Guyver AU - A Tale of What Wasn't

Running

3 Months AE (After Earth) The Ark

"We found them."

"And?" the single word conveyed far more than its meaning. There were layers of questions there. Where were they? Why weren't they dead? And more importantly, why wasn't one of them laid at his feet now?

"Combat was not advised my Lord."

"Oh?" again, so many meanings were carried in the single syllable. The man had learned the fine art of interrogation and despite the loss of position, the loss of everything, he maintained that ability.

"The preservation of the Ark was considered to be of paramount importance."

"You mean?"

"Yes, my Lord."

There was a snarl of anger but no further expression. The preservation of the Ark was of paramount importance, even to him. Moments passed and the air quivered with rage before it stilled as deliberate calm was enforced. "So they have been stealing the women?" the sentence was spat.

"Yes, my Lord." The man who had been sent to investigate remained kneeling. He did not tremble, he'd never trembled in the face of his Supreme Lord. That's why he had been chosen years ago to become one of the Lords of Chronos but he knew better than to show the slightest trace of disobedience now.

Alkanphel was angry. They all were. They had controlled the Earth, the perfect blue and white sphere that was the birthplace of humanity. There had been petty annoyances in the form of the Guyvers but they had been preparing rise, to leave the Earth and to take on Uranus, to take on those who had created them and then abandoned them.

But then they, Uranus, had returned. No one was ready and Uranus weren't interested in discussing things with their creations. They'd swept through the solar system, destroying every technological device they came across... which explained how they had known to return. Humans, ignorant, prideful, stupid humans had been the architects of their own demise. Uranus had heard the broadcasts from Earth and had known that the planet that should be dead was not. They were not going to fail a second time.

It had not been much of a battle. Uranus weren't interested in capturing specimens or samples. They wanted to return the planet to the point they believed it should have been. There hadn't even been time to open communications with the annoying Rebels but by reports, they too had at least attempted to fight in the futile defense of Earth. It was ended, as Uranus thought it had ended last time, with a single asteroid, flung towards the planet, that none of them had the strength to stop.

Alkanphel had tried but his Lords knew that he could not do it, even if it cost him his life, he could not stop that rock. They'd used a larger one this time. There was no escape. The Lords of Chronos were designed to lead humanity but they were entrusted with the task of protecting Alkanphel and that's what they did. They protected their lord. It cost three their lives but better that than the lives of everyone. It meant now that their Lord was confined to the power core of the Ark, generating the energy to power the vessel that they all needed to survive and Chronos was now short five Zoalords, one having been killed in the squirmishes against the rebels after having betrayed another.

Earth was gone. The crystal blue planet was now a mass of debris in space. Uranus would allow nothing else. They had left then, secure with the knowledge that the experiment was dead. It was the truth, save for a few tattered remnants who had made it to the Ark. They'd survived but their problems had only begun.

Five Zoalords dead meant that Alkanphel, weakened as he was, had to remain in the core of the Ark, providing the baseline power. The path forward then had been obvious. They had to find a new planet to settle in the vast array that was the galaxy, and they had to be stronger so that when Uranus found them, as they would invariably, the outcome would be very different. Except, Chronos, being Chronos, had rescued their troops, there were precious few women on board and they were now a resource that were too valuable to waste. They had been confined to the centre of the Ark and breed to the strongest.