Chapter Sixteen: R&R (Rescue and Recovery)


It was her imagination, but she was almost positive that she could see explosions from a battle high above the harsh deserts of Mars, in the cold depths of the night sky. Their quarters weren’t bad really, though they left a bit to be desired... Hastily constructed shacks on the outskirts of the city mostly, though more suitable accommodations were becoming more readily available. The sad fact remained though that the housing situation would have to be addressed soon or else some were sure to freeze in the upcoming Martian winter...

Of course, there was always the option of the three remaining Y-lights, which had been parked on massive landing pads just outside the thriving Martian city of Evo. In fact, that was where Cassandra found herself then, sitting in the radar-man’s chair, looking up through the illusionary skylight ceiling. She now understood why Michael had gone through the trouble of creating the vid-window system... It’s battlefield use was a plus, it gives confidence to people being able to see what’s going on around them directly, but... Now she understood his words...

“Why? Heh... When you have a tendency to stare off into space, it makes sense to have space to stare off in to...”

Now she stared off into space, and it indeed made sense to her. Letting her thoughts drift as the stars drifted, reviewing all the decisions that had led her up to that point. Joining the army at eighteen, becoming an MF pilot at twenty, being shipped off to Mars at twenty one... It was then she was placed under the command of a then up and coming Lieutenant named Michael Lyhte. That’s also when she met his annoying pseudo-brother Lui Kenar, who had wasted no time and no expense trying to charm her... It took a while, but she finally broke down and agreed to go on the fateful date that he’d been trying to force her to agree to. From that point on it was a long series of firsts for them... First date, first kiss, so many things that she could never have predicted happening coming to pass...

And now there she was, the second-in-command/babysitter for her old commanding officer who had turned the better part of a lunar research facility’s personnel into fugitives right along with him. It was funny how the world worked sometimes.

It occurred to her how cold she felt then, and she shivered in an attempt to shake off the bitter feeling. It wasn’t the temperature that made her feel that way though, it was something from deep inside her. A longing, a void that had been empty for far too long. The area that her husband Lui had staked out in her heart, an area that had been vacant since she had been reassigned under Michael and forced to leave her husband behind on this god-forsaken piece of rock called Mars.

Not only did she miss him, she had begun to worry before they had ever stolen the Y-lights and embarked on their ill-fated voyage. After their initial contact, no one had heard anything from him or his unit, which in the day and age they were living was not a good sign. But she hadn’t brought up these concerns with Michael; He had enough to worry about between his wife and children, she didn’t need to get him worried over Lui too if he wasn’t already. That scared her more than anything, that he’d been found out. They’d send him to Washington Space Fortress, if they didn’t execute him on the spot and then leave him for the Martian Desert to claim at it’s leisure. Worse, he could not be dead at all, only mortally wounded and then abandoned. He be bleeding to death, his crimson blood becoming one with the rusty soil while he cried out futilely for help from someone, or he could’ve been crying her name out into the night while his life trickled away out the wound and through his clenched fingers-

“Stop it!”, She ordered herself viciously slamming her fist down on the armrest of her chair, letting her nails dig into the skin of her palm so that she could focus on the pain instead of the possible fate of her husband. Then she heard a small sniffle from the open door of the bridge. Turning her chair around, she began to stand up in a defensive manner and asked, “Is someone there?”

A large piece of thick clothe lay sprawled out on the floor, leading to the small area to the side of the doorway where Cassandra couldn’t see. It revealed itself to be a blanket, which was wrapped around the small form of a girl, Cathy. It took a moment for Cassandra to register this, but when she did her heart nearly broke at the sight of the young girl’s face which was scrunched up and stained with tears.

“Oh honey... Come here, it’s alright, I wasn’t yelling at you...”

Picking up the bundled Cathy, Cassandra quickly sat them both down in the closest chair with Cathy still in her lap. Cathy clutched the cloth of her aunt’s uniform, burying her face into her chest as sobs racked her body, “Aunt Cassie...”

“Shhh...”, she cooed into the child’s ear as comfortingly as she could, stroking her long brown hair with one hand while holding her close with the other, “It’s ok honey, don’t worry. Now, what happened?”

“I -sniff- I had a bad dream...”

“What happened?”

“I...”

