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

added. “We're going to have to test it extensively to make sure that it works well enough to be used in combat. And then we have to figure out how to get it on the ground.”
    “How complicated will it be?” Zach asked.
    “Shouldn't be too bad,” Yusuf told him. “It'll involve getting enough shock absorbent padding to go along with the parachutes, but that should be simple enough.”
    “Here's another thing. How easy will it be to drive?”
    “Some of you can drive Mules, right?” Paige said. “It's pretty much the same thing.”
    “Actually, I'd make it even simpler,” Yusuf said. “It's a 4×4, so we can just install a regular steering column. If you can drive a car, you can drive one of these. Anything else we can help you with?”
    “Nope, that was my biggest concern,” Zach told them. “Thanks guys. This is going to be a life saver.”
    “Don't mention it,” Yusuf nodded. “One thing though. Try not to go through too much equipment. We're trying to restock our supplies after the last offensive, and we don't want to fall behind.”
    Zach gave him a thumbs up. “We'll do our best. Thanks again.”
    He headed out of the development wing, past various Hephaestus engineers going about their business. Zach passed by a group taking apart the fuselage of one of the jets, scanning everything and carefully documenting the construction and pieces. Hydra always had new technology coming down the pipeline, and they were the reason why the rest of the alliance could count on it.
    But technology alone wasn't going to be enough to achieve victory. They needed the proper training to put it all to good use, and that seemed to be a bit of an issue at the moment. Danny's reports indicated that the paratroopers and their transport pilots still needed to work on their coordination and timing.
    They had a lot of work to do, and only a short period of time to do it in. While they didn't have an exact date for the start of the operation, Zach knew it would happen soon. They needed to maintain their momentum against Ragnarok. And then there were all of the responsibilities of the outside world calling to him...
    He just hoped that, when the time came, they're be ready to go.

7
    Airborne
    S elene rolled as her feet touched the ground and came to a perfect stop. Once glance at her wrist menu map confirmed that she had landed on target, or close enough. The rest of her platoon was falling to the ground around her, right where they were supposed to be.
    It had taken them long enough, almost a week of training before they were able to land directly on their waypoint. There had been complete failures, mishaps, close calls, every type of setback they could thing of, but they steadily became more and more proficient. Now, once they had the timing right, landing was relatively smooth.
    That was in near perfect conditions without opposition, though. Ghost Battalion had been using the fields south of Indianapolis, due to their wide open spaces and the unlikelihood of any enemy spies being in the area. That cut down on accidents while they were getting their timing down, but it didn't properly simulate the environment they'd be dropping into. They'd have to land in relatively small areas surrounded by tall buildings, and that only accounted for part of the danger. It would be worse with enemy troops firing at them as they descended, even if the paratroopers were able to catch them by surprise.
    But they had a few more things to do before they dared to practice inside a contained environment. Getting infantry on the ground had become a straightforward process, but that was only half of the issue.
    “Alpha Wolf, Alpha Wolf, this is Hermes. We're approaching drop-off point. I say again, we're approaching drop-off point.”
    “Copy that, Hermes,” Selene replied, looking up into the sky. Sure enough, the Colossus lumbered into view, its ramp open.
    And then a large shape fell off the back, followed by another. A few seconds later, a