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【Vision of an Alternate Future】

Arc 2: Return of the Crystal Guardians

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【VAF】Chapter║: 33 ─ Entig

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Onboard the CCS Cada A2286C Naole opens a Holographic Communications Channel with the High Council of the O'con Federation to speak to Lord Bital of the O'con Federation High Council.

Naole : " Greetings my Lord!"

Bital : " Greetings to you Naole! Good to have you back!"

Naole : " I am saddened to hear of the hardships the O'ltana have had to endure on Crystalorb's behalf."

Bital : " The loss of Crystalorb has been an awful sadness for the O'con Federation."

Naole : " The Forbidden have informed me that the true power of the Spirit Stone is its Knowledge. They say that, that Knowledge can never be destroyed. That the Spirit Stone is in a place of infinite darkness. The Spirit Stone is unable to leave because to leave, the door must be opened on both sides. They say that, if I reach out to the Spirit Stone, the Spirit Stone will reach out to me! But I need access to incredible amounts of energy to accomplish this task."

Bital : " How much energy are you talking about?"

Naole : " The output of Earth's sun for 260 hours!"

Bital : " That's enough energy to destroy a planet!"

Naole : " Yes! However in this case I will use it to open a door to the realm where the Spirit Stone is trapped. To focus the energy I will have to sacrifice this vessel."

Bital : " We can't get to you at this moment Naole. However we will talk to the Andronian Federation and see if they can't be of assistance, but you'll get little support from the rest of the Galactic Alliance, and that is because most Galactic Alliance Civilisations blame Crystalorb for what has happened to the Galactic Alliance."

Naole : " I understand my Lord!!"

The Holographic Communications Channel with Lord Bital is suspended, and Naole's attention turns to Atola and Bruce.

Capt-Atola : " Sacrifice the ship?"

Naole : " It is the only way! The Older Civilisations have in their possession Ships that can generate the kind of energy we need, but they are unlikely to avail them to us."

Bruce : " They have Planet killers? Why haven't they used them?"

Naole : " They would have had to build them, but these are weapons of last resort! A type of final solution for the Migon problem."

Capt-Atola : " How can you be sure that they have them?"

Bruce : " And what do you mean by Final Solution?"

Naole : " It's the result of Natural progression! As the Advanced Interstellar Civilisations become even more advanced the energy output of their vessels increase exponentially, and in the end they reach planet destroying capabilities. There's only one way to defeat the Migon, and it requires a Civilisation to do the unthinkable!"

Capt-Atola : " They would have to destroy Migon worlds!"

Naole : " Yes! Which means killing hundreds of billions of slaves, and if that does not work, they would have to destroy all the weak Civilisations that can easily fall victim to the Migon."

Bruce : " A war of attrition!"

Capt-Atola : " Unthinkable!"

Naole : " Exactly!"

Bruce : " Do you think the Andronian Federation will help us?"

Naole : " The Andronian Federation has always had faith in the promise of Crystalorb!"

Capt-Atola : " What is the promise of Crystalorb?"

Naole : " The Older Civilisations believe Crystalans to be Proto-Phaylon! That implies that Crystalans are destined to evolve to be similar to the Legendary Phaylon. The Older Civilisations believe Crystalans are at an early stage of the evolution to a state where we would be like the Phaylon. Crystalorb holds the promise of accelerated Evolution to a Psionic state. Once we achieve this, the Older Civilisations will know how to transition to a Psionic Energy state of being."

Capt-Atola : " Do you, like the Older Civilisations believe that Crystalans will evolve to be similar to the Legendary Phaylon?"

Naole : " To be honest, I want to believe it, but I can't be sure. Maybe the Older Civilisations know something we don't!"

The Holographic Communications Channel with Lord Bital reactivates.

Bital : " Naole, I've been in contact with Ambassador Vinach of the Andronian Federation, and he wants you to immediately deviate to Entig Republic space, he believes that there are too many eyes on Andronus. He does not want a cruiser belonging to the supposedly dead Crystalans showing up in public for all to see."

Naole : " I understand my Lord!"

Bital : " Ambassador Vinach is expecting your call! I'm sending you Andronian Federation Communications protocols."

