Gabatrix: The Shira Maneuver

The time period is now. It is the 24^th century, as we have left the past behind us. The stars began to slow down as we are nearing our destination. Technically, we have no surviving names of the first worlds other than Itrea, the first homeworld in history. However, we keep the coordinates recorded, and with it, we know where we are heading to. Space has become the black void once again as we see the numerous glowing dots all around us. A single binary star comes into view. One is a yellow dwarf star, and the other an orange dwarf that is in synchronized harmony with one another.

We have a number of planets that orbit them, everything from gas giants to tiny moons. We focus on the area known as the habitable zone. This is an area where the temperatures are very similar to that of Earth's orbital range of Sol. It is a standard method for the search for life that even the Itreans are guilty of doing. It must have worked in the end because they found a world of paradise.

That is......of course......until we begin to zoom in on the planet. We finish our travel as you stare upon a world that has been ravaged. It isn't even spherical, but it is easy to tell that it once was. The world has been shattered into three pieces that still try to be in orbit as much as possible. We see floating hulks of ancient destroyed warships also in orbit. Even the two moons have been bashed repeatedly. The world's cracked surface holds numerous nuclear impact sights. Massive craters even show powerful weapon bombardment with enough firepower to smash mountains, the crust, and the mantle like it was nothing. There was once life here, but not anymore.

The Itreans call these sectors "Kota'Itrea'Nolala'Ko" as a fitting testament of the birthplace of the first colonized worlds of the Itrean clans. To the humans, we also call this "Dead Space," as it is nothing but a graveyard of death. Nobody comes to here, and the fear of the deceased, ghosts, or spirits looms that we don't wish to be here. The question is, what happened? All seemingly went well for the Itreans, and to have the gift of interstellar travel is one that should be celebrated. Yet, that wasn't the case.

Humanity matured......or at least I hope it has enough. With the gift of interstellar travel is that of the hauntings of the past. For the Itreans, the past remained in everyone's hearts. Ambition and greed yearned, and we came from a place where we had to kill and eat the other to survive. While there was a respect for nature, there was also the desire to bring harm to the others. Racism and discrimination were all but expected. Itrea'Nolala'Ko had transformed from a religion of found paradise to keeping the paradise. Species began to form clans, and the competition for resources combined with religious feuds, autonomy, and politics. This would finally drive the Itreans to commit genocide on a scale that humanity has never seen before. It was believed that powerful cannons were so enormous they could crack planets and were used against the other. It would become known as the Era of Death.

There is not even an Itrean word to define it. Such a waste of resources as habitable worlds was obliterated just because a war would come forth. Countless lives and experiences were discarded. Civilians and military were both alike as powerful anti-matter bombs and shells were used to destroy and kill everything just to prevent the enemy from getting a hold of it. Even the humans would call this "Scorched Earth Policy gone horribly wrong." It didn't happen all at once since the destruction of worlds was gradual. Regardless, the Itrean clans would unleash these weapons just to prove a point and to wipe the others out. As new colonies were founded, the surviving Itrean clans ventured away over hundreds of thousands of years of surviving recorded Itrean history. The search of living a peaceful life would be shattered as the warmongers bring about a new conflict to destroy planets again and again. The cycle continued for what some believed for millions upon millions of years.

It was once believed that there were numerous clans when it came to the Itreans as a whole. Some believed that there were once eleven different species all from a single planet. These clans remained hell-bent on eliminating the other. Speculation resides of who these other clans were due to the loss of history and destruction. From what is known was that there were the Yip'Turin Clan or the "Long Neck Walkers" that died out almost 900,000 cycles ago. There were the Gesh'Ot Clan or the "Tiny Dancers" that were smaller than the Yutilians. The Noo'dort Clan that were supposedly similar to the Yutilians, were all but gone within 200,000 cycles. For more recent history, it only consisted of five clans. The Palieran clan were next as they all but vanished. Finally, the Alara'jal clan would be the final victims leaving just the T'rintar, the Aksren, and the Shal'rein. Our fates are now left on each other.

