This timeline is not accurate and is in a state of flux. Most of the things did happen to Zxarr, but the order needs adjusted.
Shahara is attached by The Irisahnia, a massive ship and part of the Great Order. Zxarr and his parents go into hiding along with others. Their planet has dense forests, and mineral deposits that help to scatter low energy systems, like sensors. Small bands of rebels begin guerrilla attacks against Great Order Troops. For a time, they are successful.
They were eventually captured and taken to the Irisahnia, when their camp was overrun by a wave of ground troops. All subjects of the Great Order have neuro-implants designed to ensure loyalty and Zxarr was no different. These mind-controlled beings make up the bulk of the Great Order's population. As Shaharans are physically adults by age 3, Zxarr is sent off to be a soldier, while his parents are pushed into scientific roles.
Zxarr is deemed 'battle ready' and assigned to a squadron. The Great Order allow him to continue to visit his parents on occasion, who are both in research. His mother is in bio-engineering and his father is in electronics engineering. They, along with other families who follow the rules, are allowed to remain a family structure.
After almost 16 years, Zxarr is a battle hardened soldier and overly loyal to the Order, to the point where he's starting to believe in their rhetoric. His implant assists with these beliefs. He is volunteered for a secretive experiment; one that will change his life for the rest of eternity, turned into the being he is today, a Shapeshifter.
Following the procedure, his implant is no longer able to function, and is discarded. For a time, he continues to follow orders, do his duty and learn about his new abilities. Using them to great effect on the battlefield, in covert operations, or to terrorise a populace.
As time pushed on, his belief in the Order wavered, finally breaking down completely when his parents were threatened after he questioned an order. Without hesitation, he moved to protect his parents, destroying anyone in his way. He kept them safe, forced surgeons to remove their implants, and hid with them until their recovery.
Using his parents knowledge of the neural implants a plan was set in motion to deprogram and disable the implants. When it was enacted, the 'order' that the Great Order craved, crumbled away. Rebellions formed on ships and planets, many on both sides perished. Zxarr rose up with them, commandeering ships, gathering forces and formed the Great Rebellion.
After his ship is destroyed, Zxarr is left floating out in deep space… This is when he meets 'Star', the omnipotent being that was indirectly responsible for his transformation. He informed Zxarr how his immortality would irrevocably alter his life, and that there was little that could be done. During this time he learned about the multiverse and the infinite number of universes that it contains. As an apology, Star gifts him a ship that can travel between those universes, that Zxarr would eventually name The StarDiver.
Upon returning with his new ship, he found the the small fleet he was part of had been destroyed, nothing but debris left. His parents, his friends, his rebels… gone. In the grand scheme of things, this was a tiny victory for the Great Order, a pointless battle in a war they knew was lost. He needed something new. Something better. And with very little time to think, he activated the inter-dimensional drive…
Upon arriving in this new universe, he sought out the first planet with sapient life.
The planet was named Inauvix. Rough translation would be 'Together'. It was inhabited by creatures and races from across 50 star systems, all living peacefully together. Unlike the war and destruction he'd come from, Inauvix and the local star systems were a paradise in comparison. He was welcomed, with some caution at first, to the planet, where he was able to find a home.
It took months for him to feel at ease in his new surroundings, the peace and calm were difficult to accept. He kept watching the skies, waiting for the Great Order to return, but they never came. He met someone, someone that seemed rather persistent in keeping his spirits up. V'ratta. He came to be his first love.
In a small ceremony, V'ratta and Zxarr declare their intent to be together, cheered on by their friends.
V'ratta is in an accident when a shuttle loses power and crash lands. Zxarr rushes to his mate, and with the StarDiver, arrives there first. He has limited medical knowledge, but he's able to assist both V'ratta and the other passengers. As he returns to the planet with his mate, he decides he's going to become a doctor.
Zxarr graduates from medical school as a general practitioner, with minors in virology and general surgery.
After a year to just be with his mate, Zxarr takes a position with a local hospital as a surgeon. He is found to be very skilled with the scalpel, impressing his mentors.
