Timelines
Timelines is a collection of works we wrote for the various Evelon II Studios stories that we eventually decided to replace for what we have today. Many of us don't typically plan too far ahead, so every so often we write something we don't exactly like. Each story starts off where it diverged from the true timeline, and ends at a point that we decided to rewrite. Many of them end in cliff hangers that will never be resolved because of this. In each one we put a After Thoughts section at the end to explain why that story path was the wrong one. We're not saying these stories aren't canon. Multiple timelines has always been a fascination of ours. Maybe there is a timeline out there in these universes where these things happened. Either way, by publishing these I hope to give people a glimpse at what could have happened, but didn't. Enjoy!
Avala: Spirits of the Mindscapes
Chardrik
From:
Book 2 - Part 1
Chapters 1 - 3
Chapter 1
She awoke with a start. The hearth was still warm, and the sky still dark. For a moment she wondered if it had been all just a dream. Everything she had done up until this point, was it real? The strange device on the wall confirmed it was real. She had once again nearly been fooled by the illusions of her quarters.
Avala changed out of her sleeping gown and into her uniform. She was still not used to the form fitting white suit. It was uncomfortable, and foreign to her. Commander Sylvia had said it was an honorary position. In truth few expected her to actually wear the uniform, yet she wore them anyways. The gold stripe indicated she held a position of command, though the only people she commanded were the other Avalans. Wearing it showed her support for the republic, and made it so few question her loyalties.
Today was one of the days in the human 'weekend'. Only a handful of people would be working. She did not like the idea of days when one did not work, it seemed like laziness to her. However it was the way things had been for the humans for millennia. She had been taking a midday nap to do things within her mindscape, and had slept longer than she had planned
She exited her quarters and headed down the hall. Alvaj, as she still called him, had invited her to the bar for a late day meal. She had never been there before, and did not know what to expect. Using the adjutant to direct her to her destination, she arrived a short time later.
A deep thumping sound came from the door, causing her to pause. What was going on in there? As she opened it, loud alien music assaulted her ears. Inside was dark with coloured lights flashing all over the place. She found it hard to see anything inside, but Alvaj's voice caused her to find him.
She walked over to him and the table he was siting at and pulled up a chair. This whole situation felt strange to her. Her people had bars where they served Etoor juice and food, but this was something else. Only the wealthiest of her people used chairs, tables, or beds that were off the ground. Also the music in the bars she was familiar were played by bards, with instruments like the Entaja Flute, the Hajah Harp, or the Wahlji Sitar, all peaceful instruments.
“Glad you decided to come,” Alvaj said to her.
“Sorry I'm late. I accidentally slept in. Time passes differently in there,” she replied lowering her head.
He nodded, “Its okay. I only just got here myself.” He made a motion towards a server then turned back to her, “You know, back three thousand years ago human bars used to sell something we called alcohol. Essentially the juice of fruit that is fermented,” he said to Avala, “But then there was a massive shortage. It was around the same time that we discovered the Nerafin. They started selling us their Serrai Drinks, non-addictive drinks with all the benefits of alcohol, but none of the down sides. We've been hooked ever since.”
She nodded absent-mindedly.
The server came over and casually asked, “what will it be today?”
“A light red Serrai for her, and a heavy green one for me, we still haven't decided on food,” Alvaj told them. Avala glared at him for ordering for her but he just replied, “I'm the one that's paying for it. Try it you might just like it. Besides I'll let you order your own food.”
Avala let out a sigh. She couldn't blame him for that. It was just that she had been reminded of the past. Back when he was infiltrating the Athakarins. Back when he was her husband. She had been forced to marry him when she was eight years old, due to her people's barbaric ways. He had chose her to protect her, but she had never seen it that way, not until much later. Alvaj had never attempted to make love to her, which she had been grateful for, but she always suspected he had been trying to break her emotionally. It was only when he blew his cover to her, and was forced to return to base that she realized the truth.