This is one of the prime reasons why the Itreans barely expanded in technology. The cycle of finding peace to outright destruction was like a pendulum swing. We never learned and ever rarely ventured outward. I do not believe that the Itreans are psychotic but misguided over a maturity that never arrived. There must have been close calls for a final peace that came for some time. The desire for non-violence is a strong movement that has saved the lives of countless billions to even trillions. Regardless, the outcome was one that would punish us time after time. If only the humans can prove better than us........

Something did, however, occur that brought an end to Itrea'Nolala'Ko. Naturally, it was time itself that ate it away, but it was also the fact of clarity towards the religion itself. For the many descendants, wisdom was winning, and the people were beginning to see that the destruction of worlds was not necessary. The first example of this was within hundreds of thousands of years ago, a warlord Shal'rein clan leader decided to forgo unleashing a powerful volley that would obliterate a planet just because the opposition wanted autonomy. At the time, some questioned him why he did it as he said, "A conquered world will reward you even if it does not happen overnight." He instead conquered the planet with well-placed weapons-fire, and ground troops after years of brutal fighting. The people supposedly gave prized fish voluntarily to the warlord in thanks for not destroying their world in the conflict.

It is the first example of a colony world that would be spared from destruction that survives to this day. The people place a statue of the Shal'rein in honor of the man that spared them countless years later. It would highlight the region in the Milky Way Galaxy of conflict enlightenment that we know as "Old Space." While many of the worlds would be later abandoned in time due to the exhaustion of resources, some still have populations that find ways to restore and keep their planetary environments working correctly.

The search for the Promised Land had only brought death to us. Trying to keep the Promised Land had failed, and Itrea'Nolala'Ko would eventually be buried. Ironically, new ancient religions formed that even promised of finding the first homeworld that had become lost in time due to war and conflict. There was a supposed planet where all the Itreans came from. Upon finding it, a new era would begin of peace, happiness, and prosperity for all forms of life. Regardless of whom you were or what you were, Itrea would be a new home of unity. Even violence would be no more. What was a planet that the Itreans left millions of years ago lurked in our minds that perhaps one day, Itrea would be found again.

For a time, even before finding Earth, wars still persist as we tried to find new ways to kill each other. Biowarfare and bioengineering was a prime example. New diseases would be used over and over again as we found ways to improve our bodily defenses against them. While conflict enlightenment was apparent, the desire to wipe out other clans was still desirable that persists to this day. Violence is still in the hearts of all Itreans, myself included. This is a tale that you must learn if you are to continue with my story and learn what it is to be Shal'rein or any Itrean.

In order to learn about who I am, you must first realize the truth of the universe. You watch as the destroyed planet, the stars, and the floating debris all begin to turn dark. The light is fading more and more. One by one, each star begins to fizzle out. You are being enveloped in a shroud of darkness.

The fact is that eventually, one day, the stars will begin to burn out. Known as entropy, the concept is that regardless of what will happen, the universe will eventually become nothing but solid black in the next several trillions of years to come. Light will become exceedingly rare as only pulsars, and red dwarfs will remain until even they eventually become black husks of matter to float in an ever-expanding universe. Black holes will be dominant, and there will be no illumination. While it is true that we will never have to worry about the end of "The Era of Light" in our lifetimes, this fact remains something that brings the mildest form of anxiety to any known Itrean or human being.

You watch as everything goes dark till you only see nothing but black all around you. It is a first fact of my accepted reality of the universe. Entropy will happen no matter what. No light is here, and none of it will ever again. Our eyes that expected to see something has permanently failed, and there is no hope of ever getting it back. We have essentially gone blind. Fundamentally, this is what reality is and what it will become. To fear it is a waste of energy and resources. After accepting this reality, you have now committed to the second step.

