diff --git a/code/__DEFINES/async.dm b/code/__DEFINES/async.dm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c33f361b9a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/code/__DEFINES/async.dm
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+
+/// Declars that a function is async, creates the task return type and will cause it to return the task
+/// upon sleeping.
+/// Place this as the first line in the body of the function, but after any other set X = val settings.
+#define DECLARE_ASYNC set waitfor = FALSE; \
+	RETURN_TYPE(/datum/task); \
+	var/datum/task/created_task = new(); \
+	. = created_task;
+
+/// Marks an async function as finished without returning any value.
+/// Async version of return;
+#define ASYNC_FINISH created_task.mark_completed(); \
+	return;
+
+/// Marks an async function as completed and returns a result.
+/// Async version of return value;
+#define ASYNC_RETURN(value) created_task.mark_completed(value);\
+	return;
+
+/// Waits for the provided task to be completed, or the timeout to expire.
+/// Returns null if the timeout expires, or the task's result otherwise.
+/// Note that if a task's result is null, then null will be returned.
+#define AWAIT(TASK, TIMEOUT) get_result(TASK, TIMEOUT)
+
+/proc/get_result(datum/task/task, timeout)
+	if (!istype(task))
+		return task
+	if (task.await(timeout))
+		// Return the task result
+		return task.result
+	return null
diff --git a/code/controllers/subsystem/ticker.dm b/code/controllers/subsystem/ticker.dm
index 1cf167ce4f6..58629bd993a 100755
--- a/code/controllers/subsystem/ticker.dm
+++ b/code/controllers/subsystem/ticker.dm
@@ -646,7 +646,9 @@ SUBSYSTEM_DEF(ticker)
 			news_message = "The Sol sector has fallen into anarchistic piracy, as the Tortuga raiders used the chaos of a surprise attack by Syndicate forces to seize a large amount of territory unanswered." //NSV13 end
 
 	if(news_message)
-		SStopic.crosscomms_send("news_report", news_message, news_source)
+		if(!AWAIT(SStopic.crosscomms_send_async("news_report", news_message, news_source), 10 SECONDS))
+			message_admins("Failed to send news report through crosscomms. The sending task expired.")
+			log_game("Failed to send news report through crosscomms. The sending task expired.")
 
 /datum/controller/subsystem/ticker/proc/GetTimeLeft()
 	if(isnull(SSticker.timeLeft))
diff --git a/code/controllers/subsystem/topic.dm b/code/controllers/subsystem/topic.dm
index 6d168bd40a5..639455d593b 100644
--- a/code/controllers/subsystem/topic.dm
+++ b/code/controllers/subsystem/topic.dm
@@ -90,19 +90,20 @@ SUBSYSTEM_DEF(topic)
  * Note that request will fail if a token cannot be found for the target server and anonymous is not set.
  * * nocheck: TRUE or FALSE whether to check if the recieving server is authorized to get the topic call *(default: FALSE)*
 */
-/datum/controller/subsystem/topic/proc/export(addr, query, list/params, anonymous = FALSE, nocheck = FALSE)
+/datum/controller/subsystem/topic/proc/export_async(addr, query, list/params, anonymous = FALSE, nocheck = FALSE)
+	DECLARE_ASYNC
 	var/list/request = list()
 	request["query"] = query
 
 	if(anonymous)
 		var/datum/world_topic/topic = GLOB.topic_commands[query]
 		if((!istype(topic) || !topic.anonymous) && !nocheck)
-			return
+			ASYNC_RETURN(TRUE)
 		request["auth"] = "anonymous"
 	else
 		var/list/servers = CONFIG_GET(keyed_list/cross_server)
 		if(!servers[addr] || (!LAZYACCESS(GLOB.topic_servers[addr], query) && !nocheck))
-			return // Couldn't find an authorized key, or trying to send secure data to unsecure server
+			ASYNC_RETURN(TRUE) // Couldn't find an authorized key, or trying to send secure data to unsecure server
 		request["auth"] = servers[addr]
 
 	request.Add(params)
@@ -111,6 +112,7 @@ SUBSYSTEM_DEF(topic)
 	if(CONFIG_GET(flag/log_world_topic))
 		request["auth"] = "***[copytext(request["auth"], -4)]"
 		log_topic("outgoing: \"[json_encode(request)]\", response: \"[result]\", auth: [request["auth"]], to: [addr], anonymous: [anonymous]")
+	ASYNC_RETURN(TRUE)
 
