(NOTE: Special treat at the bottom! Check it out! ;)

They found a hollowed-out cave deep inside the earth. A makeshift spaceport of sorts, carved into the dark rock with laser tools. Two rows of smaller ships were parked on both walls, old Cygnus models, the kind you could maneuver in tight spots and perfect for raiders such as Roin and his men.

Lily parked the Uju Kanu in the big launchpad at the center as best as she could, almost knocking one of the smaller ships out of the cave to do so, but she managed. She’d be worried about attracting attention if it wasn’t for the fact that the entire area was deserted.

“Where is their main ship though?” Asked Astor. “I heard his Odyssey was the size of a cruise ship, but that wouldn’t fit here.”

“My guess is the answer lies at the end of the tunnel,” replied Lily.

“Could it feel more like a trap? This place is empty.”

“I am certain they are all just gathered somewhere.”

“Yeah, setting a trap,” insisted Astor.

“Oh don’t be so negative, Astor!” said Acro, descending from the Uju Kanu’s ramp behind them. “Think about all the things even you pitiful humans can look forward to. Like your first annual checkup with me is still scheduled for this week!”

“Yeah, I am not looking forward to that at all. I don’t want to talk about bodily stuff with you.”

“Astor, as your shipmate and a Mantidian, I think your entire species is gross and the thought of you all touching yourselves at night repulses me! ...But as your doctor, I recommend you do so as often as you can for your health. Just don’t tell me about it!”

And with no one wanting to follow up on that, they all ventured into the deep tunnel, following the cave lights on the roof. But as they went further along, Lily could start hearing voices. A rising murmur of dozens loudly echoed to them as they made it forward.

Lily and the others finally reached the end, taking cover behind a few crates at the threshold, and they looked with horror at the entirety of Roin’s crew assembled in the large open room in front of them. It was a much bigger version of the makeshift dock they parked in, a platform built inside the hollow of what appeared to be a volcanic mountain. And covering most of the space was Roin’s own ship; a large beast the size of a cruiser indeed.

It was three or four times the size of the Uju Kanu, and not any model she had ever seen, but rather a customized patchwork of different ship parts assembled through many years into something new. It had seen better days, and looked old, but was still an intimidating behemoth.

“There must be at least eighty men here!” Whispered Leon to her, panic in his voice.

“We heard he had the largest crew among all bounty hunters, but this is…way bigger than I expected,” said Astor.

“Heh, sounds like something I’d say,” said Lily, unable to help herself.

“Oh, Captain, please,” pleaded Astor.

“I agree, this is not the time for levity,” said Leon. “We are in the middle of a bad situation here. We can’t take all these men!”

Lily started to open her mouth, but Astor stopped her with a look. “Respectfully, if you make another bad sex joke I’m gonna mutiny.”

“Oh, all right, but it doesn’t matter how many there are. My plan was never to take on his entire crew,” said Lily, and it was true, she only had to beat one man.

“Ok, good, because that would be suicidal,” said Leon.

“I’m just pleasantly surprised there is a plan,” said Astor.

“I am still eating someone,” remarked Acro casually.

Leon and Astor turned to glare at them, but they were silenced before they could say anything by the sound of large flood lights coming to life in front of them. Lily saw the beams come from somewhere above and pointing at the head of the ship, where there stood Roin.

“Gentlemen! And the five ladies that joined last month, welcome again,” said Roin, followed by the voices of said ladies cheering in approval. “Yes, yes, we’re making progress. My father was a great man, but never quite liked him being a stickler for this being a boys club. And that's something coming from me.”

The crowd laughed, and it was clear to Lily that this lot was very fond of their captain. You could feel it in the air, and the way they smiled as he talked. The man was a prancing peacock, but one that had earned their respect.

“All right, you know why we’re here, you’ve all made it very clear in the last few days you are very uncomfortable with the situation of our current job.”

Everyone grumbled in approval, and someone in the back, close to where Lily was hiding shouted, “We shouldn’t be working for the HPA!”

“Hey, I hear you. I don’t like this any more than any of you. We were forced into this deal by that snake, Moray.”

“You can’t trust people with more than one dick!” shouted another random crew member.

