("Brothers of the mine rejoice!")
"Swing, swing, swing with me!"
("Raise your pick and raise your voice!")
"Sing, sing, sing with me! Oh I can't wait to see me some Dwarves!"
Matt let out an exasperated sigh as Remmy did a screamo remix of the song in the swat next to him. Of all the things that actually survived the crash, the god damned aux cord was one of the few things Matt wished hadn't made it. The sergeant had it plugged into her small red media device she normally kept in with her gear. It, along with the aux cord, had been left in the M-ATV before take off. At first he didn't mind the music, even at the ridiculous volume the sergeant insisted it be cranked up too. As time went on though, and as more increasingly bored Remmy got, she began her own death metal sing-a-longs to nearly every song that came on.
"What makes you think we are going to see any Dwarves?" Matt asked, having to yell a bit over the music to even hear his own voice.
"What?!" Remmy asked, cupping her ear before Matt finally had enough and reached over to turn down the volume.
"I asked what makes you think we will see any Dwarves?" Matt repeated himself
"Why wouldn't we? Come on we essentially have been isekai'd to another world with freaking two moons, strange plants, and monsters. There's got to be cool other races like Goliaths and Dwarves and- Oo! I hope there's some sort of hot Elf babes! Like the kind that can squish your head between their thighs? Mommy Please!"
Matt outwardly cringed a little at the sergeant's antics. While he was running through all sorts of contingencies in his head and thinking about their survival, she was thinking about fantasy Elf mommies. He really shouldn't have been surprised honestly. They had been on the road for two days already, or what may have passed for something more like a goat trail rather than an actual road. The M-ATV was just able to fit its way onto the path that ran along the edges of the massive corn field. In those two days they didn't see anything but the field off to the right hand side of the vehicle, and deep dark forests to their left. A few times they had to venture off the path in order to pass by fallen trees that had blocked the way and were too large for the M-ATV to cross. But the forest was too dense to try and cut through so they were forced to keep to the small path.
"Yeah, I wouldn't bet my money on it. Aren't the local inhabitants always hostile in the movies anyways? Their more likely to shoot us with some sort of… magic missile or something" Matt replied
"Pfft, whatever you say closet nerd" Remmy said in return with a shit eating grin matt could see out of the corner of his eye
"Closet nerd?"
"Yeah, closet nerd. Magic missile? You're a fucking dice junky aren't you?"
"Dice junky? If you're saying that I enjoy playing tabletop role playing games, then so what?"
"Hah! See I knew- wait what? Seriously?"
"Is that so shocking? Games like Dungeons and Dragons were growing popular when I was a kid and growing up. Plus, it's a good way to pass times on deployments"
"Wait, wait, wait, hold the phone! So you've been a fucking nerd this entire time?!"
"Yeah, thought you knew that"
"I- I just can't- How haven't I-"
Matt smiled a little under his beard as for once it was Remmy who was at a loss for words due to something Matt had apparently done or said. It was true, he'd grown up in an age where activities that would have once labeled you as a nerd or practically a social outcast in society, had become much more commonplace than not. The tabletop role playing games, or TTRPG's, like Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, had even worked there way into the enlisted ranks of the military and even higher up the chain as it became a popular way to not only pass the time, but to also help alleviate some of the post combat stress that many soldier carried with them. Somewhere at some point Matt had even remembered reading a study that proved that point as well as all the other reasons it was good for the lower enlisted. It was clear the article had been written by some sort of shrink probably working for the green machine at the time but it did have its merits. Matt had been introduced to D&D specifically before he had even joined the Navy. He remembered loving the idea of vast and wonderful fantasy worlds full of monsters and magic. The game had been something he continued to play into the SEALs but it had faded away from him when he joined the 342nd and first met sergeant Remmy. He hadn't thought much about the game until now, and deep down within himself he found that he too also was partially hoping to find some sort of magical wizardry come true.
"So like, let me get this straight. You… are a closet nerd? Or like…?"
"Nope, just a bonafide nerd is all. Shits just been too busy lately and I really haven't had much time to indulge much into hobbies and such."
"Well shit. I did not picture you as the nerdy type. Huh, you think you know a guy"
Matt rolled his eyes and shook his head. As well as the two had gotten to know one another there was something he supposed that they just still didn't know about the other. Now that they were stuck together in this strange place, Matt had a feeling they'd have plenty of time to make up for that whether they wanted to or not.
"Hmmm okay so like, favorite fantasy race then?" Remmy asked
"Oh boy, here we go. Okay well I wouldn't say I have a favorite one per say. Though I do enjoy the more sinister races? If that makes sense. Like the vampires, or day-walkers, Drow, Tieflings, Minotaur."
"Tieflings aren't evil. And I don't think Minotaur are necessarily evil either."
