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Crystal Guardian

Arc 1: Between the Darkness and the Light

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Chapter 10: The Return from a Different Dimension

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Realising just how bad things are getting Commander Kolen opens a Communication link to all the Vangleads on the Field, the Vangleads relay the message to all the Vanguards through the Crystal Armour's communications interface.

Kolen : " I know things look bad, I know that you are afraid, but there comes a time in the life of every warrior when you have to decide what kind of warrior you are. Do you fight only when you have the advantage, or do you fight for what is true and precious to you no matter the situation? We are outnumbered, outgunned, but I tell you Crystalorb is precious to me, Crystalorb is true to me. Victory is determined by the strength of one's commitment to the fight. Give me your commitment and I will give you victory!"

All the Crystal Armoured warriors under siege cheered, feeling invigorated, casting aside their fears and panic, recommitting themselves to the fight.

Back at Crystalorb Anun had modified his plans and was ready to give new instructions to the rescue Force.

Anun : " Kanang; Here's what I want you to do!" Anun takes a moment "I want you to manoeuvre around the forces attacking Kutu and Kolen's groups, we've calculated the trajectory of the artillery, I'm uploading its location to your unit’s Armours, destroy it, then move in behind our enemies creating a third front. When they move to defend themselves against your force, Kutu and Kolen’s groups will have an opportunity to escape"

Kanang : " Ok!"

As the revised rescue plan got under way Loj who had just returned to Crystalorb joined the Guardian Council at the Crystalorb Command Centre.

Kutu : " Commander; there might be a problem?"

Anun : " What is it?"

Kutu : " There is a group making their way up the hill"

Anun : " Take them out!"

Sello : " We tried, but they are wearing some kind of Metallic Armour"

Kolen : " Crystalorb; we are being engaged by something capable of deflecting our Electrolaser Lightning Energy Plasma Ball attacks, I'm switching to Electrolaser Lightning Bolts" Kolen hits one of the approaching Metallic Armoured enforcers "Anun; tell everyone to switch to Electrolaser Lightning Bolts! That has more effect against the Metallic Armoured enforcers!"

Loj realises from watching the holographic projection video that the Metallic Armoured are not enforcer, but something much more powerful.

Loj : " I don't believe it! That's no enforcers!"

Anun : " Then what are they?"

Loj : " That my fellow Guardians; is a Grandlord!"

Kolen : " We are engaged with Grandlords?"

Loj : " This is bad, very bad!"

Anun : " Why?"

Loj : " The presence of the Grandlords can only mean one thing!"

Lesego : " What?"

Loj : " The Viceroy is on the battle Field, and that means that there are many more Overlords!"

Anun : " He's just one man how powerful can he be?"

Loj : " You don't understand!" shaking his head "The Viceroy and the Grandlords use the most powerful HOD Manacles, Manacles that draw their power from millions of animals. The Viceroy's Manacle of Destiny in particular is 5 times more powerful than that of the Grandlords"

Kolen : " How do we beat them?"

Loj : " I just don't know! I've never seen them at full power before. It was rumoured that a Grandlord's Manacle of Destiny at full power turns the Grandlord's skin into a Bio-Metallic Crystalline substance making them invulnerable; I never believed the rumours! Combined with our ability to regenerate they are unstoppable!"

Kolen : " By the Source!"

Anun : " Aman, Kanang, Lenong, Pule; Move it! You heard what we are up against we don't have much time, so step it up!"

Kolen : " All Guardians charge your Crystal Lances; we may have to go hand to hand with these Grandlords!"

The situation is growing tense by the moment.

All the Guardians charge their Crystal Lances in anticipation of a physical confrontation with the most powerful of the Hand of Destiny. For a moment it seemed like Anun's plan was working, and as the Hand of Destiny was moving their enforcers to defend their flanks and rear against the Crystalorb rescue Force. At the Crystalorb Command Centre Anun and the others were observing the movements of the Hand of Destiny and sending the data to the Guardians on the Field.

With the joint communications active.

Anun : " Kolen; tell your people to move, they will have to hug the ground flying just half a meter above the ground, use the mountains as cover, make your way to Grid 246 where you will combine with Kutu and Sello"

Kolen informs his group that it's time to move, and so they start moving, carrying their wounded with them.

Kolen : " We are on the move; Amang and I are providing cover as our people leave their positions!"

