Page 20 of Jump or Fall

Mara

I t took three days for Max to finally stop watching her apartment. Either Dawson had been convinced she was up to nothing, or he had found something more useful for him to do.

The meeting with Silva had been uneventful. They went through the motions of testing the weapon sync, and everything had worked perfectly.

Before parting, Silva had quietly told her to meet again at Crux on Friday night. The mech would be the focus.

The blast from their last mission had seriously wounded two enforcers and killed one. The suits were beyond salvageability due to the acid and subsequent flames. However, whether the ones hit were Silvers remained unknown until the meeting.

No civilians had been harmed. The fire and enforcer presence had cleared everyone from the area—no one wanted to be questioned or blamed.

Now all there was left to do was wait.

** *

Thursday evening, a message from Gordon came through saying the meeting had been moved to that night. He said to bring her suit, so she figured there was going to be more action.

As she packed it in the carrier, her heart pounded with anticipation and doubt. Would she even be helpful? Mara wasn’t a fighter, she just made armor.

Dawson had visited in the morning, so she wasn’t worried about an unexpected drop-in. A few years ago, she would’ve been too scared of the possibility of a second visit to sneak away. But he wasn’t young anymore.

She left earlier than necessary, wanting a few minutes alone with her helmet stashed in the wall. Wearing it for whatever they were doing wasn’t an option, but holding it brought a sense of comfort.

Sitting on one of the squeaky beds, she ran her hand along the exterior, enjoying the textures. A click sounded as the rusty door unlocked and someone pushed it open.

Her heart leapt at the sight of Gordon, and a broad smile spread across her face.

He returned a crooked grin and sat on the opposite bed.

“You really like that helmet.”

“No one really buys it since it’s expensive,” she said. “Without the synth-mind installed, it’s not that much better than cheaper options. It’s something I’m really proud of, though.”

“It’s worth being proud of.”

The door opened again, revealing Kimmie and Silva. Kimmie shot her a look before yanking out a chair and taking a seat at the table. Silva sighed loudly before joining her.

“So, the mech is out there right now patrolling Seven,” Silva said. “After the death of one enforcer and two others still recovering, they don’t have the manpower to keep human patrols.”

Kimmie crossed her arms and snorted. “You’re telling me. They gave me some newbie they rushed through training. Cocky Silver douchebag. ”

A lump formed in her throat. “Is his name Jasper?”

She propped her feet up on an empty chair. “Yep. Why? Is he your side piece?”

Mara ground her teeth. “He’s Dawson’s nephew.”

Kimmie’s head snapped up. “You serious?”

“Yes.”

“Why would he put his own nephew in Eight?” Her voice was skeptical.

She had a guess. “Punishment.”

“Must have really pissed him off.”

Gordon tried to interrupt, “Kim—”

“Why would I make that up?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you like attention.”

Mara’s patience had evaporated. “What the hell is your problem with me?”

Silva attempted to intervene, reaching out to Kimmie, but she yanked her arm away. “Maybe if you were a better fuck, he wouldn’t have taken my sister!”

Gordon bolted off the bed and stopped inches from her face, one firm hand on the table. “Shut. The fuck. Up. Kimmie.”

Pain and defiance flickered across Kimmie’s face as he stood over her. The pieces clicked into place, at least partially. Mara’s heart fluttered over Gordon coming to her defense.

“Nella is your sister?” Mara asked.

Kimmie’s eyes glistened. “Have you seen her?”

“No… I’ve never met her.” She hadn’t even seen a picture.

Gordon straightened, backed away, and returned to the bed across from Mara. He pinned Kimmie with a dark stare.

“Can you tell me anything?” Kimmie asked, grasping.

Mara looked down, rubbing her thumb against the helmet. “After problems with Karena, he started keeping us apart. It doesn’t sound like she’s living with him, though. So he must have moved her to her own place. That’s a step in the right direction. It means she’s earned his trust.”

Kimmie’s head jerked in acknowledgment, tears trailing down her cheek.

“Now, can you stop biting my head off? I can try to get more information, but he doesn’t exactly visit me to talk.”

Gordon stiffened, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

Kimmie nodded. “Okay.”

“Why didn’t you ask me before?”

Now Kimmie shot Gordon a look. “Someone didn’t want you to get spooked.”

“You were already about to bolt when I said ‘Silva’. If I asked about Nella, then I was sure you’d tell me to ‘fuck off’,” Gordon said.

He wasn’t wrong. If they had prodded her for information at the beginning, she probably would have been too scared to continue.

Silva interrupted, impatiently, “All right, can we get to business here? The attack last week hit two Silvers, so well done there.”

He placed a small box on the table. A tap projected a map against the wall, showing a glowing dot slowly moving along a street.

“I have the mech tracked so we know where to hit it. The patrol winds through these streets here in a sort of eight pattern.”

Another tap revealed the tracked path.

“If we want this thing eliminated quickly, we don’t have time for a longer staging like last time. We need to hit it tonight.”