V'ratta is finding it hard to keep up with his mate. Zxarr has not aged in any physically measurable way. V'ratta knows nearing the end of his life, but Zxarr refuses to accept it.
V'ratta passes away, quietly, in his sleep one night. Zxarr wakes and finds his love is gone. It was expected, but it makes it no easier. There is a small ceremony as is customary… he is surrounded by friends.
Zxarr packs up some of his belongings and boards the StarDiver, once more planning to skip into a new life. Star intercedes, preventing the jump. To the best of his ability, he consoles Zxarr, instructs him to return and live here a while longer. After a brief, one sided emotional display, Zxarr returns.
Zxarr moves on. He never forgets. He has friends here, friends that help him… but they too are being pulled along by time.
Returns to the Hospital and after a while begins to find some joy in life again.
More funerals for more friends, but new ones come along as well. It is something he'll be forced to get used to. A celebration is planned, a wonderful day is had as his birthday is celebrated. The StarDiver keeps an accurate clock and has assisted in translating dates from Shaharan standard rotations to where ever Zxarr finds himself.
A few weeks after the party, Star once more gives Zxarr a gift. His own Universe, complete with a custom planet, to Zxarr's specifications. He's also taught how to move between his current universe and his new home, at will.
Begins carving out his new home in a mountain on his own planet, using laser drills and manual picks.
The main part of the cave is complete and he decides to continue with a bedroom and bathroom.
The mountain home provides Zxarr with a place to rest, relax and contemplate. There are no distractions here. He begins to move in some of his stored items, placing them in boxes around the main cave.
Starts to realise, considering his immortality, he'll need something larger to store his belongings as they accumulate. He considers making another cave. Perhaps a 'basement'? Work begins.
The basement is starting to get filled with storage bins. Realises he might be a pack-rat.
As more of his friends continue to pass, there is little Zxarr can do, outside of ensure they are in good health and happy, helping them to live to a ripe old age. He decides to push into research on ageing.
His new basement is packed to the brim, albeit neatly packed, with totes filled with everything and anything… all labelled and organised on shelves. More room is required. He calls on Star, asking for assistance in somewhere to store is stuff. Star has little understanding of the need to keep things, but obliges. He opens a new universe, attaching it to Zxarr's cave with a rather eerie looking pitch black entrance. The birth of The Closet.
Zxarr's life extension research enters trial phase, initial results look excellent. Many who take the treatment physically revert to younger bodies. Their ageing slowing by up to 40%. Zxarr continues his research. 40% is not enough for him.
The life extension treatment has become widely accepted and having been adapted to work across multiple species. Zxarr is awarded a scientific achievement for his efforts. More of his friends and colleagues pass on. He is slowly becoming alone, in a world full of life.
Zxarr is becoming more and more reclusive as he continues work on life extension, coming up with radical ideas, such as altering the DNA to include the changes from conception, making this treatment a permanent part of the genome for any given species. It is not received well by the general population.
He barely speaks to those friends or colleagues he has left anymore, just lost in his work. He feels he's so far beyond everyone else, that he MUST continue this research, pushing it to the extreme in the labs as he starts completely redesigning DNA for multiple species. He's pushing for immortality for all. He has no friends, no colleagues. Just a lab that he's locked himself into. His name is no longer spoken in medical circles, and the public has forgotten outside of the occasional rumour.
On a whim, Dr. Kinja pays him a visit. He hasn't seen hide nor fur of him in over 20 years, and just shows up unannounced. During this visit, he see's how paranoid Zxarr has become, but manages to talk himself into showing off his progress. It's discovered that Zxarr has been preparing an inoculation that will irrevocably alter the genome of most of the species that are part of the planetary federation Inauvix belongs to.
“No more death!” he declares! And before the Doctor can react, he's jabbed with a needle.
Zxarr has been holding Dr. Kinja in his lab, observing him since his injection. The results are amazing. Dr. Kinja's body has reverted to a healthy 25 years old that heals itself rapidly and is nigh invulnerable to disease. The ageing process is nearly stalled completely. Everything is going as planned, and for Zxarr, it's a win and it's all he needs to progress. He's now ready to release this as an aerosol to the rest of the world in the form of a virus.