Kutu : " Sello and I are also providing cover for our people!"

As the Guardians were conducting their defensive manoeuvres, keeping the HOD attack force away while the Vanguard teams retreated, Anun and the other Guardians were devising an effective extraction force. The Hand of Destiny knew that if the Crystalans created enough distance between them and their forces the Crystalans could take flight and escape so they were also modifying their plans to counter the Crystalans.

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The Hand of Destiny had their own commanders on the field. The Grandlords Tumo Ralefa, David Ralefa and Tshepo Ralefa were responsible for battle management. Lord Tsela was also on the field; determined to punish the Crystalans for the death of his brother Kodu.

Tumo : " What are they up to?"

Tshepo : " They are trying to spread our lines. As we pursue them our forces become too widespread, this will give them the opportunity they need to escape!"

David : " Let’s remember our objectives!"

Tumo : " To capture one of them alive, so we can harvest their organic Chest Crystal!"

Tshepo : " The Crystal is useless if they are dead, their Crystal can also die!"

David : " We need to cut them off!"

Tshepo : " Their more powerful units are keeping our people from advancing!"

Tumo : " Then we must focus our assault on the ones remaining!"

The HOD commanders contact Tsela to advice him on the course of action.

David : " My Lord; we need to redirect our efforts against the ones providing cover for the retreating forces!"

Tsela : " I see one of them, we will start with him!"

Lord Tsela and five other Grandlords supported by 12 Overlords and numerous enforcers move against Kolen, Amang and their escorting Vangleads. Lord Tsela and two Grandlords moved to attack Amang's position while the others took on Kolen. The first to make contact were those attacking Amang, and in a flash Amang found himself face to face with Lord Tsela.

Lord Tsela speaks to his accompanying group.

Tsela : " The Crystal Guardian is mine!"

Amang prepares to defend himself.

Amang : " Here we go!"

He said this while taking a defensive posture by bringing his Crystal Lance to the front of his Chest.

Amang : " For Crystalorb!"

Tsela Speaking directly to Amang.

Tsela : " It's time to pay for your crimes Crystal Guardian! You’ve interfered in my plans for the last time!"

Then Tsela launched a barrage of plasma blasts against Amang, but Amang used his Crystal Lance to deflect the extremely hot plasma attacks, knocking all the attacks to the side. Seeing this Tsela moved in and launched a physical attack, with Amang matching him blow for blow, resulting in a titanic battle. For a while it seemed as though the two of them were evenly matched, with Amang powered and protected by his Crystal Armour and Tsela powered by his Manacle of Destiny which gives his skin the ability to shield his body from harm.

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As the fight continued the magnitude of the power in their blows generated shockwave pulses that travelled for kilometres. At the same time Kolen faced off against the Grandlord Thabang, and the other Grandlords faced off with the Guardian's escort Vangleads. The entire valley seemed to be engulfed by lightning and fire. The situation was no different for Sello and Kutu, but the longer the Guardians fought the greater the distance between them and their forces; giving them a greater opportunity to escape.

Tsela : " You are stronger than I thought you'd be Crystal Guardian, but you’re still not strong enough. With every blow you grow weaker and soon your Armour will run out of power!"

Amang : " I fight to protect, and as long as the threat exists one of us will rise to challenge it!"

Then the fight continued.

Back at Crystalorb the Council of Elders and the Guardian Council were monitoring the situation, listening to the verbal exchanges between Amang and Tsela. All of Crystalorb was watching the holographic projectors and broadcast systems, but Anun was concerned by Amang's Armour energy level.

Anun : " Amang's Armour energy level is decreasing fast; he's using so much power to fend of Tsela that I worry that he may not have enough power to make a quick exit when the time comes. If his shield should fail he won't survive!"

Kanang : " We are moving as fast as we can!"

Kolen on the other hand seemed to have the upper hand but he was not causing enough damage to Thabang, this meant that Kolen was also in trouble, his power was draining fast, and the demands of a physical confrontation were too much for the energy requirements of their Crystal Armour. As the Guardian Council was working on a way to rescue their Guardians they saw a disturbing image, Tsela knocked Amang's Crystal Lance from Amang's hand and was now launching multiple high heat plasma blasts, bombarding Amang's shield.

