Kingdom of Tairius

"Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say."

Or at least that's what my dad says. He used to say that to me and my brothers after he had an argument with my mom. "Don't tell your mom I said that." he would also say that too. He works as equipment maintenance inspector for many of the moon's mining companies. Mining teams go up there to each moon for materials that the may deem valuable. Even on the moon, you can't escape the greed. Many of the nations seek territories and building city upon them. And with the seeking of territories comes territorial conflicts... war. His last cycle was on third moon "Oniel" (On- e- el). If you don't know, a cycle is basically a three month shift. It's pays well enough, and it's better than being in the Lowlands trying grow plants out of nothing" he says. My mom hates when he go off world. Especially, when we were kids and she was left with four boys by herself. We didn't make it easy. Not that we we're trying make it hard. I mean, we were boys. But she's been less pressing about it a last couple years since everyone is out of the house except me. That was until my brother Pearson and I were recruited to go to the Tairius (Ty-ree-us) University. It's the reason why I'm writing this stupid essay... because the professor (yes you), wants us to write about our "life experiences," which I think is stupid! And I don't care if does read this part! There! I said it.

Anyway...

The oldest, LaPeef or Cardinal, as we call him, is doing new, innovative, construction on the first moon, Noel (No- el). He says he likes to go there the first trimester of the year because its warmer (like the moon is ever warm) or when they finally finish constructing the dome over the cities they built. He says it's a lot better than being there during the third trimester when the sun is away and it is completely dark and drops down triple it original temperature for three months.

My other brothers Braham and Pearson graduated two years ago from Southern Hannabrough Academy. Like that means anything... The rest of Hannabrough sees the people of the southwest sector as being beneath them. That's why they call it the "Lowlands." The powers that be, the ones that live in Premium Sector say; we are the most vital to infrastructure of Hannabrough. If that's the case, they have real strange way to showing appreciation to there citizens. I can understand why my dad wants to work on the moon. The Planet "Threa" is a physical manifestation of B.S. They call this; the futuristic era. An era of great innovation. I'm not saying its not. Obviously, we have aircraft almost as large as cities. Well... at least it looks like it could be. I hear they have nice hotels up there. All I'm saying is; great innovation doesn't equate to great character.

For this time at least, Hannabrough has been a place where one could live in well sustained peace. Which is why I don't understand why my parents, who can be super overprotective at times, would encourage me and my brother to go such a hostile environment like Tairius. Tairius is like the bedrock of conflict. The wars that have been fought on this soil throughout the centuries are innumerable. I don't know how to really explain it when it come to Hannabrough. Though there hasn't been a war fought on the Hannabrough soil for over 100 years, there's a complacency and a arrogant air about the place; A subtle inner darkness that chokes a person. It may be the reason my parents were eager for us go to Tairius, even if it is dangerous. They probably believe there's something we can learn here that we couldn't learn if we were still in Hannabrough Lowlands.

My parents were inspired to send me and Pearson to Tairius University when Pearson came home and told mom he was recruited by a man named Kendry Tyndale, a renowned professor who was on a lecture tour. He took interest in him. And Pearson, unlike my other brother Braham who moved to the Central Sector, was doing absolutely nothing after he graduated. He had no desire to enter the trade with dad. Instead, he just hung out with his friends. The professor recruited his friends as well. I must admit; when he and his friends Zeke entered the house, they came in with a new sense of purpose. Mom, was enamored by their decision to go. So much so, that she wanted me to go along with him.

My mom thought it was the best thing for me since I was on suspension for attempted robbery. A couple days before, my friends and I thought would be a good idea to break in Nelson Hannabrough Academy, a prestigious school in the Central sector, and steal from their treasury. It would've been the greatest prank in history. Not only that, we just hate the people Central sector. We had got away with it, or... so we thought. The Nuturian guard came to round us up at our school. With the help of our own Principal Jeshom... punk! He used a "Snatcher" to capture all of us. A snatcher, if you don't know, is a machine used to capture stray animals mostly used on a farm to round up ones that wander off; You aim it like a gun, point, and shoot. It can take down animal as large as a horse. He aimed towards my ankle and it stopped me in my tracks immediately. I almost bit my tongue because of that mess. The principal said, "better me than the Nuturians." Nuturians are a bunch punks too. It's bad enough they have passing jurisdiction over the Lowlands. Meaning; they can go in with complete immunity, and take anyone if they deem relevant to whatever case or investigation they may have. They even override the magistrates of the lowlands to do so. And let me tell you; they don't always act with good moral fiber.

