Gabatrix: The Warrior of Silence

It is believed that all the planets in this solar system were slowly drawn in closer to its star in the last several hundreds of millions of years ago. Thus, if there were any life on these worlds that were similar to Earth, then it is long gone by now. There is one exception to this, however, and it is closer to our true destination.

Our trip brings us closer and closer to a vast planet that lies in the outermost solar system. It is the furthest planet that follows an almost elliptical orbit. Residing in the habitable zone, this exoplanet is more prominent than Earth. We end up seeing the wondrous world that is covered almost entirely with water. The shades of blue and white are all but apparent. Several small moons orbit this world, but they are smaller than Luna.

This is the world of Oshun, and it leads to the current closing tale of what had happened to the former population of Africa. Established in 2268, the colony of Oshun was not as well celebrated as the founding of Cebravis despite it not being that far off in times of its settlement. We close in enough to remark upon the features of this planet. Despite it being bigger than Earth, there are many similar and remarkable details of this world. The world almost spins perfectly on its Y-Axis. Despite this, the planet receives a fair amount of heat that is circulated into predictable weather patterns. It was once believed that this world was almost incased in ice. Unlike Palora, however, the planet has wandered closer to the star over millions of years. Over time, the ice had completely melted and flooded the entire globe. There is more water in this place than Earth ever had. Essentially, there are no separate oceans but one singular one that virtually engulfs the planet.

Such a planet is more than capable of sustaining life adequately, but it is pretty obvious that a vast amount of it has adapted to living in the water. There is marine life that can breathe carbon dioxide and oxygen above the surface, similar to Earth. However, ocean levels are much deeper and can put areas such as the former Marianas Trench to absolute shame. A world that revolves on its poles almost perfectly causes a natural circulation of air that appears on the equator. Another notable feature is the "Great White," as the native Oshunians call it. This massive moving cyclone spins and revolves around below the equator. Much like the the "Great Red Spot" of Jupiter, it is continuous and never-ending. It carries the most potent wind speeds, rain, and weather disturbances that dares get in its path. Thankfully, it only seems to travel in a straight direction making regular trips around and around the planet. Its goal is to regulate the hot temperatures of the water while transferring it to new locations. Meanwhile, rain and precipitation are sent northward.

We got closer to the point that we can see the moon of Orsa. The largest moon serves as a military base and construction yard for the UHN. In orbit, we can see the circular gate array named Fort Kajuru tethered to the planet's surface. A series of small gray cylindrical objects start to appear. The variety of patrolling warships and commercial vessels travel in various directions or remain locked in orbit. This planet is streaming with human-made activity. In the northern hemisphere, we start to see at least two huge islands. While significant, they are still dwarfed by the endless ocean. It is obvious now that the highest peaks of land are still capable of having populations settle on it.

The world of Oshun has never reached the same popularity as Cebravis, but it is far from ignored either. Over 500 million people now live on it today. Its history of former Africa resides in its people that pass along the fabled stories of the discarded "Planet of Lost Cause." The great oceans harbor an enormous amount of fish-like stocks, food, and tourism. We can note one of the great luxury liner spaceships that have come through the gate array. Having a somewhat similar profile to the great cruise liners of the 21^st century, the gray winged hulls radiate that of vacationers and party-goers. The rich often enjoy coming to this planet as another variant world of Cebravis. The fabulous beaches of the islands house enjoyment and helps fulfill the struggling economy. The former African Union has had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief when they first saw this world. Even with little land, it was home, and it would do its best not to repeat humanity's past mistakes.

However, Oshun has had its struggles that last to this day. Establishing a new government didn't happen so easily, and even an economy on tourism is not enough to handle the influx of so many people. Even as the third most populated world of the United Worlds' Alliance, politics continually eyes this place. Much like the ancient history of some African nations, corruption, bribery, and crime is on the rise in government and its population. There is too little land that debate rages on settling on the southern islands where the Great White sweeps over continuously. Vast ranges of underwater cities permeate the beaches of some areas, and an ongoing threatening war with an alien race hasn't helped at all.

