history
While Cain is of Russian descent, he has never been to Earth. Born and raised on a colony on Mars, he was raised by his mother alongside an older sister who left when he was in his early teens to get married, leaving him her rifle. Cain went on to win several competitions for marksmanship, but fell into trouble in his late teens when he was arrested on what he claims to be a ‘bullshit trespassing charge’. Along with possession of illegal firearms and underage drinking, the combination of relatively minor offences had him sent to New Volga Correctional Facility, where he spent at least the next few years. Conditions were difficult here and Cain was not able to show any kind of weakness to other inmates, honing his fighting skills and using sex to get his way.
Eventually, Cain was enlisted along with a few other inmates by Commander Bering for the purpose of a program titled Project Thebes, ostensibly to find a way to use Colteron technology integrated into Alliance ships. His behavioural issues and promiscuity - noted in his records - were no doubt seen as something to be used to Bering’s advantage given what he would need Cain to do for them. As long as he could keep the hot-tempered young man under control, that is.
When we first meet Cain in the canon timeline, it is in the middle of his assignment to Abel as part of a fighter and navigator team. His first act as part of this team, the moment that he and Abel were alone, was to pin the navigator up against a wall and bite his lower lip hard enough to leave a very noticeable scar. This, he explained, was his way of making sure that everyone knew that Abel belonged to him. On the way to the ship he had warned the other fighters that they would know which navigator was ‘his’ because of a scar, and they’d better keep away from him.
There was little time for Abel to argue with Cain about what he’d done. Moments later an alarm signalling an imminent attack by the Colterons (the main enemy of the Starfighter series with a distinctively insect-like appearance) rang through Central Command and Cain promised, as they climbed into their ship that if Abel impressed him he would show him 'something nice' once they were done. During the battle and despite Cain's vocal objection, the pair flew to the rescue of another ship which had lost its navigator, saving the fighter that would later be identified as Praxis.
The ‘something nice’ that Cain had promised was a very coercive persuasion into a sexual encounter. Despite the navigator's hesitance and protests at various points, he easily succeeded in seducing him and, perhaps unexpectedly given the nature of the encounter itself and the hours preceding it, seemed perfectly happy to cuddle with Abel afterwards.
Following this, while Abel slept, Cain slipped away and headed for a meeting with Commander Bering. There, he reported his 'success' to his superior, much to his satisfaction. A later conversation between Commander Bering and Cain revealed that his first navigator demanded an immediate reassignment and his second was severely injured due to their incompatibility, leaving Cain on his last chance to make things work.
Meeting Praxis - the fighter of the Tiberius - in the hallway, Abel asked him if he could tell him anything about Cain. Praxis refused to answer. Another fighter lurking nearby overheard this and immediately headed off to find Cain himself, locating him in a practice room designed to test reflexes and accuracy. Becoming frustrated when he was unable to keep up with the program, Cain seemed far from pleased to see the other fighter - Deimos - but with the man acting as his lookout and spy to keep an eye on his ‘girlfriend’ he stopped to listen as he was informed of the conversation between Praxis and Abel.
As this was happening and unbeknownst to Cain, Abel volunteered the both of them for a mission into the Baten Kaitos system deep in Colteron space. By that point Cain was busy tracking down Praxis, following him until he could catch him alone, where he confronted him about his communication with Abel. The confrontation quickly became a physical one following Cain's reiteration of a previous given order - don't go near the navigator with the scar. The two of them escalated until Cain pulled a knife, though he did not get the chance to use it as a mobilisation alarm sounded through the ship.
He tracked Abel down to find out what was going on, both amused and surprised in equal amounts when he was told that Abel wanted to have sex in their ship. While he noticed the mobilisation of several others, Abel was able to sufficiently distract him and get him into the Reliant before he could think too much about it. Only after this was he told that the navigator volunteered the both of them to transfer to the Sleipnir, to destroy a Colteron shipyard. Cain was well aware that such a mission is almost certain suicide and reacted as such, but Abel's determination that they will succeed brought back a recollection of a conversation with Commander Bering, in which Cain expressed confusion in regards to his role in the plan and was told that, should he do his job right, the navigators natural ability would manifest on its own. In a quick change of heart he agreed, though he was still in no way happy about it.
