Chapter 55: Major Battle 11: The Déjà Vu Wars 2

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. However, they were also specific about ordering any patrols that are to enter into the caldera of the mountain. As such, you are to maintain your position until the four armies has arrived at our forward base.]

He sighed. "Got it, forward base. Permission to establish a campsite at our current location? We are currently at a drop-off, at the lip of a small cliff next to the caldera."

[Permission accepted, patrol 20. You will proceed with your primary mission after we have received further orders to do so. Set up the seismic sensors at your current location. Afterwards, notify us of your findings and set a camp at your location.]

Raxa furrowed his eyebrows. "Uh... Sir? The seismic sensors are designed to detect shryik serpents in suspect areas, and locate entrances buried under the sand."

[Orders from the higher up, patrol 20. They think that there is some kind of zerg organism that can somehow go through solid rock. It's better to be safe than sorry.]

"Acknowledged. Raxa out." Raxa said, pocketing his handheld radio again. "Rothef, Garleen, set up the seismic sensor. We're going to make a base camp right here."

His two officers looked at each other before Rothef asked a question. "Right here, captain?"

Raxa nodded and sighed. "Humor the higher ups, Rothef. Apparently, that 'dread maw' scared them something fierce enough to change our standing orders. Now get to it!"

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 caldera's lip that dropped off into a small cliff. "See that there? Volcanic rock formations. This mountain had several eruptions before in the past, and it shook its own foundation several times. A magma chamber had collapsed underneath itself when it last erupted, and it became dormant since then. The summit of this mountain is actually part of a caldera, and rumor has it that there is a freshwater spring in the very middle of this place. Many wars had been fought on and around this area, and the battles usually take place in the dry and hot seasons. Hence came the rumor that blood was the only liquid that wets the sands and stones surrounding this mountain, and where the names of the desert and this mountain is derived from. The Red Desert, and its Red Mountain."

Raxa shook his head and chuckled. "I didn't figure you to be a history buff. Did you have free time with a historian at the Crescent Arms training center?"

Rothef shook his head. "No sir, I just happen to request a lot of historical information in the archives. Usually when I have off-time."

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. And its in the hard volcanic soil itself. That doesn't seem right..." 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 knocked on the ground using the butt of his pistol. After knocking onto the hard ground several times, he eventually knocked away some hardened dirt and discovered chitinous carapace that was colored green, purple and brown, vibrating past and through the hard ground. A face slowly shifted and unearthed itself from the packed, volcanic earth, 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 stood up and slowly backed away. After he had backpedaled and came next to the officer using the seismic sensor, he turned to his patrol. "Um... Garleen? How many lifeforms are you detecting under the ground?"

One of the two officers using the seismic sensor checked the equipment again. "Let's see. ... Uh... There's just four around us."

"Right." Raxa took out his radio. "This is Raxa of patrol number 20. I have made contact with what might be described as a 'puker' zerg organism. One of my men has detected about four of these things that are right under our feet as we speak. They might get in the way if we tried to build a base camp here."

[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, a little taller than a meter, and it looked right at me when it shifted the volcanic rocks off of its face. There's about four of them at our location, sir."

[... Uh... Acknowledged, patrol 20. Continue with setting up your base camp. Reinforcements will arrive within an hour. They will deploy to your area. If the pukers give you trouble, exterminate them.]

"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! SURROUND THE PUKERS IN THE GROUND IN FLANKING FORMATIONS! GARLEEN AND ROTHEF, GUARD THAT SEISMIC SENSOR WITH YOUR LIVES! SYNCHRONIZE YOUR HEADS-UP DISPLAYS WITH THE SEISMIC SENSOR! WE'RE NOT LEAVING THIS SPOT UNTIL WE EITHER DRIVE THEM OFF, OR KILL THEM ALL! ON MY COMMAND, YOU ENGAGE THE PUKERS AT WILL!"

