Gabatrix: the Shira Maneuver
Chapter 1: The Fading Light

Copyright© 2021 by CMed TheUniverseofCMed

We stand at the precipice of the black void that is called space. In the distant starlight, we see a single yellow dwarf star glowing that provides a great radiance to a single small habitable planet in the solar system. On it is a shade of green, blue, white, and yellow. It is a sign that there is life in this world. A single moon orbits it as you can only see the very faint signs of distant worlds that orbit around the star itself. We hear nothing and only feel the cold emptiness that space is. Instead, we simply gaze upon the planet. Only the distant stars provide any signs of illumination besides the star closest to here.

It is often said that Earth is a lonely planet in the cosmos. A fascinating concept is that this world was a latecomer in the development of life. While the ... supposed name of “The Milky Way Galaxy” is about 13 billion years old, the star that is called “Sol” is one that is actually only about four and a half billion years in age. This may sound like it is a lot. A million years is a flickering span of time. It is actually believed that the planets Venus and Mars were actually some of the first planets to harbor life as Earth was still struggling to develop. If this were true, then the Sol system was a place where three habitable worlds all coincided with one another. Two billion years ago, we would look at Venus to see a planet that slowly spins in reverse from Earth with a beautiful shade of blue, white, orange, and possibly green. Mars would have been a small planet with more landmass but still carrying sizeable oceans of water.

So what happened? In today’s sense, Venus is a runaway greenhouse effect. To go there is to be crushed by the immense pressures on the ground. Mars has had its water and atmosphere almost stripped away to leave a red and orange barren rock with only dust storms to show any outside activity. It is apparent that these worlds have the ingredients to have life. A common popular aspect is that Venus might have had early life develop on it but would be slowly cooked by Sol as it expanded in size when it reached mid-age. Earth is expected to eventually turn into Venus sometime in the far future, but that is not in our lifetimes.

Mars might have been another case where life could have developed, but something happened to prevent it. The magnetosphere on Mars is very weak, which means even Sol can slowly rip the atmosphere off of it in time. Technically, Mars’ only moons are too small to render much assistance if a moon is needed for life to develop. All is not lost for the tiny planet, however. It is still there, and even to the time period of the 22nd century, it would become the capital of the human race. If a means can be done to stop the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus, even that planet can be fully colonized in time.

Of course, the problem is, however, we are not in the 24th century, and I am not “The Cicerone” that has been giving you the exploration of the cosmos like the past beginning of every story so far...

... The question is ... who am I? What is that deep, slow methodic female voice that echoes to your ear as you stand floating in the cosmos above the orbit of Earth? You do not know, but it is the only source of comfort that you have as you continue to learn more about the universe around you. It is unknown who the Cicerone is and what their purpose and goal is to accomplish. Instead, you have me to give you the word of the cosmos. It is I that will bring you that information that you haven’t had before. Perhaps the guide will one day return to bring his or her’s information that will help unravel the universe more and more. For now, you have me to help you along your way.

Instead, we look upon the world that we once called Itrea. It is the world that the humans called “The Land of Dinosaurs” millions of years ago. It was a turbulent time period. Over two hundred million years would pass, and seemingly little happened to occur for developing life. It is the tragic tale for many habitable worlds in the galaxy. Life can develop, but anything with our form of intelligence to randomly evolve is seemingly tiny. So many worlds with potential life ... so few intelligent species that we know of ... so few civilizations.

For a very long time, Earth has been a center point for life to develop, regardless. Even my personal beliefs had been transformed for some time once the human race was discovered. The history of the Itreans has been one that has been considered a great mystery and based on theories. There is much good reason for this. As we stand looking at the world that was once called Itrea, it is much different than that of Earth of today.

That world of what we know as the Mesozoic Era is much different in appearance than Earth is now. The continents known as South America and Africa are nearly touching each other before continental drift would pull them away. North America is split in twain due to flooding waters. Australia and Antarctica are practically together. Europe is nothing but islands that stand between Asia and North America. This was the world that my ancestors supposedly came from. Our people came from all of the continents, and it was a world where you ate the other to survive. The fight for dominance was ordinary and seemingly commonplace.