We were arrested; Me and friends TJ, Jesse, and Roy. The only reason Roy was caught, was because he wanted to act like he "defying the system." He decided to insult Nuturians while they were hauling us off; Recognizing that he one of the accomplices, they hemmed him up too. I shake my head at Roy sometimes. He was talking crazy to them even while being hogtied. We were all telling him to shut up. No point of pissing them off. If you know anything about where we're from, you know that the Nuturians hate Lowlanders ("Lowbellies," are what they call us). We were fortunate not to be placed in confinement for the rest of lives. I know... you're thinking the crime doesn't fit the punishment, but the have a way of doing things in the Central Sector. The powers that be can make it that you never see light of day. Oman, a friend of my brother LaPeef, shared a fate like that; he was just going home from work when Nuturians detained him. He was accused of a stealing a vehicle. No trial... nothing. From what I know, the Chief magistrate was upset that his sons, "Hovercycle" was missing and believe it was stolen. The Hovercycle was found while his son lay forty feet away drunk off his ass. Yet, Oman is still serving time for the crime. Funny how that is.

We were able to not suffer such a fate. Principal Jeshom was able to get us released. He had some pull with one of the commanders, Commander Ashterothe, and they released us that night. That wasn't before they took us all to the "Wall."; A machine used to interrogate prisoners or suspects. It's a metal wall that stretches about 30ft across, able to hold 2 to 3 people. They have electrical latches at each end and behind it. The rest... your imagination can give you an idea on what they do to people. They took us in one by one. The Nutures called it mercy. The lacerations on our backs say otherwise. They said they had it on a low voltage. Either there lying or I can only feel sorry for a poor souls fate, if anyone goes through more than a fraction of we endured.

Of course our parent were furious. I don't know if they were more furious about us breaking into the school and getting arrested, or at the Nuturians for what they did to us. My mom made me call up to the moon and tell my Dad everything. I'm surprised he wasn't as mad as I thought he was going to be. He was in agreement with mom and proud when he found out Pearson was going Tairius. Therefore, he "strongly suggested" I go with my brother (if you know what I mean). I'm not really trippin though. TJ, Jesse, and Roy parents made them come too. Alyssa is also came too, which is great. She's really cool. She use to help me with homework. I wanted to ask her to the annual ball but we're here (don't read that part out loud in class). She also saved my life on the way here.

There's wasn't a lot going on in the Lowlands. I graduate in like a year and I don't see anything promising. I thought about, perhaps, joining the internship at my dad's job, but with the swirling rumors of war on the moons, going to Tairius seemed like the better option. I may be wrong about that. Tairius region has always been a hostile region, but I didn't expect to get attacked on the way to University. I mean, it came out of nowhere. Everybody knows the Emmaus Ocean has pirates, but these weren't even that. I don't know what they were, but they weren't human. Men don't move that fast. And these things were moving fast; even under water. It was dead of night and I was out of bed, outside, on the deck of the ship called the "Barnabas" with Alyssa when they attacked. I finally get some alone time with her when they attacked. Why we were going by sea, is beyond me! All the technology to travel and we go by sea! These stealth creatures were in all black, with blades that could cut through the ship. Word is; there were three. One of them almost got me. I dodge them like one time. I pushed Alyssa out the way when it tried to strike. I also threw something to impede its attack. As I was headed towards door I slipped. If wasn't for Alyssa coming and doing some super drop-kicking, (I don't know what she did but it was amazing and leads to further questions for her), and the captain shooting them, I would've been finished. Two of the crew members were injured when fending them off. The captain said one would recover in time while the other one, unfortunately, he said, may not make it.

After my brother stop yelling at me for being out of bed and wandering the ship, he told me about the crew and how they were fighting inside; He said "the crew was moving in ways I never seen!" Caleb, our section leader, blasted one of them trying to entering the boys cabin.

