Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Saturday, 4:00 P.M.
~☆~
The sun was beginning to cast shadows to the east as it traveled to set itself beneath the waves. On the shores of Jeddah, men scurried around bearing all manners of equipment and construction materials. Various stands and canopies were being set up for the upcoming event. A small crowd of citizens had gathered to investigate, but there was no getting past the security perimeter.
Vans and armored vehicles encircled the site, each one neatly plastered with flyers and banners. Lightly armed security personnel held down any points that weren't blocked or barricaded. This was going to be a very special event, and DEI wasn't going to let some over eager fans spoil their surprise.
Solomon walked right past one of the security guards and into the site without resistance; it wasn't hard to recognize Stardust's metal covered manager. In his hand, Solomon carried a stapled stack of various schedules, flyers, and memos. He had arrived just in time to witness the group's heavily modified Gratia be lowered into the bay. As part of this event, the Gratia was covered stem to stern with a mosaic like carapace of glass, plastic, and assorted chunks of DEC; even the stage mounted to the top was encrusted with DEC.
Checking one of his schedule papers, Solomon nodded. DEI was actually running ahead of schedule with the event preparations. They seemed so incredibly ardent about the whole thing that Solomon almost felt like he should be taking this more seriously. As the Gratia slowly sank out of sight just below a stone levee, Solomon surveyed the area. A majority of the stands and booths had been set up, and some of the staff and vendors had already begun preparations for the impending flood of people. It felt odd to not be setting up the venue with his own team, but he wasn't going to complain about not having any work to do. The girls would arrive shortly and the event would begin officially; from there, Solomon's actual work could begin.
Saturday, 7:00 P.M.
~☆~
The hustle of the event was beginning to wind down as the sun set, casting pink and purple lines across the evening sky. The smell of food and drink started to linger as the sea breeze died away. The attendees were slowly gathering to the stage, or at least what several signs indicated was going to be the stage; all anyone could see was the sea. After some time, most of the lights at the venue shut off as Solomon's metallic voice came from seemingly nowhere.
"Hello everyone, Solomon here. Thank you for your attendance at this very special live. I regret being unable to address you all in person as usual, but my absence is integral to tonight's event. So without further ado, let us look to the Stars."
A single firework shot up into the sky and exploded in a rainbow of shimmering colors. However, the lights didn't simply dissipate as normal; the sparks shifted into a variety of shapes and descended to the ground. Music began to fill the air as more lights appeared out of nowhere and darted around. It appeared as if a giant diamond was rising out of the water as the Gratia slowly pushed itself up. Spotlights shone on the sparkling leviathan emerging from the depths, creating more dancing lights in the process. When the Gratia's stage was sufficiently above water, Starlight's signature floating platforms, now covered in the same style as the Gratia, came out from their cargo compartments and shone more lights around the area.
Five great jets of water shot out around the Gratia as the Fairlions launched. The machines flitted around in various aerial maneuvers, meanwhile the lights were beginning to gather atop the stage and coalesce together.
One group exploded in a flash of blue, revealing a the azure form of Sena agilely landing and striking a pose. An orange pop of light revealed Amelie landing a bit less graciously, but her image posed nonetheless. A soothing green glow appeared and unveiled Shizue waving to the crowd. Red sparks converged to create a crimson image of Momoka similarly appealing to the audience. Finally, the remaining lights swirled and shone like galaxy before gathering into the rainbow colored figure of Via twirling and doing a rather silly pose. The Fairlions landed behind their respective pilots and the crowd roared with cheer; their idols had finally arrived.
"Hi everyone! V!" Via held up her hand and made a V with her finger, what had been established as "her thing", and the crowd responded by doing the same and shouting "V!"; A few of the veteran fans out there responded to the previous cheer with an "Ah" so that it sounded like "Via". "Tonight's going to be really absolutely awesome!" The audience cheered once more and Amelie chimed in, "You know, I'm probably more excited than all of you for this event," she said, "we've got this amazing new technology to try out and it's just so cool to learn!" Amelie visibly shook with excitement. "But you know," she continued, "these light bodies can do some funny things." Amelie demonstrated by sticking one of her arms straight through the other, causing a wobbly distortion of light. "Yes well, this is experimental after all," said Momoka. Evidently not done mucking around, Amelie ran up and stuck both her arms through Momoka's side, the orange and red colors of the two hazing together. Momoka yelped in surprise. "I wanna try that too!" Said Via as she went to wave her arms through Momoka as well. Shizue had her hand to her mouth as she quietly laughed while Sena put her hands to her hips and shook her head.
From his seat in the Gratia's helm, Solomon could see the crowd's joyous reactions to the idols antics. The girls were actually controlling their glowing body doubles from inside their Fairlions using their motion link systems. Once they started the first act, Solomon would be in control of the light show while the idols did their thing in the machines. Solomon checked a digital clock in a small compartment on the underside of his arm; Amelie's skillful dawdling was about to wrap up right on time. The girls had once again formed up in a line. "We've got a new song just for you," said Via to the audience. "I'm sure you'll love it!"
The flying platforms passed by the stage and the Fairlions stepped on as they came. Meanwhile, the five radiant idols lept off the front of the stage and soared through the air; the first act of the night had now begun.
Saturday, 4:00 P.M.