 /**
  * Broadcast topic to all known authorized servers for things like comms consoles or ahelps.
@@ -122,7 +124,10 @@ SUBSYSTEM_DEF(topic)
  * * msg: message text to send
  * * sender: name of the sending entity (station name, ckey etc)
 */
-/datum/controller/subsystem/topic/proc/crosscomms_send(query, msg, sender)
+/datum/controller/subsystem/topic/proc/crosscomms_send_async(query, msg, sender)
+	RETURN_TYPE(/datum/task)
 	var/list/servers = CONFIG_GET(keyed_list/cross_server)
+	var/datum/task/parent_task = new()
 	for(var/I in servers)
-		export(I, query, list("message" = msg, "message_sender" = sender))
+		parent_task.add_subtask(export_async(I, query, list("message" = msg, "message_sender" = sender)))
+	return parent_task
diff --git a/code/datums/callback.dm b/code/datums/callback.dm
index 8603439a8b3..34f71ec7a15 100644
--- a/code/datums/callback.dm
+++ b/code/datums/callback.dm
@@ -84,17 +84,17 @@
   * * ... optional list of arguments to pass as arguments to the proc being called
   */
 /world/proc/ImmediateInvokeAsync(thingtocall, proctocall, ...)
-	set waitfor = FALSE
+	DECLARE_ASYNC
 
 	if (!thingtocall)
-		return
+		ASYNC_FINISH
 
 	var/list/calling_arguments = length(args) > 2 ? args.Copy(3) : null
 
 	if (thingtocall == GLOBAL_PROC)
-		call(proctocall)(arglist(calling_arguments))
+		ASYNC_RETURN(call(proctocall)(arglist(calling_arguments)))
 	else
-		call(thingtocall, proctocall)(arglist(calling_arguments))
+		ASYNC_RETURN(call(thingtocall, proctocall)(arglist(calling_arguments)))
 
 /**
   * Invoke this callback
diff --git a/code/datums/task.dm b/code/datums/task.dm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c9d57fdd831
--- /dev/null
+++ b/code/datums/task.dm
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/datum/task
+	var/result = null
+	var/completed = FALSE
+	var/list/subtasks
+
+/// Add a subtask to this subtask. When awaiting a parent task, it will wait for all subtasks to complete
+/// and then will return a list containing all the results.
+/datum/task/proc/add_subtask(datum/task/subtask)
+	LAZYADD(subtasks, subtask)
+
+/// Mark the task as being completed
+/datum/task/proc/mark_completed(result = null)
+	if (length(subtasks))
+		CRASH("Attempting to mark a subtask holder as completed. This is not allowed")
+	completed = TRUE
+	src.result = result
+
+/// Wait for the task to be completed, or the timeout to expire
+/// Returns true if the task was completed
+/datum/task/proc/await(timeout = 30 SECONDS)
+	var/start_time = world.time
+	var/sleep_time = 1
+	while(world.time < start_time + timeout && !is_completed())
+		sleep(sleep_time)
+		sleep_time = min(sleep_time * 2, 1 SECONDS)
+	// Check for success
+	var/success = length(subtasks) ? TRUE : completed
+	if (length(subtasks) && !result)
+		result = list()
+		for (var/datum/task/subtask in subtasks)
+			if (!subtask.completed)
+				success = FALSE
+			if (subtask.result)
+				result += subtask.result
+	return success
+
+/datum/task/proc/is_completed()
+	if (length(subtasks))
+		for (var/datum/task/subtask in subtasks)
+			if (!subtask.completed)
+				return FALSE
+		return TRUE
+	return completed
diff --git a/code/game/machinery/computer/communications.dm b/code/game/machinery/computer/communications.dm
index 2ea279dd3d7..d89dd93297c 100755
--- a/code/game/machinery/computer/communications.dm
+++ b/code/game/machinery/computer/communications.dm
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@
 
 			playsound(src, 'sound/machines/terminal_prompt_confirm.ogg', 50, FALSE)
 
