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Nicole felt an electric thrill lance up through her chest as pride, a superior's approval, and the excitement of flirting all mingled together into one pleasant sensation. She grinned back at the praise from Aiya and then stepped up to the cargo doors. The door opened for the Ars Magi with a hydraulic [i]hiss,[/i] albeit one that was lost in the noises of the storm as the hatch yawned open to greet it. A sheet of rain was bisected into strips by howling wind, and one such strip splashed across Nicole's face and chest. She licked her lip to taste the rainwater, remembering vividly how storms like these had blanketed the neon of her home. It felt good, knowing that even on the other end of the planet, the rain always found its way to landing on the lights of Hasta.

[color=ec008c][i]The wind is on my back.[/i][/color]

It was only talked about in stories, of course, but in the days before the First Void humans had leapt from transports like this for [i]fun.[/i] Skydiving, it had been called, in the days before the skies had become a hunting ground of the Void. People had jumped in tandems or groups, taken pictures, posed garishly as they plummeted to earth like missives from God. Of course, for anyone not guarded by an Ars Magi, a recreational jaunt through the lower troposphere was just as likely to end in [i]meeting[/i] God as it was to greet your family on the ground - and the Ars Magi, even those who guarded the nobility, usually had better things to do than guard their charges on a ship-less flight. If they didn't, doubtless Aiya would have tried it by now.

[color=ec008c][i]May my sword cut like my smile.[/i][/color]

But Nicole Cognoscenti, unique among all the girls in the world, had a chance to take her one day. Maybe when it was sunnier, but to a girl who commanded the winds and welcomed the rain, no inclement weather would have made a difference to her. In her heart, she felt like she could jump and fly right now, just as gracefully as their plane.

[color=ec008c][i]"Vi faccio vedere come lotte un Hastano."[/i][/color]

And at her murmured declaration, made husky by her native tongue, the wind began to howl backwards. A small crease of concentration formed on the redhead's brow as the wind began to blow the rain into the direction of the drones, buffeting the sensors of the drones intent on making their evening harder. She couldn't make many of them out with the naked eye, but with the other officers in the corps and Dana providing spotting, Nicole was confident she could keep them blind.

[i][color=ec008c]"Cordelia!"[/color][/i] she called out to her roommate, voice radiating strength even over the noises of the storm. [color=ec008c]"Shine for me, babe!"[/color]