Jack of Harts

You need to understand that Rosalie and Rosalind really were identical twins. Some twins work hard to be different, to be individuals. Create different hairstyles. Study different subjects. Those two girls did not. Oh, Rosalind was a blue jean and t-shirt girl, while Rosalie went for pinks and blacks, but that was more for defensive coloration. I can’t tell you how many times one dressed up as the other to do something the other was supposed to do. Seriously. Can’t tell you. Even I had trouble telling them apart when they decided to get tricksie like that. And sometimes they went all black just to really confuse people. That’s how the name Rosa happened. It was short, at least one of them always answered to it, and when I had one, I had them both.

We Cowboys had been scattered all over the Core Worlds after the New Washington Winter Contingency, trying to stop more Shang bombardments from wiping us out. I came into the New New York system on the German cruiser Dresden in time to help defend that system. Myself, Rosalie, and Rosalind absolutely did not fight together, but we hooked up on New Manhattan after the Shang tucked their tails and ran. I started the whole affair by hugging Rosalie. Rosalind was dead and I wasn’t certain how to handle the cyber standing in her place, doncha know. Those two girls did not have an ounce of uncertainty though, and they put me in my place real quick. They were always good at that, and I loved them for it.

The First Battle of New New York inspired three movies and a full network series within a year. The networks were desperate for a good story to tell, and the fact that they could link it back to the Battle of Fort Wichita made it even better. They say some of the prettiest actresses in the business portrayed Rosalie and Rosalind. I know I’m biased, but I thought they were pale imitations of the real thing. And not a one of them really got the characters right. And the less said about the me they had in the series flashbacks the better. I didn’t wear all white back then for one. All of that said, the films and series were entertaining and fun to watch, and they further boosted Space Force recruitment numbers, making them a rousing success by that measure as well.