Chapter 54: Major Battle 10: The Deja Vu Wars 1

A/N: This chapter, and the two others after this, are somewhat similar. If you feel as though you don't want to read through the same thing with slight changes in the story, skip to Chapter 56. I simply wanted to demonstrate how the Era Agency uses its temporal recursion protocol, and how it effects the continuity of the timeline.

A massive organism had grown to an incredible size, to a length of around five kilometers in length. The overlord that carried Othafurn was quickly brought to the giant creature's mouth, becoming ingested by the giant floating beast. A tentacle from the leviathan had lowered itself to the ground and opened its tip, similarly like the mouth of a nydus worm, to allow Virid a means to board the beast's insides. After the two important zerg organisms were safely brought inside of the creature, it started rising high into the air until it could see the moon in the distance. An orange glow enveloped the monster, which seemed to make the air become charged with energy, before it blinked out of existence in an orange flash.

Officer Raxa, leader of the forty Crescent Arms soldiers that was part of Patrol Group 20, managed to catch a long glimpse of the creature, blinking at the very moment it had warped away. After a few seconds of idiotic open-mouthed gazing, he shook his head and reported his findings to the colonel in charge of the operations at investigating Red Mountain. "This is patrol number 20 reporting. You wanted me to contact you guys if I saw anything out of the ordinary, right?"

[That is correct, patrol 20. Have you found something to report?]

"Yeah um... I think I saw something that matched the description of a 'dread maw.'"

[Can you describe the creature? We need an accurate recollection so we can relay the details to the commanders.]

"Um... The creature was fucking huge, like it could eat buildings, for one. It had tentacles on its chin, it had an abdomen that looks like it was puffed out with eggs or something, and it... well... vanished in some orange light."

[... Copy that, patrol 20. We are relaying your description to the higher-ups right now. Please standby for further orders.]

"Understood, Colonel Phelioc. Officer Raxa of patrol number 20, out." He said, pocketing his short-range handheld radio.

"You think it's another one of them experiments that those copper boys were working on?" "I doubt it. No way they could hide something that big without alerting the public." "What even WAS that?" "Didn't you hear Raxa talking? It was a dread maw." "I know, but THAT was a dread maw? Looks like it could make shits big enough to crush a dune-boat!" "That's a load of crap."

Raxa rolled his eyes, but then turned to his men and stood stiffly. "Remember your discipline and training, lads. We're not like the weak chinned, pulp shake drinking Torus Chain guards, protected in their fancy walled cities of theirs. We're Crescent Arms soldiers. We're as rowdy as a starved mongwedger, tougher than the course sand of a desert, and meaner than a shryik serpent with its tail stepped on. We won't back down from a fight, and we give our lives freely in the service of our emperor. Our job is to work ourselves to the bone in his service, either to die and be free from our prison, or live the better life in his perfect world. Remember our motto! Every soldier strives for the silver lining!"

"Strive for silver!" "Strive for silver!" "Strive for silver!" "Strive for silver!" "Strive for silver!"

[Patrol 20, come in.]

Raxa reached for his short-ranged radio and spoke to it again. "Officer Raxa, responding."

[We have acquired more orders from our commanders. We are to maintain our position until reinforcements arrive. Expect the four armies to take control of the mountain area in an hour.]

Raxa nodded. "And our patrol group, sir?"

[Considering the nature of the orders given to us, our commanders told US to maintain OUR position. They gave no special consideration to any patrols that are scouting the mountain, so I must order you to carry on in your current scouting assignment.]

He sighed. "Got it, forward base. You got our video feeds?"

[That is a confirmed on our part, patrol 20. We will be recording every action that you make out there. Don't fuck up, and may the emperor be willing.]

Raxa pocketed his handheld radio again, and pointed to the shadowed summit of the mountain. "Alright boys. Get your lights out, your grappel-hook lines ready, and start marching. We're going to find us some aliens, and make some noise."

"I didn't know we COULD fight some aliens." "Are they aliens?" "They're alien looking. That's good enough for me."

Unbeknownst to them, their entire conversation was eavesdropped by a few roaches and an infestor that was under their feet at the time. Many others had borrowed-moved to various locations on the rim of the mountain's summit, acting as a subtle net of detection. Upon detecting the gilanian patrol, Kay predicted the most likely path this patrol would take to get to the center of the summit and planned accordingly. However, the conversation that Raxa just had with his superior on his radio revealed troubling information to Kay.

Just before the Crescent Arms patrol had reached the lip of the mountain's caldera, Kay was reciting an old conversation that his future self had made with Lovechief Kragnon. It was incredibly tedious, but Kay had to make sure that everything fell perfectly into place. Kragnon seemed receptive to Kay's presence after calming down, which was very much like in Kay's past in the past alternate timeline. Tedium aside, he needed to bridge a friendship with Kragnon and make sure that he doesn't get captured like last time, or become an activated sleeper agent. But alas, Kay didn't mind doing such a tedious task. He knew that he needed to do this. At least the two zerglings from this timeline were eager to participate in this conversation, despite being unaware of the redundancy that Kay had to go through again.

Kay perked up. "Could you explain what the other chieftains are? And could you tell me what a Thoughtlord does?"

Kragnon smiled. "Certainly, but I think it's time I took my rest. My jaw feels like it has been flapping for well over a time. My throat is even beginning to feel sore."

Kay shrugged his shoulders and got up. "Must be from all that yelling. Anyway, I got a hive cluster to manage. If you feel like talkin-"

'Hostile force approaching.' Corvurn reported.

"Gh- Corvurn? What's going on?" Kay asked, turning away. Kragnon only gave a confused expression since he was unable to hear the telepathic link that the zerg shared.

'Patrol sighted. Scaling down lip of Red Mountain's caldera using climbing gear.'

Kay paused for a short while as he accessed the hivemind intelligence to assess any information relevant to the intrusion. What he discovered through the roaches and an infestor shocked him. "... The fuck? How did the Crescent Arms Division find out about us so soon?"

"The what arms what?" Kragnon asked, his face emoting confusion.

"Hush you. I'm talking to Corvurn." Kay said, turning to Kragnon and then turning away again. "Corvurn, how the hell did those soldiers learn about us?"

'Unknown. Possible temporal recursion. Era Agency likely suspect. Possibly shared information regarding swarm?'

Kay raised his eyebrow. "When did we get so many problems this time around?"

'Also unknown. Crescent Arms patrol approaching surface hive cluster. Recommend evacuation.'

Kay Sighed. "Fucking hell... Alright, you can go ahead and evacuate the surface hive cluster, but stall the patrol for as long as possible if they get too close."

'Could attack. Force engagement. Initiate in combat.'

