Not According to Plan

[Miller]

Miller and Dane burst into the med bay, the two of them lugging Morgan onto the surgical table. Andromeda looked at them both in shock for a moment.

"How'd it go? Where's Cassi?" She asked. Then she looked at Miller, in horror. He was covered in deep slash wounds, a quarter of which went down across his face, the wound traumatic enough that he eye was forced shut.

"I'm fine, Doctor Reyes, but Morgan's not." Miller replied. Morgan winced and tried to move or say something in his defense, but only an anguished gasp and bloodied spit escaped his lips.

Andromeda immediately went about scanning his body. "Good God. His entire ribcage has been smashed, and his right lung has been punctured. What...what did this?"

"What's a hundred pounds, has red hair, and is homicidal?" Dane replied.

"Where's Cassi?" The doctor and Katy were already cutting off Morgan's clothes, despite his weak protests against it.

Miller and Dane looked at each other. "Look, you tell her. I'm gonna go...um..." And then Dane bolted out of the infirmary.

"Just keep working on Morgan." Miller replied, leaning against a wall as he stripped off his coat and shirt, tossing them to the side with a loud clank and then helping himself to needles and bandages as Katy and Andi prepared for surgery. "I'll tell you about the mission while you work."

---------------------

Yesterday

The shuttle set down outside Fort Anderson with a soft thump. As the doors opened, the team stepped out. It consisted of most of all three boarding parties--as the people most used to action, they were also the most willing to disobey orders and set out on a mission.

"Alright. If T.K.'s info is correct," Morgan began as they started walking towards the fort, weapons out but not aimed. "Then the Orphans are gonna attack here next. I hate warning the government about anything, but if we help them we might be able to grab Cass in the confusion. It's not much of a plan, but our schemer's not helping us anymore."

"Hey, Morg." Dane said, gesturing to the fort. "I think we're too late."

The front door had been ripped off its hinges and used to crush the guards at the gate. Explosions and the sounds of battle, though faint, could be heard from inside.

"Alright, we'll split into three groups. Don't engage if you don't have to. If you see Cass, call the rest of us. Nathan's probably out there so no one trust anyone on their own, only in groups, alright?" Everyone nodded, and Morgan slipped his knuckles on. "Alright, let's go bring our girl back."

[Cassiopeia Reyes-Hart]

Cassiopeia was dancing.

It was a different kind of dancing than she used to do, for sure, but it was a form of dance all the same. Silver eyes swirling, the curvy female twisted and pirouetted across the ground, neatly avoiding the bullets that tried to tear through her seconds before they could, anticipating each attack before it happened. Her glowing starmetal sword slashed out in accompaniment, severely wounding or killing every soldier unfortunate enough to stand against her.

Clara's orders had been very specific. Kill the chain of command, destroy any vehicles that the U.E. had on this base, and then raze the whole thing to the very ground. Around her other Mages were doing their part. Great bolts of lightening arced through the air, fireballs rained from the skies, plasma bursts erupted in a cacophony, and the very earth split and reformed, swallowing soldiers whole before slamming shut again on their screams.

They had been ordered to give quarter to those soldiers who asked for it, to allow anyone to surrender or retreat if they so chose. After the first few minutes of battle, more and more were beginning to take that route, throwing down their weapons and fleeing in terror from what seemed to be an unstoppable onslaught. Many more stood their ground, however. Forcing Cassi to put them down.

And with each person she killed, another tiny sliver of her soul was lost.

The girl spun away from a bayonet that would have speared through her thigh, her sword slashing out and removing the offending soldier's arms that held the gun at the elbow junctions. He hit his knees with a scream, which also cut off abruptly after she spun in a quick, fluid motion, her glowing blade whistling out again and decapitating him in one neat stroke.

Cassi gutted another soldier that was running at her from behind with a flawless thrust under one arm, without looking backward, before turning again and half-ducking to avoid the spray of automatic fire that came thundering past.

Cassiopeia whirled again, and then she stiffened with a startled gasp. Her swirling eyes widened to their limits, barely managing to stop the downward arc of her sword before it would have separated Cooper's torso from the rest of his body. The older man jerked, his face a little pale, having fully expected to take the hit apparently. Her swirling eyes darted around, suddenly realizing that there were others as well--who were not military or mages--other crew members from the Plunder fighting their way through the chaos.

As the elf-girl continued to gape--too stunned to react fully to his presence--the boarder crewman shakily lifted his comm. "Morg, I found her. She's on the east side of the compound."