All is not lost, however. If anything, Oshun has hopes in its ongoing struggle with itself. It is less than a year since the planet successfully repelled a Shal'rein clan fleet. Before the grand alliance with the T'rintar clan, a successful defense mounted by a UHN fleet and Oshun assets successfully destroyed and halted the attacking shark-like subspecies. Even as we continue to get closer and closer to the world, we can actually spot very tiny debris that flies past our side. Most likely, these are the remains of an Itrean ship that was closing in on the planet. If one ship managed to deploy its troops, the semi-aquatic race would have had a significant advantage against a people that preferred to live on land. It was a costly victory, but the Battle of Oshun underlines the resolve of Oshun in repelling future Itrean attacks. It was one of three major colonial victories against the Shal'rein clan before the alliance and be the best remembered above all. With the alliance, Oshun is all but safe from the next assault. The rows of ancient leased T'rintar clan battleships are manned and ready for battle.

We have done enough observation from orbit. Our journey nears its end to begin a new one. We both slip away as we start to fall into the atmosphere of the blue planet. It is mid-day as we feel the gravity pull us down. Even as the friction bounces harmlessly off of you, you can already feel the temptation. It is the highest dive most can ever enjoy into the salty ocean. Never had a people ever had so much water. We are near one of the two major island nations of Oshun. The small continent of Girinhi Kinshasha houses the more pristine tourist side of the world, but we are not headed there. Instead, we are heading to Beureum Lagos, the more industrial-heavy area of the planet. From high above, it does not look like much. There were no significant natural forests, and only a singular mountain range resides in the center. The rest of the area around it houses the single great metropolis of Bandari Kubwa.

The location is little more than a donut-shaped port that encircles around the small mountain range. As we get closer and closer, the small continent starts to get bigger and bigger. The color of light and dark blue with hints of light purple from the bright orange sunlight fills your eyesight. Bandari Kubwa is an active location. Even if tourism is more dominant on the other island, a few cruise liners still make regular trips near the area. In addition, 24^th-century human-made surface vessels are making frequent trips back and forth from continent to continent. The advanced fishing vessels carefully tap the endless amount of aquatic life that dot the surrounding area.

We begin to see the large amounts of beaches as we close in on the more heavily populated section of the continent. We are so close that we can see several skyscrapers stretch as high as they can. Multiple factories, warehouses, and sky-rise apartments cover the area. Even in broad daylight, these buildings' construction quality is only slightly better than late 21^st century structures. While a few of the facilities do have certain aesthetic qualities, most are generic and dull. It was as if there was great effort to make some of the early buildings look pretty, but the later ones constructed dropped the concept to allow the full utilization of short space available. Advanced floating airships popularly display advertisements while you can see the electric cars drive down the grid-like streets.

We have finally reached the street level. We are nearly two kilometers from the great ocean. Scores of people walk the side paths getting from location to location. Behind you is one of the roads that lead to a tunnel that supposedly goes down one of the underwater cities. Most of these locations are not that deep and only try to take advantage of the little land available. The skyscrapers tower above you like giants.

Most of the population shares different shades of natural dark complexions with varieties of facial features reminiscent of their past ancestry. Of course, this is the 24^th century, and not everyone comes from Oshun. A few individuals walk amongst the crowds that have pale and mixed complexions that are native people, visitors, tourists, or those that moved from other planets and colonies. The clothing tends to reflect long fashionable dresses of different colors that most women and men wear. With this place being near the beach, it is not surprising to see some individuals dressed in swimwear. Families escorting their children seem to be coming or going.

