Time Immemorial - Humanity has lost
Prologue
PART ONE
“Steer ship to the right 18° and progress forward.”
A lone space frigate drifted through space with only one goal in mind - return to base without dying, however that job proved extremely difficult as not only were they outnumbered, the enemies that were giving chase were technologically superior.
However they had one ace that could turn the entire situation around and return safely.
“Admiral?! With all due respect, there’s a minefield in that direction!”
One of the frigate’s main pilots stood up to contest the old admiral’s orders. She was a young woman only in her early twenties who had risen quickly through the ranks not because of skill or experience but because times were desperate enough that even a newbie could be sent to the front lines.
Normally this would be an action worthy of being court martialled as the admiral was no mere admiral but the fleet admiral for humanity’s largest space fleet.
However the young woman’s words were not met with aggression, and no one else on the bridge had felt that it was out of place. This was because despite being humanity’s last hope, the admiral had failed.
All of Earth’s last defense had fallen and civilians wiped out; the enemy had caused the Sol to go supernova.
This meagre group of pilots and engineers in a small frigate were the only remnant of humanity left. Well, not entirely, there was one more person waiting for them in nearby space port.
“It’s fine just do it.”
The Admiral replied coldly.
The admiral, aged 49 had enough experience to know what he was doing, thus the crew hesitantly followed his orders.
Navigating any sort of ship through a minefield would be deemed impossible, after all that was the purpose of the mine field. On the other hand it was true that the only way to outrun the enemy ships would be to run straight through a place the enemy dare not follow.
It was a gamble with heavy costs.
The small white frigate turned its engines and flew straight into the metallic heart of the minefield.
The admiral personally gave directions to the pilots, telling them to execute what sort of movements with precise timing.
“Right 7° for 12 seconds, left 23° 14 seconds then up 42° 11 seconds.”
For a while it was progressing smoothly, almost as though the hand of god was guiding them. The enemy ships did not give chase as they realized the implications of doing so.
The frigate cocked itself right for 12 seconds, the left 14 seconds, however on the 10th second as it ascended a floating piece of debris knocked the ship slightly out of the angle.
“What?!”
The frigate shook and spiralled slightly out of control, but it was enough to send the ship into a large spherical bomb.
The explosion gave off a chain reaction causing all the nearby mines to detonate simultaneously. A light show like none have ever seen played out in the emptiness of space and with it the last remnants of humanity.
(Second Attempt)
“Steer ship to the right 18° and progress forward.”
“Admiral?! With all due respect, there’s a minefield in that direction!”
“It’s fine just do it.”
The crew begrudgingly listen to the instruction of their admiral’s suicidal orders; the thought that maybe the admiral wanted to go out with a bang crossed many of the crew member’s minds.
“Right 7° for 12 seconds, left 23° 14 seconds, up 42° 10 seconds then immediately stop.”
The frigate soared through the minefield with uncanny precision; like threading a string through a needle. As the pilots executed their admiral’s orders perfectly the thought that this might work popped into their heads, and with it an intense rush of ecstasy.
The enemy ships, not wishing to continue pursuing them through such a hazardous area, turned tail and ran.
As they magnificently executed the third order of the admiral’s a small piece of debris flew past the ship. A single nudge from it would’ve been enough to cause the ship to veer off course and collide with the mines.
The pilots were amazed at the admiral’s uncanny predictive capabilities, they started to recognize why he was known as humanity’s greatest chance against the enemy.
“Steer straight for 4 seconds, turn left 14° for 5 seconds then right 12° for 2 seconds. Once out of the minefield hit quantum drive to hanger 657.”
“U-Understood!”
The frigate started to move once more.
Straight for 4 seconds.
Left for 5.
Then right for 2 seconds.
However that proved to be a fatal mistake as once they successfully navigated through the minefield a moderately sized fleet awaited for them with weapons ready.
A large golden dome like vessel, dwarfing the human frigate 10:1 in size, floated directly above them. Without even a warning signal a blue beam of energy shot down from under the golden alien vessel and completely annihilated the small frigate.
(Third Attempt)
“Steer ship to the right 18° and progress forward.”
“Admiral?! With all due respect, there’s a minefield in that direction!”
“It’s fine just do it.”
“Right 7° for 12 seconds, left 23° 14 seconds, up 42° 10 seconds then immediately stop.”
“Steer straight for 4 seconds, turn left 14° for 5 seconds then right 12° for 1 second and stop. When ship stops release all cluster bombs in the armoury and hit quantum drive to hanger 657.”
