Beyond the swaying trees in a colorful forest, birds suddenly flew off, and the shouts of many people could be heard. A man in what used to be a shiny armor, now covered in mud and blood, fell heavily on the ground while another would take a step forward and face a towering shield that looked like a wall.

Behind the knights stood a group of armored people. Their armors, instead of the intricate patterns that a noble medieval knight would have, had glowing lights. In their hands, the rifles fired and a shield would suffer heavy damage, something that the normal knights couldn’t do.

The explosions on the battlefield coming from seemingly out of nowhere would send both the knights and the armored people flying, and shadowy beings, swiftly flying in, would ravage the area where they once stood, finishing off anyone caught off guard.

On the floor lay Jason, looking up at one of these shadowy figures, in its hands a scythe, akin to the ones you’d see on a reaper from myths.

Jason looked around, to the soldiers that came with him into this unknown land, to their commander arguing with someone, the shadowy figures that were flying all over the place, the tall armored angel with two swords walking on the battlefield, his fallen comrades, the one that he was trying to reach, and finally the reaper in front of him, it looking down at him.

The reaper lifted its scythe, and Jason closed his eyes, waiting for what was to come.

* * *

“Man you look like someone who’s really pushing it at the toilet,” said the man next to Jason, looking straight at his face. “or someone who’s about to cry and run away.”

Jason opened his eyes and pushed away the pale white face of the man, “In your dreams that last bit would happen, Mister Sokolov.” He answered as he sat up straight, pushing Sokolov in a way that would make him sit straight in front of him.

“First of all, it’s Duke Sokolov to you, and second of all,” Sokolov chuckled, “does that mean that the first thing is happening?”

Jason only smiled a little while shaking his head. He turned to look at a particular woman at the other side of the moving vehicle. He looked at her as she kept inspecting the weapons they were assigned, carefully making sure that everything was in order.

“Lady Martinez still catching you fancy huh.” Said Sokolov while looking at the woman. “Makes one wonder how such a pretty girl, with a good family background would end up being on the same trip as us.”

“I’ve never said I fancied her,” said Jason as he furrowed his eyebrows, “besides, we all know it was her unusual sense of duty that brought her to where she is.”

Sokolov smirked at Jason, “I know from the way you always look at her what you’re thinking,” then turning to look at Martinez again, “and I also know that a couple of orphans like us wouldn’t have a chance at her, so you better focus on what you can get.”

“Well, I’ve had my chance to talk to her, you know,” answered Jason, looking back at Sokolov again,” She’s nicer than to ignore people just because of their background, so we might even talk more after this whole thing is over.”

Sokolov crossed his arms while throwing an exaggerated glare at Jason, “So you got a new best friend, huh.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but maybe a bit closer would be nice,” he answered with a smile.

“Here’s hoping she doesn’t crush your head if you offend her,” said Sokolov while shrugging.

“Hey come on now, I don't think she—”

“Quit the chatter back there!” shouted a dark skinned, bulky man from the front, while looking at Jason and Sokolov. “Listen up everyone!” he said while scanning everyone else with his eyes.

“We’re approaching the contact zone; we’ll be the first team to go in. Nobody knows what we’ll face after entering, but probes have shown that so far danger is minimal, so our first priority is to set up a base and then scout the surrounding area.”

A hologram in the middle of the wide vehicle turned on, displaying a detailed image of the zone. A portal, not unlike those you’d see in sci-fi fantasy films, was emitting a blue light with red edges and a mix of both red and blue particles could be seen floating around the edges.

“Commander Mostafa, sir!” said a man in the middle.

“Go ahead, Kang”

“I’ve had this question for a while, but why don't we send bots or drones to do this scouting?” asked Kang while staring at the portal with one hand on his chin.

“Every piece we send through loses its connection to our place right after going completely in, so any flying equipment we’ve sent is lost,” answered Mostafa, while pressing a button that showed another image on the hologram. “However, we’ve managed to capture images of the other side by using special bots connected with a cable to this side.”

