Human Time Line

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

Human Time Line

Book Four -The Renascent Epoch of Mankind

Chapter 2 Operation Archangel

Mundane Duties

The Union Explorers Agency (UEA) exploration teams continued on their journeys throughout the Elysium universe. As was their duty & responsibility, First Contact was only made when the necessary requirements were fulfilled. Although at first, First Contact was haphazard & sometimes counter productive, with experience this had become a highly successful operation.

A number of discoveries were thus made by the SSS in regards to the Elysium universe. To begin with, it was no where as large as the real time & space one from which they had originated from. In fact it was not much larger than the space (or volume) of the Milky Way galaxy. Unlike that galaxy, however, or for that matter the entire real time & space universe, the Elysium was a globe that was "circled" or "surrounded" by the real time & space universe.

Another discovery made by the UEA teams was the limited number of species in the Elysium universe. After final analysis of the data, only 92 species were known to exist. (As a footnote, there was no evidence found of the Essence Ancients or the Delquin). All of them, except those of the Elysium Union (EU), had developed their own individual civilisations & had deliberately remained that way. Only the EU contained a multi-specie population, albeit largely populated by the SSS.

Of the 92 civilisations, most were classified as peaceful. Only eight were placed upon the Boycott list that the Assembly had established. These civilisations were to be avoided at all costs for their activities were considered hostile. Strangely, & thankfully, none of the Boycott civilisations had any dealings with others in the Elysium universe (or each other). Whether it was because all but one of them where corporeal, & thus aware of their limitations against non-corporeal species was not established. This, however, had not stopped them crossing over into the real time & space universe in order to conduct their activities.

In a similar fashion, the peaceful civilisations more or less kept to themselves as well. A few, however, kept contact of a familiar fashion with others, while a large number made no attempt at contact at all apparently happy to live in isolation. More importantly, though, all of the "peaceful" civilisations kept their distance from the Boycott lists ones, regardless of how potentially powerful the peaceful civilisations were. It appeared to be some unwritten rule that the Elysium universe was to be free of conflict.

That, however, did not mean that everyone in the peaceful group clearly got along. For some reason few of the others mentioned anything about the Ongoum. In fact it appeared that only the EU had anything to do with them. Whether it had anything to do with the fact that the Ongoum were corporeal could not be determined. The Ongoum never discussed the subject freely & when asked avoided the topic or supplied no useful information.

The EU were not solely innocent themselves when dealing with a sensitive past. In one example, a UEA team let it slip to the Orville that some contact was once made with the Essence Ancients of time past. The Orville reacted in the same way as the Tempilous had with the Ongoum. The only added comment was that the Orville were glad that the Essence were no longer around. Thankfully, the Orville did not even bother to inquired as to their fate. It was as if the destruction of the Essence meant nothing to them. Needless to say, no one, not a UEA team member, a EU ambassador or simply a private traveller mentioned anything to anyone about the Delquin.

The UEA clandestine teams, though, had begun continuous observation of the Boycott civilisations. Contact was also kept with the friendly ones, especially with the Ongoum & the Tempilous. Another civilisation known as the Compa, who although somewhat isolationist, decided to allow contact at a high governmental level. But it was towards the Boycott civilisations that the most important discovery was made in the Elysium universe.

The Things One Sees

Prior to the catastrophic Vale Gateway experiment, all the Elysium universe civilisations could cross the barrier into the real time & space universe with little effort. Most, however, remained. The exception being a couple of the Boycott civilisations. It was noted from the first observations that crossovers occurred constantly. Alas the early observations were conducted prior to the setting up of the UEA & by individual amateurs. Even after the failed Gateway experiment, when the first explorers had followed the amateurs, little documentation took place as to the activities of the Boycott civilisations. Of cause they had not been placed on the Boycott list until later. Furthermore, only two of the eight had been stumbled across by amateurs & thus where soon to be forgotten. It was only after the successful UEA First Contact with the Ongoum that a centrally managed documented knowledge base was established followed by organised exploration.

Since then more was discovered about the Boycott civilisations. But before UEA teams could be organised to follow the missions of the Boycott civilisations into real time & space, the Vale Gateway catastrophe occurred: the results of which ensured that no one dared to crossover.

That was until UEA Clandestine team X-ray observed the Apparitions conduct what was clearly a successful crossover. Several previously had failed. This was not a surprise as it was assumed by everyone in the EU, not to mention the entire Elysium universe, that a crossover was now impossible. But somehow the Apparitions had discovered a solution.

