The frenzied storm raged just beyond arm's reach. The thunderous roar of air masses colliding at speeds of over a thousand kilometers per hour could practically deafen someone at close range. Even sheltered behind the indestructible armor of a warship, with layer upon layer of sturdy barriers serving as buffers, the booming storm was still terrifying. Even the supposedly unbreakable Alloy Land beneath our feet seemed to be trembling faintly.
Everyone in the cave had gathered together, standing as close to the walls as possible in the safest corners. Although the hurricane could not reach this unusually shaped shelter, doing so seemed to offer a great deal of reassurance. With the cave still brightly lit, everyone's emotions remained relatively stable.
"Crash—screech—"
Another violent burst of metal grinding rang out. Something outside had apparently been torn from a cliff and hurled skyward, scraping past the surrounding sheer rock walls. One of the two powerful floodlights near the entrance had been swept away moments ago because it was too close to the outside. Our already limited view beyond the cave had now been reduced to a single thin beam of light. Strange silhouettes constantly flashed through that beam—the various equipment, metal parts, and discarded machinery of Metal Station, swept up by the wind and racing madly through the air. It suddenly reminded me of a blizzard, except this blizzard was made of tens of millions of tons of metal debris.
If humans went outside under these conditions, they would probably be ground into powder in an instant—even if they somehow avoided the alloy fragments filling the air as densely as a Metal Storm, the superstorm alone, moving at over a thousand kilometers per hour and changing direction at any moment, would be enough to destroy the fragile human body in less than