The Meat Floor turned out to be a glorified food court, but an impressive one nonetheless. They stepped out of the central spire elevator into a large space cramped full of food stands. Lily couldn't count them all, and it was hard the way they were squished right next to each other, full of Mantidians sitting on the plastic chairs and metal stools in front of the counters, hot plates sliding down towards them to devour the different culinary delicacies.

A lot of them served meat from different cultures from different species, including the raw uncooked meat of animals, but as Acro said, they had a whole section devoted to human cuisine, which thankfully did include a Korean barbecue stand.

“I bet none of you know what day is tomorrow?” Lily said as they moved past a Bog food stand with all vegetable dishes.

“Oh God, it’s your birthday isn't it,” Astor said, facepalming. “Guys, come on, we agreed someone would remember.”

“It’s not,” Lily said, trying not to show her disappointment. “It’s Black Day.”

Astor's was the only face that dawned with comprehension, humans didn’t celebrate any of the old holidays as much anymore, but they all knew them. Sometimes Lily felt a pang of loneliness during this day, being single and all, but for the first time she had friends to share that loneliness with.

“Hello, yes, could we get five number fours?” Lily said, pointing at the big menu above the brown stick like big in a white apron taking orders.

The stick bug grunted in response and began to work on the food, starting the large grill at the center of the table in front of the stand. They each took a seat around it, as they cooked the meat and prepared the noodles. The sizzling sound was a welcome one, and the aroma of cooked meat began to waft over them.

“Not exactly the happiest time for unattached people like us,” commented Astor dryly, splitting his chopsticks as the cook began to serve the finished dish to them.

“True, but see, back on Earth, in my mother’s culture, we’d have a little tradition after Valentine’s day. Basically, if you were single, you’d go out on your own or with your single friends and get some Jajangmyeon (짜장면)” she said, as the cook handed her her dish and she gestured to her plate of noodles with the black sauce. “And seeing how we’re all in the same lonely boat, thought we could mark the occasion together. Maybe bond a little?”

“So, you hummies celebrate the fact that you failed to secure a mate for this year by gorging yourself…that’s amazing! Get me in on that!” Acro exclaimed, already looking excitedly at the cook as they served another dish.

Soon, they were all enjoying the strongly flavored noodles. Acro even sneaked a few extra bites from Leon's plate, as the feline was too distracted informing Astor in painful detail how they would cook the meat back in Zoobia. Lily thought this was a considerable improvement from her last Valentine Day meal, alone at a HPA base with no friends to join her. Rank didn’t divide her from people anymore, and she much preferred this company anyway.

And although it didn't happen often, the scene did bring back one of Lily’s few good memories with her mother. In her last year at the HPA academy, she had broken up with a boyfriend just before Valentine’s day, and her mother took her out and explained the tradition behind the Jajangmyeon to her. She had found herself engaging in that old custom herself many times before she met Lily’s father. It was strange how this comfort food was one of the few positive memories she had of the admiral.

“This is really good,” commented Emma next to her, slurping the last of her noodles. “Feels like I hadn’t had human food in a while. Not since I left Tovar, and don’t get me wrong, you can live off Bog Apelias for a while, but you do miss stuff like this.”

“I hear that,” replied Lily, finishing her own bowl. “Were you stationed in Tovar long?"

“Long enough to see the damage the HPA has done there,” said Emma, looking down with a serious expression

Lily could guess what troubled her. Ever since the HPA took over planet Tovar, it was a place of opportunity and growth for humans who moved there from the Central Planet. A new frontier of expansion in a lush new world, not so dissimilar to our ancestral home. However, it was less of a gift for the Tovarians.

The HPA killed about a third of their population when they refused to relocate, claiming they were defending themselves. But Lily knew better now, they didn’t give the Tovarians any other choice but to fight for their home, and in the end, they lost it anyway. This is how the HPA operated, forcing a conflict so they could get what they wanted and claim they were only looking out for their own interests. It was insidious and wrong, and it still pained Lily that she ever thought differently.

“It seems like such a perfect place at first, and that's how they sell it to people. A new world. A better world to build a life on. They don’t tell them what it cost,” said Emma as she took another swig of her beer.