This is what I foresaw long ago the moment the bomb detonated near me, and the disease struck one of my eyes and face. The darkness was all around me. I remember the fear that entered me as I knew that I could be permanently blind. The light was gone as the eye patch covered the only working one. The engineered disease was spreading, but the ad hoc cure introduced had stopped it. The destruction that it left on my right eye was something that could never be redeemed, and the doctors worked around the clock to save my remaining eye. For weeks I walked around and could see nothing. I begged for anything and everything that I could finally see. It was the first step that my father had taught me just after Zilik's Disease had taken his life. I took deep breaths and listened to audiobooks to help me continue to learn of the Itrean race, military strategy, and military history.

Through here, I learned more and more about what my father believed in, and that was emotional control threshold. It was the fact of embracing what could happen. I accepted that I would be blind for the rest of my life. My hearing had gotten better and better in the hospital. I even used my tilon to give off sonar pings so that I could track the environment around me. Entropy had entered me, and I realized that it became my religion. I learned to control most of my emotions and to keep myself under control regardless of whatever happens. In the end, I had nothing to fear. The darkness had become my companion while the others naturally feared it. I would sit in that hospital as I had found an inner power that most would never discover. In the end, my enemies could never truly stop me in battle.

I learned about something else that my father had also pushed onto me, and that was to use all your senses prior to battle. Among one of the things that resided with me at the hospital was the fact that I began to ponder the universe more and more. While sound was an ally to help me track things, there is an obvious fact of how the universe operates. This brings forth the third important factor of the universe, and that is the lack of audio sound. While in space, I myself cannot see and cannot hear those who wish to bring harm to me. This alone brings numerous problems in combat that I spent some time thinking of before the solution came to me that I listened to in an audiobook. It was an actual event that occurred over ninety thousand years ago.

On a distant colony world of Old Space lived a Shal'rein music composer and nuclear physicist named "Ton'Kor." This composer was famous for many melodies and songs that were dominant on his planet. Ton'Kor was well known by many. He was privileged with the ability to come up with beautiful themes that were on par with Beethoven of Earth and even had a similar life as to him as well. He lived a life of luxury while he helped promote minor improvements to the Direct Fusion Drives used on our ships. Sadly, much of his scientific achievements had become lost in time, but his music survived and was carefully recorded and still played to this day.

Sadly, Ton'Kor is one that always seems to get a pass by many of the Shal'rein. In a clan where trillions of lives exist, even famous individuals can naturally become muted in time among seas of people. In his world, he was well known, but to other places, he was just another Shal'rein. He didn't desire fame, but the ninety-six pieces of songs would be sung both on land and at sea. Among one of the famous composers, even had one song that could be sung both in the water and on the beach, allowing the Shal'rein lungs and vocal cords to reside in perfect tones. The music is rather interesting and beautiful to hear that words alone are not enough to describe it. Ironically, Ton'Kor wanted to be more remembered for his achievements with science rather than his music.

Unfortunately, wishing for such a thing would happen in the most unique way. The Yutilian clan had detonated a powerful bio bomb on the town that he lived in. While the disease was quickly contained, Ton'Kor was not so fortunate. Designed to cause blindness, failure of the respiratory system, and death, the Shal'rein had few options. Much as to my predicament that happened to me, this famous composer was told the news. While the disease had been temporarily halted, it was slowly eating away his vision. He would be completely blind in an Earth year, and in another few months afterward, he would be dead. Nothing could be done about it, and even regenerative abilities could not restore it.

It is said that upon being told of such news, Ton'Kor simply took a deep breath and walked into his laboratory alone. In a couple of Earth days, he went to the public and turned to his fans worldwide. He politely asked that he wanted access to the largest nuclear lab ever made. He told them of his predicament and claimed that he had one last song that he wished to make. He promised that it would be the best-composed music that ever existed. Interestingly, they gave him what he requested. He had access to a space station laboratory where they conducted tests on small mini nuclear bombs that could be safely produced and detonated.

