#cassiopeia libra-rex

[catandmouserp]

Shooting Stars #5

Post #5 of Shooting Stars

By Mickey

ANGEL STARK WAS NOT AN UNREALISTIC WOMAN; she'd never before been in love with any of the many men that offered to buy her dinner and happened to ask her out on a second date. Some guys were even too uncertain to ask her out all-intimidated by her conviction or what Cassy politely described as "her full faith in herself", intimidated by her rank, and intimidated by her accomplishments of being a self-made soldier. But more often than not Angel's many boyfriends, on the surface, could be mistaken as her flightiness, when in reality Angel was just broken up withﾅ a lot. She was bold, bright, and boundless, and in the end, really just too hard to handle.

But in the instant that Leo Rex smiled, she found it was true that even angels fallﾅ and Angel fell hard, harder than she'd ever let herself before: heart-throbbing, knee-wobbling, palm-sweating infatuation and profound fascination took her deep beneath the surface, if only for a brief moment before all common sense came back to her. She flashed Leo her signature smile again, tucking a stray lock of platinum hair behind her ear. "Oh, of course," she replied, amazed at his confidence and enticed by his very presence.

Angel had never before spoken with a Homosapien Rex. She, like most others, had only heard about them in stories and on the news, and had been under the impression everyone else had been under that Rexes and humans could not interact with each other and didn't belong together, were too different from one another to make cooperation between them possible. As she watched the brothers though, she realized then how wrong she'd been all along; they weren't so different after all, and she was startled into grinning at them. For someone intended to be all but, they were surprisinglyﾅ human. She laughed in a way that suggested no one had made her laugh like that in quite a while and for a moment all her thoughts melted away from her.

And then that moment ended, and Angel was left watching in horror alongside Leo and his brother as Thames Astrid kissed Cassiopeia.

Angel was shocked. Cassy had never even mentioned Thames to her and had never before been seen with him in anything other than a professional setting, and suddenly they were together? She was unexpectedly overcome with anger. How dare she? Cassy had been given everything. Her education, her career, her entire future had all been laid out for her. Anything she wanted, she got: her family, her friends, both of the Rex brothers, Thames... because her father was an admiral, because she happened to have a bit of Rex blood running through her. Cassy must have thought that she was better than everybody else, better than Angel, who'd had to work for everything she had. And then realization came upon Angel and she began to understand. That's why Cassy never wanted to talk to her about the boy she'd had a crush on who'd become the man she'd fallen in love with; that's why Cassy wouldn't tell her who she'd kissed that morning: Cassy knew Thames was Angel's ex-boyfriend and wanted to hide it from her. But from the look on her face, she hadn't expected him to show up here, like this.

Angelina swallowed hard, pausing long enough in her thoughts to hear Leo speak. She turned to him once again and happened to catch a glimpse of Scorpio. His expression looked to be as crushed as she felt inside, as if they'd both been betrayed by their best friend... and as she thought that exact thing, she realized she'd been mistaken. She had been wrong all along. It wasn't Leo. It was Scorpio that Cassy had really loved, and it all started to make sense to her.

Angel looked up at Leo and found so much in his eyes alone, which spoke to her even more than he did, and she found herself nodding at him before he'd so much as opened his mouth. As he reached for her though her expression became guarded and her bearing instantly adjusted... it had been only a tiny, imperceptible amendment to her posture, completely unnoticeable if you weren't looking, but it was still there. "But I think your brother should go talk to her-" she began to suggest to him, running out of time to linger at his side. Immediately her gaze softened again and she laid a resolute hand on Leo's shoulder. "I will." Angel promised him. "See you later." She managed a small smile and a short nod as he fell into position before she turned away to find her friend.

***

CASSY FOLLOWED AN UNPAVED PATH back towards the barracks where she stayed, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her pants as her sneakers kicked up clumps of sand that lingered in fine dust clouds around her ankles. You're just a mindless killing machine. I know what a Rex is. She said to herself as she sighed somewhere from deep within herself.

"Cassy, stop."

Cassy did not so much as turn around to look at Thames as he managed to catch up with her. She kept her head down, her orange hair softly sweeping along her cheekbones and jaw line. Her lips were pressed tightly together.

"Cassy, just stop."

"No." she said.

"Okay, don't stop then." Thames replied with a strangled, exasperated sigh. "Just listen to me, then. Just listen to what I have to say to you."

"No!" Cassy snapped, whirling around to face him. He paused mid-step and his eyes widened. "You listen to me! For once, how about you listen to me?! Stop just hearing me talk, Thames, and finally just listen to what I have to say!"

Thames, stunned into silence, gave a small nod. "Okay." He said. "Okay, Cassy. I'm listening."

Cassy glared at Thames, every breath like hauling an enormous weight from her chest. Her jaw was clenched as if she were a wild beast capable of snapping his neck and ripping out his throat with her teeth alone; sadly enough, it wasn't far from the truth. She contemplated her words carefully, preparing herself for speaking the truth, when he interrupted her thoughts:

"Say what you have to say, Cass." Thames prompted as his gaze narrowed. "I don't have all night."

Words escaped her. Her mouth fell open in shock. Everything that Cassy had been thinking and ready to say to him, everything she'd intended to tell him about what it really meant for her to be a Rex, her purpose, and herself, all disappeared. She was appalled. "Excuse me?" she suddenly asked in a harsh whisper. Finally, she shook her head. "Okay, listen to this, then. You think I have the capacity to be remarkable. Well, guess what? Scorpio thinks I am remarkable."

Thames's eyebrows rose in surprise. This was not what he'd expected at all; he knew Cassy had a crush on Scorpio, but he'd assumed she'd forgotten about it. Suddenly defensive, he asked, "What are you saying?"

"And," she began again. "Scorpio has more responsibilities than you can even imagine having. But if I had something to say to him, he'd make time to listen to me. Even if it took all night, even if he had to be somewhere else." She explained. "You want to know what I'm saying? This is it: fuck you, Astrid."

She turned around, shaking her head in disbelief. And this time, Thames did not pursue her.

