Shambleau, originally referred to as the Celestial Ark or Ark of the Stars[N 1] and known as the World of Tranquillity to the Gatlanteans, is an artificial planet and ark spaceship construct built by the ancient Archelias civilization thousands of years in the past. It was responsible for seeding the universe with the genes of the Archelians which eventually lead to the birth of all human species. It also served as an holy world for the Zirel species and as the refuge for a group of Zirellan Pilgrims after the destruction of their homeworld
By 2199, the Ark was sought after by the Gutaba Expedition Group of the Gatlantis Empire. It played a focal point in the Hunt for the World of Tranquillity, in particular the Battle of Shambleau.[1]
Overview[]
The overtechnology of the Archelias civilazation allowed Shambleau to disguise itself and create an artificial enclosed void around itself. While disguised the planet appeared as a terrestrial world shrouded in a thick grey mist and surrounded by an enormous ring system, it also emitted two beacon-like rays of light from its poles. The Zirel inhabitants of the world were capable of using its technology to cover the cloudy surface with a black solid substance which could compleltely block off all communications between the planet's surface and the outside.[1]
Shambleau's real surface
The pilgrims used their psychic powers to change the appearance of the planet's barren and desert surface depending on who was visiting it. When in August 2199[3] the earthling battleship Yamato remained trapped on Shmableau, the recon team they sebt on the planet saw it as covered by oceans and lush forests identical to those present on Earth; this was due to the fact that the illusion the Zirel had created was based around the memories of Warrant Officer Mikage Kiryu who had visited similar locations with her mother during her childhood.[1]
The real appearance of Shambleau is that of an incredibly ancient and massive structure, an abandoned remnant of the extinct Archelian race and culture left to wander the cosmos and spread the seeds of life. The "planet" is actually rather small part of the overall Ark and it's situated inside of a cage-like complex which has the capability of making itself invisible. Shambleau is also warp-capable, although it does so in a way completely different than any other known spacecraft. Poetry and other information is inscribed in the Zirel language aboard Shambleau.[1]
In order to reawaken Shambleau from its slumber and make it travel again it was necessary for three humans from three different species to stay on the Ark for seven days and then join together in a circle inside of the Ark's control room.[1]
History[]
The mural present on Starvase, note the two structures similar to Shambleau near Teresa
The Archelias civilization[]
Thousands of years before the birth of civilasation a mysterious starfaring civilasation known as Archelias reached the end of its life cycle. In order to preserve their legacy they built Shambleau, the Ark of the Stars, to spread the seeds of life through the cosmos, this would eventually lead to the birth of the various human species which inhabit the universe. Another Ark was built together with Shambleau, the Ark of Destruction, which had the opposite purpose, if the seeds they sowed evolved in a bad way the Ark would reap them all, leaving none behind. [1][4]
The Ark of Destruction was represented in an Archelian mural found on the world of Stravase, together with a representation of the goddess Teresa of Terezart and a (possible) pair structures identical to Shambleau, indicating either the Celestial Ark is much larger than shown on screen, or it has an as of yet unseen counterpart.[5]
The Zirellan pilgrims[]
The Zirellan inhabitants of Shambleau
Sometime between 2188 and 2199[6] planet Zirel, homeworld of the human species of the same name, was destroyed by neighbouring species that feared the Zirellans due to their psychic abilities. The vast majority of the Zirel was wiped out with only two young girls surviving and being taken prisoners by Garmillas, however a group of pilgrims lead by the young priestess Loerelai Loer menaged to avoid the extermination of their species; they travelled off world towards Shambleau, which they regarded as their Holy Land.[1][7]
There the pilgrims found their new home were they decided to live in isolation from the rest of the universe. In the following years the Gatlantis Empire sent various expeditions with the objective of capturing the Ark, in order to protect themselves the pilgrims adopted the strategy of trapping the invaders on the planet's surface, then, through the usage of illusions, they made them go insane and turn on one another. This strategy worked multiple times preventing the discovery of the secluded artificial planet.[1][3]
Hunt for the World of Tranquility[]
For this topic in more detail see, Hunt for the World of Tranquillity
Sometime before September 2199 the gatlantean Governor-General Goran "Thunder" Dagam of Gutaba was given command of the Gutaba Expedition Group and was entrusted with the mission of capturing the "World of Tranquillity" in the name of Emperor Zworder.