“That remains unconfirmed, but you’re probably right Trev,” said Roin. “Still, our situation is the same, and we have to make a decision. Do we hand the information, and the girl, over to them?”

Lily followed his eyes when he said ‘girl’ and saw Emma tied up on the right side of the platform. She motioned toward her to Astor & he nodded.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m getting real sick of playing fetch for that guy, especially knowing most of our jobs are for the damn space fascists. It takes all the fun out of being a bounty hunter.”

“And here I thought you were more of a pirate,” said Lily loudly as she stepped forward.

Everyone in the room turned immediately and aimed their guns right at her. She could feel Astor and Leon’s jaws drop in shock behind her, but she smiled without fear at the unfriendly faces surrounding her.

“You know, if those guns were still in your pockets I’d ask if you were happy to see me...but clearly they’re just guns, and that joke doesn’t work anymore.” She lamented while talking a few tentative steps, seeing if anyone had an itchy trigger finger.

Roin looked the most surprised, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hair. “What the...How the hell did you find us?”

“See, Astor? Not a trap,” said Lily looking back towards him, and that made the crew notice them behind the crates as well.

“Yay,” was all Astor managed to say as he and Leon and Acro stepped out with their hands in the air.

“Wait, is this the plan? Cause I’m not following it,” said Acro, more confused than worried. Leon merely growled in displeasure next to them.

Roin leaped from the head of his ship, landing at the tip of it before somersaulting from it unto the platform below where they were. Lily eye-rolled at the unnecessary demonstration, he was nothing but a showoff. He unsheathed his sword, turning the green laser edge as he advanced towards her, his men making room for him as he walked.

“This place has been our secret base for decades, no one outside my crews knows about it, and no one from my crew would reveal its location,” said Roin.

“And yet here we are,” she replied, trying not to smirk too much.

Roin got closer, moving the tip of his blade menacingly forward towards her. “You know, I would have never imagined someone like you as having a death wish.”

“Oh, I’ve no such wish,” replied Lily with a laugh. “My wishes mostly involve nicer things, like a good meal, a fun book...maybe some ladies in bikinis.”

“I am not amused,” said Roin, their eyes meeting in a glaring contest.

“Then maybe you should try some of those things, see if they do,” said Lily, matching him.

“Is this what your kind calls a dick measuring contest?” blurted Acro suddenly, looking between them. “If so I think I finally get it, although it makes little sense considering the captain doesn't even have a-”

“Oh shut up Acro!” said an annoyed Astor.

“Yes, enough of this. Kill them. We’ll dump the bodies later,” ordered Roin, about to move away.

“Yes, you could do that...like a coward.”

The silence was instant, everyone froze and slowly turned to look at their Captain.

“What was that?” he asked, his voice quiet but angry.

“Oh, sorry, I guess I spoke a bit softly there. I said you were a bloody coward," repeated Lily, and in a blink of an eye, Roin’s sword was at her throat.

“I mean, honestly, all this talk about you being a living legend, one of the feared Four Rulers, and here you are, scared to fight me in front of all your men...and those five lovely ladies who just joined, which kudos for that by the way,” said Lily, throwing a wink towards them in the corner, causing them to giggle.

“My family and crew has been kicking ass across this entire star system long you were born. I'm not afraid of a little girl playing badass," said Roin fiercely.

“Well then, since you like shaking your tail feathers so much, why not give your people a good show? You and me luv...one on one, winner takes all."

Roin started at her hard, and Lily knew he was replaying their last duel in his head, weighing his chances. They were both pretty evenly matched in terms of skill, he knew that, and in duels like that, the first to make an error would be the one getting run through with the sword.

Finally, he smiled. “Well, I may be a scoundrel, but never one to turn down a lady’s request. Even an annoying one.”

Roin took a few steps backs, motioning for his men to make room, and they formed a tight circle around them. Astor, Leon, and Acro were allowed to the front to watch Lily fight, while Roin’s crew started talking excitedly, making bets and cheering for their Captain.

“Last time I was only playing with you, this time I don’t plan to be a gentleman,” said Roin, giving his sword a playful twirl.

“That’s ok, I ain’t much of a lady when it comes to fighting,” said Lily, taking out her own saber.