The night was black. In high school she'd spent many nights with Leo and Scorpio stalking the shadows of the nighttime dark as they sneaked out to cause trouble and make magic. Enough people were scared of the dark but Cassy knew and had seen things more frightening than a moonless night. It wasn't the shadows she was afraid of; it was what lurked among them she knew to be fearful of.

Angel slunk like a thief through the nighttime, a pale phantom in the darkness, as her footsteps traced over the ones Cassy had left behind. It was a night so black that if there'd been even a breath of wind it would have howled an aching song and chilled even the bravest of beasts to the very bone. But Angel was fearless-a lion in the jungle-and listened only to the fallen leaves crunch beneath her feet as she made her way back to the dormitories in which Cassy stayed, when suddenly a voice erupted from the shadows.

"Angel? Is that you?"

Angel's brow furrowed. That voice was familiar to her, from somewhere not so long ago. Leaves and branches of shrubs rustled as a figure attempted to cross from one path to the other. She arched an eyebrow. "Thames?"

"Hey," he grunted, brushing debris from his hair. "What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"None of your business." Angel responded and barely glimpsed Thames rolling his eyes in the darkness. "Better question: What are you doing out here?"

"You haven't changed any," Thames commented.

"Neither have you, from what I can tell." She folded her arms over her chest.

He sighed. "I was just saying goodbye to Cassy." He replied, holding up his open palms defensively.

"Great, I'm on my way to see her." She said.

"Well, you just missed her. She probably doesn't want to talk to you."

Angel frowned and shook her head at him. "No, Thames. It's not me she doesn't want to talk to; it's you." She jabbed him hard in the chest. "Just what the hell were you doing over in the Rex wing today? You didn't need to be there. And you didn't need to embarrass her in front of everyone."

"I wasn't trying to!" Thames argued.

"Yes you were!" she insisted. "You wanted to make everyone think she belonged to you. She isn't an item. And if she were she wouldn't be yours. We both know that."

Thames groaned in frustration. "I know I messed up. Okay? Cassy already chewed me out." He explained. "If you're going to see her, will you please tell her I'm sorry? I don't know what got into me. I don't even know why I did it."

Angel smirked. "Well, you just can't catch a break today, can you?" she sneered. "I know why you did it. You're scared. You're intimidated because she's in love with Scorpio Rex and that drives you crazy. You're so jealous you can't stand it."

"Shut up!" he growled. "That's not true at all. Scorpio and I were buds in high school."

"Doesn't matter. That doesn't change anything." Angel said. "You just want her to yourself. But you can't hold onto someone that doesn't want to be held on to. And you know what? You don't even know her. But you were so determined that you had to try to ruin it between them."

"Don't you think that if they really wanted to be together they would be by now?" Thames asked and Angel scowled. "You know what," he began suddenly. "You're just attacking me because you're mad and jealous that I'm with Cassy now and not you."

"Excuse me?" Angel laughed.

"Yeah," Thames continued. "You're upset because Cassy is a better woman and I broke up with you because you're pushy and self-centered." He shook his head and then added, "And by the way, you're never going to find anyone like me, Ange."

Angel suddenly raised a closed fist and punched him hard in the face. He stumbled backwards and fell flat on his ass cradling his injured cheek in his palm. "That's the point, asshole." She spat and turned, her ponytail swinging behind her.

"Cassy, open up!" Angel demanded as she pounded a fist on the door of her friend's dormitory. "We need to talk!" She paused and impatiently waited a moment for a response. "Open the door now or I will fucking kick it down!"

After a second or two, the door slowly opened. Cassy arched an eyebrow. "What do you want?" she asked.

Angel suddenly shoved Cassy hard. Cassy staggered backward in surprise and for a moment was too stunned to react. "What the hell was that for?!" she finally challenged and found herself shoving Angel back with twice the force.

"For kissing my ex-boyfriend!" Angel shouted and all in a moment the two women were in a no holds barred, knock-down, drag-out fight, throwing punches at each other without even a second thought. They brawled on the floor, their fingers pulling desperately at each others' clothes as they wrestled in some struggle for victory over the other. "What, you think you're better than me?" Angel asked breathlessly as her knees pinned Cassy to the ground and cuffed her hard across the face.

"No!" Cassy answered and grabbed both of Angel's arms in a tight grip. "I never said I was better than you! I didn't know he was your ex! And I definitely didn't want him to kiss me!" Angel finally wriggled her wrists out of Cassy's grasp and hit her again. Cassy grabbed Angel and rolled over her, kneeing her in the side with enough strength to wind her. "You want to know the truth, Angel?" she said. "I love Scorpio! I don't even want to have anything to do with Thames!"

Angel threw Cassy off of her. For a moment she looked as if she was going to stand again and Cassy quickly got to her feet. But instead she just sat up on her hands and knees catching her breath, and Cassy sank to the floor. She didn't want to hurt Angel. She put a hand on her and rubbed her back. "Feel better?" she asked.

"Yeah," Angel replied quietly. She swallowed. The feelings she'd felt no longer mattered. It wasn't necessary anymore for her to prove she was better than Cassiopeia; she was beginning to learn it wasn't true.

"I'm sorry, Ange. If it means anything, I just told him to go fuck himself."

Angel laughed, sitting back on her heels. She pushed her hair back out of her face. "He didn't mention that."

"You saw him?" Cassy asked. "And talked to him?"

"On the way over here, yeah." Angel explained. "He told me I was pushy and self-centered so I punched him and called him an asshole."

Cassy snorted. "Wow, it must suck to be him. And that was it?"

"Yeah," she lied. "That was it. And Leo told me to check up on you too. He's worried about you. How are you doing?"

"You mean how was I doing before my friend attacked me?" Cassy teased playfully.

"Whatever, that's basically what I said."

Cassy shrugged, her smile slipping as she began to recall all of the ugly things Thames had said to her not an hour ago. Then she remembered the expression on Scorpio's face when he'd kissed her and she dropped her face into her hands. "I think I really screwed things up for myself this time." She mumbled through her fingers.

Angel shook her head. "Nah," she said. "You'll be fine. Trust me."

Cassy looked over at her friend, clasping her hands together. "Are you okay?" she raised an eyebrow. "I guess it must have been bad, what happened with you two."

Angel shrugged, but didn't open her mouth to answer, which let her friend know immediately that it was not something up for discussion. So she didn't push.

