Cassandra: Guardian angel

<snip>
Rosette aimed her gun towards them all, and called out to them. "Drop any weapons you have, and I might not shoot you in the face."
"And I hope you're proud that you followed someone to this length who wasn't even human." she added as an afterthought. "If she was sent here for a reason, it might even go all the way through the JMC."
</snip>
Cassandra raised her eyebrows
"That's extremely rich coming from some mongrel insect / human cross" she drawled
Snarling, Rosette bought her weapon to bear on the woman who, as far as she knew, had murdered Rufus
"Give me one good reason not to smegging well kill you right now!" she snapped
"Huh" Cassandra smiled coldly "Did I touch a nerve...?"
Rosette gently squeezed the guns trigger, the weapons mechanism clicking softly as the firing pin drew back
"Drop and spread them!" she snarled "I want you down on the floor right now, you smegging bitch!"
Cassandra sighed
"That's exactly what Fifi used to say..."
"Damn it!" Rosette let out a short, furious scream of frustration and fired a warning shot off over Cassandra's shoulder, making her cringe in shock and surprise
"You..." Cass started, her eyes narrowing
"Get. On the floor. Now. You murderous bitch!" Rosette snarled in a clipped voice
"Oh, stop this smegging stupidity right now!" another voice rang through the air, making everyone turn and stare in surprise as Brittany, dressed in a smart white trouser suit, strode into view
Rosette only momentarily distracted focused her attention and weapon back onto Cassandra
"Your Majesty" she began "This really isn't safe for you here..."
Brittany and Cassandra exchanged glances, Cassandra finally favouring Rosette with disdainful sneer
"Stick your smegging orders! I invoke diplomatic immunity!"
Rosette very nearly shot her
"What!?" she spat, her eyes darting wildly between Brittany and Cassandra "You've got to be smegging joking!?"
Brittany raised her eyebrows, the faintest hint of a smile perhaps played across her lips
"Granted" she said mildly
"What the smeg!?" Rosette rounded on Brittany "How can you even think of granting this woman diplomatic immunity!? She's nothing but a remorseless, evil, murdering bitch!"
"An eye for an eye sweetheart!" Cass spat "You fired the first shot!"
"Shut the smeg up!" Brittany snapped, asserting control once again "You are not helping!"
She sighed before she continued
"Evil is an extremely subjective term LaChance. But more is the point: We aren't yet in full possession of the facts here"
She paused to nod down at Castillo's corpse
"For example: We don't know who or what she was" she continued "That grey stuff could be blood, or even coolant. Just to speculate wildly, you may have just murdered an artificial person; a sentient accorded full citizenship rights by dozens of nations - including, might I add, the United Kingdom; the jurisdiction under which this very ship operates"
Rosette glanced sceptically down at the body, but there wasn't much to see other than a ruin of grey 'blood' (if that's what it really was) and matted blonde hair
"But she was smegging nuts!" she protested
"Indubitably" Brittany retorted "But it would explain how other JMC ships apparently have their own Castillo's: Mass production of the same model, each with a similar neurological programming glitch? - it would explain the aberrant behaviour we've seen"
Amber piped up
"I'm not having this crap Brittany! As Captain of this ship..."
"You will address me as 'Your Majesty'!" Brittany rounded on an astonished Amber "And as for you being Captain, I have to ask: By what authority, and for how long do you expect you'll remain so!? You and your cohorts ignored the defined Space Corp procedures for replacing a captain deemed unfit for duty, and instead embarked upon guerrilla warfare; this is still a JMC ship and such, a court martial will likely view you as little better than mutineers!"
Cassandra, a broad, gloating smile on her face, strolled over to stand next to Brittany
She winked at Rosette
"Better luck next time toots..."
Brittany rounded on her
"One more word" she snapped, holding a single slim finger up in her face "I mean it. One more word from you, and I revoke the smegging diplomatic immunity that's keeping you alive."
She turned on a heel and strode off leaving everyone speechless
"We're leaving" she shouted over her shoulder "...Now!"
Cassandra hurried after her
<tag / tbc/>