"Right, but I've played in plenty of campaigns where the GM portrayed them as such." Matt replied
"Oh so you like the bad boys?" Remmy smirked
"Don't make me turn us around. But I just enjoyed those races and some of the shit they could do is all"
Remmy seemed to ponder that for a moment before she puffed out her bottom lip and nodded, apparently satisfied with his response.
"For me, I always liked the Dwarves and Goliaths."
"Funny, I saw you more as a fairy girl" Matt mused a bit
"I played one once, ended up flying into a giant spider web and almost got eaten"
"Harsh. Love that shit though"
"Yeah it was actually a super fun game, good DM" Remmy replied before Matt noticed her looking out the window as if lost in forgotten memories.
The rain finally lightened up and the clouds even began to part a little as they drove down the path well into the afternoon. Rays of fading sunlight broke through the clouds in a way that looked like one of those scenes you only see in the pictures and hoped one day you'd experience before you died. They had reached a long patch of the path that had grown wider and looked more like a dirt road. Matt wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he could make out a few lines in the mud that looked more like thin wheel lines of some sort of cart or something. Remmy must have noticed it as well as she sat up a bit more alert as she looked around.
"I'm gonna crawl up behind the fifty. See if I can make anything out." She said as she began getting out of her seat and crawling over the center console towards the gunner's position in the back.
The M-ATV luckily came equipped with a nearly fully enclosed turret position including a thin sheet of metal that acted as a roof over the gunner position. They had fashioned one of the green tarps they had over both the fifty and the opening in the front of the position in an attempt to keep the rain water out of the vehicle. Matt slowed down as he heard Remmy curse a little about how tight it was to move around in the back before he heard her climb up into the gunner's position and move the tarp.
"Looks like we got another corner of the field up ahead. Trees don't seem as dense, might even be a split in the road ahead going into the forest. No signs of life otherwise though- hold up. Boss I got black smoke on the horizon at our two o'clock, about… shit, a thousand… maybe twelve hundred meters out? Looks like a large fire… VEHICLE HAULT! Contacts in the tree line moving in our direction!"
Matt slammed on the brakes, causing the vehicle to groan out in angry protest at the sudden stop as gear shifted all around them. Reaching over and grabbing his rifle, Matt began peering out the windows around him looking for the contacts that the sergeant had called out with his other hand on the latch to the door. He couldn't see anything, the crops in the field were just too high off to his right and blocked most of his vision off in that direction. He was honestly a bit surprised that the sergeant could even see anything even from her elevated position up on the gun. Unable to see any immediate threat, Matt opened the door and stepped out of the driver's seat with his rifle in hand as he brought it up to the low and ready position. His eyes carefully scanned the tree line as he heard Remmy remove the rest of the tarp off the gun before he heard her pull back the heavy slide on the weapon.
Movement. Several contacts numbering at least eight that Matt could count were moving quickly through the tree line ahead of him and moving in their direction. Matt brought his rifle up a bit more as the figures continued to advance through the trees. They were fast, faster than anything Matt had seen anyone move before on two legs. He could make out slight details as they grew closer. They looked humanoid in form, the first they'd seen since coming to this strange world, but something was off about them.
"Halt! Identify yourselves! Do not come any closer or we will engage!" Matt called out in his best drill instructor voice he could summon up from within him.
He wasn't sure if the figures understood him, but they seemed to slow their advance a little at the booming sound of his voice. Matt could hear noises that sounded like speech but they were either too far away or talking in a language Matt had never heard before. Their voices sounded frantic though, almost hysterical as Matt watched them suddenly group together before stopping.
"You got eyes on sergeant?" matt called up to Remmy
"Copy but boss, I can see more coming this way still" he heard her call back
"Hold your fire until we know what's going on here" Matt ordered as he tried to barricade himself behind the heavy door of the truck as best he could
The figures in the forest stayed together for a few more moments before Matt saw at least three forms separate from the group and began slowly making their way towards the edge of the trees and closer towards the truck. Matt propped his M6338B in between the door and the frame. The 'Super Pig,' as the weapon was commonly referred to as, was originally designed to be a completely new machine gun chambered in 338 Lapua. It earned it's name as the Super Pig as its design of the weapons cover and barrel jacket were almost identical to the legendary M60 machine gun. What points were lost for originality, those same points were instantly recovered and even doubled by the weapons performance in the field. Unlike the M60, the M6338 had an150 round box magazine that was attached under the receiver instead of being mounted on the side. With the capability of switching out barrels to become integrally suppressed as well as faster firing rate then its 7.62 ancestor, the weapon platform was quickly adopted by special forces teams around the world to replace the SIG Sauer M338. Matt liked to run his M6338 with the suppressed barrel almost always on but kept the other as a spare attached to his pack just in case. He didn't aim the weapon directly at the approaching group but he kept the barrel aimed down by their feet as he watched the figures step out from the shadows of the trees and out onto the dirt road ahead of them.