With that being said, it is obvious why the humans felt that nothing intelligent could have developed during that time period. The skeletons and bones all told the same tale. Bones would show that creatures slashed and cut into one another. Skulls would have tiny sockets for brains when compared to the humans of the 24th century. What made matters worse was that something happened to mark the end of the Mesozoic Era, which would occur with an asteroid that was expected to be almost 80 kilometers long. Itrea had been hit by many asteroids before. The curse of being almost alone was that nobody was going to help you. The benefit is that few giant rocks would come careening into your world either. Unfortunately for the inhabitants, this was when their luck would finally run out.

The humans call this enormous crater the Chicxulub Crater. It is the second-largest asteroid impact to ever strike the planet and would only be surpassed by the Verdefort impact of over two billion years ago. It is the location where Armageddon had come to Itrea. So much death ... the asteroid would leave a crater that spanned over 150 kilometers long. It would be responsible for causing massive disruptions to the climate. In the end, 75% of all life would become extinct. It would mark the end of the era of the age of “Dinosaurs.”

We watch as the planet unfolds after such a tragedy. Itrea undergoes its transformation. The asteroid impact shatters the internal crust of the planet. Volcanic eruptions are common, while ocean water is sent all over the globe. A new atmospheric layer of dirt, sulfur, and ash is jettisoned into the air. This massive amount of gases and dirt would block out the thermal radiation of the world so severely that massive cooling on the surface would begin.

To the humans, it would be known as the Paleocene Era. With 75% of wildlife extinct, much of the plants that survived would grow with little hindrance. The continents begin their long trek to what would become more known of what it is today. Surprisingly, we see that Itrea recovered very fast after the asteroid impact. For a time, the temperatures were actually higher than now, with almost double the amount of carbon dioxide. With little wildlife to hinder the plants, flora, and trees, the world began to regrow at an alarming rate. Mammals that were struggling to survive suddenly had a world of their own.

Were the dinosaurs truly gone? Not entirely. Even if three-quarters of the life were wiped out, many of the species that survived on Earth prior to the Orange Muck had qualities similar to dinosaurs. Among the greatest contenders were those of the birds. Sharks, amphibians, insects, and other reptiles survived to continue evolving. The asteroid had been devastating, but it was not the end of Itrea. If anything, it was merely an opportunity for something else to begin.

The real question is, could it had been possible that some of the few non-avian dinosaurs to survive? Evolution is a fickle concept at times. Velociraptors, Oviraptors, Allosaurus ... the humans had long claimed that they all ceased to exist the moment that the asteroid came barreling down upon Itrea. Most likely, all but a few made it in the end, and those who struggled to survive on a planet were undergoing rapid changes.

The only proper way of answering that question is to look for signs of civilization. Were there any signs of past civilizations before humanity? Unfortunately, that is a difficult question to solve. If the human race were to depart from Earth, like most of them have, then within thousands of years, the great buildings would erode and return to nature. Within hundreds of thousands of years, those structures would be gone entirely. Was it possible for the dinosaurs, the sharks, and other life to begin forming an intelligence and civilization?

Unfortunately, seemingly little is there. The past achievements of my people are all but guesswork by the Itreans and Humans of today. We continue to watch Earth as it goes through the Paleocene Era. The continents are moving farther and farther apart from one another. It is fascinating that at one time, almost all of the continents were supposedly together.

What is believed is that sometime after the asteroid impact was that my people either worked with the other surviving growing intelligent sharks and dinosaurs. We had small towns where we harvested the food, developed our own religions, and even had what you called a civilization. Supposedly, it took almost six million years for the human race to become what it is today. The Itreans had plenty of time for 66 million years to finally progress to what it is now before the arrival of humankind. Where those bones of my people are at is a mystery, but perhaps it lies in the great ocean depths waiting to be uncovered.

This leads to the inevitable conclusion of an intelligent growing civilization of any world. What happened to that civilization? It is a theory that I best surmise of my people that the peak of our society was during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. This was a time where Itrea was the hottest at being around an average temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. The asteroid impact still left lingering consequences upon our people. Carbon Dioxide emissions were higher than expected, causing the temperatures to be on par with the era of dinosaurs. Life was starting to adapt to this increased amount of heat and supposedly flourished. However, all good things eventually come to an end. The humans, unfortunately, have no fundamental belief in what caused the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum to come to an end or what started it. All that my people must have known was that everything was getting colder.

