wolf. “Everyone assemble in front of the door.”

“Here's hoping there's nothing too challenging,” Danny said as they left the room.

“Well... things may get interesting,” Zach said.

“Is that a flamethrower? Nice,” Gavin said as they met up in the hall.

“Bet you're not going to be so happy in five minutes,” Danny said.

“Why, 'cause we're gonna get swarmed? I'll be really glad we have the flamethrower then.”

“Five dollars says your overreacting,” Selene said to Danny.

“OK, I'll bet a beer on that the next time we're out.”

Zach held up his hand for silence. “Alright, we're going to try and tackle this bunker. I think that Danny's right. Something in there is going to give us trouble, which is why there's a flamethrower lying around. Both of us should definitely be up front to take care of anything that tries to swarm us. And there's more.” He turned to Nora. “About how far away were we when we found that ventilation pipe?”

“Probably half a mile or so,” Nora shrugged.

“Which means this place could be huge,” Selene said.

“This is starting to sound really dangerous,” Miko said.

“Yeah, but we're pretty well equipped,” Danny said. “I'm not going to say that this isn't going be trouble, but we should be able to handle this.”

Zach thought that assessment was accurate. They had only been together as a team for around two weeks, but Black Wolf Company was already leaps and bounds better than it had been. Though a good portion of their time had been spent mining and producing bullets, they had also taken the time to train themselves in the area around their base. None of them were the equal of any of the top players who had exclusively trained in combat skills, but they all were formidable nonetheless.

He, Danny and Selene had their experience from the beta, and they had become even better. Miko was turning into an extremely deadly sniper. She had begun to stop using the auto-aim, and though her accuracy had decreased she still was able to make frequent kills. Gavin was an odd-ball, favoring speed and closing into knife range. It was unorthodox, but effective. Nora had proven to be a good shot the few times she had been in the field. Xavier was as well, with the added bonus of being almost unflappable in combat. The only one he didn't know much about was Javy, but that was natural since he had just joined them. His class build looked solid, tailored for providing as much healing to downed teammates as possible.

“Well, we'll find out,” Zach said. “My fireteam first. Danny, up front with me.”

They got into position. Danny angled himself so that he could sweep the entire doorway with bullets if something was waiting for them on the other side. Zach would use the flamethrower if he had to, but it was probably best conserve ammunition until it became absolutely necessary. Nothing would hurt more than dying at the end of the bunker because they ran out of fuel.

“Ready?” Selene asked. She prepared to swipe the key card.

“Go!” Zach ordered.

She swiped. Zach heard clanking, then the movement of hydraulics. The door slid to one side. He and Danny had turned their lights back on, but the corridor was illuminated with worn but still functional lights. They stepped inside. The air smelled musty, but it was breathable. The floor below them was starting to rust, but it was solid. So were the walls of the corridor.

Cautiously, Zach and Danny crept forward, Nora and Gavin close behind. The corridor opened up into a cross, with paths ahead, to the left and the right.

“Split up?” Nora suggested from behind them.

“That's a great idea until one pair runs into trouble,” Gavin said.

Zach agreed. Selene's fireteam was coming up behind them. “Selene, we're going left. Follow behind us at a distance. Close enough so we can support each other if there's a problem.”

“Got that.”

Danny and Zach started down the corridor. There was an opened door to their right about ten paces down.

“Nora and I will cover,” Danny said.

Zach nodded and signaled Gavin. He went in first, scanning the room for any threats. There were none. The room looked like it was sleeping quarters. A dozen bunks were lined up in neat rows.

“Anything?” Selene asked over the radio.

“Not unless you want a nap,” Gavin said.

Searching the room lead to nothing of value. Gavin and Zach rejoined the rest of the team in the corridor. They made their way forward, searching room after room. Time after time, they found nothing. The corridor turned right, then right again. Still nothing. The team found themselves back where they started.

“Well, that sucked,” Gavin said.

“I guess we go right, then,” Xavier said.

They pushed on ahead. This corridor was different. The floor looked to be a bit more worn. And the lights were starting to become more and more faded.

“We're going to need to use our torches soon,” Danny said.

Nora suddenly tapped him on the shoulder. “Do you hear that?”

Zach stopped. “Hear what?”

“A scratching noise.”

Black Wolf went completely silent. Zach could hear nothing at first. Then it started. A rapid sound, like fingernails scratching against a rough surface. It was faint, but...

“Oh, no,” Danny said, reaching to activate his light. The sound was getting closer and closer. The corridor lit up as the flashlight turned on. And the source of the noise became horrifyingly apparent.

A long shape rose in front of them. It looked like a centipede, but it was huge and mutated. The thing was at least six feet long, covered in a tough-looking chitinous shell. It flexed its mandibles at them with an audible clank. Zach was pretty sure that it could chop any one of them in half if it got close enough.

“Oh, heck no,” Danny said. He opened up with a long burst from his machine gun. Nora and Gavin joined in on full auto as well.

The creature reeled backward, hurt by the storm of bullets. But it didn't die. The centipede let out an audible hiss and slunk back into the shadows.

Danny looked as his gun. “Fifty bullets, and it's not dead. That's not counting all of the ones they fired.”

“Everyone turn on your lights, and keep an eye out everywhere. That includes the ceilings,” Selene said.

“Great. Why did it have to be giant bugs?” Nora muttered as she switched on her light. “Why couldn't it be something furry, at least? I'd even take rats.”

“Speak for yourself,” Miko said.

“Let's keep moving,” Zach said.

His fireteam advanced skittishly, still rattled from their encounter with the monster.

“So, there's got to be only one of them, then? Maybe this is a boss battle?” Danny suggested.

“Or we could have stumbled across a dungeon that's way too high for our level,” Xavier said over the open channel.

“That's really not a comforting thought,” Danny said.

“Sorry for dragging you all into this mess,” Javy said.

“Hey, we're the ones who wanted to go,” Danny said.

“We haven't even been hurt yet. It's a little too premature for apologies,” Selene said.

Zach thought that too, but the banter was helping to calm their nerves. He couldn't hear any scratching, at least. That was comforting. His light saw nothing ahead of them. He chanced a glance at the ceiling. Still nothing. But then there was movement...

“Above!” Nora shouted from behind him as the beam suddenly illuminated the form of the mutant centipede. It hissed and dropped down in front of them, mandibles clanking together like giant shears.

More as a reflex than anything else, Zach pulled the trigger of the flamethrower. A stream of fire leaped out of the nozzle and engulfed the centipede. The creature lit up like a torch. It let out a high-pitched shriek and thrashed about, burning all the while. With one last spasm, the thing curled up and died. The corridor was suddenly deathly silent.

“Well, now we know what the flamethrower was for,” Xavier said.

“I think you owe me a beer,” Selene said.

“We still have time,” Danny said.

“Do you want to get attacked by a swarm of those things?” Gavin asked incredulously.

Zach knelt by the charred corpse of the monster and opened his menu. He turned on the scanner and swept it over the body.

Chilus, the codex entry read. Mutated from the centipedes of the pre-disaster world. Lived in caves and other underground locations. Were capable of tunneling. They could grow up to ten feet long, and they were extremely strong. They had a venomous bite, and their mandibles could cut a steel beam in half. Chilus were also heavily armored, and their chitin was resistant to bullets.

“Find out anything?” Selene asked.

Zach shared the codex entry with the rest of them. “See for yourself.”

“OK, that's not good,” Xavier said as he looked it over.

“Is fire the only way to kill it?” Miko asked.

“I'm thinking that armor piercing bullets will also do the trick,” Danny said.

She made a face. “Great. I have a grand total of six of them.”

Gavin stood up and drew his knife. “I wonder, though...”

He walked over to the dead body and prodded it with his knife. The metal clinked against the chilus's natural armor. Gavin started poking at what looked to be random spots. Then his knife sunk in.

“There we go,” Gavin smiled. He ripped through the flesh underneath with surprising precision. “It feels like you cooked it inside.”

“Uh, are you a serial killer or something?” Danny asked. “You're awfully good with a knife.”

“I'm a biology major,” Gavin said. “Or was. Graduated in the spring.”

“Oh, good,” Danny said.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Nora asked him.

Gavin grunted as he shifted the knife. “Their exoskeleton is pretty tough. I'm wondering if its possible to fabricate some sort of armor out of it. Plus, you said that they were venomous, right? That means we should be able to extract some of the venom if we can find the sacks.”

“What the heck are we going to use venom for?” Nora asked. “I'm thinking that coating bullets isn't going to be effective.”

“It could be worth a try,” Danny shrugged.

“Except the fact that the poison will get burned away by the explosion of the gunpowder,” Xavier said. “It would have to be for knives, or maybe if there are bows.”

“There has to be,” Javy spoke up. He had been silent for quite a while. “I mean, there's a specific skill track for me that deals with toxins and poisons.”

“At the very least, it could be worth a good chunk of cash,” Gavin said. He yanked and managed to pull off a section of the centipede's armor. “Yeah, if there's a way to shape this, then it'll be good armor. Better protection than our flak vests.”

There probably was. World at War's crafting system was unique in that it had both structured and free crafting. Structured crafting required a specific set of materials and equipment and led to a known and specified product. In contrast, free crafting only took into account the materials used and how they were shaped, as well as the producing player's skills. You had no way to know what you were making unless you had done it before, and there were always new combinations to discover.

“Should we strip the rest of it?” Danny asked. “Or are there more ahead?”

“Only one way to find out. Let's keep moving,” Selene said.

Zach checked his flamethrower before he continued. The burst had drained about a tenth of the tank. He was going to have to be very careful.

The corridor opened up about thirty paces further down. There were two doorways; one looked like a stairwell, and the other one was an elevator. There was a key card slot on the elevator's console.

“Do we want to try it?” Zach asked.

“It will save time,” Danny said.

“Are you going to be able to use the flamethrower in there without frying the rest of us?” Xavier asked.

“If we have to fight many more of those things, I'm going to run out of fuel. If this can get us to the bottom faster, then it's worth the risk,” Zach answered.

“I'm going to trigger the door,” Selene said. “Be ready.”

“Something bad is coming up that elevator,” Xavier said as Black Wolf formed a semi-circle around the elevator door, guns at the ready.

“Alright. Now!”

The light on the console switched from green to red. The machinery in the elevator started to hum. It sounded rough, but that was probably to be expected from something so old. The elevator doors opened to total blackness. The elevator was not in the shaft.

“Oh crap,” Miko said. She fired a shot. Something in the elevator shaft shrieked and fell.

The rest of Black Wolf opened fire. Dozens upon dozens of bullets filled the air in front of them. Anything short of a tank would be shredded by the massed firepower, but in effect, that was what a chilus was; a walking, biological tank.

Miko fired again. “There's three more of them, but I'm going to run out of armor piercing bullets. I've already used two.”

Hurriedly, Zach crept closer to the shaft. He brought up the flamethrower and shot off a long burst into the elevator shaft. The chilus inside thrashed and shrieked as they were cooked inside their shells. They fell down the shaft, but Zach wasn't going to take any chances. He walked up to the elevator doors and shot a gout of flame down as far as it could reach.

“Shut the door!” he yelled.

Selene swiped the card key again.

“Okay, bad idea,” Zach said as the door closed. He looked at the tank. Down to a quarter, he saw.

“Then we try the stairs,” Selene said.

“Are we going to have enough ammo to do this?” Gavin asked. “I mean, the rest of us might as well be throwing rocks at them.”

“There's been nothing on this level. There has to be something down below,” Danny said. “Maybe there's more fuel tanks, or something.”

Black Wolf formed up and started down the stairwell.

“Would launched grenades work on them?” Xavier suggested.

“Again, I think we'd need armor piercing rounds, and I don't have any,” Zach said. “Not to mention the fact that my launcher is attached to my gun, and that's sitting back at the entrance to this place.”

“What about hand grenades, then?”

“I just shot fifty rounds into one of those things. I don't think anything short of an anti-tank grenade is going to do anything,” Danny said. “Which, of course, we don't have, and we would have to get close enough to attach one anyhow.”

“I might be able to knife one,” Gavin said.

“Before or after it sliced you in half?” Selene said.

“Hey, just a suggestion.”

Danny and Zach peered around the turn in the stairwell. “Any insight you can provide?” Danny asked.

Zach shook his head. “Unless its about the communication systems, no.”

They made their way down the second set of stairs to the open doorway below. Ahead of them was another corridor much like the last one, made of steel and concrete and illuminated by dimming lights. There was faded paint on one of the walls.

“B2, Labs,” Gavin read as he shined his light. “Don't tell me this is one of those bioweapon facilities that let the test subjects get loose.”

“You'd think that they would have some sort of suppression system,” Nora said.

“If they do, the chilus probably destroyed it”

“We might be able to salvage some of it,” she suggested.

“Or we could end up tripping part of the system,” Danny said.

“Same patrol file as normal?” Selene asked from the stairwell.

“Yeah. Let's go.”

They pushed forward. This corridor was straight, with no branches like the previous level. Fifty paces down the corridor was a doorway. Zach gave a signal to Danny. With one quick practiced motion, they stormed into the room.

“What the heck?” Danny wondered aloud.

It looked like a research lab, but the computers and other equipment were strewn about. Mangled bones lay in haphazard heaps. There were blood stains on the floor. Most were old, but some of them looked relatively fresh. There were random clumps of earth around the room as well.

“Is this a nest?” Danny asked.

“Could be.”

“If this is-”

Zach saw Danny suddenly whip his gun around. He heard a burst of gunfire, then a loud, high-pitched shriek.

“Gavin, Nora, get in here, and stay on guard,” Danny said.

“What's going on,” Gavin asked as he entered the lab.

Danny shifted his light to illuminate the thing he had just shot. It looked like a chilus, but it was only two feet long and much thinner. Apparently bullets were effective against it; Danny's machine gun had shredded a large portion of its body.

“I think there might be more of them.”

Zach triggered his radio. “Selene? Hold the corridor. We might need to clear this room of hostiles.”

“Do you need any backup?” she asked.

“No, we should be fine.”

Zach's fireteam crept around the ruined lab. Zach had drawn his pistol and stowed the flamethrower on his back. There was no point in wasting ammunition.

“Well, this isn't a bio lab,” Gavin said.

“How can you tell?” Zach asked.

“They're clearly researching something here, but there's nothing the would be in a normal bio lab. No centrifuges, no microscopes. It looks like it's mechanical.”

“Weaponry, then? Transport?”

“I have no idea.”

Zach heard Nora shriek, then a burst of gunfire. “Sorry,” she said. “Bugs aren't really my thing.”

Gavin fired off a quick burst with his submachine gun. “Boy, this is sure a lot more fun than the big guys.”

They cleared the room without any further incident. Gavin knelt by the one he had killed and scanned it then sent the information to them. Chilus larvae, the codex entry read. Grows between one and three feet tall. Much smaller and weaker than the adult form, Extremely venomous, but its carapace lacks the resistance to bullets that an adult chilus possesses.

Zach frowned. “So if they weren't in here originally, how did they get in here?”

“Did they come in through the door?” Gavin said.

“Maybe they tunneled in somewhere else in the bunker?” Nora suggested.

Shots suddenly rang out in the corridor. Then silence.

“What happened?” Zach asked.

“Miko just shot a chilus,” Selene answered back. “I think there were some baby ones with it as well.”

“Yeah, we found some of the larvae in here.”

“Hey guys, come look at this,” Danny said.

The rest of the fireteam joined him. He was looking at a poster of some sort hanging up against the wall. No, it was a map, Zach saw upon closer inspection. It looked like a fire escape plan of some sort.

“So we're here,” Danny said, pointing to a faded spot in the middle of the map. “Looks like there's one more room on this level, and then there's one large room on the bottom level. That screams boss fight.”

“That seems rather small,” Zach said.

“Maybe that ventilation pipe went to another bunker?” Nora said.

“So there could be more of these places around this area? Think they're worth exploring?” Gavin said.

“That depends what we get at the end. If it isn't good, then this entire place has been one big death trap,” Zach said.

“Yeah, but you have to admit, it's been fun.”

Zach could agree with that. Sometimes he forgot that this was all just a game. It was very easy to do when everything around him felt so real.

“Let's clear this bunker first. Ready to go?”

“I need to reload. Put someone else up in front,” Danny said.

“Right. Gavin, up front with me.”

The fireteam exited the room. “Anything good?” Selene asked.

“We found a map. There's one more floor and one more room on this level,” Danny told her as he tried to reload as quickly as possible.

Zach and Gavin made their way to the second doorway. Zach could hear scratching coming from behind it as they approached.

“Great,” Gavin said.

“Can you open the door?”

“I shove it open from one side, and you blast the room with flames? Let's do it.”

Zach nodded. “Count of three. One. Two. THREE!”

Gavin flipped the door handle and shoved it open with a quick push. Zach had time to see a room crawling with chilus larvae and adults before he pulled the trigger. The monsters shrieked and squirmed as he washed the nest with flames. And then the flamethrower coughed and died.

“Crap. Crap, crap, crap!” Zach said as he tried to switch fuel tanks on the fly. He pulled the hose out of the empty tank and tried to fix it to the other, but it slipped out of his hands. He grabbed it again and tried to turn it. Most of the chilus had been killed by the initial blast, but one was still on its feet, even though it was burning. This one was bigger than most of the other ones he had seen.

“We need backup!” Gavin yelled into his radio. He opened up, even though his submachine guns wasn't going to do anything.

To their surprise, the chilus reeled backward, hurt by the stream of bullets. Gavin kept firing until his gun clicked empty. By that time, the chilus had died.

Nora and Danny came rushing up, followed by Selene's squad. “Ran out of fuel at the worst time,” Zach said sheepishly.

“How the heck did I kill it?” Gavin said.

“Well, the codex said they were resistant to bullets. It never said that they were immune. Plus, it was probably weakened by the flamethrower,” Zach said.

“Anything of use?” Selene asked.

“Doesn't look like it, and I really have no desire to find out,” Zach said. “You're welcome to search, if you want to.”

Selene nodded. “My fireteam, let's go.”

Zach's team took up defensive positions in the corridor.

“So, what do you think is on the bottom floor?” Danny asked.

“If I had to guess, it'll be a horde of chilus, which means you get out of a beer,” Zach said. He was going to file the previous room away for later.

“I meant, what's going to be the reward if we somehow manage to survive this.”

“You said this is looks like a mechanical research lab?” Zach asked Gavin.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe some sort of schematic?”

“How valuable is that schematic going to be, is the question,” Nora said.

How valuable, indeed. Several players had discovered schematics for lost technology. The armor-piercing ammunition that Miko was using had been discovered by a small company that had been exploring an abandoned factory to the west of Old Chicago. They had sold it to one of the NPC manufacturers in the city for a tidy profit, and armor-piercing ammunition was now available to purchase in shops across the city.

There hadn't been many discoveries, at least. The armor-piercing ammunition had been one. An ATV that ran off fusion batteries had also been discovered, though the price for one of them was too high for almost anyone to afford. A third company had found the plans for a light artillery piece, though again, no one had the specialization to use it yet. Even so, the schematics were worth a significant amount of credits if sold to the corporations back in the city.

“Nothing in here,” Selene said over the radio.

Black Wolf advanced to the final stairwell and headed down.

“So... what's at the bottom?” Javy asked as they descended.

“Probably a bunch of chilus. Don't hold back. We're going to have to use everything we have at our disposal,” Selene said.

“Ready?” Zach asked as they reached the bottom. Everyone nodded. “Go!”

Black Wolf Company burst through the door. In contrast to the corridors above, the room before them was well lit. And it was huge. A maze of metal walkways, storage tanks and other industrial equipment lay before them. Zach guessed that the chamber was at least the size of a football field.

“Well, guess I was wrong,” Gavin said. “This looks like a chemistry lab of sorts.”

“What for, I wonder?” Xavier said.

“Keep an eye out for chilus,” Selene said. “I'll sweep the left side. Your squad can sweep right.”

The fireteams split up. Zach's team started to advance down the right side of the lab. He heard nothing; no hissing, no scratching sounds of moving chilus, not even the sounds of any machinery, just the rustle of their kits and the clank of boots against the walkway.

But then there was a noise up in front of them. A scratching, like a chilus, along with a hiss, but it sounded too low pitched.

“You hear that?” Selene asked him through the radio. “I think we may have company.”

Just as she finished saying that, a shape rose in front of them.

“Oh crap,” Danny said. “This is probably the worst way to lose that bet.”

It was a chilus, but it was much bigger than the ones they had encountered before. It was at least twenty feet long, and was covered in battle-scarred carapace.

“I'm going to try and get close enough to broil it,” Zach said over the radio. “Give me cover.”

Both fireteams opened up on the monster chilus. To their horror, the thing didn't even seem to notice the hail of bullets impacting its carapace. It hissed menacingly. Then a loud crack rang out from Selene's section, and the monster let out a shriek. For a minute, as the chilus reared back, Zach thought Miko had managed to kill it with a well-placed bullet, but he was wrong. Dead wrong. The chilus suddenly lurched forward and let out a jet of a vile looking liquid. Zach heard a scream.

“What was that?” he demanded.

“Miko just got hit. Wait, DUCK!”

The chilus reared back and shot off another jet of liquid.

“We just lost Miko,” Selene said over the radio. “I don't think we have any way to hurt it now.”

Miko would respawn back at their stronghold, but they could ill afford to lose their sniper at a time like this. Zach was going to have to be careful, because if he bought it then the rest of Black Wolf had no way to kill the giant chilus.

“I don't think it's paying attention to us,” Zach said. “Can you guys keep it busy for me to get close?”

“We can try, but it's going to be tough,” Selene responded. Zach heard the chatter of gunfire start up again from the left.

“What's the plan?” Danny asked.

“I think that being hit by fire weakens the effectiveness of a chilus's armor,” Zach said. “I'm going to try to get close enough to hit it. Once I do that, hit it with everything you've got.”

“You need someone to cover you,” Nora said.

“Gavin, with me. You two, don't open fire until I hit it first. I don't want you guys to draw its attention.”

Zach scurried forward across the walkways, followed by Gavin. Selene's squad was putting out a barrage of fire. It was certainly keeping the chilus's attention, though beyond that it wasn't doing much. Zach saw it rear back again and spit.

“Xavier's down. He's down,” Selene said. Her voice was beginning to get desperate.

Zach tried to hurry as fast as he could. He climbed over a chemical storage tank, stumbling as he did so. The flamethrower was bulky and heavy. Gavin climbed up beside him and helped pull him over.

“That doesn't look good,” he heard Danny say through the open channel as the chilus spat again.

“Guys, I'm alone over here,” Javy said. “That thing just took out Selene.”

“Just hold out for five more seconds,” Zach said.

He leaped over one last obstacle and then he was there, close enough to the chilus to use his flamethrower. Zach brought the weapon to bear and pulled the trigger. A gout of flames spewed onto the chilus. It shrieked.

“NOW! Aim for the fire!”

Gavin opened fire from beside him. So did Nora and Danny from their positions in the rear. The chilus writhed, clearly being hurt by the combination of flames and bullets. Zach continued to hold down the trigger, bathing the monster in flames. It was working.

But then the chilus suddenly reared back and spat a gout of venom.

“Danny's hit!” Nora said over the radio. Then the chilus spat again. “Danny's dead.”

“Crap,” Zach said. Danny had probably been dealing the highest amount of damage, and the monster had target him first. That meant he was next.

Beside him, Gavin started to throw frag grenades out of desperation. It looked like they didn't do much damage to the chilus, but then one of the ruptured a tank it was standing next to. A stream of liquid spurted out at it. The chilus recoiled, trying to get away. Zach quickly shifted the aim of his flamethrower to where the liquid was hitting. It suddenly caught fire. The chilus lit up in flames. The creature thrashed about as it was immolated by the combination of chemicals and fire.

“Oh crap,” Gavin said. He pulled Zach up. “Run.”

“What?”

“Just do it! Back to the stairwell!”

Zach and Gavin took off at a dead run through the walkways. Behind them one of the tanks shattered as it was hit by the chilus. The shrieks from the creature were getting louder and louder. They almost bowled over Javy as he ran in from the other direction.

“Come on!” Gavin shouted. Together, they ran back to the stairwell. Nora was waiting for them. As soon as they were all inside the four of them slammed the door.

“Half the company,” Zach said with a shake of his head.

“It was pretty close to all of the company,” Nora said.

The door rattled as a series of explosions went off. Zach could still hear the faint sounds of shrieking on the other side.

“You know what would suck? If we went through all that, and we managed to blow up our reward,” Gavin said.

The shrieking suddenly stopped. After a minute, the explosions stopped as well. Zach put his hand on the door, wanting to open it but not quite daring to.

“Think I should risk it?” he asked.

“I think we should be safe by now,” Nora said.

Zach opened the door. The chemical lab was in shambles. Most of the walkways had been blown to pieces, along with all of the storage tanks. Some parts of the lab were still burning. But there was a clear path in front of them.

“Holy crap,” Gavin said as they passed part of the chilus. The monster was in pieces all over the remains of the lab. “We sure did a number on that.”

“Quick thinking, by the way,” Nora said.

“Well, it was partially by accident, but I was hoping that those tanks could be used to help damage it. Though I wasn't expecting something on this scale.”

“So where do we go next?” Javy asked.

“Along this pathway, I'm guessing. It has to lead somewhere,” Zach said.

It did. At the far end of the lab there was a door, battered by the explosions but still intact. Gavin and Nora stormed into the room as Zach yanked the door open. It was about all he was good for at this point. His tanks were all out of fuel, and his pistol was rather lacking.

“Clear,” Gavin said. “Looks like the control room for the lab.”

Zach walked through the door. Gavin was right about that. Unlike all the other labs, the computers in this room were still in place. Sheets of chemical equations and formulas lay scattered about the desks.

“I think this is it,” Nora said from a desk at the far end of the room. She walked back to them with a notebook in hand and laid it on a nearby desk. “This came off of what looks like the main control desk,” she said as she scanned it.

Zach brought it up on his display. It was a bunch of letters and numbers, some sort of chemical formula that he had no idea how to read. “This is it?”

“Maybe it's valuable enough to be sold, at least?” Gavin said.

“Huh? Can you guys not read it?” Javy said.

“It's just a chemical formula,” Gavin said.

Something clicked in Zach's head. “Unless it can only be interpreted if you have a certain skill level. What are you reading it as?”

“It's a recipe for some sort of stimulant,” Javy said. “Overdrive. It boosts reflexes and strength for five minutes.”

“Wait, you can read all that?” Gavin said.

“One of your medic skills must help you do that,” Zach said.

“Yeah. Apparently you can find all the ingredients to make it in the woods around here,” Javy said. “That might also explain how that chilus got so huge.”

“That's got to be worth a lot,” Gavin said.

“Before we think about selling it in Old Chicago, I have an idea,” Nora said. “It's going to have to wait until we're all on next time, though.”

Zach nodded. “OK, let's get out of here.”

CHAPTER 6

Supply and Demand

“So you mix arrowleaf, calcite and vikus petals. One unit of each is enough to make five doses of overdrive,” Javy explained as they all sat around in the lounge of their base.

Selene was looking over the codex entry. “Boosts strength and reflexes for five minutes. That could be very useful. Those boosts are three times more powerful than anything else you can get on the market right now, and last five times longer. The trade-off is that the experience you gain using overdrive is cut down to a third of what you would normally gain. ”

Right now the best stimulants sold on the market lasted for a minute and would only give a small boost to one area. They provided a minimal edge, but it was an edge that may of the players were willing to take, and they would pay well for it. Amp and rush would sell for a hundred credits a dose.

“That would have probably saved us from getting killed,” Xavier said.

“So you want to use it as our trump card, then?” Selene asked Nora. “Keep the secret of making this away from anyone else instead of selling the information?”

“How much would we have gotten?” Danny asked.

“Last I checked? This formula is worth $50,000,” Gavin said. “But you're suggesting we use it to get an advantage over the other companies instead.”

Nora shook her head. “Not in the way you're thinking. What if we held onto the overdrive formula and produced it ourselves? That way we could completely control the market.”

“Not a terrible idea,” Zach said.

“It's three times as powerful, so we should be able to get three times the price, right?” Danny said.

“I think it's worth a lot more than that,” Nora said.

“Just how much?”

“Five hundred.”

Danny clicked his tongue. “That might be a little steep.”

“I can see the logic in it, though,” Xavier said. “The price for something should rise exponentially to how powerful it is. Plus, the combat oriented companies will try to get any edge they can. We can definitely exploit that.”

“Well, that's the second part of my idea,” Nora said. “Once they get their hands on it, they're going to want more. If we want to keep a steady supply of it going, we're going to have to spend most of our time gathering resources, or paying someone to do it. And that's going to lead to people guessing what's in the formula.”

“Can't they already do that?” Miko asked.

“They could, but they need to have a high level in the necessary skill if they don't have a blueprint or formula, along with a high scanning level,” Selene said. “By the time anyone figures that out we'll be sitting on a mountain of credits.”

“So what's the second part of the plan?” Zach asked.

“What if, after the initial batch, we put it on the market sporadically, and used the auction system?”

“Oh, that's rather devious,” Selene said. “I like that idea.”

The player markets worked in two ways. First, players could list items on the market at a fixed price. That was how they had sold their bullets. The other way they could sell was through auction. The seller would place a minimum bid that they would be willing to sell their item for, and a time limit to sell the item within. Players interested in buying the item could place bids anywhere in the world through their wrist menu. It was riskier than simply selling through a shop, but it was a good way to earn a lot of money for rare items.

“I think it's a good idea,” Danny said.

“So do I,” Xavier said.

“Maybe we'll be able to afford one of those ATVs,” Zach said. “How many more doses can you make?”

“I have another four units of everything,” Javy said.

“That's twenty more doses,” Zach mused. “Put it on sale at five hundred...”

“That's what we'd earn in a week making bullets,” Nora said.

“Which leaves us more time for raiding,” Gavin said happily.

“Speaking of raiding. You said that there might be more bunkers in the forest,” Danny said to him. “Do we want to focus in that area?”

“Maybe there's more schematics there?”

“The thing is, we have to find the other bunkers first,” Zach said.

“Well, why don't we send a scouting party to look around the area?” Danny suggested. “Then we can have a go at any bunkers we find later.”

“We should have one fireteam scout the area, and one team go take the overdrive to Old Chicago,” Selene said.

“Is it really necessary to have four people go?” Gavin asked. “I mean, the stuff has to weigh less than carrying bullets.”

“The last thing we want is to have someone kill you on the outskirts and get their hands on the stuff,” Selene said. “Whoever is carrying it needs to have an escort.”

“Who stays and who goes?” Danny asked.

“I want to have a look around in the markets, so I'll lead the fireteam going,” Selene said. “I think Xavier and Miko should be in the scouting patrol, since they died. They could use the extra experience. And so could Javy.”

Danny leaned back in his chair. “Mmm. That puts me as an escort. Doesn't sound like a ton of fun, but it will be nice to go back to the markets and grab stuff.”

“I'll take Nora and Gavin, as well,” Selene said. “If you're alright with it, I'd like to take the time to look for base upgrades.”

“Do what you need to,” Zach shrugged. “Just make sure we have enough to pay for our guard force.”

Selene nodded. “Alright. My team will leave as soon as Javy can finish the last batches of overdrive. Make sure you're equipped for battle in the outskirts.”

“I'll try to get them ready as soon as possible, Javy said.

“No rush.”

Zach stood up. “My team, let's figure out exactly where we're going. Javy, meet us in the briefing room when you're done.”

He, Miko and Xavier made their way to the briefing room and took a look over the map that was laying on the center of the table. It showed topographical features of the surrounding area, but nothing else.

“We really should invest in one of those holographic map tables,” Xavier said. “That will make planning so much easier.”

“Well, we might be able to afford one now,” Zach said.

“So we have a soldier, an engineer, a sniper and a medic,” Xavier said. “That's not exactly the best team for combat.”

“Not for a straight assault, but it should be good enough for a scouting force,” Zach said.

Xavier would provide the muscle of the team. He had the strongest defense, and could project fairly good attack power as well. Miko would be their damage dealer, sniping foes at range. Zach himself would keep them aware of any traps and obstacles in their path, and could set some of their own if they were forced to fall back. Javy would round out the team, healing anyone that got into trouble. They had nothing close to the sheer power of an attack-oriented fireteam, but it looked like a solid build nonetheless.

“Are we also going to collect resources while we're down there?” Xavier asked.

“That was part of the plan, yes.”

“We're not going to go inside of the bunkers, are we?” Miko asked.

“Not unless we absolutely have to,” Zach said. “Considering how close the last one came to killing us all, I think we need the whole company present before we try to tackle another one. How come?”

“I'm trying to decide what skill I want to take,” she said. “I was wondering if I should try machine pistols, since it was such a pain trying to use a sniper rifle in the bunker.”

“Can you send me your profile?” Xavier asked.

“Me too,” Zach said. “We can give you some suggestions if we see how your class is built.”

“Sure thing,” Miko said. She opened her menu and sent them both a message.

Zach opened it and looked it over. Sniper, level 7, it read. He read over her list of skills and perks. Hawk eye, level 1. Camouflage level 1. Stealth, level 1. Hunter, level 1, Two boosts to her health.

“Looks like a pretty solid build,” Xavier said.

“Well, Selene did give me some help. So, should I go with machine pistols, or should I do something else?”

“I think that hawk eye level 2 would be a good choice,” Xavier said. “Problem being, you need another skill point.”

Currently, each skill had five levels. The cost to learn it went up each time, so level 1 would cost a single skill point, while level 5 would cost five skill points.

Javy walked into the briefing room. “What did I miss?”

“Not much, we're just going over what Miko should do with her skill points.”

Javy made a face. “I just put a skill into every tree that I had available. Probably not the best way to try and build a class.”

“Actually, that is a pretty good idea too. It keeps your options open at lower levels so you can figure out what you want to do. Plus, we wouldn't be in nearly as good of a position if you didn't take that point in pharmaceuticals,” Zach said.

“I honestly think you should just wait to spend the skill point,” Xavier said to Miko. “Your class is centered on shooting with your rifle, which you're already pretty good at. Any of your other skills are just to back that up.”

“How did you get so good?” Javy asked. “Are you in the army in real life, or something?”

Miko laughed. “No, I'm not. I've shot a few times, but it's not like I'm practiced or anything. It just feels natural, you know?”

“This is a totally random question, but I have two friends who are trying to get into the game,” Javy said to Zach. “Would it be alright if I invited them to join the company?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely. We need more members.”

Black Wolf had been the first company founded in the Chicago area, but at this time it was no longer top dog. They still had considerable power, but they lacked the numbers and fighting strength of other companies. The top company was Ragnarok, with almost two hundred members. A tier lower were Bravehart, Grizzly and Ronin, having between thirty and fifty members each. Black Wolf's status was solely tied to being the first company founded. The overdrive discovery might put them back into a position of power. But they needed more members as well.

“What classes are they?” Xavier asked.

“They haven't started playing yet. They wanted to see if they could get in the company before joining. Is there any specific class that they should pick?”

“They should choose whatever they think will be most fun for them. This is a game, after all,” Zach said.

“Great, I'll let them know that they can join,” Javy said.

“So I guess I'm going to just wait on spending the skill point,” Miko said as she closed her menu.

“Good choice, “Xavier said.

They went over the plan. The scouting team would head back to the entrance of the bunker they had found. From there, they would conduct a sweep around that section of the forest, looking for signs as they went and gathering any resources they needed for overdrive as they went. They wouldn't engage anything unless they absolutely needed to.

“Sound good?” Zach asked.

“Sounds fine,” Xavier said. Miko and Javy also agreed.

“Great. I'm going to switch my gear in the armory. Be ready to head out after that.”

CHAPTER 7

Synthesis

“Zach?”

He whirled around at the sound of a familiar voice. “What the heck are you doing here, Danny?” Zach asked.

“I got an invitation to come here last night after I had logged off,” Danny explained as he walked down the hall toward him. “I'm guessing you did too.”

“Well, I do work here. How much longer I'm not certain,” Zach shrugged. Other than ironing out a few last minute bugs, his work on World at War was finished.

“Ah. So, do you know where we're going?”

“Up this hall and to the right,” Zach said, motioning for him to follow. Danny fell into step beside him.

“So this is Elysium, huh?” he asked as they walked down the hallway. “Just how much do they make?”

The hallway was floored with dark slate tiles, and the walls themselves were made of opaque, purple tinted glass. Zach didn't know how much this building had cost to construct, but Elysium Visions had made huge amounts of money selling their technology on the mass market. He had been well compensated for his work as well.

“We're going to the Acropolis conference room,” Zach said. “That probably means this is important. They use that place for executive meetings and the like.”

“So why do we warrant an invitation?” Danny asked.

“That I don't know,” Zach admitted.

They turned right at the end of the hall and proceeded forward. Zach waved to the woman sitting at a desk at the entrance to the conference room.

She smiled and nodded back. “You're the last ones. Have fun.”

“How many more of them went in there, Jen?” Zach asked.

“Eight,” she said. “Now go on. Don't want to keep them waiting.”

“No small talk?” Zach asked.

“You shouldn't keep them waiting,” Jen said. “And I don't want to be the cause of it.”

“That's... encouraging,” Zach said.

Jen laughed. “Go on.”

“Here goes nothing,” Zach muttered to himself as the pushed the door of the conference room open and stepped inside.

He had never been inside the Acropolis before. His first view impressed him. In front of him was a huge window spanning one side of the building, overlooking the Chicago skyline. Polished black marble made up the floor. The ceiling beams were bare, made of black metal, but Zach noticed they were molded to look like Corinthian style pillars. A steel statue of the Greek goddess Athena stood at the end of a huge conference table at the left end of the room. There was a chair sitting at her feet. To the other side of the room was a fountain surrounded by chairs, almost like a lounge. There were people over there. One of them saw them and motioned them over.

“Looks like a super-villain’s lair,” Danny muttered to him as they walked.

Zach didn't recognize any of the faces at they approached. There was a black man in his mid twenties, dressed in a polo and slacks. Next to him sat a Hispanic man, in his late teens or early twenties, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. There was a male with glasses and shoulder length, sandy colored hair that looked to be in his late twenties, and a woman that looked around his age, with dark crimson hair. And next to her sat Selene, all six foot two of her. She had cut the long black hair she had been sporting when he had last seen her. Miko sat beside her. Her hair was dark brown and waist length, in contrast to her game avatar.

Then there was the man that had motioned him over. He was much older than the rest of them, in his mid fifties, by the looks of him. He was dressed in a cardigan. There was something different about him, Zach thought. He had the air of a scholar about him.

And there was one more person, sitting with his back toward them. He stood up out of his chair and turned around. “Is there something on my face?” he asked in a good humored manner. He offered his hand.

“Uh, no. Sorry sir,” Zach said. He accepted the handshake. The shock must have registered on his face.

The man standing in front of him was Anton Starvos, the founder and president of Elysium Visions. Zach had met him once, when he was touring the various departments working on World at War, though it had only been in passing. The man was considered a visionary, one of the richest men in the world. In twenty years, he had taken Elysium from a garage into the ranks of one of the most powerful companies in the world.

“Thank you for your work on the game, Mr. Wofford. Your systems are quite elegant,” he complimented.

“Thank you, sir,” Zach said.

The president moved on the Danny. “And Mr. Eller, thank you for joining us as well. I trust you're enjoying being a part of the world?”

“Yes, very much so,” Danny said, accepting the handshake with no sign of timidity.

“Please, have a seat,” he said, motioning toward the last two empty chairs. “I would like you to meet your fellow players.”

“Hi, I'm Xavier McCoy,” the black man said.

“I'm Javy Valdez, good to see you guys in person,” the Hispanic man said.

“I'm Gavin Davis, if you couldn't tell from my chest,” the last man joked.

“I'm Nora Cleary, despite what some of you might think,” the woman with the red hair said.

Zach held up both his hands. “Okay, I believe you now.”

“What, did you think she was a guy?” Gavin asked.

“Well, no.”

“He thought I might be a guy,” Nora confirmed.

“Hi, I'm Yumiko Nakamura. Miko, for short,” she said.

“And I have the misfortune to already know you two. For the rest of you, I'm Selene Kastaros,” Selene said.

“I'm Danny Eller.”

“And I'm Zach Wofford.”

“And I'm Anton Starvos, the president of this company. And this is Dr. Richard Unger, sociologist.”

“Pleased to meet you all,” Dr. Unger said.

“So let's get right down to it, shall we? Why did I call you here today? Why did I call members of a single company within the game world, and no others? And why did I choose your company in particular?” Starvos looked around at all of them. “We have been working toward this goal for quite some time. To take players within the game, to study how they interact, how they live in the virtual world around them, whether they can form a society around them given scant few rules and no laws. To that end, we would like to perform a study on your group.”

“We have two goals in mind,” Dr. Unger said. “The first is to study what effect the time spent in the game is having on your brains, and on your physical self in general. The second goal, and the one I am most closely tied to, is the sociology of the game. We will study how players interact within a virtual reality.”