Cassi's eyes widened even further, dread filling her. "No," she whispered, taking a shaking step backward. Cooper blanched.

"No, wait! Cassi! Don't run!"

"Who the hell are you assholes?" Max suddenly snarled, arriving at her side. His hands were engulfed in the greenish black plasma that he created.

Cooper scowled at the younger man, the pirate in no way intimidated at the mage's display of power. "We're her family, dickwad," Coop snapped, leveling his scatter gun on Max with a steely expression on his face. "Now back the fuck off and mind yer own business before I give you another hole to whine out of."

Max's lip curled in a snarl, and he took a step toward Cooper, the energy in his hands strengthening in preparation to blast the pirate. Before anyone else could say or do anything, a large black form suddenly rushed past. One blurred swing cut across the mage's face and Max went flying back, out cold.

And then Cassiopeia was staring up in horror at the very last person she ever wanted to see again.

Morgan stared down at her, chest heaving, expression earnest. "Cass . . . Cass, we've come to take ye back."

Cassi visibly trembled at the chaos going on inside of her. She retreated back another step however, shaking her head, breath hitching. "No," she whispered. Her sword raised a little, in an attempt to fend off what he was saying or protect herself from the pain that was starting to churn in her gut was anyone's guess. "No, I can't go back." Her eyes narrowed painfully. "There's nothing for me to go back to."

"Your sister's worried sick about you," he announced roughly, digging the needles deeper into her chest with every word. "She's hurting with ye gone, Cass. We all are. Jo . . ." he winced a little, swallowing somewhat painfully. "Jo's not left her room. She's not eating, not sleeping."

The blond teen shook her head again, wounded tears slipping down her pallid cheeks. "No. Everybody's better off without me. I just mess everything up." She retreated another step back, her rapier shaking so badly she was a hairsbreadth away from dropping it completely. "Hurt everyone. Get in the way. I heard you say so," she whimpered. "And now it's too late. Too late to go back."

"It's not too late, Cass," he insisted stubbornly, following the steps she tried to retreat. "It's never too late."

She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that she could go back with them and that everything would be okay. That all of the horrible things she had done would be forgiven, and that everything would go back to the way it was before. But inside, Cassi knew it was a lie. And that hurt her far more than anything else ever could.

She didn't know what else to do. Terrified and in agony, Cassi finally turned on her heel and ran. Only knowing that she had to get away. Away from everything, before her very heart burst in her chest.

"Cassi!" Morgan roared out her name, but the blond only ran faster, sobbing.

The large pirate chased after her, both of them rather oblivious to the battle raging on around them. And then Morgan was suddenly cut off by Clara appearing in front of him. The pale tiger-striped girl sneered.

"When will you stupid humans ever learn?"

Gasping in horror, her second-sight having already revealed what was coming, Cassi skid to a halt and whirled. But by then it was too late.

Almost in slow motion she watched as Morgan reared back with his grav-knuckles and then smashed the much smaller Clara across the face. The girl's face snapped sharply to the side, blood spraying wildly, cheek and jawbone obviously crushed. But then she was slowly straightening again, and Morgan's face twisted into a look of horrified disbelief as the young mage's face began putting itself back together again. Clara grinned.

"My turn."

She moved so fast it was almost impossible to track her movements. In the next instant Morgan's entire body was hurtling through the air. He hit the side of a bunker and slammed through the permacrete entirely.

Cassiopeia screamed.

"Morgan! Noooo!"

Everything else was forgotten, overridden by her fear for him. She had already run back half the distance before Clara suddenly caught her around the middle. Held the near-hysterically sobbing girl back. Cassi strained somewhat helplessly in her sister's grasp, staring in horror at the hole in the wall and the frightfully still form crumpled beyond it and letting out another terrified scream in the form of his name.

Clara just held her still, reaching out to pet her hair, making soft shushing noises meant to soothe. "Sh-h. It's alright Cassi. He deserved that. You know he did. Remember what he did to you?"

Cassi continued to cry, but slowly her heartbroken sobs turned into angry ones, her tortured expression hardening into one of cold hatred as Clara blatantly abused her empathic abilities to bring the elfin girl back under some semblance of control.

[Beau Altair]

Meanwhile Beau tensed as Cooper's call went out over the comm., turning and straightening from where he'd taken some shelter under a half-destroyed armored vehicle. He was on the other side of the compound, it was going to take him and his group some time to get to that location. The young gunman motioned to the three other pirates he was with, however, and they started out in that general direction.

