The President offered a ride, but Jean refused. Instead, she hitched a ride from a Warden F-1 Fighter. The rapid starfighter got Jean to the portal that showed activity within minutes. As soon as she landed, an officer and two guards walked up to her.

“Miss Turner, I am Colonel Jackson. I am in charge of the two regiments stationed at this portal.”

“What are your forces here?”

“10,000 infantry units. 24 M270A4 Multiple Launch Rocket System. 24 M109A7 Paladin. 24 M1 tanks. One squad of Apache Longbows and one squad of F-22 Raptors.”

That was a sizeable fighting force on Earth. In fact, due to the nature of their task, this task force was given a lot of equipment otherwise off-limit. But Colonel Johnson had little confidence in his men. He half-expected Jean the Voyager to take over command.

Jean merely nodded.

“Very well. Colonel Johnson, please continue assuming command of the forces.”

“But, Miss Turner, surely you have more experience in dealing with interdimensional threats…”

“I have yet to assess the situation, and before that, there is little I can do.” Jean shook her head, half-lying. “Given my lack of knowledge of your forces and gadgets, it will be best for you, the professional officer, to take command.”

Colonel Johnson nodded quietly.

“In that case, please come with me to the command center.”

“Actually, I would rather say in the front.” Jean had no intention of watching the battlefield behind a layer of computer screens when she could do so in the middle of it.

“But...it will be dangerous. We don’t know what will come through the portal...”

Ah. So the Colonel had no idea who the Voyagers were and what they were capable of. Perhaps he considered them to be merely tacticians sent to train the local armies and help them grow. Jean mentally took note of that as she made a reply.

“My safety will not be an issue, I assure you. I have a few tricks up my sleeve to keep me safe.”

Without waiting for another response from Colonel Johnson, Jean walked toward the front, passing through men and tanks until she was at the first line of defense against the portal. It was a full kilometer away from the portal. This made sure the artillery of the defenders could lay down hell without having to worry much about their comrades.

Previously, when Jean watched from the holograms, the portals were calm. Dark and mysterious, yet calm, but this time, they were twisting in a swirl.

It was as if someone was on the way out.

All around Jean, men were readying their firearms. Self-propelling artillery vehicles moved into position. Jean could see a dozen jet fighters cruising through the sky. Behind her, twelve attack choppers held their position in the air. Their air to ground missiles and guns ready for battle.

24 M1 tanks lined up on the high ground where they could easily bombard any enemy that marches through the portal with a wave of artillery. They might not be siege tanks, but they were still beasts of war.

And then the swirl disappeared...and figures appeared in the portal.

“What the…” In the command center and watching the portal from a camera, Colonel Johnson’s mouth hung open.

Jean rose her eyebrows. Men all around her frowned in shock and awe.

The figures were in red armors and red helmets. Most of their bodies were covered behind red rectangular shields. On their other hands were swords, tightly gripped onto and ready for blood. Each figure carried two javelins on their backs. Bridge red cloaks dangled behind their back.

Red Plumes were on their helmets.

“That...that is a Roman legionnaire!” One man beside Jean exclaimed.

Yes, it was an army of Roman legionnaires marching through the portal, carrying melee weapons such as swords and shields. There were at least hundreds of them.

A cohort.

Colonel Johnson wanted to either laugh out loud or slap himself in the face or do both at the same time. On one hand, it was an ancient army with swords and spears! What could they do against the fighters and armored vehicles? This was great news! Well, at least better news than an army of gods with the goal of exterminating mankind in mind. On the other hand...did the U.S. government just go into all panic mode for something like this? The preparations they did, from deploying the troops to getting the entire nation ready for an all out war, costed billions. They even called the Protectors for help, for god’s sake! This would be the greatest scandal of the century! An entire nation, frightened by hundreds of soldiers from the past!

“Get me on the broadcast system.”

“Yes sir.”

Before long, the entire battlefield was filled with Colonel Johnson’s voice.

“Unidentified army! Hold your position! You are trespassing into the territories of the United States of North America! Lay down your arms or we will open fire!”

The legionnaires kept on marching. Not a single of them said a word. The only sound they made was that of boots stepping on the ground and swords and shields clashing against each other.

Colonel Johnson frowned and turned to his lieutenants half-jokingly.

“Do I need to find a Latin translator?”

His lieutenants laughed. They didn't want to rain on their commanding officer’s parade. Plus, it was good to have all that stress and fear suddenly relieved. What happened deserved a smile.

