Gabatrix: The Shira Maneuver

With that, a powerful round exploded from the chamber. It took them off guard as the gun had gone off. The shot traveled to exactly where it was aiming. It struck the wall and penetrated it enough that it hit something inside. The chain reaction was monumental as the entire passageway section sent off an explosion of shrapnel and debris. Most of the blast was more of a concussive force that resulted in expelling the three directly into the other side of the wall. All of them were knocked out immediately. The explosion was deafening. It was enough that even Shira felt it and her hearing momentarily rung a little bit, although most of this was because the uncompleted magnum had no form of sound suppressor built into it. She was expecting this, however. Her hearing physiology even allowed her to handle some of the explosive blasts from the gunshot and explosion.

Simultaneously, Shira knew precisely what she was doing as she hunched over and turned around as quickly as possible. Her large shark tail swung around to her rear. She threw the uncompleted magnum directly into the marine's face. She knew that the man behind her was momentarily shocked. She had to get out of the way of the aim of the rifle. Much to her expectation, the marine was stunned by the combination of all the things that happened at once. Shira was onto him as she leaped at him. Amazingly, the man managed to pull the trigger of his rifle but, the Shal'rein was quicker. It barely grazed the right portion of her right breast as the bullet continued to travel forward outward, ricocheting around.

Before the marine knew it, Shira was on top of him. Despite how strong he was, Shira was more prominent and more robust. Her left hand grabbed and ripped the rifle from his hand as her right gripped his throat very carefully.

The marine was stunned as his eyes went wide. She could see the fear in his eyes as she knew that she had him. His ears were still ringing as she shoved him to the ground with a decisive toss from her arm. His body went sliding as he could still see what Shira was doing. The alien woman went and placed her hands on the rifle. She pressed the magazine release switch removing the magazine where she tossed it behind her. She then pulled the charging handle back with her two fingers to eject the unspent caseless round to the ground. She then threw the gun to the side as she could hear the alarms going off.

As the sound of the alert signal was sounding off, Shira decided to rest her back to the wall. Her tail fin stuck to the side as she stood comfortably to the back. There was no fire from the explosion. It was exactly what she envisioned what would happen. Most of her attention was directed at the three that were unconscious while keeping an eye on the marine every now and then. He was in no position to fight as he had been appropriately disarmed. The Shal'rein then decided to reach into her back pocket to pull out a small tin container. She opened it up to reveal a series of large cigarettes. She took one and put it to her mouth. Using a lighter, she lit it as she inhaled the delicate burning tobacco-like material. Taking a deep whiff of it, she relished the thought of everything that was about to happen. There was no remorse for her actions. She only envisioned everything that she had to explain as she waited for the authorities to arrive.......

*******

"What the hell?" Javier said to himself as he was walking down the passageway. "I really hope this doesn't have to relate to me somehow."

The Lieutenant was well dressed in his red and blue officer's uniform. The red cloak-like piece behind him waved around slightly as the other working personnel would nod their heads or briefly look at him. Most were used to seeing the officer's face by now.

It was about thirty minutes after the warning alarm had been called out. An explosion had occurred at the base, but it was nothing significant. The overhead announcement had told everyone that an accident had occurred near the hangar bay passageway. It was nothing to be concerned about, but he could hear somebody mention that military police were arresting several individuals. The accident was something more than it apparently seemed.

He was being summoned to the Fleet Admiral's stateroom. The fact that he was called in had to be related to the recent incident. He could not go to the passageway that had the explosion while he tried to find the hallway that led to the top COC's room. Eventually, he found it. The floor was carpeted with red and blue. It had both the UHN emblem and the seal of Aphadus woven into it. The sliding door near the carpet was transparent colored. It was the only hint that it was best to be on your best behavior when going down this area. The Fleet Admiral may be watching you.

Javier took a deep breath. He was not in the mood for the events that most likely needed his attention. He put his hand to his neatly trimmed beard. His face had a very light tinge to his complexion. It was not uncommon for people to mistaken him from the colony of Palora due to his ancestry being mixed from people of Central and South America of former Earth. He looked at his uniform real quick before he reached the door. He wanted to look his best. His red boots looked pristine. It was a habit that he knew was becoming of an officer.