Laws of the Republic of Earth had prevented him from doing anything harmful to her, even while undercover. He had taken her in due to pity. Her parents were offering her to any man who could pay the highest, and Alvaj had gotten money forged by the Republic, in order to protect her. While they lived with each other, they had separate sleeping areas by the hearth, and he had never watched her change. Under his care he protected her from the worst of the treatment of women among her people. However the mere fact he did not hurt her had had caused her to believe he was attempting to hurt her psychologically, since enough damage had already been done to her when she was a child. She had learned to see that the men of the Republic were nothing like the men of her people.
She and Alvaj talked about these things and more, as the server brought two tall clear glasses of liquid. The red one was given to her, and the other to Alvaj. As she tasted it, she found it was delicious, but caused a weird feeling in her head. The two of them talked more, and when time came to order food, Avala ordered a Salisbury Steak, from the holographic menu. She had no idea what it was other than from the picture, but it looked tasty.
They talked until to food arrived, and then ate in silence. The food was amazing, she had never tasted anything so wonderful. Before they were finished the adjutant's voice called out to them. “I'm sorry to interrupt your meal Allan and Avala, but Commander Sylvia wants to see you immediately. She claims it is urgent.”
Avala did not want to leave her food. It tasted far too good. Alvaj however was already getting up from his meal. “Adjutant, transfer leftover meals to our quarters and keep them in food preservation fields,” he said aloud.
The food disappeared from in front of her, causing her to cry out. She looked at Alvaj with anger, that was some of the best food she ever tasted, and he had taken it from her.
He noticed her expression, “Really? You're upset at me over that?”
“I've never tasted anything so good,” she replied, upset at how he did not understand.
“We have to go.” To the waiter he added, “Have the adjutant charge my account.”
He walked out the door, and Avala begrudgingly followed. A while later, they arrived in Commander Sylvia's office. The commander was looking impatiently at them. Beside her a human woman with orrangish skin, and wearing alien clothing stood looking at them.
“There you two are,” Sylvia sighed. “We urgently need your help.” She pointed to the other person, “This is Uuntkau Varuu of the Uuron Horde. She's one of the Uunith, and she seeks some of her people to join the Avalans.”
“How do you propose doing that?” Alvaj asked. “We only know how to change Yajixa into Avalans.”
“Couldn't this of waited until after the food,” Avala sighed.
“We have a limited time to decide, otherwise we risk losing the chance to get the Uuron Horde as allies. And Allan, Avala might know a way.”
“Wait, they seek to ally with us?” Alvaj asked shocked. “Haven't we tried allying with them before? They always turned away our offers.”
“Yes but this time they came to us, along with countless others. Including the Empire of Twin Sisters, The Zorokon Empire, The Federation of Argranas, and the Drinn Empire. They all seek the same thing, access to the powers of the Yajixa, without the loyalty to the Yajiran council of ten.”
“We all have the same enemy, the Yajirans have attempted to conquer all of us in the past, and all but you humans are vulnerable to their possession,” the near human said in a higher pitch voice that Avala was expecting. “You finally have something to offer us.”
“Why the time limit though?” Avala asked, still longing for the rest of her meal.
“Because every nation who has approached us offering an alliance in exchange of the power, is willing to take it by force if we don't deliver,” Sylvia responded coldly. “The bureaucrats have already agreed to the terms, without consulting us to see if its possible, as they usually do. Uuntkau has offered herself as a test, to see if its possible. If its not, then someone is going to have to get it through to the Prime Minister's thick skull that we can't do it.”
Avala nodded. She had an idea of what she had to do. “I think it would be possible,” she replied.
“Then get right to it,” Sylvia replied, “We don't have much more time.”
Avala closed her eyes, and left her body. She gently entered the mind of the being before her.