Kay shook his head. "No can do on that. We can't risk what happened last time." He then turned to look at Kragnon, concern in his stare. Apparently, the timeline has been irrevocably changed, whether or not he had followed the events of the timeline as best as he could. Sure, he did release Kragnon from his cold-pod way earlier than in the timeline before, but the activity of the Crescent Arms Division forces had been altered within this timeline as well. "Um... There has been a slight change of plans as of late. I think it's about time I tell you that I have the memories of myself in an alternate future timeline, and that those memories have been sent back to me in order to prevent a possible future from happening."

Kragnon paused for a long time before he tilted his head. "So what you are saying is... that... you have somehow interacted with the Era Agency?"

Kay turned away and proceeded out of the council room. "That's one way of putting it. If you want to look outside, I won't stop you. But remember my warning that I gave you. Do you remember what I have told you to do?"

Kragnon tilted his head further as he watched Kay leave. "... That... I should stay in the tower?"

"Exactly." Kay said, finally taking his leave as he was followed out by the two zerglings that seemed to guard him.

Once Kay and his beasts left, Kragnon stood up from his seat and straightened his gown before speaking again. "Maiden. Show a camera feed outside of the tower."

[Command detected.] The screen showed... several types of horrors that Kragnon would have never expected to see in his lifetime.

"... Oh gods. What even ARE the zerg?!" Kragnon shouted in awe and shock as he saw his once beloved home turn into an infestation.

As Kay exited the tower, he felt a deep pang of frustration within his carapace. How, in the world called Kiln, did Raxa and his superiors find out about the zerg? If Corvurn was correct in his assumption that the Era Agency was responsible for sharing such information with Gollog's empire, then the swarm was going to have a tougher time surviving on Kiln. But still, a plan was put into action, and Kay was determined to have The Swarm survive on Kiln, thwart the Golden Star Empire, and escape the prison that he was brought into. "Okay Corvurn. How long do you think it will take for the patrol to get to the center of the caldera?"

'Not long. Zergling strain targeting creep tumors. Will retreat to nydus network afterwards. Cave entrance, barricaded. Constriction grown behind sand barrier. Creep will recede rapidly. Leave no trace of zerg presence. Hive can regress into drone strain. Enough time. Less of baneling strain needed for nydus network destruction.'

Kay nodded as he went to the nydus worm. "What about the roaches and infestors that will be stuck on the surface?"

'Reconnaissance needed. Roach and infestor strains burrow-move, reaching different locations. Difficult to detect. Changelisks prepared for long-term infiltration. Also difficult to detect.'

Kay sighed. "Even so, I can't help but worry about what kind of changes happened within this new timeline. With that said, I want the zerg to burrow as deeply as they can, and then spread out from there. We need to find a way to get to the core of this world and infest it somehow."

'Understood. Emperor Gollog organism resides in core. Must be assimilated, or destroyed.'

"Preferably infested first, and then destroyed afterwards." Kay added.

Raxa and his patrol marched down and into the calderabof Red Mountain, using their flashlights to see in the darkness within the mountain's sunken summit. The hexagonal moon was still close to the horizon, yet it slowly rose higher and illuminated more of the caldera's interior. Raxa was slow in his approach, but he had a gut feeling that something was off. "Keep your eyes peeled, and your wits sharp. Something doesn't smell right."

"Your right. It kind of smells like rotting bodies and a metal refinery." One of his men behind himself replied. But still, they continued on. Their approach slowed when they heard sounds of loud popping and sloshing liquid, followed by the sound of sizzling and screeching, but they steeled themselves and continued on.

When they rounded a red formation of rock, they saw a dark purple patch of... something on the ground. A puddle of green was quickly dissolving, almost as though it was some kind of green colored sauce put onto a hot skillet. The sizzle of that green liquid had quickly stopped, but Raxa felt as though he was being watched. "Search the area, and break off in pairs of four. If you find something, don't be scared to use the radio." Patrol number 20 then separated themselves into ten groups, and they broke away in different directions. Raxa and his three soldiers stayed behind and waited nearby the quagmire on the ground. He dared not step into it, but it seemed as though it was receding back for some reason. "Hmm..." He reached for his handheld radio once more. "Hey Phelioc. We found some slimy purple stuff on the ground. Think those smart scientist types will pay for a sample?"

"That's good initiative, Patrol 20. If you have a vial, beaker, or some kind of sealed container that can contain a sample for later analysis, then use it."

Raxa pocketed his radio and searched for another item within his person. After taking out a rectangular plastic box, he opened it up. "Anyone want my fried krell?"

"Can I take it, sir?" one of the officers in his group asked.

Raxa hastily dumped the contents of the plastic box into the soldiers hands, and he then quickly jogged toward the receding creep. He managed to scoop up enough of the slime to fill his plastic box, and he quickly closed the box tightly. After the deed was done, Raxa carefully tucked the creep-contained plastic box back into his person. "There we go. Nice and snug."

"Sir, that slime stuff is disappearing." One of his soldiers said, pointing out the obvious detail.

Raxa nodded. "Which is why I wanted to take a sample with us. We don't know what it is, but the Cube Research Division guys could tell us what it does." He fetched his handheld radio again. "Okay boys. Anything to report?"

"Yeah, were not finding any strange animals on our end, sir. Hell, I haven't found a single sign of wild krell or a vaph nest. Not even the smell of a shryik serpent." "Yeah, there's a freshwater spring at the center of this mountain's caldera. Any open sources of fresh water is often guarded by a nearby nest of shryik serpents." "Stranger still, I am finding plant husks near the spring. It's strange. They look like they died of dehydration." "Not just the shrubs. Even the trees look dead. I'm thinking this mountain was once a volcano, and it might have released some gasses that choked these plants to death." "I doubt that. The desert is a windy place, and it would constantly push out any volatile gasses that might build up within the caldera." "So it's okay to breath the air?" "Yes. The spring is providing fresh water. It's not bubbling out anything, so it couldn't be making gasses that are dangerous or lethal with all this wind blowing around." "What about this purple sludge stuff? It seems to be evaporating to nothing, even during the cold of night." "I don't know what that stuff is, so I don't know what to tell you."

Raxa rolled his eyes. "Alright, enough of the reports. Forward base, this is Officer Raxa. Whatever else it is we are trying to find here, I think we missed it."

[Acknowledged, Patrol 20. This news is even making the commanders scratch their heads. Proceed with primary mission. Set up the seismic sensors to locate the entrance to the Hidden Water Spring Tribe's village. Afterwards, notify us of your findings and set a camp at your location.]

"Acknowledged. Raxa out." Raxa said, pocketing his handheld radio again. "Rothef, Garleen, set up the seismic sensor. We should be able to find the entrance here."

