The Battle at Paesia II
30 Nov 2024der eres
PrefaceI was with them at Omicron, when our lasers looted the rocks of the great white ring and flooded it with the fragments of our early treasures, and the pirates smelled their prey and came and raided the first miners in open space, who became our leaders.
And later, I was there at Delkar, when the galaxy first knew the name of the Miner’s Corporation, as they opened their fathomless wells to humanity to avert certain defeat.
And I was there at Paesia, where fate has finally led us, and the Blue Princess, a child, decided to take the rock, which naturally did not belong to her, but to the miners that knew the rings and who needed them, as they were their home. Then she, who renounced slavery yet made slaves of those who followed, flung them at her newest toy, only to take it from the handful of brave.
I am commander Dereres, Hand of the Miner’s Corporation, flight leader of the Second Wing, surveyor of new horizons, captain of the infamous M.S. Fredderick, and advisor and friend of the men that guided us here. I write these lines as nothing more than a framework for those that weren’t witness, as I hold the last words of one of our own. A miner who fought for his claim to the rocks, a miner who fought for life in open space, away from isolationist politics, a miner who’d rather die in the real world than live in that godforsaken solitude of a galaxy. He fought alongside his own, and he fought alongside all men who were free, the brothers he made on his way: attack pilots, travelers, traders, and pirates that had more honor in their dirty zits than most of the blue army combined, while they hid in their own tiny, simulated world.
Here are this miner’s last words, written to keep his mind alert, written while drifting towards nothing, and watching his oxygen deplete as the knocks of his fist against the cracked glass of the escape pod were swallowed by the endless vacuum of space.
The Battle at Paesia 2
I thought I had found a place in the sea
Of the void of the dark,
A place for a bee.
Each rock that I touched, was touched by the grace
Of the well-wishing temper
Of randomized space.
And then I brought it away, and then I came back inside
To the ring that was home
For the miner to hide.
But then came the screams, as our hulls started cracking
By the blue-colored cannons
Of those who were tracking.
But then we returned, and the faces we saw
Were faces of wonder,
Were faces of awe.
Who would, in his mind, return to the fray
To certain destruction
Yes, certain to pay?
Who were the few miners, coming back ever stronger
As the battle went on
As the days became longer?
Their ships started looking like nothing before,
Their hulls became plated
Right down to the core.
Their hardpoints were rigged with weapons of war
Their drag-drives were tuned
Beyond grade four.
And with each passing day, and each passing night,
More of the free
Joined the fight.
But still, the Blue Princess instructed her slaves
To give her that rock!
And fight all the braves.
And we were outnumbered, yes, seven to one!
Sometimes we could fight
And sometimes we'd run.
And each of the miners was pulling his weight,
Some carried cargo
And some were the bait.
And as I was out on the last of the runs
A python was lurking,
Deploying its guns…
So, I told my wing to head back for the bay,
That three of us lived,
But one had to stay.
And on their way back, they were joined by the Scot,
And Sir, yes Sir,
Complains a Lot.
Their attackers soon learned that this wasn’t their score,
And the Python with me
Became three and then four.
And as they came closer, and looked in my eyes
There was that wonder
There was that surprise.
And they gave me a glance, as if to say:
Brave miner, forgive us,
But we must obey.
And one last time, they circled my ship,
Then fired their cannons
In fear of her whip.
Oh poor little smurfies, soon the galaxy sees
That the little blue princess
Poked the wrong bees.
Even as I will fade into black,
The miners bear grudges
And they will be back.
So, this was the Battle at Paesia 2
Where some fought for freedom,
But many for Blue.