Naole : " I appreciate your assistance my lord!"

Bital : " You are welcome Naole!"

The Holographic Communications Channel with Lord Bital ends. Naole turns to Atola and Bruce.

Naole : " Inform your ship that we are changing course!"

Capt-Atola : " Will do!"

Captain Atola establishes contact with her ship.

Bruce : " Do the Entig know that we are coming?"

Naole : " Probably!"

Bruce : " Why don't the Andronians divert us to their territory? Wouldn't they have the energy you need?"

Naole : " You mean the energy We need!" Naole clearly emphasizing the WE in that statement "Andronian Federation space is at the heart of what is often called the ancient region, or the ancient realm, and also referred to as Quarantine Space. To get to the heart of Andronian Federation space we would have to move through the territory of one of the 4 other Older Galactic Alliance Civilisations, and as you all know there are many Civilisations that live at the edge of quarantine space. We would have to move through these many Civilisations to get to quarantine space, and any one of them could inadvertently disclose our movement to the Migon."

Bruce : " You are saying that they might tell others who might in turn inform the Migon about the passage of the CCS Cada A2286C through their space."

Naole : " Yes!"

Captain Atola rejoins the conversation.

Capt-Atola : " I've instructed my crew to inform the Council of Light that we've left Azleck, and that we are on route to Entig Republic space for consultations with the Entig, but I did not disclose in any way that we have found you Naole."

Naole : " Good!"

Bruce : " Why don't you want the Council of Light to know that you're back?"

Capt-Atola : " He's afraid of security issues!"

Naole : " Circleans have eyes everywhere! With Crystalorb gone they're probably watching everything Hodians and Lodians do!"

Captain Atola and Bruce leave to allow Naole to have private Communications with the Andronians as they prepare to put him through to Ambassador Vinach.

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Naole establishes a Holographic Communications Channel with Ambassador Vinach.

Naole : " Thank you for taking my call your Excellency!"

Amb-Vinach : " Lord Bital has informed us of your plan to summon your Crystal Source to this dimension, and I've been informed of your energy requirements."

Naole : " Yes your Excellency; We need the output of Earth's sun for 260 hours."

Amb-Vinach : " That is a substantial amount of energy, how do you plan to contain it?"

Naole : " The plan is not to contain it your Excellency. I plan to use it as fuel to power the process of opening a tunnel to the Inter-dimensional Pocket where the Spirit Stone is trapped."

Amb-Vinach : " So you believe that the entire Crystalorb Moon was sucked into an Inter-Dimensional Pocket?"

Naole : " It's the only plausible explanation! Generating a wormhole that creates an Inter-dimensional Pocket is relatively easy, but once you’re in the Inter-dimensional Pocket you need an anchor in normal space to Generate a wormhole that leads out of the Inter-dimensional Pocket."

Amb-Vinach : " Then what do you believe caused the vortices to also suck in the Nalen Class SkyGarrisons, Crystalan Ships and Crystalorb Ships?"

Naole : " I've theorized that the source of the Inter-dimensional Pocket was the Spirit Stone, and because all the Nalen Class SkyGarrisons carry a connected fragment of the Spirit Stone they were also sucked into the same vortex. The Crystalan Ships and Crystalorb Ships may have been just too close to the Nalen Class SkyGarrisons when the vortices formed!"

Amb-Vinach : " Do you think that any of the Ships survived?"

Naole : " Unlikely! From the data on Crystalorb research saved by survivors I've been able to understand that inside an Inter-dimensional Pocket the pressure is extremely high. Crystalorb experimentation with Inter-dimensional Pockets reveals that inside the Inter-dimensional Pocket the spatial pressure is equivalent to 150 times the gravity of Earth. Therefore I would expect that all the ships, including the 10083 Migon BattleSpheres would have crushed on the Crystalorb Moon"

Amb-Vinach : " So you don't expect that there would be Crystalan survivors?"

Naole : " That would be too much to hope for. But I am confident that the Spirit Stone survived! The Spirit Stone would have known that without it Crystalans would be extinguished. Therefore the Spirit Stone would have recognized that the only way to save Crystalans as a people would be to do what it did."

Amb-Vinach : " So even if the Spirit Stone returns, it would take generations for Crystalorb to return to its former glory?"

