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【Vision of an Alternate Future】

Arc 2: Return of the Crystal Guardians

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【VAF】Chapter║: 52 ─ Before Chaos

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At the Chambers of the Council of the Light of Destiny Captain Atola and Bruce begin to speak to the Council of Light; they are there to deliver a message from Crystalorb.

Lord Brown of the Council of Light addresses Atola and Bruce.

Brown : “ Good to see that both of you have returned safely Home.”

Atola : “ While it is good to return Lordship; we have a different Home now!”

Bruce : “ And we are in a different command!”

Brown : “ So you found him after all. Is that Crystalan Armour you’re wearing?”

Atola : “ Yes on both counts!”

Brown : “ So how does the Great and Glorious Naole plan to save us all?”

The other members of the Light of Destiny laugh.

Atola : “ We will ignore the condescending tone only because he would!”

Bruce : “ Naole believes humanity to have abandoned Crystalorb and the Battle of Crystalorb. Thus making Humanity Unworthy of Crystalorb’s Friendship.”

Brown : “ Really? And how does he hope to rebuild Crystalorb without our help?”

Atola : “ When has Crystalorb ever needed Humanity’s help?”

Brown : “ What can one man do against such power as that at the disposal of the Migon? If Naole is to restore Crystalorb he will need allies!”

Bruce : “ Do you really think Crystalorb would leave itself open to destruction without having some sort of contingency? A civilization as powerful as Crystalorb always has a contingency.”

Brown : “ What sort of contingency?”

Atola : “ We didn’t know about this, but when Crystalorb was attacked there were seven Command Carriers each with a million Crystalans on permanent station in Hyperspace. Each Command Carrier was equipped with a non-active Fragment of the Spirit Stone.”

Brown : “ What exactly do you mean by non-active Fragment of the Spirit Stone?”

Atola : “ In simple terms; a non-active Fragment of the Spirit Stone is an empty shell so to speak. It is a Fragment of the Spirit Stone that is Identical to other Fragments in matter composition, but does not contain the life-force of the actual Spirit Stone. Naole is the only person who knew how to harvest the soul of a Crystalan and use it to re-power the Spirit Stone. Once that was accomplished we hunted down the treacherous Circleans and added their knowledge, Power, Technology and miserable souls to the Spirit Stone.”

Brown : “ You did what?”

Bruce : “ They were secretly allied to the Migon. Anyway it gets better!”

Atola : “For ten years after Crystalorb’s defeat the surviving Crystalans were active and creating Embryos; a Billion Embryos in total. Fortunately the Andronians, O’ltana and the Entig combined efforts to produce sufficient wombs to carry them to term. 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 helped Andronians 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. Andronians then proceeded to produce one hundred million clones that were then inseminated with sperm from surviving Crystalan men to produce Hodian/Crystalan Hybrid Offspring. Thus the EnthilB Crystalans were Born!”

Brown : “ Are you saying somewhere out there Crystalans are thriving; that there is a new branch of Crystalorb?”

Atola : “ That’s exactly what we are saying! It will be a long time before we wield the kind of power we once wielded, but eventual we will restore Crystalorb’s former glory.”

Brown : “ How long will that take?”

Bruce : “ At least a Hundred years!”

Brown : “ How does this involve Lodians? What does Naole expect from us? I mean; why are you telling us all this?”

Atola : “ My orders are to inform all Crystalans taking shelter amongst the Lodians that it is time to come home! The Crystalorb Council of Elders has ordered the evacuation of all Crystalans from Human space; there is a BattleGroup waiting in Hyperspace.”

Brown : “ Is that what you are going to do? Leave the rest of us to die? So much for Crystalan Nobility!”

Bruce : “ Decisions were taken, choices were made, and Billions of lives were lost! Had Humanity shown even the slightest regard for Crystalans it would be a different story, but as it stands we stood virtually alone against the end; apart from limited support from nearby AF Forces who were defending their territory. Only our O’ltana allies were there for us, and that’s what Crystalans remember.”

Atola : “ You have the Galactic Alliance! That’s who your true allies are! The Galactic Alliance can and will protect and preserve Humanity.”