She found herself in ruins floating among a void, just like her mind had once been. There was no life to be seen. No plants, animals, or people inhabited this mindscape. It was empty, as Avala knew it would be. She looked around, attempting to find suitable spot for the Echarikith Crystal. Eventually she found a open area big enough to hold it.
She focused, calling on the powers within her. She first called upon the Chardrik, her massive source of power, to allow her will to be manifested here. Then she called upon the Echarikith within her, called Entrallia, to empower the crystal she was making. She did not call upon Deabla, the former Yajixa empress, since her power was most useful in battle.
Within moments, a massive crystal formed in the center of the ruins. It softly glowed and hummed showing it was active. Though nothing seemed to happen, Avala knew that she had been successful. With a thought she exited the mindscape, and exited out through the void.
Avala awoke back in her body, both she and the alien woman were lying on the ground. Picking herself up she looked around, it appeared as if only a few moments had passed since she entered the woman's mind. Sylvia was helping the Uuntkau stand up. The alien, had a look of confusion on her face, as if she was unsure of what had just happened.
“Is it done? Do I have the power now?” the Uunith asked.
“Yep,” Avala nodded, “You should.”
“You will probably need training to use it properly,” Alvaj added, “Avala's not the person to do that, but the some of the other Avalans are good teachers.”
The woman shook her head, “Not now, I need to get back to my people. I will need something to show the others though,” she replied. “Will others see the power when they look into my mind?”
Avala was surprised by that question. She knew the Athakri were able to see into other minds, and so were the Yajirans, but she had assumed it was only them. It would make sense that all descendants of Echarikith Cast Offs were able to do it. It would probably be their only defence against the Yajixa.
“What do your people normally see in Yajixa?” Avala asked.
The woman chuckled, “The souls of the dead. Though I doubt I'd have that right now.”
“No you wouldn't. Unless someone died nearby that we didn't know about,” Commander Sylvia replied jokingly.
Avala thought for a moment. If they threw morals to the wind they could use the LR-VRP to create a living being so that the new Avalan could absorb a soul. She shook her head at the thought. They needed something else. Then it hit her, she needed to transfer a willing soul from her mind to the woman's before her. To do that, she would have to create a link though.
She attempted to connect to the Uunith's mind. With a thought the link was established, and a few willing souls passed through. The woman's eyes went wide when she sensed this happening.
“What are you doing to me!” she screamed.
“I just transferred a few willing souls to your mind,” Avala replied, “I rescued them from the mind of Yajixa I had killed. They wanted to help you.”
“Some of these are my own people,” Uuntkau cried, before calming down. “But I suppose I have something to show now.”
“Wouldn't it be better if it were Yajirans souls she had in her mind,” Sylvia asked. “I mean, her own people would get suspicious if they saw their own kind.”
Uuntkau shook her head, Avala was not surprised an alien used that motion since she had a while ago learned it had come originally from the Echarikith. “My people can see the state that the souls within a Yajixa are in. They are often struggling to escape and to be free. If these ones are willing, then they should see that as well,” she performed a strange motion that appeared to be some sort of bow. “I should return to my people. They should know that the power was successful. I will return for the training later. May the Great Ones protect you.” with that she turned an left.
Sylvia turned to Avala, “I'll inform the diplomats to proceed. You better get ready though, you'll have a lot of work cut out for you. Two dozen from each nation is the deal.”
Avala smiled, the Avalans would soon grow in number, and the humans would get new allies. This was the perfect arrangement. What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter 2
Before Avala stood the hundred and sixty seven candidates to become Avalans. There were at least a dozen races that would be given the powers. From the Uuron Horde there was the near human Uunith, the white bird people Uucoth, and mountain size turtle like Uuron with worlds under there shell. There was female only, and always conjoined twins, know as Saolavis from the Empire of the Twin Sisters. From Zorokon Empire there were the super agile, bladed tailed, three eyed humanoid Darthala; the plant-like Walathz, a mix between a Venus fly trap and a tree; and the small, long limbed rodent Zaidje. There was also the two races from the Federation of Argranas, the fifteen limbed, bird faced octopi known as Chaun, and the always invisible Whilloe who could only be seen a distortion in the air. The Wrakta beast looking humanoids called Drinn from the empire with the same name were also among them. And Lastly there was the Egrogans and the Nerafin.