Two of his officers nodded and unholstered a satchel from their arms. After opening them up, they then pulled out devices that had been the bane of all zerg burrowing operations. After assembling them together and activating them, they linked it with a handheld translucent plastic sheet that displayed information. After perusing the seismic sensor's readouts, Rothef pointed at the red rock structure. "There is a cave system that connects somewhere over there. I think the sand is blocking it."

Raxa nodded. "Alright boys. Grab your shovels and get digging."

Garleen narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Something's off." He said, looking intently at the plastic sheet.

Raxa turned to the soldier. "What's off?"

"It... Looks like something is buried under the ground." He pointed at a direction. "Ten steps from my position, over there. The seismic sensor is sensing a biological lifeform."

Raxa held his breath. "Is it a shryik serpent?"

"No. Too round. Too small." Garleen reported.

Raxa released a sigh, but he was still anxious about this new development. He took a few steps toward where Garleen had pointed and looked at the ground. After some hesitation, he bent down and scooped handfuls of sand out of the way. After several scoops of sand was pushed aside, he eventually discovered chitinous carapace that was colored green, purple and brown. A face slowly shifted and unearthed itself from the sand, revealing its three glowing eyes and a dangerously sharp set of mandibles to the intruding patrol captain.

They blinked at each other.

Raxa paused and held his breath, feeling time itself becoming a commodity that was losing its value. After several seconds had passed between him and the roach staring intently at each other, he slowly covered the roach with the sand he once shoveled away. After patting the sand down gently, he got up and turned to his patrol. "Um... Garleen? How many lifeforms are you detecting under the sand?"

One of the two officers using the seismic sensor checked the equipment again. "Let's see. ... Uh... Five... Ten... Fifteen... Twenty... ... ... Sixty?"

"Right." Raxa took out his radio. "This is Raxa. I am sounding the retreat for patrol number 20. I have made contact with what might be described as a 'puker' zerg organism, and I have decided to have my patrol leave the area. We are incapable of setting up a base at the center of the caldera since I feel confident that we will be surrounded if we stayed any longer, even with a camp set up."

[Acknowledged, patrol 20. Can you describe to us what the puker looks like?]

"It had three eyes, huge sickle-looking claws on its back, a tough shell, taller than a meter, and it looked right at me when I shifted the sand off of its face."

[... Uh... Acknowledged, patrol 20. Proceed with your retreat. Reinforcements will arrive within an hour. They will deploy to your area.]

"Copy that, forward base. Raxa out." He finished, putting his handheld radio away afterwards. He took a deep breath before shouting to his patrol. "ALRIGHT BOYS! HOOF IT OUT OF HERE IN AN ANTI-FLANK FORMATION! WE'RE LEAVING!"

Immediately, Raxa's patrol had quickly assembled into a tightly knitted formation, with shield bearing soldiers on the outside of the circular formation, and sharpshooters supporting them from the safety of the inner formation. After that, the patrol of gilanians carefully sidestepped away from the zerg territory that still contained zerg organisms. Some of the roaches still pursued after the fleeing defensive formation, but many of the other roaches and infestors remained where they were at, still hiding under the sand and awaiting for any other trespassers that dared trespassed into their land.

But this tactic had given the zerg the time they needed. Corvurn was busily analyzing the DNA of the shryik serpents that was infested, only to finally be assimilated into The Swarm. Corvurn used an infestor to neurally dominate a bull shryik serpent. Corvurn later ate and analyzed the monster's genetic template with impunity. Corvurn could then modify its genetic data, or 'essence' as Corvurn prefers to call it, and eventually incorporating a new strain into The Zerg Swarm.

The seismic sensor that was erected at the caldera was hastily demolished after the patrol had left. The roaches could have attacked the patrol, but they didn't give the hiding roaches a reason to attack them back. Yet.

Several minutes had passed, roughly twenty or so, before the caldera of Red Mountain was populated by several scores of many more gilanian soldiers. Many bore the armor of silver and blue, several had the uniforms of gray and yellow, some had copper and green jackets, while a few had black and purple tactical skintight suits. The roaches noticed that the empire gilanians were setting down several seismic sensors in a procedural fashion. The roaches and infestors that managed to burrow past this sensor sweep were lucky to escape such scrutiny, despite the danger of being revealed to Gollog's forces. Now, however, the roaches and few infestors within the caldera had nowhere to go. They had erected searchlights that brightened the shadowy summit, which was still slowly being brightened further by the hexagonal moon's glow.

"Commander Kralluf, the seismic sensors are detecting buried lifeforms in the center of this caldera. It looks like they're near the rock structure and the freshwater spring." A gray and yellow uniformed colonel reported to his handheld radio.

[Good work, Skedir.] A familiar gruff voice replied back. [Our informant says that this is a new zerg tactic, so you are authorized to exercise caution. Since these zerg critters haven't attacked us, we won't attack them either.]

"Uh... Commander Kralluf, are you sure that is a good idea?"

[Not really, but it's worked well for us so far. See if you can send a team to dig out the sand hiding the cave entrance. From the report of the last patrol that went in and scouted the area, they said that the cave entrance is facing the spring. You have your hint, so don't disappoint me.]

"Got it." The uniformed Torus Chain guard looked up, pocketing his radio. "Can I get a team of sand diggers to go in and dig that spot?"

"But isn't that a little close to the pukers? Can't we bomb this area first?" A lower ranked Torus guard complained.

"Just use slow, deliberate movements. The patrol that got here first made it out okay because they didn't provoke them. Now form a team and do it, or I will demote you to private and have you on permanent toilet-cleaning duty."

"Ugh. Yes sir."

Once the team had assembled, equipped with their trusty shovels, they then slowly intruded into zerg territory and walked toward the sand that was piled onto the cave entrance. Once their work had started, they took slow and deliberate movements to slowly clear the sand away from the cave entrance. The work was tedious, but the cave entrance was finally discovered and cleared of the sand that blocked their entry.

However, a new problem was realized. "Uh... Sir? I think you better look at this."

Colonel Skedir sighed. "What is it?"

"I don't know what to describe it, but... Think you can use my uniform camera system to see for yourself?"

Skedir was now curious. "I'll allow it." He said, taking a plastic data sheet and holding it up. "Requesting link with video feed."

"Request accepted."

Once he saw what had stopped the sand diggers' progress, Skedir didn't know what he was looking at when he saw this mass of... stuff that looked thorny with thick flesh and several illuminated boils shifting around every now and then. It was uncomfortable to look at. "Commander Kralluf, I'm patching this live video feed to you now. What do you make of it?"

[Eugh. Looks like something that might come out of a horror themed moving painting. Is there a way around it?]

