Whether you step, spill, stumble or stride out into the gale of the storm that has assaulted Waking for the better part of three hours - or you stand in it already having held off the Stormchaser threat by force of arm and ire alone - nonetheless are your eyes drawn upward when the main battery canons located at the prow of Waking Prime's main flight deck [[fire their payload with a series of tremendous, claxon bangs.]]In order of altitude, seven different explosions light up the Waking skyscape and cast the thunderheads, the airships, their crews and the sharp angles of the city herself into razor relief for a slim instant. You imagine and hope fircely that the silver iodide canisters will ignite the stormclouds and spur them to release before the phosperous light fades and [[the suffocating and oily darkness reasserts itself.]]But as your hope and attention flags, you begin to hear something high above you.
A lower rumble than the even the immortal engines of the Shining City - and originating not from inside the great machine but all around it, the air itself begins to tremble and from the tinny speakers all over the ship you hear Flightcaptain Bliss's resolute command to [[take cover immediately.]]And it is only seconds after you do, under an overhang of convenient steel struts, the bilious and indeterminate safety of the Primary Manifold, the great Hall of Invention or the narrow safety found sheltering neath the eves of the gunnery canons themselves, [[that the rain becomes a waterfall and everything goes white.]] You don't know how long you wait there, or how many leaks you see and plug and seal, or how long the terrible cold of near-submersion at two thousand feet clings to your skin while you bale water or hang on to the railing for dear life as the the rain, if it could be called rain in the volumes in which it falls upon Waking Prime now, [[pours over the Shining City till it grows dim and still and quiet.]]And eventually, a long time after you find yourself content to soak and shiver and sleep - and perhaps to die - the overwhelming cavalcade of water on the city's drum abates and you realize that the [[highstorm has finally run itself out.]]
And when you step from your shelter into the frigid air of deep Summer and breath deeply it is not oxblood fumes and biodiesal that fill your lungs and sinuses but the clear and perfect scent of ozone and rainwater instead.
And for once, save for those immortal and churning engines below, the city is dark and quiet.
But it is not long, in the fashion of a city whose namesake beget its purpose, that Waking begins to stir and flex - [[and slowly the electric lights that earned the city its moniker, begin to flicker to life.]]The night above you is perfect, the clouds having wrung themselves out over your head. The city is calm and serene in a way you imagine it will not be again for some time.
The moon is a coin that hangs in the east as if it were painted there and illuminated from behind like a paper lamp. The stars are only divisible from the electric lights of Waking Prime because of your immediate proximity - and you expect that from below the Shining City is indistinguishable from the heavens in which it resides.
The Waking skyline shines over the San Saba and you think the fireworks some nearby Cloudskippers fires off make a beautiful addition to [[your beloved Lonestar Sky.]]
Your gaze, unbidden, is drawn to the highest level of Eureka Tower - where the San Saba Board and its Chairman work and reside. The building is immaculate and perhaps more beautiful for the rainwater still running down its sides in sheafs.
Previously dark, the lights on the penthouse floor flick on.
And you wonder where things will go from here.
[[Fin.]]
OOC:
Thank you so much for being a part of Lonestar Skies: The Shining City! From every member of the DRTX Team we appreciate your patronage - and your creative effort - and your buy in!!
We love writing content and creating worlds for our homies to play in. Thank you SO MUCH for playing in the worlds we create.
Can't wait to see you all next month for a little Indulgence.
<3
Shan, Aesa and the DR:TX Team