"Hey," Cassy began suddenly as a thought came into her head. "Are you still seeing that guy from the MP company?"

Angel's eyebrows knit together. "Sweetie, he stopped returning my phone calls a week ago. I'm pretty sure it's over."

"Oh, good." Cassy said.

"Wait, why?" Angel asked.

"Just wondering."

"No," she said. "Not, 'why are you asking?' I meant, why is that good?"

"Oh," Cassy began as she glanced away. "He just wasn't any good for you, that's all." She sighed softly before speaking again. "Who was asking for me today?"

Angel, still red in the cheeks, finally looked over at Cassy. "No one." She answered. "Someone had heard your name from Scorpio or maybe Leo and started asking about you, but that was weeks ago. Maybe a month ago?" she shrugged and averted her glance. "When it finally got around to me I didn't think it was important at the time. So I didn't mention anything to you because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Why you were so great. Now I think I know."

[catandmouserp]

Shooting Stars #3

Post #3 of Shooting Stars

By Mickey

ANGEL STARK IMMEDIATELY UNDERSTOOD why Cassy had dreaded visiting the Rex platoon.  In the short time that she’d known Cassy, the two young women had formed a profound understanding of each other, shared only by people who have witnessed the true cruelty of humankind and still vowed to protect it and even lay their lives down for it.  Angel, a slightly older and even somewhat wiser woman at the fresh age of 24 years old, had become a sort of mentor to Cassy, guiding her through the confusion of childhood, the complexity of adulthood, and all the gray area in between.  And in the very moment that Selphi called out her name and Scorpio Rex turned to look at her, Angel saw a side of her friend she never knew existed:  a soft, compassionate side that had nothing but love for the special people in her life.  But Angel saw more than that.  She saw the very real fear in Cassy’s tired face that now, that she’d finally faced the Rex Brothers again, nothing would ever be the same.  Angel watched as Cassy’s heart broke.

Cassy had been all but wrenched from her old life, the simple life of an almost-average teenage girl, had been uprooted from everything she’d ever known, and then forced to remodel her lifestyle.  It was not a change she could have anticipated or prepared for, it was not a decision she’d even had time to consider or at least gradually adjust to.  And Cassy often wondered if, at the end of the day, she’d even have any remnants of that life to go back to.

It wasn’t difficult to tell that, though she was away from her family and classmates, it was missing Scorpio and Leo that was all but eating her alive.  Upon her arrival, she’d asked anyone and everyone she encountered about them:  if they’d seen the brothers, if they were safe, and where they were.  But she had been refused answers and rushed along to continue processing.  And yet, even as she wanted deep in her heart just to see them again, they were too familiar to her.  And if she were to see them, she knew, she would never be able to fully adjust to or even fully accept the new life she had taken on.  There would always be that one small part of her that held on to their old friendship and the simplicity of just being sixteen years old and in high school.  If she could only let go of them, she could finally let go of everything else as well and move forward knowing she had nothing left to lose.

Angel realized how much easier it would have been for Cassy to run from it.  But unfortunately, a soldier runs from nothing—and Cassy was a soldier through and through.  Something in her couldn’t stay away, kept bringing her back, no matter how much she resisted.  It came with being a Rex.

Cassy, though, was not a Rex—not a real Rex, all the way through, engineered to kill.  Cassy had been conceived naturally in an act of love between a man and a woman, and became the first offspring of a Rex and a human.  In some ways this made her more lethal than anyone, as she inherited all of the strengths of a Rex and none of the weaknesses or flaws in the Rex design.  If anyone was more than qualified to kill a Rex, Cassy knew, it would be her.  The Rex was a human tank to the war-waging world, and Cassy’s impure blood made her a more perfect model of the well-rounded soldier the government had aimed for:  a Renaissance-man excelling in all aspects.  If she weren’t a minor the military would have had their claws in her long ago.  But her time to shine was quickly approaching and she was still coming to terms with it.

But she couldn’t help but feel she had no true place in the world.  She was stronger, faster, smarter, and even prettier than humans were supposed to be, and yet, those exceptional qualities paled in comparison to those of a full-bred Homosapien Rex soldier.  Growing up, Cassy had spent a lot of time trying to live up to the title of a “Rex,” but they were big shoes to fill, and she had been walking in the shadow of her father until it came time for her to step up to the plate and see how she measured up to her bloodline.

Angel went to her friend and quickly pulled her aside.  Her assertion could often be mistaken for high-handedness (and could often be high-handedness), but Cassy had grown accustomed to her friend’s forward behavior and could now readily accept Angel’s despotism more graciously than most of her cadet counterparts.  She had the sort of domineering personality one didn’t (and shouldn’t dare to) question and Cassy had learned not to.

“What’s wrong?” Angel demanded straight out.  She was never one to sugarcoat, sidestep, or beat around the bush.

“I don’t know what to say,” Cassy admitted with hesitance, but got right to the point.

Angel rolled her eyes.  “Oh, for Christ’s sake,” she snapped.  “Get a grip, Cassy!  Have you never looked into a mirror before?  You’re stunning; you don’t have to say anything!”

Cassy’s delicate brow furrowed.  “Then what am I supposed to do?”

Angel sighed deeply, impatiently pinching the bridge of her nose.  “Just be yourself, Cass, that’s all.  Look,” she stared at her friend.  “You are crazy about that Rex boy, Cassy, I know it.  I see it.”  Angel arched an eyebrow and Cassy flushed.  “And he is probably just as crazy about you.  Did you see the way he looked at you when he heard your name?  If a boy ever looked at me like that, I’d never get out of bed.  So go talk to him right this moment, kid, and that’s an order.  Or there will be hell to pay.”

Cassy slowly shook her head.  “I can’t, Ange.” She said finally.  “I just can’t.”  Everything she had worked for, everything she had accomplished thus far, would be lost if she did this to herself now.

Angel gave her a hard look.  “You know, Cassy, sometimes, as a soldier, you are going to find yourself in a situation where you are going to have to make a decision and sacrifice something for something else.” She explained.  “It is your job to make the right decision for the greater good.”

It was the most insightful word of advice Angel had ever offered Cassy, and Cassy knew she was right.  But she simply couldn’t make herself give up her hard work and effort when it was easier at this point to give up the one person she had ever loved with all of her heart.

