Worlds of power Prologue
My name is Marcus Romulus a Centurion of the Roman legions I roughly fought and commanded four hundred and eighty men. I have opposed the many enemies of the empire from the Mediterranian Sea to the shores of the most distant outpost known as Brittana. I have served for over thirty years of my life as a soldier, and this is my story before my abduction. I was in charge of the fourth cohort when we were being attacked by a new enemy one that none of us have even heard about massive muscled creatures, lithe knife ears, tiny people with the propensity to mine the mountains, animals that hop and crawl, monsters from nightmares. These all happen before I was born and since the time I was able to be drafted into the empire I have served it faithfully my men and I have fought and bleed for the realm for the thirty years of my service.
"Commander of the fourth cohort Romulus is here reporting for duty, sir." I was on my thirtieth year, and this was supposed to be my last campaign then retirement. In the past, I heard that the retirement age for a soldier of the empire was twenty years or so with a bonus for each year you continue in service. Since the arrival of foreign or strange beings into the realm, it was decided by the high command to add ten additional years to the enlisted and officer ranks.
"Welcome, Centurion Romulus be at ease, we are going to be marching into the swamps to remove a menace from the villagers that call this region home." The person who was speaking was Tribune Filigree; he was the direct superior of the fourth, fifth and sixth cohorts of the fifteenth legion stationed in the eastern half of the empire between Gaul and Spain. He is a tall and heavily muscled man who has put in fifteen years of service and has served with Romulus for the last ten years. The tribune was wearing his standard leather armor instead of his metal armor that was expectant from a heavy infantry commander. His eyes were focused on the papers in his hands while a slave was organizing and oiling his gear while another was pouring some wine in his goblet. His characteristics among the legion are weird, to say the least, and his mother was one of the outsiders that have arrived into the empire from what he has told his commanders and close friends like Romulus she was an elf one of the knife ear bastards who tend to live long lives and have knife like ears. The half-breeds like Tribune Filigree are still ostracized today, because of the mixing of blood is frowned upon by both races not as bad as the human side, but on elf side well it is considered a sin to fall in love and have a child outside of the race.
From what he told others she has green eyes as he does, but unlike her aqua like hair, he inherited his father's dark hair color and physic while having the ears of her mothers which were slightly more rounded.
"The enemy this time is the frog-like men and there spawn that are located near the village of Coqji. I will lead the combined forces of the cohorts that are under my direct command in assaulting these monsters. You will get the men ready to move by tomorrow. We march to the swamps that these creatures call home and eradicate those said monsters." With a wave of the tribunes arm, he indicated to Romulus that the meeting is over and he should inform his fellow centurions.
Around a campfire, three centurions gathered some, were holding the dinner that was provided this night as well as some wine that the officers were granted to have. However, with Romulus being the senior centurion he got the best of the best that suited his station in the legions. With them here I informed the three new centurions about tomorrows battle.
"Well, you three by our great and glorious leader Tribune Filigree we are to march to a swamp. Where once we arrive we are to kill all indigenous life forms specifically frogs and there spawn upon arriving." With this, the other three centurions let loose a groan of annoyance while the creatures that call the swamps home aren't dangerous creatures to avoid. The only real annoying thing about them is their tendency to jump into the air and do a body slam and that their blood was poisonous upon skin contact. Other than that they were peaceful creatures so long as you don't disturb them or their young.
The races are still new to the empire and research of where they came from is always a hot topic among the citizens and soldiers of the empire. From field interrogations, they mention worlds of where every inconceivable creature, horror, and things that are so outlandish that it boggles the mind that such an idea even exists. Some spoke of fire just appearing out of nowhere water magically showing itself in abundance great forests just sprouting overnight wounds stitched and diseases cured with a few words and a wave of the hand such impossibilities fascinated the common man where gods are common, and they serve their own even greater gods who only they know.
"Frogs well lads excuse me need to make sure my leather gear and my mask have no holes in them so no blood can make contact on my skin. Don't need to die from heart failure or lung collapse." A centurion said while chuckling darkly. It wasn't wrong the blood of the frogs can do this to a soldier if spilled and landed on a soldier while there are ways to cure them which was recently invented and has proven to be effective in combating the blood poison.
"Well, lads I need to tell my men as well see you lot tomorrow." Another centurion added.
With this, I went to bed.
Morning came, and the three cohorts were ready for the march towards the swamps. Romulus took his customary place near the Tribune when near him he gave the salute and called the formation into order, and the bugles sounded the march to begin. It wasn't till late into the day that they arrived near the swamps. They decided to rest before they would go into the marsh which was gratefully accepted by the soldiers.
An hour later the soldiers were in fighting formation, and the march was on. It didn't take long for the frogs to know that roughly fifteen hundred men were advancing onto there home. The noise that came from the series of croaks that arrived from the sparse treeline.
It didn't take long for the frogs to start making a huge ruckus with there hopping and croaking the ground shook with there leaps into the air and the subsequent landings. Hundreds arrayed in front of the legion within a few minutes.
"I know reports say that these frogs aren't as stupid but why would they fight with us when we have the numerical superiority instead of taking there young and fleeing? while this makes no sense, don't get me wrong I won't avoid a good fight it's just there blood is annoying to get rid of and it hurts like hell till administered with the antidote." Tribune Filigree mentioned to Romulus that was decked out in his heavy infantry gear.
"I don't know sir I am just waiting for this battle to be over and I can finally retire thirty years of service and not a wife or children to my name can make a man lonely if Ares permits it, I will survive this day," Romulus told his tribune.
