This one's for the ones who won't hear it. I don't write songs for the Council They don't deserve the rhythm I write songs for the hollowed The ones who won't come back with 'em Knew a girl from Cygnus sector Seventeen cycles old Joined ECOS with a fire That the Council couldn't hold She said "Vex, they took my mama When the MUD ships came around Said she was 'obstructing commerce' Now she's fertilizer ground" I told her war ain't pretty Said the grief don't ever end She looked at me and smiled Said "That's why I need to spend What little time I've got left Makin' sure they feel it too" Last I saw her, she was boardin' A raid against the USTUR crew High-risk elegy, singin' for the gone Every name I whisper is a battle I carried on They don't build monuments for soldiers that they call "terrorists" But I carry every single one inside my chest like heritage High-risk elegy— Echo through the void High-risk elegy— They died so we had choice Old man from the outer rim Seventy if he was a day Showed up at our station With nothin' left to say His planet was a MUD site Before the word "extraction" Now he floats with ECOS 'Cause revenge is his attraction Told me once at midwatch Starin' out at nothin' "I ain't here for the victory I'm here 'cause I'm still sufferin' But if I can take one of theirs Before the void takes me Then maybe all the air they stole Won't feel like destiny" He died six weeks later Took a USTUR ship alone They found his capsule driftin' No message, just a stone From his homeworld. The only thing He managed to retrieve. I keep it in my pocket now. [Pause] I have to believe. I don't know how to lead anymore I just know how to follow them Into the black, into the fire Into the silence after the mayhem They look at me like I got answers Like I know where this ends I look at them and see my own face Pretendin' I got friends But the truth is I'm just a woman With a grudge and a ship and a voice And every time I lose another I forget I had a choice In this war. [Beat slowly rebuilds] In this life. In this endless, starin' down the knife. High-risk elegy, singin' for the gone! Every name I whisper is a battle I carried on! They don't build monuments for soldiers that they call "terrorists"! But I carry every single one inside my chest like heritage! High-risk elegy— Echo through the void! High-risk elegy— They died— so we— had choice. [Beat slowly disintegrates, leaving only ambient pads and breathing] Kaelen. Seventeen cycles. Dorn. Seventy-two. Soria. Forty-one. Jex. Nine. Nine cycles old. Still a child. They called her "collateral." I call her... the reason. This one's for you, little one.
