Starting from this Terran-Tuesday, I will post more. Since all you wonderful people voted for a word of the day and Haku/Tanka prompt, we shall have not one, but two posts for Terran-Tuesday.
This is my first space shanty and I think that before you read it, I need to provide you with some context first. This shanty is written to commemorate one of the most important events of the 20th century Starshatter alt-history universe - the Pirate Clan invasion of Earth in 1969.
There were many a heroic last stands but none other moves the heart and stirs the soul so much as the death of the three cruisers. The three ravaged hulks were joined into a single monument following the end of Humanity’s first stellar war, their orbit maintained by living veterans and their kin. The bodies of the fallen Terrans are entombed within the Tri-Ship Monument, and those who visit can witness exactly where and how they drew their last, victorious breath…
The Terrans:
My Terrans, did you hear the Captain's endmost command?
Just one more hour,
We're all gonna die today!
Just one more hour,
The Claners' Fate is star-minutes away,
For one more hour we'll keep them at bay!
Brothers, did you see how the old marine fell?
He defeated thirty-six a hour of beam and hell.
Just one more hour of gnashing teeth!
Crewmates, did you enkindle our Captain's Iron Will?
His command thirty-six a hour did the enemy kill.
Just one more hour of pain to bear!
Sisters, did you hear our last gunner's wrawl?
She withstood thirty-six a hour of fire and maul.
Just one more hour of vows to keep!
Pilots, did you see your brethren soar?
They fought thirty-six a hour like knights of yore.
Just one more hour of bloody tears we weep!
Troopers, did you best your uttermost fright?
You endured thirty-six a hour of constant fight.
Just one more hour of deathless valor!
My Terrans, our Captain's last command we followed!
'Twas our best hour,
We float at rest in this hull most hallowed.
'Twas our last hour,
Laser, railgun, blade, and fist – our final duty,
The Slavers' doom we sealed today!
“A large debris field consisting of three wrecked Terran spaceships of an early design, known as the INS Akira, the INS Lincoln, and the INS Rome. First in their class, they were cruiser-size ships with rotating sections and limited speed. Nevertheless, the Terrans had fought valiantly against insurmountable odds. It was around the time when humans first traveled between the stars and joined the community of starfaring races that a great Pirate Lord named Mahimm unified many clans and led his armada into the Sol system.
Arrogant and foolish, Lord Mahimm decided to invade and enslave all of humanity, even though he knew the humans had signed the pre-alliance agreement with the Kil’ra Empire. He hadn’t anticipated the Kil’ra to send their ships, nor had he expected the stiff resistance from the “primitive” locals.
Just as his agents had informed him, the humans had been physically weak. Their “puny” fleet had only small escort ships, starfighters, and but three capital-size ships that were just fresh off the assembly line. Crews were trained to perfection, but had little to no real combat experience, and the sly pirate lord predicted an easy fight. That proved not to be the case.
Ultimate victory eluded him, and as he suffered unimaginable losses both in spaceships and ground forces, Mahimm went into a fit of rage on the bridge of his command cruiser, the CS Romaaruk. He commanded ten of the best destroyer captains in his armada to surround the lone Terran cruisers and take them.
Somehow the humans successfully resisted him, and he lost all of his ships that were battling them.
For thirty-nine full hours they fought defiantly, dying from exhaustion and wounds, but never leaving their posts. Fulfilling their eternal duty to humanity, the cruiser’s whole crews died to the last man and woman. And as the hulls of their ships were melting beyond repair, they themselves cooking alive inside their suits, the crew still managed to return fire.
The pirates sent boarding parties who were to secure the wrecked ships, but wave after wave, they all vanished within the ravaged hulls. The Terrans shot at them with everything they had, but the power packs were all spent eventually so they fought them in melee.
Jagged and broken weapons, severed limbs, and even pieces from the hulls of their own ships were used as improvised weapons. Finally, the wounded Terrans, their suits damaged and suffering from decompression, used their failing bodies to finish the job. After their twentieth attempt, the pirates stopped sending marines. The space around those three Terran ships became a graveyard for them, a terrible monument to their Great Lord’s folly.”
Wow! That's some tale! And a little something for Terran Tuesday:
Soil reaches up and takes firm hold
My soul grows faint, my heart's not bold
To space I fly for my safety
And grasp the stars that e'er there be
I twinkle there as years roll by
I am but star in dark night sky
I love your poems!