"This is Corporal Kadur, sir. Whatever this stuff is, it's blocking the only path to the underground cave system." Said Skedir's lesser ranked officer, who was tasked with digging the sand out of the cave.

[Crap. I guess we'll just have to burn that mass to ash. Bring in an incendiary unit.]

Skedir shook his head and sighed. "Sir, what about the 'slow and deliberate' approach we have been doing? That's been working for us so far."

[Then the flamethrower burning that mass will have to be slow and deliberate now, will it?]

Skedir sighed, feeling as though there was going to be hell breaking loose later in the night.

A gilanian that wore a heavily-built fireproof suit, fitted with several plates of armor that was attached to him, was deployed to deal with the zerg constriction that prevented further progress into the cave. He waddled into the cave and pointed his flamethrower's business end forward, his target being the obstacle of flesh. During his slow travel into the cave, he met upon the zerg constriction that blocked the digger team. "Lighting up." A quick spurt of the flamethrower sprayed a coat of napalm onto the mass of zerg flesh, which made the constriction wiggle and wither violently. This burning process continued for several seconds, as the flamethrower unit cleared away the constriction.

[Has the pukers attacked yet?] Kralluf asked.

"Not at all sir. The seismic sensors are telling us that they haven't budged from their spots. They are remaining still in their positions."

[... I don't like this. When is there going to be some action?]

"Sir." The soldier wielding the flamethrower said. "I burned a way through the mass. The tunnel extends further down, but I'm seeing this black and purple stuff on the ground. Feels like there's a layer of mucous with slugs writhing around in it. Do I continue?"

[... Negative. Fall back to safer ground, fire breather unit. We'll send a scout team to start recon at where you left off.]

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The flamethrower wielding gilanian waddled back out of the cave, his suit covered in ash and black smoke that seemed to surround him temporarily. However, that changed when several eggs had erupted into the air and landed in a large circular pattern that surrounded the group of burrowed roaches and the 'fire breather.' The roaches reacted to the special incendiary unit by popping out of the ground and splashing him with a torrent of acid. He died immediately under the torrent of acid, despite his added protection.

"WHAT'S ARE THOSE?!" Skedir shouted in surprise.

[The informant is telling me that those are pawn eggs, whatever the hell that means. Lethal force is now authorized.]

"Understood, commander. FIRE AT WILL!" Skedir shouted.

The instant Skedir shouted those commands, the caldera had lit up with flashes of gunfire. Many of the bullets had pelted onto the eggs, making them burst open to reveal a barely formed organism within. Yet there were so many eggs. Many were spawned at once that it proved impossible to destroy every single one of them in time. Infested gilanians hatched and shambled forth, using their venom-propelled fangs to strike at multiple enemies as quickly as possible.

The infested gilanians were putting up an tough fight against the empire's assault, but the soldiers brought more numbers into this short engagement, which overwhelmed the zerg defenders. One by one, the infested gilanians were slain. After the infested zerg organisms have been laid out, a puddle of creep started flowing out the mouth of the cave.

Skedir sighed as he was removing bits of shattered enamel from his scarred uniform. He was thankful that he was unharmed. "I guess we should have killed those monsters first."

[Alright then.] Commander Kralluf said, sounding dangerously excited. [Activate the automated turret system and have this entire caldera protected, so anything that doesn't register as a gilanian is going to be cut in half with bullet fire. I want desert platforms maintaining a safe distance away from the center of the hot zone, and have them train their artillery cannons at the center of the mountain. Send in several breaching teams to infiltrate into the cave system.

I want the first group to consist of magic armor specialists and anti-riot robots, using magic wall technology to push through. Sharpshooter and heavy fire support teams will back up the magic armor specialist group, attacking through the magic wall tech at any zerg monster that dares try and break out of the cave entrance. Make sure to place seismic sensors and automated turrets as you go into the entrance of the underground tunnel. Whatever this slime is, our informant is telling us that it's also bad news for us, so you guys need to remove it in whatever fashion you think is good. Our girls clad in black and violet are gonna want a path made for them, so you silver brutes better be polite when you show them the door into the underground village. MOVE OUT!]

The empire soldiers were quick to readjust their strategies and tactics.

The magic armor specialists carried with them impressive shields that seemed to fold away or unfold outward at a command. Their armor had an array of ablative surfaces that was fitted over their protective armor, which was encased by their magic armor technology. Their shields could also produce this magic armor technology as well, which acted similarly to the magic wall tech as it locks and anchors itself into place on the ground. If that didn't make matters worse, the anti-riot robots were also fitted with ablative magic armor plates, which were similar to the plates that the magic armor specialists used with their armor.

The teams filed into the cave entrance and took to their march in a slow procession. The anti-riot bots would take the lead as the other gilanian soldiers huddled behind them, letting the machines suffer as the first casualties in their infiltration mission. The darkness was even darker within the cave, but it was chased away by the lights emitted by the anti-riot bots, and the gilanian soldiers that were right behind them.

"Hmm. This bubble looks weird." An armored soldier said as he prodded a creep tumor with his foot before stomping on it. It made a disgusting gushing sound as its flesh was violently disturbed.

"There's another bubble here." Another forceful stomp prompted another end to a creep tumor. When that attack wasn't effective enough, he unloaded a few rounds onto it. "These things are a bit tough. A few shots can pop them easily enough."

"The slime stuff is receding guys. Think these bubble things spreads the stuff?" A stomp made a creep tumor pop again, making the foot that attacked it to become drenched in wet gore.

"It's hard to find these bubble things further in." A magic armor specialist said, prodding the floor with experimental steps. "But if the ground feels muddier than usual, dance on it to find out if there's one of those bubbles under this muck."

"I heard that these jags eats this slime stuff. Sounds disgusting to me." A soldier said, joining in with the other soldiers and bringing down his feet to find out if there was a creep tumor in his path. If his feet couldn't pop the tumor, he would resort to using a melee weapon.

[Cut the chatter unless it's something important, and proceed with your mission.] Commander Kralluf grumbled.

"Company halt... I hear something." The teams halted in their descent, having traveled around a hundred and eighty meters within the long stretch of tunnel. As the footsteps stopped and their breathing stilled, they could hear distant noises coming closer from the end of the tunnel. The distant sounds slowly became more clearer, becoming a gibberish of fell animal calls that they did not recognize.

But once they saw the horde of zerglings emerging from the next turn in the tunnel, they understood the brevity of the danger they were in. "BLADE HOUNDS!" The soldiers started firing at the rushing zerglings, while the anti-riot bots did their part to stun the swarm of gnashing teeth and claws. Despite being stunned for a few seconds, the zerglings managed to get close to the anti-riot bots and attack them. The ablative magic armor plates fizzled out seconds later, which allowed the zerglings a window to strike at an exposed weakness. The anti-riot bots slowly dwindled, but not without stun-shocking the surrounding zerg enough for their allies to kill them.