As the plasma blast intensified the other 2 Grandlords joined the assault on Amang, and in a final desperate move Amang summoned all his remaining energy into a Chest Photon energy blast which he directed at the closest target he could find. After Amang released his final blast his shield collapsed allowing multiple plasma balls to hit Amang's Crystal Armour directly which caused Amang to fall to the ground and down the Mountain. As the commotion settled it became clear what Amang's final blast hit, it was the Grandlord Thule, he was on the ground bleeding profusely, and his left leg was severed from the thigh.

Kolen raised the alarm.

Kolen : " Amang is down!"

Anun : " Amang's Armour is offline; it's not reporting combat data!"

Cyris : " Anun; Order Amang's escort Vangleads to retreat to Kolen's position!"

Anun : " They can't leave Amang?"

The Spirit Stone began to glow with a spectral aura.

Gaurdius: " The Spirit Stone confirms it; Amang Lesedi Guardian of Sector 7 is Dead!"

Isis : " They know how to kill a Guardian now!"

Amang's escort Vangleads began their retreat to Kolen's position, but they were pursued by Tsela and the other Grandlord Thana. As for Thule the enforcers were trying to stop his bleeding, but the damage was too great and it looked Thule would might die. Before long Tsela and 4 Grandlords were going head to head with Kolen and all the escort Vangleads, and now that they had discovered how to overcome the Crystal Armour's shields the Vangleads were quickly overwhelmed by the massive assault.

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In a matter of minutes 8 Vangleads were killed leaving Kolen alone, surrounded and depleted. At Crystalorb Crystalans were horrified to see their Guardian Commander under a barrage of attacks from Tsela, 4 Grandlords, 25 Overlords and numerous enforcers. As Kolen's shields failed under the pressure, the Crystalans gasped as they saw Kolen fall to the ground. On the contrary the enforcers celebrated the defeat of the mighty Crystal Guardians.

Lord Tsela addresses his people.

Tsela : " We came, we saw, we Conquered!" Lord Tsela raises his fist to the cheers of his troops "They thought that they were invincible, they thought that they could defeat us, they thought wrong. It ends now, they will never again stand in our path to greatness, we are Gods amongst men, and they can not deny us our Destiny" again the crowd erupts in cheers "Now let’s finish them off!"

Lord Tsela raises his fist to the cheers of his troops.

Tsela : " They thought that they were invincible, they thought that they could defeat us, they thought wrong. It ends now, they will never again stand in our path to greatness, we are Gods amongst men, and they can not deny us our Destiny"

Again the crowd erupts in cheers

Tsela : " Now let’s finish them off!"

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On the other side of the mountains Kutu and Sello also fell to the Grandlord advance, but the divided original Crystalorb force had been reunited even though their numbers had dropped from 128 to 89 and they were making their way to join the main rescue force which was still largely intact some 4 kilometres away. It was at this point that Esara reached her daughter 900 kilometres from the battle field.

Casara : " Mama!"

Esara : " Hello baby girl; I'm very proud of you!"

Mother and daughter embrace, and then Casara begins to transfer energy from her energy sphere through her Vanglead Armour to Esara until Esara's Guardian Armour is fully charged. Casara then restores the energy of Peo and Nasan's Armours leaving Casara's Crystal Armour with just enough energy to get her home.

Casara : " There you go Mama!"

Esara : " Thanks sweetheart! Now I want you to fly straight home, and when you reach Crystalorb take your brother and go to your father's room at the Crystalorb medical centre. Your father must be aware of what's going on, and family should be together at times like this!"

Casara : " Ok Mama; oh! I mean yes Guardian!"

Even if they were family, when wearing Crystal Armour protocol demanded that they give each other the recognition their rank demanded. As Casara flew away from them Peo, Nasan and Esara took a moment to interface with the Crystalorb Command Centre so they could plan her approach to the battle field.

Nasan : " Things are bad aren’t they?"

Esara : " Yes they are, but we like them tough!"

Peo : " If this has to be our final mission, I would like to say, it’s been an Honour!"

Nasan : " There’s no one I would rather walk into the fire with than the two of you!"

Esara : " Likewise!"

As they power up their shields to 25% for their final run Esara takes a moment and acknowledges Peo and Nasan then they start their climb to high altitude. Once they reached optimal altitude for Hypersonic speed they moved to their destination which was the remaining 89 that were under severe attack, their numbers decreasing with every second. At 90 km from target location Esara began to implement her attack plans.