Brown : “ What about Crystalorb? Will you not Join the Galactic Alliance? Will you not be part of the Greater Good?”

Atola : “ The Crystalorb Commonwealth is not formally a member of the Galactic Alliance; perhaps that is why they left us to die.”

Brown : “ We expect the Crystalorb Commonwealth to remember everything we’ve done for them.”

Atola : “ We will remember your Lordship! It is for all these reasons that I now return the AFS Nala D2586L and her Lodian Crew to the Council of the Light of Destiny.”

Brown : “ Then I guess our Business is done; Go in peace Crystalan.”

Atola : “ Thank you your Lordship.”

Bruce : “ Thank you your Lordship.”

Brown : “ May the Good Spirits keep you.”

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Back on EnthilB they’ve been observing Atola’s meeting with the Council of the Light.

Holnari : “ That went well.”

Naole : “ A lot better than I expected.”

Aurora : “ Let’s hope the meeting with the Hodians goes as well.”

Dirang : “ It will!”

Disato : “ So this deliberate ruse is for their benefit?”

Naole : “ If the Migon believe that we’ve abandoned Humanity they are less likely to use Humans as leverage.”

Civet : " You have to know that the Migon will test this theory right?"

Aurora : “ We know!”

Lt-Juvil : “ When the time comes you will leave them to die?”

Naole : “ When the time comes we will follow our orders. The safety of Humanity is the responsibility of its allies in the Galactic Alliance; they are in their hands.”

Lt-Juvil : “ This is a dangerous Game you Crystalans are playing! Given the demands on the Older Civilizations placed upon us by Crystalorb’s planning the Older Civilizations won’t be able to protect Human space, and if the Galactic Alliance fails to protect Humanity it could be the end of the Galactic Alliance; it would have failed in its fundamental purpose.”

Dirang : “ This is the moment of truth! We will find out if there is still an Alliance to speak of! If it is as we suspect a superficial Alliance; then the aftermath will be a new beginning for the Galactic Alliance. An opportunity to begin again!”

Holnari : “ We are going along with Crystalorb because of the O’ltana; the once most in danger insist that we go along with Crystalorb. The other Older Civilizations are going along because we insisted upon it. If Crystalorb’s strategy succeeds then we all succeed; we all win! If you can punch a hole through their defences they will no longer be able to act with impunity.”

Dirang : “ We are going to burry them in rubble like the Pharaohs of Old!”

Aurora : “ We are going to punch a gaping hole through their supposedly impenetrable wall; send them a message!”

Disato : “ Message?”

Aurora : “ That they too can be killed!”

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At the Chambers of the Hodian High Council Atola and Bruce begin to speak to the High Council of Hand of Destiny; Crystalorb needs the Hodian support.

Lord David Ralefa of the High Council of the Hand of Destiny 〘HOD High Council or Hodian High Council〙 welcomes Atola and Bruce to the Hodian Council Chambers.

Lord-David : “ Greetings! I am David Ralefa; Viceroy of the Hand of Destiny! The Hodian Council Chambers welcomes you.”

Atola : “ Greetings! I am Atola Lesedi; Group Captain in Crystalorb’s Seventh Fleet!”

Bruce : “ Greetings! I am Bruce Lesedi; Group Captain in Crystalorb’s Seventh Fleet!”

Lord-David : “ So the 7 Ilesian Fleets are back?”

Atola : “ A Civilization as powerful as Crystalorb cannot be so easily defeated.”

Lord-David : “ Indeed! The Armour you’re wearing generates significantly more power than the Ilesian Guardians I remember, but then again I was just a boy then, but I know when I’m in the presence of real power.”

Bruce : “ There have been some improvements.”

Lord-David : “ I’m not talking about the 2 of you? I’m talking about the Crystal Guardian in the Room!”

Atola : “ Ah!”

Bruce : “ You?”

Clearly surprised by Lord David’s perceptive nature.

Lord-David : “ We’re not Lodians you Know? There was a time when we were an Equal power to Crystalorb! However in Crystalorb’s absence we’ve had to step up so to speak; become the protectors of the Human race we should have always been!” he begins to look around “The Lodians are clueless, but I can sense the presence of an Ascended Crystalan, and if I had to guess I would have to say it’s an Ascended Gold Crystal Guardian.”

