Free Commando City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 7) by Mitchell T. Jacobs

lot of time doing maintenance, right?”
    Zach nodded. Vehicles in World at War weren't just drive and go affairs. They ran out of ammunition and power, but the real issue was maintenance. Over the course of time, their components would start to wear out and gradually break down. If they weren't properly taken care of a powerful unit could quickly become useless when all of their equipment ceased to function.
    Rogue Battalion took the brunt of it, since they were entirely mechanized, and Ghost Battalion had their fair share of upkeep to perform, with helicopters and river craft requiring their attention. Adding armored vehicles would only increase that load, but Zach felt it was a necessary step. They could either perform a bit of maintenance, or they could get stuck trying to crawl within grenade tossing range when assaulting an enemy position.
    “The part of the city you're dropping into won't have taken heavy damage,” Yusuf mused as he opened up his wrist menu. “That means the streets will be relatively clear, at least from our normal standards.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means that you won't necessarily need a tracked vehicle, because you're not going to need to climb over mounds of destroyed buildings and rubble. That simplifies things a bit, actually.”
    “Simplifies what?”
    Zach glanced over his shoulder to see Paige entering the prototype wing. “Huh, I was wondering where you were at.”
    “Long time no see. So, you have a tech fix you want us to do?” she asked.
    “He wants an armored vehicle,” Yusuf informed her. “One that's light enough to air drop, but strong enough to take on fortified positions.”
    “Hm,” she said, running a hand though her shoulder length black hair. “Those are pretty restrictive parameters, but we should be able to work something out. So, you were saying something about wheels, I heard?”
    “Yeah, that's what we were discussing. Since the district they're attacking won't have come under bombardment they won't need to have a tracked vehicle.”
    “Yup, that simplifies things quite a bit,” Paige nodded. “We can put it on wheels, which makes it a lot lighter and easier to drop. You can either make it ultra light, or you can add a bit more armor and firepower.”
    Zach rubbed his chin. “That all depends on what you're suggesting. What kind of firepower it has, how big it is, that kind of thing. I'm sorry, but I'm a lot more of a visual person. I can't really suggest improvements until I have something in front of me to look at.”
    “Fair enough then,” Paige shrugged. She opened up her wrist menu and activated the projector. A second later a holographic pen appeared in her right hand.
    “On the fly designing, huh?” Zach commented.
    “Yup. And you get a front row seat to it all,” Paige said. “Now, let's start from the beginning. You want a vehicle that can cary heavy weaponry and stand up to some punishment. Given the designs we currently have, we might want to base it on the Mule or the Bull.”
    “The Bull would probably be better, since it's enclosed. I know they've been having problems with Mule crew members getting sniped when they're operating inside the city. Unless the weight is going to be an issue.”
    “It is heavier, but keep in mind we're taking the tracks off and replacing it with a different drive system,” Yusuf said. “That's going to reduce the weight anyhow, and it's probably light enough to drop with parachutes, so long as we don't overload it.”
    Paige brought up the Ram design and started to make adjustments, deleting the tracks and the drive wheels.
    “OK then. Now the question is, what kind of vehicle are we making? 4×4? 6×6? 8×8?”
    “I'd go with 4×4,” Yusuf said. “That minimizes the weight and means it'll be easier to maintain. I know it's not the most sturdy design, but it's probably the best tradeoff we can get.”
    Zach nodded. “Right. And I'm not expecting this to be able to shrug off hits like a