“Sir?! Releasing all the cluster bombs in this situation will incinerate the ship!”
“No, if we’re quick enough we can quantum jump just milliseconds before the detonations begin.”
“But with all due respect, our skills are insufficient enough to pull off such a manoeuvre!”
“You’ll be fine. I trust you all.”
Hearing such words from their admiral the young pilots and engineers could say anything. A small smile etched across the main pilot’s face.
“Hehe, alright, if the admiral says he trusts us then I guess we have no choice but to do it!”
The main pilot of the frigate was a young male just fresh out of pilot academy. Though he had graduated with full honours and as the academy’s ace, real war proved to be much more different than earlier thought.
Luckily through grace of the admiral’s command he become one of the very few survivors of mankind.
“But, what point is there for releasing the cluster bombs? The sweeper isn’t picking up any sort of enemies. I still think that this is an unnecessary risk.”
The young female pilot couldn’t quick understand her admiral’s orders.
“Hey, I’m sure the admiral’s planned for something so let’s trust him as he does us, okay?”
The main pilot placed his hands on her shoulders to reassure her.
“I… guess.”
Not being able to fully comprehend the best she could do was go along with the dangerous plan.
Once again the frigate started to move just as the admiral had ordered them.
“Steer straight for 4 seconds, turn left 14° for 5 seconds then right 12° for 1 second and stop. When ship stops release all cluster bombs in the armoury and hit quantum drive to hanger 657.”
The main pilot had memorized his admiral’s orders perfectly.
All orders were executed perfectly and it was now time for the homestretch.
Co-ordinating with the people down at the armoury, the main pilot hit quantum drive just as the cluster bombs were released.
Only as they left the minefield, did the young engineers and pilots understood the reason behind their admiral’s orders.
A chain reaction caused by the detonation of the cluster bombs resulted in the minefield flaring up the entire space sector. The enemy ships that were lying in wait, trying to ambush them at their exit were caught in the unexpected blast of the bombs and were consumed.
“What?! But how did?! What?!”
The young female pilot screamed out as she saw the entire scene play out before her on the main monitors.
“As expected of the admiral, to think that was the reason for the cluster bombs.”
The admiral’s temporary secretary remarked. She was also a young rookie straight out of the administration branch of flight academy, but was forced into the front lines.
The lone frigate flew quietly back to their only remaining base.
What they would do or if there was anything left they could do was a mystery.
PART TWO
Drifting through space was a small space station, though most of it was destroyed; only one part of the station was left intact - hanger 657.
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Standing before a force field separating the vacuum of space and oxygen inside, was a moderately aged woman. Medium sized red hair and sharp blue eyes, she gazed out into the distant void that was space wondering how everything went wrong.
It had been only 30 years since humanity made contact with alien civilizations.
Three in fact. Three separate alien civilizations all at a similar level of technological advancement as the human race, however that turned out to be a huge problem.
As mankind discovered faster-than-light travel, it truly became a space-faring civilization and started to expand to other exoplanets. The other civilizations also had the same idea and soon tension began to rise between the four advanced civilizations.
A free-for-all war to conquer the galaxy began.
All attempts at negotiations and diplomacy proved to be futile. The only way to ‘converse’ with the aliens were through firepower.
Unfortunately for humanity, it was the first one that was knocked out of the space race as the aliens chose to make Sol, humanity’s sun to go supernova wiping out the entirety of human civilization.
Remnants of humanity afterwards were slowly destroyed and in the end only a meagre few dozen remained.
A white frigate entered the hanger creating considerable updraft and noise but the aged woman standing in the same room didn’t seem to mind.
Landing perfectly the people inside the ship got out to meet the woman.
“Welcome back Admiral.”
The red haired woman greeted as she offered a handshake.
The admiral couldn’t accept it and only turned his gaze.
“Please don’t call me that, I’ve failed humanity.”
“We’ve all failed, not just you admiral. I’ve also failed as the leader of humanity.”
The aged woman was not any old woman, but the president and representative of all humanity. From a population of trillions she now governed only a few dozen.
The admiral walked closer to the edge of the force field and joined the madam president in gazing out into the distance.
A new war was beginning, between alien kind. Eventually two of the alien civilizations will collapse just as humanity’s did and a singular empire of the victor will span throughout the galaxy.
A grim reminder that humanity has lost.
“Admiral, you’ll have to go for a long walk this time.”
At the madam president’s words the admiral flinched but did not respond.