"Stop stalling," Javier said to himself. "There has to be a good reason you are being called to the office. Why do I have a feeling that it has to be about 'her' somehow?"

He gripped his knuckles. He was not necessarily afraid of the fleet admiral, but he knew that anything that could upset the status quo wasn't good either. His position was good enough at the military base as it was.

He stopped thinking about it as he walked up next to the door. He saw the panel by the door as he tapped the button on it. There was no time wasted as it slid open. That alone almost took Javier by surprise. Usually, Anaya would keep it closed and wait to see who it was before she let the person in. Javier almost poked his head in before he snapped himself out of it and stepped in. He had a brief glimpse of the interior before he stepped inside.

"Lieutenant Javier, reporting as requested, Ma'am," Javier addressed himself as he rendered a proper salute to the top chain of the command. Fleet Admiral Anaya was sitting behind her metal enshrined desk. She wasn't too pleased even though she was the type that was reasonable to many. Her bronze complexion and short black hair reflected that of a woman directly descended from former India of Earth. Her twin star rank was one that was that represented an overseer of the entire Aphadus defense fleet. While he had rarely seen her in the last month, he knew one that was all too familiar with her.

The room itself was the typical Fleet Admiral stateroom. It was spacious and consisted of numerous plaques and awards hung on the walls. It had multiple projection screens near her desk that showed the camera feeds throughout the interior and exterior of the base. Anaya was dressed in a similar officer uniform, but her rank said it all. The stateroom consisted of numerous chairs that allowed officers to regularly arrive and leave.

"Lieutenant Javier, you may have a seat on the right," Anaya coldly told him. She didn't even bother to render a salute in return. This alone showed that she was somewhat emotionally disturbed by whatever had happened.

"Understood, ma'am," Javier replied as he dropped his salute. He turned to look at everything in better detail. The room consisted of four individuals that were in shackles. He could recognize that three of the personnel are UHN members, with the other being a marine. Another person was one that he knew all too well. Shira was sitting at another series of chairs, but it was away from the four people. There were a series of guards that were also in the room that were all properly armed. The severity was all but apparent as Javier went and found a comfortable chair closest to the wall.

Immediately, Javier's mind was aghast to the situation. The rumor was indeed true. He would have sighed if he could. He knew Shira all too well and most likely would have to come to her defense......if she needed it. The fact that the four were in shackles had shown the worse, but he could tell that Shira was alright. He had a seat as he had a feeling about what was going to happen next. He could have a clear view of the Shal'rein woman. She briefly looked in his direction but showed no emotion as she always did. He instead almost shook his head at her.

"Right....." Anaya explained in her thick Aphadus accent. She had a severe tone to her voice as she folded up her hands to the desk. "I want to make things clear on what has happened just now and why all of you are not in the hospital right now. I have to figure out why I just had an explosion on my base. Petty Officer Dalbir, Seaman Harshil, Petty Officer Lopa, and Lance Corporal Landen, and Petty Officer Shira......I want to know right now what just happened. Why the fuck do I have a hole mark in the passageway of junction 3B-H?"

"We were........we were.......," the arrested woman tried to answer.

"You were what? I have eyewitnesses that saw you following Shira."

"You......" Dalbir tried to also answer. He summoned the courage to answer. "We were trying to......"

Anaya went and pulled out a tablet on her desk. She tapped a few buttons as she began to review the data carefully.

"They tried to assassinate me," Shira answered calmly. "They failed at it."

"Yeah.....I can tell," Anaya said as she slapped the tablet on her desk. "I can't believe this......what the fuck were you four thinking!?"

Shira briefly looked to her left. Javier went and face palmed as he realized what had just happened. Even Anaya could see some emotion from him. Meanwhile, the four arrested individuals were reserved like they had been caught red-handed.

"Shira is a dangerous person to have...." Dalbir said stoically.

"She is a member of this base and a UHN staff member! You tried to assault somebody on my base!" Anaya went and slammed her palm to her desk. "I have an eyewitness that says that they saw you three with unholstered guns pointing at her."