Immediately upon becoming aware of this, Michael the current head of Clandestine operations, set up a team to analyse the Apparitions discovery. X-ray team was ordered to continue their observations & it was not long before they were rewarded with another successful crossover test by the Apparitions. Several personnel at UEA wanted to attempt crossovers themselves, but this was barred by Gabrielle the new head of UEA.

The "crossover team" quickly discovered that a certain target date, in the real time & space universe, was the key. But before this could be determined, Lucifer called a meeting of the Assembly as such a discovery had serious ramifications. Soon debate was as heated as ever. Lucifer declared that "… the Apparitions discovery requires a response on our behalf that could trigger war. Coincidently, If they are able to learn that the Vale Gateway catastrophe is connected to us, then they & possibly others will turn on us." It was a concern that touch upon many. Yet no one really had an answer.

Amongst this uncertainty, UEA continued to observe the activities of the Apparitions. Now that they had certified that crossovers could take place, so long as the Apparitions kept to their " crossover formula", they returned to their previous activities. In another observation, the UEA X-ray team pointed out that prior to the recommencement of Apparitions crossover activity, the entire specie appeared to have become sick, if that was the appropriate word to use. Regardless of the word, Team X-ray further commented that once the Apparitions had returned to their activities in the real time & space universe, whatever had effected the specie had been reversed. No one could offer an explanation for this occurrence.

The "crossover investigation team" took no notice of the health or otherwise of the Apparitions. The team was concentrating on a theory as to why the Apparitions were able to crossover. Importantly, it was also noted that none of the other civilisations of the Elysium universe were able to repeat that which the Apparitions had achieved. The consensus was the same everywhere: access to the real time & space universe had ceased due to some event that had reset time itself & that an impenetrable barrier ensured any crossover was impossible.

The UEA agreed with their contacts throughout the Elysium universe. Gabrielle, regardless of his own personal wishes, issued orders to all UEA teams not to disclose the fact that they were fully aware that the Apparitions had succeeded were everyone else had failed. One of the inevitable outcomes of the Assembly debates on the matter was the decree that any knowledge of the Apparitions success was declared ultra secret. No one was to mention it outside of the UEA, let alone the EU.

After much analysis of the Apparitions crossover data, Michael noted that clear patterns had developed in the crossovers. As it was already known that a date in the real time & space universe appeared to be the key in the success of the Apparitions, it was decided to concentrate on discovering this date. This was further simplified now thanks to the fact that 1000s of crossovers had taken place; all of which occurred at or prior to this mystery date. Unfortunately the Apparitions were using their own calendar that was totally foreign & it appeared that there was no way that it could be translated into the SSS one. That meant that a team would have to use the Apparition data exactly. Then once the team had arrived (if they survived), they would reverse engineer the date from the real time & space universe end.

Mary was chosen to lead the first Guardian mission. Although technically a UEA clandestine operation, it was considered that due to the unknown destination that was awaiting the team, Guardians were the best option available. Even though Lucifer expressed concern, the Assembly gave its authority to the mission. The success of the mission in discovering the target date turned out, however, to be a mere anticlimax. It was the discovery of what the Apparitions were up to in real time & space that truly livened things up.

Rationales

On the return of the Guardian crossover mission, the collected data was immediately shared with the UEA community. This quickly spread to the entire UE. Needless to say the Assembly was called into session to debate the findings & consequential reactions that the UE would have to make. It was a difficult & confusing debate that had two parts, but the two very quickly became intertwined as the successful discovery of crossover led to the more alarming one.

Essentially, Michael’s theories had proven to be correct. SSS could cross the Vale & into the space-time continuum. There was, however, one restriction. Our existence in the realm of real time & space would be extinguished if any individual attempted to arrive after the Homo sapien date of 1945.

Before 1945, though, travel was unlimited. It appeared that 1945 was the key date to the Human race. The First Age was unaffected by NGW’s catastrophic Vale Gateway experiment. In fact, considering what Humans went on to achieve, 1945 was the key date for the universe. Alas only the SSS (& the other Vale civilisations) knew of what they had achieved. In fact we would not now exist if it was not for our ancestors the Humans.

The Assembly immediately went into debate over the confirmation of Michael’s success. Naturally, this discovery would mean that SSS could go back & monitor, if not influence, Human behaviour prior to 1945. Such interference was always banned in the old days of federations & commonwealths, but now things were different.

They were different thanks mainly by the more important discovery. The Guardian team had followed, at a discrete distance, a group of Apparitions. As a result the team discovered what the Apparitions were up to in the real time & space universe. Although no particular location was targeted, in fact there appeared to be several as could be assumed by numerous groups of Apparitions, the group that the Guardian team followed led them to Earth. Although the team was not authorised to conduct such clandestine operations, curiosity had gotten the better of them.