“Fine.” Angel agreed curtly in response to Cassy’s silence.  “I’ll go talk to him, then.”

Before Cassy could even manage to stammer out some surprised protest Angel had disappeared with a flick of her blonde ponytail.  The last thing Cassy wanted was the stunning Angelina talking to the incredible Scorpio Rex.  There was little she could do at this point, though, and so she watched in horror and fascination as her friend maneuvered between troops and she approached, confidently and without hesitation, the man that been in Cassy’s life since before he could remember:  the handsome and intelligent Leo Rex.

“Hey,” Angel greeted, touching his elbow  gently with her fingertips to get his attention.  She knew firsthand to be careful when approaching or handling other soldiers—even she herself jumped if someone grabbed her suddenly.  “I don’t think we’ve met,” she said.  “I’m Angel Stark, I’m Echo company commander.”  She spoke with the ease and poise of a diplomat and flashed a small, shy smile.  Angel, humbled?  A sight to see, Cassy decided.  “Of course, I already know exactly who YOU are,” she laughed.  “But I thought I’d go ahead and introduce myself.  I’m friends with Cassy.”  She turned to watch Selphi and Scorpio, who captured the attention of almost every troop in the room with their fight, which turned out to be more of an educational demonstration as every soldier analyzed every movement on some subconscious level.

Angel, though, with one eye on the spar, had her other on Leo Rex.  “You and your brother probably make a really good team, don’t you?” she said suddenly, and looked back at Leo.  Every time she turned her head her long ponytail would sway from one side to the other.  He really was small for a Rex, Angel thought; they were very nearly the same height.  But Angel, for a woman, was tall, with a tiny waist and long legs.  The Rex Brothers were a deadly juxtaposition that, between the two of them, had all of their bases covered.  They were a lethal match and Angel suspected that that was no coincidence.

Cassy had to have been incredibly lucky to grow up with them both.  Unfortunately Angel had never encountered a Rex before in her life before she’d been transferred to the Interstellar Base, and initially all she knew of the “Kings” was what she’d read or heard from coworkers, which was very little and very incorrect.  Consequently, though, her thoughts on the Homosapien Rex breed were still shallow:  the Rexes were developed, designed killing machines and were manufactured only to destroy, and the Brothers were the military’s very own all-inclusive package (what Angel considered a second attempt at a successful pair), but the only thing they needed was…

Cassy’s lips twitched up into a smile as she watched her friend talk to Leo.  If she wasn’t mistaken, there was even a certain flirtatious twinkly in her eye as she spoke, even though Cassy was almost sure Angel was still seeing a man from the MP company that she actually seemed to like well enough.  And just as all the dread was drained from Cassy’s body in one long sigh of relief…

“Cassy!”

Her stomach clenched again and her heart sank completely.  Shit, she swore inwardly.  She’d forgotten all about going to see Thames.  In fact, as soon as she showed up to the Rex wing, she’s forgotten most of everything she knew.  Cassy turned to spot Thames Astrid approach her in a short jog, out of breath.

“Hey,” he gasped, running his fingers through his trimmed hair.  He must have gotten a hair cut while Cassy was showering.  “I’ve been looking for you.  Ready for our date?” And then, all at once, Thames suddenly leaned down and kissed Cassy’s lips.

Cassy became instantly aware that everyone’s eyes were suddenly on her and the wing had gone quiet.  It was so quiet in fact, that Cassy could even recognize the silenced Angel whose attention, for once, was not on herself.  Her friend’s mouth hung open in shock.  Was this unprofessional?  Was she allowed to date Thames Astrid, in spite of the fact that she was, in a way, under his command and supervision?  She’d paled visibly and felt nauseous.  She didn’t understand.  No one would have been at all surprised if she’d kissed…

Cassy quickly looked at Scorpio, frowning.  A sudden guiltiness gripped her.  What had she done?  And was she supposed to apologize to him?  Explain?  She hadn’t done something wrong, had she?  Oh, but she had.  Her eyes darted between Scorpio and her own Aunt Selphi, before she glanced at Leo, then back to Angel, who now appeared furious.  What was she supposed to say?  What had they expected of her?

She didn’t have the time to figure it out.  “FORM UP!”  Cassy jumped as an enormous, brawny woman came into the wing, with broad shoulders, a square chin, and coarse nut-brown hair greased back into a tight bun.  Cassy had never before met her but immediately recognized her from stories she’d overheard between her parents growing up.  Ursa Boötes had what appeared to be quite a past with Spica and Nathan, but Cassy wasn’t certain of the details.  Regardless, she felt the sting of their experiences with each other with a hard glare from the woman that had only one clear message:  “You don’t belong here.” Cassy shrank from her gaze, hurt.  The captain then shifted her glance to Selphi, and the glower turned venomous.

“I said, form up!  That’s an order!” barked again, and this time the order was followed without hesitance.  Thames took Cassy’s hand and tugged.

“It’s time to go, they’re about to start training.” He explained.  “Boötes isn’t exactly flexible.”

Cassy hesitated, pulling her hand back from Thames.  He yanked again in return and she resisted.  “Stop it, let go,” she snapped as he attempted to take her away from the wing with him.  “Thames, let go.” She said louder, and pushed his arm away.

“It’s time to go.” He insisted, more impatiently.

“Scorpio!” she called, and Thames’s gazed narrowed.  “Scorpio, come find me tonight!  I need to talk to you!”

“Let’s go,” Thames hissed.  This time, Cassy followed obediently.

 ***

“YOU’RE KIND OF QUIET,” THAMES OBSERVED.  “What’s wrong?  What’s on your mind?” he asked.

Thames and Cassiopeia sat together hip-to-hip at the top of Jacob’s Ladder, overlooking the rest of the empty obstacle course and the base barracks beyond it that housed trainees.  The sun was beginning to settle beneath the horizon and splashes of pink and orange streaked across the skyline as the blue of night crept across.

Cassy was reluctant to answer him.  He laid a gentle hand over hers and she considered pulling away from him, but instead let him nestle comfortably there, their fingers intertwining.  Finally she asked him, “Do you know why I’m here?”