Speaking to Peo and Nasan, with Crystalorb Command Centre listening.

Esara : " Peo! Nasan! Start Shield Spin! Maximum Power!"

As they descended while spinning their Shield in the same direction atmospheric air formed a wall of wind that dragged and compressed nearby rain clouds. To the enforcers on the ground it seemed as though a thunderstorm was approaching at supersonic speed so they stopped their attack on the Vanguard teams and took cover as a massive tornado touched down right in the middle of them. Then Esara released a charge that started a chain reaction of multiple lightning strikes that covered the entire area.

Then Esara used the joint communications system to communicate with the senior Vanglead Lebago who once again took command of the Vanguard teams who's numbers were now reduced to 73.

Esara : " Lebago; What the hell are you waiting for, fly to the Rescue force!"

Lebago : " Esara; Are you doing this?"

Esara : " Move it dam-it! I can't keep this up forever!"

As Lebago's group moved across the battle field under the cloak of the heavy thunderstorm Esara and her two Vangleads stood at the centre of the twister. Esara knew that the Grandlords would find a way through the wall of wind and water, so she began to charge her Crystal Lance in preparation for her secondary assault.

Just as Esara had anticipated, the Grandlords because of their Metallic physical structure were able to force their way through the wall of wind and water to the eye of the storm where they were able to come into contact with Esara, Nasan and Peo. To conserve their energy Esara, Nasan and Peo moved from Shield hyper-spin to defensive Shield spin in preparation for prolonged physical contact with the Grandlords.

Before they engage the Grandlords Esara speaks to her Vangleads as they hovered 5 meters above the ground.

Esara : " Keep your distance from the Grandlords. Don't let them get too close. As long as I'm here the HOD will focus their attention on me. Tsela will want revenge for the death of his brother Kodu; therefore I must stay here for as long as it takes for Lebago's group to reach the rescue party. As the real fighting starts I want you to take the elevated position and provide cover for me as I engage them!"

Peo : " You can't fight them alone?"

Nasan : " They've already killed four Guardians!"

Esara : " I won’t be alone; the two of you will be providing cover. I won’t be using the same techniques as the other Guardians, and because of defensive Shield spin their plasma attacks will be much less effective, their overconfidence will be their undoing!"

Three Grandlords become clearly visible.

Naka : " Huh!"

Esara : " You two get behind me, and take your positions"

One of the three Grandlords steps forward to say something to Esara as Nasan and Peo take the elevated position and provide cover for Esara.

Naka : " So you are the one who killed my brother Kodu, well today is your day of reckoning!"

Esara : " You are making the same mistake that your brother made!"

All three Grandlords fired multiple Plasma balls at the hovering Esara in a fury that left the entire area in flames, but Esara had anticipated their plasma attacks and deflected most of them using her Crystal Lance, those that got through were deflected by the defensive spinning Shield. This was one of the advantages of the Shield spin that Esara had counted on to give her the edge over the plasma attack.

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Back at the Crystalorb Command Centre the other Guardians could not believe their eyes, after having witnessed the fall of four Guardians at the hands of these Grandlords Esara and two Vangleads were holding their own against three Grandlords. Nasan and Peo then attacked two of the Grandlords with Photon energy beams at maximum power forcing them to take defensive positions, and that gave Esara the opportunity to launch an attack on Naka.

When Naka saw that Esara was about to attack him he released another stream of plasma blasts, but Esara used her Crystal Lance to fly through the plasma balls, deflecting each as it approached until she reached Naka. Esara tried to strike Naka with the Crystal Lance but he blocked it with his left hand and then fired a plasma ball with his right hand, Esara blocked the close range plasma ball by firing Electrolaser Lightning Bolts from her Crystal Armour's Chest Crystal.

The attack and counter attack continued for some 63 seconds until Esara decided to exploit the weakness of the Metallic skin to Electrolaser Lightning Bolt attacks. Esara while in close hand to hand combat she attacked Naka on the left thigh with her Armour's Chest Crystal which slightly breached the Metallic skin, she then pierced him with the Crystal Lance, then she fired electrical energy through the Crystal Lance directly into Naka's body electrocuting him from the inside.

