The loud sounds of gunshots echoed throughout the wheat field. The most recent wave of boar-based cavalry stopped flooding through the portal.
In total, the marines had stopped over 30 armored boars. The boars with mages were particularly threatening and were dealt with extreme prejudice.
One of Olivia's privates ran to Mateo.
"Sir, Sergeant Olivia is looking for orders."
"Have a squad approach the portal and finish off the immobilized goblins. We can't have them running away."
"I'll relay that message, sir."
"One more thing: get an ammo count."
"Aye, sir. It will be done swiftly," the private responded before running back to Olivia's position.
Mateo watched as Olivia listened to his orders from the private and moved to fulfill them. Half of the marines were taking a break. They drank water and cleaned their weapons. The mud of the field got everywhere, and a weapon jam at the wrong time could mean life or death.
The marines were exhausted. Mentally, not physically. For the most part, the marines just stood there and fired at the goblins. It was a mental exhaustion from being on edge for over 2 hours.
The realization that a fantasy was invading their world was a heavy weight on everyone's mind, too. Especially after the fireballs. The only explanation from the primitive goblins was magic.
While magic was a dream for many, those in the military could only consider it an unknown threat. Unknowns were what killed good soldiers. Threats were what kept leadership occupied with no sleep. Unknown threats laid waste to the most prepared militaries.
Mateo needed a rest. The mental pressure from the whole situation combined with his new injury were more than he could handle at the moment. He sat in the passenger seat of the LATV, closed his eyes and fell asleep instantly.
10 minutes later, the same private knocked on the window next to him, waking him.
"Sir, reporting on our current ammo reserves."
"Tell me," he mumbled while yawning.
"We have only used laser for the toughest shielded enemies. We still have 95% of our HCCMs. We used a good amount of gunpowder rounds during that last wave. We have about 50% remaining. According to orders, we have prioritized the E-Mag weapons. We only have about 10% of that ammo remaining."
"Ugh. More great news," Mateo complained. "Have some marines scavenge some of the rounds around the portal. They are to return to their posts within 10 minutes. I don't want to get caught off guard again," he ordered.
"Should we begin pressing rounds?" The private asked.
"Do what you can. We will continue prioritizing the E-Mag and powder. If an unexpected threat appears, though, don't hesitate to use laser. The next time the drone arrives, request a resupply of ammo. Send up a yellow flare. Command should see it and send a drone to investigate immediately."
"Yes, sir," the private said before walking away again.
Mateo just sat while watching a private shoot a yellow flare. He predicted that a drone will be sent to them within 10 minutes and receive supplies within an hour.
He could only hope that the supplies would arrive before the next wave. He didn't know why, but he felt that the next wave would be the last. If he picked up anything from video games, it's that the last wave was always the hardest by far.
The goblins had been testing their defenses. Testing their weapons. Trying to figure out what worked and what didn't. There was only so much that the marines could do with their limited supplies.
The marines could only hope that the fireballs from the goblin mages would be the last surprise they would have to face.
Time passed quickly while Mateo resumed his nap. The marines took turns resting, too. Soon, 30 minutes had passed. As Mateo predicted, the drone arrived, and they were able to request supplies. The supplies were currently being gathered and packaged for shipment.
It would be another 30 minutes before they would arrive, however. It seemed that whatever higher power that had been watching would not take mercy on them again.
The portal shimmered as more armored boars exited. The private on watch blew an air horn to alert the rest. The next wave would be a fight none of them had been prepared for.
Before, there was always a short delay before the boars charged towards the marines as if they needed to figure out where they were. This time, the goblins riders never stopped. This made it much more efficient for the boars to leave the portal. More boars were able to come through the portal in the same amount of time.
These boars stayed behind the bodies of their fallen. It wasn't much cover, but it allowed them to get a little ways away from the portal before the marines could fire on them.
"Hey! What's up with these goblins? Are they bigger?" Tony called out. The marines had been to busy firing down the charging boars to notice anything about the goblins riding them.
These goblins were a whole foot taller. They had a darker green skin with an intelligence behind their eyes. These larger goblins were a whole lot stronger with all the muscles they had, too.
These stronger goblins must have been the elites of the goblin tribe. They even had bigger boars to ride. Even though the boars were bigger, they were no less agile. Their extra strength let them charge even faster.
The boars with elite riders were much harder to shoot down. Not because they could resist bullets, but because they were that much smarter.
These were the brains that worried Mateo so much a few hours ago. Slowly, the corpses were making a path towards the marines. Soon, the goblin riders would be on top of them.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
A particularly agile boar had been able to skirt around the outside and approach the LATV from the right flank. Ralph, up on the .50 cal machine gun turned to mow them down.
The agile boars were getting closer and closer. To the marines, it felt like a losing battle. Unless they retreated and let the goblins establish a camp around the portal, they would run out of ammunition.
From above, the loud sound of rotors spinning started echoing through the field. Within seconds the marines saw a high priority drone carrying a cargo container drop behind Olivia's center position.
"What's that? The ammo resupply isn't supposed to be here for another 20 minutes," Mateo called out over the raging battle. He wasn't able to help much since his right side had been badly burned earlier.
The drone hovered a few feet above the ground. It took a few moments to fully stabilize itself.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
The four latches disengaged, dropping the 6ft by 8ft container to the ground. Olivia took a moment to run over and open the container.
Mateo watched as her face lit up before pulling several grenades out. She turned and threw them towards the portal.
"The best presents a girl can get!" She exclaimed in delight while answering Mateo's question. Everyone that thrived in the military was a little crazy at heart, but who could blame them.
The goblin riders deftly avoided the strange objects that the human had thrown toward them. However, how should they have know that they needed to give them a lot more distance than they did?
Loud concussing booms rumbled as several grenades exploded one after the other. Not only had the grenades killed and injured several boars that had been charging straight at them, but it cleared some of the piled up corpses, too.
Hearing the explosions, a huge grin exploded on Ralph's face. Explosions were his favorite thing. It's what made his heart race. He quickly disembarked the LATV and ran towards the supply crate.
"Mateo, you man the .50 cal," he said while he ran by. There was no stopping the mountain when it wanted to blow shit up.
Mateo sighed before climbing in the LATV. He was thankful the gun was mounted. This way, he wouldn't have to handle all the recoil with his injured side.
Ralph dug into the weapons crate like a children's toy box. He pulled out grenade launchers, rocket launchers, boxes of grenades and high caliper weapons of all classes.
When he pulled his head out with a rocket launcher in each arm, he had the biggest, shit-eating grin of all time.
"I LOVE YOU COMMANDER!!!" He shouted before sprinting full speed toward the LATT in the center position. He clambered on top with the grace of a rampaging ape before letting loose.
Explosions sounded out through the now ruined wheat field. Blood fell from the sky like rain. Chunks of mud and flesh followed like hail.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The goblins stood no chance when destruction seemed to come at them from all angles. Especially since Ralph seemed to be channeling pure destruction towards the Western Nation's enemies.
The crate that had arrived was sent by Gabe when he first saw the footage of the first two waves. Although the crate did not have any standard ammunition in it, it gave the marines the respite they desperately needed.
The marines had to rely on these heavy weapons and their rapidly depleting supply of standard ammunition for the next 15 minutes. Otherwise, they'd be forced to retreat and allow the goblins to set up a forward operating base around the portal.