"Well let's get this started, set the starting formation into wide there should be space for another soldier to give them some room for the frog's body slams and poison blood if they spray. Also, get the auxiliaries that followed us to our flanks our archers should hit them once they're within range." With this said multiple messengers left to carry out their orders, and the bugles rang with there notes that signaled that the soldiers spread out.
"Well sir if you excuse me I need to get to my men' With this Romulus told the Tribune and went off to his Cohort.
"Centurion it's nice to see you back here in the front got tired with our tribune already? It isn't kind of you to leave us alone you know." A decurion mentioned to Romulus in a chipper tone.
"Oh be quite Sah I have some rights here when you placed your thirty years in the legions you can be sure to spend the last battle with your friends and comrades you have served with for several years at the very least. So listen up you lot I am retiring after this I expect every one of you lousy lot to survive I would hate to bury any of you when this battle is over so pay attention and stay alive."
After the short speech, the bugles announced a forward march and as one the cohorts moved forward as the croaks grew louder and louder soon the frogs just started hopping towards the legion, and the archers decided to halt and knock an arrow to their bows and lose them.
Two hundred arrows sailed through the air over the heads of the soldiers and landed in a wide arc into the enemy formation. Some died with there airbags exploding making a wheezing sound some killed with an arrow in their eye, while some of them hit the backs of the frogs, but the majority of the archers missed their targets.
The signal for the soldiers to stop their advance was when the archers were within range of the frogs which was roughly one hundred and fifty meters. They leased another four volleys before the enemy was to close to do en masse shooting and the commanders of the archers ordered their sharpshooters to take potshots when they can.
"Well boys the archers once again proved their uselessness to us, legionaries, we have to show them once again our javelins are far superior in terms of accuracy the first motherless bastard to miss is doing laps around the entire encampment." The threat originated from the decurion while he was free with a laugh and a joke, but when the battle is about to start, he was all business.
"PREPARE JAVELINS" this was shouted by Romulus this prompted the soldiers to get a handle on the three spears like objects on their backs.
Throughout the line, the other two cohorts were doing the same following the lead of the fourth cohort.
The enemy was seventy meters from the cohorts at this time and eating up the distance fast with each hop they make they eat up twelve meters.
"PREPARE TO THROW" With this, the spears were angled upward as the enemy continue to hop and eat up the distance which worked for the legionaries greatly.
It was at this time the enemy as reached their spitting distance. While the spit from the younger frogs was not as dangerous as their adult forms the fact that the spit can solidify and hamper the soldier from moving and being able to jump was annoying this was just the effect of the younger less evolved. The grown-up version of the frogs which were the two-meter behemoths of their species had much more dangerous saliva which ate into metal and created wounds.
The saliva helped them eat there lesser children easier and made defending themselves easier as well. The distance the spit traveled was slightly further than the best arm of the legion who could hurl a javelin fifty meters they were doing it at seventy-five while stopping on the ground every so often to spit.
The soldiers in front had the critical and dangerous task of blocking as much of the dangerous projectiles as they can while the others were getting the javelins ready.
The distance was getting shorter between the two armed forces were getting shorter as time went by the time was right when the enemy was within the armed reaches of the front ranks of thirty-five meters the expected was shouted.
"LOOSE JAVELINS" like this thirteen hundred javelins flew into the air some hit but most missed, but this was just the first volley they had two more throws in them, and thus the order was repeated two more times.
The third throw showed excellent results with the enemy being no more than five meters away. You could see the shafts of the spears going through the necks and piercing through the skulls of the amphibians showing their purplish blood and yellow brain matter.
"Draw swords and prepare for their leaps came the shouts of the multiple decurions of the cohorts."
Romulus drew his gladius and prepared for the jumping motherfuckers as well as the spit that can both hinder him in various ways.
The creatures were closing in fast you can quite literally feel the vibrations and hear the loud thumps that they produce once they land on the ground one such monster fell in front of the centurion only to receive a slash across his snout,
For the creature in question, it made a lunge toward the soldier to see another sword strike landing on its bulbous throat making a hissing sound. With a grim smile, the centurion landed another strike this time pointed on the skull of the creature which made a meaty thwack and a scraping sound of bone on metal.
"One down a few hundred more to go" muttered the centurion in charge of the fourth cohort.
He rushed to aide another soldier who was struggling with a frog that was getting ready to leap onto him. The said soldier had his leg spat on that hardened onto the ground making it impossible in the time given for him to dodge the next leap thankfully the centurion cut a leg off of the creature before it jumped, fortunately with him wearing gloves and a mask that was covering his face from the blood.
"Close that gap, cover those soldiers, YOU get that man to a medic NOW." Romulus was giving a series of orders to the people around him while trying to circle the enemy it wasn't easy since they can jump over the soldiers, so the auxiliaries were needed to fill in some of the gaps to entirely entrap the enemy.
While all this was going on the rest of the auxiliaries were attacking the mud homes that the frogs have dug into the ground with their powerful legs. While the adolescents and adults won't genuinely need these homes that were not their function these mud homes and tunnels were meant to protect their young from predators and them as well since they aren't choosy on what they would eat.
After four hours of combat and following clean up the soldiers were all asked to get to the medics to make sure blood did not spill on there skin.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the battle, Romulus had the unexpected opportunity in fighting a giant of a frog that was at least weighing in over two hundred pounds and the size of which was four meters. The creature died in the end but not without releasing an acidic spit that melted into his chest plate which wasn't the problem but when a javelin slew the beast the blood that was released splashed onto his chest.
In a short while, Romulus passed on before he arrived at the medical tent.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone