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【Vision of an Alternate Future】

Arc 2: Return of the Crystal Guardians

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【VAF】Chapter║: 50 ─ The True Power of an Ascended Crystalan

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Having completed his healing Naole returned to the Arena and prepared for his demonstration.

Aurora : “ Are you sure you want to do this?”

Naole : “ I’m sure!”

Aurora : “ But to take on a Fusion Beam? And to do it Without Armour at that?”

Naole : “ They need to see the true Power of an Ascended Crystalan! This Demonstration is about more than an exhibition of the true capabilities of Ascended Crystalans, but this is about the battle to come, and even though they don’t show it Crystalans are afraid; even Crystal Guardians and Ascended Crystalans are Afraid! And with good reason; given the enormity of the task ahead! It is therefore up to those of us who have the extraordinary honour of leading Crystalorb’s warriors to restore their courage and replenish their wells of confidence.”

Aurora : “ I understand what you’re trying to do, and as a warrior I respect it, but why does it have to be you? Why does it have to be my Husband?”

Naole : “ I assure you that I’m in no real danger, not here; not on Crystalorb!”

The Fusion Beam Cannon is ready, and the Conference Officials indicate that they are ready for the Demonstration. Naole transforms and raises his energy level to the highest he can master.

When the Fusion Beam is fired it hits Naole with terrifying power, but Naole produces a Blue Wave from His Chest Crystal; deflecting the Fusion Beam to the Sky, and the Fusion Beam is then dissipated by the Inter-Dimensional Forces into Concussive Energy. However since the Fusion Beam Cannon continues to Fire Naole quickly depletes his core energy, and that is when he began to draw energy directly from the ground.

Enormous amounts of energy was flowing through the ground from all directions towards Naole; feeding him greater energy levels than those produced by the Fusion Beam Cannon. Naole was re-channelling incredible amounts of energy from the Spirit Stone into his shield and his Blue Wave. This is the Demonstration Naole wanted to show all of Crystalorb; that on Crystalorb an Ascended Crystalan is virtually indestructible!

The Fusion Beam Cannon is stopped, and in the Aftermath Naole stands unharmed. The other Ascended Guardians Approach Naole.

Hilan : “ Immortal, the ability to manipulate and control nearly all forms of energy, communes with the dead and now virtually indestructible; you’re practically a God aren’t you?”

Naole : “ No! The Spirit Stone is akin to a God!”

Aurora : “ Are you implying that we can all do this?”

Peo : “ I think his point is that on Crystalorb an Ascended Crystalan is virtually indestructible.”

Savan : “ Anywhere in the presence of the Spirit Stone or a fragment of the Spirit Stone!”

Omnala: “ Have we really come that far that quickly?”

Elnami : “ Naole; you are every bit the myths indicated you were.”

As if unaware of those around him, Naole begins to speak to all of Crystalorb.

Naole : “ We are more than Human; that fact is self evident! In the years to come we will engage in a bloody campaign against our Migon enemies on behalf of all our friends and allies, and the cost will no doubt be great, but until we achieve peace this Inter-Dimensional Realm will remain a prison. Only through a permanent and lasting peace will we achieve true freedom. Surely all of you must know by now that it is Crystalorb that can bring peace to the Galaxy!”

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An Inter-Dimensional Vortex opens and the Crystalan Ship Cobalt and its BattleGroup emerge from the Vortex and joins an awaiting Crimson BattleGroup. Naole has arrived to deliver over 10000 Velrovians to the new Crasla; the old Crasla stumbled upon by Naole had been abandoned and its Velrovian remnant were relocated to the new Crasla and the entire population was beginning to settle on their new world Crasla.

The Andronians had decided to wait for the 10000 Velrovians in Crystalorb before beginning the cloning processes, and this was to maximize the Velrovian genetic diversity. The over 10000 Velrovians from Crystalorb were significantly more sophisticated than the Velrovians on Crasla; this owing to their newly Crystalan made power source.

After Cobalt Enters Crasla’s atmosphere and hovers above the City the Velrovians disembark and fly to the City centre. Aurora and Naole follow the Velrovians and as they land they are met by the Velrovian leadership which now includes the 10 ancient Velrovians who had been placed in stasis by the Andronians.

