— M A K A Y L A —

The moment the feel of metal left my feet I was weightless. My stomach dropped like a rock and I had nothing to cling to. I was terrified.

I hadn't noticed the rain crashing around us when we had flown through the sky in the safety of the Falcon carrier. But it now raced down with us like glowing balls of fire lit from the many lights of the city below—

"Makayla!" Alex's voice dragged me from my pure panic. I then noticed her hand still firmly holding mine in the suit as we free fell towards the shards of light in the cloud line.

"Focus on my voice. Control your breathing." She instructed as calmly as if we were doing a mild workout.

But my eyes couldn't stay on her, we were falling too fast, the numbers flashing by on my visor too fast. I tried to lift my free hand to wipe after the water but it whipped back in the winds.

Alex moved then. With skilled ease she shifted her body in the air so that she could grab hold of my other hand. She pulled us close and almost touched my helmet with her own.

"Calm your mind. You have full control and we are exactly on course." She informed me slowly. I finally met her eyes through the glowing visor. Met those golden orbs. I took a breath. Then another. And returned a quick nod, which bounced back from the wind pressure.

"Proximo. How is our trajectory for first jumpers?"

His reply was instant and calm. "First pair is 2 minute ETA to drop on first tower."

"And your own?" She replied just as calm as we plummeted through the rain.

"3 minutes. Are you on course?" He returned.

"Right on track." She confirmed as she smirked at me behind her visor. I wanted to cry and hug her. Unsure of which urge was stronger I remained focused on her eyes.

"I think we need to discuss how date night works!" I yelled into my visor as I glared at her amused expression.

"This wasn't your first idea of a good time?" She responded with a grin, even letting her hand briefly jut out to the racing water and sky around us.

"If I don't end up smeared down the side of my own tower I will need to show you how it's done." I half heartedly snapped.

She claimed both my hands again and leant closer to me. "I told you, no harm will come—"

"SCORPION!" A voice blared through the comm with no such calm. "—the grid, it's coming online! A backdoor reboot! Lights on in 90 seconds!"

Alex's face morphed faster than I had time to suck in the next breath. She made her calculation and acted in a blink.

She grabbed both my forearms in a rapid move and threw her legs sharply together to draw flush against me. She flipped us around in the air so she pressed tightly against my back. In the next second I felt magnets activate and bond our suits together.

"Proximo—"

"Already activated. You have less than 70 seconds to get below the skyline or anti air will target you." He informed us far too calmly. We were about to be blown sky high by my father's own missile systems and he couldn't even muster up a shout—

"Got it." Was all Alex said before she hit the side of her suit and we exploded forward with thrusters both from her back or boots—I didn't care. A scream left my lips as we shot downwards like a comet, like a missile, a speed that was not...

Not... the rains began blurring.

The lights smearing the sky in paint brush strokes. My head was growing tired and I felt the blood rush through me too fast—I couldn't recall more. I fell through the sky and my vision went black.

* * * * *

A dream where you are flying is not like falling. A dream with pain is not like real pain. And a dream with a 15,000 foot drop and a blackout is sure as hell not a normal dream.

But I woke to the sound of heavy rain. I woke because a shadow before me fought hand to blade against three imperial guards. One was already motionless on the ground.

This must be one of my crazier dreams after all... still asleep.

But the cold of the rain kept hitting me and kept clearing my mind. I pushed a hand to the ground. It was gloved... a body suit of silicon and metals... the jump. The targets in sector 1. This is real.

Alex.

My first thought. As she disarmed the first man and ran a blade through the other. The third ran at her back and tackled her by the waist.

It sent them both to the ground and dangerously close to the edge of hundreds of floors-high sky tower. Her blade skidded away but I did not think. I acted.

She snapped her head into the grounded man and used both legs to carry the momentum of the first assailant straight over the edge of the rooftop.

His scream was lost to the wind in seconds.

I scrambled against the crashing water and clambered onto shaking legs. The winds howled and threatened to throw me off my feet. I saw Alex lose focus for a moment on the ground to catch my eye before the remaining imperial trained guard locked her head like a vice and began to tighten his grip.

I lunged forward with nothing but her safety in mind and palmed the wet blade. It did not take a second for me to throw myself onto them and puncture it straight through the back of his neck.

He gargled and struggled before Alex twisted an arm away and rolled on top of him. I jumped away from them both before she watched with empty eyes as his life drained away.

Then she pulled him to a kneel right before the edge. He continued to suck in wet breaths and claw at his neck. Alex did not stop him as he fell forward over the edge to join his comrade.

She turned to me. Armoured in her suit and bloodied from the combat. Her visor was shattered but the armour of her suit ready to take another impact.

"I'm sorry Makayla. This is not how—"

I held up a hand and bent over my knees so that the world would stop spinning. I saw her move quickly from the edge and draw up my shoulders.

Concern pinched her brow. "The G-force knocked you out. You should stay here and stay mobile until I plant the jammer." She told me sternly.

I could only shake my head. "What if more—"

"I will take care of our imperial friends." She told me simply.

I took another breath and looked around. A singular rooftop entrance lay against the face of the glass tower that continued skyward for only a few dozen levels.

"Give me a weapon at least." I reasoned.

Instead of answering she turned around and scooped up a fully automatic fusion gun that a guard had dropped in the attack.

I watched her closely as she approached.

"I believe Proximo made you familiar with this?"

"To the point I can reassemble it blindfolded."

"Good I'll need some cover." She grinned at me. Despite the blood dripping down her temple that was not her own and the storm raging on high, I had never been more in love with the woman before me.

I truly had a death wish after all.

"Be careful, Alex."

Her expression turned serious, before she pulled the neck of my suit forward and claimed my lips roughly. The kiss was passionate and alive but too fleeting. We released each other and she took the device off her back and moved to the glass side of the building.

A glow in her hands told me her mag gloves were still working. She began to climb. So I turned and set the holographic sight of the gun on the door, ready to defend in the name of the woman I was hopelessly in love with.