He chuckled.  “Because you insisted we race to the top even though I knew you’d beat me?” he answered.

“No.” she said.  “I mean, here.  Instead of in school, where I belong.”

“Why do you think you belong there?” Thames inquired and gave her a sidelong glance.  She didn’t answer.  “You belong here, Cassy.” She shook her head.  “It’s not safe.”

“No,” she said again.  “It’s because of me, Thames.  All of this is because of me.”

“Your parents just want to protect you.” He insisted.

“No!” she shouted, and Thames flinched away in surprise.  “Why am I here?  I’ve wasted every single day I’ve spent here when I could be doing something.  I could be helping people.  I can fight!  I’m a Rex, that’s what I was a made for, isn’t it?”

Thames sighed sadly, slowly taking her hand in his again.  “Oh, Cassy.” He murmured.  “You were made for so much more than that.”

“No, I wasn’t!” she argued again.  “You don’t know anything, do you?  You don’t know anything about what it means to be a Rex.”

Thames suddenly narrowed his gaze.  “I think you overestimate yourself, Cassy,” he responded evenly.  “While you do have the capacity to be remarkable, you require the necessary training to perfect your abilities.” he explained.  “Otherwise, you’re just a mindless killing machine.  I know what a Rex is.”

Cassy looked suddenly startled—half by the tone of his voice and half by his words—and scowled, disguising her hurt.  “Exactly.  That’s what I’m made to do, Thames.  I’m supposed to kill.  And you know what?”

Thames sighed deeply though his nose and waited patiently.  “What?” he finally ventured forth quietly.

“When we find Taurus,” Cassy began bravely, and Thames’s eyebrows shot up in shock.  “I want to be the one that kills him.”

He sat silently.  He now made no motion to touch her.  This wasn’t the Cassy he loved so much.  He assumed Cassy would continue, but she didn’t.  “Why?” he asked.

“You wouldn’t understand.” She snapped.  She leapt down from the top of the ladder and made her way back to the dormitories by herself, though she wasn’t typically authorized to go anywhere unaccompanied, even so close to central headquarters.  Usually she was with Angel, escorted by Thames, or at least chaperoned by one of his OTS cadets, but this time she was allowed to go alone.  The sun had set and the dark was upon her.  She desperately needed to get some sleep and then get down and dirty with the weight room tomorrow if she was ever expected to shuck off the considerable amount of stress left over from the day.

[catandmouserp]

Shooting Stars #1

Post #1 of Shooting Stars

By Mickey

“HEY, MUTT,”

Cassy glanced up, adjusting the straps of her helmet with one hand, where the plastic buckle had been digging into her chin.  It was the most insulting and disrespectful nickname anyone could have addressed her by but she reacted to it by instinct now.  It had followed her from elementary school teasing to high school jeers in her direction, and it had stuck.  Despite her success and excellence in combat, however, full-blooded human beings still managed to put her down and step on her with that word alone.  Hadn’t she been engineered to be a better soldier than them?  Why did they still treat her like she was lower than they were?

“What?” she asked.  Cassy had been looking at a small photograph in her hand that she’d found inside of an envelope addressed to her best friend in her own handwriting.  She’d been fifteen at the time the picture was taken, with her arm around Scorpio’s shoulders and his black GCU cover on her head, her nest of finger hair poking out from beneath it.  She’d meant to send it to Scorpio during his training but she’d forgotten and had left it with her things by mistake, until she’d found it again before her deployment and taken it with her.  They’d both been so young and happy.

Cassiopeia’s regiment commander knelt before her where she was sitting on the floor flanked by two troops in her company on either side of her.  They were two, hulking men with strong jaws and broad shoulders:  one with a young, chiseled face and the other older with shadows beneath his eyes and black stubble growing along his square chin.  Cassy recognized him and realized he’d had to leave his wife and children at home to work on this mission.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” her commander asked her slowly, as if her duties had been elaborate and difficult to comprehend in spite of her high entrance exam score.

“Yes, sir.” She answered evenly.  Cassy was not here to humor him.

“Do you understand what I want you to do?”

Cassy wanted to glance away.  She held her commander’s gaze though and lifted her weapon into her arms.  She nodded.  “Kill everything.”

“Good girl.  And?”

“Leave no man behind.  Protect my comrades.” She added.

“What else?”

She sighed through her nose.  “Don’t die.”

“Exactly.” Cassy’s commander patted her shoulder.  “You’ll be fine.”

The aerospace helicopter hummed beneath her and her commander stood carefully to speak with another soldier.  The older man beside Cassy shifted all of his bulk and freed a hand to lie on Cassy’s shoulder.

“You’re the same age as my daughter.” He said.

Cassy looked at him.  “What’s her name?”

“Stella,” he replied.  “She just began her studies in nursing.” His hand fell as well as his eyes.  “I would die if I saw her doing what you’re doing.  I can only imagine how your father must feel.”

Cassy pursed her lips.  “I don’t have a choice.  It’s my duty.”

He glanced at her photograph.  “Is that your husband?” he asked.

She looked at the photograph too.  “No,” she answered.  “He’s my best friend.  He’s part of a different battalion.”

The man leaned back, going quiet.  “I’m sure he is praying for you.”

Finally, a ladder was let down and the commander began barking orders at the company on board.  The troops were up and ready to begin filing out when he shouted over the whirling helicopter blades, “The Rex goes first!” He pushed Cassy ahead of the others.  Hot wind stung her face and eyes and she quickly covered her head.  If unprotected, the heat meant certain death.  The commander held Cassy’s arm.  She turned to him.  “It’s been a privilege commanding you.” He said.  “You can take it from here.”

Cassy nodded.  “Yes, sir!” she responded, and threw the strap attached to her weapon over her shoulder.  She tried to shove her photograph into her pocket but the wind around her seized it and took it up and away.  She quickly scaled down the length of the ladder and spotted over a dozen other helicopters around her with troops dropping out.  She jumped and rolled over her shoulder on the dirt and sand and then almost immediately went back to her feet.

Gunfire erupted all around her.  The dirt streets of the little village had almost been emptied of civilians and now filled with unprepared military forces.  They’d launched a surprise attack on the hostile environment, which was laden with weapons of mass destruction.  It was rumored that there was as much as a pound of illegal explosives for every gram of body weight of the villagers hidden away in homes and elaborate underground tunnels and it had become their job to get it out in the only way they could.