Naka's death was instantaneous, and as Esara removed her Crystal Lance Naka's Metallic skin returned to normal, the Metallic form was somehow linked to his brain and once he was dead it could no longer be sustained. Realising how Esara had defeated Naka, Nasan and Peo focused their attacks on a single point on the chest of one of the 2 remaining Grandlords.

Nasan and Peo fired Electrolaser Lightning Bolts from all three pf the Crystal Armour's Crystals (Both Hands and the Chest), this sustained assault eventually breached the Metallic skin, as the skin was breached Nasan and Peo then fired Electrolaser Lightning Bolts from their Crystal Armour's Chest Crystals into the part of the Metallic skin that was being breached.

As the Grandlord fell to the ground Nasan and Peo knew that they had succeeded in electrocuting him from the inside, overloading his nervous system and thus destroying his natural ability to regenerate. The other Grandlord decided to run and save himself, but Esara knew that he would return with reinforcements.

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At the Crystalorb Command Centre the Guardian Council was in shock. The Guardian Council was astounded at the capabilities of the Expeditionary Units; the precision with which they executed their attacks indicated that the training they received was far superior to that of the other Divisions.

Esara receives a communiqué from the Crystalorb Command Centre which activated the Guardian joint communications.

Anun : " Esara we are detecting massive movements towards your position"

Esara : " How far is Lebago from the rescue group?"

Anun : " He's 9 minutes away"

Peo interjects!

Peo : " Guardian; We have company!”

Nasan : " A lot of company!"

Esara : " Here we go again!"

This as a group of nearly 130 Enforcers, Under-Lords, Overlords and Grandlords emerged, and to top things of Lord Tsela Viceroy of the Hand of Destiny (HOD) was also present, this was his escort group. They were called in by the Grandlord who had escaped after the death of the other 2 Grandlords. As the group surrounded the hill Esara and her Vangleads were hovering above, and Lord Tsela went directly to the body of his fallen brother Naka; kneeling besides him.

Because of the Crystal Armour technology Esara, Nasan and Peo could hear what Tsela was saying to his brother's body.

Tsela : " Brother! You were always too quick to jump into the fight; your Destiny has been stolen from you!"

Lord Tsela then removed Naka's Manacle of Destiny from Naka's right arm, then stepped in front of the advanced group to talk to Esara.

Tsela : " The Legendary Red Guardian!"

He pauses for a second.

Tsela : " Yours is the image that strikes terror in the hearts of my enforcers, you're the bogyman that young Hodian children are told about to scare them, and you're said to be absolute in power!"

Esara : " Not absolute!"

Tsela : " But pretty close! They say you’re twice as strong as any other Guardian, the result of Crystalan mutagenic experiments!"

Esara : " Lies!"

Tsela : " Of course! You see this Manacle, this Manacle I removed from my dead brother?"

He said lifting up the Manacle.

Tsela : " It belonged to our father, as the oldest I inherited it from my father when he died, and when I ascended to the position of Viceroy I gave it to Naka the next in line! Now you've taken him away from me, you mercilessly killed both my brothers and left me with no one to take up the family Manacle of Destiny, but I suppose as leader I should have anticipated how dangerous you are! If I had known, I wouldn't have sent anyone else! I would have sent myself!"

Esara : " We all bear the responsibility of leadership and the courage required by Duty!"

Tsela : " I suppose it was always fate! I was always meant to confront you! It’s fate that required the battle of the ultimates!"

Esara : " It's not fate, but a choice, a choice you made, a decision you took! Once again you chose to attack Crystalorb, chose to contaminate the world’s Gene pool by introducing your Mutagenic recombinant RNA, and finally by setting this trap! You chose to willingly put your own brother in harms way in order to capture a Crystalan, because you want access to the power of our Chest Crystals. You just don't get it, it's not the Crystal that we are so determined to protect, it's the advanced designs and technology we don't want the world to duplicate. The Chest Crystal protects itself and can never be used by anyone it does not recognize as one of its own!"

Tsela : " That doesn't matter now"

Tsela puts on the Family Manacle of Destiny on his left hand.

Tsela : " With this Manacle of Destiny, shall I, Tsela, Viceroy of the Hand of Destiny crush the enemies of the HOD!"