Immediately, Raxa's patrol had quickly assembled into tightly knitted formations around the burrowed roaches, with shield bearing soldiers that circled and surrounded the roaches, and sharpshooters supporting them from the safety of the outer formations around each roach. After that, the patrol of gilanians patiently waited as they stood around the zerg organisms that were supposedly in the ground, while the seismic sensors told them the locations of the roaches. All of the roaches spying on the approaching patrol remained still after the patrol took positions around each of their burrowed selves, but the other roaches and infestors at the center of the sunken caldera were quickly coming to their rescue, yet still moved under the cover of sand as they tried to come and give aid to the roaches that were in trouble.

"ATTACK!"

As the battle commenced, patrol number 20 started attacking the underground roaches with impunity. The roaches reacted negatively against the barrage of bullets and spears that stabbed into themselves. They emerged from the ground they were buried in and shot their acid spittle at their enemies. The shield bearing soldiers blocked the acid, but they quickly found out how dangerous their acidic spit was as it slowly burned and melted through their defenses. The sharpshooters and spear-men utilized their most favored weapons against the trapped roaches with limited success. Somehow, their chitinous carapace armor was tougher than expected, and their acidic spittle burned more hotly.

One of the roaches broke out of the flanking ring and managed to fire a melting loogie at the seismic sensor that Rothef and Garleen protected. The two officers in Captain Raxa's patrol failed their objective as the seismic sensor immediately shorted out. "Gah! Captain! The pukers hit the seismic sensor!"

"No wonder they're called pukers! GAH!" Raxa wasn't paying attention to one of the roaches as one of them spat acid onto his left arm. The acid burned through his armor, and a few droplets damaged the scales underneath his protection. He retaliated by using his energy pistol to fire at the offending roach. The roach died after twenty five seconds of exposure to the energy weapon, but it was also being waylaid by the other gilanian soldiers that assisted in attacking it, making it die faster.

After the death of a roach, the three remaining roaches escaped by burrowing underground before their numbers dwindled even more. Despite the kill of a single roach, There were seven soldiers that had suffered severe acid burns, which included Raxa. Even if he had suffered minimal damage compared to everyone else in his patrol, his hand had been crippled during the skirmish. "My heads-up display isn't working right, captain." One of his soldiers reported. "Did the seismic sensor get knocked over during the fight?"

Raxa shook his head. "Worse. They spat acid at it. Rothef, Garleen, think you can repair it?" He said, walking towards them and clutching his arm.

After the fighting settled down, Rothef and Garleen took a look at the malfunctioning seismic sensor. After a brief inspection, Garleen shook his head. "I don't think we can use it in its current condition, sir. We could try and repair it using repair kits, but some parts are so heavily damaged that I think they will still malfunction. We don't have the replacement parts we need on hand."

Raxa sighed. "Crap."

Three roaches suddenly emerged from the ground in a hurried manner, and then sprayed their boiling and dissolving projectiles at the Crescent Arms patrol. Another soldier was seriously affected by the sudden drench of acid, and had to take off his armor before the acid itself made contact with his scales. Two roaches concentrated their spittle onto a single target, and one soldier screamed in utter pain as his face was enveloped by the scalding liquid. He fell to the ground and squirmed, still yelling in agony as he became deaf and blind from the attack. The acid even ate its way into the soldier's mouth, which forced the crippled soldier to yell in unintelligible murmurs and tongueless shouts. Just as suddenly as the attack happened, however, the roaches burrowed back into the safety of the ground.

Raxa began to understand the tactic that the roaches used. Guerrilla warfare, using the ground itself as an ambushing point. "Clever bastards! ALRIGHT BOYS! HOOF IT OUT OF HERE IN AN ANTI-FLANK FORMATION! I'M SOUNDING THE RETREAT NOW! WE'RE LEAVING!"

"What about him?!" One of his officers asked, pointing at the screaming soldier with his face melted off.

"LEAVE HIM!"