The magic armor specialists were faring better against the tide of zerglings crashing into them. Their magic armor shields acted very similarly to the oval shaped magic wall projector machines, but it proved effective enough for the sharpshooter teams and surviving anti-riot bots to deal impressive damage against the hoard of zerglings. Little did they know, the zerglings were consuming the bodies of their own dead. The gilanian soldiers didn't notice this detail, but they kept on fighting anyway.

However, the zerglings were somehow becoming more stronger than before. The magic armor specialists were having a hard time keeping their shields upright as the zerglings tried to topple them over. "We need backup! Blade hound corpses are piling up here!"

"Hold onto your noses, kids. Incinerator grenade!" Behind the line of shield-bearing magic armor specialists, fire breather specialist soldiers marched behind them and unloaded their impressive weapons. Grenades were launched from their flame throwers, and the grenades exploded into an impressive heatwave that ignited everything within the blast radius. Zerglings trilled their last trill as they were literally cooked by a mixture of microwaves and a burst of high intensity thermal radiation. It not only exploded the zerglings in balls of fire, but it also made balls of fire that exploded from within themselves as well.

And still, the zerglings continued to push at their attackers. The smell within the cave became horrible, turning into a mixture of burned rotting flesh and burning chemical fumes.

"When are these guys gonna stop coming?!" "Don't know! Keep firing!" "I can't breath! Get those incendiary units out of here, or we're all gonna asphyxiate to death!" "Back up! Back up! Let the sharpshooters line their sights!" "Reload!" "Forward progress is impossible on foot. Recommend using siege wall tactics!"

[Recommendation approved. I'm ordering more troops to assist the cave spelunking teams. Set up more automated turrets in the cave. Maybe that will help you push up.] Commander Kralluf ordered. Soon enough, more soldiers headed into the cave entrance, despite the black billowy smoke flowing out from its maw and coloring the sky a deeper black.

"Set some automated turrets in the caves! Let them light the jags up!" "I'll set them up on the walls. Whatever you do, don't jump up." "Too many bodies are piling up. We have to burn some of them away." "Incineration grenade!"

"Siege wall activated!" Several treaded magic wall projectors were rolled up to the magic armor specialists, which were heavily strained by the constant onslaught of the zergling's counter-offense tactics. These mobile magic wall projectors slowly rolled forward when they were given room to proceed, but was reduced to a slow crawl when the zerglings tried to push them back. The Crescent Arms soldiers were now winning more ground to fight on.

And that was when they felt rumbling footsteps within the cave, followed by a deep and loud growl. And then the visage of four giant Kaiser blades that looked like they could fell trees in a single swipe entered their vision. However, the zerglings and their bodies that piled onto the wall of dead zerglings prevented it from being seen in its entirety. Alas, the empire gilanians were too focused on fighting the zerglings to pay any attention to the ultralisk that was slowly approaching the siege wall. When they finally noticed the razor sharp blades piercing through the magic wall emitted by the siege machine, all they could do was turn and run. "RAZOR FIIIIIIEEEEEEND!"

The ultralisk stomped down, bringing its Kaiser blades toward the siege wall projectors and breaking them into irreparable pieces of junk. Once that wall had broken, the zerglings marched forward, unrestrained, and they pounced at their prey with glee and reckless abandon. The ultralisk was next tasked with slashing and stabbing at the wall-mounted automated turrets that seemed to make it angrier.

"A razor fiend?! Uh... Oh shit, we don't have Gollog's smiting power! What do we do?!"

[Ye of little faith.] Kralluf said in a disappointed manner. [We already have enough artillery firepower to bust this fella's head wide open.]

A small platoon of soldiers had emerged from the cave of the mouth, screaming for assistance and yelling for mercy as they frantically waved their hands around in a panicked state. When the zerglings emerged from the cave, the automated turrets took aim and started firing on the speedy zerglings that filed out of the entrance. Combat fliers floated in the air as they charged their weapons and fired at the ground blindly, not caring if they hit a zergling. Many of their shots connected with the zerglings' carapace since there were so many of them.

And that was when the ultralisk emerged from the cave, its size so large that it made the cave entrance collapse. The ultralisk made a mighty roar that shook the ground it was on, as though challenging the soldiers around itself for a good fight. The automated turrets fired at the huge beast in a massed shooting, but all they did was anger the beast further.

[Unleash artillery strikes on that razor fiend now.] Commander Kralluf ordered.

As the artillery rounds fired from the various desert platforms that were positioned several hundreds of meters away from the summit, their artillery cannons launched damaging projectiles that slammed onto the ultralisk, and splashed additional damage to the zerglings that were under it. The firepower was impressive, since multiple shells collided with the beast's heavily armored carapace with such rapidity. Its rear-right leg was reduced to pulp, three of its four Kaiser blades had either fallen off of its body or were shattered from the explosions, the mantle on its head was reduced in size due to the chunks that were blown off, and its face had been impacted by an artillery shell three times. After the twentieth artillery round impacted its face once more, the ultralisk grumbled weakly, as though dazed, and landed on three automated turrets as it died.

After the ultralisk had been slayed, there was a stillness after the battle. Several seconds later, the soldiers that have gathered to fight the zerg raised their arms up in triumph and started hooting and cheering. After that near-death experience, they have elected to celebrate their victory by enjoying their time of still being alive after fighting such a huge foe.

[Cease the merriment.] Kralluf warned. [My informant is telling me that this is not the time to goof off. Get your gear together and prepare for an altar blueprint. Apparently, our informant has seen fit to give you guys special kinds of ammo as a gift. Use it well. I'm also sending in more specialists, dubbed 'the anti-fiends'. Let them have their fun on the big guys.]

After that announcement, the soldiers ceased in their showboating and continued their operations. Soon after that announcement, the soldiers lined up at the manifestation altars to swap out their ammo for something much more lethal. What that ammo might have been, Kay wouldn't have known what it was. It was obvious at this point that the timeline was irrevocably changed.

But a new kind of unit had been introduced to Kralluf's ranks, and Kay didn't like what he saw when they stepped off of the MEM device. There were gilanians that bore plated armor all around their persons, which held a giant bladed pillar that was carried around by two pairs of mechanical arms coming out from their torso and back. Their arms and legs were also heavily mechanized, giving the special units support to account for the weight that the extra arms applied. These units was adorned with a finned helm, and walked with mechanical purpose as they strolled to the mouth of the cave, where the cave entrance awaited them as they entered. "If it gets too molty, we'll cover you. We'll take down the big jags."