The image showed a wide valley full of colorful grass, its blades going from shades of purple, to green, red, and yellow; with a few of said drones crashed on the colorful grass. Mountains could be seen at the horizon, and a thick forest with similarly colorful trees a few kilometers away could be seen.

Mostafa continued. “As for safe passage for us into the portal, tests have been done with different kinds of animals that were sent in and pulled back out, both wearing measurement equipment and the same kind of gear we’re wearing, so it’s assumed we’ll pass through and be able to come back alive in one piece.”

“So, how does it look like for us right now, sir?” asked Martinez.

Mostafa paused for a moment before answering. “We lost all connections with the other side, wired or not, one day ago. Living beings still can go in and back out in the same conditions, but all equipment has lost connection right after going in.”

Everyone’s faces hardened at that answer.

“So, I repeat, we’re to go in, secure the area and set up a base,” finished Mostafa after looking at the portal again on the hologram.

He turned off the hologram and looked at everyone. “We’ll be going into Central Park in about 2 minutes, so do as Martinez has been doing and check your equipment. We’ll get off and go in by foot,” he then turned around and walked over to the driver’s side.

Everyone sat back down and quietly checked their equipment. Jason couldn’t help but look back at where the hologram had been for a second, before looking back again at Martinez.

Sokolov gave Jason a small shove after sitting down next to him. “You heard the commander, quit gawking at our super model and make sure everything you have is on check. You might not have the chance later,” he smiled at Jason. “Well, I guess you might not have the chance to gawk at her later either.”

Jason nodded and started checking his gear just as he was told.

* * *

The once bright city of New York, and the even more so glowing Manhattan, were both dim. The city’s skyline was only illuminated by the street lights, while the buildings only had the lights of a few people that refused to leave the area after an evacuation was issued, as well as those whose curiosity weighted heavier than the dangers of being exposed to the mysterious portal or the military people who ignored them as long as they stayed away.

Central Park and all of its perimeter was heavily secured by military personnel and sentry weapons that would turn away or eliminate any intrusions that might hinder the processes and experiments being conducted on the portal site.

Close to the portal area, the vanguard team was preparing themselves to enter the portal. Jason was standing around the zone, same as the other ten team members, all giving one last check at their gear. After making sure everything was ready, he looked around the team members. Martinez was looking at him when he turned his sight to her. She smiled and came over to him.

He stood as straight as he could, he couldn’t let anyone see a Duke, the best of the best, seem scared, even if he, or most of them, could feel the pressure from the portal and its unknown dangers getting closer.

“Hey Collins,” said Martinez while still smiling at him.

“Hey,” he answered with a soft voice.

“This is it, huh. Hopefully we’ll see the same thing as what the images showed while we were coming here,” she said while looking at the portal.

“We can only hope, but I get the feeling we might get to see more,” answered Jason with a half smile.

“Well, animals still go in and back out just fine, so it might just be a thing with the recording equipment,” said Martinez while giving a look at the scientist working on the several machines around the site.

Some of those scientists were arguing with each other, while others were just checking what they had already recorded.

After looking at the people there, Jason looked back at Martinez. “I was curious about why you came all the way here with all of us. You look like someone who could be somewhere safer, or at least, not be on the first team.”

Martinez thought for a while, while still looking at all the people busily moving around. “I just landed here.”

“Is it really just that?”

Martinez stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. “Well, I just wanted to push myself more and more, but being stuck in the Global Alliance Corporation’s desk jobs didn’t feel right to me, while sports and things like that felt too much of a show. So I decided to join the Peace Knights, and after pushing myself…” she turned back to look at Jason, “I just landed here. Plus, it seems like this is going to push me the most ever.”

“I see…”

“What about you? What has brought you all the way here?” Asked Martinez with a smile.