“I know what it’s like to leave everything you know behind, and sometimes that can be an improvement. Take it from someone who used to be in the HPA.” She stated it simply, not even turning to look at her as she dropped that bomb on her.

Emma stared, she was trying not to show her disdain, but Lily couldn’t blame her for that perception. She had shared it for a while.

“It was the right thing to do,” she said finally, almost nodding to herself as she did. "To leave it, I mean."

“It was, but that didn’t make it any easier. It cost me everything I knew and everyone I loved. Suddenly I was on my own, trying to find my way among folks who didn’t care about any sides except their own, and I had to find my way among them. Does that sound familiar?”

“What are you getting at?”

“I think you’ve committed yourself to a fight you might not want to see through because of the rage you feel.”

“So I should just become a bounty hunter like you? Fight only for myself? Did that make you feel better for serving under murderers?” said Emma angrily, looking straight at her now.

She stopped and looked down, having said more than she had intended. Lily stayed quiet, feeling the justice in her statement, mean-spirited as it was.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean..." She began, looking a little mortified at least, but then he felt quiet and only looked confused.

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do Emma, but you-"

“Wait, do you hear that?” Emma asked, interrupting her. Lily didn’t catch it at first, but she focused and picked up the sound in the distance.

And then they all heard it, faint at first, but soon it was growing until it echoed throughout the large domed city. Voices singing. Dozens of them, all in perfect unison as if they had practiced many times.

🎵 Way down to Elseworld ho, heave-away me boat yo-ho-ho, way heyyyyy down to the Elseworld, down to the chutes we go!🎵

“What the hell is that?” Asked Lily, looking around trying to find the source of the singing.

🎵 They all went down as a score of ten, made of all sorts-women and men, to find the lot this was their charge, and bring it safe back to the barge! 🎵

“That...is an old shanty,” Astor said, getting up and pulling out his gun. “Crap, I know who sings that. Captain, it’s Roin and his marauders! They’re in the dome!”

🎵 The Elseworld’s core was roiling hot, and what sure didn’t tell they had got, upon the northeast end there was a ship, the frame hung open good and ripped! 🎵

And then suddenly, the entire hive went dark. All the light inside the dome, natural or not, went out and Lily could see the fireflies like bugs in the ceiling crawling away in all directions as fast as possible. She only caught a quick glimpse, but it seemed like they had thrown some kind of gas in the upper area to make them scram.

"Who the hell turned out the lights?! Are we under attack?! Scatter! Everyone scatter!" Acro yelled in a panic, rising from their seat agitated.

“Acro, calm the hell down!” Lily barked as she looked around in the dark for her crew. “Leon, grab them and stay with Emma, don’t lose sight of her. Astor, we have to get back to Taro. I don’t know if they’re the target, but the prince of the Four Rulers didn’t come here for souvenirs and meat.”

They both pulled a long-range flashlight from their jackets and ran towards the central spire. The elevators wouldn’t be working, but Astor had a way around that. Mantidians were screeching and running around in a panic, bumping into each other in the darkness. Lily and Astor dodged them as they moved forward, not wanting to waste a second.

They pried open the elevator doors and, once inside, Astor pulled a cord hidden in the back of his cybernetic leg. He attached it to the control panel and activated the charge. The lights came back inside and immediately they began moving again.

“Knew this would come in handy sometime,” he said with a smirk.

“Can’t argue with that,” Lily replied, pressing the button to Taro’s floor.

The elevator rose, with them seemingly the only visible light in the entire place. They could still hear the singing, but it was less harmonious now as if many in the chorus had broken off. And Lily suspected they were responsible for the new sounds that joined the music. The sounds of glass shattering and wood breaking, of metal clanging and guns being shot. The Marauders had begun to live up to their name and were looting the many shops and businesses inside the hive.

She could see small fires burning below, started for no other reason than to stir chaos among the Mantidians. Like kicking a hornet’s nest, but they didn’t seem afraid of getting stung. A few laser shots flying here and there caught her eye as they rose up, clearly Roin’s crew was big enough that he could split his men into several levels.

“This is all a diversion,” said Lily somberly.

“I don’t doubt they enjoy the random destruction and looting,” Astor commented dryly. “But that's all noise to sneak in and get what they’re really after.”

