Both of the above characters were chosen by the reader indicated under the character's name.

Vona Day stood on a balcony, looking over the city above the clouds.

The wind was strong that day, and the thin, flexible bridge between the Base and Lando Calrissian's home was swinging wildly. A man walked through the covered bridge to the Base. It was days like these, looking over things built and maintained by the Rebels and the Resistance that made her proud to be a Resistance fighter.

And not just any fighter.

CC1.

In charge of the entire Cloud City Base.

Pulling a strand of blonde hair out of her mouth, she turned to go in.

Just then, a pilot came skidding to a stop in front of her.

She jumped.  "Irving!"

"Sorry, Captain, but something just showed up on the radar."  He played with a lock of hair, his nervous tick.

"What is it?" She asked, following him back to the control room.

"Look."

"TIE-Fighters," Vona breathed.

She formulated and idea, and directed Marc to carry it out.

The ten pilots gathered in the hangar.  "There's fifty of them.  They outnumber us five to one," she told them.  "But if we keep our heads about us, we should be able to help protect the city.  Got it?"

Nine voices affirmed.

"Good.  Get ready to fly out on my command."

Vona turned to her X-Wing, and her little astromech droid.  A hand touched her arm.

She turned to see Irving.

He leaned forward, his eyes on her, and kissed her cheek lightly.  "In case one of us doesn't make it out alive."

Tears sparked in her eyes as she turned and kissed him on the lips.  "Irvy, let's pray that doesn't happen."

"I already am.  But just in case."

They embraced tightly, both fully aware it could be their last time together.  "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you more."

Vona smiled as she pulled away.  "And I love you most.  Now get in your fighter before we leave you behind."

Inside her X-Wing, she put on her helmet.  "Vona Day, Cloud City One."

"Marc Resil, Cloud City Two."

"Irving Twáblú, Cloud City Three."

They kept reporting, until Cloud City Ten.

"May the Force be with you," Vona said, before they left.

She heard Irving whisper it back.

As soon as they exited, Vona spotted a First Order Troop Transport vehicle.  She fired a few shots at it, but then a TIE-Fighter zoomed into view.  She had to turn her attention back to the air battle.

The TIE-Fighter blew up and an X-Wing flew through the blast.  She recognized the droid as it flashed by.  "Thanks, Marc."

"Keep an eye out next time."

She rolled her eyes.  Sour, even in a battle.

"Get into formation seventeen."

They'd practiced this formation before, much to the delight of the youngest population of Cloud City.

Vona and Marc were at the front, Irving and Four diagonal to them, Five and Sox diagonal to them, Seven and Eight making the line go inward again, Nine and Ten bringing it to a slightly lopsided diamond.

The largely unorganized TIE-Fighters flew towards them as they started picking them off through their targeting computers.

"Good work, mates!" Vona cheered enthusiastically.

As soon as she'd said that, Cloud City Eight let out a cry.  She twisted in her seat and made out a flaming X-Wing plummeting into the gas planet.

Another pilot cried out to Eight.

Vona took a breath.  She was a leader.  She had to keep them together.  "Formation ten!"

They shifted, taking out another few TIE-Fighters.  But they still were outnumber by over three to one.

Six fell next.

"Retreat a small distance, just pass the commercial hangars. But stay high enough that if someone shoots at us it won't take out any civilians."

"Copy that."

The eight remaining pilots followed her.  The TIE-Fighters hung back, probably thinking it was a trap.  Good, they'd have some time.

"We've lost two.  We can't afford any more losses.  Keep your wits about you.  Formation two."

The pilots spread out as they went back into battle.

More TIE-Fighters fell, but three more X-Wings were shot down.

Vona had to struggle to keep her wits about her.  "Stay in formation!"

She'd had another radio system installed so she could communicate with both the air and ground crews at once.

"Sargent Jilya! How goes the battle?"

"Terribly!" Crackling. "We've lost about half. They keep coming!"

"Send a crew to protect Calrisssian!"

"Copy, will do. May the Force be with you!"

"And with you!"

Vona turned down the ground communications, in case Jilya needed to communicate with her.

"Vona?"

"Yes, Irvy?"

"Did you call the main base for reinforcements?"

"No.  One moment.  Marc, you're in charge until I'm back on the frequency."

By the Force, Vona chastised herself, what kind of leader are you?

"General Organa!" she cried into the radio.

"This is Captain Dameron."

"Vona Day!  We're under attack on Cloud City."

"Did Luke send a transmission?"

"What?  I don't know!"  What transmission?  "Calrissian didn't say anything, but that might explain it."

"We'll try to send troops as soon as possible.  We're a bit short though, here's been a little trouble in the Outer Rim."