Avala took a deep breath and left her body. She gently entered the first aliens mind. She found a spot within for the Echarikith Crystal, using her power to form it into place. Leaving that mind she entered another repeating the process.
All was going well until she had completed around fifty. As she entered another mind she found it was not empty like it was supposed to be. Instead countless souls filled it, all of them in a deep sleep. She looked around, this shouldn't have been the case, what was going on.
She sensed around but found no sign of an enslaved Echarikith or Chardrik, so this was most likely not a Yajixa. However there was also no other sign of anything that should have caused this. She investigated the souls within. She had never seen anything like them, each one appeared to be a unique species. This left her with even more questions as to where she was.
A voice behind her startled her, “You are finally here.”
Avala turned to look for the source of the voice. It was Echniath the first Echarikith she had every met. Her body was that of a young Yajiran girl with red head scale strands and purple eyes.
“What are you doing here?” Avala asked her.
The girl laughed, “Silly mortal, this is the Echarikith Consciousness' mind. One of us posed as one of your candidates, so that you would come here.”
“Why?” she asked, still confused.
“To warn you. And to show you something,” Echniath replied, no longer looking in a good mood. She waved her hand at all the sleeping beings. “These are all our enslaved kin. Countless in number. All suffering while the rest of us build up our civilization again.”
She began to have tears in her eyes as one of them began to dissolve. “Something is happening to them. Something very bad. Their souls are being consumed by something.” Avala can tell the girl is upset “I fear the Yajixa no longer need our power. They have found a new source, and are destroying our kin that they no longer need.”
Avala immediately knew what that new source was. “The Chardrik,” she quietly said.
Echniath nodded and closed her eyes. “The elite among the Yajixa are killing and absorbing the souls of the Chardrik, enslaving them to use their power.”
“How can we stop them?” Avala asked, afraid that there was no answer.
Echniath shook her head, “I don't know. The Chardrik also absorb the souls of those they consume, just not in the same way as the Yajixa. They are incredibly intelligent beings, and they hate the Yajixa, but they lack the ability to truly defend themselves.”
Avala tried to think. There had to be some way of stopping the Yajixa from claiming the Chardrik. “How many Chardrik are there?” she asked.
“There are whole regions on the edge of the galaxy with almost every asteroid and small moon having one,” Echniath replied. “However all Chardrik are linked by means even we don't understand. The Salimith are able to move from Chardrik to Chardrik without leaving their bodies. That means that if the Yajixa can find out how, they can access the home galaxy of the Chardrik, giving them access to an unlimited number of Chardrik to absorb.”
Avala shuddered at the thought of the Yajixa having access to that kind of power. The Chardrik that she had accidentally absorbed had willingly gave her significant amounts of power, allowing her to be near unstoppable. But when she had faced off against a Yajixa fuelled by one she found herself unable to compete. If every Yajixa drew from the power of the Chardrik, then they would truly be unstoppable.
Avala needed to find a way of preventing that. She looked at the Echarikith for advice, but she merely shook her head. “I have no Idea either. What we truly need is some way of defending all the Chardrik at once, but that won't be possible. The Echarikith can't make that many new drones that quickly. And you can't make enough Avalans that quickly either.”
“Maybe the Chardrik inside me knows something?” Avala finally sighed.
Echniath looked confused by that, “Who have a Chardrik inside you?” she sounded afraid.
Avala nodded. “The one we were in several cycles ago. When it died, I absorbed it. I found it decided to serve me willingly. I haven't managed to find out why yet.”