As another siege wall was put up, with the magic armor specialists taking the front again, the anti-fiend specialists sided with the sharpshooter groups and the fire breather groups, right behind the magic armor specialist groups. Once they made their march once more, the sound of rushing zerglings were heard of once again. Once the zerglings became visible, they came rushing toward the newly formed ranks. Predictably, the zerglings pressed themselves into a newly erected magic siege wall, doing what they could to pierce the thin, static barrier that prevented them from harming their prey.

The sharpshooters did their best to shoot down each an every zergling that tried to claw past the new magic siege wall that slowly advanced. The fire breather teams used their volatile flame weapons to burn away the bodies and clear a path ahead of the breaching teams, as well as using their incinerator grenades to flash-burn the pile of dead zerg flesh that stopped the treading magic siege wall projectors. The ammunition that the Crescent Arms soldiers used against the zerglings had a more explosive impact than normal. Apparently, this ammunition uses three kind of explosives when fired. One to launch the heavy and dense projectiles out of the barrel of their guns, another that propelled and accelerated the bullets fired, and a final explosion that detonated after impact which sends dense shrapnel that scattered into the body in all directions. It was a type of ammo that could reduce the effectiveness of an enemy's armor, and make them slightly more vulnerable to further damage.

The anti-fiend specialists used their mechanical arms to fire specialized energy pistols that were attached to the ends of their mechanical arms. Each projectile made deep holes into the carapaced hide of the zerglings, scorching into their flesh for several seconds and making them scream in pain. Anti-riot bots have later joined with the breaching team, which enabled the anti-fiend units a clear shot to the zerglings' faces.

Another rumble reverberated through the ground as another ultralisk came into the gilanian soldiers' view. The anti-fiend soldiers seemed to smile at the challenge. "Arming the super-shooter. Standby for five seconds." The four mechanized arms dug themselves into the ground, which formed a quadruped firing frame with the anti-fiend soldier in its center. One of them aimed his giant bladed pillar's sights at the five meter tall ultralisk that stampeded toward his direction. "Three. Two. One. Phasing the bullets now."

A blackened sphere flashed in front of the pillar that the anti-fiend unit wielded, and the ultralisk was instantly assailed by a bigger black sphere that had impacted onto it. Wind rushed into the cave at a worrying speed, which cleared away the black smoke that threatened everyone with oxygen deprivation, as well as some of the dead that occupied the space within the tunnel. Seconds after the black sphere had impacted the ultralisk, the sphere eventually disappeared, leaving behind an ultralisk with half of its body missing. The black sphere appeared to have cut a perfect sphere out of the ultralisk, which had rendered it dead when it landed onto the ground. The surrounding soldiers cheered at the specialist, the death of another ultralisk fresh in their minds.

The breaching teams continued in their slow military push through the cave's tunnels, forcing the zerglings back by several meters for every minute of time passing. The ultralisks were soon assisted by other zerg organisms, which then consisted mainly of roaches and hydralisks. Acid and needle spines began impacting the siege walls that inched their way forward. But they too were taken down by the sharpshooter teams with ease, since the sharpshooter teams had the siege wall to thank for protecting their positions from the hydralisk's anti-infantry capable needle spines. However, worse came to worse when the other zerg strains came into the fight later on.

A lurker moved with the constant swarm of zerglings, moving past several ultralisks carefully so as to not be stepped on by them. When it neared the battle, it burrowed itself into the ground, and many other lurkers that followed after it did the same behind itself. The ravagers were next to useless in this fight, but they still filed forward as they marched with the zerglings, roaches and hydralisks. Defilers followed after the lurkers, and they could use their dark swarms abusively, since they had a constant buffet of zerglings that were streaming through the cave system.

It was when the siege wall got close enough to the lurkers that the subterranean spines started traveling through the ground. The siege wall projector and the magic armor specialists may have been protected from virtually every angle, but they didn't account for spines penetrating into their very feet. "SHIT! SOMETHING CAME OUT OF THE GROUND!" "Did the seismic sensors miss something?!" "No, I think it's ambusher spines! They can can move past a magic wall projector's projected defenses, and attack anything behind it! Move back!" "There's a bunch of insects all over the place! They're confusing the automated turrets' aiming system!" "I can't get any clear shots. Anyone brought a fly swatter?" "Get some repair robots on that siege wall projector! It's not going to last long!" "They're all over-strained! They won't be able to last for long anyway!" "This is about as far as we can go, Command. We'll be retreating now."

[Acknowledged, breaching teams. My informant is relaying the zerg's tactics to his contacts at this moment. I'm being told that this isn't the zerg's standard modus operandi. Retreat with extreme prejudice.]

"Whah... WHAT IS THAT?!" "OH MY GODS!" "NEW CONTACT, UNKNOWN CLASSIFICATIO-" "IT WENT THROUGH THE SIEGE WALL! EVERYONE RETREAT!" "WE CAN'T OUTRUN THEM ALL!" "AAH!" "SUPER-SHOOTER INEFFICIENT! UNKNOWN ORGANISM IS BEING SUPPORTED BY CARETAKERS!" "THOSE THINGS ARE NOT CARETAKERS!" "FALL BACK! FALL BACK! FALL-HUAAAAAGH~!"

[... Fucking hell, what's going on?] Commander Kralluf groaned. Unfortunately for him, he was about to get his answer.

Kay sighed when he found out too late the discrepancies of using biomass to over-mutate certain zerg strains. He thought that he could use zerglings as the main organisms to transform into the brutalisks, since zerglings were so cheap to make. But the side-effect that involves the over-mutation process were too violent for them. When the cocoon formed over the zerglings and attempted to mutate them into brutalisks, their muscles would grow too large and too fast to the point of breaking their bones and carapace apart, crushing their organs and brains like peeled grapes.

However, the zerglings could absorb biomass into their bodies just fine, and are able to receive some of the biomass' effects that were typical to many other strains. Simply put, the zerglings did not acquire increased attack speed, but instead had increased health and energy instead. The problem was reallocating that biomass to another creature when a brutalisk was needed. It would mean that a few zerglings would have to be cannibalized by a stronger zerg strain to make way for a brutalisk. That is if they hadn't processed enough biomass from their enemies, or their dead, in the first place. The same thing would also happen to a baneling, since the weak membrane that contained their acid would cancel out their over-mutation into a brutalisk.