It must have been gradual, but the effects were substantial. It is my firm belief that the Itreans evolved much slower than humans. Even if we did have brains to think like them or beliefs that coincided with them, we operated differently in the end. We were at one with the environment, and we lived as simple people would. We survived until we started to see that our world was getting colder and colder. Desperation leads to innovation. All the civilizations got together and finally lifted up their hands to try to find out why the world was changing. It was here that we created the first rockets that eventually began to traverse orbit. Our technology was still primitive, but we had enough that we were learning about the Sol system.

There is an ancient religion that no longer exists in the Itrean clans. This is known as “Itrea’Nolala’Ko” or “The Slow Armageddon of Itrea” in the human tongue. This belief would span into other religions, but the common belief must have been where the Itreans had learned of the same possible fates of Venus and Mars. These were worlds that once supposedly held life on them, at least to the Itrean beliefs at the time. Itrea was slowly changing, and the Itrean people experienced a traumatic event of an asteroid collision that would decimate trillions in the deep ancient past. To them, the Itreans must have felt that the world of Itrea was doomed to be destroyed or made uninhabitable. More resources were being devoted to the developing civilization to encourage outer space travel and find new places to live before Itrea would experience true Armageddon.

While most of this is still guesswork, there is another aspect in the ancient Itrean history that suggests something interesting. The humans never invented space folding gate travel. They instead reverse engineered it from alien wreckage on Mars in the 23rd century. Was the technology ours? Unfortunately, we don’t have that answer. So little information is available ... in the end, we have to go by legends and myths.

It is my belief that the ancient Itreans never really reached Mars or even Luna, for that matter. Their technology was even more basic than the humans. Something fell into our laps, and all of it rests on a single legend ... the Kiline.

The Kiline are often looked at as the “The First Ones.” This name resides in the Itrean language because they are believed to be the first sentient alien race that we ever encountered. To some of us, they are gods. To some, they are travelers with incredible power. We generally look at them as the guides to the universe. Perhaps even the Cicerone that has been guiding you in the first several stories might actually be one of these Kiline, to begin with. In the end, I have no answer to provide.

Whatever are their true names, the Kiline must have had pity for the Itrean people. They provided something to us that would revolutionize our civilization. It was so important that it would even help the human race as well. The technology was that of gate folding technology. With it, we could open up wormholes and jump to new solar systems. Even if it was the only piece of equipment, the gift of the travelers was one that we would remember in legend, even if others claimed we simply discovered it ourselves.

Whether it is true or not doesn’t matter. With the ability to fold space, the Itreans and their ancient belief that their world would come to an end drove the people to space exploration. With gate folding technology, they eventually found new worlds to settle on. The ancient religion of Itrea’Nolala’Ko would help push the many developing clans to abandon the planet. It must have been rough. Unlike the 22nd century “Earth to Mars Exodus,” for the Itreans, everyone began to pack up their belongings as they got on the ships. New awaited worlds were available that were far better than Itrea was ever imagined. The Promised Land awaited, and Itrea was to be forgotten. For the ones that possibly stayed on the planet, it is apparent that they never made it.

Instead, we say goodbye to this world. We begin to leave this planet as it would eventually have a new name ... Earth. A new civilization and intelligent race known as humanity would be brought forth as the world would undergo a Great Ice Age to further challenge life on it. To give credit, the humans managed to do well if they were able to survive such low hostile temperatures and still become what it is today. Perhaps they managed to do something that even the Itreans were too fearful of challenging.

Earth shrinks in the background. We get to faster and faster speeds. We move faster than the speed of the light as Sol begins to shrink down to a tiny speck in the galactic background. Just like everything else, the small yellow dwarf star is just a glowing dot in the vast amounts of other bright dots in the blackness of space. If only everyone could experience this form of travel, it would be more desirable than gate folding technology. We would begin to see the sheer size of the galaxy alone. We move at faster and faster speeds as the dots start to move. It is like driving through a three-dimensional light shower. We see the heated gases of star clusters in the center to even see Sol is just part of a massive moving series of star filaments orbiting the galactic center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Our destination is one that brings us through the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy. We pass through a massive yellow and orange light that the distant specks of light began to fade. The surrounding environment is so bright that we can barely see anything ... with the exception of those that absorb light. It is here that we see clusters of black holes. Most of them are small but are in synchronized orbit with one another. Eventually, these black holes and pulsars would fly into one another to grow in size. We pass by one that is utterly enormous. Perhaps this is Sagittarius A that is part of the heart of the galactic engine that drives the millions of stars around it.