In the field, men laid back and relaxed. If these melee soldiers were right in front of them, then they would be slightly concerned, but what could they do this far away. Their guns could gun the legionnaires down way before their swords could see blood.

And then everything went downhill.

The entire cohort suddenly stopped in their tracks. Just as the soldiers thought they were ready to surrender, all of them reached to behind their backs and pulled out a javelin.

The soldier that first exclaimed burst out laughing.

“Those idiots! I can’t even reach them with my M4! What do they think they have? Bazookas?”

Jean glanced at him. She could already sense what was going to happen, but she didn't raise a single warning. It was too late now.

The Romans weren’t the idiots on this battlefield.

The entire cohort of legionnaires made a harmonious war cry before simultaneously tossing the javelins out.

Snap!

Jean glanced at the soldier beside her. One moment his mouth was open, laughing at the stupidity of their foe. The next moment, an entire javelin was sticking out of the back of his head. His helmet exploded on impact.

The soldier didn't have the time to react, and it wasn’t his fault. In fact, Jean’s observers calculated the speed of that javelin to be 3 mache, or 996 meters per second. In comparison, the muzzle speed of an M4 was 910 meters per second.

Three times the speed of sound with one simple throw. The strength it takes...the material that ensures the javelin can survive the travel...all of them screamed one terrifying fact: the Roman army was hardly the easy foe that Colonel Johnson and his men expected.

In fact, this reminded Jean of the World of the Runes. The inhabitants of that world were supernaturally strong as well. A farmer had a CAS of 20, placing him within the realms of protoss zealots. Well, saying someone or something is supernatural is always relative. To the people in those worlds, it was a simple common fact.

But there were differences. Warriors in the World of the Runes were stronger and faster, but the enhancements were limited. They relied on the power of runes to fight effectively. Their arrows could achieve the same effect of these javelins, but only when they were runed. These Roman soldiers, on the other hand, relied on raw physical strength.

Interesting.

Horrified screams rang out across the field. Five javelins that came Jean’s way were evaporated, but not everyone was Jean Turner. Hundreds were pinned down by the projectiles that they were laughing at milliseconds ago. Even those who remained behind the cover of sandbags, concrete, or even armor didn't escape the terrible fate. Jean saw a javelin punching straight through an armored vehicle and coming out the other end. Judging from the blood on the tip it was safe to assume someone inside wouldn’t be making it.

Propelled to such a velocity, the power of the javelins could tore limbs off with just a graze. Those who took shots to the head or the chest were the lucky ones. At least they died. Many collapsed on the ground. Their legs or arms exploded by the touch of the javelins.

A single round, and over 200 men were dead or dying. The entire first line of defense was nearly wiped out.

“Open fire! Open fire! Direct everything we have at those...things!”

Colonel Johnson was almost exploding from fear. His smile was nowhere to be seen. Behind him, lieutenants and officers relayed the order down. Unfortunately, the nature of passing down orders by voice meant no matter how fast people were, it would take a while.

Meanwhile, the Romans kept on approaching. They were like an army from hell. Their only goal was to bring pain and suffering to all those in their way.

A man dropped his rifle and fled. He was fully broken. He just saw his best friend getting shot in the chest. His entire upper body exploded. He would rather be court-martialed than suffer the same fate.

He would never get that opportunity. A shot to the head ended his life.

“Hold your ground!” The officer lowered his handgun and screamed. “We haven’t lost yet!”

The cohort continued forward. Suddenly, the ground below them exploded. A field of landmines were set up between the portal and the defensive position.

Smoke covered the battlefield, but few men were excited.

When the smoke cleared, the cohort continued on.

“It’s not working!”

“They’re invincible!”

“Why are we fighting them? Where are the Protectors? They’re supposed to protect us!”

Waves of cries and exclaims covered the ranks. If the mines couldn’t even do the job, then what could their rifles do? These soldiers were elites, but they have never faced an enemy like this before. If it wasn’t for the officers that threatened to shoot anyone that fled on sight, half of them would be gone already.

Jean stood as still as an oak tree. She could tell that the Roman legionnaires weren’t as invincible as they appeared. The landmines covered most of their ranks. Most of the men had their armors and shields broken and battered. Some of them were secretly coughing blood.

They could be killed with more firepower, and Jean was confident her Wardens had much more firepower than what these puny humans had to offer.

But for now, she wanted to let this play out...after all, why not? It wasn’t her forces that were being slaughtered. It wasn’t her power being depleted.