Before Mary could give the team’s full report, Lucifer interrupted claiming that the Guardians had broken protocols & the Assembly should investigate the matter. Gabrielle defend the team’s decision & requested that Mary should complete the report. This was given the Assembly’s grace & not before too long everyone was stunned. Debate immediately erupted. Demands of retribution, crimes, war & cries of justice against the Apparitions were made. Soon a "war party" was clearly formed that wanted to immediately attack the Apparitions.

It was quickly pointed out by Sariel, however, that the Guardians are but small in number. It was clearly evident that the Apparitions were accustomed to war like conditions. Thus the EU would be no match for any foolhardy frontal assault on them. Furthermore, Uriel pointed out that "… violence in the Elysium universe was against the unwritten rules & that a war would, without question, have unforeseen consequences: consequences against us all." There had to be another way that ensured that justice was done.

Uriel went onto argue that the "… Guardian units could be dispatched to the real time & space universe to avert & intercept marauding bands of Apparitions. Battle could thus be made on our terms. But above all we will be able to safeguard the Earth & all the other planets that in under danger of the Apparitions."

Many in the Assembly agreed, even though there were dissenters. It did not take long, however, before discussion of Uriel’s idea developed further. When it appeared to be the right moment to introduce possibly the grandest mission ever, Gabrielle, once again, raised the issue to another level. Operation Archangel, as outlined by Gabrielle, was soon centre of the debates. It would be a never ending mission to oversee the development of, not just mankind, but possibly the existence of the universe itself. Naturally intercept of Apparitions attacks would be included, but now an entire manifesto was placed before the Assembly.

Yet Operation Archangel would have its distracters. Leading the opposition in the Assembly, Lucifer argued that the previous policy of non-intervention was the correct one. He was against intervention with Homo neo-luminous & was even more so against it now with Homo sapiens. "Let life take its course as nature intends. Our meddling may only destroy that which should survive. Remember, we are not gods, angels or any other mythical being - we are & always will be Humans!"

No one disagreed with Lucifer that mistakes had been made in previous endeavours. But that was prior to much needed reforms that had taken place that saw the formation of the EU, the Assembly & the UEA. Few, however, were convinced that non-intervention in the current situation would lead to ultimate destruction. Most, after being informed of the activities of the Apparitions, were convinced that, even though a direct war in the Elysium universe could not take place, a war, albeit limited, in the real time & space one was necessary. But it was essentially Gabrielle’s vision of Operation Archangel that convinced many, for the very first time, of their raison d’etre.

It soon became clear, regardless of the opposition created by Lucifer, some Humans, some Vargary & some Unis among others, & not to mention all of the Lyonies, that Operation Archangel would gain a majority of support in the Assembly. Unfortunately, many of the debates had a bitter ring to them & the Lyonies refused to partake in any form with Archangel. The supporters of Archangel, in turn, refused to believe that the Lyonies would turn their back, not only on their fellow EU partners, but also on their ancestors who were also targets of the Apparitions. Although no one was concerned at this stage about the future of the EU, the strains of this fundamental moment would be the seeds for future troubles.

Guardians Triumphant

Even though it took little time to authorise Operation Archangel, implementing it was another matter. Priority was the problem not to mention personnel numbers. Although the Guardians had been established for some time now, they were still in limited numbers. The Assembly, as a result of the pending missions, had authorised a dramatic increase in their numbers. It still, however, took a considerable amount of time & effort in training, even for a powerful entity like a SSS, the necessary military skills to be ready for what would surely follow.

Another problem, again over priority, was the various missions themselves. Although Archangel was solely run by UEA, it was nevertheless a large & varied operation - possibly the largest undertaking of its kind in history. The longer established explorer teams wanted priority with their new missions of exploration & specie guidance intervention. The Guardian units, on the other hand, wanted priority in order to intercept & destroy the Apparitions. To at to the competition, even the clandestine teams wanted priority in Operation Archangel & apply their skills on missions that involved places like pre-Ancient Essence, the old Blurgiss Empire & so on. To add to the tension at UEA, the Assembly demand action now.

In Gabrielle’s opinion, he only had one choice. The Guardians would be the first to commence operations for Archangel. As far as he was concerned, the threat to Earth, Vargary, Zargah Prime, Drey & Honshu were first priorities. Even Lyonies would be protected regardless of the opposition raised by the Post-Catharsis Lyonies in the Assembly. In concert with the Guardians, the clandestine teams would also be involved in the operations. They would not, however, get to conduct missions that they had wanted, but would supplement the Guardians by acting as advanced scouts.

