Read Commando City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 7) for Free Online

going to take materials that we don't currently have access to, and then it's a matter of getting our hands on them. Plus, even if we can, are the planes going to be too expensive to create in the grand scheme of things?”
    “So it's a matter of quality versus quantity?”
    “Not exactly. Quantity is a quality of its own, and that's not just a saying either. What would you rather have, the newest, hottest design that looks cool and is technologically advanced, but breaks down or is too complicated to build in huge numbers? Or would you rather have the less advanced design that's more reliable and available in greater quantities?”
    “Is it an either or proposition?” Selene asked.
    “No, not necessarily,” Yusuf answered, “but in many cases it is. We're going to have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to build and fly this thing, and that might be time better spent with other things. We might be better off trying to come up with a new tank design, or something like those assault rifles we built for you.”
    “OK, I get that,” Selene nodded. After an initial adjustment period she and the rest of the company had taken to the new bullpup design. It was lightweight, powerful, compact and accurate out to a significant range, perfect for commando work.
    “So it all depends on how fast we can analyze it and then get them mass produced. And then we have to find out if they're really any better than the Gales, and that's totally up to Perseus Flight.”
    “Yeah, not my area of expertise either,” Selene replied.
    She was about to say more when a sound made her pause. It sounded like a low growl, coming from somewhere in the brush. And then she heard it. A deep howl, loud, reverberating, almost like it was shaking the air itself.
    “Um, Selene?” Ethan's voice cut in over the radio link.
    “Yeah, I hear it,” she replied, gripping her assault rifle. “Keep an eye out.”
    “Oh, must be it's back,” Yusuf commented like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
    “It?” Selene asked. Another series of howls joined in, these ones having a much higher pitch.
    “Yeah, there's a boss monster of sorts that hangs around this area. We call her the Alpha Wolf. She must have respawned from the last time we killed her.”
    His statement was met with laughter from the rest of her squad commanders.
    “Looks like you might have some competition,” Gavin said.
    “Yeah, yeah, just hope it doesn't decide to chomp on you,” she retorted. “How do we take care of it?”
    “Shoot it?” Yusuf said.
    “Obviously. I mean, what's its attack patterns? Things like that?”
    “It likes to come out and attack as part of a pack,” Yusuf said. “It can leap pretty far, and it likes to pounce. Oh, and it's the size of a bus. Don't try using recoilless rifle shells on it, though. It'll dodge them.”
    “Wonderful,” she muttered, half to herself.
    And then she had no more time to talk, because a dozen fen wolves suddenly appeared out of the undergrowth, charging toward them with fangs bared.
    The air around her rang with gunfire. Selene toggled her own weapon back to semi-auto and took aim at one of the incoming, wolves. She held her gun steady for a moment, then squeezed the trigger.
    Her target flinched from the impact and slowed, but didn't fall. No matter. Selene's first shot had stunned it enough, and she followed up with two more. This time the wolf tumbled to the ground and lay still.
    No time to celebrate her triumph, though. Another wolf crossed her field of vision, and she struggled to compensate for its speed. Selene wasted a pair of shots before she finally scored a hit on its leg, slowing it down and causing it to limp. The wolf suddenly fell dead as someone else shot it up.
    “Keep them at a distance,” Selene warned the rest of her troops.
    “Yeah, no kidding,” Logan replied over the radio link. “You think we want to fight those things in close quarters?”
    They might be forced to at some