Carlet : " Good to see you again your Eminence!"

Naole : “ Likewise your Lordship! May I present my wife; Aurora Olen of Crystalorb! She’s the Expeditionary Guardian!”

Carlet : " Greetings your Highness! It is indeed an honour to finally meet one of Crystalorb’s commander elite!"

Justa : " She will make a wonderful warrior Queen!"

Aurora : “ Queen? Did you say Queen?”

Carlet : " The information gained from the new members of the Velrovian Governing Council indicates that once an Ultora’s Authority reaches the threshold of 60% of the Velrovian population the Ultora must ascend to the High Throne of the Velrovian Enclave!"

Naole : “ What exactly do you mean by High Throne?”

Carlet : " The preparations for tonight’s Coronation are complete!"

Justa : " Naole; you are to be our King!"

One of the 10 ancient Velrovians who had been placed in stasis by the Andronians begins to Speak.

Disla : " Not just a king, but a High King; one worthy of the High Throne of the Velrovian Enclave!"

Naole : “ I’m a Knora in Crystalorb, I therefore can’t be King!”

Another of the 10 ancient Velrovians who had been placed in stasis by the Andronians begins to Speak.

Civet : " Unfortunately you don’t have a choice; none of us have a choice in this matter! That a foreigner is a pre-eminent High King is indicative of how far we’ve fallen!"

Disla : " But thanks to you Naole Velrovians will rise again. Possibly stronger and more powerful than we have ever been. The magnitude of what you’ve done for Velrovians is unparalleled; not even the ancient High Kings of legend can claim such tremendous achievements. Not even the Andronians can claim to have unlocked the secret of Velrovian Immortality, but you; High King gave us the key to the future."

Naole : “ You Honour me! The power source should reach maturity in a hundred years, and once it matures all Velrovians will become Immortal; though it remains to be seen weather any of us have a future in this …!” Naole turns and begins to look at the sky; his senses pick up something “The sensors in my Armour can’t pick it up, but I can feel something there; what is it?”

Aurora : “ You’re right! I can feel it too!”

Disla : " Impressive! I knew you were powerful Psionics, but I never imagined that your abilities could be that much grater than ours."

Civet : " Not that much!” seemingly unimpressed ”Can you tell what’s out there?"

Aurora : “ So you know what’s out there?”

Carlet : " What we would like to know is; can an Ascended Crystalan correctly classify the Psionic energy of other beings?"

Naole : “ You know; Crystalans don’t like to be experimented upon!”

Disla : " We’ve heard! But that’s not what we’re doing; we’re merely trying to determine the extent of the capabilities of our new High King."

Naole : “ I will indulge you just this once!” Naole puts his Crystal Armours helmet back on “Blue Flash!”

There is a burst of enormous blue Crystalan energy. The intensity of the energy surprises even the 10 ancient Velrovians who had been placed in stasis by the Andronians.

Civet : " Oh! You are strong!"

Disla : " Real strong!"

Justa : " Not what you thought are they Civet?"

Civet : " Indeed!"

Aurora : “ So how many Andronians are on Crasla?”

Disla : " Is this Crystalan telepathy?"

Civet : " Oh it’s a hell of a lot more than that!"

Disla : " What are you saying?"

Civet : " It’s more than mere telepathy; it’s akin to shared Consciousness!"

Naole : “ Impressive! Few beings can comprehend the complexity of what we are, but you Civet grasp it instinctively”

Civet : " Only because you’ve achieved the goal we strived for with generations of research!"

Naole : “ Nevertheless Impressive! I’m picking up a very significant signature onboard the Andronian Ship; something very old and very powerful! If I had to guess I’d have to say that there’s one of the very first Andronian Immortals onboard.”

Justa : " How could you possibly tell? We don’t know who and how many of them there are!"

Aurora : “ We are more than you can imagine; more than we understand even.”

Civet : " I’ve heard of Crystalan Arrogance!"

Naole : “ We aren’t perfect!”

Aurora : “ But we aspire towards the goal of perfection!”