Atola : “ By the Source!”

Bruce : “ They said that Hodians would be more than we might expect, but this is really something.”

Lord-David : “ You’ve clearly forgotten who we are!”

There is a golden glow as the Guardian Dikan Lesedi reveals herself to an expected Hodian High Council.

Dikan : “ I am Dikan Lesedi of Crystalorb; Apprentice Guardian!”

Lord-David : “ Apprentice Guardian? I take it you have a Full Escort?”

Dikan : “ Yes! I’ve been Assigned to the protection of Group Captain Atola and Group Captain Bruce; they are Crystalorb’s Chief liaisons to the UHC!”

Lord-David : “ So you two speak for Crystalorb?”

Bruce : “ In all matters concerning Humanity.”

Lord-David : “ And here I thought Crystalorb was Abandoning Humanity.”

Atola : “ The Elders said Hodians had probably infiltrated the Lodian High Command.”

Lord-David : “ We can’t have those bumbling Fools risk the future of the human race through incompetence! What does Crystalorb want from us? You didn’t come all this way to reminisce about old times!”

Bruce : “ Crystalorb desires cooperation with Hodians on a number of areas.”

Lord-David : “ What sort of areas?”

Atola : “ For Crystalorb to rebuild we will need to trade with a number of Civilizations.”

Lord-David : “ And you don’t have a trading infrastructure.”

Bruce : “ We don’t!”

Lord-David : “ I take it you’ll need us to make contact with certain Civilizations on your behalf.”

Atola : “ The Kulnet have become prominent in Crystalorb’s absence!”

Lord-David : “ So what are you offering?”

Bruce : “ What do you need?”

Lord-David : “ Before Crystalorb’s defeat the HOD were about to emulate Crystalorb by building a Hodian Planetary Colony, but in the aftermath of Crystalorb’s defeat we changed our plans in favour of Mobility. And so we began a program to build SkyGarrisons as a way to keep our assets mobile. We gained Advanced Power Sources as a result of the assistance we offered to the Andronians. However we soon discovered that the armour on these ships had to be either very thick or very dense.”

Atola : “ You want Crystalan armour tech?”

Lord-David : “ In particular Crystalium!”

Bruce : “ But Crystanium307 is almost as good as Crystalium317.”

Atola : “ He’s talking about Crystalium814!”

Lord-David : “ Analysis of your Armours indicates that you have probably moved on from Crystalium317 and Crystalium814! If I had to guess I would have to say that you are very close to Nipaklium in properties.”

Bruce : “ You want the method to produce Crystalium814?”

Lord-David : “ After what happened to Crystalorb we need to be able to produce these elements independently!”

Atola : “ Atola looks at Dikan!”

Dikan : “ The Council of Elders say that Crystalorb can Honour the Hodian request.”

Bruce : “ Transmit the transit location of one of your SkyGarrisons and one of our Nalen Class SkyGarrisons will rendezvous with it to thrash out the details.”

Lord-David : “ Agreed! Can we have Commercial access to the higher grades of Crystalium?”

Atola : “ Crystalorb will sell you as much of Crystalium317, Crystalium814 and Crystalium947 as you can afford.”

Lord-David : “ What; no Crystalium712?”

Bruce : “For obvious reasons.”

Lord-David : “ What do you plan to do about the Migon?”

Atola : “ Is there something we can do?”

Bruce : “ Is there anything any of the younger races can do?”

Lord-David : “ Crystalans and Hodians must stand together; just as we did when the Circleans threatened us both.”

Atola : “ Our Leaders will be extremely happy to hear you say that!”

Lord-David : “ We would sooner escape this galaxy than accept eternal servitude to Migons! Circleans were willing to accept slavery disguised as partnership, and when we learned of their destruction we knew that Crystalans had finally awakened to their malevolent duplicity; Hodians warned Crystalans that they could not make peace with those whose sole purpose of existence was the subjugation and consumption of all others. The Circleans were no different to the Migon!”

Bruce : “ So you knew about their connection to the Migon?”