Immediately, Raxa's remaining 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 drop-off that lead into the caldera of the mountain that contained more zerg organisms. Some of the roaches still pursued after the fleeing defensive formation, while one roach stayed behind to end the faceless soldier's life. Many of the other roaches and infestors still approaching were already getting close, still hiding under the sand and soil, seeking out any other trespassers that made the mistake of attacking the zerg.

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.

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-"

PANIC!

'Hostile force attacking burrowed reconnaissance.' 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 detected burrowed roach strain. Used seismic sensor equipment. Attacked roach strain reconnaissance group.'

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 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 counterattack, commencing. Recommend evacuation.'

Kay Sighed. "Fucking hell... Alright, you can go ahead and evacuate the surface hive cluster, but try and stall any more soldiers or Golden Star gilanians from getting close to our hive for as long as possible."

'Could follow patrol. Root out forward base. 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 empire's army to mobilize and approach the center of the caldera?"

'Unknown deadline. Prediction, soon. 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.

The seismic sensor that was erected at the lip of the drop-off was hastily demolished after the patrol had left. The remaining roaches could have kept attacking the patrol further, but they were retreating back to their point of origin, no doubt running back to their precious base camp after the patrol had retreated.

Several minutes had passed, roughly thirty 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 have 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 have attacked a patrol group, we now have definite proof that the zerg truly are dangerous. Exterminate the area of all hostile organisms and locate the underground village.]

"Yes sir, Commander Kralluf. May I request bombardment of the central caldera area?"

[I like your way of thinking, corporal! After all threats have been eliminated, use the seismic sensors to locate the entrance to the hidden village. Now stand back, unless you want to be blown into smithereens.]

Desert platforms that have been positioned a far ways away from the center of the summit centered their devastating artillery cannons onto the space between the red rock structure and the natural freshwater spring, which slowly produced evaporating water that was supposedly safe to drink. After thirty seconds of preparation, the artillery cannons fired at the center of the caldera with a cacophonous uproar. Each shell that impacted the center of the caldera heavily damaged the roaches and infestors that hid there, but they were all killed so quickly that they didn't have enough time to counterattack.

After the artillery shells stopped firing at the caldera's center, one of the gilanian soldiers called out. "Seismic sensors are showing no underground organisms in the immediate area! There is also a bunch of sand blocking off a cave entrance that leads into an underground tunnel over there! There is something alive right behind it!"

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

"But what about the thing that's past the sand blockage? Can't we bring a fire breather unit with us?" A lower ranked Torus guard complained.

"Just use slow, deliberate movements. We will send a fire breather unit to join with you. 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 and having a fire breather soldier backing them, 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.

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 was at the other end of the sand blockage. He waddled with the sand diggers and patiently waited for his chance to use his flamethrower's business end on his target, once the wall of sand was removed. During their slow travel into the cave, the sand diggers had uncovered what looked like the zerg constriction, which blocked the digger team from proceeding further. "Uh... Sir? I think you better look at this." One of the sand diggers reported.

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. Let the incendiary unit do his job.]

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?]

Once the sand diggers retreated behind the fire breather soldier, he readied his flame thrower weapon at the zerg constriction. "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.

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

[Has there been any other activity in the surrounding regions?] Kralluf asked.

"None at all sir. The seismic sensors are telling us that they haven't detected anything. It looks like the lifeforms at the center of the caldera were just guard animals protecting the entrance of their nest."

[... 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 fall back?"

[... Fine. Fall back to safer ground, fire breather unit. We'll send a scout team to start recon at where you left off, and send a science team to collect that slime stuff you discovered.]

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.

[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 continue training 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. Our informant is advising me that we should also set up a magic siege wall early, and send four anti-fiend units with the breaching team. Some of you might have your doubts about manifesting black holes in enclosed spaces, but hey, the emperor has ordered me to use these units now, so that's what I'm going to do. Also, Commander Faddoh has given us a unique blueprint for a new ammo type that can be made at a manifestation altar, so have fun with that. MOVE OUT!]

