Deception City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 5) (7 page)

Zach shook his head. “No, he gave me de facto permission to ask you about it.”

“Did he really, or are you just telling me that?”

“He mentioned you by name. Said that it would probably slip to a person or two.”

“And I was the example?”

Zach rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, you were the example he named.”

Nora laughed. “Well, that’s not exactly a huge secret. I never mentioned that we were dating, but everyone knows, so it probably got to him through the grapevine.”

“Still, it’s a little embarrassing when your potential boss starts making mention of your love life out of nowhere,” Zach said.

Nora giggled. “Oh, I know. I’m such an embarrassment.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know, but that scowl always amuses me.”

Zach put a hand over his mouth and tried not to smile. “Still… What am I supposed to do?”

“Can’t help you there. You’ll have to decide that for yourself.”

And that could take a while, Zach thought to himself. A very, very long while.

T
he landscape zoomed
by the train car’s window. Selene sat leaning up against the side of the car, idly watching the scenery pass by. Not that there was much of note. She had a choice between either watching open fields, or watching thick forest. The area around Old Chicago certainly lacked terrain variation.

But she wasn’t here to sightsee. Zach had ordered her south to Indianapolis, where she had several task to perform. From their forward base in Racine she first took the water route to Hydra’s main port along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, about where Gary would be in the real world.

From there she had climbed aboard the train running between the port and Lerna Bastion. After the trip and a brief stopover, she had boarded a second train and was now headed south for Indianapolis.

So many changes in such a short period of time. Selene could remember when transporting troops and material between locations took hours upon hours, or even days. They had to either haul it by Mule transport, put it on the backs of ATVs or lug it by foot. None of those options were terribly quick, and the amount they could actually transport remained limited.

But the railway changed all that immensely. Reflecting on it, if Selene had to name Hydra’s most valuable assets, the first would be Lerna Bastion, the second would be Hephaestus Forge, and the third would be the railway. Their air force, their navy, their armored battalion, all those were the flashy and showy toys of the alliance, but World at War operated on a much deeper level than that. Logistics ruled all.

The greatest strength of the most powerful alliances wasn’t their numbers, or their technology, or even the swathes of territory they held, but their ability to move, control and supply large numbers of troops in a coordinated fashion. Many players never participated in a group larger than a small platoon, due to how difficult it was to coordinate and supply a group larger than that. Both Hydra and Ragnarok could do that in their sleep, though.

Selene had just been a part of a major operation involving hundreds of troops spread over a wide area, coordinating several different units along with naval, air and artillery support. And Ghost Battalion had performed like it was nothing.

That skill was what truly separated Hydra and Ragnarok from the rest of the pack. Ronin’s alliance lagged in a distant third because they lacked the logistical ability to properly command the forces they could bring to bear. It was no surprise that their greatest victories had happened when they were cooperating with the Hydra Alliance, because they could cover for Ronin’s deficiencies in those areas.

It had taken a long time for Selene to realize this side of things. Early on she had been little more than a grunt, focusing on little more than the next fight. Command and logistics could be left to people like Zach and Nora who were more inclined toward that sort of thing. But as Black Wolf Company grew, as the alliance expanded, she found herself becoming more and more immersed in the areas that didn’t involve combat. The change really started to take hold when Ghost Battalion had formed and Alpha Wolf could truly be called a platoon. She had to pay attention to how and when her troops were supplied.

And while it wasn’t her favorite thing in the world, Selene found herself enjoying the logistical side of things more than she thought she would have. She could see how hard and how efficiently they were fighting from the amount of ammunition they expended. She could make sure they received the proper equipment when it was time to go on the offensive.

And then, there were the new toys that came along now and then. Receiving a new set of equipment was almost like opening a present on your birthday, and Selene enjoyed that feeling for all it was worth.

But her newfound knowledge of logistics also made her keenly aware of just how valuable their system was to the alliance, and how much of an advantage it gave them. This railroad might be their most astonishing feat.

All of Hydra’s industry was located in Indianapolis, mostly in the Central City District. If they had to rely on truck or Mule their supply lines would probably be extremely strained by now. They definitely couldn’t provide enough ammunition for the front lines as needed, especially with the fierce fighting that currently raged.