The whole night was crazy!

Here is my theory (And some others share my thoughts); It may be my imagination, but it seemed to me, the creatures, or whatever, were only attacking the boys. Why? I don't know. I'm only saying this because; when I pushed Alyssa out of the way she fell. Even though I was trying to get her out the way, she was still more vulnerable out of the two of us being that she was on the ground. Yet, the creature chased me a good ways around ship before I slipped. It was like its focus was on me... So it seemed. Now, I could be making it more than what it is, but there's been word going around that the only place the creature-assassins went after was the boys cabin; Some say one of them looked in the girls cabins, and flew by as if it didn't find what it was looking for. Lastly, the obvious... the other two creatures were both killed in front of the boys cabins, and the crew had to make a stronghold in front of them in order to stop them. I don't think it was coincidence. Though, I could be wrong.

The crew did think it strange of us; how most of us weren't as scared as they thought we would be. I'm not saying were super courageous and all. Maybe, it was being raised in Lowlands; seeing things that some of us shouldn't have seen growing up. A lot of us were taught at a young age how to react to certain dangers. It's not the most peaceful place, but neither is Tairius.

We were thankful to arrive to the Port of Tairius. The ship did take some damage from the attack which delayed us from an already long journey. There to greet us on the port, was Professor Tyndale. He had a very cool beard and he was eager to greet us. Well, not exactly "us." When we arrived, he approached Pearson and Zeke with excitement and anticipation, but then turned to me with bewilderment. It's understandable, for the fact that I never officially registered to University and he didn't know who I was. My parents just told me to go with my brother and so, I did. Pearson introduced me to him and explained the situation as I stood there, thinking he would going to send me back home. The professor didn't make much of the of it and allowed me to be admitted. He was more concerned about the attack and went on to talk to the crew.

It's a unique place... Tairius. It's melting pot of culture; both current and ancient. As we drove by we observes the relics and temples of old, but also the overwhelming advanced technology of the current Matrillian occupation. They make it hard not to miss there presence. We stopped at the statue of Nassum (Na-say- um), the great warrior of old. I think every male young and old, knows and reveres him. My father used to tell me and my brothers tales of his victories as bedtime stories. If you weren't a fan of him then "Jarinan (Ja-ri-na-in) the Great" was the other great legend. As we continued our way to University, many debated the long time argument about who was the greatest out of the two. I tend to lean in favorite of Nassum. I used to have a mini replica of the statue that's placed in the middle of the city of Tairius. I had it on my bookshelf in my room as inspiration. It was amazing to actually see the monument in person.

At last we finally made to the University. To be honest, I didn't think it would be so far outside the city. It resides in a place very incognito. A lot of us made jokes about going into mysterious forest, residing in a school that use to be an ancient fortress, and never returning. But there was, and perhaps still is, some skepticism among us. Some of the many doubts may have been alleviated by the vast amount of girls present in the institution. Far more girls than boys. Actually, outside of staff members, I haven't seen any other guys since we first arrived. I would've thought there would be more recruits than just us and there's only about 20 of us out of the 40 that came. Why is that...? I don't know. It's just worth taking note.

I don't know what to make of everything that has happened in the last months or so. This is actually been my first chance to process it all. When we first arrived, we were greeted by Marcelo Everett. An A- hole in physical form. At first, I thought he was going to be coo, but the minute he escorted us to our living quarters, he just started yelling and drilling us. The rest of the staff came in the rooms and started doing the same. It already bad enough they hauled us off away from everybody. The minute we arrived, they separated the girls from the boys. Are living quarters is away from the University. Immediately, they started training us like soldiers. I thought this was a school! It's obvious, we do academics. But everyday; it's earlier morning training, then afternoon to evening training, and they have us fight each other for hours. The upside was, I finally was able to shoot an firearm. Sometimes were moving so fast during the day I have hard time thinking. Two people already quit. And now, they have us going out into the desert for the next three days to do, what they call, an "excursion." Yea right. I can only imagine what crucible were going to encounter next.

My mind is drained... but I'm good. I think us guys are starting to realize there's more to this. Part of what keeps me going is the curiosity on how this all will unfold.