Cassy’s finger found her trigger and pulled, and with impeccable aim, she didn’t miss.  People fell like flies around her as she popped off every bullet in her magazine.  Cassy knew she’d been sent to die before everyone else but was now convinced she’d survive yet again, until she took a shot of her own.

She jerked, holding her ribs with a gasp, but didn’t go to her knees.  It’d been a sniper and she knew she needed to move out of the area before he had another chance at her.  Don’t die:  that was the mission.  Her breathing was shallow and she wasn’t certain whether or not it was the adrenaline or the bullet wound.  Another soldier spotted her injury and moved a group of troops to seek out the sniper while a medic tried to rush to her aid.  Cassy waved him away, quickly ducking for cover inside one of the emptied desert homes.  Halfway to the open door hanging off its hinges, though, she spotted a child with a gun as tall as he was, coming for her.  He was waving wildly, screaming obscenities in a foreign language, and she quickly knelt and aimed.  He stopped dead in his tracks and then Cassy realized the boy was staring at something beyond her.

She turned around and found an enemy tank rolling over the sand, picking off her comrades like pepperonis.  Cassy quickly glanced back and found the man from her company aiming for the boy.  He wasn’t far off from herself, only about ten meters away from her position, but he was out in the open.  Before he could react, Cassy put a bullet through the kid’s head and picked up her gun to grab her comrade.  She was the only one qualified to take care of her job quickly and efficiently, and she intended to do just that.  Suddenly though, a clicking metal can fell between them.

“Grenade!” Cassy shouted, but couldn’t step back in time before it detonated.  The explosion sent her sprawling backward, landing flat on her back on the hard packed dirt.  She heaved, getting to her knees to vomit.  A couple of her ribs were broken and her lung nearly crushed by the force.  Her face was burnt but she managed to stand again on her feet.  Don’t die.  That was the mission.  She rushed to the man who was face-down nearby and whimpering.

Cassy rolled him onto his back.  His helmet had been blown to pieces and his face was so badly burnt there was as little as no skin at all in some places and she could see the yellow bone beneath all the blood and gore.  She tore open the jacket of his Galactic Battle Uniform.  His heart was beating but he was struggling to catch his breath.  “Stay with me,” she said firmly.  The sand blew around her, biting her uncovered hands and leaving red, hot cuts on her skin where blood bubbled out over her white knuckles.  It stung her exposed burns and whipped her freed red hair around her cheeks.  “Don’t die on me.” She said.  “Don’t die on Stella.”

The boy she’d shot laid on his side a couple of meters from them in the sand with blood on him.  A scrap of paper was carried from him in the sandstorm and Cassy grabbed it as it tumbled end over end along the flat ground.  She looked at it and a much younger Cassiopeia and Scorpio looked back at her.  How had she come to this?

Cassy clenched her teeth.  She wanted to wail and scream and cry but crushed the photo in her hand.

“Cassy,” the man rasped.

“Yes, sir?”

Cassy?

“Yes?”

Cassy.

***

CASSY JERKED AWAKE, sweat along her hairline and the back of neck.  Scorpio?

Thames Astrid knelt beside her, peering into her face with concerned brown eyes.  His black GBU cover had been removed and was clutched between his hands, his sun-streaked chocolate hair tousled endearingly.  “Cassy?  Are you okay?” he asked.  “Do you have a fever?”

She blushed deeply.  Of course it wasn’t Scorpio.  “You didn’t wake me up,” she mumbled, her face pressed into the cotton pillow that smelled of cool, clean linen.

“I’m sorry.  I had to get to a briefing at 0600 this morning.” He explained.  “I forgot to have a cadet come get you.”

“What time is it?” Cassy asked, pushing orange hair from her face and pulling strands out of her mouth.

“Almost 1100.” He answered.  “Quarter ‘til, ma’am.”

She scowled, sitting upright.  Since the station had been locked down, her home had been evacuated to be inspected for evidence of Librus’s breaching of base security.  Her brothers, Castor and Pollux, had both been transported to an esteemed military boarding school for their next four years of high school, her two best friends had had to answer the call of duty, both of her parents had been working hard with headquarters officers and military personnel to eliminate the threat of Librus, and her education had been otherwise delayed until further notice after she’d been moved into a base dormitory and put into the care of 1st Lieutenant Thames Astrid until the station’s S.T.A.R. teams finished their detailed investigations and declared the area safe again.

Cassy hadn’t seen a familiar face in months; the first week consisted of processing and legal paperwork and adjusting herself to a relatively new environment and lifestyle.  She had, however, come to enjoy Thames’s company and, in spite of his constant coming and going while he was on duty, they had found the time to become close friends.  She spent most of her time though with Astrid’s OTS cadets that escorted her from one location to the other.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, twisting his cap between his big palms.

“What am I doing today?” Cassy answered, rubbing her bleary eyes and raking her hands through her much-shorter hair so that it looked less like her head had just been assaulted by a tornado.  She still wasn’t used to the new crop and picked at her uncombed locks, trying to arrange them into a neater fashion.

“Stop, it looks fine.” Thames said, pushing her bangs out of her face.  “Your hair looks great.”

“Well, you need a haircut.” She mentioned. “ You’re out of regs.  I don’t know how you’ve gotten away with your hair touching your ears like that.”

He laughed, self-consciously pushing his fingers through it.  “Yeah, well,” he began.  “I’ve been really busy lately and I haven’t had the time to go get it cut.”

“Busy with what?”

“Busy with you, Miss High Maintenance.” He joked and she hit him playfully, though it was a bit harder than he’d expected and he briefly wondered if he’d actually offended her.  “I’m just kidding.” He added.  He stood, stretching out his legs, and perched on the edge of her bed instead.  “As far as I know, today is a down day.  I thought maybe you could come to the exchange with me today and run a couple errands and then go to the park or something and relax?”

“That sounds nice.” She said.

“Okay, good.”

