While working on one of the new machines Kellek noticed a shimmering haze in on his main work station console. Soon the haze firmed up into a low resolution picture that suffered interference every few seconds, before firming back up. What it displayed was my maker Roah the lead scientist for the House Fraalleen, in Kelleks old work lab in the city of Torreth.
Apparently the Fraalleen had over run much of the main Meijillaann city and were starting to occupy it. On his instruments Roah had detected an active gate and followed the source to Kelleks Lab where the unique gate stood that had been used to transport Kellek originally. Kellek of course recognized his own lab, and was furious that the Meijillaanns had given up so much ground, but he was utterly dumbfounded when he discovered the time error. It appeared as a small and simple detail on the screen, a time date stamp from the sender and one for the receiver.
Apparently in trying to take readings on the gate Roah had opened up a residual temporal signature that was still tied in to the last known coordinates of the gate. Extrapolation of that residual field enabled communication between the two. Forerunners understand that time does not go from point A to point B. Roah was in the future talking to Kellek in the past all of this taking place in each ones present. All times are possible at once in all places so long as you know the coordinates. So Kellek learned that his house had abandoned the city, regrouped in the wilderness and were even as they spoke escaping off world rather than allow themselves to be absorbed into an enemy house. Also during the fighting the allied house of the Fraalleenn the Cosstaallan had been simply attacked by both sides, and too weak to fight an army on both fronts, they were absorbed into House Fraalleenn.
Kellek did not take this news well and shouted threats at the screen of what he would do to Roah, the House of Fraalleenn, even to the cowards of his own house once he got back. For Kellek was born a Meijillaann, not some lesser clan member who later got absorbed into the house, but a proper Meijillaann down to his D.N.A. Then a wicked scheme came to Kelleks mind, he would build a gate from what he had here on Earth to get back to his proper timeline in two places. One to gate in his lab to strangle then experiment on the upstart Roah and two, have his newly crafted Ignis storm the actual gate at the city limits where reinforcements came in. With everything in chaos and burning around him Kellek felt certain he could retake the city, restore his houses honor, and even be promoted to ruling class.
He snapped off the monitor severing the connection with Roah, recorded the time date stamp from the incoming transmission, and set about to build another unique gate. This time he had all the niobium he wanted but the crystals were lacking the proper qualities unlike back home. They all shattered when pushed to even a quarter of the resonance needed to achieve another time portal. So he took to making synthetic crystals out of the run off from niobium processing. The process took five long years in time as we understand it. Kellek didn’t care it could take a century and he was still confident he could get back to the day he left an hour after his initial departure.
At last at the end of those long years the gate was completed. He made a couple of drones specifically for advanced recon and sent them through first with the coordinates to reopen the gates and return to him on completion of their mission. All did not go as planned however, as soon as the gate was opened it was occupied by incoming beast machines. Kellek in his haste had programmed the main gate outside of the city into the system fist as opposed to his lab as he had intended.
His five warriors, all his drones, and Kellek himself scurried to get to the waiting Ignis mechs on hand and power them up. They were lucky as the incoming beast machines were not prepared for the involvement of other mechs. They had thought this to be yet another gate in, grab the niobium, gate back , call it a day mission. Instead they were met by one hundred and fifty, ninety ton mechs, all geared for war. It was a slaughter to even be polite about it. Beast machines came through, looked around, started to power up their weapons, and became fried by the assembled mechs that lay on the other side of the gate.
Realizing his haste had made him loose the advantage as the gate was still on from the other side, Kellek ordered his troops through, desperate to take back what he saw as his, and destroy any he saw as a threat to that….
To be concluded...