“You reckon they’re here for our boy?”

“The data at least. The HPA must have put in a bounty through Moray, and he passed it along to Roin. They must have been on our trail after we left Mushi’s.”

“Damn them.” She cursed herself for that little stunt back in the merc bar.

The elevator doors opened and Lily froze. Right there waiting for them, was a man with his laser-edged sword drawn. He had his long hair tied in a loose ponytail that draped over his shoulder. His attire seemed to betray a very careless and free persona, opting for both comfort and flamboyance with a sash at the waist and an emerald coat to match his sword. He looked more like the pirates of old; when men like that sailed the oceans instead of the stars.

“Captain Baek I presume,” he said while taking a very mocking bow at her.

“Your Highny!” She exclaimed loudly and more than a little dramatically, taking an exaggerated curtsy at him in response. “So honored his Royalness would come to greet us in person.”

If Roin was bothered, he hid it behind a charming smirk. If anything, he seemed amused by Lily.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Captain. There are so few people who still practice the blade, and I heard you-ah.”

He let out a short laugh as Lily answered by drawing her sword with a swift movement, igniting the laser edge as she did.

“I dabble, yes. After all, guns are for cowards.”

Astor, who was at the moment holding his gun, looked at her annoyed. “Hey.”

“I said what I said!” She proclaimed and started circling Roin even as he moved opposite to her, each taking the measure of the other.

“I should mention my men already have the data from your bug friend. I simply could not skip out without giving you the chance to feel like you tried.”

“Like you tried to pull off that sash?” She remarked, and at this Roin’s smile finally faltered.

Ah, so the preening peacock’s soft spot was his vanity. Lily could work with that. But before she could think of a fresh jab to get under his skin, he tried to pierce hers with a thrust of his sword. Lily reacted instinctively and parried the blow, but Roin was fast. He quickly struck again, looking for an opening as Lily fought to keep up.

He wasn’t kidding about practicing with that thing, Lily thought. She hadn’t seen someone so gifted with a sword except for perhaps her mother, but even she didn’t have his speed. Roin swung his blade as if it weighed less than paper, each blow calculated and aiming to be deadly.

“Captain!” Astor shouted, unsure if he should intervene or not.

Lily blocked a heavy attack and locked swords with him, holding his just inches from her face. “Don’t meddle, Astor! This is between me and him!”

Roin smirked again, it was such an arrogant gesture that Lily ground her teeth in anger and pushed back, separating them and allowing her to finally get some room to maneuver.

She dashed with thrust as quick as he was and almost caught him by surprise, tearing a small gash in his shirt. The look of surprise on his face was rewarding enough, and Lily thought that at that moment, he regretted underestimating her.

However, she wasn’t able to catch him with his guard down again. Roin seemed to stop playing with her and swung with a furious passion, trying to get the upper hand. Lily wouldn’t let him get close and matched him blow for blow in a quick flurry of moves. Their swords blurred as red hit green over and over.

Lily broke the pattern and kicked him against the railing, but he flipped backward and mounted it. He walked sideways on it, like a trapeze artist on a tightrope, looking like a cornered animal with a lot of fight left in him.

“You’re amazing,” said Roin, breaking the tension. He sounded genuinely surprised and even impressed.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” said Lily, returning the compliment.

At that moment they both smiled, as only people can when finding an equal. It was a strange feeling, especially since Lily had never ever expected to find someone that could keep up with her in a duel.

“Now I’d love to see this through, but I fear it wouldn’t end well for one of us," said Roin, and then sheathed his sword with a single quick movement.

“You’re giving up then?”

“Nah, but come find me and we can settle this to your satisfaction. Until then...” he smiled one last time and then gave a backflip into the long-empty space behind him.

Lily rushed towards the railing, more out of instinct since she knew there was nothing she could do. However, the last thing she saw was Roin landing on top of a small shuttle. It was a larger ship’s personal shuttlecraft, and she saw several of Roin's men poking out and cheering for their captain...and to her horror, saw they were holding a passed-out Emma with them.

As the shuttle rose up and passed them, the smirking bastard took one last look at her and curtsied as she had. Lily gripped the railing as she fumed at the insult. She would not forget that.