Naole : “ Or at least Nobility!”

A shuttle from the Andronian ship lands and three Armoured Andronians emerge.

Holnari : “ Greetings friends! I am Holnari of Andros!”

Naole : “ It is Indeed a great Honour to meet the Great General of the Andronian Federation.”

Aurora : “ A great Honour Indeed General!”

Everyone else greets Holnari.

Carlet : " What brings the great General to Crasla?"

Holnari : “ I took this opportunity to come and meet with Crystalorb’s Chief of Operations; I’m to liaise with him on behalf of all the Older Civilizations in the coming operations. Crystalorb’s return to Normal space will undoubtedly create the biggest crisis in the galaxy since the Battle of Ten Thousand Ships. It is for this reason that the Andronian Collective has assigned me this most worthy of tasks.”

Naole : “ It is reassuring to have the cooperation of the Older Civilizations. Is that a Cloning Ship?”

Aurora : “ We’ve heard a great deal about the tremendous capabilities of Andronian Cloning Ships.”

Justa : " They will restore Velrovians to their rightful place amongst Interstellar Nations."

Holnari : “ The Restorer Class Andronian Cloning Ships are amongst the most powerful Ships in the Andronian Fleet; capable of restoring entire Civilizations. The Restorer Class Cloning Ships are actually construction ships; designed to Teraform planets, build entire cities, and then produce populations for those planets.”

Disla : " Why didn’t the Andronian Federation attempt to restore the Crystalans? You certainly had enough Specimens."

Aurora : “ I’ve been wondering that myself?”

Holnari : “ Oh! We tried! For whatever reason a Crystalan can only be produced by the womb of a suitably powerful sapient being; they need to feed on some yet unidentifiable spiritual component. Even the Crystalans without Chest Crystals are incredibly complex; making it incredibly difficult to produce a pure blooded Crystalans. In the aftermath of the Battle of Crystalorb we quickly discovered that even the Crystalans without Chest Crystals could not reproduce without the Spirit Stone. However some of those without Chest Crystals could produce Halflings if partnered with Lodians, and therein lied the hope for restoring a type of Crystalan population.”

Naole : “ You did it didn’t you? You produced a substantial population of Crystalans.”

Holnari : “ We weren’t looking for Crystalans without Chest Crystals, but we were willing to accept something comparable. It became clear that Crystalans could not be cloned; more than this Crystalans with Chest Crystals were beyond our capability to produce; by any means. Since every Crystalan without Chest Crystals had to be born we needed a sufficient number of wombs capable of giving birth to Crystalans without Chest Crystals would have to be created.”

Aurora : “ Most Lodians aren’t strong enough to support a Crystalan embryo without Crystalan assistance; so you used Hodians didn’t you?”

Holnari : “ Crystalans represent the first real glimmer of hope for peace since the great age of the time before; A deal had to be made!” Naole and Aurora are shocked “In return for Advanced O'con Federation energy storage technology the Hodian High Council agreed to provide genetic samples of all their pure blooded women and help us clone the first 5 women. The O'con Federation and the Andronian Federation then proceeded to alter the Hodian DNA by introducing Crystalan Genes and Crystalan memories to enhance the clones to acceptable levels; by the way Hodian assistance did not include us sharing with them any of our technologies. We then proceeded to produce one hundred million clones that were then inseminated with sperm from surviving Crystalan men to produce Hodian/Crystalan Hybrid Offspring!”

Naole : “ How many are there?”

Aurora : “ Where are they?”

Naole : “ Crystalorb will demand that they be returned Home to Crystalorb.”

Holnari : “ They are 75 LightYears from Crasla; all 2.5 Billion of them. Their world is a lot like Crasla and just like Crasla it initially had Thousands of Towns, but the Crystalans mostly live in Continental Cities. On Crasla we’ve build 55 Thousand Towns, and each town will host 15 Thousand Velrovian clones, as a rule each clone will have a randomized facial genetic sequence so that every clone will have a unique facial appearance, but all 55000 copies will share the memories of the original. In just 2 years there will be 870 million Velrovians on Crasla; they’ll take it from there!”

Carlet : " How many have you produced so far?"