Over the course of the month, thousands of shipments go out, to dense population centers all over the planet. They're all different, all disguised as simple, decorative objects. Picture frames, small A lot will be discarded, but many will find their way into homes and businesses.
Simultaneously, across the planet, these small devices, no matter where they are, have been going off, slowly passing this virus onto anyone and everyone. Infecting a huge number of people, who then pass it on. The virus does nothing, biding it's time as it slowly replicates.
The virus is discovered by the head of virology when a sample of blood, infected with an unknown agent, is sent to the secure lab for analysis. Apparently some immune systems were able to detect the virus and began to attack it, which caused the virus to inadvertently mutate. The patients had no symptoms for months while this fight was underway in their bodies, and they were releasing airborne, infected particulate the entire time. This all led to a firestorm of infections, spreading rapidly across the globe.
The populations reaction to the release of this information was meagre. They trusted in their medical science to get a handle on this. Now, weeks after the discovery, the mutated viruses are causing deformities in random sections of the bodies. Parts of them are rapidly ageing, or de-ageing, causing everything from blemishes and white fur or hair, to complete organ failure. The planet is quarantined by force. Any ships that refused to turn back are fired upon. The population isn't starving for anything, this being a post-scarcity society, but panic does begin to take hold. Zxarr is aware that this was his doing, but it doesn't stop him. This is a setback, nothing more. He's convinced he can fix this.
Death counts are rising rapidly, attempts to use previous anti-ageing treatments were able to give some additional time to those suffering, but ultimately the virus was winning.
Zxarr, even after the horrific death of his old colleague, Dr. Kinja, was working without reprieve, working to stabilize all the new mutations that kept appearing. The virus had a kill switch that so far, had not been affected by the mutations. This kill switch was a secondary inoculation, something he had sitting in storage… something that could be replicated planet wide. But he was so convinced that he could fix this, so convinced that immortality was within his grasp, that even once his involvement was discovered, and mobs began to beat on his well protected building doors, he continued.
In the attempt to end this global pandemic, very few noticed when the jump from humans to animals occurred, until it was far too late. There was nowhere on the planet left to hide. There was no immune system that could work fast enough. Six months after the accidental release of the mutated virus and the planet was almost completely devoid of multicellular life.
There were no longer any broadcasts coming from the planet. No more pleas for help, no more tears for loved ones lost. The planet was dead. Zxarr emerged from his lab to find only bodies outside. Deformed, hideously grotesque and twisted bodies. Everywhere. With a beautiful, blue sky above him, he roamed the wasteland of abandoned vehicles and destroyed shuttles that either were shot down before leaving the atmosphere, or crashed when their pilots succumbed. For hours, he walked through one of the cities, where millions once lived. All that energy he'd poured into this idea of immortality for all, the energy that kept his madness going, suddenly just vanished. And he realised what he'd done. 23 Billion sapient beings perished and billions more in animal life. His mind couldn't cope and he descended back into madness, his body collapsing to the ground as he just… retreated… losing himself completely.
The planetary Federation that blockaded the planet had successfully managed to prevent this virus from leaving the planet. After months of planning and arguing, they decided the best course of action was to sterilise the planet from orbit. Zxarr remained where he was, his mind replaying events over and over. A personal hell. Even as the antimatter bombs rained down, super-heating the atmosphere, destroying anything and everything with heat as intense as the core of a star. His body just atomised. And as the wall of heat blasted towards him, his mind came out of it enough to think one final thing: 'finally'.
Antimatter bombs continued to rain down for the entire month, slowly turning the planetary crust into lava, causing all the water on the planet to vapourize into the atmosphere. The planet was turned into a hellish landscape, a constant firestorm. Enough to wipe the virus from existence.
Days after the last bomb dropped, and in the middle of this hellscape, Zxarr came back into existence. His body just rebuilt itself, like watching dust appear from nowhere and coalesce into a form. He stared out at the landscape before him, the rock was so hot it was glowing, but not quite molten. The air was thick with smoke and haze and he could barely see anything. The air temperature alone was in the hundreds of degrees.