“You will, of course, be compensated for your time and effort,” Starvos said. He took a stack of folders in front of him and passed them out.

Zach opened his folder. Inside was a contract, detailing the study. At the bottom their compensation was listed. The room went dead silent. Zach could see the shocked looks on faces all around. He was probably wearing one as well.

“Yes, this compensation is for real,” Starvos said. “The virtual reality is one of the most important undertakings in the history of science, and I want to be sure that we can unlock all of its mysteries. I will spend what it takes in order to achieve that. Are you all willing?”

“Yes,” Javy said at once.

“Of course,” Xavier said.

Zach frowned. “I'm definitely willing, but why us? Why did you choose us, in particular? Why not one of the larger, more powerful companies? Is it because we were the first company founded?”

“It was on the suggestion of Dr. Unger, actually,” Starvos said.

“I've been searching for test subjects since the game launched,” Dr. Unger explained. “I was looking, not only for people who were capable fighters within the world, but also had the vision to utilize the other parts of the world as well. Your decision to keep the formula you discovered shows vision. It's a vision to create a society in the virtual world, and I am most eager to study that.”

“I'm not sure that decision had such lofty goals, but that does make sense,” Zach said. “I'm in.”

Danny, Miko, Selene, Gavin and Nora gave their assent.

“Thank you. We will begin organizing a schedule for you beginning next week. Those of you from out of town, we will provide lodging for you until we can find you suitable housing. Feel free to discuss this among yourselves before you go. And once again, thank you all for your time.”

President Starvos and Dr. Unger stood up, shook hands with all of them, and left the Acropolis.

“Two hundred fifty thousand a year, plus a five thousand dollar up front signing bonus?” Javy said, still incredulous. “That beats being a busboy.”

“Or sitting in a cubicle all day,” Xavier said.

“They must really want this,” Danny said.

“Doesn't this seem a little, you know, odd?” Miko asked. “This is an awful lot of money to throw around to simply study a game.”

“I think it's the systems behind the game that they're more interested in,” Zach said. “It will probably help them design better virtual worlds in the future, so that will mean more profit for them in the long run.”

“What about the tests they're going to run on us?”

“They're brain scans,” Selene said, looking over her contract. “Nothing that out of the ordinary.”

“I'm probably just paranoid, that's all,” Miko shrugged.

“Oh, while we're all here, I'm not going to be able to get on tonight,” Danny said. “I have to meet my parents for dinner.”

“Yeah, I have a date with my girlfriend,” Javy said. “I already made up the batches that we need for today.”

“I was going to show Miko parts of Chicago while she was here. We've been playing every night since the game launched. Why don't we use tonight to take a break?”

“Think I could get tickets to the basketball game tonight?” Xavier asked.

“With the money you have now, probably,” Danny said.

“Right. Well, see you guys later,” Xavier said as he stood up.

“Tonight's as good of night as any to go bar hopping, then,” Gavin said.

“Just don't die. It'll be a pain trying to find another assault to take your place,” Danny said.

“Haha. Have fun with your parents.” Gavin said on his way out.

Danny's phone started buzzing. “Speaking of which, that's them now. See you all later,” he said, bringing the phone up to his ear.

“Time for me to split as well. You don't want to be later for my girlfriend, no sir,” Javy said.

“See you all later,” Selene said. “I'd say we need to catch up while I'm in town, but it looks like this move is going to be permanent.”

“Later,” Zach said to her and Miko. That left him and Nora.

“Nothing like getting left behind,” Nora said. “Want to grab a bite?”

“Any preferences?” Zach asked.

“Is there a good pub around this section of town?”

“The best one would probably be Belfast Manor,” Zach said. “Let's go see if we can get a seat.”

“So, what do you think of all this?” Nora asked as they sat at a window seat in the pub.

“What, the study?” Zach asked.

“No, the whole thing in general,” she said. “I mean, sometimes I wonder if getting into the game was a great idea. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of fun. And I probably would have never met you all if I didn't join, which would have been a shame. That's seven friends I would have missed out on. But between finishing up my master's degree and everything else, I haven't even had time to go out much.”

“That's partially our fault,” Zach said. He took a gulp of his beer. “I mean, we're pretty much obligated to log in every day to make sure our base doesn't get taken or we don't run out of money.”

Nora frowned. “I wonder if it was planned that way.”

“Could be,” Zach agreed. “Of course, this problem goes away now that we're being paid to do it.”

“Yeah, but I want to finish my masters degree. I only have this semester to get through,” Nora said. “I'm glad for this, but then I wonder if living half my life in a virtual world means that I'm missing out on a lot of experiences I would have otherwise.”

“So you're worried that your life is poorer for it?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, you could put it that way.”

Zach thought for a moment. “I guess it's a matter of perspective. I mean, look at the bunker raid we did. That was an adventure in and of itself. Is it any less meaningful because it happened in a virtual world?”

“Some people would say that it is. Like living in a childhood fantasy,” Nora said.

“Well, there has to be balance as well. I mean, you can't live your entire life in the virtual world. It's fun, but I'd miss out on so many things in the real world as well. So I guess it's all a balancing act.”

Nora sighed. “I can see why Dr. Unger is so keen on studying this. There's a lot going on behind the scenes.”

“Well, I think you're right. I think we do need to spend time interacting with the rest of the team outside of the game world,” Zach said. “It's been a major part of my life, and I'm proud of the work I've done on it, but I don't want it to become all consuming.”

She smiled. “And I don't think it's this huge, evil thing that will ruin everything. It's just a feeling I have. I think it's because I'm a musician. There's just something about sitting and talking with you in a pub that just wouldn't be there if we were doing this in a cafe in the virtual world. It, I don't know, it just seems to lack soul.”

“Yeah, I see it.”

“I mean, it's like someone who collects books even through they could put them all on an electronic reader. It's nostalgic, I guess.”

Zach frowned. “That's a rather disturbing thought, actually. Basic, live interaction with people in real life could be considered nostalgic.”

“That is a scary thought. But it's probably overreacting,” Nora said. “Even if it's in a virtual world, it's still interaction with other people. Some people might say that it even enhances the experience.”

“Danny would say that the difference between the two is like getting a burger at a fast food restaurant versus making one yourself with fresh ingredients.”

Nora laughed. “I can't really see him saying that. He comes across as a bit, well, you know...”

“Dumb?”

“I was going to say absent-minded,” Nora said.

“He's currently working on a PhD in philosophy.”

“Wow. I would not have expected that from him. Or from what I know of him.”

“Well, he can be a bit absent-minded. But he really is a smart and insightful guy. And that kind of proves my point. You can't get a real sense of what something is like without experiencing it without the filter in front of you.”

“I'm so glad I don't have to study this,” Nora said. “I'll just sit back, play my cello and just enjoy that for what it is.”

“No use agonizing over it all, Let's just enjoy it for what it is.”

Nora gave a slight smile and lifted her beer. “While remembering that it isn't the only thing.”

Zach lifted his own glass. “I'll drink to that.”

CHAPTER 8

Struggling Together

The next few weeks had been busy. Dr. Unger had established a schedule for all of them to follow. They would have brain scans on Monday and Friday, and would go through various tests on those days as well that would test how their mental aptitude was being affected. Selene, Miko and Xavier had moved into Chicago. They had all been able to spend some time together outside of the game, getting to know one another. All in all, it had been a smooth transition, despite how hectic it had been.

The same could not be said for the situation in World at War. The Chicago region was going through massive upheaval. It looked likely that there would be a significant conflict in the near future. Ragnarok Company, the largest organization in the region, had begun to rapidly expand by taking absorbing other companies into its ranks. They would offer substantial sums of money and gear to join. Ragnarok had also recruited many new players. Through these efforts, the Company had swelled to almost a thousand members.

The issue was the absorption of existing companies. Any company joining Ragnarok would have to cast aside their own company symbols in favor of their new organization. For some it didn't matter, but for others their company symbol was a source of great pride to them, and many were resistant to giving them up.

That was where the real problem lay. About three days ago, Spartan Company had been absorbed into Ragnarok. That in itself wasn't unusual, but there had been a battle for Spartan Company's stronghold before then, which Ragnarok had won. Details were murky at best, since neither Spartan or Ragnarok were talking, but it was rumored that Ragnarok Company had taken the stronghold and used it as blackmail; Spartan Company was given it back, as long as they disbanded and joined Ragnarok, the rumor went.

Zach wasn't sure he believed the rumor, though it was certainly plausible. If it was true, however, that could spell serious trouble for Black Wolf, and it could be coming soon. The overdrive discovery had made them rich. Their treasury was over two hundred thousand gold, and he had been able to increase the member's stipend to five hundred a day. They now had a hundred NPC guards, along with more auto defenses and a pair of tower mounted guns. Black Wolf's lair would be hard to take, but Ragnarok had the numbers and motive to do so. If they could manage to absorb Black Wolf, they would have access to the riches of the overdrive formula.

And the threat of taking over their base was a real hazard. A company was required to have a stronghold. If a company was without one, they had forty eight hours to acquire a new one, else they would be disbanded and lose their treasury. Losing the base wasn't a huge problem; they would easily be able to afford one in the city with their treasury. The problem was that the only known location to gather the ingredients for overdrive was in the forest to the south. If Ragnarok took the base then Black Wolf would have to cross their territory every time they went to gather resources, and Zach hardly thought they would be partial to that after a refusal.

In fact, Ragnarok had been making requests to them over the past week, though nothing had come of them yet. Maybe their focus was elsewhere, or maybe they were already planning something. Whatever the case, they would have to do something about it soon.

Zach's wrist alert rang. He sighed and opened the menu. New message, it said. It was probably another request from Ragnarok Company. He accessed it. Zach's eyebrows went up in surprise. It wasn't from Ragnarok, after all. It was from Levi Kanagi, the leader of Ronin Company. That was unusual, Zach thought as he opened up the message to read it. They had only met in passing.

Fellow Captains, we are in a situation of crisis, the message read.

Zach looked at who else was included on the message. Bryce Ackerman of Bravehart, Gina Kubel of Grizzly, Cody Torres of Marauder, David Gane of Sacred Sword, and several other names he didn't recognize were listed. Apparently Levi was contacting most of the minor companies in the region. He continued to read.

Due to the actions of Ragnarok Company, our way of existence in this world is being threatened. Ragnarok would have us sell our freedom, our very pride, for money. If we do not comply, they will use force in order to make us do so. Under these circumstances, I ask that you all attend a council that will take place at the headquarters of Ronin Company, taking place at 8:00 PM central time. The coordinates will be contained within the message. Please reply as to whether you will be attending. Thank you all for your time.

Zach replied that he would be attending.

“Is that another request from Ragnarok?” Danny asked.

Zach sent the message to the entire company. “No. This is something else.”

Selene read over the message. “A council, huh? What do you suppose it's about?”

“Probably trying to organize some sort of alliance to go up against Ragnarok,” Xavier said. “The question is, can they get enough people? I mean, Ragnarok has more troops than the rest of the top ten companies combined.”

“I'm honestly surprised that they haven't come after us,” Selene said.

“Well, they're probably going to, so I think this meeting is a good idea,” Zach said. “I'll take a fireteam with me. Who wants to go?”

“I was going to go with Ryan, Ethan and Javy scouting to get them some experience,” Selene said.

Ryan and Ethan were the two friends that Javy had invited to join. Ethan was a heavy, and Ryan was an assault. Both would be valuable additions to the team. Danny had taken Ethan under his wing and was teaching him the finer points of the class. He had nowhere near the skill of the far more seasoned veteran, but he was learning fairly well. Ryan was being taught by anyone and everyone, most notably Selene and Gavin. He was gradually learning the skills to be successful, a quick mind and fast reaction times, and could hold his own at this point.

“Can I still go with you guys?” Gavin asked. “No offense, but a conference sounds a bit boring for my tastes.”

“None taken,” Zach said.

“Yeah, that would probably be a good idea to have you come along,” Selene said.

“So, does the other half want to come with me?” Zach asked. “I think Nora should come along as least, since she seems to do a lot of the management of the company.”

“I'm game. Someone's got to keep you out of trouble,” Danny said.

“I'll go,” Miko said.

“Yeah, I'm good with that as well,” Xavier said.

“We'll need to leave in around an hour to get there on time,” Zach said.

“Provided that we don't run into problems,” Danny mused. “I think it's a good idea to leave a half hour or so early, in case we end up running into a firefight on the way there.”

“We can dodge any monsters on the way there. It's not like Ronin's stronghold is in a death trap,” Nora said. She was right. The base was located to the West of Chicago, about eight miles away, and it was bordering a main road. Unless they traveled off the beaten path, there was no serious danger that close to Old Chicago.

Danny still wasn't convinced. “That's unless Ragnarok starts to throw their weight around. Maybe they'll have patrols around that area.”

“They haven't started to throw their weight around that much,” Xavier said. “They're very deliberate with how they go about things. Sort of like a hostile takeover instead of a robbery.”

Selene stood up. “Well, while you guys argue, we're going to go hunting.” She motioned to the other four in her team. “Let's go.”

“Seriously, what are they hoping to accomplish?” Nora said. “I think that some form of resistance to Ragnarok needs to happen, but we don't have the troops even if all of us band together.”

“And not all of them are joining the conference,” Xavier said, looking at the message again. “I don't see Crimson Eagle, Orion, Death Skull or Ultra Companies listed on here. We would barely have five hundred players.”

“Maybe they discovered something. A blueprint, or the like,” Miko suggested. “That could be the edge we need.”

Zach frowned. “Could be. Which means that they might be asking us for money.”

“Or, we're probably there because we're the only ones that can make overdrive,” Nora said. “And I have the sneaking suspicion that they're going to want to have us stop selling it on the open market.”

“Fat chance,” Danny said. “I don't like what Ragnarok is doing, but their money is as good to us as anyone's.”

Zach agreed with that. In spite of whatever help overdrive gave to Ragnarok, the money that it brought in was just too good to pass up. Doses of overdrive were selling for as much as a thousand credits at auction.

“So we're going to be the wrench in anyone's plans,” Danny said. “I have a feeling that this isn't going to turn out so well.”

“What, like in violence?” Xavier said.

“No, I just think that there's going to be a lot of bad blood between us and them if we don't go along. Which might lead to violence later.”

“We'll have to see,” Zach shrugged.

It took them the better part of an hour to go from their base, to Old Chicago, and finally to Ronin's stronghold. Black Wolf had been able to afford a half dozen ATVs since they had started to sell overdrive, which had shortened the journey considerably. Even through the world around was crumbling, the infrastructure of the old word was still in place.

The gates of Ronin Fortress lay ahead. The stronghold was bigger than their own, surrounded by a ten foot high wall. It looked like an old school building. Zach noticed that they had twin heavy machine guns mounted at several gun emplacements on the wall. The two pairs next to the gate trained on them as they approached.

“Halt and state your business,” someone on the walls challenged them.

Zach's team halted in front of the gates. “We're Black Wolf Company. I believe that your commander is expecting us.”

“Let them through!” the person on the wall spoke.

After a few moments, the gates swung open. They drove their ATVs into the courtyard of the fortress and parked them up against one wall of the building. Zach looked around as he dismounted. The inner part of Ronin's fortress looked just as formidable. There were guns mounts on both sides of the entrance to the main building, probably as a last ditch defense against anyone who made it over the wall. Not that such a thing was going to be a common problem, Zach thought. Players outfitted as snipers and soldiers patrolled the wall and the roof. There was at least a company of NPC troops backing them up.

The person who shouted to them on the wall descended down the stairs and walked over to meet them. “Sorry about the trouble, but we can't be too careful. I had to check your I.D. first. I'm Sam, by the way,” he said, extending his hand. His avatar had a black mohawk and beard, and he was outfitted like a soldier.

“Good to meet you. I'm Zach of Black Wolf. This is Danny, Xavier, Miko and Nora,” he said, accepting the handshake and introducing the rest of his troops in turn.

“Nice to meet you all. You will be meeting with the rest of the company commanders in council room. There's going to be limit space, so I have to ask that only you and your second go to the meeting. The rest of you can feel free to wait in one of our lounges.”

“Do you need help guarding the walls?” Danny asked.

“We certainly aren't going to refuse help,” Sam said.

Danny grinned. “Great. I'll take Miko and Xavier and help as best I can. I'd like to have a look at one of those puppies up close,” he said, looking at one of the twin mounts.

Sam laughed. “Ah, you like them? They're the specialty of our chief engineer, Darren. He figured out a way to make them through the free crafting system. Mind you, it was a pain to figure them out and then get all the materials to make them.”

“Still, that could be quite the advantage,” Danny said. “I mean, I've been on the receiving end on one of those. I'd imagine that a pair of them in a mount would be several times worse.”

“Well, you've also got quite the advantage yourself. I mean, if must be great to have the best combat stimulants on the market.”

“Actually, none of us have ever used them,” Zach said.

“You're kidding,” Sam said.

“Well, that's why we're not considered to be one of the top combat companies,” he shrugged. “It's good cash for us, at least.”

“I'll say. Well, I need to get back to my post. There's a few more stragglers coming in. Anyone going up on the wall, follow me. Mya!”

An assault class with black skin and blue hair ran up. “Yes?”

“Show them to the council room,” Sam said. He motioned for Danny, Xavier and Miko to follow him.

“Got it. You two, right this way, please.”

She led them through the front doors of the inner fortress. It was definitely an old school, Zach thought as they walked through the hallways. Most of the old classrooms looked like they were being used. A few of them had couches, tables and chairs in them. A large one looked like it was a workshop, and there were a couple with racks of weapons.

“And here we are,” Mya said, stopping in front of a set of double doors. It looked like they led into a gymnasium. “This is the council room, so please, step inside.”

“Thanks,” Zach said. He opened the door.

Inside sat a huge, long table surrounded by chairs. Most of them were occupied. He noticed the symbols in front of every seat as he and Nora made their way to their own. Bravehart, Marauder, Grizzly, Sacred Sword, Dogs of War, Redd Foxx, Archangel, and several other companies were represented. Zach greeted the few he had met in person, then took his seat. He noticed that he was close to the head of the table. Only Bravehart and Grizzly were closer, with Marauder sitting across from him.

“Good to see you again,” Bryce, the captain of Bravehart said. He extended his hand. “I bet you're a lot richer after giving up selling bullets. Which I'm quite sad about, by the way. Those were nice and cheap.”

“Well, the feeling's not mutual,” Zach laughed, extending his hand. “About selling cheap bullets, not about seeing you again. I'm certainly glad to see you again. But those bullets weren't too profitable for us, so it was in our best interests to diversify.”

“I'm wounded,” Bryce said with an air of mock offense.

“Oh please, like you wouldn't jump at the chance to be a drug kingpin and rake in the dough hand over fist,” Cody of Marauder said.

“That's an interesting comparison, to be sure,” Gina of Grizzly observed from her spot.

“Hey, never said it was a bad thing.”

Bryce leaned back in his chair. “So we all know why we're here. The question is, does anyone think anything positive is going to come of this?”

“Are you not going to cooperate with the rest of us?” Gina asked.

“It's not that, it's that we're about to start an open war that I don't think we can win at this point.”

“Afraid of a little action?” Cody grinned.

“Considering what it could do to my company, yeah, I'm not eager to go up against Ragnarok. I think that-”

A hush suddenly fell over the table. The doors had opened, and Levi Kanagi stepped into the room. He walked the length of the table in silence and took his seat. He was followed by an adjunct, it looked like, a young female medic with long green hair.

“Thank you all for coming to this council. As you are all very well aware, Ragnarok Company has begun to make a power play for control of the Old Chicago region. They're absorbing any company that will join them, and forcing the rest of them that won't comply. Through these methods, they've increased their size greatly. At last check, they're now the size of a battalion, about twelve hundred members in total.”

Levi shifted in his seat. “This council represents the other major players in the Old Chicago region. Together we have a strength of around five hundred members. We may not have enough strength to challenge them at this time, but it will allow us to organize resistance to any of their moves. That is, if we are all able to cooperate.”

“Just how are we going to do that when they have double our numbers?” Aaron Kelling of Band of Brothers asked.

Levi's adjunct spoke up. “Around a third of their troops are new players. They will be able to fight, but overall our companies have a higher average level.”

“The problem isn't just a matter of numbers, it's how we apply them,” Gina said. “Ragnarok has only a few strongholds to defend outside of Old Chicago, and they aren't essential. There's fifteen companies here. Half of us have strongholds outside of Old Chicago that we have to guard or our companies get disbanded. If we're talking about an alliance, what happens if Ragnarok decides to come after one of us?”

“The other members would come to their aid,” Levi said.

“Would they be able to get there in time?” Bryce asked.

“The bigger problem is that we'll never be able to concentrate our forces,” Gina said. “What happens if Ragnarok gets all their players on at once and launches a bunch of attacks? Like, say they send two hundred each at Grizzly, Bravehart and Marauder, send smaller forces at some of the other companies, then hit you with five hundred? How are you going to fend that off?”

“We have defenses. And that will only happen if we allow it to,” Levi responded.

“Do you think they're going to give us a choice?” Cody asked, clearly annoyed. “Gina's right. Did you even bother to think this through?”

“If we don't do something, then we're all going to be absorbed into Ragnarok,” Levi's adjunct argued.

“Then come up with a better something,” Cody snapped.

“We do have a trump card,” Levi spoke up. “Much of Ragnarok's fighting power is coming from their new recruits. We've noticed that they've been purchasing large quantities of overdrive on the market since they've started making their moves. We can therefore deduce that Ragnarok is giving their new players overdrive in order to boost their fighting ability.”

“So you want us to stop selling overdrive,” Zach said.

“Only that you stop selling it to Ragnarok,” Levi said.

“You realize how much time and work that's going to take,” Nora said. “We would have to organize every single transaction. Plus, we wouldn't be able to sell it at auction as well.”

“I realize that, but we need to do something,” Levi said. “We would be willing to help compensate for the loss.”

“How much do you earn from overdrive sales?” Bryce asked.

Nora looked at her menu. “Last batch? That earned us a hundred fifteen thousand credits.”

There were murmurs from around the table.

“And you're seriously going to ask them to stop selling?” Cody asked. “Black Wolf's strength is the heap of money that they're sitting on, and you want them to give that up?”

“Ragnarok-”

“Is your choice any better than Ragnarok?” Cody shot back. “You're asking us to trade tyranny under Ragnarok for tyranny under you?”

“That's not what-”

“That's exactly what you're asking. Why should be bow to you?”

The room erupted in chaos. Several captains started arguing, then shouting over each other. Levi's adjunct was having words with Cody, who wasn't about to back down. Gina sat with her hand over her eyes, shaking her head. Bryce looked at the ceiling, acting like he would rather be anywhere else. Zach gave an apologetic look to Levi, who shrugged. Nothing good was going to come from this.

Someone started banging on the other end of the table. “SHUT UP!” he heard him yell. Every head in the room turned to see David of Sacred Sword standing up with an angry look on his face.

“If you'd all shut up for a minute, she has something to say,” he growled, motioning to Anna of Redd Foxx.

She cleared her throat, then stood up to talk. “Redd Foxx has been doing some scouting outside of the area since this whole thing started. We thought that we might be able to move elsewhere if Ragnarok pushed us out. But we came across some interesting information while doing so.”

Anna paused before continuing. “One of our scouting teams was up to the north of the city. There found a large settlement around where Milwaukee would be in the real world.”

“Is it hostile?” Bryce asked.

“It isn't, but it would be next to impossible to operate out of. The fees to do business there are astronomical.”

“So what good is it?” Cody asked.

“She's getting there,” David said.

“What's interesting is how it's listed on the map,” Anna said. She opened up her menu and sent the coordinates to all of them. “Look at how it's listed.”

“New Badger Republic,” Bryce read. “So it's not unaffiliated?”

“No, which would make me think it could be captured,” Anna said.

“So your plan is to take over another city for our own use?” Gina asked.

“That's the idea, but it's not going to be that simple,” Anna said. “Just take a look at the scouting report.”

Zach glanced at his menu again. The wall surrounding the city is twenty feet high and fifteen feet thick, surrounded by a large ditch dug ten feet deep into the earth. There are three gates in the wall. Each is heavily fortified, and will need to be breached with heavy explosives. The gates themselves are protected by several bastions sticking out of the walls, equipped with heavy machine guns and light artillery. They will need to be knocked out before the gate can be assaulted, otherwise the attackers will suffer heavy casualties. The city itself is a nightmare of winding streets, with plentiful firing arcs and defensive positions. The size of garrison is unknown, but the city looks to be heavily manned with troops. The attack force will need to be large, heavily armed and well coordinated to have a hope of taking the city.

“I'm not sure that's a feasible prospect either,” Gina said. “Plus, even if we take the city we're in pretty close proximity to Old Chicago. That means we'll probably end up coming into conflict with Ragnarok.”

“I know, and I don't think we should try this particular city. But it does give us another alternative to going to war with Ragnarok. We can scout other cities and see if they're better options,” Anna said.

“Even with that, is anyone confident that we're actually going to be able to take one of those cities?” Gina said.

“We have some of the best fighters in the game in our companies,” Cody pointed out.

“For fighting monsters and in small scale skirmishes. Forget talk of our bases being fortresses. Does anyone think we can take an actual fortress with thousands of enemy troops?”

“We just need to find a way to breach the walls,” Cody said.

“We have no artillery, and we're not going to be able to use any until we get enough people to choose the skill,” Gina said. “Without that, I don't think we have any way to suppress the wall defenses of a fortress.”

“And even if we do that, I'm not sure that we have the firepower to breach the walls,” Dustin Park of Dogs of War said. “It sounds like their defenses are configured like a sixteenth century star fort. That would be tough for even modern artillery to breach, let alone what whatever we can manage to get our hands on.”

“Again, I think we can explore our options,” Anna said.

Zach saw Levi and his adjunct activate their radios. A second later, his went off. “We've got trouble,” Danny said over the line.

“Define trouble,” Zach asked.

“It hasn't started yet, but-”

“GET DOWN! GET DOWN!” Zach heard someone screaming on Danny's side, just before he heard the sound of gunfire and explosions. Several of the others in the council room had already grabbed their weapons and charged out the doors.

“Ragnarok's here in force, and boy, they aren't messing around,” Danny said. “Might want to help?”

“Copy,” Zach said. “Come on,” he said to Nora. They grabbed their weapons and hurried out toward the entrance. They hallway was chaos, filled with Ronin troops trying to get on the walls and roof to defend their base. “Miko, do you copy?”

“I hear you,” she responded.

“Ignore the grunts. Target anyone that looks like they might be an officer or is carrying heavy weapons.”

“Got it,” Miko responded.

“Xavier and I are going to provide cover for her,” Danny said. “We'll move after every shot so they don't lock onto us and send a grenade or rocket our way.”

“I'll try to meet you guys up there,” Zach replied.

“Well, this went worse than I expected. Which is saying something,” Nora grumbled.

“At least this breaks up the argument for now,” Zach said.

The emerged into the evening air. Spotlights on the walls were scanning the brush and approaches around Ronin Fortress. The air was filled with thousands of tracer rounds from both sides. The twin machine gun batteries were hard at work, laying down a hail of fire. There was shouting, confusion as different teams tried to assemble amidst the chaos.

“Danny, where are you?” Zach asked.

“Up at the corner of the east and north walls,” came the reply.

Zach and Nora hurried to the section of wall, then up the stairs. They had to dodge a medic carrying a wounded comrade coming down the steps. The troops on the wall seemed to be in chaos, taken aback by the suddenness and ferocity of the attack. There was very little coordination.

“We're here!” Danny said from his left. Miko was keeling up against the wall, preparing to take a shot. Selene had bought her a night vision scope in Old Chicago. It was expensive and crude, but it was functional, at least. Xavier was firing quick bursts with his assault rifle, trying to target muzzle flashes, it looked like. Danny was doing the same with his machine gun.

“You sure it's Ragnarok?” Zach asked.

“There's a lot of them, and no one else could get these numbers,” Danny said between bursts.

“Ronin's lacking in coordination,” Xavier observed. “There's one commander for each section of wall, and they can't possibly track what's going on along the whole wall.”

“There's a platoon making a move up,” Miko said. “I think they have a bunch of engineers with grenade launchers.”

“Where?” Danny asked.

“They're moving in that grove of trees,” Miko said, still looking through her scope. “I think they're going to come out and try to crawl close enough to the wall in the confusion to shoot their grenades.”

“Keep tracking them,” Zach said. He tapped Nora on the shoulder and pointed to the nearest gun emplacement. “Tell them to fire at the grove of trees once I get the light on them.

He crouched along the wall to avoid the enemy's suppressive fire and shuffled over to the nearest spotlight operator. “Target your spotlight on that grove of trees!” he ordered.

“What? Who are you?” the operator demanded.

“Just do it!”

To his credit, the operator complied. A dozen enemies froze as they were silhouetted by the bright spotlight. A split-second later, the emplacement opened up. They fell, scythed down by the storm of lead spat out by the twin guns.

Zach signaled Miko though his radio so she could hear him over the din. “Search for more targets.”

The spotlight operator suddenly fell, hit. Without thinking, Zach stood up and grabbed the spotlight handles.

“No, wait!” Miko said through his radio. “Nora, have them target that rock outcropping to the right, just past the trees.”

“I don't see it,” Nora said.

“Start firing just above the tree line. I'll walk you up to the spot,” Miko said.

The gun started to spit fire.

“Crap! Miko's down! She's down!” Danny yelled. “Get down! I think-”

That was the last thing Zach heard before he was thrown on his back. The world in front of him instantly flashed away. You Are KIA, the message in front of him read.

A few seconds later, he respawned back at Black Wolf headquarters. Miko was already there.

“There was a sniper in the rock outcropping,” she said. “I tried to get him, but he didn't even give me a good window for a shot.”

Zach flopped down in a chair in frustration. Danny suddenly materialized in front of them as well.

“Dang it, I died again!” he grumbled. “I knew I was going to get sniped, but someone need to try to organize the defense.” He opened up his menu. “Killed by Patrick Sharper. Wait, that guy? The Wraith?”

“Well, that would explain that, then. He must have figured out that Miko was providing targeting information for the gunners, so he killed her first, then killed me since I was directing the defense, then you since you stepped up. He's good,” Zach said.

“Attacking with raw low level players hyped up on overdrive, backed up by some of their elites. Brutal, but effective,” Danny said. “You have to admire their ruthless efficiency, at least.”

Zach looked up as he heard the door open.

“You're back already?” Selene asked as she stepped through the door.

“Uh, we might have a bit of a problem,” Danny said.

“What kind.... Oh,” she said, the realization clicking in her head. “Did you say something offensive to someone?”

“Haha,” Danny commented dryly.

“There was a battle. Ragnarok attacked the stronghold,” Miko said.

“I'm surprised you were the ones that died first,” Selene commented.

“The Wraith got us,” Danny said.

Selene raised an eyebrow. “Oh? They're pulling out all the stops.”

“The Wraith got you?” Gavin said as he walked through the door, followed by Ryan, Ethan and Javy.

“Yeah, all three of us,” Zach said. “He took us all out in the span of a minute.”

Gavin whistled. “So the rumors are true, then.”

“And I have the bad feeling we're going to be on the receiving end quite frequently,” Danny said.

Unfortunately, Zach had to agree with him. Open war was almost on them, and Ragnarok had struck the first blow. This was going to get very ugly very quickly.

CHAPTER 9

Dance With the Devil

“Almost five hundred player kills,” Danny said ruefully. “And just look at the stats attached to them. He's hit almost ninety five percent of his shots, and killed over sixty percent of them with head shots.”

“What's more curious to me is what Ragnarok did in the last battle,” Nora said. She and Xavier had survived the fight. “They killed every single one of the company commanders, then just up and left.”

“To be fair, killing guards and actually storming a stronghold are two different things,” Xavier said. “Once they went over the wall the Wraith would be useless. Plus, there were a lot of defenses in the courtyard.”

“Yeah, I have the feeling that they're giving us warning shots,” Nora said.

“Speaking of storming a fortress, you said that they were thinking of trying to take a city for our own use. Are you with them?” Selene asked.

“Despite the obstacles, I think it's worth it,” Nora said.

Zach frowned. “But those are pretty big obstacles. I imagine that any city is going to have a wall of some sort. We have no way to take out the wall defenses at a distance, and getting up close is going to get us slaughtered. The only other solution is to sneak past the defenses, and I don't think we can do that either. Plus, you saw they way we all fought. It was a disorganized mob.”

Nora opened up her data tracking program. “So we have a lot to get done. We need better battlefield communication and a clear chain of command. Our fireteams and squads should be trained for assaulting fortifications. We also need heavier firepower, and more troops as well.”

“Tall order,” Danny said.

“We should probably coordinate with the other companies,” Javy said. “I mean, we only have ten members.”

“I think we should have a plan in place before we go to the others,” Nora said. “Ronin didn't have all the details hashed out, and that turned into a disaster.”

“I think we also need to get some insurance, just in case,” Zach said, He opened up his menu and started to write a message.

“Define insurance,” Danny said.

Zach finished up the message and sent it. “We're going to have a little chat with Ragnarok.”

“Oh?” Danny frowned. “You're serious?”

“We have the overdrive secret,” Zach said. “That give us plenty of leverage.”

“They still have enough men to crush us if they want,” Gavin pointed out.

“Only if we let them. We have complete control over the one product they need for their operations. Power in this world isn't just about brute strength.”

“That's rather Clausewitzian,” Danny smiled. “This isn't really a fighting game. It's a political one, and military force is just one tool in the arsenal.”

Zach's alert rang. “Man, that was fast.” He opened up the message.

“Did they go for it?” Gavin asked.

“I'm going to meet with them in Old Chicago,” Zach said. “I don't need to have a team with me, so I can either go alone or with one or two other people.”

“I'll go,” Nora said. “I seem to be turning into your adjunct anyhow.”

“The rest of us should go train. We can take a look inside that bunker we found on our last scouting trip,” Selene said.

“What happens if Ragnarok tries to take our base while we're away?” Miko asked.

“They said they wouldn't. And if they go back on that, well, no overdrive for them. I'm sure that they're well aware of that,” Zach said.

“We should have two teams, just like the last bunker,” Selene said. “I'll lead one. Give me Miko, Javy and Ryan. Danny should lead the other one and take Gavin, Xavier and Ethan.”

“We're lead team, I take it?” Danny asked.

“Yes. That also puts our most veteran fighters out front. Stock up heavy on grenades.”

“Do you have enough armor-piercing bullets if we need to fight a bunch of chilus?” Danny asked Miko.

She made a face. “Yeah, now that we can actually afford them.”

“Are you going to want to take the ATVs?” Zach asked.

“We'll pair up and take four of them,” Selene said. “That will save on the number of fusion batteries we have to use.”

Zach nodded approvingly. “Good. I'd hate to have to walk to Old Chicago.”

“When were we going to meet?” Nora asked.

“In around two hours, at the south side concourse,” Zach said. “That will give us plenty of time to look around through the shops for stuff. Might help us plan as well. Ready to go?”

“Right behind you.”

The tension in Old Chicago could be cut with a knife, even though the city itself was neutral ground. The recent attack by Ragnarok had put everyone on edge. A quick glance at the markets told them everything they needed to know. Nicknacks, curiosities, base decorations and the like were hardly being purchased. Instead, it was the hard items that were going; combat stimulants, munitions, small arms, base defenses, weapon attachments, anything that a company needed to fight. Ammunition was flying out of shops as fast as it could be stocked. Zach was grateful that Black Wolf had access to the ammo press and could make their own. Even though the supply was infinite, the price rose with demand.

Just how far the situation had deteriorated had been demonstrated by the profit they had managed to make. Zach and Nora had brought a hundred doses of overdrive with them to sell on the markets. On a whim they had tried to see how high of price people were willing to pay. They put ten at a price of one thousand credits, then another ten at two thousand. They had managed to drive the price up to five thousand credits a dose, almost ten times the amount that they had originally had sold the stimulant for. Not that he was complaining. They now had almost half a million credits to work with.

They headed to Vogel Ironworks, the company that the light artillery schematic had been sold to. No one had the ability to use one yet, but eventually they would be able to, and that was going to be key to taking a fortified city. Zach wanted to check out the requirements of one of the pieces so they would be able to plan ahead.

Vogel Ironworks had a dozen sales terminals that were crowded with buyers, here for machine gun mounts and other defenses for their bases. The fabrication terminals were almost empty, however. By paying a fee players could have equipment produced from a schematic that either they owned or was a public design. It was much more expensive than producing it on your own, but if you lacked either the skill level or the equipment to produce such things you had no other choice. Zach and Nora walked over to one of the fabrication terminals and accessed it. They found the schematics they were looking for.

“75mm Howitzer. Has a range of nine thousand yards, and can fire up to five rounds a minute.,” Zach read aloud. “It has a trailer hitch on the back, so we could connect it to one of the ATVs to transport it. Huh, it can also be disassembled, if we want to carry it that way.”

“The optimum crew is six,” Nora read. “That seems like a lot.”

Zach frowned. “Yeah, but I think it makes sense. You'd have a commander, a loader and a gunner, at the very least. The other three would probably help with the loading and moving of the gun.”

“Still, that's sixty people for a battery of ten of these,” Nora said. “And I have a feeling that they're going to be very hard to operate. There's going to be a world of difference between being having the skill points to use it, and using it well.”

“I think we're going to have to look for more schematics,” Zach said. “Not just around this area, either. We need to look in all directions.”

“We should try to team with Redd Foxx,” Nora suggested. “They're good scouts, and we can help transport them to where they need to go with our ATVs.”

“Ah, good idea,” Zach said. “That's the kind of thinking we need.” Both of their alerts went off. “Crap. Let's get to the meeting point.”

“I wonder what they're going to think of the whole thing,” Nora said as they walked.

“Who, Ragnarok?”

“No, Dr. Unger and his team. I'm sure he's loving the web of politics and deceit that's forming right now.”

“And he gets lucky enough to study the ones that are going to try to play both sides,” Zach said.

“Is that your plan?” Nora asked.

“Well, I don't want to side with Ragnarok, but come on, we are playing both sides for our advantage right now.”

“That's probably what Ragnarok's going to think too,” Nora said.

Zach shrugged. “Well, at least it's not going to be a shock to them.”

They hurried to the south side concourse. There were two Ragnarok members waiting for them. They led them to a cafe area against one of the buildings, though the cafe itself was only for show since there were no food items in the game at this point. Still, it made for a good neutral meeting point.

There were two people at the table they were lead to. One was sitting, and had the company commander insignia on his shoulder. The other was standing beside him, silent, disinterested, with the gear of a sniper. That was probably the Wraith.

“Hello, hello,” the figure seated at the table told them. He stood up and shook their hands. “I'm Lucas Otrar, the commander of Ragnarok Company. This is my second in command, Patrick.”

“I'm Zach, Black Wolf Company commander. This is Nora, my second. Pleased to meet you. And pleased to see you again, not on the wrong end of your scope,” Zach said, directing his last comment at Patrick.

“Quite,” the Wraith said simply.

Lucas laughed. “I'm quite sorry that you ended up caught in that mess at Ronin Fortress.”

“Actually, I have to give my complements to your second. He took down the most dangerous elements of my teams within the span of a minute. And we were responsible for killing a good chunk of the attack force, so it's only fair that he fire back.”

“I do find it interesting that you seemed to specifically target the company commanders and no one else,” Nora said. “Other than the two members of our company that you shot. They must have been quite the danger.”

“Maybe. I will say that your sniper has some good potential,” the Wraith shrugged.

“Forgive me, but I don't quite understand what all this is suggesting,” Lucas said.

“I find it interesting that you had a significant attack force assaulting Ronin Fortress, but you had your best sniper target company commanders and no one else, since that would become quite obvious if you compared death reports,” Zach said. “That's meant as a warning for them not to join Ronin's alliance, no?”

“If that were true, what of it?” Lucas replied amicably, but Zach could hear something dangerous in his voice.

“You know very well that your efforts to expand Ragnarok are making quite a few enemies that will stop at nothing to bring you down,” Zach said. “We're also very well aware that a good portion of your fighting strength comes from giving overdrive to new recruits to boost their abilities. If that supply were to be cut, that would be quite the blow now, wouldn't it? At least that's what the alliance is asking of us.”

“Naturally,” Lucas responded. The warmth of his early greeting was fading away fast.

Zach put his hands up disarmingly. “Now don't get me wrong. Black Wolf is not willing to give up selling overdrive on the market. The money is simply too good, and I don't exactly appreciate them asking us to destroy our lifeline. But your policies are forcing us into a corner if we want to survive as a company.”

“So you want to exist as Black Wolf, as a neutral party in all of this?” Lucas said. “Mind you, I would dearly love to have all of you as part of Ragnarok, but I would be willing to sponsor you as a neutral party, so long as the overdrive supplies continue to reach the market.”

“We can certainly try to stick to that, though as you're probably well aware we can't always keep a steady supply going,” Nora said. “It can be rather touch and go as to whether we'll be able to manufacture any.”

“I would like a more constant supply, but if you can't do that, than supplying what you can to the market is fine,” Lucas told her.