Worse still, the ultralisks were incapable of absorbing biomass into their bodies. Apparently, the ultralisk cavern already had a means to create a type of irradiated and volatile type of biomass, which enabled the zerg larvae to spawn into the ultralisks. Sadly, the method to over-mutate an ultralisk into a brutalisk was sabotaged from the beginning of their established existence, thanks to the ultralisk cavern that enabled their spawning. Of course, an ultralisk could revert back to a larva, spawn into a completely different organism, and THEN turn into a brutalisk with the harvested biomass it collected, but going through that many hoops would be an inefficient use of resources. Not only that, reverting a brutalisk would devolve them into a larvae, which completely forgoes their past morph they once took before they became a brutalisk.

Kay truly thought that every ground organism could turn into a brutalisk, but he was proven wrong by the recent tests. As an aside, he now has two methods of creating leviathans, one that simply requires a flat-yet-expensive cost of bio-matter and accelerant, and the other requiring a zerg air unit to over-mutate into one. There were differences between them, however. One, the naturally spawned leviathans could send sacs filled with developing bio-structures and ground strains to the ground, and is able to spawn mutalisks, brood lords, scourge, and other types of air strains if they had the appropriate bio-structures growing in their bodies. The over-mutated leviathans did not gain the ability to produce sacs or other air units, on the other hand.

However, such details were fleeting when looking over only the best qualities of the mutations he received from the alternate timeline.

"So uh... Shall we unleash the other brutalisks we've been keeping in reserve?" Kay asked Corvurn.

"Biomass, plenty. Commence brutalisk attack when ready." Corvurn said as he was inspecting the size of a nearby brutalisk.

Kay nodded with a smirk. "Alright then. Let's fuck them up."

Kay also had one more trick up his sleeve.

A brutalisk tore open the hole in the ground further, making it wider than before as it chased after the soldiers. The symbiote that was hovering over the brutalisk supplied further panic to the hysteria by firing spines at the fleeing Golden Star gilanians. After one had came out, another followed it, followed by another, and another, and another. The automated turrets were quickly overwhelmed by the brutalisks' brutal attacks. The gilanian soldiers stationed in the floating combat fliers didn't expect such massive creatures to use anti-air attacks, but they were proven otherwise when the brutalisks ferociously spewed caustic acid up toward them. They were shot out of the air, either by the acid or the spines, and further mass hysteria followed when the brutalisks targeted everything else.

It was then that a new strain of zerg had came.

What was once a shryik serpent had been severely mutated, having its genes greatly altered to force it to serve The Swarm's purposes. As of the moment of its inception, this strain's new purposes was realized and made anew. Once it breached the sands of the mountain's caldera, its scales shifted around with such rapidity that they threatened to fall away. The coloration of the scales that was once the sandy brown color that the shryik serpents were known for, were now altered to be green, purple and brown. It had lost its ability to attack, its fangs having fallen out of its mouth or becoming swallowed and passed out of its digestive system a while ago. Its maw opened up violently, releasing its intestinal cargo in the form of several zerglings, drones, and a queen. Upon fulfillment of their purpose, they vomited a creep tumor upon their death.

This new breed of zerg strain was the shrylisk, named so by Kay. Functionally, they acted as a fast burrowing transport organism for the zerg. Mixed with the shryik serpents' natural ability to burrow through the sand at a moderate speed, the zerg's vibrating cells enabled them further increased speed through many mediums of soil and ground. They could store a small multitude of zerg organisms within their gullet, which was around half the capacity of an overlord, which release them when they were commanded to. However, the shrylisk could also vomit out a creep tumor from their bowels and expire shortly after. Once the shrylisk strain expelled a creep tumor from their gut on command, any zerg organisms that inhabited their insides would be forced into the open. They were designed to have a mix of skills that were shared between the functionalities of an overlord and a nydus worm. Put simply, the shrylisk had became a burrowing stealth transport organism, capable of expanding creep to areas where overlords were denied. They could also produce a creep tumor upon their sacrifice without attracting everyone's attention, unlike the nydus worm's habit of roaring when it surfaces.

When the shrylisk emptied their gullets of the zerg organisms within themselves, though many of them had died when they expelled a creep tumor from their guts to create creep puddles that expanded outward at an alarming rate. Drones took their positions and formed large embryonic bubbles that would soon develop into new hatcheries. The shrylisk stopped surfacing once a nydus worm had surfaced from the sand, and it spewed several zerg strains of many kinds from its bowels once it surfaced. When a brutalisk was close to death, it would quickly burrow to the center of the caldera to find queens that would heal it quickly, while zerglings, roaches, hydralisks and ultralisks acted in their stead. Once the brutalisk was quickly healed, it quickly burrowed back into the ground, only to reapear back at where it retreated and continue on its warpath.

[This is Commander Ralkan speaking. Commander Kralluf has currently been removed from command temporarily, ever since he had became enraged by the lack of information the informant had, and promptly struck a lesser ranked officer in his face when he wasn't given any answers. As of this moment, the informant has left our care, and is no longer providing information regarding the zerg and... whatever the hell those huge things are. In any case, we have unanimously agreed to call these new organisms 'war claws'. Anyway, retreat to safety in any way you can. I am sounding the retreat for the forces that have gathered here. Not to worry, however. We will redouble our efforts in eradicating the zerg menace, and it will be by the grace of our emperor, and the servants under him within his empire, that all of our troubles relating to this new enemy will be solved. Glory to Emperor Gollog!]

However, nobody cheered in Gollog's name, for they were running away and trying to survive a counter-attack made against them. The brutalisks were brutal to the Crescent Arms soldiers, and the symbiotes were quite lethal with their spine projectiles, all the while providing an extra layer of protection to the brutalisks they followed. The desert platforms were unloading their artillery cannons onto the brutalisks that were laying waste to the ground forces, but they were quickly overwhelmed by an underground counter-attack that the zerg had made against them. One brutalisk after another had deeply burrowed into the sand and appeared right next to the desert platforms, and their sharp spiked claws thunderously attacked the desert platforms with terrible force. One after another, the desert platforms had fallen, the gunnery teams that were riding them became subjected to the wrath of the brutalisks and the symbiotes that accompanied them.

Soon enough, Kay had emerged from the nydus worm as well, just as the hatcheries were finished developing within their embryo-like cocoons. He looked left and right at the destruction that the brutalisks caused. He placed his hands on his hips and smiled broadly at the sight of the grizzly battle, still fresh and filled with panic. He nodded absently, somewhat giddy from seeing so much crap being destroyed and broken. "... I think I like how things are going this time around."

'Brutalisk strain, powerful. Biomass required. Zergling and baneling strain, incompatible to brutalisk evolution. Ultralisk strain, incapable of biomass absorption.' Corvurn replied to Kay.

Kay smiled. "You got that right. Still though, I almost feel bad for sending those brutalisks to attack Gollog's men."

'Empathy is not Swarm trait. Can remove. Require only presence.'