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

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 magic shield soldiers would take the lead as the other gilanian soldiers huddled behind them, soon setting up the treaded machines to create that magic siege wall that inched its way forward. An impressive amount of force would have to disrupt the siege wall that slowly traveled down the tunnel system, and many would suffer if the magic siege wall projectors were destroyed, which would invoke great danger 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. Behind them all were new soldiers.

New kinds of units had been introduced to Kralluf's ranks, and Kay didn't like what he saw when they came into the field of awareness of a creep tumor. There was gilanians that bore plated armor all around their persons, and each held a giant bladed pillar that was carried around by two pairs of mechanical arms, which came 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."

"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 siege wall and attack it to little effect. The siege wall inched its way forward slowly, even when a wall of zergling corpses pilled into a large mound of flesh that was pressed against the siege wall. The anti-riot bots were quite effective against the zerglings as they were protected by the magic siege wall, but zerg still continued to fight back at their attackers no matter how stun-shocked they became. Despite being stunned for a few seconds, it was enough time for their enemies to kill them.

The magic armor specialists were faring better against the tide of zerglings crashing into their magic siege wall projector. Their magic wall projector proved to be a strong barrier that kept the zerglings from fighting the infiltration team, enabling the sharpshooter teams and 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 siege wall projector from overheating as the zerglings tried to push through. "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 that supported the magic siege wall projector, 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.

The sharpshooters did their best to shoot down each an every zergling that tried to claw past the 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 treaded 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 sent 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. The breaching team was advancing forward at a slow rate, but they were slowly getting closer to reaching their goal.

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, they had the sudden urge to turn and run. "RAZOR FIIIIIIEEEEEEND!"

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 an 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. But even then, he couldn't shake off a certain gut instinct he was currently feeling. Like there was something he should be aware of.

"So uh... Shall we unleash the brutalisks once they are done over-mutating?" Kay asked Corvurn.

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

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 cave entrance, turning into a large hole in the ground, 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 out, and followed by yet 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.

[Stop running around like krell with their heads cut off.] Kralluf said over the panic. [Be advised that our informant has convinced our holy emperor to tell Pallax to bring his favorite toy to the battle. Apparently, our informant is telling us that we have named these new creatures as 'war claws' in another timeline. Makes no difference to me since they'll be looking like roadkill once we're done with them. Vacate the area and provide long-distance support. Pinnacle Superior is now nearing your battle-zone.]

During the heat of battle, an ominous machine floated over the heads head of the gathered gilanian soldiers and the zerg defending their hive cluster. A giant, golden octahedronal machine hovered at a decent speed toward the middle of the battlefield, its glowing golden rings emanating a dangerous red energy. Its cannons and missile launcher pods were trained onto the brutalisks as they brutalized the Golden Star Empire soldiers underneath them, and they unleashed high-impact missiles and charged particle cannon shells onto the brutalisks once they were within firing range. The laser rings focused their fire on the many smaller organisms that were fighting the soldiers on the ground, turning them into charring embers as the lasers passed through them.

The zerglings, and every other zerg organism that had no means to attack air units, were at a heavy disadvantage. Many were slain at such rapidity that the zerg couldn't amount an effective defense against the new airborne enemy. However, hydralisks, infested gilanians, and a few of the newly formed spore crawlers fired upon the Pinnacle Superior siege machine, even when their attempt to avert such an enemy did little. The laser rings scoured the ground for any zerg monstrosity that was on the surface, though the burrowed organisms managed to survive the onslaught above themselves. The brutalisks were pushed off of their legs when a missile or charged particle shell impacted onto their sides or face. The damage was incredibly intense, but their symbiotic symbiotes were more than eager to put another shell of ablative armor around them. However, after several missile impacts, or two charged particle cannon shots, the brutalisks began to suffer serious losses.