Yamato arrives at Shambleau
At that time the earthling space battleship Yamato was on her return trip from planet Iscandar, the ship encountered Dagam's forces while in intergalactic space, and after a brief battle was forced to warp away without making the correct calculations. The ship ended up warping out inside of the enclosed void surrounding Shambleau. The Zirellans immediately took action remotely taking control of Yamato's commands and anchoring the ship near the cross-like structure floating over the planet.
At around the same time the heavily demaged garmillan carrier Lamvea met with the Eighth Security Fleet in a sector of space near Shambleau, the Zirellans, resumably seeing them as a threat, lured the fleet on the planet, leaving them stranded there.
The garmillas sent a recon team on the ground headed by Lt. Commander Fomt Berger, which was infiltrated by Loer herself under the guise of colonel Neredia Ricke and was then trapped inside of a structure which, thanks to an illusion, appeared to them as an hotel. Yamato also sent their own recon team, but as soon as their landing boat entered Shambleau's athmopshere the world was covered by a solid black structure, blocking all communication between the ship and the ground team.
The Hotel from the Earthling's perspective
The hotel from the Garmillan's perspective
The earthlings recieved an S.O.S. from the garmillans stuck in the hotel, when they tried to follow it they too remained stuck inside the hotel. The Yamato team initially hid their identity from the garmillas claiming to be Zaltzi soldiers on a secret mission on behalf of the Empire. However Loer soon began to plot to turn the prisoners of the hotel on one another.
Unfortunately for Loer the young earthling Warrant Officer Mikage Kiryu held a staggering similarity to Berger's ex girlfriend Meria Ricke, sister of Colonel Neredia, a fact which she didn't notice due to a misinterpretation of the Colonel's memories; this, together with other discrepancies between Ricke's and Loer's typical way of acting towards Berger, would cause her plan to fail. On what to the prisoners appeared as their seventh day in the hotel (in reality only a few hours had passed since their arrival on Shambleau, but their perception of time had been altered by the Zirellans), she revealed the earthings' true identity to the garmillan Lieutenant J.G. Klim Melhe who was already going mad for the lack of food. When the news was told to Berger it almost caused a shootout between him and Yamato's Susumu Kodai, Berger's superior, General Domel, had fallen in battle against Yamato, for this reason he held a deep hatred for the battleship and her crew. However due to Loer's previous mistakes Berger saw through her disguise and turned on her.
The Ark returns to the stars
Having blown her cover, Loer revealed the truth of Shambleau to the hotel's prisoners, At the same time, Dagam's fleet menaged to track down Yamato and warped near Shambleau, then he began bombing the planet's with his flagship's Flame Strike Gun. Together Kodai and Berger convinced Loer that the Zirel could still have a future and the three reawakend the Ark of the Stars from its long slumber.
The two teams returned to their respective forces and began a fierce battle against Dagam which resulted in the complete annhilation of the Gutaba Expedition Group.
After the end of the battle the Ark warped away with the grateful Pilgrims on board, perhaps in search of a new homeworld for the Zirel race.[1]
Notes[]
- The name Shambleau probably comes from the science-fiction short story by C. L. Moore of the same name
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Star Blazers 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark
- ↑ Trajectory of YAMATO official 2024 calendar
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mikage Kirryu states that the events of Odyssey of the Celestial Ark (outside of the prologue and epilogue) are set one months after Yamato's take off from Iscandar, as that event is stated to take place on July 27, 2199, it can be deduced that the movie takes place in August of the same year. See Yamato 2199 timeline inconsistencies for more details
- ↑ "Zurvival’s Fierce Assault – Find Teresa"
- ↑ "The Trap at Planet Stravase!"
- ↑ "O Teresa, Cry for Dessler!" and the theatrical program book for 2202 Chapter 5 establish that the founding of the Greater Garmillan Empire has taken place in year 2188, as shown in the same episode, by that time the Zirellan Miezella Celestella was yet to be saved by Leader Dessler after the destruction of her homeworld, meaning that the event had yet to occur
- ↑ "The Planet That We Head For"
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