“We'd be satisfied with that. We'll keep the overdrive supplies coming into market, and you will respect our right to operate as a sovereign entity,” Zach said.

“Agreed,” Lucas said. “It's been a pleasure doing business with you two. You've shown a lot more savvy that many of the other company commanders I've dealt with.”

“Thank you. It was a pleasure for us as well,” Zach said with a handshake.

He and Nora headed to their ATV parked at the south end of the concourse. Neither of them said anything. There could be Ragnarok members watching them. Zach noticed that Nora was typing something in her menu as she walked. His wrist alert went off as they reached their ATV.

They're going to betray us as soon as they get the opportunity, the message from her read.

Zach responded with this own message. I know. We're just trying to buy ourselves as much time as possible before that happens.

* * *

They had another session with Dr. Unger the next morning.

“You look like you need this,” Zach said to Danny as he handed him a cup of coffee.

“Thanks,” Danny replied, taking the proffered cup. “I was up pretty late doing some research for my dissertation.”

“What's it on?” Miko asked.

“Kantian philosophy and its relation to a virtual world.”

“That's way beyond anything I can understand,” Miko said. “High level math, I'm good at, Abstract philosophy, not so much.”

“What part of Kantian philosophy are you concentrating on?” Dr. Unger asked.

“I'm focusing on the theory of perception, and how it relates to a virtual world. Mainly, can object in a virtual world be considered an external object that we perceive? Or are they just bits of data that create the illusion of perception?”

“Aaand, now I'm lost,” Gavin said.

“You have a master's degree. How lost do you think I am?” Javy said.

Dr. Unger laughed. “Ah, then we'll stop confusing everyone.” He glanced at his watch. “We'll wait for one last person, and then we'll get started.”

Zach wondered who that was. Everyone from the study group was here, along with the doctor. And the sessions before had not included any of the other staff. His confusion was answered by the opening of the door. President Starvos stepped in and took a seat.

“Well, good morning, everyone,” he said. “I'm going to be here to observe and to ask a few questions when pertinent. Otherwise, don't mind me.”

“Let's get started, then. We noticed from your logs that you were in contact with both Ragnarok Company, and the companies trying to form an alliance against them. Was there a particular reason why?” Dr. Unger asked.

“We felt it was prudent to hedge our bets,” Nora said. “Plus, we needed to buy some time for ourselves to get properly trained and equipped for our ends.”

“And what would those ends be?”

“The capture of a fortified city,” Nora said.

President Starvos sat up in his chair. “Oh really? That's quite the ambitious undertaking, if I may say so. We weren't expecting someone would try that so soon. It might not go so well, I'm afraid. It's going to take an extremely good plan of attack, a huge number of troops, or very heavy firepower that you probably won't acquire for a while. We were estimating around six more months before someone would be able to even think about attacking.”

“Jeeze,” Danny commented.

“I guess we realized that to some degree, which is why we tried to buy ourselves some time with Ragnarok,” Nora said.

“But still, six months is a long period of time to try to organize such a large undertaking,” Dr. Unger said. “Especially in a game world that's constantly in motion.”

“I was hoping to have a force ready in no more than two months,” Zach said.

“Oh? That's rather ambitious,” Starvos said. “Some would say that's impossible.”

“We do have a plan,” Zach said.

“We're going to start training our teams for close quarters fighting and storm assault,” Selene said. “We'll be able to exploit any breaches in the walls of a fortress.”

“But you'll need to be able to breach the wall of a fortress. Have you thought of how you're going to to that?” Starvos asked.

“Well, we're going to do a lot of scouting on our target, once we figure that out,” Selene said. “That should hopefully allow us to figure out the weak points in the wall, and whether there's another way in.”

“You'll have to coordinate a large number of disparate groups in order to achieve your goals as well,” Dr. Unger said. “Are you sure that the social structures are in place to do that?”

Zach frowned. “I'm not quite sure what you mean by that.”

“Do you mean the lack of coordination between the different companies?” Xavier asked.

“Yes. I think that will ultimately be your downfall if you fail,” Dr. Unger said.

“It's the hidden part of the game that hardly anyone thinks about,” Starvos said. “It's not only about fighting.”

“So it's really a political game?” Danny asked. “I really didn't think about it that way. I guess it's obvious once you think about it, though.”

“Yes. Everything in the world revolves around the political aspect of the game. The economy, the the crafting system, the fighting itself, all of it is build to support the political nature of the game,” Starvos.

“I think I said something about that once,” Danny said. “Something about the fighting being very Clausewitzian.”

“And I think you all realize that, to some degree,” Starvos said. “The question is, what degree is that?”

“It's not something I really think about, to be honest,” Javy said. “I'm more there to be part of the world.”

“Me too,” Gavin said. “I mean, I'm mostly there for the adventure. I guess that makes me more of the dumb muscle.”

“I really don't think you qualify as dumb muscle,” Nora said. “I mean, there was the thing with the chilus.”

“What was that?” Dr. Unger asked.

“I thought that there was some way to get the armor plates off a chilus. I thought that if there was some way to mold it then it could make some good armor,” Gavin said. “I also managed to find the toxin sacks, but I didn't have any way to transport it before, so we didn't get any.”

“But I think that shows outside of the box thinking. And not everyone has to be a general,” Nora said. “I think one of our strengths is that we have a lot of people who can fulfill a lot of different roles. We're not really a specialized group, but we're versatile.”

Starvos smiled. “Well said. I think you might fail, but not for lack of trying. We'll be watching what you do with great interest.” He stood up. “It was a pleasure to see you all again. Good luck with your endeavors.”

CHAPTER 10

Recon

“I contacted Redd Foxx,” Selene said. “They're willing to work with us to scout a wider range outside of Old Chicago. A lot of their teams are built for speed and not for straight up combat, so we'll also be providing some of the muscle.”

“If we're going to coordinate with the other companies in the alliance, we're going to need some practice at it. This would be a good start,” Xavier said.

“Alright, so within the week we'll be able to afford an ATV for each of us,” Danny said. “Once we have that, we can easily take a twenty man party anywhere we need to go. That should make things a lot easier for them.”

“I think Nora had part of the funds earmarked for that purpose,” Zach said.

“Speaking of Nora, where is she?” Miko asked.

“She had a concert tonight,” Zach said. “And Javy, Ethan and Ryan are playing basketball.”

“Redd Foxx is eager to start scouting as soon as possible. I told them we might be able to organize a small scouting mission today if we had time, and if everyone agreed. I'll signal them if you guys are good with that,” Selene said.

Gavin spoke up from his corner. “We were going to try to head back to the bunker to grab some chilus venom, and some of their chitin, if possible.”

“I think the two of us can handle it on our own,” Danny said. “I've got a couple of boxes of armor-piercing ammunition for my machine gun.”

“Sheesh, how much did that cost you?” Selene said.

“It's about five thousand for a box of two hundred rounds.”

“Might as well be firing money at them,” she said.

Zach shrugged. “If you two want to do it, be my guest. We can take a four person team out scouting. Contact Redd Foxx and tell them to send the four scouts they're going to be using here. We'll grant them permission to enter our territory.”

A company had several options when it came to the control of their in game territory, and the NPCs that guarded it. Officers of the company could adjust the setting to allow only certain people into the territory; if someone without permission entered, the NPC guards would attack them on sight. Normally they would have only used that for their base, but the recent unrest had forced them to act more defensively. In response to the fighting, anyone without permission was attacked on sight if they crossed into any of Black Wolf's territory.

“Got it. Oh, one question about that. Do you have any idea where we should scout toward?”

“I think we need to decided amongst all of us,” Zach said.

“Alright, I'll let them know.”

Gavin and Danny stood up and headed to the armory to gear up for their own expedition. “Have fun with that. Don't get killed,” Danny said cheerfully.

“I should say that same to you,” Zach retorted. “You're the one that seems to get killed the most.”

“Haha, you're quite the comedian,” Danny said, just before he disappeared around the armory doorway. “Make sure you pick somewhere good to go.”

That was going to be the problem. From the look of things, the world followed the same basic layout of the real earth, so the cities should also be in the same place. The issues were finding a city that was going to be feasible to invade, and then having that city be in an advantageous area. It would also need to be in a spot where they didn't have to worry about running into Ragnarok any time soon.

There weren't many cities he could think of off the top of his head that fit that description, either. The scouting report already eliminated Milwaukee, and that was probably too close to Old Chicago as well. The Twin Cities were going to be far too large to conquer with whatever force they could scrape together at this point. Des Moines was in the middle of nowhere, and St. Louis was too far away.

“Alright, I got a response,” Selene said. “They'll be here in around an hour. Faster, if we can come pick the up in Old Chicago.”

“Organize a meeting spot with them. We'll grab them there,” Zach said.

A half hour later, they were back in their base's briefing room with the Redd Foxx team in tow. The composition of the team intrigued him. Two of the team, Will and Gwen, were assault classes, armed with submachine guns and equipped for speed. Then there was Jonas, the team's sniper, and finally the leader of Redd Foxx herself, Anna. She was a medic, but she differed from Javy's build. While he was built for healing to the exclusion of all else, she was more oriented toward providing buffs for her team. It would be an effective skirmishing force, but if they were caught in a serious firefight it was probably not going to end well.

“Thanks for agreeing to cooperate with us,” Anna said. “We've been having a rough time getting anyone to work with us other than Sacred Sword. Even Ronin is being a bit of a problem.”

“How so?” Zach asked.

“Well, they want to have overall control of our operations, which I'm not prepared to give them. I'm more than happy to coordinate, but just lying down to someone else isn't our style, you know?”

“Isn't that totally against what we're trying to do?” Miko commented. “I mean, we're trying to get away from being dominated by Ragnarok. So why are they doing the exact same thing?”

“Marauder's captain posed the same question, and that didn't go over so well,” Anna said. “I understand where Levi's coming from. He wants to resist Ragnarok as best he can, and he thinks that it can only be done if we're unified. Which I think as well, but I also think we need to work together, not work for someone.”

“I agree with that,” Zach said. “I do think we need a defined command structure and an overall commander, but all of our groups should have a say in how we operate.”

“That will come into play later,” Anna said.

“I really think it should come into play now,” Selene said. “We're never going to be able to conquer a city if we don't have a cohesive army. If we can start forming that now, then we'll be much better prepared, and it will happen much sooner.”

“That's going to be rather difficult,” Will spoke up. “All of the companies have different interests, and they're not going to want to bow to anyone else.”

“Well, we're willing to work together. That's a start,” Selene said. “You said Sacred Sword was also working with you. If we can form a core around Black Wolf, Sacred Sword and Redd Foxx, then we have a pretty good basis to start integrating the other companies.”

“I got the sense that most of the objections were because Levi didn't have a fully coherent plan,” Anna said. “I think this will work fine. So if we're going to start that, we should probably start now. Who's going to be in charge of the mission?”

“I think you should be, since this is a scouting mission,” Zach said. “And I also think we should optimize our teams to perform certain roles. That means mixing our companies.”

Anna nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. What are you thinking of? A forward recon team and a support team?”

“I think we should actually have three teams. I'll take the forward team and pair with Gwen and Will. You should have the support team with Miko and Jonas. I think that there also should be a third team with Selene and Xavier. They can provide either fire support or assault support as needed. That should allow us to be versatile.”

“Are you sure that you shouldn't be the one in charge?” Anna asked.

“You've done the most scouting missions, so you should be the ones in charge. I'll also defer to your judgment, since you're more experienced in this type of thing,” Zach told Will and Gwen.

“Next question is, where are we going to be scouting?” Xavier asked.

“We've been concentrating our forces mostly to the north and west of Old Chicago,” Anna told them. “Jonas, you were with Gray's scout team when you made that expedition toward Madison. Do you think there's anything interesting up that way?”

“Eh, not that I saw,” Jonas shrugged. His avatar was short, and slightly stocky, with a buzz cut. Body types had an effect on the physical attributes of a player, such as strength and agility. The height Jonas had chosen meant he would never reach the maximum strength level, but he was smaller, and that meant he would be harder to hit. It was a perfect choice for a sniper.

“We have Gray, Derrick, Jana and Cory's teams scouting up north anyhow,” Gwen said. “I think we should try to go south, or east.”

Anna frowned. “There's not much to the east until you get to Detroit, and that's pretty far away.”

“Then south toward St. Louis?”

“That's way too far away,” Will said. “I think that Indianapolis would be a better choice. That's far enough away from Old Chicago, but close enough that we can stay in on the action. It might be a tough nut to crack, but I think it will be worth it.”

“OK, we'll take four ATVs south. Everyone from Black Wolf drives, and Redd Foxx rides along. We'll organize into out teams later once we get to where we need to go,” Zach said.

They sped down the dilapidated highway, cracked, overgrown with grass in spots, and worn through years of neglect, but still plenty drivable. Occasionally they had to dodge the rusted hulk of a vehicle, or a small group of enemies. Zach had noticed that all of the Redd Foxx members were good shots. They hadn't even needed to stop to fight; firing from the back of the moving ATVs, Redd Foxx had made short work of half a dozen brigands that had tried to block the roadway. Jonas had managed to score head shots on two of them from the back of Selene's ATV.

But then a town loomed in front of them in the distance, just a mile after they had passed over a bridge with a river below. Lafayette, the rusted sign in front of them said. The scout team pulled off to one side and parked. Zach took his binoculars out and started to scan the surrounding area. Most of it was overgrown, with a vast forest surrounding the remains of the highway. There was a building that looked like a small gas station a few hundred yards from the main town. There were a pair of guards patrolling around the building. His HUD identified them as hostile.

“If we can get our snipers on top of that building, they'll be able to scout most of the town with their scopes,” he suggested. “We need to take care of the guards without drawing too much attention. Can we snipe both of them at once?”

“I wouldn't suggest that. The noise might carry,” Anna said.

“Our team can handle it,” Gwen said.

“My team and Selene's team will provide cover fire for you guys,” Anna said. “If you end up in trouble, head for the ATVs and let's get out of here.”

“Got it,” Zach said. “What's your plan?”

“Just go into stealth mode, follow behind us and try not to get us caught,” Will said. “We'll take care of the rest.”

Zach shrugged and fell in behind them. They curved into the forest and faded into the shadows of the trees. It was immediately apparent that both of them had specialized in stealth. The only way that Zach could tell their location was the name displays showing up on his HUD. Other than that they were almost completely invisible. It was startling to him. The only member of Black Wolf that could come remotely close to matching them was Miko, and she had several sniper specific abilities to help her.

Will and Gwen crept forward toward the edge of the forest. He wondered how they were going to take care of the guards. Their submachine guns weren't silenced, and they didn't have anything like a bow or crossbow. Will answered his question by drawing a hatchet off of his belt. Apparently he was going to sneak up behind one of them and them him at close range. Gwen would take another; she had drawn a knife off her belt.

Gwen held up her hand from behind the tree she was using as cover. An enemy guard was coming their way. She picked up a rock and threw it into the tree next to her. Immediately the guard took notice and started to advance into the forest. Gwen sprung into action as soon as he passed her tree. Quick as lightning, she grabbed the guard and buried the knife in his neck with one quick motion.

Zach wondered where Will had gone. He saw him moving on his radar, but he was on the other side of the building from them. The second guard suddenly fell from behind the building, a hatchet buried in the front of his skull.

“Clear,” Will said over the radio. “Get the snipers up here.”

Zach and Gwen joined him inside the remains of the gas station. There was a hole in the roof. It was high up, but it was reachable since it was directly above the sales counter. Will was leaning up against the counter, checking his hatchet.

“Nice job, both of you,” Zach commented. “That was an extremely good piece of stealth work.”

“Thanks,” Will said.

“Stealth is Redd Foxx's specialty,” Gwen said. “We might not have the staying power of Ronin, Marauder or Sacred Sword, but give us the opportunity to stealth and we're second to none.”

“Yeah, Black Wolf really doesn't have a specialty.”

“Other than having more money than God?” Will said.

“I wouldn't call that a specialization,” Zach said.

“That's a pretty good specialization, actually. We have to spend a lot of time scrounging for credits so we can pay for our stronghold. We don't always have the best gear because of that,” Gwen said. “I think that's why working with you guys is good. We would never have been able to afford those ATVs.”

“And my company would have been shot to pieces by now,” Zach said. He turned as the other teams made their way into the gas station. “I think your team should be on the roof,” he told Anna.

“Right. Jonas and Miko will survey the area, and I'll relay information to both teams,” Anna said. “Your team takes the lead and follows our directions. Selene and Xavier should follow behind you at a fair distance. If you run into trouble they'll provide close range support to you. We'll provide overwatch and hold this building as a rally point if things go wrong.”

“Right. Someone help me give them boosts.”

Zach and Xavier stood on the counter and helped Anna's team to get on the roof.

“Alright, can you guys hear me?” Anna asked through her radio connection.

“Loud and clear.”

“Alright then. There's no wall around the town. There's guard towers at the four corners of the town, and one in the center, but you should be able to sneak in one of the gaps. Miko and Jonas can see around thirty guards...” She trailed off for a moment. “Make that fifty that they can see. It looks like the towers have heavy machine gun mounts.”

“Joy,” Zach said. He was the only one with a weapon heavy enough to destroy the towers, and it was a grenade launcher to boot, so he would need to get in close.

“I'm going to let you two take the lead,” Zach said. “I'll provide fire support if we need it, but I don't have much faith in my stealth abilities.”

“Fine with us,” Will said with a grin. He motioned for him to follow.

“You're certainly swallowing your pride,” Selene commented as they headed toward the town.

“I'd rather do that than take a bullet in the head,” Zach said.

“Fair enough point.” She and Xavier slowed to allow Zach's team to get further ahead.

Will lead them through a ditch overgrown with tall grass. He and Gwen moved fluidly, making their way through the tall grass with nary a disturbance. Zach tried not to think about how clumsy he looked in comparison. Hopefully his stealth skills were passable enough to keep them hidden. More likely, he was going to be spotted and riddled with a few hundred bullets.

They reached the outer edge of town without incident. Will glanced around the corner, then turned back and shook his head. Something wasn't to his liking. Gwen motioned to a low wall off to their left. It looked like there was a back alley on the other side. Will nodded his approval, then waved Zach to follow. The three of the climbed over the wall and stalked into the alley. It was filled with junk. Zach tried his best not to kick any. Gwen and Will had no trouble navigating through the mess.

Gwen held up her hand as she reached the end of the alley. She made a motion, and suddenly there was a body in her arms. Will helped her drag the enemy corpse back into the alley. Zach could see the stab wound on the side of the neck.

“I think we can cross through the street without getting caught. I don't see any more guards,” Gwen said quietly.

Selene and Xavier had caught up with them. “We'll cover you,” Selene said.

Zach's team ran for the alley across the street. It was clearer than the other alleyway, but there was someone odd about it. The earth looked like it had been disturbed in places.

Zach grabbed Gwen by the arm just before she stepped in the alley. “Hold on. It's booby-trapped.”

“You sure?” Will asked.

“It looks like they've planted land mines. The earth is disturbed in places.” Zach drew his knife. “Stay on the outer end of the alley. This is going to take a while.”

Anna came on the radio. “What's the holdup?”

“The alley is mined, and it's going to be too easy to be spotted if we go another way. I'm going to try to sweep this as best I can.”

“Do you have a mine sweeper?”

“Unfortunately no. I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way.”

Zach started to carefully prod around the edge of a mound with his knife. If he could find where the mine was, then he could dig it up and then remove the detonator. The issue was a matter of time. A single mine would only take a few minutes to remove, but he would need to sweep the entire alley, since they were difficult for non engineer classes to see. That could take upward of an hour, and that was if they didn't run into problems.

The blade hit something that felt like hard plastic. Zach gingerly worked his knife around until he found the bottom of the mine. Slowly, carefully, he started to remove the earth around the mine. It took him about a minute to remove enough so that he could see the firing mechanism. He unscrewed it, rendering the mine inert.

Zach moved to the next mound. He proceeded the same way and had the mine removed in around five minutes. The next mine went just as smoothly.

“There's a patrol coming around to your part of the street,” Anna said. “They'll be on you in around five minutes. I can't tell you exactly when. They'll be going though a blind spot just before they turn onto your street.”

“That's going to be really close,” Zach said. He wasn't sure that he could get them far enough into the alley in time. Zach started to prod for the next mine. He found it, then looked for the bottom. He found that as well, but that was when the trouble started.

“Oh, that's not good,” Zach said as he felt around with his knife.

“What?” Gwen asked.

“There's another mine underneath the first one,” he said. “I'm betting it's rigged to explode if I move the one on top.”

This was going to be a problem. It was going to take much longer to remove this mine, since once wrong move would set the second trap off. And that was time they didn't have. Plus, Zach wasn't entirely sure that he could do it with the equipment he had at hand.

“Fall back. We're going to have to find another way,” Zach said.

“You sure?” Will asked.

“We're going to be here forever if we try to go this way. Anna, we're moving back the way we came in.”

“Got it. Be advised that I can't see the patrol now.”

“Understood. You two, get back to the alley we came from as best you can,” he ordered.

Will and Gwen started to move out into the street. Zach sheathed his knife and grabbed his carbine off the ground. This definitely wasn't going to be easy.

Anna cut in on his radio. “Wait, the patrol's coming into your part of the street-”

Zach suddenly heard shots ring out. A split second later he heard that rapid fire of submachine guns. He leaned around the corner, carbine at the ready. A burst of gunfire forced him back into cover.

“How many of them are there?” he asked through the radio.

“There were five of them,” Gwen said. “We made it to the other side. Safe. Are you ready to move?”

“Yeah,” Zach said.

“Count of three, we'll cover you,” Selene said. “One. Two. THREE!”

Zach leaped out of cover and aimed his weapon down the street. He would sidestep his way across the street as fast as he could, firing as he went to keep the enemies head down. But then he saw it. Zach barely managed to get back into cover before a torrent of bullets filled their air where he had been a scant second before.

“There's a machine gunner that's taking cover in a side alley,” Zach said. “He's got a perfect angle on me as soon as I step out. Can any of you see him?”

“I can't,” Selene said.

“He's in a blind spot for us as well,” Anna said. “Be advised that you're going to have a lot of company in around two minutes.”

“I guess I'll have to use this, then.” Will said.

“A grenade?” Zach heard Selene ask.

“A smoke grenade,” Will specified.

“You have a smoke grenade?” Anna asked. “I'm surprised that you could afford one.”

“Yeah, well, Zach's going to owe me big time for this. I'm, throwing now. Count to ten, then make a run for our position.”

“Grenade's thrown,” he heard Selene said.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Zach heard the sound of gunfire pick up from the direction of the enemy. It sounded like nothing he would want to run out into, but he had no choice. Apparently the NPC AI was programed to counter smoke grenades by firing blindly, hoping for a hit.

Six. Seven. Eight.

“I see what they're trying to do,” Anna said through the radio. “Jonas, take out the shooters you can see. We're going to have to abandon this position in a few minutes anyhow.”

Nine.

“One down,” Jonas' voice crackled over the radio,

Ten.

Zach leaped out of cover and charged out into the smoke filled street. There was no point in doing anything but running. Bullets cracked mere inches away from his head as he ran. The volume of fire coming from the other end was staggering, and it looked like most of it was coming from one gun. Just what kind of machine gun did the enemy in this town have? Zach had never run into anything with this rate of fire.

He suddenly lurched forward and slammed into the ground, still a few yards from the alley. It felt like someone had hit his ankle with a sledgehammer. It took Zach a moment to realize he had been shot. He was shocked at how much it actually hurt. Zach tried to get up, but the pain shot through his leg, and he fell.

Zach felt himself being lifted. Through the smoky haze he could see Selene and Xavier firing down the street on full auto. He felt himself being hoisted onto the shoulders of two others, presumably Will and Gwen, and then they started moving forward through the alley.

“Rally at my position,” he heard Anna say through the radio. “I'll patch him up as best as I can.”

Will and Gwen helped him over the wall, then grabbed him again and started carrying him toward the gas station. He heard the sharp report of a rifle come from that direction, then another.

“Selene, where are you at?” Anna asked.

“We're about to come over the wall,” came the reply.

“Be quick about it. They're starting to come in force. I'm coming down to meet the rest of you. As soon as I heal him, we make a run for it.”

“Understood.”

Will and Gwen dragged him the rest of the way into the gas station. Anna was waiting for them with her medical kit already prepped.

“Hold on a second,” Anna said as she started to bandage his wound. The methods of first aid and healing in the game would be terribly ineffective at best in the real world, or would actually kill the patient, but it was a convenient way to symbolize the use of healing powers. Zach felt the pain start to subside the more she bandaged.

“Alright, can you walk?” she asked.

Zach stood up and tested the ankle. “Not exactly comfortable, but yeah, I can walk.”

Anna activated her radio. “We run for the ATVs and head back the way we came. GO!”

Zach heard two more shots from the roof before Jonas and Miko swung down through the hole. Will leaned out the door and fired a burst at the squad of NPC that had started to advance on them. Selene and Xavier sprinted through the doorway.

“We're going to need cover fire,” Selene said. “Our group should grab the ATVs while Redd Foxx holds here and fends them off. We can swing back and pick them up and make a quick getaway.

“Fine with me,” Anna said. “Make sure you come back for us.”

“Wouldn't dream of leaving you,” Selene said. “Are we ready? OK, move!”

Xavier went first, then Selene, then Miko. Zach brought up the rear. Few bullets came in their direction as they sprinted for the ATVs. Redd Foxx was doing a good job of putting up cover fire for them. The area around the ATVs was clear. Hurriedly, Black Wolf mounted up on their vehicles and started them up.

“We'll be there in a minute,” Zach heard Selene say. “Pair up, the same as last time. Make sure you're as fast as possible. We have one shot at this.”

“Got it,” Anna said.

Black Wolf roared down the highway, toward the smoke, the bullet and the gunfire. The enemy's numbers were beginning to tell. Despite Redd Foxx's best efforts, there simply weren't enough of them to hold off the sheer number of enemy soldiers that were present. There was at least a platoon advancing on them.

“We'll be out in front in five seconds,” Selene warned through the radio.

“Alright. GO! GO!” Anna ordered.

Zach saw the door swing open. Gwen and Will came out first, followed by Anna, and finally Jonas. He brought his ATV to a screeching halt next to one of the ruined gas pumps. Bullets were cracking all around. Hurriedly, Zach took the carbine off his back and loaded a grenade into the launcher. He made a quick peek down the sights and fired it at the advancing horde. It came up just short, but it forced many to go to the ground or back into cover. Will took advantage of the distraction to leap on the passenger seat. Zach slung his carbine back over his shoulder and gunned the motor. He made a sharp turn, nearly tipping the vehicle over, then sped back down the other side of the road.

“Everyone make it?” Zach asked.

Will glanced over his shoulder. “Yeah. They're all behind us.”

“Everyone rendezvous back at Black Wolf headquarters,” Selene said over the radio. “Don't stop for anything.”

“Well, that was certainly fun,” Will said. “I have almost no ammo left.”

“We'll replace what you shot off,” Zach told him. His mind was turning. That town was going to be a very difficult obstacle.

CHAPTER 11

Accord

Anna had prepared a detailed scouting report from the information they had collected from their reconnaissance mission. The town is not fortified, but it is guarded by heavy weapons emplacements and traps. Many of the traps themselves are rigged to prevent tampering by mine clearing teams. Troop strength is estimated at around a company, and all troops are heavily armed. The attacking force will need to be well armed and have a number of engineers in order to clear the minefields.

“Sounds charming,” David said as he read over the report. “I understand that you got yourself shot in the process of exploring the town?”

“Yeah, it didn't end so well,” Zach admitted. He and Nora were meeting with Sacred Sword and Redd Foxx at Sacred Sword's base. Selene and Danny were in the south exploring a bunker with the rest of Black Wolf.

“I think we can use it as a forward outpost,” Anna said. She was here with her adjunct, Liz. “If we're serious about making a push toward Indianapolis, that will provide us with a good staging area to work with. Plus, I think it will provide good experience for all of us. We need to learn to work together.”

“Agreed,” David said. “I feel that we have a good working relationship with you.” Sacred Sword had been providing support for Redd Foxx's scouting missions. They would send a heavily armed team as backup for the scouts and would extract them if they ran into trouble.

“I'd like to be able to develop that type of relationship between our companies as well,” Zach said.

“I don't think that should be too much of a problem,” David said. “Given the size of your company, it's not like you'll have a lot of dissenting voices to deal with. That's not meant as a slight to Black Wolf,” he added disarmingly.

Zach shrugged. “It's the truth. We're not a very large company.” There had been talk about trying to add more members to Black Wolf. Having more people would allow them more freedom in their operations, and meant that they could provide more to the alliance. Redd Foxx and Sacred Sword both had over fifty members, which made Black Wolf's ten look paltry in comparison. But on the other hand, adding more members would end up diluting the company. One of Zach's favorite things about Black Wolf was that he could really get to know everyone. He would know how they fought, what their tendencies were, and how they viewed things. Adding more members might lessen that intimacy.

And regardless of their numbers, Black Wolf would always play a major role in any alliance due to the vast sums of money they earned. Other companies that specialized in fighting would shoulder the brunt of the work on the front lines, but without the credits to buy bullets and equipment they were severely hamstrung. Black Wolf would probably end up buying a majority of the equipment for the alliance, and that gave them leverage. Redd Foxx and Sacred Sword both understood that reality, and would treat them as equals instead of as a bank. It remained to be seen what the other companies would do.

“From what I've heard, Black Wolf seems to excel in small teams. Sort of like a commando unit,” David commented. “That could be useful.”

“So, how do we want to take care of the town?” Zach asked.

“I think we need to have an overall commander, first of all,” David said. “If we're going to be effective, we need to have a clear chain of command. One of us serves as the commanding officer, and the other two are sub-commanders.”

“Ah. Do you want to be commander?” Zach asked.

“Actually, I think it should be you,” Anna said.

“Yeah, I'd agree with that too,” David said.

“Um, I'm flattered, but why? I thought there would be a little more dissension.”

“I was commander in the last mission, so it's your turn,” Anna said. “Plus, I'm better as a recon commander than in a straight battle.”

“OK, that makes sense, but what about you?” Zach asked David.

He grinned sheepishly. “Well, the truth of the matter is that I'd like to be in the thick of the fighting, and I can't do that if I'm in overall command.”

Zach laughed. “Fair enough. I'm not eager to get shot again, so overall command is fine with me. But I'm not coming up with this plan on my own. I don't know the strengths and weaknesses of your companies very well, and I want to make sure we get this right.”

“I think we need to neutralize the towers,”Anna said. “I also think we should attack from at least two directions so they have to split their forces.”

“We can probably snipe the gunners in the towers, but we don't have any good way to actually destroy the towers without getting close,” David said. “And then there's the landmine problem. Sacred Sword has eight engineers, and we have minesweepers for them. The problem is that they're going to be extremely vulnerable while they're sweeping, especially to the towers. I'm not sure we can do it without getting them killed.”

“Redd Foxx has two engineers,” Liz spoke up. “They can sweep, but they're trained for infiltrating, so they're going to be slow.”

“And we have one engineer,” Nora said. She had been oddly silent this entire time, frequently checking her menu.

“Which would be me, and we all know how well my sweeping went the last time,” Zach said.

“Hey, I got good experience for healing your wound,” Anna said.

“Could we bring them down with heavy machine gun fire from a distance?” David suggested.

Anna shook her head. “The towers are pretty well built. I don't think anything short of explosives is going to bring one down.”

“That means engineers with grenade launchers,” Liz said. “And they'll have to get close to use them. Which means our plan might be over in ten shots.”

“Aren't there supposed to be missile and rocket launchers for heavies?” David asked.

“No one has discovered any blueprints for them,” Anna said.

“We... might have something?” Nora spoke up.

“Huh?” Zach asked, nonplussed.

“The rest of our company is exploring a bunker. From our experience, they usually have blueprints in them,” Nora explained.

“They're also usually swarming with chilus or ryches.” Anna commented. “We stopped trying to get into them when we found out the only way to clear them was with fire.”

“You can also use armor-piercing bullets,” Zach said. “Both of our heavies are carrying several magazines of them.”

“Nothing like shooting away two weeks of earnings,” David commented ruefully. “It must be nice to be swimming in cash.”

“Back on topic, they think they're getting near the end of the bunker. Selene says it looks like it's a weapons depot, though most of the equipment in there is useless. But she says that there are a lot of what look like missile launchers and the like.”

“Can they be salvaged?” David asked.

Nora shook her head. “The bunker looks like it went through a catastrophic explosion in several of the storage compartments. Most of it is just fused metal and plastic, according to her. The only way they can tell is that a few of the launchers were thrown clear, and all of them are pretty badly twisted up.”

“Even if there is something, do we have any guarantee that we can use it?” Liz questioned.

“We'd better hope so, otherwise we're back to square one,” Zach said.

Nora opened here menu again, looking at something. “Well, they found something. But none of them can read it, and neither can I. Can you make sense of this?” she asked.

Zach received a message from her and opened it up. It was a schematic of some sort. It looked like a tube with some sort of mechanism on the back. There was also plans for a bipod with it, along with something that looked like a shell or a rocket. And there was text included with it as well, highlighted due to his machinist skills.

“What is it?” Anna asked.

“I think you both should have copies of this,” Zach said. He sent them all a copy of the codex entry and the schematic itself. “This alliance needs to be built on trust, not just because we have to do this to survive.

84 mm Recoilless rifle, the description read. Fires 84mm projectiles with range of 500 yards. Is capable of destroying light to medium armored vehicles and fortified emplacements. The weapon can be loaded with various types of ordinance such as fragmentation rounds and bunker buster warheads. It is most effective with a two person crew, but can be operated by a single person at a reduced rate of fire. Requires one point in anti-tank weaponry to use.

“Man, you weren't kidding about the trust thing,” David said. “That's a pretty powerful weapon you just gave away for free to all of us.”

“I'd appreciate it if you kept these plans between our three companies for now,” Zach said. “Plus, we either need to have them produced at a fabrication terminal, which is going to be really expensive, or we're going to have to make them ourselves. And look at the resources that it's going to take to build one. Fifty blocks of refined vulcanite ore, and that's only for the launcher, not for the ammo.”

“Speaking of ammo, it looks like the only type of ammo we have for it is high explosive,” Nora said.

David shrugged. “Not a versatile weapon, but it should serve our purposes just fine.”

“The next question is, do we have anyone that can use it?” Liz asked. “I'm guessing that anti-tank is a heavy exclusive class skill, 'cause I can't see it. And has anyone bothered to take it? We haven't had a reason to since the heaviest vehicle in the world right now outside of the city trams is an ATV.”

“Well, someone could take it once they go up a level,” Anna suggested.

“They'll need practice on it,” Nora said. “And given the amount of resources we're going to have to put into one of these, it's going to take a while to have them ready to practice, let alone fight. Can we borrow some of your miners? We only have two.”

“Actually, neither of our companies have any miners,” David said. “We get all of our resources and equipment from Hephaestus Company, in exchange for providing their mining groups with protection. I could probably convince them to get the resources we need to do this, however.”

They started to plan the operation in detail. The three companies had a combined strength of one hundred twenty eight. Of that number, there were twenty six assaults, twenty two snipers, thirty five soldiers, twenty five heavies, eleven engineers and nine medics. The lack of specialists was concerning. If they lost too many of their mine clearance teams, then they were going to be in trouble. And their lack of of medics was going to tell if they ended up in a prolonged fight.

They decided to split the attack force into three commands. The first command would be led by David, spearheaded by Sacred Sword. It would have a significant number of soldiers and heavies, and its task was to attack the town head on. The second force would be led by Anna, leading Redd Foxx. They would approach from the forest to the west, using their stealth skills to get as close as possible before attacking. She would have an assault oriented force, built for speed. They would try to get in behind the forces engaging Sacred Sword and hit them in a crossfire.

The last force would be comprised of Black Wolf and two teams from Sacred Sword and Redd Foxx. They would act as a reserve, reinforcing any section of the attack that needed backup. If need be, they could also stage a diversionary attack from another direction. Zach would not be in overall command of the section, since he was going to be in charge of the entire operation. He would probably put Selene or Danny in charge, though it probably wasn't going to matter since the individual teams were going to operate separately.

“Do we want to try to take the gas station we were in last time?” Anna asked. “That provides a good vantage point, and we can use it as a command post.”

“I think that's a good idea,” Zach agreed.

“Well, I'll defer to your judgment, since you two are the only ones here who've seen the place,” David said. “I'm going to organize Sacred Sword into four man teams. Anyone extra will go into my team.”

“Actually...” Nora thought aloud. “Would you be able to spare any of your extra troops? I think we also need to have good communications system in place. If we can have, say five or six people, we can use them to coordinate movements with the squad leaders through the radio system. That will also make it easier for Zach to exercise overall command.”

“That I agree with,” Anna said.

“I think that's all the planning we can do for now. I'll get in contact with Hephaestus Company to get the materials we need for our heavy weapons,” David said.

“Pay any price that's reasonable,” Zach said. “You can let them know that they can contact Black Wolf with the bill.”

“Grand. Let's hope this works.”

CHAPTER 12

Other World

Spring was coming. The snow had melted, and temperatures had risen into the mid fifties. It was still brisk enough to wear a coat, but it felt warm enough after the long and cold winter. Zach had been itching to be outside without exposing himself to the frigid Chicago winter. Right now he was in a fleece and wind pants, oblivious to the breeze or the cold air. He leaped...

And the ball was swatted away as he shot. Javy laughed and sprinted down the court, stolen shot in hand. He threw a pass toward the bottom of the net. Quick as lightning, Danny snagged it and hit a layup.

“Up by six points. You're not having much luck,” Danny laughed. “I know it's been a long time since gym class, but sheesh.”

“I'm a programmer and a professional gamer now. I'm supposed to be fat and unathletic,” Zach joked.

Selene grabbed the ball and dribbled it down the court. “What, you can't be well rounded? She passed the ball to Nora, who passed it along to Gavin. He tried to make a drive for the basket, but was cut off by Xavier. He stopped and threw the ball back across the three point arc to Selene. She sank a perfect jumper.

“Man,” Javy said. “Why are you not playing for a professional team?”

“I'm not that good,” she said. “Three pointers just happened to be my specialty during high school and college.”

“How's it fair that you have three basketball players on your team?” Gavin said, breathing hard.

“Hey, I never played in college. Selene did. Plus, you have two players on your team. Besides, we have the shortest player on our team as well,” Danny said.

“I'm sorry I'm not very useful,” Miko said sarcastically.

“Well, you've scored more points than they have,” Xavier offered.

“Not that it's hard to score more than four points,” Danny quipped. He took the ball and started to dribble down the court.

“Alright, alright, we know we suck,” Zach said.

Nora suddenly streaked past him and stole the ball from Danny. She scored a layup. “Speak for yourself,” she commented.

“They're impressive, that's for sure,” Xavier commented. “Forty points from them combined. I think they have twenty steals as well.”

“We know, we know, we suck,” Gavin grumbled. “Can we just forfeit?”

“We are not losing,” Selene said. “I'll frag you the next time in the game world if you quit.”

“Man,” Gavin said.

Zach smiled at that. Selene had always been extremely competitive. She had been a star athlete in high school in basketball, track and soccer, and had been a top student to boot. He and Danny had paled in comparison, though they had both been good in academics and had been involved in sports. But it was good to have her as a friend. Rather than making them feel inferior, she had inspired them to do better. Zach had been part of their high school track team. He would have never have achieved much without her encouragement, but with hard work and training he had managed to consistently finish in the top three during races his senior year.

Xavier grabbed the ball and dribbled it in place. “Well well, score is 45-44. First one to fifty wins, so it should be an exciting finish. But we're going to win.” He dodged past Nora as she tried to make another steal. “Sorry, that's not going to work on me” he laughed. Zach tried to guard him, but Xavier had almost six inches of height on him. He easily scored a basket from the paint over Zach's outstretched arms.

“Ohho, a three pointer from us and we win,” Danny said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Selene said. She flung a pass down to Nora, who charged down the court into the traffic of the paint area. With a sudden motion, she flipped the ball to Gavin, who made an ugly shot that somehow went in.

Miko grabbed the ball and dribbled down the court. She passed to Danny, who passed to Xavier, who passed it back. Danny started to go up for a three pointer, but Selene slapped the ball away and took off in the other direction. Zach watch in amusement as she went up and dunked the ball with authority.

“Get off your knees, you're blowing the game,” she said to Danny as he came down to take the ball back.

“Man, you're in full on kill 'em mode,” Danny commented.

“Is she always this much of a trash talker?” Javy asked as he came down.

Danny passed him the ball. “Just with us.”

Javy dribbled down the court, guarded by Nora. He tried to go up for a three point shot, but Nora timed her jump perfectly and blocked it. To his credit, Javy managed to pluck the ball out of the air. He tossed it over to Danny. Gavin tried in vain to block. Danny sunk his shot.

“Aaand, that's three points. What was that about blowing the game?” Danny taunted Selene.

