Timeline: 121-1146 to 119-1146

While the Martyrs prepared to leave, Hendricks received a visitor: the father he hadn’t seen in almost 20 years. The father he despised. Professor Hendricks didn’t have time for reconciliation; he needed James’ help. The professor was worried that if he could design a time machine to alter the past, others in the future would also. This could lead to cataclysmic temporal instability, unleashing forces which could obliterate the fabric of the multiverse. When the Martyr force hopped back in time to save Korokov, it had to be the last time. The professor had devised a ‘tachyon bomb’ which could be detonated by a traveller whilst inside the timestream, strengthening the temporal viscosity of the new reality and preventing further hops back in time.

The professor needed James to take the bomb, travel to Site Omega on Montero, and detonate it inside the timestream seconds after the Martyrs hopped back. There was a reason why the professor could not do it himself: he would hop back after the Martyrs and before James…to prevent the abduction, torture and murder of his wife - James’ mother - at SolSec’s hands. James agreed to help, although he was unsure quite why he was prepared to believe so readily a man he thought he’d hated. The professor set the detention cell’s doors on a timer lock; it would open when the Martyrs left.

There was just one problem. The Martyr ship was looking for the Rocinante - and only Jesus was left aboard. Walken rapidly re-established a commlink to the ship, ordering Jesus to take off and hide in the asteroid field. But it was futile. The Rocinante’s autopilot was no substitute for an experienced pilot…and the ship was outclassed by the Martyrs’ modified 5000dT cargo vessel. The Rocinante and her single crewman were obliterated by a nuclear barrage before she could Jump.

The Martyrs left. Montero was two weeks away for their J-2 ship. But for Walken, Neel, Kemp and James the distance was practically infinite. They had no vessel. They were stranded on a derelict asteroid in an abandoned backwater star system. The chance of a passing vessel coming to their aid was virtually zero. Interstellar communications would take more than three years to reach a neighbouring star system. They were out of time.

Or were they? The prototype temporal experiment was presumably still functional - if they could power it. Hendricks and Walken theorised that they could send a communications drone back through to timestream with a message which would ensure help arrived immediately. It was worth a shot. Hendricks and Walken worked on the experiment while Neel rigged the drone. As part of the communications package, Neel included a sub-carrier multiplex feed containing a single word: Straylight. He didn’t know why. It just felt right. Like scratching a forgotten itch in his mind. Five days later, they were ready. Hendricks fired-up his father’s prototype. Walken monitored the energy levels. Neel set the drone’s final command parameters. Kemp ate a sandwich.

The drone disappeared in a flash of white light as the power relays burnt through. The experiment was destroyed, its primary components melted into slag. Walken’s last reading showed that they’d overshot their target date by years. Would it matter? All they could do now was wait.

Days passed. No ship came. Had they failed? Had they sent the drone back too far? Had their message even been received? Or reached the right people? Perhaps the drone was the trigger that had sent them to Ultraneta in the first place…

Something happened. Sensors reported a massive spatial distortion. An object the diameter of the asteroid field eclipsed Ultraneta’s star. A dyson sphere…was such a thing even possible? “Hello Neel. It is good to communicate with you again. Please stand by while we reconfigure your vessel.” The Fast Folk had come. Somehow the artificial intelligence known as Straylight was able to access its interactions with the Neel of a widowed timeline and convince the Architecture to intervene. Ultraneta was being fitted-out with a Jump grid and drive by a nanoswarm. Ultraneta itself would take them to Montero, to collapse the daisy chain of temporal fault-waves which would (and, in a sense, already had) inevitably destroy reality itself.

Ultraneta Jumped. Precisely seven days later, the 8,000km asteroid displaced within Montero’s upper atmosphere and began to drop at 10.1m/s². In less than 30 seconds they reached Mach 1 and external friction had reached 3,000K - Ultraneta was breaking up! The crew scrambled to the main docking bay as the environment ablated around them. Kemp arrived at the nano-assembled modular cutter early, thanks to his powered armour, and began the launch prep. The others arrived and strapped-in. Impact in 26 seconds. Kemp punched it - the cutter lifted free and exited the burning bay, leaving the falling asteroid behind. Seconds later, it hit the surface and detonated with sufficient force to wipe out every living thing on the planet. The blast wave would take 20 minutes to reach Site Omega. Strangely, everyone but Walken instinctively knew where that was: Wo-Sin City.