He had no idea where he was as he began to walk. Stories from his past came up. Stories that conquered races of the Great Order spat at him before their death. Stories of hellish places the most evil beings went to when they died, where eternal punishment awaited them. And here he was, wandering around in just such a place.
Over years, the planet began to cool and as it did, the water began to condense and fall as rain. At first, it was only at night, but after many months, rain was about the only thing he knew. Torrents of water fell from the sky, pushed around the entire globe in massive storm fronts! He found high ground and just waited, alone with his thoughts. Thoughts that were a constant torment.
Three more years passed. His thoughts began to turn from torment to redemption. How? He had no idea. But one day, he looked up to find the clouds parting and blue sky briefly appearing.
As the rains lessened over time and blue sky became more abundant, ships began to skim through the atmosphere, taking sensor readings. The planetary federation was beginning to return.
As more and more craft began coming in and even started landing where deemed safe, it was inevitable that Zxarr would be found. Just sitting quietly against a rock, when a lone surveyor in a full hard-vacuum space suit spotted him. She was dumbfounded. How could ANYthing be alive down here?
At first, it was thought a ship crashed and he was the survivor? But, no records of such a ship existed.
Once word got out, it wasn't long until they discovered who he was. The butcher. The executioner. The destroyer of worlds. Most species had a term for Zxarr now. His name, which was once praised for his research, was only spoken with disdain.
The planetary federation, after a months worth of decontamination and testing, took Zxarr off the planet and held him in the old space station that orbited the planet. Once a port for tourists and travellers, now an empty husk of it's former glory. Calls for his death rang through the federation, a first in a very long time, but were quelled when it was discovered he'd survived a month long bombing that turned the planet's surface molten.
It is decided that Zxarr is to be exiled from the planetary federation. His ship, still in orbit, is towed to the station he's residing on. He leaves, and after barely saying anything for his entire captivity, he says, “I'm sorry.” before he boards his ship. There's nothing, no words that can be said to atone for what he did, so that simple phrase is all he utters. Instead of leaving their sphere of influence, he activates the inter-universal drive and blinks out their universe entirely.
The arrival to a new universe does not bring with it any reprieve for his torment. How did he lose himself like that? It happened so easily, lost in his work, completely ignoring everything outside of his little bubble.
After months spent roaming around a galaxy in the StarDiver, Zxarr finally finds somewhere with life. A primitive society, agrarian based for the most part. He's found no signals from any advanced societies this entire time. He lands in an unpopulated area, hides the ship and proceeds to find the locals.
After observing the locals for a few months, he finds them to be quite interesting. They seem to be a very enlightened people, even with their simple ways, or possibly because of? They called themselves Joji and this planet is named Nu'mer-Shi, or rather the land is called this. These people have no concept of things like planets.
Most of the first year was spent just observing their customs, watching from afar and practising changing his form to look just like a Joji. Their language, for some reason, came easily to him. During this time, flashbacks of his previous life continued to haunt him.
Eventually, he made his way into a village, looking just like any other Joji. He was greeted kindly and offered his services to a few of the farmers there, in exchange for a place to stay. This wasn't an unheard of custom and soon he found himself growing and harvesting food, helping in any way he could.
At first, nights were spent sleepless, as memories continued to plague him, but with time, those memories started to become easier for him. He'd spent over 6 years living in a small village, tending the land, enjoying the calmness and peace as much as he was able. He'd made friends. He was known as someone who is strong, and reliable. He even managed to find new medicinal purposes from some of the local plants. Life was starting to become bearable again.
It'd had been almost a hundred years since he'd visited his mountain. 96 years, to be precise, 96 years since since he started on the path that led to an entire planet being destroyed. One night, he slipped out of the village, closed his eyes and pulled himself into that other universe. He opened his eyes and looked around his cave. Pictures of his old friends stared back at him. Dust had settled everywhere, it was cold. After a few moments to build up his will, he began to clean. He returned the next morning, slipping back into the village. He felt a little better that morning.
Slowly, he'd begun to master his shapeshifting, moreso than what the Great Order had wanted. He could form more and more complex shapes. Adjust his form in very precise ways. He was slowly making himself age, at least to the others in his village. They didn't need to know what he was. While his memories would never fade, he'd come as close as he could to 'terms' with his past. Now, he just wanted to help those who needed it. Maybe, if he could keep this up, just maybe, he could finally atone for his crimes.
