Catalyst

Chapter 54: War

Austin inhaled deeply, sucking the nicotine laced smoke deeper into his lungs. One advantage to being hastily deployed halfway across the world was the fact that his superiors were just as thrown off as him, and hadn't bothered to check his packs. Hell, he was pretty sure they'd taken advantage of the situation just like he had. It would be just like the bastards, enjoying a good smoke while the rest of the rank and file was stuck in these damn trenches.

He took the rolled paper out of his mouth and dared a glance over the top of the ditch. It was weird how much the scene matched those old war movies, right down to the miserable grey sky and squelching mud. Of course, he didn't remember seeing mountains in those movies, but what did he know. It wasn't like he was a film buff.

Then again, he couldn't remember any movies where one side occupied several trenches while the other was covered with purple goop and mutilated, bullet ridden corpses. Apparently these bugs didn't have any artillery to speak of, so World War I tactics worked like a charm. Speaking of bugs, he caught a glimpse of movement on the edge of the horizon. I looked like he wouldn't get a chance to enjoy his smoke after all. He spat the cigarette into the mud alongside a dozen others and let out a shout to raise the alarm. The pasty, dress-wearing bloke to his right snapped to attention before raising his stick right in the same direction as Austin's rifle. Austin still wasn't sure what to make of magic being real, or fighting alongside these...witches and wizards. He got the feeling that if he got out of this bizarre scene in one piece he'd have some rather complicated feelings about all of it, but right now he couldn't be arsed to care too much. Their lunch break was over, and now it was time to get back to the grind.

The swarm of...whatever they were rushed forward with the same single mindedness as always, charging uncaringly into Austin's line of fire. They didn't make any attempt to dodge or take cover, and for all that their claws scared the ever loving shit out of him, most of them were mowed down long before they got close.

In the distance, he could see the multicolored spellfire and muzzle flashes erupting from the rest of the line. It was a wide wave this time then, the zerg were spreading themselves out. He pushed that thought aside, keeping his eyes on the enemy in front of him.

Austin's clip ran out and he quickly reloaded before turning his sights back towards the wave. It was a relatively small wave, with only a few of the humanoid freaks running the gauntlet. They'd been coming like clockwork, a few freaks charged the line every day or so, twice a day at most. No guns, no armor, no vehicles, nothing. And they must have had advanced weaponry somewhere. From the maps the higher-ups had shown them the creepy crawlies had taken over most of the eastern coastline, and the bombs he could occasionally hear in the distance must have been hitting something. But whatever. If the enemy wanted to act like a bunch of idiots, that wasn't his problem.

As he let fly the last few rounds into the enemy, Austin sighed and reached for another stick, taking a glance at the wizard to his side. The big flappy robe of a uniform was dripping with mud, its wearer looking as weary as Austin was. This was the worst kind of tedium, really. Long stretches of boredom punctuated by short bursts of extreme terror, as some naval officer had famously put it, although in this case even the fighting wasn't all that intense. Austin took in a deep breath and lit the cigarette. Damn things might kill him someday, but he'd rather die of some disease than let those ugly buggers get to him.

The sounds of fighting in the distance had also stopped. They must have finished first and they'd probably be radioing in to confirm that about now. Come to think of it, he needed to radio in as well. Eh, they weren't paying him to be good at remembering things. He could wait a minute, savor the smoke. The rest of the line wasn't going anywhere. Austin lifted the next cigarette to his lips.

Suddenly, Austin was sprayed with blood as something carved through his flesh. Pain erupted in his left arm, jaggedly broken off at the elbow. The wizard turned towards the screams, wand raised, before something he couldn't see burst through the man and twisted him apart in a bloody shower of gore.