It was a night of falling stars, fading into the darkness as they plummeted towards the earth.
No one knows where they would fall, or if they would even fall at all. They burned with feeble light, valiantly glowing against the dark sea around them, but that luminance was short-lived. Soon they would return to the shadows, and there'd be no traces of them left.
This was what it meant to be part of the Iron Cavalry, and the only purpose permitted upon those whose lives burned for the sake of the Empress.
A horrible buzzing noise assaults my ears. I force my limbs to move, and my body screams; every muscle, every cell is white-hot, begging me to lie down. To rest. To stop.
But if stop, there'll be nothing left.
Dull tremors shake my arm as my hand plunges into my foe, drawing an inhumane screech from its vile orifices. The giant insect twitches, and then lies still-
Before exploding in my face.
The armor sustains minor damage.
"Damage to armor detected."
Within acceptable limits.
"Damage is within acceptable limits."
Continuing operation.
"Continuing operation. Commencing combat."
I run. I kick off against the ground and leap into the air. Towards the dark, writhing mass that blots out the sky. I have no hesitation in my heart, and my words echo the clarity in my head. And yet, as I look at the twinkling specks of sunlight seeping through the black sheet that was the Swarm, I couldn't help but wonder.
What lies beyond that sky?
My charge crushes a few enemies, before gravity sends me plumetting back towards the ground. I fall amidst a shower of my enemies remains, and smouldering pieces of lifeless steel.
An explosion sounds in the distance. Someone else had perished in the line of duty, laying down their life for the Empress. What remains of their armor fall like tiny meteors, leaving trails of fire and smoke as they descend onto the soil.
In their final moments, they disappear into the Swarm, leaving nothing but fragments as proof they once existed. Not that anyone would be able to differentiate them from the pieces alone.
Not that anyone would ever feel the need to differentiate us to begin with.
Seeing the pieces of metal rain down from the blackened sky, I feel my legs begin to tremble. I didn't need to confirm my vitals to know that this wasn't a malfunction. I didn't need to reaffirm my thoughts to know my devotion to the Empress hadn't wavered.
But as I watched the rest of my comrades fall to pieces, glimmering like stardust against the endless dark mass, I could feel something in me give way.
Oh, right.
For the first time in my life, I feel the need to keep going fade from my body. Looking up at the swirling mass of enemies as they descended upon me like a cascading wave, I feel my arms fall by my side.
We made a promise to see the stars.
The darkness crashes onto the earth, swallowing the world in a shroud of nothingness.
Something cold stings against my face. I force open my eyelids, only to be greeted by a gray canvas overhead. I try to move my arms, but I feel nothing. I try to move my legs, and receive no response.
I try to call for aid, but no voice escapes my throat.
Is this the end?
As soon as the question emerged in my head, I began to question why it ever did. This was what we lived for. This is the moment we strived to reach: the moment we burned ourselves into nothing for the sake of the Empress, and to wipe out the Swarm. This was why we fought, why we lived, and why we perished.
For the glory of ashes, for the honor of becoming embers in the night.
It was the fate of all who served as part of the Iron Cavalry. None amongst us harbored doubt as to our mission, as to the value of our Empress and her glorious empire. To lay down our lives was the final honor bestowed upon those existence found meaning in becoming cinder.
So why is it that at the proudest moment of my life, I feel myself wishing it wouldn't end here?
The same cold sting returns. Something breaks against my cheeks, and a cold liquid runs down my cheek. Countless more drops fall from the sky, crashing onto me and the world around me.
Cold. That one sensation runs through my body, seizing the parts of me I could still feel. Unable to move, I couldn't so much as look around to see if anyone was around. That one thought makes my mind race, for reasons I couldn't understand.
Is this the end?
I find myself repeating the question. But like the first time it surfaced, there was no answer to be found.
I look at the sky. At the gray canvas that was to be the last thing I would see. In a corner of my mind, I find myself wishing that it was night instead, so I could at least see the stars.
As though answering my prayer, a single bright streak tears across the sky.
It was a bright green line of light, stretching towards the gray clouds as though to tear it apart. It had to have rose from the ground, but what could hope to rise so high as to breach the heavens themselves?
I had no answer. And yet, despite this confusing scene, I couldn't help but relax as I watch that rising pillar of light.
Would you look at that. Shooting stars are beautiful after all.
The ones who could still see, bore witness to the brightness of that flame. The ones who couldn't, surely felt the warmth emanating from that rising light. They had no means of understanding what or who that light was, but the ones who saw it in their final moments understood. In their final moments, they looked upon its brilliant glow, sending their wishes to that ascending star as they sank into an endless blackness.
But even as they closed their eyes, that star would continue to shine bright, as though in defiance of the impending night. She would continue to burn proudly, for a purpose she hadn't yet discovered, and for a future she had yet to bear witness.
It was a night of of a lone shooting star, setting the skies ablaze as it tore the darkness asunder.
Based on some scenes from Firefly's release trailer.