Echniath stared at her as if trying to peer into her thoughts. “Is our kin still inside you? Why have you not released her then?” she sounded angry, and was visibly getting ready for a fight.
“I still need her!” Avala cried out, the quickly explained, “Without her I couldn't make new Avalans. She is was empowers the crystal that give them their power!”
Echniath lowered her guard at that, sighing. “I suppose that makes sense. I just miss her, that's all. I suppose the first time she used pieces of herself?”
Avala nodded, “She spent the time since your core was made to regenerate herself. Now she uses her link to the Core instead.”
Echniath chuckled and shook her head. “That sounds so much like her. The way she would just give part of herself like that if she thought it would help,” the girl looked at her smiling. “You should probably return to finish your job. Then you should find a way to talk to the Chardrik.”
As she said it Avala felt herself being ejected out of the mindscape. Next thing she knew she was back with the candidates, as if nothing had happened. She finished her work, making them all Avalans, then returned to her body.
Alvaj was standing nearby. When he saw Avala stand up he turned to the candidates, saying, “You should all have the powers now. However that does not mean you will know how to use it.” He looked at each of them in turn. “Part of the agreements with your peoples are that you get trained to use your powers. To that end we are sending you to Evelon II to the city of Ecrekio, recently captured by the republic. That is the headquarters of the Avalans, what you are all now called. It will serve as a place to train you. Any questions?”
Nobody said anything. Most of them were military, so asking questions was not in their nature. He nodded and began to lead them out of the area. Avala stopped him, quietly saying, “One of them was a Echarikith.”
He looked at the new Avalans, then back at her, “What do you mean?”
She quickly explained to him what had happened in as few words as possible. Finally he nodded. “I'll inform Commander Sylvia. You should head into you mindscape as soon as possible. We can't let the Yajixa get any more powerful.” He then motioned to the new Avalans and led the into the rest of the complex.
Avala returned to her quarters, got the adjutant to light the hearth, then lay down on the pillows. She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. As sleep took a hold of her she felt as though she was spiralling downwards.
She open her eyes. She had awoke within the Chardrik inside of her mindscape. It must have sensed she wanted to talk to it. She looked around her. She appeared to be in some sort of large chamber. Several eyes were set into the wall, constantly observing her. She could see no exits from this chamber, which for a brief moment made her afraid.
She cleared her throat and nervously began speaking, “Hello? Can you hear me?”
A voice echoed through the chamber she was in, “What do you want little one.” She had heard this voice once before, when she had first found herself in a Chardrik. She had at the time assumed it had been one of the Salimith, yet it appeared as though it had been the Chardrik itself.
“The Yajixa are killing and absorbing more of your kind,” she spoke. “I need to find a way to stop them.”
“Is it that you care about my kind? Or is it your afraid of the power they steal from us?” the voice said.
Avala thought for a moment. To her it seemed wrong to be enslaving any soul, even the Chardrik. However she was indeed afraid of the power the Yajixa were claiming. “A bit of both, really,” she finally said.
The Chardrik's voice echoes around her, “You are wise then. To seek to stop them only out fear, or only because you feel its wrong would be foolish. It is only both together that causes a need to stop them.” It paused. “I am called Uiyahchi. Let me tell you a story...”
Chapter 3
“Four billion light years away lies our home,” the Chardrik began. “We called it the Chari Galaxy. Eight billion years ago we were sent out, as seed pods, to claim new territory, do you know why?”
Avala shook her head, something about the way it said it made her think it was sad.
“An alien being from another galaxy, the Yakya as they called themselves, came and began harvesting our bodies for food and resources. Countless of our kind were killed, countless more suffered for eons. The seed pods were sent out in every direction, in hopes they would find someplace safe to call home.”
Images started appearing around Avala. She saw a truly alien race that looked unlike anything she could describe other then the countless blades and mouths covering its limbs and body. She saw these creatures come in strange vessels and impale themselves into a Chardrik's body. They left the crashed vessels and began tearing away at the meat of the world creature.