The other young pilots and engineers only listened in with curiosity. Naturally they knew not on what exactly was being said.
“… Is that an order from the president?”
The admiral asked.
The madam president shook her head in denial.
“A plea from one of the last humans. I feel terrible for making you go through the entire war a second time but we have no other choice remaining at this point.”
“I had…”
The admiral paused to gather his thoughts.
“I had planned on going for a walk from the time our sun went dark.”
“That’s reassuring.”
“Umm, excuse me for interrupting but what exactly is going on?”
The young female pilot interrupted the admiral and president’s talk. Normally it wouldn’t have been an action the young pilot would’ve taken but in such a situation she thought it was necessary to know all the details of what they were going to do in the future.
“Of course, I suppose there’s no point in hiding it any further now that the situation has escalated to such a degree.”
The madam president cleared her throat to explain the situation to the young people. A generation of humanity who was literally the last.
They gathered closer and listened tensely.
“The admiral over there is what we call a [time walker]. He can freely go back in time as he wishes and change the outcome of whatever he wants. Long ago our scientists tried to create an immortal soldier, not one with super strength, speed, reaction or anything of the like but a soldier that would never die.”
The young crew scratched their heads in confusion, what did immortality do with reversing time?
The madam president continued.
“Dubbed the [Human immortalization] project our aim was to bend the rules of probability for the selected soldier. Since immortality in the traditional sense proved impossible after many attempts we began research into ‘quantum immortality’. This soldier would never be shot, never run out of ammunition, and never killed in any situation, all because they were able to manipulate probability.”
It was a subject much too hard for the young crew to understand but they continued to listen.
“To manipulate probability one needed insight into future events, and as such we began research into such phenomenon. Doing so drove the project further and further from its core thesis and eventually we shifted our gaze from the manipulation of probability to researching into time itself. What we found out was that the past, present and future all happen simultaneously on the 4th dimension and by tapping a person’s consciousness into that 4th dimension it was possible to send them back in time. Of course there was a limitation on this, that being that a person cannot travel before their birth or beyond their death and only consciousness will travel not their physical bodies.”
“I think I’ve read something similar in a book but every time that person goes back in time to change something a different world line is created?”
The young female pilot asked.
“No, there are no such things as world lines, as I’ve said before the past, present and future are all simultaneous, the only difference is that the future is a direct consequence of the past and present. If a person changes something in the past it will be reflected in the future, that is all.”
“What about something like the ‘grandfather paradox’?”
The young male pilot asked.
“Were you not listening? I said it was impossible for the person to travel to before their birth. Everything has a representative timeline on the 4th dimension, but a person can only travel between his timeline. It is possible to affect the timeline that comes after his but impossible to tamper with timeline that come before. In essence this is more a power to change the future than the past.”
A tense silence swept through the young crew members.
“So you’re saying the admiral is this time traveller?”
The young female secretary asked.
“Yes, he is the result of our research, a [time walker]. Right now the only way to save humanity is to go back and prevent its destruction from the first place.”
The admiral stepped in to reiterate.
“However simply avoiding the fate of our solar system isn’t enough I need to return to a time before the war even began and prepare new plans using the knowledge I currently have. But doing so will ensure that the present will be different than now. It could be that some of you or even all of you will never be born in the new present.”
The Admiral made a sour face.
The young crew members became weary but one stepped forward.
“It’s fine admiral. Without you we would’ve been killed right away, so it’s you who we owe our lives to. That being said, we are all soldiers and will proudly throw down our lives for the greater good of humanity.”
The young male pilot offered a salute to end his speech.
Slowly, one by one the other crew members came up and also saluted. Tears, clearly visible in their eyes, they were scared and trembling but they had accepted their fate.
“I…”
The admiral started to waver, seeing their crying faces he just couldn’t.
“Admiral, we understand our current situation. Even if we continue like this there will be no point, so even if it means our deaths, please save humanity.”
The young female pilot who had doubted the admiral from the start pleaded.
“Well admiral?”
The madam president asked, she had also offered a salute to the admiral.
“I understand, I will go back and save everyone. I am proud to have served with all of you. Thank you for your service.”
(Galactic War - Second Attempt) 35 years ago
It was the first time that the admiral had ‘walked’ so far into the past and there were a lot of things that he had forgotten as well. Thus in order to acclimate better and give him enough time to plan out his moves he decided to travel back 35 years into the past when he was still 15 and in flight academy.
The second galactic war was about to start.