Vona stifled a shriek as someone else got shot down.  Checking to make sure it wasn't Irving, she answered.  "Hurry."

"Copy."

"I'm disconnecting."

And she did.

Down to five, they changed to another formation.   "Keep together, keep your head," she instructed, taking a deep breath.

A bang, a shriek, someone else was down.

Vona fought the tears threatening to spill over.  "Irving?"

"Here, Vona."

She glanced over, saw his smile.

Then, fire bloomed in the back of his X-Wing.

"No!"

Disabled, his X-Wing crashed into a building and plummeted down into the planet.

Vona flew straight up into the sky, struggling to see through the tears.

"Captain Day!  Captain Day!  You have to stay with us.  We need your leadership."  Marc's voice told of his concern.

"What good is my leadership?" Vona asked, feeling herself start to hyperventilate.  "If I'd been a better leader, then perhaps none of them would have died."

"It's a battle, Captain!  People die!  Now get back here before the other three of us do."

A shriek.

"Make that two."

"I want to die!" Vona said, still flying up.

"Dying is easy, Captain," Marc said desperately, "living is harder."

"You've never been more right," she whispered.

Then, wiping her eyes and screwing up her courage, she said, "I was raised to do one thing, to fight with the Resistance and all of you until my final breath."

"There you go, Captain."

With a low growl of anguish and rage, she flew back down.   Two pulls of the trigger, two more down.

"Good job, Captain," one of the others, Cloud City Seven, said.

"What's the enemy count?" Vona called.

"Twelve, and some weird bird shaped thing."

She saw the bird-shaped thing.  "That's a control vessel!"

"Shall we try to shoot it down?"

Before she had decided, the bird-ship landed.   "No.  Resume the battle."

Two more TIE-Fighters.

And then Seven went down.

Marc cried out when she went.  They were close, Vona remembered.

"Marc?"

"Here.  Lorna?"

"Here."

"Alright, Marc, Lorna, unless the backup troops get here two minutes ago, we've got to win this on our own.  If we lose, we'll go out with a bang."  Vona shifted.  "I hope this works," she whispered.

"Copy.  What's the plan?"

"We've got ten.  Each get three, whoever gets rid of theirs first, take care of the last ones.  This is as much for me as for you, if anyone's shot down, keep. Your.  Head.  Copy?"

"Copy."

"Copy that."

"Go."

They dove down.  Off the bat, Marc got one, and then Lorna got one.

Two TIE-Fighters lined up perfect for Vona to shoot, and she did.  "Four down!"

"Six more."

"Lorna, don't be pessimistic."  Marc sighed and shot one down.

"I'm being real."

She shot another, then Vona watched as Lorna's X-Wing blew up.

"Keep your head.  Keep your head," she whispered.

"Here's the plan, Resil."

"Not Marc?"

"I need to keep my head.  Listen to me!  Take out two, get the third if you can.  We can't win this, but we might as well take them all out."

"They've got more," Marc said, squeezing the triggers until he shot one down

"But they'll be down fifty."

She shot another one.  Three more.  She shot another, Marc shot another.

The last one was tricky.   They both tried to chase it.

Unbeknownst to them, the gunner was fixing his sights on one of them.

Vona fired, again and again, but the pilot was good.  He dodged each time.  Then three bolts fired out of the TIE-Fighter, and Marc's X-Wing blossomed into flame.

"No!" Vona screamed, finally hitting the final TIE-Fighter.

She glanced around for any others, then flew down to Lando Calrissian's hangar.  Her own would have the Troop Transport Vehicles.

Shakily, she climbed down, took off her helmet, and put her head in her hands.  Rubbing her face, she allowed herself two tears.  Two tears, and then she'd find Lando.

Two gone, she stood, rubbed her face again, ran a hand through her hair.   C'mon, Vona.  Get yourself together.  What would Irvy think?

He'd make her happy.  He had a way of doing that, no matter what.

She took two deep breaths, and ran into the center.

"Lando?" Vona ran around a corner, swung around by her hand, and stopped in her tracks. A pair of stormtroopers were walking down an adjoining hall.

She swung back, searching her suit for a blaster.

"Did you hear something?"

"No."

"I'm going to investigate."

Vona took a deep breath. As the stormtrooper stepped around the corner, she shot it.

The other one only had the chance for a short cry before it too fell.

Blaster at the ready, she made her way to the room where she'd met with Lando Calrissian before.

On her way, she stopped by the bridge.

The other side had the base. That's where the battle lay. She had to get there.

One last glance back down the hall, and she began to sprint down the semi-transparent covered bridge, praying that nothing would shoot it down.

A ship flew low, a blast behind her, and Vona threw herself forward, praying that she'd land on solid ground.