Dimensional Travels: World at War-Chapter 52: Fortification

The air turned into a weapon as .50 cal fire ripped through a massive wave of Biform wolves. More than half of the wolves were dead or dying as the convoy approached, and the thumping of rotary blades echoed out behind. Eric’s eyes narrowed as a pack reached the Sphere. Suddenly,

The whole Vegas strip went dark. Eerie howls echoed into the night as lights flickered. Glowing figures approached from the dark, each wolf lit up like a lantern as they turned towards the convoy. Their growls rumbled against the ground as they ran towards Eric.

He stopped the vehicle and laughed. Machine gun fire met the wolves dead on, and suddenly...

The screams of missiles flying by drowned out the world. Each one capable of leveling houses. The wolves stood no chance as they were downed one by one. Either the missiles turned them into mincemeat, or machine guns turned them into Swiss cheese. Eric continued laughing until the last of the pack was taken out.

The rest of the wolves fled, not wanting to risk any further number deterioration.

"They seriously made themselves targets." Eric said while laughing. "And instead of heading into the city, they charged us. Animals will be animals at the end of the day."

Eric breathed a sigh of relief as he slumped in the seat. He would gather the soldiers later and confirm, but he was sure there had been no civilian casualties.

"Okay, secure the perimeter". He called into the radio. "Same plan as before. I want a .50 cal on each cardinal direction."

David watched the massacre with a horrified expression. He had climbed to the second floor of the building, where windows allowed him a vantage point to see everything. With each wolf that fell, David cringed. The gunfire and explosions froze him in time. He was by heart, a pacifist, but now he knew why the US had a bigger military budget than most countries’ GDP. Then he smelled it, the burning flesh of a wolf corpse that had breached the cities perimeter.

He threw up, not able to handle or stomach the grisly scene. He watched as the battle came to an end, falling to the floor. His body shook as he heard his Ricky come up the stairs. "Hey buddy, you good?" David shook his head, unable to speak.

Ricky sighed as he picked David up, slinging him over his soldier.

"Come on man. They are offering free drinks to everyone. People are...

Well lets just say Vegas is being Vegas. If you see a couple of girls and gals having fun in the corner, no you didnt."

David finally spoke. "How can you stomach all this?" He said quietly.

David had studied wildlife and ecosystem dynamics all his life. He was used to things dying, but nothing was ever as grisly as this. Ricky shook his head and patted David on the back.

"Once you’ve seen one battlefield, you’ve seen them all." He responded grimly.

David looked at Ricky questionably while they head down stairs. Once David started drinking, he lost sight of Ricky. A blonde girl came up to him, and he was busy the rest of the night.

A group of men stood together at the top of a roof in a different hotel. Ricky headed there after leaving David to his own devices. He sighed as he eclipsed the stair.

"Alright, so it seems we are definitely in a different world." Ricky said as he looked around. He noticed the Humvees being set up around the strip, and then looked to the purple trees. "The question is do we fall in with these guys, or head out on our own?"

"I think we fall in with them, if they let us." An older man spoke up, his arms crossed as he looked down at the man pointing and guiding soldiers. "Yo... is that dryer?"

Ricky walked up to the older man’s vantage point and laughed. "Hah! The sumbitch really did get pulled into a cav unit." The men all laughed. The commotion caught Eric’s attention, and he turned. He knew one of those laughs. It was the most grating laugh in the world. Distinguishable from anywhere.

"You have got to be kidding me. Those assholes are here too?" He said while smiling. He was happy to see his old buddies, but knew some running jokes would be brought up. Some things were better left in the desert.

Eric waited patiently as his former teammates came down to greet him. Ricky patted him on the back.

"Ah. A master sergeant now, eh? Wow. The kids grow up so fast these days." He said while pretending to cry.

"Oh fuck off." Eric responded before looking around. "So all of you made it here except Kowalsky, eh? At least ya aint gotta worry about him shutting his pants on a target retrieval." Another burst of laughter erupted.

"So, you guys want in?" Eric said, getting down to business. "I could use some help, and all hands on deck." The men all grinned before giving him the bird.

"We’re still on vacation, Master Sergeant." Ricky answered with a laugh. "We’ll join ya in two days. Until then, there is this smoking brunette I gotta talk to."

Eric sighed and rubbed his hand in his face. "You know... for being Delta he can never take anything serious." He groaned. A voice behind him called out.

"You were Delta force, Master Sergeant?" It was his LT, Michael.

"Forget I said anything, LT." Eric said before walking away. They had concertina wire to lay down.

The next day, Eric recieved a call he knew would come. Milano raised him on the radio, and they went to a private channel.

"The Reimskin royals want to discuss new terms." Milano began. "Apparently our ownership of Vegas, the dam, and the encampments are raising concerns among the nobles."

Eric sighed. "They don’t care about the ammo factory?"

"They get a large share of the ammo, so they are not concerned about that." Milano replied, and Eric could hear a weary sigh.

"Then give them ownership of the encampments. Work out a joint system of command where they control policy and management. We will simply agree to assist in case of hostile action."

Milano paused for a second as no answer came.

"Are you fucking crazy?" The response came eventually. "No. We are not giving them sole ownership of the encampments. We gave too much. I know you don’t like us holding them, but that is not an excuse to be lazy."

Eric could almost hear the glare Milano was giving him through the phone, and he chuckled.

"You caught me, eh?" He said before sitting down. "Alright. Fine. So joint ownership. They manage, we provide security guarantee. Seventy-five to twenty-five soldier split personnel wise, while we provide overwatch through ISR, and Air threat deterrence."

Milano nodded as he jotted down notes. "I think that is a solid option. I will run it by with the other officers. We’ll see if anyone has anything else to add.’

Eric paused, thinking of his next words carefully.

"Sir. My old platoon is here."

The line went silent as Milano had a pause of his own. He reflected back to the file he read, and sighed.

"Will they integrate?"

Eric sighed as he thought over the vibrant personalities of his old unit. "They will, but they are doing so only after a two day vacation."

"And sir..." Eric paused again, thinking of a disastrous scene.

"Don’t let them meet Delta company."

Eric suddenly heard a massive crowd of people cheering. Orders were being barked by the small police force that had unluckily been sent with the transfer, and Eric looked up at where the noise was coming from. "I have to go, sir." He said before getting out of the truck and heading towards the commotion. "I swear if this is some dumb college kid..."

It was worse. Much worse than he expected. "WHAT IN THE FUCK ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING?" Eric growled. The soldiers piloting the drones were doing an air show for the civilians. He felt like his head was about to explode as veins appeared along his forehead, popping out like a game of wack-a-mole. "Get those goddamn birds up in the sky PROPERLY... OR YOUR PASSES ARE REVOKED FOR THE NEXT FOUR MONTHS."

Ricky came up and sighed.

"Ah man. Mom came in to break it up. Damn. And here I was having money on the skinny kid to win." He said with fake melancholy. "Alright, ya heard him folks. Break it up. Show’s over. Yo, if ya’ll wanna have a drink off after shift, I’m down." He pointed to a private who was packing gear into a truck. "And yo, I can tell ya all about who won the ’chip. Just know it wasn’t either of the dirty birds."

Eric watched the chaos settle down and looked up at the sky, a soul weary sigh escaping his lips as the soldiers went back to work and barricades were being placed in ever nook around the city streets. Engineers were hard at work, beginning the first stages of repairing the power grid. The first waves of alliance workers who would start work on the walls would arrive tomorrow. Eric sat against his humvee, muttering to himself.

"Why me?"