"She had a gun!" argued Lopa. "She was going to kill us."

Anaya turned her head to look at Shira. There was a look of surprise.

"It is true," Shira answered. "I was armed."

"Hmmm....."Anaya remarked. "Still. That gives the four of you no excuse. I should have all four of you flogged in front of the entire base! You attempted to assault a member of my crew. Seaman Harshill.....I know your grandfather, and he would be shaking his head in disbelief in your actions. You had a baton in your hand. What were you planning on doing with it?"

The man reacted appropriately as he lowered his head down. He couldn't answer.

"Thought so...." The fleet admiral continued. "I will not have racial hatred and bickering on this base. All four of you are going to be locked in the brig for attempted assault on my base. Lance Corporal Landen, according to the report, there was a rifle round that was discharged from your rifle. I am also aware that this was taken from the armory as well."

"Yes.....it is, Ma'am," Landen said.

"There was an explosion. How did it happen?"

"You already have the answers...."

Anaya slammed her fist on the desk. "I want to hear it from all of you!"

"Shira had a gun, and she shot at the wall," Lopa answered. "I.....don't know how it happened, but the whole bulkhead blew apart.....we don't even remember the rest of it."

"It is true," Dalbir added. "She....we tried to.....we wanted to see her brought to justice for the actions she did. Fleet Admiral, you are a fool to let this alien serve under you. She was responsible for the actions that would lead hundreds to their deaths."

"No excuse for your actions," Anaya continued to explain. "You had the intentions of assaulting another. If it were Shira or any other human being, you have proven to be dangerous. All four of you.....I am ashamed to even have you here. I can't even stand to have you here. I'm holding all four of you under the brig, pending a hearing and court-martial. I'll make sure you spend years in a military jail on Palora. Guards, take them away. Get them out of my sight!"

Javier had never seen Anaya so angry as before, but she was doing what she had to do. Even then, the events had shaken her to the core.

With Javier, he felt emotion too. Somebody had decided to try to harm or kill Shira, his wife. This alone had him almost shaking his head at the four as they stood up. The guards kept a good hold on each one as they were brought out of the room. Even for Javier, he did his best to remain composed and professional. Shira didn't even bother to look at the four. Eventually, the room was left with just Shira, Javier, and Anaya.

The fleet admiral waved her hand as she took a deep breath. She shook her head.

"Do you wish to press charges against all of them?" Anaya asked Shira.

"No, Fleet Admiral," Shira replied.

"You don't deny that they had the intentions to kill you?"

"They were well committed to doing it. I would say, however, to offer some lenience towards Harshil. He was very reluctant on the intention to hurt me."

"I'll keep that under note," Anaya said as she tapped a few buttons on her tablet. "I'm afraid that I can't let you go so easily, though."

"That is quite understandable, Ma'am."

"How the hell did you get in possession of a firearm?"

"For simple reason. When I was arrested, my SH-80 was confiscated by the authorities."

"I know that!" Anaya almost snapped at her. "I was the one that ordered it and I remember that I told you that you can't possess any form of firearms......is that correct?"

"It is," Shira calmly explained. "I made requests to get my gun returned to me. You would deny it, but at the same time, more and more personnel were learning about me. Retaliation against my actions on the assault of this base was inevitable. Everyone else was allowed to possess their own firearms except myself. My opponents saw that they had a potential advantage. I decided that it was best to start producing a copy of an SH-110, the new, improved Shal'rein clan magnums, that......"

"You started to build your own gun?"

"That is correct, Ma'am. All Shal'rein are taught as children to build their own guns. I assembled my SH-80 when I was seven and a half Earth years old. I even know how to create the bullets as well in both case and caseless forms too."

Anaya almost shook her head as she looked at Javier. "This is one of the reasons as to why I called you here. Did you know that Shira was producing her own firearm?"

"I didn't, Fleet Admiral," Javier answered. "I had no idea that she was doing that."

"You cannot blame my mate," Shira added. "I was doing all of this when we weren't together."