It is an unusual feeling. To see such bright light replaced with black stars rivals what we see of everything else. If sentient life could develop here, then it must feel that the outside is empty nothingness, devoid of life, and devoid of light.

But our destination is not here as we continue to traverse through the heart of the galaxy. Giant stars began to fly past us that are utterly enormous and make Sol seem like a speck of dirt when placed next to it. Beautiful and bright, these stars burn brighter and hotter, but they will fall like so many things ... often with a rather large explosion.

Where did the Itrean civilizations travel and develop? Our answer finally comes closer and closer to us. We watch as our eyes adjust to the new light that comes before us. We leave that vast assortment of light and gases that illuminate the cosmos. We continue to watch stars zip past us at an alarming rate. In the end, we have traversed tens of thousands of light-years. We are essentially on the other side of the Milky Way Galaxy. For the Itreans, the Itrea’Nolala’Ko drove us to get as far away from the planet as possible. It made sense that the opposite of the galaxy was the prime choice.

The time period is now. It is the 24th 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.

The song would officially be called “The Fading Light,” and it is officially the longest piece of composition, being an entire year-long nonstop. It opened up the thoughts of the Shal’rein people about their universe and its purpose. Astronomers and explorers would be inspired for generations by his work. Ton’Kor would later pass away a month later. His song was still being played during his funeral. It is said that the Shal’rein that worshipped him did not finish the funeral until the melody came to an end almost eleven months later.

What is the Cosmic Melody? It is the music of the universe. By the time my eyepatch on my working eye was removed, I knew the answer to that question. I was able to see again with the story of Ton’Kor in my thoughts. It is the guide of the darkness. We pick up electromagnetic radiation all the time in space. Once it is converted to sound, the melody can be beautiful. It was what was guiding the great composer as well. The pleasant white noise remains in my thoughts. I can look at the stars and listen to their songs. I can look at the black holes and know what they are telling me. I might have had only one eye, but I could now see more than any Shal’rein could. I was able to foretell what was going to happen next. I had terrain and environmental advantage because of this single realization. As the universe eventually goes black, we have nothing to fear as we open our ears and listen...

With that said, there is only so much that I can tell about my story or my people. A war is ongoing, and I know what my plan is going to be. I know my position in the universe and where to guide the others. We must return to reality. The Itreans are at war with one another. The humans have allied with the T’rintar clan, and with this, we have a chance against a more dangerous creature than anything we ever imagine. We bring ourselves away from the opposite side of the galaxy. Once again, the lights return. We must hurry along now as the stars zip past us at phenomenal speeds. We fly past the center of the galaxy as the beach of floating dots runs past us. Everything goes from bright orange and yellow to black as we get past the galactic center. Everything starts to get darker and darker as we begin to see what the humans call “The Aquarius Constellation.”

Through here, we zoom in on a single tiny star known as Gliese 849. The single glowing ball of red is an M-Type star. As we get closer and closer, we see two far orbiting gas giants that are far from their parent star. A single planet comes into view as our journey through the cosmos comes to an end. From what I know, you already know of the planet Aphadus. The single world has life on it. It is tidally locked, causing one side to forever point towards its star. This hasn’t stopped the planet from having life on it. The humans have made quite a home here ... even though I already attacked it once. In their wisdom, they forgave me and let me serve as an enlisted member of the UHN. I am one of the few Shal’rein that help amongst the humans besides the T’rintar clan allies.

We fly into the atmosphere as we go towards the pole region of Aphadus. This is where the temperatures are just right, with it not being too hot or too cold for them. Here the purple lakes are a common favorable sight. It almost reminds me of my home that I had long given up. Eventually, you see a large dome structure and the capital city that resides next to it. From here, our journey begins...

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