What happened would become one of the more interesting aspects for a composer to ever exist. Ton'Kor utilized his skills as a nuclear physicist to the best of his abilities. Witnesses watched as he would use a shuttle and create micro blasts in space. Visually, the sight was impressive, and there was much debate that he was going to use up the entire arsenal of nuclear warheads at the time. His skills were incredible, and he himself was creating a form of art that none ever realized. He even managed to make miniature versions of the Direct Fusion Drive core, where they would operate in space for months at a time before they would burn out. Meanwhile, he would continue to create micro pulses utilizing anything that resided with radiation.

The world watched the Shal'rein continue with his work. Some asked to have it stopped, while others were curious as to what was going on with this character. Was he going crazy with his light show? Was he already insane? Was he trying to prove something? All that the witnesses could foretell was that he would progress doing the same thing over and over again for months. Space was littered with multiple micro explosions. Ton'Kor even supposedly introduced the uranium and depleted uranium atom assembler. This would revolutionize the way that nuclear fuel rods and warheads could be manufactured, making things easier than having to find the fuel and mine it on some planet. When asked, Ton'Kor said that it was for his music composition.

Even with these inventions, the Shal'rein was still looked at with much regard and skepticism. What was the goal of his year-long escapade in the magnificent light show that he made? There was no sound in space. People could only see the light emissions from the tiny bursts and explosions. Each day, more and more of these were happening. The shuttle would get radiated over and over again. Even the Shal'rein regenerative abilities could not withstand the massive amounts of radiation he was pouring onto himself. In the end, it didn't matter as his disease was slowly eating away his body. He continued to promise that he was creating a masterpiece. Refinements were made over and over again in how he did it. His obsession was pushing the foundations of known Itrean technology to its limits. The mystery of Ton'Kor was on everyone's minds. Other planets were getting to know him more and more and wanted to see what he was creating.

Regardless, Ton'Kor was suffering. His vision was getting worse and worse as each day went by. Within half an Earth year, his vision was down to 60%. Within another two months, it was down to 40%. He had assistants that would help him walk around and give him any form of help that he could have. He purposely kept them away from the shuttle as they watched him at work.

The year-long light show in space was carefully recorded, and it survives to this day in the libraries of the Shal'rein and T'rintar clan libraries. It was getting to the point that Ton'Kor was coughing and hacking more and more as his lungs were giving out. By the eleventh month, his vision was down to 15%.

Finally, the final day had arrived. Ton'Kor had made the announcement that his composition was complete. Fans had believed that he made the great silent audio masterpiece of the celebration of the universe. He notified them all that he had one more thing to accomplish before his eyesight was gone entirely. With his assistants, he was brought to the grand theater of his world. With a chair and a button, he told everyone that his masterpiece was fully finished and ready for all to enjoy. By now, he could barely see the audience as his eyesight was down to 5%. He lifted up his hands and pressed the button as he sat down on his chair.

The theater watched as the Shal'rein's eyes had gone dark. The projection screen showed the recording of the pulses of light that he was doing since day one. While the explosions, pulses, and blasts were never that large, they produced a wonderful array of blue and orange light from his shuttle. In the distance was one of his floating fusion drive cores. A slow audio sound began to fill the auditorium. For the Shal'rein, it was something they had never heard of before.

"It was beautiful......" Ton'Kor remarked as he had but his ears to listen. He could not see the faces of the audience as the symphony had begun. He had nothing but black eyesight by now. Instead, the melody consisted of a low hum that would play. Each pulse or explosion would produce a pleasant buzz or melodic beeping sound to them. Meanwhile, the camera of his shuttle would focus on the fusion core to create a harmonious reverberating tone. Not only was the audience watching one of the most extended composed pieces of music, but it was indeed the greatest ever made.

Using a filter in his shuttle, Ton'Kor had converted electromagnetic radiation into a sound that was being played to everyone. The light show was only the disguise of what he was truly making. It was the sounds that he was harvesting from those blasts. He smiled from his chair as the audience stood up and raised their hands to honor the blind composer.