CH 2, Scene 2. The Taiaha’s Strike. A rogue gamma burst tore across the battlefield,violet fire roaring through the ether, swallowing steel beams whole, vaporizing drones into moltenrain. The alarm shrieked, shadows stretched, reality itself flickered. The warrior stepped intothe blast. His taiaha swept forward. The ether screamed. A razor line of blue white force rippedthrough the gamma wave. The violent light folded inward, collapsing like a dying star.Fragments of burning radiations scattered across the void, cooling into drifting silver dust.Silence hit for one impossible heartbeat. Then the dust shimmered away into the dark.I carry the taiaha of Tumatauenga, the warrior said, raising the weapon slowly as the starsdimmed around its edge. Blue fire raced along the carved wood. The thrust I bestow, he struck thebase of the taiaha against the shattered deck. A shockwave rolled outward. Go forth,O’ gallant ladies, knights, jousters, and hash taggers. Look yonder, the serpent Tomahawk trolls fromthe firestorm. The warrior pointed the taiaha forward. Go slay the beast that melts hopes anddreams. The jousters stepped into the falling embers. His armor ignited gold. The demon roared,reality trembled. I shall lay waste to the techtron Tomahawk. The warrior thundered. The taiaha thrustforward. The ether split open like lightning across the heavens. Journey to Yonder River and ceasethe menace that spans to the Galactic Sea. The first lady lowered her blade as ghost whispersspiraled around her armor. Tis the scroll of consequence. She said softly, ladies jousters andknightly dudes lend me thy recording devices come hither. Hear the words so chivalrous,scribe by the noblest, Salah ad-Din, to keep faith is a duty, and to honor one’s covenant is avirtue of the noble. The second lady looked upward beyond the screaming skies. Confucius sayeth,she proclaimed, for what thou does not wish for thyself. Thou must never do unto others,and the whispers from the Pleiades bend it so. The stars themselves have ruled. Cast not thyspite. They sayeth upon the protectors of fluffy marble-eyed panda of kung fu lineage. For weaponsthey bear none, nor malice their hearts know. For what is the most important thing in the world,the seven sisters ask, he aha, to mea nui o te au, he tangata he tangata he tangata it is people,it is people, it is people. Hashtagger won emerge from a data stream finger still glowing,tag still flying, she planted a glyph in the air between them. Deceivers erased villages, lineagefrom old maps of GPS. They be no more highlighted in topography. Ancient holographs flickeredalive villages, rivers, genealogies, then vanished one by one into static. There be no more clowns toperform nor puppet marionettes to excite. For the boisterous, jolly laughter and mesmerized faces,be no more like the towns erased from GPS devices as humanity looks away. Reaching for itsscrolling thing that goes ping, ping, ping, replace the sound of jolliness and laughter of color,in book pajama stay overs and toy train riders. The jouster tightened his grip on his weapon.No one laughed now. The first lady night lifted Arthur’s blade. Then we protect what remains.The steel caught the starlight. Protect the innocent. Around them the last of the gamma dust driftedthrough the void like the ashes of fallen constellations. Then we shall stand by the sword ofArthurian’s word, she said. Turn not our backs. Fight we must till eternity cedes. The joustergrinned wild, fierce and alive. Tis a rule worth waking every PolkaDot moon for. Hope turned fromthe helm. Her eyes moved across the assembly. The ladies, the jouster, the warrior, the hashtagger.Then to optimism. —“The ROE?” she snapped through the chrome-smoke haze. What say it thou now? Optimismrose slow groove boot tap flow. Gamma scorch hissed off his glove. Blue plasma dripped low. He wipedash crosses coat like a DJ clean spin slide half grin storm light dancing in his eyes.I say turn not the bearers of smiles and good tidings into past tense. Boom.Hollow map flashed. Baseline alarms rolled deep through the brass. Deny the techtron tomahawk.It’s victory no more schools playgrounds hospitals homes blown into pickup stick game. Clickclack. Steel boots hit rhythm on the titanium track. Neon sparks kicked back. Till eternity tags out.Sabre came free with a gold blue streak. Let the saber vanquish. Let the sword shatter.Let thy taiaha strike. Beat hit harder. Visor’s glowed violet white. He turned to the ladies in thestar code shimmer light. Let the chivalry of Salah ad-Din guide thy blades tonight. Let the whispersof Seven Sisters bend thy path just right. Static cracked. Nights tilted once. Armor heartsthumped based through the floor. Then he pointed through the storm wall roar. Let Arthurian’s sword be thy fire wall. Hashtagger-1 stepped between the sound of tears and the blast radius.Shields holding hold hold hold. He turned to Hope. We do not tune our remote to Super Bowl 5045while protectors of fluffy marbled eyed panda of kung fu lineage be made silent in perpetuity.Not for empire. Not for oligarchy. Not for any Deceiver’s machinations.Turn our back not. That is the rule now locked and as such to his beyond contestation.Hope held his gaze for a long breath. Then she nodded once to one. Then the rule is written.She yanked the wheel hard. Jouster thou hast thy charge. Go break the missiles that trolls thefluffy one’s protector. The jouster whooped not laughter now but a battle cry. Tis all I ever wantedto hear. He rocketed into the collapsing geometry. Lance blazing. Look it dares troll themintentionally pre-programmed. He slammed his lance into the first missile. The warhead splitand tumbled into the sea. The blast caught him.