[Hmm... The war claws have some unknown type of zerg organisms assisting them.] General Pallax shared. [Does the informant know about them?]

[Let me ask.] Kralluf replied. [You keep pointing your lasers at the zerg.]

The Pinnacle Superior laid waste to many zerg organisms, and even killed two brutalisks. Within minutes, the caldera of Red Mountain was under the empire soldiers' control. Two brutalisks had died from the inclusion of Pallax's Pinnacle Superior super weapon, but the last brutalisk burrowed into the ground and escaped certain destruction. The zerg finally ceased from filing out of the hole in the ground, and a calm had finally washed over the mountain's caldera when Pinnacle Superior's cannons and missile pods stopped firing.

What followed afterward was typical gilanian empire behavior. Many of the upturned and destroyed desert platforms were replaced by several more, with several magic wall projectors being stacked on rows and rows of themselves to form a wall that surrounded the entrance into the zerg hive cluster underground, while the turrets and seismic sensors were installed aplenty at the top of the wall of magic wall projectors.

Kay sighed. He had high hopes that using the brutalisks could chase away the empire gilanians, but the Pinnacle Superior, a golden eyesore in the sky that had unsuccessfully defended a capitol from being infested in a different timeline, had thwarted his brutalisks and the other zerg strains. He nodded absently, somewhat concerned from seeing so much of his zerg forces being destroyed and slain. "... I don't think I like how things are going this time around." Kay said in the safety of the underground village.

"Brutalisk strain, thwarted by Pinnacle Superior war machine. More biomass is required. Zergling and baneling strain, incompatible to brutalisk evolution. Ultralisk strain, incapable of biomass absorption." Corvurn said to Kay as he was inspecting the savage wounds on the last surviving brutalisk. At least its wounds were healing.

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

Corvurn turned to Kay and deadpanned a stare. "Empathy is not Swarm trait."

Kay shook his head. "Uh... Yeah, no. I said 'ALMOST' feel bad. How is the underground tunneling operations going?"

"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 sighed as he watched the brutalisk's missing limbs and concave carapace slowly regenerate. "Well that's some good news."

Kay felt as though his new future was going to have a rough start.

Bubbles sighed as he massaged a bruise over his eye. He knew that his temporal recursion mission was a failure. Upon re-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 a high rank over many of them, but Zagion, the seneschal of the Era Agency timeline instance 8,348,759,784,400-S/499, 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.

However, there was already an Era Agency that was experiencing trouble within a different timeline they were in. They shared their information with the Era Agency in the new timeline, and any data relating to the adaptations that the zerg have developed. Temporal recursion happened to be the Era Agency's best weapon, since past events could be relayed to a new timeline, and that the Era Agency's new timeline would be able to adapt to the events with either firsthand experience or prior information. Using such a time travel tactic enabled the Era Agency, and the other agencies in the alternate timelines, to thrive quite successfully. But recently, despite the new information they have acquired before their recent temporal recursion, further complications were beginning to become realized within the current timeline.

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.

Bubbles sighed as well. "What went wrong this time around?"

Zagion brought his hands together and meshed his fingers, leaning forward. "In the previous timeline, which I have prostrated to have it code-named 'Zerg Recurrence 1' to the alternate agencies, we have detected several anomalous temporal energies that have bled from that timeline and into our own, and scans are showing us weak temporal readings emanating from the empire's soldiers."

Bubbles hardened his eyes as he looked at Zagion. "... What is that supposed to mean, sir?"

Zagion shook his head. "Damn me if I know. The temporal readings we are getting from the soldiers in the past timeline seem to began at the very moment you had started your first temporal recursion mission, and our scientists are doing what they can to research the phenomenon. It's definitely becoming a bit of a head-scratching problem for them, that's for sure."