Holnari : “ A few hundred to validate the process. However since Crimson delivered the Power source we’ve been able to test full integration, and full production can begin.” He looks at Naole “Impressive technology by the way; the Power sources you built for the Jiquam Federation, the Folong Empire, the Carmak Republic, the Hildrano Enclave, the Andronian Federation, O'con Federation and the Entig Republic go beyond anything we envisioned.”

Justa : " You sound surprised."

Holnari : “ We all are! The things that Crystalorb has achieved in the blink of an eye are impressive by any measure.”

Disla : " Are they really? I remember we used to be impressive."

Holnari : “ At the height of the Velrovian Civilization Velrovians could not master any sort of defence against 3000 Migon BattleSpheres, but Crystalorb survived an assault by 10000 Migon BattleSpheres. In fact they are the only Civilization known to have destroyed 10000 Migon BattleSpheres in a single battle. They earned their High place in the Galaxy! Crystalorb may not be able to defeat the Migon, but the Crystalans have given the Older Civilizations the ability to defeat the Migon Federation.” He looks at Naole “How many Crystalans are in Crystalorb?”

Aurora : “ Almost 25.5 Billion! The Crystalorb Council of Elders tried to produce more of the modern Generation of Crystalans, but events overtook them and all Crystalans were released from stasis resulting in a tripling of the Crystalan population; Largely a consequence of Naole and my Father’s actions by the way.”

Naole : “ It was necessary to go against you my Treasure. Thanks to our efforts the bulk of the Crystalan population is itching to get back into the fight; they’re hungry for a little payback.”

Disla : " I’ll take a piece of that action too!"

Holnari : “ You’re also eager to get back into the war? In spite of what happened before?”

Disla : " Absolutely! They killed 20 Billion Velrovians General; they must answer for this atrocity!"

Aurora : “ Crystalorb isn’t sure how useful Velrovians can be in a fight? We don’t know if they’re strong enough to be dependable.”

Civet : " So you doubt Velrovian strength? Perhaps you should test my strength?"

Carlet : " You can’t challenge our future Queen to a fight?"

Aurora : “ I’m an Ascended Crystalan; I can take him!”

Justa : " Protocol demands that she choose a Velrovian champion!"

Just then a Velrovian with Red fur Celto arrives and embraces both Naole and Aurora. Celto is Seltha’s son, but he’s also Naole’s son, and he’s considerably larger than other Velrovians.

Holnari : “ So you’re the Hybrid I’ve heard so much about?”

Celto : " I suppose I am!"

Naole : “ Seltha insisted that I should have a Velrovian heir, so he offered to let me share his last born son. Crystalan Scientists replaced some of the genes for Velrovian Crystals in Seltha’s sperm with my genes, and after thousands of failures they finally had a single success. As you can see the results are extraordinary; the sort of son any father would be proud to call his own.”

Celto : " I hear you’re in need of a champion mother?"

Naole : “ Somehow I don’t think that’s the challenge Civet is looking fore; he wants to prove his strength against a Crystal Guardian.”

Civet : " For the Challenge to mean anything it must be against the most supreme of Crystalan warriors."

Naole : “ Ok! I will let you test your strength against mine, though you may wish I had refused your request!”

Disla : " A warrior King can lend his strength to his Queen!"

Civet : " Then It’s agreed!"

Celto : " No! Father; don’t do this? He doesn’t know what he’s asking for!"

Civet : " Do you see how far we’ve fallen Disla; we were Gods once!"

Disla : " Don’t worry Celto; we Velrovians are warrior born!"

Celto : " Father is an Ascended Crystalan of the highest order; an energy elemental! He wields tremendous power; Civet will not survive Father’s full strength!"

Civet : " Have faith in your own kind Celto!"

Naole : “ You are confident; I’ll give you that!”

Holnari : “ Now that the incidental is settled; what’s this I hear about Crystalorb abandoning humanity?”

Aurora : “ They are Unworthy!”

Holnari : “ Unworthy?”

Aurora : “ They’re Unworthy of our friendship, Unworthy of our allegiance! They are Unworthy!”

Holnari : “ I heard about what happened in Silenia 5! Is that why you think them Unworthy?”