As Tsela powered up the second Manacle his Metallic Skin grew denser, this was indicative of the increased energy contained in his body. Tsela's skin turned gold in colour, something no other human had ever seen. Nasan and Peo were running scans of the power level of Tsela's new form, they were measuring his density as a function of his power, and they were shocked at their findings.

Using internal Armour to Armour communications Peo and Nasan alert Esara to their findings.

Peo : " Guardian; the censors indicate that the power is off the charts, the energy level must be extraordinary!"

Nasan : " He's physical strength must be equally spectacular. We should leave!"

Esara : " Your right, you should leave, Tsela will want to fight me one on one, his family honour is at stake, and he needs to prove that he's superior to any other warrior. When I power up my Armour and Lance, you two must fly as quickly as you can straight up to hypersonic altitude"

Peo : " Negative! I'm staying!"

Nasan : " Me too!"

Esara : " Are you really going to disobey a Guardian's final order; a friend's last request! Please do as I ask!"

Nasan : " Ok then!"

Peo : " Yes Guardian!"

Esara increases the energy flowing from the Armour's energy storage modules and thus increasing the energy flowing through the Crystal Armour. Esara also increases the shields to maximum and then generates an energy field inside the shield. As she powers up Nasan and Peo make their escape, but not without sustaining several hits from the HOD group surrounding the hill. As Esara reaches her ultimate fighting form the charge in her Armour's shield causes her to glow red.

Esara reports her status to the Crystalorb Command Centre.

Esara : " Armour energy 79%, shield at maximum, Armour fully operational, all system's go!"

Tsela : " Interesting that your associates chose to abandon you on the battle field!"

Esara : " I ordered them to leave!"

Tsela : " I can make you this promise, the others won’t interfere, all you have to do to survive is get passed me!"

There’s a brief pause.

Tsela : " It's just you and me Red Guardian!"

Without warning Tsela jumped from near the bottom of the hill and punched Esara with a blow so powerful it shook the ground. As Tsela's right fist collided with Esara's shield there was a pulse that cause the air around the hill to compress resulting in rocks flying through the air. The force of the blow sent Esara flying, hitting the ground, and to finish off his attack Tsela fired plasma balls from both Manacles directly hitting Esara just as she hit the ground.

The ground that was previously wet, was now producing dust, even Esara was not prepared for the extreme power of Tsela's new form.

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Back at Crystalorb Casara, Enala and Naole were in Nalen's room at the Crystalorb medical centre watching the fighting on the Crystalorb holographic Broadcast system. As the Kids went into distress at the sight of their mother being knocked to the ground their Chest Crystals activated, even Enala's Chest Crystal activated.

Incidentally Enala's clear Chest Crystal was the final component, the last piece of the puzzle, the component that was never present before. The three children started feeling like they were being drained of Crystal energy, and within seconds all three Collapsed.

- - -

On the battle field as the dust settled Esara was standing up, the Crystal Armour's shield had protected her from the force of the impacts she had sustained, Esara and her Crystal Armour were still intact.

Standing at the top of the hill Tsela smiled at the sight of Esara standing on her two feet.

Tsela : " Impressive; your reputation is not without merit!"

Esara : " It's not going to be that easy!"

Tsela : " It's tragic you know, such power is wasted on you Crystalans! Your power is of no use, and you've lost the honour you once stood for!"

Esara : " As long as Crystalorb stands, so does the hope of the world!"

Tsela : " Hope! Hahahaha! You are too late, we've already changed the world, over a hundred million are transforming as we speak, the hybrids will make war on the rest of humanity in an effort to survive, and even if they find some sort of peace we win because the world will have no choice but to accept the hybrids and by extension us!"

Esara checks her energy status, in her helmet the virtual interface shows her that Armour energy is at 75%.

Esara : " Crystalorb won’t let you destroy the world just to prove a point!"

Tsela : " Your Council of Elders is powerless to stop us; the limitations of your Crystal are no match for us! Take you for instance, every attack you make or receive your energy is depleted, in the end you have to ask yourself, how long can you last?"

Before Esara could respond Tsela jumps from the top of the hill and launches another attack, but this time Esara blocks and the result is a titanic battle. The two warriors exchange blows and energy attacks, plasma balls colliding with Electrolaser Lightning Bolts resulting in a spectacular display of sound, lightning and fire. Esara and Tsela battle continuously for 5 minutes exchanging blow for blow with such intensity that the group observing the fight at the bottom of the hill decide to run for cover some 150 meters from the scene of the confrontation.