Pointing to a few areas, he continued, “I think some flashbangs could disorient the mech’s sensory input. It may be a giant robot, but it has some sensitivities.”

Gordon said, “I can carry two flashbangs and two heavies.”

Silva nodded. “Good. I would say we should all have some, but you have the best aim. We don’t want to do too much damage to the surrounding area. ”

He turned to Mara. “I know you have weapons experience from testing. Can you handle being posted here with an Umbra?”

The Umbra-H7. The virtually silent rifle-style gun wasn’t unfamiliar. Shooting a moving target would be harder, but she inclined her head. “Yes.”

Silva leveled on Kimmie. “Now you. Monitor the enforcer dispatch and alert us if we need to leave.”

A stiff nod was her only response.

“Okay, are we set?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Gordon turned his attention to Mara. “Ready for some combat?”

She wasn’t sure, but she replied, “Let’s take down a mech.”

***

Dressed in their suits, they left Crux. Mara matched her pace to Silva as Kimmie started talking to Gordon about the surveillance birds.

Lowering her voice, Mara asked, “What’s the deal with them?”

Silva raised an eyebrow. “She’s had a thing for him since he first showed up in Eight after… you know. But he’s thirty-four, and she’s twenty-two, so it’s been one-sided.”

“I see.” Age gaps didn’t really faze her, especially considering Dawson was nearing fifty. “They never had anything going?”

“Much to her disappointment. He may be a bit disturbing with his affinity for hacking everything with a power source and blowing things up, but she’s just a kid to him.”

So it wasn’t only about Nella. A sliver of relief took root, though she tried to tamp it down. It was safer not to hope.

She shifted the subject. “Do you have a family?”

He let out a quiet sigh. “Yes and no. My wife died in a car accident a few years back. The wreck was so bad the car caught fire. I managed to find my son and made it look like he died too. In reality, I sent him through that tunnel where we had our first meeting, with a map to Naxos and a list of people to connect with.”

Her chest ached. Meeting these people had filled her with more emotions than she knew what to do with. Years of nothingness and now a dam inside of her was on the verge of breaking.

“I’m sorry about your wife.”

He responded with a pained smile. “At least my son is alive and away from the Silvers. One day I’ll get to see him again.”

They reached their exit, and Gordon said, “Power on your display and sync to your helmets to start the private channel. You can toggle the mech’s location using this button.” He pointed to a control near his wrist.

Leaving the tunnel wasn’t as tricky as she thought it would be. Their suits made them look like regular enforcers on a patrol.

Thunder rumbled and raindrops tapped against her helmet. It was going to be a wet evening.

Gun slung over her shoulder, Mara took her position. The rhythmic thump of the mech’s footfalls grew louder as it rounded a corner.

It was massive, taking up the entire sidewalk as it patrolled. Ten feet tall with a two faced head that swiveled in every direction to absorb sensory information. The eyes glowed a pale blue, scanning every surface it could find.

Gordon said over the channel, “Flash in ten from the north. Hit when it’s confused so it can’t track the shots.”

They tapped their helmets to acknowledge.

She synced to the scope on her Umbra and ducked behind a piece of metal laying against the side of the building.

BOOM!

Mara snapped back into position and aimed at the mech.

As expected, it thrashed its arms wildly, struggling to recalibrate.

She fired two shots in rapid succession.

One struck its chest, while the other veered wide as the machine stomped across the sidewalk, searching for the threat.

From another direction, she heard a few shots ring out—likely Silva.

Despite the hits, the mech showed no visible damage. She hesitated, reluctant to waste more rounds before it regained its bearings.

“Head is the weak point,” Gordon said. “Next flash in ten, followed by a heavy.”

Damn it, she wished she was a better shot. Aiming for the head would be nearly impossible while it moved so erratically. Ducking for cover from the flash, both Mara and Silva acknowledged the message.

BOOM! BOOM!

Mara readied herself and took another shot, trying to aim between the mech’s frenzied movements.

It was limping now—the heavy must have damaged its leg.

She fired three more rounds. One got its head, and an additional shot from another direction connected.

The mech’s eyes flickered before dimming to black.

Gordon emerged from his hiding place, pressing himself against a building as he cautiously approached the downed mech. He swept the area before retreating and activated the gauntlet display on his wrist.

“I think it’s done,” he said.

A mechanical whir sliced through the night. The mech’s eyes flared back to life, but now they were a hellish red.

“It’s up!” Mara shouted.

Gordon’s head snapped up. Without hesitation, he hurled his final heavy at it.

The mech lurched, metal scraping against pavement as it registered the incoming projectile. At the last second, it swatted the heavy, sending it back toward him with a clunk .

“No!” Mara screamed. Adrenaline surged through her veins as she broke into a sprint, firing relentlessly at the mech’s head. Several shots missed, shattering windows and riddling the building behind it with bullet holes. But enough landed to make a difference.

Its eyes flickered off again.

BOOM!