Ballad of the Captain

I flew home one night, as skagged as I could be,
and found an Eye Corps Impie
a-waiting there for me.
I asked the Ops boss, and my dear O.D.,
what's this Impie doing,
a-waiting there for me?

The Ops boss, my dear O.D.,
here's what he said to me.
can't you plainly see,
it's nothing but a rubbish dump
that Eye Corps sent me.

Oh…I've cleaned this wide world,
a million kays or more,
but a rubbish dump in uniform
I hain't never seen before.

I flew home the next night, as skagged as I could be,
and found an Eye Corps cruiser
a-blasting out at me.
I asked the Ops boss, and my dear O.D.,
what's this Impie doing,
a-blasting out at me?

The Ops boss, my dear O.D.,
here's what he said to me.
You devilkid, you dumb kid,
can't you plainly see,
it's nothing but a landspout,
a-heading out to sea.

Oh…I've cleaned this wide world,
a million kays or more,
but a landspout with a laser
I hain't never seen before.

I flew home the last night, as skagged as I could be,
and found an Eye Corps fleet,
a-boiling up the sea.
I asked the Ops boss, and my dear O.D.,
what's this Impie doing,
a-boiling up the sea?

The Ops boss, my dear O.D.,
here's what he said to me.
You devilkid, you dumb kid,
can't you plainly see,
it's nothing but your captain,
a-coming home for tea.

Oh…I've cleaned this wide world,
a million kays or more,
but the captain drinking tea,
I hain't never seen before.
but the captain drinking tea,
I hain't never seen before.

Dawn for a Distant Earth - chapter:LXV

Anonymous Ballad, Reclamation Period, Old Earth

The Forever Hero

Call him hero after all heroes have died.
Call him champion when none else have tried.
Call him saviour of a land left burned.
Call him a destroyer of shambles unlearned.

Call him a name, a title, a force.
Call him devil, or the land's source.
Call him soldier, pilot, or priest.
Call him the greatest, or term him beast.

But remember he stood, and stretched tall,
Where others crawled, or stood not at all.
Remember the captain, and call him Lord.
Remember the sheath is not the sword.

The Silent Warrior - chapter:IV

by Anonymous

Quoted in Ballads of the Captain

Edwina de Vlerio, New Augusta, 5133 N.E.C.

Who are the men who own the skies?
A tall man, a thin man, a mean one.
A man who has no heart, and one who has no eyes.
A man who laughs, and one who never dies.

Do no women own the skies?
A tall one, a thin one, a mean one?
A woman who has no heart, one who has no eyes?
A laughing woman, or one who never cries…

…you cannot own the skies and stars.
You cannot prison them with bars…

And yet, a steel-crossed heart,
with ports that never part,
with daggers from his eyes, has let the captain hold the skies.

And who will melt the steam away?
Who will steal the daggers' day
Who will split the clouds in two,
and with her the stars pursue?

The Silent Warrior - chapter:XV

Fragments from The Ballad of the Captain (full text lost)

Songs of the Mythmakers

Edwina de Vlerio, New Augusta, 5133 N.E.C.

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