-			SStopic.crosscomms_send("comms_console", message, station_name())
+			SStopic.crosscomms_send_async("comms_console", message, station_name())
 			minor_announce(message, title = "Outgoing message to allied station", html_encode = FALSE)
 			usr.log_talk(message, LOG_SAY, tag="message to the other server")
 			message_admins("[ADMIN_LOOKUPFLW(usr)] has sent a message to the other server.")
diff --git a/code/modules/admin/verbs/adminhelp.dm b/code/modules/admin/verbs/adminhelp.dm
index b332dd06dad..6f5ec20c106 100644
--- a/code/modules/admin/verbs/adminhelp.dm
+++ b/code/modules/admin/verbs/adminhelp.dm
@@ -846,7 +846,7 @@ GLOBAL_DATUM_INIT(ahelp_tickets, /datum/admin_help_tickets, new)
 		else
 			final = "[msg] - All admins stealthed\[[english_list(stealthmins)]\], AFK\[[english_list(afkmins)]\], or lacks +BAN\[[english_list(powerlessmins)]\]! Total: [allmins.len] "
 		send2tgs(source,final)
-		SStopic.crosscomms_send("ahelp", final, source)
+		SStopic.crosscomms_send_async("ahelp", final, source)
 
 
 /proc/send2tgs(msg,msg2)
diff --git a/code/modules/unit_tests/_unit_tests.dm b/code/modules/unit_tests/_unit_tests.dm
index 77c992afe94..25a7502d1f7 100644
--- a/code/modules/unit_tests/_unit_tests.dm
+++ b/code/modules/unit_tests/_unit_tests.dm
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 
 #include "achievement_validation.dm"
 #include "anchored_mobs.dm"
+#include "async.dm"
 #include "check_adjustable_clothing.dm"
 #include "component_tests.dm"
 #include "connect_loc.dm"
diff --git a/code/modules/unit_tests/async.dm b/code/modules/unit_tests/async.dm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f98db46bbd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/code/modules/unit_tests/async.dm
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/datum/unit_test/test_async/Run()
+	var/datum/task/task_1 = INVOKE_ASYNC(src, PROC_REF(synchronously_sleep), 1)
+	var/datum/task/task_2 = INVOKE_ASYNC(src, PROC_REF(synchronously_sleep), 2)
+	var/datum/task/task_3 = INVOKE_ASYNC(src, PROC_REF(synchronously_sleep), 3)
+	var/datum/task/task_4 = INVOKE_ASYNC(src, PROC_REF(long_sleep), 4)
+	// Long enough for the tasks to complete async, but not long enough for them to complete synchronous
+	sleep(4)
+	TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(1, task_1.result, "Task 1 should have completed with a result of 1")
+	TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(2, task_2.result, "Task 2 should have completed with a result of 2")
+	TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(3, task_3.result, "Task 3 should have completed with a result of 3")
+	TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(FALSE, task_4.completed, "Task 4 should not have completed.")
+	// Test this task
+	TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(5, AWAIT(INVOKE_ASYNC(src, PROC_REF(synchronously_sleep), 5), 3), "Awaiting a 2 ds task with a 4 ds timeout should yield the correct result.")
+	// Test passed, behaviour is as expected
+
+/datum/unit_test/test_async/proc/synchronously_sleep(value)
+	sleep(2)
+	return value
+
+/datum/unit_test/test_async/proc/long_sleep(value)
+	sleep(5)
+	return value
diff --git a/nsv13.dme b/nsv13.dme
index 82ce1614e39..2273da4cc7f 100644
--- a/nsv13.dme
+++ b/nsv13.dme
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include "code\__DEFINES\aquarium.dm"
 #include "code\__DEFINES\areas.dm"
 #include "code\__DEFINES\art.dm"
+#include "code\__DEFINES\async.dm"
 #include "code\__DEFINES\atmospherics.dm"
 #include "code\__DEFINES\atom_hud.dm"
 #include "code\__DEFINES\balloon_alert.dm"
@@ -466,6 +467,7 @@
 #include "code\datums\soullink.dm"
 #include "code\datums\soundtrack.dm"
 #include "code\datums\spawners_menu.dm"
+#include "code\datums\task.dm"
 #include "code\datums\tgs_event_handler.dm"
 #include "code\datums\view.dm"
 #include "code\datums\weakrefs.dm"