Lily got closer as they faced each other, their blades almost touching, and their eyes fixed on the others. Studying each other. This felt just like last time, but this time Lily felt she had the upper hand. She was calm, collected, and had played this duel out in her head over the last few days.

Roin made the first move, swinging from the right with incredible speed, but not fast enough that Lily couldn't block it. She parried it away and thrust her blade towards him, but he was ready, twisting aside at the last second.

Lily pressed on the attack, not letting set the rhythm of the match like before. She knew he preferred to use his speed to dodge, sometimes even in unnecessary fashion just to show off. Lily tried catching him as she did a backflip to avoid her attack, immediately following him, but as much she hated to admit, he still had more experience than her, and it helped him predict her moves.

This went on for what felt like an hour but was probably closer to five minutes. Her only success so far had been to snuck her elbow into Roin’s face once, when he had tried to position himself behind her, just for his men to laugh at his daring, but they didn't smile when Lily gave him a bloody nose.

Still, it didn't tip the scales of the fight, even if it did wipe the smirk from his face. Lily needed to figure out a strategy to end this before she grew too tired. The truth was she hadn't planned beyond this point. Lily figured inspiration would hit when the time came, but now she worried it might not. She thought of Seraphina Honeydews, and how she would never struggle with a fight, but always find a way to win, even if she had to...and it was then that Lily got a daring idea. An idea to turn the tables on Roin and catch him off guard.

She dropped her sword.

“Oh...silly me, I dropped my sword. I guess I’ll just have to...oh,” Lily flapped the back of her coat to the side as she bent forward while putting a finger to her lip playfully. “...pick it up.”

“...what are you doing?” asked Roin, freezing in place.

Lily paused, suddenly feeling silly, but she wouldn’t give up. Instead, she gave her rump a playful smack as she slowly picked up her sword.

“What do you think, my man? Like two melons bound together with pure joy, am I right?” she said, turning around just enough to see his horrified expression as she wiggled her butt.

“Please stop that,” was all Roin could manage, looking red in the face.

“What, you don’t like this finey-hiney? I mean, that is just a great tush right there! I worked very hard for it, you know!”

“It’s like her back is blowing a bubble.” commented one Roin’s man with approval.

“Shut up, Trev!” yelled Roin, averting his gaze.

“Yes! Exactly that, Trev! Thank you!” yelled Lily, waving at Trev while keeping her position.

“Would you just stand up already!” yelled Roin, furious.

“I’m sorry, I’m just all thumbs today. Whoops.” As soon as she turned around, she popped the top button of her shirt.

“I’m confused, is she initiating a mating ritual with him in the middle of the fight?” asked Acro loudly.

”No, she’s just being her,” said Astor, pain in his voice.

“Got a gift for you handsome, just gotta...gotta-hold on...almost got-GOT IT! Aha! No bra will best me! Here you go love, enjoy.” Lily tossed her red lace bra over to a stupefied Roin, where it landed on his hand. He remained completely dumbfounded, mouth open in disbelief.

“...seriously, what the hell?” asked Roin.

“Captain, if I may be so bold...maybe this ain’t the best plan to beat him,” pleaded Astor, looking like he wanted to die.

“You don’t think I can do this, do you?” answered Lily back defiantly.

“No, I mean, you’re a very beautiful woman, no one here is arguing that,” said Astor, and indeed, everyone around pretty much mumbled in agreement. “But...see, not everyone is good at everything.”

“Everyone can be good at everything if they try hard enough!” countered Lily.

“...maybe not everything.”

“Oh go to hell, Astor! I’m sure Captain Roin here is feeling very seduced by me right now.”

“Not really,” Roin interjected. “I mean, I’m gay for one thing, but I feel like even if I wasn’t, this would still be embarrassing. Can't we just fight?”

"Sure, now he tells me!" yelled Lily, blushing and hasting to close the buttons on her shirt again.

"I thought it was obvious, I never-!" said Roin, but fell quiet as they all felt the cave suddenly shake around them. A mild tremor, but a strong one for them to feel it this deep.

Lily looked around, expecting a follow up, and sure enough, two more shakes came soon. Each one stronger than the last one. Even the ship shook with the last one.

"Is that an earthquake?" asked Lily.

"No, we're being fired upon from above," said Roin, looking grim.