But then all of a sudden his path was being blocked by a familiar face. Beau tensed as Gloria suddenly appeared in front of him, somewhat startled at first and then unsure exactly what he should do. She wasn't making any move to attack him, just staring at him in a strange sort of way. She was dressed for her surroundings, wearing a tight black shirt and matching heavy-nylon vest over the top of it, black and gray camo pants and black boots on her feet. Her long, dark blue hair hung loose down her back in thick waves, and her dark eyes stared up at him now with a hard-to-read expression in their depths.

"Gloria," he murmured, tone rough with his shock and uncertainty. "Ah . . . we're not here to hurt you. We don't want a fight if we can avoid it. We're here to bring Cassi back . . . and anyone else who wants to come back is welcome," he continued, giving her a hopeful look.

They had been friends after all, or at least he liked to think so. She was one of the few Orphans who hadn't talked down to him or treat him inferior for being human. Gloria had been different. She'd talked with him. Laughed with him. Tried to cheer him up and reassure him when Cassi continued to pull farther and farther away.

At the mention of Cassi's name, Gloria's dark eyes narrowed a bit.

And then, the next thing he knew he was standing in a bedroom in the middle of God knows where. He jerked, more than startled, but before he could even think to lift the rifle he had strapped across him it was suddenly not there anymore. Sitting atop a near-by dresser instead.

Beau whirled to the blue-haired girl that had appeared next to him again, more than spooked.

"Whoa, what in the hell is this?!" he demanded. Gloria frowned.

"No talking, Beau," she announced firmly.

And then she was shoving him backward. He might have otherwise been able to resist it if he wasn't so out of sorts, but as it was the taller auburn-haired male went sprawling back onto the bed on his back. He only managed to sit up a little, barely opening his mouth to speak before Gloria was suddenly crawling up over the top of him.

And straddling his hips.

Beau froze again, green eyes going wide. This was not going quite the way he'd expected. "Uh . . . Gloria?" he questioned, tone going a little hoarse. "W-what are you--,"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" she snapped somewhat testily. "What part of 'no talking' do you not understand?"

Beau liked to think he was a fairly smart guy. Therefore, he shut up. And was promptly rewarded when the very curvy Mage curled her arms around his neck and then covered his mouth with hers in a somewhat desperate kiss.

It took a moment for Beau's clogged brain to catch up to what was happening. It fought for a moment on the why part of why Gloria had suddenly kidnapped him and was now in his lap kissing him. Yet with this sudden turn of events, other things suddenly began sticking out in his mind. Things like how she always seemed to take his side when the other Mages would try to gang up on him. How she was always near-by to cheer him up when he was feeling down about Cassi.

Gloria liked him. That whole time while they were on the ship together, she had liked him, and he'd been too blind with his puppy-love for Cassi to ever see it.

The dark-featured girl lifted away after a moment of his continued shock, and the faintly vulnerable look in her eyes was his complete undoing. Beau reached up then, one of his hands spearing deep into her thick fall of hair and using that hold to pull her back down, his tongue slipping between her lips with a soft groan.

Gloria whimpered a little, her arms tightening around his neck and her legs clenching a somewhat around his waist. The next several moments were lost in needy--almost desperate--hot, open-mouthed kisses and feverishly groping hands. Her fingers clawed at his black leather, shoulder gun-harness until they fell away, and then she was tugging his dark green shirt up impatiently. Beau was wrenching her vest off at the same time, pulling her own shirt up and over her head afterward and tossing it away. And then she was running her nails down the muscles of his chest and abs while the auburn haired gunman was bending down and allowing his lips and tongue to become acquainted with the very generous swell of dark copper-skinned breasts nearly spilling from the top of her bra, his own hands gripping and kneading the gentle curve of her back through her hair.

She moaned and writhed a bit in his lap when his teeth found her nipples through the thin satin material, grinding herself against the problem quickly coming to life in his pants while her fingers fisted tight into his hair. Both of which had him groaning out his own pleasure.

Beau kissed his way back up her neck, and then he was kissing her mouth again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, stunned, acknowledging the fact that he had never burned this quickly out of control with Cassi. Whether that was because of the girl, or the fact that Cassi had never been nearly this excited to be with him, he couldn't be sure, however.

