Fang: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

goal.”
    “ So you think that this is a feint?” Nora asked.
    Selene shrugged. “Do they really have enough troops to attack us and Ronin at the same time? They still have to hold their garrisons in the north as well.”
    “We're still not going to take any chances,” Nora told her. “I already sent out the Code Black message. We'll see how much help they can send us.”
    Selene suddenly looked up into the sky. Nora started to look up as well, but she couldn't glimpse whatever she was looking at.
    “Cover! COVER!” Selene shouted out. She grabbed her and half-dragged Nora into an alley.
    Something zoomed overhead. Then another, and then something blew up toward the center of the bastion. The chatter of several machine guns filled the air.
    Selene was up on her feet quickly. She pulled Nora up and broke into a run again. Nora followed behind her.
    “ Was that what I think it was?” Nora asked aloud, still in shock.
    “ Yeah. That was. And that means trouble,” Selene replied.
    A pair of aircraft had just zoomed overhead, firing rockets and machine guns at targets inside the bastion. They were straight winged and propeller driven, but they were still far beyond anything that Hydra could field. They had utility aircraft, but they were larger and slower than the Ragnarok fighters that had just zoomed overhead.
    The worst part was that their air superiority might be gone. That would be especially damaging for Ghost Battalion. The rangers relied on their choppers for quick movement, and if those were in danger of being shot down then their main advantage was gone. This would also hurt their other ground forces as well. Rogue Battalion's vehicles were going to be especially vulnerable to air attack, and they had no antiaircraft defenses to speak of.
    They weren't completely defenseless. They had the ability to create antiaircraft guns with either .50 caliber machine guns or 20mm autocannons. The problem was that they would have to be designed by Hephaestus Company, and they were busy trying to rebuild the losses Hydra had sustained fighting in the south.
    They might have bitten off more than they could chew, Nora realized.
    Of course, those thoughts were unimportant now. They weren't going to matter if they didn't hold the bastion.
    Nora and Selene raced up the stairs to the top of the wall. The rest of Black Wolf was already there, sheltering in bunkers, pillboxes and behind the battlements of the wall itself. Logan saw them and motioned them over.
    “ How are we?” Selene asked.
    “ Holding,” Logan said. “We lost twelve in the rocket attack. But we're in a good position up here, and they're not being very aggressive.”
    “ They're not advancing?” Nora asked with a frown.
    Logan shook his head. “No. We've pretty much been trading pot shots with them. I have no clue what their game is right now.”
    “This is definitely a feint,” Selene said. “Keep us busy while they go after Ronin.”
    “ Then Ronin is dead meat,” Logan said.
    Nora grabbed her assault rifle and cocked the bolt. “No matter. We've got our own problems to take care of.”
    She brought her gun up to bear, aimed and fired.

     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 3
                  The Gathering Storm
     
    “So we might be in trouble,” Nora said simply.
    Zach looked through the report she and Selene had written up. “No kidding. You said that they had fighters?”
    “Fighter bombers and rocket artillery,” Selene said. “The walls and the fortified positions survived without too much damage, but over three quarters of the other buildings in the bastion were flattened. We were lucky that we moved the Forge and our supply stocks before the attack.”
    Zach looked around at the others gathered for the informal meeting at Black Wolf's southern headquarters; David and Morgan from Sacred Sword, Gina and Connor from Grizzly, Anna, Gray and Liz from Redd Foxx, Yusuf from Hephaestus and himself, Nora, Selene and Danny from Black