Naole : “ Crystalans can’t risk operating publicly; so I sent Velrovian teams to Silenia 5 to assess the Capabilities of the UHC. The treatment of the Velrovians by high ranking Human officials from all Human Federations proved once again that their bigotry runs deep. They’re Unworthy of the sacrifices Crystalorb would have to make to protect them. They are Unworthy!”

Aurora : “ They show Crystalans the same contempt!”

General Holnari produces Holographic images of Migon Raids on human instillations from the past 150 years.

Holnari : “ I can see how you might come to the conclusion that there’s nothing left of them in you! That they have nothing to offer Crystalorb! But these are your People!”

Aurora : “ Our people?”

Holnari : “ Surely you must know by now; you must know that you were their Heart! They didn’t understand this until it was too late. And when they lost Crystalans they lost their way! Crystalorb’s defeat left a gaping hole at their centre, and now they cling desperately to the vestiges of their former glory. Now more than ever they need the light of Crystalorb to show them the way.”

Celto : " True!"

Aurora : “ You defend them? You; of all people?”

Celto : " Flawed as they are; they are your People Mother! Even more so than Velrovians! They are a part of you just as we are!"

Naole : “ Even if you’re right, even if they are our people; they remain Unworthy!”

Holnari : “ Then you must change them; make them Worthy!”

Aurora : “ Easier said than done! The Crystalorb General Council has already passed legislation declaring Crystalans a unique and distinct species; effectively separating Crystalans from Humanity.”

Deputy Guardian Bilen decides to enter the conversation.

Bilen : " I was there at the Battle of Crystalorb; they left us to die."

Naole : “ As you can see; there’s no going back now! Crystalans remember that our supposed Human allies abandoned us at the Battle of Crystalorb. It will take a great deal of persuasion for Crystalans to give Humanity another chance.”

Bilen : " They will have to earn their way back into our good graces. There are no entitlements anymore; we will only bleed for those who bleed for us."

Holnari : “ A little harsh; don’t you think?”

Naole : “ That may be true; but it is a reality of our time!”

Holnari : “ There will be a cost for Crystalorb’s stance, and I fear that Humanity will pay the price for your intransigence!”

Guardian Naole receives a message from Cobalt.

Naole : “ We will continue this conversation after the Coronation; for now I must report to the Crystalorb Council of Elders!” he looks at Civet “We begin in an hour; be ready!”

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A fully Powered and transformed to his maximum power level Civet stands ready as Naole begins his power up. Naole didn’t think he would need to reach his maximum, but nevertheless he did transform to his Crystalline form.

Naole : “ Your Crystalline Form is noteworthy; however since Velrovians can’t fly Naturally we’ll keep things on the ground!”

Civet : " How considerate!"

Naole : “ Let’s see what you can do Lordship!”

Civet attacks.

Though Civet’s physical attack was considerable Naole could easily evade and Block Civet’s physical attacks. Because of the speeds involved the spectators could not distinguish between Naole and Civet, and as far as they could tell Naole and Civet seemed equally matched. But Celto and the Crystalans understood that Naole was barely exerting himself, and Aurora knew that Naole was not even at 5% of his maximum.

Naole and Civet halt their exchange as they gather their energies.

Civet : " You’re holding back?"

Naole : “ I’m using only what’s needed!”

Civet : " You dishonour me, yourself and your kind by putting on a facade! I must test my strength against the full power of a Crystalan Elite!"

Naole : “ You want my full strength? Fine; rapid Rise!” the skies darken as thunder clouds gather in response to Naole’s rapid Increase in energy to maximum power “Lightning Fist!”

Aurora : “ Oh hell!” Aurora rapidly transforms and Increases her energy to maximum power, then she gets between Naole’s attack and Civet “Full Barrier shield”

In the aftermath there is a 400m wide Crater; the result of the energy discharge from Naole’s attack and Aurora’s shield.

Naole : “ What are you doing?”

Aurora : “ I’m your partner in all things Husband. Crystalorb can’t begin relations with the Velrovian Enclave by you killing one of their Leaders.”

Naole : “ But he asked for this; he wants to die!”