“It's not over. Your foot was over the line,” she responded.

“Oh, you're going with that? Can't lose gracefully?”

“Danny, your left foot was over the line,” Xavier said. “It's 49-48. Next shot wins.”

“Man, why can't you let me have this?” Danny asked. “All I wanted was to beat her. Just to see the look on her face, losing like that.”

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Zach asked.

“Meh, we'll still beat you,” Danny said.

“Don't count on it,” Selene said. She grabbed the ball and tossed it to Nora.

Nora slowly dribbled over the half court line, then made a quick move. Javy slipped as he tried to keep up. Xavier moved to cover her path to the basket, while Danny tried to shield Selene from the ball. Miko was on Gavin beyond the three point line. That left Zach alone, and suddenly the ball was in his hands. He shot...

And missed the basket wildly, not even hitting the rim. Xavier grabbed the ball before it went over the end line and chucked it down the court. Miko grabbed the ball, a few steps ahead of Gavin. She made an ugly, ugly shot that circled around the rim. And then it dropped.

“Hah! Win!” Danny said, jumping into the air.

Selene gave him a playful shove as he landed. “I can accept losing to her. Even though it's your fault,” she said to Zach.

“See, this is why I didn't play basketball in high school,” Zach said.

“At least it was good to finally get outside,” Nora said. “Playing in a gym just doesn't have the same feeling to it.”

“Well, it's almost noon, and I want food,” Danny said.

“I second that,” Javy said.

“I'm with them as well,” Gavin agreed.

“Where do we want to go?” Xavier asked.

“What about the Horizon? That's pretty close to here. Plus, we can see if we can get a lounge room,” Selene suggested.

“I haven't been there in so long,” Zach said. “That gets a vote from me.”

Everyone else agreed. The Horizon was a few blocks down, on the other side of the park. They would need to walk there, but no one was going to complain about that after being cooped up inside all winter.

“This was a really good idea, Nora,” Miko commented as they walked.

“Thanks. I just thought it was a good idea to get to know each other outside of the game world. Besides what we do in the interview sessions, I mean.”

“I think it's a good idea too. Though I'm not sure that we couldn't just get to know each other in the game world,” Xavier commented.

“I think being in the world changes people a bit, you know? It's escapism. You can be someone different than you are in real life,” Nora said.

“I think your natural tendencies tend to shine through your character regardless. Especially when it feels like you're actually living in the world.”

“Well, I can understand how the dynamics change in the game world,” Zach commented. “I mean, in real life Selene tended to be the leader of our group. But it somehow ended up being me in the game world.”

“Yeah, I that makes sense,” Xavier said.

“Besides, we need to get out once in a while,” Nora said. “We can't be in the world all the time. We'd miss a lot of stuff happening in the real world.”

“Ah, that debate,” Danny said. “The one I always hated listening to in college.”

“What debate?”

“Whether experiences in a virtual world are equal to experiences in the real world,” Danny said. “Like, say we scale up a mountain and reach the peak while the sun is setting in a virtual world. Our brains are perceiving the scene just like they would in real life. Is that experience any less valid than seeing it in the real world?”

“Well, the obvious response would be yes, since everything in a virtual world is just data,” Nora said.

“Well, you could say that about everything,” Danny said. “Every one of our senses is data that's interpreted by our brain.”

“So would a virtual world allow you to transcend reality to some degree?” Miko asked. “Like, if you were paralyzed but could walk in the virtual world, you could have an experience that was never possible in real life.”

“Yeah. Or even in the more general sense. We're able to experience things that we wouldn't be able to in the real world in the game world.”

“Come to think of it, all of us except Nora have died at least once,” Javy said. “And while I can't say I enjoyed the experience, it's a lot less intimidating than before.”

“That's only if you get killed with the first shot,” Miko said. “It doesn't feel too good when you get half your body melted by chilus venom.”

“Or getting a non-lethal gunshot wound,” Zach said. “I really don't want to repeat that experience again. It hurt a lot more than I thought it would.”

“I would have thought that would turn people off of playing the game,” Xavier commented.

“Well, it hurts but it's not as bad as it could be,” Zach said. “It was less painful then when I broke my leg in middle school.”

“I wonder...” Miko said.

“Wonder about what?” Zach asked.

“I've noticed my aim with weapons has improved a lot, in both the game and the real world,” she said. “It's probably because my brain has been conditioned by all the shooting I've done in the game world,” she said.

That was true. A week ago they had been taken to a shooting range to test their skills. All of them had been consistent shots with their weapons of choice. But had been interesting to note that they had been less adept at firing other weapons. Miko had been a good shot with a long rifle, but very poor when firing automatic weapons. Zach, on the other hand, had barely managed to hit a target with a rifle, but was able to fire a carbine well. Danny had been the best shot with every weapon, probably because he had become used to controlling heavy weapons firing on automatic.

“What about that makes you wonder?” Selene asked.

“If the game is conditioning us to be better shots, is it conditioning us in other ways? Like, is it giving us a higher pain tolerance? Or is it making us less afraid of death?”

“Even if that were true, what purpose would that serve?” Selene asked.

“A government super soldier project? At least that's what it would be if this was a movie,” Gavin said.

“You know how dumb that sounds,” Nora said.

“Well, Miko could be right, in a manner of speaking,” Danny said. “Just think about this for a minute. You can create a virtual world where skills are implanted into your brain and the environment in the world is totally self-contained and safe. Wouldn't that be a good way to train people to do things? It would save a lot of space and money.”

“That could be true” Selene shrugged. “But the whole thing itself just seems so far-fetched.”

“There has to be a reason they're spending so much money on researching how the game affects us,” Javy said. “I'm not the smartest person, but I can see that something's going on.”

“It's probably nothing more than corporate gamesmanship,” Zach said. “You know how much money a virtual world training system would be worth? It's no wonder that they'd try to get there before anyone else.”

“Yeah but why do it in a game that involves shooting? Why couldn't they have done something like a sports game or even a cooking game?” Miko pointed out.

“Who the heck would play a virtual world cooking game?” Danny asked.

Miko shot him a look. “Maybe I would.”

Danny put up his hands. “Sorry. Just saying that it would be a rather niche audience, that's all.”

“That does sound a little bit odd, now that you mention it, but maybe it's what they wanted to design,” Selene said.

“Maybe it was the genre of choice because of the sociology studies they want to perform. They say that the one common language between people is violence,” Xavier said.

“I thought the common language was love,” Nora said.

“Well, love can be interpreted the wrong way. If we didn't speak the same language, you might not understand some of the love gestures I might make. But if I punched you, you'd get the message loud and clear.”

“That's like the principle violence solves everything,” Nora said.

“Well, it does solve everything” Danny said. “Not necessarily in a good way, and it will usually cause more problems, but it is a solution.”

“OK Socrates,” Selene quipped.

“Hey, I have to justify all that time I spent getting a degree somehow,” Danny shrugged.

“Can we skip the profoundness and just go eat?” Javy said.

“Yeah, I just felt my stomach growl,” Miko said.

The Horizon was ahead of them. The group crossed the street and headed inside. Zach had been to The Horizon a few times before. The food was always good, though a bit on the expensive side and the atmosphere of the restaurant was welcoming as well. There was the normal seating and the bar, but the highlight of the restaurant was the lounge rooms. They were furnished with more comfortable lounge chairs and a low table, almost like a coffee table instead of a regular restaurant setup. They cost a fee to rent, but that wasn't going to be a problem for any of them at this point.

“So what's our plan for this week?” Javy asked after they had been seated and ordered.

“We're going to try to take Lafayette with Sacred Sword and Redd Foxx,” Zach said. “Hopefully the recoilless rifle plans you found will do the trick. Once we have the town we can use it as a staging area for pushing further south.”

“What do the other companies think about this?” Xavier asked.

“They have no idea this is going on, Plus, I think they'd be a bit mad that we shared weapons schematics with the other two companies, but not with them.”

“Well gosh, if they'd just get along we wouldn't have to deal with this whole mess now, would we?” Nora commented, her voice tinged with annoyance.

“We might want to try getting Grizzly into the fold next,” Selene suggested. “Gina will probably be willing to join up as long as we have a solid plan in place. And capturing the town will be good proof of that.”

“Marauder would be a good choice as well, even if they are a bunch of axe-crazy psychos a lot of the time,” Danny said.

“What the heck does axe-crazy even mean?” Miko asked.

“You know, like those nut jobs that kill people with axes,” Gavin explained. “You have to be really psycho to do that.”

“They're not that bad, at least from my experience,” Miko said. “The ones we met at Ronin Fortress seemed pretty normal.”

“Ah, Ronin. That's going to be the big problem in all of this, isn't it?” Xavier said. “They're too inflexible for their own good, you know? I had an offer to join them on the table, but I chose you guys instead because it just didn't feel right. I don't think that Levi's as competent as they'd like us to believe. He has good subordinates, however.”

“Levi's strength is that he's a really good people person,” Zach said. “The problem is that he's not as strong in other areas, which means his plans aren't always fully developed. Now, people who have reason to be around him learn to accept that, because he inspires a lot of loyalty, but outsiders tend to be less impressed.”

“Hence that whole blowup at the council,” Nora said. “And I have a feeling that he's going to want to be in charge of any alliance, which the others are not going like at all.”

“I think we should focus on getting that town,” Gavin said. “Achieving that will help everything else fall into place.”

Zach nodded. “You're right about that. We're supposed to be relaxing today, anyhow.”

“When did this become a job and not just fun?” Danny said.

“It still is fun, and it became a job when we started getting paid to play the game,” Miko said. “I know I'd rather be doing this than filing paperwork the rest of my life.”

“Yeah, true about that. Anyone want to go grab something from the bar?” Danny asked.

Miko, Nora, Gavin, Xavier and Javy stood up to join him. “Hope they have something decent that isn't alcohol. I'm still not old enough to drink yet,” Javy grumbled.

Zach and Selene watched them go. “So... are you and Nora dating yet?” she asked.

Zach leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I was pretty sure that you and Miko left us alone after the meeting on purpose.”

Selene laughed. “Oh please, it's pretty obvious to me that she's smitten with you. Or at least very interested.”

“Yeah, I'm aware,” Zach said with a slight smile. “We're not really dating, but it seems to be headed that way. Although I'm a little bemused as to why you insist on playing matchmaker with me.”

“Oh come on, how long was it going to take you to do it yourself?” Selene said.

“It would have happened eventually,” Zach protested.

“You mean in like five years?” she snorted.

“You really don't have a lot of confidence in me.”

“I've also known you since we were four,” Selene said. “I know how you act.”

Zach sighed. “Well, I guess I can't complain at all. Could we not talk about this in front of everyone else? I'd never hear the end of it from Danny.”

Selene laughed. “Sure thing. I won't say another word.”

CHAPTER 13

On the Brink

“FIRE!”

The rock face in front of them blew up in a shower of stone shards and smoke. The rest of the team swept the area with automatic weapons fire. The few remaining ryches were cut down in the storm of bullets.

“Looks like we got all of them,” Miko said, looking through her scope.

“Man,” Danny commented, patting the tube slung over his shoulder. “This thing packs a punch.”

He was carrying one of the recoilless rifles. The weapons themselves had been distributed to the companies, though they were somewhat short on ammunition. That would require more vulcanite to produce, and a snag had developed in their plans. Hephaestus' main mining area had been overrun by ryches, and Sacred Sword was currently busy getting their forces prepared for the attack on the town. They could have spared the troops, but Black Wolf had gone instead. It gave them more experience, and plus, it never hurt to forge good relations with other groups.

Zach walked over to the remains of the burned out nest and looked at one of the bodies. Ryches were mutated vermin, almost like rats. They were weak, but they were extremely fast and had razor sharp fangs. Fighting them up close was difficult; if you missed your shot, it was almost guaranteed that you would have one clinging to your throat.

The recoilless rifle had come in extremely handy during the sweep. Danny had taken out large clusters of them at a distance, and the rest of the team had mopped up the survivors. The nest itself hadn't been much of a challenge. Danny had kept firing shots into the entrance while they killed any ryche that managed to make it out alive. It was extremely overkill and a colossal waste of valuable ammunition, but it was good target practice, at least.

“Anything valuable?” Danny asked.

“I'm pretty sure you blew up anything that was valuable,” Gavin commented.

Zach's wrist alert went off. He had a new message from Anna.

“What's up?” Danny asked.

Zach closed out of his menu. “Well, we have quite interesting development. Nora, do you want to come along with me? The rest of you can do whatever. Training would probably be good.”

“What's going on?” Selene asked.

Zach turned toward where their ATVs were parked. “We're headed to Sacred Sword. Apparently the gist of what we're planning reached Grizzly. They want in.”

The others were already there once they arrived. David from Sacred Sword, Anna and Liz from Redd Foxx, and Gina and her adjunct Connor from Grizzly were seated at a table in the meeting room of the base.

“Sorry for such short notice,” David said.

“From me as well. I realize this was pretty sudden,” Gina said.

Zach and Nora took a seat. “So what exactly is this about?” he asked.

“Well, sources tell me that you're planning an attack on one of the towns to the south. We want to be a part of that.”

“Ah. And how exactly did your source learn of this?” David said flatly. Zach understood his nerves. If they had a spy in their midst it was probable that this news had reached Ragnarok as well.

Gina laughed. “You're so suspicious.”

“Be fair, we have reason to be,” Anna commented.

“You don't have a spy, if that's what you're worried about,” Connor said. “I go to the same gym as one of your members,” he told David. “That's how we know.”

“Great,” David said. “I'm betting that it was Nate, wasn't it?”

“I'm sorry, I'm sworn to secrecy,” Connor replied, not quite hiding a smile.

“Anyhow, like I said, we want to be a part of this,” Gina said.

“You're arriving awfully late to the party,” David said.

“Yeah, I know. But I'm bringing sixty soldiers to the fight,” Gina said.

Anna frowned. “It's not that simple. We have the attack planned and have our troops supplied. Adding in another sixty troops is going to mess up that balance.”

“Is it really going to be that much of a difference?” Connor asked. “How much planning do you actually need to attack a small town?”

“We're not Marauder,” David said. “I'd prefer not to get three quarters of our companies killed in the attempt.”

Zach sat up in his chair. “I think that both sides have valid points. What if we work out some sort of compromise?”

“What do you have in mind?” Gina asked.

“We're going to launch our attack soon, so coming up with a new plan right now isn't a good idea. It would mean we wouldn't have time to coordinate properly, or that we would have to postpone the attack, which I don't want to do. However, I do think that we can and should include Grizzly. What I think should happen is that Grizzly should be the reserve force. That would mean we wouldn't need to alter the plan, and we can use you where you're needed most.”

“You will need to follow the chain of command,” David said.

“Sure. What is it?” Gina asked.

“We're organized as three units. Sacred Sword is going to launch the main attack, Redd Foxx is making a flanking action, and Black Wolf is being held in reserve,” Liz explained. “Zach is the overall commander of the operation.”

“Ah, taking Levi's spot, are you?” Gina said.

“Actually, we voted to give him the position,” David said.

Gina shrugged. “That's a lot better than what Ronin was offering. Alright, I'm fine with this setup. What's Grizzly's role in all of this?”

“Our plan is to attack from the north and the west,” Nora said. “Sacred Sword will hit them head on while Redd Foxx performs a flanking maneuver from the forest to the west. If all goes well then both sides should push the enemy forces toward the center of town and catch them in a crossfire.”

“Do we want to stage a diversionary attack from the south or the east?” David asked. “That could be a good job for Grizzly.”

“I'd rather keep Grizzly in reserve so they can reinforce the two main attack forces. We can also stage a diversion if we think it should happen,” Zach said.

“Are we going to arm them with the new weapons?” Liz asked.

“You have new weapons?” Connor asked.

“We found a schematic for a recoilless rifle,” Nora said. “We've armed several of our heavies with them. We'll use them for taking out emplacements and enemy heavy weapons teams.”

“Nice. Do you mind hooking us up with them?” Gina requested.

“I have no problem giving you guys the schematics, but I don't think we have enough time to get your crews trained with the weapons,” Nora said. “I think it would work better if we gave you both our heavies. They've probably had the most training, so they'll be good as support for you.”

“Fair enough,” Gina said.

“You're being a lot more cooperative than you were at council in Ronin Fortress,” Zach commented. “I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why?”

“Because you guys have a plan,” Gina said. “And also, because you're willing to cooperate, not order. The problem I had with Levi's methods, however noble, is that he was making demands of others instead of trying to work with them, and I'm not sure he realizes that. Trying to get you to stop selling overdrive was ridiculous.”

“I didn't really think we were doing anything all that profound,” Zach said. “It all just seemed to make sense.”

“It did,” David said. “Though I will say that it was pretty surprising how fast you were to share those schematics with us.”

“It made the most sense,” Zach said. “How well would you have reacted if I just held the plans and made you buy the weapons and ammo off of us?”

“You have a point there,” David said. “Although you're giving us a lot of money for free as well.”

“Again, that makes the most sense. You need the ammo and weapons to fight. And besides, it's not like you're contributing nothing. Black Wolf would get slaughtered if we tried to take on that town alone.”

“Do we want to try to pull the other companies in?” Gina asked.

“For this operation no. We have enough troops to take the place,” Zach said. “Although, it is a long term goal to get them all together.”

“That's provided they're willing to cooperate,” Nora said. “You have more contact with the northern companies. Any sense about what they're feeling?”

“Quite honestly? They're trying to resist Ragnarok as best they can at the moment,” Gina said. “The incident at Ronin Fortress seems to have soured them on the idea of an alliance. They're trying to see if they can find schematics. Some sort of super weapon that will allow them to fend off Ragnarok.”

“Are they deluded?” Liz asked. “They have to know that something of that scale would never exist in the game. That would throw off the balance so much.”

“Well, Black Wolf seems to have found a secret weapon,” Gina said.

“That's more of an exploit,” Nora said.

“Well, regardless, that's what they're pinning their hopes on. That they can find something that will let them win against Ragnarok. But if we can present them with another good option, then I think that they'll be willing to listen. That's why I came forward to offer our help. This operation needs to succeed.”

“It's planned for two days from now,” Zach said. “Will you be ready to fight by then?”

“We can mobilize most of our forces by then,” Connor said. “It's not like we're doing anything special, anyhow. Where are we assembling?”

“I'll send you the coordinates,” Zach said. “The plan is to meet at the staging area at around 1 PM since it's a Saturday, then launch our attack. If everything is set, we'll be launching our attack in two days. Have your troops organized into fireteams and armed for battle by then.”

“Not a problem,” Gina smiled. “Here's to good hunting.”

“Well, we have more ammunition than the Illinois National Guard,” Danny commented, looking over the crates of bullets stacked in the staging area. “Are you sure we really need this much?”

“We're going to have almost two hundred of us, and it's going to be a pretty fierce battle,” Zach said. “I'd rather have too much ammo than too little.”

Danny patted one of the crates of shells for their recoilless rifles. “Should we conserve ammunition?” he asked.

“Try not to be wasteful, but use what you need to,” Zach said. “If you have to use it to take out heavy weapons, do so.”

“Alright then. Do you want me and Ethan to operate as one crew, or do you want us to both carry weapons?” Danny said.

“Do whatever you think is best,” Zach said. “Just keep in mind that you're going to be the only anti-tank team with Grizzly.”

“Ha, Grizzly. Seems like they showed up just in time to take all the glory.”

“Maybe, but if things start going south then we're going to be glad to have them as a reserve force,” Zach said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny said. He fiddled with the straps of his body armor.

It had taken a lot of time, effort and trial and error, but Gavin had managed to figure out how to make armor plates out of chilus chitin. He had taken a point in taxidermy, which allowed him to extract more resources from wildlife, and also allowed him the ability to craft with those resources. Using free crafting with an industrial press that they had purchased, Gavin had been able to craft the chitin into armor plates that could be fashioned into suits of ballistic protection. They were much, much weaker than the original chitin had been, but they still provided reasonably good protection from bullets and shrapnel.

The main issue with the armor was that it was clumsy and bulky, so it wasn't as useful for classes that relied on speed or stealth. It was more useful for classes that would be up close and personal with the enemy. Black Wolf had prioritized making armor for engineers, medics and heavies. They had want to equip the soldiers as well, but they had run out of the time and resources to do so. Zach didn't have a set, since he was going to be so far behind the front lines.

Zach contacted the rest of Black Wolf through his radio. “Everyone set? Come find me.”

The rest of the company stopped what they were doing joined up with him. Gone was the myriad of uniforms with only the Black Wolf as a unifying symbol. Black Wolf had chosen to wear an urban camo pattern, colored with varying patches of white, gray, and black. Their vests and kit were black, along with their helmets and knee pads. Most of them had chosen to wear face paint.

There were some individual differences in their dress. Miko didn't have a helmet, and was wearing a boonie hat instead. She also had an urban colored cape to help camouflage herself. Gavin had chosen to wear a black balaclava and a set of goggles. Nora's helmet was hanging from her belt and she was wearing a patrol cap, since she was going to be in the field headquarters unless something went wrong.

They formed a semi-circle around him. “OK, you all know the plan we've worked out. I think I'm going to make a quick alteration to it. Selene, I'm going to have you take Miko, Xavier and Javy to the east of the town. Set up somewhere with good cover, where Miko can take potshots at the garrison. The rest of you should provide cover for her. The goal is to try to draw as many enemies to that side of town as possible before we launch the main attack.”

“Got it,” Selene said.

“Danny and Ethan, you'll be supporting Grizzly. Ryan and Gavin, load up two ATVs with recoilless rifle ammo. We want to make sure that everyone has enough for the battle,” Zach said. “We'll keep in radio contact with each of the squad commanders. If they need more, then take it to them. Otherwise, try to provide cover for Ethan and Danny.”

“When are the others getting here?” Ryan asked.

“Should be any time,” Nora said, looking at her menu watch.

“Sacred Sword and Grizzly will meet us here,” Zach said. “Redd Foxx is going through the forest to get in position. They'll attack on our signal. We'll have our sniper team get on the roof of the gas station we used the last time we're here to observe the attack, once they're done with the distraction. We want this to be as coordinated as possible, so make sure to listen to the person on the other end of the line.”

“If we're going to provide a diversion I think we should get in position as soon as possible,” Selene said. “I'd rather go on foot to sneak up on them.”

“Go ahead, and be careful,” Zach said. “Remember, your job is to provide a distraction, and you can't do that if you're dead.”

“We'll keep that in mind,” she said. Her team fell in behind her and headed down the road.

Gavin shrugged. “Well, the ammo isn't going to load itself. Come on.”

“Right behind you,” Danny said. He looked north over Zach's shoulder. “There's troops coming over the hill. I think it's Sacred Sword.”

It was indeed. A line of troops clothed in gray marched toward them. Sacred Sword's troops were wearing puzzle camouflage uniforms in various shades of gray, with dark blue helmets and vests. They were ready for a prolonged fight, he noticed. Everyone was draped with ammunition belts and magazines. It would slow them down considerably, but at the same time it meant that they could project a huge amount of firepower.

And behind them was Grizzly. They were clothed olive drab uniforms and tan colored kits. All of them were wearing balaclavas and goggles. Zach noticed another figure walking next to who he assumed was Gina. It was Liz, wearing Redd Foxx's woodland camouflage pattern of green, brown and tan. Her face was painted, and she was wearing a boonie hat. Zach also noticed that she had a harness for ammunition pouches, but no vest.

“Are we ready?” David asked. “Boy, you have a pretty good command post set up here.”

“Yeah, and it cost us a pretty penny. We're down to under a hundred thousand credits now,” Zach said. Black Wolf had purchased a large canopy tent, dozens of holographic video screens, and a huge number of fusion batteries to power them all.

In the back story for World at War every player was equipped with cybernetic comms and video feed. That meant video of what one player was seeing could be streamed to another player and viewed through their menu. Video could also be displayed on holographic screens, either by connecting a receiver or directly patching the feed in through one's menu. Black Wolf didn't have even close to enough money to buy a video receiver, so they were forced to use the second option.

The attack forces were divided into squads, consisting of two fireteams made of of four people. Each squad would have a controller back at the headquarters, who would patch themselves into the video and radio communications of the squad leader. Each controller would have a video screen so the command staff would be able to know what was going on. They also had a table with a map and tokens spread across it. Liz and Nora would keep track of the squads, moving their corresponding markers to their position of the battlefield. It would have been much easier to use a holographic map, but again, Black Wolf didn't have the money for it.

“Do you have the controllers for your squads all set?” Zach asked.

“Yup. Just direct them where they need to go, and we'll make sure they get set up fine,” David said.

“I'll help them,” Nora said.

“Alright, so let's get everyone together to finalize the plans,” David said. He waved Gina and Liz over.

“Nice command post. It's sure great having rich friends,” Gina said.

“Like I said to David, we're not so rich anymore,” Zach said.

“Hold on, I'll get Anna on the line,” Liz said. She fiddled with her menu. “Anna, can you hear me?”

“I hear you,” came the reply. “Is everyone else there?”

“Yeah. We're just getting ready to go over the final plan.”

Zach cleared his throat. “We'll stick to the plan that we made before, with one small change. I sent Selene to the east of the town with a fireteam. Miko is going to take pot shots at the garrison on my signal, which should hopefully draw then to that side of town. Once that happens, we follow the original attack plan. Sacred Sword pushes from the north. Once they're engaged, Redd Foxx will attack from the west. Grizzly will stay in reserve and reinforce where needed. We should have enough ammo to last us through the battle as long as you're not extremely wasteful. If you need it, ask for it.”

“Do you have a retreat plan if things go wrong?” Anna asked.

“Do we really need one? If we die, we respawn back at base and lose some experience points and whatever we were carrying,” Gina pointed out. “Not a big deal.”

“Yeah, just curious,” came the reply. “Though I'm not sure Black Wolf wants to lose all their stuff.”

“I don't think they'll attack this far out,” Zach said. “Or, at least I hope they don't. We at least have Grizzly to help hold them off.”

“OK then. We're in position, and I have our snipers trying to scope the town. Looks about the same as last time. There may be a few more soldiers,” Anna said. “About how long do you think you'll be?”

Zach turned his head. “Nora! Are they patched in yet?”

“Yeah, we just need to do a few more comms tests and we should be all set,” she replied. “It'll be about five minutes.”

“Give it around twenty minutes for Sacred Sword to get in position,” Liz said.

“I'm going to have Selene's team open fire in around fifteen minutes,” Zach said. “Be ready to go on my signal.”

“I'll stay in communication with you,” Liz said. “I don't have a video screen, so you're going to have to either describe what you're seeing, or refer to one of the squad leaders.”

“Got it. Redd Foxx, out.”

“Time for a little inspirational speech, commander?” David grinned.

Zach groaned. “Do I really have to? What more do I have to say than go kill everything in that town that resists?”

“Oh come on, you're basically obligated to do it,” Gina said. “It's one of those big battle scenes in the movies, and you just want to let it happen without making a grand speech?”

“Oh fine,” Zach said. He brought up his menu and selected everyone in the four companies present. This would patch him into their radios. The command post went silent as everyone got their alerts.

Zach cleared his throat again. “Hello everyone, this is Zach of Black Wolf, the commander of this whole operation. Thank you for joining us. Today we're going to attempt to do something that no one else has tried, not ever Ragnarok. We're going to try to take an enemy held settlement. Not an outpost, not a small base, but a full sized town. We have no idea what to expect. At the same time, we're well equipped, well skilled, and we have this operation well planned. And greatest of all, we're unified.”

He paused for a moment. “We have something else that no other force has. We're unified, and we're unified by choice. Ragnarok may have numbers, but many of them were forced to join. Others have willing unity, but they will only fly one banner. We're different. We're four companies, four ways of thinking and fighting, four different banners, but one cause, and it's a cause we all chose freely. Everyone has their part to play, and I have the utmost faith that everyone will see it through. And when the battle ends, our banners will be flying over the town, just as the way we fought. Together. Let's do this!”

A loud cheer erupted from around the headquarters. Liz looked at her menu. “Anna sent a message. It says, 'nice speech.'”

“Yeah, I agree with that,” David said. “Maybe a bit melodramatic and cliché, but it was pretty inspiring regardless.”

Zach grimaced, with a bit of a grin as well. “I make up a speech on the spot, and I end up doing a power of friendship one. Gah.”

“Be fair, half of us are suckers for speeches like that, even if they're corny,” David said. He activated his radio. “Alright, my guys. Let's form up and move.”

“Sacred Sword is moving out,” Liz said to Anna.

“Make sure to signal once you're in position,” Zach said to David.

Nora rejoined them as Sacred Sword headed down the road. “Well, here goes nothing. I really hope this works.”

“You're not the one they're going to want to lynch if everything goes wrong,” Zach said.

“I know this might be soon, but how are we going to defend the town once we capture it?” Gina asked. “Especially since we're going to destroy all the defenses, and there's no wall.”

“Well, we can add turrets and auto-defenses,” Liz said. “Plus, we can buy sections of prefab walls to put up.”

“Those are really, really expensive,” Nora said. “We can afford them eventually, but there's no guarantee that we'll be able to get them up in time. Plus, how the heck are we going to get them here? It'll take a week to transport one side of the town by ATV.”

“Your base is still in Old Chicago, right?” Zach asked Gina.

“Yeah. Why?”

“The town can probably be used as a stronghold. Would your company want it? We'd share it as as a staging area, of course, but you could hold it and garrison it. And it would save you a lot of money you could put into the defense.”

“I'd love that idea, but I think you need to run it by Anna and David first,” Gina said. “I mean, that's giving up an awful lot to us. We might not end up doing any fighting, and the two companies that do the fighting won't get anything.”

Zach shrugged. “Just an idea. We'll figure it out after the battle.”

The mulled over the last minute details, preparing the controllers for the upcoming battle and making all of the final checks.

“Sacred Sword will be in position in three minutes,” one of the controllers said.

It was time. Zach activated his radio. “Selene. Have Miko open fire.”

CHAPTER 14

Battlefield

“Miko is targeting the guys in the tower at the southeast corner,” Selene said. “She's killed two of them. From what I can tell, they're sending reinforcements our way.”

“Can you tell how many?” Zach asked.

“Negative. We're up on a small hill, but vision is still a bit limited. Looks like a few squads, at least.”

Zach grunted. “Well, good enough.” He switched his channel to David. “We're ready to go. Launch the attack.”

“Roger that,” David replied.

“Sacred Sword is launching their attack. Be ready to go in around five minutes,” Liz said to Anna.

“Copy that. We're ready to go at any time,” came the response.

Zach turned his attention the row of video screens. Each squad had its own call sign, based on what company they were in, and a number. Sacred Sword's call sign was Sword, Redd Foxx was Fox, Grizzly was Bear, and Black Wolf was Wolf. The designations would hopefully make communication easier.

He looked at Sword 1's screen. They were advancing toward the main street into the town. Zach could see an engineer, two soldiers and a heavy toting a machine gun in front of Sword 1's squad leader. A glance at the other screens told him all he need to know. Sword 2 was following close behind to provide support. Sword 3 was heading in the direction of the northeast tower, with a sniper and a heavy in tow. From what he could gather, Zach assumed the plan was to suppress the tower with the sniper and then have the heavy blow it up. They were covered by Sword 4. Sword 5 was headed for the northwest tower, and looked like they were going to try the same thing as Sword 3. They didn't have a covering squad, which made sense since Redd Foxx would attack from that direction. Sword 6 and Sword 7 were in reserve, probably to be sent wherever they broke through first.

“Sword Lead, what's your status?” Zach asked.

“No resistance so far,” came the reply. “If our luck holds, we'll take care of those towers without much problem.”

“Good.” Zach switched radio channels. “Wolf 1, how are you holding up?”

“Not too shabby, but it might be a problem in a few minutes,” Selene replied. “We have around a platoon of thirty or so coming after us. We can hold them off for now, but if there's any more then we're going to have to run for it.”

“Shouldn't be a problem. Sacred Sword is launching their attack as we speak.”

A burst of gunfire rang out from one of the screens. Sword 1 had finally run into resistance, just inside the perimeter of the town. Zach was impressed by how quickly they moved. The heavy immediately dropped prone and started to lay suppressive fire in the direction of the shots. The two soldiers paired up and took cover against one of the buildings. More troops moved up. Zach saw an assault, another soldier and a heavy armed with a recoilless rifle go past the squad leader. Then the squad leader moved up himself.

“Sword 1 is engaging hostiles in the buildings just off the main road,” the controller said, a female soldier wearing Sacred Sword's gear and a patrol cap.

Nora leaned over and made the necessary adjustments to the map.

“Sword 1, do you have an estimate of how many enemies you're facing?” The controller listened for a moment. “OK, that's better than nothing. They're estimating between one and three squads is engaging them. They can't tell,” she said to Nora.

“Have them use the recoilless rifle if they need to take out an enemy strong point,” Zach said.

She nodded. “Jason? Command says to have Tim use the recoilless rifle on strong points if you need to.”

Zach saw Tim look around, probably in response to a verbal order from his squad leader. He nodded and shouldered the recoilless rifle, then started to move toward the middle of the street. The rest of his squad began to lay down a barrage of fire at the building ahead. Zach saw what he was trying to do; he had to use the weapon where there was plenty of clearance, otherwise he risked hurting himself with the back blast, and unfortunately, the only place to do that was the middle of the street.

A rush of smoke and flame leaped out of the weapon's rear as he fired. A second later the front of the building blew up in a shower of shattered bricks and concrete. From what he could tell through the video feed the enemy fire had died down a bit. There was also a gaping hole in the first floor. A half dozen other troops suddenly rushed by Sword 1's leader. A glance at the adjacent screen confirmed that Sword 2 was storming the building.

Sword 2 had two assaults, three soldiers, a heavy, a medic and whatever their squad leader was. Zach watched the two assaults go in, followed by a soldier and then the squad leader. It looked like they were in an old apartment building. Zach watched with fascination as Sword 2 cleared every room on the 1st story of the building without any resistance. They were fast, he noted. Sacred Sword's troops wasted very little time and effort, and there was no hesitation when storming a room. As soon as they were in place, they went for it.

“Fox Leader is asking for permission to begin the attack,” Liz said.

“Permission granted. The code is Alpha Green,” Zach said. They had devised a coloring system to designate certain orders and their urgency. Alpha was a signal for a general advance, Hotel signaled for them to hold, and Whiskey was to withdraw. There was also a signal for a general retreat, though he hoped they wouldn't have to use it. There were also colors attached to each order. Green meant that all was going according to plan. Yellow meant that there was considerable resistance, and that plans might need to be altered. Red meant that the situation was dire.

Selene signaled him. “This is Wolf 1. Requesting permission to withdraw. This is getting pretty hot over here.”

“Alright, code is Whiskey Green. Do you need us to send an extraction team?”

“Don't bother.”

“OK. Once you're disengaged, then head for the gas station and get on the roof to observe.”

“Copy that.”

“Sword 3 has eliminated their target tower,” one of the controllers announced.

“Sword 2 has a man down,” another controller said. “The medic is patching her up, but she's going to be out of the fight for now. Sword 2 is also reporting that they can see enemy reinforcements moving north from the roof of the building they just took.”

“Sword 6 and 7 are moving up to support the center attack,” Liz said. “Their plan is to smash right through the center.”

Zach turned to the controllers for Sword 3 and 4. “Have Sword 3 and Sword 4 anchor their flank. Wolf 1 is withdrawing, so they may have more enemy troops coming back their way. Have them be defensive for now.”

“Roger,” they replied.

Zach returned to the map table. “Well, so far so good. If things work out, Sacred Sword's push up the middle will force the enemy right back into Redd Foxx. How is their attack coming?”

“It's making steady progress. Fox 5 lost three troops to a sniper. They had to resort to blasting him out with a recoilless rifle,” Liz said. “They're certainly coming in handy.”

They were indeed, but equally as vital, in Zach's mind, had been the insistence on training the operators how to use them. Anyone who had invested the necessary skill points could use the weapon, but it took a discerning eye and a quick mind to judge just when and how to use it. They were now being used as he had envisioned, to take care of pockets of stubborn resistance that would cost considerable amounts of time or troops to suppress otherwise.

“I'm concerned about the east flank,” Zach said. “They're going to get hard once all the troops going after Selene's squad come back.”

“Well, we're available if needed,” Gina offered from the other side of the table.

Zach nodded. “Send three squads to help them hold on to the flank. How many recoilless rifles do Sword 3 and 4 have?”

“They have one apiece,” Nora said.

“OK, that should be enough for them. We'll keep Wolf 2 in reserve for now.”

Gina opened up a channel on her menu. “Connor! I'm sending you coordinates. Take Bear 1, Bear 4 and Bear 5 and head for them, as fast as possible. You're going to be helping Sacred Sword hold the east flank.”

Zach looked over at the Sacred Sword controllers. “Alert Sword 3 and Sword 4 that reinforcements are coming their way and will be there in around ten minutes. Make sure they hold the flank at all costs. They can retreat a bit if needed, but the flank needs to be held.”

“Roger.”

Zach switch channels. “David! I'm sending three squads from Grizzly to help shore up the east flank. Do you need more reinforcements for your push down the center?”

“Not at the moment,” David said. “We're stalled trying to force the enemy out of the buildings in front of us, but we should be able to handle it ourselves.”

Nora shifted the position of the Sacred Sword markers on the map. “They're making steady progress. Redd Foxx should be able to link up with them soon.”

Liz looked at the position of the markers on the map, then looked over at one of the screens. “Anna, what's Fox 3 doing?” she asked.

“They're trying to advance up one of the side streets,” Anna replied.

“Have them wheel around to the northeast into the building with a red brick facing.”

Zach glanced at the screen Liz had just finished watching. It was for Sword 6, engaged in a firefight with an enemy unit holed up further down the street. The garrison was putting up heavy resistance; it would be next to impossible to push down the street in the face of their firepower. Judging by how many bullets were flying down the street, the enemy had at least three machine guns. But there was a three story red brick building just off to the right...

He looked back down at the map. The red brick building was right next to Fox 3's position. If the squad got onto the second and third floors, they could put the enemy in a crossfire from above. Liz had seen that possibility and had made an excellent tactical deduction on the fly.

“Make sure that Sword 6 knows what you're doing,” Liz said to the controller.

Zach activated his radio again. “David? Fox 3 is going to take the red brick building in front of Sword 6. Make sure they don't shoot each other by mistake.”

“Got that,” David said.

“Fox 6 found a minefield in one of the back alleys,” their controller said. “Their engineer is trying to sweep them as quickly as possible. They want to try to use it to get to the center of town.”

They had discovered that each settlement had capture points when they had scouted it more thoroughly before the attack. Taking and holding the capture points for a certain amount of time would give control of a section of the settlement. Larger cities could have up to a dozen capture points, while a small town like this one would have only one in the center.

The plan was to take the central capture point to end the battled as quickly as possible. However, they would not push for it at all costs. There would be no point in taking the capture point if they left too many enemy troops in position to counterattack.

Zach's alert went off. “We're on the roof of the gas station,” Selene said. “Miko's vision is a bit limited from up here. I think we can get a better view on the roof of one of the other buildings in town.”

“Go ahead,” Zach told her. “Try to give cover fire to the other teams. We're going to try to break through the center soon.”

“Roger that.”

Zach looked over at Gina. “Ready for some action?”

She smiled. “As interesting it is to watch, I really do need some action.”

“Head down with the rest of Grizzly. Act as a reserve to either the flank or the main thrust. I'll let Anna and David know you're coming.” Zach switched channels. “Danny, Grizzly's heading into battle. Go with them.”

“Got it,” Danny replied.

“If Sacred Sword can get us a clear lane to the capture point, we can head there and dig in for the counterattack. And if Redd Foxx can grab it before we get there, then we can reinforce them.”

“Remember there's a tower,” Nora said. “You'll need to have that taken out.”

“That's what your guys are for, right?” Gina said.

“Make sure that you don't get them killed. Especially Danny. He has a habit of biting it right before getting to an objective,” Nora said.

“Hey, that happened once,” Danny said as he walked in the tent, recoilless rifle slung over his shoulder. “Do you want Gavin and Ryan to take the ATVs with them?”

“Yeah. Leave them at the gas station so people can grab more ammo if they need it.”

“See you on the other side. I'd say I was jealous, but I don't think I could go through a major battle without killing something.”

“Have fun doing it,” Nora said.

“Later,” Gina said. She and Danny walked out of the command post.

Zach opened a three way channel. “David, Anna, the rest of Grizzly is coming down the main road. They'll try to support Sacred Sword's push toward the center of town. Anna, if your squads can get to the center of town then Grizzly will link up with you to help hold the capture point.”

“Got it,” Anna replied. “I have two engineers working on demining the alley. They should be through in around ten minutes.”

“I think Sword 6 just linked up with Fox 3,” David said. “That gives us a continuous front on two sides of the town. The east flank is holding steady.”

