Grimoires & Gunsmoke

Grimoires & Gunsmoke: The Ohio Incident Ch. 3

Lieutenant DuPont was among the first of his platoon to make it to the tree line with the rest of his men close behind. As he darted past the first tree, he collided with something solid yet slightly squishy and was sent tumbling to the floor.

Recoiling, the Lieutenant looked up to see what he had hit and found himself facing a small humanoid-like creature that looked to only be as tall as his chest. Its large yellow eyes blinked in surprise and a long reptilian snout, somewhat akin to a dinosaur, jutted out, with a row of small, pointed teeth visible even when its mouth was closed. It had a sleek, lithe body, shimmering with a deep blue hue where the light struck, and covered entirely in those same black, protective scales. Thin, almost frail-looking limbs ended in clawed hands and feet, giving it an appearance both delicate and deadly.

DuPont and the creature locked eyes for a brief moment, unable to register each other's existence when one of the Lieutenants' men screamed out in a panic. "CONTACT! CONTACT!" Almost immediately, the forest was flooded with the cacophony of gunfire with bullets whizzing by, tearing into trees, underbrush and creatures that seemed to surround them.

It only took a fraction of a second for DuPont to shove his own weapon into the small monster's face and pull the trigger. A series bang echoed adding into the flurry of gunfire as the creature's head rocked back before it went limp.

"Check your fire! Check your fucking fire, god damnit!!" Lieutenant DuPont barked trying to regain some semblance of control of his squad while pushing the lifeless creature off of him and regaining his footing as his heart raced wildly. Taking a brief glimpse at the fallen creature, the man couldn't help but widen his eyes in disbelief, but as he surveyed the chaos around him, the feeling only intensified. All around, his squad battled identical monstrous reptiles, desperately trying to keep them at bay.

The situation only took a turn for the better when the rest of his platoon entered the forest, laying waste to the creatures with a well-coordinated onslaught of gunfire. Whatever small monster that wasn't cut down, quickly fled, disappearing into the dense underbrush and shadows of the trees.

DuPont did his best to take stock of the situation around him as he peered down at his chest mounted phone.The tactical battle map that was supposed to track friendly units and mark enemy positions was of absolutely no use. From the looks of things they were in an outright cluster fuck with both friend and enemy units mixed together all over the place. And it didn't help that the sounds of gunfire and explosions echoed in every direction leaving them disoriented and directionless.

"W-what do we do now, sir?" Staff Sergeant Takashi asked as he approached, stepping over and staring at the humanoid reptile bleeding out on the ground. His eyes were wide with confusion and fear as looked at his platoon leader for guidance.

The Lieutenant bit back a sardonic chuckle as he wiped the reptilian blood from his face. Looking over his men and back at his Staff Sergeant, a single thought echoed in his mind: that was a good fucking question.

More deafening thumps echoed throughout the forest as the Bradley IFVs on the road main guns erupted again, sending a volley of shells towards enemy concentrations and more large monsters. Popping his head out of the tree line, DuPont watched as the rounds shattered the bodies of both the smaller reptile and more humanized figures.

"Takashi, take your squad and cross to the other side of the road! " DuPont started barking orders as he darted back into the cover of the trees. "Don't let our Bradley's get flanked!"

Staff Sergeant Takashi nodded and immediately sprung to action, pressing down on his push to talk and relaying orders, "2-3 on me!" The man yelled as he and a large swath of men darted out of the tree line.