The freight carriage struck the bedrock terminus, and Loccy braced its handrail before the team stepped into the loading terminal.
Before them stretched the vast subterranean loading terminal of the storm viaduct, carved directly from the living mountain core.
Twin tracks ran along a raised gallery where dozens of freight wagons stood coupled to a colossal mechanical conveyor.
Ferra tapped a bronze test probe against the nearest rail tie, listening intently to the acoustic feedback in the metal.
"This entire southern section is fractured at the primary junction," the smith warned, pointing her wrench toward a sheared bracket.
"If anyone applies sudden torque to this loading bed, the carriage snaps and crushes the lower gallery into dust."
Loccy crouched down, placing her bare palms against the vibrating beam to gauge its structural resonance.
"The fracture runs along the left bolt sleeve," she observed, feeling the hairline fissure beneath her calloused fingertips.