But the rail line allowed them to move supplies from Indianapolis to the north at rapid speed, and they could carry vast quantities in one train load. That alone gave them a huge advantage, but it didn’t stop there. Trains could be used to transport troops as well. In fact, one of their first objectives in the coming campaign was to secure a route for a rail line into southern Milwaukee. Once they had that, they could flood their forward base with ammunition, supplies and troops.

The railway gave them a huge advantage, but how much would it matter in the coming campaign? Ragnarok lacked similar capabilities, but their supply lines were much shorter. They could afford to use truck convoys because they could make multiple trips in a relatively short period of time.

The supply war, Selene thought to herself. Something that most players never even thought about, but upon which everything hinged.

She glanced back into the train car and caught the eye of Blake, who sat across from her.

“Excited?” he asked.

“I’d think you would be more excited than me,” she responded. “The new toys are for you guys.”

“Yeah, but you get to fly in them,” Blake pointed out. “Just think, you don’t have to go into battle flying through the air on a board.”

“Put that way, I’d say that’s a welcome change,” Selene agreed with a smile.

She loved the Hornet for its versatility and ability to drop troops in tight locations, but the helicopter certainly had its shortcomings. It was a small multirole craft, able to perform many tasks but not especially proficient at any of them. It could act as a gunship, but its size limited the payload it could carry. It could transport troops, but the riders had to sit outside on bench seats, exposed to the elements and enemy fire.

But another option had finally arrived. Working through the massive backlog of schematics, Hephaestus Company had constructed a prototype of a new helicopter, bigger than a Hornet. It would be a dedicated transport, capable of carrying ten troops in its hold. Unlike the Hornet it could also act as a cargo transport ferrying heavy weapons and ammunition wherever it was needed.

Hephaestus also indicated that it could possibly be used as a gunship if outfitted correctly, though more tests were needed before that became practical. But the prototype helicopter was ready to be tested, and if it passed then they could begin full-scale mass production.

The addition of the new weapon could drastically change the dynamic of their war, both on the tactical and on the strategic level. Having a proper transport helicopter would help them to concentrate more troops in each landing, but the effect would be even more widespread than that. Right now, Ghost Battalion could only transport about a third of the battalion by air, even if they used every Hornet at their disposal. Their effective number was even less, since they needed helicopter gunships to provide cover for a landing force.

But the addition of new airframes would increase the number of troops they could transport at one time, and that could be a deadly trump card at their disposal. An airmobile platoon or company was dangerous enough. If Ghost Battalion could move its entire strength through the air at once, that opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

And once that news reached Ragnarok, they would have to find some way to compensate. Their enemy’s best raiding force could show up anywhere and everywhere without warning, and that was something they wouldn’t be able to ignore.

“You look pretty happy about it,” Blake commented.

“Well, I am,” Selene shrugged.

“Maybe that’s not the best way to put it,” Blake corrected himself. “You look giddy? That might be the word I was looking for.”

Selene frowned. “I do?”

“Well, you look really, really happy.”

“I didn’t think I was that excited,” Selene said. “I mean, yeah, I’m glad we have new equipment, but it’s not like we won some ridiculously hard battle or took a district.”

“Yet you still look giddy,” Blake said. “I can understand that, though. I’m really looking forward to finally getting my hands on the controls of that thing.”

“I’ll bet,” Selene nodded, trying to shift attention away from herself. Did she really look that happy about it?

“Are you coming up with me?” Blake asked her.

“I wasn’t sure what I was going to be doing, to be honest,” Selene admitted. “Zach told me he wanted me along to make arrangements and get a good feel for the new chopper... excuse me, helo,” she corrected herself.

“That’s better,” Blake said with a smile.

Ghost Battalion, even Raven Flight, had been using the wrong abbreviation for their helicopters until Blake had finally corrected them. It was ‘helo’, not ‘chopper’, according to him. They had immediately tried to adjust, mostly because Blake was an actual army helicopter pilot in the real world. There were still occasional slipups, but most of the time they still remembered.

