We Hold the Sky

All units, hold your sectors. Help is coming. Concrete shakes as the red clouds bloom Street signs flicker like broken moons My hands smell like ash and cordite fumes Neighbors gone silent behind sealed rooms Reaper horns roll through my ribs like thunder We draw chalk maps under a freeway bunker Anderson’s voice keeps the panic under “Breathe. Reset. On my mark.” We wonder. I’ve got five names written on my glove One for the living, four I couldn’t move If the sky falls, we’ll brace it with love If the night swallows light—prove we’re enough We hold the sky till the Normandy comes Boots in the mud, hearts beating like guns Light up the dark with a thousand lungs Hold. The. Line. We are Earth’s last sons. We hold the sky, even broken and numb Cry to the fleet—Hackett, do you hear us? If we must burn, let the dawn be among us— We hold the sky till the Normandy comes. Hold the line! Hold the line! Mom’s last message stuck in the queue Said “find your brother”—I swear I’ll pull through Husks took the corner where we learned to shoot Blue eyes, no heartbeat—my neighbor too. Marauders bark as the rooftops tear Banshees wail through the chemical air Brutes make the ground forget its prayers But we stack courage like sandbags; we dare. Paint on my helmet: N7 red A promise to ghosts and the words we said And if this is it, I’ll spend what’s left One more mag, one more breath. We hold the sky till the Normandy comes Boots in the mud, hearts beating like guns Light up the dark with a thousand lungs Hold. The. Line. We are Earth’s last sons. We hold the sky where the Reaper beams run Signal the stars—Shepard, are you with us? If we must burn, let it thunder like drums— We hold the sky till the Normandy comes. Say their names in the blackout hum Ari, Chen, Patel—every single one If fear is a tide, we’ll learn to swim If hope is a lie, we’ll lie for them. Hold the... We hold the sky till the Normandy comes Scars on our shields are tomorrow’s suns Light up the dark with a thousand lungs Hold. The. Line. We are Earth’s last ones. We hold the sky—hear the Thanix drums Dock in our hearts and unfasten the night If this is the end, let it end with a light— We held the sky. The Normandy comes. This is Earth command… all stations… hold on.