They sat together for a moment in silence, looking at each other as if looking into an open book.  Thames glanced away.  He’d always admired Cassy, even in high school (she’d been a freshman when he was a senior) and she’d come out to play soccer and rugby with the guys in the mornings before school started.  Thames had been friends with Scorpio though—they worked together now; they were in the same company, and if they deployed, they’d deploy together—and Scorpio “talked” about her.  He knew Cassy was Scorpio’s girl (anyone who knew Scorpio knew Cassy was Scorpio’s girl) even if they weren’t actually a couple.  But Thames still admired her, admired her larger-than-life attitude, her fiery personality, her sense of humor. She wasn’t the perfect woman—maybe she never would be—but she knew that and took all of her flaws and held them close to her.  And Thames who spent so much of his time trying to be perfect (because he had never been good enough, so even being enough would be enough for him), loved that about her.

Cassy suddenly propped her chin in her palms, her elbows on her knees, so close to Thames that she could smell the sweat beneath the collar of his heather-grey skivvies shirt.  “Why did you join the military?” she asked straightforwardly, and his eyebrows rose in surprise.

He chuckled nervously, but humorlessly, clearing his throat as he scratched his chin.  He was clean-shaven, his cheek bare and exposed, yet he still picked at some ghost of stubble upon his face.  He was hesitating to answer, he realized, and quickly began his explanation before Cassy noticed as well.  “I’m a dumbass,” he finally said, the words tumbling recklessly from his mouth without any thought.  Cassy arched a curious eyebrow that told him that his response had been unsatisfactory.  He continued.  “I wasn’t good for anything else.  I wasn’t good at anything else.” His voice dropped to a murmur as he shrugged uncomfortably.  “I was already here anyway.”

“That’s not why.”

He looked up at her and frowned.

Cassy laid a hand on his, ceasing his nervous wringing of his hat, and she took the cap and pulled it back onto his head, tucking stray wisps of hair underneath it.  She stopped then and they looked each other in the eye.  “Tell me the real reason.” She said and finally let go of his hands.  All of the warmth from her touch disappeared from his palms, so he clasped his fingers together.  For someone still so young, she already knew so much—about the world and how it worked and the twisted insides of people, and how they’d become such dark and gnarled human beings living behind two faces after seeing war, injustice, death, and murder.

Finally, he said:  “Nothing was important to me.  I never loved anything.”

Cassy frowned, her pink lips turning downward.  Thames, who was still so young, so bright, so kind, couldn’t love?  Anything?

Thames was an orphan.  His mother, an astrophysicist, and his father, an aerospace engineer, had worked together on engineering a neighboring space station attachment to hold back up supplies during wartime.  During their work on the station, however, an engine that kept the base suspended in space and tethered to one orbital path caught fire.  It could have been repaired if it’d been noticed sooner, but the fire spread to the stored gasoline, gunpowder, and explosives and the entire station had been lost in the explosion.  There had been no survivors.

Thames hadn’t known his parents.  He could not dwell, brood, or even reminisce.  He’d never seen pictures of them.  There’d been no remains and no graves for him to visit.  The only thing he had was a tiny memorial in a park garden with their names on it, Phoebus and Europa Astrid, tucked into a list of engraved names of everyone else who had died in the catastrophe.  He had been only a baby and all of his living relatives lived on Terra, impossibly far away, and so he was sent to live with a foster family on base that had a son of their own in the military.  Soon after his deployment he was killed in combat and his parents mourned his death thereafter, nearly forgetting Thames’s existence entirely.  He had been neglected and deprived of the love of a family, which he sought instead in school sports, many high school girlfriends, and lots of weekend partying.

“I felt like the world had stabbed me in the back,” he continued.  “I thought my existence was a cruel joke.  It was meaningless.  Pointless.  I had no purpose in life.  In fact, my life was so insignificant,” his voice suddenly hardened.  “That everyone and everything would have been better off if I just dropped dead.”

Cassy flinched at his words.  This wasn’t the Thames she knew.

“But I had nothing to die for.” He explained.  “That is why I made my decision.”

“Because you wanted to die?” Cassy ventured forth quietly.

“I wanted something to die for.” Thames said.  “My step brother had died in war and everyone missed him.  I wanted to be missed when I was gone, too.  But it changed me.”

“How?” Cassy asked.

Thames glanced at her.  She was looking at him full-on, holding onto him with her blue eyes alone.  “It gave my life a purpose.” He said.  “It gave my life importance.  It changed me.  I was taught to defend myself, but first and foremost I was taught to kill.” He looked down.  “I know how to kill another human being.  I know how to take a life.  But I know how to save one, too.  And I think,” he paused, glancing at Cassy.  “That if you tried, you could learn so much more than you already know.”

Cassy looked at Thames, and he looked back at her.  They looked at each other, and for a long time neither of them spoke a word.  They were nervous to destroy the silence between them, that silence that they shared.  They shared a profound understanding of the cruelty of people and the world, a world where men shot other men on their own land without remorse, when they could be out in the field shooting the enemy.

Finally, Cassy said, “What do you mean?”

“I just mean,” Thames began, leaning closer to her.

I mean, you already know so much, Cassy.  You are wise beyond your years.  You have so much potential to do remarkable things for our world.  And you are worth so much.

“What?”

I think I am falling in love with you.

“What were you saying?”

Thames’s lips barely brushed against hers, as if to kiss her.  He touched her face, his fingertips lightly brushing hair behind her ears.  Finally, he pressed his mouth against hers, kissing her full on the lips.

 ***

COLD WATER STREAMED down Cassy’s pink cheeks, sliding off of her round shoulders and running down her back as she stood beneath the shower head, pushing wet hair back from her forehead, and rubbed sweat from her eyes with clenched fists.  Inside the locker room, she could hear the door swing open and slam shut again, and she quickly shut the water off.  The thump of a sports bag being thrown into a metal locker rang off of the tile floors.  Must have been Angel.

“Cassy?” she called.  “Are you in here?”

“Yeah,” Cassy responded, wringing water from her hair.  “Just got out of the shower.”

“Where have you been?” Angel snapped.

Cassy wrapped a towel around her middle and pushed the plastic curtain aside, stepping out of the shower.  “Why?”

“I’ve been looking for you all morning.” She said, unwrapping her hands from yet another hot date with the punching bag in the weight room.