The armored divisions were finally able to fire. M4 roared, sending cannon round after cannon round into the front and the middle of the cohort. Every explosion threw men and shields back. Missiles from self-propelled artillery came down from the sky, landing in the middle of the tightly formed lines and sending men flying to all directions. Attack choppers covered the entire formation with a storm of bullets. Fighter jets dropped missile after missile.

The cohort was torn apart. Their formation was completely scattered, but only a small portion of them were killed in action. For the modern artillery, only direct strikes could truly take down a legionnaire. Shockwaves or shrapnels were easily deflected. Many legionnaires were tossed onto their backs, only to stand up and resume the charge as if nothing happened.

Most of the legionnaires simply used the opportunity to break formation and charge toward the defensive lines formed by the infantry. The artillery posed a huge threat, but they knew very well that if they were mixed with the infantry, the bombardment would be restricted.

Jean tapped a voice recorder.

“Hostiles have excellent morale and knowledge of battle tactics.”

“Dadadadadada”

The infantry opened fire, but if M4 bullets missed the shields, they were deflected by the armor. Whatever kinetic energy was easily handled by the supernatural endurance of these Roman soldiers. If the bullets hit the shields...Jean just saw someone firing an RPG into one of the shields. The Roman legionnaire was tossed back by the explosion and several more cracks formed on his shield, but that was it. The man lived.

Beside Jean, a machinegunner unloaded a hail of bullets from his M240. One legionnaire covered his body with his shield, lowered his head, and charged forward recklessly. The bullets struck his shield and pushed him slightly back, but with sheer force, the man kept on moving forward. The machine gunner tried to take aim at the legionnaire’s relatively unprotected feet, but it was too late. With a final leap, the legionnaire tossed his shield to the side and landed behind the machine gunner.

The machine gunner reached for his sidearm, but it was too late. The legionnaire sliced off half his head with a single move. The gunner collapsed on the ground. His corpse twitched briefly before going cold.

With one kill under his belt, the legionnaire turned to Jean and raised his blade. That was the last thing he did before he lost consciousness.

Once the legionnaires were mixed with the human infantry, it was no longer an even conflict. Large caliber weapons like machine guns or rocket launchers that could pose a threat to the legionnaires and force them to cower behind their shields posed more risk to fellow infantry than to the legionnaires. Weapons like handguns and submachine guns were just ineffective. There might just be a few hundred legionnaires and they were facing two full regiments of U.S. infantry, but the numbers told an entirely different story than the facts.

Within minutes of the initial contact, nearly a thousand men were slaughtered.

“Sir! We don’t have a clear line of shot!”

One of the helicopter gunners screamed through his radio. During the initial charge he was able to lay down the proper suppressing fire, but that was no longer possible unless he wanted to gun down friends and foes alike. Unless he had a direct order, he wouldn’t do that.

“Infantry! Fall back!”

Colonel Johnson couldn’t afford to do that either. If he issued such an order, he would either be court-martialed or be gunned down by angry men, depending on which happens first. All he could do was try to get his men out of the slaughterhouse.

Unfortunately, the commander was still unaware of the situation. He wanted to retreat, but the battle wasn’t about what he wanted. As his order was given, those who held their ground started falling back as well. No longer being pushed back by resistance, the legionnaires pursued. Their supernatural strength and speed easily allowed them to hunt down the fleeing infantry and dig their blades into their backs.

The retreat turned into a panicked scurry. Casualties got sky-high. A few officers that tried to organize a firing position were quickly overwhelmed by fleeing men. Some of them shot a few deserters, but there were too many of them. Overcame by fear, some of the deserters turned their guns toward the officers.

The entire battle became what could be legally defined as a mess.

Suddenly, as the infantry were fully overrun, all the legionnaires stopped and reached for their second round of javelins. This time, they weren’t aiming for the infantry.

“Evasive actions now!”

But it was too late. Hundreds of wooden missiles pierced the cockpits of helicopters, jets, and tanks alike. Choppers exploded into balls of flames as they came crashing down. M1 tanks suddenly became porcupines. Each of them had half a dozen javelins sticking out of their front and sides. The men inside would never see the light of day.

In the air, two of the twelve fighters had their vessels pierced. How the legionnaires were able to reach jets when they were at full speed was anyone’s guess. The rest quickly pulled back. Their missiles could kill a legionnaire when contact, but against hundreds of scattered targets, they might as well leave.

Random cannon shells still hit the ground, sometimes killing a legionnaire, but it was not enough.

A cohort of 480 legionnaires.

Two infantry regiments, along with one squad of fighters, one squad of Apache choppers, and dozens of armored vehicles and tanks.

The cohort won decisively.