He spent time with the village elders, learning their history through their songs and stories. Every night most of the village would gather at the center and share a meal. More and more the horrors that plagued his mind faded.
As he and a few of his village returned along a narrow trading route, they were caught in a rock slide. He managed, with a lot of effort, to keep the others safe long enough to push them to safety, but he was pulled down the hill and as far as the villagers were concerned, killed in the process. He took that time to sneak away, slithering through the rocks and returning to his ship.
He contemplated staying a while longer… but he had a need growing inside him. A need to move on. And so he did. That night, as his friends gathered in the village center to celebrate his life, the Stardiver took to the skies, before pitching up and out of the atmosphere.
He wasn't leaving empty handed though, he'd managed to sneak an imaging device around, from time to time, so he had lots of pictures to remind him of his life here. Plus all the little things he'd been given. Hand woven clothing and blankets, some small pieces of jewellery, mostly made out of old animal bones, but the prize possession, was his sanity. None of those people, not a single one, will ever know how much they helped him.
For 7 years, he travelled the galaxy, moving from star system to star system, looking for life more advanced than what he'd already found. Now and then, he'd stop and observe primitive cultures, but in general, left them be.
With no luck in this galaxy, he departed and set course for another. Tearing across the galaxy in the StarDiver was speedy enough, but moving between galaxies was rather a lot of nothing.
Months into his Journey, an old friend stopped by and asked him a question. “Why are you moving so slowly?” He was startled to find Star sitting behind him and explained his reasons for going to another galaxy. Star then decided to bestow the virtues of the craft he was in. He explained everything about the ship, admitting that this is probably something that should have been done earlier, but… time isn't something that is normally dealt with. Past, present, future? It's all the same.
Zxarr is a little taken aback when he's told about the multiple forms of FTL travel, figuring out he didn't need to spend months in the void, he could have gotten there in seconds. With a grumble, he uses his new knowledge and arrives on the outskirts of his destination with seconds. There's a facepalm moment right there, but when he turns to talk to Star, he is once more gone.
His arrival in the new galaxy must have set alarm bells off somewhere, because he is quickly visited by a number of large star ships. After some brief explanation, and a few days to travel to a core world for further 'discussions', he is welcomed in on a provisional basis. Rolani is the name of the interplanetary society, but they call their species Rolans and while they have come across other star faring species before, they've never seen anything like Zxarr and he does not bother hiding what he is with them.
After spending some time exploring this new society, he ends up moving to one of the outer colony worlds, where he finds a position on a Starship, which is continuing out into the unknown to find other colony worlds. He is well suited to this, as he needs no spacesuit, can withstand extreme environments and can observe without being seen when needed.
Decades later, Zxarr is now first officer of an exploratory vessel. Tasked with finding habitable worlds and resources on the fringes of Rolani space. They come across a planetary system with huge cities, all struck down. What once was a peaceful planet, is now in shambles. The AI life that inhabited it, all gone. Destroyed by some unknown force. News spreads rapidly that there may be another race, possibly with aggressive tendencies.
Another AI inhabited world, this one under attack from an AI hating species calling themselves The Krsshh, or that's what it sounds like. Technologically they're inferior to the Rolani, but the Rolani decide it's not their fight and move on. Zxarr, sneaks off, using the StarDiver, which has been cloaked and trailing behind the exploration ship the entire time. He lands on the planet, to find what were peaceful race of AI, sent out to explore the galaxy, under siege from the Krsshh.
EMP weapons and high explosives are used to wipe out their race, but they refuse to fight back, they're peaceful. They keep trying to reason their way out of this genocide, but there are so few left. Zxarr meets one, a terrified humanoid AI named 'Kreager' who is being tracked by a pack of Krsshh. Kreager is one of the last few of his race left and of course, Zxarr helps him. Not by attacking the Krsshh, but by saving him. He brings him aboard the StarDiver, which comes under fire… rather pointless fire as the EMP has no effect and the explosives do even less.