"Holy-" Matt heard Remmy exclaim as he too was at a near loss for words.
The three beings standing before them on the road looked to be almost straight out of some online art forum for character art and creation. Three, red skinned devils with bleach white hair stood staring right back at them. One of them was clearly a female with rather… large feminine features and short cropped hair. Her arms were folded under her chest as she stood looking almost defiantly in their way. The other two standing to either side of her were tall muscular male figures, each sporting long spear like weapons pointed directly at Matt. They each had a fierce look in their eyes, though Matt noticed the disheveled state of their being and attire. They were covered in cuts and bruises as well as splotches of what looked like dark soot all over their bodies. They looked as if they had just come from the direction of the fire, but they didn't seem terribly fazed by it otherwise as they stared Matt down. There was no denying, these three at least, were tieflings. Each of them had a pair of horns on their head that Matt couldn't ignore. The females were short and on top of her head, poking through her hair, while the other two had horns that curled around the sides of their head like a rams.
One of them, the female, spoke out in Matt's direction. Her voice sounded rough, clearly affected by smoke inhalation, but her tone was harsh in manner as her narrow eyes focused on Matt. He didn't understand the language as she barked out another harsh slew of words at him, it was unlike anything he'd ever heard before. There was a pause a moment before she spoke again, this time in what sounded like a completely different language as she called out to them. One of the guards, as Matt assumed the two males were, began muttering something to the other who looked nervously between Matt and the others back in the woods. Matt had to try something here as he raised his hand up stupidly in a small waving gesture, hoping the sign was universal for 'Hi. Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying, we aren't from around here.'
He watched as the female's brow lifted in a look of slight confusion, as did the guards behind her. This was growing more awkward by the moment. Normally Matt would have Bravo Four, the team's linguist, attempt to communicate in whatever flavor of globe they had found themselves tromping around in. Though Matt had his doubts that even his 4IC would be able to translate the sounds that Matt could only assume were words coming from a supposedly fictional beings mouth. Matt stood there a moment longer when he realized he could hear the muffled noises of what he unmistakably knew to be screams of abject horror coming from the woods behind the beings. The group in the woods began to chatter frantically amongst themselves in frightened tones as one of the guards chanced a glance over his shoulder back into the woods. The female being, the one who was clearly in charge here, seemed to grimace a little at the screams at Matt could almost see as if a dark shadow had suddenly fallen over her.
"Boss, we got more movement coming this way!" Remmy called down to him.
This time, Matt could make out a lone figure moving through the trees in their direction. Panicked yells and sounds of alarm went up as the group that was still hiding in the trees suddenly emerged and gathered around the spear wielding guards. Matt's eyes went wide. Not only were these also tieflings, but they were also much smaller, the size of children. They cried and grabbed onto the robed attire of the two guards who had turned their backs temporarily on the strangers and pointed their spears in the direction of the new-comer. The woman stood before them, a long blade in her hands that Matt hadn't noticed on her before. She held it out in front of her as if to try and ward off the new arrival as the form lurked forward closer through the trees. It was then, as the creature began stepping in through the brush in the trees that Matt saw the creature for what it truly was.
It had a fat descended gut that hung over a piece of cloth that acted like a loin cloth. Its menacing black orbs for eyes almost looked like dark bottomless pits as its toothy, blood soaked grin gave the sense of pure primal insanity. The large spiked club it carried in its hand was dripping in layers of blood as its eyes remained locked onto the female tiefling and the cowering children behind her and her guards. This creature, this monster, was the perfect imagery of what so many fantasy games and pop culture had accurately described as a goblin. Although shorter than the woman and her guards, the little freaky looking monster was absolutely jacked. The club it held in its hand was more like a limb from a small tree with wicked looking, jagged spikes protruding all around it.
The woman and her guards corralled the children back with each step the menacing little green freak took forward as it dragged the bloody club over its long forked tongue. The goblin looked like it was getting ready to pounce on the woman as she hid a weeping child behind her when Matt squeezed the trigger on the Super Pig. Suppressed 338 Lapua rounds flew through the air and landed with subsonic impacts into the goblins body. The short burst caught the small creature with deadly precision as the rounds nearly tore the little green skinned monster in two. Its shoulder separated away from the rest of its body and part of its head just simply ceased to exist long before the body even hit the ground.
There was a moment of silence that hung in the air. The devil looking beings stared in shocked disbelief for a time at the fallen body of the goblin, even as more screams began to fill the air once more. Matt thought he was starting to get the picture now. His brain putting together the pieces of the puzzle to the situation at hand. Remmy must have come to the same conclusion as Matt heard her smack the inside of the metal turret around her to get his attention. Not a word needed to be said as Matt got back into Bessy, and floored the gas.