A Song for Earth
12 Dec 2024Rawnu
The Gallifrey floats silently above Earth. Below me, the European Alps are clear in the twilight, their peaks breaking through a veil of cloud. My old commune is down there, nestled in the valleys towards the south. I know they’re watching the sky, they know I'm up here. I wonder if they can feel it—the weight, the anticipation, the silence before it all begins.I sit here, the hum of the ship’s systems around me, and I play an old folk song, a warrior's song, over the comms. "Óró sé do bheatha abhaile." It’s a tune from long before the stars became our home, from a time when people fought for their land, their freedom, their way of life. My friend Miri from my Firehawk days introduced me to it.
“Welcome home,” it says. I don’t know why I chose it—maybe because it reminds me of the kind of strength we need now. Not the strength of ships and weapons, but the strength to hold on to what makes us human. The song speaks of liberation, of coming back to what matters. For me, it’s this planet. It’s the people down there, the land, the mountains. It’s the stubborn hope of my commune, believing that even now, Earth will endure.
But what does liberation mean against an enemy like this?
The Thargoids don’t think like us, and I don’t think they’re fighting us just to conquer. Every battle feels like we’re missing something—like they’re trying to tell us something we can’t hear. Cocijo, looming above Europe, feels more like a shadow of something larger than just a Titan. And yet, tonight we fight.
The song plays on, its rhythm steady, its call resolute. “Welcome home.” It’s a message to the lost, the scattered, the ones still searching for what they’ve left behind. Maybe that’s all of us now. Maybe that’s what I’m searching for too. I’ve fought so many battles in this war, but the weight of this one feels different. If we win, Sol breathes again. Earth gets another chance. But if we lose… I can’t let myself finish that thought.
I think about the song’s history, its roots in resistance. Generations before us fought their own impossible wars, and somehow, they made it through. That’s what I have to believe now: that we can make it through, too. Not because of the ships or the guns, but because we’re still here. Because we’ve been here before.
Tonight, we face Cocijo. And whether we win or lose, Earth will still be Earth. The Alps will stand. The rivers will flow. And maybe, just maybe, humanity will find its way home again.
For now, I let the song carry me, its melody wrapping around the silence. Tonight, the fight is coming. Tonight, I am ready.
Tonight, I'm coming home.