The atmospheric chaos meant that flying nap-of-the-earth would render them undetectable. The Martyr ship had landed at the valley spaceport - it was a simple matter to land atop it. Hacking the airlock was more difficult, but Walken made it look easy. A few step in, and he slumped forward - his forehead missing in a bloody mess. Dr. Hendricks held the gun: “That’s as far as you get, fascist.” Each of them knew Walken would attempt to sabotage the Martyr mission, while their agenda was to prevent anyone stopping them. Time was running out.

Hendricks, Kemp and Neel entered via the vessel’s engine room and followed the power readings to the main bay. Looking down from the mezanine gangway, they could see Hendricks Snr. starting the device. As the energy surge built and the seal-suited Martyr team began to displace, the atmospheric shockwave hit, causing the ship to rock and the device to malfunction spectaularly. The Martyr team were dead; their blood painting the walls. The Martyr leader spotted Kemp and a brief firefight ensued before the Hendricks forced a ceasefire.

With all cards on the table, it was clear that the only possibility of salvaging the mission and putting history ‘right’ was for Kemp and Neel to go back in time and prevent the assassination of President Korokov. They kitted up, stepped onto the device platform…and disappeared.

* * *

1130. Montero. A desolate wasteland far from the inhabited zones. Neel and Kemp looked at one another. They had millions of Martyr credits and 10 days to get to Vaward. A taxi and a J-6 charter would do the trick. First-class all the way… Later, on Vaward, the peace conference was in full swing. Margaret’s Imperium and the Solomani Confederation were about to declare peace. The President had arrived and was due to give his keynote address. Neel and Kemp had spent a lot of money on the best janitorial and press passes. They worked. Neel embedded himself in the press pool to act as spotter, while Kemp snuck into the secure backstage area. He was stopped by a guard while trying to access the conference centre’s upper gallery and was forced to disable him. At least he had a uniform and a weapon now. He entered the gallery and manoevred slowly, looking for signs of the sniper he knew would be there. Kemp had the drop on him and redied his shot. The President took to the stage. It had to be done now. Kemp fired just as the assassin turned to see him. A shot shattered the glass, missing Korokov but sending his secret service into a panic. The assassin was dead.

On the conference floor Neel spotted one of the secret service agents acting suspiciously. He had glanced to where the shot had come from - before it had been fired. A second man. Neel didn’t have a weapon. He scrambled over the press pod barrier toward the agent as he told Kemp to shoot him. The agent spotted Neel and levelled his weapon at the President, unnoticed. Neel threw himself in front of the agent. A shot rang out. Neel felt the round enter his side. The agent’s head snapped back violently. Kemp placed the rifle on the floor. If Neel made it, he’d find a way to get to him. If not…both had known there was no way back to the tomorrow they’d destroyed. Kemp left the conference like a man with a fortune and an unlimited lifespan…with a small smile on his lips.

* * *

Professor Hendricks disappeared into the light. James readied the tachyon bomb fastened to his chest. Time to set the pre-coded sequence. Time to step on the raised dias and wait those last few seconds. How very existential, he mused. When I die, will any of the me in this new reality we’re creating remember? The machine’s hum built to a crescendo. The vessel shook once again, the planet beginning to crack. One way to find out.

* * *

The Rocinante’s high velocity shells exploded into the shielded entrance. They had to work fast. Kemp, in his battle armour, took point. As they descended through the smoke they came across bodies, twisted metal…but something was still drawing a vast amount of power. Thigh ordered them to move in. Two NPP militia were no match for Kemp, who killed them before they could let off a round. Following the energy surge pattern led them to a large chamber, where a strange machine glowed. Dr. Hendricks recognised his father and Dr. Anjara - an armed man was angry that the device wasn’t working. Kemp, Thigh and Jesus took them out, leaving the leader. Dr. James Hendrcks placed a hand on the man’s forehead and concentrated. “I know where they’re keeping my mother.” Karl nodded and shot the man. It felt right.

FIN