The explorers of the UEA would have to wait until the immediate crisis had finished. As a response to this policy, many of them became troubled by the way the UEA had subsequently developed. No longer was it an institution of peaceful exploration. Now it had taken on all the characteristics of a military organisation. To many, it brought back memories of the FGCP days when the United Defence Forces (UDF) were often in competition with civilian United Planetary Explorations (UPX). And often, particularly during times of tension & unease, UPX had lost out to the interests of the UDF. Furthermore, the explorers were not the only ones to notice this development & soon debates had commenced in the Assembly over the issue. Age old arguments, once thought dead & again been rekindled.

Noting the beginnings of moves against him, Gabrielle had little choice but to give the orders to commence the first stage of Operation Archangel. UEA Clandestine Teams began to infiltrate the planets that were under threat. In amongst the confusion that ruled these planets, both the clandestine teams & Apparitions went unnoticed. Obviously both were non-corporeal species so the young worlds that they were on never knew that they were there, but more importantly the confusion, noise & excitement ensured that the Apparitions went about their business without noticing the UEA spies.

Everything that Team "Mary", the first team to document Apparitions activity, was quickly discovered to be true if not more so. It was confirmed that the Apparitions were feeding upon the life energy or souls of their corporeal victims. Literally tens of thousands of Humans (Homo Sapien), Vargary, Lyonies, Zargah, Honshu & Drey were feasted upon for their life force energy. As a consequence, these species did not have the technology available at this time in order to identify a non-corporeal being let alone the actual cause of death. They certainly had no chance of conducting any defence. In all cases, even though medical personnel were puzzled, the death of an Apparitions victim was put down to natural causes, such as heart or some other major organ failure. Considering this was all pre-1945 technology, knowledge & thinking, little else could have been concluded.

Although thus limited in such medical knowledge, to their credit medical personnel did rejected old myths & legends of vampires & other such nonsense. Nonetheless, no one over the centuries (of the SSS time line/ universe) could ever explain why vampire legends, of some form or other, existed on several planets & even in different societies on the same planet such as Earth. To the UEA clandestine teams such myths did not matter for they knew exactly why people were dying, & their job was to call in the Guardians.

It would not be unfair to describe the vengeful actions of the Guardians as troublesome. Unlike previous battles in ages past, there was no fog of war. Due to the fact that any one SSS was in constant communication with any other, what the clandestine teams witnessed was the same as what the Guardians saw. The only exception were the SSS in the Elysium universe. Because of the barrier that separated both universes, so too was any commination. Considering the dreadful fights that took place it was just as well.

The Apparitions were taken by surprise time & again. Just as the SSS in real time & space were cut off from all communications from the Elysium universe, so too were their enemy. Before the Apparitions knew it, it was they who were being hunted down through the ages. After they somewhat recovered from the first strikes, they fought back with some power. But unlike the Guardians who had disciplined their power for war against gods, the Apparitions had no such training or experience. Further plied against them, was the Guardian’s benefit of knowing exactly where their enemy was thanks to the clandestine units. The Apparitions had little chance.

Of the few victories that the Apparitions had, the revenge sought by the Guardians was terrible & violent. It appeared God had been awoken from slumber & His wroth unleashed. The various corporeal species were mostly ignorant of the war raging around them. Only a few occasions took place were individuals, or sometimes large groups, were witness so some evidence of the reality around them. These were often put down as "supernatural events", or in more scientific times, announced as fakes. Some events were even explained away, using some primitive scientific explanation that was closer to fiction, as a natural phenomenon.

Any of these explanations, that the corporeal species used explained the occasional "event", was fine with those involved with stage one of Archangel. It really did not matter what the corporeals thought anyway as long as the Apparitions were defeated. At first, the defeat of the Apparitions was successful, but few of the SSS had comprehended the fact that this war would go on for some time. As long as the Apparitions existed so they had to feed in order to stay alive. And if they could not get what they wanted in the real time & space universe & they would have to eventually turn their attentions to the Elysium one.

No one had foreseen how the Apparitions would react when it became clear that a secret war was being conducted against them. For the EU, the first stage of Operation Archangel was completely successful & now stage two of Archangel would soon commence. Needless to say, after the initial success of Archangel, stage two distracted everyone even further from any reverberations.

It is with some irony, that an old Human proverb seemed most relevant when recalling the events that followed:

What is past is prologue.

On to Chapter 3

This creative work is the property of David Mark Atwell.

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