Battle of Haibi Chapter 18half
Back to Battle of Haibi main directory
Previous: Battle of Haibi Chapter 18: Feather Conspiracy
Chapter 18 and a half: The Least Gentle of Nights
(First written on 2018 June 28 when the author discovered Do Not Go Gentle while watching Interstellar. Published on 2019 March 20 in honor and memory of the casualties of Christchurch, New Zealand violence which happened on 2019 March 15 when the author discovered it at the beginning of The Great Replacement)
A Defender of Haibi stands on the wall, watching the evening sun dim red as it nears the horizon. The wind is like a raging gale, but it is only able to disturb the armored robe slightly. The figure has the mask on, cross shaped slits surrounding a round hole in the middle. Attached to the bottom is its chin, with a smaller round hole and no slits. Behind, the being has a black cloth, or something that looks like it. The figure holds a rifle, standing watch as though to say with no words, "No one gets over this wall."
The monster holds a monocle to his eye, pinches it between his brow and his orbit; it was from a battleship's rangefinder, as human spectacles are too small for him. Human books as well, he scratches off the word "Oscure" from a magazine copy he knows is 281 years old; it has not fared well. He liked to keep it, but Erebus, the demon of terror, recalled inspiring the poem he seeks. Victory awaits, and while he could inspire merely the thoughts, his host had selected the elegant form of "villanelle" - Erebus had no interest in poetic forms, but he was so impressed that he memorized it. He crushed the last copy on Earth of this poem and discarded it.
Samurai is listening to this gentle voice tell him a beautiful story about the beginning of the world, lying awake in bed, watching the sun set outside. Tomorrow was Saturday, and he was trying to get some rest.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. At this time, the earth was featureless and empty, darkness covered the face of the deep. The Spirit of God soared over the waters. God said, 'Let there be light' and it became so; it was good. God separated the light from the darkness, calling the light 'day', and the darkness 'night'. The evening and the morning was the first day."
The military commander of the enemy grasps his talking box gently; its cable stretches from its cradle in the ceiling. Pressing, the switch, he utters, "Tonight we destroy the sudden city, the last bastion of our enemies, I have a few words, I'd like you all to hear:
"Do not go gentle into that good night
"Old age should burn and rave at close of day
"Rage, rage against the dying of the night."
Samurai was well aware this could be the last time he slept in this bed, for his world was going to change the next day. One last night of peace, yet God continued to disturb his sleep with the elegant story of His creation. The sky out his window was a romantic magenta belying the bitter cold.
"And God said, 'let us lift water from water, a layer above and a layer below.' God called the space between these layers the 'sky'. The evening and the morning was the second day. God said, 'Let the land produces plants that bear seed, and trees that bear fruit, reproducing according to its kind.' The evening and the morning was the third day."
A few last sips of whatever beverage the individuals of the enemy had chosen or been given, rarely the former under the grip of demonic tyranny. Their commander continues to recite the dark poem from memory, not knowing that he just destroyed the last readable copy, as the sudden city didn't have one.
"Though wise men at their end know dark is right
"Because their words had forked no lightning,
"They do not go gentle into that good night."
[Properly, "they" is on the previous line; the error is Erebus' not mine.]
"And God said, 'let us put lights above the sky to further distinguish day and night, and to mark seasons and years.' These he called 'stars'. He also made the angels. The evening and the morning was the fourth day. Then God said, 'let us fill the seas with fish and the air with birds,' and so he created them, each reproducing after its own kind. The evening and the morning was the fifth day. And God said, 'let the land produce creatures each reproducing after its own kind: livestock, ground dwelling animals, and wild beasts. Let us create man in our image and likeness, to rule over all life, and all the earth.' The evening and the morning was the sixth day."
"Good men, the last wave by, crying no bright
"Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
"Rage, rage against the dying of the night."
Weapons are checked one last time, anxious batwings flex and shift their weight waiting for clearance to take off. Guardians scratch the ground like excited bulls and the fingers of the imps and hellknights sparkle with anticipation.
"Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight
"And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
"Do not go gentle into that good night."
Why is the voice putting emphasis on the word "evening" all the time? Samurai ponders as the soft voice continues.
"Before the seventh day God had finished all the work he had been doing, and so on the seventh day, he rested. While relaxing, he touched the seventh day to complete the week, making it holy because on it, he rested from all his work. And the evening and the morning was the seventh day."
"Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
"Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,"
Guardians cheer at that line, and Erebus must pause for them if he wishes to be heard.
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
Evening comes before morning. That is one day.
Samurai shoots up in his bed, looking out the window at the stars. He grabs his phone on his dresser and hits the general alert. His voice echos through all the corridors and all the defense towers, Central Tower, and the moat: "All hands to battlestations, all hands to battlestations. This is not a drill. This is not a drill."
The forces advancing on the ground engage their cloaking devices. Batwings and guardians marching along the ground shimmer like the air above a fire's flames.
"And you, my father, there on the sad height,
"Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
"Do not go gentle into that good night.
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
"All hands to battlestations, all hands to battlestations. This is not a drill. This is not a drill."
A shimmering along the horizon as unto hot engines idling. With all the forces of evil assembled, it's not too surprising
The Defenders Haibi enter their turrets and raise their rifles just in time to observe the shimmering blobs take off. Batwings are on their way and hot plasma issues from the top of the wall to greet them in anger.
[FHD Remix author Terry Wilson first recognized in Interstellar about 1930Z on 2018 June 28, the evil side's counterpart to the Genesis story at the beginning of the Battle of Haibi. It was after this that I searched for and identified the poem and its author. FHD Remix is fiction and has never made a claim that its hermeneutic is realistic, therefore this is not a claim that Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night was demonically inspired, although it is inherently a claim that it was plausible. I knew nothing of Dylan Thomas before, so I looked up his extensive Wikipedia page; turns out he's a big name secular entertainer. While a complete wreck by 1914-born standards, he's bog standard for both popular entertainers and a sane individual for died-2014 standards, maybe just a tad below the median of what I've observed to date. (And yes, Robin Williams came to mind.) Therefore it is plausible that he wrote the poem from the thoughts of a demon. That said, FHD Remix is fiction, so there is no claim that a particular demon of the name Erebus inspired it even if it went to paper similarly in real life.]
[Back in June, I was hesitant to publish this half-chapter. But I cracked open The Great Replacement by Brendon Tarrant and look what I saw! It is not properly attributed, but there on the second page of the so-called "Christchurch Manifesto" is Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas. That happened at 05:09Z on 2019 March 20, and I was like "That's it, BoH 18-and-a-half is going online tonight." (I'm in Z-6.) So, I offer my little memorial to the casualties of Christchurch, Sutherland Springs, and all the ISIS-vs-Christian massacres that have gone unreported. "But I [The Saviour] say unto you, Love your enemieis, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and prey for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." - Matthew 5:44-45 Authorized King James Version.]
[Also, apologies for the broken links throughout FHD Remix: Three Worlds In One, my Youtube channel was terminated under false pretenses on 2019 March 9; there were no strikes, no warnings, no notice, and the appeal was denied. My Gmail account was also suspended, so I highly recommend anyone who relies on Gmail for business purposes, get switched to another email service as quickly as possible as it cannot be considered sufficiently reliable if this can happen.]
Next: Battle of Haibi Chapter 19: Battlestations!