Cathy hesitated, her grip on her aunt’s uniform tightening slightly. Cassandra cradled her niece, nuzzling the top of the girl’s head, “It’s not as scary if you talk about it.”

“Really?”

“It’s a fact.”

“Ok... I was in my room, my old room... But Jenny wasn’t there. And I yelled, but I couldn’t find her, or mommy... or daddy... And then I found out that they’d gone away, so I waited, but they never came back... they never came back, and I was alone...”

If her heart had been nearly broken by the sight of this crying child, now it was shattered Cassandra sighed, cursing the world, cursing the Trinity Alliance, cursing everything and everyone that refused to just let the world be. Those that couldn’t be satisfied with rivers of blood and instead wanted oceans for them to float their navies on so they could wage wars in even more desolate places, not thinking of all the innocents that would drown in the blood, suffocate in the rage, and be crushed by the hate.

“Catherine, I’ll make you a promise.”

“Huh?”

“I won’t leave you alone, ever. If you’re parents are gone, and everything else that could happen does, I promise I won’t leave you and your sister alone. Now wipe off those tears, they don’t look good on you.”

Wiping away the salty droplets on the blanket that still draped itself around her petite body, Cathy smiled in a relieved fashion. Shifting her position, the young girl kissed her aunt on the cheek before wrapping her arms around the older woman’s neck saying, “I love you Aunt Cassie.”

“I love you too Cath... I love you too.”

The moment was shattered by a sudden beeping noise, the proximity alarm of the radar picking up incoming objects. Quickly moving Cathy out of her lap Cassandra rushed to the radar screen, eyes narrowing as they took in the information being displayed for her.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know... Two objects? No, wait... Four, three of them are in close proximity...”, Cassandra muttered, punching several buttons in order to give her a visual display. After zooming in and enhancing the image several times she realized what it was. That girl, Freya and her MF Far Reacher and another MF, almost completely red were holding the remains of a Shade between them as they came down to land. Off to one side was Stricken, Appolus not even close to the group and apparently not caring in the least.

“Well?”

The radio came on suddenly as it received an incoming transmission, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

“Daddy!” Catherine exclaimed, dropping the blanket and dashing to the radio station, finding the button to respond soon afterwards, “Daddy, is that you?”

“Hey, is this Jenny or Cathy?”

“Cathy. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, is Cassandra there?”

Leaning over the excited girl with a smile, Cassandra chuckled, “I’m right here.”

“Is there any vehicles or people we should be watching out for when we land?”

“Not that I know of. Hehehe...”

“What?”

“White Lightning has lost the thunder I take it?”

Growling, Michael asked in a low voice, “Meaning?”

“Christ Michael, you’re MF doesn’t have any arms or legs. How on Earth did you manage to get that rusty in only-“

“I’m in a Shade dang it!”

“...More like half a Shade. Three fourths maybe.”

“...I despise you... Cassandra, we need to talk now.”

Turning away from the radio, Cathy asked, “Aunt Cassie, what does ‘despise’ mean?”

“Nothing important, go wake up your sister and get dressed.”

“Ok!”

Listening to the soft sound of her niece’s footsteps upon the metal floor as she raced down the hallway seemed strangely comforting to Cassandra. She noted that Cathy had even remembered to take the blanket she’d brought with her, something that many children might overlook or forget. Unable to force down the smile that graced her face, she turned back to the radio, “So tell me, who’s in the red MF? It looks familiar.”

“It’s Alpha, piloted by the esteemed Crimson Knight himself.”

“Major Novus?” Cassandra asked in complete shock.

“The very same. Don’t get your hopes up though, he’s not planning on staying he just wants our help in finding someone he believes could be in Evo.”

“He’ll have to talk to Carlos about that. When will you be landing?”

“No more than a few minutes, why?”

“I know two little girls who are ready to hug and kiss you to death.”

“...I’m afraid that’ll have to wait.”

Another stunned silence followed this statement, “What?!?”

“We were saved by the appearance of EAP warships, four to be exact. I’m not sure, but about the only place that they could’ve come from is the EAP research station Prometheus, and that’s where Carlos thinks Gina is being held.”

It all clicked instantly inside Cassandra’s mind, “So you attack while they’re fists are down?”

“Not exactly... Can you contact Jessica?”

“I think so, why?”

“I want to borrow her shuttle for a little bit...”