As they used the meat to feed their survivors, a massive one of these creatures, came out of the vessel and began spitting out a strange slime everywhere. Avala watched as the slime grew into shapes and eventually became more of these creatures, that she knew they were the Yakya that the Chardrik had told her about.
Each one was different, but they all were covered in blades and mouths. Some had many limbs, some had none. Some had hands and talons, others simply had more blades. Some had eyes set into their bodies, while other had them attached to stalk, while even others did not seem to have any eyes. Some seemed to have long bodies, wile others had short ones. Each one was unique.
The queen, as Avala figured it was, kept spitting out that slime, as the Yakya continued to mine away at the meat and bones. Eventually they discovered things that Avala realized must have been organic MELT tunnels. Soon they were in other Chardriks and more of the Queens started being born.
Avala watched as they expanded, throughout a galaxy full of Chardriks, with the only desire to feed and reproduce. Then Chardriks began spitting out countless small pods out their bodies in all directions.
Suddenly it seemed the Yakya stopped their consuming and instead gathered resources to create vessels that they used to leave the broken remains of the Chardriks. Those that remained, refused to eat, and after what appeared a short time began evolving into countless different plants and animals. Avala was confused, what happened.
The images faded and the Chardrik continued to speak, “We eventually made contact with the Yakya. We discovered that they had not known we were sapient, just like we had believed they were animals. It was shortly after us children were sent out.
“We began learning more about them. They were creatures of rapid evolution. Their religion taught them that their only purpose was to travel to worlds without sapient life, but that still had life, and consume all the life their until there was nothing left. In doing so, when they would begin to starve they would evolve to countless new species. They were against consuming sapient creatures, and thus when they realized what we were they made vessels to leave. Those that remained refused to eat, and evolved.”
“These new creatures became guardians of our home galaxy. Each one was sapient, and they all knew they owed a debt to the Chardrik. They helped my kind heal and return to good health. They began making civilizations among our bodies, building kingdoms that lived in harmony with us.”
“When the seed pods that were send out landed in this galaxy. We learned of all that had happened back home as we grew. The Chardriks new defenders did not come to this galaxy, due to the fact that their was countless life already here. They assumed something would defend us, and they were right, for a time.”
“However when the Echarikith fell, they left behind meagre defenders, who barely knew how to defend us. We could not get a message to our kin fast enough, since unless we can have a lesser being send the message through, we have very little chance of making contact.”
The Chardrik finally paused. Avala thought over all that it had said. She knew what would have to happen, someone would have to carry the message through the organic MELT tunnels. “We could carry a message,” she finally said.
“That was what I was hoping. But you must be warned, the Yajixa are in nearly every one of my kin in this galaxy. You will have to act fast else there may be nothing of use left,” the Chardrik replied.
Avala shook her head, “Once they know about the connection between Chardriks, they will keep one alive. They would not pass up that kind of advantage.
After Thoughts
This was another attempt at writing the first part of book two. While I admit it would have made a good story, I was finding it not flowing well at all. It was also quite difficult to write. Many of the races in here will eventually show up in the main story. And it is quite possible the story about the Chardrik is in the main cannon. It is even possible I will reuse the idea of the Yajixa killing off the Echarikith consciousness. Things that have changed however is the Chardrik were indeed violent and expansionist. They used these races that defended them to launch attacks against the ancient Echarikith, which led to armies being created to fight against them. These armies later became many of the sapient races of the Galaxy, since only they had enough members to truly reproduce enough to survive three million years. Eventually by the time I got midway through chapter 3 of this, I realized things weren't going so well. The odds against them seemed too great. By the time I got a solid story out for book two I had realized that the main enemy of the story isn't the Yajixa. The main enemy is Namjila, thus her presence is felt through every part of book two, leading up to the realization of her true power and goals.