The mound of paperwork that was stacked atop Kal’s desk hide him from sight as he tirelessly scanned and signed papers “ one hundred Carnodons to Hive world.........MIcah!” kal knocks several piles of papers over so he could see through the mountains of paperwork to his Second in command sitting at his own desk signing work himself “ Why in the Emperors name are we shipping Carnodons to a hiveworld?” The short Cadian merely looked up from his paperwork and shrugged “ Why are we shipping three tons of Redux and Dreamjuice to a Agri-world on the edges of the Emperium?” he describes the shipping manifesto with a raised eyebrow.
A flurry of paper is launched about the room as Kal is now standing atop his desk brandishing his powersaber “ Frak to this bullshit I’m a wanted Criminal Lord I wont sign another paper til I’ve destroyed at least one Hive city and my Liver!” he points the blade towards Micah frustration in his voice “ Summon some minions to finish this paperwork! Then Send a Telegraph to Inquisitor Dakka, Tell him the Third Gift is ready and I demand him to meet me at this Hive city if he doesn't come I’m blowing up a Hab sector and blaming it on him” hopping down from the desk and sheathing his blade Kal marches off out of the room defiantly.
“If you didn't want to do the bloody paperwork you could have just said so you twat!” Micah yelled after him picking up paperwork off the floor.
An explosion rips through the side of the tower, sends bodies hurtling sideways in a fiery blast. He stumbles as the ground shakes, hits the side of the stairwell, he almost falls over the railing as the tower seems to shift beneath him. Both hands go round the railing, and he calls out as he slips over, keeps his bloody, soaked fingers wrapped tight around metal.
With a grunt, legs lasing out to push off something, he pulls himself back up onto the stairs. A fleeing woman almost sends him back over the railing, and he sticks close to the edge. His boots pound heavily on the stairs, and he slips on the landing. His chest hits the floor first, the solid steel pounding into his chin, bashing his teeth together and into his tongue. Blood leaks into his mouth as he forces himself to his feet, the building shudders, groans.
Left foot, right, his progress is slow, steady, he spits, the liquid is more red than clear. A scream, he glances up, and watches a slice of building cut clean through a person, through the floor beneath them. He doesn’t hear it crash into the ground floor, but thinks it’s caked in blood.
“Sir.” Avron, loyal, honest to the point of disrespect: he’s not moved from the console, bloody, broken hand pressed to the identification pad.
He smiles, thin-lipped, and sets his fingers to the console, pulls up protocol after protocol. “What’s happening?”
“The world. It’s… it’s falling apart. We’ve tracked the source to one planet. Or, one system.”
“Just one?” he asks, and his second in command nods, drags his good hand along the holographic screen, it stains with dark red blood. Not from his hands, but from a gaping wound in his side. Avron always was the most loyal of his men, and he frowns at the blood that stains his clothes.
“Just one. The first true example of a butterfly effect.” the galaxy speeds by them on the screen, rests on one system, focuses on one planet.
“Earth.” he tests the name, glances to Avron, who shrugs, “What’s causing the disruption?”
“A number of events, but this one here, this is most notable event…. The locals call it War of Infinity.”
He watches the timeline, forgets about the planet, the building falling around them. “This cannot be the only event.”
“The death of Thanos, the rebirth of Parallax…. It has… they are not small events in time, sir, and they were not supposed to happen as they did.”
“This cannot just be the waves of Consequence”, he leans both bloodied hands on the console, searches the long and complex timeline: for such a small world, it held so much disaster.
“It is Darkseid, sir.” Avron refuses to meet his wide-eyed gaze. “He has seen the chaos, the weakness, of Earth, and has decided that now is time.”
“He is here?”
“His men, his army, is here. Once they find the Formula, I am certain he will join them.” Avron, looks to him, then, jaw clenched, “We are doomed.”
“This timeline is abhorrent.” he scowls, drums his fingers on the console. “How much power do we have left?”
<em> “We are at 64% capacity, sir, and most of that is to our defensive systems.”</em>
“Jackobe?” he smiles, “Excellent, I’d thought you’d have shut down.”
“I am never one to miss the action, Time Keeper.”
“Take us back, let this timeline begin again, and we’ll make it so Darkseid never sees this place. So that this ‘Earth’ will never cause this much death.”
“Sir?” Avron shifts, looks to the screen. “This is not a small change. Hundreds of years, maybe more, need to change to avoid this, now.”
“Yes.”
“We risk everything.”
“If we do not, we will lose everything”, he replies, looks to Avron, “I am willing to try.”
The response is immediate, barely a second between his words and his loyal friend’s, “Then I am with you. No matter the Consequence. No matter how the Covenant reacts.”
“Stopping the aftershocks of this War of Infinity is important, and we will need to be ready to stop it. At any cost. Darkseid must never get hold of that formula. Jackobe, start the sequence.”
“I’d suggest a drink, sir, or perhaps prayer.” He can’t help a smile, closes his eyes for a moment, “Turning back the timeline, reversing events… specify a limit within acceptable range.”
He looks to Avron, who nods, expression grim. “2500 years, that should be ample time to prepare.”
There’s a moment of silence from Jackobe, he frowns, lifts his hands ready to force the command. “Overriding safety. Shifting the timeline back 2500 years. I hope you know what you’re doing, Time Keeper.”
“So do I, Jackobe”
“That gives me no confidence, Major.” Jackobe doesn’t have the ability to use tone, but Avron laughs, grips his side and grimaces.