Aurora : “ Either way I can’t let you do this!”

Naole : “ You can’t protect him; not from me!”

The paralyzed Civet regains composure as Aurora looks at him.

Aurora : “ I hope you’re satisfied; you made this a Question of Honour. If you don’t concede I’ll have to fight him to stop him from killing you; concede dammed-it!”

Eager to end things Naole looks to Civet

Naole : “ Put on your Armour; Let’s go a few rounds with you in Armour if you think it’ll make a difference.”

Civet : " Your generating energy levels a hundred times greater than my maximum; Armour can only bring me up to 40%! I concede defeat!"

Aurora : “ Thank Heavens!”

General Holnari approaches.

Holnari : “ Good show! Very good indeed!”

Naole : “ It wasn’t meant to be entertaining, but I suppose a near all powerful Immortal would find this contest of strength amusing.”

Holnari : “ All powerful? Hardly! Though I do suppose most Mortals would find it difficult to comprehend Andronian Strength. But you Ascended Crystalans clearly understand true power; I mean Ascended Crystalans like you and Aurora are stronger than most Andronians. For hundreds of millennia I have travelled across the stars and met countless beings, but none who wielded such power at such a young age. Aurora; tell me, could you have stopped him?”

Aurora : “ Only because he wouldn’t risk seriously injuring me.”

Holnari : “ You don’t disappoint do you Crystalan? How many Crystalans are at your level?”

Naole : “ There are about a Hundred with greater strength and about Two Hundred with comparable capabilities!”

Civet : " Greater strength; How?"

Aurora : “ They’re older; thus more powerful!”

Holnari : “ Oh; you will be useful indeed!”

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The Coronation was a splendid affair of Velrovian pageantry and glitz and glamour host at the Citadel; a 4km high 7km wide Grand Palace built to the Centre of the Velrovian Government. The new Crystalan made Velrovian Power Source integrator is a 1km wide sphere that is housed underneath the Citadel. The Crystalan made Velrovian Power Source would mature in 100 years SET.

The integrator part of the Crystalan made Velrovian Power Source is designed to manage and convert the energy generated by 1000 Andronian made Fusion Reactors, but the more critical function of the Assembly is as a Velrovian Psionic Energy Power Source. The Velrovian Psionic Energy Power Source will harvest Ambient Positive Psionic from the vegetation on Crasla and possibly other worlds then store it for Velrovian use as Life Force Energy.

Present at Naole’s Coronation as High King of the Velrovian Enclave is General Holnari of the Andronian Federation accompanied by Lieutenant Juvil, Ensign Velnah and Ensign Silta of the Andronian Federation. Also present is Commander Elrig of the Entig Republic and his support staff. In Old days monarchs from all over the Region would attend Velrovian Coronations, but the current condition of the Velrovian Enclave did not even warrant the attendance of a member of the Entig Collective Leadership; their former Battle Partner and Close Ally.

On the contrary Crystalorb presented a full diplomatic representation, and the Crystalorb Commonwealth was represented by the Speaker of the Crystalorb General Council; Her Eminence Dirang Lesedi. The Speaker of the Crystalorb General Council is perhaps the highest ranking political individual in Crystalorb, and is often assigned the missions of highest diplomatic value; thus the presence of the Speaker of the Crystalorb General Council at Naole’s Coronation indicated the importance with which Crystalorb regarded the Velrovian Enclave.

However there was another reason the Speaker of the Crystalorb General Council was on Crasla; upon learning of the Crystalans created by the Andronians the Crystalorb Council of Elders in accordance with the Crystalorb Charter decreed the immediate integration of the newly discovered Crystalan Sect into Crystalorb. The Crystalorb General Council passed a resolution formally supporting the decree issued by the Council of Elders.

Speaker Dirang Lesedi had been authorized to oversee the integration of all Andronian made Crystalans into Crystalorb. There were somewhat obvious political considerations; Crystalorb could not simply force the Andronian made and Andronian protected Crystalans to accept Crystalorb Authority. The Andronian made Crystalans would have to willingly accept Crystalorb Authority, and only then can they be moved to Crystalorb.

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