Finally, after several more minutes, the two of them eased apart slightly. Both were panting pretty heavily, and even faintly sweaty from the massive rush of adrenaline and endorphins. Beau just stared up at her, not sure what he should do. What he should say. Or if he should say or do anything at all.

Her dark eyes suddenly turned sad, and he tensed, hands curling somewhat protectively--somewhat desperately--around her hips. "Gloria, don't--,"

In the next instant, he was talking to air.

Beau stumbled a little from where he now stood, just beyond the shuttle. Back at the fort. A moment later his gun-harness, shirt and rifle appeared next to him. He continued to gape for a minute before firming his chin, bending down to snatch up his shirt and tug it back on.

"You're not getting off that easy, babe," he growled to himself as he restrapped his harness. "Not by a long shot."

Beau had already lost one girl he loved. He wasn't about to let a second one slip through his fingers without a fight.

[Miller]

"Why didn't you grab her! Bring her back!" Andromeda yelled as she stitched up Morgan. "She was obviously being brainwashed by Clara! You could have done something! Anything!"

Miller finished touching up his face wounds and swtching them shut as best he could. Katy was helping bandage the marks on his back, now that she was no longer needed for Morgan.

"I had problems of my own."

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Miller had just about a second to react before the claw swiped down at him and he dodged out of the way. He found himself face to face with Christian.

"Hello Snake. No Captain to protect you anymore." The mage sneered.

"I never needed her to protect me." The former Mamba said, two new combat knives in his hands.

Christian made a hard swipe at Miller, which sliced a gash across the ex-Mamba's side. The dark-haired young man countered with a pair of quick slashes across his chest.

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"You would rather fight Christian than help my sister."

"I would rather survive to try to help her again than die to him." Miller replied, grimacing just slightly as Katy dressed his face wounds.

-----------------

Miller was not really sure where Christian's claw came from, but it caught him hard across the face, sending him stumbling back. Pain shot through him and his vison, in the eye that was not swollen shut, was extremely blurry.

Both of them by were covered in wounds by now, some deep, some light. And now it looked, with a surprise attack, that Christian was going to have the final blow. The Mage came in and swiped out a powerful claw attack which Miller could not see coming with blood in his eyes.

In a motion Christian could not follow, however, Miller slashed out surgically and dodged at the strike in one fluid motion, cutting deep into Christian's arm and severing several important muscles. In the same fluid pivot, Miller jabbed a dagger deep into his other hand, spun, and kicked the mage in the throat.

---------------

"Christian backed off then, but I could barely see and I had lost a lot of blood. I was in no condition to go after Cassi and neither were the rest of any of us." Miller sighed as the bandage went one more turn around his face, meaning he'd be using one eye for the next week or so. "We left a few men on the ground back there. Good men. But some of Clara's more bloodthirsty people found them before we could find Cassi. Dane and I will be trying to hold some services later for them."

Miller picked up his shirt and coat and started out the door. "I'm sorry, Andromeda, really. But brainwashing or not, she doesn't want to leave, and Clara and her soldiers will kill us if we go after her again. No one's going to want to take that risk. Not again." Then he left, hoping Willie was not going to yell too loudly when she saw what a mess he was.

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

Maybe it was because she was so used to never failing, that failing always seemed to be so hard to cope with.

Andromeda slowly sank to the ground, now that Morgan was stable and blissfully under with the sedatives she'd administered. Katy stared on with sad, uncertain eyes as her mentor seemed to just lose the will to stand. The doctor's golden eyes stared somewhat listlessly at the floor, almost not even acknowledging the tears that were rolling steadily down her cheeks.

"I . . . I gave up everything for her, you know," she whispered hoarsely, to no one in particular though Katy would be her unintentional witness. "When my mother and father first told me they were having another baby, I was furious. I was already thirteen, and the last thing I wanted was a screaming brat running around the house and upsetting everything." Andromeda grimaced at that, her tears coming a little faster now, expression crumpling. "But from the very first moment she was born, Cassi was a gift," the older Reyes whimpered brokenly. "Even as a small child, she could light up a room with her smile. Always so cheerful. So full of life. So sweet and innocent. She trusted me to keep her safe and she depended on me and I failed her! I couldn't save her! And now I'll never see her again!"

Andromeda was openly sobbing now. Katy had knelt beside her, and tried to give what comfort she could, but it was a losing battle. The doctor just curled into a forlorn, broken little ball against the android's chest and continued to cry.

To mourn for the sister she would likely never see again in this life.