I looked out over my city from the balcony, hands gripping the stone railing so tightly it was a wonder neither my bones nor the stone cracked. While the initial mob-mentality meltdown on the streets seemed over, desperation and hopelessness radiated back to me from the quiet, almost deathly silence of Ostrogotho. The loss of the planes became quickly apparent and any attempt I made to calm the populace only made things worse.

My first try ended up in a massive show, one I now ...