Angelina Stark was an assertive but attractive young woman with what could be politely described as a somewhat overbearing personality that typically intimidated other women, and men, and occasionally small children as well.  She’d come from a wealthy Terranian family, but her father’s business empire went to ruin, he became bankrupt, and their fortune was lost.  Though she had learned politics and the diplomatic tactics of an ambassador, her personality defects often collided with her duties.  She showed interests in military intelligence, novel artillery, and combat engineering.  Angel was stunning—a bright and shining star in a sky of dimly glowing planets—but she was also built like a soldier.  She had answered to the call of duty to serve on the General Rigel Interstellar Base with hesitance, however, after being sexually assaulted by an officer on post.  He had never been discharged or even identified, but she had been transferred to command an all-female company due to her skill and excellence in her field of work.

“Well, I slept in.” Cassy said.  “Thames said it’s a down day.  You don’t decide whether or not I sleep in, Ange.  You’re not my babysitter.”

“And just because Astrid is doesn’t—”

“Thames isn’t my babysitter either, thank you very much.” Cassy interrupted, tugging all of her clothes out of her locker.  “What is it you need, again?”

Angel crossed her arms, leaning her weight into the lockers.  “Some guy from the Rex platoon wanted me to come find you.” She said.

Cassy’s heart leapt.  “Really?” she asked.  “Who?”

“I wouldn’t know, people just asked around until it got to me.” She explained.  “But I was told that they’re training with first battalion today and some of the other guys from the Orpheus mission detachment.” She paused, frowning at Cassy’s lack of a reaction.  “They’re on post today.  Should be fun.  What do you say?”

Cassy shook her head.  “No, thanks,” she replied, pulling her tank top over her head.

Angel stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans.  “I’m sure they’d be happy to see you.” she added.  “What’re you so down about, anyway?  You seemed fine yesterday.”

“I am fine.” Cassy said as she fastened the buttons on her blue denim shorts.

Angel planted her hands on her hips.  “Tell me what is going on right now.”

Cassy cleared her throat and covered her face with her hands.  “I kissed a boy,” she admitted, her voice muffled behind her palms.  “Or, he kissed me.  Whichever one it was.”

Angel didn’t bother feigning surprise for Cassy’s sake.  It had been bound to happen sooner or later.  “Who?  Leo?” she guessed.

“No!” Cassy exclaimed.

Now, Angel was overtaken by a genuine incredulity.  Her delicate eyebrows shot up into her hairline.  “What?  Who was it?”

Cassy huffed, grabbing her shoulder bag and slamming the door of her locker shut.  “It isn’t your business!”

Angel’s gaze narrowed.  “Well, you don’t have to tell me, but you are going to get your skinny ass out there to see those Rex boys.” She said.  “Because it was too damn hard to find you, and frankly, Rex boys are fine, and it would be a downright shame not to.”

“I’m not going.” Cassy argued, shrugging her shoulders unhelpfully.  “I just showered, and I already have things to do today.  Sorry.”

Unfortunately, “no” was never an acceptable answer for Angel.

***

THERE HAD BEEN A TIME when Homosapien Rex soldiers had been very few and very far between, because there had been only a handful in existence and none were perfected models or even successful.  However, engineering of troops as weapons of mass destruction had improved significantly since those times, and now there were mainly Rex soldiers and even—imagine this—half-Rex offspring, serving right there on the base.

When not on a mission, Rexes trained together in a platoon of some of the most physically capable and skilled men available.  They were the troops that excelled in all areas of their work at an accelerated rate, and performed above and beyond the rest of their comrades so that their commanders have no choice but to transfer them to a separate platoon to work with the best of the best.  Though the percentage of human soldiers was greater than that of Rex soldiers, and there was only about enough Rexes to make up a squad of about ten or twelve men, it was typically referred to as the “Rex platoon” due to their fame in the corps.

Usually, a platoon was commanded by a first lieutenant, but the Rex platoon was a special exception and the platoon leader was a captain, and the battalion commander.  In spite of being an all-male platoon, the platoon leader was female, and a Rex herself—one of the first successful Homosapien Rexes other than Admiral Sirius Rex.

Captain Ursa Boötes was a hulking, brute of a woman that took no mercy upon her platoon.  She intended to lead the Rexes and their comrades to excellence and had succeeded thus far in doing so.  As a Rex, she understood the importance of defining enhanced ability in other soldiers, and though she was not sympathetic, compassionate, or benevolent (Cassy had heard her mother refer to this as a “design flaw”), she was, in fact, rational, systematic, and competent, which made her the ideal soldier for the job.

If Cassiopeia Libra-Rex and Angelina Stark hadn’t already been known by most of the platoon, they would have looked awkward and ridiculous coming around to watch the Rexes train, two prima donnas showing up to a fight club:  one in designer jeans and manicured fingernails and the other in short-shorts and flower-print sandals.  But it was widely know that, aside from beating you not being enough for Angel, she had to be able to assault you with her words as well, she could also do anything you could, do it better, and do it in heels.  As for Cassy, everyone knew who her father was, knew she was of Rex blood, and most of the men were counting down the days until she graduated and joined their platoon with the other Rexes.  Unfortunately, Cassy would put you down and make you like it, and loved to make the boys cry.

When the ladies showed up the platoon hadn’t fallen in yet and were standing in groups warming up, socializing, or competing against each other in basic physical training, churning out push ups, sit ups, and pull ups.  A group of men were playing smear the queer with a worn out football, tackling each other and throwing the ball into the air.  Some were already tearing their shirts off and tossing them down, others in only wife-beaters, and Cassy recognized a lot of the familiar faces flanking over in her direction.  Their commander hadn’t arrived yet and a few guys called out greetings, inviting her to join them, but Cassy couldn’t make out one voice from another.

Angel, though, didn’t take a moment of hesitance, tying her hair up into one long platinum ponytail down her back and going to play with the boys.  Cassy felt bad for them.  They’d try to take it easy on her, but Angel had a mean tackle and didn’t hold anything back.

As much as Cassy wanted to join the fun, she stood back and searched through the abundance of unknown faces, strong jaws, ripping muscles, exposed pecs, and washboard abs for the two familiar men she hadn’t seen yet.