I am exploring the road to the crystal rod that is the Sky. The vast rails that are the clouds are my guide. They are guiding me now as I travel in a living chariot of flesh and wheel. This aircraft is my cradle in this journey. The journey placed onto my shoulders by an Emperor.

Seven Attempts To Reign.
All Sewn In Vain.

Six biological conveyers of duty soar the night on an oblique course. It is twisted, but forthright. It is forthright, but twisted. All in pursuit of a Dragon. A single entity with potential of a million fleets. I look upon this Entity of Heresy with great reverence. Reverence and Fear. The essence imbrued in my soul with the silver chalk of human instinct. An asylum of greed chases the dragon in and out of the mirrored reflections of our missions. None successful.

Ignoring my loosely implied and commanded orders, a study the pearly stars. A blanket in the midst of my misery, they remind me that my destiny is real, that there is poetry within my sorrow.

Poetry Within The Empire.
Based In Diplomatic Fires.

Deep the night is. Weary and cold my body is. The Gates Of Memories open before my falling curtains, leaving me to reach out to the ascending heels of the breathing reality. A box thrusted into my hands. Inside lays the mammoth key of my own image. Before I know it, I use this key to open my mind and pull my body into the Dream World…

“Walk beside me in this shining path of recognition. The flowers of accomplishment are yours, must you complete your obligation. You must overcome your affliction with simple resplendence. Take my hand and sing the songs of battle-lust alongside your army no more. Take my hand and learn what is right. Witness the battle to come…”

Unit 01, activated.

Unit 02, activated.

Commence final program sequence.

I slip through the gap and gaze at the behemoth below me. Flying above the archaic Tower, I see more of my fleet. Their task and mine so different, yet they are the same…

I Wonder.
I Wander.

The gracious winds beneath me carry me to the home of sands, spiraling through its golden canyons.

A Battleship?
Is it one of ours?
But, why here?

Stunned, I eyeball them from above. A subterranean beast reaches up from the pit to claim the life of one of the young men. A young man merely doing his job. Like myself.

A Child Gives His Last Call.
And Another Avenges His Fall.

Still in elevation, I am floating towards the cimbers of combat, and witness our Dragon in flight. I am puzzled and amazed. A shadow of deception releases it’s own missiles. Another life taken before my eyes. I gasp and I am pulled into a much thicker trance as the rider falls before another…

Don’t…let him go back to the Tower…
my dragon…knows the way…
…please…

Leaving behind a small endowment of truce, each of them ran down separate roads, and the Dragon had a rider once more.

Exchanging the Gifts Of Emotional Bondage.

I am falling now. The veil over my face changes once more, and I find myself higher than ever. I am exploring the mirrored walls of reflections now. Biding my time, I leap higher into the reverie. I leap higher into the clouds.

Transmission from the patrol ship, sir.

The target has been located in sector No. 12.

All ships, prepare for battle.

Inform ground troops to position wire barricade.

Yes, sir.

We must capture that Dragon at all costs.

The ships, how they push. Pushing farther towards their goal. Were it only on the right path… The duo, how they push. Pushing father towards their goal. Were it only on the right path…

Instructions from Unit 01 received and confirmed.

All ground units mobilized, initiate operations and secure the area.

The dogs of war following the voice of man. Following orders on their own will. As if they have no will. I sit in the shadows to ponder. Who am I to follow the Emperor? Marching blindly down Death’s road, while he rests in his bed, not a care in his head.

With a Quick Flash of Red.
All His Men Are Dead.

Unit 01… Confirmed.

After rendezvous, take Unit to full strength.

It is black now. My solitary suffering at its peak. I bleed now. Bleeding now as I watch in admiration this final fight between the two Dragons. Caught between the arrows of light, the glazed image of myself is forming a new light. The somber image of myself is morphing into a new machine, caught between the arrows of light.

The Dark Dragon has taken the last blow. The crescent waves shatter. Disintegrating. The scorched sheets of flesh glimmering under the grey sky fall to the Sea. Lost Forever. The battle is over. The bio-monsters of the Tower rapture the City. The blackness stretches over my eyes and engulfs me. Emptiness.

“The second voyage of the divine image cleared. The next task of the Dragon is near. Far below the heights of reality, I bestowed upon you an offering of the future. Your destiny revealed, your grief no longer hidden, yet no longer your cancer. As we walked the shining path you whispered to me in bleak unhappiness, ‘The Empire is a dead Rose. How it begs for rejuvenation.’ In this simple resplendence, I have shown you the way. What you must do. Now I bid you a safe journey in your return to the forlorn night. Remember that we learn more in our dreams than we do while awake………”

“What’s wrong?”

“Is he alright?”

“What’s going on here?”

“It’s Jed. He’s passed out or something.”

“What? You bonehead. He just dozed off. Wake up soldier!”

Here I dropped the key, ending up back where I started. I am awake now, surrounded by a confused throng of fellow soldiers, each of them with their own purpose.

“You want to get us all in trouble soldier? This isn’t nap time you know. Back to your posts………all of you.”

Does my story end here? Does it have to end at all? When and if it ends, will it end with my eyes open or in a dream? I suppose there is no answer now. Perhaps I should stop trying to look in the dark, and allow the future to become the present. I am no longer dwelling on the outside. I am dwelling in the inside. I am no longer fixated on the crystal rod that is the Sky. This aircraft is still my cradle in this journey, but the task at hand is not the command of an Emperor. It is the command placed upon me by myself.

Striving to keep my eyes open, I begin to look at the stars but turn my head away. I no longer need a reminder. The poetry within the Empire will take a hit, thus losing the fire so gold. My chains will finally be broken.