“Nothing in particular. Me and my friend Sokolov didn’t really have much going for ourselves since our childhood, and when some recruiter picked us up, we just went along with him,” said Jason while looking at Sokolov a few meters away. “I guess our CO really must’ve liked our performance, since he recommended us for Knight training.”

Martinez gave a small chuckle. “Must’ve been quite a good performance to be brought up and become one of ‘the best of the best’.”

Jason softly laughed. “Well, we did perform our assignments just as everyone wanted, doing whatever we were tasked to do.”

“Quite trustworthy of you,” said Martinez with the same smile, “but I won’t be outperformed, so you can trust your back to me!” she proudly exclaimed while puffing out her chest.

Jason was taken aback after being told that, so he answered trying to stand as straight as he could. “Yes!”

Martinez laughed, seeing how flustered Jason had gotten.

Jason then said. “And you can trust your back to me too! Whatever happens, I’ll keep you safe!”

Martinez just smiled at him, before looking at where the rest of the team was assembling. “It seems like the time to move out has come. So we’d better get moving.”

Jason stared at Martinez while she was leaving, still unsure about what her purpose of coming all the way to talk to him was.

“Collins!” Sokolov shouted from where the team was. “Get your ass here man!”

Only after Sokolov called him, did he quickly stand up and started moving towards the team, almost forgetting part of the gear.

When he got there, the team was formed in a line, each team member standing next to each other, with Mostafa standing in front, their backs facing the portal, while at their front higher ranking officers and some of the Global Alliance Corporation government executives facing them. They were all from different parts of the world, same as the team that was about to set off.

The commanding officer of the site walked in front of them.

“You are all the best of the best there is, and this might be the most important leap humanity has ever done in history,” he paused for a moment before looking at the portal. “We don’t know what you, going in there, could bring for the rest of the world, of our history, and our futures,” he looked back down at the team, “but know that your bravery will forever be remembered, and your names forever engraved in the minds of everyone.”

The people behind the officer all slightly nodded while he was talking. The scientists all had stopped what they were doing to look at the people that were about to jump into the portal, while a few flashes could be seen from the buildings around Central Park.

“You are our Dukes and Duchesses! The greatest asset for peace and safety!” continued the officer with a bit more strength, “and after this, no expense will be spared to ensure you stay that way.”

The officer did a salute followed by those behind him and finally the team getting ready to go into the portal returning it.

“May blessings and good fortune follow after you.” The officer finished saying before turning and walking with the rest of the officers to the side where the rest of the scientists were watching.

Mostafa turned to look at the team.

“Get your gear ready!” he ordered.

Everyone put on the helmet they had on their arms. It covered their head from the top of the head to a bit below their chins, with a small dark shade visor on the front for the eyes that flashed a blue light for a second before turning off again.

Inside their helmet a screen surrounding all of the space inside it turned on to show everything around them, as if they didn’t have anything on their heads, while showing alerts of all system checks.

From the neck of the helmet a small fiber started extending to cover their necks, then from the joints of their body armor the same thing started happening, extending to the plated armored pieces they had on the arms, hands, legs, and feet.

The whole process took but a few seconds, after which small blue lights flashed for a moment on most of the armor plates. The combination of the helmet with the armor plates, they looked like robotic knights.

Once all the checks were done, Mostafa spoke to the team through the helmets. “Alright! Move out!”

Jason took a deep breath and then started moving alongside everyone. Each step they took could be heard as the people around the portals were quietly looking at them marching. They walked into the portal, their backs disappearing from the sights of everyone else present.

Silence took hold of the area for a moment, a few people still looking at the portal, while the people closer to the commanding officer stared at him expecting orders for what they should do next.

“Get the weapons ready,” finally ordered the commanding officer.

People started busily moving around again once the order was issued. From one place to another, lower ranked Knights would move things around, while others stationed themselves at the control consoles of machines and computers, some making the engines of tanks and missile carriers roar, to eventually place them in front of the portal.

“Let us wait and see what happens,” mumbled the commanding officer.