It isn't the only thing that can be seen. Among the absolute, few are those that are not human at all. By now, the human population had grown accustomed to their T'rintar clan allies. The sight of a walking alien amongst the crowd does not seem to stir any alarms or worry in public. Most of these few aliens consist of the Yutilian variety. Their small stature makes them shorter than most humans. They walk on digitigrade legs, have a tail to keep balanced on, feathers that protrude from their heads, arms, and tails, and wear similar clothing to the rest of the population. The generally greenish scaled women seemed amalgamated with everyone. They are little more than bipedal anthro dinosaurs proven by the DNA tests and famed surviving artifact from Earth. A few of these reptilian women are walking together, with one eyeing one of the human men. A look of lust and desire on her face can be clearly seen, and no one can blame her. To her left is one of her friends or associates that are clearly pregnant.

And of the absolute few of the population are those of the Shal'rein of the T'rintar clan. The shark-like subspecies families that live amongst this clan swear their allegiance to them. They are a towering sight to behold. But, unlike the Yutilians, these women don't seem to mind modesty as much. A pair walks by with a human male in the center. One is wearing skimpy swimwear that is just barely enough to cover her gray-like soft scales. The other one is topless, wearing purple denim shorts and letting her large breasts happily bounce around as she swings her large fin-like tail around—the water calls to them. The man seems to have a look of happiness as the two women are escorting them to the beaches like two giant guards protecting their boss or catch.

Of course, most people are living their day-to-day lives. It is a typical day near the end of the human calendar of September. Most of the men and women are dressed in work clothes. Despite the luxurious and pristine environment of partygoers and vacationers, it was near the end of the work shifts and workday. Most people are trying to get home. In fact, the people in the happy environment tend to disguise something that your eyes see when you look at one of the buildings. As you get closer to inspect it, you can see indented words written on its sides. It is as if someone had taken a sharp edge and etched the words "It's a lie" in a slanted text. Another one is written in Chinese that translates to "Shal'rein go home!"

Individuals barely noticed these signs. It is such a busy place and written so small that people hardly see it. The company advertisements quickly grab your attention away from it far more than anything else. Finally, there is one last thing that catches your eye.

As you look towards the mountain range that extends in the opposite direction of the beaches, you can see a series of flashing lights. It is several blocks away, and nobody is coming from that area. It has been safely barred off. We quickly head to this area to see a small row of electric vehicles. The flashing red and blue lights are indicative of human police cars. Oshun police are responding to an emergency. They seemed focused on one of the large apartment buildings. Onlookers caught in the event stare helplessly at the transpiring scene.

Most of the police are dressed in red, black, and blue. They wear the Mclevar bulletproof vests and are armed with varieties of pacification gear and caseless pistols. Some wear black berets. One is even armed with a rifle that he has at the ready.

One of the police is a clean-shaven officer. He carries a gold insignia and has a tablet that he is busy talking into. His face shows a sense of fear, mild agitation, and bewilderment. At times, he is simply scratching his head while he overhears the man's orders that are talking through the tablet's 3D projection.

Not far from this person is a man with a pale complexion. Unlike the other police, this man is dressed differently and sticks out amongst the law enforcement. He is seemingly taller, being over six feet in height. His bulging muscles are reminiscent of a bodybuilder that is only partly disguised by the red shirt, Mclevar bulletproof vest, and dark blue denim pants. His rugged black boots clunked the cement and coarse dirt as he moved back and forth. On his right hip was a holster that showed a particularly large pistol that easily dwarfed the pistols used by the other Oshunian police. The top of his head consisted of short dyed gray hair, almost as if he was trying to make himself look older, but it wasn't that far from the truth. His facial features made him appear to be a man that was born in North America on former Earth, but he had a grizzled look. His lip curled as he paced back and forth in the most agitated of states. The vest had the person's name written as "Stone" and had a UHN Marine insignia of Master Sergeant tucked next to it.

Despite his pacing, the other officers tended to avoid him. This "Stone" apparently seemed to cause people to avoid him naturally. No....they were intimidated by him. His size and height alone almost made him represent the great height of the Shal'rein. His face grimaced and only showed signs of annoyance.

