Plans Made

Noise. Things were moving so quickly. Lore had barely left the floor and the courtyard was already swarmed with clones. Within moments, apart from the gaping holes in the walls, there were no signs of the reclamation battle. Once the last of the corpses were squared away, ready for recycling, shuttles began descending from The Razor. The first wave landed just shy of the complex, occupying the space created by the tank’s initial assault.
“Glad to see you’re still with us, it’s been a while. Using The Reaper can take its toll but you seem to have a real knack for it.” The First smiled, taking Lore’s hand. “A real knack. Not even a burn.” They showed off their own ring, highlighting the warping and scorching they meant.
“What’s next?” Lore awkwardly removed their hand from The First’s grasp.
“The truth.” The First nodded their head towards the landing shuttles.
The walk over was slightly ominous. Silence prevailed but it spoke volumes. They made it to the shuttles, the council already gathered.
“Let’s begin. For the last few months, we’ve been scouting the universe making preparations for your arrival. The fifty of us have been working with our agents to make sure that this time we do it right and now we know why we’ve been failing.” The First smiled as they tossed a portable holographic projector to the centre of the circle. “We’ve been operating on a false assumption. We believed that the UEP were responsible for the destruction of Quatarr but in reality, they only knew what The Guild told them. The entire UEP have been hoodwinked by their own Temporal Sciences guild into thinking that the Quatarrians destroyed themselves. By bringing the planet back, we not only undo our mistake but we have an opportunity to change humanity for the better.” The First stepped back.
“Hold on. If The Guild is guilty of manipulating time to serve humanities interests then why not just show The Protectorate that? I get we want to undo Quatarr but… Bit extreme?” Char’s comment raised more than a few eyebrows.
“They won’t act on our existing evidence because they refuse to believe there is a problem. By bringing the planet back, unharmed, humanity gets a second chance to make a good impression and the guild will be destroyed in the crossfire.”
“How?” Char looked to Lore. “Ah, I think I get it. We have to go to the day they destroyed it and the present, both times there are heavy Guild presences.” The council nodded along as Char got things straight in her own head. “But what happens next? A planet full of people appear and the humans make first contact again but when they find that planet littered with Guild weaponry and corpses… Then what?”
“We’re streaming the entire event to The Protectorate council. They will see their Guild’s crimes.”
A low mumble followed The First’s response. Lore and Char took this opportunity to remove themselves.
“We’re bringing back a planet to shed light onto The Guild’s actions. Seems overkill.” Char wrapped her arm around Lore.
“There’s something else going on.” A voice came from behind them. “It’s about planning ahead.”
“What do you mean?” Lore turned to face the source of the claim. “And how do you know?” It was Loren.
“While working with Crait and Undulia I found drafts for what they wanted to do once the cycle was broken. After wiping out the last of the Quatarrians, they planned to make more changes. The Guild started down this path when they sent you to Quatarr during the war and now we’re seeing where the road ends.” Loren held a small cube in his palm. “This will give you a glimpse of their future.”
Apprehensively, Lore put their hand in Loren’s.
Darkness. They were alone in the vacuum. Behind them, Earth. Not a star shone around them excluding the sun. Earth was alone.
“What was that?” Lore recoiled.
“A tad dramatic but it’s a part of Crait’s Guild introduction. Every member gets ‘convinced’ that humanity would be better off without the other species. They decided to start big and work their way back.”
“But why?”
“Jealousy. Hatred. I don’t know. All I do know is that if we fail, Crait gets their wish. Without us, humanity becomes the dominant and only power in this corner of the universe.”
“Can’t we just go back again?” Char fumbled for Lore’s hand, keeping her eyes on Loren.
“Not this time. Crait knows I’ve stolen this. Every time we go back, they do too but this time, we’ve made it to The Slingshot and they have the designs for a ship that can use it. You’ve seen our forces, now imagine the size of their army if they sent all of their forces back in time. We wouldn’t stand a chance. Our side has never had more than one survivor. The First. They go back and start the cycle anew. But this time they can’t go back.”
“It’s catching up with them, isn’t it?” Lore looked to Loren’s hand, it too was scorched.
“Funny thing time. Acts more like a sentient being than people would think. It has a way of removing the bits it doesn’t want.” He turned over his hand. “By the end, I might not be around. I’ve said it once but it bears repeating, I’m no shadow of your future. We can win.”
“We will.” Lore spoke softly, checking their own hand subtly.
Char took Loren’s hand for a moment and whispered a goodbye before re-joining Lore on their walk back to the council circle.
“What would you put our odds at?” Char was starting to look nervous.
“Fifty fifty.” Lore smiled. “We either win or we don’t.” Char chuckled. They remade the council circle and once again, they were in session. Lore looked to the member’s hands. Only The First had been scorched.
“Here’s the plan.” They began. “We’ll be splitting the troops. Half of us will be staying in this time and setting up on this Quatarr, the other half will be taking The Slingshot back to the last day and setting up there. Once we get the ok, we form our Reapers and focus our energy into the tethers. The two planets are then drawn into a null space where their matching gravity and the Temporal Elastic Effect fling them off in the opposite direction, et voila! Planets swapped. Any questions?” Most of the circle nodded.
“I’m sorry, what?” Both Lore and Char stood with raised hands and scrunched faces. About Time.