Kay paused. "Uh... Maybe not. What is your underground progress?"

'Progress, slow. Roach strain, proficient. Skilled in tunneling passages. Ultralisk strain proficient in hollowing chambers. New hatcheries created. Reached lowest part of crust. Expanding zerg hatchery chamber system horizontally. Infestation of Kiln's crust, ongoing. Super hive cluster, growing.' Corvurn reported.

Kay smiled so wide that his face formed a grin. "Fan-fucking-tastic."

Kay felt as though his new future was going to be great.

Bubbles sighed as he massaged a bruise over his eye. He knew that his mission was a failure. Upon returning back to the Era Agency in the Night Circle, he saw flocks of several Era Agents that were busily working with their tasks. They were trying to investigate into a possible leak of information, or finding out what kind of error had caused such a fuck-up in the timeline. He might have held a high rank over many of them, but Zagion, the seneschal of the Era Agency timeline instance 8,348,759,784,399-S/498, was beyond furious. A new timeline had cropped up out of nowhere without Zagion's knowing, and he had the majority of the Era Agents look into what he assumed had been a glitch. However, with the video feed that was shared with the rest of the Era Agency, there had been some drastic changes that have been applied to the timeline that Zagion didn't like.

Something from the past had created a stable alternate timeline, which had upped the timeline instance counter by 1. Oftentimes, if the Era Agency decided on a major choice that was indecisive to the whole of the Era Agency, a split in the timeline would be made, based on the decisions affecting the agency and the timeline it existed in. Every alternate timeline that the Era Agency created was always based upon a decision to control certain events. The decision to kill someone, or not to kill someone, would be an example of creating an alternate timeline. Such decisions would increase the timeline instance counter by 1, and adds a 1 to the 'S/#' counter, which represents the number of times an Era Agency had divided the timeline when regarding important decisions that could have drastic effects on the timeline in each alternate instance the Era Agency existed in.

The Era Agency used to be the leading practitioners of time travel, primarily using their skills to 'persuade' people from doing certain actions in exchange for technology or favors. Someone else that was not part of the Era Agency had discovered that coveted time travel technology, and they were somehow smart enough to cover their tracks.

Standing helplessly in front of Zagion, whom had sighed in his presence. All Bubbles could do was patiently wait for his orders.

"... Bulschtein, I'm sending you back in." Zagion finally replied, sighing and leaning back on his desk chair.

"... Sir?" Bubbles asked.

"This is not a normal instance in this new timeline. Somehow, the zerg are at the center of this, and the events that have been relayed from our future selves is pointing to them as the culprits. The 'war claws', as they are now called, are a heavy indicator of the changes in this timeline. So, as my executive decision as seneschal of this agency, I hereby order you to perform a temporal recursion." Said Zagion.

Bubbles looked down with a worried expression. "... Sir, I have never done a temporal recursion before."

"You had the brain-chip implanted, didn't you?" Zagion asked, raising an eyebrow. "All agents are required to have the implant before they even roam these halls, let alone travel in any timeline."

Bubbles nodded his head. "Yes sir, I have it implanted."

Zagion smiled. "Then you have nothing to worry about. What temporal recursion does is it enables you to merge with your past self, in a sense. With the information you have learned recently, you could put that to good use and merge that data with your past self. Your past self would then be weary of the shit that went down in this trip. Since the brain-chip inside your skull uses time sand to store information, information doesn't get scrambled when you travel the different timelines. If any changes happens in your past, the chip would still remember the events that happen in a continuous perspective. If there has been a specific change in the timeline that involves you being killed, then the information you learned in that timeline will be sent prior to your recursion to help prevent your death from happening again. Or at least improve your chances of surviving."

Bubbles sighed and nodded. "Oh. I didn't know it worked that way."

Zagion shrugged. "It doesn't mean that it works all the time, since strong temporal radiation in the background could potentially disrupt information sent back into the past. It takes a genius to figure out how time works. If you're too stupid to understand how time travel mechanics function, it's only appropriate to know at which points in time to enter, interact, and leave. Specifically in that order, in fact."

"Frankly, sir, I think I would just let the eggheads figure out how to get me back alive, and keep this timeline from becoming dead."

Zagion chuckled. "Yeah. There has been no announcement that our timeline is dead, so there's some good news. Anyway, go to the time gate and enter in your last coordinates in this timeline and in the space you first entered from. The brain-chip will do its job, and you'll enter into the timeline at the exact moment as last time. We won't know of the experiences your past self gained after the recursion, so you will have to inform us of any possible changes that happened in your previous travel."

Bubbles nodded. "So... What if I wanted to bring an item with me? Or more people, in case I needed help with micro-managing and convincing Gollog to assist in the destruction of the zerg organisms?"

Zagion shook his head. "It doesn't really work like that. When a time gate opens, and people enter through it, it's a simple process that ends as it begins. But a temporal recursion has certain requirements that needs to be met in order to let the timeline sync with you. For it to happen, you need to enter the same time gate with the same number of people, with the same kinds of items brought with themselves, and going through the gate in the order they entered it. However, we can open other time gates to throw more people and items in to help assist you, but they then need to come back through to their own time gates at some point."

"Why does traveling through the temporal recursion require steps that specific?" Bubbles asked.

"We found out the hard way that bringing items through a time gate, especially when a temporal recursion has been activated, tends to disappear from existence itself. We lost a lot of office supplies in one of our alternate timelines that way. At least, that's what one of the alternate agencies admitted. The time gates are incredibly intrinsic and dangerous tools that can unravel time if used poorly. In one of the alternate timelines, the usage of time sand in brain-chips helped revolutionize the continuity practices of time travel, and enabled the usage of temporal recursion tactics. It enabled us the means to explore the different changes in a timeline without having to create an alternate timeline that would potentially piss off the other agencies in the alternate timelines. Oh, and trying to make a time gate when a time gate already exists in the time and space we try to open in? Creates something bad called a synchronization merge. People would merge together if two or more enter through the gate at the same time. Not very pretty to look at. Thankfully, the problem seems to fix itself when the fused time travelers come back through their respective time gates, but that doesn't work one hundred percent of the time. Now then..." Zagion said, relaxing into his seat. "Are we done with your questions, or are you going to redo your mission?"

Bubbles saluted and smiled confidently. "Yes sir. Permission to re-begin my mission?"

Zagion saluted back. "Permission granted."

Bubbles stamped once, turned, and then proceeded out of Zagion's office, determined to change the future for the betterment of the Era Agency.

Sadly, he would be greatly surprised by what the zerg had in store for his return.

A/N: You know, I think I might spend some time proof-reading my previous chapters. Have been noticing some grammar mistakes here and there. Maybe a spelling error or two.