Naole : " I'm afraid so your Excellency! We would have to restore the Crystalorb population before we can be useful in any kind of military strategy. Crystalorb was once an Advanced Interstellar Civilisation, but what will return will be the remnants of a once powerful Civilisation."

Amb-Vinach : " At the heights of the Crystalorb Civilisation you wielded power similar to the Entig Republic, and many Civilisations regarded Crystalorb as the saviours of the Galactic Alliance. We can only hope that when you once again regain your place amongst the community of Civilisations you will do better."

Naole : " We've paid a terrible price for our arrogance! Crystalorb will act with others and not alone!"

Amb-Vinach : " Good!" he takes a moment "We've spoken to the Entig Republic, the Jiquam Federation, the Folong Empire, the Carmak Republic and the Hildrano Enclave about your needs. The Carmak Republic, the Andronian Federation and the Entig Republic have agreed to help you meet your energy requirements on the Entig Republic's Nilrig colony deep inside Entig Republic space."

Naole : " We will set course for the planet Nilrig immediately!"

Amb-Vinach : " Good! I see that you'll need something else before you can proceed?"

Naole : " Yes! I'll need the Chest Crystal of a dead Crystalan. The Chest Crystal of a dead Crystalan is in a lot of ways similar to the Spirit Stone, and the main difference is that the Spirit Stone has the accumulated Knowledge of entire generations of Crystalans."

Amb-Vinach : " Then where will you find the Chest Crystal of a dead Crystalan?"

Naole : " I was hoping that the Andronian Federation would provide some assistance in this regard!"

Amb-Vinach : " How so?"

Naole : " Circleans are also Crystalans! I need to find one and kill him or her, but finding a vulnerable Circlean is easier said than done. However, given the fact that Andronians are more sensitive to negative Psionic energy, I was hoping that you might be willing to allow a few Andronians to come with us and help us locate Circleans on the fringes of human society."

Amb-Vinach : " You want Andronians to walk amongst a human population?"

Naole : " Not necessarily! I will do the hunting; I just need to know where to look. I can't risk going to the larger human colonies where there'll be more Circleans. I'm targeting a Circlean who does not have access to significant amounts of negative Psionic energy; someone the other Circleans won't miss, someone I can remove without arousing the suspicion of The Circle."

Amb-Vinach : " I’ll send 3 Andronian Soldiers to Nilrig; they'll travel with you to help you find what you need. Good luck!"

Naole : " Thank you, your Excellency!"

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When the CCS Cada A2286C and the AFS Nala D2586L arrived at the Entig Republic's Nilrig colony Naole met with the three Andronian Soldiers; Velnah, Silta and their Lieutenant Juvil. The 3 Andronian Soldiers are considered young by Andronian standards; Velnah and Silta are 150000 years in age, and Lieutenant Juvil is about 50000 years older than Velnah and Silta. Andronians rarely get an opportunity to go on these types of missions, and the 3 relatively young Andronian Soldiers welcomed the opportunity to prove themselves in an actively hostile environment.

Agreeing to send the 3 Andronian Soldiers was a sign of the extraordinary confidence Andronians had in Naole's capabilities, and the Andronian Federation was confident that Naole could protect the 3 relatively young Andronians. The risk posed by Circleans to young Andronians was significant, and the Andronian Leadership understood the danger posed to the galaxy by the Circle in general.

Naole met with Commander Elrig; one of the Entig Republic's 7 military chiefs of staff. Commander Elrig informed Naole that the Entig Republic had been coordinating with the Carmak Republic and the Andronian Federation to ensure that everything will be ready for Naole's process. All Commander Elrig needed was for Naole to give him a timeline for when the warships should gather on Nilrig, or at the very least be close enough to Nilrig to participate.

Commander Elrig calculated that he needed; 5 Andronian Federation SkyStriders, 7 Carmak Republic SkyStriders and 15 Entig Republic StarCruisers. The rest of the energy would be provided from the Entig Republic's Nilrig colony. The 3.61296X10E32 Joules needed would then be channelled into the CCS Cada A2286C, and the process is expected to destroy the CCS Cada, but what happens after that no one knew for certain.

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