- - -

At the Crystalorb Medical Centre the three children wake to find Nalen gone. Nalen was awake; he went straight to his home and drained into his body all the energy contained in his reserve energy sphere. Nalen then went to the Armour Storage Centre at the pyramid to collect his Crystal Armour. Everyone at Crystalorb was so focused on the fighting that they hardly noticed him get onto the elevator system that leads to the Crystalorb exit. The only people who noticed Nalen were the two Guards at the Crystalorb Gates who saw Nalen as he exited. The two Guards thought that he was one of the Expeditionary Units going on assignment.

After Nalen steps out of the gate and is out of sight of the Guards he touches the Crystal Armour sphere and begins to say his Oath.

Nalen : " I haven't done this in a while!"

Nalen activates his Chest Crystal.

Nalen : " "I am the light on the hill!"

The Guardian Armour sphere begins to open.

Nalen : " "The line in the sand!"

Light energy increases, making it hard to see Nalen.

Nalen : " Here and no further!"

At the Crystalorb medical centre.

Casara : " Where is my father?"

Dr Kanu (MD) : " I don’t know, but our surveillance systems indicate the he woke up kissed you and Naole on the forehead and then left the Crystalorb medical centre!"

Naole : " Casara; Where is father going?"

Casara : " If I had to guess I would say to help Mama!"

Dr Kanu (MD) : " From the Video footage he does not seem to be suffering from muscle atrophy commonly associated with people that have been in a coma for such a long period, but then again Nalen is no ordinary man, even by Crystalan standards"

- - -

On the battle field Esara was involved in the most intense battle of her life, she was pushing herself to the very limits of her capabilities. Esara's Armour energy had decreased to 60% but there was still no sign of damage to Tsela, his self regenerating Metallic Crystalline Skin seemed indestructible. As they continued to battle Esara was losing power, but Tsela seemed to have infinite reserves, it looked like he could go on for days.

Even with the Crystal Lance at maximum power Tsela withstood Esara’s assaults, it looked bad for Esara and the Guardian Council knew it. Lebago's group reached the main rescue force, and the combined group was generating distance between them and the enforcers group so that the combined group could escape. Despite being heavily engaged the field Guardians were keenly aware of the great battle taking place between Esara and Tsela.

At the Crystalorb Command Centre the Guardian Council were working on a plan to extract Esara before she runs out of energy.

Anun : " Esara is in trouble, she can't sustain the fight at that energy level!"

Gaurdius : " How long does she have?"

Anun : " We just don't Know! It's amazing that she has lasted this long, and our main forces on the field are still cut off!"

Isis : " Why can't she just fly away?"

Anun : " When you’re engaged at that level retreat is nearly impossible, any attempt by her to escape will surely be thwarted by either Tsela or the other forces surrounding the battle zone. She will definitely need external support!"

Using the joint communications the Council of Elders speak to the remaining field Guardians.

Isis : " As you know 4 Guardians have fallen at the hands of Tsela and his Grandlords, and now another Guardian is facing the same fate! It has become abundantly clear that no Guardian can defeat him alone, she needs your help, help her!"

Gaurdius : " Help the Red Guardian!"

- - -

After yet another clash the two warriors stand face to face as they prepare for their next move.

Tsela : " So, you still have some fight in you?"

Esara : " Yeah!"

Tsela : " I have to admit, I didn't think you'd last this long, no one has ever lasted this long with me at full power, you've been a truly worthy adversary!"

Esara : " Fighting you has been a revelation!"

Tsela : " You have to know that you can’t win!"

Esara : " It was always clear that I was greatly outnumbered, so I never expected to walk away from this, I knew that I would have to fight my way out!"

Tsela : " You don't disappoint, do you Red Guardian? You don't quit, never wavering in your determination, you will fight to the very end!"

Esara : " Yes! By the Source!"

As their fighting resumed Esara's remaining Armour energy reached 38%. Nalen knew that he could not just walk into the middle of hundreds of Enforcers, Under-Lords, Overlords and Grandlords, he needed a plan that would give the reprieve required to relieve Esara and the rescue force. Nalen remembered a boulder at the top of one of the mountains near the Crystal Valley Farming and industrial complex.

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