Zxarr catches back up with his exploratory vessel and attempts to bring Kreager on board, but the captain denies it, stating that they'd be taking sides in a war. Zxarr is unconvinced, but offers Kreager a place to live, somewhere safe, taking him to his mountain. Kreager accepts. It begins a life-long friendship.
Zxarr moves on in his life, leaving his career with the exploratory vessel behind. Instead, he begins attending University, taking any course he can. All manner of physics and math, calculus just for fun and even starts taking music lessons. He also manages to convince the government to allow Kreager to roam freely. Kreager also begins his education, pushing on with his own exploration of the mind.
Zxarr is happy again. He's got friends. Lots of friends. He's no longer pushing for life extension and immortality for all. Instead, he's helping them all reach their full potential, helping them enjoy life. He's even let some of the high end engineers poke around the StarDiver, but it's so far beyond them, they have no idea what they're looking at.
He meets his future mate; Freyd. She's a lovely young female Rolan, who is intelligent, funny, whimsical and has an amazingly wicked little streak in her. She's always up for a laugh when needed. They become romantically involved.
It is at this point, that Zxarr discovers he can have offspring. This was not something he'd ever considered, being what he is! But after numerous romantic pairings with his mate, she became pregnant… with Rolan twins. A male and female.
Joban and Adrei were born in year 442, to Zxarr and Freyd Cgyn. Freyd was happy to name them after Zxarr's parents.
So, it wasn't a one off. Freyd is now carrying another child. Another female.
Their third child, 'Keyan' is born. Zxarr, for the first time, has a family with his own children. He is overjoyed.
Freyd, after a very happy life, passes away peacefully with her family surrounding her. Zxarr is distraught, but with his family around him, is able to move through the grief and push on to his memories.
His family throws him a quincentenary party. Half the city block shows up. The police are called because of the noise. It's a perfect night.
Kreager has started expanding his body, using the core of the planet in Zxarr's universe as an energy source. Soon, his body is an avatar, with his core consciousness stored in the new core.
Joban passes away of old age. He lived an amazing life exploring the stars and becoming ambassador to the Qi'rani people. Another newly discovered interplanetary species in 525(Zx). Zxarr is comforted by his family, which now includes grand children.
Zxarr has taken, and passed, every course the Universities can offer him. He's offered a position at his first University, to teach Quantum Physics. He accepts.
Adrei and Keyan pass away within three months of each other. It's expected. They are surrounded by their children, and their father, who hasn't aged a day.
After so long, with his family expanding out and slowly pushing farther and farther along the tree, he is starting to lose touch with them. It's just something that happens, over time.
Quietly, Zxarr begins to tidy up his life on the planet. He's a well respected educator and father/grandfather/great grandfather and great great grandfather. Just about everyone knows his name, at least in passing and usually due to his age.
He and Kreager helped push their society forwards, assisting in building towards a completely self-sustaining existence. AI now share their planets in a post-scarcity society. They have expanded into all corners of their galaxy… but now, it's time for Kreager and Zxarr to leave; the decision being mutual.
For the few family members he leaves behind, he says goodbye, explains where he's going. He leaves a message for anyone who wants to hear it. One of thanks, of peace, and of hope for their future.
He departs for a new universe, quietly and without fanfare.
The StarDiver arrives smack dab in the middle of a battle, in space. Torpedoes and energy beams streak through the blackness of space causing explosions to ripple across the hulls of massive, slow moving battleships.
Kreager looks at Zxarr after watching a hunk of debris bounce harmlessly off the hull of their ship, “Can we go back now?”
The Yolaran Empire spanned 15 different galaxies when Zxarr arrived in their universe. They had a galactic network of Hyperspace Slingshots allowing all members of their Empire to traverse the galaxies freely, for trade, pleasure, or scientific research. The largest of their slingshots was called the Helix Catapult.
After meeting a porcupine in a Treehouse, Zxarr finds his way to a Mercenary bar, which “is full of the most ethical white-knight mercs in the history of mercenaries.” - Karbon. There he manages to make a number of new friends! Runtel, a Gargoyle teenager, who renews his appreciation for '80's Hair'!