~☆~
The sun was beginning to cast shadows to the east as it traveled to set itself beneath the waves. On the shores of Jeddah, men scurried around bearing all manners of equipment and construction materials. Various stands and canopies were being set up for the upcoming event. A small crowd of citizens had gathered to investigate, but there was no getting past the security perimeter.
Vans and armored vehicles encircled the site, each one neatly plastered with flyers and banners. Lightly armed security personnel held down any points that weren't blocked or barricaded. This was going to be a very special event, and DEI wasn't going to let some over eager fans spoil their surprise.
Solomon walked right past one of the security guards and into the site without resistance; it wasn't hard to recognize Stardust's metal covered manager. In his hand, Solomon carried a stapled stack of various schedules, flyers, and memos. He had arrived just in time to witness the group's heavily modified Gratia be lowered into the bay. As part of this event, the Gratia was covered stem to stern with a mosaic like carapace of glass, plastic, and assorted chunks of DEC; even the stage mounted to the top was encrusted with DEC.
Checking one of his schedule papers, Solomon nodded. DEI was actually running ahead of schedule with the event preparations. They seemed so incredibly ardent about the whole thing that Solomon almost felt like he should be taking this more seriously. As the Gratia slowly sank out of sight just below a stone levee, Solomon surveyed the area. A majority of the stands and booths had been set up, and some of the staff and vendors had already begun preparations for the impending flood of people. It felt odd to not be setting up the venue with his own team, but he wasn't going to complain about not having any work to do. The girls would arrive shortly and the event would begin officially; from there, Solomon's actual work could begin.
☆ ✭ ★ ✭ ☆
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Saturday, 7:00 P.M.
~☆~
The hustle of the event was beginning to wind down as the sun set, casting pink and purple lines across the evening sky. The smell of food and drink started to linger as the sea breeze died away. The attendees were slowly gathering to the stage, or at least what several signs indicated was going to be the stage; all anyone could see was the sea. After some time, most of the lights at the venue shut off as Solomon's metallic voice came from seemingly nowhere.
"Hello everyone, Solomon here. Thank you for your attendance at this very special live. I regret being unable to address you all in person as usual, but my absence is integral to tonight's event. So without further ado, let us look to the Stars."
A single firework shot up into the sky and exploded in a rainbow of shimmering colors. However, the lights didn't simply dissipate as normal; the sparks shifted into a variety of shapes and descended to the ground. Music began to fill the air as more lights appeared out of nowhere and darted around. It appeared as if a giant diamond was rising out of the water as the Gratia slowly pushed itself up. Spotlights shone on the sparkling leviathan emerging from the depths, creating more dancing lights in the process. When the Gratia's stage was sufficiently above water, Starlight's signature floating platforms, now covered in the same style as the Gratia, came out from their cargo compartments and shone more lights around the area.
Five great jets of water shot out around the Gratia as the Fairlions launched. The machines flitted around in various aerial maneuvers, meanwhile the lights were beginning to gather atop the stage and coalesce together.
One group exploded in a flash of blue, revealing a the azure form of Sena agilely landing and striking a pose. An orange pop of light revealed Amelie landing a bit less graciously, but her image posed nonetheless. A soothing green glow appeared and unveiled Shizue waving to the crowd. Red sparks converged to create a crimson image of Momoka similarly appealing to the audience. Finally, the remaining lights swirled and shone like galaxy before gathering into the rainbow colored figure of Via twirling and doing a rather silly pose. The Fairlions landed behind their respective pilots and the crowd roared with cheer; their idols had finally arrived.
"Hi everyone! V!" Via held up her hand and made a V with her finger, what had been established as "her thing", and the crowd responded by doing the same and shouting "V!"; A few of the veteran fans out there responded to the previous cheer with an "Ah" so that it sounded like "Via". "Tonight's going to be really absolutely awesome!" The audience cheered once more and Amelie chimed in, "You know, I'm probably more excited than all of you for this event," she said, "we've got this amazing new technology to try out and it's just so cool to learn!" Amelie visibly shook with excitement. "But you know," she continued, "these light bodies can do some funny things." Amelie demonstrated by sticking one of her arms straight through the other, causing a wobbly distortion of light. "Yes well, this is experimental after all," said Momoka. Evidently not done mucking around, Amelie ran up and stuck both her arms through Momoka's side, the orange and red colors of the two hazing together. Momoka yelped in surprise. "I wanna try that too!" Said Via as she went to wave her arms through Momoka as well. Shizue had her hand to her mouth as she quietly laughed while Sena put her hands to her hips and shook her head.
From his seat in the Gratia's helm, Solomon could see the crowd's joyous reactions to the idols antics. The girls were actually controlling their glowing body doubles from inside their Fairlions using their motion link systems. Once they started the first act, Solomon would be in control of the light show while the idols did their thing in the machines. Solomon checked a digital clock in a small compartment on the underside of his arm; Amelie's skillful dawdling was about to wrap up right on time. The girls had once again formed up in a line. "We've got a new song just for you," said Via to the audience. "I'm sure you'll love it!"
The flying platforms passed by the stage and the Fairlions stepped on as they came. Meanwhile, the five radiant idols lept off the front of the stage and soared through the air; the first act of the night had now begun.
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