Lord-David: “ Not until Crystalorb’s defeat! There is a logical path between Crystalorb’s defeat and a Circlean connection to the Migon; only the Circleans would have had the capabilities to Compromise Crystalorb’s Strategic Defences.”

Atola : “ A lesson we learned too late!”

Lord-David : “ The important part is that you learned the lesson! Hodians have come a long way since the days of the Power Crazy Lord Tsela; today we are all that stands between Humanity and Destruction.”

Bruce : “ Crystalorb had hoped that the Circleans would produce someone akin to Nato Ralefa. His actions helped to save Crystalorb from itself and to protect humanity from our Rage; spared humanity a war that would have consumed them!”

Lord-David : “ Nato was the First of the Great Viceroys! He chartered a new path for Hodians; a path that allows us to control our Destiny without damaging the Destiny of others.”

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Back on EnthilB they’ve been observing Bruce and Atola’s meeting with the Hodian High Council.

Naole : “ Hodians have come a long way from the days of Chaos.”

Holnari : “ Indeed they have! We’ve been watching them for a while now, and while they show little care for others they go to great extent to ensure the survival of those they consider their allies or partners.”

Naole : “ Crystalorb is such a partner now! We’ve had overlapping interest for a while now, and a time will come when the Hodians will stand alongside us as our Friends.”

Holnari : “ Is it wise to trust them with the method to produce Crystalium814?”

Civet : " Even we don’t get that knowledge."

Naole : “ We need them!”

Aurora : “ More so than we do most others!”

Dirang : “ They are a Piece of our Soul!”

Lt-Juvil : “ How do you know you can trust them?”

Naole : “ What? because they are Negative Psionics? In a word; History!”

Lt-Juvil : “ Human History?”

Naole : “ When we faced down the Circlean Threat there was only one Ascended Crystalan available; I was in captivity! The Hodians were all that stood between Crystalorb and Destruction; they fought, Bled and Died for us; such an audacious act is not easily forgotten! We trust the Judgement of Hodians a hell of a lot more than we do that of the Humans; Outside the Entig, the O’ltana and the Older Civilizations there is no one we trust more!”

Holnari : “ Sometimes we forget that they are also proto-Phaylon!”

Disato : “ Almost as much as Crystalans!”

Civet : " Really?"

Lt-Juvil : “ Not as much as Crystalans but a little more than Velrovians.”

Holnari : “ When we thought Crystalorb was gone we had to take a closer look at Hodians, and what we found was surprising.”

Civet : " What did you find?"

Holnari : “ From the outside they seem like purely Negative Psionics, but when you take a closer look at their customs and practices you realize that even though they see themselves as superior to others they don’t hate others; in fact they want to make other Humans like themselves. So in a way they want to make Humanity equal to themselves; not a characteristic we’d come to expect of Negative Psionics. And as if that was not enough we realized that the Negative Psionic Energy they feed on was not as potent as that of the Migon, Circlean and others; something Crystalans probably knew all along.”

Naole : “ Yes; it’s just a Negative Psionic Energy diluted Divine Energy or what Older Civilizations call Phaylon Radiation!”

Holnari : “ It turns out that Hodian Negative Psionic Energy is actually a Natural type of Negative Psionic Energy unlike the Circlean or Migon Negative Psionic Energy. We have since found examples of Hodian Energy on Hundreds of Worlds; existing in near perfect balance with Positive Psionic Energy similar to Crystalan Energy. It turns out that the Interaction of Hodians and Crystalans is part of a normal course of events across the cosmos, and therefore Psionics such as the Migon, Ourselves and the other Older Civilizations represent a significant imbalance. It therefore stands to reason that Crystalans actually need the Hodians to Reflect to Crystalorb an opposite Ideological Counterforce.”

Disato : “ So there’s no animosity?”

Aurora : “ It’s always been a rivalry!”

Dirang : “ Because from the beginning it was about control; not destruction! The Hodians never wanted our destruction; it was always about us interfering with what they perceived to be their destiny.”

Lt-Juvil : “ Therefore when humanity became an Interstellar Civilizations Hodians could freely chart their own Destiny.”

Civet : " Crystalorb could no longer pose a threat."

