[STO] An Invocation

It is twilight. Our twilight? Who knows? Perhaps. It is certainly someone's twilight, and we may be as deserving as any other.

We stand at the precipice. from here we may only jump or flee, and in either response there is no going back. We still believe we have a choice, but if we are to stay true to the spirit in which we started this journey, our choice is already made.

These may be our last words, our epitaph. last words are meant to be heroic, inspiring, important, but I think the most important thing I've learned on this journey is that you don't get time to plan for things like that. Famous last words are more luck than anything else- I'll leave you to decide whether it's good or bad luck.

If this is indeed to be our epitaph, then there's so much to say. How can one sum up a species? How can one leave a footnote at the door of the Apocalypse? Nothing prepares you for what there is to say, just as nothing can truly prepare you for what it is we're about to do. We thought we were ready so many times, but looking back I'm sure that thinking you're ready is a sign that you don't really know what you're ready for.

Onward it is, then. It's not like we could ever consider going back. Our fates were written the day we started walking. We've done so much since then seen and felt so many things that there just aren't words for. How can we sum all that up? How can we sum up the thoughts, hopes, prayers and fears of those who trusted us without knowing exactly that they were trusting us to do?

I suppose if this is to be a marker to our passing, there's nothing else that can be said.

Before we were, we are.

Before we fell, we stood.

Whatever happens, that is eternal. And though we may be forgotten, it doesn't change who we are today.

Strike up a tune, it's time for us to sing.