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Alex kept looking at the skies and did his best to ignore the sound of each stone being placed on top of another stone. When he lost the battle of will and glanced down at where Tristan was working, he saw how close to finishing he was. All he wanted to do then was climb down from the House's roof and encourage him, but getting any closer to Tristan would only set him off, and that might cause him to kick the wall down.

So he looked at the skies and hoped that this was finally it. That soon Tristan would be his old self, cold, calculating. Maybe those calculations would make Alex worth keeping around, maybe not. Probably not. If there had been one recurring line throughout this was how much Tristan hated Alex.

Regardless, If this was it, his waiting would be over. He'd be taking orders again, or he'd be dead. He wouldn't have to endure this endless waiting for the next attack anymore, both eagerly wanting it to happen, because he needed to lash out at something, and because he was afraid of how much destruction the next attack would cause.

Twenty-Three days he'd been waiting, up here, scanning the skies when he wasn't busy with the handful of Samalian who came to train. Hea'Las' talk with the townsfolk hadn't done any good. They couldn't understand that another species thought differently. For Samalians, superior force was enough of a deterrent, for corporations, it was a signal to bring in more people.

A stone clacked against another stone, and he looked down. From this vantage point it looked like at most there were three rows left to finish the alcove, and Tristan had gathered plenty of stones for that. He'd even found a large flat stone that would act as the roof.

Alex wanted to continue watching, his heart in his throat when one of the stones fell off the alcove wall. He'd almost cried out, instead wrenching his gaze away.

He wanted to see the moment when Tristan put the roof on, then Placed the Defender where he belonged. He wanted to see Tristan change back to his old self. The moment when Alex would be finally free.

He looked the town over; the Samalians going about their business as if they were free. He was surprised to see Jacoby there. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd set foot in the town. He made a point of not interacting with any Samalian if he didn't have to. But at least with him there, he wasn't here keeping an eye on Tristan's work. Alex was sure Jacoby expected the three of them to pile into the hover and fly off the instant the Defender was set down. If he were here, he'd probably try to grab Tristan and pull him to the hover.

Alex found Sartas, seated outside her home, watching the goings-on. She was older, so not as energetic. Rig'Irik exited the home, talked with her and moved on. Alex studied him, trying to see if he'd gotten over the rejection. He couldn't tell, Rig'Irik moved with determination, as he usually did.

He found some men and women he'd trained, doing repairs, making baskets, maybe? He couldn't see at this angle. They were happy.

How long would that last? He looked over the tree line for any indication a hover was approaching. Still nothing, but it would be soon, he could feel it. Any days now, there would be another attack.

He glanced at Tristan, then back to the sky. Another row almost done.

As much as he wanted a fight, he wanted to be gone before the next attack came. He didn't want to see the devastation that would happen here. He had done his best with training them, but the townsfolk weren't soldiers, and that was what it would take to win, now that the corporation knew what they were up against. Even with Jacoby and Tristan, it wouldn't be enough, and Alex wasn't going to watch Tristan get himself killed by overwhelming forces.

Motion caught his attention, not the sky, but the ground. Jacoby was running out of the town, waving his arms to get his attention. He was yelling something, but at this distance, Alex couldn't hear.

Then Jacoby stopped, and Alex heard what had caused it.

A nearly supersonic whistling getting every so slightly louder. He scanned over the trees, all around. He couldn't see anything. Where was it? When he scanned over the town, he saw that they were looking straight up.

He did the same and saw the dot in the sky.

No. They couldn't be doing that.

He adjusted the goggles to see better, but the distortion made it impossible to tell what it was. How much time did they have to evacuate? Was there any way they could get far enough the impact wouldn't pulverize them?

Wait, where was the tail of melted material?

He breathed easier. This wasn't a rock being dropped on them. Which meant it was a ship. A dropship. With a curse he scrambled down the side of the House, sliding when it became too steep. He had to get everyone ready. This wasn't going to be a bunch of mercs, the corporation had decided to take out the professionals this time.

He hit the ground running, heading toward Jacoby, who was still frozen in place. Alex glanced over his shoulder to make sure Tristan was still working, or had abandoned it to run toward the town too, saw him standing, somewhat indistinct in the distance, wobbling about.

Alex stopped and put the goggles to his eyes to find out what Tristan was doing. He adjusted the goggles to take away the distortion he was seeing, then realized that it was a problem with the focus. Even when Tristan was sharp, the distortions around him were still there.

Tristan was fighting them.

Alex ran. He forgot about the town and its inevitable destruction. He forgot Jacoby. All he thought about was Tristan. He had to save him.