LotS/The Story/Tales of The Void 2/The Lady of Steel Skin
Among cold stars that stud the night,
Endless depths beyond mortal sight,
Where fallen empires face their plight,
Lonely vessels wend dreaming flight,
By many splendored Karakin.
And for that world a ship makes sail,
Parting endless void's dark veil;
Within its scarred hull so pale,
The lady of steel skin.
Four gleaming moons cast silver glow,
Upon the forests far below,
Across the planet's drifting snow,
And crystal rivers' tranquil flow;
The beauty of Karakin.
Shining cities like beacons blaze,
And laughter to the heavens raise,
'Twas the place she once lived her days,
The lady of steel skin.
So long since she trode its land,
In the golden sunlight stand,
Waters rippled from her hand,
And the cool breeze her warm brow fanned,
On beautiful Karakin.
Beloved faces fill her mind,
Their voices with hers once entwined,
Now in cold memory confined,
The lady of steel skin.
Whatever does she hope to seek,
The things of which those voices speak?
To cry with neither eye nor cheek,
And end existence hard and bleak,
On beautiful Karakin?
To this planet does she yet have claim,
Or did it perish in cruel flame?
Does anyone left know her name,
Lady of steel skin?
She lands by a ruined place,
That all the years cannot erase,
Haunts her through the depths of space,
And penetrates the steel embrace;
Memories of Karakin.
A man held her before the steel,
While children giggled at her heel,
And with a kiss her lips he'd seal,
Before she bore steel skin.
With metal tread she walks the ground,
Amidst the ruins ghosts gather round,
Fleshless senses to confound,
Wailing their soft mournful sound,
Lost specters of Karakin.
Burnished gold of autumn laid,
In warm shadows the children played,
When pirates came with gun and blade,
Before she bore steel skin.
Her husband heard the spacecraft's roar,
The grim black bird that dripped in gore,
Brought the children in, sealed the door,
A brave soul though no man of war,
A hero stood on Karakin.
Towards their house the pirates drew,
Harlequins checkered white and blue,
A vicious debt they had made due,
Before she had steel skin.
"Judge Keplex!" on every foul tongue,
Screeched from each rotten chem-scarred lung;
Natalia's word their leader hung,
From the grim gallows high she swung,
By the just laws of Karakin.
The judge herself was far away,
But not a word her kin would say,
They perished rather than betray,
Before she had steel skin.
The phone rang in the judge's room,
At once she felt the hand of doom;
There on a screen she saw the plume,
Snake from her family's fiery tomb,
Ending life on Karakin.
Her husband and her children dead,
Only one thought filled her head,
And down a cold dark path it led,
To her fate and steel skin.
In the law she'd once laid her trust,
Within its maw the wicked thrust,
But then her faith was burned to dust,
A hollow soul filled with disgust,
By the justice of Karakin.
The pirates they would not pursue,
Across the gleaming cosmos flew;
Her own vengeance she must see through,
And soon would come steel skin.
The black judge's gown she cast aside,
With fires raging deep inside,
For her family she screamed and cried,
And let herself into fury slide,
That would take her from Karakin.
Her aching heart she called a curse,
Mere human weakness to disperse,
The stars in a new guise she'd traverse,
A lady of steel skin.
In wrathful mind forever scarred,
Her flesh was weak but spirit hard,
And so she resolved to discard,
Her mortal shell and broken shard,
Humanity on Karakin.
From out her skull they tore her brain,
Ripped from the nerves that brought her pain,
Surrendered human beauty vain,
Lady of steel skin.
Callous metal her living grave,
Granted the strength that she did crave;
Only one single thought she gave:
Avenge children and husband brave,
Who perished on Karakin.
That robot body held shattered soul,
And exacted its grievous toll,
All but fury the metal stole,
The lady wore steel skin.
Beneath the tears that heaven wept,
Her heart forever would be kept,
In sodden earth where her family slept,
While aboard the pale ship she stepped,
And flew far from Karakin.
Like a dark and trackless sea,
The universe rolls steadily;
She voyaged through the galaxy,
The lady of steel skin.
Out in the void she caught a word,
A tale over sensors heard,
Speaking of the gory bird,
So onward the lady spurred,
A vast gulf from Karakin.
On a distant world pirates drank,
Where soft chems flow and hard creds clank;
Through atmosphere the pale ship sank;
She seethed inside steel skin.
Weapons bristled on her shell,
And in her brain she dreamed of hell;
She screamed aloud her tale to tell,
So they'd know it as they fell,
For what they did on Karakin.
Some tried to fight with bomb and gun,
But in the end they were all undone,
When her unerring missiles spun,
Launched from atop steel skin.
Memories passed, slow and drifting,
Mournful loss and vengeance shifting,
To strange places her mind lifting,
Among time's grainy sands sifting,
As she walked on Karakin.
There were no tears for her to cry,
She had no lungs to heave and sigh,
Deprived of flesh emotions die,
Inside her cold steel skin.
Suddenly she heard a moan,
From the dead house's ruined stone,
A phantom noise on chill winds blown,
As though of those who long had flown,
Beyond life on Karakin.
Behind a wall crouched a child,
Trembling limbs and blue eyes wild,
A girl upon whom troubles piled;
She gazed up at steel skin.
Electric eyes at her stared,
The lady bid her, "Don't be scared..."
Asked the girl what she had fared,
And her sad tale the child shared,
She'd suffered on Karakin.
"I will protect you," Natalia vowed,
And the girl dared to hope aloud;
Perhaps love can still pierce the shroud,
Of the lady's steel skin.
The other prisoners held their breath and looked from the poet to the woman on the throne. She rubbed the side of her index finger against her chin.
"How did you know I like Tennyson?" she asked.
"No woman of intelligence would ever be bored,
On hearing to the verses of the great Alfred, Lord."
"I suppose so..." The Tyraness smiled. "Guards! Dispose of the other prisoners."
The guards exchanged glances and shrugs of their shoulders, until one of them spoke.
"Forgive me, I must ask a question. It's about your latest..."
She froze, bit her lip, and turned to the others.
"Suggestion," two of them whispered.
"Suggestion!"
"I don't make suggestions!" The Tyraness' eyes narrowed. "I give orders and people obey if they want to keep their insides on the inside! But what's your question?"
The guard opened and closed her mouth several times. Her mistress sighed.
"I give you permission to speak without rhyming verse! From this moment on, that law doesn't apply to my warriors."
"Thank you, Tyraness!" they chorused. Some favored the prisoners with smug looks, which those men and women returned with glares.
"So, when you said dispose of the prisoners," the guardswoman said, "did you mean set them free or slaughter them?"
"Slaughter them!" the Tyraness said. There were gasps and wails. "Oh, wait... Force of habit! I liked his poem. Go set them free. And give them each a bowl of chocolate ice-cream, because I'm feeling generous."
"Yes, Tyraness."
"And as for this one..." She transfixed him with a pointing finger. "Who are you?"
"My name is Zhao Chen, Tyr-"
"Find him a cell. He's my new court poet!"