“Good,” Zach said. He looked over at the screen for Sword 3. They were positioned in a building at the edge of town, firing at the platoon that Selene's team had lured out. The decision to launch the decoy attack had been a good one. At the very least, they had forced a considerable amount of enemy troops out of cover. It was going to be much easier to kill them out in the open field with only ditches, rocks and scattered trees for cover as opposed to having to blast them out of every single building.

“Bear 1's group is nearing Sword 3 and 4's position,” their controller said. “About two minutes.”

“Relay that information to them,” Nora told Sword 3 and 4's controllers. They did so.

The minutes ticked by. Zach paid close attention to each squad's progress, though at this point there wasn't much to do. Everyone was performing admirably, and didn't need much direction.

“Command, our engineers are clearing the last few mines. Fox 2, 6 and 4 are going to head for the center point,” Anna said.

Liz looked down at the map. “They're about a block away from reaching the center of town. But the tower's still up.”

Zach switched channels. “Selene, are you in position?”

“Yup, we're on the roof of a three story,” came the reply.

“Can you see the center tower?”

“Yeah, we have a direct bead on it,” Selene said. “If it sees us we might be a little exposed up here.”

“Redd Foxx is moving in on the center,” Zach told here. “They're going to try to get in position to blast the tower, but the way it's set up I don't think they can get close enough without exposing themselves. Can you draw their fire your way?”

“Man you're demanding,” she said. “They have a twin heavy machine gun mount up there. You owe us big time if we die.”

“I'll buy you all a beer if you die,” Zach said.

“You're going to owe us a lot more than that,” Selene said.

“Fine, I'll pay for all of your drinks the next time out if you die. Don't get yourselves killed on purpose,” Zach said.

“That's more like it,” Selene said. Even through the radio connection, the satisfaction in her voice was palatable. “I'm going to have Miko snipe the gunner. Xavier and I are going to try to hit anyone else in the tower.”

“Sounds good.”

“Tell us when Redd Foxx starts to move.”

Zach looked over at Liz. “How much longer till they're on the move?”

Liz contacted Anna. “How much longer?”

“Fox 6 just cleared all the mines. They're going through right now,” she replied.

“Copy that. Wolf 1 is going to draw fire from the tower in the center. Tell them go get in position as fast as possible to take it out.”

“Roger.”

Liz looked over at him. “They can open up any time.”

“Selene, Redd Foxx is headed your way. Open fire!”

Zach looked over that the screen for Fox 6. The squad was pressing forward at a fast jog, mingled with parts of Fox 2. A half dozen assaults lead the way, their guns covering ahead and both flanks. Behind them was a heavy armed with a recoilless rifle and a sniper. They were heading for a large building that looked like a storage warehouse. A glance down at the map told him that they were getting close to the center of town. Once they entered the warehouse they would have a clear line of sight to the tower.

“Selene, how are you holding up?” he asked.

“Little busy over here!” she replied. He could hear the hammer of gunfire and the sound of shattering bricks in the background.

“Withdraw if you need to,” Zach told here.

“Great, but we're going to get shredded if we move. They-”

Selene's line suddenly cut out. “Selene?” Zach said.

“Selene's down,” Xavier said. “Javy's trying to heal her, but it's a critical injury, so it's going to be a while.”

“Got it. You're in charge of Wolf 1 for now. Just hold tight until Redd Foxx gets into position. Do what you can to keep the tower distracted.”

“OK,” Xavier replied, sounding unsure. Zach couldn't blame him. Xavier had never lead one of their teams before, and now he was going to have to learn how in the middle of the worst battle they had fought in. The gunfire in the background suddenly stopped. “Miko just sniped another gunner. That will buy us a little time, at least.”

“Is Fox 6 in position yet?” Zach asked.

“They're getting there,” Nora said. “They need to find a position where they can fire the recoilless rifle.”

“OK. Wolf 1 is getting torn up. Selene is down,” Zach said.

“Alright, I'll get them to hurry,” Liz said. “Anna, tell the attack force to step on it. The distraction force is being shot up pretty badly.”

“Just give them a few more seconds,” she replied.

“Command, we can break through to the center,” David's voice said. “The enemy is falling back, for some reason.”

“Do it. We'll catch them in a pincer move,” Nora ordered. “Gina, support them.”

Zach switched channels again. “Connor, how's the flank holding up?”

“We're holding steady,” Connor said. “It's like shooting fish in a barrel out here.”

“Fox 6 is in position,” Liz said, looking over at their screen.

Zach turned toward the screen. Fox 6's heavy was loading the recoilless rifle in front of a warehouse door. Two of the assaults were positioned to either side of the door, ready to push it open. There were teams at other doors, armed with machines guns and assault rifles. Zach guessed that they would open the doors, then lay cover fire for the heavy.

“Xavier, you hanging in there?” he asked.

“Yeah, they got another gunner on the weapon. Miko is trying to get in position to take another shot, but they've got a bead on our position. Javy has Selene stabilized.”

“Tell him thanks,” Zach said. “Just hold out for a couple more seconds. Redd Foxx is in position.”

“OK, thanks.”

Zach looked back at the screen. Everyone was tensed and ready, looking back at their squad leader. He signaled with a wave of his hand. Redd Foxx shoved three of the doors up and started firing. Then the two assaults threw the door open in front of the recoilless rifleman. The heavy aimed, then fired.

“They got it. Good shot,” Xavier said.

“The tower is down. Tower is down,” David said through the radio. The headquarters erupted in cheers.

“Fox 2 and Fox 4 are going to storm the capture point. Fox 6 will provide cover for them,” Liz said.

“Sacred Sword and Grizzly are going to link up with Redd Foxx. We're bringing Fox 3 with us,” David said.

“Good. We have this won,” Nora said.

Zach looked over at Fox 2's screen. They were preparing to move out into the center courtyard, littered by rusted vehicles and the burning remains of the guard tower. But then they hesitated. One of the assaults was pointing to something. Fox 2's squad leader looked around the doorway. Zach didn't get a good look, but it apparently was important. The squad leader whipped his head around and started signaling frantically to the heavy.

“What's going on?” Zach asked Fox 2's controller.

“There's a vehicle,” she replied. “It looks like it's functional, and it's moving.”

The heavy shouldered his weapon and fired. Then he started to reload his weapon as quickly as possible.

“Did they hit it?” Zach asked.

“I'm not sure. They-”

Zach's immediately got an answer. Fox 6's screen suddenly lit up as a series of holes appeared in the brick walls. Several troops were torn in half, and then Fox 6's screen went blank. The screen for Fox 2 and Fox 4 were blank as well. Their controllers were frantically trying to contact them.

“Nick? Nick, are you there? Evan? Steve? Jesse? Cameron? Anyone?” Fox 4's controller said.

“What the heck just happened?” Xavier asked. “They have some heavy weapon that we can't see, and it looks like it did a number on the front of the building that Redd Foxx is in.”

“Liz, I can't contact Nick, Gray or Jana,” Anna said. “Did something happen to them?”

“We can't raise anyone from their squads,” Liz said.

“I have someone,” Fox 2's controller said. “It's Kyler. There's three survivors.”

“From Fox 2?” Liz asked.

“From all three squads,” the controller replied.

“Have them fall back to Fox 5's position and form up with them. They can replace the casualties that they suffered earlier,” Liz said. “Any idea what they were hit by?”

“They think it's a tank.”

“A tank?!” Liz exclaimed.

“Are they sure?” Zach asked.

“They didn't see it, but they heard Nick yelling that there was a tank, and he told Lance to open fire on it,” the controller said. “It fired on them once they tried to kill it.”

“A tank wouldn't have done that, though. It would have taken them all out in one shot. There were multiple shots fired,” Zach said.

His alert buzzed. Miko was on the other end of the line. He opened the channel so the command staff and the company commanders could hear as well. “We might have a problem,” she said.

“No kidding. Do you see the tank?”

“Yeah, I can see it from my angle. But it's not armed like any tank I've seen. It has four smaller cannons mounted in the front, and I think it has a machine gun mounted on top of the turret as well.”

“It sounds like a self-propelled antiaircraft gun,” David said. “Though for us, it might as well be a tank. You said that it had four guns mounted in front?”

“Yeah,” Miko said. “Four in the front where the regular cannon would be.”

“Ah, it's probably firing 20mm shells,” David said. “That's not good. It can probably shoot through any of the cover we'll find around here.”

“It did. Three squads got annihilated,” Liz said.

“Ugh, not good,” Anna said. “We can't keep losing troops at this rate.”

“Remember, we still have the recoilless rifles,” Nora said. “We're nowhere near finished right now.”

“We only have high explosive ammo,” Anna said. “That's good enough against buildings, but it might not be enough against an armored vehicle.”

“Regardless, we need to get a recoilless rifle team on one of the roofs,” David said. “They can take it out by hitting the top armor. I'll send Sword 7 up to get a good angle.”

“Can you see any exposed crewmen?” Zach Liz asked Miko.

“No, but I think I see the periscope they use for aiming,” Miko said.

“Shoot it, it may blind them,” David said.

“Got that.” a gunshot rang out. “Dang it, the turret started rotating right as I made my shot. It's... Get Up! Get off the roof! Move-”

Miko's line suddenly cut out.

“Oh crap. That thing just hosed the top floor of the building that Wolf 1 was on,” Gina said. “I think they're all dead after that.”

“Is it aggroing to the greatest threat? David wondered. “It opened fire as soon as something that was dangerous to it attacked.”

Sword 6's screen suddenly went blank. “They hit the tank, but it was at an angle and it deflected off,” their controller said. “They're all down.”

“I guess that confirms it,” Zach said. He fiddled with the collar of his uniform nervously. “That thing took out almost a quarter of our attack force in five minutes. We can't attack it from long range, because one miss means that it kills the entire squad. What do we do now?”

What to do, indeed. They were losing troops fast, and the heavies were having problems hitting a moving target. There were still quite a few enemy troops left in the town, and they could take full advantage of the chaos to push them back. If that happened, they were in trouble. They would probably lose all their recoilless rifles, and it would take at least a month to get enough ammunition and weapons to try this again. And that was if the other companies wanted to have another go at it. Zach had the sneaking suspicion that they would be far less cooperative if the attack ended with all of them getting slaughtered.

His alert rang. Danny's team was on the line. “Do you have a second? We have an idea.”

“OK,” Zach said. “Let's hear it.”

“That thing attacks the biggest threat, right?” Danny said. “I'll fire on it and try to draw it down one of the streets.”

“What good does that do?” Anna asked.

“Ryan and I have anti-tank grenades,” Gavin said. “We'll hide in one of the buildings and wait for it to go by. Then we'll attack it from behind with the grenades.”

“That's completely suicidal,” Liz said.

“Pretty much anything we do is completely suicidal,” Nora said. “It's kind of our thing.”

“Can you get in a position so it doesn't immediately blast you?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, but we're going to need help. We need to have multiple teams to try to draw it down a street, and it's likely that we're going to get killed in the process.”

“We're going to lose a lot of equipment if this doesn't work,” Nora said.

“We're going to lose a lot of equipment if we have to retreat,” Liz said. “I think that's more likely to happen.”

“I need at least two more heavies,” Danny said.

“I'll see if I can get volunteers,” David said. “Anna, how many recoilless rifles do you have left?”

“We have one. The tank killed our other two.”

“Dang. I have volunteers from Sword 7 and Sword 5. They'll take up staggered positions along the main road and draw them up.”

“We're going to take cover in the blue sided building on the main road,” Gavin said. “Draw it past, and we'll hit it from behind.”

“Wait. Do you still have the ammo on the ATVs?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, it's still there.”

“Do any of you have an engineer that knows how to rig explosives?”

“Paul does,” David said. “I'll contact Sword 3.”

“Can he rig up an IED with the recoilless rifle ammo?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, I think that's possible,” David said. “So, I'm guessing your plan is to rig up a bomb and lure the tank on top of it?”

“That's plan B. Plan A is to have one of the heavies kill it. Plan C is to have Gavin and Ryan charge it with grenades,” Zach said.

“What's Plan D?” Anna asked.

“Plan D is to run for it,” Zach said.

“Great,” Anna said. “Be warned, there's an infantry assault coming in behind the tank. It looks like about a platoon or so.”

“That explains why the forces that were fighting us retreated,” David said. “I guess they regrouped to come in behind the tank.”

“This isn't going to work if the tank has infantry support,” Gina said. “I can try to push some squads through the side streets, but it's going to take some time.”

“You're probably going to lose more troops if you go through the side streets. Several of them have mines” David warned.

“Redd Foxx is the only force in position to hold them off,” Nora said.

Liz frowned. “You heard that, right Anna?”

“Yeah, I did. I have Fox 1 and Fox 5 left. We'll try to hold them off as long as possible. Be advised that we have one heavy left. The rest are mostly assaults and soldiers.”

That wasn't good. Redd Foxx was tailored for stealth and scouting. They could fight well when needed, but without heavy fire support they were at a serious disadvantage. They were all probably going to die to buy them time.

Anna seemed to read his thoughts. “I can't guarantee how long we can hold out, but we'll make the pay for every inch of ground.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks. Same to you,” Anna said, just before she exited the conversation.

Liz shook her head. “This sucks, and no one actually dies. I can't imagine what it'd be like having to do that in real life.”

“Command, command, this is Bear 1. We're being flanked. I say again, we're being flanked,” Connor's voice suddenly cut in.

“Hold on Bear 1. Which direction are you being flanked from?” Nora asked.

“We're being hit from the south, and they're trying to get around to the west as well,” Connor said. “I think there's around a platoon coming after us.”

“Just how many troops do they have?” Liz said.

“Maybe more spawned when we went after the capture point?” Gina suggested.

“Can you hold?” Nora asked. “We're stretched pretty thin, and we don't have reinforcements to send.”

“Yeah, but we're not going to be able to do much more than that,” came the reply.

“Can you spare anyone? We need one of your engineers,” Nora said.

“Even if we could, going outside right now is suicide,” Connor said. “It's going to be all we can do to just hold them off.”

“Alright, hold tight then,” Nora said.

“Well, there goes that plan,” David said. “Paul's our best explosives expert.”

Zach thought for a moment. “I can rig together an IED. It might not be the most effective bomb, but it should be able to do the job. But I'll need someone to take over command here. Liz, can you handle that?”

“Yeah, but why not Nora?” Liz asked. “I mean, since she's your second.”

“Because you seem to be good at controlling the battle and seeing what's going on,” Zach said.

“Yeah, you're a better tactician than I am,” Nora agreed. “But you're going to need a team to go with you.”

“I'll be fine alone. David, Gina, I'm going to take one of the ATVs and link up with you. Gavin, can you bring one of the ATVs you have to their position? I'll rig up the bomb on the back of one of them and transport it where it needs to go.”

“On it,” Gavin said.

“Alright. Take cover in one of the buildings after you're done in case we have to resort to Plan C.”

“You're sure about this?” Nora asked.

Zach checked his carbine and grenade launcher. “We really don't have many other choices. Keep everything running.”

She scowled. “Why can't anything we do go according to plan?”

Zach strapped his helmet on his head. “Where would the fun in that be?” he asked and headed for the ATVs

Zach pushed his ATV as fast as he dared to go. “David, Gina, Danny, I'll be there in about two minutes. Is everything in place?”

“We have the shells, but the tank is giving us trouble,” David replied. “It took out one of the fireteams that was shadowing it.”

“It acts like it's performing a sweep of the town,” Danny said. “If it starts to force its way down the main road we're in trouble. The only place we can get a good shot on it is from the roof tops, and it can elevate its gun high enough to hit teams on the roof.”

“I still think that we can take it out with grenades,” Gavin said.

“Even if you're right, that's got to be our last resort. Because if that doesn't work, then we're out of options,” Zach said.

“I have three heavies left, plus your two,” David said. “I'm going to set them up in positions on the roofs along the main road about four hundred yards apart. That should help draw the tank down the street. I'll have you set up the bomb right after the first heavy.”

“OK, but keep in mind that your heavy will probably get hit by the blast if he's not in cover,” Zach warned.

“If we're setting off the bomb that means she's already dead,” David said.

“OK, good point,” Zach said. “Put Danny and Ethan as the last two heavies. They've had the most practice and are probably the best shots.”

“Will do,” David said.

The town loomed in front of them Zach could see a group gathered just inside the beginning of the main street. He slowed his vehicle and pulled up beside them. It was Gina, David and a few others standing alongside one of the loaded ATVs.

Gina greeted him. “Know what you're doing?” she asked.

Zach dismounted and went to open the parts box on the back of his ATV. “Yeah. This is where not being a specialist comes in handy.”

Zach had built his class to be a generalist engineer. While he might not have the skills in mine sweeping, explosives, building or crafting like a specialist would, he could do any of them, albeit much less effectively. He opened his parts box and rooted around for wire and a wireless detonator. His plan was to wire all the shells together in a bundle, then bury them in the middle of the road, warheads facing up. When the tank rolled over it he would trigger the IED. If all went according to plan, the blast would penetrate the thin armor of the tank's underbelly and kill it. And it needed to work, since they would spend their reserves of anti-tank ammo.

“How long do you think it will take?” David asked.

“It's going to be around fifteen minutes, and then I'm going to have to bury the thing. If you can dig the hole that will help speed up the process a bit.”

David grimaced. “OK, we have entrenching tools. How big is the bomb going to be?”

“It's going to be the size of this crate,” Zach said, tapping the shell container mounted on the back of Gavin's ATV. “The thing that's going to take the most time is wiring the shells together. Once that's done it's just a matter of connecting the detonator and burying it.”

“Alright, I'm going to have Bear 6 use hit and run on the tank to try to keep it busy,” Gina said. “Bear 7 and Fox 3 are following the path that Redd Foxx took through the woods. They'll try to reinforce them.”

“Zach, are you in place?” Liz asked.

“Yeah, I'm in the process of rigging up the bomb,” Zach said as he worked.

“Alright, be advised that Bear 1's group is being hit hard. They're holding, but they're taking heavy casualties.”

“Tell them we'll need around twenty minutes to take the tank out,” Zach said.

“OK, but they may need reinforcements,” Liz said.

“Understood, but keep in mind Redd Foxx needs reinforcements too, and we have only two squads left in reserve,” Zach said.

“I know. I'll remind them of that,” Liz said.

It took him another ten minutes to wire the bomb together, and he could hear the sounds of gunfire all the while coming from the south and east. The sounds coming from the south sounded especially intense. And occasionally the sound of something louder, like a massive sewing machine, cut through the air. It was the quad mount on the tank, Gina had told him. The thing fired so fast that it could essentially tear anything short of another tank in half from the sheer amount of lead it threw out.

Finally, he was done. Zach closed the top of the crate and made sure it was tight. “How's the hole coming?” he asked David.

“I think it's done. Bring it down here.”

Zach jumped on the back of the ATV. “Let Bear 6 know that we'll be ready to lure it down the street in a minute,” he told Gina.

“Will do, but there aren't very many of them left,” Gina said.

Zach sped down the street to David's group. Together they manhandled the bomb into the hole they had dug and quickly covered it.

“You're holding the detonator, I assume,” David said.

Zach nodded. “I'm going to be up with Danny. Start drawing the tank in and I'll be up on the roof in time to set the bomb off.”

“Alright,” David said.

Zach turned the ATV around and gunned the motor, heading for Danny's position on top of a three story building made of tan brick. He dismounted right in front of the door and shoved it open. The ATV was probably going to get blasted or crushed in that position, but that was the least of their worries right now. Zach found the stairwell and ran up the steps as fast as he could.

“Took you long enough,” Danny said. “I sure hope we have enough troops left to take this place.”

Zach noticed that he had a machine gun and several belts of ammo laid out beside him. “Where did you get that from?” he asked.

“I lifted it off from a dead heavy,” Danny said. “It really sucked trying to haul both weapons up here, but it'll come in handy if we kill the tank.”

A jet of smoke and flame shot out from a roof top ahead of them. Zach saw the heavy on top of the building take off in a panicked run for the other side of the roof. He leaped down onto the fire escape at the back of the building just in time. A storm of shells ripped half the third floor of the building to shreds. Part of the roof collapsed.

Zach saw the tank start to roll down the street at a quick pace, guns trained upward. It was an intimidating sight. Miko's description had been correct; the tank had four small cannons mounted on the front of the tank, and a machine gun mounted on top. Zach also noted that it had side skirts, welded panels of armor mounted on its sides to protect the tracks. That would make it much harder to score a mobility kill, which was going to be their only other good option if the bomb didn't work. He swore he could see down all four barrels, even though they weren't quite pointed at his position.

Another jet of smoke and flame went off from the second position. The shot had a bad angle and bounced off the turret before exploding. The second heavy tried to get down into cover, but wasn't so fortunate. The turret swung around and opened fire. Zach winced despite himself. The heavy, or what remained, fell off the roof. The tank's cannons had turned her into a messy pulp. Zach didn't envy anyone who had been on the receiving end of that firepower. It had seemed powerful on screen, but that was nothing compared to what seeing it in person was like.

Still, the tank rolled on. The third heavy fired and got off the roof in a hurry. He had stood further back on the roof and was more successful. The shot missed the target completely, but he was able to get to the stairs much sooner. The tank tore up the roof, but Zach could see the heavy's marker still on his radar display.

“Doesn't that thing ever run out of ammo?” Zach asked.

“Believe me, we've been wondering that for the past thirty minutes,” Danny said. “Ethan, we're about to set off the bomb. Get ready to open fire, and do what it takes to make a kill shot. I'm going to fire as well.”

“Got it,” Ethan replied.

“What, do you not trust my bomb-making abilities? Zach asked.

“Do you really want to have to try this all again because you got cocky?” Danny asked.

Zach peered over the roof to check the progress of the tank. “OK, it's coming. Stand up when you hear the explosion.”

“Ready when you are,” Danny said.

Zach watched the tank inch closer and closer. Just a little bit more... “Firing!” he shouted.

Everything shook as the bomb went off. Zach had to steady himself against the roof to keep from being sent backward from the shock wave. The tank was wreathed in smoke, the side skirts and tracks blown off. Ethan stood up to fire, just to make sure it was dead.

The turret suddenly swung around and opened fire. Ethan was scythed down in a hail of shells.

“The tank's not dead! It's not dead!” Zach shouted into his radio.

“What?” Nora exclaimed. “How can it still be alive?”

“I don't know, but it shredded Ethan. We're-”

“GET DOWN!” Danny shouted in his ear. Zach felt a hand grab his shoulder and pull him down, a split-second before a burst of machine gun fire flew over their heads.

“MOVE IT! MOVE!” Danny yelled, dragging him to the stairwell. The giant sewing machine sound ripped through the air. In the span of a second half the roof was gone.

“I'm going to try to hit it from the street,” Danny said as they descended down the stairs. Holes suddenly appeared in the wall above them and showered them with shattered masonry.

“It knows where we are,” Zach said.

“We have to try. We-” The wall beside him suddenly exploded in a wave of shattered brick, and Danny wasn't there anymore, torn apart by the cannon fire. They were running out of options.

“Liz, Nora, we're going to have to call a general retreat. There's no way we can kill the tank. It's too strong.”

“Are you sure?” Liz asked.

“I don't see many more options. We-”

The sound of cannon fire cut through the air again. Zach braced himself for the end, but it never came. Confused, he carefully looked around the hole in the wall. The tank's turret was pointing at another angle, firing around the base of the building where the third heavy had been. And then, the tank exploded.

“Who did it? Who did it?” David asked. “None of my team hit it.”

“All my heavies are dead,” Zach said. Then he saw it. Gavin and Ryan came jogging out of the smoke waving at him.

Gavin buzzed in. “Told you my idea would work,” he said.

“Believe me. I'm glad I was wrong,” Zach said. He switched his channel to the entire task force. “Attention everyone. We've killed the tank, but we've still got a battle to fight. Stick to the plan, and let's take the capture point.”

Gavin was waving him forward. Zach grabbed his gun and charged toward them. Toward the capture point. Toward victory.

CHAPTER 15

Panzerkrieg

“Well that was wonderful,” Liz commented as she stepped off the back of Nora's ATV.

“You didn't even have to fight,” Anna said. She had dirt and blood all over her, products of the desperate holding action she and the remnants of Redd Foxx had fought. With Fox 1 and the remnants of Fox 5 she had managed to hold off an attack from about thirty to forty enemy soldiers until help arrived. Without them, it was likely that Zach would have been shot planting the bomb. At the very least, Gavin and Ryan's suicide run at the tank would have been shot to pieces.

“It was getting pretty close to that point,” Liz said. “Over half of the screens in the headquarters aren't being used because the squad were wiped out.”

The battle had taken a grim toll. Not counting the controllers back at HQ, they had around fifty troops left after the battle, down from almost two hundred they had begun the battle with. Snipers and heavy weapons teams had taken their toll, but almost three quarters of the casualties had been caused by the tank.

Nora dismounted and looked over at the still smoking hull of the tank. “So, that's what gave us so much trouble, huh?”

Zach looked at her. “You seem to be the only one that always manages to live through something like this.”

“What kind of answer is that?” Nora asked with a laugh.

“Eh, just an observation. Yeah, that's the thing that gave us so much trouble.”

“It appeared just as we started to go for the central capture point,” Anna said. “We had no clue it was here before, and I have no idea where it came from.”

“Maybe it's a boss of some sort? Like, it serves as the guard for the capture point of the town,” David suggested.

“That makes sense. I also noticed that moving toward the center seemed to spawn several more enemy squads,” Gina said.

Liz frowned. “That probably means that there's probably going to be things like that guarding other capture points, and it did a number on us.”

“Yeah, but keep in mind it caught us by surprise,” David said. “Now that we know bosses appear around capture points, we can be better prepared for it.”

“We also can deal with that later. Let's do what we came to do and loot the place,” Gina said.

“Uh, how well have we swept the area for mines?” Zach asked.

“The main roads are clear. We'll avoid the alleys and the side roads we haven't swept until we have time to do so,” Anna said.

“Well, where do we want to head first?”

Anna pointed to a building in the center of town, a four story brick structure that looked like a town hall or courthouse. “Right there. It's next to the capture point, so there's probably something in it.”

“We're going to need to get all of our equipment the the command post down here,” Nora said.

“I already contacted Selene about that. They're going to bring down the reserve ATVs and load them up,” Zach said.

“I bet she wasn't happy about that,” Nora remarked.

“She was angrier about me getting them all killed. Though, I owe them all drinks the next time we go out, so she can't complain too much.”

“Why wasn't I included in on this?” Nora asked.

“Because you never die. Besides, what was going to kill you in the command post? A rogue angry monitor?”

“Do Danny and Ethan get to benefit?”

Zach sighed. “They weren't included in the original deal, but I'm probably going to have to include them anyhow.”

Anna laughed. “Man, you're brutal. The commander pays in drinks for getting his subordinates killed, eh? I guess that's possible for a small company like yours, but I'm glad I don't have to do that.”

“This is why I'm hesitant to add more members, mind you,” Zach joked. “Not because it would upset the balance of our company, or we're worried about spies, but because I'd have to pay for too many drinks in the real world.”

“Isn't that admitting that you're a terrible tactician?” Liz joked back. “I mean, you'd be fine if you didn't get a lot of people killed.”

“Again, that seems to be a special skill of ours. We usually go get ourselves in a fight that's way out of our league, and then half of us get killed in the process,” Nora said.

“And yet you still never die,” Zach commented.

“That's the advantage of being a glorified accountant and secretary,” Nora said. “You have three soldiers, but you usually use Xavier or Selene because they're tailored for fighting. Not that I'm complaining.”

“We'd be nowhere near where we are now if we didn't take risks,” Zach said. “That's what got us the overdrive formula and now this town.”

“And we're certainly glad for that,” Gina said.

They reached the building and went inside. Ahead of them was an entryway with a high vaulted ceiling, stretching all the way to the fourth floor. All of their alerts went off as they entered. Zach opened his menu to see what the message was. He expected it to be an alert that this building could be used as a company stronghold. It was not, much to his surprise. New discovery, the message read. Alliance base. There was a considerable amount of text below it.

An alliance base allows several companies to create an alliance and share the use of the facilities contained within. An alliance base is considered to be a stronghold for each company that is a part of the alliance. In addition to company armories, storage and treasuries, there are also facilities that are shared by the alliance as a whole. The alliance may also set prices on all buildings contained within the base, including buying, selling and leasing.

And there was more. An alliance must be formed by the commanders of at least three companies. The command structure of the alliance must be defined when it is founded. An alliance may be controlled by one overall commander, or a council. If controlled by an overall commander, all decisions pertaining to the alliance must be made by the commander. If controlled by a council, then all decisions must be approved by a majority vote.

Zach looked up. “We're doing this, right?”

“No reason not to,” Gina said. “Though, what structure are we going to use?”

“Much as I'd like to be dictator, having a council seems to be more fair,” David said.

“I'm for a council as well,” Anna said.

“So am I,” Gina said.

“Council it is, then.” Zach entered data into the form in front of him. He paused for a moment, thinking. “What are we going to call the alliance?”

“What about Hydra?” Liz suggested.

“Isn't that more of a villain's name?” David said.

“Who says we have to be good?” Liz said. “It's a bunch of heads working together as one creature, so the name would fit as an alliance name.”

“Cut off a head, and two more appear,” Anna mused. “I'll sign to that.”

Zach typed it in to the form and marked his seal at the bottom. Then he sent it to the other three. “Any objections to being a part of Hydra?” he asked. No one spoke up. Anna signed first, then David. Gina hesitated for a second.

“I'm fine with signing, but Ragnarok is going to come after us as soon as they find out,” she said. “Are we ready to handle that?”

“Remember, we have some leverage because we control the overdrive supplies,” Zach said.

Nora frowned. “But this would be choosing sides when we promised to stay neutral, and that might anger them quite a bit. At least, enough to come after us.”

“Have any of you ended up fighting Ragnarok?” Zach asked.

“There have been some disagreements, but other than the incident at Ronin Fortress, no. It's been mostly Ronin, Marauder and Archangel that have been fighting them,” Anna said. “We've made sure to not antagonize them.”

“Then this alliance is technically a neutral party, so they really can't complain.”

“But they have to know that we're biding our time until we have enough troops to take them on,” Gina said.

“Of course, and they're probably just biding their time until they can figure out how to make overdrive, and then it's curtains for us. But we have a good position to start with, at least.”

Gina nodded and put her signature at the bottom. “Well, here goes nothing. Let's figure out exactly what we have here.”

“Should we move everything down here?” Nora asked as she and Zach looked through the contents of an office. So far they had found a sizable armory and storage area in the basement of the building, to be used by the alliance as a whole. There was also what looked like a large board room that had been turned into a command post, complete with communications equipment. Now they were surveying the top floors, looking for anything of value.

“What do you mean by that?” Zach asked.

“Well, we're going to be operating out of here a lot more. So it stands to reason that we move everything in our main base down here.”

“But our base provides us with a good jumping off point. Plus, we can use it as a way station on the way to Old Chicago,” Zach said.

“Oh, I'm not suggesting that we up and abandon it. We should definitely keep our NPC garrison there. But we might want to find somewhere here to turn into a base,” she said.

“Ah, I like that idea better,” Zach said. “By the way, do you have dinner plans tomorrow night?”

“No, I wasn't planning on anything. Do you have something in mind?”

“Do you want to go to Belfast Manor?”

“Sure, that sounds good,” Nora said.

Zach opened up a desk and found something. “Ten credits. Great.”

“There's got to be something good around here,” Nora said. “Or the designers are just really cruel and made us all die for nothing.”

“Maybe it's not in here,” Zach thought aloud. “There was something over there that looked like a scrapyard of some sort. Maybe it's in there.”

“What are you thinking?” Nora asked. “I'm guessing that you have an idea as to what it is we'll find.”

“Maybe something mechanical? There were several buildings that looked like machine shops around here. Of course, half of them were destroyed in the fighting, and I don't want to go anywhere near most of them until we sweep them for mines.”

“Speaking of which, did you figure out what went wrong with the bomb?” Nora asked.

Zach grimaced. “There were twenty four shells in the crate that I wired together. Only four of them went off. And then I had to dig it up and disarm the rest. That was a ton of fun.”

“Maybe you should invest more in explosives,” Nora said.

“To be fair, I wasn't planning on having to fight on the front lines. Or on the enemy having a tank,” Zach said.

“I wonder if that was what President Starvos meant when he said that it would take around six months until someone was ready to take a major settlement.”

“This wasn't even that tough,” Zach said. “I mean, we had everything well in hand until the tank showed up. What happens when we attack somewhere with multiple capture points?”

“As good as we are now, we really need to improve a lot,” Nora said. “Plus, right now we need to focus on defending this place. Once we get the rest of our players down here we can go to work, but I'm concerned that we have no wall.”

“Could we make one?” Zach suggested.

“We'd need prefab sections to do that, and it's going to be really hard to buy them and then transport them down here,” Nora said. “Unless we can find another option. The only other choice would be to make one out of dirt, and that would take forever to dig by hand.”

“We have the buildings,” Zach said. “Even without a wall, they'll funnel troops into the streets, so we can set up choke points.”

“But that still means we have to be here and logged on to fight. Plus, Ragnarok could just rush us with all their troops, and there's nothing we could do about it.”

“I guess we're going to have to sell a lot of overdrive,” Zach said. His alert went off.

“Is everyone here?” Connor's voice asked when he took the message. He had patched in all the company commanders, Liz and Nora. Everyone responded yes.

“What's up?” Gina asked.

“Do you see my locator on the map?” Connor asked. “I'm in a garage of some sort. There's something that you all probably want to see.”

Zach closed out his menu and looked at Nora, who shrugged. They left the office and headed down the stairs toward Connor's marker. He was to the east of them, just off of the central point of town. They rounded the corner and saw what he was talking about.

The building Connor was in was indeed a garage. It looked like it had been used for construction trucks and equipment before the apocalypse had happened. There were a half dozen doors on the front and a smaller entryway on the left side of the building. An engineer in Grizzly's battledress was waving at them from the doorway.

“Hi, I'm Reese,” he introduced himself. Zach and Nora returned his greeting. “Are the others behind you?”

“They're coming,” Zach said.

“They're here,” Nora said, looking over her shoulder.

“What's so important, Reese?” Gina asked as her group walked in the door.

Reese motioned toward the garage bays. “See for yourself.”

Gina went first. “Oh wow,” Zach heard her say. They all followed behind; David first, then Anna and Liz. Zach and Nora brought up the rear.

“Is that what I think it is?” Nora asked as she looked.

“Yes, that would be what you think it is,” Reese said.

Zach looked at it in awe. It was a vehicle on tracks, similar to the tank they had fought earlier, but it had no turret and was open topped. He climbed up on one of the track guards. There were bench seats in the hold of the vehicle that looked like they could be removed. By his estimate, around ten people could fit inside, not counting the driver in front. It was unarmed, but it looked like there was space in front for a gunner and a weapons mount. And there were four more vehicles like it, lined up along the bays. It looked like there were spare parts in the sixth bay.

“Do they work?” Gina asked.

“Not right now, but it's because there's no power source,” Reese said. “It takes six fusion batteries to power, and I have no idea what type of range it'll get, but it should work regardless.”

“Even if they work, can we drive them yet?” Liza asked.

“I would think so,” Zach said. “Driving is a lot like shooting. You can take skill points to help yourself out a bit, but you'll need to learn how to drive just like in the real world. It's not like you take the skill and you instantly know how to do it like some other things.”

“That's for sure,” Nora smiled. “This is coming from the person who killed himself flipping his ATV 'cause he didn't know how to drive it the first time out.”

The others laughed. “We should probably be careful with them,” Anna said. “We don't have any way to make more, and we don't want to end up wrecking them because we have no clue how to drive them.”

“Actually, that's not true,” Connor said from the other end of the garage. “There's a schematic over here that Reese found. It's for the vehicles.” he emerged with a schematic in hand.

Zach met him and took a look. M14 Mule, the schematic read. It detailed the parts and the necessary materials to build it. But there were also a half dozen blank slots along the side of the drawing as well. Zach thought he could tell what they were...

“This is a modular schematic,” Zach said. “The basic schematic is for a vehicle called the M14 Mule, which is what we have right now, but it can be used for other purposes, I'm guessing.”

“You can see that?” Reese asked.

“Yeah, it's probably because of my machinist skill,” Zach said. “How high is yours?”

“It's level 1,” Reese said. “I'm more tailored to be a combat engineer.”

“Ah, that would be why. I'm level 2.”

“Do you have any idea what the other uses would be?” Anna asked.

“I'm guessing you can put different weapons on the front mount,” Liz said.

“Yeah, but I think we can do other things with it. I'm wondering if we can mount a cannon in the troop compartment,” Zach said.

“Make self-propelled artillery, eh?” David said. “That could be a good idea.”

“The problem is that we probably don't have the expertise to do it. Plus, we're going to have to get a lot of resources in order to build them,” Anna said.

“Yeah, this is going to require a lot of heavy machinery that we don't have,” Zach said. “We'll need to get a crane and a lift, at least.”

“Do we want to try to get help from Hephaestus?” Gina suggested.

“I think the better question would be do we want to offer Hephaestus a position in the alliance,” Nora said.

“Would they go for it?” Liz questioned. “They make a lot of their money selling to other companies, and Ragnarok is one of them.”

“Well, we do have a lot to offer them,” Nora said. “We have a huge amount of space in the town. They could very easily make a factory here, which makes them a lot more money in the long run. And they might be interested in learning how to build armored vehicles.”

“Plus, we have a really good working relationship with them,” David said. “Being a part of an alliance means that they'll have protection for their mining teams, and they can have their base in a protected fortress town.”

“Provided that we can get some sort of defense up,” Nora said. “I know I sound like a broken record, but we're going to have a hard time getting a wall up quickly. Though having these to transport the wall sections will help.”

“Do we really want to drive them up to Old Chicago?” Liz asked. “Overdrive or not, they'll still be a tempting target for anyone who thinks they're valuable.”

“Actually, I don't think we need to use prefab walls,” Reese said.

“What do you mean by that?” Nora asked.

“Well, I noticed that there's also a small scrapyard in the town, and there's some pretty solid stuff lying around. I think we can weld together some sort of dozer blade that we can mount on the front of one of the Mules. We can use that to make an earthwork wall and a trench. We can make it so that we can mount heavy weapons on top of the wall, and we can use the roofs on the outer edge as vantage points.”

There were nods of approval. “I think it sounds like a good idea,” Zach said. “It will certainly be less costly.”

“Well, it may not be necessarily. I also think we should put barbed wire up in front of the trench and then mine the trench itself,” Reese said. “That's going to cost quite a bit.”

“It's still going to be cheaper,” Nora said. “And it will be faster to put up.”

“Alright, I'm going to go see if I can find any good pieces for a dozer blade,” Reese said.

Zach got on his radio. “Selene, is your group still up at base?”

“We're getting ready to head out. Why?” she asked.

“Could you load up some fusion batteries? Like thirty of them?”

“What the heck do you need that many for?” she asked somewhat incredulously.

“Well, you'll see once you get here, but the big haul is five armored vehicles,” Zach said. “They take six fusion batteries apiece to power.”

“Dang, really? I'll try to bring them along, but I'm not quite sure we have that many left,” Selene told him.

“Just bring as many as you guys can,” Zach said.

“Got it. Wolf 1 out.”

Liz sighed. “We have a lot to do.”

“Then let's get to it,” Anna said.

CHAPTER 16

With Friends Like These...

“North Gate, this is Wolf Leader. My team is approaching, so if you could lower the gate that would be great.”

“I read your signal and your authorization, Wolf Leader. Will do.”

“Thanks Andre,” Zach replied.

The fortress town loomed ahead. Zach's team slowed down as they started to approach the gates. The town was now called Lerna, named after the lake where the hydra had dwelt in ancient Greek mythology. It was remarkable how much the place had changed in just two weeks. Hephaestus had agreed to join the alliance, bringing about forty members. They were merely average when it came to fighting, but their real expertise was in resource gathering, and especially crafting.

It was their crafting expertise that had turned Lerna from a sleepy backwater into what was probably the most fearsome bastion in the region. Engineers from Grizzly and Sacred Sword had modified a few of the Mules for construction work, but it was Hephaestus that had provided the bulk of the work and made the initial efforts so much better. The entire town was surrounded by a ten foot high wall made of packed earth, framed by bricks taken from destroyed buildings in the town. Below the wall was a trench, dug ten feet wide and six feet deep. Both sides were extremely steep, and there were mines strewn throughout. The side of the trench opposite the wall was ringed with barbed wire, with traps mixed in. The walls themselves were eight feet thick. They were designed as battlements, to give the troops on top some protection from enemy fire.

But the most impressive part of the defenses were the towers that guarded certain sections of the wall. The towers were two stories high, with a raised covering over the roof to protect the gunners from grenades. They had been made from huge piles of packed earth, reinforced by several layers of prefabricated wall panels, which were tough and sturdy. Anything short of several recoilless rifle rounds would cause almost no damage to one of the towers. They were armed to the teeth as well. There was a tripod mounted recoilless rifle on the roof, due to the fact that the gunner needed to be outside in order to fire the weapon. There was also a heavy machine gun mounted on the first floor, which fired out of a small view port. An additional machine gun was on the ground floor of the tower, firing out of another small view port. Anyone trying to kill the tower would either need to bring heavy artillery, or assault it at close range with grenades and flamethrowers.