As for why they took all the time and effort to use correct terminology in a virtual reality, she couldn’t say. Maybe it was just a habit, to correct themselves when some flaw was pointed out, even when it didn’t matter at all.

“He wants me to get a good feel for the new helos,” she continued. “Mostly so we have an idea of what we can do with them, and how we can train with them.”

“Makes sense,” Blake agreed. “I’ll do what I can to field suggestions as well. It’ll definitely go a lot smoother if the crew and the transported troops can work together as a team.”

“Definitely,” Selene nodded. No matter what kind of technology they gained, or how much the battalion expanded, they would always rely on the basics to carry the day.

And the foremost among them all remained good teamwork.

C
entral City had certainly changed
since the last time she had visited. Of course, that had been in the immediate aftermath of their battle for the district, and Ghost Battalion certainly hadn’t been gentle in their attempts to take the area. Artillery and mortar fire, flamethrowers, explosives, grenades, they had to use it all against the swarm of enemies in their path, and the already crumbling buildings had suffered their wrath.

Some had remained standing, though, and Hephaestus Company used them well. They had initially set up shop in one of the abandoned warehouses, using a combination of equipment from other areas as well as machinery they scavenged from within the district itself. From there they could produce ammunition and weapons, along with trucks, armored vehicles, planes and the like.

But the progress they had made since then astounded her. Hephaestus now had several factories within Central City, each with their own specialization. They had a munitions factory, a heavy machinery works for vehicles, a small arms factory and an arsenal for heavy artillery. Their need for vulcanite ore was fed by a host of miners outside the city, who shuttled in material by the truckload. Central City had its own internal rail line, allowing the fast movement of material and products between the various factories, warehouses and supply dumps.

One central power station provided electricity for the entire district, producing more than enough to meet the daily demand. A team from Sacred Sword had discovered the design, and further scouting had revealed the element needed to power the plant. It lay in highly dangerous areas guarded by vicious wild beasts, but Hydra had more than enough troops who were capable of handling the terrors of the wilds. Many of them had to survive similar horrors in the early days, back when they had less troops, lighter armament and far less experience.

“Kind of mind-bending, if you think about it,” Blake commented.

“Hm?”

“Look how far we come,” he elaborated. “Wasn’t that long ago that we were frantically trying to produce as much ammunition as possible, and we could barely afford to lose a vehicle or two.”

“We’re still not out of those woods yet,” Selene said. “But yeah, I like these odds a lot better.”

“Me too,” Blake agreed. “It’s good to have a cushion, at least. I prefer to be a lot more daring, and well, that sometimes doesn’t go over well with the maintenance crews when I get back to base. Especially when you’re short on parts and it takes weeks to get more.”

Selene nodded. “We were lucky, getting our hands on an ammo press right off the bat. But still, ammunition was pretty tight in the early days. It’s good to not have to count bullets every time I have to shoot.”

“Yeah, I’m glad those are gone.”

“Plus, getting our hands on new toys is always good,” Selene said. “Bet you’re excited.”

Blake nodded. “I am, but I wouldn’t really call it a toy, so to speak. If it can do what I think it can, the new helo is going to change a lot of things.”

Selene nodded back. Apparently they were on the same page about those prospects.

“Still,” she said, “getting a fleet of them up and running has to take a lot of time and money. Weren’t they still trying to replace Rogue Battalion’s losses until recently?”

“Yeah. And they’re trying to get ahead, so they don’t end up crippled again if they end up losing half their vehicles like the last fight around Lerna,” Blake agreed.

“Think they’ll be able to get enough off the assembly line in time for the attack on Milwaukee?” she asked.

“Well, that would be nice, but that’s a pretty tall order. Plus, we have to have enough pilots to fly them as well.”

“If anyone can pull off a miracle, it’s Hephaestus.”

Blake nodded. “Yeah, they do have a habit of pulling cards out of their sleeves. I don’t want to rely on that too much, though. We can handle the sharp end just fine with what we have on hand right now.”

“Right,” Selene agreed. She certainly wouldn’t mind having a few more options to choose from, though.

“
A
nd here it is
,” Yusuf said as he and Paige lead them into the prototype wing of Hephaestus’s research complex.