Javier could tell that Anaya was taken aback a little bit by Shira's actions. He somewhat had underestimated her engineering skills. She seemed more to blame herself for not catching it. Regardless, she was not wholly impressed. Others on Aphadus could easily do it. Gun ownership was quite commonplace. The right to bear arms on this planet, Palora, and Oshun were allowed under different circumstances depending on place to place. It had also been the goal to try to keep Shira's true identity somewhat muted to the base. Efforts were made to ensure that her defection wasn't spoken too much, but it was evident that it was failing. How much of the outside colonies knew about the one that successfully attacked Aphadus to later serve there?

"I want to know how you managed to put a hole near the hangar bay that is over a meter in diameter," Anaya demanded from Shira.

"It was quite simple," Shira explained. "I had gotten word that Petty Officer Delbir had planned on attacking me. He was gathering supporters. Knowing him, he wanted to make sure that his assumptions about me were correct. Meanwhile, I had learned of the base's internal structure and components. Hangar bay hallway 3B-H had a faulty oxygen tank air converter. While the four individuals were watching my gun, I had reached over and accessed the panel. I increased the flow rate. While technically, the tank is harmless even in its faulty state, it is enough that a well-placed shot from my magnum could cause a focused explosion, exactly where they were standing."

"You lead them to there?" Javier asked her.

"Yes," Shira said with almost a smile before she got serious again. "I was limited with my resources. I wanted to ensure that my targets would be incapacitated. The explosion would not be that powerful but enough that it could render them unconscious if they are not careful. I stopped right where I wanted them to be. Even touching the panel controls would not appear to be harmful against their own detriment. My gun was aimed directly at the converter's location. One-shot was all that was needed."

Javier could see a form of amazement on Anaya's face. On the one hand, she was distraught, but it was still an excellent form of maneuvering on Shira's part. Even he knew how well Shira was when it came to things like this. It was always like she was a step ahead of everyone. Finally, even Anaya had to shake her head.

"I......I don't know what to say," Anaya explained. "I let you serve under me as a member of a UHN. I gave you the rank of Petty Officer and secretly let you serve as an advisor to me. Your actions have proven to be of some great effort. You helped expose a cloaked Shal'rein warship that was in this system.....hiding at Kope. You've given valuable intel on the different warships and projects that your clan has. Hell, you've even provided future construction projects to help improve the defenses of this colony. Regardless, I have to look at this situation with grave concern."

"It is quite understandable, Fleet Admiral," Shira explained. "It is under your benefit and an act of wisdom that you employed my services. I like to think that your actions have greatly improved this base against further attacks. On the other hand, you feel that what I did endangers that and makes you look weak. You attempted to, as you humans would say, "swept it under the rug" when it came to commissioning somebody that is infamous as myself."

Anaya sighed. "Yes.....that is true. I don't know what to do about it. As an advisor, I don't suppose that you have an idea on what I should do next?"

"I actually have a solution to all of that," Shira replied as she leaned forward. "You are left with a situation in which having me here on this base is proving to be a problem. Some of the personnel see me as a threat regardless of whatever action that we take. You giving me the rank that I have is the only path that suits best as it makes me look like most other Shal'rein that had just joined the UHN service. It doesn't make you look like you hired a possible criminal."

"You're not a criminal," Javier countered.

"To those four individuals that threatened to attack me would disagree with that assumption," Shira said as she turned her gaze to him momentarily before looking at the fleet admiral. "I have my own proposal that would help all of us in the end. The best solution is for me to simply not be on the base at all."

"Umm.....what?"

"Explain," Anaya asked.

"I propose that I be assigned to the military transports or ships. As I recall, there is a military transport by the name of the UHN Jian Seng that was recently assigned to the Aphadus defense fleet. It is expected to conduct a transport operation from Palora to Picaro as of tomorrow. Or, I can be reassigned to any other form of ship."

Javier was somewhat surprised by the concept. The idea of having Shira moved might be a sound one, but one that he was not exactly thrilled with the more and more he considered it. He could tell that she momentarily looked in his direction as Anaya was tapping the buttons on her tablet to confirm her idea.