And that would be a daunting task. Hephaestus hadn't built the walls in a straight line; there were parts that protruded further out with small bunkers and pillboxes mounted on top of the wall, and parts that slanted inward. That meant anyone trying to get close would be caught in a withering crossfire from the emplaced weapons on the wall, plus any troops there as well. And that didn't account for all of the machine gun nests mounted on the roofs of the buildings on the edge of town. All told, there were over a hundred weapons emplacements guarding Lerna. That meant over half the defenders would have one if they came under attack.

Zach stopped his ATV and waved the rest of his team on through. Ethan, Miko and Xavier sped by, heading for an alliance warehouse. They were carrying loads of fusion batteries, paid for by the overdrive they had sold earlier. Zach greeted Andre and his guard squad. They were from Grizzly, and had distinguished themselves as a part of Bear 5 in the fight to take the town.

“Have a productive trip?” Andre asked.

“Yeah, overdrive is still selling like crazy. Marauder and Ronin are really at the throats of Ragnarok right now. It's too bad that they can't work together.”

Andre laughed. “You know, we probably want them to join us, but part of me wonders if that's such a good idea. All of us are getting along pretty well right now.”

“Right. I don't think that introducing a volatile element into all of this is a good idea,” Zach said.

“Yeah, that's what I was thinking about this,” Andre said. “We work well together, and we'll get even better with it as time goes on. I just think we need to be as strong as possible before we start adding people that might upset the balance.”

“Well, you guys were last minute additions and it worked out well. I can confidently say that the whole operation would have failed without you all. So, as long as we're careful it should work out fine,” Zach said.

“True enough,” Andre said. “Although I will say we were very cooperative newcomers.”

“That you were,” Zach said. “And we if we can find more like that, we'll bring them in.”

“Right. Well, I'll let you go make your delivery.”

“See you later,” Zach said. He glanced over his shoulder before pulling back out into the road and heading toward the center of town. The streets were relatively quiet. Most of the alliance was out doing various things; Anna was leading a reconnaissance mission to the south, David was providing security to the mining parties out to the east of town, and Connor and Selene were leading elements from Grizzly and Black Wolf in clearing another bunker in the forest to the north.

He pulled into one of the intact warehouses in the center of town. They wanted to use some of the others eventually, but it would take time and materials to repair the damage caused by the enemy tank, and that was better spent elsewhere at this point. Besides, they had enough room in the ones that were still standing to last them a long time.

“Glad you got them. We were starting to run low,” he heard Reese say as he dismounted his ATV. “The Mules were going through them pretty fast, although that's probably because we were pushing them so hard.”

“Does Hephaestus have a way to make them?” Xavier asked.

Reese laughed. “No, that's way out of their league right now. Plus, even if they knew how I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have the resources or the equipment to do it. I mean, there has to be some pretty expensive stuff that goes into a fusion battery.”

“So we're essentially trading overdrive for fusion batteries,” Xavier said.

“At least we don't have to buy ammo,” Reese said. “Hephaestus Forge is churning it out by the ton right now.”

One of the perks that Hephaestus had been offered for joining Hydra was the use of a large brick warehouse on the south side of town. There had been a few derelict furnaces and industrial presses inside the building. Hephaestus had moved their own equipment in and repaired the damaged machinery, then turned the building into one giant factory. They focused almost exclusively on producing ammunition, but they were able to do so in massive quantities. When they had exclusively focused on producing ammunition, Black Wolf could produce around five thousand rounds a day. Hephaestus Forge was capable of doing that in about an hour.

And the process itself was amazing in scope. Hephaestus' leader, Yusuf, had devised a mining operation to ensure the supply of vulcanite remained steady. Normally miners would mine until they had as much as they could carry, then go back to base with their load. Bigger companies would have dedicated runners so that the miners could keep working, but it wasn't much more efficient. ATVs could be used, but the amount of power it took versus what they carried meant that it wasn't terribly efficient either.

But a Mule with all of the troop seats taken out could carry a huge load relatively fast. Yusuf had found that a Mule could carry the load of twenty miners, take it to the drop off point, and then come back in time to load up again, so there was very little waiting. A typical crew would have twenty miners, a driver and five laborers. The miners would extract the ore, the laborers would load up the ore, and then the driver would take it to the factory. After the crew at the factory had unloaded the driver would come back for another load. It was a great system; in fact, it was so efficient that Hephaestus needed to reduce the amount of mining expeditions they were taking. Instead of five per week, now they were doing only three.

“We might want to start selling ammo up north,” Zach said. “There's a war going on up there in all but name, and we probably stand to profit.”

“So you want to sell to Ronin and Marauder?” Reese asked.

Zach shrugged. “Just put ammo on the open market and whoever wants it can buy it. I'm not picky about who's money we take.”

Reese grinned. “Man, you're ruthless.”

“Hey, they could have joined us,” Zach said. “Plus, we're technically neutral. Selling to one side might make Ragnarok question whether we truly are.”

“Plus, Ronin and Marauder are going to get pounded,” Xavier said. “They'll probably be a lot more receptive to working together when they realize that they can't beat Ragnarok.”

Zach's alert went off. “Are you back yet?” Nora asked on the other end of the line.

“Yeah, we're just unloading now.”

“Could you get up to the board room as soon as possible?”

“Sure thing.” He closed out of his menu. “Sorry guys, but I'm being summoned.”

“Awfully convenient that the one summoning you happens to be your girlfriend,” Ethan commented.

“Yeah, that's true. Did you plan this out beforehand?” Miko asked.

Zach threw his hands up. “I had no idea this was going to happen. Honest.”

Xavier waved him off. “Just go.”

“Sorry. I'll make it up to you guys,” he said.

“My liver's crying right now,” Miko said.

Zach laughed and jogged out of the warehouse, then headed for Hydra HQ. The board room was up on the northeast corner of the fourth floor, overlooking all of Lerna to the east and north. They had used it a few times for council meetings, but a council meeting was impossible at this time since Anna and David were out in the field.

Zach climbed up the stairs to the top floor and headed for the board room. As he reached it he noticed that there were two soldiers leaning up against the wall opposite the doorway. They were dressed in Bravehart's colors, a dark tan uniform with forest green vests and webbing. They nodded as he passed. Zach returned the nod. What was going on here?

His question was partially answered when he opened the door. The familiar faces were around the table; Nora, Liz, Gina, Yusuf. But sitting next to Liz was Bravehart's captain, Bryce.

“Been a while since Ronin Fortress, Zach,” Bryce said, standing up and offering his hand.

Zach took the proffered hand and shook it. “Yeah, it has. Hopefully this meeting will be a lot safer than that one was.”

Bryce shook his head as he sat down. “I'm sure it will be. I wouldn't want to try to take this place even if I had Ragnarok's numbers.”

Zach took a seat next to Nora. “So what brings you here?”

“I'm here to make a request from the Legion Pact,” Bryce said.

“Uh, I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what or who that is,” Zach said.

“No problem. The Legion Pact is a loose alliance of companies that are opposing Ragnarok. Not an official alliance like you are, but we operate in the same manner. We have over a dozen companies right now, but the biggest contributors are Bravehart, Marauder, Archangel, Crimson Eagle and Band of Brothers.”

“What's your request, then?' Yusuf asked.

“We want to ask you to join us,” Bryce said. “We're resisting Ragnarok's encroachment and have managed to stop them for the time being, but they have more resources and more troops than us But if we work together, we might be able to triumph over them.”

“Is Ronin a part of this?” Gina asked.

“No, they have their own coalition,” Bryce said. “They have Dogs of War, Ascension and White Tiger cooperating with them.”

“Just how many troops do you have?” Liz questioned.

“We have around three hundred, all told.”

“Even if we join together, we're not going to have enough troops to take on Ragnarok,” Liz said. “And why should we? I think we should be asking you all to join us. Forget about the Legion Pact and join Hydra.”

“Some of the other companies are concerned that your alliance is going to be dominated by the original members,” Bryce said. “They don't want to be trapped by the game mechanics if that happens. They want to be able to influence the decisions of how the alliance works.”

“But that's how it works with us,” Liz argued. “We don't have a council just for show. We have to run things through an actual council. Our alliance charter is written so that every company has a vote. Bigger companies have more votes, but it's not like they'll never have any say. The smaller companies will be able to band together and oppose any decisions they don't like. They'll always have a say in what we do.”

“And they're not going to get sidelined because they're new,” Gina said. “We were latecomers to the last operation, and the alliance accepted us with open arms. I don't think it's pretentious to say that we were an instrumental part of taking the town.”

“No, it's not,” Nora said. “We would have been in deep trouble without you all.”

“We're an even better example,” Yusuf said. “We came in after they took the town, and they've been nothing but helpful. We'd never have been able to create a factory this fast without them.”

“And the reverse is true as well. We wouldn't have such a tough fortress without them,” Nora said.

“Alright, I'm not necessarily opposed to that. What does your alliance entail?” Bryce asked.

Nora opened her menu and brought up the alliance charter. She sent it to him. “The biggest things are that the alliance takes a cut of all your income, and you are obligated to provide troops to the alliance army, and to drop what you're doing and come defend the base if it comes under attack. In exchange, you get access to the alliance armory and alliance equipment.”

“Fifteen percent. Is that really enough to keep the alliance going?” Bryce asked.

“Well, there's nothing saying that you can't donate more. That's where we got all of our ammunition stock and the money to build the wall,” Nora said. “Black Wolf and Hephaestus have provided a lot of the resources for the alliance.”

“Mmm. It's a lot to consider,” Bryce said, though it was clear that he was interested.

“You'll have access to all the schematics we've found,” Zach said. “We will also need all the schematics your members have if you join as well.”

“That's fair,” Bryce agreed. “Though I'm not certain it will be an equal trade.”

“It probably won't,” Zach said. He opened up his menu and sent Bryce the codex entry for the M14 Mule.

Bryce's eyebrow shot up as he looked over the entry. “You have tanks?”

“Technically it's an open topped APC, but it's a potent advantage to have nonetheless,” Gina said. “We're in the process of forming an armored cavalry platoon, though it isn't going to be very big. If we add your forces in, though, we can easily make it an armored cavalry company. That will give Ragnarok something to think about.”

“It's an interesting thought,” Bryce said, though it was apparent that he was intrigued by the prospect.

“You'll have time to consider it, of course,” Zach said. “I'd appreciate if you kept that codex entry I gave you quiet. It'll serve as quite the surprise for Ragnarok when the time comes.”

“I'll do that, and I'll relay your offer to the rest of the Legion Pact. Thank you all for your time,” Bryce said, standing up.

“Well, what do you think?” Zach asked after he had left.

“What do I think? I think that we're the strongest force in the region, that's what. Ragnarok may have numbers, but we have Lerna, and we have the equipment to make fighting against us very painful. And I think everyone realizes that now,” Liz said.

“But offering us a place in a pact that isn't even an official alliance? Come on, that's almost insulting,” Yusuf said. “What leverage do they have to ask us?”

“At least they bothered to ask us as equals,” Gina said.

“Yeah, with no other offers on the table to sweeten the deal,” Yusuf said. “That's why we accepted so quickly. You offered us a lot of stuff and delivered on it.”

“Are we going to be willing to negotiate with them, though?” Nora asked.

“I think we probably should,” Zach said.

Gina shook her head. “I say no.”

“How come?” Zach questioned.

“Look, the alliance charter offers them a lot. They get access to equipment that they would never have access to otherwise, and they're supported by the rest of the alliance. What more should we offer them? The rest of us got the same thing and went along with it.”

“Hephaestus got more,” Nora pointed out.

“Sure. And now we all never have to buy ammunition again,” Gina said. “We all know darn well we did that because it would profit us.”

“Yes, and we were happy to oblige,” Yusuf said.

“So why should we give them a special exemption?” Gina pointed out.

“We do need more troops,” Nora said. “This might be the way to get them.”

“We're stepping up the recruitment of new players,” Liz said. “We're starting to see a lot more level 1s wanting to join one of the companies. I've had Zoe and Kari shifting through the request. There's over a hundred of them.”

“Mostly for Redd Foxx?” Zach asked.

“Actually, about a third of them are for Black Wolf,” Liz said. “You're getting quite famous.”

“Who are the rest for?” Zach asked.

“They're pretty evenly split for the rest of us, though there aren't very many for Hephaestus,” she said.

“Doesn't surprise me. We generally only attract diehard role-players,” Yusuf said.

Zach stood up. “I guess I need to review those requests sometime. Do you mind helping me Nora?” he asked.

She stood up. “Not at all. Let's get to it.”

CHAPTER 17

New Blood

Zach and Nora had sorted through about three dozen files and contacted the applicants. There was a good assortment of classes in them, including several medics and engineers, which were in short supply and would be very helpful to the alliance as a whole. He had contacted them all and told them to gather at Black Wolf's former base, which was now being used as a forward outpost. They would be picked up there and brought south to Lerna. A dozen had responded.

Two Mules rumbled down the road, driving at a steady pace. They were slower than the ATVs, but it would be easier to transport that many people south. And the sight of armored vehicles would certainly be impressive. Xavier was at the controls of the first one, with Danny manning the gunner's station armed with a machine gun. The second Mule was driven by Gavin, with Ethan acting as a gunner armed with a recoilless rifle. Miko rode in the front Mule, using it as a platform to snipe anything that might threaten them. Zach rode in the hold of the second one. Four ATVs driven by Selene, Ryan, Nora and Javy rolled along beside them, acting as flank guards.

Zach's alert beeped. “I just got a message. Our new recruits are starting to arrive at the base. Nora, Javy, do you mind going on ahead to meet them? We'll catch up to you later.”

“Sure thing,” Nora said. Javy turned and gave him a thumbs up before he turned back around and gunned the motor. He and Nora sped off into the distance.

“This is going to more than double our size,” Danny said. “It's going to be weird having that many people in Black Wolf.”

“Yeah. We may need to reorganize things a bit,” Zach said. “Though it will be good to be able to make a bigger contribution to the next battle.”

“True that. It did feel kind of weird being attached to another company,” Danny commented.

“So what do we have coming?” Selene asked. “I mean, what classes does everyone have?”

“Well, we have two engineers and two medics,” Zach said. “Then we have two snipers, three soldiers, an assault and two heavies.”

“Dang, two medics?” Gavin commented. “That gives us a pretty high ratio of medics to fighters. That's probably one of the highest.”

“Well, we're not exactly a front line company either, so that fits,” Zach said.

“Black Wolf. Supporter and leader of the pack, eh?” Selene said.

“That's a pretty good motto, actually,” Miko commented.

“So are they all level 1s?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, pretty much. They all applied when they first joined the game. There's another twenty or so I'm waiting to hear back from, but we'll get these guys settled regardless.”

“That's going to be a lot of people to keep track of,” Danny said.

“Yeah, which is why I think we're going to do some restructuring,” Zach said.

“What do you mean by that?”

“We're going to get too big for me to handle on my own. I honestly think we should split Black Wolf up into different platoons, with a commander for each. That will make controlling it a lot easier.”

“That then begs the obvious question. Who's going to be in command of the platoons?”

“Right now? Once we get the number of recruits I think we will, I'd suggest splitting the company up into two platoons, with Selene and Danny in charge of one. I'd be in overall command.”

“That's a great way to get new recruits. 'Hey, welcome to Black Wolf. You get to join Danny's suicide squad'. Great marketing ploy,” Gavin said sarcastically.

“Hey, I only die when he's in charge,” Danny protested.

“That's true,” Gavin said.

“Does anyone have a problem with it?” Zach asked.

“Nope, I'm fine with that,” Gavin said.

“I have absolutely no desire to be in charge of anything,” Miko said. Zach saw her look down the scope of her rifle and fire a shot. The convoy immediately went on full alert.

He grabbed his carbine and swung it around, scanning the sides of the road. “Are we under attack?”

“Calm down. I just saw a ryche and thought I'd get some target practice in.”

Zach breathed a sigh of relief and put his gun back down.

“Man, warn us next time, you trigger-happy psychopath,” Xavier grumbled through the link.

“I'm sorry I got bored,” Miko snarked.

Selene got the conversation back on track. “So we'd essentially be lieutenants, right?” she asked.

“Jeeze, you're putting a lot of responsibility on us,” Danny said.

“Do we get to pick our squad leaders?” Selene asked.

“Yup. You'll control pretty much everything about your platoon. I'll let you guys decide among yourselves how you want to divide up. We'll assign the new recruits to your platoons, but I want the originals to have a say in where they go.”

“That's going to be a lot of deliberation,” Xavier said.

“Hey, we could do it elsewhere. Are we planning on going out somewhere this week?” Gavin asked.

“I'm not going to be able to go, unfortunately,” Zach said.

“How come?”

“He has a hot date,” Selene said.

“Oh, he does?” Danny commented, his voice full of innuendo. “Does Nora know about this?”

“I want to know how you know about it,” Zach said.

“Oh come on, Nora told me. It's not like this is the only place where we socialize,” Selene said.

“Yeah.”

“You sound so sour about it,” Selene laughed.

“That's because you had to announce it to everyone,” Zach said.

“Oh, like they wouldn't have found out anyway,” Selene said.

“Where are you going?” Xavier asked.

“We're headed up to Wisconsin. Nora's family has a cabin in the back woods,” Zach said.

“Oooh, what are you planning on doing up there,” Danny said.

“Miko, shoot him in the back,” Zach ordered.

“How many drinks do I get for this?” she asked. “I think that you should pay for all my drinks the next time out.”

“You're actually thinking about it?!” Danny exclaimed.

“That's way too much. Someone your size should not be able to drink that much,” Zach protested.

“Hey, no drinks, no shot.”

“Bleh, fine. Consider yourself lucky, Danny.”

“Seriously though. Are you guys going to be in contact when you're up there?” Danny asked.

“No. It's in the middle of nowhere. They have a generator and running water, but there's no connection to the internet up there, so we'll be out of contact for five days.”

“Man. Who's in charge?” Gavin asked.

“Selene and Danny get to fight over that,” Zach said.

“Great choice,” Danny said sarcastically. “Which choice should I pick, give up the position to Selene, or compete for it, lose horribly and give up the position to Selene anyhow?”

“Hey, you can't say that I never offered it to you,” Zach replied.

“What makes you think that I'd do anything?” Selene asked.

“Right, I'll just forget about everything since elementary school,” Danny said.

Their former stronghold was looming before them. Zach could see the NPC guards patrolling the walls. The front gate was open.

“ATVs, if you want to go ahead of us you can do so,” he said.

“Roger that.” Selene said. She and Ryan sped off toward gates.

“What do you want us to do when we get there?” Miko asked.

“Not much. Nora and I are going to do most of the talking,” Zach said. “Danny and Selene should probably be with us as well, since they're going to be platoon leaders. Plus, one of you is going to be in charge for about a week, so they should at least know who you are.”

The pair of Mules approached the gate. Ryan and Javy were there, motioning them through. Zach motioned them away. None of them were completely used to driving a tracked vehicle yet, and he didn't want them to get crushed. They parked themselves in the middle of the courtyard, giving themselves enough room to turn around and leave.

“Nora, we're here,” Zach said as they all dismounted.

“Great. We're in the briefing room,” she said.

Zach followed Miko and Danny into the base. It had changed so much in the span of a few weeks. Most of the equipment and stores were now in their new, much larger base at Lerna Bastion. The only thing left in the base was the armory, and that had been stripped of everything but a small quantity of ammunition.

Ryan and Javy were leaning up against the wall in the lounge area. Zach and Danny continued on toward the briefing room, leaving the others behind to relax for the time being. Nora and Selene were in the briefing room with a dozen new recruits, talking with some of them. They quieted as he and Danny entered.

“And here the rest of them are,” Nora said. “We'll get started.”

Zach walked up beside her and turned to look at the dozen newcomers before him. “Thanks for responding so quickly. I'm Zach, and I'm the commander of Black Wolf Company. You're all here because you want to join the company, so I'd like to get to know all of you.” He pointed to a tall, thickly built male dressed like a soldier on the left side. “Let's go down the line. Introduce yourself.”

“I'm Logan,” the soldier said.

“Chris,” the soldiers next to him said. He was shorter and thinner, with a buzz cut.

“I'm Scott,” the third soldier said. He was about the same size as Logan, with green spiked hair.

The fourth one was a sniper. “I'm Avery,” he said. He was short and thin, with shoulder length brown hair.

“I'm Jermaine,” the next recruit said. He was an assault, with a tall but lanky build. He had dark skin and was bald.

“Hi, I'm Lyla,” one of the medics introduced herself. She had long pink hair the stretched down to her waist.

“I'm Joon,” the other medic said. He had Asian features, with short black hair and a medium sized build.

A female engineer was next in line. “I'm Leigh,” she said, running her hand through her blonde hair. She had it cropped down in a pixie cut.

“Hi all, I'm Terra,” the next one in line said, a female heavy with black hair. She was short but a bit stocky, perfect for someone carrying heavy weapons.

“I'm Colin,” the other heavy next to her said, a tall, muscular man with his hair formed intro deadlocks.

“Andy,” the next one said, a sniper with red hair and a beard to match.

“And I'm Joe,” the last engineer said. He was of medium build, with his long black hair braided into a ponytail in the back.

“Great. I'm Zach, as I introduced myself earlier.”

“I'm Nora, as you all already know.

“I'm Selene, which you all know as well.”

“And I'm Danny.”

Zach nodded. “OK, with that out of the way. Let me ask some of you this. Why do you want to join Black Wolf?” he asked, looking straight at Joon.

Joon shrugged. “You're a well known company, and I thought it would be an interesting one to join.”

“But there are other very well-known ones. There's Ronin, or Marauder. Or there's Ragnarok. Why not join them instead?”

“Black Wolf seemed to be a lot more interesting.”

“Why? That's a general question, for all of you,” Zach said.

“I can't say for everyone else,” Leigh said. “But Colin, Joe and I were interested because you managed to take a town.”

“But why not choose another company? Why not Grizzly, or Sacred Sword?” Danny asked.

“Well, we were curious as to why you weren't recruiting,” Joe said.

Zach nodded. “That's fair, and that's a big part of why we're meeting with you before you're allowed to join. One of the greatest strengths of our company is our teamwork. We're able to work together, play off one another's strengths and cover each other's weaknesses. And that strength extends to working with other companies as well. We were able to take the town not because we had the strongest fighters, but because we were able to form a strong team that fought together and worked as one cohesive unit.”

Zach paused and looked them all over. “That's why we haven't been recruiting new members lately. Black Wolf is a strong company because we work as one strong team, and adding more people without regard to that would upset the balance. So, that's what your walking into. We're not just a collection of the best fighters. We work as a team, we fight as a team, and we gain as a team. If you join Black Wolf, then you're committing yourself to be part of a team. That means doing things that might not necessarily benefit yourself, but are vital to the success of the company as a whole. And the same goes for Black Wolf. We may be forced into situations where we have to sacrifice for the good of the alliance.”

“It's true, he managed to get several of us killed giving out an order like that,” Selene said. “But it was something that needed to happen.”

“So that's what we are, and that's what Hydra is as a whole. If you join, you're going to be part of the team. Are you all ready to accept that?”

There was silence, then nods from many of them. Colin spoke up. “That's what we want.”

Zach nodded and opened his menu. He found all their names in the list of applications and approved them all. “Then welcome to Black Wolf Company, all of you. We're about to do great things, and you'll all play a vital part in that. Now, we're going to go on a little excursion to get your feet wet.”

Nora unfolded a map and laid it across a table, the only piece of furniture that was left in the base. “OK, about half way between here and Lerna Bastion is an ambush point. There's a bend in the road that goes through a section of forest, and there's an embankment on the east side of the highway. NPC highwaymen will hide in the forest just beyond the bend and will attack anyone coming around the corner. They're not much of a problem for anyone but small groups, but there's an encampment hidden somewhere nearby. It's where they're spawning from.”

Zach looked over the map. “We have the location of the encampment, and it has no wall. Troops from Redd Foxx Company have scouted the place, and they estimated that there's around thirty enemies around the encampment. Normally we would have just crushed the place by now, but we're going to give you some practice in a real battle. There will be three sections. Section one will be under Selene, and will ride in the machine gun APC. Ryan goes on gunner duty. Your call sign is Wolf 1. Section two is under Danny, and has call sign Wolf 2, You'll be riding the the recoilless rifle Mule. Section three is under me, and is going to act as the outriders. We're Wolf 3. Nora, Miko and Javy are coming with me. Selene and Danny, decide how you want to divide up the rest.”

“We'll be using the APC as transportation and fire support,” Danny said. “They're a great weapon to have, but bear in mind that they're not invincible, and they're not going to all the work for you.”

Selene stuck her fist out in front of Danny.” Alright, let's choose.”

The recruits tried not to laugh as they did rock paper scissors. Zach saw Nora crack a smile. He felt himself grinning as well.

“Hah! Win!” Danny said, as the threw out rock to Selene's scissors. “OK, Logan, Andy, Avery, Lyla, Terra, Scott, you're going to be with me. As you might notice, we have both snipers and two heavies. We're going to be the support squad.”

“Alright, Joon, Chris, Jermaine, Colin, Joe and Leigh, you're with me. We're the front line squad, and we're going to be up close and personal with the enemy.”

“If you get into trouble, our command squad can provide some help to you,” Zach said. “However, that's only if things go extremely poorly. Also, keep in mind that you're set to respawn at Black Wolf Headquarters in Lerna Bastion if you die. If that happens, hang out in the base until we get back. Any questions?”

Chris spoke up. “Uh, not to sound like a downer, but are you sure about putting so much trust in level 1s?”

“This place you're standing in? We managed to take it our first day playing, with no prior experience,” Danny said. “You're capable of doing a lot if you fight smart.”

“Plus, most of us are needed to crew the vehicles,” Zach said. “You'll learn how to use them in time. Ready to go, everyone? Let's head out.”

CHAPTER 18

SNAFU

Xavier's Mule rumbled forward, its gun spitting death. Bullets pinged harmlessly off its sides. Ryan was firing bursts with the heavy machine gun. He had nowhere near the skill that a dedicated heavy like Danny possessed, but the fire was deadly effective nonetheless.

“Well, I guess that provides proof of concept,” Miko said, reclining back on the seat of her ATV.

That was for certain. Hydra's council had wanted to form an armored cavalry platoon to provide the alliance with a fast moving unit that could be used as a reserve or an attack force. Their focus had been on the speed it could provide. But seeing them in action proved the other advantage of the concept. Whenever a squad got into trouble, their APC was there to provide devastating fire support or cover. And that was with raw level 1s, with so-so weaponry mounted on the Mules. Experienced troops like Sacred Sword's veterans or Grizzly would be even more effective. And they still had possibilities to explore for arming the Mules.

Grizzly was starting to work toward creating an artillery battery. The biggest issue was that they needed around thirty members with the artillery skill in order to create an effective battery, which was going to take quite a bit of time to get into place. Their other option was to make a smaller battery, which would require less crew members. Hephaestus had a few ideas for mounting a gun on one of the Mules, but it was currently in the prototype stage.

“They're performing pretty well,” Nora commented.

“Yeah, I notice that the front line squad seems to be doing pretty well. I think that Joon is using a different class build than me,” Javy commented. “It looks like he's a buffer, and not a straight up healer like I am.”

“Good. That gives us versatility,” Zach said.

“All three soldiers look like they'll be good. They have the proper amount of aggression, and they look like they're pretty good shots. Although that might be from the aim assist,” Nora said.

Zach looked at Miko. “What do you think about the snipers?”

“Andy looks like most snipers I've seen. He looks like he'll be fine. But I'm not sure about the style that Avery is using.”

“Using a semi-auto rifle?” Zach said. Using a semi-auto rifle as opposed to the bolt action that most snipers selected allowed him to fire quicker, but his shots were less accurate, had less range and did less damage. Most snipers, including Miko, preferred the bolt action because they could kill at a longer distance.

“Yeah, I'm not sure about the technique he's using either,” Miko said. “I mean, I don't think it's necessarily wrong, but it's really different from what I use, so I'm not sure about it.”

Avery fired in paired shots, one after the other. That meant that if the first shot didn't kill the enemy, the second would. Zach had seen the technique used in the beta, but hadn't seen anyone use it since the game had launched. It had the obvious advantage of dealing a lot of damage, but many times it was overkill and used up ammunition.

“I think it'll work fine,” Nora said. “Snipers don't always fit well in the front line teams, and he can throw out a lot of accurate firepower in a short time. Plus, he can fire more shots before reloading.”

“It's probably just my preference to be far away from the front line that's talking,” Miko said.

Zach's alert buzzed. “We're almost finished mopping up the encampment,” Selene said.

“Great. Any casualties?” he asked.

“None. Jermaine got shot, but Joon patched him up and he's back on his feet,” she said.

“Good. Do you need to have us around?”

“We're going to be here a while looting the place, so if you don't want in on that you can go ahead and take off,” Selene said.

“You sure that you don't need outriders?” Zach asked.

“It's probably the safest stretch of highway in the world,” Selene said. “We'll be fine.”

Zach looked at the rest of his team. “Want to go tinker with stuff back at base?”

“Yes please,” Miko said.

“Wow, you're eager,” Javy commented.

“I was working with one of Hephaestus' engineers to make a custom sniper rifle, and I'd like to try to do some more work on it.”

“Ah, that would be a good reason,” Javy agreed.

“We're taking off. See you later,” Zach said.

“We're not sharing the loot,” Danny said.

Zach laughed as he started up his ATV. “Going to be like that, are you?” His group headed south.

Zach's group pulled up in front of Hephaestus Forge. Today was a non-mining day, so the area was busy. Crates of ammunition and parts were being loaded into Mules, which would take them to the warehouses. They now had ten Mules to work with; two were up north with the rest of the company, three were being used as transports, and the others were being held in reserve for now. Hephaestus had managed to buy the industrial equipment needed to build the Mules, though it had taken two days to get all the parts and assemble them in the factory. They would be low on money, save for the fact that ammunition was flying off the shelves in Old Chicago.

Sporadic fighting was still happening up north. All of Hydra's companies had completely vacated the area, so it was a conflict between Ronin's group, the Legion Pact and Ragnarok. All sides were trying to stockpile as much ammunition as possible for the inevitable war, and that mean there was good money to be made in selling it. Even with the amount that Hydra needed there was still plenty to bring to market. Between overdrive and bullets the alliance was making a tidy profit, and all that profit was going to feed their industrial output.

“I'm going to see if I can find Paige,” Miko said, heading toward the headquarters part of the forge.

“Have fun,” Zach said. He spied Yusuf talking to someone on his radio in front of a set of doors, who saw them and motioned them over.

“Have fun on the hunt?” he asked.

“We didn't do anything,” Zach said. “Our new recruits did most of the work, along with the vehicle crews. But man, are the Mules something. They completely steamrolled the enemy.”

Yusuf smiled. “That's good news. We also have news that the Legion Pact is seriously considering our offer, so that's good. But if you think the Mules are something, wait until you see this.”

“You have something?”

Yusuf motioned them inside the Forge. “Yes. I think you're going to be quite impressed.”

They entered Hephaestus Forge. The air inside was thick, filled with the sound and smell of fire, machinery, oil and metal. They passed by a half dozen ammo presses churning out bullets. Further down were smelting furnaces, transforming vulcanite ore into usable metal. Then they passed a half dozen crafters constructing another Mule. A crane was holding the main body of the vehicle up, allowing them to attach the drive wheels. Another two were constructing the engine, preparing the mass of wires and the adapter for the fusion batteries. And then they came to the end of the factory. There was a huge door in front of them. Yusuf slid it open.

“Come on inside,” he said. “Welcome to the prototype wing.”

“Oh wow,” Zach said as he stepped through. There was a Mule in front of him, but this one was much different than the others. The front third of the crew compartment had been take out and replaced by vulcanite steel plating. The driver's position had been moved back to accommodate the change, and the gunner's station was completely gone. The seats for troops were gone as well. The doors on the back of the vehicle were still there, but the crew compartment was divided in half by what looked like a set of sliding panels. And the biggest difference was in the front. There, fitted snugly into the front of the vehicle, was an artillery piece.

“Is that what I think it is?” Zach asked.

“The 75mm gun? Yes, that would be it,” Yusuf said. “It's not quite complete yet. We wanted to reinforce the front end with more armor, and we're going to give it a roof so that it's completely enclosed. But we should have a fully functional assault gun within a few days.”

“Can you build tanks?” Javy asked.

“Unfortunately no. We're not nearly good enough to build a turret at this point. Besides, I don't think we could supply enough power.”

“How come you kept the doors on the back?” Nora asked.

“It'll make it easier to resupply with more ammunition,” Yusuf said. “All you need to do is open the back doors and stack the ammunition inside.”

“Is it going to have enough power?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, it'll be fine. Even with extra armor, the gun and the ammo it's not going to be any heavier than a fully loaded regular Mule. So we'll be fine in that regard.”

“What are you going to call it?” Javy asked.

“Well, the schematic actually suggested a name for it to us. Once it's completed, this will be the M11 Bull.”

“The Bull. I like it,” Javy said.

“How long did it take you to make this?” Zach asked.

“It took us about three days and a lot of trial and error to get one of these made off of a base Mule. Now that we know what we're doing, we can make them from scratch in about a day or two. As soon as we get our hands on another gun we'll build one,” he said.

“Not that I'm complaining, but how the heck did we get so far ahead of everyone else? Because this seems like it's almost unfair,” Javy said.

“That's because everyone else in the region is taking turns pounding on each other while we're building a fortress and grabbing all the best schematics for ourselves,” Yusuf said. “They decided to beat on each other instead of cooperating, and look what happened.”

“Or maybe we've just found all the good exploits,” Nora said.

“Eh, it's the same thing,” Yusuf said. “Plus, we have no idea of about what Ragnarok has up their sleeve.”

“Another question. Do we have enough people to crew one of these?” Nora asked.

“We need a driver, a loader and a gunner. Only two of those need to have the artillery specialization, so that should be pretty simple. Grizzly already has four.”

Zach's alert buzzed. So did Yusuf's and Nora's. There was an incoming message from Anna.

“What's up?” Zach asked.

“Can you get up to the council room? We might have a situation here.”

“Sure thing.” He looked at the other two. “That certainly doesn't sound good.”

“Yeah. Whatever this is, it's probably news to me,” Yusuf said. He turned to Javy. “Feel free to look everything over some more.”

“Thanks. I'll probably do that.”

Yusuf lead them out. He opened up his menu as he walked. “Garrett, Jayson, how fast can you get the Bull prototype done and finish off the Mule?” He listened for a moment. “Can you speed it up at all? Yeah, we'll take care of getting the gun and the ammo for it. Just get what you can done.”

“What was that about?” Nora asked.

“I have a bad feeling we're going to need them pretty soon,” Yusuf said.

Zach had a sinking feeling as soon as he opened the doors to the board room. Everyone was present; David, Liz and Anna, Gina and Connor, and Yusuf's adjunct Martin. They were all facing a video screen up against the wall. He and Nora took their seats. Yusuf found his way over beside Martin.

Anna spoke up, talking in a loud voice. “Alright, we're all present, so we can start now.”

“Very good,” a voice said, just before the screen went from black to a picture. Zach tried to hide his surprise. It was Lucas, commander of Ragnarok.

“What can we do for you?” Anna asked.

“Word has reached us that you intend to join forces with the Legion Pact. I find that a very concerning and aggressive move,” Lucas said.

“Joining forces is a rather misleading statement. One that might cause a lot of confusion, as it seems to be doing right now. Yes, we have offered the companies in the Legion Pact a chance to join the Hydra Alliance. But it's an offer to join us, nothing more.”

“I'm not certain that there's a difference,” Lucas said.

“We're not allying for a war against you, if that's what you're getting at,” David said. “The Hydra Alliance is a neutral party in the conflict, and will remain such unless provoked. If the Legion joins, then they have to follow that directive.”

“You seem to be selling quite a bit of ammunition and other supplies to our opponents,” Lucas commented.

“And we've sold quite a bit to you as well,” Yusuf said. “Again, we're neutral and we don't care who we're selling to. Everyone's money is worth the same.”

“Be as that may, I still find it quite alarming that you profess neutrality while simultaneously trying to recruit one of our strongest foes.”

“Then you're quite paranoid,” Gina said.

Zach felt his silent alarm vibrate. Nora had sent him a message. He's looking for an excuse to start a fight, she said. They're going to try to crush us.

Send out an alert, Zach replied to her. A few seconds later, his silent alert vibrated again. This time he didn't bother to check it. The alert was code yellow, which told everyone that conflict was likely and to be on their guard. The next would be code red, which meant they were at war. The final level was code black, which meant that every member of the alliance was to drop what they were doing and come back, because the bastion was under attack. Zach hoped that it wouldn't get that far.

Gina and Lucas were still arguing back and forth. “Look, we don't have the greatest selection of recruits since you went and took a bunch of them,” she said. “Our choice is somewhat limited, and that means that we might end up recruiting people that might be your enemies. It's not some grand conspiracy. It's just the reality of things.”

“Be fair, your actions are provocative.”

“I seem to recall being shot by your pet dog. But I guess that wasn't provocative, huh?”

“Alright, no need to bring that up,” Zach said.

“Your actions in particular are over the line,” Lucas said to him.

“Pardon?” Zach said. He could feel the tension in the air. The rest of the room was ready to explode.

“Our agreement was that you would remain neutral and keep the overdrive supply steady while we respected your sovereignty,” Lucas said.

“Which we've upheld. Unless you're holding us to completely unreasonable standards.” Zach said. “Overdrive is still on the market, and the alliance we're a part of is neutral in the Chicago area conflict. What more do you want?”

“You're aiding our enemies,” Lucas said.

“And you're being unreasonable,” Nora said. “Your demands violate our agreement.”

“I consider it already violated, in truth.”

Zach felt the anger rising in him. “Then keep this in mind. If you consider the agreement broken, then we're no longer obligated to keep the overdrive supplies open. I know darn well that half your members are under level 10 because they're so reliant on it to win fights. We're not trying to form an alliance against you, but back us into a corner and that's exactly what will happen. Do you honestly think you can fight three alliances at once when half your company is under leveled?”

“I would warn you not to underestimate them,” Lucas said coldly.

“Alright, alright, let's calm down before this gets any worse,” Anna said. “We're not against you. You want proof of that? Here's an idea. Why don't you join the Hydra Alliance? I'd be willing to accept you and put Ragnarok forward as a member company.”

Zach was taken aback. So was Lucas, judging from the look on his face. And so was everyone else; there was murmuring among the rest of the council. Even Liz looked like she was surprised by the offer.

“Is this some sort of trick?” Lucas asked.

“Oh come on, she made a genuine offer to you and you throw that back in her face? Now you're just trying to provoke us,” David said.

“No, no, I understand that he may be hesitant, and for good reason. They've been fighting a lot these past few months,” Anna said. “But I assure you it's a genuine offer.” She touched her menu and sent a message. “Here's a copy of the alliance charter with my signature at the bottom. It will need approval from two other company commanders and your signature to be valid, but the offer is there.”

“I'll add my signature to it,” Zach said, cycling through his menu and approving the application.

“I'll approve as well,” Yusuf said, doing the same.

“There you go. The offer is completely genuine, and all you need to do is add your signature. Once you do that, Ragnarok will be a full member of the Hydra Alliance with all the responsibilities and benefits that entails,” Anna said.

“Well, I'll certainly consider it.” Lucas said.

“Take your time doing so. Contact us when you make your decision,” Anna said pleasantly, just before she cut the connection.

“Man he's got some nerve,” Gina spat out.

“Yeah, but that tells us a lot. Ragnarok is looking for a fight,” Anna said.

“Unless they're willing to join the alliance,” Zach said.

“Joy for that,” Gina said.

“I really don't think they're going to take us up on that offer,” Connor said.

“I know, but at least we can say we offered,” Anna said. “I'm going to try to get Bryce on the line. If Ragnarok is ready for a fight then we're going to need to get more troops as soon as possible.”

Yusuf contacted Garrett and Jayson again. “Hey. Remember what I said? Well, we really need that to happen, and fast.”

“Do you have the prototype done?” Liz asked.

“We still need to put the roof on and armor the front, but that should be pretty straightforward. And once the next Mule is done we can start construction on another one, which should go fairly quickly.”

“How soon can you have the prototype done?” Gina asked. “If we're going to crew it, then I want to get them as familiar as possible. You have the crew list ready, right?”

Connor nodded. “Yes. We'll have crews of four which will consist of a driver, loader, gunner and commander. Were you also going to put in a hatch for the commander?”

“Yeah, there's going to be one on there,” Yusuf said. “I assume that you want to put a machine gun mount on it?”

“Yeah, otherwise it's going to be very vulnerable to infantry with grenades.”

Anna motioned for silence. “OK, I got Bryce on the line. Let's see if we can get things settled.” She looked up at the video screen. “Bryce, are we coming in clear?”