On the Sleipnir, Cain and Abel roomed together in a cramped room when compared to the ones at Central Command. Despite the limited space, Cain remained insistent on physical contact (dropping the mattresses to the floor and storing the bunks) and over the course of time that they spend on the ship he relaxed more in Abel's company, showing more of a personality to the navigator rather than the harsh front he put up to everyone else. He got into a number of fights, visibly using sex as a distraction to keep Abel from asking him too many questions, though it was clear enough that he was having some difficulty in adjusting. In the very least, his willingness to listen to what Abel had to say saved him from the brig on at least one occasion and he appeared to start to genuinely enjoy his navigator's company (and even seek it out) in a way that was not applied to others.
By the time a proximity alert drew the Reliant into action again, Cain and Abel were working together as a cohesive team. In what looked to be a guaranteed head-on collision with a Colteron ship, the Reliant briefly disappeared in a flash of light to reappear on the other side of the debris entirely unharmed. On their return Cain showed a genuine excitement unlike anything seen from him before and surprised Abel with a tight embrace in front of the crowds in the loading bay. He understood then what Abel didn’t - that Project Thebes had been a success.
Another heated encounter between them followed, taken with a kind of seriousness that was only magnified by Cain's agreement to allow Abel to switch positions with him. He woke up before Abel and left following a dream that obviously shakes him, encountering Commander Bering in the halls. Far from being exuberant about his success (and his narrow escape from being sent back to whatever situation he was pulled out of prior to joining the program), Cain was visibly troubled by his part in things and what it would mean for Abel if they continued.
After losing sight of Abel while tracking him through the ship, Deimos rushed to find Cain and a very irritated Cain stormed off to find Abel himself, locating him just in time to catch the end of a conversation between the navigator and Praxis. Abel defended him against the other fighters' accusations, even while Praxis seemed determined to drive a wedge between them in any way possible. Cain was left visibly shaken, hiding in an alcove as the two parted in opposite directions.
When Cain was able to find Deimos again he berated him for having failed in his duty to keep people like Praxis away from Abel, but Deimos had had enough. He told Cain he wouldn’t do this for him anymore, that he had changed and this wasn’t like the others, that he was a liar when he said he didn’t actually care about Abel at all. Realising he had been led on the entire time Deimos left, and Cain headed off to find Abel in the loading bay.
He invited Abel to meet him in one of the storage bays and the two of them talked while sharing a drink. While Cain was more interested in prying intimate secrets out of Abel, Abel himself wanted to know about Cain’s life and how he grew up. Though irritated, Cain answered his questions, ultimately slipping up and revealing his real name to the navigator. Realising what he had done - along with Abel telling him his own name - almost spun Cain into a panic attack before he abruptly pulled himself together. Before they could speak any further on why Cain had reacted that way they were interrupted, and Cain fled the storage bay before he could be caught.
Cain hid out somewhere on the ship overnight and was waiting for Abel in the loading bay when the other man was steered off to an isolated area by Deimos to meet with another navigator named Phobos. There, the two of them revealed the entire truth to Abel - about the Colteron technology, Project Thebes, and that the relationship between he and Cain had been completely contrived in order to get the technology installed in the Reliant to work. Meanwhile, realising that Abel was missing, Cain desperately searched for him after being threatened by Bering with being returned to New Volga.
Broken-hearted when faced with the truth and the evidence given to him to back it up, Abel left, but as Phobos followed the latter was detained under orders from Commander Cook. Deimos was able to get away unseen, and Cain was finally able to locate Abel somewhere in the upper levels of the Sleipnir. Confronted by what Abel had been told he wasn’t able to deny any of it, but he did try to make the other man understand that his feelings had changed, that it wasn’t just a mission anymore, and that he didn’t want it to be over between them.
With a battle against the Colterons raging outside Cain reluctantly followed Abel’s lead towards the Reliant, but the two of them were abruptly waylaid by some of Cook’s men and taken to him. The situation quickly deteriorated as Cook threatened Abel, forcing himself on him in front of Cain who immediately snapped and grabbed one of the guard’s weapons, knocking another to the ground. In the confusion Abel was able to get hold of a gun as well, shooting another guard and then Commander Cook himself, before the two of them made a run for it.
With no options remaining Cain and Abel headed for the Reliant and were able to get it launched into space, though Cain was shot as they headed across the loading bay and quickly lost consciousness once they hit open space. Though unsure if it would even work given everything he knew and with the Reliant taking fire, Abel was able to activate the jump drive and the ship disappeared from sensors. Mutiny quickly broke out on the Sleipnir as Keeler and Encke began to ask questions.
Abel was able to transport the ship to the first safe place that had formed in his mind - over the Mars colonies. The Reliant crash landed and Abel was able to drag Cain out of the cockpit before the two of them collapsed unconscious in the snow.
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