The bilge halls of the Lux Sovereign were narrow, choking trenches of sweating steel.
Two feet wide and barely six feet high, the walkways ran between the curved plates of the outer brass hull and the massive iron frames of the lower ballast tanks. everyone could feel the stench of rancid animal fat grease, hot motor oil, and the sharp, acidic tang of leaking battery acid. Above their heads, the thunderous pounding of the four massive diamond drills echoed through the steel ribs of the ship like the heartbeat of an enraged giant statue.
Ren Prime ran with a low, crouching gait, his oak walking stick tapping against the iron floor-grates. Behind him, Apostate Ren glided effortlessly through the dark, his tattered indigo robes tucked tight around his shins, his shattered star compass glowing with faint violet soft glow to light their path.
The heat inside the bilge trench was choking. Every breath tasted of scorched lubricating grease and high-pressure steam, the copper pipes overhead expanding and contracting with rhythmic, metal groans that sounded like the joints of a trapped giant beast.
Ren Prime kept one hand on the cold iron plates of the outer hull. He felt the huge load-bearing shakes rolling through the ship.