Lt-Juvil : “ Or interfere.”

Naole : “ There was a time after Lord Nato when relations were tense, but we worked through the problems.”

Holnari : “ Some of their actions precipitated Crystalorb’s first departure from Earth; an act that resulted in contact with the O’ltana.”

Aurora : “ This is one of the reasons we need them!”

Dirang : “ The Hodians push us in a way that no other people can!”

Disato : “ And Crystalans need Hodians to help with the fight against the Migon?”

Naole : “ Oh! We’ll build the ships, mobilize entire armies, but we need others to help organize the other worlds into a single cohesive fighting force. Look what happened the last time Crystalorb tried to go at it alone?”

Lt-Juvil : “ Speaking of Forces; where does Crystalorb stand?”

Civet : " I Heard That Crystalorb’s Forces were Depleted by the Last War."

Dirang : “ As it stands; We have 925 Nalen Class SkyGarrisons, 14750 Full Adult Intrepid Class Ships, 8012 Young Adult Intrepid Class Ships, 8012 Intrepid Class Juvenile Ships, 2000 Intrepid Class Baby Ships, 1400 Intrepid Class Ship Eggs, 14750 Full Adult Indigo Class Ships, 8012 Young Adult Indigo Class Ships, 2134 Indigo Class Juvenile Ships, 1800 Indigo Class Baby Ships, 1557 Indigo Class Ship Eggs, 3800 Esara Class SkyCruisers, 3600 Casara Class Cruisers.”

Lt-Juvil : “ A little light on SkyCruisers and Cruisers don’t you think?”

Naole : “ Between the Adult and Young Adult Crystalan Ships we have 45524 additional Battle capable ships; All of them with Crystalium1417 improved Armour. This gives us a total of 53849; we are more than ready!”

Holnari : “ That puts you on par with low estimates of the size of the Migon fleet.”

Disato : “ Yet somehow Crystalorb has no hope of victory?”

Aurora : “ The Adult Crystalan Ships are ten times bigger than Migon BattleSpheres, but they are only about 4 times as powerful, and their Armour and weaponry is still significantly more advanced. We can win one on one, but against their formations and battle tactics we always find ourselves wanting.”

Civet : " Tactics?"

Lt-Juvil : “ The Migon use swarming tactics against Crystalans; the same swarming tactics that have proven effective against Andronian Ships.”

Civet : " And there’s no accurate estimate for their numbers?"

Disato : “ That’s the Idea isn’t it? Keep everyone guessing, and therefore paralyze your enemies.”

Holnari : “ Now is the time we found out the full extent of their power! We have amassed the largest fleet the galaxy has ever seen at their border, and they’ve responded with a mobilization of their own.”

Naole : “ If everything goes according to plan when we hit them their defensive lines will collapse, and even if their defensive lines don’t collapse the damage they’ll suffer damage to their infrastructure will force them to abandon the sector.”

Civet : " And what if they fight?"

Lt-Juvil : “ They would be trapped between two fleets with a deficit of 50000 ships; not even the Migon would be fanatical enough to fight on with such odds against them.”

Aurora : “ This is just the First Phase; what will really make a difference to the material conditions of people on the ground is what we do when the Migon Retaliate.”

Disato : “ How bad do you think it’s going to be?”

Dirang : “ They’ll hit the O’con Federation Hard; that goes without saying! Then they’ll either attack the Humans, the Nabi Federated Kingdom, the Azlecks, the Vradon Republic or the Kulnet; quite possibly all of them.”

Naole : “ We are talking on the scale of about that which decimated Earth! Over 2000 Migon BattleSpheres supported by at least 10 Migon BattleCylinders. They’d be looking to wipe out entire worlds.”

Civet : " Can you even stop something like that?"

Lt-Juvil : “ With Vortex Jump Technology; Yes!”

Aurora : “ Everything depends on how things go with the O’con Federation.”

Dirang : “ The Security of the O’con Federation Overrides everything else.”

Holnari : “ The O’con Federation is the only one we can’t afford to lose.”

Naole : “ If the O’con Federation falls the entire Galaxy could fall! This could happen regardless of what any of the major powers do from that point onwards!”

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