Bubbles nodded at Zagion's explanation, even when he still didn't understand what was happening. "So what do we know about this phenomenon? Usually when a time gate is formed, it creates a small amount of temporal radiation that seeps into the environment in the present tense, similarly to how a paradox in a past timeline starts creating large amounts of temporal radiation by a grander margin. Time can sometimes be perceived to be moving slower or quicker, or sometimes be looped again and again in extreme cases if there is a sufficient amount of temporal radiation seeping into an area."

"That' how temporal radiation typically behaves, but the radiation we have been scanning is dissimilar. It's too erratic, too weak, too short-lived, and we cannot locate the origin point of the temporal anomalies. What we have discovered so far is that the energy is being emanated from the empire soldiers in the past timeline, and that the soldiers in the timeline you were sent to are also creating these same, exact anomalies too."

Bubbles furrowed his brow as he looked down in thought. "... Do you think that these anomalies are related to the zerg?"

Zagion shook his head. "No. If the zerg have found a time travel device to travel back in time, then we would definitely know about it. Hell, it would make it easier for us to triangulate their time travel incursion point and give us a means to intercept them. Our future selves will tell us of any temporal incursions from this timeline and onward, while we monitor any timelines that have been made or altered in the past so we can inform our former selves of any possible future headaches. In a timeline that branches, rewrites, or loops constantly, I think it best to look at it like a tree that is in a state of every single one of its growth periods."

Bubbles sighed. "But sir, the timeline is not a living thing. It's a unit of measurement that makes things exist. Every unit of time that passes by enables our existence to continue. Time travel only enabled the Era Agency, and every other agency in the different alternate timelines, to propagate in an otherwise doomed existence. It was only after we had established an agency that we have started using it for profit."

Zagion leaned back in his chair at his desk and grumbled. "But these zerg organisms... They somehow popped up out of nowhere and are proving to be a very dangerous threat. And to top it off, it was only now that we began to realize that in the second timeline behind us that the Era Agency had became completely quiet. Worse still, it's under a lockdown that's preventing us from accessing it."

Bubbles tilted his head. "Do we know what caused the lockdown?"

Zagion shook his head. "We have no clue, but I hypothesize that some idiot tried to use a time travel device on the exact moment that their temporal anchor had rebooted. It's the only time the time dilation field is reseted, and makes the agency breifly vulnerable. Sabataging our agency just to create a new time anchor in the timeline is difficult in of itself, and pulling that off would take either years of calculations, or if a mole from the inside had extensive knowledge of our agency's technology. With that information, they could pull off such a subterfuge tactic."

"But wouldn't that mean the zerg organisms have created a time traveling device that somehow allowed them to enter into the Era Agency facility, even when its dilation field was down?"

Zagion nodded, paused, and then made a stern glare at Bubbles. "It's possible. But then again, I have said that we would be able to detect a breach in the timeline if that were the case. But you forgot something, Bulschtein. There could have been a mole within the Era Agency in that timeline too."

Bubbles blinked a few times. "Uh... Do... You think I'm that mole?"

Zagion nodded. "Myself from three previous timelines has shared with the alternate agency network that you made physical contact with the zerg organism commander known as Kay, and he shared with you information that he had no previous knowledge of beforehand."

Bubbles paused as he steeled his expression into one of surprise and hurt. "Seneschal Zagion, my loyalty is to this agency, and every agency that had ever existed, already exists apart from us, and will exist in the days to come. To betray the agency is to betray their trust in me. If you feel that my loyalty to you and the agents in this facility has shifted, then you have my permission to have me removed from duty, and have my life terminated."

Zagion stared at Bubbles for several seconds with a rigid stare, but then a smile had slowly formed across his face. "Alright. I'm convinced that you're not the mole."

Bubbles slouched and sighed in relief. "Thank you sir."

Zagion sighed, relaxing into his seat. "Are we done here, 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 already accomplished, which will doom all of the Era Agencies attempts to change the future.

A/N: Sorry that this took long. Got a new computer and have been playing lots of Hollow Knight and Chroma Squad on it. :V