"Chief, I don't know what to do," the police officer with the tablet said in the familiar Oshunian accent. "I continue to call upon the hostage-taker, and he refuses to talk. He is irate and refuses our calls."

"He will call us and let us know his demands," the police chief replied in an even broader accent. "You have been trained to do this, Lieutenant Lekan. I know that you are capable of doing this."

The supposed pale individual stammered in his walk as he tried to bite his lip. It was as if he strongly disagreed with the comment that he overheard from the chief. He did his best to remain reserved but continued with his pacing.

"Is Stone with you?" the Chief called out. "I can see him from here."

"Yes......Stone is here," Lekan replied.

"Stone!" the chief called out. "Follow his orders!"

Finally, the towering man looked at the tablet. His head turned up to look at one of the windows where the hostage situation had taken place. A crime was in progress that seemed to put the veteran in an agitated position. He only gave an evil eye at the tablet and resumed his pacing.

"Ugh...." The chief commented to both of them. "I expect you to get the woman to safety."

"Don't give in to his demands....." Stone finally said. His voice was deep and raspy and didn't carry the Oshunian accent to it.

"I will get the woman out, Chief," Lekan said with a slight sense of worried pride. However, Stone could already tell that he was over his head and unprepared for this situation.

"Keep me updated," the chief said. With that, the tablet projection shut off. Lekan tried to keep a composed look to him as Stone ignored him. It was as if he completely ignored him and overlooked him.

"You heard what the Chief said, marine," Lekan said. "Let me handle this."

"A man takes his wife hostage," Stone said. "It is just after working hours. I already know where this is going."

"You.....you think that this is just a regular lover's quarrel gone wrong?" Lekan mentioned as he crossed his arms.

"I don't care what it is," Stone finally stopped and looked at the Lieutenant square in the eye. "He can clearly see us from the window and is watching us. He doesn't know what to do."

"You can see him? Of course....that augmented eye of yours."

Lekan had forgotten that Stone had an augmented right eye. While it looked the same as his other eye, the similarities ended there. With technology as it was, Stone had a significant advantage in eyesight as he turned his head to look at the window where the hostage situation had taken place. While there was clearly a wall that was in the way, the augmented eye would continually zoom in and alter the spectrum for the marine to see. He could clearly see a man on the second floor that was walking back and forth in his room. The rough red silhouette would increase from the tainted window that very few others could ever see. In the man's hand was a pistol similar to the police but more pocket-sized. The hostage-taker was looking at something or somebody else, but it was too far for Stone to clearly mark.

"Right now, the man is sizing us out," Stone told the Lieutenant. "I can tell that he is just looking at the police and then probably to his wife. You have a chance to send a team up there and rescue her before he kills her."

"Send a team?" Lekan argued back. "He will just go and shoot his wife when he sees them."

"He is going to kill her!" Stone snapped back at him and briefly pointed at the window. "I can already tell his pacing. He can't make up his mind right now. Judging from this, he is cornered and didn't think this clearly. He was most likely told some bad news, got in a spat with his wife, and is now taking it out on her. He has two choices he is going to make. One is that he will kill her and most likely himself, or he is going to give up. We don't let him make up his mind. We go in and get his wife out now."

"Let me talk him down.....I took up years in negotiation at the university. I....."

"Years, my ass......." Stone cut him off. "You couldn't convince one of the Yutilian's to give you a handjob in a brothel."

"Hey! What the hell?"

Stone turned his head at the building behind Lekan. He briefly looked up as his augmented eye zoomed in on the sniper of the police team. The Oshunian rifle was equipped with a deployable scope from the top of the gun for the woman to look through. She was in a comfortable sitting position as the gun was resting on the top balcony edge.

"This is Officer Leredi," a female voice called through on the Lieutenant's tablet. "I am in position and have a partial vantage point to the target. He is currently walking back and forth from the window. I can barely see the hostage, but he is brandishing a pistol."

"Good," Lekan replied. "Remain in position but hold your fire."