Sky-City Skirmish
Clouds loomed thick around the drifting metropolis of Aerothane, its massive platforms and spires buoyed by the hum of anti-gravity engines. Normally, the city’s sky-lanes bustled with windriders and commerce. Today, however, the overhead thrusters sputtered, sending tremors through every level. The Coalition’s sabotage had begun.
Time Keepers Oren and Lyria dove from a hovering maintenance skiff, punching through gusts of swirling debris. Chunks of infrastructure broke apart—loose catwalks, spinning metal shards—crashing into the city’s lower terraces. Their $TIME watches, clipped to reinforced jumpsuits, flashed urgent readouts of approaching gravitational overload.
“Focus on the core!” Lyria shouted over the gale, pointing to a massive engine tower half-wreathed in sparks. The sabotage had thrown the city’s equilibrium into chaos. If that tower failed completely, Aerothane would plummet thousands of feet to the earth below.
The pair soared onto a suspended walkway, narrowly missing a chunk of twisted steel that crashed behind them. Coalition agents lunged from behind battered crates, rifles barking energy bolts. Oren ducked behind a collapsed column, returning fire with a stunner pistol. Another volley ricocheted off scaffolding, making the entire platform lurch.
Heart pounding, Lyria raced across the final stretch. The engine’s control station was ablaze with sparks. She yanked open a panel, frantically recalibrating the anti-gravity drives. Oren fended off the Coalition in an intense firefight, each second ticking down to cataclysm.
At last, the watch on Lyria’s arm chimed success. A final input locked the core’s fail-safes. The city steadied. Drifting metal swaths began reorienting themselves. In the clearing smoke, the Time Keepers nodded wearily. Aerothane hadn’t fallen. Their mission to safeguard this fragile, floating jewel had prevailed in the nick of time.
But the Coalition agents hadn’t vanished with the danger. After the engine’s failsafes locked into place, a groan rumbled through the city’s structure as anti-gravity fields reestablished equilibrium. Crates, pipes, and enforcers all tumbled sideways, seized by the sudden shift. One agent tried to aim an energy rifle, only to be disarmed by Lyria’s crackling stunner. Another rushed Oren with a hidden sidearm, but Oren wrestled him into a chokehold.
A final Coalition soldier fled across a trembling walkway. Oren gave chase, wind whipping metal shards in every direction. The agent staggered each time the city jolted back to stability. Oren tackled him just shy of the open sky, nearly toppling them both over the edge. With one final heave, Oren pinned him.
The city’s thrusters gave a final sputter, then settled into a steady hum. The immediate crisis was over. Coalition saboteurs lay bound, battered weapons scattered among them. Other Time Keepers swooped in on small windriders to help secure the area.
“Looks like you won’t be sending that distress call,” Lyria said wryly, kicking aside a damaged jammer device. Her watch’s readout confirmed the sabotage had ended.
Oren wiped sweat from his brow, gazing at the battered towers in the distance. “They’ll get these agents locked up in a place where time works against them, not for them.” He turned, resting a hand on Lyria’s shoulder. “Time Keepers: one. Coalition: zero.”
She gave a breathy laugh. “Let’s hope it stays that way—for at least one more day.” In the sky above, rescue skiffs and maintenance crews were already descending on Aerothane’s battered platforms, ready to mend what was broken.
Micro stories are a content feature offered by $TIME's dev Woj. Handwritten and accompanied by art, they serve to deepen the story world we're creating here. Enjoy!