“Loud and clear, Anna,” came the answer. “Hello everyone. What can we do for you?”

“We just got off the line with Lucas of Ragnarok. They're trying to start a fight with us,” Anna said. “If you're going to join us, then now would be the time to do it.”

“There's still a lot of discussion going on between the various companies,” Bryce said. “Is there anything else that you can offer us? I'm on board regardless, but it's going to be difficult to convince the others in time.”

“We're not changing the offer,” Liz said flatly. “Bear in mind that we can resist an all-out assault by Ragnarok if we have to fight alone. You're not going to be so lucky.”

“Again, I realize that. But a lot of the companies up north don't want to give up their territory,” Bryce said.

“They'll have access to Hydra territory, which is massive, and is relatively safe,” Zach pointed out. “Anything to the south of Lerna Bastion hasn't been touched by anyone but us. And there's plenty of resources to go around.”

“Well, I'll see what I can do,” Bryce shrugged.

“They had better do something quickly. Lucas singled us out in particular. That means they're not concerned about losing the overdrive supplies, which probably means they have something big planned. So they had better hurry,” Nora said.

“I'll relay that concern,” Bryce told them. “Later.”

“I think we need to call a code red,” David said.

“We're not at war yet,” Connor said.

“It's going to happen soon enough,” David responded. “And I think we need to get stockpiles of the stuff we can't make. If we can't get into Old Chicago then we're going to run out of grenades, armor-piercing ammo and the like. Plus, we won't be able to get shells for the assault guns.”

“Something's up,” Gina said. “If Ragnarok wants to crush us, then why didn't they just launch a sneak attack? Why threaten us and give us time to prepare?”

“Maybe they wanted to see if they could draw us out?” David suggested.

“Or maybe they're hoping that we act defensively,” Anna mused. “If we concentrate on defending our territory, then that gives them time to take out one of their other enemies.”

“That means we'll be a lot stronger when they finally do attack us,” David pointed out.

“Yeah, but it also means that they'll be able to reduce the number of fronts they're fighting on,” Anna pointed out. “Even if they wanted to come after us, they would need to hold some troops back to defend their holdings in the north. But if they take out either the Legion Pact or whatever Ronin's group is calling themselves then they can shift a lot more troops to our front. Plus, the opposite is also true. They'll get stronger as well, and they'll have a lot more time to try to get weaponry that can level the playing field.”

“I think they just made one misstep, though,” Liz said.

“What's that?” David asked.

“They're thinking in terms of a real world war. That means every person killed is gone forever. You can replace them but the number of replacements is limited. But since we respawn when we die, we don't have that problem here. And that might play right into our hands. In order to win the north Ragnarok is going to have to take the strongholds there, right? But if they do that, then the companies have 48 hours to get another one or be disbanded. Are they going to be able to take back their stronghold in time, or are they going to be able to afford one in Old Chicago?”

“Which leaves us as the most attractive option, since they'll get a free base in a protected fortress town,” Nora said. “So they waste time fighting up north, while we get strong by ourselves and get the benefit of the troops we wanted anyhow?”

“Seems that way,” Liz said with a smile. “I think Ragnarok has just misplayed their hand. And we're going to reap the benefits of that mistake.”

CHAPTER 19

Surface

Danny kicked the corpse of a Ragnarok trooper he had shot minutes before. “Man, they're next to useless. Low level, poor shots, next to no experience for killing them, and they don't even have any good loot on them, to boot. Our new guys are at half their level and are already much better fighters.”

“It's probably because they're so used to fighting on overdrive,” Javy said. “Did you see how slow they were moving? Their reaction times are worse because they're used to being able to move three times faster.”

There was no war yet, but Ragnarok was trying to provoke them nonetheless. They had been sending squads into Hydra territory, trying to gather resources and scout the area. They had been met by hunter-killer teams from Redd Foxx and Black Wolf. Utilizing ATVs, they could move fast and be on top of a Ragnarok squad before they could react. Once they were in a firefight they were no match for the veteran Hydra troops. Other than a few that had looked like squad leaders, most of the Ragnarok troops they had encountered were low level and poor fighters.

There had been no response from Ragnarok pertaining to the killing of their scout squads. Hydra was defending its territory, so they could hardly claim that the injuries they were suffering were not of their own doing. Plus, they needed the bullets and overdrive to continue the fight to the north of Old Chicago. There, the Legion Pact was being steamrolled. The Pact had many good troops, but they were no match for the sheer numbers that Ragnarok could use against them. From the reports that they were getting, Ragnarok had also committed most of their high level troops to that front. For all they mocked Ragnarok for being too reliant on new recruits, their veteran troops were as good as any in the region. When mixed with the numbers of low level troops they could bring to bear it was a fearsome combination.

Zach wondered why they were using new recruits without overdrive to attack. Maybe it was to save supplies for the real fighting at the northern front. Or maybe they were trying to train some of their lower level members how to fight without relying on overdrive. Whatever the case, it was serving one purpose; Hydra was being forced to spend time defending its territory.

On one hand that wasn't bad at all. It provided combat experience to their troops, which was especially valuable for Black Wolf while they were trying to integrate new members. But on the other hand it was taking away valuable training time. The council had decided that they didn't want to use the Mules or assault guns until a shooting war broke out in order to preserve the element of surprise. That meant the vehicles had to operate around the immediate area of Lerna Bastion, or to the south of the fortress town. Anyone on patrol duty wouldn't be able to train with them and wouldn't be familiar with how to use them, which severely limited the manpower they could bring to bear. Sacred Sword still needed to provide cover to the mining teams and Grizzly was training in an attempt to form up an armored platoon, so Black Wolf and Redd Foxx were stuck shouldering the load up north.

“Well, they're certainly not being shy about their intentions,” Xavier said, rifling through the pockets of a dead soldier. “The biggest problem is that their base is inside Old Chicago, so we have no real way to strike back at them.”

“But on the other hand, their base is inside Old Chicago. Do we know where they get their money from?” Gavin asked.

“Looting dead bodies?” Danny ventured.

“There's no way they could pay for everything they buy with the money they loot off from dead bodies,” Xavier said.

“Then what are they using to fund their treasury?”

“Maybe hunting?” Javy suggested. “You can get some pretty valuable resources off from some of the animals that range the forests.”

“But would it be enough?” Gavin asked.

“Well, it would certainly help them, in any case,” Javy said. “Or maybe they sell raw materials. They seem to offer a lot of vulcanite ore on the market.”

“I'm guessing you're thinking of something?” Zach asked Gavin.

“Yeah. Why don't we-”

Selene's voice cut in over the radio. “There's another group coming at us. Looks like the group you took out might have called for help.”

“Do you need backup?” Danny asked.

“We've got this covered,” Ethan said. A few seconds later there was an explosion in the distance. “Man, they're cannon fodder,” he commented.

“They're way too eager to throw under equipped and under trained troops into the grinder,” Selene commented. “They're up to something.”

“They're keeping us distracted while they deal with the Legion Pact,” Zach said. “I don't think that there's anything more sophisticated than that going on.”

“How sure are you about that?” Selene asked. “They're throwing themselves into battles that they can't possibly win, and they're giving us more experience. That's going to hurt them in the long run.”

“Unless they have another objective,” Gavin said. “What if they're doing this to make sure that the fights are happening on our territory? Maybe they're throwing away their low level guys because it keeps us here instead of attacking their weak point.”

“Where would their weak point be?” Xavier asked.

“Like I said, where are they getting their money from? If we could find some way to disrupt that, then they're in deep trouble.”

“Then again, they could take it as an outright declaration of war,” Selene said.

Zach shrugged. “The idea has plenty of merit. But it's going to be your decision on how you want to work this.”

“What, you don't have an opinion?” Gavin asked.

“I'm going to be away for almost a week, and you all know how fast things change here. Just make sure that you have approval from the rest of the council before you act. And try not to wreck everything while I'm gone, please.”

“Will do,” Selene said. “I'll try to keep the others in line.”

“Great,” Zach said, though he was still uncertain. This was probably one of the worst times to be leaving.

“So, what do you think?” Nora asked as they walked in the front door of the cabin.

“Nice. It's bigger than I expected,” Zach said. It was built like an A frame house, with a living space, kitchen and bathroom below, and a sizable loft up top for sleeping, which was accessed by a spiral staircase to one side. There was a large fireplace up against one wall. The cabin was cold, probably from being shut up for the winter.

“If you don't mind grabbing some of the stuff out of the truck, I'm going to go start up the generator,” Nora said.

“No problem,” Zach said. He headed out to the truck and opened up the bed. First came their bags. After that he grabbed a quartet of bags that had food for the week, and then the cooler. After that came another bag with clean sheets. The last thing he unloaded was a half dozen large jerry cans filled with fuel for the generator. Nora had estimated they had plenty to last them the week up here already, but they had brought them along just in case. He grabbed a pair and headed out back.

“Where do you want me to put these?” he asked when he found Nora out back. She was leaning over, adding fuel into the generator.

“Put them in there,” she said, motioning to the open doors of a shed. Zach placed them inside, next to seven other jerry cans, then went back and grabbed two more. He carried those over as well, then went back for the last two. Nora was done firing up the generator when he returned.

“What do you want to do once we're done unpacking?” Zach asked.

“It's a bit late in the day to start hiking any of the good trails,” Nora said. “It'll take us about half the day to do any of them, and we only have an hour of daylight left.”

Zach shrugged. “Might as well make a fire and then do dinner.”

“Do you know how?”

“Of course I do.”

“Do you know how to operate an actual fireplace without burning down the cabin?” Nora said with a raised eyebrow.

“OK, it's been a while.”

“Define a while.”

“Probably ten years,” Zach said.

“Yeah, no. OK, you get to unpack. I'm building the fire,” Nora said. “The fridge is in the back left corner of the kitchen, built into the cabinet. It should be cooling right now.”

“Won't even let me play with fire,” Zach grumbled as he grabbed the cooler.

“All the drinks in the world wouldn't make burning down the cabin any better,” Nora said.

“Oh, not you too,” Zach said. He started to unpack the contents info the fridge.

Nora had ducked outside and came back with a handful of wood taken from the large pile out back. “What, it's your fault for using that as your go to for making things up to people.”

“What else could I do?”

“Not get everyone killed?” Nora suggested as she started to stack some of the wood in the fireplace. Larger logs went on the bottom. Another layer of smaller logs were stacked perpendicular to them, followed by a layer of kindling. She finished it off by putting several pages of newspaper on top, tied into knots.

“Yeah, yeah,” Zach said. He finished filling the refrigerator and grabbed one of the bags to unload.

“Seriously though, you're going to go broke at the rate you're going,” Nora said.

“Maybe everyone else needs to stop dying,” Zach said.

Nora laughed. “I'm sure they'd love that suggestion.”

Zach finished up unpacking the bags while Nora lit the fire, then tossed their clothes and hiking gear bags up in the loft. “Who's cooking dinner?” he asked.

Nora stuck out her hand. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

Zach put his own hand out. “On three. One. Two. Three!” He groaned. Nora had thrown out scissors to his paper. “I'm it then.”

Nora laughed. “Don't worry, I'm not going to just sit around.” She grabbed the railing to the staircase.

“Where are you going?” Zach asked as he started to sort through the food they had on hand, thinking about what to make.

“Someone's got to put the sheets on,” she said as she climbed up.

“Ah. Not going to complain about that,” Zach said.

“Yeah, I bet,” Nora called back from the top.

Zach finally settled on making a stir fry with chicken, vegetables and noodles. By the time he was done chopping up the ingredients Nora had finished up top and had climbed back down. The cabin was starting to warm from the now roaring fire. Zach tossed the ingredients into a large pan and put them on the propane stove.

“Smells good,” Nora commented as she tended to the fire.

“Thanks,” Zach said. It was done in a few minutes, and he divided it up into two portions. “Dinner's served,” he said.

“Wonder how it's going for the rest of them,” Nora wondered aloud as they sat at the table eating.

“Knowing them, they've probably gotten into some sort of trouble by now. Since doing dumb, reckless and borderline insane stuff seems to be our calling card.”

“Ah, yeah. I remember the talk around Old Chicago when I was first recruited. Oh, Black Wolf is a bunch of insane fools who managed to take a fortress through sheer dumb luck, everyone said.”

“That description is pretty accurate, I'd say,” Zach said. “But I guess you can stand our company. Even if we're all insane. Especially me.”

Nora made a thoughtful face as she chewed. “Well, you're different.”

“I'm not insane?” Zach asked.

“Oh, in the game world you're completely insane,” Nora said. “But that's not why I'm with you now. I'm with you because I'm attracted to your real world half, not your game world self. I mean, I guess interacting with you in the world got my attention somewhat, but it wasn't until I met you in real life that things started to take off.”

“You make it sound so clinical,” Zach said.

Nora poked him. “Well maybe it is. We're kind of dealing with uncharted territory here. I'm surprised that Dr. Unger isn't all over this by now.”

“I can definitely see where that's true,” Zach agreed. “There's too many things that I enjoy about you that are missing in the virtual world.”

“Wonder what that is,” Nora commented.

“I mean other things. Your cello playing, for instance, and your music love. Those are things I appreciate about you that aren't in the virtual world.”

Nora leaned back in her chair. “It kind of makes you think. Can you really form a real relationship in the virtual world? Like, what if we had never met in real life? Could we still have formed a real relationship? Or would it just be an imitation, because there would be so many things about ourselves that would be missing?”

“So the virtual world you isn't the real you?” Zach said. “I can see where that would be true, though I would also argue that a lot of yourself is present in your avatar.”

“Yeah, but even then there's a lot of holes. A lot of people act completely different in the virtual world. Like, out of you, Danny and Selene, who would people peg as the leader in the virtual world?”

“Well, me,” Zach said.

“And that's different from real life, where Selene is the leader,” Nora said. “And there's more. Danny might seem absent-minded at times, but then you learn he's going to have a doctorate in philosophy. That changes a lot of assumptions about him. Or Miko. She's the quiet, cold sniper in the game, but she definitely isn't quiet when we go out.”

“To be fair, neither are you.”

Nora stuck her tongue out. “That was one time.”

Zach laughed. “I see what you're getting at, and it's true, to a point. But that would mean friendships that we made in the virtual world aren't real either, because a lot of our personality is missing or outright misrepresented.”

“Yeah, that would be the logical extension of that thought,” Nora said.

“But is it true? I mean, there's a lot I don't know about people I've met in real life, but that didn't stop me from becoming friends with them. There were things I didn't know about Danny or Selene when we were growing up, and learning about them changed how I saw them. But that didn't keep me from forming a friendship with them. Isn't this the same thing?”

“You're right, and I know it's not logical, but it just feels like the flesh and blood part needs to be there. If it's not present, then there's just something missing. I can't explain it. It just needs to be there.”

“Ah, the old argument of what it means to be alive and human?” Zach said. “So you're saying that the virtual world lacks a soul?”

Nora shrugged. “I guess.”

“The world may lack a soul, but the people in it don't. There's still cooperation and friendship present. There's still room in there for kindness and understanding. Even if it's all just a virtual construct. But it's a construct that's shaped by people in the real world, and we all have souls out here. Who's to say that we can't bring a little soul to the world ourselves?”

“That's a rather romantic view of things,” Nora commented.

“Yeah, and it might be stupid, but it's just the way I feel.”

Nora sighed. “How did we get this far? I can remember playing games as a five year old where you poked the screen like an idiot to blow up lollipops, and now we're playing something that's starting to blur the lines of reality.”

“Heh, it's a lot like my grandfather says. Have you ever seen a VHS tape?”

“Oh yeah. I found some while I was cleaning out my great grandparents's attic.”

“Well, like my grandfather says, he went from VHS tapes, to disks, to cloud streaming in the span of thirty years, and at the end of it all it was just mind-boggling for him how primate the things he had grown up with seemed.”

“Ugh. That makes me feel so old,” Nora said.

Zach shook his head. “I guess every generation goes through that. I mean, someone could have easily been alive to see the first flight and then see people landing on the moon.”

“Yeah, but it makes me realize just how much time has passed. And then I hear the voices.”

“What voices?”

“The 'when are you getting married?' or 'when do I get grandchildren?' voices,” Nora said.

“Oh, those ones,” Zach said. “I'm glad I have Sarah to take the heat off me for that one.”

“Yeah, well only children aren't so lucky,” Nora said. “My mom approves of you quite a bit, because you're a good shot at grandchildren, and you're a good fit for me, and you're a wonderful person. But mostly because you're a good shot at her having grandchildren soon.”

“Gee, thanks,” Zach said, trying to suppress a laugh.

Nora tried to hide her smile. “Well, how do you think I feel?”

“Old?” Zach guessed.

Nora punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Keep that up and you'll be sleeping outside.”

“Isn't that a just a little soon? I mean, we've been dating for only a few months. Seems a bit sudden.”

“Trust me, it's not surprising. I think my mom always wanted more children, but it just never happened. And I guess it's shifted to wanting grandchildren,” Nora said.

“Great.”

Nora smiled. “Welcome to my world.”

Zach rolled over. He could hear the sound of the birds beginning to stir and could see the light spilling through the window on the other side of the cabin. He sat up in time to see Nora coming up the stairs, a pair of mugs in one hand and a tall kettle in the other. She sat down one the right side of the bed and put the kettle down on the nightstand. Zach could smell coffee.

“Sleep well?” she asked as she grabbed one of the mugs and poured a cup of coffee.

“Yes, this was really comfortable,” Zach said. He sat up and poured himself a cup as well.

“Good, because we're probably going to crash after today.”

“Is the trail going to be that bad?” Zach asked, blowing on his coffee before taking a sip.

“I think we should do the lake trail. It's gorgeous, but there are some pretty steep parts, and the entire trail is about eight miles long.”

“Well jeeze,” Zach said, taking another sip. “I'm glad I took the time to exercise every day. Otherwise going from sitting on my rear for ten hours a day to this would probably end up killing me.”

Nora laughed. “That's one thing you can say for this place. As much fun as the virtual world is, you don't get the feeling that you get in the real world. You don't feel your muscles burning, or have trouble catching your breath when you're winded. I mean, you feel it to some degree, but it's just not the same as what you get in the real world.”

“Some people would want to be in a place where the painful things in life hurt a lot less,” Zach said.

“Mmm. Reminds me of a question that one of my sociology professors talked about. Will we end up in a society that lives almost permanently attached to a virtual world because it will provide the illusion of a utopia? A place where everyone is happy and all pain is gone.”

“Would it be an illusion, though?” Zach asked. “Or would it be an advancement?”

“It would be an illusion,” Nora said. “I was thinking about what you said last night, about the world having a soul because of what we put into it. I think that's true. But the world itself has no soul. And as soon as you fully lose yourself to that world, then you become soulless as well.”

“Do you think we're like that?” Zach asked.

Nora shook her head. “The virtual world is a big part of our lives, and there's no denying that. But it's not the only part of our lives. It's not all-consuming. Like you said, we can add soul to the world. And we can do that because the world is a part of the experience of our lives. But it's not the totality of our lives. I enjoy playing in the world. I also enjoy making music in the real world, with my own hands. It's all part of the experience that's life.”

“I think you're right about that,” Zach said. “I was so eager to get into game when it first came out. And you know why? It was because I wanted to experience the world with Selene and Danny. And then it turned into wanting to experience it with all of you. But if I didn't know anyone, if I was just in it to be the strongest or something, then I think it would have no soul.”

“Without the rest of them, the world just wouldn't be the same,” Nora said. “And I don't think that a virtual world where all pain was gone would be a place I would want to live. Some people might say that I'm a masochist for thinking that...”

“Are you?”

Nora flicked his ear. “Why would you want to know?” she asked.

“Seems like that might be an important detail, that's all,” Zach joked.

“I just think that it lacks the same meaning if it's easy. I just think you have to overcome in order to truly achieve. And that success without opposition isn't really achievement.”

“Next you'll be ranting about the poor state of the public school system,” Zach said, taking a another drink.

“Hey, I just think it means more if you overcome the odds, that's all. And I guess that's why the conflict against Ragnarok excites me quite a bit.”

“You're excited about it?” Zach asked. “Some of the others might think you're crazy.”

“No matter how real it seems, we're playing a game. And if you can't have fun playing a game, then you've managed to suck the soul out of it,” Nora said. “I think that's why enjoy what we do so much. We look for challenges. We take risks, and it's all the more satisfying when we manage to pull it off.”

“But we've always managed to pull it off. What happens if we don't succeed this time?” Zach asked. “What happens if we lose?”

“Then we start from scratch and build our way back up again,” Nora said.

“We'll have lost almost six months of progress. Everything leading up to that will have been a waste,” Zach said.

“Will it?” Nora asked. “Is the greatest thing what we've achieved, or what we did to get there? Because I know that if I stopped playing right now, the things I would remember wouldn't be the thing we built, or what level and skills I had. I'd remember the trying to clear the overdrive bunker. Or the battle for Lerna. That's what I enjoy most. Not just getting there, but how we get there. And plus, it wouldn't be all that bad. I have a group of good friends that I probably never would have met if it weren't for the adventures we had in there.”

“And we have each other,” Zach said.

“Yeah, I guess you'll do,” Nora said as she snuggled up beside him. “Take a look at that.”

Zach looked over through the window across from them to see the sun peeking up over the tree line, silhouetting the forest of tall pines. The lake below them was a beautiful pink-red color, illuminated by the rising sun.

“There's one sight that you'll only see in this world,” Nora said.

“Yes. And I'm glad we're here to see it,” Zach said.

The trail ahead was steep, just like the last two hills had been. Zach grunted and pushed himself up the slope, relying heavily on his walking stick to help himself up. They had traveled about half the trail, and it was getting harder and harder as they went. The first mile had been easy, a walk over what had essentially been flat land. The second mile was a bit more difficult, with the land starting to slope upward, but still plenty doable. But then it started to get rough in the third mile, and the rises became steeper and steeper. Now, part way through the fourth mile, the slopes of the hills they had to climb were suddenly very steep.

“You weren't kidding about this,” Zach said. Despite the cool weather he was sweating a lot.

“We're almost at the end of the upward part of the trail,” Nora said. “The rest of it is downhill.”

“That's good, because I don't think I could do another four miles like this,” Zach said.

“Oh come on, we have three more trails to walk,” Nora said. “And this isn't even the hardest one out here.”

“You're not having an easy time with this either,” Zach commented.

Nora wiped the sweat off her brow. “Yeah, exercising in a gym can only do so much for you. But I'm not going to quit. I do this every year, and this one's not going to be any different.”

“Every year?” Zach asked. They were nearing the top of the hill.

“Yeah. Since I was old enough to drive, I would come out here every spring and hike the four trails. It felt good, you know? I could get outside after the long winter and stretch my legs, breathe the fresh air. It's just something I'd miss otherwise living in the city.”

“Ugh, the last time I remember my legs burning like this was high school track,” Zach said.

“Did you not like track?”

“No, I loved it. Even with all the hard work, running just felt good. I ended up running the 2000 meter steeplechase my senior year. I guess for me it was just fun being able to push myself so hard and cross the finish line, even though I was running one of the hardest events.”

“Ah, so we're not so far apart on that view,” Nora said.

“Well, I also really don't like losing, so coming in last place would feel like a complete failure to me, regardless,” Zach said.

“I think too many things get turned into a competition,” Nora said. “Even if it isn't, people just seem to need to turn it into one, and I think that hurts how we view things a lot. There's a lot more to life than just coming in first place.”

“I hear that a lot,” Zach said. “But then people can never seem to come up with examples.”

Nora pulled him to one side as they reached the top of the hill. “Well, I have one for you,” she said. She led him through the trees and into a clearing. They were on the edge of a cliff, looking over the vast expanse of the lake beneath them. The water below was a shade of beautiful blue-green, surrounded by a sea of tall pines on the shore. The sun was out, and the warmth of its rays felt wonderful. A cool spring breeze blew by them.

“Think the climb was worth it?” Nora asked, taking a seat on a large rock behind them.

Zach joined her. “Point taken.” He leaned back and sighed. “It's tragic, really. You can go your whole life pushing, competing, trying to achieve something grand. And you can get more fulfillment in taking a walk somewhere for two hours than you can working the grind for twenty years.”

“I just think that everyone has a really screwed up perception about what's really meaningful,” Nora said. “Like, I got some really weird looks from people when I told them what my new job was.”

“Yeah, I can see why. It's not exactly what you would call traditional work,” Zach said.

“Yeah, but would I have gotten the same looks if I was the CEO of a successful company or something?”

“Well, you'd be respected because you would be putting a lot of work into running the company,” Zach pointed out.

“But that's just it. I'd be chained to my desk. I like where I'm at right now, because I have the time to experience all the small things in life. And I think that a lot of people are so focused on moving forward at all costs that they forget about them.”

Zach smiled. “This is probably the most existential vacation I've ever had.”

“Well, you're going to get that when you're dating me,” Nora said.

He took a deep breath of the clear air. “You know what? Forget about everything else. I'm more than happy to just stop and smell the roses right now.”

CHAPTER 20

Dive

“Oof. That's not good at all,” Nora said, looking at her phone. “Looks like the peace and quiet is over right now,” she said.

They had managed to hike all four of the trails around the lake, and still had time to hike the first trail another time. Zach had enjoyed himself immensely. It had felt good to be away from it all, away from the city and the chaos of the world. It had been so different being out in the middle of nowhere that the rest area they had stopped in felt like somewhat of a culture shock.

“Something up?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, there's been a lot of messages going out on the World at War app,” Nora said. “There have been several code yellow warnings, and last night it went to a code red, though it said that there's no declaration of war yet.”

Zach frowned. “Then why declare a code red?

“Well, we could message them to find out.”

“Might be something to do while we're driving back,” Zach said. It was going to take them at least a few hours to get back home to Chicago.

“Well, that's your thing then, since I'm driving” she said. “Plus, you're company commander. It's your responsibility anyhow.”

“Oh boy,” Zach said.

They finished eating and went back out to the truck. Once he had climbed in Zach took his phone out and opened up the World at War app. He started to type out a message to Selene and Danny. What's with the code red? he asked.

“Back to the grind, then,” Nora said as she pulled out onto the highway.

“Are you not having fun?” Zach asked.

“Oh no, I'm having a lot of fun. It's just that you sometimes need to be able to get away from the chaotic, frantic pace of it all,” she said. “Plus it looks like things are about to get crazy, and I definitely want to be around to be a part of that,” Nora said.

Zach's phone buzzed. Selene had responded. We have almost all of the Legion Pact in Hydra right now, but they took a beating. Ragnarok was really heavily armed, and we might be next. The rest of the council decided that putting us all on high alert was the best thing to do.

What do you mean by really heavily armed? Zach messaged back.

“Anything interesting?” Nora asked.

“Well, Liz's predication came true. Most of the Legion Pact joined up, but Selene says that Ragnarok was toting some really heavy firepower.”

“Such as?”

“She didn't really elaborate at all. I'm hoping that she might be able to tell me more.”

Another message came in on his phone. Zach opened it up. Reports from the Pact fighters say that they had belt fed automatic grenade launchers mounted on the back of ATVs. They also had RPG launchers. They're less powerful than our recoilless rifles, but they're also lighter and easier to aim.

“Belt fed automatic grenade launchers and RPGs,” Zach said. “That might put a damper on things.”

“Anyone inside a Mule screams big target for someone with an RPG,” Nora said. “There goes one of our trump cards.”

“I guess we're going to have to see once we get back,” Zach said. He pressed his head back into the seat and thought. How were they going to find a way to get out of this particular mess?

“Man, we leave for one week and everything goes to pieces,” Zach said.

“We more than doubled the number of troops at our disposal, so there,” David said.

The board room was much more crowded now. There were an additional eight companies with representatives on the council, so the once spacious room was now starting to get cramped. Currently, the representatives for Bravehart, Crimson Eagle, Band of Brothers and Marauder were present. Archangel, Ironfist and Storm Hawk were in the south with Grizzly training to become an armored cavalry company. Griffon was helping to provide protection for Hephaestus, who had started to make mining expeditions to feed the growing industry.

“This really doesn't look good,” Zach said. “Just how bad was Ragnarok's weaponry?”

“It was bad,” Cody said, fiddling with the collar of his uniform. Marauder had eschewed traditional camouflage and had chosen a red, black and gray pattern. That was essentially their dress pattern, however, and if they were going into combat they would change into a more suitable color.

“Just how bad?” Nora asked.

“The grenade launchers are really tough,” Cody said. “They use them to flush you out into the open because most cover isn't very effective against them. And once that happens, you're dead meat. And they can use their RPGs to take out strong points at range, and there's almost nothing we can do to counter that outside of using snipers.”

“Aren't they a lot less powerful than our recoilless rifles?” Nora asked.

“Yeah, but five or six shots will still do a number on a position. And they'll take out a watch tower in one shot.”

“That's going to be a real problem for our armored company,” Zach said.

“Well, we planned for it as soon as we found out,” Yusuf said. He sent him a codex entry. “We're still trying to get more of them built, but they'll help a lot.”

Zach looked over the codex entry. It was for a very heavily modified variant of the M14 Mule. The new model was called the M15 Ram. It was an enclosed version of the Mule, with much heavier armor on all sides. In order to compensate for the extra weight, the carrying capacity had been reduced. The Ram could carry eight troops, two less than the Mule, but it was going to be much less vulnerable to RPG hits.

“So we're switching to this?” Zach asked.

“For our front line squads. We'll still use Mules for transport and for getting people to the battlefield. And they should be fine as long as they don't have to engage in direct combat, but if we're going to fight head on then it's probably prudent to make sure our vehicles are heavily armored,” Yusuf explained.

“You said that Ragnarok was using ATVs?” Nora asked.

“Yes, we ran into problems with them,” Aaron of Band of Brothers said. He wore an all navy blue uniform. “They've grouped them into squadrons with around eight ATVs and use them to launch fast attacks on our flanks and rear. They've modified them so that they can carry a driver and a gunner, and they mount heavy weapons on the back.”

That was different from the ATV tactics that Hydra used. They used their ATVs as a means of transportation, to get troops where they needed to go on the battlefield. While they were capable of firing from the back of them if needed, Hydra troops usually dismounted and fought on foot. They had concentrated most of their mobile firepower into their armored vehicles, which were much better protected and armed, but also much slower.

“That's probably not going to stand up well to a fortress, or to an armored platoon,” David said. “They're a glass cannon. They're extremely powerful on the attack, but catch them in a slugging match and they're in trouble.”

“They use them very precisely, though. They'll pin you in place with their regular troops, then hit your weakest spot with their fast attack squadrons. And they're no slouches either. I'm guessing that they put their elite troops into them,” Bryce said.

“We might need to make our own ATV squadrons to counter that,” C.J., Crimson Eagle's commander, suggested.

“I think we can counter them without having to train squadrons like that,” Liz said. “Most of us can drive ATVs at this point, and it's more of a matter of getting the troops in place to counter them.”

“They're going to be really dangerous to armored units, though,” C.J. said. “It's going to be very easy for them to get in close and then hit them in their blind spots with grenades and rockets.”

“Our armored cavalry units have outriders,” David pointed out. “It's not the greatest force, but they'll have to get past the outer ring of ATV troops, and by the time that happens the troops in the APCs will have dismounted and would be ready to fight.”

“Those are still pretty dangerous,” Zach said. “Having a fast moving attack force means that they'll be able to dictate when and where they fight, which gives them the initiative.”

“Yeah, but we have limited options as to how we can deal with them,” David said. “We'll just have to buckle down and fight them as best as we can.”

“Unless we can catch them napping,” Anna mused.

“Just how are we going to do that?” Zach asked.

“Storage space in Old Chicago is really expensive. That means they're storing their ATVs somewhere outside the city.”

“So you're suggesting that we find out where they are and raid the compound, I'm guessing?” Zach asked.

“Actually, we know where they are,” Liz said. “Ragnarok has three major bases outside of Old Chicago. One is to the north, which they used for their fight against the Legion Pact. One's to the west of the city, which they're using against Ronin. And the third one is to the southwest. That's going to be the important one. The majority of their ATVs are stored there.”

“They have extremely tough defenses,” Bryce said. “We scouted the area as well, but it was going to be impossible for us to do anything against it.”

“What do they have?” Nora asked.

“They have a complex of bunkers and watchtowers that are equipped with heavy machine guns and grenade launchers. You'll need to have assault teams to take out the bunkers, and it's going to be a tough prospect regardless. Plus, if you don't do it quickly you'll have half of Ragnarok bearing down on you from the north.”

“So is the raid idea even possible?” Nora asked.

“Not from what I know,” Bryce said.

“And you'd be correct. There's no way we can take it with an attack from the north. But the defenses don't go all the way around. They're very sparse to the south,” Liz said.

“So we attack from the south then?” Nora said.

“There's no way to get there, though. The forest blocks off anything but light infantry for dozens of miles,” David said.

“Actually, that's not true either,” Anna said. “We've been scouting through the western forest. It stretches for miles, and it's hard country to traverse, but we think we might have a way for vehicles to get through.”

“Wouldn't Ragnarok know about it?” Zach asked.

Liz shook her head. “From personal experience, that place is a death trap. The monsters in that forest are pretty high level, and they're strong. We ran into a lot of Ragnarok corpses at their end of the forest, and it looks like they've been staying away.”

“How did you manage to scout the place, if it's so dangerous?” Aaron asked.

“Liberal heavy weapons use,” Anna said. “And we learned to stay together. Small scouting parties are extremely vulnerable.”

“So what's your plan of attack?” Zach asked.

Anna took out a large map and spread it across the table. “Alright, we're here, and the objective is here,” she said, pointing to two marks on the map. “About a mile south of here there's a thinner part of the forest. It goes all the way through to the other side, but it's extremely dangerous. We found a new species called fen wolves, and they are nasty. But troops in vehicles are almost completely immune to them. The only danger is for people in opened top vehicles, or in ATVs.”

“Our plan is to use Hydra's armored company to launch an attack through the forest,” Liz said. “We'll get in behind their defenses, then destroy their base from the south. After we achieve our objectives, we pull back into the forest and head for home.”

“Is the armored company ready to go?” Zach asked.

“We're short on Rams, but we should be fine regardless,” Yusuf said. “We'll have a third of the company mounted in Rams and the other two thirds riding in Mules and on ATVs. And we also have two Bulls to work with.”

“This kills the element of surprise we'd get if we saved our armored company for later,” David said.

“It also destroys one of their best strategic assets,” Anna said. “They're not going to be able to replace the destroyed ATVs easily. That's going to put a severe strain on their ability to fight us with good weapons. And it might push them to the point that they'll have to choose between having their ATV squadrons or being able to afford bullets.”

“Here's another question. If we go to war, then are we going to be able to make money?” Zach asked. “We won't be able to sell stuff in the Old Chicago markets easily.”

“We can deal with it,” Yusuf said. “All we need to do is keep the southern corridor to Old Chicago open. Doesn't your territory around the fort go right up to the safe zone around the city?”

“It stops a mile before then,” Nora said.

“Still, that's not a very large stretch of land. We can send the stuff we sell in vehicles, and all we need to do is guard the road. Plus, if they cut our trade route then they have no way of getting overdrive.”

“Unless they've stockpiled,” Zach said.

“There's still enough independent companies that we can sell goods to,” Liz said. “It's not like we need all that much money to keep going. Our biggest thing at the moment is getting our hands on fusion batteries, and we have a pretty good stockpile of them right now.”

“We can sell our goods in NPC cities as well,” Yusuf said. “It won't get us nearly as much money as we need, but it will be enough to float us.”

“Hey, if it gives us a victory that might be good enough to get Ronin in the fold,” Aaron said. “And that's when it would get interesting.”

“Is our ultimate objective still to take a full size city?” Nora asked.

“It is. But we're not going to be able to do it with Ragnarok breathing down our necks,” David said. “This isn't going to be about crushing them. We don't have the strength to do that right now. This is going to be so we can buy ourselves some time to take a city. Once that happens, we should be golden.”

“We still might be able to take them,” C.J. said.

“They have almost two thousand members right now,” Bryce said. “There's no way we can take them out at the moment. Better to hurt them and give ourselves time to find our own city to use.”

“Alright, this might not be the greatest course of action, but it sounds like it might be the most fun,” Zach said. “How are we going to do this?”

They started to hash out the details of the plan. Marauder and Crimson Eagle would take a distraction force and head to the north of the base. Meanwhile, the armored company would travel through the forest and attack from the south. They would have additional support in the form of troops from Black Wolf and Redd Foxx mounted in extra Mules. Their force would overrun the base from the south and either destroy or loot anything of value. Once they had accomplished their mission they would retreat back through the forest, with Redd Foxx and Black Wolf providing the rear guard. If all went well they would be gone before Ragnarok had any time to respond.

“This is quite the gamble,” Nora commented.

“Would you rather we spent our time sitting back and discussing figures again?” David asked. He would be commanding their forces around Lerna Bastion in case Ragnarok launched an attack while they were away.

Nora shook her head with a smile. “Not at all. Besides, I'm with Black Wolf. Crazy is our game.”

CHAPTER 21

Feast for the Crows

Anna and Liz had been right. Once they had gotten deep into the forest it became a death trap. Several times their column had to fight off attacks from fen wolves and swarms of ryches. They beat them off without taking any losses, but Zach was shocked by how aggressive they were acting. Normally creatures would steer clear of vehicles, but these ones went after them regardless and wouldn't stop attacking until they were all dead.

“Fun times, huh?” Selene commented from her seat next to him. She swapped out her empty magazine for a fresh one. “Who knew there were places like this so close to us?”

Black Wolf was bringing up the rear of the column, riding in a pair of Mules. They had taken the brunt of several attacks, mostly consisting of packs of fen wolves. They had used up a considerable amount of ammunition, but at least they could afford to do so, since they weren't going to be a part of the main attack.

All of the companies participating in the attack were out in full force. Gina had overall command of the operation, going by the call sign Hydra Lead. Under her were the armored platoons under Connor, going by Bear Lead, Ironfist's Tyler, going by Fist Lead, Storm Hawk's Lee, going by Hawk Lead, and Archangel's Mike, going by Angel Lead. Similar to their setup for the attack on Lerna, each squad went by their company name and a number. Separate from all that were the assault guns, call signs Hammer 1 and Hammer 2. Redd Foxx was being led by Anna, call sign Fox Lead, and Liz, Fox 1. And Black Wolf was divided up into the new sections led by Selene and Danny, with Zach in overall command.

“I wonder if we could skin the wolves for their pelts?” Logan ventured as they shot the last few wolves that had come out for the latest attack.

“What, are you thinking we wear a wolf pelt or something?” Joon asked.

“Yeah, why not? It'd give us a different look, at least.”

“Except we'd have to get out of the Mule to go get one, and do you really want to do that?” Gavin said from his position in the driver's seat. “Did you see how fast those things were moving?”

“You have to admit, that would look pretty cool,” Chris said.

“Maybe, but that would also kill our camouflage,” Selene said.

“The pelt probably has some sort of effect when it's worn,” Lyla said. She had been taking the time to expand her medic skills into trees like biochemistry and taxidermy. She had been able to find uses for things like chilus venom and ryche pelts, though there had been no significant breakthroughs yet.

“Yeah, but is that effect going to be worth getting our limbs chomped off?” Gavin asked.

“We never know unless we try,” Logan said.

“I'm not sitting here while you skin a corpse,” Leigh said.

“It could be a decent idea to explore later, but focus on our mission right now,” Selene said.

“The boss lady isn't any fun,” Chris said.

“I know, right?” Logan laughed.

“The boss lady is going to make you two walk if you're not careful,” Selene replied.

“We'll try not to run over your corpses on the way back,” Gavin added.

Everyone burst out laughing. The new recruits had begun to fit in well. There were more applications coming in, but they had decided to hold off on adding any new members until they could get the others acclimated. And by all standards it was going quite smoothly. Selene and Danny had divided the company up into two groups, which would become permanent formations.

Selene's group was Wolf 1, and she had taken Logan, Joon, Chris, Leigh, Lyla and Terra. She had also selected Miko, Gavin and Ethan to serve as the veteran backbone of the formation. Danny had taken command of Wolf 2, and had selected Scott, Colin, Avery, Andy, Jermaine and Joe, along with Xavier, Javy and Ryan as his veterans. Zach and Nora were paired together as Wolf Lead and would serve as the overall commanders of any operation. Eventually they hoped to add more troops to all of the sections, but for now the formation would serve them just fine.

The formations themselves were becoming very tight knit, and there was a friendly rivalry developing between Wolf 1 and Wolf 2. Part of that likely had to do with the rivalry between Selene and Danny that had always been there, but there was a competitive aspect that emanated from the others as well. Everyone wanted to have more kills, to take less losses, to find the most schematics and to be the best. And yet there was no real animosity there either. There was good natured taunting at times, but it was all in fun. They could rely on each other when the chips were down.

Zach's alert buzzed. “All units, this is Hydra Lead. We're pulling into position at the edge of the trees. Once everyone is in place we'll give the signal to launch the attack.”

