Howl: A World at War Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

war, with almost two thousand troops. They had outnumbered Hydra by almost four to one, and they had been slaughtered. Such was the power of the fortress.
    “ What do you think?” Nora asked.
    “ Huh?” Zach said, snapping back to the discussion at hand. He had completely zoned out.
    “ Structuring the alliance. Every single company seems to be turning into specialists,” Nora elaborated.
    “ True enough,” Zach said. They had found it was more efficient for different companies to specialize. Bravehart, for instance, specialized in fire support, and operated 81mm and 120mm mortars. They were dominated by artillery specialists, though they still had front line squads to guard their mortar teams. Likewise, Marauder was tailored for up close and personal fighting, but still had snipers and long ranged heavies to provide support. Overall, though, they were specialized for a specific combat role.
    “ I think the larger companies need to be able to fulfill a bunch of different roles, even if their specialization is in one,” Liz said.
    “ I do too. Never know when you're going to need certain skills,” Nora agreed.
    “ Taking this place comes to mind,” Anna commented. The battle for Lerna had been fierce. Hydra had lost almost three quarters of their troops in the attack, most of them due to a self-propelled antiaircraft gun that had appeared near the central capture point. It had been a hard lesson, but an important one. They had to improvise on the fly, and the four companies had cooperated admirably. Black Wolf, Grizzly, Redd Foxx and Sacred Sword had done what they needed to do in order to win the battle, and they did it without prejudice or favoritism. That ethos had carried over to the alliance, and was still an important part of their culture.
    “ I think everyone's capable of performing multiple roles if they need to. The class restrictions hurt, but that's to be expected,” Zach said. Artillery, minesweeping, explosives and other specialized skills needed to be learned with skill points. That forced players to specialize, but in a pinch everyone could at least serve as infantry.
    “ Yeah. It was just a thought I had,” Nora said. “It might be easier to operate if we have a clear structure.”
    Zach agreed with that assessment. Organization was Hydra's greatest strength. They had excellent weapons and seasoned troops, but they would be nothing without organization. Zach had done some work on the communications systems for World at War, and he knew how to exploit them to their advantage. Knowing where everything was on the battlefield could be more powerful than a squad of veteran troops. It had allowed them to operate effectively. Even under fire and suffering casualties, Hydra troops still understood the importance of cooperation. It made them like their namesake: cut off one head, and two more would appear.
    “Are we going to try to get the ranger company approved at the next council meeting?” Zach asked.
    “ I don't think we need to bother with that,” Anna said. “I'm going to send everyone a message, and then we can take a vote that way. I can't imagine there would be any objections.”
    “ Sounds good,” Zach nodded. Messages could be sent both in game and to the World at War app, which could be accessed in the real world through a computer or a phone. It allowed them to bridge the gap between the two worlds. In fact, it was almost like crossing from one dimension to another.
    Nora opened her wrist menu and looked at the clock. “We should probably log out so we have time to get ready for tonight. See you later, Liz.”
    Nora touched a few buttons in her holographic wrist menu, and suddenly she wasn't there anymore.
    “ See you tonight, Liz, and see you two tomorrow,” Zach said.
    “ Later,” Anna said.
    Zach opened up his menu and logged out.
    He sat up in his chair and took the neuro-helmet off. Nora was already up, arching her back as she stretched.
    “ I'm so glad we exercise,”