The armored company would attack the rear of the base and simply roll over anything that got in their way. Redd Foxx and Black Wolf would provide cover at the rear and then cover their retreat.

Zach tuned his radio channel to the entire company. “Everyone loaded up and ready?”

The sound of reloading and a chorus of yeses filled the air. Zach could see the trees in front of them start to thin out. They were getting close to the end of the forest, though they still had some distance to go until they caught up with the lead elements. Their column had stretched for a quarter of a mile, and Black Wolf had slowed down at several points to keep the fen wolves off everyone else's backs.

“Zach, we're up in front with the attack force,” Anna's voice cut in on his radio. “We're going to launch the attack now so we don't get discovered. We'll provide the rearguard for now, and you can reinforce us once you get up here.”

“Sounds good,” Zach said. “We'll signal the others as well.”

“Alright, I'll relay that up to Gina,” Anna said. “See you in a few.”

Zach switched his channel. “C.J., Cody, you there?”

“Loud and clear,” Cody responded.

“We're ready to go. Code is Alpha Green,” Zach said.

“Time for us to do all the real work while you guys hog the glory,” C.J. commented.

“Hey, you're gonna get no argument from me,” Zach said. “I get to sit here as the rearguard and do nothing.”

“Hah, lucky.”

“We also get no experience and no loot from this either,” Zach said.

“Well have fun. We'll come bail you out when you get into trouble,” Cody ribbed.

“Oh, just go get yourselves shot already,” Zach said with a smile.

“Hah, got you riled up a bit. Raider Lead out,” Cody replied.

Zach brought up his map display and looked it over. “Anna, we're about two minutes from your position if we step on it.”

“Alright, but there's no rush,” she replied.

“Got that,” Zach said. He tuned his radio back to Black Wolf. “Gavin, Xavier, can we step on it a bit? We need to catch up to the main body.”

“Hold on tight, then,” Gavin said, just before the Mule lurched forward and sped up. Zach looked behind to see Xavier's Mule speeding up as well. Danny gave him a thumbs up from his position in the gunner's station, holding his trusty machine gun.

Zach looked back over Selene's section. They were ready. Despite their use of ammunition to fend off the wildlife attacks in the forest, they had more than enough left to fight a battle if needed. They had switched their camouflage pattern to a more suitable woodland color, a bark colored gray-green shade, with matching vests and webbing. It wasn't nearly as striking as their previous uniforms had been, but it would hide them better in these conditions. They were checking over their weapons and kit, making sure they had an accurate count of their ammunition and looking for any problems with their weapons. Zach took the time to make sure his carbine was properly loaded and in working order. The last thing he needed was for it to jam in the middle of a firefight.

“Once we get to the rearguard point, we're going to dismount,” Zach told everyone. “Keep your eye out for anything coming from the south, but we should be fine otherwise.”

“Copy that,” Danny replied.

Their pair of Mules emerged from the forest and headed toward the rendezvous point with Redd Foxx, located on a short ridge. The air was strangely quiet, though they could hear the faint sounds of gunfire and explosions filtering down from the north. It was probably from Crimson Eagle and Marauder launching their attacks at the main defenses.

He could see the armored company pressing ahead, heading for the main compound and its chain link fence. As Black Wolf ascended the ridge, Zach could see dozens of ATVs line up in neat rows in one of the courtyards. The sight of them all presented a tempting target.

“There aren't very many guards at this end,” Miko commented from her position in the back of the Mule. She looked through the scope of her rifle again. She had finally gotten her custom sniper rifle. It was base off of the basic bolt-action model, but had a different stock, an upgraded barrel, and it was fed with five rounds magazines instead of three round clips.

“Just as planned,” Selene shrugged.

“No, I count about fifteen player guards that I can see,” Miko said. “Isn't there supposed to be at least a platoon guarding the area?”

“So you think we might have just walked into a trap?” Selene asked.

“Where are the rest of them?” Miko shrugged.

Zach immediately got on the radio with Redd Foxx. “Fox Lead, this is Wolf Lead. Please respond.”

“Wolf Lead, this is Fox Lead. I hear you. What do you need?”

“Anna, Miko says that she can only see about fifteen player character guards down there. The rest are NPC troops. We might be walking into a trap.”

“If it's a trap, then I don't know where they're springing it from,” Anna replied. “We've scouted the area to the south for about two miles, and we have a picket line set up a mile to our south. We'll know if anything is coming.”

“Still, it would probably be prudent to get ourselves in a good position up here,” Liz said. “I'm going to have our troops dismount and start digging foxholes up here.”

“We'll join you as soon as we get there,” Zach said. “I'll spread the warning down the line to Gina.”

“Right. Redd Foxx out.”

Zach switched his channel. “Hydra Lead, this is Wolf Lead. My sniper advises that the base garrison is smaller than expected. We're wondering if they've got something planned and are digging in on the ridge.”

“Thanks for the warning, Wolf Lead. We'll keep our eyes open,” Gina replied.

Black Wolf pulled up to the top of the ridge and quickly dismounted, entrenching tools in hand. Redd Foxx was already hard at work digging themselves in. They were concentrating on getting positions for their heavy weapons prepared.

Liz saw him and signaled him over. “I think we should position the Mules so that they're protected behind the ridge. Make it so that only the gunner can see over the hill, and that should provide them with good cover. We don't want to end up with our transports getting destroyed.”

“That's what I was thinking as well.”

“Get your guys to move up, and I'll have the spotters put them in the correct positions.”

Zach activated his radio. “Xavier, Gavin, pull up along the ridge so that you're facing the south. Try to make it so that the only thing that's exposed is the gunner's station. Redd Foxx will help spot for you.”

Danny, Nora and Selene came jogging up. Anna came from the other side a moment later.

“This may be a bit paranoid, but better safe than sorry,” Anna said.

They turned around as they heard the sound of gunfire erupt behind them. The three Rams pushed forward and ran over the fence, machine guns blazing. Half of the Mules followed behind, crushing much of the fence and gunning down anyone who got in their way. There were a half dozen towers scattered around the base, but they proved of little use. Machine gun bullets pinged harmlessly off the hull of one of the Rams, before the offending tower was blown to pieces by a recoilless rifle round. Another one started firing off grenades, aiming for the Mules. The shots were getting uncomfortably close, but then the tower exploded. Hammer 1 had made its presence known.

“Man, they're getting clobbered,” Nora said.

“That's what happens when you leave your base unguarded from the rear,” Danny said.

Another tower blew up. Hammer 2 was inside the base perimeter now and started to shell the rows of ATVs. A half dozen were thrown into the air by the explosion. Hammer 1 blasted out the supports of another tower while the Rams pushed onward. Ragnarok was completely outmatched. They didn't have enough troops to defend the southern part of the base, and even if they did they were completely powerless against Hydra's well-trained armored company. All the time they had spent working together was finally paying off.

Anna activated her radio. “Raider Lead, Eagle Lead, this is Fox Lead. How's it going on your end?”

“Fox Lead, this is Raider Lead. Ragnarok is putting up a fight, but we're making steady progress,” Cody said. “How's it going on your end?”

“Ragnarok is putting up next to no resistance,” Anna said. “They're rolling over the base as we speak.”

“Great news,” Cody said. “Raider Lead out.”

“Good,” Anna said, turning back to watch the carnage with the rest of them. Grizzly, Archangel, Ironfist and Storm Hawk had dismounted from their transports and were sweeping through the base, but by now most of Ragnarok's troops were dead. The initial onslaught had taken out almost all of the garrison force, and every single one of the towers was gone. Their troops smashed their way through the last remnants of resistance.

But then Anna's alert went off. Liz's alert went off a split-second later. “Anna, Liz, you there?” a familiar voice asked.

“I hear you Will,” Anna answered.

“We've got a force approaching from the south, and they've got a lot of troops,” Will replied.

“Define what 'a lot' means,” Anna said.

“Somewhere between a hundred and two hundred,” Will replied. “They're on the move and they're coming in fast.”

“So they've sprung their trap, huh?” Liz said.

“Actually, I don't think this is a trap,” Will said. “They act like they've been surprised. It's like they're almost panicked. I think they were in the south when they heard the distress calls from the base, so they're booking it to try to get back in time.”

“Regardless, this isn't going to be pretty,” Anna said. “Keep tabs on them and report anything important.”

“They've have ATVs out in front. Be aware of that,” Will warned.

“Thanks Will. Stay alive,” Anna said.

The rest of them were already in motion. Nora was on the line with Gina. “Hydra Lead, we have Ragnarok troops coming up on our position, about a company in size. Be warned that they'll be on us in a few minutes.”

Danny and Selene had run off to join their own units. Liz was directing Redd Foxx's troops into place. And that left him.

“Raider Lead, Eagle Lead, be advised that we're coming under attack from Ragnarok troops to the rear,” Zach said. “We should be able to handle it fine, but stay alert.”

“Copy that Wolf Lead. Be aware that we're going to have company pretty soon,” C.J. replied.

“Shouldn't have opened your mouth about getting to do nothing,” Cody joked to lighten the mood.

Zach laughed. “At least you can't say we didn't contribute.”

Anna signaled the entire force on the ridge. “Everyone, we're about to come under attack from Ragnarok forces. They outnumber us by more than two to one. If we're driven back, there's a very good possibility that we're going to lose our armored forces. If we lose our best trump card then we're all going to be wearing Ragnarok colors within a week. Hold this position and make them pay for every inch of ground. Zach?”

She nodded to him Zach cleared his throat and spoke. “Alright people. We hold this spot until the last of us falls. Don't be wasteful with your ammo, but don't be stingy with it either. Our goal is to kill as many of them as we can.” He looked up over the ridge to see Ragnarok ATVs approaching. There were at least two dozen down there. “Black Wolf, Redd Foxx, crush 'em!”

One gunner tumbled off their ATV, shot through the head. Zach saw Miko reload and take aim again. Then the whole line erupted in smoke and flame. Heavies and the vehicle mounted guns opened fire at long range, sending a devastating barrage of lead at the approaching riders. Ragnarok had made a fundamental mistake. They had neglected to scout the area in front of them and had walked straight into an ambush.

The front line of riders fell off their ATVs, torn up by the hail of bullets thrown out by the machine guns or nailed with accurate shots from the snipers up on the ridge. The others behind them swerved, trying to avoid the tumbling bodies and vehicles ahead of them, but to no avail. The firepower that Redd Foxx and Black Wolf were throwing out was too great. One of Redd Foxx's heavies shouldered a recoilless rifle and fired. A pair of ATVs were completely disintegrated along with their riders. The remnants of the ATV force tried to turn around and flee, but again Hydra's firepower began to tell. Out of the half-dozen ATVs that had attacked, only five managed to escape the death trap. The rest of them had been cut down without mercy.

“That's the first wave gone, at least,” Liz said through the radio.

“Yeah, but that wasn't all of their force,” Nora pointed out. “They still have a lot of troops, and now they know that we're dug in up here.”

“Do we have the flanks guarded?” Zach asked.

Liz nodded. “There's a squad to either side in the woods. They'll use hit and run on anyone that tries to go that way, and they'll call for reinforcements if needed.”

“Are you sure that's going to be enough?” Zach asked.

“We don't have many more options,” Anna said. “If we send any more to the flanks then we'll weaken the center of our line too much.”

“We might be able to ask for more troops from the attack force,” Danny ventured.

“We'll see what they can do.” Anna got on the line with Gina. “Hydra Lead, this is Fox Lead.”

“I hear you Fox Lead. Holding up alright?”

“We took care of the first wave of attacks, but there's a lot more coming. We're concerned that we don't have enough troops to hold the line back here. Can you spare any reinforcements?”

Gina was silent for a moment. That didn't bode well, Zach thought. “We may be in a bit of trouble here. Raider Lead just told me that their picket lines up in the Old Chicago safe zone just spotted a Ragnarok force moving south, and it's pretty big. They've responded faster than we anticipated.”

“So do you suggest we break off the attack?” Zach asked.

“I don't think we can. The northern force can get away, but we're going to have to go through the forest. And if we have troops on our tail it's going to go very badly,” Gina said.

“How are they doing up north?” Liz asked.

“They're making progress. Most of the watchtowers have been destroyed, but they're still working on clearing out the bunkers.”

“I don't think we have to retreat,” Liz said. “I think we can fight a pitched battle against them and win.”

“Uh, are you crazy?” They have us hemmed in on two sides, and we're split into two groups that are cut off from each other,” Zach said.

“What do you have in mind?” Gina asked.

“Give us some reinforcements up here. We can hold the line against the Ragnarok forces coming up from the south. Then take the rest of the troops and go north to help out Marauder and Crimson Eagle. You should be able to take care of the defenses and have enough time to dig in before Ragnarok's main force gets here. Once they do they'll be facing you dug into a well fortified position. If we can wipe out their southern forces then we'll come up north to help you.”

“There's an awful lot of risk in this plan,” Gina said.

“Yeah, but it sounds like a ton of fun too,” Zach said. “And isn't that what we're here for?”

There was silence on the other end. “Well, we've achieved our objectives, anyhow. Let's see if we can do some more damage to them. Anna, I'm leaving you in charge of this part of the line. Storm Hawk will be coming to back you up. Hold the line, and deliver a knockout blow to them if you can. I'm going to take the rest of the armored company up north and help out Marauder and Crimson Eagle.”

“Got it,” Anna said. She adjusted her channel. “You there Lee?” she asked.

“Yeah, I hear you,” came the response.”

“OK, we're up on the ridge dug in,” she told him. “I'm going to send two more squads into the woods on each side to keep us from being flanked. Get up here as fast as you can and dig yourselves in as well. We're going to have a huge number of troops coming at us pretty soon.”

“Got it Anna. See you in a minute.”

She turned to Zach. “Any ideas on what they'll do?”

“Well, if I was attacking I would stack my forces against one of the flanks and try to overwhelm it,” Zach mused. “I would also use a frontal attack as a distraction so they couldn't reinforce it.”

“Right, but the forest is going to slow them down a bit,” Anna pointed out. “Two squads using guerrilla tactics should be able to keep our flanks clear. If we run into trouble they can always radio us for support. Can you put one of your squads on standby to reinforce them if there's trouble? I'll have them stay and fight on the front line, but if the flank needs help then they'll be the one to go.”

“Sure thing,” Zach said. He switched on his radio. “Danny, your squad is going to serve as the emergency backup for the flanks. Fight on the front lines, but be ready to pick up and move if you need to.”

“Will do.”

Will buzzed in. “Fox Lead, they're coming. I count around eighty or so coming up the center. Be warned that they're bringing a ton of firepower. A lot of heavies.”

“Thanks Will. Keep watching.” She sighed. “Well, it looks like they were trying to get the jump on us. Luckily we managed to strike first.”

“What do you mean by that?” Zach asked.

“The way their group is set up sounds an awful lot like one of the scouting formations we use,” Anna explained. “We use a forward scout element made up of light troops and fast moving ATVs, and then we back them up with heavy support teams. This sounds a lot like that, only on a much larger scale.”

“But you said that they're trying to get the jump on us?”

She nodded. “I'd wager anything that they're trying to find away around the forest so that they can surprise Lerna Bastion from the south.”

“Knowing them, they're probably on the horn with David acting all offended,” Zach said.

Anna smiled. “Yeah, that sounds a lot like them.”

“They're coming,” Selene warned, calmly but with a tinge of urgency in her voice.

Zach peered over the crest of the ridge. Squads of Ragnarok troops were advancing on them, trying to take advantage of any cover that the dips and brush provided. Their uniforms, a dull woodland pattern, made it hard to see them against from a distance, but it was clear that there were a lot of them. And Will was right, he noted as he looked at them through his binoculars. He counted a half dozen automatic grenade launchers, around ten or so machine gunners and three carrying RPGs. And those were the ones he could see; doubtless there were more of them in reserve.

“Hawk Lead, I need you up here fast,” Anna said. “I can't send my squads away until you're here.”

“Roger, we're moving as fast as we can,” Lee answered.

Zach looked back over his shoulder. Storm Hawk was coming, but it would be a few minutes. And judging from the look of things below, they weren't going to have a few minutes.

Anna tuned her channel to all present. “Target heavy weapons and leaders. Fire!”

Once again, a storm of bullets rained down on the enemy. This time, though, they were ready. A few of them fell, but most of the Ragnarok troops had found cover and stayed organized. There was no panic like there had been during the assault on the base with the armored company, or when they had managed to ambush the ATV squadrons. And then they opened fire.

Zach was forced to duck down into cover as Ragnarok returned the favor with a storm of lead and explosives. The sound was deafening; Ragnarok firing at the troops on the ridge, trying to keep their heads down, and Hydra firing right back.

“They're trying to send a squad off to the right flank,” Selene warned. “There's nothing I can do about it. They've got us pinned down pretty good over here.” She paused for a second. “Logan's down. Joon is patching him up. We-”

A series of explosions suddenly went off behind them. They were close enough to throw Zach off his feet, thought he managed to come through unscathed. He helped Anna up. “What the heck was that?”

“I think they've figured out how to lob grenades out of their launcher,” Miko said. “I think I know where they are, but I can't get a shot on them. They've positioned themselves behind cover.”

“So they're blind firing?” Zach asked.

“Hawk Lead, we're in serious trouble up here. Step on it!” he heard Anna say, her normally calm demeanor starting to become a bit frantic. Zach could hardly blame her.

“Fox Lead, Fox Lead, we're being attacked on the left flank.”

“I'm trying to get reinforcements to you Gwen. How long can you hold out?”

“They've got a lot of troops against my squad. We'll try to hold for as long as possible, but it's not going to be pretty.”

“I'll go with Danny's section and take charge of the left flank,” Zach said. “Send us reinforcements when you can.”

“Right, but I can't send all of them in case they decide to attack us on the right flank as well. Gwen's call sign is Fox 4. Link up with her and do what you can.”

Zach gave her a thumbs up. “Danny! Scramble for the left flank. Nora and I will be going with you. Selene, you're in charge of everyone else in the center part of the line. Mount up in the Mule and let's go.”

Danny was already in the Mule, firing bursts with his heavy machine gun. The rest of Wolf 2 mounted up in quick succession. Zach and Nora jumped after them. Xavier backed the Mule up, and a few seconds later they were racing to the left flank.

“Decided you wanted in on the fun, huh?” Danny asked.

“We're going to need as many guns as we can on this end of the line,” Zach said. “I'm supposed to have overall command of the left flank, but I think it's going to end up breaking down. I'll be following your lead if that happens.”

“Grand. Well, you guys get to experience one of our real operations first hand,” Danny addressed the rest of his squad.

“Haven't we already done several?” Joe asked.

“No, he's talking about how our big fights tend to turn into suicide missions where half of us die,” Javy said. “Although if you're quick and smart you'll probably make it.”

Zach tuned his radio. “Fox 4, this is Wolf Lead. Do you read me?”

“I hear you Wolf Lead,” Gwen responded. Zach could hear the sound of intense gunfire in the background. He could hear it getting louder in front of them as well.

“I have ten of us mounted in a Mule, plus the vehicle crew. We'll be there in a minute.”

“Can you set up a defensive line? It'll be a lot easier for us to use our stealth skills to break off than it will for you to to jump into the middle of a firefight.”

“You sure?” Zach asked. Breaking off from a firefight would be a difficult maneuver to pull off.

“Oh please, we're Redd Foxx, remember?” Gwen replied. Zach was pretty sure she was smiling on the other end.

Zach brought up his map. “OK, I can see where your marker is on the radar. We'll set up a line about two hundred yards to the rear of you and signal you once we're ready. Fall back as best as you can.”

“Got it. And make it quick. They're going to make this really tough pretty soon.”

Zach sent everyone a waypoint on their radar displays. “We're setting up our defensive line along this point. Get into cover and be ready to fend off a rush. Ragnarok has a lot of guys. And make sure that you don't hit Redd Foxx! They're going to retreat on my signal, so don't get them confused with the enemy.”

Danny looked back at his squad from his station. “We've trained for this. When we get to the waypoint, dismount and get into a line formation. You know where you're supposed to go. Everyone ready?”

A chorus of ayes and yeses met him. They were fast approaching the point of no return. Five hundred yards, then four hundred, then three hundred...

“Zach, Storm Hawk is at our section of line now,” Anna said. “I'm sending over two squads with Liz in command. They're on foot, so it may be a few minutes before they get there. Sorry, but we need the firepower from the Mules over here right now.”

“That's alright. Good to know,” Zach said.

The drop off point was in front of them. Xavier brought the Mule to a halt. Zach was amazed at how fast Wolf 2 managed to dismount. Most of them didn't even bother using the doors at the back. They simply leaped over the sides of the open top Mule to the ground below. Danny stayed at his place in the gunner's station, directing traffic. Zach and Nora made their way out of the back doors, struggling to keep up. It had been a while since they had been in the field.

“Danny, where do you want us?” Nora asked.

“Hang toward the center,” Danny replied. “Ryan and Joe, shift over to the right end of the line. Zach and Nora will take your spots. We'll see if our fearless leaders remember how to fight.”

Zach made his way to the center of the line and took up a position behind a twisted clump of trees. He noticed that Avery was hanging back about twenty yards, concealed by a tree and his camo cape. To his left, about thirty yards or so distant was Jermaine. Nora took up a position about thirty yards to the right.

“Alright, just as we've planned, except we have two more bodies,” Danny said. “If you're getting overrun, holler. Xavier and I will come back you up in the Mule. Otherwise, we're going to be back here taking pot-shots.”

Zach signaled Gwen. “Fox 4, Wolf 2 is in position. Fall back immediately.”

“Copy that, Wolf Lead.”

Zach heard the gunfire slacken, then stop. The woods became eerily quiet. Zach checked his carbine and grenade launcher one more time. He had ten magazines for the carbine and five grenades for the launcher. There was some spare ammunition in the Mule's storage containers, but none of them could count on being able to get there in the middle of a firefight. All of them would have to make their shots count until their backup arrived.

Fox 4 suddenly materialized out of the trees about twenty yards in front of them. He had seen it many times before, but Redd Foxx's stealth skills were still amazing to watch in action.

“You see us Fox 4?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, I can see you on radar,” Gwen replied.

“You see where the Mule is?”

“Yup, I can see that too.”

“Regroup around that, get your squad reorganized and act as the reserve to plug holes in the line. Any estimates on how many troops they have?”

“Probably around fifty or so. And we didn't take out too many of them either. It was all we could do to stay alive.”

“Got it. Be ready.” That certainly wasn't good. The rear line was overstretched as it was, and there was little hope for any more reinforcement. Most of them would be too busy fighting the main assault up on the ridge. They would probably have enough troops to hold their ground once Liz's group arrived, but until then they were heavily outnumbered. And there was a good chance that Liz would arrive to find nothing but corpses by the time she got there.

The terrain in front of them wouldn't help matters either. The forest was thick, and the line of sight was very poor. Open terrain would have favored them far more. Instead, the forest would allow Ragnarok troops to get in close and force them to fight at short distances, where their numbers advantage would really start to count. That would help short range classes like assaults and engineers, but it would hurt heavies and especially snipers, who counted range as one of their primary advantages.

Danny apparently had similar thoughts, because he buzzed them all. “Just like in the main line, don't be stingy with your ammo. Don't waste it, but we need to throw out as much firepower as possible. Try to make them think we have a platoon over here instead of two squads.”

Zach could hear rustling in the trees ahead of them. Ragnarok was advancing on them, though it sounded like they were being cautious. They had probably figured out that Fox 4 had fallen back to a new defensive line.

“Danny, I can hear them coming down the center,” Zach informed him.

“OK. Avery, you fire the first shots and make sure you get a kill. Everyone else, fire at targets of opportunity.”

The sounds in front of them were getting closer and closer. Zach gripped his carbine and aimed down the sights, waiting for someone to emerge. He could feel the tension in the air mounting. The cracking of branches and twigs coming from the front, the sound of gunfire from the front lines coming from the back...

Zach didn't even want to think about how it might be going up on the front line. They had better positions, but Ragnarok was bringing a lot more troops up there as well. This could very well turn into a complete disaster. And yet the prospect of it all thrilled him. Here he was, on the battlefield as a grunt. He wasn't thinking about the implications of the battle, or how it would affect Hydra's grand strategy, or his existential nature. He was simply in the moment, enjoying every second of it, whether they won or lost.

A figure emerged from the trees ahead of them, followed by another, and then another. It was an assault, a soldier and a heavy. “I'll take the heavy,” Avery said quietly.

Zach shifted his aim over to the assault, waiting for the first shot to be fired. The soldier was probably the stronger player, but the assault would be deadly in close quarters.

“There's a fireteam coming through the trees,” Ryan said from his position on the flank. “They're wary. Looks like they know we're here somewhere, but they don't know exactly where.”

“Hold fire till Avery takes his shot,” Danny reminded him.

Zach watched the group in front of them advance slowly forward. Another soldier came out of the brush and joined them. Onward they crept, closer and closer. Zach wondered why Avery was taking so long to make the shot....

CRACK! CRACK!

The sound of Avery's paired shots broke the calm. The heavy fell like he had been hit with a hammer, shot in the head twice. Zach smiled to himself. That was what had taken him so long. Avery had waited to fire until it was impossible for him to miss.

The three survivors tried to duck for cover, but it was too late. Zach opened fire on full auto and caught the assault with a quick burst. To his right, Nora made a trio of excellent shots on semi-auto that hit the first soldier in the chest, knocking him off his feet. The second soldier almost managed to get behind a tree when she fell, punched over by a long burst from Jermaine's submachine gun.

Zach quickly scanned for more targets, but there were none in view. He could hear gunfire echoing up and down the line; the ripping sound of submachine guns that fired so fast it was hard to distinguish individual shots, the slower, steadier pace of assault rifles, the deeper roar of machine guns and the occasional loud crack of a sniper rifle. There was especially intense fire coming from the right flank.

“Danny, we're getting hit pretty hard over here,” Ryan said. “They have at least two squads coming at us.”

“Fox 4, can you go take care of that?” Danny asked.

“Will do Wolf 2,” Gwen responded.

That sounded bad, but Zach barely had time to think about it. A wall of lead suddenly came flying out of the trees. Zach had to hug the ground as tightly as possible to avoid being shot. The trees above him showered him with chunks of bark and splinters of wood. Ragnarok had a couple of heavy weapons, at least. Another set of paired shots echoed from behind him, and the fire slackened off a bit. But then there was a blast of smoke and flame in front of them, followed by an explosion behind them. Avery's marker on his radar suddenly disappeared.

“Danny, we just lost Avery. I think they shot him with an RPG,” Zach warned.

“Understood. Be aware that I can't risk the Mule unless you take him out first.”

“Yeah, I hear you Danny,” Zach said. His mind raced, thinking about what to do. He grabbed one of the grenades off of his belt and popped it into the launcher. “I'm going to try to grenade them. Give me some cover.”

Nora and Jermaine increased the rate of their shots at the enemy. Zach waited for a second, then leaned around the tree he was sheltering behind and fired off his grenade. He got back into cover just before a score of bullets passed through where he had been a half-second before. The grenade went off, and the fire from the Ragnarok side suddenly stopped.

“I think I took care of the Ragnarok heavy weapons in the center,” Zach said to Danny.

“Great. We're holding, at least.”

But then a series of explosions went off along the right flank. Several markers disappeared from the radar.”

“Danny, they've got an auto grenade launcher up here. We just lost Scott and Colin,” Ryan said. That was critical. The only other heavy in the squad was Danny, who was currently in the Mule, and Nora and Xavier were the only soldiers. They were occupied as well.

“Fox 4 is coming to help Ryan. Try to take out the gunner in the mean time.”

Gwen cut in. “Wolf 2, the back half of my squad is pinned down under enemy fire. We're short of where we need to go. I'm going to take the four that can still go and try to back up Ryan's group.”

“Copy that. Do what you can,” Danny said, sounding frustrated. Zach shared that sentiment. Ragnarok was fighting hard, and fighting well. They were using their numbers intelligently. Instead of a straight rush they were probing the line, looking for the weak and strong points. Once they found them, they went to work. Strong points were leveled with overwhelming firepower, as poor Avery, Colin and Scott had discovered. And once they found a weak point, they would be sure to smash their way through with overwhelming force.

Zach ducked behind the tree again as bullets started to fly in from the other side again. This wasn't suppressive fire. These bullets were aimed directly at him.

“Liz? How far out are you? Danny asked. “We're getting clobbered here.”

“Give us five minutes. We're moving as fast as we can,” Liz replied.

“We don't have five minutes!” Danny insisted.

“OK, we'll do our best.”

Zach's alert beeped. It was Gina. “Zach, I can't raise either Anna or Lee. Do you know what's going on with them?”

“No, I'm over on the left flank,” Zach told her. The fire from the other side slackened a bit. “I'll try to find out.” He switched his channel. “Selene, where are Anna and Lee at?”

The line was quiet. “They're both down,” Selene finally responded. The gunfire in the background was extremely intense. “I ended up in command up here.”

“What happened?” Zach asked.

“They got sniped. By someone really good.”

Zach got a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Does that mean-”

“Yup. We think it's the Wraith,” Selene responded. “He's choosing his spots and going after the leaders only. But it's working. They really have us in a pinch up here.”

“We're not going to be much help either. We're getting crushed as we speak,” Zach said. A further burst of gunfire that splintered even more of the tree only serve to accentuate his point.

“We're going to try what we can.” She stopped talking for a moment. “There goes that plan. Ethan tried to hit his position with a recoilless rifle and just got shot in the head. We might be screwed.”

“Do what you can.” He switched his channel back. “Gina, Anna and Lee got sniped. The enemy coming up the middle has the Wraith with them.”

“Understood, but we can't send you backup. We're getting pretty hammered up here as it is.”

“Alright. Wolf Lead out.” Selene was right. They were in for a world of hurt, and they had no way to retreat or call for more reinforcements because of the dangers of the forest. And even if they could get backup, it would never arrive here on time.

Zach wracked his brains, trying to come up with a way to turn the situation in their favor. He brought up his map again. Liz's group was nearing there line, but even with those reinforcements the best they could do was hold the line. And if the defense on the ridge failed they were going to be surrounded and shot to pieces. It was definitely a desperate situation...

“Danny, can you send one of Liz's squads up to the center of the line?” Zach asked. Something exploded in front of him, causing him to hug the ground even tighter. It sounded like someone had thrown a hand grenade at him.

“Yeah. You have a plan?”

“We're not getting hit from the left flank,” Zach said. “They want to flank us? Two can play that game. Send the other Redd Foxx squad around our left flank and hit them. We might be able to roll up the line if this works.”

“Our own line has to hold out,” Danny said. “This isn't going to work if we get pushed back.”

“We're going to have to make a gamble,” Zach said.

“Yeah, and I think this is probably a good one. Liz? I need you to send one of your squads to the center of the line and one of them to the left flank. The one on the left flank is going to need to launch an attack on the Ragnarok positions. Use your stealth skills, get in close and let 'em have it.”

“You don't ask for much, do you?” Liz commented dryly. “I'm going to be leading the flanking squad. Try not to hit us.”

“Will do. Guys on the left flank that aren't engaged, go with Redd Foxx. We need to have as many troops as possible to push through the center,” Danny ordered.

The fire from the other side was getting extremely intense. “Danny, they've got a bead on me,” Zach warned. “I'm going to start firing off my grenades before I get shot.”

“Do what you need to,” Danny said.

Zach loaded a grenade into the launcher and blind fired it toward the direction of the enemy. He quickly loaded and leaned out of cover, hoping to hit them again. But then he realized he had made a mistake. A big one.

For an instant, it felt like he had been punched in the head. Then everything around him went black. The red letters flashed up in front of him. You are KIA, they read. And then he was back at Black Wolf Headquarters, in the lower lounge area. Almost half of the company was already there.

“Great, so you died too?” Logan said. “That's not good.”

Zach looked around. Most of the others were from the new recruits. He saw Logan, Leigh, Terra, Avery, Joe, and Lyla. He knew that Scott and Colin had been shot as well, and Ethan was there from the more veteran players. And then there was him.

Two more people materialized in front of them. The first one was Jermaine. And the second one was Nora.

“Oh jeeze, that can't be good,” Zach said as he saw her.

Nora fell back info one of the chairs, laughing. “No, we're pretty well screwed. Last I heard Liz's squad ran right into an ambush and got shredded. We were starting to fall back when I ended up getting shot.”

Javy appeared in front of them, shaking his head. “Wow, that was bad,” he said.

Zach looked over at Nora. “You know what you said about how overcoming the odds makes everything more satisfying?”

She gave him an icy smile. “Yeah.”

“This isn't very satisfying.”

“Oh, you think?”

CHAPTER 22

Howling

SWISH!

“Hah! Three points,” Zach said with a fist pump. It was a lucky shot, to be sure, but at least he could contribute to his team. He was still very hit or miss, but he had improved over the course of the spring.

“Yeah, yeah, talk when you win,” Selene said. She passed the ball to Javy, who threw it up for Xavier. He slammed the ball down with authority.

It had been a week since the debacle at the Ragnarok base. Hydra had suffered heavy casualties in the attack. Almost half their force had been killed in action. Redd Foxx and Black Wolf had suffered horrendously. Barely a dozen of them had managed to make it out alive. The rest of them had been slaughtered as the rearguard.

There had been one saving grace, however. Hydra had managed to get away with all of their vehicles in working order, albeit heavily damaged. The crews at the rear line had retreated north and linked up with the main force, leaving the rest of Storm Hawk, Redd Foxx and Black Wolf to hold the line. Once they reached the main force the survivors had punched their way through Ragnarok's lines and ran for home. They had managed to salvage something out of the whole debacle. And Ragnarok's ATV force had been completely crippled. But there was no way to dress it up. Hydra had been defeated in the field, and they all knew it.

He turned his attention back to the game as his team grabbed the ball. Nora passed it over to Danny, who tossed it over to Miko. She lobbed it past Gavin's outstretched arms into Zach's hands. He dribbled, trying to figure out what he wanted to do. He started to push forward toward the basket but was blocked off by Javy. Thinking on his feet, he tossed the ball back over to Nora. She grabbed the ball, charged in and sank a jumper.

“Getting faster,” Javy commented as they sprinted back down the court.

“Everyone's getting faster,” Selene said as she grabbed the ball. She tried to make a move past Miko, but the ball was suddenly swatted away. “See?”

“Have you been practicing without us?” Xavier asked. He sprinted into position to guard Nora, breathing heavily.

“No, this just feels a lot more natural. It's like I can think quicker than I could before,” Miko said. She tossed the ball to Danny, who drove in and made a layup.

“I noticed that too,” Zach said. “It's like I'm able to react quicker.”

“Is is a side effect of the game?” Miko asked.

“Could be,” Danny said. “Being in a lot of high pressure situations in the game might be making us think a lot faster.”

Zach's watch started to beep. “Crap. It's noon already.” They had an afternoon meeting with Dr. Unger.

“Call it a tie?” Selene suggested.

“We're winning by six points!” Danny protested.

“We can keep playing,” Selene said,

“Uh, I want food,” Zach said.

“Yeah, I do too,” Nora agreed.

“What, you're all giving up on me?” Danny said.

“Call it a forfeit on account of hunger,” Zach said.

“Great. I can never get a win over Selene,” Danny said. “I just want one win, that's all. Just one!”

“If it makes you feel better, I'll buy lunch for everyone,” Selene said.

“OK, that I can get behind. Where are we going?”

“Anyone want pizza? Selene suggested.

“Chicago or New York style?” Miko asked.

“Does it really matter?” Danny asked.

“I'm originally from New York. Of course it matters,” Miko said.

“Lombardy, then? They do several different styles,” Gavin suggested.

“I'm fine with that,” Miko said. They grabbed their bags and headed out.

“I wonder how this meeting is going to go over,” Xavier said as they walked.

“Same as usual, I'm guessing,” Gavin said.

“Eh, I think we're going to get a lot of questions about our attack. Why did we do it? Why did we not bother to use diplomacy on Ragnarok? That type of thing. They're very big on having a normal, functioning society inside the game world.”

“What, in a world where everyone's a sociopath and there's no consequences for killing? That would probably explain why we're all chomping at the bit to fight,” Gavin said.

“Sure, we know that. But just watch. They're going to ask us that.”

Xavier's prediction was spot on.

“Why did you decide to attack Ragnarok without warning, and without trying to find other solutions?” Dr. Unger asked.

“Well, we decided that it was in our best interests to hit Ragnarok with a surprise attack, given the fact that we felt that war was completely inevitable. This seemed like our best bet,” Nora explained.

“So you wanted to use your advantages while you still had the ability to do so?” Dr. Unger asked.

“Basically, yes.”

“But why continue to fight when you became hopelessly outnumbered?”

“It felt like the best thing to do,” Selene shrugged from her end.

“Yeah, it just felt natural. We hold the line against all odds and somehow come out victorious,” Danny said.

“But you lost,” Dr. Unger pointed out. “So why take such a risk?”

“It's probably because, even though it was nonsensical, it was still the best thing to do,” Xavier said.

“So you felt that even though you stood to lose much, in the long run it would serve to further your greater goals?”

“I don't think it's anything so grandiose,” Zach said. “Sure we're trying to crush Ragnarok's ATV force, which would have helped us in the war. But I think we did it because it sounded like the most fun.”

“Oh?” Dr. Unger asked.

“I'd say that's right,” Xavier said. “Heck, I think we do everything because it's the most fun.”

“Yeah, that's why I'm still here,” Gavin said.

“I think that's why we do reckless things. Because they're the most fun, and there's no serious consequences for failing at them,” Miko said.

“But doesn't that destroy the meaning of everything? If there's no consequences, then there's no meaning to your achievements. They're simply a matter of pressing forward until you get lucky,” Dr. Unger pointed out.

“I don't think that there's no consequences,” Nora said. “There's certainly a lot at stake when we fight. It's frustrating to lose experience points, and losing your equipment is also really bad. Plus, being shot hurts. But I think the fact we can't die takes a lot of the fear out of everything. And that's the point. We still have to deal with pain, but the fear of death is gone. And without that fear, we can really enjoy what we're doing.”

“I second that thought,” Selene said. “A lot of the reckless things we do would be stupid in real life, but we can enjoy trying them anyhow, and you know why? Because the fear of death is gone.”

“I said something about this earlier. Everyone in the world would be considered a sociopath in normal society, because we're all in it for the fun, and what we do is determined by how much fun we can have,” Gavin said.

“So you're saying that a virtual world society can't be judged by the standards of the real world?” Dr. Unger asked.

“I think it might be difficult,” Gavin said.

“And I think the society in this virtual world is going to be very different for one reason. It's not driven by the need to survive, like the real world. It's driven by the need to have fun,” Danny said. “And I think that element has to be there for the world to continue to exist. Because when it stops being fun, that's when the world dies.”

Nora smiled and nodded. “Zach and I had a similar conversation,” she said,

Dr. Unger answered with a smile of his own. “And that's why we're doing this study. To see how a virtual society will differ from a real world society, and how the two might alter one another. And I think you're exploring uncharted territory.”

“Are there monsters waiting for us?” Javy asked.

Dr. Unger laughed. “Maybe.”

“Ready?” Nora asked as she tossed Zach his neuro-helmet, just before putting on her own.

“Yeah, I'm ready.” He started to put in on. “You know, this would have been the lamest idea for a date five years ago.”

Nora laughed and put down her visor. “Things change fast. See you on the other side.”

Zach flipped down his own visor and activated the neuro-helmet. The welcome message flashed before him, and then he was in Black Wolf's base once again. He joined the others that were already there, grabbing weapons and ammunition for their next expedition.

His alert buzzed. “You're finally on? Good,” David said.

“Has anything changed?” Zach asked.

“No. Ragnarok has issued their threats again, but they haven't made any moves toward us yet. It looks like they may be shifting their focus toward Ronin's group. Do we still want to go ahead with the plan?”

“Yeah, I think we should,” Zach said.

“OK, I'll see if I can get Bravehart and Crimson Eagle straightened out,” David said. “Talk to you once that's done.”

“Everyone's here,” Selene said.

Zach looked over his assembled troops. From the ones who had been there from the beginning to the newest recruits they were ready, armed to the teeth and spoiling for a fight. He smiled.

“Alright then. Time for us to go find some trouble. Let's go kick the hornet's nest.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mitchell T. Jacobs was born in Anyang,

South Korea and was adopted at an early age.

He currently resides near Ithaca, New York.

Like on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/blackwolfworldatwar?ref=hl

Follow on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MitchellTJacobs

Table of Contents

- CHAPTER 1
- CHAPTER 2
- CHAPTER 3
- CHAPTER 4
- CHAPTER 5
- CHAPTER 6
- CHAPTER 7
- CHAPTER 8
- CHAPTER 9
- CHAPTER 10
- CHAPTER 11
- CHAPTER 12
- CHAPTER 13
- CHAPTER 14
- CHAPTER 15
- CHAPTER 16
- CHAPTER 17
- CHAPTER 18
- CHAPTER 19
- CHAPTER 20
- CHAPTER 21
- CHAPTER 22